Roots
Team Body Firm~
January has been a month of getting “grounded, or rooted”. This will most likely flow into February and even early March. It seems this year more than ever, so many of us have needed to take a pause and “reset”.
We love the crazy and fun times during November and December, but once January hits, we are exhausted, confused, emotional and not quite ourselves. This is why this precious time of becoming “still” and getting centered is so vital. We need time to renew and take stock in who we are again!
As we enter into a new month, many of us are getting a grip on what direction we are now headed. It’s important however to take this path carefully and with authenticity…whether fast or slow, do it true to what is calling to you.
As always, I like to link this theme with our health. It’s important to take the time to let one’s roots sink in just like it is important to be decisive with a goal for our health, our exercise routines and our nutritional habits. Because of this, as we start ramping up on our fitness again, consider being deliberate with your goals. If you want to ride your first Century bike ride for example, start now with a plan on how to progressively become prepared…get your foundation in order during these early months.
If you would like to lower your cholesterol and lose 15 pounds in the process, committing to a diet low in saturated and transfats now will help with the LDL cholesterol area and increasing your exercise will help in raising your good cholesterol…not to mention friendly to your waistline. Mapping out a plan on when to get blood work done then counting backwards on starting now will get you rooted towards achieving a healthy heart and weight.
I like to use the analogy of an oak tree vs. a pine tree. They are both beautiful, big and majestic. An oak tree looks enormous and strong…and it can be; however it’s roots don’t run very deep. If the mighty oak has to endure a drought, the limbs of the tree are fragile and upon a severe storm, the limbs or possibly even the tree itself will fall.
The pine tree on the other hand it tall, strong and usually very old. The pine tree has deep roots. The pine will endure droughts better and in the end will live through unstable storms in it’s life swaying in the wind, but rarely falling.
Let your roots get deep this year. Decide which path you would like for your year and consider being methodical in your journey. Become the pine (or Fir or Redwood) so you can be healthy enough to persevere through the seasonal whims of nature (i.e life!)
Navigating through the Myths
Body Firm gets a face lift soon!
We are excited to show you our new “face lift” in the Spring of 2014!
Stay tuned for a fresh new Body Firm!
The Act of Kindness
Imagine If…
Imagine if…
Imagine you could wake up tomorrow and realize anything is possible. Just imagine.
What if…you felt amazing and you absolutely loved to exercise…how would that change your life?
What if…you loved eating foods which were really good for you? Foods which helped your body heal and repair and gave you energy…what would your life be like?
What if…you managed your schedule so that you could spend quality time each day with your family, your friends and the people you love and could freely laugh and feel happy? How would your relationships that you have now change?
What if…you knew you were taking care of your health so well, you rarely, if ever, worried about the next Dr.’s visit? Would you still be afraid?
What if…you were able to stop worrying about money and felt secure with what you already have? Would you be smile more readily? Would you give more freely?
What if…you truly loved what you did for a living? Would you wake up excited to live your day?
What if…you imagined the impossible? What if the impossible could happen…even if for a day? What would happen?
Wake up tomorrow, and imagine…what if…?
2014 Here we are!
Team Body Firm ~
Here we are…2014! It seems a little surreal. Of course, January is synonyms with resolutions, goals, getting motivated, fresh starts and that’s just the beginning.
I’m all for this. As you might know, I write down my intentions for the year every January. It grounds me and helps me gain insight and direction as to how I’d like to focus my energy and attention. I openly encourage my clients to do this (in their own way) as well…I deeply believe we need to write down what we want for ourselves in order to envelope these intentions into our lives and create the year (and beyond) we want.
So often, though I hear folks worry about the perfection and potential imperfections of setting goals. Many people seem to be afraid to commit to “New Year’s Resolutions” because they have “failed in years past” and don’t want to claim their goals out loud; some won’t even write it on paper…even if they are the only ones who see it. They worry that if they don’t complete their goal (sometimes with absolute perfection) then they have failed, so they don’t want to even try; for fear of letting someone (mostly themselves) down.
