High-Flying Friends

Last Sunday, I had the joy of watching one of my oldest and best friends take her first trapeze lesson. M was a willing participant, but she admitted to me on the drive to the Trapeze Experience rig that she was a bit nervous. She was in good hands, though, as our facilitators Russell, Spencer, and Gary are fantastic with new flyers. While M took her ground lesson, I headed up to the platform to being my swing and layout practice.

M struggled a bit on her first attempt at the knee hang, but by her third try she had it perfect. Shortly thereafter, Gary climbed up into the catchtrap, and the next thing M knew she had successfully completed her first mid-air transfer on the flying trapeze! It was so exciting for her; it was also exciting for me, though, to see her feel the thrill of flying. After several other successful catches, M learned a new trick on her very first day.

To make the experience even better, our class was the final session at which “Uncle Tony” Steele was facilitating. A legend in the trapeze world, Uncle Tony has been flying since he was a child. He is the greatest living trapeze artist, having trained people from everyday folks like me to circus performers to celebrities to stuntpeople. Uncle Tony told some pretty corny jokes, but his enthusiasm for trapeze– and sharing his knowledge with others– was infectious. It was also pretty amazing to see him, at age 74, still throw a double back flip.

My lesson for the day came not so much in my work on the trapeze– it was a rather poor day for me, actually– but in my head and heart. From M I learned how fulfilling it can be to watch someone learn something new. Certainly I get that lesson regularly from my kids, but to see an adult tackle a new challenge is equally rewarding. And to see Uncle Tony still doing what he loves with such grace and power and fun is inspirational. It was a full body-mind sense of happiness, completeness, and exhaustion at the end of the lesson.

Is there anything better than sharing something you love with someone you love? I think not.

A Healthy Alternative

Sprouts Farmers Markets have opened recently throughout the Austin area. I’ve been hearing their somewhat annoying ads on the radio for a few months, but it wasn’t until their Westlake location opened last week that I found myself near a Sprouts when I had some time to check it out.
I was pleasantly surprised by the bright, open, airy feel of the store. Its displays are arranged attractively, and there is enough room to maneuver a shopping cart around them. The workers were friendly; I was asked no fewer than three times by three different employees if I needed help finding something. I was happy browsing the selection of goodies in the store. I liked the balance of conventionally-grown foods and organics, which provide a lot of variety at an affordable price point. All of the produce seemed fresh and looked appealing. And although I had told my three-year-old I’d buy him some strawberries next time I went to the store, Sprouts takes their mostly-local, in-season only pledge seriously—there were no strawberries to be found.
But what I did find made me and my pocketbook quite happy. There were some real bargains in the produce department: Three pounds of seedless grapes for $1? Unheard of! Five ears of corn for $!? I’ll take some! I also tried out some all-natural frozen potatoes (wedges and sweet potato fries), as they were 2/$3. My kids (and husband!) loved both varieties. The other great deal I got was on 95% lean ground beef, at $1.79/pound. While these sale prices are all obvious loss-leaders, I was happy to take advantage of them. Prices for other products—produce and regular groceries– were definitely in line with other shopping options in town.
The bulk section at Sprouts is on par with that of Sun Harvest, but not as big as Central Market’s. The prices seemed somewhere in the middle of those two options as well. I bought a few varieties of granolas and trail mix, all of which I and my kids have happily consumed.
It’s obvious that Sprouts was still working out some supply chain issues for the new store. At my visit, they were out of both bulk baby spinach and bulk baby greens. The checkout clerk also told me that their corn (a front-page advert) was late to arrive, and they’d only just put it out an hour or so before I arrived. At any rate, I trust Sprouts will work out these minor kinks.
My only real complaint is that there isn’t a Sprouts more on my beaten path. I could see myself doing a lot of shopping there.

Hiking Half Dome

Last August, I set out with eight relatives to hike Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.  By any account, undertaking Half Dome as a day hike is an extraordinary goal.  The route we took was just over 18 miles round trip, with 4500 feet of elevation change each way.  Reaching the summit of Half Dome has been a goal of mine for years, and I was excited to set off in the good company of my husband, father, three uncles, two cousins, and a cousin’s wife.  Fitness is our family language.

