Good news about exercise and good cholesterol

It is widely accepted that high levels of good cholesterol, also known as high-density lipoprotein (HDL), seem to protect against heart disease. Instead of depositing fat into the blood vessels the way the “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein (LDL)) does, HDL carries cholesterol away from blood vessels to the liver. The liver then processes it for removal from the body.

However, once again there appears to be more to the story.  Several recent studies have shown that often times heart disease occurs in people with normal levels of HDL cholesterol. As a result, some researchers have theorized that even if people have adequate amounts of HDL cholesterol, it might not work well. They believe that perhaps the HDL may not be fulfilling other important duties in the body, such as reducing inflammation and acting as an antioxidant.

Since exercise has been shown to protect against heart disease in a variety of ways, Christian K. Roberts and his colleagues at UCLA tested whether HDL in men who weight trained regularly behaved in a healthier way than HDL in sedentary men. They found that the men who didn’t exercise were more likely than those who weight trained to have dysfunctional HDL.  This finding held true regardless of the men’s weight, which suggests that exercise, specifically weight training in this study, was more important for healthy cholesterol function than maintaining a healthy weight.  But before you go celebrate with that slab of cheesecake, remember that maintaining a healthy body weight is associated with many health benefits. 

How many calories in cortisol?

That may seem like a ridiculous question since cortisol is a hormone and not a food.  However, constant stress can cause our bodies to overproduce the hormone which can cause sleep problems, induce blood sugar abnormalities, and lead to abdominal weight gain.  We need cortisol as it plays an important role in regulating blood pressure and the immune system when our body is experiencing physical or emotional stress.  But when we are under constant stress and cortisol levels do not return to normal, we can experience some or all of the above problems.

Of course the desirable solution is to reduce the amount of stress in our lives, but we all know that there is a certain amount of stress that is uncontrollable.  However, there are steps that we can take to manage cortisol.

Sleep!  Or take a nap.  We have emphasized the importance of sleep so many times that some of our participants have asked if we live in the real world.  We do, and our lives are busy and we don't always get as much sleep as we know we should.  But we know that it is so important that at times we just decide that sleep is more important and many things truly can just wait until tomorrow. 

According to Shawn Talbott, author of The Cortisol Connection, the difference between getting six hours and eight hours of sleep is 50 percent more cortisol in the bloodstream.  A study at Germany's Institute for Aerospace Medicine found when a group of pilots slept six hours or less for seven nights while on duty, their cortisol levels increased significantly and stayed elevated for two days.  The recommended 8 hours of nightly shut-eye allows your body enough time to recover from the day's stresses, Talbott says.

Another great way to lower cortisol levels is to tune into your favorite music.  When doctors at Japan's Osaka Medical Center played tunes for a group of patients undergoing colonoscopies, the patients' cortisol levels rose less than those of others who underwent the same procedure in a quiet room.  So even if you don't have a colonoscopy on your schedule, music has a calming effect on the brain and has been shown to reduce cortisol levels by as much as 66%. 

Are you a tea drinker?  When volunteers at University College London were given a stressful task, the cortisol levels of those who were regular black-tea drinkers fell by 47% within an hour of completing the assignment, while others who drank fake tea experienced only a 27% drop. The author of the study, Andrew Steptoe, PhD, believes that naturally occurring chemicals such as polyphenols and flavonoids could be responsible for tea's calming effects.

How many times have we heard that laughter is the best medicine?  Researchers at Loma Linda University found that simply anticipating laughter is enough to reduce cortisol levels by nearly half.  And if your best friend isn't available to make you laugh, studies have shown that massage sessions reduce stress by promoting production of dopamine and serotonin, the same "feel good" hormones released when we socialize with pals or do something fun.

We all live busy lives and are subject to stress that we have no control over, but we can take steps to reduce some of that stress and to minimize the impact that it has on our health.

