Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Couples Exercise Makes the Heart Grow Fonder and Stronger
Fit Body Boot Camp of Woodstock Draws Couples to 6am Workouts
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| Michelle & Steven Shannon & Steve |
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| George & Lyshia |
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| Pilar & Todd |
Couples Exercise Makes the Heart Grow Fonder and Stronger
Fitness experts tout the benefits of having an “exercise buddy” to keep you motivated and to hold you accountable to your fitness regimen, which in turn helps you reach and maintain your exercise and diet goals.
Fit Body Boot Camp members are taking that one step (or jumping jack) further, enlisting their spouses as their buddies. After all, it's easier to commit to 6 a.m. Boot Camp if your significant other isn't still snoring in the bed!
In 2010, Michelle and Steven Dodd of Woodstock were the first couple to make the commitment to attend the pre-dawn class together. “Woodstock Fit Body Boot Camp has not only invigorated our bodies, but also our marriage!” says Michelle. “Spending quality time together as a couple every morning in a healthy, positive way makes every day a great day.”
As with most long-term participants, Michelle and Steven have noticed positive changes with regard to losing weight and inches, but also have found that they feel more energetic throughout the day and are stronger overall. “We encourage more couples to join us each day at Fit Body Boot Camp and get the great results that we have in our bodies and in our relationship as husband and wife,” Michelle says.
Pilar and Todd Neal of Ball Ground joined the class in December, 2010, after Pilar learned about the benefits of Boot Camp from colleagues in Cartersville. “We both knew we were drifting off-track,” Pilar says. “We needed some outside motivation to help us reach our goals of better health and fitness.”
They had discussed working out together, “butI couldn't see Todd doing a yoga class with me,” Pilar says. She researched boot camp classes online and found Fit Body Boot Camp with Stacy Ward in Woodstock. Since the class is indoors, weather is not a deterrent, so the couple was able to begin immediately.
“Fit Body Boot Camp not only offered us a great workout opportunity and access to a personal trainer and customized nutrition plan, but five days a week we have a standing 'date' at 6 a.m,” she says. “With today's busy lifestyles, how many couples can say that?”
Shannon Fannin has been attending Fit Body Boot Camp since October and has made a commitment to attending the 6 a.m. class. The combination of meeting the folks with whom Shannon works out each morning and seeing how much she enjoys it prompted Steve to try the class with her in February. He has since made the commitment to joining Shannon when his work schedule permits, and they have begun to support each other with their diet as well.
George and Lyshia Valdez of Woodstock only recently joined the group, following a visit to the doctor for their annual physical exams. “My wife and I had put more focus into having good careers and raising good children,” George says. “We found out we had been neglecting the most important people in our lives, and that was us!”
Lyshia saw an ad for Fit Body Boot Camp in Woodstock and joined immediately. “Within a week I saw changes in both her appearance and – more importantly – her spirit,” George says. “Lyshia would come home after every workout and couldn't stop talking about the fun she was having, and about how everyone was so supportive at Boot Camp.”
Lyshia's excitement about the program rubbed off, and George joined just three weeks later. “I'm a man and we're stubborn to the bone, but after my first day, I was hooked!” he says. “I didn't have to prove that I was some sort of gym work-out, tough, strong muscle-building 'man's man.' Everyone had the same goal – to lose weight, feel good about yourself and get healthy.”
As with the other Boot Camp couples, George and Lyshia recognize the positive effect working out together has on their relationship. “Both of us working out together, giving high-fives and pushing each other not only makes us stronger but also makes our relationship stronger because it shows support, accountability and best of all, love,” George says. “It shows my wife that I love her and the family enough to get off my rear and take some time from my day to make sure I'm healthy enough (to) live a longer, healthier life.”
Sta-Fit/Fit Body Boot Camp owner/trainer Stacy Ward is encouraged by the growing trend of couples working out together. “Exercise success is greater when you have support from family and friends,” she says. “These couples have decided to support each other in making positive changes in their life together. It strengthens your bond because you are engaging in an activity together. You also become more attractive to your significant other at the same time, and build positive self-esteem together.”
Muscles and overall health aren't the only things these couples are building, Stacy says. “The old saying, 'The couples that play together, stay together,' rings true for these couples,” she says. “They are not only strengthening their bodies, but also their love for each other. Priceless!”
Fit Body Boot Camp meets Monday through Friday at 6 a.m. and Monday-Wednesday-Friday at 9:15 a.m. inside the World of Gymnastics/World of Cheer building at 104 Victoria North Court, off Bells Ferry Road in Woodstock. Call 678-881-9881 or visit www.fitbodybootcampga.com for information.
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Monday, February 28, 2011
Fitness Boot Camps & Achieving Any Goal
How to Achieve Any Goal
Do you have unmet goals?
You aren't alone. In fact, many people live with unfulfilled aspirations and the self-help industry is booming.
Unfortunately, many widely used self-help techniques fail to deliver results.
Case in point: You've probably heard of the "Yale Goal Study" in which researchers were said to have interviewed the graduating Yale seniors in 1953, asking whether or not the students had written down specific goals that they wanted to achieve. Then twenty years down the road the researchers looked up each student and discovered that the 3% of the class who had written down their goals had accumulated more personal wealth than the other 97% combined.
Very compelling story, but complete fiction.
The "Yale Goal Study" never happened, though motivational speakers and self-help books have quoted it for years.
Best selling author and psychologist Richard Wiseman went on a mission to craft a no-nonsense response to the bogus self-help techniques. Using a diverse range of scientific data he uncovered a proven approach to achieve any goal.
The following 5 successful techniques (Do This) and 5 unsuccessful techniques (Not That) are from Wiseman's book, 59 Seconds Change Your Life in Under a Minute.
Do This: Make a Step-by-Step Plan.
If you are serious about achieving your goal, then you need to create a step-by-step plan on how to do it.
Successful goal-achievers break down their overall goal into sub-goals. Each sub-goal needs to be concrete, measurable and time-based.
How badly do you want to achieve your goal? If you want it bad enough, you'll tell your friends and family.
This technique works on two levels. First, you've put yourself on the spot by letting the world in on your goal, so it's all-eyes-on-you. Failure would be public. Second, your friends and family are there to offer support and encouragement. Don't underestimate the psychological power of having someone in your corner.
Remind yourself of the benefits associated with achieving your goal.
Make a checklist of how life will be better once you have achieved your aim. This gets your focus on a positive future, one that's worth the effort.
Studies show that attaching rewards to each of your sub-goals encourages success.
Your rewards should never conflict with your major goal. When aiming to lose weight, never use food as a reward.
Make your plans, progress, benefits and rewards concrete by expressing them in writing.
Use a hand-written journal, your computer or a bulletin board to chart your progress. This process is priceless for maintaining motivation.
Now is your time to get into the best shape of your life.
If you are ready to reach your goals our Fitness Boot Camp will change your life if you are willing to try it!You aren't alone. In fact, many people live with unfulfilled aspirations and the self-help industry is booming.
Unfortunately, many widely used self-help techniques fail to deliver results.
Case in point: You've probably heard of the "Yale Goal Study" in which researchers were said to have interviewed the graduating Yale seniors in 1953, asking whether or not the students had written down specific goals that they wanted to achieve. Then twenty years down the road the researchers looked up each student and discovered that the 3% of the class who had written down their goals had accumulated more personal wealth than the other 97% combined.
Very compelling story, but complete fiction.
The "Yale Goal Study" never happened, though motivational speakers and self-help books have quoted it for years.
Best selling author and psychologist Richard Wiseman went on a mission to craft a no-nonsense response to the bogus self-help techniques. Using a diverse range of scientific data he uncovered a proven approach to achieve any goal.
The following 5 successful techniques (Do This) and 5 unsuccessful techniques (Not That) are from Wiseman's book, 59 Seconds Change Your Life in Under a Minute.
Do This: Make a Step-by-Step Plan.
If you are serious about achieving your goal, then you need to create a step-by-step plan on how to do it.
Successful goal-achievers break down their overall goal into sub-goals. Each sub-goal needs to be concrete, measurable and time-based.
- Not That: Motivate yourself by focusing on someone that you admire.
Studies show that focusing on someone you admire is not a strong enough motivator to see you through your goal.
How badly do you want to achieve your goal? If you want it bad enough, you'll tell your friends and family.
This technique works on two levels. First, you've put yourself on the spot by letting the world in on your goal, so it's all-eyes-on-you. Failure would be public. Second, your friends and family are there to offer support and encouragement. Don't underestimate the psychological power of having someone in your corner.
