Sleep Should Be On The Top Of Your Priority List!

The old saying, "get your beauty sleep" is pretty accurate. Sleeping does make you beautiful. If you do not get enough sleep you not only get tired but you tend to gain weight!

There are two hormones in your body called gherlin and leptin that play a large role in your feelings of hunger and fullness. Sleep helps to regulate those hormones. If you do not get enough sleep you will very likely feel hungrier due to their imbalance.

Also the feeling of tiredness and hunger often get confused in your brain. You may think you are hungry when in fact you are tired. So getting enough sleep controls your appetite.

There is another hormone, your growth hormone, which is released during sleep. That hormone is responsible for developing your muscles. Muscles are hungry tissue. You burn more calories during the day and night if you have good muscle development. Getting enough sleep increases your metabolism allowing you to burn more calories.

Sleep affects how you looked, feel and perform daily tasks. Sleep has a major impact on your life!

How much sleep should you get? According to most current studies seven to nine hours is what you need. It is important to get the full seven to nine hours and not to break up your time. Your body goes through several important stages that can not be accomplished by sleeping several short periods.

You can nap during the day. A short nap can help you deal with stress and give a boost of energy. Often a nap can help you to avoid over eating. Napping should not replace your regular sleep. A nap should be twenty to thirty minutes. Longer naps leave you feeling groggy not refreshed. Avoid napping late in the afternoon because taking late naps can make it difficult to sleep at night.

I realize life is not black and white, some nights you struggle to sleep. On those nights get up and do something relaxing until you feel tired and then go back to bed. The old stay in bed and count sheep routine does not often work.

Here are some tips to help you get your sleep:

Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol in the late afternoon and evening. They can all cause sleeping problems.

Exercise regularly but allow three hours of calm before you go to sleep. Late night exercising can keep you up. You need to wind down after you exercise.

Establish a regular bedtime behavior pattern. Turn down the lights and relax ten or fifteen minutes before you go to bed. You can have warm milk or take a warm bath, anything that calms you and lets your body start to wind down.

Avoid the computer, the television and doing work just before bed. You want to slow your thoughts down not reeve them up.

Keep your room at a comfortable temperature. Crack a window if need be. You can get window locks at your local hardware store to keep your home safe while you are sleeping.

Investing in a good bed is money well spent. Go out and lay on several beds until you find the one that you just have to have.

Limit the amount of water you drink late at night so you are not up going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Keep your food intake low late at night. Eating a big meal and then going to bed can keep you up because your body is working at digesting your food instead of taking time off to do its other night-time tasks.

Sleeping is a very important part of life. It often does not get on the high priority list for many people. It should be at the top of your list! Not only will you tend to gain weight but your ability to think clearly and enjoy life is limited if you go through life tired.

Your fitness expert

Lynn   www.getrealfit.org

Why Can't I Lose Weight?

Often women over eat due to "wrong thinking". I had a friend when I was growing up that had extra weight she was struggling to lose. She always said that she didn't eat very much.

She really didn't eat very much at meals. She ate while she was cooking, while she was shopping and when she was bored.

One day when she was cooking, eating and complaining about her weight I pointed out to her that she was eating quite a bit while she was cooking our meal. Her answer was, "it doesn't count".

Her thinking was that the only calories that count were the ones she ate at meals. The sampling at the store, tastes while cooking and little bites while bored didn't count toward her daily calorie intake.

The interesting thing was when I started working with clients I saw that she was  not alone in her thinking. When my clients would journal their food it looked like they weren't eating enough. When I asked them if they tasted food while they cooked, took samples at the stores and if they took little bites of food when they were bored the response was, "am I suppose to write that down too?". "Yes!" would be my reply.

All the food you put into your mouth counts as your daily intake. Your body doesn't know if you're sitting down for a meal. It just knows that there's food coming in and it needs to burn it or store it.

I realize tasting food while you're cooking is needed sometimes but keeping it to a minimum and really just tasting the food is important. Those calories do count. Chewing gum while you cook can help prevent the extra nibbling that goes on when cooking.

Next time you're at the store and you're offered a sample think twice! Ask yourself this question," do I really want to add this to my days calories?". If you do then help yourself but know that you need to eat a little less at your next meal.

