3.08 Physical Fitness and Weight Management

Exercise

Our bodies are designed to move and work. Living a sedentary (inactive) lifestyle can increase the risks of chronic diseases and keep your body from functioning at peak performance.

Exercise can be beneficial in many areas of health and wellness. The benefits of exercise include controlling:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Colon cancer
• Type 2 diabetes
• Osteoarthritis
• Depression and anxiety

Exercise Guidelines

• How much? The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 30 minutes a day for 3-5 days a week for most cardiovascular exercise.
• What Kind? How to exercise is a matter of personal choice. Different types of activities have their own benefits and just like any other good health choices a mix of each kind is best. Find something you like and do it often.
• How Hard? There is a balance that you need to find between moderate intensity and vigorous intensity.
  • Moderate exercise is one that increases your breathing rate, your heart rate, and makes you a little warm. If you are out of shape or suffer from asthma or have any other health problems, it is best to start slow. Someone who has never exercised in years should start with 5 minutes at a time and slowly increase the time as strength is improved.
  • Vigorous exercise is high intensity and makes you sweaty and out of breath. This improves your lung capacity and your resting heart rate. Be sure to be properly warmed up before attempting vigorous exercise.
  • "Light" activity means being active but not breathing hard or working up a sweat. Light activity is good but you need to strive for moderate or vigorous intensity when exercising.

Aerobic

Also known as cardio, aerobic exercise is any type of exercise that makes you breathe harder and makes your heart pump faster. This improves your heart health, burns calories, and tones muscle.

Types of aerobic exercise:

• Brisk walking outside or on treadmill -- walking briskly (about 3½ miles per hour) for at least 10 minutes is considered moderate exercise but walking very fast (about 4½ miles per hour) is vigorous activity
• Running or jogging -- at 5 miles per hour, this is considered vigorous physical activity
• Stair stepper
• Elliptical machine
• Rowing
• Bicycling -- less than 10 miles per hour is considered moderate exercise and more than 10 miles an hour is classified as vigorous
• Dancing

Strength Training

Strength training improves your muscle tone and mass. This type of exercise also includes weight-bearing exercise to strengthen bone, but this does not just include lifting weights in a sweaty gym! Building strong bones is critical during the teenage years since this is your "once in a lifetime chance" to build your bones to their peak strength. The two main ways to build strong bones are: getting adequate calcium and doing weight-bearing physical activities (like strength training).

Types of Strength Training:

• Yard work
• Pilates
• Body building
• Circuit training
• Power lifting
• Weight training
• Isometrics

Team Sports

Participating in team sports can positively influence anxiety, depression, self-esteem, emotions, and mood. These benefits all point in the direction of sports having a "stress-buffering" potential in a person's health and wellness. Sports are a way of enhancing the body's engine, of awakening the body and allowing it to engage properly.

Types of Sports to Consider:

• Community recreation clubs like rugby, lacrosse, ice hockey
• Tennis
• Golf -- walking the course and carrying clubs when playing golf is considered moderate exercise
• School sports or pick-up games of baseball, basketball, softball, volleyball, etc.
• Hiking and backpacking clubs
• Swimming -- freestyle laps, for example, are considered vigorous exercise

Balance Training

Balance training exercises improve your core strength, which will help with your balance. The core is the middle part of your body including spine and abdominal muscles. This is especially helpful to prevent falls that are so dangerous for older people. Balance training also improves your posture which, in turn, improves your appearance and self-confidence.

Types of Balance Training:

• Stability ball
• Tai Chi
• Yoga
• Dance

Flexibility

Flexibility is important and often overlooked area of exercise. Staying flexible and keeping joints and bones active improves your quality of life. Getting up and down or being able to reach, bend, or turn will lengthen independence as you age.

Types of Flexibility Training:

• Yoga
• Pilates
• Stretching

Are You Active Enough?

How much physical activity do you get? As a teenager, physical activity is important, not just for your future health but for being and feeling your best now. Let's figure out if you are active enough, whether it is through a formal exercise program or fun activities. Complete this activity by taking notes in your notebook.

