westufit.com Blog

When I put my 2 year old daughter Ava to sleep at night, she always asks “Daddy, what did we do today?”

I take a few minutes to replay the highlights of the day: “You played with your friends at school.  I picked you up and we went to swim lessons.  Then we came home and played, ate dinner, took a bath, read our books and said our prayers.”

In between each point I bring up, she exclaims “YES!” as she rolls around and kicks her feet with excitement as if she’s reliving the day all over again.

After our time of reflecting on the day, she follows up with “What will we do tomorrow?”

In a day in the life of a 2 year old, not much changes.  I tell her about the fun she will have at school, who she gets to play with, highlight talking to grandma or going to Monkey Joes, let her know who’s picking her up from daycare, and any other special events for the following day.

Again, she gets fired up about all the endless fun and possibilities of what the new day will bring.

When Ava wakes up, she’s usually fired up and already talking about the plans of the day.  She knows her day has a purpose.  And when you have purpose, your attitude is different.  You walk taller.  Your confidence is beaming. You move through your day with direction, as opposed to walking aimlessly wondering what will happen next.

What Ava has learned is to take time at the end of each day to reflect on all the positives, fun and progress she has made.  She replays all the good things in her day, which builds her confidence.  She finishes her day with an ‘attitude is everything’ mentality that’s infectious.

When Ava asks about what’s happening tomorrow,  she’s looking to the future and planning out the day before it even happens.  This instills in her a purpose for the day ahead.  She falls asleep dreaming about all the great things tomorrow will bring.  And when she wakes up, she knows that it’s going to be an awesome day.  She’s usually fired up, bouncing in her bed and ready to attack the day full steam ahead.

What about you?  What if you took 5-10 minutes each night to reflect on all the positives in your life? Your health.  The ability to make your own decisions.  The blessings of a family, children, spouse, and a roof over your head.  The ability to break a sweat in a workout.  The choice you have to eat healthy foods.  The path you’re traveling down in your career.  There are endless possibilities for each of us.

The question is: have you taken the time lately to write down or reflect upon these opportunities instead of all the negative things that happened in your day.

What if you planned out your day the night before?  We all do this the day before vacation, so I know you can do it.  We all make lists of the things we need to accomplish before hopping in the car for a week long trip.  When you wake, you have purpose, a mission if you will to accomplish before your 3:00pm flight.  It’s crazy how productive you can be with a little planning the day before.

So take a lesson from my 2 year old daughter Ava – reflection and visualization will change your life.  You’ll find more hours in your day and develop such an infectious attitude of gratitude that will amaze and inspire those around you to become a better version of themselves.

Remember what it was like to wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy after a solid night’s sleep as a kid?  Is it the same now?  Probably not as the average American adult only sleeps 6 hours, 30 minutes a night during a typical work week.

We seem to have our priorities mixed up here: We say those who work late into the night, sleep only 4-6 hours, and return first thing in the morning are a success.  We say those who leave at normal hours, get 7-8 hours of sleep, and return at normal hours are lazy or not dedicated.

To fully appreciate what a full night of 7-8 hours of peaceful sleep can do for you, let me break it down for you this way:

• Your Muscles:

As you enter a deep sleep, your body releases a surge of growth hormones that stimulate muscle growth and repair.  Without a regular release of growth hormone to your body, you’ll experience weight gain, loss of muscle mass and a decrease in your capacity to workout.

• Your Brain:

Sleep is essential for memory, decision-making , and your attention span.  Why?  When you sleep, you rejuvenate the connection between brain cells.  The longer you’re awake, the more inconsistent they connections become.

• Your Immune System:

The more deep sleep you get, the healthier your immune system will be.  As your sleep time decreases, so do your white blood cells – the kings to fighting off sicknesses.  Sleeping fewer than 6 hours a night will increase your chances of viral infection, stroke, and heart disease by 50%.

• Your Blood Sugar:

Snoozing less than 6 hours a night increases your chances by 4.5 times of developing diabetes.  Enough said!

• Your Mood:

The longer you sleep, the more positive, optimistic, and less irritable and depressed you are.  By feeling more confident about yourself, you’ll be more likely to set bigger goals for yourself and change your entire life – all from regular 7-8 hours of sleep!

I know what you’re saying right now: I function just fine on little sleep.  Really?  If you think you function and operate daily at 100%, just think how much more effective you could be if you slept a full 7-8 hours.  God designed us to sleep when it’s dark and he did so for the reasons stated above.  You can’t defy the laws of physiology.  Your body needs the rest, recover and renewal that sleep brings.

