Hi Team,

So I’ve had a few questions come my way this week about stress and cortisol.  From my personal experience, although my initial thought is “I’m not stressed” my body has a funny way of telling me that I am stressed, and a few are listed below.  Anyway, I found this article which I feel would be beneficial for everyone to read, especially those with a busy, stressful life.

Cortisol and Stress:  How to stay healthy!

Cortisol is an important hormone in the body, secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in the following functions and more:

• Proper glucose metabolism
• Regulation of blood pressure
• Insulin release for blood sugar maintenance
• Immune function
• Inflammatory response

Normally, it’s present in the body at higher levels in the morning, and at its lowest at night. Although stress isn’t the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it has been termed “the stress hormone” because it’s also secreted in higher levels during the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response to stress, and is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body. Small increases of cortisol have some positive effects:

• A quick burst of energy for survival reasons
• Heightened memory functions
• A burst of increased immunity
• Lower sensitivity to pain
• Helps maintain homeostasis in the body

While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal following a stressful event. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress.

Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:

• Impaired cognitive performance
• Suppressed thyroid function
• Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
• Decreased bone density
• Decrease in muscle tissue
• Higher blood pressure
• Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
• Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!

To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. You can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and you can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place. The following have been found by many to be very helpful in relaxing the body and mind, aiding the body in maintaining healthy cortisol levels:

• guided imagery or meditation
• journaling
• self-hypnosis
• exercise
• yoga
• Listening to music
• breathing exercises

http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

See you in the studio.

Hi Team,

I hope this email finds you healthy and well.

The March health and fitness newsletter will be out next week and it will announce February’s client of the month.  The client of the month will rewarded with weekly supply of fresh fruit and veggies.  Stay tuned

Group Sessions for March

Due to two weddings I’ll be attending in March, group sessions for this month have been moved around a little.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Saturday 3 March, 7:30am at Kangaroo Point Cliffs (meet at the Cafe)
Saturday 31 March, 7:30am at Kangaroo Point Cliffs (meet at the Cafe)

Here’s this week’s HP Tip

Try cutting out soft drink!

For anyone trying to maintain a healthy diet, soft drink is one of the worst things that you can put in your body. It is full of sugar, in addition to other chemicals that do nothing but harm your body.

So if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you should start thinking about cutting soft drink from your diet. One option is to replace it with fruit juice.  Whenever you feel the urge to drink soft drink, just throw back a cup of fruit juice. It will probably have almost as much sugar, but you replace harmful chemicals with beneficial vitamins.

Sometimes you can find a fruit juice that will combat other health problems. Grape juice is said to prevent blood clots. Urinary tract infections can be battled by cranberry juice. Pomegranate juice can clear your arteries.

To choose which juice you are going to drink, you should first look for something colorful, with a purple, red, or blue color. These have anthocyanins, which are beneficial antioxidants. You should also look for juice where you can see sediments in the bottom of the bottle, since this means that the whole fruit has been used in making the juice.

Scientists say it’s more beneficial to eat fruit than it is to drink it, but if you insist on juice then you might as well get as close as possible to the real thing.  There are hundreds of different juice options, from domestic apple and grape juice, to exotic noni or goji juice.

The best thing you can do is simply try out a few different juices, and research their effects on the body. Then you can decide on one that will be beneficial for you. But if you are replacing excessive amounts of soda, then almost anything is a step up on the healthiness level.

See you in the studio.

Hayles

Hi Team,

I hope you’ve all had a fabulous week.  Thanks to those who attended the Mt Cootha hike over the weekend.  It was a fabulous morning!

Don’t forget there’s only one week left of Fabulous February so make sure you take advantage of the fantastic PT deals this month.  All new clients who invest in personal training during February will receive 20% off their membership.  And if you’re already a member, refer a friend, and receive the same deal. I have two spaces left to fill so email me today if you’re looking to get kick started.

Next week I’ll be announcing February’s client of the month and the winner will receive a box of fresh fruit and veggies which will no doubt last them a week!!!  So keep up the hard core training team

I hope you enjoy this week’s health & fitness tip written by Michelle Bridges. 

How to speed up your metabolism

Our metabolism starts working when we are conceived, and ends when we die, with thousands of metabolic processes happening at any one time.

Our metabolic rate is the speed at which these processes take place. Unfortunately, from the age of around 25 our metabolic rate slows down, meaning that we start to lose control of our energy burning processes, and in doing so, our ability to control our weight.

The good news is that we can speed up our metabolism with a few exercise and dietary adjustments, and in doing so, regain some control.