1. First, let's see what motivates you to be active and what gets in the way. In your notebook, write down your answer and identify if you agree with some of the given statements to each question.
   1. Why is physical activity important to you?
      • It keeps me healthy with strong bones, muscles, and joints.
      • I feel better and have more energy.
      • I look better and can maintain a healthy weight.
      • It is fun.
      • I like the challenge.
      • I don't think it is important to exercise.
   2. What are the hardest parts about getting regular physical activity?
      • I spend too much time watching TV, playing video games, or on other sedentary hobbies.
      • I am self-conscious about the way I look.
      • I don't have enough time to exercise.
      • I'm not good at it.
      • My friends don't exercise.
      • I don't have transportation.
      • There is really nothing holding me back from exercising.
2. What activities do you do AT LEAST once a week? Look at the activities above (but you aren't limited to these options). Think about the activities that you do:
   • during school
   • after school
   • on the weekends
   In your notebook, write down the activities that you do weekly. If you don't do any of these exercises, write "I don't do any of these activities."
3. Now, for each of those activities tell me how often, how hard and how long you usually do them. For each, answer:
   • How often?
   • How hard? (Take a look over what constitutes 'light', 'moderate', and 'vigorous' exercise above to help you determine how hard you're exercising.)
   • How long per session?
4. Next, look over the exercise guidelines above. With your current activity level, are you meeting these guidelines? Calculate how many minutes per week you spent doing light activity, moderate activity, and vigorous activity to see how you measure up!
5. Does your physical activity regimen need improvement in order to meet the exercise recommendations? How ready and willing are you to change your physical activities? In your notebook, answer the following questions (sample answers provided!)
   1. Would you like to increase the amount of physical activity you get?
      • Yes.
      • No, I am currently happy with my activity level.
      • No, right now I am not able to increase my activity level but I would like to in the future.
   2. How ready are you to make changes to your physical activity routine?
      • Yes, I'm ready to start thinking about increasing my physical activity level.
      • Yes, I'm ready to increase my activity level right away, either by trying out new activities or by increasing what I'm already doing.
6. Lastly, let's identify a goal for how you can change or improve your current physical activity routine!
   1. Think about what changes you could incorporate into your weekly exercise habits to better meet the guidelines. Do you want to add new activities? Increase the duration and/or intensity of your current exercise plan? A combination of these, or something else entirely?
   2. How likely is it that you will make these changes? Can you picture yourself really following through with this plan? If not, what can you do to make it work? It might help to tell someone about your plan so they can help support you!
7. Congratulations! You've assessed your activity level and created a goal to try something new!

Body Image

How did the American culture get to its current point of being obsessed with the excessive and unrealistic idea of thinness being the only measure of beauty? This has become overwhelming mainly in the last fifty years or so. It is important to learn to understand what this has done to physical and mental wellness of both sexes. Your personal body image can also be distorted and effect your sense of worth as a person.

The term "body image" refers to the perceptions that you have about your body. It is not just about body functions, but ideas, feelings, and experiences about your physical appearance and attractiveness to yourself and others.

In the last fifty years or so Americans have entered an era of mass media messages with television, internet, movies, and advertising exposure. New ideas of attractiveness are quickly spread throughout the world to promote sales of fitness machines, cosmetics, diet programs and products, clothing fashions, medical surgeries, and weight loss medications.

Consider how you see yourself.

• Do you think you are too fat?
• Too thin?
• Not buff enough?
• Really exquisitely perfect?

Why do you think that way?

• Are you comparing yourself to others?
• Are you doing anything to improve your health or just letting it ride for now?

If you are unhealthy or unhappy with your physical shape, you can start now to change it. But make sure it is for the right reasons – to make you happy and to improve your health.

Ways to Improve Body Image

Keep a written list of what you like about yourself that is not weight related: Good hair, nice eyes, funny, thrifty, good in school, etc.

• Write it on your mirror if you can.
• Look at your list and add to it as you become aware of things you like.

Appreciate what your body can do: It walks, it talks, it breathes, it can jump, dance, play sports, dream, work and play.

Surround yourself with positive people: People who whine and complain all the time can be funny, but they will eventually drag you down. Hang out with positive people who like you and want you around.

