Some say that green tea is the healthiest drink because it is packed with powerful compounds that can benefit the body.  The International Institute of Sustainable Development says it is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water: 3 billion cups every day. We will look at the effects green tea has on fat and weight loss in this article.

What is Green Tea?

Green tea is the common name for Camellia sinensis.  Green tea is made by steaming, pan frying, and drying the leaves and buds of the plant. Black, oolong, and all other teas come from the same plant, but what determines the type of tea is the oxidation of the leaves, and green tea leaves are unoxidized which is why it contains beneficial antioxidants and polyphenols!

Green tea also contains caffeine and the highest level of catechins (natural phenols and antioxidants) when it comes to teas. There are 4 catechins in green tea, and one of the main catechins that is being studied for fat loss is EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate).

What is the benefit of catechins for fat loss?

Research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says catechins may help the body metabolize fat effectively, improve metabolic disorders, improve insulin sensitivity and increase Brown Adipose Tissue (body fat) which helps to reduce the White Adipose Tissue and burns calories.

It seems that the catechins and caffeine work well in combination. Additional research from the NIH says a green-tea mixture improves weight maintenance through thermogenesis, fat oxidation, and sparing fat free mass.  Peer reviewed research stated that catechins and caffeine play a part in metabolism that can lead to weight loss.

How can you get the best weight loss benefits from green tea?

Medical News Today suggests 2 to 3 cups a day to help with weight loss which is generally safe, but some people with heart problems or high blood pressure should be careful consuming a lot of caffeine. There is more and more research available to help take health to another level. I will definitely get my green tea in today.

Every day of our lives we have thoughts of planning for the future, for our families, savings, 401K, and life insurance. That way we can retire and live the remainder of our time comfortably with money, to do things with family and maybe travel. But do we really consider how we want those things to happen? Make sure to keep in mind of health and wellness, mental, and physical, and sexual health. What does quality of life mean to you? Is it the hope of good genes and things we don’t have control over? We all want to have control over our lives, body, and environment for as long as possible. The fact that the thought of having to give up anything in life because you cannot do it any longer is not even in your vocabulary.

I decided to ask a few of my clients and patients, what quality of life as they were aging meant? The answers were not shocking at all. As a matter of fact, the answers should be something that people of any age would find important to incorporate into their life. In no particular order, they mentioned overall health and wellness, sleep, having hobbies, visiting with family and friends, exercising that includes physical and mental, laughter and having fun, and last but not least, having a good intimate sex life. All of these had equal weight, except the family and friends component. That was the most important thing that was noted.

Overall health and wellness to them meant that they were eating nutritious foods, having doctor’s appointments, and taking medicines correctly. Getting good sleep was important to them for recovery from the day and to help mentally. Hobbies helped to continue to do things that they were passionate about, which they felt contributed to keeping them mentally sharp. Visiting with family and friends kept bonds and connections to loved ones to provide a support system, and discourage loneliness and depression. Exercises like walking, golf, yoga, dancing, and hiking were key, but water exercises seemed to be popular for less stress on the joints. Laughing and fun relieves stress and who doesn’t like to laugh! Having someone they could talk to about things in common and with a positive intimate sex life was just as important to them for quality of life and they felt that all the things listed above helped to enhance that part of their life.

This is the 3^rd of 4 articles in researching the stereotypes of aging and I have found that the things we want as we age are no different than younger years, except we definitely know what we want and we want to live just as determined, as we did earlier in our life. In the last installment, I will share my own keys for quality of life. Visit me on FB @wholebodyfitnessandwellness

In the Western World stereotypes drive our culture, especially perceptions of aging. During my time in school, I quickly realized what that meant to my younger counterparts and how they viewed me in class. I went over my experiences in the last article, Part 1 in this series. I know that there are some perceptions that we take on in our lives through others’ lenses, but there are subjective things that determine how we move and feel in our world. How we see ourselves and our self-concept is important. Is it more important how we see ourselves or how others see us? What defines what we accept internally from external cues, thoughts, or comments?

