DietPsyche: Making Life a Healthy Habit » Exercise

Does your risk of death increase as you get fatter?

Anita — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:29:54 +0000

Sadly yes. Your risk of death does increase as you gain fat weight, and this goes for both men and women.

Many researchers use Body Mass Index (BMI) to assess your degree of overweight. To calculate
your BMI divide your weight in kilograms by your height in meters, squared. The normal weight
range is considered to be in the range 18.5-25. Overweight is 25-30, and anything over a BMI of 30 is
considered obese.

The biggest cause of death is coronary vascular disease, and obesity amplifies this. When you get
fatter your blood pressure and cholesterol levels increase. And, if you smoke as well, then the
situation becomes even worse. If you are a normal weight smoker (>20 cigs daily), your mortality
rate (risk of death) is the same as being an obese non-smoker! Smoking and obesity amplify risk
of death. People must give up smoking, and even if they gain weight it is better than continuing to
smoke.

High cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking are the three big factors contributing to heart
attacks. And, obesity makes all of these worse.

Even gaining a modest amount of weight can precipitate chronic disease, making it even more
important to watch your waists.

The normal weight range is a BMI of 18.5-25, but even at a BMI of 21 there is an astonishing increase
of Type 2 Diabetes. The risk of all the obesity related health conditions begin to increase before you
get out of the normal weight range (eg increased risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease
and colon cancer. So don’t kid yourself that you can escape obesity related conditions because you
are in the normal weight range. A BMI band can be up to 16kgs, making it possible to actually be
fat, in the normal BMI range! Asians and Mexicans tend to get obesity related health conditions at
a lower BMI than Caucasians which is why experts are thinking of reducing the top of the normal
weight range for these populations to a BMI of 23.

So, what’s the moral of the story?

The more fat we have, the more likely it is to contribute to our eventual cause of death. Keeping our BMI in the lower part of the normal range optimizes our health and longevity.

Image Source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1199930

The Pros and Cons of Measuring Fat

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It isn’t weight management, it’s fat management

Anita — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:22:34 +0000

The previous blog post discussed BMI and how having a BMI in the normal range does not necessarily mean you don’t carry unhealthy levels of fat. The previous blog also indicated that some people in the obese range (heavily muscled athletes) do not always carry excessive levels of fat that meet the criteria for obesity.

BMI can be further informed by doing simple things like looking at yourself naked in the mirror, or pinching your fat levels above your hip and under your shoulder blade. These simple assessments will soon tell you whether you carry excess fat not indicated by your BMI.

Where your fat is located and knowing what type of fat it is, is extremely important. Visceral fat carries a greater health risk than subcutaneous fat. In general women have more subcutaneous fat and men have more visceral fat, but sophisticated, and usually expensive, assessments are required to determine this.

So, to get an holistic view of your health risks both a measure of body composition (body fat analysis) as well as BMI is important. The simplest and cheapest way to get an idea of body composition is to take a waist circumference measure. Below are the waist circumference measures associated with an increased relative health risk for people with BMIs <35.

Please note: waist circumference is not taken in people with BMIs >35 because they exceed the cut-off anyway, so adding waist circumference to a measure of BMI is redundant.

High Risk:

Men: >102cm or 40 inches

Women: >88cm or 35 inches

To measure your waist use a tape measure. While different experts recommend varying places to measure your waist circumference, as a general guide, your waist is the narrowest part of your trunk, or approximately 1 inch above your belly button. For those of you who don’t appear to have a waist simply measure at the navel level so you have an accurate reference of change as you lose weight.

Regular weighing and regular measurement of waist circumference are recommended ways to stay aware of your weight and fat levels and therefore support both weight loss and weight management endeavours.

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Our Obesogenic World: ADJUST or BUST

Anita — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 23:48:17 +0000

The new world landscapes are obesogenic– they promote obesity. Think again when you find yourself in any of these situations and try to make the choice that will increase your energy expenditure or reduce your energy intake, for the day.

Weight loss is a maths equation managed by choice! Make better choices!

Take the Stairs?

