PhillyFIT Magazine, February, 2020 Issue

Serving Bucks, Montgomery & Philadelphia Counties

e s i c r e x e S

FEBRUARY 2020 • PHILLYFIT.COM

7 exercises that IMPROVE your sex life!

CARDIO DRUMMING Shannon LaSpina Audet, Evolve Yoga Company, Downingtown, PA Photo by Aliza Schlabach Photography

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BEHAVIOR • CARDIOLOGY • DENTISTRY • DERMATOLOGY • EMERGENCY & CRITICAL CARE INTERNAL MEDICINE • INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY • MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY NEUROLOGY • ONCOLOGY • OPHTHALMOLOGY • RADIOLOGY • SURGERY

I'm Sharon Klinger and I developed Heavy Metal Rollerz. I developed this roller as I found no other product that could effectively and independently massage the trapezius muscles. I was first introduced to 'rolling out' (also known as mashing, foam rolling, myofascial release-these techniques have been around for years, but have become more popular recently) at the gym that I attend 5 years ago. I also go to the massage therapist who targets the trapezius with putting pressure on the muscle. I wanted to independently mimic that movement. I researched weighted roller products and found nothing. Heavy Metal Rollerz was born!

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February 2020 | 3

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I’ve Gotta Be Me Maybe ‘Ole Blue Eyes Got It Right....

Authenticity very well might be the key to happiness

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ecently, I put an Amber Alert out on myself and thankfully, I responded.

Believe me, I know how crazy that must sound. I’m a self-diagnosed victim of — wait for it—a heart attack. It’s not a cardiac issue, but rather a battle between the heart and the head. It’s a condition that strikes innocent, unassuming women (and perhaps men) of all shapes and sizes. It’s unrelenting, often irreversible and will blow the ego, the id and the super-ego to smithereens if you let it.

There’s no pill you can pop, no homeopathic remedy you can deploy and no doctor will diagnose for you. You’ve just got to hit rock bottom and then claw, fight and battle your way back to yourself.

Have you ever awoken one day only to discover that the most obvious thing that was missing in your world was you? Let me explain…As most of my PhillyFIT friends know, in the past few years I’ve managed to overcome a few rough curveballs—more like jumbo medicine balls thrown at my stomach when I wasn’t looking. In dealing with life’s unexpected sorrows, I discovered that my coping mechanism was to retreat and become somewhat of a hermit. Ugh, hello? So not me, right? I went radio silent. I was, for the first

4 | February 2020

time, in a long time—quiet. I consciously tried to enjoy being a reclusive, understated wallflower, but then one day it hit me. I was much better being a monkey then a monk. I had to dig deep (and I mean like five hundred feet below sea-level) to try to remember what it was that I enjoyed so much about my life during happier times.

I landed on the simple things. You know, just brewing a fresh pot of coffee, trying out a new conditioner for my hair, doing a cool craft project with Savannah and her friends – you know, the little things.

“When a fresh pot of ground coffee gets replaced with K-cups and Monopoly gets replaced with Minecraft something changes. When your sneakers take a back seat to quick car trips (neighborhood travel made easy), something changes. And when suddenly buckets of fried chicken grace your table instead of fresh, organic veggies, homemade roasted-pepper hummus and delicious Parmesan-encrusted Tilapia, well, something just changes. Believe me, I’d like to say that these references are all exaggerations, but sadly, they’re not. In a short time my entire family (dogs included) was acting, thinking and feeling like a robotic, gluttonous bunch of morons—myself included. We opted for easy instead of optimal. Life was just TOO BUSY, or we are TOO TIRED! WHAT? Since when? We said yes when we should have said no way. We became “PhillyFAT and sassy” (well, not quite, but felt that way) as they say, teetering on what felt like lazy and well, very American. Ugh, sorry, yes I went there. We were looking more like the Simpsons each passing day. What happened to those energetic, happy-go-lucky busy bodies that never quit ‘going’? We were consuming more, wasting more, wanting more, eating more, drinking more, sleeping more. Yes, we were turning into a cohesive unit of crazies in a wasteland of politically incorrect zombies. Even little Savannah came down with a case of mallitus. We were hittin’ the malls instead of the www.PHILLYFIT.com | 267-767-4205

gym like we used to together. I knew it had to stop but it was a runaway train sponsored by Apple, Frito Lay and Forever 21—Geez, how can you stop that? We found ourselves living and being totally different than we had ever known our lives to be in the past. But why?

How does this happen?

I became a Charlatan, a fraud, a fake – here I was pushing out PhillyFIT Magazine while eating a Devil Dog (what an appropriate name for this snack food). That was my rock bottom. But what to do? What to do? I retreated to a place that made me happy. I grabbed a few of my rescue babies (dogs) and put the leashes on and headed out the door to WALK! Where the hell have I been for goodness sake?

I cranked up the pace, my pup’s turned and looked at me like I was nuts. The smile on my face was bigger than life! We all said hello to strangers (with licks and tail wags too) as we passed on by.

Yeah, I got a few looks but I didn’t care.

It felt good. Really good. I went several miles on familiar roads and suddenly I was back in my own skin. I was Jami Lynn Appenzeller and for the first time in my life I told myself that I would never again fall prey to The Body Snatchers – a.k.a. all sorts of reasons to abandon the very person I had grown to know and enjoy. Me.

Sure, we all need to go a different direction in life from time to time, but the key is to remain true to you. If you don’t like foie gras, then don’t eat it. If you don’t like to read Little Women, don’t read it. If you don’t want to wear fur or jewels… oh, you get the idea.

And remember, this idea doesn’t just apply to lovers – you could be majorly influenced by all sorts of life’s circumstances or people.

More on this in a bit…

If you are reading this and have sadly found yourself treading water in a pool that someone or something else filled for you (no matter who that person or event was), take it from me…you will find your own life preserver— maybe not tomorrow but, it will get better.

PHILLYFIT

I was nothing but a unfeeling android before that fateful day I slipped on my sneaks and headed out with my dogs. Seriously. As each month went by, I was drowning in emotional quicksand, I felt STUCK and well, stupid for not staying true to my own dreams and goals. I found I just shut out my inner voice, my conscious and my own female intuition. And I know better! In the end, I blame myself.. I’m lucky that my own awaking was my life preserver. Others go years, not months in a state of bewilderment and sorrow.

So yeah, Sinatra got it right, albeit he was slightly dramatic about it.

These lyrics are profound yet definitely ring true even in our modern times.

Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong Whether I find a place in this world or never belong I gotta be me, I've gotta be me What else can I be but what I am I want to live, not merely survive And I won't give up this dream Of life that keeps me alive I gotta be me, I gotta be me The dream that I see makes me what I am That far-away prize, a world of success Is waiting for me if I heed the call I won't settle down, won't settle for less As long as there's a chance that I can have it all I'll go it alone, that's how it must be I can't be right for somebody else If I'm not right for me I gotta be free, I've gotta be free Daring to try, to do it or die I've gotta be me Bottom line? I can’t tell you how many of my friends are STILL living a certain way they wish they weren't, or still in a job they hate, driving a car they can’t stand. Stop the madness I say. People are influenced by all sorts of reasons, even individuals – A co-worker, a sibling, an aunt, a lover, a hater.

Today I live by a brand new mantra—Don’t ever let anyone make you believe that your dreams and the lifestyle that you have carved out for yourself is insignificant in comparison to what they believe is “best for you.” In your heart of hearts, you know where happiness hides. Don’t let tough spots in life tell you where to look out of fear or exhaustion. And, try not to withdraw from your sense of self and go quiet like I did. In hindsight, I suppose I may have needed that downtime to be introspective. I say it’s time to be noisy again. Yay! Maybe that is an exaggeration, but it’s time to show up and shine, and get motivated to follow my dreams and goals. (check out phillyfithalfwayhouse. com to get a glimpse of my biggest one!)

Things not feeling exactly like yourself lately? Make a change!

Change relationships (male and female); change the places you frequent (yes, maybe even consider switching gyms for a new, refreshing change of pace). Consider changing up your diet and the way you walk to work.

Change the way you do your hair, the music you listen too. Variety is the spice of life and the spices that taste the best are the ones you sprinkle yourself!

Hey, it’s getting colder out there – get out there and get Philly FIT! And if you see the blonde walking by with five dogs, and a cheesy smile from ear to ear, it may be me,. Don’t forget to wave!

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JAMI’S FIVE SELF-WORTH REVELATIONS: 1. Just because your past has a smudge doesn’t mean your future has to be valueless. Move on and don’t look back. Don’t let a teacher, a psychologist or a first date get the best of you.

People with authority may in fact abuse it.

2. You’re not alone. Nobody’s perfect. (two clichés that taste great together). Perfection is something that can only be faked, not truly lived – and not every day. No matter how well it’s covered up, underneath it all we are all beautifully damaged in someway.

3. Stop snubbing your reflection. Maybe it’s time for you to start OWNING everything that you are. Erase those stupid untrue rules that you put on your worth.

You don’t have to be a certain size to be beautiful.

You don’t have to be liked by everyone to feel significant. You don’t have to have everything to feel like nothing is missing. Comparison is the thief to all JOY. Remember, “enjoy the things you have, and don’t worry one bit about the things you DON’T have.”

4. What you choose focus on is what you will feel.

Insecurities lose power once you stop measuring your life, and start appreciating your life. Spend more time in the ying and less in the yang if you know what I mean. The choice is yours. No more “yanger’s” in you life. Let’s all make a pact to never “go there” again.

5. Nothing about you is inept. We are all a little broken in our own little way, and the last time I checked broken crayons still color the same!

Your flaws make you you. That’s whats amazing about life!

PhillyFIT Magazine is published by Jalynnconcepts, LLC dba PhillyFIT Magazine 267.767.4205/jami@phillyfit.com Publisher/Owner: Jami Appenzeller Graphic Designer: Lisa Celfo Proofing/Editor: Heather Hoehn Cover Photographer: Aliza Schlabach Photography PhillyFIT Magazine is distributed in all Wawas and Super Wawas in the entire region.

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February 2020 | 5

: e s i c r e x e S

7 EXERCISES THAT CAN IMPROVE YOUR SEX LIFE How simple fitness moves can make a huge difference in the bedroom

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here are many elements that go into a great sexual encounter. Some of these components include mutual attraction and self-confidence. But when the moment comes to perform you want to know you have the strength and stamina to bring your A game and enjoy a strong finale.

“Having a body that’s optimized for great sex and looking like an Instagram model are not mutually exclusive,” says Vince Sant, co-founder and lead trainer of V Shred, the online training platform that has taken the world by storm in recent years. “Some of the smaller muscle that you didn’t even know you have sometimes make the biggest difference.”

Sant explains that there’s a logical relationship between being fit and a more enjoyable sex life. Muscle tone and cardiovascular health help us perform better and have more gratifying orgasms. Mentally, physical fitness plays a huge roll in one’s confidence which is just as much a part of sex as your partner’s attraction to you.

For these seven exercises, we are focusing on fortifying the stabilizing muscles in the pelvis, lower back, and core. This group of muscles is responsible for handling any position you get into with your partner and enjoy intense finales.

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HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING (H.I.I.T) “Your stamina and endurance are central to sex. Interval training helps increases just that. The great thing about H.I.I.T is that you can make it a part of any of your cardio and body weight routines,” says Sant who makes H.I.I.T a fundamental part of his fitness programs.

LYING LEG RAISES Not only does this move engage your lower abs, thighs, and glutes but it also challenges your hip flexor muscles. “The hip flexors include the psoas muscle which connects your spine to your legs. The Iliacus muscle located deep within the pelvis which helps rotate your thigh bone and is helpful in sustaining certain positions in bed, explains Sant. Other muscles engaged by this exercise are the rec-

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tus femoris (one of the four quads muscles), the pectineus muscle and the sartorius.

CRUNCHES A strengthened core gives you the ability to maintain pleasurable positions for increased passion. For added benefit, use a stability ball to enhance your crunches. This will work your balance and stability as well as your back which will improve your thrusting ability and help prevent back injury.

PUSH-UPS If your partner likes you being on top you have to condition your upper body and core.

Push-ups accomplish exactly that. Strengthening your arms, shoulders, and chest, pushups help you to maintain a dominant thrust and increased energy. “Remember to find ways to practice progressive overload in your push-ups and other resistance training by PHILLYFIT

adding weights to your exercises or increasing repetitions.

Resistance training has been shown to increase the male sex hormone, testosterone,” says Sant.

SQUATS “Squats mostly work your glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps,” says Sant. Everything from your abs, obliques, and lower back to your calves and ankle complex are engaged in this exercise as well. The Instagram model turned fitness mogul explains that, “A lot of pleasurable positions for both partners need a stronger core and lower body to sustain the positions until orgasm.”

STRETCH - THE SEAL POSE People overlook stretching all the time. It is an important part of preparing for your physical activity both at the gym and in the bed.

The lumbar extension aims at stretching the forward curve of the lumbar spine in your lower back. “You will be using your lower back a lot during sex and making sure the lower back is prepped for activity will prevent any pulled muscle or embarrassing moments,” says Sant.