Truth be told I felt some kinda way when no one wanted me to be their partner in gym or any other class that I had. I never had that issue on the playground growing up, but by nature I have gotten older. Now I am on the other side of the fence waiting on the sideline saying, “pick me, pick me”, so I will not be the last one left just to walk on to a team. Yes, I was in gym class playing dodgeball, kickball, tag, capture the flag, etc. With children that were half my age and I say children because I had some on their age!! I knew my ability and I found myself wanting to show what I could do, but not kill myself in the process. Even though I felt 25, I was 48. I could look in decent shape all I wanted, but the reality was that I was not 18 or 25 years old, hell, I was not even close to 30 “LOL” “LOL”.

Actual expectations of how aging looks and feels to people of different age groups differ greatly and are shown in this research published in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The chart shows that the stereotypes are emphasized way more than expected and that older adults have a better quality of life than younger age groups!!! How about that!!?

Those numbers look good. How we see ourselves, aging has a great look in all the major areas of life and it looks balanced and positive. We Baby Boomers and Generation Xers are health-conscious, love being active and social, we embrace group fitness classes, rock climbing, martial arts, ballroom dancing, and going back to school to change passions!!

How do you feel about the phrase “age-defying”? What assumptions do you challenge about aging? Provide some comments below. Come on over to @Whole-body Fitness and Wellness on FB, formally Stephanie Whitten Fitness. I provide mindset and life coaching and consulting through fitness and wellness. Embrace, Endure, Excel, Defy!! Embrace your journey, Endure life’s challenges, Excel daily, Defy the odds!!! Give life your “ALL”! Appreciate, Love, and Live Life!

Over the decades when thinking of aging, the mind conjures up images of people with gray hair, walking bent over with a cane, and conversations repeating the same answer repeatedly. This vision depicts the daily perceptions of aging and the elderly with stereotypes that are not attractive. I have seen it on a regular basis and experienced it myself, 8 years doing home care and going back to school for Health and Fitness Science at the age of 47. I have cared for the elderly, watching, and helping them in all kinds of capacities. Preparing food, surgery recovery, going for walks, in and out of beds, wheelchairs, showers, balance training, and assisting with stretching and range of motion. I have observed the wide range that ages 45+ can show up in their families’ lives as well as their own.

When I registered to go back to school, my very first class was gym and I never thought about my age being a factor in anything I did. I had a torn ligament, tendons, and a cracked wrist from catching a paralyzed patient from falling on the floor. I had 4 pins in my wrist and a cast on my arm from surgery. We had to pick partners for fitness testing, and of course, no one wanted to be partners with the “Old Woman” with the broken arm!!!!LOL!!!!  Here I am in a class full of 18 – 25-year Olds at the peak of their physical selves!!! LOL!!! Let me paint this pic…. I am the oldest person in class. Yep!! Kinda intimidating!! No, not really, because I knew why I was there. I knew who I was and what I could do. I knew my passion to help others and nothing was going to stand in my way to learn what I needed to learn, not even a wrist attached to my body with four pins and a cast on it! 

My partner was a young lady that did not like to even exercise, how did I know that? Every opportunity she was on her phone and she said she hated to exercise! LOL!! We had to do sit-ups, step-ups and run 1.5 miles under a certain time. I had that covered, but the real problem was the push-ups, with the cast on. While listening to students having a conversation about the “Old Woman with the Cast” and how was she going to do pushups? Little did they know I was asking myself the same question. I never thought about not doing them, but how? So I got out a mat like everyone else, the instructor said, “GO”! In all the thinking I totally forgot I had 2 arms!!!! I got on my knees and proceeded to do one-arm pushups. Yes, never knew I could do it till that very moment.

This article is the start of a series that will be looking at some of the myths of aging, and how I have found ways that I have dealt with these changes myself, and other tips. I asks that you follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wholebodyfitnessandwellness.

“The concept of total wellness recognized that our every thought, word, and behavior, affect our greater health and well-being. And we, in turn are affected not only emotionally, but also physically and spiritually.”

