YOUR NO EXCUSE GUIDE TO TONING WHILE TRAVELING AND STAYING FIT WHEN FLYING THIS SUMMER

Many fitness enthusiasts find it difficult to follow their normal exercise plan while traveling. Unfamiliar environments, tightly-scheduled business meetings, or lack of exercise equipment may hamper even a fitness fanatic's best intentions for staying fit while on the road. Franci Cohen is a personal trainer, certified nutritionist, exercise physiologist and creator of SPIDERBANDS®. When planning your next business trip or vacation, she offers the following tips for putting together an exercise program that travels with you.

If you've worked hard to establish a good fitness routine, going on a business trip doesn't have to mean your healthy habits will be derailed. You can keep your momentum and endorphins flowing and maintain your fitness level when traveling. How? For one thing, keep moving. "Drink a minimum of eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day. Airport food, sitting on a plane, jet lag - all contribute to bloat. The best way to fight it is to stay hydrated," says Franci Cohen. Use good body mechanics when you lift your suitcases up to the check-in counter. Lift from your knees, not your back. Be aware of your posture as you carry your bags.  

Even though you've left behind your daily routine, try to eat three meals a day, maintain a balanced diet and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. If you're going to eat a high-fat meal, eat a smaller portion, or order an appetizer instead of a main course. Split desserts with a friend. Rest. If your schedule is shot and you're not sleeping enough at night, take cat naps whenever you get the chance.  Stretch in the morning and evening, especially if you've been sitting all day. If you will be drinking alcohol at business mixers, drink a lot of water between events.  Pack snacks: bananas and apples, yogurt, protein bars. You can make meal replacement shakes in your room. You don't need a blender, just a container with a tight fitting lid, large enough to shake the contents.

To find out if your gym reciprocates its membership with a gym where you'll be traveling, log onto the International Physical Fitness Association's Web site, http://www.ipfa.us/, or ask at your home health club before you leave town. Franci Cohen says that, "Three to five days off from a strength routine can give your muscles a rest. But you wouldn't want to go a week or more without serious exercise and a short respite for your biceps doesn't mean you should ever let your cardio workout go."

-      Ask your travel agent about hotels that offer fully equipped gyms, pools, and/or other fitness facilities.
-      Bring along a CD or iPod with your favorite music and work out in the privacy of your hotel room.
-      Pack a jump rope for a go-anywhere aerobic session. Invest in "travel weights" -inflatable weights that can be filled with water or sand when training, folded and stored while on the road.
-      Plan active recreation during vacations -check out the local golf course, riding stable, and so on.
-      When sightseeing, forget the tour bus and walk. You'll not only see more, but you'll be sneaking in some extra activity.

For more fitness options, place in your luggage a Resist-A-Tube or any of the home exercise tubing, a stability ball, jump rope or exercise video. ''If you like classes, make your own class in your room,'' offers Franci Cohen. If you work with a personal trainer, ask him or her to design an exercise plan before you leave town. When you're sitting on a plane or in a conference room, take deep breaths occasionally, tighten your stomach muscles, then relax. 

Travelers need to periodically flex and stretch the hamstrings and hip flexors, the muscle at the upper part of the leg that connects into the pelvis. For women who spend the day in high heels, a walk around the room toe-up, heel-down will stretch the calf muscles. Or, do toe raises by putting the heels on the floor and stepping up onto a telephone book. "Men often complain of being cramped when traveling," states Cohen. "They need to stretch their lower back and legs." She recommends the cat stretch. Get up on your hands and knees, arch your back for 15 seconds, then release. Repeat.

Franci Cohen points out that the more comfortable you are with operating fitness machinery at your home gym, the easier it will be to set up unfamiliar equipment when you're on the road.

FIT FLYING

Air travel may be fast and convenient, but for many of us, it can be uncomfortable and restrictive due to cramped cabins and sardine-like seating. The following tips can help you make the most of your next airplane trip by helping you stay flexible and fit while you fly.

-      DEEP BREATHING is an instant-relaxer and can be done anywhere at any time. Try taking 4-5 deep, cleansing breaths several times during your flight.

-      RELAX YOUR SHOULDERS by bending forward slightly, hands on knees and "rolling" your shoulders in a circular motion 5 or 6 times. Repeat the "roll" in the opposite direction, then finish up by "shrugging" your shoulders up and down 5 times.

-      RELAX YOUR BACK by reaching overhead, holding elbows, and bending side to side. Repeat 5 times in each direction.

-      STRETCH YOUR LEGS by alternately lifting your knees toward your chest and bringing your body toward your knee to the count of eight.

-      RELEASE YOUR FEET by "drawing" the alphabet with one foot then the other.