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STRETCH - THE BUTTERFLY You want to avoid waking up next to your partner the morning after you’ve had great sex feeling sore and unable to move your legs. “The butterfly stretch helps target the groin and inner thigh.

You should use this stretch after a variety of normal leg stretches to avoid overstretching the groin,” explains Sant. He maintains that this stretch is very helpful in warding off soreness in that hard-tostretch area.

About V Shred: V Shred is the fastest growing fitness and nutrition brand in the world offering online training programs designed to put the fun back into fitness and nutrition.

V Shred provides a results-driven enduring lifestyle change instead of a frustrating battle that is easy to give up on. With a support network comprised of trusted accredited advisors and virtual personal trainers, people meet their fitness, nutrition, and goals.

The company, co-founded in 2015 by Nick Daniel, Roger Crandall, Kevin Pearn, and Vince Sant, sought out to create a healthy fitness movement specifically designed to deliver profound changes in your body with the minimal amount of workout time. V Shred has created some of the world’s most popular fitness and nutrition programs such as Fat Loss Extreme and Toned in 90 Days for women and men and Ripped in 90 Days for men.

The diet that accompanies the workouts in these comprehensive fitness programs, offers plenty of healthy food options and recipes. V Shred’s supportive coaches encourage “portion empowerment” which inspires people to eat and enjoy food knowing it’s the fuel they need to achieve the results they seek.

V Shred is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information visit www.vshred.com

PHILLYFIT

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February 2020 | 7

LOWER MERION HIGH SCHOOL INVITATIONAL BECOMES EMBEDDED IN THE MAIN LINE COMMUNITY

By David Block

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he Lower Merion (LM) High School Invitational track meet has become a fixture on the Main Line. The first Saturday in May, nearly two-dozen area high school track teams compete at LM in Ardmore. Not just schools have a hand in this meet, so does the Bryn Mawr Running Company (BMRC). BMRC, sponsors the boys’ and the girls’ 1600 meter run.

“We came on board because of my long friendship with Lower Merion’s head cross country coach Dave Van Houten,” said Bob Schwelm, owner of BMRC and founder of the Bryn Mawr Running Club. “The 1600 meter is the glory event in track and field; that’s why we picked this race.”

Sandy Hoopes, head coach of the LM girls’ track team, a position she has held for forty-five years, launched the LM Invitational in 1987. She said that LM and Conestoga were the only Central League high schools not in Delaware County, which made them ineligible to compete in the DELCO Championships the first Saturday in May. “I decided that we should have our own invitational,” said Hoopes. Hoopes launched the girls’ track program at LM in 1975. She intends to coach there for another five years.

At the 32nd running of the LM Invitational this past May 4, the BMRC 1600 had stiff competition in both the boys’ and girls’ heat.

For the girls, LM sophomore Sarah Hurst finished first with a 5:26.29 clocking. She was unchallenged; her nearest competitor was Great Valley freshman Kate Bevec, 5:38.13.

“I wanted to get out in front, start out with a fast lap, then try to hold on and finish strong,” said Hurst. “I Wasn’t too worried about being passed. I knew that I had a good kick. I just had to trust in myself when to sprint.”

To prepare for the 1600, Hurst’s track coaches have her run five one-mile intervals with six to seven minutes of rest in between. She said that that is her toughest interval workout, but acknowledged that it built up her stamina. The night before the LM 8 | February 2020

Invitational, Hurst finished 14th in the 3200 meter run, 11:22.55, at the 14th Annual Hoka One One Henderson Invitational at West Chester Henderson High School. According to Hoopes, Hurst’s 3200 meter finishing time set a new LM record and also qualified her for the District 1 Championships later this month. “Sarah is great,” said Hoopes.

Hoopes and other area coaches have their athletes compete at West Chester Henderson the night before the LM Invitational because it helps prepare them for Districts. “At Districts, you compete two days in a row,” said Hoopes.

In the boys’ 1600, Harriton High School junior Sam Kartsonis won, posting 4:36.44. Finishing second was junior Brendan Duff of Plymouth Whitemarsh, 4:37.03. Kartsonis was not concerned about his finishing time.

“I just wanted to win,” said Kartsonis.

Kartsonis also runs cross country for Harriton. To get in shape for cross country and track, he runs high weekly mileage during the summer. “This summer, I’ll try to run about sixty miles a week,” said Kartsonis.

Another noteworthy standout at the LM Invitational was the first place finisher of the boys’ javelin, LM junior Noel House who threw 168-04.00. This was the first time that he ever qualified for Districts. Part of House’s training regiment includes running sprints. “That helps me get my arm out faster when I throw,” said House.

Photo by David Block: Noel House of Lower Merion after winning the javelin

Photo by David Block: Sam Kartonis of Harriston High School after winning the 1600 meter run

Photo by David Block

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February 2020 | 9

CARDIO-DRUMMING:

A CUTTING-EDGE WORKOUT for the Contemporary Woman

By Amanda Ashworth

F

rom the ancient to modern man, the art of multi-tasking has been essential for efficiency and a rather necessary aspect of our quotidian existence. The contemporary woman uses it to manage her affairs: she writes a grocery list whilst cooking the family dinner, throwing in a load of wash, overseeing the children’s homework, and responding to late night business emails, only taking pause to glance at her Fitbit and note her steps or her MyFitnessPal app to monitor her caloric intake. Alas, even fitness and nutrition itself have kowtowed to the god of efficiency. We diet and exercise because we must; ergo, we make the effort when our day planners allow to invest in a walking treadmill or buy shares in the local co-op or squeeze our nose disdainfully shut while swallowing a deplorable amount of apple cider vinegar.

Imagine, however, if you are able to pause amidst your own list of demanding to-dos in order to splurge on a nanosecond of creative thought that exercise didn’t have to be so methodological and perfunctory. Imagine there existed a workout routine that exercised your brain and your body simultaneously, in which you burned almost nine hundred calories in forty-five minutes, that enhanced your creativity as you learned a new musical instrument, and that gave you a vibrant community to engage with, all while providing you with the opportunity to save the world. (Cue daydreaming music playlist — Beatles “Imagine”).

Too good to be true sounds the old proverb between your synapses. Not this time. No. In fact, cardio drumming is the best-kept secret when it comes to the art of fitness and multi-tasking for the urban, Philadelphian feminist.

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First founded by a program in Germany called Drums Alive!, cardio drumming has been sweeping the tri-state area like swing dancing and jazz once set ablaze the nineteen twenties. A local version of the regimen, called COREBLAST, lead by fitness and nutrition guru, Sam Ditzel, is a fun, high energy, cardio class using yoga balls set upon large drums and drum sticks that beat to music with positive vibes.

While the benefits of COREBLAST don’t outnumber the stars, they do have a plethora of perks, including that classes can be attended by anyone of any fitness level, there are no age restrictions (yes, moms, you can strap that infant of yours to your chest for a baby and me routine), the caloric burn is optimal, meditation opportunities are prevalent, modifications can be made as needed, it’s so-much-fun-youalmost-forget-you-are-working-out. But best of all - you can save the world while you do it.

How is that possible you inquire? Well with Samantha Ditzel, a Transformation Health Coach residing in Media, PA, that opportunity is within grasp. After discovering nutrition supplementation and getting her own personal health in order, she began sharing her experience with others. She is now an ambassador and distributor with Herbalife Nutrition International, where she has been coaching for over eighteen years. She is a one million dollar Lifetime Achiever with Herbalife, in which she has personally distributed over a million in nutritional supplements, providing health to hundreds of people in the US, Canada, and the Philippine Islands. Despite these achievements, however, her heart yearned for something more.

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That something more came in 2019 when she was introduced to Cardio Drumming COREBLAST classes at the same time as a non-profit called Water is Basic, which aims to provide clean water to those in need. And just like the brilliance of nineties mash-up hits, she decided to don her philanthropy hat and enter a new era of fitness, albeit beating to the tune of a cardio drum.

In fact, in her first ten classes with a team of athletes, she just raised over $7,500 to build their first well for a community in South Sudan. As a nutrition coach, Sam points out, “It just made sense. Water is basic. Water is life.”

To turn a phrase and add a little icing to this cake, if you attend one of her classes Sam will even provide you with a nutritious shake afterward to replenish your body’s resources. After all, she can’t help herself, having studied at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition under Dr. David Weber, Founding Director.

Now that’s multi-tasking at it’s finest.

Follow Samantha on IG @samanthaditzel.

FB Samantha Ditzel. For a free wellness profile visit www.eattolivenutrition.com, phone 610.368.8092, or email coachsammidi@gmail.com.

Amanda Ashworth is the Editor of Mobilize magazine and the Innovation Manager for Innovate Academy in Chadds Ford, PA. Formerly, she's enjoyed being a publisher at Routledge in Old city after receiving her Master's Degree at Rosemont College, delivering a commencement speech at her alma matter – Rowan University, and performing as a musical theatre artist in South Africa.

After traveling to over 13 countries, she now enjoys settling down in Chester County with her husband and two children and hopes to publish children's books in the near future through her own publishing house – Epiphany Press.

Proud to announce the launch of our non-profit animal rescue! phillyfithalfwayhouse.com 267-767-4205

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February 2020 | 11

An avid crossfitter, fifth dan karateka and many times South African national champion, self-defense coach, surfer, business woman, public speaker, and mum of two young boys, Tammy Fry embodies health and wellness. She is the 2017 Australian Open and Queensland karate champion. She is also a lifelong vegan and is the Head of Marketing for Fry Family Foods, a three decades old family-owned and operated producer of plant-based frozen and chilled products. Like many she read the recent report from the Belgian Academy of Medicine instructed people to avoid a vegan diet. She would like to respond.

The following is Tammy's rebuttal.

If you would like more information or would like to interview Tammy please let me know via email.

Jim Amos, Scout 22; jim@scout22.com.

L

ast week the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine released a report that said children, teens, pregnant women and nursing mothers should avoid a vegan diet. This report flies in the face of innumerable studies and reports by doctors and medical organizations around the world that trumpet the benefits of a plant-based diet for people of all ages and demographics.

Dietetic associations from both the U.S. and British quickly disputed the report, with the British association saying that a “well-planned plant-based, vegan-friendly diet can be devised to support healthy living at every age.” The US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has also stated that a vegan diet is nutritionally adequate for all age groups.

One of the points brought up in the Belgian report is the possibility of “irreversible” harm caused by a lack of sufficient protein and essential fatty acids. This is a common refrain that those who follow a plant-based diet have heard for decades, mostly from friends and family. This time, however, it comes from a reputable medical organization, which makes it all the more concerning.

The report mentions how a plant-based diet results in a lack of protein and iron. Soya protein provides the same quality protein as meat and contains all essential amino acids. Non-heme iron can be found in a variety of plant-based food including leafy greens, beans and grains, and nuts and seeds. Omega-3, which the report also discusses, can easily be replicated in a plant-based diet with flaxseeds, hemp seeds and chia seeds, to name just a few. Plant-based foods generally have far less sodium, saturated fats and cholesterol than their meat and dairy-based counterparts but are higher in a wide variety of vitamins and minerals and contain fiber which is absent in animal-based foods.

While the Belgian report focuses on the lack of protein and necessary fatty acids, nowhere in the report does it mention the multitude of indisputable health benefits of a plant-based diet such as reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain forms of cancer and obesity, facts that have been proven by doctors and researchers and reported in many peer reviewed studies. The report makes no mention of the high prevalence of antibiotics and hormones found in intensively farmed animals.

If any group should worry about where they get their protein on a plant-based diet it should be world class athletes. Take a look at the sports world and you’ll see that athletes in practically every sport understand the health and training benefits of a plant-based diet and aren’t wondering where they’re getting their protein. The list of vegan athletes, which started very small, has exploded recently and now

12 | February 2020

includes Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton, several members of the Tennessee Titans football team and the Forest Green Rovers UK football club, tennis champion Venus Williams, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, basketball star Kyrie Irving, the world’s strongest man Patrick Baboumian, ultramarathoner Fiona Oakes, figure skater Meagan Duhamel, MMA fighter Mac Danzing, Olympic weightlifter Kendrick Farris, surfer Tia Blanco, race car driver Leilani Munter and hundreds of others.

As we are all painfully aware, obesity, especially as it relates to children, is on the rise around the world and is an especially problematic medical and cultural issue in the United States. 1 of 5 American children are obese. A plant-based diet greatly reduces the risk of childhood obesity, a fact that the Belgian report fails to mention.

Instead, the report suggests that it is important to explain to parents about weight loss, undernutrition and anemia. Clearly that philosophy is not working.

The preponderance of kid-friendly plant-based foods, such as those from Fry’s and others in the market, has made it easier to replicate foods kids will eat and enjoy in vegan versions rather than the old days of shoving a plate of spinach in front of them and hoping for the best

The US’ Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has stated that children on a plant-based diet tend to grow up leaner, healthier and with a longer life expectancy and on June 4th posted a report from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that stated, “Researchers from Harvard looked at data from three large cohorts— the Nurses’ Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study 2, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study—for a total of 126,982 adult participants with more than twenty years of follow-up. Those who ate more healthful plant-based foods gained less weight over the years compared with those who ate less healthful products and animal-based products.”

