Tips to Recover from Holiday Overeating
Why does holiday overeating make it hard to return to normal eating habits?
1 – Stomach is physically larger – Overeating causes the stomach to become enlarged and it can take more food to provide the same feeling of satisfaction.
2 – Lack of sleep – This is probably the biggest culprit for me. I do not usually get good nights sleep during the holidays as we travel between families. A lack of sleep leads to elevated levels of the hormone ghrelin which causes you to feel hungry.
So, what can you do to recover from holiday overeating?
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What is Your Biological Age?
Do you watch the Biggest Loser? If so, you have seen each contestant visit a doctor at the start of the season and many times they’ll learn their actual ‘biological’ age. This usually ends up being a shocker, such as a 28 year-old whose physical condition is that of a 55 year-old or something drastic like that. Telomeres are a tool that can be used to fairly accurately identify your biological age.
I recently participated in a webinar hosted by Spectra Cell Laboratories and lead by Dr. Mark Houston discussing telomeres.
What is a telomere?
Telomeres are a DNA sequence that appears at the end of each chromosome. Chromosomes comprised of DNA are in each cell of our body. Our DNA is protected at each end by telomeres. Dr. Houston describes a telomere as a safety cap or ball cap on the end of each chromosome. They protect the chromosome and DNA from things like oxidative stress. As the telomere becomes damaged the chromosome and cell function ineffectively the cell begins to die.
Telomere Shortening
As a normal part of aging, telomeres become shorter. Once a telomere becomes shortened there is no way to lengthen the telomere.
There are many factors that influence how quickly telomeres shorten. Here are some of the factors that impact telomere length:
Clogged Arteries: Young Doesn't Equal Healthy
Shouldn’t you be the “picture of health” as a young adult? Guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that looks are deceiving.
Canadian researchers presented study results recently at the 2011 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress regarding their study of 168 adults between the ages of 18 and 35 years-old.
Study participants had no family history of heart disease, nor any other known risk factors, such as diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or smoking.
Guess what? Researchers found a “staggering” number of participants to have atherosclerosis, which is a build-up of plaque along artery walls. Almost half of participants had signs of atherosclerosis – 48%.
Height, weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference were recorded for all participants. MRI scans measured both subcutaneous (fat under the skin) and visceral fat (fat around vital organs).
These measurements found many participants to have greater waist circumferences and higher levels of visceral fat within the chest and abdomen. These high levels of visceral fat increase risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke at some point in their lives. It’s this high level of visceral fat that is likely contributing to the early signs of atherosclerosis.
These Canadian findings corroborate previous research that has found up to 80% of young American’s killed in war or car accidents to have premature and hidden atherosclerosis.
What Can You Do?
Weight Discrimination – Is your health being affected?
Purdue University researchers conducted a study to evaluate the impact of weight discrimination on health declines for obese individuals. The purpose of the study was to show that extra pounds alone don’t account for all the health problems and overweight or obese individual lives with. It is theorized that individuals with a higher body mass index are more likely to feel discriminated against due to their weight. The more an individual believes they are a victim of weight discrimination the more their health is impacted.
5 Reasons to Exercise
Exercise, especially aerobic exercise, is beneficial for your cardiovascular system.
Here are 5 reasons to add physical activity to your everyday routine:
1. Decrease risk for breast and colon cancer
A study has found a 35% reduced risk of getting breast cancer in women who are regularly active. Physical activity also increases survival rate in women diagnosed with breast cancer. The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study shows walking three to five hours each week to decrease risk of death 50 percent. Physical activity has also been linked to reduced risk for colon and rectal cancers.
2. Increase your life span
Are you thankful for your health?
Thanksgiving is practically here. Are you thankful for your health this year?
I know when it comes to your health you may be frustrated with problems you’ve faced this past year. It is often easy to dwell on the negatives:
1. A lack of insurance coverage
2. Not able to diagnosis what’s going on
3. Difficulty contacting your physician
4. Not getting answers to your questions
5. Unpleasant medication side effects
Thanksgiving provides a great opportunity to step back and look at the positives. Some of these may apply to you:
1. You’ve had another year with your family.
2. You’ve begun treatment to control your health issues.
3. Surgery was a success.
4. You’ve been able to wean off medication.
5. You’re more active now than you were last year.
6. You’ve lowered your blood pressure.
7. Your cholesterol is within normal.
If in your case the positives don’t outweigh the negatives what can you do in the year ahead to change that around?
