Venting

In my one on one training sessions with my clients we don’t just work out. For many it is a chance for them to vent about everything going on in their lives. They might tell me about the great weekend they had with their family, or something exciting going on in their lives. Sometimes it’s about the day from hell they had at work, and how much they hate their boss. 

Whatever the scenario may be this is a great thing. 

It’s good to feel happy, and talk about the exciting things going on in your life. It’s also good to flush out all the frustrations that build up in all of us in our daily lives. Especially to someone who is unbiased. I’ve been told before that I’m “completely worth the money because I’m a trainer and a therapist all in one.” 

I’m not a therapist. I’m just an open ear. Talking about life both the good and the bad is healthy. In fact it has an INCREDIBLE impact on your health. So to those who train with me, or who may one day train with me keep venting. It’s good for ya!

Client Testimonial - Sharrann S.

Client Testimonial - Pat T.

Burning Calories While You Sleep

While your body sleeps it’s performing many operations whether you realize it or not. This of course requires energy to be expended thus calories are being burned while you sleep. It’s important to understand how this works so that you can take the proper steps to maximize the amount of calories burned in your sleep.

First off here is how you can determine about how many calories on average you’re burning. During sleep, a person's weight and the number of hours he/she sleeps determine how many calories are burned.

Normally, a person burns about 0.42 calories for every pound in one hour of sleep. For instance, a 150 lb. person burns about 63 calories in one hour. If this person sleeps for eight hours total, he/she burns 504 calories for the whole duration. Just multiply the average rate with every pound of weight and number of hours of sleep. Therefore, the heavier a person is, as well as the longer a person sleeps, the more calories are burned.

Or you can just go to this link and the FitWatch calculator can do the math for ya J

http://www.fitwatch.com/phpscripts/viewexercise.php?descr=sleeping&mets=0.9

Here are some of the factors that contribute to the amount of calories burned during sleep:

MUSCLE MASS

Muscle mass impacts the rate of burning calories. Even while sleeping, a person with greater muscle mass burns more fats and sugar, compared to a person with average muscle mass, or worse, a person with more fats. A single pound of muscle consumes 50 calories for one whole day, while a pound of fat consumes only nine calories.

Metabolism also plays a key role in calorie burning. An active person requires more energy and burns more calories. On the other hand, a person with slower metabolism rate consumes less energy. It is during sleep that a person replenishes what he/she has lost during the day. Because an inactive person does not spend much energy during the day, there is not much energy to replenish when he/she sleeps.

BODY TEMPRATURE

You'll burn more calories --- several extra hundred each night --- while you sleep if you keep your body temperature cooler. When you bundle up in heavy blankets and wear thick pajamas, your body does not have to work to supply natural body heat. Sleeping with a cooler body temperature, sans excess blankets and cozy pajamas, makes your body's thermostat work to provide natural body heat.

LACK OF SLEEP

Substituting exercise for sleep time sounds like it would be an ideal way to lose weight, but it's actually not. Not getting at least seven hours of sleep each night can contribute to extra fat storage. When your body gets fewer than seven hours of sleep, hormones that increase your appetite kick into high gear. This will likely make you eat more than you would if well-rested. In addition to being hungry, your body will also crave carbohydrates and other high-calorie foods.

ALCOHOL

Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages before going to sleep. It slows down your metabolism rate.

So by increasing your awareness of these variables that effect the amount of calories burned in your sleep you can tip the scales in your favor to maximize your results!

Drinking And Exercise

Many of my clients like to have a drink every now and again. Some more than others ;)

When considering alcohol from a dieting standpoint most look straight to the nutritional information. How many calories are there, how many carbs etc?

So what is so detrimental about alcohol to your weight loss even if it’s a low calorie/carb drink?

It has to do with how your body processes alcohol, and the effects that process has on your body and your metabolism.

Slower Recovery

Hard workouts drain the glycogen stores (carbs stored in the liver and muscles) and leave your muscle tissue in need of repair. High levels of alcohol displace the carbs, leaving your stores still 50 percent lower than normal even eight hours later, according to one study.

Added Weight

When you drink, your body, besides having to deal with the surplus of calories, prioritizes metabolizing the alcohol over burning fat and carbs. Alcohol also breaks down amino acids and stores them as fat. It also increases levels of cortisol (a stress hormone), which further encourages fat storage, particularly in your midsection.

Disrupted Sleep

Drinking also disrupts your muscle recovery and performance by sapping your sleep. In a study of 93 men and women, researchers found that alcohol decreased sleep duration and increased wakefulness (particularly in the second half of the night), especially in women, whose sleep time was decreased by more than 30 minutes over the night. Disrupting the sleep cycle can reduce your human growth hormone output (which builds muscle) by as much as 70 percent.

Depleted Water and Nutrients

Alcohol irritates the stomach lining, which can reduce your capacity to absorb nutrients  For every gram of ethanol you take in, you drain out 10 milliliters of urine (that's about 9.5 ounces for two beers). As little as 2 percent dehydration hurts endurance performance. 

Starting Young

Paige always knows it's time to workout when I show up!

She loves hanging out with her mother and I as we train, and plays "trainer's assistant" handing me things, trying to set up the weights, and can't help but try to squeeze a few rounds of boxing in too!

Caffeine

Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant drug in the world, usually ingested in the form of coffee, tea, soft-drinks, and of course energy drinks.

Caffeine is absorbed by the stomach and intestine, and peak blood levels occur about 45 - 60 minutes after ingestion. Once in the blood stream, caffeine causes a number of responses in the body. Caffeine is well known for it’s stimulant effects on the brain, but there are a number of other effects that occur.

Blood pressure, pulse rate, and stomach acid production are increased, fat stores are broken down, and fatty acids are released into the blood stream. These effects can last from a few hours to as long as 12, but within 4 days or so of regular use, the body develops tolerance to many of the effects of caffeine. For example, although caffeine increases blood pressure and pulse in a first time user, a regular user will not experience any significant change.

Because caffeine increases the production of stomach acid it may worsen ulcer symptoms, cause heartburn, or give you that sick feeling in your gut. Insomnia, poor sleep, and anxiety are also side effects of caffeine. Regular evening use of caffeine may, over time, deprive the body of proper sleep, resulting in lack of energy and fatigue.

Abrupt discontinuation of caffeine in a regular user may trigger caffeine withdrawal symptoms. The most common symptoms are headache and fatigue. The headache may begin as soon as 18 hours following the last dose of caffeine. Differences in metabolism, diet, and frequency of caffeine use are some of the factors that can determine how an individual will react to caffeine.

Although caffeine does not appear to significantly alter water balance or body temperature, dehydration is a potential concern because caffeine is a mild diuretic.

Caffeine like anything else should only be used in moderation. If you rely on it on a daily basis to “get through the day” odds are you’re barely reaping any real benefit from it, or have to consistently increase your intake. Your best bet is to use it sparingly. Take a few days off now and again from it. You never want your body to become reliant on any substance to function. Proper diet and exercise will always trump any sort of stimulant whether you are using it for energy, weight loss, or both.