There are things I call energy drains.

I loosely define an energy drain as something we humans all do that seems to zap our
energy.

Want to know the one I’m thinking about today?

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Anyone out there with decisions that need to be made or projects you have postponed that need doing?

Don’t know about you, but when I tend to my unfinished business I feel so much better. Energy for other things comes flooding back in.

I think a big part of the dilemma is that we think we need to make perfect decisions.

When I trust myself and decide to EITHER do it or just let it go altogether–the do it or dump it theory–it seems to get done just fine!

Dump it or BEGIN. Just start. Something about beginning will add momentum to the task.

Unfinished business becomes finished business and your energy will feel ALIVE rather than drained!

shelli

Recently I’ve learned an important lesson I’d like to share with you.

It revolves around the Quaker idea to “proceed as way opens.” So, if you’ll indulge me for a few minutes, I think my lessons and introspections can help us all live a healthier and more balanced life.

Maybe you’ve heard of the book Who Moved My Cheese?

It’s about adjusting to change.

Sometimes you move your own cheese and sometimes someone else moves your cheese. A major hunk of your cheese can be moved at any time.

Examples of moving your own cheese might be quitting your job, moving to a new location, or choosing to retire. You make the choice and then take action to instigate the change.

Examples of someone else moving your cheese might be getting laid off, or having something or someone of value taken from you.

That’s what happened to me recently.

I imagine, like most of you, I PREFER to move my own cheese. I like calling the shots. Who doesn’t? However, it doesn’t always work that way.

About three months ago I lost my younger brother to cancer. He was 52 and it all happened so quickly. It still feels like a dream that can’t possibly be true.

That my life could be going so well and that I feel so healthy and strong, and at the same time his life could be ending seems unfathomable.

That I was busy moving my own cheese from here to there, calling the shots, while his cheese was moved for him in the most profound way possible seems like the ultimate lesson in looking at this Who Moved My Cheese idea.

And I think it really gets interesting if you add the Quaker idea of “proceed as way opens” to this cheese moving concept.

If we think of life as one door opening as another one closes (whether or not we’ve moved our cheese or had it moved for us), we can use these kinds of life changing events to learn and grow.

It’s impossible for someone like me not to get introspective after a loss like this.

I wonder how best to balance the ways in which I can call the shots with the things I really can’t control, so that I proceed through my life feeling healthy and content.

Being pushy and forcing life, instead of proceeding as way opens doesn’t work very well. When a path opens because someone moved our cheese we have a few options:

We can resist, get angry, and go to battle or……..

We can mourn what we would have PREFERRED to have happened, regroup and then proceed as way opens.

I’m not saying this is easy, nor am I suggesting any timeline for this.

I am suggesting however, that if our ultimate plan is to be healthier and lead a more balanced life, it really does help to watch ourselves react when our cheese is moved.

When my brother first died I was ANGRY. A very normal reaction. I still feel angry at times. How dare my brother’s cheese be moved?

Yet I find myself regrouping, proceeding and asking myself questions like, “How can I honor my brother’s life?”

“How do I continue to be the woman he enjoyed and respected?”

“How can I use this life-changing experience to bring a message to others so that they’ll benefit from what I’m learning?”

I often speak about letting go of that which does not serve us in our journey to become healthier and live a life filled with joy and contentment.

And I also speak about noticing whether the questions we ask ourselves empower or disempower us.

Questions like the ones I mentioned help me to recognize that cheese has moved and doors have been closed. But in answering them new paths will inevitably emerge.

So here are some questions for you.

Are there hunks of cheese you are thinking about moving?

Don’t be afraid to move them, particularly if they’ll lead to a healthier life and a more contented you!

Has someone moved your cheese and you are resisting or in denial?

Then it may be time to proceed as way opens and see what awaits you!

Join me in celebrating life and the doors that close and the ones that open……….notice in your own life when the way opens and PROCEED!

I look forward to hearing what you’ve learned when you’ve been faced with cheese moving events in your own life. Post a comment below……..

Shelli

A friend sent me my horoscope today.

It read, “You’ve conquered some demons lately. Celebrate with dance and song, flowing scarves and hot cider.”

What can I say?

I never miss an opportunity to dance, sing, let my scarves flow and drink hot cider, so I’m making this blog piece a short one today.

I’m off to do all four, though maybe not all at once!

When’s the last time you followed your horoscope’s suggestions?

shelli

A few days ago I was vacuuming my house and needed an extension cord.

While I was plugging everything back together, this thought crossed my mind:

“Extension cords—what a brilliant idea, I wish I had invented them!”

And as often happens, my mind began to move into free association mode and I began to think of the “extension cord” as a metaphor.

What are some behaviors that we use and choices that we make to EXTEND our health, fitness, and overall well being?

We all want “health, fitness, wellness and joy”.

