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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781468560763 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 03/26/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 120 |
| File size: | 104 KB |
Read an Excerpt
Weight Gain = Weak Heart Change
By Kim Ragone
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2012 Kim RagoneAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4685-6077-0
Chapter One
What to Do Before You Start Working Out
Before you start any exercise program, you should have a physical examination. Confirm you are healthy enough to work out to reduce the risk of seriously injuring yourself. Next on your to do list is to buy a heart rate monitor for safety. You can find a heart monitor online or at any sporting goods store. You should wear it during all of your workouts. This will allow you to monitor your own heart rate and learn about your body. You will be able to push yourself by reading the heart rate monitor. It will guide you as to when you need to stop or increase physical exertion. To progress in your workouts, know your maximum heart rate level and be aware of your resting heart rate. This device will monitor your body or workouts through reading the results of your heart rate. The last step before you get started is to check your attitude. One must have a good attitude before setting any goal. Without a good attitude you are definitely doomed to fail. Change your negative attitude. Continually be positive about the goals you set or have accomplished. Never put yourself down. Do not say, "I should have" or "I could have" or feel guilty about what you have done. Remaining positive is always looking to a new day, not focusing on the past events or what you have done. For example: if you ate three pieces of cheesecake with ice cream, don't cry about it and tell everyone. Do not look for, want or need support and reassurance from others. Realize you do not need external reassurance. Do not focus on what you should have done. Focus on the present. Believe that you are able to make necessary and appropriate decisions. Lead yourself to accomplish goals you have created for yourself.
As for food, it is necessary for our survival. Having a positive attitude about food is important. If you love food, this is a good thing and you're on the right track for success. If you don't love food, you need to make it a priority to not deprive your body of it. It is not bad to love food. I was raised in an American household, and my family loves food. They live for it. I was raised to not be afraid to eat. For this I am very lucky. My parents instilled in me a positive attitude about food. I have never hurt my body by trying to starve it.
In America, we are fortunate to have an abundance of food. Food itself is not our issue. My mom loves cooking and has perfected delicious meals. This was her time to gather us together as a family. This was her joy. So our time revolved around the kitchen and food. I learned a lot about food from her. The most important thing I learned as a woman, from my mom, was not to be afraid to eat everything I desired. Food is neither your enemy nor an obstacle in life. Our society is hung up on diets. Diets pressure you into being afraid of food, as though it is your enemy. Well, in my household it was not. My dad and mother taught that food was not our enemy. It is your responsibility to be sensible and educated about the food you are eating. Again, food is not the issue.
Americans are not born knowing everything that poses challenges to overcome. Communicating with one another is extremely important in our diverse society. We need information to survive. This is what inspired me to write on this subject. My hopes are to create a difference and inspire Americans to get an "A+" in living a better, healthier lifestyle. Our society needs to get back on the right track. Yes, we can overcome this health crisis in our society if everyone stops worrying about food and focuses on what they need to do.
Chapter Two
Exercise Is Important
Life with no exercise increases your risk of an even earlier mortality rate not long after "prehistoric" age of thirty. As you age, or climb past thirty, your body and muscles begin to feel less strong than they once were. Don't forget, having strong muscles is important for living a healthy lifestyle. Strength, then, must be a goal. No one wants weak muscles. They affect your posture, weight, and heart that force a person to catch his breath due to loss of strength or can cause outbreaks of sweat, dizziness or fainting after too much exertion. When you plan your exercises, your focus must be to have a strong heart in order to pump the sufficient amount of oxygen to your demanding muscles so your muscles are able to overcome the inertia. Inertia is being applied to your muscles whether you are moving or not. Forces, such as gravity, cause resistance on your muscles meaning our muscles are working in static motion. Our muscles to work efficiently are always requiring oxygen whether we are moving or not. Your heart and brain are the most important muscles in your body. Without them, you would cease to exist. Therefore, always concentrate on exercises that stimulate and strengthen your heart and brain as opposed to exercises solely for muscle strength, building mass or toning based on appearance. Increasing muscle mass demands more oxygen to be pumped by your heart. If you have increased your muscle mass, you have increased strength. Realize strong muscles and increased muscle mass equals increased stress on your heart. Your blood pressure will also have increased because of an increase in demand for oxygen by your demanding muscles. Sufficient oxygen is needed by the increased mass of muscles you have strengthened, so there is greater pressure on your heart thereby raising the risk of cardiac arrest, stroke or aneurysm. Therefore, a strong heart has to be your major focus in your overall training. As a result, your appearance will be affected by having a strong heart. Once again and to stress this point, strengthening your heart is to be the most important goal of training.
