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Health and Fitness
(By Student Name)
Table of Contents
Health
A Balanced Diet
Dietary advice for all types of athletes is the same as for the general public. That is, eat a well-balanced
diet from a wide variety of foods in sufficient amounts to meet energy needs. Experts agree the key to
healthy eating is the time-tested advice of balance, variety and moderation. In short, that means eating a
wide variety of foods without getting too many calories or too much of any one nutrient.
Because people need more than 40 different nutrients daily for good health, it is important to eat a
variety of foods. No single food supplies them all. Diets that include a wide variety of foods not only
offer the nutritional benefits, but may also help prevent disease and consequently prolong life. Recent
studies have found that people who ate wide varieties of foods had a lower risk of premature death than
those who ate the same food year after year.
Your daily food selection should include bread and other whole-grain products; fruits; vegetables; dairy
products; and meat, poultry, fish and other protein foods. How much you should eat depends on your
calorie needs. Nutrition experts like the American Dietetic Association recommend that we eat a diet
low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are foods such as pasta, rice,
potatoes, and breads. Generally, nutritionists suggest that we consume no more than 30 percent to 35
percent of our calories as fat, at least 55 percent as carbohydrates, and the remainder as protein.
The Food Guide Pyramid shown below is a practical tool to help you make food choices that are
consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Using the Pyramid enables you to eat a variety of foods daily so that you can get the nutrients you
need. The basis of a healthful diet as shown in the Pyramid is foods from the grain products group,
along with vegetables and fruits. Limit fats and sugars added in food preparation and at the table.
Controlling Fat in Your Diet
All fats are a combination of saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Each of these
types of fats has different effects on the body, but all contain nine calories per gram. Fat is an essential
nutrient that everyone needs to stay healthy.
Fat is a valuable energy source and carries fat-soluble vitamins needed for proper growth and
development. It also contributes important taste and textural qualities that are part of enjoying food.
Too much fat, however, can increase the risk of heart disease, obesity and other health problems.
Studies have shown that diets that are too high in certain saturated fatty acids and dietary cholesterol
can raise blood cholesterol.
Health authorities recommend that Americans consume 30 percent or less of their total daily calories
from fat, with 10 percent or less of those calories from saturated fat. The 30 percent fat consumption
refers to your total fat intake over time, not single foods or meals. Refer to the table below as a guide to
the amount of fat in grams to include in your daily diet.
Calories Total Fat
1,600 53 or less
2,000 65 or less
2,200 73 or less
2,500 80 or less
Total Saturated Fat
18 or less
20 or less
24 or less
25 or less
Remember that it's the total fat intake over time that's important. A food high in fat can be part of a
healthy diet as long as it's balanced with other lower-fat food choices. Use the nutrition labels on food
products as a further guide to select foods appropriately.
Attaining a Healthy Weight
Excess body fat increases your chances for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some
types of cancer and other illnesses. But being too thin can increase your risk for osteoporosis, menstrual
irregularities and other health problems. The best way to control body fat is by proper nutrition and
regular exercise. Start by calculating how many calories your body needs based on your current weight
and activity level. The weight that's right for you depends on many factors including your sex, height,
age and heredity.
Body composition consists of lean body mass (LBM) and fat. Lean body mass, also called frame size,
is made up of muscles, bone, vital tissue and organs. A person's ideal body weight is determined by
their frame size. A person with large bones and muscles would have a heavier ideal weight then a
person of the same height with small bones and muscles. An optimal ratio of fat to lean mass is an
indication of fitness. Ideally, a man should be approximately 15% fat and a woman 22%. The ideal
weight for a person changes as their lean body mass changes. The right types of exercises will help you
decrease body fat and increase or maintain muscle mass.
Improving Your Eating Habits
To improve your eating habits, you first have to know what's wrong with them. Write down everything
you eat for three days. Then analyze your diet to see where you are eating foods that are high in fat and
calories. Compare what you usually eat to the recommended number of servings and make
modifications to your diet that are consistent with healthy eating.
If your favorite foods are high in fat, salt or sugar, don't eliminate them. Instead, moderate how much
of these foods you eat and how often you eat them. If you keep portion sizes reasonable, it's easier to
eat the foods you want and stay healthy. It has been found that adhering to a rigid diet plan can be too
restrictive and can set you up for failure. This is because the rate at which your body burns calories
slows by about 15% on rigid weight-loss plans, making it even more difficult and frustrating.
When eating "forbidden" foods that are high in fat or calories, select other foods during the day that are
low in these ingredients. Your food choices over several days should fit together into a healthy pattern.
Using this strategy, you won't feel deprived of the foods you enjoy.
It is also important not to skip meals. This is not only because people tend to overeat at the following
meal, but also tend to eat foods that are not healthy. Snacking between meals to help curb hunger is
also helpful as long as the snacks are healthy and a reasonable size.
Improving how you eat takes time. Don't make drastic changes to your eating habits all at once as this
can cause you to get discouraged. Instead, make small changes gradually that will lead to positive,
lifelong changes in eating habits.
