Friday, November 8, 2013

Healthy Heart Lifestyle 3 Basics #162


Today in my mailbox I found a circular on a particular product that states. "keep blood sugar and cholesterol at healthy levels. no meal replacements, increase your will power over food, reduce binge eating, lose weight by burning fat not muscle." There also was the following testimonial from a user of this product.

“I began taking products xxxx and xxxx a few months ago. I love the taste and the way I feel on the products. My energy level is amazing. In three months I lost 15 pounds and 11 inches. Over the holidays I was able to maintain my weight without denying myself. XXXX has amazing products and I am now making extra money just by sharing my story. Thank you xxxx for changing my life!”


Now back to me.
There is absolutely no miracle pill or magic wand that can turn your life around and make you healthy. There is only one way and it is not easy. It begins with your desire and motivation to change your lifestyle and become a cardiovascular healthy individual. There are 3 simple basic elements. Eat healthy foods. Lose excess weight and maintain a healthy weight. And finally, regular and effective exercise. The formula to put all of this together and make it work. Your motivation and desire.

There are hundreds of diets and diet books out there that will help you lose weight. Most of those are short term solutions. You have to be a strong individual to stay on a strict weight loss diet for an extended time.

Do not be fooled by magic drinks, fruit or vegetable solutions or any other expensive plan to solve or improve your recovery as a heart patient. If you will read the above beginning statement and testimonial it does not really commit to solve those health problems, it only implies it is healthy for you. Now before going any further there are some well known health drinks consisting of natures pure ingredients which are good for you and healthy. But even they alone are not going to make you healthy. There is no getting around the 3 basics.

I know last time I said we would go over some exercises good for heart patients. this subject came up and I felt it should be addressed. Next post we will get back to exercises.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Best Exercises And Equipment for Heart Attack Patients #161

What is the best exercise equipment for those who are recovering from having a heart attack and want exercise to be a part of their recovery? I am not an expert on the various types and brands as a commissioned salesperson might be. However I do consider myself to be as informed and a proven hands on expert due to my experiences. I have over 3 years experience as a heart patient who entered into an intense 5-6 day a week exercise program to improve my health. And I have been successful in improving my cardiovascular strength and stamina. A recent test showed my heart ejection fraction rate to be 60. (55-70) being normal.

Keeping in mind only you know your abilities and limitations I am going to give you some valuable advice based entirely on my trial and error continuing experiences. First you do not attempt any exercise until you discuss and are confident your cardiologist has guided your recovery to a point of where you are ready for more physical exercise and activity. Your cardiologist will quickly tell you what your limits in heart rate, endurance, and efforts are. You should keep your efforts well within those limits as a beginner. Based on this information I contacted a trainer at a local fitness center who had experience in working with people as you and I being recovering heart attack patients. Starting with baby steps and working forward from there I began with very short walks in my neighborhood and worked toward spending 30 minutes per day on a treadmill at a fitness center....not running but at a nice medium walking rate for me...From my first day walking my neighborhood to walking a treadmill for 30 minutes it was a 4-5 month transition for me. This was during my first 6 months home from heart surgery. (Go to and read April 2011 posting #6 - #15 for complete info)

Begin with a treadmill for sure. An elliptical may be for you but not me. It was awkward to use and too stamina draining for me. The same for a StairMaster. You know the machine that imitates you climbing stairs...stay away from that one until you are in excellent shape and your cardiologist says you can use it. Actually as a heart patient I do not consider that machine or an elliptical important to having a good cardio exercise program. To answer a direct question from a reader....Begin with a treadmill and some simple floor exercises. Nothing else is needed until you have regained your normal strength and stamina. Beginning floor exercises and weight lifting will be in our next posting.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Healthy Foods For Heart Attack Patients #160

