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HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS WHEN TRYING TO CONCEIVE
So you’re ready to start a family, but you want to make sure your health is in a great place prior. Awesome! Being in great shape prior to conceiving is a wonderful thing, as it helps ensure you've established healthy habits, and can also assist in your labor, delivery, and postpartum efforts. There’s even evidence to show that those who are “fitter" often have shorter labor times! So, what matters prior to pregnancy? What should you prioritize for both your health and your future baby’s health?
YOUR MOOD ON FOOD
Your habits, routines and diet all have a huge impact on your mood and how you feel. Taking extra care with nutrition during the winter months to help ward off seasonal depression can go a long way to making the long winter days feel a little easier.
The human brain is pretty complex. The brain communicates with your entire body but also receives information from the gut. It requires a lot of nutrients and energy to function optimally…
THE KEYS TO BETTER BRAIN HEALTH
If your motivation to eat whole foods, sleep more, move more, and stress less is purely to look good or to lose weight, I want to challenge you to change your way of thinking. The food we consume, the activity we do (or don’t do), and the consistency and quality of our sleep now can impact our lives forever. Even if we are more (or less) genetically predisposed to various behaviors, lifestyle behaviors will always matter – even if you can’t always see the benefits right away.
There are many intrinsic and extrinsic factors that impact neuron creation and growth within the brain – an important predictor of overall brain health. For some factors such as age or genetic conditions, we have little control over while other factors such as diet, exercise, and stress reduction are significantly involved and also relatively controllable (1).
REFRAMING THE MICROCYCLE: WHY YOUR TRAINING WEEK DOESN'T HAVE TO BE SEVEN DAYS
Are you the type of person who sometimes struggles to fit all of your physical activity into a 7 day period? Do you wish you could plan 3 strength training, 2 cardio days, and 2 yoga days into your training week and still have days you don’t do anything at all?
The good news is, you can!
It’s all about reframing what your training week actually looks like and how it is laid out. Mainly, it’s about getting away from the idea that a training week has to be 7 days.
HOW TO ASSESS PROGRESS WITHOUT RELYING ON THE SCALE
We’ve all been there. Stepping on the scale in the morning and hoping to see the effort of your consistency is reflected in a smaller number on the scale. If that doesn’t happen we spiral, wondering if what we are doing is even working, or what the point is if nothing is actually changing?
Most often we are hyper focused on what the scale says because that is what we have been taught. We tend to think if the scale is up, that equals BAD or the narrative “I’m gaining fat” takes over our brain. By the same token, if the scale is down on any given day, we think GOOD or “I’m losing fat”. This type of thinking pigeon holes us into looking for progress in a data point that doesn’t give us a full picture of our health and our progress.
So often, especially when we are building muscle, we can see the number on the scale go up or stay the same, but physiologically, so many things are changing for the better. So what are some metrics we can focus on instead of the scale?
THE FIVE CARDIO ZONES & HOW TO EFFECTIVELY USE THEM
Highway to the…Cardio Zone? The Heart Rate Target Zone system of categorizing exercise has caught quite a bit of steam across the ‘gram and in fitness circles of all types. What you’ve probably heard most is the term “Zone 2 Cardio,” and if you’re anything like me, you've most likely asked yourself - “well what about the other zones?” Well, you’re in luck because today we’re talking about what the zones are and how to use them.
You may be surprised to hear that you probably already know more about the 5 heart rate target zones or “cardio zones” than you think. If you’ve ever been late for a plane and had to sprint through the airport with all your luggage to make the flight and you feel your heart pounding as you finally plop down in your seat, you’ve been in the higher end of the cardio zones. You see, there is a direct, linear relationship between exercise intensity and heart rate. In other words - the harder you exercise, the higher your heart rate is (which most of us know intuitively!). The 5 numbered zones are simply a “framework” to categorize and understand the purpose of different training intensities as well as how they impact things like performance, health, and longevity.
DEMYSTIFYING CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol is likely one of the most feared and misunderstood markers when it comes to our health and lab work. We see doctors concerned when cholesterol is too high, but never talk about the concerns that can arise if cholesterol is too low. Cholesterol is a good thing and just like many things when it comes to health, we want to see cholesterol in the right ranges. Not too high, and not too low. Cholesterol is crucial for making hormones, creating strong but flexible cell membranes, supporting our neurotransmitters and helps us absorb vitamin D.