A final point not touched on in the report is the grievous effect that the meat and dairy industry are having on our current climate crisis and also the horrors inflicted on our animal brethren in the world’s factory farms. Here at Fry’s we are proud to say that we estimate that we saved 3.5 million animals last year by producing plant-based versions of consumers’ meat favorites. Adopting a diet that can replicate the necessary proteins and vitamins while also making a difference in the health of the planet as well as all of its inhabitants seems like an irrefutable win-win.

www.PHILLYFIT.com | 267-767-4205

PHILLYFIT

Autism Cares Foundation

Good Health KEEPS MOVING FOR

ACF Gears Up For Race for Resources on Saturday, November 2nd

By Debra Forman

Photos courtesy of Autism Cares Foundation

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very Wednesday, when thirteen-year-old Jack Albeser tosses around a weighted ball in a local gym he gets way more than just a usual workout at the Fit-n-Focus program hosted by the nonprofit Autism Cares Foundation. The eighth grader feels invigorated, connected to a tight-knit community, and in addition he is making new friends, all adding up to a life-changing opportunity for him and his family.

Jack and his mom Chrissie Albrecht, who works as a caregiver for seniors, head from their home in Philadelphia each week to No Bull Fitness in Huntingdon Valley to stretch his body and to further develop social skills.

“The best part is that I feel strong after working out,” Jack said proudly. “I love Coach Karl, he is so nice to all of us. I really recommend the class.”

Without Autism Cares Foundation (ACF), Jack, who was diagnosed with autism at age three, would have few options to keep him moving and connected. But now that he and his family are involved in ACF he also enjoys bounce parties, trampoline outings and other memorable events with his special needs’ peers, and he looks forward to every new opportunity.

ACF has offered fitness classes at various locations for the past decade, and PHILLYFIT

currently there are thirty participants in the fitness program. The Fit-n-Focus program aims to build confidence, social skills and better health practices for teens and adults with special needs who are age thirteen and over.

Coach Karl Safran and trainer Nicole London start each Fit-n-Focus class by getting the participants warmed up with some outdoor cardio in front of the gym. Then there is a rotating workout inside, similar to circuit training, with various obstacles and exercises, including push-up, ball slams, ladder drills, step-ups, rowing machine and more. There are weighted balls, cones, benches, hoops, and mats.

The class ends with a cool down, some core work, a big round of applause and a team photo. The entire workout is peppered with encouragement.

“My son’s focus and attention isn’t there, so thanks to ACF he is welcome to be himself,” Jacks mom explained. “There is no pressure for him to participate if he needs a break; most important, there is no judgment.”

Encouraging local children and adults with special needs to keep their bodies and minds healthy has always been at the forefront of the nonprofit Autism Cares Foundation and this has never been more important for local families.

At No Bull Fitness, owner Karl Safran and his trainers provide the special needs participants with “a safe, effective and unique one-hour workout each week, with the personal attention” that each of us needs. Safran is inspired by the perseverance of the ACF participants and how they overcome their struggles, which is a shining example of why each of us needs to be grateful for our strengths and not complain about our weaknesses. “We are www.PHILLYFIT.com | 267-767-4205

all better being surrounded by others because it helps keep each of us motivated.”

Many of the participants of the weekly workouts at No Bull Fitness are also preparing for the ACF Race for Resources being held on Saturday, November 2nd. Several thousand participants are gearing up to gather at Bucks County Community College to run, walk, connect, learn, and bond over the ability to promote acceptance and love for all children, teens, and adults, especially our loved ones with autism and other special needs.

The Race for Resources, one of ACF’s major fundraisers, allows ACF to serve more than five thousand people through two hundred free events held annually. This is done with the help of dedicated volunteers, and donations and sponsorships from local individuals, businesses and corporations.

ACF Co-Founder and CEO Linda Kuepper says ACF always strives to do the best that it can be for all of its special friends. “Going forward we need to continue on the path to provide these vital events and activities for our loved ones of all ages.”

The ACF Race for Resources features something for everyone—a certified racecourse for the 5K and 10K as well as a one-mile Family Walk. For further information please go to raceforresources.org February 2020 | 13

The VOICE Inside Our Head

By Laura L. Barry

T

here are so many important ways to take care of ourselves— physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially may quickly come to mind. How about taking care of the voice inside our head? The voice that probably said, “What voice?”

The truth is, we talk to ourselves all day long. We judge: right/ wrong, good/bad, I like/I don’t like. Our inner voice can be a critic or a coach; mostly it is the former though.

The inner critic says things like, “I’m not,” “I can’t,” “I’ll never________” etc. It reminds us what we don’t like about ourselves. It helps us get annoyed with traffic, mentally calling out those who aren’t obeying by the rules we think they should. It makes mental comments about people we interact with, the shape they are in, the clothes they wear, and the attitudes they have. The voice inside our head is non-stop and probably goes unchallenged all day long.

Often the voice inside our head encourages us to argue with reality, or talk to ourselves about ourselves in a way that we would never talk to a friend. For this article, we are going to address talking to ourselves about ourselves.

So, let’s start with just acknowledging that there is a critic voice inside of us. Perhaps just take a few moments to think about your day and the times you can reflect on what were critic thoughts. Maybe with what you wanted to wear this morning, and how it looked on you?

Maybe how well your workout was today? Maybe how your arms/abs/ legs look compared to some airbrushed photo at the gym?

Changing the critic voice to a coach voice is not difficult, and it is not just about “positive thinking” – the first step is become aware of the incessant chatter we listen to all day long. Awareness is key to any self-sabotaging behavior – and yes, allowing your inner critic to have prime time in your thoughts is a self-sabotaging behavior.

Along with awareness is investigation. Becoming aware is the first crucial step and immediately following it is investigating the thought.

The voice may not even be your voice – which may sound funny – but it may be an old tape of a teacher, or parent, co-worker or childhood bully that plays over and over again in your head. This is why investigation is important. Are you the real owner of this thought and belief?

Or are you perpetuating a thought that perhaps with some investigation you’d be willing to drop? I know for me, there are some things that were said to me in my childhood that as an adult I wrestled with, and 14 | February 2020

now I no longer hold onto. Let me give you an example.

As a child I did nothing athletic – nothing! I came from quite an athletic family however, with relatives playing in the NBA, siblings playing number one single or doubles spots on tennis teams and siblings starting varsity basketball in high school and college. Me? I had (and still have) no eye hand coordination at all. I was teased and called names – my inner critic had me convinced I’d never be athletic.

But in college, I wanted to date the captain of the men’s rowing team, and being a bit shy, wasn’t sure how to go about this. There was not a women’s rowing team back then so, I went to the athletic director and together we started a women’s rowing team. I joined, learned to run for endurance, row and lift weights (and I dated the men’s captain).

Fast-forward many years, I still run, row and lift weights. I remember vividly the two times in my post-college life when I was called an “athlete” and who said it. Why? Because my inner critic laughed at the thought of me being an athlete and still quietly said, “I’m not an athlete!” With investigation, I realized, it wasn’t my current adult Laura voice. It was a voice from my childhood. And now, I may not use the “A” word to describe myself, but I wouldn’t not use it either. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I can chuckle and accept that my childhood voice took up prime time in my head.

So what about you? What might you be willing to investigate for yourself? Is there a way you can show up and be gentler with your self and dismantle your inner critic? Clearly, the possibilities of whose voice is in your head are endless. It just takes one time being made fun of, put down or hearing hurtful words one time, and then we perpetuate that thought over and over again. We take over the attack on ourselves without even realizing it.

Perhaps investigation of your thoughts will help you get to the root cause of your beliefs. Sometimes, when we investigate, we tend to go back, assign blame, and stay stuck in what happened to me. That is not the intent of investigation. The intent is to become aware that we are holding on to these thoughts and are still using them against ourselves. The intent is to become aware of our current belief system and with gentleness realize that we are the ones keeping the past negative hurtful thoughts alive. We need to point our thoughts in a new direction. Sometimes a therapist or life coach is a good way to give us needed support.

We all have a set of beliefs about ourselves. These come from years of accepting what others have said about us or thoughts we’ve had about ourselves. It stems from insecurities and a belief that we are less than. Many religions teach this as well that we are not worthy. The key is not necessarily from where these beliefs came, but rather why do we hold on to them? What purpose are they serving?

The most important question is: what is your inner voice saying to you about you? Is it self-sabotaging or self-supporting? Is someone else’s voice taking up prime real estate in your thoughts? Importantly, are you ready to let go of what no longer serves you? Are you ready to shift to self-love and self-appreciation?

Well, I think it’s time to stop the sneaky, incessant critic voice in our heads! You game to give it a try?

Foremost, Laura L. Barry is a mom, runner, rower and a student of life, thoroughly enjoying its classroom. And speaking of classroom, Laura has been an adjunct at St Josephs University teaching Leadership in the MBA program.

An author and life strategist, she enjoys motivating and supporting others toward success. She coaches, is a sought-after speaker, and her most rewarding work to date has been in Hospice.

Laura does have more formal credentials, like a BS, an MBA and her M.Msc (Master’s in Metaphysics.) Laura has published articles in American Nurse Today, in the Mind, Body and Spirit section. She believes – and lives – that balance is the key to life. You can visit her website at www.Laurabarry.org

www.PHILLYFIT.com | 267-767-4205

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February 2020 | 15

LOCAL SP TLIGHT Meet Sue Isabella from Bella Fitness where I knew I would be working with a younger workforce and it terrified me. I struggled to overcome self-doubt, but I knew that it was my desire for helping others and my dedication to fitness that would make me stand out. After receiving my personal-trainer certification, I immediately started my own business, Bella Fitness, where I held group classes in my home, at the local school sports stadium, and sometimes at a public park.

When I first started my business, I knew that I wanted to keep the cost as low as possible. My end goal was not just a career, but rather I truly wanted to make a difference in the lives of others. To do that, I felt that I needed to be affordable. I have repeatedly been told by other trainers that I could make so much more money, but to this day I have not increased my Bella Fitness fees and have no intention of doing so anytime soon.

I eventually began working at a local athletic club and went on to obtain my Health and Nutrition Certification as well as Strength Training Certification. I have been working at the Horsham Athletic Club for the past four “I struggled to years while continuing to run my business from overcome self-doubt, my home. I have a great group of Bella Fitness but I knew that it was regulars as well as several new and original clients who have come to trust my advice and my desire for helping strong focus on staying accountable to yourothers and my self and others in maintaining a healthy lifededication to fitness style. have always had a passion for fitness when it comes to my own

I remember one of my very first clients, that would make me physical and mental health. Staying active and eating well are an who was a long-time member of our military stand out” integral part of my life and I have passed my passion onto my and was required to pass a series of physical tests two children. They have learned to make smart choices and underin order to remain in the military. This included such stand the consequences of making poor ones. I decided to be a stay-atachievements as running a mile within a certain timeframe home mom when I gave birth to my second child in my mid-twenties. As my and performing a certain number of push-ups and sit-ups. He passed his children got older, I started to contemplate going back to work but test two years in a row and I am pleased to say he remains a client to this lacked direction of a career path. There were many conversations with day. I feel absolutely blessed to be in a career where I can share my love family and friends and during those conversations where I was asked, of fitness with others and see how my labor helps to change their lives.

“What is your passion,” or “What do you think would make you It is a part of who I am, and it is my happy place. happy?” I always came back to my love of fitness and helping people.

My desire was to teach others how to build and maintain a healthy lifestyle. So, there I was in my early forties deciding to get into a field

I

16 | February 2020

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PHILLYFIT

Mounted Archery Is Here and Now

By Charles Peeples

ULHA instructor Jamie Landis brings it on

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shley was five years old when she saw the United Liberty Horse Archers’ demo at the annual Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show: girls shooting arrows at targets from horses at full gallop. Brave, anyone? “Mom,” she said “that’s what I want to do!” So the following summer she started lessons with ULHA, and by September she was part of the demo at Ludwig’s.

In a world with an ever–evolving array of “crazy” new sports, especially in the martial-arts vein (axe-throwing, anyone?) Horse Archery or Mounted Archery comes from antiquity. It’s visible in renderings dating to the ninth century BC, primarily with Iranian and Indian peoples, the Hungarians, the Mongols, the Turks, spreading to Eastern Europe and East Asia. In the Iron Age Mounted Archery replaced the chariots of the Bronze Age, and we’re all familiar from our school days with depictions of Native Americans hunting bison.

The recent resurrection has been going on in Europe and Asia for decades, and now it’s a fast-growing sport in the United States. Through the efforts of The Mounted Archery Association of the Americas (www. mountedarchery.org) and Horse Archery USA (www.horsearchery.us) there are Horse Archery clubs and competitions around the country incorporating Korean, Hungarian and Persian styles, distinctions perhaps only of interest to the serious competitor. Targets can include traditional bulls-eyes, balloons, pumpkins, and dummy game. A recent course ULHA staged locally last Halloween even featured a “Spook Shoot” with zombies mounted on Styrofoam boards. For our purposes it’s enough to know this: anyone can get started in Mounted Archery.

You don’t need a riding background- you always begin with ground-archery practice, then on a horse being led by your trainer at a PHILLYFIT

walk. You can even start on a “wheel-horse” -a trailer-mounted saddle pulled by a tractor (it would hardly be surprising in the age of Facebook’s People Are Awesome to see bicycle archery eventually arise as a variant).

