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The other day I went for a hike with  my good friend, Robyn.  Along the way, we passed a row of gorgeous roses.  She stopped, smelled them and said she never misses an opportunity to “stop and smell the roses”.  That got me thinking (of course it did!) about how often in our day we rush from task list to task list always looking at what we need to get done, and failing to see the beauty of what is in our life, our day, even that particular moment.

When we are at a meeting, are we really listening to our clients, feeling the blessing of having work and meeting new people, or are we counting the minutes on the clock waiting for the next to do item?  When we are driving towards the hills, are we  stressed about traffic or are we in awe of the beautiful place we live?  When we are in mid workout, are we complaining about how hard everything is, or are we (albeit tired) grateful that we are able to use our arms, core, and legs to move?  How about as you are staring at a big plate full greens and you are wishing for a huge slice of pizza…have you thought about how awesome it is to be able to eat something fresh grown from the earth…something which actually helps heal your body?

We have so many opportunities to stop and take in how lucky we are to have our mind, our bodies, our business, our friends, our health and our homes.  Of course we have stresses, of course we wish and strive for better things in our lives, yet as we are wishing, dreaming, strategizing and mapping out our life, can we stop occasionally and smell the roses of our day?

Now’s a good time, the roses are in full, fragrant bloom!

Weekly, a few of us at Body Firm coordinate and lead rides for a magnificent Body Firm cycling group. We are aiming to ride a 200 mile route (called the STP) in July in 2 days. Each week, a “tip” is sent out and this one is written by Aaron Odell, a fabulous trainer, CMT, and cyclist. I wanted to share as I loved his message:

Respecting our body

I watched a documentary film last night called “Riding the Divide”. Some of you may have seen it. Its a slow paced film that follows primarily 3 of 15 starters doing a race from Canada to Mexico on mountain bikes. The race covers roughly 2700 miles and I believe over 150,000 ft of climbing. Piece of cake right? WOW! is all I have to say. My other half asked me if I’d ever thought of doing a race like it and my answer was a firm NO WAY!

Only around half of the people who started the race finished. These people who dropped out were emotional about stopping, but riding over 100 miles a day on your mountain bike can give you some time to do some soul searching. A lot of the participants have all manors of cuts, bruises, sores, blisters and heavy doses of aches and pains. But they trudge on. that is until some hit a wall most of us have likely never hit. Crushing fatigue in hallucinogenic proportions. Many have to call it a day at some point during the race and make peace with themselves. They make tearful phone calls to family members and pack it up.

It dawned on me watching some of these people that sometimes calling it a day is a braver choice than pushing on. Usually it takes experience to figure out what our real limits are. So I don’t feel we should fear our limits but be mindful of them. I think that having a healthy dose of respect for ones body is where good decisions come from. If our main motivation is stroking or protecting our fragile egos many times it can end badly. Many many times I’ve pushed myself to the extent of injury or exhaustion all because I didn’t want to be a looser, a failure, or a quitter. Little did I know at the time that those where just labels, judgments and over simplifications I had learned when I was younger. Unfortunately they just didn’t apply to reality. The flip side would be acting like one had borrowed someone else’s body (somebody you cared for) and are going to have to give it back to them some time soon and in better shape then we found it. Sounds funny right! Another way to approach your body is to treat it at least as well as your favorite pet. Our bodies are with us through thick and thin and are constantly doing the very best they can, considering the circumstances it encounters, that loyalty is a quality worth loving….. worth respecting.

When I witness a feat of endurance like racing the Great Divide. I begin to realize just how much respect our bodies deserve. Lead through proper practice our bodies will absolutely amaze us. Like any living thing it needs to be stressed in ways that encourage growth. It needs to be tended to with nourishment and physical care. Whether your racing the tour de France or riding around the block, pushing yourself to find what’s possible is what we all have in common. Everyone has a different Mt. Everest to climb in their life. Discovering what our bodies are capable of is just one way of respecting what we’ve been given. Love your body, it’s the best one you have and its amazing.

