Archive for the ‘stress’ Category

I want to share a quick conversation I had with a client last week.

She walked in the door, we exchanged the obligatory “Hey, how ya doin’”, then she said…

“Okay Ed, I know I’ve gotten stronger over the past few weeks.  My clothes fit better in my arms, chest and legs, but I’m not losing weight and my stomach isn’t shrinking.  What the hell is going on?” (A direct quote)

Sound familiar?

It does to me.  I’ve heard it dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of times over the past several years.

My first response to her was to congratulate her on the progress she’s made in only a few weeks of committing herself to working hard and consistently. Read the rest of this entry »

I just had an awesome workout and I’m pretty fired up.

I’m fired up because there is no better feeling than what you feel after you’ve had a good workout.

Your energy levels are through the roof.

Your body feels as though you’re doing something good, rather than killing it by sitting around doing nothing.

Your mind is “open” and free of clutter.

Your stress levels are minimized.

And if you’re like me, your creativity soars.

So that got me to thinking about you.

I’ve got something I want you to do for me this weekend.  It’s not that creative or “mind-blowing”, but it’s just a small personal challenge from me to you. Read the rest of this entry »

I love weekends.

I love getting away from the office for a little while and just relaxing and hanging out with my wife and daughter.

I love being able to watch football (that’s American football for you non-Americans) and I almost jumped for joy as my Huskers nearly pulled off a huge upset on Saturday.

I also take a break from my regular workouts on the weekends.  Don’t get me wrong, I still try to remain active, but I just don’t do my regular workouts.  I give my body a little rest, as you should too if you do your workouts throughout the week.

But I get to the point where I’m ready to get back into the swing of things and get back into my workouts, especially now.

I’ve got a new goal and I’m really fired up for it. Read the rest of this entry »

I love wedding cake.

On Saturday Andrea and I went to a friend’s wedding and I have to tell you that I kinda like weddings.

I know that sounds weird for a guy to say, but I do.  I’m kind of sappy in that I enjoy seeing people at one of their happiest moments in life.

Although, like every guy, I want the wedding to be done with as quickly as humanly possible so I can get to the real good stuff.  The wedding reception.

I’ve told you before that I’m not afraid to eat.  I’m not a health nut and I will never, ever deprive myself of a food that I really enjoy.  I just know when to stop.

But one thing I have trouble stopping with is wedding cake.

I love wedding cake.  Have I said that before?

I do.  I don’t know what it is about the stuff, but I LOVE it!

And thank goodness we had some really good wedding cake on Saturday.

I stopped myself at one piece, even though I could’ve had more.  I didn’t though because I didn’t want to look like a crazy, sugar crazed person running back up to the cake table shoving little old ladies out of the way to get another piece of cake.  I’m slightly more dignified than that…only slightly, though.

The mother of the groom asked me how many calories I thought were in a piece of that wedding cake and my first reaction was to say “I don’t know, but not that many.”

She was kind of surprised at my reaction, and after I thought about it, my reaction was pretty stupid.

I started doing a mental inventory of what goes into wedding cake, and the frosting, and it wasn’t pretty. Read the rest of this entry »

I haven’t slept very well over the past couple weeks.

I don’t know why, I just haven’t.

I used to read business related books before I went to bed and had to quit doing that because it made my brain start “working” and that doesn’t help you sleep.  I’ve learned I have to read fiction before bed…that puts me to sleep quite easily.

The funny thing is I’ve noticed myself acting differently and craving different foods due to my sleepiness.

It’s no surprise that my workouts have been subpar as of late because of my sleepiness.

That’s obvious. You’re tired, you don’t have the energy, you can’t workout as hard and with as much effort.

And if you normally have trouble motivating yourself to do your fat loss workout, you will really have trouble motivating yourself when you’re tired.

The most interesting thing to me is how my sleepiness has affected my cravings.

Lack of sleep can and will influence how you eat, what you eat, and what you crave.

To put it bluntly, you will start to crave more carbohydrates and sweets when you’re tired.

Carbohydrates are your body’s primary source of fuel and energy.  Carbohydrates are needed, however when you don’t get enough sleep, you will crave a diet higher in carbohydrates simply because your body (more specifically your brain) wants the extra energy it would get from those carbohydrates.

That’s all well and good, except the carbohydrates you crave are not going to be fruits and veggies. They’re going to be foods high in sugar and processed carbohydrates such as candy, bagels, chips, crackers, soda, coffee loaded with sugar, white breads, etc.

All the things you know you should not eat if you want to lose fat, but when you’re tired it makes it tough to resist.

I’m not even going to get into the hormonal issues with not getting enough sleep.  That is way too boring and too “sciency” for me.  Just know that lack of sleep has an effect on hormone levels and how well your body repairs itself.

If your body doesn’t repair itself adequately at night, you won’t be able to function as well in the coming days.

It’s easy to see that this could be the missing piece in your fat loss puzzle.

You could be eating the right things and exercising, but if you’re not getting enough rest and sleep, you’re really hindering the results you could achieve.

So to put it bluntly, if you’re not sleeping enough…start.

Your body will thank you for it, as will your brain.

You’ll start burning fat easier.

You won’t be as achy and sore after your workouts.

Your brain will “work” better because you’ll be more refreshed and quite frankly, you’ll probably be more fun to be around.

So do yourself, and everybody else, a favor.  If you’re not getting enough sleep or rest, start now.

Have a good day!

Ed

P.S. – One more thing…If you have to ask what the minimum amount of sleep necessary is, you probably need more so don’t ask.