Another perspective is if we never move forward, then that is failure…we stay in the “I wish I would have” doorway. If we move forward, we try and we complete 50% of what we obtained, then we have not failed…we’ve improved 50%!! That’s pretty incredible.
Let’s say you want to become a vegetarian, but after 2 weeks you decide you love fish and can’t live without it. In the process though, you probably learned a different way to eat, cleaned your body up a little, adding in some more vegetables and realized fish …really GOOD fish is amazing! That’s an accomplishment!
Let’s say you vowed to run a 10K by February 15, but you started to run and got shin splints, so instead you could safely only complete a 5K. You’re frustrated because you signed up for the 10K, invited friends to do it and thought you’d lose 10 pounds in the process; but instead, because of your limited movement only lost 3. Guess what? You are running 3 more miles than you were in December…you’ve lost 3 pounds and inspired others to run. You have inertia and are well on your way as long as you heal.
Then there’s the games you want to watch your kids play. You decided to go to 4 games a week (in December is was more like 4 every 2 months). Then work got in the way, traffic jams, your shin splints needed attention and hurt, and so on and you are consistently making it to 2 games a week. Instead of feeling disappointed, you should feel proud that you are making 8 a month! That’s quite an improvement over December’s numbers!
It’s important to get grounded and have direction. It’s important to enjoy the success and acknowledge the accomplishments of what we HAVE achieved…big or small. The success is getting going. The failure is in not trying, but achievement is moving in the right direction…what’s right to YOU. This, is a resolution worth writing down.
Tammy Parkinson
Body Firm Personal Training and Nutrition Consulting
Your Wellness RX~
408-896-2639
Because it’s personal~
Top 10 Fitness and Nutrition tips for a Healthy 2014
Here are my 5 top Fitness and Nutrition tips for 2013 as a recap to help slide into 2014 on the right foot (or hands, depending how you slide!)
Fitness:
Never let a 3rd day go by without some kind of activity. Ever. This builds momentum and inertia…so you never feel that you’ve lost ground. Your motivation stays strong and you always feels somewhat fit because truly…you’ve worked out consistently!
Mix up your workouts to keep your mind and body “interested”. Of course, personal training is perfect because your trainer will give you different workouts each time you train. This keeps your muscles challenged, goading them to work hard. It’s also beneficial to try workouts or activities which are completely different than your “usual” stints. If you always road bike, try a mountain bike (completely different cardiovascular and strength systems). If you always do a vinyassa yoga flow, try yin, and if you always run, try mixing up your trail activities with some power hill hikes.
Remember your heart is also a muscle. We often think about training our legs, our abs, our shoulders…but we forget that our heart is also a muscle which needs to be trained. This means great cardiovascular health through aerobic and anaerobic activity (not to mention diet…but we’ll get to that). Make sure you become educated as to where YOUR heart rate should be on both these levels and work smart to improve these.
If you are injured, give your body the right treatment to recover. I’ve seen so many people push through an injury, only to prolong their healing months longer than needed…sometimes years. Depending on one’s injury, you might need therapuetic healing remedies like massage, Active Release technique, laser, foam rolling and or rest. Now, just because you might have a shoulder impingement doesn’t mean you can’t get out and hike!
It’s important to move; just avoid the areas which are injured and work hard to heal them.
Train your core. What is your “core”? Pretty much everything but your limbs! Your core is the center of your body…the base of all activities. I remember one of our trainers telling me no matter what the exercise (even if it’s for your forearms) it’s always about the back / core. How one holds their body in every exercise, impacts our core and can strengthen or weaken our “center”. Keep your core strong, and all other movements become easier.
Nutrition:
Eat Green: We’ve heard a lot of buzz about being green (driving, recycling, buying organic food and clothes, etc.) however what I’m talking about is eating green foods. (and I don’t mean food coloring!) We’re talking, about leafy vegetables, sprouts, artichokes, broccoli, parsley, cilantro, cucumber, and bok choy just to mention a few. These green foods have chlorophyll in them which are blood oxygenators and extremely alkaline. Green foods have been known to help with healing our bodies (even injuries) as well as help with sleep, energy, mental clarity, sports performance, blood sugar regulation, weight loss and mood regulation for starters. My tip is shoot for a green meal every day at least one time to start, and eventually work to have something green every time you eat.
