Beautiful Bride!

I would like to send out a heart felt congratulations to my Beautiful Bride who got married in the middle of October. This fabulous young lady came to me with a wonderful love story, and a lofty goal for her health and a huge desire for fitness! Not only did she want to loose weight for the big day, but she also wanted to find the confidence she required to do it in a health way! So she began a journey in which she would discover fitness, challenge, and an ability to believe that the healthy way would set her free. She was determined to feel strong about herself and her health!!

My beautiful bride walked down the isle glowing! Not only had she smashed her physical goals for the day, but she was full of confidence. Her wonderful personality, love and dreams came glowing off her. It was a gift for everyone invited to be able to share in this wonderful story of love, happiness and lifelong dreams! Our world need more reminders of the power of hard work, dreams and unconditional love, so thank you for allowing me to be part of your beautiful journey. Congratulations to a beautiful women and a stunning bride!

My 90 Day Fitness Challenge

I am so excited!! I am starting my personal 90 Day Fitness Challenge!!

This challenge is for me to focus on my health and wellness goals.

My Goals include:
-healthy eating and nutrition with the Help of Body by Vi
-completing 50 push ups without stopping
-feeling confident in my abilities to compete at the Last Chance Meet
-Having energy and nutrition to train for Dragon Boating and Track and Field at the same time!

What is your 90 Day Challenge?
Whether you are looking for weight loss, toning, sports performance, fitness, or health, I want you to join me!

To find out more call or email me!

Bikini Bootkick!!

Hello my Lovely Ladies!!!

So Bikini Bootkick is going to live on at Infinite...but it is going to be renamed, and be much much less expensive as it will be a group fitness class! Maximum participants 6 to 8.

If your interested in finding out more please email or call me!!

You only need to commit 6 classes at a time so there is lots of options and I would love to have you :)

Dragon Boat Festival!

Wow!! What can I say but WOW!!

My wonderful, supportive, super fun and fantastic Ladies Team, SCS Pheonix was proud to take home the Gold Medal for all Women's Competitors in this weekends Dragon Boat Festival!! We had so much fun and I really bonded with my wonderful team mates!

I also spent some time paddling with the OCC River Wreckers, a big Thank You to them for making me a welcome part of their team! We also had a Blast, and won a Silver Medal in the B Division!!

I can not believe how much I love dragon boating, the sport, the teams, the community!! So WATCH OUT!! I'm addicted and determined, training starts now for a more competitive stream of dragon boating next summer!

Remember you can always try a new sport, you never know when you might fall in love and even be good at it :) ...perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I was told Running 800m is equal to paddling 500m in a mixed boat...but I think I found me a second sport!!

My challenge to my wonderful clients, is find some sort of wonderful activity that will challenge you and keep you loving your fitness lifestyle for years to come :)

Trip Pictures SCROLL DOWN

I promised my lovely clients that I would post a few pictures of my trip!! Well I thought this would be the perfect challenge for me to learn to be confident about myself, and love the skin I'm in! Just like I teach all of you wonderful ladies...

So as I did workout everyday I am on vacation I have posted some beautiful shots of Greece, and I have even included some pictures in which I appear!

Hope you enjoy taking a look :) And remember you are beautiful even if you see some things you would like to improve on in the mirror :)

To find the Pictures, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG! Thanks :)

Happy, Hip, Fit and Sunkissed

On my vacation to Greece I took some time to reflect on life and my commitment to the fitness lifestyle. I asked myself some tough questions about where I was going, what happiness really was and what I had to do to live the lifestyle I educated my clients on everyday.

Happiness in life comes from balance and fullfillment, from connection and harmony between mind and body. So what does that mean in a nutshell? It means having a satisfying career, time for oneself, ones body, ones spirtuality, ones social and emotional relationships. It means having time to celebrate life's sucesses and embrace its hardships. But more than anything it means finding a sense a self, an identity and being strong in this identity, sharing it with others who foster its development and stearing clear of those that want to take it away!

