Now that the summer is here, it’s hard to think of training inside. Well guess what?  You don’t have to! There are many ways you can workout without having to train inside.  Here are some examples of how you can train outdoors and get in a workout while having fun.

Kayaking: Targets the core and upper body (shoulders, back, biceps)

Biking:  Targets the legs (quadriceps, hamstrings, calves) and core

Golfing: Targets the upper body (shoulders, biceps, back) and core (including the Obliques) It also  works the

            legs from all the walking

Swimming: This is a low impact exercise that works the whole body

Tennis: Targets the upper body, (shoulders, back, arms) core, (including the obliques) and legs (quadriceps, 

            hamstrings, calves, inner and outer thighs),

Hiking: Targets legs, (quadriceps, hamstrings, calves), back, core and arms if you use hiking poles

Rollerblading: Targets legs (quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, inner and outer thighs), and core

Gardening (Including mowing the lawn): Targets the entire body

Water skiing: Targets the entire body as well as balance!

Powerwalking: Targets the entire body and is very low impact 

Many people are surprised that powerwalking can be considered a form of training.  But it is! Powerwalking burns fat, rids you of stress, improves our self esteem and can help improve your fitness level. It is also a low impact form of exercise. If you suffer from sports injuries or find high impact exercising difficult, powerwalking is the perfect alternative because it reduces stress absorbed by your body. It can actually be more beneficial to your body than running! 

So now that you have some ideas as to how you can exercise outdoors, get out there and train. The world is an open gym. 

3 Tips on how to start running

I came across this article after a week of having several of my clients ask me if they can run.  My answer? Yes! Here are 3 tips from another runner who shares how she started to incorporate running into her every day routine.

I can’t stress enough how beneficial it is mentally, physically and spiritually. All-around fitness is my personal preference, and I’m not a hard-core runner, but I do believe that some amount of running can be beneficial and life changing for everyone. With time and experience you'll ease into it and see what works best for you. Although there's no magic formula for learning how to run, there are three important things to keep in mind when starting out.

1. Drop the limiting belief that you can’t run.

In my opinion, this is the most important thing anyone can do before starting to run. If you're someone who subscribes to the “I can’t run!” theory, you’ve got to know and believe right now that it’s not true. I hear this all the time, and as someone who used to be president of the “I can’t run" club, I can justifiably give you a little tough love here. Yes, you can run, and saying you can't is an excuse (unless you have a medical condition, of course). You’ve got to drop the limiting belief or you'll be right: you can’t do it. Remember, your beliefs create your reality.

2. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

When I started increasing my mileage, it was anything but easy. I had to experience some pain and discomfort to get there. "No pain, no gain" was my mantra when I was building my level of fitness. It’s important to know that people you see running long distances didn’t just get there overnight, as you may believe. They pushed through tough workouts to be able to do what they do today. If you stop right when it starts to feel tough and uncomfortable, you'll never get better. I always think about it metaphorically: in life there's always some kind of pain experienced during growth. If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.

3. Run even when you're not in the mood.

I know this one all too well. The hardest part of the run can be putting on your sneakers and getting out the door. It's amazing how sometimes running is the last thing you want to do, but once you get out there, you enjoy it and completely forget about how much you didn’t want to.

Running is one of those rare things that has the ability to change a bad mood to a good one just by doing it. It only takes a few minutes to switch from the “I don’t want to” to the “I’m so glad I did it” mindset. Fight the inner lazy battle and get out there!

Wear nice shoes and count your blessings!

I saw this post on Facebook and wanted to share. This type of post help remind me of what is truly important in life. I hope one of these statements will inspire, motivate or make you think about what is truly important to you in your life right now. At this very moment. 

1. Your shoes are the first thing people subconsciously notice about you. Wear nice shoes.

2. If you sit for more than 11 hours a day, there's a 50% chance you'll die within the next 3 years

3. There are at least 6 people in the world who look exactly like you. There's a 9% chance that you'll meet one of them in your lifetime.

