If you are training for weight loss, do your weight training prior to your cardio vascular workout. The weight training will utilise most of your glycogen stores and so that by the time you start on your aerobic training most of the calories you burn in your workout will come form your fat stores.

Happy training,

Yours in Health,

Nancy

As we approach peri menopause and menopause between mid thirties and early fifties our nutritional needs change as our hormonal picture begins to shift. The cortisol our adrenals produce becomes relatively higher than the sex hormones we produce and that together with a slowing thyroid can throw us into insulin resistance, which means our bodies process sugars less efficiently paving the way for weight gain especially around our middle, which is unhealthy for our hearts. This is an abbreviated, and simplistic explanation of the process, but the bottom line is the way we eat and how much we move at this time in our life has a direct relationship to the quality of life we are likely to experience down the track.

There are many things we can do but, one simple measure we can take is to cut way down on the white stuff in our diet white sugar, salt, flour, and potatoes and every thing made with them. These things behave like sugar in our system, and quickly bump up our blood sugar levels and our hormonally imbalanced systems struggle to cope with the overload, consequently we gain weight rapidly.

Protein on the other hand helps our bodies maintain healthier blood sugar levels. So slow down on the bread especially wheat, and up the fish, eggs (free range if poss), nuts, seeds, soy dairy ( if tolerated) and lean meat. Add a healthy dose of exercise and watch your weight drop.

Cheers,
Nancy

“What you talking about Nancy, it’s mid summer already, past the longest day and all and you’re talking getting into shape for Summer?” ” Well ya, ‘cause the best of summer is yet to come.”

So here goes:

1.    Put your walking shoes on, slip into cool comfortable clothes, grab your ipod, the dog, friend or lover and hit the pavement, park, or walking trail and MOVE. 10 minutes is all you need to get cracking, work it up to 45 minutes to an hour over time!  Once you’ve worked up to the hour and whenever you have no time, say to yourself - haven’t got the full hour today, but I can squeeze in ten minutes. Go back to the longer workout as soon as you can. If you and your body are up for it quicken the pace and jog or run for extra cardio benefit.

2.    If it’s wet or too windy outside you can find a pair of indoor stairs can’t you. Walk the stairs. Problem knees?

3.    No sweat, hop on the treadmill at the local gym. Can’t afford a membership? Offer the owners a skill you have that they might need.

4.     Too hot outside? Find a cool pool and do enough laps to get you puffing.

5.    Any recreational sport you can do with friends or family on a fine day all count as cardio building exercise, so grab a ball, a Frisbee, or those roller blades that are gathering dust in the attic and get out there.

6.    Give the kids a run for their money on the monkey bars, the climbing wall, the rope ladder, have a push up contest with the teenagers while you’re waiting your turn and round it off with a three legged race for a bit of fun, conditioning your heart, lungs and muscles while you’re at it

7.    Speaking of things gathering dust in the attic, what about those hand held weights, or the 10 tier dumbbell set from your girlfriend last Xmas that’s now become a substitute rag rack in the garage. Uncover it, start with lighter weights, yup not the ones you were lifting last winter when you put your back out, the light ones, much lighter. And start lifting. Remember not only will you gain more muscle, relax ladies you won’t end up looking like Arnold, you will gain shapely definition and although the scales may read heavier, since muscle weighs more than fat, you will get leaner and fit you clothes better, because muscle burns fat!

8.     Dig your exercise ball out if you have one, if not, why not? And start strengthening that core musculature or abs and find the six pack hiding under the beer pack. Your back will thank you for it.

9.    Relax your body and sharpen your mind with a bit of dawn or dusk Tai Chi in the park , go on grab your friends and take turns leading

10.    Finally increase your balance, poise and flexibility with some good stretching sessions, alone or with a partner

For ideas on how to put together a super, cost and time effective routine incorporating all these concepts see our products on www.flexibilityplus.com

If you get on the move and in the groove you’ll be lookin and feelin great this summer and all year round!

Cheers,

Nancy

The Truth About Fats

For years many of us have been yoyo dieting and counting calories and been anxious about every fat containing morsel that has crossed our lips. A whole industry had evolved around food labels proclaiming the benefits of this or that product because of the miniscule percentage of fat it contains. After all fat makes you fat right? Well this is the danger of half truths.

Yes fat contains per gram almost twice as many calories as carbs or protein so on the surface of it it does have the potential to pack on the kilos more so than the other nutrient types. Also fat from most animal sources is saturated and is more difficult for the body to handle and as a result it can cause problems especially for one’s heart and blood vessels. Fats derived from plant sources such as nuts, seeds, and some animal sources (i.e cold water fatty fish such as salmon) have the ability to protect the heart and blood vessels as well as producing many other health benefits protection of the brain and nervous system to name one other.

