Yesterday, I asked my Facebook group for a writing prompt for today’s blog post. What fitness and health issues did they want to explore? Were there topics that they’d like me to research and share information about? Any exercise road blocks that they needed help navigating around? (At least that’s what my status update implied…)

Those that responded were almost unanimous in their preferred topic: Why is it so much harder to lose weight and make gains in the gym as you age? Or in their own words;

“talk about that point in your mid 30′s when your body turns against you and your metabolism changes and you have to work harder but you’re more tired and any small amount of salt makes you blow up like a blowfish…yeah, talk about that…”

“Do you have to work out double [or] triple [the time] as you get older? Or other tricks to the lower the time you need to work out available.”

“…seems like the past few years I need to put in even more time at the gym…..but maybe I have been slacking a bit too much in the diet area”

“But shouldn’t long endurance workouts still be part of a fitness regimen??”

“What’s up with hormones and weight gain after 40?”

As a recently turned 46-year old woman who’s most definitely smack dab in the middle of peri-menopause AND as the personal trainer of dozens of women with similar questions and physical challenges, this is a subject that’s NEAR and DEAR to my heart!

There’s SO much to say about hormones and weight gain after 40 that I can’t possibly cover it all in a single blog post (and that’s saying a lot, ’cause you know how ‘wordy’ I’m capable of being!).

Instead, I thought that we might explore the topic together, over a series of posts, guided by my research (you know how much I LOVE research!) but also fuelled by your comments and responses to the posts themselves.

I’d like to start the series by painting a picture of what naturally  happens to our bodies as we age, in particular, from the mid-30′s to the late 50′s; the twenty year period during which hormones gradually change and menopause is typically reached (a woman is said to have reached menopause twelve months after the cessation of menstruation).

As you read through this list, don’t despair; there are lots of things we can do on the exercise and nutrition front to offset, slow down and in some cases REVERSE the normal trend!

• from about age 35 onwards, our bodies start to lose lean tissue. Organs (including your liver and kidneys) lose cells and muscles begin to shrink (or ‘atrophy’). Because muscle is metabolically active (meaning that it burns calories, even at rest), reduced muscle mass often results in a reduced metabolic rate.
• peak bone mass and bone density are reached by approximately age 30. Both decline by a percent or so each year up until the point menopause is reached, at which annual rates of bone density loss increase to 2-3%. For the average woman, this translates into a loss of about 53% of their peak bone density by the time they reach their 80th birthday.
• body fat increases steadily after age 30 and may increase by as much as 30% by the time menopause is attained. The distribution of body fat shifts from subcutaneous (under the skin, evenly over the body) to visceral (around the internal organs). Visceral fat is know to raise your risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.
• during the menopause transition, the ovaries gradually stop making the hormone estrogen. Estrogen is responsible for making your breasts grow at puberty and maintaining pregnancy by regulating the levels of another sex hormone, progesterone. When estrogen declines, cortisol and insulin production increase. Both contribute to fat gain, in particular, fat around the midsection.
• peri-menopausal and menopausal women frequently report changes in their sleep patterns. Difficulty falling asleep, middle of the night waking and insomnia all contribute to lower energy levels and feelings of fatigue. Chronic sleep deprivation is also linked to elevated cortisol levels (and we know what that leads to; see above)
• on average, women tend to continue gaining weight until about age 65, at which time weight loss occurs due primarily to muscular atrophy (as opposed to fat loss).

If this is the ‘normal path of aging’, is it any wonder that it becomes more challenging to maintain the physique of our early adulthood into our 40′s and beyond?

Of course, many women give up. They read statistics like the ones I’ve shared above and decide that accepting the aging process is easier than fighting it.

While I do believe that we need to be more compassionate with ourselves as we age (i.e., stop comparing your current body to the one you had in your 20′s…), I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel. If you’ve read this far, I’m guessing that you’re not either!

Stay tuned for Parts 2, 3 and 4, in which we’ll explore some exercise, nutrition and lifestyle tools for staying fit and fabulous into our 40′s (and beyond)!

Please share your experiences with hormones and weight gain (before or) after 40.

Have a suggestion about a topic you’d like to see covered in this series? Fire away!

Yesterday, the Red Devils played their last spring league game.

Same level of organization on and off the rink…

Ball hockey season is short. Only ten weeks to hone their skills, come together as a team and play some stick and ball.

They had a good run, winning a little more than half of their games and having fun getting to know one another and their patient, supportive and motivating coaches (definitely a vast improvement over last year’s coaches who yelled and occasionally swore from the bench).