You can do this at any age; along with Ashley a grand-mom participated in a recent ULHA shoot.

No archery experience is required either - in fact, if you’ve done Field Archery (the sort you see at the Olympics) you’ve got some unlearning to do, because once you’re on the move in a saddle all those traditional stances and aiming techniques go out the window. As you’re moving (at speeds up to fifty-five mph), your distances and angles to the target are constantly changing, tracking -as opposed to simply aimingis instinctive rather than methodical. Your horse-bow must be shorter than a regular re-curve because you’re moving it -even tilting it- over the horse’s neck and your legs. You’re shooting to the side; you’re even shooting behind you! The quiver is different as well: compact and flat to keep the arrows from bouncing out.

Notable is the connection you need to establish with the horse; you’re not holding the reins, and the horse, whose training includes conditioning to the sound of the bow-string, should know what you’re doing.

There are numerous other reasons for us all to rejoice at the rise of this sport. The equestrian world is often seen as elitist by non-participants, and in its traditional competitive forms, like racing, hunting, jumping, polo, dressage and carriage, that’s understandable; these require a significant investment of time, effort and money. At the risk of upsetting some of my friends who are devotees of these, I’d add that Mounted Archery is not only more accessible but significantly safer to both horse and rider, as the onus of performance is more on the rider than the mount. Most of us have heard about the tragic race-track casualties or cringed watching a jumper catch a hoof on a rail -mounts being pushed to or beyond a limit. At the same time, involvement in equestrian activity has shown to be therapeutic for folks of all ages. And how can you beat having two ancient sports combined in one?

The majority of riders, it seems, are female. And if you exclude bow-hunters, that likely applies to archers as well. Even in the Middle East, which isn’t exactly known for female empowerment, women participate in archery, both in film (anyone see the record-breaking Bollywood epic Baahubali 2?) and real life; among the many Horse Archery videos you’ll find on YouTube (most, by the way, featuring females) is one showing women in Iran participating in Mounted Archery. With so many sports dominated by males, it’s refreshing to see one so dynamic -and even cinematic- where male size and strength offer little advantage, and little girls, like Ashley, may see a chance one day to ride into glory with a fast horse and bow.

Want to give Mounted Archery a shot? Check out United Liberty Horse Archers on Facebook for more info—Jamie, Kellie and Ted are waiting to hear from you!

www.PHILLYFIT.com | 267-767-4205

Charles Peeples, LMT, CSCS, NSCA-PT, is a Licensed Massage Therapist (Chester Springs Massage) and a Nationally-Certified Personal Trainer who has written dozens of articles, mostly celebrating female athleticism, for numerous international fitness magazines since 1990.

February 2020 | 17

G

71 Year-Old Makes Great Marathon Strides

By David Block

ene Dykes refuses to stretch before he runs. “I avoid injuries by not stretching,” said the seventy-one-year-old Dykes of Bala Cynwyd. “It also takes time away from running.” Refraining from cross training also prevented him from injuries. “The best thing for running is running,” said Dykes. Last December, Dykes finished first in his age group category at the Jacksonville, Florida Marathon as he clocked his personal best, 2:54:23. But that was just one of his many highlights. He usually runs more than one race a weekend, and he has competed in ultra-marathons.

Unlike a lot of long distance runners, his high mileage does not hurt his knees. He prevents knee injuries by taking fewer days off and by doing more vigorous runs. When he started racing a few years ago, his knees would often hurt. Now they don’t. “That’s because as you run, you build up strength in all your muscles,” said Dykes. “Once you reach a certain point the strength and the muscle mass protects your knees. Your muscles take the pounding instead of your knees.”

Throughout Dykes’s adulthood, he ran casually. But five years ago a friend convinced him to run with a club. At first he did not know what to expect because he was recovering from an injury, but after he ran a few miles with the group, his injury healed. From there, he was hooked. Dykes then hired Philadelphia running coach, John Goldthorp to train him. “I never would have done the training without a coach,” Dykes said. He credited Coach Goldthorp for making him a faster runner.

“Initially, much to Gene’s chagrin, I had him stop racing so much as it was impeding his ability to train and reach new levels,” said Coach Goldthorp. “I increased his training mileage and prescribed very simple workouts, like four-mile tempo runs. The longterm strategy, however, was to initially build up his capacity for work, then, gradually, make the sessions more challenging. Gene derives a lot of joy from racing, so once he built up his capacity to handle more training, he resumed racing more frequently.”

The coach said that he gets his runners to believe that they can improve each year, at least by one percent. He elaborated: “Gene, like any runner I coach, has progressed over time and has done a wide variety of training sessions to become better. The only ‘magic’ is consistency and progression over time, balanced with rest. He challenges himself with slightly more lofty goals each year.”

Dykes’s Recent Injury He broke his Scapula in June when he fell down while running in the Deena Andrus Memorial: Run For the Ages 10k Trail Chase.

“I was running downhill,” said Dykes. “I don’t remember everything. I might have a little amnesia from being stunned.” He has fallen during runs before, but he had never broken anything. At the moment, Dykes cannot compete until he recovers. He said that Coach Goldthorp will help him avoid compensation injuries when he resumes running.

One example of a compensation injury: If one injures an ankle, the runner might overuse the other ankle, which could lead to injury. “To avoid compensation injuries, one must be assessed by a skilled movement professional and have their meaningful movement compensations identified and addressed,” said Goldthorp, who earned his BS in Kinesiology at Penn State in 2000. “If you think you may need help in this department, two phenomenal credentials to look for in a movement professional include Neurokinetic Therapy® and Anatomy In Motion. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to assess yourself because you will have blind spots that you are unaware exist. You need an expert’s perspective for best results.”

To learn more about Coach Goldthorp, log onto www.fixyourrun.com

18 | February 2020

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LOCATIONS: 1004 Ridge Pike Conshohocken, PA 19428 610.397.1780 Lehigh Valley: 693 State Road Emmaus, PA 18049 610.965.6597 FitnessExchange.com

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itness Exchange is not just a fitness equipment store, it is a personal, one-on-one, shopping experience. With stores in Conshohocken and Emmaus, you’re greeted by a Fitness Exchange equipment specialist who is more concerned with what you need, rather than making a sale. No sales commissions here. They ask good questions to make sure you’ve thought of everything before you make your purchase.

“When I walked into Fitness Exchange” customer Nancy B. said, “I thought I wanted an elliptical. But Rick asked me some questions and we quickly realized that a recumbent bike would be better for me due to my arthritic knees. I’m on it every day and I love it.”

Fitness Exchange equipment specialists care about your fitness goals and experience, medical conditions, aches and pains, and your motivation preferences. There’s no intimidation and no pressure to buy. All Fitness Exchange equipment specialists are trained to help you with your fitness or physical therapy needs. Whether you are buying a ten dollar resistance band or a treadmill, you are given personal attention.

What’s more, they stand by everything they sell, backing their product’s warranties with service after the sale.

Fitness Exchange sells brand new equipment from major brands like Life Fitness and others but if you’re on a budget, Fitness Exchange also sells refurbished pre-owned equipment that works like new. They offer no interest financing and have an entire warehouse full of exercise equipment that is a fraction of the price of new and offer warranties. They will even take your old item as a tradein! Not only does Fitness Exchange back their equipment with warranties, but they are a full-service company who also takes care of delivery, assembly, moves, and repairs. This is the kind of place where everyone who walks through the door is valued and given personal attention.

A recent Fitness Exchange customer wrote in and said, “I needed a treadmill and some physical therapy equipment but I was on a very tight budget, but Fitness Exchange hooked me up and I got everything PHILLYFIT

I needed at a price I could afford. They even gave me a warranty on the used equipment.”

In addition to traditional items like treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, rowers, weights and home gyms you will find Fitness Exchange specialists knowledgeable about cutting edge training products like functional training, body weight training, Whole Body Vibration Training, HIIT — High Intensity Interval Training, Interactive Spin Bike Training and more!

If you need any more convincing, Fitness Exchange also specializes in commercial equipment, and they’ve outfitted many gyms in the area.

They’re popular amongst local gyms and studios because they not only carry the best equipment, but they evaluate the facility’s current or planned fitness center and make recommendations to help obtain the best, most cost-effective equipment to make the most efficient use of space and create a workout environment that is safe, friendly, and easy to use.

So when you decide to invest in your health and fitness, stop by Fitness Exchange and consult with one of their equipment specialists to get the right piece of equipment at the right price in a no-pressure environment.

www.PHILLYFIT.com | 267-767-4205

February 2020 | 19

A Healthy Future Generation

By Noel Davis

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ne in five children are obese in Philadelphia. According to Philadelphia Department of Public Health, this makes them five times more likely to grow into obese adults, increasing their risk for stroke, heart disease, and cancer. Growing up, I have vivid memories of how much fun I had playing outside with friends. Whether it was going for a bike ride, or playing in the park, it was exciting to enjoy the outdoors with all of the fresh air and sunshine. So much has changed since then. It is rare to see children out participating in physical activities, as they’re typically inside playing video games or on the computer.

Real play is fundamental. According to The American Academy of Pediatrics, “immersion in electronic media takes away time from real play, either outdoors or indoors. Real learning happens better One in five children are in person-to-person exchanges rather than maobese in Philadelphia... chine-to-person interactions.”

Food choices and snacking habits also this make them more throughout the city who are alone and unsupervised after contribute to this obesity epidemic. Inactive likely to grow into obese school. It's time for our children have the opportunity to children consuming a poor diet can wreak havadults, increasing their stay with their friends after school in the midst of becomoc on their growing bodies. High sodium fast risk for stroke, heart ing healthier together for a longer friendship. Friends that foods including food from McDonalds, Burger think healthy together stay together! disease and cancer King, and corner stores fail to contain the nutriGrab a friend and a water bottle right now no matter how old ents needed for our health. Although convenient, you are and do a few of these exercises while remaining hydrated: feeding children these meals often undermines the im• 10 Jumping Jacks • 10 Sit-ups portance of teaching them to sustain a healthy lifestyle.

• 10 High Knees • 10 Bicycle Crunches

A few quick healthy snacks that we could recommend to our stu• 10 Toe Taps • 10 Lunges dents are: bananas, sliced fruit, salads, kale chips, blue corn chips and • 10 Push-ups • 10 Squat Jumps even an organic granola bar. Explaining why these snacks are healthier • 10 Crunches than (a bag of chips per say) will help students understand the basics of healthy eating. In turn, they will become more conscious of what they Students, I encourage you to engage in physical activity that includes eat and can carry this into their adult life. aerobic fitness for at least an hour per day. A simple routine like this,

I am so interested in witnessing the progress of our youth, that I along with cardio such as running, walking, swimming, biking, will not am currently working on creating an after school program throughout only be beneficial to the physical body, but will also help improve your our city as a way to get more children physically active, while providing mood, self-regulation and increase your concentration level. Parents, them with nutritional counseling. Such a program will have great pofriends and family I encourage you all to do the same. We must lead by tential to help prevent obesity and to help instill overall lifelong healthy example as a way to help promote health to our youth throughout our habits within our inner city youth and as well as youth from surrounding community...in school, outside of school and for future generations to areas. Not only do I want this program to be available to the students come. Remember it starts with us! in the after school programs, but also open for the different children

Changing as many people lives for the better is Noel’s ultimate goal. Noel is a local archaeologist who ended up in a traumatic car accident that changed her life. Having to go to physical therapy and numerous doctor appointments for over a year she lost strength in her back as she currently has a permanent bulging disc and nerve damage in her legs. However, never forgetting about her first love ‘archaeology’, Noel persistently kept asking doctors what to do in order to excavate again. By mid 2016 a doctor gave her advice to rebuild her core as a way to strengthen her back. At that point there was hope again! Instantly after she started her journey, Noel's love for fitness and health grew tremendously! After feeling that she was gaining her strength back Noel was encouraged to become certified in order to help others like herself and that led her to birth her very own business “Paris Fit” on September 1,2017.

Since in business Paris Fit has had the opportunity to transform the lives of many business professionals, brides, expectant mothers, seniors, local radio talk hosts, children, college students, athletes and models all throughout Philadelphia and it’s surrounding areas. As seen on Fox 29 Good Day Philadelphia and the Q on Fox Show, Noel challenges herself and others to reach their goals and to never give up which has became Paris Fits number one priority. Noel truly believes that fitness is the cornerstone to overall health and wellness. Working on ones fitness level should be priority as it is the first step to a new and healthy lifestyle for anyone, no matter how busy their hectic schedule is, and no matter what their age may be, especially here in Philadelphia!

20 | February 2020

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PHILLYFIT

Off The Couch

By Chris McWilliams

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icholas Taleb says that, “Education to a wise man can make him only slightly wiser. But education to a fool can make them vastly more dangerous.”

Educating people about fitness can have different results. In many cases people join a gym and take a few training sessions with a certified trainer. When it comes time to begin to train on their own they take short cuts, skip sessions and eventually stop going to the gym.

Older people get tired and find other ways to pass their time. Then there is the over achiever.

