Dropped 22 pounds on the 12-week test panel and 30 pounds overall
Elizabeth Woodard knew she needed to make a healthy change.
“I was up thirty pounds over my ideal weight — meaning the weight I wanted to be at,” she says. A former exercise physiologist, Woodard was already very active, walking six to eight miles every day and going to the gym regularly. So she knew if she was going to drop those unwanted pounds, it meant changing her diet [AARP 2022]. Read her full weight loss challenge article now.
Beth Woodard, former exercise physiologist
Fun Fact: Beth Woodard, my wife advised me on sections of my book Ageless MirrorAthlete “Overweight & Unfit No More.” If you’d like to check out Beth’s contribution to Ageless MirrorAthlete book, go to Amazon and type “MirrorAthlete” into Amazons search engine, or click this link. Click on the books “Look Inside” for the free preview and read Beth’s full bio and more.
So your ready for a lifestyle change… And you want to learn how to turn around an unhealthy lifestyle and achieve fit healthy longevity. My recommendation, study other cultures within and outside of Western influence and compare a populations health, disease, diet, activities, religion, socialization behaviors, mortality rate and age per capita data – e.g., compare nomadic tribes, people in blue zones and certain religious cultures, etc., versus Westernized demographic and lifestyle statistics.
What demographic experts have found – cultures absent of Western influence live longer in good health with little to no disease. If you learn how to tweak your lifestyles closer to theirs, it is more likely than not you’ll achieve similar wellbeing and longevity benefits – even within a Westernized culture once you know how.
Many clients I worked with over past years were overweight and sought a quick weight loss and/or physical enhancement solution to lose body fat and get more fit. A question often asked from the overweight and unfit population, “are all fast weight loss and fitness and performance enhancement; and restrictive diet solutions and processed foods; and polluted air and water; and noise pollution; and unhealthy relationships bad for us?”My simple answer is “in the long run, yes.”
So how does one achieve the goal without dabbling in unhealthy fitness and diet fads and product gimmicks and mind-body numbing drugs, etc. Let alone decipher the good from bad consumer stuff… and not increase health risk? Although I can’t cover everything in this article, I can help you make a significant lifestyle change that will make a big difference in your life if your ready for it.
If you only “tweak a few lifestyle habit(s)” daily… as described in principles 1-3 below, you’ll improve your state of wellbeing, fitness levels and experience less illness and disease. But if you continue to find short cuts to cure what ails your mind, body and spirit and change nothing… living the lifestyle you need, want and deserve now may never come to pass.
Ageless MirrorAthlete, Chapter 17, “Longevity Secrets Divulged,” shares detailed demographic lifestyle habits and behaviors within a blue zone culture about people that just won’t die. Learn how they live long active lifestyles without disease. Like Nomadic people, they share similar lifestyles and longevity benefits. Learn about natural weight loss, increased fitness levels and living long active lifestyles – and so much more. Read the free book preview now. https://amzn.to/351RnMO
It is no secret, nomadic tribe activities include walking from place to place to shelter seasonally and hunt and gather for food daily to sustain a lifestyle on the move. There are many things we can learn about remote cultures absent of Western influence and disease. The most obvious, nomadic people don’t sit idle for very long, they also don’t have convenient access to processed foods and drinks; and don’t typically become obese with related disease; and live 10 years or longer on average than their Western counterparts. If your going to stay fit healthy long term, the most important activity change habit you must apply now is daily walking, biking or other aerobic activity.
“To begin living a nomadic-like lifestyle and begin receiving the fit healthy longevity benefits – first… Condition Your mind/body to walk Daily – then you’ll achieve the metabolism and cardio-muscular endurance of a nomadic tribesman” [MirrorAthlete].
If not able to walk based on current physical condition, or maybe your rehabbing from an injury, etc., their are affordable stationary leg and arm cycling home equipment products for purchase that will improve cardio and muscular endurance and rehabilitative benefits you need and deserve daily. This course will ultimately condition you to walk and/or keep the body in a good state of repair.
