At FRESH!, we see most of the people we see at our studio have come to us to lose weight, get in better shape, or in some way change their body.  They come in fixated on the exercise and nutrition components and sad stories of how they’ve failed at so many past attempts to change.

Not to toot our own horn, but we are great at helping people reach their goals.  The (not so) secret strategy is that for many of these people, we don’t focus on the fitness or nutrition.  Sure, that’s an important part, and something which will help them along the path to success; but the biggest improvements come in the area of MINDSET!  What Jack is talking about in this video is one part of mindset (worry), but the concept is the same.

NOTHING IN YOUR LIFE WILL CHANGE, UNTIL YOU FIRST CHANGE YOUR MIND!!

We see people every day who are frustrated about how they “can’t” lose weight, “can’t” find the time, “can’t” ____, but the biggest thing that has to change are their internal thought patterns and consequently, their outlook on life.  Without going too “The Secret” on you, it’s important to remember that every thought you have shapes your perception of the things you encounter in life.  The only thing you can truly control is your own mind.  Once you begin doing this, you will be amazed at the things which happen in your life.

This is one of the reasons why our clients who see great fitness and body composition results also say that not only has their body changed, but their entire life has been transformed.  From relationships, to career, social situations, and self confidence, the benefits of changing your mind are endless!

So, if you’ve been struggling to see the results you want, perhaps its time to take a look “between your ears”…and give us a call.  We will help you transform your mind and thoughts through our unique approach to health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness (because the mind and body are completely connected)!

Have fun and an amazing day!

I’m curious.  Let me know your thoughts!

check out this video

Lindsay is still with FRESH! and has become one of the Superstars in our group program.  From where she started on Day 1, it’s been a remarkable journey that transformed virtually every aspect of her life from her thoughts, self-confidence, family relations, work, relationships, fitness level, and body.

The entire Team at FRESH! are happy to have Lindsay as part of our community and look forward to helping her reach all of the new and exciting goals we can dream up together!

Thanks Lindsay for the great energy and enthusiasm that you bring to our studio!  See you at the next workout!

Your skin is the largest organ in your body and everything you put on it gets absorbed into your system…including chemicals and toxins!

Once you start looking at what many beauty and skin care products are made of, it’s completely shocking that you are putting these things into your body each day!  You would never think of eating those ingredients, yet by putting them on your hair, face, skin to be absorbed by your body, you are essentially doing just that!

A simple rule to live by is… “If I wouldn’t eat it, then it shouldn’t go on my body!”.
Everything from shampoo and conditioner, hand wash and lotion, skin care and make up gets absorbed into your skin and ends up circulating through your blood stream and is dealt with by your liver.

If this fact has shocked you into paying attention, here are a few ingredients that you should avoid…

Animal by products (tallow)
This is a product that comes from a rendering plant.  Google it to see what it’s made of.  You will be surprised!

Formaldehyde
Often used as a preservative.  It is highly toxic and has links to cancer and other serious conditions.

Mineral Oil
The molecules in Mineral Oil are too large to be absorbed, so it ends up creating a film or barrier on the skin.  The problem is that nothing beneficial is absorbed and also, no toxins can be released.

Perfumes and Artificial Colours.
These are just more synthetic chemicals and add absolutely no functionality to the product

These are just a few ingredients to avoid.  There are MANY more, but this should keep your eyes busy on your next shopping trip.

By now you are probably asking…”So, what should I be using?”  Well, while there is no perfect product for everyone, there are some great ways to ensure that you are getting the best possible quality in a product.  Look for products that are…

• Botanically based, 100% certified vegan

• Contains no artificial colors, perfumes, or toxic chemicals

If you suffer from Celiac disease, gluten intolerance, allergies, or other conditions, it is even more important to know what is in your products.  You will experience much more rapid and harsh symptoms that people without such conditions.

In addition to the ingredients in your products, it is also important to think about how the product was manufactured and the packaging that is used.  Today, there is no excuse for inefficient manufacturing or excess waste, so look for a company that is committed to being green in the true sense, not just for marketing purposes!  This can be found by researching the company, looking atthe ingredients, and voting with where you spend your money!

I hope you found this information beneficial!  I love helping people choose quality products that are pure, safe, and produce great results.

You are welcome to visit my website for more information or contact me for a free personal consultation.

This “wake-up” call helped spur Brad to completely change his lifestyle.  It’s been over a year and he is a completely different person now!  Check out the video to hear his story.

