How Coffee Can Energize Your Workout

What do you think? This is an article I found via yahoo news.

Gym bag, check. Car keys, check. Coffee downed, check. Yes, a caffeine kick could be a valuable addition to your pre-exercise routine, delaying muscle fatigue and keeping you focused and energetic. You don't want to overdo it, though. Sleep problems, headaches, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, or maybe even a heart attack can result. Here's how to work caffeine into your workouts.

Match the amount to your body. "The larger you are, the more metabolically active tissue you have," says Nicholas Gant, director of the Exercise Nutrition and Metabolism Laboratory at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. "If you're a small person, your tissues don't use up as much, therefore you need a lesser dose." A very rough recommendation is 0.5 to 1.4 milligrams of caffeine per pound of body weight. Coffee averages about 20 mg per ounce, or 160 mg per 8-ounce cup. That's about the limit for a 130-pound woman, though a 200-pound could probably down a couple of cups. Go above 4 mg of caffeine per pound and your workout could be ruined by digestive distress, the jitters, and other unpleasant side effects.


Track your tolerance. Going by body weight alone doesn't take individual tolerance into account. If you're a caffeine newbie, a smaller dose will initially provide a noticeable difference. If coffee is already part of your daily routine, you're likely to need more for the same effect. For someone training for a marathon or other serious athletic event, says Gant, who advises many New Zealand Olympians, reducing caffeine from all sources—tea, soda, and foods like chocolate and energy bars in addition to coffee—can dramatically improve sleep quality, decrease blood levels of cortisol (a stress marker), and increase your body's caffeine sensitivity to give you an extra energy boost when you do imbibe just before the event. "Only use it on those few occasions that you're really going to need that pick-me-up," says Gant.

Go by the clock (and calendar). If coffee is programmed into your exercise schedule, drinking it 30 to 60 minutes before you start will put your blood level of caffeine at a peak during your workout. If you are a coffee regular and a big event is coming, like a marathon or 100-mile bike race, Gant recommends that you gradually taper down the week before, so that a modest amount the day of competition will get you going.

Add fuel to the fire. Getting juiced on caffeine doesn't put gas in the tank. Registered dietician Leslie Bonci, director of sports nutrition at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine in Pittsburgh, recommends pairing your coffee with oatmeal or a small bagel with peanut butter before you exercise to avoid cramps. "Drinking coffee black with a small snack provides the fluid you need for hydration as well as the carbohydrate, sugar and sodium that the body needs to sustain itself," she says.

Consider the source. Because, the caffeine content of coffee can vary widely, it's hard to know how much you're actually taking in. Substituting for caffeine-spiked sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade, says Gant, lets you monitor your intake more precisely just by reading the nutritional label. But don't confuse such drinks, which contain sugar and other carbs to keep the energy going, with sugar-free, caffeine-loaded "energy drinks" like Red Bull Sugarfree. The caffeine rush will be brief (and expensive)—"a lot of money for a flash of energy that won't be sustained," says Gant.

Don't sweat dehydration. Too much coffee and your body will suffer because caffeine is a diuretic and make you lose vital fluid—or so goes the belief. It's not true, says Bonci. "It's a common misconception that when you consume caffeine sometimes you feel the urge to void," she says. "But in studies that looked at the urine volume produced over 24 hours whether or not someone consumed caffeine, there's not a significant difference." The problem with the misconception is that it leads many a coffee drinker to compensate by drinking much more water than necessary, and that could send any jogger running for the nearest bush.

What?!?

Ok so something is totally confusing me. How am I losing clothing sizes but I'm not seeing a difference on the scale? Not that I'm complaining I love being able to wear something I haven't been able to wear in years. For example today I decided to try on a pair of jeans that I haven't been able to wear since August 2005. Yep that's right August of 2005, my favorite 'skinny jeans' have been on vacation. And today I was able to not only put them on but also breathe and move. What size are my favorite Levi's?? 33 x 34 ....shocking right?!? These jeans were my go to jeans when I was running heavy equipment when I came back from the Army, and I'm tremendously happy to be able to get back into them.

