Weight Loss Journal -- Health, Fitness, Exercise, and Weight Loss

I am at Risk, Are You? Know the Facts on Heart Attacks

Avacado HeartI have a lot of reasons for wanting to lose weight.  Right up at the top of the list is be with my family.  To be there to watch my children grow up. To spend quality time with my wife.  To enjoy all of the great things that come with this wonderful life. 

I was reading about heart attacks online and found a great resource.  St Jude Medical, Inside Cardiac Arrest.  They provide information about the risk factors, warning signs, and treatment of Sudden Cardiac Arrest.  It also had a couple of videos explaining cardiac arrest and the anatomy of the heart (http://www.insidecardiacarrest.com/video_suddencardiacarrest.aspx and http://www.insidecardiacarrest.com/video_humanheart.aspx.

Given both my current weight (360 at last Friday’s weight in) and my body shape (I carry a lot of my fat in the mid section aka belly fat), I am at risk of sudden cardiac arrest aka a heart attack. 

Did you know that sudden cardiac arrest kills 325,000 people a year - or nearly 900 per day? Usually without warning and if you don’t get help in the 1st 4 to 6 minutes it can be fatal.

So, enough of the morbid talk…  My apologizes for those with a weak disposition.  Having learned more about heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest I am convinced more now that ever that it is time for me to lose the weight and get into shape for the rest of my life.

Hoping you are have a great day…  I plan on swimming and maybe playing some volleyball (although it is supposed to be 100 degrees today so maybe I will just swim.)

Photo Credit: 1

No Comments | May 15, 2008 | Filed Under cardiac arrest, healthy eating, heart, motivation, weight loss | Leave a Comment 

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4 Heart Healthy Exercises

Jogging If you want to get on the road to a healthy and full life, you need to focus not only on losing weight, but also doing exercises that are going to benefit your most powerful organ, your heart. It may be tough at first, but it’s important that you don’t get discouraged. Start out slow and keep your goals in mind. Whether you need to reduce your cholesterol or lower your blood pressure, combining these tips with a healthy diet can get your body and your heart back in shape. Just make sure to hydrate!

Run

Let’s get started with the first exercise that is probably the best for your heart. Running combines all of the essential ingredients into one exercise. You’re getting your heart rate up, you’re using all of your muscles and you’re building endurance. The problem is, if you’re pretty out of shape, running can be very difficulty. For those with knee problems or joint issues, running may not be an option. However, there are low impact ways that you can still get the benefits of running without hurting yourself.

Walk

Start out by walking for ten minutes at a slow pace. After this period of time elapses, walk fast for five minutes. Go back to walking slow for ten and this time, when you’re done, jog for five minutes. This is the easiest way to start burning calories and just about anyone can do it. After the five minutes of jogging are done, go back to walking slowly for ten minutes. Repeat until about an hour has gone by. You’ll have gotten your heart rate up and you’ll have burned plenty of calories. You can gradually start increasing the amounts of running time as you get stronger.

Aerobic Workout

Next, aerobic exercise is also well suited for keeping your heart healthy. Again, you’re probably going to need to start off slowly. It may be a bit difficult at first, but you can gradually increase your workout times to around 30 to 45 minutes a day. That’s your target goal, but if you think you can do more, go for it! By reaching your target heart rate every day, you’ll be not only helping your heart, but you’ll also be improving your metabolism.

Swim

If neither of these sound like something you want to try, or you have joint problems, the next best thing to do is to try aerobic swim classes. Your joints won’t have the stress and you’ll still be working that heart muscle. You can usually find a water aerobics class at most gyms or even at your local YMCA. If you can’t find one, just go to your indoor pool at the gym and try some exercises on your own. It’s a lot easier to get started in water and you’ll be able to build up your strength a lot quicker.

Your heart is the most vital organ you have and you need to treat it right. The good news is, even after a lifetime of abusing it, getting started on an exercise plan right now can help you undo that damage and provide you with some great benefits as well.

 Photo Credits: 1

1 Comment | May 15, 2008 | Filed Under blood pressure, cardiovascular, exercise, goals, heart, hydration | 1 Comment 

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How to Keep Weight Off Permanently

Keeping the Pounds Off How many times have you gone on a diet, only to gain back the weight, plus a little dividend? For many people, dieting is a vicious cycle full of ups and downs, and plenty of discouragement. If you want to keep your weight off permanently, you are going to need to implement a few techniques. For most of us, staying at a healthy weight requires a lot of dedication and hard work, but it will pay off in a longer life span, less sickness and simply feeling better. Let’s look at a few of the ways that you can keep your weight off permanently.

1. Change your lifestyle -

If you want to keep your weight off successfully, more times than not this means changing your entire lifestyle. It’s not easy, but it is worth it. You don’t have to become entirely preoccupied with your weight, that’s not healthy. But you will need to keep focused on eating right, getting enough exercise and avoiding trigger foods that you know will put you back on that wrong path again. It’s fine to cheat now and again, but you can’t let it become a regular event. Allow yourself a nice dinner out every few weeks, but don’t fall back into your old habits.

2. Replace bad foods with better foods -

There are some foods that you may never be able to enjoy in large quantities again. There are also other foods that simply may be too dangerous for you to eat ever again. These are known as trigger foods, like we mentioned above. These are the foods that start you on that downward spiral that can be nearly impossible to overcome. If you simply cannot eat one piece of chocolate cake, it’s better to avoid eating it at all than risk falling back into your old habits.

Replace that cake with something that still satisfies your sweet tooth and chocolate craving but doesn’t trigger that old behavior. This works for any food, not just cake, that you simply cannot control your reaction to. It’s not easy and it’s more than a little sad. But, you can look at this way. Which would you rather have - a few bites of cake or a longer life that you can enjoy? A little extreme yes, but sometimes you need to get tough with yourself.

3. Treat every day as a brand new challenge -

If you’ve fallen off the wagon, don’t let that cycle continue. Every day is a brand new day where you’re going to have that chance to succeed at your healthy lifestyle. We all fall down every now again, but not all of us can get back up. Stop that cycle of falling and staying down, and start realizing that you are on a lifelong path towards getting healthy. It’s ok to take a break for a few days, but don’t let those days stretch into week, months and years. Get back in that saddle!

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No Comments | May 14, 2008 | Filed Under exercise, goals, healthy eating, motivation, trigger food | Leave a Comment 

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