Workout of the Week

Last week during my boot camp class, I decided to give my friend Dave a tough workout, as he's always up for the challenge.  He has the strength to do quite heavy weight-bearing exercises, but, like many guys I know, he lacks endurance to go along with it.  So, I was quite pleased that he felt it for a few days afterwards!

Here is the workout.  We did the first circuit twice and followed it by the abs challenge at the end. 

For 12 minutes, without taking a break, perform this circuit as many times as possible:

• 15 pushups
• 20 goblet squats (with 15-20 lbs)
• 50 skip rope (or jumps)
• 10 sumo squat jumps

Once the 12 minutes is up, break for 2 minutes.  Repeat as many times as you'd like.

For the Abs Challenge, we performed the following:

• 60 second plank
• 25 Russian Twists, no weights, feet on the floor
• 25 Russian Twists, no weights, shins parallel to the floor
• 25 knee tucks (keeping feet and shoulders off the floor)
• 25 slow bicycles
• 25 leg lifts (shoulders up off the floor to make it harder, keeping legs straight)
• 25 crunches
• 60 second plank

Remember to warm up first with a light jog, half squats, arm circles, hamstring curls, lunges, side shuffles, and high knees.

Cool down with a slow walk for 2-3 minutes, before stretching for the final 10.

Good luck!  It was definitely a good workout!  

Clean and Green Cosmetics

It's been stated time and again - if we spend the effort looking for organic food choices, those without pesticides and herbicides and other nasty chemicals, why do we negate to look, also, for health and beauty products that are also free from unnatural and unhealthy ingredients?  Everything we put on our skin is absorbed and, thus, most of those artificial preservatives and perfumes are taken into the body, circulated throughout the bloodstream, and take up residence in various organs.  Unfortunately, I feel like I have used these products for too long to reverse any damage already done (and I just hope that nothing devastating has occurred), but that doesn't mean I can't start trying to live even healthier, right?

On the search for 'natural' and 'clean' cosmetics, I came across a wonderful project entitled the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.  Search for your favorite product, and the results will outline the overall risk of the chemicals used, as well as break down each ingredient into whether it is a carcinogen, allergen, toxic to the body's systems, or other risks.  It's quite surprising that products marketed as 'natural' still have so many awful attributes!  After searching the database for the products I commonly use, I decided I needed to make some healthier choices.  

Because breast cancer is a big concern for me for many reasons - I have never been pregnant, obviously never breastfed, and took birth control pills for far too long, along with the fact that I know nothing about my family medical history - I chose to focus on eliminating chemicals thought to cause this awful disease first.  An article on one of my favorite wellness sites lists BPA, phthalates and parabens as the top contributors to this illness. 

My 'beauty regime' consists of a number of products that I use each day, as I suspect most women's routines follow as well (though many, I'm sure, use more than me, as I'm pretty lazy when it comes to becoming presentable).  As I run through the list in my head, I realize that it is going to take some effort to find adequate replacements for everything!  

I began my search by looking for reputable recommendations for overall natural beauty product brands.  The brands I discovered fall into both the "skin and hair care" and "makeup" categories.  These include:

• Organix (OGX) - be mindful when reading ingredients as not every product is safe
• Live Clean Professional - very clean products - paraben, phthalate free in most cases, and reasonably priced
• Weleda
• Living Proof - Jennifer Aniston-approved!  (I thought that was funny.)
• Tata Harper
• Green Beaver
• Consonant
• Lafes 
• Kiss My Face
• Dead Sea Cosmetics - from Israel and tough to find in general stores
• Avalon Organics
• Physicians Formula
• Burt's Bees
• JASON Organics - again, not everything is chemical free
• Alba Botanica - expensive, but appears to meet the criteria I am looking for
• Bare Essensuals
• Origins

Now, I am quite frugal and want to finish up the last of the products I have open already, but I have already switched from Dove deodorant to a stick by Lafes.  For the past three weeks, this product has worked very well and, as a bonus, it doesn't leave white stains on all my clothes!  It is aluminum, propylene glycol, and paraben free, though it did cost me over $8.00 at Mrs. Greens here in Calgary.  

