Body Types

Variety is the spice of life, and the sizes and shapes that we come in are no exception! The amount of muscle, bone and fat we carry makes our bodies unique, but there are also similarities that we can observe, as well.  Did you know that your body type is passed down from your parents?  I know, I know, it's all their fault...

Which Body Type Are You?

Everyone can fit into one of three body type categories: Mesomorph, Endomorph or Ectomorph.

Mesomorphs are muscular and short. Their bone frame may be large and their bodies gain muscle easily--very annoying, if you ask me.  They can gain fat, but not as easily as Endomorphs.  Additionally, they tend to gain that fat evenly, all over their body, instead of in one vacinity (like the hips!).  Examples are singer Madonna and actor Hugh Jackman.

Endomorphs, are soft and curvy. Their bodies want to gain fat but resist gaining muscle, and their bone frames may be small, medium or large. Examples are Jennifer Hudson, and Michael Moore.

Ectomorphs are tall and skinny with delicate bones and light muscles. Their bodies resist gaining both muscle and fat, and their bone frames are usually small. Five percent of the population has this body type. Examples of ectomorphs are model Kate Moss, and actor (Once Upon A Time) Robert Carlyle.

Most people are a combination of two body types--Mesomorph and Ectomorph or Mesomorph and Endomorph. There are more mixed types than pure types. Think of the range of Body Types along a continuum:

                                 x (I am here)

Endomorph-----------------------------------Mesomorph----------------------------------------Ectomorph

Why does this matter?

Acceptance and a good shot of reality.  Knowing your body type will help you to have reasonable goals, with an understanding of what is realistic for you.  For example, one of my girlfriends is a solid mesomorph, with a small frame, and she can get her body into a size two.  But no matter how much some of us try, the width of the pelvis (bone and skeletal size), and the shape and distribution might never allow that.  Be accepting of who you are, and what is reasonable for you.  Of course, we can all make improvements!

Living With Your Body Type

Your body type does not change the rules for good nutrition, so if you're a solid Ectomorph, and never gain weight, that doesn't mean you should then eat a diet full of nonsense empty foods!  Maintain a diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, skim milk, fish, lean meat, poultry, beans and nuts. Choose foods that are low in animal fat and added sugars and eat sensible portion sizes. Get aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, that conditions the heart and lungs, and weight lifting that helps to maintain or increase muscle mass.  Exercise is the true fountain of youth.

However, you can tailor your exercise routine to body type. Ectomorphs might do their aerobic exercise, and add weight training three times a week for building muscles, utilizing heavier weights.  Mesomorphs would perhaps opt for the same program weekly, but with lighter weights and more repetitions, depending on how much muscle they want to build.  And endomorphs can do longer aerobics to burn more calories, with weight training, but direct their weight training toward balancing any imbalances in their physique (i.e. pear shaped ladies, focus on upper body training and maintenance of lower body strength).

Sources

• William H. Sheldon, The Varieties of Human Physique: An Introduction to Constitutional Psychology (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1940).

What to eat, what to eat?

Picking up where we left off...What can you eat?  What options are best?  Is the cheese and nut diet a good option? (hint:  NO!!)  How about the lard and burger diet?  (um...still, NO!!)

So...let's look at some reasonable breakfast options:

*Nature valley granola bar + banana=290 calories

*1 piece whole grain toast+ 1 TBSP peanut butter+fruit (can vary depending on your fruit option/1 cup berries or whole fruit like nectarine or apple or similar)=280 calories

*1 egg, 1 piece whole grain toast, 1 piece of fruit=210 calories

*Oatmeal (heart healthly portion is 3/4 cup dry)+ 1 cup berries (YUM!!) 194 calories

*Lowfat cottage cheese (1 cup of 1%) + 1 cup berries  247 calories

And for lunch:
*1 whole red pepper (yes the whole thing!), plus two eggs, hard boiled, and mixed with 1 TBSP reduced fat olive oil mayo, plus yellow corn tortilla chips=337

*1 whole red pepper, plus 3 TBSP hummus, plus one apple=221

*4 large leaves of romaine lettuce + 3oz lean ham (or turkey)+2 tangerines+ corn tortilla chips (10-13)=281 calories.

