Myth Busters: Eating Late...and a Monday Winner!

March Madness Mix Monday Winner is....

Amber @ Betty Meets Jane

Congrats girl! email me at megolina21 at gmail.com with your info, so I can send you your goods!! Thanks to everyone who entered!

We made it back into town this morning at 6AM. Gross? Yes, but totally worth it. While driving through the middle of the night I realized another reason why sleep is so dang important for health and weight loss aside from all THESE reasons...

When I stay up late I become hungry again. I am not much of a car sleeper, unfortunately, and so being up all night made me SO hungry! I started thinking about people who offer the "4th meal," or advertise that they, "stay open late," and it makes sense. When you don't have a good sleep schedule you may eat later, causing you to eat more.

This brings up a question I am asked VERY frequently.

Does eating late case weight gain?

Most Direct Answer: No, it doesn't.
Is there more to it than just that...of course, and here's why.

The fact of the matter is, calories are calories. Eating after a certain time won't cause you to gain weight. Eating later at night can lead to some poor habits, which will cause you to gain weight. Weight isn't determined on an hour by hour schedule. Your body doesn't calculate each bite you take and decide if it's going to cause you to gain a pound or lose a pound. It is an accumulative effort. Your deficit or over-consumption of calories over the span of a week, a month, or a year is what matters. If you are overeating for a few weeks, you will see weight gained. The opposite is true for if you are burning more calories than you are consuming for a few weeks. It will result in weight loss. A 300 calorie meal eaten at 6 PM. Is still going to be a 300 calorie meal if you can't make it home to eat dinner until 8:00 PM.

This is where the debate comes in that eating closer to your bed time means your body is burning less calories, whereas if you ate those calories earlier in the day you'd have more time to burn them off. This is a false notion. If you are eating a set amount of calories in a day you will still have a deficit, regardless of the time you ate them. It goes back to the accumulative amount of calories eaten over a period of time. Also, remember that the body never stops working. Your heart is always beating, your blood is always flowing, and you are always inhaling and exhaling, even when you are sleeping. True, you may burning more calories while you're up and about, but your body doesn't take a hiatus.

The key here is can you eat late without falling into poor eating habits. For some, eating later means you might make poor decisions due to being very hungry. Sometimes when we are starving and we come home we eat what is convenient over what is quality. This same idea of hunger and urgency can cause us to overeat as well. Portion sizes don't mean much when you are famished. Eating late can sometimes lead to craving heartier foods because you are so hungry, and these heartier foods can be more calorie laden. For some eating late can lead into grazing through the rest of the night, where setting an exact time to not eat past means you have a guideline as to when you need to stop doing laps around the kitchen and frequenting the pantry. Lastly, eating late can sometimes cause you to not feel hungry for breakfast in the morning. Eating breakfast is one of the best things you can do for your body as far as good health and weight loss. It gets your metabolism going, fuels your brain so you are ready to think for the day, and gives you energy. It's important!

So, is eating late going to kill you? Not at all, but will it help you to avoid it? Probably. 

It is said that you should eat. 

Breakfast like a king, 

lunch like a prince, and 

dinner like a pauper. 

Meaning keep your biggest meals at the beginning of the day, helping you to start with the fuel you need. I advise my clients to eat the larger sum of their carbohydrates for the day in their breakfast. (Think oatmeal, whole grain cereal, wheat toast, etc.) Try to increase your veggies and lean protein content for lunch and dinner.

Can you sleep in the car? I'm not the fall-asleep-anywhere child I once was. I think I actually slept for like 30 mins of our 10 hour drive. I need a nap. Are you a late night eater? I try to eat dinner between 7-8 but I'm usually hungry at 5 or 6 while I'm still training! I'm always ready for dinner when I get home. I always decide what I'm going to have before I get home, so I don't kibosh my day of good eating! When Is your biggest meal of the day? I would say mine is probably lunch. I have standard oatmeal for breakfast, and try to get in the most protein I can at lunch. Dinner is usually a protein shake these days.

