Do You See What I See?

Losing weight was something I thought was easy, and would not have many repercussions. For most of my life, I assumed I was ‘fat’ and at least knew I was larger than those who were around me. This is the first time I am going to be talking about this so bare with me here, it is a difficult topic. After losing quite a lot of weight and still thinking I was fat, I came to the realization I had body dysmorphia. Body dysmorphia is a mental disorder in which people imagine a physical defect that others cannot see. For me, I would see myself a lot larger than I actually was. If you look at the picture posted, I thought I looked huge and it looked as though I was the same weight than when I started. Although I was close to a healthy weight, I did not see myself as looking healthy, but rather still looking obese. It is hard for me to understand that I might never see my body the way it is, but hopefully with a lot of mental practice I will be able to break through. As the International OCD Foundation states, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) affects 1.7% to 2.9% of the general population which is about 1 in 50 people. Due to the fact that people are often reluctant to reveal their symptoms, and often do not notice they have body dysmorphic disorder, it might actually be more common than it already is. The International OCD Foundation found that body dysmorphic disorder “is about as common as, or perhaps more common than, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and more common than disorders such as anorexia nervosa and schizophrenia”. Some studies have also found that more people had “BDD than other disorders that are considered to be common, such as social anxiety disorder (social phobia) and obsessive-compulsive disorder”. It is crazy to think how common this disorder, but how little people know they have it because they assume they are seeing their body the way it is supposed to be. Coming to terms with oneself and accepting the fact that they have body dysmorphia is the first step. Anyone who has body dysmorphic disorder will have a long journey to recovery, most likely with therapy. I know I am willing to make the change to better myself, and I hope anyone else who has to suffer with BDD will make the steps as well to see the beautiful, perfect, version of themselves.

Are We That Similar to Chimpanzees?

A few days ago I heard a good friend of my dads talking about obesity and how it is a major problem in America. The topic of obesity is one that I understand and can relate to due to the fact that I was obese (BMI greater than 30) from my senior year of high school to the beginning of my sophomore year in college. Looking back at my pictures and seeing how much larger my face and body was at the time is embarrassing to me. It is complicated for me to understand that I didn’t really do much to get to that point, meaning I was athletic and eating rather healthy, but the weight I gained was all from my hormonal disorder called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Below is a picture of me when I was obese (on the right) to when I was at a much healthier weight (on the left). Duke University decided to do some research and compare people and their DNA to chimpanzees and their DNA. Despite sharing 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, it seems as though there have been some changes to ours. Although the fat cells are not the only thing that has changed with our DNA, human’s brain sizes have nearly tripled compared to the chimpanzees, despite that being a positive aspect, most of our changes impact us negatively. It is clear though, that humans are much more obese than our primate relatives. It has been found that “the regions of the genome that help turn white fat to brown were essentially locked up — tucked away and closed for business”, according to the Duke University Study this was only found in humans, and not in the chimpanzees. Researchers are trying to figure out a way to change our bodies abilities to turn white fat into beige or brown fat which would eventually make it easier for us to slim down, or lose weight. It is going to take quite a lot of research in order to figure this one out, researchers from the Duke University Study already know it won’t be “as simple as flipping a switch. If it were, we would have figured this out a long time ago”. Researches have been working long and hard to try and reverse the changes we already made to our DNA. The question lies though, does our DNA change have to do with all of the process foods that we now consume, or does DNA change every so often on it’s own?

Should You Only Be Doing Cardio?