- Not That: Think about the bad things.
When you focus on the negative it becomes your reality.
Remind yourself of the benefits associated with achieving your goal.
Make a checklist of how life will be better once you have achieved your aim. This gets your focus on a positive future, one that's worth the effort.
- Not That: Try to suppress unhelpful thoughts.
Rather than trying to erase that image of chocolate cake from your mind, learn to deal with the reality of temptation head-on.
Studies show that attaching rewards to each of your sub-goals encourages success.
Your rewards should never conflict with your major goal. When aiming to lose weight, never use food as a reward.
- Not That: Rely on willpower.
Willpower alone rarely gets anyone to their goal.
Make your plans, progress, benefits and rewards concrete by expressing them in writing.
Use a hand-written journal, your computer or a bulletin board to chart your progress. This process is priceless for maintaining motivation.
- Not That: Fantasize about life after achieving your goal.
Daydreaming is fun, but simply fantasizing about your new life will not make it a reality.
Now is your time to get into the best shape of your life.
Our Fitness Boot Camp can be reviewed on thumbtack.com.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
How to Train for a 5K- Couch Potato to 5K
CLICK THIS LINK FOR MORE Couch to 5k - Couch Potato to 5k ? Running Program that Works.
FIT BODY BOOT CAMP WILL BE DOING A 5K TOGETHER ON MARCH 12, 2011 AT BOLING PARK!
DETAILS - WARRIORS PRIDE 5K - Benefits CHS baseball program ( My son's high school team)
PRE-REGISTRATION THROUGH FEBRUARY 26
http://PORTAL.CHEROKEE.K12.GA.US/SCHOOLS/CHEROKEE-HS/ATHLETICS/BASEBALL
FIT BODY BOOT CAMP WILL BE DOING A 5K TOGETHER ON MARCH 12, 2011 AT BOLING PARK!
DETAILS - WARRIORS PRIDE 5K - Benefits CHS baseball program ( My son's high school team)
PRE-REGISTRATION THROUGH FEBRUARY 26
http://PORTAL.CHEROKEE.K12.GA.US/SCHOOLS/CHEROKEE-HS/ATHLETICS/BASEBALL
Friday, February 11, 2011
WEEK FIVE : FINDING YOUR TRUTH
STEP1: FACE YOUR FEARS
Last week we got really honest with ourselves. We all want to better ourselves, yet to do so means that we must admit to our weakness. In order to really transform our lives on a profound level in body, mind, and spirit, we have to look within. Self acceptance is critial component of our growth. Most of us have walls so high and layers so deep that we live in an almost numbed state. We walk around in a fog of distraction making it hard to change our patterns of action because of the disconnect from ourselves.
The first step to moving forward and living your most authentic life is accepting that you are not responsible for someone else’s hurtful or negative behavior, but you are accountable for your reaction to it and how you allow it to affect your life.
It is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you!
Although you can’t change the past, you can use pain or past trauma as a catalyst for creating the most extraordinary life ever, if you choose to!
I don’t know about you , but most of us who have gone through tough times were shaped and molded by those times. Those times have either made you stronger or weaker by your perception. What lessons did those times give you? What did you learn about yourself? How can we avoid those situations in the future?
Some situations are out of our control which is one of the biggest reasons we develop fear. Fear of losing control! However, we are responsible for all our emotions, whether they’re negative ones such as envy, jealousy, insecurity,procastination,guilt, anger, resentment, or anxiety; and postive ones like patience, forgiveness, compassion, love, strength, understanding, motivation, or empathy.
It is a natural human condition to alleviate pain in whatever way we know how or have learned through watching our parents cope growing up. Even doctors prescribe us medication to numb ourselves. If you have never been taught how to communicate effectively and find resolution to your problems, more than likely you are going to deal with it in an unhealthy way. This cycle is so important to break , especially for those of us who have children now. The way you are dealing with life right now is having an impact on your children. Learning how to break the cycle is just as important for you as it is for you teaching your kids how to cope with life.
One of the hardest things for me now as a parent is to watch my son experience the hardships of life. It is really hard not to want to step in and control things, however ,it is important that we guide them in a healthy way but sometimes allow for tough love and let them learn how to effectively cope and allow for healthy communication. You can easily see patterns in your children’s coping skills. Are they a reflection of how you handle things?
How do you cope? Do you numb it with a tub of ice cream, anesthetize it with alcohol, drugs,distract it with t.v, internet, elude it by finding someone new to love, gossip, shop and gamble beyond our means, or spend years living in anger and resentment.
Making peace with yourself is liberating!
When someone can evoke extreme emotions within us, we must realize that it’s never really about them or the situation we’re in. Our defensive reaction is because the other person has triggered an association to a past pain, which is a feeling we would do anything to avoid. He or she has hit a nerve, or trigger- a fear deeply embedded in our psyche. If you often find yourself upset, let down, or trying to control others (using anger,perfectionism, manipulation, or excessive pleasing), you need to look at your deepest fears about yourself. Until we are willing to rise above our past, our triggers, fears, and guilt; they will keep resurfacing and manifesting themselves in our lives.
Addictions of all kinds like food, alcohol, and self sabotage are simply coping mechanisms that we develop to allay those fears. The numbness may have subsided but the reality of why the addictions or bad habits was orginally formed is still buried deep within us. And no matter how much we want to make changes on the outside , until we do the work on the inside, we will all eventually fall back into old patterns.
As long as we have attachments and judgements about who we wish we were, or our self-defeating ego tells us we are- we can be triggered and we will continue to try to escape the shame and feelings of inadequency. Once you face your truth that no one or nothing has power over you and you are completely responsible for your own actions and your own choices. Once you own your reactions you can own your choices and you don’t have to turn to food or destructive behaviors to escape your fears!
Here is an exercise to do when experiencing fear: Practice feeling it instead of feeding it.
Focus on your breathing by taking controlling deep breaths, and ask yourself honestly what am I most afraid of right now? What fear has this person or situation triggered in me?
SUMMARY OF WEEK FIVE: TRUTH
Body:
Eat balanced diet with the right amount of healthy fats
Stay youthful by stimulating your natural growth hormone by – exercising, getting restful sleep, don’t eat after 7:30pm or within 3 hours of going to bed, avoid sugary food , especially in evening, because it halts your release of growth hormone because of excess insulin.
Mind:
Become body aware. Identify the physical signs that your body sends to you when your upset.
Soul:
Send energy to the things that light you up and make you feel wonderful; and stop exerting energy trying to hide, cover up, and justify who you are.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Week Four: Courage
WEEK 4 : COURAGE
This weeks focus is on courage. It takes courage to set your life into motion, believe in yourself, to follow your dreams. Are you willing to step into a life of courage now that you’re in your fourth week? This is when people begin to start self-sabotage.
This weeks focus is on courage. It takes courage to set your life into motion, believe in yourself, to follow your dreams. Are you willing to step into a life of courage now that you’re in your fourth week? This is when people begin to start self-sabotage.
Will you separate yourself from those who talk about it from those who do it! Do you give so much to others that there is no time for your needs?
I see this a lot from busy moms, nurses, and teachers, and even myself sometimes. You dedicate yourself to others hoping that one day everyone will wake up and see how wonderful you are. There is nothing wrong with self-less giving as long as you don’t forget to give to yourself as well. Sometimes you may throw yourself into taking care of everyone else, so you don’t have to focus on your own hopes and dreams (what a noble-sounding excuse for not stepping it up for ourselves!)
Could it be that we’ve been victims of circumstance so long that we’ve forgotten who is in control. Don’t be a victim! It is better to die in charge than die the thousand deaths of a victim.
You are the boss of your own life! As you step off your self- defined treadmill, be willing to look at your life through different lenses and ask yourself, ‘What would courage have me do, change, or say (even if it scares me) in order to move me out of feeling helpless and disempowered and into feeling free, hopeful, and inspired? What would courage ask me to hang on to while I ride out the storm? And what would it ask me to throw overboard?” Only courage can turn your boat around and put you back into the flow.
STEP 1: Take a reality check
There is no point in going any further with this 12 week program if you aren’t being honest with yourself. You will only get out what you put into it. If you haven’t lost weight it is time to write down your foods again for at least 3 days or until you do start to lose weight and get really serious with yourself:
- Are you eating junk food even just a little here and there?
- Are you sneaking a cookie or munching on chips?
- Have you conquered sugar and begun eating light healthy carbs?
- Are you eating low-fat protein at every meal and having a salad every day?
