Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)
OK, don't presume that I know anything, just because of the screen name, but here are some quick thoughts about health in general.
The risk factors for having a heart attack or stroke are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and family history. The first four all all controllable, but you actually have to see a doctor to get checked out. Jim Fixx died because he smoke too much and had uncontrolled high blood pressure, but tried to make amends by obsessing with running.
The idea of a yearly physical is really tough to sell because it takes time, costs money and is sometimes not very comfortable. Think rectal exam. But who on this site wouldn't get a car's oil changed every few months and consider spending the money and effort on maintenance issues. We pay lots of money for our stiuff and try hard to make them last. We get our bodies for free and sometimes forget that they need to last a lifetime.
Diet and exercise are the mainstays of healthy living. Exercise doesn't have to be an aggressive workout. Walking counts, it just doesn't burn as many calories. The heart and lung benefits kick in after 20 minutes; anything more allows for muscle toning and building.
Each mile walked or run works off 100 calories of energy (actually they are kilocalories, but let's not nitpick). This is the equivalent of an apple, a light beer or a third of a chocolate bar. The average male needs about 2000- 2500 calories a day for maintenance, a woman 1500-1800. Consume more than that and you gain weight, unless your exercise burns up more than the excess you've consumed. Do the math and you can figure outwhere you stand. Elite athletes may burn 5-7000 calories a day in their workouts. Unless your job is hour upon hour of training, try hard not to visit the Old Country Buffet.
More math: a Big Mac meal runs about 1000 calories, so balancing it with exercise means 10 miles of walking or running.
The type of food you eat is also important. Protein and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram of food, while fat has 9 and alcohol has 7. (30 grams equal one ounce.) Carbohydrate in excess is quickly stored as fat. Foods high in fat (cholesterol if it comes from an animal product) affect the risk factors for heart disease including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Balanced diets tend to minimize risk, but there will be a paradigm shift in nutrition education within the next year, so take the food pyramid with a grain of salt.
When the body needs energy, it looks to the carbohydrates stored in the liver first and when that runs out, about 40 minutes into a workout, it looks at fat cells for energy.
OK, so is that enough basic physiology to start. No preaching, just common sense stuff. Let me know if anybody wants more and how detailed.