Burning the candle at both ends?  There may be more at risk than falling asleep while driving.  This article in USA Today discusses the additional health implications of not getting enough sleep.  For more help planning a healthy lifestyle, come see the health and fitness experts at Serious About Fitness.

______________________________________________________________________

WASHINGTON – More people pull the night shift. Teens text past midnight and stumble to class at dawn. Travelers pack red-eye flights. During the study, levels increased after meals, sometimes to pre-diabetic levels, because the pancreas stopped secreting enough insulin.

Nodding off behind the wheel isn’t the only threat from a lack of shut-eye. There’s growing evidence that people who regularly sleep too little and at the wrong time suffer long-lasting consequences that a nap won’t cure: An increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.

“We have a societal conspiracy for sleep deprivation,” says Russell Sanna of Harvard Medical School’s sleep medicine division, who attended a TEDMED conference last week where scientists called sleep loss one of health care’s big challenges.

Just how unhealthy is it? Consider how sleep may play a role in the nation’s diabetes epidemic.

Studies have long shown that people who sleep fewer than five hours a night have an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the kind that tends to strike later in life.

Rotating shift work — three or more night shifts a month interspersed with day or evening hours — raises the risk, too, says a recent report from researchers who analyzed years of medical records from the huge Nurses’ Health Study.

Diet and physical activity are big factors in Type 2 diabetes. Certainly it’s harder to work out or choose an apple over a doughnut when you’re tired, especially at 3 a.m. when your body’s internal clock knows you should be sleeping.

But a study published last week shows sleep plays a more complex role than that. As sleep drops and normal biological rhythms are disrupted, your body physically changes in ways that can help set the stage for diabetes, reports neuroscientist Orfeu Buxton of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Buxton’s team had 21 healthy volunteers spend almost six weeks living in a laboratory where their diet, physical activity, sleep and even the light was strictly controlled.

The volunteers started out well-rested. But for three of those weeks, they were allowed only about 5½ hours of sleep every 24 hours — at varying times of the day or night, to mimic a bad shift rotation or prolonged jet lag. That knocked out of whack the body’s “circadian rhythm,” a master biological clock that regulates such patterns as when we become sleepy and how body temperature rises and falls.

What happened was startling: Blood sugar levels increased after meals, sometimes to pre-diabetic levels, because the pancreas stopped secreting enough insulin, Buxton reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

At the same time, the volunteers’ metabolic rate slowed by 8 percent. The researchers had them on a diet so they didn’t gain weight — but Buxton says typically, a metabolism drop of that size could mean gaining 10 to 12 pounds over a year.

The results make sense, says Dr. Michael Thorpy, sleep center director at New York’s Montefiore Medical Center and a neurology professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

“If we’re going to spend a third of our day sleeping, there’s got to be a good reason for it,” says Thorpy, who notes that diabetes is far from the only worry.

Up to 70 million Americans are estimated to suffer from chronic problems with sleep, from insomnia to sleep apnea. Impaired sleep has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, depression, memory impairment and a weakened immune system. Still another concern: The World Health Organization has classified night shift work as a probable carcinogen, because too much light at night may hamper a hormone involved both with sleep and suppressing tumor cells.

Don’t people adjust to the night shift if they’re on it long enough? Buxton says rotating shifts probably are most worrisome. In his study, the volunteers’ bodies went back to normal after nine nights of sufficient sleep at the right time. No one knows how long it takes before sleep deprivation and an off-kilter biological clock may cause permanent damage.

Montefiore’s Thorpy says natural night owls seem to adapt better to night shifts, but that people never fully adapt if they swing back to daytime schedules on their days off. Also, about 30 percent of regular night workers have trouble sleeping during their off hours or are particularly fatigued, he says, something termed “shift work disorder.”

The consumer message:

—The National Institutes of Health says adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep daily for good health.