Having been through an abusive relationship which completley stole my self identity, I know that this can happen a lot easier than we may like to admit. And I think it is an especially prominate concern for young women, specifically young women who are trying to balance a sense of self with new demands of relationships, family and children. So the challenge is to be proud of who were and confident enough to protect it! When your beeming about your life, and your identity, and you know without question that you are a happy, strong and great person it is a lot easier to be strong in who you are....so the challenge is how to get there!!

This challenge may be slightly different for everyone but it comes from loving yourself, finding a path or goal in life that you can persue and mentoring a mind body relationship, a healthy lifestyle that balances physical, emotional, spiritual and social health.

For me my challenge comes from being eager to please and willing to do just about anything to assist others. Reflection told me that while helping others is indeed part of what allows me to find fullfillment in my life, it can not come at the expense of my own self; because when it does I become stressed, unhappy, physically exhausted and much less able to provide the appropriate help and support needed by family and freinds. This is INDEED one of the biggest challenges women face, being able to say "Yes, I need to put ME as a priority in my life!" But find true happiness you do need to spend a certain amount of time focusing on yourself, and no it is not being selfish!!

For me happiness comes from being enthusiastic and engeric, having a constant physical challenge or running goal to work towards...it comes from feeling happy, hip fit and sunkissed!! Everyone's formula is different for this....you can't take my formula and apply it to, I can't your formula and apply it to me, but in order to get you thinking I am going to share what makes me feel confident, happy and alive!

1. Physical Fitness
I am very in tune with my body, when I am forced to skip workouts for employment or school related commitments I feel "gross". I feel sluggish, sad, and like I'm just not me! So having the time to do my workouts 6 days a week is a priority that just has to be fullfilled. I can't wait to return to the UofA Track and Field Program :)

2. Nutrition
My body is particularly sensitive to the foods I consume. This is likely a result of the physical demands I put on my body through fitness and the high energy lifestyle I lead! You are what you eat, so it is important to find creative nutrition solutions for every lifestyle, whether you use food, food prep or a combination of food and supplements nutrition is essential to happiness. Looking for specific ideas? I'm always here to help!

3. Long term educational and career goals
Admitting to myself that I am the kind of person that needs a constantly challenging and refreshing work environment has allowed me to find a certain satisfaction in my career. I also find satisfaction in seeing my career and goals move forward. For me this means finding employment opportunities that foster my dream of completing my phyiscal education degree which will allow me to move forward should I be called to stay in the fitness industry. It also involves finding a workplace open to my goal of applying to the police force. While there is no guarantees of success in this process I need to surround myself with people both inside and outside of the workplace who are willing to embrace and support my dreams and aspirations!

4. Social, Emotional and Spiritual fullfillment.
This is a very personal area, we all find the balance to these things differently. For me this includes having a chance to see my family once a week, interact with my circle of close freinds and attend church on a regular basis. It also included finding a volunteer opportunity that allows me to give back to the community...I'm currently looking for something that is law enforcement based if anyone has leads....

5. Work Life Balance
In order to be able to pursue fitness, educational and nutritional goals while finding social, emotional and spirtual fullfillment there was one ingredient missing in my life! Work Life Balance!! So what does this mean? Well it means that I am a better personal trainer, coach and role model when I have some time for me! That is okay not to want to answer work related calls at 7am on Sunday morning, and that I can still take awesome care of my fantastic clients while finding this balance! And I believe I have found a fantastic place to make this happen :)

6. Unhealthy relationships
So I'm just gonna address this breifly and within a professional scope, some of you may be aware that unhealthy relationships have been a part of my past....and I know some of you were concerned over the fact that one of my freinds who was to travel with Greece to me decided not to come with me last minute, and indeed he took an unnecessary tack of laying blame for this decision on me. It was somehow my fault (largely because I was going to make a potential career choice he didn't like), and he felt it was necessary to threaten me rather than just politely ask me to respect his wishes.
So what did I do? I made other arrangements to have a fantastic vacation and knew that if this was the kind of person I was missing out of in my life then it was okay! Because I need to surround myself with people who support me and my goals, and who treat me with respect...so that I can indeed be Happy, Hip, Fit and Sunkissed!!

Saturday July 9th Bikini Bootkick

Complete each mini circuit twice, then move on to the next.

