heart rate variability, HRV4Training, and you!

a couple weeks ago i did a post on HRV4Training, which is a tool I use to track my own heart rate variability and it seems like people were pretty interested in what that was and how to use it. 

 so let's start with the basics: 

 what's heart rate variability??

basically, it is the variation of time between heartbeats. its measured by the variation in the beat to beat intervals. hrv is the seconds measured between the heart beats. 

just think, if your heart rate is at 60 bpm, your heart isn't beating every second on the dot, it's got variability between each beat, and that's what is being measured. 

so why does that matter

 HRV is a system triggered by our body in response that stressors in our life and body. 

 a higher HRV has been associated with a higher quality of life. and likewise, a low HRV is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. 

in a normal healthy person, your HRV should increase during relaxing activities/times. and when your body is under stress your HRV will decrease. 

(Important to note that your health is not CAUSED by your HRV, it's a correlation. It really brings to light the health and stress issues that are effecting your HRV)

And your HRV will pretty much definitely change every single day depending on a bunch of factors from your life. Did you sleep well? Did you train hard? Did you eat well? Have you been sick? Are you on your period? How fatigued and sore are you? All of this can and will effect your HRV. 

so monitoring where your HRV is at is helpful so you can know where your body is at. if you're monitoring your HRV, you're gonna be able to see actual evidence if your body is depleted, stressed, or overloaded and be able to make those adjustments accordingly so your training can be at the top of your abilities AND so your life is at a high quality. And you can know (with actual scientific evidence) that you need to take a break. 

  how do you track HRV? 

i use an app called HRV4TRAINING. an app for your phone. I haven't had any experience with other apps or their processes so I'm just gonna  talk about that app and how to use it. and I'm sure there's a way to do it without an app, but that's also not something I have experience with so I'm not gonna address it. Though my sources below may have some more information for you. 

 ANYWAY~ this app is great and very easy to use. First thing in the morning, before I even get out of bed, i measure my HRV. with this app you just put your finger over the front light bulb and it measures your heart rate & heart rate variability. you can go for 30-60 seconds and then it'll tell you if your reading was optimal along with what your HRV is. Then you fill out a bunch of tags, like rating your sleep, how much sleep you got, how intense your workout was the day before, what kind of workout you did the day  before, what motivation is at to train today, how sore you are, lifestyle stability, alcohol intake, etc. Then based on all of that, it'll tell you whether or not you should limit intensity, proceed as planned, or go hard that day. 

 And that, for me, is awesome. Because I have a tendency to over train and tracking my HRV has helped me have evidence that tells me that I need to take a break and recover and take care of myself. 

 the other thing HRV4TRAINING does that's cool is compiles all that data you input in. so you can get info on training load analysis, correlations, acute changes, trends, and summaries. Just a lot of information at your disposal. Because HRV is so variable and there's no single "good" or "bad" HRV it's nice to have all this data to know where you stand. 

so for me, HRV4TRAINING and measuring my Heart Rate Variability has been really great for my own training. 

there is A LOT of information out there and it can be pretty overwhelming. I read through a bunch of resources listed below so if you're wanting to read up more on HRV check out the links below. 

If you have any questions let me know! Send me a message over on my email at tiffnessfitness@gmail.com or my Instagram or Facebook page! Or leave a comment below! 

If you want to work on some fitness goals, drop me a line and we can get you going on a program, in person or online!  

sources: 

https://www.hrv4training.com/blog/interpreting-hrv-trends

https://www.hrv4training.com/blog/heart-rate-variability-normal-values

https://www.hrv4training.com/blog/heart-rate-variability-a-primer

https://medium.com/@marco_alt/on-heart-rate-variability-and-the-apple-watch-24f50e8e7bc0

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/heart-rate-variability-new-way-track-well-2017112212789

https://blog.ouraring.com/blog/heart-rate-variability-basics/

https://www.firstbeat.com/en/blog/what-is-heart-rate-variability-hrv/

6+ months of intuitive eating

so ~ starting in January I began intuitive eating and a month later i wrote a post about my struggles and successes with intuitive eating, but since I have been going for almost 7 full months now, I figured it was time for a follow up post. 

Struggles:  

 There have been MANY days where I've looked down at my stomach and been not pleased with myself. Especially because Facebook and Google like to remind me that I was 10-15 lbs lighter a year ago. 