Do we know the benefits of a focus of health, wellness, and a positive well-being into our lifestyle? Do we know the differences in the three? We often use these words interchangeably, but they are very different. Let’s start by getting a clear understanding of how they are defined. Merriam-Webster defines health as a condition of being sound in body, mind, and spirit. Surprise, there is more to health than just the physical!! See, health is the total you and it is the sum of all the aspects of you and your life. Wellness is the quality or state of being in good health. It is how you actively work towards the goal of health. Positive well-being is the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous. It is how you feel and experience those aspects of your life.

There are six dimensions to wellness: Physical, social, intellectual, environmental, spiritual, and emotional. They all should be maintained in balance. *Emotional is not listed below since it’s connected to the other five dimensions. 

1 Physical: When we eat well and exercise, we feel better physically, which helps us cope with stress and better handle emotional challenges. I just mentioned two dimensions working together. 

2 Social Skill: Practicing social skills by using gratitude, spending time with people that mean a lot to you as well as meeting new ones. Now with the pandemic we have had a lot of challenges meeting this dimension. Technology has been the glue that has kept us close to our family, friends, and businesses. Also, with recent vaccines as well as social distancing, there are more options to get together face to face. Being around people that you enjoy and being able to touch and hug is part of being healthy. 

3 Intellectual: Intellectual wellness is always helpful in growth and learning a new skill builds self-confidence, that aids in a positive well-being. Look at that!!! Another chip in your wellness bucket!! 

4 Environmental: Our environment is just as important, whether it is living in clutter, being exposed to chemical toxins or toxic people. One affects the physical directly, and the other two affects your mental and emotional wellness. But wait, if something affects us mentally and emotionally, isn’t that physical also? Mental and emotional stress can cause high blood pressure, increased heart rate and hormone levels. If it is consistent, it can be chronic and cause major DIS-EASE.

5 Spiritual: Now when it comes to our spiritual wellness, it is about finding your meaning and purpose in life. You can do this by caring for yourself and others, meditating, or taking walks in nature.

I did not create a separate “emotional” by itself because it is directly connected to the other dimensions and is self-explanatory. We often hear people say, “I want to live till I am 100 years old”, but do you just want to be alive or live? All of these dimensions are the path to help you live a quality life versus just being alive and aging. Being mindful of them daily and incorporating them into your life will increase your positive well-being. Come join me on FB at Stephanie Whitten Fitness for more information on how to improve your dimensions of wellness.

After I graduated from college, I left my consistent training days behind me. Not necessarily because I wanted to, but because I thought that was what grownups do, unless you were and Olympic Athlete or in the pros. I got married and my four children kept me moving.

I was determined to keep them moving and learning as they grew, but that was it, until we found karate. I put my daughter in a class to give her some socialization, because I homeschooled my children. It was a challenge to sit on the side and draw stick people to help her when we go home, so I decided I would start taking karate class with my daughter just so I could help her when she was home at the start of the new year.

As time went by, I began to love martial arts, and stretched out my wings. I competed and won three state championships, I became a sensei, so did my children. Every day we went to class, practiced, trained, and taught children and women how to protect themselves, together. Little did I know that making that decision would create a major dynamic in our household that would define a large part of our life as a family.

My entire family learned and taught karate together. I cannot tell you what it meant to spend that time learning and teaching alongside my children. A decision I made to just be there for my daughter started me on a journey that changed and enriched my life. Never did I imagine the result would be that I would participate in kumite’s, become a 3rd degree blackbelt and help so many people, while having so many years of joy doing it!!

When we set goals, we are often so focused on the result that we do not realize the journey is a major part and is just as important as the goal itself. As you can see my goal was simple, but it kept changing as I moved forward to reaching a new goal. The everyday progress was as small as just attending class, practicing 10mins every day, learning a new Japanese term daily.

