Passing of a legend – Jack LaLanne

Today marked the passing of a fitness and nutrition legend and a personal inspiration of mine – Jack LaLanne. 96 years young and living life fully and strongly right up into ripe old age. 2 hours a day of weight lifting and an hour a day in the pool was his daily commitment. He focused on proper clean food and knew the importance of fruit and vegetables long before it was trendy. He was a true pioneer and will be missed. He will live on in spirit in us – the crusaders of continued health and wellness as a lifelong pursuit. Here are some of his greatest moments!

This is a great excerpt from his national TV show, the first fitness show of any kind!

www.mahalo.com/jack-lalanne/

Here is a list of some of his great athletic accomplishments:

1954 Age 40: Swam the length of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge underwater with 140 pounds of equipment, including two air tanks – an undisputed world record.

1955 Age 41: Swam, handcuffed, from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, CA.

1956 Age 42: Set a world record of 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes on You Asked for It, a TV Show with Art Baker.

1957 Age 43: Swam the treacherous Golden Gate Channel, towing a 2,500-pound cabin cruiser. This involved fighting the cold, swift ocean currents that made the 1 mile swim a 6 ½ mile test of strength and endurance.

1958 Age 44: Maneuvered a paddleboard 30 miles, 9-½ hours non-stop from Farallon Islands to the San Francisco shore.

1959 Age 45: Completed 1,000 pushups and 1,000 chin-ups in 1 hours and 22 minutes. Happy the dog is born and The Jack LaLanne Show goes nationwide

1974 Age 60: Swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf, for a second time handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

1975 Age 61: Swam the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, underwater, for a second time handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

1976 Age 62: Commemorating the Spirit swam 1 mile in Long Beach Harbor, handcuffed, shackled and towing 13 boats (representing the 13 original colonies) containing 76 people.

1979 Age 65: Towed 65 boats filled with 6,500-pounds of Lousiana Pacific wood pulp while handcuffed and shackled in Lake Ashinoko, near Tokyo, Japan.

1980 Age 66: Towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida filled with 77 people for over a mile in less than 1 hour.

1984 Age 70: Handcuffed, shackled and fighting strong winds and currents, towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 ½ miles.

Jack LaLanne turned 93 in 2007. Who’s up for a rest day challenge of 1000 push-ups and 1000 pull-ups (Jack’s record was 1:22)

WHO INSPIRES YOU??!!

Habits Takes Time- Health is Lifelong!

Happy New Year to all! I can still say that officially until the end of January:)

I am so thrilled with the commitment from all of my steady clients and new ones too. January is always a busy time filled with a renewed sense of importance of one’s health, whether it be continued goals from last year or new ones. I think the single most important factor to seeing success, whether it health related or other, is in being specific with what your motivation for change is. Are you interested in something specific like leaning out or getting rid of that persistent sinusitus/allergies or all around vitality? Even for the most inline person, being engaged in your health and conscious if it at all times takes practice, patience and a little forgiveness.

“Established habits demand little conscious effort, but creating a new habit is hard work”, Scientific American Mind reports. Psychologist Phillippa Lally of University College London asked 96 undergraduates to form a habit in 12 weeks of repeating daily a healthy behaviour, such as drinking a bottle of water with lunch. Her results suggest that habits take mush longer to form than researchers previously though (an average of 9 and a half weeks and potentially as long as several months), but missing one or two days of repetition will not impede the process.

This is good news for those of us that get discouraged if we skip a workout or have a less than optimal meal. Stay the course and remember, it is where your motivation and heart is that is most important and what you do the majority of the time. Health is lifelong!

Magnificent Magnesium

Most of us really don’t know what our body is composed of and take for granted that we get enough nutritional materials from what we eat.  Truth is that rarely do we even meet the RDI (Recommended Daily Intake) of vitamins and minerals.  Truth be told, these limits are outdated and on the low side given our fast paced, pollutant laden, and soil depleted sad state of affairs in North America and most parts of the industrial world.  Even if the best organic diet provided the right amounts of healthy ingredients, there are digestive and environmental factors that can interfere with its absorption and efficacy.

