Insired by Growing Bolder Staff and Request to Lead Disabilities Group

It was very inspirational to meet Bill Shafer, Katy, and Jason , the Cameraman, staff of Growing Bolder.com. They excited my boyfriend, Fred Christy, the Fitness Guy came on Friday, November 30, 2007 and videoed him doing a home workout session. He characterized his workout sessions as very creative and not needing formal fitness equipment to achieve optimal results. They all saw me moving around with my chorea from Huntington's Disease, involuntary muscle movement. They were encouraging me to start a Group Helping People With Disabilities and blog some of my experiences that I have been through. I love the people from Growing Bolder as they though my story would be so inspirational when I share how I cannot drive anymore and how frustrating that was. If sharing my story will be a light of encouragement for them, that really excites me and I have the courage to play that role! I myself am growing bolder personally myself and gotten into the videos and talking and not remaining silent in the background, letting Fred do my talking for me. I was afraid up until that point on my own web-site at http://www.rejuvenatingsolutions.com, but the Staff at Growing Bolder made me see that as an asset, an encouragement, and not be afraid there either. I am looking forward to being less timid there, too.

Bonnie Betz

What is BM! ?

Body Mass Index or BMI is a tool for indicating weight status in adults. It is a measure of weight for height. For adults over 20 years old, BMI falls into one of these categories:

Click Here To Calculate BMI

BMI	Weight Status
Below 18.5	Underweight
18.5 - 24.9	Normal
25.0 - 29.9	Overweight
30.0 and Above	Obese

Note: BMI for Children and Teens is based on gender and age specific charts. See below.

BMI correlates with body fat. The relation between fatness and BMI differs with age and gender. For example,women are more likely to have a higher percent of body fat than men for the same BMI. On average, older people may have more body fat than younger adults with the same BMI.

For more information about overweight among adults, see Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults.Bethesda, MD: NHLBI, 1998.

How Does BMI Relate to Health?

The BMI ranges are based on the effect body weight has on disease and death. As BMI increases, the risk for some disease increases. Some common conditions related to overweight and obesity include:

• Premature death
• Cardiovascular disease
• Osteoarthritis
• Some cancers
• Diabetes

BMI is only one of many factors used to predict risk for disease. BMI cannot be used to tell a person if he/she has a disease such as diabetes or cancer. It is important to remember that weight is only one factor that is related to disease.

What Does This All Mean?

So you have calculated your BMI and found which weight category your BMI matches. What does this all mean?

BMI is Not the Only Indicator of Health Risk.

BMI is just one of many factors related to developing a chronic disease (such as heart disease, cancer, or diabetes). Other factors that may be important to look at when assessing your risk for chronic disease include:

• Diet
• Physical activity
• Waist circumference
• Blood pressure
• Blood sugar level
• Cholesterol level
• Family history of disease

All persons who are obese or overweight should try not to gain additional weight. In addition, those who are obese or who are overweight with other risk factors should consider losing weight. A complete health assessment by a physician is the best way to decide the right steps for you.

Whatever your BMI, talk to your doctor to see if you are at an increased risk for disease and if you should lose weight. Even a small weight loss (just 10% of your current weight) may help to lower the risk of disease.

Physical activity and good nutrition are key factors in leading a healthy lifestyle and reducing risk for disease.

Common Myths

Myth: BMI Measures Body Fat

Two people can have the same BMI, but a different percent body fat. A bodybuilder with a large muscle mass and a low percent body fat may have the same BMI as a person who has more body fat because BMI is calculated using weight and height only.

These men have the same height, weight, and BMI, but may have different percent body fat.

6'3" Height 6'3" 27.5 BMI 27.5 220lbs Weight 220lbs

This is a good reminder that BMI is only one piece of a person's health profile. It is important to talk with your doctor about other measures and risk factors. (e.g., waist circumference, smoking, physical activity level, and diet.)

Myth: BMI is a Diagnostic Tool

BMI alone is not diagnostic. It is one of many risk factors for disease and death. As a person's BMI increases the risk for many diseases increases as well.

BMI for Children and Teens
(Also referred to as BMI-for-age)

BMI is Used Differently with Children Than it is With Adults

In children and teens, body mass index is used to assess underweight, overweight, and risk for overweight. Children's body fatness changes over the years as they grow. Also, girls and boys differ in their body fatness as they mature. This is why BMI for children, also referred to as BMI-for-age, is gender and age specific. BMI-for-age is plotted on gender specific growth charts. These charts are used for children and teens 2 – 20 years of age. For the 2000 CDC Growth Charts and Additional Information visit CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Each of the CDC BMI-for-age gender specific charts contains a series of curved lines indicating specific percentiles. Healthcare professionals use the following established percentile cut-off points to identify underweight and overweight in children.