The first several hours of the hike were straightforward.  Awesomely beautiful, with breathtaking stretches of rock steps and grand vistas as we gained elevation.  It was fascinating to see the flora change as we climbed higher, a clue that we were getting closer and closer to our goal.

As we reached the final stretch of the ascent, my husband’s fear of heights took hold of him.  The sheer exposure of the climb up sub-dome to the base of the cables required to summit Half Dome were just too much.  After Uncle-Of-The-Year Bill hiked the husband back down to a point where he felt safe, it was time to tackle the cables.

It’s hard to give a true impression of the angle of the final 500 yards of ascent to the top of Half Dome.  Books say it varies from 45-60 degrees, but here’s the best view I can give you:

Climbing the cables goes something like this: grasp the cable with both hands, and using all possible upper body strength, pull yourself 10-12 feet forward/upward until you reach the next set of poles, at the base of which is a board on which you rest your feet.  Catch your breath, work around other climbers, and repeat.  The ascent itself took about 25 minutes, during which time I had to negotiate around climbers paralyzed by fear, climbers hooking and unhooking their caribiners (not a bad idea at all!), and my growing tiredness.  I hadn’t expected so much upper body work.

At the summit, we took a few minutes to walk around, take in the view, and enjoy the accomplishment.  Much to my dad’s relief, I had no interest in getting very close to the edge!

And how cool is it that those brothers, ages 55, 62, 57, and 65, have shared this experience?  You won’t find four brothers who are each a strong personality and yet still so close as brothers.  I have only two sons, and I hope they’re still having great adventures together decade after decade.

I started back down the cables so as to not leave the husband sitting alone any longer.  The technique for descending the cables was influenced by the huge number of climbers coming up as I was going down.  I chose to hold on to only one cable, face my body into that cable, and side shuffle down the rock.  Again, a surprising amount of upper body strength was required, especially when I had to stand and hold in order to let ascending climbers pass.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the crazy people who felt it necessary to go outside of the cables in order to ascend or descend without waiting on the crowds.  With very few exceptions, all of the deaths on Half Dome cables have been because people go outside the cables and move too quickly.  For me, a little more burn in the forearms was well worth climbing safely.

As if the summitting of Half Dome wasn’t dramatic enough, we had a little more excitement than we really wanted on the hike back to Yosemite Valley.  Due to a slight miscommunication– the kind only possible when dealing with family members, of course– our hiking party split up and some of us had a slight (90 minute) delay.  But it allowed for some good conversation with my cousin and his wife (who was, let it be known, RIGHT!), and then a rare artistic moment from my husband when he helped make this sign:

Once we decided to hike onward to the Valley, we flew.  Fast.  We managed to hike the final 10K down to the Valley in less than 2.5 hours.  Shortly before we returned to the trailhead, we saw my dad and Uncle T walking back towards us.  We were more happy to be reunited and know that everyone was okay than we were upset that we had a delay while waiting for them to hike down when they’d already gone ahead.

In the end, it was a fabulous experience.  The company, the scenery, the physical exertion, and — most importantly– the achievement of a goal.  What a perfect day.

A Souper Idea

Austin has great traditions with soup. 

There’s The Soup Peddler, who really did get his start cycling around to his clients, dropping off amazingly fresh and tasty soups.  It’s now a much bigger business with a greatly expanded menus, but don’t we all still love coming home on our delivery day to soup (and quiche) on our doorstep?  Oh, yes, we do!

There’s the Austin Empty Bowl Project that cleverly combines art, food, and service into one glorious day.  Local potters (including some local and not-so-local celebs) donate a bowl that they have made to the project.  Then the public is invited to make a donation to the Capital Area Food Bank, fill the bowl with soup made by local chefs, and take their empty bowl home at the end of the event.  The bowl is a reminder of those whose bowls are empty every day.

Today I participated in a great new (to me) Austin tradition: a soup swap.  Hosted by a client of mine (hooray for eating healthy!), fifteen people each brought between 6 and 10 quarts of soup, divvied up into 1 quart containers.   I brought both chunky minestrone and chicken noodle, and I left with a great variety: thai coconut, chicken corn chowder, turkey vegetable, veggie chili, cream of tomato, and ginger butternut.

With fantastic organization, the swap went  off amazingly well.  More importantly, the group of swappers was friendly and eager to try something new.  There were just enough people to have a good variety, but not so many people that the swapping seemed endless.  My kudos to the hostess for her fabulous organization– and perfect soup swap weather.