Many are asking the question. Which foods can heart attack patients eat? This includes those who are recovering from heart bypass surgery. If your heart attack was attributed to have been caused by blockage of the arteries, the foods you were eating had a lot to do with your heart disease. It could have also been a result of continued stress, lack of exercise, being over weight, smoking, or all of these. If any one, or all of these you feel contributed to your heart disease your lifestyle was at fault. That was my case. At some point during my life I suffered from all of these poor health choices. That was my lifestyle until 3 years ago when I had a heart attack and bypass surgery. I was addicted to food, and unfortuneatly was mostly eating unhealthy foods. I was over weight, did not get enough rest, got abolutely no regular exercise. Stress was something I accepted as part of my business responsibilities. So now you know I have been there and done that when I discuss with you foods that are best for people like us. I will begin with foods you DO NOT EAT. Ask yourself what good is it to look for healthy food choices to blend in with a continuing diet of bad food choices. Before you read any further you need to be prepared to consider changing your lifestyle if that is what you need to become healthy. If your intent is to not become a recurring heart attack patient or even worse, a heart attack victim statistic. You and I were lucky once, maybe not so the next time. Unhealthy foods have become a mainstay of the American diet. Many of you readers are in other countries around the world. Most of you are like us in food habits. Very few are exempt from the burger, fries, tacos, ice cream, and packaged ready to eat prepared foods. Local type fast food outlets are everywhere feeding us fried foods that are high in bad (LDL) cholesterol. No one enjoyed a burger with fries, and soft drink as much as I. That was almost 4 years ago and I have not eaten that sort of food since......Go back and read the very first (#1) posting of this blog. It will be worth your effort. Most dairy products, butter, sweet milk, sour cream, ice cream are not healthy choices for your heart's arteries. Most soft drinks, diet,or not, snack foods, potato chips, corn chips, tortilla chips, crunchy tasty fried puffed up corn pones are no longer allowed for a healthy heart. French fries, onion rings, curly cue fries, donuts, cakes, pies, sweet and delicious honey buns for breakfast. Loaded bake potatoes, prime rib, New York strip steak, Ribeye steak, all of these are causes of high LDL cholesterol. And there is much more. Hot dogs, wieners, sausages. Just about any type of prepared packaged meat, pastry, chips, cookies, breakfast cakes, and on and on are not good for our health. Now many who started reading this paragraph, have closed this tab and moved on. You and I have to ask ourselves a question. What foods are good for us and will improve our heart health? There is a basic answer to that and it begins with what foods were meant for your body to consume and process. This is not a gotcha lead in here. There are no products, health plans, books, gimmicks, or profits to be made from the articles I write. There is only one motive and that is to share with those of you who want to become healthy heart patients...... My basic food choices were not easy, but when I came home from the hospital I knew what I had to and would do. I begin to eat fruits, vegetables, soups, salads, oatmeal, some adult cereals, gave up all beverages other than coffee, skim milk, almond milk, and water. I continue to drink too much coffee, but I reserve the right to have some weakness. I built a core of foods and a method to insure I did not go hunger. I had another challenge which you may not have. I knew I would have to lose weight in order to live a healthier lifestyle. My methods were to eat healthy foods only. Too learn as much as I could about healthy foods rather than diets. To me diets were meaningless if I were to live a healthy lifestyle. Diets were and are a temporary patch. They are not a permanent fix to having a healthy heart. From the foods I listed earlier I took fruits, which were suitable to me and available. Strawberries, apples, oranges, bananas were the core of those. I ate them as snacks to replace many of the sweets and snacks I use to eat between meals. My breakfast was orange juice, coffee, and a large serving of oatmeal. If I became hungry mid morning I would eat some fruits before lunch. My noon meal would be a small salad, maybe some canned tuna and a serving of fruit for dessert. Afternoon I again would have some fruit and maybe a glass of skim milk for a snack. Dinner would be a nice size salad with soup. I used variety and my imagination in keeping my core foods appetizing to me for 7 months in which my weight went from 235 pounds to 175. I am going to continue this subject in my next posting. I can tell from the inquiries, comments, and posts many of you are heart attack survivors and heart patients. I believe it is very important to your understanding the process I went through in order to change my life to a healthy lifestyle for you to spend some time and begin to read some of the earliest postings of this blog. You will find there are 3 major factors in becoming again healthy. The foods you eat, regular, meaningful exercise, and controlling your weight. More to follow.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

LOW BLOOD PRESSUE PROBLEMS #159

I have not recently written anything because of having other health priorities. My wife and I each are enjoying life as fully as we can and are happy with each day. We continue to live a healthy lifestyle and enjoy it that way. Whatever health issues she or I have we accept with the attitude of we can deal with it. I have written some post regarding low blood pressure, two of which are the most viewed of all 150-plus varied postings. Giving as much effort as I do to eating healthy and devoting daily time to a vigorous exercise routine I am very disappointed in my health the last couple of weeks. I just had another nuclear treadmill testing, and will be wearing a heart monitor for a month or so. Last week while away from home I had an episode of low blood pressure which resulted in me passing out and being taken to a hospital emergency care center for treatment. My cardiologist is not sure of the cause as my blood pressure is normally 105/72 which is very good. They think that my heart rate may at times become extremely low and result in these low blood pressure episodes. I will let you know how this goes.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

