The Energy Project and Take Back Your Lunch

Ever wonder what happened to the lunch hour? Where did it go? Are we actually more productive because we don't take time away from our desks and end up gobbling down food in front of our computer screen. Check this out!



People are more sleep deprived, stressed and exhausted now than a few decades ago. Our compulsive productivity oriented society isn't working for most people. Simple activities like going for a walk, sitting in a park or even reading a bit of a book you're loving will help reenergize you for the rest of your day. It will also make it easier to stay away from caffeine, sugar or other stimulants later in the afternoon.

Here s the book that inspired the Take Back your Lunch Movement.

"The Way We're Working Isn't Working" by Tony Schwartz, CEO of the Energy Project.



Here's a bit more about his book.

The defining ethic in the modern workplace is more, bigger, faster. More information than ever is available to us, and the speed of every transaction has increased exponentially, prompting a sense of permanent urgency and endless distraction. We have more customers and clients to please, more e-mails to answer, more phone calls to return, more tasks to juggle, more meetings to attend, more places to go, and more hours we feel we must work to avoid falling further behind.

The technologies that make instant communication possible anywhere, at any time, speed up decision making, create efficiencies, and fuel a truly global marketplace. But too much of a good thing eventually becomes a bad thing. Left unmanaged and unregulated, these same technologies have the potential to overwhelm us. The relentless urgency that characterizes most corporate cultures undermines creativity, quality, engagement, thoughtful deliberation, and, ultimately, performance.

No matter how much value we produce today—whether it’s measured in dollars or sales or goods or widgets—it’s never enough. We run faster, stretch out our arms further, and stay at work longer and later. We’re so busy trying to keep up that we stop noticing we’re in a Sisyphean race we can never win.

All this furious activity exacts a series of silent costs: less capacity for focused attention, less time for any given task, and less opportunity to think reflectively and long term. When we finally do get home at night, we have less energy for our families, less time to wind down and relax, and fewer hours to sleep. We return to work each morning feeling less rested, less than fully engaged, and less able to focus. It’s a vicious cycle that feeds on itself. Even for those who still manage to perform at high levels, there is a cost in overall satisfaction and fulfillment. The ethic of more, bigger, faster generates value that is narrow, shallow, and short term. More and more, paradoxically, leads to less and less.

Just a little food for thought. The world isn't going to suddenly change around us. We have to change ourselves to feel healthier, more engaged and more fulfilled. It could start with something as simple as stepping away from your desk to mindfully eat your lunch and give yourself a bit of downtime.

Jane

Dr. Gabor Mate: Interview on TVO regarding his book "When the Body Says No"

I'm absolutely fascinated with the mind body connection. I'm not just talking about it on a superficial level in terms of mind body fitness related activities. I'm talking about it on a fundamental health level. I see so many clients with random illness, especially cancer and autoimmune disease. I'm absolutely ecstatic that I get to hear Dr. Gabor Mate speak in October.

If you are someone who can't say no and is constantly feeling exhausted by all of your obligations, then you have to start looking at your health more seriously.

Watch this, please! I have personal experience with idiopathic illness that almost killed me. I have been committed to working with my clients in a more holistic way in large part due to my own experience.

The Cure for Chub Rub

Sometimes I take requests in class for exercises or body parts. Sometimes I entertain the requests if they aren't too kooky. Often, women ask for inner thigh exercises still hanging on to the lost cause of spot reduction. It seems people take issues with their thighs rubbing together. Certainly, endurance athletes who have to deal with inner thigh chafing have a legitimate complaint. Any chafing stings like hell in a post workout shower and can get infected due to moisture and constant irritation.

My most recent column at iVillage is all about inner thigh chafing AKA chub rub. Get your mind out of the gutter.
It might be impossible to stop our thighs from touching but there are some creative solutions out there to make it less annoying!

So go check out the article! There's also a picture and description of my favourite inner thigh exercise I like to call "Bladerunner".

Preaching a Healthy Diet in the Deep-Fried Delta

A client told me about this article in the New York Times. I had to share it with all of you. It is truly inspiring. I'm not a religious person and I don't go to church. I am a true believer in the fact that when our bodies are out of balance our mind and souls cannot shine the way they were intended to.

And after a trip to Ontario Place yesterday, I can see that the obesity crisis isn't going away. Although this article is about an area in Mississippi, Canadians should know that our obesity stats are getting closer and closer to those of the U.S.. People don't seem to be motivated by their doctors to make changes. But maybe we will be motivated and empowered by leaders in our communities to find the strength and accountability to change.

