Week 4 Nutrition Challenge: Get at least 7 hours of sleep!

                      This Challenge will go From Monday-Friday with Saturday and Sunday off!  You will be able to earn 10 points each day for completing this challenge.  

                                                                        Note: You will be able to continue to earn an additional 5 points per day if you continue to avoid fried foods.  :) 

So, you might bethinking what sleep has to do with a "nutrition" challenge?  Let me explain. 

Elephants only need 3-4 hours of sleep at night, while mice sleep 14 hours.  Humans are somewhere in the middle, but research shows if you are averaging 6 hours of sleep or less, you will have a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, and may be more likely to eat more...and gain more weight.  

Why would people who sleep less weigh more?  It kind of seems counter intuitive.   You would think those who sleep less would burn more calories since they are awake longer; however, it seems to be more linked with what happens to your body when you deprive it of sleep as opposed to the physical activity you get.  

What happens involves two hormones:  Leptin, which is released by fat cells, signals the brain to stop eating. Ghrelin, (prounounced GRELL-in), which is made in the stomach, is a signal to keep eating. These two hormones influence whether you go for a second helping or push yourself away from the table.  

When you are sleep-deprived, your body has lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin.  To make matters worse, when you don't get enough sleep, you typically crave and are more likely to reach for sugary or starchy items to give you quick energy and keep you awake, things like: chips, candy, bread, ice cream, and cereal.  Compounding the problem, the brain interprets a drop in leptin as a sign of starvation.  So it responds by not only boosting hunger, but also by burning fewer calories. This means you will put on more weight even if you don't eat more food! 

Have I made my case?  Ideally I would like you to get 8 hours of sleep each night, but to award yourself an extra ten points each day, you need to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night this week.  I would imagine with all the exercise and physical activity you are getting in on this challenge, sleeping should be easy because your bodies are exhausted. 

The tracker will ask "Did you get 7 hours of sleep last night?" Which means, Sunday night's sleep officially counts.  Thursday night's sleep will be the last sleep you track on Friday. 

Q:  But what if my kids (or anything) wake me up in the middle of the night? 

A:    Make sure you are going to bed at a decent hour and if you are awakened before you want to be, do your best to get back to sleep as soon as possible.   It's more about the time you go to bed and the time you wake up.

Q:  But what if all this blasted water I am drinking 
makes me wake up multiple times at night?

A:  Do your best to try to get your water in earlier in the day so you aren't downing your last 32 ounces an hour before bed.  If you are waking up, try to just do your business and get back to bed as soon as possible.  Again, the challenge will be based on the time you go to bed and the time you wake up.  Hopefully you will be able to sleep through the middle, but if not,then at least you made the effort to do your part. 

Week 1: Daily Tasks!

• Eating every 3 to 4 hours.  This allows you to eat smaller portions and keeps hunger away.  It also allows your blood sugar to remain stable which prevents fat storage.  If you keep your meals and snacks 3 to 4 hours apart the entire day, then you may click this box on the tracker and get a point for the day.  If you find you are not hungry 4 hours later, that likely means you ate too much at the previous meal.  If you are hungry before 3 hours, feel free to eat.  Honor your hunger, but also listen to your body and stop when you are satisfied...not when you are "full."  If you are too busy and don't have time to stop work or other activity to eat, put something easy to grab and eat in your pocket, i.e. nuts, trail mix, protein bar (Brands we like: Kind, Lara, Quest, Perfect, Good2Go, Rx, Square) 

• Eat AT LEAST 5 fruits and veggies each day.  This doesn't mean 5 fruits AND 5 veggies, although that would be awesome.  It's the combined total of the two, then you earn another point.  So, what counts as a serving?  So happy you asked.  
• 1 small piece of fruit the size of a baseball or tennis ball
• 1/2 banana unless it is very small, then it can count as 1 serving
• 1 cup of melon or berries
• 1/2 cup of most other fruit
• 1/4 cup of dried fruit
• 3/4 cup fruit juice (although it's always better to eat your calories than drink them)
• 1 cup raw leafy veggies
• 1/2 cup other raw or cooked veggies
• 6 oz. V8 (preferably low sodium)

• Drink your water.  You need to drink half your body weight in ounces unless you weigh more than 160 lbs, then you need to drink at least 80 ounces, but you are welcome to drink more.  For example:  If you weigh 120 lbs, you divide that by 2 = 60 ounces of water.  Make it convenient.  Carry a water bottle with you, keep one in the car, on your desk, near your work station, etc.  If it's readily available, you will drink.  If you drink half your weight or at least 80 ounces of water each day, that's another point.