When we view our choices as extension cords, linking us from where we are now to where we want to be, I think it’s easier to experience the empowerment that comes from self care.

What extension cords will we choose to bring these concepts to life? How about…..

Eating well and making sure we understand what that means.

Staying active and making sure that if we are not moving well, pain free and with joy, that we get ourselves the help we need to get back in shape.

Utilizing stress management practices and not hiding our heads in the sand when we feel stressed.

We all feel stressed at times, so let’s just admit that and move on to finding what we can use as our extension cords to get us from from stress to relaxation.

I wish to “extend” to you an invitation to explore this idea and choose your extension cords wisely.

Let me know what extends your well being as we continue to learn from each other!

shelli

Let’s discuss the myth of “steady state” (sustained, lower intensity) aerobic exercise.

Why?

I get many questions from menopausal women about fat loss strategies, and those questions begin an interesting dialogue.

Many women believe that in order to lose fat, the BEST exercise to turn to is steady state aerobics.

This is not the case.

Here is the typical question I get asked.

“Shelli, I just don’t get it. I watch what I eat, and run and bike 5 days a week. I’ve been working out like this for years and I can’t seem to lose a pound. Why is this?”

Another example is, “Shelli, I am shocked that with all the training I have done to get ready for my marathon I haven’t lost any weight.”

I am not going to get overly technical here, so after you read this if you want more specific information you can always contact me.

And I am not going to discuss the nutritional component of fat loss, that’s for another time.

If not steady state aerobics then what?

I want to send you in the right direction though, in terms of your understanding what kind of exercise to use to reach your FAT LOSS goals.

I know that we are all striving to live a healthy life and over time reach a high level of fitness, and often that includes fat loss.

Let’s call that a desire to change our body composition—-gain muscle and lose fat.

What I see women turning to in their exercise plan is steady state cardio—-whether that’s running, walking, biking, or swimming.

I am suggesting a much more EFFECTIVE approach would be using strength training and cardio done as intervals (verses steady state).

Let’s look at some facts so you’ll see why what I’m suggesting makes sense.

1. We have a survival instinct in our bodies that holds onto fat for energy if we exercise consistently for long periods of time (steady state).

Short intense exercise sessions do NOT trigger this fat storage mechanism, so your body feels safe using fat stores for energy after these short intense sessions.

2. Increasing the amount of resistance/strength training you do builds more lean muscle.

Muscle is metabolically active and burns more calories than other body tissues even when you are not moving. And muscle burns more calories than fat.

The ONLY tissue in the body that burns fat is muscle.

I generally find when you get someone stronger, other things improve as well.

3. Particularly if you are creating a caloric deficit through your diet, regular resistance training will preserve the lean muscle tissue that would otherwise be lost along with the fat. This is a key point.

4. The idea is to rev up your metabolism.

Metabolism is largely a function of how much muscle you carry. Raising your metabolism is the real key in long term fat loss and changing your body composition.

In order to lose body fat you must burn more calories than you consume—this remains rule number one.

Aerobic training burns them while you are exercising, however anaerobic training (strength training and interval training) burns them during AND increases the calories burned for hours afterwards.

This is referred to as EPOC–the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.

5. The steady state aerobic dilemma is that you will get efficient at whatever exercise you are doing.

The work required to go the same distance at the same speed will become less and less as you get fitter. You will either need to go further or faster.

This creates a whole bunch of concerns—spending more time to get the same calorie deficit you once got, going faster if your technique is not solid could lead to injury, and eventually the new distance or speed will become too easy for you and at some point you will go into your ANaerobic zone so you are no longer doing aerobics.

In terms of fat loss, calories burned is the most important factor. Aerobic training burns less calories than anaerobic training and strength training overall.

There is of course a place for steady state aerobics in your toolbox. If you enjoy endurance-based cardio exercise, by all means go out there and have fun. I know I do!

Our topic here has been the most effective and efficient way to exercise to maximize fat loss. Strength training and interval workouts are the better tools to use for that goal.

Of course, we need to pay attention to nutrition as well, but like I said earlier that’s a different blog post.

I wanted to share this with you because I feel I owe my great health and fitness to Yoga, better nutrition, smarter workouts, getting as strong as I can and living better with a simpler lifestyle.

And I’m also a big fan of matching what I do with the goals I have, and that includes being as effective and efficient as possible!

And as always, I take you with me on my journey.

My greatest joy comes from being of service and participating in your health and fitness quest as well.

Thanks for coming along on this steady state cardio discussion, and be sure to reply with your own insights!

shelli

One nutritional question I am often asked is, “Is chocolate really good for us?”

I’m going to borrow an answer from Dr. John Berardi, Ph.D.

Chocolate – A Health Food?

