Total Health Challenge Week 5: Eat the Rainbow

Vital Nutrients

Your body relies on vitamins and minerals to power all the various processes that keep you alive and healthy. According to the NIH, Magnesium, for example, is needed in more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body (http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/ magnesium.asp). One of its most vital functions is regulating the rythym of the heart, but it also has a role in metabolism, regulating the blood sugar, and is essential to the immune system.

Eat the Rainbow

The best way to make sure your body gets all the nutrients it needs is to eat a wide variety of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. We all have our favorite foods, and it is easy to get into a food rut. Try to be adventurous in the produce aisle, and look for recipes using new ingredients. Think about the color of your food. Unhealthy meals tend to be monochromatic-- high on simple carbs and low on nutritional value. The beautiful colors in fruits and veggies are advertisements for how good for us they are. Get lots of calcium from dark leafy greens, and antioxidant lycopene and vitamin C from ruby red tomatoes. Blueberries are a treasure trove of antioxidants and nutrients, one of the very healthiest foods to eat.

What About Supplements?

Research has proven time and time again that our bodies get the best nutrition from whole foods, not from supplements. While diets high in vitamins have consistently been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, studies that try to duplicate the preventative effect with supplements have been disappointing. In a landmark study, Beta-carotene supplements actually increased the incidence of lung cancer in trial participants (referenced on the National Cancer Institute site (http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/final-CARET1204). The effect was still measurable even six years after participants stopped taking the supplements! Yet diets high in beta-carotene and Vitamin A have never been linked to lung cancer.

What about multivitamins? Multivitamins contain high doses of many nutrients (like "Centrum, A-Z"). When you ingest large quantities of water-soluble vitamins like C & B, your kidneys will flush most of the excess from your system immediately, removing other nutrients as well. Some vitamins (A,D,E, and K) are fat soluble. It isn't easy for your body to get rid of excess, and the vitamins aren't absorbed well unless consumed with some type of dietary fat. Finally, many vitamins and minerals interfere with the absorption of other nutrients. Calcium blocks the absorption of iron and zinc, but your body can't absorb calcium without vitamins C and D. If you take in all these nutrients at once, it is questionable what you will really be able to absorb.

Sneaky Fruits and Veggies

If you are having trouble getting lots of veggies and fruits into your meals, try these tricks:

Fruit/vegetable blend juices are tasty, and packed with nutritional value. Pure vegetable juices are an acquired taste, but have the added benefit of being low in sugar. Vruit is a brand you can find in Whole Foods that tastes mostly like fruit, but includes things like celery and spinach juice.

You can also keep some dried cranberries or blueberries handy, and throw them into salads or baked goods whenever you can.

Freeze-dried fruits and veggies are a great snacking alternative. They are crunchy and super tasty, so much better than a potato chip!

Total Health Challenge Week Four: Hydrate!

We took a break from our total health challenge last week as we celebrated Thanksgiving. Now let's just take a moment to recap the changes we've made so far:

Week 1: Eat a good breakfast

Week 2: Move your body for 30 minutes everyday

Week 3: Get a good night's sleep

On to this week...

Week 4: Hydrate!

Water, the Sweet Nectar of Life

pic from freefoto.com

There is a reason why NASA is so interested in looking for water elsewhere in the solar system. Water is the building block of all life as we know it. According to this dramatic HowStuffWorks article by Charles W. Bryant, humans can live about 8 weeks without food. However, in conditions of high heat, dehydration can kill a person in just hours. Even in mild weather, a healthy human won't last a week without water.

Of course, there is a difference between dying of dehydration and running a quart low. If you want your body to function at optimum levels, though, you need to provide it with the necessary raw materials. Every cell in your body requires water.

You are losing water constantly. Every time you exhale, water escapes-- as much as 4 cups per day. Evaporation robs moisture from the skin. Sweating isn't just a factor when exercising. Many people perspire in our over-heated office environments, or have sweaty feet inside their boots or sneakers. Your body also needs water to expel toxins from the body as urine and solid waste.

Am I Thirsty?

Unfortunately, we can't rely on thirst to guide our water intake. Nutritionists say that by the time you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. The thirst drive also decreases with age, and many people have trouble distinguishing between hunger and thirst anyway. So how can you tell if you need to drink more water?

