BEAUTIFUL LADY ON A MISSION

The beautiful lady working the stair case in my header picture is one of our dedicated Burnaby members, Kristina Hoiles.  This women is on a serious mission, by that I mean, she is doing all angles of the deal to make sure her lifestyle changes and sticks.  She comes to our program regularly, she has connected with the other women in our Burnaby group and now takes part in additional activities with her new circle of friends. She attends health related educational workshops and has created an amazing blog to share her journey / mission.  All of the above creates accountability and I have found the entries in her blog to be some of the most honest writing I have ever read.  It is all part of her journey and it is working for her.  To read more about Kristina's "evolution" please visit her blog, it is truly inspiring.  Kristina's Blog of Evolutions

The changes in Kristina have been amazing so I recently asked her:  How did you get on track and start to get consistent with a healthier lifestyle?

Basically i think I am still a work in progress re: being consistent

But one of the biggest realizations/changes I think I have made is to NOT QUIT if i have a bad day food wise or if I miss a work-out or something. 

I go back the next time, or try to make the next meal/choice better. 

Before, I was very much stuck in an "all or nothing" mentality... which means as soon as I fell off the wagon of a diet I would throw in the towel. 

Or as soon as I came up against something physically that caused me pain or I wasn't good at, I would just give up. 

In some ways, it is also about surrendering to the fact that on this journey to better health, I am not going to be "perfect" 

And so if I mess up, I just try to do better the next time. 

Also, this second time around at bootcamp - I consciously reached out for more support, both from my own circle of friends & family, and from the other ladies at bootcamp. 

I made an effort to overcome my own initial shyness (and mortification that i was so out of shape) and really tried to get to know the ladies of the Burnaby group on a personal level. , They really are so awesome and encouraging, and hearing their stories and how far they have come on their own journey's is really inspiring. 

It really does help motivate me to know I am going to be surrounded by them - and more than once this has been the main thing that gets me off the couch and out the door.  

WHAT DOES YOUR JOURNEY LOOK LIKE?

"ONE LIFE" CONTEST - APRIL 4TH AND 5TH

On April 4th and 5th The "One Life" contest will launch at all four Body Exchange Locations.  This contest is to inspire people to get active, healthy, empowered and simply off the couch!

How Does it Work?

Register for our April program and along with your fit camp program you will be given a check list of 30 items.  They are tasks that will improve your health - mind, body and soul.  So not only will you feel fantastic from all the fitness but with all the health driven check points you will quickly feel a lifestyle turn over! Now we can't give up all the goods in this blog but here are some examples of the check points:

• Attend all Fit Camp sessions
• Drink 8 Glasses of Water a Day
• Organize a junk draw and send in a before / after picture
• Make your lunch 4 out of 7 days each week of the contest
• 7 consecutive days without alcohol
• Attend one Body Exchange Adventure during the contest:  Snowshoe, Boxing, Hike!

The more check points you accumulate the closer you are to winning one of TWO grand prize packages!

Space is limited for this contest so if you want to improve your health and fitness by leaps and bounds,

Register today!  info@bodyexchange.ca

YOU ARE WORTH IT - LIVE YOUR "ONE LIFE" TO THE MAX!



ARE YOU WORTH IT?

Are you getting your needs met when it comes to your health and fitness? 
Deep down do you think you are REALLY worth it? 

Many of us, especially women, inherently look after the needs of others before ourselves and often feel spent by the end of most days with nothing left for ourselves.  This can go on for years and suddenly one day you wake up and you have lost yourself.  This can build feelings of just plain "badness".  You may feel tired because exercise and eating right actually gives you energy and feelings of empowerment.  You may feel resentment because you are giving, giving, giving and never looking after you.  Basic self care shows that you know you are worth it and everyone around you will benefit from you looking after yourself.

Here are some tell tale signs that you ARE or ARE NOT taking care of number one!

ARE: You consistently schedule in exercise for yourself and everyone in your house knows that this is your time SO BACK OFF!  You feel great and energized and ready to conquer the world.

ARE NOT:  You fall into bed every night totally drained and wake up feeling exactly the same way, each day blends into the next and you see no light at the end of the tunnel.

ARE:  You make time for special treats such as pedicures at your favorite spa, time out with your girlfriends, and projects that you are passionate about and that hold great importance to you (business or pleasure).

ARE NOT:  You feel like you are enduring each day and never enjoying each day, you tend to lean towards behaviours that make you feel worse such as eating unhealthy foods and negative thinking, you feel trapped in a cycle and don't know how to get off the merry-go-round (only it's not so merry).

ARE:  You surround yourself with people that you relate to and who you feel supported by (not people who co-sign you BS), you associate with like minded, positive people and you know that you can take on anything because YOU ARE WORTH IT.

If you are in the ARE NOT category, you can contact me and I can discuss some ideas to get you on track.  Hopefully you ARE!  You will feel sometimes shifts between ARE and ARE NOT's this is life simply doing it's balancing act!

YOU NEED MORE THAN JUST A GLOW, YOU NEED TO DRIP!

