Total Body Wellness

Just wanted to blog a bit on time and how it gets away from us and how it brings about so much stress.

I recently spoke to someone about time management this week and we spoke about how we tend to get so much behind by just dealing with our day to day life.

Ever take a moment to check your email and look up and 30 minutes to 45 minutes have gone by. Or what if in your email you notice someone has written on your facebook page. Watch out because the second you check this page you will lose even more time. Not that it is not important to keep up with your social network but these things should be scheduled in after you have done what you need to do for the day. Not as much fun perhaps but will definitely lower your stress level at the end of the day.

Scheduling your time is a sure way to be more productive.
It begins when you wake up, do you want to exercise in the morning, make a healthy breakfast, pack a healthy lunch? You can do it. Decide how much time you will need to do all this plus get yourself ready and your kids if that applys and wake up early enough.
Next is your work day, what do you absolutely need to get done today? Do that first even if it is something you hate. Close the door (if you have one) and don’t take any interruptions for as long as it takes to do those really important tasks.
Schedule a time for interruptions ( email, questions from colleques, facebook, phone calls, etc.). If you didn’t exercise in the morning, schedule it in for the afternoon. Schedule in housework as well. Schedule in time with your family as well.
If you make a little time for everything, it will be easier to not get got up in one thing and get behind on others.

It is all about balancing work and life.

Filed by Jeanette at 7:21 pm under Pilates
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Elaine Maxwell:
My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man’s doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny.

Filed by Jeanette at 7:06 pm under Pilates
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According to the Dietary Reference Intakes published by the USDA 10% - 35% of calories should come from protein. Most Americans should get 10%-35% of their calories from protein and should easily meet this need by consuming a balanced diet. Unfortunately, many people do not get the recommended amount of protein and might need to supplement.

Protein is needed for;

Growth (especially important for children, teens, and pregnant women) Growth and repair of muscles, bones, skin, tendons, ligaments, hair, eyes and tissues.
Immune function
Making essential hormones and enzymes
Energy when carbohydrate is not available
Preserving lean muscle mass

Protein is found in meats, poultry, fish, meat substitutes, cheese, milk, nuts, legumes, and in smaller quantities in starchy foods and vegetables.

When we eat these types of foods, our body breaks down the protein that they contain into amino acids (the building blocks of proteins).
Some amino acids are essential which means that we need to get them from our diet, and others are nonessential which means that our body can make them.

Protein that comes from animal sources contains all of the essential amino acids that we need. Plant sources of protein, on the other hand, do not contain all of the essential amino acids.

Are you getting enough protein? I think that sometimes protein gets a bad rap because we think about red meat like steak but as you can see there are so many other places that we can find protien, we just have to get creative.

Filed by Jeanette at 8:39 am under Pilates
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I have had to be at the doctors office three times in the 3 or so weeks. The first time I weighed 120 lbs. Too much for me but figured it was probably right. The following visit, about a 10 days later I weighed 125. Wow didn’t feel as though I gained 5 lbs. Wasn’t my time of the month and my clothes felt the same. Yesterday, about 1 week and a half later, I weighed 117. Which figure was right?
Well of course I choose to believe the last one but this kind of fluctuation is not right.
I’m sure that I was put in a different room every time. Once I was at a different office.

I often hear clients say that they weigh differently on their scale at home and at the doctors office or at the gym and we always tend to believe the one at the doctors office or the gym.

The truth is that every scale can be a little different and what we really need to pay attention to is how our clothes fit and how we feel.

Use the number on the scale as a guideline and weigh yourself on the same scale everytime so that whether you started at 125 or 117 if you are losing or gaining weight on that same scale then it is probably true.

Filed by Jeanette at 7:06 am under Pilates
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Just thought I’d reprint this from my New Year’s Newsletter
Jeanette’s 10 steps

1.)Challenge yourself to do Pilates, Yoga or GYROTONIC or a combination of both 2-3 times per week.

2.) Get in no less that 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 4-5 times per week!

3.) Take on healthy habits; Drink plenty of water, Sleep at least 8 hours a night, eat whole grains, plenty of fruits and vegetables and cut out those things you know are not good for you.

4.) Supplement your diet with good quality health products.

5.) Use only non-toxic products in and around your home.

6.) Make it a daily habit to feel gratitude for everything.

7.) Say yes to only the things you know you can do.

8.) Listen to your
body and slow down when it tells you to.

9.)Make a conscious choice to “Feel Good” no matter what!

10.)Be of service to somebody, somewhere, everyday!

Filed by Jeanette at 8:00 pm under Pilates
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Pilates is definitely a strength building exercise and because those who have weight trained before know that they should take a day off between weight workouts, I often get the question; Can we do Pilates everyday?

