Tag: hemingway

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Wellbeing

Could Poor Sleep Lead to Alzheimer's Disease?

I don’t get enough sleep.

It’s a simple statement but one that I know is true for not only me but for millions of others. The problem is that sleep is about a lot more than just rest, and not getting enough sleep can cause a host of problems from fatigue, to memory issues, and even long term illness. But, sleep deprivation may cause even bigger issues.

There are four stage of sleep, with the third being the deep sleep that provides Delta waves to help the mind and body heal, and the fourth stage is REM sleep which allows our brain to organize information, improving learning and memory. Once you understand the purpose of Delta waves and REM sleep, it’s understandable that REM sleep occurs at the highest levels in babies because they are learning the most. But, even aging adults need these deep stages of sleep, especially the Delta waves that help the body heal.

The problem is that not getting these stages does more harm that just decreasing our ability to heal and remember. According to researcher Adam Spira, not getting enough sleep may even lead to Alzheimer’s disease. His study at John’s Hopkins showed a definite link between sleep deprivation and the amyloid plaques commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Unfortunately, the study doesn’t tell us if the plaque causes the poor sleep or if the poor sleep causes the plaque.

Even without knowing the cause and effect relationship between the plaque and poor sleep, it seems pretty simple to connect the dots. We know that Delta waves help heal the body, and we know that REM sleep helps to improve memory and learning. Alzheimer’s is associated with memory issues, and physically can only be diagnosed after death when the brain is autopsied, revealing specific plaques and tangles.

Of course, it’s possible that the plaques and tangles already existed and they are the reason that a person with Alzheimer’s disease has poor sleep, and the poor sleep over time leads to memory issues. However, it does seem that as Alzheimer’s progresses so do the sleep issues. After all, it is the nighttime waking that often leads to these patients being institutionalized, because their care-givers cannot be awake 24/7 to keep an eye on them.

Whether sleep issues cause Alzheimer’s or Alzheimer’s causes the sleep disturbances, the decreased sleep certainly can’t help the symptoms of memory loss and disorientation associated with Alzheimer’s. These symptoms are common in sleep deprivation at any age, even in healthy individuals.

So, how is it possible that lack of sleep could lead to Alzheimer’s disease?

When you look at what sleep does for our bodies, it’s pretty clear. Not only does sleep help aid our body’s healing processes and encourage learning and memory, but sleep also helps clear our bodies of toxins that accumulate during the day – including amyloid proteins. Not sleeping means that the amyloid proteins don’t get cleared, and this build-up eventually leads to the plaques associated with Alzheimer’s, beginning the degenerative chain of events that eventually leads to neuronal death.

This build-up of amyloid proteins is seen years before other Alzheimer’s symptoms and may well be an early symptom of the disease. So is it possible that improving sleep early on may help prevent this plaque aggregation and therefore prevent Alzheimer’s?

The answer seems to be yes.

Studies have indicated that sleep deprivation leads to amyloid plaque deposits within just three weeks. This seems to create a cyclical issue where the plaques decrease sleep over time, which creates an increase in plaque deposits. The key seems to be in increasing quality sleep early on before it becomes an issue.

But, how do we do this?

The first key is in recognizing that there is an issue. I know that personally I’ve been guilty at times of ignoring my own sleep issues, thinking that I’m just stressed out and that it will eventually improve on its own. And I know that I’m not alone. The problem is that it usually doesn’t get better without making some changes.

A 2015 review by Sharma and colleagues suggested two potential focus areas – melatonin and serotonin.

Melatonin is metabolite synthesized in the pineal gland that not only aids in the controlling the circadian rhythm but also in clearing the body of toxins and improving immune function. Sleep deprivation also increases serotonin levels, which normally decrease during deep and REM sleep. This increase in serotonin may result in the decreased melatonin. Because Alzheimer’s patients have been shown to have decreased melatonin levels, medications that reduce serotonin levels may be helpful in improving sleep patterns (as may melatonin supplementation).

Unfortunately, the relationship between sleep and Alzheimer’s is still a bit of a “chicken-and-egg” problem. While adjusting melatonin and serotonin may help sleep (among other things) we don’t yet know if helping sleep will reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.

References:

Sharma, V. K., Sharma, P., Deshmukh, R., & Singh, R. (2015). Age associated sleep loss: a trigger for Alzheimer’s disease. Klinik Psikofarmakoloji Bulteni, 25(1), 78-88. doi:10.5455/bcp.20140909070449

Spira, A. P., Gamaldo, A. A., An, Y., Wu, M. N., Simonsick, E. M., Bilgel, M., … & Resnick, S. M. (2013). Self-reported sleep and β-amyloid deposition in community-dwelling older adults. JAMA neurology, 70(12), 1537-1543.

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Wellbeing

Do Opposites Attract? For Magnets, Yes. For People, Not So Much.