—If you work nights, go straight to bed when you get home, Buxton advises. Avoid too much light along the way. Thorpy says wearing yellow- or orange-tinted sunglasses on the drive home can block short-wavelength “blue light” that triggers wakefulness.

—Let natural light help keep your biological sleep clock on schedule, advises Harvard’s sleep-education Web site. For most people, sunlight in the morning is key. For the night shift, more bright light in the evening shifts people’s internal clock, Buxton explains.

—For anyone, a sleep-inducing bedroom is one that’s dark, quiet and cool. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and stressful situations near bedtime. Electronics right before bed aren’t advised, either. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day also helps.

This recent article in She Knows Health and Wellness talks about some diet super foods. Of course, the best way to get healthy is with improved diet AND a regular exercise routine.  Ready to get started?  Come see the fitness experts at Serious About Fitness!

______________________________________________________________________

If you missed last nights Fit Talk with Chris from Serious About Fitness, here are the notes from the presentation.

______________________________________________________________________

Sadly, the aging process is irreversible.  We need to start now to make sure we postpone and slow the aging process as much as possible.

There are many benefits of exercise or physical activity as a whole.  

1. Its aids our cardiovascular system by strengthening our heart muscles and decreasing the risk of heart disease.
2. It improves our strength and muscular endurance, improves recovery from exercises or other periods of physical activity, and reduces risk or back and/or joint problems.
3. It decreases body fat and increases muscle mass resulting to improving appearance and decreasing susceptibility to disease.
4. It improves flexibility decreasing chance of muscle and joint injury.
5. It increases peak bone density and decreases chance of osteoporosis.
6. It have a positive affect on mental health, relieves depression, and improves sleep habits.
7. It will reduce the risk of cancer
8. It will reduce the risk of diabetes.
9. It has a positive effect on appearance by improving posture and your overall figure.
10. It positively effects your overall wellness by improving your quality of life, enjoyment of leisure time and improving your work capacity.

A little history of health and wellness organizations and information.

-In the 1970′s, after a decade or more of massively decreasing the active lifestyle that our parents/grandparents were familiar with, we had to start paying attention to increasing repercussions of a sedentary lifestyle.  There was a huge increase in diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression, hypertension and obesity.

-We now have 40 years of data proving the positive effect of exercise and the chronic health problems that arise with the lack thereof, and our country is still getting fatter!

-Typically, lifestyle activity leves fluctuate.  Many kids are super active through childhood and early teen years.  Once teen years are reached, kids either become more active (join sports teams and other activities) or become less active.  This newly established activity routine continues throughout college years.  Then, the start of ‘rea;’ jobs makes it even harder to stay active – many attempt for a while, but the effort dwindles off.  In peoples late 20′s/early 30′s people start their family – this is the most common time for people to start getting back into sport by signing up for running races throughout the world.

So – what does some of the terminology mean?

a.  Osteoporosis  =  Thinning of the bones, with reduction in bone mass, due to depletion of calcium and bone protein. Osteoporosis predisposes a person to fractures, which are often slow to heal and heal poorly. It is most common in older adults, particularly postmenopausal women, and in patients who take steroids or steroidal drugs. Unchecked osteoporosis can lead to changes in posture, physical abnormality (particularly the form of hunched back known colloquially as dowager’s hump), and decreased mobility. Treatment of osteoporosis includes exercise (especially weight-bearing exercise that builds bone density), ensuring that the diet contains adequate calcium and other minerals needed to promote new bone growth, use of medications to improve bone density, and sometimes for postmenopausal women, use of hormone therapy.

b.  High Blood Pressure  =  High blood pressure (hypertension) is designated as either essential (primary) hypertension or secondary hypertension and is defined as a consistently elevated blood pressure exceeding 140/90 mm Hg.

