Today’s blog focuses on a question I get all the time: when I start exercising, should I jump in with two feet so I see results faster, or should I start out slowly? On January 29 of this year, I wrote a blog (Don’t set Yourself up for Failure: Why Baby Steps are Important for Change) that focused on the importance of taking baby steps when implementing changes in your life, and this blog follows along with those suggestions. As with any other habit in your life you’re wishing to change, you will see the most success by taking baby steps and taking the change slowly.
It is important to be realistic when setting exercise goals for yourself. Starting small with a goal you KNOW you can achieve will keep you from getting discouraged and will allow you to progress without becoming overwhelmed. Setting obtainable goals will also help you work on consistency – if you’re miserable during your exercise and feel like you’re going to fail, you’ll want to stop exercising before it becomes a habit. Once you’ve been exercising consistently and exercise becomes a habit, you won’t even think twice about heading to the gym (or hitting the pavement for a brisk walk)! Taking small steps when beginning an exercise routine will help you determine an appropriate starting level and will help keep you from getting injured. If you start out with too much, not only will you likely become discouraged and want to give up, you run the risk of seriously injuring yourself. If you’re injured, you obviously won’t physically be able to exercise, and you probably won’t want to exercise ever again. Even some muscle soreness may discourage continuing your exercise routine. If you’re thinking of starting to exercise, including both aerobic (exercises that increase your breathing and heart rate) and anaerobic exercises (resistance training) will provide you with the most benefits. I suggest finding some sort of physical activity you enjoy doing. This might be playing basketball or dancing or perhaps something more traditional like jogging or walking. Lifting weights, doing Pilates, or taking a class that uses resistance bands might be enjoyable forms of anaerobic exercise. Exercise provides a multitude of benefits – besides losing weight, reducing stress, having more energy, and feeling better overall, exercise has many health benefits. Exercise can reverse some forms of heart disease, may help prevent some forms of cancer, helps ease arthritis pain, and helps lesson symptoms of depression. Whatever kind(s) of exercise you enjoy and decide to incorporate into your routine, just remember to ALWAYS START SLOWLY. It takes time to form any new habit, and the same goes for exercise. Before beginning any form of exercise, always consult with your doctor. Think positive, stay active, and smile. -A https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/fitness-beginners-guide#1 https://www.precisionnutrition.com/minimal-exercise
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We all deal with stressors every day of our lives, and how we deal with that stress can greatly affect our health. Often times we turn to high-sugar and high-fat foods as a temporary relief. After we indulge we may feel guilty and maybe even more stressed than we were to begin with!
While short term stress can actually decrease appetite, stress over long periods of time has the opposite effect. Persistent stress causes the adrenal glands to produce more cortisol than they should, and cortisol increases appetite. While the adrenal glands are working overtime, other functions of the body such as digestion, liver metabolism, cell repair, immune function, and reproduction are slowed. Due to increased cortisol and insulin levels, the body craves easily digestible foods – sugar and fat, and once those foods enter the body, the brain is triggered to release endorphins which make us feel good. We quickly learn that when we eat certain foods (or really any food at all), we will feel better (at least for a short time) after we eat – thus the viscous cycle begins. Continuing to eat a diet consisting of high in fat and sugar leads to weight gain over time, and this is why “stress makes us fat.” Learning what your stressors are, identifying how you deal with stress now, and learning how to better handle your stress are key steps to breaking the cycle. Once you have identified your triggers and patterns of stress eating, you can begin to implement changes in your life – either by eliminating stressors or relieving your stress in healthy ways. We’ve probably all heard that exercise can help relieve stress, and it’s true! Exercise also causes our brain to release feel-good endorphins – the same feel-good endorphins released when we eat. Low-intensity exercise in particular will help lower cortisol levels; some low-intensity exercises include yoga, Pilates, tai chi, and walking at a slow to moderate pace. Although high-intensity exercise temporarily increases cortisol levels, exercises like jogging/running, biking, and Zumba can also help reduce stress overall. Other ideas to help manage stress include meditation, massages or other spa treatments, reading, listening to music, or even an at-home spa treatment like a bubble bath. Sitting quietly and letting your mind wander can be stress relievers, as long as you’re not letting your mind wander to your stressors. Household chores like dusting, vacuuming, and hand washing dishes may also help you destress with the added bonus of having a clean house! Once you’ve found an activity or exercise, or a few, that you enjoy, and incorporate them into your daily routine. When you notice you are feeling stressed or feeling compelled to stress eat, choose one of these activities or exercises to do instead. Not only will this help alleviate stress, but it will likely keep you from gaining unnecessary weight and will possibly help you lose some weight! Think positive, stay active, and smile. -A https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/why-stress-causes-people-to-overeat https://www.precisionnutrition.com/overstressed-and-overeating http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/eating.aspx https://www.precisionnutrition.com/getting-control-stress How many of us have to rush to eat at least one meal a day? Maybe you have to rush through all of them or at least you feel like you have to. We’ve probably all had to scarf down a meal at some point in our lives, and even though we likely know it’s not good, we still continue to do it – whether we feel like we have to or because it’s just what we’re used to.
