Food and Diet for More Energy

Do you find that you get fatigued during the afternoon? There are better choices than reaching for that candy bar, soda, or the latest energy drink. Food and diet is essential to giving your body more energy during the day. With making some easy diet choices you can have more energy and feel alive during those once sluggish hours.

The fatigue and lack of energy you feel is associated with how you fuel your metabolism. Another way of looking at it is the food you eat or not eat is causing you have low energy and want to take a nap at work. If you are having any lack of energy throughout the day, now is a great time to start making better dietary choices.

The common diet programs that create this lack of energy are low calorie diets or eating 3 meals a day or less. Also, if your diet habits consist of fast food, candy, or soft drinks then your body is simply not getting the energy it needs and how it wants it was balanced energy levels. Another aspect that affects your energy with poor food choices is a lack of essential vitamins, minerals, complex carbs, and amino acids. All of these are building blocks for proper metabolism functioning.

The major issue with the ineffective diet programs of Americans is bad habits actually create more bad habits. Many people think that if they just had will power they won't succumb to food cravings that crush their diets. The reality is that poor choices create times when your body is in low blood sugar and that period is what causes your cravings. It is physiology that causes them not a lack of mental strength. Did you know that once you start eating 5 small meals during the day your cravings for sugar go away? Follow me on this person's day. We are starting with breakfast though they don't eat breakfast because they have noticed that if they skip breakfast they don't feel hungry till lunch. So at lunch they go out to dinner with their coworkers. Now, from a lack of energy they over eat more food than they should at any one meal. The problem is this doesn't feel or looks like too much food because this is what they are used to. How do I know this is too much food because at around 2 or 3 pm they are crashing. Their energy is low and they have become exceptionally irritable. Does this sound familiar?

So what are we supposed to eat? The goal is to eat 5 small meals throughout the day. For the average American this is cutting their normal meal in half and eating the other half as a snack. Breakfast starts the day either burning fat or storing fat. You know you had a proper breakfast because you are hungry 2-3 hours later, and it is time for another snack. You want to keep having small meals every two to three hours throughout the day. The reason this is good is because your body is burning calories and wants more fuel to keep burning. I know it seems logical if you don't eat you will lose weight. The problem is when you don't eat your body stores the food you eat as fat. When you fuel your body every 2-3 hours your body starts to burn more energy and will stop storing energy. This is the key to healthy losing weight.

Another key aspect to controlling your energy levels is the use of caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that supports your body to release adrenaline into your system. Caffeine in moderation, as in one cup of coffee doesn't throw your body out of balance. Having a multiple cups or some of the energy drinks and your body is running on artificial energy and then you crash. Once you crash you want that good feeling again, and so you are off on another Starbucks run. I know people who go to Starbucks every 2-3 hours or after each time their body crashes. One thing on energy drinks, Red Bull has less caffeine than a cup of coffee though I can't guarantee what is in the rest of the energy drinks.

Do you need more protein or more carbs in your meals? If you find that your meals are made of mostly carbs or simple sugars than eating protein with your meals with balance you out. Most Americans are over eating protein. If you are not getting a small amount of complex carbs in each meal, this is another reason why you are low on energy. Carbs are you body's fuel. Protein is designed to rebuild your muscle tissue and your body doesn't want to use it as energy.

Adding proper supplementation can make easy healthy and throughout the day easier. For most people getting that mid morning or mid afternoon snack can be a challenge. Having a meal replacement bar or shake can give you the healthy fuel you need. Also, most meal replacement supplements are fortified with vitamins and minerals which is a far cry from the candy bar. Supplements allow you to get exactly the right amount of calories in your meal as well. Especially, if you are going after a weight loss goal you don't need to eat any extra calories. What should I eat for my 5 small meals? The first answer is the same things you are eating now only cut them in half. You will find that the sugar cravings go away so we automatically start eating less sugar. The goal is to go to the super market thinking about what you want to eat for your meals. If you buy it at the grocery store than you will have it ready when it is time to eat? Liveleantoday.com's diet program creates weekly menus that print out grocery lists to make this process easy. Start eating every 2-3 hours and turn your metabolism into a fat burning machine. I know you might be laughing, not your metabolism. Today if you start eating 5 small meals your body will start to turn over. You will know this is working because you will have more energy than you have ever had before.