• High blood pressure is called “the silent killer” because it often causes no symptoms for many years, even decades, until it finally damages certain critical organs.
• Poorly controlled high blood pressure ultimately can cause damage to blood vessels in the eye, thickening of the heart muscle and heart attacks, hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis), kidney failure, and strokes.
• Most antihypertensive medications can be used alone or in combination. Some are used only in combination. Some are preferred over others in certain specific medical situations. And some are not to be used (contraindicated) in other situations.
• Several classes of antihypertensive medications are available, includingACE inhibitors, ARB drugs, beta-blockers, diuretics, calcium channel blockers, alpha-blockers, and peripheral vasodilators.
• The goal of therapy for hypertension is to bring the blood pressure down below 140/85 in the general population and to even lower levels in diabetics, African Americans, and people with certain chronic kidney diseases.
• High blood pressure (hypertension) in pregnancy can lead topreeclampsia or eclampsia (toxemia of pregnancy). Pregnant women should be monitored closely by their obstetrician for complications of high blood pressure.
• Lifestyle adjustments in diet and exercise and compliance with medication regimes are important factors in determining the outcome for people with hypertension.
• High salt intake, obesity, lack of regular exercise, excessive alcohol or coffee intake, and smoking may all adversely affect the outlook for the health of an individual with high blood pressure.

c.  Diabetes  =  Diabetes is a chronic condition associated with abnormally high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood.

• Insulin produced by the pancreas lowers blood glucose.
• Absence or insufficient production of insulin causes diabetes.
• The two types of diabetes are referred to as type 1 (insulin dependent) and type 2 (non-insulin dependent).
• Symptoms of diabetes include increased urine output, thirst and hunger as well as fatigue.
• Diabetes is diagnosed by blood sugar (glucose) testing.
• The major complications of diabetes are both acute and chronic.
  • Acutely: dangerously elevated blood sugar, abnormally low blood sugar due to diabetes medications may occur.
  • Chronically: disease of the blood vessels (both small and large) which can damage the eye, kidneys, nerves, and heart may occur

• Diabetes treatment depends on the type and severity of the diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is treated with insulin, exercise, and a diabetic diet. Type 2 diabetes is first treated with weight reduction, a diabetic diet, and exercise. When these measures fail to control the elevated blood sugars, oral medications are used. If oral medications are still insufficient, insulin medications are considered.

d.  Depression  =  An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way a person eats, sleeps, feels about himself or herself, and thinks about things. Depression is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be wished away. People with depression cannot merely ‘pull themselves together’ and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people with depression. The signs and symptoms of depression include loss of interest in activities that were once interesting or enjoyable, including sex; loss of appetite, with weight loss, or overeating, with weight gain; loss of emotional expression (flat affect); a persistently sad, anxious, or empty mood; feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness; social withdrawal; unusual fatigue, low energy level, a feeling of being slowed down; sleep disturbance and insomnia, early-morning awakening or oversleeping; trouble concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; unusual restlessness or irritability; persistent physical problems such as headaches, digestive disorders, or chronic pain that do not respond to treatment, and thoughts of death or suicide or suicide attempts. The principal types of depression are called major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disease (manic-depressive disease).

So  - we have covered why you need to exercise and why it is best to start early and continue throughout life – now, how!

The Perfect Week

Two to Three  45 minute weight/circuit training workouts

Two to Three  30+ minute moderate to vigorous workouts/activities

Diversify as much as you can…move and stimulate the body!

If you are training for an event

One to Two days geared towards the event you are training for (swimming, cycling, running, etc)

One to Two 45+ minute weight/circuit training workouts

One short (20 – 30 minute) vigorous/intense workout or activity

One long (45+ minute) moderate workout or activity

(This is subject to the event you have chosen and your starting point!)

For more advanced or those with BIG goals (like get into your wedding dress!)

Two days geared towards the event you are training for

Two to Three  45+ minute weight/circuit training workouts

One short (20 – 40 minute) vigorous/intense workout or activities

One long (45+++) moderate workout or activity

(Again, may be subject to the event/goal and some things may intertwine, however lofty goals means commitment and involvement!)