10 Burpies
12 V-sits
20 Chinnies
20 Cross Overs

10 Push ups with leg lift
20 Supermans
10 Reverse Lunge on each side
10 Elbows to Knees on each side

10 Burpies
12 Toe Touches each side
15 Reverse Crunch
15 Flutter Kicks

10 Turkish Get Ups
15 Ab Roll Outs
20 L-Sits

10 Push Ups
10 Side Bridge with Leg Lifts Each side
15 oblique side leans each side.

KICK YOUR ABS WITH THIS AWESOME BIKINI PERFECT WORKOUT!!

Saturday's Bikini Bootkick

Here is Saturday's workout...yes I am naming the Saturday sessions a "bikini bootkick!!" Enjoy :)

Complete 2 sets of each of the following circuits:

10 Burpies
10 Stability Ball Adductor Pass
10 Push Up Throws with partner
10 Stability Ball Abdominal Roll Out

15 Reverse crunch with Ball between feet
15 Jump Squats
1 minute of High Knee Run
15 Plank Walks

20 Oblique Side Reach with weights
10 Burpies
10 Side Bridge Lifts per side
1 minute plank

20 Toe Touches with Ball between feet
15 Supermans with Ball Lift
10 Alternate Leg Push Ups
Weighted Basketball Sit Up Pass

10 Reverse Lunges on Each leg
10 pike on Stability Ball
10 Stability Ball at feel, plank with leg lift
20 Elbows to Knees

Rowing Workout for Spring Challenge

To my beautiful ladies, and specifically my Spring Challenge clients, here is a new Rowing workout for you to try!!

Set the tension/level of the rowing machine using the dial down the side to approximatley eight. Set the display to units of Watts.

Now you are going to row 1 minute hard, keeping the speed at 50-60 watts, then 1 minute medium, keeping the speed at 30-40 watts. Repeat the hard minute of rowing six times to make one set. After the set stop rowing and rest for 1-2 minutes. Then repeat the entire the set an additional two times, for a total of 3 sets of 6 hard minutes.

Remember if the level of intensity gets too high, back off and adjust according to your fitness level. Happy rowing ladies!!

Wellness, A Wholistic Approach to Health

In follow up to an earlier article I am going to continue with discussing the major aspects of human wellness. Remember that wellness if more than just physical health, it is a "lifestyle choice characterized by personal responsibility for and optimal enhancement of physical, mental and spiritual health". (Hales and Lauzon)

Wellness includes 6 major dimensions: Social, Occupational, Spiritual, Physical Intellectual and Emotional wellness. Let's take a look at each of these:

Social Wellness
Social wellness allows us to "explore the depths of our souls and the height of our emotions" (Hales and Lauzon). Social wellness encompases our ability to relate and contribute to society, to assist other human beings and to value the concept of being interdependant on freinds, family, coworkers and the environment around us. Being Socially well requires that we are able to enter into intimate relations, that is relations that allow for open, trusting sharing of close thoughs and feelings. Remember it is not necessary for intimate relationships to be sexual in nature!

Looking at marriage statistics is a good way to put the importance of social wellness into persepective! Married people are happier, healther and liver longer, in fact research shows that single men have a mortality rate 250% higher than married men, and single women have a mortality rate 50% higher than married women. Marriage has also been shown to decrease suicide risk, drinking and substance abuse, mental health disorders and to improve physical health! Wow! Who knew that Social wellness could do all that :)

Occupational Wellness
Finding enrichment through work can enhance our well being, after all we do spend the majority of our day at work! So the challenge is to find a career that is consistent with your personal values, interests and beliefs, and that allows you to share your talents with others.

Remember that even if you have the perfect job, all work and no play makes for a dull world! There is overwhelming research to show that regular vacaction improves health! In fact I was just watching a news piece this morning that was comparing the health of Europeans to North Americans, we were dismal in comparison to our cross ocean neighbours! And what was stated as the major cause of this difference?!? Vacation! Europeans are more likely to leave work at work, to participate in social activities and recieve an average of 5 paid weeks of vacation a year, compared with our average of just 2 weeks! It's important to rest, rejevuanate and relax! You will perform better at your Occupation with regular breaks, thus vacation also increase occupational health and satisfaction.

