Fitness Forever

Physical Activity is important

No matter your health and physical abilities, you can gain a lot by staying active. Physical activity can help you maintain your independence and continue to do everything you want to do. — National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Classroom poll: our kids love pushups!

Coming up

We have long advocated daily activity, and warned of the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle, and will always continue to offer motivation — In the coming weeks we will be launching a series of fitness blog posts to help you get started where you may have stumbled before.

Why Is Physical Activity Important?

Exercise and physical activity are good for just about everyone, including older adults. No matter your health and physical abilities, you can gain a lot by staying active. [S]tudies show that taking it easy is risky. Often, inactivity is more to blame than age when older people lose the ability to do things on their own. Lack of physical activity also can lead to more visits to the doctor, more hospitalizations, and more use of medicines for a variety of illnesses. — NIH

Choose activities you enjoy

Fitness helps with emotional being too; find activities you enjoy, to make fitness fun and not a chore. Choose activities you like and want to do, not what you feel you have to do.

Some exercise ideas to help you lift your mood:

• Walking and Bicycling Endurance activities increase your breathing, get your heart pumping, and boost chemicals in your body that may improve mood.
• Yoga is a mind and body practice combining physical postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation; or Tai Chi moving meditation involves shifting the body slowly, gently, and precisely, while breathing deeply.

Choose activities you enjoy:

As the adage goes, the best fitness routine is the one you do !

How about:

• Dancing
• Gardening
• Tennis
• Kicking a soccer ball with your kids

Sources : Teacher pre-K poll photo; National Institutes of Health citations.

Weight Loss for Men: 3 Cancer Facts for Men and Exercise Health

Men: Get active today

Men: How often do you exercise?

Every day? A few times a week? Almost never?

If you rarely ever get physical, you may want to take a look at the facts from a recent study of 17,000 men over a 20-year period. Read a few key findings connecting cardiovascular health and cancer; your life may depend on it. Staying fit improves survival rates of male cancers:

• Lung and Colorectal cancer rates were reduced by 68% and 38%, respectively, for men who had the highest levels of cardiovascular fitness.
• Risk for Prostate Cancer among men with cardiovascular fitness did not experience a reduced risk of prostate cancer, but they did have a significantly lower risk of death from prostate cancer, lung and colorectal cancer if they were fit in middle age.
• Even one metabolic equivalent increase (increasing the amount of energy used while resting when you increase the intensity of physical activity) reduced the risk of dying from cancer and cardiovascular disease by 14% and 23%, respectively.

Stay fit, live longer

The study supports the idea that staying active can help you not only enjoy a healthier lifestyle, but you can also have a better chance of escaping or surviving cancer. It’s never to late to get started.

Even men who aren’t considered obese but are overweight are at a higher risk of developing cancer. This highlights the importance of working with a specialist who can make sure your health, weight, diet and fitness level are right where they should be.

Medical Weight Loss can help

Need a reliable doctor who can keep you and your health in check? Contact us today at 718-491-5525 to set up your consultation with Dr. Aron, a weight loss expert who will be with you every step of the way.

Sources: InternalMedicineNews, image courtesy of stockimages FreeDigitalPhotos

How much does it cost to be Overweight?

Obesity Medical Expenses Cost Billions Each Year

Obesity not only takes a toll on your health but your wallet as well, as it costs $147 billion each year in direct medical costs and nearly 10 percent of all medical spending in the U.S.

Roughly one in three Americans are considered obese. An obese person could spend as much as $4,870 per year on health care expenses on Medicare, which is about 41 percent more than a normal weight person spends at $3,400.

Prescription drugs are the majority of medical expenses and can cost an obese person upwards of $1,300 a year, which is 80 percent more than the $700 an average weight person spends.

“…the clear link between rising rates of obesity and increasing medical costs is alarming, but not unexpected,” …the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said in a statement. “Obesity is the driver of so many chronic conditions — heart disease, diabetes, cancer — that generate the exorbitant costs that are crushing our health-care system,” she said.

“The only way to show real savings in health expenditures in the future is through efforts to reduce the prevalence of obesity and related health conditions,” study author [and] director, RTI Public Health Economics Program, said.

Improve Your Health Today

Dr Aron can help you save money by helping you improve your health and wellness. Visit WeightLossNYC.com to learn about her medical weight loss program.

Sources: HealthDay News