Exercise for a Healthy Heart
Louise Roach

Do you exercise every day? If you want to live a long, healthy life, maybe you should.

A recent study by Timothy Wessel, a physician at the University of Florida, indicates one of the strongest risk factors for developing heart disease is inactivity even more so than being overweight. During the four-year study of 906 women, Dr. Wessel documented those who were moderately active were less likely to develop heart disease than sedentary women, no matter how much they weighed. The study concluded: These results suggest that fitness may be more
important than overweight or obesity for cardiovascular risk in women.

In January, the updated U.S. Dietary Guidelines strongly urged that everyone should take part in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days, above whatever activities they do at home or work. To loose weight or to avoid gaining weight as we age, 60 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous exercise is recommended. And those who have already lost weight and are attempting to keep weight off need 60 to 90 minutes of daily exercise.

A study of 9,611 adults by the University of Michigan Health System, found that people in their 50s and 60s who participated in daily exercise were 35 percent less likely to die within the next eight years than their inactive couch potato counter parts.

Convinced that its time to add exercise to your day?

The Basics — Make Exercise a Life Priority:

– If youre not use to exercising, check with your doctor before beginning any strenuous fitness routine.

– Start slow. If 30 minutes of exercise is too much, start with 15 minutes and add a few minutes each day.

– If you dont have time for 60 minutes of exercise, break it up into two 30-minute sessions throughout the day.

– Schedule a specific time to exercise everyday then keep to your schedule!

– Take part in more intense activities that can improve your heart health, such as: running, dancing, swimming, cycling, and climbing stairs.

– Find exercise that you enjoy. You will be more likely to continue and improve your daily performance if you look forward to a favorite activity.

– Wear proper clothing and footwear. This has two functions. Clothing and shoes that are suited to your activity will enhance performance and offer the right kind of support for your body and feet. They will also place you in a better frame of mind for exercise. When you wear your favorite running outfit and slide into your special running shoes, your mind says its time to get out the door and put my feet in motion!

– Add everyday activities to increase your overall fitness level, such as gardening, housework, walking to the store, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and raking leaves.

– Always drink lots of water.

– If you feel discomfort or pain after an activity, use ice therapy immediately to reduce swelling and numb pain. Always have a cold pack in your freezer, ready and waiting. Most aches and pains attributed to exercise respond well to icing and will melt away within 24 hours after applying ice for several 20-minute sessions. Using cold therapy reduces down time, getting you back on schedule fast. (If the pain does not lessen within 48 hours after using ice therapy, is intense or becomes worse, see your doctor.)

Exercise every daytake care of your heartlive long!

Disclaimer: This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical treatment or consultation. Always consult with your physician in the event of a serious injury

About the Author

About the Author: Louise Roach: health and fitness editor,
marketing specialist, product development consultant. Helps others find pain relief through the use of SnowPack Cold Therapy products. Learn more about the benefits of cold therapy at http://www.snowpackusa.com/ Sign up for *free* health/fitness e-newsletter at: http://home.netcom.com/~newsflash/

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Teens do experience what we could call “teenage weight pressures.” At the age of 16, teenagers are still too self conscious of their appearance that they are easily affected by jeers by classmates and peers when it comes to how they look. Being stereotyped because they are a little overweight can be really demeaning which could cause other personal or even psychological problems later on.

But the thing is, if a teenager has been eating and exercising right their bodies will be where they should be at their age. And when teenagers find themselves overweight, impatient as they are, they tend to go overboard often taking the drastic route to loose weight. They try skipping their meals or limiting food intake the wrong way.

Because teens and preteens are still growing, the practice of skipping meals is not such a great idea. Even adult weight loss programs do not arbitrarily recommend skipping meals. The right diet is eating the right food that covers teenagers’ nutritional needs for their body’s further growth and development.

More often than not, dietitians recommend that teens follow an eating plan that will help reach their ideal weight and keep it there. They complement food diets with lots of physical activities. They find that cutting back on calorie intake is not the best option for teenagers to take. Being effective “calorie burners” seems to be the right path that teenagers should take. By exercising a lot they will reduce body fat and build their muscles at the same time.

As teenagers, they should also be encouraged to try all types of sports. By increasing their physical activities they will develop tons of energy as well as strength and stamina. Their bones will grow better and stronger. The will have better and healthier skin and will have a general happy outlook in life.

However, for some teenagers a customized diet program is needed and is suggested to be the most effective. But this is in a case to case basis. Not all situations and circumstances are alike. These diets are normally designed by diet and nutrition experts. Included in these customized diet programs are itemization of particular food groups and proper proportion you child or teen should eat.

These diets focus on reducing the intake of foods loaded with saturated fats. Reducing fat in one’s diet will make him/her healthier and will make it easier to maintain their body weight. Under these programs, daily food consumption should not have more than 30 grams, or 10 ounces, of fat.

You need to, therefore, spread out your intake of fat for each meal if you eat. It is generally recommended that persons on a diet should avoid fat laden snacks like potato chips or buttered popcorn.

In your teen’s eating habits, probably the biggest obstacle that they will face is when they eat at restaurants or dinners with friends. Foods in restaurant are served in big portions and more often than not contain too much salt, fat, and calories. Part of a diet program should be instilling discipline and self control. One can still join their friends when they dine out but they should learn to choose the right food and ask for the right servings.

