Blog Archives
Easy Exercises For Couch Potatoes
Anyone can improve their heart health and enjoy other exercise benefits — even if you spend most of your time on the couch. Get tips to help fitness newbies start exercising.
Convincing yourself it’s time to start exercising should be easy — given that there are many benefits to exercising. But finding an exercise routine that works for you — and beginning it the right way — that can be difficult.
If you try to jump from no exercise to running a mile or two, you’ll likely wind up so sore and exhausted that you give up again. It’s perfectly fine to start slowly with easy exercises — you’ll still get exercise benefits and improve your heart health.
“Recognize that small changes over time can yield big results,” says personal trainer Alice Burron, MS, spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise and author ofFour Weeks to Fabulous. Starting out slowly also enables your body to get used to more physical activity and reduces the risk of injury, she adds.
To start making a difference in your heart health and get the most exercise benefits, put a plan in place and have specific goals in mind. “You will see that, with a gradual start and the right mindset, a fitness routine can significantly improve your cardiovascular health within three months,” says Jonathan H. Whiteson, MD, medical director of the cardiac and pulmonary wellness and rehabilitation program at the New York University Langone Medical Center.
Let’s Start Exercising: First Steps
You don’t need to push yourself to the limit on your first day. “Remind yourself that fitness starts with just doing more today than you did yesterday,” says Dr. Whiteson. “So for the couch potato, even spending 30 minutes doing something active instead of sitting down is the beginning of a fitness program.”
To figure out how much you’re currently moving, pick up an inexpensive pedometer. “Using a pedometer is one of the best ways to start increasing activity,” Burron says. Record your steps for about three days to get an average. Then use that number to set a goal, increasing your steps by 20 percent every day to eventually reach 10,000 steps per day.
“Walking is just one of many choices to get active,” says Burron. “However, it is often a good way to get back into fitness if you’ve strayed.” It’s easy exercise, convenient, and enjoyable.
Do Activities You Enjoy
Don’t force yourself to run every day if you hate running, and don’t spend hours cursing the elliptical machine or stationary bike at the gym if those workouts don’t appeal to you. “Finding an exercise that you enjoy is a part of a strategy to change lifestyle behavior and stay active throughout your life,” says Burron. “The type of exercise you choose truly affects your motivation to get moving.” Maybe it’s a yoga class some days and tennis or hiking with a buddy on others. Doing a variety of exercises will help keep your workouts fresh and keep you interested.
Easy Exercises at Home and Work
With a hectic work schedule followed by demands at home, it may be hard to squeeze in a trip to the gym. The good news is you may not have to go anywhere to get a good workout. “Any kind of movement can be considered activity and will burn calories,” says Burron.
Try these ways to incorporate easy exercises into your day:
- Park in the back of the parking lot so that you have to walk a little farther to your destination. For an added workout, carry your groceries instead of pushing them in a cart.
- Give your house a really good cleaning. To burn even more calories, sing and dance while you work.
- When you have a choice, use stairs instead of an escalator or elevator. Try to climb stairs quickly instead of taking your time.
- When feasible, walk instead of driving, taking a train, or riding the bus.
- Getting antsy in your chair at work? Fidgeting is fine — and burns calories.
- Use an exercise ball instead of a chair. It forces you to continually contract your core muscles in the abdomen and back to stay balanced.
- Play with your kids — tag is a great game to get the heart pumping.
- Laugh, jump up and down, dance, and just enjoy life.
Exercise doesn’t have to be a chore on your to-do list or something that you dread. If you make choices throughout each day to help you move a little more, your heart will reap the benefits.
© 2012 EverydayHealth.com; all rights reserved.
Hooked On Caffeine?
If you can’t get by without that morning jolt or afternoon pick-me-up, you could have a caffeine addiction. Here’s how you can know for sure.
By Regina B. Wheeler Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH
Do you rely on your morning coffee to get you out the door — and reach for another cup as soon as you get to work? You could be feeding a caffeine addiction. And once you’re hooked, kicking the habit can be tough.