- What are you eating for breakfast?
- How much water are you drinking?
Obviously, I ‘m not able to watch your every move. I can give you information and guide and inspire you, but if you’re not sticking to the program, you are fooling no one but yourself. Make sure you are reading each week steps and doing them; increase your intensity of your workouts.
I compare this program to taking birth control pills: It won’t work if you use it sometimes.
Daily effort + daily choices = success. It is time to get serious.
STEP 2: Relinquish the Need for Approval
We all want to be liked, valued, and appreciated; and when we are not, we feel rotten. Our need for approval usually starts at a young age. When did we get this inaccurate assumption that if you gave up yourself, others would give you more?
Get out your journal and take a look back in time. Shine a light on this pattern and begin by making a list of what you believe limited you in your life and how.
- What pivotal moments changed your life?
- What did you hear, see, or feel on a daily basis while you were growing up?
- How did this make you feel about yourself, and how has it held you back?
Now this exercise is not intended to blame your parents for any unhappiness and make you feel like a victim. It is important to understand that everyone has had a critical moment in our childhood that we’ll always remember. These experiences become embedded in our psyche, causing us to form beliefs that stay with us and dictate our choices sometimes as adults.
- Looking at your list, ask yourself if you feel that your life would be better if others had treated you better.
- Do you believe that most of your disappointments and failures have been out of your control?
- Was one of your own parents held back in their own life?
- What messages regarding opportunity and expectation did you learn from them?
- Did you see a mother who gave too much but resented it at the same time?
- Has an illness or condition impeded your progress?
- Has it been unfortunate circumstance, or was it specific people who’ve held you back?
- If so, are you still angry or resentful with them?
Here is your first clue: Self- sabotage comes from repressed anger. “I’m not angry anymore,” you might say. Yet if you continually sabotage your efforts, then there is a good chance that you haven’t dealt with your pain.
You have tucked it away because showing anger is unacceptable, so instead of lashing out to the world, you have chosen to beat up yourself. Buried deep, you create walls-layers of protection- so that no one can hurt you again. No one can get close enough. It feels safer this way. But soon your protection becomes your captor. You feel stuck and helpless.
Well, a lot of times we will search for comforts in foods, shopping, gambling, or numb ourselves with alcohol, drugs or combination of escapes even too much television. Often these outlets become bad habits. This self-destructive need for approval only disappears when we begin approving of ourselves, loving ourselves, and getting rid of the anger and forgive ourselves and those situations.
The truth opens the door to healing and living with inner peace.
Once you begin to be honest with yourself about what you feel, why you’re stuck, whom you blame, what you use to cope, and what you’re afraid of, you will feel a thousand pounds lifted from you.
Breaking through these layers will help you break through the layers you have been putting on your body. If you have struggled with weight problems and have been unsuccessful in keeping it off, I highly suggest really digging through these exercises of the mind and soul as well as the physical exercises.
In reality, truth is always easy. It’s the lies we tell ourselves and the world that weighs us down and keeps us immobilized in fear, convinced that we have no other option. Lies keep us disillusioned. Disillusionment keeps us in denial: thus, addictions are virtually impossible to overcome.
Open your journal and begin with this sentence: The truth is………….See where it leads you.
STEP 3: Do Something You Love
STEP 4: Start Eating Lean Protein
Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products are the most obvious sources of protein; but there are many others such as nuts, beans, and lentils. The primary role for protein is to build and repair close to 300 billion cells daily, including muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Although carbs and fats supply you with energy, every cell in your body is constructed from protein you eat.
When protein enters stomach they break down into amino acids. The human body is unable to produce essential amino acids, so you must obtain them through foods. The amino acids are sent to work on building and repairing skin, enzymes, muscles, bones, and hair.
How important are they for weight loss? The more lean muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest. Without adequate amounts you will have a difficult time making and keeping muscles. Protein doesn’t stimulate insulin production and isn’t converted to fat easily. It helps elevate your metabolism because of the thermal effect of breaking them down. So, every time you eat lean proteins your body is burning more calories and with that incorporate exercise each day and you will ramp up your metabolism.
All foods have a thermal effect, however, high fat foods such as butter or oils have virtual no thermal effect, and carbs are far less thermal than protein. A study, conducted in Spain found that protein could increase the metabolic rate by 25-30%, compared to carbohydrates that increase only 4%. Keep in mind that proteins can have high saturated fats and you must be careful not to over consume meats and dairy. Eating smaller portions spread out through the day are better when incorporating proteins in each meal. Remember that there are vegetarian sources like temph, tofu that you can incorporate as well.
STEP 4: Learn to Relax
Prayer, meditation and stretching are great ways to distress..
SUMMARY FOR WEEK FOUR: COURAGE
Body:
• Start eating lean proteins and avoid dark meats and limit egg yolks and high fat dairy
• Try a protein shake to supplement your requirements if you are struggling to get enough
• Continue with 4-5x per week exercise for at least 60min. or accumulate at least 300min. per week for weight loss. Add stretching into your daily routine.
Mind:
• Monitor your progress
• Check to make sure you are not falling back to old patterns
• Decompress stress in your life
Soul:
• Discover your truth
• Relinquish the need for approval
• Do something you love
• Discover your truth
• Relinquish the need for approval
• Do something you love
Sunday, January 2, 2011
WEEK 3 : ACCEPTANCE AND RAISING YOUR ENERGY WITH H.O.P.E ( High On Positve Energy)
WEEK 3 : ACCEPTANCE AND RAISING YOUR ENERGY WITH H.O.P.E ( High On Positve Energy)
STEP 1: Get Real
Feeling fit and healthy is certainly not the only step to achieving contentment,but it is one of the first. It is usually fair to say that how you look and feel is symbolic of what’s going on in your life. That doesn’t mean that if you have a perfect body that you will have a perfect life. It is more about how you accept yourself and knowing that you are making an effort to be the best you can be not by unreasonable standards of what you may see on T.V or magazines.
It is unhealthy to compare yourself to someone else with a completely different body type and genetic makeup. However, you can inspire yourself by looking at images of people with the same type of body type makeup that look the way your body can look with a little effort on your part.
It is possible to use weight training and controlled eating to completely transform your body, but you also need to understand that just because you can get there is it reasonab le to think you will be able to maintain it forever without relentless effort.
The reason I am saying this is if you desire a body builder model physique and you are over 30% body fat and very little muscle on your frame; you can achieve dropping body fat down to 14% and adding muscle to your frame that gives you a dynamite body. Once you achieve this you must keep up with your training regime and eating properly or you will go back to the way your body was before. So, keep in mind when you are creating a vision of how you want to look, create this vision with what is reasonable for your life and something that you can maintain and be happy with.
Visions of you should not be images of perfection but images of healthy bodies feeling energetic.
Remember if our bodies are a reflection of how you would like your spirit to shine in the world, what reflection would you like people to observe in you. A confident person full of energy and life? What does it take to feel full of energy?
To start with , you would eat energetic foods that nutrish your body,hydrate your skin and lubricate your joints. These are the same foods that eaten with the correct calorie intake will also help you have the body you desire and give you the energy to make your workouts more effective.
Having effective workouts would then give you the ability to have more strength and muscle tone. These foods also help your body to recover better from your workouts and give you strong immunity to help you feel better.
Better quality of foods also have been proven to give you a better outlook of life and feelings of well-being. Projecting these feelings out in the world will make you more attractive to others and give you confidence.
Have you ever noticed that even people that are not perfect by society appear very attractive because of their confidence about themselves. These are not negative type people who complain about everything and lack confidence. These are not people who have low energy and low esteem.
I am not saying that if you have low energy that you are not attractive but you would probably be more attractive to others if you were able to projected more confidence and energy. Most people are attracted to what they are lacking and if you look around in the world the majority of people complain about lack of energy. Why does this parellel with the majority of the U.S. being overweight ? We live in country now where most of us eat unhealthy foods and don’t get enough activity so of course no one has any energy.
In "YOU: Being Beautiful," Drs. Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen write about improving the outward signs of beauty by caring for your skin, hair and body.
Being healthy and energetic play a huge role in your appearance, so the doctors focus on how to power up your energy levels in order to look and feel your best.
Read excerpts from "YOU: Being Beautiful: The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty" below.
YOU Test: Zapped
When's the first time you feel tired during the day?
a. When I awaken, even after sleeping a full eight hours every day for a week.
b. Morning, or at the latest midafternoon.
c. Whenever I move.
d. Whenever I have to deal with my boss.
e. Not until after a day of working 12 hours or more.
