With the onslaught of spring sunshine and the continued effort of my trainer, I am finding myself bitten by the Spokane Exercise Bug…

Are you wondering what that is?  I was wondering myself, until it bit me.

For some strange reason I actually find myself wanting to exercise…on purpose!  So much so that I’ve resorted to interval training on the way to the park with my six-year old and I purposely take the long way.

Spokane Exercise: Am I Crazy?

I must be crazy!  I’ve gone from couch potato to exercise enthusiast in less than two months?  Is that even possible?  The good thing is that I’ll get great benefits from this newfound enthusiasm.

• Feeling better
• Looking better
• Boosting metabolism
• Losing weight
• Setting an example for the family
• Having fun
• Increased energy

Love Your New Energy In Spokane

One of the things I am really enjoying is doing things with my daughter that I used to not do because I just couldn’t muster the energy.  Now I am finding myself keeping up with her and taking her on run/walks to the park.  Any excuse to go outside!

When I was younger I was always outside, I couldn’t seem to get enough of it.  Now I am really starting to love it again. It brings so much joy and gratitude, not only for my trainer but for me as well, for valuing myself enough to make “me” a priority again.

A Long Road In Spokane

It’s been a long and arduous road to finally get to this point, and there are certainly times when I question what I’m doing. (Usually in the middle of a training session with Zach, ha ha!)

Granted, I am certainly not perfect, nor close to my goals, but I am making significant progress in my attitudes and that in itself is half the battle.  Believe me, if I can do this, me a 40 year old mother of five with a former love affair with the couch….anybody can do this! Even you!

I can guarantee though that you are going to need help getting started and there is no one better to help you with that than my trainer, Zach at Physzique in Spokane.  He will help you find your way to getting bitten by your own Spokane Exercise Bug, and support your efforts while you’re doing it.

I love his encouragement and push to do better even when I think I can’t and somehow I always seem to manage.  He just draws that out of you.  The cool thing about him is that he has been there.  He’s done the couch potato thing; he knows what it takes to change and is willing to help you do it.  He wants you to succeed as much (or more, some days) than you do.

Don’t be afraid to take that first step because before you know it, you’ll find it leading to leaps and bounds.

 Have you been working out and dieting but still not losing weight as fast as you think you should? Maybe you are not getting a good night’s sleep. If you are not getting enough sleep you could be sabotaging your efforts to lose weight and get in shape.

The other morning at my 6am work out session with my personal trainer, Zach, I was complaining about how tired I was and how hard it was to get up so early to work out. He asked a simple question, “How much sleep are you getting?”

That got me thinking about the connection between sleep and weight loss. The first obvious link is that when I am not getting enough sleep I am too tired to get up and go work out; which, in turn, derails my weight loss efforts.

What about the less obvious connection between getting a good night’s sleep and losing weight in Spokane WA? I decided to dig deeper.

How important is it to get a good night’s sleep? I found out, it is very important.

Researching the Link Between Sleep and Weight Loss In Spokane WA

As it turns out there is a significant link to the amount of sleep a person gets and their weight. Several studies done at the University of Chicago in Illinois, Stanford University in California and other universities across the US show that people who get less sleep gain more weight and have higher percentages of body fat.

Why? What could sleep possibly have to do with what I weigh? Well it comes down to hormones; leptin, ghrelin and cortisol.

• Ghrelin hormones are your appetite indicators; they tell you when you are hungry. Lack of sleep causes an increase in ghrelin levels. If you don’t get enough sleep you have more of these hunger hormones telling you that you are hungry.

• Leptin hormones tell you when you are full. Lack of sleep causes leptin levels to drop. If you do not have enough leptin your body doesn’t recognize that you are full and you over eat.

• Lack of sleep can increase the production of the stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol is best known for increasing belly fat. So it turns all that extra food into belly fat!

Voila you gain weight or if you are trying to lose weight In Spokane WA your efforts are thwarted. What a cycle.

Who knew that sleep is that important?

How Much Sleep Should You Get In Spokane?

According to a 16 year study presented in 2006 at the American Thoracic Society International Conference women who slept 7 hours or more per night weigh less than women who slept 5 hours or less.

• Women who slept 6 hours per night were 6% more likely to be obese and 12% more likely to gain at least 33lbs or more.

• Women who slept 5 hours per night were 15% more likely to be obese and 32% more likely to gain at least 33lbs or more.

That seems pretty significant to me. There are also a whole slew of other effects that lack of sleep has on the body and its health. So for optimum health experts say we should get at least 7 or more hours of sleep a night.

Getting enough sleep is even more important if you are working out or stressing the body. When you work out it tears down the muscles so they can rebuild themselves bigger and stronger. Sleep is the time that the body does that. If you don’t give the body enough time to properly heal itself you eventually wear out.

So I guess mom was right, the key to a healthy life is to eat right, exercise and get a good night’s sleep.

Getting more sleep is a relatively simple task but sometimes all of us need help with the other two, eating right and exercising. Zach Hunt, personal trainer and owner of Phyzique Personal Fitness, can help you with those other two keys, diet and exercise, so you can achieve optimum fitness.