Ok, so last time we talked about nurtition, now we need to talk about the other side of the coin: Exercise. This is a no-brainer, but it is much easier said than done. I have already discussed at length the importance of exercise so I am not going to repeat myself, but rather give you some tips on how to effectively lose weight so you can shed the winter pounds you gained!
I propose a 5 day routine. The way I see it, you are on routine Monday through Friday, so why not just add exercise as part of the routine. Saturday and Sunday are usually shot, at least for me they are, so take those days for recouperation time. The week will be divided into Anaerobic and Aerobic exercise cycles. Now before I lay out the plan let me briefly explain what those words mean so we are all on the same page.
Anaerobic Exercise: Defined as "muscle-building" by dictionary.com but more specifically it is when body tissue is absent oxygen. When you exercise intensely, with a high heart rate, the body has a difficult time getting the oxygen to the tissues as fast as needed. This forces the body to adapt to the more strenuous conditions, which is muscle building. High intensity cardiovascular exercise strengthens the heart, just like supersetting chest and back builds bigger muscle. An example of this would be weight training, or a "biggest loser: last chance workout" :-)
Aerobic Exercise: Defined as "exercise that increases the body's need for oxygen" by dictionary.com, but more specifically it is exercise that is able to properly utilize oxygen. Exercising with a lower heart rate than the cardiovascular workout will allow the body to be able to use the oxygen, which helps the body with fat metabolism. Your heart rate should be 65% of your maximum heart rate for your age. An example of this would be a steady, consistent jog on the treadmill.
So what does all this mean to you? My theory is that you do anaerobic exercise to increase muscle production, which in turn increases your metabolism; and you do aerobic exercise to burn the fat! It's the 1-2 punch to get the body in shape.
Here is a proposed routine for maximum results: **note: this is NOT an easy routine**
Monday:
Morning: Aerobic 45 min
Afternoon: Anaerobic45 min
Tuesday:
Morning: Aerobic 45 min
Wednesday:
Morning: Aerobic 45 min
Afternoon: Anaerobic 45 min
Thursday:
Morning: Aerobic: 45 min
Friday:
Morning: Aerobic 45 min
Afternoon: Anaerobic 45 min
Saturday and Sunday:Rest
I understand the intensity may be a little much for some people. I know that I, myself, have trouble following this specifc plan, but the truth is that it works. Your body will respond amazingly quickly, and the results will come faster than expected, but if you do not have consistency, then you really are just waisting your time. I hope this helps, and you experience great results! If you have to modify, bring the time down a bit, but do not go under 20 minutes for any workout period.
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Get Fit for Spring: Dieting
Ok, its February now and the first month of people pretending to go to the gym for their New Year's Resolution is behind us. You probably still have those extra 5-10 lbs you gained during the Christmas holidays lingering with you as your pants are just a little too tight for comfort. Well, Spring is just around the corner, which means warm weather, beaches, pools, sunscreen, and 95% of the population making a futile attempt to suck in their gut to look slimmer with their shirt off!
So lets just move on to how we can prevent what we all dread every year and start looking and feeling our best!. Here is the plan, it is not going to be fun. If it were easy, everyone would have abs like "The Situation" (actually I'm not impressed with his abs but that's what he's known for so I use him as an example). Lets start with diet. I am not going to reiterate what I've previously written about proper nutrition, you can go back and re-read them, but I will say that the key to losing the tire, muffin top, whatever you want to call it, around your waist is a good diet.
Here is my "diet plan" that I feel will help you reach your goal
Breakfast: 1 part Protein, 1 part Complex Carb
Mid Morning: 1 part Protein, 1 part Complex Carb
Lunch :1 part Protein, 1 part Complex Carb
Mid day: 1 Part Protein, 1 part Complex Carb
Dinner: 1 part Protein only
Yes it's monotanous and boring, but it works. Notice I haven't defined what indicates a "Protein" and a "Complex Carb", that's because I am going to let you fire the extra neuron in your brain and have you think about what they would be. In general, stay away from the fried foods, sugar, and white breads. Really you should stay away from bread period, but I leave that up to you. Stick with the small, more frequent meals like described above and you will have one part of the puzzle to looking "beach ready" in a relatively short period of time.
****Side Note: If you go breaking your diet too much, you will NOT lose weight. I can't tell you how many times I have written diet plans specificaly designed for people to lose weight, then they complain to me that it is too hard. Well I guess they didn't want the "beach ready" body they said they wanted! If Aron Ralston can suvive for 5 days with his arm crushed by an 800 lb boulder, you can go for a couple of days without Fast food and Coca-Cola! I'm just sayin'........
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
So lets just move on to how we can prevent what we all dread every year and start looking and feeling our best!. Here is the plan, it is not going to be fun. If it were easy, everyone would have abs like "The Situation" (actually I'm not impressed with his abs but that's what he's known for so I use him as an example). Lets start with diet. I am not going to reiterate what I've previously written about proper nutrition, you can go back and re-read them, but I will say that the key to losing the tire, muffin top, whatever you want to call it, around your waist is a good diet.
Here is my "diet plan" that I feel will help you reach your goal
Breakfast: 1 part Protein, 1 part Complex Carb
Mid Morning: 1 part Protein, 1 part Complex Carb
Lunch :1 part Protein, 1 part Complex Carb
Mid day: 1 Part Protein, 1 part Complex Carb
Dinner: 1 part Protein only
Yes it's monotanous and boring, but it works. Notice I haven't defined what indicates a "Protein" and a "Complex Carb", that's because I am going to let you fire the extra neuron in your brain and have you think about what they would be. In general, stay away from the fried foods, sugar, and white breads. Really you should stay away from bread period, but I leave that up to you. Stick with the small, more frequent meals like described above and you will have one part of the puzzle to looking "beach ready" in a relatively short period of time.
****Side Note: If you go breaking your diet too much, you will NOT lose weight. I can't tell you how many times I have written diet plans specificaly designed for people to lose weight, then they complain to me that it is too hard. Well I guess they didn't want the "beach ready" body they said they wanted! If Aron Ralston can suvive for 5 days with his arm crushed by an 800 lb boulder, you can go for a couple of days without Fast food and Coca-Cola! I'm just sayin'........
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Proper Breathing for More Energy!
Breathing is the only function in our body that can be controlled both autonomically (you don't have to think to breathe) and voluntarily. Breathing gives us Oxygen, which is vital for organic tissue to function. Not giving your body the oxygen it needs causes your body to malfunction. Your body does have the ability to adapt to the oxygen saturation levels of the climate you are in, which is a good thing, but it takes time. Going from living in Hawaii at sea level to living in Denver, Colorado would be a hard change for a person. The body has to produce more red blood cells to accommodate for the decrease in O2 in the environment so your body can keep up with the O2 demand. Understanding how your body deals with oxygen levels can make or break you as an athlete. That's why some sports teams, Olympians, etc. travel ahead of time to their game location, so their bodies can acclimate to the different environment.
So what is proper breathing? First a quick lesson on how the breathing process works (the 10 peso version for you "Three Amigos" fans). Your body has built in reflexes, the apneustic and pneumotaxic reflexes, which make you breathe in and out all day long, for as long as you are alive. You also have the phrenic nerve, which controls your diaphragm and allows you to take control of your breathing at will. When you breathe in, the diaphragm, itercostals, and neck muscles contract to allow for maximum air to fill the lungs. The optimal way to breathe is by having the diaphragm do most of the work, followed by the intercostal muscles (the muscles in your ribs), and as a last resort, your neck muscles.
