Completely You: Health

By Jenna McCarthy for Completely You

If you usually find yourself dragging through your day, you’re not alone. “Lack of energy is the No. 1 issue people come to see me about,” says Dawn Jackson Blatner, registered dietitian, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and author of The Flexitarian Diet (McGraw Hill, 2009). “They want to know, How can I get more energy so that I can really enjoy my life?”

According to Blatner, if you’re putting too much on your plate — literally or figuratively –you’re setting yourself up for chronic lethargy. In other words, eating too much and doing too much will put you on a fast track to burnout.

The good news: You can boost your energy every day in just a few simple steps. Following this plan will help you go from exhausted to energetic — and stay that way throughout the day.

7 a.m.
Begin with balance. If your goal is all-day energy, breakfast isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. And a bowl of Sugar-Os won’t cut it. According to Blatner, to get and keep your engine humming, balancing your nutrients at each meal matters most. Starting with breakfast, aim for three meals a day that consist of 25% lean protein, 25% whole grains and 50% produce that has both a high water and fiber content (such as citrus and spinach). “Each food group is absorbed and releases energy at a different rate,” Blatner says. “The 25-25-50 balance ensures optimal, sustained energy with no crashes.” One caveat: You still have to watch your portion size. Even the most perfectly balanced meal can send you into a couch coma if you eat too much of it.

10 a.m.
Ease up on caffeine. You don’t have to forsake your beloved latte, but for maximum get-up-and-go, down no more than 16 ounces of coffee a day, and consume all of it before noon. “Drinking caffeine any later absolutely affects sleep quality, even if you don’t realize it,” Blatner says.

Noon
Re-energize with exercise. For general health, an hour of daily movement is ideal; for optimal energy, break it up into two light 30-minute workouts. Try to fit in one of those workouts on your lunch break — even if it’s just a stroll around your neighborhood. “It doesn’t matter if it’s yoga or walking or some cardio plus resistance,” Blatner says. “Exercise is the vehicle through which oxygen is delivered to every cell in the body, so just moving means you’re energizing those cells.”

It’s also important to stay hydrated. Blatner calls coconut water the perfect natural sports drink (if you add a pinch of sea salt to replace the sodium and chloride lost through perspiration) because it contains only natural sugars. Look for brands such as O.N.E., Vita Coco or Zico that contain only one ingredient: coconut water.

3 p.m.
Give yourself a healthy boost. Instead of hitting the vending machine for an afternoon pick-me-up, plan ahead for two protein-plus-produce snacks a day (celery and peanut butter, string cheese and a pear, almonds and an apple). In addition, drink some green or black tea, which has about one-third the caffeine of coffee and contains compounds that buffer caffeine’s jittery effects.

After you snack, maximize your energy by switching up your work environment. Your best bet: Head outside for a brisk stroll; fresh air and sunshine are nature’s most powerful energizers. If that’s not possible, try moving your desk closer to a window. A recent work-performance study by the California Energy Commission linked working by natural light with better concentration and short-term recall.

5 p.m.
Move it or lose it (energy, that is). Squeezing in your second light workout before dinner can help decrease appetite and control portion size. Remember, overeating results in fatigue because digesting large quantities of food drains energy.

8 p.m.
Gear up to wind down. Your body thrives on routine and rhythm, so getting to bed and waking up at the same as often as possible is key to unlocking optimal energy. Sleep is the time your body repairs itself, and you need a minimum of seven hours to accomplish that, says Blatner. A warm shower or bath makes an ideal segue from the day’s chaos to the rejuvenation that’s to come. Important: Make sure your last meal is at least two hours before bedtime to ensure the most restful night’s sleep.

What steps do you take to boost your energy? Comment below or connect with us @Completely_You

Guest writer is an internationally published writer, former radio personality and the author of five books, including the recently-released If It Was Easy They’d Call the Whole Damn Thing a Honeymoon. Her work has appeared in more than 50 magazines, dozens of sites and several anthologies, including the popular Chicken Soup series. She is a frequent contributor to Completely
You.