MD Anderson and Eating Healthy #157

We remain to be dedicated to our top priority of  getting my wife back to good health.   She continues her treatment for cancer and this week we are at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas.  MDA is a world renown  treatment, research and hospital  for cancer patients only.  It is a huge medical complex and we have met people from around the world here to receive treatment for themselves, family, or friends.  Just today I met people from Saudi Arabia, Japan, Mexico, and France while waiting for my wife's PET scan to be completed. 

We are staying at the Rotary House International Hotel which is part of  MD Anderson and operated by the Marriott chain for MDA patients only.  It has a very nice fitness center and several restaurants and cafes serving various types of foods, which gives you an opportunity to eat healthy, vegetarian, or whatever you prefer.  I have been able to spend time daily in the fitness center to maintain my workout routine.  

I will be updating on heart health topics very soon..   If any of you from outside the U.S. have heard of the MD Anderson Cancer Center I would like to hear any comments you may have.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Healthy Foods Pineapple #156

One of the major decisions I made when changing my diet a few years ago to one more suitable to a healthy lifestyle was to eat much more fruits.  Prior to that, without repeating some of my early postings, my diet was one completely opposite of being healthy and  was of foods which eventually lead me to having serious heart disease.   Until changing my diet I would only eat  small amounts of fruit occasionally.  Now 3-1/2 years later I have evolved my diet to where bananas, oranges, clementines, strawberries, apples, are part of my daily diet. Normally I will have various other fruits during the week. Not only are most fruits very healthy for you, they also are a great snack and satisfy your appetite.   Fruits are known to provide high amounts of nutrients containing many various antioxidants that attack free radicals which can cause heart disease or damage certain cells that are known to lead to different types of cancerous tumors.  Fruits are one of the natural foods that were meant to be consumed in order to provide our bodies the needed amounts of important nutrients.  Only much later did we evolve our diets to the introduction of incredible amounts of dangerous chemicals and high levels of salt and man-made sweeteners. Unfortunately most people now consume snack and fast foods, soft drinks and various other unhealthy processed foods as being a primary source of their diets.  Red meats contain dangerous amounts of chemicals that are much the same as lawn fertilizer. Snack foods with chemically produced preservatives and flavor enhancers, high in sugar and salt content.   Fried and fatty fast foods the can lead to high levels of cholesterol, heart disease, diabestes and obestity.  Sugars and salts can be at such high levels from snack and fast foods that our bodies can not process and absorb them naturally leading to damaging our health. Again if you will begin reading much earlier postings you will find many on this subject.

Pineapple contains vitamin C, manganese, vitamin B6, copper, vitamin B1, folate, and is low in calories.  We buy  fresh pineapple from a market that has trimmed and removed the scaly skin, and leafy crown.  Refrigerated and freshly cut it is absolutely delicious.  Make no mistake this is not canned pineapple that has had sugars and other enhancers added.   This time of year, June, fresh pineapple is available in our area.  I suggest you try pineapple, it is pleasant and a healthy addition to your diet.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Heart Patient Physical Activities #155

When thinking about remaining healthy as you get older, not becoming overweight, and being physically fit, the approach would be almost the same as the process of recovering successfully from heart problems.   I will repeat what I have recently told you several times.  I consider myself to have been completely recovered months ago and in  good health.   There are so many who come to this site to learn from our experiences how they can return to normal health after heart attacks or heart surgery.   I am not suggesting you don't need to be under the strict care of a cardiologist, but going forward day to day you need to know what others like you went through and what worked for them.
Exercise was and still is a tremendous part of my continuing health goals. Exercise goes hand in hand with a healthy diet.  One without the other will not work as well as you need.   Compound that with the reality of  when you enter your senior years and having the same eating habits and diet as in your younger years will quickly have unwanted effects. Some of those are easily adding weight, increases in unhealthy cholesterol and unhealthy blood pressure levels.  Add that to the fact that your heart must work harder to handle the increased weight and plaque build up in your arteries from the years of high cholesterol  foods and you quickly begin to experience health issues.  Which is exactly what you do not want to occur as you get older.  We want to be active and enjoy the same physical activities we have enjoyed for many years.   As baby boomers we no longer consider 70 years of age as being the time to sit back in the rocking chair and whistle our lives away.  