Mississippi finds itself on the wrong end of just about every list of health indicators. It is first among states in percentage of children who are obese, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. It is first in rates of heart disease, second in the number of adults with diabetes, second in adult obesity, near last in the percentage of adults who participate in physical activity, near last in fruit and vegetable consumption and dead last in life expectancy.

For over a decade from his pulpit here at Oak Hill Baptist in North Mississippi, the Rev. Michael O. Minor has waged war against obesity and bad health. In the Delta this may seem akin to waging war against humidity, but Mr. Minor has the air of the salesman he once was, and the animated persistence to match.

Read full article

Maybe when we used to live laborious lives, not desk bound car lifestyles, we could eat whatever we wanted. But this isn't the reality anymore. We just don't move as much as we used to but our appetites just haven't adjusted yet. And let's face it, everything has gotten bigger from coffee cups to salads. What is going to become of us as a population?

Who's the blame about childhood obesity?

Incredible. MacDonalds has added apples to their happy meals after pressure from consumers and regulators. But is this really a solution to childhood obesity? I have a magic word that comes in handy when my daughter asks for crap food. It's NO! It's not to say she doesn't get treats but it's all about limits right?

Childhood obesity is a complex issue. I agree. But have many parents lost the ability to say NO both to themselves and their kids when it comes to eating fast food regularly? As Michael Pollan says, "Eat food. Mostly vegetables. Not too much".

McDonald’s Corp. is adding apples to all its Happy Meals and launching a nutrition-focused mobile phone app as part of a broader health push.

The changes that underscore how the restaurant industry is reacting to the demands of customers and regulators who blame it for health ills ranging from childhood obesity to diabetes.


- McDonald’s pledged to reduce sugars, saturated fats and calories through “varied portion sizes, reformulations and innovations” by 2020. It didn’t give details. By 2015, it will reduce sodium by 15 per cent.

– McDonald’s will introduce a new mobile app focused just on nutrition information.

– McDonald’s U.S. president Jan Fields and other executives will go on a “listening tour” in August to hear suggestions from parents and nutrition experts. The chain will also launch a new online forum for parents.

taken from the Globe and Mail

It is true that food manufacturers develop the perfect blend of fat, sugar and salt to make food extremely pleasurable. It is also true that MacDonalds markets the shit out of their products to make them look like fun to kids. Hello? Ronald MacDonald. I just feel that our society could become way too paternalistic where we stop taking full responsibility for our choices and start blaming them on giant corporations. Is the corporation there each time we take our hand and put it to our mouths? There are so many systemic issues at play that contribute to the obesity crisis, way too many to try to talk about now. But change starts with the individual. I can't impact them in a big way but I can take responsibility for myself and my daughter.

In fact, many of my friends have poisoned their kids against MacDonalds by nick naming it "McDirtys". When their kids drive by a MacDonalds, they say "ooh McDirtys".

I have a hard time even thinking about putting their food in my mouth, not because I'd never indulge in fast food. Very occasionally, you can catch me eating fast food. I'm human, not a fitness robot. In desperation one morning last year I ordered an egg McMuffin, yes I did, and I took a bite and it was cold and moldy. I just can't go back. There's no freakin love or care in their food and people who work there are miserable most of the time, living below the poverty line.

When I told my daughter that MacDonalds was adding apples to their happy meals because many people feel that companies like MacDonalds are making children obese, she said, "Mommy. It's not MacDonalds. It's the parents."

Out of the mouth of babes.

Cirque inspired workout will have you flying!

My latest column at iVillage Canada is all about suspension training and the hottest tools out there that people are gravitating towards with links to find them.

I also designed a four exercise gymnastics rings circuit with information on where to buy them. So go check it out !

All I can say is that the gymnastics rings are one of the most efficient tools for core and upper body strengthening I've ever used.

If you want to come for a ring workout, just drop me a line at jane@urbanfitt.com to book your next class. Here's a link to our current class schedule. Your first sweat is on us!

7 Exercise strategies to battle premature aging

I WISH I could sit down with every trainer on the planet who still thinks that more exercise at a higher intensity is what it takes to get people fit and lean. It makes me crazy to think that fitness professionals are out there that don't think like health professionals looking at the big picture wellness of a client in order to prescribe individualized fitness for where people are at in their lives. In fact, are there still trainers out there that operate this way? Yikes.

It's all about getting the body back in balance. I feel like a broken record sometimes. But sometimes I experience small victories. Like today a dear friend and client emailed me to let me know she saw Dr. Penny Kendall-Reed, Naturopathic doctor, who I consulted for my most recent iVillage article "7 Exercise strategies to battle premature aging".