I heard a very inspired quote today…”When we consider trying new ideas, just the thought creates new pathways of doors opening up”.

This was used in the context of trying a new type of workout “move”.  Usually, when we (or I) am approached with trying something which appears way beyond my/our ability, it’s our instinct to say “no way…not me” or “I can’t do that”.  This time, before I even was able to think that diminishing thought, the quote was mentioned…then the move suggested.  So, already, I opened my mind to trying it and considered achieving it!

I have to tell you…it worked!  My mind opened up to the possibility that I could accomplish it, where I am pretty sure if I hadn’t have thought out of the box, I might not have tried it…and I’m pretty adventurous!  Guess what…I did it easily and it felt great!

This can work for us in so many areas of our lives.  If we can open up our pathways to trying new things, we have already taken a massive step towards achieving not just this “one” thing, but so many others which are a domino effect of sorts from the first new idea.

This can effect the way we mold our health, our businesses, our creative entrepreneurial ideas, our relationships and our finances to name just a few.

Consider this each morning as you wake, or each time you go into a hard workout, you decide to eat healthy, you make an investment or you meet someone new…”when we consider trying new ideas….just the thought creates new pathways of doors opening up”….powerful!

When you think about your earning potential, do you consider what your glass ceiling is? Do you consider success, equivalent to your financial life, or is success a much bigger picture? Where do you expand, dream or limit yourself? Do you give yourself a glass ceiling of “success”? Do you now, or intend to in the future, pad your financial means so that in your Golden years you can live comfortably? How much time have you spent investing in your financial future? How many professionals have advised you towards investing and saving for a little ease later in life?

Now, shift to your life expectancy potential. Do you think “If I live to be 75 I’m happy?” Or, maybe your limit is 90 years and you’ll be happy? What glass ceiling do you put on your health and in what WAY do you want to end your years? How much time do you spend preparing (in the future) for this?

Just like in retirement, do you take care of your body and mind in the earlier years so that later in life you can live longer and healthier? Do you spend time and invest your finances to consult with professionals on how to live a healthy life…all the way to the end? Do you consider that it’s possible to live beyond 100 years AND live those years with vibrancy and health?

We accept that many can invest their money and time to retire “comfortably” ~ yet we somehow so often miss the boat when we consider that it’s possible and quite accessible to front load your health to live beyond “normal” expectancy with a healthy mind and body.

I find our society values investing in “things” so much quicker than investing in ourselves…our health (until it’s an emergency and sometimes too late).

Heady stuff, I know, but sometimes it just takes someone to put what we all know in a different perspective so we can view it maybe from the glass ceiling which we self create!

Dream a little about what it would be like not only to live past 90, but past 110 and in a healthy way, to FEEL good and be active at ages which are a little out of the box! We do it financially…we dream big, why not dream about our health in this way?

I say it’s possible…how about you? What would you need to do to invest in your body the way you do in your retirement fund?

What does spring time represent to you? For some, it’s the beginning of longer days, for others it’s the tail end of the school season and for many of us it’s a time of new beginnings, a rebirth of sorts.

I heard it said, “Spring is a time when the seeds of what we planted in our past begin to grow”.

Maybe late last year you began working on your fitness and it was hard, daunting and you struggled. Now, 5 months later you are feeling lighter, stronger and ready to take your regiment to a new level; you are growing.

Or back in August 2012, you decided to take baby steps towards eating a diet rich in vegetables. When you started, having 2 kinds a day was overwhelming, yet now you enjoy a vegetable each time you eat and look forward to it, your health is improving and you are “growing” younger from the initial concept you planted only a few months back.

Quite possibly, only 2 weeks ago you decided you were going to do one random act of kindness and now you are seeing the ripple effect of that positive behavior all around you.

Maybe, you are still in that stage of planting and haven’t quite yet seen the growth.

What we can cherish, is even if we are still in the stages of planting, we are growing, developing and enriching our lives by cultivating change and by looking for that renewal.

Whatever garden you have and are continuing to plant, spring IS a time of new beginnings. So in this new season, look around, see the trees budding, all the new flowers in the hills, and ponder your own life; what have you been cultivating?