* 1 cup of beef stew with veggies, plus and apple=365  (this beef stew is created with my vegetable soup base (I've sent this recipe out already), and adding lean beef (shredded or ground, 1 lb.), 1 can of white beans, and 8 oz cooked noodles (I use brown rice).  Season to your delight, and it will make enough for a family of 4, plus two additional servings.

Let's keep building the day, shall we?

Snacks:
*1 apple, cut into slices, 1.25 TBSP peanut butter, mixed with 1/4 cup rice crispies (you mix the peanut butter and the cereal together, and put between the apple slices--eat like little finger sandwiches--filling and delicious!) 218 cal.

*  1 oz cheese (you need to check your cheese, I used my favorite, Dubliner!), 1 apple + 1 cup blackberries...237 cal., and this is a LOT of food!

*  spinach salad...2 cups spinach, plus 2 slices of well cooked bacon crumbled (and you can even use the turkey bacon, although my numbers are based on regular... and viniagrette=127--for 2 CUPS of spinach!!! and bacon!

*what if you want nuts?  1/4 cup!!! period...add 2 small tangerines, and you have 250 cal.

* tuna, 2oz can, plus tortilla chips(13 chips on my bag), plus a whole grapefruit=262


It's really not hard to be full, satisfied, and eat well, while still losing weight.  But you have got to concentrate, be responsible for your choices, and stay away from those dense foods.  Even still, you can, on occasion, have those in MODERATION.  You have to measure it out and KNOW what you are putting in.  Be accountable for what you are putting in your mouth. 

**No amount of exercise will make up for an unhealthy diet.

The Key to Your Success...

I have had several requests for information regarding what to eat and healthy ideas for meals and recipes.  So, below, I will reprint my breakfast options from a few weeks ago, plus add a few lunch ideas.  Of course, next week we will talk about dinner, as well. 

It's really easy to eat healthy, lower fat, lower processed carb, and yet filling meals.  Common mistakes include eating too much of calorically dense foods, and not enough of nutritionally dense foods.  What does that mean?  Calorically dense foods have lots of calories, in a very small amount of food.  Examples of calorie dense foods are nuts, cheese, chocolate and sweets, really high fat foods like whipped cream, regular beef hot dogs(not turkey), and what I call "fluffy stuff":  rice, bread, cookies, crackers, cake...get the idea?  Examples of nutritionally dense foods include sweet multi-colored peppers, fruits, vegetables of all kinds, and lean protein.

So, if you go to a party, and you have a bunch of crackers (let's say 10), with cheddar cheese on top...you have already consumed 692 calories.  What?!  Holy bats!  When you consider the average woman should eat around 1800 calories per day (not trying to lose) or 1200-1500 while trying to lose weight, you can see that those crackers and cheese DEARLY cost you.  That's half your days' allotment, and it was only an appetizer...a starter, if you will!!!

Let's say you are mindlessly eating nuts...mixed nuts...1/4 cup will cost you 170 calories.  But consider that you will eat at least a handful...1 cup.  That cup of nuts will end up at 680 calories.  Ahhhhh!!!!  You can't even eat dinner now!!  Are you serious?!

So...let's look at some reasonable breakfast options:

*Nature valley granola bar + banana=290 calories

*1 piece whole grain toast+ 1 TBSP peanut butter+fruit (can vary depending on your fruit option/1 cup berries or whole fruit like nectarine or apple or similar)=280 calories

*1 egg, 1 piece whole grain toast, 1 piece of fruit=210 calories

*Oatmeal (heart healthly portion is 3/4 cup dry)+ 1 cup berries (YUM!!) 194 calories

*Lowfat cottage cheese (1 cup of 1%) + 1 cup berries  247 calories

And for lunch:
*1 whole red pepper (yes the whole thing!), plus two eggs, hard boiled, and mixed with 1 TBSP reduced fat olive oil mayo, plus yellow corn tortilla chips=337
*1 whole red pepper, plus 3 TBSP hummus, plus one apple=221
*4 large leaves of romaine lettuce + 3oz lean ham (or turkey)+2 tangerines+ corn tortilla chips (10-13)=281 calories.
* 1 cup of beef stew with veggies, plus and apple=365  (this beef stew is created with my vegetable soup base (I've sent this recipe out already), and adding lean beef (shredded or ground, 1 lb.), 1 can of white beans, and 8 oz cooked noodles (I use brown rice).  Season to your delight, and it will make enough for a family of 4, plus two additional servings.

