Tag psychology

How Weekend Drinking Binges Make You Fat

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young-people-in-club-or-bar-drinking-beer-out-of-a-beer-bottle-and-have-funOne of the reasons why people tend to look forward to the weekend so much, besides being away from work, is the ritualistic imbibing of alcohol and consumption of rich foods which many tend to engage in. I have clients who will follow a sensible and healthy meal plan during the week, only to abandon all self-control, put on party hats and eat and drink during the entire weekend.

I will explain to you why this practice is a sure way to keep you from attaining your fitness goals. When you drink large amounts of alcohol, say 3 drinks or more, your body gets a sudden influx of alcohol which puts your body’s metabolism of nutrients to a grinding halt. Why? Because the body cannot store alcohol and must use it immediately as a fuel source. What happens with nutrients is that they are converted to fat and then stored in fat tissue for later use, so alcohol essentially prevents the body from utilizing fat. High consumption of alcohol also impairs the cerebral function (specifically the prefrontal cortex), flattening inhibitions and increasing the appetite. That is why you will often crave greasy foods when you drink, because the body turns to rich foods to replenish nutrients. The combination of increased appetite and behavioral changes are enough to get you to eat a calorie laden, fatty meal which is then stored as fat.

I enjoy the occasional cocktail and as a result will never tell people to avoid drinking altogether. However, I have several recommendations which will minimize the fat deposition which alcohol consumption triggers.

1. Always eat a meal with PROTEIN, FIBER and HEALTHY FAT before you begin drinking to offset the surge in blood sugar which occurs with alcohol connsumption andto slow the absorption of alcohol once it is introduced to the gut.

2. Drink two glasses of water for every drink of alcohol. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning that it will dry you out. Because of this, it is important to maintain a high level of hydration to offset the diuretic effect.

3. Limit consumption to 1 or 2 drinks in an evening. This will keep calorie consumption down.

Running On Empty – Progesterone And Stress

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Stress meterWe all know that constant stress can play havoc with our health and well being. In this post I will focus on the effects of excessive stress on progesterone levels.

Progesterone is produced in the ovaries, the adrenal glands, and in the placentas of pregnant women. It has a calming effect, is a natural diuretic, regulates menstrual cycles, and prepares the body for conception and pregnancy. Some women can experience excessive levels of progesterone which usually produces symptoms of PMS, but in general, progesterone is a vital and beneficial hormone.

Let’s examine what happens to progesterone if you are under constant and chronic stress. When the body is pummeled with endless stress, the adrenal glands simply cannot keep up with the demand for more cortisol, so they turn to progesterone, converting it into cortisol to make up for the deficit. Eventually, however, not only do cortisol levels plummet, but progesterone levels also drop to precipitously low levels. So that calming, diuretic effect of progesterone falls away, and menstrual cycles become erratic or periods cease altogether. Sounds like fun, huh?

I cam tell you that running on an empty tank of progesterone is no fun at all. You retain water, you get irritable and cranky, and you lose your ability to navigate calmly through stressful situations. If you’re like me and you depend on a regular menstrual cycle as a reassurance that all is right with the world, then living with the mystery of whether or when you might have a period can be maddening. I found out that I actually WANT a period, and I thought I would never feel that way.

Though I had regular periods until very recently, I began retaining water like crazy after attaining IFBB Pro Status last July, and I knew something just wasn’t right. I didn’t feel like I was in my own body, as strange as it sounds. I began flailing, and went through a rebound which was disturbing and unexpected. My emotional barometer was all over the place, and I couldn’t get out of the funk that I was in. Gaining eight pounds (which is considerable for me), most of which was water weight, made me even more depressed.

Another completely irritating set of symptoms which suddenly popped up at the end of January and which persisted every single night is that I would wake up at around 4 a.m., completely drenched in sweat and with a sensation which could best be described as being lit on fire from the inside. I would throw the covers off and quickly disrobe, then rather quickly fall asleep, only to awaken about 30 minutes later, shivering and pulling the covers over me.

The nightmare finally subsided to a great extent once I began replenishing my body with bioidentical progesterone in late February. Though I still retain a bit of water, my weight is back to a reasonable 120 lbs. versus the 125 I had been at in the Fall, my hot and cold episodes have subsided, i feel much calmer and I feel more like myself.