Guest post from By Leesa Hamilton and Rhonda Rovan

Moderation, not starvation 

The good news is that we now know the key to shedding that winter weight involves moderation rather than severe restriction. “If you’re on a strict diet, there’s always going to come a time when something will get in the way to make you ‘break’ it, like a party or your birthday,” says Halifax registered dietitian Tristaca Curley, owner of the nutrition counselling service Fuel with Food. “People who go on restricted diets often gain back more than they lost.” 

Plus, she adds, “When you restrict a lot of calories, the body recognizes starvation mode. It starts conserving energy as fat and your metabolism slows down.”  

The trick is to identify the one or two foods you simply can’t give up, and have those treats a few times a week. 

Small changes can make a big difference, such as swapping 2% milk for skim, white bread for grainy, and skipping the butter or cheese in your sandwich. “Make sure every meal and snack has one fruit or one vegetable for nutrient-dense fibre,” says Curley, “and that half of your dinner plate is filled with vegetables.”

8 ways to banish bloating 

Add fibre. “You should make a habit of getting consistent fibre intake throughout the day,” says Curley. 

Drink water. Herbal tea is good, too. Peppermint tea soothes the digestive tract to reduce bloating. 

Cut down on caffeine. “It could cause water retention,” says Curley. 

Go easy on alcohol. “It can cause water retention the following day,” Curley explains. 

Watch your salt intake. The sodium content causes you to retain more water weight. The recommended daily limit is between 1,500 and 2,300 milligrams. 

Go easy on hot spices. They can irritate your stomach and cause bloating. 

Take a walk post-meal. It will help you pass gas to release air trapped in your stomach. “Light to moderate exercise after a meal will assist in digestion and decrease bloating,” says Helen Vanderburg, a personal trainer and fitness instructor, and the owner of Heavens Fitness in Calgary.

Tips for cutting calories 

• Decide on one major, realistic goal, such as aiming to lose five pounds. Then create smaller, weekly goals, such as aiming to lose half to one pound per week, so you can easily monitor your progress and stay motivated. Use a smaller plate so that you’re aware of portion sizes, and don’t mindlessly overeat. 

• Avoid eating on the run when you can. Says Curley: “Mindful eating means sitting down to eat, and not combining it with another activity such as watching television.” 

• Make a smoothie with frozen or fresh fruit, or even veggies, if you’re in need of a snack. 

• Offer to walk a neighbour’s dog, or arrange to meet a friend for brisk, regular “walks and talks” instead of catching up via phone or Facebook. 

• Carry a food and exercise diary, and be sure to update it daily. 

• Put a photograph of a healthier you on the fridge door as motivation.

Your metabolism cheat sheet 

Drink green tea. It contains catechins, antioxidants that have been linked to a reduced risk of stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes—and that amp up your metabolism and help burn more calories. 

Eat more cinnamon. It increases insulin levels, which helps you process carbs more effectively—and it tastes delicious. 

This article was originally titled “Summer’s coming! Love your body in a bikini” in the May 2012 issue of Best Health

Body Media Fit Review

Say good bye to guess work and hello weight loss!

I started using the Body Media CORE Armband on for 35 days have lost 8.6lb’s!

(GGS note:  The guest writer is a male, which males tend to lose weight quicker than us female types.  The writer lost approx. 2 pounds per week.) 

This wearable weight loss and activity monitoring system is easy and simple to use. The armband secures easily with a Velcro strap,  like wearing a watch around your bicep with the monitoring device rests on your tricep muscle. The monitoring system then measures motion, heat flux, skin temperature and galvanic skin response to track calorie burn, physical activity, steps taken, sleep duration and sleep efficiency. So you can measure how many calories you burn doing your daily routine.  By syncing your armband with the easy to use on line Activity Manager, you can then view your daily results. You see your daily calories consumed and burned, your calorie balance or deficit, track your physical activity pattern and total steps taken throughout the day and monitor your sleep and rest duration. 

To get started you set up your personal profile of current weight height etc., and then create your goals based on caloric consumption and activity level. I chose the daily calories needed for my goal weight and then picked my desired activity level which is a combination of daily moderate and vigorous activity and steps taken . This creates daily caloric intake and activity goals to measure your progress by. You also choose up to ten nutrition categories such as protein, calories, carbohydrates , alcohol etc., and this categorizes your daily food intake and allows you see the percentage break down by category of your daily consumption. You can also activate a Fit Coach, where you will receive tips such as better eating or physical activity strategies. You can even program an important daily reminder, this is meant to critical to your health such as daily medication. Another cool feature was the exercise calorie calculator, you simply choose your activity which can range from cutting the lawn to playing ice hockey, then choose the intensity level and duration. The calories for that specific activity are then calculated for you. I found this an excellent guide to determine what activities gave you the most calorie burn and just how many you could by cutting the lawn and cleaning the house!

