Best time to workout?

Yup, coffee can give your workout a jolt. But if your workouts have been lagging lately, then might be an even better way to perk up:
Tap into your natural energy peaks.

Circadian rhythms

I use my circadian rhythm (hatred of mornings) as a guide (excuse) for everything I do. Still, circadian rhythms are legitimate predictors of perkiness.
Your circadian rhythm is that roughly-24-hour biochemical cycle which ebbs and flows—typically ebbing at night and flowing during the day—and regulates your physical state and behavior. No one’s circadian rhythm is exactly the same. Morning people have shorter cycles; night people have longer cycles. Most people are somewhere in between (afternoon-ish people?).

That means everyone’s optimum time of day is different.

How does your circadian rhythm alter your workout routine? It has to do with body temperature.

How body temp affects exercise

Circadian rhythms regulate body temperature. Most people have lower body temps at night and higher body temps during the day.
In a nutshell, lower body temps make you sleepy while higher temps make you more active. At a higher body temperature, you’re more energetic, alert and coordinated. That means you’re more likely to have better physical performance and more productive workouts (ACE Fitness).

Interestingly, it’s not common for anyone’s body temp to peak in the morning—a morning person’s body temp is highest in the afternoon, and a night person’s peaks in the evening. Physically, then, morning might not be the ideal time for anyone to exercise.
Science aside…

Although your body temp might not be soaring in the a.m., I’m going to wager that morning is the best time to exercise regardless of your circadian rhythm. Morning, or first thing in the day—whether your day starts at 7 a.m. or 4 p.m.

For one, working out first thing is a good way to make sure your workout happens. Getting up early to exercise is a drag, but you know what’s even more of a drag? Going to work, walking the dog, doing laundry, watching Celebrity Apprentice AND THEN working out.

People who exercise in the morning are more successful at making it a habit, according to ACE Fitness. There you have it.

Another reason to workout early: The world’s pace moves faster during the earlier part of the day, and you can ride the energy wave. I’m recalling my evening workouts in college, cruising on the elliptical in an empty gym and gazing out the window at the dark sky, and I’m shaking my head. Nothing ever happened.

Also, masses of people exercise in my neighborhood in the morning, and they look happy.

If you’re like me and the concept of getting up early for pleasure is alien, I urge you to try it this week, just once. Forget about all the excuses not to exercise in the morning.
Pack your jersey pockets with water and power bars and let your eyeballs soak in some sun. You’ll be cruising in no time.

Www.TanyaEvans.com

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Email questions to Tanya@TanyaEvans.com

Achieving Health & Fitness Success!

Why Some People Quit And Some People Never Give Up Throughout my 18 years in the fitness industry as a trainer, nutrition consultant and motivational coach, I have noticed that some people who start a nutrition and exercise program give up very easily after hitting the first obstacle they encounter. If they feel the slightest bit of discouragement or frustration, they will abandon even their biggest goals and dreams. On the other hand, I noticed that some people simply NEVER give up. They have ferocious persistence and they never let go of their goals. These people are like the bulldog that refuses to release its teeth-hold on a bone. The harder you try to pull the bone out of his mouth, the harder the dog chomps down with a vice-like grip. What's the difference between these two types of people? Psychologists say there is an answer. An extremely important guideline for achieving fitness success is the concept that, "There is no failure; only feedback. You don't "fail", you only get results." This is a foundational principle from the field of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and the first time I ever heard it was from peak performance expert Anthony Robbins back in the late 1980's. It's a principle that stuck with me ever since, because it's a very, very powerful shift in mindset. A lot of people will second-guess themselves and they'll bail out and quit, just because what they try at first doesn't work. They consider it a permanent failure, but all they need is a little attitude change, a mindset change, or what we call a "reframe." Instead of saying, "This is failure" they can say to themselves, "I produced a result" and "This is only temporary." This change in perspective is going to change the way that they feel and how they mentally process and explain the experience. It turns into a learning opportunity and valuable feedback for a course correction instead of a failure, and that drives continued action and forward movement. It's all about your results and your interpretation of those results Dr Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, did some incredible research on this subject and wrote about it in his book, Learned Optimism. Dr. Seligman noticed that the difference between people who give up and people who persist and never quit is what he referred to as "explanatory style." He said that explanatory style is the way we explain or interpret bad events or failures. People who habitually give up have an explanatory style of permanence. For example, they hit a plateau in their progress and explain it by saying, "diets never work" or "I have bad genetics so I'll always be fat." These explanations imply permanence. Other people hit the same plateaus and encounter the same challenges, but explain them differently. They say things such as, "I ate too many cheat meals this week," or "I haven't found the right diet for my body type yet." These explanations of the results imply being temporary. People who see negative results as permanent failure are the ones who give up easily and often generalize their "failure" into other areas of their lives and even into their own sense of self. It's one thing to say, "I ate poorly this past week because I was traveling," (a belief about temporary behavior and environment), and to say, "I am a fat person because of my genetics" (a belief about identity with a sense of permanence). Remember, body fat is a temporary condition, not a person! People who see challenges and obstacles as temporary and as valuable learning experiences are the ones who never quit. If you learn from your experiences, not repeating what didn't work in the past, and if you choose to never quit, your success is inevitable. Www.tanyaevans.com

