Weight loss and getting into shape is one of the most common New Years Resolutions. Many people have that same resolution every single year! And why? How come they just don’t get it done already??

Weight loss can be one of the most difficult things to accomplish. It really does take a commitment and many people are not willing to do what it takes to make that commitment.

But it is a wonderful thing for your health and it helps you to fit into your favorite jeans with ease. Who wouldn’t want to be in shape and be at a perfect weight. The aesthetic reasons alone motivate many of us but is it enough?

Why do you want to get into shape and lose weight? Is it more important than that extra helping of dinner every night? Can you remember your resolution when your kids bring home ice cream and candy? How about when Super Bowl Sunday rolls around, Can you remember your resolution and only eat a little bit of the mountains of food?

Can you make the commitment not only to eating less but to exercising more? How about when you stay up too late and you feel tired? Are you still going to go to the gym? Do you have a backup plan for when you do have to miss your workout? Have you thought of contingencies? Think it out, Think it through.

And take some time every day, just a short amount of time but do it everyday, to visualize and see yourself at your brand new weight. See yourself being in shape. Imagine pulling on those jeans with room to spare. See yourself in your own mind as successful. If you go there in the mind, you will go there in the body.

2007 can be the last year you need to make that resolution to lose weight and get in shape. Make it happen this year. You can do it.

There are people who seem to be able to gain weight just by inhaling. And then there are the super scawny people who can eat their entire body weight in food daily and still not gain a pound.

You probably know both kinds of people. I know I do.

But perhaps there is a reason for this phenomenon, I mean besides the basic unfairness of life. It turns out that obese people have higher levels of an unusually efficient bacteria that helps digest food. By unusually efficient, I mean that bacteria helps convert food into energy so if this is really true then your fat friend really is getting more calories from the same amount of food than your thin friend. If you ask them I’m sure they will tell you they knew it all along!

I’m sure this bacteria thing was great back in the days of famine, when there wasn’t enough food but now it is just a contributor to health problems, obesity and the clothing market. Because if someone eats lunch and their bacteria is so efficient that now their clothes no longer fit, they have to buy new ones. Except nobody likes to buy “fat clothes”.

The good news is that if this bacteria thing is really the case then there are all kinds of possibilities and ways to deal with it. Isn’t science a great thing?

Fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, legumes all words you may think to yourself what have these got in common? Well they are the support system of your body. Fruits and vegetables have lots of phytochemicals in them and you can get about 100 different phytochemicals per serving of fruits and vegetables. What are phytochemicals? Well the most commonly known phytochemicals is the antioxidant. Antioxidants help to protect our cells from toxic substances and free radicals. You want to keep your cells strong for the long haul of life ahead.

A lot of research has recently focused on how antioxidant vitamins may reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Antioxidant vitamins — E, C and beta carotene (a form of vitamin A) — have potential health-promoting properties.

Have you ever thought about foods that heal?

When was the last time you saw an animal in the wild that was obese? It doesn’t happen. Most wild animals have the eating for hunger and fuel thing down. Animals don’t get fat and obese until they become domesticated. How fat is your Dog? Do you own a “Fat Cat”?

A little over a year ago I wrote an article here about Intuitive Eating. There was a study done at BYU that found that eating intuitively could be more effective at lowering cholesterol levels, Body Mass Indexes and reducing the risks of cardiovascular diseases than many more typical diet plans.

The idea to eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full seems so much more natural. But how many of us are in tune with our bodies that we can really know when to eat, when to stop? It’s not that we don’t have the capability, but in our modern times of junk foods, abundance of foods, fast foods, food, food everywhere many of us have lost touch with the part of ourselves that is hungry. We often eat out of frustration, anxiety, loneliness, boredom. We no longer just eat because we are hungry and our bodies need fuel. Any old excuse to overindulge and eat will do.

Recently I came across another blog talking about this very thing. Craig Harper has come up with a wonderful plan about Intuitive eating that he calls The National Geographic Diet. The idea is to eat when you are hungry and your body needs fuel and to NOT eat for any other reason.

He is planning on doing a 28 day experiment and many other people have joined him. You can start anytime between now and January 1, 2007 and he will publish the results on his blog at the end of January. It will be interesting to hear about the results people get.

I may join him myself. I just have to figure out if I can hear the call of my own body over the din of the chocolate chip cookies!

Force: Force is defined as, “that which changes or tends to change the state of rest or motion in matter.” Another definition is, “that which changes or tends to change the velocity of an object.” When you are playing any game, the object may be an opposing player. Force may increase or decrease velocity in a moving object. The SI unit of force is the Newton (N).

Force must be applied to a ball or a tennis racket in order to bring about motion and/or increase velocity.

