No Time to Waist Fitness Inc.

Pregnancy and Life Lessons

2010-05-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I've been on here, but am looking forward to sharing from my heart. I'm currently 23.5wks pregnant, and learning to slow down quite a bit. I just CAN'T do anything as fast as I'd like to!
When life's circumstances dictate that we slow down, there are many things we learn. Regarding exercise, I'm learning to listen to my body more. With more at risk now, I must slow down or stop when my body tells me to do so. Regarding diet, I'm learning that pregnant women cannot and should not eat whatever they want, nor as much as they want. While most women need to gain about 7lbs of fat during pregnancy, anything more will just be what I will have to lose once the baby is gone. I am learning to really watch the quality and quantity of the food I eat. It's true that the baby consumes quite a few calories, but with my decrease in exercise, I am finding that taking in my normal caloric intake evens everything out.
I am also learning many non-fitness things from slowing down. I'm learning that it's ok to stop and smell the roses, or plant a rose bush. I'm learning that my former energy level is not as important as I thought it was to the happiness of my life or marriage. (My husband is very understanding and helpful). I'm learning that there are many valuable things I can do while sitting down - reading, calling an old friend, keeping up with friends on Facebook, blogging, etc.
In whatever stage of life we're in, it's wonderful to stop, pray, reflect/consider what God would have us learn. If we do this, we can approach each stage of our lives with contentment and thanksgiving.

Fitness Tip of the Day

2009-11-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

(Can also be read daily on www.notimetowaistfitness.com)
Add some intensity! Don't let your workouts become stale. Your body is quick to adapt. If you want a change in your body, you've got to occasionally challenge your body by increasing the intensity of your workouts. For a great fat-buring workout, add some sprints or plyometrics!

Your Body's Talkin'! Listen to it!!

2009-09-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

As a Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor, I am fascinated by the numbers of people who workout through pain. Let me make this very simple: pain = something's not right = not good = ouch! Pain is an indication that something is not right with the body. Be kind to yourself, and your body, and stop exercising if that particular exercise is paining you! You do not have to feel pain to improve your level of fitness, but you may exerience mild discomfort. Mild discomfort is not pain. "Mild discomfort" means that you are pushing yourself, and can feel it, but can work with it and through it. It is not a sensation that is limiting. After exercise stops, the discomfort should subside, as well. A novice exerciser may have difficulty deciphering mild discomfort and pain. Mild discomfort may be moderately labored breathing or lactic acid building in the muscles. Pain will be limiting and very uncomfortable to work through. It's also important to distinguish where the sensation is being felt. Any discomfort in the joints or bones is not good and could become chronic pain. Over time, the exerciser will learn to distinguish between muscular, cardiopulmonary, and joint sensations. But, until that time, suffice it to say, pain = no gain. If it aches, put on the brakes!

The Yoga of Eating - Om na yumm!

2009-09-06T05:24:00.000-07:00

What are our usual eating habits? Think about it, what are we usually doing when we nourish ourselves. If you're anything like me, and always on the go, your idea of a relaxing meal is driving down the road at 80mph, stuffing a sandwhich or a Meal Replacement Shake down your gullet while trying to stay between the lines. Seriously, this is a relaxing meal to me. At least I'm not having to entertain anyone, talk on the phone, or attend to anyone else's needs, I'm just driving...and eating.
I read an article a few months back in a magazine I cannot remember now. The name of the article was the Yoga of Eating, and it has stuck with me. As a Yoga Instructor, I instruct people to unite body, mind and spirit into the present moment to accomplish the task they've set before them. In this case, the task is usually to do the Yoga class. But, Yoga reaches beyond the physical discipline of exercise and trains us to be focused and intentional in all efforts of the present, like eating. Yogic principles applied to eating mean that each time I eat, I eat in a calm, assertive manner and I only eat that which is good for the body, mind and spririt. Hmmm...how am I doing with that??
I have practiced this way of eating a couple times, now. Here's how it looks in practice:
1) I breathe. Believe it or not, everything we do in life starts with our breath. Even eating. By nature, I am a very high-strung individual. I constantly find myself holding my breath. But, when I focus on my breath, taking in deep, abdminal, nasal breaths, everything else calms down around me and comes into focus.
2) I meditate. Meditation is nothing less than listening. I listen to God, my mind, body and spirit and let those forces direct me in choosing what food is good for me at the time.
3) I choose. I deliberately choose exactly what my body needs at the moment. It could be anything my body wants, or needs. Remember, I am not just feeding the body, but also mind and spirit. Most importantly, I choose without regret, thinking things through before I make my choice. I do not react and choose from emotion, I choose with my mind, body and spirit.
4) I breathe. (By now, I'm probably holding my breath again. Did I mention how important breathing is??)
5) I prepare. I take my time in preparing the food and my plate so that I may eat in a calm, assertive manner, and enjoy the experience.
6) I eat. Each bite is an opportunity to enjoy all of the many pleasures our gustatory and olfactory senses afford us.
7) I thank. I thank God for the wonderful gifts He provides us in food, and every other good thing He allows us in this life.

