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CAN YOU SWING FROM THE RAFTERS?


 

Within ONE WEEK of making these changes, you will

image Notice a boost in energy.

image Sleep better (as long as you don’t exercise vigorously in the three hours before bedtime).

image Possibly drop a pound or two.

image Possibly notice an improvement in mood.

Within ONE MONTH, you will

image Think faster and remember more.

image Feel more confident, vital and sexier.

image Lose weight.

image Be happier.

image Notice that your clothes are a bit baggier.

Within ONE YEAR, you will

image Be a whole new you.

image Feel 10 years younger.

image Look younger.

image Be more sexually aroused and enjoy and respond sexually as if you were 10 years younger.

image Have lost so much weight you need a new wardrobe.


 

“I feel frumpy,” is how Candice described herself to me at our first session. Recently divorced, she came to me in hopes of “whipping this bod back into shape.” After a few months of following my diet advice, she’d dropped a pants size or two, had more energy, slept better and even noticed that her skin had a glow it had lost years ago. But she still wasn’t exercising as I’d asked her to do from day one. “I had good intentions to join a gym or dust off the bike, but never seemed to get around to it.” After I gave her an ultimatum to either get moving or not bother coming back to see me, she must have realized it was time to get serious.

 

Candice took my advice to start her exercise regimen at a crawl. “I set a goal to walk 15 minutes in the evenings. Every week, I upped the ante. First, I picked up the pace, then added a few more minutes, and within two months, I was up to an hour a day of brisk walking. Then I started mixing it up with some biking, too.” She dropped weight faster, which motivated her to add a weight training session twice a week to her routine. “I worked out a few times with a personal trainer to learn how to lift right. After that, I bought some weights and did my routine in the living room while watching TV.”

Within six months, Candice was a whole new gal. “The diet is so important to how I feel and look, but I have to admit that it was the exercise that really turned on my self-confidence. I’ve not only lost weight, I’ve gained a whole new outlook on life.” She also reduced, then eliminated, her anti depressants, and left my office medication-free.

“Exercise is the most important factor in how well you age, in and out of the bedroom.”

Candice is just one of hundreds of people I’ve known over the years who have confessed that exercise turned their lives around. For example,

Let’s get one thing straight right now. You may feel sexy and cocky in your 20s without doing anything more vigorous than a stroll from the parking lot to the mall, but if you want to stay sexy, sharp, happy and vital after that, you must exercise. (Of course, you’ll feel even better in your teens and 20s if you exercise, too!)

Exercise is the most important factor in how well you age, in and out of the bedroom. If you don’t care enough about your health to exercise regularly, then I hope you have purchased long-term health insurance, because you’re setting yourself up for being sick, feeble and frail long before your time. Not to mention the toll being sedentary will take as early as your 40s as your mood, mind, memory, and sex drive and performance plummet.

The Cost of Being Sedentary

“Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some are not.”

—George Sheehan, MD

If you don’t challenge your muscles with vigorous activity, they start to weaken by your mid-30s. You’ll lose about 1–2% of your muscle mass every year after that point, which equates to a 5-to 10-pound loss of muscle every decade. By your 80s (if you make it that far), you will have only a third the muscle mass you had at 40.

As you lose muscle, you gain fat. Metabolism slows with every pound of fat, so you need fewer calories to maintain your weight. Continue to eat like a 20-something and your waistline will expand. Middle-age spread is a clear sign that you are trading muscle for fat, which is a red flag that old age is coming at you like a runaway train. Bones become more porous. Blood pressure, fat and sugar levels rise. You become weaker and more sluggish. The back goes out. Knees hurt. Silently and gradually it takes more effort to do even simple daily tasks; consequently, you do less and less. If you don’t stop the process, you will end up on multiple medications, with dementia, and using a walker or a wheelchair.

In short, sloth is the deadliest sin. According to a study from the Cooper Institute for Aerobic Research, the life of a couch potato is at least as risky as a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit. The longer you sit, the shorter your life. It is not a pretty picture, and one that I have no sympathy for, since it is almost entirely preventable. You can set yourself up to be sick or you can choose to be healthy, happy, smart, lean, energetic and sexy. Why would anyone select the former?!

