Discover the REAL reasons why most weight loss plans fail…

Dr. Park interviews Ms. Tara Marie Segundo who shares The Most Overlooked Solutions for Weight Loss.

Tara is an award winning Pro Natural Figure Competitor and a credentialed fitness authority who is a frequent contributor in several top health and fitness magazines, and is also the host of her own radio program, The Time Is Now on Hotradio125.com.

During this 2 part interview, Tara reveals:

• The #1 reason why most people can’t lose weight
  
• Her proprietary 5 Key Success Principles for losing weight and keeping it off
  
• How to strategically achieve your weight loss goals like the Pros do
  
• How to lose weight without counting calories and depriving yourself
  

Two 60 minute MP3 audio recordings for just $17
 

 

 

 

Start Breathing, Sleeping, and Living Better with Dr. Park’s Expert Interview Series!

 

 

 

Proven Methods For Getting Fit and Staying That Way…

• What #1 mistake prevents people from sticking with their exercise regiment and what you can do to avoid this.
• How you can get fit in just 10 minutes a day
• Tips on overcoming the diet “blahs”

As the obesity numbers keep climbing, everyone wants to eat less and to exercise more. This is great if you’re able to exercise moderation and common sense. But if you’re already sick and your frame of reference is unhealthy to begin with, it’s difficult to know when enough is enough. 

Just as those with anorexia diet excessively to cover up their faulty body image, some people with sleep breathing problems like upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS), or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), abuse exercise as a means to cope with the lethargy created by their chronic sleep deprivation.

Addicted to Exercise

A lot of patients I see with UARS and OSA become exercise junkies in the same way that people who don’t sleep enough become coffee addicts. Rather than consume substances to give them a "high", these exercise addicts crave the endorphin fix they get while working out to overcome the constant fatigue they feel from not getting the quality sleep they need. Many of them admit that If they miss even one day of working out, they’ll get agitated, moody, and sometimes downright catatonic. 

For these people, exercise or any physical activity is a coping mechanism for the constant energy drain they feel. The problem is, like any drug, too much exercise, if it’s used to deter them from taking care of their underlying sleep breathing problem, will manifest later into health complications that no amount of exercise may be able to cure. 

What’s Your Sleep Position?

Obviously, not everyone who exercise excessively do so to compensate for an underlying sleep breathing problem. One quick and simple way I use to discern who is and who is not susceptible to having a sleep breathing problem is to ask whether or not they can or like to sleep on their backs. You see, those with sleep breathing problems can only sleep on their sides or more commonly their stomachs. The reason being, that they’ll have difficulty breathing when they’re sleeping otherwise. 

To summarize, my sleep-breathing paradigm proposes that all modern humans have difficulty breathing at night to various degrees due to our unique upper airway anatomy. The voice box is located underneath the tongue, as opposed to animals, where the voice box is located behind the tongue. This location of the voice box under the tongue is necessary for complex speech and language. But this is also what makes our airway vulnerable and unprotected, making us more prone to having the various breathing and swallowing problems that we, as modern humans have. 

What’s worse, it’s thought that due to a radical change in our diets (highly processed foods and refined sugars) over the past century, our jaws are getting narrower and we have more dental crowding. Furthermore, dentists have stated that introduction of bottle-feeding to infants can aggravate dental crowding and malocclusion, which makes everything much worse. All these factors aren’t the only reason for everyone’s sleep problems, but they are problematic if your anatomy is already predisposed. 

So what does breathing have to do with sleep quality? There are two components to this issue: When lying flat on your back, your tongue falls back partially, due to gravity. This narrows the breathing passageway behind your tongue to various degrees. As you fall asleep, the deeper level of sleep you enter, the more your muscles relax, and at a certain point, your tongue can fall back and obstruct your breathing. The more narrow your airway (due to smaller jaws or inflammation due to a cold or allergies), the more likely you’ll stop breathing and wake up to turn over. When you were young, you tossed and turned and eventually figured out that you can sleep much better when sleeping on your side or stomach. The problem is that even on your side or stomach, it’s never perfect, and you’re not able to get deep, efficient sleep, no matter how long you sleep.

