Stress: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

In today’s world, it has come to be that we are all a little stressed out. We all have bills to pay, work to go to (in which the dynamics there might be a little stressful), a house to take care of, then add on a family, pets, and the list can go on and on. After a while we all just start to break down. We all handle stress in different ways and how our body responds to that stress can very but it can come in the form of sickness, eating too much or not enough, gain weight or lose weight, get acne, and the list continues.

First things first, what we should all know is that stress in of itself is a neutral. But it is how we use this stress that can make it a good stress (eustress) or a bad stress (distress). Now, the stress we are going to be talking about with negative impacts on your body is related to the distress. So, why does stress have such an impact on our bodies? Well, it is because when the body is under stress, a hormone, Cortisol, is released in the body and it produces what is known as "our fight or flight response". This is a good thing (especailly if we are being chased by something like a T-Rex), however, only for a short period of time. It is the very thing that saves people or gets us through a really rough patch. But the longer that we are under a great amount of stress,  the more that it will break down our bodies because of how hard it is on it over time.

With the way that we are all living these days we are always on the go and should have had things done yesterday. Therefore, we all don’t take the time to eat as well or exercise as often as we need to. To top it off, there is so much stress that we have to deal with there seems like there is no healthy way of getting rid of it.

Stress is something that everyone will experience but we need to find ways to combat it so that we are not victims of weight gain (due to cortisol, which is known to increase abdominal fat), weight loss by not eating, or getting sick (by being run down). Here’s how….

1.       First, you need to exercise. And not find the time but make the time! This is very important because by putting your body under that kind of work and stress it will help alleviate the distress that we are put under.

2.       Next, Eating will also become crucial to you and by eating healthy you are providing your body with the proper nutrients to support optimal health.

3.       Another thing you should do is make time to have fun. Whether this is time that you sit at home and read a book or you go out to watch a movie or participate in a hobby, you need to make time to decompress and have fun.

4.       Make sure you have a safe or scared space. You need to have a place where you feel like you can have calming time and a place where you can relax completely.

By doing these relatively simple things you will change your life. And we know that it seems like a grand statement but it is true. We all may not even realize how much stress we even are carrying around with us until we make that change or all four and then you see how much of a difference there is. We hope that this will help you through your holidays and through your daily life. There are sites below that are related to stress and its impact on the body and techniques to help you through it.

·         http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/slash-your-stress-level

·         http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/meditation-lowers-blood-cortisol-levels

·         http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/mental-health-and-exercise

Committed to your health and fitness goals,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

How to Reach Your Goals This New Year’s

Tis' the time of the season that the year ends and people start to make their goals that they wish to achieve for the upcoming year. We have all done it, our New Year’s Resolutions. They will tend to be: “I want to be fitter, healthier, weigh less, run more, go to the gym more, eat better, etc.” and the list can go on and on. The problem with this is not that people have these goals or even that these goals are unrealistic but the problem tends to be that people go head first into the deep end and they get burnt out which leads them to giving up too soon.

Now, we have all had this happen to us at one time or another. Whether it is getting burned out, never quite making it to the gym, or maybe you are wanting to begin eating better next week, there are ways to make you successful in achieving your goals, whatever they may be.

1.      You need to MAKE THE DECISION FOR YOURSELF TO DO IT.  You need to consciously make it a part of your routine and changing your lifestyle to accommodate it. Make yourself WANT TO DO IT and NOT “have to do it”. This self-talk will help you change the way you look at it, especially if it is a goal that may be good for you but it is not something that you originally are really wanting to do.

2.      FIND WAYS TO ENJOY YOUR NEW ACTIVITY.  Whether it is with a friend or a big group of people, going outside (biking, hiking, rowing, running, etc.), listening to music, or even having little rewards for your successes to motivate you, you need to find ways that will motivate you to stay on the path.

3.      One of the most important parts of setting goals and new resolutions is that you MUST MAKE THEM REALSITIC.  By setting realistic goals they are less intimidating and you are also more likely to go after them. With goals that were already too intense for you reach, you might start out discouraged, intimated, or unsure if you are even going to reach it.

4.      FIND YOUR INSPIRATION. Music, quotes, movies, books, etc. find something that is inspiring to you and is something that will fuel you in your lowest of low moments.

5.      ENVISION YOURSELF SUCCEEDING! This is very important because if you can’t see yourself succeeding then how are you going to succeed? You need to believe that you can do it so much so that you can actually see yourself doing it.

6.      Last but not least, you need to MAKE THE COMMITMENT TO DO IT.  This is pretty self-explanatory but it is also one of the hardest steps to do. So, make a pledge to yourself that when you make the commitment then you stick with it and achieve it!

Remember that you can do anything that you set your mind to and that you need to believe that you can complete your goals and make them come into reality. Getting your mindset and having the will power to do all this will go up and down but you will find the strength that you need to make it happen. You just need to make sure that you take that first step.