OK. Let's get real. In reality, it's very difficult in our society to do this every day. However, my goal is to increase the discipline of this manner of eating. How much better off would we all be if we all adopted this manner of eating. Here's the short list of what I feel would change for our society:
1) Obesity
2) Anxiety
3) Stress-related disease/disorders
4) The list could go on and on. I'm sure you could think of a few dozen yourself.

The point is, stop what you're doing, and breathe. Focus. Choose to live a life of purpose and intent. Choose to respond, not react. Choose to nourish your body, and the bodies of your loved ones, not punish them with bad food choices and methods of eating. Breathe, eat, love and be thankful. Namaste.

Shape

2009-08-23T03:56:00.000-07:00

You hear people say it all the time, "I need to get in shape!" "I used to be in shape." So, what exactly determines what shape you are in? Well, the shape you assume (i.e. how you look) is a function of two things: 1) Stress you put on the bone and muscle and 2) The amount of fat you have over that bone and muscle.
First of all, your skeletal and muscular shape is directly determined by what kind of physical stress you are placing on your bones and muscles directly. Have you ever noticed how broad swimmer's shoulders are? Or, how big soccer player's legs are? Coincidence?? Not at all. You see, the muscle and bone develops in proportion to the amount of physical stress placed on that part of the body. Dancers and soccer players are going to have larger and more developed legs than swimmers, for example. As stress (load) is placed on a particular body part, the muscle strengthens and hypertrophies (gets larger). The muscle, in turn, pulls against the bone which reiforces itself by becoming more dense and able to withstand the physical stress placed on it by the muscle. To get technical, the more volume that is placed on a particular muscle, the larger that muscle becomes. (Volume = load x sets x repetitions OR the total amount of stress placed on that muscle, day in, day out). On a somatic level, that particular part of the body gets bigger, which is not always a bad thing (ladies); we're talking muscle, not fat.
The second variable that determines our shape is the amount of fat, or stored energy, that we have overlaying the muscle and bone tissue. To put it in simple terms, the more you eat, and the less you burn, the more fat you will have deposited over your lean tissues. We are particularly concerned over the amount of abdominal fat that is deposited, as these tend to correlate wth diseased states - cardiovasular disease, Type II Diabetes, Congestive Heart Failure, etc. Your abdomen does not that get big in response to physical stress placed on it in the form of exercise, it gets big because of the amount of fat deposited there. In fact, exercise of large muscle groups, particularly of the legs, helps to diminuate the fat stored in the abdomen.
So, in sum, there are two primary factors that contribute to our shape: the amount of physical stress we place on any part of our body and the fat that is deposited over it. You can use this knowledge to design the body you want. Are your legs too big? Watch your diet, and take up swimming. Have a hard time building leg muscles? Try biking, dancing or heavy weight lifting for the lower body. Life is not just about what you look like, but most of us want to improve on one or more things. Now you have the knowledge to help you achieve your perfect shape! For questions, or more info, visit http://www.notimetowaistfitness.com/.

The Stress --> Indulgence --> Remorse Pathway...Can you relate??

2009-08-21T23:52:00.000-07:00

I've noticed a pattern in my life. After a long, hard, stressful week at work, by the end of the week, I feel I deserve to reward myself. Perhaps your reward system, is a movie out, a long, languid love-affair with a cigar or other tobacco product of choice (which I do not recommend!), or a fine wine, cocktail or other adult beverage. But, without fail, my guilty pleasure is indulgence - and over-indulgence - in food and wine. This is so wrong on many levels.
First of all, I am a Personal Trainer and owner of my own fitness company which promotes a healthy lifestyle including proper amounts of exercise, a balanced diet and adequate amounts of sleep (as I'm writing this it's 2am, but that's another story for another blog). Where's the congruency in what I preach versus what I practice? Here's my analysis...
The MORE stressful my work week, the MORE I feel I owe it to myself to reward myself with food and beverage, the MORE remorse I feel at my over-indulgence. It's like a flow-chart or a biochemical pathway. Happens the same way everytime, without fail. So, here's my hypothesis...
Just like in biochemistry, most pathways are controlled via negative feedback. If the end material product becomes too plenteous, it backs up the system and the production of C which comes from B which started from A is halted so that C is never produced. In the pathway, or should I say viscious cycle of my life, when Remorse (my A) becomes too great, it backs up the Indulgence (B) and makes me change the source or amount of Stress (A) in my life (does anyone out there following this line of thinking? Can you relate??). So, by nature, negative feedback will make me alter my behavior to reduce the amount of Stress in my life so that it does not end in Remorse. Or, knowing this, I can choose to monitor the amount of Stress in my life so that it does produce Induglence, which in turn produces Remorse. But, on the other hand, Stress is the motivator that makes me change things in my life, set goals, precedence and even write this blog, so a little Stress has to be good, right? (I think they call that eu-stress...). I say all of this to say, I'm still aiming for balance. A little Stress to keep me going, but not so much that it ends in Remorse.
I guess I have picked the right career. I spend so much of my time and energy trying to find optimal health and balance in my life, I feel well-equipped to understand and help others around me who are going through similar situations. And I love doing it. It's my passion! I think I'll go back to bed now. Time to reduce the Stress...

