FooDY FRIday- Identifying your Diet Style

Do you regularly skip breakfast and just down a coffee? Wine and dine nightly? Find yourself at the food table nibbling & grazing more often than not?
“Understanding your eating patterns can tell you a lot about your chances of gaining weight,” says researcher Yunsheng Ma, PhD of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Here’s what he found in a recent study surveying nearly 500 people on their eating habits:

Breakfast skippers are 4 ½ times MORE likely to be overweight! When you miss your morning meal, it causes your blood sugar to dip which leaves you more hungry and quadruples your chances of overeating.

Restaurant regulars (for breakfast or dinner) are TWICE as likely to gain weight! Meals served in food establishments tend to be higher in calories and fat and lower in fiber. And the bigger servings encourage overeating.

Lunch buyers are 30 – 60% LESS LIKELY to pack on pounds! This exception to the “dine out, widen out” philosophy can be explained by the ever growing variety of healthier options available during lunch hours as opposed to the other times of the day. (as long as you’re not buying lunch…AND breakfast AND dinner)

Eating four or more meals a day CUTS your obesity risk by 45%! Even if you are eating the exact same number of calories! (no, that wasn’t a typo) When you eat only 1, 2, or 3 big meals a day, it prompts your insulin levels to spike, triggering your body to store more of what you are eating as fat. Proper balanced meals eaten 4-6 times throughout the day keeps sugar levels even- causing you to use the energy efficiently rather than storing it. (that is MY excuse to be eating every 2-3 hours!)

Here is a sample schedule:
8am * breakfast
11am * snack
1pm * lunch
4pm * snack
6pm* dinner
8pm * snack

There is scientific PROOF that supports the fact that more meals work, but the reason why it works is because it does something that many diets don’t do:

It keeps you full and satiated, which in turn reduces the likelihood of a diet-destroying binge.

Until next time team, depriving yourself of food is a cruel way to live- enjoy food, and eat it plentifully!

Health respect & happiness,
Beki

WARNING Wednesday: Beware of BELLY BULGE!

At a time when more than 130 million Americans are overweight or obese, it`s never been a more critical time to focus on your weight, your shape, and your health. Some critics may see a chiselled midsection as the modern American symbol of vanity, but developing a flat belly is more than just a way to support the mirror industry. Abs are the ultimate predictor of your health.

Belly fat is the most dangerous padding on your body. Decreasing your waist line is so important, it may mean you will live longer. Belly fat is classified as visceral fat; that means it is located behind your abdominal wall and surrounds your internal organs. Because it carries an express-lane pass to your heart and other important organs, visceral fat can kill you.

Are you getting scared yet? You should be.
Even if your scale says you`re healthy, a large mid section could mean you have dangerous abdominal fat, finds a new Canadian study of 14, 924 people.
As the belly measurement increases, so does your risk for heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes-by up to 93%!! (Hip fat does not seem to carry the same risk)

How do you measure up?
Guidelines define high risk as a waist that is greater than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men. But studies are showing that by the time you reach those measurements, you may already be at high risk and it will be even harder to fix the problem. Here are the NEW, current guidelines: 33 inches for woman and 38 inches for men.
*Measure just above your hip bones and across the belly button with the tape parallel to the floor and snug, but not compressing your skin. And don`t suck in your belly!*

Ladies! Look at this scary statistic::
1960- average American woman's waistline was 30 inches, number OVER 35 inches: 19%
2000- average American woman's waistline was 37 inches! Number OVER 35 inches: 60%!!
for women of any height*

A few reason to want a flat stomach:
-help you live longer
-less fatigue
-protect you from injury
-strengthens your back
-limit aches and pain
-better sex life

Until next time team, curves are GREAT, just not the ones that stick out around the belly!

Health respect & happiness,
Beki

TiP TuesDAY: Secret to a better old age!

