Go Workout Mom

How time flies. I wrote this article for Fitness Link back in April and wanted to share it with you…

I was asked a simple question, “Are organic eggs better for you than conventional eggs? My husband isn’t on board with making the switch. He doesn’t see the difference.” I thought, oh, this will be an easy question to answer. I’ll gather facts about organic and conventional eggs and the answer will be obvious.

When sifting through the politics, economics and mass production processes of our food chain, validating claims proved to be nearly impossible. I recognized the challenges of being a truly informed consumer. Click here to continue reading…

Fitness Link is my personal training business in which we can tailor your dream goals and needs to your lifestyle. We focus on workout plans, personal training, wellness coaching, and metabolic typing services. We come to you or provide online, email and phone support if you don’t live in the Nashville area!

Visit our website for details!

Before I check my yahoo email account, I quickly check out their latest headline news. “New Breast Cancer Advice–Experts make bold breast cancer claim” caught my attention. The piece is actually titled “Up to a third of breast cancers could be avoided.“

As an old saying goes, “I consider myself to be a reasonable person.” This article really angered me and I’m not one to anger easily. I’m really more frustrated and sad. What is this new advice?

Up to a third of breast cancer cases in Western countries could be avoided if women ate less and exercised more, researchers at a conference said Thursday, renewing a sensitive debate about how lifestyle factors affect the disease.

What?!!! Eat better and exercise more is a surprising find? Why is it a sensitive debate??? The facts are clear. People may not like to hear them, but come on, what we eat three to six times a day is completely relevant to how our bodies are responding? How we move (or don’t move) to expend energy and help our bodies function is clear.

Why am I annoyed?

1. The ‘It’s okay to be fat’ movement. As our society continues to GROW, there are more and more efforts to say it’s Okay. I see examples in a variety of ways and it’s becoming more accepted to not confront the reality that adding extra weight to our bodies and not moving is causing an increase in many diseases. Heart disease is the number one killer in women. Why? Mostly due to poor lifestyle choices.
2. No one is blaming a person for all the factors that may contribute to breast cancer. It may not have been preventable, however, most people ignore the doctor’s advice to lose weight. Everyone (and I am making this generalized statement because I believe it is true!) knows that being overweight is not good for the body. A positive point stated in the article shows that genetics are not the main culprit in cancer. However the article follows that paragraph with this, “Yet any discussion of weight and breast cancer is considered sensitive because some may misconstrue that as the medical establishment blaming women for their disease.” Unfortunately, people CHOOSE not to change poor habits. This hard line stance needs to be taken and the article does address this point ‘sensitively’. We can greatly reduce (not guarantee) the development of cancer in our bodies by making healthy lifestyle choices. Move, eat moderately whole foods, limit alcohol intake, and more.
3. Not taking personal responsibility for how we treat our bodies. The reality is that there is an overabundance of yummy, not good for us foods. There’s an abundance of vegetables, fruits, and healthy alternatives that people choose not to eat because of time, convenience, laziness, money, (insert any excuse here).
4. The professional communities (medical, health, media, government, professors, scientists, etc) constantly adding confusing and misleading information. This is NOT NEW ADVICE!!! Why is it surprising?

Okay, the rant is over. I am a truth seeker. Even as I try to become more and more knowledgeable about what is healthy and how to better serve clients, I find myself facing a deluge of poor leadership, bad information, and sensationalized reporting at the detriment of our health.

Books are overwhelmingly contradicting themselves. Finding the “experts” that are not misconstruing the information for their purpose has been extremely challenging. Finding the “primary resources” are difficult and then trying to determine the backers of the “study” just as important.

To capture the reader, these sensationalized headlines, quick spouting of a ‘reliable’ source are more confusing than ever and people soak this stuff up looking for the quick answers. Ladies, I’m the first to say, that healthy eating is one of my biggest challenges. I love food! I like fast food. I’m a sucker for shakes. The more I learn about what’s in the products the more I cringe, but I still find myself running through a drive thru once a week or so for a quick meal, tasty treat or to quiet a backseat passenger.

Is it healthy? No. Am I setting in motion poor habits? Yes. Do I feel guilty? Yes. How do I change? Slowly. We used to eat fast food every day. We’ve made progress. It’s been slow. I say no to candies, ice creams, and more on a daily basis.

EATING RIGHT IS HARD. CONSISTENCY IS HARD. WORKING OUT REGULARLY IS HARD.

It is up to us to find ways to make healthy choices. We must make our bodies a priority to be here for our children as role models and to love life.

I received a free copy of Add More ~ing To Your Life: A Hip Guide To Happiness by Gabrielle Bernstein to conduct this book review. For details on my disclosure policy, please click here.

Add More ~ing to your life: A Hip Guide to Happiness provides readers with self coaching tools to discover their highest growth potential mentally, physically, and spiritually. With systematic, easy-to-follow steps, personal experiences and client anecdotes, Gabrielle captures the essence of personal growth for achieving a satisfied, healthy and happy life.