Take a minute and think back on all the women you’ve dated. How many of them look–even just a little–like your mother? Probably more than you think (or than you’d like to admit). That may be a little off-putting to contemplate, but it’s nothing to be embarrassed about; we all do it. It may be politically incorrect to say so, but we’re biologically wired to like the people we spend the most time with. In our early years, that’s mom or dad. We trust them, and as we get older we have a tendency to see people who look like them as more trustworthy. And according to psychologist David Perrett, trustworthy develops into “mateworthy.” So if you’re not already in a relationship with someone who looks like your opposite-sex parent, chances are very good that you will be soon.
In a series of studies, Perrett and his colleagues discovered that when it comes to finding romantic partners, we’re most attracted to the features our opposite-sex parent had when we were born (unfortunately, there hasn’t been any research on gay couples and whether they’re attracted to features of the same-sex parent).
In one study, the researchers found that our romantic partners and opposite-sex parents are likely to share the same eye and hair color. In another study, Parrett and his team found that we’re even drawn to people who are the same age our opposite-sex parent was when we were born. Using computer graphic faces, “we found that women born to ‘old’ parents (over 30) were less impressed by youth, and more attracted to age cues in male faces than women with ‘young’ parents (under 30),” Perrett wrote in the study. “For men, preferences for female faces were influenced by their mother’s age and not their father’s age.”
The traits we seem most attracted to are more than just superficial. In one study, strangers were able to match photos of women with their mother-in-law “at a significantly higher rate than expected by chance.”

Nature Vs. Nurture: It’s Not So Simple

If you’re thinking that this sounds like we’re careening through our love life on some kind of biological autopilot, you’re right. Partly. There’s plenty of Nurture to go along with all that Nature.
A team of researchers at the University of Pécs in Hungary found that heterosexual individuals use their opposite-sex parent as a “template for acquiring mates” even if they were adopted or raised in a loving foster home. In addition, the relationship between the child and his or her opposite-sex parent played an important role.
Women who “rated their childhood relationships with their father highly” were much more likely to rate as “attractive” photos of men who resembled their father than were women who rated their father “less highly,” according to Agnieszka Wiszewska, lead author of a 2007 study published in the journal Evolution & Human Behavior. Similarly, women who “received more emotional support from their adoptive father were more likely to choose mates similar to the father than those whose father provided a less positive emotional atmosphere,” according to researcher Tamás Bereczkei.

Blueprint for Love?

Oh, and we’re not the only ones in the animal kingdom who are attracted to the familiar. Most of us have seen videos of “animal imprinting.” That’s when newborns—usually ducks or geese—happy follow around the first living thing they see, whether that’s their own mother, some other animal, or a human. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go to YouTube, search for “duckling imprinting,” and get ready to say “awwwww.”)
This type of cross-species nurture-based imprinting is nothing new. According to Keith M. Kendrick of the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England, “Young male sheep raised from birth by female goats develop a social and sexual preference for goats when they mature … [T]he emotional bond between a mother and her male offspring, rather than other social and genetic factors,” he adds, “may irreversibly determine these species’ social and sexual preferences” (I know what you’re thinking–stop it right now).

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall… The Final Piece Of The Puzzle

Narcissus—the character from Greek mythology who fell in love with his own reflection—may have just been doing what we’re all wired to do: fall in love with ourselves. In fact, that may be exactly what’s happening when we’re (subconsciously) selecting mates who look like Ma or Pa. After all, they probably look a little like us, right?
If you’re a Justin Timberlake fan, you’ll recognize these slightly narcissistic lyrics from his love song “Mirrors.”

It’s like you’re my mirror

My mirror staring back at me

I couldn’t get any bigger

With anyone else beside of me

And now it’s clear as this promise

That we’re making two reflections into one

‘Cause it’s like you’re my mirror

My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me

Sounds a little creepy—and vaguely incestuous—doesn’t it?
Psychologists R. Chris Fraley of the University of Illinois and Michael Marks of New Mexico State University did several fascinating experiments aimed at figuring out why we find ourselves so enchanting. In one, Fraley and Marks divided a number of volunteers into two groups. The control group was to evaluate the sexual attractiveness of a number of images that were graphically designed composites of the features of various strangers. The second group saw similar images, except that up to 45 percent of the features were from the subject’s own face. The individuals in that group were more sexually attracted to the images that contained pieces of themselves than they were to the other images.
Here’s the kicker:
Fraley and Marks ran another experiment. This time they showed a new series of composite images to both groups. They told half that the images contained elements of their own face (although none of them actually did). The people who believed they were looking in part at themselves rated those images as less sexually attractive than did the volunteers who thought they were looking at randomly assembled faces.
The point? It could be Nature’s way of keeping us from taking our love for ourselves and those who look like us too far: When we’re aware of the connection, we feel a sexual aversion.