I read a fantastic article in the Province...
and it never ceases to amaze me how everything that is written about fitness and health these days aren't anything NEW...you can even go as far as to say it is COMMON SENSE! but so many people just don't do it. and when they read these 'medical breakthroughs!' or 'latest proven discoveries!'...they all jump on the wagon to try it out, when really- its not anything NEW or what we shouldn't have already known!
anyway...
so back to this article i read.

it states that the biggest thing you can do to make yourself younger isn't buying $100 eye creams or going under the knife (yeah..you might actually have to WORK to get the results! oh my!). this little secret will dramatically make your real age younger and your higher-number birthdays more probable.

a recent report from the Institute of Medicine states 1 in 5 adults in Canada (1 in 3 in the US) have high blood pressure and the numbers are rising. about two-thirds of these people aren't even doing enough to prevent it from causing impotence, vision loss, heart disease, stroke or wrinkles.
Lowering blood pressure, the ultimate anti-ager, is essential and quite easy, yet 1 in every 6 people in the US dies from hypertension yearly!

Some quick easy tips to get our started on lowering the blood pressure include:
Dietary changes! Lean protein (no red meat), whole grains, nuts, produce and low-fat dairy foods. (hmmm, i'm pretty sure we sorta knew all this...)
Physical activity! (can i say this is common sense?? because it really is)
Cutting back on alcohol! (is 3 bottles of wine REALLY necessary a week??)
And for some, cutting back on salt.
Aim to get your BP at or below 115/76. If you can't do it by yourself, get your trainer in on the project! Your body depends on you.

MoMMy mONDAYS: Pregnancy & your musculoskeletal/neurological systems

Musculoskeletal system

With all the hormonal changes in the body during your pregnancy, it will affect your fitness level, strength, endurance, coordination, range of motion, flexibility, balance and amount of control you have over the body.
You produce the hormone relaxin, which can only be produced while pregnant, which softens the joints and increases fluid. Naturally, the hips and pelvis become more flexible but it also causes it to be less stable. From this, you should fee more flexible but in actuality, most women tend to feel LESS flexible. This could be due to water retention (Edema also lessens muscle definition).
As the uterus increases in size, your centre of gravity will be thrown off, your pelvis begins to rotate and you will see signs of lumbar lordosis (sway back) and protracted shoulders (rounded shoulders). Bigger breasts affect your balance, add a heavier body with softening joints and ligaments and the results will be the off-balance “waddling” most women succumb to especially during the last trimester. Keep the hips and thigh muscles strong to help deter that affect.

Neurological system

Expect changes in reaction time, as well as sleep patterns, stress levels, moods and mental proficiency. Because of that, it is VERY important to perform all exercises slowly, with control and caution. Focus on proper posture, technique and alignment.

Next week we will look at how pregnancy affects your metabolic and gastrointestinal systems.

Until next time Mommys, embrace the beautiful changes your body is going through!

Health respect & happiness,

beki

TiP TueSDay: Getting more water in your system & moving your body...2 in 1!

Most of my clients say they find it the hardest to stay hydrated especially at the work place.

And why is that?

They sit down at their desk, start their day, get so consumed with their work, and end up sitting for 4 or 5 hours before they realize they’re parched and their muscles are tingling from no movement.

Here is an easy quick tip I have gotten them to implement into their daily work regime and guess what?
They get up and move almost every hour if not more and they are drinking their recommended 8 glasses of water everyday! It all was accomplished in a matter of days… such a no-brainer!

Bring a glass or mug to work with you if you don’t already have one.
Have a pitcher to keep your water in for the day, but keep it in another room, in the staff room, on someone else’s desk…anywhere that would make you physically have to get up and move to get it to refill your cup.
By having your cup close at hand, it becomes a mind trick to want to drink from it more often… and the more often you drink from it, the more often you must refill it… which means more trips to that pitcher of water in the other room.

That’s another great way to force you to move and stretch instead of staying seated in the same hunched over your desk position for long hours at a time.

And with more liquids in you, the more often you may have to get up to use the bathroom. And yes, that is more movement for your body… yay!

Until next time team, get moving to get drinking!

Health respect & happiness,
Beki