The sedentary lifestyle is clearly being linked to early death and more and more health issues as time goes on. As science gets more sophisticated at pinpointing the problems that lead to shorter lifespans and higher risks of certain types of deadly disease, we are seeing clearly how important it is that we do what we were made to do since the dawn of time – MOVE!

Whenever I read a new story like this, it makes me cringe to be honest because I happen to have a desk job during the week where I sometimes am completely unable to get up from my desk for a few hours.  I try to make it a point to stand up, stretch, take walks and move around as much as I can, but I can feel (and see) the effects that having a desk job for ten years has had on my body.

I used to wait tables and work in fast food sorts of jobs for years before I landed my cushy desk job. I was a lot more in shape when I had my active jobs of course. But I was also younger. I still think that having the desk job for all these years has added weight to me and also taken away a lot of my former muscle tone.

I also feel like I have to fight twice as hard to keep weight off now. Again, that is a symptom of aging as well, but I know that it has something to do with the fact that the only time I get true, constant exercise is when I’m working out. If I don’t work out every single day, that means I’m only getting adequate movement when I make sure I work out.

Sometimes that may not be much, maybe 3–5 days a week.  I just was watching the show “The Doctors” where now they are linking the sedentary lifestyle to an increased risk of breast cancer in women.  This makes sense, since cancer of all kinds is usually a higher risk for people who don’t get enough exercise.

This is because so many other things go along with the sedentary lifestyle.  Excess weight and fat, which creates excessive estrogens in the body, which fuels certain types of cancer is one for instance. Another is the fact that exercise is a huge stress buster, and those with less stress and anxiety tend to have better immune systems and healthier cells in their body which lessens their risk of cancer.

It is clear that living a non-moving lifestyle is dangerous to your health these days. Not heeding these clear signs would be dangerous to your longevity, mindset and your generall health and well being.

Recent studies have shown that eating a fatty diet can actually cause injury to your brain.  The injury to the brain from a highly fatty diet doesn’t just occur gradually over time.  According to these studies, the change takes place within 24 hours of eating a high fat diet.

These damaging alterations in the brain happens in humans and in rodents.  One area of the brain that suffers serious consequences with inflammation and injury is the hypothalamus.

This is of particular significance since the hypothalamus is the area of the brain that controls weight.  If the hypothalamus suffers structural damage, it will not be able to function properly in individuals who have always eaten high fat diets and continue to do so.

This gives scientific reasoning to back up why certain people try so many diets and exercise that may give them only minimal short term results of some weight loss.  Then, without a concerted effort, they return to their “pre-diet” weight.

The hypothesis from the study findings is that this “preset” weight that certain obese individuals keep returning to is caused by fundamental changes in the brain.  The obese person’s energy balance has been altered by a lifetime of consuming an unhealthy high fat diet.

This study and it’s findings will hopefully make people even more aware of the health ramifications of persisting to eat a high fat diet.  Also of importance, is changing children’s diets to a lower fat, healthier choice type of nutritional intake.

Obesity is epidemic in this country and it tops the list of health concerns.  It is such a severe health issue that it is prioritized above concerns over heart disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer and diabetes.

Changing eating habits for the entire family off of the “junk” food, fast food and all high fat choices is so necessary.  Parents should make sure there are lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean protein sources available for the whole family. These choices should be made in the grocery store aisle to begin with.

Food preparation methods should be reviewed for fat content.  Tasty recipes should be used to supply filling, satisfying meals using low fat choices.  Instead of fats for sauces and moisture to a meal, low fat selections can include using low fat yogurts in place of sour cream and vegetable bases using tomatoes with lots of herbs for seasoning.

Your family will start craving these foods once they are all accustomed to it.  One healthy choice, with all this awareness, will lead to another, until it becomes a lifestyle change.

One of the most ridiculous things I ever read about working out and drinking water is that you should try really hard to just avoid drinking water or beverages at all.  The one thing I do agree with is that you shouldn’t drink sugary electrolyte replenishing drinks during workouts, unless you need the carbs and you are doing something extremely intensive like running a marathon, a triathlon or something like that.

During the course of “normal” working out though, that is not advised.  Why? Well, working out, you’re burning calories and carbs. You don’t want to add more of the very thing you’re trying to burn while you’re working out.

There is also evidence that you stop producing HGH, the precious Human Growth Hormone, that you taper off on producing with age, when you work out. But the catch is you only produce it much more during workouts when you’re not also simultaneously carb loading.

Some recommendations actually say to wait a few hours after a workout to even eat or drink any carbs.  So what about just drinking plain old water during a workout?  Nothing wrong with that, right?

Definitely not. You actually need to replenish some of the lost water through the sweat you’ve been putting out during a workout. The more you sweat, the more you’ll need to drink.  The argument from the non-water drinkers is that you are hurting your body’s natural mechanism for putting the body into high calorie burning mode during a workout.