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Nosh

A Pickle a Day Could Have Unexpected Benefits

We’re all familiar with the saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” But mom never said anything about pickles. 

It turns out that pickles, which often play second fiddle to deli sandwiches, are more than a garnish.  

A new study shows that fermented foods such as pickles, sauerkraut and kimchi might have unexpected benefits. Chief among them is the potential to reduce social anxiety.

It’s been obvious for years that the mind can affect our guts. Stress and anxiety can cause nausea and loss of appetite, among other symptoms. What’s becoming more obvious is that it’s a two-way street.

Studies on mice have shown that the bacteria living in our body plays a role in mental health. Healthy bodies contain thousands of different species of bacteria, but the balance of these bacteria can be a delicate thing. In the West, we often throw it off with too many processed foods and over-exposure to antibiotics, eliminating necessary bacteria. It seems as if it not only exposes us to food allergies and other ailments, but also affects mental health. 

So how do pickles help?

Pickles are great sources of good bacteria (those probiotics you’ve heard so much about). When those probiotics enter your system, they trigger your brain to release cortisol, which is a stress-fighting hormone. In turn, the cortisol activates anti-stress and anti-inflammatory pathways.

Additionally, some believe pickles, and other fermented foods, are rich sources of GABA, a chemical messenger that reduces excitability in the nervous system. Certain anti-anxiety drugs work by activating GABA.

There’s also a benefit to fermented foods, like pickles, over the probiotic supplements you find at the drug store. The foods are made up of many complex components and, thus, more likely to promote diversity of bacteria in your body. 

But that’s not all!

Pickles, like other vegetables, contain antioxidants, or micronutrients that protect the body from free radicals. Free radicals are unstable chemicals that react with the body and affect DNA. However, foods rich in antioxidants can fight that process. That’s why you see so many people putting an emphasis on them nowadays. 

Pickles are also a good source of several vitamins and minerals. A typical pickle supplies calcium, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. More importantly, pickles are an excellent source of vitamin K. Many Americans are lacking in the vitamin K department because traditionally we eat few fermented foods. It’s important for essential bodily functions, though.

Vitamin K is well known for aiding in the creation of blood clotting factor, but it’s useful in other ways, as well. It’s essential in improving bone density and preventing osteoporosis. It also plays a role in heart health, as it prevents the hardening of arteries. 

On the other hand, pickles tend to contain a large amount of sodium, so don’t go crazy.

Others swear by small amounts of pickle juice to alleviate muscle cramps and cure hangovers, although there are doubters. Some women even use it as a homemade remedy for period cramps. 

So, remember, find some pickles or kimchi next time you feel a bit on edge or had a tough work out!

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Lifestyle

10 Life Hacks to Reduce Your Plastic Waste

Take a look around the room you’re in right now. I’m guessing you’ll find plastic everywhere. Americans are on a roll, creating more plastic waste than ever.  The largest amount of plastics is found in containers and packaging (water bottles and shampoo bottles), but you can also find plastic in just about everything else including furniture, appliances, diapers, cups, phones, utensils, and clothing.
What’s most shocking is that very little of the plastic produced is recycled. Discarded plastic ends up in landfills, waterways and on our streets. A 2014 study estimated that 8 million metric tons of plastic trash enters the sea from land every year.
Thankfully there are a few things you can do to help reduce your plastic waste.
1. Think before you buy.
Before making an impulse purchase ask yourself a question: “Do I really need this?” If you’re unsure, think about alternative ways to get the product, such as borrowing it from someone else.
2. Shop at the farmers market.
The produce, meat, and other products available at the farmers market generally don’t have any plastic packaging. Bring your own bags with you so you’ll have a plastic free experience.
3. Say no to plastic straws.
The next time you’re out at a restaurant let your server know that you don’t need a straw. If you’re a straw lover think about purchasing a glass, reusable straw to bring along.
4. Use a reusable water bottle.
Making the switch to a reusable water bottle is such a simple way to cut back on your plastic consumption. Get into the habit of bringing a reusable water bottle with you wherever you go.
5. Bring your own bags.
It’s time to forgo plastic bags and start bringing your own reusable bags to the store. Over 1 trillion plastic bags are used and discarded every year worldwide. Birds and sea animals are dying of starvation each year after ingesting discarded plastic bags.
6. Skip the microbeads.
Microbeads are tiny particles of plastic, barely visible to the naked eye, which are added to many personal care products for texture. Make sure to read the labels before you purchase personal care products! The microbeads used in personal care products are mainly made of polyethylene (PE). Don’t use products with PE. Also be on the lookout for products containing these ingredients: polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET),  polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and nylon.
7. Buy in bulk.
Buying from the bulk bins at the grocery store is a great way to save money on your food bill, and it’s also a great way to avoid wasteful plastic packaging. Make sure you bring your own reusable bags to transport your bulk food home.
8. Convert to glass food storage containers.
It’s time to make the switch from disposable plastic food storage containers to glass containers. Not only will you reduce the amount of plastic waste heading into landfills and oceans, but you’ll prevent toxins from leaching into your stored food.
9. Ditch the disposables.
Americans discard about 33.6 million tons of plastic each year, with only 6.5 percent recycled. A good portion of the plastic ends up in landfills where it may take up to 1,000 years to decompose, and potentially leak pollutants into the soil and water. Making a simple switch to reusable napkins, utensils, cups and plates will have a big impact on the amount of plastic waste.
10. Shoot for a waste free lunch box.
Children’s lunches create more than 3.5 billion pounds of garbage each year, which amounts to a crazy 18,760 pounds of trash annually from an average sized elementary school. That’s a lot of waste. Make the switch to a reusable lunch box with a reusable water bottle and reusable snack/sandwich bags.