Work: Work is equivalent to the product of a force expressed and the distance of the displacement of an object. The SI unit of work is the joule (J). It is calculated as the force in Newton (N) multiplied by the distance in meters (m). One joule of work is equivalent to one Newton causing a displacement of one meter
(1 J = 1 N · 1 m).

If a person with a body mass of 85 kg exerts 833 N (9.8 N/kg) of downward force climbing a ladder to raise the body 0.25 m, the work is calculated as: 833 N · 0.25 m = 206.25 J

Some equations that can be useful

Work:

1 J = 0.7376 ft-lb

(1 ft-lb = 1.356 J)

Energy and Heat:

1 J = 2.390 cal

1 kJ = 2.390 kcal

(1 kcal = 4,184 J or 4.184 kJ)

In order to understand why it is important to lower cholesterol, it is necessary to first understand what cholesterol is. Cholesterol is a fatlike waxy substance and is produced by the liver. Although cholesterol has purposes and is important to overall health and body function, too much cholesterol in the body has damaging effects.

Cholesterol forms every cell within the body. When the cholesterol level is appropriate, it plays a life-giving role in many functions of the body. When cholesterol is at a good level it works to build and repair cells, produces hormones such as estrogen and testosterone, and produces bile acids which are proven to aid in the digestion of fat.

With too much cholesterol in the body, though, the levels build up and cause damage by clogging your arteries. This puts you at serious risk for disease such as heart and stroke. In fact, the major cause behind heart attacks and strokes is clogged arteries resulting from high levels of cholesterol.

When you eat saturated foods such as dairy, meat and eggs your cholesterol elevates. On the other hand when you eat foods such as fruits, vegetables, and grains you can maintain optimal health as they do not contain cholesterol.

High cholesterol can be avoided! With a nutritious diet, the 50% of all adult Americans with high cholesterol can regain their health and lower their risk of disease by 2%. This is done simply from reducing cholesterol by 1%.

Cholesterol can be managed for life with success! It is recommended that you visit your physician on a regular basis to keep a keen eye on your levels. As we progress with “30 days to lower cholesterol” you will learn healthy, alternative ways to manage your cholesterol without having to rely on medications.

The purpose of this ebook is to inform, educate and provide healthful options.

Understanding the Types of Cholesterol

While most people talk about “cholesterol levels” there is in fact more than one type of cholesterol. In fact, there are several different body functions and several different substances that make up our understanding of “cholesterol.”

As with some fats, cholesterol cannot be dissolved in the blood. Instead, molecules called lipoproteins carry cholesterol to and from cells. Molecules are made from an outer layer of protein and an inner core of both cholesterol and triglycerides, which is another form of fat.

Lipoproteins equip the cholesterol to move around the body. The two main types of lipoproteins are:

1) High Density Lipoproteins (HDL.)

• HDL transports cholesterol from cells back to the liver.

•HDL is either reused or converts to bile acids and disposed. This is known as “good” cholesterol. You want to ensure that your levels of this cholesterol remain high for optimum heart health, since having too low levels of HDL - even when other cholesterol levels are normal - may lead to heart problems. As you work to lower your “bad cholesterol” it is important to also take steps and to keep your HDL levels normal.

• HDL aids to ensure protection from the risk of heart attack and/or stroke. HDL consists of more protein than triglycerides or cholesterol, and aids to remove LDL from your artery walls.

2) Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL.)

•LDL carries approximately 60_70% of cholesterol around the body and are known as “bad” cholesterol.

• Studies show conclusively that high cholesterol leads to much higher risk of heart attack and/or stroke. Other factors involved in this risk are age, gender, smoking, family history of heart disease, and diabetes mellitus.

Obviously, when we speak of having “cholesterol levels” we mean more than one number. To maintain optimum health, you will need to know your levels of both LDL and HDL and will need to work hard to keep both levels in healthy ranges.

Understanding the Causes of High Cholesterol

Besides diet, other causes of high cholesterol are lifestyle, gender and the heritage of the individual.

For some, even maintaining cholesterol at the right levels and being fit and thin will still not prevent the development of high levels of bad cholesterol. Due to heart risk factors besides diet, some people require a very aggressive approach which includes cholesterol lowing medication. We will address this issue as we progress in “30 days to lowering cholesterol.”

Lifestyle issues and high cholesterol:

•When we opt for convenience in eating over nutrition, we are setting ourselves up for problems. Eating fast foods and convenience foods results in eating too many fats and salts, which can raise our bad cholesterol levels. In addition, a more sedentary lifestyle also contributes to unhealthy levels of cholesterol. If you want to see a graphic representation of this, consider renting the documentary movie “Supersize Me.” This documentary details the attempts of one man to live on fast foods and little exercise alone. The results on his cholesterol and body health in just 30 days are truly frightening.

•A visit to a nutritionist or dietician can help us all better understand eating for the right reasons and for optimal health. It is never too late to start on this path.