If your mid back is out of alignment, the ribs attached to the back are not able to properly pivot and allow for expansion of the lungs, so the neck muscles have to lift your rib cage up to allow for lung expansion. Over the course of a day, just like any skeletal muscle, your neck muscles fatigue, and stop lifting your rib cage, causing less expansion, therefore less oxygen, and ultimately less energy. There are many people who are misdiagnosed with Asthma when all they really need in a good back adjustment. I personally have a few patients that stopped using their inhaler when we adjusted their mid back regularly. Another means of restriction comes from the neck. Cervical Nerves 3,4, and 5 collectively make up the phrenic nerve, controlling the diaphragm, and pressure to any one of those nerves can cause decreased breathing ability due to diaphragm weakness.
So what is the proper breathing technique?
1. Sit up straight and don't slouch: Slouching causes improper expansion of the ribs, which causes decreased lung capacity, etc......
2. Breathe from your diaphragm: You heard this in music class when you were a kid, but they were right. This is the primary muscle for breathing and will not tire like the other muscles.
3. Get adjusted: Like I mentioned before, staying adjusted will keep your joints mobile, and you will be able to breathe without hindrance.
4. Keep your head level: Hanging your head down or leaning it back closes off the trachea slightly and decreases the amount of air intake, and also is a major cause of snoring in most individuals, as well as people with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
5. Breathe in through your nose and out your mouth: Mr. Miyagi from Karate kid told this to Daniel-San all the time. Your nose is a filter, so breathing through it filters the air, and breathing out your mouth releases the air faster.
I hope these tips on proper breathing will help you on your journey to better health and wellness!!
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
So what is proper breathing? First a quick lesson on how the breathing process works (the 10 peso version for you "Three Amigos" fans). Your body has built in reflexes, the apneustic and pneumotaxic reflexes, which make you breathe in and out all day long, for as long as you are alive. You also have the phrenic nerve, which controls your diaphragm and allows you to take control of your breathing at will. When you breathe in, the diaphragm, itercostals, and neck muscles contract to allow for maximum air to fill the lungs. The optimal way to breathe is by having the diaphragm do most of the work, followed by the intercostal muscles (the muscles in your ribs), and as a last resort, your neck muscles.
If your mid back is out of alignment, the ribs attached to the back are not able to properly pivot and allow for expansion of the lungs, so the neck muscles have to lift your rib cage up to allow for lung expansion. Over the course of a day, just like any skeletal muscle, your neck muscles fatigue, and stop lifting your rib cage, causing less expansion, therefore less oxygen, and ultimately less energy. There are many people who are misdiagnosed with Asthma when all they really need in a good back adjustment. I personally have a few patients that stopped using their inhaler when we adjusted their mid back regularly. Another means of restriction comes from the neck. Cervical Nerves 3,4, and 5 collectively make up the phrenic nerve, controlling the diaphragm, and pressure to any one of those nerves can cause decreased breathing ability due to diaphragm weakness.
So what is the proper breathing technique?
1. Sit up straight and don't slouch: Slouching causes improper expansion of the ribs, which causes decreased lung capacity, etc......
2. Breathe from your diaphragm: You heard this in music class when you were a kid, but they were right. This is the primary muscle for breathing and will not tire like the other muscles.
3. Get adjusted: Like I mentioned before, staying adjusted will keep your joints mobile, and you will be able to breathe without hindrance.
4. Keep your head level: Hanging your head down or leaning it back closes off the trachea slightly and decreases the amount of air intake, and also is a major cause of snoring in most individuals, as well as people with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
5. Breathe in through your nose and out your mouth: Mr. Miyagi from Karate kid told this to Daniel-San all the time. Your nose is a filter, so breathing through it filters the air, and breathing out your mouth releases the air faster.
I hope these tips on proper breathing will help you on your journey to better health and wellness!!
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Monday, January 24, 2011
Metabolism: Get Your Fire Started!!
How many people have you heard, or you yourself, used the following phrase as an excuse for not losing weight "I have a low metabolism, so I can't lose weight"? Ok now how many of you have heard the opposite phrase "I can eat whatever I want because I have a fast metabolism." Those are usually the skinny people you get jealous of and mad because they can eat Fried foods and sweets all day and not gain a pound, while you eat 1 cookie and gain 5 lbs. So what is the big deal about metabolism? Why do some have fast metabolisms and others do not? Are the people with fast metabolisms healthier than the people with slow metabolism? Let's discover together:
First off let's define "Metabolism". According to Merriam-Webster Metabolism: is the sum of the processes in the buildup and destruction of protoplasm; specifically : the chemical changes in living cells by which energy is provided for vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated. The sum of the processes by which a particular substance is handled in the living body. Basically put, metabolism is a measure of how fast the body's processes work. Your body gets energy from fat to work, and the faster that process, the faster the weight loss. Understand? Good.
The reason that people who are skinny, eat whatever they want, and not gain any weight is due to a naturally high metabolism. This may be unfair, but it is true. The opposite is also true, there are people who have naturally slow metabolisms, which slows down the weight loss process. Now, let me tackle this thought process before we go any further: Having a high metabolism does not necesarily mean you are healthy. Research professional wrestler deaths, baseball player deaths, and basically any professional athlete deaths and you will find out that many of those people are under the age of 50! What many who have a high metabolism fail to realize is that just because your body can burn off fat easily, doesn't mean that your arteries and organs aren't suffering from all the junk being eaten.
So how do you increase your metabolism and be healthy at the same time? Here are some tips to achieve maximum burning capacity of your metabolism, and keep your body healthy along with it!
1. Eat six smaller, healthy meals a day:
Eating like this keeps you from overeating, and also increases your metabolism by "keeping the furnace" going. Making your body go hungry triggers the metabolism to slow down so you don't burn away precious energy.
2. Exercise:
Having a finely tuned engine performs much better than one left without maintanence! Exercise keeps your body burning energy, which increases metabolism.
3. Get Proper Rest:
The body needs time to repair so it can work more efficiently, so better sleep equals a better metabolism.
4. Decrease stress: Stress increases cortisol, which is an automatic metabolism blocker, so keep the stress down so you can keep the metabolism up!
I hope that these tips are helpful and will help you on your way to a more efficient, healthier machine that is your body!!
Till next time......
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
First off let's define "Metabolism". According to Merriam-Webster Metabolism: is the sum of the processes in the buildup and destruction of protoplasm; specifically : the chemical changes in living cells by which energy is provided for vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated. The sum of the processes by which a particular substance is handled in the living body. Basically put, metabolism is a measure of how fast the body's processes work. Your body gets energy from fat to work, and the faster that process, the faster the weight loss. Understand? Good.
The reason that people who are skinny, eat whatever they want, and not gain any weight is due to a naturally high metabolism. This may be unfair, but it is true. The opposite is also true, there are people who have naturally slow metabolisms, which slows down the weight loss process. Now, let me tackle this thought process before we go any further: Having a high metabolism does not necesarily mean you are healthy. Research professional wrestler deaths, baseball player deaths, and basically any professional athlete deaths and you will find out that many of those people are under the age of 50! What many who have a high metabolism fail to realize is that just because your body can burn off fat easily, doesn't mean that your arteries and organs aren't suffering from all the junk being eaten.
