When you skimp on sleep, your brain thinks you’re low on fuel and sends a message to your stomach to start growling. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that among 68,183 women, those who slept for 5 hours or less were an average of 5 pounds heavier than women who snoozed for 7 hours. Want to stay slim? Go to bed…
It’s easy to get motivated to run in the first month of the new year, but how do you keep it going the other 11? Start now by setting goals that guarantee you’ll stay moving throughout the months ahead.
Bribe yourself. Set a mileage goal and treat yourself when you reach it. Vow to run 10 miles per week, perhaps, or 40 miles in a month. Then get yourself a new pair of running tights when you hit the mark.
Combine (running) business with pleasure. Pick a race at a fun destination this spring and make it a minivacation. Register (and request the time off from work) now, so you won’t forget to follow through. One of my favorites is the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon (held this year on May 10). But even making a weekend out of a run in a nearby city can be motivating, too.
Be progressive. Want to build up to running a half-marathon by the end of the year? Train for a 5K this spring and a 10K in the summer. Setting (and reaching!) successive goals of increasing distances will help you keep plugging away throughout the year. Find races near you at www active.com.
Say spa. As the year draws to a close, get away for a recharging run-spa weekend. Choose a spa that offers challenging trails, a wide variety of treatments, and yoga classes to keep you limber. My favorites: the Stepping Stone Spa in Vermont (www.steppingstone spa.com), Red Mountain Spa in Utah (www.redmountainspa .com), and Red Rock Spa in Nevada (www redrocklasvegas .com). Or create the same effect closer to home: Spend a relaxing afternoon at a day spa with a friend after knocking off a long run together.
•Quit cigarettes.
Female smokers, even the only-at-parties variety, increase their chance of heart attack by 124 percent compared to nonsmokers, according to a 24,000-person study. Male smokers have only a 43 percent increased risk. The difference may be due to an interaction between women’s hormones and the smoke.
• Prevent diabetes.
Vigilantly controlling blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes may not reduce the risk of heart disease, but what does: never getting diabetes, according to a recent NIH study. “Uncontrolled blood
sugar is toxic to blood vessels, impairing their structure and function,” explains Hannah I. Lipman, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
• Lose belly fat.
If your tape measure stretches to 35 inches or more around your middle, trim down. Abdominal obesity is not only linked to several heart disease risk factors, such as hypertension and insulin resistance, but increases your chances for heart disease itself.
• Make time for exercise.
Aerobic activity reduces your risk for diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and depression. But you knew that, right?
•Take the Pill wisely.
Tell your ob-gyn about any family history of stroke, heart disease or blood clots before filling your Rx, since the Pill may up your risk. Some birth control pills can affect your cholesterol, so be sure to have your levels checked and discuss results with your doctor. Finally, “If you are on the Pill to help with polycystic ovarian syndrome, have your lipid and blood sugar levels tested,” Lipman says. “PCOS puts you at increased risk for heart disease.”
The following may increase metabolism—but at a price, warns Walt Thompson, PhD, professor of kinesiology and health and nutrition at Georgia State University.
EPHEDRINE: Supplements containing ephedrine are still around, though they’ve been banned by the FDA. They dangerously speed up heart rate and raise blood pressure, increasing the risks of heart problems and stroke.
NICOTINE: It’s true that nicotine boosts metabolism. But those smokers may also be skinny because they have a form of emphysema, a disease that burns calories quickly—not in a good way.
CAFFEINE: Studies have shown that coffee may rev up metabolism, but the effect lasts less than 30 minutes. You’d have to drink gallons to have a measurable impact—not a good idea, since excessive caffeine consumption has risks, such as interfering with calcium absorption.
Metabolism booster #1
Trim the trans fat – You’ve heard they’re bad for you. But trans fats also slow down your body’s ability to burn fat. “They have an altered shape and make your biochemistry run funny,” Hyman says, explaining that trans fat binds to fat and liver cells and slows metabolism. Eating trans fat can also lead to insulin resistance and inflammation, both of which cripple metabolism and can cause weight gain.
Metabolism booster #2
Go organic – If you’re on the fence about whether to buy organic this news may sway you: Fruits, vegetables, and grains grown without pesticides keep your fat-burning system running at full-tilt because they don’t expose your thyroid to toxins, Hyman says. Nonorganic produce, on the other hand, “blocks your metabolism mainly by interfering with your thyroid, which is your body’s thermostat and determines how fast it runs, he explains.
Metabolism booster #3
Think protein – Your body digests protein more slowly than fat or carbs, so you feel full longer (this is especially true when you have it for breakfast). Plus, it may also giveyour metabolism a bump. In a process called thermogenesis, your body uses about 10 percent of its calorie intake for digestion. So, because it takes longer to burn protein than carbs or fat, your body expends more energy absorbing the nutrients in a high-protein diet. Another bonus: One recent study from Purdue University found that diets higher in protein may help preserve lean body mass, which is the best fat-burner of all.
Get a leg up on varicose viens.
You can battle bulging blue veins by eating dark leafy greens such as kale. The vitamin K in these veggies activates a protein called Matrix GLA that supports vascular health, a recent study shows.
Rest up before hitting the road.
Labor Day weekend is one of the deadliest for drivers. Since 60 percent of people admit to driving while drowsy—a major cause of accidents—stay safe by catching some z’s (and, of course, skipping the booze) before you get behind the wheel.
Don’t buy into the highfalutin diet hype.