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Sweat

10 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Pushups

The pushup is one of the simplest and most effective exercises out there. A few sets of pushups will help you sculpt your pecs, tris, and delts with nothing more than your body weight.

But you could be getting more out of your pushups–no, it’s true! These variations will make your body work harder and improve your results.

1. Medicine Ball Chest Squeeze Pushups

Place a medicine ball directly under you in the middle of your chest. Grab the ball with both hands and start your pushup.

You’ll have to work to keep your balance because of the instability of the medicine ball, and it will make your muscles work even harder. If you don’t have a medicine ball, try using a basketball, volleyball, etc…

2. Medicine Ball Extended Rom Pushups

This is similar to the last variation except you’re adding another medicine ball to the mix. Grab two similarly sized medicine balls and put them under you about shoulder width apart. Once you have your balance, move each ball beyond shoulder width. 

This variation will really be a challenge for your core strength. Make sure to keep your core as tight as you can. 

3. Medicine Ball Archer Pushups

Okay, time to simplify and go back to one medicine ball. Put it under one arm and extend it as far to the side as you can. Keep your other hand in a standard pushup position. 

The arm with the medicine ball won’t be able to assist as much because of its position, therefore the exercise will really isolate one arm and one pec at a time. It also works on shoulder stability for the extended arm. Once you can knock out a few archer pushups with each arm, you’re well on your way to a one-armed pushup. 

4. Kettlebell Bottoms Up Pushups

This is like the medicine ball chest squeeze except you’re using a kettlebell. Carefully balance a kettlebell on its handle and grab the round end with both hands.

The handle of the kettlebell will be even more unstable than a medicine ball, so your balance and core strength will be tested. 

5. Band-Resisted Pushups

If you can’t get your hands on a medicine ball or kettlebell, a resistance band is another good option to upgrade your pushup. Loop the band around each hand and wrap it around your back just below your shoulder blades.

Do your pushups as you normally would, with the band providing resistance. Make sure to explode up powerfully to get the most out of this exercise. The great part is the most resistance will come at the top of the pushup where you’re strongest. 

6. Dumbbell T Pushups

Get a set of dumbbells and set yourself up in a normal pushup position. When you raise your body up, extend your right arm up and rotate your body to the right with your arm. You need to roll your feet, so you’re resting on the outer edge of your left foot, too. If you do it right, your body should look like a 45-degree angle T in relation to the floor. 

It will work your obliques, shoulder, and core for greater strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance.

7. Dumbbell Pushup Row

This is another great dumbbell workout. Again, get a set of dumbbells and set up in the standard position. After you get to the top of the pushup, take your right hand and lift it straight up in a rowing motion. 

It increases the intensity of the pushup while working the chest and the back. 

8. Weighted Pushups

This is one of the simplest ways to add intensity to your pushups. Use a weight, sandbag, or weighted vest to add 10 percent of your body weight. 

Do your pushups with the extra weight making each rep more difficult. You can add more weight in 5- or 10-pound increments as you progressively get stronger. 

9. Sliding Single-Arm Pushups

The sliding arm pushup is the same concept as the archer pushup. Get something that will slide smoothly along the surface you’re on and put it under one hand. Slide that hand forward as you lower yourself and back toward you when you raise yourself. 

Your extended arm won’t be able to take on as much weight as your other arm, which will isolate one side of your body nicely. 

10. Spider Pushups

This simple variation on the standard pushup doesn’t require any additional equipment. Start off doing a standard pushup, and on the way up, lift your right foot up off the floor and swing your leg out to the side. Your goal should be to get your knee to touch your elbow.

It will really work your obliques and core.  

Remember, variety is important in life, even when it comes to pushups!

Categories
Sweat

The Reality of Marathon Training

Many years ago, before I was a runner myself, I would hear of someone training for a marathon and assume they were the ultimate example of dedication and athleticism. I mean, running 26.2 miles, who does that? Only a true, badass runner at the top of their motivated, focused game, that’s who.

