Health and Fitness February 2011

Share healthy living habits.
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Kathryn-in-Canada
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Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Tue Feb 01, 2011 8:23 am

It's Heart Month here in Canada.

And in Canada Heart & Stroke issues are the single largest cause of death for women.

There's an online heart health test to take to see how you are caring for your heart.

http://www.thehearttruth.ca/Heart_Truth_Quiz
Okay, that quiz is awful. I deserve a red flag for weight, diet and age. But to get a red flag for being pregnant at some point in my life?! And if taking HRT and birth control are both negatives , why do I get a caution for not taking either? Or for that matter, a caution for not being part of an ethnic group that has a higher risk of heart disease?

If you find a better quiz, let me know.

My goals for the month:

1. Get to 170 by the 24th.
2. Work on strengthening my diaphragm for singing

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Harriet
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Re: Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby Harriet » Tue Feb 01, 2011 12:54 pm

Hi, Kathryn! Great diaphragm-strengthening goal. :idea:

The checklist for health markers did have some helpful info. I wish it had more ranges for some of the answers instead of just a line between bad and good. I was ready to take credit for my 20 daily minutes of exercise and tee-totaling, but I did not impress! I checked out the HRT and birth control warnings to try to understand what you'd mentioned, and I did disagree with red-flagging HRT if the only warning is that it is not considered specifically heart-protective. (?) Don't know what's up with the 2 "no" answers seemingly cancelling each other out in the quiz.

This morning I had a smoothie of cherries, peaches, 1/3 banana and 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk. I've spent 8 days on Atkins and even though I see a lot of good in it (and really liked my omelet breakfasts) I struggled with getting enough fiber and didn't feel well, probably because of that. I did learn to scrutinize food items for unnecessary carbs. For instance, "original" almond milk has 8 carbs per cup instead of the 1 that "unsweetened" has, so buying original when the store is out of unsweetened is a much bigger deal that I thought. It could cause more carb-cravings later in the day if I used original in a smoothie rather than letting the fruits do the sweetening.

Harmony, I tried it out because my dr mentioned that my high cholesterol would probably respond well to an Atkins diet. It would have been nice to lose a little weight. I don't believe that was happening, although I may not have given it enough time. HRH lost 3 pounds in the same time, but he was not strict anyway, just being more careful. I'm going back to daily beans, I think, as my response to cholesterol pondering.

I'm continuing on toward my 21 days of exercise and my reward of asking HRH out, probably to a weekday lunch at some nice place.

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Dove
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Re: Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby Dove » Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:17 pm

Hi Kathryn & Harriet :). I often check Dr Oz's website to see what his shows will be about. He has done many on heart health, and you can watch video clips from the shows there, too.

I'm thinking seriously about buying a treadmill. Even before this winter brought so much bad weather, I realize that I exercise much less in winter, and also when it is very hot in the summer. If I could walk in a climate controlled environment like my house, I would exercise more regularly (or at least have no excuse not to :oops: ). I like the idea of being able to read, use a laptop or watch TV while exercising on a treadmill. In the past I often got dizzy after walking on one & would have to lay down for a few minutes, which is why I got rid of my old one many years ago. At this point, I would rather deal with a little dizziness and get in a good walk.

My questions to all of you are: If you were to buy one, which make & model do you recommend? I'd like to keep the price around $500. Less is better :), but I would consider investing more . My old one was noisy, so a quiet one would be good. I hear that some have inclines; what other features do you like on the ones you use?

Thanks in advance for your input!

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Harriet
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Re: Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby Harriet » Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:25 pm

And a further question to Kathryn specifically, would be: Didn't you and Ken customize your treadmill so that you could read or have a laptop? How'd you do that? Dstepson thinks HRH ought to get an eliptical or ski type so if anyone had a thought about that... ...

While waiting on the purchase of indoor exercise equipment, video is great, btw! I think several of us here mention indoor walking videos, for instance - I love mine.

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Re: Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby LurkyLou » Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:03 pm

Dove: we bought a NordicTrak treadmill from Sears. And I think it was somewhere around $600. There were lots to choose from. I can't do a laptop when I use my treadmill--I'd fall off I'm sure! But I can watch TV, listen to my Ipod, etc. just fine. My trainer told me if you're going to jog on one, be sure to have it at a 1% incline. That mimics the road better and helps prevent shin splints....and it's worked for me! Our model will fold up for moving or whatever which is nice, but usually we leave it down. Three of us use it very regularly and it's doing well. We have to adjust the belt, but that's easy enough to do that I can do it!
In the future, I'd like to add an elliptical to the room as well for a change of pace. And I'll do a TV exercise show to keep up the variety and to challenge my body to a new thing....

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Kathryn-in-Canada
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Re: Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Wed Feb 02, 2011 12:23 am

Treadmill answers:

I recommend exercise equipment that is rated for hotel exercise rooms. Our first exercise bike was a Nordictrak from Sears and it started to clunk within a week. It was designed for light use of 20 minutes a day! We were using it several hours and literally wore it out.

We spent 3x as much and got one rated for hotel exercise rooms. It is still working fine. When dh is on it he's on for 45 minutes at a time.