You might not realize it, but caffeine is the most common mood-altering drug in the world. It is a mild stimulant that works on the central nervous system. Just ask any java junkie — caffeine can make you more alert, give you an energy boost, and keep you from snoozing when you need to stay awake.
Caffeine can be found in many products like tea, soft drinks, energy drinks, and some over-the-counter medications, but coffee is the leading dietary source of caffeine among American adults. Generally, three 8-ounce cups of coffee per day is considered moderate consumption and won’t hurt you, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, excessive caffeine use — more than 10 8-ounce cups of coffee per day — can produce physical side effects including tremors, anxiety, insomnia, and a “crash” of extreme fatigue once the caffeine starts to wear off.
Symptoms of Caffeine Withdrawal
The brain fog and headache that some people get if they don’t have their typical amount of coffee or other caffeinated beverage might actually be a sign of caffeine withdrawal syndrome, according to a recent study.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore and American University in Washington, D.C., reviewed 66 experimental and survey studies on caffeine withdrawal. They identified these common symptoms:
- Headache
- Fatigue or drowsiness
- Depression and irritability
- Difficulty concentrating
- Flu-like symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, and muscle aches
Typically, symptoms began 12 to 24 hours after stopping caffeine and peaked within one to two days. Some subjects reported symptoms that were so severe they couldn’t work. Generally, the heaviest consumers of caffeine reported the most bothersome symptoms, but even people who missed 100 milligrams, or one regular cup of coffee, experienced withdrawal symptoms. Study participants agreed that avoiding withdrawal helped motivate them to continue using caffeine.
Caffeine Tolerance Is on the Rise
Daniel Evatt, PhD, research fellow in the department of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, says people can stop feeling the effects of caffeine, or become tolerant, leading to the need for more and more to feel alert. But Dr. Evatt also points out that most people find a comfortable level and stick with that. “It usually doesn’t keep going up forever, and not all caffeine users develop tolerance.” However, high doses of caffeine (more than 750 milligrams over the course of every day) can produce complete tolerance. That means the drug no longer has a discernible effect.
The Warning Signs of Caffeine Addiction
Experiencing withdrawal symptoms and tolerance are signs that you are becoming physically dependent on caffeine, Evatt says. He also notes that if you are experiencing the following signs and symptoms, you may have developed an unhealthy caffeine addiction:
- You experience insomnia, frequent headaches, or difficulty concentrating
- You continue to use caffeine despite being told to stop by a health professional
- You have difficulties cutting down or quitting even if you want to
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) doesn’t recognize caffeine addiction as a mental disorder, but it may be included in the updated DSM-V. The World Health Organization’sInternational Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) does recognize caffeine addiction as a disorder.
Kicking the Caffeine Habit
Evatt is part of a Johns Hopkins team working on a caffeine dependence treatment program. If you want to quit, “I would first recommend becoming aware of how much caffeine you are consuming daily,” Evatt says, adding that many people underestimate their use. He advises people against trying to quit caffeine cold turkey. “Withdrawal headaches can last days in some individuals,” he says. Instead, cut down slowly to lessen withdrawal symptoms.
The American Dietetic Association gives these tips for cutting down on caffeine:
- Mix decaffeinated coffee in with regular coffee
- Drink a latte with more low-fat milk than coffee
- Brew tea for less time
- Pick soft drinks without caffeine
If these measures don’t work and you think your caffeine consumption is turning into a troublesome caffeine addiction, it might be time to find an addiction specialist for treatment.
Copyright © 2012 Everyday Health, Inc.
The Best-Tasting Juice Cleansers
Someone has bottled Gwyneth Paltrow’s magical glow, and now we’re all drinking the Kool-Aid. And yes, we’re literallydrinking it.
Juice cleanses have become so ubiquitous that, despite their exorbitant price tag, consumption has extended beyond celebrities to us regular folk. Though the health benefits of a detox cleanse have been debated, everybody’s trying it anyway. Sure, there’s the promise of feeling better, looking brighter and younger, and functioning like a well-oiled machine , but let’s be real. You’re really doing a cleanse because you want to drop a few pounds.
