Now that Spring is beginning to make itself felt across the country, you can now get outside and begin working on getting more activity, while enjoying the sun and warming weather. People that know they need to become more active because of yearly visits to their physicians who warn them that their current lifestyle is not providing enough physical activity to get their blood pressure under control. If you don’t know what your numbers are, you should not wait to find out after you’ve experienced a medical incident. Make an appointment with your physician and get an overall physical and let them tell you the results of how you fare and what if anything you need to be aware of.

High blood pressure or hypertension (blood pressure greater than 140/90 over a period of time) affects nearly 78 million Americans. Although it’s the leading cause of death worldwide (13 percent), about 30 percent of adults don’t even know they have high blood pressure. Many of those who are aware aren’t taking control of their disease. If left untreated, hypertension can increase your risk for heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral arterial disease (decreased blood flow usually to the legs and feet).

If after visiting your physician and you are told that you indeed are part of those 78 million you need to not only work at getting your blood pressure under control but you also need to monitor it so you can react if your blood pressure rises or falls so that you can take necessary action.

Using a home blood pressure monitor is a good idea so that you can track your blood pressure on a regular basis. Your doctor can advise you how often you should check your pressure and what to do if it rises or falls. One such monitor that can easily be used is the LifeSource UB351 Automatic Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor  It is a wrist based monitor that will alert you of the presence of an irregular heartbeat and provides blowrist-based and pulse rate measurements even if an irregular heartbeat occurs. It can also calculate the average of the total readings stored in its memory; a convenient way to get a snapshot of your measurements over time and provide you with an average of just what your blood pressure is over a specific timeframe.

How to use a home blood pressure monitor
Be still. Don't smoke, drink caffeinated beverages or exercise within 30 minutes before measuring your blood pressure. Empty your bladder and ensure at least 5 minutes of quiet rest before measurements.

Sit correctly. Sit with your back straight and supported (on a dining chair, rather than a sofa). Your feet should be flat on the floor and your legs should not be crossed. Your arm should be supported on a flat surface (such as a table) with the upper arm at heart level

Measure at the same time every day. It’s important to take the readings at the same time each day, such as morning and evening. It is best to take the readings daily however ideally beginning 2 weeks after a change in treatment and during the week before your next appointment.

Take multiple readings and record the results. Each time you measure, take two or three readings one minute apart and record the results. If your monitor has built-in memory to store your readings, take it with you to your appointments. Some monitors may also allow you to upload your readings to a secure website after you register your profile.

So just what are the numbers to be aware of? We have them listed Below:

NORMAL LESS THAN 120 and LESS THAN 80
ELEVATED 120 – 129 and LESS THAN 80

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
(HYPERTENSION) STAGE 1 130 – 139 or 80 – 89

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
(HYPERTENSION) STAGE 2 140 OR HIGHER or 90 OR HIGHER

If you get a high blood pressure reading:
A single high reading is not an immediate cause for alarm. If you get a reading that is slightly or moderately higher than normal, take your blood pressure a few more times and consult your healthcare professional to verify if there’ s a health concern or whether there may be any issues with your monitor.

If your blood pressure readings suddenly exceed 180/120 mm Hg, wait five minutes and test again. If your readings are still unusually high, contact your doctor immediately. You could be experiencing a hypertensive crisis.
If your blood pressure is higher than 180/120 mm Hg and you are experiencing signs of possible organ damage such as chest pain, shortness of breath, back pain, numbness/weakness, change in vision, difficulty speaking, do not wait to see if your pressure comes down on its own. Call 9-1-1!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the American College of Sports Medicine all recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both for adults.

Intensity – Exercise at a moderate level. Use the “talk test” to help you monitor. For example, even though you may notice a slight rise in your heart rate and breathing, you should be able to carry on a conversation while walking at a moderate pace. As you walk faster, you will begin to breathe faster and have difficulty talking. At that point, you’ve achieved moderate intensity or “somewhat hard.” Vigorous exercise causes a large rise in heart rate and breathing. At this intensity, it would become difficult to talk. Most people would rate this as “hard to very hard.”