The treadmill was bought for my back recovery (I could no longer do the old Nordic Trak ski machine or the exercise bike without great pain) and dh's prostate surgery recovery. Winter was coming for me and I knew I had to walk in order to stay mobile and was afraid of icy conditions. Dh was on the treadmill from his first day home after surgery, with the catheter in, etc. And he was on for 60-90 minutes at a time watching movies and The Avengers tv series. Again we bought a really expensive, made in the USA, treadmill that could take 2 - 3 hours of use daily. It has been 5 years and it still runs like new.

That isn't to say that it has never served as a laundry rack, but when we come back to it, it starts up, no maintenance, no worries. I'll post the brand tomorrow when I'm on it.

But, in summary, the first thing to look for is the duty cycle. How long you can use it at a time and how many days a week.

I don't know about prices in the US but in Canada you can't get a decent treadmill for under $1000. And I'd like to have to the tilt-up feature but it added too much to the price. On the other hand, I have been known to lift mine up and store it on the crossbars in order to make room for an inflatable bed in the exercise room.

Our has pre-programs, lots of tilt, and displays my heart rate if I wear my heart monitor. I use about 3% of its features (tilt and distance and speed traveled.)

Dh has rigged both the recumbent exercise bike and the treadmill with shelves to hold the laptops. I can read websites but I can also type while walking up to 3.3 mph so my workout time reduces the time I spend online in the morning.

During my cool down song, I walk with my eyes closed while holding on to the rails and concentrate on the music. I can also do my arm stretches during my cool down (and often walk backwards or do side cross-overs, while walking slowly, in order to increase my co-ordination and protect my back if I slip on ice.)

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Sunny
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Re: Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby Sunny » Wed Feb 02, 2011 1:09 am

For Dove re treadmill. We bought a Pro-Form Crosswalk 390 from Sears last year; it was on sale for $500. It is fairly quiet. It has pre-programmed workouts, arm workout levers, stationary handles to hold on to if you don't use the levers. It also has sensor handles that are supposed to measure heart rate. The screen will also show distance walked and calories burned. It does incline and has a shelf to hold a book or netbook or small dvd player. I've also used a portable digital tv on it. It's very easy to use. Dh's physical therapist told him to start at 5 min. once or twice a day at 1.5 mph and work up from there a little at a time.
Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible. --- Francis of Assisi

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Kathryn-in-Canada
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Re: Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:34 am

I'm on the treadmill now. It is a Pacemaster (brand) Silver Select (model)

Here's a review with a picture:

http://www.treadmilltips.com/pacemaster ... dmill.html

You can see a bit of daylight under the display panel. Dh took a piece of thin board (actually it was the back of an old stereo stand, cut to size) and slipped it through. It won't slide back or forward because he put a blocks of wood on the top and bottom that serve as stoppers. I covered it with mac tac so it looks nicer.

On the recumbent bike, he took the piece of counter that was cutout for the bathroom sink and mounted it on two pieces of hockey stick (hardwood so very strong) It slides over the front hand bars and under the structural support bar that that the display is attached to and is thus held in place by leverage.

The bike is a Diamondback. They don't make our model anymore and you couldn't attach a shelf to the news ones easily.

I'd look for somebody who is downsizing to a condo with a gym and looking to get rid of their home gym equipment and buy top quality equipment, used. Go to a fitness equipment store and see if they know of any customers looking to sell.

You asked about quietness. Both are whisper quiet. Which means you hear the hum of the motor (treadmill) and pedals (bike - it is self powered so doesn't plug in.) It is easy to hear the tv overtop the motor noise and when I turn off the treadmill, the tv sound isn't blaringly loud.

BUT both are in our 'exercise room' (ds's old 8.5 x 11 bedroom) and on the ground floor it sounds like super quiet dishwasher. My foot-fall on the treadmill then causes a thunk with each step through the joists. Obviously, it would be much quieter for others if the equipment was in the basement and cooler in the summer, but we love being able to look out the window and only have to stumble the 10' from our bedroom to start exercising. No excuses to get distracted on the way to exercise! (My old laptop is set up permanently, I fill and leave a water bottle in the holder before I go to bed and have my exercise clothes laid out on the foot of my bed. I've stopped wearing a bra while exercising since that was one more piece of clothing to struggle with while barely awake - dh bikes in bare feet and what he wears to bed so hasn't got any dressing to do before getting on the bike.

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OKay
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Re: Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby OKay » Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:57 am

I have a ProForm treadmill from Sam's. It folds up and has heart/pulse bar to hold on to when you want to check yourself. It inclines and has several preprogrammed workouts (I don't use those). Sometimes I lay my ironing board across the treadmill arms and use that as a flat surface to put laptop on. However I mostly prefer to walk swinging my arms and listening to podcasts (Zune). I have been very pleased with this purchase.

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Harriet
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Re: Health and Fitness February 2011

Postby Harriet » Wed Feb 02, 2011 1:26 pm

This is a link to a youtube public service announcementabout fighting cancer/donating. Health related, yes, but I'm mostly putting it here for the laughter-is-the-best-medicine effect on our health. Best viewed at full screen if you can. The answer to "who's the other guy" is Zach Selwyn.


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