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! 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.
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I have all my new clients submit a food log when they first start working with me. Often, I see store bought protein bars as morning or afternoon snacks on their food log, often without a workout prior to the snack. I think sometimes people buy and eat protein bars with a false sense of how healthy they are. While some protein bars on the market are less processed and much better than others, more often than not they are candy in disguise. Bars like Cliff and Builder's Bar are probably better suited to long outdoor hiking, biking, climbing or skiing expeditions than to a regular afternoon snack.
So I'll often suggest to my clients that they try making their own, less processed version of a protein bar. These tasty homemade protein bars are a spin off the Oh She Glows recipe. Give credit where credit is due. Here is my variation below: Ingredients: 1.5 cups of oats 1/2 cup of vega oh natural protein powder 1/2 cup of Kamut puffs (cereal) 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan sea salt 1/2 cup of nut or seed butter (peanut, almond, etc) 1/4 cup of maple syrup 1 banana 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4-5 ounces of unsweetened bakers chocolate Directions: 1. Mix all dry ingredients in a food processor: oats, kamut puffs, salt and protein powder. 2. Add nut butter, maple syrup, banana and vanilla to the mix. If consistency is too dry, add splash of milk and mix again. (Milk, almond milk, coconut milk - your choice). 3. Press mixture firmly into square pan and place in freezer for 10-15 minutes. 4. Melt bakers chocolate in sauce pan and drizzle overtop of bars. 5. Keep refrigerated or freeze in air tight container. Enjoy non-processed pre or post-workout protein bars! -Nikki To learn more about fitness, nutrition and a holistic approach to weight loss, visit the Fit Chicks Fitness & Nutrition Expert Program, and the Natural Weight Loss Coach program. Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for outdoor fitness trips, recipes, and tips and tricks on everything Stand Up Paddle, & fitness. This Green Smoothie Breakfast Bowl is the perfect way to get your morning started! I love smoothies, but I also love to actually eat and chew my food in the morning - otherwise I often feel unsatisfied.
So I've topped this green smoothie with local North Van Cascadia gluten-free granola, almonds, banana, chia and hemp hearts - but feel free to mix it up. Smoothie Ingredients:
Blend together and enjoy! -Nikki To learn more about fitness, nutrition and a holistic approach to weight loss, visit the Fit Chicks Fitness & Nutrition Expert Program, and the Natural Weight Loss Coach program. Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for outdoor fitness trips, recipes, and tips and tricks on everything Stand Up Paddle, & fitness. These breakfast cookies are really easy to make: two main ingredients are oats and bananas, then toss in whatever else you fancy.
If you're hungry before a workout, these would also make great pre-workout snacks; carbohydrates for quick energy. You could also bring them along for long hikes, bike rides or on a ski day. Interestingly enough, the only time our bodies need fuel for energy to be used right away is during long duration exercise - as in long distance runs, bike rides, hikes, etc.. That's why triathletes, marathon runners, iron men, etc, will bring along quick release chews and other forms of carbohydrates to fuel the rest of their activity. Most of the time, during a one hour workout, our bodies are actually using stored fuel from previous meals - not fuel that we have just consumed 30-60 minutes prior. In any case, these are tasty, and can be healthy little treats depending on what you choose to add to them: Ingredients: 2 bananas 2 cups of oats 1 tsp vanilla Possible add ons: Trail mix Pumpkin seeds Sunflower seeds Dried cranberries, raisins or other dried fruit Slivered almonds Chocolate chips Unsweetened Coconut shreds Chia seeds Hemp seeds Cacao nibs Cocoa powder Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2. Mash bananas in bowl, add oats. Use blender to mix. 3. Add vanilla. Mix. 4. Toss in "add ons" of your choice. Mix with spoon. 5. Roll Into balls with your hands and place on cookie sheet. Gently press balls flat-ish. 6. Bake for 9-12 minutes. 7. Let cool on rack. Enjoy! - Nikki To learn more about fitness, nutrition and a holistic approach to weight loss, visit the Fit Chicks Fitness & Nutrition Expert Program, and the Natural Weight Loss Coach program. Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for outdoor fitness trips, recipes, and tips and tricks on everything Stand Up Paddle, & fitness. Quite simply, sweet potato toast is a breakfast miracle. No pre-cooking, just a tiny bit of slicing and toaster popping. Everyone can handle making this. I have been enjoying Sweet Potato Toast with my morning eggs and spinach 2-3 mornings a week, satisfying the "Complete in 3" rule that I follow for all my meals. My plate will always contain protein, fibre (the sweet potato) and healthy fats to keep me satisfied and balance my blood sugar levels throughout the morning. Literally, this is all you need to do to make sweet potato toast your morning miracle too: 1. Purchase sweet potato, preferably a smaller sized one. 2. Slice length-wise into long slices less than 1 cm thick. 3. Pop your slice of Sweet Potato in your toaster, and toast it three times. 4. Eat alongside eggs and spinach, or with avocado and cottage cheese, the possibilities are endless. Disclaimer: For step 3, depending on your toaster, you may have to toast it more than 3 times. However, if you find it is still not ready after 3 toasts, consider trying to slice each piece a little bit thinner. You're welcome. 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 The female body is amazing. Women's bodies undergo so many changes during pregnancy, and there is lots to learn about what to do, what to avoid and what to seek help for when it comes to exercise during pregnancy and easing back into fitness after the birth of a child.