Have ever had one of those weeks where it seemed everything you counted on changed?

Your training partner took on a small part time job and can’t workout with you any longer
You just found out you are lactose intolerant and you live off of dairy
Your car broke down and you have no means of transportation
You forgot to pay your quarterly taxes and you owe more money than budgeted for
The night out planned for Friday which you needed desperately has been cancelled
The bike you were going to ride to work in lieu of your car has 2 flat tires
The yoga class you were looking forward to has a sub who you have never heard of
Every appointment you booked for Thursday has been cancelled or postponed
Your daughter’s babysitter just told you she is moving…tomorrow
And your favorite grocery store is out of 3 of your favorite dinner items

And all this happened yesterday….

I love planning, however there are days and even weeks which teach me to let go and be alright with not knowing the outcome.

We hold on incredibly tight to our schedules, regiments, appointments and structure. It’s what makes our world “flow”. However, maybe there are times when it’s healthy to NOT know every outcome. Maybe it’s healing to learn to be surprised and to enjoy what we can’t control.

A good process during these fateful times is to focus on the moment you are IN, vs the outcome you want to happen and have to modify. Learn (this is an ever evolving process) to be open to change. I find when I stop fighting what I want to control and can’t, smile and open myself up to new ideas, I feel oddly renewed and sometimes…happier!

Maybe you decide to hire a personal trainer to help you stay motivated and find that not only are you in the best shape of your life, you no longer have back problems
Maybe you find that without dairy, you aren’t ridden with gastrointestinal issues and feel about 5 pounds lighter
Maybe you learn how to change a bike tire and fall back in love with cycling
Maybe you find a new yoga teacher in that “sub” you absolutely love
Maybe you learn to budget your finances better for next year
Maybe because all of your appointments have been changed you can finally go for that 3 hour hike with your childrent you’ve had on your bucket list but never had the time
Maybe you find a new babysitter who also will do your grocery shipping for you at no extra cost
Maybe you call an old friend you haven’t connected with in ages and go out with him or her Friday night instead of your regular crowd

Maybe you learn to embrace change~

In a couple of weeks, I am doing a seminar and one of the topics will be “superfoods”. This name “superfood” has been popularized greatly over the last several years. However, do we really know what one is?

I did a little research, only to find out that 10 different sites had 10 different definitions! I also found 20 different foods on the top 5 super food list! So, my “little” bit of research, turned in to several days’ worth!!

In general, a super food is a food in it’s most natural state which helps our bodies live in it’s best way possible. Many foods are super. Many foods are good for us, however some of these super “foods” can also harm us. Let’s take v-8 juice for instance. It is packed with vitamins…GOOD…and packed with way too much sodium…BAD! In essence, a super food heals, and doesn’t harm. This starts to narrow down our pickings now.

An easy way to consider these amazing foods would be “fresh items that offer disease-fighting vitamins, omega fatty acids, antioxidants and essential minerals.When eaten with regularity, super foods can help fight disease, lower cholesterol, boost immunity, improve memory function and maintain heart health.
Two of the “best” super foods known to us purely from a nutritional stand are spirulina and chlorella. Spirulina has more concentrated vegetable nutrition than any other whole food known. Chlorella (found in Chlorophyll) is second in nutrients only to spirulina. Both have the widest and most complete assortment of nutrients and health promoting properties of any food known to man. Spirulina is an excellent source of plant protein and can be added to our favorite plant smoothies (J)

Some other excellent superfoods are Goji, acai and mangosteen for antioxidant boosting. Antioxidants are excellent for fighting aging, because they neutralize free radicals which are partly responsible for speeding up the aging process by disrupting DNA. You can also boost your antioxidants levels by eating more fruit, particularly berries.

