Better Out Than In

A recent review carried out by a team at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in the UK has concluded that there are benefits to mental and physical well-being from taking exercise outdoors.

The study found that “Most trials showed an improvement in mental well-being: compared with exercising indoors, exercising in natural environments was associated with greater feelings of revitalization, increased energy and positive engagement, together with decreases in tension, confusion, anger and depression.

Participants also reported greater enjoyment and satisfaction with outdoor activity and stated that they were more likely to repeat the activity at a later date.” The one area that the study did not measure was the long-term effects of exercise in natural environments and whether or not participants were able to stick to a routine.

Most of Health Jigsaw’s training sessions are conducted outdoors, which can make you feel invigorated, refreshed and alive. They also provide most people with a change of environment in their day, from an air-conditioned office to the fresh air of the local parks, ovals, beaches or even their own backyard. Being outdoors can also help increase your body’s stores of vitamin D.

Salt & High Blood Pressure

In our previous blog post, we discussed how high blood pressure (or hypertension) can be impacted by lifestyle factors such as a high salt intake.

So how does salt increase blood pressure?

When our salt (sodium chloride) intake levels are very high, the kidneys cannot keep up with the excretion and the salt ends up in our bloodstream.  The body compensates by retaining more fluid to dilute the sodium levels, which increases blood volume.  This then raises blood pressure as the heart has to work harder to pump the larger volume of blood around the body.

Only about 25 per cent of our sodium intake comes from the salt shaker.  The rest is hidden in processed foods that have salt added during manufacturing.  One gram (1000 milligrams) of salt has 400 mg sodium.

The National Health and Medical Research Council has set an ‘Adequate Intake’ of 460–920 mg of sodium (equivalent to 1.15–2.3 grams of salt) per day and a ‘Suggested Dietary Target’ of 1600 mg of sodium (about 4 grams of salt) for Australian adults.  However, most Australians have a daily salt intake of about 10 grams.  The recommended amount of sodium for people with hypertension is about 1500 mg a day.

Salt is listed on nutrition panels as sodium.  Foods with less than 120 mg per 100 grams are low in salt, while foods with more than 500 mg per 100 grams are high in salt.

Luckily, the food industry has been involved in reformulating some products to reduce salt levels.  For example, Vegemite has been reducing its salt content since 1974 and now has 13 per cent less salt than the original recipe.

Here are a few tips to reduce salt in your diet:

• Eat more fresh food (plant or animal).
• Use herbs, olive oil or lemon juice to enhance flavours instead of adding salt.
• Compare food labels when shopping and look for foods labeled ‘no added salt’ or ‘salt reduced’.
• Buy reduced-salt bread and breakfast cereals. A slice of commercial brand bread can have up to 200 mg of sodium.
• Stay away from highly processed products such as instant noodles and pastas, canned soups and dehydrated soup mixes.
• Cut back on processed meats like salami, ham, corned beef, bacon, smoked meats/salmon, sausages and chicken loaf.
• Limit takeaway foods, especially pizza, burgers, pies and sausage rolls. When possible, choose low salt options such as a salad.
• Use fresh or frozen vegetables as canned vegetables have a higher salt content.
• Try and avoid frozen meals, canned meat/fish, potato chips, cheese, ready-made salad dressings, soy sauce, tomato sauce and mayonnaise as they are high in sodium.

HIgh Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries. Each time the heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is at its highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When the heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure. Blood pressure is always given as these two numbers, the systolic and diastolic pressures. When the two measurements are written down, the systolic pressure is the first number and the diastolic pressure is the second.

A blood pressure reading below 120/80 mmHg (millimetres of mercury) is considered normal. Pre-hypertension is blood pressure between 120 and 139 for the first number, or between 80 and 89 for the second number. If your blood pressure is in the pre-hypertension range, it is more likely that you will end up with high blood pressure unless you take action to prevent it. Hypertension or high blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher. You should consult your doctor if your blood pressure reading is higher than 160/95.

Some of the lifestyle factors which can impact on your blood pressure are:

• Excess weight – which forces the heart to pump harder.
• Lack of exercise.
• Stress.
• High salt intake.
• Heavy alcohol consumption – responsible for about 10% of high blood pressure cases.