Cardio, cardio, cardio. That is often the first word that comes to mind when people think of weight loss. Cardio, in other terms cardiovascular exercise, can include biking, running, walking briskly, jumping rope and swimming. Cardio consists of exercises that increase one’s heart rate through repetitive movements of arms and legs. A lot of people, when doing cardiovascular exercises, choose to run because it is a fast way to get a person’s heart pumping, and will burn quite a few calories. Cardio is seen to be a very easy way out to burn calories because everything is repetitive. Weightlifting though is a lot more complicated than cardio because it involves people doing different movements that involve a lot more energy and effort. Although cardio is a logical way to lose weight, it should be done with weightlifting for quicker, more efficient results. Weight lifting allows a person to build muscle mass which will ultimately end up boosting the body’s metabolism and decreases fat. A person who focuses on building muscle and succeeds with weightlifting will end up burning more calories per day. As everyone knows, burning more calories per day will allow for a faster weight loss journey. Along with that, it is actually proven that some weightlifting exercises can actually double the amount of calories burned than cardio exercises. Weightlifting can help people burn calories faster and it is actually possible to burn 20 calories per minute which is the same as running a six minute mile. Not only is weightlifting important for weight loss, but 90% of weight loss is based around a diet and calorie deficit. A diet is important to make sure your body is getting all of the nutrients it needs. A calorie deficit means reducing the amount of calories a person consumes, this is important because the less calories that are consumed, the quicker a person will lose weight. To sum this blog up, there are so many more ways to help aid weight loss. If a person only does cardio it might take them a much longer time to lose weight compared to a person who does cardio, weightlifting, and eats in a calorie deficit. It is all about how quickly and efficiently someone wants to lose weight. If a person wants to take a very long time, I would suggest cardio. If a person would like rapid results I would suggest cardio, weightlifting, and a calorie deficit. All three of those are key factors in every person’s journey. Is it time to start yours? If so, you now know how to become successful.

Commenting

Hello all! How is everyone doing? I just wanted to let you guys know that I am always open to comments and I would love to hear what you guys have to say. You can comment about anything; questions, comments, concerns, feedback. I would love to connect and interact with you guys some more. Feel free to share your opinions about me, my posts, or even yourself. Freedom of speech is so important to me which is why I allow people to comment on my posts. Feel free to express yourself in any way possible and I will do my best to respond! Commenting can benefit both me and you in which we can build links, traffic, and even blog relationships! I would love to be able to see your posts as well and comment back.

What Comes First, School/Work or the Gym?

What comes first, school/work or the gym? This is what seems to be a very obvious question that school should come first. For me, I am taking six online summer classes and find it hard to go to the gym. Actually, I find it hard to go anywhere; seeing my friends, going to the beach, even just leaving myself. It all becomes impossible when working all the time on homework. This is very similar with having a real person job where people will work for forty plus hours a week. Taking six summer classes or working the typical 9-5 can make going to the gym rather difficult. The gym can be useful for many reasons such as muscle gain, weight loss, or just to remain healthy/ fit. Everyone should be going to the gym at least three times a week for about one hour per session. People should be including a mix of cardio and weights. I understand your thought of how can I get to the gym when I am so busy. The easy solution for me was to go to the gym first before starting my school work. Depending on how busy my day will be influences my decision on whether or not to set an alarm to wake up. Whether I set my alarm or not I always make sure I go to the gym as soon as I wake up. This allows improved productivity, boosts my metabolism, gives me better sleep, and allows me to have the rest of the day to do whatever I want. Going to the gym in the morning immediately wakes me up and prepares me for the day. One of the major benefits listed is getting better sleep, for me, working out in the morning helps with that. When I exercise at night it is a lot more difficult for me to sleep because I have so much energy which makes me stay up for hours. Another benefit was boosting the metabolism, because I am often fasting until ten, and I workout before I eat breakfast, this allows me to workout during my fast which speeds up my metabolism even more. I personally would suggest putting your workout before school/ work to get all of the best benefits. Going to bed slightly earlier than I used to so I can workout in the morning is worth it for all of the reasons listed above. Although sometimes a workout cannot come before work/ classes. For those who have early jobs and classes (I had two 8ams last semester), sleeping in a little bit might be more helpful for those of us who are not morning people. For those who do not want to wake up at 5:30am to workout and get ready before class, working out in the afternoon/ evening might be the only option. For me though, this is a last resort because i do not receive as many benefits. Of course working out at all allows benefits for everyone, so as long as I get a workout in I am satisfied. To help with planning my week, I make sure to put everything in a planner. Planners help me to know when I should do certain things and helps me to achieve all of my goals for the week. As a side note for achieving goals with food, I would suggest using myfitnesspal to make sure you are getting all of the nutrients your body needs for your aspirations.