On the one hand, I’m happy to see the season end. Most weekends we’ve had a practice AND two or three games, playing at rinks nearly an hour’s drive from home, often smack dab in the middle of the day. Ball hockey season makes it hard to spend time together as a family.

I certainly won’t miss the smelly locker rooms, the stinky car rides home and the weekly fumigation of the gear bag.

(Or the parents who think that yelling and screaming at their children and the refs is the ticket to winning…)

Um, perhaps have a read mom and dad?

I will, however, miss seeing my youngest son doing something physical for the sheer enjoyment of the sport. Pushing the limits of his body, not because he ‘needs to get off the computer and play outside‘ (as I’ll no doubt be reminding him daily for the next two months…), but because while he’s playing hockey, nothing else exists for him. Just the stick, the ball, the net and the next goal.

Imagine if we all had a sport or activity that we loved as much? (Although that’s how I feel about knitting, it doesn’t involve enough big muscle movement to qualify as exercise; alas)

Exercise wouldn’t seem like a chore, obesity wouldn’t be epidemic and getting in my 10 000 steps a day would feel more like a privilege than an obligation…

Perhaps it’s time that I laced up my shoes, learned a little stick handling and joined the boys in the back alley…

This year’s NHL draft camp, in a back alley near you

Do you join your children in their favourite sports activities?

My birthday was last Friday.

Two of my friends and fellow fitness professionals ‘gifted’ me with birthday workouts. I thank them both; I think.

Last week I shared one of them (“A Badass Birthday Workout”). Now that I’ve recovered , I thought I’d share the other.

Dai Manuel, CrossFitter and author of the popular fitness blog The Moose Is Loose, sent me a (surprise, surprise!) CrossFit style workout based on my age.

Meaning that each move in his body weight circuit needed to be completed 46 times.

46 pushups! 46 pullups! 46 BURPEES! and more! Oh my! Never have I wished more fervently that I was still 29…

Rather than videotape myself doing the workout and subjecting you to a painfully long YouTube video (I can tell that this workout is going to take me longer than the 7 minutes that people are willing to watch videos for…) and because it’s been a crazy, chaotic week at home (with little time for video editing) I’ll be doing it today, along with you, just as soon as I finish with my morning clients!

To join me, all you need is a kettle bell or heavy dumbbell, a bar or TRX suspension trainer for inverted rows (my modification for the pull-ups) and a bench or step.

Perform 46 repetitions of each exercise, circuit-style, resting when you need to and moving on to the next exercise when you’re ready. Beginners could break the workout up into 4 circuits of 12, 12, 12 and 10 repetitions, respectively.

Time your workout and tell me, in the comments below, how long it took you to finish!

I’ll be back to report my time later!

And….. I finished it!

Time: 23:20:47

Modifications: TRX inverted row instead of pull-ups 

Disclaimer: Although I am a registered Personal Trainer, I am not YOUR Personal Trainer. Always adapt workouts to suit your body and fitness level. Always consult your doctor before beginning a new exercise program.

If you’re active in the online health and fitness community, you’ve probably seen at least one article or post with the words “the best exercise for…” in the title.

“The best exercise for weight loss”

“The best exercise for six-pack abs”

“The best exercise for buns of steel”

Many of the posts are based on the opinion of the author. (Everybody is entitled to an opinion; I have many!).Some cite scientific research to support their claims. (But beware of statistics; they can be misrepresented and misunderstood).

Very few ever state the underlying assumption: All Else Being Equal.

When I was studying to become a personal trainer, one of my instructors (a well-respected strength and conditioning coach) spent a great deal of time talking to us about the fallacy of the idea that any exercise was inherently good or bad. Sure, some are better than others, but even those that our text books tell us never to teach (behind the head lat pulldowns, for example), have their place in some training programs.

Rather there are exercises that are better (or worse), more (or less) relevant, safer (or riskier) and more (or less) appropriate depending on the exerciser and their unique goals.

The assumption “all else being equal” is rarely, if ever met, hence, there can be no universally-best-exercise for any particular goal.

If there were, I wouldn’t spend nearly the amount of time I do writing individualized exercise programs for my clients. I could create a single program and be done with it! Although many share the same weight loss and muscle development goals, they all have unique bodies, with unique skeletal structures, muscular imbalances, past and present injuries, hormonal profiles and motivation to exercise!

In exercise, as in nutrition, there is no ‘one size fits all’! 

