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The Sequoia Advisor
IN THIS ISSUE June 1st 2011
- The Truth About Exercise and Your Weight
- Food Label Sticker Shock
- NV Osteoporosis Resource Center Opens Soon!
- Keep Pets Away From Lawn Chemicals
- New Updates on the Marodyne LIV Tablet
- Kate's My Healthy Way Blog
Feel Better... Live Better
The Truth About Exercise and Your Weight
By Woody McMahon
Fitness Fables
The latest research on exercise and weight loss is turning up some
interesting trends. For the longest time exercise has been championed as
one of the most important fat burning tools available and frequently
linked to successful weight loss. That has left countless people spending
endless hours trying to burn calories in an effort to lose weight. It
turns out that you do need to reduce excess calories to lose weight but
exercise is not the best tool for that job. It also turns out that in many
cases exercise can actually increase appetite and food intake rather than
decreasing it. So do you really need to exercise to successfully lose
weight or can you just reduce calories to get the job done?
You Can't Burn Enough Calories
Exercise is generally held out as a good way to burn calories to ensure
weight loss. But current research shows that exercise is a poor calorie
burner for most people. While it can take only a few minutes to eat 500 to
1000 calories; it requires 4 to 5 hours for the average person to "burn
off" those same calories. The average person cannot exercise 4 or 5 hours
a day so calorie reduction is the only real way to lose weight. Research
shows that exercise has an important role in assisting in reducing your
appetite (if the exercise is not too strenuous) and lowering stress
levels. Both are important in reaching a healthy weight.
Increasing Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
BMR is a measure of the number of calories you need to breathe, sleep,
digest your food, pump blood from your heart and many other vital
functions. It is a measure of how much energy your "body machine" needs
to run. The BMR of a sedentary person is almost always lower than that of
someone who exercises because of the differences in muscles mass. To
successfully lose weight, you want the highest BMR possible. The higher
your BMR, the more fuel (calories) your body needs every hour of the day.
So regular exercise does help to raise your BMR by increasing the amount
of muscle you have on your body (lean body mass).
Helping to Maintain a Healthy Weight
The latest research has also shown that people who keep their weight off
the longest or even permanently spend 3 to 5 hours a week in a regular
exercise program. Non-regular exercisers generally are unable to stabilize
their weight and gain back more than they initially lost. Regular exercise
also has a strong effect on insulin and cortisol; two important weight
loss hormones. By increasing muscle mass, exercise helps keep hormones in
balance, allows your body to utilize calories more efficient and raises
your BMR which ultimately aids in your long-term weight maintenance.
Fitness as a Health Tool
Research continues to show that a regular exercise program is still your
best health improvement tool yielding an ever increasing list of benefits.
Better balance, improved posture, lower blood pressure, more energy,
elevated mood, improved sex life and better digestion are only a handful
of the benefits that come from a regular exercise. Exercise can do more
to improve your health than any known medication or supplement.
Always remember that successful exercise programs are fun, social and
sustainable over the long-term while providing for measurable physical
and mental changes.
Fitness in Its Proper Place
So appears that exercise is an important health tool aiding in weight
loss by increasing BMR, balancing hormones and reducing stress. Based on
the latest research, your exercise program should spend more time building
muscle with weights, bands and balls and less trying to "burn calories" on
a treadmill or elliptical machine. Additionally, time on the treadmill and
elliptical machines will not improve your balance which is key if you are
over 50. It is still important to build good cardiovascular fitness but
that can easily be integrated into a good functional, full body exercise
program.
Commit to working out the way your body works and you will see faster,
more long term weight loss with much less effort.
Would you like to reduce stress and improve your bone health but
don't know where to start? I provide an easy to follow program called
Be Bone Strong! that helps improve your bone health, posture, balance
and strength while reducing fracture risk. Contact me anytime for a
no cost consultation at 703-628-2880 or email to
woody@sequoiahealth.com.
