Little Things That Can Imporve Heart Health

Over the next several days I'm going to be talking about some little things that you can begin to implement for better heart health. Instead of waiting until you have a heart problem, start now with little things that can make a difference as far as whether you will ever have a heart problem.

Start out with taking a brief 10 minute walk. If you currently are not exercising, this is a great way to get started. If you currently do exercise, this will add a little extra exercise into your day. Find ways to do this. Park as far away from where you're going as you can, so that you can walk for 10 minutes. The advantage of this is that you have just put 20 minutes of walking into your day and that is awesome!

If you live in an apartment, walk the hallways for 10 minutes. You don't have to go outside, just walk for 10 minutes.

More tomorrow.

Starting Exercise Over 40 Continued

Now that you're comfortable, pick the exercises that are right for you. Do what you like to do and do what you can. Don't be afraid to venture into untried territory, but start off with exercises you like to do. If you always liked playing baseball as a child, then join an adult baseball league. If you always wanted to learn to tap dance, then join a tap dance class. Don't just do what you think is appropriate, do what you like or would like to try.

Many people feel walking is boring. But if you walk with others then it may be less boring. Or take a nature hike where you walk in silence and you make a point of noticing all of the things in nature around you, down to the blades of grass. You'll be amazed at what you see. The next time you go for a walk, listen to nature and think about the trees, grass, birds, water whatever is watching you instead of you watching nature.

Nighttime Eating

Here are some more tips to curb nighttime eating.

Get your hands busy. Often times we turn to food if we are bored or lonely. There are a couple things you can do here. Take a walk, sign up for an evening class, take a bubble bath, or call a friend. Find a hobby. Something that will keep the hands busy, like knitting, journaling, puzzles, or sewing.

Go for liquids like a glass of water or a cup of tea instead of food. If you have to chew something, try some gum.

Clean out the pantry. Get rid of the chips and cookies and have fresh fruit and vegetables on hand.

Eat dinner later. Watch portion sizes and keep it healthy.

Go to bed early. You won't be eating if you're sleeping!!

Another Way To Exercise

I know I've mentioned this before, but it is time to bring it up again. One of the ways you can challenge yourself in the exercise game is to get a pedometer. Wear it for a few days before you really start to do any walking beyond your usual and see how many steps you're taking each day.

After you've done that for a few days, begin to add steps in your day. Take the stairs, park further from your place of business, walk the dog, go for a 10 minute walk after work, and see how these activities add to the number of steps that you're taking each day. Try to increase your number of steps each day by 500 steps. That's really not that many and you will find yourself competing to increase those steps more and more each day.

Oh and the side benefit. You may shed some unwanted weight. You'll have stronger, healthier heart and bones. You'll have healthier lungs. And you'll live a healthier life.

Bursts to Burn More Calories

One of the things that research has shown is if you add a short interval to your workout, you can burn more calories. What do I mean by that?

If you are a walker, add 20 seconds of walking very fast to every minute that you walk. What this does is help burn up the glycogen stores in the muscles and the body then begins to burn fat. If you keep increasing this, over time you'll begin to see overall improvement of the muscles as well.

If you are a jogger, add a sprinting interval into your jog.

The best part of this is that once you burn the glycogen stores and you start burning fat stores, the fat stores continue to burn for up to 24 hours.

Another Way to Walk

There is another way to walk which will increase the amount of calories burned and includes working out more than the legs. It's called nordic walking. Using light weight nordic walking poles or you could use cross country ski poles, relieves some of the stress on joints such as the knees, hips and ankles and transfers it to the upper torso. This give you more of a full body work out when you walk.

You will burn up to 45% more calories than when just walking the same distance without poles. This is an exercise that is great for those of you who are just beginning to exercise, rehabilitating from an injury, or senior who have been sedentary with mobility and balance issues.