17 reasons Why You're not losing weight

Effective, healthy weight loss isn’t only due to the simplistic calories in, calories out paradigm. Nor is it solely reliant on diet and exercise. It’s everything – it’s all the various signals our body receives from the environment that affect how our genes express themselves and thrive. How we approach the subject matters, too. Our mood, our methods, our temperament. Our conscious decisions and our willpower. It’s setting good habits and expunging bad ones. Most of all, it comes down to keeping our genes happy by providing an environment that approximates evolutionary precedent. 1. You think you’re eating healthy, but aren’t. Does your diet consist of a massive amount of “products”? Low-carb or not, you want to eat real food. Flagons of diet soda, plates of pure fiber in the shape of noodles, and loaves of 1g net carb “bread” do not a Primal eating plan make. You’re just feeding an addiction and consuming empty calories – sound familiar? Disregard the labels and look inside for what you know to be true: this crap isn’t food, and you shouldn’t be eating it. It’s about way more than just low-carb. 2. You’re under too much stress. The stress response system is subconscious; it responds to stimuli and nothing else. Emotional stress, physical stress, financial stress, relationship stress – I hesitate to even make these distinctions, because the body does not differentiate between sources of stress. They all cause the body to produce cortisol, the fight-or-flight hormone that catabolizes muscle, worsens insulin resistance, and promotes the storage of fat. For 200,000 years, stress meant a life or death situation. It was intense and infrequent, and the cortisol release was arresting and extreme enough to improve the chances of survival. Today, our body responds to a stack of paperwork the same way. Traffic jams are like rival war bands. A nagging boss is like a rampaging mastodon, only on a daily basis. Take a step back from your life and take stock of your stress levels – they may be holding you back. 3. You need to watch your carb intake. Carbs are key, as always, especially when you’ve got weight to lose. Veer closer to the bottom of the curve, taking care to avoid all processed food (hidden sugars). You might also try skipping fruit. 4. You’re adding muscle. I always tell people not to get hung up on the scales so much. Those things are useful – don’t get me wrong – but they never tell the whole story, like whether or not you’re adding lean mass. The PB will spur fat loss, but it also promotes muscle gain and better bone density. If you’re feeling good but failing to see any improvements register on the scale’s measurements, it’s most likely extra muscle and stronger bone from resistance training. You wouldn’t know that just from the bathroom scale. If you absolutely need objective records of your progress, get a body fat percentage test (although these might not even tell the whole story) or try measuring your waist. 5. You’re not active enough. Are you Moving Frequently at a Slow Pace for three to five hours every week? Remember: the near-daily low-level (between 55-75% max heart rate) movement should be the bedrock of your fitness regimen. It’s easy to do (because every bit of movement counts) and it doesn’t dip into your glycogen reserves (making it a pure fat burner, not a sugar burner). If you’re on the low end of the spectrum, crank it up toward five weekly hours and beyond. 6. You’re lapsing into Chronic Cardio. Of course, you can go too far with the low-level movement – you can begin to lapse into Chronic Cardio. When you stay above 75% of your maximum heart rate for extended periods of time, you’re burning glycogen. Your body in turn craves even more sugar to replenish the lost stores, so you polish off a heap of carbs, preferably simple and fast-acting. You can continue down this route if you wish – I did, for a couple decades – but you’ll gain weight, lose muscle, release more cortisol, and compromise any progress you might have made. 7. You still haven’t tried IF. Results vary, but if you’ve seemingly tried everything else, intermittent fasting can be a great tool to break through a weight loss plateau. Make sure you’ve fully transitioned onto a Primal eating plan and start small. Skip breakfast and eat a late lunch. If that feels okay, skip breakfast and lunch the next time. Just take it slow and pay attention to your hunger. Eventually, try exercising in a fasted state to maximize the metabolic advantage. If all goes well, your hunger won’t necessarily disappear, but it’ll change. A successful IF tames hunger, makes it less insistent and demanding. 