All the food you put in your mouth does count. Being aware of that could help you lose the extra pounds you want to go away.

Your fitness expert

Lynn      www.getrealfit.org

Different Ways to Find Your Healthy Weight

My new podcast called "Different Ways to Find Your Healthy Weight" gets you off to a great start if you are going to lose weight and helps you find a healthy ending. Give it a listen.

Here's the link   http://lynnhahnpodcast.libsyn.com/  no special equipment is needed to hear the podcast and it's free so no worries just sit back and enjoy!



Your fitness expert

Lynn     www.getrealfit.org

Mind Over Matter When Trying To Lose Weight

The mind is an amazing thing. More and more research is going on to try to understand it.

One interesting research is on the minds ability to handle will- power.

Studies are finding that the mind has a limited ability to handle self-regulation. In other words, it can only deal with so much will-power.

If you're cutting down on spending due to the economy...you may struggle cutting down on the amount of food you're eating. The mind goes into overload when asked to do both things!

Going out to dinner is a challenge for lots of people (me included!). If you want to be able to control the portions on your plate it's best not go window shopping for things you can't afford on the way to your restaurant.

Studies are also showing that your supply of will-power can be increased.

Doing any activity that requires will-power on a regular basis seems to increase the will power threshold.

Staying on your exercise program, working on controlled spending, taking on new sports or exercise routines, controlling your food portions all help you to be able to resist temptations more easily.

It makes sense.

So if you're trying to lose weight and control your spending be aware that it is tough to do that. It can be done but make sure you are giving yourself nice rewards while doing so.

The rewards don't have to be food or things!

You can write a list of things that are free and fun to fall back on. Spending time with friends playing cards, going outside and looking at the sunset or sunrise, playing with your pets are just a few ideas.


It helps to know that you aren't alone with the struggles you're going through on this crazy but fun journey called life.

I'll keep you posted on facts and theories that can help you enjoy your journey so visit me often!

Your fitness expert,

Lynn www.getrealfit.org

Make Friends With Food

Making friends with food may sound like a bad idea. You may think that you have too much friendship going on with food. But if you stop and think about it overeating is not a good relationship. You're using food not really enjoying food when you over eat.

Food has been my comfort for most of my life. I struggled with an eating disorder for 17 years. I finally realized that food was not being my friend, it was stopping me from living life.

That didn't stop me from loving food. With a lot of help I learned how to have a good relationship with food. I learned to really experience and enjoy my 6 small meals a day. They taste soooo good to me.

I learned to make my meals special and not to take them for granted. Even taking "human" relationships for granted can cause problems.

Stuffing my face was not making me happy. It made me avoid things that were eating at me. Running to food was making me run away from life.

Life can be wonderful and it can be overwhelming and it can be down right scary at times but over eating only adds to those tough times. It doesn't make them go away. Now instead of one problem you have two problems when you go to food for comfort.

Think about that. Talking to your doctor or a councilor instead of over eating is a better plan.

Food for thought...

Feel free to ask questions and leave comments. I'd love to hear from you!


Your fitness expert

Lynn     www.getrealfit.org

It's A Choice

Each day you have a choice. Are you going to make the most of your day?

Taking care of your health allows you to have more choices. If you're overweight, depressed and tired your choices are affected.

Some days it's tough. Some days laying in bed and eating as much chocolate as you can afford seems like the best choice. Generally that's not a good choice. There are days when staying in bed, reading a good book and having some chocolate revives your energy.

It's all up to you. Some times that's a tough nut to swallow. It's easier to find something or someone to blame for your need to skip your exercise or to add an extra meal to your agenda.

Even if you've made bad choices for your health yesterday, today you can change that!

Feel free to ask questions and leave comments. I'd love to hear from you!

Your fitness expert

Lynn  www.getrealfit.org

Journaling Really Works!

Those extra bites Do count! Journaling your food intake for at least a few weeks will help you to become aware of what you're eating.

All those little "bites" of this and that will show up on your hips if you're not careful!

Get a note book that makes you smile and start writing down what you eat, when you eat, why you eat and how much you eat.

It's a proven method for success!

Feel free to ask questions and leave comments. I'd love to hear from you!

Your fitness expert

Lynn   www.getrealfit.org