WARNING WEDnesday: Are you an imbalanced mess?

Do you fall in any of these categories?
-Your biceps can lift a substantially heavier weight than your triceps? (or vice versa)
-You can pound the weights for your squats but when it comes to lunges, you can’t seem to match even half of that weight?
-Doing a row is easy peasy but you can’t do a proper push up to save your life?

If so, you have been infected with the case of imbalanced mucles!

Yikes!

Don’t worry…its very easily remedied.

Firstly, please understand why its important to be balanced.

When one side is always stronger than the other, when you start to challenge the weaker side, what may happen is the stronger opposite muscles will compensate because the weaker muscles don’t want to work harder… that can lead to a whole another topic about improper contraction, alignment and technique- which I can cover another time.
How about posture? The stronger side will cause the body to stay more ‘contracted’ on that side while the opposite gets ‘overstretched’… (think protracted shoulder blades from a weak back)
Health problems!! You could be faced with such as tendonitis, bursitis, osteoarthritis, neuritis, scoliosis, hammer toe, and other distortions of the human body in your future!

I think that is more than enough reasons, don’t you?

How do you know if you are imbalanced?

Well, how much weight can your biceps handle? Does your triceps match it? And your chest/back muscles? (you can go down your whole body…) Of course, one muscle group may be a bit stronger than the other and that is normal. I’m talking about a substantial weight difference. (I know someone who can squat a hefty amount of weights but can’t seem to handle any weights for her lunges! That’s a prime example)

Once you figure out which muscle groups are lacking the equality of strength, you will need to start to focus on getting that one stronger. Maybe do more reps on that side…add a few extra exercises that target that area in a session…push through a heavier weight…in some cases, you might even have to cut back training the stronger side so the weaker one can catch up.
You should always be training out of your comfort zone – so when it starts to get too easy, change it up or increase the weights!!

When balance is restored, you will notice an immense improvement in your overall workouts. And not just the resistant training, I’m talking about cardio as well as flexibility! Listen to your body, read it…you should notice it! Looking in the mirror can help too, because you should be able to see a difference.

Until next time Team, a healthy life is all about balance….mind, body and breath. =)

Health respect & happiness,
beki

TIP TUESday: If all else fails, can energy healing help? MY personal experience...

I must advise you, my loyal reader, that what you will be reading may send you on a whirlwind of emotions. This subject should be taken with a grain of salt since every individual may have different view points on it. I am not asking that you believe it nor am I hoping that I can change your mind. But this is my personal experience and it is too amazing to not share with you. If you choose to take this tip to heart and try it out yourself, I would love to hear about your experience and how it has helped.

And the story begins…

While in Mexico, I was befriended by a kind hearted older man and woman. Even with the language barrier between us, we were able to build a great friendship very quickly. From the beginning, the man, named Roberto, would often refer to my positive and good vibe that attracted his attention. Then he would also mention a bad energy he felt too. At first, I thought maybe he noticed I was vacationing alone and thought I was lonely and sad. But I eventually found out Roberto is in fact, a doctor- an energy healer.

I was so impressed and kept asking him questions about what kind of energy he felt from me and where the negative energy was coming from and what he could do about it. He became very frustrated because he could barely explain anything to me (he spoke very little English, he is from Mexico City).

After a lot of failed attempts, I finally just asked him if he could perform whatever he does to heal his patients on me so I can just see it for myself instead of deciphering wild arm motions. To my surprise, he said yes!

I first asked him where he felt the bad energy is coming from my body. He said two places, he pointed at my head and then my torso.
~ I couldn’t believe it because its true, I have my weak liver that I am treating and as for my head, I’m not a stress case but I know I think a lot. Too much in fact…
I confirmed with him my ailments. He then asked me about children. And again I was floored, because I have menstrual complications and have been deeply concerned I would not be able to have any children. So I confirmed that with him as well.

He tried to explain to me the process which left him tongue tied since he didn’t know the English terms. Then he tried to explain to me how the negative energy gets released and I just got more confused. So we just scrapped that and proceeded with the ‘healing process’.

I was laying prone (on my belly) and he tells me to repeat everything he says. He then starts to speak in Spanish – I stop him because I have no idea what he is saying. He says to repeat it as close as I think it is. So he continues and I repeat. With every chant, he would move his hands over my head, not quite touching it but close enough that I could feel it. I don’t know how long he did this for because the next thing I knew, he was telling me to flip over to lay supine (on my back).
By now, I’m feeling groggy and tired and out of sorts. I also stopped repeating his chants so I had to restart again on round 2. He continues the healing and again, before I know it, he is telling me to flip back to prone. This time I try to focus better. I listened attentively and tried to feel his motions (they were kind of like a sweeping motion). Eventually, he nudges me awake and I get up in a haze. He jokingly asked me if I fell asleep and I wasn’t even sure how to answer that because it didn’t feel like I fell asleep.

