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Here we are, just about mid-winter, and many clients are friends are heading for the tropics in the coming weeks for some Vitamin Sea and Vitamin D! So I thought I would share some tips on how to stay active on your upcoming vacation. Typically for my husband and I, most of our vacations revolve around sports - most often we travel to surf, ski, bike or hike, with some R’N’R on the side either in the evenings or as a rest day in between. However, our recent European trip involved a lot of sight seeing, and relaxing on beaches with calm seas. Although we enjoyed our trip, for the most part, it did not revolve around a sport as it usually does - so I had to consciously work activity into my day. Check out some of the photos from our trip - on these days we incorporated beach walks, biking, hiking, and lots of walking into our trip. When it comes to fitness and leanness, there are a few important components that come into play: your Resting Energy Expenditure (the amount of calories your body burns at rest just to stay alive, also known as REE), the thermic effect of food (certain foods actually burn more calories while consuming them than others), as well as physical activity. All of these components together are referred to as your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. In order to keep your TDEE high, it is therefore important to include physical activity in your day, as well as include thermogenic foods in your diet. So here are a few things that I tried to incorporate into my days during our holiday to make sure I was still keeping my TDEE up:
If you like what you have read, and would like to train with a certified fitness professional to reach your goals before or after a vacation, contact me! You can also subscribe to our newsletter.
You can also try subscribing to one of my Beachbody workouts to complete at home anytime, or maybe even on vacation!
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What an amazing season of Stand Up Paddling! Our new partnership with the Hollyburn Sailing Club gave us a chance to meet so many new faces and enjoy the beautiful West Vancouver waterfront. We had a lot of fun in our SUP classes and lessons, and thought we'd share some of our favourite moments with you! If you missed out this year, don't worry, we will be back again next summer. For more information visit our website seatoskyfit.com or sign up for our newsletter to stay updated! Many thanks again to our partners at the Hollyburn Sailing Club! -Nikki We're excited to announce our new partnership with the Hollyburn Sailing Club! Located right on Ambleside Beach in West Vancouver, it's the perfect spot for Stand Up Paddling and beach workouts. We'll be holding classes here throughout the summer including our SUP Fitness Series that starts July 4th and a Paddle Into Fitness SUP Certification that takes place in August (see posters below for details). Click here to check out the class schedule from Ambleside! If you'd like to book a private class, lesson or group outside of class times, please email us!   Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for outdoor fitness trips, recipes, and tips and tricks on everything Stand Up Paddle, & fitness.
 Meet Tara Crone, local North Vancouverite, fitness and hiking aficionado and high school teacher in training. We are really honoured to share this special guest post by Sea to Sky personal training client, Tara Crone. She is a local North Shore girl - intelligent and driven, with a heart of gold. She's worked really hard over the last year and a half to reach her fitness goals and has made substantial gains - both physically and mentally. In this post, she shares her fitness and body transformation journey with us - candidly sharing the story of her relationship with her body, and her renewed relationship to personal health, fitness and how it has now just become part of everyday life. She reminds us all of the importance of fitness for health and strength, for loving your body and for seeking balance in life.Thank you for sharing your story Tara!  Tara on a recent hike in Lynn Valley. One of her original fitness goals was to be able to go hike with friends and keep up. This spring, she has been out hiking every other weekend. Like many women, when I made the decision to get serious about working out again, I was motivated by my negative body image. As a strong feminist woman, I knew that it should be about health and strength, but, to be honest, I just wanted to look like an Instagram fitness star! I had recently gained quite a bit of weight and was having trouble losing it. My weight, and body image, has been something that I have struggled with since I was in early high school. I have been on every diet and in every fitness class. I have had short term success in the past, but I have never found something that really stuck. This time, nothing seemed to be working, and I realised that I needed help. I knew that my fitness level was a large part of what was holding me back, so I started to do research on getting a personal trainer. I was initially overwhelmed by the number of trainers online and by the common presence of a “fat negative” rhetoric. I forced myself to ignore my apprehensions and I sent out a ton of emails and made a lot of phone calls. One of my emails was forwarded on to Nikki, at Sea to Sky Fitness. I met with a few people, including Nikki, and I quickly realised that a connection, with whomever I was going to be working with, was going to be important to my success. I was instantly attracted to Nikki’s laid back nature and comforting enthusiasm.