So how do you increase your metabolism and be healthy at the same time? Here are some tips to achieve maximum burning capacity of your metabolism, and keep your body healthy along with it!
1. Eat six smaller, healthy meals a day:
Eating like this keeps you from overeating, and also increases your metabolism by "keeping the furnace" going. Making your body go hungry triggers the metabolism to slow down so you don't burn away precious energy.
2. Exercise:
Having a finely tuned engine performs much better than one left without maintanence! Exercise keeps your body burning energy, which increases metabolism.
3. Get Proper Rest:
The body needs time to repair so it can work more efficiently, so better sleep equals a better metabolism.
4. Decrease stress: Stress increases cortisol, which is an automatic metabolism blocker, so keep the stress down so you can keep the metabolism up!
I hope that these tips are helpful and will help you on your way to a more efficient, healthier machine that is your body!!
Till next time......
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
What is Chiropractic care all about?
Let me start off by explaining the basic mechanics of the spine and what happens when it is not properly aligned. Your spine is composed of 24 vertebrae, 23 vertebral discs, ligaments, and muscles. Each joint in your spine is equipped with receptors that constantly talk to the brain with information about motion so each joint can work together in sync. When a vertebra gets stuck, the misalignment, which prevents motion, sends a signal of pain instead of motion. This distress signal tells the brain that there is a problem and it needs to fix it ASAP. In an attempt to correct itself, the body will alter muscle and ligament tension in that misaligned region. These are those tender spots you feel in your back. Over time, the ligaments and muscle change their normal tension to the altered one, causing an imbalance in the spine. Eventually the bones themselves will try to correct the area by growing extra bone in an attempt to correct the misalignment. This extra bone is called osteoarthritis.
Why is all of this important to understand? The spine houses the spinal cord, which is like a giant Ethernet cord carrying information from the brain to the rest of the body. Off the spinal cord are 31 pairs of spinal nerves, which branch off to nerves that reach out to the body. They exit the spinal column via little holes in between the vertebrae. When the vertebrae get out of alignment, they put a pressure on the spinal nerve, interfering with the information between the brain and the part of the body connected to that nerve. This causes the body to not function properly. Picture this: your house is on fire and the fire truck comes and starts using the hose. While they are putting out the fire, you back your car up and roll over the fire hose. What will happen to the water leaving the hose? It slows down, and if the pressure is bad enough, block it completely. Your nerves work the same way. The nerve signals travel at 180mph. Slowing that signal down by just a fraction is enough to negatively impact the body. Ever had tingling in your hands or feet? Nerve pressure. Ever had muscle spasms in areas that you didn't exercise? Nerve Pressure. Indigestion? Constipation? Headaches? Pain? Fatigue?Etc, etc., etc, etc............................... All of these conditions can be adverse reactions to your brain not being able to fully communicate with your body properly. Have you seen the AT&T commercial with the people in the car and the guy with AT&T gets the funny text first and he laughs and then 10 seconds later everybody else gets the text and laughs and he is already tired of the joke? That is a silly example, but it is how are body works when misaligned. Do you want parts of your body communicating at "AT&T" speed and other parts at at slower speed? I didn't think so.
So how does chiropractic come into play? Chiropractic re-aligns the vertebrae and takes the pressure off of the nerves, which help the body function at their maximum capacity. You may be sitting there thinking to yourself "But I'm not in pain so I don't need to get adjusted." This is an all too common statement that I hear everyday. Pain is the last indicator to appear when a problem arises, so if you come to me because you are in pain, chances are that problem has been there a while. I will elaborate more next time but for now I will just end by saying that if you have never had your spine checked, there is never a better time than now. So schedule an appointment to see me today, or if you are not in my area, find a chiropractor near you who can assess your spine so your body can function the way God intended it to: at it's optimum!!
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Monday, January 17, 2011
Increasing your energy step 7: Time Management and Routine.
Ok, we are at our last step to increasing our energy. Time management is a topic that everyone, including myself, suffers with every single day. As I have addressed in several other blogs the famous words "I am just to busy". How many times have those words left your mouth? Let me rephrase, how many times have those words left your mouth today? Slow down, I can't add that fast! Yes we say that way too much. Now, I want you to sit back for a second and I want you to think about the things that are "on your plate" to do today.......................... Finished? Ok, now how much of that time was spent at work? How much of that time was spent in front of your television? How much time was spent eating? I'll quit asking questions now but I want you to break up your day into specific pieces and label each event in order of importance. It's tough to do isn't it?
One of the ways for us to better manage our time is by putting ourselves in a routine. Routines keep us on track. They give us structure and order. Let me use a baby as an example. One of the ways that babies learn is though routine. You get a child to sleep by putting them on a sleep schedule. Their bodies learn the pattern and are trained to respond appropriately based on time scheduling. Take your weekly verses weekend routine. During the week you go to bed at 11pm and wake up at 7am, then on the weekend you stay up to three in the morning and wake up at noon, then you end up feeling terrible the next day. This is because our body is used to a certain schedule and it acted adversely to the change. Sometimes change is good. Changing your workout routine keeps your body guessing and you can lose weight more. Changing your diet every now and then serves the same purpose. The vast majority of the time though, our bodies need time management to properly function at its optimum. I can say personally that when I am leaving vacation I end up saying " I need a vacation from my vacation". Doesn't that phrase completely contradict the purpose of a vacation? The reason we feel that way is because we are not in our routine. You go out to have fun, stay up late, consume more quantities of alcohol than you normally drink, eat whatever is in sight, etc. and you end up putting way more stress than you normally put on your body.
So what's the solution? I am going to offer some time management tools that you can use to help better manage your life,which will lead to less stress.
1. Get an organizer, keep it organized, and use it: I know people that buy organizers and never use them. I also see very cluddered organizers that they themselves need an organizer just for the organizer. Write down everything on your "to-do" list before you do them. This will keep you more balanced as the day goes by, and will help you schedule more time if needed.
2. Plan out your week: This works for work, home, recreation, etc. Take 10 minutes on Sunday night and plan out your entire week, and follow that schedule. Knowing what will happen and when will take off the stress of forgetting things and rushing to do tasks, which add stress to your life.
3. Set up a solid routine and stick to it: The key to any task, whether it be weight loss, exercise, or learning guitar, is consistency. So when you put yourself on a consistent routine, you will be able to do things more on automatic, and will add less stress to your life.
These may be simple rules, but it is harder than you think to try to follow. So I recommend tackling 1 at the time and gradually adding in the other methods. Managing your time efficiently is about reducing your overall stress level, which increases your energy!
I hope these 7 steps have been helpful and we will continue our journey to better health and wellness!
