Tip 28: Go for the Goal

What do you dislike about your life?  What would you like to see different in one year?  Commit to paper a list of your goals, large or small.  Maybe you are recovering from a heart attack and need to completely change your exercise and eating habits.  Maybe you are at risk for a heart attack and need to lose 25 pounds and get your blood pressure down.  Maybe you are just constantly tired and want to feel better.  Whatever your current state, write down your goals and what you want to change.  Having goals is a great way to keep us focused on living healthy.  These goals can be as simple as completing a 5K walk or as advanced as doing a triathlon.  Or maybe your goals are just to implement 10 Tips from this blog.  Our goals should be reachable, but should challenge us.  After you achieve a goal, even a small one, celebrate it!  Acknowledge your successes—even eating vegetables every day for a week or meeting your 8,000 step per day goal is worth celebrating.  Noticing the small changes will supply the encouragement and stamina to meet the big goals.

Tip 27: Do You Know if You Have Diabetes?

If you are at risk for diabetes (being overweight or having a family history for diabetes), get screened.  Diabetes is a serious cardiac risk factor and carries the same weight for having a heart attack as having established coronary disease.  Diabetes can cause multiple other medical problems including kidney failure, blindness, peripheral neuropathy, erectile dysfunction, and peripheral vascular disease, often leading to lower limb amputation. 

The prevalence of diabetes is growing rapidly.  In 1990, less than 5% of Americans had diabetes.  According to the Centers for Disease Control in 2010, 10% of all Americans had diabetes, and 26.9% of Americans over the age of 65 had diabetes.  The CDC projects that by 2050 as many as 1 in 3 Americans will have the disease! 

Diabetes can be treated with medications.  In many cases, diabetes can be cured, yes CURED, with diet and exercise.  So, see your doctor, get tested, and get treated if you have it.

Tip 26: Maintain a Healthy Weight

If I were to assign a number, probably 85% of my cardiac patients are overweight.  A few of them have been overweight since childhood, but most of them started gaining weight in their thirties and forties.  Typically, we gain a little each year as we age—maybe not a significant amount in one year—but a lot over cumulative years.  No matter the number, the majority of my patients are not near a healthy weight.

Interestingly, although the average weight for men and women stayed consistently low for centuries, those averages skyrocketed in the last forty years.  According to The End of Overeating by David Kessler, M.D., in 1960 the weight of the average American woman aged 20 to 29 was 128 pounds; by 2000, the weight was 157 pounds.  Can you believe this statistic?  In forty years the average weight of American women in their twenties increased by 30 pounds!  Thirty pounds!

Current estimates from the Centers for Disease Control are that 74.1% of Americans are overweight or are obese—that is almost all of us!  For the first time in history, our life expectancy has actually gone down.  The list of obesity related conditions which include heart disease, diabetes, depression, orthopedic injuries, sleep apnea, and cancer continues to grow.  In other words, the extra weight is killing us and significantly lessening the quality of our lives in the process. 

If you are overweight, either see your doctor or consult recommended weight guidelines for your height and frame.  If you are not within your healthy weight range, then do something about it.  The 28 Tips in this blog can help you start losing some of those pounds.  If you have a little weight to lose, start using these tips and you will soon have success.  If you have a great amount of weight to lose, do not let the number overwhelm you.  Set small goals which you can easily accomplish.  These goals might be following 3 new tips each week, beginning an exercise program, or trying to lose a small bit of weight like 5 or 10 pounds.  Once you have had success with these goals, set new ones and keep moving.  You can achieve a healthy weight, you just have to start.

Tip 25: Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables

I don’t know what it was like at your house growing up, but my mom was always pushing me to eat fruits and vegetables.  Until recent decades (when processed food consumption outpaced everything else) most families ate good portions of fruits and vegetables, and many of these foods came out of families’ own gardens.  

So we’ve always heard we should eat fruits and vegetables, but why?  Many human dietary studies have examined potential disease-preventing mechanisms of fruits and vegetables.  For instance, one mechanism stimulates the immune system—meaning the nutrients from the food increase your ability to fight off infections and even diseases like cancer.  In another mechanism, the antioxidants in the fruits and vegetables essentially destroy the bad “free radicals,” a kind of toxin that damages cells and can cause cancer or other problems. Fruits and vegetables help regulate the enzymes that detoxify our bodies from harmful chemicals (from food, medicines, environment exposures).  The fiber in fruits and vegetables aids in digestion and lowering cholesterol. Fruits and vegetables help other mechanisms as well, such as aiding in hormone production, blood pressure regulation, and on and on.  Through these mechanisms fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of disease, including heart disease and stroke.

