Stacy T. Sims > Quotes

“The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study found that eating just one serving of lettuce or other vitamin K–rich foods (leafy greens and veggies) a day can cut the risk of hip fracture in half compared to eating just one serving a week.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“A 2020 study of more than 300 women whose average age was 55, published in BMC Psychiatry, reported that 55 percent had mild to severe depression and nearly 84 percent had mild to severe anxiety. Poor body image was strongly connected to both.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond

“performance during PMS: Take 250 milligrams of magnesium, 45 milligrams of zinc, 80 milligrams of aspirin (baby aspirin), and 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids (flaxseed and fish oil) each night for the 7 days before your period starts. Pretraining: Take 5 to 7 grams of branched-chain amino acid supplement (BCAAs) to fight the lack of mojo. These amino acids cross the blood-brain barrier and decrease the estrogen-progesterone effect on central nervous system fatigue. In training: Consume a few more carbohydrates per hour. In this high-hormone phase, aim for about 0.45 gram of carbohydrate per pound of body weight (about 61 grams for a 135-pound woman) per hour. In the low-hormone phase (first 2 weeks of the cycle), you can go a bit lower—about 0.35 gram of carbohydrate per pound of body weight (about 47 grams for a 135-pound woman) per hour. (For reference: 2.2 kilograms = 1 pound.) Post-training: Recovery is critical. Progesterone is extremely catabolic (breaks muscle down) and inhibits recovery. Aim to consume 20 to 25 grams of protein within 30 minutes of finishing your session. Overall you should aim to get 0.9 to 1 gram of protein per pound per day (a 135-pound woman needs about 122 to 135 grams of protein per day; see the Roar Daily Diet Cheat Sheet for Athletes for more information). THE MARTIAL ARTIST WHO BEAT HER BLOAT It may not be nice to fool Mother Nature, but there are definitely times when you need to trick her a little.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“dozens more studies have solidified the conclusion that interval training is the fastest way to improve nearly all aspects of performance, including improved insulin sensitivity and ability to use oxygen, which enables you to burn more fat and get more fuel into your working muscles.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond

“both rising to the top of their game. Peak performance during PMS: Take 250 milligrams of magnesium, 45 milligrams of zinc, 80 milligrams of aspirin (baby aspirin), and 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids (flaxseed and fish oil) each night for the 7 days before your period starts.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“some women’s lives are so disrupted they feel like they’ve been the victims of a hostile hormonal takeover that leaves them trapped inside a body and mind they barely recognize.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond

“Excellent prebiotic food sources include barely ripe bananas, artichokes, onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus, dandelion greens, oatmeal, and legumes.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“Getting more branched-chain amino acids (especially leucine) can help mitigate some of these unpleasant effects. Leucine crosses the blood-brain barrier, slows down the effect of serotonin, and fends off central nervous system fatigue.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“Both estrogen and progesterone reach peak levels about 5 days before menstruation.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“Becoming a Supple Leopard”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“Though I’m not opposed to hormone therapy (more on that shortly), I reject the notion that every woman needs hormone “replacement” therapy to stay young.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond

“Recent research finds that 2 minutes of movement an hour is all it takes to protect yourself. In a study of more than 3,200 people, the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reported that trading 2 minutes of sitting for 2 minutes of light activity such as walking down the hall each hour can lower your risk of premature death by 33 percent. If you work in an office, set your computer alarm to prompt you to move for a few minutes each hour on the hour to counteract the natural inclination to stay sedentary.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“Peel the beets first. They’ll be less bitter. Add a carrot or some lemon to sweeten the drink. Don’t have a juicer? You can buy ready-to-drink beetroot juice at natural-food stores.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“It’s an indicator of health. Irregularities in your menstrual cycle frequency and/or length can be the first sign that something is amiss, whether your body is not recovering from stress (of training or life!), you’re getting sick, or you’re underfueling and in low energy availability. Understanding your response to stress. When you track over time, you can see how your body responds to large blocks of stress through work, life, travel, and training. For instance, women often see that high levels of stress may shorten cycles and periods of relaxation like vacations can lengthen it. No more second-guessing yourself. If you track for a few cycles and you see that on day 23 you always feel flat and tired, you won’t be second-guessing yourself wondering what you did “wrong” when you feel flat”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong Body for Life

“This is yet another reason why women need to be very careful about extremely low-carb diets, because restricting this macronutrient causes your brain to produce even less serotonin, setting you up for mood disorders, especially if you’re already prone to them.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong Body for Life

“Neural mechanisms (mind-muscle connections) are actually more important for women’s adaptations to strength training than they are for men’s. So by doing power moves and low-rep, high-weight strength training, you enhance the number of fibers recruited for a contraction but don’t really grow the size of your muscles very much. The short of it is that you end up with a stronger, more powerful contraction with less muscle bulk.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“some research suggests that, in postmenopausal women, high-intensity cycling sessions are more effective than running,”
― Stacy T. Sims, Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond

“Less power production (meaning you have to train for power, not for endurance). Solution: Focus on power training. The speed and strength of muscle contractions tend to diminish with age, thus power and speed become essential aspects of postmenopausal training. See Chapter 7 for specific exercises to boost your performance.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong Body for Life

“When your tissues are more lax, your joints don’t have the integrity they should because they’re stretched out,” says Dr. Starrett. This impairs your proprioception, the sense of where your limbs are oriented in space and in relation to one another, which is a huge factor in mobility and stability. When you’re not getting that proprioceptive feedback, your movement patterns are thrown”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity most, if not all, days a week.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“Urobilinogen (URO): This is an indicator of liver function.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“When you approach 1.025, this indicates hypohydration or low body water (down 1 percent body water). Greater than 1.028 indicates dehydration.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“Don’t train fasted. As a woman, especially, it can promote fat gain and reduce positive fitness adaptations.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong Body for Life

“and increasing your fueling during and around your workouts (when your body needs the energy most).”
― Stacy T. Sims, Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond

“This light pre-event or race meal should be low fiber, carb based, and low fat, and it should have a moderate amount of protein.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“Getting the 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams you need daily is actually pretty easy. Three servings of plain yogurt (415 milligrams per 8 ounces) can help you get there quickly. One and a half ounces of part-skim mozzarella and 3 ounces of sardines both deliver about 330 milligrams (33 percent of your daily recommendation) of calcium. For those who don’t eat dairy, fortified cereal and greens such as kale are also good sources.”
― Stacy Sims, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life

“when you’re older. The best activities are those that are weight bearing (force you to work against gravity) and have multidirectional forces through the bone such as jumping (i.e., jump rope, plyometrics), dancing, and tennis and other ball sports, and of course strength training. Bicycling and swimming are excellent for your muscles and heart but not so much for your bones.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong Body for Life

“we should also view the transition itself as an opportunity and a step up—not down—in life.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond

“Why You Should Track Your Menstrual Cycle These days my clients are all about tracking every little move. They have activity trackers and sleep monitors and apps that help them analyze every morsel they put into their mouths. Yet I’m surprised how few women make note of their menstrual cycle and how they feel during it. I highly recommend that every menstruating woman start now. Why?”
― Stacy T. Sims, Roar: Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong Body for Life

“Foods rich in nitrates convert to nitric oxide (NO) in the body, so eating more of these foods will widen your blood vessels, reducing the severity of headache during the perimenopausal shift. Nitrate-rich foods include beets, pomegranate, watermelon, and spinach.”
― Stacy T. Sims, Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond