It's New Year's Eve and I sat down at my laptop with a big cup of coffee to read my daily ration of blogs. Then I checked my email and found an alert from Medscape Today that got me thinking about that cup of coffee.
Those of you who know me as a friend or have trained with me know that I am a coffee fan. I don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't eat sugar or processed foods, but I do drink coffee everyday and with great pleasure. I start the day with a cup or two and I often have another in the early afternoon. When I eat out in restaurants, since I don't eat sugar for dessert I will order a cup of decaf with cream and add my own splenda for a rich and comforting finish to the meal while others indulge in the sweet treats. Today's article from Medscape supports my coffee drinking, but of course there are a few caveats.
According to the Medscape article which reports on a study from the Annals of Internal Medicine, after looking at questionnaires filled out by 85,000 women and 40,000 men the data shows that regular coffee drinkers (2 cups a day) have a lowered risk of heart disease and the data holds true even for those who drink decaf. The assumption about why has to do with chemicals called phenols and minerals like magnesium that are present in coffee that may help to reduce inflammation and help regulate blood sugar. For women, those 2 cups a day came out to a 25% lower risk of heart disease. That is worth thinking about. One small caution - moderation is still a good thing. Another study showed that if men drink 6 or more cups of coffee a day it can double their risk of heart disease.
If you have worked out with me I have probably mentioned another study, this one is a couple years old now. Older exercisers were studied to compare the pain reducing effects of coffee to over the counter drugs like Advil and Tylenol. The results showed that people reported a 45% reduction in post exercise soreness if they had the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee post workout - for those of you who get the Starbuck's venti you are getting plenty in one cup! In that study it did matter if the coffee was caffienated, but the assumption still had to do with the anti-inflammatory properties of phenols and caffeine in combination.
Body builders have long used caffeine before their workouts to give them an edge and swear by it's effectiveness in getting them through a workout at their best. And why shouldn't they? We know that coffee pumps you up, stimulates your nervous system and boost mental alertness - all things that help get you going and keep you safe in the gym.
Since drinking coffee doesn't make me jittery, or keep me awake at night (as long as I stop by 3-4 o'clock) I think I will stick with my coffee habit for a bit longer!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
I have a confession to make........I'm nervous about exposing myself with this blog. When people hear that I have lost 70 lbs and kept most of it off for 4 years they ask me how I did it. It makes me feel like a deer in the headlights. Will my answer be helpful to them, will it encourage or discourage them? And about that answer.......there is a lot that goes into it. The simple answer (you know the one - eat less, move more!) doesn't even begin to tell the story, though I suppose it is true that I eat less and move more than I used to, but the real story is in how I came to eat less and move more and that wasn't easy - it took years of attempts and failures to put together a strategy that worked for me. Maybe I am just a slow learner, but as I look around I think I am pretty average in this department - it's a lot harder to figure this out than those four words -- eat less, move more---convey.
Let me provide a little background. In 2004, I moved back to the United States with my husband and sons after living for 13 years in the Middle East. I was 60 lbs heavier than I am now, had metabolic syndrome, and was in pretty bad shape. I also had 46 years of dieting and exercise experience behind me that had obviously not led me to the promised land of health and wellness. I was then and am now pretty intelligent, so why couldn't I make this work. ( I remember saying to my husband once that I just didn't get why this was so diifficult for me - I had to work so hard at exercise and diet and was still fighting a loosing battle. Wonderful man that he is he replied that no one could expect to have it all, brains, compassion, kindness, talent, and a perfect physical body. My struggle with my body was just my particular challenge in life. You just have to love a man who can address your biggest flaw while saying so many nice things about you!)
When we moved back to the States so much change was happening in my life. We were living in a new town, buying a home for the first time, our oldest son was in college, and I was looking at going back to work after years of at home parenting and volunteering. My husband was hoping to retire in 10 years time and I would need to be providing a sufficient income by then. I decided that since I was enveloped in change I would make another attempt to recreate my body as well. I could not have predicted how well that would work out for me. I don't think I really believed it would work when I began and even after I had lost 55 lbs in about 7 months I didn't really think it would last, but it has.
I've learned many things about myself and my body. I have had to meet a number of challenges, both psychological and physical, but I can honestly tell you that today I feel better than I can ever remember feeling. I have more energy than when I was a teenager. I am passionate about nutrition, weight-loss, exercise, and the power of small changes to produce big results. Along the way I pursued some educational goals and became a certified personal trainer. I like working with people who are entering the second half of life (50+ years old) and I especially like working with those people who don't feel a part of the gym culture. (Not that there is anything wrong with working out in a gym - I do it myself from time to time.) I have a special affinity for those people who are a little afraid to try and are discouraged by their past experiences. I have walked in their shoes and I know what that is like.