• Stop eating 3 hours before bed.  It's not that your liver decides that everything turns to fat at 9 pm, rather, this is the time when your guard comes down and bad choices can easily be rationalized.  Most people are not cooking up a plate of steamed broccoli at 10:30pm...it's usually higher calorie, higher sugar, higher fat items that are the worst thing you could eat right before you go to bed.  It's better for you to go to bed feeling like you could eat something, but instead, burn fat while you sleep, wake up ready for a good breakfast. If you stop eating 3 hours before bed, then you get another point for that day. **If you are already at a lean body fat percent and simply trying to gain muscle and not lose any fat,  then you are exempt from this task.  If you do eat, try to give your body just enough to fuel your muscles for the night, but not too much that it will want to store it as fat.

• No treats. A sweet is a treat which includes brownies, cakes, cookies, candy, donuts, ice cream, regular soda, slurpees, or anything sweet that you would consider a treat.  Even a "healthy" version of a treat, is still a treat. For example, if I make brownies with applesauce instead of oil...still a treat. 

• Contact  each of your team members each day.  You can do this by talking to them at work, shooting a text or an email.  Keep everyone accountable and use your team if you need help, motivation, or to be talked out of eating that candy bar.  :)  Each day you do this, you get another point.

• Exercise.  There are 6 exercise days up for grabs...rest on Sunday. You will down to the nearest time completion.  You want to total the minutes you spent actually exercising...not driving to gym, changing clothes, chatting with friends, etc...actual work!  It can be anything where you are moving your body, from walking, to lifting weights, hiking, running, yoga, biking, etc.  You can go to the gym or do it at home.  Please note: The time spent towards the weekly TEAM Fitness challenges, DO NOT count towards this total amount. 
• 60 minutes of exercise = 4 points
• 45 minutes of exercise = 3 points
• 30 minutes of exercise = 2 points
• 15 minutes of exercise = 1 point

So, in summary, you have the opportunity to earn 10 points daily from these daily tasks. 

 

So, you've been getting points for going without soda for quite some time and now you're ready to take it up a notch.  This week, we are taking out alcohol and any artificial sweeteners/sugars added into drinks.  So, this means:

 

NO Alcohol

NO Sweetened Coffee Drinks

NO Sweetened Teas

No Crystal Light

 

So, what can you drink?  So glad you asked.

 

Water (of course)

Black coffee

Unsweetened Teas

Milk

Unsweetened Nut Milks

100% juice (but go easy on this if fat loss is your goal)

La Croix Sparkling Water

Bai Drinks/Bubbles

 

 

Stevia is a natural form of a sweetener that doesn't contain calories.  It is also much better for you than other artificial sweeteners.  I recommend this brand for it's taste and lack of aftertaste:

 

You can get them on Amazon or locally they are at Sprouts, Whole Foods, Good Earth, Complete Nutrition. 

 

If you crave soda, give this a whirl:

1 tall glass

fill with ice

a squirt of coconut stevia

a squeeze of lime

add sparkling water

mix.

 

It's bubbly, it's just sweet enough, and it's delicious! 

 



 



 

 

 

Dennis Park from Corporate was willing to get together with 9 crazy friends to complete a 100-mile relay race and recover in an ice-cold lake! 

 

Dennis was also willing to wear some pretty awesome cheetah stretch pants "to make me run faster and keep me warm.  We found them on the clearance rack at Walmart for $3 when getting last-minute supplies the night before the race."  He is also offering them up to anyone who may want them since he will never wear them again.  :)  I don't know Dennis...you look pretty good in them!

 



Jason Frampton from Corporate sent this picture in saying "You might think it's lame, but it's really just subtle, so you have to think."  I personally love all the titles to all his alarms! 

 

 

Arial Peterson from Honda in Orem sent in a few awesome pictures.  What is she willing to do to win the NutriFit Challenge?  Lock away all her treats until April.

She's willing to run a marathon during her Netflix marathon!

 

And she's willing to replace her soda with water in her Swig mug and drink some green smoothies to get in all her fruits and veggies (which I can tell she is really enjoying.)  Way to go Arial!

 

 

 

 

 Ninja Tunas from Honda Orem

"When all your friends are getting their Girl Scout cookie fix and you are on the NutriFit challenge!"

Waist Removal from Corporate

"We are willing to hold John Garff hostage to win NutriFit!  Send us points or else!"