Good Luck and remember we are always here to help you on your health journey

Committed to your health and fitness goals,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

Surviving The Holidays

WE ARE HAVING AN EVENT!!!!!


We are hosting a event here at Better Body Fitness NW! Surtviving The Holidays is an event that will arm you with resources so that you will be able to have healthy and happy holidays.  There are going to be samples of three different meals that are traditionally served during the holidays with a healthy spin on them, a grocery store tour (looking at what you should look for and what to buy), and general nutrition advice that you can use everyday!

Where: Better Body Fitness NW Facility
 1610 Red Soils Ct.
 Oregon City, OR 97045

When: December 6th at 6:30 to 8:30 PM

Please contact us for either more information and to reserve a spot with us. Slots are limited, so reservations are a must.

Call: 503-657-3814 to get your spot now!

Happy Holidays and we look forward to seeing you there!  

The Do’s and Do Not’s For Fat Loss

There are many misconceptions of exercise that we all have. Many facts have been pasted down for the bodybuilders like Arnold or from other fitness gurus but for those of us that want to loose fat and don’t have hours and hours to dedicate we need a quick and efficient way of loosing fat that will get us to our goals quicker than not. 

·         Rule 1: DO resistance training and NOT just cardio.

o   While cardio is still something that is still healthy for you and something that you should do.  It does not mean that you have to be on the treadmill walking/ jogging/ running for hours everyday. You should be doing exercise that will build up lean muscle mass.

o   Look at your body as a car and the more muscle that it has the bigger your engine is and more fat it will use up as fuel. The cardio that requires you to go for 30, 40, 50, or 60 minutes wont give you more muscle and wont use your fat as fuel as much as lean muscle mass would.

o   This will also shorten the time it takes to drop body fat and therefore getting you to your goals quicker! Only by adding a resistance training routine 2-4 times a week!

·         Rule 2: DO whole body metabolic training and NOT body part muscle splits.

o   First off, a body part muscle split routine is where you focus on a specific muscle group, such as: chest, shoulders, and triceps.

o   Whole body metabolic training is where you are combining opposite movements together, these are known as supersets.

For example:

§  Doing a lower body movement with an upper

§  Doing a push then a pull

o   These kinds of movements will increase your heart rate and will burn more calories than if you were to do body part split workouts.

o   Focus on these kinds of workouts 2 to 3 times each week.

·         Rule 3: DO focus your time on large muscle groups NOT small muscle groups (abs, arms, etc.)

o   By focusing on larger muscle groups you are taxing yourself more and the more taxing an activity is the more calories you will burn and do for burning off fat allowing you to reach your goals faster!

·         Rule 4: DO High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and NOT just jogging.

o   This is a big one. By upping the intensity you are going to burn more calories and you can actually lessen you time in the gym or that you spend working out. You will burn possibly the same amount of calories in half the time if not more!

§  Some great examples of HIIT training:

·         If you are on the treadmill, try jogging/ running at a faster speed for 3 minutes and then drop it back down for and other 3 minutes. And then repeat till you reach about 20 or minutes. You will feel like you worked harder and you will see that you did in fact burn more calories than if you were on there for 40 minutes.

·         Or do timed activity (1 minute going and 30 seconds break) repeats till you reach 15- 20 minutes.

o   Do these kinds of work outs 2 to 3 times a week.

·         Rule 5: DO eat good, whole, and REAL food and NOT processed and modified food.

o   This is perhaps one of the most important rules. This is what your body uses as fuel and what it uses when it works out.  No matter what anyone says, you truly can NOT exercise your way out of a bad diet. It will catch up with you at some point, whether that is for the start or years later. What you put into your body matters.

o   By eating real foods you are supplying your body with what nature meant for you to have and to use as fuel. The more processed or modified that that food becomes the less quality and the fewer nutrients that food will have to supply you with proper nutrition. See what  happens and how your body feels by switching up your food for the better!

Below is the inspiration for this blog and this article is a good read with awesome information. 

http://www.todddurkin.com/adults-and-fat-loss-do-this-not-that/

May this blog and article inspire you to improve your workouts! Good Luck!

Committed to your health and fitness goals,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

Habits: The Break Them before They Break You!

It's hard to break those pesky old habits!  Especially those habits that are negatively impacting our lives. Every New Year's we set out to 'break' them with a new resolution, life goal or crash diet.  We try to look, act, and be different.  We are going to talk more about how to break the habits that are not benefiting your mind or body.

This transition will not be easy. It will take work, dedication and sacrifice.  But it will only benefit you and your health at the end of the day.

1.      IDENTIFY the habit that you want to break, alter or start. 

a.      Be specific.  If you are not specific then you have wiggle room to get sidetracked. For example: rather than setting a goal of eating healthy, establish exactly what specific changes you are going to make to your diet. (No bread or only 1 serving of grain a day.)

b.      Do your research . If you don’t have the information to work with you are not going to be able to set yourself up on a plan that is going to make you successful.