ARE YOU FIT?

You are on the road to Feebleville if you answer “yes” to any of these questions:

  • Do you engage in less than 5 hours a week of vigorous, planned exercise?
  • Are you out of breath and barely able to talk after bounding up a flight of stairs?
  • Are clothes that fit five years ago now too tight?
  • Do you avoid bending or stretching because you are too stiff?
  • After sitting cross-legged on the floor, does it take a minute or two to loosen up your legs when you stand up?
  • Do you find that common household chores, such as washing windows or scrubbing the floor, are more exhausting than they used to be? Are you finding that you avoid doing these tasks as time goes by?
  • Can you open a heavy glass door with one hand, or does it require using your body weight?

Move It, Baby. Move It!

We are the most unfit humans ever to have walked this planet. It is not natural—although it has become normal—to be sedentary. We are remarkably well-designed over millions of years to be fit. Our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestors were so fit that they ran their game to exhaustion! (Imagine running a deer down?!) Our bodies were meant to move. It is when we don’t move, when we don’t keep our amazing bodies well-tuned, as Mother Nature designed them to be, that they break down, physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually.

Then there is the weight issue. Even if you are successful at weight loss with the S-Ex-Y Diet alone, you won’t maintain that weight loss without exercise. The National Weight Control Registry, which follows thousands of people who have maintained a significant weight loss of 60 pounds or more for at least five years, has found that almost every single one of them exercises regularly.

Exercise also extends life at all ages. People who continue to exercise in their second 50 years are as fit or even fitter than sedentary people who are 20 to 30 years younger, which might explain why they also live longer and healthier, and are most likely to enjoy vigorous sex lives throughout life. The more calories you expend in exercise each week, the longer you are likely to live—and live disease-free.

Move It or Lose It

Exercise is not just for the body. It’s also a major mood and memory enhancer.

“Out on the roads there is fitness and self-discovery and the persons we were destined to be.”

—George Sheehan, MD

Exercise Improves Memory

Exercise reduces inflammation and revs the heart to pump more blood through more capillaries to the brain, along with the rest of the body. Clean, healthy arteries and improved blood flow mean more oxygen, which means better-nourished brain cells. Increased blood flow also raises levels of brain cell–growing factors, such as IGF-1 and BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which spark chemicals that increase growth and regeneration of brain cells. BDNF has been called the “Miracle-Gro for your brain.” It encourages brain cells to branch out, join together and communicate, which translates into better concentration and learning.

Moderate exercise maintains the brain, while intense exercise grows new brain cells. Even three months of working out daily is enough to sprout new cells in an area of the brain called the hippocampus, where learning and memory take place. At one time, dementia was considered an inevitable consequence of aging, but now researchers recognize that the brain can make new cells, if given a chance. That chance requires daily exercise.

This might explain why physically fit people think more clearly, concentrate better, remember more and react more quickly than sedentary folks. They have less plaque around their brain cells that otherwise would increase the risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. They also are leaner, while pudgy couch potatoes are three times more likely to develop dementia as they age.

Exercise Improves Mood

A daily workout amps up brain chemicals, such as dopamine, serotonin, phenylethylamine (PEA), epinephrine and norepinephrine, which boost alertness and focus, improve mood and calm nerves as well, if not better, than antidepressants or tranquilizers. Who wouldn’t want to feel better naturally, with no side effects, unless you call feeling great and living healthy longer a problem! Besides, only some people on mood-lifting drugs get full relief—many get no help at all—but everyone benefits from exercise, and often it is the cure. The more you exercise, the lower your risk for depression.

Maybe it’s not that exercise is an antidepressant, but rather that not exercising is so abnormal to our bodies that it leads to emotional deterioration. In one study, researchers compared the effects of no exercise to various intensities of exercise on psychological outcomes. After 12 months, the sedentary subjects were the ones battling the most stress, anxiety and depression, while the exercisers felt great.