High blood pressure is often called the silent killer because it usually has no symptoms. Some people may not find out they have it until they have trouble with their heart, brain or kidneys. Therefore it is important to have regular check-ups of your blood pressure. High blood pressure over a period of time can contribute to many illnesses, including heart attack, kidney failure or stroke.

Ways to reduce your blood pressure include:

• reducing your stress levels;
• minimising the fat (particularly saturated fat) in your diet;
• eating less salt;
• stop smoking;
• drinking less alcohol; and
• changing your lifestyle by losing weight and getting regular exercises.

For more information, please contact Health Jigsaw or visit our website (healthjigsaw.com).

Think Before You Drink

If you have too many alcoholic drinks, you might be sabotaging your weight management plans. Alcohol contains 29 kilojoules per gram, which is only slightly better than fat (with 38 kilojoules per gram).

Alcohol is your body’s preferred immediate source of energy, which means that your body will burn the energy from alcohol before the other nutrients (carbohydrates, protein or fat). So the potato wedges, beer nuts, garlic bread, chips and cheese platter could be stored as “unused energy” when accompanied by half a bottle of wine…and “unused energy” = FAT.

Below is a table showing the amount of energy in each drink and the approximate amount of time you need to walk or run to burn the drink off.

It should be noted that in the above table, the wine is based on having an alcohol content of 12 per cent. Wines on the market now can have an alcohol content as high as 14 per cent.

If you have two glasses of wine every night, you consume an extra 5,250 kilojoules for the week or 23,250 kilojoules for the month.  And if you think that a couple of glasses of wine a night won’t make much difference, this shows how the little things can add up. This is also the reason why participants in last month’s FebFast lost a few centimetres off their waist and hips, probably without changing their eating or exercising plans.

Try and have at least three (3) alcohol free days each week if you don’t want to sabotage your weight management plans. The table shows how hard it can be to fit in your favourite pair of jeans if you are not willing to give up alcohol for a few days during the week. But this does not mean that you can “binge” drink on weekends to make up for it. If you must drink, go for the low alcohol content beers and wines. More companies now making lower alcohol wines ranging from 7.5 to 9 per cent alcohol.

55 Reasons to Exercise Regularly

You’ve probably heard many times before that being active is good for you. If you are not exercising regularly, here are 55 reasons why you should.

1. It gives you more energy.
2. Exercise helps you sleep better.
3. You will be more alert at work or studies.
4. It helps you to be more productive.
5. It improves your posture.
6. Your confidence and self esteem improves.
7. It can reduce body fat.
8. It can increase your lean muscle mass.
9. You can manage your weight better.
10. Your strength will improve.
11. Exercise builds and maintains healthy bones, muscles and joints.
12. You look better in your clothes.
13. Exercise can prevent or reduce lower back pain.
14. Your heart and lungs function better.
15. It improves circulation.
16. It can relieve tension and headaches.
17. Exercise improves your stamina and endurance.
18. Your coordination improves.
19. Your balance improves.
20. You perform better in your sports.
21. It can increase libido.
22. Exercise lowers the risk of erectile dysfunction.
23. You can increase your chance of falling pregnant.
24. You recover quicker after having a baby.
25. Exercise increases your metabolism.
26. It helps your body regulate insulin.
27. Exercise can control your appetite.
28. It increases your levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL) and decreases levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL).
29. Your risk of high cholesterol is lower.
30. Exercise improves your mood.
31. It helps you cope with stress.
32. Exercising regularly relaxes you.
33. Exercise can reduce feelings of depression and anxiety.
34. You can manage your anger better.
35. Exercise takes your mind off other things for a while.
36. Your quality of life improves.
37. Your immune system functions better.
38. You can improve your flexibility.
39. You will have less sick days.
40. Your risk of coronary heart disease is lower.
41. Exercises increases your chance of surviving a second heart attack.
42. Your risk of stroke is lower.
43. Your risk of high blood pressure is lower.
44. Your risk of diabetes is lower.
45. Your risk of colon cancer is lower.
46. Your risk of breast cancer is lower.
47. Your risk of lung cancer is lower.
48. Your risk of gallstones is lower.
49. Your risk of osteoporosis is lower.
50. Your risk of dementia is lower.
51. Your risk of hip fracture as you get older is lower.
52. Your risk of early death is lower.
53. You feel more happy overall.
54. Your loved ones will worry less about your health.
55. You will be a healthy role model for your kids.