8. You’re eating too much. Low-carb isn’t magic. It reins in wild hunger and tames insulin, but calories do still matter – especially once you approach your ideal weight. In fact, those last few pounds often don’t respond to the same stuff that worked so well to get you to this point. Eating nut butter by the spoonful and hunks of cheese without regard for caloric content may have gotten you this far, but you’ve got to tighten things up if things aren’t working. And that’s the real test, isn’t it? There is a metabolic advantage to eating according to the PB, but if the weight isn’t coming off, something’s up – and calories may need to come down. 9. You haven’t overcome bad habits or developed good ones. Be brutally honest with yourself. Do you engage in bad habits? If so, identify them. Make tentative, loose plans to disengage from their clutches, and tell people close to you. Make it public, so you can’t back out without losing face. You’ve also got to develop good ones. Follow roughly similar guidelines as when kicking a bad habit – identification, planning, publication – and you’ll be on your way. 10. You haven’t purged and Primalized your pantry. Out of sight, out of mind; out of reach, out of mouth. Keep the crappy junk food out of your pantry, if not out of your house altogether. Go down the list and toss the stuff that doesn’t apply. As for the rest of your kitchen, check out the fridge interiors and grocery lists of some other Primal folks for inspiration. 11. You’ve reached a healthy homeostasis. It may be that your body has reached its “ideal” weight – its effective, genetic set point. Reaching this level is generally painless and effortless, but it won’t necessarily correspond to your desired level of leanness. Women, especially, tend to achieve healthy homeostasis at higher body fat levels. Breaking through plateaus can be hard enough, but plateaus ordained by the body itself can be nearly impossible. It’s probably going to take some serious tinkering with carbs, calories, activity levels, sleep, and stress. If everything else is on point and accounted for, you may be looking at healthy homeostasis. Then, the question becomes: do you want to mess with a good thing? 12. You’re low on willpower. Willpower is like a muscle. It must be used or it will atrophy. You’ve also got to provide fuel for your will – little victories to start out. Go for a walk if you can’t muster the will for the gym. Take note that willpower, or lack thereof, might actually be an indicator of your body’s needs. If you truly can’t muster up the will for the gym, it may be that your body needs to recover. When that’s the case, overtraining is a bigger danger than lack of will. 13. You’re full of excuses. If you find yourself having mini self-contained internal arguments throughout the day (and you lose), or (even worse) lying to yourself about what you’re eating and doing, you’re probably also full of excuses. Read this, maybe twice, then follow up with this. 14. You haven’t actually gone Primal! We get a good number of new readers on a regular basis, and not all of them take instantly to the Primal concepts. And yet they come back. They read the archives, the comments. Something draws them near, while at the same time keeping them at arm’s length. Why is that? What’s stopping them? If that describes you, what are you waiting for? Take the plunge. Go Primal for 30 days and see how you like it. I assure you; the many enthusiastic community members are here because it works. 15. You’re not getting enough sleep. Chronic levels of sleep deprivation cause the release of cortisol, our old fat-storing friend. The biggest spike in (fat-burning, anabolic) growth hormone plasma levels occurs in deep sleep. And a recent sleep study showed that truncated sleep patterns are linked to weight gain. Get seven to eight hours of sleep a night. 16. You haven’t given it enough time. The Primal Blueprint is a fat loss hack, undoubtedly, but it isn’t always a shortcut. Some people get instant results from dropping carbs, grains, sugar, and vegetable oils, while others have to take a month to get acclimated and only then does the weight begin to slide off. Either way, though, this is a lifestyle. You’re in it for the long run. Approach it with the right mindset and you won’t get discouraged. 17. You’re eating too much dairy. Some people just react poorly to dairy. We see this time and time again listed in the forums; dairy just seems to cause major stalls in fat loss for a good number of folks. There are a couple speculative reasons for this. One, folks coming from a strict paleo background may not be acclimated to the more relaxed Primal stance on dairy. Reintroducing any food into the diet after a period of restriction can have unintended consequences on body composition. Two, dairy is insulinogenic, which is why it’s a popular post-workout refueling tool for athletes. Does a non-strength training PBer need to drink a few glasses of milk every day? Probably (definitely) not. Bonus Reason: Sprinting is not part of your fitness routine. I’ve found that many assume that they’re getting everything they need from their workouts from plenty of low level aerobic activity and a couple of strength training sessions each week. Sprinting is often overlooked, but it’s one of the Primal Blueprint Laws for a reason. Nothing shreds you up faster than sprinting. I’d ease into sprints if you’ve never done them or are extremely out of shape or overweight. That is, I recommend you have some measure of fitness aptitude before you jump into a routine. But once you’re ready do 6-8 all out sprints (with short breaks between) once a week to break a weight loss plateau when all other attempts have failed. Consult with Tanya via Skype, email, Facetime or phone. Www.tanyaevans.com