Cholesterol comes from two places- exogenous (what we eat) and endogenous (what our bodies manufacture on its own). It is estimated that roughly 80% of cholesterol is manufactured in our liver. The body is always aiming to find balance and is typically really good at doing so. It regulates cholesterol output, meaning, if we are getting more cholesterol from dietary sources, it slows down production of cholesterol from the liver. However, this feedback loop doesn’t always work the way it should. Situations that could affect this feedback loop usually come down to lifestyle and dietary choices. In the cases of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and chronic inflammation and/ or adrenal dysfunction (think chronic stress), we can see this feedback loop not working properly, thus, ending up with high blood levels of cholesterol.
Let’s dive into what you see in your routine labs when it comes to cholesterol…
STAYING ON TRACK WITH YOUR GOALS POST HOLIDAY SEASON
Did you know that by mid-January, a large population of (about 80%) people abandon their “New Year's Resolutions”? I’d argue that primary reasons for this include a combination of setting unrealistic expectations and not having a strong “why” behind the goal in the first place.
Having a strong “why” such as “I want to lose weight so that I can keep up with my kids on vacation and have the energy to make those memories that will last a lifetime” will likely carry a lot more meaning than “fitting into that bikini you wore in college”? Make sense?
If you didn’t set a New Year’s Resolution, this still applies to you. Goal-setting is an important part of success. So, whether you are looking for a better way to set realistic goals or you are coming off of “Dry January” or “Whole 30”, let’s review a few ways to do this in a way that supports your goal in the long-run...
Tidings of Comfort & Joy: Emotional eating part 1
Emotional eating (or as I often call it, comfort eating), is a topic that is deeply misunderstood and uncomfortable for many of us to talk about. We joke about “eating our feelings” after a breakup or diving headfirst into a pint of ice cream after a rough work week. We often feel guilt and shame for using food as a tool to comfort ourselves. But at the same time most of us ignore the WHY behind our actions and fail to look for the lesson in the behaviors. So today we’ll take a look at comfort eating from the scientific perspective so as to understand the driving forces behind this behavior. Next week we’ll talk about how to use what we know about emotional eating to make better decisions for our bodies and minds without shame or judgment.
DE-INFLUENCING FITNESS & NUTRITION TRENDS
Fitness trends come and go over time and can make it hard to discern what’s really going to be helpful for improving your health long term, or what is just a facade. Many times, these trends come from either anecdotal research, or is cherry-picked from current research.
So how do you know what is real and what’s too good to be true? Today, I hope to help you out with that...
FAT SOLUBLE VITAMINS & HOW THEY SUPPORT YOUR HEALTH
Fat soluble vitamins are nutrients that are found in higher fat foods and require an adequate amount of fat to properly be absorbed in the body. Due to diets low in fat or diets devoid of nutrients, some of these key nutrients are easy to be deficient in. Fat soluble vitamins are vitally important for immune health, hormone health and braIn health.
Let’s discuss what these key nutrients are and how they can support your health…
MORE EVIDENCE THAT MEAL TIMING MATTERS
If you frequent this blog, there’s no doubt that you know “calories are king (and/or queen)”. When it comes to weight loss, weight gain, or maintenance, energy balance is what dictates the body's response to its respective environment.
You also know that calories are not all that matter.
We at Level TEN pride ourselves on focusing heavily on biofeedback; things like sleep, digestion, energy levels, etc. As such, we also recognize that there is more to “optimizing” your nutrition. We have to consider WHAT you are eating, not just how much. And it’s also becoming more and more clear, from a scientific standpoint, that WHEN you eat can also play a role.
RESISTANCE TRAINING & PAIN
Physical activity that puts demands on the body has many benefits that vastly outweigh the risks. From increases in strength, injury prevention, improved mental health, and longevity; we KNOW resistance training is wildly beneficial.
One thing to remember however, is that exercise is a stressor on the body. This means that from time to time we may experience discomfort, pain, and injuries.
The goal of this article is to explore pain with regards to resistance training and understand how to navigate through and around pain appropriately within your workouts.
MAKING PEACE WITH THE SCALE
Most of us exist in one of two camps around the scale. There’s the camp that swears up and down that the scale is a useless piece of plastic and we should avoid it at all costs and/or smash it with a hammer (I used to be in this camp!). On the other end of the spectrum, there’s the camp that believes the scale is the best tool we have to evaluate if what we’re doing is “working” and we can and should use it to base our decisions and emotional well being off of. If we’re honest, most of us are either terrified of being confronted by the number at the doctor’s office, or we completely obsess about if it went up or down on any given day.
