Do you love your belly?

How much do you love your belly?

 I recently read an article in the magazine Law of Attraction called Love Your Belly.  It jumped out at me because for so many years I have been angry and annoyed with my belly and  hear client after client complain about that "trouble" area. It's as if  the stomach is a completely separate entity that doesn't coexist with the rest of  the body?  I am not sure why we, as a society, are so painfully obsessed with perfect midsections.  I feel like it is ingrained in our psyche and I want to change that. I wrote a post last May (here) about obsessing over having six pack abs and have come a long way with my own belly journey.

Having kids has changed my perspective on a lot of things.  One of them being body image.  I refuse to look in the mirror and complain about any body part with my 8 year old daughter standing there next to me.  Instead, I am trying to focus on how thankful I am to have held two babies in that belly for nine months and get to enjoy those gifts everyday:) 

Sadly, our bellies can make or break how we feel about our self image and can cause many negative emotions when they become the focal point of our fitness routine.  It is time to change that mindset and treat our bellies the way they deserve to be treated, with love. Research, has shown that our bellies are like a second brain that help control our emotions, mental clarity, and physical health.  We talk all the time about healing your gut through good nutrition and exercise, but it actually takes more than that! Our abdominal area(or CORE) helps ups stand up straight, provides protection, and nourishes our body by processing the nutrients we put in it.  It has so many important tasks, yet it gets abused the most:(

I truly believe that our bodies are all made differently and take on their own unique shapes during our quest for health. This mindset has helped me tremendously.  Instead of looking in the mirror and picking my belly a part, I give it a pat, say something positive, and move on.  To further strengthen my mindset, my friend Unni and I talked about taking belly dancing.  This idea scares me, but also excites me.   I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but if you are interested in joining us, let me know.   I can promise you that it will involve a lot of fun and laughter.  We laugh uncontrollably just talking about it!   Do something everyday to show your belly some love and I promise it will return that love! 

A Deeper Look at Stress

Dawn spoke about dealing with stress in her last post and we had a post a few years back that gave a broad overview of the stress response. But today we want to dig in a bit deeper and talk about the ways stress can effect your overall health and well being and even more specifically, your attempts at fat loss.

Disclaimer - THIS POST MAY CAUSE STRESS!

Stress is everywhere.  In fact, any shift from homeostasis(the normal internal environment) causes stress.  Stress can be either good or bad and depending on which kind, has an effect on different parts of our nervous system. 

A quick look at our nervous system
Our nervous system is broken down into two parts.  The peripheral nervous system controls conscious movement and the autonomic system controls those body functions that you don't have to think about, like breathing, digestion, hormones, body temperature, etc.  The autonomic system is further broken down into two branches the sympathetic and the parasympathetic systems.  These two systems work antagonistically meaning when one is up the other is down and vice versa.

The sympathetic system is responsible for the fight or flight response and when activated releases stress hormones including cortisol, which increase your heart rate and blood pressure and decrease the digestive and repair processes of your body.

The parasympathetic system, when activated, stimulates digestion, metabolism and the release of tissue building hormones such as testosterone, DHEA, Growth hormone, and estrogen.

It is hard to say that one is better than the other because we need both.  Unfortunately our lifestyles have evolved in a way that we are under constant low level stressors that activate our sympathetic system and mute our parasympathetic system and this is where the trouble starts.

Where dose stress come from?
You may be surprised to know that stress comes at us from many different angles.  In his book, How To Eat, Move and Be Healthy, Paul Chek breaks down stress into six types and these six types can be either good or bad.  The six types of stress are:

1. Physical Stress- Good = Beneficial exercise      Bad= Over exercising
2. Chemical Stress - Good = Clean Food and balanced hormones  Bad = Processed foods, drugs, pesticides and environmental toxins
3. Electromagnetic Stress - Good = Sunlight   Bad = too much sunlight
4. Mental Stress - Good = Goals, positive mental outlook   Bad = negative thoughts, abuse, anxiety
5. Nutritional Stress - Good = Real quality food to meet your energy demands  Bad = too much or too little food, poor food quality.
6. Thermal Stress - Good = Maintain body temperatures  Bad = irregular or prolonged exposure to extreme body temps.

How does stress make us fat?

