More Sleep Equals Less Weight -- An Opportunity Lost?

Stuart F. Quan, M.D. for HuffingtonPost.com

There is an epidemic of obesity in this country affecting all ages, both genders and all ethnic groups. Thus, the report "Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation" from the prestigious Institute of Medicine, adds to the decibel of beating drums calling for national action. However, close examination of the document raises a significant concern. Importantly, the report promotes the roles of increased physical activity and better nutrition as cornerstones of a strategy to combat obesity, but what about sleep?

A search of the document finds the word "sleep" written only four times, and all of these are in reference to sleep apnea. Did the authors of this report ignore the accumulating data implicating sleep deficiency as an important contributing factor to development of obesity? Moreover, did the Institute of Medicine ignore their own previous report, "Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem," in which they cite evidence linking sleep loss to obesity? Unfortunately, the answer appears to be "yes."

What are the lines of evidence linking insufficient sleep to obesity? First, there is general agreement that time spent sleeping has declined over the past 30 years. This roughly approximates the rise in obesity. Second, a number of general population studies demonstrate that obesity is more common among those who sleep fewer than six hours per night. Furthermore, short sleep durations also are predictive of future weight gain. Third, basic research shows that short sleep durations increase levels of a hormone that stimulates appetite and simultaneously reduces the levels of a hormone that reduces appetite. Fourth, night shift workers generally sleep less than day shift workers but on average weigh more. Finally, on a personal level, have you felt hungry after staying up all night? I have, and my guess is that many of you have as well. Perhaps this is the best evidence of all linking inadequate sleep to obesity.  Keep reading at huffingtonpost.com.  

A New Taste for Collard Greens

By Tara Parker-Pope from nytimes.com

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

When most people hear of collard greens, they think of the soul-food version prepared by generations of Southern cooks — stewed greens flavored with ham hock or bacon.

But as Martha Rose Shulman discovers in this week’s Recipes for Health, the large, sturdy leaves of collard greens hold up so well to heat that they can be used in a variety of creative dishes that are much lighter but still have plenty of soul. Collard greens can be braised and added to pasta, substituted for long flat noodles in a lasagna dish or rolled and stuffed with rice and vegetables.

Collards don’t have the cachet of popular greens like black kale and rainbow chard. This is probably because collards have a stronger flavor and tougher leaf than many other greens. They do stand up to longer cooking, but they don’t require it. This week I used them in a stir-fry — they stood in for more traditional greens like Chinese broccoli or bok choy — cooking them for only a few minutes until they wilted, and I enjoyed the crunchy texture. But I also loved the stuffed collard greens that I filled with a Greek-inspired rice stuffing and simmered for an hour.

Here are five new ways to enjoy collard greens.

Click here to go to nytimes.com and see the new ways to enjoy! 

Weekend Challenge

3 rounds for time:
Run 1/2 mile
25 air squats

Sugar Might Affect The Brain, UCLA Rat Study Reveals 

Read the whole story or just get the end result below quoted from the original article from huffingtonpost.com 

The two researchers devised an experiment in which they trained a group of rats on a complicated maze twice a day for five days. After that, they split the rats into two groups. They gave both groups of rats a high-fructose corn syrup solution in place of water, but one of the groups was additionally given flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (known more commonly as DHA) -- two high-quality sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to protect against neural damage.

After six weeks of the sugary diet, the researchers reintroduced the maze. They found that the sugar-only group had a much harder time recalling the maze and were slower in their problem solving. The sugar-and-omega-3 group fared better. Gomez-Pinilla theorizes that the high-sugar diet is bad for the brain for the same reason it's harmful to the body: too much fructose disrupts production of the hormone insulin, which is used by the body to regulate blood sugar. Steady blood sugar levels are essential to provide energy for things like walking and running -- but also for recalling and problem-solving.

"Because insulin can penetrate the blood–brain barrier, the hormone may signal neurons to trigger reactions that disrupt learning and cause memory loss," Gomez-Pinilla said in a press release.

15 Healthiest Grilled Main Dishes

Sum, sum, summmatiiiime.  It's almost here and with the warm weather out comes the grill.  Check out this awesome compilation of grilling recipes from foodnetwork.com:

If you’ve been grilling the same recipes each season, it’s time to shake things up. We’re giving you plenty of deliciously healthy main dish recipes to choose from—meat, chicken, fish and vegetarian—all for less than 400 calories per serving.

Meats
Beef, pork and lamb can all be healthy choices for the grill. Be sure to choose lean cuts of meat, keep portions around 3-4 ounces per serving and limit the amount of fatty ingredients like butter and oil.

• Grilled Pork With Arugula and Grape Salad
• Argentinean Skewers With Sherry Vinegar Steak Sauce and Grilled Scallions
• Grilled Lamb Chops With Mint
• Garlic-Mustard Grilled Beef Skewers

Click HERE for the rest.  

Weekend Challenge

21-15-9 reps of 
Squats
Push ups

The New Rules of Running: Go Farther, Faster, Longer

FORGET EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER HEARD. IT'S ALL ABOUT TECHNIQUE.