My Continuation

Throughout my life I’ve been active in year round competitive sports and I’ve always eaten fairly healthy foods. Despite this I have always struggled with weight issues. When I was very young my mom began bringing me to doctors to see why I kept gaining more and more weight. No one had a reason and all of them had the same advice: eat healthier and work out. Although it is easily said and I have tried, it is harder done. As the years passed I tried to stay positive, but found it extremely difficult when I could do nothing in my power to lose weight. Then three years ago I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Some of the symptoms of this condition include weight gain and difficulty losing weight. Although I finally had a reason why I struggled with weight loss, I felt utterly defeated, depressed, frustrated. I continued to work out on my own, to no avail. With the odds stacked against me I reluctantly signed up for small group training (with Fit Figures) this past spring. After only six weeks of training I lost a total of 20 pounds, gained body strength and developed knowledge about a healthier lifestyle. Finally! This program was exactly what I was searching for. I still have work to do, but I’m well on my way. I am so grateful to the trainers for pushing me to my limits and helping me to make significant progress in my journey. As you can see in the picture posted above not only am I more tan, but I am a lot thinner than before. Although this is all about my last summer adventure with weight loss, it is time for me to get back with what I am doing. I have been working out for a month at Fit Figures again since being back from college. So far, I am down ten pounds. At Fit Figures I am pushed beyond belief, having a personal trainer and small group sessions is truly life changing. They make sure that I correctly do exercises and even give people a meal plan. I would say they give me a meal plan but the doctor has me on a different diet (low carb with fasting). One thing that keeps me motivated to keep going to the gym (Fit Figures) are their competitions. Fit Figures always hosts competitions to encourage weight loss and a continuation at the gym. The prizes result in cash, exercise equipment or just a major congratulations with the success. I am looking forward to my successful journey this summer and I cannot wait to share my results.

Stretch or Eat Chips

The Importance of Stretching

The video attached was made by the Mayo Clinic, which is a nonprofit academic medical center based in Rochester, Minnesota, focused on integrated clinical practice, education, and research. They know a lot about becoming/staying healthy and how to improve health. The video they made talks about the benefits of stretching. A lot of people do not understand the benefits of stretching after a workout and tend to skip it. Not stretching after a workout can lead to strains, tightness, stress on joints, and injuries. Stretching should be a part of someone’s workout routine, it only takes five to ten minutes to complete if done correctly. The video states that the benefits of stretching after a workout includes increasing range of motion, improving performance, and reducing risk of injury. If these benefits are not appealing to you, do not bother stretching or in fact working out. Why bother working out if you are not going to help your body get the best results by stretching. Just stay at home, eat your potato chips, and think about the injuries you are not getting. The other option, if you do not want injuries is to workout, stretch, go home and relax, then think about the injuries you are not getting. It is up to YOU with what you would prefer. The reason why it is good to stretch after a workout is because your muscles are warm and therefor very responsive to stretching. As the video states, stretches should be gentle, slow and held for about thirty seconds. While stretching, there should be no bouncing or intense pain. If there is pain while stretching it can cause damage to the muscle. In the moment you may not think stretching is important, but down the road you will be thankful.

