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THE LOWDOWN ON CORTISOL: FRIEND OR FOE?
Cortisol has gotten a bad reputation in the health community and it’s often a misunderstood hormone. Do we need to fear cortisol or does it help us? While we don’t need to fear cortisol, the answer is always somewhere in the middle. We need a proper balance of cortisol to feel good and be healthy.
Let’s start by defining what cortisol is.
Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands. It helps your body respond to stress and helps the body regulate inflammation and metabolism.
ARE “BRAIN GAINS”A THING?
The brain is a fascinating organ. It is the primary control center for our entire body, it utilizes roughly 20% of daily oxygen consumption and glucose utilization, but only represents about 2-3% of our total body weight.
What is even more fascinating is that our brain is extremely plastic or changeable. The brain has the ability to grow (or shrink), develop new neural pathways for better movements/thought processes, and even cooler, the ability to reorganize by discarding old or less efficient pathways to form new ones. Because of this neural plasticity, babies can go from lazy bums to never ending crawling, walking, and very soon running. Someone who suffers a stroke or TBI can go from paralyzed to relearning to walk in a few months. And even way into our old age we can continue to learn new things and change our behaviors (so yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks).
WHAT YOUR "POO" SAYS ABOUT YOU!
Have you ever found yourself wondering “do I have gut issues?”
Digestion is a trendy topic right now and perhaps rightfully so. We’ve shied away from talking about our bowel movements for so long that no one has any idea what normal is. And frankly, it's been the cause of some major issues across a good portion of the population.
Over 70 million Americans suffer with at least one digestive issue and over half of those have visited the hospital due to their condition. Many of these people are diagnosed with IBS.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (C - constipation or D - diarrhea) is a common and catch-all disorder affecting the large intestine that includes cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation or both. “The cause isn’t well understood” often appears when you Google this disorder. Which then leads to the question, “WHAT exactly is irritating the bowels”?
VITAMIN D: WHY SUNSHINE CAN IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH
Macronutrient is a term that most of us are more familiar with–carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, that we consume through our food intake.
Most of us are also familiar with the term micronutrient, but may not necessarily know as much detail about what vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients do for us, or the amounts of which ones we should be taking.
Today we are going to talk about the role of one of these micronutrients, Vitamin D.
UNDERSTANDING ENDOMETRIOSIS AND GETTING TO THE ROOT CAUSE
With March just ending and it having been Endometriosis Awareness Month, I thought it would be fitting to shine some light on this incredibly prevalent and painful condition that unfortunately 1 in 10 women of reproductive age suffers from.
NOTE: That is roughly 176 million women worldwide.
Believe it or not, 20-25% of those women don’t even realize their symptoms are due to endometriosis.
RED-S: RELATIVE ENERGY DEFICIENCY IN SPORT
What is it? What are the symptoms? How is it different from the female athlete triad? Many people have a hard time grasping that you CANNOT and SHOULD NOT be chronically living under your energy/caloric means relative to your activity levels. Let’s talk about why and how this becomes an issue…
IMPACTS OF EXERCISE ON BLOOD PRESSURE: ACUTE & CHRONIC
You’re at your doctor’s office for a routine check up, a possible sinus infection, or some other sickness, and you enter the waiting room with a nurse. Typically, one of the first things they'll assess is your blood pressure. You’re already nervous and now your blood pressure is higher than it should be.
What does high blood pressure actually indicate, though?
And how do you address it?
Today, I’m going to help you understand this metric, why it’s important for overall health and how exercise can greatly impact blood pressure both acutely and for the long haul.
BODY IMAGE & THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE
Have you ever noticed that the way you feel in your skin can change week to week, or even day to day? One day your confidence, self-talk, and thoughts about your body are all thriving - only to take a massive dive a few days or weeks later, leaving you feeling uncomfortable in your skin and desperate to change your body. Even if you know that your body and routine haven’t changed much, your perception of your body can change drastically in a short period of time.
If this sounds like you - you are NOT alone. In my experience, clients often have a cyclical pattern of body image changes throughout the month. Seeing this pattern time and time again led me to ask the question - is something deeper going on here? And sure enough, there’s science behind the pattern.
DOES TRAUMA AFFECT YOUR HEALTH & FITNESS?
Trauma: Certainly, a more sensitive topic - but important to mention when it comes to health and fitness. Trauma is ANYTHING that overwhelms our ability to cope. Unlike typical “stress” in which we can recover from and get back to “baseline”, trauma affects us so intensely, we’re unable to “recover” the same way - ultimately making it more difficult to cope.Keep in mind - trauma is based on a person’s subjectiveexperience - so what seems major to one person may feel minor to another. Our perception and response to an event or situation is what makes it traumatic. As fitness coaches, it’s not our job to diagnose or treat people’s trauma, but a great coach should be able to understand how trauma can present itself in a clients journey; IE why someone may be privy to self-sabotage, why their negative self-talk and progress go hand in hand, why they may neglect their own health but take care of others, etc. Shameless plug: This is one of the MANY reasons we have mental health services at Level TEN. Having therapists and counselors on staff to help our clients work through any prior or existing trauma alongside their fitness goals has been a game changer for so many.
So, how does how trauma tend to present itself in one’s health and fitness journey?