Overdoing it on the cardio= FAT GAIN!

You know the commonly understood formula for weight loss. It is the premise that virtually every mainstream fitness routine accepts. However, it is an urban myth. What is it? Eat less + increase activity=weight loss. This is not true. It appears to be true just like the world appears to be flat, but you know it isn't true; the world is round. Follow this urban myth of weight loss and you will end up stranded somewhere, frustrated that you didn't reach your weight loss goal. Even worse, you may will circle the world of mainstream empty weight loss promises and come back to where you started, more overweight than when you started. Let put this urban myth to rest once and for all. I repeat, Eat Less + Increase Activity DOES NOT EQUAL Weight Loss. Why? Here is the answer: Print this out, underline it, and paste it on your bathroom mirror? Your body is not a calorie checkbook! Treat it like one and three things happen: Phantom weight loss: some fat burning yes, but more muscle wasting and dehydration. Weight loss plateau after 2-3 weeks due to your body developing a tolerance to what you are doing. You gain all the weight back plus more once you quit due to a depressed metabolism. This is the typical outcome of any diet and cardio scenario. This is the truth of burning body-fat, and staying lean, looking good, and feeling good all the days of your life: Your body has a fat burning engine that we can compare to a campfire. To turn the engine on you will need the proper mix of wood (nutrition) and air (exercise) to keep the flames (metabolism) burning fat. The hormones or your body ignites the flames of your fat burning engine. As most women are keenly aware, hormone levels fluctuate over time so the ideal timing and ratio of wood and air to keep the fire burning does vary over the day, the week, or the month. To avoid weight loss plateaus, we need to account for this. Weight loss plateaus are the body's hormonal (and enzymatic) tolerance to what you are doing. So what happens when we chose to cardio ourselves to death for 1 hour or more a day while cutting our food intake in half? Well let's compare it to the campfire scenario. What happens to the flames of the campfire when you take half the wood out and point a strong gust of wind at the campfire? That's right you got it. Without fuel to sustain the fire, and a strong wind blowing on the flames, the fire will burn out. Bye, fat burn, hello slow metabolism. Excessive cardio, like a hurricane wind, blows out the fat burning flame because it because the body's hormones to "bottom out" and metabolism goes south. This response is even more severe if you "go on a diet" and the same time. Some exercise (air) is necessary to burn fat, and weight training with accessory cardio accomplishes this. Most people fail because they focus on burning calories. Who cares about burning calories? We want to burn fat'not calories. This preoccupation with the calorie checkbook idea and endless cardio + hardly eating to "bring down the balance" continues to be accepted despite the fact it fails miserably to deliver. Even hormone conscious experts, like the people who have developed the zone and south beach diets don't recognize the application of their hormonal science to exercise, and its interrelationship to nutrition and the body hormonal clock. However, doctors are disease specialists and clinical nutritionists are food chemistry specialists. They focus on the science of the chemistry of the human body, not the art of applying strategies derived from science to a person's lifestyle to get fat burning results. Hey, most of them don't even follow their own advice. Not a criticism, just a acknowledging that they face the same challenges we all do. Personal Trainers are health and fitness experts, in the trenches applying proven strategies for results. We look to science, but it has to hold up under application, it has got to deliver. This is where the cutting edge lies. So this is the cutting edge on burning off body fat. Get rid of the notion of the calorie checkbook because that is bleeding edge of yesterday that leads to nowhere. Consult with Tanya via Skype, phone or facetime. Send questions to tanya@tanyaevans.com Www.tanyaevans.com

