The Benefits of Jogging

Jogging regularly is a good way to improve your health and fitness. Many people are concerned about long term damage to joints such as knees, ankles and hips, as a result of running. However, with good quality running shoes and a sensible approach, the risks are minimal, and the benefits of being fitter outweigh those possible risks.

Jogging makes the heart stronger. It increases the capacity of the blood circulation and of the respiratory system. It helps as well using the 50% of your lungs that normally don’t get used. This is essential for maintaining good fitness. 

Jogging also helps to lower your cholesterol.  It speeds up the digestive system and can help to relieve digestive problems. Many people who live a sedentary lifestyle develop digestive problems that can be improved with a healthier diet and some regular exercise.

So get out there and jog…but start slowly if you haven’t jogged in a while.

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Concerned about not getting enough protein?

Carbohydrates and Fats have both taken their turn as the evil food that you should never eat, but protein is always the golden child that can do no wrong.

Or can it?

Protein has been put so high on a pedestal for both weight loss and muscle gaining that you can begin to suffer from something that some call “protein guilt”.

So what is protein guilt? 

If you eat any food and especially EXTRA food simply because you think you need it for protein, then you have protein guilt.

Do you analyse every meal for its protein content? Do you try to make sure you get 30 grams?
This is a perfect example of protein guilt – feeling guilty if you didn’t eat a precise amount of protein at every meal. Maybe you just don’t enjoy food anymore, if you only worry about the protein content because you believe protein is so important for burning fat and gaining muscle, which it is.

You may be actually OVEREATING because of the need to get more protein into you body. An extra glass of milk? An extra chicken breast? Anything to make sure you are eating MORE protein. You could even be denying the fact that you are overeating just to get more protein.

It may even be showing around your waistline.

This is how protein guilt can sabotage your weight loss efforts, namely justifying overeating just to get more protein in your diet.

If you live in any modern industrialized society you most likely already eat enough protein without even thinking about it. What are good sources of protein? Meat, eggs, soy are a good place to start. If you don’t think you are getting sufficient protein, try a protein supplement rather than piling on extra food which piles on the calories.

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Why don’t I lose weight!

As I said a few posts ago exercise is one of the three essential components of a successful weight loss program. 

Some experts say you should aim for at least of five 30 minute sessions per week. Others say three a week will do it. But let’s look at it a little differently. Maybe you don’t have 30 minutes to spare. Not all of us do. Recent research shows that three 10 minute sessions in a day are just as good as one 30 minute session. 

So if finding 30 minutes in a busy day is difficult, hang in there, Snoopy!  You should be able to find some 10-minute gaps for short spurts of exercise.  The key is to do something you enjoy. That way, you'll be more likely to stick with it and even look forward to the next short session. 

Walk the dog; walk with a friend; bicycle around the neighbourhood; step on the treadmill; join a sports league; join a club. Many of us hate the thought of exercise. Well, disguise it!

Get off the bus a few stops early or late and walk. 

Walk up stairs instead of taking the elevator. 

 Go for a walk after lunch. 

Walk to and from a restaurant a few blocks away from the office.

it so it doesn’t look like exercise. Exercise will have positive effects on your heart rate and your weight loss efforts.

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Why Some Foods Make You Sweat

Can certain foods make you sweat more?

Bite into some suicide hot chicken wings and see how long it takes for those little beads of sweat to pop up on your forehead. The heat you're feeling comes from capsaicin -- a chemical found in the hot peppers used to make your wings.

Capsaicin stimulates nerve receptors in your mouth and essentially "tricks" your nervous system into thinking you're hot. Your body acts much like it does when you're outside in 90-degree heat. Your internal thermostat -- the hypothalamus in your brain -- sends out a signal to activate your sweat glands. Sweat reaches your skin and evaporates, taking the heat from your body with it.

If you live in a hot country as I do, Capsaicin is used to stimulate the appetite. When it is dog-day hot, you often don’t have much of an appetite. Adding a few chillies helps. My doctor tells me it is good for reducing cholesterol as well. 

