In order to increase your chances of success in reducing your risk for developing coronary heart disease, follow these tips:
1. Consult your physician.
2. Monitor your eating and activity behaviors.
3. Familiarize yourself with foods that contain small or large amounts of cholesterol, fats and sodium.
4. Follow the suggested food-group units for a diet of 1600 or 2000 calories, or calculate your own individual energy needs. The less active you are, the fewer calories you can afford to eat without gaining weight.
5. Study the sample menus that follow to assist you in designing your own diet. What is important is that you generally eat as suggested, paying more attention to the types of food you eat and the way the foods are prepared than to exact amounts. Of course, this does not mean you should eat more than suggested if you are trying to lose weight or if you find you are gaining undesired weight. Use your common sense in these matters.
Showing posts with label Diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diet. Show all posts
Monday, June 23, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Weight Loss in Athletics, Making Weight, Semistarvation
Making Weight
Making weight" by wrestlers, boxers, weight lifters and jockeys is accomplished by profuse sweating and by abstaining from food and liquids for a few hours before weighing in. Weight loss up to 10 pounds (representing 5 per cent of the body weight) was accomplished without any measurable deleterious effects in six wrestlers. 2 Weight loss was induced by a procedure considered orthodox by wrestling coaches. Food and water were withheld. The wrestlers, wearing heavy sweat suits, worked on the mats and alternated this with sitting in a heated cabinet. This abnormal loss of weight is regained in part after weighing in by eating and drinking. More than 5 pounds may be regained in a few hours.
Weight Loss in Athletics
Losses of weight exceeding 10 pounds in one and one-half hours have been reported during football games at the beginning of training. During especially exciting games a substitute who has been "sweating out" the entire game on the bench has been observed to lose 5 pounds. This weight is entirely and rapidly regained after eating and drinking.
Semistarvation
A diet which is inadequate to support the needs of the body will soon result in a deterioration in fitness for exercise. When the daily caloric intake is reduced, the day to day output of voluntary work is reduced proportionately. A substandard diet causes a reduction in the performance of the physiological systems, especially the oxygen delivery and metabolic waste removal mechanisms.
Making weight" by wrestlers, boxers, weight lifters and jockeys is accomplished by profuse sweating and by abstaining from food and liquids for a few hours before weighing in. Weight loss up to 10 pounds (representing 5 per cent of the body weight) was accomplished without any measurable deleterious effects in six wrestlers. 2 Weight loss was induced by a procedure considered orthodox by wrestling coaches. Food and water were withheld. The wrestlers, wearing heavy sweat suits, worked on the mats and alternated this with sitting in a heated cabinet. This abnormal loss of weight is regained in part after weighing in by eating and drinking. More than 5 pounds may be regained in a few hours.
Weight Loss in Athletics
Losses of weight exceeding 10 pounds in one and one-half hours have been reported during football games at the beginning of training. During especially exciting games a substitute who has been "sweating out" the entire game on the bench has been observed to lose 5 pounds. This weight is entirely and rapidly regained after eating and drinking.
Semistarvation
A diet which is inadequate to support the needs of the body will soon result in a deterioration in fitness for exercise. When the daily caloric intake is reduced, the day to day output of voluntary work is reduced proportionately. A substandard diet causes a reduction in the performance of the physiological systems, especially the oxygen delivery and metabolic waste removal mechanisms.
Weight Reduction, Weight Gaining, Body Fat
Weight Reduction
The obese individual may reduce his weight by limiting the amount of fat and high caloric carbohydrate foods in his diet. The protein foods need not be diminished because of their property of specific dynamic action (stimulation of general metabolic processes). An increased amount of daily physical activity increases the katabolic processes and aids in weight reduction.
Weight Gaining
The underweight individual may increase his weight by increasing the amount of fat and high caloric carbohydrate foods in his diet. More frequent feeding may be desirable, but excessive fat taken between meals may decrease the appetite due to its slow rate of digestion. Additional hours of sleep, perhaps including an afternoon nap may be helpful. A pleasant environment and a serene mental attitude are also important in a weight gaining program.
Body Fat
Various types of competitive athletics require different proportions of fat to muscle for maximum performance. A minimum amount of fat is desirable in the distance runner, the high jumper and the gymnast. These athletes must move their own weight in a highly economical fashion and any added weight taxes the strength and endurance. Distance swimmers need a certain amount of fat distributed near the skin surface to diminish the heat loss to the water, Football players, especially linemen, employ the fat portion of their mass in achieving momentum and also as a cushion to absorb the shocks of repeated contact.
In severe athletic training the normal amount of fat is reduced to a minimum because this tissue is considered an incumbrance. It is an extra load to be carried and it impedes the violent contraction of muscles, In this highly trained slate man is best fitted for framing, jumping, climbing and fighting. As stated before, however, he is not in the best condition to resist an exhausting infection like typhoid fever where an individual's fat stores are a valuable asset.
During a season of athletic training a slight loss in body weight may be expected at first due to a loss of fat. The initial loss is followed by a slow gain attributable to increased muscular development. One evidence of staleness or overtraining is a gradual loss of weight, i.e., the weight lost during exercise is not regained as it should be. Rest and feeding are indicated when the weight continues to decline.
The obese individual may reduce his weight by limiting the amount of fat and high caloric carbohydrate foods in his diet. The protein foods need not be diminished because of their property of specific dynamic action (stimulation of general metabolic processes). An increased amount of daily physical activity increases the katabolic processes and aids in weight reduction.