Here’s what we really want to know: Do any of these cleanses taste good enough and satisfy us enough to be worth some major dough and food deprivation? Is anythingworth food deprivation? Because I’ve got a homemade blueberry pie on my counter, and you’re going to have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.
Health claims aside, we’re here to see how drinkable these cleanses are. If the juice doesn’t taste good, chances are you’ll end up throwing money down the drain, along with that putrid cabbage-kale juice.
First of all, a quick education on how cleanses work. Most juice cleanses consist of six juices a day, which are delivered fresh to your door. These aren’t your typical Mott’s apple juices — they’re pressed, raw, unpasteurized juices made from fruits and vegetables, with no sugar added. Start the cleanse immediately, because the juices’ nutrients allegedly begin to deteriorate after three days (with the exception of BluePrint, which lasts six days). Drink a bottle of the juice every two hours, with a glass of water in between, and eat absolutely no food — herbal tea is your only other allowance (not even gum!). The typical cleanse lasts three days, but you can tinker with the length of the duration. The cost, on average, is $75 a day. Yep, you read that correctly.
We conducted a taste test of the five major brands that will ship their juices directly to your home, no matter where you live (as long as it’s in the United States, that is). Despite our worst fears, we found we actually enjoyed the flavors across the board, making the prospect of a cleanse seem almost realistic. A juice with red cabbage in itactually tastes like a popsicle. Would we want to drink these juices all day long? Sure we would. But there are some differences from brand to brand, so we’ve put together a tasting guide in the slideshow below. Check it out to see which cleanse best suits your taste buds.
#1: Life Juice
Cost per day: $60
Lasts: 3 days
lifejuiceshop.com
Comments: “Happy Belly has red cabbage in it, which scared me, but it actually tastes like a popsicle. Amazing.” “The carrot in the Energizer Bunny is outstanding. So fresh and smooth.” “Good juices. All bright and tasty.” “Beautiful colors! Each one was very distinct. Happy Belly was amazing. Only the Alkaline Blend wasn’t delicious.”
#2: Cooler Cleanse
Lasts: 3 days
Celeb fan: Salma Hayek
coolercleanse.comComments: “Steer clear of the Essential Greens, but everything else is good.” “The almond nut milk is like a vanilla milkshake!” “I would die for this almond nut milk — the best nut milk of all the cleanses.” “Strong flavors! I would drink some of these every day.”
Lasts: 6 days in refrigerator
Celeb fans: Olivia Wilde, Bethenny Frankel, Julia Stiles
blueprintcleanse.comComments: “The white cashew juice tastes like a milkshake.” “The red is intensely delicious.” “The green juice is a little more bitter than other brands.” “The green juice is a little muddy, almost swampy.” “The gold pineapple mint is outstanding — but I’d rather have it in a cocktail.” “I just wish the taste of the cashew milk were a little sweeter.”
#4: Ritual Cleanse
Lasts: 4 days
Celeb fans: Kim Kardashian
ritualcleanse.comComments: “The almond mylk reminds me of horchata.” “There’s hardly any difference between the sweet greens and the green lemon, but they’re both delicious and fresh.” “The nut drinks are both way too gritty.” “Very austere. I definitely couldn’t maintain this.” “The vegetable-based drinks are a little depressing, but the fruit drinks are delicious.”
Lasts: 3 days
Celeb fans: Gwyneth Paltrow, Liv Tyler, Mary-Louise Parker
organicavenue.comComments: “The pear juice is outstanding and very sweet, but thin.” “Nothing exciting, but drinkable.” “Thumbs down on the almond milk.” “The cucumber juice tastes just like … cucumber juice.” “The juices are a little bland, but not unpalatable.” “Both green juices are pretty foul.”
How Much Salt Is In That?
There’s no gentle way to say this: we eat entirely too much salt. As part of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the USDA recommends a maximum of 2,300 mg of daily sodium — what correlates to about one teaspoon of salt — and the majority of us get about 3,400mg.. And for senior citizens, African-Americans and those at risk for hypertension, the disparity is even more extreme; for them, the USDA recommends just 1,500 milligrams each day.
