Encouraging Health

lady Michelle Obama has a fashion following, with blogs tracking her daily garment choices.

Those toned arms are becoming a trademark. And a source of inspiration for some women.

Rylan Duggan, a personal trainer who runs Go Sleeveless, a blog that instructs women how to tone up flabby arms and “eliminate bat wings,” said that in addition to asking how to get “Madonna arms” or “Kelly Ripa arms,” clients are now asking about getting “Obama arms.”

“The Obama effect has been that women of all ages have been inspired to take responsibility for their health and their body,” said Duggan. “As the first lady of the United States, at 44 years old, and with two young children, Mrs. Obama has shown the world that you are never too busy to take care of yourself and look good doing it too,” he said.

Exercise advocates are also fans. “She’s a great role model,” said Jessica Matthews, a continuing education coordinator for the American Council on Exercise. “Women shy away from strength training, because they’re afraid of big muscles. She shows nice toned arms and that it’s not going to lead to this myth of a bodybuilder type.”

Women don’t have the hormones to develop huge muscles by strength training, unless they’re working out to an extreme or taking steroids, Matthews said.

Obama has said she exercises in 90-minute workout three times a week with a personal trainer. The first lady told People magazine that during an average day in the White House, she and the president get up at 5:30 a.m. and usually work out and have breakfast.

“Black America, Body Beautiful: How the African American Image is Changing Fashion, Fitness, and Other Industries”, by Eric J. Bailey (Praeger Publishers, 176 pages)is an easy read that covers a wide variety and range of subjects. It’s because if the wide scope of subjects that the Author tries to encapsulate in this book, that there isn’t enough pages to fully understand and appreciate each chapter. There is the feeling that each individual chapter could be an entire separate book of themselves; the individual chapters themselves read like research summaries, attests to the Author’s well-meaning and intent.

At times during the book, the Author falls back on the well-worn path of cries of racism that fail to further the books’ goal of a positive, healthy, forward looking and thinking Black Body Image. There is much to be learned from slavery and racism, but it is unknown if the wide encapsulation of subjects of this book was meant to include them. Several of the subjects the Author covers are areas that are of unintended or unknown ’slaps in the face’ of African Americans by European Americans.

The books’ “feel-good” aura is somewhat diminished by this underlying theme.

What does come through, bright and shining, is the intended consequence of how positive and healthy Black Women are feeling and redefining themselves as a result of the power they hold over their own misconceptions of what it means to be Black and Beautiful.

This constant reinterpretation within and without the African American/Black communities are overwhelmingly positive forces for America, as a whole. This is the main point the Author is driving home and what should be taken from this fantastic discourse on African American Culture, Pride, Self-Image and History.

In response to America’s GROWING obesity epidemic, the government increased the ‘minimum’ time of daily exercise from 30 to 50 minutes.

In a 2001 position paper, the ACSM recommended a minimum of 150 minutes per week (roughly 30 minutes per day 5 times per week) of moderate-intensity physical activity for overweight and obese adults to improve health; however, 200 to 300 minutes per week was recommended for long-term weight loss.

“More recent evidence has supported this recommendation and has indicated that more physical activity may be necessary to prevent weight regain after weight loss,” reads the ACSM’s position paper published in the latest issue of the College’s journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Specifically, evidence published after 1999 indicates that between 150 and 250 minutes per week of moderate intensity physical activity is effective in preventing weight gain greater than 3% in most adults but will provide “only modest” weight loss.

Greater amounts of weekly physical activity — in the order of 250 minutes or more per week — have been associated with “significant” weight loss, the ACSM notes. Overweight and obese adults will most likely lose more weight and keep it off with at least 250 minutes per week of exercise.

The ACSM also recommends strength training as part of a health and fitness regimen. “Resistance training does not enhance weight loss but may increase fat-free mass and increase loss of fat mass and is associated with reductions in health risk,” the writing committee notes.

Dieting combined with increased physical activity will increase weight loss as compared to dieting alone.

Break out those tennis shoes and walk for an hour a day, then lift some weights each day, to get your metabolism up and running.

Whenever your circadian rhytym says so!