On the cusp of a new year I've been counting my blessings and realizing how grateful I am to have had the help of those courageous bloggers who have sharpened my focus and caused me to be more reflective in the last several years. Their posts have taken me all kind of places in my quest for improved health and fitness. Now I am taking a step forward to give back by beginning my own blog in the hope that it will help someone else who is traveling the road to a better quality of life. I know that what works for me might not work for someone else, but it just might spark an idea for what will work or what might work and sometimes that makes all the difference.
One last thought for those of you who noticed that I used 3 different numbers for my weight loss. First, you get points for being attentive. Second, there is in fact an explanation. I did in fact lose a total of 70 lbs. After the first 55 I got a little scared and decided to see if I could hold my weight at that number for a year to be sure this wasn't a fluke. During that year while I was trying to maintain, I actually lost another 10 lbs. Then I started trying to lose a little more and it took lots of effort and I felt hungry and unhappy though I lost another 5 lbs. Sometime, I will blog about that - much was learned from that experience. As of today I am 60 lbs lighter than my heaviest weight and my body seems happy here - most days - I'm sure I will blog about that
slight ambiguity somewhere along the line too.
Let me provide a little background. In 2004, I moved back to the United States with my husband and sons after living for 13 years in the Middle East. I was 60 lbs heavier than I am now, had metabolic syndrome, and was in pretty bad shape. I also had 46 years of dieting and exercise experience behind me that had obviously not led me to the promised land of health and wellness. I was then and am now pretty intelligent, so why couldn't I make this work. ( I remember saying to my husband once that I just didn't get why this was so diifficult for me - I had to work so hard at exercise and diet and was still fighting a loosing battle. Wonderful man that he is he replied that no one could expect to have it all, brains, compassion, kindness, talent, and a perfect physical body. My struggle with my body was just my particular challenge in life. You just have to love a man who can address your biggest flaw while saying so many nice things about you!)
When we moved back to the States so much change was happening in my life. We were living in a new town, buying a home for the first time, our oldest son was in college, and I was looking at going back to work after years of at home parenting and volunteering. My husband was hoping to retire in 10 years time and I would need to be providing a sufficient income by then. I decided that since I was enveloped in change I would make another attempt to recreate my body as well. I could not have predicted how well that would work out for me. I don't think I really believed it would work when I began and even after I had lost 55 lbs in about 7 months I didn't really think it would last, but it has.
I've learned many things about myself and my body. I have had to meet a number of challenges, both psychological and physical, but I can honestly tell you that today I feel better than I can ever remember feeling. I have more energy than when I was a teenager. I am passionate about nutrition, weight-loss, exercise, and the power of small changes to produce big results. Along the way I pursued some educational goals and became a certified personal trainer. I like working with people who are entering the second half of life (50+ years old) and I especially like working with those people who don't feel a part of the gym culture. (Not that there is anything wrong with working out in a gym - I do it myself from time to time.) I have a special affinity for those people who are a little afraid to try and are discouraged by their past experiences. I have walked in their shoes and I know what that is like.
On the cusp of a new year I've been counting my blessings and realizing how grateful I am to have had the help of those courageous bloggers who have sharpened my focus and caused me to be more reflective in the last several years. Their posts have taken me all kind of places in my quest for improved health and fitness. Now I am taking a step forward to give back by beginning my own blog in the hope that it will help someone else who is traveling the road to a better quality of life. I know that what works for me might not work for someone else, but it just might spark an idea for what will work or what might work and sometimes that makes all the difference.
One last thought for those of you who noticed that I used 3 different numbers for my weight loss. First, you get points for being attentive. Second, there is in fact an explanation. I did in fact lose a total of 70 lbs. After the first 55 I got a little scared and decided to see if I could hold my weight at that number for a year to be sure this wasn't a fluke. During that year while I was trying to maintain, I actually lost another 10 lbs. Then I started trying to lose a little more and it took lots of effort and I felt hungry and unhappy though I lost another 5 lbs. Sometime, I will blog about that - much was learned from that experience. As of today I am 60 lbs lighter than my heaviest weight and my body seems happy here - most days - I'm sure I will blog about that
slight ambiguity somewhere along the line too.
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