Results:
If you answered anything other than E, it could be a sign that the energy systems in your body are either slightly or completely out of whack— causing you to tire even at times when you should feel vital and energized.
So what starts the process that steals your energy? What sets up the dominos, and what causes your first domino to fall? We don't know all the answers for sure, but we do know a few things that make your cellular energy plants—those mitochondria—inefficient.
Insulin Resistance:
We become inefficient in getting the sugar to our production plants and distribute it into fat storage rather than into cells that need to use it to produce energy, such as muscle cells.
Viruses and Other Infections:
Acute infections as well as chronic, low-grade infections can eventually cause the fuse to blow. We often see the buggers invade and fray the wires from your fuse box, reducing the amount of energy that can be supplied. Or the lines get frayed from lack of nutrients to keep them repaired (for example, lack of the healthy fat DHA).
That starts the "out of energy" cascade after a pregnancy or after an injury, when your immune system is vulnerable. Viral particles have been identified in the nuclei and mitochrondria of many cells of folks with serious energy deficits like fibromyalgia. Once one area feels less energetic, you put more demand on another area, furthering that cascade, so a little wire fraying by viruses can make you feel exhausted much of the time.
Sleep Problems:
Many people always have trouble falling asleep. Additionally, many of us (yes, we are guilty here at times) develop less than optimal habits that worsen our ability to sleep or obtain full sleep time and then we have to fight a vicious cycle. And when your immune system needs all the energy it can get—such as when it's fighting an infection for you—not resting your energy supply adequately acts to overheat those wires and worsen your energy problem. That weakens the energy your immune system can borrow from other parts of your energy stores. So you feel more tired.
When your body gets too little sleep or poor-quality sleep (not deep enough or not enough dreaming), you tend to have more pain (the lack of sleep doesn't allow you to refresh fully the neurotransmitters you have that normally suppress pain). And that extra pain drains the line of energy, too—so you feel wiped out very near the start of the day. Sleep is important to feeling beautiful.
Hormonal Imbalances:
Your hormones are like the dimmers on your headlights—when you need bright lights, you turn on certain hormones to increase the energy sent to that area (for example, your immune system) and to decrease usage elsewhere. This fine-tuning starts in your hypothalamus and pituitary. Thus, there's a strong association between hormonal issues and energy issues.
We see these changes primarily with slow-functioning adrenal and thyroid glands, but small, important changes happen minute to minute. Stress causes increases in cortisol, which increases sugar in the bloodstream and insulin resistance—and that wastes energy in distributing sugar into fat instead of where it is needed to produce ATP.
The tough part here is that it's not always clear what the best ways are to deal with hormonal issues. Case in point: We physicians aren't sure whether to treat the numbers or to treat the symptoms patients have. We often try to "normalize the numbers from blood tests" even if we're not eradicating the symptoms.
The so-called normal range of blood levels for many hormonal levels is defined as the middle 95 (95!) percent of people with those levels; the top 2.5 percent are considered high and the bottom 2.5 percent are considered low. Unfortunately, that's just not good math for the individual. It's like saying that if the number that is normal is size 6 to 11 in shoes, then a 6 shoe will be okay for you, even if you have a size 4 foot. Not a good fit, but you'd be wearing a "normal"-size shoe.
Instead, we docs can choose to treat the symptoms as long as the treatment doesn't cause levels that are very abnormal on blood tests. Here's one example of why treating the symptoms (it's what docs learn to do—most important, listen to the patient) and not just getting a number on your blood test in the 95 percent range is important.
If a T3 (free thyroid hormone) level up to 1.4 is normal but we have to get up to 1.5 to eradicate your symptoms, we think we should listen to you and do that, periodically backing off to see if you can be symptom free with less thyroid hormone. Because when hormones aren't regulated to levels that are right for you, you've got a dimmer that keeps flipping from producing power full-time to producing power half-time. So that lack of thyroid hormone means your energy factories can't use the food you've eaten to produce those ATPs efficiently. That makes you feel tired.
YOU Test: Thyroid Tester
The thyroid gland is your body's gas pedal, so it controls how much get-up-and-go you have. Since blood tests for thyroid function are not always reliable, how do you know to ask your doc if you need a trial of natural prescription thyroid? Just take this test:
1. Are you tired even after a low-key weekend?
2. Have you gained more than ten pounds since your fatigue began?
3. Do you often have a body temperature under 98 degrees?
4. Are you achy more than one hour a day?
5. Do you have high LDL cholesterol or low HDL cholesterol?
6. Do you like the house warmer than your spouse does?
7. Do you have dry skin?
8. Do you have thin hair?
9. Do you have heavy periods?
If you have chronic fatigue or pain and have at least three of the above symptoms, you should ask your doc to consider testing your blood for thyroid dysfunction. If it's positive, she might give you a trial of Armour Thyroid by prescription. This form has the active thyroid hormone (called T3) in it, and many experts in this field find that it works better than the more commonly used Synthroid. No data prove this difference, but some patients swear it made the difference to them.
Scoop Up, Power Up
Some ill-advised folks might say that the greatest nutritional discovery of the last decade has been the Baconator (at a whopping 830 calories, we don't think so).
The real nutritional heroes: DHA and ribose.
DHA:
The active form of omega-3 helps constitute nerve membranes and keeps the nerves to your muscles firing, as well as helps encase muscles. You can get this in fish oils or from the algae that fish eat. Try 600 mg of DHA a day (equivalent to 2 grams of fish oil if you like that taste better).
Ribose:
This special sugar is made in your body and doesn't come from food; it helps build the energy blocks of your body. Of all the things you can do to combat the effects of knee-dragging fatigue, taking a daily ribose supplement is the one that seems to really turbo-charge some people who have diseases associated with low energy. (The only side effect is that some people feel too much energy, if that's possible.)
The data aren't good enough to recommend ribose for all of us. But if you want to give it a try Dr. Oz recommends to start with 500 mg three times a day for a week or so until you get used to the taste (or find a smoothie, coffee, or tea to put it in). Then go to 5 grams three times a day for three weeks to get a sense of the effect. Then you can scale back to 5 grams twice a day.
By the way, since we know you're wondering: Each 5-gram scoop contains only 20 calories, since ribose isn't metabolized as a sugar. Taking it won't increase your chances of becoming mistaken for a Sea World attraction. In fact, since it is a bit sweet, you might think of it as a sugar substitute.
As an aside, ribose has been shown to relieve fatigue, soreness, and stiffness after exercise, and some professional athletes have reported muscular benefits after taking ribose (again, the data are too weak to say it does or doesn't work well, since the studies just haven't been done).
Find Your Chia
Say the word chia, and most of us immediately think of little green pets. But we want you to think of chia for another reason: A whole grain used by the Aztecs as their main energy source, chia can help restore energy levels and decrease inflammation because of its omega-3 fatty acids.
Similar to cornstarch, chia can be used as a thickening agent and as a substitute for whole grains in your diet. Whole grains, of course, are especially important because they help stabilize blood sugar levels, as opposed to causing the spikes and falls that can occur when you eat sugars and refined carbohydrates. Here's one way to use chia.
Chia Muffins
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon chia seeds, ground (use a coffee or spice grinder)
11/2 cups whole wheat or whole grain flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt or salt and pepper to taste
16-ounce can organic pumpkin (make sure there is only pumpkin listed in the ingredients list)
2 egg whites
1/4 cup high-quality canola oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients.
Fold the wet ingredients and nuts into the dry ingredients, stirring only until dry ingredients are moistened (don't overmix).
Spoon into paper-lined or greased (with canola oil) muffin tins. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Store completely cooled muffins in resealable plastic bags in the freezer. Makes about a dozen.
Get Rid of Infections
While most of us want to treat infections because of their acute symptoms, we can't ignore that they can have chronic implications as well. Since inflammation and infection can be two of the dominos in the cascade of low-energy symptoms, one of your goals could be to monitor your body so that infections don't linger.
That means regular flossing to decrease the risk of gum inflammation, regular use of a neti pot to reduce sinusitis, and probiotics for treating such infections as prostatitis, bowel infections, and vaginitis. Many infections are viral, in which case good sleep, frequent hand washing, and food choices that avoid all simple sugars and saturated fats can help.
From YOU: BEING BEAUTIFUL by Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D. Copyright © 2008 by Michael F. Roizen, M.D., and Oz Works, LLC. Reprinted by permission of Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc, NY.