In our next posting I am going to give you the complete exercises I currently do.....For you new reader go back in the achieves and read up on some of the earlier posting about healthy foods and exercise.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Living a Healthy Lifestyle #154

This blog began over 3 years ago at the urging of my wife and daughter to share my experiences of recovery from a heart attack and heart surgery.   The basics of my success in returning to an active and healthy life were exercise, eating healthy foods, and achieving a healthy weight. 

In the beginning I was the absolute less likely person to exercise, become physically fit, or to join a fitness center.   So do not think it is something that you can not do.  I was in pretty poor physical condition with no stamina in the 6 months following heart surgery.  After getting approval from my cardiologist to the level of exercise I could begin with I started walking a treadmill and using an elliptical exercise machine on a daily basis.  From there I used a trainer at my fitness club who worked with heart patients as myself in developing a suitable to my limitations basic exercise program.  Let me say this was a one hour session.  That was it.  You will not need to spend a lot of money to be under the tutelage of an expensive hourly paid professionally trainer.   You will just need the basics and once you are familiar with that, simply watching and observing the techniques others use on exercise equipment will pretty well guide you to where you can safely and confidently do the same.

 I have been on an exercise and eating healthy foods self made program for the last 3 1/2 years.  I did not used any quick weight loss diet plans, mail order meals, or group oriented weight loss programs. Think about it, what do any weight loss programs, or fad diets know about what you need to do to lose weight that you don't already know?  In my opinion you mostly need to have the mindset and determination of regaining your heart health and living a healthy lifestyle.   I will make you one guarantee.   You will not achieve those results if you are seeking a short term easy solution to being in better health than most people your age.  You will need to put  your old unhealthy habits behind you if you want a complete recovery and not to be one of those repeat heart attack statistics.  You are in an elite survivors club now.  So why would you not not change your lifestyle and risk not being so lucky the next time?   You can have successful results  if you  dedicate yourself to changing your lifestyle and practice daily eating healthy foods, having regular exercise, and achieving a healthy weight.

Next time specifics on exercise. 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Healthy Foods Clementines & Oranges #153

To maintain good cardiovascular health I continue to eat a healthy diet and exercise vigorously (for my age) daily.  I believe these two healthy lifestyle benefits contribute to lessen the likelihood of development of heart disease and many forms of cancer.

I am certain, but not positive, that many of our readers are recovering patients of poor cardiovascular health.   Many  more have recovered and are into the later stages which include developing personal methods to maintain and improve your heart and overall health.  This leads us to focus on the foods we eat, and the activity levels of our lifestyles.   Living in the U.S. I can only pass along to you the foods I eat because of the daily availability.  I say this because we have as many readers outside this country as those from the U.S.

Clementines are a form of citrus fruits easily available in my area.  For those of you wondering clementines are the result of the crossing of navel oranges and mandarin oranges. I eat them on a daily basis, sometimes one,  many more twice daily.   Usually soon after exercising.   I eat a variety known as "Cuties"  which are grown in California from fall through April or May.  I live in the southeast U.S. and have no problem finding these or other varieties of clementine year round.  Why do I choose clementines over oranges, which I also eat?   I find all varieties of clementines to be consistent in taste and quality which I do not find in oranges.  And this may be only because of living where I do.    Clementines and oranges contain almost the exact same antioxidants and other healthy nutrients. Packed with high amounts of vitamin C clementines also contain large amounts of antioxidants which do reduce the chances of some cancers by destroying dangerous free radicals and contribute to your heart health. 

Friday, May 3, 2013

Healthy Foods and Exercise #152

Are there any of you regular readers left out there or have all of you given up on me writing anymore?

My health continues or has continued to be very good. I will tell you more but first an update on Cindy.   She continues to receive regular chemotherapy treatment.  This being  since August of last year 2012.   She is stronger than I ever imagined anyone could be in enduring the misery of chemo along with living daily with the anguish of knowing you have a tremendous fight against a fearsome disease.   We continue to live our lives close to what was normal for us thanks to her courage.  No  feeling sorry for her,  she is up to the challenge and is not a quitter.

