Question And Answer: Gazelle Edge

If you’ve read my book or work with my privately, you already know that I’m a huge fan of the Gazelle Edge Elliptical Trainer.  This machine is perfect for home use.  It is inexpensive at just over $100, it folds up for storage when not in use, and is extremely low impact.  The majority of my clients pick up one of these machines and use it as their primary source of cardio.  I have one myself and use it every day.  I figured I’d use this question and answer post to help owners of the Gazelle Edge get the most out of their machine.  For a complete review of the Gazelle, including where to get it, check out this earlier post (click here).

One note before we begin: whenever starting an exercise program, it is imperative that you contact your doctor and get medical clearance.  I will not even think about recommending exercise to a new client until I conduct a medical history and contact their doctor for clearance.  Safety first!  On to the questions:

Should I Use The Arms?

No. In fact, I recommend unscrewing and removing the arms altogether.  I say this for 2 reasons:  1) I want you to emphasize the large muscles of the lower body during your cardio, not the arms.  2) Having the arms off the machine will free up your hands to hold a phone, the remote control, your Ipad, book, or newspaper.

How Can I Prevent The Gazelle From Sliding Around?

If you place the Gazelle on a hardwood floor, you’ll notice that it moves around a bit during your workout.  To prevent this, use the Gazelle on a carpet if at all possible.  If this isn’t possible, a thin yoga mat underneath it will help a lot.  I actually use a yoga mat on top of the carpet to keep the Gazelle from leaving indentations on the carpet.  This combination reduces movement completely.

Initially, I Feel Like I’m Not Working Out Hard Enough, Am I Doing Something Wrong?

When you first start using the machine, you are not entirely comfortable and balanced.  This will slow down your pace.  During this early phase, many feel that they are not working hard enough.  You’ll find that if you keep at it, your balance will improve and you’ll be able to work harder.  Take long, fluid strides; kind of like you are cross-country skiing on one of those Nordic Track’s from years ago.  Also swing your arms as if you were running quickly.  Before you know it, you’ll be sweating and your heart rate will be up.

Can I Do Anything Else To Pick Up The Intensity?

For most people, just following the above recommendations will get their intensity to the proper level to improve fitness and lose weight.  However, if I have a client that is a bit younger and healthy, I’ll recommend interval training to ramp up the intensity.  I’ll have them start out their cardio at the normal intensity for 4½ minutes, and then sprint for 30 seconds.  I’ll have them repeat this 4 or 5 times during their workout.  This is a great way to increase intensity and calories burned.  The sprint does not have to be a maximal effort; simply increase your pace for 30 seconds.  If a client is very overweight or has risk factors for heart disease (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc), I don’t recommend intervals, as the increased intensity can spike heart rate and blood pressure.

My Gazelle Is Starting To Squeak, How Can I Fix This?

You may notice after some time that your Gazelle squeaks a bit. I normally have headphones on when I use it, so I don’t even really notice, but some of my clients have found this annoying.  Here’s how to fix this straight from the user manual:

“If squeaks or other noises develop over time, we recommend lubricating all

moving parts as follows:
             a) Apply clear household grease (i.e. petroleum jelly) to axle tube.
             b) Spray cable holders (top & bottom) with WD40 or equivalent.”

Feature Article: Healthy Weight

When I meet a new weight loss client, one of the first questions I ask is, “How much weight would you ideally like to lose?”  Usually they turn around and ask me, “Well, how much do I need to lose?”   I figured that I’d create a post to help my readers answer this common question.

There are several guidelines to help you figure out your ideal weight.  As a Licensed Nutritionist and an Exercise Physiologist, my goal is to get my client down to a point where their weight will no longer increase their risk of chronic disease.  If they want to go a bit lower for cosmetic reasons, that is fine and I’m happy to help them do so.  However, when their weight is no longer going to negatively impact their health, I truly feel like I’ve done my job.  So how do you set your weight loss goals to minimize your risk of chronic disease?  There are actually 3 important measures.

Body Mass Index

Body mass index is a great place to start.  Your body mass index is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared.   If your body mass index is 25 or lower, your weight is considered normal.  If it falls between 25.1 and 29.9, you are considered overweight.  If it is 30 or more you are considered obese.