1. Take the Stairs!
   Instead of the elevator or escalator, take the stairs when possible.  Start with a small number of flights if you are unfit, and build up.  Eventually you will be doing many flights each day as part of your normal routine and the fitness benefits will accumulate!
2. Walk more each day!
   Park a little further from your office and walk in, walk to meet with colleagues face to face instead of texting them, book lunch a few blocks from the office and walk there.  Take a walk in the evening with your spouse, kids, dog, friend or even on your own.
3. Move at least once per hour!
   The human body was meant to MOVE!  Set a reminder in your calendar to STAND up, STRETCH, and do mini EXERCISE breaks.  This doesn’t have to be a workout in the traditional sense, but spend 1 minute per hour moving you body.  Your productivity and alertness will improve and you will have WAY less aches and pains from sitting all day.

As you can see, these tips are ridiculously simple! The sad part is so few people actually do them.  Yet these are the same people who are frustrated by a lack of results and who continually search for the newest fitness gadget, program, or fad diet to help them lose weight.

We all know that stuff doesn’t work for the long term, so if you want to get fit, lose weight, and feel amazing, it’s time to go back to the basics and “kick it ‘old school’”!

Here are a few simple stretches you can do at your desk.

It’s a great time of year to spend a few days with those we love and to give thanks for all of the privileges we enjoy in life.  Like most holidays, it’s also a time of indulgence and plenty.  While indulging is a great thing to do, it doesn’t have to be a complete disaster for your fitness and nutrition plans.  In fact, if you are on a proper plan and not some crazy crash diet, indulgence is a regular part of your life and will make you more successful in the long run.  (FRESH! believes in the 90/10 rule.  Each clean 90% of the time, and your body will easily handle your indulgences 10% of the time)

At FRESH!, there are a few key principles we follow that guide our actions each day and help our clients see such amazing results!  In this post, I’ve compiled a few of these gems and also added in a couple great Thanksgiving workouts for you to do (because exercise and physical activity should be a regular part of each day).

The Big Picture

• Do something ACTIVE every day (this can be anything from stretching, a walk, or an intense strength workout)
• Mix up your intensity (Easy, Moderate, Intense)
• Mix up your style of training (strength, cardio, agility, balance, power, etc.)
• Learn new skills and try new things.  Your training should help you grow as a person
• Live each day and make your decisions based on who you ASPIRE to be, not who you are now

Ok, on to some specific Thanksgiving Tips

• Prepare your meal using the BEST QUALITY ingredients from the best sources (forget about low fat and stuff like that)
• Eat your meal on a SIDE PLATE and have only ONE serving (that means more for leftovers!)
• Do something ACTIVE after your meal (get your family up and go for a walk or take the kids outside to play)
• Eat at regular intervals throughout the weekend (AVOID starving yourself…it will help you avoid overeating)
• Enjoy dessert, but keep the portion small

OK, now that the basics are out of the way, here are some more advanced tips.  Thanksgiving is a busy time.  Schedules are packed, there is a lot of preparation, and workouts are one of the first things to go.  That’s why I’ve put together 2 simple workouts for you.  They don’t require any equipment, the time needed is VERY short, and you can do them anywhere…even in your kitchen!

Express Workout #1

• Body Weight Squats (20)
• Push-ups – from floor, back of couch, or kitchen counter (10)
• Sit-ups – or clamshells (10)
• Supermans – regular, alternating, or “flying” (10)
• Stairs – run up and down your stairs 1o times*

* if you life in a rancher or condo, touches opposite walls of your house 10 times

Express Workout #2*

• Go for a brisk walk/jog
• Every second block, pick UP the pace by 50% and hold this until the end of the block
  
• Repeat 10-15 times (turn around after 7-10 intervals)
• Walk/Easy jog for the remainder of the way home
• Take 5 minutes to stretch your legs

* OK, so you can’t do this one in your kitchen, but it’s good to get outside and enjoy some fresh fall air!

Well, have a fantastic Thanksgiving, and please let us know your thoughts by posting in the comments below!

There is no doubt that exercise is beneficial to health, vitality and performance.  However, most people spend years doing incorrect activities and fail to get the results they desire.

The common approach is to spend time in the gym working specific muscles or doing large amounts of “cardio” on machines.  The fact is, a significant percentage of this work is unnecessary and often counterproductive.

Movement in life happens in 3 dimensions where the body must support and stabilize itself from a variety of outside forces to prevent injury.  For example, a mother who bends down to pick up her child from the floor must squat or bend to a deep level and lift an often heavy child to chest height or even above her head.  This activity is a complicated full body action that involves coordination, movement, stability, and strength throughout almost every muscle in the body.

So, if this is an example of the types of activities that are performed each day in life (there are thousands of other examples), why do so many of people strap themselves to machines in a seated or lying position to work their muscles through a pre-determined and limited range of motion?

The answer is lack of knowledge…and misleading marketing from some less than desirable companies in the fitness and health industry(that is a completely different article though)!

