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PEPonline
Professionalizationof Exercise Physiologyonline
An international electronic
journal for exercise physiologists
ISSN 1099-5862
Vol 10 No 8 August 2007

Physiology of Fitness and Health Promotion: A 12-Week Program

Aaron Mullally, MA, EPC

Board Certified Exercise Physiologist

Graduate of the Department of Exercise Physiology

The College of St. Scholastica

Duluth, MN55811

“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being while movement and methodical physical exercise saves and preserves it.” -- Plato

Introduction

Congratulations, you are taking a big step on the way to good health. Taking part in a weight loss program is a good first step on the road to a healthy lifestyle. The body can benefit a lot from this because being overweight can lead to many health complications in the long run. Being overweight is tough on your joints, heart, metabolism, breathing, and many other physiological functions. Being overweight can also be difficult on you psychologically as well, especially with all of the images of how we should look in the media today. Well, we aim here to let you know that it is not about image. In fact, we shouldn’t really put much, if any, emphasis on image; instead, we will focus on how losing weight can benefit your health in the long run.

I am sure you have noticed that being overweight or obese is becoming more and more common today, especially in our society. Unfortunately, we cannot just point a finger at one specific factor. We cannot do this because there is more than one factor and no two people are the same. For some people, there are genetic and medical issues with weight gain, but there is still a lot of ongoing research to try and figure exact nature of these conditions. The vast majority of people need to focus on making what is called a behavioral change. This means you need to make a change in your lifestyle that affects your health, such as eating out a lot, eating lots of junk food, being sedentary, smoking, drinking (excessively), living a hustle and bustle lifestyle, and so forth.

Remember, there is rarely one behavior that affects a person’s weight. It is usually a number of different behaviors that work together to compromise good health. This is the most challenging part of losing weight because we have to change the way we think and the way we live our lives. These behaviors are hard to break because they are trained behaviors that we have probably been doing for most of our lives. So when it comes to weight loss we not only have to exercise our bodies, but we have to exercise our minds, we have to train our minds to think differently as well.

Exercise alone is not enough to lose weight and keep it off. If you go through this program for the next twelve weeks and don’t change your behavior, chances are you will end up right back where you started, over time. The exercise portion of this program will only work if you change your habits outside of the gym. If you come here and exercise as hard as you can and then go home and eat unhealthy or have a few drinks or overeat, then chances are you will not achieve the results that you are looking for.

We don’t expect anyone to give up certain behaviors cold turkey that is why this is a 12-week program. Throughout the course of this program you will be coached on exercise and how to live a healthier life. Remember that for this to work there must be a large focus on life outside of the gym as well, changes have to be made and effort must be put in. We can only show you the door to good health, you are the only one who can open it and walk down the path to good health. We have every bit of confidence in every one of you that this can be done; hopefully you share the same confidence. Good luck and happy trails.

Back to Basics

We all strive for optimal health and conditioning at some point in time in our lives, but with the hustle and bustle lifestyle that the average American lives it can be easy to stray from this path. It can also be easy to get into the mentality that a “quick fix” is more beneficial to accommodate our busy lifestyles’ even though we may not be totally aware of the affects it will have on us in the long run. It is also very easy to get into the habit of constantly eating on the go, trying to grab every low fat food there is or take supplements in place of meals. Then, after years of living this type of hustle and bustle lifestyle, we find ourselves in a rut wondering what we did wrong or what we could have done better to avoid poor health or a chronic condition, such as heart disease or high blood pressure. This does not happen to everyone in America but it does happen, and more often than it should. And, it can be avoided with even the most basic knowledge in total fitness (physical activity, nutrition, and mental/social health).

Disease

At some point in time in our life we will get sick with something, that something could be the common cold or cancer, we just never really know. Even though we cannot predict when we will get sick we can take control of the disease and lessen or get rid of its effects. Six of the top ten deaths are chronic diseases:

  1. Heart diseases
  2. Cancer
  3. Stroke
  4. Chronic lung disease
  5. Unintentional injuries (car accidents and others)
  6. Diabetes Mellitus
  7. Influenza and pneumonia
  8. Alzheimer’s disease
  9. Kidney disease
  10. Septicemia
  11. Chronic liver disease (cirrhosis)

The diseases that are listed here can either be avoided or controlled by the way we live our life (i.e., by modifying lifestyle factors). One way of doing this is by reducing the risk factors that are not conducive to good health. Some examples of risk factors are: smoking, alcohol abuse, hypertension, poor nutrition, obesity, chronic stress, and much more. People typically have more then one risk factor at the same time because many of these risk factors can cause other ones; an example of that would be someone with chronic stress who tries to drink to calm down, gains a lot of weight and ends up with high blood pressure and/or other complications. Even if we get rid of one or all of the risk factors, we can still get a disease though; cancer is a good example of this. There are people who have never smoked in their entire life but they have lung cancer, so we need to bear in mind that this isn’t a cure-all but a very good preventative technique.