As a self help book, Add More ~ing to your life: A Hip Guide to Happiness is unique and comes as a great relief because it is not designed to be a quick fix solution to all our life problems. Gabrielle admits that her journey took at least four years and it required a daily commitment. She has outlined a well designed system to a more fulfilling and thoughtful lifestyle. Each chapter follows a formula:

1. Identifies the topic or issue
2. Provides relevant examples
3. Summarizes necessary steps to achieve goal
4. Guides us through the mental, physical and spiritual processes with concise instructions

Add More ~ing to your life: A Hip Guide to Happiness focuses on internal assessments, understanding our role with others, dealing with self acceptance and growth, and the challenges of maintenance and rediscovery. The chapters break down as follows:

• Chapter 1: Feeling-Dancing
• Chapter 2: Forgiving-Jumping rope
• Chapter 3: Balancing-Rebounding (trampoline)
• Chapter 4: Mirroring-Walking
• Chapter 5: Releasing-intenSati/cardio/aerobic dancing
• Chapter 6: Climbing-rock climbing/hiking
• Chapter 7: Stretching-yoga/pilates
• Chapter 8: Quantum Shifting-”physically out of your comfort zone” choice
• Chapter 9: Focusing-running/unicycling/golfing/shooting hoops/archery
• Chapter 10: Knowing-Meditating
• Chapter 11: Manifiesting-Outside moving
• Chapter 12: Adding-Any moving

At her website, Gabrielle links to her free iTunes Meditation walk throughs that are a great help in learning how to meditate effectively for each chapter. They are written in the book, but it’s soothing and encouraging to have her voice lead us through the steps. I really enjoyed how Gabrielle interwove light humor into very serious topics.

The idea of “just being” is illusive in the fast paced, technology driven society we are in today. “Life has become a constant search for outside stimuli with no road map inward.” (71) We have lost the skills as well as the ability to prioritize time to personally reflect and think–allowing this extremely personal journey to flourish leads to enlightening self discoveries. When looking to change, she provides tools that allow us movement without having to hit a rock bottom.

Highlights that resonated with me

1. Not to minimize your situation

“Though my past wounds may sound insignificant to someone who has experienced major trauma, they were deep enough for me to feel the need to run from them.” (63)

2. The significance of Forgiveness especially as a victim. At first, I was resistant to Gabrielle’s approach, but after a few days of thought, I really came to understand the effectiveness of letting go.

“See your part in the situation, whether it’s a literal action you’ve taken or merely the unwillingness to let go of the anger. The fearful ego tells us that by holding on to old resentments we protect ourselves from getting hurt again, or “falling.” The irony is that the release is in the fall.” (54)

3. The importance of challenging our negative thoughts with positive thoughts

“[L]earning to view life from an elevated, more positive perspective…you’ll learn to climb out of your ego and reach for the thoughts of your highest self…According to applied kinesiology, when you think higher thoughts, such as love, kindness and joy, your energy is stronger. Alternatively, when your thoughts are focused on lower level emotions, such as sadness, fear or anger, your energy is weakened.” (117-118)

4. At multiple times, Gabrielle reminds us not to dwell so much on the past or future

“When you start focusing on the future, you eventually get tripped up.” (142)

“The quantum shift requires an open mind and a deep desire to release the chains of the past.” (149)

“It’s not about what you did yesterday or what you plan to do tomorrow. It’s about what you do today.” (181)

5. We’re not alone

“When your energy is tuned into a positive vibration, you can have faith that you’re always being guided either toward your desires or to a detour that will bring you something better. Why waste any more time trying to navigate on your own?” (166)

6. The difference between praying and meditating really struck home.

“Praying is a time to ask and meditating is the time to listen.” (178)

My only dislike was the overuse of ~ing. I am accepting of repetition to a point, but there were times when ~ing was used too much and fell into the corny category. For instance, in chapter 7 on page 137, ~ing was used 20 times by itself or as part of an example.

I recommend reading all of Add More ~ing to your life: A Hip Guide to Happiness before tackling the 30 day Equations. When reading the book, I wanted to embark on multiple journeys right away. I was overwhelmed. How could I possibly fit these 30 day exercises into an already over scheduled day? Gabrielle provides the answer in Chapter 7:

Because I’ve taken myself through all of the ~ing Equations, I now use them interchangeable. Sometimes I’ll mix up the Equation daily and other times I’ll revisit a full-blown thirty-day journey to transform a specific area of my life.” (137)

I strongly believe that the use of terms are compatible with my personal beliefs. I associate the “Universe and Energy” with God and/or Jesus. When I pray, I am speaking to God and am free to use the Bible with meditations in seeking answers. Gabrielle provides a very thorough explanation of the process along with definitions for her commonly used words in the introduction, but I feel that it is worth illustrating my perspective here.

In conclusion, Gabrielle Bernstein offers a practical, simple Equation to face our personal barrier, “the ego,” in the most important areas of our lives. She offers innovative ways (through ~ing) to combine mind, body, and spirit by “rethinking, moving and receiving” for a complete journey in self discovery. I highly recommend reading Add More ~ing to your life: A Hip Guide to Happiness.