Neosho County Meltdown ~ Today is your Day has some very important dates for you!!
Neosho County Meltdown will be held in conjunction with neighboring counties in our area to represent SEK Meltdown. KOAM TV will run special ads targeting our communities to help increase involvement with our Meltdown.
The goal is for Southeast Kansas to lose 10-thousand pounds during the ten week initiative.
Thursday, August 25th Neosho County Meltdown Goal Setting Meeting
Chanute Memorial Building 3rd floor in the Alliance Room
A little voice called out my name at 2:30 a.m. this morning to announce that he was piling into our bed. The huge crack of thunder awoke him and he was very scared of the storm that was passing through. As I groggily scooted over in bed he tugged on my hand so I would get up and go turn on the bathroom light for him.
With a yawn I made my way to the bathroom, turned on the light, and then sat down on the couch waiting for the little cowboy. As he rounded the corner heading towards the bathroom he glanced at the fish tank. He washed his hands and made his way back out into the living room. He pressed his nose right up to the glass on the fish tank and then looked up and down and side to side. He nodded his head and then came over to the couch.
He grabbed my hand as we walked back down the hall to the bedroom.
With a little giggle he said to me, "I guess fish don't sleep!"
A smile came across my face and I too, giggled.
I never really thought about it but fish don't sleep.
Cliff Claven, a.k.a. the husband was snoring and didn't move an inch as we snuggled back into bed. Normally he would give the little cowboy a detailed report on why fish don't close their eyes and don't need the required sleep we do.
For now it remains a mystery. . . . . .
How much sleep do you get each night? 8, 10, even 11 hours of sleep. It's an average of 6 for me. That doesn't even come close to what I actually need. Do you know why you need at least 8 hours of sleep?
Research on sleep from the Web MD Website
Doctors have long known that many hormones are affected by sleep, but it wasn't until recently that appetite entered the picture. What brought it into focus was research on the hormones leptin and ghrelin. First, doctors say that both can influence our appetite. And studies show that production of both may be influenced by how much or how little we sleep.
In fact, have you ever experienced a sleepless night followed by a day when no matter what you ate you never felt full or satisfied? If so, then you have experienced the workings of leptin and ghrelin.
Leptin and ghrelin work in a kind of "checks and balances" system to control feelings of hunger and fullness, explains Michael Breus, PhD, a faculty member of the Atlanta School of Sleep Medicine and director of The Sleep Disorders Centers of Southeastern Lung Care in Atlanta. Ghrelin, which is produced in the gastrointestinal tract, stimulates appetite, while leptin, produced in fat cells, sends a signal to the brain when you are full.
So what's the connection to sleep? "When you don't get enough sleep, it drives leptin levels down, which means you don't feel as satisfied after you eat. Lack of sleep also causes ghrelin levels to rise, which means your appetite is stimulated, so you want more food," Breus tells WebMD.
The two combined, he says, can set the stage for overeating, which in turn may lead to weight gain.
How the hormones leptin and ghrelin set the stage for overeating was recently explored in two studies conducted at the University of Chicago in Illinois and at Stanford University in California.
In the Chicago study, doctors measured levels of leptin and ghrelin in 12 healthy men. They also noted their hunger and appetite levels. Soon after, the men were subjected to two days of sleep deprivation followed by two days of extended sleep. During this time doctors continued to monitor hormone levels, appetite, and activity.
The end result: When sleep was restricted, leptin levels went down and ghrelin levels went up. Not surprisingly, the men's appetite also increased proportionally. Their desire for high carbohydrate, calorie-dense foods increased by a whopping 45%.
It was in the Stanford study, however, that the more provocative meaning of the leptin-ghrelin effect came to light. In this research -- a joint project between Stanford and the University of Wisconsin -- about 1,000 volunteers reported the number of hours they slept each night. Doctors then measured their levels of ghrelin and leptin, as well as charted their weight.
The result: Those who slept less than eight hours a night not only had lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin, but they also had a higher level of body fat. What's more, that level of body fat seemed to correlate with their sleep patterns. Specifically, those who slept the fewest hours per night weighed the most.
As a result of these and other studies, researchers began to theorize that getting more sleep just might be the answer to society's burgeoning waistline. But before you trade the cost of your gym membership for a pricey new mattress, take note: Experts also say the relationship is not as obvious as it seems.
