Heart Rate Monitors

Heart rate monitors used to be exclusively operated by physicians and nurses alone but that was soon rectified with today’s multi-tasking generation. Every person seemed to want to know about everything that was related to them and that of course included monitoring their own heartbeats.

What is a Heart Monitor

Also known as a cardiac monitor, a heart monitor is a piece of electronic equipment that can be used to track or observe heart functions continuously. It allows people to place a numerical value on their healthiness based on their heart rate and have a target heart rate to work for.

 The more complex versions of the heart monitor allow physicians to see any signs of deterioration or improvement and make the necessary adjustments immediately.

Types of Heart Monitors
Today, heart monitors are produced by the millions and designed to cater specific types of individuals. Some heart monitors are primarily designed for weight loss programs while others are meant for the use of athletes or fitness programs. 

Some are wireless or come as a built-in feature of exercise equipment like a treadmill or an exercise bike. It can be strapped to your wrist or of considerable size. 

It may or may not emit any electromagnetic waves, depending on its purpose. A fetal heart monitor, for instance, must not produce any waves at all as this may affect the health of the baby.

Factors on Selecting the Best Heart Monitor for You

ECG-Accurate Monitors with Chest Straps – Heart monitors that come with chest straps are more often not the most accurate of heart monitors. 

The chest strap is strapped around your chest, a few centimeters below your breast. It contains a device that’s able to detect electrical activity of your heart and transmit it to the brain of the machine – just like an ECG.

 The results are shown on the display monitor, which most of the times is attached to your wrist like a watch. Others however prefer results to be transmitted through audio messages via earphones.

Upon choosing heart monitors with chest straps, you need to remember to keep the strap constantly connected to your body lest you want the heart monitor to produce inaccurate readings.

Lastly, the only alternative against buying heart monitors with chest straps are the ones that rely on pulses on your fingertips. These however do not provide readings as accurate as those with chest straps.

Heart Monitor Features – Basic and lower end models tend to display only your heart rate and maybe the elapsed exercise time as well. This of course does not provide sufficient information if you want to know exactly how much you need to improve before you can be qualified as a completely healthy individual. 

Higher end models will naturally offer a wider range of features – for a price. Examples of such features are – but not limited to – heart rate zone alarms, timers and number of calories burned. It may also allow users to set pre-programmed workouts along with a targeted heart rate.

Ease of Use – Lastly, you must purchase a heart rate monitor that you will have no problems of using. What good would a high end heart monitor do if it takes you an hour to operate it? 

Are the numbers and words appearing in the heart rate monitor readable? Can it be used in no-light situations? Are buttons well-labeled and ergonomically positioned?

To Buy or Not to Buy a Heart Monitor

Heart monitors can be especially costly, more so if you are intent on purchasing higher-end models. If you have a limited budget, you should ask yourself whether or not you truly need to buy a heart monitor. 

You can of course purchase one of the lower-end models but low quality heart monitors can lead to inaccurate results and that sort of defeats the purpose of buying one.

If you are intent on purchasing a heart monitor, you need to ask yourself another question: do you need to make a solo purchase or is it alright with you to use the heart monitor that comes as a built-in feature of a treadmill? 

Lastly, you should remember as well that you can always pay your doctor regular visits and have him monitor your heart rate for you.

Your Thyroid and Weight loss – The Connection is Real

Your thyroid dictates much of your metabolism, any malfunction or disease afflicting this area may cause you to have problems in metabolism leading to a drastic problem with your weight – you may either gain weight, lose weight, or may find that losing weight is harder than usual.

Those that plan diets do not take into consideration how their thyroids and metabolism may affect their weight loss program. Most experts and even the media pitch in and recommend that the best way to lose weight is cut calories.

Those with a condition called hyperthyroidism suffer from an overactive thyroid leading to one having his or her metabolism skyrocket. If this is the case, then you will probably lose weight fast. This is a nice proposition for some who wish to lose weight. However, this is actually hazardous to the health.

Aside from the medical difficulties such a disease brings, one will also notice weight problems as a result. These people have trouble keeping on weight and may notice weakness and bulging of the eyes. This disease may need special treatment from doctors.

Hypothyroidism on the other hand works in the other direction – slowing metabolism until the body gains weight at an incredible rate. Like hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism causes a general weakness in the body. It too may need special treatment and may cause serious health problems if left unattended.

While cutting calories in itself can be very hard for most people – imagine, the people involved in life and death struggles at the supermarket regarding whether to buy that extra box of sweets, some have exactly the opposite problem.

Instead of eating too much calories – which is a problem in itself, they eat too little calories instead.

Problem? What Problem
The problem with some is that they believe that since the experts say that they have to cut calories, cutting calories to an inordinate amount will reap greater results. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. While cutting calories helps diets, consuming too little calories pushed the body into a hoard mode, the body’s metabolism slow to adapt to the lesser amount of available energy.

If your body enters this mode, your body will work at such slow metabolism that losing weight becomes impossible.  The technique here should be to reduce calories without the body slowing its metabolism. Only then can losing weight become easier.