1 Simple Diet Hack to Combat Holiday Weight Gain

Tis’ the Season…But for What?
It is that time of year again. Going shopping, holiday parties, family gatherings, loads of festive foods…and unfortunately for many also a time of unwanted holiday weight gain.
Most people just shrug it off to the “holidays” and assume that it will be OK once they make their New Years Resolution to lose it. How many really do though? What is the cost of adding up a few pounds here and there year after year?
The good news is that you can still enjoy the holidays and even lose weight. Believe it or not it is possible to lose lbs and still have a social life in the process. No need to hide in the corner and eat celery sticks.
So here is the simplest (and effective) way for you to get through the holiday parties and gatherings without any additional weight gain.

Strategy of Eating Less
Shhhhh….here’s the top secret strategy on how you can help offset a higher calorie day. Ready? You can help offset a high calorie day with lower ones around it. Shocked? Well you shouldn’t be.
Too many people nowadays are so worried about calorie loads meal to meal and every day, when in fact the body works differently. The body is smart, and works over a longer period of time (it had to in order to survive tougher times long ago). Cycling lower calorie days around higher ones is a simple way to balance out the long term equation.
How does it work? If you know that you are going to be at a party or function and chances are high that you will eat more than normal, then you want to take it easy on the day before and after. It is really that simple! Let me break it down below.
Normal Eating
Here’s a simple example. Assume you normally eat about 1500 calories a day and maintain your weight (not gain, or lose). If your goal is to just maintain weight during the holidays you want to try and average around 1500 over the long term.
So if you take a normal schedule (including holiday party):
Day 1: Regular Schedule – eat 1500 calories
Day 2: Work and Holiday Party – eat/drink 2200 calories
Day 3: Regular Schedule – eat 1500 calories
The above would mean a daily average over 3 days of about 1703 calories (over your normal daily levels). What will that equal over time? More weight that is gained.
Enter the “Eat Less Calories” Hack
Now, using a low calorie cycling trick you can counteract the higher day with some lower ones around it.
Day 1: Regular Schedule – eat 1200 calories
Day 2: Work and Holiday Party – eat/drink 2200 calories
Day 3: Regular Schedule – eat 1200 calories
Now look, you average 1533 calories a day now (about your normal level). Note these are just rough numbers and not meant to be exact, but you get the idea. You should be able to maintain your weight, assuming you are not going really overboard too often.
Enjoy the Holidays, Look Good Too
So if you know a party is coming up, eat a little less the day before (focus more on low calorie foods like leaner proteins, fruits and vegetables) and the day after so you do not have a calorie surplus over the long run! Eat less meals to get there, such as 2 meals. This is the simple strategy that you can also apply to your year-round lifestyle. Using intermittent days to eat less and still enjoy foods you like while losing weight.
So go out and enjoy your holiday season. There is no reason you should not be able to, especially once you know how to effectively use this simple diet (lifestyle) hack above.