The reason: Enter the somewhat mysterious nocturnal ailment known as "obstructive sleep apnea." People with sleep apnea may stop breathing for up to a minute, sometimes hundreds of times during the night while sleeping, says Dominic Roca, MD, director of the Connecticut Center for Sleep Medicine at Stamford Hospital.
Though the exact cause of the problem remains unknown, Roca and others believe that in most instances
physical abnormalities inside the mouth and neck cause the soft tissue in the rear of the throat to collapse. This briefly closes off air passages many times during a night, causing disruption in breathing and a tendency to snore.
The end result: Although you may go to bed early and think you are getting a good night's rest, the disruption in breathing prevents you from getting deep sleep. Eight hours of disrupted shut eye can leave you feeling like you had only four.
"You wake up feeling tired and continue to feel tired all day," Roca tells WebMD.
Until doctors do know more, most experts agree that if you are dieting, logging in a few extra hours of sleep a week is not a bad idea, particularly if you get six hours of sleep or less a night. You may just discover that you aren't as hungry, or that you have lessened your craving for sugary, calorie-dense foods.
"One thing I have seen is that once a person is not as tired, they don't need to rely on sweet foods and high carbohydrate snacks to keep them awake -- and that automatically translates into eating fewer calories," says Breus.
If, on the other hand, you already sleep a lot, or you increase your sleep and feel even more tired, you should talk to your doctor. Experts say you may be one of the thousands of people with undiagnosed sleep apnea.
Says Roca: "As research continues, more and more data comes to the forefront to suggest that you simply can't cut back on sleep without paying some price."
Fish may not need to sleep but Meltdown participants need at least 8 hours of ZZZZzzzzzz's!
It's that time of year when the grumblings of back to school begin. Not at the Henry house. Our cowboy is ready and has been ready for a week. It's not that he's bored but he wants to see his teachers at CCA and play with his friends. Our focus this week has been the yearly fall clean out your closet quest. This is when you can truly see how much your little cowboy has grown.
Second grade has crept up on me and I'm not sure I'm ready for the last 3 weeks until school starts. I told our little cowboy we needed to sift through the closet and see what still fit and what needed to go to someone else's home.
He is great about trying on clothes ~ for about 5 minutes.
Then it gets to the point where he just wants to hold it up and say it looks like
it will or won't fit!
We are actually in pretty good shape to start the school year out in which led me to think about my own closet.
My walk in closet sometimes has gnarly teeth. Big bad, gnarly teeth! I was unsure if I really wanted to even enter but as I stood outside the opened door and looked at my shirts & pants I took a breath and walked inside.
Much to my surprise unlike the little cowboy I had a pile of "pay it forward" items that needed a new home.
In a good way, in a great way, they needed a new home! I have now gone down another size in pants and other items I had never worn because they didn't fit or fit right can now be worn. It's exciting and fun to try on things and fit in a new size. I think this has helped me stay on track with healthier eating and new goals this week and I am really looking forward to the next Meltdown that's going to begin.
Here's some additional information to share about exercise classes that we are looking at offering. This post is for you to give input on. What types of classes would you like to see or would you participate in? Email me at breastfeeding@cableone.net
Zumba
Sweating to the Oldies
Walkfit (see explanation ~ Vonda is excited to teach us this one)
Explanation for Walkfit: You walk to music & the DVD instructor is Leslie Sansone. You can check out the DVD at Walmart and online at Walmart.com
“Are you ready to sweat, then let Leslie show you how to walk like a runner. ….With our classic, no frills, easy to follow Walk at home step along with Leslie infectious energy, you can walk 5 miles and never leave your home……high energy music keeps your pace at 12 minutes per mile
Resistance Training (will need to purchase bands $8-$15)
Turbo Jam which includes Turbo Sculpt & Turbo Cardio Party
**Shape and tone lean, sexy muscles and target all your problem areas. (40 minutes)
**A turbocharged dance fest—you won't want this calorie blaster to end! (45 minutes)
3 days of week fitness classes so far ~ looking at possibly one more. Email me with your classes that you would like to see:)
Our cowboy loves the first Monday of the month because it's FREE Redbox Movie night! I call it date night Monday because it's my special time to spend with him.
We write the free Redbox movie night on our family calendar so we can plan
ahead for the event.
