The truth about exercise

This article tells you the truth about exercise and why you need to exercise at any age.
Thyfault, PhD, is an associate professor at Kansas University Medical Center, where he studies the health effects of exercise.

“Exercise and physical activity is not something that you just do extra in your life to get extra healthy. Rather, it’s something that’s absolutely necessary for normal function,” he says.

Thyfault hopes to make more people aware that exercise benefits the body in ways that go far beyond muscle tissue and burning fat.

“We were meant to exercise quite a bit every day to survive, and now we’ve taken it away, and we’re actually causing dysfunction,” he says.

Exercise and Blood Sugar

He’s passionate about exercise because his research has shown again and again how critical it is to health. He says when he’s tried to cause disease, for example, by feeding rats or mice high-fat diets, he can’t do it as long as the animals are exercising.

“Inactivity is the foundational piece that has to be there for these diseases to develop,” he says.

In one experiment, for example, he took healthy people who were walking at least 10,000 steps a day and asked them to walk less -- around 5,000 steps a day, about as much exercise as the average American gets.

Thyfault quickly saw changes in how well their blood vessels worked and how well they could control their blood sugar after meals. The study participants looked like they were on their way to getting type 2 diabetes.

“What we think is that if that level of activity continues for a prolonged period of time, disease develops,” he says.

In fact, a long-running study sponsored by the government, called the Diabetes Prevention Program, tested this. It split more than 3,000 overweight adults with pre-diabetes into three groups. The first group got a lot of help to eat better and exercise more, with a goal of 150 minutes a week. The second group took the drug metformin, which helps the body respond better to the hormone insulin. The third group took placebo pills.

Exercise and a healthy diet worked better than the pill. After 4 years, compared to the placebo group, the people who ate better and exercised cut their risk of getting diabetes by about twice as much as the group taking medication -- a 58% reduced risk of getting diabetes compared to 31% in the medication group.

Exercise and Fat

Laurie J. Goodyear, PhD, is a senior investigator at Joslin Diabetes Center and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. She is studying the effect of exercise on fat, specifically the layer of white fat that sits just under the skin.

Most people know that exercise burns fat. It’s the reason most people hit the treadmill in the first place.

But fat isn’t just a place we park extra calories. “The tissue has a lot of other properties,” she says.

“Exercise really makes fat healthier and helps it burn more energy.”

Specifically, she says, exercise shrinks the size of individual fat cells, and the cells develop more energy-producing parts called mitochondria.

That means that fat tissue is burning more calories, even at rest, Goodyear says.

In one experiment, she took white fat from exercise-trained mice and transplanted it into inactive mice. Nine days later, those mice had better blood sugar control and their bodies responded better to insulin than mice that got fat from other inactive mice. What’s more, transplanted fat from exercised mice completely reversed the negative effects of eating a high-fat diet.

“What we’ve realized is that fat isn’t simply storage,” she says. “We see about 4,000 genes in fat tissue change with exercise. It’s not just that fat cells get smaller.”

Exercise also affects the lining of blood vessels, a layer of tissue called the endothelium that’s just a single cell thick. When this layer of tissue is damaged, it’s easier for dangerous blood clots to form.

Michael D Brown, PhD, a professor of kinesiology and nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has discovered that when the body is inactive, the cells in the endothelium get sluggish and don’t sit in the vessel wall properly. But exercise, which causes blood to flow more swiftly and under greater pressure, realigns the cells.

About 12 hours after a single bout of exercise, the cells have repositioned themselves to be in line with the flow of blood. This helps blood vessels work better, keeping them open and elastic, rather than stiff, narrow, and clogged.

In the brain, recent studies have shown that physical activity makes the brain more connected by bulking up the white matter, the wiring that transmits signals between nerve cells. And older adults who exercise have more gray matter in areas of the brain responsible for self-control, memory, and decision making.

Exercise also beats medication for some ailments. In head-to-head tests, it works as well or better than pills for depression. In other conditions, like Alzheimer’s and arthritis, it’s been shown to delay disability.

It’s enough to convince anyone to lace up. Or at least it should be.

Yet that message seems to be falling on deaf ears. This year’s survey by the Physical Activity Council found that 28% of Americans say they are totally inactive. It’s the highest level of physical inactivity measured by the survey since 2007.

Thyfault takes this personally. His 42-year-old father died of a heart attack when Thyfault was just 3. He has two young sons of his own, and he doesn’t want to leave them prematurely.

