I hope this title grabbed your attention and made you start thinking about how you fuel the most finely tuned piece of precision machinery you own—YOUR BODY.

As I was fueling my car at the gas station yesterday, I started looking at all of the other customers around me and I noticed something. Most of them were putting premium high-grade gas in their cars but putting high calorie junk in their bodies. One by one they came out of the store with high calorie drinks, candy, hot dogs, pastries and the like!  I began to ask myself, “Why do people fuel their cars better than their own bodies?  Why have our eating habits become so poor? Why has fast food and high calorie snacks become such a common choice?”

I know we are all extremely busy with different schedules and we all have different eating habits and enjoy different types of foods, but substituting healthier food alternatives is something everyone can strive to do.  Take it one snack or meal at a time.  All of us can look for ways to fit healthier, lower-calorie eating choices into our daily routines. “All foods can fit” into a healthy nutrition plan but making healthier choices most of the time and controlling our portion sizes can go a long way towards fueling our bodies better.

To give you a jump-start to healthier alternatives, consider the following suggestions.

Current Habit:  Visit the snack machine to relieve that mid-afternoon fatigue/hunger.
Healthy Alternative:  Keep healthy, low calorie snacks in your office, in your car or in your bag/purse.

Current Habit:  Go to drive-thru fast food restaurant for a snack or lunch on the run.
Healthy Alternative:  Plan ahead and pack your own snack or lunch.

Current Habit:  Open a big bag of potato chips and eat until you are stuffed.
Healthy Alternative:  Buy individual serving sizes or measure out your portions.
(Always read the serving size amount in the nutritional information
on the package.)

Current Habit:  Choose to eat a high calorie food to relieve stress.
Healthy Alternative:  Go for a walk or put your headphones on and listen to music while you dance.

Current Habit:  Choose a candy bar or any type of candy for a quick snack.
Healthy Alternative:  Choose a piece of fruit and a slice of cheese.

The first step to healthier eating is to examine your common eating patterns and identify choices that are keeping you from meeting your healthy eating goals.  Next, think of a healthy alternative. Once you have some plans and options thought out, try substituting one current eating pattern with a healthier alternative.  Give it a try for a week and then work on another one. The skill of substituting healthier alternatives tends to be quite efficient and effective because it is almost as if you are “killing two birds with one stone”—getting rid of an unhealthy behavior and engaging in a healthy one both at the same time! And remember you get to decide how to implement it based on the way you live your life. So give it a try. We only get one body so we might as well take care of it! Fuel it right!

 

If you ever need to take a look at yourself, no mirror is necessary. Just stop and look at your children. On a daily basis my children will do something that all of a sudden I realize is something that I do. It mostly makes me laugh but then at times, cringe. Even at their young ages of three and a half and seventeen months they have picked up both the good and the not-so-good.

The good: I got home from a run that I cut short so my husband could leave for work so I continued to “jog” in place at the house. Both kids decided to imitate me—the three and half year old yelling out, “Look mom. I am exercising!” as he did a decent job of jogging in place. The 17 month old was more doing a bounce, bending her knees and popping back up but her eyes were just twinkling with delight. (Another example in the accompanying photo- My son using my resistance tubing to take his turn to “exercise” while we were at the park.)

The not-so-good: One morning I noticed them licking the syrup off of their plates after eating pancakes (made with whole wheat and sweet potato I might add)—yes a habit of mine that I am not so proud of!

With childhood overweight and obesity being of such significant concern in our nation research has looked at the role parents play in helping children to lose weight. Family based behavioral treatment programs are considered the most effective intervention strategies. Success has been demonstrated from different models such as praise for making healthy eating choices to encouraging participation in a weight loss program but most of studies have only looked at these interventions in isolation. A recent study published in Obesity looked at three skills: modeling the desired behavior (in other words, leading by example), changes in home food environment, and parenting styles and techniques (such as encouragement and praise)(1). Eighty overweight or obese children from the ages of 8 to 12 and their parent took place in this study. Out of all the factors looked at, parent BMI change was the only significant predictor of child weight loss. In other words, the number one way that parents could help their children to lose weight was to lose weight themselves. Parents play a tremendous role in shaping their children’s behaviors and as this and other studies have shown, especially through their own behavior—that mirror effect. The results even suggest that treatment focusing only on the parents (parent-only treatment) may be enough to cause significant weight loss in their children that is how powerful modeling is. The authors of the study are quick to point out that an absence of significance in the other factors does not mean that they do not have a potential impact as well, just that in this case; modeling had the most powerful effect. Further studies are needed to look at these skills and how they work in combination with one another.

