Choose to Live Well!

What would you like to learn about on this blog? Submit your fitness, nutrition or weight loss questions to: PremierPhysique@gmail.com

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Sleep to Lose Weight?

When you are determining your plan to avoid those extra holiday pounds this year, is adequate sleep in the picture? There have been several interesting studies in recent years showing increased incidence of obesity in sleep-deficient populations. Some of the suspected reasons for this are:

Tendency towards overeating from being awake more hours and also being awake late at night

Lesser production of appetite suppressing hormones that are produced during sleep

Less recovery and repair of body tissues

The correlation between less sleep and higher stress levels (since we know stress inhibits fat-burning by increasing cortisol production)

Less daytime physical energy leading to lower physical activity levels

Some of the more recent studies done happened to target abdominal fat, younger adults and minority populations, showing similar results as past research, such as: Participants who slept less than 5 hours a night experienced a 32% increase in abdominal fat over 5 years.

But before you think that gives you a license to sleep in… the same study showed that those who averaged more than 8 hours of sleep increased by 22%. Well, all I know is those people must not have children! And I suppose you do really limit your physical activity calories when you are in bed all day.

So this holiday season, since we already know sugar and alcohol calories will directly increase the belly fat, plan enough space in your celebration schedule for some rest.

Sources:

Hairston, K.G., et al (2010) Sleep Duration and Five-Year Abdominal Fat Accumulation in a Minority Cohort: The IRAS Family Study. Sleep. 33(03): 289-295.
Amy Norton. (2010) Sleep habits linked to fat gain in younger adults. Reuters Health. March 1st.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Welcome!

I want to extend a special welcome to patients of Ploeger Chiropractic. This blog is for you! Your decision to seek regular chiropractic care for your family shows you value health and wellness as a top priority in your life. You know that without your health, you really have nothing!

This is a place where I will be addressing common questions that come up about fitness, nutrition, and weight loss. I would especially love to answer your specific questions to help you along on your journey towards health. Please submit them at any time to PremierPhysique@gmail.com.

And now a little about me:

I am the owner of Premier Physique, LLC in Forest Lake, MN, where I specialize in offer customized fitness and nutrition services for both individual clients and group settings. I am nationally certified through the American Council on Exercise as both a Personal Trainer and a Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant. I am also a Certified Nutrition Specialist through the American Academy of Sports Dieticians and Nutritionists. Additionally I am a certified Group Fitness Instructor (YMCA), BodyPump instructor (Les Mills), Golf Conditioning Specialist (GMP), and stay current in CPR/AED through the Red Cross. I have a B.S. in Kinesiology, emphasis fitness/wellness, from the University of Minnesota, and numerous continuing education credits in nutrition, supplements, weight loss, bodybuilding, health counseling, and more.

I began Premier Physique in 2001 as a way to independently pursue my passion for fitness and helping others. In 2007 I began offering group fitness classes for moms. After 3 babies in 4 years, how else was I going to get my workout in?! "Moms On The Run" was born and is now rapidly expanding in the Twin Cities Metro. It has been incredibly rewarding to help so many other women in this stage of life get back into shape, make lifelong friends and workout buddies, and achieve feelings of accomplishment from their success.

I look forward to helping you accomplish your health and fitness goals as well!