To keep himself healthy, he tracks his own steps every day.

“I’m kind of obsessive about it,” he says.

If you're ready to get going but not sure where to start, Thyfault recommends three levels of fitness.

He says level one is just to walk and keep track of your steps. You can do this with a trendy fitness tracker, but even an inexpensive pedometer or a smartphone app will do the trick. Your goal should be at least 8,000 steps a day.

Once you’re hitting that goal on a regular basis, level two is to do three to five defined exercise sessions each week, with a goal of 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic activity -- like running or pedaling on an elliptical -- each time.

Level three is to add a couple of days of resistance training each week.

Goodyear agrees and says getting more exercise will make a difference you can feel.

“I always feel that if I’m consistently exercising I have more energy. People sleep better when they exercise routinely, and then your body just becomes more efficient,” she says.

WebMD Health News

How many people do you think are overweight

Only 25 percent of men and 33 percent of women at a healthy weight, researchers say

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

You want to read this if you think being overweight isn't any biggie.

MONDAY, June 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Fewer than one-third of Americans are currently at a healthy weight, with the rest of the population either overweight or obese, a new report finds.

About 35 percent of men and 37 percent of women are obese. Another 40 percent of men and 30 percent of women are overweight, researchers said in the June 22 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

"Obesity is not getting better. It's getting worse, and it's really scary. It's not looking pretty," said Lin Yang, a postdoctoral research associate at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Obesity has been linked to a number of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers and arthritis, Yang said.

"This generation of Americans is the first that will have a shorter life expectancy than the previous generation, and obesity is one of the biggest contributors to this shortened life expectancy because it is driving a lot of chronic health conditions," she said.

The new report used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey gathered between 2007 and 2012, involving more than 15,000 men and women age 25 and older.

Based on the data, researchers estimate that more than 36 million men and nearly 29 million women in the United States are currently overweight. About 32 million men and 36 million women are obese, the researchers found.

Overweight is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BMI is calculated by comparing a person's weight to their height.

For example, a 5-foot-9 man who weighs 169 pounds or a 5-foot-4 woman who weighs 146 pounds both have a BMI of 25, and would be considered overweight, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Obesity is defined by the CDC as any body mass index 30 or higher. A 5-foot-9 man who weighs 203 pounds or more is considered obese, as is a 5-foot-4 woman who weighs 175 pounds or more.

More Americans are overweight and obese these days, compared with federal survey data gathered between 1988 and 1994, Yang said.

Back then, 63 percent of men and 55 percent of women were either overweight or obese, with a BMI of 25 or greater. Today, around 75 percent of men and about 67 percent of women are either overweight or obese, according to the study.

The new obesity figures did not come as a surprise to Dr. Elliott Antman, president of the American Heart Association.

"It's in line with what we already knew, and it provides some numbers on the magnitude of the problem," Antman said of the new study. "It puts a face on the issue, and it's a significant problem."

Obesity is related to increases in diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, "all of which converge on an increased risk of heart disease and stroke," he said.

America's weight problem is an issue that will not be resolved through a purely medical solution, Yang and Antman said. Politicians and officials at the federal, state and local levels will need to weigh in with policies that increase the number of calories people burn and decrease the amount of unhealthy foods they ingest.

For example, communities need to adopt plans that will make it easier for people to get around on foot or riding a bike, rather than sitting in a car, Yang said.

"America is a very much car-dependent country. We know car driving is a chunk of sedentary behavior," she said. "More walking or bicycling would increase the physical activity of the whole nation."

Policymakers also need to find ways to improve the availability of inexpensive, healthy food, Antman said. Right now, processed food and fast food that is high in unhealthy sugar, salt and fat tends to be more affordable and available in America's communities than healthier options.

"Fast foods are less expensive, so that individuals trying to feed a large family might tend to purchase them rather than fresh foods, which are harder to find and more expensive, and therefore less economically appealing," he said.

WebMD News from HealthDay

I get the problem, kids want fast food and in order to get kids to eat, you buy food that they want. It seems that no matter how well you train your kids to eat, after they start school, they eat the same things their friends eat. There lies the problem. 

I'm not one for Government intervention, but manufactures are being allowed to put ingredients in our processed foods that are causing health problems and causing us to gain body fat. The public has to complain to law makers to tighten regulations on foods. Processed foods are killing us. Processed foods are causing major health problems that are  ruining our health system. Most people can't afford health insurance any more because of their pre-existing conditions. The Affordable Care Act has tried to address those costs, but it's failing to address the biggest problem. The raising cost of health care has slowed down. In 5 years, I think the premiums will be unaffordable once more. 

