You Don't Have to be Fat to be Funny or Skinny to be Successful - An Interview with Naomi Snieckus

I had the pleasure of connecting with Naomi to talk to her about making peace with our body types. She's a truly confident grounded woman and I thought it would be important to share her wisdom and experience with health and fitness with other women.

Naomi Snieckus is an award-winning actress, improviser, and veritable impresario. She is the co-founder and member of The National Theatre of the World, three time Canadian Comedy Award winner for Best Improv Troupe, who will be performing their annual Impromptu Splendor: A Very Mamet-y Xmas Show with guest-star Ron James at Theatre Passe Muraille on December 11th. Naomi can also be seen in the upcoming new CBC sitcom Mr. D (premiering in January) and in a Martin Short comedy special also on the CBC in February. She is also the creator and co-producer of online series The Casting Room. For more info visit National Theatre of the World

Here's a teaser from our interview.

As a performer do you feel more pressure to look a certain way?
If I wasn’t a performer I’d still want to be healthy and fit so I don’t know if I put more pressure on myself.

I want to grow up and be one of those 60 or 70 year-old ladies where people say “she’s so flexible and so fit”. I don’t want to be the lady that is 70 and look like she’s 100. But the industry of TV and film caters to skinnier and slender ladies but I also just bring what I bring. I’ve never been one of those 6-foot tall models. I quickly realized who I am physically and I’m ok with that.

How would you describe your body type?
I’m Lithuanian so I’ve got muscles. I’m strong like bull. Comes in handy when things need to be lifted. Ya. That’s my body type. Lithuanian.

...Read the full article here!

Can you vibrate your way to better bone density?

There's been much debate about the benefits of vibration plate machines for bone density. For me, anything that doesn't require a little sweat and hard work seems too good to be true. I see many women with osteoporosis or osteopenia so I stay on top of research. Yes, there's been some studies to say that vibration machines will improve bone density but I was always skeptical.

The Globe and Mail reported on this most recent study that I'm vibing well with. ;)

But now a new Canadian study, published this week in Annals of Internal Medicine, has cast doubt over the burgeoning field of whole-body vibration. A trial of 202 postmenopausal women failed to show the device could build bone density. Some of the women were asked to stand on the platform for 20 minutes daily at home for 12 months. Other participants served as a control group. Bone density tests were taken at the beginning and end of the trial.

“To our disappointment, we did not find an effect from vibration therapy in these post-menopausal women,” said the senior researcher Angela Cheung, director of the osteoporosis program at the University Health Network in Toronto.

So there ya go. But you have to ask yourself, if you're looking for something that passively improves your health, then maybe you're just passive about your health in general.

Jane

Pema Chodron's 100,000 Aspirations Goal

Check out Pema Chodron's site.

She's putting a call out for aspirations! Log yours to help raise group consciousness and send positive energy out into the world. It'll also firm up your commitment to your aspiration by writing it down and sharing over twitter and facebook.

Gathering 100,000 of our best intentions and radiating them to the world.



My aspiration:

I aspire to help people find their vitality and life force through movement and deep interpersonal connection.

I do believe having a sense of purpose that has at its root contributing to the world is the best way to prevent depression and improve our chances of being at peace with our existence. True

Trainer Tips to Tackling Holiday Excess BEFORE it Starts

I'm a strong believer in the power of our beliefs and thoughts to determine outcomes in our lives. This article is primarily about that.

If you think something will be so, it will be so. It's something I'm trying to become more and more aware of in my own life. The power to manifest both the positive and negative.

So take a look at the full article but here's a teaser.

Do you see yourself at holiday parties and family dinners gorging yourself to the point of self-loathing or even just indulging beyond what you know is reasonable? Do you anticipate the pressure from family members to over do it on the food front without a strong enough will to set boundaries with people who love you through food?

Maybe you see yourself getting a little tipsy at every single holiday party and plan on a hard-core cleanse in January. I offer you a quote that is a guiding principle for my life and one I always bring into my weight loss and health coaching at Urbanfitt.

“The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” - Frank Lloyd Wright
If we believe losing weight or keeping it off is going to be next to impossible, our behaviours and choices will reflect this belief.

I offer you an alternative vision of the holidays: The ability to enjoy the sensual pleasures of the holidays within reason by raising our self-awareness and consciousness about our moment- to-moment choices.

