The U.S. is challenged regarding the health of its population by its lack of definition of good national health. If the country were considered a corporation and taking care of its population’s health considered a corporate health program, the U.S. would be both reprimanded by NIOSH and cited regularly by OSHA for its substantively greater attention to corporate profits versus taking care of its employees’ well-being.

Discussion for national health care reform would then be better directed at the following:

We can make life easy for our bodies and minds to live and function or we may challenge our bodies by the way we live. A person who is in a state of ease should not be stressed, fatigued, and dysfunctional, in pain, overweight or otherwise often mechanically, physiologically, chemically, or mentally characterized by other than normal status. The prefix “dis” is defined by absence of, opposite of, deprived of, or removed. As such, living with dis-ease/disease is life with a body and/or mind that is absent of, or not in a state of ease.

Most persons with a sense of quality, contemporary health, nutrition and fitness have a reasonable understanding of good dietary and exercise practices. Moreover, the battle is generally that of taking action versus accepting the fallback mantra of “be satisfied with who you are.” The latter is acceptable only if you have acknowledged that where you are is not where you want/need to be, and the satisfaction is based upon your efforts in transition. If you need a new strategy, you may wish follow these seven free steps to guaranteed weight loss.

If you are not yet convinced, consider the following. The media is still promoting H1N1 vaccination (we have to get rid of the overstock), but the real epidemic in the U.S. is obesity. Affecting more than sixty percent of the population, it will cause far more morbidity and mortality than the flu. It affects all age groups. Moreover, its high prevalence is a measure of our self-deception. If you don’t believe that you are deceiving yourself, then be your own fitness spy.

Get a small notebook and record the following:

1. The time of day you eat and drink anything with calories.

2. Your hunger level (1-10 scale) at the time of your intake.

3. What and how much did you eat and/or drink?

4. Did you apply gravies, toppings, dressings, etc., and what volume?

5. Your mood when you eat and/or drink.

6. Your reason for eating and/or drinking.

7. Describe your exercise for the day.

After recording your consumption activity for approximately three weeks, review it against what you know to be good practices. Make some decisions and develop some strategies to address your findings (mistakes) and start again. Enjoy being a “fitness spy”, and the next thing you’ll be recording is your successful steps to weight loss, guaranteed.

1. Determine the ideal time to work out at your gym.
2. Keep your personal equipment and clothing organized and ready so that when you are ready, preparation is not the barrier to getting it done.
3. Develop a base routine with variations; cycle through the variations.
4. Get your heart rate up. If you can still talk while engaged in your aerobic activity, you are probably not working out hard enough.
5. Consider alternating between upper extremity and lower extremity exercises on the same day so that you get a full body workout even when you miss a day.
6. Try working out with a group or class to inspire and pace you.

Sixty percent of all issues discussed at visits with a primary care practitioner address pain. For most primary clinicians, discussing pain management infers discussing medicines. For those who are enlightened enough to consider fitness and exercise as part of general health care.

Many people have difficulty getting back to exercise because they fear that their previous inactivity will cause them to injure themselves. If you are amongst those, consider pool exercise. An effective work out in water may include walking, jogging, swimming and exercises with resistance tools made specifically for use in water.

The key advantage to restarting your fitness plan in a pool is buoyancy. You may reduce your effective body weight by up to 90 percent in deeper water. The reduced effective weight makes exercise easier on your joints.

Light dumbbells made of foam provide substantial resistance as they pass through the water not by their mass, rather due to volume and shape. Water resists the motion of the body and exercise tools as they move, providing the opposition force of work. However, it lessens the speed and torque of the work, making it safer. Additionally, the gravity-defying assistance of water lessens the risk of falling or performing exercise at an unfavorable angle.

Pain is frequently associated with excessive weight on the lumbar, hip and lower extremity joints. Pain is frequently associated with the effects of disease related to obesity. Pain is frequently related to injury that occurs subsequent to loss of muscle mass. Pool work is no magic bullet, and it is work. However, it is very effective in its many potential applications of increased flexibility, weight loss strength gains and pain management via improved fitness.

When considering personal and national healthcare plans we need to define healthcare. While much of western medicine is focused upon diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury, we should actually consider healthcare as the compound word that it is, health and care. As such, the objective should be that of caring for your health. To focus upon health, consider the following to motivate yourself to get healthy and fit.

1.    Describe your objective. How will you look when you are healthy? Write your description detailing your future appearance including hair (color, amount, style), face (with or without wrinkles, acne, scars, etc.), skin (tone, lesions), posture, height, weight, body measures (e.g., chest, waist, hip circumference), and clothing sizes.