Weight Gaining
The underweight individual may increase his weight by increasing the amount of fat and high caloric carbohydrate foods in his diet. More frequent feeding may be desirable, but excessive fat taken between meals may decrease the appetite due to its slow rate of digestion. Additional hours of sleep, perhaps including an afternoon nap may be helpful. A pleasant environment and a serene mental attitude are also important in a weight gaining program.
Body Fat
Various types of competitive athletics require different proportions of fat to muscle for maximum performance. A minimum amount of fat is desirable in the distance runner, the high jumper and the gymnast. These athletes must move their own weight in a highly economical fashion and any added weight taxes the strength and endurance. Distance swimmers need a certain amount of fat distributed near the skin surface to diminish the heat loss to the water, Football players, especially linemen, employ the fat portion of their mass in achieving momentum and also as a cushion to absorb the shocks of repeated contact.
In severe athletic training the normal amount of fat is reduced to a minimum because this tissue is considered an incumbrance. It is an extra load to be carried and it impedes the violent contraction of muscles, In this highly trained slate man is best fitted for framing, jumping, climbing and fighting. As stated before, however, he is not in the best condition to resist an exhausting infection like typhoid fever where an individual's fat stores are a valuable asset.
During a season of athletic training a slight loss in body weight may be expected at first due to a loss of fat. The initial loss is followed by a slow gain attributable to increased muscular development. One evidence of staleness or overtraining is a gradual loss of weight, i.e., the weight lost during exercise is not regained as it should be. Rest and feeding are indicated when the weight continues to decline.
Diet, Quantity of Food, The Weight Chart
The increased energy metabolism in muscular exercise must be supported by an equivalent increase in energy supply. If the demand exceeds the supply, body tissues are consumed in the course of the activity. The depletion of body tissues impairs the functions of the organs of which these tissues are a part. Furthermore, physical efficiency is lower when body tissues are used as fuels for activity than when the fuels are supplied by the foodstuffs in an adequate diet.
Quantity of Food
The quantity of food required by active men varies to such an extent among the individuals in a group and also in a single individual from day to day that the establishment of a standard dietary requirement for a group or an individual would be meaningless. The total daily energy requirement for an active man may range from 3000 to 8000 Calories, depending upon his size and physical condition and the severity of the work performed each day. An experiment on rats 1 demonstrates some of the variables which affect the daily energy requirement. Twelve female albino rats from four to twelve months old were observed while quantatitive variations in activity, food intake and environmental temperature were induced. When activity was increased, the weight decreased if food intake was constant. When the food intake was increased, there was an increase in body weight when activity was constant. When environmental temperature was increased, there was a decrease in body weight when activity was constant. The quantity of food required to support increased physical activity and environmental stress is soon indicated by alterations in body weight.
The Weight Chart
The weight chart is very useful in estimating the caloric requirement of a season of athletic training. It may also be used effectively in programs of weight control in which an individual is attempting to gain or lose weight in order to attain a more desirable proportion of fat to muscle. In all of these charts, nude weights are recorded every day before breakfast. Weights are measured in the nude to exclude variations in the weight of the clothing. They are recorded every, day before breakfast so that the individual may reduce or increase his food intake during that day in accordance with the posttion of the weight he has plotted on the chart. This act also serves as a frequent and timely reminder of the task at hand. After only a few days the individual keeping the weight chart will observe the rate of change in weight as a result of changes in food intake. He then evaluates each item of food in relation to the caloric requirement for maintaining the daily amount of activity. A sensible program of weight control will plan for an increase or decrease of about one pound weekly. Extremely overweight and underweight individuals may plan for slightly greater rates of change, but weight loss should not exceed two pounds per week.
Quantity of Food
The quantity of food required by active men varies to such an extent among the individuals in a group and also in a single individual from day to day that the establishment of a standard dietary requirement for a group or an individual would be meaningless. The total daily energy requirement for an active man may range from 3000 to 8000 Calories, depending upon his size and physical condition and the severity of the work performed each day. An experiment on rats 1 demonstrates some of the variables which affect the daily energy requirement. Twelve female albino rats from four to twelve months old were observed while quantatitive variations in activity, food intake and environmental temperature were induced. When activity was increased, the weight decreased if food intake was constant. When the food intake was increased, there was an increase in body weight when activity was constant. When environmental temperature was increased, there was a decrease in body weight when activity was constant. The quantity of food required to support increased physical activity and environmental stress is soon indicated by alterations in body weight.
The Weight Chart
The weight chart is very useful in estimating the caloric requirement of a season of athletic training. It may also be used effectively in programs of weight control in which an individual is attempting to gain or lose weight in order to attain a more desirable proportion of fat to muscle. In all of these charts, nude weights are recorded every day before breakfast. Weights are measured in the nude to exclude variations in the weight of the clothing. They are recorded every, day before breakfast so that the individual may reduce or increase his food intake during that day in accordance with the posttion of the weight he has plotted on the chart. This act also serves as a frequent and timely reminder of the task at hand. After only a few days the individual keeping the weight chart will observe the rate of change in weight as a result of changes in food intake. He then evaluates each item of food in relation to the caloric requirement for maintaining the daily amount of activity. A sensible program of weight control will plan for an increase or decrease of about one pound weekly. Extremely overweight and underweight individuals may plan for slightly greater rates of change, but weight loss should not exceed two pounds per week.
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