Meet Franci Cohen:

 

Franci Cohen is a personal trainer, certified nutritionist, exercise physiologist and creator of SPIDERBANDS®, a total-body cardio resistance workout that leverages gravity and your bodyweight with other intense exercise modules such as rebounding, kickboxing and indoor cycling.  With over 18 years of experience, Franci has been a mainstay in the fitness and nutrition industries. Franci believes in a tough love approach to fitness and health.  "We all have our fitness wake-up call at some point in our lives and it can be a powerful catalyst for change," says Franci. "Unfortunately, many people overcompensate and try to change everything at once, which is a disaster. Making lasting change involves going through stages that aren't necessarily linear.  People fluctuate and transition between the stages. Knowing how to move through them can get you where you want to be."

Franci devotes much of her time to Fuel Fitness, a specialty fitness center in Brooklyn, NY and continues to teach group fitness classes, train clients and broaden her perspective in all areas of fitness, nutrition and wellness.  She designs unique fitness modules and group exercise programs for her clients utilizing the most effective and popular products, tools and exercise equipment available.  "Exercise is one of the most important things you can do for your health, but sometimes it's hard to just get motivated.  My goal is to keep it fun and interesting by creating out-of-the-box programs that wow my clients with both the innovative nature of the classes, as well as with the rapid results they see in their bodies!  My classes are the ultimate playground where fitness meets fun, and nothing is off limits!"

Education:

-       Triple Bachelors Degree

-       Masters in Nutrition

-       Masters in Exercise Physiology

Certifications:

-       Nutritionist

-       Group Exercise Instructor

-       Group Fitness Specialist

-       Personal Trainer

-       Lifeguard/Professional Rescuer

-       Indoor Cycling Instructor

Certifying Institutions

-       Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (A.N.D.) 

-       American College of Sports Medicine

-       National Academy of Sports Medicine

-       American Council on Exercise (ACE)

-       American Fitness Association of American (AFAA)

-       Mad Dog Athletics

-       American Red Cross

Franci has been married for 14 years and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and four children.    

https://www.facebook.com/FranciCohenFitness

Gluten-Free Cottage Cheese Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Gluten-Free Cottage Cheese Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup gluten-free oatmeal (Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 banana

Directions:
1. Blend in a blender all the ingredients and one half of banana until smooth.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and spray lightly with cooking
spray.
3. Pour the batter onto the skillet in medium sized circles and cook for 2-3
minutes, or until bubbles form on the edges.
4. Flip and then cook for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Remove from skillet and top with fresh fruit or 1 tbsp. natural peanut butter and sliced banana.

Makes about 5-7 medium size pancakes.

Our kids really loved this breakfast.  They ate it with apple butter and maple syrup.  We also ate them with fried eggs.  These are a great hardy breakfast that are healthy.

NOTE: You may also use non gluten-free oats to make these pancakes.  Just remember that if not using the gluten-free those on a gluten-free diet can't eat them.

Contributed by Heidi and adapted from BodyBuilding.com

Are You an Effective Leader?

Do today¹s younger female generations have the skills and knowledge to become effective leaders?  Do they have the skills necessary to survive today¹s choppy business waters? 

The answer is yes.  Over the last few years, more women have become highly successful senior-level executives and business owners.  More women are also entering male dominated professions every day.  However, there are still women who are just entering the workforce, settling into senior level positions, or just launching a business who lack the appropriate leadership skills. 

As a way to help women develop the leadership skills they need to navigate today¹s complex business environment, best-selling author and career coach, Gail McMeekin wrote the book, The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women.  Broken down into twelve secrets, Gail teaches all of the things that women need to know to develop and sharpen their leadership skills to get ahead today.  Throughout the book, she offers insightful and informative tips on:

·       Easy ways to increase self-confidence

·       Advice on setting boundaries and developing strong negotiating skills  

·       The real keys to overcoming challenges and setbacks in today¹s business world

·       Tips to make career changes fueled by passion and purpose 

·       And other ideas.

The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women is a must-read for anyone looking to achieve success and get ahead today. 

Gail is also the author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, The Power of Positive Choices, and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life.  She also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune.  

Gail McMeekin is the founder and president of Creative Success, LLC, and the author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women and The Power of Positive Choices.  Her work has been featured in Redbook, The Boston Globe, Health, Investor's Business Daily, The Sunday New York Times and other national publications, and she is a frequent guest on radio and television. 

McMeekin holds an MSW from Boston University, a certificate in Human Resource Management from Bentley College, and completed the coursework for the Coaches Training Institute.  She lives in the Boston area with her husband, Rusty.  For more information, please visit her at www.creativesuccess.com.

Why Can’t You Lose Weight?

