Monday, September 14, 2015

BOSUStrong

5 THINGS THAT MAKE ME #BOSUStrong


Today I am embarking on a 4 week challenge with BOSU and Sweat Pink to prove to the world that I am #BOSUSTRONG. Being #BOSUSTRONG means I make fitness part of my everyday life, at home, out and about, and with my friends and family. I will squat, mountain climb, plank, push-up, lunge, lift and burpee my way to a stronger and healthier body. And I will encourage Joy @workoutswithjoy and Lisa @lmcstew to join me on this fun journey because we are one big, happy #FitFamily.

Being #BOSUStrong is not just about movement, sweat, or even owning a BOSU, it's about being a leader, an inspiration to others, and sharing my own fitness journey with others. It’s about not letting time constraints and dirty laundry stand in my way of sweating and getting strong! The 5 things that make me #BOSUStrong are:

My strong legs.
My ability to be creative with workouts.
My love for dripping sweat.
My healthy outlook.
And my drive to push just a little more.

So I want to know - are you #BOSUStrong? Copy and paste the above, fill it in and make it your own and then tag me in it and share with your friends! Let’s all be #BOSUSTRONG.


Friday, May 8, 2015

Fixing Busted Bones with Food

I have a pretty decent sized list of bones I've broken. My dear, sweet husband would call me a clutz but I'd prefer to call it what it is. Amazing Adventure Seeker-itis! Or something like that. I've always liked to do a hundred and fifty kajillion things in one weekend to ensure that if tomorrow were the last day...I'd be good.

So that means I'm in my body with full-force often. And when one is not couch bound they tend to have more battles with gravity, right? My most recent break was in practicing yoga. (Don't laugh). Headstands specifically. With fingers intertwined. It was National Stress Awareness Day and I was going inverted to work on getting that stress out. To jump to the end, I fell. Fingers snapped- I yelled OUCH and proceeded to practice yoga because that is What.I.Do. A week later I went to the doc and learned through x ray, the finger was indeed broken.


Don't Be Popeye
So here is the crucial part to healing. You must have grace with your brokenness. That means thinking positively about healing process. It also means acting in a positive manner. You've heard that Food is Medicine, right? Well it surely can be but it's important to do the homework here. In my first two weeks I ate a bowl of spinach with my eggs for breakfast and a bowl of spinach with lunch salad because spinach is so good for us! Well not everything that is typically healthy is good for our situation. My hand therapist reminded me that spinach contains a substance called oxalates which can bind up calcium and make it unavailable to our body. And calcium is a nutrient necessary for the cellular regrowth of a broken bone! Spinach and I temporarily broke up.

Easy on the Nightshades
Another category of foods to be mindful of while repairing bone are the nightshade vegetables including tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplant, and peppers. These veggies are known to cause bone inflammation so be wary of how much you eat and with what. It's important to balance them out with foods high in calcium.

Watch the Magical Fruit
Next on the health list are legumes such as kidney, white and pinto beans and peas. These guys are high in phytates which can potentially interfere with calcium absorption as well. The best way to reduce the phytates is to soak the bean and peas (I usually do overnight) prior to cooking. This is also a great thing to do with oats before making oatmeal. Overnight oats are hugely popular!

Buzz Kill
Maybe not so easy for some people working through bone trauma is the next modification...limiting alcohol. Alcohol does two things to bones-it can decrease mass in bones and delay fracture reparation. Research indicates no more than one drink per day for us ladies and two for the men.

The Sugar Thief
And finally, dessert. Sugar acts badly on so many levels but when we are broken, it can also rob us of phosphorous which is important in the facilitation of calcium. Best to just stay clear of that evil sweetness.

So what should we be eating to speed up healing? Here's a quick list of some sure fire good eats:

*sea veggies, yogurt, kefir, salmon = all high calcium foods
*kale and broccoli = vitamin k rich foods that help with bone formation
*organic lean protein =essential for rebuilding lost tissue
*vitamins c & d (my preference are EmergenC's and liquid D

Our bones are living, complex tissues that we constantly put demands on and sometimes need to fix. If you get in that situation like I tend to do, focus on what you can do with nutrition to speed up the healing process so you can regain your super hero status quick.

I am a personal trainer, educator and endurance athlete, not a doctor. Consult with your doctor prior to starting any fitness or diet program. 

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Happy Hormone Spray

I'm an absolute endocrine system freak. I suffer from autoimmune disease and work really hard to stay on top of wellness and to prevent my kids from going down this road, too.

Long ago I got the cute colorful trees that hung in my car so it smelled like a big, fat Christmas cookie. Or those sprays I bought to use in the bathroom to have floral scented poop, yum! How bout those plug ins so the entire fall season smelled like apples in my classroom when I taught?! Those days are gone however, cause I got smart. Or maybe I should say I got Hashimotos Thyroid Disease so I had to smarten up.

Synthetic smells are bad for humans on many levels. This is especially true if we have young people in our house who systems are developing. It's super important for the air in our houses to be as pure and natural as possible.

