The No More Excuses Diet (7 page)

This is a good time to check with your doctor before proceeding with any diet or exercise plan. After you get the go-ahead, begin measuring your baseline. Most people define how healthy they are by how much they weigh; however, how healthy you are really depends on several different variables. You should, at this beginning point, measure three indicators of your overall health: your body composition, your vital statistics, and your fitness level. I show you how to measure each of these so that you can compare these baseline figures with the recommended averages and document your progress in your journal. No matter what the numbers say right now, don’t be discouraged: This is about finding out where you are today so you can develop a safe and effective program to get where you want to go.

This is what you can externally see. You can easily assess your physical progress through your weight, body circumference, and clothing size, making it the most common measurement people use to assess their health.

The most popular and controversial test that physicians have used is the body mass index (BMI). This is a mathematical formula that takes into account both height and weight. The BMI equals a person’s weight in kilograms divided by his or her height in meters squared (BMI = kg/m
²
). To convert your pounds into kilograms, simply divide your weight by 2.2. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, your conversion weight is 68.2 kilograms. If your BMI measures 18.5 to 24.9, you are considered of normal weight; anything more is considered overweight or obese.

The BMI is not always the best reflection of how healthy you are, however. While this test is widely used, athletes could be cited as overweight because they have extra muscle. That’s why it’s important to utilize several different tests to determine your level of health. If you have more muscle and rank higher on the BMI chart (
see here
), don’t be discouraged. We will review several body and fitness tests that measure your starting point.

Measuring your body fat is another important tool to see how much of your weight consists of pure fat versus solid muscle. There are two types of fat. Subcutaneous fat is the common fat found beneath the skin. Visceral fat, a more dangerous fat, is hidden in between your organs and is stored deep within your abdomen. Too much
body fat is linked to high levels of “bad” cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.

Only a professional with proper equipment can accurately measure your body fat. Many gyms will have someone on hand to do this without much cost. For a male adult, an average amount of body fat is 18 to 24 percent. For a female adult, it’s 25 to 31 percent. If you don’t belong to a gym, search for centers in your area that can test your body fat.

Once you know your BMI and percentage of body fat, the last thing you should measure is your waist-to-hip ratio. You can probably take a good look at your body shape and see where your fat is stored. To determine if you have a healthy waist-to-hip ratio, use a measuring tape to measure the smallest part of your waist, usually just above the belly button. Then measure the widest part of your hips, which will include part of your buttocks. Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement to find your ratio. Research shows that women with a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.80 or below and men with a ratio of 0.95 or below face fewer health risks. In other words, storing excessive fat in the abdominal region (aka apple-shaped bodies) is linked to weight-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and lower kidney function.

Since a pound of fat is three times larger than a pound of muscle, you could be gaining weight but losing inches. Check your body measurements once a month to document your progress. With a soft measuring tape, measure your neck, shoulders, biceps, chest, waist, hips, upper/middle/lower thighs, and calves. There is no standard for these measurements, but the numbers will help you measure your physical progress without a scale.

The “vitals” are your internal measurements of progress. Most often, the changes your body will undergo are areas you won’t see in a mirror. Through exercise and good nutrition, though, you will improve your body’s “motor.” Your lungs will hold more oxygen, your organs will more efficiently process foods, and your
blood will flow more effortlessly through your body. By checking your starting “vitals,” you’ll be able to measure the results of your journey and see your numbers improve in just one month’s time.

Of the two major ways that doctors assess the immediate health of your heart, blood pressure represents the amount of pressure your circulating blood is exerting against the sides of your blood vessels. To measure your blood pressure, you can use a sphygmomanometer found at most pharmacies or in a doctor’s office. You can also purchase an affordable blood pressure kit from major retail stores. Normal blood pressure ranges from 110 to 150 millimeters (as the heart beats) over 60 to 80 millimeters (as the heart rests between beats). For young adults, a blood pressure of 120/80 indicates your heart is healthy (150/90 for 60 and above). If your numbers are higher, this is an indication of hypertension, or high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease.

Besides your blood pressure, your pulse is an important measure of your heart health. Particularly, your pulse shows how hard your heart is working, either at rest or during activity. To measure your pulse, find the radial artery along the side of your neck, or at your wrist on the thumb side, and count how many pulses you feel in a minute. An average person’s pulse measures 60 to 80 beats per
minute at rest, although an athlete’s pulse can be as low as between 35 and 50 beats. The best time to measure your resting pulse is when you wake up in the morning, before performing any activity. Lie in bed, set your timer, and count how many times your heart beats per minute. A good trick is to measure your heartbeat for 15 seconds and multiply that number by 4. As your health improves, you will notice your resting heart rate decline, indicating that your heart isn’t working as hard.

