An individual recently submitted the following question at the Vital Health Zone:

I am 47 years old, I weigh 75 kg. I take Breakfast-oatmeal Lunch- 3 chappathis, Dinner-2 chappathi or cornflakes. Small meal 1 apple, 1 piece papaya, and some biscuits. I go for 1 hr morning brisk walk, and do half an hour exercises. But i have not reduced. For my age and ht I should be 55kg. What should I do?

Here’s the answer I provided:

Continue reading ‘Weight Loss Plateau – Steps to Break Through’ »

A few steps you can take right now to promote a lower blood pressure include:

1. Quit smoking
2. Lose and/or maintain a healthy weight
3. Decrease salt intake to less than 2400 mg sodium per day
4. Restrict alcohol to less than 1 drink/day for women and 2 drinks or less per day for men
5. Exercise 30 or more minutes daily
6. Following a heart healthy diet, such as the DASH diet to lower blood pressure

Be sure to sign up for the free e-course 7 Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure and http://www.lowerbloodpressurewithlisa.com.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://www.lisanelsonrd.com

Here’s a guest post from Eva Alexander providing answers to some frequently asked questions about the Mediterranean diet.

Most people say the Mediterranean diet is high in fat. Can people still lose or maintain weight on a Mediterranean diet?

The Mediterranean diet is high in fats. But these consist of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These are healthy fats needed by your body. In contrast, the typical American diet is rich in saturated fats. It should be noted also that fat content in your diet does not determine weight loss. It is your calorie consumption that will generally influence weight loss and optimum weight management. Mediterranean diet provides lots of healthy benefits but it is still essential to lower your calorie consumption to achieve better results.

What’s the major difference of American and Mediterranean diets?

Continue reading ‘Mediterranean Diet – Common Questions Answered’ »

Are you ready to fuel your body for optimal health?

Do you live an active lifestyle and want to know exactly what you need to do to support your busy life without compromising your health?

At the Virtual Health Retreat this month, Jack Medina (past Olympic coach) will teach you how to fuel your body for peak performance and optimal health. Tired of working out without seeing the results you want. Well, make sure you are not training the wrong energy system! Jack will explain what you need to know to start training and fueling your body for the results you seek.

Here’s a little of what he’ll be covering . . .

Continue reading ‘Fact vs. Fantasy in Nutrition & Exercise – Your Map for Optimal Health’ »

The poor quality of the typical American diet has lead to rampant nutritional deficiencies related to hypertension, heart disease, atherosclerosis, heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, renal disease, diabetes, and obesity.

High blood pressure is due to a combination of genetics and your environment/lifestyle. Nutrients, including macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals) play a central role when it comes to maintaining a healthy blood pressure as well as minimizing organ damage linked to high blood pressure. Balancing the nutrients in your diet for optimal nutrition dramatically impacts the prevention and treatment of high blood pressure. To effectively treat high blood pressure it is recommended you have a functional intracellular assessments.

What is a Functional Intracellular Assessment?

Continue reading ‘Lower High Blood Pressure with a Combo Approach’ »

Here are more of the questions and answers from my interview with Dr. Mark Houston in February 2010.

Lisa Nelson RD: Is there a connection between blood pressure and heart rate?

Dr. Houston: If blood pressure increases, normally the heart rate should decrease. However, in some patient with dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system the heart rate may increase with the blood pressure.

Lisa Nelson RD: Blood pressure fluctuation – What causes blood pressure to fluctuate drastically throughout the day? Is it something to worry about?

Dr. Houston: Most people have fluctuations during the day due to the normal circadian rhythm (high in AM and low in PM). Stress, anger, eating, exercise, rest, meditation, coffee are some of the things that will alter blood pressure. About 60 % of patients that drink coffee have increase blood pressure for several hours after consumption.

Lisa Nelson RD: What is the risk of not treating high blood pressure? For example, someone has a blood pressure of 160/100, but they feel perfectly fine. Why should they be concerned and seek treatment?

Dr. Houston: Heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, loss of vision, aortic rupture, valve dysfunction, atherosclerosis. Hypertension is the silent killer. At this level the arteries will be damaged over time and all of these complications will occur. At that high level of blood pressure one will decrease life expectancy by about 15 years or more.

Lisa Nelson RD: Do blood pressure recommendations change with age?

Dr. Houston: A normal blood pressure is 120/80 regardless of age. If it goes up with age it means the arteries are not healthy, but very stiff.

Lisa Nelson RD: What is a normal blood pressure response post exercise? How quickly should heart rate return to normal post exercise?