The person who doubles everything the trainer taught them. This can result in soreness of bones and joints and actual injury. Two things that can give people a reason to stop training.

Personally I have discovered that creating your own plan for fitness every day keeps the training consistent and creates a habit that leads to a healthy lifestyle. As a fifty-six year old former division one athlete, I have a spent most of my lifetime getting into shape as well as part of my life getting out of shape. I have run marathons and done one hundred mile bike rides because it was fun and it was a great to socialize and meet people. But now fitness training is a way to stave off old age.

I have seen a number of fitness programs from people like Tony Horton and Tim Ferris but sometimes it comes down to the person who is training to determine the actual fitness routine and plan. In all this time, I have created a plan that is influenced by some of the big names in training and some of the things that PHILLYFIT

I have experienced in my own training. This type of contouring and adapting prevents me from doing routines that are too young for me.

Doing a routine you are not ready for or can no longer execute can have some bad effects.

Another thing that has bad effects on the body is aging. According to AARP Magazine, aging can cause a decline in your balance, extended swelling and inflammation, slow your metabolism, and increase your stress responses to everyday situations.

”Personally I have discovered that creating your own plan for fitness every day keeps the training consistent and creates a habit that leads to a healthy lifestyle“

In an effort to combat these age related damages to the body, people try everything.

Fancy diet plans with month’s worth of food being delivered to your home or fitness equipment being purchased to make exercising easier. And finally buying the entire DVD pack for the latest “as advertised on TV” exercise plans tops the list of strategies that are common among novice fitness enthusiasts and older folks trying to fend off old age.

So what do we do? For the seasoned fitness buff you can look back on your experiences. If you were an athlete in college, or an amateur athlete you can scan over the years of coaching you’ve received and pick the routines you like or remember the most. Look for www.PHILLYFIT.com | 267-767-4205

things that are safe but also challenging and rigorous.

For the novice getting into exercising because of a personal goal or doctor’s orders, the best thing to do is listen to other more experienced people who have done the routines before. Then go out and find the things that are comfortable but also challenging and rigorous.

The program I have been doing for the last year has been focused on the elements described in the AARP article where the solutions for these declines have also been discussed. As for the decline in balance introductory ballet movements and yoga go a long way in strengthening the hip and inner thigh muscles that are essential in maintaining balance. As for inflammation and a slowing metabolism, I discovered that a strong presence of fruits and vegetables in the diet help in both areas. But diet alone cannot defend you against the perils of aging. Exercise is big component. If not given thought and careful preparation it can be abandon and aging will have a huge advantage. Don’t be afraid to add weights to your workout for strengthening. Nothing combats both the nutritional and physical attacks of aging like good old fashioned hard work. Your body will thank you when the endorphins kick in at the end of the workout.

A wise person will use their fitness info wisely but a fool could cause even more damage than aging. Make your plan for you, and make it for life.

February 2020 | 21

Celebrating My 5th

CARDIAVERSARY

By Edie Moser

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n June 12th, 2014, life as I knew it took a hop, skip and jump that I had not anticipated. I was on my way home from Planet Fitness (a.k.a. The Judgment Free Zone) where I worked out five to six times a week. I called them my ‘playouts,’ since that made them much more fun. The daughter of a consummate gym rat, who in his seventies had six pack abs and in his eighties still worked in a gym until Parkinson’s disease took his vitality, it was a place where I could also commune with my dad’s Spirit. I would often hear his encouraging voice when I had wanted to throw in the towel - literally.

“Come on, Doll Baby, you can do it. Five more minutes, a few more reps.”

I wonder if that’s one of his jobs in Heaven.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he dons shorts, t-shirt and “sneaks” as he called them and coaches others to work out.

In an instant it felt as is someone grasped my jaw and immobilized it, sweat poured down in torrents as if I was running rapid pace on a treadmill, heart burn pain roared across my chest and back and I felt lightheaded. I sensed that I was in the midst of a heart attack. Workaholic that I was, I drove home, called to cancel with clients and still didn’t call 911. Instead, I jumped in the Jeep and drove myself to Doylestown Hospital. I advise against that serious breach in judgment, since I could have injured someone or myself en route.

Fortuitously, it is in the top one hundred

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for cardiac care in the country. When I arrived, I casually and not overly gracefully stumbled through the door and said rather calmly, “I think I’m having a heart attack.”

Within moments, I was whisked via wheelchair to the cardiac cath lab where a stent was inserted. Since laughter is healing, I am remembering a humorous moment, when the nurse, in preparation for the possibility of needing to have it threaded through the groin rather than wrist, said “You’re going to hate me, but I am only going to shave you on one side.” I asked if she couldn’t do a “landing strip.” She joined me in the giggles and informed me that I was on my own to do that when I got home. I’m grateful that the pin hole in my right wrist is what remains.

I knew that the healing had to begin from day one, but instead of the ease and grace it could have been, it really was hard work. It meant redefining my schedule and reinventing myself. I wasn’t afraid to die, in fact, I said afterward that the woman I was died that day to give birth to this one, and she had to die, since she was killing me. I had been working twelve to fourteen -hour days and sleeping perhaps five to six hours a night for at least two years. I had a high stress job as a therapist in an outpatient drug and alcohol rehab. I was eating a mostly vegetarian diet, but it included a lot of pre-packaged high cholesterol and high sodium foods. My blood pressure was through the roof. I had been promising myself that

I would slow down, but my actions didn’t match my intentions and my body stopped believing me.

As I was lying on my couch watching the ceiling fan spin since my boss said he wouldn’t let me in the door for two weeks and a dear friend threatened to break both my legs if I attempted to return any sooner, I asked myself these questions: What if I was incapacitated? What if I couldn’t live the active life I had become accustomed to for the previous fifty-five years? What if this consummate caregiver required ongoing care? I was determined not to let that happen.

Dietary change and a med regimen felt like a piece of (low fat, cholesterol and sodium free) cake in comparison. My niece, as well as my sister who had experienced two heart attacks herself the previous year,

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went through my fridge and cabinets and tossed everything not in keeping with a heart healthy diet. I switched out pre-packaged veggie burgers with whole grains, organic produce and taking time to read labels and cook, rather than zooming through the grocery aisles and hastily throwing meals together in order to accomplish everything on my growing to-do list as I had prior to the cardiac event.

The next step was replacing those free-wheeling gym play outs with medically supervised cardiac rehab. I was taking all of this seriously, not letting the heart attack go to waste. Three days a week was all my insurance would cover at the time and I was grateful for it. I added walks in the in-between days and naps on all of them. That felt like more of a stretch than what I did at the gym, since the me I was before would rarely have napped as it didn’t feel productive.

I did my research and was determined to educate other women about the stats and symptoms related to heart health, to help them prevent the same fate.

According to Go Red For Women: • Heart disease is the number one killer of women and is more deadly than all forms of cancer combined.

• Heart disease causes one in three women’s deaths each year, killing approximately one woman every minute.

• An estimated forty-three million women in the U.S. are affected by heart disease.

• Ninety percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.

One thing that had not occurred to me until it was brought up by another woman with a long cardiac history who I met in rehab was that I had experienced a trauma to my body and mind. I minimized my reaction by telling her I was ‘fine’ since I was resilient, I had

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supports and after all, I was a therapist who counseled lots of people over the years through their illness and injuries and I knew trauma when I saw it. She was having none of it as she insisted that I treat myself as I would anyone else who had gone through a heart attack.

That denial could have cost me my health since I likely would have returned to familiar patterns. Workaholism is one addiction that is encouraged.

As I am writing this it is June 12, 2019 and I celebrated my Fifth Cardiaversary today by going to a salon to get my hair cut and colored a vivid shade of purple. It is my way of remaining visible and vibrant.

Now, five years later, I can look back over the turns of the calendar pages and see that I have come a long way. I’m still working out, walking in between and staking naps. I’m also still learning to set boundaries and not taking on the weight of the world. Finally, I’m celebrating life fully and honoring my own heart the way I do that of others.

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February 2020 | 23

Make Peace with Your Food

By Joanna K. Chodorowska, Intuitive Nutrition Therapy Coach with Nutrition in Motion

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he New Year brings many of us to a place of wanting renewal and starting new intentions of health.

Often we create restrictive plans to help us lose weight or find an exercise plan we force ourselves through for thirty, sixty or ninety days, hoping we will end up loving it and ourselves in the process.

What if you could be more loving and kind to yourself now? It really requires one thing, ok, two. Awareness and desire to choose differently than in the past.

These are parts to what I call practical mindfulness. Awareness of your choices and how those choices are viewed, especially after you indulged when you told yourself ‘Oh, I really shouldn’t!” But then you do and the guilt sets in or you start to berate yourself for being weak willed.

In reality, none of these things are really true. They are the perceptions we have chosen to believe that food is good or bad. These judgements can often motivate us, yet they can also deflate us causing emotional turmoil, which then can drive more eating of what is on your ‘bad’ food list. And you start that downward spiral.

When I work with clients, some of them come in with GI issues, pain and fatigue, and some want to feel better about themselves or lose weight. Feeling better about one’s self is what healthier eating does, yet it is less about actual weight and more about awareness of judgements we have with food and with ourselves.

The first step is to be aware of how you talk to yourself about your food choices. Do you judge yourself based on the foods you are choosing? If you find yourself talking negatively about yourself, it is ok. The

truth is, you are not your food choices. Nor do your food choices define you, yet your judgements against yourself certainly affect how you feel.

Step back and ask yourself: “What would my best friend tell me to do?” Your best friend would probably say, “You’ll be fine.

Just have a little less but enjoy what it is you have chosen.

You can always choose something else next time. Just enjoy what you have!” You always do have a choice.

You can be your own best friend and be kind to yourself, or you could be critical, berating and unkind to yourself.

The next step is to take a look at the situation to understand how the emotions may be playing in.

Most of us do eat emotionally. This is not good or bad, it is a reality—we are human and humans have emotions. As I work with clients through their emotional issues, we understand the triggers, we make peace with the triggers and then we give those emotions a big hug.

This is also where you can be your best friend, and acknowledge the emotion and your desire for that food. Will it make you feel better really? If yes, eat it and enjoy it. I mean really enjoy every bite. Accept that this particular food choice is good for you in this moment. It is loving and kind to self to eat that food at this very moment. And if you realize that none of that is true, you can choose something else that will actually help nourish your emotions that may not be a food.

The third step is to look for the lesson you can learn from this experience. Life is a series of experiences, right? We learn more than whether something is wrong or right. We actually learn that ‘this way worked for me!” yay, or “this way did not work for me.” Yet rather than saying, boo, let’s have a pity party, let’s accept it as a learning

“Do you judge yourself based on the foods you are choosing? If you find yourself talking negatively about yourself, it is ok. The truth is, you are not your food choices”

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experience. Nothing more or less than that.

With this acceptance, you can then explore other options, which may work better for you in the future.

Often a coach like me helps with this as they are outside the situation (the emotions are not there) and they may have more tools to share with you or know how to customize the tools for you specifically.

Without the emotions, we can usually see more available options.

For example, you are stressed at work.

You worked through lunch because there is a lot of work to do. You accepted to help in a project even though you are already feeling behind with other projects. But you have to say yes! You really feel the pressure. You eat lunch at your desk to get through more work.

At about 2-3 PM, you cannot stop thinking about candy. It is at your co-worker’s desk or someone brought some from home for the office.

Grabbing that candy is not good or bad. It just is what you want right now. Ask yourself: • What emotion is present? Do you feel stressed, overwhelmed and under-appreciated?

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• What does the candy do for you? It may be the only thing sweet happening in that moment. Now accept that that candy is filling your need for something sweet in your workday.

Now, really enjoy that candy! And just notice what you may notice without judgement.

• How do I move forward through this?

You start to look for ways to take a break from work so you can feel less stressed.

Look for ways to put some fun or play into the work day. Maybe working through lunch is not your best strategy – maybe you actually need to leave your desk, eat lunch peacefully and come back to your desk rejuvenated and ready to ‘attack’ that to do list with a better tactic.

When you take time to breathe, connect with the emotion and really understand what it is your body really wants, you can move through the situation with compassion, loving and understanding of yourself and your food choices. As you move through awareness, acceptance and presence, you can choose acts of kindness towards self, which may no longer be food based. Your life becomes more enjoyable on all levels because you have made

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peace with your food and your choices. You are no longer worried about what you ate and just love yourself a little more each day.

I encourage you to try this exercise to gain a new relationship with yourself and with your food. It is the first step to making peace with your food! Let me know how it works!

February 2020 | 25

How Sandy Johnson Battled

BREAST CANCER with Early Dection, Intervention and Exercise

By Lisa R. Mele

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ccording to a recent study in 2019 with the U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics about one out of eight women will develop invasive breast cancer. Breast cancer is a battle that women are bravely fighting. In Sandy’s case, not only was she brave, but also she was determined not to let her breast cancer interrupt her daily routine. Sandy’s physician advised her that exercise could help fight the fatigue associated with radiation treatment.

Before beginning any new exercise program always consult and get clearance first from your Physician or Health Care Professional.

Sandy Johnson is a registered Nurse, wife and busy mother of three grown boys. In her spare time she hits the gym a minimum of three times a week taking Barre, Total Body Conditioning and Zumba classes.