Just because your older, you don't have to look it.

This post from WebMD tells about how your diet can alter your looks and age your skin and effect your health. 

What you put on your plate might affect what you see in the mirror. But a few tweaks to your dining habits can go a long way to keeping your skin youthful and your body healthy.

 

"Poor-quality foods, like trans fats, cause inflammation -- and aging is basically a chronic inflammatory state," says Timothy Harlan, MD. He's assistant professor of medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine. "Can you look older because you're eating crap? Absolutely."

For example, eating too much sugar and processed carbohydrates (like pasta, bread, and baked goods) can lead to damage in your skin's collagen, which keeps your skin springy and resists wrinkles, says Andrea Giancoli, MPH, RD. She's a policy analyst for Beach Cities Health District.

What's more, these foods put your overall health on the line. They are tied to diseases like heart disease and diabetes, she says.

Other foods, like fruits and vegetables, are good for your skin.

Foods to try and cut-out

Potato chips and french fries. Anything that's deep-fried in oil can add to inflammation throughout your body. Especially avoid trans fats. It can raise your LDL "bad" cholesterol and lower HDL "good" cholesterol, which increases your risk for heart disease.

Check food labels on baked goods and crackers, and avoid "partially hydrogenated oils" and "vegetable shortening."

Doughnuts and sugary pastries. They're packed with sugar, which Giancoli says may be linked to the development of wrinkles.

Hot dogs, bacon, and pepperoni. Processed meats are usually high in saturated fats and have nitrates in them. Both of those can lead to inflammation.

Fatty meats. These are also high in saturated fats. The key with meat is to keep it lean. Tenderloin cuts tend to be leaner. Look for ground beef that is at least 95% lean. Ground turkey breast and chicken breast are other lean options.

Alcohol. Moderate drinking may be good for your heart, but heavy drinking can rev up the aging process. "Moderate" is one drink per day for women (such as a 5-ounce glass of wine or 12-ounce glass of beer) and two drinks for men.

Foods to Favor

Go for a Mediterranean-style diet, Harlan says. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean protein can help fight inflammation and keep you looking your best, he says.

Eat whole foods that are closest to their natural state as possible, says Giancoli. For example, instead of apple sauce, try a fresh whole apple.

Try eating more of these foods:

Romaine lettuce. It's high in vitamins A and C, which curb inflammation. Also try broccoli, spinach, arugula, watercress, escarole, and endive.

Tomatoes. They're rich in a nutrient called lycopene. So are watermelon, grapefruit, guavas, asparagus, and red cabbage.

Salmon. It's high in omega-3 fats, which fight inflammation. Tuna is another good choice.

Lentils and beans. These are good sources of protein and are loaded with fiber and nutrients. Try black beans, split peas, limas, pintos, chickpeas, and cannellini beans.

"Your skin is essentially made of protein, so if you don't get enough healthy protein in your diet, your skin will reflect that," Giancoli says. "Along with fish, beans are a great way to get it."

Oatmeal. Whole grains such as oatmeal, whole wheat breads and pastas, brown rice, and quinoa help curb inflammation.

"These also have B vitamins in them, like thiamine and riboflavin, which are important for skin as well," Giancoli says. If you don't get enough, it can give you rashes and make your skin look scaly, she says.

Go for a variety and make this way of eating a habit.

"If you're not getting enough of the good stuff on a regular basis, you won't be able to produce healthy new skin cells in the way that you should," Giancoli says.

The Benefits Of Losing Weight

I write posts about weight lose because so many people want to lose weight.  They want to look better and feel better. As a senior I want to tell you that until you’re over 50 you don’t realize how that extra weight affects you.

I lost most of my body fat after 50, but for a lot of people that’s almost too late. Today I have knee pain because I waited too long to lose weight. The damage is done. I had one operation on my left knee, but the truth about any joint surgery is that you never totally get rid of the pain. Oh, sure after the surgery you’ll feel great but as time goes by you start to feel the pain again. I’m probably looking at a total joint replacement.

If I would have exercised  and watched my diet more and lost the weight before I had joint damage, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. For most of us, gaining weight is no biggy. "Everyone will gain weight when they get older, don’t they?" No, the truth is that as you get older, life gets more complicated. We have less time for ourselves. We start to neglect our health, there are more important things going on. 

