burning calories

february 2001

The new year brings us to a new look at ourselves and how to lose weight, get more fit, control our diabetes, etc. In this article we will talk about the benefits of walking, and more specifically how easy it is to walk even in the winter if you can get to your mall. Every morning before the stores open you will see a group of people who walk on a flat surface with no worries about the cold weather or snow and ice. To make matters even nicer, they find friends who walk each morning and if your mall is like ours, and you begin to walk, you will find a good cup of coffee ready for you after your exercise. Contact the mall office to get the mileage and you can contact your physician about how to start, how to take your heart rate, and how long to walk each day. Our local Heart Association is having a mall walk to raise funds next month. This mall walking is popular. You just have to make the phone call. Now a word of caution. We have a friend whose doctor told her she had to exercise. Her response was that she hated to exercise and had never been able to stay with a program. The intelligent physician, knowing his patient, suggested that she go to the mall and window shop. Our friend did this, but when the stores were open. She spent $1,000.00 a day for the first 4 days. Her husband called the doctor and begged him to have her stop "exercising." She did. This is a true story. If you want to walk the mall go before the stores open so you keep your heart rate up and the only distractions are the conversations you have with new friends. If your main concern is losing body weight, the key is to exercise longer, more frequently, and to do aerobic sessions at an easier pace. This approach has several advantages. it burns more calories. Even though vigorous exercise burns more calories per minute, the easy effort of an extra 15 or 30 minutes will more than make up the difference. Longer bouts of exercise, like mall walking, will burn proportionally more fat. Harder, but shorter exercise draws more on carbohydrates. If you walk for more than an hour, your body will start to burn significantly more fat for the rest of your workout. The reason for this is your muscles begin running low after an hour. Once you finish a few weeks of startup program try the following tips for enhancing weight loss: Exercise aerobically five to seven times per week. Make your program as easy as possible, so that you're able to exercise continuously for 45 to 60 minutes without strain (but still with an increase in heart rate). Try to do one or more long workouts (more than 60 minutes) per week. To speed weight loss, reduce the amounts of fats you eat each day - an approach that will also benefit cardiovascular health. A gram of dietary fat is converted into body fat much more easily than a gram of carbohydrate or protein). A gram of fat contains 9 calories vs. 4 calories for a carbohydrate gram. A combination of reduced-calorie diet like the one presented on this web site and exercise works best. Ignore any weight loss during the first week as this is mainly water. Instead concentrate on a steady, consistent weight reduction of about 1/2 pound per week. Why walk, exercise and loose weight? Medical evidence backs the claims that exercise is a crucial part of medical care. Studies show that up to 12% of all deaths in the US can be attributed to lack of activity, according to the American Heart Association. We who have diabetes know that to treat our disease we must exercise, eat right, and take our medication. We need to keep our blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible so that we can forestall long term complications. We also know that for type 2 diabetics, losing weight, even a small amount, can help this problem plus hypertension. So when you mall walk, what are the positives you will reap? You will strengthen your heart-the hardest working muscle in your body. A regular walk that pushes your body to a heart rate 60-75 % of your maximal heart rate can strengthen arteries, improve circulation, and make your heart beat more efficiently. (To calculate your target rate, subtract your age from 229, and then multiply that number by 7 @ ? There is something terribly missing in this formulation; if I follow it as stated, I get a target rate of 1113! I bet it should be 0.7!) More reasons to exercise at the mall? When you exercise regularly, you may lower your risk of heart attack, lower cholesterol, increase HDL, and help remove LDL from the blood. Losing weight means that you use more calories than you take in. Your exercise will make you less hungry, increase metabolism, and help the body burn calories more efficiently. If you have arthritis, exercise can ease pain as it increases the blood supply to muscles, improves flexibility and makes you stronger. Exercise lifts your mood. So if you have the winter blues, get to the mall. How can exercise help us sleep at night? Well. we all know people who sit all day, go home and eat and sleep some more, but they are always tired and bored. Regular exercise every day will help you sleep, but do not exercise just before you go to bed. Also do not do stimulating activities( such as a competitive game) just before you want to sleep. What else do the experts share about getting a good night's sleep? Go to bed the same time every night. Get up the same time. For those of us who are type 1 diabetics this is part of our regime. Make sure the temperature in your bedroom is comfortable and the room is dark enough for you. Use your bed only for sleep or sex-no watching TV in bed or working on your laptop. Take medications only as directed. When you go to bed learn how to relax your muscles, beginning with your feet and working your way up the body. The way to do this is to tighten your muscles and then let go. Things not to do: Don't drink caffeine before bed. Never take anyone else's sleeping pills. This can be dangerous. Talk to your physician before you even think about taking this route. Don't take over-the-counter sleep aides without first checking with your doctor. It may react with a prescription medicine that you're already taking with disastrous results. Do not stay in bed for more than 30 minutes if you can't sleep. Get up and read, get a glass of water, or do something that you find relaxing. So here we are again at the end of another article to help you decide to exercise to allow you to live a long, more healthy life. Only 22% of Americans exercise to have healthy hearts. About 54% of Americans do nothing at all. We as diabetics must be the spokespeople for exercise. Obesity, the precursor of type 2 diabetes, is a world wide epidemic. We have children with type 2 diabetes, a condition that was unheard of not very long ago. Now you know that you don't have to jump up and down. All you need is a long walk, which gets your heart rate up, at your favorite mall. What you get in return is better control of your diabetes, weight loss, strengthened muscles, better moods, and new friends. Call the mall, get a friend and go for a walk every morning. The scenery will change as the store window displays change. Go to your doctor first for the OK and then go for it!