Your cholesterol matters with Dr. Richard Furman

Dr. Richard Furman is a retired vascular surgeon and the author of the new book, Your Cholesterol Matters.

Dr. Furman explains that our total cholesterol is made up of LDL, bad cholesterol, and HDL, good cholesterol. If we’re not doing something about the high levels of LDL in our blood, this will negatively impact our arteries and our overall quality of life. This is because LDL acts as tiny splinters that get into the walls of arteries. On the other hand, HDL acts as a small police car that travels through arteries and plucks out and disposes of the LDL. Ideally, one would have a total cholesterol below 200, with LDL being below 100 and HDL being above 50.

If you’re trying to reach ideal cholesterol numbers, you should first try to reduce LDL through eating healthy. Medical literature has shown that there are bad fats that cause damage to arteries through LDL found in red meats, dairy, and fried foods. Studies show that if you cut out bad fats, but substitute sugar for those bad fats, that also hurts your arteries. Instead, you must substitute bad fats with good fats, such as fish, nuts, and olive oil.

In addition to reducing LDL, you can also increase HDL levels. This is achieved through losing weight if you are overweight and exercising regularly. These activities, when combined with eating an appropriate diet, will help to bring your cholesterol numbers into the ideal range.

The more you know about managing your cholesterol, the easier it is to adopt the lifestyle that will add years and quality to your life. To connect with Dr. Furman, you can email him at dfurman@samaritan.org.

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Fight sitting disease with Joan Vernikos

Dr. Joan Vernikos is a well-known expert in stress and healthy aging, a former NASA researcher and administrator, and the author of the new book Designed to Move.

Dr. Vernikos explains that as our lives have become easier, we have been lulled into an abnormal existence of sitting, as our bodies are biologically designed to move. In the last five years, analyses from data show a relationship between sitting and a variety of health issues including cancer, stroke, diabetes, and obesity.

Here are several tips on how to increase your movement and add to your overall health:

1. Alignment and upright posture – A correct alignment spares your body. Don’t slouch when sitting.
2. Change in posture often – Interrupt sitting often and work to improve your balance.
3. Activities such as housework and gardening – These are activities with a purpose that will keep you moving and feeling accomplished.
4. On the go – Opt to walk, bike, or take public transportation to reduce sitting time.
5. At the office – Take the stairs and encourage standing up.
6. Play – Swinging and juggling are good for balance.
7. Stretching – Stretch at your desk and be sure to push your shoulders back.
8. Relax completely – Totally let go and free your mind.

Awareness is the key. You can structure your life to incorporate new habits in the course of your day. Stand up in meetings, get up to get a drink of water, or walk over to someone instead of sending an email. Focus on frequency and consistency.

Designed to Move gives a basis of understanding of what our bodies should be doing, and what we can do to get back to that level of health and enjoyment. To connect with Dr. Joan Vernikos, visit www.joanvernikos.com.

 

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Better movement and form with David Knox

Making fitness a lifelong habit with Kathleen Trotter

Kathleen Trotter is a personal trainer and the author of Finding Your Fit, a great new book that encourages people to find their own unique recipe to sustain long-term success with health and fitness.

Kathleen explains that becoming fit is an active, lifelong process. She details seven strategies that will help set you up for success:

1. Stop aiming for perfection – Something is always better than nothing. Forget the all or nothing approach to health.
2. Convenience and consistency is key – Find ways to make your workouts convenient, which will contribute to long-term consistency and success.
3. Find your exercise bliss – Adopt fitness activities that you enjoy and will want to do consistently.
4. Find your why – Tie a deeper meaning to why you are committing to your fitness lifestyle.
5. Find your inner athlete – This helps in working toward your long-term goal.
6. Flip your negative thoughts – Moving is a privilege. Think positively and be grateful for the ability to move.
7. Mindfulness and preparation equals success –Determine your priorities and plan for the week ahead.

Kathleen also speaks about the concept of goals versus wishes. Your goals may not be connected to your life and reality. To adjust this, follow these six steps:

1. Stop using a “too busy” excuse – Pair your fitness activities with other non-negotiable activities.
2. Gradual progression – Don’t try to tackle everything at one time. Try adding one good habit and removing one bad habit per week.
3. Establish a WWWH plan – Be realistic about what you’ll do, where you’ll do it, when and how.
4. Respecting your genetics and the realities of your life – Be the best version of you possible.
5. Form goals that are relevant and important to you – This may include engaging in activities with family members.
6. Learn from yourself and others – Determine what was successful/unsuccessful and learn from that.

To connect with Kathleen Trotter or learn more about Finding Your Fit, find her on Twitter at @ktrotterfitness or visit her website at http://www.kathleentrotter.com/.

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Walking for weight loss with Lucy Wyndham-Read

Eliminate chronic pain with Sue Hitzmann

Sue Hitzmann developed the MELT Method to help her clients deal with chronic pain.

Acute Pain/Chronic Pain

Acute pain – comes from an impact or injury.  This pain is a protective measure.

Chronic pain – comes from disease, environmental factors, or neuromuscular issues.  This pain is not a protective measure.  Over time, the pain can increase.

With a negative loop using the neuroplasticity, your mind creates a relationship to a certain movement-pain connection.  Eventually, you can experience chronic pain just from thinking about the movement.