So, yes as you get older your life does get more complicated. And you can’t do everything. We tend to only do those things that take priority. It’s like my old boss; as his job became harder, it seemed like all he had time for was to go around putting out fires. (taking care of problems). That’s what the life of a busy person looks like. And when that happens to you, stress will build up and to release the stress you indulge yourself more and try to spend more time trying to chill-out. Your watching more TV or reading novels; just doing things that help you take your mind off your stressful life. 

Actually, the best way to relieve stress is to exercise. Even walking 30 minutes will release stress. Any activity you can do to get your body moving and something that can take your mind off your life for a while. How can walking help? you might ask. After a couple weeks of walking and you get into the routine, you want to walk fast enough to elevate your heart rate. This is were a fitness tracker comes in. If you have ever noticed joggers will be checking their pulse and that’s because to burn fat you have to exercise at your target heart rate. 

You can check the internet; search target heart rate and it can tell you how to calculate “target heart rate”. The simplest way I know is 220 minus your age; but if your under a doctors care and are taking medication, your Doctor will tell you what a safe “target heart rate” is for you. 

I walk slower for 5 minutes to warm-up, the 20 minutes at my target heart rate, and then 5 minutes to cool-down. That type of workout will burn calories and help you feel better and become a healthier person. 

Are Your Meds Making You Gain Weight?

This post will answer your questions about medications you might be taking and why you still have a weight problem. If you've put-off losing weight for several years and now you have to do something; you might be on some medications by this time and some maybe because of your weight. Weight gain is often a side effect of medications and your Doctor never really knows how it will effect you until you say something. Read this post and decide for yourself if it time to talk to your doctor about your medications.

By Stephanie Booth, Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD on April 29, 2015

You watch what you eat and fit regular workouts into your schedule. So why is the number on your scale going up instead of down? The reason might lie in your bathroom cabinet.

“As many as 10% to 15% of weight issues are related to medications,” says Louis Aronne, MD, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Some meds can make you feel hungrier. Others slow your body’s ability to burn calories or cause you to hold onto extra fluids.

The effects aren’t the same for everybody, though. “One person might gain 15 pounds on one drug. Another might not gain anything,” Aronne says.

If you suspect the medicines that you take are behind your weight gain, don’t go off them before you talk to your doctor. “You might need to be on that drug to save your life,” says Donald Waldrep, MD, co-director of The Center for Weight Loss Surgery at Los Robles Hospital.

You may be able to switch to another medication, including one that can even help you shed pounds. If not, your doctor can suggest what you should do to offset the weight gain.

“There’s evidence that a low-carb diet and more exercise may help,” says Sue DeCotiis, MD, a board-certified internist who specializes in medical weight loss.

Below are some types of medicines that may be the cause of your expanding waistline. It’s not a complete list, so speak to your doctor if you have any concerns about your prescriptions.

Depression Medications

Which ones:

• citalopram (Celexa)
• fluoxetine (Prozac)
• fluvoxamine (Luvox)
• mirtazapine (Remeron)
• paroxetine (Paxil)
• sertraline (Zoloft)

Your doctor may call these “SSRIs” (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) or “tricyclic antidepressants.” They boost the amount of certain “feel good” chemicals in your brain. Some of those chemicals also control your appetite and how your body breaks down calories.

“You might eat but not feel full,” DeCotiis says. “Or you might lay down more fat even if you’re not eating more.” That’s the case especially in the long run. Some depression drugs may cause you to gain as much as 24 pounds in a year.

Keep in mind that depression itself can affect your appetite and eating habits. Your doctor or counselor can help you with that.

You can start exercising at any age

WebMD News from HealthDay
Men who begin endurance exercise after age 40 will get similar long-term heart benefits as those who start training before age 30, new research finds.

The study included 40 healthy men, between the ages of 55 and 70, who had no heart disease risk factors. Ten of the men had never exercised for more than two hours a week. The remaining 30 had exercised for at least seven hours a week for more than five years, either beginning before age 30 or after age 40. Their regular exercise involved either cycling or running.

Men who began their "relatively intensive" endurance exercise before age 30 had been doing it for an average of 39 years (since the age of 22), while those who started after age 40 had been doing it for an average of 18 years (since age 48).