Time – Exercise 30-60 minutes per day. You can do it all at once or break it up into a few sessions of at least minutes each.

Type – Do rhythmic exercises using the large muscle groups. Try brisk walking, cycling, and swimming. Choose activities you enjoy and will do regularly in your new, more active
lifestyle. Add variety depending on the day or the season to keep your program more enjoyable.

Start by exercising on your own. Begin walking or another form of activity that you can integrate into your daily routine.

Do rhythmic exercises using large muscle groups:
Try brisk walking, cycling, and swimming. Choose activities you enjoy and will do regularly in your new, more active lifestyle. Add variety depending on the day or the season to
keep your program more enjoyable. All you really need, though, is a good pair of shoes
to get started walking. Use a Pedometer or other activity tracker to monitor your progress. Slowly work toward a goal, like maybe 10,000 steps per day.

If you have been inactive for a long time, start with short sessions (ten to 15 minutes). Add five minutes to each session, increasing every two to four weeks. Gradually build up to being active 30 minutes a day for most days of the week. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids before, during, and after exercise, especially if you plan to exercise on a hot day or for a
long time. Always cool down slowly.

If possible, measure your blood pressure before you exercise. Do not exercise if your resting systolic blood pressure (the top number) is greater than 200 or your diastolic blood pressure
(the bottom number) is greater than 115. Contact your doctor!

So, getting back to where we started, now that you have some beneficial information about how and why you check your blood pressure. It's important that "Knowing" your numbers and keeping them in line will allow you to help yourself by being more active and getting your body in better shape.

And what better time to get started then in the Spring of the new year? By walking at a brisk pace,  eating healthy, lowering your stress all these things combined can help keep you living a more healthy and active life for years to come!
 

But You Might Also Be Overdosing On Sugar And Carbs At the Same Time!

Ok, I get it, we are all busy, and over the past decade or so, most health-conscious people reached for a new “Healthier Product”, nutrition bars, to help them satisfy those hunger pains they sometimes were hit with mid-morning or afternoon.

After all, these bars are supposed to be a nutritious gift to the serious athlete, or those simply trying to live and eat, a healthier lifestyle, right? And when these bars hit the fitness magazines and talk shows, it generated a LOT of interest in on-the-go nutrition. Now most everyone who is looking to get a healthy energy boost is grabbing them off their grocer’s shelves. And why not? They are supposed to be the perfect go-to source of not only giving your bodies a little bit of satisfying nourishment it needs, but they are supposed to contain protein and the “good” carbs that help make you feel full, so you won’t have that after snack “Guilt Trip Feeling”.

Web Med put it simply; “In the current nutrition/energy bar environment, there are literally hundreds of these prewrapped and portable products competing for shelf space at gyms, health-food stores, and supermarkets, with names ranging from Power-Bar and Luna Bar to Balance Bar and MET-Rx. But nutritionists agree that not all bars are created equal. There are high-carbohydrate bars, protein bars, energy bars, breakfast bars, brain-boosting bars, meal-replacement bars, diet bars, and women-only bars. And with so much to choose from, consumers hungering for a quick nutritional fix -- whether they're recreational athletes, workaholics tied to their desks, or overcommitted moms with barely a moment to spare -- may feel dizzy from all the product overkill and heavily hyped claims.

Now don’t get me wrong. Eating a “protein” bar or other branded energy bar is a lot better than getting yourself a 1000 calorie late, a couple of doughnuts, or even a bag of chips. Now the bars do provide an easy to travel with, nutrition snack. If, and the key word here is If, you don’t rely on them solely as your means of fueling up your body. Liz Applegate, Ph.D., lecturer in nutrition at the University of California at Davis said "There's nothing magical about these bars. Most of them are fine, but some are too high in sugars and fat."

