PEERtrainer Lose weight with PEERtrainer. Find a group and get started today!
 
PT blog: The doctor weighs in

Exercise (benefits) (RSS)


As we started talking about his health insurance, the conversation naturally drifted to health. He is prediabetic, he told me, and his brother is a type 2 diabetic who has already had some toes amputated. He knows he is facing the same future if he doesn't lose weight, but how can he do it? Read More

posted by: Pat, Friday, September 15, 2006 11:42 AM   201 Comments
Filed Under: , , , , , , , , ,


Successful strategies for getting it off and keeping it off included Self monitoring (weigh oneself, planning meals, tracking fat and calories) Exercising 30 or more minutes daily Adding physical activity to the daily routine. The odds of being a successful weight loser were 48% - 76% lower for those reporting that aspects of exercise behavior were influencing factors (no time to exercise, too tired to exercise, no one to exercise with, too hard to maintain exercise routine) compared to those who reported little or no barriers to exercise as a weight control measure. Read More

posted by: Pat, Tuesday, August 22, 2006 11:45 PM   2 Comments
Filed Under: , , , , , , , ,


Here is a summary of some of the findings in studies of overweight and obese adults: Obesity contributes to significantly lower quality of life. This was true even in obese people who did not have chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea). Obesity is associated with decreased health status and a higher incidence of depression. Obese people had a significantly higher number of visits to health care providers. Physicians spent less time educating obese patients about their health and more time discussing exercise. Obesity was not related to discussions about nutrition. Read More

posted by: Pat, Wednesday, August 09, 2006 12:54 AM   1 Comments
Filed Under: , , , ,


Walk 10,000 steps. Walk for 30 minutes three times a week. Walk 60 minutes most days of the week. Walk farther and walk longer. These are typical exercise prescriptions. But there is another component of your daily walk that is also important. It is how fast you walk. Read More

posted by: Pat, Tuesday, July 18, 2006 1:29 AM   (Comments Off)
Filed Under: , , , , , , ,


Excuse #1: "Why bother?" Because there is "irrefutable evidence" that consistant exercise lowers the risk of many illnesses, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, depression and osteoporosis. Excuse # 2: "I'm too busy" Hobson points out that regular exercisers are busy too. They just make exercise a priority. It is an expected part of their everyday lives. Regular exercisers have two jobs, two kids, too much to do, and too little time...just like non-exercisers....but they still find time for regular physical activity. Hey, couch potatoes--if they can find the time, you can too! Excuse #3: "I hate going it alone" Ok, so find a buddy or hire a trainer. PEERtrainer is a great place to look for an exercise buddy...so is Craig's list...so is your local YMCA. Read More

posted by: Pat, Saturday, July 08, 2006 6:16 PM   1 Comments
Filed Under: , , , ,


This is a great story from Yahoo's website: "Man offers free lawn mowing to lose weight." Like the committments we make to our teammates on PEERtrainer, this guy figured he would get a good dose of exercise if he made promises to folks that he would mow their lawns. Hopefully, he is using a manual mower. Read More

posted by: Pat, Saturday, July 08, 2006 1:27 AM   (Comments Off)
Filed Under: , , ,


The hike started with a 2,000 foot climb to a saddle between two mountain peaks. We climbed and climbed. My attitude stunk. I kept thinking I should just admit it was too hard for me and pack it in before it was too late to turn around. We hit the half-way point of the climb and I was just about to say, “I’m going back,” when my husband said, “let me carry your pack—I can carry your pack under my pack.” Relieved of this weight on my back, I started to climb again. We had to cross three or four snow fields—carefully putting our feet in the footprints left by the guides. Two hours later, we hit the top of the saddle and before us lay a beautiful meadow gradually descending as far as the eye could see. We had another 5 hours of hiking in front of us, but it was all downhill from there. Read More

posted by: Pat, Sunday, July 02, 2006 9:03 AM   (Comments Off)
Filed Under: , , , ,


The take home message. Don't just assume, if you are a diabetic, that you cannot or should not exercise. If your cardiovascular risk is low and you do not have diabetes complications, such as nerve or eye disease, physical activity can have many beneficial effects on your current and future health. Read More

posted by: Pat, Tuesday, June 13, 2006 9:44 PM   1 Comments
Filed Under: , , , , , , , , , ,


The first presentation at this symposium described how fat deposits in the liver lead to insulin resistance. We have known for years that “central obesity” is a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes. Remember the warnings that fat in an “apple” pattern is worse for us than fat in a “pear” pattern?. But it isn’t that subcutaneous fat (fat deposited below the skin) that’s really bad for us, rather it is fat inside the abdominal cavity, called visceral fat, that increases our risk for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Now we know that the worst fat may be the fat that gets deposited in our organs—fat in our liver cells, fat in our muscle cells, and maybe, fat deposited in our heart cells. Read More

posted by: Pat, Saturday, June 10, 2006 2:57 AM   57 Comments
Filed Under: , , , , , , , ,


Steve decided to do the walk after his weight peaked at 410 pounds and he found himself unable to walk across a department store. He was only 40 years old. He, like many of us struggling with weight, had a personal story behind his weight gain. He had accidently killed two elderly pedestrians a number of years ago. He was swamped with guilty feelings that he tried to drown with food. He gained 150 pounds in the year or so after the accident. It was a "tipping point" in his life. He decided to walk across America...all 3,000 + miles. Read More

posted by: Pat, Thursday, May 11, 2006 1:08 AM   (Comments Off)
Filed Under: , , , , ,


Great news today for Hubert, the Beaglebassett.  He had his annual physical today and we learned that he has lost 9 pounds!  He now weighs 52 pounds.  He was 61 pounds a year ago, so this is an almost 15% loss of total body weight.  Read More

posted by: Pat, Tuesday, May 02, 2006 9:34 PM   (Comments Off)
Filed Under: , , ,


Pediatricians have a laundry list of age-specific issues they talk to parents about.  These issues include advice about immunizations, when to add certain foods to the diet, counseling on behavioral issues and much more.  They also have checklists Read More

posted by: Pat, Monday, May 01, 2006 5:53 PM   3 Comments
Filed Under: , ,


My husband and I are on vacation in Israel.  Last night we had dinner with some Israeli friends.  One of them, Avinoam told us a story about his brother, a lawyer, David.  David is in his late 50s, a hard-driving attorney who pays attention Read More

posted by: Pat, Wednesday, April 19, 2006 9:57 AM   5 Comments
Filed Under: , , , ,


Want to get your little couch potatoes moving?  Check out this community-based program for girls. Girls on the Run, International is a non-profit organization that is designed for pre-teen girls.  It combines training for a 3.1 Read More

posted by: Pat, Monday, March 27, 2006 7:48 PM   (Comments Off)
Filed Under: ,


This is a wonderful piece from the AP wire.  It is particularly illuminating to read what Steve Vaught writes about how it feels to be fat.  If you want to read more about his remarkable journey, go to his website:  http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/.  Read More

posted by: Pat, Thursday, March 23, 2006 3:21 PM   8 Comments
Filed Under: ,

More Posts Next page »
Powered by Community Server, by Telligent Systems