Fitness

Free and Yoga, Two of My Favorite Words

September 15, 2011 by Raul Colon

Back in 1999, some yoginis came up with the idea of offering a smorgasboard of yoga classes, free, in Austin. It was a hit. Free Day of Yoga (FDOY) now takes place across the country in places like Dallas, Houston, Corpus, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and even Guam.

Even though there were no doggy bags allowed, yoga is definitely something you take home with you. When I was a kid, we were taught to fill up our plates at the buffets. While that concept turns me off now, I must have some of that mentality still with me. For the last three years I’ve stuffed my day with as many classes as possible at Austin’s Free Day of Yoga, while eating just small amounts of power food during breaks.

While our past definitely contributes to our present, another reason why I may “get my money’s worth” at FDOY is that I’m a type A personality. I’m not into R&R vacations. I want a vacation with a purpose. A vacation chock full of activity. So for Labor Day, rather than be a couch potato (mind you, I don’t watch TV or eat potatoes) or host a barbecue party (it would need to be BBQ sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, plantains and tofu cubes) I treasure the ability to do a yoga marathon. I get my relaxation too, in the form of savasana, or the deep relaxation that is the frosting on the yoga cake.

Austin’s FDOY can make you dizzy just trying to plan your schedule. There must be at least 20 venues for free yoga, and just as many styles. This year, I started at 4:30 a.m. with a kundalini workshop followed by a one hour kundalini sadhana with live music. It was a beautiful way to start the day. I was surrounded by a sea of kundalini enthusiasts dressed in white who knew all their kriyas and mantras.

Since I wanted to pack in a good ten hours of free yoga classes to honor my body and soul for Labor Day, I selected most of the venues along the Lamar Street corridor, both north and south of the river, with a few classes smattered in on the near east side of town. One of the things I love about Austin is that is a very easy city to maneuver. All of my classes were just five to ten minutes apart from the next, which allowed me to experience a good number of studios that I hadn’t frequented in the past years.

For the yoga newbie, this is the best way to sample yoga. Most all the classes are appropriate for beginners, though many a yoga teacher participate in the classes just the same. I’m over 50 and have never been into cardio workouts. Yet I completed classes nearly back to back from 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and didn’t even feel sore the next day. I interspersed my day with Yin Yoga and Vedic Chanting to pace myself appropriately.

Yoga and Austin go together like OJ’s glove. It’s such a tight fit. Austin is a progressive city where people of all ages embrace natural living and yoga. It’s a treasure for me and one of the reasons why Labor Day is so special for me now.

While I realize they host FDOY in many other cities, it just feels to me like Austin has the right vibe for this special day. Austin also most certainly has the right food offerings for the yogis. My favorite places to pick up light fare –or a square meal—are Mr. Natural and The Daily Juice, both of which are bound to be close to the yoga studios.

Mr. Natural has two locations in Austin. Both have a fine selection of all-vegetarian options, most of which are traditional Mexican style foods. For my quick fix between yoga sessions, I picked up a bean and tofu gordita and a gluten-free, agave-sweetened pumpkin empanada, the best I’ve ever had in my live. And, I’ve eaten a lot of these in the last few decades. The tab? Less than five dollars. Mr. Natural also has packaged non-perishables for sale.

The Daily Juice has got to be my all time favorite vegan place in Austin. Its three locations each have a different vibe and different menu options. Although its juices are the mainstay, I tend to buy their quinoa dishes from the refrigerator section. Quinoa has never tasted so good. These are cold salads with international pizzazz, like kung pao broccoli quinoa or thai chili quinoa with cucumbers.

Life adjustments, Eat Smart, and Exercise Courtesy of @DrOz

July 18, 2011 by Lucymfel

This is a guest post courtesy of Chenille Hernandez.

Dr. Mehmet Oz is a well-known heart surgeon, whose wealth of knowledge on the body and health is impeccable. So impeccable that he has his own TV show and will be taking the Oprah Winfrey’s show spot on daytime TV.

I was honored and privileged to hear him speak on June 9th at ESPN Inc. where I work. What he spoke about made so much sense and is super easy to maintain in your everyday life. They are probably big adjustments in most people’s lives, but they are easy ones. Don’t we all want to live a healthy fun filled life? Well let’s start off with some basic big life adjustments. This is my take away on what I learned and am trying to live by.

