Your body needs oxygen in order to burn fat for energy. The term aerobic simply means that during a given activity, your body is keeping up with the increased demands for oxygen and is using fat for energy. Sustained activities that use the larger muscle groups and involve your whole body, like swimming, stair-stepping, fast walking, running [...]

Imagine having three weeks of personalized medical care, during which specialized professionals focused on your individual needs and helped you discover, and put you on a path to correct, everything that might be medically wrong with you! A lifestyle resort in the Arbuckle Mountains of southern Oklahoma, the Lifestyle Center of America does just that. [...]

BMI Men & Women Underweight <18.5 Normal 18.5 – 24.9 Overweight 25.0 – 29.9 Obese 30.0 – 39.9 Extremely Obese >40.0 Body mass index, or BMI, is the ratio of weight to height. As a person’s BMI increases, so does the risk for many diseases. However, body builders and other very muscular individuals may have a [...]

Body Composition Men Women Low <5% <15% Lean 5 – 9% 15 – 19% Optimal 10 – 14% 20 – 24% Acceptable 15 – 19% 25 – 29% Over fat 20 – 24% 30 – 34% Obese >25% >35% Muscle weighs more than fat; therefore, when you begin an exercise program, especially strength training, the [...]

Waist Size Men Women Low Risk <35 in. <32 in. Moderate Risk 35 – 40 in. 32 – 34.5 in. High Risk >40 in. >34.5 in. Because it correlates well with how much fat is being stored within the abdominal wall, waist size may be the single most reliable indicator of risk for diabetes and [...]

Who is in Your Peanut Gallery? I used to work as a wellness coach for a Christian organization which, among other things, actively promoted the health and well-being of its members. In a department meeting one day, my boss asked us these questions: Does it matter to God whether we are healthy or not? And why [...]