Bushwacker? I've been whacked!!

2009-07-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

In honor of Bushwacker Festival weekend in sunny (?) Pensacola, I thought it fitting to treat my husband and I to some homemade Bushwackers (don't you just love that name?). I found a good recipe online for a Pensacola Bushwacker, and measured, poured and blended away. Mouth watering, I patiently waited for the blender to finish its churning of sweet, end-of-the-week-and-time-to-relax potion. I picked the perfect parfait-type glass, of the finest French-made crystal, and decanted coconutty, mocha-kissed, icy goodness into the tall, frosty glass. I took one sip. Love at first taste. Superb! Quickly followed by another sip...make that a gulp. Before I knew it, I had downed the entire beverage, and I was feeling a little...imbibed. Upon finishing, I remarked to my husband how sweet the drink seemed. I adore sweet things, but also know how sweet, goodness is closely related to calorie-density in the world of thermodynamics. As is fairly normal for me, I ran over to a piece of paper, and begin to break down the recipe, ingredient by ingredient and [gulp], calorie by calorie. In sum - no pun intended - I arrived at a mere 1000cal per serving. 1000 calories! 1000 CALORIES??? Can this be right?? How can one standard beverage contain 1000 calories?? I quickly left my pen and paper, ran to the kitchen, put my liquor away and feel completely whacked. I think next year, I'll celebrate the Bushwack-lite Festival. Recipe to follow... ;)

Carbohydrate confessions...

2009-07-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I was enticed by three of my most guilty pleasures...homemade bread, pizza and brownies. Determined my will-power would get me through, I (embarrasingly) found myself scraping the bottom of the ice cream container Monday night trying to scavage enough sweet, creamy goodness to crown the top of my warm, moist brownie. Three days of gluten-laden gluttony, and the scale slowly creeping up. By Tuesday, something had to change!

My husband would say I live life on a roller coaster. When I'm up, I'm up! (And you can't be up without good wine, chocolate and ice cream, can you??) And, when I'm down, I'm down, squelching my instinctual cravings of the fine things in life, I stick to a regimented diet of greens and lean meats, and inflict such miserable amounts of exercise on my body, a flogging monk would look on me with envy (if he's permitted sich vice).

No, seriously. I struggle. I'm an "Exercise Physiologist", and I struggle. People often look at me and think, "Oh, she's got it easy. She's a Personal Trainer. She teaches exercise for a living. If I had her life, I'd be in shape, too!" (Maybe that's not what YOU'RE thinking, but I certainly wish you were! ;) But, in my mind, I'm not in that great of shape, and the shape I DO have, is only a function of how I feed and exercise my body.

Living a life of health is no easy task. At times, it's FEAST for me!! Quickly followed, of course, by times of famine... (unless I want to end up looking like that fattened pig that we barbecued the ribs from the other day!) Joking aside, life - and health - are all about moderation. Sure, I could be the fitness Guru who only eats greens, lean meats, no dairy and abstains from all alcoholic beverages, but can I really enjoy my life like that? What about psychological health? What about emotional health? This Franco-American girl has got to have her wine, cheese and chocolate! But, with those days of gustatory bliss, I also know I will have to cut back on days that follow, and/or increase the intensity of my workouts. In this economy of "calories in, calories out" I usually choose to buy first, pay later. As long as I can maintain a healthy weight, a postive outlook on life, and enjoy good food with great friends and family, this Personal Trainer says give me chocolate, or give me death!!

Life at NTW Fitness...

2009-07-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

At NTW Fitness, we are always coming up with innovative training techniques to keep our clients coming back for more! As there is "nothing new under the sun", these innovative techniques are really a twist on that which is "old school" (but, we didn't tell you that). From aqua aerobics, yoga, pilates, spin and the ever-popular Fit in 5 fitness boot camp, NTW Fitness has something for everyone's exercise palate. So, what are you waiting for? Come sample the sweet taste of a lifestyle of health and fitness! http://www.notimetowaistfitness.com/

Were a go!!!

2009-07-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

No Time to Waist Fitness is officially blogging!

Welcome to No Time to Waist Fitness where we waist no time in finding your waist. We look forward to being able to publish fitness tips, health ideas, and answer any questions you may have about fitness in general. Look for us at Pensacola Beach, Pensacola, Navarre, and Perdido Bay as we try and expand our fitness capabilities to everyone we can.