Exercise is a Natural High

Of course, there’s also the “exercise high,” that burst of euphoria following vigorous activity. This natural high is probably caused by the release of either PEA or the endorphins, the body’s natural morphinelike chemicals that help boost pain tolerance and generate feelings of joy and satisfaction. Even a short session, such as a 10-minute brisk walk, is enough for many people to feel just a tad happier. Up the session to 20 minutes of vigorous exercise, such as jumping rope, jogging or aerobic dancing, and that often is enough to rev up sexual appetite.

Exercise is a De-Stressor

If daily worries and stress are messing with your love life, then look to exercise for the cure. Daily activity naturally de-stresses the body by lowering stress hormone levels, including cortisol, that prepare the body for “fight or flight.” The rise in body temperature from a vigorous workout has a tranquilizing effect on the body, not unlike soaking in a hot tub, and the increase in blood flow leaves you feeling refreshed and invigorated. Daily exercise also aids sleep. Calm, rested and invigorated…sign me up!

Exercise Lengthens Life

Besides calming nerves and making life today a lot more enjoyable, exercise also extends the healthy years. Stress damages cells by shortening telomeres, the “handles” on the ends of the genetic code, or DNA. Telomeres protect the DNA from fraying and decomposing, but once they are shortened, they can’t do their job and the cell self-destructs. It is the accumulation of dead and damaged cells that is a major cause of aging. Vigorous exercise protects telomeres from stress-induced shortening. It is one of the life habits that really and truly extends life!

As Candice found out, exercising every day also is a surefire way to jump-start self-esteem, a sense of accomplishment and feelings of self-control, all of which are strongly linked to being happy and feeling sexy. In fact, study after study finds that people who stick with an exercise program are the most satisfied with their lives in general, and their sex lives in particular.

The Best Aphrodisiac

“We do not stop exercising because we grow old—we grow old because we stop exercising.”

—Dr. Kenneth Cooper

Being fit dramatically improves your chances of happiness, having more energy, thinking sharply and clearly, remembering more today and down the road, sleeping better, and attaining and maintaining that fit body you’ve always wanted. You are likely to live longer, are more likely to live disease-and medication-free, look up to 20 years younger and have the most self-esteem, self-confidence and enjoyment in life. It’s no wonder you also are likely to feel and look sexier.

Stick with a daily exercise program and you’re bound to notice the obvious: more stamina and a slimmer waistline. In contrast, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people who seldom work out—and that includes sex!—have a much higher chance of suffering a heart attack within two hours of exerting themselves in or out of the bedroom. The more exercise and sex you have, the lower your risk for such problems. What a great reason to get fit in the bedroom. Hey, it takes a lot of energy, speed, flexibility and strength to be a great lover. And the stamina people gain from exercise is the best training session there is!

The link between lust and exercise goes even deeper. The more in touch with your body you are from moving, challenging and using it, the more comfortable and confident you are overall. The increased blood and oxygen flow to tissues means everything works better, from the tip of your head to your lovemaking apparatus. Hormones balance out, testosterone levels rise and men are at much lower risk for erectile dysfunction, while women are hornier, lubricate more readily and have orgasms more often and with more gusto when they are physically fit, no matter what their ages.

Being sexually aroused, whether it is an erection or a lubricated vagina, requires those tissues to swell with blood. While blocked arteries, high blood pressure and other heart-disease issues interfere with those processes, exercise keeps the heart and blood vessels clear and elastic, reducing the risk for any sexual performance problems. The more fit people are, the sexier they feel, the better they respond and the more satisfying their sex lives. Avid exercisers have a “sexual age” that is years younger than their chronological age. Being fit for life means being fit for sex. For example,

AGE ACCELERATORS

Want to age before your time, look forward to dementia and loss of independence, wind up frail and feeble? Here’s how to do it:

Shorten telomeres by eating grease, being stressed and not exercising.

Refuse to have an antioxidant orgy, which will increase oxidation.