I personally have long been past being a rehabbing heart patient and progressed to being as physically active and healthier as any time in the last 30 years.  I have done that through following a healthy diet and getting plenty of meaningful exercise.  I am going to spend more time talking about healthy foods and not so healthy foods, exercise and the cardio benefits.  I will be spending less time on specific heart recovery information.  We have covered so much on being a heart patient that by simply going back through this blog you can find a tremendous amount of information on that subject.

One of the themes I will  follow on a healthy diet is eating more natural foods, meaning foods with less chemicals, chemical additives, and foods that were just not meant for our bodies to consume and process, especially in unusual and frequent larger quantities.   So we will begin those two subjects beginning in our next post.   Also as we start in a somewhat new direction I would like some feedback through our comment section.

See you next time.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

# 151

Actually yes spam is a problem on this site, and has become so great I have lost my ambition to continue to write because I can not determine the difference between an actual reader, or a robot sending out junk.....It does not effect you the reader so let that be no concern.  I need some motivation and having some comments from true readers to this post may motivate me to continue.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Healthy Physical And Mental Aging #150

Are centenarians glad to live to be 100-plus years? I have never ask one, don't know anyone 100 years old.  I do know some people within 5 or 6 years of making the 100 years of age club. I can tell you they are extremely active, not to say they do not have aches and pains that may limit those activities occasionally. They enjoy everything from golfing, to dancing, to playing with great grand children.  The thing I find interesting is they did not achieve this age by living a life of being in bad physical health, out of shape, not much activity, no exercise, poor diet, and basically doing no more than hoping they live to be a 100 years old.  Oh I am sure a few made it that way but we all know that even if you do, who wants to be 100 years old and can't get out of bed or have to eat baby food?   You know Woody Allen is quoted as answering a question asked  of how he would like to be remembered?  "Still alive, living in my Manhatten apartment, and able to walk through Central Park."

I think most of us fall into that club with Woody, having a positive attitude about life and making it fulfilling.   I still exercise each day,(almost) having to take a day off every 10 days or so.   Actually I probably should exercise every other day, giving my body time to rest while still gaining the benefits of exercise.  I am too compulsive, and enjoy working out too much.

According to Linda Van Eldik of the University of Kentucky Center on Aging, Americans  are living longer.  The average life expectancy has gone from 49 in 1900 to currently being 78.   Of those living to be 100-plus medical advances and treatments have obviously been a major contributor.  According to her studies some common traits are having good health habits, exercising and having a balanced diet.  Having a positive attitude and being a happy person.  Being able to deal with what life brings your way. Not by being trivial with life's ups and downs but dealing with it in a determined manner, and maintaining a positive personality.

My major concern of living into my 80 or 90's is to be mentally active.  Dementia is a concern for most folks going into their 60's and beyond as it should be.  Here are some of her recommendations for your mental health as you age.  She again says exercise and diet are important, however she further says you should be intellectually engaged.  Trying out new things to make you think.  Reading a new author, playing cards, mastering new technology, your iPad or Smart phone.  Get out, have lunch with friends, visit family, doing volunteer work, meet and make new friends, be sociable.  

I am so glad I read her article, it has given me new goals in maintaining my health and enjoying myself and life.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

More Unhealthy Food Additives #149

We will look at why some foods are not healthy for you .

During the American Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Holiday season there is one food which is a common tradition  in many households.  And that is a holiday ham.  Normally a cured, fully pre-cooked, honey or some other form of a sweet glazed ham is usually served.  There are many retail brands that supply these holiday hams.  I have selected one of the most common brands available throughout the country.  The glaze and curing method is also one of the most common to other popular brands.

The package term "Honey Glazed" would lead you to expect that honey is applied to the ham during the curing or cooking period to enhance the taste and appearance. 

The following is listed on the product as the glaze used;
Maltodextrin which is a common food additive. It is a easily digestible carbohydrate made from rice, corn, or potato starch.   Food-Starch Modified.  Is used as a thickening agent or processed food stabilizer.  It is manufactured by chemically treating food starch.  Dextrose which is a simple form of glucose.   Honey Powder which is a stabilizer processed from drying honey.  Refiners Syrup, a thick syrup which is a by-product of refining cane sugar.  It contains no vitamins or nutrients from the sugar cane and is used for its sweet taste.   These are the ingredients used to produce a so called honey glaze.

