 |
        |
            |
 |
|
+ What's
the best way to lose weight? What's the best way to lose weight? We all have different genetic backgrounds and metabolisms, and what works for one person won't necessarily work the same way for another, but here are some keys to healthy weight loss:
I'm erratic with new eating and exercise programs - I'm enthusiastic at the start, but sooner or later I'm back doing what I've always done. Is there an answer? Look at your motivation for developing a new lifestyle. Sometimes our decisions to take on dietary or exercise programs are governed by 'shoulds'. We should weigh less, we should exercise … we should do what others think is right. Developing new lifestyle habits is challenging, so without a strong commitment to your own goals, you'll soon bounce back to your old ways. Ask yourself what's really behind your decision to make a change - is it something you want for yourself, or is it about meeting other people's standards? Another reason your good intentions might slide is that you don't have sufficient structure to support them. You need structures (such as getting a group of friends to exercise with you, scheduling time for your new commitments in your diary, recording your progress, or ensuring your fridge and pantry contain only healthy foods) to help you create new habits. If you aren't sticking to your plan, consider whether you've created an environment that supports you. I want to be healthy, but I don't particularly like exercise and I don't have much time to do it. What's the solution? Do the minimum - a brisk 20
minute walk five days a week - and combine it with something else, like
walking to work or doing errands. Another option might be doing your
20 minutes on a rebounder or mini-tramp while you catch up on your favourite
TV program. How do I prevent weight gain when I stop smoking? People often gain a few kilos after they quit smoking because the nicotine has increased their metabolism. When they stop smoking their metabolism slows. They might also replace one habit with another and find themselves eating whether they're hungry or not. The keys to preventing weight gain are to increase your exercise levels and manage your food intake. Eliminating habitual eating and cutting out refined sugars and starches will help. I'm 50 and I seem to have suddenly put on weight. Why? In middle age our metabolism slows by about 10-15%. This is because we lose muscle tissue, so we have relatively less muscle and more fat. Since muscle is metabolically more active, as we lose muscle our metabolism slows down, so we are more inclined to carry extra fat. If you've been exercising regularly, but you're still putting on weight, you may need to change what you're doing. Resistance exercise will replace the muscle your body is losing, and boost your metabolism again. How does a woman's lifestyle impact hormonal conditions like PMS and menopause? Hormonal imbalances are actually symptoms of poor health. If we're living on a diet high in sugar and starchy foods, caffeine, alcohol, fried foods and unhealthy fats, we're under stress and we're getting little exercise, we can expect problems with PMS and menopause. Uncomfortable symptoms are often a sign that we aren't taking care of ourselves. Listening to what our bodies need and getting back in touch with our feminine wisdom is critical. Herbal remedies, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, nutritional supplements and natural progesterone can also help to correct imbalances. I often feel tired. How can I feel more energetic? Take a look at your life and see if you can spot any of these potential energy zappers - a diet high in sugar and starchy foods, alcohol, too much coffee, not enough water, missing meals, smoking, stress, poor sleep, insufficient exercise, poor posture and breathing, negative thinking, unresolved emotional issues or an unpleasant physical environment. Low energy can be the result of something not working for you on a mental, physical or spiritual level. Address those issues and your energy levels will soar. You say there's more to preventing osteoporosis than calcium and estrogen, so what else is involved? We need to look beyond what the dairy and pharmaceutical companies say about having healthy bones. There's simply no positive correlation between calcium intake and healthy bones - in fact, older women in countries such as China, Japan and Africa, where calcium consumption is less than it is here, suffer far less from osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is not a problem for post-menopausal women around the world; it has little to do with lower estrogen levels. Women in some cultures have lower post-menopausal estrogen levels than we do, but don't experience the same rates of osteoporosis. A broad range of factors contributes to osteoporosis in our society. For example:
Stress, medications, hysterectomies and missed
periods are other potential factors. What do you mean when you say we can 'grow younger' and reduce our biological age? Obviously we can't reduce our chronological age, but our biological age refers to how well our body functions. Improving the function of our body has a big impact on the way we look and feel. Most of the characteristics we associate with ageing have little to do with ageing and a lot to do with our lifestyles. Some of the keys to improving the function of our body are:
|
|
|