IT BAND SYNDROME: AN OVERVIEW
Among the physically active, in particular runners, IT band syndrome is a common nagging injury that can be quite painful and tedious to deal with. Understanding anatomy and biomechanics a little bit better is a great place to start when looking for relief and prevention of IT band syndrome.
OMEGA-3s AND THEIR ROLE IN OVERALL HEALTH
The supplement game is one where many are very pro or anti-supplement. Supplements should be exactly as they are listed, a SUPPLEMENT to a proper diet, in order to help fill in the gaps where our food may lack. Even someone who is great about getting in fiber, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and has a rotating schedule of foods they eat, may be missing out on some key nutrients. This is where supplements come into play - your micronutrients.
Most are comfortable with the idea of a multi-vitamin and protein powder, as these are some of the most common (and least intimidating) supplements. But, what about omega-3s? Do you need them, and if so, what considerations should you take when choosing an omega-3 supplement? How much, how often, and what do they actually do?
HEALTHY HOLIDAYS: 10 TIPS TO STAY ACTIVE
Many people find it hard to stay as active when there is less daylight, colder temperatures, and busy holiday schedules. Setting some priorities now can help stick to the plan when life gets hectic. Here are just a few tips to get you started…
steps to fix your relationship with food
Regrettably, the worldwide web and social media has made nutrition a swirling vortex of misinformation. Too many of us have heard the sad, wildly incorrect dichotomies around “good and bad” foods.
Real questions I’ve gotten RECENTLY as a coach:
“Why are good carbs sweet potatoes, but not regular potatoes?”
My reply: All carbs can have a place in your diet, and potatoes are not superior to one another.
“Fruit has a lot of sugar, I read I should keep it to two servings a day?”
My reply: Fruit also has fiber, water, vitamins and minerals, so it does not fall under the same guidelines as added sugar or table sugar.
“How do the chemicals in processed foods create binge eating?”
My reply: Binge eating is a complex behavior that involves multiple social/environmental/physiological/psychological factors, and cannot be isolated to chemicals in foods. Everything in life is made of chemicals.
HOW TO IMPROVE BLOOD SUGAR WITHOUT GOING LOW CARB
While reducing carbohydrate intake MAY be valuable in certain situations, there are several other things we can do first before we jump into a low carb or keto diet. Your lifestyle choices in addition to the type of carbs you are eating will play a large role in improving your blood glucose levels.
WHAT are MICRONUTRIENTS?
While macronutrients are essential and critical for your body's energy production we also need micronutrients.
Micronutrients are the vitamins, minerals, trace metals and antioxidants that keep your body functioning optimally at a cellular level. Micronutrients assist your cells in carrying out essential functions in chain reactions that regulate every part of your body including your immune system and metabolism.
Without an emphasis on micronutrients and the whole foods that contain them, we can put ourselves at risk for developing common nutrient deficiencies, like vitamin D, magnesium, calcium and zinc.
STRENGTH TRAINING in older populations
When in your younger years, you likely don’t think about the impact that being strong is having on your body ten, twenty, even thirty years from now. However, the work you do today, as well as continue to do long term, can greatly impact your health for decades to come. Today--my goal is to give you the background on how strength training now and through the rest of your life, can have you living a much longer, more fulfilling life.
We often think about strength training for the now--the increased muscle in our legs or arms that look great in photos, the gym gains, the loss of inches in our waist, and while these are important to keeping us consistent, we don’t focus on what long term effects are actually taking place. The two main pieces I want to address today are osteoporosis and sarcopenia, essentially, the loss of bone mass and muscle mass over time due to aging. Again, you may think, I don’t need to worry about that right now, but the truth is, the more consistent you are now, the better off your future self will be.
When we say fitness is for life, we mean it--it’s for life.
NUTRIENTS VS. IMMUNE HEALTH
“Winter is coming” - cue *Jon Snow* With fall and winter just around the corner, we'll surely hear talk of Emergen-C packets and chicken noodle soup before we know it! But, are these the only ways to set ourselves up for success during cold and flu season?
WHAT IS HRV? (HEART RATE VARIABILITY)
You may have heard a coach (or even your fitness tracker) refer to HRV. Is this new? Why is it being talked about and why might it be important for you to pay attention to yours?
So what is HRV?
Heart Rate Variability or HRV is simply a measure of the variation in time between each of your heartbeats. This time variation is measured in milliseconds and will vary based on various factors. Just like the body itself, our hearts are incredibly adaptive and must adjust to their environment. As a result, HRV will speed up and slow down accordingly.
THE GUT-BRAIN AXIS: HOW DO OUR INTESTINES IMPACT OUR EMOTIONS?
Most of us view our emotions and feelings as being their own “thing” - or something separate from our physical function. We go to a therapist for our emotions and a doctor for digestive dysfunction. But what if our emotions and feelings weren’t just reactions to the things going on around us, but were also a reflection of what’s going on inside of us? What if we could see improvements in anxiety, depression, memory, PTSD, and our ability to handle stress by improving gut health? Research suggests that what's now known as the “gut-brain connection” is something we should be paying attention to if we want to feel our best both physically AND emotionally.
STRESS & IT’S EFFECT ON YOUR BODY WEIGHT
Is stress contributing to your weight gain or your inability to lose weight? Well, it's certainly possible.
Everyone has stress - but it's how we manage and process that stress - that determines how it affects the rest of your body and it’s response to weight loss.
So let's start from the beginning and see what happens when you experience a stressor…