Food Label Sticker Shock
by Woody McMahon
Read On
By law, all foods must be labeled to show the ingredients and nutritional
content. Food labels, also called Nutritional Information, are found on
the side or back of all foods. They are a valuable source of information
when you are trying to start a healthier eating plan. So whether you want
to lose or gain weight, increase your protein and calcium intake, reduce
excess sugar and salt or monitor fat, learning how to use the food label
will be helpful in making healthier food choices. Let's explore some of
the valuable information available right on the food itself.
Serving Size
Portions are the clear villain if you are having trouble losing or
gaining weight. Fortunately, the food label has what is called Serving
Size which gives you important information about food portions right on
the package. The Serving Size, generally measured in cups, ounces or piece
count, is the amount of food that is considered to be one serving. So as
an example, a serving size of nuts will be listed as 8 pieces, crackers as
9 crackers and mixed vegetables as ½ a cup. Most people who are overeating
will generally eat two or three times the recommended portion size and not
really know it. Sticking to the serving size helps you easily balance your
eating plan.
Calorie Density
Now you know that choosing healthier foods and controlling their portions
is the best way to reach and maintain a healthy weight. The food label can
also indirectly tell you about Calorie Density; a measure of the number of
calories per portion. This number is not directly listed but you can
calculate it by looking at the portion and comparing it to the calorie
content. So as an example, let's look at the Calorie Density of an apple
and a piece of cake. Given the same serving size, the apple is less
calorie dense than the piece of cake. This means that you can eat a much
larger portion of apple for the same number of calories as the cake. This
is actually true for most fruits and vegetables because of their water and
fiber content. Eating more fruits and vegetables is not only good for your
body; the higher volume of food makes it easier to feel full at the end of
your meal.
Sodium Content
Sodium content is another good food label value to monitor. Too much
sodium has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease, high blood
pressure and stroke as well as promoting overeating and loss of water from
your body. Sodium along with chloride combine to form salt, a food
additive that is considered to be a flavor enhancer. Typically, processed
and pre-prepared foods have higher sodium levels than other foods to make
the food taste better. Of course, if the food tastes too good there is a
good chance you'll eat more than is really need. It is better to limit the
amount of foods that have higher than 500mg per serving sodium content.
Fat Content
Eating the right kind of fat is important to good health. With the "low
fat" craziness of the 1980's and 90's, fat was seem as a villain. But in
fact, fat is very important for numerous body functions including rate of
metabolism, satiety and healthy skin. The trouble is the fats that have
many helpful functions in your body from maintaining a healthy cell wall,
acting as precursors to most of the hormones, healing and weight loss are
easily destroyed by light and heat. Today the research supports a balanced
approach to fats in your diet. Keeping fats at 30 to 35% of your total
daily intake is easy if you eat lots of fruits and vegetables at every
meal.
Try using food labels as a simple guide to making better food choices and
helping make healthier eating easier.
Try these healthy lifestyle changes for 30 days. Feel what it is like to be
a part of the health solution rather than a health burden. If you need
additional suggestions and advice on living a healthier lifestyle, email or
call me for a no cost consultation, at 703-628-2880 or email to
woody@sequoiahealth.com.
Osteoporosis Support News
Osteoporosis Resource Center Opens Soon!
The Northern Virginia Osteoporosis Resource Center is scheduled to
open sometime early this September. It will be one the first of its kind
offering BoneSafeTM clinics, activity classes and consultations for people
with osteoporosis, osteopenia and other bone health problems.
You can read more about The NV Osteoporosis Resource Center at:
http://sequoiahealth.com/osteo resource center
Don't forget about our new Posture Perfect! classes that are forming
right now for 2011. Please call Woody McMahon at 703-628-2880 or
email to woody@sequoiahealth.com for more information, class times
and reservations.
