What is Fatty Liver Disease?

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

What causes fatty liver Disease? NAFLD occurs when fat cells build up in the liver, which cause health issues ranging from a low functioning liver to permanent scaring called Fibrosis that slowly take over the liver.

Like most of us, I believed that the only way I could damage my liver was by drinking alcohol. But I was wrong. Today 25% of the adults in America are living everyday with NAFLD. Six million kids, 10% of our countries children are living with NAFLD. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the leading cause of chronic liver disease in both adults and children.

Symptoms can include fatigue, weakness, weight loss, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, spider-like blood vessels, yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice), itching, fluid build up and swelling of the legs (edema) and abdomen (ascites), and mental confusion.

Causes of NAFLD are more likely to be

· High cholesterol

· High levels of triglycerides in the blood

· Metabolic syndrome

· Obesity, particularly when fat is concentrated in the abdomen

· Polycystic ovary syndrome

· Sleep apnea

· Type 2 diabetes

· Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)

· Underactive pituitary gland (hypopituitarism)

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is more likely in these groups:

· Older people

· People with diabetes

· People with body fat concentrated in the abdomen

Mostly we know that NAFLD is lifestyle preventable. Here are a few ideas that is implemented in your daily life can alleviate symptoms and even reverse fatty livers.

· Cut out all high fructose corn syrup from your diet. ...

· Reduce or eliminate starch. ...

· Add some good things to your diet to help heal your fatty liver. ...

· Improve your metabolism through exercise. ...

· Use the right supplements. ...

· Eat detoxifying liver-repairing super foods


For more information on implementing these habits into your life contact a HFA trainer at ghouston@mvhospital.net. We would love to help you find the healthiest you.

Reverse Dieting - No More Low Calorie Diets

Since we began the “Minute to Win It” challenge in January, you have started exercising more, right? I hope you have been working to increase your minutes of exercise each week. But, one thing I want to make sure you are also doing is eating enough to support your higher activity levels.

Simply put, energy in versus energy out is important.

If you take in more energy than you expend, your weight will go up.

If you take in less energy than you expend, your weight will go down.

If you take in just as much energy as you expend, your weight will stay the same.

So, what do you do if you are no longer eating enough to support your activity levels?

Eat more at the end of the day to “catch up” to your energy expenditure? NO.

Let yourself stay at a deficit of 1000 or more calories? NO.

Low calorie diets are something that people believe they have to do, in order to lose weight. This is a misconception. Instead of eating a low number of calories each week to help you lose weight, we want to build up your caloric intake to where it should be, to where you do not have too much of a caloric deficit, based on your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). This is a slow and detailed process; you cannot just start eating larger amounts of food immediately. What we are talking about today is called reverse dieting – where you slowly build up your caloric needs over time. 

Instead of getting to the end of the day and needing 500 more calories after you have already eaten dinner, you slowly increase your daily calories over a long period of time to make sure that your body becomes adapted to the new demands. When you reverse diet, you not only adapt to the demands of a new diet well, but you start to get over the feeling that you need a low calorie diet to lose weight. Because guess what? You can still lose weight and/or reach your goals while reverse dieting.

While reverse dieting, instead of instantly eating the prescribed amount of calories and shocking your body (causing you to feel bloated, miserable, and overfull), you’ll simply add 150 calories to your daily calories for 4 weeks. If you are currently eating 1200 calories per day, you would eat 1350 calories for the next 4 weeks. After the first 4 weeks, add another 150 calories, and so on, until you reach the caloric intake you should be at. Keep in mind, the more you’re undereating, the longer it will take to reverse diet.

To help you in this process, I recommend tracking your daily intake, and more specifically your macronutrients. When doing this, write everything down with pen and paper, or a food tracking app like My Fitness Pal.

If you are currently undereating, adding hundreds of calories to your diet can be hard on your metabolism, body, emotions, and mental state if you do it too quickly. That is why reverse dieting is a better answer.

Do you know how much you should be eating based on your activity level and personal profile? If so, are you eating enough? If not, it is time to reverse diet.

If you don’t know how much you should be eating, or where to start, email me at mharris@mvhospital.net and I can help you get started.

Until next time!

