Happy New Year!  And of course it is time for you to sit down and think about your aspirations for 2012.  You don’t even have to sit down, just make some positive decisions about the healthy directions you are going to take in the next year.  But with these grand goals comes many excuses, especially regarding exercise.  Well, I am here to bust some of those excuses.  Here we go:

#1 “I don’t have time to exercise”

We have all heard and used this one at some point in time.  Most people have more free time than they realize.  In fact, in might be embarrassing if someone added up all the time we had here and there.  Want to know something awesome?  You don’t have to have one hour blocked off to get the workout in, but if you can do a few 15 minute activities here and there, you will be on the right path.  Exercise is probably the best thing you can do for your health on a daily basis.  You will make time for things that are important to you.  Is your health important?

#2  “I’m too tired to exercise”

I bet you are tired because you are not exercising!  Regular physical exercise and activity gives you more energy.  More often then we think, fatigue is more mental than physical.  Your fatigue may also be related to stress.  But you are in luck…physical activity helps with that as well.  Go for a brisk walk, play with your kids outside, or go for a bike ride.  You will find it energizing and stress reducing.

#3  “Resolutions never work, so why bother?”

Do you remember teachers saying that if it is ‘always’ or ‘never’ then it is not a correct statement.  It is too absolute.  I think that is a powerful statement.  No one can tell you that you can or can’t achieve your goals.  But, you CAN do everything within your control to set yourself up for success.  Will you be perfect?  Of course not.  Just jump back on track when you get derailed.  You can’t expect perfection, but you can plan for success.  You can do it and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

#4 “I don’t have money for a gym membership, home workout DVD’s or other exercise equipment.”

Well, you do have something….and that is your body weight.  And moving around that body weight takes energy and burns calories.  Get moving.  That is free!  Do is often.  Do more today than you did yesterday.  Several resistance exercise exist that involve only using your body weight.  No equipment needed.  If you have a chair in your home or even some stairs then you have even better exercise potential in front of you.  If you have the desire, you can get the workout done.  If you need ideas, drop me an email and I would be happy to help!

So there you have it, stop the excuses and just do something.  With the time you spent debating going for a walk, you could have been done already.  And I don’t hear people say that they regret having done a workout.  You only regret NOT doing it.  So…start your year with no regrets.  Go for it and tell me all about it!  I can’t wait to hear your success stories.

Happy New Year!

In the quest of trying to “improve” our physical appearance, it is important to focus on a form of measurement that shows success.  We focus entirely too much on body weight.  “I need to lose 40 lbs” or “If I could just get those last 10 lbs off, everything would be ok.”  Weight, by itself, is an unreliable tool to determine if you are successful on your journey towards health.  With my clients, I try to do three different forms of measurements on their first appointment.  This includes:  body weight, circumference measurements (chest, waist, ab, hips, thigh, arm and lower leg), and body fat.  I do this for MANY reasons.  Let me share a few:

1.  Muscle ways more and is smaller in size than its equal in fat.  A good way to visualize this:  5 lbs of fat is similar to a loaf of bread.  But 5lbs of muscle is more like 2 lbs of ground beef.  Muscles takes up much less space in your body than fat.  Circumference measurements help me know if you are are actually changing in size.  MANY times clients are frustrated because they haven’t lost much weight, but when we get the tape measure out, it shows they have lost multiple inches.  That is AWESOME!  It really helps keep motivational levels high when the scale tells you all your work isn’t paying off.

2.  Body fat calipers of all kinds help us determine your general body fat percentage.  This is a great tool because it helps determine how much of your body is fat vs. muscle, bone, tissue.  The latter is what we refer to as Lean Tissue.  The former is Fat tissue.  Based on height, weight, age, and activity level, there are recommended body fat percentages for each person.  Let’s say a client comes in and they are excited that they have lost 15 lbs.  After being happy for them, I say, “let do a body fat test.”  If what I find is that they have indeed lost 15 lbs, they have lost 10 inches, but that their body fat percentage is the same (if not higher), this is BAD NEWS.  This means that they have either not been eating enough food or the types of foods they have been eating are not enough to support their muscular system.  This person would have been using their muscles (that they worked so hard to get during their workouts) for fuel.  By losing that muscle tissue, the body’s metabolism also drops.  So even though there was a weigh loss (society says “yeah!”), it was in a very inefficient and undesirable way (I say “OH NO!).  This person now has to work at raising their metabolism through appropriate eating and resistance training so they don’t battle with this problem long term.