But is there another option? Are there actually people out there who see the scale as just a data point? The answer is YES! But for so many of us, the scale is so emotionally fraught that it seems impossible that we could ever see it as “just a number.” What I’m here to suggest is that it IS possible to make peace with the scale - to not fear it or obsess over it. It is possible to see a number on the scale, understand it, and then move on without emotional upheaval. And I’m here to give you some practical tools to do just that.
GET STRONGER & LIVE LONGER?
Time to start adding LBS to your total and years to your life.
Now, I have heard it many times from family members, friends, clients, and even random people at the gym, “I don’t really care about getting strong.” And I get it, some people couldn’t care less about being strong as long as they look good (and strong). Heck, I have even told people you can’t take your bench press to the beach so who cares what your max is if you do not even look like you lift. However, all jokes aside, strength and “being strong” is so much more than just being able to out lift your friend or looking jacked.
So, let’s take a second to highlight a few reasons why you should want to add some LBS to your lifts.
OLD HABITS DIE HARD: HOW TO TACKLE THE CHALLENGES OF CHANGE
Old habits die hard. It’s a saying for a reason. Changing habits and creating change in your life is challenging. Oftentimes it requires unlearning and relearning new patterns and thought processes that have been ingrained in us for many years. Our brains are resistant to change. It’s a way of trying to keep us safe. However, if we resist change, nothing changes. We don’t grow, we stay stagnant.
Sometimes the best things come from accepting and embracing change in our lives. Think back to anytime you have accomplished something. Did it come from staying in your old patterns and habits? Probably not. It likely felt scary at first. Perhaps a little bit challenging and required going out of your comfort zone to some extent.
THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE EXPLAINED
Your period is a vital sign. You can consider it your monthly health “report card”. Just like we can gain a lot of information about your gut health (and more) by your daily bowel movements, we can also gain a lot of understanding about our internal health for the past 30-90 days through our menstrual cycle (if you are not on hormonal birth control).
There is an entire symphony of hormones that are perfectly timed throughout our menstrual cycle so females can ovulate and go on to get pregnant or have a period. Our lifestyle choices, diet, how much we eat, stress, and our environment can all affect this hormonal harmony which can lead to symptoms that many of us experience.
Many women experience common, yet not normal period symptoms every single month...
HEALTH HACKS ON A BUDGET
On a daily basis you are hit with ads telling you that you NEED this product, this supplement, this training plan to reach your goals. And while some things may help you more than others, there is a common misconception that in order to be healthy, it’s going to cost you, a LOT.
The truth is–you can still do plenty to improve your health without spending too much. Being healthy shouldn’t make you feel financially unstable, so let’s chat through some ways to continue improving your health without it costing you an arm and a leg.
RECOVERY BASICS
The definition of recovery is “a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength”. According to Whoop “it quantifies how your body is adapting to various stressors–for everything from training for elite athletic competition, to even just working from home in your sweats”. In this fast-paced world that many of us are living in, we are constantly experiencing stressors, both mentally, emotionally and physically that can either positively or negatively impact our health goals. For this reason, it’s no surprise that a number of companies are cashing in on the more recent recovery trends spanning from tracking with wearable technology like the Oura ring and Whoop bands, to cold plunges, cryotherapy, cold showers and saunas.
You may be wondering if investing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, on these tools is worth the hype. We are going to walk through the potential benefits (or lack there of) while also introducing some more cost-effective and accessible alternatives.
METABOLISM 101
Metabolism is, and will likely always be, a buzz word in the health and fitness world – and yet it is also one that is not always fully understood or appreciated.
For example, when I see discussions around a person’s metabolism, it is primarily used in reference to weight loss. It is very common to see advertisements promoting diets or foods to “boost your metabolism” or even specific workout plans you should do to turn your metabolism into a “fat burning furnace”.
By seeing and hearing these things over and over, it is understandable why we start to fall into the trap of thinking our metabolism is simply our ability (or lack thereof) to lose weight. And while your metabolism IS involved in weight loss, it is much more than just that.
So, let's take a moment to clear up a few misconceptions I frequently hear about the metabolism.