Another problem that can arise from decreased metabolism is that when your metabolism slows due to a drastic reduction in metabolism, and then you suddenly eat a good, hearty, calorie-filled meal, you are bound to gain more weight owing to the increased surplus of energy.

This is why an imbalanced meal is highly discouraged among those that seek to lose weight. The sudden loss and increase of calories will cause an imbalance in one’s energy consumption directly affecting fat deposit.

Here is a simple computation to help you get to the right amount of calories you will need per day so that you get your nutrients in the right balance.

First of all, multiply your weight in kilograms by 30. If you only know your weight in pounds, divide it by 2.2 to get to its English equivalent. We divide this number by 30 because that is the number of calories you need to maintain your weight per pound of weight.

For example if your weight in pounds is 150, divide it by 2.2. That will give you a figure of 68.18. This is your weight in kilograms. Multiply this by 30 and you will arrive at the amount of calories you will need per day to maintain 150 lbs.

You may consult a nutritionist to help you come lose weight. In the end it all comes down to math. If you consume more that your body needs, it stores it as fat. Now is probably a good time to start studying the back of those grocery cartons.

Try to keep your diet at a 40% protein, 25% fat, and 35% carbohydrate meals at 300 calories per meal. Spread out these meals in a day for optimum results.

While it may be simple computation to get at numbers, do not forget the earlier mentioned fact that the body adapts to its condition. Expose it to extreme ones and you may find yourself getting results you never wanted. Consult a nutritionist for more advice.

Why You Can't "Spot Reduce"

People have problem areas. Even people, who have achieved their ideal body weight, will still have problem areas. It could be the love handles, the flabby arms, the sagging skin or the hips. Then you will find the market offering all sorts of products, from creams and applications to get rid of the fats to gadgets and machines to tone the arms, thighs or the abs.

However, there is one reality check you have to make. You cannot spot reduce. The attempt to do so is not going to work and it will not be for your good.

Why Can’t I Spot Reduce?

The market misinforms the public of the benefits that can be expected from their so-called revolutionary products when in fact there really are no revolutionary results to look forward to.

1. Healthy Diet Is Important

Diet is an important element to get rid of the undesirable body fats. The foods that you eat have calories and cholesterols that get stored in your body, probably amassing on those problem areas of yours. The diet is the main culprit for presence of fats.

So no matter how much you depend on those gadgets in the market, it will remain defenseless if you keep indulging in sweets, fatty foods or junk foods.

2. Spot Reduction Is a Mere Myth
It is not healthy to believe what those people say about the productivity of spot reduction efforts. The products you see on the market require nothing but merely attach or apply them on the problem areas. What about your other body parts? What about the other requirements of the body?

In any healthy endeavors, you must be on the top of your physiology. You should know what it takes to achieve a goal. For example, if you want six-packs in your stomach, you have to know what it takes to get them.

Some people out there would claim that if you want to improve the look of your stomach, you simply have to concentrate on abdominal exercises or use the gadgets that will do the exercise for you. Again, you cannot spot reduce. You cannot achieve the goal with simply doing that one abdominal exercise.

The fat can not just come off on its own by just using a gadget. Genetics has to do with it. Diet has to do with it. Lifestyle has to do with it.

The truth is, before you can even aim for the six-packs on the stomach, you will have to take away the fats first.
So doing 500 crunches a day will only exhaust you but it will not get rid of those fats. Your body will not burn the fats stored in that spot you are targeting. Actual workouts can actually address this. With this, the fats are burned one at a time, and not just in one area. It has a more integrated system of reducing the fats in the body.

Then you will also have to gain body mass. At this point, the only way you can only get rid of the fats and get some body mass is to have a healthy diet and do cardio exercises.

Only after surpassing the diet and cardio requirements can you focus on the abdominal exercises. This is the only proper time to really focus on working out for the six-packs.

3. There Are No Shortcuts
Miracle diets, pills and potions are mere shortcuts that will lead you to a dead end. If a healthy body is aimed, you have to work for it. You have to earn it.

We truly are living in a fast world with the advancement of technology, but your body still is very much natural. Thus you will still have to be grounded to what is naturally required by the body, healthy diet, regular exercise and considerable amount of time to develop that desirable state.

4. Health and Fitness Require Commitment
Your dedication to the health of your body is a lifelong commitment. Even if you achieved a good body now, it will not remain so forever if you abuse on your diet and lifestyle. It needs to be loved and taken care of, regularly.

That is why if you will depend on the spot reduction claims, it will really bring you nowhere. You can only hope, but you cannot expect. So if you aim for the healthy body; get an exercise program for your self and make some changes in your diet. Give your self a holistic development. Improve not only the body, but your outlook in life as well.

Do It the Proper Way

With all these points raised, the bottom line is to simply get healthy the proper way. The saying still holds true. No pain, no gain. So do not be a victim of the misleading information and empty promises thrown upon you. Simply know the proper options. Take the matter into your own hands and enjoy the benefits of a healthy body.