COPD DVD Selected # 1 Top Pick

Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews DVD for COPD/Asthma has been selected as the number one choice from About.com, a New York Times Company.

Voted Best COPD DVD

 

Deborah Leader, RN, COPD guide states,  “A COPD Forum favorite, Functional Fitness for COPD and Asthma is an original exercise video created by occupational therapist Suzanne Andrews that focuses on improving your breathing, relieving your stress and increasing your quality of life as you learn to live with COPD.”

Suzanne Andrews, host of Functional Fitness on PBS TV, has medically documented the results of specific fitness and breathing exercises that focus on improving functional lung capacity. Using a pulseoximeter, a device that measures oxygen saturation and heart rate, Andrews has medically documented how specific breathing and pulmonary fitness techniques in a COPD patient can increase oxygen and decrease shortness of breath. Through specific pulmonary rehabilitation techniques, she has successfully increased peoples oxygen to that of a healthy person, enabling the person to live a functional life with more energy.

Functional Fitness COPD DVD has also had successful reviews by

1.    Vlady Rozenbaum, PhD, COPD-ALERT.com. “This DVD helps persons with COPD - an incurable and progressively debilitating disease, which is the 4th major cause of death and 2nd of disability in the U.S. - to manage their lives more effectively by better breathing techniques and simple exercises."

2.   A medical review board including Mache Seibel, MD, professor of Massachusetts Medical School and  founder of HealthRock states, “Functional Fitness is a cost effective program people can do right at home and I highly recommend it.”  

3.   Dr. Larry Grouse, president of US Health Network, Inc and stated after reviewing, “International COPD coalition finds this a “sound and useful DVD that we recommend.”

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Functional Fitness Fat Burning

Hips and thighs and arms, oh my! It may not be as easy to stay slim these days as it used to be, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. PBS's Suzanne Andrews takes you though two 25- minute, fat blasting workouts specifically designed to help the 40--plus set slenderize tough-to-tone areas. You can choose to sit or stand, depending on your fitness and comfort level. The DVD includes a 30-minute segment in which a doctor and a registered dietician answer frequently asked questions about weight loss. Also plus size friendly.

($17.99, http://www.healthwiseexercise.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16172&category_id=103

JuggleFit Juggle Your Way to Fitness

(Beginner Level)

Bored by traditional exercise? You might be surprised to learn that juggling is an aerobic workout. Juggling challenges the body and mind, lubricates the joints in the arms and shoulders, boosts brain power, and helps with coordination and balance. This DVD, led by instructor Heather Wolf, includes nylon scarves, a balance and coordination workout with three levels of difficulty, a beach warm-up and cool-down, and practice tips to help you master the circus art. ($19.99, http://www.jugglefit.com)

T'ai Chi Chih Joy Thru Movement

Simpler than tai chi but with the same benefits, T'ai Chi Chih was created in the 1970's and consists of 19  movements and one pose. A University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse study found that older adults who practice T'ai Chi Chih for five weeks experience less stress and a greater sense of well being. "With the accumulation of chi through T'ai Chi Chih, permanent changes in the metabolism and the thinking process take place", says creator Justin F. Stone, now in his 90's. The DVD includes 45 minutes of instruction on the principles of the movements, followed by a 45-minute practice.  ($32.95, http://www.gkpub.com)

Homebody

This routine is low-impact hybrid of dance, Pilates and yoga that gets you moving while strengthening your core, improving your posture and stretching your limbs. The music will propel you through the workout, which makes use of common household items like a can of beans, ketchup bottle, throw pillows and a chair. Led by fitness instructor Jillian Hessel, the DVD includes a dance warm up, a chair workout, a mat sequence, a rise to standing end segment and a bonus tutorial to help insure correct posture.

