Weight Gain: When to Consult a Doctor

Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30.

Using the metric system, the formula for BMI is weight (in kilograms) divided by height (in meters) squared.

To find your BMI using pounds and inches, take your weight (in pounds) and divide it by your height in inches squared. Then multiply by a conversion factor of 703.
You are overweight if your BMI is greater than or equal to 25.

The right time to see a doctor is when your BMI becomes 25 or greater. Doctors can treat overweight or obesity with diet and exercise suggestions and sometimes weight-loss medications. If your BMI is between 18 and 24 you are within the normal range; however, if you have gained a lot of weight recently, you may still want to see your doctor. Studies show that people who gain even as little as 4-5 kilograms (10 pounds) have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

3 Ways to Start Your Own Food Revolution

Know what you’re eating. In addition to making school lunches healthier, Oliver wants to help Americans become savvier about food — including where it comes from and how it affects your body. He emphasizes fresh, locally grown foods instead of packaged, processed ones that may contain filler ingredients with no nutritional value. Although it may be cheaper or easier to load your freezer with ready-to-serve foods, Oliver encourages families to invest in their health and take the time to cook fresh meals as often as possible. If frozen chicken nuggets are one of your grocery-list staples, for example, consider making your own with fresh chicken cutlets. Offer the kids oatmeal for breakfast instead of pop-in-the-toaster pastries.

Don’t obsess over fancy food labels. Sustainable, organic, free range: While these are all hot trends now in the food world, Oliver would rather see families just focus on buying more fresh foods than get caught up in deciphering such "healthy" labels.

Cook with your kids. Eating meals as a family has proven benefits (studies have shown kids who eat with their families get better grades and are less likely to use drugs and alcohol than those who don’t), but preparing meals together may be even better. Cooking can encourage kids to try healthy ingredients they otherwise wouldn’t touch and teach them about proper portion sizes. It’s also a fun way for you to bond. And you'll arm teens with skills they can use to prepare healthy meals after they’ve flown the coop for college or to live on their own. Give each kid their own age-appropriate job: For example, little ones can rinse vegetables while older kids saute them.


source:everydayhealth

No. 1 Excuse for Not Exercising

Excuse No. 1: 'I'm Too Busy.'

Everyone has said at one time or another that they’re too busy to exercise. But it’s just a matter of setting priorities, says K.C. Wilder, PhD, a Bucks County, Pa., sports psychologist, cyclist, author, and mother of two. If you want to exercise, it’s just a matter of making the time, whether that means getting up an hour earlier in the morning to go for a brisk walk or taking an hour for lunch and walking with co-workers rather than chatting away in the cafeteria. Need more fitness motivation? A large study in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association, found that women who walk for exercise reduce their stroke risk over those who are sedentary.

Get that Energy. Empower Your Body. Love Your Life Always.

* Determine Your Energy Zappers

* Check the food you eat

* Five minute stretching for quick energy booster (even breathing routines helps)

* Squeeze mini workouts on your busy schedule

* Take it easy on your lifestyle

15 Mins of Exercise can Lower Blood Pressure

Exercising regularly can help you lose weight, but did you know that it can also help lower your blood pressure? A new study published in the journal Menopause discovered that this was one more benefit obese women could gain from even just moderate exercise.

In the study, researchers recruited 404 obese women who did not exercise regularly and who had higher-than-normal blood pressure. They then randomly placed the women under four groups. One group had to exercise for around 2.5 hours per week—the length of time generally recommended for adults. A second group exercised for only half the normal time while another exercised for around 4 hours per week. The fourth group served as the control group and was told to just carry on as they always had.

While an elevated blood pressure is to be expected from physical exertion, a too-high spike during exercise may bring a risk of heart disease. "One of the things we saw was that even among women with pre-hypertension, a good portion had abnormally elevated exercise blood pressure," said lead researcher Damon L. Swift.

To find out whether regular exercise really does help decrease blood pressure, researchers returned to interview their subjects after six months. They then learned that all three groups who had been assigned exercise regimens showed improvements in their blood pressure level. In fact, the difference between the group that exercised the most and the group that exercised the least wasn’t too big.

This shows that you don't need to spend a lot of time at the gym to reap the benefits of exercise. Simple exercises such as taking your dog out for a walk or climbing the stairs regularly can already make a difference on your health.

Your Pulse Rate Can Determine Your Risk of Heart Disease, Study Shows

Heart disease is easily responsible for many people's demise over the years. Thankfully, though, it isn’t the kind of condition that sneaks up on you. By watching your blood pressure and cholesterol level, you can more or less determine just how big or small your chances of getting heart disease are. With the newest study by researchers in Norway, you can now deduce your chances of dying from heart disease further by measuring how fast or slow your pulse rates are.
According to data gathered from some 30,000 men and women, those whose resting heart pulse rates increased over time had a higher risk of dying from heart disease. Researchers measured their pulse rate twice around a 10-year gap and found out that those who started out with a pulse rate of 70 beats per minute and moved up to 85 beats per minute by the second reading were twice as likely to die from heart disease. Meanwhile, those who started out at 70 beats per minute and eventually got it down to less than 70 beats by the second reading were 40 percent less likely to die from heart disease.

Keep in mind that all the subjects, at the beginning, had no existing heart condition nor did they have any problems with their health. And while seemingly ominous, this study is actually good news for you. Checking your pulse is quite easy. Before you get out of bed, locate your pulse. Using your index and middle finger, count the number of beats per minute. It’s a hassle-free way of checking up on yourself. Who knows? This might just end up saving your life.