The color of your urine is the most reliable indicator of how hydrated you are. Urine should be clear or very light yellow, like lemonade (real lemonade, not Countrytime with FD&C Yellow food coloring!). If your urine is gold or darker, you are definitely dehydrated. Frequent urination can be an indication of dehydration, so go by the color, not frequency. Dry lips or a dry mouth are also surefire indicators that your body needs more water.

Some people may meet their hydration needs just by drinking a glass of water between and with meals, and before and during exercise. Other people in different environments may require much more water.

What Should I Drink?

At one time, doctors told us that caffeinated beverages subtracted from our water balance. The caffeine is diuretic, they said, and so you will actually need to consume more water to make up the difference. Today, doctors and nutritionists believe that caffeinated coffee, teas, and even water-rich fruits and vegetables all count toward our fluid balance.

For your general health and well-being, choose beverages that are free of additives and artificial preservatives, and limit daily caffeine intake. Beware flavored waters with artificial sweeteners! They may be low or zero-calorie, but the artificial sweeteners they contain can spark your body's desire for the real thing, leading to hard-to-control sweet cravings.

Pure water has the benefit of being calorie-free, but it isn't always the best choice. If you are working out for longer than an hour, you should consume a fluid replacer that contains electrolytes, sodium in particular. The rare condition hyponatremia results from losing a great deal of water and salt to sweat, and consuming too much water without replacing the salt. During sweaty workouts, consuming 4 oz of fluid every 15 minutes is a good baseline.

Water as Medicine

Finally, if you are one of millions of Americans who suffer from exercise-induced asthma, water is even more important to you. A 1999 study at the University of Buffalo showed that dehydration exacerbated bronchial spasms (read more at ScienceDaily.) It appears that drinking water keeps airways moist, reducing the occurrence of irritation and constriction. So drink up!

Total Health Challenge Week Two: Get Some Sleep!

Sleep to Stay Slim

No, taking a half-hour nap is not an acceptable replacement for 30 minutes on the elliptical. However, sleep seems to play a critical role in helping the body maintain a healthy weight.

I found this startling study referenced on the National Sleep Foundation website:

"A 1999 study at the University of Chicago showed that restricting sleep to just 4 hours per night for a week brought healthy young adults to the point that some had the glucose and insulin characteristics of diabetics. Such sleep restriction may have been a bit extreme, but it is also not altogether uncommon in our society and is a pattern deemed the "royal route to obesity" by Eve Van Cauter, PhD, who conducted the Chicago study."

In addition, quality sleep is essential for the production of the hormones leptin and ghrelin, both linked to appetite control. You can read more about this in this WebMD article. If you find yourself insatiably hungry, take a look at your sleep habits.

Sleep for Heart Health

Sleep also seems to have an important role is heart health, particularly in women. MayoClinic.com had this great article about Sleep Deprivation and Blood Pressure. One of the studies cited, published in 2007, followed 10,300 adults for 5 years. Women who got six hours of sleep per night were 42 percent more likely to develop hypertension than women who slept seven hours per night.

Check back for more helpful sleeping tips later this week!

Total Health Challenge Week Two: The Daily 30!

Move Your Body Everyday!

So now that you are eating a nice balanced breakfast every morning, it's time to add another ingredient to our recipe for wellness: 30 minutes of accumulated moderate-intensity physical activity every day. If that phrase sounds a bit formal, it's because it comes straight from the Surgeon General.

What is boils down to is this: Move your body, everyday. We are not talking about cardio, like jogging, or 30 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym. This is just the minimum amount of activity you need to get everyday in order not to meet the clinical definition of a sedentary individual. A sedentary lifestyle is a risk factor for many diseases, most of all type 2 diabetes.

So let's break this down:

30 Minutes Accumulated- This means it doesn't have to be all at once. if you have a fifteen minute walk to and from work or at lunch time, you've met the time goal. If you take 2-minute stair climbs 15 times a day, that works, too!

Moderate Intensity- This means you need to get your heart rate up a little. If you are walking, 100 steps per minute is about right. If you are a city dweller, most of us walk faster than that, anyway. Gotta catch that train! But if you are unsure, load your iPod with songs around 100 beats per minute (Bee Gee's Stayin' Alive is the best known example, since we also use it to time compressions in CPR training!). For other types of activity, try the talk test. You should feel like you could carry on a conversation without gasping for breath, but you shouldn't feel like you would be able to belt out a song. Sweating is a poor indicator of intensity, since it varies with the individual and the ambient temperature.

