Musings from Dr. Jo, a PhD nutritionist and professional speaker who encourages small steps that can make a big difference in your health and well-being
Last summer I told you that I tried my hand at surfing. I’m looking forward to working at it some more..as soon as the water warms up.
I’m in the process of updating my book, Dining Lean, for 2010 and just recently completed compiling nutrition information from Applebee’s. There are quite a few lower calorie options including:
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If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s best to get a good night’s sleep. A recent study (reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 31, 2010) in France looked at sleep, eating, and energy expenditure in 12 healthy young men over a four day period.
Two days were control – the participants kept to their usual pattern but kept track of their sleep, eating and activities in a diary. Then, the men slept 8 hours on the third day and just 4 hours on the fourth day. They were allowed to eat as much as they liked. When sleep deprived, the men ate 22% more calories.
The researchers, Brondel and Davenne noted, ”It is time to understand that sleep is not just losing time, besides the recovery processes that occur, there are many other functions (energy conservation, memory and so on) which are going on.”
Read more here.
When a bear is chasing you or the car in front of you stops suddenly, your stress hormones go into full force – setting off a body reaction that helps you to react faster. All this is good.
Unfortunately, many of us put ourselves through this “fight or fight” reaction all day long. Not so good. Excessive stress hormones can cause havoc and disease onto our bodies.
A recent study measured cortisol, one of the hormones released during stress, and found that dieters restricting calories had more circulating cortisol. Read more. What to do? More research is needed, but these things might help:
Dr. Jo is the author of Dr. Jo’s No Big Deal Diet book. As a PhD nutritionist and registered dietitian, she frequently speaks at conferences all over North America. More information can be found at www.drjo.com.
“If you’re not fit in your 50′s, your projected life span ‘is eight years shorter than if you’re fit’”, reported Dr. Berry at the recent American Heart Association annual epidemiology and prevention conference (and reported in the Wall Street Journal). His findings were based on 1765 men and women (without a history of heart problems) who had regular examinations at the Cooper Clinic back in 1970s and 1980s. Sure, smoking predicted longevity, too, but not as much as fitness.
When followed up in the 2006, 63% of the men and 74% of the women were still alive – and now in their 80′s. When divided into their mid-life fitness groups, fit men were 1.8 times more likely to be alive and women were 2.2 times as likely. National guidelies recommend 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week – or 20 minutes of intense physical exercise three times a week. How much are you doing?
What can you do when you find yourself staring at the ceiling after the lights go out? Here’s Dr. Jo’s D.R.E.A.M formula for getting relaxed and sleepy:
This is excerpted from Dr. Jo’s How to Stay Healthy & Fit on the Road.
This post was contributed by Suzanne L. Trout, Director of Catering and Convention Services, Reunion Resort, Reunion, FL. She had told me this story about how she manages the stresses she is under now. Read on…
“To be quite honest, iiwii (“it is what it is) is what it is is not something I would have every conceded to in my prior work and home life. I’m a firm believer that people can control and change situations if they put enough effort towards it, but just this past year found myself overwhelmed with the volume of change here at work as well as in my personal life (I had an 18 month and was expecting my second child – now 22 months and 4 months!).
We had a new management company who was implementing major changes (people were relieved of their duties without explanation in most situations, or notice for that matter) resort-wide without soliciting input from those of us who have lived here the past 4 years. We had members YELLING at us for changes we had no control over and we had employees acting like they were in pre-school forcing us to play the Boss role. In addition, there were no raises, no reviews, and there was an immediate change in insurance policies (not something a 8 month pregnant person wants to hear or deal with at the time). Budget were slashed - having to sell our vehicles to make ends meet (carpooling with Dad in the meantime – how about that… 40 years old and now carpooling with Dad J) and trying to be happy with the anticipated birth of my second miracle child.
“Life” became too much and I had to “give.” Enter iiwii (the expression literally means, “it is what it is). Out of sheer frustration, exhaustion, and genuine Devine intervention, I believe,…. iiwii entered our lives. It became ok to say it because there were so many of us feeling like we were about to snap, which was very new for most. We really didnt know how else to handle the volume of feelings and stress!
We’ve had a lot of fun with it. Maybe it will help someone else who finds themselves struggling with being that super person in charge of home life as well as in the outside work force. As much as I want to do it all (and I still believe I will again one day), right now “iiwii” (it is what it is).
Seems that weight (or BMI) alone is not an indicator for health. According to a recent report from the Mayo Clinic, the body fat percentage of normal weight can vary greatly (from below 28.9% to more than 33.3% for women). And, as one’s body fat percentage increases, so does high blood pressure, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and diabetes. For example, only 4.2% of normal weight individuals with the least amount of body fat developed Metabolic Syndrom over the nine year period, but that percentage increased to 16.6% when body fat was over 33.3%. This is no small study; they looked at data from 6171 Americans with normal body size! Want to read more? Go to the Wall Street Journal.
Epidemiologists analyzed food and mood data from 3,486 men and women, who’s average age was 55. Each participant completed a food frequency questionnaire - they were asked how often they had eaten a designated portion size of a food during the previous year (the answers ranged from ”never” to “6+ times per day”).
That data revealed two dietary patterns: the “whole food pattern” (defined by a high daily intake of vegetables, fruits, and fish) and the “processed food pattern” (characterized by high consumption of sweetened desserts, chocolates, fried food, processed meat, pies, refined grains, high-fat dairy products, and condiments).