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Find personal trainer the fitness and nutrition information you are seaching for at LiveLeanToday.com. LiveLeanToday.com has a full library of diet, exercise, and supplement information.

North American Menopause Society

The following provides a brief description of the articles published in Menopause, the official peerreviewed
journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). Studies published in Menopause
do not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of NAMS.
Journalists may obtain PDFs of the articles or arrange interviews with authors by contacting Judy Cerne at
McKinney Advertising (jcerne@mckinneyad.com).
Judy Cerne, President & CEO
McKinney Advertising and Public Relations
Penton Media Building
1300 East Ninth Street, Suite 1520
Cleveland, OH 44114
Phone: (216) 621-5133/ Fax: (216) 621-1181
E-mail: jcerne@mckinneyad.com
Contents of the July-August 2007 Issue of Menopause: The
Journal of The North American Menopause Society
VOLUME 14, NUMBER 4, 2007
Editorials
Perspective on menopausal vasomotor symptoms, CAM, and the SWAN
JoAnn V. Pinkerton, MD and Lisa M. Pastore, PhD
Isoflavones and cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women: no free lunch
Cynthia A. Stuenkel, MD
Endogenous androgens and cardiovascular risk
Robert A. Wild, MD, PhD, MPH
Directly comparing routes of administration and types of hormone therapy on risk markers for
breast cancer
James K. Pru, PhD
Articles
Cross-sectional analysis of specific complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by
racial/ethnic group and menopausal status: the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation
(SWAN)
Ellen B. Gold, PhD, Yali Bair, PhD, Guili Zhang, PhD, Jessica Utts, PhD, Gail A. Greendale, MD, Dawn
Upchurch, PhD, Laura Chyu, MA, Barbara Sternfeld, PhD, and Shelley Adler, PhD
Data were analyzed from 2,118 women who completed the sixth annual visit in the Study of Women’s
Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multisite, multiethnic, longitudinal study of midlife women. More
than half of the women used some type of complementary and alternative medicine; use of most types of
complementary and alternative medicine differed significantly by race/ethnicity, sociodemographic
factors, comorbidities, and health behaviors but was largely unrelated to menopausal status or symptom
reporting.
Effect of 6 months of exercise and isoflavone supplementation on clinical cardiovascular risk factors
in obese postmenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind study
Mylene Aubertin-Leheudre, MSc, Christine Lord, MSc, Abdelouahed Khalil, PhD, and Isabelle J.
Dionne, PhD
It is unknown whether isoflavones combined with an aerobic program could prevent cardiovascular
disease risks. This study demonstrated that 6 months of exercise combined with isoflavones improved
body composition and sex hormone-binding globulin levels to a greater extent than exercise alone.
Endogenous androgen levels and cardiovascular risk profile in women across the adult life span
Robin J. Bell, MD, PhD, Sonia L. Davison, MD, PhD, Mary-Anne Papalia, MD, Dean P. McKenzie, BA
(Hons), and Susan R. Davis, MD, PhD
In a cross-sectional study of non-healthcare-seeking adult women we found that sex-hormone-binding
globulin (SHBG) made an independent contribution to variations in serum levels of C-reactive protein,
high-density lipoprotein and triglycerides, providing support for the independent predictive value of low
SHBG for cardiovascular risk profile.
Effects of estradiol with oral or intravaginal progesterone on risk markers for breast cancer in a
postmenopausal monkey model
Charles E. Wood, DVM, PhD, Regine L. Sitruk-Ware, MD, Yun-Yen Tsong, PhD, Thomas C. Register,
PhD, Cynthia J. Lees, DVM, PhD, and J. Mark Cline, DVM, PhD
Micronized progesterone delivered by vaginal ring is readily absorbed into the systemic circulation and
produces more stable serum concentrations than oral administration. However, no significant differences
were found between standard doses of oral and intravaginal progesterone (P4) on breast epithelial
proliferation. These findings do not support the idea that intravaginal P4 has an inherently safer risk
profile than oral P4 in the postmenopausal breast.
Effects of the phytoestrogen genistein on hot flushes, endometrium, and vaginal epithelium in
postmenopausal women: a 1-year randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
