Get lean and healthier for your best new year!

Athletic dog doing a plank on the Pilates reformer

Do you know what science-based strategies will help you best? Our mascot dog here gets his lots of walks, playtime, gets good sleep, and eats a clean healthy diet that gives him well-rounded vitamins and minerals.

Don't be fooled by his charm, he is a picky eater! If you have any food allergies or preferences, we can help you find a way to clean up your nutrition. If you are bored with whatever exercise or food, we can help you find something that keeps you on track. Change isn't easy for many of us, and we have the support you need -- either individual coaching or group support, by phone and email to help you stay on your new healthy habits!

Start by joining one of our FREE intro calls this week to learn about an easy 21-day detox that will help change your body chemistry to stop craving sugar, lose some belly inches, and feel more energized!

Mon Jan 2 6pm PST / 9pm EST , or
Wed Jan 4 630pm PST / 9:30pm EST, or
if you can't make it, email us (EmbodyHealth at gmail) to get the recording and the FREE Flat Belly worksheet! Print the worksheet 1/per week and watch how easy it is to eat healthier!

30-minutes for a healthier you!
Conference Dial-in Number: (515) 604-9394 
Participant Access Code: 851968#


Learn more about the call on our Facebook page or Like us on FB to see other events

Smart training for cyclists

image from bicycling.com

I admire my friends who have previously trained or are presently training for the AIDS/LifeCycle Ride. The 7-day event is a big commitment and if you have a busy work schedule, how do you get the most out of your limited training time per week? Cross-training and interval training is how you mix it up. Get smart with your training and get different strategies for your improving your speed and endurance.

As a trainer for various athletes (triathletes, marathon runners, senior olympics cyclist), I've seen how core exercises and proper stretching keeps my students in the game and avoid serious injuries!

I like the article in Bicycling Magazine, "Shake up your workout." More is not always better -- long rides can cause fatigue that are hard to recover from. The best way to boost your speed is interval training, cross-training (core, yoga, strength training), and proper recovery so you can do it again! Even if you're not near hills and only have flatland for your rides, the article talks about changing to a tougher gear so you can feel a harder ride and then go back to an easy pace. If your weather is not cooperating, you can use an elliptical machine and try one of the pre-programmed interval training programs. Using your entire lower body (without your bike seat) will help you gain more strength in your legs.  Balance on the elliptical without holding on with your hands, and you'll work on your flat belly too! (link goes to flat belly nutrition tips).

If you're limited with equipment, simply pull out some space in your home enough for your to practice your elbow and side planks to get started in your core workouts.  Don't forget that the foam roller can also work your core (think pilates exercises) and help you stretch out tights spots like your IT band! Need help figuring out your good form for a core workout? You can email me to set up a 30-minute workout where we can check your form and give you several programs to practice at home. If you want help with your nutrition and recovery, we can set up your nutrition+wellness coaching so you know how and when to get your magnesium, minerals, and other fuel to avoid those nasty muscle cramps and get the energy you need to keep your rides fun.

Magnesium: super important mineral

February is Heart Health Month and it's time to get smart about your longevity and heart health! Magnesium is one of the super important minerals we should stay on top of. 60% of Americans don't get enough magnesium--and that impacts lots of health factors like your bone health and muscle recovery from hiking or exercise. And of course, your heart is a muscle, so anything that helps support healthy muscles is important for your heart health!

The question is HOW do I get enough magnesium from my diet? Leafy greens are the top of the list: spinach, swiss chard, pumpkin seeds, collard greens, sea vegetables, and the current popular kid-- kale. You can check the full list of food sources on this resource. However, if you're a busy person and don't eat at home for every meal OR you're getting muscle cramps/tightness from exercising, you will want to keep a high quality, highly absorbable magnesium supplement handy, for when you can feel the muscles not recover fast enough for your next tennis match or marathon training session. I love epsom salts baths but sometimes I don't want to wait until I get home for a bath, and honestly, I don't know how much magnesium I'm actually absorbing from the bath. Food sources are preferred as a baseline, but be aware that we're not sure how much of the nutrients are in your batch of veggies. As Dr. Al Sears says: "You can get more magnesium by eating nuts, seeds, dairy products and dark green, leafy vegetables. But modern farming practices have depleted much of the mineral content in our soil, so there’s not much magnesium in vegetables any more."

