blog #24 Halloween tips and tricks

Halloween is tomorrow and candy is EVERYWHERE!

how do you resist?

If you are distributing candy:

buy candy that you DONT LIKE i.e. if you love chocolate buy sour candy to distribute so you wont be tempted to nibble on it

If you are trick-or-treating:

give up your candy at the end of the night

focus on trick-or-treating as an activity not as a goal to get "the most candy"

have fun with your costume, not stuffing your face

blog #23 Behavioral nutrition lose weight by siting and eating!!

I completed a dietary assessment on my client Rachel yesturday for my Medical Nutrition class.

The dietary assessment turned out to be 20 pages (of graphs, assessments, measurements, a dietary recall and 24 hour recall, etc.) From this extensive assessment I found the behavioral questions very interesting.

The one questions that struck out the most was: Do you eat sitting down/standing up? And how often?

It made me think about my fast paced crazy New York City lifestyle. I eat standing up, briskly walking, on the subway and even on the phone sometimes (I know that’s terrible and something I need to stop immediately.)

If I’m rushing to work I will buy banana from a fruit stand, bring a coffee with me on the go, or eat nuts on my way from school to work.

I critically contemplated the significance of sitting down during consumption (not just for dinner but all meals and snacks) and

heres my consenscous of why eating sitting standing is BAD:

Portion control (you can eat more standing up)

• It's important to eat sitting down so that you can see your food laid out in front of you
• Unplanned eating is also much more likely to occur if you are standing up.
• If you grab a sandwich on the go or even 2 portions of nuts instead of one you are most likely to finish the whole think because you aren’t paying attention

Satiety factor (feeling full)

• Sitting down allows you to become more visually satisfied.
• When you eat and walk you are multitasking and you don’t realize how much, how fast or even what you eat. Where’s the enjoyment in that?

Unsightly

• Eating isn’t the most attractive thing to watch in the first place, but seeing someone shove an oversized sandwich in their mouth on the go is just plain nasty.
• Leftovers on your……mouth? Because you are devouring that item (i.e sandwich) so quickly and frantically you end up leaving half of the sandwich (usually the condiments) on your mouth. Or if you are less fortunate the food stuff can trickle to a more permanent location like your shirt or pants. Even worse, as you spill your food everywhere you run into someone you know on the street (hopefully no one attractive) and your mouth is full when you scream “hello nice to see you.” Save yourself (and the rest of the street) the embarrassment, and eat seated.

Bottom line: make an effort to sit and eat which can help you with portion control. You may think you are getting more done by walking and consuming, but you can be adding stress to your day by looking unsightly and dripping your food everywhere but your mouth. sit down!

blog #22 What are your goals? 6 PACK PLEASE??

In my experience as a certified personal trainer both overweight and obese clients say

“I want abs! Let’s work my abdominal region please”

There is no such thing as spot training for any part of the body. You cannot loose your big tummy, flabby arms, muffin tops or back fat without………

Cardio

If you want to lose weight in a certain area (ie. abs most commonly asked about) then you have to work the whole body with cardio/resistance training/cross training to then see results. You will lose weigh in your stomach yes, but not JUST your stomach. Your other muscle groups will start to depreciate in addition to your “problem area” if you follow a proper diet and adequate exercise. That’s not so bad though right?

“So I shouldn’t work my abs if im overweight? “ a client may then ask

I say that depends on how much time you are willing to put fourth for exercise. If you only have 2 hours a week to workout then I would recommend hitting the biggest muscle groups FIRST to burn the most calories with compound movements like a deadlift (see blog #13 the golden three) or squat to shoulder press and/or cardio.

I would also most likely recommend circuit training if you are trying to loose weight. Sure abdominal exercises are good to add into your training regiment, but your routine SHOULD NOT BE ONLY FOCUSED or CENTERED AROUND ALL ABS…

Bottom line:

• if you want to loose a good amount of weight focus on cardio and compound exercises.
• Work-big muscle groups, do cardio, then focus on small muscle groups like abs and arms

blog #21 theme 1 fitness: Hot yoga vs. Bikrim what's the difference? What's better for me?

My client Rachel and I attended an "all levels 90 minute Hot Vinyassa" yoga class at New York Hot yoga Monday night and we starting comparing our personal experiences with the different styles of hot yoga.

this blog will share our opinions regarding the differences of Birkim vs. Hot yoga.

Bikrim yoga- 80-105 degrees
Bikram Choudhury is the creator of Bikrim yoga. His method of Hot Yoga is a set series of 26 yoga poses in a structured sequence. Each exercise is performed twice in a 90 minute class. The contriversy is that choudhury didn't want anyone to call yoga in a heated room "bikrim" unless they were certified by him, thus the "hot yoga title" came about.

