Hi friends!
Here is your weekly Tri-Tip Tuesday, sharing our current thoughts on food, fitness, & travel. Please forward this to others if you think they may be inspired.
Food: yo-yo dieting
Yo-yo dieting describes the pattern of starting a new diet, losing weight, stopping the diet, and regaining the lost weight. You may feel like every time you put the weight back on, it comes with additional weight you didn't carry in the first place. Yo-yo dieting is exhausting and taxing on both your mental health and your physical health.
Gaining and losing that "same 10 pounds" over and over again is damaging to your body composition. When you lose weight, your body uses both fat and muscle to burn for fuel. Even when you are prioritizing protein and strength training to achieve fat loss rather than weight loss, you are still going to lose some muscle in the process.
Then, when you are "done" with your diet and exercise regime and you go back to your "normal" way of living, the weight comes back on, only this time it's predominantly fat. Then you repeat again and again. Losing precious muscle, and replacing it with fat. Losing more precious muscle, and adding on more fat.
This leads to a list of side effects including (but not limited to) decreased metabolic health, increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, depression, decreased self-esteem, increased risk of visceral fat, and more.
So where do you go from here? Stop dieting!! Stop the all-or-nothing mindset.
Dieting is usually a mindset driven by restriction and deprivation. Instead, focus on adding in nutrient-dense food, and eating to fuel your health. Think of food as your way to prevent chronic disease. Whole foods such as quality proteins, veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats can actually reverse and prevent some diseases. Prioritize strength training and exercise as your longevity tool, not as a weight loss tool. End the all-or-nothing mindset, and make sustainable changes, one healthy habit at a time.
Fitness: menopause and weight gain
Menopause, in general, is a huge topic that falls into several categories besides fitness, but it had to be dropped somewhere in this email, so here we go...
One of our Tri-Tip readers, Cristy, emailed me with a special request asking, "Could you talk about how menopause affects our muscles and insulin sensitivity? Why is it so easy to gain weight at this age (58 now)?"
It's a broad question and hard to answer in this short newsletter segment. But it is an area of high area for me, as the majority of my clients are affected by menopause. In addition to my list of completed certifications, I am currently studying for both Women's Coaching Specialist Certification, as well as Certified Menopause Coaching Specialist, and look forward to helping women with specific topics through all phases of life.
Weight gain is a symptom of menopause experienced by at least 60-70% of women. On average, women gain 1.5 pounds per year between the ages of 50-60. The symptoms don't stop there. Starting with perimenopause, you may experience symptoms including but not limited to mental health changes, brain fog, cognitive abilities, joint pain (frozen shoulder), high cholesterol, ringing in ears, vertigo, palpitations, gut changes, genital urinary, skin changes, and more...every organ is affected. It goes well beyond cliche symptoms of hot flushes, night sweats, poor sleep, and irregular periods. There has been little medical help as most doctors are not taught or trained to talk about these issues.
Menopause itself is directly related to the loss of our sex hormones. Estrogen levels begin fluctuating downward during perimenopause, continue to drop throughout menopause, and then level out postmenopause. As estrogen levels fall, your body can become less responsive to insulin, known as insulin resistance.
Some menopause experts say the drop in estrogen is the cause of weight gain, while other menopause experts say it is primarily due to aging and our tendency to move less as we get older, paired with sarcopenia and non-optimal diets — not due to menopause itself (although menopause can be the cause of the shift of distribution moving new fat to your belly).
No matter what expert opinion you agree with, the recommendations for how to manage these symptoms generally include the same suggestions. These suggestions mirror the same approaches I take when coaching clients. While we can't go into detail on the points, here are the CliffsNotes:
- Adjust your nutrition to best support your body's changing needs.
1) Get enough protein, about 1 gram of quality protein per pound of ideal body weight daily.
2) Eat plenty of fiber through vegetables and fruits.
3) Assess your beverage intake by drinking enough water and limiting caloric beverages and alcohol.
4) Eat slowly and focus on how you eat, as well as fullness cues.
- Stay active and strong with two exercise strategies.
1) Strength training is critical to retain (or even gain!) muscle mass to stay strong and keep your metabolism humming along. Ideally, you start training in your 30s to prepare yourself for entering perimenopause, but it's never too late to start. If you're in your 50's, 60's, or 70's and not strength training, start now!
2) Get enough daily movement. This can be as simple as tracking steps and targeting 7,500+ steps per day.
- Tweak your lifestyle to improve your sleep, reduce your stress, and support your mental health and well-being. Use strategies to help you sleep better, take deep breaths each day, and find hobbies and activities that give you purpose and bring joy.
- Cultivate a mindset ready to tackle the ups and downs of this unique time of life. Don't compare yourself to other women, be aware of your own negative self-talk related to menopause, and be mindful of your mindset around your life and body related to menopause.
Recently, the language and narrative around Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) have shifted significantly. For the first time since 2017, the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) has updated its position statement on hormone therapy, stating the consensus that for healthy people born female, younger than 60, and within 10 years of menopause onset, the benefits of hormone therapy outweigh the risks. The full report is an extensive 28 pages.
If you’re interested in HRT, talk to your doctor. You can use this link to find a menopause specialist in your area. When setting an appointment, verify that the doctor will talk to you about both the risks and benefits of HRT. While there are potential health benefits, it’s important to note that long-term use of certain types of HRT with certain patient conditions has been linked with health issues. Your doctor will need to advise on whether it’s a good choice for you, and if so, provide instructions for safe usage.
Travel: dogs at the border
Our friends Howard and Katelyn (the Newstate Nomads) made a recent post sharing big changes coming August 1st for international travel with your dogs. This will specifically affect many RVers traveling to Mexico, Canada, or Alaska this summer.
The requirements to bring a dog into the United States will depend on:
- when your dog will arrive in the United States
- where your dog has been in the 6 months before arriving in the United States
- where your dog received its rabies vaccination
To enter the United States, your dog will be required to meet specific criteria, regarding additional documentation, forms for entry, and microchipping. Use the DogBot to determine what rules apply to your dog based on the dates of travel and where your dog is traveling from.
You can learn more on the Newstate Nomads blog with details and additional links on this topic.
Make it a great week!
Christine Irene
NASM-CPT, Senior Fitness Specialist, Precision Nutrition Pn1 + Pn2 Certified, & Avid Traveler
There is some risk involved in action, there always is. But there is far more risk in failure to act. - HARRY S. TRUMAN
$89 10-Week Group Challenge (9/2/24-11/10/24)
$99 New Client Special for Private Coaching with Chris
Learn more about private coaching on this blog.
Learn more about the group challenges on this blog.
Shop our favorite kitchen equipment using this link
Shop our favorite fitness essentials using this link
Shop loop bands using this link
Save on pasture-raised meat using this link
If you want more free content, check out Healthy RV Living.
If you're curious about coaching, check out Irene Iron Fitness.
If you have a suggestion for a future tip topic, reply to this email.