Had I removed the stressors that I had some control over, I am firmly convinced I would not have bottomed out with my progesterone levels like I did. Even if I had engaged in meditation more regularly a couple of years ago, I think I could have saved my progesterone levels from bottoming out. Trust me when I say that progesterone depletion can be incredibly disruptive and upsetting. And don’t think for a second that this is only a problem which women past the age of 45 deal with. I have come across female patients as young as 32 who had almost no progesterone in their lab tests.

If you do one thing to improve your health, please reduce your stress! You can do this by removing the stressors that you have some control over, practice breathing exercises, tai chi, yoga, and meditation, enjoy time with friends, loved ones and pets more often, and let go of anxiety and worry.

Join Happify! It’s Amazing!

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happify-now

This incredible site helps to conquer negative thoughts and feel happier through fun, daily, science-based activities and games. It is an excellent way to truly improve the quality of your life. I tried the activities which only took a few minutes to do, and I really enjoyed them. It was like sprinkling happiness on my day!

On the Happify site, the home page says:

“Reduce Stress and Lower Anxiety
Improve Relationships and Gain Confidence
Feel Happier and Embrace Life More”

…and these statements are all accurate in my humble opinion. The program is designed so that it suggests activities based on your profile and goals. Honestly, this program is genius!

Get started today by clicking on the link below! It’s free, it’s fun, and it will make you HAPPIER!

http://www.happify.com/o/lpr/1?srid=fitposs&c1=PCF

Your Mind Is A Bank…Invest Wisely

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what-we-think-we-areThere is incredible energy and power in our thoughts, and we are truly only limited by the constraints that our minds create. However, we will often create roadblocks based on fear and doubt, thus sabotaging ourselves. Negative thoughts and emotions erode the spirit and propagate more negative energy.

Your mind is like a bank which holds thoughts as investments, and like an interest yielding savings plan, your investment will grow over time. If you deposit negative thoughts, more negativity will sprout, while an investment of positive thoughts and emotions will engender more positivity. If you find your thoughts veering towards the negative, try to reframe them in such a way that you create a positive environment. Here’s an example: Let’s say you are discouraged because you were passed over for a job promotion. An immediate reaction might be, “I’m not good enough”, but can be reframed into a thought like, “This was not the right opportunity. How can I best showcase my talents so that they are recognized?”
positivt-tänkande

I am not saying that this is easy. In fact, it can be quite challenging to redirect negative thoughts, but this activity becomes easier with practice. When you find yourself getting upset about something, whether it is from circumstances beyond your control or from a disagreement with someone, take a few deep breaths and refrain from reacting while you breathe. Usually this breathing exercise is enough to instill a sense of calm and create some space between you and the situation. Many disagreements can be avoided by resisting the urge to react, sitting calmly with a thought or emotion and reframing it so that you can approach the situation from a neutral place. Of course this could mean doing a LOT of breathing when incredibly upsetting situations arise!

How To Beat Down Excuses That Derail You From Your Fitness Goals

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Original post can be found at:

http://www.rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles/10839-how-to-beat-down-excuses-that-derail-you-from-your-fitness-goals.html

I am grieving as I write this, because a very dear friend whose end of life care I was assisting in just passed away less than 24 hours ago. Though I am very rattled by this, I made sure to hit the gym first thing this morning, and I ate clean all day, packing and carrying my meals, with only one transgression which was a bottle of cold sake I had promised to myself and my friend once he had passed on. No matter how rough life is, I will not jeopardize all the hard work I put into building muscle and sculpting a physique that I could proudly display on the IFBB Pro stage this year.

A similar situation occurred with one of my clients whose father had suddenly died. Instead of making a plethora of excuses, avoiding training and abandoning her meal plan, she told me she wanted to channel her grief into her contest prep program, and so she did. She honored her father, continued to plug away at work, and took care of two small children while still honoring her commitment to herself and her fitness goals, and for that she is a true warrior.

Illness and death of a loved one are difficult to handle when one is in full contest prep mode or adopting a full blown fitness overhaul, but thankfully rather rare. The more common culprit in fitness plans falling by the wayside is the day to day life craziness that always threatens to pull us off our path. If we are not diligent and consistent about sticking to a regimen regardless of how hectic things get, a journey to ultimate fitness can dissolve into a jumble of self-doubt, fear and excuses. The most common pattern I see in competitors is one in which effective time management is lacking, resulting in missed workouts and meal prep that never happens. Let’s face it: we are ALL busy, but when one is determined and consistent, it is possible to adhere to a fitness plan or contest prep regimen.