What’s up with the slew of new diet books named ”hardworking people who don’t have time to diet,” there’s The Wall Street Diet, and for advice on how the rich stay thin, there’s The Hamptons Diet. If it’s a lifetime of beauty and health you’re after, The Park Avenue Diet may be for you. The Sonoma Diet promises a trimmer waist and better health in only 10 days, while The Laguna Beach Diet says it’s a guide to painless and sustainable weight loss. Though most of these plans offer smart tips, some promise unlikely results. So why not choose a tried-and-true plan like the Mediterranean diet, or one that’s even simpler? It’s called “eat less, exercise more.”
Take a load off.
You know the shooting pain that comes from schlepping a heavy purse? Here’s why it happens: “Straps compress the auxiliary vein, causing high blood pressure, numbness, tingling, pain, and weakness in the arm,” says Tim Neuschwander, M.D. In a study he conducted, adults who wore a 28-pound backpack for 10 minutes experienced an almost 50 percent decrease in blood flow through the blood vessels in their arms. “And carrying a 13-pound purse for 10 minutes may have a similar effect, since it’s resting on only one shoulder,” he says. Try lightening your load a little, or distribute weight more evenly with an ergonomic purse.
Be a little catty.
It’s been said that cats have nine lives, and new research shows they can help extend your life, too. Owning a cat could slash your risk of heart attack by almost a third. How? Your kitty may help relieve stress and anxiety—two heart disease risk factors. So help save a cat’s life and your own: Now is the purr-fect time to adopt since shelters are overwhelmed with homeless cats. Visit petfinder.org or 1-800-save-a-pet.com for a list of rescue groups in your area.
Homemade trail mix
The complex carbs in this snack may keep energy up and weight down: A study from England found that women who ate muesli and fruit before exercising burned twice as much fat during a workout as those who ate cornflakes, white bread and jam. Mix 1/2 cup Kashi GoLean cereal, 1 large whole-grain pretzel broken into pieces, 3 Genisoy crisps and 1/4 cup walnuts (344 calories, 39 grams carbs).
Eggs
A 78-calorie egg contains all the amino acids your muscles need to recover post-walk. It will also help ward off hunger: Women in a study from Saint Louis University who chose eggs rather than a bagel for breakfast ate 264 fewer calories throughout the day.
Cherries
A substance in tart cherries (52 calories per cup) may reduce inflammation. Exercisers who drank 12 ounces of cherry juice, such as Eden Organic Montmorency Tart Cherry juice, twice a day for eight days were less sore after strength-training than those who didn’t have the juice, according to a University of Vermont study.
Salmon
Eating this fish may help keep you from getting winded: A two-year Japanese study found that the omega-3 fatty acids in salmon improve lung function. The fish contains more than the daily recommended 1.1 grams of omega-3s per 181-calorie, 3½-ounce serving. Try two or more servings a week.
Dry-roasted edamame
The protein in soybeans helps regulate blood sugar “to give you a consistently high level of energy on longer walks,” says Meridan Zerner, R.D., of the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas. Plus, edamame has 4 grams of feel-full fiber per 127-calorie lh-cup serving.
Low-fat plain yogurt
“Studies show that we lose calcium when we sweat,” says FITNESS advisory board member Leslie Bonci, R.D. One 120-calorie cup of plain, low-fat yogurt provides 40 percent of your RDA.
Spinach
All dark leafy greens contain bone-strengthening vitamin K, but raw spinach packs a whopping 161 percent of the RDA in one 7-calorie cup. Eat it in a salad to supplement each skeleton-boosting stroll.
What you’ll need: Walking sneakers and an exercise band or tube.
1. Steady-pace walk – Burn ab fat and more!
Aim for a speed at which you re hustling but still able to speak in sentences (your rate of perceived exertion, or RPE, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is sitting still and 10 is a full-tilt sprint, should be about 6 or 7). Depending on your fitness level, this will be somewhere between a 13 and 17 minute mile, which will keep you in the exercise zone.
Maintain this pace until you’ve reached your time goal and not only will you burn more calories, you’ll boost your heart health.
2. Hills walk – Look twice as toned
Tackling hills or stairs will sculpt your legs and butt double-time while burning big calories-58 percent more at a 17-minute-mile pace.
Start out on a flat surface for 15 minutes at a speed at which you’re hustling but still able to speak in sentences (RPE: 6 or 7).
Find a hill or some stepsm or set your treadmill to a 4 to 6 percent incline and walk uphill quickly for 2 minutes.
Walk downhill to recover, or if you’re on a treadmill, walk at a 0 percent incline for 2 minutes.
Aim to maintain your speed or go faster so that you can speak just a few words at a time (RPE: 8). Only one set of stairs? Walk up and down for 4 minutes.
Continue up- and downhill intervals until you’ve reached your time goal. Beginners can alternate between hills and 5 minutes on a flat surface.
3. Intervals walk – Get lean and melt calories
You’ll torch more fat in less time by bumping up your pace a little for manageable bursts—accelerating from a 17-minute mile to a 13-minute mile means 66 percent more calorie burn.
Warm up at your regular pace (RPE: 6) for 6 minutes. Alternate these intervals: Walk as fast as you can for 1 minute (RPE: 8), then slow down to your regular pace (RPE: 6) for 2 minutes to recover. Repeat intervals until you’ve reached your time goal.
If you have put off pumping iron, get to it. According to experts, you burn calories faster after a strength-training session than you would after a cardio session. And researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that lifting weights 3 times a week for 25 weeks caused women to lose an average of 4 pounds of body fat.