This machine-based style of exercise is common in almost every “health” club and fitness centre in the world, yet is completely counterproductive to the needs of your body and the demands of daily life.

While entire libraries can be filled with the styles and techniques of proper training; for now, just know that for optimal FUNction AND aesthetics, exercises should be designed to train you for “The Sport of Life™”.  This involves mastering internally supported whole body movements.  Resistance is only applied once the movement can be correctly performed without resistance.

That means you need to learn to control your body on it’s own before trying out all kinds of fancy equipment or advanced training techniques.  While this isn’t “sexy” or complicated, it just plain works!

It’s important to start with low intensity, less complex movements and then build the difficulty level as your proficiency improves.  Definitely consult a qualified training professional to identify potential errors in your movement that may be limiting performance and increasing the possibility of injury.

A good trainer will assess movement along with your nutrition and lifestyle habits (such as sleep, stress levels, mindset, and more) and then design a complete lifestyle plan to help you reach your goals.  Exercise is only ONE aspect of this plan!  Something that many Personal Trainers fail to see!

One of the major factors often overlooked is the interplay between stress levels and exercise.  Stress is a normal part of life.  It is your body’s response to internal or external environmental changes and can produce physical, mental, and emotional responses⁷.  Whether “good” or “bad”, stress is cumulative.  If too much is present, or maintained over a prolonged period, problems will begin to occur in the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of your life.

Intense exercise is a form of physical stress on the body, so performing intense exercise on a body that is already overloaded with other types of stress (mental, emotional, other internal physical factors), it can actually be counterproductive and create a greater (detrimental) load on your body systems.

Does this mean that you should stop exercising when stressed!?  Definitely not!  It just means that you need to look at different types of exercise that will create positive energy in the body rather than drain energy away from it.  Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and other energizing movements are excellent ways to reinforce correct movement and breathing while increasing your energy or Chi.

Remember that exercise should be about movement and the intensity can be varied dramatically depending on your needs on any particular day!  Performing “energizing” activities will help decrease stress and allow you to increase the intensity of future workouts.

If you get in the routine of doing some type of physical activity each day, you will find that the blend of intensity to energizing and recovery becomes a natural part of your physical, psychological, and emotional health.

If you want to begin an exercise program, but aren’t sure where to start, or if you aren’t satisfied with your lack of results, contact FRESH! or a trainer skilled in movement analysis and get started today!

PLEASE NOTE:  This article is an excerpt from the E-Book called “6 Keys to Lifelong Health.  To purchase this e-book, please contact FRESH! Fitness for details. www.freshfitness.ca

Tim Borys is a certified Holistic Lifestyle Coach, Medical Exercise Specialist and Functional Movement Specialist.  He is the founder of FRESH! Fitness.  FRESH! helps individuals and corporations increase function and profitability through health education and programming.  Contact FRESH! today for more information.

Chocolate Milk...Loaded with Bulls**t

For the past 20 years, my career, life, and passion has been about promoting health, fitness and wellness.  To ensure that I stay on top of the industry trends, research projects, and scientific studies, I’ve taken countless educational courses, seminars, practical workshops, and belong to many professional industry organizations.  My goal and that of each Team Member at FRESH! is to live these principles and teach as many people as possible how to get healthy, fit, and live an exceptional life!

With this mindset, I opened an email today from one of the (so called) professional organizations to which I belong and was completely shocked to see the promotion of chocolate milk as a “healthy” post-workout food.  I’ve heard many people try to justify this abomination before, but this email came from from an organization that is the largest fitness certifying body in Canada, trains thousands of fitness professionals every year, and holds immense influence over their large database of professionals (though their courses have improved over the years, they are still considered the “bare bones” essentials to get into the industry).

Before you think I’m just some idealist on a rant, let it be known that I understand business and am fine with Corporate sponsorship and joint marketing alliances between organizations.  However, ethics must play some role in the decision of who to align with and what material you are sending to your followers.  This organization may as well have sent out an ad promoting Burger King as a healthy meal choice.

To ensure that you aren’t fooled by this marketing crap promoted by the dairy lobby, and god help us any Personal Trainers, Fitness Instructors or Dieticians out there, let’s go through this ad step by step to expose the lies and omissions.  (NOTE: for brevity, chocolate milk will sometimes be shortened to CM)

“After an intense workout your body need to recover before you can get back at it.  Chocolate milk has carbohydrates, electrolytes, protein, and water to give your body the nutrition it needs to prepare you for tomorrow’s workout today!”

Everything is true here.  However, they fail to tell you that CM is a crappy source of ALL of these items.  Sure, they are contained in small, highly processed amounts and will come nowhere near the nutritional value of even a cardboard box!  OK, maybe slightly better than a cardboard box, but I won’t get into how bad most commercial dairy products are for you.  I will save that for another rant!

