health

Self Care is More Than Just Bubble Baths and Yoga

May 19, 2020

Now, don't take offense to the subject line if you like bubble baths and yoga - believe me, I enjoy those things too. I take a bath/shower almost every night before bed as part of my sleep routine. Yoga is a staple in my list of exercise go-tos.

But I feel like it is all too easy to brush off self care and stress management because of the way they are portrayed in the media. It seems glamorous and extravagant, like you have to set aside an hour or more of your day in order to get it done. Self care seems like something that needs to be a big to do and like you have to provide the proof to others that you're taking care of yourself. And that just isn't realistic.

I'm including an image in this post that shows you 6 different types of self care/stress management categories there are. While it definitely can be a bubble bath with candles, a book, or wine (or all three) - self care and also look like tidying up your work space because the clutter is driving you nuts. Sometimes just washing your hair is self care - I'm looking at all you mamas/teachers out there on day 6 who keep putting it off because they don't want to take that long of a shower. Stress management can look like taking a break from work and working in your yard. Any nice day last week, this weekend, and this week - my dad has been out in the yard washing the lava rock that is the bed to my mom's garden and picking out the weeds. WASHING LAVA ROCK you guys. This is not a normal thing he does either - we put in that lava rock when we moved in and it has never been washed since then. That's been almost 19 years.

So maybe your car being dirty is bothering you, or that creaky door hinge is really getting on your nerves since you're home all day to hear it now. Consider it self care and some stress management to take care of those little things that you find making you anxious, driving you nuts, just bugging you. Self care doesn't have to look glamorous to benefit you.

With self care - and grit - you take on the world.

Hanna

Sleep & Your Health

May 12, 2020

Getting the proper amount of sleep helps lower stress on the body. Individuals who get at least 7hrs of sleep a night have been shown to have lower cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone that can hinder your body's ability to lose fatty tissue - if that's not a good reason to get enough sleep, I don't know what is!

If that isn't enough, maybe this will tip the scale. Studies have shown that getting at least 7hrs of sleep has a positive affect on your immune system. Those individuals in the studies who were limited in the amount of sleep they were allowed to get were more likely to get sick and had a lower antibody response to vaccines.

Below are some general tips for improving your sleep :

Keep the room dark : light triggers hormonal responses in your brain to be awake

Wind down 1 hr before bed : avoid stimulating activities like intense exercise, tv/phone etc. instead try reading, yoga, a hot bath, or cuddling with your pets/kids/significant other

Drink tea before bed : avoid caffeine, try chamomile tea or sleepytime tea (my personal favorite is to mix the vanilla and peach sleepytime teas)

Keep the room a comfortable temperature : most studies say that 65-68 degrees F is ideal for deep sleep (I also find that having a fan on helps me from getting too hot - I even have it going during the winter!)

Pink noise : white noise is jarring and unnatural, pink noise is every day sounds that are soothing, think the sound of the ocean, a fan, a thunderstorm, vinyl crackle, or a campfire crackle

Sleep Apps

I also wanted to include some apps that I have found very helpful in tracking and improving my sleep. Just click on the name of the app to be taken to their website to learn more!

Sleep Cycle : this runs strictly through your smart phone (apple or android), you can track how restful your sleep is, how long you're sleeping, set a smart alarm to wake you up during the lightest cycle of your sleep, and more

Sleep Watch : this connects with an apple watch and is the most comprehensive free tracking I've found for sleep. It looks at the time you're asleep, how restful it is, asks how you felt waking up and how fatigued throughout the day, tracks your heart rate and heart rate dip, will ask you questions about your day/night if your sleep was significantly better or worse than usual

Calm : this app has guided meditations that you can do to wind down before bed, but my favorite feature is the sleep stories. Someone with a soothing voice reads you a story as you fall asleep. I personally listen to the story that Stephen Fry reads

Relax Melodies : this app lets you piece together your own pink noise collection. You can choose from all sorts of sounds - the ones I listed above are the ones that are in my personal bedtime mix

Sleep well!

And remember, no grit - no pearl

Hanna

What the Scale isn’t Telling You

January 1, 2020

I am a firm believer that when it comes to out health and fitness goals, we need to have a way to hold ourselves accountable. When it comes to losing or gaining weight, most of us turn to the scale to give us a way to track our progress. A scale, especially an accurate one, is an awesome tool to use. But, I have seen and heard about too many people getting discouraged when the numbers aren’t moving or are moving in the wrong direction. Here’s my secret; the scale isn’t telling you everything.

A scale that only gives your weight is only telling you part of the story. Not every scale can tell you all of the important measurements that you should be aware of when trying to change your weight. Plus, there are some everyday things that can effect your weight from day to day, or even hour by hour.

What the Scale Isn’t Telling You

Body Composition

One thing that a general scale doesn’t tell you is your body composition. Body composition refers to how much of your body is fatty tissue and how much of it is lean tissue. In this general two component model, lean tissue is not just muscle mass. Instead, it includes everything that is not fatty tissue. This means that it is looking at muscles, organs, bones, skin, and water.

It is important to remember this when you are only using scale measurements to track your weight goals. If you’re trying to lose weight and you see that they numbers on the scale haven’t moved, you shouldn’t get frustrated right away. Without looking at your % body fat and % lean mass, you really won’t know if you’ve been making the progress you want to. Especially if you've made healthy changes to your diet and exercise habits. If you’re losing fatty tissue, but gaining muscle mass, the numbers on your scale may move up, stay the same, or move down. Every body is different and needs different stimuli and a different number of calories to reach its goals.