The answer is a resounding yes. You most definitely can. Because Pilates focuses on the mind/body integration and lengthening as well as strengthening the muscles, it is a different mind set than weight training. We are not working the muscles to exhaustion (however a challenging Pilates workout can break down muscle and promote stronger muscles ). We are also adding in things like breath, coordination and functional awareness which gives us the ability to vary the workout a bit everyday.

Now you don’t have to do a long Pilates workout everyday either. Joe Pilates actually believed 4 workouts 30 minutes each were just as good as 10 minutes of Pilates a day. Most of us can manage 10 minutes. I personally do about 20 minutes of matwork a day and I think that 20 minutes is pretty easy to get in. I do it in the mornings and if I miss one morning, I feel it right away.

So go ahead do Pilates everyday as long as it is done safely and as long as you are enjoying it. If it becomes a chore then you are definitely overtraining. Have fun!

Filed by Jeanette at 4:29 pm under Pilates
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I am back from my final GYROTONIC ® training in Miami and I am so excited to teach. Now more than ever do I understand how this work makes you feel. The strength, flexibility and overall feeling of peacefulness that it achieves is unbelievable. I can’t wait to show it to all of you.

Filed by Jeanette at 5:45 pm under Pilates
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Did you know that Joseph Pilates felt that if you did at least 30 minutes of Pilates Matwork everyday you would have an incredibly healthy spine and a very healthy body. He actually believed that it was the cure for what ails you. Quite frankly, Joseph Pilates believed that if every body did Pilates their would be no war. So maybe that is the answer to world peace. That may be a bit extreme but I have to admit when I wake up and do at least 20 minutes of matwork everyday, I actually feel better. I have more energy and it really helps me get through 7 hours of teaching and actually makes me happier.

Also, did you know that a simple spine stretch before bed can actually make you sleep better. It’s true. The rolling and unrolling of the spine gives you a gentle massage and promotes a good nights sleep.

So if you haven’t done your Pilates today, get to it.

Filed by Jeanette at 5:24 pm under Pilates
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The epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes is the result of millions of people who are slowly entering the progression toward the metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance. This fact becomes crucial in our approach to slowing down and even reversing both the increasing incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

After years and years of abusing your insulin by consuming tremendous amounts of high-glycemic carbohydrates day in and day out, you too are most likely becoming resistant to your insulin. A calorie is no longer a calorie because the tracks of this glucose train have been switched and your body is not functioning properly. If you don’t learn how to switch the tracks back, you simply will not be able to lose weight even with the most agressive diets. In this state, the body is resistant to almost any weight loss program.

The only answer to this dilemma is a program designed to reverse insulin resistance and allow you to successfully “flip the switch back again. ” You need to focus on exacly wht you can do to prevent or reverse this underlying insulin resistance and allow you to not only prevent becoming diabetic but also allow you to lose weight permanently.

The Healthy for Life program created by Dr. Ray Strand is a great way to improve your eating habits and RESET your body. Healthy for Life is not a diet, it is a way of life. Dr Strand recommends using USANA products and along with that, you will learn how to make low-glycemic choices for all your other foods. The entire program as well as some very interesting and useful information is outlined in his book RELEASING FAT which is available in the mini-shop.

Also available if desired are personal check in appointments with Jeanette, certified by the American Council on Exersise as a Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant.

Changes in your eating are just the beginning. An active lifestyle is also a must. Pilates, Yoga, NIA, walking, running what ever you love. Just get offurbutt and have an exergasm everyday!

Filed by Jeanette at 1:57 pm under Pilates
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Glycemic index (G) is a measure of the rate that the carbohydrates in a food or meal are digested and appear in the blood as glucose (sugar). Glycemic load is a way of measuring the total carbohydrates in a meal or diet with a mathematical adjustment for GI. These measurements can be used to simultaneously describe the quality (glycemic index) and quantity of carbohydrate in a meal or diet.

Recent data suggest that the sudden rise in blood sugar associated with a high glycemic load may increase free radical production and the risk of oxidative damage. This increased production has been implicated im many disease processes including chronic heart disease, accelerated aging, and type 2 diabetes.

Investigators from several leading US institutions recently investigated whether a diet with a high GI or GL is associated with greater oxidative stress by taking specific measurements in nearly 300 healthy adults.

Participants with a higher GI and GL diet were found to exhibit increases in oxidative stress when compared to those eating a diet lower in glycemic index and load.

Researchers concluded that chronic consuption of high-GI foods may lead to chronically high oxidative stress, increasing the risk for several degenerative diseases. A low-GI diet, not a low carbohydrate diet, appears to be beneficial in reducing oxidative stress.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 84 No. 1, 70-76, July 2006

My belief is that a low glycemic diet is not only good for those who are diabetic or on the verge of diabetes, but it is an easy way to control our weight. - Jeanette

Recommended Book - Releasing Fat by Dr Ray Strand - This book speaks on the glycemic index and how it can work for you. - availble for purchase at the studio.

Filed by Jeanette at 3:28 pm under Pilates
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