Magnesium (Mg) is an elemental alkalizing marvel and is the 4th most abundant mineral in the body, comprising 50% of  bone mass.  It is responsible for some 300 biochemical reactions and is imperative for healthy nerve and muscular function.  Think of it as the “relaxing” mineral both for your muscles and your mind.  Rich sources are green leafy vegetables (chlorophyll), fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds. If you are an athlete, you may think you get enough from sports drinks which do help but are often just enough to replenish often low to begin with amounts after exercise and are laced with simple sugars, dyes, artificial colours and flavours.

Since Magnesium is absorbed primarily through the small intestines, having proper digestion is imperative.  IBS or Crohn’s disease, for example, will affect the absorption level of all nutrients and magnesium is no exception through improper biochemical reactions and the “flushing out” that occurs with diarrhea associated with the digestive disorders.

How do you know if you are getting enough from your diet and if you should supplement? Listen to your body.  At the root of holistic nutrition and most non-Westernized practitioners lies a set of symptomoligical symptoms that serve as warning signs that not all is right within and dig down to address the “root cause” of  impaired function. Headaches, anxiety, insomnia, constipation, allergies, and even ADD, fibromyalgia, arrhythmia, allergies, hypoglycemia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease can be specific indicators of magnesium deficiency (they also can be indicative of other deficiency).  These signs are vital in assessing low levels of all nutrients.  Blood work may need to be done in extreme cases, especially if kidney function is an issue.

This is the cool stuff – research! What you should know is that research shows varying results but it is accepted that adequate levels of Mg have:

• anti-thrombotic (anti-clotting) effect in the blood
• increase exercise tolerance in already fit individuals up to 20% (through increased vaso dilation of arteries and capillaries – improved cardio function!)
• improve calcium metabolism and hormone regulation (helping to dissolve calcium deposits over time) and decrease risk of osteoporosis and osteomalacia
• assist in carbohydrate metabolism by influencing the release and activity of insulin (with hypoglycemia or uncontrolled diabetes mellitus where Mg is excreted through kidneys faster with high blood sugar) This also supports a low to mid Glycemic Diet to ensure proper Mg levels stay in body!
• Over 2 alcoholic drinks (6 oz.) or cups of coffee  (12 oz.) and pharmaceutical drugs such as diuretics and antibiotics will leach Mg (and other minerals) from bone, and bloodstream
• Help with sound sleep, muscle recovery/release (think epsom salt bath – magnesium sulfate!), nervousness, constipation, restless leg syndrome, heart palpitations, leg cramps, and “RELAXING”…

So, what to do? On average you should be consuming about 300-400 mg a day and again that is next to impossible to get exclusively from your food coupled with lifestyle and environmental factors that can further deplete stores.

Food always first so load up on halibut, salmon, raw almonds, cashews, raw chocolate nibs, spinach, kale, broccoli, edamame (soy beans), black eyed peas, and kefir. Try natural coconut water for 3 times the levels of the average sports drink of all electrolytes.

Also, taking supplements such as Natural Calm Magnesium (www.calmnatural.com) which is calcium citrate, a bioavailable powder form that can used in tea before bed, convenient Magnesium Gel by Natural Calm can be rubbed topically (just not near the heart!) or magnesium glycinate (amino acid chelate for good absorption) in pill form.

The golden rule would be not to exceed 500 mg. unless you have underdone a sweat fest over many hours like an ironman, or hot yoga marathon perhaps (but you likely will have been supplementing electrolytes throughout activity).  Your body will tell you when it is enough – in excess you could experience diarrhea, or abdominal cramping but only if you really overdo it and its water soluable anyway so the body passes it very quickly.

Now take some and RELAX…

Italy recovered

Upon waking this cool October morning and noticing how much my tan has faded, it dawned on me that it has been 1 month since my return from Italy and I have not blogged my experience!

I had been waiting and hoping that I might use some better photos from my travel mate Hannah, whose pictures are divine.  I on the other hand, brought my archaic Canon “sure shot” and had all sorts of colour and light issues with it, but here are some gems below with one shot of my traveling companions: Beth, Melinda and Hannah .

