The Life You Want
Page 30
Special concerns: If you also have heart disease, check out recommendations for exercising with that condition elsewhere in this section. Before, during, and after exercise, monitor your blood sugar: If your blood sugar is below 100 before working out, have a snack that contains 15 grams of carbohydrate, such as 4 ounces of fruit juice. Retest in fifteen minutes. Start exercising when your sugar exceeds 100 and test throughout. (If sugar drops, have another 15-gram carbohydrate snack.) If your blood sugar is higher than 300 before exercise, wait until it drops below that number before starting your workout. The same thing goes for ketones: If you test high, wait until they drop. If you’re taking insulin or other drugs that cause you to make more insulin (such as sulfonylureas and meglitinides), you may be particularly prone to a hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) reaction to exercise. In that case, consult your doctor about reducing your dose of medication on exercise days. If you have diabetic neuropathy in the feet—a common complication of diabetes—avoid high-impact activities like jogging and instead opt for cycling, swimming, walking, and other lower-impact exercises.
FIBROMYALGIA
Your exercise Rx: Because fibromyalgia symptoms include muscle pain and tender points on areas of the body, it’s important to keep impact at a minimum. Walking, elliptical exercise, cycling, tai chi, dance, water exercises in warm water, and other low-impact aerobic activities done at moderate intensity (or low intensity if necessary) are usually best. Strength training helps combat muscle weakness associated with the condition; build up gradually, as tolerated. On those days when fatigue makes it hard to get out the door (or even out of bed), remember that exercise can be invigorating. It also has benefits that may help relieve your condition, such as reducing inflammation and enhancing sleep.
Special concerns: High-impact activities may cause pain, and working out at high intensity may leave you more exhausted than energized.
HEART DISEASE (CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE)
Your exercise Rx: With your doctor’s blessing, you can do most types of aerobic exercise at moderate intensity. Bump up the intensity only with your doctor’s sign-off and work with him or her on how to progress. You should be doing the functional fitness exercises on pages 257 to 260 and, again with the doc’s permission, strength training.
Special concerns: While the benefits of exercise outweigh the small risk that it can trigger a heart attack, you still need to approach it cautiously. Before starting a new exercise regimen or before raising the intensity level of activities you’re already doing, consult with your doctor. If you’ve been sedentary, work up slowly to a higher intensity. According to the American Heart Association, everyone with heart disease should warm up for five minutes before exercising and cool down for five minutes at the end. Your doctor may have set a maximum heart rate limit during workouts, especially if you’ve had a heart attack or chest pain (angina). Use a heart rate monitor to stay within that limit. If nitroglycerine (it opens up blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow to organs, and can reduce chest pain) was prescribed, make sure to have it handy while exercising. Strength training raises blood pressure, so you might have to limit the amount of weights and reps you do—again, discuss this with your physician. If you have certain conditions, such as uncontrolled hypertension or arrhythmias (abnormal cardiac rhythms, such as skipping a beat), your doctor may nix strength training altogether. But if you get the medical okay, start with a lower resistance on machines or free weights. “Low” means that you can perform ten reps relatively easily.
LOW BACK PAIN
Your exercise Rx: As long as it doesn’t hurt your back, do low-impact aerobic exercise (such as walking, cycling, swimming, using the elliptical machine), strength training, and functional exercises. Functional exercises are particularly important for preventing reinjury; for instance, the crunches and arm and leg raises described on pages 257 to 259 strengthen your back muscles, and stretching improves flexibility.
Special concerns: If you feel any back pain while doing any sort of exercise, stop immediately. While yoga, Pilates, and tai chi can strengthen your back and improve flexibility, they can also hurt your back if you push yourself beyond comfortable limits. Don’t get competitive in these classes!
For the first two weeks after back pain hits, stick to low-impact aerobics (and check with your doctor, who may also recommend low-intensity exercise). Also, for at least two weeks, lay off crunches or any other functional fitness moves involving the trunk. Resume when the pain subsides.
OSTEOPOROSIS
Your exercise Rx: Exercise, particularly weight-bearing exercise, in combination with a class of drugs called bisphosphonates, can actually strengthen and thicken your bones. So do the full range of recommended exercises (aerobic, strength training, and functional), keeping in mind the caveats below.
