Winter Blues January 25, 2011

I never thought I would let the winter weather get to me, but it has these past couple weeks. Last minute cooking, crazy Christmas shopping, events all over the place…it’s hard to fit in a work-out during the cold winter months.

The Thanksgiving day run was my biggest challenge this season and I’m so happy I did it. The 10k run/walk took place in Downtown Cincinnati Thanksgiving day morning. It was quite a challenge, but it really got me motivated to work out in the cold, wet weather.

Once December hit, I began losing my momentum. I was preparing for a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico on December 13th while trying to stay in shape for my bathing suit. I didn’t work out as much as I wanted to, but I did as much as I could  during my spare time. During my vacation, I fit in a nice 20 min jog on the outdoor track overlooking the ocean – and that was it. Since then, I decided to take a break from working out but it hasn’t done me any good. I feel like I have less energy and my digestive track is off.

Taking one week off is one thing, but almost three? That is enough to weaken your muscles, but not enough to where you completely lose your strength. I realized that all it takes to get back in the swing of things is to find ways to motivate yourself and start out small. “Ok, 10 minutes and that’s it!” When you have this mentality, you are more than likely to work out longer than ten minutes because you realize how awesome you feel.

So don’t sweat it if you get a little behind on your work out routine. It’s  not worth  because stressing over – stress can cause  just as much wear and tear on your body than jogging can. So find your motivation and get going one step at a time.

What WORKS-OUT Best July 2, 2010

I found that working out is challenging even when I don’t have school and varies college activities to juggle with. After graduation I figured that exercising would become less challenging to fit in. I would just get up early, work out, go to work, then have the rest of the day to do whatever. No, didn’t work that way. It’s just as challenging working a full-time job and then finding the energy to get that work-out in. Instead of getting up early to jump on the tread mill, I thought it would be nice to just sleep in that extra hour instead…

It takes time to adjust to your new schedule and decide “What WORKS-OUT Best for me”? I told you I would give you an excercise plan to get you motivated and get your body in shape, so here is what I’ve been trying. It’s working out quite nicely:

Choose one to two days to take off during the week from exercise. I take off Friday’s, Sunday’s or Mondays. Whatever I feel like taking off that week.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday - 30 minutes of full-body work-out. Get a pair of dumbbell weights, an exercise ball, a resistance band, or just a chair from your kitchen. Do 2-3 sets of however many reps you can handle (be sure to keep count) of any kind of crunches, lunges, arm curls, side bends, jumping jacks. Some days work harder than others. Go crazy on Monday and Wednesday maybe with heavier weights or lots of reps, and go a little lighter on Friday. etc.

Tuesday, Thursday – 30-45min of any cardio workout – jogging, biking, elliptical, kick-boxing, dancing, swimming, you name it. Remember, warm up for about 2-5 minutes then give yourself cool-down time at the end. To burn more calories and fat, switch up your cardio routines. For example, if you are running outside or on the treadmill or track, warm up for the first 2-3 minutes with a light jog or walk. Then begin to run at a steady, quicker pace for another 5min. Next, sprint or increase the incline for 2 min, then go back to jogging (maybe a little quicker this time if you can) !

Tips and Tricks

1.) If you are a beginner, start by using lighter weights and reps for your strength/tone work-outs. For cardio, begin doing 10-15 min for the first couple weeks or so. When that begins getting too easy, increase time for cardio and weights/reps for strengthening/toning. If you are already at the heaviest weights you want to handle and a 30-45min cardio routine, add new exercises and do the calorie-burning techniques I suggested before for your cardio work-outs. The more variety the better!!

2.) Push yourself to the limit. Sometimes you set your mind at doing a specific amount of reps and a specific amount of weight for you strengthening/toning work-outs. A personal training once told me to not limit yourself – this a one of the best ways to get into your best shape. So next time you do bicep curls, don’t think ‘ok, 2 sets of 15 reps’. Try thinking ‘ok, how much can I do this time?’ Make sure you count how much you do so you can set and reach your goals. Same thing with cardio – increase your sprinting time during your cardio work-outs.

         You don’t have to keep increasing your time during your cardio work-outs - once you can do 45min, just add weights, inclines and speed periodically throughout your work-out. You will burn more calories than if you increased your cardio time!

3.) Don’t discourage yourself when you miss a work out. That’s what your days off are for. Like I said, I take at least 2 days during the week give my muscles a break and allow them to heal. For example, I worked out Monday and Tuesday then something came up Wednesday where I couldn’t fit it in. So I said ok, there is one out of my two days I took off. I’ll work out Thursday instead. It decreases your stress level not banging your head up against the wall when you skipped a work-out.

