Caffeine, Stress, Weight Loss & Sleep…oh my!
Im stuck in a vicious cylce!
Someone! Help, get me out of this cycle!
I’m Stress a bit——>Cant sleep—–>wake up, sleepy,——> pour in caffeine—-> crash, sleepy again—–> don’t have energy to workout—->go to bed can’t sleep (which stresses me out more)—-> repeat cycle and……whew! I quit
I’m done I cant do it any longer! Not only am I tired, but I find that I am more irritable and frustrated with people and normal daily activities. Enough is enough.
To get the kick in the butt I needed, I dusted off some old health books from college and scoured the pages looking for the evidence I needed to boost my decision to enter caffeine REHAB !
***Great, now I have Amy Winehouses’ song “Rehab” stuck in my head, “They tried to make me gooo to rehabbbb, i said Noo NOO NOOOO…..” You are lucky i didn’t sing that on film****
Okay, back to my findings….
- So, caffeine is a drug. (Cool I’m a drug addict now
) - You can begin feeling the effects of it within minutes of ingesting and it can last in your system from 4-8 hours.
If I need to sleep by 10:30pm, I truly need to stop gulping it down by 2pm…ok I think I can do that 🙂
Caffeine can increase the body’s levels of CORTISOL, which is the “stress hormone.” Cortisol can lead to other health consequences ranging from weight gain and moodiness to heart disease and diabetes. (YIKES!)
Many experts believe high levels of cortisol lead to cravings of fat and carbs, and cause the body to store fat around the abs. Also, if increased cortisol levels lead to stronger cravings for caffeine-laden foods, the body goes into a cycle that leads only to worse health.(BOOOOOO!)
- *Good News!* Caffeine can speed up metabolism and help the body break down fat about 30% more efficiently if consumed prior to exercise. I also found that caffeine can keep blood sugar levels elevated, leaving you feeling less hungry.
- *BAD NEWS!* If caffeine elevates levels of cortisol and other hormones for a temporary boost, after caffeine wears off, the body can feel fatigued and feelings of mild to moderate depression can set in. This can make physical activity more difficult. (HENCE my moodiness….grr)
In conclusion…the saying, “Everything is good in moderation,” holds true, especially for Caffeine!
I’m pretty sure I can drink it occasionaly but the amounts I have been consuming really affected my motivation to workout at the end of the day AND I just can’t allow that to happen.
Life is too short to feel crappy from caffeine hangovers so I will surely cut back !
So, I will have to find some healthier ways to keep my eyeballs open during the day until I can start getting more restful sleep:)
Hope this helps!
If you live in my area….Come to my FREE Bootcamp Classes!
So I am teaching a Bootcamp Class starting in May. I will be having FREE preview classes and the schedule is below!
I hope to see you there and I can’t wait to Kick your BOOTY! Yeah!
Find us on the corner of Allentown and Cable. Across from the Kewpee!
BOOTCAMP. By Melissa
FREE CLASSES
Wed 3/25……………………….………6pm
Wed 4/1…………………………..…….10am
Wed 4/8…………………….…………..6pm
Fri 4/24………….………………………10am
Wed 4/29………………………..…….10am
These free classes will push you to be your best. You will slim, tone, and strengthen your whole body with fun music, basic exercises and motivation to become the best you can be! Be ready to push yourself to the limit! See you soon!
-Melissa
(p.s. Always bring outdoor appropriate clothes we may warm up outside prior to class if it is nice!)
Reply below so I can start getting a head count 🙂
My first attempt at a Video Blog…
eww its a rough one..I promise to get better! Luv ya thanks for watching!
Can your friends make you fat?
This picture is me and 7 of my girlfriends who enjoyed a very fun reunion weekend in Cleveland, Ohio. We all met in college at Bowling Green State University and share so many wonderful memories together. It has been at least 3-4 years 
since we have all been together at once.
It was fabulous time! We caught up on the things going on in our lives and reminisced on old times from college. It was neat to see how much we were all still the same and see how we have changed a lot too!My serial single friends are now preparing for marriage, my party like a rockstar friends are career focused, and my fellow “I hate my body I need to lose weight” friends are now thin as a rail and keeping their weight off!
And I’m….well…still fat.
And it’s all their fault.
I’m kidding! Really I am. It’s no ones fault but my own! But social influence can really affect your waist line! Here’s how it affected me:
As we literally “Ate our way through Cleveland” the more fun we had going to new restaurants the more calories I felt going straight to my waistline! For 3 days we focused on fun, laughter, memories, and more importantly the next time/place we were going to eat!
