January Poll Results

The January poll seemed to be a pretty even split between sleep quality and weight loss as the areas people wanted to see the biggest improvements in. This is not surprising since each of these are multi-million dollar industries. Whether it is getting a few extra minutes of sleep or trimming the waistline, everyone is looking for something better.

Let's talk about sleep. There are a few things that you can do to improve your sleep. It's important to remember that there is a huge difference between duration of our rest and the quality of that rest. It is recommended to get about 7 hours of sleep a night. However, if you toss and turn, or wake up frequently, then a period of 7 hours is not enough. Often, people don't know that they wake up during the night before going back to sleep, but wake in the morning feeling unrested.

So what can we do? Sleeping pills will knock you out for up to 8 hours but this is not a long term solution plus is no guarantee that you will have restful sleep. So avoid the pills unless your doctor prescribed them to you for other health related issues. This goes for alcohol as well, passing out is not the same as falling asleep.

Poor sleep quality can lead to several possible health issues including weight gain. Serious sleep issues like sleep apnea for example can lead to brain damage and is the leading cause of injury/death resulting from falling asleep while driving. Sleep disorders need to be diagnosed and treated by your physician.

For the rest of us there are a few things that we can do at home to improve the sleep that we do get.

1. Sleep hygiene - this means having a set schedule to go to bed. This also means that when you go to bed don't lay around watching TV, you are there to sleep. Once on a set schedule your body will begin to expect to be sleeping at a certain time.

2. hit the showers - taking a hot shower before going to bed can help you relax and unwind helping you fall asleep easier.

3. don't try to hold it - it might sound a little silly, but go to the bathroom before getting into bed. No matter how comfortably you might be sleeping, getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom will reduce the quality of your rest.

4. make your sleep space comfortable - the color on your walls can influence your sense of comfort inside your bedroom. If you unable to get comfortable then you will have continued poor quality of sleep. this also included light and noise influences. Your room should be dark or at least dark enough so as not to interrupt your rest. The same for noise in your sleep space. Turn off the television. If environmental noise is normally present try ear plugs or even white noise generators.

5. check the sheets - an uncomfortable bed can cause you to toss and turn leading to interrupted sleep. If you have a standard bed spring type mattress, try to flip it over to reduce sagging. For water beds, consider a motionless style mattress or keep the mattress filled so it is firm. Consider upgrading your mattress to a Select Comfort Sleep Number Bed.

6. feel the burn - try to include regular exercise in your day. Whether this is hitting the gym each day or simply taking a walk after dinner, your body will be more receptive to a deeper sleep.

7. make time - give yourself enough time each night that will allow for 7-8 hours of sleep. This means not staying up all night until you crash from exhaustion. Determine the time that you need to get up in the morning and make sure that you set an alarm. Then count backwards 8 hours from that time and plan to be in bed 15 minutes before that to begin your relaxation in preparation for sleep.

These are just a few ideas that you can do by yourself at home for no cost. Other then buying s new mattress of course. There are sleep aids that you can buy like ultraviolet alarm clocks, white noise generators, and even melatonin.

Q&A

Dragonfly said...
I love the blog. It is so informative and very motivational. Can you recommend some mild exercises for people with back injuries? I have a herniated disc in my neck and lumbar area and cannot go running or jogging. I walk the treadmill and have done some yoga, but I still don't think it is enough to burn some fat.

As I always said, I recommend that you consult a physician before beginning any exercise routine. In your case all the more. Back injuries are serious and can be limiting to not only exercising but to your everyday life. I believe low impact exercises would be the best for your back trouble. My suggestion would be to look into water aerobics. You would be able to move within you limits and the threat of injury from a jarring or strong impact are reduced. You know your limitations better then anyone, start slowly and build up.

Mr Clean said...
How many injuries happen while people are jogging in the snow? I see it alot.