The food log was easy to use and tracked frequent foods that you had logged, so instead of typing in names of foods and scrolling to find your choice, you simply click on Frequent Foods, a short list of your foods is populated and you can click on your selection. 

The FIT CORE Armband is so simple and effective to use! Once your profile is created and goals selected, you just wear it and go! To sync the monitoring system you plug into your computer the device immediately starts to sync that day’s activity levels to your user profile, once complete it then takes to you summary page. From that point log in your daily meals, you then see accurate to the minute results of your daily progress towards you’re eating and exercising goals.! You will see summary of” target to actual” results for calories burned, calories consumed, your calorie balance, physical activity, steps taken and sleep duration. Each category can then be further broken down for more detailed information such as peak activity periods, when your burning the most calories and the nutrition break down of the foods you eaten. 

The system also notifies you when have achieved a new “Personal Best”, such as highest every calories burned in a day, the most steps taken, longest period of physical activity. I found these messages to be inspiring as I would then challenge myself to beat my new best record! It really helped me make the right food choices and keep within my daily calorie requirement and motivated me to keep active and moving throughout the day!. It is great to see my weight loss, but more so is understanding what actions produced the positive results. In this way, I not only lost weight but realize how to maintain my new weight going forward. 

The BodyMedia FIT CORE Armband retails for $179.99 (on sale right now for $99)and there is a monthly website subscription cost, as well you can purchase replacement Velcro straps at $13.00 each. 

In my view the cost to benefit analysis of purchasing the FIT CORE Armband is clear, the FIT CORE Armband is well worth the investment! If you are really serious about healthy choices, keeping fit a and maintain a desired weight, the FIT CORE Armband is an excellent tool that will help you get reach your goals.

Reviews on GirlGetStrong.com reflect the personal opinion of the writer, whether it is good, bad or ugly. We tell it like it is. No compensation was accepted by the writer or GGS Media Corporation for this review. This product was sent to us for review.

Guest post – Victoria, Toronto, Canada

As I ran through the inflatable starting arch at the Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon last Sunday, I couldn’t help but raise my dukes and throw a few jabs like a prizefighter making their way to the ring. After months of tested discipline and miles of conquered road, I was finally ready to take on my first half marathon. It was my Rocky moment.

Now that I can gleefully cross it off my bucket list, here are a few things I’ve learned from running my first organized race:

While training:
• Wear your hardware! Whether it’s a knee brace – like me – or ankle tapings, if you come with some assembly required, use it! That nagging, mothery voice in the back of your head will become a sing-songy “I-told-you-so” chant when you hurt yourself.

• Mapmyrun.com gives you easy-to-read, full route elevation. Nothing ruins a perfectly good training run like an unscheduled mountaineering expedition. Know what you’re getting into.

• Seasoned runners have advice. A LOT of advice. Typically well-meaning but often panic-inducing. Stick to your running schedule and find what works for you. There is more than one way to get it done.

• Roadside cheerleaders offer an immeasurable service. Before race day I didn’t understand the role of those standing curbside, noisemaker in hand, watching a stream of sweaty strangers pass by. I get it now. Seeing that even this unfamiliar person wants me to succeed adds much needed fuel to my tank. God bless you, enthusiastic strangers!

Post-race:
• Chocolate milk is a perfectly acceptable post-race beverage. There are few times in your life that you will be encouraged to chug bottles of protein-laden chocolate milk in between bites of bagel and banana. Indulge, my friend. You earned it.

• A pedicure is the ONLY worthy expression of gratitude to feet that have tolerated months of abuse. Show them some love. They’ve carried you through this journey.

I think I’ve got that ‘bug’ that I hear runners talk about. Waterfront Marathon, here I come!

Have you run a Marathon before?  Are you going to attempt one in the future?

Read more of Victoria’s blog here.