Heating Things UP!

We all know that a good metabolism that burns calories efficiently is critical in maintaining a healthy weight. But can the outside room temperature actually affect one’s internal calorie burning potential, and therefore help us gain advantage over the battle of the bulge?

Lower thermostat equals higher burn

A paper published just last Wednesday in the scientific journal, Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, suggests that keeping your home’s standing temperature a few degrees lower could not only save you money in the winter, but may also help you lose weight.

Researchers found something called brown adipose tissue (or brown fat) in human adults in 2009. Brown fat is different than the white version associated with obesity, and before this, it had been believed that the functional brown type was found only in infants.

The key point here is that brown fat is thought to play a role in our metabolisms heating up to warm our bodies (not to the point of shivering) from the cooler surroundings. As the body works harder in the cooler air to warm itself, more calories are burned leading to potential weight loss over time.

Save Money and Lose Weight

The suggestion is then to lower our temperature setting by a few degrees based on living conditions and familial needs, which in turn will both save on our energy bills in winter and increases our internal metabolic energy and calorie burning mechanisms. Talk about a win-win situation!

To further the possibilities, try lowering the thermostat at work also. And how about keeping a cap on your fitness room’s temperature for a double bonus on your time spent exercising? Finally, as silly as it may seem, if you drink your beverages really chilled, your body burns more calories from the liquid warming conversion!

Help for Obesity

For individuals more severely overweight, the same studies found that those subjects carried an abundance of white adipose, as opposed to the brown fat discussed earlier. But, as a person loses weight, the conversion from white to brown seems to be a positive side effect.

As a formerly obese person gains a higher proportion of brown fat (as opposed to the white fat that isn’t cooperative), our concept of enhanced calorie burn through the metabolic boost from an externally cooler temperature will in fact begin to effectively work for them also!

Look Better, Feel Better, Live Better

We all know the balance between our genetics, food choices, lifestyle decisions, exercise regimen, skin care routine and emotional life ultimately fashions our overall health, appearance and longevity. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to have an ace or two in the hole. Every little bit helps in our healthy weight management plan, especially as we age.

When all else fails, and cellulite appears despite our best efforts, Leslie has your back...and your buttocks! UpBeautyOnline.com offers the best application solution, Firm Me Up anti-cellulite treatment crème to smooth it all out. Come on now, we have to pay for this blog somehow J.

     “By choosing healthy over skinny you are choosing self-love over self-judgment. You are beautiful!”

                                                                                        Steve Maraboli, author

PS: Let us know what you’re thinking! Good, bad or indifferent, hit us with it. This is your blog and we’re excited to make it more interactive as time goes on. Let’s heat this thing UP!

Superfoods

If you drive a sports car, or even a mid to high end vehicle, chances are you aren’t pumping anything but premium gasoline into it. Superfoods, in simplest terms, are the source of premium nutrition and fuel for your body.

Superfoods = Super Health

To get the full impact of the Superfood effect, we first must understand the relational terms free radicals vs. anti-oxidants. So as to not go all high-science on you, let’s stick with a very simple but effective analogy.

Free radicals come from such common sources as air, stress, water, foods and even exercise. In other words, you’d need to live in a bubble to avoid them. Think of free radicals as bank robbers attacking our bodies and stealing our health.

Anti-oxidants, on the other hand, are derived from and concentrated in plant sources (lesser in animal sources), natural vitamins and supplements, and act as the police force, protecting our bodies at the cellular level. If we can take on more police officers than bank robbers on a daily cumulative basis, we’re good to go.

In real terms, anti-oxidants neutralize and heal the negative effects of the free radicals. Again, if we can run an anti-oxidant surplus over time, our chances of health greatly increase.

The Royalty of Foods

Of course our Superfoods, in addition to being loaded up with anti-oxidants, also contain a plethora of amino acids, enzymes, phytonutrients, minerals and fiber. All contribute to the energy and vitality of our bodies, as well as helping heal damage and inflammation from any past dietary indiscretions. These foods also tend to give us explosive nutrition with a relatively low calorie load.

Dave’s Top 10 (alphabetical)

Apples - anti-oxidant benefits, regulates blood sugar and helps with asthma

Avocado - excellent source of healthy fat & protein, boosts nutrient absorption

Bee Products - honey and pollen for complete nutrition, anti-bacterial, healing

Cacao - max anti-oxidant load, cardio and bone health, mood & energy booster

Celery - fibrous and anti-inflammatory, protects and repairs digestive tract

Chia Seeds - packed with protein, fiber, minerals & omega-3’s; easy to add in

Cucumbers - packed with phytonutrients and electrolytes, energy & pH balance

Goji Berries - nutritional fix for longevity & strength, reduces sugar cravings

Maca - increases energy, strength, endurance and libido; amino acid source

Seaweed – anti-inflammatory, detoxifier, increases circulation & cellular renewal

Look Better, Feel Better, Live Better

We are what we eat...how many times have you heard this? Regardless of your take on supplements (I’m BIG on them), your food intake should be your starting point, your primary source of fuel for your body. Remember, the word supplement, in and of itself means “in addition to”.

