Fitness After Fifty

Fitness After Fifty: Working-Out With Man's Best Friend

We’ve all read articles that tell us that having a dog and enlisting him/her as a walking partner is a good idea.  If you have ever owned a dog you already know that a dog is always ready to walk with you, and they are more reliable than your human buddies.

They never say much about what happens if you have a sluggish dog.  My large Wolf Hound mix is never going to win any speed or agility contests, but she is available for walks 24/7.   We do several long walks every day and hike on weekends, but I would never go so far as to call it “speed walking” or even exercise walking.  I still have to go to the gym if I am going to work up a sweat. She loves to wade in puddles and sniff every bush and fern in the park.  We jog at times but the only reason she tolerates that is that her walk is as fast as my slow jog.  Not all dogs love a long run, but they need exercise as much as we do. 

I was delighted to find a couple of articles that had really good tips for turning a morning stroll into a real workout.   Mindy Berry Walker, writing for the Sunday USA Weekend supplement (April 20-22, 2012) suggested that wearing a backpack filled with 5 lb weights (I guess that could hold true for both you and the dog) would help you burn more calories.  She also recommended doing some intervals.  I like to speed-walk/jog using intervals and short bursts of speed are acceptable to Fido too, so that might work.  The idea that I hadn’t considered was doing some push-while the dog is sniffing.  I agree that doing standing push-ups against a tree would be less alarming to the dogs than if you dropped to the ground.  Another suggestion that I thought was really great was playing fetch with your dog.  Instead of just throwing the ball and rolling your eyes because he/she doesn’t bring it all the way back to you…try racing the dog to the ball.  If you do this 5-10 times you will get a workout too and your dog will think you are really cool.

A second article featured in The Herald (Everett, Washington: June 23, 2009) had a couple of more cool ideas.  He recommended the interval walking also, but thought some side shuffles, lunges and light jogging would add a little something extra.  The author also suggested setting up an obstacle course in your yard with stations where you could do a pull-up, some push-ups, stair stepping, and anything else that you can come up with.  If you run around like a crazy nut your pet will think you are playing and be glad to join you.

 So, what do you think?  Surely I am not the only one with a lazy dog.

Weight Loss Programs Now Targeting Men

Other than Jared the Subway guy I haven’t read much about weight loss programs for men, until David Sirota (The Wall Street Journal: Monday, May 2, 2011) did a write-up on “the fat guy.”  Boys grow up actively engaged in sporting activities and they have always eaten accordingly.  Lifestyles tend to change but self image often doesn’t.  They don’t become weight conscious until hypertension, diabetes and other chronic health issues set in.   No sports, no workouts, and still eating like a teenage boy and not so suddenly, just like with women, the ring of gut fat appears.  It wasn’t until recently that the Weight Loss industry giants such as NutriSystem and Weight Watchers started marketing new programs for men, and it is about time.  Yes, men can certainly use a helping hand when it comes to losing weight, although most men admit that on a typical mans radar screen weight loss is barely a blip.  Anyone can lose weight with any number of fad diets, pills, powders and potions, but keeping it off is the big secret and it comes through realistic lifestyle changes.

Men get fat too.  They don’t talk about it, join support groups, or obsess about being thin, but you may have noticed that there are quite a few big guys out there.  According to the statistics sited almost 70% of men are overweight, as compared to 52% of women. Culturally speaking, there is the good old “double standard.” Our culture has long demanded physical perfection in women while seeming to celebrate male corpulence.     A lot of men eat because they are hungry (Chi Tranter: Townsville Bulletin-Townsville, Qld. May 19, 2011) or eat just because food is there.  They don’t pay a lot of attention to the difference between a large hamburger with bacon and cheese and a tuna salad.  They tend not to over think everything so they don’t feel that they need to discuss reasons why they eat, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t interested. 

Men tend to want to tackle weight loss on their own.  They are much less likely to join groups or seek counseling. The weight loss industry has traditionally catered to women, and they haven’t been addressing the issue that men are exhibiting health problems related to obesity too. Men and women seem to have different needs when it comes to losing weight.  Men are slow to come to the realization that they need help with weight loss, but when they do decide they tend to be more successful than women, not only in terms of dropping pounds but in keeping weight off.  And yet, most men admit that they do not participate in any weight loss program at all. Hopefully it won’t take the threat of a triple by-pass surgery to motivate more men to get take care of themselves.  Moms, wives and girlfriends can help too by encourage a modest diet plan without being confrontational. 

Exercise: Movement Is The Key

Have you ever wondered why some people are thin and some aren’t?  You may have noticed that it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the amount of food that they eat.    An article in this months Healthy Cooking (April/May 2010) sited that movement is the key.  It seems that lean people just plain move more.  Lean people are on their feet for 152 more minutes per day than others were.

The article was based on a study done by the Mayo Clinic a number of years ago, which measured the activity levels between lean people and overweight people.  This study was not about measuring how many calories people burned off while actually exercising, but about how much people moved during their activities of daily living.