Intellectual Wellness

The brain is the only organ in your body that is capable of self awareness, so keep it healthy! Intellectual wellness is our ability to think about and learn from new information and life experience. It provide us with the ability to question and evaluate information, as welll as think critically about life and health information. Continual exposure to intellectual growth and stimulation has been shown decrease the risk and severity of diseases like dimensia, in other words...use your brain or loose it! So if you are one of those people with a desk piled as high as a mountain that never steps outside the office, maybe it's time to consider enrolling in that continuing education seminar you've been dreaming about for years!

Spiritual Wellness
As mentioned in earlier articles, spiritual wellness is our ability to find purpose in life and to experience love, joy, peace and fullfillment. Spiritual wellness unites all other aspects of wellness together. It challenges us to find inner harmony, and share this harmony with every dimension of our lives.

Emotional Wellness
Emotional wellness is our ability to feel positive and enthusiastic about life. People who are emotionally well, are not without emotional concerns in life, rather they are able to express and mange their feelings. Those individuals who excell at emotional wellness recongnize problems and are able to ask for help when they are feeling blue! So let's all work on this together....express your emotional feelings to a freind today, and be sure to listen and support this freind through their feelings in return.

Physical Wellness
Physical wellness is our attention to our bodies physical needs and nutrition. In order to be well, we must firt be healthy. Great health requires that our bodies are fit, that is that we have a basic level of strength, endurance and flexibility. It also requires a strong nutrition program and health Body Mass Index.

Physical wellness, participating in regular physical activity, allows us to decrease stress and clear our minds, which in turn allows us to work on other areas of wellness. The positive endorphins released during exercise boost our mood, and increase our chances of finding happiness and fullfillment!

Not convinced? Well why not come try it for yourself!! Contact me to recieve a free fitness analysis and trial workout at spa lady today.

Elliptical Circuit

Looking to mix up your cardio, burn calories, and tone up those legs! Here is a great way to change things up!!
For those of you who are knew training do a 10 minute warm up, complete one set of the workout listed below, do a 10 minute cool down.
For those of you who are more fit, or looking for an extra challenge do a 5 minute warm up, complete two sets of the workout listed below, do a 5 minute cool down.
Be sure to stretch after this one!!

Starting on an Elliptical Machine, with a set of dumbell weights of appropriate weight to the side or directly behind you...

2 minutes of Elliptical at Level 10
12 Bicep Curls
1 minute fo Elliptical at Level 4
12 Single Arm Tricep Extensions on Each side
2 minutes of Elliptical at Level 8
20 Squats
1 minute of Elliptical at Level 4
10 Reverse Lunges on each leg
2 minutes of Ellipitical at Level 10
10 push ups
1 minute of Elliptical at Level 4
Plank for 1 minute
2 minutes of Elliptical at Level 8
10 Weighted Oblique Side Leans on each side
1 minute of Elliptical at Level 4
15 Calf Raises and 15 Heal Walks
2 minutes of Elliptical at Level 10
15 Weighted Wide Squats
1 minute of Elliptical at Level 4
15 Narrow Squats

Happy working out :)

Sunday's Bikini Circuit Madness

Here is the Sunday Abdominal Circuit for you guys! It was fun to work through this together!! I have listed each of the 4 exercises we did in a set. Complete the set, then repeat it a second time before moving to the next set! Happy Ab Training!!

Burpies (10)
Flutter Kicks (20)
Running High Knees (1 minute)
Squats or Squat Jumps (15)

Reverse Lunges (10 each leg)
Push ups with leg lift (10)
Chinnies (20)
V-Sits (10)

Superman with a Twist (20)
Burpies (10)
Glute bridge with leg lift (20 leg lifts)
Oblique Side Raise (10 per side)

Push Ups (10)
Plank Rows (20)
Heel Hops (10 front, 10 back, 10 to each side)

V-Sits (10)
Elbows to kness (20)
L-Sits (20)
Toe Touches (20)

Push ups (10)
Oblique Straight Arm Sit Up (20)
Plank (1 minute)

Eating Ideas

Nutrition is a very personal matter, and advice should be taken from a Registered Dietician if you are serious about finding a healthy way to loose weight! Some of you have been asking me about the diabetic sugar free diet a use for a few weeks when I need to kick start my metabolism, I then follow a similar eating style but add back in more variety of foods including fruits. What I do is shared below, and was given to me by a close freind.

