Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Focus on a new habit: Get at least 7 hours of sleep.

 We have a few basic physiological needs (as defined by Malsow’s hierarchy of needs), which include breathing, food, water and SLEEP! We are all about health here at GISFW Danvers, which is why we focus on the foundational healthy habits that create a productive life. In other words, if you are not well nourished, hydrated, breathing and rested you will not be at your best to accomplish ANY of your goals. Building a healthier, stronger body STARTS with an effective workout, but will not be achieved with out the proper rebuilding plan – water, good fuel, and rest/recovery. It’s as if you want new siding on your house, but all you do pull the old stuff off and never put new GOOD quality siding back on. And there are serious health consequences associated with lack of sleep, including difficulty in complying with healthy habits.

 Why This is Important Sleep
 Weight Loss If you're trying to lose weight, sleep can help you in this area also. There's a strong correlation between sleep deprivation and being overweight and obese. Granted, correlation doesn't equal causation. But it's still worth noting that many of the people not getting enough sleep are putting on the pounds. Not getting adequate sleep for growth causes issues with your body's hormones, cortisol, ghrelin and especially leptin, which is responsible for regulating metabolism and your appetite! When leptin gets out of balance, you will end up eating more and the extra food will turn straight into body fat. - OUCH... There are some many more reasons why getting enough sleep is important and the handouts included are a MUST READ. Here are few highlights...

 Stress leads to a loss of sleep and a loss of sleep leads to an increase in stress, which can become a vicious cycle. Sleep is a basic human need, and when we don't get enough of it, just about every aspect of our functioning is affected. We move slower. We're less productive. We're more irritable. We make poor decisions (like what to eat). We forget things. And all of these problems are exacerbated as we lose more and more sleep. 

According to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), over two-thirds of women associate their sleep problems with stress. Yet, when pressed for time, over half of the women polled said that sleep is the first thing they give up. Unfortunately, this is an all too common example of the short term gain, long term pain philosophy (don't sacrifice what you want MOST for what you want in the moment) that is becoming more and more common in our over scheduled lives.

Excessive sleep loss has been linked to mood disorders, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, substance abuse, obesity, impaired judgment, reckless behavior, and increased accidents at home, work, and on the road. In fact, in the most severe cases of sleep deprivation, hallucinations and paranoid delusions can develop. The worse case scenario is death. The point is ... if something has to get bumped from your to-do list, the last thing it should be is sleep. Sleep-maintenance insomnia is a common complaint among women at midlife.- That's most of us!!

Alright, you know you can't sleep, but what can you do about it? Choose a few of these tried and true ways to reduce stress and lower your cortisol before you go to sleep:

 · Turn off the TV. Read a book instead.
· Dim the lights - When your eyes are exposed to lights your pineal gland (a tiny endocrine organ in your brain) will not secrete the melatonin you need for a good night's sleep.
· Listen to relaxing music.
· Take a hot bath with Epsom salts before bed. · Use essential oils, like lavender.
· Ask someone to give you a foot massage (aka foot reflexology) - when cortisol levels are up, you can be certain that too much energy has gone up into your head. A foot massage is a great way to calm down that excessive nervous energy in your head.
 Make a list of all the things you are grateful for – We’ve heard that Oprah Winfrey does this every night

It's Been A While...

For those of you who knew me as a Weight Watchers leader, you may have wondered where I've been. I have been the manager of Get In Shape For Women in Danvers, an all women's personal training gym, since August of 2010. It may sound like I went from the nutrition side of wellness to the workout side of wellness, but the truth is I have always know women need both, and also the "spirit" side, to feel they can be their best self. At this time, I am becoming a certified wellness coach, and continue to learn the best tools to give my clients, friends and anyone who will listen. I plan on udpating this blog with the information I send to my GISFW Danvers clients, and maybe some of my own more personal thoughts. I will update this blog with a few of my most informative emails for the past 2 years and send you to web sites that I think you will find interesting. Information is power. You never know where you will find the words that will change your life. Or maybe you've heard it once, or twice before, but now you are ready to receive it. Here is one of most recent emails: The Weekly Weigh In Do you have water nearby? Did you eat protein today? Did you eat? Remember, don't go out tonight hungry - that bread basket will look very tempting... As you know, the GISFW franchise organization has mandated weekly weigh ins. I would like to tell you why this is a good idea. You know I like to say, information is power. For us to give you the best service, we need to know as much as possible about your health to get you to your goals. Here is some information for YOU. Normal fluctuation of water in your body can sway the scale 2 pounds either way. Your weight can be effected by hormones, salt, food in your belly and being constipated. It can also be effected by a hard workout, a bad night sleep or stress hormones. So, if we weighed you in every other week, and we missed you on one of the weigh ins, it would be almost a month before we weighed you again. And if that next weigh in was a day you had a reason mentioned and registered a gain, you would think "4 weeks and I GAINED 3 pounds!" and get discouraged, when we just caught you on the wrong day. AND even if you do everything right, weight loss is not linear. You may have 2 weeks with no loss and great compliance, and then have a 3 pound weight loss on the 3rd week. I just have to survive your other 2 weigh ins.... The weekly weigh ins are an opportunity to see if you need a different tool from me, or just encouragement that you are still on track, but may have too high expectations. It's also a way for my team to improve and create a better program to give you what you need. OK - you knew it was coming. One of my analogies. My 16 year old daughter has a checking account where she deposits her small weekly paycheck. She mostly uses her debit card to spend her money. We set up the account so she cannot buy something if she does not have sufficient funds. It doesn't mean I don't trust her, I just don't want her to make a mistake and incur fees. We are responsible for her spending habits, but the bank has got our back. However, when I signed up with my bank when moving to Middleton, I DID NOT sign up for bounced check protection (I am making that term up, but you know what I mean...) So, when we mistakingly underfunded my checking account, I got LOTS of FEES that added up to A LOT of money! I had hoped the person I signed up with would have had me signed up for the protection (a simple form). I am responsible for my spending habits, but I thought the bank would have my back. That they would have notified me before the fees got so high. I was very upset! (true story). We have your back. You came to us for a service - to help you reach your goals. The weekly weight ins are important because we don't want too much time (more valuable than money) to pass without us both knowing if you are going in the right direction. Or you may tell us that weight maintenance is what you want. Or that at this moment in time, just getting the workouts it enough for you. We do not make any assumptions about the weigh in. This is your program. The weight lns are not about your being "good or bad", it's about creating action plans and reviewing our progress and adjusting accordingly.