Hot yoga: done in room 95-100 degress based off a hatha sequence

I first started doing traditional yoga in a nonheated room, but 2 years ago I decided to take yoga to a new "heated" level I first tried bikrim and loved it. Years later I tried hot yoga which is my new favorite type of yoga. Hot yoga is not the same sequence every time unlike its counterpart bikrim. Different styles like "vinyassa," "power" and "yoga basics" are styles practiced in a hot room. This adds varitey and a challenge which I enjoy.

Bikrims premeditated sequence can be limiting because there is little progression. I like bikrim, but after a while I want different poses and new sequences. Hot yoga offers me a new way to challenge my body with different sequences, but we always do similar movements like twists, inversions, backbends, forward bends and hip-openers.

Rachel shares her experience and love for Bikrim yoga:

"Based on my one hot yoga experience, and having done bikram 2-3 times a week for the past 5 months, I think Bikram is a lot harder...probably because you are asked to hold the poses for much longer. It may also be because I have finally learned to do the bikram poses correctly, which means I'm probably working harder. The teacher had to come by repeatedly to correct my form in hot yoga because I'm a novice at that. hot yoga had much more "flow" to it than bikram (which I don't think has any) it was refreshing to explore the different options available for each pose in hot yoga, something that seems to be strictly forbidden in bikram yoga, which are a series of 26 poses that must be done in the same order and in a precise manner. That said, I like knowing what's coming up next in bikram. I typically like the element of surprise when I workout, but not for yoga, when the room is 105 degrees.

Lastly, Bikram does not allow you to leave the room once class has started, which may pose a problem for some. Personally, I think there's something to be said for starting and finishing together, uninterrupted.

Both classes involved lots of stretching, which I LOVE, but hot yoga probably had more.
Both classes made me feel so much better emotionally once class was over. Both classes provide a good workout (woke up feeling sore from hot yoga from all of the cobra poses, which equates to tons of push-ups, and my hamstrings seemed to have worked out too)

At the end of the day, I prefer Bikram, however would recommend hot yoga for those who don't want to do the same poses all of the time, and those who are not accustomed to doing yoga in a heated room. I think hot yoga may pose a challenge for people with wrist injuries as you are constantly doing cobra poses and downward facing dog, which put a lot of pressure on my carpel tunneled wrists..and because you are flowing, I found it tough to do modifications for these two poses as it would have broken my flow."

Bottom line: try something that interests you. You make the choice. Many studios offer free classes for first timers.

blog #20 theme 1-fitness classes: rebound!

This weekend I went to a cardio based fitness class called urban rebounding at the ROCK gym in Astoria, Queens.

Dorothy my co-worker of mine from Gravity teaches multiple class formats at the ROCK, but urban rebounding was totally new to me.

as described on the website-

URBAN REBOUNDING: The new millennium workout. The most fun, easy to follow killer cardio workout you will ever take. This HIGH intensity trampoline workout is 80% less impact on your body

• To me this class was a combination of step/high low/cardio kickboxing. I liked that as the description mentions the class is low impact on your body because unlike a step class you arn't thumping onto a platform.
• I also liked how Dorothy choreographed the routine, but it was still a multi-level class because you can always jump slower.

I couldnt help but smile as I jumped up high on my mini trampoline! HOW FUN!

TRY THIS FORM OF FITNESS!

blog #19 theme 1-fitness classes:clear your mind with restorative yoga

Restorative Yoga is designed to relieve stress; this is a very slow and relaxing kind of Yoga. I have attended restorative yoga three times now, and each class was a bit different in execution, but similar in the end result which was complete relaxation.

Traditional yoga classes begin with active poses and conclude with a brief restorative pose like shavasana, (see blog #15) but restorative yoga is a therapeutic style of practice that utilizes multiple props to provide an environment of support like blocks, bolsters, blankets and even eye coverings.

state of mind:

Relaxation is a state in which there is no movement, no effort, and the brain is quiet. The hardest part for me in this style of practice is to not think. I have to work so hard to not let my mind wander.

environment:

Restorative yoga is typically only offered at a yoga studio

Classical music or relaxation music is typically played quietly

lights are dimmed

room is warm

your eyes are closed

Typically restorative poses are sustained for ten minutes.

why practice this type of yoga?

The antidote to stress is relaxation.

focus on breathing

personally this type of practice is very challenging for me mentally, and afterwards my mind feels cleared

who started this?

The development of these poses is credited to B.K.S. Iyengar, of Pune, India. Author of the contemporary classic Light on Yoga and numerous other books

here is an example of a pose:

supported childs pose: typically held anywhere from 5-12 minutes (you would switch and face both sides)