Side note: Reader Rene...I don't know if you don't have a blog or if yours is just private, but you've asked a bunch of questions in the past and I love all of your GREAT comments. I can't respond back because I don't show you as having a blog? Do you have an email?? Email me! megolina21 @ gmail.com :)

Breakfast IS for champions. Oh, and I want the bling.

Did you think I was talking about a ring? Well, I wasn't. I mean I want that too...don't get me wrong, but I was talking about this beauty I spotted whilst working out yesterday. 

Tell me that is not the cutest apron you've ever seen? I could bake allllll sorts of healthy treats in that little number. I was watching Oprah, and they were doing a cooking segment and one of the girls came out with this on. Jaw dropped. So, naturally I came home and tried to find it...the good news? I found it! Click here, and it can be yours. The bad news? It's a mere $350.00. Jaw dropped again. No, that is not a type-o. I didn't mean to write $35.00. $350.00!?!?! I mean it's cute and all...but I guess it will have to wait. 

My Thursday mornings are always pretty early and pretty busy. I usually have to be to work by 5:30 or 5:45 to train my first client. I go straight through until about lunch time, and there isn't usually much time for breaks in between, which means breakfast needs to be early and quick. I really love eating oatmeal in the morning because it keeps me full. Unfortunately, oatmeal is kinda difficult to eat in the car on the way to work. Hot bowl = burnt hands. So, to remedy the problem I've been making my peanut butter banana oatmeal into a parfait.

 

 I cook my oatmeal, and mix in a bit of cinnamon and splenda. Into my super tall mug I layer a heaping spoonful of oatmeal, put in a lil' bit of peanut butter, and then add some bananas. I layer that all the way up to the top, and I'm on my way. Why is melted peanut butter and bananas SO good? mmmm... Easy and delicious.

For some breakfast is a bit of a second thought...something you think about if you have time, or if you feel like it. You hear people say it all the time...breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well, its a true statement. A common misconception is that skipping breakfast means you are eating less, and will promote weight loss. This is actually not true. Those who skip breakfast usually find themselves starving by lunchtime and make up for the lost calories by overeating. It has been proven that those who eat breakfast will be more likely to lose weight, and maintain a healthy one. Not only does eating breakfast stop you from binging on unwanted calories, it jump starts your metabolism.

When you think think about the basics behind your body's need for fuel, a morning meal just makes sense. After sleeping for 7-8 hours your body has been "fasting." Your body has used the food you ate during the previous day as fuel up until that point, and your morning blood glucose levels are low. Glucose fuels the brain and all physical activity, so starting your morning off with low fuel is a bad idea. If you don't eat and you go on with your normal activities your body slows down your metabolism in order to conserve energy. Also, in response to this perceived deprivation the body increases production of cortisol, the stress hormone that leads to fat storage particularly around the midsection.

Now, I know I know... you're "not hungry" in the morning. It may take your body a couple of weeks to get accustomed to eating breakfast. BUT it will happen, and you'll get to the point where you'll wake up hungry! If you're in a hurry plan out your breakfast the night before. Find things that are easy to grab and eat on the run.

Some other things I love for breakfast are Cereal and skim milk or soy milk (Kashi, Corn Bran, Special K Protein Plus, Raisin Bran, & Optimum Power are some of my favorites), protein shakes, an apple or banana and peanut butter, bran muffins, whole wheat toast with pb and honey, but mostly just oatmeal. :) Do you like breakfast as much as I do or am I just crazy? I wake up excited to eat in the morning. Let's be honest, I get excited to eat anytime. What are your easy/healthy breakfast items?

Mythbusters: Keep crunching to lose that spare tire

Crunches are great.
They are. They are great in the right doses, that is. I laugh a little bit inside/(feel bad and want to shake some sense in to people) when I see them doing countless reps of crunches, believing that is going to get ride of that plush midsection they've acquired. If only it were that easy.
The TRUTH of the matter?
Doing crunches all day is NOT going to get ride of your belly fat. Doing crunches alone won't burn enough calories to get rid of the fat you're storing.

