Many experts recommend that you use your heart rate to determine whether you are exercising at an appropriate level. To check whether you’re exercising within your target heart rate zone, take your pulse on the inside of your wrist, on the thumb side, for 10 seconds. Use the tips of your first two fingers (not your thumb) to press lightly over the blood vessels on your wrist. Count your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply by 6 for the number of beats per minute (bpm). This number should be within your target heart rate zone. If it’s too high, you’re straining, and you should slow down. If it’s too low and the intensity feels “light” or “moderate/brisk” (a rating of 3 or 4 on the Perceived Exertion Scale), push yourself to exercise a little harder. (See the Activity Diary Page for more information on this scale.)

*These figures are averages and should be used as general guidelines.

Note: A few medicines lower the maximum heart rate and, thus, the target zone rate. If you are taking a beta-blocker or a high blood pressure medication, ask your doctor what your target heart rate should be.

This material is reprinted with permission from American Heart Association No-Fad Diet: A Personal Plan for Healthy Weight Loss, Copyright © 2005 by the American Heart Association. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc. Available from booksellers everywhere.