Fitness
Exercise and Weight Loss
The key to weight control is keeping energy intake (food) and energy output (physical activity) in
balance. When you consume only as many calories as your body needs, your weight will usually
remain constant. If you take in more calories than your body needs, you will put on excess fat. If you
expend more energy than you take in, you will burn excess fat.
Exercise plays an important role in weight control by increasing energy output, calling on stored
calories for extra fuel. Recent studies show that not only does exercise increase metabolism during a
workout, but it causes your metabolism to stay increased for a period of time after exercising, allowing
you to burn more calories. There are two basic forms of exercise: anaerobic and aerobic.
Anaerobic Exercise
Anaerobic activity is short in duration (0 to 2 minutes) and high in intensity. Anaerobic activities
include activities such as racquetball, downhill skiing, weight lifting, sprinting, softball, soccer and
football. This type of exercise requires immediate energy to be supplied by blood glucose and muscle
glycogen, and focuses more on increasing muscle mass and building power.
Anaerobic exercise is very important in improving strength to perform daily activities and train for
sporting events. "As you build muscle and get stronger, ordinary activities require less effort, leaving
you with more zip all day long." Additionally anaerobic activity increases your metabolic rate for
several hours after exercising, as well as your resting metabolic rate. The quickening of the metabolic
rate may make it easier to shed unwanted weight.
Aerobic Exercise
In the strictest sense, moderate-intensity activities that can be sustained for more than 2 minutes are
called aerobic exercise. More commonly, aerobic exercise is defined as using the same large muscle
group, rhythmically, for a period of 15 to 20 minutes or longer while maintaining 60-80% of your
maximum heart rate. Examples of aerobic activities include cross-country skiing, biking, rowing,
jogging and walking.
Aerobic exercise is highly effective in improving the cardiovascular system because it conditions the
heart and lungs by increasing the oxygen available to the body and by enabling the heart to use oxygen
more efficiently. Other benefits include:
Reduction in body fat.
Increased energy and general stamina.
Toned muscles and increased lean body mass.
Reduced tension, depression, and anxiety.
Sleep better.
Exercise Intensity
The intensity and the duration of an aerobic workout are the two important factors. The best way to
measure the intensity is to check your heart rate. "Studies have shown that for the greatest
cardiovascular improvement and most efficient fat burning, exercise should fall in the range at which
the heart beats between 65 percent and 80 percent of its maximum."
Figuring Your Target Heart Rate
To calculate your target heart rate, first subtract your age from 220 to find your maximum heart rate.
For example, the maximum heart rate for a 30 year old person is 190 (220 - 30 = 190). Then to
calculate the low end of the intensity range, multiply this value times 65%. To calculate the high end,
multiply it times 85%. This is your target heart rate range. So the target heart rate range for a person
that is 30 years old is 124 (.65 * 190 = 123.5) to 162 (.85 * 190 = 161.5).
Exercise Duration and Frequency
Generally, the duration recommended ranges from 12 to 60 minutes. During the first 20 minutes, a
combination of the various types of energy -- sugar, carbohydrates and fats -- are burned. At about 20
minutes the fat-burning phase begins. "An ideal program for weight loss is to exercise at an intensity of
70-80% of the maximum heart rate for 30 to 60 minutes, 4 to 5 times a week."
When first starting an aerobic exercise program, you want to exercise at the low end of your target
heart rate, at 60%, and for a shorter duration. Then as your body adjusts, increase gradually to the high
end, at 85% to 90%, and increase the duration. After you have exercised for about 5 minutes, check
your heart rate by taking your pulse. You can take it for 10 seconds and multiply it times 6, or for 15
seconds and multiply times 4 to determine the beats per minute. If you are too low, you can increase
your pace, switch to a lower gear while cycling, or swim faster. If it's too high, slow down. You could
also use a heart rate monitor to check your pulse automatically for you. Many exercise machines
include heart rate monitors to make it easier for you to maintain your intensity level.
The 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the basis of the federal government's nutrition-related
programs, include physical activity guidance to maintain and improve weight: 30 minutes or more of
moderate-intensity physical activity on all, or most, days of the week. Recent recommendations by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine stress 30
minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, and preferably all, days of the week.
And if you have a hard time setting aside 30 minutes all at one time every day, the new guidelines
recommend shorter bouts of 8 to 10 minutes totaling the minimum 30 minutes on most days.
When Should You Exercise?
Among the factors you should consider in developing your workout schedule are personal preference,
job and family responsibilities, availability of exercise facilities, and weather.
It's important to schedule your workouts for a time when there is little chance that you will have to
cancel or interrupt them because of other demands on your time.
The two most popular times to work out are the hour just before the evening meal and early morning
before the workday begins. The late afternoon workout provides a welcome change of pace at the end
of the workday and helps dissolve the day's worries and tensions. Advocates of the early start say it
makes them more alert and energetic on the job.