Tag: health

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Diet or Exercise – which is more important? Part III

Diet or Exercise – which is more important?

If you’ve read the previous two posts about this question, you know by now that the answer to the above question: diet.  However, it’s not about going on a diet, and exercise plays a crucial role as a part of a healthy lifestyle.

It’s important to remember that diet is not about going on a diet – it’s about having a lifestyle that consists of consuming good, nutritious foods and avoiding processed foods, additives, toxins and pesticides.

Let’s look at a few reasons why diet is even more important than exercise

1.  If there were ever a case of garbage in- garbage out; this is where it applies.  Your body is made from the stuff you eat.  Whether or not you exercise, or how hard you take exercise, your body is in a constant state of renovation.   Cells are dividing, new cells are being formed, and old ones are being cleaned up and disposed of or recycled in some manner.  Think about the fact that your body is made up of approximately 100 trillion cells.

Simply ask yourself if you want to be built from good things or bad things, from the best components or from things that are “good enough”.   Is it OK to throw some chemicals and pesticides into the mix, or do you want to guard against the toxins that go into your body?

The Presidential panel on cancer issued a statement in 2010 that stated “the true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated” and advised the President “to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.”

2.  There will be days and times of your life when you can’t exercise.  You should exercise every day; we were made to move and be active.  There will be times when because of illness, travel or other things that come up that you won’t be able to exercise.  However, your body never stops the process of creating and repairing cells, and cleaning up damaged and dead cells.  This goes on every day, for as long as you live.  As a matter of fact – in the times of stress when it’s most likely that you won’t be able to exercise, your cells are under the most stress.

Give your body the fuel to run optimally and you set up the potential for good things.
Think about your car – it wouldn’t make much sense to wax and polish and detail the outside of your vehicle, but be careless about changing the oil, maintaining the mechanical systems and filling it with good fuel.
Just like you wouldn’t put water or sugar in the gas tank of your car (you know that nothing good would come from that) – you should guard against putting junk in your fuel tank; the end result of that won’t be good either.

3.  I believe you should try to maximize your intake of fresh raw foods to maximize the nutrients and enzymes you get from your food, try as much as possible to eat organic foods to avoid exposure to pesticides, avoid processed foods, and use vitamin and mineral supplements wisely.  I’ll examine each of these in more detail in future posts, but here are the high points.  You may not be able to make a complete change to your diet all at once, but start with one thing or one area and go from there.  If you don’t do anything else, try to avoid processed foods and focus on fresh raw foods.   Avoid things in boxes and bags, and try to eat things that are picked, peeled, grown, harvested.   One easy thing to do is shop from the outer aisles of your grocery store.  This is where the fresh things are.

4.  You only get one body – treat it carefully.

For most people it’s easier to build on success, and the success of feeling your body begin to respond to regular good diet is motivational.   It doesn’t take too long after you make good nutrition and regular exercise a part of your lifestyle that you will probably start to look for ways to make additional improvements – because you will begin to feel better! 

You can trade in a car, buy a new house, but you don’t get a new body in this life – take care of it!  Even if this didn’t have an effect on how long you live (though I think it will), you’ll enjoy the journey of life and feel better along the way.   What price can you put on feeling good?  I know many people who “just don’t feel good” every day.  On the other hand, most of the people I know who focus on good nutrition and regular exercise feel great almost every day and seem to have boundless energy.   Which sounds better to you?   You have a tremendous amount of control of which one of those groups you end up in.  Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not here yet –  but you have control of the choices you make today, and you can begin to make a change today and build on it tomorrow, and for the rest of you life.

 

This is a complicated subject that may leave many people with questions or wondering how to begin to make changes.  If you have questions, comments or any other feedback, please use the form below to contact me.  I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

 

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Diet or Exercise – which is more important? Part II

Diet or Exercise – which is more important?

This “frequently asked question” has an interesting answer; because of the way they work together, it’s really difficult to separate diet and exercise.  Both are an important and synergistic part of a healthy lifestyle.

The bottom line answer to this question: your diet is more important (but not going on a diet)!  Surprisingly though, if you are just starting down the path to a healthier lifestyle, I recommend that you begin by focusing on exercise.  Let’s explore a few reasons why exercise is the best way to start.

