Fit Your Life

It is almost February. How are your 2011 resolutions and goals coming? Do you even remember what they are? When it comes to fitness and health oriented goals, it can be very easy to slip off our desired path and go back to our "old" ways of being. If we want to make our bodies healthier, we must make changes and create a different lifestyle.  Of course, on a good day, this can seem quite easy. You are full of energy, your workout feels great, and you are craving veggies & fruit. However, when it has been a challenging day at work, or something shook us up for the worse, it is easy to skip your workout and grab the quickest and easiest (and usually the sweetest or saltiest) food from your cupboard (or take-out).  What I am getting at is that we need to create a lifestyle, where, no matter what happens, we continue to do things that help our body, as they have become a part of our daily routine.  "One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up befor...

Attitude is the way we, as individuals, view every aspect of our life. Whether we try to or not, we have an opinion about the events in our surroundings. We will each go through periods in our life that are more difficult than others. When we have to use all of our energy to force a smile, or motivate ourselves to get off our bums. Positive attitude is what will make us all come out on top! Attitudes are contagious.  Are yours worth catching?    -Dennis and Wendy Mannering I have had the opportunity this week to see a different side of health care. During my school program the last year and a half, I have mainly been exposed to acute hospital settings. This semester, out focus is in the community. Most of our community clinical experiences involved new mothers and their babies -- SO excited!! However, yesterday I had the opportunity to be in involved in a Senior's health check clinic at one the manors in the city. What an incredible experience! These are elderly people, i...

It is cold. It is winter. It is dark and energy is low. These are some of the toughest days to get moving and stay active! It has been a busy week getting back into the swing of classes. With a new year comes new routine and a new way of challenging yourself! Please post below what YOU are doing to get yourself sweating up a storm this month ...  I am excited to read all your brilliant ideas!

Happy Monday!! It is the first Monday of 2011 and a perfect day to get your body moving and start working toward your resolutions! My workout today was great - quick, yet intense! Here is the link if you would like to try this one out at home! BodyRock.tv - Epic Abs If you are having trouble finding something secure enough for the reverse push-ups in your home - regular or incline push-ups would work as a substitute.  Enjoy!!

SMART Goals for Your New Years Resolution Near the end of December, most people think about what the upcoming year will bring and what they want to achieve. Setting New Years resolutions should be more than thinking about what you should do, and more about what you will do in 2011. Health and fitness related resolutions are among the top for most goal-setters. I want to make sure that your 2011 resolutions will come true! The SMART goal setting system is one that can be applied to many situations. Here, we will use it to build our 2011 New Years Resolution(s). Specific – we must make sure that our goals are as specific as possible, as this makes them easier to visualize. An example of a specific goal is, “I want to lose 5 pounds of fat mass”, as opposed to, “I want to lose weight”. We can visualize 5 pounds of fat, and we can imagine our body after the loss of that mass. Measurable – to be able to measure our goals is to know that we have achieved what we expected of ourselves....

Christmas is a time that we are surrounded by delicious treats, but this year YOU are going to prevent a Santa belly from forming. My previous posts have given you multiple ways to help make healthier choices and this workout will help to burn the calories from those samples you had off Mom or Grandma's Christmas platter :) The core consists of the rectus abdominis (6-pack), obliques (twisting and side-bending muscles on sides of mid-section), transverse abdominis (deep core stabilizers), and low back muscles. This workout is going to target all four core muscle groups while increasing heart rate to burn calories! This workout is quick and intense ,   so you can add it to the end of a cardio workout, or do it on its own when you are short on time. Let's GO! 5 Station Fit-Tummy Circuit Perform the maximum amount of reps in 50 seconds , then 10 second break before moving on to next exercise. Have a pen and paper handy to record how many reps you did for each exercise. Perfo...

This 16 minute heart-pumping workout will have you sweating and feeling those Christmas cookies melt away from your body! Tabata workouts are based on 20 seconds of hard work, with 10 seconds of rest for 8 sets of one exercise - 4 minutes per exercise. We are going to do 4 exercises consecutively, so it will only take 16 minutes and keep your heart rate elevated the whole time! You will get the cardio benefits of a 3-4 km jog while strengthening and toning your entire body. Let's GO!! If you have an interval timer (most sports watches do) set it for 2 intervals: 20 seconds and 10 seconds and 32 rounds.  1) One-Legged Mountain Climbers targets arms, shoulders, upper back, entire core, quads, hamstrings, and glutes - set up in a high plank/push-up position from toes - bend one knee up and briefly touch toe on ground under chest, then kick it right back to start - perform as quickly as possible while maintaining good form - continue ALL reps on one leg for four sets (2 minutes per leg...