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Believe it or not, this is actually a problem for some people out there. For others, they approach cutting calories the right way. I wanted to share what happens to a person when they subject themselves to a calorie deficit! It can be a good thing or it can lead to some long term issues.  So How Do You Avoid the Pitfalls of Being In a Calorie Deficit?First thing would be to make sure you are getting an abundance of nutrients! This will happen through eating nutrient dense foods, mainly vegetables! Calorie for calorie veggies rank at the top of almost all the nutrient density scales. We also love Shakeology for this fact too. It is loaded with nutrition but not a lot of calories! Second, make sure you are doing some resistance training! In a study published in the Journal of American College of Nutrition two groups were put on calorie deficit diets. One group strictly did aerobic style exercise 4 times per week and one group did resistance training 3 times per week. The aerobic group lost a total of 37 pounds of which 27 pounds was from fat and 10 pounds of muscle. The resistance training group lost a total of 32 pounds but lost ZERO pounds of muscle. The aerobic group's Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) decreased by 210 calories daily whereas the resistance training group increaesed their BMR by 63 calories. Even though weight loss seemed to be more effective by doing aerobic exercise strictly by total weight loss, long term weight loss will be more difficult for that group due to their lower BMR and body composition. LIFT WEIGHTS!!! Lastly, manage your stress and energy! If you have low energy levels, don't just drive through Starbucks, eat something! This is also another reason why we love whole foods! Quality proteins, fats and carbs will sustain your energy longer with less energy crashes than highly processed foods. Stress Less!!! Get adequate sleep is a great place to start here. Also work smarter not harder when it comes to exercise. Doing an hour plus of exercise daily causes a lot of stress, science has shown that 30 minutes 4-5 times per week is enough see substantial results. Meditation and finding some quiet time is also a great way to recenter and slow down. On top of cutting out stressful things, find some activities that bring you joy! Time with family, hikes in nature, playing a sport. Whatever it is build up your good vibes bank account to help you push through those stressful times. Hope those tips help!!!
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For the longest time humans used the sun as their only source of light. Then came fire. Then came the lightbulb. Then came TV. Then came the iPhone! Nowadays it is hard to avoid electronics that emit light. If you are living among humans it is the norm.
The point of this post isn't to give you a history lesson on how light came to be, but to actually share with you more detail into how light affects our health. I've heard a lot of health minded folks talk about the effects of light and how it correlates with your hormone cycles. When I got a little pop up on my phone this past week I figured it would be a good opportunity to share something I learned and also share a bit about how light can influence your health.
Circadian Rhythm
This term refers to how your hormones cycle up and down and how you go from being wide awake to sleeping liking a baby. The main hormones at play here are cortisol and melatonin. These two hormones work inversely with each other. When one is high the other is low and vice versa.
Cortisol is often referred to as a stress hormone or fight or flight hormone. This can give people the thought that it is a bad thing but this hormone is needed to function. It is a rise in cortisol in the morning that tells you to wake up. As the day goes on your cortisol levels should decrease and with that brings on a rise in melatonin. Melatonin is the key player in making you sleepy and getting a good nights rest. It often is used in supplement form to help people with insomnia and other sleep disorders. Health Impact
It is this daily shift and balance of hormones that make up your circadian rhythm. This can affect all areas of your health. A lack of sleep can affect a person's weight in a negative way...and obesity thus increases a person's chance of getting pretty much every other disease out there. Melatonin disregulation can also increase chances of certain cancers. The World Health Organization has even classified shift work as a probable carcinogen because of the disruption of to a person's circadian rhythm.
Artificial Light's Impact
Being exposed to light, especially blue light, later in day is also associated with disrupting a person's circadian rhythm. Thus increasing risk factors of everything explained above. When you are staring at a TV screen, iPad, or smart phone late at night you are basically sending daylight type light into your eyes and brain which suppresses melatonin and increases cortisol. Another thing that can play into this imbalance is staying indoors all day long. By limiting your exposure to natural sunlight your body doesn't get that dosage of light that tells your body that it is time to be awake and alert. Yeah your computer screen at work gives you a fake light but nothing beats the real thing.
Solution Time
If you struggle with sleepless nights, waking up tired or low energy levels during the day you could likely have a circadian rhythm that is out of balance.
Here are 5 things you can do to help your cause and get your circadian rhythm back in balance.
This thought came to me as a I was reading the book, The One Thing. The book's premise is that there is always "one thing" that is of utmost importance that will help other things in your life become easier or more productive. The authors goal is to get people to focus on their one true priority rather than get bogged down with all the other "stuff" that seems to be a priority but is just crap stealing our focus.
I was reading a chapter on thinking big. The author was asked if thinking big was a realistic thing. Personally, I've gone both ways on this. As a kid and even young adult, I believed anything was possible and that I could accomplish great things. Then I went through a part of life where I settled. I stayed in my comfort zone. I didn't do things that were challenging. Since I've gotten back into the habit of reading some personal development books and listening to podcasts, I've started going back to the attitude I had when I was younger. I tell myself things like...
We all have perceived limitations or obstacles that we feel are blocking us from doing what we really want to do. It's a rarity to find someone that truly knows what their limits are. Think about it, even Olympic athletes believe they can run a race 1/10th of second faster. The CEO, if he is successful, always believes that his company can earn more, do more, produce more, serve more.
It's that growth mindset that has helped us push through obstacles. Use obstacles as your path...embrace them. They will actually show you the direction you need to go....which is right THROUGH THEM. It's like a road map. It is through those challenges that you grow and live your purpose. Once you figure out your way through them, your real opportunity lies on the other side!!  Sometimes you see God work in big ways...and sometimes in small ways. Both are amazing 😉 but I'm always reminded that:
He WILL provide...so we can laugh and not worry so much!!💗 I don't know about you, but stress brings out the worst in me. These last few weeks have been hard...we're out of routine, haven't had a "home", (so thankful for my lovely in-laws who opened up their house to our crazy), attempting to keep our business going and growing, supporting our team and running accountability groups while we remodel the RV, clean out our town home, sell all the leftover stuff, sell two cars and purchase a new car, make sure Eli still knows we exist 😂 and spend time with him...plus try to remain sane, get our workouts in and try to have a little normalcy. There's been no time to think, breathe or process much. I've been trying to control outcomes and circumstances rather than just trusting HIM and His faithfulness. He works in ways we don't expect...and can move the most impossible situations. Why do we forget that when things get tough??! Because we're human and we're messy, that's why. The beautiful part about all of this is that He waits patiently and just draws us back to Him. But It's up to us to admit that we need a His help 💗 He won't force anything on us. Yesterday as we were driving to look at a potential car to purchase, we took a second to pray together and just ask for guidance. After an hour or so of Dan chatting with them and me chasing Eli around 😜 the dealer wasn't budging on the price...so we decided to pack it up and keep looking elsewhere. 20 min later the dealer called and came really close to what we wanted...so we went back and bought it. We could have obviously just chalked it up to the stuff car dealers normally do...but it was pretty much exactly what we had been wanting to pay and it was everything we had been looking for. So yea. A God thing. Not a coincidence. If you're going through some stressful times and feel like you have to control everything....or know how everything is going to work out. Just stop. Breathe. Simply do what is in front of you at this very moment and TRUST GOD with the big picture of your life!! |
The Cook & The CoachHealthy is a LIFESTYLE. 
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