An issue that I do worry about when switching from my Body Shop brand body butters is dry skin.  I suffer from this 12 months a year in Calgary, and was so impressed with how well these body butters help with itchy, flaky skin I experience.  However, their products do not seem to be paraben free (I am still researching this, though), so I will have to find another option.  

When I received this month's issue of Clean Eating magazine, I noticed a new column that strives to promote healthy beauty from the outside.  Included in this article is a recipe for homemade, all-natural deodorant (that I do plan to try), which gave me the idea to look for all-natural, homemade body butters.  Surprisingly, I came across a number of sites for this, and am looking forward to making both the Key Lime Coconut Oil Body Butter and the Bronzing Whipped Body Butter.  (I will share my experience with all three of these recipes as soon as I find the time to make them!)

Initially I was very frustrated that every single product I use could be leading me down the road to breast (and other) cancer, but after a few hours of research and review of products, I am more confident that I can live healthier and nourish my both both inside and out with all-natural products.  I realize that I will need to start spending more money than normal on these products (unless I am able to find successful homemade products), but I suppose that is the current state of affairs for wellness.  As one author stated, we just need to convince more people to purchase these products so that increases in demand begin to decrease the prices, just like it has for non-healthy, preservative-filled products.  If you can beautify yourself by purchasing local (or at least Canadian) brands, even better!

Ionic Foot Bath Experiences

For almost 2 years now, I have been suffering from fairly bad acne that just does not want to disappear.  My naturopathic doctor and I have been working on this for over 12 months, using moon phases and seed therapies, along with focus on both liver and adrenals.  While these remedies work most of the time to keep the acne at bay, there are times when it flares up, especially when my immune system is compromised by another illness.  

Last summer, I bought a coupon for wellness services at Spice Wellness here in Calgary, mainly because one service was the ionic foot bath.  I had heard stories about how effective this process was at removing toxins from the body and just wanted to try it out for myself.  

An ionic foot bath, or detox, is a painless, relaxing treatment that uses salt water and electrodes to draw toxins from the body's various organs.  Though not backed up by scientific research, this process has been used for generations as a way to heal the body and maintain overall health, especially in the Asian circles.  As you sit through the 30 minute session, the water that your feet sit in changes colors - it initially turns are deep yellow, followed by various stages of orange, and sometimes even green/black.  Each color means a different area of your body is getting cleansed:

Yellow - Kidneys/Bladder

Orange - Joints

Brown/Black - Liver

Green - Gallbladder

There are a few other signs of detoxification that you may see, including black flecks (indicating heavy metals), white foam (lymphatic mucous), and red spots (blood clots).  Needless to say, once the session is over, the water is absolutely disgusting!!  

Back to my Spice Wellness experience:  The coupon also included Full Body Vibration sessions for 4 weeks, which I attended as regularly as I could with my busy schedule.  Between these sessions and the foot baths (I had two), my skin cleared up dramatically and even had a healthy glow with minimal markings!  My ND attributed this change to both the foot baths and the vibrations, proving to me that a healthy immune system is critical to managing this problem.  The vibrations helped stimulate the movement of lymphatic fluid throughout my body, allowing it to more easily eliminate wastes and toxins that build up there.  The foot baths pulled additional toxins out, further helping clear up my skin.

Now, a year later, as I fight my way through to the end of a summer cold (the worst!), my skin is bad again and I know I have a ton of toxins and lymph fluid that needs to be moved out of me.  Last week, I had a scheduled foot bath appointment on Day 2 of this nasty cold, purely by coincidence.  Going into the session, I felt horrible and just wanted to go home - my nose would not stop running, my sinuses were so plugged that my eyes were constantly watering, and my head hurt.  But, I figured I could sit in a chair for 30 minutes, despite how awful I felt.  