 ($12.95, http:// www.jillianhessel.com) 

Walking for Fitness Kit with Kathy Smith DVD

 

It may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of exercise, but walking can help you burn calories, increse energy, manage stress, reduce the risk of heart attack and other diseases, lower body fat, and revitalize muscles. Fitness expert Kathy Smith takes walkers to the next level with this kit, which includes two 1.5 pound hand weights, a pedometer and the indoor walking DVD. The program is the equivalent of a two mile walk and is designed for all ages and abilities.  ($19.99, http://www.rejuvenationrehab.com) 

 

 

 

How To Get Your Diabetes Under Control Now

Do you ever feel like your life could be the subject of a country western song? The rents overdue, you hate your job, the truck broke down and now my doctor says I've got diabetes. Yee-Haw! No wonder the bars are full every night.

Just to clarify, your body communicates with itself using chemical messengers called hormones. Several organs in the brain and body produce hormones that flow to other organs through the blood where these messages are received and the corresponding organ responds by producing another hormone that fixes a problem detected by sensors in your nervous system that alerted the brain in the first place.

Insulin is a hormone. It chemically dissolves sugar molecules in the blood so that they can be converted into the energy that powers the heart, organs and muscles.

There are two types of diabetes. Type one is usually hereditary. The autoimmune system in your body goes haywire and attacks the cells in your pancreas that produce a hormone called insulin. Without the sugars being broken down you won't have much energy.

Type two diabetes is caused by the pancreas not producing enough insulin hormone even though the brain keeps signaling it to. If you have a faulty pancreas you are at a higher risk of type two diabetes and need to take steps so as not to aggravate the situation by not eating right and living a sedentary lifestyle.

Your normal fasting blood sugar level ranges from 60-95 mg/dl. (milligrams per deciliter) Levels higher than 126 mg/dl can bring about the usual symptoms of thirst, hunger, and frequent urination. Feeling weak or fatigued can also coincide with open sores and dry itchy skin. Nice.

5 Complications of Diabetes:

1. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness for adult's age 20 - 74 years old.

2. Causes heart and blood vessel disease: people with diabetes have heart death rates 2 - 4 times higher than people without diabetes.

3. Nerve damage: Symptoms include erectile dysfunction, slowed digestion, and decreased sensation or pain in the feet.

4. Increases Gum Disease: People who don't control their diabetes are 3 times more likely to have gum disease.

5. Limb amputation: 60 % of people with amputations are performed on diabetics.

So don't be one of the 800,000 new cases diagnosed in the US each year. That's nearly 2200 people every day. The more you exercise the less dependent your muscles are on insulin so even if your pancreas isn't producing much, that's ok, it doesn't need to. Exercising keeps it all in balance. Exercise is a must. I've never had a patient tell me they enjoy their blindness or amputation.

So keep your mind on the bright side of things and don't become the subject of a sad country and western tune. You can live a full and active life after all. Yee haw!

New Diabetes Workout!

Yoga Improves New Year's Resolution Success

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Yoga Chi for Energy, which is an ancient system consisting of both physical exercises,  postures and meditation can be a real motivator. In fact, it can help you keep your New Year’s Resolutions this year. Yoga Improves Weight Loss On of the most common New Year’s Resolutions is the resolution to lose weight. This is often a difficult resolution for people to keep, but yoga chi for energy practice can help. Yoga, poses (called asanas) and meditation reduce stress that may lead to overeating or other bad habits. The relaxed, focused state that comes from this ancient discipline tends to fall right in line with better choices such as eating healthier foods and exercising more.   In addition to this are the practical fat burning and muscle building qualities of yoga practice. Yoga asanas can be quite muscularly demanding and are thus similar to many fat burning regimens that give muscles relatively short periods of intensive work. This is well known to be one of the fastest ways to burn fat.   Even gentle Yoga Chi for Energy postures also stimulate and massage organs in the body and in so doing improve things like digestive function, kidney and liver health, and circulation, all of which help to purify the system and burn unwanted fact. Meditation and Motivation Meditation is well known to create a sense of relaxation as well as focus. As such, it can help greatly with motivation and will power. In the meditative state, things tend to become clearer and less jumbled and confused. The meditator can see more clearly what the issues with motivation are and act on them more consciously. All of this can be a great advantage when trying to keep a New Year’s Resolution, or any other resolution or goal for that matter. Whether it is a weight loss resolution, a resolution to find an exciting new career, or to find romance, meditation focuses an individual’s attention and creates the relaxed confidence that is beneficial for pursuing goals. Statistical Support These are not merely glittering generalities. There is direct statistical evidence to support the role of yoga in increasing focus and motivation. A study conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) set out to show that yoga is more than just exercise. Traci A. Statler and Ami Wheeler, both PhDs tested the motivation, concentration, and anxiety levels of students Cal State San Bernadino during the course of 10 week Hatha Yoga class. They gave the students standard assessments 2 weeks into the course and again at 9 weeks. They discovered marked increases in motivation and concentration on the part of students, and a clear decrease in students’ anxiety. New Year’s Resolution Success New Year’s Resolution Success can thus be a natural, even spontaneous, result of practicing yoga. The ability for an individual to manifest what he or she wants is a natural part of yoga. The practice exercises and tones the physical body while at the same time creating a sense of purified and relaxed focus that tends to make sticking to resolutions much easier. So it is in the interests of almost anyone trying to keep a new year’s resolution to at least consider taking up yoga.