Here's a tip about kale. Some people think kale is a little bitter, and when I sautee kale with garlic and a little splash of white wine, it helps tenderize and sweeten the leaves. Kale chips have been quite the rage lately, but I find that store-bought ones have a lot of extra flavoring I'm not fond of. Baking your own requires a little trial and error, so be careful not to burn your leaves. I'm pleased to report that I've found a wonderful bacon-flavor without the badness of bacon through using a hickory flavored sea salt I found at the farmer's market. Contrary to popular discussion, a little bit of salt on home-cooking isn't bad for your heart health. It's the restaurant and fast-food overkill of salt usage that is what we should cut out. The more you cook and eat your own food that is less processed, the easier it is to be good to your heart health. And if you can use supplements appropriately to provide a higher level of nutrition, even better!

Pumpkin time! Weight loss cookies

It's near Thanksgiving and everyone is fearful of eating too much bad food. Fear not!
Bring your own healthy dish, and you can be assured you have something good for you--and if you're hankering for a healthy dessert, check out these pumpkin cookies in lieu of pumpkin pie.

These pumpkin protein+fiber cookies are low in sugar and butter, taste so great, have so many nutrients, that they should be called "weight loss cookies" because they follow the low-glycemic guidelines of the TLS Weight Loss program I teach. Oh, but being responsible with words, we don't want the word cookie associated with weight loss, so I'll just call them healthy cookies. Here's the recipe.

Many people are wheat-sensitive, or even allergic, and that is why we get the bloated belly or gut discomfort. Who doesn't want to have a flat belly? So let's deal with the prevalence of wheat causing weight gain or belly bloat and learn to cook/bake with gluten-free alternatives.

Gluten-free sometimes gets a bad rap, that these baked things don't taste good. I assure you these pumpkin cookies are a hit, with the egg and baking powder, and baking soda to give them rise and softness for excellent taste. Gluten-free flour sometimes seems foreign for newbies learning to cook healthy, but let me tell you it's quite easy to find gluten free flour these days. These are my favorite kinds: almond meal (high protein), garbanzo flour (high protein), millet (softer). While I don't know every brand, these are my tips: Almond meal is best found at Trader Joe's, and you can find the Bob's Red Mill brand online or at your local store. If you want to know more about gluten-free baking, I'm a healthy foodie chef and please email me.

Note: Online prices reflect a bigger quantity of flour than you might be used to seeing at the store. Also, when you eat healthier, you're investing in your health, instead of being on the path to sickness with genetically-modified foods kept cheap with political subsidies.

How to Exercise in Winter

Winter cold or irregular weather or allergy-provoking winds can really discourage us from exercise. Some of us have a block against the word exercise or think of some high-level of exercise perfectionism. What counts is that you get started doing SOMETHING and are physically active--and once you get moving, you want to move more!

IDEAS on how to be more physical and even exercise!
* DANCE BREAK On the TV show 30 Rock, Tina Fey leads her writing team to break down for a "dance break" with her favorite rap music. If you work from home, this is the perfect computer break! Oxygenating your brain will help you think more clearly and productivity rises! OR take this to the next level--make it your cardio workout by dancing to your favorite music mix or videos. As a teen, I used to dance with MTV music videos with my friend--being goofy or having fun is one way to get over that perfectionism.
* WALK AT THE MALL It was raining badly one time I was visiting my friend in Ithaca and I had just got off a 5-hour bus ride. There was no way I could sit more at her house and I needed to walk so I could avoid back and hip pain. My motivator? Pain-prevention and body ache. I asked her to take me to the mall. We did walking, making laps around the aisles of Target while we caught up talking. Yes, you can leave your credit cards at home and safely do brisk walks at the mall if you can't be outside. Make a rule, that if you're going to be on a long phone call with a loved one who doesn't mind your cardio-breathing, you can make that a walk and talk appointment. Some people even have long-distance walking buddies--a great way to catch up with loved ones and encourage each other to get in those brisk walks. Also, join my hiking group for inspiration--we take the opportunity to be local tourists and check out new parks.
* HOME STRENGTH I had a student in New York City with the smallest apt AND we were in the middle of winter with his plan to quit cigarettes (exercise is a great way to help smokers find an alternative to the breathing they miss from smoking). Nothing was going to stop us with his strength and cardio routine. We did so many exercises with JUST his body weight, the floor and a chair. We did martial-arts-inspired lunges (in every direction--side lunges are really great!) and deep squats and if you do enough of them without stopping, these strength training exercises become a cardio workout! Incline push-ups with a chair, legs on a chair with push-up arms on the ground, dips, side planks. Lots of pilates mat exercises can be mixed up with a chair or ball for variety. And on the days we were brave to bundle up and go outside, the cold air was refreshing and when we had enough, we would run back inside.