But now, 8 marathons later, I’ll be the first to tell you that marathon training is not nearly as regimented and perfectly calculated as it may seem. In fact, sometimes it can be messy, chaotic, and seem absolutely foolish, especially for us non-professional, non-elite athlete mortals.

Here’s a few realities I’ve learned while training for marathons:

Your social life will do a 180. Get ready to start turning down all Friday night happy hour invitations, because you’ve got to get up at 4:30 am on Saturday and put in a long run. And while you’re at it, go ahead and scratch out almost every other night of the week as well, because you’ll be far too tired to stay awake much past 8:00 pm. Your non running friends may go from supportive to distant, as they can’t understand why you’d subject yourself to this boring social calendar, simply for the sake of running. But have no fear: your new running partners will become your friends, and you will look forward to the early morning discussions about life, love, and the latest Saucony shoe release. I may be biased, but I think the conversations shared over miles trump any water cooler or happy hour gossip.

You will be hungry all of the time. There is something about a 16 mile training run that will make you absolutely ravenous. The “runchies”, as I like to call them, are relentless.  Some days, especially as your mileage increases, you’ll feel like you simply can’t keep up with fueling your body and therefore you want to eat absolutely everything in sight. Because of this, many people find they actually gain a few pounds during marathon training, rather than becoming some svelte runner, like the ones you see gracing the cover of magazines.

Your body protests non stop. Get ready for sore legs! If the delayed onset muscle soreness isn’t plaguing you, the random blister you got on your last run is. Or the chaffing from that unbelievably humid run paired with a new sports bra. Or the upset stomach from that new energy gel or post run recovery drink you tried. Isn’t all of this exercise supposed to be good for your body? And why do my shoulders hurt from RUNNING? You get the idea. The foam roller and ice baths will become your best friends, and you’ll become used to the “my legs are sore” limp that you’ve adapted.

Your laundry will be out of control. If you are a regular runner, then you are likely used to this phenomenon. But if the 5+ day a week training schedule is new to you, get ready to see your laundry pile spin out of control. This doubles for those of you training in finicky weather. Long sleeves for the start of the run, tank tops for the second half. Socks and sports bras galore, and don’t forget the sweaty shorts and tights and possibly jackets. I bet you never knew running required so much gear?

Whatever you do, don’t let the marathon training laundry pile gather in your car, or one day you’re trunk will resemble something that requires a hazmat suit.

Running starts to become your identity. You’ll have compression sleeves on under your work pants. You’ve replaced your regular Rolex with a sportier GPS enabled Garmin watch. Instead of carrying around a coffee cup, you’ve got a reusable water bottle, quite possibly one that came free with your last running sneaker purchase at the local running store. Instead of watching TV you spend your spare downtime researching different races and chiming in on online chat boards about the best way to prevent chafing nipples. People stop asking about your weekend and instead ask “how that marathon training” is coming along. Which leads me to the next point…

You begin to speak like a runner.“So did you hear that John just got a PR and a BQ last week, even though he almost bonked and thought he was going to DNF? It must have been that new GU he took before he hit the wall!” Your new running vernacular will utterly confuse the non runner crowd. What’s more, you become slightly frustrated over the fact that people can’t understand that a 10K and a marathon are NOT the same thing, not at all.

You will likely question your motives and doubt yourself a million times. Especially on those mornings when you struggle to get out of bed while your family sleeps soundly, or on the miserable long runs when it is raining and cold. You’ll have an absolutely smooth 10 miler one day, only to struggle to run a mere 3 miles a few days later, making you question if you are really cut out for this marathon business. You’ll miss an important training run (or two, or five…), you might even get sick. And more than likely you’ll finally show up to the starting line, fearful of the unknown, questioning why you ever signed up for this race in the first place.

But then you’ll cross the marathon finish line, 26.2 hard earned miles later.

And all of the weeks and months of soreness, runchies, blisters, early mornings, sacrifices, and self doubt will instantly seem worth it. Despite the fact that you can barely feel your legs, you’ll already be thinking about signing up for your next race.

Congratulations, you are a marathoner! You have joined a very small percentage of the earth’s population that has proven you are capable of running 26.2 miles. Now, go wash that laundry!

Categories
Wellbeing

Work Burnout: What It Is And How To Singe It Right Out Of Your Vocab

Burnout is nature’s way of telling you, you’ve been going through the motions your soul has departed; you’re a zombie, a member of the walking dead, a sleepwalker. False optimism is like administering stimulants to an exhausted nervous system. “Fire in the Belly: On Being A Man”
Burnout is becoming increasingly common in today’s workforce. Burnout is a feeling of dread and anxiety that begins in your workplace and ends up seeping into every aspect of your life. Not only is burnout emotional, but it also affects you physically and mentally due to overwork, demanding situations and instances where the outcome didn’t turn out as expected (Mind Tools). Burnout can affect relationships and your health in the blink of an eye so it is wildly important that you be on the lookout for the common signs.
Taking preventative measures can be incredibly helpful, but a lot of times you need to focus on coping. Stress is usually the main reason for burnout so, although it’s normal to feel mild stress, if it becomes all consuming this is extremely problematic.