No Excuses

The number one excuse for not exercising is "I don't have time." There is a cartoon of a patient visiting his doctor, offering up that same excuse, "I just don't have time to exercise".  The doctor's response?  Do you have time to be sick, or dead?  The return on the investment we get of a relatively small amount of time dedicated to our health is immeasurable.  We already know that regular exercise reduces our risk of heart disease, cancer, and numerous other diseases, but more recent research has even suggested that being physically fit in midlife may be a preventative measure against developing diseases such as Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis.  Not having enough time to fit in a 30 minute exercise program that provides cardiovascular, strength, flexibility, and balance benefits is nonsense.  Do you have time to watch American Idol or your favorite TV show?  It is not a matter of not having enough time.  It is simply a matter of priorities. 

Another common excuse for not exercising is back pain, or some other limitation.  NOT moving is the worst thing you can do in most instances.  There is almost no condition or disease that will not improve with the right type of exercise.  It is important to talk to your doctor about types of exercise that are appropriate but most conditions from arthritis, to back pain, to diabetes, to osteoporosis, to Parkinson's to _______ (you fill in the blank) will improve with the right type of exercise.

Another common excuse is "I am too old or I am too young" (as in I still have kids that get in the way of exercise).  When it comes to age there is no too young or too old for exercise.  If you have children, either workout around them or with them.  Working out around them often means early morning workouts while they are still in bed.  Not an early fitness bird?  Workout with your kids.  Take a family hike or bike ride, or let the kids ride their bikes while you run.  If you are at the other end of the age spectrum, it is never too late.  As the U.S. population ages, more and more research has been done on the benefits of exercise for older adults.  Research has shown that even people in their 90s can improve mental function, balance, flexibility, and strength from participating in a regular fitness program. 

I thought I had finished this blog and had it saved to drafts, ready to post on Monday.  Then a funny thing happened.  We received an email from Amy, one of our early bird long-time Warriors, and with her permission I am posting it in this blog because it is the perfect example of how stuff, or life, just happens and seems to conspire against us and give us plenty of opportunities to find an excuse to skip our workout.  Yet she did not cave into any of the reasons she had for not doing her workout and JUST DID IT!

Here is Amy's "funny story":

Hey I didn't get a chance to tell you....I ran yesterday and it's kinda funny ;)

Tuesday night I swore I would run on Wed morning....Wed morning came and I just grumbled and scowled and didn't wanna do it...finally I forced myself to just get dressed in running clothes and just kept telling myself I was going to go run...
Took girls to school and was about to drop them off when I remembered that I was supposed to help out in Claire's classroom (great I hadn't showered yet!!!) oh well - helped out for 1/2 hr...then thought - OK I'm going to the Hilton.....got to the Hilton - NO PARKING SPOTS anywhere :(
went home.....my ear buds - brand new mind you - are missing officially....took old ones that fall out all the time....plugged them in my phone...went out to my loop on my street that I do sometimes....pandora not working - grrrrrrrrr!!!

gosh darnit - ran anyway ;)

talk about the most difficult run - geez!


As Fitness Trainers we have heard almost every excuse imaginable for missing a workout.  Achieving your health and fitness goals comes down to making lifestyle changes and it is a matter of priorities.  "If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.” ― Jim Rohn

Flagstaff to Sedona Ultra with CBD Adventure

We had several people express disappointment that we didn't have any pictures of Cabana Boy Dave and his misadventure of getting stuck on Schnebly Hill Road.  So here it is:

Sleep + De-stress = Weight Loss?

Recent research has shown that getting too little or too much sleep can result in weight gain or an inability to lose weight.  In one study, people who got six to seven hours of sleep per night gained less visceral fat over 5 years compared to those who slept five or fewer hours per night or eight or more hours per night.

