Allow yourself to change.

Your body is always changing, your mind is always changing, thus it is highly likely that the time and type of your workouts over the course of your life will change as well. We have to move with these changes instead of fighting against them if we want to see gains and continue to feel energized after working out rather than sluggish.

I used to love working out super early in the morning, 5-6am was perfect for me. Now I almost have to workout at night; the stamina, energy, and motivation I used to have in the mornings simply isn’t there. Perhaps it’s also that my muscles are simply tighter in the morning (oh man, the aging process!). I’ve become less and less concerned with finding the root of changes in life; I simply roll with them and change as necessary. The longer we fight and resist anything in life, the longer we are in pain (or discord with the universe if you will). Instead of spending weeks and months attempting to find the source of this change, just friggin change with it!

When we stagnate in life, we are cut off from magical experiences, not just regarding fitness but in all facets of life. Try new things, specifically regarding exercise in this post: workout at a different time, workout in a new location (outside is always my favorite, whereas I used to be a die hard gym rat, working out was only for the gym!), try working out with people or by yourself.  Find a routine that you love. If you don’t, you will never stick with it. Work with your body rather than against it.

And as always, work with a personal trainer! I think there’s a myth that personal trainers just want to take your money and create a cycle wherein you can’t workout on your own. As a personal trainer, I always educate my clients as we go about everything that we’re doing with the goal being that they will go out on their own at some point. I want to create enough knowledge, confidence, and motivation in a client that they leave me having built a cornerstone of fitness upon which they will build for the rest of their lives. This is what any good trainer aims to do. Now some people simply enjoy having that extra push and will work with trainers forever; that is fantastic too. We are usually on the cutting edge of medical research and exercise science so there’s always more to be learned with a great trainer.

cheri@vitnesslive.com

http://www.vitnesslive.com

Can’t find your run pace? Try speeding it up!

Perhaps this sounds counter-intuitive but our bodies can do so much more than our mind lets them at times. For most of my adult life, I couldn’t break a 10 minute mile. I never considered myself a runner, and then my mom died and I decided to do a half marathon in her honor. That began my absolute love for running. If you can run, run! There is no other cardio exercise like, and the release and meditative state it provides is an awesome natural high.

In this post I’d like to talk specifically about finding a comfortable running pace for you. I talk very frequently about the need to listen to our bodies but sometimes I still fail to do this myself. Today I was running listening to music other than my typical running music: hard house is my tracks of choice. 🙂 I was winded, couldn’t really find a pace, just overall the run was shite. I realized that I was running too slow! I’ve done this before but I fall back into old habits like everyone else. I’ll never forget the 1st time I was struggling on a run and I just took off, running faster than I thought I could, and spanked the entire run. I was shocked…so often in life our mind holds us back, telling us there’s no way we can do things. Anyway, I took off this morning and my run improved from that point.

It sounds odd but if we aren’t running at our body’s preferred pace, we are actually worker harder to slow our body down than we’d be working running at a comfortable pace for our muscles and lungs. Try it! I always say: don’t believe anything anyone says- experiment with it yourself. Now I’m saying this will always be the case. Some days I just have shit runs. But I do wonder how much sooner my running pace would’ve increased had I tried this years ago! Try it, what’s there to lose?

And for god’s sake- work with a personal trainer to achieve your goals!

cheri@vitnesslive.com

http://www.vitnesslive.com

How Drug Addiction helps us understand Obestiy

This is an awesome read. Worth the $3.99 to rent it for 48 hours or purchase it at $10. This talks about how we can use what we know about drug addiction to aid is in the treatment of obesity. I have known this since I got sober almost 10 years ago as I am a recovering alcoholic/drug addict and food addiction is exactly the same, and quite literally does result in early mortality as well. If you are a wellness practitioner and still think obesity comes from too many calories in, too few calories out and laziness, please think again. It is not until we get rid of that thinking that we are truly able to help people!! http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/nn1452?utm_campaign=readcube_access&utm_source=nature.com&utm_medium=purchase_option&utm_content=template2

Why do “they” keep trying to get me to eat unhealthy foods?

This picture below sure is a great idea but this isn’t going to happen any time soon as there’s no way in hell the government is going to give up their precious money from all the shite food that comes in the form of lobbyists, our battle is 1 on a personal level. We have to stop expecting someone to do it for us!
Health is our responsibility and it is certainly our responsibility to instill healthy nutrition and exercise practices into our children. Stop waiting for doctors and politicians and supermarkets to tell you to eat nutritious, whole, unprocessed foods! It simply isn’t going to happen! Instead, make a decision for yourself and live that decision every single day. Go to local markets or co-ops instead of the grocery store where you are bombarded with advertisements for crap food that you don’t need…ever. No your kids don’t need the cookies and chips: stop fooling yourself.
Get a personal trainer who will tell you the truth about nutrition instead of waiting for your doctor to do it, (although make sure it’s a highly qualified trainer who isn’t full of complete bollocks). Most of all, learn to be in tune with your body (not your mind) and listen to your gut. This is the ultimate direction that we must follow and until we learn this, we will keep being led astray by advertisements, new marketing schemes, friends, family, the list goes on and on!
Be well. Be healthy. Be strong!

Run a half marathon with the vitness team!

Cheri, Founder of vitness is running this race in March and she wants you to run as part of the vitness team. If you start training now and follow our training regime, even if you’ve never run before, you WILL finish, we promise! Cheri will personally run the last person of the team across the finish line. Run, walk, or drag, we will all finish.
Imagine the feeling of crossing that finish line, completing something you never thought possible, pushing your body beyond its current limits. This is an adventure destination race not to be missed. Let’s do this thing!!
Couch to half marathon in 6 months: no problem! Already training and looking to do an epic race with a team? This is definitely it! Looking for an adventure: camping, hiking, half marathon? Join us for this trip. Show yourself that you ARE an athlete no matter where you are on your fitness journey at this moment!
Cheri@vitnesslive.com: let’s make a plan. Isn’t it time to get off your ass and make a commitment? This race sells out every year. Contact us to start training and then register. Just do it!