9 Signs Of Burnout

1. Fatigue: An overwhelming desire to lay on your couch with a snuggie and box of pizza.
2. Lack of excitement: No longer do you get thrilled by sample sales or trips to the winery.
3. Pessimism: You’re lying at the pool and it’s too sunny, too hot, and the beer doesn’t taste quite right.
4.  Lack of focus: Your favorite series premiere came on, but you’re more focused on the crack in the ceiling than the big reveal.
5. Work decline: When your job performance slips from amazing to awful.
6. Withdrawal: When people have to say your name fifty times before you process they’re not talking to your pet rock.
7. Lack of personal care: Yoga pants are always a chill idea, but not when it’s for the fifth day in a row.
8. Bringing work life to your home life: Instead of ordering your favorite cocktail for your Sunday brunch you accidentally order a copy of your social media outreach spreadsheet. Well, that just got awkward.
9. Health decline: Before running three miles was a breeze, now it’s a miracle if you can take the stairs without falling into a heap.

How To Avoid It

1. Slow and steady wins the race: Look at the bigger picture of your goal. Although, it may seem like the best idea to put in a quadruple amount of overtime to get ahead you also need to remember that “you” time is important. Success doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t force it. And what’s the point of missing out on that float trip? If you’re so involved with your work you’re going to miss the surrounding lifeblood around you.
2. Pump some iron: Studies show that exercise is one of the BEST ways to reduce stress and keep one healthy. So grab your cutest Lululemon gear, press play on your favorite workout playlist, and go for a jog. Once you’re done you’ll feel happier and probably more fulfilled.
3. Indulge: Like we said before, “you” time is mega important. It’s important to indulge on the weekends. Turn off your work computer and don’t worry, your phone won’t all of a sudden disintegrate if you ignore it for an hour.
4. Namaste: Managing stress is crucial if you’re going to avoid the burnout bug. Take a yoga class, read a self-help book, even going for a stroll outside can help reduce those stress levels. *HUUUUUM*
5. Early bird gets the worm: Time management is key. If you’re feeling overworked try spreading it out over a longer period of time. Waking up an hour early can do wonders for your productivity. Enjoying the silence with some coffee and early morning sunshine makes that to-do list not quite so ugly.

Recovering from Work Burnout

1. Vacation: A vacation is a great first step in recovering from work burnout. It’s crucial to disengage yourself from the problem at hand. Going on a vacation is the best way to refresh yourself and breath life into your daily habits. Wiggle your toes in that white sand and sure, why not have a second mai tai.
2. Lists: Next make a list of your work goals. What was your intention when you accepted this position? Have you reached your goals or made any headway? Are you strutting your stuff or still in that dusty corner cubicle?
3. No Means No: Learn to say no. When you overcommit this can lead to a burnout. Just say, “No Margery, I will not take on your 30-hour project.”
4. Reprioritize: Discover what really matters to you. If your job is no longer making you happy see if there’s ways you can shift and refocus. If not then maybe it’s time to look into other jobs. No harm in looking. I mean LinkedIn was created for a reason.
5. Be Positive: This is A LOT easier said than done, but once you start it becomes easier. When you feel like you’re at a breaking point try to step outside, grab a drink, and just clear your head. You know what that feeling is? Yes, that’s the feeling of happiness.
Work burnout is a very real and frustrating problem, but if you follow some of these tips and create a good support system you can get out of this slump in no time at all.