It's really not hard to be full, satisfied, and eat well, while still losing weight.  But you have got to concentrate, be responsible for your choices, and stay away from those dense foods.  Even still, you can, on occasion, have those in MODERATION.  You have to measure it out and KNOW what you are putting in.  Be accountable for what you are putting in your mouth.  No amount of exercise will make up for an unhealthy diet.

Melissa

White Bean Dip with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Red Peppers

White Bean Dip with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Red Peppers

1 TBSP  extra virgin olive oil
2 large red bell peppers, seeded and halved
1 can (15ozs) white beans, rinsed and drained
10 marinated sun-dried tomato halves, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 TBSP low fat mayonnaise
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground chipotle chili powder or pinch cayenne pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Parsley sprig, for garnish

Preheat oven to 450.  Spread half of olive oil over baking sheet; spread other half of oil evenly over skin sides of pepper halves.  Place peppers in single layer, skin side up, on baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes, until soft and lightly browned on top.  Remove from over and cool.  Pull loose skin off peppers and discard; coarsely chop peppers.  Place in food processor or blender and puree.  Add beans, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, mayonnaise, oregano, cumin and chili powder or cayenne.  Process to smooth consistency.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Refrigerated 1 hour before serving.  Garnish with parsley and serve with fresh, cut up vegetables or whole grain pita.  Keeps up to 3 days, tightly covered, in refrigerator.

Makes 2.5 cups.  Per serving (1 TBSP):  18 calories, <1g fat, 3 g carbs, 1 g protein, 1 g dietary fiber, 22 mg sodium.

How to Carve out Time for Exercise

How to Carve out Time for Exercise

In a world with endless chores, meetings, committees, full e-mail in-boxes, kids activities and volunteering, it's no wonder people find it difficult to make time to exercise. Recommendations for adults stand currently at at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week (CDC), and two days of muscle-strengthening activity. That is equivalent to approximately 20 minutes per day. But, less than 2/3 of American adults are actually getting that amount of exercise (ACSM).  So, if you are not getting enough, you are in good company.  How do you change your habits to include exercise, and start getting what your body needs for optimal health?
  

• Be Flexible: Split your exercise into two shorter sessions, or do a "home program"; an exercise video or set of exercises you can do with your body weight or simple equipment like a band or stability ball.  And if you can only fit in 10 minutes, do it, and do a couple of longer workouts on your days off when you have more time 

• Add Workouts To Your Calendar: You should plan your workout for the day just like you map out your work day with business or family events. This allows you to prepare mentally and physically to start and complete the workout of your choice.
  
   
     
• Have a Plan B: Have your alternative plans ready and on-hand, just in case you can't make it in time to your fitness class, or the weather forces you to skip your cycling outdoors.  And then see #1 regarding home workouts. 
   
     
• Change Your Way of Thinking: Exercise isn't optional for you health.  You need to change how you think about it.  This is your time to focus on yourself and your quality of life.  You reap the benefits of the hard work by feeling better, having more energy and fitting into the clothes you love.  Your blood pressure decreases, as do your bad cholesterol levels and your health and vitality increase.  This is your insurance policy against some very prevalent chronic diseases.  Take advantage of it. 

• Do What You Enjoy: The reality is, not everyone enjoys the same activities.  So forcing yourself to run for an hour if you hate it probably isn't a prescription for compliance long term.  Choose activities that you love, particularly those that you have a deep interest in (tennis, martial arts, cycling), or those that you loved as a child (dancing like Zumba).  This will help you stick with exercise because you will look forward to it.

• Develop an Attitude:  I want you to be offended when someone asks you to skip your workout.  I want you to feel like they are taking something valuable away from you.  And they are.  So insist that the people around you understand how important this is to your overall health, and even try to enlist their help in your compliance by including them in your activities.  Your spouse could try a tennis lesson with you.  Your teen could attend a Body Pump class with you.  Put your baby in a stroller and get out there and walk!

It easy to forget how important this is in the dizzying array of tasks we do from day to day.  But a body in motion stays in motion, so keep moving!!
Melissa

 

Staying younger longer

This week, I've been reading articles, and learning a great deal about exercise, anatomy and all things work related.  I thought I would share a couple of the most interesting tidbits with you.