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
One of the ways for us to better manage our time is by putting ourselves in a routine. Routines keep us on track. They give us structure and order. Let me use a baby as an example. One of the ways that babies learn is though routine. You get a child to sleep by putting them on a sleep schedule. Their bodies learn the pattern and are trained to respond appropriately based on time scheduling. Take your weekly verses weekend routine. During the week you go to bed at 11pm and wake up at 7am, then on the weekend you stay up to three in the morning and wake up at noon, then you end up feeling terrible the next day. This is because our body is used to a certain schedule and it acted adversely to the change. Sometimes change is good. Changing your workout routine keeps your body guessing and you can lose weight more. Changing your diet every now and then serves the same purpose. The vast majority of the time though, our bodies need time management to properly function at its optimum. I can say personally that when I am leaving vacation I end up saying " I need a vacation from my vacation". Doesn't that phrase completely contradict the purpose of a vacation? The reason we feel that way is because we are not in our routine. You go out to have fun, stay up late, consume more quantities of alcohol than you normally drink, eat whatever is in sight, etc. and you end up putting way more stress than you normally put on your body.
So what's the solution? I am going to offer some time management tools that you can use to help better manage your life,which will lead to less stress.
1. Get an organizer, keep it organized, and use it: I know people that buy organizers and never use them. I also see very cluddered organizers that they themselves need an organizer just for the organizer. Write down everything on your "to-do" list before you do them. This will keep you more balanced as the day goes by, and will help you schedule more time if needed.
2. Plan out your week: This works for work, home, recreation, etc. Take 10 minutes on Sunday night and plan out your entire week, and follow that schedule. Knowing what will happen and when will take off the stress of forgetting things and rushing to do tasks, which add stress to your life.
3. Set up a solid routine and stick to it: The key to any task, whether it be weight loss, exercise, or learning guitar, is consistency. So when you put yourself on a consistent routine, you will be able to do things more on automatic, and will add less stress to your life.
These may be simple rules, but it is harder than you think to try to follow. So I recommend tackling 1 at the time and gradually adding in the other methods. Managing your time efficiently is about reducing your overall stress level, which increases your energy!
I hope these 7 steps have been helpful and we will continue our journey to better health and wellness!
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Increasing Your Energy Step 6. Exercise
This topic should be a no-brainer. Everyone knows that you have to exercise to be healthy. People also know that smoking causes cancer, but that doesn't mean they are going to do the healthy thing and stop. There is always an excuse not to exercise, just like the excuses not to smoke: "I am just too busy", "My life is just too crazy right now", "I'll do it tomorrow", and my favorite "I'm just not going to, because I don't want to". In the words of motivational speaker Jim Rohn "You can't hire someone else to do your push-ups for you"; this is an important concept for a generation where we are used to having everything done for us. There is another expression that goes "If you don't use it, you lose it" and this is all too true when it comes to the human body. Like any other machine, if it is not properly taken care of, it WILL breakdown sooner than normal.
I'm not going to elaborate any further on this, we all know what to do, so let's just cut to the chase:
Exercise Tips:
1. 3 times a week is the minimum, 4 times a week is optimum, more than 4 is negligible for increased results. Think of it like this: 3 times a week gives you X results; 4 times a week gives you 2X results; and more than 4 gives you 2.12X. So if time is a factor, but you want the most out of your exercise, shoot for 4 times per week.
2. Each time should be between 30-45 minutes. These times could be increased as your endurance increases, but not much more. Your body can only take so much breakdown, and you want to allow for maximum recovery for the following day.
3. Use weights: If you've never picked up a weight before, now is the time. Resistance training makes your muscles grow, it gives them purpose, and thus prevents premature atrophy, or muscle loss. It also slows down bone density loss because the pulling of the muscle against the bone forces the bone to lay down more calcium, keeping it strong. Has your doctor told you that you have osteoporosis? Pick up some weights, build some muscle, and your bones will bounce back faster than any pill you would take. Now I HAVE to address this statement I've heard so many times from girls I've lost count: "I don't want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger". Trust me, you won't. Have you seen all the girls in the magazines that you look at and say in your head "I wish I looked like her", well I guarantee you they work out with weights at least 3 times a week. Muscle gives us shape and form. Want to look like a body builder? Take steroids and you will, otherwise, with enough time, you will look exactly how you want to look!
4. Pregnant women need exercise too: I know some people who did not exercise during pregnancy and some who did and here were there experiences. The ones who did exercise had easy labors and the ones that did not had difficult labors. Why is this? Because the conditioned, exercised women's muscles were strong enough to help with pushing out the baby, whereas the non conditioned mothers had weak muscles and had extensive pain during and after.
5. Alternate cardio and weight training: Don't overdue your workout. You WILL burnout and will fall off the wagon before you even get on it. Remember to let your body recover, so use the allotted time for either cardio, or weights.
6. Keep your heart rate at a fairly low rate to lose fat: In the simplest way I can explain this is with the "I Love Lucy" example: Lucy and Ethel are working at a chocolate wrapping line. While the line is slow they have time to wrap and package the chocolate. When they speed up the line, they cannot keep up and are hiding the chocolate in their shirts, mouths, aprons etc. What's the point? When your heart rate is at a lower rate, the body has time to go to the fat, break the fat, transport the fat to the muscles, and use the fat for energy. When the heart rate is too high, the body doesn't have time to do all that so it just takes from its closest energy source, you muscles! So if you want to lose weight, find out the fat burning heart rate for your age and keep it there for your entire workout.
7. Lastly, drink a lot of water while exercising. You lose a lot of water while exercising through sweat and body processes so keep it hydrated and you will get the maximum benefit from your workout.
This could be a book if I kept going but I am always available if you have any other questions. Use these tips to taylor to your needs and you will get what you put into it!
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
I'm not going to elaborate any further on this, we all know what to do, so let's just cut to the chase:
Exercise Tips:
1. 3 times a week is the minimum, 4 times a week is optimum, more than 4 is negligible for increased results. Think of it like this: 3 times a week gives you X results; 4 times a week gives you 2X results; and more than 4 gives you 2.12X. So if time is a factor, but you want the most out of your exercise, shoot for 4 times per week.
2. Each time should be between 30-45 minutes. These times could be increased as your endurance increases, but not much more. Your body can only take so much breakdown, and you want to allow for maximum recovery for the following day.
3. Use weights: If you've never picked up a weight before, now is the time. Resistance training makes your muscles grow, it gives them purpose, and thus prevents premature atrophy, or muscle loss. It also slows down bone density loss because the pulling of the muscle against the bone forces the bone to lay down more calcium, keeping it strong. Has your doctor told you that you have osteoporosis? Pick up some weights, build some muscle, and your bones will bounce back faster than any pill you would take. Now I HAVE to address this statement I've heard so many times from girls I've lost count: "I don't want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger". Trust me, you won't. Have you seen all the girls in the magazines that you look at and say in your head "I wish I looked like her", well I guarantee you they work out with weights at least 3 times a week. Muscle gives us shape and form. Want to look like a body builder? Take steroids and you will, otherwise, with enough time, you will look exactly how you want to look!
4. Pregnant women need exercise too: I know some people who did not exercise during pregnancy and some who did and here were there experiences. The ones who did exercise had easy labors and the ones that did not had difficult labors. Why is this? Because the conditioned, exercised women's muscles were strong enough to help with pushing out the baby, whereas the non conditioned mothers had weak muscles and had extensive pain during and after.
5. Alternate cardio and weight training: Don't overdue your workout. You WILL burnout and will fall off the wagon before you even get on it. Remember to let your body recover, so use the allotted time for either cardio, or weights.