Miranda Harris, NSCA-CSCS, ASCM EP-C

mharris@mvhospital.net

OUT OF THE NORM

Happy February, another month closer to spring!! Last month we had an incredible amount of participation in our “Move it to lose it” 1st quarter challenge! Keep up all the amazing work that you are doing!! But with five weeks under our belt you may feel like you are starting to hit a slump and maybe starting to drag a little. The New Year has come and gone and sometimes our motivation and enthusiasm for a new healthy life style goes with it, especially if you have been doing the same exercises or the same routine all this time. Well have no fear some new exercise are here! It is hard to get to the gym every day we know this, and it has hard at times to have that motivation when the couch and Netflix are calling your name, but here are some new fresh ideas of exercises that may not be as common that could be fun to try. Studies have shown that mixing up your exercise routine helps fight those plateaus that hit every now and then!

Aerial Fitness


At first, when I heard about aerial fitness classes, all I thought about was circus performers… but then I realized this: Have you ever seen an aerial circus performer who appeared to be out of shape?


It builds & requires strength, stamina. It can seriously build your balance, increase your flexibility, and it looks like a ton of fun.


HIIT THE COURT


Have a basketball or volleyball court nearby? Make it your personal gym with this super-effective high-intensity-interval-training (HIIT) plan from Andrea Metcalf, celebrity fitness trainer and host of Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

How it works: Use the outline of a basketball court (or a similarly sized court) to perform the three fat-burning drills below.

Sprints (5): Sprint from one end of the court to the other, running forward and then jogging back backwards. Repeat 5 times total.

Lateral hops (30): Jump over and then back along the full court line, facing forward the whole time. Do 30 hops total (1-2 lengths of the court)

Side shuffles (6): Do side shuffles the full distance of the court and back,. Repeat 6 times total.

The entire workout should take about 15 minutes and will have you sweating buckets!


CROSSFIT ON-THE-ROAD

Take your CrossFit workout outside with any of these CrossFit On-the-Road Workouts that use very little equipment.

Workout 1 (5 Rounds)
5 Pushups
10 Sit ups
15 Squats

Workout 2 (5 Rounds)
10 Burpees
20 Bench jumps
30 Pushups
40 Squats
50 Lunges

Rock Climbing

I love rock climbing. It’s one of the best arm/back/forearm workouts in existence, you get to feel like a cool cat when you reach the top of the wall, and all climbing routes are graded so you can level up the challenge as you get stronger/fitter/better. It’s a fit nerd’s dream!

Dancing

Ever tried serious swing dancing? You’ll be sweating within ten minutes. How about hip hop? Drenched in sweat, and sore as heck the next day. Zumba? Tango? Flamenco? You’d be surprised what you can sign up for and what will elevate your heart rate.

Martial Arts

Be honest. You watched The Matrix, you heard Neo go “I know Kung Fu” and you wanted to be able to one day say the same thing. Whether it’s Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Karate or Capoeira, there’s a martial art out there that will make you feel like a ninja.

Play video games that make you be active

Wii Tennis, Wii Fit, Just Dance on Xbox Kinect, and whatever games actually exist out there; I am not the most knowledgeable with video games. OK, and DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) counts too. I know an hour of that is exhausting!

Don’t be afraid to mix it up and try something new, get out of your comfort zone and out of the norm. You never know you may find a new love!!

Do What You Love

February is almost here and many of us will start to put more focus on Love.  Love will be in the air for many.  Some will swoon while others will want to throw up.  You know who you are and which category you fall in. Funny thing is, we all know who you are as well.

So this year I have a proposal. I just heard some of you grown simply because I wrote the word and I say hear me out.  I think you might like this one. I'll even get down on one knee if it makes you feel better or even talk to your parents if need be.  Ok, got your attention, here we go!

Dear Reader...I propose that this year you fall in love with you! Waiting nervously for your answer. Please don't make me stay down here for too long. Saying yes will be such a joy, I promise!  What?!  Is that a yes I heard?! I am now jumping for joy and doing a Toyota kick in the air!  This is such exciting news!!

Ok, its a little silly I know but Why Not?  Why not fall in love with You?  Really get to know you and what you like. Many of you reading this are taking part in a movement challenge and collecting minutes to possibly win a large sum of money. Many of you are working on Resolutions or possibly wishing you still were.  My question is, are you doing it for the "right" reason?

Are you looking only at the prize or are you looking to really improve your life...for longer than 8 or 12 weeks?  Seriously ask yourself this question.   If your answer is anything other than You...I invite you to take a deeper look.  Are you enjoying the activities that you are doing?  Are they bringing joy into your life or simply adding up minutes so you can report at the end of the week?