“What can we learn from these people and how can you tweak a lifestyle change program to reap similar fitness and longevity benefits.“
“I know many of you may be unable to walk abroad for your daily exercise for various reasons. That’s why I recommend a small investment in home exercise equipment to accommodate a busy lifestyle and/or medical condition and/or protection from a Covid19 environment” [Marc Woodard]
TODO Leg/Arm Peddler – “use as a bike pedal exerciser”
“A Mini bike peddler can be used for leg cycling exercise at the office or home to increase circulation and relieve tension. The pedal motion is smooth and quiet, you can do exercise while you are on phone, watching tv, working ,or playing video games.” Learn more about the TODO Arm/Pedal Stationary Exerciser/Medical Peddler with Digital LCD Monitor now: https://amzn.to/33ZhlBr
TODO Leg/Arm Peddler – “use as an arm pedal exerciser
“Adjustable resistance for customize exercise, easy to adjust the tension by rotating the knob, pedal is very easy, it is perfect for rehabilitation following a surgery or injury, also great for elderly to do exercise for their legs and arms.” Learn more about a variety of arm and legs cycling equipment for home and/or office use now: https://amzn.to/3nToAma
Principled Lifestyle Change Habits Require No Fads or Gimmicks
The reason so many people fail at long term weight loss within Western cultures is because of sedentary habits and unhealthy behaviors; consume too many processed foods and drinks and drugs; and/or use diet and performance enhancement fads and gimmicks throughout their lives and/or become overweight and get sick.
There are 3 fit healthy lifestyle change principles you can apply now based on demographic data of remote cultures mostly absent of illness and disease and live longer than their Western counterparts – I believe, if anyone applied these 3 core fit healthy longevity principles, they’d receive similar benefits.
Principle One – Walking is an aerobic exercise activity we’re physically designed to do well for life. Walking motivates the mind to find purpose and will power to achieve set goals – through walking the bodies natural release of feel good metabolic chemicals improves mood and state of wellbeing. The daily release of adrenalin and other healthy feel good brain-body chemicals during exercise also provides the motivation necessary to change unhealthy lifestyle habits and behavior into healthier ones. Which lead to healthy body weight, increased fitness levels and mobility; and wellness, etc.
Principle Two – Although most of us will never hunt and fish for sustenance, our marketplace does offer a variety of fresh whole foods identified as – Certified organic farmed fresh. Knowing how to identify organic vs processed foods and removal of unhealthy food chemicals is important if you want to achieve and sustain healthy body weight and good health for life.
“In the age of home food delivery… hunting for organic foods have never been more convenient. Leaving more time for daily exercise and an active lifestyle for self or with family” [MirrorAthlete].
Principle Three – When possible find a stress and pollutant free sanctuary to exercise [i.e., free of noise and air pollutants and processed foods temptations]. If possible find a healthy place indoors and/or transport oneself to a healthier place to exercise, unwind, relax and detox if only for a few hours. It does not cost anything to walk, or little cost to hop aboard public transportation to perform walking exercise in a cleaner environment. Once you begin applying “Nomadic Dual Purpose Exercise” [Defined Below], it will naturally reduce your body weight and increase state of wellbeing… and once repeated and conditioned daily – you’ll crave and have the will power to do it again every day.
“Find a quiet or remote or relaxed place free of environmental pollutants, noise and stress to exercise and achieve a feeling of wellbeing and wellness.“
Learn how to plan and exercise and achieve your fitness and wellbeing goals whenever and wherever you want now: https://amzn.to/2SPhzEG
Plan walking exercise daily to optimize the fat burning metabolism. During low stress walking activity – Carry a back pack with 2-3 liters of water. Plan to rehydrate on your walk and shop activity to your favorite whole foods store to gather healthy food products for your next meal. Shopping whole foods while walking is a lifestyle change practice you can condition yourself to do daily – similar to how a nomadic tribesman walks to fish and hunt. In doing so you receive similar fitness and healthy food nutrients at the dinner table.
“Take advantage of back pack technology. During aerobic exercise hydrate and have reliable communications should you need help on the road, or remote workout location.”
Nomadic tribes people walk miles daily to move camp, hunt and gather food – If you don’t exercise with frequency, or haven’t exercised with intensity or effort in a while, I recommend you begin a slow paced daily walking activity if there is no medical reason not to.Once you condition yourself to walk daily, work towards increased walk pace, not less than 15-30 minutes in duration. The more you walk the more calories you burn and the leaner you become and the better you’ll feel. After exercise your metabolism also stays elevated for up to two hours – burning even more calories at rest.
When you begin a walking program, it is important to purchase a proper fitted walking shoe with sufficient heal- ball-toe and arch support.
Nomadic tribes people eat very little to no processed foods – Eat less processed and convenience foods and more whole foods and drink more water.Avoid processed ready-to-eat meals and sodas and beverages.Especially those packaged within colorful and attractive packages.This is code for “contains food chemicals.” Look at the food ingredient labels. If you can’t pronounce the ingredient names – buyer beware. All baked and frozen foods ready to consume have varying degree of chemical preservatives, additives, dyes, artificial flavors, Trans Fats and other chemicals to keep them fresh looking in appearance with long storage life. These chemicals are known to cause illness and disease long term.