2.    Create an initial plan. Create a plan for reaching your objectives. Of course, we all have different resources. So, your plan will need to fit your budget and resources. Plan elements may include: exercise plan, dietary plan, social habits plan (e.g., related to alcohol, cigarettes, pharmaceutical products, sleep, etc.), describing a support network (e.g., physician, nutritionist/dietician, trainer, software resource, books, newsletters, blog information, family, friends, etc.).

3.    Create a calendar. Create a skeleton calendar noting endpoint objectives and intermediate targets. The skeletal nature will allow for updating the plan, with the most detailed aspects of the plan being the current month.

4.    Sign up for events. Participate in contests and competitions for which the primary expense is your time and effort. These physical events should be consistent with your level of fitness. The contests may be a 1-day event for a charity where the primary benefactors are others or may be a fitness competition that is performed over the course of months, sponsored by nutritional supplement companies, with prizes for the high performers. Participation in these events and contests will be complementary motivation.

5.    Share you goals. Tells others who will encourage you if nothing else. The term “support” in “support network” will be defined in many ways. Sharing enhances your accountability.

6.    Visualize your objectives often. Type your goals and post them where you will see them frequently and where you need the reminders and encouragement. These locations might be on your bath mirror, in the bedroom closet, on food cabinets, on your refrigerator, and in the car. If you are sophisticated enough to scan a picture a picture of yourself into a computer, digitally manipulate it and print the image of the anticipated “new you”, do so.

Formulate your plan, get healthy and stay fit.

Losing weight is equal parts dietary content, dietary behavior control, and exercise. Here are nine behavioral tips to help you succeed in the weight loss process.

1. Make sure that when you start your program, you are actually ready (mentally) to start; no half-hearted efforts.
2. Choose foods well (get educational materials) and eat more of the foods that you learn are good for you.
3. Eat smaller amounts, more often. Increasing frequency of meal consumption is desirable, but nibbling between meals should be avoided.
4. Be aware of the calories per source food.  Some persons avoid sweet, carbohydrate rich food. However, this is not necessary, rather be aware of the calories consumed per “bite/swallow/mouthful” of the food item.
5. Avoid foods and beverages that induce personal binges or tendencies to consume more of undesired foods (e.g., more salty snacks consumed with a beer).
6. Consider exercising or participating in a full-body engaged activity during the times of the day when cravings are more likely to occur. These times of day will vary by individual.
7. Consider eating meals in courses to slow consumption and speed satiety (the sense of fullness).
8. Develop a habit of snacking on foods that may be consumed in high volume (e.g., celery, carrots) with little calorie consumption.
9. Water, water, water. . . . consume your water.

Fitness and weight management is a process. Learn what you need to know, develop a plan, and if you are really ready, get started.

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In many States fewer than fifty percent of students meet standards on annual fitness tests. In elementary schools, the lack of an indoor space to exercise can be a problem.

State laws often prescribe that elementary school students participate in a certain amount of physical education every week. However, such can be difficult when city planners build schools on micro-foot prints with limited play fields and no gymnasiums for inclement weather.

Additionally, although gymnasiums are common at middle and high schools, physical education frequently becomes more optional at the higher grade levels.

State tests of physical fitness generally assess aerobic ability, strength and flexibility. Improving their numbers is a challenge for administrators at schools with suboptimal facilities. Moreover it will be even more difficult in times of economic hardship, when the challenge is exacerbated by additional losses of funding for equipment and PE instructors.

These challenges make parental awareness an even more important issue. If you are parent with two or three jobs to make ends meet, you may understand the schools’ plight, but you still have to address your own family’s health interests as best as is possible.

Parents and kids need to burn off some energy so they can focus at work and in class. Parents and kids need diversion (alternative activity) in their lives. Family fitness activity may also work to maintain family bonding.

If the economy and school system in your neighborhood is letting your children down. Be proactive, walk, hike, find the parks, find the local community centers, see if your church has a gymnasium and keep the family fit.

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March 5, 2009 — Children born with a gene linked to obesity don’t have to get fat. A healthy diet and exercise will win over the obesity gene’s unhealthy effects.

People who inherit a variant version of the FTO gene tend to need to eat more to satisfy their appetites, so they may gain more weight than others. As such, the FTO gene has been labeled the ” obesity gene.”

However, the gene does not specific food selection or exercise habits. As such, your fate is not sealed. See more details regarding this work performed at the University College of London.

For full article CLICK HERE

For diet and exercise information CLICK HERE

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The conclusion of the study posted last Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine was that calorie reduction is more important than limiting fat and carbohydrate intake or increasing protein in your weight loss plan. However, that does not mean that you now have to throw out all of your special diet plans. Some of your plans have been developed specifically to address your concurrent health problems, allergies, and dietary preferences (e.g., omnivores versus vegans). Special plans are just as important as ever, it just means that the bottom line for weight loss is:

1 - increase metabolic activity (exercise), and
2 - reduce total calories intake.

For more information CLICK HERE

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