Guest Post from David Haas

This is a guest post from David Haas from http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/david/

How Can Exercise Help After Cancer?

The National Cancer Institute reports that proper exercise after cancer treatment may be able to prevent recurrence.  If you are currently undergoing mesothelioma treatment or chemotherapy for breast cancer, this is news that is important for you. Most people think that getting fit has to be a hideous ordeal, but the truth of the matter is that it might be easier than you think. Take a moment to think about what you can do to make exercise and getting fit a priority.

Talk With Your Doctor

Most doctors are going to be unilaterally in favor of a recovering cancer patient making the decision to get fit. However, different doctors will have different ideas about how you should do it. Think about the kind of exercise that you want to do and run it past your doctor. He or she might have recommendations about what kinds of exercise you should focus on and what your options are when you want to expand out into new territory. A doctor can also help you figure out what the appropriate amount of exercise is to begin with.

Find Something Fun

While some people think that a workout on an exercise bike is a fine time to catch up on their favorite television programs, other people find that it is entirely dull and unexciting. You need to find a type of exercise that allows you to feel as though you are having fun. For example, if you are someone who needs plenty of company and the chance to be social with other people, consider joining a line dancing club. If you want something that takes you out to interesting places, think about hiking. Choosing the type of exercise that is right for you and allows you to be both mentally and physically stimulated.

Work For Others

If you are invested in helping others, remember that even a moderate amount of volunteering can help you get fit. If you have a local park, find out where you can volunteer to keep it neat. Consider different volunteer opportunities that allow you to get out and to explore the city that you live in. For some people, being able to say that they are helping others is a great motivation for getting off the couch. Find out what the volunteer opportunities are in your house and remember that they are important to many people. Get some of your friends or family out to help you as well.

If you are invested in getting fit after cancer, there are many different things that you can do. Find a type of exercise or activity that suits you, and remember that you do not need to do it on your own. Consider what kind of support network you have and make sure that you take advantage of it. Though plenty of people think that getting out of cancer treatment is the end of it, the truth of the matter is that for many people, fitness can help them get rolling on their lives again.

Added Link For More Information: https://mesothelioma.net/mesothelioma/

Let's Get This Party Started!

Whether it is reaching a size goal, busting through a plateau, maintaining your size, getting beach ready, this next CHALLENGE will really get it done!!!  Just posted the initial info on the next 12 week Current Fitness Challenge starting April 6th.  Come on, you know you want to participate!!!!

Yummy Treat

I had a wonderful indulgence this afternoon that I haven't had in a long time:  1 serving of peanut butter mixed with 1 serving of flaxseed, spread onto a banana.....YUMMY! 

Check out other treats and dishes on Healthy Yummy Recipes

REMINDER:  Tomorrow/Saturday is the final weigh/measure for this Current Fitness Challenge so be sure and send me your info this weekend if you are formally participating.  Details on the Challenge that starts April 6th coming soon!!!!  It's Going to Be AWESOME!!!!

Greater Muscle Mass = Higher Metabolism

First, what is metabolism?  Metabolism is the process by which the body generates the energy it needs for maintenance, repair, growth of tissues, and for muscles contraction and movement.  The energy is obtained from the foods we eat.  However, the chemical energy stored in the food that we eat is not directly used to fuel our bodies, but rather it is used to generate adenosine triphosphate ("ATP").  Only a small amount of ATP is stored in the muscle cells.  The body must regenerate ATP once it is used through the process of metabolism.

Muscle is very active tissue and requires continuous energy supplies for ongoing cellular processes such as protein synthesis,  maintenance, and building.  It is estimated that a pound of muscle uses between 30-50 calories a day at rest to meet its metabolic requirements.  That's one pound a day at rest.  How many pounds of skeletal muscle do you have?  How active are you?  Exactly!  When muscle mass is increased so too is your metabolic rate increased, both during activity and at rest.  Conversely, when muscle mass is decreased, your metabolic rate is decreased as well at activity and at rest.  If you are not performing regular strength exercise, muscle mass decreases with age at about one-half pound of muscle every year of inactivity after the age of 25.  It is this reduction in muscle mass that research reveals that resting metabolism decreases approximately half a percent every year after age 25.  Endurance exercises increase metabolic rate only during the activity session and shortly following; however, strength exercises increase metabolic rate during and for a relatively long period following the workout.  No worries if inactivity has been your life thus far, as strength gains have shown to be made even in your 90s...so get moving!

