The Best Way for Men Over 40 to Lose Weight

For men over 40, losing weight is not just a matter of looking thin. Losing weight and strengthening muscle can mean a longer, happier life for you. Some weight gain is a natural side effect of getting older, but if you are very overweight, it is important to look at your emotional and mental health to address the deeper reasons for your weight gain. In either case, a low-fat and high-fiber diet combined with daily aerobic exercise is your first step to losing weight.

 
Diet

Your key to eating right is eating enough nourishing food that you won't feel famished and binge on empty calorie, high-fat snacks. Eat a hearty, low-fat breakfast to keep you full throughout the day. Use the Mayo Clinic's online food pyramid weight-loss guide. Enter your weight, height and gender, and you will be advised on how many calories you should consume in a day and how many servings to eat from each area of the food pyramid. Use a calorie guide book, like the one in Nancy Goor's book "Choose to Lose Weight-Loss Plan for Men." Goor recommends a high-fiber and low-fat diet not only for weight loss but to lower your risk of coronary diseases. Plan out your meals and portion sizes each day to avoid spontaneous binging or "emotional eating."


Exercise

Include two key elements in your daily exercise routine: at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise and strength training. Aerobic exercise can be any repetitive, rhythmic nonstop movement, from biking to walking. Aerobic exercise is the best way to burn fat and not just stored sugars. Goor recommends walking at least 30 minutes a day because it is easiest on your joints and most effective for fat loss. Jogging is not as effective for fat loss because joggers burn more sugar and less fat than walkers. If you are going to jog or run, make sure you are doing it consistently for at least 30 minutes. Schedule a time every day to do this, whether it's after you brush your teeth in the morning or before you prepare your dinner at night. To ensure mobility in your old age, you also need strength training. If a gym is inaccessible, use elastic bands for resistance or hand-held weights. Increase repetitions and weight amount as you gain strength in your arms and back. Besides your abdominals and leg muscles, you should not work the same muscles two days in a row.


Mental and Emotional Health

If you are unhappy with yourself, your job or your life in general, you may have little motivation to invest in your life such positive changes as eating healthy and losing weight. Just beginning to exercise, you may notice an improvement in our outlook and mood. In his book, "The Irritable Male Syndrome," Jed Diamond writes about how exercising helps melt away irritability and anger, making many men more happy to spend time with their families and enjoy life. Adopt the mindset that eating healthily and exercising is a way to tell yourself that you deserve to be healthy and to live a long, productive life. Psychotherapy along with diet and exercise may help some people with overeating. Yoga is a physical practice that has been shown to help many people with their physical and mental well-being. "Anyone who has ever had his back go out---and that seems to be most of us over 40---knows it's difficult not to feel irritable when that happens...I have found daily yoga stretches to be very helpful."

By Allegra Oxborough, eHow Contributor

Sex and Heart Attacks - What a Way to Go?

Nelson Rockefeller died while having sex with his mistress. Even the mighty Attila the Hun fell victim to a heart attack that caused his early demise … on his wedding night no less.


And while people might kid about it being a great way to go, fear of heart attack during sex significantly reduces the amount of sexual activity patients with known heart problems have.

Other than making your heart go “pitter-patter,” what are the cardiac effects of sexual activity?

Volunteers having sex in a laboratory setting have a significant increase in pulse, blood pressure and respiratory rates. In other words, the heart works harder, pretty much along the same level as with a moderate work out.

What’s really interesting is when similar studies are conducted among married couples in their own bedrooms; heart rates don’t increase during sex! In fact, on average, married couples had a LOWER heart rate than recorded during normal daily activities. I actually find it pretty depressing that having sex with your spouse in your own bedroom requires the same amount of exertion as a 2-4 mile per hour stroll on a level surface for a few minutes. That is why studies show that sexual activity is rarely responsible for a myocardial infarction (MI). Risks are even smaller in men and women who are routinely sexually active, and have participated in a regular post-MI exercise program.

This was confirmed by an article that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last month. Researchers looked at 14 studies regarding risk of cardiac death during sex. They found that the risk of death was 2.7 times more likely to occur, but ONLY if someone rarely had intercourse or exercised. In fact, engaging in some form of exercise once a week decreased the risk of cardiac death by 45%.


They concluded that the risk of death during sex with your spouse is small, especially if you exercise and/or have sex regularly.


There is another problem associated with sex if you have heart disease. Up to 75% of men and women experience sexual dysfunction after MI. Fear is not exactly an aphrodisiac and it’s hard to relax during sex if you don’t know if you are going to come … or go. If you continue to avoid intimacy due to a fear of dying or having a repeat MI, it may help to have an exercise stress test to assure you that your heart can take it. In general, most cardiologists say you are safe to have sex if you can climb up two flights of stairs without having chest pain or becoming out of breath. Many cardiac rehab programs also have psychologists specifically trained to help you address anxiety regarding resuming your sex life.


Obviously, it’s important to check with your own doctor before initiating exercise or sex after a heart attack, but overall, patients who have no symptoms, have mild, stable angina, controlled hypertension, and do not have exercise-induced ischemia, should feel free to have sex 6-8 weeks post MI with his or her partner or spouse.

 Post MI is not the time to have an affair or join the Mile High Club unless you are willing to suffer the fate of Nelson Rockefeller.


By Lauren Streicher, MD