Health

Not sure about forums but I studied health science and nutrition at uni (undergraduate level only). This included anatomy, physiology, metabolic biochemistry etc. I’ve spent the past 5 years or so as a full time mum so the brain is a bit rusty but what is it you wanted to know? I’ll see if I can remember… Or find a text book that does

Kind Regards,
Sonja

You could also try having a look around at http://www.nlm.nih.gov

Kind Regards,
Sonja

Hi unannounced,
I’m not aware of any websites however the above ones sound like they would be great. Feel free to pm me if you wish and let me know what your goals are if you like (ie. gain weight/muscle, lose weight/muscle, improve fitness, diet, etc?)
Cheers,
Gatsby!

OK now… it has been a while and research on this sort of topic is constantly being done. I can’t give you any references off the top of my head but try doing a search using Medline or CINAHL.

One of the subjects I studied was “Exercise, Health and Behaviour” and this was exactly the sort of stuff we looked at. As you mentioned regular exercise improves sleep quality. Other benifits are elevated mood (recommended and effective for those with depression), increased energy levels, and a whole host of other physical and psychological benefits. Without knowing your exact situation it is hard to say if the increased intensity of exercise is responsible for this increase in energy and alertness. It may simply be that many of these positive side effects take weeks or months of regular exercise for you to feel the true effect.

Don’t just take my word for it though. Use one of the search engines specific to this sort of research as there is plenty of info out there.

Good on you for taking up the exercise program. Statisticaly speaking, if you can stick to it for 6 months you will be likely to stick with it for life.

Kind Regards,
Sonja

no worries unannounced[biggrin]

great site shaunw[biggrin]

Hi unannounced ,

“Unquiet meals make ill digestions”
-William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors.

At the risk of trying to second guess your specific goal (which is all I’m trying to do), I take it that your goal/s are not bodily goal orientated. Your goal is to stay at a constant mental peak level (?). If this is the case (and again, I’m just assuming this) then over a one day period on an ‘average diet’ (including with lets say lasagna as the main meal of the day), you will be taking in food that would mean that on an average day your body will be taking in about 6 pounds of water, over a 1/4 of a pound of fat and about a fifth of a pound of protein and about a pound of carbohydrates.
Total: over seven pounds of food and water. This is then transported and broken down from the initial salivary glands, enzymes in the saliva, through the esophagus into the stomach (and broken down by hydrochloric acids), then on to the smaller intestine via the stomach’s pyloric valve, then on to the colon (large intestine) where it will take another 2 to 3 days to be passed out. What finally comes out in the end is less than half a pound of waste. Almost no fat, protein or carbohydrate is left, with the exception of the carbohydrate in indigestible fibre.
By way of summary,
there are so many variables involved, even before planning a diet/program that will help achieve your goals. Start with your current baseline/ metabolic rate (as mentioned previously) and find out how you can best define your goal and then work towards it. The hardest thing is trying to measure, let alone define the goal. I hope this has been of some help (if not confusion, my apologies?) to you.
Kind regards,
Gatsby.

“All’s well that ends well.”
-William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well

When I was young (last week) and went to the Gym, we often heard of “Gym Junkies”.

These were the aerobics junkies and weight training boffins that would spend their own time in the Gym with Gym friends, doing Gym, things, ‘Walking the Talk’, etc.
After a year I turned into one of them! The energy boost you talk about – I have felt it! For me and the other junkies, it was the work-outs that boosted our energy! I remember being able to sleep for 4 hours a night and being more refreshed than I am now after nearly 8 hours! I must make more effort to go to the Gym again, Thanx for the wake-up call!

The secret, for me was to regularly ‘shock’ my body. Change the weights or the reps or the number of sets. Working 9 hrs a day going to the Gym at night and being so allert and awake is an awesome feeling – I miss it now, come to think of it…..

I, too, wanted to be like Arnold, but with-out all the drugs! All my muscle has since congregated around my waste (at least you know I’m on the level! – The bubble is in the middle! LOL).

Hope that helped.

Cheers

C@34