  1. Most people want to see some changes early on; your body will probably respond to exercise more quickly.   Remember, you spent your whole life getting to where you are now, so don’t expect changes overnight.   However, you will probably be surprised at how quickly your body responds to regular physical activity.   Be smart and take small steps toward you goal; start by walking for half an hour instead of jumping in to running 3 miles a day.
    By starting with a sustainable amount of activity, you can make this a part of your lifestyle and increase your activity as you make physical and fitness gains.   Most importantly – don’t skip, don’t make excuses, make sure you do something every day.
  2. Adding regular physical activity will start to “wake up” and revitalize a sluggish metabolism.   If you haven’t been exercising regularly, you will be amazed at what regular activity will do for you.   These bodies were made to be active, and adding in regular physical activity will benefit you in so many ways.  You’ll probably notice that sleep and digestion start to improve, along with other things too,   Start with something sustainable so that you won’t get discouraged.
    Don’t  start on something you can’t keep up with (either too strenuous or too time consuming).You might be tempted to want to go out and run a few miles (or maybe not), but don’t start with that – I suggest that you start with walking 30 minutes a day, do it regularly and try to not miss a day.  If you maintain your level of activity for a couple of weeks, you’ll find that it’s gone from something on your schedule to a habit to where it’s a part of your lifestyle.  Your goal should be to make nutritional and exercise related changes that become a part of your lifestyle – not just something you do for a little while to “get into shape”.
    Remember – diets don’t work – because diets are something most people do for a while to try to reach a goal, and then they go back to the way they were – or worse!.  It’s the same with most people with crash fitness programs.   Check any gym on January 2nd, and then go back a check a month later; setting the bar too high from the start does you more harm than good.   You have to be determined and remember that you’re in this for the long haul – for the rest of your life.  So set a sustainable goal that you can stick with (or increase) for life.
  3. An initial focus on exercise and seeing the resulting changes will encourage you to address nutrition and your diet.

For most people it’s easier to build on success, and the success of feeling your body begin to respond to regular exercise is motivational.   It doesn’t take too long after you make regular exercise a part of your lifestyle that you will probably start to look for ways to make additional improvements.  Typically, two things happen; you improve their fitness level and perhaps increase or change your exercise routine.    You’ll begin to feel the effects in many ways, including sleep and an increasing overall feeling of well being.  At the same time, you start to realize just how much effort you are putting into exercise, the results you are getting, and how it’s beginning to make you “feel better”.

This is typically the point where you should feel motivated to make changes in your diet.  Typically, something “clicks” inside, and you realize that you don’t want to sabotage your increasing health by taking bad stuff in.   Just like you wouldn’t rebuild a car and then fill it with junky gas – you realize that the same principle applies to your body.  Use this motivational boost to leverage your efforts and address the foods you eat and drink.

 

Next up – why your diet is the most important thing for you to address – even more important than exercise (but don’t stop exercising)!

 

Questions, comments or any other feedback?  I’d love to hear from you.  Use the section below to contact me.

 

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Diet or Exercise – which is more important?

Diet or Exercise – which is more important?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions I receive.  It’s alluring in it’s simplicity, and from the fact that people often just want to focus on one thing, or find the one “magic bullet” to make them healthy, lose weight, and feeling better.

It’s not that simple.

There is one answer to this – if you have to know which one – but before getting to that, it’s important to understand that both are important for a healthy body, and how the two work together.

Both diet and exercise will be looked at in more detail in the next couple of posts.

Because of the way they work together, it’s really difficult to separate the two; both are important, and they really do play off of each other and support each other as a part of a healthy lifestyle.

IF you really have to have a bottom line answer to this question – the answer is diet (but not going on a diet)!  It’s about eating healthy and nutritious foods as a part of a healthy lifestyle  There is a surprising twist to this question though;  if you are just beginning your journey to lose weight and increase your overall all state of health, you should probably start with exercise.

Make sure you read the following posts;  I will explain why it’s important to understand both nutrition and exercise, how they work together, and why you need to make both of them a priority if you want to be healthy, feel good, and protect yourself from illness and disease, why “diets” don’t work.

I will also explain why I think that diet is more important, but you’re more likely to set yourself up for lasting success and health by starting with exercise.

 

Questions?  Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear from you!

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What is your goal?

What is your goal?