Or Escalator

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The Pros and Cons of Measuring Fat

Anita — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 02:59:10 +0000

Body Mass Index or BMI is probably the most common measure for assessing your weight range. To calculate your BMI your body weight measured in kilograms is divided by the square of your height in meters. For example, if you are 70kgs and measure 170cms (1.7m) in height your BMI would be as follows:

70/1.7 x 1.7 = 70 /2.89 = 24.22 (normal weight range)

The ranges vary according to ethnicity (covered in another blog) but are generally:

Severely underweight	less than 16.0
Underweight	from 16.0 to 18.5
Normal	from 18.5 to 25
Overweight	from 25 to 30
Obese Class I	from 30 to 35
Obese Class II	from 35 to 40
Obese Class III	over 40

Unfortunately, BMI can be misleading. Take the two people above. Both have a BMI of 40 (obese range). However, the man on the left has a BMI of 40 because he is solid muscle and muscle is twice as heavy as fat. He should not technically be in the obese range. However, the man beside him, should be.

So, while there is usually a good correlation between body fat and BMI there are exceptions such as the one depicted above.

BMI ranges span large weight zones. For the example of the person who is 170cms above when they have a BMI of 20 there weight is 57.8kgs, but when your BMI is 25 (the top of the normal range) your weight is 72.25kgs which is a 14kg difference! Now some people who are 170cms and weigh 72kgs look fit, healthy and muscular, while others may look overweight. To help you interpret your BMI look in the mirror and give yourself a pinch test. Allow common sense to prevail in determining whether you need to lose a few kilos or not.

Interestingly, there is a group of low BMI individuals that researchers call thin-fat. Although their BMI indicates they are lean, when their fat percentage is measured it can indicate that they are actually overweight or even obese. Studies suggest that as many as 29% of people in the normal weight range are obese, and up to 80% in the overweight range are obese. Those who already fall in the BMI range for obesity are usually obese (except for weight lifters and elite sports people).

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How to Waist Away After Too Much Christmas Cheer

Anita — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:33:08 +0000

Unfortunately saying 15 Hail Mary’s won’t dissolve any extra fat tissue you may have laid down as a result of Christmas Cheer sins!

Never forget that when it comes to fat loss, the only place SUCCESS comes before WORK is in the dictionary. So heads down and bums up for all of you who didn’t read the blog on how to Curb Christmas Cheer.

The Rules for Getting Waisted are:

1. Eat breakfast everyday. It stimulates your metabolism and helps you regulate your appetite so you won’t munch and crunch on foods you shouldn’t even have in your house!

2. Eat smaller serves; put your food on a plate, not in a bowl, less will like more!

3. Go for quality not quantity, avoid meal deals and smorgasbords

4. Put colour into your diet – two fruits and five vegetable serves every day

5. Choose reduced fat dairy food

6. Choose lean, fresh meat

7. Drink at least two litres of water daily

8. Limit the high kilojoule and high fat foods you probably snacked on over the Christmas period, or better still, just don’t have it. And, that includes soft drinks, cordial and alcohol!

9. Eat mindfully. Turn off the TV, don’t read a book an don’t be surfing on the internet while you eat. Don’t eat on the run or in your car!

10. Keep a food diary. People who record their food lose more weight.

11. Increase your activity levels. Sack your cleaner and your mower man!

12. Do regular exercise. People who exercise an hour a day lose more weight when moderating their food intake

13. Read the blog on making new year resolutions stick.

14. Oh! And, have fun……

The true meaning of Christmas is lost in an ocean of marketing mania, purchasing pillages and food fests

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Post tags: Christmas binge, exercise and weight loss, holiday bulge, losing weight on Christmas, the psychology of weight loss, weight loss

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How Stress & Over-exercise Can Prevent Weight-Loss

anita — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:15:27 +0000

Possibly one of the most unexpected reasons for being unable to lose weight is TOO MUCH EXERCISE.

And, the culprit? Cortisol.

Cortisol is the body’s primary stress hormone and is secreted by the adrenal glands in response to stress.

It may surprise you, but the body interprets high intensity, frequent exercise as a stress.