Rosario D’Anna, MD, Maria Letizia Cannata, MD, Marco Atteritano, MD, Francesco Cancellieri, MD,
Francesco Corrado, MD, Giovanni Baviera, PhD, Onofrio Triolo, MD, Francesco Antico, MD, Agostino
Gaudio, MD, Nicola Frisina, MD, Alessandra Bitto, MD, Francesca Polito, PhD, Letteria Minutoli, MD,
Domenica Altavilla, PhD, Herbert Marini, MD, and Francesco Squadrito, MD
In a 12-month, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the phytoestrogen
genistein has been shown to be effective on vasomotor symptoms without adverse effects on
endometrium.
Raloxifene improves the ovariectomy-induced impairment in endothelium-dependent vasodilation
Kazuhiro Takahashi, MD, PhD, Akiko Mori-Abe, MD, PhD, Keiko Takata, MD, Tsuyoshi Ohta, MD, Jun
Kawagoe, MD, PhD, Seiji Tsutsumi, MD, PhD, Masahide Ohmichi, MD, PhD, and Hirohisa Kurachi,
MD, PhD
Raloxifene rapidly restored the flow-mediated dilatation which was impaired after surgical menopause.
Raloxifene may be effective for ameliorating and maintaining the endothelial function in premenopausal
women who undergo ovariectomy.
Articles from the Workshop on “Cross-cultural Comparisons of Midlife and Aging”
Cross-cultural comparisons: midlife, aging, and menopause
Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer, PhD and Lynnette Leidy Sievert, PhD
This summary introduces 15 papers that examine menopause, midlife, and aging from a cross-cultural
perspective, reviews the comparative method, differentiates between etic and emic data, and questions
whether there are core menopausal symptoms across research sites.
Potential use of biomarkers for analyzing interpopulation and cross-cultural variability in
reproductive aging
Gillian R. Bentley, PhD and Shanthi Muttukrishna, PhD
This article summarizes the significant variability that exists between women and populations in many
physiological aspects of reproductive aging. It also reviews a number of biomarkers that are useful for
measuring reproductive aging as well as problems associated with their use.
Conducting cross-cultural research in teams and the search for the “culture-proof” variable
Patricia Draper, PhD
This article addresses the problems researchers face when they must render information collected in
different cultural settings into coding categories that encompass all the settings.
A symptomatic approach to understanding women’s health experiences: a cross-cultural
comparison of women aged 20 to 70 years
Lorraine Dennerstein, AO, DPM, PhD, MBBS, FRANZCP, Philippe Lehert, DrEg, PhD, Patricia E.
Koochaki, PhD, BA, Alessandra Graziottin, MD, Sandra Leiblum, PhD, and Jeanne Leventhal Alexander,
MD, FABPN, FRCPC, FAPA, FACPsych
Seven symptoms were linked to indicators of ovarian hormonal depletion: hot flashes; night sweats; poor
memory; difficulty sleeping; aches in the neck, head, or shoulders; vaginal dryness; and difficulty with
sexual arousal.
Cross-cultural comparisons of health-related quality of life in Australian and Japanese midlife
women: the Australian and Japanese Midlife Women’s Health Study
Debra J. Anderson, PhD and Toyoko Yoshizawa, PhD
Research suggests that there are significant differences between Australian and Japanese midlife women
in health-related quality of life and some of the factors that contribute to these areas. It is important that
consideration be given to incorporating the same tool within the cross-cultural design of studies so that
comparisons between cultures and patterns of healthy aging can be made.
Disentangling cultural issues in quality of life data
Nancy E. Avis, PhD and Alicia Colvin, MPH
This article examines the impact of acculturation, as defined by language use, in explaining ethnic
differences in reporting health-related quality of life.
Are the effects of risk factors for timing of menopause modified by age? Results from a British
birth cohort study
Gita Mishra, PhD, Rebecca Hardy, PhD, and Diana Kuh, PhD
This study finds that the early life factors of being breast-fed and having higher cognitive ability
independently influence age at menopause, whereas the effects of weight at 2 years, parental divorce
during childhood, and mother’s age at menopause varied according to the women’s age at menopause.
The roles of biologic and nonbiologic factors in cultural differences in vasomotor symptoms
measured by surveys
Sybil L. Crawford, PhD
Cultural differences in vasomotor symptom reporting on surveys reflect both differences in the underlying