What’s more, fresh, organic fruits and vegetables (especially those purchased at a farmer’s market) are packed with flavor and taste better than processed foods.

Now how much should you eat?  A good average for teen-agers and up would be 2 cups of fruit and 2 ½ cups of veggies per day.  Have more if you want them, particularly the vegetables.  If you do not find fruits and vegetables palatable, hide them in your food.  Put pureed prunes in those chocolate cupcakes.  Shred a carrot in your spaghetti sauce, or throw frozen peas into your next pasta dish.  No matter how you do it, listen to the admonitions of the people who fed you in your childhood:  Eat your fruits and vegetables!

Tip 24: Cut Out the Sweetened Soft Drinks

Want an easy way to reduce your daily calories and turn toward a healthier lifestyle?  Cut out or limit your sweetened soft drinks.  Sweetened soft drinks are addictive to most of us--we drink them for a few days, then we want more soft drinks more frequently.  Market analysis supports the idea that we are drinking more.  According to the National Soft Drink Association (NSDA), consumption of soft drinks is now more than 600 12-ounce servings per person per year!  Since the late 1970s soft drink consumption in the United States has doubled for females and tripled for males. The highest consumption is in males between the ages of 12 - 29; they average a half gallon a day or 160 gallons a year. 

Ironically, even "the real thing" does not contain real good calories.  Sweetened soft drinks are high in non-nutritive calories and are often sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.  Some investigators have concluded that these drinks contribute to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity in our country.  A Princeton study has shown that long-term consumption of high fructose corn syrup leads to abnormal increases in body fat, especially around the abdomen. The relationship between soft drink consumption and body weight is so strong that researchers calculate that each additional soft drink consumed daily increases the risk of obesity 1.6 times.  Drinking soft drinks may be harmful to your heart as well.  According to a new study published in Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association, "Drinking one or more carbonated beverages per day may increase your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.”

So what should you drink instead?  Water would be best.  Milk or fruit juices are reasonable choices as well.  If you savor the bubbles of a carbonated beverage, but don’t care for plain water, add a splash of lemon or orange juice to carbonated water and enjoy.

Tip 23: Add Strength Training to Your Workout

We all know that cardio exercises such as running or biking burn calories and help us lose weight.  Want to add some variety to your routine while increasing your calorie burning potential?  Add strength training to your workout.  Strength training is any form of resistance training designed to improve your strength.  Your workout could include weight machines, a toning class, rubber bands, or free weights—even pumping soup cans will work.  No matter which type of workout you choose, strength training can help you get fitter faster and lose weight.  Strength training increases lean muscle mass, which in turn increases basal metabolic rate (the rate at which we burn calories at rest).  The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest and, amazingly, the easier it is to lose fat.  Strength training also gives us better posture, muscle definition, and makes us stronger.  Strength training has also been demonstrated to increase bone density while building muscle.  These exercises are beneficial to men and women at any age.

How much should you do?  That depends on your ability and your goals.  A good rule is to plan to perform a strength training workout at least 2 to 3 times per week, with your usual cardio exercises after your strength training or on the days in between.

Tip 22: Get Checked for Sleep Apnea

Do you snore?  Does your partner say you snore or stop breathing while you are sleeping?  You may have sleep apnea.  Sleep apnea is an important medical problem that is easily diagnosed with a sleep study.  Sleep apnea has been associated with an increased risk for heart disease, atrial fibrillation (an arrhythmia which can lead to stroke), pulmonary hypertension, depression, mood instability, and memory loss.  An estimated 20 to 30% of the population may have this problem.  If you think you might have sleep apnea, tell your doctor and get a sleep study.