 

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Kick and Scream Your Way to a Younger Body

So you're older now and here's what you can expect.

It's harder to work off that spare tire.   You're hair thins and then falls out, muscles weaken from disuse, vision becomes blurred, hearing is diminished, balance is off center, bones thin, joints become arthritic and your skin gets wrinkles. Whew! I think I'll just go back to bed.

Now not so fast. All is not lost, at least not yet. There is nothing we can do about getting older, but there is plenty you can do about aging. Getting older doesn't mean we can't age without kicking and screaming the whole way.

Here's what I propose you get yourself used to. Exercise, some kind of exercise, every day. Now if you're thinking, "But I've never exercised a day in my life, why start now?"  Go look in the mirror. Compare that image to the old photo of you at the beach 20 years ago. Yeah, I know. This only happens to other people. Sorry, it's happened to you.  But exercise is not just about looks, it's about staying healthy and functionally fit.  

Exercise and proper care of your skin can significantly reduce and slow down the aging process inside and out. Let's take a look under the microscope & see what's going on inside you and every human being that's getting older.

You've got chromosomes with genes in them. On the ends of these gene strands are what's called telomeres (DNA). These little telomeres act just like those plastic wraps, or caps, around the ends of your shoelaces. As we age the telomeres deteriorate and the shoelaces (chromosomes) begins to fray and come apart as they continually replicate themselves.

During cell division, enzymes that duplicate the chromosome and its DNA cannot continue their duplication all the way to the end of the chromosome. If cells divided without telomeres, they would lose the ends of their chromosomes, and the necessary information they contain. The telomeres are disposable buffers blocking the ends of the chromosomes and are consumed during cell division and replenished by an enzyme called telomerase. When this happens some of the DNA is lost and genes deteriorate which promotes the symptoms of aging.

There is no known way to reverse this process but there are many ways to fight it. Five small meals a day instead of three big ones. If you're not a construction worker, don't eat like one. Keep it light and low cal. Perform weight bearing exercises, start light and work your way up to heavier loads. No matter what your age is your muscles will respond to lifting weights, period. Exercising helps to maintain hormonal balance. All the hormones flowing through your blood increase and help your organs operate to their best ability. It's like putting high test gas in your bloodstream; you'll run like a top.

Thirty minutes a day of exercise is enough to get your hormones pumping. It's also very important to stretch after exercise of any type. Keeping the range of motion in your arms and legs are what help you keep doing the things you love most. Applying skin care products to your face and body will keep your skin smooth and clear. This is good advice for men too.

All this sounds like a bunch of extra work but the payoff at the end of the day is you'll sleep like a baby. Say goodbye to insomnia and any other sleep disorders you may have. Want to know why? Because you're going to be pooped! But you'll wake up with more energy, a younger body and a sharper mind. That's something that no pill on earth can offer.

Copyright © 2011 Functional Fitness starring Suzanne Andrews

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Back From The Brink

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My journey to a new body and a new life began with a difficult pregnancy and an emergency cesarean section birth. By the time I gave birth, I was a size 18 and 61 pounds overweight.