People who are heavier tend to sit more.  Lean people were more restless and spent more than two more hours a day on their feet (standing, pacing, and fidgeting).  The difference translated into 350 calories a day. 

According to an article written by Denise Grady (New York Times: New York, N.Y. May 24, 2005) researchers concluded that the tendency to sit still or not, is biological and inborn.  This tendency influences weight.  The amount you move (energy expenditure) associated with activity (including your occupation, leisure, sitting, standing, walking, toe-tapping, guitar playing, dancing, shopping to name a few) makes the difference.  It isn’t necessarily the amount of time that you spend at the gym that influences how much you weight but all of the non-exercise activities (anywhere from 15% in a sedentary person to 50% in someone who is very active).

What makes people want to move around more?  The scientists seem to feel that increasing movement will work where diet alone doesn’t seem to.  They learned that lean people spent more time on their feet than heavier people.  They concluded that the tendency to be inactive led to obesity, and not the other way around.

The reason, they concluded, that obesity is on the rise is that activity levels have declined.  What has changed is the artificial environment.  We have more opportunity today to be sedentary than in the past.  The solution may be to change the environment, making it easier to move around and sit less.

Experts have been advising people for years to find small ways to burn extra calories (taking the stairs instead of an elevator, parking at the far end of the parking lot and walking to the door).  Come on, surely I’m not the only one that will circle the parking lot for 15 minutes in order to find a parking space by the door of the gym?  Use your imagination. You can turn everyday activities into calorie burners.   For this to happen you have to commit to changing your habits and your environment.

Healthy Lifestyle: Slightly Bigger Might Be Better

 Whew, we’ve been waiting for this news for a long time, so let’s examine an article that I found in the (Connecticut Post: Bridgeport, Conn: October 12, 2010).

What’s an older person to do?  You still want to feel good and you still want to look good, but it is literally impossible to keep your weight down as your body chemistry changes and your metabolism slows.  Women are as weight conscious at 92 as they were at 29 or 19. 

Oh the struggle for that elusive ideal weight!  The anonymous author admitted that we live in a weight challenged society.  America has a love affair with being very young and very thin.  Our culture does not embrace normal sized people.  We have unrealistic versions of real people.  Ads for super builds, no wrinkles, no cellulite, no sagging, and no bagging, bombard us from every direction.  Magazines covers are filled with pictures and stories about people gaining and losing weight.  How many people do you know that look like super models?

The author suggests that you just can’t win.  Studies and the media tell us that we have to lose weight, or do you?  Well maybe.  Reporters tell us that there is an epidemic of obesity in this county, but surely there must be a middle ground somewhere.  The latest research now tells us that when it comes to older people, it is healthier to be a little chubby.

For the average “chubby” person the risk of death was actually less than it was for super thin people.  Dieting is not the answer.  For the average person, who struggles with weight fluctuations but who is not actually obese, strategies other than dieting are the key for healthy living.

Find out what is a healthy weight for you.  You can calculate your body weight right down to the tiniest kilogram or you can ask your doctor.  If your weight is in the safe zone you can consider some other options.  The author suggests that a lower weight or a smaller dress size doesn’t matter much if your life span is shortened.

Recommendations for a healthier weight and a healthier lifestyle:

• Eat smaller portions more frequently.
• No between meal snacks other than fruits and vegetables.
• Switch to low fat dairy, skip butter or other rich spreads, drink water and avoid fried foods.  Smaller meat portions, lots of vegetables and alcohol in moderation only.  Identify your trouble areas (that scoop of ice cream before going to bed) and try to get a handle on it.  Maybe a half portion at first.  As long as you do not GAIN weight you are okay.
• Yes, you have to exercise, even if your knees hurt.  Exercise is important for longevity, but even the smallest regular exercise will help.

Before embarking on a weight loss program, be sure you need it.  Very obese may be harmful, but slightly larger is beautiful.

Fitness and Eating: Is Portion Control the Answer?

 

Fitness and eating go hand in hand.  We are either eating too much, or not enough, or not the right kind of foods.  We either try too hard or not hard enough and it is a dilemma.   Unless we buy pre-measures foods we don’t seem to get the right idea about when enough is enough, or not enough at all.  No matter what your reasoning is, it is important to watch how much as well as what you eat.

 

But just how much is a portion anyway? I never can remember the half cup or whole cup or the golf ball size or the deck of cards size.  A bowl is a bowl isn’t it?

 

I read an article by Marsha McCulloch, R.D., L.D. in the Spring 2010 Diabetic Living magazine that had some interesting tips.  She also discussed a few products designed to remind you about what a portion really is.  Whether you have diabetes, heart disease or any other reason for “watching” what you eat, her ideas might make it a little easier.