Underweight	BMI-for-age <>
At risk of overweight	BMI-for-age 85th percentile to <>
Overweight	BMI-for-age <>
What does it mean if my child is in the 60th percentile? The 60th percentile means that compared to children of the same gender and age, 60% have a lower BMI.	BMI decreases during the preschool years, then increases into adulthood. The percentile curves show this pattern of growth.

Example

Let's look at the BMI for a boy as he grows. While his BMI changes, he remains at the 95th percentile BMI-for-age.

Age	BMI	Percentile
2 years	19.3	95th
4 years	17.8	95th
9 years	21.0	95th
12 years	25.1	95th

We see how the boy's BMI declines during his preschool years and increases as he gets older.

Why is BMI-For-Age a useful tool?

BMI-for-age is used for children and teens because of their rate of growth and development. It is a useful tool because

• BMI-for-age provides a reference for adolescents that can be used beyond puberty.
• BMI-for-age in children and adolescents compares well to laboratory measures of body fat.
• BMI-for-age can be used to track body size throughout life.

Insoluble Fiber Key to Curbing Diabetes Risk

A study published in the journal Diabetes Care found that a traditional staple health food can boost the body's ability to regulate insulin and prevent type 2 diabetes. The study, conducted by researchers at the German Institute of Human Nutrition, pointed to the insoluble fiber found in whole grains and vegetables as the key to curbing diabetes risk. Insoluble fiber, which passes through the digestive system relatively intact, differs from soluble fiber which binds with water to form a gel-like mass that helps to regulate lipids and blood sugar. Both forms of fiber are dietary essentials, with other studies showing that soluble fiber intake can dramatically lower cholesterol and heart disease risk. Researchers recommended that individuals consume a daily total of 20-35 grams of soluble and insoluble fiber combined, mostly from plant-based foods and whole grains.

Natural Weight Loss for Good Health And Well Being

Weight loss is becoming an unhealthy obsession dealing with body images, but in some cases can improve health and fitness. When weight loss is a result of eating healthy, exercising and/or taking natural weight loss supplements in contrast to synthetic prescription drugs with the risk of harmful side effects, weight loss can be effective, rewarding, and greatly improve overall health.

Extra weight, especially extra fat on a person's body, applies significantly increased stresses on the heart, joints and back. These stresses can be extremely detrimental to one's health. Healthy weight loss can reduce the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, arthritis and other health problems, as well as generally extending an otherwise average life span. Recently, the scientific root cause or explanation of obesity has been revealed as being part of one's physiology. The internal functions of an obese person are different than those of a healthy person, and cause intense hunger pains and food cravings.

Natural weight loss supplements can help counteract this constant hunger and lead to healthy weight loss. Unbalanced hormones are a common cause of weight gain, therefore taking natural hormone balancers and herbal supplements would help to create a healthy weight loss regimen. Restoring your health allows you to lose weight naturally, without excess frustration and effort. It's all about losing weight from the inside out.

Emotional issues always accompany change, especially changes in our bodies e.g. natural weight loss. Weight loss affects our perception body image, our sense of identity i.e. who am I?, and how we feel about ourselves in general. Weight loss also effects our social relationships in that there may be people in our family or social contacts that are emotionally invested in our remaining the same i.e. overweight with all that it symbolizes e.g. friendliness, non-threatening, protective, jovial, helpful, etc. Beyond our physical health, it can be said that "size matters" cognitively and emotionally to ourselves and others. Eating and food have come to symbolize being accepted, being cared for and comfort. Having the support of others in our efforts to naturally lose weight and regain our health is a huge advantage.

We have been "conditioned" to fear any kind of loss, including weight loss. Especially if what we may lose is something with which we identify i.e. use to tell us who we are.

The emotions of fear, anger, anxiety and depression effect our weight. We often tend to "stuff our feelings" or numb these emotional feelings or stress by overeating. We may even overeat, thinking that will ease the physical discomfort caused by excess weight e.g. physical pain, lack of sleep, and lack of energy caused by moderate depression. To improve our overall health and support us through the process of natural weight loss and the emotional dynamics around it, we can take advantage of natural sleep aids, natural depression relief and natural pain relief health care products.

Our weight and health is greatly dependent upon our having a healthy digestive system or metabolism. Our digestive system converts, on a cellular and muscular level, the foods we eat, eliminates toxins, and uses and stores glucose for energy. Natural enzymes trigger hunger signals and facilitate absorption of nutrition. Good digestion with the help of natural enzymes aids in the conversion of fat to muscle.