Nomadic tribes people live outdoors in fresh air environments – Move yourself outdoors for exercise activity as often as possible – preferably in a pollutant free environment…. and/or before/after motor vehicle traffic rush.If air quality is bad regardless, go to a healthier air environment or exercise indoors. Be sure to drink 2-3 liters of water daily to help remove toxins from the immune, circulatory and flush the bodies filtration systems and keep bones joints well lubricated. Coffee, beer and sodas and energy drinks are not healthy alternatives to water.
To achieve a fit healthy lifestyle change and benefits similar to a remote culture based on the 3 common principles… Tweak your lifestyle to live more in line with a nomadic, or remote culture absent of Western influence to achieve the longevity benefits.
Marc T. Woodard, MBA, BS Exercise Science, ARNG, CPT, RET. 2020 Copyright. All rights reserved, Mirror Athlete Inc., www.mirrorathlete.org, Sign up for your Free eNewsletter.
How many of you have a tendency to stay up late and then eat too much before bed time? Do you wake up with little energy and then eat too much throughout the day? Believe it or not there is a connection between long term sleepless nights, increased weight gain, disease and death.
Many are also unaware how sleep deprivation changes habits and behaviors and mood long term and how that increases other health risks. Most importantly, “the lack of sleep also changes the balance of hormones in your body, especially ghrelin and leptin. [Learn more about sleep deprivation and sleep products by clicking on the image]
Ghrelin spurs you to eat, and leptin tells you when to stop. When you are sleep-deprived, your body creates more ghrelin and less leptin; this leads to more eating, additional calories, and extra weight gain” (Brooks 2014).
“In fact, have you ever experienced a sleepless night followed by a day when no matter what you ate you never felt full or satisfied? If so, then you have experienced the workings of leptin and ghrelin” (Bouchez 2014). [Learn more about Lepin weight loss products Now. Click on the Image]
When you don’t sleep “for whatever reason” your body releases more ghrelin and continues to burn energy and you feel hungry. Instead of sleeping, you’re prone to eat more after diner and snack late into the evening and throughout the next day. During evening hours, especially after 8pm… This is the worse time to eat as the body’s metabolism is at its lowest metabolic burn rate.
Your weight gain nemesis may also be directly related to any number of health, or environmental, or relational conditions and/or situations causing sleepless nights. As such, if not addressed and resolved will lead to a continuance of unhealthy behavioral habits that increase health risk and continued sleepless nights.
People with insomnia often wake repeatedly during the night and don’t feel rested in the morning. Insomnia can cause or worsen fatigue, already a symptom of depression. “Sleep is clearly linked with mental health and insomnia is considered a hallmark of depression” (Tracey 2014). [Click on image for insomnia information]
“For years researchers have known that adults who sleep less than five or six hours a night are at higher risk of being overweight. Among children, sleeping less than 10 hours a night is associated with weight gain. Now a fascinating new study suggests that the link may be even more insidious than previously thought. Losing just a few hours of sleep a few nights in a row can lead to almost immediate weight gain” (Parker-Pope 2013).
“Perhaps the largest study to track the effects of sleep habits on weight gain over a period of time was presented by the American Thoracic Society International Conference in 2006. The study that included nearly 70,000 middle aged women specifically pointed out those women who sleep 5 hours or less per night generally weigh more than women who sleep 7 hours per night” (Menopot 2014).
Within fat cells there is a physiological response to metabolic hormonal imbalances caused by sleepless nights. In other words, studies show us the longer one goes without sleep causes fat cells to malfunction by preventing its release of stored energy. And for those that experience chronic sleep deprivation – the risk of diabetes, circulatory and cardio health risk increases.
Ageless MirrorAthlete shows anyone of any age all the natural facts on weight loss, longevity and anti-aging truths and so much more. Learn why the marketplace hopes you never find this book. Read the free book preview on Amazon.
To investigate, Matthew Brady at the University of Chicago and his colleagues tested fat cells taken from the bellies of seven adults after four nights of sleeping up to 8 and a half hours, and then again after four nights on a measly 4 and a half hours. The team found that after sleep deprivation fat cells from the same person were on average 30 per cent less responsive to insulin “a hormone that makes muscle, liver and fat cells take up glucose after a meal.”