6. Keep your heart rate at a fairly low rate to lose fat: In the simplest way I can explain this is with the "I Love Lucy" example: Lucy and Ethel are working at a chocolate wrapping line. While the line is slow they have time to wrap and package the chocolate. When they speed up the line, they cannot keep up and are hiding the chocolate in their shirts, mouths, aprons etc. What's the point? When your heart rate is at a lower rate, the body has time to go to the fat, break the fat, transport the fat to the muscles, and use the fat for energy. When the heart rate is too high, the body doesn't have time to do all that so it just takes from its closest energy source, you muscles! So if you want to lose weight, find out the fat burning heart rate for your age and keep it there for your entire workout.
7. Lastly, drink a lot of water while exercising. You lose a lot of water while exercising through sweat and body processes so keep it hydrated and you will get the maximum benefit from your workout.
This could be a book if I kept going but I am always available if you have any other questions. Use these tips to taylor to your needs and you will get what you put into it!
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Increasing Your Energy Step 5. Stress Reduction
There is a saying, I believe by Ben Franklin, that goes "The only things certain in life are death and taxes". I would like to add an additional "certainty" to that quote: STRESS! Stress is as much a given as gravity. If you are alive, then you experience stress every single day. It may not necessarily be a bad stress, but stress non the less. There are 2 kinds of stress: bad stress, otherwise known as distress, and good stress, otherwise known as Eustress. Each stressor, good or bad, produces the same bodily response which is an activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This system sends a message to the adrenals which releases epinephrine (adrenaline). Epinephrine causes vasoconstriction, increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output. This is so that your body is primed and ready to "fight or flight". This reaction protects us in life threatening situations. This is the short term effect, the longer term effect will be discussed later.
Now that we all have an understanding of how stress works, lets talk about how bad stress affects our bodies. Unless you are being chased by a lion, chances are that type of bad stress doesn't happen to you everyday. The type of bad stresses that I'm talking about are mental in nature. Stress from work, home, children, money, etc. are all examples of potentially bad stress. I understand that they could also be good stresses as well but lets leave them here for the moment. Now, remember what happens when stress occurs (increased blood pressure, heart rate, etc) and think about what you are doing when you experience that stress. Are you fighting or flighting? Probably not. You are probably sitting at your desk at work, or sitting on the couch at home, or driving in your car (road rage stress could be added to the mix as well). So what is happening is you are increasing the blood flow, which is working to protect you, and you are sitting still, causing an unnecessary strain on your system. This overtime causes an increase in heart muscle from working overtime, thus causing high blood pressure. I don't have to explain that high blood pressure is not a good thing do I? I didn't think so. Now, lets add a long term issue with stress. The body, sensing a life threatening issue, goes into survival mode and secretes a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol's function is to protect your body from starving, so it makes fat, and if it doesn't have anything to work with, then it will strip your muscle to make fat. This is how people can be overweight without eating a lot. I encourage you to google hypercortisolism, also called Cushing syndrome, and see for yourself the effects of cortisol, which is secreted just about every time you undergo bad stress. Here is a list of effects of prolonged distress: increased cortisol production, decreased immune system function, erectile dysfunction, constipation, headaches, and fatigue.
Ok, time for the good news. Eustress, again the same bodily response as bad stress, is totally a good thing. What are some examples of eustress? Exercise, praying, laughing, your first kiss, etc. just to name a few. Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to increase your energy. It uses the stress to strengthen your body, allowing you to be able to handle more stress. I'll discuss exercise by itself at a later time. Positive emotion and response to stress actually causes many good responses for the body. Positive thinking and eustress go hand in hand, releasing hormones which counteract the effects of bad stress. Here is a list of positive effects of eustress: Increased immune system, regular digestive function, increased libido, increased energy, and a decrease in blood pressure.
So how do you reduce bad stress? Well most of that is up to you but here are some tips:
1. Exercise: There is no better stress reliever than exercise, so feeling stressed? Hit the gym and you'll be amazed how fast your stress levels go down.
2. Pray: I understand that not everyone reading my blogs may be religious, but from my prospective I will say that the only better stress reliever than exercising is praying to God. He always has the right answer and will never let you down.
3. Eat right: I already talked about proper eating, but I haven't discussed how chemicals, excessive alcohol, processed foods, drugs, etc. are negative stressors on the body and need to be moderated or eliminated in order to put as little stress on the body as possible.
4. Discuss your distress with others: Bottling in distress is like having a pressure cooker on high, the longer its on the heat, the more pressure that builds up, and not monitoring it can could result in an unwanted explosion!
5. Drink more water: Did I mention hydration again? Oh well, there is nothing that being well hydrated won't help! :-)
The moral of this story is that not all stress is bad for you. Having positive stress ultimately helps you live a long life of health and wellness.
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Monday, January 10, 2011
Increasing Your Energy Step 4: Proper Sleep
How many of you enjoy sleeping? I mean REALLY enjoy sleeping! I mean you live to sleep! Well I can't see all of your hands raised through my computer, but I believe that if I could, 99.99% of us just raised both hands straight up in the air. Sleeping is one of life's great pleasures that we all get to experience everyday of our lives. There are so many benefits to sleeping that we would probably fall asleep listening to the amount of information on this subject :-). I have listed and discussed 3 highlights of sleeping that I think will be beneficial to you to understand.
Let's start with the basics: Sleep is our recharging and healing time.
I'm sure a great majority of us use our cell phones like they were another appendage, so naturally the battery wears down throughout the day. So what do we do at night? We charge it, and the next day it is ready for another day's use. Sometimes we use our phones so much that we need to recharge it during the day, and give it a nap, so to speak, so it can get through the rest of the day before having its long charge that night. My analogy may seem simple but it is a fairly accurate representation of how our body works. We have more functions going on in our bodies than we can count, and each one of those processes cause wear-and-tear. When you study for a long time, your eyes start to hurt; when you walk for long periods of time, your body tires; when you eat processed foods and drink alcohol, your liver goes into overdrive. Each of these processes need time to slow down, repair, and recuperate so that they can do their jobs efficiently the next time they are called upon. Sleep gives our body time to not focus on the other processes so it can focus its energy on repair. When you go to Walt Disney World, thousands of people dirty up the parks with trash, fingerprints, gums, etc. and the next day it is sparkling clean again. That's because at night, the cleaning and repair crew come in and fix anything broken and clean the streets so the next day the park is back to full functioning capacity. I think you get my point that sleep is our repair time, so keep that in mind the next time you hit the sack!
Sleep is our time for inspiration:
Thomas Edison figured out that the time just before reaching deep sleep was when he was the most creative, so he came up with a device where when he started to fall asleep he would drop metal objects on a metal pan to wake himself up so to not forget the ideas he got while sleeping. There is actually a science to this which I will not go into at the moment, but just know that there are 4 types of brain waves, beta, theta, delta, and alpha. These brain waves coincide with different modes of thought and he knew that getting to a certain brainwave made him more creative. So the next time you dream, remember that you could be seeing your next big inspiration!
Sleep is a stress reducer.:
When you sleep, your body shuts down every nonessential body process to allow for optimum repair. This includes muscles, in which we carry most of our stress. Allowing these muscles to relax releases a great deal of stress, which is harmful to our bodies.