Physical

Being physically fit is a very important part of living a healthy lifestyle. Keeping fit can be very beneficial and even life saving in the long run if it is done correctly. Keeping a good balance of weight and cardio training is important in keeping our metabolism and hearts working correctly and efficiently. Some benefits of physical activity and exercise are:

  1. Decreases incidences of chronic illnesses
  2. Have more energy
  3. Stronger muscles and good flexibility
  4. Decrease incidence of injuries
  5. Increased confidence and self-esteem

Many people think that physical activity constitutes going out and running all the time, or swimming laps and so on. But with the increase in sedentary lifestyles, physical activity can just be some good old manual labor. Poor fitness, obesity and chronic diseases due to inactivity have become so prevalent today that promoting people to just get off the couch or away from the computer can be a chore.

Nutrition

Nutrition is extremely important if we want to be healthy, and it is very easy to slip up in this category. With the fast paced lifestyle that people live today it is very easy to find quick solutions for eating, such as microwave dinners, take outs, fast foods, fad diets, and much more. Many people also get caught up in eating low calorie, processed foods that are completely unhealthy for you. Many of the foods that are low calorie foods live up to what they say but there is something very important that people overlook or neglect, nutrient density. Many of these low calorie foods are processed, but the process itself strips the food of many nutrients that are essential to good health so we are basically taking in next to nothing.

Supplementation is also very tempting because many supplements are enriched with everything we need or can be consumed in the place of a meal. Fad diets also sound very tempting because they can offer fast weight loss solutions, six pack abs, more energy and a better sex life and other crazy things that people want to hear. All of these are very tempting but what people don’t get is that it is not natural for your body to drop 40 pounds in one month, or to deprive yourself of carbohydrates and so on. These are topics that are very popular and controversial today. Some benefits of good nutrition are:

  1. Promotes proper growth and development early on in life
  2. Have more energy
  3. Have stronger bodies (muscles and bones)

Mental

Stress is our physiologic response to change, good or bad. We all experience stress in our lives whether we like it or not. An example of stress that is out of our control would be the weather. Our bodies adapt to some fairly nice weather and then within a week it may change to cold and snow. That isn’t much time for our bodies to catch up so for a while we feel bogged down, tired, dreary and we tend to get cold a little more easily; all of this occurs because of the stress that results from the changes in the weather pattern.

The stress that we can control is typically the type of stress that becomes dangerous to us because in many instances it becomes chronic stress. In our society today, it is very common to see people living a fast paced lifestyle, trying to multitask to keep up with daily demands and so on. People who live this kind of lifestyle are setting themselves up for many different problems in the long run such as chronic fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome, having a weak immune system, or an increases susceptibility to chronic diseases. Soccer moms are prime examples of this; they are always on the go, trying to budget time by multitasking, and typically having very short bouts of rest and time to gather themselves.

Stress drains our mind and body. It forces our bodies to constantly burn energy, especially the energy that we have in reserves. Being constantly on the go gives the body little time to replenish the energy that we put out, which eventually leads to fatigue or burnout and could lead to more dangerous conditions like chronic diseases. Here are a few things that people can do to avoid the dangers of chronic stress:

  1. Avoid multitasking; just do one thing at a time.
  2. Take an hour or more during the day to just relax.
  3. Practice relaxing techniques such as yoga or pilates.
  4. Avoid people or other stressors that can have a negative influence on you.
  5. EXERCISE!!!