Allergy and sensitivity to food, parasites, yeast overgrowth and emotional stress are signals of digestive disruption and inflammation. Natural essential fatty acids work to reduce intestinal inflammation, decrease harmful acids, help the liver process proteins that grow muscle, balance hormones and facilitate the elimination of toxins. Natural essential fatty acids help clear our digestive system of heavy metals, harmful bacteria, pesticides that we are increasingly encountering in our environment. Essential fatty acids along with natural fiber help us clean out the intestinal debris that harm our health and often lead to weight gain. Essential fatty acids also help our brain's neurotransmitters to function properly in order to deal with stress, emotions, and cravings that can lead to overeating and weight gain.

Natural amino acids are the building blocks that make up proteins. Next to water, protein makes up the greatest part of our body weight. Amino acids help increase metabolism, build muscle, ease moderate depression, and help burn fat. Natural antioxidants help carry more oxygen to cells and muscles to help increase energy, burn fat, build muscle and process the foods we eat.

Hormone balance is essential for natural weight loss. Our metabolism slows as we get older because of the decrease or imbalance of hormones. This contributes to weight gain. Hormone balance also helps us deal with stress that leads to weight gain. Proper hormone balance helps to decrease cravings and binge eating. There are many natural hormone balancing products available, e.g. natural progesterone, promensil, soy isoflavones, essential fatty acids and hormone balancing formulas.

Our metabolism's primary task is to nourish our brains. We need healthy neurotransmitters to help us curb craving, ease depression, and deal with stress that lead to weight gain. Balancing our natural brain chemistry has a calming effect and allows us to feel a sens of well being and safety. There are many natural health care products to help balance brain chemistry, e.g. essential fatty acids, natural depression relief products, natural products to increase serotonin, and more. When our brain feels well and safe, it is prone to change our metabolism from calorie saving to calorie burning.

Our bodies were designed to move and be active. Movement requires muscle activity. Muscle activity uses the glycogen supply found in our muscles. When this glycogen supply stored in our muscles is used, our body is forced to use stored fat as an energy source. Using this stored fat through movement and exercise, results in natural weight loss. There is no reason for us to become athletes to accomplish natural weight loss. Low impact exercise like swimming, walking, etc, can be done slowly and without strain. In order to lose real weight rather than "water weight", it is important to drink extra amounts of water when exercising. Drinking more water will also help our digestive system and metabolism to use and eliminate extra weight.

Remember, the first objective, accomplished through natural weight loss, is to improve our physical and emotional health. This involves having a healthy digestive system, a healthy emotional system and a healthy nutritional system. We can build these healthy systems with natural vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, natural digestive aid, pain relief aid, natural sleep aids, natural emotional and mood aids, essential fatty acids and many more helpful natural health care products. We need to concentrate on improving our general health, feeling good, and living well through natural weight loss, rather than constantly comparing ourselves to someone else's idea about appearance from some magazine. Physical and emotional health is primary. Appearance may be important to us, but it is secondary. Through natural weight loss, we can live well and live long.

Best Time to Workout

In general, there is no best time to workout for fat burning. Training in the afternoon should get you the same results as training in the morning, all other things being equal (i.e. nutrition, workout intensity, etc.).

Here are some important considerations for determining your workout time:

a) Are you able to train with at a proper intensity or are you tired?

b) Will you be able to eat properly before and after your workout time?

c) Will you stick to your workout program?

d) Will exercising in the morning be hard on your back?

Why do I bring up point “d”?

Dr. Stuart McGill, an expert in low-back disorders, recommends waiting at least an hour after waking up before engaging in any exercise that includes trunk flexion (i.e. traditional ab exercises such as crunches). Overnight, the discs between your vertebrae fill with fluid and are more susceptible to injury in the morning. That’s the reason behind this recommendation.

So don't roll out of bed and start doing sit-ups (not that most people should be doing those anyway – and as you’ll notice in my reports, I don’t include sit-ups in the programs). If you choose to exercise in the morning, you’ll be fine if you pay attention to your form and exercise selection (just as you should no matter when you exercise).

If you have soreness in the lower back, it is also a good idea to avoid bending over early in the morning (use another posture that is more back friendly when putting on your shoes, socks, picking up dumbbells off the floor, etc.). Always use proper lifting posture when training - no matter what time of day.

Basically, the bottom line is that you can still workout in the morning as long as you are extra careful of your back and lifting technique.

AAGGG .. Weight gain

Gaining weight in adults is a major problem now a day. Reasons can be many behind it. Eating habits, life style, addiction, lack of physical exercise, metabolism complications can be some of the reasons. According to doctors and other taught men, as we get older, your body changes and slows down with each passing decade. Aging changes our body composition, decreasing the amount of calorie-burning muscle and replacing it with fat. And adults become much less active as they get older but continue to eat as much as they did in their early decades. Deadly combination of aging, less exercise and a healthy appetite are the reasons so many of us eventually experience increased weight. Oldest and best way to stop gaining weight is to power up your metabolism by increasing muscle mass.