20 minutes into the foot bath, my water was a dark orange color, but absolutely filled with white foam!  It was the worst I had ever seen it, and typically I have a lot of white foam.  My boyfriend, conversely, had dark brown water and no foam, which I expected from someone who drinks a lot of diet coke and eats McDonald's almost every day (liver cleanse!).  

And, then, almost instantly, as soon as the foot bath was over, I felt so much better.  My nose had stopped running, my head hurt only slightly and my sinuses felt as though they'd opened up.  For the remainder of the evening and into the next day, I still felt exhausted from fighting this cold, but the congestion had cleared up dramatically.  Feeling less congested helped me sleep better, which incidentally sped up my recovery.  Whether this is coincidence or not, I have to attest that I felt so much healthier after my foot detox, as I do after each and every one.  It may be a farce, but I think there is benefit to taking part in a session every once in awhile.  

Ironically, my holistic nutrition school researchers did a study on ionic foot baths and found that no actual detoxification occurs during a session.  They determined that the water changed color because of rusting and heavy metal interactions between the water and electrodes.  Water composition tested both before and after a session showed no signs of a change.   

Whether you believe in ionic detoxification or not, it has helped me both with my ongoing acne battle and to reduce the length and severity of a head cold. 

August Self-Care Challenge

Source:  www.freedigitalphotos.net/

I'm not sure how I began receiving daily emails from this health and wellness website called Greatist, but I am impressed by the relevant and knowledgeable content that I find.  Teaching my bi-weekly boot camp classes is something I really enjoy, but I do find that I need to switch things up quite often, so some of the exercises this site has discussed are great additions to my inventory.  I especially love finding new ways to use my TRX and resistance bands!

This site is fairly new to me, so this may be old news to many people, but I realized yesterday that Greatist sets up a monthly challenge to help people push themselves to look, and feel better about themselves.  I'm disappointed that I missed out on last month's challenge - working up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds in a wall sit - but I am happy that I caught onto this exercise just as August's challenge was released!

So, for August, they have changed from a fitness focus to a more wellness-based approach, and offered up a "Self-Care Challenge".  Something I often read about, and make a mental note to do more, is to take time for myself to relax and rejuvenate.  As an introvert, having time to myself that is quiet and free from distractions is very important to my mental health and overall psychological well-being.  However, I keep stuffing more and more into my already too-tight schedule, and find that I have very little time left over to treat myself right.  What little extra time I do have, I feel I need to dedicate to sleep!

Today I was challenged to write down 5 things I am happy about right now.  In the art of sharing, my 5 are:

1.  I have an awesome boyfriend who loves me and makes me laugh often.
2.  My "Kitten" is alive and healthy and I have kept her this way for 17 years.
3.  I am healthy and able to do almost anything I want to do to keep myself happy.
4.  I am finally able to concentrate at work because it's quiet in the office today.
5.  The weather is hot and the sun is shining and I am able to fully enjoy and relish in the outdoors

I hope, as time goes by, I am able to look within more for future reasons to be happy, but right now, these things are what makes me happy and I think say a lot about who I am.  If anyone else is doing this self-care challenge, good luck to you!

Fruit/Vegetable Cleanse

Detoxification is an important healthy habit that everyone should aspire to, even if it is just on a small level.  Meat, dairy, refined foods, alcohol and sugar all contribute to toxic buildup in our bodies; over time, especially without adequate healthy food consumption, these toxins can lead to such diseases as Alzheimer's, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.  Our bodies do need some of the nutrients that dairy and meat offer, but it is really the 'junk' food that's so readily available, full of chemicals, and provides absolutely zero nutrition that is contributing to North America's rise in cancer and CVD rates.  

I have consciously changed the way I eat of the past six years, from a diet high in refined, prepackaged foods, to one that is primarily based upon fresh produce, dairy and lean meats.  Recently, I have tried to take this healthful eating approach one step further by drastically reducing my meat intake, implementing 'meatless' days 1-2 days each week, and subscribing to purchase only organic produce, especially those known as 'dirty' products.  

For a great list of the "Dirty Dozen" most recently published, check out this printable poster.  