I’d love to create an individualized exercise program for YOU! Check out my online personal training program and let’s chat!

***This post was inspired by the recent New York Times “Is it better to walk or run”. Rather than wade into that minefield, I’m sharing my general opinions about the “what’s the best exercise for…” question here.

Today is the last day of birthday season. Between May 31st and June 10th there are three birthdays in my house. Three birthdays in just ten days.

That means three birthday dinners (with wine pairings), three birthday cakes (with ice cream) and a variety of chocolatey gifts (from personal training clients!), loot bag treats (gummy worms and wine gums) and less-than-healthy nutritional choices. (And of course, three readings of Dr. Seuss’ Birthday book; our favourite family tradition!)

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that sugar is my trigger food. Once I start down ‘sugar mountain way’, my ability to resist it gradually weakens until ice cream for breakfast no longer sounds like a horrifying idea. (I haven’t gone there yet, but only because we’re out of ice cream; thank goodness).

Given that (a) the weather is finally warm enough to wear summer clothes, (b) I’m tired of the sugar-induced lethargy and (c) I’ll be seeing 300 fitness friends at a fitness bloggers conference in just over two weeks, it’s time to get back on track.

Want to know my 5 tips to get back on track after a week-long sugar binge?

1. Eliminate all added sugar immediately. For me, cold turkey is the only way to kick the sugar habit. Sugar is a drug. It stimulates the pleasure centres in your brain. Your brain likes to be happy and does whatever it can to get more sugar.
2. Drink like a fish. Water that is. Water not only helps to flush your system of toxins, it also keeps your mouth busy and your belly from feeling hungry. My 12 ounce sippy cup is my new BFF.
3. Eat vegetables for breakfast. Re-training my palate not to expect sweet foods at each meal is critical to overcoming sugar cravings. Thankfully, our kitchen vegetable garden is overflowing with kale, chard, spinach and arugula, making it easy to green up my scrambled eggs and protein smoothies.
4. Move a little bit more each day. In addition to my regular strength and cardio workouts, I’ll be aiming for 30 minutes of walking each and every day. The extra 2500-3000 steps are not only good for my overall health, it will help me burn an extra 200 to 300 calories per day.
5. Get a solid 8 hours of sleep each night. When I’m well-rested, my body rarely craves sweet and starchy foods. Sleep is also key to reducing the fat-stimulating effects of cortisol (given that I have three school-age children about to be released for ten weeks of summer vacation, my ‘stress’ hormone level is high enough).

Thanks so much for all of your birthday wishes!

Now I need some good ‘get back on track’ juju. Help a girl out? I’d love it if you’d Tweet me and use the hashtag #nosugar! The more often I’m reminded, the easier it will be!

Do you have any special tricks for getting back to healthy eating after a week or two of indulgences?

Share your best ‘get back on track’ tip below!

Hey guys! I’ve been nominated as one of Vancouver’s Top 30 Moms who blog!

To reach the number 1 spot, I need your votes!

Please, if you have 30 seconds, click on the image below, scroll down the page you land on until you find my name (Tamara Grand , fitknitchick), click the box, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit VOTE!

That’s all it takes!

Thanks so very, very much!

“Happy birthday to me,

Happy birthday to me,

Happy birthday, dear Tamara,

Happy birthday to me!”

Last week on Facebook, I suggested to some personal trainer friends and fellow FitFluential ambassadors, that, in lieu of a birthday present, I’d love it if somebody would design a workout just for me. Although I certainly know what exercises I should be doing, sometimes trainers need trainers too!

Less than five minutes later, I had two offers; both of whom I knew were fully capable of kicking my butt. When each asked me how old I was turning, the alarm bells started ringing. Fitness instructors love to design workouts around numbers.

I briefly contemplated lying and telling them I was turning 30, but my conscience got the better of me (and anybody who looks at my about me page and sees that I have postgraduate degrees and three kids could quickly do the math and see me for the liar I was) and I gave up my real age.

46 years young today.

Because I’d like to live to see my 47th birthday, I decided to do one workout with you this week and save the other for next (when the lactic acid finally dissipates and my DOMS is gone…).

Today’s #FatblasterFriday workout comes to you (and me!) courtesy of Shannon of badassfitness. (Now you see why I was afraid). She may look sweet, but man, she’s one tough cookie (just look at those shoulders!).