Physical Activity- What kinds of activity count? Since we want to get the heart pumping a little, concentrate on activities that use the big muscles of the legs. Activities that focus on the upper body are not going to have the same conditioning effect. Walking, biking, stairs, swimming, and dancing will all do the trick. Things like gardening, housework, and golf are iffy. If you are kneeling for most of the time, or ride a cart around the golf course, that doesn't really count. Carrying laundry up and down the stairs would definitely count toward your 30 minutes, though.

Make It Painless

You don't have to schedule an additional 30 minutes of activity into your day. Who has the time? Instead, build that activity into things that are already on your schedule. If you drive to work, park farther away from your office and get a little 5 minute walk in. Pick a nice, relaxing place to eat your lunch that is at least 5 minutes away from your desk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. March in place while you watch TV. Before you know it, you'll have finished your daily 30!

Total Health Challenge Week One: Eat a Good Breakfast!

I'm sure your Mother told you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. She was absolutely right! What we eat in the morning sets the tone for whole day. It can crank up our metabolism. If we skip breakfast, it can bring our metabolism to a screeching halt!

What is a good breakfast? As I mentioned in the last post, it should include protein, good carbs, and good fats. Ideally, we should try to limit added sugar and salt, too.

Suggested Breakfast 1:

Quinoa Flakes (or oatmeal) with a little maple syrup and some walnuts mixed in,

and low-fat yogurt or soy yogurt with some berries

Quinoa flakes are a great way to add variety to your repertoire of whole grains. Because the quinoa has been pounded into flakes, it cooks in about 90 seconds. Oatmeal is still a nice choice, since it is full of soluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol. Walnuts are high in healthy unsaturated fat, including Omega-6, Omega-3, and ALAs. Several studies have suggested that consuming nuts may help with weight loss and weight maintenance. They are also heart healthy, as mentioned in this Web MD article on walnuts. Low-fat dairy products like skim milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese are generally very low carb (if they are not sweetened) and high in protein. Fage fat-free greek style yogurt is my personal favorite, because I love it's fluffy texture. Soy Yogurt is an alternative for vegans, but watch out. Many kinds of soy yogurt have tons of sugar added. Check those labels.

What about those crazy days when you just don't have time for breakfast? Breakfast doesn't have to be elaborate. Here is one of my favorite last-minute-no-time-to-think-about-it breakfasts.

Eat-n-Go Breakfast 1:

One banana, a handful (about 1 oz) of walnuts, and a low-fat string cheese or slice of low-fat swiss cheese.

DID YOU KNOW?

Like many aged cheeses, most swiss cheese is lactose-free.

Low fat cheese has almost no carbs, so it is a great way to boost protein intake.

I'll be posting recipes all this week, so check back!

Starting in November: 10 Week Total Health Challenge

In the fitness industry, when clients tell us they want to lose weight and get healthy, we like to say that such goals require a "lifestyle change". People panic when they hear this. They think they need to quit their jobs, grow their own vegetables, live on protein shakes, and spend 2 hours in the gym everyday. It's just that kind of reaction that keeps people from even trying.

The truth is that small changes can make a big difference. Most human beings don't deal very well with change, so we have to trick ourselves into doing things in a new way. The 10 Week Total Health Challenge doesn't demand much from you. Each week, we will focus on simple behavior that we want to modify. The ten goals are simple and easily achieved, because nothing motivates us more than success!

We will implement each new goal on a Monday. If you successfully maintain the new behavior for five out of seven days, that is great! Six out of seven days is even better, and seven out of seven is fantastic. You might not even need all ten goals: maybe you already have some good, healthy habits. If you live in the real world, though, chances are you could use a little motivation.

We will have a chart in the studio for those of you who want to participate. Those who complete the challenge will get a prize!

Let's get started! Our first week officially begins November 2nd. Until then, I just want you to contemplate our first goal and plan for how you will make it happen.

Goal One: Eat a great breakfast

I told you this would be easy. At least it should be. However, I have plenty of clients who eat haphazardly. If I see you for a training appointment at 2 PM and you tell me that all you've eaten today is a banana and some coffee, you need to take this goal to heart!

