To Cleanse, or not to Cleanse

I was at a fitness networking event some time ago and met a woman who, as well as being a personal trainer, was touting the virtues of some particular "cleanse" -- and, it sounded to me, making a good portion of her income, selling it to her clients and anyone else who would listen. "You carry so many pounds of undigested matter in your intestines"... "need to rid the body of toxins".... and so on, and so on...

I recieved emails for months attempting to entice me into trying it and I think I finally blocked her email address because 1) this hard-sell approach to marketing just does not sit well with me and 2) I haven't heard any empirical evidence to support the necessity for "cleansing" or "detoxifying".

I have a very forward-thinking MD (she keeps herself well informed on alternative therapies) and I spoke to her briefly about it and she echoed my feeling that there were no studies to suggest that there was any need for any of these (sometimes expensive) therapies. I also have a client who is a doctor who advised that many of these cleanses simply act as laxatives and posited that Metamucil would work just as well for a fraction of the cost.

I have no doubt that eating a healthy diet that limits things like saturated fats, sugar, alcohol, processed meats; and advocates lots of raw fruits and vegetables will help anyone feel better and aid in weight loss. I also feel that, for most people, the occasional "fast" (choose any one you like--one-day lemon water, all grapefruit for a week, pureed soups for a month) would make one feel lighter (you would definately lose weight though you may also be malnourished) and is probably not harmful... but I don't believe them to be necessary or beneficial in "detoxifying".

And some links that echo my thoughts on this (and yes, you will find a myriad of websites that tout the benefits of various detox cleanses--all with no empirical basis). In the end (no pun intended) it's a personal choice--me? I'll stick with the healthy eating and exercise, thanks.

Canadian Living Article

Ninemsn Article

Choice Website

Boston Globe

***Press Release***

Verna Chan, Debra Shields, Randy Goodridge, Andrea Kobus, Matt Morris, Tania Flynn Photo by Marlene Lowden

If you’ve listened to morning show host Matt Morris on CKAY radio in the last few weeks, you’ll have heard him talking about his experiences in the 2009 Fitness Challenge Bootcamp with radio show listeners Andrea Kobus and Randy Goodridge.

After an intense six week test of stamina, strength and tenacity, the victor has been determined in the Challenge Bootcamp presented by The Garage Private Personal Training Studio and CKAY Radio. The contestants, Andrea Kobus and Randy Goodridge, secured their spots in February by calling CKAY during the morning show, and then having their names drawn to workout with Matt at the Garage three times a week for a six week period that ended on Friday, March 13.

Both contestants were weighed and measured and tested on strength and endurance at the start of the competition and again on the final day. During their 6-weeks of training, Andrea, Randy and Matt, were put through the paces by BCRPA Certified Personal Trainer Verna Chan with agility, strength, core and cardio drills. Friday the 13th turned out to be lucky for Randy Goodridge who “inched” out his competitor by showing the greatest overall improvement to secure first place. In addition to making major gains in his fitness level, Randy jogs away with a Secret Soak Package from The Rockwater Resort, a natural fibre hoody from Windsong Gallery in Sechelt, a $100 gift certificate from Romantique in Lower Gibsons, and 4 hours of housekeeping services from Blissful Homecare in Gibsons. Runner-up, Andrea Kobus, who also showed considerable fitness improvements, recieves a $50 gift certificate from Pack Ratt Louie’s Grill in Gibsons.

Indoor and outdoor bootcamps continue at the Garage with a new six-week challenge which began on March 16th and another starting in April – call the Garage at 604-886-3114 for more information.

Fitness Bootcamp Challenge

Matt, Me, Tania, Randy, Debra, Andrea...
I think I have the best job in the world!

We went to the pub after the end of the last class of our Fitness Bootcamp Challenge to celebrate with a bevy. Yes, that is rather like jogging to the pub, but, after working so hard for the past 6 weeks, this group deserved it!

The results everyone got were truly impressive! They lost inches, gained strength, improved core and endurance... and enjoyed some camaraderie through this adventure. Congratulations to all of them. The winner will be announced Monday (16th) morning just after the 8am news on
CKAY Radio (you can hear them online at that link). Thanks again to The Rockwater Resort, Windsong Gallery in Sechelt, Romantique in lower Gibsons, Blissful Home Care and Pack Ratt Louie’s Grill for donating some fabulous prizes for the event! And thanks to Matt Morris of CKAY Radio for being as enthusiastic in his participation as his promotion of this event.

Tania Flynn, who teaches yoga at The Garage on Thursday evenings, and has had a lot of experience teaching bootcamps in the past, has been leading the Monday evening class and it's been great to have her expertise--she's also a big fan of working outdoors (rain or shine as in previous posts) so she led the group for a great (and very wet) session in lower Gibsons as well as a very scenic and enjoyable session through Sechelt with a tough section up the hill to Chat. Secondary. I look forward to her participation in upcoming bootcamps!