• Stress makes you hungry - Cortisol stimulates appetite.  Even worse it stimulates your appetite for starchy, sugary, fatty foods that provide quick energy.
• Stress gives you belly fat - There are four times more cortisol receptors in the deep layers of abdominal fat as compared to fat directly beneath the skin.
• Stress causes insulin resistance - Chronically elevated cortisol causes chronically elevated blood sugar and the resultant rise in insulin.  Insulin is a storage hormone for fat.
• Stress inhibits thyroid function - proper thyroid function is critical for energy, mood, memory, body temperature, hormonal balance, and fat loss. 
• Stress effects your sex life - Cortisol and the hormones responsible for sex drive are antagonistic as cortisol goes up, they go down.  Does not necessarily make you fat, but still sucks.

How can we reduce stress?
The first step in reducing stress in your life is identifying where stress is coming from.  You can then set out to make a plan to reduce that stress.  Often times the big stressors such as work, traffic, and family are difficult to change, but focusing in on the smaller things that you do have complete control can make a big difference. 

Finding ways to reduce stress can be a very personal thing as what works to reduce stress for one may cause stress for another.  We have a few tricks that we have used with some success that we can share.  Try different things out and see what works for you.

5 Minute Brain Dump - Dawn and I have started practicing a nightly 5 minute brain dump where we talk about all the things we completed that day and write down the most important things we need to do for the next day.  It has been incredibly helpful in keeping us focused on things that are important throughout the day as well as getting things off of our mind before going to sleep.  Initially it took about 15 or 20 minutes, but we have it down closer to 5 now.

Be in the moment - We spend so much time worrying about what is coming up next that we miss out on what is happening right now.  Not only does this effect the quality of your interactions with others, it makes you less effective on whatever task you are trying to accomplish.  A short, focused effort on anything from playing with your kids to paying the bills will be a more enjoyable experience if you clear everything else out and stay in the moment.

Schedule your life -  This one helps with the last one.  Knowing what you are going to do and when you are going to do it makes life run more smoothly.  I used to fight this one pretty hard, thinking "I don't want to schedule my life, I'll just take what comes and make the most of it." But with work, training, Dawn's schedule, the kids activities, and every other thing that pops up out of the blue, I have found that a strict schedule helps me get things done.  Getting things done leads to less stress.

Cut the electric cord - Set limits for yourself on how the electrical devices in your life will be used.  Break free from the need to check every e-mail as it come in and the resulting stress of needing to respond.  Set limits on your computer time so that facebook, pintrest, blogs, youtube, or any other random "net junk" does not turn into a time suck.  Limit your TV time, especially close to bed time.

Seek out social interaction -Talking to other people feels good.  We can get caught up in the day to day of life and our own little world and forget to take time to meet up with some old friends or find ways to make new ones. During these interactions we often realize that everyone is dealing with many of the same stressors and even if they don't have any resolutions, it helps to know your not alone.

Breathe - Simple, I know, but most of us are not doing it correctly.  Test yourself right now.  Put one hand on your  chest and one on your belly and take a deep breath.  Which hand goes up first?  If it is your chest you are not getting the full benefit of deep breathing.  There are many benefits of deep breathing from detoxification to stress reduction.  You can find tons of info about the benefits and how to breathe correctly on line.  Here is a post I found helpful.

Eat and Drink right - Do we need to go any further with this one?

Move and Exercise - Dawn talked last week about the need to change up her exercise to match what was going on in her life, but we all need to move.  Find activities that you enjoy doing.  Ones that give you energy rather than suck it out of you.  Are you taking that spinning class, or riding the elliptical for an hour because you enjoy it or because you feel like you have to in order to be healthy?  Long walks or hikes can be more effective than a workout.

Be a positive person and treat others the way you want to be treated -  Ah the golden rule, but are you following it?  Especially the be positive part.  When you are faced with a new situation or circumstance, do you immediately think what is wrong with it and how it will have a negative impact on you or do you see opportunities and a chance to grow?  I read a book called The Winners Manual a while back that had an effect on how I look at things.  In the book, Jim Tressel say's, "heaven is where you are right now."   Stop running around searching for the next best thing and make what is going on right now a positive thing.  A little positivity does wonders to change your mindset.

Listen.... What Is Your body Telling You?

This post stems from a normal, but annoying scenario that plays out pretty frequently in my life right now.  I found myself sobbing uncontrollably while doing weighted hip thrusts(at least I wasn't going overhead!) the other day.  I finally couldn't keep it bottled up anymore.  It had been a long week filled with work, meetings, and the normal everyday tasks. Unfortunately, There is always an underlying surge of stress pumping through my body these days.  No matter how calm, cool, and collected I may appear from the outside, my insides are a raging mess.  Long gone are the carefree days. 

