I get to Inhale with Steve Ross!

This Thursday night, Steve Ross is guest teaching a yoga class at The Pad Studios in San Francisco.  It's about an hour and a half from my house, but that's the closest I've ever been to seeing Steve Ross and I'm going!

Steve Ross taught a yoga class on Oxygen Network several years ago called, "Inhale."  I posted about this a few years ago and have received countless emails and comments asking for information on how to get these shows on dvd.  They don't make them.  And it's not on TV anymore.  But a friend of mine recorded them for me and I've been doing them ever since.

You can go and read my older post (I'm trying to be careful not to duplicate what I wrote before), but Steve Ross is a master yoga instructor, knows his stuff inside and out, and teaches with humor and joy. In fact, his book is called "Happy Yoga."  He often says, "Yoga is a celebration!"

I look forward to celebrating with him tomorrow night!  I called the studio after I had paid to register for the class to see if there was room for my friend and was told that not only was the class FULL, but they had a very long waiting list.  I feel blessed to have my spot!  I'm sure it will be packed and crowded (like the class I took at the Baron Baptiste studio in Philadelphia about 5 years ago), but that's okay.  Just getting to be there will be fabulous!  I will be sure to share all about it when it's over!  Until then, namaste!

Shakeology Challenge -- Coming Right Up!

Come join our Shakeology Challenge for February! (and a teensy bit of March.  :))   Drink your Shakeology every day for the 30 days, along with cracking down on your healthy eating and exercise goals.  Measure your weight and chest, waist, thigh, arm, and hips before you start.  Also take a "Before" picture so you can see how much better you look "After."  The three people with the biggest changes in weight and measurements will win the cash prizes. Everyone else will win the support of friends to reach their health and fitness goals!

I know I'm planning on doing this beyond the 30 days because I will need a little more time to reach my final goals, but I will also want to keep up with the good habits I develop (especially after a sugar-loaded Christmas season that somehow keeps going and going and going!)

Let me know if you're interested.  Beachbody is doing some maintenance on my site today, but keep trying and it should be up for ordering pretty soon.  My Shakeology Site.

If you missed my earlier post about Shakeology and just want to read my initial impressions, go here.  (Or just scroll down about 5 or 6 posts, but I'm all about saving you time . . . or am I?  I just made you read more!  :) ).

Also, for your viewing pleasure, here's a video with some more information about the high quality ingredients in Shakeology:

How to avoid those Christmas Cookies

I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas cookies.  I love to eat them!  Oh, how I love to eat them.  But I hate that I can't control my eating once I eat them.  And I hate that I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning when I eat them.  And I hate that I gain weight when I eat them.  And I hate that my feet get achy at night and I can't go back to sleep when I eat them. I'm sure I could think of more.

So I must strategize to keep myself from eating them. As cute as those cookies are (not to mention yummy), they need to be part of someone else's holiday tradition, not mine.

Here are a few tips I've found for avoiding the Christmas cookies:

• Out of sight, out of mind.  Hopefully they aren't even in your home, but if they are, keep them where you can't see them.  I know, I know.  You can find them if you want.  But if you don't see them, you are more likely to not think about eating them.  I don't crave what I don't think is there.  But if I open a cupboard and see some sugary treat, my brain starts thinking that's what I need.  It's funny that way.
• Don't buy any cookie making ingredients.  I used to have to avoid going down two aisles at the grocery store -- the ice cream aisle (I can finally handle that now without any temptation) and the chocolate chip aisle  (still an issue from time to time).  I tend to tell myself myths in the chocolate chip aisle like "I'll make these for the classroom."  or "I need these for that pumpkin bread next month -- I'll just buy them now while they're on sale."  They never last until that later date and I end up either making cookies (and eating them myself) or just eating them out of the bag.  So the best thing is to win the battle in the store and you never have to fight it at home.  
• Tell yourself a new lie.  You may think that you don't lie to yourself in the first place, so how could their be a new lie?  Well if you ever tell yourself that you'll just eat one or that the cookies won't do you any harm, those are lies, right?  Tell yourself a more helpful lie.  Tell yourself that the cookies are stale or that they have been sitting in your grandmother's freezer for months.  Tell yourself that they've fallen on the floor or that ants have been crawling all over them.  Do whatever it takes to help you resist.  I've tried these ploys.  They work!
• Fill yourself up on something better!  There are so many yummy good-for-you foods that you can enjoy.  Eat those first!  Start associating Christmas joy with eating baked apples or pears with a bit of pumpkin pie spice on top.  Or just eat fresh raspberries or pomegranates plain.  There are so many fruits that can fill you up in body and spirit!  Oranges and tangerines are super tasty this time of year.  Read "Christmas Oranges" for a bit of perspective on how blessed we are to enjoy fresh fruits year round. 
• Light a candle.  Sometimes I have to remind myself that I don't need to eat around the clock.  There are other things that fill my soul like lighting a candle and seeing that flame glow.  Lighting a fire in the woodstove is something I love to do, too.  But I know that not everyone has a fireplace or stove.  Candles are pretty easy to come by, though.  Hot baths are nice, too.