Cut back on inflammatory foods: Inflammatory foods have been known to cause a myriad of disease like diabetes, high cholesterol, gout, dementia, acid refulx, and even cancer. Some of these inflammatory foods are sugar, alcohol, fried foods, breads, crackers, wheat, WHITE BREAD (huge one), high glycemic foods, condiments, and artificial sweeteners. Try and cut a little bit out at a time, eventually making these inflammatory foods only a “treat” here and there vs. an every day meal.
Take great care of your kidney and liver: Because we DO have inflammatory foods now and then, it’s extremely beneficial to look to foods which are healthy for these organs. Our kidneys and liver are the “filtering system” to the rest of the body, so giving them a little TLC with herbs and the right foods are recommended. Some of these elixirs would be dandelion or burdock root, ginger, cilantro, chlorophyll, lemon and black licorice. Herbal teas are a great way to add this in to your dietary regiment easily.
Drink water. SO over rated? Not really! We’ve all heard it though a million times. The way I finally “got it” was I actually started forcing myself to drink a lot of water to test out this theory. I started drinking 80-100 oz a day. I admit, I didn’t like it and it was hard! In time though (only a couple of days) I felt “cleaner”…I had more energy…my eyes felt clearer, and I felt hydrated (a feeling I never had before) and I worked out better. Our bodies are made up of 70% water. We need that much to simply function; so if we deplete our bodies of water…we can’t function well. It’s as simple as that. It’s like asking our plants to thrive without much water, our animals to stop drinking when they are thirsty and our cars to stop needing so much oil. We are “designed” to need water…so start giving your body what it’s designed to live off of and feel the difference!
Live by the hunger scale: What I mean by this is so often we wait until we are starving to eat (this would be a “7” or more on the HS (hunger scale) and we stop eating when we are an “8” meaning over full) When we do this, not only do we abuse our metabolism we will end up eating about 60% more calories than our bodies need. If we can start eating at a “3” (when your stomach and mind starts to think about food and you know you could eat a little something) and STOP eating at a 4 (meaning you are satisfied not full) you will want to eat healthy meals / snacks every 3 or so hours and you’ll end up training your metabolism to run efficiently and smoothly. You’ll also make nutritionally sound choices because you are never totally famished and in a fog!
These are just a few of my “tips” for healthy eating… I can go on…but if you’ve read this far, your brain is full!
Live by these tips for just the month of January…and see how you feel! Could help 2014 be your healthiest year yet!
Get your Pens and Journals Ready!
Team Body Firm
This might seem cliché; but now is the time I start considering goals for 2014…
Now, when I say goals, this envelopes fitness and nutrition (but of course it does…) as well as spiritual, family, adventure, business, friendships and home.
There are studies which confirm when we write down our goals, we have a 95% higher success rate of achieving them. In fact, I found an interesting article I’d like to share :
In 1964, all members of the HarvardBusinessSchool graduating class stated that they have, at graduation, clear goals that they want to accomplish in life. Among them, 5% took the time to write it down on paper. In 1984, a follow up study was done and it was discovered that 95% of those who wrote down their goals were able to achieve them within 20 years. Among the “lazy” majority, only 5% of them were able to reach their expected goals.
An earlier study in YaleUniversity also had similar results. This time, only 3% of the 1953 graduating class made written goals. Twenty years after, in 1973, it was found out that this 3% of Yale graduates were able to accomplish more goals than the rest of the other 97% combined.
I find like results in our fitness and wellness industry. Every day we have the opportunity to work with individuals who have goals; it’s why they come to Body Firm; and those who are focused, intent, share their goals and write them down, seem to have a much easier time obtaining them and maintaining them.
You’ve heard me talk about journaling in my past wellness tips. Each year, I write down what I’d like to accomplish and focus on for the upcoming year. I categorize these and “free flow” what I know is in my mind to work towards. I get my pretty pen out (remember the gratitude list from a while ago?) and bust out!