Weigh in

Current weight.... 150

My pace has slowed but I've also started attending International College 3 hours a night online via my Macbook, so that makes it rather difficult to maintain a steady workout schedule. To replace my regular trips to the gym and semi-regular bike rides with Taya I've increased how much work I do at home. I've gone outside for 2 and a half hours just about everyday this week and did intense yardwork. I pulled all of the Atlantis trees (wild weed trees that smell like nasty nachos) growing wild throughout my yard, rearranged the chicken coop, filled in the craters my pointers have blessed us with, tilled the garden by hand and more but hey you get the idea my yard is a LOT of work. However I still plan on riding on Friday, Saturday and Sunday or some other physical activity with my gal.

As for my diet... ugh. I'm still following it. However I have added Atkins protein shakes and Premier Protein shakes (found at Costco) as meal replacements... usually breakfast because I am SO SICK of plain oatmeal...blech. I made some last Friday morning and I actually gagged trying to force it down. I try to drink an Atkins shake in the afternoon as a snack because I cannot start my day off with these because they tend to make me feel a little sick on an empty stomach which doesn't happen with the Premier Protein shakes.

Something to consider when you decide on a diet... there's no real worrying about what your going to make for lunch or dinner. Once you have a meal plan that's it. No worries. Just stick to serving sizes and you'll be set! Here is my daily meal plan:

Breakfast- Quaker Oatmeal, Original Substitutes- Egg Whites, Premier Protein shake

Lunch- Chicken Breast and Peas/ Broccoli Substitutes- Shredded Chicken Sandwich, Tuna (plain)

Snack- Pure Protein Bar Substitutes- Atkins Protein shake, Atkins peanut/almond cluster bar, Fresh Fruit

Dinner- Repeat Lunch

Now there are nights when I switch the chicken for another meat source but I try not to do that too often, and I do have splurge items... No sugar added Klondike Bars and Sugar Free Carmel Light Frap ...yum! Oh and the only thing I drink is water, water water (except coffee on Sundays ,1 cup, and tea ,plain, when I'm sick... like now)

The big draw back to my diet would have to be ... gas. Yep that's right, those Atkins snacks and maybe the broccoli make me a big ole gas ball. So I try to watch my intake.








**I would love it if some you out there in diet land would share your experiences with me. So send me a message and be a guest blogger. Because what works for me doesn't necessarily work for others.**

Slow progress...

So my weight tonight at 8:45pm was 155lbs. Considering I weighed 153lbs a couple of days ago I was pretty disappointed until I realized ... 'you dummy you normally weigh in the morning' so when you factor in that I've been eating all day 155lbs is not bad, not bad at all. So the last time I posted measurements was on a Thursday so why not do them again.

Neck- 12 3/4"
Bust- 39" (different bra)
Under Bust- 32 3/4"
Bicep (Flexed) 12 1/4" (not flexed) 11 1/4"
Waist- 31"
Hips- 38"
Thigh (thickest part) 25 1/5"
Calf- 15 1/2"


Yeah so I lost a little everywhere except my legs, but I'm happy with the loss anyway. Especially considering that I haven't been able to workout since starting my on-line computer graphics class last week. It's Monday- Friday 6pm-9pm. Whew ... that makes it incredibly hard to fit in gym time.



(Definitely need to work on this some more!)

Post-Op WLS: Do You Believe?

grrr

I went to the doctor last week and of course they weighed me. 155lbs @ 4:30pm. The doc then lectured me about "health risk". He said I'm in danger of getting diabetes and said I AM considered OBESE! Can you believe it?! I'm 5'6" and I weighed in at 153lbs yesterday. OBESE, OBESE HA!! I no longer have rolls or under boob boobs so my docs misdirected lecture needs to go elsewhere.Hmmpf!

Photo taken today...

My body is shrinking!!

Seriously it is... I looked down today while I was driving and realized I've lost 2 cup sizes and my tummy is just about flat even while sitting!! Amazing!! And really it is sooo much easier to continue dieting when I can SEE progress. It's one thing to feel better, but to actually see a difference is exhilarating!

So here are my progress photos and no laughing about me being in a dress with color.... I'm exploring other options other than my standard black...