Get the skinny on weight loss, health + living.

photo credit: Яick Harris

Summer is the perfect time to get in shape. The days are longer and warmer and we have the added incentive of The Swimsuit. It’s also the perfect time to simplify–cut out the gym, get outside, practice some easy at-home exercises, eat to promote energy  and reap the rewards of a natural looking toned body and a bit of extra money. Here are some great secrets to really getting the most out of summer:

Tips for Running: For many people, running is hard but it’s benefits are amazing. Not only is it relatively quick, it burns a ton of calories, pumps up your heartrate, is good for your bones, and puts you in a great mood.  Yet the simplicity of running can make it hard to get everything you can out of it. Here are a few great tips for the perfect run:

• It’s best to use mixed surfaces when you run–avoiding cement whenever you can as it is super hard and can impact joints and bones and cause injury. Try running on gravel or trail for an all over workout–the softer surface is great for your body and the uneven ground burns more calories and requires your body to use more core strength. Asphalt is next best, and the treadmill comes third.
• It seems we have all been taught to measure a run in miles, but it’s better to measure it by minutes. This allows you to take the focus off distance, and pace yourself for a better, less injury prone run.
• Don’t be afraid to take a break. Most beginners try to run too fast and end up sore, exhausted, or hurt. Make sure that you can talk while you run-if not slow down. And begin walking before you are completely winded so you don’t get a cramp. Slowly working up to a rapid pace is the way to go.

The great outdoors: In addition to running, hiking, cycling, and swimming are two more ways to get outside that reap tremendous fitness benefits. Cycling, though it can get costly, is a great way to build muscle, not only in your legs but in your core and upper body as well, and get in some good cardio. Getting properly fit on a bike is a sure way to keep your knees from hurting and most bike shops will fit you for free or very cheap. Hiking is a cheaper alternative.  I like to incorporate it into my runs for the most fat burning possible. If you live in an area where you can swim outside in a river, lake, pond or ocean, take full advantage. Not only is swimming one of the best exercises for your joints and bones, it is fun and relaxing to swim in non-chlorinated water.

At home exercises: Two of the most common at home exercises are two that are currently being retooled or done away with. Crunches are now thought to be a very inefficient way of getting a flat stomach, since they target only the large ab muscles while ignoring the other core muscles. This can give a puffed out appearance to the stomach. Instead, try this pilates move or this wonderful yoga plank position. For a toned butt, people have been doing squats for ages but  leg extensions are actually much better, targeting nearly twice as many glute muscles as squats. Simply get on your hands and knees with your arms shoulder width apart. Extend one leg back from the hip with toes pointed. Do fifteen of these and then switch legs. Another easy at home exercises that shows quick results–the classic push-up builds great shoulders and also works out your core muscles.

Eat for Fitness: Summer is also the time to reap the benefits of healthy fresh food. These are great additions to your diet that will help keep your energy high and your injuries to a minimum: Avocados for good fat, berries to lower free radical damage, carrots for their pottasium, dark meat poultry for the zinc and iron of red meat without the calories and fat, hummus for complex carbs, good fat, and protein, and salmon for the omega 3 fatty acids that researchers now say lowers abdominal fat.

photo credit: kevindooley

Food.

Merriam-Webster’s defines it as, “any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, and promote growth”.  For many of us, however, food  means so much more. It is a way to socialize, ease emotional pain, cover up feelings of anger,  reward ourselves or ease boredom. We are emotional eaters and our waistlines are expanding because of it–experts say that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions.

Emotional eating has a myriad of causes–inability to deal effectively with stress, depression, anxiety, low self esteem, patterning in childhood-but overcoming emotional eating can be done-by understanding what triggers you to eat and changing the habits that support this eating.