The key to not focusing on the result is creating a roadmap or a compass that will serve as directions to get to our destination. When we went on a trip, we planned the route, we used to look at maps, now technology has given us GPS to help get us there. It is through the journey that we gradually make changes to get our result. On the way to a destination, we make stops at self-confidence, knowledge of our strengths/weaknesses, determination, resilience, and enjoyment.

I like to use these categories as a guide for goal making. You can use anything for your New Year’s Resolution. These are in no order, but all things in our life need balance. An example is a table, when our legs are well balanced, we can stack more responsibility onto the table without it falling. Let us imagine each category is a leg on a table and if one or more legs is lacking you will not have a stable table!

• Self-Care
• Spiritual
• Health
• Wealth
• Love
• Knowledge
• Travel
• Community

To summarize, our goals should be SMART, but broken down into small pitstops to show us how we can get to the destination. Who you become while on the way to your destination is just as important as the end. Using a roadmap or compass will give you so many little accomplishments that motivate you to continue your path. Choosing where you start is not as important as STARTING!!! Come join me on our journey to health and wellness. Embrace, Excel and Defy!!! While you Give Life Your ALL!! (Appreciate, Love and Live Life!!). You can also find me on FB @stephaniewhittenfitness

We are sitting increasingly every day and slowly we are gaining weight, that makes us susceptible to hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and a wide range of cancers. As a fitness professional I know the standard conversation and the weight loss equation very well, eat more + more than you move = weight gain, and eat less + exercise = weight loss. It is amazingly simple, right? Wrong!!!

Many of us think that willpower is the answer and we write off ever trying to lose weight, because we do not have that part to add to the equation. It is true that willpower, being a part of human behavior is so complex, like so much of the makeup of humans. There are many factors that drive weight gain and loss, from the brain, hormones, sleep, genes, environment, and stress to name a few. Our willpower alone, for most cannot withstand all those major players.

A large amount of weight loss focuses on behaviors and strategies to lose weight. What if we build knowledge of the things that are predictors of weight gain to get an understanding to prevent weight gain and learn to manage it? I conducted a little experiment on myself. I am a Generation X woman that normally works out for at least 30min, 6 days a week doing strength training and HIIT for cardio for over 5 years.

I wanted to see what would happen if I made one lifestyle change in my day, so I chose to eat a Bojangles biscuit every day for a month. I kept all my other eating habits in place, except for taking out the additional calories of the biscuit, exercise, and all. At the end of the month, I had put 3 inches on my waist.

I was shocked!!! WOW!! Just one biscuit. I could not wait to start eating like I usually did, because I did have a lot of heaviness after eating that biscuit in the morning. I had to switch my workout time around. I could not do cardio first thing in the morning on a biscuit stomach, so I would do my lifting and do HIIT in the afternoon. I got it done with protein shakes and meals in!! I was so excited to get the midsection down, so I could fit in my pants. The end of the month came, and it was time to measure!! I could not believe my eyes!!! The 3 inches had not budged.

So next month I added more water…no change!!! The following month I increased my cardio….no change!!!! Added more cardio…no change!!!! Added a reduction in calories…no change!!!! Added more fiber…no change!!!! I added more good fats…no change!!! So here we are at 7 months out with the same 3 inches that only took a month to put on, with only one added thing to my diet, with every other good habit unchanged!!! This is crazy, but it was my reality check and confirmation. Just imagine if I had added two or three.

That one insignificant change in my eating causes a change in the structure of my workout, the way my clothes fit, which caused a change in how I felt about myself and the stress of trying to figure out how to get it off.

I started something new to my lifestyle, intermittent fasting and it finally came off. I have been training my body for a while and have learned to pay close attention to how I feel and my health, especially being over 50. I realized sooner than later, but much later in life that what I put in my mouth casually makes a difference. Making ourselves aware of how our bodies respond to our internal and external world, limiting the foods that we know will cause our body to react in a way that does not benefit us in life, is an advantage we have.