4. Sleeping without a pillow reduces back pain and keeps your spine stronger.

5. A person’s height is determined by their father, and their weight is determined by their mother.

6. If a part of your body "falls asleep",
you can almost always "wake it up" by shaking your head.

7. There are three things the human brain cannot resist noticing -food, attractive people and danger

8. Right-handed people tend to chew food on their right side

9. Putting dry tea bags in gym bags or smelly shoes will absorb the unpleasant odor.

10. According to Albert Einstein, if honey bees were to disappear from earth, humans would be dead within 4 years.

11. There are so many kinds of apples, that if you ate a new one everyday, it would take over 20 years to try them all.

12. You can survive without eating for weeks, but you will only live 11 days without sleeping.

13. People who laugh a lot are healthier than those who don’t.

14. Laziness and inactivity kills just as many people as smoking.

15. A human brain has a capacity to store 5 times as much information as Wikipedia

16. Our brain uses the same amount of power as a 10-watt light bulb!!

17. Our body gives enough heat in 30 mins to boil 1.5 liters of water!!

18. The Ovum egg is the largest cell and the sperm is the smallest cell !!

19. Stomach acid (conc. HCl) is strong enough to dissolve razor blades!!

20. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day & while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate antidepressant.

21. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

22. When you wake up in the morning, pray to ask God's guidance for your purpose, today.

23. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

24. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, broccoli, and almonds.

25. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

26. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

27. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

28. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

29. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Forgive them for everything!

30. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

31. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

32. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

33. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

34. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

35. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

36. Help the needy, Be generous! Be a 'Giver' not a 'Taker'

37. What other people think of you is none of your business.

38. Time heals everything.

39. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

40. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. Each night before you go to bed, pray to God and be thankful for what you'll accomplish, today !

43. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

Are you competitive?

Athletes are often viewed as competitive. They want to be the best in their sport and win! But guess what? Athletes are not the only ones that can be or are competitive. Anyone can be competitive and not just in sports.

There are two kinds of competitiveness. Healthy and unhealthy.

Healthy competition can help push ourselves to get out of our comfort zone and motivate us to be the best that we can be. It can also encourage us to cheer for other competitors, friends, family or colleagues to reach their goals because we enjoy and want to see others succeed as well.

Unhealthy competition can be toxic and hurtful. Not just toward the other person but to ourselves.   For example, an unhealthy competitive person may feel defeated and discouraged when they see other people achieving their goals. So they just give up. But rather than give  up, try and learn from that person. What did they do differently? What were some of their own personal experiences that helped them accomplish their goal?

Another example, and unfortunately the most popular form of unhealthy competition is comparing yourself to others. This often happens through social media, i.e. Facebook.  You scroll through the news feed and you see everyone's '"amazing, happy, and fun," status updates and suddenly you feel your life is boring and unexciting.  But what we fail to remember is that everyone has bad days and very rarely will someone post if something bad is going on in their life! So stop comparing your life to those who share on FB. Be yourself, love who you are and just enjoy reading the posts as if you are reading an entertaining book.

Being resentful of others success is also very toxic. Just because we are not reaching our own goals does not mean that others have to be in the same boat. It can be challenging to accept other people's success when we are struggling.  But remember, everyone has their good and bad days and they may have faced the same or even harder challenges than you. So next time someone you know has an accomplishment, sincerely congratulate them! You may be surprised how much better you feel and it may even give you encouragement to stay focused on your own goals.

Last but not least, are you someone who secretly wishes for others to fail? This might sound strange to some people, but it's more normal than we think. Sometimes we feel so bad about ourselves that we want others to fail so that we don't feel or look like failures.  But this train of thinking has no benefits whatsoever. I can only recommend that you take a deep look at yourself and find out what your unique qualities are and embrace them.  We can not be good at everything and sometimes not reaching our goals pushes us to focus on another goal that is even better. So don't waste time or energy on wishing others to fail, instead, congratulate them on their successes and use their success as motivation.