So I will be sure to do my best to continue to model the good and work on the not-so-good. As parents we only want to do what’s best for our children and often that means doing what’s best for ourselves. Be sure to check out some of our tools such as the “Calorie Needs Calculator” and the “Calories Burned Calculator” to help get you started with your weight loss today. You will not only be affecting your life but more than likely the lives of the people and little ones you love as well.

1. Boutelle KN, Cafri G, Crow SJ. Parent predictors of child weight change in family based behavioral obesity treatment. Obesity (2012); Advance online publication 15 March 2012. doi:10.1038/oby.2012.48.

I am a huge fan of the snack!  Even the word is fun to say and makes me smile.  For some, snacking, when done properly, can help support a healthy diet and weight loss plan by decreasing the time between meals, without which for some means overeating later on. And many people feel more alert and have an improved mood as a result. As I reflect over my career as a professional fitness trainer, I think the number one question that I am asked on a consistent basis is, “What are some healthy snack ideas that I can eat and still lose weight?”

Despite what we read in our popular magazines or hear about the latest fad diets our favorite actors are currently doing, there are no magic diets or magic foods. There are no “5 magic foods” to help us lose that belly fat in 5 days or no secret food combinations to help us drop 3 sizes in 3 weeks.

The bottom line is that weight loss is not magic.  It is calories in, calories out. You burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight.  Nothing more, nothing less.  No magic.

Every snack choice you make can make a difference when it comes to losing weight. Learning the skill to choose a snack or portion size that reduces your caloric intake by 50 to 100 calories several times a week can result in significant weight loss over time.

Here are some things to keep in mind about snacking from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:

• Think of snacks as mini-meals that contribute nutrient-rich foods. You can fit snack calories into your personal healthy eating plan without over-spending your day’s calorie budget.
• Snack only when you’re hungry. Skip the urge to nibble when you’re bored, frustrated or stressed. Feed the urge to do something by walking the dog or working in the garden.
• Keep portion control in mind. Have a single-serve container of yogurt or put a small serving of nuts in a bowl. Eating directly from a multiple-serving package can lead to overeating.
• Plan snacks ahead of time. Keep a variety of nutritious ready-to-eat supplies on hand, such as whole-grain crackers and low-fat cheese.

Here are some snack options that are less than 200 calories.

• 1 6-inch corn tortilla or mini whole-wheat roll, 1 slice of low fat cheese, 1 slice turkey
• 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, slices of 1 medium apple
• 6 oz fat-free yogurt,1 medium banana
• 3 cups air-popped popcorn sprinkled with 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• Tri-color veggie snack: 6 baby carrots, 10 sugar snap peas (or green pepper strips), 6 cherry tomatoes and 2 tablespoons reduced-fat ranch dressing for dipping
• 6 whole-wheat crackers and 1 slice low-fat cheese
• Fruit smoothie: Blend 1 cup fat-free milk, ½ cup frozen strawberries and ½ banana
• 1 6-inch flour tortilla with ¼ cup black beans and 2 tablespoons fresh salsa

For those requiring a few more calories from their snack try these options that are between 200 and 300 calories:

• Whole wheat pita cut into wedges with 2 tablespoons hummus for a dip
• 6 ounces fat-free yogurt, ½ cup berries and ¼ cup granola
• Trail mix: Mix 20 almonds, miniature box of raisins, and ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• Instant oatmeal made with fat-free milk with 1 tablespoon honey, ½ cup sliced peaches and dash of cinnamon

As you can see, all of these are easy to make and easy to carry with you.  I recommend preparing snacks ahead of time, so you can grab and go!  One of the keys to weight loss is to be prepared and have a plan.