While we know there are a number of absolute and relative contraindications to exercise during pregnancy, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada have stated in the guidelines for "Exercise in Pregnancy and the Post-Partum Period" that there is a risk inherent in not exercising during pregnancy. The guidelines read: "Women and their care providers should consider the risks of not participating in exercise activities during pregnancy, including loss of muscular and cardiovascular fitness, excessive maternal weight gain, higher risk of gestational diabetes or preg-nancy-induced hypertension, development of varicose veins and deep vein thrombosis, a higher incidence of physical complaints such as dyspnea or low back pain, and poor psychological adjustment to the physical changes of pregnancy." There are therefore a number of reasons why women should continue to exercise during pregnancy (as long as they exercise within these guidelines), have approval from their Health Care Provider and are not experiencing any absolute contraindications to exercise. ** After completing a Pre and Post-Natal Fitness Specialist Certification, I thought it might be useful to put together a list of a few readings and health resources for new Mums and Mums-to-be in North Vancouver. Recommended Readings during pregnancy: The Birth Partner, by Penny Simkin The Thinking Women's Guide to Better Birth, by Henci Goer Pregnancy, Child Birth and the Newborn, by Penny Simkin The Province of BC also publishes this free online book to prepare for pregnancy and child birth: Baby's Best Chance: Parent's Handbook of Pregnancy and Baby Care Health Care Providers specializing in pre and post-natal health care: Naturopath & Doula: Dr. Emily Habert Registered Massage Therapy: Ocean Wellness Shiatsu Massage: Soothing Hands Shiatsu Physio therapists: Jane Williams, 19th st Physiotherapy Clinic Cheryl Leia, pelvic health therapist Accupuncture: Natalie Yu Chiropractor: Bo Gregson, Lonsdale Wellness Clinic Pre & Post-Natal prep and support: Birth Preparation classes: Preparing for Parenting Prenatal Education Post Partum Support: Newborn Hotline 604-737-3737 Pacific Post Partum Society: 604-255-7999 (support for post-partum depression and anxiety) Pre and Post-Natal Fitness classes: Fit 4 Two North Shore Schedule Discounts for Moms on local businesses: Healthy Moms Vancouver Family Services Family Support Services referral line: 604-987-1411 (Confidential for North Shore families experiencing difficulties with marital breakdown, family conflict or otherstresses) Parent-Child Mother Goose Program Family Services of the North Shore BC Healthy Kids Program Social Networks on Facebook: North Shore Moms North Vancouver Hiking Moms Baby & Me Hiking North Vancouver Moms Shop & Swap Educational Strong Start for pre-school aged children North Vancouver City Library programs and events Play groups NVRC Early Years If you are interested in learning more about pre and post-natal fitness and personal training, please feel free to call, text or email me using the contact information in the footer below. If you are a new Mum with a pre-mobile baby, you can also come try my following Fit 4 Two classes: Mum and Baby Fitness West Van Rec Centre Monday from 11:30 am - 12:30 pm Mum and Baby Spin and Strength Delbrook Community Centre, North Vancouver Tuesdays from 1:15 pm - 2:15pm - Nikki
(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. Most people who know me well know that I have a propensity for narcolepsy. I love my beauty sleep and generally I fall asleep pretty easily...a little too easily sometimes. (There may or may not be a photo of me asleep on a fork while eating poutine late at night in my teenage years.) Somewhat sad, but true, and kind of hilarious. Nevertheless, it turns out that falling asleep while meditating is a common problem (not just mine). While one of the objectives of meditation is to calm and focus the mind, it is not to fall asleep. Meditation should happen when we are awake. Wendy from thecalmmonkey.com says that falling asleep in meditation can happen for a few reasons: being tired or actually resisting meditation (an unconscious psychological reaction). Here are four tips from Wendy on how to prevent falling asleep while meditating: 1) Try keeping your eyes very slightly open and keeping a soft gaze. 2) Sit tall, with a nice long neutral spine. 