He prepares a week in advance for our date night. He writes down a few movie selections he wants to see, he determines the snack or meal he wants me to fix, and he decides which living room we should watch the movie in. His last decision is how we will watch the movie. We love to be creative at our house and we are constantly coming up with new ways to watch a movie. We have built elaborate sets to create the perfect atmosphere for our viewing enjoyment!
We have constructed camo tents in the family room and filled them with pillows to relax on, I have put together a teepee that Nonna purchased at a garage sale and we squeezed into it to watch a John Wayne western, we have even pieced together parts of a cardboard box in the shape of a truck and pretended we were at a drive-in movie!
It is truly an event at our house & it takes a week to prepare for it!
This week was spent creating a tunnel. The tunnel was constructed out of blankets thrown over 8 of my dining room chairs strategically placed in the living room. You had to crawl through the tunnel to get to the area where you would view the movie.
I'm glad no one could see me crawl through this tunnel.
I think I caught the dog laughing at me as I belly crawled through the chairs.
Our cowboy's selection for last night was, "Despicable Me".
As we snuggled into the tunnel with our refreshments I pressed play and our movie night began. If you haven't watched Despicable Me I highly recommend it. It was funny, adorable, and we giggled right to the very end. Our little cowboy had already watched the movie with Mimi and his cousins at the Movie Theater so he knew the movie by heart. His favorite part was in the middle of the movie when they are at the theme park.
The youngest girl has an adorable top knot on her head and her beautiful hair matches her big, round, brown eyes. She loves Unicorns. It's all she talks about, sings about & she spies the biggest overstuffed pink, purple, & white Unicorn at the arcade in the theme park. She attempts to win the Unicorn by shooting at a moving spaceship target & she actually hits it. Much to her disappointment the game is rigged and they tell her she didn't actually hit the target (when she really did). Big tears form in her eyes as she realizes she won't receive her Unicorn.
Despicable Me comes to the rescue and in him you see a Villain who really has a big heart. He wins her prize by obliterating the entire shooting range at the arcade with his villain laser gun. He plucks the Unicorn down and hands it to the brown eyed girl.
She looks up at him and smiles as she wraps her arms around the huge Unicorn.
As the little girl hugs the overstuffed unicorn,
she proclaims proudly to her siblings, "It's soooooooo FLUFFY"!
Fluffy has been on my mind this week after the end of our Meltdown!
I dont' want to detour into the land of fluffiness (again!!) now that our first Meltdown is complete so we're planning Meltdown 2 which will start very soon!
I'm ready for Meltdown 2 ~ Today is your Day to begin!
Our first Meltdown was a great success! Average weight loss with our participants who exercised 5 days a week or more, weighed and/or measured each week, and sent in their totals were an astonishing 11 pounds lighter at the end of the Meltdown.
That's a dress size!!
Of course there were those that exceeded that! One Meltdown particpant was down 4 dress sizes. Another one lost 20+ pounds. I personally lost 16 pounds, went down a shirt size, 2 pant sizes, and improved my lab tests & blood pressure! There were many more successes too! Healthier eating, healthier thinking, & healthier lifestyle.
We want to set you up for success with Meltdown 2 ~ Today is your Day.
Goal setting is an important part of overall success in any endeavor. On Thursday, August 25th at the Chanute Memorial Building (3rd floor in the Alliance Room) we will be holding our pre-kickoff Meltdown Goal Setting Session. We always serve a healthy snack or dinner and at this session we will be setting our individual goals for Meltdown 2.
You need to bring along a notebook, pen, and a friend! A healthier lifestyle is more fun with a friend!
We will have the handouts available for you to put your Meltdown goals into writing.
Here is what you need to think about in preparation for the session.
What is a reasonable decrease in weight that I would like to see during the 10 weeks?
1 pound weight loss? 2 pound weight loss?
How will I go about this? What types of exercise do I like or would fit the best in my current family schedule? Will I participate in the exercise classes offered through the Meltdown? Will I join a fitness club, walking club, or do a nightly exercise tape?
What does healthier eating mean for me? Do I need help with nutrition plans or healthy eating tips?
These are questions we will cover in more detail in our Goal Setting session but they are questions I want you to think about and prepare for prior to the class.
Please keep up to date with all of the Meltdown 2 information through this blog site and through email. If you are not receiving email updates please email Stephanie at