By Eduardo Castro, MD

Are you among the growing number of distressed people who do not lose weight when they diet earnestly? Or you may lose just a few pounds, nowhere near the amount you expected to lose. And easy weight gain after dieting is common, even when your diet is good.
If so, you likely have Fat Loss Resistance Syndrome (FLRS). FLRS is a chronic medical condition that prevents, or minimizes, weight loss when you diet. It is the result of triggering survival mechanisms that allowed man to live through lengthy periods of searching for food, back in time when a next meal was not a certainty.
These survival mechanisms can be inappropriately triggered today in our world of plenty, and the result is FLRS. It usually has three underlying factors that can be corrected:

1. Disruption of the hormones that regulate fat storage and energy   utilization
2. Excessive inflammation
3. Unhealthy genetic expression

Hormones
We have in our genetic blueprint an exquisite ability to assess and regulate precisely how much energy we store. We do not store protein and we store enough sugar for only a burst of activity. But we adapted to store enough fat to fuel the hunt for food for weeks.
As energy stores begin to deplete, it activates a cascade of hormonal changes that preserve fat by both decreasing metabolic rate and by making more fat whenever possible. Hormones can even direct the breakdown of muscle and organ tissues for energy to preserve fat stores.
If this cascade of hormones, meant to save us from starvation, gets triggered when we have more than sufficient fat stores, the picture of FLRS emerges. The first step in correcting FLRS is to regain proper hormone regulation. The usual suspects are insulin, leptin, thyroid, and cortisol, and adrenalin and estrogen can also play a role. Typically, the following must be addressed to overcome FLRS.

• Insulin resistance
• Leptin resistance
• Low thyroid functioning even with normal blood testing
• Elevated cortisol levels
• Adrenalin resistance
• Excessive estrogen activity

By the way, although the causes of FLRS can get complicated, the solutions are straightforward. Plus, the causes of FLRS are interrelated so working on one often has a favorable effect on the others.
Inflammation
Inflammation is an important part of healthy immune functioning. It is a defense against invading microoragnisms and impedes the spread of infection, cleans up cellular debris and dead cells, and promotes healing. But like a nice bonfire getting out of control, excessive inflammation damages. Excessive inflammation is not only present in FLRS, it is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, autism, arthritis, auto-immune disease, and severe allergies. It promotes asthma and cancer.
Excessive inflammation results from poor diets and from toxic substances. But in this world dominated by multinational corporations whose only concern is the bottom line, clean, high quality food is expensive and difficult to find, and avoidance of toxic substances is impossible. This means if you have FLRS, you are going to have to work harder than most people to eat well and to minimize your toxic exposures. And some will need to work at detoxification as well.
An additional problem with inflammation and FLRS is that there is a vicious cycle present: excess fat increases inflammation and inflammation promotes the hormone disruptions that lead to obesity. It is well worth the efforts to eating healthy and reducing toxic load to break the cycle.
Genetic Expression
The notion that our genes largely determine our fate has been substantially modified. It has become clear that genes can be active or inactive and that various combinations of active and inactive genes can result in markedly different outcomes.
The field of science that studies what affects gene expression is epigenetics. To our great advantage epigenetics research indicates that there are several factors within our control that significantly affect our gene expression. Since FLRS becomes established via unhealthy gene expression, take particular note of these:

• Diet – eating the foods we are genetically adapted to turns on healthy gene expression
• Bowel health – microbes that inhabit our bowels influence weight, energy levels, sleep patterns, emotional regulation
• Toxic burden – avoidance and improved detoxification are key
• Vitamin D level (specifically, the 25-OH Vitamin D level) – Vitamin D affects at least 20% of our gene expression and should be optimized to a blood level of 60-80 ng/ml
• Physical activity -   
• Beliefs – not just being optimistic or hopeful but choosing to conduct yourself (thoughts and actions) as though your chosen belief is already in the process of becoming reality and having the feelings of profound gratitude (in the case of FLRS, the gratitude, relief, and joy you will experience when you are at a healthy body weight)

  So how do you overcome FLRS and become able to lose weight?

• Eat healthy food, i.e., foods man is genetically adapted to, but do not restrict calories until FLRS is corrected
• Reduce your exposure to toxic substances
• Enhance your detoxification processes
• Avoid foods that cause an inflammatory reaction in your gut
• Achieve optimal thyroid functioning

There are other considerations that, when addressed, help overcome FLRS:

• Stress Management – particularly important since FLRS itself is highly stressful physically, emotionally, and psychologically
• Medications – avoiding those that cause weight gain

Treating FLRS allows people to overcome the array of physiological problems that prevent them from losing weight. By helping people determine what the most likely underlying problems are, they are able to focus their attention and effort on correcting the problems and then they can begin losing weight.
Eduardo Castro, M.D. is the owner and Medical Director for the Mount Rogers Clinic in Troutdale, VA where he has worked for twenty years. He attended Dartmouth College, did an internship at Georgetown University Hospital and completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Virginia Hospitals. Dr. Castro is the co-author of two books on neurofeedback with Robert Hill, PhD, Getting Rid of Ritalin and Healing Young Brains. For more information on his newest book, When Diets Work: Overcoming Fat Loss Resistance please visit:  www.whendietswork.com