Wellyourself

Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts

Healthy Back? 5 easy steps

Posted by Aaron W. On 2/22/2012 1 comments

From Harvard HEALTHbeat

1. STAY FIT

Weak back and abdominal muscles — due to deconditioning or age — cause or exacerbate many cases of low back pain.

A stretching and strengthening regimen should target the back, abdominal, and buttock muscles.

Certain aerobic activities are safer for your back than others. For instance, bicycling (either stationary or regular), swimming, and walking lead the list of low-risk, high-benefit activities for most people’s backs.

Sports and activities such as football, tennis, gymnastics, wrestling, weight lifting, rowing (crew), running, aerobic dance, and ballet involve a relatively high risk for back injury because of the extension, lifting, or impacts involved.

2. MAINTAIN A HEALTHY WEIGHT

The heavier you are, the greater the load your spine must carry. To make matters worse, if the bulk of your weight comes in the form of abdominal fat, rather than muscle, your center of gravity can shift forward — a condition that puts added pressure on your back.

3. KICK THE HABIT

Scientists believe that the nicotine in cigarettes contributes to low back pain in two ways. First, nicotine hampers the flow of blood to the vertebrae and disks. This impairs their function and may trigger a bout of back pain. Second, smokers tend to lose bone faster than nonsmokers, putting them at greater risk for osteoporosis, another common cause of back pain.

4. LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD

If you use a backpack, you can take steps to protect yourself. For starters, use both of the pack’s straps instead of slinging one strap over a shoulder. When carrying a heavy load, put the heaviest items as close as possible to the center of the back, and use the hip strap for support. Above all, remember to bend from your knees when picking up your pack.

5. DEVELOP BACK-HEALTHY HABITS

Everyday activities, from vacuuming your house to sitting in front of the computer for hours, can take a toll on your back, particularly if you aren’t schooled in proper body mechanics. But you can take some of the pressure off your back by following these simple tips:

While standing to perform ordinary tasks like ironing or folding laundry, keep one foot on a small step stool.
Don’t remain sitting or standing in the same position for too long. Stretch, shift your position, or take a short walk when you can.
When bending from the waist, always use your hands to support yourself.
When sitting, keep your knees a bit higher than your hips and bend them at a 90-degree angle. Sit with your feet comfortably on the floor. If your feet don’t reach the floor, put a book or a small stool under them.
Because vacuuming can take a toll on your back, tackle rooms in chunks, spending no more than five to 10 minutes at a time doing this task.

Picture from renochiropractic
___________________________

Share More

back, ergonomics, pain, weight, weight loss | |

Calorie-burn at Rest

Posted by Aaron W. On 12/20/2010 0 comments

From: NY Times

INTRO:
New research suggests that the warmth that you feel in your body for hours after a HARD workout doesn't mean you're burning calories for hours afterwards. It's more likely that the extended warmth is part our body's process of repairing minor tissue damage. Instead, the intensity is what keeps the calories rolling off for some time.

Dr. Joseph LaForgia, an exercise physiologist at the University of South Australia, says people who exercise intensely — doing repeated sprints, for example — can experience a prolonged metabolic effect. Their metabolic rates can go up and remain elevated for seven hours after the session is finished.

Even so, the extra calories burned were about 10 percent of the calories burned during the intense exercise.

As for people who exercised moderately, like most people do, the small increase in metabolism lasted no more than two hours and added up to only about 5 percent of the amount they burned while exercising. And since a modest exercise bout does not burn nearly as many calories as an intense one, people who exercised modestly ended up with very few extra calories burned afterward.

CONCLUSION:
If you workout HARD during exercise and you are in better shape, you will likely get longer (up to 7 hours) calorie-burn compared to those that workout moderately and are in fair or poor shape. Keep up the hard work.

Full story
Photo courtesy: Vovva
_________________

Share More

calorie, exercise, intervals, metabolism, weight, weight loss | |

4 Keys to Weight Loss Success

Posted by Aaron W. On 12/06/2009 1 comments

Based on research by The National Weight Control Registry (www.nwcr.ws)

Since 1993, the National Weight Control Registry (NWCS) has been studying the behaviors of people who successfully lose weight and keep it off. Their research began with simply describing the kinds of people that are successful weight losers and has progressed to research comparing the success of surgical vs. non-surgical weight losers. By the way, they found it doesn't really matter how you lost it, you MUST overcome the cues that got you overweight in the first place (reference 1).

Since their beginning, the NWCS has looked at the behaviors of over 5,000 people who have manged to lose 30 lbs or more and kept it off for at least a year - their averages are 67 lbs lost and 6 years maintained. Using all this data, they've come up with 4 common characteristics amongst all these losers.

NOTE: They did NOT find that genes had the overwhelming determination if you were going to be overweight or not. You have more control than you think!

What they Screamed!!

weight loss is hard work
don't believe in programs claiming quick, or easy methods... it won't stick
Losing weight is worth the sacrifice! Life is better without the weight!
It gets easier

Eat a Low-Fat, High-Carbohydrate Diet
People stated they got most of their carbs from beans and veggies which equated to 56% of their total daily calories. In turn, they got 19% of their calories form protein and25% from fats. They seemed to consume between 1,300 and 1,400 calories per day, but the Registry feels like that's probably underestimated a bit. It was also clear to them that the problem for most people wasn't so much about WHAT they were eating, as it was HOW MUCH they were eating... calories in must be less than calories out.
Exercise Every Day
Registrants exercised 1 - 1.5 hours/day, but made note that they broke up their exercise throughout the day. For example, walking the dog 20 mins in the morning, walking the stairs 20 mins at lunch and getting on the elliptical machine for 30 mins in the evening. They noted that the most common form of exercise was walking. They proposed this question: "If you could lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life with just 1 hr/day of exercise, would it be worth it?"
Eat Breakfast Every Day
They hypothesized that skipping breakfast often causes people to overeat later, or eat junk that is easily accessible (candy dish, vending machine). Registrants ate breakfast every day.
Keep Track of Your Weight and Eating
They say that they aren't sure why regular food and weight journaling is a common characteristic, but speculate that they use it as an "early warning system." People who are very aware of their weight can tell whether they put on a pound over the weekend and need to step it up, or whether they maintained well. Gaining weight in large bunches (which could happen when not weighing frequently) is harder to recover from and can cause a drop in morale - which could lead to giving up.

Visit www.nwcr.ws for full details

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19050676?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Share More

breakfast, carbohydrates, exercise, fat, fitness, journal, nutrition, protein, weight, weight loss | |

% of Adults, Adolescents, Children overweight

Posted by Aaron W. On 11/29/2009 0 comments

Excerpt from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report: Health, US, 2008:

67% percent of noninstitutionalized adults age 20 years and over who are overweight or obese (2005-2006)
34% percent of noninstitutionalized adults age 20 years and over who are obese (2005-2006)
18% percent of adolescents age 12-19 years who are overweight (2005-2006)
15% percent of children age 6-11 years who are overweight (2005-2006)
11% percent of children age 2-5 years who are overweight (2005-2006)

Share More