Bear Wellness

Another great day at BearWellness! First up this morning was our initial Riderfit training session with 21 equestrian students and staff from the Hampton Riding Center. Training focused on a lot of flexibility, core and pelvic floor muscle work and of course legs...Quads, hamstrings and specifically VMO, IT Band and hip external and internal rotation work. A lot of great work with a lot of smiles too! Then in the afternoon we changed gears and had the RV PeeWee Icebreakers girls hockey team in for a High Intensity Interval Class followed by some core work and fun game of ball hockey. Great work everyone!!

Ready for Rider Fit HIIT class. They are going to sweat.

Can’t Lose Weight? Go to Bed! Most research agrees that eating fewer calories than we expend is the main driver of weight loss. But fixing your night time habits might be the simpler route. Studies have linked insufficient sleep with obesity and weight gain. When we are sleep deprived our appetite regulating hormones are adversely affected and we crave calorie dense, usually high carbohydrate foods (think potato chips) to the tune of an extra 560 calories per day. This is... an extra six slices of buttered bread or five granola bars every day! Just because you are tired. So do yourself a favour and get the recommended seven to nine hours sleep every night. If you have trouble sleeping try these tricks. Make sure your room is dark, really dark or wear a sleeping mask. Sleep in a quiet room or wear ear plugs. And finally, turn down the thermostat to about 66oF.

Coffee Drink Up As a coffee lover I couldn’t be happier to read about the results of a recent study about the health benefits of drinking two to three cups of coffee per day (although there are days when I might exceed this). And for those of you who can’t sleep because of the caffeine, decaffeinated coffee works too. This was a significant study that followed more than half a million Europeans in ten countries over 16 years. The findings showed that higher coffee consumpt...ion was associated with a reduced risk of death from any cause. Coffee drinkers had signs of healthier livers and circulatory systems as well as lower levels of inflammation. This was not the first study to proclaim the health benefits of coffee but it is perhaps the most substantial. The next step for the study’s author, Marc Gunter, is to analyze coffee’s chemical composition to try to understand what in particular makes coffee good for us. We at Bear Wellness love a good cup of coffee but we caution you to take it easy with the cream and sugar which are definitely not health foods. See you at the coffee shop.

BearWellness is humbled and honoured to be providing nutrition and personal training expertise to several corporations and educational institutions in the Fundy region. Our diversity is shining through as we host a variety of organizations. In March we’ll be hosting the RV Pee Wee girls hockey program, initially doing a high intensity interval training session specific to hockey. We have a wonderful program much of which we took away from our visit to the USA hockey training... center in Colorado Springs. Also in March we’ll be rolling out our initial RiderFit program as we host the Hampton Riding Club and focus on equestrian fitness. Are you a business or organization that would like to learn more about how BearWellness can help you and your partners evolve in your nutrition, fitness, personal training and wellness goals? Contact us today! See more

Understanding Hunger It is hard to ignore hunger. You might be trying hard to stick to a healthy diet, maybe even by counting calories. But when your stomach starts growling it is almost impossible to keep out of the snack cupboard. That’s why an understanding of the concept of satiety is important. Satiety simply means a feeling of fullness. And some foods help us to feel full longer, even with the same calorie count. A satiety index was developed that ranks foods on how lon...g they kept us feeling full. If we are trying to control our caloric intake then eating foods that are high in the satiety index will helps us from cheating. Generally speaking, calorie dense foods that are high in sugar, starch and fat are lower on the satiety index. This includes foods such as white bread, spaghetti, honey, raisins and potato chips. This is partially because we need to eat a larger volume of these foods in order for our stomach to feel full. On the other hand, calorie light foods that contain relatively higher amounts of water, dietary fiber and protein tend to be higher on the satiety index. This includes fruits, vegetables, lean meats and fish. In this case we need to eat less of these foods to feel full. Satiety, and the satiety index, is only one of the tools we use to ensure we get the proper nutrients in the correct amounts. If eating well is important to you then contact us at Bear Wellness and we can devise a program that meets your needs.