Sukha Team from Mercedes

"We are willing to give up our Sugar Rush"

Burnt Toast from Volkswagon (1/3)

Planking 

Burnt Toast (2/3)

More planking

Burnt Toast (3/3)

Productive Planking

Young Tarts & Old Fart from Buick GMC Riverdale

Fast But Not Furious from St. George Ford

All the teams from Riverdale representing 

(Doloreans seem lighter than I expected)

\

Dennis Park from Corporate

"Avoid the temptation of Rick Clayton 'nutri-fishing' with a cookie and a fishing pole over the cubical wall!"

So, let's take a walk down memory lane for just a minute...

Who remembers the low-fat craze of the 90s?  How about the low-carb craze of the 2000s?  If you lived through those times or followed those times, then you may remember the love of humongous bagels (fat-free) or Snackwell's cookies (fat-free...but full of sugar) or double bacon cheeseburgers, no bun (carb-free) or candy made with sugar alcohols so it had "no net carbs," but may or may not have left you running for the toilet if you had a few too many. 

Anyone?  Anyone?

If we can learn anything from our history it's that fads come and go and extreme eating will never last.  Even with what is popular now...the "uber healthy" extreme eating.  Yes, you may lose weight, but is it maintainable?  Can you always live without bread? It can be tempting to jump on the next diet or fad when you see someone who has lost weight by doing something extreme (HCG anyone?), but the reality is, it's not always the most healthy for your body. 

Diets don't work, they never have and they never will. 

They put your mindset in a "lightswitch" mentality...you're either "on" or your "off."  There is no in between.  If you messed up and ate a cookie, then you might as well have 5 more because you'll just start again on Monday, or at the beginning of the next month, or at the new year.  Sound familiar?    

This can lead to a lifestyle of yo-yo dieting that isn't good for your body or your mental health. 

So, how do we combat this mentality?  Stay away from labels...not food labels...but labeling food or food groups, i.e. "Carbs are bad."  Are they? All of them?  If that label sticks in your head and you know you shouldn't be eating them because they are "bad," then what do you always want to eat?  Carbs. What are you always thinking about?  Carbs.  Human nature is that we want the things most we can't have.  The same line of thinking works for any rigid rule you give yourself. 

Through participating in this challenge, I want you to form healthy habits...habits you can sustain for a lifetime.  Sure, you may need accountability (don't we all?), but I want you to finish this challenge drinking more water, eating more produce, eating more frequently, and not eating late at night, because you feel better when you do and you can sustain the changes your body has made by doing so.

Back to the challenge...

Whole grains are good for you.*  Processed crap is not.  A bowl of oatmeal for breakfast will not make you fat.  Eating a trough of pasta from the Olive Garden at 9pm might.  When it comes to carbs (starch/grains), portion and timing matter.  They are not all bad.  This is why I cannot join the Paleo/Whole30 "Uber Healthy" bandwagon that is so popular today. 

The Paleo/Whole30 diet in a nutshell is no grains, no sugar, and no dairy with a focus on fruit, veggies, lean protein, and healthy fats from whole foods.  There are parts of Paleo that I love, and you can probably guess what those are.  The "no dairy" is neither here nor there and not a dealbreaker for me, although I do love me some Greek yogurt, but it's the "no grains" that is the kicker. 

No oats, no whole wheat, no brown rice, no quinoa, no beans.  That's a "no-can-do" for me and a "don't-think-you-should-do" either.  Getting rid of all the processed garbage, the white-refined flours, added sugars and sweeteners, and anything made with them...I'm all for that plan...which...funny enough...is this week's plan.  :)

The plan above is the plan you should be following on a regular basis....'cause Harvard says so.  It's very similar to "Choose My Plate." As for how much of those good whole grain carbs?...just a quarter of your plate.  Maybe 1/2 -1 cup per meal for ladies and 1-1.5 cups for some of you big guys.  Aim for about a fist-sized serving. 

 The reality is, most of your meal should come from fruits, veggies, and lean protein a la Paleo. But don't count out the amazing, disease-fighting, constipation-preventing, energy-boosting, cholesterol-lowering, cancer-preventing power of good whole grains.

So, what does a whole grain mean?  It means that the first ingredient is "whole wheat" or "whole oat" or "whole grain."  If there is "wheat flour" or "enriched wheat flour" somewhere on that list...that's not going to work for this week.  The reality is white flour IS wheat flour, right?  Flour comes from wheat.  "Enriched wheat flour" is the wheat kernel that they strip to smitherines and take out all nutrition; therefore, they need to "enrich" it by adding some vitamins back in.  Definitely doesn't replace the nutrition from the whole bran kernel. 

