Internal Fat – What it is, and why it matters

Internal Fat – What it is, and why it matters

by | Mar 28, 2017 | Self-care, Uncategorized, Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Women over 40

Why Your Waist Circumference Matters 100x More Than What You Weigh

It can be too easy to think (or worry) about your weight.

But you know what? There is something else that may be more important when it comes to real health. That is your waist circumference.

That internal fat (AKA “visceral fat”) is known to release hormones and inflammatory compounds that can mess with your blood sugar, blood fats (i.e. triglycerides), and blood pressure.

What you weigh does matter but only to a certain extent.

Let’s look at your waist circumference….

 

Waist Circumference (AKA “Belly Fat”):

Do you remember the fruity body shape descriptions being like an “apple” or a “pear”? The apple is round around the middle and the pear is rounder around the hips/thighs.

THAT is what we’re talking about here.

Do you know which shape is associated with a higher risk of sleep apnea, blood sugar issues (e.g. insulin resistance and diabetes) and heart issues (high blood pressure, blood fat, and arterial diseases)?

The apple!

And it’s not because of the subcutaneous (under the skin) fat that you may refer to as a “muffin top”. The health risk is actually due to the fat inside the abdomen covering the liver, intestines and other organs there.

This internal fat is called “visceral fat” and that’s where a lot of the problem actually is. It’s this “un-pinchable” fat.

The reason the visceral fat can be a health issue is because it releases fatty acids, inflammatory compounds, and hormones that can negatively affect your blood fats, blood sugars, and blood pressure.

And the apple-shaped people tend to have a lot more of this hidden visceral fat than the pear-shaped people do.

So as you can see where your fat is stored is more important that how much you weigh.

 

Am I an apple or a pear?

It’s pretty simple to find out if you’re in the higher risk category or not. The easiest way is to just measure your waist circumference with a measuring tape. You can do it right now.

Women, if your waist is 35” or more you could be considered to have “abdominal obesity” and be in the higher risk category. Pregnant ladies are exempt, of course.

For men the number is 40”.

Of course this isn’t a diagnostic tool. There are lots of risk factors for chronic diseases. Waist circumference is just one of them.

If you have concerns definitely see your doctor.

 

Tips for helping reduce some belly fat:

  • Eat more fiber. Fiber can help reduce belly fat in a few ways. First of all it helps you feel full and also helps to reduce the amount of calories you absorb from your food. Some examples of high-fiber foods are Brussels sprouts, flax and chia seeds, avocado, and blackberries.
  • Add more protein to your day. Protein reduces your appetite and makes you feel fuller longer. It also has a high TEF (thermic effect of food) compared with fats and carbs and ensures you have enough of the amino acid building blocks for your muscles.
  • Say goodbye to added sugars. This means ditch the processed sweetened foods especially those sweet drinks (even 100% pure juice).
  • Move more. Get some aerobic exercise. Lift some weights. Walk and take the stairs. It all adds up.
  • Stress less. I know this is a tough one. Elevated levels in the stress hormone cortisol have been shown to increase appetite and drive abdominal fat.
  • Get more sleep. Try making this a priority and seeing how much better you feel (and look).

 

My final tip: Release any guilt you may have about your body shape. We are all born with a genetic propensity to have a body shape. Full-figured, pear-shaped women will never have slender thighs, and apple-shaped women will never have some hourglass shape or washboard abs … it is simply not possible, no matter how much you exercise or diet.

Try to follow some of the actionable tips to help reduce your ‘visceral’ fat. Remember, baby steps, every little change helps.

 

Keep well and thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s All About your Metabolism

It’s All About your Metabolism

by | Feb 13, 2017 | Self-care, Uncategorized, Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Women over 40

What is Metabolism?

Do “calories” really count?

 

Well, yes they do, but they’re not the only thing that matters when it comes to how much you weigh and how much energy you have. In other words it’s all about your metabolism.

 

This word “metabolism” is thrown around a lot these days.

 

You know that if yours is too slow you might gain weight.

But what exactly does this all mean?

 

Well technically “metabolism” is the word to describe all of the biochemical reactions in your body. It’s how you take in nutrients and oxygen and use them to fuel everything you do.

 

Your body has an incredible ability to grow, heal, and generally stay alive. And without this amazing biochemistry you would not be possible.

 

Metabolism includes how the cells in your body:

  • Allow activities you can control (e.g. physical activity etc.).
  • Allow activities you can’t control (e.g. heartbeat, wound healing, processing of nutrients & toxins, etc.).
  • Allow storage of excess energy for later.

 

So when you put all of these processes together into your metabolism you can imagine that these processes can work too quickly, too slowly, or just right.

 

Which brings us to the “metabolic rate”.

 

Metabolic rate

This is how fast your metabolism works and is measured in calories.