Weaken the immune system with a proinflammatory diet and no exercise.

Pack in the toxins with a highly processed diet, tobacco smoke and smog.

Eat too much junk and be overweight; develop diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, for which you require medication.

Upset your neurotransmitter balance with fad diets, skipped meals and being unfit.

Lower nitric oxide levels with too much saturated fat and clogged arteries.

Don’t wear sunscreen.

Weaken muscle and brain cells by being sedentary.

  • After 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, women are sexually aroused more quickly when viewing erotic films than are women who do no exercise, according to a study from the University of Texas.
  • A study conducted at the University of California found that men who worked out three times a week said their sexual performance and frequency of sex improved dramatically.
  • Another study found that a high level of sexual activity and satisfaction went hand in hand with being physically fit in both older men and older women.
  • Level of physical fitness was directly related to sexual stamina in a study from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where for every minute of brisk walking on a treadmill, people’s sexual stamina improved by 2 minutes.
  • A study of 400 women found that those who were physically fit also had the best sex lives.

In short, the more you move, the better you’ll feel, the more energy you’ll have, the lower your risk for daily health problems or serious disease, the longer you’ll live, and the more you will enjoy sex and the extra years. That is a promise.

So skip the excuses that you’re too tired, have no time, are too old, didn’t inherit the motivation gene from your grandfather or need to scrub the floors before you can exercise. There is no excuse for not loving yourself enough to take care of the only body and brain you have. Let me repeat—you cannot get to your sexiest self without a daily exercise program.

The S-Ex-Y Fitness Plan

“There is no substitute for learning to live in our bodies. All the tests and all the machines in the world will fail if we do not first become good animals.”

—George Sheehan, MD

The S-Ex-Y Fitness Plan is as simple as 1, 2, 3: Mix it up at least five days a week with

image Aerobic activity (walking, dancing, rowing, swimming, jogging): Endurance activity strengthens the heart, clears blood vessels, keeps you lean and gives the biggest boost in sexual energy and desire, as well as reduces inflammation and improves mental function and mood.

image Strength training (lifting weights, pilates, calisthenics like situps): Strength training builds muscles that, in turn, improve posture and stamina. It also boosts the metabolic rate, helping your body burn more calories all day long.

image Flexibility exercises (stretching, yoga, tai chi): Flexibility activities enable your joints and muscles to move easily, enhancing every activity, including making it easier to get into your favorite sexual position without fuss, grunts, groans or charley horses.

The foundation of your S-Ex-Y Fitness Plan is the aerobic part, which will strengthen your heart and increase overall blood and oxygen flow. Aerobic activity also is the best way to burn body fat, and it relieves stress.

How do you know if your aerobic exercise is vigorous enough to reap the benefits? By checking your heart rate. Your goal is to exercise within your target heart rate (THR), which is 60–90% of your maximum heart rate (MHR).

image MHR: subtract your age from 220.

image THR: multiply your MHR by .60 and again by .90.
For example, a 45-year-old woman’s THR range would be:

220 – 45 = 175 (MHR)

175 (MHR) × .60 = 105 beats per minute for 60% of MHR

175 (MHR) × .90 = 157 beats per minute for 90% of MHR

Take your pulse and monitor your heart rate during exercise by lightly placing your two middle fingers on your throat, just to the side of center, or by placing two fingers on the thumb side of your wrist. Don’t press too hard, since this will slow the pulse. Count the beats starting with the number zero on the first beat. Count for ten seconds and then multiply that number by six to determine the total heartbeats per minute. It is important to count the pulse immediately after stopping exercise, since the pulse rate slows quickly once exercise is stopped.

Do occasional spot-checks while exercising. How do you feel when you are working at 40% of your MHR, at 60% and at 90%? How hard are you breathing? Are you comfortable or gasping for air? Are you perspiring? Is your heart pounding wildly or just rhythmically pumping? You want to exercise at a level that allows you to talk and sweat at the same time. If you can’t talk, you’re exercising too hard and should slow down, even if you’re within your THR. If you are within your THR and can sing or whistle while exercising, you are not working hard enough and should increase your exertion to the higher end of the THR scale.

