Health and Fitness, May 2017

Share healthy living habits.
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Harriet
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Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby Harriet » Mon May 01, 2017 9:07 am

Welcome!

In this thread we chat about keeping ourselves strong and capable as we pursue our calling as homemakers. Our family members may need to lean on us, and we may need to lean on them. Proactive medical answers, sensible consumption of healthy food and water, getting enough rest, and getting enough activity, too - these are all part of our plans! Helping each member of our households work in all their healthy habits is priceless!

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Kathryn-in-Canada
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Re: Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Tue May 02, 2017 10:41 pm

I'm here.

Dh has relieved me of the Barcelona trip since we'll be going to Australia two months later. I'm looking forward to Australia. Looking at airline seat widths reminded me that I really need to lose weight. I'm wider than even business class seats.

Fell off the wagon today. Not badly but combined with yesterday it wasn't good. Mainly I didn't get steps in. Will keep working on that. Today was too full of curveballs.

I think part of the problem is that I'm eating at irregular hours and need to fix that up. Will make that the focus of the rest of the week - breakfast by 9, snack around 10:30, lunch around 12, snack around 3 and dinner by 6. Eating in the evening isn't a problem of mine.

Today was breakfast at 10:30, snack at 11:15, lunch at 3, snack at 6, dinner at 7:15, munching at 9:30. Eating in the evening isn't supposed to be a problem and yet today (and yesterday) I needed a snack. Both days had extremely irregular mealtimes.

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Harriet
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Re: Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby Harriet » Wed May 03, 2017 4:01 pm

Hesitate to even bring this up, since "they" are saying it can cause stress to many people to even talk about it because it challenges so much of what we intuitively believe. (yipes) But profound, with many branches of science and medicine trying to come to grips with it, and evidently an important thing, so here goes.

Scientific American magazine (very well respected) published (page 26) in their Feb issue their cover article, "The Exercise Paradox", which is an article explaining the new evidence that humans, like other animals, have a calorie threshold of expenditure. For men they have calculated about 2,600 and for women, about 1,900. In other words, evidence seems to point to our being UNABLE to expend more than our personal calorie threshold amount every 24 hours because our bodies block this. Basically, the most active primitive peoples have exactly the same thresholds as the most inactive desk or couch jockeys in the modern cities. Tested through exacting urine analysis on several continents, over years.

This could explain the paradox we often find when we are so sure we've exercised lots more during one period of time than some other period of time, but do not see a change in weight on the scale. (We often see a healthy change in fitness, strength, or stamina, but not our body weight.) The theory is that when we exercise "beyond" the calorie threshold the body will not release extra caloric load, but uses other systems of the body to make up the difference. Also in theory, this could prove that obesity (now almost always considered a disease) is not a disease of activity/inactivity but exclusively a disease of diet.

I first heard about this on a webinar just a few days back, when a question was asked about it and the expert said he was still coming to grips with what it would mean, and I went looking for the article. Here's a link to the full magazine of February's Scientific American.

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Nancy
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Re: Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby Nancy » Wed May 03, 2017 6:48 pm

I mowed the back yd for ex today. Chicks are in the run for the 1st outing today. Hens are loving the access back in to the coop. Lovely 86* out side here now glad I mowed earlier.

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RunKitty
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Re: Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby RunKitty » Sun May 07, 2017 7:59 pm

Harriet- that article sounds really interesting. I know the original South Beach Diet focused only on the food and said to do what you wished as far as exercise went. In a later book, the author recommended high intensity interval exercise to increase metabolism. I want to do some research on the new findings. Thanks for posting about this.

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Re: Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby Harmony » Mon May 08, 2017 10:03 am

Harriet, so what you're saying is that no amount of exercise causes one to lose extra weight? What about the old theory that muscle burns more calories than fat? I do think one looks better with exercise and toning at whatever weight they are. You should see DH. Even with all his joint problems, because he has been so active his whole life he really looks pretty good. Much better than 95% of men his age. I know, I've seen him nekkid. :oops:

Now where does this new theory leave us with the findings of The Bigge st Lo ser where they know they've ruined the metabolism of people who lost so much so fast with the exercise.

Something's going on with me that I haven't been able to figure out. Every time I try to change my diet and limit calories, I go into panic mode for a couple days at least until I get a grip on it mentally that I'm not going to starve to death. However, now for some reason when I don't keep eating I'm in panic mode almost continuously. It's like I can't get enough food. I had a really good reason to keep on trying, I go to durn dr. in 9 days and I've been stressed about that for weeks. I'm just about done with her laying so many guilt trips on me, it doesn't help. I am doing the very best I can and I'm not about to start taking a bunch of medicines that have caused problems for so many people I know. She just doesn't seem to listen to me. I should do what my DSis-i-law does, tell her, "we're going to deal with this one thing and don't bother me with the rest of it". sigh...