 

The calories you eat can go to one of three places:

  • Work (i.e. exercise and other activity).
  • Heat (i.e. from all those biochemical reactions).
  • Storage (i.e. extra leftover “unburned” calories stored as fat).

 

As you can imagine the more calories you burn as work or creating heat the easier it is to lose weight and keep it off because there will be fewer “leftover” calories to store for later.

 

There are a couple of different ways to measure metabolic rate.

One is the “resting metabolic rate” (RMR) which is how much energy your body uses when you’re not being physically active.

The other is the “total daily energy expenditure” (TDEE) which measures both the resting metabolic rate as well as the energy used for “work” (e.g. exercise) throughout a 24-hour period.

 

What affects your metabolic rate?

In a nutshell: a lot!

 

The first thing you may think of is your thyroid. This gland at the front of your throat releases hormones to tell your body to “speed up” your metabolism. Of course, the more thyroid hormone there is the faster things will work and the more calories you’ll burn.

But that’s not the only thing that affects your metabolic rate.

 

How big you are counts too!

Larger people have higher metabolic rates; but your body composition is crucial!

 

As you can imagine muscles that actively move and do work need more energy than fat does. So the more lean muscle mass you have the more energy your body will burn and the higher your metabolic rate will be. Even when you’re not working out.

 

This is exactly why weight training is often recommended as a part of a weight loss program. Because you want muscles to be burning those calories for you.

 

The thing is, when people lose weight their metabolic rate often slows down which you don’t want to happen. So you definitely want to offset that with more muscle mass.

 

Aerobic exercise also temporarily increases your metabolic rate. Your muscles are burning fuel to move so they’re doing “work”.

 

The type of food you eat also affects your metabolic rate!

Your body actually burns calories to absorb, digest, and metabolize your food. This is called the “thermic effect of food” (TEF).

You can use it to your advantage when you understand how your body metabolizes foods differently.

Fats, for example increase your TEF by 0-3%; carbs increase it by 5-10%, and protein increases it by 15-30%. By trading some of your fat or carbs for lean protein you can slightly increase your metabolic rate.

 

Another bonus of protein is that your muscles need it to grow. By working them out and feeding them what they need they will help you to lose weight and keep it off.

 

And don’t forget the mind-body connection. There is plenty of research that shows the influence that things like stress and sleep have on the metabolic rate.

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to metabolism and how so many different things can work to increase (or decrease) your metabolic rate.

 

You might have to do some experimenting, but rest assured there are a number of effective strategies for hitting your “metabolic reset” button—it’s just a matter of finding where yours is stuck.

 

Thanks for reading and keep well,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14 Tips to Save Time and Money

14 Tips to Save Time and Money

by | Jan 19, 2017 | Self-care, Uncategorized

14 Quick Tips to Save You Time and Money

Keeping a well-stocked, real food kitchen is essential for sticking to a healthy lifestyle. If you’ve got healthy foods at your fingertips all the time without processed foods to fall back on, you won’t be tempted to reach for the cereal on a busy morning, and the beauty of home cooked meals is that we know exactly what goes into the food we eat.

Here are 14 tips by John & Ocean Robbins to help you achieve balance in your kitchen!

  1. Plan Ahead. Create a meal plan. Don’t wait until dinner time to decide what to have for dinner.
  2. ZipList is a great app to help you organize and update your shopping list.
  3. Shop Less Often. If you plan ahead, and make good use of your freezer, you can trim your food shopping to once a week.
  4. Buy in Bulk. You can often save more than 30% of the cost of the food by buying in bulk rather than purchasing prepackaged items. Items such as grains, seeds, legumes, nuts, & dried fruit are ideal items to buy in bulk and always have on hand when you need them.
  5. Consider Pre–Cut Veggies. Buying these may cost a bit more, but can save you valuable time.
  6. Choose Convenience Foods Wisely. There are many ready-to-eat foods that are severely lacking in genuine nutritional value. Others however, are nutritional superstars. Please read labels and be your own detective.
  7. Make a One–Course Feast. If you’re tight on time, plan simple dinners where everything is in one dish. One of my personal favourites is using a Romertopf clay oven. You can use the protein and veggies of your choice along with garlic and bone broth or stock. This saves you prep time and saves you from lots of pots and pans to wash up!
  8. Get the Right Gear. There is some kitchen equipment that can make an enormous difference to your life. Having the right blender, food processor, pressure cooker, knives, cutting boards, colanders, etc. can make it infinitely easier to prepare healthy fast food.
  9. Chop Vegetables in Advance. Store them in airtight bags or containers in the fridge. Veggies that work well to wash and cut in advance include onions, cabbage, green beans, carrots, kale and broccoli. Softer or easier to spoil veggies and herbs like bell peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, parsley and cilantro are best left until the time you’re preparing the recipe.
  10. Build Your Base. Once or twice a week, cook a substantial quantity of a legume and/or grain of your choice. Use it in various meals during the week.
  11. Sauce It Up. Once or twice a week, make a sauce, dressing, or condiment that you can use on salads, in combinations of the legume and grain you cooked earlier, or mix with your main meals.
  12. Love Leftovers. Learn to love your leftovers, they can save you so much time. Cook twice as much as you intend to eat in a meal, refrigerate the leftovers, and you have a ready-made breakfast or lunch at your fingertips.
  13. Be Organized. The more organized your kitchen and pantry are the easier it is to prepare a meal. This leads to less waste, and saves you time and money.
  14. Clear the Way. Try and keep your kitchen clean, tidy and decluttered. There’s nothing worse than entering a kitchen that is dirty and disorganized.