What is Circadian Rhythm? Here is the official definition:

Our Living Language : The circadian rhythm, present in humans and most other animals, is generated by an internal clock that is synchronized to light-dark cycles and other cues in an organism’s environment. This internal clock accounts for waking up at the same time every day even without an alarm clock. It also causes nocturnal animals to function at night when diurnal creatures are at rest. Circadian rhythms can be disrupted by changes in daily schedule. Biologists have observed that birds exposed to artificial light for a long time sometimes build nests in the fall instead of the spring. While the process underlying circadian rhythm is still being investigated, it is known to be controlled mainly by the release of hormones. In humans, the internal clock is located within the brain’s hypothalamus and pineal gland, which releases melatonin in response to the information it receives from photoreceptors in the retina. Nighttime causes melatonin secretion to rise, while daylight inhibits it. Even when light cues are absent, melatonin is still released in a cyclical manner.

In the afternoon or early evening, your core temperature is warmer. A warm core makes your muscles and joints more supple, which helps you avoid strains and sprains. That makes afternoon or early evening ideal for exercises that tap your muscles, like strength training, stretching, and interval workouts.

Mornings Are for Endurance
On the other hand, if endurance activities are more your speed — long brisk walks or bike rides — morning may be better. Your body’s core is cooler early in the day, which can make endurance activities seem less tiring. And there is less risk of overheating. But a good warm-up will be key, since your muscles are likely to be stiffer in the a.m.

Check out this walking video from Real Age!

Man asks CNN’s Dr. Melina Jampolis, Physician Nutrition Specialist, how to get rid of his spare tire.

This is a question i’ve seen all over the internet, and Dr. Jampolis give a fantastic, succinct answer. I’m right there with you, buddy.

I have been working out religiously and eating very healthy for the past six months and have lost about 25 pounds, now down to 170. I am 5 feet 9. However, I am still having a difficult time getting the area around my stomach trimmed down. It is so frustrating to keep losing weight but not see the “spare tire” go away. My question is, what should be my ideal weight, and what suggestions do you have to focus that weight loss on my midsection? My workouts consist of running on the treadmill, various ab exercises and some light to moderate weight training. Thank you.

Expert answer
Hi, Steve. Congratulations on losing 25 pounds. You are already much healthier despite the frustration with your remaining “spare tire.” Your BMI (body mass index), which is a simple calculation of your weight relative to your weight and is a good indicator of total body fat and disease risk, is 25.1. Normal BMI is 18.5-24.9 so you are just a few pounds overweight, according to government criteria, so losing a few more pounds is reasonable. To lose those last few pounds and keep them off, here are a few suggestions:

1. Change the intensity or duration of your running workout to boost calorie burning. Your body may have become accustomed to your current workout and may not be burning as many calories as it did when you were less fit and weighed more. You could run for an extra 10 to 15 minutes several times per week, add a slight incline to your run or try interval training (adding five to 10 30- to 60-second “sprints” during your regular run). This can boost calorie burning and may help you take off those last few pounds.

2. Increase the intensity of your weight training. Building muscle can help burn more calories 24 hours a day, giving you a big metabolic boost. It can also help offset the muscle loss associated with aging (about 3 percent per decade).

3. Measure your waist. If your waist is greater than 40 inches, you might consider cutting back on carbohydrates somewhat, especially processed and sugary carbs, to get rid of those last few pounds in the belly area. Carrying extra weight around your waist can be associated with a decreased tolerance for carbohydrates, so cutting back on carbohydrates may help you lose weight more easily, especially stubborn belly fat.

Hope this helps. Good luck and keep up the good work.

Not just a BMI (body mass index) calculator, this one calculates BMI and Body Shape.

Your measurements may come as a shock. Mine certainly did! The new twist here is body shape. WebMD’s calculator give Your Waist-to-Height Ratio, recommended below .50. Mine was .43 and my BMI is 22.9, so i’m healthy (but still have belly fat to lose).

This is a great new tool for people to find out how their exercise and dietary guidelines are helping them. If anything is off, they give tips and hints on how to tweak your lifestyle, with their other interactive items like the Food & Fitness Planner, Diet Health Check and even has a Diet Buddies section to help you find someone to commisserate…er…support you in your quest for a more healthy lifestyle.

Health takes hard work, determination and dedication. Lately I’ve become complacent and need to crack that whip on myself. Would be nice to find some walking buddies here in Seattle, I must admit. Love walking along the waterfront and around downtown Seattle. So much to see and do. I know, there’s no excuse.

What are the risks of belly fat? Read on!

How Does Belly Fat Harm You?
Belly fat doesn’t just lay idle at your beltline. Researchers describe it as an active “organ” in your body — one that churns out hormones and inflammatory substances.