In April of 2018, Sandy noticed during a routine self-breast exam that her skin tone and texture changed color. She immediately contacted her physician and had a mammogram done. Her doctor then ordered an ultra sound and another mammogram.

Sandy’s physician then ordered a biopsy test to be done and the results came back positive. Sandy had a Lumpectomy and Sentinel lymph node biopsy. During the first week Sandy did rest and take time off from work and the gym. After a week, Sandy asked her physician if she could return to her normal routine and was cleared by her doctor to return to work and the gym.

Her physician then scheduled a review of the lab tests to see if her breast cancer was genetic (Sandy’s mother had breast cancer twelve years ago). This would further determine what type of treatment would be done to combat the cancer.

During Sandy’s testing she kept busy with her routine at work, home and the gym. Some days she was so tired, but she was determined not to allow this breast cancer diagnostic let her spirit down. Sandy continued taking her group exercise classes and with the help of her gym instructor, Sandy was shown modifications 26 | February 2020

for different exercises. Sandy also worked out on the treadmill, elliptical and stationary bike.

When the results were back the physician told Sandy that she had Medium Range – Breast Cancer and the treatment was to be radiation after surgery. Sandy was determined to keep her life as normal as possible and Sandy never once complained about her condition at work, home or at the gym.

Sandy would start every day with radiation treatments and then work her eight-hour shift at the hospital. Sandy admits, “ I was really tired after the radiation treatment but I kept on going.” Sandy also adds, “When I would come home at night after work, my family would have dinner ready for me and that was really helpful”. Sandy continued to fight her battle with breast cancer from February 2018 to September 2018.

It has been a year now since Sandy’s surgery and she is doing great thanks to the help of her family, doctors, co-workers and close friends. Sandy explains, “ If I could give some advice to every woman out there, please do not be afraid to get your annual mammograms and do your daily self-check breast exams.”

Sandy is an amazing woman who never let her condition change who she was and how grateful she was to continue with her quality of life, love and spirit.

Since 2011, Lisa R. Mele has been a featured PhillyFIT Magazine Workout-a-thon Instructor and in 2012 became the Stage Manager for the event. Lisa is a certified Group Exercise Instructor with over 14 years experience teaching Aquatics, Barre, Latin Dance, Mat Pilates, Silversneakers and Total Body Conditioning.

In her spare time, Lisa enjoys writing fitness articles for PhillyFIT Magazine, swimming and taking ballet and jazz classes at Marcia Hyland Dance Center.

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“It is my greatest wish that I can build Tonicity Fit into a gym system that provides quality health and wellness guidance to it’s clients”

TONICITY FIT

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By Sarah Otroski

started dancing when I was five years old.

I spent the next eight years performing in tap, jazz, and ballet. Paired with my ballet experience, I lived on a four hundred sixty-five acre farm where I would spend a lot of time hiking, running in the fields, fishing, and long distance running. Throughout my teenage years, I did not have a car, and spent most of my time walking anywhere I needed to go.

All of the activity that I was exposed to started the spark of passion that I grew for fitness and wellness. As a young adult, I developed a strong interest in healthy nutrition. I spent a lot of time researching the science of food in the local library, learning the art of Pilates, and practicing yoga with a private instructor.

When I was seventeen, I joined my first gym and booked an introductory appointment with a personal trainer. In that session, the trainer taught me the basics of strength training. She ran me through the equipment, showed me how to stretch, and discussed the importance of cardio for the cardiovascular system.

I quickly realized a great love for the gym, and drew my energy to learning all that I could about the muscular and circulatory systems. The more that I learned, the more my passion grew. I took my studies farther, and studied the biomechanics of form and the functional physiology of the human PHILLYFIT

body. I realized quickly that I had a gift for understanding the human body, and I wanted to use it to help others achieve optimal health and wellness.

Within the next year, I started working as a personal trainer and wellness coach. I worked closely with private clients to teach them the importance of strength training for bone health and muscular integrity, cardiovascular endurance for heart health, and overall health and wellness to support quality of life.

The more time that I spent working with clients, the more I realized the quickly declining health of the general public. Prospects were entering the gym dealing with health issues such as joint injuries, overuse, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, limited mobility, depression, anxiety, and many other physical ailments.

That alarming realization lead me to the determination to become more scientifically educated about anatomy, physiology, and how exercise could be used to combat declining health. At twenty-six years old, I left my job (still keeping private clients) and enrolled into Eastern University as an Exercise Science major. Four years later and seven months pregnant with my daughter, I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology, a solid understanding of my skill, and a great passion to learn more. My love for learning and gift for teaching landed a position as adjunct professor in the Kinesiology department www.PHILLYFIT.com | 267-767-4205

at Eastern. A year after beginning my teaching career, I enrolled at Temple University to pursue a Master’s Degree in Integrative Exercise Physiology. I wanted to learn how I could use exercise as medicine and to improve performance.

I attended Temple for just under two years, and graduated with a Master’s of Science degree in Exercise Science, again pregnant, but this time with my son, Aaron. After graduation, I spent one more year teaching at Eastern while planning the opening of my lifelong dream, Tonicity Fit Personal Training Studio.

While teaching at Eastern, I did a copious amount of studying the effects of exercise on the aging body. I studied the processes of aging, the rate at which the occur, factors that change the rate, and how exercise could slow these events from occurring. It gave me an additional passion for helping people live optimally healthy lives before the effects of unhealthy aging took away their quality of life. I additionally committed to forming a gym environment where clients could learn about these factors, have a custom program for their specific needs and goals, and have the support and motivation necessary to keep up with the process.

When my husband and I committed to opening Tonicity Fit, we knew the process would be a challenge. Competition was great, the price of opening a fitness facility were astronomical, and overhead would immediately be heavy. Simultaneously, the commitment that I made to helping people learn the full picture of their personal health and wellness was more important than giving up because of a challenge. We prayed a lot, got our hands dirty, and built my dream.

Tonicity Fit opened its doors on August 4th, 2018 in West Chester Pennsylvania. It is a clean, beautiful, full featured, welcoming, custom and elite personal training studio that is built exclusively for each individual client. Every aspect of Tonicity is deeply rooted in the science of the human body and how exercise interacts with and improves overall health and wellness.

I have taken great care to make sure that no one exercise prescription is written alike, and each client is provided with guidance and support to walk through their own journey, reaching goals and improving health and fitness. Our client base ranges from extreme athletes to individuals with joint, heart, and metabolic challenges.

It is my greatest wish that I can build Tonicity Fit into a gym system that provides quality health and wellness guidance to it’s clients today, tomorrow, and well into the long term future.

February 2020 | 27

Philly'sFITTEST Philadelphia native, Bridget Barrett, has always been a fitness enthusiast but decided to take her passion for fitness to a new level this past year and train for her first bikini competition (NPC XCALIBUR CUP). Her workout regimen included working out 2+ hours a day, 7 days a week, while tracking macros. Bridget also loves yoga, meditation and anything that involves spending time with her family.

Marty Smith 67 years young, trains at Ott’s Tae Kwon Do, Bensalem, PA

Jami Amaro and Rosalyn Yellin are two Bucks County best friend mommies who just can’t stop moving! They have 8 children between them, ages 15-27! They have been doing Zumba together for over 7 years and thank their bodies every day for allowing them to dance and party like it’s 1999!

Bridget Tobin, from Abington, PA. Bridget is a pro bikini competitor in the OCB and NGA, and personal trainer in center city Philadelphia.

Known for his huge smile.

Evan is a certified personal trainer from Collegeville, a men’s physique competitor, a proud father, and a devoted husband. Somehow he’s able to be all of that while working a regular nine to five in finance. “Think it. Say it. Do it,” he says as he continues to push for more.

I'm really loving the new Edge Fitness In Warrington! The gym is so open and filled with so many different areas for all levels of fitness. Class selection is great, special women’s only area on the gym so women can workout in private, kids fitness classes for your little ones which my 8 and 11 year olds love- getting the kids involved definitely a huge plus! I travel a half hour to come here. Definitely worth the mileage! Erin Miller To be included in an upcoming feature of Philly’sFITTEST, please submit your favorite healthy photo along with a caption to: jami@phillyfit.com 28 | February 2020

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Philly'sFITTEST Sarah Ostroski trains at Tonicity Fit Personal Training Studio in West Chester, PA

Yvonne Ferguson Hardin on Forbidden Drive, Philadelphia, PA

Anthony C. Perrucci Jr., graduated from Temple University in 2015 with a BS in Kinesiology, is a high school physical education teacher.

Born and raised in NE Philadelphia, he believes “Thoughts Become Things.”

Diane Lehman: I’ve been in the fitness business for 33 years with a bachelors and masters in exercise physiology. I teach yoga at spring mill athletic club.

My name is Herb Cole, I’m 38 and I’m from Berlin NJ. I took this professional picture for marketing purposes as I started a small personal training business.

I chose to hire Tiffany On Location Photography because her lifestyle portraits are stunning.

Dan Kyleat the 2017 Reykjavik Marathon (way amazing course, BTW. So scenic that I got distracted and a divot gave me quite a spill!) Of course I had to support our Eagles over there!

Getting into the fitness business 5yrs ago was the best decision I ever made!

At 46 , I feel the strongest I have ever felt! It’s never too late to follow your dreams!

—Susan Isabella

My challenge is against myself and nobody else, a challenge to beat my personal best in fitness photos and go beyond my own mental and physical limits.

Inspired by Bruce Lee and Sylvester Stallone. I also would like to be a great role model and inspire the younger generation.

—Andy Lee

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The Surrender and Core classes at Crushin It For the Kids, Lifetime Athletic in Fort Washington.

April Weaver, from PhillyFIT, and Mindy Sheinberg participated in this wonderful event and loved it!

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February 2020 | 29

TOP TRENDS IN FITNESS The top 10 most sought-after areas of fitness/wellness across the nation are: • Functional Training • Active Aging • Nutrition Small • Strength Training • Personal Training Functional Training is the top listed trend for 2020. It is an essential focus with fitness training and has gained so much clout because of its success preparing for life’s essential movements and activities. This type of training includes strength, balance, coordination, power, range of motion and mobility and can be incorporated with a diverse range of programs reaching a diverse group of individuals. More and more of the population is working in sedentary types of jobs. People are craving to be active and Functional Training is a perfect method to achieve that.

Owners, trainers and clients are all seeking the benefits of Functional Training that translate directly into everyday life.

Our second most valuable trend is Active Aging. Active Aging has grown in importance, as our society is living longer. The growing number of baby boomers and longer lifespans of humans has demanded fitness alternatives. People don’t want to just live longer but thrive longer and continue to enjoy the benefits life has to offer. Programming and training to facilitate these Active Agers doesn’t just apply for the seventy to eighty years old and counting, but it begins when they are thirty, forty and fifty years old, since it is much easier to age well when you have mastered foundational movement. Exercise is seen as medicine, and Fitness and Health Professionals are emphasizing Prehab rather than Rehab. This is a perfect outlook for the Active Agers which also leads to simple props being used to assist with programs. These “easier” props include chairs, softer foam rollers, more elastic and less resistant exercise tubing as well as an increase in aquatic exercise popularity.

Nutrition is next in line as the 3rd most popular trend involved with our fitness programs. While regular exercise is important, nutrition is vital. Having the largest impact on our overall health, with research showing that seventy to eighty% of a healthy lifestyle is related to diet.

A food revolution has begun. People focus more than ever on what they are consuming and how it affects their wellbeing. Sub-trends and topic interests such as vegan diets, vegetarianism, low carb diets, fasting technologies, and protein rich diets are all growing. Fitness professionals are interested in how nutrition affects mood, hormones, sleep and performance. People are looking for answers and what’s right for them as instructors, trainers and athletes. Clubs have an enormous influence in this area, and it opens opportunities for them to partner with licensed and registered dieticians to provide the research-based public answers and programming for their clients.

Our fourth topic of interest is Strength Training. A focus since the early days of fitness, it has evolved greatly over the years. Building strength and muscle capacity is an essential aspect of every fitness and 30 | February 2020

• Exercise Science • Group Cardio • Group Training • Barre • Boot Camp/HIIT

wellness program. There are a variety of ways to incorporate strength training in your regime and many of the necessary tools exist in most clubs and facilities – resistance bands, free weights, kettle weights, medicine balls, machines, and don’t forget about a person’s own bodyweight. Its popularity stems from the efficiency of the training and its benefits – increased sports performance, treatment and prevention of injuries, and of course alteration and often improved “appearance”.

Programs such as HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) incorporate strength training by slipping it between bouts of cardio or flexibility offerings. Slow training uses machines or resistance equipment to work ever so slowly through various ranges of motion, and it is also key for older adults to maintain balance and quality of life. Even Yoga has a focus on bodyweight training that improves strength. As you can see, this training can be used across the board for all types of clients.

Personal Training is the fifth trend. Working out can be intimidating at times; your clients may have goals but no idea how to achieve them!

It’s no secret that one of the greatest paths to success is through accountability. A personal trainer can help clients feel safer and more confident, fostering their perseverance to start and stick with a fitness program.