What a great way to encourage healthy eating, mingle with friends, and make your life a little easier.  A souper idea, indeed!

Just what I NIA’d

When I woke up this morning (at 2am, 3am, 4am, and then 5am for the day), I wasn’t convinced it was going to be a great day. I was a less-than-my-usually-cheery-self during my early morning workout class, which was especially unfortunate given the jungle-like humidity my group faced.  They were inspirational (and perspirational) in their dogged determination to complete the workout.

I dashed home after class, got my 6-year-old ready for first grade, then had a family walk to school. By the time I got home, I had just about 40 minutes before needing to take the 3-year-old to preschool. It was still before 8am, and I was exhausted!

I had the chance to come home after preschool drop-off and have a rare, unspoilt FOUR HOURS to myself. No clients. No husband working at home. Just me and my comfy green sofa.

But I also remembered that today is Dr. Deb Kern’s WILD Women Workout, and after going to only two sessions before, I realized that was just what I needed. Dr. Deb leads a group of women through a NIA workout filled with everything from tai chi moves to pilates poses to all-out cardio jam. Dancing unabashedly in a studio, about twenty women move around the room free from judgement and filled with conviction. The workout is all about connecting with your body, harnessing the power of your mind, and honoring the self.  

I left the workout feeling energized and hopeful.  Thank you, Dr. Deb!

Love Running? Hate Running?

 

Balance Personal Fitness Training is hosting a four-week running clinic  on Wednesday evenings from 6-7pm, starting October 7^th.  This free clinic will be held at the pavilion in Perry Park, adjacent to Highland Park Elementary, 4900 Fairview Drive, Austin, TX 78731. 

Each clinic will consist of warm-up and cool-down jogs with agility drills and strength or speed conditioning exercises.  Each week will focus on a different aspect of running training: the basics of form and staying injury-free, hill training, interval training, and pace running.  At the conclusion of each week’s workout, there will be directed stretching and time for questions and answers.  The clinic is open to all ability levels, from joggers to seasoned runners.  Workouts are suitable for a wide range of participants. 

The timing of the clinic leads up to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday, November 1st.  As the daughter of a breast cancer survivor, I am motivated to help find a cure for this disease.   Join other Austinites starting on October 7^th to demonstrate that running builds both good health and strong communities. 

Hope to see you there!

Log Book vs. Journaling

 

Most fitness resources state the importance of keeping a log of your workouts as a way of maintaining adherance to your fitness program.  While the log book is a useful means of recording the facts of a workout, for most people who struggle with fitness and nutrition emotions play a huge role in success or failure.  As a personal trainer, I often recommend that my clients journal both exercise and eating habits.  The key, however, is not just to write what type of exercise was done or what foods were eaten but to journal about how the activity and the food made you feel.  By connecting the activities to the emotions, you can start to see patterns develop that will help you adhere to your resolutions.

For example, someone may have a strength training routine and the journal entry would read: “really difficult upper body session.  More reps than I have done before.  Thought my arms were going to fall off.  But felt AMAZING and proud of myself afterwards.”  That way, when they know they have another difficult workout to do another time, they have the proof that they can get the work done and feel great about it afterwards.  Similarly, with eating, a habitual fast food eater may write: “caved and got a burger and fries for lunch.  Tasted delicious and salty while I ate it, but that was three hours ago and it’s a rock in my stomach.”  Perhaps that entry will help change habits the next time someone wants to grab a quck but unhealthy lunch.

The other aspect of journaling that I feel positively influences adherance is that it is private account.  I do not review my client’s journals.  The feedback I have received from operating this way is that people feel more free to be truly honest about how their workouts and eating are affecting their lives.  In the end, even though people hire me to help improve their physical fitness, I know that the key to achieving that goal is in making lasting behavioral changes.  Those changes can be made only when confronted with a willingness to admit human faults and the courage to try again.  The journal also becomes a place where patterns of past behavior then translate into future goals.

When fitness and nutrition are understood as components of a wellness journey, the changes that one can make are broader and deeper than ever imagined.

Good health and great happiness to you.

