There are some folks out there that have a fear of fat. It comes in a few different ways but trust me, it shows.

One way is in the judgemental way people act towards other people who do carry a bit, or in some cases much, more "insulation" or fat than they need.

A 2nd is the fear that they themselves will become fat if they ingest any fat into their body.

And yet another is that one may become fat by being near another person who is heavier than the 1st person likes.

I have a real problem with all of these. Now, I'm sure we've all reacted to a seriously obese person waddling down the street eating an ice cream cone. We've all thought, wow, what the H___ are they doing? That sure isn't going to help them at all. Right? Look in the mirror and be honest with yourself. You have. I know I've thought it from time to time. As a trainer, I want to help this person but some people think they have the right to humiliate this person.

Its as if they believe that the victim/recipient of this venom has no idea that there is more fat than necessary on their body. Seriously? People are well aware of their body fat, you morons. Sorry, judgemental.

This can be incredibly rude and hurtful to the recipient. It never ceases to amaze me how some people seem to believe that their opinion is of such value and demand that they may say any and everything they wish and to whomever they wish. Wrong! You don't.

First of all, we have no idea of their story. It could be medical, emotional, genetics and so on. It's not necessarily that this person is lazy as some would like to think. Maybe it is, either way, not your business.

Obesity can be fixed to an extent. I'm not so sure about dumb a__holery.

The next one, well, thats a head wound, so to speak. There's an emotional issue here I think. Maybe not but I do think so.

The body needs fat for various reasons;
1) Fat insulates the nerve endings to help prevent mis-firings.
2) Fat is a major part of our thermo-regulation system. It helps us stay warm when it's cold and burns to keep us cold when we're hot. Important!!!!!!
3) It surrounds the brain inside the skull to keep the brain from being bashed around on a hard rock.
4) It's fuel.

There are good fats and not-so-good fats. They're avocados and olive oil and other plant-based oils, nuts, nut butters, seeds and olives.

Now, don't just go out and eat a boat-load of these foods but moderation will help you greatly. Common sense always. They'll increase the sense of saity and give you lots of flavor.

The body can digest foods that are closer to nature rather than a lot of the processed "reduced or low-fat and fat free" options out there. For heavens sake, have you tasted the difference between fat-free and the real version of a food?" Yuck! Fake cheese tastes like rubber. No thank you.

Here's a section from an article published in 2002 in the Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, Winter 2002. By Lori Lipinski, http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/taking-the-fear-out-of-eating-fat/

"Priming Your Gallbladder for Fats
Is your gallbladder ready for fat? If you’re an American, chances are you’ve experienced problems with your gall bladder at one time or another. Typical gallbladder symptoms include: gas (especially burping after meals), a full or heavy feeling after meals, bloating, “acid reflux” (after meals and at night when lying down), pain in right side radiating into right shoulder blade, loose or light colored stools that float.
Two things that the gallbladder doesn’t like are bad fats and no fats. Bad fats, like processed vegetable oils, are difficult to digest and put a lot of stress on the gallbladder. The gallbladder is a little sac that sits along side your liver. The liver produces bile, a substance made from cholesterol that emulsifies fat and makes it easier to digest. The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile, then secretes it into the small intestines when fats are present. If you don’t eat fat, the gallbladder won’t get any exercise and can begin to atrophy.
If you’ve eaten mostly bad fats in your life or have spent many years on a lowfat diet, chances are your gallbladder will need a little work before you will be able to completely digest generous amounts of good fats in your diet. Start by practicing good digestive habits (discussed in the Spring 2002 issue) and enhance your digestion with raw apple cider vinegar. Mix 1 teaspoon with 2-4 ounces water and drink with meals. A nice acid environment in the stomach stimulates the gallbladder to do its job. For additional support, I recommend Dr. Schulze’s formula to cleanse the liver and gallbladder. It’s called the L/GB-AP formula, call 800-HERBDOC to order.
Other helpful remedies include Swedish Bitters, 1 teaspoon in water taken just after meals, and lacto-fermented foods such as saurkraut and beet kvass.
Coconut oil is very easy on the gall bladder because the preponderance of short- and medium-chain fatty acids it contains do not require bile salts for digestion. If you are just beginning to add fats to your diet after many years of lowfat foods, your best choice in the start is coconut oil."