Now, let’s move on to more “popular” superfoods. (just to point out a few)

Blueberries (antioxidants), almonds, walnuts, flax seed and chia seeds (omega rich for brain and heart health), wild line caught preferably salmon, black cod and sardines (omega rich and protein rich), broccoli, kale, arugula and spinach all rich in vitamins A and C, lutein and other compounds to fight off stroke and cancer to name a few, butternut squash, yams, sweet potatoes and carrots, rich in carotenoids and vitamin A, and another favorite, tomatoes and tomato sauce rich in Vitamin A, C, E and rich in cancer fighting agents.

And if none of the above caught your eye…there’s always Red wine…in moderation of course;

1% of red wine is vitamins like Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folate, Choline, Betaine, Lutien, Zeaxathin and Vitamins A, B, K and G.
1% of wine is minerals like sodium, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphours, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, flouride and selenium.
Another 1% is made up of grape thaumatin like proteins and amino acids.
And finally the rest is made up of all the good stuff in grapes – OPC’s, Resveratrol, Flavonoids, Bioflavonoids, Phenolic Compounds, Catechins, Tannins, Anthycyanins and Quercetin.
Enjoy your superfoods, eat well and enjoy your red wine if you like…in moderation of course!

One of Body Firm’s expert trainers, Aaron Odell is a bike aficionado. A good one! He leads many private cycling sessions, does bike fittings and helps lead our Saturday group rides just to give you a glimpse of his expertise. Weekly, Aaron writes a blog about cycling. This week’s I thought was particularly good. Even if you aren’t a cyclist, I believe the general theme here can apply to all of us. Read on and thanks for sharing Aaron!

How do we improve? What are the requirements? I don’t have all the answers but I’ll give you some insight that could help. Some of you might be Type AAA–go get ’em people. Others might be happily watching saying, ” I’ll just go my pace, thank you”. Which is a better approach? Do you tackle our goal of better endurance and speed or do we just say, “Whatever, I’ll take what comes” ?? If your thinking may be both, then you might be reading my mind! If we never push our limits, we will never know where they are. If we never slow down and accept where we currently are, we don’t get to enjoy much or recover from our pushing our limits. So the key to improving is a lot like the rest of life–it’s a paradox filled with seemingly opposing ideas.

One idea everyone has heard is “No pain no gain.” This is both true and false. Change is uncomfortable. Pushing yourself means going to a place your body hasn’t been before, feeling new sensations, usually painful. Without this pain from reaching for a new limit, our body has no reason to grow. Your body, its muscles and cardiovascular systems, are well equipped to handle the situations it already knows. So a challenge is just what the doctor ordered. But, and a big BUT, is that it is possible to push without feeling “pain.” The more prepared your body is for the task at hand, the less or no pain you feel. A huge factor in the pain intensity is attitude. I’m not saying, “Hey, have a good attitude and the burning in your legs will vanish!” But think back to a different time when you were a kid. Remember how hard you could push your body if you were PLAYING. Pain disappears in the presence of something more important to your mind. Playing is just one of those options that can transform both your mental and physical experience.

What’s the other side of pushing our limits? Rest, of course. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You don’t improve from workouts you don’t recover from. It’s the other side of the coin. They are opposites but part of the same thing. Workouts without good recovery is like only filling your gas tank in your car half way. You’ll never make it as far on half a tank! Good recovery has just as many parts as good training. The Cliff notes, however, are: Eat well, sleep well, eliminate stress as much as possible, get massage and stretch. Simple right? Not really, I know. We can spend a lifetime giving those five things proper priority in our lives and still not find a balance. They are important and your mission is to find ways to make them a permanent part of your life.

The road to improvement is the constant flipping of this coin. One side reads CHALLENGE, the other side reads NURTURE. Day to day ask yourself if you’re getting both, and in the correct quantities. Since all of you live in the Bay Area, I’m betting the nurture side is less indulged. Our culture may reward those who give more priority to the challenge side of the coin, however YOUR BODY does not. Be good to yourselves. See you soon.

Aaron

Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s time to “spice it up”…I mean with herbs and spices of COURSE!