To join me in the “badass birthday workout”, all you’ll need is a set of hand weights (don’t go heavy here; it’s an endurance style workout) and a bench, step or secure ottoman. Feel free to modify the workout by either performing a slightly easier variation of the exercises, or limiting your reps to YOUR age (if you’re older than I am, you can stop at 46 with me; you’re welcome).

Thanks so much Shannon! You know that I was feeling my butt for a good two days after I filmed this workout, right?

Make sure you check out Shannon’s YouTube channel for more challenging, but fun workouts

Up next Friday (once I’ve recovered…) is Dai from The Moose is Loose. Be warned, he’s an avid CrossFitter!

Did you like the “badass birthday workout”? Then PLEASE

• WATCH and DO the workouts with me
• SUBSCRIBE to fitknitchick on YouTube 
• CHECK OUT the #FatblasterFriday Playlist for more, real time workouts
• PIN the above WORKOUT PHOTO
• GIVE me your FEEDBACK on YouTube or in the COMMENTS section below
• LIKE and SHARE my videos with your friends via email, Facebook and Twitter

More VIEWS, LIKES, COMMENTS and SHARES –>> More VIDEOS!

Disclaimer: Although I am a registered Personal Trainer, I am not YOUR Personal Trainer. Always adapt workouts to suit your body and fitness level. Always consult your doctor before beginning a new exercise program.

Disclaimer: LifeTrak noticed me conversing with friends on Facebook about my interest in pedometers and the ’10000 steps per day movement’ and sent me a LifeTrakCore C200 to track my daily activity (non-knitting activity, that is) and share the experience with my readers. Thanks LifeTrak!

We all know that we need to move more.

Not just vigorous exercise, but frequent bursts of low to moderate intensity movement throughout the day. Taking the stairs, walking to the grocery store, getting off the computer and stretching our limbs more than once every couple of hours.

Studies have shown that people who move continuously throughout the day have better health markers than those who exercise intensely for an hour then remain sedentary for the remainder of their day.

As a person who spends lots of her non-gym hours sitting and writing OR sitting and driving OR sitting and knitting, I was curious to know whether I was falling into the ‘sedentary gym rat’ pattern.

Enter the LifeTrakCore C200. A pedometer/heart rate monitor/calorie counter that straps on your wrist and keeps track of your daily movement.

For the past week, I’ve kept track of my daily steps, aiming to reach 10 000 steps per day. (Why 10 000?)  I decided not to do anything drastic to make sure I reached my goal; just go about my daily business and let the steps ‘fall where they may’. Since I’m a ‘numbers geek‘, I made you a table to look at. Can you see the pattern?

What did I learn?

• most days, my usual combination of working out and training clients gets me pretty close to 10 000 steps per day (one of the perks of working in the fitness industry, I guess!)
• my step counts are highest on days when I teach group fitness (did you know that you can amass approximately 4000 steps in just an hour long Step aerobics class? Come join us!)
• spending an hour in the gym, mainly lifting weights, added very little to my daily step count (maybe a good reasons to swap out stationary lunges for walking lunges?)
• no workout, no walking, lots of writing leads to an appallingly low step count (although technically, Saturday IS my rest day. Should we be striving for 10 000 steps on rest days too???)
• it’s pretty easy to add an extra 2000 or so steps to my day by just going for a 20 minute walk (although now that the bears are out, I’m not sure how often I’ll be doing this solo…)

I like being able to see my daily activity quantified; not just at the end of the day, but part-way through, when there’s still time to get back on track. Plus, going for a walk mid-day always clears my head and improves my productivity for the rest of the afternoon.

Have you every tracked your daily steps?

What surprised you the most about the experience?

And should we still be aiming for 10 000 steps per day on our ‘rest’ days?

Weight loss and weight loss maintenance are difficult at the best of times. Finding the right balance of exercise, nutrition and sleep isn’t always easy and sticking with it for the long term can be challenging for many.

But what about when you have a medical condition that requires you to take medications that hinder weight loss efforts? Or worse, cause you to gain even more? Sadly, weight gain and prescription drugs often go hand in hand.

A long time personal training client of mine has recently put on a lot of weight, despite following the exercise routine and nutrition plan I’ve created for her.

We’ve had great success in the past; during the first six months of our training relationship she lost 25 pounds, many inches and made incredible gains in the gym. Clearly, her body is capable of responding positively to weight training and clean eating.

What then has changed over the past year and a half?