Emotional Energy and "The Second Wind"
Have you ever been really tired and then pushed yourself to go do something anyway? Perhaps it was a dinner with a friend or attending a talk or lecture? Somewhere inside that period, the tiredness disappears and is replaced by what we often call "a second wind." That "second wind" is energy that you are producing. It isn't something you have to wait for, you can produce that energy at any time once you understand the steps that created it in the first place.
Discovering emotional energy:
This energy is derived from something that sparks our emotions or our passions. We receive new information, or hear old information in a new way. Or perhaps we are around someone who emulates energy, and their passion excites the energy within us.
Caution:
Remember that energy fluctuates, so as easily as you can build it - you can also destroy it. There is no quicker way to become tired than spending time around negative people or listening to negative news. All stimulus influences our energy one way or the other. Watch for stimulus that are influencing your energy levels negatively. Example: Watching a round of Headline News will catch you up on the day's Headlines. But does watching additional programming help or hinder? What about reading? Are your choices uplifting and inspiring more energy or are they energy sappers?
Put it into Practice:
To use Emotional Energy in your everyday life, you need to discover what produces this energy for you personally. Create a page in your notebook for listing your energy-producers.
Here are a few that are on my list:
1. Listen to music that uplifts me.
2. Have coffee, dinner or lunch with someone who I find inspiring.
3. Read a book that I find inspiring or motivational--something that really "speaks" to me.
4. Make sure I start my day off with positive emotional energy through my "Good Morning" routine ( Boot Camp).
5. Ask myself each morning, "How can I make a difference in someones life today?" and then remain personally accountable for being the best "me" possible.
Physical Energy
Of course we can't "talk" about energy without including the physical element. However, if you are overwhelmed by the thought of a new health plan, keep reading. Little changes can make a big difference in your energy production. Many of us are aware of the "big steps" we should take, so I have tried to focus on little changes that make a big impact. If you would like an overview of the big changes, I really recommend spending a few minutes at this site: [http://www.agingresearch.org/calculator/]
I found Expert Thomas Perls on CNN with Larry King and found his research quite interesting and revealing. This free, online test is a great way to look at the "gaps" in your life. Odds are where you fall short on the health score are many of the same areas where you can improve and create more energy. This is an online life-expectancy calculator that is geared around his study of "Living to 100." It is very comprehensive and the results are equally comprehensive. This does a great job of tackling the "big areas" and some of the little areas, too.
Now let's look at some other physical areas and break down positive changes you can easily make:
Somebody bring me some water! Here is site that you can access your unique water needs. It includes a formula for learning how much water you need based on your specific weight. http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/water.htm
Your personal zzzz quota:
Recent research shows that the optimum amount of sleep is 7.2 hours. However, some people still need more and others need less. Figuring out your own personal quota can go a long way toward regulating your energy. Ideally you want to get the same amount of sleep each night to maintain optimum energy levels (you should also go to bed at the same time each night). Discovering your "zzz quota" takes a bit of work, but is well worth it. (Besides, how else will you get the permission to practice sleeping?) Before beginning, make sure you are not completely drained or fatigued otherwise you are going to overcompensate on your sleep. Spend a week getting more sleep so you are "fresh" to begin your study. Then for one week, go to bed EARLY enough that you can wake up naturally without an alarm clock. Write down how long you sleep for each of the 7 days, then average it out. This is your personal "zzz quota." Keep in mind this can change depending on what you are going through in your life, so it is good to "re-check" once or twice per year.
Sleep preparation:
Make sure that you stop eating at least 3 hours prior to going to sleep to allow everything to digest. Avoid caffeinated beverages after dinner. Make your room "sleep friendly" by turning off the television and playing relaxing music.
The affects of food: Since food is our primary energy source, it makes sense that good food will produce good energy and poor choices will effect us negatively. Reduce refined sugar in your diet as much as possible. Avoid meals that are high in carbs during the second half of the day and focus instead on protein. Protein provides more stable energy than carbs which keep our body going like a roller coaster!
Reduce starches and breads:
Bread, rolls, bagels, pasta -- starches often slow people down. Try going a week or two with minimal starches and see if this helps your energy level. You can conduct the same experiment with caffeine.
Pop those vitamins:
At minimum take a good daily vitamin. While you may not see a huge change, over long term usage, this can help prevent many of the conditions that sap energy. The key here is consistency. Choose something you do daily and put your vitamins and a bottled water next to that item. Examples: next to car keys, toothbrush, coffee maker, computer.
Food patterns:
Consider keeping a food journal to see how your energy fluctuates with your food consumption. Make adjustments to your food intake based on your discoveries. Remember that eating too little can be just as energy sapping as eating the wrong foods. Work on a balanced diet and don't forget your breakfast! Studies have shown that those who eat breakfast have more energy. If you have a hard time eating breakfast, find a simple solution. I often grab a breakfast bar on the go. A lean sandwich can also be made the night before and enjoyed in the morning. You don't have to eat "breakfast foods," but you do need to eat breakfast.
Exercise:
You knew I would say it sooner or later! Getting your body moving is one of the quickest ways to increase energy. Give any exercise program about 3 weeks to start giving you energy - the first three weeks can be tiring as we snap our bodies out of their comas! A recent Prevention article shared how doing just 10 minutes of LIGHT weight lifting repetitions caused a focus group to feel a 45% increase in their energy level. Pick up some light weights (5-10 pounds) at your local discount-mart and use them by your television at night.
Put it into Practice:
It is important to recognize that energy isn't a "one size fits all" formula. I encourage you to experiment with each concept, paying attention to how it impacts your energy level. Choose one area to start with from the above list and schedule a "start date" on your calendar this coming week.
Productive Energy
Aristotle said, "We become what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit." When we repeatedly step forward, we propel ourselves forward even further. When we continually stand still, we dig a bigger rut. When we continually move backward, we dig a big hole.
To truly understand productive energy, think of a time when you were fatigued and then became inspired to do something. Perhaps it was reading a book, writing, or organizing, or completing pages in a scrapbook. Before you knew it, you looked at the clock and hours had passed--even though you were tired earlier. What changed? Well you didn't eat anything or exercise. The change was in what you were doing. Your attitude and productiveness elevated - thus elevating your performance and your energy.
Make a list ... and make sure to check it twice:
The first step in building productive energy is to be focused on the right track. Have a clear list of what you want to accomplish with clear and attainable timelines. Make sure to star three items for the day that will allow you to feel good about the day regardless of what bumps pop up in your path.
Get started early:
Make sure to start your action list early in the day to build momentum. If you have problems with procrastination, consider enrolling in early exercise class.
Recharge:
In order to be productive, you must have balance and that means learning what you personally need to recharge. Some people need quiet time each day, others just need a good night's rest. Discover what helps you recharge and work that it into your to-do lists.
Forget revving your engine and just go...
The great thing about productive energy is you don't have to prepare or spend a lot of time thinking about it. Often we over-think and would be much better off following the Nike slogan. Push yourself over inaction and you'll discover that productive energy is ready and waiting for you whenever you need it.
Put it into Practice:
Read through these four tips and "star" which seems to speak to you the most as a way to increase your Production Energy. Schedule time to work in that area this month.
Spiritual Energy
Spiritual energy can be thought of as "soul food." It isn't anxious or stress-filled motivation energy, but a calm and centered energy. Think of a time where you have experienced deep relaxation or a time where you have been moved by a sermon or religious reading/teaching. That centeredness is spiritual energy. The beauty of spiritual energy is that it is steady and fulfilling. It doesn't rely on "highs and lows" to keep recreating itself. It comes from listening instead of talking and "being present" instead of "trying to get somewhere else." Because this is a quiet and calm energy and doesn't shout loudly for our attention, it is often the most neglected. Finding "peace" seems like an "extra" that many of us don't have time to pursue. Yet, within that peace, lies an ever-renewing source of energy. I would dare say that living without it is dangerous--and trying to live well without it, quite difficult.
Qualify spiritual practice: What does spiritual practice mean to you? It could be daily time for reflection or meditation; or daily Bible study or religious reading or prayer time. Take some time to think of where you have found spiritual energy in the past and if you are making room for spiritual energy on a daily basis.
Make a pact: Make a pact with yourself not to starve yourself of this soul food. Remember this is a quiet energy that won't shout for your attention, so it is important to nourish and commit to it.
Keep a spiritual journal: Make entries of your spiritual practice time and record what you learn and discover. Use this as a source to return to again and again to inspire continued spiritual development.
Journal: Journal about what life means to you and the concept of "purpose." What is your purpose? At the end of your life, what do you want to have completed here on earth and why? Use your journal to keep in touch with your purpose. You can also try writing about what"personal peace," means to you.