Hint: Don’t drink water if you just got a mouthful of chillies! That just spreads the heat around your mouth. If you have it, eat some plain rice. Cucumber works, too. It’s cooling and it will put out the fire!

Foods that are hot temperature-wise can also make you sweat. "Hot coffee, hot tea, and hot soups can sometimes make people sweat, even though their whole core body temperature isn't hot," says Dee Anna Glaser, MD, professor of dermatology at St. Louis University School of Medicine and president of the International Hyperhidrosis Society.

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What works best for you?

Browse any of the popular magazines, blogs, websites or anywhere you like to get fitness information. Read up on the diet and weight loss tips and tricks, these could be simple changes like not drinking calories, or a bigger philosophy like limiting the amount of carbs that you eat.

Make a list of a few diet strategies you’d like to try, and that sound doable to you. At this point add one new diet strategy to your life for two weeks. Record your bodyweight at the beginning of the two weeks and again at the end. If you haven’t lost any weight this strategy doesn’t work (for you). Discard it and move on to the next one.

This is the simplest way to tell if something will work for YOU. If the strategy you picked sounds like a good idea but seems too difficult for you to manage then it’s simply not a good fit for you in this stage of your life. If it worked for your friend but not for you that’s ok, there will be one that works just for you, this is why you make a list and try each of them, one at a time.

Let’s suppose you find one that works over a two week period and you don’t want to stop. That’s fine, just keep going with it. If it’s working, hey! That’s what you wanted to find out, right? Save any more diets on your list until you are ready for a change. Diets can get boring after a while…

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How to Measure your Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a waxy material normally found in the blood. Some cholesterol is essential to maintain the structure of your vessel walls, but too much can increase your risk of heart disease. Cholesterol can exist in several different forms and components are measured by themselves to assess your coronary risk. On a doctor’s visit, be sure to ask you r doctor to check your LDL and HDL Cholesterol levels.

Step 1

Fast before the cholesterol test, according to your doctor's instructions. You'll  need to fast about 12 hours before giving blood for the cholesterol test to obtain accurate results. Don’t drink any alcohol for 24 hours before the test.

Step 2

Your doctor will take a blood sample for analysis. A lipid profile consists of a large number of specific cholesterol tests, including total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL).

Step 3

Ask your doctor to explain what the results mean.
Total Cholesterol: A total cholesterol level of 200mg per decilitre of blood (mg/dl) is desirable, 200 to 239mg/dl has a borderline risk of heart disease and a total cholesterol level of 240mg/dl or greater has a high coronary risk.
LDL level: The desired LDL level is below 100mg/dl, 100 to 129mg/dl is a near optimal level, 130 to 159mg/dl has a borderline risk and 160 to 189mg/dl has a high risk. An LDL level greater than 190mg/dl carries a very high risk for heart disease.
HDL level: An HDL level greater than 60mg/dl is preferred, a level between 40 and 59mg/dl has a moderate risk and a level below 40mg/dl carries a major coronary risk.

Your doctor can help you to rectify any desired changes in your LDL or HDL levels. You should then check them again in about three months. Ask your doctor’s advice on this.

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Facts About "Good" Cholesterol

Facts About "Good" Cholesterol

• HDL cholesterol normally makes up 20%-30% of your total blood cholesterol.
• There's is evidence that HDL helps protect against the accumulation of plaques (fatty deposits) in the arteries.
• Research suggests that a five-point drop in HDL cholesterol is linked to a 25% increase in heart disease risk.
• In prospective studies - that is, studies that follow participants for a certain period to watch for outcomes -- HDL usually proves to be the lipid risk factor most linked to heart disease risk.
• HDL cholesterol levels are thought to have a genetic factor in some people.
• Women typically have higher HDL cholesterol levels than men. About a third of men and about a fifth of women have HDL levels below 40 mg/dL. Doctors consider levels of less than 40 mg/dL to be low.

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