How to lose weight walking

I have written several times about the many health benefits of High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT. http://notjustforboomers.blogspot.com/2013/04/high-intensity-interval-training.html For the most  part those have dealt with the use of a stationary bicycle and how you can increase your oxygen efficiency and decrease  your blood sugar and blood pressure by alternating periods of intense cycling with periods of rest or at a much slower pace.  What we have decided to do is to see if those same principles apply to interval walking. In addition several studies have shown that following a program of interval walking can result in significant weight loss over time.

We started a program today at our local high school track. We began walking at a fast pace for 440 yards followed by another 440 yards at a relaxed pace.  Most tracks are probably set up with lines on the track so it is fairly easy to measure the distance. The fast pace is about twice the usual walking speed.  We started with a mile and will build up to several miles in the next few weeks.
I have seen recommendations that this program be alternated with days of walking at a normal pace for 30 minutes. Some articles suggest that following this program can result in a weight loss of about a pound a week. We'll let you know if we find any success in this approach. Join Amazon Prime - Watch Over 40,000 Movies

How to Use Interval Training in the Office to Increase Productivity

In a prior post, http://notjustforboomers.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-to-improve-productivity.html, I wrote about how you can improve your productivity at work.  In an article in yesterday's New York Times,  the author wrote about how he has integrated interval training in his office routine. "How Interval Training Can Make You Incredibly Efficient at Work."  Essentially, the article suggests that the way to accomplish your goal is to establish what he calls priority by ritual.

What he means by that is that each day at the office or at his work desk, he follows the same routine. For example, first thing every morning he addresses the most important things on his agenda for 90 minutes. He will then take a break. After the break, he performs another task for 90 minutes and so on throughout the day. The trick is to be able to follow the same routine day after day.

Sounds kind of boring to you?  It does to me also. But, if you do decide to give it a try, let me know if it works out for you.

How to Stop Time? (Well, almost)

Ever wonder if you could find a way to stop time?  Or at least make it slow down? Remember when you were a kid and the summer days seemed to last forever?  And the summer itself seemed endless.
As we grow older, time just seems to speed up.  Days seem shorter and months, well, just try to slow those down. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to be just about a week. Is there a way to slow down time?  This Sunday's New York Times contained an interesting and provocative article that proposes a way to do just that.

In the article entitled, "Fast Time and the Aging Mind," nytimes.com, the author, Richard A. Friedman, suggests that one way to slow time is to become a student again. In other words, he says we should try to learn something new, whether how to play the piano, dance or learning a new language. How does this slow time?  He contends that when we were kids, learning to ride a bike or play a new game, took a while before it became as he says "encode[d] ... in your memory." He suggests that may be why time much slower back then. He thinks there is no reason that same process should not work for adults.

Intriguing, don't you think?  I know I am going to give it a try.  Now if I can just find my old high school French language tapes, I'll be all set.

Can't Break a Bad Habit? Replace It!

Today's Huffington Post has a neat article on how you can break a bad habit such as smoking, overeating, or watching an inordinate amount of television. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/breaking-habits_b_3540148.html?ir=GPS%20for%20the%20Soul The answer is really quite simple: if you want to break a bad habit, all you need to do is to replace it with a good habit. Sound too easy?  Try it and you might be surprised.

The technique involves using your mind to essentially trick itself and your body by replacing a habit you want to lose with one you want to gain. Say you want to quit smoking. Many smokers automatically light up after finishing a cup of coffee or when they get in the car, saying it relaxes them. What if instead of lighting up that expensive tobacco, the smoker decides to meditate or just count their breaths in a form of mindfulness. Simpler yet, the smoker can chew gum instead of lighting up.  It may take a few days to have the new habit settle in, but it does work.