So, what type of competitive person are you? I am and chose to be a healthy competitive person. I am always pushing myself out of my comfort zone by trying new sports or participating in a variety of events.  I also continuously strive to be better and not just in sports, but in my professional career and personal life as well. However, I'm not perfect and sometimes I find my competitive edge slowly becoming toxic. When this happens, I stop and remind myself that I have my own skills and talents and that the only person I should be comparing or competing against, is myself.

How to get out of the "Hater" zone

I came across this article on one of my favorite health and fitness websites, www.mindbodygreen.com. It could not have come at a better time! I find that myself, my friends, family and clients often fall into the trap of letting what other people think about us prevent us from being our true self. We also often take negative comments personally and end up not doing what we truly want to do or express ourselves authentically.  This article provides 10 suggestions in the form of mantras to help us " find our happy" and be ourselves. 

Power Mantras: by Shannon Kaiser: 

Maybe you can relate: you’re cruising along in life doing the best you can, working on making things happen. And BAM, you’re stung by a negative comment, a judgmental friend or a rude stranger. Welcome to the hater zone!

Haters seem to spring up when we try to do a great job. A critic of your parenting skills, your relationship status (or lack thereof), how you dress, where you live or your weight. At the end of all the haters’ catcalls is an invitation to low self-esteem and self-loathing-ville.

Haters can affect us in two ways. They may creep out and attack us for things we're doing or sharing. Or the idea of them can prevent us from moving forward and expressing our true selves. Both are detrimental to our spirit.

Many of my life coaching clients express their fear of moving forward because of what haters might say or do. If they publish the book, or leave the job in corporate, what will those around them think?

Ask yourself if you're actually allowing what people could say to stop you from following your own heart. Recognize that haters can’t get to us when we feel confident and self-assured. The best way to avoid feeling victimized by the string of negativity is to improve your relationship with yourself.

Here are powerful reminders from my book, Find your happy, that can help you gain confidence and feel secure.

10 Mantras To Build Self-Confidence

1. Confidence comes through action.

2. The only approval you need is your own.

3. The fastest way to improve self-confidence is to do the exact thing you fear.

4. Accept everything you are — and aren’t. That is true happiness.

5. At the end of the day, what matters most is how you see yourself.

6. What others say is a reflection of them, not you.

7. You are good enough.

8. It isn't who you are that holds you back; it's who you think you aren't.

9. No one can make you feel unworthy without your permission.

10. There is only one you for all time. Fearlessly be your true self. You matter.

30 day guns, buns, and ab challenge!

My last two blogs have been mostly about nutrition. Today I am writing about fitness!

Below is a 30 day challenge that I did with a client of mine in the month of January. Our motivation to exercise was low and we wanted a short program to help motivate us. We also wanted a program that we could do at home in case we could not make it to the gym due to the weather.  I came across this challenge on a fitness blog and were both certainly challenged and felt great at the end. Why? Because we completed the challenge and kept each other accountable by texting the word "done!" after we finished the required exercises for that day.  By texting each other, we were more motivated and it helped keep us on track. The result? Our overall body strength improved and our abs looked great!

I challenge you to give it a try and if you really want a challenge, do the all the exercises each day in one go. Don't split them up.

Stay active and anything is possible!

What I know now that I wish I knew then

After my last post, I was asked what I know now about nutrition and fitness that I wish I knew when I was younger. I thought this was a great question considering every day we are learning something new about health. One day caffeine is good for you, the next day it's bad. Not to mention all the crazy fad diets that have come and gone and some that are still around.  i.e. the grapefruit diet, Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, and  the Paleo Diet. It's no wonder we get confused!  However, there are some facts that have remained true over the years. i.e. too much sugar can cause weight gain, eating more natural foods (especially greens!) is better for your body than processed foods, too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, strength training builds muscle and can lead to weight loss and regular physical activity can decrease the likelihood of heart disease and mental stress.  But  here are the top 3 things I know now that I wish I knew when I was in my teens and early 20's.