What do all of the above ‘perfect’ weeks do for you???

1.  Cardiovascular involvement
2. Impact or Weight training
3. Mental stimulation (variety…with actual activity and length of activity)
4. Moving your body more days per week than not moving your body!!!
5. More than likely teaching you new and challenging things to ensure the longevity of your health and wellness.

Ever wonder what to do with your old equipment?  This ESPN article has several examples.  If you are looking for some new suggestions of how to break in or down your new equipment, come see what Serious About Fitness has to offer!

______________________________________________________________________

Exercising regularly means going through lots of fitness gear. Instead of just tossing out old kicks or a worn-out yoga mat, do something good for the Earth. Here are ways to recycle or reuse old workout gear.:

Sneakers

Donate: You can toss them in a Goodwill bin, or send them to an organization that’ll put them to good use.Soles4Souls‘s tag line is “Saving the world — one pair at a time.” This organization takes your tired, but “gently worn,” sneakers and finds needy feet to fill them. They strongly suggest organizing shoe drives and mailing all the pairs to one of their three warehouse locations. Another organization, One World Running, has been serving runners around the world since 1986. Through collection programs, they are able to provide shoes for needy runners across the world. Check here for drop-off locations.

Recycle: Turn your old shoes into something new. Nike Reuse-A-Shoe takes all brands of sneakers that are beyond “gently worn” and turns them into a recycled product known as Nike Grind, which is used to make tracks, indoor basketball courts, fields, and playgrounds. Just drop off your retired sneakers at any Nike store, or check here for drop-off locations.

Reuse: Keep an old pair of sneakers around for days when you’re running or walking in the rain or on muddy trails. Some people even use old shoes as plant potters. Fill a disinfected shoe with soil and grow some basil or cilantro on your deck or windowsill.

Clothes

Donate: When you buy newer gear, pass on your old gear to friends or siblings, or donate them to Goodwill, a homeless shelter, or other charity store.

Recycle: Patagonia accepts all its products back for recycling. Either mail them to Patagonia or drop them off at a retail store.

Reuse: Used fitness clothes make excellent old rags for cleaning. Cut them up and store them in a bag under the kitchen sink.

Equipment

Donate: Send gently used sports gear such as balls, baseball bats, and bikes to Sports Gift and they’ll get it to impoverished children in over 50 countries. Or donate your fitness equipment to Fitness 4 Charity and they’ll make sure it goes to someone in need.

Recycle and reuse: If you have bulky equipment such as an old treadmill, check to see if your community has a recycling center that will be able to find use for the parts.

Yoga Mats

Donate: If you have a special place in your heart for four-legged friends, bring your used mat to the local Humane Society where they’ll use it to line crates for the animals. The Bolder Mat Company also accepts old mats for their renew and recycle program, and donates them to needy schools or community organizations.

Recycle: Mail your worn-out mat to Recycle Your Mat and they’ll recycle it for you. Bonus: you’ll receive a coupon for 20 percent off an eco-friendly Manduka mat.

Reuse: Wash your old mat thoroughly and place it under your treadmill to protect the floor from scratches, or fold it up and use it as a kneeling pad when gardening. Old mats can also be cut up and used under the litter box to prevent tracking kitty litter all over your house, cut into circles and used to open jars, or you can place a piece in your trunk to keep bags of groceries from sliding around.