Appearance

A scale also can’t tell you if you are noticing changes on your body. Or if others have noticed that your hard work is paying off. If you notice that the waist band on your pants is loser or that you’ve reached the last notch on your belt, that is a success no matter what the scale says. Maybe you’ve moved beyond what your original goal weight was for your leg press, or you can now say “welcome to the gun show” with some muscle to show off.

These are accomplishments. Great accomplishments. And you don’t need the numbers on the scale to be in any certain place to be able to notice these things. Check yourself out in the mirror, take that gym selfie, and smile because you are beautiful and working hard.

Feeling

Standing on scale also can’t tell you how much healthier, stronger, more energized, more confident, etc. you feel. In fact, it may even be able to convince you otherwise. Maybe you don’t hit that afternoon slump anymore. Or maybe you feel like you could conquer the world after your workout. Noticing emotional and energy related changes from healthy choices is just as important as you physical changes.

What to Focus on Instead

Body composition

Look into getting a scale that does tell you your body composition and track that instead of weight alone. This is a good idea because it can expose changes in your body that scale weight alone can’t. By tracking body comp you can also figure out if you are giving your body enough energy. If you see %BF going up and %LM going down, but you’re watching what you eat, you may not be eating enough. Learn more by checking out my post about cutting calories to see how this can happen.

Appearance

Find other numbers to track and focus on than your scale weight. Try using a tape measure to measure your biceps, hips, waist and thighs to get a better picture of your progress. Pay attention to how your clothes fit and when you’re shopping, don’t be afraid to pick up a size down ad see how close you are. You never know, you just might surprise yourself.

Feeling

Take some time each day to stop and notice how you and you body feel. Lay in bed for a few extra minutes and wiggle your toes, roll your wrists and ankles, flex those hard earned muscles. See how well rested you feel after a good nights sleep on a day with a killer workout. See how much energy you have in the afternoons when you take your walk. Pay attention to how you're feeling mentally, physically, and emotionally and use those positive changes to keep you motivated. Any negative changes? Use those to alter your training schedule, food intake, food choices.

No Grit, No Pearl

Remember what I've shared with you in this post as you continue on your health and fitness journey. When the scale isn't moving the way you want - examine the what to focus on parts of your life and practice your grit. Stand tall and keep working hard. Make changes if you need to, but remember lovely - no grit, no pearl.

Hanna

5 Lies About Losing Weight

August 13, 2019

Over my time in the health and wellness world between school, working part time as a personal trainer, working in a gym, and now working for a corporate wellness obesity management company, I have noticed that there are a few myths that many people who are working towards living a healthier lifestyle are under the impression are true. I want to debunk some of the most common misunderstandings when it comes to losing weight and I hope that you leave with a better understanding of how to get to your goals the healthy way.

1. If the number on the scale goes down, that’s good

To some extent this is true. If the scale number has gone down, it means you’ve lost weight. But a scale doesn’t tell you where that weight loss has come from within your body. In most cases when someone is looking to lose weight, they really want to lose the weight from the fat within their body. When the number on the scale goes down, that weight loss could be from the loss of fat, or lean tissue, or it could even just be because of your fluid fluctuation that day.

2. You have to cut your calories in order to lose weight

Sometimes cutting calories can actually cause you to gain weight and not lose any. When we cut calories without taking into consideration how many calories you expend on a typical day, then you can unknowingly put your body in a situation where it is not getting enough calories to function on a daily basis. When this happens your body thinks that it is being starved and will then begin to lower your metabolism and store more energy for future use. This storage of energy can cause an increase of fatty tissue under the right conditions.

3. You have to cut out carbs in order to lose weight

Cutting out carbohydrates certainly helps some people lose weight. But it’s hard for them to keep that weight off once they reintroduce carbs to their diet. Carbs are your brain’s fuel source and your muscles preferred form of energy. You have to eat them. Feel free to limit the simple carbohydrates in your diet, things like white bread or other refined flour products, sugary cereals, and candies. But be sure to eat some complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain breads, brown rice and lots of vegetables!

4. You have to cut fat in order to lose weight

This one makes sense at first. If you want to lose the fat in your body, why would you continue to eat any of it? One issue is that fat helps your body metabolize many important nutrients and vitamins. Another problem is that all of those manufactured low-fat and fat-free foods have something else in them that hinders weight loss for most people, sugar. Food companies found that when they removed the fat from their products it removed the flavor. Their foods now tasted awful and they knew they wouldn’t be able to sell them as they were. In order to make their foods taste good again and to keep people purchasing their products, they added in sugar. But when the body is met by an onslaught of sugar several things happen that hinder weight loss and can actually cause weight gain.

5. Low calorie/artificial sweeteners are going to help you lose weight

This point really piggy backs off
of the last one. Some people think that if they switch to low calorie or
artificial sweeteners they will be able to stop some of the effects that real
sugar has on their body. But some studies have shown that the artificial
sweeteners effect the body in a similar way, but more intensely. This means
that blood sugar levels often get even higher and the crash afterwards is even
lower. These more extreme reactions are actually worse for the body in terms of
blood sugar regulation and insulin resistance.

When it comes to losing weight, many people are misled by quick fixes and one step methods. The most important thing is to examine your daily life and look at sustainable ways you can make healthier choices in your diet and daily activity. These choices will lead to a true lifestyle change that will then lead to success on your health journey.