Sleep Among Athletes

It’s also not too surprising that many personal trainers and fitness professionals have very similar features: Almost invariably they prefer to sleep only on their sides or stomachs. The same can be said about bodybuilders—a personal trainer/natural body builder friend of mine told me that almost every one in her gym snores. Snoring, incidentally, is a very common trait amongst those who have OSA or UARS. 

Professional football players also have a much higher incidence of obstructive sleep apnea. About 1/3 of all linemen were found to have mild or moderate sleep apnea. Many people assume that this is due to the abnormally thick necks that many football players have. However, it’s not only the fat in the neck—it’s also the muscle mass that impinges on the soft tissues of the upper airway. So in theory, the more muscle bulk you have in your neck, the more breathing problems you’ll have while sleeping, and therefore more fatigue to cope with. This in turn, makes you work all that much harder than let’s say, someone else who may not be sleep deprived, to get the same level of intensity.  It’s hard to say which came first, the sleep breathing problem, or the intense work outs, but once it’s started, it ends up being a self-perpetuating vicious cycle. 

Sleeplessness Can Aggravate Injuries

As a long time track and field enthusiast, I know how important it is to eat right and exercise–especially as you get older. Running helped invigorate me after being cloistered for days studying for finals during medical school, and it still helps me maintain my health while balancing the demands of my work and family. Yet, there are times when I’ve let the running take control. This often happens when I’m outpaced by someone in my age group, or when I’m coping with a stressful event. During these times, I’d often train to the point of illness or injury—at which point, I’m temporarily unable to do the one thing that keeps me healthy and sane.

In this way, if you’re an exercise junky, you’re also more prone to having injuries. It’s like that saying: "The higher you climb, the harder you fall." Unfortunately, once injured, it becomes all that much harder to gain the momentum back. What often occurs is common trap for any athlete but much worse if you have UARS or OSA. The sudden lack of activity can cause you to eat more due to increased levels of stress from increased sleep deprivation. As you gain weight, your upper airway narrows even further, leading to worse deep sleep quality. Another scenario that can happen is if you injure your neck or shoulder. This will prevent you from being able to sleep on your side or stomach, which again, aggravates the vicious cycle.

What I just described may seem a little far fetched, but if you are prone to constant fatigue, snore, or have any other chronic health problems like chronic sinusitis, nasal congestion, throat problems, then the sleep breathing paradigm can potentially explain and help you avoid the various health complications you may experience down the road. One way to see where you’re headed is to look at your parents. More often than not, one or both your parents may snore heavily, and in many cases will have one or more of the complications of untreated obstructive sleep apnea: depression, anxiety, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, heart attack or stroke. 

The best way for you to stay healthy and fit is to eat well, exercise, and most importantly, to sleep better.
 
 

Would you like to sleep like a baby without taking drugs? Americans spend upwards of 3 billion dollars a year on sleep medications, but to avoid the side effects, there are a number of natural remedies you can try first. To get a good quality night’s sleep, try these 6 tips from my new book Second Spring.

1. Relaxing Rituals to Rest Easy

In Chinese Medicine, nighttime is yin time—or, simply, when the body takes care of itself instead of your desires.  Proper sleep is required for your body to repair itself and regenerate. To reach deep, restful sleep, your spirit and heart must be calm. Excessive worry, anxiety, and depression can all disturb the spirit and activate the mind—making it near impossible to fall asleep and stay asleep. Rituals to sooth your spirit and induce a sleep response before bed include soaking your feet in Epson salts for 15 minutes, writing all of your thoughts in a journal to get them out of your head, and practicing relaxation before bed, like the Stress Release meditation below.