Make sense why Eating Supportively is so important?

You Are Key!

So How Is It Going?

It's the last week of this 12 week Challenge.....How's it going?  Really looking forward to the change up of the next Challenge....It's going to be like no other challenge & totally AWESOME!!!!  Details to come.....

How Was Your Week?

Other Protein Sources

Some unexpected sources of protein come packed with all kinds of other goodness as well.  This list could be quite long so instead I am only going to list a few.

Top of my list is going to be Greek Yogurt.  If you haven't tried it, or if you have and didn't like it, know that not all greek yogurt is the same so give another brand or type a try until you find one you like.  My favorite is Fage (pronounced fa yeh).  I use it as breakfast, snack and dessert (see grapes/walnuts recipe: Healthy Yummy Recipes), a sour cream substitute, in smoothies....  Yes, it can be kind of tart if you are used to a sugar yogurt, so if you want to work into it try combining it with your sugar yogurt and then reducing the ratio of sugar yogurt to greek yogurt until you are all Greek ;-)  You can also add some honey to it.  Another brand I like is Athenos.  A cup of greek yogurt provides you with 20g of protein and almost no sugar!

Aside from going Greek with my yogurt, I love to flax!  Flaxseed in my opinion goes with anything and my husband will tell you I have put it in just about anything at one time or another.  Flaxseeds are a great source of fiber if in the seed form and omega-3s if in ground form.  However you flax, it has a great protein benefit with 3 TBL being about 9g of protein.

Chia seeds can be put on cereal, salads, used as a thickener as the seeds absorb liquid and acquire a gel like texture.  One TBL of these nutty tasting seeds has about 2g of protein, as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal with the added benefit of calcium, omega 3s, and iron. 

Quinoa is an awesome complete protein as it contains all of the amino acids in their tiny little granuals that cook up like rice.  They absorb whatever flavor of what you are cooking/combining with it so you don't even have to season it.  I use it as a grits and rice substitute.  It is great in a stir fry or gumbo.  For about 1 cup cooked you have 8g protein and 5g fiber!

Consistency

Whether it is nutrition or workouts, your results are not based upon a few grandiose workouts and nutrition days.  Your results are based upon your consistent efforts day in, day out, week in, week out.  Plan your workouts, plan your meals, plan your indulgences, forgive your failures, repeat!!!  It's that simple!

Thinking a Fasting Detox is a Good Idea? Think Again...

For the same reason fad, minimum to low calorie diets don't work, neither do fasting detoxes that have you utilizing fruit or veggie juices.  If you are not getting the right amount of calories to sustain your bodily functions and activity level, then guess where your body gets the fuel?  That's right, your muscles....which is bad for many reasons not the least of which is it SLOWS down your metabolism, making it harder and harder for you to lose weight each time you yo-yo diet or cleanse.  Once you come off of the cleanse (or fad diet) and begin to consume higher (necessary) caloric intake, in absence of the lean muscle you have lost, the weight gained is in FAT which will then be harder to lose the next time you try.  This is a painful process.  Trust me, there are no quick fixes when it comes to fat loss.  Quick fix, quick results = yo-yo fat gain!  Steady really does win the fat loss race....Eating Supportively is your best bet!!!

To Do's, Have To's & The Remainder

How is your "BALANCE Sheet" going this year?  Are there more to do's than done's?  How are you juggling all that you are responsible for?  Trust me when I say I know that there are more days than not that you just want to throw your hands up and go 'whatever'....but life moves on and so too do you. 

When I was a gradeschool child I remember my grandmother telling me that if you wipe down the tub after every bath you don't end up having to clean it as often.  At the time I wondered why she was telling me this other than she was wanting me to wipe the tub down after every bath, and as I stood there contemplating using a dirty wash cloth to wipe down the tub (yes, even at an early age hygine & proper cleaning practices really mattered) she demonstrated how the task should work.  Another tidbit was from a great aunt who would finatically clean her house before she would leave it to go anywhere, even if it was just up the street for a visit with a neighbor for a few minutes, because she was taught growing up that you never want to leave your house how you wouldn't want a stranger to find it because you never know what your future holds.  It is words of wisdom like this that have stuck with me over the years.  In part because they were stand out moments in my childhood either because of the circumstance in which they were delivered or because they seemed so odd they left an impression for me to ponder over the years.   But if you really think about these two examples in particular and apply them not only to your life (home, work) but the way you view your fitness and nutrition routines, it really helps to put it all in perspective and balance. 