Many times people hire me because they want me to take them to a place they would not go on their own in regards to a physical push (and I am always happy to be of service).  Sometimes clients will say they are active and they don't understand why they are not seeing the benefits of physical fitness filter into their life.  The truth is, although activities such as walking and biking are great, you really need the heart pumping to get some good benefits such as better heart health, weight management and keeping health risks at bay.  It is recommended that we get 30 minutes of exercise per day and some of this needs to be heart pumping and sweat dripping.  Think about the last time your were dripping in sweat.....if you can't remember you may want to consider getting serious about moving.  Now this blog is not really a platform to promote my business but joining some kind of program is a great way to have the fitness pre-scheduled into your calendar, just like you would a business meeting, a dentist appointment etc.  One of the problem's with our North American health problem is that people fit exercise in when they have time and for many that is NEVER or at least not consistent.  It is really important for our longevity so I will give you some tips to incorporate into your weeks ahead.

1. Start a walking or running group at your office. Get out for 30 minutes, have a small light snack 30 minutes before lunch then eat your lunch after the fitness.
2. Instead of making social time with friends about eating or drinking, make it about fitness "Hey, let's hit a hot yoga class, then go for some tea after".
3. At any time in your day, if you see stairs or any incline walk them.....yes, just for fun.
4. Make family time active, get the bikes out, go to the basketball court and shoot and run with your little ones, they will love it!!
5. Dates can be active, go for a hike or a kayak, both are very romantic!

Glows are good and you don't always have to drip, but 3 times a week make sure you get a good drip on!

HALT THE SALT !

We have all heard the fear mongering buzz words in the media and from our health professionals:

Obesity or Hypertension (high blood pressure) but what are some of the contributing factors.....many health risks can be traced to Sodium.

SO HALT WITH THE SALT!

The above health risks can be combated with healthy nutrition and exercise.  But we ask, what has changed since the 1950's that suddenly so many people are overweight and falling into these health risk categories?  One major factor is that everyone got so busy, so the food industry had to start providing fast and easy meal solutions to keep up with the demands of the average family of the 21st century.  Overtime our whole food approach has turned into rising crust pizza where the crust is filled with cheese because there simply wasn't enough cheese on the pizza itself to satisfy?  Thankfully everyone is starting to realize that North Americans are in trouble and now the trend is to come up with healthy convenience food, it is still not whole food eating but moving in the right direction.  Overtime portion sizes have ballooned to obscene sizes and on the whole we are not taking time to treat our body like the temple it is (myself included).  When I ask my clients what their barriers are in this area, they all say the same thing....time.

What does this mean on a whole?  Packed in process foods is too much salt which has an adverse affect on our bodies overtime.  What is reasonable?  Some reports will say that 2300mg is acceptable but intakes should be even lower at about 1500mg to be low risk.  I ask my clients if they look at sodium on the labels of their food, many people monitor the fat and carbs but not so many monitor the sodium.

From a health perspective the sodium is key because it is a major contributing factor to high blood pressure which can bring on a whole slew of other serious health risks.
Any packaging that has more than 400 - 600mg per serving is too much.
Keep in mind the nutrition label does not include the whole can or package. For example, I will use soup because it is the most surprising of all.

If you have a can of "low fat" cream of mushroom soup, the label says "nutrition facts per 125ml, sodium reading is:  640mg !!!  That means if you eat the whole can (284ml) you are eating your whole daily recommendation for sodium in one sitting of low fat soup.  Marketing can be very deceiving and convenience foods along with restaurants are the worst.  Awareness is KING!

We will begin to feature quick and easy meal solutions to replace those that are not, your body is a temple and it is all we have!  CHALLENGE:  Try to eat whole foods for all your meals and snacks for 3 "Whole" days!  Let me know how it goes.....

Love This - Some Products You Just Need to Buy for Their Cause

Check this out:  Dove Self Esteem Campaigns

And another:  The Real Deal or The Not so Real Deal

PUT THINGS INTO CLEAR PERSPECTIVE!  Don't get distorted.

Top 5 Tips for Facing The Weather and Getting Outdoors

I am sitting at my kitchen table writing this while it is raining so hard there is a low roar within my house as the rain pelts off my metal roof.  My old timer dog is starting to pant louder as the noise levels are starting to make him feel like thunder is coming soon.  Within my business I often hear, "I don't want to go outside, it's raining".  That is a bit of a problem if you live in the rain forest region of  Canada.  If you limit your outdoor activity to when it isn't raining that is almost half the year when you are not moving in fresh air.  If you are truly committed to something, outside circumstances should be secondary and at most a small blip in the day. As human beings are ancient heritage comes from living outdoors and living a nomadic lifestyle with constant movement and fresh air, this is actually the environment our bodies prefer.  So you can understand when you have been sitting indoors for 8 hours behind a desk why you may not feel that energized.  I found this quote recently and want to share it with you: 

 

We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals, and we find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve. 
Maxwell Maltz

 

Totally true for me.

 

So to get outdoors and truly enjoy our amazing city and all it has to offer at all times of the year,
these are My Top Five Tips

1. Like any good Girl Scout, "BE PREPARED" owning a good, breathable jacket is a must.  If you are shopping locally, I recommend The Running Room. They go up to XXL, you may need to go into a men's but they do have larger sizes.
2. Know, 100% that when you are finished your outdoor rec.  that you are going to feel amazing, alive and very pleased with yourself!
3. Layer your clothing, the best materials are wicking material or wicking wool. Wear a ball cap to keep the rain off your face and something around your neck to prevent water running within your jacket.
4. Get moving, once you are moving and breaking a sweat - you won't even notice the exterior moisture!
5.  Plan outdoor fitness with a buddy, when the weather is not favorable having accountability is key!

 

Have a great day and GET OUT THERE!      I am off!