I have thought about restarting dieting multiple times throughout this process because I know I could do it and diet my way back to the weight I was previously. 

but that's not the point of intuitive eating, it's supposed to be food freedom, not a weight loss gimmick. which is definitely a shift in reasoning from how I was eating before and it's something I'm working on changing my brain around on regularly. 

Honestly, most of my struggles with intuitive eating has been with my own body image and weight . Which is an ongoing struggle, and I don't think it's gonna be fixed in 6 months. And even when I'm doing well with this all the time, there will still be bad days. Body image isn't something that's fixed overnight. But I do think that I am starting to have slightly more good days than bad days. Which is something.

Successes:

Most of my experience with intuitive eating has been good though! i have really enjoyed the freedom around food that I've had. And to be frank, my eating didn't drastically change. I eat a lot of the same foods because I like those foods. 

But, i have also added more into my diet! I have tried new marinades, I've baked more, I will have hella carbs and not stress about it, and I enjoy eating foods that I used to feel guilty about. 

I know I'm eating more than I was a year ago, but I feel like I'm fueling my body better.  

I am SO much stronger than I was a couple years ago or a year ago or even 6 months ago. And that's largely due to my strength programming but I know a contributing factor is the fact that I'm not in a caloric deficit so I'm able to build muscle.  

And its really nice not too feel guilty around food. Some days that's not the case, but most days I can eat the foods that make me feel good even it has carbs or sugar or chocolate or fat or whatever.

Beyond the food things, I know I mentioned the weight gain but it hasn't been a huge gain. It does feel like it was a lot, but when I started onto this whole intuitive eating thing I was coming off an entire month of illness so I was at a lower weight than I had typically been, so it's about 8-9 lbs since then but probably only 3-4 lbs realistically. And I don't think I've gained much of anything over the past few months (though I haven't been weighing myself regularly to be sure). 

 Another great success I've had has been with figuring out my hunger a lot better. I'm slowly getting more comfortable with eating when I'm hungry and then actually stopping before I'm so stuffed I feel terrible and just stopping when I'm satisfied. 

So a lot of positive things coming from from intuitive eating, and honestly it gets better as I get more practice with it. 

honestly, if you're interested in trying out intuitive eating I would give it a shot. It's been a process and it's not easy but the benefits of intuitive eating are many and learning how to really fuel your body in the way your body wants & needs to be fueled. If you have questions and/ or need support feel free to reach out to me at my Facebook page, Instagram, or in the comments below! 

HOW TO: sustainably diet

last week i wrote about WHY you should sustainably diet... this week i'm gonna give you the HOW. 

what exactly is a sustainable diet? 

under my definition, it is a diet that you are able to do for a long duration without burning out and without feeling restricted. 

and it will look different for everyone. for some people that will be a paleo diet, for some people a lower carb diet, and for others its just general portion control.

 so here's how you figure out what a sustainable diet looks like for you: 

1. figure out how you're currently eating and what needs to change. the easiest way to do that is to totally track your food for a few days (being sure to track at least one weekend day). maybe (most likely) you need to reduce your intake or maybe you snack more than you realized or drink high calorie juices or coffees and things you wouldn't usually think of. so knowing what you currently eat can help you to see the issues that may be causing the weight gain. 

2. figure out what is most important for you to keep in your diet for you to stick with it. is that getting to eat hella pasta or other carbs? or do you need your chocolate fix every night? know what is important to you so you can plan how you eat around those requirements to not feel restricted. 

3. which brings me to part 3... plan, plan, plan. at least at first make sure you are planning as much as you can so you don't go off track due to laziness. make yourself a menu, have your snacks portioned out, meal prep if that's something you need to do. make sure you have your plan in place so you can enjoy the foods you want to while also staying within whatever goals you've set for yourself successfully

4. have goals. clear cut, written, achievable goals. that could be staying within a calorie range or no sodas or no eating out during the week or no chips with lunch or eat a veggie at dinner or try a new fruit/veggie every couple of weeks. have set goals for each month that you can achieve and stick with them. 

5. and finally...if you slip up (and you will) don't let that run you off the rails. change takes time and you will make mistakes. and that is OKAY! but do not let that mistake turn into a whole day or week or whatever of going off track. 

so that's how you do it! make your plan and stick with it. eat your healthy foods and protein and enjoy your treats in moderation. 

you can do it! 

but if you need help/have questions/want some ideas follow me on facebook and instagram! send me a message or leave a comment with any questions!