A Cheat Meal Won’t Kill You

This image was taken from the website of cheatdaydesign.com. The quote of “one healthy meal doesn’t make you skinny just like one unhealthy meal doesn’t make you fat” is so important to understand. Some people who are new to diets believe that one unhealthy, or cheat meal, will reverse all of one’s hard work. With a mindset like that, dieting is going to be extremely difficult. A cheat meal will not reverse any progress a person has made nor will it have much affect on the person’s future progress. For example, if someone eats a salad they are not going to be instantly skinny and fit. The same goes for a cheat meal, a person will not be instantly fat just for indulging every so often. Actually cheat meals are very important. Having a cheat meal, especially one that is high in carbohydrates, can help to kick start a person’s metabolism and help to regulate hormones. A cheat meal will encourage your body to keep burning these calories, instead of adjusting to the lower calorie intake (or calorie deficit). Being on a diet is all about keeping your body in check and helping it to learn how to burn the calories you are eating. If someone is in a large calorie deficit, and do not have a cheat meal every so often, once they come off of that diet they will most likely gain a lot of weight back. Diets can be very hard and strict but it is all about understanding the proper ins and outs. Being able to have a cheat meal, maybe once a week, shows how strong a person can be. Being able to go the whole week without indulging, and then only having ONE cheat meal, is very impressive. It is all about self control, motivation, and attitude. If someone has set goals, and determination following a strict diet, calorie deficit, and having a cheat meal once a week will definitely help bring the results.

Is Intermittent Fasting Safe?

For years, many doctors and trainers recommended eating in a calorie deficit if one is trying to lose weight. Along with that, doctors claimed people trying to lose weight should also be eating three meals a day. Or should they? A new way to lose weight involves fasting or rather, intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting involves people eating during certain times of the day. For example if someone is doing a 16/8 fast they eat during an eight hour window and fast for the other sixteen hours. A person might eat from 10:00am to 6:00pm and fast from 6:00pm to 10:00am. Maybe someone prefers to eat a little later in the day and decides to make their eating window from 12:00pm to 8:00pm, that is fine too. Fasting has shown to increase a person’s metabolism and show more rapid weight loss results. If someone wants to burn even more calories at the gym, they will go while they are late into their fast. For those who are interested in a ketogenic diet, fasting will help to get them get into ketosis much faster. I am sure you are thinking, ‘won’t I be hungry skipping meals and only being able to eat for eight hours of the day?’. To answer that, when a person fasts, they are able to drink black coffee, unsweetened tea, and water. These liquids help to make a person feel more full and will keep one’s energy levels at a good place. Not drinking enough fluids can lead to low blood sugar, headaches, and in some cases fainting. Not only can fasting help a person lose weight more quickly, but it can also help to lessen the symptoms of certain diseases or disorders. Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and diabetes are two of the biggest diseases/ disorders that cause people to be overweight. In several studies, intermittent fasting has been shown to lessen their symptoms. Intermittent fasting should not only be a remedy for weight loss, but it should be a new way of life. Along with that, intermittent fasting promotes a healthy lifestyle because of weight loss, a faster metabolism, and lowers risks of certain diseases, but, a person who does intermittent fasting can eat whatever type of food they would like with limitations for the unhealthy food. That is right, you can eat whatever you like while intermittent fasting because of what your body does during the time of fasting. Before a person begins fasting they should check with their doctors to see if it is the right solution for them.

A Little Bit About Me

Hello everyone my name is Alyssa Upton and I am making this blogging page to hopefully inspire you. I want to help my readers to become more body positive and accept that losing weight and maintaining a health lifestyle isn’t so easy. I will try to give you tips and exercises to stay fit. For me though, losing weight wasn’t so easy because, at the age of sixteen, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which is something a person has their whole life. PCOS is a hormonal disorder which makes it rather difficult to get pregnant, but for losing weight, most of us are insulin resistant which causes glucose to build up in the blood. Having PCOS means I have to take a special pill that will “help” me lose weight. The thing that would confuse the doctors was that working out and being a year round athlete did not help me lose weight or be as fit as most athletes. Along with that I would eat rather healthy, and most times less than my friends (even those who were very skinny). After going to many doctors, I went to one who put me on a very strict diet. Over the summer of 2018, I took on the challenge, I would go to the gym four to five days a week and eat less than on thousand calories a day. This amount of exercise and lack of eating caused me to get gallstones and I had to get my gallbladder removed immediately. Last summer, in the course of six weeks I was able to lose twenty pounds. Now, I try to eat more than 1,000 calories and not workout as intensely, and thankfully I am getting the same results. Along with that, I am still on my weight loss and healthy lifestyle journey and I am hoping you can come along with!