Here are some common emotional triggers and ways to circumvent them:

• Boredom: you eat when there is nothing else to do or when you don’t know what you should be doing. This is perhaps the easiest kind of emotional eating to kick. Chances are you just need to be made aware of the times you are vulnerable and have a sure plan on how to deal with it.  When you feel yourself going back to the kitchen to snack, try leaving the house and going on a walk instead, pick up something that occupies your hands like knitting or drawing, or keep only low calorie snacks around so that you know you won’t pay for overindulging.

• Depression: Many of us eat to stop feeling the sadness, anger, and hopelessness involved in being depressed. Eating makes us feel better for a few minutes, but it is a quick fix. Exercise, meditation, and therapy are all wonderful ways to get in touch with how you feel and help cure depression. Often, we discover that our reliance on food to make us feel better stems from childhood-,either our parents used food as comfort or denied us food as punishment. Understanding your early patterns of food as reward or punishment can help you decode when and how you are likely to overeat.  One good thing to remember, is that your need for reward or comfort is a healthy feeling, it’s just that food is not a healthy tool to use. Try replacing food with things that are good for you and your body–short hikes, massages, facials, a movie, a good book, or a conversation with a friend–little things go a long way toward helping you feel healthy and happy. If it is anger you are trying to stuff down with food, try letting it out in healthy ways that you don’t have to be afraid of like a kickboxing class, self-defense, or scream therapy. You might find that if you feel safe enough to let out your anger, you won’t have to eat as much to keep it from coming up.

• Social: In our culture, food is also a social tool. We celebrate with food, connect with food, and create ritual with food. If your family is like mine, you learned that food is a part of any social gathering. The problem comes in when we use social engagements to overeat.  It’s only natural to consume more calories when we are out with others. We are busy talking and not paying attention to what we are putting into our mouths, we indulge in dessert because the other person is too, or we are expected to eat as much as we can (Hello Thanksgiving!). Being aware in social situations is one of the best ways to stop this kind of overeating. If you are going to a party, eat a healthy meal at home first so that you are less likely to overindulge, at restaurants box up half your meal before you start eating so that you don’t have to worry about limiting your portion or better yet share a meal or dessert.  Sometimes we overeat in social situations because we are anxious. Taking deep breathes and having a glass of water to sip on instead of nibbling on food are good ways to help calm your nerves. Perhaps, however, the best way of dealing with social eating is to begin to engage in activities not centered around food. Instead of going out to dinner with friends, go on a walk, hike, or bike ride instead. Meet up at a coffee shop instead of a bar or a museum instead of a restaurant. Take a dance class together. For holidays, go out and look at lights or try caroling or volunteering. There are so many ways to connect with people and the more we become committed to healthy engagement the less obsessed with food we become.

• Situational: Do you find yourself eating because the food is there?  Eating in front of the television or having to get the big bag of popcorn at the theater because the movies just aren’t the same without it? If so, then you fall prey to situational eating. The easiest way to stop this kind of eating is to recognize the triggers and go out of your way to change the habit or substitute with a healthy habit instead. Try not to eat in front of the t.v. Some research suggests that we consume more than 50% more calories this way. If you need to, make sure to snack on fruit or raw veggies. Popcorn at the movies? Bring your own air-popped popcorn or allow yourself only the smallest size. Eating because the food is just there? If it’s at your house, make sure you don’t keep so much food around. If out, make sure you always have a healthy snack on you that you can indulge in to ease the temptation. If you stop for donuts because they are on the way to work then go a different way.

photo credit: timlewisnm

photo credit: pfala

One key to creating health is to listen to ourselves and our bodies. Being aware is a powerful tool, one that allows us to understand clues and symptoms of both health and disease. These tips come in the form of cravings, moods, or physical cues and can make the difference between losing weight and looking great or being frustrated with our health.  Here are five quick ways to tell how your health stacks up today:

Never Let ‘Em See You Sweat– Not true! Sweating easily is a sign of physical conditioning and health. It removes toxins and too much sodium from the body and helps regulate body temperature when you exercise. One of the goals of any fitness routine should be to work up at least a light sweat. Sweat can also give you clues into your health. A lack of sweat can mean you are dehydrated while night sweats can mean trouble with your thyroid.