They claim that you are bringing the body temperature down and defeating the purpose of heating it up. That’s only if you’re drinking severely cold water though, and the effect is momentary, trust me.  So, I think this can be safely debunked.

One thing you don’t want to do is drink too much water. This can lead to cramping and a belly full of water that can be uncomfortable to carry around when you’re moving around vigorously.

Too much water, or food for that matter, when you are working out vigorously lends itself to cramping.  Plus it just plain weighs you down. When your body is using energy to burn off food AND work out, you are inevitably going to have a mediocre workout that you can’t put 100% in to.

When it comes to the fat on your body, there are actually two types that can cause huge differences in the way you burn fat and maintain weight. Numerous studies have corroborated that brown fat cells actually burn more calories than white fat cells, making them the more desirable of the two types of fat to have.

A recent study actually showed that mice who have higher concentrations of brown fat over white fat cells burned more calories and maintained a trimmer physique than the mice that had more white fat cells.

Brown fat is found a lot in newborns, and is found a lot more in thinner people, leading researchers to find that this type of fat is much more beneficial than “white fat” is on the human body. 

So what accounts for the brown color of brown fat? Well, it contains many more cells, and it actually contains iron stores, which makes it appear the brownish color versus the white color.

It is thought that due to the higher energy need of brown fat, it helps the body to burn more fat by having a higher thermogenic property than white fat. This means it generates more heat and burns a lot more calories and therefore a lot more “bad fat”.

Brown fat actually “takes” energy from white fat cells, and is therefore an excellent mode of burning extra fat and thinning down the body, as well as sculpting the body and helping to reduce things like big thighs, jiggly arms, and reduce cellulite on the body.

In short, there are sure to be more studies on white vs. brown fat, and I’m sure we’ll see more ways to take advantage of this for our weight loss goals. For now, there are really no published ways that we can figure out how to increase our good body fat while decreasing bad body fat.

One of the rules that I’ve always followed, unless I really do have a lot of pent up energy and need to work out to get that energy out, is to not work out at least two to three hours before bed time. For me, I follow this rule because exercising gets my endorphins going, and my adrenaline usually stays higher for a few hours after I work out.

If I work out a couple hours before bed, I’m likely going to still be in this “jazzed” state before I hit the hay, and I’ll probably lay there forever before I can actually get relaxed enough to sleep.

Another good reason is that your body really needs to start producing melatonin, and dimming the lights and winding down before bed is better for your chances at a good nights sleep when you follow this type of procedure.

Some people might be different though. There are some people who could probably fall asleep at the drop of a hat, no matter what they had down a few hours before bed time, and those people are probably the exception to the rule.

While it is true that working out on a regular basis makes for a better sleeping habit in general, and deeper sleep, this is only true for those that work out in mid day or morning, not those that work out too late in the evening.

I’ve noticed that if I work out too close to bed time, it sort of fools my body into thinking that there should still be more time at the end of the day, and that I’m cutting my day short.  Now, if you are going to either be a couch potato, or get your workout in at the end of your day, then obviously, the smarter choice is to get that workout IN!

Working out is always better than not working out, no matter what time of day you are committing yourself to.  There are some who really can’t work out any other time, such as people that work later shifts or have little children that need their attention until they go to bed.

Those people may be better off just getting that workout in the evening, instead of leading a more sedentary lifestyle, which would be the alternative if they couldn’t get the exercise in.

You’ve seen a lot of the sports drinks that are sold as a good electrolyte booster, and replenishing aid to help you re energize yourself during and after a workout, and help to balance those electrolytes that are lost in the sweat your produce when working out.

I know that I will occasionally buy some Gatorade for my husband when he is sick, because he says that is the only drink that makes him feel better. However, I know that it’s a terrible idea to actually use them after working out, or even before. 

The majority of the composition of your typical energy drink or sports drink is really sugar, when you get down to the nitty gritty.  Because of this, you are actually pushing your body to NOT produce HGH, which is Human Growth Hormone.

Human Growth Hormone helps your body to produce lean muscle and helps the body to get rid of body fat, among other things.

When you put sugar or carbs into your body either during or right after a workout, you actually shut the HGH production off, and you stop producing it when it’s at peak production time, which is when the body is recovering from a rigorous workout.

It is recommended that you actually don’t drink or eat anything containing sugar or carbs for about one hour before working out, and for as long as you can stand it, after you work out.  When you do this, you sabotage your body’s own natural abilities to produce HGH, especially after you’ve stopped producing a lot.

As we age, our bodies slow way down on the HGH production, so we need as much help as we can get in this aspect of our declining youth hormones as we age. Working out and getting great, complete sleep are two of the best ways we can cump up our HGH naturally.

Taking HGH supplements also helps, but nothing can substitute the lifestyle habits that help to increase its production naturally.