I caution ladies (and guys too) to avoid slipping into occasional rationalizations like, “Oh, I’m too tired to lift tonight…I’ll do a double lift tomorrow”, or, “a couple of quick meals through Taco Bell isn’t really going to throw me off my prep”, because such rationalizations can develop into a regular pattern which will sabotage one’s fitness efforts. Please do NOT turn into one of those ladies who pushes a contest date back repeatedly because you don’t feel ready. Is it that you don’t feel ready, or that you are constantly throwing roadblocks in your own way by caving into peer pressure and eating unhealthy foods, drinking alcohol, getting insufficient sleep and going through the motions when you train? You need to ask yourself if your lack of discipline, whether expressed by putting yourself in certain social situations, binging on unhealthy foods at home because you are frustrated with your slow progress, or not making the time to prep and pack your meals regularly, is getting you the results you really want.
Stop-Making-Excuses1
A repatterning must occur when excuses begin to creep across your mind. Instead of thinking that a binge could count as one admittedly huge cheat meal, think of how you will end up feeling after binging. Your belly will be distended, you will physically feel sluggish and weak, and I am willing to bet your self-esteem will sink. So why do it in the first place? Keep tempting foods out of your kitchen, and remind yourself of your fitness goals. If you go to events or dinners, consider packing your food and bringing it with you. People have grown so accustomed to me bringing my own food that they don’t even blink when they see me with my food cooler bag. I have attended medical dinners with my food bag in tow, consuming clean food while my colleagues dove into meat selections with sauces, heavy starch dishes, and decadent desserts. To be honest, when I see how my colleagues look, I am thankful that I practice such clean eating.

If you tend to make excuses about getting to the gym for workouts, remember your GOAL. If you need to refer to images of people whom you aspire to be like, then do it. Pack your workout gear in a bag and keep it in your car if you have trouble motivating yourself to get to the gym once you get home from work. Take the energy you would put into making excuses and get to the gym right after work! Also be sure to schedule your workouts so that they become a priority in your life.
Be consistent, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, and you will ultimately attain the fitness goals you seek.

Guys Like Ladies With Hearty Appetites

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Food and DrinkWith the exception of an incredibly stupid and weak period in my life when I was anorexic, I have always brought a hearty appetite to the dinner table. My dad used to brag about the fact that his slender daughter (ME) could go to an all-you-can-eat buffet and polish off 5 or 6 plates of food. Think of the sheer value of a young girl mowing down such massive quantities of food! That was one way I made my dad proud, perhaps even more so than when I got good grades or won some award.

I also recall a very amusing incident which occurred when I was hanging out with my very first boyfriend. I was 14 years old, 5’4″, 98 pounds, and could put away food like no one’s business. We went to a local hot dog stand and my boyfriend ordered four bratwurst dogs which he then brought to the car for us to to eat. He and I polished off two dogs each, then looked over at my boyfriend expectantly.

BF: “Are you okay?”
ME: “Yeah, but I’m still hungry.”
BF: “Me too. about if we get regular hot dogs?”
ME: “Sure.”
BF: “So, one for you?”
ME: “Two.”

My boyfriend gave me a concerned look but exited the car, returning several minutes later with four regular hot dogs. I wolfed two down while he did the same with the two remaining dogs.

BF: “I’m gonna get one more, be right back.”
ME: “I’m still hungry.”
BF: “Are you serious?”
ME: “Yep. Just one more.”

When my boyfriend returned to the stand to get the third round of hot dogs, the guy working the counter was so astonished that he had to see what enormous girl looked like who was demolishing so many hot dogs. The guy walked to the car, peered in, and was in a state of disbelief. I just sat there with my girl’s size 14 skinny white jeans, giggling over my gustatory feat.

That was a long time ago and I would never eat hot dogs now, but I have a very big appetite which I occasionally give in to when I can relax and have a fun meal. One of the rituals which my last ex-boyfriend and I would engage in was to split an extra large pepperoni pizza, then have Snickers Ice Cream Bars or slices of German chocolate cake with red velvet ice cream once we got home. I also seem to shock my friends with whom I venture out for a fun meal on occasion. They expect me to order a salad, but I usually go full guns and order a burger and fries, plus dessert, or I pound down a LOT of sushi and sashimi. I am not afraid of food and I make sure to enjoy the experience of eating food when I have some freedom with food choices.