As you move forward from today on I again propose that you fall in love with you.  Explore different activities as you gather minutes and assess the enjoyment level you had doing them.  Did you like it at all?  Were you skilled at it or think you could be with more practice?  Did you look forward to doing it again?  Would you invite or encourage others to do it with you?  Find the activities you love or might love and will continue to do when the resolution/challenge is over. After all we hope you live a very long time and why not have these things in your life to assist with keeping you healthy and happy.

For those of you who may only have a gym or treadmill focus, may I make a few suggestions that might make the planning and engagement a little easier.  For those reading this who get to have winter, how about a little cross country skiing, snow shoeing, fat tire biking, winter running, downhill skiing, sledding, ice skating,  hockey, and ice climbing to name a few. Yep, these are all outdoors and will require a little extra prepping but I promise the reward will be well worth it.  Not to mention your complaining about winter may lessen and you'll find yourself a happier person in general.

For those who get to experience warmer winters with little or no snow you can stick with running, walking, hiking (explore new trails), climbing, rapeling, swimming, kayaking, road and mountain biking to name a few.  Again, yes they are outdoors and may require special preparations but can all be done quite easily.

If you are new to any of these activities look to local running clubs and businesses that host outings where you can explore with other newbies and get instruction.  In the Idaho Falls area a few options to look to would be Idaho Falls Trail Runners Club, Bill's Bike & Run, ButtinGear, Idaho Mountain Trading, and Idaho Falls Parks & Rec Dept. to name a few.  Every city will have resources and businesses to assist you in finding the activities you love as you learn to fall in love with you.

Ok, so now we have the proposal taken care of, set a date and make it happen. Preferably sooner that later.  Why wait?  What's more important than you and your health and happiness?  Nothing!  I give you permission to get started...today...and enjoy the new energy that will come into your life as you focus on you.  Just think how much more pleasant all your interactions will be whether at home, work or play when you Love you.

No more turning your nose up as February rolls around.  No more silly complaining about winter.  Take action and take care of you...until death do you part.

Until next time...Go BE Great!

Jennifer Saunders
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Reiki Energy Therapy
Transformational Life Coach
ButtinGear
Everyday Super Hero

Satisfying Success

            WELCOME everyone, to our 1^st quarter challenge, “Move It To Lose It”! We are so excited to announce that we have 16 teams competing for a pretty hefty prize and are so thrilled you have all taken this activity challenge on!

            This week’s tip will hopefully help guide you in making some decisions about your exercise. Here are the top 10 suggestions, from WebMD, for staying successful with your exercise as the year progresses.

           

1.      Be consistent!

a.       This may be the hardest one, hence the reason for it to be at the top of the list! Consistency really is the key to any success but especially exercise success!

2.      Follow an effective exercise routine.

a.       Check out this nice visual from Precision Nutrition...

3.      Set realistic goals.

a.       Strive for progress, not perfection!

b.      Ask yourself, what is one thing I can do today to be better than yesterday?

4.      Use the buddy system.

a.       How exciting! This challenge is already buddy approved! Find yours today and get after it.

5.      Make your plan fit your life.

a.       Too busy to get to the gym? Tennis star Martina Navratilova, health and fitness ambassador for the AARP, knows a thing or two about being busy and staying fit. Make your plan fit your life, she advises in an article on the AARP web site. "You don't need fancy exercise gear and gyms to get fit."If you've got floor space, try simple floor exercises to target areas such as the hips and buttocks, legs and thighs, and chest and arms (like push-ups, squats, and lunges). Aim for 10-12 repetitions of each exercise, adding more reps and intensity as you build strength.

6.      Be happy!

a.       Be sure to pick an activity you enjoy doing! This may take some experimenting but how fun is that?!

7.      Watch the clock.

a.       Your body clock that is. Try to workout at a time that you have the most energy and can stay consistent with (even if that varies day to day because of your schedule).

8.      Call in the pros.

a.       Especially if you're first getting started, Theodosakis suggests having a professional assessment to determine what types of exercise you need most. "For some people, attention to flexibility or to balance and agility, may be more important than resistance training or aerobics," he says. "By getting a professional assessment, you can determine your weakest links and focus on them. This will improve your overall fitness balance."

b.      We here at the Health & Fitness Academy would LOVE to help assist you in your needs and goals! Call to schedule your 1 hour free session with a trainer today*. (*For new clients only)

9.      Get inspired!

a.       Who or what inspires you? Is there a picture, a fitness board, dream board, music? Whatever it is, use it to your advantage!

