7 Causes Of High Cholesterol

Do you have high cholesterol?

You're not alone—so do about 100 million other Americans. High cholesterol comes from a variety of sources, including your family history and what you eat. Here is a visual journey through the most common causes.

credit: http://slideshows.health.com

The Fastest Way to Burn Body Fat

Thank goodness the holidays are over, and the new year is here.
But are you finding that holiday celebrations have resulted in a new "you" as well?
As a personal trainer, I hear the same thing every year after the holidays: "Stefan, I gained fat over here," and "Stefan, I gained fat over there."
Be honest. Are you really surprised by the change in your body composition due to your calorie intake over the last few months?

You shouldn't be.

First, understand that your body's metabolism slows down 2 percent for each decade of your life after age 20. This means that your body burns calories more slowly with each passing year.


As a result, you should also be more careful with your calories as you get older. How much more careful? You can figure it out with the simple calculation below that will give you your basal metabolic rate, or BMR:
-Take your desired weight in pounds.
-Multiply this number by 11 if you are a woman, 12 if you are a man.
-Subtract 2 percent of this total for every 10 years after age 20.
-Add 10 percent. This represents the calories you need to maintain your daily life functions.

The number you end up with is your minimum daily calorie intake.
So say you are a 50-year-old man who would like to keep your weight at a trim 140 pounds. Here's how you would calculate your BMR:

Desired weight = 140
140 × 12 = 1,680
1,680 - 3(1,680 × .02) = 1,57 9
1,579 + 158 = 1,737 calories per day

Now keep in mind that some of you are more active than others. Hence, you should add on 180 calories per hour of housework (or if your house is already clean, feel free to come by and help me!), 650 calories per hour of cycling, 800 calories for every hour of running, and 1,200 calories per hour for cross-country skiing.

If you want to lose body fat, however, calorie control is only one side of the equation. The question you still need to ask is: "How do you burn the most calories and, best, the most fat calories?"

Interval training! Yes, you need to push yourself. You need to vary your training intensity between 65 percent of your total capacity to 85 percent and 95 percent. This approach will help you to lose the most calories from fat.

Stefan Aschan is a fitness consultant in New York City.