What do you want your health to be?

Your state of health today is the result of decisions you made over the period of days, weeks, months and years preceding today.

Even this morning, you made choices about breakfast (or not), whether or not a donut was a good idea, or if you should reach for something healthier.

Coffee, tea, milk, or Coke (?!!) for breakfast – whether you stopped to ponder it, or went by default to your usual morning beverage; it was because of a decision you made, probably some time ago, about what was important to you.

You can start to make changes today – start by choosing one thing that’s important to you, and work back from there.  If you want to weigh less than you do now (reduce body fat), you need to start to make changes to the way you eat and the amount of physical activity (exercise) that are a part of your daily life.

Sleep, fitness, changes to your body fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure- even your overall demeanor and the way you feel every day – all of these can be impacted by the foods you eat and the activity of exercise you get.

You can’t change the choices you’ve made in the past, but you can change the things you do today.  Yesterday is gone, and you’re on the way to tomorrow, but it’s not here yet – you do have today though!   The health choices you make today will start to affect you today and have ripples into your tomorrows – you just need to start.

Choose one thing, and start from there; you might be surprised at how the changes can ripple through your life from one area to another.

You can start anywhere – but if you’re not sure where, start with a healthy breakfast of healthy whole foods.  Skip anything processed, and go for something that doesn’t come in a box or package.

Skip the poptarts, bacon, sugary pastries and other packaged or processed itmes, and go for real food instead.  If you’re in a hurry, use a blender (or better yet – a Vitamix) and make yourself a smoothie.  This is a quick way to get some good, healthy whole food even if you’re pressed for time.

Need healthy breakfast ideas or have questions or comments about anything in this post?   Leave me a comment below – I’d love to hear from you!

 

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Two reasons you must do something about your health today

Two reasons you must do something about your health today

There are two important reasons why you can’t wait until tomorrow or next week or whenever to start taking steps toward a healthier lifestyle.

Those two reasons happen to be the two things you can’t get more of in this life: your body and time.

Your body

You have one body – the one you were born with, the same one that you’re living in now, and the one that will carry to your grave.   It’s the only one you get in this life.

When you look in the mirror or step on the scale or go for a physical, what you’re observing is the sum total of the health and lifestyle choices you’ve made up to this point.  Don’t let that discourage you if you’ve made poor choices – you can choose to take better care of your body starting today.

You don’t get another body – at least not in this life; so start taking care of it now.  Decide what is important to you, and if you want health, energy, vitality and a clear mind, you have to start making lifestyle choices (diet, fitness/activity, stress) today!

Don’t wait!  These bodies don’t last forever, and you can’t change the choices you made in the past, but you have today, and this can be the first day you take some small steps toward a healthier body.

Time

There is a saying that goes something like this – the best time to plant a tree is ten years ago, the second best time is today.  I like that saying because it reminds me that if I want to achieve something, I have to start today.   You can’t go back and change the health or lifestyle choices you made in the past – but you do have today! 

Decide and act today to change your body and life.  The small steps you take today will have changes that ripple through tomorrow and on in to the future.  Visualize today what you want your body, mind and life to be like in the future; you won’t get there by chance.   A healthier you tomorrow starts with the choices you make today.

 

I hope you’ll find the kind of informative and motivating things on mrhlth.com that will help you take steps today to have a healthier lifestyle tomorrow.

Don’t wait!  You don’t get another body, and you don’t get more time.  You can’t change what choices you made yesterday, but you do have today.

 

Looking for specific help with a certain aspect of a healthier lifestyle?

Let me know with a comment in the space below – I’d love to hear from you!

 

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An apple (or two) day ….

There are so many reasons to make apples more than just a regular part of your diet.
Here are a few reasons you should try to eat one or two apples every day.

Fiber

Apples are a good source of fiber.  While they don’t rank among the highest fiber foods, the fiber in apples brings some unique benefits.  The pectin in the apples is water soluble and can also bind with fatty acids in the bloodstream.  This brings special benefits (see below).  Most Americans consume much less fiber than recommended eating an apple or two can help with that.

 

Natural statins

The fiber in apples has been shown to act as a natural statin.   It binds with cholesterol and helps to move it out of the body.  There are other foods that do this too, but it’s another nice benefit of regularly eating apples.