10.  Be patient!

a.       Patience is right up there with consistency! Reminder that your current fitness status, whatever that may be, did not happen overnight, so be patient with your body as it makes changes. A journal is a great tool to use to document how you are feeling and small progresses along the way, because they are easy to forget when you have come SO far!

Hopefully these tips resonate with you today and can help give you more encouragement as you take on this “Move It To Lose It” challenge. Keep up the great work and let the HFA team know how we can help support you!

Until next time,

Hayley Earley, BS, CSCS, Pn1

hearley@mvhospital.net

Purposeful Movement.....

Purposeful Movement…

As we head off into our next health and fitness adventure with our "Move it to lose it" challenge, I am finding many have questions about what “purposeful movement” means.

Those of us at Health and fitness academy work very hard to create quarterly challenges for those who will participate. The purpose of them is to first, supply the employees of Mountain View Hospital, and other companies that we do corporate wellness for, with motivation to stay healthy. Secondly we want to get good solid information out there. There are so many lose weight fast schemes out there, and companies preying on the desperate, that you can get very confused about how to go about becoming fit through all the mixed messages.

Purposeful Exercise-is any time you have specifically set aside, out of your day, to increase your heart rate, with the purpose of weight loss.

Our focus this quarter is getting everyone to move more and gain the knowledge that through something as simple as exercise you will get results. How dramatic those results are is totally up to you.

A good rule of thumb for exercise is 30 minutes a day for improved cardiovascular fitness, 60 minutes for weight loss, and 90 minutes a day to maintain after you’ve lost the weight. This means that you start right where you are. You can run, walk, lift, bike, hike, swim, snowshoe or Zumba your way to a smaller tighter body. The only catch is you need to do it every day. You can do it without monthly fees, “miracle” pills, or crazy “diet” plans. If you decide to utilize these tools great! You can do it on your own with no support group, or you can get some friends together, like your department team, and lift each other up.

Those of us in the fitness industry see the miracle of heath every day. The medical ailments reversed into health. Strength, that comes from clients far exceeding their expectations.  Self-esteem regained. Depression beaten, and turned into passion for living. Helping a client develop into someone who has the ability to self-love again is the most amazing part of my job.

I can’t wait to hear about all the JOY you are going find through this challenge. Please call me 208-557-2823, email me; ghouston@mvhospital.net, or text me 208.681.3954 with your winning moments. Post them to the MV health and Fitness FB page, https://www.facebook.com/MV-Health-and-Fitness-Academy-350605601718547/ so everyone can be inspired. 8 weeks is going to go by very quickly, so get out there and find your fittest self!!

Enjoy the Journey

How many of you sat contemplating what you would like to accomplish this year for your “New Year’s resolution?  Most americans vow to themselves to become more healthy and fit to eat better, etc.  As you start devising your plan on how to do this your mind starts going thru the different stages of change - the beginning stages where you are so excited to start because it’s like a fresh start or a clean slate; you make preparations with buying food, getting a trainer etc.  Later in your journey to becoming “healthy and fit” you start to grind it out just get thru it week after week after week...and just when you start thinking to yourself WTH am I doing this for (usually because your fat loss starts to stagnate or the choices for your meals become blah and boring).  You get a nice compliment from family and  friends or the scale showing loss of pounds or the before pics to see the visible changes from where you first began this journey.  This is when you tell yourself “this is why I started my journey,” and a refreshed new vigor awakens within you to get back on track with your journey.  

Remind yourself why you started this journey in the first place.   Sometimes workouts will get in the way of busy schedules and they are put off or the foods chosen will become to hard to prepare because lack of time.  There will be setbacks and discouraging days to where you just want to take breaks - IT’S OK, take them. It’s a phase and it sucks but you’ll get thru it if you want the end result bad enough.  

Your decision to start or stop is always in your hands it doesn’t need to be work day in and day out but a process that you find enjoyment in.  If you find you are the type that needs the encouragement and motivation - you can always reach out to the team at HFA we would love to help you with your fitness and nutrition and to keep you on track with all of your goals.