Eat the real thing people. You'll feel much better in the long run.

Now, the last one is really cruel in my humble opinion. Not wanting to be near a "fat" person for fear of catching it. Do some reading and research folks, not catching. There, I'm done with this 1. I might get too snarky if I go on here and I got pretty close to that already, didn't I.?.

Bottom line, we all have something we can improve on. For some it might be visible to the naked eye but for others it may not be. Before you speak or react, look in the mirror. Try to be helpful, not hurtful.

Movin' on

I had the wonderful privilege to attend a citizenship ceremony this week. This person is a co-worker from Mexico who finally took the test and became a United States citizen. I was so happy for her and proud to be there for her.

In these times of political foolishness and importance, I found it moving beyond words, to witness so many different people become Americans.

To all of those I say, Welcome home. Thank you. I can't wait to see the gifts and strengths they bring to our nation.

Remember folks, be kind to one another. Stay well and keep dancing.

Peace

Good morning everyone. Another week of work coming at me. May I just say that my weekends are way too short. I could truly use another day to just be. You?

I see the debates and election actions are continuing to take on a horrible, embarrassing turn. I won't say more but ...

I did a lot of cooking again this weekend. I made BBQ chicken, and a grilled pork tenderloin roast.

Someone suggested I try steaming the chicken 1st for 20 min. and then tossing onto the grill so I did. I also brined the pork roast 1st for 30 min.

I haven't eaten the chicken yet bit I did eat some of the pork and it was fabulous. WOW! It was tender, juicy and of course, yummy to the max. Remember, you only need to grill the roast for about 20 min. total. Turn it 1/2 way through. I rubbed some spices on it when I put it on the grill at about 400-450 degrees. Turn the grill down to 400 degrees when you turn it and the let it rest/grill in the oven/grill for 5 min. turned off. Then I let it rest out of the heat before cutting.

I also threw some sliced zucchini on the grill too. I do love grilled veggies. Such amazing flavor.

Now for some training info. We as a species, tend to work what we see. That means we work the anterior or front of our body's and barely touch the posterior or back of our body's. Well, well, well. Wrong! We need to engage the posterior side to balance and stabilize, to have postural alignment and frankly, to move efficiently through space.

I've worked with some clients whose posterior chain is almost completely non-working. All work being done was by the quadriceps and abs with no firing of glutes, hamstrings and back muscles. This results in poor bio-mechnanical movements, poor stability and balance, difficulty in transferring weight properly to perform fluid movement.

One client in particular wants to dance and it was extremely difficult to do. The movements were blocky and awkward but now, after working on some basic postural work from feet to head, we've really begun to turn things around for this client. I do love this work.

It's the hamstrings and glutes that do a lot of the 'lift" in our posture. Instead many of us just allow them to roll down the back of our legs and fall to the floor. Ok, ok, not quite that bad but you get my drift, yes? Good. Moving on. 

Another problem is that many trainers forget the effect the feet have on alignment. Remember the entire kinetic chain. The "lift" has to begin at the bottom. Proper foot bio-mechanics is essential. Pressing down to lift is a difficult concept for most but it is necessary to be grounded.

I prefer to try to engage the body as a whole so I've incorporated some of Dr. Burdenko's work here. I use mostly body weight work and movement. We don't just stand still, we move so why not work the body through movement, eh.?.

The results have been amazing for this client. I couldn't be any happier for them. There's more work to do but this client is getting excited again and the possibilities are endless now.

Waking up the posterior chain has given grace and power to their movements and has been noticed by others.