3.  Along the lines of body fat, I also do tape measurements to help me determine if a client has been eating too many carbohydrates or high sugar foods.  How can you tell?  When someone is working towards improving their appearance and lowering their fat mass, they should be eating an appropriate balance of carbs, proteins and fats.   Sugars tend to be carried at the waistline and abdomen (belly button line).  If someones waistline/abdomen tape measurements are not changing much, then I know we need to look at their nutrition logs and figure out some changes to be made.

Either way you look at it, measurements are ALWAYS a good idea.  Don’t worry about the scale.  If your clothes are fitting  better, than that is a great way to know you are likely moving  in a positive direction.  The scale is not ridiculous, but it needs to be used together with other tools such as the tape measure and a body fat caliper.

In an ideal world, we can get all the nutrition we need from the foods we eat.  I think this is how God intended it.   But I also feel that the way we grow and eat foods has shifted away from that original intention.  I could write a NOVEL about this subject.  BUT, since I actually want you to read this blog, I will keep it short and to the point.   So, I am going to answer the question that I posted on my facebook page this week.   If I eat the amount of fruits and vegetables that are recommended on the Food Pyramid, do I need to take a nutritional supplement?

My short and sweet answer is:  Yes.   Our nutrition is lacking, not only because of the choices we make, but also because the foods we eat are dropping in quality because of production/feeding methods.   The BEST source of these necessary micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals) are in a wide variety of nutrient rich foods.   The nutrient foods are found particularly in plant-based foods such as:  fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and even teas.

I have read that only 3-4% of Americans follow all of the Dietary Guideline Allowances (DGA).  That is not very many.  I doubt that even the healthy readers of this blog will successfully get their 2-3 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruits a day on a regular basis.  I know it is a challenge for me to eat these amounts on a regular basis (You can read more about recommended amounts from www.mypyramid.org).  With the obesity epidemic in our country it is obvious that the majority of American’s are meeting and often exceeding their energy requirements (calories), yet so few are getting the right amount of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).  What does this tell you about our food choices and the need for supplementation?

You can find many articles about the decreased quality of our foods.  I will not go into great detail here, but in summary:  mass production, along with the types and quality of feed, have affected the quality of our foods.  A veggie grown in your backyard from organic seeds will have a higher quality of nutrients than once mass produced and sent to your local grocery from who knows where.   This is why I love to visit my local farmer’s markets for my produce when possible.  This subject can make up an entirely different blog in the future.

So, in short, I do feel supplementation is necessary for a healthy lifestyle that prevents disease.  In light of this,  here are few things to keep in mind.

1.  All supplements can have interactions with your current medications.  You need to tell your doctor and pharmacist ALL that you are taking on a regular basis.  The last thing you want is to have a negative reaction from something you are doing to be “healthy.”

2.  Talk to a your doctor and registered dietitian about which micronutrients you might be lacking.  You can get a lab test done on your levels of various vitamins and minerals.  This is the best way to know if you are taking too much or not enough.  Certain levels of supplements can be toxic, which is why there are Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA’s) and Upper Limits (UL) established.  The RDA’s and UL might be different for you.  Those guidelines are established on the average “healthy” individual.  If you are malnourished, have a specific health condition, or if you are taking medication that alters your nutrient requirements, then your amount of needed supplementation may be different.  Thus, talk to your doctor.

3.  Not all supplementation is what it says it is.  The Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) defines and sets safety/labeling requirements for all dietary supplements.  The labels can have health claims.  These claims along with the nutrient content must be pre-approved by the FDA.  BUT, it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure that the claims are truthful.   Thus, you will find the disclaimer on supplementation “claims has not been evaluated by the FDA.”  There are some companies out there that do testing on supplements to determine if a products has ALL that it claims.  It is an expensive service and for that reason, most companies don’t pay to have this testing done.  I have chosen to use supplementation from a company called USANA Health Sciences.  Unlike most supplement companies, their products are “laboratory tested, quality guaranteed and they meet USP [United States Pharmacopia] specifications for potency, uniformity, and disintegration.”  You can even visit their manufacturing plant in Utah if desired.

If you want to do more reading on the subject of nutritional supplementation, you can read the  ADA on Nutrient Supplementation.  For more info about USANA Health Sciences supplements, drop me a note!

Wishing you health and wellness!