In conclusion there are so many predictors and factors of weight gain and loss, so we want to do what we can to prevent it and be proactive. Recognizing that the smallest things can impact our bodies to snowball into undesirable health and our change is not as easy as just saying I will use willpower but being flexible may have some benefits. Sharing this part of my many journeys is just a small part of a series that we are doing to kick off our New Year’s Resolution information articles.

You can always join me on FB @stephaniewhittenfitness. Embrace, Excel, Defy and Give Life Your ALL! Appreciate, Love and Live life!!!

I have asked those questions myself being a master’s athlete in figure and track and field for 5 years. I have been dealing with sitting around daily, not being active and my training has always been part of balance in my life. It is my sanity, helps me with depression, anxiety, focus, and it brings happiness to my life. Dealing with this as an adult athlete that trains athletes, I totally understand their feelings as well, as knowing I am a little better equipped with dealing with the uncertainty.

Children and teens had a lot to deal with before Covid and this pandemic adds fuel to a train that may jump the tracks at any time. They look for answers to their questions, guidance, and hope that they will have something they love back in their future.

Wearing masks is a new norm for us all and that is a form of personal protective equipment, but athletes have their own form of PPE. We as parents and coaches must find ways to help guide athletes to find their PPE’s, ways to deal with the things they are trying to tackle mentally, emotionally and physically. There are basic things that we all need and as an athlete one is at the top of the list, self-care. Self-care comes in many forms such as nutrition, hydration, sleep, continue to train, recovery, meditate, keeping connected to friends, coaches, and the outside world through technology.

Eating foods that help with fueling workouts with a balance of good fats like avocados, nuts or olive oil is essential. Carbs are one that we can lean on a little too much with sweets, but our best bets are fruits and vegetables and finally protein in the form of lean meats, eggs or vegan combinations of beans and rice. Not all beans or grains are complete proteins, so check to make sure. Hydrate with water and drinks with electrolytes by setting your watch, computer, or phone to go off every hour and drink 4 to 8oz of fluids.

Making sure you get enough sleep happens to be just as important as eating. Your body heals and your brain does some wonderous things while sleeping. Contact your friends or coach to get workouts and you can zoom each other your goals or talk to your parents about safe ways for you to train. Meditation is something I know you hear a lot about, but top athletes use this daily as well as visualization and imagery. 

Set goals for your day and use a journal to keep track of your plans and accomplishments. As a parent with a senior athlete going through these same issues, I do a daily check-in and talk to her about how she feels, how she wants to approach her training, what she wants to eat for the day, online school and I even try to do some training with her. Now my training is not that of a high school student. She helps to push me in areas I need work, and where I am strong, I push her.

Really find ways to help and lean on each other during these times. Your athlete would love to know how they have helped Mom or Dad through this trying time. There are always challenges and unexpected times in our lives that helps us to grow as individuals, but this time the world is being tested and learning to grow at the same time. See you at the finish line!!! 

As a Mater’s Athlete (older athlete), I see the transitions of how my own body has used food going from a child to young adult; after having children, being a figure competitor and now back to competing in sprints. When I was not being active, starchy carbs were not my friend, because I gained weight. As a figure competitor starchy carbs were my friend until it was time for me to go into my cutting phase (lose fat).

I needed the carbs for lifting weights and doing cardio, but I had to know how my body would respond. Now that I’m sprinting again, carbs are my best friend, because sprinting burns a lot of calories and I don’t want to lose too much weight. I cannot eat anything I want like I did when I was a child and have a healthy weight for me.

Then I asked myself, “was it the carbs that I was having a feud with or that I was not moving?” Working with Baby Boomers, I see how their eating has changed from a reduction in eating to not eating at all. After observations over time, I saw a lot of sweets, chips, and processed foods. Food that is brought in by family members is just what their parents liked, not realizing that a lack of nutrition was contributing to the decline of their loved one.

The family members are caught in a hard position because they want to make them happy during the time they are here and not argue over food choices. The next thing I saw were the family members that were very strict about parents’ food and salt intake, and their parents were miserable from those choices. It is very challenging to balance for ourselves, nevertheless for our aging family members.