Monday is also the beginning of another round of the Bootcamp Challenge! I'll have morning and evening classes going and expect we'll be heading outdoors a little more once the weather warms up... (or at least the snow disappears). What happened to Spring?

Can't go wrong with babies and puppies!

Molly is a frequent Garage visitor...
Yes, all sorts of celebrities work out (or, as in Molly's case, hang out!) at The Garage. She even has her own Facebook--friend her here! http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=1202980777.

Here's a great article from K9 Magazine on how having a pet helps you get in shape and live longer!:

Spring Alert!

It's been feeling like spring with the sun shining and the crocuses daring to show themselves through the still-freezing ground!

We're almost into the 6th week of our first Fitness Challenge Bootcamp with CKAY Radio morning host Matt Morris, and CKAY winners Randy Goodridge and Andrea Kobus, who are all reporting great improvements in strength and stamina since beginning the class! Congratulations to all of them for working so hard--rain and shine--they're all winners! It still remains to be seen who will come out showing the best improvement--that person will walk away with the Secret Soak package from the Rockwater Resort, a natural fibre hoody from Windsong Gallery in Sechelt, 4 hours of housekeeping services courtesy of Blissful Home Care in Gibsons and a $100 Gift Certificate from Romantique in Lower Gibsons! One week to go!

The 6-week Fitness Challenge Bootcamp is a great way to get in shape for spring. It includes pre and post bootcamp fitness assessments, lots of one-on-one guidance to accomodate any fitness level, indoor and outdoor elements to give lots of variety and keep you on your toes, and a mix of calesthenic moves, endurance, agility training and stretching.

If you'd like to participate, give me a call--I'm offering morning and evening Bootcamp classes (7 am or 7 pm) 3 days a week. The next class starts March 16!

I'm also teaching a class called Butts & Guts at the Gibsons & Area Recreation Centre. In this class I do some overall strengthening and cardio with a focus on (as the title describes ;-) butts and guts... you can sign up for the next session which starts March 9, at the rec. centre or on-line at http://activenet1ca.active.com/scrd/.

As there is only 1 Butts & Guts class/week offered at the Rec. Centre and people have expressed interest in doing the class twice a week, I am offering the option of doing a class on Thursday evenings (5:30 - 6:30) in my studio on Veterans Road. Please contact me if you are interested in attending this class.

Yoga with Tania Flynn continues on Thursday evenings from 7 pm to 8:15 pm--if you're interested in attending please sign up before the start of the month as space is limited!

What to do with all that baby weight!

Baby lunges and baby crunches...

A fond farewell to Pauline & Patricia!

Patricia is the daughter of my oldest (in terms of longest time with me, that is!) client. She had a baby last year and has been coming to the gym with her mom and the baby since soon after she delivered. We've been finding creative uses for Pauline (baby) as she (like her mom) doesn't like to sit still and is seldom happy just watching from her baby chair!

Patricia leaves with Pauline to her new home abroad today--I'll miss them both and wish them a good journey!

Yes, it's been a while since I last posted here. I've been busy. Fall was a blur of music events (we did a local version of Idol that was a big hit and ran for 10 weeks!), the holiday season and a LOT of snow (for our area)--which put quite a damper on everything pretty much--holiday parties with friends, Christmas shopping... getting out of the drive-way.

Nevertheless, the roof did not collapse under the weight of the snow, we managed to have a lovely Christmas dinner with friends at home and a relatively quiet New Year's Eve at a local restaurant... and now it's... March! Sheesh!

I had an idea for a Fitness Challenge and proposed it to the local radio Station CKAY http://www.ckay.ca/index.php -- they were excited to do it and offered up Matt Morris, their morning show host, to do it with a couple of listeners and their progress is being tracked on-air.



We're heading into week 5 and it's been a lot of fun... and some not-so-fun as it is 3 days a week (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) and I've given our Monday sessions over to Tanya Flynn who teaches yoga in my studio and also has a lot of Bootcamp experience--she is leading those sessions outside in different locations and last week it rained buckets while we were outside.

(Wet pushups on a bench in Lower Gibsons--yick!)


Everyone was quite happy with our inside "weights" day the following Wednesday... especially as the ground outside was, once again, covered with snow!

The class is a competition between the 2 listeners (in previous pic on either end). At the end of the six-week session we'll be doing some measurements and testing to see who has the most improvement--and it will be very interesting to see as these 2 are on total opposites of the scales. The winner gets a nice package of a night at a local resort spa, cleaning services, etc.


That's it for now--I will (honestly!) start to post more!