Said very simply:  Don't get overwhelmed with the big picture of everything you are trying to accomplish....rather, break it down, make a plan, and consistently tackle your plan.  By doing what you can do moment by moment, day by day, amazingly it all gets done without any one thing undoing you.  Sure, you still have "those days" but overall, so much easier than having overwhelming task after overwhelming task on your plate (as it were) that you have to try and tackle as a whole.  Can be so defeating for sure!  What doesn't work is putting it off until the list, stack, task is so large there isn't even an obvious starting place.  This seriously applies to everything, fitness/health/nutrition included!

See you Tomorrow....

Hope to see you tomorrow at Trinity for the Free Monthly Workouts!!!

Importance of Sleep, Post Workout Snack, & Water Intake

Here are some excerpts from Women's Health article, "A Hotter Body No Sweat!" by Jayme Moye in the March 2012 issue out now:

"As soon as you slip off your sneakers after a workout, your body starts repairing the 'damage' you did to your muscles.  In fact, it's actually this recovery process--not  exercise itself--that makes you stronger and leaner, says Stacy Sims, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist at the Stanford School of Medicine's Prevention Research Center in Palo Alto, California.  'To speed your results, research shows that what you do when you're not exercising is nearly as important as the workout itself,' she says."

Benefit of Sleep
"We know, we know--if you could lose a pound every time you heard about the advantages of sleep, you'd never have to work out again.  But if seven to nine hours of shut-eye still isn't a priority, here's some incentive:

Not only does deep sleep kick up production of tissue-repairing growth hormone, but studies show that lack of it is a weight gain double whammy:  It prompts your body to consume more calories and shuts down its ability to recognize a full stomach.  When you're tired, your gut produces more ghrelin, a chemical that triggers sugar cravings.  'It causes your body to seek quick energy from food to try to keep you awake,' says neurologist Chris Winter, M.D., medical director of the Martha Jefferson Hospital Sleep Medicine Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Meanwhile, fatigue suppresses leptin, a fat-cell hormone that tells your brain, 'OK, stop eating now.'  For this reason, says Winter, 'prioritizing sleep is probably the best thing you can do, recovery-wise, to meet your body-shaping goals.'"

Post Workout Snack & Water Intake
While the article goes on to talk about the importance of staying on the move, massage, upgrading your post-workout snack, and how dehydration substantially slows your metabolic rate, I am simply going to refer you to Eating Supportively.

I have wanted to relay the importance of sleep on muscle recovery but hadn't wanted to get too technical about it, so when I came a across the simplicity of the explanation in this article I thought it was the best way to share this with you ;-)

Afternoon Bloat?

Video: Shocking Before and After Transformation Photos In 5 Hours

"You've seen the dramatic weight loss before and after photos on many products offering rapid results. You may be shocked by how some of those photos are made the same day!"  Thanks to Lisa for this great find on Spark!!!

 

 

Aside from the eye opening...'so that's how it's done', this should tell you something about what the foods you put into your body can do to your body in just a short period of time.  It can also clue you into the fact that just because you don't end a day feeling as thin and sleek as you may have started the day, doesn't mean you should throw in the towel and just eat whatever.  Our bodies bloat, it's just what happens during digestion.  If you are eating well, but consume certain foods such as high fiber anything, beans, broccoli, dairy (greek yogurt/cottage cheese), you are going to be bloated by the end of the day at times....It's just what happens, but that does not mean your lifestyle and habits are not working!!!  Realize that the end of a day high in fiber and dairy, etc., is going to be a bloated kind of day and that when you wake up, all will be well in Denmark, and not binging out of discouragement the night before will have paid off!!!! 