Keep it interesting by mixing up the routine. Rupa walks the dog, takes yoga and also lifts weights. Kim cross-country skis and snowshoes in the winter, and bikes, runs and hikes in the summer. Brenda has lost more than 20% of her body weight by walking on the treadmill and using the spin bike at the gym, then doing aquatic exercises other days or walking the dog. Paisley jumps rope or uses exercise bands some days, then takes yoga, runs or walks other days.

How to Start

“There are those of us who are always about to live. We are waiting until things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we get a promotion, until we settle down—until, until, until. It always seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we begin living.”

—George Sheehan, MD

Consider the following before beginning any exercise routine.

WHAT’S IT WORTH

Just 30 minutes of the following activities will help drop the pounds (assuming you don’t increase your intake of doughnuts!):

Activity

Calories

Approximate pounds lost if done every day for 1 month

In-line skating

425

3 ½

Running

374

3

Jumping rope

340

Almost 3

Hula hoop

300

More than 2 ½

Fast dancing

220

Almost 2

Brisk walking

180

More than 1 ½

Vigorous Living

You can get a health benefit from just living, if you do it with gusto. Take the stairs instead of the elevator and walk instead of driving short distances. Walk up the escalator. Get up to change the TV channel. Use a hand-powered can opener. People who increase daily activity lose about the same amount of weight as people who follow traditional aerobic exercise programs. The more they move during the day, the greater the benefits.

Increasing daily activity is as simple as strapping on a pedometer each morning and walking 10,000 steps throughout the day. Be creative and find new ways every day to sneak in the extra mileage, such as walk up and down the hallway when talking on the phone or brushing your teeth. Also, stop using the kids as servants, take miniwalks of one to five minutes several times during the day, use a bathroom on a different floor at work (using the stairs not the elevator to get there), get up to talk to coworkers rather than emailing them, or next time the doctor is running late, use the waiting time to sneak in a 10-minute walk.

Stick with It!

“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.”

—Spanish proverb

What can you do to avoid skipping the walk the first time it rains? Instead of relying on willpower (aka, self control), I prefer a motivation plan.

Willpower may not be four letters, but it is still a dirty word, and seldom comes through when you need it most. But, focusing on the positive by having a motivation plan can build willpower and help you resist the temptation to buy fresh-baked goodies when passing Cinnabon at the mall or to give in to the excuse that you are just too tired to work out.

First, keep in mind that even those born with no backbone can develop self-control. Practice makes perfect, even in the game of willpower. Think of building willpower just as you build muscle. It may hurt at first, but with repeated practice, the effort develops into a habit. You are most likely to be successful if you build your willpower muscle gradually by setting realistic goals that start small and grow big over time. Like Candice, start by walking 15 minutes, three days a week. Then have a specific plan as how to gradually increase the intensity, time and frequency over the next six months.

Enforce the “if…then” rule. Decide on a motivating reward system that works for you. Perhaps it is stars on a calendar or money in a jar every time you exercise, which then goes toward a new outfit or seeing a special movie. If you exercise, then you get the star or money. No exercise, no star. If you find yourself slipping, then the reward isn’t working and you need to find one that is more motivating.

Trick yourself. I have been exercising vigorously for more than 35 years and I still need to trick myself into doing it. I find every excuse in the world why I can’t drive the half hour to the gym to lift weights. So for me it is worth it to have a personal trainer who demands that I show up three days a week. Here are other ways to trick yourself into exercising:

  • Tanya calls her friends on Sunday night to schedule walking dates throughout the week. “I have to show up because they are expecting me to be there,” she notes.
  • Paisley says, “I motivate myself to cycle by reminding myself that if I was physically challenged and couldn’t ride, I would yearn for the blessing of being physically active. I ride because I can!”
  • Sally says, “I can’t stay on the exercise bicycle for more than 15 minutes at home without the irresistible urge to unload the dishwasher or wash the sheets. But if I pedal to a musical, like Chicago or Mamma Mia!, cycling like a madwoman during the songs and sanely during the talking parts, I can stay on the bike for a full hour.”
  • Sam made a bet with his best friend that he could lose the most weight and be the fittest within one year. “I love a competition and you’d better believe that even on nights when I want to collapse in the recliner, all I have to do is remind myself that Hank is probably working out right now, and I am on it, in my sweats and headed for a workout.”