A great breakfast should include some protein, healthy fats, and carbs. You need all three to get your metabolism revved for the day! I'm not going to make recommendations as to how many grams of each or how many calories total, because that's going to vary widely based on who you are and what you do. Livestrong.com has a great tool to help you figure out exactly what your body needs: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/

If you are not someone who normally eats breakfast, don't get bogged down in details, though. Listen to your body. If your breakfast makes you feel stuffed or icky, it might have too much fat. If you eat breakfast at 7 AM and are hungry by 9 AM, you might need more protein, which keeps us sated longer. If you exercise in the mornings, you might need more calories than most people to get you through a workout and keep you feeling strong. Experiment. To help you out, here are some suggestions:

Good Proteins:

Egg White Omelet

Scrambled Tofu

Low-fat or fat-free soy or dairy yogurt

Low-fat cheese

Good Carbs:

Fruits or veggies

100% whole grain bread

Oatmeal, millet, or quinoa

Whole grain packaged cereals

Good Fats:

Olive oil (use instead of butter on toast)

Flax oil or flax seed meal (stir into cereal)

Nuts or nut butters

Friday I'll be posting some sample meals and great recipes! Be sure to come back and take a look before you do your weekend grocery shopping.

September Open House

We are going to be having an open house on Saturday, September 19th from 9 AM to 2 PM. All kinds of fun free stuff will be going on! Here is the schedule:

9-10 AM Free Postural Assessments (10 - 15 min. each)

10-11 AM Free Latin Groove cardio dance class (no dance experience required)

11 AM - Noon Free Pilates with Props class for all levels

12 PM-12:30 PM Free Pilates Equipment Intro

12:30- 1 PM Free Pilates Equipment Intro

1 PM -2 PM Free Postural Assessments (10 - 15 min. each)

On Sunday, we are having a special Pilates Mat class to raise money for the MSPCA. Here is the press release:

FitLAB Pilates Owners Sarah Carr and Pai-Ling Yin are also proud pet owners. Their pets, Turkish Angora Timber and Chihuahua Pico, we both rescued animals from local shelters. Sarah and Pai-Ling are grateful that organizations like the MSPCA exist to give strays and abandoned animals a second chance.

To assist the MSPCA in their mission to help and protect animals, please join us for a fun Pilates Mat class on Sunday, September 20th at 9 AM. All proceeds go to the MSPCA.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP to info@fitlabpilates.com. Suggested donation is $20 (you can always give more!). You can bring a check made out payable to the MSPCA, or you can pay by credit card through http://www.mspca.org/goto/pilates4pups

For more info, as always, contact us at info@fitlabpilates.com

FitLAB Blog Returns to Blogger.com

Hello everyone,

After posting updates at www.fitlabpilates.com for a while, I've decided to go back to hosting our blog at blogger.com. This should integrate well with our NEW WEBSITE.

The old Flash website was lovely, but search engines apparently don't like Flash sites very much. The new site should also work better for those of you who do most of your web surfing on your Blackberries and iPhones.

The other big news right now is the Referral Bonus Program we just launched. Here are the details:

Referral Bonus Program

Earn up to $50 off your next package purchase by referring friends to FitLAB

Refer friends to FitLAB for Group Ex Classes, Pilates Equipment Training, or Personal Training. Encourage them to take advantage of free Pilates Mat and Equipment Intros, or to drop-in to a fitness class. When someone you have referred buys their first package, you'll get $10 dollars off your next package purchase, up to $50 off. If you refer more than 5 friends, your referral bonus can be applied to subsequent package purchases.

- Referrals must be noted when new client comes in for their first class or session.

- Drop-in session purchases do not count for referral bonus, only package purchases.

- Bonus has no cash value, good for discounted package price only.

- All bonus discounts must be used within 6 months. of referral date (new client's first visit)

Questions? As usual, just email us at info@fitlabpilates.com

A lease has been signed!

FitLAB now has a location, 705 Cambridge Street! We're going to be working hard through June to make the space an inspiring, invigorating place to work out. We anticipate opening the second week of July. Stay tuned for info about open houses, promotions, and more.

Coming Soon to Kendall Square!

FitLAB Pilates and Fitness Offers Intelligent Exercise for Intelligent People


Opening in May 2009, FitLAB Pilates will bring equipment-based Pilates training to Kendall Square, Cambridge. Our fully-equipped studio will offer private instruction, as well as group equipment classes using the amazing Stott V2Max Plus reformer. Featuring a tower with sliding pulleys, these versatile machines take Pilates to a whole new level.

FitLAB will also offer affordable Plates mat classes, as well as specialty fitness classes like BOSU training, Zumba, and yoga. All of our classes are scheduled to fit into your busy life. Mornings, lunchtime, and after work are great times to squeeze in a workout!

Check back for more information soon.