Exercising too much, too often, & without a break, leads to consistent high cortisol levels, and can negatively affect weight loss attempts.

How does this come about?

Under stress, cortisol functions to help the body produce blood sugar and pour it into your bloodstream. The blood glucose provides you with the energy to mobilise your “fight or flight” response.

Scientists believe that in prehistoric times, the “flight or fight” response was designed to facilitate an intense physical effort, such as “fighting” your attacker or taking “flight” from a threat such as removing yourself from the path of a t-rex.

While in emergency situations our stress response is vital and valuable, in modern times, our stress response is often activated in situations where the response is not useful such as when you miss the bus, or when your boss upsets you. Our prevailing social and legal norms don’t encourage us to physically hit or verbally abuse people who upset us because we could be up for an assault or bullying charge!

The bad news for weight losers under chronic stress whether this stress be exercise-induced or otherwise, is that the blood sugar build-up stimulated by cortisol, if not utilised to fight or flee, is deposited as fat.

As well as causing fat gain, especially around the stomach, chronically elevated cortisol levels lead to:

muscle loss (lowering your metabolism),
a less effective immune system, and
slower recovery from injury.

Cortisol can also inhibit thyroid function, which also lowers metabolism and prevents weight loss.

So, if you already have a stressful job on top of a stressful life juggling work, family and other commitments, too much exercise will only contribute to the maintenance of high cortisol levels, encouraging you to hold onto your fat.

And what’s worse, research shows that people with high lifestyle stress release MORE cortisol during an intense bout of exercise than someone who has a lower stress level.

The solution to the effect of stress in relation to weight loss is to create more balance in our lives and reduce both our stress levels, and our response to stress (ie don’t react in the first place).

So, how does stress affect appetite?

High blood cortisol, brought on by high stress levels, not only increases the production of blood sugar, it can stimulate our appetite, particularly for carbohydrates, fat, & sugar. One of the major excuses weight losers give for ‘giving up’ on their weight loss programs is ‘they were stressed’ and turned to food for comfort. Emotional eating is a major obstacle to weight loss so learning non-food related ways to manage stress is essential for those who wish to lose weight and keep it off.

There is also a relationship between stress and gender-based coping styles & eating behaviours

On top of these biological changes, we know that some people, especially men, cope with stress via social withdrawal, substance abuse, including food & alcohol, and aggression.

The easiest way to put on weight is to drink it one. Alcohol is 7 kilocalories or 29 kilojoules per gram and unfortunately we can drink a lot more than we can eat. While fat is more fattening (37 kilojoules or 9 kilocalories per gram), we aren’t going to sit down and drink cup after cup of fat. Watching what we drink be it juice, cordial, alcohol, or even milk, is a non-negotiable step in losing weight and keeping it off. And, of course, it will come of no surprise to learn that drinking either alcohol or soft drink does not “fix” your stress; it will likely just cause more!

Women tend to cope with their stress by “tending & befriending” their female friends, which may or may not involve food. The recommendation of course is going to be obvious. Talk and walk; don’t eat your problems away.

Most weight losers would have to admit that one of their main reasons for not losing weight is because of stress and/or emotional eating.

We were designed for short adrenaline and cortisol bursts to mobilise our “fight or flight” response, NOT the prolonged stress associated with modern-day life.

Apart from the disruptions it causes to our weight loss and metabolism, stress also disrupts our sexual response. Libido’s wane and sexual arousal is harder to maintain.

Chronic stress also contributes to gastro-intestinal changes including diarrhoea, constipation, bloating, reflux, flatulence and abdominal pain.

And, the solution is obvious. Manage stress for better sex, improved coping, a more normal appetite control and a happier gastro-intestinal tract.

Stress also affects sleep. High cortisol levels lead to restless sleep, which also negatively impacts on weight loss. We need sufficient relaxation and sleep to produce enough growth hormone. Growth hormone is involved in fat mobilisation and helps make us leaner and stronger.