From WebMD.  Read the full article here.  To create an exercise program to meet your wellness goals but fits your life, see the experts at Serious About Fitness

____________________________________________________________________

1.  Time your meals: become a slow eater and savor each bite.

2. Sleep more: too little sleep can rev up your appetite.

3. Eat more veggies: the high fiber and water content fills you up without extra calories

4. When soups on, weight comes off: soup slows your eating, and fills you up

5. Go for whole grains: fill you up with less calories

6. Eyeball your skinny clothes: keep your eye on the prize

7. Skip the bcaon

8. Build a better slice of pizza:  choose veggies over meat toppings to decrease calorie counts

9. Sip smart – cut back on sugar; replace your soda with water

10.Sip smart – use a tall thin glass: visual cues make you think you are drinking more

11.Sip smart – limit alcohol: have a non alcoholic drink between cocktails

12. Sip smart – drink green tea: some research says it may rev up calorie burning temporarily

13.Slip into a yoga state of mind: may create a more mindful approach to eating

14. Eat at home: at least 5 days a week

15. Catch the eating pause: if you set your fork down for a ‘break’, be done

16. Chew strong mint gum: over powers the flavor of other foods, making them taste bad

17. Shrink your dishes: use smaller plates, a full smaller plate will visually appear like a larger meal

18. Get food portions right: stick to moderately sized portions

19. Try the 80/20 rule: eat until you are 80% full, or decrease portion size by 20%

20. Eat out your way: share an entre, have an appie for your meal, have a meal from the kids menu, or take 1/2 home in a doggie bag

21. Reach for red sauce: tomato based pasta sauces have less calories than alfredo sauces

22.  Go meatless more often: vegetarians are skinny for a reason

23.  Burn 100 calories more: cut the grass, weed the garden, clean the house, etc

24. Celebrate: when you kick a bad habit reward yourself

This article from the Poughkeepsie Journal discusses that age old question – can chocolate aid your diet?  For more assistance in creating a diet program that meets your lifestyle and health goals, see the experts at Serious About Fitness.

____________________________________________________________________

Sweet news about those chocolate cravings: People who consume moderate amounts of chocolate more frequently are thinner than those who eat it less often, according to a new study.

The research involved 1,018 healthy men and women, who exercised on average 3.6 times a week and had a balanced, nutritious diet. The body mass index of participants who ate chocolate five times a week was one point lower than people who did not eat it regularly. The body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

“I was pretty happy with this news myself,” said lead author Beatrice Golomb, associate professor of medicine at the University of California-San Diego. “Our findings show the composition of calories, not just the number of them, matters for determining ultimate weight.”

Golomb says people who have a regular chocolate habit can relax and not feel guilty, and those who want to partake but worry about calories can get started. The study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Other studies have shown that dark chocolate can be beneficial for the heart, says physician Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. One study of more than 100,000 people found that those who ate dark chocolate on a regular basis reduced their relative risk of heart disease by one-third. Golomb’s study did not specify the type of chocolate. Neither study received funding from chocolate manufacturers.

“I do have to say that the people who were eating chocolate were also exercising three times a week, and that’s an important point to make,” Steinbaum said. “I recommend a square of dark chocolate a day as part of a healthy heart diet.”

Cocoa is rich in antioxidants called flavonoids, which help fight inflammation, lower blood pressure and improve overall vascular function. The antioxidants also affect metabolism and improve insulin sensitivity, Golomb says. Insulin resistance contributes to hypertension and obesity, she says.

At a time when 66 percent of U.S. adults are overweight (BMI of 25 to 29.9) or obese (30 or higher), the results need to be regarded with some caution, experts acknowledge.

“Before you start to eat a chocolate bar a day to keep the doctor away, remember that a chocolate bar can contain over 200 calories, which mostly come from saturated fats and sugar,” says Nancy Copperman, a registered dietitian and director of public health initiatives at the North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck on Long Island.

Limit your chocolate fix to a 1-ounce portion of dark chocolate, or add cocoa powder to food or coffee just once a day, she says.

The study is limited. It was observational, meaning it analyzed data based on what people said they ate, rather than a controlled trial in which some people are given chocolate and compared with others who receive a placebo. In this study, participants were asked, “How many times a week do you consume chocolate?”

About one-third reported no chocolate consumption.

“Shocking,” Golomb said with a laugh. She says she adds unsweetened cocoa to her morning coffee and labels herself a chocolate aficionado.