The other thing to remember is that just because you go back to  your old habit for a day or so, does not mean you have failed. Just get back into the new habit and forget about that failure. There is a famous quote from the 19th century Transcendentalist. Ralph Waldo Emerson, that I keep on my refrigerator and on my iPhone that is particularly relevant.  Let me know what you think:

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

Where Is The Best Place to Retire? Part 2

Where is the best place to retire? My last post,http://notjustforboomers.blogspot.com/2013/07/where-is-best-place-to-retire.html ,pointed out that the United States is not necessarily the best place to retire. According to one recent survey, the US fares no better than 19th. So,  where is it that people do like to retire? At least some Americans are choosing one of our neighbors to the South. And no, it is not Mexico. It is Costa Rica.

According to an article in today's Wall Street Journal Market Watch, "Retire Here, Not There", the author points out that about 50,000 US retirees now live in Costa Rica.http://www.marketwatch.com/Story/story/print?guid=400B10B2-E366-11E2-ACAD-002128040CF6 The article discusses the opinion of some researchers that Costa Rica is one of the happiest countries on earth.

Interestingly, Americans can assume residency status in Costa Rica if you can show that you have at least $1,000 per month in retirement income.One potential benefit of residency is that you can enroll in the Costa Rican public health care system for as little abs $55 per month.

Not everything is cheap there. Housing in some of the beautiful beach towns can run as much as $4000 per month. The article discusses several of those beach communities and includes several beautiful photographs. It is well worth a view.

Where is the Best Place to Retire?

Many boomers are asking themselves "Where is the best place to retire?"  No, I'm not talking about the best city or state in the United States.  What I'm referring to is the best place in the world. And no, it is not the United States as most people probably think.  According to the Natixis Global Retirement Index, the best place to retire in the world is Norway!  The United States is not even in the top ten, according to that study. It ranks 19th in the world, behind countries including the Czech Republic and Slovenia. For those who are interested, of the 150 nations surveyed by Natixis Global Asset Management, S.A., the sponsor of the study, Zimbabwe ranked last.

Now, like most studies, this one is largely subjective, but the study did attempt to categorize the most important things most people are concerned about in retirement: health, material well-being, finances and quality of life. Here is what the study said about the U.S.:

HEALTH:  The U.S. ranks 23d in this category.  Although we have the highest per capita spending on health care, many other countries have greater access to care and the U.S. lags many of the developed countries in life expectancy.

MATERIAL WELL-BEING: This is a measurement of per capita income. Although per capita income is one of the highest, we also have a higher degree of income inequality than many nations, including Poland, Slovakia and Singapore.  The U.S. ranks 38th in this category.

FINANCES: The U.S. ranks 28th in this category, largely because of questions about the sustainability of Social Security.  Canada, Brazil and Mexico all are ahead of the U.S. in this category.

QUALITY OF LIFE: While Americans generally have expressed a high degree of satisfaction with life,, because of its lower scores on environmental measures, it ranks 26th in this category, behind Costa Rica and Belize, among others.

This survey raises some disturbing questions. Obviously, the United States is a great place to live and retire. This survey raises the issue of whether we can do better.  Let me know what you think.

How Did Andy Murray Exercise to Win Wimbledon?

After watching Andy Murray's thrilling win today over Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, you may be asking yourself how did he get himself in such good shape to beat the number 1 player in the world?  According to recent newspaper accounts in the United Kingdom, he works out on an exercise machine called the VersacCimber. The VersaClimber is a machine that uses a pulley system to provide a total upper and lower body workout.  It creates the experience of total and continuous climbing. It is said to burn calories more efficiently than other types of exercise equipment and requires less time exercising.

Originally developed for use by NASA to help astronauts to recover from the loss of muscle while in space, it has been used by several professional athletes. One of the early users was Ivan Lendl, Murray's coach. In February, 2012, Murray began using the VersaClimber.  Since then the results speak for themselves:  Murray has won two Grand Slam events, the 2012 US Open and the 2013 Wimbledon championship.  He also won the Gold Medal for singles tennis at last year's London Olympics.

If you are interested in the VersaClimber, check out their website at www.versaclimber.com. Be aware that it is a very pricey piece of equipment, running from $3000 to $4000, so obviously it is not for everyone. If anyone decides to try one, let me know if it lives up to the hype.