Turns out that this client is bi-polar (I knew this, but it hadn’t previously been an issue). She had been stable on her medication for many, many years, but suffered a breakdown last year after the death of her father. Her doctors decided to switch meds in an effort to stabilize her. Over the next six months, they slowly increased her Lithium levels and introduced a new anti-psychotic drug, Olanzapine. While her mood gradually improved and she began to returned to her usual self, she also began to re-gain the weight that she’d previously lost (and more).

Initially it was because the Lithium was making her ravenous. She was eating many more calories than required for maintenance but seemed unable to control the cravings and mindless eating. Her doctors introduced Olanzapine, which helped to control her appetite, but still she continued to gain weight.

A little bit of online research revealed that both drugs have well known weight gain effects; effects that appear to over-ride lifestyle approaches to weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Olanzapine in particular, changes the body’s sensitivity to insulin, and over time, can actually lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes.

Talk about frustrating! Either you take the drugs to control a serious medical condition and live with weight gain and potentially a second serious medical condition or you forsake your mood and sanity in order to keep your body at a healthy weight.

My client are I are currently focusing on the myriad other benefits of exercise and proper nutrition; in particular those related to risk of osteoporosis (she’s menopausal and has had several broken bones in her lifetime), improved sleep (often a challenge for those suffering from mental illness) and mood enhancement (we all need more ‘happy’).

In addition, we’ve done some research and discovered that there’s another drug she might be able to take in place of the Olanzapine.

There are many other classes of prescription drugs that can hinder weight loss and even cause substantial weight gain, including;

• anti-histamines (including over-the-counter varieties) that increase appetite
• anti-hypertensives (‘beta blockers’) that cause fatigue and a concomitant reduction in daily activity
• corticosteroids (used to treat asthma and arthritis) affect metabolism and increase hunger
• anti-depressants that increase food cravings
• anti-psychotics that ‘flatten’ your mood, sap your energy and affect your body’s sensitivity to insulin (eventually resulting in Type 2 Diabetes…)
• anti-seizure and mood disorder drugs can cause as much as a 10 pound weight gain in just a few weeks

Given that many of my readers are likely to have taken, or are currently taking one of the above medications, I thought I’d share some tips for researching the side effects of common prescription medications.

• start by reading the literature that came with your prescription; sounds simple, but many people don’t bother. Either because they trust their doctor and pharmacist to make the right choice for their health OR they simply can’t read the small print on the accompanying pamphlets (definitely a problem for those of us in our 40′s and beyond…)
• do some online research; beware of doing a generic Google search. All you’re likely to turn up are anecdotes, message boards and watered-down information, at best. Instead, try a Google Scholar search. You don’t need to be able to read the articles yourself (some scientific writing is hard for even other scientists to comprehend…) ; just scan the summaries and see whether there’s likely to be anything useful in the article. Click on the video below to see how I use Google to find fact-based sources of information.
• take the results of your online search to your doctor; We always assume that our doctors are apprised of the most recent research, yet the sheer volume of research generated on a weekly basis makes this next to impossible (unless your doctor spends more of their time reading journals, than seeing patients…).

Have you ever experienced weight gain while taking prescription medication?

How did you deal with it?

Disclaimer: While I am a certified Personal Trainer, I am NOT a medical professional. Please see you doctor or pharmacist to discuss concerns about any side effects your medications may be causing.

May 31st is one of my most favourite days of the year.

Why? It’s the birthday of my youngest child, who today, turns 9. Where has the time gone? (And how did I get to be 9 years older?)

As some of you know, I post Pinterest-friendly workouts of the day to my Facebook page, every (or almost every) Tuesday and Thursday. (If you haven’t yet ‘liked’ my page, you can head on over there now and click away; we’ll wait for you to get back).

Last month, I started re-capping the month’s workouts here, so they’d be easy to find and easy to Pin (go ahead, Pin one, I dare you).

If you’d like to thank me (!), I’d love it if you’d click on through and vote for me, Tamara Grand (fitknitchick), in this year’s Vancouver Top Mom Bloggers contest. It will literally take you 10 s.

In addition to getting to spend a weekend away from  my kids, there’s also a year’s supply of chocolate for the winner. And chocolate for me equals another year’s worth of Pinterest-friendly workouts of the day for you (and me both; I’ll need them!). Thanks a bunch!

Have a suggestion for a workout that you’d like to see?

Drop me a line and I just might use your suggestion for one of June’s free workouts of the day!

Disclaimer: Although I am a registered Personal Trainer, I am not YOUR Personal Trainer. Always adapt workouts to suit your body and fitness level. Always consult your doctor before beginning a new exercise program.