Pets and People
Keep Pets Away from Lawn Chemicals
By Ingrid King
While a green lawn is pretty to look at, you should think twice about how
you go about achieving that lush, green look. The pesticides used in lawns
and gardens are hazardous, and can even be deadly, to pets. Pets absorb
pesticides through their paws or lick them off their bodies. In addition,
pets can be exposed to pesticides when they eat grass.
Some of the chemicals found in herbicides are also brought indoors on
your shoes. An EPA funded study in 2001 found that 2,4-D and dicamba (a
chemical used in herbicides) are easily tracked indoors, contaminating the
air and surfaces inside residences and exposing children and pets at
levels ten times higher than pre-application levels.
This should be enough to make any pet owner think twice about using
chemical fertilizers. There are plenty of natural and organic alternatives
to these chemicals that are not only safer for your pets, but also
friendlier to the environment.
Insecticide and pesticide poisoning is always an emergency situation and
requires immediate veterinary attention. Symptoms of insecticide poisoning
are:
· Excessive salivation · Tearing of the eyes · Excessive urination
· Muscle twitching · Weakness · Difficult breathing · Collapse · Nausea
· Vomiting · Abdominal pain · Weakness · Dizziness · Unsteady gait
Repeated exposure to phenoxy herbicides (such as 2,4-D) may affect the
liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract and skeletal muscles. Some
pesticides contain chlorophenoxy acids and are poisonous to the blood,
leading to anemia, neutropenia (low white blood cell count),
thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), and feline distemper.
Don't put your pets' health at risk - look for natural alternatives to
keep your lawn green and your yard weed-free. GreenerChoices.org
offers resources for better choices.
(c) Ingrid King 2011
Ingrid King is a former veterinary hospital manager turned writer. She is
the author of Buckley's Story - Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher. Her
online magazine News for You and Your Pet goes out to subscribers around
the world. Her blog, The Conscious Cat, has been called "educational cat
nip for the cat lover" and is a comprehensive resource for conscious
living, health and happiness for pets and their people. For more
information about Ingrid, please visit http://www.ingridking.com
Marodyne LIV Tablet Update
Sara and I are just about ready to start recording our 24 Podcasts
for the LIVe Again! Podcast series. For your enjoyment, this
series will come FREE with every LIV Tablet. This is a great bone
health audio series that really helps to simplify, demystify and
make your bone health program much easier.
LIVe Again! is a complete, effective and easy to follow healthy
lifestyle program designed to take the guesswork and worry out
of improving the health of your bones.
Each Marodyne LIV Tablet will come with the 24 Podcasts that
you can listen to while using your tablet. The information provided
is a powerful bone health program that you can follow with
confidence.
There will also be additional information on the LIVTherapy.com
website to help you create the best and most complete bone
health program possible. I will be testing and collecting data on
the Marodyne in my office. I will also be supporting a colleague of
mine who is selling the LIV Tablet by offering a free bone health
consultation to anyone who buys the device from him.
Stay tuned for more updates. Feel free to email us with your
questions at woody@sequoiahealth.com.
Continued Good Health,
Woody
Woody McMahon
The Sequoia Advisor
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Sequoia Health and Fitness, Inc.
483A Carlisle Drive
Herndon, VA
20170
Required Disclaimer: The material provided herein should not be construed
as a health-care diagnosis, treatment regimen or any other prescribed
health-care advice or instruction. The material is provided with the
understanding that the publisher is not engaged in the practice of medicine
or any other health-care profession and does not enter into a health-care
practitioner/patient relationship with its readers. The publisher does not
advise or recommend to its readers treatment or action with regard to
matters relating to their health or well-being other than suggesting that
readers consult appropriate health-care professionals in such matters. No
action should be taken based solely on the content of this publication. The
material and opinions provided herein are believed to be accurate and sound
at the time of publication, based on the best judgment available to the
authors. However, readers who rely on material in this publication to
replace the advice of health-care professionals, or who fail to consult
with health-care professionals, assume all risks of such conduct. The
publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions.
Copyright (c) 2006-2011 by Sequoia Health and Fitness, Inc.
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