I have no idea why or how I became one of those people who shovels her food into her mouth in record time, but I’m one of those people. I have been for as long as I can remember, and even my mom will tell you that as soon as I was born, I was screaming because hungry. I don’t really remember much about meal time before I started school, but in elementary school, we had minimal time to eat lunch before we were shoved out the door for recess. I imagine this is where I learned to scarf down my meals, but I can’t be certain. Eating quickly can cause a lot of issues for us, and one of those issues is overeating. Because it takes about 20 minutes for our stomach to relay to our brain that we’re full, it is quite easy to overeat if we’re not taking our time eating a meal. When we eat too quickly, not only are we likely to overeat, but our bodies can’t digest food as well as they would if we ate slowly. This can lead to digestive system discomfort and malabsorption of nutrients. If we are able to slow down when we eat, we will feel more relaxed and satisfied and will be able to properly digest our meals without discomfort. There are a few tips to eating slowly that I like to share with clients. Setting aside time to sit down and enjoy your food can help you feel less rushed, and if you already do this, add five to 10 minutes to the time you already allot for meals. Sitting down while you eat, rather than eating on the go or multitasking, puts your focus on your food. This will not only allow you to enjoy how your food tastes, but it will promote slower eating. Holding your utensil in your non-dominant hand and removing distractions such as TV, cellphones, and newspapers or magazines may also be beneficial to eating more slowly. Between each bite it can be helpful to take time to put your fork down, take a drink, or say something to whomever you’re eating with (without food in your mouth). I have found setting down my fork (or spoon) and taking a drink between bites to be the most effective methods for slowing down my eating. Forming new habits takes time and practice, so whatever method(s) you choose to help you eat more slowly, be consistent. At first it will take a lot of conscious effort, but once you’ve been practicing these habits for a while, they will become second nature, and voila – you’ll be eating slower in no time! Think positive, stay active, and smile. -A https://my.precisionnutrition.com/student#/106389/card/34191735 This post is completely different from my other blog posts. Although I won’t be providing any tips or advice, I am providing a peek into my life and some recent, exciting opportunities I’ve been provided with in my business!
A couple of months ago, a friend from the gym I exercise at approached me with an opportunity to be involved in a retreat being held for women who are victims of human trafficking. She asked if I’d be interested in giving a nutrition presentation during the retreat. This was the first opportunity of its kind I’d been presented with since starting my own business, so of course I said yes! I was so grateful to have been given this opportunity to share what I am passionate about, and I also felt very humbled and blessed to be able to work with such a wonderful organization and the women the organization is helping. Going into the retreat, I didn’t really know what to expect. It was filled with exercising, worship, testimonies, survivor stories, prayer, and a touch of nutrition. I only attended a few hours of the retreat, but it was amazing and quite humbling. I felt like my presentation paled in comparison to the stories some of the other women were sharing, but I knew one of the goals of the retreat was to introduce these women to different areas of health and how to go about living healthy lifestyles. After the retreat, I was asked if I would be interested in leading an eight week nutrition course for this organization. Inside I was screaming, “YES! ABSOLUTELY! OH MY GOSH, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!” What an honor to have been asked to participate in the retreat, but to then be asked to come back to lead a nutrition course?! I was floored to have been offered such an amazing opportunity. Of course I told them I was interested and provided them with a brief outline of what the course might look like. They liked what they saw, and I teach my first class this Wednesday, February 7th! It is a wild mix of emotions that I am feeling; I’m nervous and excited and thankful and hopeful. I am hoping this course will engage the women at the organization and will encourage them to continue to make progress. I have always said that if any classes, presentations, blogs, etc. I do can help even just one person, I will feel like it was successful, but I’m hoping this course will help all of these women, even if they only attend one of the eight classes. I’ve completed the presentation and activity for the first class, and once I’m finished with this post, its back to working on the next seven! Thank you for taking the time to read this post and catching up with what’s happening in my business life – next week’s blog will be back to normal! Think positive, stay active, and smile. -A |
Allison WerresWife, nutrition coach, dog mom Archives
May 2018
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