Roberto told me that I will feel a bit tired for a few days but in 5-7 days, the negative energy will all release from my body and I will feel great. He even said that in 7 months time, if I want to have a baby, I will be able to. He didn’t want to bother me anymore after that and insisted that I take a nap for a couple hours and that he’ll see me later on that night.

Now, this is where the nitty gritty stuff happens!!

Within a few minutes, I had to make a bowel movement…maybe that’s not much of a big deal to you-but it is for me! (yes, I have problems with it…) While I sat there in the bathroom considering if this is just a mere coincidence, the lights in there start to flicker on and off (lightly at first, then much more prominently)…you know the “tink tink” sound the bulbs make when they do that? That’s all I could hear! I shut the lights off for a few seconds and switched them back on to see if maybe they needed ‘energizing’ but they continued to flicker. I was too tired to worry about it so I turned them off and settled into my bed. The ceiling light above the bed and the side lamp beside me were on. Within seconds, they started to go “tink tink” and flicker on and off. My first thought? Maybe all the lighting in the room were connected so if one is about to die, they all die? I’ll call front desk later to get someone to switch the bulbs for me…and then I passed out.

I woke up 2 hours later, famished! I got to the buffet and picked my foods and picked a table and sat to eat. Within seconds of my meal, I hear the “tink tink” sound again…I look above me and theres a chandelier type lighting set flickering on and off right above the table I was sitting at. By now, I clued in and just knew that all these instances were linked. Then I thought- it must be from the energy healing. Could this be some of the bad energy leaving my body? Or good energy coming into my body? I was super giddy at this revelation but kept it to myself.

After my meal, I saw Roberto and Trini (the woman that was with him) and he asked me how I felt. That was when I noticed I was extremely tired and kinda dopey feeling. Trini had wanted to go dancing again that night but she tripped and rolled her ankle and was limping badly. Roberto went ahead and did some energy healing on her foot while we sat outside and listened to the live band play. We called it an early night and I saw them the next day- which happened to be the day they were leaving.

When I saw Trini, she was walking fine and wasn’t limping at all! I wasn’t as tired so I managed to get in some gym time but that dopey feeling still lingered. It actually lingered until after I got back home to Vancouver. He did the treatment on a Tuesday, and I felt tired and dopey up until Sunday. Monday morning I woke up clear eyed and ready to take on the world! I also happened to see my Liver Specialist that day to go over blood results.
When he saw me, he couldn’t believe the great improvement he saw again from the last bad flare up. (it was so bad he was really pushing the drugs that time!) His actual words: “When I saw your results, they made me smile.” He can’t even bring up the drugs again because now I don’t qualify to take them! Yes-that’s a good thing!!

Its now been a month since then and I feel absolutely fantastic. I still need treatments and doing my regular blood tests, but I know that the ‘scary’ numbers aren’t as scary anymore.

Until next time team, keeping an open mind doesn’t mean having to believe in all the alternative methods of treatments out there… but it sure is nice to know we have a choice in that matter- its your body & health, you decide how you want to take care of it.

Health respect & happiness,
Beki

MOMMY MONday: Does your posture stand up to the test?

Greetings Team!
Before I continue w/ the subject at hand..I want to apologize for not being around for so long. After that wonderful trip to mexico, I really fell off the horse, but I’m back! Better than ever!
Okay, shall we continue?

During pregnancy, one of the biggest issues (besides weight gain?) would be posture. With your weight being thrown off balance, your joints will start to bend and form in ways to compensate for the new weight – which usually doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. Think the ‘duck walk’..or ‘waddle’… or the forward belly lean (oh! The stress on your poor lumbar vertebrae and erector spinae! ß that’s your lower back)

A few tips to off set this:

Think TALL. Lift your head and chin up, hold in your stomach, tuck your buttocks in and under, shoulder back, and chest up. Even more important for injury prevention, be careful to keep good posture, alignment and balance when exercising.

DON’T WEAR HEELS!! Wear flat or low-heeled shoes with good arch support. However, avoid shoes that are too flat, such as cheap tennis shoes, especially when exercising. Your feet will thank you for investing in a pair of good, supportive runners!

Wear a good supportive bra daily – and nightly when necessary. It’ll help prevent upper back strain and keep your bust from sagging as it becomes heavier. During exercise you may need not just one, but two good sport bras for adequate support!