Diabetic Sugar Free Diet

Breakfast:
Bran Buds (No Milk – use water and splenda it tastes like milk) or
Protein Shake (you can add some instant coffee for flavour for all you coffee people)
OR pick one carb and one protein

Then eat 5 more meals in the day that consist on one carb; one veggie; and one protein

CARBS
• ½ cup brown rice
• ½ cup oats
• ½ cup bran buds
• ½ cup sweet potato
• ½ cup Quinoa
• 1 serving of sugar free rice cakes


Protein
• 4 oz chicken
• 4 oz lean ground beef
• 4 oz salmon
• 1 can tuna
• ½ cup cottage cheese
• 6 egg white
• Low carb protein shake

Veggies 100-200 grams
• Salad
• Cucumber
• Celery
• Spinach
• Peppers
• Mushrooms
• Squash
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Occasionally tomato

No Veggies that have sugar like corn or carrots, no fruits, no dressings, marinade or butter.
Use dry spices and salsa for sauces
No Juice, sugar, cream in your coffee

Completely stick to the plan for 2 weeks…then tell me where your at and we will talk about the next step

Cabbage Soup Recipe:

Cook lean ground beef
Add a cabbage
Add 1 can stewed tomatoes
Add some vegetable broth
Simmer until it’s all nice and soft
Then serve over brown rice!! This will taste really good! Just watch your portions and it’s on the diet!

Understanding Wellness

So I was sitting in church this weekend, listening to the Priest...thinking about my life and about my clients! Why? Well because he was talking about the importance of spiritual wellness!! Something I took a very enjoyable class on last semester....so I am here to share....

Wellness is not simply being void from illness, but instead “Wellness is a multidimensional state of being describing the existence of positive health in an individual as exemplified by quality of life and a sense of well-being.” (Charles B. Corbin of Arizona State University. Wellness is normally broken down into five main categories: Physical Wellness, Spiritual Wellness, Social Wellness, Emotional Wellness, and Environmental Wellnesss. Each element of wellness has it's own components, but they are all intermingled, so this week I will be posting a blog on each of these areas with some more information, in the mean time I will share with you a little bit about what was said on the weekend in regards to spiritual wellness.

I start by stating that "spiritual wellness" is a process of seaking meaning and purpose in human existance. This may be practiced through religion, meditation, practices like yoga, or in a non-institual personal manner. The way in which we find spiritual wellness is personal, and may be different for everyone.

Having a sense of purpose in life, feeling content with who you are and having a clear sense of what you believe you would like to accomplish helps you to become a whole a person. Without direction and being able to value yourself, and what you think, believe and desire, we often can become lost vessels, chasing ourselves around in a never ending circle. So the challenge that was given to me was to find 30 minutes a day to find for myself to pray, and to be in touch with my spiritual wellness. I would like to extend this challenge to each of you, to spend 30 minutes a day practicing some sort of spiritual wellness. Then in a month from now reflect on the experience, how do you feel?
A sense of spiritual wellness should help you keep life in perspective, explore and be one with yourself, your present situation and the choices you have made.

Seems easy enough right? Well this was the hard part!! We were challenged that the 30 minutes that we find must not be an additional 30 minutes in are day. Rather we must reflect what we do that is "clutter", that could be sacrificed to put our own personal wellness and sense of self as a priority. So indeed my challenge to you is: WHAT CAN YOU GIVE UP TO FIND 30 MINUTES A DAY TO BE QUIET AND PERFORM A SPIRITUAL WELLNESS ACTIVITY OF YOUR CHOICE IN ORDER TO ASSIST YOU IN TOUCH WITH YOUR SPIRITUAL CORE?

Have fun loving yourself!! And stay tuned for more information on all the dimensions on wellness :)

The Power of Sunshine!!

