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.
Monday, May 27, 2013
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.
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.
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.
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.
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