2. When Food Disturbs Sleep

When you eat late, you wake up tired. Your body will be busy digesting your dinner while you are trying to sleep, so you won’t feel rested in the morning. Do not eat anything for at least three hours before bedtime.  Also, cut back on eating bacon, cheese, chocolate, ham, potatoes, tomatoes, and sausage, especially before bed. These foods contain tyramine, which inhibits neurochemicals like norepinephrine and can cause insomnia. And, of course if you have sleep problems, caffeine should be cut out.

Eat for sleep! Try eating more grains at dinner; carbohydrates tend to make people sleepy. Another snooze snack is a warm cup of milk; because milk is rich in the amino acid tryptophan, it can sometimes aid in deep sleep. Mix in natural vanilla flavoring for a soothing snack. Or if you prefer, eat 1 cup of natural yogurt an hour before bedtime.

3. A Peaceful Place for Sleep

Your sleeping environment makes a huge difference to the quality of your sleep. Do everything you can to create a quiet and cozy atmosphere. Ideally, your bedroom should be located in the quietest area of your home. Keep the décor minimal. Lighting should be dim and any music that is played should be soothing. Research has found that lavender, vanilla, and green apple are among the best scents to help lower anxiety and induce sleep, making these smells a good choice for a scented candle or heated essential oil. Try to limit your pets to outside of the bedroom because their movements will keep with your body from fully relaxing into deep R. E. M. sleep. As much as possible, your bedroom should be only for sleep.

4. Exercise Enables Sleep

People with regular exercise routines often sleep better and have fewer incidents of insomnia than those don’t get regular physical activity. Exercise promotes sleep and improves sleep quality by altering brain chemistry. Exercising moderately for 20 to 30 minutes three times a day, combined with meditation or tai chi in the evening, will not only help you fall and stay asleep, but will also increase the amount of time you spend in R.E.M. sleep. In fact, for some people, exercise alone is enough to overcome sleep problems. Exercise in the morning or afternoon, but do not exercise for at least two hours before bed.

5. Herbs to Sleep Tight

A calming tea before bedtime can ensure a good night’s sleep. Drink valerian or passionflower (or passiflora) tea before bedtime every night for one month. Simply steep 1 to 2 tablespoons of the dried herbs in one cup of hot water and drink just before bed.

Or look for one with the traditional Chinese herbs zizyphus or jujube seed, bamboo shavings, and oyster shell, which soothe the mind and spirit. 

You might also try Calm-Fort/Sleep formula with useful herbs like lily bulbs, polygala and turmeric that help manage stress and calm the spirit while relieving restlessness and insomnia.

6. A Sleep-Friendly Meditation

I had one patient with insomnia who also felt anxious and even a little depressed. In addition to acupuncture and herbal therapies, I decided to teach her a stress release meditation that she could do before bedtime to help with her anxiety. I am happy to report that she is now sleeping like a baby.

Try this Stress Release meditation, which works for the majority of my patients who have sleeping problems:

Sit comfortably or lie down on your back.  Slow your respiration to deep, abdominal breathing.  Utter the word “calm” in your mind with every exhalation. Focus on relaxing each area of your body in sequence, from the top of your head to your toes.

Starting with the top of your head, inhale and then exhale while visualizing your scalp muscles relaxing.  Say “calm” in your mind.  Repeat this with each body part as you move down through all body parts, front, back, and sides, in succession: your face, throat, chest, arms, stomach, abdomen, thighs, knees, legs, ankles, until finally you reach your feet.  When you’ve relaxed your feet, visualize all the tension in your body leaving through your toes as dark smoke. Practice this for at least 15 minutes before bedtime. 

It will have you sleeping in no time. If you do better with meditative visualizations that are narrated, try my Stress Release CD.

I hope you find the ways to resting easy and waking up refreshed!

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Dr. Maoshing Ni is a doctor of Chinese medicine and an authority in the field of Anti-Aging Medicine. Known simply as ‘Dr. Mao’ to his patients, he has lectured internationally on various topics including women’s health, sleep medicine, longevity medicine, diet and nutrition, herbal therapy, stress management, meditation, lifestyle enhancement, and much more. Click here for more information on Dr. Mao or to access his interview with Dr. Park, 10 Tips for Better Sleep: A Chinese Medicine Doctor’s Perspective.
 

