Archive for May, 2007

If your friends and colleagues are spending time in gym, are you feeling overwhelmed?

Not interested to play tennis game as it requires hour long match and also need to go to tennis club and change the dress.

You feel that three hours will be wasted and these three hours you can utilize for business meetings and clients.

Being penny wise does not work in any circumstance and especially where health fitness exercise is concerned. But you should know that three hours if you skip your work and participate in such activities, optimum health can be yours.

Health fitness exercise program:

Instead of ignoring health fitness exercise, here is a suggestion for integrating it into your busy schedule. Treat your fitness program as major task in office. Break the major task into small components.

Instead of spending prolonged hours in gym or tennis, ask your trainer to split the exercise program.

Health fitness exercise schedule 1:
20 minutes of workout for five days a week.
Week 1: all cardio
Week 2: weights
Week 3: cardio workout on alternate days in a week, weights on remaining days of the week
Week 4: cardio workout on alternate days in a week, weights on remaining days of the week
Repeat the entire cycle up to the second month

What are the things you have to do while traveling for total body fitness?

Before the trip, plan what you have to do to maintain total body fitness on the road.

Here are few tips when you are traveling to maintain total body fitness.

Maintaining total body fitness:

• Take full rest before the trip. Pack the items well in advance so that you will not be in hurry at the last minute wasting your energy levels.
• Drink plenty of water before leaving. Alcohol and cocktails will only dehydrate you further. Humidity levels in the aircraft will be less than 10%. So water is the best.
• Time your sleep correctly. Once you board, get the local time of your destination and set your watch accordingly. If it is night time, wear blindfolds and sleep for some time.
• If your job requires you to travel at least four to five times in a month, ask your company to book hotels which have gym and swimming facilities.

Take time out of your travel schedule and include exercise schedule to maintain total body fitness (Benefits of exercise). Get up early in the morning and go to gym in the hotel. Work on treadmill or elliptical trainer for ten minutes.

Low fat diet does not mean a no fat diet. Your diet should be low in fat especially with saturated fat.

Low fat diet is a healthy diet and balanced diet which includes food from all food groups.

Low fat diet does not mean healthy or less fattening. Low fat diet can be high in sugar which is not good for your health and weight.

Low fat diet means the food should also be low in sugar.

Some fats are needed for good health. Fats supply energy and essential fatty acids.

High levels of saturated fats and cholesterol are related to increased blood cholesterol levels and a greater risk for heart disease.

But many people eat high fat foods which increases the weight and the risk of heart disease.

Low fat diet is better for low cholesterol and health. It is also good for your weight. It also prevents cancers and other diseases.

Fats, oils and snack foods that contain fat provide calories but few nutrients. Dairy products and meat are also high in fat. Choose low fat diet among these foods and include variety of fruits, vegetables and grain products.

Start slowly your exercise workout. You are busy with your own schedules.

You can start five minute workout programs if you are busy. There is a benefit of exercise for your health.

No one finds time for exercise but many of them want to include exercise in their routine for the sake of health.

Benefits of exercise:

Once you make exercise as part of your day, you will experience many benefits. The benefits of exercise include:

• Good night sleep
• Improves appetite for healthy foods
• Improves circulation and helps reduce blood pressure
• You wake up in the morning feeling refreshed
• Decreases fat tissue more easily
• You have energy left at the end of the day
• Enhances coordination and balance
• Walking with active pace
• Feeling more optimistic about recreation
• Increased self esteem
• Mental focus is increased
• Improves body shape, tones and firms muscles
• Increases lean muscle tissue in the body

Preventing heart disease- A benefit of exercise:
The average ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol i.e, good cholesterol is about 4.5. If the ratio is doubled or reaches to 7, you double the chances of coronary heart disease.

Yes, it is true that your schedule starts at nine in the morning and ends at six in the evening, total nine hours work.

A day consists of 24 hours and nobody is saying to wake up at three in the morning to do your exercise.

Fitness Tips to stay fit and healthy:

Fitness tip 1: A simple fitness tip is, instead of getting up at 7 in the morning, set alarm 45 minutes earlier and use these 45 minutes for physical activity. If you do this three times a week, it is enough to maintain physical fitness.

Fitness tip 2: You can do yoga in the morning. It requires only loose clothing, a mat and quiet place. You can buy a foldable treadmill so that you can workout as soon as you wake up.

Fitness tip 3: Assess whether business meetings require long hours. Do all the meetings need to be wined and dined? Can you cancel or shorten some of the meetings? In that time you can fit fitness program into those slots. Instead of going with clients for lunch everyday of the week, schedule lunch meetings for two days and incorporate fitness schedule into remaining days.