This is a good question since we live in a place where snow and ice are a seasonal threat. However, I can not say I have seen the statistics on this, but would be very interested to. I would think the threat of a cold injury would be the biggest issue. Chilblains, frost bite, and hypothermia in my mind would be the biggest threats, followed by falls from stepping on ice resulting in sprains and broken bones. I did some searching on the Internet but could not find the injury statistics.

Body Trouble Spots - The Abdominals

One of the toughest areas of the body to work is the abdominal muscles or the "abs". This is the most common complaint for everyone, not just for those here but everyone. The abs are probably the most important part of the body, but also the least understood and therefore the least exercised. Strong abs improves good posture, can reduce back pains due to that bad posture, and aid in the use of both the upper and lower extremities.

The biggest complaint is the inability to see definition to the abdominal muscles. This is generally caused by a layer of body fat covering the stomach. Through diet and exercise this fat can be thinned enough to see the fruits of your labor.

Going along with this is the complaint of the waistline, love handles, and basically weak ab muscles. There are easily hundreds of exercises and variations of those exercises meant to "blast" your abs. So what works, and what is a waste of your time? In all honesty, it comes down to what you can do and how often you can do them. I believe in doing core muscle exercises as part of my normal regiment.

For a good collection of effective ab exercises, check the link below from About.com.

http://about.com

The best way to show off those abs is to lose the belly fat. I'm not a big fan of the numerous diet pills, but dietary supplements can be beneficial to losing weight while building muscle at the same time. Introduce cardo to your exercise routine or increase it if you already incorporate it. This means increasing the time of your cardo, not the necessarily the speed or intensity.

What does this mean? Run 5 miles instead of 3 miles but at a slower pace. Swim a few extra laps, or if biking is your thing, add an extra 50% to your normal distance. The important thing is that you are burning body fat.

Diet follows very closely here. If you run and burn 300 calories then fill your tank with junk food, you are sabotaging yourself. The greatest benefit to doing cardo exercise is that the metabolism is kick started and will continue to be for most of the day. This should not be an excuse to take in 500 calories of junk food with the promise of working harder tomorrow.

What do I mean by "junk food" anyway? I call food without a specific dietary benefit, junk food. This includes but is in no way limited to, fried foods, "Big Macs", ice cream, and of course candies and pastries. Having said that, I also live by a motto, "take all things in moderation, especially moderation". After all what is the point of being healthy if you can't eat the things you want. Like going to you child's birthday party but not eating a piece of cake because it might make you fat. This is taking a diet too far.

One day of eating junk food does as much harm as one day of eating salad would benefit you. In fact, it is often suggested to have one day a week to be a day you can eat what you want. This shakes up the metabolism and can actually aid in over all weight loss.

After all, no diet will works if you can't stick to it. This will lead to weight loss and the reduction of body fat. Combined with regular exercise, this will lead to improved abdominal strength and definition.

Going that extra mile

I love to run. It's great exercise, and it is you against yourself to measure improvement. Just slip on my headphones, the miles slowly begin to slip by. Since I hate running in the cold and live in the Midwest, most of the year is too cold for me to run outdoors. In the warmer months I like to run some trails in a forest preserve not too far from my home. I also like to run in charity 5K's around the area as a way to measure myself against other runners.

Recently, I heard from a friend of mine who lives in California that she has been training for a 1/2 marathon. This was impressive on many levels for me. We're talking about running about 13 miles. I don't run that much in any given week of running. Also, the method of training for a run over 10 miles is different then the training for 5K's.

I follow the rule that on your distance days you run double the distance that you will be running. On the timed days I try to run 2-5 miles for specific time. When my friend talked about her training for a 1/2 marathon, I was at a loss and could offer no significant advice.