Diet experts and doctors recommend strength training a few times week to both retain and build muscle. As muscle is metabolically active, and to minimize naturally occurring muscle loss, we need to be physically active every day, including resistance training two to three times a week. By being active, we can enjoy more calories without gaining weight. Common mistakes people make that lead to weight gain include not taking out time for physical activity, senseless eating in front of the TV after dinner, intake of too much alcohol or sweetened drinks like specialty coffees, regular skipping breakfast, having irregular meals, taking kids' meals, intake of too much of junk food and not enough protein. We should figure out where your own problem areas are, and find solutions to control calories and fit in more fitness. When ever we are sweet eater, just work a small portion of sweets into diet.

Having healthy diet does not mean following a super-restrictive diet, instead we do have to watch what you put into your mouth. Diet high in simple junk food creates a vicious cycle. As more we eat, the more we want, because these foods aren't as satisfying as foods with protein and fiber. Pitch around the idea that we need to cut calories to maintain weight we will be benefited enough. Diet which includes whole-grain bread, fruits and vegetables, should always include lean or low-fat protein with meals and snacks. Diet experts recommend eating regular meals, paring down portions of high-fat and high-calorie foods, and never skipping breakfast. We don’t have to go to great lengths to stop gaining weight. Just avoid adding extra pounds by making some simple changes to your lifestyle. Subject experts recommend adding 2,000 steps a day to your routine, doing strength training two to three times a week, and shaving 100 calories from your diet each day. And eat two fewer cookies.

It's starting to go down !!!!

I admit that I was distracted and not focused on my program for about 3 weeks. I ate poorly and weight trained consistently but sporadic with my cardio. The last 10 days have been different. I have a focus like never before. It's strange how suddenly I'm super motivated and training intensely. My weight this morning was 190.5 lbs. I can see some of the bodyfat reducing and it is exciting. I have a mission now of becoming a personal coach that has a worldwide impact. I have never ever had a goal this size before. I see it in my mind every day, day in and day out. I believe in my mind and heart that the time has come for me to move my life up to the next level.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish"

Proverbs:29:18

Nice Ship !!

A Gambling Boat !!!

The Beach !!!

Went to Daytona Beach for the afternoon.. Took some pics and here they are to share.

This is a great workout.. Please watch

It's hard to believe..

That 2 months have passed since my last post. I started here with the best of intentions of blogging every day ( or at least 3 days a week ). I must admit I did not stick with my program. Thats the real reason for not blogging.. For most of us I'm sure it'e the same. When we are on target and doing the right things we are "pumped". Blogging then is easy and consistent. Our motivation is at it's peak. I fellt guily for not writing but I rationalized with the weak excuse that " I don't have the time". I feel better now that I stsrted again.. What helped me have been the last two days. I have worked out 5 times in the last 2 days.. I have run 4 times (1.5 mile run) and weight trained 1 time.

June 3, 2007

Its been 2 weeks since I have been using my diet management program and yesterday I weighed in at 195.5. My eating has been great as I feel terrific with lots of energy !! My workouts have been consistent although I have not run as much as I would like. Tonite once it cools down I will do 1.5 miles.

It's been 2 weeks...

I started the intensive cardio peogram 7 days ago. I weighed in today at 197.8 lbs, which is down from 203.2. My first bolg indicated that I weighed 198, which was incorrect. I have noticed in the last 2 runs that I am in the beginning stages of feeling the training effect, which I like. It will be much easier to sustain the weight loss when I can pick up the tempo for longer periods. Yesterday I did the same 1.4 mile course that I usually do in the begginning stages of intense cardio. I walked 0.2 miles, then jogged 0.7 and then sprinted approximately 150 yards 3 times to finish.

All in all, I am pleased that I see some early progress. It is extremely important to be consistent with the cardio program. You cannot underestimate its role in quality results. As always I always listen to my ipod which has a long term motivating effect.

Well... it's time...

Back on Dec 2, 2005 I was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident with serious injuries. I feel lucky to be alive. I sustained 4 broken ribs, a punctured lung, fractures to both knee caps and a fractured left hip. It has taken me almost 15 months to recover and rehab my injuries. I am happy to say that I am 95% recovered and I lifted all time personal records at weightlifting in the gym. I am so HAPPY !! But the downside is that I have experienced a weight gain of about 18 lbs. My normal weight is around 180 lbs. I am a professional personal trainer so being 18 lbs overweight is NOT a good thing. I feel strong enough now to start an aggressive weight loss program to lose the additional weight. Since I have an abundance of muscle I feel its time to lean out, strip away the body fat and look and feel my best. At 56 I still feel my best years are ahead of me. The purpose of this blog is motivational for me. I will write here daily, making all known about what I am doing and what I am eating. My goal is to be my best on September 30, 2007. I would appreciate any feedback !! Now it's time to go out and run 1.5 miles. Have fun !!

Thanks


Fred