4.) Protein, protein, protein! To decrease muscle sourness after work-outs, eat some protein shortly after you do those push-ups! Eating protein such as beans, chicken, tofu, protein shakes/bars, whatever after working out, it decreases that awful muscle sourness the next day, plus helps your muscles develop and tone up! So eat up!

Sleep: the essence of tomorrow March 15, 2010

Even animals need sleep (My boyfriend and I found our cat sleeping in the bed).

It’s final—we are not getting enough sleep. Between running to school, work, fitting in exercise, household chores, putting the kids to bed or walking the dog, sleep seems to be put on the back-burner. Not having the right amount of sleep not only wears you down, but it can affect your performance at work, relationship with friends and family, concentration and health.

After speaking to some college students at the University of Cincinnati, I found that a majority of those I interviewed only get on average, 4-6 hours of sleep a night…if they’re lucky that is.  Some people like UC student Laura Schiele have a rough time getting sleep in because of her busy life-style. “On average, I get about 5 hours of sleep a night,” she said, “I work and go to school full-time so that cuts sleep out a lot.” Other students like UC Student Desire Bennett say she gets “about 5-6 hours of sleep each night. Mostly because I am up late doing homework and I usually get up early to go to work,” she said.  This seems to be the case for many people, including myself.

Insomnia is another problem for many people. Some people just can’t sleep because they’re stressed, busy or they are not following good sleep guidelines. Sleep guidelines? Wait, what sleep guidelines? There are some factors that increase the risks of sleep insomnia: Starring at a computer late at night, watching TV, exercising and completing household chores one hour or less before bed are all some factors that can lead to insomnia. So the guidelines are…don’t do these things before sinking into your bed at night. UC student Sara Robinson usually gets 4-6 hours of sleep a week! “I’ve always been an insomniac and college doesn’t help,” Robinson said, “Usually I start homework after work/class (I get home pretty late) and by the time I’m done it’s like 2 am or 3 am. Then I get up around 8.” UC Student Anna Staursky also feels she may have a mild case of insomnia. She only gets about 3-5 hours of sleep a night, “or sometimes I don’t sleep at all” she said.

Lack of sleep can lead to weight gain. There are studies that have proved this statement. There was a recent study posted on sleepfoundation.org website just last week: Lack of sleep can increase belly fat. How? Staying up late and/or not having enough sleep each night releases an evil chemical in your body: the hormone that makes your body want food. While the hungry-hippo-hormone is released, the hormone that suppresses your hunger goes away. Inconvenient, isn’t it?  So sleep deprivation can easily lead to weight gain. I asked some UC students if they feel more or less hungry when they are hittin’ the books late at night. 8 out of 11 said they tend to snack more often at night and some of them say they more often choose to snack on comfort foods such as chocolate, chips and pretzels. “When I did not watch what I was eating,” said Schiele, “I would munch on chips, sunflower seeds, and finger foods. But now I know how to control that!” UC student Stephanie Fuhr said, “The later it gets, the more I find myself snacking. If I’m up late I usually want something crunchy like pop corn or pretzels.” Megan Groves, a soon-to-be UC graduate said, “I definitely tend to snack on junk food if I’m burning the midnight oil late into the morning,” she said, “Mostly my overeating/junk food habits seem to stem from my tendency to comfort eat when stressed, and the fact that I don’t have as much time to spend cooking healthy meals while in school.”

So, what can we do to prevent lack of sleep? It may be easier said than done, but it CAN be done. Not everyone is a college student with crazy school and work schedules, but you still have just as many challenges to overcome. So here’s how to get your recommended 7-8 hours of sleep a night:

Getting Started January 20, 2010

So it all sounds easy right? Eat fruits and veggies, some low-fat turkey, exercise a bit, yea I’m good. Ok, maybe it’s not that easy. Keeping healthy is a challenge for a lot of people. Sometimes it is not a challenge by choice. You may have school, work, a dog, a family, friends who love to get McDonald’s every time you guys go out, or you just lost your job and you can’t afford to buy the healthy goods. I believe these are some of the factors that get in the way with many people’s desire to get healthy. I am here to help you with those boulders that get in your way. You want to be healthy right? Whats the biggest boulder that gets in your way?

So here we go. My goal is to help YOU live healthy. I’m going to keep my readers updated on healthy living news, and fill you in with yummy tips. Eating good doesn’t mean have a salad for breakfast, a piece of celery for lunch, and the grass in the backyard for dinner. It can still be good, I promise.  Before we get any further, let me know what your biggest health interest is. What holds you back from staying healthy (exercising, eating, sleeping, anything!), what do you want to change, what health struggles have you been through, whatever! Fill me in! Until then, I’ll keep you posted on delicious recipes, the right way to eat, and ways to stay active!