Controlling your blood sugar/glucose levels through exercise and diet will help protect you from developing type 2 diabetes and the complications that go with it, like kidney failure, heart disease, blindness, and lower-limb amputation. You can measure your blood sugar with a portable electronic device or at your physician’s office. A healthy blood sugar range is between 70 and 100 mg/dL and can rise to 140 mg/dL after eating. A friend of mine was diagnosed as pre-diabetic when his blood sugar levels hovered around 170 after eating. He cut down on his sugar intake and began walking regularly, which brought his blood sugar levels down to a healthy range.

Any judgment of fitness focuses on function. That is, what your body is capable of doing. It’s a measurement that bridges the gap between how your body looks and how it operates. Fitness includes
flexibility, cardio fitness, and strength.

To measure your lower back and hamstring flexibility, simply get a sit-and-reach box (available in sports shops and online) or sit on the floor with your shoes off, legs shoulder-width apart and extended
straight out. Tape a ruler on the ground between your feet, extending away from you. Place your hands on top of each other, palms facing down and slowly reach forward toward your toes. After making three practice reaches, hold the fourth reach for at least 2 seconds and notice where on the ruler you’ve reached. An adult male with excellent flexibility can reach anywhere between 6.5 and 10.5 inches beyond his toes. An adult female with excellent flexibility can reach anywhere between 8 and 11.5 inches.

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of finding a sit-and-reach box or a ruler, just take a cellphone picture of how far you can stretch. Sit straight in a straddle stretch, with knees slightly bent, and reach for your toes as far as you can. Have someone snap your farthest reach and date your picture.

To measure your cardio fitness, hop on a treadmill or go outside and start running. Time how long it takes you to complete 1 mile at a good jog. When you finish, record the time and your heart rate. As your heart health improves, you will build strength and endurance.

Another way to test your cardio health is to get a 12-inch-high bench or box and step on and off the box for 3 minutes. This is a
basic step test that involves enduring physical demand on your heart. After 3 minutes, remain standing and immediately check your pulse. If you are a man and your pulse is below 85 beats per minute, you have excellent cardiovascular fitness. If you are a woman with a pulse below 92 beats per minute, you are in rocking good shape. Everybody else? Now you have an idea what to strive for!

One of the basic tests of fitness includes no equipment at all. Push-ups are a great upper-body exercise that uses your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. To perform a full push-up test, you warm up with some stretching and light activity. Then, you position your body facedown on the floor, legs extended straight back and toes bent, hands shoulder-width apart with elbows straight and arms fully extended. While keeping a straight line from your toes to your hips and to the shoulders, you lower your upper body so your elbows bend to 90 degrees. Then, you raise your body to the earlier position and count this as one rep. You continue raising and lowering, and complete as many repetitions as possible without breaking form.

While performing full push-ups, you lift nearly 75 percent of your total body weight; if you do a modified push-up (knees bent, holding some of your weight), you lift about 60 percent. Both types of push-up are fine as long as you challenge yourself. Record the total number of push-ups completed. If you are a fit adult male between the ages of 20 and 40, performing 50 or more push-ups is considered excellent. If you are a fit adult female between 20 and 40 years old, performing 30 or more push-ups is considered above average. However, if you are a beginner, performing just 5 to 10 push-ups (or none at all!) for both men and women is normal. Keep in mind that this is a test, and the goal is to become stronger in the weeks to come.

Another good test of strength is the plank hold. Get into a push-up position with your toes and forearms on the floor. Keep a neutral spine and hips squared and draw in your belly button toward the small of your back. Use a timer and measure how long you can hold the plank position.

Building your best body means serious business, so you need to record your reps to establish your
baseline. From this day forward, your goal will be to shift these numbers in your desired direction. Remember, the direction of your journey depends on the actions you take, because every action has a consequence. You will start to see this incredible power that you have to control these consequences when you take proper action today.

In addition to documenting your physical starting point, it’s time to establish your nutritional baseline. For the next three days, you won’t focus on dieting; you’ll eat as your normally do, but you’ll write everything down. For each meal or snack, you’ll record the time, meal, portion size, and calorie count. Just make sure you are documenting everything you eat: the bite from your child’s sandwich, the piece of chocolate you took from your coworker’s desk, the sweetened tea you drank during lunch. This exercise not only creates awareness of what you are consuming but it also holds you accountable. After you write down your intake, you will assess the results and seek areas where you can cut portion sizes, add a healthy meal, or skip an empty-calorie dessert.