As mentioned in last week’s Wellness Wednesday email, I want to give a brief review of Kathy Freston’s book, “Quantum Wellness“. Kathy was recently a guest on Oprah and you can read Oprah’s blog about her experience with Kathy’s 21-day cleanse.

Kathy takes a mind-body-spirit approach to wellness, and discusses eight areas of practice that she describes as the Eight Pillars of Wellness. These pillars are as follows:

• meditation
• visualization
• fun activities
• conscious eating
• exercise
• self-work
• spiritual practice
• service

While all of these practices are critical in order to achieve quantum wellness, the two areas that probably relate most directly to what we do at Fitness Together are exercise and conscious eating.

With respect to exercise, Kathy recommends both cardiovascular exercise and strength training. She notes that when you lift weights a few times a week, it turns back your physiological age by about 12 years. In addition, as has been noted in previous emails, Kathy points out that strength training is very effective in preventing osteoporosis as well as increasing your metabolism. Kathy also quotes some research by Dr. Dean Ornish, who notes that, “Research is showing that exercise…may help you grow so many new brain cells that your brain actually gets bigger.”

Conscious eating refers to looking more closely at where your food comes from and how it got to your plate and choosing foods that support life – all life, not just your own. In addition, she recommends that we also offer a moment of gratitude before a meal.

I found this book to be one of the most thought provoking and influential books I have read in quite some time. To me, it is right up there with “The Food Revolution” by John Robbins, which completely changed the way I eat and the way I think about food.

The two aspects of Kathy’s book that I found most helpful are that

1. she takes a holistic approach to wellness and
2. she talks about leaning into wellness.

When she talks about exercise or food choices, she talks about how such choices can benefit your mind, body, and spirit. She also emphasizes that you do not need to make radical changes in your life to achieve quantum wellness. In her words, “Quantum wellness isn’t about deprivation and it’s not about perfection. It is about pointing yourself in the direction of growth, training yourself to get comfortable with your highest potential, and then taking small steps to support that shift. It’s about showing up for yourself, day by day, and then one day finding that you’ve undergone a transformation.”

That is also our ultimate goal at FT – to help you achieve your highest potential.

To your health and happiness.

P.S. As a special offer for the month of August, we are offering our clients a free copy of Quantum Wellness, or any one of the following books: The Food Revolution, The China Study, The New Rules of Lifting, or The New Rules of Lifting for Women. To receive your free book, simply provide us with the name and contact information of someone you think would benefit from our services and we will send your your book immediately.

Would you consider yourself a “healthy” individual? Over the years, my idea of what is meant by “healthy” has changed. For most of my life, I tended to just focus on the physical aspect of health, hence my lifelong passion for fitness. I rarely gave much thought about what I ate, or what impact my emotions or social interactions had on my health. It was not until I took a course at Montgomery County Community College a few years ago titled “Health and Wellness” that I realized there was a broader definition of health, referred to as wellness. (I also realized that I was lacking even in the one area I thought I was doing well in, the physical aspect, since I did not spend a lot of time thinking about my diet.)

I became quite interested in this holistic approach to health, and even got in touch with the Wellness Center at Villanova to have them come and speak to my classes about wellness. The students were somewhat surprised by my choice of guest speakers, since in the business school they were used to hearing the usual lineup of business executives talk about their experiences. The students seemed to enjoy listening to something a little bit out of the ordinary, and the chance to start thinking about their health at a relatively young age. One semester, in an attempt to merge wellness and business, I had two women from one of the Big 4 public accounting firms visit my class to speak about the wellness initiatives at their firm. The students seemed quite surprised at all the options the firm offered with respect to health and wellness.

Villanova uses an acronym of SPICES (Social, Physical, Intellectual, Career, Emotional, and Spiritual to define its dimensions of wellness, but I don’t want to give you the impression that I think the world revolves around ‘Nova, so here are a couple other college web sites devoted to wellness. Harvard has an approach that is quite similar to Nova, focusing on the Physical, Behavioral, Emotional, Spiritual, Social, and Intellectual aspects of health, targeted for both students and employees at the University. Their web site has some great resources. Stanford also has a great web site devoted to wellness, known as Wellsphere, where among other things, students can get fitness or nutrition tips, as well as motivational quotes. One more college site I would like to point out is University of North Dakota’s. One feature in particular I liked at this web site is that there is a Wellness Self Appraisal Survey you can take, and then compare your results to their recommendations.

Why am I talking so much about wellness? At FT, one of my goals is for our clients to view their health from a broader perspective than just exercise and nutrition. My hope is that your sessions at FT benefit you from a social and emotional dimension as well, and perhaps even intellectually, since more and more research is showing the benefits of physical activity for the brain. If you have never been to our studio’s web site, you may enjoy reading about our team’s backgrounds and approach to fitness. We all want you to experience health to its fullest! (note: the trainer web page may be under construction at the time of your visit, please try later in the day if necessary.)

I plan to use next week’s Wellness Wednesday email to review the book “Quantum Wellness“, which was mentioned in a previous email. All I will say now is that I HIGHLY recommend the book; I look forward to sharing my opinion of the book with you next week.