“Abdominal fat is thought to break down easily into fatty acids, which flow directly into the liver and into muscle,” says Lewis Kuller, MD, DPH, professor and past chair of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health.

When these excess fatty acids drain into the liver, they trigger a chain reaction of changes — increasing the production of LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol and triglycerides. During this time insulin can also become less effective in controlling blood sugar, so insulin resistance sets in, he explains.

Blood sugars start to get out of balance. Fats and clots get into the bloodstream, and that sets the stage for diabetes, heart disease, and more.

And research shows that abdominal fat triggers a change in angiotensin, a hormone that controls blood vessel constriction — increasing the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attack, Kuller explains.

Taking more exercise and eating the right foods may help increase levels of an enzyme vital for guarding against age-related cell damage, work suggests.

Among 24 men asked to adopt healthy lifestyle changes for a US study in The Lancet Oncology, levels of telomerase increased by 29% on average.

Telomerase repairs and lengthens telomeres, which cap and protect the ends of chromosomes housing DNA.

As people age, telomeres shorten and cells become more susceptible to dying.

It is the damage and death of cells that causes ageing and disease in people.

Several factors such as smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are associated with shorter-than-average telomeres.

Professor Dean Ornish, from the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in California, and his team wanted to find out if improvements in diet and lifestyle might have the opposite effect.

They asked 30 men, all with low-risk prostate cancers, to take part in a three-month trial of comprehensive lifestyle changes.

These consisted of a diet high in fruit and vegetables, supplements of vitamins and fish oils, an exercise regimen and classes in stress management, relaxation techniques and breathing exercises.

Telomerase activity was measured at the beginning of the trial and again at the end.

Among the 24 men who had sufficient data for analysis, blood levels of telomerase increased by 29% on average.

Increases in telomerase activity were linked with decreases in “bad” LDL cholesterol and decreases in one measure of stress - intrusive thoughts.

The researchers say it is too early to tell if the boost in telomerase levels will translate to a change in telomere length.

But there is evidence to suggest that telomere shortness and low telomerase activity might be important risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease.

“This might be a powerful motivator for many people to beneficially change their diet and lifestyle,” they told The Lancet Oncology.

Professor Tim Spector, from King’s College London, who has been researching ageing and telomeres, said: “This work builds on what we already know.

Nope, it’s not a time machine you need if you want to be a decade younger. It’s a treadmill. Or a bike. Or just a good pair of sneakers.

That’s right. The most physically active folks in a recent study showed signs of being as much as 10 years younger on a cellular level.

Go Long on Protection
How does exercise do that? By keeping your telomeres long and healthy. What on earth are those, you ask? Simple. They’re like the plastic tips on shoelaces. But in your body, they cap the ends of the DNA strands (chromosomes) in all your cells. Over time, your telomeres can shorten to the point where cells stop regenerating, and even die (think accelerated aging). Shortened telomeres also leave your chromosomes vulnerable to the kind of damage that may trigger diseases such as cancer. (Here’s a whole slew of ways to keep your telomeres from getting shorter.)

Running from Old Age
The fact that exercise keeps your cells renewing themselves and protects your DNA is good motivation to get out there. But if you need another push:

To get the results you want from a workout, holding your body in a proper position is just as important as the workout itself. Doing exercises correctly will help you:

• Burn fat
• Reduce stress
• Improve health
• Decrease your waist size

And you can do it all without bulking up to the size of a Miami condo.
No matter what moves you’re doing, from a push-up to a lunge, try to follow these 10 form guidelines.
(If possible, use a full-length mirror to check the position of your body.)

1. Look out at eye level or above to spare your neck and keep you from rolling your shoulders forward.

2. Keep your face relaxed and tension free.

3. Relax your shoulders and lift up your chest.

4. Pretend the top of your head is being pulled up by a string to elongate your spine and keep you from rolling forward.

5. Count the reps for each exercise out loud; counting helps you remember to breathe continuously. (Many people hold their breath while doing strength training.)

6. Keep your abs tight to support your lower back. (Practice sucking in every time you enter a car, bus, train, plane, elevator, escalator, everywhere — that way, it becomes automatic.)