“High blood glucose levels are linked to diabetes. Fat cells also normally release the appetite-regulating hormone leptin [tells you when to stop eating]. Brady suggests that if sleep-deprived cells are generally malfunctioning, this mechanism may also be disrupted, affecting weight gain” (Hamzelou 2012). [Click on the Buda to find diabetic treatment information and products]
Outside of environmental stressors and bad habits, there is a serious medical condition known as sleep apnea that causes many to lose sleep because of excessive snoring. Sleep apnea occurs during sleep and when muscle tissue is relaxed at the back of the throat in a way that partially occludes a clear airway. In some cases, as more weighted tissue is involved around the throat area, the structural airway integrity buckles and partially blocks the air passage. This buckling/blockage causes excessive snoring, lessens oxygen to the brain and is a cause of sleep deprivation and weight gain.
Those with sleep apnea repeatedly wake up because of snoring and occluded airway and May, or may not be consciously be aware of the problem. But in almost all cases, those with untreated sleep apnea rarely feel rested and are tired and hungrier throughout the day.
Sleep apnea is serious business because respiratory failure and other health risk have led to death. If you or spouse have a serious snoring problem, or stop breathing intermittently during sleep, or can’t sleep and have a difficult time with weight loss and are now obese, see a physician for referral to a sleep study test.
There is also a neurological condition that is not a mechanical breach or related to an overweight condition. Instead sleep apnea can occur due to the CNS (Central Nervous System) signaling the brain to stop breathing intermittently during sleep. This type of breathing interruption is less understood but can be treated in the same way as a mechanical blockage using a CPAP (Positive Airway Pressure) or dental device that keeps the airway open. Both mechanical and neurological medical conditions can also occur simultaneously. In any event, both can be medically treated.
Sleep Study Tests Will Show the Following Results: While asleep, those with sleep apnea unknowingly experience episodes where they stop breathing. This can occur 5-50 times per hour and up to 300 times during regular sleep. If the non-breathing episodes only last seconds or less, this does not appear to have a significant health risk to the body. However, if one averages 30 non-breathing episodes per hour on average, and breathing stops for up to 10-second intervals between breaths, health risk increases and damage to the brain and heart may occur.
When we snore and wake up repeatedly, or get little sleep for whatever reason we don’t reap the benefit of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. While under REM our skeletal muscles are deeply relaxed and we dream and our food intake throughout the day is better regulated because our hormones and metabolism is refreshed, energized and balanced optimally.
It is especially important if you suffer from stress, anxiety, obesity, or respiratory disorder that causes sleepless nights, seek medical treatment. Treatment may include: CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), anti-anxiety, depression and/or behavioral therapy with, or without hormonal or other prescription drug treatment. If overweight you may also be tested for diabetes, heart and circulatory, etc., health problems.
Tests and treatment may include a sleep study test and thereafter – prescribed a CPAP, or other medical treatment to keep an open airway during sleep. [Learn more about sleep apnea and associated CPAP products by clicking on the image.
Regardless of what prevents you from getting a good night’s sleep and sustaining healthy body weight and achieving set fitness goals, it is possible to target the problem of your sleep deprivation and weight gain and reverse the course. Leading to improved health, fitness levels and wellbeing.
Works Cited and Article Resources,
Bouchez, Colette. “The Dream Diet: Losing Weight While You Sleep.” Review. Web log post. WebMD. WebMD, LLC., 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Brooks, Dominique W., MD, MBA. “Sleep Deprivation and Weight Gain.” LoveToKnow. LoveToKnow Corp., 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Hamzelou, Jessica. “‘Tired’ Fat Cells Might Trigger Obesity.” NewScientist. Reed Business Information Ltd., 15 Oct. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Menopot. “Insomnia and Weight Gain.” Insomnia and Weight Gain. Menopot, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Parker-Pope, Tara. “Lost Sleep Can Lead to Weight Gain.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 18 Mar. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Woodard, Marc T. “Defeat Anxiety and Panic Attacks.” Web log post. MirrorAthlete Fitness Secrets. MirrorAthlete Inc., 24 Nov. 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Woodard, Marc T. “Sleep Apnea an insidious Angel of Death.” Web log post. MirrorAthlete Fitness Secrets. MirrorAthlete Inc., 23 July 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Author: Marc T. Woodard, MBA, BS Exercise Science, ARNG, CPT, RET. 2014-20 Copyright. All rights reserved, Mirror Athlete Inc., www.mirrorathlete.org, Sign up for your Free eNewsletter.