Now, as I read more about holistic nutrition and wellness, I am beginning to understand more about how the body processes foods and the benefits that detoxification can bring.  My life is pretty hectic and busy, and I am always hungry, so I don't think I am prepared to handle a full 24 hour water-only fast.  Instead, my goal is to eat only fruits and vegetables for one day each week (preferably on those days I do not work out, as I find my hunger excessive after a good run or boot camp class).  

According to an article by Dr. Lisa Young, there are many health benefits to including more fruits and vegetables in your diet.  And, because fruits and vegetables are easily digested, offer many of the essential macro- and micro-nutrients we require, and are known as 'cleansing' foods, opting to eat only these foods for one 24 hour period each week should prove healthful and enlightening.  

Today is my first day attempting to try this diet and I am curious to find out how I feel by tomorrow morning.  Breakfast consisted of applesauce, cherries and an apricot, and almost 2 hours later, I am starting to feel a tad bit hungry, but honestly, no worse than normal.  The hardest part for me is not having coffee, though; I have had some green tea, cheating a little bit.  Overall, at 9:30am, I feel pretty good considering I'm running on little sleep after a wonderfully late night watching Wicked!

Hmmm, but by 10:00am, my stomach was rumbling like crazy!  Good thing I planned my meals today so that I could have a snack around this time.  Thank goodness for Jugo Juice, with their decent selection of fruit and vegetable smoothies that do not contain any yogurt or sorbets (or other fillers).  An Abundant Acai was an excellent morning snack choice!

Finding an easy lunch that fit the bill and wasn't just cut up raw vegetables proved difficult.  I thought soup would be a great idea, and went searching through the grocery stores for a suitable one.  In all my searches, I found one, Amy's Split Pea soup, that did not contain dairy, nuts, or other ingredients not technically allowed on 'fruit/vegetable diet day'. I was surprised at how many vegetable soups contain dairy (usually some cream variant) or pasta (always refined)!  Luckily, the split pea soup was quite enjoyable.  Of course, my lunch also consisted of a sandwich bag full of baby carrots, cherry tomatoes and red pepper slices, so I couldn't get completely away from the raw vegetables!  Currently, I am feeling full after this meal, but I don't imagine it will last long.  (I entered my food intake into my MyFitnessPal app to see how I am doing with caloric intake, and I'm quite low - no wonder I'm starving!)

An hour after finishing my lunch, I was feeling very hungry again.  My afternoon snack consisted of a cup of strawberries, an apple, and another apricot.  Thinking this should tide me over until I get home from work, I opted not to bother with the planned Jugo Juice for today.  However, by 2:30 pm, I am starving once again!  After a quick walk through the +15 (without my wallet), I decided my stomach's growling could go on no longer...an orange juice was definitely needed!

At this point, my willpower is dropping dramatically and I am starting to crave foods I never want - donuts, cookies, steak...I found a scrumptious-sounding avocado pasta recipe earlier that meets the criteria of this cleanse as long as I swap the pasta for spaghetti squash.  At least I have a (hopefully) yummy dinner to look forward to when I get home!  Lack of sleep is catching up to me as well.  I am very much looking forward to tomorrow morning's breakfast!

By 5:00pm I was starving again!  Hastily, I made a meal of spaghetti squash with a blended mixture of half a tomato, lemon juice, half an avocado, and spices, and added chopped carrots and red pepper to it.  This was all surprisingly tasty, though I wished I had cooked the pepper a bit.  Initially I felt full enough that I thought I could sustain the evening without more food.  But, around 6:30 I was hungry again.  A glass of orange juice didn't help much and alas, I gave in and had two pieces of toast (with an all natural, all berry spread, so at least that was okay).  

All in all, I probably could do this cleanse again, but should aim for 2 days in a row.  I felt fine, aside from the constant hunger, and found myself in the washroom a lot more than normal.  Psychologically, I know that eating simply fruits and vegetables is going to help cleanse my GI tract and make me feel better, but I crave protein and whole grains after a few hours.