Personally, I find nothing more inspiring then the warmth of a strong sunshine beating down on my back as I go for a long run! Yesterday was one of my first outdoor runs where the sun felt really hot!! And it was inspiring to think of flowers, sunshine and summer. The animals and birds showed themseleves for glimpses along the trail, and fellow runners all smiled to say hello. Truly, the summer sun, new life, and sunshine are upon us!

Sunshine is linked to Vitamin D, and has a long history of being a natural treamtent provided by both doctors, and century old natural healing philosophy's to treat a number of diseases.

The benefits of sunshine may include:
•Soothe your nerves and boost your mood, leaving you with a renewed sense of well-being.
•Increases production of endorphins and serotonin in your brain which will definitely leave you feeling much better.
•Lowers pain levels of swollen, arthritic joints.
•Lowers cholesterol and blood pressure.
•Promotes thyroid stimulation.
•Regulates and enhance the immune system.
•Increases the number of white blood cells in your blood. It also helps them to be better fighters in their mission to destroy germs.
•Encourages healthy circulation.
•Stimulates the production of more red blood cells which increases the amount of oxygen in the blood.
•Stimulates insulin production.
•Improves heart muscle contractility.
•Stimulates your appetite and improves your digestion, elimination, and metabolism.

So based on all these wonderful benefits it is not a wonder that workouts, mood and life seem to improve over the spring and summer!

SO WHAT'S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE? The biggest challenge is to get inspired by sunshine to improve physical health and activity!! If you can get into a sun inspired routine of workouts, and keep it going when the summer sunshine fades away you are bound to feel better in the winter months too, as exercise endorphins also provide a number of the great side effects sunshine does, including an increase in mood and positive outlook on life!!

CAN YOU GET SO INSPIRED BY THE POWER OF SUNSHINE THAT YOU KEEP THAT WORKOUT ROUTINE GOING ALL YEAR THROUGH?

** When exercise or partaking in outdoor activities always be aware of the warning signs of excess heat exposure. To protect your skin from harmful UVA Raise ensure you always wear a sweat resistance sunscreen when exercising outside***

Crazy Ab Circuit Workout!!

This week my client's were looking to kick it up a notch!! So by special request for one of my avid treckers, I put together a full hour of exercise that required nothing more than a matt to do, and focused almost entirely on core and chest. I completed this workout with my client and it's definatley a great way to start feeling confident in that bikini :) Check it out below:
(Please note this workout is designed for intermediate to advanced level)

Complete 2 sets of each mini circuit continously. Do 10 repititions of each exercsie the first time through and 15 repititions of each exercise the second time through.

Set 1:
Running High Knees (45 seconds round one, one minute round two)
Jump Squats
Superman's with a Twist
Burpies

Set 2:
Chinnies
Pushup
Plank Leg Lifts
Side Bridge Lifts

Set 3:
V-Sits
L-Stis
Flutter Kicks
Burpies

Set 4:
Cross Overs
Twist Sit Ups
Toe Touches
Push Ups with Leg Lift

Set 5:
Bicycles
Reverse Crunches
Russian Twist
Push Ups

This is a great workout to try on your own after cardio! Once you have completed this tummy burner be sure to do a full body stretch, and partake in proper after workout nutrition to make sure you get the best results for that fantastic looking beach body!

PLEASE NOTE ALL WORKOUT IDEAS POSTED ON THIS BLOG ARE SUGGESTIONS ONLY. SAFE WORKOUT PRACTICE VARIES FROM PERSON TO PERSON, BASED ON INDIVIDUAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS SITUATIONS. ALWAYS CONSULT WITH A DOCTOR PRIOR TO BEGINING EXERCISE, AND ALWAYS WORK WITHIN A ZONE THAT IS COMFORTABLE FOR YOU.

Get Inspired with Rowing!

Looking for a new cardio kick?!? Why not try out the rowing machine. A few sessions of rowing each week is sure to kick your program up a notch and help you burn those extra calories as you work towards your summer fitness goals! In fact rowing is so spectacular, that I just recently purchased my very own rowing machine for fantastic cross traing workouts!