Dawn Jackson, RD, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, concurs, noting that the bars are convenient, especially when you're physically active. "You wouldn't put a turkey sandwich in your pocket when you go on a bike ride or a long-distance run, right? But you could easily bring one of these nutritional bars with you." However, she cautions, "Some of the bars have as much sugar and as much saturated fat as a candy bar. So, use them in moderation." Always keep in mind that these bars contain a high amount of your daily recommended protein, carbs and fats intake for the day. You would have more leeway if you were working out, going for a long-distance run, swimming laps or other strenuous exercises where you're expending a lot of calories to accomplish your daily/weekly fitness routines. But, if you’re just grabbing 1-2 or even 3 of these energy bars because they go well with your afternoon coffee, then you’re probably causing more harm to your goal of being fit than you realize!

Eating the right amount, and the right kind of food is the key to maintaining your blood sugar levels, which is one of the important factors in avoiding that afternoon run-down feeling. In order to do this correctly, it's better to pack your lunch/snack the night before in order to give yourself some time to prepare your nutritious food properly, by balancing the proteins, fiber, and carbs so that you get the proper amount of each.

Nutritionist Nancy Clark, MS, RD, points out that anything that provides calories will give you some energy. "Bananas give energy," says Clark, director of nutrition services at Sports Medicine Associates in Brookline, Mass. "Twinkies give energy. Energy bars give energy. That's because they all provide calories." The key is to consume the calories that also provide a balance of protein, carbs, and fiber, not just empty sugar calories, like that Twinkie, that after you get the “rush” you then bottom out after those calories peak.

According to nutritionists, a good rule of thumb to follow when choosing the right bar is that they should include:
A total calorie count of between 150 -250 calories MAX!
Their ingredients should be composed of “Whole Foods”, non-processed. It is this processing step that strips away most of the healthy nutrients that are found in nature. Example of this are nuts, seeds, whole grains, and fruits. 7+ grams of protein, (which equates out to eating 1 hard boiled egg), 3+ grams of Fiber, and Should NOT contain more than 13 grams of Sugar!!

Read your labels!! We really can’t stress this enough. Marketers today have keyed in on all the health fad names/labels of nutrients and are trying to market their goods to you on the backs of these catchphrases that television commercials and infomercials use to catch your attention. Just because a package has a picture of oats, and Quinoa on their packages, doesn’t mean that the product is automatically healthy. Remember, attention-grabbing names aren’t always what we think they are.

*Take for example this chip product from “Simply 7”. It’s a Houston-based snack company that claims its Quinoa Chips are designed to deliver all the flavor and nutrients of the ancient super grain quinoa. Would a hefty amount of protein be among those nutrients?
Not really. Simply 7’s Sea Salt Quinoa Chips contain almost no protein. Well, almost none. One gram per serving. That’s it.
How can that be when the first ingredient is quinoa flour? For starters, quinoa isn’t exactly high in protein. And it’s not as if you’re eating a serving of quinoa in these chips. There’s also potato starch, cornstarch, oil, corn flour, sugar, and salt.
Well, at least the company no longer claims that these chips are a “Good source of protein.” That’s what bags of Simply 7 Sea Salt Quinoa Chips said until last spring.
*This information was taken from an article about amounts of protein found in some packaged foods cspinet.org/.

How much protein do you really need each day? Protein is one of the most important nutrients we need to consume in order to help our bodies work/perform the way they were designed to. From developing the proper amount of muscle mass, to making hair, blood, connective tissue, antibodies, enzymes, and more. It’s common for athletes and bodybuilders to wolf down extra protein to bulk up. But remember, they are working their bodies in an extreme way that most of us will never attempt.

So, how much protein do we need? The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is a modest 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. The RDA is the amount of a nutrient you need to meet your basic nutritional requirements. In a sense, it’s the minimum amount you need to keep from getting sick — not the specific amount you are supposed to eat every day.

To determine your RDA for protein, you can multiply your weight in pounds by 0.36. or use this online protein calculator . For example, a 50-year-old woman who weighs 140 pounds woman and who is sedentary (doesn’t exercise), that translates into 53 grams of protein a day. To easily convert grams to ounces, you can go Here .