The effects of not enough sleep on obesity is also at least partly due to the the hormones leptin (leptin has a role in hunger control) and ghrelin (grehlin triggers hunger). One study has shown that people who slept only 4 hours a night for 2 nights saw an 18% decrease in levels of leptin, & a 28% increase in ghrelin. They also had a 24% increase in appetite, craved sweet, starchy and salty food, and lost interest in fruit, vegetables, protein and dairy products.

Again, the solution is obvious. Sleep 7-8 hours every night.

Recent research has suggested that supplementing the diet with fish oils can reduce cortisol levels.

6 Recommendations to Optimise Weight Loss:

1) Optimise exercise, but with the following caveats in mind:

Exercise but ensure down times between intense exercise sessions
Mix up your workouts. For every hard workout with strenuous cardio and weights, do two easy days, either resting or doing yoga, gentle cycling or walking, keeping your heart rate below 70 beats per minute.
For every 3-4 weeks of exercise, have an “unloading week” that perhaps includes massage, gentle yoga-type exercises, walking, gentle cycling and stretching. When you head back to the gym, your body will be fully rested and you will be able to train harder, which will mean greater weight loss and an improvement in strength.

2) Manage stress in the following ways:

Identify your stressors
Learn & implement stress management strategies such as breathing techniques & stretching
Monitor stress levels

3) Optimise your home-work balance

4) Take fish oil supplements

5) Have adequate sleep, remembering you need more in winter

6) Embrace positive psychology by

Firstly, keeping a gratitude journal. On a daily basis, write down 3 things that have gone well and that you are grateful for
Secondly, by focusing on positive events & feelings because this has been clinically proved to reduce stress and elevate mood

Photo credit: sxc.hu

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To Add Years To Your Life You Need to Exercise – Here’s Why!

anita — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:43:36 +0000

Get Off the Couch!

Many people say time appears to be moving faster, and they feel older than they are.

They complain about their knees, lower back, feet and energy levels when they are overweight.

They say their bodily ailments are a constant reminder of their age!

Many studies have proven a commonly held belief – to add years to your life you need to exercise!

For example, researchers at the King’s College in London measured the length of telomeres – the DNA cap at the end of your chromosomes – in 2401 twins. These ‘DNA bookends’ shorten each time your cells divide. When they become too short, the cell cannot reproduce, making you frail and aged.

If you don’t exercise enough in your spare time, you are likely to have shorter telomeres and overall, your biology is a decade older than people who are active!

Not getting enough activity shortens telomeres regardless of whether you smoke, are overweight, or already have a chronic disease. This adds support to the ‘fit but fat’ rule in health promotion – more activity improves your health regardless of how much you weigh and your other health behaviours!

So, the moral of the story is – better to be fit and fat, then slim and not fit!

But some may say, I get my exercise at work!

Many people justify not doing regular exercise because they think they get enough exercise or activity at work – lifting, walking, carrying etc. But unfortunately, slogging away in manual jobs tends to shorten telomeres because of work-related psychological stress. The results show that exercise alleviates stress and benefits your DNA only if you do it as part of your leisure.

But it’s in my genes some may say, not because I exercise!

Twins share both their genes and environment. The research at King’s College in London was able to show that twins who did more exercise had significantly longer telomeres than their twin who did less exercise, throwing the ‘it’s in my genes’ theory out the window.

Regardless of your genetic background, your health is in your hands!

Getting active is the key

What we do know is that exercise can slow down the shortening of your telomeres, even if you’ve been a couch potato in the past. These days, we spend loads of money on dietary supplements and meal replacements in the hope of losing weight and slowing down the ageing process. This research shows that the easiest way is to get out for a walk and do your mind, body, and spirit a favour for life!

“The U.S. guidelines recommend that 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity at least five days a week can have significant health benefits,” the authors write. “Our results underscore the vital importance of these guidelines. They show that adults who partake in regular physical activity are biologically younger than sedentary individuals. This conclusion provides a powerful message that could be used by clinicians to promote the potential anti-aging effect of regular exercise.”

Ref: Tim Spector et al, Arch Intern Med. 2008;168[2]:154-158.

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How Stress & Over-exercise Can Prevent Weight-Loss

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Post tags: Exercise, exercise and anti-ageing, exercise for weight loss, weight loss, why I need to exercise

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