What to try on the rowing machine:
-start of with rowing for 20 minutes at a time, then build up (remember you need 20 minutes of activity to get your cardiac benefits)
-Set the fitness level reading so you can see calories per hour. Remember to ALWAYS work at your own pace and within a fitness zone that is comfortable for you!! An average guide is that those with low fitness should aim to work at 400cals/hour, moderate fitness at 500cals/hour, and excellent fitness at 600cals/hour.
-Try rowing for one minute with both hands, one minute to the right side, one minute to the left side, one minute right hand only, one minute left hand only
-Looking to spice it up some more, try out some interval rowing...row as fast as you can for one minute, then back off to half that speed for thrity seconds to one minute, and repeat for twenty to thirty minutes.
-Rowing is a great way to work your heart, burn lots of calories, and get your abs and back muscles into it!!
-This is a great way to get in some cardio before starting a weight lifting session, or before seeing me for training!! And it is a workout that I use myself so ask away about all the benefits it has provided me :)

PLEASE NOTE ALL WORKOUT IDEAS POSTED ON THIS BLOG ARE SUGGESTIONS ONLY. SAFE WORKOUT PRACTICE VARIES FROM PERSON TO PERSON, BASED ON INDIVIDUAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS SITUATIONS. ALWAYS CONSULT WITH A DOCTOR PRIOR TO BEGINING EXERCISE, AND ALWAYS WORK WITHIN A ZONE THAT IS COMFORTABLE FOR YOU.

Personal Trainer Daily Blog Kick Off!!

So I have officially decided to share my Fitness Lifestyles blog, with all of my wonderful clients!! I will be posting daily blogs, fitness tips and asking a variety of clients to share their wonderful, motivational success stories up here on Fitness Lifestyles!!

My goal with opening this fitness blog up is to provide a safe place for all the wonderful ladies to share fitness stories and ideas. Also it will be a place for you to retrieve training information to help me cut down on the cost of printing everything!

Each of you inspires me daily, to be fit, healthy and strong! May this blog be another tool to help you along your fitness journey :)

Constant Inspiration!!

My week, and blog, fell off the rails last week. I had a Psychology midterm dished up by a disrespectful professor, a frozen pipe attached to my sump pump, a furnace that had to be serviced by ATCO (which is free by the way!), a note from the bylaw officer about the dogs, and battle with Bell Mobility over a lost cell phone! It left me entering a new week in a poor state of mind with out my normal positive, the cup is always half full approach to life!

Today, this was completely turned around!! Today I was inspired by the beauty of nature and women. It started this morning when I went out for my morning run with Mackenzie. It was beautiful outside this morning, fresh, energizing, invigorating. The signs of spring were all around me, the beauty of opportunity and new life surrounded me!

Then I went to work and met with a ton of great women! One women inparticular was inspiring today. As a stay at home Mother she was doing something for herself for the first time in approximatley two years!! For two years she focused on everyone else, and it is a challenge for he to be able to come to the gym and train with me for two hours a week. Can you imagine, being so selfless as to struggle to give yourself two hours a week!! What a beautiful women!!

This inspiring women sent a HUGE message home to me though! Why in the world do we, as women, feel that is acceptable to give up our entire selves, with absolutley no love for me? And if we can't prioritize ourselves high enough to give ourselves "me" time then who will?

Today my clients were all about talking about the pressure's of spring. To these women Spring comes with the expectation of entertaining with a perfect house, a perfect yard, perfect barbeque and perfect patio. Spring brings the need to get a beach body for summer, and while most women do state they want this body to feel confidence in themselves, our media portrayal makes the image they describe to be the perfect beach body extremely difficult, and possibly unhealthy to maintain. Spring means soccer practice, yard sales, camping trips, government tests at school, a need to figure out how to get time off work for the family in summer....spring means beauty...but spring means stress!!

So today I challenge each of you to be a beautiful spring women. Spring is a time for new life, and each women out there is a beautiful life. So here is the spring challenge;

1. Reach out and say "I can be me, and I am worth it". Pick something that is important to you and make time to do it every day!!
(For example: my dream is to run, so I have made the resolution that as it is spring I am going to make time to go to bed earlier so I can add in a second morning workout each day).

2. Spring Cleaning. Use spring cleaning not as a competition to see who can have the most fantastic, magazine style, house. Instead use it as an opportunity to de-clutter. Clutter takes away from our ability to accomplish tasks in a timely manner and feel organize. So organize your house to fit your routine and help you survive the day with success! Then put 10 minutes a day away to do a "spot clean' that keeps the little things from getting to big things, and assures continued success.

