Fitness

Ease Pregnancy Discomfort Naturally

Practicing yoga can help lower stress levels, reduce inflammation and promote relaxation. For moms-to-be, the benefits go even further. Pregnancy is meant to be a time of celebration and excitement. But between all of the physical and emotional changes taking place, the joys of pregnancy can get lost in the stress of preparation, the worries of uncomfortable weight gain or the aches and pains that come along with expecting.

Prenatal yoga is a wonderfully gentle way to move your body in a compassionate way, reaping the rewards of exercise along with better preparing yourself and the new addition to the family for the journey of delivery that lies ahead.

During pregnancy, many physical and emotional changes take place. The surge of the hormones progesterone and estrogen often leave women feeling emotionally drained while the added weight and growing belly can cause lower back aches and tightened hips. A mindful prenatal yoga practice can help with all this- and more. Continue Reading

September 14, 2015

Fitness, Nutrition

Post-Workout Meals: Truth or Just Hype?

“What should I eat after I workout? Do I really need a post-workout meal? How soon should I eat it after training?”

These questions come up all the time. Depending on the frequency, intensity and duration of your training sessions, the answers will be unique to you. The person working out at a moderate intensity 3 days a week and the person hitting the gym 5 or more days a week, sometimes twice in a day, are going to have different requirements.

The goal of a post-workout meal is to reduce the amount of muscle protein damaged afterwards and to replenish glycogen stores, aiding in a faster recovery before the next workout. In general, the more frequently and intensely you are training, the more important a post-workout meal becomes. Continue Reading

August 1, 2015

Fitness, Mind/Body

What Does Healthy Look Like Anyway?

It’s time to go deep here. I want you to think hard about the image that is driving you when you make food and fitness choices every day. What does that person look like? Better yet, who is that person?

Who Do You Want To Look Like?

Let’s be honest. Most of us have an image of what we want to look like. Usually it is either someone we admire at the gym, someone we saw in a magazine, or even an actor or actress on T.V. But why are we putting so much time and energy into looking like someone other than ourselves? Continue Reading

June 5, 2015

Fitness, Mind/Body

Beef Up Your Brain To Trim Down Your Waist

Yup, you can actually increase the size of your brain throughout your entire lifespan- and learning isn’t the only way! While I am not trying to discourage anyone from reading and learning, I’ve got some other, supplemental ways to increase your brain size.

First things first, though. You’re probably wondering, “Why do I care how big my brain is?”. Well, as health and nutrition expert Dr. Pamela Peeke explained at a conference I attended, “big brain equals small waist”. Interested now?

A Bigger Brain Equals A Smaller Waist.

May 26, 2015

Fitness

The Toughest Workout I’ve Ever Done… In 4 Minutes!

Yes, 4 minutes and I found myself dripping in sweat, gasping for air, and pretty much throwing out the white flag.

Meet Tabata. This is going to be your new best friend that you love to hate. Tabata is a form of high intensity interval training that originates from Japan. It takes just 4 minutes to complete, but rest assured, you are working to your absolute max and will see results.

Depending on what you fitness goals are (fat loss, muscle endurance, strength gains, etc.) you will pick several exercises and work at maximum intensity for 20 seconds with 10 seconds of rest between each for a total of 4 minutes.

Here’s a sample of a Tabata workout that I have used myself: Continue Reading

May 7, 2015

Fitness

Preventing Chronic Disease Simplified

Chronic diseases, which include asthma, diabetes, cancer, obesity and heart disease are sadly a widespread epidemic in the United States. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “chronic diseases were responsible for five of the six leading causes of death in the United States in 2006”.

Americans are spending more hours in the office where they remain seated at a desk for most of the day. Between this and all of the advances in technology that require us to move less, we are becoming a nation of sedentary, under-active and unhealthy people.

The minimum recommendation of physical activity is a mere 30 minutes of moderate activity on 5 or more days out of the week.

March 27, 2015

Fitness

Simple Yoga Poses With Huge Benefits

Whether you’re an avid yogi or have never even attempted a yoga class, there are some simple stretches that have great benefits beyond simply relieving stress. Here’s a rundown on 4 simple yoga poses that have huge benefits.

March 20, 2015

Fitness

Stretching 101: A Beginner’s Guide

We all know that we are supposed to stretch, but quite frankly, that is often about all we know for certain on the subject. Do I stretch before or after I work out? Are static or dynamic stretches better for me? What’s a girl to do?!?

First things first. Let’s figure out what the difference between static and dynamic stretching is.

March 10, 2015

Fitness

Top 5 Health Benefits of Yoga

Yoga is often associated with stress relief, relaxation and those oh so expensive yoga pants everyone wears. But there is so much more to be gained from rolling out your yoga mat regularly.

A practice that has been in existence for more than 5,000 years, the health benefits of yoga are endless, so let’s focus on the top five.

March 1, 2015

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