It's not about only working 1 body part at a time. To begin with the feet, we used a Sole Energizer ball to open up the feet and re-align the bones and muscles gently. This ball, or dome, helps wake the muscles of the feet, increase blood flow, and create space through the 26 bones of the foot. This allows the potential for correct bio-mechanics in walking. We also began some work on the Beamfit beam. Working on the soft surface barefoot also makes the muscles in the feet wake up and refresh O2. The foundation, if you will, of the body can be responsible for many structural ills we have. If you don't have these items you can also stand an a fitness mat and that can offer some instability and force some work in the feet and upwards.

Both of these things can impact the entire kinetic chain of the body to re-align and perform with a better precision.

Remember, adding extra weight isn't always the best plan of attack. Why add weight if you can't handle your own body weight correctly? Eh? Get it right, then add weight.

Have fun, keep dancing.

Peace

It's Valentines Day. A day for love and hope of love. I hope this day finds you happy and healthy. It's also Presidents weekend so many of you will have a 3 day weekend. Lucky you!

Not me. I always get to work on holidays. Oh well, I knew what I was getting into when I took the job, right?

As to my weight-loss plan, I've dropped another #, bringing me closer to my weight prior to my vacation. I'm only 3#'s away from that weight again and then I'll consider what I lose as weight-loss. Just me. Just the way I am.

I've been continuing my early spring cleaning. My office is looking so much better. I am my fathers daughter in that I save every piece of paper for the longest time. I can't believe how much paper and mags I've thrown away these last few weeks. Ridiculous! I even changed the shades in the office from wicker to bamboo and natural to maroon in the hopes of blocking out some of the heat that comes in from those sliders and add some more pizzazz.

I've also been working on my taxes. Yuck! I wish the forms and questions would stop changing every year. Annoying. They make it so difficult to figure out if you have deductions. Oh well, I have my sis G. go over it for me 'cuz I always have questions.

I hope you got a chance to try some of my recipes on my nutrition page. I do love to cook. 

It's been quite some time since I've posted. Hope you missed me, but much has gone on. 3 people I know have had surgery since and I've visited 2 of them and cooked a meal for them. Sorry, I. I don't even know where you are anymore.

I've made a marinated beef sandwich on a roll + baked potato (sour cream included) for 1 and a beef stew for the 2nd. Yes, I did get some of my wears and I believe they were both scrumptious. I've posted both recipes before so you can let me know if I need to re-post. Otherwise I won't.

The flu and/or whatever new viral bug has hit us all at work. So bloody miserable. One person even ended up with pneumonia from it all. The cough and the wonderful muck that comes with it have finally vacated my person but 1 by 1, we've all gotten some bit of it. 

This is exactly what I felt like doing but ya just can't at work, can ya?

People, PLEASE, if you're sick stay home! You do no one no good going in when you're ill. You just help get everyone else sick and you don't get better. Good grief!

Wash your hands often, take care of yourself, drink fluids, take whatever tinctures you like to take but stay the hell home.

Thank you. My tirade is over, as is my virus.

I've been on a dating site and 1 thing I don't like, and maybe I'm in the minority here, is someone calling me darling and sweetie that doesn't know me. Never met me, never spoken with me but that is in the opening line as a greeting or salutation. To me, thats for after the 1st meeting. Not sure how long after but after. It's too intimate for a stranger. I'm pleased that someone thinks I'm pretty and all and thats fine to say so but not pet names. Am I nuts? It makes me uncomfortable. Oh well, I decided to express it to him. Yes, I was polite about it but I just thought he might appreciate the truth as to my decision to not pursue a connection. Thoughts?

As for my office, it looks so good. I still need to adjust the equipment in the corner but it is so much more organized now. Yay!

Delilah has really come out of her shell. She rarely has me holding the leash on her (although with this early spring we're having the bunnys out in full force) she runs a ways and then stops and waits for me. She has, on 2 occasions, chased a bunny and then came back when I called her. So different from when I 1st got her. I am so thrilled to let her run a little.

I've been having difficulty getting in some extra workouts lately although I did go back to dance class finally, only to have this whole week be no classes as my teacher is out of town. UGH! Oh well, I'll be back to it and it did feel great to be back again and moving. Yup! My butt & back were sore.

Off to check on the chicken on the grill.

Peace out and keep dancing.