Proper Footwear

Proper footwear is vital to decreasing your risk of lower-extremity injuries.  Whether you need activity specific footwear (running, walking, tennis, basketball, or aerobics) or multipurpose cross trainers (multiple cardiovascular and weight training activities), your shoes should match both your activity type and level as well as your foot type.  Some general recommendations when shopping for proper footwear from the American Council on Exercise are:

*Get fitted for footwear toward the end of the day.  It is not unusual for an individual's foot to increase by half a shoe size during the course of a single day. However, if an individual plans to exercise consistently at a specific time, he or she should consider getting fitted at that exact time.
*Allow a space up to the width of the index finger between the end of the longest toe and the end of the shoe.  This space will accommodate foot size increases, a variety of socks, and foot movement within the shoe without hurting the toes.
*The ball of the foot should match the widest part of the shoe, and the client should have plenty of room for the toes to wiggle without experiencing slippage in the heel.
*Shoes should not rub or pinch any area of the foot or ankle.  You should rotate the ankles when trying on shoes, and pay attention to the sides of the feet and the top of the toes, common areas for blisters.
*An individual should wear the same weight of socks that he or she intends to use during activity.  You should look for socks that are made with synthetic fibers such as acrylic, polyester, or Coolmax®  for better blister prevention.

It is also important to be aware of when shoes need to be replaced.  If they are no longer absorbing the pounding and jarring action, you are more likely to sustain ankle, shin, and knee injuries.  Athletic shoes will lose their cushioning after three to six months of regular use (or 350 to 500 miles of running).  However, you should look at the wear patterns as a good indicator for replacement.  Any time the shoe appears to be wearing down unevenly, especially at the heel, it is time to replace the shoes.  Additionally, if the traction on the soles of the shoes is worn flat, it is time for new shoes. (ACE Personal Trainer Manual)

Vegetarian Protein Complementarity Chart

--from ACE's Essentials of Exercise Science for Fitness Professionals

"Vegetarian diets provide several health advantages.  They are low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein and high in fiber, folate, vitamins C and E, carotenoids, and some phytochemicals.  Compared to omnivores, vegetarians have lower rates of obesity, death from cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.  However, if poorly planned, vegetarian diets may include insufficient amounts of protein, iron, vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, and other nutrients (ADA, 2003).

Quality protein intake is crucial for vegetarians.  A main determinant of protein quality is whether a food contains all of the essential amino acids.  Most meat-based products are higher-quality proteins because they have varying amounts of the essential amino acids, while plant proteins other than soy are incomplete proteins because they do not contain all eight to 10 essential amino acids.  However, complementary plant products such as rice and beans together provide all essential amino acids.  Research suggests that most vegetarians consume adequate amounts of complementary plant proteins throughout the day to meet their protein needs.  Thus, the complementary proteins do not need to be consumed in the same meal. (ADA, 2003)."

Hydrogenated Oil

Partially hydrogenated oil results from a manufacturing effort to make unsaturated fat solid at room temperature in order to prolong a food item’s shelf life.  The product is a heart-damaging fat that increases LDL cholesterol (i.e., the “bad” cholesterol) even more than saturated fat.  Legislation requires food manufacturers to include the amount of trans fat on the nutrition label if it contains more than 0.5 g per serving, so if it is found in smaller amounts it does not need to be listed.  Really????  Therefore, individuals should check the food ingredient list as well, where trans fat will be listed as partially hydrogenated oil.  You should avoid foods that list this or any other unhealthy ingredient. 

Weigh Measure Reminder

Tomorrow/Saturday are official Weigh/Measure days for the Current Fitness Challenge

The Importance of a Proper Squat

Why is it important to “squat” correctly and be aware of whether you are “Glute Dominant” or “Quad Dominant”? 

Glute Dominance:  This implies reliance on eccentrically (elongated muscle contraction) loading the gluteus maximus (buttocks) during a squat movement.  The first 10 to 15 degrees of the downward phase are initiated by pushing the hips backward, creating a hip-hinge movement.  In the lowered position, this maximizes the eccentric loading on the gluteus maximus to generate significant force during the upward, concentric (shortened muscle contraction) phase.

Quad Dominance:  This implies reliance on loading the quadriceps group during a squat movement.  The first 10-15 degrees of the downward phase are initiated by driving the tibia forward, creating shearing forces across the knee as the femur slides over the tibia.  In this lowered position, the gluteus maximus does not eccentrically load and cannot generate much force during the upward phase.  Quad-dominant individuals transfer more pressure into the knees, placing greater loads on the ACL.  Whereas glute dominance helps activate the hamstrings, pulling on the posterior (toward the back) surface of the tibia and helps unload the ACL to protect it from potential injury. 