But where does all that excess salt come from? Processed food. The sodium in everyday packaged, bottled and canned items is insidious: we have no sense that we’re eating something loaded with sodium, and yet the proof is on the packaging. We’ve all heard before that things like canned soups and some canned meats are salt-heavy, but what about breakfast cereals, bread and even sweet drinks?
Think you can pick out the hidden salt among these common grocery items? Try out this quiz:
1. Which has more sodium, a one-cup serving of Cheerios or a 15-chip serving of Lay’s Classic potato chips?
( ) The chips
( ) The Cheerios
( ) They’re about the same (within 10 mg)
Answer (They’re about the same): Your bowl of cereal in the morning might not feel like a salty treat, but it’s packed with 160 mg of sodium. The chips have 170 mg in a one-ounce serving. But that’s not an excuse to eat potato chips for breakfast — 15 of the Lays have 160 calories and a whopping 10 g of fat (Cheerios sans milk have 100 calories per serving and 2 g of fat).
2. Dressing face-off: Which has more sodium per two tablespoon serving?
( ) The Wish-Bone Chunky Blue Cheese dressing
( ) The Wish-Bone Italian dressing
( ) They’re about the same (within 10 mg)
Answer (Wish-Bone Italian Dressing): The Italian dressing has 340 mg of sodium, while the blue cheese has 270 mg. We know vinaigrettes are often the lower-cal, lower-fat dressing option compared with their creamy counterparts — but don’t forget to check sodium levels, too, when evaluating your nutrition labels. Or, why not make your own at home?
3. The amount of salt in a slice of this Sara Lee Classic New York Style Cheesecake adds up to how much of your recommended daily intake?
( ) 12 percent
( ) 22 percent
( ) 32 percent
( ) 42 percent
Answer (42 Percent): It might be dessert, but that doesn’t mean it’s not loaded with sodium. Each piece also packs 480 calories and 29 grams of fat.
4. Condiment reality check: Two tablespoons of Heinz tomato ketchup has how much sodium?
( ) 80 mg
( ) 160 mg
( ) 320 mg
Answer (320 mg): While a one-tablespoon-sized serving has 160 mg (still high at 7 percent of your recommended intake), a more realistic (at least on our plates!) two-tablespoon portion has 320 mg.
5. Which breakfast item has the most sodium?
( ) A one-cup serving of Cheerios
( ) A one-packet serving of Quaker Instant Grits
( ) A one-cup serving of Raisin Bran
Answer (One packet of Quaker instant Grits): While all the breakfast items have some positive nutrition characteristics (the grits are high in iron, the raisin bran is loaded with fiber and the Cheerios have heart-healthy whole grains, to name a few of the most notable), the grits are loaded with the most sodium. They have 310 mg in one serving, compared with 160 mg in the Cheerios and 250 mg in the Raisin Bran.
6. Yup, drinks have sodium, too — in fact, all three of these do. Which is the worst offender?
( ) A bottle of Nesquik Chocolate Milk
( ) A bottle of Snapple Pink Lemonade
( ) A can of Starbucks Double Shot Energy, vanilla flavor
Answer (A bottle of Nestlequik Chocolate Milk): At first blush, the Starbucks can and the Nesquick seem neck and neck, but there’s actually two servings in the chocolate milk bottle. And that brings the grand total for the whole thing up to 320 mg. The Starbucks and the Snapple have 180 mg and 85 mg, respectively.
7. Which has more sodium, a Weight Watchers Blueberry Muffin or a Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Turnover?
( ) One muffin
( ) One turnover
( ) They’re about the same (within 10 mg)
Answer (One Muffin): They might be a “diet” food, but that doesn’t mean the muffins are low in sodium. While they trump the pastries in terms of fewer calories and grams of fat, they have 270 mg of sodium, compared to 230 mg in the turnover.
