Friday, September 30, 2005

Lose Weight Faster

If you are working at weight loss, there are a couple of things you can do to make yourself lose weight faster. You can burn more calories by exercising for a longer period of time. (Yep, that's a real Duh!, but do you know that exercising very intensely typically burns only about 20% more calories than less intense exercise, so longer time at lower intensity is usually more productive.)
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The second involves recognition that muscle burns more calories than fat. That holds true at rest as well as during exercise. That means that if you have bigger muscles, you burn more calories just sitting around than a person of the same size, but with a fattier makeup. Most of us have met someone who eats and eats and doesn't gain weight. They are probably very active and this is working in their favor.
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Now, I have a confession to make: I don't follow tip 2. I run competitively, and in racing, weighing less is an advantage, so I don't lift weights, but the 40 or so miles a week I run keep me thin. If you want to be healthy, lifting weights is not enough, you must exercise your cardiovascular system by doing aerobic exercise, that means walking, running, biking or swimming several days a week.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

A Really Cool School Wellness Program

Russell Elementary School in Missoula, MT has put together a really neat program for their fourth and fifth grade students. The concept is simple, the kids need to run or walk the distance across the USA by the end of the school year. Oh, and there's a payoff - if they succeed, Mr. Paul Staso, husband of Mrs. Vicki Staso, the program organizer, will run this route across the USA! How's that for motivation?

Right now, the kids are on course to make Mr. Staso run, but whether their motivation will hold up when Montana's cold winter sets in remains to be seen. This program has ties to math, geography, etc. and looks like it is a fun way to encourage kids to be active. If you have kids, why not show them the site? You can find it at: www.seeusrun.com

Friday, September 23, 2005

An Inspiring Story

One of the more inspiring blogs I read is Steve Vaught's The Fat Man Walking. Steve's life had gotten out of control and he decided that to have some time to think, get his weight and health more into line, he'd walk across the country. Now, understand that Steve was not a little overweight, he was huge. This created some problems.

When you're a person who is as big as Steve was, you break things. Just by moving his 400 lb. bulk around, Steve was a strong guy. Steve could shoulder a massive pack, but the pack couldn't take it. And nearly 500 lbs. can crush shoes. These are things that most of us relatively normal sized people don't even consider. Though strong, Steve was in poor condition. He could not walk very well, and fell several times early in his journey. When things broke, he got them fixed (and sometimes it was him).

The thing that I find most inspiring about Steve, is that he persisted. He has gone from struggling to walk just 3 or 4 miles a day to regularly covering about 25 miles. He's currently in Texas and making his way to Oklahoma. His weight has dropped from about 400 lbs to about 335 lbs - still very big, but now with a stronger heart and cardiovascular system. I hope to have the chance to walk with him briefly as he nears the end of his trek.

The lesson I draw from Steve is that persistence pays. Steve has steadily nibbled away at the mileage as he crossed the country. Those of you who are trying to lose weight should remember that this isn't a sprint. Losing a pound every week will mean you're over 50 lbs. lighter after a year. You can find Steve's blog here: http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Grace Under Pressure

This morning on the Today Show, I saw a story about S. Epatha Merkerson's receiving an Emmy Award. I didn't see the TV movie she won it for, but clearly she must have been quite good. Anyway, she apparently provided one of the more genuine and amusing moments of the show. Ms. Merkerson is, shall we say, a black woman who might be described as "full-figured."

The upshot of the story is that Ms. Merkerson (well, I can't really call her "S" and am not sure if she goes by Epatha) had tucked her acceptance speech into the top of her dress. As the evening wore on, she needed to get up several times to allow people to pass. Unbeknownst to her, the speech migrated, and when she arrived on stage to accept her award, reached into her top to remove it from where it was pressed between her breast and the dress, and it was nowhere to be found.

Today invited her on under the pretext of allowing her to give the speech she couldn't give at the Emmy's. I don't believe she actually gave the speech, but they all seemed to enjoy the story and showing the clip of it. Ms. Merkerson said that Geena Davis said that she tried to interpose herself between the her and the camera in order to allow retrieval of the missing speech from between her breasts.

Here's a link to Ms. Merkerson in the TV movie she won for: http://www.hbo.com/films/lackawannablues/cast/s_epatha_merkerson.html. I commend Ms. Merkerson for showing grace under pressure and congratulate her on her Emmy.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Run Like a Golfer

I was recently listening to a golf instruction book. One of the things that struck me was how similar the mental parts of the two pursuits are (regardless of how different they are physically). In both, to compete well, you must relax and "go with the flow." Making a mistake can't be undone, but mental discipline can prevent you from compounding it with additional stupidity.

While significant training is necessary to run well, so too is significant practice necessary for golf. Not at all alike, but there are similarities.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Empty Calories

The term empty calories is often tossed around by those losing weight, but what are empty calories? And, why are they bad?
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Simply put, empty calories are calories that provide no other significant nutritional benefit. There are times when empty calories are not a bad thing, but for most of us, most of the time, they're bad. How bad? Moderately so. Why? If we are trying to do anything other than increase our weight, these calories will add to our caloric consumption but put no beneficial nutrients into our bodies. Most of us consume neither enough variety of nutrients, nor enough of many of them to stay in optimal health. So, that soda (or pop, depending on where you live) means that you've taken in 120 calories that could have been 120 calories of nutrition. Some people say, "Juice is no better than soda." Is this so? Here the answer is a clear no, juice is better. Whole fruit, because it contains fiber, is better still.
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If you can consume 1500 (or 2000) calories per day, shouldn't you make them 1500 (or 2000) of the healthiest calories you can find?