We are so fortunate now to have a lot of choices for keeping our endocrine system happy. These days there is a plethora of essential oil companies out there with their diffusers and starter kits but you can also do it on your own much more affordably. I switch my smells up now and then but the core of my air fresheners in my bathroom and workout studio usually consist of: lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus, peppermint and frankincense. Keep your surroundings smelling clean and keep your hormones on the right track by making your own tailored spray. Simply measure 1 part witch hazel to 3 parts water and add 10 drops of each oil of your choosing. It's that easy!



Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Heart'n Betty!



This year I'm so super excited to be part of Team Betty 2K15. Betty Designs makes my race planning much more fun- I just can't wait to get my kit for my triathlons and visors for my running races plus all of the accessories and start training! But more than just the race wear, I've been having fun wearing my extra Betty bling all over town. The beanie comes in black and pink and trust me, it gets tons of compliments! I love that the designs are edgy and sweet at the same time.


Betty Designs also has a line "for the boys" with their Braveheart collection. From triathlon to streetwear, there is cool product for guys, too.



Next up on the list for me is the famous trucker hat but I just cannot decide which color...


Head on over to check out all things athletically awesome at Betty, today and check out the new Garden Party capris...You'll be hooked, promise!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Channeling My Inner Bendy-Barbie

This week starts a new chapter for me and in true new chapter form, I'm excited and nervous. I am embarking on my yoga teacher training. 200 hours of training as a matter of fact. Six committed weekends (Th-Sun) from now until March of learning, practicing and growing. A financial and time constraint for my family and one more thing on my long list of involvements. So again...excited and nervous. I envision that this will be me by like day 3. Yes, Bendy-Barbie, here I come.


Yoga is something I have loved for years. I began practicing it 12 years ago while pregnant with our middle child. I felt so incredibly good at the time and I swear it helped with delivery as well as shaped his nature. Since then I have been on and off with my practice, knowing full well that I should just stay in that on mode. Yoga helps my tight runner hamstrings immensely. I helps me to feel calm in a brain that constantly wants to go, see, do. It forces me to go internal and listen to what my body needs. It makes me quite frankly feel this cool!


So off I set for weekend 1/6. I'll wave goodbye to my kiddos, pack three thousand sports bras and walk into the proverbial sunset with my mat and water. And thinking ahead...I'd like to share the before and after shots because THIS is exactly what it will look like. 


OMMMMMMMMMMM

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Seeking Wellness in Coffee

Like most people I adore December. I love Christmas, the magic, the memories and the excitement. However, even though I welcome hustle, the parties, the decorating and the traditions, I also find myself falling into stress easily. In my very unscientific poll I've taken over the last four days it's become really clear that so many of us freak out a little bit during the holidays for SO many different reasons. One of my co-workers even told me today that Thanksgiving has a track record of people filing for divorce. That's some seriously bad turkey!

So here we are on only December 1st and I already admitted I need help. (Working in the wellness field has so many advantages and one of them is that we health coaches are super keen to our own needs.) One of the best things that we can do is verbalize our needs and women, we are so much better at this then men. Sorry guys but it's true. So today I shot a good buddy a text about seeking wellness in coffee. She even dropped her house cleaning on her day off work to help so she's obviously a keeper. We spent an hour together sharing. An hour of tearing up, laughing and keeping it real (we sound like SUCH women!!). An hour and then back to the real world of work, family, issues, and laundry.

One hour is all you need with a friend that acts as a sounding board, perhaps offers some sage advice or maybe just a smile to help get those neurotransmitters back on the right path and to aid in the wellness process. One hour with a friend to validate your feelings, thoughts, look at things a new way...you'll be so much better off.
Oh yeah, and maybe a little coffee will help, too. ;)

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Saving the Pits One Swipe at a Time

Hey gals (and guys!) that sweat... what are you putting on your pits? I know you already know this but I'm throwing it out there again. Our armpits share space with our lymph nodes which are small, roundish little clumps of tissue that are part of our lymphatic system. Our immune system works in conjunction with the lymphatic system to stop bacteria, viruses and disease from spreading throughout our bodies. The problem is that we sweaty beasts often don't think about the fact that we are putting toxic substances right at those sites so that we do not offend others around us at the gym. 

For years I have been dabbling with the name brand deodorants as well as the more "natural" brands as well. I have spent oodles of time standing at the store and smelling which one I liked best. Which one would make me smell like a fresh meadow whilst running on the treadmill? Or maybe like rain in the meadow while pushing weights over my head. All this vanity to smell good sweating and never really understanding what I was doing to my internal functions. 

Now that I'm older and wiser and dialed in to my health a bit more, I am on a mission to remove as much junk from my environment as possible. (Working really hard on healing thyroid issues!) My sister in law introduced me to a roll on and I'm here to say it works. Naturally Fresh fights off odor with it's mineral salts. It is hypoallergenic for us sensitive folk, paraben/pg free and fragrance free. It's extremely cost effective and easy to find at many stores. Keep in mind it will not keep you from sweating which is ok- that is our body's way of cooling down and we don't want to plug up our pores with antiperspirant! 

Note that the product definitely keeps those pits from smelling fowl but does take some time to dry before putting on a shirt!