When we are young, you tend to get away with sleeping less.  Over the years though, it catches up with you.   You begin to use caffeine to “get going” in the morning, a mid-afternoon jolt of more caffeine or sugary snack to keep going and then cap the night off with a glass or two of your favorite wine to “help” you go to sleep.

The crazy thing about using alcohol to fall asleep fast is that you don’t realize the disruptive effects it has on sleep later in the night.  After the alcohol has metabolized and it’s sedative effects have worn off, you’ll suffer from a reduction in the total time you actually spend asleep, a decrease in your sleep efficiency and an increase in the amount of time you spend awake throughout the night.  All this prevents you from falling into the deep sleep zone that your body needs to be in to fully recover and repair after a long hard day of work, family, stress, working out, metabolizing foods, thinking, decision making, and fighting off illnesses.

Almost 100% of the population requires a full 7-8 hours of sleep each night.  Insomnia and poor sleep habits are mostly self induced and learned behaviors that you can self correct with a few simple steps.

1. 1. Bedroom environment:
   1. Dim the lights – Insomnia feeds off the glow from the TV, computer, iPad, Smartphone, Tablet, or even the digital clock next to your bed.  The light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a sleep-promoting hormone.  An hour before bed, turn off the electronics and read a book or journal.
   2. Chill Out – Sleeping in a cool environment slows down metabolic processes, including the mindless thoughts, to-do lists, and tomorrows stresses that prevents you from drifting off.  Drop the temp to 68 degrees Fahrenheit for starters.  If insomnia is still persistent, drop the temp even lower!
2. 2. Bedtime routine:
   1. Most importantly is to keep a regular sleep schedule – even on the weekends.
   2. Try some Chamomile tea that has calming effects instead of a nightly glass of wine.
   3. Keep your cell phone out of reach at night and the ringer and alert message off.
   4. Spend 5-10 minutes reflecting on the positives of the day by writing them down in a journal.

We were naturally designed to sleep 7-8 hours a night to fully recover for the next day’s hard labor.  Don’t try to convince yourself differently.  When your systems fully rested, recovered, renewed and repaired, you can attack your day with a full tank of energy.

Just a reminder that I am not a RD or nutritionist, but here are my thoughts on what that would look like.

Breakfast:

Organic cut up fruit 1 c.

Ezekiel Good for Life Bread 1 slice

Organic  peanut or almond butter 1tbs.

Snack:

Natural Raw Trail Mix  ½ c.  You would find something like this in the bulk section.  Make sure it has not been salted, roasted, etc.  Just plain and  raw.

Organic Apple ½ of apple.

Lunch:

Quinoa 1c.

Black Beans 1c.

Salsa or Pico ¼ c.

Organic Chicken Breast ½ breast

Snack:

Apple ½ of apple ( the other half from the morning)

Fage yogurt ½ c. with a dash of cinnamon

Dinner:

Salmon Filet 1 piece

Mixed Green Salad

Any veggie 1 c.

Salad dressing, evoo and red wine vinegar 1 tbs. combined.

If your eating habits are far from this, baby steps are fine.  Making too many changes at once can seem restricting, unless you can handle that type of change- then GO for IT!  I hope this has helped somewhat in the direction to take your daily eating habits.   Keep the questions coming and I look forward to next month.

Cassie

Nutrition is easily overlooked with it comes to an individual’s quest to lose fat.

Most think they can out-train a bad nutrition plan. They think that if they only run an extra three miles and hit the gym six times vs only four, they will be able to stay ahead of the game and continue to lose fat. They think that if they stay on the bike for an extra 30 minutes, skip breakfast, eat a salad for lunch and consume a regular dinner, their metabolism will remain elevated. They think that if they sleep only 4-6 hours a night, the body will be able to fully recover, build muscle and refuel the energy needed to tackle work, family, and training with 100% intensity.

Let me put it practically for you: You’ll never out-train a bad diet.

The #1 place to start with change in your nutrition plan is to (get ready for this) consume high quality carbohydrates. Think of carbohydrates as the body’s fuel supply to keeping you active, thinking clearly and being on top of your game every day.

The trouble is with low-carb diets being touted as the best plan for weight loss is that we now believe that carbohydrates are bad. Adequate carbohydrate intake and stores within the body (a.k.a Glycongen) are critical for optimum performance in the game of life, in the gym, and for your career.