In another study subjects who were deprived of sleep for just one night experienced pronounced changes in the way their brains responded to high-calorie junk foods. Fattening foods like potato chips and sweets stimulated stronger responses in a part of the brain that helps govern the motivation to eat. In addition, the subjects experienced a sharp reduction in activity in the frontal cortex, a higher-level part of the brain where consequences are weighed and rational decisions are made.  So it appears that a sleepy brain not only responds more strongly to junk food, but also has less ability to resist those impulses.  In fact, a study at the University of Colorado showed that losing just a few hours of sleep a few nights in a row caused people to pack on an average of about two pounds.

Dr. Wright, the director of the sleep and chronobiology lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder says, “There’s something that changes in our brain when we’re sleepy that’s irrespective of how much energy we need. The brain wants more even when the energy need has been fulfilled.”  Dr. Wright called the findings exciting and said that they help explain why people make poor dietary choices and eat much more than they need to when fatigued.  In an independent review of this study, Dr. Walker proposed that getting adequate sleep may be the equivalent of rebooting the brain and rebalancing the brain and body. He says it is increasingly clear from the medical literature that there is not a single tissue in the body that is not beneficially affected by sleep.

As we have mentioned before, sleep deprivation negatively effects the balance of hormones in our body which can contribute to weight gain.  The stress hormone cortisol climbs, hormones that stimulate appetite increase and the hormones that diminish appetite drop.  People also become less sensitive to insulin which raises their risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Sleep deprivation is not the only factor that causes an increase in cortisol levels.  The presence of cortisol in our bodies is normal and serves many important functions.  Cortisol is released in response to stress, sparing available glucose for the brain, generating new energy from stored reserves, and diverting energy from low-priority activities (such as the immune system) in order to survive immediate threats or prepare for the exertion of rising to a new day. However, prolonged cortisol secretion (which may be due to chronic stress) results in significant physiological changes. This disruption of cortisol secretion may not only promote weight gain, but it can also affect where you put on the weight. Some studies have shown that stress and elevated cortisol tend to cause fat deposition in the abdominal area rather than in the hips.

Much of the stress we face in our lives is uncontrollable but we can take some steps to reduce stress. We can also improve the way our bodies deal with stress by following a regular fitness program, getting the proper amount of sleep and making good nutritional choices.

 

Don't break that habit!

No, the title is not a mistake, and yes, we know it sounds backwards.  Usually someone is trying to break a habit.  In this case, however, we want you to stick with your exercise habit. 

As my cousin would say, "We are right in the Epcot Center of the eating season.".   (She meant epicenter, and she might have had one too many martinis).  Regardless, many of you are trying to successfully navigate a time of year that is filled with parties, cocktails, food, family, and stress.  The best way to find your way through to the New Year without that holiday 5 or 10 is to stick to the exercise habit you have already established.  Staying consistent with your fitness program will help you avoid the weight gain and will help relieve the additional stress that can come from dealing with added social, financial, and family obligations.

Many of you have probably heard that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit.  A recent study by Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts, & Wardle challenged the validity of that claim.  They conducted a rigorous study of habit formation in which their participants performed a self-chosen health-promoting dietary or activity behaviour (e.g. drinking a glass of water) in response to a once-daily cue (e.g. after breakfast), and gave daily self-reports of how automatic the behavior felt. Participants were tracked for 84 days. Automaticity typically developed a distinct pattern: initial repetitions of the behavior led to quite large increases in automaticity, but these increases then reduced in size the more often the behavior was repeated, until automaticity plateaued. Assuming that the point at which automaticity is highest, is also the point when the habit has formed, it took, on average, 66 days for the habit to form.

For our Metabolic Warriors who have been with us for one to two years, you have developed a great fitness habit.  For our newer Warriors, many of you began your training the last week of October.  That means you are over 40 days into developing a healthy fitness habit.  Stay strong with your routine and by the end of December you will have surpassed your 66 days.  Then you can begin the New Year in the envious position of not having to be one of the majority of people who set a resolution to begin a workout program...  and then fail within one or two weeks. 

Remember, if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.  You have taken on the challenge and we are seeing great changes!