Blue Mood: You might not think that nutrition  has much to do with fatigue, but think again. Ditto PMS, and mental fogginess–

• Many times, fatigue, especially in the middle of the day or early evening, is directly related to  not getting enough complex carbohydrates, enough water, or enough iron.
• the bloating and moodiness associated with PMS can be caused by not getting enough calcium and magnesium and by eating too much sugar.  Taking a calcium supplement that also includes magnesium (for proper calcium absorption) and cutting back on sugar can really help ease the symptoms of PMS.
• Depression can also be exacerbated by poor nutrition, mainly not getting enough Omega 3 fatty acids, which is why many people on a low fat diet can experience sadness, anxiety and anger. Supplementing with wild caught fish, nuts, and flax seed oil in dressings, sauces, and soups is a great way to make sure you are getting enough healthy fats.
• A lack of vitamin E and/or iron is associated with mental fogginess. This can also be caused by not eating enough vegetables and a lack of antioxidants. Nuts and seeds are wonderful for vitamin E while leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and chard are good sources of antioxidants and iron.

Craving Health:  They come in so many forms and can really spell torture for those of us trying to get ourselves healthy.

• Craving carbs? You might not be eating enough calories. Not only are you slowing your metabolism but  you aren’t getting enough vitamins for good health.
• Craving salty foods? Exhausted adrenals might be to blame. Try drinking more water, sleeping more, and relieving anxiety.
• Sugar getting to you? An overabundance of yeast may be to blame. Chances are, if you cut sugar out of  your diet for a week or two those cravings will begin to disappear. Drinking water with lemon and avoiding white flour, vinegar, and mushrooms for a bit may also help.

A Sensitive Topic: Not many of us like to look at, let alone talk about our eliminations, but poo really does show us how healthy we are.  Healthy poo should have the size and shape of a banana, shouldn’t smell, should float, and should be golden brown in color. Some common abberations?

• Color–dark colored eliminations can mean you aren’t eating enough vegetables or are eating too much salt. Greenish poo can mean too much sugar in the diet.
• Frequency–going once to twice a day is ideal. Less means that toxins aren’t leaving your body properly and can mean you are allergic to dairy or wheat, aren’t eating enough vegetables, or are not drinking enough water.
• Consistency–your eliminations should be the consistency of an unripe banana. Pebble like poo means you aren’t getting enough fiber while more liquidy stool can point to allergies or lactose intolerance.

photo credit: Robbert van der Steeg

What do Olympic planning committees know about exercise that we don’t? That success is all about the timing, which is why they hire circadian rhythm experts to help schedule Olympic events. Taking a cue from them, we can increase the effectiveness of both exercise and dieting by setting them to a clock. In diet world, routine is the name of the game.

First things first–knowing whether you are a night owl or an early bird can really help you watch out for certain pitfalls and structure your day around what works for you. Night owls tend to suffer more from a lack of schedule, which makes them more vulnerable to overeating at lunch (because they skip breakfast more than early birds) and nibble the midnight snacks (because they are up). By focusing on getting a good breakfast and making sure that they have healthy snacks on hand if tempted to eat late, night owls can significantly reduce calories. Early birds, on the other hand, can get out of whack by eating too close to bedtime, with work and activities pushing dinner back. They benefit from eating a bigger lunch and a light dinner or snack in the evening.

Regardless, researchers believe that eating at consistent times, day after day, helps the body to regulate metabolism and run smoothly.

While you might think that early birds benefit from early morning exercise, think again. Researchers have found that everyone benefits more from exercise in the late afternoon and early evening. This is when your body temperature is highest, you are most limber and your heart and lungs are performing at their best.  Early birds benefit from exercise between 1-3:30 in the afternoon while night owls get the most out of a later workout, between 5:30 and 7:30 in the evening.  On the other hand, researchers have shown that those who make morning exercise a habit tend to stick with it. Just realize that it might take your body longer to wake up in the morning and treat it accordingly!

photo credit: Randy Son Of Robert

“You can live a life of fear or live a life of love. If you live a life of love your body will respond with good health”.