Week after week my dear friend would come in for an early morning workout after only sleeping 6 hours the night before having been unable to stay asleep due to stress. Eventually, she developed digestive disorders that her doctor investigated through imaging and then got referred to a nutritionist. The nutritionist got her on an elimination diet, didn't ask her about her work life balance issues and sent her on her way. In addition, she started having issues with historic injuries and they just wouldn't heal the way they had in the past. I pleaded with her. You are burnt out. Your body is saying no because you can't say no for yourself. You need to heal your body, get help learning to sleep again without the use of pharmaceuticals and learn how to set more realistic works goals for yourself. Also, I talked to her about how her cortisol and hormones were out of balance. Well she heard the same thing from Dr. Kendall-Reed today and slept for 9 hours straight for the first time in god knows how long.

So go check out my recent article on iVillage Canada. Find out what ya gotta do to slow down the rapid aging process many of us get caught up in our efforts to 'get ahead' in life.

Exercise can reduce symptoms of ADD/ADHD

Surprise surprise...the effect of exercise on symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder is being studied. It is believed that the way exercise changes brain chemistry will have a positive impact on people who suffer from ADD. What is exercise not good for treating?

Here is some great information to explain why. (taken from an interview with Dr. J Ratey from Mescape.com)

Attention-deficit disorder (ADD), also called attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is often surrounded by controversy over medication use and is perceived by many as a condition that is overtreated. John J. Ratey, MD, advocates that exercise should be included in the treatment regimen, and that exercise can even reduce or eliminate the need for medication. An Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Ratey is author of the book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, as well as several related books in the popular press. He also has consulted on clinical studies pertaining to exercise and psychiatric conditions.

Dr. Ratey: First, ADD affects at least 8%-10% of children, and almost as many adults. It's now considered a biological brain disorder and may have genetic components.

There are 2 basic ways of thinking about ADD in relation to exercise: One is about the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine, both believed to be drivers of the attention system. Exercise increases the concentration of both dopamine and norepinephrine, as well as other brain chemicals. I have always said that a dose of exercise is like taking a bit of methylphenidate (Ritalin®) or amphetamine/dextroamphetamine (Adderall®); it's similar to taking a stimulant.

Second, over time, exercise helps build up the machinery to increase the amount of neurotransmitters in the brain as well as their postsynaptic receptors. Chronic exercise eventually causes growth of the system. The more fit that you are, the better the system works.

This excerpt from Medscape led me to Dr. Ratey's website and more about his book "Spark".

SPARK is a groundbreaking exploration of the connection between exercise and the brain’s performance that shows how even moderate exercise will supercharge mental circuits to beat stress, sharpen thinking, enhance memory, and much more.

There's no need to convince me of the benefits of exercise for balancing brain chemistry. When our bodies are out of balance so will our minds be out of balance. Some people need high intensity exercise more than others to get to equilibrium yet some people need exercise the brings them down. Either way, I can't see going the pharmeutical route for treating issues with brain chemistry without prescribing exercise along with pills. Doctor's like John Ratey will hopefully lead this revolution in medicine.

Suzanne's protein smoothie recipe

All too often, my clients tell me that they just can't stomach breakfast, that they're too rushed to eat breakfast or that they don't like typical breakfast foods.

Thank goodness for the invention of the blender and, subsequently, the smoothie. In the summer, it's my go to running out the door breakfast and a solution for busy moms and non-breakfast people.

Breakfast is so important because:
1) People who don't eat breakfast are likely to be overweight.
2) Breakfast is often a cure to night time over eating because you top load your day with calories instead of feeling like you didn't get enough calories during the day
3) It kick starts your metabolism first thing in the morning

I could easily rattle off 30 more reasons to eat breakfast but instead I will share Suzanne's protein smoothie recipe for you. She's a breakfast convert like you will be very soon.

And guess what, peaches are freakin' awesome right now.

1 cup of 1 percent or skim milk
1 scoop of flavourless protein powder
1tbsp almond butter
2 ice cubes
Half a fresh, ripe peach
Half a cup of strawberries

Blend. Poor. Drink. Yum!

If you want to lose body fat and be healthier, there is no way around it. You need to have a balanced breakfast. End of story.

Share your favourite protein smoothie recipe below!

Be good,
Jane

How Chocolate Can Help Your Workout

Before you get too excited, the researchers found that only half a small square of dark chocolate improved exercise performance.


For those who worry that fitness requires nutritional denial, there is good news, with caveats. Auspicious new science suggests that chocolate can have a surprisingly large effect on the body’s response to exercise, although not in the ways that many of us might expect, and certainly not at the dosages most might hope for.