Curing additives used are quite different and as follows.   Sodium Lactate is the sodium salt of lactate which are produced through the fermentation of sugar.  Sodium Phosphates is a sodium salt of phosphoric acid.  It is used in food processing as a means of attracting and absorbing water from the product.   Sodium Diacetate is used as a preservative.   It is also used in the agriculture industry to control mold and bacteria in stored grains.   It is also referred to as a pesticide.   Sodium Erythorbate is also used as a food preservative and has zero nutritional value.  When researching you will find it has a list of side effects that include headaches, fatigue, and dizziness.   And the last ingredient is Sodium Nitrite which is commonly used in preserving and curing processed meats.  It has also been implicated in some research as possibly causing cancer.

You could say well there are a lot of if and buts here and be right if you are trying to prove a case of the ham being healthy to eat based on these facts only.   However if you consider does ham, being a red meat, increase my cholesterol your answer is yes.  Are each of these chemicals dangerous to me?  Well based on conclusive research and accepting these chemical additive products as being widely used you could conclude it is not harmful.   And I think that is not accurate.   You have to consider these additives are all commonly used in food processing.  No we may eat this ham only once a year but these additives you are probably eating daily in most meats you eat and so many of the other processed snack foods you consume.   That is where you can begin to build a case of hey, this is not good food for my body to be processing.  There is only so much salt, sugar and other chemicals your body can safely process daily.  The over abundance will lead to other health issues.  See postings  #74 1/27/12.....#130 8/30/12.....#85 3/7/12.....

The result of all of this is to encourage you to think about the foods you eat and decide what is unhealthy for your cardiovascular health.    Believe me when researching for this article I found information that lead to research concerning causes of cancer, diabetes. and other health issues.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Why Some Foods Are Not Healthy. #148

We are learning more about healthy foods as we go along.  Most readers know we have continually moved through foods we can eat that will fit our individual needs, and preferences as we go forward in becoming healthy.  It is sort of something that evolves as you go along.   Hopefully for you as for us when you pick up more healthy food habits more of what you use to eat will no longer be part of your diet.

Another difficult to determine is what foods are unhealthy for me to eat and why? From this point on what I tell you is me speaking for myself.  I am not telling you or asking you to change any foods because I say you should not eat it.   Some of my most favorite foods I dropped from my diet because I did enough personal research to decide it was not good for my health.  What I did not expect was as I researched and studied more about some foods I found so many that were not only not good for my cardiovascular health, but many medical studies indicated certain additives used could cause cancer or other health issues simply by overloading your metabolism with too much of a natural substance.  This is an important issue as you will read in my next post where we will read exact details of why some specific foods are not good for you.

I do have my own specific beliefs and opinions about why certain foods and food groups are not healthy to eat.  They are based of normal intelligence, reading and studying foods, and finally life long experiences.  I truly believe there are food groups that we, mankind, was not intended to consume and our bodies process.  I say this to you not in a spiritual sense but in the sense of how our intricate physical metabolisms are meant to process and provide life supporting benefits to our bodies.  Think about that....do you think your metabolism and bodies healthy function was meant to consume large amounts of man made sugars, man made fats and in general have amounts of chemicals processed into the foods we eat?
Next post specific;  unhealthy food facts.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Determining Healthy Foods For You #147

Maple syrup is one of natures healthy sweeteners.  It is an amber liquid with a sweet taste made from the sap of the maple tree.  It is higher in mineral content and lower in calories than honey.  You will benefit from the manganese in maple syrup  increasing your antioxidant defenses.   How healthy is maple syrup to you can be based on  how you perceive it's benefits.  It would be difficult for me to list very many antioxidants, minerals, or vitamins you would get from eating maple syrup.   Lets look at it this way.  Remember about determining what are healthy foods?   Another way to eat healthier is to eliminate the unhealthy foods.   That is where maple syrup is beneficial.   It is a natural sweetener with natural levels.   You can stop eating pastries, donuts, sugar coated cereal, or snack cakes for breakfast.  Put pure maple syrup on your oatmeal or pancakes rather than man made processed food corn syrup sweeteners.  Add honey or maple syrup to a snack of sunflower seeds, almonds, and walnuts rather than eating candy bars.  Yes it is a long process to changing to a more healthy foods lifestyle.  Much like exercise it is one step at a time.  Applying what works best for you.  Eliminating the not good for you foods first, then finding healthy foods to replace those.