I also found out why some of my clients were not eating some of their favorite foods or not eating at all. They told me that the food did not taste the same anymore. I was shocked!! WOW!! That is really a good reason. I understand! Who wants to eat something that does not taste good! The world has flooded the market with all kinds of gooey, great tasting foods and we get to this stage in our life where this food tastes like nothing now!! After some research, I found out that the sense of smell, sense of taste and even their medications have an effect on the taste of their food.

The suggestions that I made to others were to see if they could try something all together new. Sit down and pick out some new recipes together to try out. Make eating a big deal – setting the table or maybe some special dishes you use with just them. Make it a very social event. Try adding herbs and spices to make food more flavorful and aromatic. Try some smoothies, shakes or juicing whole fruits and vegetables. Ask their doctor for vitamins or supplements to fill in gaps of their nutrition.

I also saw that texture seemed to be an issue with some with dentures and issues with teeth. Chewing meat or hard veggies can be painful. Try steaming veggies, so you keep the intake of nutrients, and not boiled away. Grind meat or tenderizing it into a softer texture can help chewing tremendously!

My time working with baby boomers has given me some very important insight on their needs and opinions. I am very thankful for their company and the so needed knowledge they bring to our world.

If you are ready to “Embrace, Excel, Defy” and are interested in working with Stephanie to give Life your ALL, you can contact her at 919-757-8245, by e-mail at stephaniewhittenfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook.com/stephaniewhittenfitness.

All of these things are designed to make our lives easier. However, our stress levels, depression and anxiety have skyrocketed far above our past generation. Simply put, our health is declining. Could it be that all of the modern conveniences are the cause? Maybe the depression, anxiety and stress was handled more naturally then, because they moved around for the majority of their day. They were plowing, planting, tending to gardens, feeding livestock, washing and hanging clothes by hand. All day of that movement made them sleepy, so to bed early to rise early.

My Reality

We all have had some form of depression in our lives, but we have excused it away with statements like, ” I am just not hungry,” or “I want another helping of Mac & Cheese,” after having four helpings already. I understand this because I am a comfort food eater myself.

Yes, I’m guilty of this too… I used to eat three hot fudge cakes a day. I would go into the store where the bakery was. The bakers knew me by name and knew what I wanted when they saw me. I would get a fork and eat it in the car before I drove off. I had one after ate my afternoon meal and one in the evening. I did this for two years!

Further Problems

My memory was failing me and that is something I took pride in at one time of my life. I was always tired, did not sleep well and the things I loved to do were not important to me any longer. The negative thoughts built up, because I was gaining weight, not doing things that made me feel good about me. Those hot fudge cakes were giving me a fake boost from the sugar, because I was a sugar addict.

Sugar was replacing those feel good endorphins. To top it off, I was eating them alone, which was comforted me, but reinforced needing the hot fudge cakes. It was an endless cycle that I was creating. It was not until I was running up the stairs one day and was so out of breathe and felt a whole lot of things shake that did not before.

I started really taking a self-inventory! I wanted to be around for my family; I wanted quality of life. I started doing resistance training, walking and building up to interval training.

OH NO, I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE! I had not done any real movement since I was pregnant with my daughter in 1993. I started making this change in 2013.

Finally, I really started to feel good about myself. I was setting and meeting small goals, which gave me a positive outlook on my life, it allowed me to deal with daily stresses, get better sleep and my memory improved tremendously.

How Did I Do It?

Running, walking, biking, swimming and kickboxing are just a few activities that helped me deal with depression, stress and anxiety. They are excellent ways to cope and balance daily ups and downs. 30 minutes a day broken up into 10 to 15 minute increments could make a difference. Start with something you like doing; set goals that are realistic, and realize the barriers that would stand in your way, so you can help yourself be the solution.

If you are ready to “Embrace, Excel, Defy” and are interested in working with Stephanie to give Life your ALL, you can contact her at 919-757-8245, by e-mail at stephaniewhittenfitness@gmail.com, or through Facebook at www.facebook.com/stephaniewhittenfitness.