Taken from New York Times Well Blog

I wanted to report on this study for next week's iVillage Column but, alas, it has saturated both print and digital media. James Fell over at Chatelaine.com also beat me to it. Here's an excerpt from his article. Check out his post.

My advice is to completely ignore studies like this and focus more on common-sense eating. If you want to lose weight, you need to, of course, exercise frequently and at high intensities. That’s a no-brainer. Another no-brainer is realizing that junk food like chocolate really is junk food, regardless of quirky little studies like this, and that it needs to become a rare treat in order to keep your caloric intake down.

Well said James!

So what this means for people with impulse control issues? I agree with James. Ignore this finding entirely. Don't buy a giant dark chocolate bar and mindlessly eat half of it kidding yourself that you're doing something healthy for you. Then you might even find yourself at a dinner party spreading inaccurate information about the benefits of dark chocolate for exercise.

If you can stop at half a square then gobble this information up. But the researchers warn:

And even for those who adore dark chocolate, there is a catch. “A very small amount is probably enough,” Dr. Villarreal said. Extrapolating from his group’s mouse data, he said, five grams of dark chocolate daily, or just a sixth of an ounce — about half of one square of a typical chocolate bar — is probably a reasonable human dose if your aim is to intensify the effects of a workout.

Sadly, “more is not better,” he continued. “More could lessen or even undo” any benefits, he said, by overloading the muscles’ receptors or otherwise skewing the body’s response.

Personally, I don't need exercise enhancement as a reason to eat chocolate. But like anything, I just don't overdo it or kid myself that something unhealthy I'm doing is actually good for me. True life long change starts with being honest with ourselves.

The One Exercise You Need to Ramp Up Your Sex Life

I had fun writing my most recent column at iVillage Canada. I meet women who don't know how to find their pelvic floor muscles much less engage them and I want to help enlighten them as to the benefits of knowing their bodies intimately!

Last year I presented at a Divas in the City event at the Spoke Club and met Jessica O'Reilly, Sexologist, who delivered an awesome workshop on how to give (clearing my throat and blushing right now) hand jobs using carrots. Her workshop was engaging, fun and informative but it was clear that after spending an hour with her that her education and commitment makes her one of Canada's leading sex docs.

Jessica is a Toronto-based sexologist registered with the American College of Sexologists. She has completed her Ph.D. in human sexuality and holds degrees in education and sexual diversity studies from the University of Toronto. As an educator, she views sex education as a lifelong process that addresses cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects of sexuality. Her training includes courses in counselling skills, resolving sexual concerns, sex education, clinical sexology, sexual development, sex and disability, group therapy and erotology. Jessica loves her work and divides her time between public speaking engagements, freelance writing, program development, and consulting in the field of sexual health.



In my column, Dr. Jess explains the benefits of pelvic floor strength and gives how to tips. I also explain how to do my favourite pelvic floor exercise called the Leprechaun to tighten up those muscles. So go check it out now! Before you spend one more day not getting the most out of your sex life.

Over and out,
Jane

Super efficient 9 minute weekend workout

I found this sweet workout from Mike Chang at Six Pack Shortcuts you can do at home, all you need is a towel. Notice, there are no crunches in this workout!

Check it out for a little motivation wherever you may be.

This workout totally fits with my philosophy. It's efficient, full body, focused on core strength and will get your heart rate up to make you sweat. And it sure gets a lot done in 9 minutes flat.

Here's a phrase I came up with today...
"Sweat is sexy on sexy people" so get to it!

The Bar Method: a hot new ballet inspired workout

A couple people asked me what I thought of the new Bar method, a ballet workout with a bar. Bar Method franchises have been popping up all over the West Coast of the US and people are really digging it.

It is a new name for something that has been taught all over for quite some time, AKA ballet conditioning for regular people. In fact my friends, Sarah Robichaud and Victoria Fodor, started teaching ballet bootcamp over 10 years ago if not longer than that. Victoria has even subbed in for me at Urbanfitt many times and surprised the class with a ballet bootcamp class. There were many confirmed sore muscles the next day.

The New York Times fitness guinea pig, Karen Barrow, went and tried it out.



My review of the Bar Method? Whatever gets people moving on a regular basis and involves strength and resistance training while you sweat gets a thumbs up...especially when there's a focus on posture and alignment! The only thing I might be concerned about? Improving strength and fitness requires progressions (i.e. more weight, higher intensity, longer duration etc. etc.). Many group fitness programs don't ensure progressions. I wish I could go try a class for myself ;)