Now that I’ve written it out, it becomes more “real” and is a mirror of what is in my mind. It’s something I have committed to. Something to myself, something worthy. I find months might go by and I haven’t looked at my yearly goals; but they are in my thoughts and I know I am on track.
This past weekend, I went through them and was happy to know I’ve achieved about 75% of them (it’s a big list). The other 25% either aren’t as important to me, I’ve forgotten about (whoops) or I still need to work something. Interestingly what I’ve written out as my goals in certain categories actually manifested…but not in the way I thought they would. This is the way it happens some times and part of the practice is letting go and trusting the outcome, vs how we perceive everything is supposed to happen. This for me, is a focus for 2014!
This week and next I am challenging all of my clients to get their pens and journals out and start considering how 2014 will look; what they want to create, then letting it happen.
It is a very creative way to end and start the year! Enjoy the process and trust you have the ability to create whatever you want; as long as there is a mindful intention.
Happy, healthy Holidays!
Peace Please!
Team Body Firm~
Today I had the opportunity to talk with a group of men about dealing with Holiday stress. To get prepared for this seminar, I interviewed men to find out what DOES stress them out during this time of year. I mean, as a female, I know what stresses me and my girlfriends out, but I never really looked at it from the lens of male eyes. What I found out was WE stress them out the most (We being females!) because we worry, stress, rush, angst and obsess over the perfection and expectations of the Holidays. Now, I realize I am completely generalizing here, but there is an element of truth to this!
Conversely and ironically, we (being females) don’t want to feel stressed, worried, obsessive or angst. We really just want to have fun and enjoy time with family and friends…just like our male counterparts.
The pressure of “what we think we are supposed to be and do” seems to wiggle it’s way into this time of year…for both men and women; young and mature.
Remember oh so long ago when we were 10 and the simplicity of Christmas morning, spending time with cousins and friends, tinkering with our toys and staying in our PJ’s all day was all we really needed? We didn’t care if we were dressed perfectly, or if our table was dressed with the right colors and flowers; we just wanted to laugh and have fun; to show and be loved and to spend time with those we truly wanted to be with.
What if, just for one day during this time of year, we stayed in our PJ’s, we laughed, we let go of being perfect, we threw a snowball or two and we just enjoyed the specialness of this time of year…the meaning of the Holidays. What if, for one day we felt peace in our hearts and we offered peace to someone else.
Doing today’s seminar, brought me a little clarity on letting go a little of my own ideal of what I think I am supposed to do and be. It helped me see what others view as stressful and is helping me understand what I might be able to create so that I can lower someone else’s stress and offer them peace…once person, one smile at a time. Maybe if we all do this, just for a day or even a moment, a tiny shift in the season can occur.
Happy, healthy Holidays!
Traditions around Thanksgiving
Team Body Firm
There are many traditions around Thanksgiving; however the common thread is giving thanks. In our various lives and holidays rituals, no matter where you are, most of us can be grateful for the power of choice.
We have the choice to eat healthy, or not so healthy. In many areas of the World, some don’t have that option; some are simply grateful to have something to eat when they are hungry; but most of us have the option to choose what we eat, how much and when.
We have the choice to step out in to a public park or play area and enjoy nature after a sedentary day. We have the choice to sit and watch games on TV, games at a stadium, movies on TV, movies at the Theater. Many of us even have the choice to even get in a game and play or just throw a ball!
We have the freedom of education. whether it be at a school, a library or a free downloadable course off the internet.
We have the choice to express love to our family and friends. We have the choice to stay at home or visit family and friends. I know many of you might feel you don’t have a choice during the Holidays…but you really do!
We have the choice to think positively when times might be tough. We have the choice to give canned food when we have a little extra.
There are countless ways to open our hearts and minds to gratitude…it all comes down to choice.
During your Holiday weekend, consider you have the ability to choose what makes you fulfilled, happy, gracious and authentic. Then be grateful for the freedom that comes with it!
Happy, healthy Thanksgiving!
Tammy Parkinson
Body Firm Personal Training and Nutrition Consulting