So how do we maximize our sleep?
1. Make sleep a priority. I know that we all, at least I do, like to watch CONAN every night, but that is what the DVR is for. Too much TV can actually put a stress on the brain, and Lord knows that most Americans are glued to their TV's, so make sleep just as important as you do your favorite show.
2. Allow at least 7.5 hours for sleep: There is an expression "You can't rush art", well you can't rush sleep. Not allowing for proper sleep doesn't give your body the time to repair itself, thus further wearing down your body, and eventually causing damage!
3. Don't watch intense TV or other means of increasing your adrenaline, because it takes time for adrenaline to leave your system, and it keeps you from achieving a good deep sleep.
4. Have a proper bed and pillow for rest: This is definitely another topic altogether that I will touch on at a later date, but for now, just know that the position you sleep in can have lasting effects on your body. For example, not having a proper pillow support can put a strain on your neck.
5. DO NOT SLEEP WITH THE TV ON!! Sleeping with the TV does not allow for deep sleep. Your body needs quiet and dark spaces to achieve maximum sleep stages. The darkness lets your body secrete a hormone called melatonin which aids in sleep, and the TV hinders that function.
Well I think I've exhausted, no pun intended, the topic on sleep. I know it is a lot to grasp but try to take away the main points and you will be achieve better sleep and, ultimately, better health and wellness. As always if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Let's start with the basics: Sleep is our recharging and healing time.
I'm sure a great majority of us use our cell phones like they were another appendage, so naturally the battery wears down throughout the day. So what do we do at night? We charge it, and the next day it is ready for another day's use. Sometimes we use our phones so much that we need to recharge it during the day, and give it a nap, so to speak, so it can get through the rest of the day before having its long charge that night. My analogy may seem simple but it is a fairly accurate representation of how our body works. We have more functions going on in our bodies than we can count, and each one of those processes cause wear-and-tear. When you study for a long time, your eyes start to hurt; when you walk for long periods of time, your body tires; when you eat processed foods and drink alcohol, your liver goes into overdrive. Each of these processes need time to slow down, repair, and recuperate so that they can do their jobs efficiently the next time they are called upon. Sleep gives our body time to not focus on the other processes so it can focus its energy on repair. When you go to Walt Disney World, thousands of people dirty up the parks with trash, fingerprints, gums, etc. and the next day it is sparkling clean again. That's because at night, the cleaning and repair crew come in and fix anything broken and clean the streets so the next day the park is back to full functioning capacity. I think you get my point that sleep is our repair time, so keep that in mind the next time you hit the sack!
Sleep is our time for inspiration:
Thomas Edison figured out that the time just before reaching deep sleep was when he was the most creative, so he came up with a device where when he started to fall asleep he would drop metal objects on a metal pan to wake himself up so to not forget the ideas he got while sleeping. There is actually a science to this which I will not go into at the moment, but just know that there are 4 types of brain waves, beta, theta, delta, and alpha. These brain waves coincide with different modes of thought and he knew that getting to a certain brainwave made him more creative. So the next time you dream, remember that you could be seeing your next big inspiration!
Sleep is a stress reducer.:
When you sleep, your body shuts down every nonessential body process to allow for optimum repair. This includes muscles, in which we carry most of our stress. Allowing these muscles to relax releases a great deal of stress, which is harmful to our bodies.
So how do we maximize our sleep?
1. Make sleep a priority. I know that we all, at least I do, like to watch CONAN every night, but that is what the DVR is for. Too much TV can actually put a stress on the brain, and Lord knows that most Americans are glued to their TV's, so make sleep just as important as you do your favorite show.
2. Allow at least 7.5 hours for sleep: There is an expression "You can't rush art", well you can't rush sleep. Not allowing for proper sleep doesn't give your body the time to repair itself, thus further wearing down your body, and eventually causing damage!
3. Don't watch intense TV or other means of increasing your adrenaline, because it takes time for adrenaline to leave your system, and it keeps you from achieving a good deep sleep.
4. Have a proper bed and pillow for rest: This is definitely another topic altogether that I will touch on at a later date, but for now, just know that the position you sleep in can have lasting effects on your body. For example, not having a proper pillow support can put a strain on your neck.
5. DO NOT SLEEP WITH THE TV ON!! Sleeping with the TV does not allow for deep sleep. Your body needs quiet and dark spaces to achieve maximum sleep stages. The darkness lets your body secrete a hormone called melatonin which aids in sleep, and the TV hinders that function.
Well I think I've exhausted, no pun intended, the topic on sleep. I know it is a lot to grasp but try to take away the main points and you will be achieve better sleep and, ultimately, better health and wellness. As always if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Friday, January 7, 2011
Increasing your energy step 3: Proper Supplementation
I'm not a farmer, but I do think that I have a basic knowledge of how soil works. I remember from my 7th grade science class that farmers have to rotate the crops from field to field in order to keep proper nutrients in the ground so the crops will be at their best. Do you remember learning that, and why am I mentioning this? Well, I want to pose a question to you. Do you think that eating a salad today would have the same nutritional value that a salad in 1930 would have? The answer is no, and our 7th grade science class helps us with the answer. Fields need time to rest in order to become fertile again after giving up its nutrients to the crops that were previously planted. Now, bring that knowledge to today, where there are 300 million people living in the United states, and not a lot of land for rotating the crop; how does the ground have time to replenish its nutrients?
I know that the last paragraph may seem out of context, but here is why we touched on that. The foods that we eat do not have the same nutritional value that they once had. Just making sure that you have your 3 servings of fruits and vegetables doesn't mean that you are getting the nutrition that supposedly goes with said fruits and vegetables. Finding a high quality supplement, preferably a high quality one with both vitamins and minerals are vital to us staying at our optimum. BUYER BEWARE!!!! Not all multi-vitamin/multi-minerals are created equal. You need to do a little research into the quality of the vitamins before you consume them. Basically put, you get what you pay for and supplements are no exception. The Waffle House T-bone steak is probably not going to be as good as Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Generally, if you are buying a supplement "On Sale" they probably are not going to help you any and you are really just waisting your time taking them.
Here are some suggestions for finding the right supplementation for you:
1. How much do they cost?
I'm not telling you to buy the most expensive one on the market, but the "buy 2 for 10$"at the gas station will probably not be as good as on from your doctor's office, or GNC.
2. What is the expiration date?
Believe it or not, but supplements do have a shelf life, and the closer it is to the expiration date, the less effective they are. Would you buy milk that expires the day you bought it?
3. What is the brand name?
We all know that brand names, for the most part, mean absolutely nothing, but doing a little research on the company can give you insight to the standards in which they make their vitamins.
4. Ask your doctor, or myself if you don't have one, what is best for you:
If you don't feel like putting in the leg work, just ask someone who has done it.
5. Consult your doctor anyway!
We are not cookie cut to be the same. Our bodies have different needs, and your doctor will be able to tell you which supplements are right for your body!
Supplementation is a broad topic, and there is so much out there that it can be overwhelming, so here is my solution: Get a good quality multi-vitamin/multi-mineral, then ask your doctor, or come see me at my office, and have them come up with a nutritional plan for your specific needs so that your body isn't deficient in any capacity and you will be able to reach an optimal state of wellness.
