I’ve joined a gym and want to get the best workout I can in the time I have available. Any advice?
There is no “best” workout. It all depends on goals, how accustomed you are to exercise and factors such as joint problems and medical conditions. First and foremost, workouts should be safe, and finding an activity that peaks your interest and that you find enjoyable is important. Try different exercise classes, try out different pieces of exercise equipment designed for cardio and strength training. If you are an experienced exerciser, it’s a matter of changing your routine on a regular basis so that you continue giving your body new physical and mental challenges.
Cardiovascular equipment usually provides readings such as minutes, distance, heart rate, elevation, speed, pace and calories burned, but choosing how to gauge the quality of your workout can be difficult. Some tips:
Healthy adults should try to get a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week. If weight loss is goal, 60 minutes most or every day. Walking is the easiest and least costly form of exercise for beginners, and strength training exercises can be performed using dumbbells, resistance bands or machines. When it comes to consistent calorieburning when working out, its not as much about how long the workout is, rather, the amount of energy expended minute to minute (light, moderate or heavy exertion).
On a treadmill, distance is measured from the revolutions of a belt over time. On an exercise bike or elliptical cross-trainer however, the formula can vary. In other words, don’t expect the energy you burn while running on a treadmill to be the same as what you experience with the same distance on a stationary exercise bike. Distance itself does not really determine total calories burned. Again, think about how fast/hard you push yourself. Other factors that determine calorie burning are how much you weigh (a heavier body uses more calories), and of course, eating habits.
Watts is an expression of the amount of energy you’re spending on the workout, or the amount of power required by the machine to maintain the workout load. Some pieces of cardio equipment will let you set a specific watt level to maintain. Set the machine at 100 watts if you are a beginning exerciser, and up the intensity to 150 or 200 watts if you’re more experienced.
This is the abbreviation for “metabolic equivalent” and equates to the amount of oxygen your body consumes at rest. This number is then compared to the oxygen you consume when exercising. For example if you are biking at 5 METs, you are consuming 5 times the amount of oxygen than when resting. While METs are typically used in clinical settings to assure consistent levels of exertion for test subjects, moderate exercisers should aim for 3.0 to 5.9 METs.
Time: Distance: Watts: METs:
Lily Collins was struggling to put the weight back on. She’d whittled herself down to a skeletal frame to play an anorexic young woman in “To the Bone” — a risky prospect, considering she was only a few years into recovery after her own battle with an eating disorder. She’d been warned by medical experts and nutritionists that regaining body mass would be difficult, both physically and psychologically. But she didn’t anticipate that the experience could affect her standing in Hollywood too.
Just a few months after filming wrapped on “To the Bone” — which hit Netflix on July 14 — Collins was set to begin promoting her role in Warren Beatty’s “Rules Don’t Apply.” It was a big moment in her career, and she even ended up earning a Golden Globe nomination for her turn in the film. That’s when her publicity team came forward to give her some hard news.
“Magazines were concerned about my appearance and didn’t want to put me in their publications because of how I looked at the time,” the actress recalls.
If you’ve noticed an uptick in how often you’ve had a headache this summer, you’re not alone. Allergies, travel stress, dehydration, humidity and extreme heat can all lead to headaches.
“Although there are several types of headaches, migraine and tension headaches are the most common,” says neurologist Michelle Noel, DO. A migraine starts deep within the brain. It involves the brain stem, nerves and blood vessels. The brain releases chemicals that inflame and irritate the nerves and blood vessels, causing pain.
Tension headaches may be triggered by tense muscles in the neck and shoulders, which may cause pain to be referred to the head and behind the eyes.
Only rarely are headaches a sign of a serious medical condition, but if you experience new or worsening headache symptoms that are not like your typical headaches, seek medical attention immediately.
What’s the difference?
A migraine causes throbbing pain felt on one or both sides of the head. This headache may also be preceded or associated with changes in sight — like seeing Actress in “To the Bone” “They said, ‘Even though she lost it for the movie, it’s putting out an image that we don’t feel is positive for our readers.’ I was blown away by their resistance, but in an almost great way. I have to commend them for it. It was a real ‘aha’ moment for me, that this could start to affect my work. If I could have snapped my fingers and gained 10 pounds in that moment, I would have.”
