Each week has 168 hours – spend at least one exercising

By Barb Randall

The Lake Oswego Review, Jan 28, 2010 (2 Reader comments)

Whether it is dancing on the beach or kick boxing classes, consistency is important for producing weight loss results. Studies show that people need to exercise 60 minutes every day for the maximum health benefit.

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Today is Day 28 of the 2010. By this date your new habit of eating proper portions of good-for-you-foods should be feeling pretty natural. I bet people are starting to comment about the changes you are making, and your clothes are fitting better. That ought to make you feel pretty good – the effort is paying off.

Now it’s time to torque the intensity of your exercise.

I start most days with a 45-minute walk with my dog Daisy and two friends. It’s a nice start to the day – it’s fun to visit with the girls and it keeps the wag in Daisy’s tail. But I’m used to it; if I want to improve my strength and fitness, I need to amp my exertion. That means I’ve got to get to the gym at night.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro spent six months tracking the progress of young overweight women who exercised either 30 or 60 minutes a day, five days a week. Over the course of the study, the hour-long exercisers reported improvements in their feelings toward their bodies that were four times greater than the improvements experienced by the half-hour group. Those results support the study’s proposal that we need 60 minutes of exercise each day for better overall health.

We’ve got plenty of options of how to spend that hour. Yoga, pilates, and other classes are fun and worth the race from the office to the gym to get there on time.

Most often, I jump on an elliptical machine or a treadmill. Those machines allow me to modify how fast I run or walk and simulate going up or down hills.

I also enjoy the rowing machine. It is ideal for those wanting to build upper body strength or whittle a waistline.

My husband Mark prefers riding a stationery bike. He is on his feet all day, and he likes the diversion of reading while he exercises.

The stair climber is a great workout, and will really ratchet up your fitness.

Regardless of which machine you use, let go. When you hold on to the handrails you take 50 percent off the intensity of your workout. So be “hands free” and get a better workout.

You can walk your way to weight loss, too. Try high-intensity interval training, alternately revving your pace to a speed walk (or do jumping jacks) and then slow down to recover and do it again. Check out “Walk Your Way to Weight Loss” on the Web site www.eatbetteramerica.com for an easy to follow 60-minute plan for maximizing a walking routine.

My friend Matt Del Garbino, owner of Muscles in Motion in downtown Lake Oswego, sent me this pearl of wisdom this week:

“168. This number represents an opportunity to improve your health and wellbeing.

“168 is the total number of hours in a week allotted to each of us. You decide how to spend that time. Sure, many of us work, have kids in school, prepare meals for the family, commute, etc., to use up those 168 precious hours.

“Now let’s look at another number.

“One.

“One hour. This is all the time you need to get on the path to improve your current health and physical ability. In that one-hour make sure the exercise you choose gives you the most benefit. If you are doing only one hour of ‘cardio’ you will not build the essential lean muscle tissue to increase your metabolism, maintain strong bone structure and look and free great! A balanced resistance-training program will give you all the benefits quickly.

“One hour a week is less than one percent of those 168 original hours. With only one percent wouldn’t you want to feel good, look good and have more energy to spend on those remaining 167 hours?

“You deserve to be number one!”

Be careful that you don’t start eating more because you’re exercising more. Keep your portions under control so you don’t eat up what you just worked off.

And remember that consistency is key.

Grab a friend or sweetheart and make a date to add at least one hour of fitness fun this week. Get that date on the calendar and then when you complete it, log it on your food diary.

Now we are focusing on:

n Eating healthful foods

n Eating proper portions

n Eating a variety of foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, lean meats, poultry and low fat dairy

n Increasing the amount and intensity of exercise

The Five:30 recipe focuses on portion size and interesting flavor of the old standby chicken breast. Add a grain pilaf and a green salad and you are set with a satisfying meal.

Eating clear (rather than fat-laden cream based) soup is a great weight loss strategy. Soup will fill you up and leave you feeling satisfied without adding many calories. This vegetable soup is a delicious version. Make it your own by using what vegetables you have on hand.

Bon Appetit! Eat something wonderful!

Slow Cooker Vegetable Minestrone

Makes 12 servings

If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can cook this in a soup kettle on the stovetop and simmer until the vegetables are tender, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

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