I really believe that the right snacks can be helpful in your weight loss journey.  Keep this list, so the next time hunger strikes you will be prepared for the Snack Attack!

Finding ways to incorporate exercises wherever you are may enhance your ability to stick with an exercise regimen and see positive long-term results. When on the road traveling for work, I often find myself in situations where I don’t have the luxuries of the same weight room I am used to at home. As a result, I often look to bodyweight exercises as a way to do resistance training. For the exercises to be effective for long-term benefit, it is important that they still challenge the body progressively. Increasing the number of repetitions or sets is a common way to achieve this.

But there are many other ways to do this as well. Progressing bodyweight exercises is often only limited by one’s own imagination. Here are some examples you might want to try:

• Change the length of a lever arm – such as going from a modified push-up on the knees to a full push-up as was explored in “How Much Weight is Really Lifted During a Push-up?” Another example might include placing the arms overhead during an abdominal crunch to make the torso longer.
• Change the angle of exercise or elevate a limb – such as performing a push-up with feet elevated on a box. Performing push-ups with feet on a 60” box compared to feet on the ground has been shown to increase the force applied against the ground by 10%. ¹ Performing an abdominal crunch on a decline compared to flat on the ground is another example.
• Change the range of motion - such as progressing a half push-up to a full push-up or a half squat to a full squat as was discussed in “What’s your Squat IQ?”, doing a step-up on a taller step or performing a full sit-up versus just an abdominal crunch.
• Change rest times – decreasing rest time does not allow the body as much recovery time and has been shown to cause higher levels of perceived exertion during exercise, although this may decrease the number of repetitions that can be done as a result of the shorter rest.²

Really the sky is the limit to making bodyweight exercises more challenging. Be sure, of course, that the progressions you decide to try are safe. What are some ways you have changed a bodyweight exercise to make it more challenging?

 

¹Ebben, WP, Wurm, B, VanderZanden, TL, Spadavecchia, ML, Durocher, JJ, Bickham, CT, and Petushek, EJ. Kinetic analysis of several variations of push-ups. J Strength Cond Res 25(10): 2891–2894, 2011

²Senna, G, Willardson, JM, de Salles, BF, Scudese, E, Carneiro, F, Palma, A, and Simão, R. The effect of rest interval length on multi and single-joint exercise performance and perceived exertion. J Strength Cond Res 25(11): 3157–3162, 2011

Co-written by Erica Howard, MS and Gina Cortese-Shipley, MS

You probably know that physical activity is an important part of losing weight as well as managing your weight but did you know that the benefits of exercise reach far beyond this? Bottom line—physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health ^1,2,3,4,5,6. Studies clearly show that being regularly physically active:

• Lowers risk of early death
• Lowers risk of coronary heart disease
• Lowers risk of stroke
• Lowers risk of high blood pressure
• Lowers risk of adverse blood lipid profile
• Lowers risk of metabolic syndrome
• Lowers risk of type 2 diabetes
• Lowers risk of colon cancer
• Lowers risk of breast cancer
• Prevents weight gain
• Assists with weight loss, particularly when combined with reduced calorie intake
• Improves cardiorespiratory and muscle fitness
• Prevents falls
• Reduces depression
• Improves cognitive function (for older adults)

There is also evidence that physical activity:

• Improves functional health (for older adults)
• Reduces abdominal obesity
• Lowers risk of hip facture
• Lowers risk of lung cancer
• Lowers risk of endometrial cancer
• Assists with weight maintenance after weight loss
• Increases bone density
• Improves sleep quality

It’s pretty amazing that one lifestyle behavior can do all of this!

And what’s even better is that age, race, ethnicity, and current fitness level don’t matter for many of these health benefits¹. Men and women younger than 65 years as well as older adults have lower rates of early death when they are physically active than when they are inactive. And physically active people of all body weights (normal weight, overweight, obese) also have lower rates of early death than do inactive people.