Much ado is being made about the…uhh…“health” properties of chocolate. It’s
everywhere:

“Study Hails Chocolate’s Benefits”
“Boosting Brain Power – With Chocolate”
“Chocolate is Good for Health”
“New Research Endorses Chocolate”

Now, come on, can all this “news” really be true?

Can chocolate, the ultimate“guilty pleasure” actually be good for us?

Is all this media attention on chocolate and its benefits justified?

Or is this simply a case of chocoholic justification?

Well, let’s ask Cornell researcher Chang Lee, chairman of the Department of Food
Science and Technology.

Comparing the antioxidant content and activity of green tea, red wine, and cocoa, Lee and his team found that cocoa has nearly 2x the antioxidants of red wine and up to 3x the antioxidants of green tea!

“If I had made a prediction before conducting the tests, I would have picked green
tea as having the most antioxidant activity.” said Lee.

“When we compared one serving of each beverage, the cocoa turned out to be the highest in antioxidant activity, and that was surprising to me.”

Why Cocoa?

You see, it appears that cocoa contains powerful antioxidants called polyphenols
– yep, the good stuff found in grapes, berries, and wine.

Further, cocoa contains a healthy dose of catechins and epicatechins – that’s right the good stuff found in green tea.

But hold on a second…before you rip open that Snickers bar, it’s important to
note that we’re talking about COCOA here, not milk chocolate.

What’s the difference?

Milk chocolate typically contains sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, milk or milk
powder, and vanilla as the base ingredients.

And something like Snickers contains much more including lactose, soy lecithin, artificial flavor, corn syrup, milk fat, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, egg whites, and more.

All this means that you’re getting very little real cocoa per bite!

So I pretty much avoid milk chocolate like the plague as it’s 100% junk food, plain and simple.

Real chocolate – the high % cocoa healthy stuff – is another story.

Real chocolate is a very simple product.

It contains cocoa. And it contains cocoa butter. That’s it.

And as a result of this simplicity, real chocolate has virtually no sugar, is high in
fiber, and is loaded with maximal doses of polyphenols and catechins!

COMPARING CHOCOLATES:

Check out the nutritional profile of a 50g bar of healthy, 100% cocoa chocolate:

100% cocoa, 50g
250kcal
7g protein
13g carbs (0.5g sugar, 8g fiber)
24g fat (16g sat fat)

Now, moving down the scale of “healthiness”, let’s look at some other options:

85% cocoa, 50g
260kcal
5g protein
10g carbs (6.25g sugar, 3.75g fiber)
22.5g fat (14g sat fat)

70% cocoa, 50g
275kcal
3.75g protein
16.25g carbs (13.75 sugar, 2.5g fiber)
21.25g fat (12.5g sat fat)

Snickers Bar, 50g
282kcal
4g protein
35g carbs (30g sugar, 1g fiber)
14g fat (5g sat fat)

Notice that the farther we move from the high cocoa chocolate, the following
happens:
1) We get more calories
2) We get more sugar
3) We get less protein
4) We get less fiber

It’s also important to note that as the % cocoa goes down, we usually get fewer
and fewer antioxidants while adding more and more artificial ingredients.

My conclusion:

If you’re going to eat chocolate at all, go 100% or go home.

Just make sure you do so in moderation as, unlike Green Tea, all chocolate
contains a fair amount of calories and this needs to be considered as you try to
work it into your eating plan.  (Thanks John for those facts!)

Can Shelli tell the difference?

Yep!

Trust me, you CAN taste the difference.

Last year my cousin Corky returned from Europe with all different cocoa blends for us to sample.

As luck would have it, I saw her on a day when she still had plenty of samples and we had fun indulging our taste buds.

Viva la difference……..

Remember that you are the product of the choices you make.

Your choices are ingredients, just like the ingredients that Dr. Berardi referred to in his discussion of cocoa.

Be aware of your choices and choose ingredients that bring you long term health and long term energy.

That’s how you’ll find your menopausal sweet spot!

Shelli

This might not surprise any of us as we are already active women, but it’s always good to know our choices are more than supported by current scientific findings.

The National Institute of Aging says that what we used to think of as the symptoms of aging (easily fatigued, memory impairment, loss of strength and flexibility, declining muscle mass, aching joints)

are actually symptoms of DISUSE.

Disuse leads to distress and distress leads to disease.

The bottom line is for you to get up and move that wonderful body of yours every day you can!

I’d add do it with JOY and with a sense of HUMOR!

shelli

I had a rather “foggy” experience I’d like to share with you.

One of my favorite things to do is to put on a small fanny pack and take off on foot to explore some trail, whether it be an urban trail or more woodsy one.

Recently, I took off for what turned out to be a 2 1/2 hour adventure of hiking, running, hill climbing, and some Yoga by the water’s edge.

I know this mostly urban, fairly hilly area very very well, and have seen it during all different times of the year.

Never as I saw it on this day, though.