Heart Healthy Education

Healthy Heart Physician and Nutrition Advice

Wednesday, March 16, 2011
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

You can help to prevent heart attacks. Join cardiologist Shawn Partrick, M.D., and learn about the risk factors associated with heart disease. Take control of your health. Discover guidelines to improve and maintain your cholesterol, blood pressure, body fat, and blood sugar. Find out just how much exercise you really need to keep your heart in shape. In addition, registered dietician Laura Joyce, R.D., M.S., will debunk the myths surrounding "bad" foods and provide practical nutrition advice. Resource and recipe information will be provided. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.

Registration is required.  Link: 
Injury Prevention Classes - Legacy Health

http://blog.oregonlive.com/health-care/2011/02/come_learn_feb_23_how_to_keep.html

Tip 21: Avoid Trans-Fats and Saturated Fats

We hear so much about trans-fats and saturated fats these days, but what are they and why are they bad for us?  Saturated fatty acids come from animal fats and tropical oils such as palm and coconut and have been shown to raise bad (LDL) cholesterol levels.  Because they come from animal fats, the foods that contain saturated fatty acids also contain cholesterol.  Thus, these foods can be doubly dangerous to the heart.  Unsaturated fatty acids come from vegetable oils and do not increase cholesterol levels.  In fact, many unsaturated fats reduce cholesterol levels.

Because saturated fatty acids were found to be bad for you a couple decades ago, the food industry wanted to switch to using unsaturated fatty acids. Unfortunately, unsaturated fatty acids become rancid relatively quickly. To combat the instability of unsaturated fatty acids, manufacturers began to "hydrogenate" them, a process that makes them more stable. The result was a more solid and longer lasting form of vegetable oil, called "partially hydrogenated" oil.

Unfortunately, when unsaturated vegetable fats are subjected to the process of hydrogenation, a new type of fatty acid is formed. This new type of fatty acid is called trans-fatty acid. So when manufacturers began substituting partially hydrogenated vegetable oils for saturated fats in processed foods, they began adding relatively large amounts of trans-fatty acids to the typical diet.

Unfortunately, trans-fatty acids increase total cholesterol levels and bad (LDL) cholesterol levels, and reduce good (HDL) cholesterol levels. In other words, trans-fatty acids are detrimental to cardiac health.

Are all fats bad?  No.  In fact, unsaturated fats can lower your cholesterol.  Omega 3 fatty acids have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.  Palmitoleic acid (a mono-unsaturated fatty acid found in macadamia nuts) may not lower cholesterol, but it aids in fat metabolism and may help reduce stored body fat.  Foods such as fish, almonds, walnuts, and avocados are rich in these types of healthy fats.  Increasing the amount of healthy fats while decreasing the saturated fats and trans-fats in your diet will reduce your risk of heart disease.

Tip 20: Watch Your Steps

One of the best ways to have a healthy heart is to be consistently active.  We often think of being active only in terms of dedicated exercise, but consistent activity throughout the day can raise our fitness level and even stimulate weight loss.  One way to gauge your activity is to count the steps you take.  Generally, sedentary people take around 1,000-3,000 steps.  Two thousand steps is the equivalent of a mile. Those folks who take 10,000 per day walk the equivalent of five miles!

To monitor your daily activity, consider wearing a pedometer and keeping track of how many steps you are taking.  Try this idea:   Wear a pedometer for three days and average the number of steps taken each day to establish your baseline.  Then, increase the number of daily steps you take by 500 each week.  So if your baseline is 2000 steps, add 500 steps and shoot for 2,500 steps each day during Week 1.  Add 500 more and shoot for 3,000 steps in Week 2, and so on, working up to 8,000-10,000 steps.  Although our heart muscle still need vigorous exercise, this kind of increase in our daily activity level can have amazing results in fitness and weight loss.  So set your goal, and start stepping.

Tip 19: Drink Water When You Eat

You probably realize by now that most Americans generally don’t drink enough water each day.  Drinking with meals helps us to get a little extra water.  In addition, water can both help us feel full sooner and help us reduce the overall amount we eat.  By drinking water with meals, we can reduce calorie intake and increase water intake in one action.

Tip 18: Eat Oatmeal At Least Twice Per Week

Oatmeal, especially whole-grain oatmeal such as Bob’s Red Mill, is high in fiber, complex carbohydrates, and is a good source of protein.  A breakfast including oatmeal gives us more energy, keeps us satiated longer, and has been demonstrated to help lower cholesterol.  This is in part because the fiber in whole-grain oatmeal binds to cholesterol in the intestine and carries the cholesterol out of the body in the stool.  Eating whole-grain oatmeal at least twice per week can help us to lose or maintain a healthy weight and improve our overall health.