When you think of a proper squat think of “4”:

*Start in the standing position, feet hip-width apart, shoulders packed, head neutral, and weight distributed toward the heels.  Engage the core muscles to stabilize the lumbar spine in the neutral position and maintain this position throughout the exercise (plank back).

*Hip-hinge and drop into a squat, ideally lowering the body to an end-range where the thighs are parallel to the floor or the fingertips touch the floor.  Use a higher position if experiencing difficulty in squatting to this depth.

*The goal is to achieve parallel alignment between the two body segments (the tibia and the torso…as if there were a dowel alongside the tibia perpendicular to the floor and alongside your torso parallel to the floor forming a “4”) while achieving the desired squat depth. 

If a muscle is overactive in a movement it is considered “tight” and if a muscle is underactive in a movement it is considered “weak”.  A few things to be aware of when you are performing a squat:

*If you lack foot stability and your ankles collapse inward/feet turn outward you most likely are tight in the back of and outside part of your calf muscle and weak in your inner calf and shin and part of your inner thigh muscles.

*If your knees move inward you are most likely tight in your hip adductors and top part of your IT band and weak in your buttocks.

*If you have a lateral shift to a side when squatting you have side dominance and muscle imbalance due to potential lack of stability in the lower extremity during joint loading.

*If you are unable to keep your heels in contact with the floor you are tight in the back of your calves.

*If you initiate movement from your knees (Quad Dominant) it may indicate your quadriceps are tight and that you are hip flexor dominant, as well as having insufficient activation of the gluteus (buttocks) group.

*If your lumbar and thoracic spine (low/upper back) fail to maintain a “plank back” then:  If back excessively arches you have tight hip flexors, back extensors, and lats (specifically latissimus dorsi) and that you are weak in your core, rectus abdominis, gluteal group, and hamstrings.  If back rounds forward you have tight lats, and pect muscles and are weak in your upper back extensors.

Hope this sheds some light on proper squat technique and why it is important to pay attention to your movements! 

Rewards

The next time you "reward" yourself for good behavior consider this:  Why would you reward yourself for good behavior with bad habits???

This Challenge & Beyond

This Fri/Sat will be the next slated weigh/measure day!  I have already started working on the next Challenge and am very excited about the one on the horizon (starts April 6th)!  It is going to be a completely different set up and I think you will like what it brings to your journey.  In the meantime, start thinking about where you are in your journey and where you want to go.  Use March (whether you are in the current Challenge or not) to get yourself going, going stronger, going on a different path....wherever you find yourself and wherever you want to take yourself is your points A & B....how you get from point A to point B is the question we will be addressing as March and the next Challenge get underway!!!!

Points to Ponder:  Always try to set SMART Goals and don't be afraid or discouraged if you find yourself reassessing and restrategizing.  /  Aim for the moon, but fully get where you are in the Stages Of Understanding  /  Know the difference between Excuses and honest 'cannots' and why. 

Kick Start

Facing this day and the work before me this month is daunting and I am struggling finding my bootstraps so thought as I needed some motivation you might too....

Overwhelmed  /  Balance  /  Choose Strength Over Defeat  /  Surprise Yourself

As my three year old little yogi would say:  "Deep breathez in, Calm down"  She's right, take a deep breath, brace yourself because you (and I) can do anything before us!!!  We have this ;-)

March Promise

With the current Challenge ending March 30th and the next 12 week Challenge starting April 6th.....Make March really count.  What have you got to lose but excuses and body fat???  ;-)



Bananas

If you need a carb-packed energy boost before a run/workout, it's hard to go wrong with a banana.  Bananas contain loads of potassium, which regulates blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. 

March 1, 2012

Happy March 1st!!!  Spring is on the horizon and it is AWESOME!!!!  Be sure to check out the free March workout at Free Monthly Workouts ... Hope to see you at Trinity on March 17th at 8 am to experience it first hand with me ;-)  Come on, you know you want to come!!!!

Also, today is the day my first monthly newsletter goes out, so if I don't have your e-mail address and you would like to be on the distribution list.....send me a request at cagib1@charter.net.