Losing weight on my own is easier. My friends do not live anywhere near me unfortunately. Currently, I make the choice when and where I want to go out to eat. When you visit others and especially in such a large group, you are at the liberty of the hosts that are planning the outings! I love them and had a blast but I was disappointed in my actions. The result of the fabulous weekend has put me behind about 2 weeks in my weight loss goals.
It would be easy to blame others for my over eating or bad choices because “everyone else” was eating and participating in these activities too. I got caught up with the newness of restaurants and wanted to experience all I could in a short amount of time. By the time I went to bed, I had noticed that I consumed double the calories in a day than what I would have if I had been at home.
But..Who wants to be left out? Who wants to be different? Who wants to be the one eating the boring healthy foods at these restaurants when everyone else is participating in the fun? I had a friend there who lost quite a bit of weight from college. She works very hard to maintain her weight and identifies with me on the struggles of keeping weight off. She was stronger though. She ate minimally when we went out but she received a lot of grief too. “Why aren’t you eating?” “Eat this!” “Are you feeling ok?” “What’s wrong with you?” The evidence of friends who really care about her health yet are unsure of how healthy this one has lost the weight or how she is keeping it off. Regardless of how she is keeping it off, she is trying hard to maintain a lifestyle not food focused and suffers from the pressures of others to participate in their lifestyle.
It’s so hard not to succumb from the pressure. But she stayed pretty strong. I only wish I could have. But I didn’t want to miss out on anything. But when the weekend was over, and I was alone again. I was still fat and still upset with how I spent my calories the past few days.
It would be easy to blame it on them. If I was an Alcoholic and they had taken me to a bar for “1” drink, and it resulted in a relapse, they could be held liable for my actions. But I know too well, that if I had kept the focus of the reasons why I want be healthier and thinner than it would have been easier to eat the way I was supposed to. I also had to come to the realization that I love to abuse food; my relationship with food is a very unhealthy one. And that it’s ok to do indulge in “fun”. In moderation of course. But the most important thing is to surround yourself with people who support you and decisions. Friends and family what will keep you accountable. Be wary of people who want to enable you or pressure you to venture off a path you know that will lead you to success. But more importantly than that, keep your eye on the prize, stay focused and get back on the horse when you fall off. In the end it’s not about anyone else or their ideas. It’s about you and your happiness.
I hope this realization has helped you as it has helped me! In James 1, he talks about how God puts us through “trials” to help us gain wisdom. Just as I go through many life trials, my hope is that the wisdom uncovered will allow you to speed up your process of creating a life full of health, hope and happiness!
Follow me on twitter!
http://www.twitter.com/MelissasMission
or better yet, become my friend!
Have a Blessed Week!
-Melissa
Exercise A.D.D. A treatment with out Adderall!
So, as you know, I am on my way to losing 30 lbs for the final time. I am eating three meals a day and getting exercise back into a routine. But what happens when out routine becomes too routine? I know you need to switch up your exercise every 7 days as your body adjusts to movement. But what happens when I’m bored after 7 minutes? I don’t know about you but I am one of the ADD people I know. I actually welcome change, pressure and distraction because I thrive on it. So doing the elliptical or jogging for 30 minutes with nothing else to focus on drives me crazy! The only thing I have to do is think. I think about everything I could be doing except for what I am currently doing and end up talking myself off the machine well before my 30 minutes are up. So, I found 2 ways to keep me going and keep my focus on burning fat and moving for at least 30 minutes!!
1. Music. If I dont have my Ipod and good tunes to jam to there is no way i can keep going. What is even better than my favorite music? Having a personal coach in my ear! I love what Nike and iTunes have done. they have made an affordable, and encouraging way to keep me going with out having to have a trainer or friend to work out with. Serena Williams, Lance Armstrong and other admirable athletes have come together to put hot music along with different workout routines that keep me focused and feeling great about my workouts! I’ve also found some free websites to download great workout mixes. One i just found in this months issue of Fitness magazine is called Motion Traxx. Go to www.motiontraxx.com for a free 60 minute podcast!
2. The second best thing to keep me moving on the treadmill on outside is my best friend called Mr. Nike iPod Sport Kit. This little motivational guy snaps into my iPod and also has a little plastic chip that goes into my Nike Running shoes that tracks EVERYTHING! How fast I am going, how far I have went, how much longer I have to go. This wireless sensor and receiver combination works exclusively with your Nike+ shoes and iPod nano or iPod touch to give you real-time feedback during workouts and let you track your performance on your Mac or PC. I absolutely love it. I get to push myself just a little more each day. The Nike website where all my info is stored is amazing, it keeps track of everything and sends me certificates when I achieve goals! The sensor that goes in your shoe is operated with a watch size battery so you can imagine how long that can last. They encourage you to turn off your sensor when you are not using it but I am lazy and do not want to dig in my sweaty shoe post workout so I just leave it on. What that amounts to is a dead sensor after about 3 months. Since I have not found where to buy replacements I have to buy the whole system over again. I get a new one about every 3-4 months, but $29 a pop is worth the motivation it provides!