There are different types of yoga, but the aim of all of them is the same. One of the main benefits of yoga is the achievement of a union with the supreme consciousness (Yoga for health).

This can be achieved through work and action in karma yoga.

In jnana yoga, it is achieved through knowledge and study. In bhakti yoga, it is achieved through devotion and selfless love.

In mantra yoga, it is achieved through repetition of certain invocations and sounds.

The highest form of yoga is raja yoga, which is yoga of consciousness.

Practice of raja yoga starts with hatha yoga which gives the body the necessary health and strength.

Hatha yoga is for physical well-being. Ha stands for the dun and tha stands for moon. Prana is a subtle life energy existing in the air in fluid form.

Benefits of yoga:

• The most important benefits of yoga are physical and mental therapies. The aging process can be slowed down by practicing yoga. Yoga works all the muscles in your body. It helps in strengthening the muscles and building stamina.
• The benefits of yoga are to minimize muscle tension, pain associated with muscle tensions and relaxing muscles.

You are busy but want to include exercise in your daily routine.

You cannot carry treadmill wherever you go. The best exercise equipment you can carry wherever you go are portable tools.

You can take it to the office, keep it in your car or carry them while traveling.

The best exercise equipment to take along with you:

• Yoga mat
• Elastic bands
• Exercise tubes with handles
• Jump rope
• Light dumbbells
• Inflatable swiss balls
• Meditation or relaxation music tapes

More portable tools:

Flex Bars:
It is the best exercise equipment with light weight. The bars improve upper body strength and grip strength. It allows oscillation movements for neuromuscular and balance training.

Weighted Vest:
It is a weight adjustable with each weight packet weighing approximately 0.75 lbs and its one size fits all features. Steel shot packets conform to the body and weight adjustments range from 0.75 lbs to 20 lbs.

The Ankle Tough Rehab System:
It is a set of straps made up of heavy duty elastic. It is cut and stitched to make 2 straps that fit over shoes or bare foot. Four different resistance straps for light, medium, strong and tough resistance levels come with set.

You are in seventies with good health, congratulations.

The reason for long and healthy maturity is because you are active.

The reason for total fitness than most people born in the generation before yours is medical science has improved.

None of the improvements do well if you don’t examine for various diseases on regular basis. Once you hit seventy, it is not required to take as many screenings. But, still prevention is better than cure. If the type of examination is not harmful to your body, you can have the tests.

Tests to consider in seventies for total fitness:

Osteoporosis: This test is useful for women over 65. If you are engaged in weight bearing exercises, your doctor allows you to get screened less often.

Blood pressure: Checking the blood pressure is unavoidable thing and you should do it regularly. This test does not harm you.

Eye exam: Get your checked every year from now on.

Cholesterol: Watch your cholesterol levels and keep the bad cholesterol low and good cholesterol moderate.

Body fat: Check out your body percentage fat and weight. Keep your weight under control.

If you are using white rice, white bread for most of your life, include whole wheat products in your healthy diet plan (Healthy eating plan).

It is a fact that whole grains, omega 3 flax seed bread does not taste like your white bread, but they have much benefits than white bread.

Many people who are converted from white to whole wheat products spent time choking it all down until you got used to taste.

Many people include whole wheat products in their healthy diet plan but few stick to it (Dietary guidlines).

White flour, white rice, and white bread are bland foods. As these are refined, the natural and nutty taste has been taken out of them. You think that white rice, white bread tastes good and you like it.

When you eat bread you expect it to taste in a certain way. If it does not, you qualify it as bad. The key to switching from white to brown is to make your taste buds expect the brown rice, whole wheat taste.

At seventy, your body composition changes and you tend to be less active.

The older you get, the fewer calories you need to eat.

You can control and hold off some of the changes with exercise but your body needs less fuel than before no matter what you do.

As you age your appetite may decline but your nutritional needs do not. Your nutrition needs remain same and in some cases increase. You are supposed to eat good food without gaining weight.

For people over seventy, Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) came up with a modified food guide pyramid foe people aged seventy and above.

Modified food guide pyramid:

Modified food guide pyramid consists of water, antioxidants, fiber and supplements.

Water: The food guide pyramid had eight ounce glasses of water at its base. As you age, you often lose some of thirst sensation. It occurs when you are at increased risk of developing constipation and dehydration.

Along with water, you have to drink more fluids regularly. You can get fluids from foods such as soups, vegetable juice, broths and fat free milk.