Health and Wellness for Feb. 2010
 
Fitness: Ok we’ve talked about the importance of a fitness program now lets dive into it a little deeper. What should the average healthy adult be doing on a weekly basis? Average age range is from adolescence to age 65. The ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) recommends we all should do moderately intense cardio 30 minutes 5 days a week or vigorous intense cardio 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week plus 8-10 strength training exercises between 6 and 20 reps each at least twice a week. Moderate exercise means working hard enough to break a sweat but still carry on a conversation and it can be broken up into 10 minute bouts 3 times a day. Strength training repetitions should range from 6 (for more strength) and 20 (for toning). Both cardio and strength routines need to include a warm up and stretch and cool down and stretch so plan on 10 – 15 minutes on top of the exercise time. Warm up, cool down and stretching are as important as the exercise routine!! You don’t need to get an expensive membership to the gym to accomplish this. Moderate exercise includes push mowing the yard, raking leaves, walking etc. Strength training can be accomplished by doing push ups, squats, lunges, pull ups, chair dips etc. There are hundreds upon hundreds of exercises you can do at home inside or out with no equipment. Fire fighters, now we should hold our fitness standards higher than the ACSM minimum recommendations!! The above stated should be your bare minimum! Please contact me if you need help getting started. Above stated is for the average healthy adult, weight loss, endurance and strength gains will require more activity. If you have medical conditions or your starting an exercise program you should always consult your doctor!
Health: We know diet is as important to our health as exercise so lets look at the basics of what the average healthy person should be eating.

The USDA recommends the following for a daily diet.

Here are the basics to reading a food label, this only begins to scratch the surface of understanding the nutrition facts:

#1  Start here and take time to know how many servings your consuming! This # directly reflects the number of calories your ingesting.
#2  Calories provide a measure of how much energy you get from 1 serving. Most Americans consume up to twice as many calories as they realize. Counting calories will assist you with weight loss, gain or maintenance. Calories from fat is the amount of fat intake. A good rule to follow is take the number of calories from fat X 3 should not = more than the calories. Another good rule to follow is 40=low, 100=moderate, 400=high.
#3,4  The nutrients, LIMIT these, avoid trans fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium all of which will raise your risk for chronic diseases. Get enough of the fiber, vitamin A and C, calcium and iron. These are what most Americans are deficient in.
#5  Take time to understand this footnote which is based on a 2000 calorie a day diet. The first ingredient is the most abundant through the last which is least. Good general rule is to look at first 3 ingredients and avoid words like high fructose corn syrup, enriched, sugar, anything with fat and poly unsaturated only to mention a few. Whole wheat on the package doesn’t always mean whole wheat, read the label.
#6  Based on a 2000 calorie a day, you will need to determine this number for your own needs. This could range from someone interested in weight loss consuming 1500 – 2000 calories to an Olympic athlete who requires 4000 – 6000 calories a day.