Oxygen, blood pressure, resting heart rate, weight, and posture are influenced by exercise. Depression will be lessened, too, by doing cardiovascular exercises. Strengthening your heart and increasing oxygen to the brain, affects your moods. It also decreases stress, which releases adrenaline in the body, as opposed to serotonin, which affects your moods directly. Adrenaline is released when you are stressing, which can decidedly affect how others perceive you. Dealing with daily high-pressure situations impacts your body and mind. Adrenaline is serious because it slows down your metabolism dramatically affecting your mood, body causing weight gain, and a negative perception of self. This all makes life more challenging. Mood change is important. Nobody wants to be depressed, moody, agitated or angry. Focusing on cardiovascular exercises will improve these drastic changes your body experiences due to stress. Increased metabolism will incur positive changes, such as a more upbeat mood or personality, which will make you feel really good. Positive change is what you want for your body.
Chapter Three
What Not To Eat Or Drink
Food does affect our bodies positively or negatively depending on when you eat or drink, what you eat and drink, how much you eat or drink. It is very important to prepare your meals according to your work out. Many Americans overeat and that's why they have gained weight. One way to increase metabolism is by changing how you eat or drink. You need to stop eating large amounts at one particular sitting. Continually eating throughout the day forces your metabolism to increase. This will in turn burn the stored fat in your body.
Many of us wake up for work in a rush to get out the door and skip breakfast. Perhaps you had a cup of coffee at the crack of dawn. Using coffee as a stimulant increases alertness warding off drowsiness in order to wake up. This ritual of the daily intake of caffeine could lead to dependence or cause issues down the road. Coffee is legal but not regulated by the food and drug administration. One should make sure they are not indulging in the overuse of caffeine. Not feeling tired when you should be, or headache when you have not had coffee or irritability are signs of caffeine addiction. Other signs include diarrhea, elevated blood pressure, heart palpitations, anxiety, tremulousness, muscle twitching, insomnia and nervousness. Caffeine decreases resting blood flow in the brain affecting your nervous system. This directly effects how you respond physically or mentally.
There are some benefits to moderate use of caffeine. Caffeine causes increase in sexual arousal. This impacted society in the 1960s as coffee shops became popular driving sexual revolution. Another positive effect of caffeine is it reduces inflammation. Moderate usage of caffeine has proven dramatic results in physical activity by acting as an external influence enhancing performance. When caffeine use is stopped, the body reacts.
Blood vessels in the head dilate carrying excessive blood to the head causing headache and a feeling of nausea. This leads to a feeling of exhaustion and laziness. Reduced serotonin levels can cause depression and an inability to concentrate, making work and daily activities increasingly challenging to complete. Elders may face pain in their joints.
Caffeine used over long periods, increases risk of peptic ulcers from the accumulation of high levels of stomach acid. Studies of inflammation in the esophagus over time could be directly related to caffeine use. Acid reflux occurs as a result. This is when the stomach acid comes up through the esophagus causing a burp or down through the anus as flatulence. Another experience is thick sticky mucus absorption or excretion in membranes and glands.
Chronic overuse or overdose of caffeine leads to unsocial behavior. This is when a person disengages from society. Signs of psychological effects include mania, depression, delusions, and hallucinations. Skeletal muscle tissue has been seen to decrease causing weakness, which results in postural issues. Extreme overdose of caffeine does cause death. This has not been seen to happen by drinking coffee. One would have to drink 80 to 100 cups of coffee for death to occur. However, death has occurred from taking caffeine pills with just 2 grams of caffeine. Tolerance varies from person to person. When ingesting caffeine pills, it is serious. You should be aware of the side effects and determine whether this is right for you by consulting a doctor for questions or concerns.
Soft drinks or soda have caffeine in them, as well. Caffeine is not a nutrient. Again, it is serious and one should find an alternative if one is using it on a daily basis with every meal. Chocolate has caffeine in it and is found in candy, cakes, doughnuts, ice cream, and cookies. Note, if you are drinking or eating caffeine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and possibly snacking with it too, be aware that this is excessive and could lead to overuse, harm to your body, and directly affect your psychological behavior and increase risk of disease and addiction.
Sugar is also known as fructose, glucose, sucrose, lactose, galactose, maltose, dextrose, corn syrup, aspartame, equal, NutraSweet. Studies have proven one will not become diabetic if one were to eat too much. However, this could lead to obesity or weight gain likewise increasing your risk of being diabetic or having diabetes. It is better to get your sugar naturally through eating fruit on a daily basis, as oppose to additives and sugars found in soft drinks, soda, juices, candy, cakes, cookies, ice cream, breads, protein bars, yogurt and cereal. Overeating sugar induces excessive calories, which increases mass. One becomes overweight through this process. It's important to be aware of being or becoming overweight. It is up to you to take control of your life. Ultimately, you are the one that has to lose the weight. No one else can do it but you.