Once the excitement of seeing your newborn settles down, and the fog of post-partum breaks, one of the biggest concerns women have after delivering is: “How quickly can I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight”.

One of the worst things you can do at this time is to expect too much, too fast. Just as it took 9 months for your body to gear itself for birth, you must allow yourself time to go back to the way it was. To help you get on the right track, I invited our guest fitness expert, Tara Marie Segundo to guide you on how you can lose weight quickly and effectively, without spending a lot of time or money.
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Ok, ladies, reality check: you just delivered your bundle of joy and it finally hits you—your little one accounts for only about 7 lbs. of the 30 or so that you gained during pregnancy.  You leave the hospital looking like you are still pregnant, and you start to wonder if things are ever going to make it back to the their original spot…sound familiar?

The good news is that your body will one day return to some semblance of your pre-pregnancy state, and there are things that you can do to help hasten this process.

Whether you delivered via C-section or the good old-fashioned way, getting your doctor’s clearance before returning to exercise is a must.  Pregnancy and delivery present quite a trauma to the body, and a certain level of healing must occur before you place additional physical stress on yourself with exercise.

Once your doc gives clearance, you can consider these tips to help you drop your pregnancy weight:

1.  BREAST FEED IF YOU CAN.  Breastfeeding can help you shed your excess weight while eating your regular diet. Producing milk uses 200 to 500 calories a day, on average.  This may not sound like much, but that can add up to about a pound a week without making any other changes in your daily routine.

2.  DO SHORT BOUTS OF EXERCISE THROUGHOUT THE DAY.  As a mom caring for a newborn, you can’t expect to have long periods of time during which you can exercise.  Take advantage of 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there, to squeeze in some movement.  I had a client that had a treadmill in her home and everytime she got a short block of time, she would jump on the treadmill and kick out a brisk walk.  She clocked an hour a day by doing 10 minutes here and there.  This allowed her to care for her new baby and make use of the brief breaks that she had.
 
3.  MAKE EVERY CALORIE COUNT.  If you are breast feeding, it is recommended that you do not eat less than 1,800 calories a day so you can produce milk for your baby.  If you are not breast feeding, your doctor may allow you to diet.  Regardless, every calorie eaten needs to be nutritious.  Your body is in recovery and you need to provide yourself with foods that offer you what your body needs to thrive.  Make every calorie count toward the betterment of your health.  In general, if man made it, don’t eat it.  Stick to fresh whole foods that come from nature.

4.  BE REALISTIC.  You spent 40 weeks pregnant, so give yourself a break and don’t sweat it if it takes a full year to really feel like yourself again.  You may lose the excess weight quickly, but other shifts in your body may take more time to return to their pre-pregnancy state.  You will look and feel better if you don’t pressure yourself to do too much, too soon.  Do what you can, when you can, and enjoy your beautiful new baby in the meantime.  Most new moms report to me that it took them roughly a year to feel like themselves again.  Please don’t put undo pressure on yourself.

5.  PROCEED SLOWLY.  Right after you deliver is not the time to launch into a brand new, physically challenging exercise routine.  With your doctor’s OK, it is safe to slowly ease back into what you were doing before you were pregnant.  Walking (alone or while pushing a stroller) is a great form of exercise.  If you are a runner, there are some wonderful jogging strollers on the market.  If you can get to the gym, using a treadmill or an eliptical trainer is a gentle way of doing some cardiovascular training.

6.  DO SOME FORM OF RESISTANCE TRAINING.  Best case scenario, you have been doing resistance training all along and it helped you with your delivery.  If you have never embarked on a resistance training program before, work with a trainer at your gym that is knowledgable about working with women that have recently delivered a baby.  If lifting weights is not your cup of tea, there are other forms of resistance training that are very effective, including resistant bands and tubing and using your own body weight.  If you can’t afford to work with a personal trainer, most gyms offer a wide variety of conditioning classes.  Always mention to the instructor that you just had a baby so she can help you make any necessary modifications.  The name of the game in weight control is increasing your metabolic rate, and building muscle will permanently rev your metabolism.  Muscle requires calories to sustain itself and you will use more calories (even at rest) if you increase the muscle mass on your body.

