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| From Karen |
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May's Fresh Start
"April showers bring May flowers"....
Ah yes, it's been a wet one here on the West Coast, but we're leaving the storms behind and heading into the last frontier before summer hits - May.
I love May. It always reminds me of fresh starts: the air shifts, the sun is higher, everyone is planning their summer holidays. It truly feels like a fresh start to the year. But for most of us, the year unfolds like any other year, and before you know it, the years move by fast, one after another, until we wonder where our lives went.
It's so easy to keep doing what you're doing, and it's hard to initiate change, but as we grow and mature, we're supposed to change. Instead, we get into well-worn ruts of life, and we move through life unconsciously because, well, it's habit, and it's easier.
Rules, structure, traditions keep us on the straight and narrow, forever moving forward, paying our bills, keeping up with family expectations, towing the line. How's it working for you so far? Yes, your life is predictable, scheduled, safe. But where is your WOW factor? Do you thirst for more?
So let's consciously find a new way, and get out of our well-worn ruts. What new habit / perspective / thing do you want in your life? Perhaps you want to start that little business of yours you've always dreamed of? Or you want to take that European vacation? Or perhaps you want more internal rewards, like choosing to be more authentic in your relationships, to voice your true needs, or to follow a dream.
Create something fresh this month. It's your life for the taking. Enjoy!
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| tips & tidbits - protein shakes |
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If you're serious about gaining lean, shapely muscle, you should consider adding a protein powder to your daily meals.
I've never viewed protein powder as a supplement...in fact, for me, it's been an integral part of my training and I consider it a meal. I do at least 2 shakes a day, breakfast and a post workout shake with all my 5 training supplements blended in.
Here's my pointers in the protein department:
- Ensure it's whey isolate...it's been shown time and time again to be the best type of protein to build muscle and to help with fat loss.
- Read your labels: if you can't pronounce some of the ingredients, it's likely artificials and chemicals. Don't hurt your health in this way!
- Don't buy based on price! You work so hard to maintain a strong body, why would you purchase the cheapest protein around? You want to ensure you get at least 25 grams, and if it takes you 2 scoops (as opposed to one scoop) to get it, you'll have to double up, so it costs you more in the long run. You ideally want to be able to have 22-23 grams of protein for every 25 gram scoop - now that's a high protein profile!
- Remember that if you aren't training today, you must still eat your protein shakes, because you are repairing your muscles from yesterday's workout (and the day before!).
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| spiritual Matters - Live by example |
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When we first embark on a new lifestyle, we get so excited by all the positive changes that we want to tell everyone else around us to do what we do!
Don't do it. Mind your own business.
No one likes to be told that their lifestyle isn't up to snuff, and when you try to 'tell' others, that's all they hear. Yes I know you want them to be healthy and you worry about them, but your job is to do your best job and live your best life, not live other people's lives for them.
I can guarantee you that your spouse, son, daughter, mother, father.... they all know what they should be doing, and if they're not doing it, well, then let it go. Besides, don't you have enough to do trying to live your own life and to be healthy and happy?
The best service you can be to anyone is to model a healthy, whole functioning life, and to be a model to others. I can guarantee you that without saying a word, others will be drawn to you and ask you what it is that you're doing to look / feel so great.
Don't preach, cajole, chide, or lecture. Just lead by example.
And if they follow you, then it's your gift to them. If they don't, well, that's their choice too.
I believe in freedom of choice, even if that choice is not something you agree with. No one can gain confidence and strength, or learn their own individual lessons if they're not allowed to choose--and to even fail--by their own hand.
Allow them to be who they are... and support them unconditionally. When they are free of conditions, controls and your 'soft suggestions' for living life, they are free to move about and find their own way. And that's being a truly loving, supportive and unconditional person.
Love and work on yourself, and others will naturally gravitate toward you and want what you have. That's living by example.
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| She's doing it! |
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I love creating on-line training and nutrition programs, mainly becaue I love the diversity of people who use them, and from where! Take Cindy Hogg for example...
