Skinny-fat

Appraising Your Success
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!

Topic of the week - Skinny-fat

I learned the term “skinny-fat” recently, referring to people who are skinny but out of shape. Supermodels and actresses fit into this category, as do most men, it seems. “Skinny-fat” probably refers to most of the thin people we see on the street, considering Americans penchant for fast food and a sedentary lifestyle. Fat people hate them for being naturally thin, but they are not necessarily fit. They don’t necessarily have a faster metabolism than the rest of us, just as overweight people don’t necessarily have a slower metabolism than the rest of us. However, “skinny-fat” people succeed in the most important component of maintaining weight: the number of calories consumed equals the number of calories burned.

So the question of the week is: Are “skinny-fat” people living the SWEET Life? Let’s see . . .

Do they get 7-8 hours of Sleep per night? There is a lot of research showing a connection between lack of sleep and weight gain, which is why Sleep is an important aspect of the SWEET Life! Therefore, my guess is that “skinny-fat” people sleep enough.

Do they drink 8-10 cups of Water per day? Dehydration causes the body’s functions to slow down and work inefficiently, including metabolism. Ample hydration helps all the body’s functions run smoothly and efficiently and prevents you from retaining water as a survival mechanism. Therefore, I’d say that “skinny-fat” people drink enough water to keep their metabolisms running smoothly.

Do they Eat a balanced, healthy diet? They may or may not eat well. Most Americans don’t eat a balanced, healthy diet, despite the huge amounts of food available to us. Most importantly though, “skinny-fat” people don’t eat too much; they eat only as many calories as their bodies burn off.

Do they Exercise? “Skinny-fat” people don’t exercise. If they did, they would be “fit” not “fat.”

Do they have Tranquility? Since research shows that chronic stress causes weight gain and slower metabolism, I would say that “skinny-fat” people have their stress under control. They have Tranquility.

In sum:

Sleep – yes

Water – yes

Eating – maybe, maybe not

Exercise – no

Tranquility – yes

Surprisingly, diet and exercise, which most people think of as the keys to weight loss and staying skinny, are the two aspects of the SWEET Life that “skinny-fat” people are least likely to do! I must say, I’m very surprised by these results!

Sources:

· Google search for “lack of sleep and weight”:
http://www.google.com/search?q=lack+of+sleep+and+weight&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

· Google search for “stress and weight”:
http://www.google.com/search?q=stress+and+weight&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

· Inch-aweigh.com: Why drinking water really is the key to weight loss:
http://www.inch-aweigh.com/water.html

· Natural News.com: Healing with Water:
http://www.naturalnews.com/003202.html

Look for another topic next week, and keep living the SWEET Life!

Suzanne
Weekly Encouragement history: http://sweetlifeweekly.blogspot.com/
The SWEET Life of Suzanne blog: http://thesweetlifeofsuzanne.blogspot.com/
Website: http://livingthesweetlife.net/

Copyright © 2008 Suzanne Fong. All rights reserved.

The Fatosphere

Appraising Your Success
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!

Topic of the week - The Fatosphere

I happened across an article in the New York Times online about the Fatosphere, a term I’d never heard of. Apparently, blogs about fat acceptance are becoming very popular, and overweight people are finding solidarity in the blogs of others who are overweight. It was interesting for me to read about it because it’s a foreign concept to me to accept myself being fat or to encourage others to remain overweight. I’d have no Personal Training clients if I were overweight, and I can’t see overweight people wanting to use a Personal Trainer if they wanted to maintain their weight.

The article made me think about the relationship between the fatosphere and the SWEET Life. I’ve never called the SWEET Life a weight loss program because the program is designed to be a balanced, healthy lifestyle, appropriate for everyone. However, I’ve always believed that if you were overweight and started living the SWEET Life, you would lose weight as a side effect. So are these people in the fatosphere living the SWEET Life? Let’s see . . .

Do they get 7-8 hours of Sleep per night? Well, research shows that overweight & obese people tend to have more problems with snoring, sleep apnea and other sleep problems, so they may not be getting a good night’s rest.

Do they drink 8-10 cups of Water per day? I have no idea, but my guess is that they do drink ample fluids; however, they might be fluids with calories, sugar, caffeine and other unhealthy ingredients.