3. The patio and the party. Your freinds are human and so are you!! When they go home they probably don't gossip about if the green cushions were the right colour, or if you have the best patio furniture!! They do talk about your hospitality and the great time they had with freinds! And for them to talk about this you need to be rested and relaxed enough to enjoy socializing. So stop sweating the small stuff, a normal backyard my have a few dandylions, it may have tired yard work, but it comes with a great friend to listen to you! A great BBQ dinner is full of laughs and health, so yes it's okay if you bought the premade vegetable platter.

4. Your body!! Embrace yourself, for you!! Your beautiful!! Then work your body into your me time. Do something to keep it healthy, buy healthy snack option even if it costs an extra dollar at the store, and embrace images of real world beautiful women!! A great place to start is with the Dove Natural Women Beauty Campaign website!! In the past two weeks I have had several people tell me I look spectacular, yes I am working out like crazy, yes I am toned and fit, but no I don't have a six pack!! I'm a women! And I'm proud of it!!

5. Respond to my blog! Let's keep a big list of all the great things that Women are doing to celebrate women!!

I'm just not a fitness nut

Excuses, reasons, statements, explanations of why you can not workout, or why you can not commit to purchasing that training you know you desperatley need to make it to your fitness goal! I have heard them all!! But most of them boil down to one big assumption: Meagan it's easy for you to workout because your a fitness nut and you love it! For me it's just not something I am passionate about.

While you may never be passionate, in the same crazy way I am, about putting your body through a grueling workout and reaping the personal rewards of running around a track 2 tenths of a second faster than you did the last time; I assure you that given the chance to enjoy the positive endorphines, increased energy, increased sleep quality, increase self confidence and time away from your busy life to focus just on you, you will come to understand the many benefits a fitnesss lifestyle can offer your busy life. As women we tend over support others and fail to take care of ourselves. While, in theory, this seems like a positive quality we are forgetting a keypoint, we are best equipped to help others when we are happy and healthy ourselves.

Think about it this way, if you have a positive self image of yourselve and you are taking 3-4 hours a week to do something to improve your own health, fitness and energy levels, how much happier, easier to get a long with and more productive will you be in the time you do have to help others? A LOT! So this is not a reason or an excuse not to work out, but rather just another reason why should be doing it!! And remember personal training is just that, personal, you may have no desire to sweat until you feel like you are gonna die, or to prove to the world that you can indeed do 10 push ups from your toes. That's okay! If you have a good trainer they will work within your comfort zone, and give you the push your looking for. That's right it's ALL about you!

The Beginings of Fitness Blog

Life is a journey, it is beautiful journey full of both sunshine and rain. Sometimes the sunshine is so bright we are overwhelmed with joy, and sometimes the clouds are so dark we feel imobilized by sadness and fear.  While I have been so very blessed in my life to have a wonderful family and the most loyal, loving freinds I have had a few pretty rainy seasons in life. These rainy seasons have taught me several things; they have taught to me to always be proud of myself, to cling closely to my fitness lifestyle as the benefits will always keep you going and that no matter what anyone says being a women in Canada today is hard stuff!! You are constantly challenged to be a women with a successful career, a perfect home, a magazine style body, a wonderful sense of human, unending patience, and continual smile. Indeed many women today find themselves consumed by trying to be the perfect stay at home style Mother and house wife while balancing a full time job!! This leave little to know time for these wonderful women to celebrate themselves, take care of themselves and rejuniate their mind body and spirt, so that they can do each of these wonderful tasks with the enthusiasm, love and joy they truly deserve.

Throughout my many successes and failures in life I have learnt a few very important lessons, all of which have inspired me as a personal trainer, and women. So I have begun a fitness blog to share workout ideas, nutritional advice and support to women, in hopes to open the opportunity to these women to enjoy the many benefits of a fitness lifestyle integrated into the busy and demanding lives they lead today.

So stay tuned for many great posts that will discuss fitness, health and the way in which we as women can use these tools to empower us throughout life.