Tony S.

Three months ago, one of my best friends, Tony, came to me with a problem. At 32 years old, he was presented with a cholesterol count just under 300. His doctor gave him 3 months to drastically change his lifestyle, or risk being given a lifetime prescription for cholesterol medication.

My friend was a high school athlete, and then a Marine. When his time as a Marine was up, a variety of active jobs followed. Despite this, he slowly stopped being as active as he was as a teen and early adult, and started eating less and less healthy. As a result, he put on “bad” weight, and therefore became even less active.

However, he was determined to avoid medication at such a young age. Over the last 3 months, he has completely redefined his diet plan. While he still leaves room for the occasional dessert, he centers his meals around lean meats, poultry, and fish. In addition, he has dedicated himself to 3-4 trips to the gym per week. As a result, he has dropped 35 pounds to date, and is still losing weight! Yesterday, he received a call from his doctor. She let him know that his cholesterol count was down to 155! Not only does he not need medicine, but it is actually at a healthy level now!

This example shows that anyone can go from being healthy to teetering on the edge of medication, regardless of age or past activities. It also shows how dramatically one can change their lifestyle for the better if the effort is there!

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• Tip of the Month

  June 2010

  Abdominal Workouts: Frequency, Intensity, and Duration

  Over the past 15 years, there has been countless advice on how to “properly” train your abdominals, or core.  There isn’t a fitness magazine out there that doesn’t publish a different abdominal workout each and every issue.  Opinions and research may change over time, but there are a few things you should look at before you alter your workout with each Fitness Magazine you read!
  First of all, it is important to know what your overall fitness and health goal is before designing a strength program for any body part, especially the mid-section.  For overall fitness, it is smartest to treat your abdominal muscles as you would any other muscle group.  The tried and true guidelines for most exercise programs is to work specific muscles to fatigue within a 30-60 second set time limit (intensity and duration,) while giving the worked muscle group at least 24-48 hours of rest (frequency) before working it again.  The amount of sets you do in a given workout (frequency again) can vary from as little as 4 sets to up to 12 for the average workout.  The science behind these theories is sound.  While exercising, pushing your body significantly past the 60 second mark without fatigue generally incorporates aerobic energy, thereby not stressing the muscles most efficiently.  And rest is necessary so that your body can properly rebuild the muscle fibers that you have broken down.  Additionally, you want to be at 100% energy levels for your next workout!

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• Recipe of the Month

  June 2010

  Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

  This healthy update of a traditionally rich ham-and-cheese breakfast strata is made lighter primarily by losing a few egg yolks and using nonfat milk. Gruyère cheese has a delicious, nutty aroma and flavor, which means that with the relatively small amount in this recipe you still get a big impact. To finish the makeover use nutritious, fiber-rich, whole-grain bread instead of white. The results: plenty of flavor, half the calories and one-third the fat of the original.

  4 large eggs
  4 large egg whites
  1 cup nonfat milk
  2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  5 cups chopped spinach, wilted (see Tip)
  4 cups whole-grain bread, crusts removed if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 pound, 4-6 slices)
  1 cup diced ham steak, (5 ounces)
  1/2 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
  3/4 cup shredded Gruyère, or Swiss cheese
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