 

If you need a reminder to fill half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables, a fourth with lean meat and another forth with a starch, you can actually find portion control dinnerware.  A diet plate and breakfast bowl (thedietplate.com) designed to help you control portion sizes and calories might be helpful.  I see cylindrical rings on the pictured bowl. This is good.  I am one of the guilty ones.  I think that because I put my ice cream in a coffee cup instead of a bowl that I am eating less, but this isn’t necessarily true.  You would be surprised how much you can heap into a cup (more than that ½ cup serving size I am sure).

 

How many spears of broccoli? A plate that has been artistically designed (jeffreyharris.net) and covered with pictures of food (remember the picnic plates with various sized sections for the foods). This plate has pictures of vegetables on one half of it and smaller portions of meat and starches on the other half.  If your veggies aren’t covering the whole half, you are cheating.

 

The Portion Plate (theportionplate.com) has reminders written around the edges and pictures of things that indicate a portion size (like a closed fist of a deck of cards).  You don’t have to take your dishes to the restaurant with you, but a few weeks of looking at these reminders at home might fix the idea of portion size in your mind.

 

 How many times have you heard yourself say “I really don’t eat that much”’?  Many people underestimate how much they actually eat. Try measuring your portions for awhile.  There are collapsible measuring cups that you can keep in your purse, or try an EZ Weight Plate (ezweightplate.com) that has compartments with multiple measured markings.  How about a (mealmeasure.com plate), which is a cut out that you set on your plate that has correct portions?  The meat is not only sized but even has a thickness guide.  Weight Watchers suggest weighing your portions.  This gets a little more like work but there are a number of easy to use scales if that is what it takes to keep you ever mindful.  Think of eating as a science designed to keep you functioning like a well oiled machine.  You can have a little fun with it but get back to the basics as soon as possible.

                          

CALORIES, CALORIES, CALORIES

I read the Health Mailbox (The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, January 30, 2007) column by Tara Parker-Pope, answering the question, “How many calories do I have to burn to lose one pound?”

Good question don’t you think?  It is one that I ask every time I walk on the treadmill and try to log enough miles to atone for breakfast or to justify lunch. In theory if you cut your caloric intake by 500 calories or if you exercise enough to burn 250 calories, you will lose a pound a week.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way.  Mother Nature wants you to hold on to as much weight as possible, in case of a famine or something.  Our bodies are designed to maintain weight when food is scarce and gain weight when food is abundant.   If you cut too many calories your body reacts by slowing down your metabolism so that it can operate on less fuel.  Well phooey with that!

When you start exercising your body will try to compensate in order to make up for the calories lost to exercise.  Your body becomes more efficient and starts burning less fuel.  For example, when you start you might burn of 100 calories a mile, but as you get used to exercising you may only burn of 85 calories per mile. 

Then, once you start losing weight, your body gets smaller and need fewer calories to operate.  All of this makes it sound like a losing battle doesn’t it?   This is the explanation for why crash diets don’t work.  If you plan your diet and are satisfied with only losing ½ to 1 lb a week you will do fine and your body won’t go into its starvation mode, or so the experts tell us.

Even though exercise doesn’t always make a huge difference when it comes to pounds lost it is good for you.   Regular exercise is good for your heart, clears your head and is proven to prevent weight gain.

Just for fun read The Diet Detective’s Count Down by Charles Stuart Platkin.  This book lists 7,500 foods with their calorie counts and the amount of walking, biking, swimming, yoga, or dancing you need to do to burn off those calories. You know you will continue to juggle milk shakes and pizza slices against your exercise program anyway.

TOPS

Face it, dieting is a lonely world. You try to get excited about every 1/2# you see come off but its hard.

What you need is a support group. You have basically 3 choices in that category: Overeatter Anonymous, Weight Watchers, and TOPS. The first choice is similar to an AA approach, the 2nd choice is known everywhere with its flashy ads and limited diet plan--as well as a cost that at times can be a bit off putting, especially if you are on a budget (though there are deals to cut the cost). The 3rd, TOPS, is one of the oldest groups and you may have never heard of.

TOPS stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly.  The group was formed at a kitchen table in Milwaukee and predates WW. The cost is minimal--$20 per year annual dues and minimal chapter dues from 0-$5 per month. The diet plan is one that you and your MD come up with. One that works for you, not a one size fits all approach. The meetings are held weekly and generally consist of a weigh in, a business session and a program done by one of the members or a guest speaker. A chapter membership may consist of people on Atkins, Richard Simmons, Zone, or any of the many other diets out there. The key with TOPS is the support. Each week the members discuss problems they are having and work to encourage each other in the on going battle to lose the weight.

Each chapter has a board that is elected by the members. Those on the board for a chapter do not have to be at their goal to be elected. The goal for the members is to reach KOPS status which stands for Keeps Off Pounds Sensibly. Each year there are regional sessions that honor those who made their goals. In July of each year the people from each area that have done the best for their area are recognized for their success. TOPS is a world wide organization and is worth checking out go to www.tops.org for more information.