Chocolate Milk helps to replace fluids and maximize performance
When you train hard, you sweat hard.  Chocolate milk can help you stay at the top of your game by replacing lost fluids.

The fact that this is at the top of the list shows how weak their logic is!  Sure, CM is a fluid.  So is vodka!  Just because it is a liquid and contains water doesn’t mean you should drink it to stay hydrated.  Ever heard of PLAIN WATER?!  Combine it with REAL food and it will do wonders for your performance!

Chocolate milk replenishes electrolytes lost when you exercise
When you sweat, your body loses more than just water.  Chocolate milk naturally contains electrolytes (sodium and potassium) that help you regulate many body functions.

Once again, there are some electrolytes in chocolate milk, but that doesn’t mean they are present in significant quantities or that CM is the best source (or even a decent one) of electrolytes.  You are better off adding a pinch of unrefined sea salt to a litre of water and eating half a banana!

Chocolate milk helps replace glycogen to refuel your muscles
Glycogen (aka “carbohydrate stores”) fuels your body during a workout.  Run low on glycogen and you can’t perform at your peak.  Drinking chocolate milk within 30 minutes of intense exercise gives your body the carbohydrates it needs to refuel and recharge.

Once again, the omissions are ridiculous.  Yes, it’s true that performance suffers when you run low on glycogen, but your body has approximately 90 minutes of glycogen available even during completely anaerobic training.  This time is extended when there is any involvement from the aerobic system (because the aerobic system doesn’t use glycogen for fuel).  Few people actually train this long or hard in a single workout session and even if they do, CM still isn’t the solution!

They are citing basic nutrition facts about glycogen and saying that because milk has carbohydrates that it is a logical choice.  They fail to say that the carbohydrates present are ‘milk-sugars” such as lactose, not to mention the copious amounts of other sugars from the chocolate syrup (sucrose, fructose, maltose, and many others).  Hardly the best source of fuel for your body post-workout!  Yippeee, let’s refuel our body with PROCESSED SUGAR!

Chocolate milk help you build and repair muscles
The protein in chocolate milk (17g per 500ml) can help to prepare your body for tomorrow’s workout – whether it’s on the field, at the track or in the gym.

Again, they fail to say that to get that 17g of protein from your 500ml CM, you will have to ingest 48g of SUGAR, and almost 400 calories!  To give you an idea of the insanity of this, a HALF chicken breast will give you 27g of MUCH HIGHER QUALITY protein for about ⅓ of the calories…and NO SUGAR!

Nutrition details for REGULAR Milk

Nutrition Info for CHOCOLATE Milk

I probably wouldn’t have been so annoyed if they had used REGULAR milk as the campaign because at least you wouldn’t be drinking a load of processed chocolate syrup in your post workout drink!  However, even that isn’t a really good option (due to the poor quality of most dairy and the fact that so many people have dairy sensitivities…even if they aren’t aware of them).  To see the difference in regular milk vs. chocolate milk, see the images below.  It’s shocking!  Which one would you like to have for better nutrition?  If you are indulging and having a TREAT, go for it, have a glass of CM (I would make a much tastier choice if it was my turn to indulge, but that’s just me), but don’t delude yourself into thinking it’s some “miracle recovery tonic”.

So, if you were one of the people caught up in this marketing hype, hopefully your eyes have been opened!

To help you make positive changes, here are a few simple tips for pre-post workout nutrition.

• Eat small healthy, regular meals/snacks throughout the day (ideally every 3-4 hours) and you won’t have to worry too much about post workout nutrition…because you will likely be due to eat again shortly anyway!
• If you schedule your workouts and meals effectively, you can plan ahead to have a meal consisting of REAL food within 30 minutes of your workout.  This is more important as your intensity and frequency of exercise increases
• Supplements are meant to be just that…a SUPPLEMENT to REGULAR food.  If they become a daily meal replacement, you need to look at your priorities and the things you are putting in your body.
• You do NOT need “Sports Drinks” or electrolyte drinks unless your activity lasts longer than 90 minutes or is in extreme heat.  Drink plain water (approx 500-1000ml per hour depending on your intensity).
• Don’t believe everything you read!  Ask who is providing the information, what are their intentions, who is funding their research/advertising, and does it make sense to you?
• If you aren’t sure.  GET PROFESSIONAL ADVICE!  This will save you YEARS of frustration and guessing.
• On that note, make sure the person you are hiring is actually qualified and isn’t talking out of their “butt”.
• To find out more information on how to hire a trainer, download my FREE report that exposes a few shocking secrets about most trainers (here’s just one of them…about ⅔ of the industry, if certified at all, is only qualified with a weekend course)!  Click here to download the report.

Let me know what you think of this article by posting your comments below or on our facebook page!