inexhale

You’re Such a Cheater!

Jan 292012

Happy Sunday all. The weekend was pretty good. Worked most of the day yesterday and vegged out in front of the television at night. Friday was fun though. And quite interesting. I’ll get to that momentarily.

So, over the holidays I had a wine and cheese party at my place for all my girls to celebrate together. It was a great way to show my love and appreciation for them as well as an excellent way for them to meet one another and connect. Well, despite the guilt infused feeling most left with from all of the Italian goodies I served, acquired directly from Italy proper as well as Batali’s factory version of it, they all left feeling quite satisfied and happy to have met some new cool people. And with that, I received many requests the week following to do these gatherings more often, as many of my girls are from the city or out of town and don’t have friends in the immediate area. So of course I jumped right on it and introduced a new social aspect of my organization called ‘Inexhale’s Girls Cheat Nite Out’.

Love it? Thought you would. lol

So every month we are going to have ‘Cheat Nite’, either at a restaurant or someone’s house (as not only did I get requests to pull folks together, but some of the girls want to host these gatherings in their homes). So I figured we’d alternate a restaurant and a home every month and make it a running event.

Well, here’s where Friday night’s tie-in comes in. In my quest to find the perfect spot in the city to have ‘Cheat Night’ (yes, it has to be really bad food and make you feel incredible guilty just by looking at it) I received many suggestions. Beauty and Essex, Callicio and Sons, Eleven Madison Park, Fedora, etc. After some effort at securing the right spot that met all the requirements –reasonably priced, good atmosphere and really terrible food (terrible in a good way)– I proceeded with one of the recommendations that I had been hearing alot about, seemed to be ‘the place to be’ downtown, and fit all the requirements.

Stanton Social.

Now, since I’ve been hearing and talking about the Stanton Social for the past four months, I decided to go forward with it. So we headed in to make our 7:15 res (thank goodness Shenaz drove – thank you chick) and upon entering the restaurant I instantly got dejavue. Well mabye more like a knock in the jaw. Lol.

Here I am, thinking that I’m going to this new place that I’ve never been to before, and quite excited about experiencing this new atmosphere and cheat. However, upon entering the place, I immediately realized that the Stanton Social is the very restaurant that my ex boyfriend (my ex heart break – aka disaster – lol) took me on our very first date over 5 years ago. Ugh. And Eeessssh. Talk about a buzz kill.

The girls were gracious enough to listen to my disastrous story for all of 2 minutes before they kicked me back to reality and impressed upon me that everything happens for a reason. Well, I wasn’t really sure what the reason was for me picking this particular restaurant out of the trillion other options in the city, but nevertheless I pressed on, reset my energy and had a good time. Drinks were good. Food was exactly what we expected. And the company took the cake. I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

So, the cheat tie-in. Other than my ex-boyfriend being referenced in the same blog regarding cheating (lol), I promise I will give you more. I know. Informative facts for you to walk away with are on the way. No worries.

Cheating…lol…it’s important. Yes, I said it. Cheating is a requirement. Well, at least when it comes to dieting (God I hate that word).

Ok…so alot of how we burn stored body fat has to do with the hormone Leptin and how it’s directly related to insulin levels and caloric intake. This hormone directly causes us to burn or retain stored fat. Higher levels of Leptin in our body will promote a higher level of fat burning.

As we diet, our caloric intake is less than our energy output. Many usually pull a key amount of necessary carbohydrates from their diet with the idea that they will lean out more quickly. However, when you carb deplete, you’re insulin levels drop and in turn your Leptin levels drop along with it. Decreased levels of Leptin in your system causes decreased thyroid output and a decreased metabolism. As a result, it increases your catabolic hormone which increases appetite. This is called plateauing.

I know this has happened to all of you. Where you’re on a roll, you’ve dropped the first 10 lbs seamlessly and then all of a sudden it just stops. The scale stops moving. You’re doing the same thing. Eating the same thing. Moving the same way. But the scale refuses to budge. And for what seems like an eternity. So you get discouraged. Revert back to your old bad habits again. Which fixes your stubborn scale problem, except that it starts moving in the wrong direction. Well, again, this is called plauteauing and it happens all the time. And not only with regards to food, but with movement as well. The average person doesn’t understand or realize what’s going on so they give up and claim defeat.

So again, I talked about Leptin levels dropping, as a direct response to your decrease in carb/caloric levels, which nurture a drop in insulin levels, which result in a decreased metabolism and the inability for your body to burn stored fat. So, in order to increase these Leptin levels and avoid this ugly chain reaction, you must, time to time, overfeed what your body is used too consuming…sort of like a metabolic push. Leptin levels increase (quick surge) and the fat burning process kicks into gear. Your metabolism and energy levels boost back into gear and everything kick starts again. This is called Cheating!

Now, overfeeding is necessary to continually kick start your metabolism and shock your body out of its normal hum drum diet. It’s an important tool in maintaining your Leptin level and keeping it in check. However, you must be conscious of not overdoing it. And realistic. It’s best to overfeed with carbohydrates as opposed to fats, as excess carbohydrates will be more readily stored at a lower percentage than excess fat. Additionally the carb overfeed can trigger an increase in carbohydrate oxidation and energy expenditure.

In addition to the chemical effect strategic cheating plays on your body, it also helps with the mental aspect many dieters face. It gives you a break from the rigors of eating the same food day in and day out and allows you to give into the cravings that haunt you.

So, I bet you never thought it would be ok to be called a cheater did you?

Well cheat away my friend. But please… don’t overdo it.