Categories
Nosh

In Defense Of Counting Calories

You’ve probably seen a slew of counting-calorie apps over the past few years, haven’t you? You’ve probably even tried one or two, just out of curiosity. Because no one’s reached a verdict on their effectiveness yet.
There’s always been this big debate among doctors, dietitians and researchers about counting calories. On one side of the spectrum, some see it as a bit obsessive. These folks say you should just be calorie-conscious, choosing instead to make sensible choices, eat three meals a day and have one or two small, healthy snacks.
The flip side of the coin says that measuring out portions and counting calories is the only real way to watch your weight. Most of us just aren’t conscientious enough to realize how many times we’re eating, how calories we’re consuming at any given time, and how many calories are in all our food selections over the course of a day.
I see the logic in both arguments. Really, only one works for me.
In a perfect world, I would never count calories. I would stay within a reasonable margin each day, and could easily resist the allure of an extra cookie, another bite of ice cream or a few more french fries.
But we don’t live in that perfect world. Because then we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Because then calories wouldn’t exist. It’d just be an endless chocolate lava cakes as healthy dietary staples. Ahhh.
I’ve lived life both ways, counting calories and letting the chips fall where they may. And here’s the sad fact: annoying as it is to get out my calorie-counting app after every food choice, it keeps me accountable.
Whenever I’m forced to see my dietary decisions in black and white, I always, always, always make better choices than when I’m not. When I’m tempted to just grab the snack cake with 420 calories and 8 grams of saturated fat? Suddenly, it’s not as appealing.
On top of that, I’m a grazer. My stream of consciousness goes something like this: Oh, 140 calories per serving for these chips? That’s not so bad! And if I only eat half a serving, that’s 70 calories for eight of ’em, and that’s practically nothing.
Guess what I’ve learned, guys? All those “practically nothings” add up. Like, behind your back. When you’re not actually paying attention to anything but theoretically-low caloric values. (I know, bummer.)
That said, I’m the first to admit I can become a bit obsessive about punching numbers into phones, or bummed when I fall off the accountability wagon. Luckily, I’ve come up with a few strategies to count smart, stay healthy and stay on the wagon:

1. Set healthy, reasonable goals.

Calorie-counting apps like MyFitnessPal, SparkPeople and Lose It! usually allow you to set calorie, exercise and weight goals for yourself, depending whether you want to lose or maintain. When you do this, be real. A reasonable weight-loss goal is one pound per week. If you start meeting your goals, get excited — not crazy. It’s not mentally or physically healthy to go for two or three pounds of weight loss per week on a 1,200 calorie diet and manic exercise. This is not a game of “how low can you go?”

2. Purposely take off days.

In order to keep some sanity, I think it’s great to have off days where you don’t count calories at all. If your husband is taking you out for a decadent birthday dinner, you’re going to a wedding, or you’re on vacation, eat as sensibly as possible as you “pre-game”—but let yourself live a little on your excursion. Have the cake. Eat the steak. Sometimes, as long as it’s not everyday, it’s dietary YOLO. Tomorrow, you start fresh.

3. Cut yourself some slack.

Let’s say you just have a craving that won’t die, and you need to have those late-night cheese n’ crackers—ut they put you over your calorie limit. Or let’s say you get busy and totally forget to track for a day (or three). Don’t let those situations be excuses to just say, “Aw, heck with it!” and go back to grazing mindlessly and bad choices. Approach everyday with the mindset that you’ll track and do your best to make wise choices. And if, one day, you don’t? Fine. The next day, you will. Have short-term memory loss about bad days, don’t use them as reasons to quit.
Really, do what works for you to be healthy. But if you find your dress size inching up and you don’t like it, or can’t seem to avoid the extra cookie day after day, try downloading an app and tallying up your calories as best you can. You might even find noshing mindfully is easier than you thought.
At the end of the day, it’s about avoiding extremes. There’s a happy medium between obsessive tracking and nutritional ignorance. Look for yours.

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Nosh Nutrition x Advice

The Delicious Food That Can Actually Decrease Belly Weight

You suddenly get a jittery shaking feeling. You can’t remember what you were thinking about.  Your brain feels all foggy. You start feeling edgy. You’re past hungry. That is the sign of your blood sugar falling.

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When your body doesn’t have enough fuel to function properly, it sends you warning signs. Unfortunately there’s another crappy consequence of letting your blood sugar fall too far down. You gain weight. Yea that’s right….weird, huh? You would think, that if you don’t eat enough that you would LOSE weight not GAIN it! Not the case and here is the reason why:
Your body wants to keep homeostasis or constant at all times, so it will do whatever it needs in order to maintain a non-change environment. When your blood sugar falls your body goes into panic mode or the fight/flight response. When you go into panic mode, your body releases adrenaline which serves to temporarily raise your blood sugar. Because adrenaline signals a stressful event, your body releases a hormone called cortisol. As soon as cortisol is released it triggers your body to store fat. Studies have shown that fat gained due to high cortisol levels sits in your belly. So not eating enough, or eating improperly, causes you to gain weight in your stomach.
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Body fat located in your midsection is not only unsightly, it’s also really bad for your health. Visceral fat, the fat located in your stomach, is way worse for you than other fat because it surrounds your most important organs. People with a high amount of visceral fat not only have trouble getting into skinny jeans, but also have higher incidences of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.
How do you keep your blood sugar stable and your tummy trim? By fueling your body the right way.  Here are tips to help keep your blood sugar stable:
1. Eat small meals every 3-4 hours
2. Limit caffeine and alcohol consumption
3. Workout moderately for 30-60 minutes every day
4. Choose foods that have a low glycemic index, or don’t spike your blood sugar
The last bullet is pretty important as it affects your blood sugar the most. Foods (or food combinations) that have a low glycemic index contain a balanced mix of protein, fat and carbs that slow sugar absorption into your blood. Basically, protein, fat and fiber slow the absorption of sugar (carbs) into your bloodstream and keep your blood sugar stable. They also help you feel fuller, longer. You can choose a meal that has a combination of foods that slow absorption into bloodstream or you can eat a “power food” that contains all of that.
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Peanut butter is a power food! In 2 TB serving, it has 13g of healthy unsaturated fats, 7g of protein, 2g of fiber and 3 grams of natural sugar. Not only does it keep you full and stable, but with lots of micronutrients like Vitamin B3, tryptophan and magnesium it also gives you immediate energy and helps you build bone and recover your muscles (for energy later).
There are so many peanut butter brands out there…which do you choose?
At first glance it’s best to always go with the one that says natural. Many contain added salt, sugar, hydrogenated oil and artificial ingredients to enhance the taste. With peanut butter, the less the amount of ingredients, the better. It’s important to watch sugar content. Commercial brands can have up to 250 mg per TB more sugar than natural ones. Also look out for excessive sodium.  Natural brands typically have less than commercial ones so be sure to compare labels.