I am trying to balance my mom's situation with raising my family.  I never thought in a million years that I would be taking care of a parent at age 35.  Dealing with that along with trying to keep my dad from losing his sanity takes a toll on me on a regular basis. There are doctors appointments, insurance company run-ins, and long drives back and forth to Annapolis. The only thing I have control over in my life right now is my health. 

As a trainer, I know how important exercise is to health and longevity, but it sometimes causes more harm than good.  We always talk about the importance of balancing the three aspects of health, nutrition, exercise, and recovery and managing stress is a major part of the recovery process.  Recently I have been fighting to get back to the level of fitness I once possessed.  Long gone are the days of crushing a metcon without it crushing me first:(  Instead, I am trying to catch my breath and survive the workout.  Instead of getting that metcon high, I feel tired and completely wasted both mentally and physically.  This is my body's way of telling me that I am extremely stressed and  have to take a different approach to my fitness right now and I am finally starting to listen.

Strength exercises are my workout of choice right now. 5x5 deadlifts, squats, hanging power cleans, push presses, etc.  My numbers on these lifts have decreased, but I keep focusing on what I CAN do with perfect form and the physiological demands are less than that of a punishing metcon.  My body responds well to this type of training and it's all I can manage right now. When I choose to do a metcon it is SLOW and methodical where I concentrate on form and moving my body in different directions and through a full range of motion rather than killing myself to get a good time.

I always tell my classes and clients that some days they just need to get through.  They don't have to kill themselves every time they workout.  They have to listen to their body and be kind to it. We all have our own issues and stressors.  Working out should be something we enjoy, not dread and it should add to our overall happiness and well being.  Adding more stress to your life through intense exercise is not the way to go.  Cut your body some slack and truly listen to it.  Sometimes just taking a hike with the kids or playing football with Will is all my body can take for that day and I am happy with that.   I know that I will get my mojo back, but it is going to take time and TLC.  Instead of beating myself up, I am going to focus on living in the present moment and being grateful for my wonderful life:) Life is not about the quest for the perfect body. It's about loving and accepting our bodies as unique and beautiful. If we keep this mentality, they will transform before our very eyes.

The Practice of Clean Eating Post Challenge

We are just about one week removed from the strict confines of the challenge. Time to step back and take a look at what if anything stuck. How did the reintroduction go? I am pretty sure I know that answer, but I am more concerned with what happened next. For many the scenario plays out like this. Grains, dairy, sugar, etc. are reintroduced quickly followed by what can only be described as what it must feel like to birth an alien. Your stomach does summersaults, your small intestine panics and quickly works to flush everything out, resulting in a mess in the bathroom. This is followed by poor sleep that night and achy, swollen, inflamed joints the next day. 

Sound familiar, Now what?

For many, we persevere and comfort ourselves with more quick, processed carbs, because the temporary lift we get makes us feel good enough to forget the hours of discomfort afterwards. Before long we are back to our regular old habits and being tired, sick and inflamed becomes normal again. The challenge is but a distant memory. Why does this happen and how can we not let it happen this time?

It all goes back to the mindset. Why did you do this in the first place? Was it because it was the new year and that is what you always do, or because you are dead set on this year being the year you give up the swim shirt or the skirted bathing suit at the pool, or fit into that pair of skinny jeans, or get ready for the reunion/wedding/birthday party, etc.  If your motivations for eating clean are based on some sort of extrinsic reward, what happens when you reach that reward? Or even worse what happens when you don't reach that reward? 

We have seen time and again, when someone enters a change in their eating habits with a focus on getting healthy, on improving their lives and the lives of those around them good things happen.  A gradual shift occurs where successes and accomplishments are rewarded with healthy celebrations, like a massage, an outing with the family, hiking, skiing, climbing, or a splurge on a new farm to table dinner rather than cake and ice cream. Surprisingly, to them, not us, before long, they are ready for the reunion, wearing their skinny jeans, and rocking the latest in swimsuit styles at the pool.

We hope things are continuing along smoothly for you, as we said during the challenge we are going to take a look at factors other than food that play a role in you being as healthy as you can and those posts will be up soon. 

I leave you with a great post from Mark Sisson here it's called Entitled to Sabotage and does a great job helping you distinguish if your post challenge treats are sabotaging your efforts to get healthy or are they just occasional indulgences.