Routine Wellness

It’s that time of year when all the parents I know are talking about routine.  Summer is winding down quickly, and the school year is fast approaching– just one more week for those of us in Austin.  It’s time to end the long, leisurely days of summer and start thinking about how in the world we’re going to have everyone up and at ‘em for the 7.45am start of the school day.

I’m encouraging my clients and friends to use this opportunity to insert more conscious wellness into their daily routines.  Even if it’s something as simple as waking up 10 minutes earlier so healthy lunches can be prepped and packed– not just for the kids, but for the parents, too– you’ll be making a positive start to the day.  After school time should include a healthy balance of activity, rest, and homework.  Just because kids these days have a lot of scheduled activity lessons (soccer, t-ball, gymnastics, etc), don’t underestimate the physical and mental value of free play in the backyard or on a playground.  You could start an after-school ‘welcome home’ routine for your kids by putting on some silly music and dancing together for a few minutes.  My family likes to take a post-dinner walk (or bicycle ride) around the neighborhood after dinner during the school year.  It may be only 15 minutes or so, but it’s an important part of our family time.  When thinking of your evening and winding down the day, what about adding some simple stretching and deep breathing to the jammies-teeth brushing-read books routine? 

I’d love to hear any other free, easy-to-do ideas for families to have a healthy, happy school year.

Good health and great happiness to you.

More about Motivation

I must admit that the idea that so many of my friends lack the motivation to exercise has been nagging me for the past few days.  As someone who has always enjoyed exercise, I don’t identify easily with those who don’t like a good workout. 

But as a personal trainer, I continually learn new ways to motivate people based on individual likes, dislikes, needs, and wants.  I have a standard list of questions I ask my clients when starting to develop a fitness program for them.  Maybe they’ll be useful to those of you who need a little push to get going.  Finding out how you think about health and fitness can be an enlightening exercise itself.

• What kinds of exercise do you like?  Dislike?
• Did you ever play on a sports team?  What about that experience was positive/negative?
• Why do you want to be more fit?
• Are you impressed by people who have fit bodies?  Do you judge people who are unfit?
• Do you encourage your children to exercise?
• Does your significant other exercise regularly?
• Where do you place health & fitness in your list of *idealized* priorities?  Where does it fit in reality?
• Do you think your attitude toward fitness affects other parts of your life?
• Does your fitness level hold you back from doing activities you’d like to do?
• How do you feel before a big workout?  Afterwards?
• Have you ever regretted making & taking time to exercise?
• Do you deserve time (and money) to make your body healthier?

Think about it.  Be honest with yourself.  Finding out the real reasons you lack motivation to exercise may help you open new paths in other parts of your life as well.

Good health and great happiness to you.

What’s holding you back?

I posed a question to my favorite citizens of mama-nation this week: what is the single biggest obstacle keeping you from achieving the level of fitness you’d like to have?

As you might imagine, a lot of the mamas said time.  After all, who doesn’t wish for a secret hour or two of ALL ME time each and every day.  Alas, that doesn’t exist.  So we press on with our multiple and always-changing priorities, often forgetting to put ourselves anywhere on that list.  Time then goes by, we haven’t done much to take care of our bodies, and we fall asleep exhausted at the end of another long day.

My mamas were honest that the siren song of food is another stumbling block.  I think that the powerful stigmas associated with food make us feel far worse about our diets than the food itself.  Perhaps allowing one’s self to eat a little of what one craves isn’t so bad– it keeps us from bingeing and also reminds us to savor what we consume.  Eating thoughtfully is key to gaining not only fitness but also wellness.

I think the biggest surprise to me was that a lot of my mamas admitted lacking motivation to exercise.   Sure, we all know exercise is good for us.  We all know that to be healthy we need to exercise.  But at the end of the day, sitting on the couch feels so good.  How do we resolve the lack of motivation? 

I recommend exercising first thing in the morning.  Even if it just 10 minutes, you have started the day off positively, and you’re more likely to keep those positive actions going all day.  Also, a workout buddy or a personal trainer can provide the accountability some people need to exercise regularly, and they also give you someone to talk with during your workout.

Aren’t you worth it?  What is more motivating than knowing that you’re doing something beneficial for yourself?  Keep a journal of your feelings after you exercise, and I guarantee you’ll see a pattern of positivism develop.  Imagine the power of that positivism spreading throughout your life.  Motivating, isn’t it?!

Good health and great happiness to you.