So the first step you need to take to adding them to your daily nutrition plan is to understanding what qualifies as a high quality carb:

• Fruits – Blueberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, Plums, Tomato, Kiwi, Pears, Grapes
• Vegetables – Spinach, Kale, Romaine Lettuce, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Squash, String Beans
• Whole Grains – Buckwheat, Quinoa, Wild & Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Rye, Milo, Barley

It is important to know that energy demands of exercise dictate that carbs are the preferred fuel for exercise intensities above 65% of VO2max. 65% is nothing really. At 65% of your VO2max you should be able to speak in complete sentences, but have a little difficulty in finishing them.

To back this up with current research, shorter and more vigorous workouts are the best of fat burning goals.   To make sure you are completing these workouts fresh and fully recovered, you need to be fueling your body with high quality carbs. There is a strong relationship between the pre-exercise muscle glycogen (stored carbs) and the individual’s ability to exercise repeatedly at high intensities.

Remember, high quality carbohydrates are the fuel your body needs to maintain peak performance and crushing your fat loss goals!

In 1928, Dr. George W. Calver became the U.S. Congress’ first appointed doctor. He was chosen at a time when senators and representatives were dying at the rate of 20 a year!

Dr. Calver developed “The 10 Commandments of Health” that he posted throughout the Capitol and distributed on wallet-size cards to every member of Congress. On the card he added “Give 5% of your time to keeping well. You won’t have to give 100% getting over being sick.” Talk about being ahead of his time.

The 10 Commandments of Health from 1928:

1. Eat Wisely
2. Drink Plentifully (of water)
3. Eliminate Thoroughly
4. Bathe Cleanly (interesting how times have changed)
5. Exercise Rationally
6. Accept Inevitables (don’t worry)
7. Play Enthusiastically
8. Relax Completely
9. Sleep Sufficiently
10. Check Up Occasionally

There may be no more cost controlling tool than an individual’s effort to take the crucial and obvious preventive steps that lessen the onset of chronic disease. By any measure, it’s an essential investment.

Diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke collectively cost $238 billion a year and are directly related to obesity and smoking. Over 70% of our nation is considered overweight. At the rate these diseases are raising, it’s predicted they will add an additional $466 billion to the cost by 2030 – without inflation!

As the old saying goes: An apple a day will keep the doctor away. You can start to achieve better health with your first bite starting today. You must take responsibility for your actions. Anything less will be delusional.

Let’s tackle this together. Make a list of the top 3 commandments you’re going to take action on this week. Share them with your family, friends, co-workers and on our www.facebook.com/westufitness page.

I look forward to hearing about your success over the next few months.

Yield: 6 Large Pancakes

Ingredients

• One 5.3 oz. container of non-fat, GREEK STYLE yogurt ( You can substitute non-fat cottage cheese instead of yogurt)
• 6 egg whites
• 2/3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

Optional:

• Add Agave to sweeten while blending
• You can flavor to taste with:
  • Blueberries ½ cup
  • Strawberries ½ cup
  • 1 banana
  • 1 Banana + 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter

Instructions

1. Blend the egg whites and yogurt
2. Mix into a bowl with 2/3 cup of plain oatmeal
3. Let sit and soak for a few minutes
4. Use cooking spray to create a non-stock surface, then cook each pancake
5. Use Agave for syrup

Ingredients:
1/8 of a head of green cabbage
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
1 apple
2 eggs ( or for vegan use 2 tbs. baking powder instead)
2 cups of your favorite cake mix (spice, chocolate, lemon , white, organic.) Try using gluten Free too!
2 Tbs.. Agave Nectar

Preparation: Pour ½ the cake mixture into a bowl, with cone #1 shred all of the vegetables & apple.
Instructions:

Mix cake mix, veggies and eggs in mixing bowl until moist. Pour cake mixture into pan (5 Quart pan). Follow baking time on back of cake box.  When a tooth pick or knife comes out clean cake is ready. Flip the cake over onto a plate, let cool down and serve

Stop Eating Sugar!!!!

The size of your life will always look staggeringly similar to the size of your expectations.

Dream BIG dreams!  If your dreams don’t scare you, you’re not dreaming BIG enough.  When you set the bar low, you tend to surpass it not feeling really satisfied.  You know deep down inside you had more to give.  So the question you must ask yourself is:

If you know you can do better, should you do it?

Picasso didn’t wait until he was Picasso to paint like Picasso.  Michael Jordan didn’t wait until he was Jordan to play basketball like Jordan.  Meryl Streep didn’t wait until she was Meryl Streep to act like Meryl Streep.

You see, on the other side of your greatest fears lives your greatest life.  Don’t hold back in fear.  The purpose of fear is to determine how badly you want your dream.

Dream BIG Dreams!