As always, if you ever have any questions, please leave a comment and I will address it promptly. If you would like to speak with me, then check out my website at http://www.eastwestspineandrehab.com
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Increasing Your Energy Step 2: Proper Water Intake
Let me preface this article by explaining how the body works. The body is a survival mechanism. Its job is to keep you alive by any means necessary. If the body is deficient in an area, it will hoard, strip, tear, and divide by any method possible in order to fill that need. In the case of water, when your body is deficient, it will hoard every oz. of water that you consume and won't let it go. It will only allow the water necessary to cool your body and to excrete waste. This is why the contestants on the biggest loser lose 41 lbs. in their 1st week on campus. It isn't that they have lost 41 lbs. of fat. The truth is they lost 3-5 lbs of fat and 36-38 lbs. of water. I will discuss weight loss and how it relates to water and fat at another time.
I think if you were to walk up to just about anyone and ask if they drink water, they would probably say yes. This however is definitely not the case. The truth is that most people do not drink water and 75% of people in civilized countries are chronically dehydrated! Why is this the case? We drink sodas, coffee, tea, sports drinks, beer, liquor, smoothies, Crystal Light, etc. all which are made from, to some degree, water; so that means we are getting enough water right? WRONG!! The truth is that most of those, if not all, of those products listed actually dehydrate you with the fillers that are in them. Beer and liquor are depressants and cause dehydration as it hits the cerebellum. Soda Products are loaded with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or aspartame in diet drinks, and many other fillers which make your body work to clean out all the junk, further dehydrating you. Coffee and teas have caffeine, which dehydrates you. Even Crystal Light flavored water has fillers which are not only very bad for you, but also have a negative effect on hydration. Water is water...period!
I hear this everyday from my patients "But I don't like the taste of water!", " I don't want to drink water because I'll have to run to the bathroom all day.", "I only drink water that comes directly from a spring in Tennessee!" (ok the last one is from only one patient but you get the point). This is an "acquired" taste that we must learn to love. Water makes up over 75% of our body, and to decrease the ratio by any small degree can have major, and lasting, effects! Dropping 2% of your body water can cause lapses in memory, trouble with math and problem solving, eye focusing issues, and a host of other problems. The body is the lubrication for our "machine". Our joints need water to secret the synovial fluid which keeps our joints from wearing down. Water gives our vertebral discs the cushion and height it needs to help our back with shock absorption. Our muscles need water to conduct electricity faster so we can respond to our brain's commands faster, thus increasing our performance. I could go on forever on what water does for our body, but we would be here all day and I don't have time to write a book!
So what is the solution? How do we become better hydrated? Well, I have a formula that I try to follow. How ever much you weigh, divide that number by 2, and drink that amount in oz of water.
Let me end by concluding the preface at the beginning of the article. The body will try to obtain what it needs by any means necessary, but it will also let go any excess it doesn't need if it knows it has a continual supply. So the more water you drink on a consistent basis, the less water you will hold and ultimately you will lose a good amount of weight and may be able to fit into those clothes you grew out of over the Christmas holidays.
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Here are some dehydration facts for your information, if you would like the sources then just let me know.
1)In 1/3 of Americans, the thirst sensation is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.
2)Effects of MILD dehydration slows down metabolism as much as 3%.
3)For each 1% loss of water, there is a loss of 10% in exercise performance.
4)Research suggests that 8-10 glasses of water a day eases back & joint pain for 80% of sufferers.
5)A 2% drop in body water causes fuzzy memory, trouble with basic math, and problems focusing on a computer screen or printed page. Your brain desperately needs water to function at its best.
6)Drinking 5 glasses of water daily lessens the risk of colon cancer by 45%.
I think if you were to walk up to just about anyone and ask if they drink water, they would probably say yes. This however is definitely not the case. The truth is that most people do not drink water and 75% of people in civilized countries are chronically dehydrated! Why is this the case? We drink sodas, coffee, tea, sports drinks, beer, liquor, smoothies, Crystal Light, etc. all which are made from, to some degree, water; so that means we are getting enough water right? WRONG!! The truth is that most of those, if not all, of those products listed actually dehydrate you with the fillers that are in them. Beer and liquor are depressants and cause dehydration as it hits the cerebellum. Soda Products are loaded with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or aspartame in diet drinks, and many other fillers which make your body work to clean out all the junk, further dehydrating you. Coffee and teas have caffeine, which dehydrates you. Even Crystal Light flavored water has fillers which are not only very bad for you, but also have a negative effect on hydration. Water is water...period!
I hear this everyday from my patients "But I don't like the taste of water!", " I don't want to drink water because I'll have to run to the bathroom all day.", "I only drink water that comes directly from a spring in Tennessee!" (ok the last one is from only one patient but you get the point). This is an "acquired" taste that we must learn to love. Water makes up over 75% of our body, and to decrease the ratio by any small degree can have major, and lasting, effects! Dropping 2% of your body water can cause lapses in memory, trouble with math and problem solving, eye focusing issues, and a host of other problems. The body is the lubrication for our "machine". Our joints need water to secret the synovial fluid which keeps our joints from wearing down. Water gives our vertebral discs the cushion and height it needs to help our back with shock absorption. Our muscles need water to conduct electricity faster so we can respond to our brain's commands faster, thus increasing our performance. I could go on forever on what water does for our body, but we would be here all day and I don't have time to write a book!
So what is the solution? How do we become better hydrated? Well, I have a formula that I try to follow. How ever much you weigh, divide that number by 2, and drink that amount in oz of water.
Weight (lbs)/2 = water (oz) to drink
This, for some, may seem like A LOT of water, and in many cases it is, but this ensures us that we are getting adequate amounts of the water we need. This may be too much for you to handle, and I completely understand, so I want you to try this: Try drinking 1 glass of water every hour, or if that's too difficult, every 2 hours. I guarantee that this will be more water than many people normally consume. I challenge you all to give my method a try and see how you feel after a week. Check the scale and see if you have lost a lb. or two, and let me know in the comments below.
Let me end by concluding the preface at the beginning of the article. The body will try to obtain what it needs by any means necessary, but it will also let go any excess it doesn't need if it knows it has a continual supply. So the more water you drink on a consistent basis, the less water you will hold and ultimately you will lose a good amount of weight and may be able to fit into those clothes you grew out of over the Christmas holidays.
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Here are some dehydration facts for your information, if you would like the sources then just let me know.
1)In 1/3 of Americans, the thirst sensation is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.
2)Effects of MILD dehydration slows down metabolism as much as 3%.
3)For each 1% loss of water, there is a loss of 10% in exercise performance.
4)Research suggests that 8-10 glasses of water a day eases back & joint pain for 80% of sufferers.
5)A 2% drop in body water causes fuzzy memory, trouble with basic math, and problems focusing on a computer screen or printed page. Your brain desperately needs water to function at its best.
6)Drinking 5 glasses of water daily lessens the risk of colon cancer by 45%.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Increasing Your Energy Step1: A Balanced Diet
The word "diet" has gotten such a bad reputation over the past several decades that just mentioning the word makes people cringe! The definition of the word is "the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group" meaning that what we eat determines our diet. It doesn't mean that our ability to enjoy food goes out the window. The world is so concerned about having abs like "the situation" or being as skinny as a stick in order to be a model, but the truth is that having some adipose (technical term for fat) is not a bad thing. Adipose tissue stores energy, provides warmth, and protects our vital organs. Granted that having too much adipose does pose health problems, a good majority of Americans who are considered "overweight" by the Body Mass Index standards can live long and healthy lives without having to have every striation of every muscle showing.