—Bruce Lipton

photo credit: A6U571N

While we have been told the alarming amount of weight gain in the last couple decades is the direct correlation of eating too much and exercising too little, scientists are discovering that not everthing is what it seems. Pollution, they have discovered, may be one dirty culprit sabotaging our waistlines.  Certain industrial chemicals act as  endocrine disruptors, screwing around with the hormones that regulate metabolism and appetite control. These chemicals, largely found in pesticides, flame retardants, and phthalates–used to plasticize a wide range of everyday products, from water bottles to makeup—also are thought to cause cancer and developmental defects as well as obesity.

Different studies have found that different chemicals effect the body and its fat cells in different ways. At Laval University in Quebec, scientists discovered that pesticides such as DDT and organochlorines such as dioxin are stored in our fat cells. As we lose weight, those chemicals are released back into our bloodstream in alarming rates, disrupting our thyroid gland’s ability to regulate our metabolism. Basically, the scientists found, these chemicals shut down our ability to burn fat.

Other chemicals, called organotins, are stabilizers used in products almost universally, from clothing to pesticides to plastics. Some findings show these chemicals to increase the amount of mature fat cells in the body, making it almost impossible to keep fat off and lose weight. Other researches hypothesize that these chemicals cause allergic reactions in our bodies, increasing inflammation which leads to obesity, heart disease, and cancer.

Of course, we still do tend to eat too much and exercise too little, but if we are committed to not just weight loss, but to health, here are some tips to avoid these pollutants:

Eat organic–It’s not just more nutritious, it helps you avoid those pesticides that can disrupt the hormones in your body.  They do cost more, but look at the big picture-the health problems caused by pesticides cost much more in the long run. To cut down on the costs-try to go local. Often, small organic farms near you are cheaper than what you find in grocery stores. Make a fun trip out of going and picking your own produce or sign up for a CSA (community supported agriculture) and have  your produce delivered to you. Better yet, grow your own! A small veggie garden is a wonderful project for children and adults alike.

Store in Glass or Metal–Ditch those plastic water bottles, especially the disposable ones. These have been shown to break down in heat (such as the backseat of a car on a summer day) releasing chemicals into water whose origin is already iffy at best. Ditto plastic food storage containers. Glass is the way to go. If, like me, you can’t necessarily afford to go out and buy a whole set of glassware to store leftovers, try reusing pasta sauce, salsa, and other glass jars. Many have lids wide enough to store just about anything. For water bottles, metal is the best choice. If you must use plastic, don’t use hot water, microwave it, or leave it in the sun.

Go Natural–Many of these chemicals are found in everyday items that we never equate with dangerous pesticides or plastics–from clothing to cosmetics. Going all natural is the best way to be sure. Organic cotton and wool clothing is now widely available, and all natural cosmetics are beginning to become mainstream. While many products may seem to be chemical free, the only way to really know is to check your products out on a website such as the Cosmetic Database or the Household Products database.

Detox and Support–It’s important to flush those chemicals out of your body when losing weight as well as supporting your thyroid with seaweeds–in the form of salad, sushi wraps, or supplements. Detoxing your body with food and increased water can help clean the chemicals.

Finally, a thought on what this all means to me–everywhere I look it seems that our current culture is too complex, to pollutant, to wasteful. We are polluting our environment, our bodies, our minds and our souls. While we can make little changes to ensure that we stop poisoning ourselves, it seems like a paradigm shift may be in order–starting to think locally, sustainably, and simply–getting back to what it means to live a healthy and joyful life. Let’s take back control of our bodies, our food, the products we use in our everyday life–and demand that the corporations that create these products become accountable to the health of their consumers.

photo credit: krossbow

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