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by Sheila | Mar 4, 2010 | Stress and Weight Loss
I tend to stress people out when I write about how much stress can affect your weight.
It’s not a scare tactic, really. Call it more of an awareness tactic.
And if I am stressing you out, then I feel obligated to tell you about some surefire ways you can reduce stress. One of them may surprise you: It’s stretching.
Stretching? Like what you do before you exercise?
Exactly. Stretching can help move toxins out of the muscles, including lactic acid. Combined with deep breathing, it can help you unwind and relax.
And I can’t over-emphasize the importance of relaxation enough. If you’re relaxed, your body won’t kick out overloads of cortisol, or limit your supply of the all-important hormone DHEA, responsible for anti-aging, libido stimulating and fat burning.
So let’s start stretching, shall we?
I’ve attached a few pictures of some great stretches you can do around the office. Give them a shot. Now you may get a few funny looks as you begin loosening hamstrings while making photocopies, but you may just inspire some co-workers to join in.
When you stretch, hold these poses 10-20 seconds, until you feel slight tension. Then relax for 10 seconds, stretch slightly further, and hold again for another 10-20 seconds.
Relax during the stretch, and don’t bounce or jerk. If it hurts, STOP! Pain can mean that your muscle is about to get tighter than when you started.
Be sure to incorporate deep breathing exercises into the mix. It enhances the stretch and gives your body the oxygen it needs.
When should you stretch?
When should you sneak these stretches in? Pace yourself throughout the day. Whenever you’re feeling a little tight, push back the chair and stretch out.
If you exercise during the day, be sure to stretch before and after the workout. Those post-workout stretches help move toxins out of the muscles, helping reduce soreness. It also brings oxygen-rich blood into the muscles.
Deep breathing is critical throughout, as it increases your flexibility.
Stretching has so many positive benefits beyond relaxing your body and helping work out toxins in the muscles. It also prepares your joints for activity, and helps extend the range of motion of your muscles. It can prevent injuries, too.
So don’t stretch for that bag of potato chips – stretch to relieve stress and lose weight the natural way!
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by Sheila | Feb 26, 2010 | Stress and Weight Loss
If you didn’t listen in to last night’s Natural Beach Body teleseminar, don’t worry: You can still tune in!
http://attendthisevent.com/?eventid=11111718 to listen to a replay of the teleseminar, and discover a special limited time offer
Sheila “The Weight Loss Comedian” Robertson introduced to our listeners!
First, let’s recount what happened in last night’s teleseminar:
Sheila and Dr. Chad Oler of the Natural Path Health Center discussed how to achieve a Natural Beach Body, getting into the science of weight loss resistance.
Informative, funny, and fascinating, the seminar touched on a wide range of topics.
- You’ll learn why so many people struggle to lose weight, even when they do all the right things.
- You’ll hear both Sheila and Dr. Chad’s own personal struggles with weight, and how they righted their own personal ships.
- You’ll discover 10 tips for looking great in just 10 days.
And best of all, you’ll discover a special offer Sheila made last night to all our listeners. From now until noon on March 5, anyone who signs up for a Getting Started visit will enjoy a 50% discount off the price.
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by Sheila | Feb 24, 2010 | Stress and Weight Loss
Putting on weight may cause stress, but the opposite is also true: Stress is a big contributor to weight gain.
Why? It comes to down science and weight loss resistance.
Stress is one of the key factors in weight loss resistance. Consider it from a scientific perspective:
Stress causes an increase in cortisol, the catabolic (breakdown) hormone. If this level remains high, it will break down muscle, dump sugar into your bloodstream and result in insulin resistance.
Ugh. Not good. Unfortunately, I’m just getting started.
Chronic stress lowers serotonin and can make you hypoglycemic. Those two factors will make you crave sugar – which despite what your kids might tell you – is not good for you, especially in the weight loss department.
Over time, chronic stress will lower the anti-aging, libido stimulating, fat burning hormone DHEA. It will affect your body’s ability to build muscle – let’s call that your “metabolic girdle.” (Doesn’t that sound sexy?)
Okay, so how do you know if you’re stressed out? Sounds like that should be an obvious answer, but most people don’t stop and take a good look at some of the signs that stress is affecting their health.
Behavior Symptoms: Think about how you’ve been acting lately. Have you noticed added anger or hostility? Are you exceptionally moody, or indecisive?
Also think about your eating and drinking habits. Are you eating quickly, often, and in great quantities? And are you finding that one glass of wine or beer is often turning to 3, 4, 5 or more?
These are all behavioral indicators that you’re feeling stress.
Intellectual Symptoms: You may notice you’re more forgetful (if you can remember to notice), and that you’re losing focus on details. That’s more than just misplacing your keys once or twice – you’ll know it when the forgetfulness incidents start to add up.
You may also notice a lack of concentration, as in you may not be able to finish this article. (I seriously hope that’s not the case!)
Physical Symptoms: Stress manifests itself physically in a whole slew of not-so-pleasant ways, such as chronic fatigue, constipation, diarrhea, headaches, indigestion, hypertension, insomnia, nausea, sweaty palms, tight muscles. Ugh, part 2.