If you’re one of millions of Americans trying to lose weight, you probably wish you had a more effective diet than the one you’re on now. And if you’re wondering whether Dean Ornish’s low-fat diet will help you shed pounds better than Dr. Atkins’ low-carb menu, the answer is simple: it doesn’t matter. Scientists know that on a molecular level, different types of starch and different types of fat have varying effects when they hit the body. But in terms of weight loss, low-fat diets and low-carb diets overall are equally effective (and, most of the time, neither will help you keep the weight off long-term), says Walter Willett, chair of the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. Click here to read why.

Willett concludes that just focusing on fats versus carbohydrates misses where all of the action is; it is the QUALITY of your diet that matters, not just for weight loss, but for disease prevention as well.

If you are committed to starting and/or maintaining a high quality diet, a great tool to assist you in that commitment is a food diary. The benefits of using such a journal were discussed in last week’s email, and if you missed the email, here is the link to the report cited in that email. Sharing your diary with someone, such as your personal trainer, makes it even more effective because it is a way of holding yourself accountable to your health and fitness goals.

A high quality diet (e.g., more fruits and vegetables) is the foundation of health and wellness, and when it is partnered with an effective exercise program, can produce dramatic and life changing results. Feel free to contact us at Fitness Together to see how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals.

To your health and happiness.

I hope you had a Happy 4th of July and that this newsletter finds you well.

I heard on the news last week that the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst June performance since 1930, and that the first six months of 2008 were the worst first six months of the year for the Dow since 1970. I also heard that people cut back on their holiday travel plans because of the high price of gas.

I could go on and on about the current state of our economy, but who wants to be constantly bombarded with such information, particularly when there is little we can do to influence such news? It is much more useful to focus on things we can control, such as our health and our relationships, that will make us happier. A study was just released yesterday that ranked Denmark as the happiest country in the world. Denmark has consistently been ranked as one of the happiest places on earth, and to read more about life in Denmark, take a look at this ABC News story from last year.

Happiness was also in the news a couple of weeks ago, with the release of a study looking at the links between money and happiness. The study concluded that while income did contribute to happiness up to a point, the quality of family relationships was much more important.

I hope you get the chance to spend time this summer with family and friends, since that will likely make it a happy and fulfilling summer.

One Year Anniversary Fast Approaching!

July 30 will be our 1-year anniversary, and I want to take the time to thank all of the clients who have helped us to reach this milestone. I can still remember pacing around the outside of the building while Chris was talking to our first potential client. To my great relief, she invested in one of our training packages, and we were off and running.

While it is still a thrill to get a new client, our real satisfaction comes when a client renews. To us, that is a sign that we are surpassing our clients’ expectations, and they are seeing the value in their personal training services. Our current renewal rate is over 80%, but we would like to see that even higher. Another positive sign is when a client refers us to a friend or relative. The number of such referrals is starting to grow, and we certainly appreciate it when you recommend us to your friends and family!

As most of you know, this is my first business venture, and I have been thrilled with how the first year has gone. It has been a tremendous learning experience, but I realize there is still a great deal more to learn. I appreciated your patience as we went through our growing pains, as well as your willingness to share your suggestions and feedback. I have set some ambitious goals for the second year, and with the help of the great team we have in place, I am confident those goals can be accomplished. I also look forward to seeing each of our clients achieve their unique set of goals, so please continue to let us know how we can best accomplish that objective.

Post Workout Recovery: Act Fast

from the Training Room at Yahoo! Health

When you work out, especially if it is intense, you need to plan time for your body to recover and replenish itself. Exercise is a powerful stimulus that is transformational in terms of what it can do to your body, both inside and out.

The key is to apply that stimulus, and then allow for adequate recovery. It is during the recovery phase that gains are actually made. Is your recovery plan optimal? There are many ways to enhance recovery in the minutes, hours and days after a workout, but one often missed window of opportunity occurs immediately after your workout. There is a 15-30 minute “golden period” in which some simple nutritional interventions can make all the difference.

During exercise, your muscles rely on glycogen that is stored in the muscle tissue and cells. Ideally, your muscles would have been well stocked with glycogen from a high quality complex carbohydrate meal either the evening before exercise, or at least two to three hours before your exercise routine.

Once you start your intense workout, your muscles’ glycogen gas tank begins to empty. Immediately following exercise, when the gauge is on E, it is ideal and much more efficient to restock those muscles. The perfect post-workout food or drink…

To continue reading the article, click here.

The Training Room blog is written by Havertown’s own Dr. Nick DiNubile, an orthopoedic surgeon and Orthopedic Consultant to the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team and the Pennsylvania Ballet. He is also the author of Framework, a great book I have mentioned in previous newsletters.

Green Smoothies

Many of you have been curious about the smoothies you often see me drinking at the studio. The type of smoothie I usually drink is often referred to as a green smoothie, since it not only includes a significant amount of fruit, but some leafy greens as well.

Here is the recipe I currently use to make my green smoothie:

3 cups of water
6 bananas
8 large frozen strawberries
half to full cup of frozen blueberries
1 or 2 hearts of romaine lettuce
large handful of baby spinach

I put all this in a Vitamix blender (which I cannot imagine living without) and a few seconds later, I’ve got about a 60-64 ounce smoothie, which tastes just great. This smoothie has about 700 calories, with the breakdown about 90% carbs, 5% fats, 5% protein. Many of you often ask where I get my protein; this contains about 10 grams of high quality plant protein, as well as 25 grams of fiber. These numbers all come from Nutridiary, a great free web site for tracking your caloric intake.

You can read more about green smoothies at Green for Life.