Do they Eat a balanced, healthy diet? They may or may not. Although overweight people have all sorts of reasons why they are overweight, the main reason is that they consume more calories than they burn off, whether they consume a balanced, healthy diet or not.

Do they Exercise? Of course there are overweight people who exercise, even those who exercise a lot. However, the fact remains that Americans, in general, are sedentary and don’t even exercise the minimum that is recommended by the American Heart Association and American College of Sports Medicine, which is 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, 5 days a week.

Do they have Tranquility? Good question. I would think that anyone who is content with his/her life has Tranquility, regardless of his/her size.

In sum:

Sleep – no

Water – yes

Eating – no

Exercise – no

Tranquility – yes

So, I would say that overweight people are like the general population, who follow a couple aspects of the SWEET Life easily, one intermittently, and a couple with difficulty.

Sources:

· About.com: Sleep Disorders: Does Losing Weight Really Help? http://sleepdisorders.about.com/cs/diet/a/talk_weight.htm

· American Heart Association: Exercise and Fitness: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200013

· Fatosphere Blog: http://fatosphere.blogspot.com/

· In the Fatosphere, Big Is In, or at Least Accepted: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/health/22fblogs.html

Have a SWEET week!

Suzanne

Copyright © 2008 Suzanne Fong. All rights reserved.

Arguments For & Against Eating Dairy

Appraising Your Success

Here it is the end of the first week of the year! It is a good time to review your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals, then focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently. You need a plan, not a hope, in order to be successful. If your plan isn’t working, it’s time to revise your plan.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? If so, that’s great! Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll continue to experience all of these feelings! If not, know that by living the SWEET Life, you will feel all these great feelings!

Topic of the week –Arguments For & Against Eating Dairy

Nowadays, there seem to be a lot of people, especially women, who are cutting dairy out of their diets. At the same time, the dairy industry’s ads say that drinking milk will help you lose weight. What’s true vs. fiction? Why should you or shouldn’t you consume dairy products? I searched the internet for arguments both for and against dairy products. As with all internet research, I tried to screen carefully for reputable sources of information because there is a lot of unsubstantiated bias out there. The best sources of information I found are listed at the bottom, so check them out.

First, why you should NOT drink milk. There are four main reasons why people don’t drink milk. Some people are concerned about the hormones given to dairy cows in order to supplement their diets and help them produce more milk. I didn’t find evidence that those hormones pass through the milk in sufficient quantities to endanger humans. Perhaps you can find the contrary.

Another reason not to drink milk is the high saturated-fat content and calories. However, low fat dairy products, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. have significantly lower saturated fat content than full-fat versions, and the calorie intake is moderate. Even the dairy industry suggests low fat, rather than full-fat, dairy products.

Some people are lactose intolerant, which is an extremely good reason no to drink milk! However, this problem can often be alleviated by a small, regular introduction of dairy products, like yogurt and some types of cheese, which have lower quantities of lactose than milk does.

The most significant reason for not consuming dairy products is that milk today comes from industrialized factories, just like our cars, computers and Ipods. That means, the goal is to have the highest output in the shortest time. The farmers do everything that modern man has created to achieve their goal. Their cows are not pets; they are factory workers. They are used and abused as long as they produce; then they are “made final use of” and replaced. If all this is appalling enough to make you stop eating dairy, then I completely understand.

Fortunately, for us in California, we do have local dairy farms which are not industrialized factories and which produce organic milk from pastured cows. So then, on the flip side, why should you consume dairy products? First of all, they taste yummy! I love dairy products: milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, butter, cream, etc. Besides tasting good, they come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. They combine well with other foods, such as cheese and bread, broccoli and cheddar, yogurt and fruit, ham and cheese, just to name a few. Dairy products have been dietary staples since ancient times.

Nutritionally, dairy products are the best source of calcium, which helps build strong bones and teeth. They are also a good source of protein, second only to meat in protein content. Milk also contains significant amounts of your daily recommended intake of Vitamins A, B-12, D and Phosphorous. That’s a total of six nutritional essentials, in significant quantities, from one dietary source: dairy.

Lastly, studies show consuming dairy helps with weight loss. Consuming the same number of calories, there was increased weight loss on a diet containing diary products compared to one without dairy. It seems that calcium wraps around fat and leads it out the back door without being digested. Studies also show that consuming calcium from food sources is better than calcium supplements, which is no surprise. It is the nature of “supplements” not to be the main source of any nutrient; hence the name” supplement”!