Sadly, Americans are not taking advantage of all of these tremendous benefits. In 2005, it was estimated that 1 in 2 Americans had at least 1 chronic condition that required long-term care⁷. This not only has a tremendous impact on quality of life but also is also quite costly. For example, heart disease costs our nation 183 billion dollars a year, cancer 157 billion, diabetes 100 billion, and arthritis 65 million just to name a few⁸.

Four modifiable health risk behaviors—lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption—are responsible for much of the illness, suffering, and early death related to chronic diseases⁹. Yet despite this, only 32%¹⁰ of our nation’s adults participate in the recommended 2008 federal physical activity guidelines of “150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous intensity aerobic activity.”

So we need to look beyond the weight benefits and consider ALL of the amazing health benefits physical activity has to offer. Physical activity is a primary or at a minimum, a complimentary treatment for directly preventing or improving chronic disease, which could decrease the number of chronic disease cases, improve overall health and quality of life¹¹ while at the same time decreasing economic costs. Look over the list of benefits again and put a mental check mark by those that are important to you. Better yet, write them down and put them somewhere you can see them often. Maybe they will provide the motivation you need to add more physical activity into your life. We would love for you to share with us what health benefits or other motivations you have for being physically active.

References

1. Blair S, Kohl H, Barlow C, et al. Changes in Physical Fitness and All-Cause Mortality. JAMA 1995; 273: 1093-1098
2. King D, Dalsky G, et al. Effects of exercise and lack of exercise on insulin sensitivity and responsiveness. American Physiological Society 1988; 1942-1946.
3. Patrick K, Norman G, Calfas K, et al. Diet, Physical Activity, and Sedentary Behaviors as Risk Factors for Overweight in Adolescence. AMA 2004; 385-390.
4. Todd J, Robinson R.Osteoporosis and exercise. Post Grad Med Journal 2003; 79: 320-323.
5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans: Be Active, Health, and Happy. www.health.gov/paguidelines
6. World Health Organization (WHO). Global Health Risks: Mortality and burden of disease attributable to selected major risks. Report 2009. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/release23/en/index.html
7. Wu SY, Green A. Projection of chronic illness prevalence and cost inflation. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Health; 2000.
8. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Fundamental to Preventing Disease. Report. June 20, 2002. http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/physicalactivity/
9. World Health Organization (WHO). Chronic Diseases and their common risk factors. Report. 2005. www.who.int/chp
10. Pleis JR, Lucas J, ward B. Summary health statistics for U.S. adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2008. Vital Health Stat 10 2009; 242:1-157.
11. Rejeski WJ, Mihalko SL. Physical Activity and quality of life in older adults. J Gerontol Bio Sci Med Sci 2001: 56A(Special Issue II: 23-35).

“If you don’t use it, you lose it”.  “A rolling stone gathers no moss”.  At one time or another we have all either heard these expressions or said them ourselves.  Well, the time has come for you to MOVE IT and put those words into action!   For all of you that feel that you are too busy to exercise, I want to give you plenty of ways to integrate (or sneak) exercise into your daily routine without making extreme changes in your busy schedules.  Here are ten ideas from your personal trainer that will get you started on the path to a more active YOU!

1. Be a multi-tasker:  Go for a walk or use the elliptical machine while making phone calls.  Read your mail or a book while riding a stationary bicycle.
2. Do chores:  Cleaning the kitchen, scrubbing the bathroom, mowing the lawn (a riding lawnmower does not count!) can burn tons of calories.  Your house will sparkle!
3. Every minute can count:  While brushing your teeth do squats or standing heel raises or before a shower do pushups.  Start slow.  Begin with doing sets of 5 to 10 reps.
4. It’s ok to be the “weekend warrior”:  Make those two weekend days two of the days you add activity into your week.
5. Use daily reminders:  Put workout shoes by your front door or leave a pair of workout shoes in your car.  Put an alarm on your phone to remind yourself to exercise.
6. Crank up the tunes and dance:  Enough said!  On average, a two hundred pound person dancing for thirty minutes can burn around 270 calories.  Bust a move and boogie down.
7. Take the stairs:  When you have the time or opportunity, skip the elevator/escalator and take the stairs.
8. Wash your car by hand:  Get the kids or friends involved and make it a fun activity!
9. Move around while watching television:  Be active during the commercial breaks.  Walk up and down your hallways.  Do pushups against your kitchen counter.
10. Challenge yourself to find the farthest parking spot in the parking lot and walk briskly to the store.