 

Low calorie

At 100 calories or less for a typical apple, an apple is a great substitute for other sweet snacks, especially in place of candy bars, pastries, or other processed food snacks.   The texture and fiber of the apple also help make it a great snack. Chew each bite or slice thoroughly, and you’ll find that an apple will stick with you much longer than a typical candy bar or pastry; that sense of fullness can help keep you from eating other things with a lot more calories than an apple.

 

Mouth health

The same fiber that makes apples filling and provides the fat and cholesterol reducing benefits also gives apples their crunch.  This is what makes them good for your teeth and gums too.  They can help clean your teeth (you should still brush your teeth though), and give your gums a healthy workout.   In this respect too, apples are far superior to candy, cookie or pastry snacks.

 

Nutrition

Apples are a great source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.  Along with the benefits listed above, you get the healthy nutritional boost that comes with each apple.  The antioxidant boost provides multiple preventative benefits, including protection from cancer.  The antioxidants can help neutralize the bad effects of free radicals.  Free radicals are atoms or groups of atoms with extra electrons that can cause cellular or dna damage.   The antioxidants in apples provide protection by interacting with and neutralizing free radicals.

 

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Obesity trends are bad news for everybody

Bad news about obesity

The CDC released a study showing that more than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese and that currently not even one state has met the nation’s Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15% (no state is even below 20%).  (Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health,; the standard measure is when Body mass index (BMI) is greater than 30 kg/m).

As a New York Times article pointed out: “The billions that we are spending to treat diabetes is money that we don’t have for education reform or retirement benefits …, it’s estimated that the total cost of America’s obesity epidemic could reach almost $1 trillion by 2030 ….”

It’s certain that even if you’re fit and of a healthy weight you either know or have family members that are a part of this trend.

For everyone’s good – What can you do about this?

  1. Encourage people to make healthy eating choices.  Many people don’t think about the effect of what they eat on their body and their health.   A former coworker lamented to me about his inability to lose weight, but always had a mid-morning snack of a can of Coke and a pack of frosted pop-tarts.   We worked through healthy alternatives that could be just as filling, last longer and not have all the bad effects of Coke and pop-tarts.
  2. Educate your family members about why you make the food choices you do.  Don’t be annoying or a know it all, but I believe that as people learn about healthy delicious alternatives and taste how good they are, they are more likely to make a healthy choice rather than dismiss healthy food as  “leaves and twigs”.
  3. Share your healthy foods and habits with others.  Whether it’s break time at work or a get-together with friends, provide good foods for friends to share with you.   Once people try ripe cherries, juicy mango, fresh ripe peaches, fresh cruchy apple slices, and other healthy choices some of the unhealthy choices don’t that much better than the healthy ones.

Questions about anything in this post?  Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear from you.

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“should you jump start a weight loss program with a cleanse or a juice fast?”

Today’s post answers a question that was submitted about a strategy for weight loss

“Should you jump start into a weight loss program with a cleanse such as a colon liver cleanse or a juice fast?”   This is an excellent question with a three part answer:

  1.  Jump start into a weight loss program – not a terrible idea.
    If you’ve decided to make a change to get healthier and lose weight – you can do a couple things to jump start the process.  It’s important to understand that it is just that – jump starting the process.Even more important is to begin to make sustainable lifestyle changes that will lead to a healthier you.   If you make temporary changes and just go back to the lifestyle habits (diet, exercise, sleep, etc.) that got you there in the first place, you’re likely to “rebound” and end up heavier and in worse shape than when you started.
  2. Colon or liver cleanse
    Great idea – if you’ve not focused on a healthy diet then you probably do have some junk in there to clean out.  There are a number of quick cleanse routines available that can help you get “junk” out and perhaps help you process fats and lose weight more efficiently.
  3. Juice fast
    Another good idea – but best if you incorporate some whole juices as a part of a new healthy lifestyle.
    There are several different ways to do this.  I recommend that you focus on fruit and vegetable juice combinations or various vegetable juice combinations.   You need to be careful with fruit and fructose in particular.   You body will store extra fructose as fat – the opposite of what you want when you’re trying to lose weight.

Finally, remember that you need to focus on changes as a part of a new healthy lifestyle.   Changes that you can’t sustain long term as a part of your lifestyle probably wont result in long term changes in your health and weight.