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 At 5’2”, I was putting a tremendous strain on my knees and hips. The simple act of walking was an arduous task. Walking places a force of 3 times your body weight on the critical joints of your body. At my height and size, I was burdening my body with 528 pounds of pressure. Every step was excruciating. I developed bursitis in my hips creating an inflammation so severe that I couldn’t walk without flinching. I suffered through two miscarriages and eventual gall bladder surgery. My condition had gotten so severe that I couldn’t even play with my newborn without becoming winded. Exercise was out of the question. I could barely see my toes—being able to touch them was a fantasy.

My wake-up call came two years later, at my son’s birthday party. When I saw the videotape of the celebration, I didn’t even recognize myself. It was time to make a change. I was starting to understand why I had no energy. Staring me in the face, right there on the screen was the reason my hips and back ached so terribly. Every day was another dose of my harsh reality. Commuting to work on the bus was a humiliating experience, as I had to endure the cruel snickers when I couldn’t fit into the seat. I had enough. It was time for a change.

While I was working at CBS on the Geraldo show, a guest panelist and psychologist told me about how meditation could benefit me. I was skeptical, but desperate to try anything that would make me feel whole again. I needed to be there for my son. I decided to give it a try. At first I didn’t understand how a sedentary activity like meditation could help me to lose weight. It was not long before I discovered the secret---during meditation your mind is the CEO and your body the dutiful employee. You tell your body what it needs to do and it follows suit.

The ritual of meditation was the spark that jumpstarted my weight loss plan. I felt energized to exercise daily, choose healthier options and control my portion sizes. The meditation motivated me in ways I never thought imaginable, helping me lose the excuses and get on the track to better health. I started with gentle yoga combined with low impact exercises.

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This not only helped me to start shedding pounds, but also made my day-to-day tasks more manageable.  I incorporated other techniques which are now  on my PBS TV series, Functional Fitness.   I’ve included the low-impact fat burning technique with high intensity workouts for optimal success. I’ve also included instruction on how people can give themselves a non-surgical butt lift using only paper plates with the Fat Burning workout.

Preview Fat Burning Workout

With my series soon syndicated to 90 million viewers, my show encourages everyone to take charge of their health, regardless of fitness level. I also encourage viewers to participate actively in their health care plan by using preventative, cost-effective approaches to managing their health.

Meditation saved my life, and prevented my son from becoming an orphan at 10 years old. I credit my success to the incorporation of mind, body and spirit that meditation encourages. The same breathing techniques that I used to control my appetite and regulate stress also helped to develop my lungs and give them power. It was those same healthy, powerful lungs that delivered me from the brink of death, when a medical miscalculation caused my heart to stop on an operating table. As doctors frantically fought to revive my lifeless body with CPR, my body started to shut down, turning my lips, hands and feet a chilling blue. Near death, I was transported by ambulance to the intensive care unit. My body was on the verge of giving up. My kidneys shut down and my veins constricted so tightly that doctors could not administer a lifesaving intravenous line. My body and my spirit were determined to live. I would not die. I would live. I would see my son again. I started to meditate. After five minutes of willing myself to survive and using my meditation skills, my body started its journey back from the edge. My kidneys started functioning again. My pulse strengthened and my veins opened up. Later, my cardiologist would proclaim in amazement, “I’m an Indian doctor and my patient is teaching me how great meditation is!”

After that day, I had a renewed sense of purpose. I had to motivate others and help other people struggling with weight find their purpose. My weight could have been a death sentence, but meditation and determination was my pardon. My life has been changed since that day. Doors have opened for me. I went from being introverted and soft spoken to a confident, capable and dynamic woman ready to embrace life. I have made it my mission to help others on their journey to finding the healthy and slim person within. You are the CEO of your health.  Exercise and be healthwise. Take care of your body and your body will take care of you. 

Get Fitter, stronger and healthier in the comfort of your own home email your local Public Television station now and request Functional Fitness starring Suzanne Andrews broadcast on your local station.  To find your station go to

http://www.pbs.org/stationfinder/index.html