The increase in our metabolic rates through exercise is actually not that spectacular, but you’ll get the best results from incorporating both cardio and resistance training in your regime, so try for three to four cardio sessions and two weights sessions per week.

Don’t get me wrong – exercise has so many benefits you’d be nuts not to do it. Just don’t use it as your principal metabolism boosting weight loss tool – that role belongs to what you eat.

So it’s a bit paradoxical that the best way to keep your metabolism pumping along is to eat regularly. When you’re hungry, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy expenditure, so don’t skip meals and tuck into a healthy snack if you get the tummy rumbles.

Water is vital in our metabolic processes, so make sure you get enough during the day. Contrary to popular modern day culture though, you don’t need to drag a plastic bottle around with you everywhere and take a sip every ten minutes.  You’ll need around 30ml per kilo of bodyweight. For me, at 60 kilos, that equates to a couple of 600ml bottles and two cups of tea a day, preferably catechin-rich green tea, which has metabolism boosting properties.

Certain foods crank our metabolism, and not surprisingly they are the natural, whole variety. Nuts, seeds and seafood are all rich in selenium, vitamin E, copper, zinc and iodine which are all essential for the health of your thyroid gland, which is your metabolism’s primary regulator.

Fresh fruit, especially grapefruit, is a high on the metabolism boosting list, as are fresh vegetables, grains and yoghurt.

See you in the studio.

Hayles

PT’s train hard!  Another Wednesday morning kick ar*e session with Rob and Megan.

So I made this yummy honey soy stir fry and added some quinoa instead of rice. Delicious! Why not try quinoa in your next meal instead of pasta or rice. It’s high in protein – YUM!

Evening TEAM,

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY FOR TOMORROW!!! I hope the important people in your life show you the love and friendship you deserve not just tomorrow but every day within the year.

Don’t forget there’s only two weeks left of the Fabulous February PT deals.  HPPT is offering new clients 20% OFF PT sessions for the month of February only… and believe it or not, Hayley has a few lunch time slots together with two early morning slots up for grabs.  So get in quick to reserve your spot.

Group Session Saturday 18 February 2012

This Saturday’s group session will be held at Mt Cootha, kicking off at 7:30am from the carpark at JC Slaughter Falls.  Whether you walk or run up the mountain this Saturday, we’ll all get to experience the fantastic view from the top, while sipping on coffee with the Team to follow.  This group session is complementary to all current members.  Feel free to contact me for further details at hayley@hayleypobar.com.au.

I hope you enjoy this week’s Health & Fitness Tip. 

Delaying Gratification

Waiting…

For many of us, our inability to say no (to certain things), has been, is, and will be, the thing that stands between us and success. At least until we determine to choose, do and be different. More often than not, putting off pleasure ‘in the now’ is the difference between failure and success over the long term. Especially when it comes to transforming our bodies.

Think drugs, alcohol, food, sitting on the couch.

The Quick-Fix

Working with thousands of people over the last hundred years (or so), it’s been my experience and observation that the need for a quick fix is what brings many of us undone. And I’m not just talking about food or drugs here. Being addicted to pleasure (or comfort) in the now is usually synonymous with pain, disappointment, under-achievement and even illness, over the long term. Our short-term gain becomes our long-term pain. Especially when that short-term gain (salt, fat, sugar, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, sex) creates almost-instant biochemical changes in our physiology.

PIzza Anyone?

Why does the obese guy (who says he wants to lose weight) eat a large pizza when nobody’s watching? Because (1) he doesn’t want people to know (2) it gives him instant pleasure and (3) if he doesn’t eat the pizza (thereby delaying gratification) it won’t give him instant weight-loss (something he desires), so instant pleasure (in this instance, pizza) it will be. Followed by an hour or three of self-loathing. Again.

And so the cycle continues.

There’s always next Monday.

The Marketing and the Reality

Away from the promises, the marketing, the sale’s pitches and the hype of ‘personal development’ (the industry), the practical reality for the majority of us ‘normal folk’ who want to change our lives (or part thereof) is that the change process is typically a messy, uncomfortable, inconvenient and painful one. For a while, at least. Despite what the book (CD, DVD) cover says, inside-out transformation is rarely quick, easy or painless.

More than ever, I’m convinced that most would-be transformers (people who want to change some aspect of their reality) are barking up the wrong tree. In terms of success or failure, the critical issue is not (1) what we know (surprisingly) (2) what we understand or (3) what resources we have at our disposal but rather, (4) what we’re willing to give up in ‘the now’ to get where we want to go in the future.