Focus on a healthy lifestyle, take small steps to improve your diet and make sure you incorporate exercise and physical activity and the weight loss will happen.

Questions about anything in this post?  Leave a comment below!

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Need another reason to consider organic foods?

The pesticides.

If for no other reason – this one should make the most sense.

Pesticides are chemicals such as fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. These chemicals are typically used quite liberally in conventional agriculture.   As noted in a previous post – the USDA organic label has stringent requirements, which include that synthetic fertilizers, prohibited pesticides, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used.

Organic does not mean pesticide free (unless labeled as such), but generally speaking most artificial pesticides are prohibited (the USDA has very stringent guidelines on prohibited pesticides when it comes to organic foods).   You will probably find that many organic farmers seek to minimize the use of all pesticides, even natural ones.

The concern I’m focusing on is pesticide residue that remains on and in food.
The President’s Cancer Panel in their statement on Environmental Factors on Cancer state:  “Many pesticides are known endocrine disruptors, and several in common use are known to cause mammary tumors in animals. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has concluded that some substances used in pesticides are known, probable, or possible human carcinogens.”

Probable, or possible human carcinogens.  For me, that phrase alone is enough to point me in the direction of foods that possibly or probably won’t contribute the possibility of developing cancer.

Cancer is a terrible and complicated disease or group of diseases with many possible causes, but I’m not interested in doing or ingesting anything is possibly or probably will contribute to the possibility of me developing it.

So – what do you do then?

1.  See the previous post about how to find organic food at reasonable prices.  One of the suggestions is to purchase locally and utilize local farmers markets.  This give you an opportunity about how the food was raised and prepared for market.

2.  Focus on the “dirty dozen”.  These are the dozen foods that are most likely to contain pesticide residue and therefore are the ones you should make sure on your list of organic foods:

Apples, Celery, Strawberries, Peaches, Spinach, Nectarines, Grapes, Sweet Bell Peppers, Potatoes, Blueberries, Lettuce, and Kale (and collard greens).

The Environmental Working Group has an excellent website detailing these foods and also those that are not as much of a concern.  I recommend that you use their list as a guide when shopping.

Finally, it’s important to remember that natural and organic are not interchangeable. Other truthful claims, such as free-range, hormone-free, and natural, can still appear on food labels even if the foods don’t meet the USDA organic labeling requirement. Don’t confuse these terms with organic as you may be not be buying what you think you are.

 

Questions about anything in this post?  Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear from you!

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how to get started on a healthy life style

how to get started on a healthy life style

This is one of the most frequent questions I get from people.

Here are three suggestions on how to start your way to a healthier lifestyle.

 

Begin to make a small change today. 

Don’t wait until tomorrow, don’t put it off – make a change today.
Many people go to the grave full of regret over things they wanted to do and changes they wish they had made.

I suggest that you start by making one small change you can sustain so that it becomes part of you lifestyle.  Too often people want to change everything at once and it’s unsustainable.   Two examples:  all the people who gets a gym membership as a New Year’s resolution but have stopped going by the end of January (or earlier!), and people who jump into a restrictive diet, fall out (because the can’t sustain it), binge, and end up worse than they started  (no carbs anyone??).   🙂
Realize that you are a whole person.

At some point, you have to address all aspects of your being:  physical, mental, and spiritual.  To have a truly healthy lifestyle and be healthy and balanced in any area you will have to balance in all areas.  This means looking at the things you eat, the activity you get, staying healthy from a mental standpoint, and working on the spiritual part of your being.  Again, I suggest that you start one small (sustainable) step at a time so that these changes become a part of your lifestyle.

Lifestyle

This really is the most important thing.

If you can’t or don’t or won’t sustain changes you make in your life, it won’t matter.

Quitting smoking for a week doesn’t matter if you go right back to your three pack a day habit.  Being on a diet for a week or a month or a year doesn’t matter if you go right back to the same lifestyle you had before the “diet”  (see diets don’t work).

Incorporate small changes, one step at a time, into your daily life so that they become a part of your lifestyle.  Make small changes, enjoy and experience the benefits, and layer on another change.   Every person is different, you might be able to make changes faster than others – or not.  What matters is that you make lasting changes to the way you live.

 

Questions about anything in this post – leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!