Trainers also assist a client to overcome plateaus, allowing one to reach new heights on their fitness journey. A rise in Personal Training is a win-win for all parties involved – trainers help clients see greater results with one-on-one personalized instruction, while at the same time, clubs and trainers find greater revenue sources when they incorporate it effectively. The best personal trainers will offer a plan, accountability, education, and motivation. They will keep clients challenged and engaged to help see maximum results.

Sixth is Exercise Science is the study of human movement involving multiple components of biological, physical and health sciences that help us better understand the process of maintenance, change and improvement of our physical fitness. With injuries so prevalent in our life, and especially in fitness, people have gone back to the science of the body to prevent injuries and increase overall performance. When trainers have a better idea of the how the body works internally/externally, they better understand how to serve their clients. More and more current ,and future, fit pros are going back to get education on this valuable subject. Since Exercise Science helps fitness pros use tried and true techniques that promote physical health, this education opens the door for many other pursuits. Depending on each person’s interest and is a great place to take the next step in any fitness career.

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Seventh is Cardio and exercise have gone hand and hand since the origins of the term fitness. How many times have you heard people say, “I am looking for a workout to make me sweat! The basics of Cardio evolved tremendous which began as something so simple like running, swimming, and biking; to personal cardio machines of every shape and size.

This next trend that has seen tremendous benefits for trainers, clients and studios alike is Group Cardio. The idea of incorporating many of the basic cardio exercises and/or machines in a group format, encouraging strength in numbers towards a common goal. All this works to increase member/ client engagement and retention for health clubs, helping them see a better return on their equipment and studio space.

Small Group Training comes in as eight, and has grown due to the major benefits for the trainer side as well as the clients.

The affordability of getting high quality work-outs with professional instruction and oversight from trainers provides a lot of value for clients of all ages and levels. On the trainer side, this allows for more efficient use of time and resources, so they can have a greater influence and impact on their current and future clients, all while making a financial return.

This has led to more education, equipment and programs to fit this demand and improve the experience for all parties.

Barre is ninth, and isn’t making the headlines like it did when it first came in the industry, but it is slow to fade and not going anywhere without a fight. This is because it is safe, controlled, easy to do and attracts all demographics. This has grown from spawning a variety of Barre related programs to small studios and even large franchises. One of the most popular new disciplines in the Barre Family is Aqua Barre, where aqua folks are using an aqua noodle as a barre and doing barre training in the water. This allows for the Active Aging community to participate and enjoy the benefits. Many clubs have incorporated Barre due to the high ROI, since it can fit easily into programming in a multipurpose room, needing limited equipment with fixed bars or even portable equipment.

Boot Camp/HIIT comes in tenth, and is not the fad that it was a few years ago but is still so popular due to the efficiency of the workout. In our constantly busy lives, making time for fitness can be difficult and HIIT helps fills that void by offering quick (thirty minutes or less) workouts for the full body. Research has also shown how these HIIT workouts can positively affect/boost metabolism for twenty-four to fortyeight hours after the workout. Combing these HIIT workouts in a Bootcamp format allows for an engaging group format giving rise to popular studios to open with a sole focus on this modality.

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Top Trends to be on the lookout that didn’t make the list: w Mind/Body & Meditation formats range in a variety of ways and have taken off due to the recent research and benefits shown when promoting the connection between the mind and body. This idea of connecting the brain to movement can seem a little fluffy compared to the sweat drenching workouts in the early days of fitness, but many programs, coaches and studios work to make it approachable and accessible to all types of individuals. This isn’t just focused on the many types of Yoga and Meditation practices, but mindfulness can be incorporated in all aspect of physical movement. By working out this Mind/Body connection, it allows for extremely positive results on the physically, mental and emotional levels. w Although Aqua doesn’t carry the glamour of other sexier fitness regimes, it has taken off in the USA and it continues to make a big splash. With the rise of the Active Agers, Aqua fitness allows for amazing low impact exercises of all types. This has led to many different land modalities making their way into the water. The increase in Pre-Choreographed Aqua programs and engaging Aqua equipment provide ways for gyms and recreational centers to see a greater return on their pool. By keeping aquatic programming busy and interesting, pools are now a fountain of creativity. Aquatic Barre training using a water noodle, Tab-aqua exercise exploring HIIT training in the pool, Yoga Paddle Boarding in the shallow or deep end have also struck a chord with both old and young members. Look for Fluid Yoga, Aquatic Kickboxing and Personal Training in the pool to hit it big in 2020. w Look for Rest, Rolling and Recovery to explode on the fitness scene. Many of the latest programs, equipment and nutrition include elements of recovery for their clients. The focus is shifting to prioritize rest and recovery almost as much as the workout itself to see ultimate results. Foam rolling, hand-held massage tools and electronic stimulation allow for ways to warm up and cool down in a group and personal setting for all ages and levels. Topics such as The Importance of Sleep to Athletic Recovery has also attracted more and more clients. This opens a lot of opportunities for health clubs to combine recovery classes/techniques with multiple modalities, offering new fitness and wellness programs for their clients/members. w Lastly, nutrition and stress-reducers focused seminars and programs have exploded in importance. Fasting, vegan diets, the evils of sugar, foods to reduce inflammation, proteins to enhance performance and other nutrition-based programs are gaining notoriety. And you can’t ignore products such as CBD that have an anti-inflammatory effect that promote rest and recovery. Essential oils, aromatherapy and other stress-reducers are also being introduced into wellness programs both in the studio and in the locker rooms.

So many fitness pros work diligently to meet the needs of their clients by staying on top of the health and wellness trends. SCW Fitness Education has been here to lead the professional on their next fitness journey. So tell us, now that you know what is hot outside of your current workout, what’s next for YOU? And please watch for the future installments of the SCW Trends in Fitness!

As a leader in the fitness industry, and one of the largest regional fitness convention businesses in the world, SCW Fitness Education goes above and beyond collecting detailed information from our network of Fitness Professionals. The results in this article are taken from almost 4,600 of our 8,500 fitness pros that attend one of our 9 regionally based annual MANIA® conventions. Our conferences are located all throughout the US in New York City, San Francisco, Orlando, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Boston and Washington DC. The total breakdown of attendees is 85% Group Fitness Instructors, 60% Personal Trainers and 35% Club Owners, Directors and Managers.

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February 2020 | 31

How to PRIORITIZE Your Health and Fitness

When Life Gets in the Way

By Jim Spingler

W

hen life gets in the way, your health and fitness routine is usually one of the first things to be pushed to the side. In reality, this is exactly when you should make your health a priority. Taking care of ourselves physically and mentally allows us to be the kind of person we strive to be. I know so many people who believe that they can’t find the time to exercise because they’re just too busy with everyday life. They have to work, take care of the kids, etc. It can all be a little much, and I totally understand. In this article, I highlight ways you can fit movement and exercise into your daily routine, no matter how busy you are.

Schedule Out Your Week You can’t expect to fit everything into your schedule if you don’t even have one! The first thing you should do is sit down and set up a daily and weekly schedule. Take some time and make a list of all of the things you need to get done during the week. After the list is complete, take a look at where you can fit some exercise in, and remember, working out is something you should make a high priority.

Planning out your workouts (and even your meals) on Sunday before the week begins saves so much time during the week. Additionally, I have found that people tend to stick to an exercise routine when it is actually scheduled into their week, compared to just fitting it in when they have some extra time.

Workout at Home!

One the major turn-offs for busy people when thinking about starting a workout program is figuring out when they would have time to get to a gym for an hour or so every day. Putting your gym clothes on, driving to the gym, warming up, completing your workout, cooling down, and then driving home just seems like way too much to fit into a day.

This can all be remedied by working out at home. There are plenty of amazing workout routines that you can complete at home, with no equipment necessary. An awesome example is circuit training with body weight exercises.

32 | February 2020

Circuit training is a type of workout where you perform a number of exercises in succession for a certain amount of repetitions with no break in between. When the final exercise is completed, your first circuit is complete, and you may then take a rest break. After your rest is completed, you repeat the circuit again for as many times as prescribed/ desired.

For example, let’s say you have four exercises in your circuit, and you want to perform ten repetitions per exercise. The four exercises are body weight squat, push-up, sit-up, and lunge. Your circuit would be ten body weight squats, directly into ten push-ups, directly into ten sit-ups, and then finish with ten lunges. After the lunges are completed, you can take a rest for as long as prescribed. If you want to complete the circuit five times, you would repeat four more times.

Think of all the time you can save if you can perform a quick workout in the comfort of your own home!

Workout Early in the Morning In some cases, the reason why people think they have no time for exercise is because they are not willing to make any sacrifices. Waking up twenty to thirty minutes earlier and exercising will give your metabolism a boost and have you start your day feeling accomplished. I have found that a lot of my clients prefer these morning workouts because they consider it the only time of the day that they get some “me time.”

Incorporate Some Movement into Your Day One of the best ways to shed a few pounds is to incorporate movement into your day. When you get to work, skip the elevator and walk up the stairs. If you are able, set an alarm on your phone to go off every hour or so to remind you to get up out of your chair and walk around a little.

When you have to make some phone calls, you can get up and walk or pace around your office. These little changes may not seem like much, but trust me, they make a huge difference.

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walking around. Instead of eating your lunch at your desk you can take a walk to a local park or your favorite lunch spot and eat there, then take a walk back. Getting out in the fresh air and moving around is great for your cardiovascular system and your general health.

Exercise During Your Lunch Break If you’re really not a morning person and know that it isn’t likely you will stick to a morning workout routine, lunch time can be a great option. Lunch time workouts are a great way to break up the workday and give you a boost of energy for the second half of your day. When scheduling your week on Sunday, you can choose a few days of the week where you will head to your gym and workout at lunch time. I even have some clients who bring a set of dumbbells and elastic bands to work and get a quick workout in right at their desk! Another great option if you can’t get to your gym is just getting out of the office and

Take a Fitness Class with Friends Some people just do not enjoy working out at all. Usually when I find that someone I know says this to me, it is because they either don’t know what they should be doing at the gym, or they do not enjoy working out alone. Taking a fitness class with your friends, family, or co-workers could be a great remedy to this problem. The camaraderie makes exercise so much more fun, and all you have to do is show up when the class starts, workout and leave right when the class is over.

There are plenty of you reading this who haven’t really had a chance to workout in a long time. I want to show you the power of adding some daily movement into your day.

After incorporating these tips and getting into a habit of performing some exercise during the week you will start to notice you are looking and feeling better. Yes, looking better is great, but feeling better is amazing. We as humans are meant to move. We are built to walk, run, jump, climb, bend, lift, crawl, and swim.

You get the picture. We are not meant to sit or lay down for extended periods of time. Generation after generation, humans have become more and more sedentary for many reasons. It has become clear recently how bad not moving for extended periods of time is for your body. Well it is time to fix this issue! Are you really too busy to improve your health, prevent disease, and lift your mood and spirit? I didn’t think so. Now let’s get moving!

Jim Spingler is the CEO and Founder of Unleash Your Potential Fitness. Jim created Unleash Your Potential Fitness to help busy adults build the healthiest, strongest, best looking version of themselves through training, healthy eating, and mindful living. From the moment Jim first touched a weight over ten years ago, health and fitness has been his passion. Not only does he have a passion for fitness, he has a passion for helping others. He believes the most rewarding part of becoming an Online Personal Trainer has been hearing about how much better his clients feel, both physically and mentally. He has found that the best muscle gains, fat loss, and performance improvements have been when the focus has been on using health and fitness to better yourself holistically and not for vanity sake. Jim is a N.E.S.T.A (National Exercise & Sports Training Association) Certified Strength Coach, Lifestyle and Weight Management Specialist, and Holistic Life Coach. He is also a Certified Online Trainer (OTC) by the Online Trainer Academy. For more information, visit his website www.unleashyourpotentialfitness.com, or his Instagram page @ unleash_your_potential_fitness.

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February 2020 | 33

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KOZAYE Kozaye Revolutionizes Sleep with New Line of Luxury, Thermally-Regulated, Hemp and Bamboo Memory Foam Pillows with Lifetime Protection Plan The Last Pillow You’ll Ever Buy Los Angeles, CA, May 29, 2019—Kozaye, a Belgian-inspired maker of luxury sleep accessories, announces the debut of Pillow Perfection: a series of hemp and bamboo memory foam pillows designed for optimal sleep.

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34 | February 2020

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OXYGEN PLUS While many workout enthusiasts look to energy drinks, shakes and supplements to help boost energy, endurance, and aid in recovery, the solution may lie in an all-natural resource we can’t live without – oxygen! As you know, our muscles use oxygen from the ambient air we breathe to produce ATP energy, which we then use as fuel. During physical exercise our muscles work harder, which increases their demand for oxygen. When your body runs out of oxygen at the end of a workout, or simply can’t deliver O2 to your muscles quickly enough, your muscles begin converting glucose into lactic acid instead of energy – causing power output to drop, and fatigue to set in.

O2 is instrumental in increasing energy, performance and recovery overall.

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OLD TRAPPER JERKY Backed by a steadfast commitment to providing the “real deal” in jerky snacks, Old Trapper pioneered the beef jerky industry and prides itself on producing world class beef jerky. The company starts with be highest-quality, most tender beef which is slowly marinated and then in keeping with its traditional process hand-placed on smoking racks. The result is a take-anywhere healthy snack that is low in calories yet high in protein.