“Ya great for my ticker” I hear you say “but what about my thighs?” Well interestingly enough the right kind of fats positively benefits your girth as well. For more on how go to our nutrition product on our web site www.flexibilityplus.com.

Yours in health,

Nancy

We’ve talked about the benefits of physical fitness for women but what about men? Well, men have just as much to gain as women do from taking up an exercise programme. Natural inertia, bad habits and the belief that they’ll never get back to the fighting form they enjoyed in their youth often keep them back. Any man reading this who falls into this category should take heart. One study showed that the effects of a sedentary lifestyle of thirty years duration was actually reversed in six months, after a group of middle aged men took up an exercise programme. The weight of the trial subjects had increase by 25 percent their body fat had doubled and their aerobic capacity had decreased by 11 percent over thirty years of being couch potatoes. Despite all that, in six months they were able to achieve the same degree of cardiovascular fitness they had enjoyed as twenty year olds, which proves it’s never too late start an exercise programme.

The gains of fitness can be achieved with out fanatical and intense activity. One study at the University of Colorado found that after a three month exercise period consisted mainly of walking a study of groups of sedentary men with an average age of fifty three had improved to a state comparable to that of men who had exercised for years. Walking is a great way to increase our cardio vascular fitness it is a way to connect the inner and outer worlds, to give time for the evolution of thought without being lost in one’s thoughts it is a way to connect to those around us in a world fast becoming disconnected. Walking even connects us to our history as a species.

Walking in the sunshine has the added benefit of improving bone strength both from doing weight bearing exercise and the opportunity to create vitamin D on the surface of our skins that does our bones a world of good because of its involvement in calcium metabolism.

Walking by ocean or waterfall or after a rainstorm has the added benefit of boosting mood due to al the negatively charged particles in the air.

So do your whole being a favour and done those walking shoes

See you on the trail

Nancy

In our last post we spoke about weight loss and the importance of keeping blood sugar levels stable by consuming small frequent meals which included complex carbohydrates especially but not exclusively non starchy fruit and vegetables, and whole grains. Other foods to be included in a weight loss programme are:
•    Lean protein like soy, other beans, low fat dairy products, and moderate amounts of lean meat poultry and eggs.
•    You should also consume healthy fats such as avocado, and cold pressed oils, for example, flax seed oil, extra virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds, fish liver oils and fatty fish.
•    “The balance of carbohydrate, fat, and protein in each meal makes a big difference to how your blood sugar rises and how you are able to burn fat”. The aim as we’ve said earlier is to keep blood sugar and insulin production on an even keel
•    In general aim to have an equal portion of carbohydrates and protein at each meal. Include non starchy vegetables and fruit in two of  these meals
•    Eat 5-6 small meals of whole foods  a day instead of three large meals
•    Divide your plate so one third is made up starch, the other of protein, and two thirds of vegetables
•    Keep portion sizes reasonable eg. Palm or fist size for carbohydrates and protein and thumb size for fats
•    A sample meal might consist of : salmon, brown rice, broccoli, and raw vegetable salad with and olive oil and lemon juice dressing
•    A snack could include a piece of an apple a dozen almonds or equal amount of sunflower seeds

All the best

Nancy

Exercise revs up our metabolism (i.e. the way our bodies utilise the energy we gain from food) enabling us to stay lean. Eating certain foods also helps us lose weight and stay lean. In order to lose weight we need to program our bodies to become fat burners instead of fat storers.

Glucose, the end product of digestion and the body’s preferred fuel source is removed from the blood by the hormone insulin, and delivered to the body’s cells where it is used for energy.

If we frequently consume foods that release their sugars into the blood stream quickly (for example, white flour products, sugar, white rice) and do so to excess, we produce a lot of insulin to deal with the onslaught and our blood sugar spikes, then  drops dramatically. When blood sugar spikes the excess sugar is put into storage as fat, when it drops we feel wobbly and lethargic.

To burn fat and stay lean we need to keep our blood sugar even.  Foods that release their sugars slowly into the blood stream, and eaten frequently, in small amounts at a time, achieve this.

Complex carbohydrate foods contain slow releasing sugars. The ones that are the most beneficial to maintain leanness are those which have a medium to low glycemic index and a medium to low glycemic load, as these carbohydrates have the least adverse influence on blood sugar  . These include non starchy vegetables, most fruit (exceptions would be bananas, raisins and mangos), oats, barley, whole meal pasta, whole rye bread, whole wheat bread, beans.

These carbohydrates contain as well water and fibre which are also important for staying lean.

Until next time, think “complex!”

Nancy