 

Cooking healthy foods at home does take some time and planning, but not as much as you might think. Keep some of these tips in mind, and learn to create good habits that can bring health and a happy healthy kitchen.

Thanks for reading and keep well,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is a Lack of Sleep Ruining Your Health?

Is a Lack of Sleep Ruining Your Health?

by | Jan 16, 2017 | Self-care, Uncategorized

Most of us sacrifice the one item we need most of all to have a balanced life — sleep.  It has a tremendous impact on our health! I know it’s often easier said than done, especially if you have children, a demanding job, or multiple jobs, but it needs to be a priority, even if you just make baby steps towards getting more sleep.

Studies now show just how important sleep is, and we should be aiming to get 7-8 hours ideally; more if you have an autoimmune disease or adrenal fatigue. I have both, so sleep must be a priority for me. After years of abusing sleep and treating it as an afterthought, it has now become a non-negotiable part of my life.

Here are some great tips from Kirk Parsley, a sleep doctor, about the process of gearing up for bedtime.

Kirk refers to this process as Sleep Hygiene – “Sleep hygiene is anything that you can do to ensure that you have the right environment for your body/brain to do what it needs to do to put you to sleep, and having your environment conducive to staying asleep, and getting quality sleep”.

Something that has helped me improve my sleep is wearing orange glasses two hours before I go to bed. There is a lot of research showing that blue light after sunset can disrupt your circadian rhythm and suppress melatonin production. Computers, TVs, tablets, and phones are especially high in blue light. I wear BluBlockers other options include Swannies & Uvex.

Here’s an article about the science behind orange glasses from Dr. Mercola.

For those who need a little help falling asleep, Dr. Michael Breus, aka The Sleep Doctor, suggests drinking Banana Tea before going to bed. It is high in magnesium, which helps calm our nerves.

Recipe:

Rinse the banana peel, cut off the ends, and cut it in half keeping the banana in its peel. The peel has three times the amount of magnesium as the fruit alone. Add it to 3 cups of water and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes. Strain and drink.

Wishing you a very good night’s sleep!!

Keep well and thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting Your New Year Intentions

Setting Your New Year Intentions

by | Jan 3, 2017 | New Year, Uncategorized

Happy New Year!

 

It’s time to set intentions for what we’d like to create in the New Year.

 

The symbolism of a new year gives us a desire to start fresh, and it’s often expressed in resolutions. But did you know that only 8% of people are successful at keeping their New Year’s resolutions?  We make so many unrealistic and unattainable promises to ourselves that it’s no wonder we’ve given up by February.

 

When we revert to old patterns, we beat ourselves up for not sticking to our resolutions and our ego kicks in and begins to criticize “you’re not good enough” “you’re not worthy” “you don’t deserve this” sound familiar?!

 

Before you decide what it is that you want, set your goals or intentions for 2017. Create a year in review, and ask yourself, “are your goals connected to your own values, or is it something you feel you want or should have”?

 

Find a space just for you, no piles of to-do lists, or dirty dishes… just peace and quiet, perhaps light a candle or listen to some music. As you review your year, spend some time reviewing your successes, achievements, and areas that need improvement. Create a list of things or patterns to let go of that didn’t serve you this past year as well as things you don’t want to carry with you in the new year. What were the major lessons? Do you notice any repeating patterns? Procrastination, clutter, fear, etc.? Check in with what you want to STOP doing. What’s been weighing you down? What didn’t work? Reflecting on your answers can give you a great deal of insight into the direction you need to take. Letting go of what no longer serves you, or is hindering you gives you space to do more of what lights you up and allows you the space for something new.

Focus on 3-4 major intentions for the year – What’s your big vision? When you have your “big” vision, break it down into monthly and weekly goals. By doing this, you can stay away from overwhelm….

“Most “impossible” goals can be met simply by breaking them down into bite size chunks, writing them down, believing them, and then going full speed ahead as if they were routine”. – Don Lancaster

Be clear on your ‘why’ and be specific with your intentions. For example, it’s not enough to say I want to lose weight. Why do you want to lose weight? How will it make you feel? What are you going to do to lose the weight? Knowing your ‘why’ will allow you to get in touch on an emotional level. Write these answers down, then write 10 steps to achieve this goal. You need a plan in place to achieve the goal.