1. The amount of sugar that is in one can of soda!

I remember the days when I would drink anywhere from 2-5 cans of soda a day! Especially during my college years when I would cram for an exam, or write a 20 page paper, or after having a late night with my girlfriends. Sometimes I would even start my day off with a can of soda for breakfast! Then when we hit the phase where "diet" soda was the more popular choice, I switched from regular soda to drinking diet, low calorie or zero calorie soda.  But now that I know how much sugar is in one can of soda, how awful aspartame is for the body,  and how sugar wreaks havoc on our body and mind, I can't remember the last time I drank a can of soda.

One 12 ounce can of soda has about 6 teaspoons of sugar (or HFCS, high fructose corn syrup).  That means, if I was drinking 2-5 sodas a day, I was having 12-30 teaspoons of sugar a day as well! No wonder I gained the infamous freshman 15 (pounds that is) during my first year of college.

Another downside of sugar is that it is highly addictive. After having it, you experience pleasure and satisfaction due to the release of dopamine, the pleasure hormone, in the brain.  However, this experience is short lived and soon after, you experience an energy and mental crash.  But because the pleasure we experience is so great, we want more of it. These symptoms are similar to what cocaine and heroin abusers have. i.e. cravings, withdrawal and relapse.  That alone made me reduce my sugar intake straight away! Now I chose more natural sugars such as whole natural fruits, organic maple syrup, stevia, or dark chocolate that is 70% or  higher.  Not only do I feel better, my waist line "looks" better too!


2. Why NOT eating makes you GAIN weight rather than lose weight

You have a special event coming up and you want to look great. You bought a knock out dress that would be the envy of all of your girlfriends and that could draw the attention of all the eligible handsome men. So what do you do to make sure you fit in that dress? If you were like me, you would stop eating for a few days to hopefully drop those few extra pounds. This is the WORST thing  you can do to lose weight. But that is what I did, not once, but a few times during my teenage years.

By starving yourself a few days in a row, you are essentially causing your body to go into "starvation mode." When this happens, your body tends to store food as fat rather than use it for energy. Why? Your body does not know when it is going to receive fuel again so it stores food for later use just in case it doesn't receive fuel again for awhile.

Another side effect of starving myself was that I ended up binge eating because I was craving food! I would eat just about anything (which was usually high calorie processed foods) because I was so hungry. As a result, I would end up gaining weight instead of losing it. Then I would get angry with myself for having no will power or discipline and for gaining the weight I wanted to lose. This in turn led to another side effect. I would lash out at others because I hungry AND angry. Hence, I became a HANGRY person.

What did I learn from this lesson? That starving myself does not work and that I could have saved myself (and others) a lot of grieve, heart ache and extra weight gain had I planned my nutrition more wisely.


3. Why I felt bloated, fat and had severe cramps after eating particular foods (including ice cream!)


We've all experienced feeling full, bloated and fat. I used to think it was a sign that I ate too much and that I lacked the will power to stop eating when my stomach was clearly telling me it was full.  I had no idea back then that these feelings might have been caused because of something else, food intolerance. For example, I absolutely loved peanut butter. I loved it so much that I would grab a large spoon and scoop large quantities of peanut butter straight from the jar and eat it. No bread or jelly required! After a few bites, my stomach would go into spasms. I would feel bloated and often I would have cramps that were so severe, I could not even sit up straight. But it never stopped me from eating it entirely. I would deal with the pain until it subsided and then a few days later, I would eat it again as if that painful experience never occurred.  I even switched to organic peanut butter just in case it was the hydrogenated oils that was causing me pain. (hydrogenated oil is a whole other topic!) T

This went on for years until I started to have the same symptoms (and sometimes worse) with other foods. Finally, I went to see a Naturopathic Doctor who ran some tests and low and behold, we discovered that I was intolerant to peanuts.  It didn't take me long to learn what other foods I was intolerant to as well and I slowly began to change my diet.  The result? I stopped eating food my body could not handle and I discovered new foods that by body could digest well and that tasted delicious!

So there you have it. The top 3 health lessons that I know now that I wish I knew then that would have saved me a lot of physical and emotional stress!