See you in the studio.

Hayles

Some yummy treats my clients will enjoy this week in the studio!  Banana & Almond Meal Mini Muffins…

Ingredients

2 cups almond meal

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch salt

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup sweetener eg. splenda or caster sugar

3 eggs

1 mashed banana

Method

1. Combine all ingredients, except mashed banana, in a bowl. Stir until combined.

2. Fold through mashed banana.

3. Grease mini muffin cups.

4. Divide mixture evenly across muffin cups.

5. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

ENJOY!

Hey Team,

Hope you all had a fabulous week.  I know the rain can sometimes be disheartening, but I hope these exciting February PT deals will cheer you up and get you back on track in February.

Anyway, I’m excited to announce FABULOUS FEBRUARY’S WICKED PT DEALS!

Personal Training Sessions

For the month of February only, I’m offering 20% OFF all half hour personal training sessions!  YES… HPPT is passionate about keeping you on track with those new years resolutions.

Are you already a member???  If you’re currently training with HPPT, refer a friend and your receive the same wicked deal!  This is a fabulous incentive to give a friend or family member a positive start to 2012.

If you’re interested in getting started, hit reply, with your contact details and I will happily respond to your interest within 24hrs!

Group Fitness

For the month of February only, HPPT is offering 50% OFF group training sessions held fortnightly at Kangaroo Point.  This exclusive offer is only valid to new ‘casual’ group training members!

The next group session will be held at 7:30am this Saturday 4 February 2012 at Kangaroo Point.

COMING SOON – NEW PT MONTHLY GIVEAWAYS!!

Coming soon to Hayley Pobar Personal Training is the “New MONTHLY Giveaways”.  Some fabulous incentives to train hard and die sexy   Find all the details in next week’s fabulous February newsletter!

This week’s health and fitness article – Brisbane City Weight Loss Secrets!!

Q: I overindulged over the weekend and weighed myself on Monday and have gained 3kg since Friday. How did this happen?!

A: Firstly, don’t freak out! It’s quite unlikely you’ve actually gained that much in body fat in such a short space of time.  To gain a kilogram of body fat, we know that you’d need to consume around 30,000kJ / 7,200 cal in excess of your daily requirements.  There are a number of factors which can falsely elevate your weight after a short period of over-eating, such as:

1. Increases in stored glycogen:

When you eat a lot of carbohydrate from either starchy food like bread, pasta, rice, or sugars in sweets or drinks, the resulting blood glucose is stored as glycogen in the liver and muscle.

Each gram of glycogen is stored with around 3g of water – so storing 500g of glycogen packs on another 1.5kg of water.

If you’ve been limiting your starches and sugars, the weekend blow-out could cause a short-term rebound weight gain in glycogen and water.  Knowing this is a normal physiological process, you can return to your usual Plan and your weight will correct itself within a day or two.

2. High salt intake:

If you overindulged on salty snacks (think potato crisps, take away, processed meats etc) this causes water retention which can easily add kilograms of weight.  To combat this, make sure you drink lots of fluid to flush out the salt (it sounds counter-intuitive, but is true), focus on eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, cut down on the salt, caffeine containing drinks (tea, coffee, diet soft drinks) and alcohol, and do some exercise to get things moving.

3. Alcohol:

If your weekend binge also included some serious volumes of alcohol, this can cause you to retain water. As alcohol is dehydrating, your body goes into overdrive to retain water so to not become dehydrated.

4. Genetics:

Depending on your genes, there is a wide variation in an individual’s propensity to store excess energy from over-eating as body fat.  It’s just the way it is – some people are better at dissipating excess energy as heat, whereas in other people, the excess energy is very efficiently stored as fat. Thanks mum!

5. Chronic under-eating:

If you’ve been under-eating (i.e. less energy than your body needs to sustain itself), this can slow the metabolism to such an extent that when you do eventually eat more, your body holds onto the excess energy in fear of the next ‘famine’.

You’re much less likely to experience rebound weight gain after a binge that we so often see with crash-dieters.

www.metabolicjumpstart.com
I hope you enjoyed that article Team.  It’s a great one to read after a fun filled Aussie Day long weekend.

See you in the studio,

Hayley

Welcome back Team,

After three amazing weeks off and some much needed R & R, I returned to the studio this week only to be greeted by my clients with positive attitudes and some wicked 2012 goals ahead of us.