 

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

Remember your body, mind, and relationships are your most important investments. Spending time and energy in these areas is a perfect way to reset, restore your energy, and return to a sense of well-being. Take time to understand your needs and goals. This year, make it a goal to invest in yourself!

 

Two apps that might help for goal setting are Lifetick and Goals on Track. 

Think of these and your calendar as an accountability partner.

With intention, commitment, and a positive attitude, 2017 will be a great year!

“Keep your goals in front of you and your fears behind you”. – Tony Robbins

“Today is page 1, Chapter 1, Go Create Your Story”. – Louise George

 

Here’s to new beginnings…

To taking chances…

Living it up, laughing out loud.

And embracing all that…

Life has to offer!

 

Wishing you health, happiness, and prosperity for the year ahead, and always.

Keep well and thanks for reading.

 

 

 

Start a Self-Care Revolution!

Start a Self-Care Revolution!

by | Dec 19, 2016 | Self-care, Uncategorized

START A SELF-CARE REVOLUTION

– it’s good to be Queen –

Self-Care Isn’t Just Important, It’s Crucial, You can’t pour from an empty cup!

 

“Self-care is care provided “for you, by you.” It’s about identifying your own needs and taking steps to meet them. It is taking the time to do some of the activities that nurture you. Self-care is about taking proper care of yourself and treating yourself as kindly as you treat others.”

The holiday season is a busy time with a lot of emotional pressure. As women, we are notoriously bad at putting on our own oxygen masks first. There is a reason we are told by air hostesses to put on our own oxygen masks first…. we cannot help our loved ones without helping ourselves first.

We need to keep ourselves replenished, especially during this time.

When we take on too much, we are the one that suffers at the end of the day.

Your body is an amazing machine that gives you signals when the pressure is getting too high. You may experience headaches, disrupted sleep, digestive upsets, anxiety, depression, or irritability.

Learn to hit the pause button when you need to. Running on empty doesn’t serve you, or those you love, and please let go of perfection.

 

Some ways to rebalance:

  • Make a date with yourself. Spend an hour alone doing something that nourishes you, not work or things on your to-do list.
  • Praise yourself when you do something awesome, and never speak badly about yourself.
  • Read books and watch movies you enjoy. Watch a Christmas movie or a family favourite.
  • Paint or write something that lets out your creative energy.
  • Simply unplug, disconnect from all devices….you can do it!!
  • Journal – Write in a gratitude journal, I know the importance of this but couldn’t quite make it a habit until I found The Five-Minute Journal. it’s perfect for me as a beginner. In the morning, I write 3 things I am grateful for, and in the evening, I write 3 amazing things that happened that day. Baby steps…
  • It only takes 10 minutes to calm the nervous system – Headspace is a great place to start.
  • Go for a walk and take time to notice nature.
  • Take a quick nap. Only 10 to 20 minutes can reduce your sleep debt and leave you ready for action.
  • Take an Epsom salt bath (have a glass of wine or cup of tea) add lavender oil and light some candles….my absolute favourite way to relax.
  • Don’t be afraid to say no.
  • Be kind to yourself.
  • Let go of what you can’t control.
  • Breathe – so many of us are shallow breathing, myself included, make time for deep breathing a few times a day. To be honest, I didn’t even know the difference until not too long ago but I must admit I do feel a difference. When I focus on deep breathing versus my shallow, erratic breath, I feel calmer and it is a great way to reset your nervous system.
  • Laughter – laughter boosts your immune system, decreases stress, reduces heart disease, improves breathing, acts as a natural pain reliever, and helps you lose weight, some good reasons to laugh!!

 

I know you’re probably thinking, “Sounds great Tara, easier said than done!” I agree, self-care is often easier said than done, but baby steps, start with one or two that resonate with you and make them a non-negotiable part of your life. Try it for 21 days and see how you feel.

Be gentle and kind, if you miss a day, give yourself the freedom and space to be human; you may not see instant results but your body and mind will thank you.

When we take care of ourselves first, we are in a much stronger place to take care of those we love.

– Kate Hudson.

Try not to get caught up in the latest fad in self-care. Trust me, there are many different varieties, and I have tried most of them, but speaking from experience, do what makes you happy and what resonates with you. The ones I am now consistent with are the things that speak to me and make me feel better about myself.

More sleep, more fun, more laughter, more hugs, more of anything that makes you smile. Self-care is the best form of health care!!

Remember, almost everything will work again if you unplug for a few minutes….including you!

Anne Lamott.

This is a time to celebrate and connect with family and friends to create a healthy, relaxing, and restorative time. My warmest wishes to you and your family this holiday season.

Thanks for reading and keep well,

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