Is all this talk about stress stressing you out? If so, you’ll want to check out some of my upcoming posts on coping with stress.
And for Pete’s sake, wherever Pete is, watch the video of me doing my Weight Loss Comedian schtick. Start laughing, and start losing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZYD17iJGbs
by Sheila | Feb 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
Here are the recipes for tonight’s cooking class! MmmmMmmmm!
Cashew Candy Bars
– Makes 4 bars 6 tbs. raw cashews (about 3 oz.)
4 dates, pitted and roughly chopped (about 4 oz.)
Place cashews in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S-blade. Process until finely ground like a powder. Add dates and process until very finely “pasted” and incorporated into the cashews—about 25-35 seconds.
Divide dough into two equal portions, then divide those portions in half. You should have four mounds of dough of equal size. Shape each quarter of dough into a rectangular bar and chill in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes until firm. Wrap each bar tightly in plastic wrap or store bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
Cinnamon-Apricot Balls
– Makes 12-15 balls ¾ c. raw walnuts
1 tbs. ground flaxseed, optional
4 large dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/3 c. dried Turkish apricots, chopped
¾ tsp. cinnamon
Sesame seeds, for rolling
Grind nuts to a powder in the food processor fitted with the “S” blade. Add flaxseed, dates, apricots, and cinnamon and process until a dough begins to form. Mixture should hold together when pinched with your fingers but not be too sticky. If it seems too dry, add more dates. If too wet, add more nuts.
Form into small bite-sized balls and roll in sesame seeds. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Cocoa Balls
– Makes 12-15 balls ¾ cup raw walnuts
5 large dates, pitted and roughly chopped (about ½ cup)
¼ cup raisins
2 tbs. unsweetened, good quality cocoa powder
In a food processor fitted with the S-blade, grind walnuts until they are a grainy powder. Add dates and raisins. Process 20-25 seconds, or until combined and very finely chopped. Add cocoa powder and process until incorporated and the mixture holds together when you pinch it with your fingers.
Shape the date-nut mixture into bite-sized balls, placing in candy cups if desired. Keep refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 week. Serve at room temperature.
Salmon-Salad Stuffed Tomatoes
– Makes 6 stuffed tomato halves
1 (6 oz.) can wild salmon, drained and flaked with fork
3 tbs. parsley, finely chopped
2 scallions, white and light green parts finely chopped
1 tbs. red wine vinegar
1 tbs. olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise and seeded
Combine salmon, parsley, scallions, vinegar, oil, and salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Spoon mixture into tomato halves and garnish each with sprig of parsley, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to eat.
by Sheila | Feb 10, 2010 | Natural Weight Loss
Spring break is fast approaching. That doesn’t mean that you should break with smart eating habits, especially if you’ve lost weight to fit into that swimming suit.
Keep the weight off, and keep having fun, with these ten tips:
- Find out where you’ll be eating. You’ve done a ton of research to book your vacation spot. Now find out about the eating choices at or near where you’ll be staying. Scour their menus. Do they have healthy choices for you and your family? Pre-select your meals before you go out (so you’re not tempted).
- Back-off the buffet. Okay, all-inclusive doesn’t mean you should put everything from the buffet line on your plate. Fill up on protein and veggies first, then sit down and eat. On your next pass, hit the salad bar. Then eat. Go slow, and give your food time to settle so you feel full. Don’t go back for seconds on protein – just veggies.
- It’s not all-you-can eat desserts. Treat yourself to 3 small bites from the dessert bar. Hey, you’re on vacation. You’ve got to live. Just make sure you live a little, not a lot. Go easy – 3 dainty bites, not Cookie Monster bites.
- Get active. It’s fun to lounge on the beach, but make sure you pack in activities to get the metabolism going. Take in an early workout for yourself, and then plan some sort of family activity for the afternoon. Fun and fitness, all rolled into one.
- Be prepared for the binge backlash. If you’ve been eating right, and you can’t wait for spring break to go “off the wagon,” prepare yourself. Your body isn’t used to decadent living. You’re going to feel sluggish, gassy, and have low energy. Is that how you want to spend your vacation?
- BYOS – Bring your own snacks. Be prepared to bring your own healthy snacks. All-inclusive doesn’t always mean your resort includes healthy eating. If you’re not staying at a resort, this can be a great way to save money.
- Smoothie operator. Instead of snacking on chips and pretzels, make healthy smoothies out of fruit, protein powders and nano greens. A great smoothie can be mighty refreshing in a warm place!
- Make your goals public. If you’re getting too old for peer pressure, how about peer support? Let your friends and family know that you’re trying to eat right on vacation. When they’re in on your plans, they won’t tend to inadvertently tempt you with a margarita (or two.)
- Bring a reminder. You’ve shaved off pounds to look good on vacation. All that effort has been worth it to fit into a swimming suit. So why stop there? Bring along a “before” picture of yourself. It will serve as a good reminder of the consequences of eating poorly and not exercising.
- Reward yourself. Take some relaxation time out for yourself, and get a rejuvenating facial. You’ve worked hard to look great, so why not feel great?
Follow these tips, and not only will you enjoy yourself on vacation, you’ll enjoy how you look when you return home.