2.      Have the DESIRE to take action. If you are not fully in it, you are going to fail before you begin.

3.      Think POSITIVE! Overcome all negatives (thoughts, people, beliefs, etc.) that you have in your life that might stop you.

a.      If you start to go negative add a ‘but’ to the end of that sentence. For example: “I am just feeling too tired to work out today BUT I am going to go because I will not regret it."

b.      Have helpful inspirations available. Quotes, Bible verses, an image, etc. that will keep you thinking positive and moving forward. It will help pick you up when you are down and keep you going strong. It should be part of your plan to succeed.

4.      REINFORCE all your behaviors, good or bad. If you succeed, what is your reward? If you have a faltered moment, are there consequences? Make an outline or even call it a contract, but make it with yourself and stick to it and no reason not to.

5.      Take RESPONSIBITY for your actions.  If you fall off the horse be honest about it but figure out why it happened and get right back on and start again.  A slight set back is not a reason to fore go your decision to make a positive change. 

6.      Find ACCOUNTABILITYand REINFORCEMENT. Whether it is your friends, family, co-workers; a group or individual we all need someone to be accountable to.

7.      ALLOW that there may be grief moments for you for what you had to give up. This is part of the process when you acknowledge that you are in fact giving something up.

8.      Try to create CHECK POINTS (30 days, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 1 year.)

9.      The biggest thing to helping you get to the other side of kicking out a bad habit or starting a new one is to DO IT ONE AT A TIME. Don’t try to change more than one thing at a time because  even one change one is going to take a lot of time, energy, focus, and determination.

You can do anything you set your mind to and if you have enough desire and drive you CAN get there. Once you start taking steps in the right direction you might even realize it's not as bad or hard as you thought it was going to be. In order to live life to its fullest we need to be healthy in the body, mind, and spirit.

In closing, remember this:

“Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.”

Committed to your health and fitness goals,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

NEW BOOTCAMP!!!!

Monday, October 10th is the new session for Better Body Boot Camp. Introducing a new time: 9am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday! Space is limited so if this time sounds appealing to you (Mom's...?) 

Don't wait to make the phone call! 503.657.3814

Committed to your health and fitness goals,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

Preventing Hibernation in the Fall and Winter.

As fall and winter set in, we all ten to get a case of hibernation. We don’t want to go out into the cold, rain, wind, or snow.  Instead we stay in, snuggle in a blanket, and eat. Especially during the Holiday season we tend to eat more than our fill. Because of this though we all tend to put on those unwanted winter pounds that come New Year’s we all scramble to get rid of.

What if we were able to keep that unwanted weight off and were able to stay active and motivated through the fall and winter months?  I think we all would be excited to hear what we could do to accomplish that. Well, it isn’t as hard as one might think. There are simple and easy ways to stay active but most important staying motivated in the months to come.

Here are some great ways of not only be active and burning calories!

·         One great way of staying on it is actually doing outside chores. For example, raking, shoveling snow, doing yard work/ landscaping, etc. Or even staying indoors and working on housework. These are great ways of burning calories without feeling like you are working out and there’s the added bonus of getting your chores done!

·         Choosing a sport that is in season – hockey, skating, etc. or just trying to integrate exercise more into your life. So, for instance, if your kids have soccer practice, walk around the field till they are done. You can also hold weekly walking groups, etc. You need to find out what it is that is driving you and motivating you towards your goals.  

·         This is also a really great time to consider and think more in depth about goals that you have for yourself and your health. You can also take this time to rejuvenate yourself by meditating, treating yourself, etc.

The article listed below will give even more helpful ways of being and staying active during the fall and winter. Just because we have weather that is not preferred should not mean we let ourselves off the hook to our health. We need to be engaged in making sure we all stay healthy and fit.

http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/10-tips-fall-fitness

Committed to your health and fitness goals,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

The Weekend Warrior!

Some of the best ways to make sure you are getting active on the weekends is by getting out and finding things to do that are around you with a group of friends. A great example of this is the Warrior Dash. This past weekend we were able to get a group of individuals together, including people from Better Body Fitness NW and Better Body Boot camps, to go and have a great deal of fun.  It was filled with comradery, encouragement, and a healthy bit of competition.

some of our warriors:

Committed to your health and fitness goals,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

WELCOME!

Thank you for coming to our site! This is where we, at Better Body Fitness NW will give you the most up- to-date information and latest news to get you in the best shape of your life.  We will provide tips, advice, and guidance on how you can live a healthy lifestyle and get the results that you have always wanted. With our services, the help of our nutrition page and newsletter, we strive to give each of you the personal attention and help you need and deserve. We are here to motivate, inspire, and guide you in all your health and wellness goals.

Thank you once again for being a part of the Better Body Fitness NW family! Please check back regularly.  We are going to be posting all the helpful tips and information that you need to know in order to reach your goals!

Today is a new day to make your goals a reality!

Committed to your health and fitness goals,

Justin and Angie LaPointe

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