I first met Cindy at the Sidney Health Show last year, and her and her husband were embarking on a world trip, and she was asking about training on the road. I explained my program, she took the info, and I didn't hear from her again.
Then last month, she joined my Best Shape Challenge. Her reasons: "I have so far traveled to Europe, Africa, Middle East and China for 14 months of the past 19 months! I saw the Challenge and said, why not? It would be a test to see how it works on the road...I want to enjoy being where I want to be WITHOUT compromising my work-out routine and health."
Cindy adds that the foods are very different (and yummy!), and the gyms are a challenge, but she's determined to make it work!
Many thanks Cindy and enjoy the rest of your tour...we're all watching you!
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When it comes to helping people trim the fat, at some point, we've got to be brutally honest with them.
I had one lady email me on behalf of her overweight sister whom she insisted was doing everything right, but the weight just wasn't coming off.
She was over 200 pounds.
I politely said that it would be better to remind this woman that she indeed knew exactly what she was doing wrong. See, we often don't want to admit our behind-the-scenes habits that keep us stuck because we're, well, stuck and we don't know how to get unstuck. What this woman needed was some tough love, and to get her to 'name' her dysfunction. Only then, when she's brutally honest with herself can she make real changes.
It's tough to be honest with ourselves, and we all fall into victimhood at some point or another. But when we play victim to life, we are rendered powerless. The blame game may keep us safe for awhile, but it won't steer us toward a fully functioning and happy life.
If you have a loved one struggling, support them as much as you can while gently reminding them that they do have all the answers to their dilemma inside them. And let them know you believe in them and that you'll be there to help them anyway you can.
This is their journey. Your role is to listen with empathy, then support them along the sometimes bumpy path toward creating their own happy, healthy and conscious life.
PS Healthy Living Program Members -Your MAY Workout is Here! We've only got a few weeks left until summer's heat hits, so we're going to continue to hit those glutes and legs hard! Shapely, tight, defined....oh yeah! Check your EMAIL!
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| RECIPE: Karen's Omega 3 Dressing |
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Most commercial dressings are loaded with trans fats, sugars and chemicals, and they're void of any healthy omega fats (olive oil has little omega 3's). Try my famous Omega 3 dressing on your next salad!
 Ingredients
3 ounces flax seed oil
1-2 ounces balsamic vinegar
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tbsp parmesan
1 tbsp dijon mustard
Blend and pour over any salad. You can make it spicier and more tart by changing the amouns of dijon and balsamic. Remember, the calorie count is the same as any dressing...approximately 120 calories per tablespoon.
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| Book corner |
| - by Rick Smith, Bruce Lourie and Sarah Dopp |
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Funny, thought-provoking, and disturbing, this book reveals that just the living of daily life creates a chemical soup inside each of us. Pollution is no longer just about belching smokestacks and ugly sewer pipes - now, it''s personal.
The most dangerous pollution has always come from common items in our homes and workplaces. Smith and Lourie ingested and inhaled a host of things that surround all of us all the time. This book exposes the extent to which we are poisoned every day of our lives.
For this book, over the period of a week - the kind of week we all have - the authors use their own bodies as the reference point: eating, drinking, bathing and measuring the levels of toxins in their own blood and urine daily...and many of these products you'll recognize as your own!
Ultimately hopeful, the book empowers readers with some simple ideas for protecting themselves and their families, and changing things for the better!
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What's Coming up! |
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I love a good show! And this month a bunch of us are heading to the BC Bodybuilding and Figure Show in Vancouver at the end of this month.
Whether you want to compete or not, you gotta appreciate hard-working women in top shape! And these shows fuel my workouts and inspire me to train even harder!
PS - My first-ever Advanced Training and Nutrition Workshop that I presented with Canadian Figure Champ Bonnie McKechnie was loads of fun! Thanks for your enthusiasm ladies! You rock! And you look great!
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