Did you know herbs and spices have been used as health remedies for over 3,000 years? There’s something to be said for adding a little spice to your food…here are a few of my favorites and why:

Cinnamon
Health Boost: Can lower blood sugar, triglycerides, LDL, and total cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes. Aim for one-fourth to one-half teaspoon of cinnamon twice a day.
Turmeric
Health Boost: Contains curcumin, which can inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Try to have 500 to 800 milligrams a day, says Bharat Aggarwal, PhD, a professor of cancer medicine at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Rosemary
Health Boost: Stops gene mutations that could lead to cancer and may help prevent damage to the blood vessels that raise heart attack risk.
Garlic
Health Boost: Destroys cancer cells and may disrupt the metabolism of tumor cells, says Karen Collins, RD, nutrition advisor to the American Institute for Cancer Research. “Studies suggest that one or two cloves weekly provide cancer-protective benefits.”
Paprika
Health Boost: Contains capsaicin, whose anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects may lower the risk of cancer (also found in cayenne and red chili peppers). There’s no specific recommended dose, but moderation is probably the best way to go.
Ginger
Health Boost: Can decrease motion sickness and nausea; may also relieve pain and swelling associated with arthritis. Doses used in clinical trials range from 500 to 2,000 mg of powdered ginger. (A quarter-size piece of fresh root contains about 1,000 mg.) More than 6,000 mg can cause stomach irritation. Ginger can also hinder blood clotting, so if you’re about to have surgery or are taking blood thinners or aspirin, be sure to talk to your doctor first.
Oregano
Health Boost: A USDA study found that, gram for gram, oregano has the highest antioxidant activity of 27 fresh culinary herbs.

Some other spices and herbs which are my favorites and have enormous anti oxidant benefits are
Italian Parsley, Cilantro, clove, Saffron, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Jamaican all spice, and Sea kelp. Try adding some of these or ALL of these on salads, fish, meats, eggs, and roasted vegetables! Get your health in fabulous shape as well as adding in a little flavor! Enjoy!

Extreme diets…either you have tried one (or many) or you know someone who has. We know in the long run they don’t work for 99% of us, but do we know why? Do we know some of the potential dangers? Here are some that in my work, I have come across time and time again…

High protein (over 40% of overall intake of calories for an extended time)~can lead to calcium loss and a taxing load on the liver and kidneys. This can lead to severe problems such as kidney stones, ketosis, and more serious outcome; failure to these vital organs. In addition, if the protein chosen is also heavy with saturated fats (meats, skin, dairy, etc) this can be dangerous to our arteries to state only one potential issue.

Low protein (less than 15% of overall intake of calories for an extended time) can lead to muscle breakdown. Our bodies can hold / store glucose (sugar/carbs) and we all know our bodies can hold on to fat (darn it) but we cannot store protein. So, once our bodies use and breakdown the protein (typically in a few hours) and we don’t don’t give it more, it will search for protein elsewhere and you guessed it…the body steals from our muscles. How depressing is to think of the hours spent in training building muscle, just to cannibalize it? Low protein can also cause decreased circulation, anemia and lethargy.

Low fat (less than 15% of our diet for an extended period of time) can lead to malabsorption of nutrients as well as loss of memory, brain function, some cancer growths and depression, as well as the inability to repair of our central nervous system. There are vital nutrients such as Vitamin A, D, E and F which need fats in order to be absorbed into our bodies sufficiently so without fat, we cannot utilize them. Lack of fat as well as lack of protein (above) will cause high blood sugar too!

Low calories (less than your basal metabolic rate for an extended period of time) can lead to a slowing of the metabolism ultimately causing weight gain (once we start eating normal again) or more severely, we could have certain systems in our bodies shut down for lack of overall nutrition. Low calories in one’s diet over time can lead to extreme fatigue as well as electrolyte imbalances.

The general theme here of course is to avoid these plans; especially for an extended period of time! I know what it feels like to want to choose something fast and extreme because we are desperate at times, but this isn’t the answer.

Like with so many other answers in our lives, having balance, moderation, commitment (this is almost the biggest factor) and looking at something for an overall lifestyle; your PERSONAL overall lifestyle vs. something extreme and in the moment will nearly always get us the solutions and results we are looking for.