Getting back to our talking point of are you getting what the packaging is marketing to you? Packages on the supermarket shelf look great: "Omega-3." "Excellent source of fiber." "As much protein as an egg." But take a closer look to discover the sobering reality: "Food companies design packages in order to sell products!" says Marion Nestle, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University "They know that if the label says 'gluten-free,' 'fat-free,' or 'vitamins added,' consumers will believe the product to be healthier—even though that might not be the case." Your best defense for a better diet? Learn how to see through the hype.
THE HYPE Great source of protein!
THE TRUTH It's not enough to keep you full.
"Protein" was once a word reserved for giant tubs of whey powder used by weightlifters, but now it's showing up on labels for drinks, snack bars, and cereals. So if a box of cereal claims that each serving has as much protein as an egg, it can help you muscle up, right? And a protein drink can silence your grumbling stomach until dinner? Some of those drinks have as little as 5 grams in a cup. One serving of some protein-boasting cereals provides a meager 10 grams of protein. And another marketing ploy is that the manufacturer sometimes will include the protein contained in the "MILK" you add to its cereal in order to claim additional protein that is NOT part of the manufacturing process. "This is not high-protein food, although the marketing implies it is," says Men's Health nutrition advisor Alan Aragon, M.S.

And if you're seeking a muscle-building benefit, check protein products carefully. "Not all proteins are the same," says Aragon. "For example, whey and egg have higher concentrations of leucine than plant sources of protein, and they're more potent in their ability to promote muscle growth."
A better bet to reap protein's benefits: Aim for 20 to 40 grams of protein at mealtime to fight hunger, Aragon says. That's the amount in 3 to 4 ounces of a cooked chicken breast or baked fish.

Valerie Berkowitz, M.S., R.D., nutrition director of the Center for Balanced Health in New York City, states that “Foods” engineered to be low in fat usually harbor other ingredients that expand your belly. "Low-fat processed foods often are made with excess sugar or other carbs to enhance flavor; they can trigger your body to produce fat-storing insulin," says Berkowitz. And there's psychological trickery at work here too: People in a Cornell study ate about 50 percent more of a snack if it was labeled "low fat." That "health halo effect" may lead to the notion that it's okay to eat more than usual if the food is low fat, the researchers say.

Bottom line is, always remember to read a packages label of ingredients! Just because it says protein, or low-fat, or organic, does NOT mean that it is the best dietary choice for you to make. Be conscious of your daily intake of sodium, sugars, and other additives that also contains hidden sugar!

If you don’t, you might as well, leave that energy bar on the rack and go and pick up a candy bar, but then, that’s not exactly going to give you the best bang for your carbs now, is it?

We walk. That’s a statement and a fact. But over the past decade we have been told that because of today’s society, the average American is NOT walking enough. This statement is undoubtedly true when you consider that in America over 36.5% of us are now obese!

With these climbing stats, it’s no wonder that more and more Americans are now suffering from the medical ailments that have been associated with being overweight! Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death.

The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.

It’s because of these growing figures that the CDC has prompted warnings that it's important that Americans adopt a new health conscious mindset to become healthier, and the sooner the better. The CDC, Mayo Clinic and other prestigious medical institutions state that walking is one of the easiest ways for us to back our bathroom scales down a few notches.

Walking an extra 40 minutes every day can reduce the number of days in the hospital for people, and lower the risk of cancer. And continually increasing our daily steps can decrease the amount of days we may be spending in the hospital for related diseases. People who increased their steps from 4,500 to 8,800 steps per day spent an average of one less day in the hospital every three years, researchers from the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Newcastle found. They adopted a mantra that states "Any exercise is better than no exercise, and more exercise is better."

That being said, when you finally realize that if you want to live a longer and more importantly, an active and mobile lifestyle when you get older you need to start now!