So, what's allowed?

Oatmeal (unflavored, preferably slow-cook or steel-cut)

Beans

100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain breads

100% whole wheat or whole grain cereals

Brown rice
Bulger
Buckwheat
Amaranth

Whole wheat or whole grain crackers (Ak-mak or Triscuits are some faves)

Popcorn (preferably without a bunch of added garbage)

Whole wheat tortillas or corn tortillas

100% whole wheat pasta

Quinoa

Farro

Here's a good guide for when you are looking at the ingredient list:

If all your grains/starches this week are whole, then you can earn 5 points/day. 

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to miki@axum.co and I will be happy to answer. 

*There are those (about 5-10%) of the population that suffer from gluten insensitivies and/or celiac disease where anything made with gluten (wheat) is, in fact, not healthy for them.  It causes the microvilli in their intestinal track to become flat which prevents any nutrition from being absorbed, not to mention horrible digestive side effects. For anyone who suffers from this condition, it is best to avoid gluten...which leaves rice, beans, quinoa, corn, and really expensive oatmeal. 

Well, here it is, almost the last day of February which is officially Heart Month. I'm not too worried since March is National Nutrition Month.  We'll have our bases covered.  But first, our hearts.  As you read above, you can earn extra points if you choose to exercise longer than the current maximum of 60 minutes.  This week as we focus on heart health, you are earning points for not eating any fried food.   This means fries, chicken fingers/nuggets, crispy chicken or fish sandwiches, tempura, chips (potato or tortilla, baked are AOK), tostadas, corndogs, and almost anything on the appetizer menu at major restaurants.

Now, for those who want to learn a little bit more, here are 4 steps to a healthier heart:

1.  Make your own food.  

Simple, right?  If you make your own food you control what you put into your own body.  Processed, pre-packaged and restaurant foods usually have extra salt, preservatives, sugar, and unhealthy fat.  You don't have to become a chef to do it either.  And although you aren't getting points for it this week, it may or may not be an upcoming challenge...just in case you want to start practicing.  ;)

2.  Eat more plants.

No need to dive into the specifics of grams and amounts.  If you have been eating at least 5 fruits and veggies daily, congrats!  Here are a couple good guidelines to follow.

Make half your plate plants or 

Fill 2 palms with veggies 

Fruit should be about a fist-size serving. 

And color.  Get a variety.  Eat a rainbow.  Your body will thank you. 

3.  Eat more of the good fats.  

I love fat, but not all fat is created equal.   Someone posted on our facebook group page this week all the amazing goodness avocados provide.  I made the comment that I fight the battle to eat my body weight in guacamole daily.  Kidding, sort of.  If you are trying to lose weight, choose the right fats and watch the portion.  If you are trying to gain weight, eat more of these good fats, not more bacon cheeseburgers.  The good fats will keep your heart healthy, the bad fats will harm your heart, raise your cholesterol, and increase your risk factors for heart disease. 

Aim for a "thumb-sized" serving with most meals.  

So, what are "good fats?"  Choose oils over hard fats like butter, margarine and shortening most of the time and limit your animal fat intake (except fish).  This will help keep your saturated fat and trans fat intake low as these should be limited.  I use mostly extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil (or whole avocados). Walnut and flax oil are great choices as well.  

Fatty cold-water fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, and sardines are rich in essential omega-3 fats (DHA) which are anti-inflammatory and help protect against heart disease as well as other inflammatory conditions.  I recommend eating 2-3 servings of fatty fish a week.  

There is another type of omega-3 fat called ALA that comes from vegetable sources like hemp and flax oil, walnuts, and algae.  While I highly recommend consuming these sources, be aware that the conversion doesn't make the DHA that comes from the fatty fish.  So, if you never eat fatty fish, I do recommend taking an omega-3 supplement. 

4.  Eat more heart healthy foods.  Here's my list of the Top 20 Foods for Heart Health: 

1. Oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring)
2. Citrus fruits
3. Extra Virgin Olive oil
4. Walnuts
5. Oats
6. Blueberries
7. Tomatoes
8. Sweet Potatoes or yams
9. Beans & lentils
10. Hemp seeds
11. Cantaloupe
12. Chia seeds
13. Avocado
14. Dark chocolate
15. Pears
16. Kale
17. Garlic
18. Almonds
19. Quinoa
20. Ground flax seeds

So, as a reminder, this week you will earn 5 points per day for avoiding all fried foods.  If your cholesterol, blood pressure, or triglycerides are elevated really make a focus to  work on all areas of your heart health.