I started working out with Nikki twice a week and my fitness level quickly improved, but the weight wasn’t falling off like I had hoped it would. I was blinded by my issues with body image and I couldn’t see all the progress that I was making. Nikki consistently gave me positive feedback and talked about how strong I was getting. She was enthusiastic about the inches I was losing, and continued to challenge me by changing up my workouts. She encouraged me to take progress photos so that I could see the changes in my body. I was eating healthy, loosing fat, meeting fitness goals and gaining muscle, but I still didn’t look like an Instagram fitness star! I knew that my way of thinking was unhealthy (and common!), but it was engrained in me and it was going to take time for it to change. I have been working out consistently, with Nikki and on my own, for about a year and a half now. A few months ago, I realised that I was starting to shift my thinking. Working out had become a part of my life and it was something I had started to really enjoy. I was able to keep up with my friends on hikes, and I had the confidence to ask the “Instagram fitness stars” at my gym if I could “work in”. I was lifting heavy weights, and felt pretty badass doing it. I started to see muscle definition and I was stoked about being strong. With the risk of sounding cliché, over the past year and half of my life, my relationship with myself has changed for the better. I am getting more comfortable in my own skin, I am excited about reaching new fitness goals, and most importantly, I feel good! I feel less groggy when I wake up in the morning, I have more energy throughout the day, and my mood has improved in a big way. It has been incredible to experience just how much CONSISTENT exercise has improved my mental well being. Don’t get me wrong, my body and I still have moments, and days, where we are at odds with each other, and I still wouldn’t mind rocking a bikini with a flat stomach, but it’s not the end goal. I don’t think I really have an END goal anymore. I want to meet my current goals and then set new ones. I want to get stronger and increase my endurance. I want to continue to work on my relationship with myself and be kind to my body. I want to be healthy! Nikki has been such an important part of this journey that I am on. She always has a positive attitude, she never seems to be worried about the number on the scale, and she is consistently celebrating my successes. I feel lucky to have found a trainer and friend like Nikki to check in with me each week. She is genuinely invested in my growth and in helping me reach any goal I set. I have become a strong believer in the power of body positivity, and over the last year and half I have witnessed the beneficial role that it has played in reaching my goals.  After much contemplation and consultation with our closest clients, we have decided to make a slight business name change. Moving forward, we will be operating as "Sea to Sky Fitness", dropping "SUP, Yoga" from the original name, "Sea to Sky SUP, Yoga & Fitness."
After a few years in business, we've received a lot of positive and constructive feedback on our brand and business name. In the interest of simplicity, we've decided to keep it short and sweet - Sea to Sky Fitness - a little easier to say and a little easier to remember. But just because our name has changed doesn't mean that our services have. "Fitness" will remain an umbrella term for the services we offer: personal training, online nutrition coaching, Stand Up Paddle lessons and classes, as well as workplace yoga. While many in the Yoga community would decry that Yoga is NOT fitness - (and we would tend to agree) - our definition of the true meaning of fitness is a much more holistic one - one that encompasses all parts of the self. We remain committed to our fitness philosophy of offering a holistic fitness experience - one that offers services and support that nurtures all aspects of personal health and wellness - mind, body and spirit - both indoors and out. After all, true fitness is so much more than body fat percentage and shredded abs - it is a state of mind, of happiness, of wellness, of having fun, of feeling fulfilled in life. Most importantly, true fitness is about being able to enjoy life in the body you were given, and being comfortable, accepting and happy in your own skin. Thanks to all our closest clients for their insight into this decision, and we look forwards to many more years of working with you, and to many more years of being active, by nature! - Nikki  The time has arrived, the holidays are upon us and the Christmas parties have started. I am all for a good time, good food and some indulgence - but with balance. So this Christmas season, indulge a little, but move and exercise a little (or a lot) too, Use these five tips to navigate the festivities and come out still feeling tip top in January! 5. Show up to Christmas parties with some food in your belly - don’t be ravenously hungry when you arrive, which might lead you to stuff your face. If you’re feeling hungry, make a protein smoothie before heading out. to help you feel at least temporarily satisfied. 4. Hydrate while you dehydrate, eg. drink water between drinks! At the end of the night, add electrolytes to your water - Ultima Replenisher from MEC is a good one. You’ll thank me in the morning. 3. If attending a buffet or finger food-style party, where possible, make a meal on a plate, rather than just picking here and there. When you pick at a buffet, or finger foods, you don’t always know how much you have eaten. Follow the Ideal Dinner Plate rule: your plate should contain 1/4 protein, 1/4 smart carbohydrates, 1/2 vegetables. If there are no plates available, eat slowly until you are 80% full. 2. Keep moving! Walk after dinner, get a 15 minute high intensity interval workout in from home before your next party. All movement counts. If you have to choose between diet and exercise, choose exercise! Exercise is a keystone habit, which has positive ripple effects in other areas of our lives. Chances are, if you exercise, you might be likely to make smarter food choices. And if you don’t, at least getting back to your exercise routine in January will feel less challenging. 1. Last, but certainly not least, please ditch the ALL OR NOTHING attitude - it made lead to a severe case of the “Fuck-its”. For example, if you ate waffles with whip cream and nutella for breakfast, then binged on caramel popcorn and sugar cookies in the afternoon, and you are tempted by the Doritos chip appetizers at your Aunt’s Christmas Eve party, you might think “Fuck it, I already ate like shit today, I might as well keep going. Go big or go home,” you think to yourself. Instead of saying “fuck it”, let go of food choices that make you feel guilty and move forward with smarter food choices. It all counts - aim for balance and moderation, and lose the all or nothing attitude. - Nikki  Think circuits, High Intensity Intervals, and relays for this class - always switching it up every class to keep the body guessing.