3) Use a guided meditation to stay focused (a recording). 4) Try moving meditations like a walking meditation, yoga or tai chi. Tips and tricks for other common meditation problems For many of us who have busy brains, meditation is a great too help calm the mind, especially before bed. By the same token, a busy mind can also keep us from focusing and experiencing good meditations. For those of us with a busy brain, she suggests beginning each meditation by imagining that there is an empty box next to you, placing all thoughts in the box next to you; ready for you when you finish your meditation practice. Similarly, thinking of thoughts that come through your mind as visitors, just noticing them, and then allowing the to leave, can be a useful tool a well. Noise can also be a hindrance to meditation. Wendy suggests using earplugs, which can allow you to experience a whole different meditation experience. If the noise is unavoidable or you don't want to wear earplugs, simply acknowledge it is there, and then let it go away. Lastly, feeling uncomfortable in a seated position can be a challenge to new meditation practitioners, but Wendy ensures us that it is ok to move and re-adjust while meditating. In the meantime, here is a great mantra for those of us with busy brains and busy bodies (myself included). It comes from a fellow yogi, who says you have to slow down to find that childlike joy in just being and playing: "Slow down, kids at play." -Nikki Meditation is one of those words that scares people a little. It evokes thoughts of chanting (heaven forbid) and conjures images of tree-hugging, crunchy-granola, hippy-dippy types sitting around cross-legged, swaying in the breeze (kind of like this picture, right?)! There is something about the idea, at least in the recent past, that somehow hasn't always jived with mainstream, western societies. But lately it is almost hard to pick up a newspaper and read a recent report without reading about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. I must admit, while my yoga practice is my own moving meditation, I don't carve time out of my day to purposefully meditate. So being the eternal student that I am, I decided to take a short course through UBC Health Promotion on learning to meditate. The course is taught by Wendy Quan at The Calm Monkey, a really inspiring woman who has now taught thousands of people to meditate over the last ten years. Her years of teaching and her own research have shown that meditation can increase "personal resiliency", which she describes as one's own ability to bounce back from difficult situations, and allow things to easily bounce off of oneself. Wendy's demeanour, needless to say, is calm, collected and soothing - I suppose only to be expected from a teacher of meditation. "When you are the most stressed out," she says, "that's when you should be meditating the most." Words from the wise. So for all of you type As out there whose brains are buzzing and you're thinking, "I don't have time to read about meditation," I know where you are coming from... because I am one of them. So I will cut to the chase. My homework for this class is to meditate for at least 5 minutes a day for the duration of this course over the next four weeks. Interested in joining me? Here is the quick and dirty of what I learned about meditation to get started:
And here is the very basic on how to meditate:
Lastly, here are some final meditation tips from Wendy:
Finally, here is an example of how NOT to meditate below. This was me, a couple of years ago, attempting a mystical meditation in Hawaii. Although the view is alright, my knees are above my hips, and my ankles are stacked. #meditationfail Now that you know what to do, keep calm and and meditate on. Namaste, - Nikki |
AuthorNikki Johnston Beaudoin is an outdoorsy Mountain Mermaid, and the Founder of Sea to Sky Fitness. Categories
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