First off know that You control 70% of how well you live.

So try to maintain your blood pressure at the ideal number of 115/75- easy ways to do that is:
No cigarettes/smoking, or other body toxins
Exercise 30 min daily
Healthy diet that is easy to love
Control your stress levels

Having too much fat around the waistline does not help your health situation either. It also doesn’t help in the summer when you want to wear a bikini. Your Ideal waist size should be your height divided by 2. My suggestion would be to measure yourself and try to maintain this number.

High fiber is needed for your body in order to have great health. High Fiber slows the transit of food, which increases satiety (the condition of being full or gratified beyond the point of satisfaction). Konjac fiber is from Asia, look into it to help with your diet.

Fructose in beverages block fat messages to the brain, which in turn leads to you eating 125 Calorie more than usual. 60% of the brain is fat, so cut out your soda intake as well as all the other beverages containing tons of fructose. Drink Water People!

To help drop ghrelin (starving feeling or overeating), 30 minutes before you have a meal, eat some fruit or nuts. This will help you to not over eat. @DrOz does this every day!

Another thing important point for everyone is to take your vitamins just like your grandmother always told you!

Some important Supplements are:
-Vitamins a,b,c,d,e or a multivitamin
-Minerals, calcium, magnesium, selenium, zinc Omega 3, whole foods, aspirin (over the age of 50)
-Vitamin d3 and omega 3 fatty acids- cod liver oil
You don’t need to take every single one of these vitamins, but make sure you are having some type of intake of most of them.

Hope these little adjustments help you out!

Live well, Live Long! Be happy, and put everyone’s stress in the garbage, breath, meditate, and exercise!

Not Your Average Personal Trainer

April 25, 2011 by Lucymfel

I like to think of myself as not your average personal trainer.

For one, I was not an athlete growing up. I was the “fat kid” who would rather be in a corner with a book than outside playing. I didn’t find fitness until my early 20s. Thankfully, I have been hooked ever since.

Another reason is because I am a vegetarian. I have met more than one prospective client who’s also a vegetarian who breathed a big sigh of relief when they found out I am one as well. It seems when you mention this to some other trainers, they either insist you must eat meat to be healthy or give you a blank stare because they know nothing about a vegetarian lifestyle.

Due to their lack of knowledge or unwillingness to find out more, it can become a very awkward relationship.

The beginning of my own fitness journey actually started when I became a vegetarian for the second time. I was a vegetarian for a couple of years in high school, but not in a good way. Believe me, a vegetarian diet is not inherently a healthy one. I lived off of bread, cheese, french fries, pizza, and any other number of carb laden fast food options.

In college, on my own for the first time, I drifted back to eating meat. Over time, though, I could tell my body didn’t feel right. So when I made the resolve to get healthy and fit I knew meat had to leave my diet again.

Despite what some trainers might think, my health and fitness improved without meat in my diet. My energy level immediately improved. I ate a more varied diet because I couldn’t rely on the staples of chicken, tuna and salmon. I became more creative in the kitchen, especially as the years went by and I moved away from many of the processed vegetarian options like veggie sausages and veggie frozen meals. I believe my health and fitness level owe a great deal to being vegetarian not in spite of my vegetarian lifestyle.

If I am working with a client who is a vegetarian, or who is interested in making the transition, we always cover some basics as part of their nutrition plan.

First lesson: Eliminating meat from your diet will not automatically cause you to lose weight. As I mentioned, from my own experience, you can still eat plenty of junk non-meat foods. Eating too much of anything, including bread, fruit and nuts, can make you unfit and overweight.
Second lesson: You still need plenty of protein. Many proponents of a plant based diets advocate a pretty low percentage of calories from protein. For an athlete, I typically recommend 1 g of protein per lb of bodyweight. My personal goal is around 110-140 g per day.
Third lesson: Where do I get my protein? Most foods have protein, just some more than others. If you’re still eating eggs they are, biologically speaking, one of the best sources of protein out there. Tofu, seitan, beans, nuts, nut butters, lentils, peas, edamame, quinoa and tempeh are all excellent sources of protein.