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Nosh

Hide And Seek: Spotting Trans Fat On A Label

Trans fat: you see the term on food labels, but chances are, you know it more from recent headlines in the news. That is because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has changed its stance on partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary source of these mostly man-made fats, deciding that it no longer considers them to be “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS). Companies have until June 18, 2018 to remove all PHOs from their products.

We do not have to wait until 2018 to take action, though. Eliminating trans fats from your diet right now can have a profound impact on your health. All you need is my easy-to-follow guide below for identifying and removing them today.

Step One: Start reading all food labels. This can be a little tedious at first, but knowing what is in what you eat is a very important part of taking charge of your health. If the line reading “Trans Fats” says anything but “0g” (zero grams), it contains high levels of trans fats. (Yes, even one gram is considered high.)

You would think that would be enough. Surely, if we only eat products that say they have zero grams of trans fat, we will not have any trans fats in our diets. Unfortunately, it is not quite that simple.

In 2008, the FDA ruled that companies can list zero grams of trans fat on a label if the product contains less than 0.5 grams. However, what if that product has, say, 0.49 grams of trans fat per serving (less than 0.5 grams, so the label says “0g”) and you happen to eat two servings? You have consumed 0.98 grams of trans fats without even realizing it. It sounds nit-picky, but when it comes to trans fats, every little bit matters. Even increasing your daily intake of these fats by 2 percent (about one or two grams) can increase your risk for heart disease by 23 percent. Yikes.

Step Two: To figure out if a product has hidden trans fats despite saying “0g” on the nutrition facts panel, we need to turn to the ingredient list. Here, we are looking for two words: “hydrogenated” and “shortening.” Shortening is almost always made from partially hydrogenated oils, and hydrogenated oils, we have already determined, are sources of trans fats. Partially hydrogenated fats are the biggest source, but even fully hydrogenated oils will contain some trans fats, although in much smaller quantities.

Technically, there are two more words that should raise a red flag when you see them: monoglycerides and diglycerides (sometimes expressed as “mono & diglycerides” on a label). These are broken pieces of fat molecules, essentially, that may or may not have come from a hydrogenated (trans) fat. It is impossible to say for sure, but most agree that a large portion of mono- and diglycerides on the market come, at least in part, from trans fats. As consumers become more savvy to terms like hydrogenated and trans fat, companies have begun using these mono- and diglycerides instead of PHOs. Sometimes they are, in fact, trans fat free, but the labels never say, so it is a chance you have to choose to take for yourself.

Step Three: Muster up the courage to ask about products that do not have labels. This means talking to waiters at restaurants (who will rarely know without asking someone in the kitchen) and employees at bakeries, for example. Here is some tough news to swallow: Nearly everything currently sold at the majority of U.S. bakeries contains trans fat. It is not particularly uncommon at restaurants, either.

I know, I know: Ignorance is bliss. But sometimes to achieve our goals, we have to come to terms with some uncomfortable truths.

Here is another uncomfortable truth: this controversy will not end with eliminating partially hydrogenated oils. In fact, this ruling is only the beginning. Companies have already begun turning to other processed fats and oils that preliminary studies indicate are likely just as harmful.

There will always be a bigger, “badder” ingredient of concern. Most big corporations will always, by nature, consider the bottom line before public health. It is our job–not theirs–to advocate for our health. The good news in this seemingly hopeless situation is that we do have that power. We must arm ourselves with knowledge, vote with our dollars every time we shop, and remind ourselves that any health goal is not one giant, black-or-white leap, but rather a slow and steady, transformative journey. Whenever it starts to feel overwhelming or you start to lose sight of the bigger picture, pause for a deep breath and take one step forward. You can do it.