When we are outdoors, we will use elements in the park for our workouts. Modifications will be offered for different fitness levels. Most importantly, it will be fun, laid back and a great way to get back into a fitness routine this fall. Date & Time: Thursdays at 6:30 pm Outdoor Location (Spring-Fall): Cloverly Park, 440 Hendry Ave, North Vancouver. (We will meet behind the Tennis Courts, near the picnic table.) Indoor Location (Fall-Spring): The Haven, 648 Queensbury Ave, North Vancouver Price: Your first trial class is by donation, a 10 class pass is $150 and drop-ins are $20. It will be a great way for you to get in an extra workout during your week with a great group of people! Sometimes, or most of the time, life gets busy. It's hard to fit in your sports, workouts, yoga or movement into the day. So when you've only got 15-20 minutes, try this quick 15-20 minute High Intensity Interval Training at home. Lots of compound movements that work all the muscles in the body and leave you SUPER sweaty! 5 exercises - 50 seconds on, 10 seconds off, repeat 3-4 times. Download the Interval Timer app to time yourself. 1. Forward and Reverse Lunge with 6 Mountain Climbers. 2. Spider Push-Ups 3. Burpee with Back Fly 4. Exploding Jacks 5. Soldier plank with Butt-Ups After your workout, fuel your muscles with a post-workout drink or smoothie. Give this a try:
- Almond milk - half a banana - 1/2 to 1 scoop of protein powder (try Vega Sport Performance in Mocha flavour) - ice Blend and enjoy! Pat yourself on the back for your hard work. You'll be burning calories all day long after this doozy!  Enlist your bridesmaids to do it with you! What better time to feel your best & get your glow on than before your wedding day?! Join me, your personal trainer, and my fellow GirlTribe coaches - a naturopath, a yoga teacher & a wedding planner - on this 30 day journey to feeling your BEST before your BIG day!!
No better time to feel like your most vibrant & radiant self than on the day you say "I DO!" Enlist your bridesmaids to do it with you! This 30 day instructional program will have you all laughing, sharing & sweating together! Not to mention, your photos will be 10/10 ;) The program is hosted globally online - so you can do it from anywhere! I am really excited to be co-hosting this amazing program! Learn more about the complete Bridal Babe program package & register by clicking below! 
(If you have never done a mindful-eating experiment, sit down one-on-one with a raisin, and eat it super slowly, by yourself, close your eyes, and notice the difference when you engage all your senses to eat.) The bottom line; healthy eating habits are about balance, and eating mindfully doesn’t always mean avoiding the foods you love, but rather it means making love to those foods when you do eat them; eat them slowly, love them, enjoy them, and you might notice you can enjoy them in smaller quantities because you feel more satisfied. In life, we ought to cultivate healthy habits, but our habits also need balance, and mindful eating plays an important role in striking that balance. Finally, have fun! Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, put on Christmas music, light the fire, decorate the tree, sing out loud, have a holiday drink. Nourish your body and mind. Make memories. |
AuthorNikki Johnston Beaudoin is an outdoorsy Mountain Mermaid, and the Founder of Sea to Sky Fitness. Categories
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