The eastern coastline of Puglia in the heel of the boot is where we travelled spanning all told about 700km of bike time over 7 days which took us almost to the tip of the boot to Capo.  Although the guided tour would have taken us all the way if we went the full distances, we chose to bike a somewhat lighter, and more well rounded day consisting of lunch, shopping and usually a swim in the tantalizing turquoise blue Adriatic Ocean if we were coastal at the time.  This was the HUGE realization I had on Day I….”I am on vacation and don’t have to push pedal to the metal like it’s a race!”. This is was the beginning of me relaxing…something I struggle with from time to time but I found myself again:)

This was my first trip to Italy. Being a quarter Italian (my father’s father was second generation from a town just north of Naples called Avellino), I felt a sense of coming home from the time I landed in Rome.  The culture is quite different from my North American upbringing, but the sense of harmony and balance in their day, their emotion, their love of food, wine, and family resonated with me in a primal way. I felt at peace and like I had only started the exploration of a wonderful country and way of life!

Biking has long been a favourite pastime and passion of mine and I have always known that I would enjoy touring,  I just didn’t realize how much!  We were provided maps and directions on our self guided tour and although at first I thought I would absolutely not want a tour guide along the way, I realize that there were stories and sites whose details could have been told more.  Still, the company of my 3 lady friends was filling and we travelled amazingly well navigating successfully and smiling the entire time, usually with a glass of Verdeca in hand followed by a gelato.

This was the first of many bike trips for me, and I do have to go back to see the rest of Italy, especially well recommended Tuscany…maybe with my darling Steve this time:)

Summer Simple!

“Have a Healthy, Simple Summer”

Hot dog, what a great summer we are having! It is important to continue healthy eating even during the vacation months. We work so hard all year to keep fit but the summer often gives us a sense of entitlement to veer away from regular eating habits. I want to show you that although we all deserve a few fun treats here and there, eating healthfully as a lifestyle can be easy and delicious! Always remember, it is what you do 90% of the time that is most important that builds strong habits and strong bodies.

I was reminded of this rule after just visiting with my darling family in Ft. Lauderdale after my sister just had baby #2, Keifer. My Mom was so excited to have me come down that she made my childhood favourite, Stuffed Shells, which is a dish of pasta shells with ricotta and spinach stuffing covered with cheese and her award winning spaghetti sauce. My first thought was, “gluten, white flour, fat, etc.!” Then I got my wits about me and was choked up at how sweet she was to go to the effort and how much she loved me. Food is very attached with emotion so I enjoyed every mouthful of scrumptuous love.  I won’t eat that for another year or 2….she usually makes me quinoa as that is my NEW favourite!

Back to summer time eating, our bodies require less food in the summer time because we need less fat storage to keep us warm than in the cooler months. Taste buds change as well to wanting lighter, colder, wetter and sweeter foods, basically foods in season. Eating well is anything but boring if you remember to keep it simple:

1) Raw foods are great in summer. Try shredded veggie salads, like carrots, sweet potato, red cabbage, daikon, jicama, beet. Use a light olive oil and apple cider vinegar dressing, or raw sesame oil and rice wine vinegar for an asian flare. Eating raw will introduce new enzymes required for food break down and are re usable in the digestive system.  You will have less gas and bloating.

2) Focus on you long-term plan and just don’t indulge too much. We all have our favourite “fun” foods, but if you are consuming too much of anything, your body may be telling you something in the way of cravings – you shouldn’t have cravings!  If it is sugar you crave, you are possibly sugar dependant or craving salt may mean your adrenal glands are shot and you are overly stressed. Also the craving of certain foods may indicate a slight sensitivity to that particular food.  Always practice food rotation and when you crave sugar try having a glass of water, or a protein snack first before giving in.  Often you are dehydrated or in need of protein but the body signals it as sugar.  Remember too many beers on the patio contribute to dehydration, sugar spikes and mineral depletion. You also may be fueling a sugar dependancy as all booze has a very high glycemic value. Moderation is still the name of the game. If you indulge make sure with your drink you have some raw nuts to control the sugar spike.

4) Tis the season to eat in season! Berries, watermelon, peaches, plums, asparagus, squash, lettuce, etc. (get to a farmers market and buy lots then freeze fresh for usage for the fall/winter) This way is more economical and nutritious!