Shut down the voices in your head that tel you that you are not okay or not good enough. When you realize you are tearing yourself down, stop, breathe, and replace that thought with something positive. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “I am too fat to start running,” tell yourself that you can start with walking regularly. Don’t let negative thoughts override positive ones.

Become a critical viewer of social media messages. Ask yourself:

• Does that ad make you feel bad about your body?
• Does that tweet make you feel less than in any way?
• Did someone post something on Instagram that stirs up feelings of jealousy in you?

Say something or do something about it! If it is an ad or images, write to the company and voice your complaint. If it's a social media influencer, it's okay to unfollow them! If it bothers you, think what it might make a younger sibling think.

Do something to help others. Helping other people is a great way to take your mind off yourself. Some ways to help others include:

• Go on a mission trip or volunteer at a local charity or for a good cause.
• Play with the baby next door so the parents can take a nap or run an errand.
• Offer to fold the laundry or rake leaves for your neighbor.

Helping out can also remind you of what your body is capable of!

Body Measure

Calculating and Interpreting Body Measure

Most people use the number on the scale to decide if they are fat. All that tells you is how much all the parts of your body weigh altogether. Your body is made of muscle, bone, and tissue. Fat is only one part of the tissue!

When deciding if your physical shape and condition is healthy or not, consider other factors besides dietary intake. Fat distribution is impacted by gender, age, genetics, ethnic background, growth stages, and stress levels.

Higher health risks have been noticed in people who carry fat around their middle section of their body. Waist measurements of 40 inches or greater on men and 35 inches or greater on women are an indicator of higher risks for chronic diseases. 

Height-Weight Tables

Life insurance companies have studied and developed charts, called height-weight tables, that tell the optimal weight for different genders, body frame, and heights. Some of these have been updated recently, others are seriously out-of-date. These charts tell you a range of weights that they consider appropriate for your size.

Do not base your body image on these charts. Use them as tool to guide your lifestyle choices.

Take a look at the 1999 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's Height and Weight Tables for Men and Women to see where you fit.

Next, look at the Height & Weight Charts from BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois.

Finally, open How Much Should I Weigh? from Rush University Medical Center. Scroll down on this page to see the chart.

How do all three of these charts compare? How are they different?

Body Mass Index

Body Mass Index, also known as BMI, is a calculation that classifies your weight status using your height and weight. The number you get from the calculation should be between 18 and 40, and each number puts you into a weight category.

If your BMI is:

• Under 18.5, you are considered underweight
• Between 18.5 and 24.9, you are at a healthy BMI
• Between 25 and 29.9, you are considered overweight
• Over 30, you are considered obese

There are several drawbacks of the BMI method.

• Muscle weighs more than fat. Your BMI may be extra high if you are mostly lean, strong muscle. It will put professional athletes into the obese category because of their muscle mass.
• Frame size impacts weight. You may be extremely fit but if you have large, heavy bones the results may be skewed.
• BMI calculations do not account for gender, age, or fitness.

You can see your own BMI by using the BMI calculator from the National Institute of Health.

Use these body measurement tools to give you an idea of what you need to change but do not base any big life decisions on them. With all science, it may change tomorrow!

Weight Management

Good lifelong management of body weight has an emphasis on a personalized program of improved physical fitness and a regularly well-balanced diet, rather than on calorie counting and focusing on what the scale says about your body weight. When doing any planning, make sure that it is realistic for your individual needs and lifestyle, or you won't follow through with it.

For example: Do not plan to go to the gym at 4:30 every morning before school if you regularly stay up until midnight every night. You will miss out on too much sleep if you do make it there; but if you don't make it, you'll feel defeated and down on yourself, negatively affecting your emotional wellness. So, make realistic goals!

To gain or lose weight, use common sense. Whatever calories you put in your body need to be burned in some way. Many of the calories are used for body functions like your heartbeat, breathing, converting food into energy.

• If you burn more than you take in, you will lose weight.
• If you take in more than you burn, you will gain weight.