And my Dr. does not believe in diets anyway. I guess she's all about exercise. I wonder if she's read this article.

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Re: Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby RunKitty » Mon May 08, 2017 12:36 pm

((Harmony)) Maybe you could take the article about exercise in and give it to your doctor? The medical community is so eager to solve every problem with yet another drug. Would it be possible to change doctors? Sounds like this one is actually detrimental to your health. Stress is the cause of so many health issues. Unfortunately having such things as obesity and addiction declared to be diseases, helps to give the medical/pharmaceutical complex a monopoly on treating them. Other approaches are disregarded, even those that have been successful in the past.
Hope you get a good report at your next exam.

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Harriet
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Re: Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby Harriet » Mon May 08, 2017 7:02 pm

I do agree with RunKitty on those hugs for you, Harmony, since it seems like many times your efforts have been dismissed, or you've just generally had a hard time getting seen or understood. My dr who runs marathons obviously doesn't do it because of losing weight but for having enjoyment, so I doubt if any info like this will phase her - she is always interested and nodding when I talk to her about eating well, and encourages. My default gen prac, (now that our regular one has left), is an obese gentleman. I could never talk to him about weight - he's pleasant and knowledgeable but I'm not bringing up that subject in his presence. Yes, even though I haven't seen Mr. Harmony in years, I remember that he was a fit looking person - exercise means toning and muscle strength for us, a good thing.

I haven't heard many experts discussing this yet. It may have folks buffalo-ed. Doug Lisle, who is a health psychiatrist (I think that's the right description - M.D.) has discussed it and was saying this finding doesn't discount all the other good things exercise does for us, and he said add to the list of those in the article a reduction of stress now, plus stronger heart and good lung capacity for the sake of our older selves.

He says the average woman burns 1,600 calories while sedentary, we know that. That's even if she doesn't feel well and sits on the couch all day under a blanket. So that only leaves 300 calories to believe we can use to sway the scale, and not much more for a man. He says if we actually didn't burn UP TO a woman's 1,900 each day, we could gain because of inactivity, but of course we'd have to admit to ourselves it couldn't amount to very much. He reminded that a good-size slice of chocolate cake is 300 calories, so it's the belief that we have ability to "burn that off" by exercising more, that's going to have to be questioned in light of this information. A rural Chinese woman or primitive tribeswoman like in the article (or our female ancestor) wouldn't be offered the cake in the first place. She doesn't have it TO burn off and the great majority of her calories are from foods full of fiber, phyto-nutrients and vitamins that aren't going to put a pound on her. We don't have that "luxury". There will be cake. :?

Harmony, dd also thought of the Biggest Loser lawsuit(s) and mentioned them. Of course, they didn't know this info then, any more than anyone else did, so it wouldn't affect their defense (which probably isn't even still going on - I don't know). But after this, wouldn't specific weight-loss programs everywhere need to readjust exercise recommendations, if they wanted to be considered well-educated or up-to-date about losing on the scale? I'm sure someone out there believes they have evidence that says something different from these findings, so there will certainly be dispute over it.

I think Dr. Lisle was concerned too, about this making anyone get any more stressed about food. I'm sorry you have felt stressed. I will say that I want to know about it when things like this are discovered. I wouldn't want to go back to the days when we were told just any advertisement mumbo-jumbo about grocery store items like the Snack-Well cookies foolishness, or cola being good for you. I also wouldn't want to be worried with the tribeswoman that she might not have gathered enough of those tubers and berries today, either, so I'm glad they are at my supermarket. But I see she'll be protected from some of the stuff I face. So, good for her. There's something to be said for knowing that if she's okay, I can be okay.

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Kathryn-in-Canada
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Re: Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Tue May 09, 2017 9:52 pm

I'm fascinated.

And I've always maintained it was about food. Exercise doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference.

Harmony: you are right that you can eat more and maintain weight if you have more muscle but in my case that worked out to about 200 calories a day extra. Or else, 2/3 of that hypothetical piece of cake.

Exercise has so many other benefits, it should be done. In my case it keeps me moving (if I hang out on the couch for hours or worse in bed for days due to illness, I quickly lose my ability to walk.) I'd never cut back. And if I keep up my activity level, my weight stays steady, but if I don't, it goes up. BUT that just shows I'm eating too many calories to begin with.

What is interesting is the article implies the calories in/calories out isn't the whole story. I certainly seem to find that when I cut down on carbs. The weight loss at a certain calorie point seems easier.

I still would like to go to a desert island somewhere with only healthy food that requires gathering. It would be lovely to be not tempted by all the junk in my diet. I don't seem to have the ability to walk away from it.

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Re: Health and Fitness, May 2017

Postby Nancy » Tue May 09, 2017 11:11 pm

Walked with my friend tonight.
Earlier I walked w the ddog in the field and I mowed the back and front yard and pulled a few weeds.


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