In conclusion, I recommend eating dairy for two reasons: it has important nutritional value, and I don’t support cutting out any major food groups. Plus, it tastes great!

Sources:
http://calag.ucop.edu/0205SO/pdfs/orgmilk.pdf
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/myths.htm#foodmyths
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/slim/calcium.shtml
http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_cows_dairy.asp
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/dairy.htm
http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20040416/dairy-foods-fat-weight-loss

Look for another topic next week!

Have a SWEET week!

Suzanne

Conquering Holiday Feasts & Goodies

Appraising Your Success
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.
How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!

Topic of the week -- Conquering Holiday Feasts & Goodies
The two months between Halloween and New Year’s Day are filled with special foods and sweets. As such, you need to make a plan for how you are going to face all those temptations. Don’t deprive yourself of these special holiday indulgences, but go in with a plan.

One holiday control plan is to enjoy each holiday, but to maintain your regular healthy eating plan, along with the other elements of the SWEET Life, all the other days in between holidays. That makes about four days of being gluttonous, depending on which holidays you celebrate, rather than 60 days! In the scope of 60 days, those four days will be insignificant.

Some “at the moment” ideas for holiday party control are the following:
· Don’t starve yourself all day to “save up” calories. You’ll be so hungry by the time you eat that you’ll eat more than you would have if you’d eaten a regular meal a few hours beforehand.
· Serve or offer to bring “relishes” as an appetizer. Carrot, celery, and cucumber sticks; cherry tomatoes, radishes, bell pepper strips, etc. with hummus for dipping are a healthy way to stave off those hunger pangs while waiting for people to gather and the meal to begin.
· “Select,” don’t “select all,” at the buffet. Make yourself a meal of protein, grains and vegetables, rather than a little bit of everything. Think of a buffet like a deli counter: as much as everything looks good, you only choose a few things to make your meal.
· Only serve yourself 2-3 bites of each food. That way, if you don’t like something, you can leave the rest without wasting a lot of food. It also allows you to try more foods, if you’re so inclined.
· Thanksgiving is typically weak in vegetables, so eat all you can.
· Don’t waste stomach space and calories on bad food. If you have kids, you know that food they don’t like immediately comes back out. As adults, we are polite enough to swallow that bite, but don’t go thinking the second bite will somehow taste better.
· Don’t “eat all you can” (unless it’s veggies).

What about all those sweets people give you when they drop by? Pay them forward: Serve them to guests who drop by or take them to people’s houses that you visit. Just because people give them to you doesn’t mean that you, personally, have to eat them all!

Have a SWEET week!

Suzanne

Enjoying Halloween without eating all the candy

Appraising Your Success
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.

How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!

Topic of the week -- Enjoying Halloween without eating all the candy

As a Personal Trainer, you might expect me to say not to eat any Halloween candy. However, if you know me personally, you know I love chocolate! I always say, “Everything in moderation, with the emphasis on everything.” That includes Halloween candy.

Halloween, however, is merely the beginning of the two-month-long holiday season, ending on New Year’s Day. As such, this is the beginning of making a holiday plan for health maintenance, so that you don’t gain any holiday weight. Making a plan now, and following it for the next two months, will prevent you from having that dreaded feeling on New Year’s Day that you have to start a health kick.

However, this week we are going to focus on Halloween. There are many ways to avoid overindulging on Halloween candy. You don’t need to follow every idea, just decide which idea(s) will work best for you and follow through.

It’s important to consider both the amount of candy you are going to eat and the amount of time you will give yourself to eat it. You might decide that since October 31 is the actual holiday, you will only indulge in candy on that day. At the same time, you can go intensive or extensive, for example, all the candy you want to eat, but only on Halloween day vs. one piece of candy a day for a week following Halloween. Do whatever works for you, but decide on your plan in advance and follow through.

If you’re single and don’t live in an area with kids, you don’t have to worry about Halloween candy, right? No kids come to your door, and you’re probably out at a party where you are more likely drinking than eating candy anyway. Why don’t you have to worry about eating too much candy? Because it’s for the kids.