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OVERTRAINING…sometimes less is more.

cardio, exercise, nutrition, resistance training, weight training No Responses »

Jan 192012

Woke up this morning at 5am to get my usual 30 minute cardio in before work. And as usual, I was in the company of the same three folks from my building who, like me, get up insanely early every morning to get it in before the day begins. One, in particular, I see more often, not just in the morning but in the evenings as well. Two times a day. Consistently. Doing the same thing….either on the elliptical or running on the treadmill. And for hours. A middle aged man, a bit too lean, and on some kind of mission. Not sure what the mission is…but he’s on one.

Now, training two times a day if you’re an athlete is acceptable. However, with specific periods of rest worked into your program. Usually it entails some kind of endurance and drill work coupled with strength training if you’re conditioning for a sport. Or it would entail lifting and cardio if you are a competitive bodybuilder. And again, there needs to be rest periods worked in. But for the average Joe, spending 2+ hours daily in the gym is absolutely overkill.

Most people think that more is better when it comes to physical activity. But contrarily it can be very counterproductive. Even for the professional athlete. It is imperative that one get proper rest periods in order to grow and progress. Physiological advancement only is achieved during the rest periods after heavy training. This is true for the average Joe as well as all athletes, strength or endurance, and at every level of conditioning. Hard training breaks you down and makes you weaker. It’s the rest periods that make you stronger. If sufficient regeneration of the muscle’s makeup is not performed, then that performance plateaus.

This adaptation is in response to maximal loading of the cardiovascular and muscular systems and is accomplished by improving efficiency of the heart, increasing capillaries in the muscles, and increasing glycogen stores and mitochondrial enzyme systems within the muscle cells. During recovery periods these systems build to greater levels to compensate for the stress that you have applied. The result is that you are now at a higher level of performance. * Mark Jenkins, MD

The most common symptoms of overtraining include decreased physical performance, fatigue, loss of motivation, depression, loss of appetite, weight loss, elevated resting heart rate, an increased amount of minor injuries such as sprains and strains, an underperformance that persists despite rest, and an increase in upper respiratory infections. These are all good indicators that you are overdoing it and have to readjust your program.

Intense training elevates stress hormones catecholamine and glucocorticoids. Constant elevation of these hormones can alter other hormones in your body like insulin and pituitary hormones which are directly related to weight gain. Additionally it can also affect metabolism of muscle, whereby the body uses muscle as fuel more readily and often than it does glycogen. Resulting in loss of muscle.

With that said, nutrition also plays a large role in overtraining. Most eat too little not taking into consideration that their body requires a certain amount of calories to perform at its maximal capacity. Many often carb deplete, which in most cases, is not the best plan since carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy. If you don’t fuel it efficiently, most likely it will result in poorer performance.

Not eating enough fats can also play a big role in overtraining and under performance. Most people are afraid that consuming fats will cause them to become fat. Not necessarily so. Fats are important to protect against heart disease, free radical damage, and cancer. They also increase metabolic rate & fat burning, muscle mass, and production of hormones like testosterone. Additionally, adequate and timely protein and glycogen (carbohydrate) intake is imperative to fill glycogen stores that have been depleted through training and help muscle repair. A catabolic state after an intense workout needs to be converted to an anabolic state post workout immediately.

So what’s the appropriate amount of work and rest time to maximize your potential? Well, many do 3 on/1 off. This means three days of heavy training followed by one day of rest. I personally mix my rest periods up and change them frequently so that my body doesn’t get used to any one thing and ceases to make progress. So I may do 3 on/1 off or 5 on/1 off. Or sometimes I’ll just cardio for 5 days straight and not lift at all. You need to continually shock your body by changing your program all the time (this includes rest periods) as it will prevent it from anticipating and adapting to the same program day in and out and allow for progression. Additionally, periodization (alternation between light, medium and heavy days) is really important in maximizing your workouts. It’s a key component in the prevention of plateauing.

Finally, getting enough sleep is imperative. If you’re training hard and not getting your 8-10 hours a night, you’re working against yourself.

So, again, sometimes less is more. Don’t overdo it. And rest up wouldya!

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Enough with the Resolutions Already

exercise, nutrition, weight loss No Responses »

Jan 012012

First and foremost, Happy New Year! I hope this year brings you health, happiness, light, wealth in spirit and good fortune.

Now, I usually dive into the NYE thing every year in search of a great time…an awesome night…one to remember… all those adages. Huge expectations. Only leaving me sorely disappointed every time. So funny. And sad really. It’s all a bunch of bullshit. No matter how much you chase it you’ll never catch it. Because it’s inside you already. And if you don’t know this going in, you’ll be the one in the crowd chasing your tail. It’s all in vain. This year’s party was in the company of my couch, remote and dog. The best one yet.

And all this New Year’s Resolution shit. You make one. Or four. And then mid week you fall off the wagon. Back to your old habits and tricks. You make such a big deal out of it the night and day of…”I’m really going to stick to it this time”. And then you fail miserably. Within a week. And feel even shittier than the week prior. So silly to me.

Enough with the resolutions already. Just get to work.

Whatever your work is…whether it’s the usual “i want to lose weight”, “quit smoking”, “be nicer to my wife”, “make more money”, “quit your boring job”…whatever….make a decision and get to it. Allot of people put a “ready set go” mark on the things they want to accomplish, set unrealistic goals for themselves and hype it up so much so that they set themselves up for failure at the gate.

Small steps. Not easy for some. I get it. We live in a society that wants everything here and now. But it doesn’t work this way. Simple steps. Big change is built with a number of small ones. It’s tough. I know. But get going. Stop with all the hoopla. Stop kidding yourself. Stop putting on a show for the people around you. And get real.

To live the life you love and love the one you live.

This is the golden ticket. Most never achieve it. Primarily because they feel stuck or trapped in their current one. I say bullshit. Break thru to the 1%. And I don’t mean monetarily. Define your 1%. Recreate it. See how good it feels.

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