Risk of chronic disease begins to increase with BMI’s over 25 and rises sharply with BMI’s over 30.  I always have my clients shoot for a BMI under 25.  While the BMI measure isn’t perfect, there is a lot of solid research behind the numbers, so I always have my clients start there.  The Center for Disease Control has a free BMI calculator (click here).  You can use this calculator to figure out your BMI today and also what weight you need to reach to get it under 25.

Waist Circumference

The next area you want to focus on is your waist circumference.  Abdominal fat is particularly harmful to our health.  It has been associated with insulin resistance and inflammation, which can lead to increases in risk of heart disease, diabetes and even some cancers. 

Measure your waist with a tape measure right at your navel.  Men want to be below 40 inches and women want to be below 35 inches.  Your waist measure is important even if you are at a healthy weight.  Studies have shown that if your BMI is below 25 but your waist circumference is too high, your will have a significantly higher risk of death.

Body Fat

One other useful measure is your percent body fat.  The best way to measure this is with a DEXA scan.  This machine is often used to measure bone density.  Many don’t have access to one of these, so your next best bet is a bioelectrical impedance analyzer.

These machines work by shooting an imperceptible electric pulse up your body.  Since muscle and fat conduct electricity differently, your body fat can be measured.  If you are interested in picking up an analyzer, I recommend the brand Tanita.  Tanita sells a line of very accurate scales that come with a bioelectrical impedance analyzer.  They generally run around $100.  I’ve seen validation studies on these scales and when used correctly, they correlate highly with DEXA scans, which are the gold standard for body composition assessment.  Since bioelectrical impedance relies on proper levels of hydration, for 3 hours before the test you don’t want to eat, sleep, or exercise.

I’ve had a Tanita Ironman for years and love it.  To learn more about these analyzers or to pick one up, check out their website at tanita.com.

So what body fat should you shoot for?  A fit level of body fat is generally considered 14-17% for men and 21-24% for women.  That is a great goal to shoot for.

Research Update: Beverages And Weight Loss

Replacing caloric beverages with water or diet beverages for weight loss in adults: Main results of the Choose Healthy Options Consciously Everyday randomized clinical trial.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2012: 95:555-63.

Objective:  The objective of this study was to examine the effects of replacing caloric beverages with water or diet beverages as a method of weight loss over a 6 month study period.

Methods: 318 overweight and obese men and women who consumed at least 280 daily calories in beverage form were recruited for this study.  Subjects were placed into one of three groups:

Group 1 replaced 2 servings of soda per day with water.
Group 2 replaced 2 servings of soda per day with diet soda.
Group 3 was a control group that received general weight loss advice but no specific instructions on beverages.

The intervention lasted for 6 months and then weight was measured.  Replacement beverages were provided to all study participants in replacement groups.

Results: At the end of the 6 months, all three groups had lost weight.  However, participants assigned to beverage replacement were two times as likely to have achieved a 5% weight loss when compared to the control group.

Discussion: It appears that our body is not very good at registering calories in liquid form.  Studies show that when we snack on solid food, most people will generally compensate by eating fewer calories the rest of the day.  This does not seem to happen with liquid calories.  When the same people received snacks in liquid form, they did not eat any less throughout the rest of the day.  This study provides further evidence that liquid calories are usually just added to what we would normally eat in a day. 

Take Home Message: If you are trying to lose weight, dump the liquid calories.  Stick with water, decaf coffee/tea or naturally flavored sparkling water.  Don’t go too crazy with the diet sodas-- they have some issues of their own.  (To learn more about non-nutritive sweeteners, check out this post)

Book Review: The Fertility Diet

The Fertility Diet is next up for review.  Many of my clients and blog readers are at the age where they are thinking of starting a family.  Problems with conception are common and can be very difficult to deal with.  It turns out that the lifestyle habits of the mother and father have much more to do with the ability to conceive than previously thought. The book is co-authored by Dr. Walter Willett and Dr Jorge Chavarro.  Dr Willett is the Department Chair at the Harvard School of Public Health Department of Nutrition.   Dr. Chavarro is a research fellow there as well.  Full disclosure:  I know both of the authors: Dr Willett was my Department Chair while at Harvard and Jorge and I were both getting our doctorate at the same time.  Trust me when I say that my familiarity with these two amazing researchers will not bias this review.  My high opinion of this book is based solely on the fact that the book is truly well done.

