December 8, 2004

SLEEP DEPRIVATION LINKED TO INCREASED HUNGER & WEIGHT GAIN

Happy Wednesday!

Christmas is coming. Are you prepared? We may have some great gift ideas that you can get at the Optimal Fitness Center. Take a look at some of our services & products:

1. Body Work:
   Massage therapy, your first step to a healthier, more relaxed body, mind and spirit. OFC's Therapeutic Massage will allow your body to heal itself as it was always meant to do. Some of the favorites offered at OFC are:
   
   SPORTS MASSAGE
   DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE
   MEDICAL MASSAGE
   LaSTONE THERAPY
   ESSENTIAL OIL TREATMENTS
   

A special treat for you and your employees would be to have our Chair Massage brought right into your work place.

We also offer Prenatal Massage and Oncology Massage for those very special people in your lives.

Other therapies include: Acupressure, Reflexology, Reiki, Vitaflex, Crystal Therapy, and Therapeutic Steam.

After our move we will be offering more of the spa type treatments like Parisian Body Polish and Ayuvedic Massage.

1. Personal Training: Private training is the best way to achieve your desired results. It will give you constant technique monitoring, motivation, and an increased commitment to your workout. You will work out harder, more consistently, and more efficiently than you would on your own. There will be no wasted time wondering what to do next. You will also progress faster because your program will be changed more frequently, given the goals of the program have been accomplished.
   
   
2. Metabolic Typing: Healthexcel's Metabolic Typing is an easy-to-use, proven technology that allows you to rapidly identify your own highly individualized dietary needs. This extraordinary technology represents the combined efforts of some of this century's leading medical researchers, people who are well known for pioneering achievements in nutritional science. You will know how to select just the right body fuel, foods, food combinations and nutrients that will enable your body to function at peak efficiency.
   
   
3. Nutrition Audio Program: "You Are What You Eat" audio program is proving to be one of 2004's best sellers! Paul Chek highlights issues to consider when selecting the foods we consume. As Paul points out, our bodies replace millions of cells each day, as our tissues turn over continually. These new cells are made out of the building blocks that come from our food and drink. Do you want your bones, muscles, eyes and hair to be made from low quality fast food or nutritious organic produce?
   
   Paul talks about these ideas and more in this informative and entertaining audio program. Some of the topics he covers include the importance of water quality, food packaging and processing, issues with grains, meats and vegetables, plus more.
   The complete program runs just under nine hours in length, on eight audio CDs or six audiocassettes.
   
   For more info about Paul Chek go to: Chek Institute
   
   
4. Exercise Balls: Increase balance, strength and performance. You can even use them at your desk as a chair!
   
   
5. Foam Rolls: Foam Rollers are cylindrical in shape and lightweight. They're designed to enhance balance, body awareness, flexibility, mobility, relaxation, posture and dynamic strengthening.
   
   
6. Medicine Balls: These weighted balls are designed for easy throwing and catching and come in several different sizes.
   
   
7. The Stick: The use of the INTRACELL Stick dynamically increases ranges of motion, promotes musculoskeletal flexibility, improves limb circulation and relieves muscular spasms and tension. Some of the therapeutic indications for the Stick are: Athletic Injuries, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Muscular Strains, Musculoskeletal Pain, Post Surgery, Rotator Cuff Injury, Shin Splints, Tendonitis and much more.
   
   
8. Sit Disc: A Sit Disc is a cross between a big exercise ball and a sitting wedge. It can be used on any type of chair or stool to promote an upright posture or used as an unbalanced object to improve balance and to increase abdominal strength. A bonus is that it is small enough to carry around!

If you're not sure what to get someone: gift certificates make a perfect gift for anyone.

Now on to the topic of this week...

The topic of the week is on the recent research linking SLEEP DEPRIVATION TO INCREASEDHUNGER & WEIGHT GAIN.

According to two different research teams at Stanford University and the University of Chicago, new research suggests sleep levels do influence how much people weigh. This may be new to the researchers at theses Universities, but at the Optimal Fitness Center, sleep is a one of the main variables for success for all of our lifestyle programs. It especially important for weight loss, but if you are an athlete desiring optimal levels of performance or someone with an injury, hoping to speed up rehab, sleep is of utmost importance. It is hard to recover from the physical & mental stress of the day without sleep. For more information about the science linking sleep to weight gain go to: Mercury News.

Have a healthy and safe week!

Brien