Remembering that the candy is for the trick-or-treaters might help you avoid eating too much. That being said, don’t steal your kids’ candy! Set a good example, if you have kids, of not eating too much, of sharing, and of not stealing other people’s candy. That means, you ask your child politely for a piece, just like you would want your child to ask, and you don’t sneak into another room to eat some, just like you wouldn’t want your child to do. Those things will definitely prevent you from overindulging!

Another thing to do to avoid eating Halloween candy is to buy candy you don’t like; then there’s no temptation.

November 1, to prevent the temptation of candy at home, many people will take it to the office. That’s a great way to get it out of the house; however, remember that it’s basically someone else’s trash. It’s not there for you to eat; it’s there to prevent someone else from eating it at home. And it’s usually not the good stuff; that’s already saved or gone; it’s the junk candy that no one in the house likes, so don’t eat someone else’s junk. Only eat good Halloween candy.

Finally, probably the best idea is to donate your leftover Halloween candy to hospitalized kids who couldn’t go trick-or-treating. Find out from your local hospital how you can do this. The kids will be thrilled, and you’ll feel good too.

The next two months of holidays are filled with special foods and sweets. Plan now how you are going to face all those temptations. Don’t deprive yourself, but make a plan and follow your plan.
Have a SWEET week!

Suzanne

How to add sleep to your nights

Appraising Your Success
The end of the week is a good time to review the past week of your SWEET Life and count up your accomplishments. Your goal is 5-6 times per week for each aspect of the SWEET Life: Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise, and Tranquility. If you didn’t achieve some of your goals for the week, then next week, focus on those areas more and think about how to fulfill them more consistently.

How do you feel at the end of this week? Are you better rested? Do you feel relaxed? Are you more energetic? Do you feel generally healthier? Continue with the SWEET Life and you’ll experience all of these feelings!

Topic of the week -- How to add sleep to your nights

Many people take sleep for granted and don’t realize the importance of getting enough sleep. Sleep helps your memory, concentration, metabolism, weight management, safety, mood, and cardiovascular health. Adequate sleep also fends off disease.

Sleep is an important pillar of the SWEET Life because lack of sleep will likely cause you to skip exercising the next day; you might be too tired to focus on eating healthy and drinking enough water, and you might feel more stressed out, all due to a lack of sleep.

There are many negative affects of sleep deprivation. Of course, we all know how it can cause irritability, impatience and moodiness; moreover, it also causes an inability to focus, which can result in mistakes and accidents. Chronic sleep deprivation can alter your hormones, causing weight gain, weakening the immune systems and possibly causing hypertension and irregular heartbeat. Finally, fatigue can simply make you too tired to do the things you would like to do.
In order to feel rested and rejuvenated, most people need about eight hours sleep per night.

Here are some suggestions for how to get more sleep at night: think about the times you go to bed and have to wake up. Are they 8 hours apart? If not, decide which of those times you can change and do so. For example, for years I was an 11-7 sleeper. As soon as the 11:00 news came on, I got ready for bed and crawled in. My alarm was always set for 7:00 a.m. Nowadays, I get up at 6:00, but for a long time, I didn’t alter my nighttime routine. No wonder I was always tired! Now, I watch the 10:00 news and get ready and go to bed then. Decide which time you can modify, your bedtime or your waking time, in order to get eight hours of sleep consistently.

Other aspects of the SWEET Life affect sleep, too. For example, dehydration can make you feel sleepy, so if you feel tired during the day, drink a glass of water before grabbing a caffeinated beverage. In addition, eating a variety of nutrient-dense foods throughout the day will give you sustained energy, preventing any sugar or caffeine crashes mid-afternoon. Also, exercise has the effect of making you feel more alert during waking hours and sleep more deeply at night. Knowing that, I always ask myself how much (or how little) I’ve been exercising, if I have a spell of not sleeping well. Furthermore, stress can keep you awake, so do relaxing things, like reading, before you go to bed or if you wake up feeling stressed during the night. Reading will help your eyes feel tired and will take your mind off of what is making you feel stressed, allowing you to relax and fall asleep.

In conclusion, besides altering your bed- and waking times, in order to get enough sleep, take advantage of the other aspects of the SWEET Life to help you sleep more soundly at night and feel more awake during the day.

Source:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/importance_of_sleep_and_health.htm

Have a SWEET week!

Suzanne