diet/exercise at work

Question
Thanks for the help. I printed out your advice so I can shop, and learn, more about what to eat.

I will check out the web site you said to go to.


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Followup To
Question -
I am overweight and a diabetic. I get checkups every 3 months. I take the necessary pills. I take a daily multivitamin and mineral. I want to get my body fat down to 13%. It is 35%. I am a 52 year old male. 6'2" tall. 293 pounds.

I work for a government testing lab. I am allowed two 15 minute breaks and a 1/2 hour for lunch each day.

Instead of sitting at my desk during my 1/2 hour lunch and two 15 minute breaks, I decided to do various forms of exercise.

Here is what I am doing;

1. We work in a two story building. Instead of using the elevator, I use the outside stairs (except when it is raining). I walk slow, walk up with my front of my feet (not the heels). At the top of the stairs, I am breathing hard for 1-5 minutes. My legs are burning. I do this at least 5 times a day.

2. During the breaks, I do 3 minutes of "invisible jumprope" in the warehouse area. Bare concrete floor. But it is airconditioned. No one around. I jumprope (no rope, would not work indoors, cannot do real jumprope outdoors; would cause complaints from fellow coworkers) by counting 1-2-3, etc. for each jump, working my hands like I am spinning a jumprope. Stop at 60. Wait a few minutes, walk around, then repeat for 60. Wait a little longer, the repeat for 60. I get 20 heart beats per 10 seconds. Again, legs, and now feet, burning.

During lunch, I have accumulated a collection of things to lift. Also in the warehouse. Scrap metal parts that have no sharp edges. I do arm exercises, squats, pushups from a counter top, lunges by holding the countertop, leg stretches, increasing the weight by doing 10 of everything, including bendovers, etc. with light weight, then heavier weight, then heavier weight, then heavier weight, then heavier weight, finally with really heavy (cannot lift over my head) where I do about 4-5 with exhaustion. Again 10-20 beats of heart per minute. I do not have a scale. Guessing about 45-50 lbs. for the heaviest.

Diet: I eat a bananna for breakfast, nibble on lettuce all day. Snack is something simple like peanut butter sandwich, lunch is chicken noodle soup, snack is something simple again, what ever I have available, french style green beans in the afternoon. At home is a normal dinner. I read the labels, avoid when possible (parties is an exception) foods such as soft drinks (I drink Wylers diet lemonaid), cake, cookies, ice cream, dried noodles (ramon pride), jelly, carrots, etc.
And orange juice, grape juice, etc.

My diet selection is limited. Due to budget and reading labels. I like broccoli. I like watermellon, but WOW! it does not like me! Indegestion. (?). I like a mayo or salad dressing sandwich. NOT the low fat varieties!
I don't put much dressing on my lettuce, can live without it. Tomatoes are ok, but not desired. Rice cakes do not do it for me. I like white rice, butter, but not margarine. I like beef and pork. On days I am really busy, I eat fast foods. I like the small sandwiches such as Whopper Jr. Breakfast is sausage and egg biscut. No cheese. On anything. No jelly. Occasional hash brows and sometimes french fries.

And on Sunday I work out in a small gym in my home. Weight plates, a power rack, and a weight machine. For about 1 hour. As does my son, age 13, and my wife. My build is heavy, muscular.

My doctors say I am loosing about 1/2 - 1 pound of weight per month. Great, but I want to loose FAT WEIGHT more than overall weight.

I found that i can do 1-10 minutes of exercise every hour at work; my secretary takes a "smoke break" every hour. So when she goes outside, I go over and do my jumpropeing. No one says anything as I told them I ALSO have an addiction; an exercise addiction.

What else should I do? I do not have any time available after work to do anything else!







Answer -
Hi David!

   Thanks for your nutrition question. I read your email and it sounds like you have a pretty good exercise routine going.  As for diet, you could benefit from cutting back on any fast food.  Fast food has way too much sugar and saturated fat which is very hard on your body and increases your risk of heart disease.

You should increase your intake of different types of nuts such as almonds, walnuts, and peanuts.  Nuts have special nutrients that help to keep your blood glucose levels healthy.  Try a handful of almonds daily.

Another important point to remember is in order to keep your blood glucose levels at a healthy level is you should eat smaller more frequent meals instead of trying to eat large meals.

Try eating foods which are higher in fiber such as beans, fruits, and vegetables. Also include more comple carbohydrates such as brown rice, "whole grains" like oatmeal and granola.  These types of food release glucose into your body slowly rather then in spikes

There is also a great website that you can try out that contains meal plans and different menus that I want you to check out.  I think you will find it very helpful. The link for it is   http://www.kraftfoods.com/diabetic/main.aspx?s=diabetic&m=main_content   


Hope this has helped.  Let me know if you need more information.


Answer
Dear David,

   I am glad you found the information helpful.  There is also a great product called Juice Plus which can be very beneficial for weight loss in the diabetic.  It contains the nutrients of fresh fruits and vegetables which can aide in weight loss.   The website for it is http://www.juiceblend.com  Why not give it a try for 4 months and see how it works for you?  Please let me know.
-George Rapitis, Nutritionist

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