This article I am writing is not focusing on how to achieve a low body fat percentage, but rather how to enjoy the "diet" we consume, without harming our bodies in the process. I will discuss weight loss at a later time. By balanced diet, I mean that each meal should be properly balanced with 1 part protein, 1 part complex carbohydrates, and 1/10 part lipids, or fat.
Here is a typical lunch senerio that most people enounter at some point during the week. You are sitting down at Longhorn Steakhouse for lunch. You order a grilled chicken sandwich, french fries, a sweet tea, and a salad with ranch dressing. Now as your waiting, the waiter brings out a basket of bread with some butter....carbs and fat. Then your salad with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and ranch dressing comes....some good carbs and even more fat. Then you drink your sweet tea......sugar which is more carbs. Your meal comes... You finally get a little bit of protein in the chicken, but the bread brings more carbs, not to mention the fries which also brings carbs and fat. You skip dessert because you are on a diet and don't want the extra calories. This meal was more like 1 part protein, 5 parts carbs, and 2 parts fat! This is not what I would call a balanced diet. This may not be a regular lunch senario but the truth is that many, if not most, people eat like this several meals a day.
So what is the solution? How do we eat to be healthy and still be able to enjoy our food? Well are some suggestions that may be helpful to you:
1. Look at your meal and see if it fits into the 1 protein, 1 carb, 1/10 fat rule, if it doesn't, either modify it or pass on to something else.
2. How is the food prepared? Grilled is always a better choice than fried; is there butter covering your food? How much salt was used in preparation of your food? Ask these questions and try to use as little of the extras as possible.
3. Try to avoid sugars. I know sugar tastes good but your body instantly turns it into fat so I would avoid it whenever you can.
4. Drink plenty of water with your meal. It fills up your stomach and you will comsume less.
5. Try eating 6 smaller meals a day instead of 3, or in most cases, 2 meals because people skip breakfast. Eating in this manner will increase your metabolism and therefore you will lose weight.
You may be wondering where the "enjoy" part fits into the big picture, well here is how: I like to follow the 90/10 rule of eating relatively healthy for 90% of the time, and, if I choose, 10% of the time if I want that special dessert, or ribye steak, etc. I can enjoy it without guilt. Also, when preparing your food, feel free to use any spices you want, in moderation of course, going really easy on the salt, and find new and healthy ways to spruce up your meal!
If you have any questions regarding maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, please feel free to comment below and I will answer any questions you may have. The next topic will be "Proper Water Intake"
In Good Health
Dr. Ara
This article I am writing is not focusing on how to achieve a low body fat percentage, but rather how to enjoy the "diet" we consume, without harming our bodies in the process. I will discuss weight loss at a later time. By balanced diet, I mean that each meal should be properly balanced with 1 part protein, 1 part complex carbohydrates, and 1/10 part lipids, or fat.
Here is a typical lunch senerio that most people enounter at some point during the week. You are sitting down at Longhorn Steakhouse for lunch. You order a grilled chicken sandwich, french fries, a sweet tea, and a salad with ranch dressing. Now as your waiting, the waiter brings out a basket of bread with some butter....carbs and fat. Then your salad with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and ranch dressing comes....some good carbs and even more fat. Then you drink your sweet tea......sugar which is more carbs. Your meal comes... You finally get a little bit of protein in the chicken, but the bread brings more carbs, not to mention the fries which also brings carbs and fat. You skip dessert because you are on a diet and don't want the extra calories. This meal was more like 1 part protein, 5 parts carbs, and 2 parts fat! This is not what I would call a balanced diet. This may not be a regular lunch senario but the truth is that many, if not most, people eat like this several meals a day.
So what is the solution? How do we eat to be healthy and still be able to enjoy our food? Well are some suggestions that may be helpful to you:
1. Look at your meal and see if it fits into the 1 protein, 1 carb, 1/10 fat rule, if it doesn't, either modify it or pass on to something else.
2. How is the food prepared? Grilled is always a better choice than fried; is there butter covering your food? How much salt was used in preparation of your food? Ask these questions and try to use as little of the extras as possible.
3. Try to avoid sugars. I know sugar tastes good but your body instantly turns it into fat so I would avoid it whenever you can.
4. Drink plenty of water with your meal. It fills up your stomach and you will comsume less.
5. Try eating 6 smaller meals a day instead of 3, or in most cases, 2 meals because people skip breakfast. Eating in this manner will increase your metabolism and therefore you will lose weight.
You may be wondering where the "enjoy" part fits into the big picture, well here is how: I like to follow the 90/10 rule of eating relatively healthy for 90% of the time, and, if I choose, 10% of the time if I want that special dessert, or ribye steak, etc. I can enjoy it without guilt. Also, when preparing your food, feel free to use any spices you want, in moderation of course, going really easy on the salt, and find new and healthy ways to spruce up your meal!
If you have any questions regarding maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, please feel free to comment below and I will answer any questions you may have. The next topic will be "Proper Water Intake"
In Good Health
Dr. Ara
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
7 Steps To Increasing Your Energy. (Introduction)
I'm sure you have all heard of the "12 step" programs, which are supposed to help a person reach a seemingly unreachable goal. I remember the "8 minute Abs" videos, or "7 Minute Abs"( and if your not satisfied you get the 8th minute free) videos where length of time involved increases a person's interest in purchasing said videos.
It is a sad reality that we have so many things on our "to do" list that many necessary tasks are divided up into miniscule time portions. Although it is a sad reality, it is also a FALSE reality. The truth is that we can make time for anything we see as a priority. Don't have time for breakfast? Try getting up 30 minutes earlier. Your TV shows make you stay up late? Tape them and watch at a later time. I think that the "I am just too busy" phrase should just be taken out of our vocabulary. I have heard countless patients tell me that they have no time to exercise, yet when I ask them about their daily routine, 4 hours of their time is consumed sitting on a couch watching their "shows".
Are you wanting to make a change in this new year? I will be promoting a 7 step program designed to increase your energy levels, and to help you make time to accomplish them. This is just the introduction and I hope you will join me in my quest to bring everybody we can reach to a better level of healthy living.
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
It is a sad reality that we have so many things on our "to do" list that many necessary tasks are divided up into miniscule time portions. Although it is a sad reality, it is also a FALSE reality. The truth is that we can make time for anything we see as a priority. Don't have time for breakfast? Try getting up 30 minutes earlier. Your TV shows make you stay up late? Tape them and watch at a later time. I think that the "I am just too busy" phrase should just be taken out of our vocabulary. I have heard countless patients tell me that they have no time to exercise, yet when I ask them about their daily routine, 4 hours of their time is consumed sitting on a couch watching their "shows".
Are you wanting to make a change in this new year? I will be promoting a 7 step program designed to increase your energy levels, and to help you make time to accomplish them. This is just the introduction and I hope you will join me in my quest to bring everybody we can reach to a better level of healthy living.
In Good Health,
Dr. Ara
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)