You are what you eat. If you eat too much fat, then you’ll probably end up fat. Always remember to eat foods like fruits, vegetables, low-GI foods, and foods with low fat contents. If you have been accustomed to eating fatty and salty meals and junk foods, then your body might tell you that fruits and vegetables don’t taste that good. You then have to retrain your taste buds and body by eating as many fruits and vegetables as possible. If you keep eating them, you’ll start to enjoy them later on.

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Teen weight loss: Taking it slowly is still the best

According to recent studies more kids nowadays are mild to severely overweight. The 1999-2000 National health survey indicates that 15 % of children and teens are overweight.

The figure is nearly double that what was recorded a decade or so ago. Some blame their present lifestyle while others blame the lack of discipline in teens nowadays. Regardless of the reasons, teen weight problems are real.

But unlike weight loss programs for adults, teen weight loss programs are a little tricky since such programs when left uncheck can be potentially dangerous for their health. Because of the potential danger, dietitian and nutrition experts approach the subject with caution.

The basic problem with teen weight loss is that their bodies are still growing and developing and cutting down food intake will greatly influence their growth. It is therefore important that diet programs for teens should cover all their nutritional needs.

For teenagers, they generally need to grasp some basic concepts about eating right. If they eat too little, their health will be put at risk. But similarly, if they eat more that they should, the extra food turns into body fat causing weight issues. Teenagers should learn to eat food less with saturated fats.

These foods include those fried in fat and oil like fried chicken, burgers, potato chips, french fries, potato chips and other fatty meat. Meanwhile, they also should avoid foods that are high in fat and sugar contents like cakes, chocolates, butter, cream, peanut butter, pies, cookies, and generally any sweets and sweet based desserts.

A lot of diet programs claim to be the best solutions for over weight teens. These claims generally revolve around two basic concepts: the right diet and regular exercise. In reality, the quickest and easiest way for teens to loose weight is still the having the right diet and right exercise. Teens should always avoid diet pills.

Most of the kids or teens today eat fast foods, get exceedingly large food portions and are really extremely lazy lacking the necessary activities to build a healthy body. Simple outdoor activities for teens can help them loose some of their excess body weight. When you cut grass use a push mower, for example. Engage in activities like playing Frisbee which would help you exercise without even realizing it.

There’s really no quick way to loose weight. You need to work the excess fat off your body. It is the right combination of diet and exercise which will help you loose weight. But the problem with dieting and exercising is keeping motivated and goal oriented. Kids find dieting intimidating and regular exercise boring.

This is why full family support is necessary if you want your kids to loose some weight. You need to keep your kids and teens motivated. Encourage them and help them overcome their cravings by cooking, serving and eating the same food diets that they eat. Get them to be more active. If they find regular exercises boring, join them in other activities such as sports.

Teach them what to look for when they eat outdoors. Tell them the benefits of foods and teach them how to read food labels. You may be able to control their diet while they stay home but when they go outside and eat with friends, then you might have a problem. It is therefore important in any diet to implant a sense of self discipline and pride in what they do.

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We want everything in life to be free, like the air we breathe. But reality is not that easy nor is it that kind. There are people who will exploit every opportunity to get even the smallest amount of money from various services.

Fortunately, there are still a considerable number of good people in the world. Some of whom share their knowledge and experiences free of charge. Take for example the weight loss programs and techniques. It is common practice to hire experts to help individuals to loose weight.

Nowadays, one can just go online, conduct a search and voila! You’ll find instant and free tips and strategies that will guide adults and teens alike from loosing those excess pounds.

Take for example the following tips. The following general guidelines were taken from the internet. They showcase some basic, at times rather obvious, words of advice on how teens should loose weight. Overweight teens have somewhat a tricky problem when it comes to loosing weight.

They should take care and monitor their diets and weight loss closely since they might not be taking enough food that will give them the proper nutrients for them to grow and their bones and muscles to develop. The following tips include ingenious ways that teens can follow which can help them loose those body fats.

Overweight is usually a result of overeating of junk foods rich with saturated fats, salts and loaded with calories. To curb your desire to eat chips, you learn to replace these types of foods with healthier ones like carrots or fruits.

Replace a bag of potato chips with carrots sticks or apples or bananas. Another way to restrain your uncontrollable craving for extra foods like desserts and sweets, make sure that you brush your teeth at the end of every meal. Brushing have this unconscious effect that sends signals to your brain that says you’ve finished eating.

Sometimes, when you do something while you eat, you don’t seem to notice that you are already full or you are already eating more than what you should have. So as a recommendation for mothers at home, keep the kitchen free from clutter unrelated to cooking like homework, paper jobs, etc. When you’re at school, keep your snack time to a minimum.

The more you stay lingering around the school grounds or canteen, the more chances you have to buy something to eat. When eating, eat slowly and in small bites. Forcing yourself to chew your food will help you recognize that you’re full. The brain takes around 20 minutes to determine if the stomach has just enough food or not. That’s why by eating slowly, you could get the right portions of food since you would always be able to avoid over eating.

It is also known hat music affect eating habits. The faster the music the faster you tend to eat and we don’t want that. And also, be sure to be as active as possible.

Also, it seems that sunlight affects cravings for sweets. It is said that when teens are exposed less to the sun, they tend to grab more high-calorie, fatty carbs like cakes, cookies, ice cream and chips,

These are just a few free tips that I’ve found in the Internet. The World Wide Web is full of articles just like this. All you need to learn is how to use the internet to your advantage.

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