The path runs alongside San Francisco Bay and on this day at 11:30 AM it was TOTALLY fogged in.

I could see ahead of me for a few feet and I was right by the water’s edge, which I knew from memory, yet I was surrounded by fog.

As I observed my thoughts during the early parts of the hike, I couldn’t help but notice how amazed yet uncomfortable I felt about all this fog.

I had, after all, come for the spectacular views, the sunshine and the breeze off the water. These conditions were a large part of what was going to make this a special outing.

However, metaphorically I didn’t like being in all this fog.

I didn’t like NOT seeing where I was going and what was in front of me.

How interesting it was then, when I started to simply observe what the voices in my head were saying.

Observing in amusement rather than judgement this “plan” of mine.

Now, I am someone who enjoys serendipity.

I think if we all look at our lives we will find those times when our “plans” took a back seat to serendipity and we were thrilled and grateful that they did.

There’s a saying, “Act as if everything depends on you and pray as if everything depends on God.”

One interpretation of this might be that of course as human beings we make plans, have goals and are action oriented.

However, coupled with that, I would like to suggest that we create a place in our lives for quiet time, the “unplanned” time so that we can listen and appreciate that which offers itself to us when we allow ourselves to open to serendipity.

Of course, once I let go of being so fussed out by all this fog, I had an incredibly wonderful outing.

I appreciated the fog for having shown me how controlling I can be and providing me this time to reflect upon some very important and deep ideas about how I move through life.

And wouldn’t you know it………as the fog started to clear after about an hour or so, I wanted it to come back!!!

Even as I write that last line I chuckle at how controlling and demanding of life I can be.

I’m sure in the next few months you all have schedules with what I’m sure are some exciting plans.

Make sure, however, to allow for the unexpected pleasures!

When someone says, “Hey let’s go dancing or let’s go kayaking,” don’t be so quick to say no if it’s not one of your “regular” activities and an already scheduled event.

Who knows what’s out there for each of us if we’ll embrace some fog from time to time.

Enjoy it while it’s rolling in.

And then appreciate the view when it rolls out again.

Can you do this? I know I’m glad it’s something I’m learning to do!

shelli

Nature is Nurturing.

Two University of Michigan professors, Stephen and Rachel Kaplan, are doing some very fascinating research into the psychological benefits of nature.

Now, we active menopausal women already get the link between nature and psychological nurturance, however, I find their work worth sharing.

Trees, grass, gardens, and the like have a profound and positive impact on both mental and physical health.

Some of their findings:

The psychological health of cancer patients improved dramatically after they spent 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week, doing restorative activities such as gardening or walking in the woods.

A study of AIDS caregivers found that the single most powerful factor in avoiding stress-related burnout was “locomotion in nature”—walking, running, biking or canoeing (the quickest way to burnout was watching television).

The natural setting doesn’t have to be big or pristine to have a positive effect. Most of all, it has to be nearby.

How does brain function figure in?

Nature’s power comes down to brain function.

The source of much mental distress is the overuse of “directed attention”—concentration on work, for example.

To sustain this attention is difficult and fatiguing, and not just for the mind but for your body as well.

To escape the discomforts of mental fatigue, people often turn to what the Kaplan’s call “hard fascination” events—–the internet and TV, for example.

These activities are loud, bright and commanding.

They are engaging and fun but they DON’T allow for mental rest.

“Soft fascination” however, like a stroll on a beach or a walk in the woods, provides pleasure that compliments the gentle stimulation.

The brain soaks up these pleasing images and it also can wander and reflect and recuperate.

Yes, we intuitively know this!

So let’s remember this and use nature to nurture us if we feel frazzled or upset.

Send along any of your favorite nurturing tips and we’ll all benefit!

Shelli

What’s so bad about High Fructose Corn Syrup—HFCS?

Listen and learn.

It is the leading sweetener in the United States today.

It first appeared in 1996 and the average American takes in 62.6 pounds per year.

Fructose is processed differently in the body than the more common sugar, glucose.

Why is this a problem?

Glucose causes fat cells to release leptin, which makes you feel full so you eat less, and glucose also prevents the stomach from releasing ghrelin, which makes you hungry.

FRUCTOSE does exactly the OPPOSITE.

Think about this for a moment.

Fructose increases hunger to make you eat more.

Also, your liver converts fructose far more readily to body fat than it does glucose.

Large amounts of fructose cause havoc with your insulin and blood pressure.

Many of the studies have been done on animals and they are starting to replicate the findings on humans as well.

Where is HFCS found?

You’d be surprised, or maybe not.

HFCS is found in soft drinks and fruit beverages and a wide variety of processed foods.

I always recommend checking the list of ingredients in the food you buy.

When you see HFCS make a different choice.

Making wise food ingredient choices during menopause will keep you eating well and living well!

shelli