7. Keep your knees slightly bent, so you don’t lock them.

8. Make sure you can (if you want to) always see your hands when doing shoulder exercises.

9. Keep moving in between exercises to keep your heart rate up, or move directly to the next exercise. If you can’t hold a conversation, you’re exercising too hard. If you can talk a blue streak, you may not be going hard enough.

10. As you get fitter, go longer rather than harder with cardio exercises, and stronger with weight exercises — that is, do more repetitions. But it’s more important to follow perfect form and do fewer reps than to do a lot of repetitions with form that’s sloppier than spaghetti in a high chair.

For one 21-year-old muscle man, the quest to build a perfect body ended in grotesque, lifelong scars.

Doctors were shocked when the young man came into their Dusseldorf clinic with one of the worst cases of acne conglobata any of them had ever seen: His chest and upper back were canvassed in craterlike ulcers and abscesses oozing with pus.

“He had these deep, ulcerating lesions with bloody crusts,” says Dr. Peter Arne Gerber, a dermatologist who treated the young man at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, Germany. Adding insult to injury, the poor young man’s sperm count had plummeted and his testicles were in a sad little shrunken state.

“For me, personally, it was the worst case that I had ever observed,” says Gerber, who wrote an article about the case study that appeared in a recent issue of the medical journal The Lancet.

He and his colleagues immediately suspected the young amateur body builder was abusing steroids, because acne is a typical reaction to rampant roid usage.

“Steroids increase the amount of sebum, or oil, production from the sebaceous gland, and acne is a bacteria that thrives on the sebum,” says Dr. Bruce Robinson, a Manhattan dermatologist who represents the American Academy of Dermatology.

Robinson describes the sebaceous gland’s normal oil offering as a light lunch for a few bacteria, but steroid users’ glands produce enough sebum to provide the bacteria with a lavish oily feast to which they invite all of their friends. “That results in this explosive steroid acne,” he explains.

It took a persistent amount of badgering, but the amateur bodybuilder finally admitted his doping habits: He’d been using two types of anabolic steroids twice a week for several months, and the high dosage and long-term usage kicked his bloody brand of acne up a notch.

Happily, his manhood issues – the tiny testicles and paltry sperm count – returned to normal after he quit using the steroids. But Gerber says the lesions, ulcers and abscesses that covered his unfortunate upper torso crept deep into the skin’s basal membrane, the cell layer that separates the outer skin from the deeper dermis. And when that happens, from acne or any kind of damage to the skin, scarring is inevitable.

Just one more reason to stay off the juice, kids.

Check out Write Anyway’s Random Word Bank Wednesday

Know those little aches and pains you feel in the morning? You could do something right now to keep them from getting worse when you’re older.

Just jump to it. Okay, you don’t have to literally jump. But do be active. People who pick up their feet and commit to regular aerobic exercise have much less muscle and joint pain as they age.

How Much Less?
A 14-year study that followed a healthy over-60 crowd found that consistent exercise — be it running, biking, swimming, dancing, or brisk walking — led to as much as 25 percent less musculoskeletal pain down the road. Yes, even with the high-impact runners. Researchers aren’t sure why, but they suspect that exercise’s endorphin release may play a role.

Looking Ahead
Less pain when you’re older means a more active and independent life. Here are a few other ways to lower your risk of chronic future aches:
Hit the mat. Yoga boosts endorphins and improves flexibility and joint-supporting strength.

Cross-train. Mixing up your activities helps keep your back in good shape.

Have a cup or two . . . of green tea.

Bone loss, back pain, high cholesterol . . . very different problems. But there’s a single solution.

It’s cross-training. Research shows that increasing the variety of exercises you do increases the range of benefits you get. The triple reward for consistently mixing it up: stronger bones, a limber back, and a healthier cholesterol profile.

When women who went through menopause early combined a number of different physical activities — from strength training to jumping rope — the results were clear: broadening their fitness menu expanded their physical benefits. After 2 years of doing cross-training workouts at varying speeds and intensities, the women had increased their bone mass, boosted their muscle strength, reduced their back pain, and improved their cholesterol profiles.

The lesson for everyone: The more you mix up your workouts, the more rewards you’re likely to reap. And adding variety helps keep your interest up, too. Doing yoga or Pilates, jogging, hiking, lifting weights, biking, playing racquetball or golf, jumping rope, dancing, walking, swimming . . . it’s hard to get bored when you have so many get-moving options.

Check out Watching Simpsonsand find out what blogger Richard Ristow means when he writes ‘x-files meets simpsons’.