Many of us our clued in on checking our body mass index (BMI)to determine if we need to watch our weight and that is a good indicator of healthy weight but we may also need to be checking our waist line measurements. When you carry excess weight around your middle your risk for many conditions goes up.
You’ve been doing great watching what you eat, making healthy choices, maintaining a good exercise routine. But what happens when you travel? For some of us that is just a couple times per year and we are able to self correct any back sliding when we get back home but for others travel happens regularly and sticking to any kind of diet and exercise seems impossible. Below are some healthy ideas you may want to consider when you are traveling. These ideas should help you maintain a healthy lifestyle even while you are on the road.
The “Farm-to-Table” movement, the “Slow Food” movement and “Community Supported Agriculture” (CSA) are all trying to get you to do one thing; eat locally. That means you purchase food direct from the grower; consuming food that is grown in a radius of 100miles from where you live.
I have one of those noisy stomachs that can sound not only like an alien but a whole alien invasion. And it doesn’t happen when I am hungry announcing to one and all that I need to eat, it happens just after I have eaten. My family has always gotten a kick out of it, so it is only an embarrassment when I am in a real quiet setting; church, business meeting, or library. Where does stomach noise come from?
Functional Foods are processed foods that claim to have a health-promoting or a disease prevention benefit beyond basic nutrition. For example “calcium fortified” orange juice, water that contains added vitamins, Vitamin D added to milk, and cereals with added vitamins and minerals that are sprayed on the cereal itself. In recent years there have been a flood of new fortified foods on the market. While these seem to be highly profitable for food manufacturers, are they all that beneficial to our health?
We will approach this interview as if we have someone who wants to lose weight. Our guest expert has a diverse background. His credentials include personal trainer certification, 26 years of fitness experience as well as several awards as a body builder and owner of his own gym. Using the experience and expertise of our guest, we are going to explore the different things that our client needs to do to get started. We will use a Q (Question) and A (Answer) format.
Q - What is the average weight that people want to lose in your health club?
A -For most people it’s anywhere from 10 to 50 pounds.
Q - Is age a factor when considering a weight loss program and if so, what should be taken into consideration?
A - Yes age would be a factor because metabolism slows down, as you get older.
Q - Is there any such thing as too old?
A - No, especially with older women.
Q - Is there a difference in weight loss plans between male and females?
A - Men can build more muscle mass and women carry more body fat. Women don’t carry as much lean muscle mass and so it can be a little harder for them to lose body fat.
Q - How do you assess a person’s current fitness level?
A - I measure: blood pressure, resting heart rate, body composition which is body fat and lean muscle mass, I also try to find out what their cardiovascular ability is and I go through a strength ability test. I also go through strength as far as how many pushups they can do and I give them a whole printout that targets what is normal for your age as far as are you normal or below normal and your blood pressure and your cardiovascular ability and strength ability. It will show you everything. Then you can do it 60-90 days from the start and see the improvement. I think that is the reason why a lot of people end up quitting. Because they don’t know where they are and this helps them see the improvement.
If you haven’t already, take the fitness assessment at www.HealthStatus.com to rate your current fitness level.
Q - Do you recommend that someone joins a gym or a health club?
A - As beginners yes I do, because they don’t know what exercises to do or how to do the exercises properly. As far as nutrition are they getting enough calories or too many, are they getting enough cardiovascular activity and are they getting in the target zone that they need to be at? There are a lot of variables in that and they don’t know if they are making any progress.
Q - Can you tell me how do you recommend that someone go about selecting a health club or gym? Are there certain things they should look for?
A - I would say they need to look for how much help they are going to get besides a personal trainer. If they walk into the gym are they going to put them on a program? Will there be someone to help them with the workout. This is where the personal trainer comes in. You don’t want to go somewhere that just shows you what to do and moves on. You need to have your progression checked and help with when to go heavier on the weights.
Q - What should a person expect from a membership?
A - A beginning program and people who will be there to show the equipment and how to use it and to know where they are going. It is important to have skilled staff on hand that knows what they are talking about. When I owned my gym it wasn’t once or twice I was taking people through. I was always watching and if they were doing something wrong I would have to go over there and correct them. Because once they develop a habit it is really hard to break. You know what they can end up getting hurt if they are doing something wrong. Most people won’t ask for help so you just have to watch.
Q - Are there any warnings our client should heed before undertaking a weight loss program?
A - Yes, their physical health. It’s important just to make sure that they are healthy enough for physical activity. I would recommend a physical.
Q - If they go to the doctor what might come up that indicates a weight loss program would not be advisable at that time?
A – Heart problems.
Q - What other types of exercises do you recommend?
A - Well aerobic exercise is going to help burn more body fat. It takes more oxygen to do more work. The more oxygen you can take in the more work you can do. That can help with daily activities as well.
Q - If someone is really serious what is the single most important piece of equipment you recommend they have?
A - That’s kind of a hard question. It depends on what they prefer. Something that you can use for upper body and legs, a treadmill is good. You’re moving your arms and legs. The elliptical machine is good as well. A good treadmill or something like that would cost about $1000.
Q - What is the importance of a good nutrition plan to weight loss?
A - Really it’s the only way you can lose weight. You want to go low fat and a good 3-course meal. You need both carbohydrates and protein.
Q - There is so much out there like the Atkins and the South Beach. What do you think about the places like Jenny Craig who sell you the food?
A - Well I don’t really know much about it but it’s mainly just a moneymaking opportunity that I’ve seen.
There was a guy that I had not seen for some time and he just kept getting thinner and thinner. He was doing Atkins and he didn’t think he was getting thinner he thought he was getting leaner. He said that he wasn’t eating carbs and just protein. I told him to pick up the carbs and you will see it in the metabolism. I think that is what is happening with the low carb diets. Sure, they are bringing down the calories but that in turn slows down the metabolism.
Cutting calories is not the whole answer to losing weight. You can actually eat more and lose weight. The key is what you are eating. Cutting carbs totally out of your diet is a mistake. You need carbs to provide the sugar to give you the energy, as long as you are eating the right carbs. Those are the natural ones like rice, potatoes and popcorn.
Q - What specific nutritional plan do you put people on?
A - I am not a nutritionist so I don’t put them on an exact plan but I do give them a food composition and tell them all of the good lean proteins. It has all the low fat proteins and the good carbs. It has the amounts on it. The bottom line is when it comes down to weight loss is that most people can’t do it 100% all the time. I tell people when they start not to do it 100% because they burn out and they aren’t going to continue. I tell them do it little by little.
Stay with a good 3-course meal that includes lean proteins and good natural carbohydrates.
Q - Thank you for your helpful insight. I’m sure our readers will benefit from what you have shared.
A - It’s been my pleasure!
If you are not too keen on going to the gym, HealthStatus has an alternative, workout@HealthStatus.
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