Dr. Houston: Blood pressure will fall for several hours after exercise depending on hydration status and severity and length of exercise. Usually systolic (top number) blood pressure falls about 10-15 mm Hg and diastolic (bottom number) 5-10 mm Hg. Heart rate should return to normal within 2 minutes post exercise.

Part 1 – Top Heart Health Questions Answered By Dr. Houston

I’ll be posting more of the Q&A with Dr. Houston over the next few weeks. Sign-up for the e-course 7 Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure and you’ll also be notified when the new blog posts are added.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://www.lowerbloodpressurewithlisa.com

All right, we’ve covered two critical members of your weight loss team – your doctor and your nutritionist. We’re ready to talk about weight loss team member #3.

Personal Trainer

Healthy eating and physical activity go hand-in-hand if you want to successfully lose weight. But, how much cardio do you need? Should you be lifting weights? How often do you need to workout? How long do you need to workout? A personal trainer can design a fitness routine and make sure you’re doing the exercises correctly.

Meeting with a personal trainer can be pricey, but there are alternatives – phone and/or internet coaching for half the cost (or less). There are many programs online that allow you to enter information and download workout routines based on your information. Many programs also allow you to track your progress. For best results, I encourage you to consult with a trainer in person for one or two appointments. This will allow you to have a fitness assessment and time to discuss your goals with your trainer. The trainer will also go through the recommend workout routine with you to make sure you understand all activities and are using the correct form and technique. After this, you can check-in with your trainer via phone or email to monitor program and answer questions. Some trainers even review video footage of workouts.

Don’t worry that working with a trainer means you have to have a gym membership. Trainers can develop a program for you at a gym or based in your home. You can get in a great workout anywhere – gym, home, park, etc.

Another lower cost option would be group training in which a small number of people work with a trainer at one time.

Just as with a nutritionist, make sure your trainer is qualified and has a current certification from a respected organization, such as the American College of Sports Medicine.

Best Weight Loss Plan:

Weight Loss Team Member #1
Weight Loss Team Member #2
Weight Loss Team Member #4

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Top 5 Key Strategies to Lose Weight Permanently

A Swedish study followed 2,205 men for over 20 years looking at age and exercise. The study found death rates to be highest among men who were sedentary at the start of the study and lowest for the most active men. Interestingly, men who began an exercise program at age 50 had decreased the risk of death after 10 years of being active to the level of those who had always been active.

Let’s see if I can say that another way. . .if you have been sedentary all your life and begin a physical activity program “late”, you can still reap the benefits and decrease your risk of death to the same level as those who’ve always lived a physically active lifestyle. It’s never too late to start!

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Healthy Tips

To achieve health benefits, it is recommended that we include 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity 5 days each week. Well, what exactly is considered moderate intensity?

San Diego State University recently studied the effect of different exercise intensity levels to determine how fast someone needs to walk to be exercising at a moderate intensity level. Researchers monitored cardiac exertion of walking at different rates in 97 healthy adults on a treadmill. It was determined that a moderate intensity level is equal to 3 METs, which is a measurement of the bodies oxygen needs. This converted to 92-102 steps per minute for men and 91-115 steps per minute for women.

By grabbing a pedometer and watch on your next walk, you can check to see if you are hitting the goal of ~100 steps per minute to reap the health benefits. And if not, you’ll know you need to increase your speed!

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Be Heart Healthy and Lose Weight

The Physician’s Heart Study followed over 21,000 between the ages of 40 and 84 for over 20 years. They found a significant link between weight, activity, and heart failure I want to share with you.

Both weight and physical activity were independently linked to risk of heart failure.

Weight

Having a high BMI increased heart failure risk in both active and sedentary men. For every additional 7 pounds on a man 5 foot 10 inches tall, risk for heart failure increased 11%.

Physical Activity

Vigorous physical activity reduced heart failure risk in lean, overweight, and obese men. Men that exercised vigorously only 1-3 times a month reduced their heart failure risk 18%. The more frequent and vigorous the exercise the greater the benefit. Very active men, exercising vigorously 5-7 days per week reduced heart failure risk 36%.

The combined risk of obesity and physical activity is substantial. When compared to lean men who were vigorously active 1-3 each month risk of heart failure increased 19% for men that were lean (BMI less than 25), but inactive, 49% in overweight active men, 78% in overweight inactive men, 168% in obese active men, and 293% in obese inactive men.

Key point I want you to take from this post:

This study shows a little activity has substantial benefits. By being vigorously active just 1-3 days each month you can cut your risk 18%.

Get moving!

February is American Heart Month. In recognition of American Heart Month you can access Heart Health Made Easy at a 25% savings. Learn more about this take action guide to lower cholesterol and blood pressure at http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Be Heart Healthy and Lose Weight