Download January Waist Circumference Challenge

January Waist Circumference Challenge
The January HEALTH Challenge - Waist Circumference: January is a great time to start eating
healthy and exercising after the holidays. Too much fat around your middle can increase your
risk of health problems including heart disease and diabetes. Challenge yourself to reduce
your waist circumference to lower these risks and lose pounds towards your weight loss goal.
 To get credit for this challenge you must read the attached information, complete the
quiz at the end, and turn it in by January 31st, 2015. You must also have a waist
circumference measurement from Dana Gray the first week of January (1/5/151/8/15) and the last week of January (1/26/15-1/29/15). It would be ideal to see a
reduction in waist circumference at the end of the month but it is not necessary to
have your name put in the drawing for a $25 gift card.
 Times to get your measurements follow the Flab to Fab Challenge weigh-in times, and
you may use these measurements to earn apples for the Flab to Fab Challenge:
 Cardiac Rehab:
*Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 9:00 – 9:15 a.m. & 11:30 – 11:45 a.m.
*Mondays and Wednesdays 3:00-3:15 p.m.
*Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:00 – 4:15 pm
(sign-up for a 6:30 a.m. time with Dana Gray)
 Senior Life Center:
* Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. in the library
(sign-up for a 9:45 p.m. time with Dana Gray – Kristin Giese will weigh participants in at this
time)
 For participating your name will be entered in year-end drawings for exciting prizes.
 Earn 5 points for Interactive Health towards your 500 point goal and the monetary
incentive.
Risk of health problems: This is affected by where your body fat is stored as well as by your
weight. Too much fat around your middle (waist) can increase your risk of developing
conditions such as heart disease, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, and a higher risk of
death regardless of your body mass index (BMI).
Two kinds of belly fat:
 Subcutaneous fat – the visible kind just below the skin that you can grab hold of
 Visceral fat
 embedded deep within your abdomen and wraps around the organs clustered
there
 can be at a healthy weight but could have a lot of visceral fat
 poses a far greater health risk
 known to produce inflammatory chemicals that can over time increase the risks
listed above
Finding the unseen fat: Visceral fat is internal and not always visible – the only way to know for
sure if you have too much is a CT scan or MRI. You can get a rough idea by calculating your
waist-to-hip ratio or measuring your waist circumference.

Waist measurement: Find the bottom of your ribs and top of your hips, breath out
naturally, and wrap a tape measure around your waist midway between these points.
 Risk of health problems is high if you have a measurement of over 35 inches for
women and over 40 inches for men.
 Waist-to-hip ratio: If waist measurement divided by hip measurement is greater than .8
you are over the healthy limit.
Causes of fat production:
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Alcohol: A non-nutritive calorie-containing beverage – drinking too much can cause
weight gain especially around the abdomen.
The over 40 factor for women: Excess fat is likely to accumulate around the abdomen
due to a decline in estrogen and an increase in follicle-stimulating hormone during
perimenopause (the decade before menopause).
Metabolism: Slows down by about 5% per decade after you turn 40 making it harder to
lose weight.

Muscle mass: Sometime in your late 30s to early 40s your muscles begin to shrink –
experts say that what you lose in muscle you gain in fat both in muscle cells and
between the muscle fibers.
 Stress: When you are stressed your brain increases the production of certain hunger
hormones making you more likely to eat high carb/high fat comfort foods.
 Sleep: Sleep-deprived people are more likely to overeat than well-rested people.
 Depression: Research found that adults with depression were more likely to gain
visceral fat than those who were not depressed.
 Food: Eating more calories than you use may cause fat production. Try eating foods
high in fiber including fruits and vegetables to help you feel fuller longer and prevent
eating excess calories.
Fat-fighting plan: The best way to decrease body fat is with healthy eating and regular
exercise. Avoid eating more calories than you use throughout the day to avoid gaining body
fat. Try these healthy meal ideas:

Balance the calories: Research shows that the ideal fat-burning meal plan includes 30%
protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 30% fat. Make sure to choose healthy sources of
proteins, carbs, and fats to effectively reduce both weight and fat cells.
 Higher volume: Eating foods with a lot of water and fiber (salads, vegetables,
fresh/dried fruit, and whole-grain breads or pasta) will expand in your stomach to make
you feel fuller faster with fewer calories.
 More snacking: Eat small portions of healthy snacks 3 times a day in between regular
meals to avoid overeating.
 Fight fat with fat: A diet rich in monounsaturated fatty acids keeps belly fat at bay –
eating foods such as olives, nuts, and avocados, and using healthy oils for cooking such
as olive, canola, and peanut.
Get moving: Diet is only a part of the big picture – exercise is crucial to boosting your
metabolism and shrinking fat cells.
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Going for a brisk (3-4 miles per hour) 45-minute walk 5 times a week not only helps to
lose weight but also has been shown to reduce the inflammation in visceral fat.
Increasing your heart rate with an interval workout that alternates high and low
intensity exercise. The short bursts of high energy uses more fat as fuel, and the rest
periods in between allow the body to flush out waste products from the muscles.
Strength training builds more muscle which means a faster metabolism – aim for 30
minutes 2-3 times per week switching upper and lower body exercises. Experts say to
lift weights before your cardio workout to burn more fat.
Common misconception: Spot exercising (that is, exercising a specific muscle or location of the
body) most effectively burns fat at the desired location, but this is not the case. Spot exercise
is beneficial for building specific muscles, but it has little effect, if any, on fat in that area of the
body, or on the body's distribution of body fat. The same logic applies to sit-ups and belly
fat. Sit-ups, crunches and other abdominal exercises are useful in building the abdominal
muscles, but they have little effect, if any, on the fat located there.
Sources: ACE Health Coach Manual, Web MD, Wikipedia.org, NHS Choices, Fitness Magazine
***To get credit for this challenge you must complete the quiz on the next page and turn it in
by January 31st, 2015. You must also have a waist circumference measurement from Dana
Gray the first week of January (1/5/15-1/8/15) and the last week of January (1/26/151/29/15). Times to get your measurements follow the Flab to Fab Challenge weigh-in times
listed above
January Waist Circumference Quiz
Name: _________________________________________ Department: ___________________
1. What are the 5 health risks caused by too much fat around your waist?
2. True or false – subcutaneous fat is more dangerous that visceral fat.
3. What is the healthy waist circumference measurement for men and women?
4. List the causes of fat production and if they are issues for you:
5. Describe 5 ways to reduce overall fat:
6. True of false – the best way to get rid of belly fat is to do crunches and sit-ups.
Initial waist measurement: _______________ Date: _______________
Final waist measurement: ________________ Date: _______________