 

The first comes from a book I read several years ago called

1.

The Metabolic Plan: Stay Younger Longer by Stephen Snehan Cherniske (Mar 2, 2004)

 

It's a really interesting book about how metabolism works and how to maximize it for yourself.  But one of the most interesting bits was about research that was done on longevity.  Why do we fall apart as we get older?  It happens because the cells you are making are weaker than the cells they are replacing.  But, it isn't inevitable.  We can change this process by teaching our bodies how to make better cells.  And if you make 300 billion better cells today than you did yesterday, you are in essence getting younger, right?  Consistently done, you can improve your appearance, your strength, your stamina, immunity, sex drive, memory, mood, and attitude. 

So how to accomplish this?  Apparently a team of Italian gerontologists tried to find the answer for why some people seem to be healthy and active into their 80's and beyond.  Was it just luck?  Did smoking, diet, social class, marital status or any other factors play a role?  Turns out, no matter the other factors, the one thing keeping those folks acting young was muscle mass.  "In a study of 84 men and women aged 90-106 years, muscle mass was the most consistent longevity factor.  Biochemically, that's reflected in one thing:  anabolic metabolism." (G. Ravaglia et al., " Determinants of Functional Status in Healthy Italian Nonagenarians and Centenarians:  A Comprehensive functional Assessment by the Instruments of Geriatric Practice,"  Journal of the American Geriatics society 45, no. 10 (October 1997):  1196-1202.

When you increase your anabolic metabolism, you have more energy, burn fat, and gain muscle.  The muscle creates energy and makes the exercise easier and more enjoyable.  This creates an upward, rather than downward, spiral.  The operative word here is strength.  Strength enables us to survive--it's hardwired into our brains--fitness=survival.

Consider this:  "Whereas clinicians scratch their heads and wonder why osteoporosis (progressive weakening of the skeleton) cripples or kills more than a million Americans each year, the evolutionary biologist points out that bone strength is maintained by anabolic metabolism.  Lose anabolic drive and you lose more than bone density.  You lose strength and flexibility in joints, tendons and ligaments.  The loss of muscle mass starts the catabolic breakdown of all connective tissue."

So, what is the answer to stalling the aging process?  Exercise to maintain and increase muscle mass, thereby increasing anabolic metabolism, and keeping your body working at peak efficiency as long as possible.

Squats

Last night in my Body Pump class, a participant asked about an article regarding squats.  She said that the article said that squats were dangerous, and shouldn't be done, particularly for young athletes.  This is just as we were beginning the squat track. Oy.

So, I decided to look the article up today, to see what it actually said.  It talks about pars interarticularis stress fractures caused by squat presses.  Particularly, it speaks about young athletes, and how these can be exceedingly hard to heal. 

We have long known that any exercise can cause damage, so form is crucial, but the article states that even with perfect form, these can cause lifelong problems in young people.  But the paradigm in training, at least for my 12 year tenure, has been that weights with young people should be approached with extreme caution.  Body weight exercises are considered superior for training kids, and weights should be light, utilizing more reps and lower resistance. 

She did mention that the article said no one should do squats.  Well, no, that's not what it says.  It states the following:  "Rao, a professor of orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, would not go so far as to say squats should not be done at all, but athletes, especially younger ones, need to be cautious, he said.  Doctors said doing a similar type of exercise without weight is much less likely to cause pars stress fractures."

So, what do I think of the squat press as an exercise?  I think it works, and this is why it continues to be done, even though there is some risk involved in any exercise.  Having a bar on your upper back does add to the force on the spine, and if you have spinal stenosis or disc issues, you should have the bar in front as support (like a third leg), and not on your back.  Same goes for holding the bar in front--it still increases the force on the spine, so for those with back issues, use your body only, and have a professional assess your form. 

Proper form for a squat:  feet at shoulder width or slightly wider, with weight in your heels, shoulders down and back, abs braced.  Slowly lower your body down, your bottom does shift back, the back stays straight, and your knees stay behind your toes.

Making modifications is a crucial part of making exercise a part of your life!  Make the modifications necessary to make the exercise work for you.

For the original article here is the link:
http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/133133538.html