Visit my private studio for a complimentary fitness and lifestyle assessment.

Happy Hollidays!


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Are you losing FAT, WATER or MUSCLE???

Are you losing FAT or MUSCLE??? 
"I tried that diet and lost 8 pounds in the first week!"
"I've gained three pounds in one day! It must have been the cookie I ate
or maybe the mashed potatoes!"

These are comments I hear so often that I decided it would be a good topic for an article to help people have a better understanding of the fluctuating numbers on their scale. It is important to understand, when we step on a scale, it is measuring every part of our physical being at that moment in time, which means it measures our fat, muscles, organs,
tissue and water weight.

Water weight can affect your total weight anywhere from 1-10 pounds and sometimes even more. It is important to understand what kinds of dietary factors can make these fluid shifts happen. To start, many of the high protein, low carbohydrate diets such as Atkins, or the beginning of South Beach can cause a dramatic shift in your water weight. This is because as you significantly cut back carbohydrate intake your body starts breaking down the stored carbohydrates (glycogen) to use as energy, and this breakdown causes the body to excrete large amounts of water. Once the body begins to use stored fat for energy, weight loss slows. This is why most people lose a significant amount of
weight right away on a low carb, high protein diet. Extreme low carb, high protein diets can often lead the body to a state of dehydration because of the significant fluid loss.

What is misleading is when a person following a low carb plan eats a carbohydrate-rich food they can easily gain 1-3 pounds. However, this weight gain is just your body replenishing the fluid it lost and is not gained fat. I have had numerous clients struggle with this and they end up yo-yoing back in forth with fluid weight thinking that it must be the half cup of rice they had the night before that caused them to gain that 2 pounds when in fact eating the rice just allowed them to regain some of the fluid they had lost from following a strict low carb plan. The fact is carbohydrates do not affect your weight quite that simply. Excess refined carbohydrates can strongly stimulate insulin production, which promotes fat deposition and increases appetite. This kind of weight gain will happen gradually, not dramatically overnight.

Sodium is another dietary component that can lead to fluid gain. Sodium can cause the body to retain fluid, which can lead to these frustrating daily weight fluctuations. Some people are more sensitive to sodium than others. Watch your diet and see if your weight gain corresponds with a high sodium meal the day before. For example, eating out in restaurants can often increase your sodium intake significantly.

The best way to tell if you are retaining fluid is to pay attention to your body. If you get indentations on your ankles and lower legs from your socks then you are retaining fluid. If you wear rings and they become tight and leave an imprint in your fingers when you take them off then you also likely retaining fluid. Any kind of puffiness in your skin is a good indication of water weight.

The bottom line is that it takes 3500 calories to gain or lose 1 pound of body fat. This equates to an extra 500 calories a day over 7 days to gain a pound. This means if you gained 3 pounds in one day you can chalk it up to fluid weight otherwise you would have had to consume10,500 extra calories that day which is not likely! True weight gain happens gradually and likewise we lose it gradually. Check your weight weekly instead of daily and look for overall trends. If you are seeing dramatic daily changes in your weight, it is likely the ever-changing shifts of our bodies' water weight. www.tanyaevans.com 




Private Fitness and Lifestyle Consultant

Tanya Evans-Norris: Control Blood Sugar to Extend Lifespan and Assist ...

Tanya Evans-Norris: Control Blood Sugar to Extend Lifespan and Assist ...: "(NaturalNews) Extreme blood sugar swings and insulin resistance are not only detrimental to your health, but they are also rapidly becoming ..."