POSTURAL SELF-TEST
The best way to check your own posture is from the side. Look at your profile in a full length mirror and answer these questions:
1.Is your chest up – or flat/concave?
2.Are your shoulders up and back – or rounded forward or leaning too far back?
3.Is your back curved naturally – or arched too much, or is it flat?
4.Are your knees soft – or hyperextended backward or bent forward?
5.Do you have regular foot arches – or are they high or flat?

The first segment of each question demonstrates proper posture. If any of your answers were in the latter part, you need to work on improving your posture.

Next week I’ll cover some postural exercises for you to practice!

Until next time team, I always say: be proud of who you are, where you are and what you are doing..you’re a mommy- the most proudest pple out there, so stand proud!

Health respect & happiness,

Beki

FOODY FRIDAY: Organic, quick, easy and affordable!

I know that some of you don’t believe that healthy can taste good, but I sure have found some quick, simple and easy ways to put together some basic staples and made it taste yummmmy!

They can both be used as breakfast, a snack or even a light lunch!
They’re both also great for dairy, wheat and gluten sensitive folks out there!

Ingredients:
2 toasted Artisan wheat/yeast free rye toast
½ avocado
2 hard boiled eggs
*all ingredients are organic



Toast the bread, spread the avocado however way you like, slice the eggs and place on top! Feel free to add a pinch of sea salt if you like, enjoy!!


Ingredients:
2 toasted Artisan wheat/yeast free rye toast
garlic goat cheese
4 strawberries
*all ingredients are organic



Toast the bread, spread the goat cheese onto the bread, slice up strawberries and place on top! This is such a refreshing lunch or snack! Mmm..

Until next time team, by incorporating just a few of these healthy meals/snacks a couple times a week, you will begin to want to do more and more..and before you know it, it’ll be 2nd nature!

Health respect & happiness,
Beki

TIP TUESday: Enjoy your vacation without sabotaging your progress!

As we are all aware by now, I enjoyed a whole week in sunny, beautiful puerta vallarta for a week. All inclusive is the way to go for easy breezy non-stressful vacationing. But how did I manage to reap the benefits of the vacationing offerings without hurting my workout regime and progress I have had thus far with my Body Transformation??

Read on my dear friend…

Everyone needs to learn how to relax in a hammock at least once in their life!



I did NOT hold back on what I wanted to eat. (except the obvious things I couldn’t eat..like red meat and alcohol. Yep, those were the only two restrictions I kept up with. I gave in to deep fried, I gave in to dairy, I gave in to…well, you get the point)

The biggest thing I found that helped me was FRAME OF MIND. You are on vacation? Make sure you ENJOY yourself…relax…be happy…stop stressing about food and just ENJOY it! And that doesn’t mean to stuff yourself to the point of combustion, it means to go ahead and taste the different dishes that you want to try and eat until you are content.
**Proven fact: I had a client who used to complain to me about how much she stresses about food and that no matter what she tried she would gain weight and not be able to lose anything. So I told her to STOP thinking about it. To stop stressing about food, and start to eat what she wanted without worrying about her weight. And also balance this out with doing active things which made her happy. She had a hard time wrapping her head around this but said she would try to do this for a month.
What happened? A month later, she sees me with the biggest smile on her face and said that for once, she is happy AND she had lost weight. She stopped worrying about calories, about what she couldn’t eat, and even noticed that she would choose healthier options on her own as well as absentmindedly ate proper portions.
Amazing isn’t it? Not really… its pretty simple. **

Just a FEW of the yummy dishes I put into my belly...






Commit to at least 2-3 days to the gym. I only spent 3 days at the resort gym. All 3 days I hit the weights in the morning. Then later in the day when I needed a break from the sun, I would go back and do a quick 20 min cardio session.

Spend the rest of the days utilizing the beach, pool and disco!! Walking along the beach and fighting the massive waves was great for my legs and core/stability strength! (only did that 1 day) Also joined one of their activities on the beach..yoga on the beach! (was only 20 mins of stretching really) Spent another day in the pool playing games with locals (which attributed to washing off my sunscreen and causing me to burn!). And finally, had 2 nights of dancing in the disco (3 hours non-stop!) and 1 night dancing out doors to a live Mexican band (I’d say maybe an hour or so).

I didn’t do this during this particular trip (although, my 2 previous Mexican trips I did) but you can sign up for a day excursion or take a taxi ride into town and WALK. A few hours walking through the streets, eating their street food and talking to locals will do you a lot of good!!

Had to show ya their local gym! Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to go inside.


If you haven’t already read the previous post to this, you will notice that my progress is still steadily going great even with this week long break.

Until next time team, when it comes to deciding on vacationing in the middle of a ‘workout goal’-who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?!!??

Health respect & happiness,
beki