All of these suggestions are very simple and can be added into your daily routine without a lot of time or effort.  Small bouts of activity can help you achieve and pursue your goals for physical activity and weight loss.  As a further reminder of this, check out one of our past blogs about the importance of lifestyle physical activity. I challenge you to consistently select more active alternatives for daily tasks.

All activity counts!  Please share with me creative ways that you have found to fit in your fitness.  Now stand up and sit down 10 times!

 

Does it ever seem like you just don’t have enough time to do all you need to do—or want to do? Unfortunately, there are only so many minutes in an hour, hours in a day, and days in a week.  In our busy and fast-paced lives, it’s often difficult to accomplish all we have to do in the time we have available.  This is especially true when it comes to finding the time to make healthful lifestyle choices.
Dr. Lester Breslow, who recently died at 97, found that a 60-year-old who followed 7 behaviors would be as healthy as a 30-year-old who followed fewer than three. The seven:

• exercise at least moderately
• eat regular meals
• maintain a moderate weight
• eat breakfast
• don’t smoke
• drink in moderation
• sleep seven to eight hours

Living healthy without the need for medications and doctor visits is quite appealing (not to mention less costly).  Knowing that managing weight is based on balancing calories “in” with calories “out”, eating healthier is one of my major goals.  Since it works best to break down goals into smaller steps, this month I am focused on eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables on at least five days each week as confirmed by recording my food intake on my daily log sheet (click here). Did you know that people who set goals are almost twice more successful than those who don’t? My log helps me monitor if I am on track to meet my goals.

As a working mom with little free time, eating healthy needs to be easy.  I have found that planning ahead and buying what I need at the grocery store helps set me up for success. Here are some other things I have learned that help me fit healthy eating into my day when faced with a busy schedule. To meet my goal of eating at least five servings of fruits and veggies:

• For convenience, I keep healthy snacks such as baby carrots, dried mangoes and individual servings of pineapple on hand at home and work.
• I have a list of healthy eating options that are close to work and home like the yummy salad bar at the local grocery store or the restaurant next door that serves delicious vegetable soup.
• Knowing how important breakfast is (number 4 on Dr. Breslow’s list), I start the day with a small glass of grapefruit juice and a piece of fruit with my whole grain cereal or toast.
• I plan my meals and snacks ahead of time so I have the ingredients on hand or know exactly what I will pick up on the way home.
• I also keep a stock on hand of healthy prepared meals and food products, such as frozen entrees, precut veggies, canned fruits (in 100% juice), and frozen lunches with veggies  to help save time.
  

I plan on becoming a well 60-year-old and maybe even a well 97-year-old one day!  What are some of the ways you fit healthy eating choices into your busy day?

 

Pregnancy is no time to throw caution to the wind when it comes to healthy eating and regular exercise.  Even if your pre-pregnancy weight is in the healthy zone, gaining too much weight during pregnancy can lead to negative long- and short-term outcomes for both mother and baby (1). Pregnancy has enough challenges – mood swings, cravings and back aches (to mention a few) without having to worry about losing extra weight after delivery. So why not get off to a great start?

A recent study (2) investigated the effect of exercise and a healthy diet on weight gain during pregnancy, weight of the baby, and weight of the mother 2 months postpartum. The study recruited 49 pregnant women with healthy body weights prior to pregnancy to participate in either a low or moderate intensity exercise program.  Women walked at an intensity of 30% and 60% of their heart rate reserve in the low and moderate intensity groups, respectively. Wearing heart rate monitors, they progressed to 30 minutes of walking with a 5 minute warm up and cool down, 3-4 days/week. Both groups were instructed to eat a healthy diet designed to prevent gestational diabetes (diabetes which develops during pregnancy) while allowing them to gain enough weight for a healthy pregnancy.  The exercise groups were compared to 45 pregnant women also of healthy body weight prior to pregnancy but who did not exercise during pregnancy.