Keep in mind WHY you care about your health--whether it be your family medical history, your goals for travel, or simply keeping your brain sharp. If you are a smarty who hasn't really been athletic, this bookworm has some science for you! Reasons to do something physical, is not only to protect your physical health, but also your mood and your brain (this is excerpted from a mind-body medicine blog):
* In elderly men with poor physical function, increasing general physical activity may potentially confer a protective effect or delay the onset for dementia. (Taaffe DRet al., J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2008 and Ahlskog JE et al., Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2011)
* According to an NIH study, regular aerobic exercise can modify the brain environment in such a way that the neurons are protected and may help prevent brain damage from diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease. (Harry GJ et al., Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2011)
* Regular exercise increases mitochondrial numbers in brain cells, a potential cause for exercise’s beneficial mental effects. Mitochondria produce the power for our cells, and have a role in cell growth and death. (Steiner JL et al., American Journal of Physiology — Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology, 2011)

Get physical and stay smart!

Fun in the Caribbean this July!

Many people fall off their nutrition or fitness plan when they go on vacation. However, you can choose a healthy creative spirits getaway with Embody Health and actually GET HEALTHIER. Click here to learn more about our Caribbean Getaway for July 4th weekend!

We can accommodate gluten-free and vegetarian requests. And of course, food options will be inspired by local produce and low-glycemic eating supporting anyone on the Transitions Lifestyle System.

VISION HEALTH: More news about anti-oxidants

Tired eyes from the computer? Seeing fortieth, fiftieth birthdays around the corner? Take care of your vision!

When people lose their vision, it gets harder to keep up your cardio exercises and maintain good posture for your spine.

Another great article from Eating Well magazine, with great explanations on which foods have what nutrients and how those work with your body, from a nutrition professor at University of Vermont.

Summary here, with my commentary

1) Up your antioxidants
Vit. C food ideas - citrus, kiwi, broccoli
Vit. E food ideas - nuts, avocados
Lutein and zeaxanthin: leafy greens like spinach, kale, and collards
If you need ideas for healthy recipes, search this blog for some easy recipes

2) Eat (whole) eggs
And I say, get the free range omega-3 eggs--these chickens were fed with omega-3 grains including flaxseed! Eggs boiled or scrambled make a great breakfast and starts your day right.

3) Help yourself to more “see” food - get your omega-3 fatty acids and zinc
Eat at least 2 servings of fatty fish per week. Inexpensive small fish like sardines and herring can be tasty as a dip. Smoked herring with greek yogurt, dill, and fresh black pepper makes such a yummy omega-3 and protein packed appetizer dip! If you eat salmon, make sure it is wild-caught and not sick farm-raised. If the restaurant menu does not say wild, it is not wild.

4) Consider a supplement
As much as I like to cook, I honestly don't have time to get fresh wild caught salmon every week, and I don't get my omega-3 fatty acids regularly. I don't like spinach enough to eat 3 cups of it every day. I don't like taking too many pills, and excited to find a line of supplements that I can drink as a healthy cocktail: antioxidants, multivitamin, and vision health. Omega-3 supplements are best carried with Vitamin E in a gel capsule form, so I just have to swallow this one.

5) Keep your blood pressure—and your weight—in check
If you live in LA, it is a driving town and you need to schedule in your cardio workout and you can't leave it up to chance. If you have a walking lifestyle already, give yourself some new challenges because the brain "adapts" to habits and you need to give yourself some changes to get the brain and body working smarter. With the great weather, why not sign up for one of our fitness hikes? Walk as much as you can--park your car farther from your shopping destination. Walk to support your local merchants and meet your friendly neighbors for a better sense of community. Need help losing weight or addressing specific health concerns? Sign up for a F.R.E.E. 20 minute phone consultation to learn more about wellness programs.

Feb 22 UPDATE: More commentary about antioxidants and vision health from the Johns Hopkins Health Alerts.