Get out there and get active! Enjoy our beautiful Squamish weather.
When the sun is shining….
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Tag Archives: Balance
With glowing hearts
The olympics are in full swing we are inundated with snippets from our nation anthem; what an inspiring time. I was fortunate to get to go to the cross country event this week: the phrase “with glowing hearts” form our national anthem kept popping up on the large display. It is interesting because I found that it really speaks to the connection between the mind, body, and soul. If our heart are glowing then our bodies feel strong, we are connected and ready to give it our all. It is a great way to cheer on our athletes. What I have found in my personal training practice is that if our hearts are not glowing, if we are having a difficult day, our bodies are not strong. At such times it is important to listen to our bodies, it is not the time to push ourselves, rather it is the time to heal ourselves. And when it is time to give it our all, our best, go for gold with a glowing heart.
Trust the process
If you you have ever worked with me you know that I often tell people to be patience and trust the process. If you are meant to go in a certain direction in life what you need will be brought to you. By no means do this exclude taking responsibility for your life and working towards what you dream, but more so that the little things will take car of themselves and opportunities will be placed before you.
So take control of you life, do what you can and trust that you will get what you need, it may not always be what you want, but usually it is what you need. We do not always know what is best for ourselves in the big picture.
Keep your eyes peels and ears perked there are exciting changes happening in the next two months! It has been confirmed; the world is a beautiful and magical place!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Heart Health
We are what we eat, thus what we put in our bodies inevitable become part of its structure, and like I said before structure determine function.
Did you know that fat is absorbed into the body differently than proteins and carbohydrates (CHO)? When CHO and proteins are broken down and absorbed in the small intestine they are carried through the heptatic circulatory system to the liver to filter out unnecessary by-products. Fat however due to its water phobic nature is absorbed into your lymphatic system (mirrors your circulatory system, used in immunity, lymph: the clear part of blood). The lymphatic system drains into the circulatory system at the superior vena cava. If you perused the anatomy of the heart you would know that the superior vena cava is where de-oxygenated blood from the upper body enters the heart to be pumped to the lungs. The implications of that are: THE FIRST PLACE FAT GOES IN THE BODY IS YOU HEART!!!!! And since our cells take what they need to repair, and build form circulating CHO, proteins, and fats, it means your heart is getting first pick of unhealthy fats. Terrifying.
It also explains why eating processed food, which are high in fat (the bad and terrible kind) impacts immunity. Your lymph is a drainage system for your immune system and unwanted thing circulation in your blood. if it is saturated with fat, it increase the work of your lymph nodes, deceases their effectiveness at fighting off disease.
Next time you reach for that chip, chicken wing, or cookie… think about what it would look like in your heart… you may reconsider.
Sometimes laughter is all you need….
WARNING: the following link is crass, but funny none the less. View at your own risk.
Stretching: new research
A new study (Batista LH, Vilar AC, Ferreira JJA, Rebelatto JR & Salvini TF) has be published on the effect of stretching and it impact on fitness, specifically in application to older adults. Here is a brief overview of the important factors:
Deficits in muscle strength and range of motion are common in older adults but not to exclusive to, due to a decrease in overall flexibility. Reduced flexibility is generally caused by shortening and increased rigidity of muscles. These viscoelastic changes in muscle fibers have deleterious functional consequences, such as aberrant gait patterns, and hampered ability to rise from a seated position, leading to a greater incidence of falls and loss of independence.
Stretching is an exercise performed in clinical settings and physical fitness facilities used to increase range of motion. Research has shown that stretching can cause morphologic change in muscle fibers and connective tissue, ultimately leading to an increase in overall muscle strength.
Previous studies have shown that similar results can occur after a stretching intervention implemented every day for 6 weeks straight. This study showed that flexibility training twice a week for 4 weeks is as efficient as a 6 week training protocol
According to this group of researchers, it is conceivable that stretched muscles are stronger because both passive and active forces add to strength production. Previous research concluded that the increase in stored energy and ranges of motion after stretching is important because it can increase the elastic recoil capacity of a muscle. However, this notion is not completely agreed upon in the fitness industry.