biology, which are likely to influence vasomotor symptom occurrence, and differences in nonbiologic
sociocultural factors such as attitudes toward menopause, which are likely to be related to vasomotor
symptom perception and reporting. Consequently, it is important to consider interactions of culture and
biology in studies of vasomotor symptoms.
“I take the good with the bad, and I moisturize”: defying middle age in the new millennium
Yewoubdar Beyene, PhD, Catherine Gilliss, DNSc, and Kathryn Lee, PhD
This qualitative study reports on how a premenopausal cohort of women in their forties understand
“middle age.” Menopause is understood as a natural event that is out of women’s control, whereas their
health and appearance were deemed something they can and should control.
Variation in sweating patterns: implications for studies of hot flashes through skin conductance
Lynnette Leidy Sievert, PhD
Women in Puebla, Mexico demonstrated a higher rate of concordance between subjective and objective
(sternal) measures of hot flashes and a significantly lower mean score for false negative measures
compared to women in Amherst, Massachusetts. Although women in Mexico were more likely to
describe hot flashes on the back of their neck, the addition of nuchal monitoring did not increase the rate
of concordance between subjective and objective measures within the Mexican sample.
Chilliness: a vasomotor symptom in Japan
Melissa K. Melby, PhD, CPGS, MPhil, MA
The symptom hiesho (chilliness) seems to be a more important vasomotor symptom than hot flushes and
sweats in Japanese women and may reflect differing thermoregulatory physiology, possibly influenced by
dietary soy.
Women’s midlife health across cultures: DAMES comparative analysis
Michelle A. Parsons, SM and Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer, DSc
This article explores self-reported health of middle-aged women in Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, and the
United States using the Decisions At Menopause Comparative Study (DAMES) data. Quantitative and
qualitative data illustrate that menopausal symptoms may in many cases be overshadowed by other
concerns, such as family and work responsibilities.
An application of the theory of life’s lesions to the study of the menopausal transition
Kaja Finkler, PhD
This article illuminates the experiential, existential and contextual sources influencing menopausal
manifestations. The concept of life’s lesions is proposed and suggests that women’s experiences of
physiological changes occurring during the menopausal period may be promoted by specific aspects of
their lives, described in the paper, that are embedded in society and culture.
Environmental contexts of menopause in Spain: comparative results from recent research
Cristina Bernis, PhD and David Sven Reher, PhD
The process of reproductive aging for women in the region of Madrid, Spain, living in different
environmental contexts show significant disparities in age at menopause, in the prevalence and type of the
many menopausal symptoms, and in the degree of medicalization of their own change of life. Even when
adjusting for basic confounders, the environmental context significantly influences the pace of aging as
well as the experience of hot flashes. These disparities are best understood as the result of the interaction
among biological, ecological, and behavioral factors influencing women both earlier in life and during the
change of life they are experiencing now.
Symptoms, menopause status, and country differences: a comparative analysis from DAMES
Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer, DSc, David Reher, PhD, and Matilda Saliba, MSc
Surveys on representative samples of women aged 45-55 in Massachusetts, Spain, Lebanon, and
Morocco, show differences in reported symptom frequencies across sites, but also similarities in core
symptoms including hot flashes; the article examines the determinants of these differences and
similarities.
Symptom groupings at midlife: cross-cultural variation and association with job, home, and life
change
Lynnette Leidy Sievert, PhD, Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer, PhD, and Matilda Saliba, MSc
A study of symptom clusters in Morocco, Lebanon, Spain, and the United States demonstrates crosspopulation
variation. Variables that predict symptom groupings (eg, job change, marital status,
menopause status, or level of education) also differed in country-specific ways.