Losing Weight

If you want to lose weight, stick to a healthy, balance diet that includes a variety of whole, unprocessed foods. Just cut the calories and increase your activity. Avoid fad diets (remember you learned this in the previous unit!) that cut out any group of foods or promise to help you lose fat in one specific place. If you are cutting out any food group, your diet is now unbalanced, and it can have long-term effect to your health.

Some good tips include:

• Eat a high protein breakfast
• Avoid sugary drinks, fruit juice, and desserts
• Drink ½ your body weight in ounces of water every day
• Consume high fiber foods
• Eat slowly
• Use whole, unprocessed foods
• Reduce your carbohydrate intake and don't cut carbs completely; you need them!
• Include lots of fresh vegetables and healthy fats

Gaining Weight

Healthy weight gain can be just as difficult as losing weight. It seems easy – just eat all you want! But it doesn't work that way! Weight gains that impair your health (like junk food, high fat foods, or high carb content) are just not worth it.

Healthy ways to gain weight include:

• Add more healthy calories to meals or snack on nuts, cheese, whole fruit, whole-grain breads
• Add nutrient dense foods, such as high-protein meats, brown rice, whole grain breads and cereals, lots of fresh vegetables (without sauces)
• Eat several small meals throughout the day
• Snack on good foods; trail mix, protein bars or shakes, crackers with cheese, hummus, or peanut butter are high quality sources of nutrients
• Try strength training; muscle weighs more than fat and you can increase your muscle mass by lifting weights or increasing load bearing exercise

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are a serious but treatable mental illness that affects physical health as well. These disorders affect people of every age, gender, race, and ethnicity. Historically, they have been most often reported in adolescence, but they are now being seen in young children and older adults. These illnesses always stem from an unrealistic body image and how the patient thinks others perceive them.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a disorder characterized by an inappropriate intake of food to maintain health and body weight. This restricting of calorie intake leads to extreme weight loss. People suffering from this seem obsessed with counting calories, cutting out entire food groups, and over exercising. This used to be characterized as a 'teenage girl problem' but we now know that it also affects to boys, young children, and older adults.

If left untreated, anorexia can lead to death. Some warning signs inclue:

• Dramatic weight loss
• Uses clothes to cover up weight loss
• Constipation
• Abdominal pain
• Feeling cold all the time
• Food rituals (rearranging food on plate, eating in certain order)
• Avoids meals
• Preoccupied with weight, counting calories, fat grams, carbs
• Loss of menstrual periods
• Over exercising

Bulimia Nervosa

People suffering with bulimia nervosa, or bulimia, will usually binge eat on a regular basis and then do something to rid the body of the effects of the binge. These efforts often include a purge (self or chemical induced vomiting), excessive exercise, or rigid fasting.

Warning signs of bulimia include:

• Consumes more food in a certain time period than most people would
• Uncomfortable eating around other people
• Hidden stash of foods or wrappers
• Disappears after eating, usually to restroom to purge
• Hoarding food
• Teeth are discolored, stained, or rotting from stomach acid contact during the purge
• Calluses on backs of hands from self-induced vomiting
• Extreme moodiness
• Consumes great amounts of water and no calorie beverages
• Appears bloated from retaining fluids
• Preoccupied with food and weight gain

Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating disorder is consuming a great amount of food in a short amount of time to the point of discomfort. Suffers often feel a lack of control over their eating and are unable to stop. This usually leads to feelings of shame, guilt, or depression. People with BED often do not do anything to rid themselves of the excess calories they have consumed. It is the most common eating disorder in the United States.

Warning signs of a binge eating disorder include:

• Evidence of binges (empty cartons, boxes, food wrappers)
• Creation of rituals to accommodate binges
• Uncomfortable eating with others
• Unusual concerns with body shape or weight
• Distortion of eating habits (eats without stopping, no scheduled mealtimes)
• Feelings of disgust, guilt, low self-esteem

Getting Help

Early diagnosis, evaluation by a trained professional, and an effective, proven treatment plan will help move the sufferer into recovery and halt the progression of the disorder.

The National Eating Disorders Association has a free, confidential helpline you can call if you need to talk to someone. Call their toll-free, confidential helpline at 1-800-931-2237. The helpline is open:

• Monday - Thursday from 9:00 am - 9:00 pm (EST)
• Friday from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (EST)