Give me your feedback? What else do you do to deter the Exercise ADD? How do you keep focused through your cardio?
How I lost 5lbs in 5 Days
What do you eat? How many times do you have to exercise? How long do I have to exercise for? What CANT I eat? If these are your questions, than you will be pleasantly surprised that NONE of that matters. Well…, what does matter you may be wondering?
What matters is your mindset. You can follow any quick weight loss regime and get quick results. But, if you are on a journey for permanent results your mindset has to be thinking about the end result, not the shot term.
I love renovating homes. So, before I knock down walls and reconstruct the home I have to create a master blueprint or plan of what I want it to look like in the end. It would be a disaster if I just worked from one project to another, I would lose momentum and come up against unneeded obstacles. Obstacles that could have been avoided if I had a plan in the first place.
Losing weight is much like that. We have to change the blueprint of our mind before we can reconstruct our bodies! The blueprint is the way we see things and the map we follow to get there. So what does your blueprint look like?
So how did I lose 5lbs in 5days? Well I know what my blueprint looks like. The finished project is a size 6, energetic and healthy woman. So what would a person like that, eat? Exercise? What is her lifestyle like? How would she think about food?
I had to begin with the end in mind. I believed that the “finished project” ate 3 meals a day. Instead of someone like me who skipped meals everyday! I also believe she planned ahead and ate a healthy breakfast everyday instead of running through a drive thru and consuming her full days worth of fat grams in one meal (ah hem..not like i know anyone who does this 🙂 . I also believed she made time to exercise because it was a better way to deal with stress than take a nap. So that’s what I am aiming to become.
So how do you lose 5lbs in 5 days? It’s simple. You just decide to! You make a blueprint of what it will look at your goal and you move forward. Each day I just do a little better than the day before. Be aware! Aware of the steps you are taking towards your goal. Then, when you wake up the next day, decide that you will do just a little bit better than before. If you really want to lose weight and keep it off permanently than we must realize that taking small steps is much less risky then taking flying leaps.
WHAT being FAT means to me.
FAT is bad 3 letter word. It makes people feel uncomfortable. Its demeaning and full of negative context. So why would I use it so flagrantly ?
Yes my clothes do not fit. There is noticeable rolls and pudges and ripples and bumps I am disgusted to see. But being FAT again means something different than just a number on a scale or how i look in my clothes. It is the way I feel about who I am.
F= Frustrated. Irritable. Its that gnawing feeling in your spirit that you are not being the best person you KNOW you can be. Its almost a spirit of conviction. Frustrated in yourself that you give the power of your WEIGHT to people, your job, your friends, your kids your world. I am frustrated that I put myself last.
A= Attitude. A Bad Attitude. When I become “Fat Again” my attitude about myself changes dramatically. I notice that I treat myself and others with a little bit more disrespect. I cut down myself and others easily and become quite negative. Which is a change in my behavior as I am quite optimistic and hope filled when I am at my best.
T= Tired. Physically, Mentally, Spiritually..Drained. I feel sluggish and hollow. No amount of rest seems make me feel complete. The spark in my step fizzles out and I just feel so tired and fatigued.
So…the reason why I don’t want to be FAT is not for vanity. Its not purely externally motivated. It because I really dislike being Frustrated, having a bad Attitude, and being Tired.
I am on a quest to permanently change that acronym to Fun-loving, a positive Attitude, and forever Thankful.
(oh and in cute little size 6 package 🙂 )
Welcome
Who the crap am I? Well, I am FAT..again. Yes I said AGAIN. I have the lost the same weight over and over again. And i am tired of being sick & tired. Setting short term weight loss goals and gaining the weight back soon after i achieve them. UGH!!!!
The crazy thing? ohk…here it goes..
I work in the weight loss and fitness industry. I know everything there is to know about losing weight. So why cant I keep it off? Well, I blame many things…stress…time managment…bad choices…social influence…MYSELF! I am commited to learning about myself…learning about my body..so that I can lose weight permanently and teach others to do the same. There are men and women all over the world who know HOW to lose weight, yet LIFE gets in the way. As we all go on this journey together, to lose weight, get our life back and get PERMANENT RESULTS….I hope to encourage at least 2,000 people to do the same! Will you join me? Tell me your story and I’ll tell you mine. Together we will learn about losing weight pemanently and living life to its fullest! Life is TOO SHORT …to wake up FAT…AGAIN!
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I'm Fat...Again! 