I think I'll go light a candle now.  I may just take a hot bath while I'm at it.  TTFN!

Great abs are made where?

Fill in the blank.  Great abs are made in the ____________.  You know the answer, right?  Not in the gym.  Not in the Pilates studio.  Not with your favorite abs workout (I think my favorite ab workout is the stability ball segment on Cathe's Pyramid Upper Body, if you are even the least bit curious -- skip to 4.30 into the video clip below).

But back to my question, the most common answer is "in the kitchen!"  Yes, those inches around your waist are due far more to what you eat than by what workout you do.  But let's not stop there!  The answer is also "in the car,"  "in the restaurant," "in the grocery store," and wherever else you eat or purchase the food you eat.  Your thoughts determine what you eat and you need to turn those thoughts around to get your body into shape.

Workouts are important and you won't have strong abdominal muscles without plenty of core work, but you also will never see those muscles if there is a layer (large or small) of fat covering them.

So as vital as exercise is, what you eat (or you DON'T eat) is even more essential. If I didn't have a stainless steel fridge, I'd make a magnet with that saying to remind me that "Great Abs are made right here!"   Perhaps I'll just have to use a little tape and make my own sign.  I surely need the reminder from time to time!

(I wrote about this in greater detail four years ago -- my time flies!  Click here to read that article).



P.S. (The photo above is of my friend, Jocelyn, who lost over 80 pounds with Beachbody workouts and changing her eating.  Here's her success story.  We were fellow cast-members in the Slim Series Express workouts and she's now my upline Beachbody Coach.  She's still going strong!  )

Destressing and avoiding the Distractions in life

When I was younger, I used to chuckle to myself at those who said they were "SO STRESSED!" or were "SO BUSY!"  I thought they were either over-reacting, wanted attention or weren't managing their lives very well. Little did I know that the older you get, the more that can pile on both time-wise and emotionally.  My dad used to tell me, "Renee, life will never be as easy for you as it is right now" and in many ways he was correct. There are ways to destress, though, and separate yourself from the distractions of life.

Recently, I've learned a few ways to identify my biggest sources of stress:

• Thoughts during Exercise  When I wake up in the morning to start my workout -- whether it's sweaty heart-pounding cardio or serene yoga postures, as I begin, my mind is flooded with what is worrying me or causing me stress.  I used to think this was interruptive to my workouts and now I see it as an indication of what I need to either cut out of my life or work on.  Often the workout will leave me less stressed, but the issue is still there and even though more relaxed, I need to work on it or it will resurface the next day (or when I lie down to sleep -- Oops!  I just gave away the second one). 
• Sleep Deprivation: If I'm overworked, sometimes my body responds by falling asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.  But other times, thoughts swirl around in my head for hours and I just CAN'T get to sleep (or I wake up in the middle of the night for hours tossing and turning).  Annoying to say the least!  When your body needs the sleep the most, it sometimes can't get it because of stress.  So what do you do?  Give your brain new messages.  Tell yourself all of the things that went well that day.  Think of all that you accomplished, even if it's as simple as laughing with a friend and bringing her joy.  Balance out the negative by recognizing all the positive that happens in your life.  Counting your blessings is another way to recognize the good.  
• Declining Mood:  Maybe this sounds oversimplified, but if you're no longer enjoying your days, then something needs to go.  Not all of life can be rainbows and prancing ponies (I stole this phrase from my niece who once complained about all of us "glass half-full" types☺), but we should be happy or content at least most of the time.  If not, you need to identify if you are indeed over-scheduled, if you have friends or relatives who are draining you instead of supporting you.  Cut out what you can that causes you stress and your mood will elevate.  Not everything is on our control, but do what you can and you will see a difference.
• Negative Media:  We all know it. The media isn't in the business to cheer us up or bring us joy. They may not even be there to entertain us.  Their bottom line is making money, which is often obtained by what will get our attention.  I'm sure there are plenty of artists and journalists out there fulfilling their life-long passions, but the decision-makers for news and information choose what will make them money or promote their ideas.  Often this leaves us overwhelmed with the imbalance of misery and contention paraded before our eyes.  Do what you can to avoid this cause of stress. Listen to your own music (may I suggest Sting?) instead of a radio, play your favorite DVD when you want to unwind instead of watching the news.  We play plenty of carefree sitcoms from the 60s in our home and absolutely love it.  
• Personal Media:  Our ever so portable computers (laptops, iPads and smart phones) can also be a major distraction to the simplicity and joy in life. I learned at the middle school Back-to-School Night last week that it takes 7 minutes for our brains to focus back on what we were doing before we stop to read a text.  Sometimes texts are happy interruptions.  Other times they are adding to our To-Do List or mental stress and need to be paced.  I could write a whole post about this (and likely will), but just be aware of the complications a handy dandy notebook can be and try to not make it quite so available to yourself so you can keep your focus on your family and friends right in front of you and what you need to get done throughout the day.