Behavioral Changes

This is probably the most difficult aspect of living a healthy lifestyle, whether it is changing or completely getting rid of certain behavior. People typically get so involved in their daily routines and personal habits that getting someone to change his or her behavior could be as difficult as asking a habitual smoker to quit smoking. Change needs to take place, but a newly trained habit must be incorporated, such as buying an apple and granola bar for breakfast instead of a donut. If someone has a lot of time for a certain habit, then, it can be very challenging to change it or to maintain a change. Having a certain habit coupled with a chemical dependency, such as nicotine or alcohol, can be extremely difficult, but not impossible. Cutting a habit such as smoking or drinking takes a lot more time and effort and encouragement than it does to get someone to stop buying donuts. But, keep in mind that both are equal in importance when it comes to changing for the better. A few things to think about when changing a behavior or encouraging someone else to change is:

  1. Be positive.
  2. Don’t quit cold turkey, do things step by step and be patient.
  3. Consult a physician before quitting a habit that is associated with a chemical dependency.
  4. Distance yourself from negative external factors such as friends who can be bad influences or the bar scene.
  5. Be sure that you are serious and 110% confident in your decision before you make it.
  6. Do not try to take shortcuts or take your change lightly, be serious and do it right.

These are just basic ideas and concepts when it comes to starting or maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but none of these should be taken lightly. Living a healthy lifestyle is not something that can be done by taking shortcuts. There is no easy way or a quick fix that can make it happen. Being healthy requires time, dedication and commitment, but not enough to consume every aspect of our lives like some people think. All we need to do is stick to the basics, put in the effort, and the goal of being healthy can and will be achieved.

Making That Big Change

It is time to make those ever so important changes, those changes that will affect your health and well-being. That is why you are here right now, you are here because you are ready and willing to make a change to improve your health and your life, and we commend you for it. Remember that losing weight is about more than just exercise, it is about changing the way you live your life. Exercise is good to shave off fat and pounds, but it is ineffective if there aren’t changes in your lifestyle. Keeping the weight off in the long run will be difficult if changes aren’t made, and remember that this 12 week program is just the start. It will not keep the weight off for good. Only the changes that you make in your lifestyle outside of the gym will determine your success in weight management.

It is important to make good decisions about nutrition because if you don’t, then over time you can develop long-term health problems. In today’s society it is very easy to slip into bad eating habits with all of the easily accessible fast food, food advertisements, and cheap processed food. There are a lot of instant foods you can buy in the supermarkets that are convenient for that fast paced lifestyle, but are they really that beneficial? There are also a lot of fad diets that are convenient for people as well, but do they really work? Does all of this stuff really help? The answer is no, not really. These types of foods offer little nutritional benefits, and fad diets are fads for a reason. They don’t last. When it comes to what foods to eat, stick to natural, unprocessed foods. If it is affordable try to stick to organic produce because pesticides are not used on them. Now, there is chicken in the grocery stores that are antibiotic and steroid free as well, so I would recommend sticking to that. Keeping your diet as natural as possible is ideal but, unfortunately, it can be pricey. So, if organic food on a regular basis is not financially possible, then stick to the produce and whole foods section as much as possible.

If you look at all of the diets, there is one key ingredient that they all eliminate: sugar. To be more specific, they eliminate simple carbohydrates (sugars), that is, the sugars that lead to long-term health problems such as type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. These types of carbohydrates are also easy to process and are found in many different foods and beverages, especially the ones that people enjoy (such as sodas, candy bars, fruit juices, cereals, donuts, and other types of junk). The only thing these foods have to offer is that they taste good, other than that they are not good for your health and should be eliminated from your diet, especially in large amounts.

A good way to determine if there is a high amount of simple carbohydrates in the food is by reading the ingredients on the nutrition label. Typically the first ingredient that is listed is the most prevalent ingredient in the food. So, if you see high fructose corn syrup first on the list or close to the top, it is a good idea to stay away from that food. It can be difficult at times because of the media, which constantly puts out images of how all this junk food is so tasty and socially acceptable. Well, this is a marketing scheme used by the companies that make the foods, they put out many different advertisements all over the place and the people in them are skinny and happy. Most of the people in the advertisements are models and more than likely don’t drink or eat the products themselves!

Fast foods are another problem in our society for a few reasons. One is because of the media. Once again, they make the food seem great, convenient, and again socially acceptable. You rarely see a commercial or an ad with just one person drinking a Pepsi or eating at Hardees. Also, the food is typically pretty cheap at these places and, frankly, the food taste good. Once again, just because it tastes good doesn’t mean it is good for you. These foods are cooked with a lot of hydrogenated oils, and these oils contain trans fats. Trans fats have been associated with lowering our good cholesterol (HDLs), and as we all know that is not good. Also, the food is very salty which is not good for blood pressure, and a lot of the food is processed, pretty much everything except the vegetables. They are good at throwing out ads about “healthy” foods, like chicken salads or wraps, but don’t be misled. The chicken in those wraps are deep fried so they still contain the trans fats plus they typically don’t use fat free dressing, so don’t let the adds fool you.