Resting heart rates were similar among men in both exercise groups (about 57 to 58 beats per minute), but were much higher among men who didn't exercise (nearly 70 beats per minute). The men in the two exercise groups also had much higher maximum oxygen uptake than those who didn't exercise.

Men in both exercise groups showed similar evidence of exercise-related improvements in heart structure and function, according to the study that was to be presented Friday at the EuroPRevent meeting, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Research presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

"Thus, despite biological changes with age, the heart still seems -- even at the age of 40 -- amenable to modification by endurance training. Starting at the age of 40 does not seem to impair the cardiac benefits," study author David Matelot, of the French Institute of Health and Medical Research, said in a European Society of Cardiology news release.

"However, endurance training is also beneficial for bone density, for muscle mass, for oxidative stress. And these benefits are known to be greater if training was started early in life," he added.

While physical activity can't stop age-related declines in heart structure and function, it can slow them down, Matelot noted.

He said "it's never too late to change your way of life and get more physically active. This will always be beneficial for the heart and well-being. And there's no need for a high level of training for many hours a week. Using the stairs rather than the elevator, or gardening regularly, can also be beneficial."

Just walking more, like 30 minutes a day more, can help anyone. Walking is hard on your joints? Use a stationary bike and watch TV or read at the same time.  There's two different types of bikes. The one I like allows you to sit normally like you sit in a chair. Use the stationary bike for long periods of time in the evening and it keeps you out of the kitchen. I have bad knees so I don't try to stress my legs. It's not necessary, I just pedal slow and steady. I take a break occasionally and then start again. 

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information.

Checkout my other blogs: 

gettingtoahealthyweight.wordpress.com

idropped40pounds.wordpress.com

But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

Look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com,

 iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Why Do Women Have A Harder Time Losing Weight?

It's all about body fat. The way I see it and from what I've read, Women naturally have more body fat than men. Some of a person's body fat is inside to protect and cushion your organs and because of a women's reproductive organs women would naturally have more internal body fat, and then during a pregnancy the amount of internal body fat would naturally have to increase.

The more body fat a person has, the slower the metabolism works and the fewer calories you burn during a normal days activities. That's one reason why heavy people will need to be more active to lose weight then a thin person. In order to lose weight your metabolism or the engine of the body that burns your calories to create energy, has to burn more calories than what you consume. Yes, it's extremely hard to know how many calories your burning everyday, but you can count the number of calories you consume.

It's  an old theory that "if you cut the calories you consume you'll lose weight". Okay, there's some merit to that theory, but if you don't know how much you burn, how are you suppose to know how many calories to cut.

This is the question that most dieters have trouble with. "How am I suppose to know how many calories should I cut to lose weight." Many of us quit your diets because the diets weren't working and most of the time it's because  of that energy balance. Even when we diet, we can't burn enough calories to lose weight. 

And why is that, it's because we have too much extra body fat. So, How do I lose that extra fat? you might ask. The biggest reason that most of us can't lose weight is about the diet. If your eating pizza, fried chicken, sausage sandwiches, hamburgers and hot dogs, and drinking soda, sweet tea, lattes and other sweet drinks; just cutting back on some of that food is not going to help you lose weight.

There are foods that will actually help you lose body fat but restaurant foods aren't on that list. One thing that's more important than cutting calories is to start eating the right foods. The frozen dinners that are low-cal sold by these diet companies aren't really good either. Their full of food additives and other chemicals that make the food tasty and the food is low in calorie but the portions are very small that most people just end-up snacking more.

To lose weight you need to start preparing your own meals. Several small meals everyday. The object is to never get hungry. If you get hungry you're waiting too long to eat. You should eat something every three hours or so. But it's more than just eating small meals. You have to eat fresh. This means to eat only fresh foods. When it comes to vegetables, I buy them frozen, just buy the plain ones with no sauce, fruits buy fresh. Don't eat processed foods. While you're trying to lose weight avoid dairy, except Greek Yogurt, that's okay. Try to only eat fish or poultry very little red meat. Red meat only once a week if that much and buy it fresh. Don't drink anything sweet. black tea or coffee and water lots of water and don't forget to walk. Walk as much as possible. Walk the dog. Can you walk to work or walk the kids to school? Park far away from the stores, you'll get less dings on your car. If you can avoid using elevators do that. Do anything to get more exercise, every little bit helps.

You can lose weight if you really put your mind to it. Remember the trick is to change your life and live a new life, a life of doing things a better way.