Diet And Exercise
Proper diet and exercise are the mainstays for a healthy lifestyle, although many Americans turn to costly fad diets and exercise programs that fail to provide weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. The basic tenets to good health include developing healthy eating habits and increasing daily physical activity. Want to lose a pound of fat? You can work it off by hiking to the top of a 2,500-story building. Or by running 60 miles. Or by spending 7 hours cleaning animal stalls. (It is amazing what scientists have actually measured.) Exercise is a very difficult way to lose weight. Here's a rule of thumb: exercise very hard for one hour (swimming, running, or racquetball)– and you'll lose about one ounce of fat. Light exercise for an hour (gardening, baseball, or golf) will lose you a third of an ounce. That number is small because fat is a very energy-dense substance: it packs about 4,000 food calories per pound, the same as gasoline, and 15 times as much as in TNT. If you run for an hour, you'll lose that ounce of fat and also a pound or two of water. By the next day, when you've replenished the water, you might think, 'the weight came right back!' But you'd be wrong - you really did lose an ounce. It is hard to notice, unless you keep running every day for a month or more, and don't reward yourself after each run with a cookie. There is a much easier way to lose weight, eat less. A reasonable daily diet for an adult is 2,000 food calories. That's 8.36 megajoules per day, or about 100 joules per second -- in other words, 100 watts. Most of that ends up as heat, so you warm a room as much as a bright light bulb. Cut your consumption by 600 calories per day and you'll lose a pound of fat every week. Most diet experts consider that a reasonable goal. Don't drop below 1,000 calories per day, or you might get lethargic. But at 1,400 calories per day, you can easily maintain an active life. Of course, there is a catch. You'll be hungry. It's not real hunger–not like the painful hunger of starving people in impoverished countries. It's more of a mild ache, or an itch that you mustn't scratch. To be popular, a diet must somehow cope with this hunger. Weight Watchers does it with peer support. The food pyramid does it by encouraging you to eat unlimited celery. Some high-fat diets satisfy all your old cravings - and figure you'll eventually cut back the butter you put on your bacon.
Counting fat grams is for girls. Eat by color. White, red, and light green are bad for you. White flour, white sugar, white rice, and the like have zero nutrients. When you eat them your blood sugar levels can fluctuate, increasing your chances of getting diabetes. A tender steak is friendly and packed with protein, but only in small doses. Excess red meat has been linked to cancer and heart disease. That marbling, Marlon—that’s fat. Lighter greens are “empty” foods—that leaf on your Big Mac ain’t doin’ shit. Iceberg is everywhere because it’s cheap, not because it’s nutritious. Eat the napkin instead. Orange, yellow, brown, and green are good for you. Oranges are packed with C, which boosts the immune system and is an antioxidant that protects the brain in old age. Look at Gramps—now you see how important that is? Bananas are “as good as medicine.” Packed with carbs and potassium, they can lower blood pressure while reducing plaque buildup in the heart. Whole-grains have more fiber, which means they’ll help lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels, prevent heart attacks, and keep your tailpipe clear: a fuss-free enema. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale are heaping mounds of cancer-fighting power. Sorry, but Mom was right on this one. - By Kevin Skiena | ||||||||||
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