That is a process a lot of us have gone through.  Finding healthy food replacements for foods we have given up.  It is not easy and it is not a fast process.  You will have to spend time educating yourself on foods.   It is a lot easier to find new healthy food choices than it is to give up your past food habits.  Once you do, you will gradually  lose weight simply because you are eliminating fat producing foods.  Your health over a long period will benefit as you eliminate foods that contain a multitude of unhealthy ingredients.  Vegetable and fruits are the healthy food choices that most of us did not include in our daily diet.   Sure we would sometimes occasionally eat an apple or maybe a banana, but fruit was not a basic part of our daily diet.  I do not know of anything in an edible fruit that is intended as a food our metabolism is not designed to process or is not considered good our health.   What did I just say you may ask?  I said eat a lot of fruit.   It is healthy for you, is filling, satisfying and readily available to be part of your normal daily diet.

The other natural choices are vegetables.   I will quickly admit to you that is an area I need to work a lot harder in doing more for my health.  I do not eat a lot of vegetables, especially cooked vegetables on a regular basis.   Salads are my main source of the nutrients and mineral benefits I get from vegetables.

Monday, January 14, 2013

How Do I Determine Healthy Foods? #146

Eating healthy foods is the third basic heart health principle we will talk about.  To lose weight going on a weight loss diet almost always is not a solution to becoming healthy.   It is only a temporary weight loss process that does not let you reach your goal of permanent weight control and leading a healthy lifestyle.

You should consider what foods you are eating and how they affect your health rather than looking at food only in the realm of calories.  What does all of this mean?  It means you will have to do your own basic homework.   Only you know what unhealthy foods you eat and the heart healthy foods you don't eat.  You will have to consider what foods you eat do to your cholesterol.   Are they bad for cholesterol and create weight gain?  Do they prohibit weight loss?   We will help you in answering some of these questions, but just as exercise you will have to dedicate yourself to truly becoming heart healthy.   It is not easy but your goal is going to be to lose weight by converting to eating only healthy foods.   Not eating lesser amounts of, or only visiting the fried chicken palace once a week rather than 3 times.  Those foods will be in the past for you.

Those who follow this blog know the one common place where we end up when determining how healthy certain foods are.   And that result is to eat foods that nature intended for us to consume.  Not in a spiritual sense but how our bodies metabolism are meant to process the foods we eat.   Most times it is not the chemical make up of the food we consume, it is the amount.   An example is fructose.  In normal quantities it is needed and processed by our bodies, but an overload leads to health complications because our body's system is not designed to handle that.

What is fructose?  It is a simple sugar which your body can use as energy.  You would normally get fructose in healthful levels from consuming fruits and vegetables.  Typically a normal level of fructose would help your body properly process glucose.  Too much fructose can not be processed by your liver and rather than being converted to sugar as energy, it becomes fat and is stored in your blood stream.  Sounds innocent  enough doesn't it?   Slightly more than 100 years ago it was unheard of to consume too much fructose unless you were daily consuming incredible large amounts of fruits.  In today's modern world over 10 percent of many peoples diet comes from fructose.   Most packaged processed foods contains some form of fructose.  Most soft drinks contain fructose.  If you eat a lot of snack foods, fast foods, and soft drink beverages then you are taking in many more times than your bodies metabolism can handle.

High intake of fructose converted to fat in the bloodstream can lead to weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease. This is a complicated subject.  There is no simple answer as to eating healthy foods only.  Too much of our modern diet is not based on health.  But rather fast food and snack foods with manufactured additives that promote consumer purchasing through taste, pleasant product appearance, and long shelf life.  Many times this takes priority over providing the most healthful food product possible.  Good healthy snack foods have become more popular in recent years.

Consider natures sweeteners.  Honey, Molasses, Maple Syrup.

More next time.

Monday, January 7, 2013

How to Become Heart Healthy #145


You have now begun the New Year and hopefully are considering how you can  become healthier.   And I am speaking especially to those who are wanting to be heart healthy.  We always know there are 3 basic principles that apply to our heart health.  Exercise, weight control, and eating healthy foods.   Other than having long lasting heart damage or defects, if we can achieve all 3 of these goals over a period of time, and with proper medical treatment,  our cardiovascular health should greatly improve to being what is considered healthy and normal.  