Nevada Health District Raids Picnic due to Unregulated Organic Foods

Genetically modified foods at McDonald's are glorified and promoted via endorsed USDA certification. Meanwhile, fresh natural, organic food is a "threat to our health and well being"?! Support locally grown organic food, before this starts happening here!!! (quote from Scott Heaney regarding this video).

Things like what happened at this innocent picnic in Nevada really make me wonder where western society is headed. Watch it and see if you're left as perplexed as me. If we grow our own food are people going to break down our doors to force us to pour bleach over it?

New Study: Aging Well Through Exercise

I talk a lot about seeing older clients post cancer treatment and seeing the amazing youth deriving benefits of resistance exercise.

I don't need studies to make me believe in what I see with my own eyes every day. But never hurts to spread with word with cold hard research. Gretchen Reynolds from the New York Times reported on a new ground breaking study that tickles my fancy. So take a look at the full article. Here's an excerpt.

Consider the results of a stirring study published last month in the journal The Physician and Sportsmedicine. For it, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recruited 40 competitive runners, cyclists and swimmers. They ranged in age from 40 to 81, with five men and five women representing each of four age groups: 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70-plus. All were enviably fit, training four or five times a week and competing frequently. Several had won their age groups in recent races.

They completed questionnaires detailing their health and weekly physical activities. Then the researchers measured their muscle mass, leg strength and body composition, determining how much of their body and, more specifically, their muscle tissue was composed of fat. Other studies have found that as people age, they not only lose muscle, but the tissue that remains can become infiltrated with fat, degrading its quality and reducing its strength.

There was little evidence of deterioration in the older athletes’ musculature, however. The athletes in their 70s and 80s had almost as much thigh muscle mass as the athletes in their 40s, with minor if any fat infiltration

I've believed the fountain of youth is maintaining muscle mass. This study goes to show that you can exercise and have the body of someone 20 years younger. We need to adapt our ideas of what aging means and start seeing that having bodies that fall apart is a function of choice and not pre-determined.

Let's Welcome Stephanie Kus and Paluna Santamaria to Urbanfitt

Urbanfitt has some exciting changes to announce!

But first a moment to say how much we already miss Sara-Clare who recently moved to Montreal :) Whaawhaa.

We have two new instructors who recently joined us at Urbanfitt.



I'd like to introduce Stephanie Kus as part of our fabulous group of Urbanfitt instructors. We know each other from way back in the Level Five days. It was my very good fortune that Goodlife bought Eclipse October 1st. There has been a westward migration since many of the individuals who once flourished there do not fit into the corporate culture that is Goodlife.

So join me in welcoming Stephanie Kus to Urbanfitt. She's teaching Saturday Urban Warrior - Circuit Strength class. If you'd like to register for the next Saturday six class session starting December 3rd, do it now by emailing help@urbanfitt or give us a ring at 416.964.3309. We reserve space when full payment is received.

Stephanie has been a fitness professional since 2002 bringing a strong focus on functional training with proper form and technique to provide safe and effective workouts to class participants and personal training clients. She has taught indoor cycling, body sculpting, plyometrics, Swiss ball, and circuit training and loves to motivate people to challenge themselves and realize the potential of their own bodies. Her training background includes crossfit, yoga, Olympic lifting, martial arts, cycling and kettlebell work. In her spare time Steph enjoys getting out on long early morning bike rides as well as hitting the park with her two dogs Casper and Obi.



And a big welcome to Paluna who came to us through Sara-Clare. She has taken over Sara-Clare's Kettlebell MMA class on Monday nights. She's a one of a kind woman and a gift to have at Urbanfitt. To reserve your space for the next Monday session, do it now! It starts Monday December 5th.

Paluna started her movement exploration journey at a young age. Coming from a family where her father devoted half of his life to the practice of yoga, she was introduced to the discipline at the age of 5. Always curious and fascinated by the human body, she has practised a wide variety of sports and martial arts as well as joining a swimming team for three consecutive years and getting a Pilates certification in 2004.
Now certified as a Personal Trainer with specialties in pre/post natal, post rehab, kettlebell training and yoga she dedicates her life entirely to teaching.
Completely convinced of the healing qualities of movement not only on a physical, but an emotional level, she enjoys helping participants find that discipline that makes them smile and feel happy to the bone. “If you enjoy it, you’ll stick to it” Paluna says.
Paluna brings her expertise to Urbanfitt as an instructor and trainer.