The first thing you need to do before you do any walking, strenuous or vigorous is get yourself checked out by your physician. Make sure you’re in good enough shape to begin and ask for advice on based on your examination, just how hard you should tackle your new lifestyle trend of getting in better health.

Once everything checks out and you get a clean bill of health from your physician, go and get yourself a “Good” pair of walking shoes. Ones that offer not only comfort but support for your arches and footpad. Get to a reputable shoe store, one that specializes in walking and running. Their staffs are usually well trained on how to fit you with the proper shoe based on the activity you’re going to be undertaking.

Next, get yourself a good, reliable pedometer or activity monitor. One that fits that bill is the Pedusa PE-771 Multi-Function Pedometer    It counts your steps, the distance you travel, your stride and the calories you’re burning during your walking session. It also has a 7-day memory so that you can track just how well you are doing each week and then record that data so you can compare each week against yourself and the goal you set for yourself! Then after a month, up the ante on the goal and increase it to another mile. Or go by the amount of time you set aside for your walk each day, and increase that. Or you can go one better, and step right up to an Activity Monitor like the Garmin Vivosmart Wireless Heart Rate Activity Monitor  that’s geared for the person who takes their fitness commitment seriously. Even though you’re just walking for now, later, when you get in better shape you have the tool already on hand, or should I say wrist, to monitor your heart rate along with your steps. The Garmin Vivosmart is built to track your workouts, monitor your performance stats, and gauge your progress. This watch has Garmin Elevate, which is Garmin’s own best in class wrist-based heart rate technology. The Vívosmart HR has a 3-dimensional accelerometer which is used to count steps (compared to a pedometer which uses a 1-dimensional accelerometer). It uses the user’s height from their profile to calculate their stride length. Because of the 3 dimensional accelerometer, the Vívosmart HR knows when the user is moving faster (running), so increases the stride length to better calculate the distance being covered. And you never have to worry about comparing just how well your doing since the Vivosmart HR Activity Monitor’s data can be uploaded to Garmin Connect, where you can track you're steps, distance and compare just how well you are doing against some of your friends!

So what are you waiting for? If your already doing your best and committed to walking that 10,000 steps and beyond, GOOD FOR YOU! But we’re sure you know some family members or friends that you can share this blog post with who could use some incentives to get their life on track to living a healthier, longer and active lifestyle.

Now you know about some of the cost savings that go along with being healthy. And you can keep your hard earned cash in your wallet! Instead of staying put on the coach and possibly succumbing to a variety of health ailments that could have been prevented by just increasing your physical activity!

Any questions, we are always here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com, just for YOU!

Well, the Memorial Day holiday weekend is just about here, in fact, if you’re like me, it starts this Friday, May 26th. And I for one can’t wait! But you and I both know that with the holiday kickoff to summer, there are going to be a lot of backyard parties out there this weekend, and an endless amount of “Good Tasting Food”. So tell me, are you going to let your commitment to a healthier you take its own holiday this weekend? Well, you don’t have to and below are a few tips to help you have a great time with family and friends and still be active and eat some great food so you won’t feel left out as they pass around those nachos and loaded burgers.

Plan your holiday weekend around some activities that are both physical and ones that you and your friends can participate together in. Remember, there's nothing like a friendly competition among friends to get your body active and your heart and blood pumping!

Some of those activities that you can do with your friends and families can include cardio activities that will burn calories like track-skating, kickball, my favorite a good game of volleyball, along with cycling, etc. You get the drift. The key is to make sure there are enough friendly activities out there to help you burn off some of those calories you’re sure to be helping yourself to this holiday weekend.

Another trick that really works is to make sure you're hanging around like-minded friends that are also on the “Get Healthy” lifestyle track. You and he/she might have made that New Year’s resolution together or separately and sticking together can help you both bolster each other this weekend to NOT indulge in all those special sweet treats that are sure to be laid out on the picnic tables in abundance!

