Spaghetti

I like to listen to Dr. Kenneth Cooper's radio show (available online). A recent episode had a discussion of cardiovascular disease. One point they made stood out, most of our arteries, when healthy, have an opening the size of cooked spaghetti. Memories of high school first aid class had made me think of arteries that could spurt blood several feet if cut (and I guess it's possible even at this size - think about a water pistol), making me think of opening the size of a finger.

This radical size difference makes very vivid, to me at least, just how important it is to minimize arterial plaqueing. Think for a moment how easy it is for a little bit of fat or scab from in a vessel to break loose and block blood flow. Frightening, isn't it? I bet you're going to be more diligent about diet and exercise now.

Two Hundred Calories

I was reading the Boing Boing blog today and found this post, which links to a wonderful WiseGeek post showing a number of foods of similar (200 calories) caloric content. They range from about 3 lbs. of celery to just past two pats of butter. It helps to drive home the point of the difference in how filling different foods are. They happened to have included two foods I often use to illustrate the difference between two foods which are often thought of as healthy snacks, apples and pretzels. They pictured all the foods on identical plates, so you can see relative size if you click on the pictures. Here are shots of the two foods I often comment on. Note the difference, then visit the post and LEARN!

10,000 Steps a Day

The suggestion for activity, as measured by a pedometer, in order to maintain health is 10,000 steps daily. When I watched a recent marathon, it was necessary to move between a number of different vantage points. In doing so, I racked up 21,000 steps, so I got to put some in "the bank", though it actually goes to pay old debts. I've had days recently when I only racked up about 1500 steps. It's really important to get that activity in. It helps your heart, reduces your chances of diabetes, helps reduce your chances of some cancers, cuts your chance of hypertension and the kidney damage that often results. I remember years ago thinking the lfe extension people were wackos for preaching the health benefits of extreme thinness, but more and more, science seems to be showing that thinness driven by exercise is really healthy.

The best exercise for weight loss is the "two-handed pushaway". You do it by paying attention to whether you are full. If you are, you take two hands and push your plate away. Of course, if you're not in a restaurant, you likely have to get up and get rid of that plate. This tip will likely help you to avoid major overeating during the holidays.

Thanksgiving Calories

I recently saw that a typical Thankgiving meal is about 3000 calories. I recently had the chance to attend a marathon. What do those two have in common? If we use the 100-120 calories burned per mile, then the two equate pretty well. So, to negate your meal, all you need to do is a marathon. OK, it's not that bad most of the time. Most of us burn about 1500-2000 calories daily without any activity, so if the rest of Thanksgiving eating is modest, taking a vigorous walk of about an hour will more or less negate it. One of the nice things about doing that is that walking with others can be both exercise and social. Try to limit what you eat, especially the bad stuff, if you can eat an apple or other high fiber, low calorie snack before the meal, you can probably exercise more self control. I'll be talking more about strategies to control holiday eating this week. Feel free to offer any tips you've found helpful.

The Best Exercise

Simply put, there's no best exercise for weight loss, at least not one that I can tell you. The best exercise is the one you'll do! However, a pretty good case can be made for walking. It's available just by going out your front door (and those of you who follow Walk Away The Pounds might say the living room), all you need are comfortable shoes, and you're ready to go. It is a low impact activity, putting just 1 1/2 times your body weight on your feet vs. the 3 times that running inflicts. You can walk throughout your life. I know a man who's over 90, has been living with diabetes for over 50 years, and still walks more than 3 miles a day. He still has his sight, his mind is sharp and I think he's a pretty good case for walking. Of course, if you're younger, I have another old friend who's only about 73?; he's finished the big area fall marathon each of the last several years walking in a bit under 6 hours. Keep working towards your goal, you'll get there!

Can I Exercise My Way to Weight Loss?

Running (or walking) a mile burns about 120 calories. That may double if you count the increased metabolic rate that can happen after fairly intense exercise. If you run 5 miles per day, that would mean a burn of an additional 600 (or 1200) calories. Most of us burn 1500-2000 calories per day as a base, so even looking at the high end of the range, someone running 5 miles a day will burn a little over 3000 calories. If you're a big eater and make bad choices at the table, you can consume that many calories at a single meal. The lesson here is that you can not exercise yourself to weight loss, you must control what you eat.

The Mouth Whack!

Sometimes, I find that my mouth is bored. It needs some kind of stimulation. I found that one of the best ways I could do this without taking in a lot of calories is by using an Altoids mint (there are a few other mints like them, but I'm NOT talking Lifesavers here - they're too mild. I think they have about 10 calories, but they are so strong that one (or occasionally two) is enough to keep my desire for food at bay for at least a half-hour.

Low-Fat Better? And selecting form of a grain

A new study shows that low-fat diets are better in the long-term than low-carb diets.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-11-16-fat-carb_x.htm

I believe that carbohydrates are necessary for energy, and if you are going to exercise, they are a necessity. Limit your intake of refined carbohydrates. Here's a list of how to best get your grain based carbohydrates:
Best - whole grain (NOT whole grain flour)
cracked grain
whole grain flour
Worst - white flour
Why? Often whole grains pass through the digestive tract in whole form - we don't always chew thoroughly, this reduces the availability of the starches to our body. In the case of cracked grain, the hulls have been broken, so they are more available, but must be dissolved. Whole wheat flour has fiber which does slow absorbtion of the starch. White flour is essentially pure starch, so is the most available. (If you look at the glycemic index of these, they'd run lowest at the whole grain form and highest at the white flour form.)

No Magic Bullets!

I am a believer that as far as weight loss goes, there are no magic bullets. Only one way works for the long term, and that is limiting calorie intake combined with exercise. Done right, you don't need to feel like either of these things are punishment. When I started my weight loss, I was hungry all the time. That meant that I was cranky all the time. I've since found that you can make smarter choices and NOT be hungry and still lose weight. You can do it! I know because I did, and I'm not any better than you, just more educated about how to do it.