Metabolism is a great word for companies trying to sell you something, and the claims are getting somewhat ridiculous. If you’ve ever seen something that claimed to “kick your metabolism into overdrive!” or talks about changing your body’s Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) then you’re likely being sold a bill of goods. So what are the things that everyone should know about their metabolism? Do you have a skinny friend that has the metabolism of a hummingbird while you feel like you’re severely limiting your caloric intake and not losing weight? It must be the metabolism thing, right? Actually, probably not. In fact, on average, skinnier people are shown to have a slower metabolism than most people. So how does that … Continue reading
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The Metabolism Myths: What You Should Know
Metabolism is a great word for companies trying to sell you something, and the claims are getting somewhat ridiculous. If you’ve ever seen something that claimed to “kick your metabolism into overdrive!” or talks about changing your body’s Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) then you’re likely being sold a bill of goods. So what are the things that everyone should know about their metabolism? Do you have a skinny friend that has the metabolism of a hummingbird while you feel like you’re severely limiting your caloric intake and not losing weight? It must be the metabolism thing, right? Actually, probably not. In fact, on average, skinnier people are shown to have a slower metabolism than most people. So how does that … Continue reading
Making the Most Out of the Hour Before Bed
I didn’t need Mayo Clinic to tell me I was sleep deprived. The crankiness, forgetfulness, public napping and new obsession with Clear Eyes were all the signs I needed. It’s been a long two months. Thankfully, the grisly work project that was keeping me up is over and I’m ready to sleep. Specifically, I’m ready to start claiming the same deep, rapturous Zzzz’s that I’ve been watching my cat Penelope enjoy. The Sleep in America poll for 2011 revealed that 43% of Americans rarely or never get a good night’s sleep on weeknights. 60% say they experience a sleep problem every night or almost every night (i.e., snoring, waking in the night, waking up too early, or feeling un-refreshed when … Continue reading
10 Ways to De-Stress To Shed Pounds
Stress eating is one of the most popular sources of weight gain in today's society. We’ve talked in previous posts about what happens when we get stressed. We release Cortisol to “fight or flight”. Since we don’t usually have to fight someone or take off on a fast run. All that Cortisol in our system isn’t good. The funny thing is in the short-term stress can boost cardiovascular performance. If it’s not too severe it the brain will actually perform better. You’ll be able to solve problems more effectively and you’re likely to retain information better. On the flip side though is if the stress is too severe or too prolonged it can actually harm learning. If you’re stressed out … Continue reading
Keeping Calories Down, the ‘Log’ical Way
I’m going to share some advice that I recommend to our clients but I don’t really like to do it. It’s logging everything you eat each day for at least 30 days. I don’t like to count calories but I had to log my food for 30 days to really understand exactly what I was putting into my body. So many items are deceptive. You can eat a salad and think “I just ate a really healthy lunch so I can have a chocolate élcair for dessert”. What you may not know is that, supposedly, healthy salad you just ate was packed with 1,100 calories. No kidding. There’s a Parmesan Crusted Chicken Salad at Macaroni Grill that’s 1100 calories and … Continue reading
5 Common Side Effects of Long Term Dieting
Let's clear up one misconception before we start this article. So, what is the difference between creating a nutritionally healthy lifestyle and long-term dieting? Dieting, as defined in this article and in our videos and our battle cry 'diets need to die' is "dropping your caloric intake to lower than recommended levels in order to shed pounds more quickly." IdealShape is all about getting you into the healthy range based on who you are. When we give you a number to strive towards on your caloric intake, we always go for the healthy level for a person in that range. Everyone is different but there are levels of healthy and unhealthy on both ends of the spectrum. Programs telling you … Continue reading
Coconut Flour, is it all it’s Cracked up to be?
One of my weaknesses when eating a healthier diet is items made with wheat. I love most breads, cookies, pastries, cakes, pizza, etc. Not only are they tasty but wheat is one of the most popular foods in the American diet. Most people I know eat wheat in one form or another at every meal. I think the main reason is that it can be made into so many different foods; plus we have plenty of it as a nation so it’s fairly cheap to cook with. Just a few preservatives but the shelf life is fairly lengthy. Some people, however, are allergic to wheat or cannot tolerate gluten-the protein in many grains. Others, like myself, try to limit the … Continue reading
Summer Calorie Burn. Things you’re probably already doing to get fit.
3200 Calories. That's a good number to focus on if you're trying to lose weight. When we think about counting calories, the first thing that comes to mind is counting how much we're consuming. That's a great thing to do to get an idea of what our intake is versus what it should be, but what else can you do with that number? How about predict your weight loss. Let's do some math! (I know, I know, it's terribly boring but this information is going to help you I promise) We're going with averages so results may vary. Now, on average, if a 24 hour period is spent sitting down 16 hours and sleeping for 8 hours then you will … Continue reading
The ‘How’s and ‘Why’s of Eating 5 Times a Day
Think about this. When your children were babies how often did they eat? Most babies I know eat every couple hours. In fact, as a new mother it’s sometimes difficult to feed them that often but that’s when they were hungry. As they started to grow, didn’t it seem like they were always eating? Not big meals, more like grazing. Then doesn’t it seem reasonable that eating 5-6 times a day is natural? We actually had to be trained to go to 3 larger meals a day. There’s this big debate out there as to which is better for you if you’re trying to get healthier and lose weight. Just eat 3 meals a day or eat smaller meals 5-6 … Continue reading
Back to Sanity. What Should You Do?
Here we go with another tightrope walk that is the discussion of competitor products. Many of you might remember the HCG article we printed and the email response and comments that we got were…impassioned, to say the least. Even on a product that has received much more scathing reviews than ours. So let me clarify that we don't think that Insanity Workout is a bad thing, in fact, our resident fitness experts give it a thumbs up. So where's the problem? Well, Insanity workout defines itself as a 60 day program. There are clear before and after shots of people achieving terrific results…but it's how clearly they define the "after" that seems to make us do the double-take. What are … Continue reading
The Obesity Culprit, A Novel By Agatha Christie?
As a therapist who specializes in helping people release excessive weight, finding the obesity culprit is like a good mystery. Today in fact, I finished Agatha Christie’s book “Murder on the Orient Express” and began to fancy myself as Hercule Poirot the famous French detective. Each time I begin the process with a client to uncover the true cause of weight gain, I am led down numerous paths that make no sense. As the plot unfolds in Agatha’s book and each passenger on the train is interviewed to find the murderer, the symmetry of my work explodes with similar enthusiasm. Each word and thought that is told me by my clients weaves a story of misdirection, some truth and a … Continue reading
