know your numbers

There are few numbers that you should know offhand in order to ensure your quality of health is what it could be. If you have not had a physical or seen a tape measure in awhile, this is the week to take care of those things. You owe it to yourself!

BLOOD PRESSURE:

This number varies depending on situational stressors, but knowing your average is essential for ensuring your cardiovascular system is not working overtime and wearing itself out. Optimally, you want your blood pressure at 115/75, the level at which you’ll see the least aging effects on the body. High blood pressure can cause nicks in the arterial walls, which attract the build-up of plague and narrow the opening for blood to flow, which in turn can lead to strokes and heart attack. Other less severe but undesirable side effects include wrinkles, impotence, and slower healing. Your doctor can test this, or most pharmacies have a self-serve automatic reader that is easy to use. High blood pressure can be lowered naturally by reducing stress (or finding an outlet to relieve it), “cleaning up” your diet, and exercising regularly.

CHOLESTEROL:

There are two kinds of cholesterol (LDL = “bad” and HDL = “good”), but your grand total of the two should be under 200, preferably closer to 180. A blood test taken during your annual physical will show these numbers, but often your doctor will only tell you the results if they are bad, so call the office if you do not know what they are. Your HDL (which comes from the healthy fats in olive oil, fish, and walnuts) should be over 40, and your LDL you want around 100. Ways to lower your total cholesterol include regular moderate exercise, weight loss, and a diet rich in fiber and low in saturated fats.

WAIST MEASUREMENT:

Because we know that fat around your midsection is the most dangerous to your organs and consequently your health, check your waist size at the belly button and see how you measure up. The ideal numbers are as follows:

  • Women: 32-1/2 inches or less (dangers to health increase significantly at 37 inches)
  • Men: 35 inches or less (dangers increase significantly at 40 inches)

Crunches are not the way to decrease your waist size! Instead, a fitness routine of regular moderate exercise and proper nutrition will help keep this number in check.

CALORIES:

I do not like to emphasize calorie-counting as a general rule because I feel that the QUALITY of the foods you eat is just as important (if not more) as the QUANTITY of calories you consume. However, I am including this information because knowing your ballpark resting metabolic rate can be a good way to judge portion sizes and to see if your eating habits are responsible for your weight gain.

First, an explanation: Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) refers to the base number of calories you burn during doing normal daily activities like thinking, talking, digesting, fighting illness, brushing your teeth, etc. – everything but exercising, basically. Add calories burned during exercise to that and you have your total caloric expenditure for the day. In order to lose 1 lb. of body fat, you must burn 3500 calories (or 500/day) MORE than you consume.

How to calculate: (break out those calculators!)*

WOMEN: 655.1 + (4.35 x weight) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.68 x age) = RMR
MEN: 66.47 + (6.25 x weight) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.76 x age) = RMR

EXAMPLE:
Jenny is 23 years old, 62 inches tall and weights 145 lbs. Her RMR will be:
655.1 + (4.35 x 145) + (4.7 x 62) – (4.68 x 23) = 655.1 + 630.75 + 291.4 – 107.64 = 1469.60 Calories (RMR)

THEN, factor in your activity level so you can see how many calories you actually burn throughout the day:

  • Sedentary (little to no exercise, desk job) – multiply RMR by 1.2
  • Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) – multiply by 1.375
  • Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) – multiply by 1.55
  • Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week) – multiply by 1.725
  • Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports, physical job or hard training for marathon, triathlon, etc) – multiply by 1.9

RESULT: Jenny does yoga 3x a week, so we would multiply her RMR by 1.375, so her total caloric expenditure is: 2020.7 calories/day.

If Jenny wants to maintain her current weight, she should consume about 2020 calories a day; if she wants to lose weight safely (about 1-2 lbs. per week), she’d need to create a 500 calorie/day deficit by increasing her activity and/or decreasing her caloric intake.

*Formula provided by: The Total Wellbeing Diet by Dr. Manny Noahes with Dr. Peter Clifton