Posts tagged health fitness
Excess Stomach Fat
Excess stomach fat is fat that is excessively accumulated in the stomach region. Food that we consume, either gets used up as energy or is converted and stored as fat in our stomach area. This happens when we overeat, lack exercise as well as have high stress in our lives.
Our diet plays a major role in excess stomach fat. When we overeat, our bodies cannot consume the carbohydrates to be utilized as fuel. As a result, it converts the excess carbohydrates into fat and accumulates it in the stomach.
Monitoring our food intake and consuming quality foods will help us balance our diet. Also, increasing the frequency of our meals throughout the day and decreasing the portion size will help us to maintain our energy level and stabilize our blood sugar levels.
One key factor in controlling excess stomach fat is exercise. When there is a lack of or the amount of physical activity is not even with our food intake, the excess food is stored as fat in the stomach area. When we increase our exercise patterns, it allows our bodies to increase our metabolism, which allows the body to further burn excess fat from the stomach.
By increasing our exercise activity and decreasing our food intake, we allow our bodies to utilize the fuel from our diet as well as the excess fat that is stored in the stomach area.
Research has shown that people under increased stress, were prone to increased levels of stomach fat. The body has a way of storing the fat as it releases a hormone called Cortisol, which takes the fat and stores it in the stomach area.
When the stressful situation occurs, the body is placed in a survival mode and stores fat in the stomach area, so it can be used as fuel later. The body goes into a protective mode and stores the fat in case it is needed to fuel bodily functions.
By controlling the quality and quantity of the food we eat, as well as increasing our exercise activity, we can really reduce the excess body fat that is stored in the stomach. Managing our stress helps us to keep our bodies balanced and reduce the hormones that promote the storage of fat in the stomach. Controlling these factors are some simple ways of decreasing excess stomach fat.
Effects of Smoking on Your Surgery
Quitting smoking is a task which smokers fear, however they know by quitting they will be healthier. Not only does smoking have an adverse effect on the body it can also cause many serious health problems such as heart disease, cancer and COPD. Both the smoker and their doctors should put tobacco secession at the top of their lists. Not only do doctors fear for their patients' health, they fear what will happen should their patient need surgery.
Surgery is something many patients will face at some point in their lives, whether elective or required. There are certain protocols in place for patients to follow before surgery such as no food twelve hours before surgery and nothing to drink. However, many physicians and anesthesiologists require their patients to quit smoking for at least two weeks before and after surgery.
According to Anesthesiologyinfo.com, smoking does two things to the cardiovascular system which causes many problems for the anesthesiologist and surgeon. By smoking the patient is increasing the carbon monoxide which attaches to the hemoglobin in the blood which will decrease oxygen in the blood. Nicotine will increase the amount of oxygen the body needs putting a stress on the heart and body. The heart will not function properly because of the increased carbon monoxide and blood will not get where it needs to.
Second, the lungs are more likely to collapse because smoke causes the small airways in the lungs to not function properly as well. Smoking makes more mucus which can leak into the lungs, making the lungs unable to clear it. Smokers are more prone to bronchospasms and lung infections which can be fatal. Smoking has been linked to dozens of side effects from heart attacks to poor wound healing in surgery patients, by as many as six times more.
Doctors want their patients to lead a healthier life and have a successful surgery, so generally surgeons and physicians ask their patients to quit for two weeks before and two weeks after surgery. Many surgeons have asked for as many as four weeks before and after to insure their patients are fit for surgery. However, ideally physicians and surgeons want their patients to make smoking secession a top priority.
Over the years, quitting has become easier. This is mainly attributed to more easily available treatments. Some of the most common treatments are found over the counter, such as the nicotine patch and gum. Some patients choose to try homeopathic treatments such as herbal remedies, acupuncture and hypnosis. Prescription drugs such as Zyban and Wellbutrin have gained popularity as well. Often treatments are combined so the patient can be as successful as possible.
The most important thing to do is talk with your physician and discuss your options and find out which plan will suit you best. Since there are many choices and options available to help you quit, there can be no more excuses. Do not wait until you need major surgery before trying to quit, quit before you get there.
Easy Six Pack Abs
Six pack abs are easy as long as we understand certain principles. By understanding those principles six pack abs can be attained easily. Six pack abs can be accomplished by training smart.
Getting six pack abs, we need to reduce our overall body fat composition. Our six-pack abs will become more visible. By watching what we eat, we can energize our system so that our workouts will have the energy it needs to utilize the fat in our stomach as energy.
Here are some simple exercises that will train the overall strength of the whole body as well as develop the core abdominal muscles of our six-pack.
Also, we need to avoid processed foods and sugars, and we should make sure that we don't let ourselves go hungry to avoid our blood sugar from spiking up and down, which will affect how we function as well as affect the quality of our training.
Exercises: Do overall multi-joint exercises such as: squats, chin-ups, lunges, rows, split-squats, step-ups and deadlifts. Do 3 sets of 8 repetitions for each exercise. Stability ball sit-ups and bridging can be incorporated into the program as well, to strengthen and tone the core muscles as well as train the body in a different way (as opposed to traditional weight training).
Training with resistance has been shown to help develop six pack abs, by sculpting and lowering body fat levels. Multi-joint exercises at lower repetitions of 8 increase our lean body mass, which leads to increased fat burning as our metabolism is increased. Exercises specifically for the abs help strengthen and define our abs, especially when they become more visible after.
These exercises should be done three times a week and can be done in any order to train the body in different angles and variations. This will allow the body to strengthen and progress at a greater rate and achieve our six-pack abs faster.
To get six pack abs quickly, we just need to understand and follow the basic physiological principles of diet, resistance training and increasing our metabolism. When we achieve those, we can definitely get our six-pack abs quicker.