When researchers looked at pregnancy weight gain, they found that 53% of the nonexercising women gained more than the 25-35 pounds recommended by the Institute of Medicine (1). However, only 35% and 31% of the low and moderate intensity groups gained excessive weight during pregnancy. In fact, both exercise groups gained about the same amount of weight approximately 33 pounds compared to an average of 40 pounds in the nonexercisers.  Infant birth weight was not different among the 3 groups.

At 2 months postpartum, the nonexercisers were still carrying around an average of 16 extra pounds over their pre-pregnancy weight compared to 12 and 10 pounds in the low and moderate intensity exercise groups, respectively. Only 7% of the nonexercisers compared to 18% and 28% of the low and moderate intensity walking groups were within 4.5 pounds of their prepregnancy weight at 2 months postpartum.

The good news is that even low intensity walking and a healthy diet can limit excessive weight gain during pregnancy and help you get back to your pre-pregnancy weight faster. If you aren’t pregnant yet, it’s best to start exercising before so your body can adjust to the exercise before adjusting to pregnancy. Either way, you need to check with your doctor before starting or continuing an exercise program during pregnancy. When getting clearance for exercise, ask your doctor about the best nutrition program for yourself. An added bonus, exercise can decrease those pregnancy complaints like back pain, mood swings and poor sleep. For more information on Exercise and Pregnancy, check out http://www.acog.com or sign-up for the Cooper Institute 1 day Pregnancy and Exercise course.

1. Institute of Medicine. (2009). Weight Gain during Pregnancy: Reexaming the Guidelines. Washington (DC): The National Academies Press.

2. Ruchat, S-M, Davenport, M.H., Giroux, I et al. (2012).Nutrition and Exercise Reduce Excessive Weight Gain in Normal-Weight Pregnant Women. Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise. Published ahead of print. doi: 10.1249/MSS.Ob013e31825365f1

Learning new skills always sounds good until I jump in and determine it is never as easy as I would like.  Last month I decided to try yoga after seeing yet another fabulous body on a magazine cover all thanks to a proper workout. Pilates. Yoga. It seemed everyone was involved but me.  So into my first yoga class I went and grabbed a mat like everyone else. We started with a warm-up and I was so pleased to be right there with everyone else.  And that is where my ease stopped.  There were names I had never heard – downward dog, upward dog, cow pose, cat stretch – and moves I had never imagined.  I toppled and teetered but I finished the class.  While returning my mat a very nice lady mentioned that next time I might want to use a yoga mat instead of a Pilates mat.  Not only was my body not skilled, I didn’t even know the right equipment!  But I went back to the next class, and the next.  Soon another new person showed up to class and I was no longer the new one (and yes, I did share with her as she picked up the Pilates mat that there were differences).

I’m pleased to report that after one month, yoga seems to be an activity I like and look forward to.  My clothes are fitting a little better and I feel more toned.  A magazine cover will never be in my future but I look better and feel better.  One struggle I am trying to work out now is the correct calorie balance.  Attempting to get more physical activity in my day seems to be working. Now I am trying hard to find the right balance with “calories in” and “calories out”. Long term behavior change is a process of learning and applying new skills.  The steps are simple but making them work for your life (and breaking old habits) is the hard part. It takes time and willingness, but Today I Will is here to help. 
As you join in to move more and eat better, here are a few easy tips that can help you get the most out of Today I Will.

• Take one skill at a time.  Losing weight is made up of many skills – healthy eating, physical activity, self-monitoring, goal setting, etc. All are included at TodayIWill.com but focus on applying each new skill to your personal goals and daily life until they become habit.  Then take on the next skill.  I feel good about my commitment to yoga and am ready to learn how to better balance my calories now.
• Practice, practice, practice.  Learning to change old habits into new, more helpful behaviors will help with losing weight. It takes practice for new skills to become habits, but before long the healthy choice will become your regular choice.  I even went out in a rain storm to yoga class last week because my favorite teacher was scheduled and I knew I would feel great afterwards.  So what if it was raining!
• Be an active participant on TodayIWill.com.  Throughout the process, you will do activities to apply the Today I Will skills and information to your daily life.  This is one of the most important ways to make the program just for you.  It’s also important that you track your progress so that you know where you started, what you’ve achieved and what you need to do to reach your goals.
  