Three Big Rules for Eating and Reaching Your Fitness Goals

Whether your fitness goal is weight loss, athletic performance, more energy, better health, or just simply toning up, it is vital that you pay attention to your nutrition and food intake to reach this goal. In my experience as a personal trainer, working with thousands of clients over a period of 16 years, I observed that the role that food intake plays in a person reaching his or her fitness goal is paramount. In fact, it makes up for more than 75% of the influence of whether or not a person is successful. The challenge for me was that people who would be working very hard in the gym expected to see results and couldn't understand why they weren't getting them, even after all that work. I would always say to my clients and anyone in the gym that would listen, "You can work out ‘till the cows come home, but if you're not eating well, your body won't change, at least not cosmetically, period." Frequently, that statement would be met with some confusion and the response that they had been eating well, and things just weren't working anyway. Well, upon further review of the actual diet and food intake the clients actually had, it usually wasn't difficult to see what could be improved with them so they could start seeing the results (typically weight loss) that they desired.

What I found was that people who want to lose weight believe that the only way that is going to happen is if they eat less food, which in many cases is actually counter to what the person actually needs. They have been eating a certain way for awhile and they are dissatisfied with their appearance, so they take the food intake they have been eating and they reduce the calories while they come to the gym and work with a personal trainer. They get sore and maybe see some change in the beginning of their program, but it isn't long before they are at a plateau and frustrated, because this plateau certainly isn't the result of a lack of effort.

Here is where a basic knowledge of the way that food intake actually influences weight loss is a tremendous help. It takes some of the mystery out of the equation and allows a person to make some intelligent choices that will help them reach their fitness goals. There are three big concepts that I find have really helped people get a grasp of the basics.

The first is to EAT ENOUGH! As I said before, the tendency is for people to really restrict their food intake in an effort to lose weight. If a person comes into beginning a fitness program having truly been an overeater, then a reduction in calories is appropriate. However, the culprit with most people who are overweight or overfat is not that they eat too much, it's that their metabolism is shot from a lack of exercise and bad eating habits. So, ironically, one of the things that has to happen with a person who wants to lose weight is that they frequently have to increase their overall intake of food somewhat to keep up with the demands of the new exercise and keep from starving, allowing the metabolism to rise naturally.

The second is to EAT OFTEN. Rule #1 doesn't do any good if all the calories you might be taking in come at dinner after starving yourself all day. This is the biggest single reason people have trouble with their physiques, this lack of regular eating. Regular eating throughout the day never lets the body get too hungry or too full, and the body responds by raising the metabolism and burning more fat. The ideal number of meals and snacks combined throughout the day is from 4-6, spaced evenly starting with breakfast as soon as you get up in the morning.

The last rule is to EAT BALANCED! I once had a client who said that she was eating 5 times a day like I had suggested, yet upon further examination I found that she was eating a handful of Cheerios for three of those meals. The result was that she wasn't eating enough food overall to fuel her body, and she was missing some key necessities in her diet, like adequate amounts of protein, that kept her from reaching her fitness goals. Eating balanced means getting adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fruits and vegetables spaced evenly throughout the day with each meal, if possible. This controls appetite and keeps the body feeling well fueled throughout the day, contributing to fat loss.

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Find personal trainer with the fitness and nutrition information you are seaching for at LiveLeanToday.com. LiveLeanToday.com has a full library of diet, exercise, and supplement information.

Hormone Therapy Still an Issue for Women

In 2002 the study was released that linked hormone replacement therapy with heart attacks, strokes, and cancer. This a was a huge shock at the time with many women using prescribed hormone therapy from their doctors to treat their symptoms of menopause.

One key factor though in the hormone therapy debate is that all women as they age increase their risk of these diseases.

The debate and new research continues on hormone therapy though there are not hormone therapy options for women who want to stay away from it completely.