7.  BE CREATIVE.  If you can’t afford to go to a gym and you can’t buy a decent piece of exercise equipment like a treadmill for your home, you must be creative.  The idea is to keep moving.  Turn on your favorite music and dance, buy a jump rope and use it throughout the day, walk up and down your stairs, etc.  You want to get moving and keep moving as soon as possible.  This will not only help you physically but will also help you stave off post partum depression.  There are a plethora of exercise DVDs on the market that specifically target different populations.  Do some research and find a few that are designed to help moms bounce back after baby.  Invite some of your new-mom girlfriends over and have an exercise class together!  This comraderie will be good for both body and spirit.  If you really want to be creative, use your baby as resistance!  Holding a 12 lb. baby while doing pliés is no different than holding a 12 lb. dumbbell.  Lying on your back and pressing your baby up and down works your triceps as much as holding a light barbell would.  There are “Mommy and Me” classes devoted to these sorts of creative exercises that involve your little one, so ask your friends or your doctor and find the one that works for you.

8.  DRINK PLENTY OF WATER.  Most of us go through life dehydrated.  As a new mom, the last person you think about is YOU.  Be sure to drink plenty of water (one gallon daily would be great, but at least 3 liters) and do not wait until you are thirsty.  Drinking water will not only help you with weight loss and metabolism, but it will also keep you feeling full and curb hunger.

9.  EAT 4-6 SMALL MEALS A DAY.  Your body will absorb and metabolize food more efficiently in smaller doses, and eating every 3 hours or so will keep your energy up.  Taking care of a newborn is hard work and you will feel better if you don’t wait too long between your own feedings. 

10.  EAT HIGH FIBER FOODS.  Eating a lot of fiber is always ideal, but when you are trying to shed body fat, it is the golden rule.  Eating high fiber foods (and drinking plenty of water) will make you feel full more quickly and leave you feeling full longer.  I personally live by this rule:  I eat a large volume of food every day, but it is not calorie-dense food.  I eat plenty of steamed and raw veggies that leave me feeling full without eating too many calories.  High fiber foods and drinking a lot of water will also keep you regular.  Recently giving birth and constipation don’t go together, and that’s all I am going to say about that.

All of this basically adds up to common sense, creativity and patience.  Take good care of your body and it will take good care of you.  Do the best you can, when you can, as often as you can and relax about this process.  Mother Nature knows what to do, and you WILL feel like yourself again soon!

Enjoy!

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Tara Marie Segundo, M.A. is a WNBF Natural Figure Pro, personal trainer, freelance writer and radio and TV personality based in New York City.  For more information or to book an appointment, call 877-692-6221 or visit www.taramariesegundo.com.

But there is a small minority that are adamant that there must be pill they can take to get rid of their throat pain or cough or sinus pressure. They are typically younger, and refuse to give up their social lives, and continue to stay up late, eating and drinking, especially on the weekends. If this were you, you may argue: others seem to get by just fine—why am I the only one with this problem?

My answer is that your anatomy is different. They are perfectly happy sleeping on their backs, and are able to breathe properly, even during deep sleep, when their throat muscles relax. In your case, because of smaller jaw anatomy, your tongue falls back easier when on your back, and whenever you go into deep sleep, your tongue relaxes during deep sleep, which causes obstruction and a vacuum effect is created, sucking up stomach juices into your throat, This causes more throat inflammation and swelling, aggravating this vicious cycle.

This is why it’s important that if you’re susceptible to this condition, you shouldn’t eat late or drink alcohol close to bedtime. This is one mechanism that explains why you can gain weight if you eat late. Inefficient sleep promotes weight gain. In addition, alcohol relaxes your muscles and only aggravates this problem.

How many of you are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to improve your health?