Tip 17: Forget Fad Diets

Fad diets cause three problems.  First, they lead to rapid weight loss in the form of fat and muscle.  When weight is regained (and it almost always is, with an additional 10 to 20 pounds), that weight is usually only fat.  Thus, we have traded muscle for fat.  Second, these types of diets encourage the consumption of processed foods which have been shown to increase cravings and lead to bingeing and eventual weight gain.  Finally, many fad diets are based on an unusual regimen of foods which are difficult for most dieters to maintain and thus, lead to failure.  A good balanced diet of natural foods emphasizing portion control and daily exercise is far more successful and is long lasting.

Tip 16: Get Plenty of Sleep

Did you know that good sleep can help reduce your risk for blood pressure and heart attacks?  We all know that we function better after a good night’s sleep.  We are less irritable, have more stamina, and think more clearly.  However, new research shows that sleeping less than 7 hours per night can increase our risk of developing high blood pressure.  If we sleep less than 5 hours per night our risk of developing high blood pressure doubles.  Additionally, if we have high blood pressure and get less than 7 hours of sleep per night, our risk for heart attack is increased.  So, get plenty of sleep—it may save your life.

Tip 15: Stick a Fork In It

Studies have demonstrated that the faster we eat, the more we eat.  Why?  The reason is that it takes 20 minutes for the signals from our full stomachs to tell our brains that we are full.  Thus, anything that slows our eating will help us eat less.  Foods that need a fork to be consumed take longer to eat than ones that can be eaten with our hands (think cheeseburgers and pizza).  You can eat cheeseburgers and pizza with a fork!  So relax, have good conversation during your meals, take your time, and use a fork.

Tip 14: Limit Your Alcohol Consumption

If you enjoy consuming alcohol, do so in moderation.  If you can go without, that is even better!  Moderation means no more than one alcoholic beverage per day (but less is best).  If you are trying to derive heart benefits from drinking alcohol, realize those benefits are limited.  The much-touted heart benefits occur with a single glass of red wine and are equaled by a glass of grape juice.  Excessive alcohol intake increases the risk for arrhythmias and cardiomyopathy; alcoholic beverages other than red wine have not consistently demonstrated any heart benefit and also increase the risk for arrhythmias and cardiomyopathy, so imbibe wisely and in moderation.

Tip 13: Avoid Eating for Two

Let’s face it, our American society eats too much.  Restaurants have conditioned us to expect large portions, and portion sizes have increased tremendously over the past decade.  Those expectations of large portion sizes transfer to our homes, and we condition ourselves to serve larger portions no matter where we are.  Most restaurant plates serve enough to feed two meals.  Unfortunately, we often believe that if we paid for it, we should eat it.  We also have a common tendency to eat whatever is on our plate.  Before you take that first bite, objectively look at the portions on your plate.  If the plate is large or the food is piled upon it, take a simple step of eating just half; divide your food and put half on a separate plate to share with someone else or in a “to go” box to eat the following day.  When the temptation to eat more than we really need has been removed, you can enjoy the food that remains.  This small act will make both your waistline and your pocketbook happy.

Tip 12: Get Enough Vitamin D

Vitamin D has often fallen in the shadow of some of the more popular vitamins like C, the Bs, and E, but research in the past few years has magnified the importance of Vitamin D.  Some studies have suggested that low vitamin D levels may increase the risk for heart disease, cancer, depression, and osteoporosis.  Most recently, research shows a correlation between consistently low Vitamin D levels in women and breast cancer. Also, low Vitamin D levels may be connected with low energy levels.  We make most of the vitamin D in our bodies in our skin, but we need at least 20 minutes of direct sunlight each day to maintain adequate levels.  Most Americans living in the upper half of the country during the winter months do not get nearly enough Vitamin D, and those folks in the rainy Pacific Northwest have some of the lowest Vitamin D levels in the country.  To combat this problem, find ways to get Vitamin D each day.  If you live in a gray or rainy climate, get your Vitamin D levels checked. Take a daily supplement of at least 1000 IU of vitamin D3 each day, drink milk, and get a little sunshine on your body when you can (with appropriate sunscreen, of course).