Introduction

The Nurses’ Health Study has produced an impressive array of research on the subject of diet and fertility.  The Fertility Diet presents this research in an easy to understand format.  The basic premise of the book is that there are 10 diet and lifestyle strategies that will improve a couple’s chances of conception.  In the first chapter, all 10 strategies are briefly presented.  The remaining chapters of the book each cover one of these strategies in depth, and the supporting research to back up the claim is presented and analyzed.  The last part of the book features a 7 day meal plan that includes several recipes.  The book is extremely well written and converts a lot of complicated research into simple lay terms that are easy to understand to those unfamiliar with scientific research design.

5 Things I Liked About The Fertility Diet

1) It Is Research Based: Far too many nutrition books present opinion and not research based hypothesis, adding to the generalized confusion on how nutrition impacts health.  The Fertility Diet basis all recommendations on current, well designed research.  If the research isn’t definitive on a topic, the authors have the courage to say “we don’t know about this yet”.

2) It Is Comprehensive: The Fertility Diet is not just about nutrition, it covers all aspects of lifestyle that may impact the ability to conceive, including: weight, exercise, and stress.

3) Glycemic Index And Glycemic Load Are Very Well Explained:  There is a comprehensive discussion of glycemic index and glycemic load that is one of the best I have ever seen.

4) Interesting Section On Dairy:  The chapter on dairy is fascinating.  You’ll learn a lot about the difference between low fat and high fat dairy products and how they may impact the ability to conceive.  You’ll definitely be surprised by some of the research in this area.

5) Review Of Popular Diets:  In the chapter on maintaining a healthy weight, the authors present a really well done, research based review of popular weight loss diets.

Do I Recommend Reading The Fertility Diet?

Absolutely and strongly!  This book is great.  Research is becoming clear that the lifestyle habits of mother and father can not only influence the ability to conceive, but the long term health of the child.  I also think there is tremendous value in reading this book if you’re not trying to conceive.  Most of the recommendations that promote conception also promote general health as well.  In fact, the book spends a lot of time explaining how each strategy impacts health and risk of disease before getting into the impact on conception.  At times, the book had the feeling of being an updated version of Dr. Willett’s Eat Drink And Be Healthy, which, in my opinion, is one of the best nutrition books ever written.

Product Review: Fitbit Ultra

If you are interested in losing weight or improving your health, cardiovascular exercise is extremely important.  Most people are really busy, and I’ve found over the years that an inadequate level of cardio is one of the biggest obstacles to weight loss success.  Any tool that can help in this area is worth its weight in gold.  The Fitbit Ultra is one such tool.

The Fitbit is like a pedometer on steroids.  It’s a tiny gadget that you can put in your pocket or clip on your waist.  It contains a 3D motion sensor that allows you to record every aspect of your daily physical activity, including:

1) Step taken

2) Miles walked
3) Stairs climbed
4) Hours slept

You can cycle through all of these measurements on the Fitbit itself.  It also wirelessly loads them onto your computer, so you can graph and keep track of all of your activities. 

The Fitbit is a great tool to keep you aware of your physical activity and has a lot of great features. I picked one of these up a few months ago and have used it a ton. 

Fitbit Pro’s

1) Small and easy to wear, you don’t even notice it’s on you.

2) Great features: including measurement of steps, miles, stairs climbed, and sleep.

3) Free access to the Fitbit website where you can keep track of your activity, set up goals, and much more.  Many other lifestyle monitors charge you a monthly fee for access to such a site.

4) Helps you accurately gauge your level of physical activity.  I was amazed at how much my level of activity varied from day to day, depending on my schedule.

5) Provides accountability.

6) Motivates you to become more active.

Con’s
1) The only con I can come up with is that compared to other pedometers it is a bit pricey at $99.  However, this is a one time outlay with no other fees to use the website.  You also get a bunch more features than you do with everyday pedometers.

Would I recommend the Fitbit Ultra?

Absolutely.  The Fitbit Ultra is a great tool to help you assess your activity levels.  You’ll actually become competitive with yourself.  If you set a goal of 10,000 steps and your looking short one day, you may find yourself looking for excuses to walk a bit more.  It is also great for when you travel and are not sure of your physical activity levels.

