The Skinny On Your Hidden Fat

A too-thick waistline, especially paired with high levels of a particular fat in the blood called triglycerides can greatly increase your risk of developing coronary artery disease. Triglycerides are both produced by the body and ingested through the food you eat.

High triglyceride levels can increase your risk for heart disease and are more common among inactive people with larger waistlines. Normal triglyceride levels are below 150 mg/dL. The risk of developing coronary artery disease doubles when triglyceride levels are above 200 mg/dL.

Triglycerides are called the hidden fat because they are too often overshadowed by the highly publicized LDL bad cholesterol.

However triglycerides are above 200 mg/dL and “good” (HDL) cholesterol is below 40 mg/dL, a person is at four times the risk.

The good news is that a study at Duke University Medical Center has produced some surprising and encouraging results. Moderate aerobic exercise like walking a half hour at least five days a week can signicantly reduce the triglyceride levels in the blood as well as boost your HDL (good cholesterol). Burning 200 calories or so on that half hour walk doesn’t hurt either.

The study also showed that more intense exercise did help with belly fat but produced only half the triglyceride lowering results.

So my recommendation is: consult your doctor, find your triglycerides level and get clearance to exercise.

If it is elevated and belly fat is not an issue do moderate aerobic exercise like brisk walking or cardio dance. If you also have extra belly fat, consider adding strength training exercise every other day to help your body burn more fat.

Don’t over do it. Ease-in. Start with a few minutes a day of something fun. Pleasure is the key to sustainability.

Couple this with a low fat diet and moderate alcohol consumption and you’ve got a recipe for better quality of life and maybe even a longer one.

Five Fitness Myths that Make People Fail

At this time of year when New Year Resolutions are fresh in our minds, I’d like to offer some suggestions on how to get into shape and stay there once and for all.

Many of today's fitness programs are all about the quick sell and even quicker results. Many are based on dangerous fitness myths.

Here are 5 fitness myths to steer away from:

Myth #1: Pain Equals Gain

It is a popular misconception that only when you feel the pain are you gaining anything from your workout.

"The "no pain, no gain" mentality contributes to more injuries and more burnout than any other fitness factor, especially among my age group (baby boomers). It is wiser to exercise sustainably over a longer term, than to push yourself to the breaking point.

Myth #2: A Taskmaster Equals the Best Teacher

Reality Exercise Shows that have recently become popular portray drill-sergeant-style trainers as being the most effective fitness mentors.

While leveraging fear and using intimidation techniques may mean instant short-term fitness results, they’re sending the wrong message about how to get and stay fit for a lifetime. Attainable short-term goals and positive reinforcement are more likely to create good fitness habits that are sustainable for life

Myth #3: Pumping up the Volume Equals Pumping up Your Physique

It seems some fitness instructors think screaming louder and blasting the bass is motivational. It's time to think again.

While high-decibel workouts might be temporarily motivational, over time these techniques become draining and stressful leading to faster fitness burnout. Look instead for uplifting music and gentle coaching in your workouts.

Myth #4: Fitness Equals a Fight Against Your Body

Sales pitches that encourage "shaving off the pounds" and busting your abs or your butt have solidified the image of fitness as a battle against your body.

Fighting is not a sustainable activity or philosophy. Instead, think of partnering with your body. Meet it where it is at right now and provide the environment and tools to reveal your body's best potential. When you take this approach you are setting yourself up for success every step of the way.

Myth #5: Force Equals Fit

Today's popular exercise routines promote pounding your body into shape. But ancient fitness modalities, such as Yoga and Tai Chi had it right.

Fitness is not about pumping the most iron or performing the most reps, it is about teaching your body how to move efficiently, using all of your muscles groups, and sustaining these movements over time. Exercise including strength training should be approached as a gradual lifetime process. This way, exercise becomes a pleasure not a chore.

Holiday Moderation

Every year at this time people watching their weight and trying to stay fit start to panic. I’ve begun to get those emails saying "I feel like I might really have trouble on Thanksgiving and I don’t want the holidays to be a total disaster." Most people ask me "what do you do to stay on track”?

Unfortunately there’s no one-size-fits-all, silver bullet solution.

But for me, the trick is moderating my moderation. I’m already eating healthy moderate meals and exercising regularly.

So the key for me is not to try to treat a holiday, like any other day.

All my favorite stuff will be there and everyone will be encouraging me to eat it. I’ll have to try my sister-in-law’s new pie recipe, and I’ll be asked to taste that great stuffing. The thought of it makes me not want to eat for a week beforehand, or at least all day that day. Bad idea.

Rather than skip meals I eat a low calorie, high-energy-delivery breakfast, and a next-to-no-calorie, but filling, lunch like a veggie salad. So when dinnertime comes, I’m not starving and I can remember that I can taste everything and get plenty full just tasting. Every time I’ve come to a holiday dinner too hungry I forget how pleasantly full I get, just tasting and I end up uncomfortably full, and angry with myself.

I’ll probably eat more calories than normal that day, but it’ll only be a million not a gazillion.

Test my food moderation technique on a day when you know you’re going out to dinner and see if it works for you. If you like it, give it a shot on a holiday.

Of course there’s more to fitness and weight management than just food.

I’ll be traveling for the holidays and we all know how convenient it is to exercise when we’re traveling.

Well, this year I’m going to have a better plan. I booked a flight that leaves an hour later, so I can exercise at home in the morning. And I’m going to try to stick to my normal exercise schedule when I get there. That’ll be tough enough with all the distractions. I know I won’t have time for extra exercise. But even if my schedule gets really full, I’m determined to do at least a half hour of moderate exercise a day. And this year I’m bringing an exercise band and a video along with my sneakers and sweats. It snowed last year and my sneakers and sweats sat idle.

So that’s what I’m doing. It’s not rocket science but it is science. And if I can stick to it it’ll work for me.

If you formulate a similar moderation plan of your own, I’ll bet you’ll have more fun, get to taste everything and maybe not gain a pound. Happy Holidays!

Send your Moving Free® with Mirabai questions to: exercise@movingfree.com