How do we accomplish that through exercise?  As a beginner, and as a recovering heart patient you will reach a point where exercise is realistic and not damaging to your recovery. Set a goal for yourself, a realistic goal that is attainable and can lead to other goals.  Perhaps walking a minimum distance for starters, and then slowly implementing gradual increases.   I have told so many times the old story of how my first goal was to walk down the driveway, pick up the morning newspaper, and walk back without having to stop and rest.  This was 3 or 4  weeks after heart surgery.   My next goal was to walk down the road to a point 150 yards away stop rest and come back.   And so forth and on until a few weeks later I was easily walking (not a torrid pace) one mile.  And so on and so on you keep growing your strength.  Remember you're in this for the duration.  It took me 6 months before I could consider doing exercise other than walking. You are going to get stronger, and can change to a healthier lifestyle.  Regardless of when you start exercising or in what form, set short attainable goals, and the most important of all pick a time and place that you can exercise as a regular routine.  Establish a specific day and time for exercise and be loyal to that routine.  The secret to getting successful results in exercise is not how fast you can run, or how much weight you can lift.   It is being dedicated to a regular, consistent, exercise routine.   Listen,  most of us are past the point in age and life when building muscles and becoming an endurance runner is our goal.  We want to be as healthy and physically fit as we can and keeping our goals focused on those 3 basic heart healthy principles.   There are people at my fitness center who are extremely physically fit in muscle, body tone, and an atheletic body. Both men and women.  And 90 percent of them are not youngster under 35 years of age.  It is about equal in numbers of men and women.  I exercise along side those people and they are not the ones who lift the most weight, and flex the largest muscles.   You want to know what sets them apart from others?  A regular exercise routine, consistency, and being health oriented.   I can tell you by individual what days and about what time you will find each one of them working out where I do.

Urban healthy food myth......  Fat and sugar free is always better?   Not necessarily so. Why?  Because in most "diet, sugar free, and fat free"  products there are almost always substituted, manufactured, and derived from chemical, products added back in.  Most so called healthy vegetables oils are produced from processes that include, solvents, soap, bleach, and hexane.  Hexane is a solvent made from crude oil.   Fat free pretzels are made from refined flour of which the grain has been stripped of natural nutrients and synthetic vitamins and minerals added back in.  These type fat free product result in empty carbohydrates, which spike blood sugar glucose, which create food cravings for more to satisfy the appetite. The same can be said for fat free yogurt.  Manufactured emulsifiers and thickening agents are added to replace the removed fat to enhance the yogurt product consistency.

Later on we will get more into this aspect of eating healthy foods. Which is educating yourself as to what is and is not healthy for you to eat.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Why I Feel Better #144

The last time I wrote about my heart health I think I told you some friends and family had mentioned that I looked better.   Now what does that really mean? 

I changed cardiologist as most of you know because after over 2 years of goal oriented exercise, eating healthy, and having an active lifestyle I just did not feel good, or healthy.   My heart rate was normal but sometimes became erratic going dramatically low, to the point of leading to one occurrence of being hospitalized.  My cholesterol was very healthy in the 100-105 range consistently. My blood pressure was 70% in the healthy athletic range for a guy my age, being normally 105/70.  But sometimes it would nose dive down into the 90/50 range and stay there a while.   And there lay the problem.   My cardiologist did not seem as concerned as I and just never truly addressed the problem of as my overall physical health grew, (as the result of weight reduction, exercise, and healthy diet) my multitude of medications remained the same, and or some dosages actually increased.  

Sometime early in recovery from heart surgery my two valued advocate medical advisers had suggested this cardiologist, (I never liked him) and swayed me to change to him.   Never do that, as I did is my advise to you.  Well finally they agreed with me as they watched me continue to grow in outwardly physical health and saw no changes in my stamina, endurance, and my being too easily tired.   Finally Michelle recommended a cardiologist from the clinic I previously had much  confidence in and the change was made.

After just two closely sort of back to back check ups with the new guy, he begin to change medications and dosage.   I also must note not once did he ask about why I had left the other cardiologist for him.  Which made me feel more confident about him because we certainly did not want to influence his initial recommendations by telling him what we thought the previous cardiologist was not doing.

Within two weeks I felt much better, did not get tired or exhausted as easily as before and just overall all felt healthy.  Sort of peppy you know.

So in conclusion I think the reason friends and family, who did not know anything about my cardiologist changes,  recognized an outward more "healthy appearance" is because that is exactly what transitioned after my making that change in cardiologist.

Next time some healthy food info.