Friday, September 16, 2005

A MADD, MADD World

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I'm in my mid-40's. Back when I was young, drinking and driving was typically not regarded as a serious offense. I remember a guy on my track team who died in a drunk driving accident. He'd moved to the area not too long before, and the thing I remember most strongly about his death was seeing his older sister a couple of weeks later, after she'd returned to school. Her face was red, and she looked liked she'd been crying since the accident.

A book I read recently pointed out that Mothers Against Drunk Driving was not founded until 1980. They managed to achieve such a degree of ubiquity in our society that it feels like they've always been around. They do good work, and I support thier efforts.
Lose 10 pounds fast! No unhealthy drugs!
Needless to say, don't drink and drive! And if you are trying to lose weight, don't drink at all. Alcohol is very calorie dense, it contains no nutrition, and is hard for the body to metabolize it.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Lose Ten Pounds Fast!

Does that look like an ad you see regularly? That line, or a variant of it, is used all the time to draw the unwary into parting with cash for questionable or dangerous weight loss programs. I can help you to lose that ten pounds (or more) in a healthy fashion. (And I can also tell you some quick ways to lose 3-5 lbs without seriously endangering your health - though I wouldn't say it's healthy.) Last, many of us have looked at somebody who is the same height and weight and wondered why they look so much better than we do.

Here is my stance on weight loss: no drugs, no off-limits foods, no crazy schemes. Follow my advice (modified, if necessary, for any health problems you have) and you can lose weight (and a lot of it) quickly and with little effort. You must be willing to exercise (and it doesn't need to be terribly intense) and to modify your eating to make it more sensible.

That's all there is to it. For those of you who have not had success with all the very hyped diets, give this a try, it can change your life if you let it.

You can get to the home of this blog by clicking here: http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/ Bookmark the blog as soon as you get there, you'll find it to be valuable.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Wash Your Hands!

I was watching the Today Show this morning, and they had a doctor on talking about germs. He made several significant points:
Soap does not kill germs, it washes them away. Because of this, spending the time to wash properly is key. He went on to say that getting water to a comfortable temperature is important in getting people to wash long enough. They are now teaching kids to sing the alphabet song while they wash (my son shared this with me about a year ago).
We should wash before meals, after using the toilet, as we come indoors, and at any time we feel we have come in contact with contaminants. I hope I don't need to explain the first two reasons. The third is based on the fact that we come in contact with contaminants in less controlled environments. The final one is that after we shake hands with someone who has a cold, or have touched something "dirty," we should remove as many of those germs as quickly as we can.
One thing that surprised me was his recommendation that we use liquid soap rather than bar. His reasoning is that germs can be on the soap, so while we may contact a germy pump head, it is in very limited (and dry) contact with us.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Thus begins the cross training

I spent a significant block of time yesterday walking and biking. My hope is to use this break from running to rehabilitate myself from the chronic case of plantar fasciitis that has been debilitating me.

My biking was croken into two segments, a leisurely hour and a moderate hour and 40 minutes, and I also walked for about 40 minutes. The combination of these things have left my legs feeling fatigued (though less severely than expected) . Spending a lot of on-bike time does mean that I feel it a bit when I sit, though from experience, I know that will diminish over the next couple of weeks.

The really important thing is that I did a long workout, so have done something to maintain my aerobic fitness. Also, since I was pedaling, I know I worked my legs, though mostly different muscles than those used for motion while running. I am hopeful that greater overall leg strength will result in faster times after I return to running.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Good Judgment - Finally!

After a year of chronic plantar fasciitis, I have finally decided to give up running (for a time). My hope is to be able to exercise moderately for 4-6 weeks while doing other things that will minimize impact on my feet and get more regular about stretching (something I am horrible about). I believe if I do this, I can be back to running pain free by early fall.
My plan calls for me to mix casual walking (as opposed to racewalking) with bicycling to maintain aerobic fitness. As soon as I am able, I will convert the walking to racewalking. Then, after a few more weeks without pain, will begin to add short runs into the mix. If my expectations are right, my mid-October or early November, I should be healed.
A word of explanation is in order here. The pain I was suffering from was causing a lot of fatigue and I was being less effective in many things in my life. My recent vacation allowed me time to think about this and come to this determination.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Feel the Burn!

Last week, while on vacation, I burned myself pretty seriously. I was making a bottle of tea and holding it while I poured. The water suddenly "glugged" out, covering the back of my hand with scalding water. I was on my way to a fairly serious burn.

As quickly as I could, I put everything down and began treatment by running cold water over my hand. Still, I knew it wasn't enough. I began to fill containers with ice water, gradually moving from small ones to larger ones, eventually settling on a plastic gallon size pitcher. I kept my hand immersed, off and on, for almost 2 hours. I was pretty concerned, having had friends wind up in the hospital because of infection to skin burns. They are pretty insidious because they a) cover large areas and b) are painful, making hygiene unpleasant. On the hand, exposure to further injury and bacterial infiltration are not uncommon. That's why I was very aggressive about my icing of the burn.

By being so aggressive, I figured I stood a chance of eliminating blistering, and that would reduce the chance of a vacation ruining infection. The icing also helped lessen the pain, which was, for a couple of hours, pretty unpleasant. I found that my hand was pretty sun sensitive (and I guess that to some extent, I was compounding the burn by exposing it to sun). It is now a bit over eight days since the burn. My skin had turned from an initial pink, to a sort of shiny purplish tone, to a leathery feel. This morning, it began to peel a bit. I've had no pain from the burn since about day 4, so I guess it's getting back to normal.

I guess I should count myself as lucky. I burned myself in a place where I could treat myself pretty aggressively. As a result, I think I'll get away without any problems at all. If you get burned, keep in mind that being aggressive with prompt self-treatment can prevent more serious problems. If you get anything worse than a small blister from a burn, you should seek medical attention quickly.