Pre-Workout Quickies

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”

—Jim Rohn

image Just because you went for a 10-minute walk for the first time in five years, doesn’t give you permission to eat a Big Mac for lunch! Your calorie intake won’t need a shot in the arm until you are exercising vigorously and daily for at least 45 minutes. But once you have made the S-Ex-Y Fitness Plan a habit, then you may need to think about a Quickie snack before you hit the road or gym.

The goal of a preworkout Quickie snack is to stay hydrated and maintain a constant glucose source for the muscles, so you don’t dip too far into your reserves—the glycogen stores. To meet this goal, a preworkout snack should include water and quality carbs, since carbs—from pasta to pretzels—are merely long strings of glucose molecules. Go for snacks (and your diet overall, for that matter) that are about 60% carbs, since this is the level of carb intake that maximizes glycogen storage. However, carbs alone, especially sugary ones, such as sweetened sports drinks, can cause blood sugar to nosedive midworkout. A bit of protein from yogurt, milk, soymilk or nuts off sets this drop, helps shuttle carbs into muscle cells where they are needed most and aids in repairing and building muscle. This carb-protein snack should be low-fat and light—say, 100 to 300 calories—to avoid digestive problems. (Blood supply to the digestive tract drops up to 80% during a workout, which can cause indigestion if there’s food lingering in the stomach.) The size of the snack varies from person to person, so it’s best to err on the side of caution by eating less at first and then make adjustments as you go. Along with your water bottle, easy-to-digest Quickie snacks include:

Half a whole-wheat bagel with a little low-fat cheese.

A soft whole-grain pretzel with nonfat yogurt.

Whole-wheat toast, topped with apple butter and fat-free cottage cheese.

Small helpings of leftover rice or pasta dishes.

A small slice of last-night’s vegetarian pizza (such as Passionate Peppered Pizza or Ya’ Wanna Pizza Me! in the Recipe section).

A small helping of Seriously Sensuous Honeyed Fig Oatmeal (in the Recipe section).

String cheese with apples and whole-grain crackers.

A small bowl of whole-grain cereal with light soymilk.

Timing is important. Plan to snack one to two hours before a workout to enhance performance without upsetting your stomach. Liquids are digested faster than solids, so an 8-ounce fruit and yogurt smoothie or a glass of nonfat milk might be the best bet for a snack in the hour before a run or any bouncy sport. Have a bigger meal but allow more time—up to four hours—before jumping into a heavy-duty workout, to ensure that food has emptied from the stomach and is at least partially digested. If that hefty workout is at 6 a.m., have something light, such as a few graham crackers, as you head out the door for a 6-mile run.

The right snack can curb hunger and provide the energy needed to enjoy a workout, which is a motivator to exercise more often. However, it’s only part of an overall high-performance diet, and won’t make up for not following the S-Ex-Y Diet guidelines, such as skipping breakfast or living on coffee through lunch. It’s what you’ve eaten all day, starting with breakfast, that will make or break not only your workout, but also your overall health and vitality.

The S-Ex-Y Fitness Plan: Little Pain, Huge Gain

The road to sexy is paved with exercise. It arouses the body, sharpens the senses, increases blood flow to tissues including the brain and sex organs, pumps oxygen to every tissue, lowers stress, improves sleep, builds self-confidence, kick-starts lusty appetites, slims the waistline, reduces the risk for all age-related diseases and extends the healthy years. Incorporate the three-step S-Ex-Y Fitness Plan into your daily routine and I promise you will be swinging from the rafters with a grin on your face in no time!

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else!”

—Yogi Berra