Form a group: To stay on track with spiritual practice, consider a partner or group to touch base with on a regular basis.
Put it into Practice: Choose one of the above ideas to work with and schedule the time to do so on your calendar.
Your Turn: Make an energy action plan incorporating these different action steps into your life. Also, start an Energy Journal and take notes of what changes work for you and how your energy is influence by your efforts.
STOP the cycle of self-loathing now: Stop beating yourself up and putting yourself down by saying aloud( even to yourself)that you hate your thighs , rear end, or anything about yourself. When a pessimistic thought jumps into your head,refuse it. Pick out attributes that you really like and focus on that. If you are a mother who has a daughter, make sure that she knows that you feel happy living inside a woman’s body-if you don’t for her sake, fake it!Exercise and eat healthy so that you will look and feel your best but throw away ideals of perfection.
STEP 3: Surround Yourself with supportive, loving, Positive People- H.O.P.E
High On Positive Energy
How the people around you respond to your desire to lose weight and take back control of your lifeis crucial to your success. So look at the people you spend the most time with: Have they helped you in th past support you? Do they achieve their own goals? Are they positive, or do they complain about their lives constantly? Are they possessive or jealous of your time? Such individuals wil have a greater influence on your accomplishments than just about any other external factor, so , ideally they should be success driven,spirtually enlightened indiduals who inspire you and make you want to be a better person.
Countless clients have told me that once they began to lose weight and look goood, their friends and family members started to make negative comments, tempt them with bad food, or pull away. They may feel that you are changing and it makes them feel negative or insecure about themselves..Remember misery loves company. You can reassure them but remember they are responsible for their own fears.
Setting your boundaries are important. Are you going to quit if your mate doesn’t like your new eating plan? Will you give up if your friends don’t think you are fun anymore? You need to explain to them that if they love you that they need to support you. There are times when you will feel like giving up, and you’ll need to hear them say, “Keep going, I believe in you”!
Don’t give insecure or negative people power over your life.
Start to eliminate the drainers in your life.
I am not suggesting you toss away your loved ones’ needs out the window in search of self, but let them know that you will be a better friend wife, mother, husband, or father once you begin to take better care of yourself, everyone should feel safe. Don’t feel selfish or guilty that you need to nutrish your needs. Create a healthy balance between family life or friend time with your time. This is one of the reasons why I have suggested to busy moms especially to exercise early in the am before everyone else wakes up and your day is pulled in the many directions of family, job, and all the other things that can distract us from exercise.
SUMMARY OF THE WEEK THREE:
ACCEPTANCE AND RAISING YOUR ENERGY WITH H.O.P.E
Body
STEP 1: Get Real
Feeling fit and healthy is certainly not the only step to achieving contentment,but it is one of the first. It is usually fair to say that how you look and feel is symbolic of what’s going on in your life. That doesn’t mean that if you have a perfect body that you will have a perfect life. It is more about how you accept yourself and knowing that you are making an effort to be the best you can be not by unreasonable standards of what you may see on T.V or magazines.
It is unhealthy to compare yourself to someone else with a completely different body type and genetic makeup. However, you can inspire yourself by looking at images of people with the same type of body type makeup that look the way your body can look with a little effort on your part.
It is possible to use weight training and controlled eating to completely transform your body, but you also need to understand that just because you can get there is it reasonab le to think you will be able to maintain it forever without relentless effort.
The reason I am saying this is if you desire a body builder model physique and you are over 30% body fat and very little muscle on your frame; you can achieve dropping body fat down to 14% and adding muscle to your frame that gives you a dynamite body. Once you achieve this you must keep up with your training regime and eating properly or you will go back to the way your body was before. So, keep in mind when you are creating a vision of how you want to look, create this vision with what is reasonable for your life and something that you can maintain and be happy with.
Visions of you should not be images of perfection but images of healthy bodies feeling energetic.
Remember if our bodies are a reflection of how you would like your spirit to shine in the world, what reflection would you like people to observe in you. A confident person full of energy and life? What does it take to feel full of energy?
To start with , you would eat energetic foods that nutrish your body,hydrate your skin and lubricate your joints. These are the same foods that eaten with the correct calorie intake will also help you have the body you desire and give you the energy to make your workouts more effective.
Having effective workouts would then give you the ability to have more strength and muscle tone. These foods also help your body to recover better from your workouts and give you strong immunity to help you feel better.
Better quality of foods also have been proven to give you a better outlook of life and feelings of well-being. Projecting these feelings out in the world will make you more attractive to others and give you confidence.
Have you ever noticed that even people that are not perfect by society appear very attractive because of their confidence about themselves. These are not negative type people who complain about everything and lack confidence. These are not people who have low energy and low esteem.
I am not saying that if you have low energy that you are not attractive but you would probably be more attractive to others if you were able to projected more confidence and energy. Most people are attracted to what they are lacking and if you look around in the world the majority of people complain about lack of energy. Why does this parellel with the majority of the U.S. being overweight ? We live in country now where most of us eat unhealthy foods and don’t get enough activity so of course no one has any energy.
In "YOU: Being Beautiful," Drs. Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen write about improving the outward signs of beauty by caring for your skin, hair and body.
Being healthy and energetic play a huge role in your appearance, so the doctors focus on how to power up your energy levels in order to look and feel your best.
Read excerpts from "YOU: Being Beautiful: The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty" below.
YOU Test: Zapped
When's the first time you feel tired during the day?
a. When I awaken, even after sleeping a full eight hours every day for a week.
b. Morning, or at the latest midafternoon.
c. Whenever I move.
d. Whenever I have to deal with my boss.
e. Not until after a day of working 12 hours or more.
Results:
If you answered anything other than E, it could be a sign that the energy systems in your body are either slightly or completely out of whack— causing you to tire even at times when you should feel vital and energized.
So what starts the process that steals your energy? What sets up the dominos, and what causes your first domino to fall? We don't know all the answers for sure, but we do know a few things that make your cellular energy plants—those mitochondria—inefficient.
Insulin Resistance:
We become inefficient in getting the sugar to our production plants and distribute it into fat storage rather than into cells that need to use it to produce energy, such as muscle cells.
Viruses and Other Infections:
Acute infections as well as chronic, low-grade infections can eventually cause the fuse to blow. We often see the buggers invade and fray the wires from your fuse box, reducing the amount of energy that can be supplied. Or the lines get frayed from lack of nutrients to keep them repaired (for example, lack of the healthy fat DHA).
That starts the "out of energy" cascade after a pregnancy or after an injury, when your immune system is vulnerable. Viral particles have been identified in the nuclei and mitochrondria of many cells of folks with serious energy deficits like fibromyalgia. Once one area feels less energetic, you put more demand on another area, furthering that cascade, so a little wire fraying by viruses can make you feel exhausted much of the time.
Sleep Problems:
Many people always have trouble falling asleep. Additionally, many of us (yes, we are guilty here at times) develop less than optimal habits that worsen our ability to sleep or obtain full sleep time and then we have to fight a vicious cycle. And when your immune system needs all the energy it can get—such as when it's fighting an infection for you—not resting your energy supply adequately acts to overheat those wires and worsen your energy problem. That weakens the energy your immune system can borrow from other parts of your energy stores. So you feel more tired.
When your body gets too little sleep or poor-quality sleep (not deep enough or not enough dreaming), you tend to have more pain (the lack of sleep doesn't allow you to refresh fully the neurotransmitters you have that normally suppress pain). And that extra pain drains the line of energy, too—so you feel wiped out very near the start of the day. Sleep is important to feeling beautiful.
Hormonal Imbalances:
Your hormones are like the dimmers on your headlights—when you need bright lights, you turn on certain hormones to increase the energy sent to that area (for example, your immune system) and to decrease usage elsewhere. This fine-tuning starts in your hypothalamus and pituitary. Thus, there's a strong association between hormonal issues and energy issues.
We see these changes primarily with slow-functioning adrenal and thyroid glands, but small, important changes happen minute to minute. Stress causes increases in cortisol, which increases sugar in the bloodstream and insulin resistance—and that wastes energy in distributing sugar into fat instead of where it is needed to produce ATP.
The tough part here is that it's not always clear what the best ways are to deal with hormonal issues. Case in point: We physicians aren't sure whether to treat the numbers or to treat the symptoms patients have. We often try to "normalize the numbers from blood tests" even if we're not eradicating the symptoms.