Nearly a year later, the 28-yearold is back in a healthy place, even landing on the cover of Shape magazine wearing a bikini. But her journey with “To the Bone” shed light on the industry’s relationship with body image — a complicated push-pull that’s still unfolding as the film reaches viewers.
Shortly after the first trailer for Marti Noxon’s directorial debut was seen last month, many in the eating disorder community expressed concern that the film might glamorize the mental illness. Three Change.org petitions were launched with concerns about the film, though the largest, spots or flashes of light, known as aura — and changes in sensations or the ability to speak. You may feel nauseated or vomit. Pain may last for four to 72 hours.
This type of headache is usually a dull ache or a sensation of pressure on both sides of the head. It may be associated with pain or tension in the neck and shoulders. Depression, anxiety and stress can cause a tension headache. The pain may not have a definite beginning or end. It may come and go, or it may seem to never go away. Call your doctor for headaches that happen along with any of these symptoms: Sudden, severe headache that is different from your usual headache pain Loss of vision or blurry vision asking Netflix to withdraw “To the Bone,” had gathered just 814 signatures by July 14. The controversy came on the heels of backlash to another Netflix property, the series “13 Reasons Why,” which prompted hundreds of high schools nationwide to send out letters to parents warning that the show might fuel suicidal ideations.
Noxon, who also began fighting anorexia as a teenager, was disheartened by the response — “that people would already say this is what the film is without having seen it,” she explains, sitting beside Collins a few days before the movie’s launch.
“Both Lily and I in deciding to make the movie had to evaluate, well, where are we in our recovery? Are we in a good place to make this? And we both felt really strongly that it was something we wanted to do and that would be good for us,” says the 52-yearold, best known for her work on television programs, including “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
Some headaches can be prevented by avoiding what triggers them in the first place. To learn more about what causes your headaches, keep track of a few important details when you feel one start:
Date and time of day:
Is it early morning, late at night? Bright sunlight or glare from vehicle lights can trigger pain.
Warning signs or symptoms:
Did you feel nauseated or have a change in vision?
Type and intensity of pain:
Is it throbbing, stabbing, or blinding? Is it constant or in waves?
Do you feel it behind your eyes, back of your head, or one specific point?
Location of pain: What happened before:
Jot down details about your environment or social interactions. and “Unreal.” “But I know that there were certain times when I was sick when something could activate my rumination and I couldn’t even predict what it would be. So if this is on topic for people, it’s good to be able to say ahead of time — yeah, you might want to steer clear until you feel like it’s not going to be problematic for you.”
In “To the Bone,” Collins stars as Ellen, a 20-year-old artist who is sent to an inpatient treatment home in an attempt to face her demons. Despite the aid of an unconventional doctor (Keanu Reeves), she continues to wrestle with the urge to count calories or burn them by constantly doing sit-ups. Though prosthetics and visual effects contributed to Collins’ emaciated look, the actress still appears disarmingly thin in the film, with sunken cheekbones, protruding collarbones and an extremely visible ribcage.
What concerns some in the eating disorder field about “To the Bone” is that the behaviors Ellen displays in the film might trigger a dangerous line of thinking for those struggling with body image.
“There’s a very, very, very fine line between giving information about eating disorders and dis- continued on
Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by uncomfortable gastrointestinal symptoms, but it’s the effect the health issue can have on one’s everyday life that has the greatest impact on sufferers.
Irritable bowel syndrome, also known as IBS, is a health issue that affects up to 20 percent of Americans with many chronic symptoms such as intermittent bowel pain, altered bowel habits, gas and bloating. The issues may seem minor to most, but for those struggling with IBS it has the power to keep them home from social events or even miss days of work.
“Irritable bowel syndrome is the second-leading cause of absence from work in the United States,” said Rosanne Danielson, MD, with Premier Gastroenterology Specialists in Troy. “It’s an issue that has always been around, but it’s been something that people continued on