Grill What’s Good For You! If you're hosting your own party this weekend, then make sure you stock your fridge with meats that won’t have you busting your gut, literally, when you put them on the grill. Choose grilling chicken, breasts, thighs, and legs make a nice substitution to the traditional hotdogs and hamburgers. And load up the grill on veggies as well. Corn on the cob, peppers, grilled pearl onions, and zucchini make a great addition to your holiday fare. Try using some sprinkles of low salt seasoning to enhance their flavors and don’t forget a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice to provide the zing to your vegetable taste.

BYOM? (Bring your own meat): If you’re going to a backyard party, don’t be afraid to bring your own selection of meat to the menu. Your host will probably thank you for it in the end. Bring some low-fat hamburger to the party, along with chicken, and some turkey dogs or brats. Then you can even dial up the regular buns with whole grain hot dog and hamburger buns as well. If you think about what you’re going to eat, then making the right choices will come easily to you. And don’t be skimpy on how much you’re going to bring. You’re probably going to be pleasantly surprised at how many other guests’ opt. for a healthier portion of your food. So bring enough and maybe you can get a few more friends on eating the healthier way this holiday weekend.

One of the things you will want to keep in mind is to limit the amount of alcohol you ingest this holiday weekend as well. Keep the cold water handy and you can always change it up with some sparkling water as well. There are an endless amount of varieties out there for you to quench your thirst. Just make sure there not loaded with sugar, the natural ones are the best and if you do need that sweet taste to tickle your taste buds this weekend, then try using some honey or agave to sweeten things up a bit.

Now I would be remiss if we didn’t ask you, your family and friends to take a moment out this weekend to remember the reason why it is a national holiday. We want to remind you that Memorial Day, was established and designated to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War in 1868 and became an official federal holiday in 1971.

So we, here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com would like to wish everyone a very Happy and safe, Memorial Day!

Is this you?  I know, I know, you've probably read or have seen posts about this a lot, but you'd be surprised how often this topic comes up, in the gym, the office, even the grocery store.  Some people use the simple formula of just eating less and getting themselves more active. Now that's a good equation, and I follow that all of the time. But you have some people, and unfortunately, there are quite a number of them that think "More is Better" and they tend to swing too much to the far end of the pendulum and really cut back on their food intake thinking that they will drop more weight, faster.  Well, they soon find that even though they have continuous hunger pains, the weight seems to have stopped dropping off.  Then they think they need to cut back on their calorie intake even more. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

These people are not only stuck in park, but there are other unforeseen consequences as well.  Your body enters what is commonly referred to as the "starvation mode" when you don't eat enough to sustain your bodies regular processes, which can cause slower than expected weight loss and plateaus.

For simplicity sake, we can explain it easier this way. Your body uses a certain amount of energy each day. We get all the energy we need from food. When we take in either more or less energy (food) than the body uses each day, our weight changes (increases or decreases). For example, an average man needs about 2,500 calories per day to maintain his weight (women need a lower amount). If he were to eat 3,000 calories in a day, the body would have to deal with a calorie surplus (too much energy) of 500 calories (the body would need to find something to do with the extra 500 calories coming in from the diet). The way the body deals with a surplus is by storing that extra energy as fat causing weight gain.

 If that same man were to eat 2,000 calories in a day, the body would now have to deal with a calorie deficit (not enough energy) of 500 calories (the body would need to find non-food sources to make up for the shortfall of 500 calories coming in from your diet). The body deals with a calorie deficit by drawing on fat stores for energy causing weight loss.  That is why there needs to be a balance of how much you need to eat when you are trying to lose weight, and it is also necessary to eat the "Right Combination" of food groups, fats, good carbs, and lean protein!  And yes, that will be a topic for another day!

This "starvation mode" kicks in when your calorie intake drops too drastically. If your body needs 2,500 calories per day (to maintain weight) and you start eating 1,000 calories per day, you would expect your calorie deficit to be 1,500 calories leading to substantial weight loss. The problem is that if you cut your calorie intake to 1,500 below what you burn, your metabolism would slow (starvation mode) and burn a lot less than 2,500 calories. Your calorie deficit would turn out to be a lot smaller than 1,500 calories. 