VIBE BARS This newly launched line of ingredient infused bars combines caffeine and protein and doesn’t stop with great taste and a lively boost. Vibe Infusion bars are plant-based, all-natural and free of gluten, soy and dairy. Vibe Energy is a caffeine infused protein bar with the equivalent of 1.5 shots of espresso. The caffeine source is coffeeberry which is extremely high in antioxidants and has a whole slew of health benefits. Vibe Calm is the first full infusion bar, combining a fully vegan bar that is keto friendly (4g net carbs), only 2g of sugar and has ingredients that help fight anxiety and de-stress.

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Introducing the new HappyLight Luxe light therapy lamp by Verilux -featuring 4 brightness levels that adust color from daylight to warm white and a countdown timer that allows you to personalize your experience. The HappyLight helps regulate your sleeping patterns and is great for seasonal depression disorder, postpartum, jet lag and more!

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CLEARSTEM CLEARStem’s four formulas (two serums, one cleanser-makeup remover and one exfoliating cleanser) are designed to help fade acne scars, clear up current breakouts, hydrate, skin properly and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The real CLEARStem difference is that the line uses absolutely no pore clogging ingredients.

February 2020 | 35

HOW IS 70 THE “NEW MIDDLE AGE?” The Logistics of Longevity of Eloquent, Vibrant Aging

by Tanya Tecce

D

id you see that social media post featuring a pic of sevnety plus year-old actress Helen Mirren looking sultry with copy that read “70 is the new middle age?”

A few months ago I wrote something about how to take five years off (more than just) your face in five simple steps — but this is much bigger and so much more exciting than that. So let’s delve in.

You may have heard of the Blue Zones lately — population zones where people are not only living longer, but living longer while living well.

The five regions identified and discussed by Dan Bruettner in his book The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest include Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California.

Residents of these zones are more likely to reach age one hundred and beyond. More importantly, they suffer a fraction of diseases found in other parts of the developed world (such as heart disease, cancer and alzheimer’s) thereby enjoying those years with good health, vitality, and quality of life!

There are numerous documented cases of people in India, Tibet and eastern Europe living from 108-120 years old and beyond, as well as exciting and significant research on healthy telomeres and linear aging vs. cyclical aging (a topic for another time).

Is it possible that America’s average life span is moving towards one hundred eight years young and beyond, or does that sound far-fetched?

Is it only the populations of the Mediterranean or Japan that live long and prosper?

The science of the Blue Zones and the others has gained significant credibility in recent years. Life insurance company actuaries have changed their mortality tables for their products. Unassumingly and without much fanfare (as actuaries maybe want to do) the life expectancy chart age for New York Life went from age one hundred to one hundred twenty-one in 2015.

According to Singularity University, a think tank in California focusing on scientific progress, modern science is adding 3 months to every year we live as of 2016. Additionally, according to them, as of 2030, we’ll be banking an additional year for every year we live.

What does that mean to you? Well, it means that if you are a 40 year-old male today, living to 110; a 40 year-old woman living to one hundred fourteen is quite possibly the new norm. Unlikely? I thought so perhaps too. But, then again, if the actuaries at the life insurance companies are taking this into consideration, shouldn’t it be a factor we consider? In his book, Money: Master the Game, Tony Robbins touts assisted living facilities as a sound and exponentially growing investment. If you take a look at the development and advertisements of same, there seems to be a whole lot to this longevity claim.

Vishen Lakhiani, Founder of Mindvalley, an education investment group that builds and invests in education businesses, crafted a chart based on these new statistics. His son is ten and he comments that it’s “mind boggling to understand that he will likely live to see the year 2148.”

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Find your age and take a look to see your updated age expectancy based on these developments: AGE IN 2018 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

LIFESPAN MALE 140 135 130 125 120 115 110 105 100 95 90 85 80

WILL LIVE TO YEAR 2148 2138 2128 2118 2108 2098 2088 2078 2068 2058 2048 2038 2028

AGE IN 2018 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

LIFESPAN FEMALE 144 139 134 129 124 119 114 109 104 99 94 89 84

WILL LIVE TO YEAR 2152 2142 2132 2122 2112 2102 2092 2082 2072 2062 2052 2042 2032

Mind boggling indeed.

Up until recently, science has put the average male life expectancy in the US at roughly sventy-nine years old and the average female at eight-one years old. Now — if you’re under thirty-five years old today, you’re likely to see the year 2100 and get to celebrate the millennium.

Leave it to science to refuse to stay stagnant! We’ll do well to follow suit.

It may now seem obvious that many, if not most, of us are seriously underestimating how long we may live, but we needn’t any longer. Why not take it a step further? Let’s be proactive about how well we live.

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Longevity doesn’t necessarily mean health, as anyone who has witnessed a loved one’s struggle with disease, dementia and loss of their faculties can attest. Let us make health and vitality the most important part of the equation.As the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote attests, “The first wealth is health.”

Since we will be living longer than ever, we don’t want to spend most of it wheeled around or unable to take care of our own needs.

Then whats are the opportunities here? What comes along with not only living longer, but aging well? Scratch that. Aging very well.

What if forty-eight (ahem) is the new twenty-eight; sixty the new forty and one hundred the new seventy-five?

Of course, this has tremendous implications on many fronts: there’s the financial planning. What if retirement now spans a longer time frame than our working years or close to it? Will a new working model emerge? Just how long will retirement have to last us and what is the best way to repurpose this? As Michael Bradley wrote about in the Main Line Today June 2018 issue’s ‘Costly Decisions’ - “When Social Security started, the mortality age was sixty-two. Now, if you’re twenty-five years old, and you retire between fifty-five and sixty, you could live for another forty-five to fifty years. Life insurance companies are writing coverages to one hundred twenty years of age.” Something many of you are likely already thinking about.

We’ve touched on the elderly care and assisted living implications.

Family dynamics are also likely to be affected as we live longer, with our kids not just watching us age, but also watching their children and their children’s children age as well.

But each of these - along with any other concerns—are underscored (underwritten if you will at the risk of an intended actuarial pun) by our health, vitality and well-being. It is the essence of it all.

In fact, I might argue that planning for your experience of life is the most important investment you can make. You don’t want to live to be one hundred and beyond, but in such poor shape that you can’t enjoy your family and friends.

So what can we mine from examples of what I call “eloquent aging?” Taking a cue from the “Blue Zones” then, let’s discover what the populations of Sardinia Italy, Okinawa Japan; the Tibetan monks, the ancient yogis, the Nicoyans, Icarians and Loma Linda Californians are doing differently.

This is an excellent, fundamental question.

Live Life Like You Mean It!

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Tools for aging gracefully to make longevity optimal for you will be the basis for an upcoming series. We will cover exciting, valuable, timely and important topics such as: ◗ 1.0 Sleep Hygiene. Why it’s the number one exercise, the importance of ritual, as well as tools to get clean sleep. ◗ 2.0 Toxin removal. Why removing toxins is vital to nutrition, health, clarity and optimal vibrancy -- and what some of those tools are. ◗ 3.0 Nervous system science. How to harness stress and use stress for the ultimate anti-aging magic wand. ◗ 4.0 The ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ of ancient yogic practices, Mindfulness & Meditation. Learn just what it is and how to know if you are “doing it right.” ◗ 5.0 ‘Finding Your Tribe.’ The importance of community, belonging and social support. ◗ 6.0 Restoratives & “Biohacks” Just what are these gemstones of health and well-being and how do they work? ◗ 7.0 Nutrition and Hydration. How healing from the inside out will rock your world and change everything.

In the meantime remember - you’re going to live longer, and your kids, even longer than that. Keep this in mind for any and all planning that you may be inspired to do for your health, well-being and quality of life.

PHILLYFIT

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February 2020 | 37

STRETCHING Beyond Our Limits TO REACH OUR

Biggest Goals

By Debra Forman

L

ori Diamond is a true visionary with a caring heart who had put her family first until four years ago when she knew it was time to turn her passion for creating art that supports causes into an ever-lasting legacy.

She felt confident that her three children, Dani, twenty-nine, Morgan, twenty-seven, and Michael, twenty-two, no longer needed her in the same way that they did when they were younger.

At the age of fifty-five, she felt it was her turn to give back for all of her blessings and Lori Diamond Art was born. “What I envisioned was that I would marry my art ability with Photo by Connie-Bell Dixon the mission of several nonprofits in order to raise awareness and money,” she said. ing her custom headbands and she asked if he was “The causes that touched my life, and interested in selling an exclusive line of her designs heart, included children with cancer, and donating thirty-five percent of his profits to breast cancer research, and autism.”

Designing 4 Hope. Raczkowski was quickly on A formally trained artist, Diamond, board and wanted to make this happen. “Dan is now fifty-nine, attended Syracuse Uniclearly a miracle maker,” she said. versity, where she received her BFA. As Next came an ad campaign to mesh with Mchale’s a result of digital technology, she was able abilities. Soon, she located Brad Karasik, who set up to mass-produce her art using this format.

Mermaid Designs as the managing partner of the flip This, in turn, allowed her to push the boundarflop company, Flip Sidez, and the Mermaid Store soon ies of doing one piece at a time. had them online and in brick and mortar stores. “We spent Pho n to by

She is proud to report that her first major project the summer running this campaign,” Diamond said. “This projStepanie W. Adria came to fruition this summer. It started about two years ago, ect took baby steps, but with faith, anything is possible if you have when a friend told her about the nonprofit Designing 4 Hope, which patience.” provides magical-themed rooms for children with cancer or who are

She wants everyone to understand that each of us needs to use our extremely ill. internal compass, much like the magnificent Monarch butterfly does not

She immediately wanted to be a part of a mission that affects one in feel restricted when it spreads its glorious wings to migrate thousands two hundred eighty-five children who are diagnosed with cancer before of miles away from home. “When we trust ourselves and go within, we age twenty (300,000 children in 2019 alone), amid low federal funding. begin to realize it's not about the race to the finish line. It is all about our “I had chills from my head to my toes,” Diamond says, “and I knew I journey to get there,” Diamond said. “Like a caterpillar, there will be had to do much, much more. This was a group that resonated with me.” necessary stages before we develop into this magical butterfly.”

Co-founder Lori Mchale and her assistant Amy Adluhy raise mon The late great author Dr. Wayne Dyer expressed this best by ey and participate in all of the aspects of the designs. They also transsaying, "When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place form rooms for the siblings, which is important because anyone going on the floor. It is to enjoy each and every step along the way.” Likewise, through a child's illness knows this has effects on the siblings, as well. “I Diamond said, “When my children were ready to leave their safe cocoon am an out of the box thinker and I knew that this would set me apart from and spread their wings that was my cue that one chapter in my life was other people raising money,” Diamond explained. “A light bulb went off coming to a close, and a new one was beginning. in my head and I began to think about how I could take my art one step

“There is always hope no matter how big your mission or jourfurther. I was already creating pillows, banners, and more for my first ney seems,” she said. “I devoted the first thirty years of my life to my dream room.” children and the next thirty years I want to devote to inspiring others

As is true with most of the projects that she tackles in her life, to follow their passion. No matter how big or out-of-reach our dreams it began to snowball. She reached out to Dan Raczkowski, the ownseem to be, we can never, ever give up on them!” er of the Mermaid Store in Newport Beach, California, to join her on

If you would like to join Diamond’s journey please go to: Lori this important quest. This openhearted businessman was already sellDiamond Art. 38 | February 2020

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February 2020 | 39

Look As Good As You Feel...

BREAST AUGMENTATION • BREAST LIFT/BREAST REDUCTION • TUMMY TUCK/LIPOSUCTION • LABIAPLASTY GYNECOMASTIA (FOR MEN) • FACE/NECK LIFT • EYELIDS • NOSE SURGERY • OTOPLASTY • INJECTABLES

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THE MOMMY MAKEOVER

Gynecomastia, aka man boobs, is a very common condition and can be corrected in under one hour by Dr. Lo! Having man boobs with puffy nipples can leave men feeling embarrassed and lacking in confidence.

Most men recover quickly and are back in the gym in 2 weeks. Gynecomastia surgery can help men achieve the look and confidence they desire.

Many women head to the gym seeking their pre-baby body again! Although some achieve it, many feel their breasts are now deflated and their tummy has loose skin and/or fat that won’t go away!

Dr. Lo specializes in procedures that can help you achieve your goals including ‘Scarless’ Breast Implant technique, Breast Lift/Reduction, Tummy Tuck with Liposuction and Labiaplasty surgery. Let Dr. Lo help you look as good as you feel!

Call Dr. Adrian Lo today to schedule your immediate consultation or visit his websites to see why he is rated a TOP DOC in Philadelphia and South Jersey!

215.829.6900

Dr. Adrian Lo BOARD CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON

model actual patient

www.dradrianlo.com www.scarlessbreastimplants.com www.mygynecomastiasurgeon.com

SPECIAL:

Mention PhillyFIT and receive a complimentary BOTOX treatment (up to 25 units) when you schedule a surgery 301 S. 8th Street, Ste 3H Philadelphia, PA 19106

990 Route 73 North Marlton, NJ 08053