With their powerful nutritive values, low caloric loads and healing potential, including as many Superfoods into your diet as possible will not only power you into the future, but may even help mop up a few previous spills!

             “It’s impossible to exercise away a poor diet”

                                                         (as seen on a t-shirt)

PS: Shoot us your comments or viewpoints on Superfoods/supplements and the role they play in your healthy lifestyle...

Crossfit - Right For You?

Do you want to take on some intense, wind and soul-sucking WOD’s (workouts of the day) that are meant to exceed the fittest of athletic standards? We have one word for you – CROSSFIT.

It’s Like Cross Training on Steroids

CrossFit’s basic premise is to use an odd blend of aerobics, Olympic-style weight lifting and gymnastic moves to give the body an overall balanced fitness fix. The results, if you have the wherewithal to endure the journey, are spectacular. That is, injuries aside, with more on that later.

In order to accomplish this overall bodily proficiency, participants strive to achieve competence in the 10 key fitness domains of flexibility, speed, strength, respiratory endurance, cardiovascular strength, accuracy, stamina, power, balance, coordination, and agility. But make no mistake, this is extreme, no frills, Military boot-camp style training at its best.

Emergency Room Visits be Damned

As with all good things, there is a dark side to the CrossFit fitness regimen. Many participants come to find it an addiction that makes them want to do increasingly more and more at every session. In doing so, the chance of pushing excess endurance into the realm of real risk and the potential injuries that follow becomes an unfortunate reality for some.

One benefit of the accumulated wear and tear of CrossFit pushing bodies to the max, day in and day out, is the client surge that both therapists and chiropractors see as a result of the Crossfit toll.

No Apologies Necessary

Crossfit co-founder, Gress Glassman, had this to say of the injury factor, “If you find the notion of falling off the rings and breaking your neck so foreign to you, then we don’t want you in our ranks. [CrossFit] can kill you. I’ve always been completely honest about that.”

The bottom line: I did CrossFit for almost 2 years, but removed myself from it at age 52 after a series of minor injuries. The camaraderie and addiction to a new standard of fitness is both real and enticing, and even after “retiring”, my body is still at an exceptionally high level of vitality  thanks to my CrossFit experiences, none of which I would trade in.

Look Better, Feel Better, Live Better

Fitness is obviously an important component of overall health and beauty, yet it remains just that, a component. Food choices, skin health, what we nourish our mind and soul with, as well as our emotional and relational happiness quotient, are but a few of the additional considerations. As always, balance is our friend.

As for CrossFit, the only way to figure out if it is for you is to give it a try. Age, fitness levels, ability to dig deep, get dirty and push to places previously not known will most likely dictate whether or not you stick and stay.

It’s like anything else with risk vs. reward – only you can decide if it’s right for you!

      “Our warm-up is your workout.”

                                          Crossfit motto 

   

PS: I gave you my CrossFit story – please share with us your take, positive or negative, based on your experiences.

Also, what is your view on America’s obsession with our physical appearance? Do we run deep enough?

Welcome to the UP Beauty Blog!

UP Beauty Online - 

We don’t want to waste your time, so here it is straight up. UP Beauty is about inspiration and empowerment for all, but with an unabashed female perspective.

It’s all about the Feeling

All the things we think we want translate into ONE thing – how they make us FEEL! The house and car, the cosmetic surgery or tattoos, the anti-cellulite cream (shameless plug) and waxing, all impact how we are perceived by others and therefore, how we feel. But aren’t we really seeking the feelings of happiness and joy the whole time?

What if we’ve played this game backwards our whole lives? If we just decided to FEEL strong, confident and brazen first, wouldn’t all those material things, procedures and services we desire just then be icing on the cake?

And further yet, what if we decided not to give a crap about what others think about us? Can you imagine the freeing effect of such an idea?

UP lifting, UP beat, UP beauty

So the intent here is to offer, every Wednesday night, a brief, hard-hitting, no bull s*** blog forum promoting inclusion, positivity, self-love, joy, diversity, health, wellness and beauty, plus more. If you’ll let us in, we’ll offer up ideas that will challenge you, make you contemplate (and hopefully act), as well as add vibrant color and spice to your life.

You’ll learn about UP Beauty’s founder, Leslie Laxler, through snippets of her life. Inevitably, Leslie has shared some of the same struggles as you. An exemplary wife, mother, employee, now grandmother and Business Entrepreneur, Leslie was haunted by cellulite as an inherited condition from her mid 20’s on, even as she remained on the leading edge of fit and trim. As strong and successful as she was, it still needlessly affected her self-esteem. She wants more and better for you...

Look Better, Feel Better, Live Better

Tune in next week and we’ll make it worth your while. We hope to offer up some life changing perspectives and content. If we can impact even one of you with our tidbits of empowering wisdom, then it’s been time well spent! Peace out ‘till next week...

“People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, 

   neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.”

                                                                         Zig Ziglar 

PS: This is not a lecture format, as feedback and dialog are welcomed and encouraged. Ask questions and give us topics you’d like discussed – if we get enough questions accumulated, we may even change the format to a “Dear Abby” style, but maybe we’ll call it “Dear Leslie” to be more current!