•Regular exercise will effectively lower cholesterol and will maintain your body strength to function best. Just 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, including walking, each day will lower cholesterol. Exercise does not have to be a large time or money commitment. Simple activities that get you moving and that you enjoy enough to repeat are almost always adequate.

Diet:

•An important consideration in eating is choosing lower fat.

•Buy cooking oils that are unsaturated. Use low fat cooking sprays to replace heavy oils whenever possible. Reduce your overall use of oils even further by using cooking techniques that require little or no oil.

Age and Gender:

•Cholesterol levels increase with age. Women generally have a lower level than men from age 50 to 55. Once a woman starts menopause, the cholesterol level starts to increase.

• While there is not much that you can do about your age, you can make sure that age does not threaten your heart health by sticking to a healthy lifestyle and diet and by getting your cholesterol levels monitored.

Heritage:

•Genetics play a key role in a person’s health and this includes the amount of cholesterol you might have.

•Find out if your family battles with high levels of cholesterol and then bring this to your doctor’s attention right away. If you have a family history of heart disease and high cholesterol levels, work harder and start earlier in adopting a healthy lifestyle and eating plan.

Every one of us must have done some sort of exercise at least once in our life. Have you ever gone beyond this story? What I meant is that, have you ever put an effort to study the enormous offstage preparations taking place underneath our skin to make it happen. I don’t think many of you will give a ‘yes’ nod to the above question. Let us use a little time to go beyond the skin and I am sure that you will give a cheerful pat to your own muscles on knowing these secrets (at least to you). Physical exercises are made possible by means of forces effectuated by the voluntary muscles of the body acting through the lever systems of the skeleton.

If you happened to be in a gym or bodywork station, you might end up with reading certain terms, which explain the maximum possible force or extension of that particular equipment. Many manufacturers of exercise equipment in the United States who continue to use the antiquated English System of measurement. Among two hundred nations of the world, the United States is the only country that continues to employ the English System (as a matter of fact, even England abandoned this system a number of years ago). Other than United States, an International System (SI) is universally accepted for measurement in the world of science and in everyday life. The basic units in use to measure the force, work, and power of exercise are Newton (N), joules (J), and watts (W), respectively.

What Happens When The Muscles Are Put To Action?

During the performance of an exercise, the recruitment of motor units for the purpose of developing force between the bony attachments of muscles may or may not yield in the shortening of the muscle and drawing together of the attachments. According to the relationship between the force brought about by activation (neural signal input) and that of an opposing force acting on the attachments of a muscle, the sarcomere movement may be either as shortening or lengthening, or there may be no change in the total muscle length. When external forces lengthen the muscle, muscle activation does not cause shortening but, instead, resists the lengthening.

The development of the muscle forces and their development and the prevailing external forces will result in muscle actions that produce static exercise or dynamic exercise. In static exercise, there is no movement about the related joints while in dynamic exercise there is an increase or decrease in joint angles. Static exercise of activated muscle is normally termed as isometric. Although, force is developed there is no movement and hence no work is performed. All the other muscle actions involve movement and are termed dynamic. The term concentric is used to categorize a shortening action and the term eccentric is used to identify a lengthening action.

The energy of physical exercise can be equated in terms of the potential energy of the biochemical substances utilized for muscular actions (essentially ATP, CP, carbohydrate, and fat), the actual release of this energy as muscle cells develop force, the heat generated, and the kinetic energy of the human body or objects used in an exercise routine or in a competitive sport.

In other words,
Metabolic Energy Release (J) = Work (J) + Heat (J)
The total energy manifested in actual performance results in work performed on the body itself, work performed on an object (such as a ball, while you are playing some game), or work performed on an opposing player (as in contact sports). Whatever energy, does not yield work turns up in the muscles and, subsequently, in other parts of the body as heat. The ratio of work performed to the energy utilized is termed as mechanical efficiency.

For example, a person who utilizes 1,500 J of energy to perform 500 J of work on a cycle ergo meter develops 1,000 J of heat in the body that must be dissipated to retain normal body temperature. Dividing 500 J of work by the 1,500 J of energy utilized (and multiplied by 100 to express as a percentage) results in the determination that the person’s mechanical efficiency for the exercise was 33.33 %.

My next post will show how to measure exercise performance.

In fruits and vegetables you can tell which of the main phytochemicals they contain by their color.

Fruits and vegetables that are orange in color, such as carrots, cantaloupes and mangoes contain beta carotene.

Those that are red in color, such as tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit contain lycopene.

Yellow fruits and vegetables such as pineapples, oranges, & peaches contain beta cryptothanxin.

Indoles can be found in the green vegetables, broccoli, cabbage, and kale.

Purple fruits and vegetables such as blueberries, grapes, and eggplant contain anthocyanins.

Allicin can be found in garlic, onions, and chives.