The training requirements vary between the long and short distance running. The most important of being able to sustain energy levels over a longer run. Almost everyone has heard of the technique of "carbo loading". It sounds simple enough, and in fact has become almost a cliche for someone to overeat. I'll admit that I myself misunderstood the science behind the process of carbo loading.

http://www.dietdetective.com

Another issue is with the muscular endurance for long runs. This is what I try to improve on my distance days. However, when training for runs over 10 miles it's really hard for everyone to run double their goal distance. The cure is to run more often, maybe two to three times a day.

http://www.runnersworld.com

Like all exercising, it is so important to stay motivated. When you are in training you have to get out and run. You need to be motivated enough to run in all conditions and on different courses. Find a running buddy to keep you motivated. If someone else is relying on you to keep them motivated it has the affect of keeping you motivated too. I do most of my running on my own so I have to work hard to keep my energy high enough to get out and put the miles on. My friend has other friends that are used to running those longer races and have been helping with both the training and keep her motivation up.

Weight Loss

Almost everyone is concerned about their weight. With obesity and the health concerns associated to being overweight at epidemic levels in the United States, it should be a highly discussed subject. What we see are shelves stuffed miracle weight loss pills, appetite suppressors, and metabolism boosters. There are commercials on nearly every channel pushing weight control pills or fat trappers. Of course there are all the fad diets from The Hollywood Diet to The South Beach Diet. There seems to almost be more people selling the "cure" to being fat then there are people who need them.

Pills. powders, shakes, bars, and the like are not a silver bullet to fix a weight issue. There is no magic pill that will make you shed all of your excess body fat. For starters, most weight loss pills are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration because they are considered herbal supplements. The problem with this unchecked sort of diet aid is that there can be any sort of stimulant cocktail that can have serious side effects like Fen-Phen did which had to be pulled off the shelves after people began dying from heart damage caused by the drug.

Some diet drugs have been proven to have some effect on weight control, but drugs alone are not the answer. Always consult a physician before beginning any sort of weight loss or fitness routine. When you are ready to begin losing weight the fastest way is though diet management and physical exercise. Diet management can include pills as a way to reduce appetite, but many of them have stimulants intended to fire up your metabolism and can heart palpitations if used in conjunction with exercise. It is highly recommended that you consult with a dietitian to find the right menu for your needs.

http://www.fitnesslynn.com/

When it comes to exercise cardiovascular is the best. Besides burning calories, fat and toning muscles, it has an added benefit of boosting your metabolism for hours after you finish exercising. There are numerous ways to get the benefits of cardiovascular exercise and it will depend on your ability and fitness level. For low impact there is swimming or water aerobics, for high impact there is basketball or cross country running. It all depends on what you are able to do without injuring yourself.

Admittedly, the hardest part of working out is the motivation to do it. This is also why I don't think having exercise equipment in your home is helpful if you're not motivated. That is why you end up with an expensive clothing organizer. Go outside and run or join a gym, but if you have to make a special trip to do your exercise then you tend to become more motivated. A tip here is that if you are just beginning to work out or have decided to get back into shape, avoid the meat market gyms. These are places where people who are in shape really just gather to be around similarly physically fit people. Instead look for smaller local gyms where people go with the intention of exercising.

http://www.cardinalfitness.com/

If running is your thing, seek out local running groups. This will be a great way to make new friends, give you a running buddy to keep you motivated and a resource for good places to run in the area.

http://www.rrca.org/

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Do you know your BMI? Do you know how to measure your BMI? Does it really matter?

BMI is the measure of body fat based on your height and weight. This is simple and generally reliable means to find the fatness of a person but does not actually measure body fat. So as such, based on your body type, this calculation is more likely show your BMI has being over weight or worse.

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BMI is a tool used to screen people for possible weight problems. This makes it important for a snapshot of your general health. That being said, it is after all only a tool and is not the end all be all to gage everyone's specific health. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you have a significant amount of muscle mass then your BMI will read as higher.

The CDC offers a great resource for understanding weight and the BMI. They also discuss measuring the BMI of both adutls and children (20 years old and younger).

http://www.cdc.gov

If your BMI is measured as overweight of higher, I urge you to consult your physician for professional medical evaluation. This also goes for people who are looking to begin a fitness regiment to prevent serious injures.