The so-called normal range of blood levels for many hormonal levels is defined as the middle 95 (95!) percent of people with those levels; the top 2.5 percent are considered high and the bottom 2.5 percent are considered low. Unfortunately, that's just not good math for the individual. It's like saying that if the number that is normal is size 6 to 11 in shoes, then a 6 shoe will be okay for you, even if you have a size 4 foot. Not a good fit, but you'd be wearing a "normal"-size shoe.
Instead, we docs can choose to treat the symptoms as long as the treatment doesn't cause levels that are very abnormal on blood tests. Here's one example of why treating the symptoms (it's what docs learn to do—most important, listen to the patient) and not just getting a number on your blood test in the 95 percent range is important.
If a T3 (free thyroid hormone) level up to 1.4 is normal but we have to get up to 1.5 to eradicate your symptoms, we think we should listen to you and do that, periodically backing off to see if you can be symptom free with less thyroid hormone. Because when hormones aren't regulated to levels that are right for you, you've got a dimmer that keeps flipping from producing power full-time to producing power half-time. So that lack of thyroid hormone means your energy factories can't use the food you've eaten to produce those ATPs efficiently. That makes you feel tired.
YOU Test: Thyroid Tester
The thyroid gland is your body's gas pedal, so it controls how much get-up-and-go you have. Since blood tests for thyroid function are not always reliable, how do you know to ask your doc if you need a trial of natural prescription thyroid? Just take this test:
1. Are you tired even after a low-key weekend?
2. Have you gained more than ten pounds since your fatigue began?
3. Do you often have a body temperature under 98 degrees?
4. Are you achy more than one hour a day?
5. Do you have high LDL cholesterol or low HDL cholesterol?
6. Do you like the house warmer than your spouse does?
7. Do you have dry skin?
8. Do you have thin hair?
9. Do you have heavy periods?
If you have chronic fatigue or pain and have at least three of the above symptoms, you should ask your doc to consider testing your blood for thyroid dysfunction. If it's positive, she might give you a trial of Armour Thyroid by prescription. This form has the active thyroid hormone (called T3) in it, and many experts in this field find that it works better than the more commonly used Synthroid. No data prove this difference, but some patients swear it made the difference to them.
Scoop Up, Power Up
Some ill-advised folks might say that the greatest nutritional discovery of the last decade has been the Baconator (at a whopping 830 calories, we don't think so).
The real nutritional heroes: DHA and ribose.
DHA:
The active form of omega-3 helps constitute nerve membranes and keeps the nerves to your muscles firing, as well as helps encase muscles. You can get this in fish oils or from the algae that fish eat. Try 600 mg of DHA a day (equivalent to 2 grams of fish oil if you like that taste better).
Ribose:
This special sugar is made in your body and doesn't come from food; it helps build the energy blocks of your body. Of all the things you can do to combat the effects of knee-dragging fatigue, taking a daily ribose supplement is the one that seems to really turbo-charge some people who have diseases associated with low energy. (The only side effect is that some people feel too much energy, if that's possible.)
The data aren't good enough to recommend ribose for all of us. But if you want to give it a try Dr. Oz recommends to start with 500 mg three times a day for a week or so until you get used to the taste (or find a smoothie, coffee, or tea to put it in). Then go to 5 grams three times a day for three weeks to get a sense of the effect. Then you can scale back to 5 grams twice a day.
By the way, since we know you're wondering: Each 5-gram scoop contains only 20 calories, since ribose isn't metabolized as a sugar. Taking it won't increase your chances of becoming mistaken for a Sea World attraction. In fact, since it is a bit sweet, you might think of it as a sugar substitute.
As an aside, ribose has been shown to relieve fatigue, soreness, and stiffness after exercise, and some professional athletes have reported muscular benefits after taking ribose (again, the data are too weak to say it does or doesn't work well, since the studies just haven't been done).
Find Your Chia
Say the word chia, and most of us immediately think of little green pets. But we want you to think of chia for another reason: A whole grain used by the Aztecs as their main energy source, chia can help restore energy levels and decrease inflammation because of its omega-3 fatty acids.
Similar to cornstarch, chia can be used as a thickening agent and as a substitute for whole grains in your diet. Whole grains, of course, are especially important because they help stabilize blood sugar levels, as opposed to causing the spikes and falls that can occur when you eat sugars and refined carbohydrates. Here's one way to use chia.
Chia Muffins
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon chia seeds, ground (use a coffee or spice grinder)
11/2 cups whole wheat or whole grain flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt or salt and pepper to taste
16-ounce can organic pumpkin (make sure there is only pumpkin listed in the ingredients list)
2 egg whites
1/4 cup high-quality canola oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients.
Fold the wet ingredients and nuts into the dry ingredients, stirring only until dry ingredients are moistened (don't overmix).
Spoon into paper-lined or greased (with canola oil) muffin tins. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Store completely cooled muffins in resealable plastic bags in the freezer. Makes about a dozen.
Get Rid of Infections
While most of us want to treat infections because of their acute symptoms, we can't ignore that they can have chronic implications as well. Since inflammation and infection can be two of the dominos in the cascade of low-energy symptoms, one of your goals could be to monitor your body so that infections don't linger.
That means regular flossing to decrease the risk of gum inflammation, regular use of a neti pot to reduce sinusitis, and probiotics for treating such infections as prostatitis, bowel infections, and vaginitis. Many infections are viral, in which case good sleep, frequent hand washing, and food choices that avoid all simple sugars and saturated fats can help.
From YOU: BEING BEAUTIFUL by Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D. Copyright © 2008 by Michael F. Roizen, M.D., and Oz Works, LLC. Reprinted by permission of Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc, NY.
Emotional Energy and "The Second Wind"
Have you ever been really tired and then pushed yourself to go do something anyway? Perhaps it was a dinner with a friend or attending a talk or lecture? Somewhere inside that period, the tiredness disappears and is replaced by what we often call "a second wind." That "second wind" is energy that you are producing. It isn't something you have to wait for, you can produce that energy at any time once you understand the steps that created it in the first place.
Discovering emotional energy:
This energy is derived from something that sparks our emotions or our passions. We receive new information, or hear old information in a new way. Or perhaps we are around someone who emulates energy, and their passion excites the energy within us.
Caution:
Remember that energy fluctuates, so as easily as you can build it - you can also destroy it. There is no quicker way to become tired than spending time around negative people or listening to negative news. All stimulus influences our energy one way or the other. Watch for stimulus that are influencing your energy levels negatively. Example: Watching a round of Headline News will catch you up on the day's Headlines. But does watching additional programming help or hinder? What about reading? Are your choices uplifting and inspiring more energy or are they energy sappers?
Put it into Practice:
To use Emotional Energy in your everyday life, you need to discover what produces this energy for you personally. Create a page in your notebook for listing your energy-producers.
Here are a few that are on my list:
1. Listen to music that uplifts me.
2. Have coffee, dinner or lunch with someone who I find inspiring.
3. Read a book that I find inspiring or motivational--something that really "speaks" to me.
4. Make sure I start my day off with positive emotional energy through my "Good Morning" routine ( Boot Camp).
5. Ask myself each morning, "How can I make a difference in someones life today?" and then remain personally accountable for being the best "me" possible.
Physical Energy
Of course we can't "talk" about energy without including the physical element. However, if you are overwhelmed by the thought of a new health plan, keep reading. Little changes can make a big difference in your energy production. Many of us are aware of the "big steps" we should take, so I have tried to focus on little changes that make a big impact. If you would like an overview of the big changes, I really recommend spending a few minutes at this site: [http://www.agingresearch.org/calculator/]
I found Expert Thomas Perls on CNN with Larry King and found his research quite interesting and revealing. This free, online test is a great way to look at the "gaps" in your life. Odds are where you fall short on the health score are many of the same areas where you can improve and create more energy. This is an online life-expectancy calculator that is geared around his study of "Living to 100." It is very comprehensive and the results are equally comprehensive. This does a great job of tackling the "big areas" and some of the little areas, too.
Now let's look at some other physical areas and break down positive changes you can easily make:
Somebody bring me some water! Here is site that you can access your unique water needs. It includes a formula for learning how much water you need based on your specific weight. http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/water.htm
Your personal zzzz quota:
Recent research shows that the optimum amount of sleep is 7.2 hours. However, some people still need more and others need less. Figuring out your own personal quota can go a long way toward regulating your energy. Ideally you want to get the same amount of sleep each night to maintain optimum energy levels (you should also go to bed at the same time each night). Discovering your "zzz quota" takes a bit of work, but is well worth it. (Besides, how else will you get the permission to practice sleeping?) Before beginning, make sure you are not completely drained or fatigued otherwise you are going to overcompensate on your sleep. Spend a week getting more sleep so you are "fresh" to begin your study. Then for one week, go to bed EARLY enough that you can wake up naturally without an alarm clock. Write down how long you sleep for each of the 7 days, then average it out. This is your personal "zzz quota." Keep in mind this can change depending on what you are going through in your life, so it is good to "re-check" once or twice per year.
