12 Days of Holiday Health Tips - Day 4

After getting up in the "4's" to catch my flight back to UT this morning I'm feeling a bit sleepy. This leads me right into tip number 4 for a healthy holiday season. I see people who run themselves ragged trying to get things done for Christmas, and then when it all comes around they don't even enjoy it because they are so exhausted. This is NOT what the holidays are about, and this is NOT the way to lose weight/feel healthy/get things done/achieve fitness goals. I can promise you that. When you are tired because of lack of sleep people tend to cut out exercise because they are exhausted. They make poor food choices because the body craves carbohydrates/sugar due to the need for a quick boost in energy. Tired busy people grab food. USUALLY grabbing food means fast food, and that can be S-C-A-R-Y.

(Image Source)
 Tip #4: Get Some Sleep

So, my advice to you? Make sleep a priority. Lack of sleep often is a great segway into getting sick, and nobody wants to have their holiday festivities ruined with germs! Get through the holidays feeling healthy and enjoying them like you are supposed to! If you need to cut back on the chaos to do so, then do it. Sometimes less is more. I have done a ton of posts in the past on why sleep is so dang important...a few faves being...Cheer Up Sleepy Jean...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...and It's a Love Hate Thing.


Do You find yourself running on only a few hours of sleep to get everything done? Do you make sleep a priority? Do you recognize when you're overdoing it and suffering in the sleep department, or do you just soldier through? I know sometimes my sleep takes the brunt of my busy schedule, and when that is the case I pay for it! I am WORTHLESS without some good sleep in me.

Click HERE to read all of the holiday health tips.

No salad bar is safe. I will hunt you down, and I will find you.

I'm going to make this short.

1. Last night I stayed up WAY to late because we went and saw Crazy Stupid Love.

 It was amazing. So funny. A few things I could have done with out, but Ryan Gosling was not one of them. Hellloooo hot bod. That my friends is what diet and exercise can do for you.

2. Going to work after like 4 hours of sleep isn't my favorite. I need sleep. I just do. Don't forget. Lack of sleep leads to bad habits, which can lead to weight gain.

3. My mom and pops called me to go eat lunch with them at my dad's work. They had the most amazing salad bar ever. $3.99 for this beauty. I am determined to find the cheapest and best salad bar in town. (Hint: If you live the in Provo/Orem area go to the East Bay Cafe located by the Novell Building is South Provo. The salad bar is money.)

4. I can't stop listening to Lil' Waynes "How to Love." It may just be my song of the summer. It starts of my workouts every day.

5. Speaking of music...If you haven't entered in my August Album Workout Mix Giveaway doooo it. You have until Sunday night.

6. Time for me to watch some SYTYCD on hulu while I drift off to sleep. I'm tired. I haven't loved the dances this season EXCEPT for this one....And I could watch IT about 5 times a day.

That Twitch. He gets me every time. Don't worry that my besties and I pretend like we know the dance and do it in the kitchen...If you come by at the right time you just may catch us in through the blinds.

Any other salad bar obsessed individuals out there? I've been to three in the past two days. Do I need to go to Salad Bar-ers Anonymous or something? I just LOVE having such a variety of fresh produce right in front of me. What is your song of the summer?

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 :)

It's a love hate thang...

I love/hate mornings. I detest waking up to an alarm, but with my early schedule it's a must. I have been getting up to an alarm clock in the early hours of the morning since I started high school and had to be at early morning dance practice. During college I coached a high school dance team, where I had to leave my house by 4:30 AM every morning, and as soon as I graduated I started training which lends itself to a scarily early schedule.
I love to sleep in, but my body has long since robbed me of that ability. I think my mental clock is just too used to the early morning hours. I do actually really enjoy getting up and being productive in the mornings, and I LOVE to get my work out in and over with before the day begins. There is something about being able to check that off my list that is just so fulfilling to me.
Unfortunately for myself, I am also a night owl. I do enjoy going to bed early, but I get going and start to work on some project, get cleaning something, start blogging, and partying with my friends to the point where all of the sudden it's 12:30 and my alarm is due to go off in 4.5 hours. One of these days I will learn.

(Don't worry folks...we're in Provo, UT here..."partying" consists of frozen yogurt runs, midnight movies, dance parties, and diet coke.) 

My extremely early schedule has led me to realize the importance of a good night's sleep. Getting some good zzzz's in is CRUCIAL to maintaining a healthy level of energy and even maintaining or losing weight. Your sleep time is when the body recoups. It is the best time for your body to recharge and heal itself. If you aren't getting enough sleep you aren't allowing for that to happen. Those who don't sleep enough tend to overeat the next day. Lack of sleep decreases the release of the hormone leptin and increases the release of the hormone ghrelin.  Ghrelin is the hormone that tells us we are hungry.

Less sleep = more ghrelin = more insatiable hunger. Translation...we eat more.

We tend to crave foods that are higher in sugar and carbohydrates which when eaten leads to more cravings of those same foods. It is a vicious cycle. Leptin is the hormone that tells us we are full.

Less sleep = decrease in leptin = we never feel like our hunger is satisfied. Translation...we eat more.

You can see how this can be scary if you are trying to eat healthy. Craving unhealthy foods and never feeling full is a dangerous combo. Aside from these reactions, sleep just makes us feel better. We look better. We have more energy. We are able to do more, which makes us feel better. We are happier. SO, STOP READING BLOGS AND  GO TO BED! JK...love you.

Do you get enough sleep? I wish I did. It is something I am really trying to work on! When do you go to bed and get up in the morning? I am lucky if I get to bed at 11:30 and I get up at 5:00 AM. Gross I know. I have to take naps sometimes. Are you a morning person or a night owl? I think I'm both. Is that possible?