How disciplined you really need to be is up to you. Your first weeks of losing weight will inspire and build confidence, encouraging you to work harder, and proving to yourself that it is achievable in your mind. Having a positive attitude will push you to achieve your goal. It might even create new expectations and drive you further because it's so easy to do. It's not as complicated as you thought it would be. Seeing the changes will bring you happiness and a feeling of wellbeing. It's going to be difficult to be consistent. Therefore, it is important to make eating right and working out apart of your everyday lifestyle and routine in order to keep from gaining all the weight back again.
Chapter Four
Fat
Usually, women in our society are not looking to increase their size. Many are not even aware of how it happens. Most of the time, it is their emotions that drive them into bad eating habits. Either they do not have time to eat during the day, forget number one, are always on the go, or do not prepare for their busy schedule. They have no idea what, where, or when they are going to eat. Basically, they drop the ball on eating. Then, they are forced to eat places they normally would not be seen. Or they go out late, drink until dawn, get the munchies, and order from a diner foods that are unhealthy. Drinking influences bad behavior or attitude, which affects your eating habits. People, after drinking most of the time, snack on unhealthy food. They respond as though it does not matter. Skipping meals then becomes habitual. Many forget to eat or eat one meal a day. It isn't until they realize they need new clothes, go to the store, shop and become confused over their larger size. They end up feeling badly or guilty about having been forced into buying new clothes. They are in disbelief they gained weight. They put on some pounds and joke about it rather than taking the situation seriously. People are supposed to not want to be fat.
Fat is stored as energy by the body. Finding foods that have zero fat or less fat should be the objective when one is trying to lose weight. Remember removing fat entirely from your diet proves to be harmful for your body. One should be able to determine good fats from bad fats. Bad fats are known to be saturated fat, trans fat, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and cholesterol. Trans fat and cholesterol is the worst kind of fat to intake. Avoid eating foods with trans fat or cholesterol. Zero trans fat, zero cholesterol, and zero saturated fats should always be your goal. Always remember less is healthier for you. Saturated fat is in meats, milks, cheeses, butters, oil, eggs, or all dairies, as well as in chocolate or all candy, juices, soda. Unsaturated fat is considered healthier for you. Therefore, everyone should strive to eat more of good fats as opposed to bad fats by making sure you read all food ingredients you ingest in determining the amount of fats in the product. Especially, when your focus is to lose weight while training. This must be your objective when shopping for food. You must overcome these challenges for a healthier lifestyle. Good fat is important in maintaining ones health.
If you want to confirm that foods have less fat or figure out how to calculate how much fat is in food, follow this formula. Take the total number of fat calories and divide it by the total number of calories. This equation will give you the total percentage of fat and assist you in deciding which foods to avoid. Avoid foods that have really low calories but high amounts of fat from calories. This has led many to be confused about knowing the total percentage of fat in a product. They end up associating the low number of calories with a healthy choice and buy the wrong foods to eat. Meanwhile, they are eating mostly fatty foods when they should have been avoiding these highly fatty foods. This is such a common mistake people habitually make when shopping for food. They should be doing the math. Again, Americans are on the go too often of the time, distracted by the packaging on the product, or commercials they been forced into watching on TV, which causes them to lead unhealthy lives. Living a lifestyle in jeopardy in this economy is not wise. Wake up Americans! I cannot afford rising health insurance. Neither can corporations. Let's change this scenario, start doing the math, and lose the pounds. Make it a reality. It can be done. It's not complicated once you get the big picture. When you begin to understand that you are consuming too much fat in your weekly diet and lower the amount of fat you're consuming on a weekly basis, you will see positive results, live a healthier lifestyle, and decrease your risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. As Americans become more health conscious this will lower the cost of healthcare for us all, as well as increase longevity, making life all around good.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Weight Gain = Weak Heart Change by Kim Ragone Copyright © 2012 by Kim Ragone. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Chapter 1 What to Do Before You Start Working Out....................1Chapter 2 Exercise Is Important....................4
Chapter 3 What Not To Eat Or Drink....................6
Chapter 4 Fat....................10
Chapter 5 Metabolism....................13
Chapter 6 Endurance Training....................16
Chapter 7 Strength Training....................18
Chapter 8 Stretch Training....................20
Chapter 9 Alcohol....................22
Chapter 10 War on Drugs....................25
Chapter 11 Toxins....................27
Chapter 12 Posture....................29
Chapter 13 Exercises to Correct Posture....................31
Chapter 14 Suggestions for Food Menus....................44
Chapter 15 Conclusion....................109