Tip 11: Quit Smoking, Really

Smoking is not healthy, and we all know that.  If you smoke, you know that smoking costs too much, both monetarily and physically.  Tobacco shortens our life expectancy and decreases the quality of our lives.  Interestingly, most people who smoke do not get lung cancer—they die of heart disease first.  The damage done to our lungs from smoking is almost all irreparable.  But listen to this:  Once you are smoke-free for five years, the risk to your heart is all but gone!  Specifically, the risk of heart attack in a person who has abstained from cigarettes for five years is the same as a non-smoker.  So if you quit now you can start to reduce your risk immediately.  You can use many options to help you quit: nicotine patches, hypnosis, Chantix, and cold turkey are all good methods.  If you need help, see your doctor and get the assistance you require.

Tip 10: Keep Your Well From Running Dry--Drink More Water

Water is a wondrous drink! We can live many days without food, but only 3 days without water.  Water is essential to our survival and comprises 60% of our body weight.  Water is required for every system in our bodies.  Drinking adequate water helps our organs function better and helps carry waste products out of our bodies.  If we are trying to lose weight, water can help curb hunger by occupying space in our stomachs and helping us feel full sooner.  Lack of water, or dehydration, can drain our energy and make us feel tired and unable to exercise. 

In general, we should consume 8 to 12 cups of water per day.  This amount should increase in warm weather, at higher altitudes, and with exercise.  Another rule is a minimum of eight 8-ounce glasses per day.  Our bodies tell us when we have not consumed enough water with thirst.  A basic guideline is that if you are feeling thirsty, you have not consumed enough water.  To meet your body's requirements, try filling a large water bottle or pitcher (maybe one that would hold about 32 ounces) and keep it with you throughout the day; you'll be more likely to drink if you have your cold water at hand.

If regular water does not suit your taste, try adding a squeeze of citrus—lemon, lime, or even orange juice.  Or consider drinking sparkling water.  Although you can buy bottled sparkling water, you can also make your own sparkling water at home with one of the new carbonated water machines like those from Soda Stream.  Making your own water means less consumption of glass or plastic from bottle packaging, less expense for you, and the ease of having sparkling water whenever you want.

Tip 9: Forego Fast Food

Fast food is just that, fast.  Fast food is not usually wholesome food.  Fast food is not usually nutritious food.  We can consume a fast food meal that has far more calories and less nutrition in a fraction of the time it takes us to eat a home cooked meal.  We have heard for years about the high levels of fat and calories in fast food.  What is the most surprising fact about fast food (and even much of the food from national chain restaurants)?  Much of the food on the fast food menu has been engineered to make you crave it.  Thus, the food is processed and flavored in a way to entice you not only to revisit that restaurant, but to eat more food when you get there.  The extra calories add up and soon we are the ones who are supersized.

So what should you do when a striking dinner hour finds you empty handed?  Take a minute and think about your options before you pull into the drive-thru.  Can you make something quickly at home?  If home cooking is out, choose a restaurant that provides healthier options—how about buying a sandwich with whole-grain bread, lean meat, and plenty of vegetables? Or try a fast food restaurant like Burgerville which consistently uses local food, has nutritious options, and which amazingly prints the nutritional information of every item on your receipt!  Even if your only option is a traditional fast food place, pick more nutritious foods or order smaller portions—the salad instead of fries, the smallest burger instead of the quarter-pound of beef one, and water instead of soda.

Tip 8: Weigh Once Each Week, Even When You Had Rather Not

Yes, I know many people do not like to weigh!  But since you need to know all your Heart Wise numbers, jump on that scale.  Always weigh under the same conditions: first thing in the morning, with little or no clothing, and with an empty bladder.  Write down the number if you cannot keep track of it.  If you have other health problems or conditions that require you to be monitored more closely, such as heart failure and the use of diuretics, then you may need to weigh more frequently.  Weighing weekly allows us to follow our progress if we are trying to lose weight and will alert us if we start to gain weight.

Tip 7: Shop at a Farmer's Market Whenever Possible

Farmers markets often feature organic, natural, and unprocessed foods which are rich in nutrients. Further, farmers markets are typically local and therefore, the amount of fossil fuel consumed to bring each meal to our table is less, which is better for our community and the environment.  No surprise, food straight from the farm is more flavorful because such food is grown to taste good and nourish us, not to have an unusually long shelf life.