BY MIKE DAWSON from details.com

photo from details.com

Given that we were built to run, it's curious how complicated we've made the business of going for a jog. Let's keep it simple: Running properly has nothing to do with what you put (or don't put) on your feet or what surface you run on and everything to do with maintaining perfect form.

Where and how your feet hit the ground is crucial. Most of us land on our heels, which creates a shock of up to three times our body weight, increasing the likelihood of repetitive-stress injuries. Daniel E. Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard, discovered that runners who landed on the front part of their feet, barefoot or not, suffered less than half the injuries heel strikers did. "It's about how your body moves, not what's on your feet," he says. "Good swimming requires you to learn good form—people don't throw you in the pool and expect you to swim properly. But for some reason we have this idea that everyone has their own natural running form."

Christopher McDougall's 2009 best seller, Born to Run, inspired a barefoot-running craze with its depictions of the Tarahumara Indians, who can run 150 miles without rest. "I went most of my adult life without ever hearing anything about technique," says McDougall, who transformed his own running capabilities by studying the Tarahumara. "Once you focus on mechanics, you're not in pain, you can go farther, faster. It's about posture, breathing, connection between mind, muscle, and ground contact. It's freeing."

Keep reading at details.com . . .

Oven Roasted Artichokes

photo from paleorepublic.com 

I'm an artichoke lover.  Not only because they're delish and you get to eat them with your fingers but they always remind me of a joke my grandfather used to tell:

Sam decides he's had it with his wife and calls a hit man named Artie. Artie is an old friend of the man and he agrees to take out the man's wife for just one dollar.
So Artie waits at Sam's house for his wife.  When she arrives he chokes her.  What he didn't realize is the gardner witnessed the whole thing so OF COURSE he had to take him out too.  So the next day on the front page of News Paper the headline said' Artie- chokes two for a dollar at Sam's'


Get the how to and recipe from PaleoRepublic.com

Weekend Challenge

10 Walking Lunges- 10 PushUps- (10 Rounds)

When you were brand new to camp . . .

Recently, I asked some of our instructors at our Candler Park & Decatur location about the memory/feeling that stands out the most from when they were campers.  Can you relate to their answers?  


Other than how hard it was, i remember how proud i was when i met my goals or finally accomplished something i thought i couldn't do. Becca S.


I remember being so sore and taking lots of aspirin.  Also I remember feeling duped when I found out it was 5:45am instead of 6am.  I don't think I would've signed up for 5:45am (good job Tim for not telling me that part!)  The best part was the upper body strength that I had.  Kristine S.


living off of advil and epsom salt baths & runnning my first mile without stopping at my first final PT test. Bridget S.


I remember sitting with Wesley and the thunder and lighting behind me in Candler park listening to the other new campers talk about the marathons they had just run and wanting to raise my hand and let Wesley know that I was in the wrong group!  I thought I would never survive.  Thank goodness Becca arrived the next day, burped and run my first mile with me!  Shannon E.


The feeling that I needed to barf a lot and being sore all the time Erich N.


I didn't speak to anyone for the entire first month.  My goal was to make it up the candler park hill (on our run back to ML) without stopping.  Altitude Adjustment made me cry (JoJo was a guest instructor--figures) and the look on Lee's face when I started to cry..LOL!  Then showing up to graduation party and everyone telling me how great I looked---how good it felt that they could tell a difference in me.  Lydia S. 


My legs felt like rubber after running up the Candler Park hill ONCE during a "Bring a Friend" day. now i look forward to hills. blammo.  Darrell S.


I always thought  that I pushed myself in my workouts, but realizing that my body could do more than I thought.  Brenda L.


In my first month, it was nervously anticipating the next daily workout.  Each morning, I would think to myself ,"I wonder what in the heck they are going to make us do today, and will I be able to get through it?"  Stephen U. 

Mediterranean Chicken Salad

The temps across the continent are heating up; warm weather is always a good time for chicken salad.  Try this twist on the classic with some additions from stiritup.com 

photo from stiritup.com

1 lb grilled chicken
1/4 cup fresh calamata olives
cherry tomatoes cut in half 
purple onion
1/4 cup regular crumbled feta
handful or two of spinach. 


get the ingredients for this delicious salad's dressing on stiritup.com  

Weekend Challenge

5 rounds: Burpee to the push up position, Do 10 push ups Burpee out

How to Recover From a Hamstring Strain

The hamstring plays a pivotal role in walking, jumping, running, cycling or swimming. The hamstrings are the powerhouse of your legs. Hamstrings allow you to bend your knees, straighten your leg and control movement from the hip. A hamstring injury can cause a big disruption in your fitness or training regimen, leaving you on the couch for weeks if not treated right. More: How to Prevent Injuries in Endurance Training What is a Hamstring Strain? A hamstring strain is an excessive stretch or tear to the muscle fibers. What Are the Symptoms? Get them and more on active.com