Monitoring your diet and exercise is a huge part of making lifestyle changes stick.  Fitbit allows you keep track of your physical activity in a simple and highly motivating way.  

The Fitbit retails for $99 and is shipped for free.  For more information or to pick one up, check out their website at www.fitbit.com

Research Update: Red Meat And Risk Of Stroke

Red meat consumption and risk of stroke in Swedish men.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2011: 94:417-21.

Objective:  The objective of this study was to examine the association between red meat consumption and risk of stroke in 40,291 Swedish men over a 10 year follow-up period.

Methods: All men filled out a 96 item food frequency questionnaire that assessed usual diet.  This enabled the researchers to compute total red meat, fresh red meat, and processed red meat consumption for the analysis.  Fresh red meat was considered minced pork, beef, or veal.  Processed red meat was considered sausage, hot dogs, salami, ham, and processed cold cuts.  Total red meat was the sum of fresh red meat and processed red meat.

Results: After 10 years of follow up, there were 2,409 new cases of stroke among these men.  Men who consumed more than 2 ounces of processed red meat per day had a 23% increased risk of stroke when compared to men consuming less than ¾ ounce of processed red meat per day. Fresh red meat was not associated with risk of stroke.  Total red meat was associated with a borderline significant 15% increased risk of stroke when comparing men who consumed the most red meat (greater than 5 ounces per day) to men who consumed the least (less than 2 ounces per day).

Discussion: A number of studies have recently shown that fresh red meat is not as strongly associated with risk of cardiovascular disease as once thought.  Processed red meat, on the other hand, is strongly associated with risk of heart disease and stroke.  It is believed that the high levels of nitrates and sodium in the processed red meat are the mechanism behind the increased risk. 

Take Home Message:  It seems like the problem with red meat largely lies in the processing.  I tell my clients to limit portions of red meat to once per week.  Choosing lean and fresh sources of red meat like filet mignon and lean hamburger is a good idea.   Strictly limit the processed red meats like bacon, sausage, hot dogs and fatty deli meats.  Keep in mind that red meat has also been associated with colon cancer incidence so don’t go overboard with the red meat consumption.

Top 5 Strategies To Reduce Your Sodium Consumption

           The impact of sodium on health has been a very hot topic in the nutritional literature of late.  Public health efforts to reduce sodium in our foods are becoming more and more focused.  In years past, sodium restriction was only recommended for those with hypertension.  It is now becoming clear that we all should be limiting our sodium intake.  High sodium diets have been associated with hypertension, stroke, heart disease, osteoporosis and even gastric cancer.  A good goal is 1500 mg of sodium per day.  The typical American gets 3400 mg.  We’ve clearly got some work to do.  Here are the top 5 strategies to reduce your sodium consumption.

1) Limit Processed Food 

The vast majority of the sodium that we consume comes from processed, pre-packaged food.  If you eat most of your food in its natural form, you’ll be reducing your sodium dramatically.  Focus on fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein sources, vegetable fats like oils and nuts, legumes and whole grains for the majority of your calories and you will significantly reduce your sodium levels.

2) Eat Out Less

            One thing that I always stress to my clients is that when they are deciding on what to eat, the main goal is to pick foods that are healthy for them.  When you eat out at a restaurant, the main goal of the chef is to make the food taste as good as possible, so you’ll want to come back for another visit.  This means you are getting much higher levels of flavor enhancing sugar, salt and fat when you eat out.  Eat as many meals in your home as possible and your salt consumption will plummet.

3) Choose Low Sodium Versions Of Foods When You Can

            Low sodium versions of many foods are available and you can find more and more of them in grocery stores every day.  Admittedly, it does take a little while to get used to the lower sodium level, but after a short period of time you don’t even really notice the difference.  Look for low sodium black beans, soups, turkey breast, turkey bacon, nuts, nut butters, etc.  You can reduce your sodium levels drastically by just making a few changes when low sodium options present themselves.

4) Don’t Add Any Salt To Your Food At The Table

            Even better, don’t even have a salt shaker on your table.

5) Limit Fast Food

            Fast food restaurants are a major source of sodium in the American diet.  Limit fast food to an occasional treat and you’ll reduce your sodium intake dramatically.