8. Chocolate showdown: Which single serving size has the most sodium?
( ) One pack of Oreo Cakesters (two cakes)
( ) Four Entenmann’s Pop’ems donuts
( ) One Klondike sandwich
( ) One Jell-O sugar-free chocolate pudding cup
Answer (Four Entenmann’s Pop’ems donuts): The donuts take the cake for this one — though all four treats have sodium. The Cakesters have 250 mg, the Entemann’s donuts have 310 mg, the Klondike bars have 150 mg and the JELL-O pudding has 180 mg.
9. Which cup contains a serving of peanut butter, with 170 mg of sodium?
( ) One tablespoon (left)
( ) Two tablespoons (center)
( ) Four tablespoons (right)
Answer (Two Tablespoons): Here comes the portion police: just two tablespoons of peanut butter comprises a serving, which has 170 mg of sodium and also 180 calories and 12 g of fat.
10. Which has more sodium?
( ) Breakstone’s 2% Milkfat Lowfat Cottage Cheese
( ) Philadelphia Regular cream cheese, salmon flavored
Answer (Breakston’e 2% Milkfat Lowfat Cottage Cheese): While the cottage cheese has more protein and less cholesterol, it also has more sodium — 340 mg per 1/2 cup serving. The cream cheese has 210 mg per 2 tablespoon serving.
11. When it comes to sodium, what percent of your recommended daily intake does a whole package (three cups) of this rice pilaf have?
( ) 30 percent — about enough for a day
( ) 100 percent — about enough for a whole day
( ) 120 percent — enough for a whole day … and then some
Answer (120 percent): One serving (about one cup) of this rice pilaf has 970 mg of sodium, or 40 percent of your recommended daily intake. Triple that to eat the whole box, and you’ve exceeded a whole day’s worth.
12. Potato chips vs. Goldfish crackers: Which snack has more sodium?
( ) One serving (15 chips) of Lay’s Classic potato chips
( ) One serving (55 pieces) of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Baked Snack Crackers, cheddar flavor
( ) They’re about the same (within 10 mg)
Answer (One serving of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Baked Snack Crackers): The crackers might be baked instead of fried, but that doesn’t mean they have less sodium than fried potato chips — one serving is loaded with 250 mg.
13. Think sweets don’t have sodium? Think again — how much will a slice of this cake (1/10 of the whole thing) and two tablespoons of frosting set you back when it comes to sodium?
( ) 110 mg
( ) 210 mg
( ) 310 mg
( ) 410 mg
Answer (410 mg): Yup, that’s right — the cake alone has 13 percent of your daily sodium intake — before the icing, which clocks in at about 100 mg.
14. Thirsty? A one-cup serving of this Tabasco brand Bloody Mary Mix has 70 calories … but how many mg of sodium?
( ) 19 mg
( ) 190 mg
( ) 1,900 mg
Answer (1,900 mg): You may want to hold off your “cheers” until you read this — just one cup of the mix has 1,900 mg of sodium, which is almost 80 percent of your recommended daily intake.
15. Which breakfast item has the most sodium?
( ) One Thomas Cinnamon Raisin bagel
( ) Two Kellogg’s Eggo Homstyle waffles
( ) One Pillsbury Reduced Fat Cinnamon Roll, with icing
Answer (One Thomas Cinnamon Raisin bagel): All three of these have a similar amount of sodium — the bagel, waffles and cinnamon roll pack 380 mg, 370 mg and 340 mg, respectively. But the bagel (and that’s sans cream cheese) still has the most.
10 High Cholesterol Foods To Avoid
You don’t have to be a nutritionist to know that unhealthy foods like French fries and fried chicken are bad choices to eat on a regular basis. They’re loaded with sodium, fat, and cholesterol — but do you know just how much they contain?
According to the American Heart Association, a diet that is high incholesterol, saturated fats, and trans fats raises blood cholesterol levels and puts you at risk for heart disease. Saturated fats are found in foods like meat and dairy products that come from animals, while trans fats lurk in baked goods and fast foods.
Here are some obvious and not-so-obvious high-cholesterol food choices — most of which are also high in unhealthy fats.
I Am Lady Fab 