I hope you feel as good about starting your journey as I do!  If you are not quite ready for structured exercise, click here to a Get Moving Bingo card you can keep on your refrigerator or desktop.  You’ll find great activities that will help you get up and go.  Let me know how you are doing and I’ll do the same.

It is fairly common for individuals to engage in a variety of exercise activities and at different rates of intensity. This can make it challenging to evaluate just how much activity they are actually doing across the week. Taking these activities and transforming them into a common value would be great way to get a snap shot of the week’s activities which would be helpful for tracking exercise habits and progress.

That common value is MET minutes. Let’s review what a MET is. The metabolic equivalent of task (MET), or simply metabolic equivalent, is a physiological measure expressing the energy cost (or calories) of physical activities. One MET is the energy equivalent expended by an individual while seated at rest. While exercising, the MET equivalent is the energy expended compared to rest so MET values indicate the intensity. An activity with a MET value of 5 means you are expending 5 times the energy (number of calories) than you would at rest.

Okay so now that we are refreshed on what a MET is, what is a MET minute? MET minutes are simply the time engaged in an activity with consideration to the number of METs. So if you walked at a pace equivalent to 5 METs for 30 minutes it would be calculated as follows:

 5 METs x 30 minutes = 150 MET minutes

MET minutes per week can also be calculated. If you participated in this activity 5 days per week:

150 MET minutes per day X 5 days per week = 750 MET minutes per week.

If you participated in this activity 3 days per week but another activity 2 days per week that was equivalent to 6 METs for 20 minutes you could tally the two together like this:

5 METs x 30 minutes = 150 MET minutes

6 METs x 20 minutes = 120 MET minutes

150 MET minutes x 3 days = 450 MET minutes

120 MET minutes x 2 days = 240 MET minutes

450 MET minutes + 240 MET minutes = 690 MET minutes per week

The most current Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans suggest that there are substantial health benefits for adults engaging in 500-1,000 MET minutes per week. These two examples, therefore, meet the current recommendations.

The Guidelines designate the following aerobic intensity categories based on MET levels.

·         Light-intensity aerobic activity = 1.1 to 2.9 METs

·         Moderate-intensity activity = 3.0 to 5.9 METs

·         Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity = 6.0 or > METs

How do you know what MET value your physical activity is?

Many cardiovascular machines display the MET value of your selected activity and intensity. You can also access the Compendium of Physical Activities to find the MET value of a number of different activities. The Compendium is quite comprehensive. You can select an activity like walking and it provides the MET value for numerous different scenarios (over 50) like hiking with a back pack, race walking, or walking while doing house work.

Beyond MET value though, many are interested in the number of calories they are burning. An estimation of this can be calculated as well. The equation used is listed below. Not that the bolded numbers 3.5 and 200 are both constants and do not change. You simply have to provide the MET value of your activity and your weight in kilograms. To convert your body weight in pounds to kilograms divide by 2.2.

_____MET Value  x  3.5  x  _____kg body weight  ÷  200 = calories burned per minute.

For a 150 pound person (68.2 kg) doing brisk walking (approximately 4 mph) for 150 minutes per week at 5 METs the total calories burned would be 900.

5 METs  x  3.5  x  68.2 kg  ÷  200 = 6 calories per minute

150 minutes each week X 6 calories per minute = 900 calories burned per week.

For health benefits for most adults, the national guidelines suggest burning 1,000 calories per week.  For weight loss and even greater health benefits an expenditure of 2,000 calories per week is suggested.

In summary, tracking volume of exercise can be challenging, especially when including a variety of activities of different intensities and duration. For the purpose of tracking progress and summaries of activities, both MET minutes per week and MET calories per week can be useful in activity logging, in goal setting and quite motivating.

Bushman, B. A. (2012). How can I use METS to quantify the amount of aerobic exercise. ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal, 16(No. 2), 5-7.