Regardless, stretching is a vital component of fitness, equally so as cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength, which not only has benefits in its own right but improves all component of fitness.
Catch the olympic spirit!
To day is day 98 of the olympic torch rely and it’s coming to Squamish! Come participate in the festivities at Brennan Park.
To see the route click here.
Update on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 9:11PM by 
violetquartzwellness
violetquartzwellnessWOW! Was that ever cool. I attended the Lions Bay torch celebration, and it was amazing. Catch a glimpse….
What inspired me….
Keeping up with a lifestyle change can be very challenging, often we feel like the payoff is not worth the effort, especially when the results can be slow coming. I have my own personal experience to share; after a long period of being ill, not working out, eating poorly in my late adolescence I decided to get my life in check, I was not happy with my body and I felt crummy. At the time I had not idea how much work it took to get the results I wanted. I had a dance background so for most of my life up until then, it was not something I though mush about. When I first started going to the gym I thought going twice a week was a lot of time, especially because it felt wasted. I was intimidated by other more fit women in the gym. I found a cartoon in a magazine that captured what I felt, it was accompanied by this editorial story; this woman had gone through the same thing I was going through. I was INSPIRED! I loved the cartoon, so I kept it. I taped it to my bathroom mirror, to remind me every day why I was doing what I was doing and to not give up. As I became stronger I enjoyed going to the gym more, I went more often, saw more results. It took me a full five years to really see all the changes I wanted, it had to build over time. That cartoon, stayed on my mirror all of that time. When I moved I kept it and took it with me. Now I can generate my own motivation, but I sometimes remember what it felt like to not have any, and that cartoon’s role in keeping me one track. Do not underestimate the power of the small things.
Do not give up, keep at it, it will come.
Notes from the universe
Recently a friend introduced me to notes from the universe from tut.com; they are daily e-mails which remind you of the big picture. I highly recommend it, check it out. Always an inspiring message.
Tricking yourself into staying; when motivation is nowhere to be found
The follow excerpt is from another blog that I follow. I wanted to share it with you because I could not have said it better myself.
Does your training ever leave you feeling like you’re participating in a science experiment with a sample size of N=1? There are training routines to plan and track, data points to be harvested and analyzed, and a constant quest for innovation to reach your personal limits. Sometimes these factors make training exciting. And sometimes they make training seem incredibly boring and like a chore.
When you find yourself fishing for the snooze button on your alarm instead of springing out of bed to assault the day and the training you have so carefully carved out time to execute, you could keep doing the same old thing. But the same old thing is why you’re lying in bed listening to your alarm squawking and cringing instead of rushing full force into an awesome day that you can’t wait to start and a training session that will invigorate you and help advance every area of your life.
Don’t let your training routine be something you dread. When it is, turn it into a game and trick yourself into staying fit even when you’d normally want to bail. There are many ways to achieve this goal, but here are a few of the quickest, easiest ways to keep it fresh and playful.
Unless you’re a professional athlete, remember that this isn’t your job. It’s something you do electively because you enjoy it. Keep that thought in the front of your mind and visualize the moments you’ve most enjoyed in training, the times you’ve overcome your inertia or personal limits and gone to a higher level. That’s fun. That’s the attitude you want to have every day. Cultivate it, visualize it, experience what it feels like and carry it with you so it’s accessible every time you want to just say no to training.
When all else fails, promise yourself a reward. Been dying to eat a bowl of ice cream? Need a new pair of shoes? Want to watch your favorite television show later in the day but feel guilty about making the time to do it? Take anything you’d really like to do and promise it to yourself if you complete every workout seven days in a row or for two weeks or a month or whatever. Write down the reward, what you have to do to achieve it, and make it happen.