My male friends have told me that they find a fit woman with a hearty appetite very sexy, and I can see why. Where’s the fun in taking a princess type out to a steakhouse, only to watch her timidly peruse a restaurant menu, then predictably order a salad? If I am at a restaurant that specializes in steak, you’d better believe I am ordering a steak! The same rationale applies if I am at a burger joint or pizza place and am planning to lift all dietary restrictions for that meal. Besides, eating a hearty meal every now and then, especially if you follow a calorie restricted contest prep plan, will help to rev up your metabolism.

Take home message? Dig in, ladies!

Too Much Cardio: The Skinny-Fat Trap (Worth Reposting!)

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Donatella Versace vacations in SardiniaThis blog post is dedicated to all of you who think that by doing massive amounts of cardio with no weight training, you will somehow keep yourself trim and tight. People who are of normal weight but who lack curvy, tight muscle because they do not lift weights often develop a palpable frustration. When I hear someone complain about feeling flabby despite doing tons of cardio at the gym, I want to SCREAM, “PICK UP A WEIGHT!!!”, because I know that this is a key component which is missing in their regimens. For those who don’t like weights, use resistance bands or the resistance of your own body weight and do SOMETHING that will challenge your muscles and create those microtears that lead to the development of new muscle.

I have actually seen some of the regulars at the gym I have frequented for many years descend into that skinny-fat trap because all they do is climb onto treadmills, bikes and elliptical trainers, perform boring steady-state cardio, then drive home without ever lifting a weight. Over time, they look more and more deflated as the aging process slowly but surely shifts their lean mass to body fat ratio in an unfavorable direction. Who wants to be mushy? If you don’t want that, it is time to stop wasting your time in the gym and become smarter about your training. You need nice, full, curvy, sexy muscles under skin to lift sagging areas such as the buttocks, chest, arms, and belly.

For those of you who are still timid about lifting weights, or who perhaps don’t know a thing about such activity, hire a trainer. Once you start to get used to challenging your muscles, it is important to establish a routine in which you are lifting regularly. If free weights (dumbbells and barbells, kettlebells and medicine balls) intimidate you, just use the machines that are scattered around the gym until you feel comfortable enough to venture into free weights.

I know that there are many of you who are concerned about looking overly muscular or about gaining pounds instead of losing them, so let’s address those concerns. If you think that by embarking on a weightlifting regimen, you will suddenly grow ridiculous amounts of muscle that would rival Popeye, think again. What you will develop is better muscle tone which will pull your skin tighter and give you a lifted, tighter, more toned appearance. You will actually end up looking more compact as a result of building a modest amount of muscle. If your concern is based more on the fear of seeing the number on the scale increase, relax. It is more important to monitor your progress by how your clothing fits. If you are accustomed to living in a skinny-fat body, you should notice over time that your pants clothing will fit differently, probably looser in the waistband. You should notice that your shorts and pants fit differently and that your butt line is higher than it was before you began training.
Squats versus none

If you are slender but flabby, it is time to switch up your thinking and embrace the idea of building muscle through lifting weights or performing exercises with your body weight as resistance. Of course if you want to like a deflated balloon, keep doing massive amounts of cardio and no weights. It’s your decision!

Playing Hooky

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T-Shirt-Sorry-Mind-Closed-Until-Futher-Notice-724789I am starting to think that it might be an excellent idea to play hooky from the day to day routine on a fairly regular basis. Such a viewpoint flies directly in the face of my usual nose-to-the-grindstone attitude towards life. The shift in my thinking has something to do with my recent high level of physical and mental burnout from constantly running from one thing to another, like a sputtering vehicle which probably would warrant a ticket for exhaust emissions (no, this is not a reference to gaseous emissions, but a reference to loss of efficiency). r

Without balance in one’s life, efficiency and power dwindle to very low levels, making it next to impossible to keep up or catch up with tasks at hand. The “one step forward, two steps back” theory asserts itself here. The answer is not to keep pushing through in hopes that, by some miracle, you will suddenly catch up to everything on your to-do list and feel completely fulfilled, but to take a break from it all.

When you take a break from your to-do list and learn to truly enjoy life and your surroundings, you press the reset button and recharge your spiritual, mental and physical batteries, which in turn makes you more efficient at tackling mundane day-to-day tasks. Though you may panic at the thought of losing precious time in which you could keep treading along that hamster wheel, you will actually gain momentum by stepping away from the busywork and taking care of your spirit so that you are balanced. You will return to your tasks with more energy and focus.