So what does 2012 hold for you?  My clients have some big goals set for the year… some wanting to achieve a half marathon, another a full triathlon, another, a mini adventure race, and I also even had one wanting to achieve a hand stand push up.  How AWESOME!!! I love my job!  The new year resolutions and goals are full steam ahead and I look forward to the coming months of training.

Myself… well, I’m hoping to do another half marathon this year so you will no doubt see me at the start line of the Gold Coast Half Marathon.  I’m also hoping to undertake further study, move house and sell my car (which I’ve just achieved), and also to maintain a five day a week training regime including, two nights of netball, one yoga session, one full body weight session and also 1-2 road runs per week.  You’ll notice from my training that it’s generally done in a group environment or in a class. I’ve realised my strengths and weaknesses with my own training over the years and stick to a program that’s fun and certainly what works.

Do you know what works for you?  Have you written down your 2012 goals?  Did you know…

A 2007 study by Richard Wisemen from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends. (Wikipedia)

Group Session

Don’t forget our Saturday morning group sessions kick off on Saturday 4 February 2012 at Kangaroo Point at 7:30am, and fortnightly thereafter.  We’ll be changing it up a bit this year, moving locations, doing a bit of yoga and the odd Kangaroo Point stair session.  Make sure you keep up to date on locations etc in my monthly newsletters.

Lunch Time PT Sessions

If you’re interested in getting your training regime started and you feel your lunch hour is the perfect, convenient time to workout… Contact me today.  I have a WICKED SUMMER KICK STARTER pack available to new clients including a health and fitness analysis and program to suit your personal needs.  It’s not often I have sessions become available, and, as it stands I only have three…. so get in quick as spaces are limited.

I wanted to share this with you!  It’s one of my favourites from Craig Harper which puts things into prospective.  He calls it Self-Help For Dummies!

1.  Don’t eat what you don’t need.
2.  Stop doing what doesn’t work.
3.  In most instances, the solution is you.
4.  Getting offended is optional. As is getting off your fat arse. See how that works?
5.  Changing fifty things at once is a bad plan.
6.  Knowing isn’t doing. Do more.
7.  Joining a gym isn’t attending a gym.
8.  Being smart is not the same as doing smart.
9.  Intentions aren’t actions. Stop intending.
10.  You won’t undo three decades of bad choices in three weeks. Be realistic.
11.  Be more committed to success than comfort.
12.  Control your controllables and let go of the rest.

See you in the studio.

Hey TEAM,

So I heard this very funny comment this week… “I am too busy to be happy!”?

And how about the… “I will be happy when”?

“I will be happy when I lose weight”

“I will be happy when I get a pay rise”

“I will be happy when I am on holidays”

“I will be happy when I pay off my credit card/mortgage/bills”

“I would be happy if I had a new car/new house/new relationship”

Although most people will tell me they want to be happy, and they can even list the things they think will make them happy, I am starting to think that some people just like being grumpy!!  haha

Tell me this… if you died tomorrow, would you die happy?

As with weight loss and being healthy, there is more information, opportunity, help and reasons to be happy than ever in history BUT as with weight loss and being healthy, being happy is a CHOICE!

It’s simple to change your mindset.  Acknowledging your thought process is a fantastic start.  Acknowledge the negative thought and ‘chose’ to change it to a positive one.  How many thoughts do you have in a day?  A lot right?!  Start by changing just one, notice how you feel after the event!!  Imagine if you could change all your thoughts to positive ones… how awesome would you feel?!

Here’s to happy thoughts, positive words and HUGE smiles!

Remember… “It’s not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years.” Abe Lincoln

Special Mentions

A big congratulations to those from the HPPT Team who competed in the Cool Night Classic Fun Run last Thursday evening.  A special mention to Rosie who completed her very first fun run (5km) without walking.  Well done Rosie.

Another special mention this week goes to Kristy Tunstall who competed and completed her very first mini triathlon over the weekend at Robina (Gatorade Triathlon Series).

You guys make me so proud.

Saturday Group Session

The next group session will be held on Saturday 26 November 2011, 7:30am at Kangaroo Point.  All are welcome to join the team fun!

Due to the busy Christmas period, there will not be any group sessions during the month of December.  Group sessions will kick off again in late January.

Christmas Party

Don’t forget to RSVP to the HPPT Christmas Party being held on Friday 9 December 2011 at Verve Bar from 5:30pm.  It’s going to be a fun, casual evening with friends, celebrating an amazing year of health and fitness.

See you in the studio Team,

Hayles

PS- Coming soon…. Don’t miss next month’s MEGA Christmas Edition Newsletter wrapping up an amazing year of health and fitness