5) Pureeing soups is a great way to get good nutrition but in a light and portable way. Use raw or boiled, veggies, fruit and even seeds and puree smooth in food processor. Vegetable stock, almond milk or a little olive oil smooth the way.

6)  Make a cold lemonade with squeezed lemons, some agave to stay cool and indulge in a treat.

Exercise of the month:

The Side Plank oblique twist

5 Peak Runners unite

This Saturday the 10th’s 5 Peaks Race is a culmination of dedication, hard work, and sheer grit of the 10 athletes competing in for some, their first running race.  The field is varied from beginner to high – ranking age grouper but all have poured their heart, soul and definitely lots of sweat into getting ready.

As your trainer, I thank you all for your perseverance and commitment.  It has been an amazing journey.  I am including a great pre race meal for the night before at the end of the post!

The race starts late at 10am so follow your normal morning routine and don’t deviate from your norm-not on race day.  Drink lots of water the previous day as well as the morning of as the weather has been so hot and humid and moisture loss will be high.  Buy an electrolyte mix such as Vega Sport, or Liquid electrolytes such as elete electrolyte add-in drops. This is s great electrolyte choice as there is no added sugars and most won’t be exercising over an hour to need replacement fuel, aka sugar.

Way to go Team.  See you there and let me know if you need a ride arranged.

Salmon with Dill Sauce

A classic dish that offers great taste in addition to nutrition. It’s light enough for summer yet will provide you with a refreshing option for a wintertime meal. And it provides more than 30% daily value for omega-3 fatty acids, protein, selenium, and niacin.

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes Ingredients: . 1/3 lb salmon fillet, cut in half . 2 tsp lemon juice . sea salt and black pepper to taste . Dill Sauce . 4 oz cup low-fat plain yogurt . 1 medium cucumber, seeded and diced . 1 TBS dill weed . 1 tsp fresh mint . black pepper to taste

Directions:

Quick Broil Salmon

v    To Quick Broil, preheat broiler on high and place an all stainless steel skillet (be sure the handle is also stainless steel) or cast iron pan under the heat for about 10 minutes to get it very hot. The pan should be 5 to 7 inches from the heat source.

v    Rub salmon with fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. (You can Quick Broil with the skin on; it just takes a minute or two longer. The skin will peel right off after cooking.)

v    Using a hot pad, pull pan away from heat and place salmon on hot pan, skin side down. Return to broiler. Keep in mind that it is cooking rapidly on both sides so it will be done very quickly, usually in 7 minutes depending on thickness. Test with a fork for doneness. It will flake easily when it is cooked. Salmon is best when it is still pink inside.

Dill Sauce

Combine all ingredients and serve on chilled Quick Broil Salmon. Serves 2

5-Minute Bok Choy

Healthy Sauté will concentrate both the flavor and nutrition of your bok choy.

Prep and Cook Time: 4 minutes Ingredients: . 1 medium bunch bok choy . 1 medium clove garlic, chopped or pressed . 3 TBS low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth . 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil . 1 tsp lemon juice . 3 TBS dried sunflower seeds . sea salt and pepper to taste . Optional: chicken and shiitake mushrooms

Directions:

. Cut the leafy portion of the bok choy into 1/4-inch slices to ensure they cook al denté. Cut the stems into 3/4-inch slices because if they are cut too thin, they will become watery. Let stems and leaves sit for at least 5 minutes to enhance their health-promoting benefits.

. Chop or press garlic and let sit for at least 5 minutes.

. Heat 3 TBS broth over medium heat in a stainless steel skillet.

. When broth begins to steam, add stems and cook uncovered for 1 minute. Add leaves, cover, and continue cooking for 3 more minutes.

. Toss with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and sunflower seeds. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2

Healthy Cooking Tips:

With this method of cooking, the stems will become creamy and the leaves will develop a robust flavor. The outside will be tender while the inside will be crisp.

If stems become translucent or watery, you know you have overcooked them. For more enjoyment, you may want to add more olive oil.

For best flavor, dress bok choy while it is still hot.

Fuze Evo Diet

Let me address pulled pork on the evo diet. Fine as long as it is not laced with sugary sauce. Also as organic as possible. How’s it going out there in cleanse week?

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