So, what are you waiting for? You don’t need to do a triathlon or be a professional athlete to achieve all these benefits.

As a minimum aim to walk at least 30 minutes almost everyday and try to incorporate weight training (2 to 3 times a week with exercises which work all the major muscle groups) and aerobic training (2 to 3 times a week with intensity which gets your heart rate up and breathing a bit harder). Our bodies are designed to move – sitting is bad for you!

Please note that before you begin any fitness program, consult your doctor first, especially if you are over 40 years old, have health related issues or have not exercised for an extended period of time.

Contact us for a FREE initial consultation to discuss how we can help improve your health and fitness.

No More Excuses

Michael Jordan was probably one of the best to have ever played basketball.

In a National Basketball Association (NBA) career between 1985 and 2003, “His Airness” scored over 32,000 points, won six NBA Championships, five NBA Most Valuable Player and ten Scoring Titles (awarded to the player with the highest points per game average in a given season) and appeared in 14 NBA All-Star games.

While he may have a God-given gift, he would not have reached all his achievements unless he put in a lot of hard work.

Are you struggling to reach your health and fitness goals?

Remember…failure gives you strength…pain is your motivation. So are you going to make any more excuses?

Ways to Shrink Your Waist Without Dieting

At Health Jigsaw we don’t promote fad diets, magic pills, supplements or meal replacements. We encourage and educate our clients to change their lifestyle rather than a quick fix. Being healthy is not just about exercising, nutrition plays a big part too.

Here are a few “secrets” on shrinking your waist without dieting.

• Hang Out Your Old Clothes – Hang an old dress or pair of jeans on your bedroom door handle so you’ll see them every day. Find something that’s just a little too snug, so you reach this goal in a relatively short time. Once you can fit into this dress or jeans, then pull out another smaller item for your next small, attainable goal.
• Eat Slowly – This is one of the best habits for slimming down without changing your diet. Slowing down your eating triggers your body’s fullness hormones. Vacuuming your food down in a hurry blocks those signals and can lead to overeating.
• At Least 4 AFD Per Week – AFD stands for Alcohol Free Days. Alcohol has more kilojoules per gram (29) than carbohydrates (17) or protein (17), and are usually associated with chips, nuts, and other foods you don’t normally eat.
• Eat At Home – With home-cooked meals you can control what goes into it. Fast food and most take-away meals can often be high in saturated fat, salt and kilojoules, and low in fibre, vitamins and minerals. See bit.ly/gdZHU2 for more information on healthier ingredient options.
• Eat More Veggies – The fibre in veggies helps fill you up with not a lot of kilojoules. Eat most veggies raw and use balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and herbs instead of smothering them in high-fat dressings or butter.
• Drink Water – If you are hungry, drink a glass of water first. Your body can mistake the feeling of hunger for thirst. The minimum amount of water (litres) intake each day should be = Your Body Weight (kg) × 0.03.
• Eat Whole Grains – Whole grains such as brown rice, barley, oats and buckwheat help fill you up with fewer kilojoules. Also, research has shown that whole grain foods can lead to better health, help lower the risk of being overweight and lower the risk of diet related disease such as diabetes and heart disease.
• Shrink Your Dishes – Most people increase in size simply because they eat too much and you’re more likely to eat everything you can see on your plate. Shrinking your plate or bowl can cut out around 500 kilojoules a day.
• Choose Wisely at Restaurants – Eating out and an increasing waistline usually go hand in hand but you can limit the damage by: splitting the entree with a friend; order an entree size meal as your main and include a side salad; or go for tomato-based sauces (such as marinara) instead of the more fattening cream-based sauces.
• Be Active – The easiest activity you can do is walking and try to do around 10,000 steps each day. Or go to bit.ly/femaam for more suggestions of other activities that you can choose from.