Special concerns: Although it’s the impact of an exercise—the stress you put on your muscles and joints as your feet hit the ground—that stimulates bone growth, you have to be careful not to fracture fragile bones with too much impact. So unless your doctors says otherwise, do low-impact activities, such as walking, the exercise bike, or outdoor cycling on flat terrain. If your osteoporosis is severe, you may have to stick to swimming, which is considered “no impact.”
Strength training also builds bone, especially when you use relatively heavier weights and fewer reps. Be careful when doing any exercises that involve bending forward and twisting the spine; either skip them or modify them so that you don’t bend and twist as far. With any type of exercise, reduce your risk for falling by avoiding unstable surfaces, keeping any obstacles out of the way, and, if necessary, using a chair or the wall for balance and support.
* * *
INDEX
* * *
abuse:
as barrier to weight loss success, 31–33
see also emotional abuse; physical abuse; sexual abuse
activity level, 269–71
adjustable gastric band (AGB), 203–4
aerobic (cardio) exercise, 155–57, 196, 255, 262–64
agave syrup, 96
aging:
and exercise, 142–43
and happiness, 212
alcohol abuse, 22–23, 42, 55, 59, 82, 85, 219
alcohol consumption, limiting, 114
alternative activities, 111–12
Alzheimer’s disease, 92, 94, 143
American Heart Association, 197
anorexia, 71
antidepressant medications, 58, 59
appearance:
and exercise, 141
see also body image
appetite:
and depression, 54–55, 57
and eating on schedule, 116
and exercise, 99–100, 130–31, 156
and hormones, 86, 89
physiological wiring influencing, 22, 89
and sleep, 47
and variety, 84, 89
arm and leg raise exercise, 258–59
arthritis, 58, 94, 142, 143, 163, 164, 276
asthma, 144
Australia, exercise study, 154
back pain, 142, 278–79
balance:
chemical balance, 38–39
between demands and resources, 68–70, 77–78
in diet, 197–98
and weight loss maintenance, 207
and weight loss success, 20
bariatric surgery, 202–4
barriers to weight loss success:
abuse, 31–33
aversion to discomfort and pain, 17–20
and body image, 28–29, 178–89, 192–93, 208
case studies, 21, 24–25, 32
caught up in business of life, 20
eight significant barriers, 16, 17–33
and emotional eating, 48–72, 208
barriers to weight loss success (cont.):
exercise aversion, 129–30, 149
fear of success/failure, 26–28
feelings of unworthiness, 23–26
and managing
life, 4–5, 9, 13
physiological wiring to seek pleasure, 22–23, 208
types of, 8, 10–11, 15–17
unsupportive relationships in childhood, 29–30
basic crunch exercise, 257
basic eight exercises, 264, 265–68
Beck, Judith, 110 Becker, Anne, 176
Bestlife brand foods, 95
Best Life Diet Challenge, 133–36, 175
The Best Life Diet Cookbook (Greene), 124, 127
Best Life Diet Daily Journal, 166
The Best Life Diet (Greene), 133, 144
The Best Life Guide to Managing
Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes (Greene), 105, 170, 256
Best Life seal, 95
biceps curl, 267
biliopancreatic diversion, 204
binge eating disorder, 57, 71
bingeing, 32, 55, 57, 71, 101
black-and-white thinking, 108, 204, 209
blood pressure:
high blood pressure, 96, 129, 143
and salty foods, 96
Bob’s Circle of Life, 70
body fat, lowering, 129, 130, 143, 167
body image:
Activity Log, 181–82
as barrier to weight loss success, 28–29, 178–89, 192–93, 208
basics of, 174–78
body-positive mantras, 174
case studies, 177, 190–91
and empathy for body, 182–85
and feelings of unworthiness, 173
and goals, 180–82, 185–87, 193
identifying signature strengths, 179–80
limited vision of yourself, 189, 192–93