Tip 6: Avoid Foods with High Fructose Corn Syrup

High Fructose Corn syrup (HFCS) is a chemical derived from corn which is used to sweeten many foods.  HFCS is found in a multitude of processed foods, even in those you may not suspect like yogurt, bread, and Worcestershire sauce.  HFCS adds many unnecessary calories.  Corn advocates will say that HFCS is a natural substance that enhances a product’s flavor.  However, the process the corn must undergo to derive HFCS is anything but natural and many argue that foods such as yogurt are more flavorful and healthy without the addition of a processed corn derivative.  Further, growing evidence suggests that HFCS may trigger specific receptors in our brains to increase our cravings for foods, which leads to overeating.  Additionally, some new studies have suggested that HFCS can lead to increased release of fat from the liver into the bloodstream; this fat in the bloodstream may cause increased deposition of fat in the arteries, increasing your risk of heart attack.  Start reading the ingredient lists on the food you buy, and avoid HFCS.

Tip 5: Make Three Little Changes Every Day

Little changes can have a big bang.  Taking the stairs, walking or riding a bike instead of driving a car, and parking farther from our destination when we do drive may not seem like much individually.  Cumulatively, however, little changes make a big difference in the calories we burn, the fitness we build, and the health we enjoy.  In addition to walking or biking or taking the stairs, make three little changes each day to improve your health or lifestyle.  Eat half a serving of mashed potatoes instead of a whole; turn off the television and use that time for 30 extra minutes of sleep; mark off two errands on your daily “to-do” list that drain you; implement one of these 28 Tips each day. Make active healthy choices and confirm your dedication to being fit and healthy.

Tip 4: Know Your Heart-Wise Numbers

Whether you are 25 or 85, you need to know your body’s numbers. Always know your weight (even if you do not like that number), your blood pressure, and your cholesterol (including your triglycerides). Whether through an annual check-up or even through a local health fair, find a way to keep tabs on your numbers. Keeping these numbers in the normal range can change your health and drastically reduce your chances for a heart attack.

First, weigh yourself! Many of my patients avoid the scales for months and even years while the pounds creep on. Just knowing your weight number can give you a starting point from which to either lose weight or at least maintain your weight. Next, high blood pressure increases your risk of heart attack and stroke. New guidelines are due out later this year, but currently your ideal blood pressure should be less than 120/80, and many physicians will treat blood pressure elevated above 130/80. We should all get a cholesterol panel and understand what each of the numbers means. The total cholesterol is actually the least important number; the more important numbers are your triglycerides, HDL (good cholesterol), and LDL (bad cholesterol). Currently, your triglycerides should be less than 150, your HDL should be above 40 if you are a man and above 50 if you are a woman, and your LDL should be below 100 unless you have coronary disease or diabetes which would require an LDL level of 70 or less. Now that you know your numbers, keep track of them. Above all, if your numbers are outside of normal parameters, see your doctor and start fixing them.

Tip 3: Eat a Protein Meal or Snack Within 30 Minutes of Exercise

Immediately after exercise, our bodies crave protein to build muscle.  Building muscle is one of the five most important benefits of exercise (the others are burning calories, improving cardiovascular fitness, reducing stress, and having fun). Lean muscle increases the rate at which calories are burned, the number of calories that are burned, and increases our strength and fitness.    Research shows that consuming a protein meal within 30 minutes after exercise increases the utilization of protein to build lean muscle, allowing you to build extra muscle after your workout by doing no more than lifting your hand to your mouth.

Tip 2: Get at Least 30 Minutes of Exercise Five Days a Week

How can you find the fountain of youth?  Exercise.  Exercise is the only remedy that can help us lose weight, lower our blood pressure, lower our cholesterol, control or cure our diabetes, improve our strength and stamina, and ultimately, improve the quality and duration of our lives.  Want to change your health? Exercise at least five days per week; more than 5 days is a bonus.  Dedicate yourself to exercising five days per week, and you will be surprised how easily and quickly exercise becomes a permanent habit that can change your body and your life.  Want to get even more benefits?  Exercise for more than 30 minutes and try to break a sweat for at least half of your session.