Remember the amount of food you eat affects your metabolism. Our bodies have a built-in protection from prolonged periods of reduced calorie intake, if taken to the extreme, (starvation). Today it easy to acquire food such as in a grocery store, vending machines, and fast food restaurants. Today food, luckily in the US. is widely available. Back when our ancestors used to hunt and gather food, they would go long periods of time with little energy intake,(food). To help us survive, our metabolism would slow down in order to conserve the little energy we had left. This can be compared to driving slower when you're almost out of gas and are unsure of the distance to the next gas station.  

 If you want to lose weight, the right way, all you need to do is bring the level of your food intake under your level of energy use, but NOT drastically. Consistently eating less calories than your body burns will force your body to draw upon fat stores for energy causing weight loss. You have two opportunities to influence this energy balance equation: food and energy use.

In addition to eating less, you can also expend more energy (exercise) which will widen the gap between how many calories you burn and eat. This balanced approach of eating less AND moving more will yield the best, healthiest and longest lasting result. Problems arise with weight loss strategies when dieters rely too much on cutting calories rather than also exercising more.

A key factor that helps determine how your body burns your fuel,(food) is called your metabolism

Your metabolism can be described as the sum of all the energy needed in the body. Your body needs the energy to digest & absorb food, support the brain, heart, liver, kidneys and other organs, repair damaged tissue, move your blood around, by having your heart pumping and you're moving around (physical activity). Even without exercise, your body still has a need for energy to simply keep you alive. Your metabolism or daily energy needs are not set in stone. Instead, your metabolism is fluid and can speed up or slow down based on inputs such as the amount of food eaten and exercise performed.

Cutting your calorie intake drastically is a bad weight loss strategy for a number of reasons. The main reason is that cutting calories drastically is not sustainable. The changes you need to make to cut 1,000 or more calories from your daily intake is too much for you to handle. Taking this path might last a few days or even a few weeks but eventually, your diet will prove too much and the changes you have made will lead to a failed diet. Once you go back to your old ways, the weight will come right back on. Remember hearing the term sea-saw dieting, this is it.

Another reason that a drastic calorie cut is a bad idea is nutrient intake. Your body needs a certain amount of vitamins and minerals each day to support normal bodily functions including energy metabolism, immune functions, and tissue repair. The typical American diet is already deficient in many nutrients. Reason being, most of our foods that we eat in the old US of A, are processed. This means they've been white-washed. Or cleaned up for us to eat. This has been done over the years by companies, and even farmers who use different treatments to first the soil, then in the processing, packaging the food so that it lasts longer on the grocery shelves or in the meat cases. Because of this, we are getting less, raw nutrients with our food.  Eating less, on a crash diet, will further decrease your intake which can lead to some inconvenient if not serious health issues. Slower, more sustainable weight loss options that include exercise will lead to healthier and more long lasting results.

Losing weight by moderately cutting your calorie intake and increasing your physical activity will yield the best results. Moderately cutting your calorie intake will not have the same negative consequences (starvation mode) involved in drastically cutting your calories. While cutting calories can negatively impact your metabolism, increasing your physical activity level can do the opposite.

Exercising burns calories because moving requires energy. The more you move, the more calories you burn. In addition to the calories you burn while exercising, your metabolism is also increased for 24-48 hours after you stop exercising. Physical activity speeds up your metabolism even after you stop exercising due to the recovery phase of the exercise. The recovery phase of exercise involves repairing damage sustained to the muscle fibers while working out and replenishing energy stores used up during exercise. All of this burns calories.

So, the key word here is "Balance", it seems a little funny doesn't it, that word "Balance", If we really think about it, having a balance in our lives can solve almost all of our problems. From keeping your work stress in "Balance" to balancing your time so you spend enough of it with your family.  Keeping your eating, and physical activity in balance with one another will create the right combination to make sure that you Will lose weight, the right way!