mirror exercise, 178–79
and motivation, 28, 173, 185, 186, 193 and negative focus, 178–82, 184, 193
and obesity, 56
prevalence of dissatisfaction with, 36, 172
and social situations, 187–88
and unrealistic weight goals, 185–87
body mass index (BMI), 55, 185, 202–3, 232–35
bones:
boosting health of, 92
and exercise, 136, 264
boundaries:
and creating limits, 12
and emotional eating, 35–36, 66, 67–68, 79
and job description, 66–67, 68
and planning, 109–10
brain:
and appetite, 89
boosting health of, 92
and breathing, 65
caveman’s, 83–84, 85, 89, 119
and exercise, 143
and food addiction, 85–86
and habits in eating, 84–85, 99, 106, 111–12
and happiness, 210
and kindness, 215
and motivation, 19
and neuroconnections, 30
physiological wiring of, 22–23, 35, 86–88, 99, 105–9, 111– 12, 115
and pleasure, 221–22, 223, 225
and triggers, 116–17
brain receptors, 85
breakfast, 80, 101, 104, 110, 198, 200
breathing:
exercises for, 65, 114
and Perceived Exertion scale, 159
Bronell, Susan (pseudonym), 66–67
Brown, Adrian, 106, 108, 110
Brown University, emotional eating study, 201–2
bulimia, 71
bullying, 175, 184
Burke, Susan (pseudonym), 177
butterfly, 266
Canada, reward sensitivity study, 86–87
cancer:
cutting risk for, 92
and exercise, 129, 140, 143, 157
fat in foods and, 94
cardio (aerobic) exercise, 155–57, 196, 255, 262–64
change:
activity-based changes, 212– 13, 226
assessing readiness for, 41–43, 98
and body image, 193
circumstance-based change, 213, 226
effects of, 9–10
fear of, 27
pleasure in, 19
and weight loss success, 12
working for, 7, 8
charity work, as coping tool, 76–77
chemical balance, 38–39
chest press, 267–68
child abuse and neglect, 31–33, 190
see also emotional abuse; physical abuse; sexual abuse
childhood:
abuse in, 31–33, 190
and body image, 174–75, 176, 178, 184
and exercise, 131–33
and feelings of unworthiness, 49–51
and pain, 59–61
pleasures of, 223
and relationship with parents, 62–64, 174–75, 184
unsupportive relationship with adults, 29–30
cholesterol:
and exercise, 167
and fructose, 96
HDL, 94, 95
and inflammation, 143
LDL, 40, 94
chronic conditions, and exercise, 163–64, 275–79
cleaning and organizing activities, 113
clinical eating disorders, 36
clothes, as coping tool, 75
cognitive behavioral strategies, 57
Columbia University, exercise study, 169–70
community involvement, as coping tool, 77
compassion, 216 confidence, 173, 205
control:
and bingeing, 71
motivation for controlling eating, 90–93
and overeating, 80–82
Why list for reasons to control eating, 91–93
coping mechanisms:
and emotional eating, 36–39, 47, 70, 71
and emotional pain, 54
handling feelings without food, 72–77
healthy, 35, 39
and overeating, 35
tools for, 74–77
crafts, as coping tool, 76
cravings: and availability of food, 107
and exercise, 100
and fat, salt, and sugar percentages in food, 93
and food abusers, 82
and hunger signals, 101, 102
and Plan A, 109–14
and satisfaction, 103–5, 108
and sugary beverages, 118–21
C-reactive protein, 143
cultural standards, 20, 28, 37, 48, 55, 62, 176, 177, 182–84
Dalai Lama, 210
demands, resources balanced with, 68–70, 77–78
Demuth, Jennifer, 149, 150–51, 204–5
denial:
and emotional eating, 46
self-denial, 222
depression:
and body image, 172, 184
causes of, 58–59
dealing with, 54–58
and emotional eating, 36, 54–59
and exercise, 55, 142
fatigue as symptom of, 168
Goldberg Depression Scale, 58–59, 236–40
and sleep, 47, 55
treatment of, 57–59
deprivation of foods: and discomfort, 18
and inner dialogue, 106
and Plan A, 111
deprivation of foods (cont.):
preventing, 115–16, 128
and relationships, 63