Sleep preparation:
Make sure that you stop eating at least 3 hours prior to going to sleep to allow everything to digest. Avoid caffeinated beverages after dinner. Make your room "sleep friendly" by turning off the television and playing relaxing music.
The affects of food: Since food is our primary energy source, it makes sense that good food will produce good energy and poor choices will effect us negatively. Reduce refined sugar in your diet as much as possible. Avoid meals that are high in carbs during the second half of the day and focus instead on protein. Protein provides more stable energy than carbs which keep our body going like a roller coaster!
Reduce starches and breads:
Bread, rolls, bagels, pasta -- starches often slow people down. Try going a week or two with minimal starches and see if this helps your energy level. You can conduct the same experiment with caffeine.
Pop those vitamins:
At minimum take a good daily vitamin. While you may not see a huge change, over long term usage, this can help prevent many of the conditions that sap energy. The key here is consistency. Choose something you do daily and put your vitamins and a bottled water next to that item. Examples: next to car keys, toothbrush, coffee maker, computer.
Food patterns:
Consider keeping a food journal to see how your energy fluctuates with your food consumption. Make adjustments to your food intake based on your discoveries. Remember that eating too little can be just as energy sapping as eating the wrong foods. Work on a balanced diet and don't forget your breakfast! Studies have shown that those who eat breakfast have more energy. If you have a hard time eating breakfast, find a simple solution. I often grab a breakfast bar on the go. A lean sandwich can also be made the night before and enjoyed in the morning. You don't have to eat "breakfast foods," but you do need to eat breakfast.
Exercise:
You knew I would say it sooner or later! Getting your body moving is one of the quickest ways to increase energy. Give any exercise program about 3 weeks to start giving you energy - the first three weeks can be tiring as we snap our bodies out of their comas! A recent Prevention article shared how doing just 10 minutes of LIGHT weight lifting repetitions caused a focus group to feel a 45% increase in their energy level. Pick up some light weights (5-10 pounds) at your local discount-mart and use them by your television at night.
Put it into Practice:
It is important to recognize that energy isn't a "one size fits all" formula. I encourage you to experiment with each concept, paying attention to how it impacts your energy level. Choose one area to start with from the above list and schedule a "start date" on your calendar this coming week.
Productive Energy
Aristotle said, "We become what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit." When we repeatedly step forward, we propel ourselves forward even further. When we continually stand still, we dig a bigger rut. When we continually move backward, we dig a big hole.
To truly understand productive energy, think of a time when you were fatigued and then became inspired to do something. Perhaps it was reading a book, writing, or organizing, or completing pages in a scrapbook. Before you knew it, you looked at the clock and hours had passed--even though you were tired earlier. What changed? Well you didn't eat anything or exercise. The change was in what you were doing. Your attitude and productiveness elevated - thus elevating your performance and your energy.
Make a list ... and make sure to check it twice:
The first step in building productive energy is to be focused on the right track. Have a clear list of what you want to accomplish with clear and attainable timelines. Make sure to star three items for the day that will allow you to feel good about the day regardless of what bumps pop up in your path.
Get started early:
Make sure to start your action list early in the day to build momentum. If you have problems with procrastination, consider enrolling in early exercise class.
Recharge:
In order to be productive, you must have balance and that means learning what you personally need to recharge. Some people need quiet time each day, others just need a good night's rest. Discover what helps you recharge and work that it into your to-do lists.
Forget revving your engine and just go...
The great thing about productive energy is you don't have to prepare or spend a lot of time thinking about it. Often we over-think and would be much better off following the Nike slogan. Push yourself over inaction and you'll discover that productive energy is ready and waiting for you whenever you need it.
Put it into Practice:
Read through these four tips and "star" which seems to speak to you the most as a way to increase your Production Energy. Schedule time to work in that area this month.
Spiritual Energy
Spiritual energy can be thought of as "soul food." It isn't anxious or stress-filled motivation energy, but a calm and centered energy. Think of a time where you have experienced deep relaxation or a time where you have been moved by a sermon or religious reading/teaching. That centeredness is spiritual energy. The beauty of spiritual energy is that it is steady and fulfilling. It doesn't rely on "highs and lows" to keep recreating itself. It comes from listening instead of talking and "being present" instead of "trying to get somewhere else." Because this is a quiet and calm energy and doesn't shout loudly for our attention, it is often the most neglected. Finding "peace" seems like an "extra" that many of us don't have time to pursue. Yet, within that peace, lies an ever-renewing source of energy. I would dare say that living without it is dangerous--and trying to live well without it, quite difficult.
Qualify spiritual practice: What does spiritual practice mean to you? It could be daily time for reflection or meditation; or daily Bible study or religious reading or prayer time. Take some time to think of where you have found spiritual energy in the past and if you are making room for spiritual energy on a daily basis.
Make a pact: Make a pact with yourself not to starve yourself of this soul food. Remember this is a quiet energy that won't shout for your attention, so it is important to nourish and commit to it.
Keep a spiritual journal: Make entries of your spiritual practice time and record what you learn and discover. Use this as a source to return to again and again to inspire continued spiritual development.
Journal: Journal about what life means to you and the concept of "purpose." What is your purpose? At the end of your life, what do you want to have completed here on earth and why? Use your journal to keep in touch with your purpose. You can also try writing about what"personal peace," means to you.
Form a group: To stay on track with spiritual practice, consider a partner or group to touch base with on a regular basis.
Put it into Practice: Choose one of the above ideas to work with and schedule the time to do so on your calendar.
Your Turn: Make an energy action plan incorporating these different action steps into your life. Also, start an Energy Journal and take notes of what changes work for you and how your energy is influence by your efforts.
STOP the cycle of self-loathing now: Stop beating yourself up and putting yourself down by saying aloud( even to yourself)that you hate your thighs , rear end, or anything about yourself. When a pessimistic thought jumps into your head,refuse it. Pick out attributes that you really like and focus on that. If you are a mother who has a daughter, make sure that she knows that you feel happy living inside a woman’s body-if you don’t for her sake, fake it!Exercise and eat healthy so that you will look and feel your best but throw away ideals of perfection.
STEP 3: Surround Yourself with supportive, loving, Positive People- H.O.P.E
High On Positive Energy
How the people around you respond to your desire to lose weight and take back control of your lifeis crucial to your success. So look at the people you spend the most time with: Have they helped you in th past support you? Do they achieve their own goals? Are they positive, or do they complain about their lives constantly? Are they possessive or jealous of your time? Such individuals wil have a greater influence on your accomplishments than just about any other external factor, so , ideally they should be success driven,spirtually enlightened indiduals who inspire you and make you want to be a better person.
Countless clients have told me that once they began to lose weight and look goood, their friends and family members started to make negative comments, tempt them with bad food, or pull away. They may feel that you are changing and it makes them feel negative or insecure about themselves..Remember misery loves company. You can reassure them but remember they are responsible for their own fears.
Setting your boundaries are important. Are you going to quit if your mate doesn’t like your new eating plan? Will you give up if your friends don’t think you are fun anymore? You need to explain to them that if they love you that they need to support you. There are times when you will feel like giving up, and you’ll need to hear them say, “Keep going, I believe in you”!
Don’t give insecure or negative people power over your life.
Start to eliminate the drainers in your life.
I am not suggesting you toss away your loved ones’ needs out the window in search of self, but let them know that you will be a better friend wife, mother, husband, or father once you begin to take better care of yourself, everyone should feel safe. Don’t feel selfish or guilty that you need to nutrish your needs. Create a healthy balance between family life or friend time with your time. This is one of the reasons why I have suggested to busy moms especially to exercise early in the am before everyone else wakes up and your day is pulled in the many directions of family, job, and all the other things that can distract us from exercise.
SUMMARY OF THE WEEK THREE:
ACCEPTANCE AND RAISING YOUR ENERGY WITH H.O.P.E
Body
- Understand and monitor your energy through eating good foods
Start exercising regularly and get adequate sleep
Mind
- Find some realistic and healthy role models.
Soul:
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