Self-Myofascial Release vs MELT Method

Self-myofascial release – By finding a pain point on the muscle and pressing down with a hard object we can release the muscle.  But this is not really improving the balance of the fascia.

MELT Method – Using “hands on” from a trained practitioner or self treating with the MELT method you are restoring the hydration and helping make the fascia healthier.

Fascia is not just related to the muscles and bones, but is a full connective tissue from skin to bone, top to bottom.  MELT focuses on restoring all of the fascia.

Stuck Stress

Stuck stress is a description of dehydration of the fascia.  Drinking enough water is not full answer to re-hydrating the fascia.  If you consider the fascia like a sponge, you can just put water on the sponge.  You have to massage the sponge to allow water to be drawn into it.

Inflammation

Inflammation is part of the natural healing process.  But with a lot of people, as we get pain from low-grade inflammation we get a stress response.  From there, the inflammation causes more pain and an endocrine response.  Often, we begin focusing on the symptoms rather than going to the cause, fascia dehydration.

MELT Method

When Sue developed the MELT Method in 2004, she coined the term with Myo-fascial, energetic, lengthening technique. It now focuses on restoring the fluid flow, mobility, and stability to get everything back into balance.

The Four Rs

– Reconnect
– Rebalance
– Rehydrate
– Release

Links

MeltMethod.com

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Big fat food fraud with Jeff Scot Philips

In this episode of the 40+ Fitness Podcast, we speak with Jeff Scott Philips.  In his book, Big Fat Food Fraud, he takes us through his past as a health food manufacturer.  It is a very interesting story that provides great insight into the way food labels are done in this country.  It is quite eye-opening.

Food Fraud

Government Control (or lack thereof)

Despite having an onsight monitor, Jeff learned that this individual wasn't so much a controlling factor, but was more of an enabler. Additionally, because the laws are so complex, many labeling issues fall through the cracks between organizations. While this comes off as frustrating to someone who wants to do the right thing, it provides a ton of opportunity for those who want to make health claims.

Tactics

Food companies can use many different tactics to misrepresent the food in the package.  The food label, while intended to show you what is in the food, is seen by the food companies as just another part of the package for marketing their product.  From rounding, to burying ingredients in other “ingredients”, to using other names for things you may be looking to avoid, these tactics allow them to skirt the rules.

Kale and Broccoli don't have labels

Real food doesn't pose the same labeling risks processed foods do.  When you're making your own meals from whole food ingredients, you can know much more about the contents of what you're eating.

Links

Big Fat Food Fraud

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Positively Resilient with Doug Hensch

Doug Hensch is a certified executive coach, consultant, corporate trainer, and author of Positively Resilient. In this book, Doug examines the central theme that, “you can bounce back from anything.”

We all have different ways of getting through the difficult times in life. Many times, you will realize that you have crossover skills from a previous difficulty you overcame that will help you through a current challenge. The approach of this book is that you can bounce back from any physical, mental, or professional calamity.

Doug explains that optimism is a skill. While some people are naturally optimistic, it is a skill which you can build. The key is to focus on the positive, while not denying the negative. Channel your energy toward what is controllable and exhibit a realistic, not forced, sense of optimism.

One way to drive optimism is through setting goals. When you achieve small goals every day, your optimism is more effective because it is coming from your own success rather than simply being told to be optimistic. You are the best example of your own optimism. Use those accomplishments as fuel to be a better you tomorrow. Focus on incrementalism and build momentum.

While some perceive quitting as a negative, it can be used to be more resilient. Many people are stuck in situations they don’t like, whether personal or professional. Identify your deeply held values and made decisions accordingly. You may find that quitting something that’s not serving you could mean opening another door to winning.

To learn more about Positively Resilient or to connect with Doug Hensch directly, visit www.drh-group.com. You can also find Doug on Twitter at @doughensch.

Functional fitness with Lamar Lowery

Lamar Lowery is the founder of the Lamar Functional Training Academy in Germany and the author of a new book called Functional Fitness. While intended for personal trainers, Functional Fitness offers information and sample exercises that everyone can use in building their own functional fitness.

What is functional fitness?

Lamar explains that fitness can be functional and not just traditional. Every moment involves a chain of muscles and nerves, which when repeated over time helps to restore the body’s natural capacity for movement.

Four pillars of human movement

In the book, Lamar discusses the four pillars of human movement, which provide a strong foundation to build upon when improving one’s functional fitness. They include:

1. Locomotion, which involves standing and moving.
2. Core area of the body, including the shoulder to the knee. This does not stop at the hips.
3. Pushing and pulling, such as opening and closing doors, moving a mouse. We do these motions constantly throughout the day.
4. Rotation and diagonal movement, which involves keeping your arms swinging when the body is moving. This keeps the muscles in the upper body activated. Another helpful exercise is doing squats by simply sitting in and getting up from a chair.

The functional path to better performance

To get started, Lamar recommends starting with the basics. This involves moving everything symmetrically and in pairs. Make sure your posture is aligned. Practice basic body positions including the push up position and a laying position. Learn to control these movements and then move on to more complex exercises. This is the functional path to better performance.

Functional Fitness is a great resource of various exercises, both basic and advanced, for both personal trainers and anyone interested in improving their health and fitness. To get a copy of Lamar's book, go to your local bookstore and request that they order it for you.