Summary of Health Tips, Three
1 Keep heart rate low.
2 Keep moving.
3 Keep belly small.
The summer months are upon us and it’s natural to think about wearing less clothes and pondering how we look. What I'm concerned about is how healthy we are...now and into old age. The three tips I just presented above are the best and simplest indicators to
a healthy long life.
Everyone wants to be healthy…without doing anything. Sigh. Thanks
for dreaming with me. Now let’s get down to work. Let me rephrase that. Let’s
get down to fun work. If you follow these simple guidelines (all things being equal) I guarantee you good health.
1 Keep your heart rate low.
A lower heart rate (taken when you're at rest) implies an efficient heart and cardiovascular fitness. What is a low heart rate? There are some
cases where an athlete’s resting heart rate could be as low as 40 beats per
minute. I’m not advocating we become elite
athletes; most of us don’t have the time or inclination. A normal heart rate for adults is between 60 and 100 beat per minute. Therefore, aim for 60 bpm.
With that said data shows that our
life span will increase if our heart rate is low. See the link below:
My favorite method to measure heart
rate: Place your index and third fingers either on your neck by your windpipe
or inside your wrist (do not use your thumb – it has it’s own heart beat).
Press your fingers down on the skin until you feel a pulse. When you find the
pulse, count the number of beats for 15 seconds. Multiply this number by 4 and
you’ve got your heart rate per minute.
If your heart rate is at the high end
(over 80) I seriously recommend you start some sort of exercise program soon.
It doesn't have to be complicated…see tip number 2.
2 Keep moving.
The more you move, the healthier your
heart (and everything else) will be. High blood pressure is one of the greatest
risk factors for heart disease. A good normal reading is 110-130 (systolic)
over 65-85). Higher than this range is
called Hypertension and lower than this is called Hypotension…neither of which
is good.
How much exercise should you do if
either heart rate or blood pressure is out of the norm? The good news is that you
don’t have to do a lot. Just do more than what you’re doing. I know, that’s not
a lot of help. Most experts recommend 30
minutes of exercise a day. The better good news is that you can split up that 30
minutes into 2 or 3 chunks and still get the same benefits. See the link below:
The goal is to get your heart rate up
and keep it up until the exercise is completed. Walk, take stairs, run, jog,
lift low weights, row – anything that brings up your heart rate will work.
The important thing is that you map
out a plan for the week and use it as a guide. If you can’t do 30 minutes a day
(or three 10 minute sessions a day) seven times a week, then plan to do it
three times a week. On off days mow the lawn or do other household chores that
bring up your heart rate.
As you improve (I’m guessing within
three weeks), you will notice that it becomes easier to accomplish the same
exercise and your heart rate will decrease. At that point, I suggest that you
make your exercise either longer on more difficult to achieve even greater
success. Another thing you will notice – your belly will get smaller. Which
leads me to the next topic.
3 Keep your belly small.
In short, excess belly fat is bad. I’m referring only to the excess fat around ones mid section.
A doctor friend of mine calls it Cardiac Belly; with the assumption that there is a correlation between belly fat and heart disease. As belly fat increases – so does heart disease, when belly fat decreases – so drops heart disease. As we age (and our hormones decrease),
our bodies start to loose muscle mass and gain fat. It is vital that to maintain good health into old age, stomach size should be managed.
Too much fat also
interferes with other hormonal and blood vessel activity. My focus is on belly fat because it is a simple
indicator of what the total body is going through. See link below:
How much is excess? Everyone is different, but I think we all know that ripples are great and potbellies are not. I’m sorry, I didn't mean to make
you feel like crap at this moment, but don’t panic. Most people in the U.S. have
too much belly fat. Our society encourages us to eat and live poorly. But it
really is easier to change than you might think, and you can still have your
cake and eat it too. J
How to reduce belly fat? Don't worry about doing a strenuous regiment of sit-ups. It’s more important to eat a little less and/or
exercise a little more in general. To ensure you don’t go through a traumatic experience
and drop the whole idea within a week, I suggest doing it one small step at a time.
I recommend eliminating one extra soda a day, junk food, or anything that is a useless food…like doughnuts. They are
what I call awesome non-foods. If you just won't give them up, eat one instead of two. [Side note: If a person only smells the food deeply, it
gives pleasure close to that of actually eating it].
Do tips #1 and #2 along with a little
better food control and you won’t believe how good you will feel and how much
you will be able to accomplish on a daily routine. And more importantly, you
will have a longer and healthier life. These are quick, easy, and potent tips to live by.
Keep the faith! And as Spock would say, "live long and prosper."
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