What will get rid of that excess fat around your waistline that we all hate?
A combination of a few things...

1. Increase your cardio. You have to burn off the fat that is being stored on your body. When you lose weight you lose it all over. Because you can't specifically target one area for fat loss, you need to do enough cardio to lose the excess weight from allover, and in doing so losing it from your trouble areas as well. Cardiovascular exercise is the best way to do that. If you want to lose weight you have to create a caloric deficit, meaning you're burning more calories throughout the day than you are eating. Burning off excess calories is a great way to do that. If you are serious about dropping the LB's I'd recommend 60 mins of cardiovascular exercise 4-5 times a week.

2. Watch your diet. Here is another place where you can create that caloric deficit. If you aren't a calorie counter, cut out the junk foods. Cut out the snacks, and the extras. Try writing down your food to see if you're overdoing it. Make quality food choices. Eat foods closest to their natural form. Pack your meals with whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies, and lean protein. Cut down on the carbohydrates, limiting it to about 4-5 servings of carbohydrates per day. Try to cut out the fats and sugars from your food choices. All of these little decisions can make a big impact.

3. Include strength training in your regimen. Building muscle on your body increases the amount of calories your body is burning all the time. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn. It's a math thing. You won't become bulky. That is the number one concern I hear, and I can promise you. Weightlifting will actually make you drop inches, and become more condensed. Compact, in a sense. Women don't have the same genetic makeup as men, and because we lack the hormone Testosterone, we don't physically have the ability to become large and muscular like men.

4. Make all your training core training. You can strengthen your core and abs in everything you do. Balance on one foot while doing bicep curls. Do a plank in between every exercise you do. Incorporate core specific exercises into your daily workout routines. Include some abs and crunches in as well, but if you're working your core all the time you won't need to be doing a million sets of crunches.

Mythbusters: Fat Burning Zone

A new lil' segment for y'all. Our PhitPro, Be Well workshop on Thursday was AWESOME. I work with some amazingly knowledgeable and talented people. I hope some of you guys can make it next time. Super motivating! Carlee did an awesome workshop on bringing truth to light on a lot of the fitness myths that are out there. As I was listening to her I realized that so many of these myths are common beliefs of the general public, and I felt it might be helpful to correct some misconceptions.

Myth: You should only work out in the "fat burning zone"

Fact: You will burn a higher percentage of calories from fat when you are working out in the fat burning zone, but you will burn more calories over all if you you increase your intensity.

We are talking efficiency here. We are all busy people. I'm guessing that you don't want to spend endless hours a day in the fat burning zone trying to get your calories burned count up there. There is a better way people! I hope I can explain this in a way that will make sense to you...here goes.

Let's say you are working out in your fat burning zone, which is 60-70% percent of your max heart rate. (To find your max heart rate calculate 220 - your age, then figure out the intensity percentages from there.) In the fat burning zone you will burn about 50% of your calories from fat, but a lower total amount of calories. If you were to work out in the aerobic zone which is 70-80% of your MHR, you will burn less calories from fat when looking at the percentages, but because you are burning more total calories over all there will be the same amount of calories from fat. Does that make sense?

Maybe this chart will help...This represents the calories burned by a 130 lb woman.

So, what is the take home from this? Work harder! :) If you only have a short amount of time to get some exercise in. Get that heart rate up! You'll burn more calories in a short amount of time. I recommend using a heart rate monitor to gage where your'e at while your'e working out. They are pretty nifty as far as calculating your total calorie burn as well. High intensity exercise should have you breaking into a sweat within the first five minutes of exertion. Another way to judge if your intensity is hard enough is to evaluate your breathing. If you can easily control your breathing through your nose, and you aren't required to breathe through your mouth at all your heart rate is probably on the lower end of the spectrum.

This principle is why I praise intervals so very often. It may be super hard for you to keep your intensity up for a constant workout, but if you can bump that intensity up for a few minutes and then give your self a lower intensity active recovery you'll be burning more total calories than if you were to stay in the lower intensity zone. Kapeesh?

Sooo...push yourselves. Burn some calories!