The older, wiser me now believes that stress is like pain -- it's a signal to our bodies that something is wrong.   Just as a painful burn tells your hand to stop touching the flame, the stress is trying to tell us that we need to make some changes so that we can be at ease once again.  Listen to your body and do what you need to do to help your body and mind enjoy life.

Top Photo by loop_oh 

The Challenge with Eating Addictions

I know everyone has said this at some point when it comes to dieting  -- if we didn't HAVE to eat, it would be so much easier.  I've never smoked, drank alcohol, or done drugs, but I know that those who have to break those addictions have a tough time.  Addictions have their name for a reason.  BUT those who stop smoking, drinking and doing drugs don't have to smoke, drink or have the drug once a day (or even 3 to 5), but no more. When we eat, we do just that.  We have to curtail our eating, but we have to keep eating.

One of the strategies for eating healthier and breaking our food addictions is to not have any of the foods that can tempt us in the house.  This is helpful because sometimes just the sight of the food can make us think "Oh yeah, I want to eat that!"  But even if the addictive food isn't in the house, sometimes we still go ravaging through the kitchen thinking things like, "Where's the chocolate?  There's got to be some SOMEWHERE in this house!"

But the more we go without the foods we are addicted to (sugar, refined flour), the less we miss it.  It truly is a physical addiction and the longer we are away from it, our bodies get cleansed and don't crave it.  The tricky part is when we make connections for needing that food with holidays, family occasions, events, emotions, etc.  It's a hard thing to shake, but it is possible.  And your brain does get healthier as your body gets healthier.  So eventually, you can control those thoughts and urges.  There is hope for those with food addictions.  Don't give up!

P.S. (This photo is from my daughter's wedding reception this summer.  TONs of fruit, salad and several sandwiches were served.  Very yummy!)

My very own Pumpkin Smash a la Jamba Juice!

I've attempted to make my own Pumpkin Smash many times since I first tasted it at Jamba Juice.  It's so incredibly yummy, but only available part of the year.   First I tried making it raw.  Didn't ever come up with anything resembling tasty.  Then I tried several recipes I found online.  They were okay, but never delish.  So I tweaked and I tweaked and I FINALLY came up with a winner.


Jamba Juice-like Pumpkin Smash 

1 c. pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)

1 c. almond milk or your choice of milk (I use   unsweetened vanilla by Blue Diamond)

3 c. vanilla soy creamy (Trader Joe's soy ice cream, you can use vanilla frozen yogurt, soy, coconut or ice cream)

1 c. ice

1 t. pumpkin pie spice

1 t. cinnamon

Blend like crazy in your Vitamix, BlendTec or other power blender.  Super yummy!

(If you want it a bit healthier, you can sub frozen peaches for 1/2 of the soy creamy.  It's still yummy!)

 I love Pumpkin Smash smoothies, but my daughter Terra loves them even more.  Maybe it's because it matches her hair color or that she loves EVERYTHING pumpkin.  But it truly makes her as happy as she was on this rainy day.