Healthy Vegan Recipes

If you are a vegan or just interested in expanding your healthy nutrition options, check out Real Healthy Recipes Blog.

The author shares the recipes she makes for her family using simple, real food ingredients. They contain no refined sugar, dairy or animal products. 

If You're Going To Do It, Do It Right

The vast majority of Body & Soul members and No Pink Dumbbells boot campers appreciate the fact that good exercise form is important. In fact, in most cases, they joined my gym or boot camp specifically because they wanted to do the exercises correctly and get the most benefit from them.

There are one or two, however, that revert to bad habits if I'm not right in front of them repeating, "push your hips back", "control the movement", "don't round your back", "keep your butt down", "abs tight", "knees soft", etc.

I must admit that it gets frustrating. Not only are they increasing their chance of injury, they're diminishing their results. Good for you that you're working out but if you're going to exercise, why not get the most out of your effort?

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Saturday, October 9th Body & Soul Fitness presents A Day of Health, Relaxation & Renewal

In Celebration of Our 10^th Anniversary,

Body & Soul Fitness Studio presents…

Recharge Yourself- Body, Mind & Spirit 

A Day of Health, Relaxation & Renewal 

Saturday, October 9, 2010      9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Align your physical and spiritual being through a variety of free classes and mini-presentations. Learn more about the mind-body connection and how to improve your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

Local experts will present information on Yoga, Discovering Your Purpose, Natural Health, Mandalas, Iridology, Qigong and more.

The day will close with a Drum and Percussion session.

Enjoy a free chair massage and a free mini-reflexology treatment along with these presentations...

  9:20 AM  “Discovering Your Purpose” – Anke Tracey

10:00 AM  Yoga For Peace of Mind – Susan Atkins, Ph.D. (class)

10:30 AM  “Iridology As A Diagnostic Tool” – Dr. Mary Gates

11:00 AM  “Fitness Beyond The Gym” – Connie Pierce & Cheryl Young

11:40 AM  Qigong for Longevity – Jennifer Grant (class)

12:40 PM  “Fun With Mandalas” – Deb Wolford

  1:20 PM  "Rhythm is the Soul of Life" - Lisa Fairman

All classes and workshops are approximately 30 minutes long.

For more details about all of the above free offerings along with short presenter bios, visit GetFitLancaster.com

¨  Plenty of free parking

¨  Facility tours

¨  Healthy snacks

¨  Door Prizes

¨  One day membership specials

Body & Soul Fitness Studio

  618 Columbia Avenue

  Lancaster

  (717) 509-7777

 (Look for the yellow building with blue awnings immediately after Porter’s Furniture. Turn right into the driveway.

Body & Soul’s entrance is at the end of the driveway.)

Collected Fitness Wisdom #26

Yes, I know it hurts to hear it, but cakes, cookies, crackers, microwaved meals, chips, sodas, granola bars, sugary sports drinks or energy drinks, and 1000's of other products that line our supermarket shelves were never meant to be part of the human diet, so it's obvious why it causes so many health problems for us.

This gets back to what I always say about trying to include as many "1-ingredient" foods as you can in your diet if you want to eat like we were meant to eat.

~Mike Geary


"Toned" is just a made-up word for "Gained some muscle, lost some fat!"

~Jon Benson


Each time I reach a personal best, I become fixated on making that best, even better. Why? Because it is proof to me that I can and still have the ability to improve myself. I still have the "choice" to be better. I can choose to walk in everyday and do nothing more than what I did yesterday. I can choose to sit and blindly go through movements and drills without reaching deep within myself and choosing to try harder---just enough to get me by. But that is not me.

~John Izzo


For exercise, I  always favor 100 percent of the time all forms of strength training over any form of cardiovascular training for fat loss and really for anything.

~Geoff Neupert

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Get The Most Out Of Your Cardio Intervals

I'm on vacation with limited internet access and this is only the second time I've been able to check my email. I just found out that Craig Ballantyne is having a half-price sale on his 31 Interval Training Workouts program.

If you've read this blog more than once, you know I'm a proponent of interval training. It takes less time and is more effective than slow, boring cardio.

I'm glad to see that intervals are becoming more mainstream but, unfortunately, that also means there's a lot of misinformation out there. While away, I've been reading a few fitness magazines and while some of their programs would be considered interval training because you don't maintain a steady space, I don't think the way they've designed the programs is optimum.

Did you know there's a right and wrong way to do intervals for best results? Did you know that even if you're already doing intervals you need to change it up regularly so your body doesn't adapt?

If you're interested in varied and effective interval programs, check out Craig's 31 Interval Training Workouts.

Craig knows his stuff; he's not some Johnny-come-lately jumping on the interval bandwagon. He's got all kinds of interval workouts in the program, including kettelebell intervals, hill sprint workouts, ladders, and lots more. No equipment? No problem. Craig includes no-equipment bodyweight cardio circuits.

Whether you're new to intervals and looking for guidance or you're a veteran exerciser looking for variety in your interval workouts, check out Craig's 31 Interval Training Workouts.

The sale ends tomorrow (Friday) at midnight.

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How To Choose The Gym That's Right For You

Fall is often the time when people start a new fitness program. For moms with kids, they have a little more free time when school starts back up. For others, as summer winds down, they’re not as busy with weekend outings, vacations and other activities.

For most people, the first consideration in choosing a gym should be a convenient location. The facility should be close to where you live, work or regularly visit. 

People lead busy lives. Having to spend an extra 30 or 40 minutes going to and from the gym often ends up becoming an excuse to skip workouts when time gets tight. A fitness center can have the fanciest equipment, the trendiest classes or the cheapest rates but none of those things will do you any good if you don't go regularly.

Next, think about what will make you comfortable. If you're middle aged or a senior and would feel intimidated by young hardbodies, think twice before joining the club favored by college kids and bodybuilders or the Chippendale dancers.
                                                                                                                

If you're overweight and would feel uncomfortable exercising around the opposite sex, check out single-gender facilities. If you have injury or medical concerns, make sure you feel confident that any health club you consider joining can set you up on a workout that is safe and effective for you.

Decide what features are most important to you. Do you want a personalized workout routine? Are classes your favorite way to exercise? Do you need a facility with extended hours? Will you be happy repeating the same basic exercise program month after month or do you want a gym where you have the option of changing your routine? Do you prefer the atmosphere of a big club or a small one? Do rows and rows of equipment excite or intimidate you? Will you be exercising before work? If so, will you want to shower at the facility? Do you need child care? If you are a lapsed exerciser who really enjoyed lifting weights, will you be happy at a gym consisting solely of 10 or 12 pieces of hydraulic equipment?

Unless you are an experienced exerciser, make sure you find out the qualifications of the instructors and trainers. Unfortunately, there are fitness centers that will hire people with little or no knowledge or experience. People often assume that the big guy they see at the gym knows all about building muscle or that the skinny girl who takes all the classes can help them lose weight. However, for all you know, both those people could just be genetically lucky. Or, unfortunately, Mr. Muscle could also be Mr. Steroid and Ms. Skinny could be Ms.  Eating Disorder. A great body does not make someone a knowledgeable fitness professional.

Knowledgeable or genetically lucky?

Obsessed?

Healthy? Or...

                                                                                                                                                                 
After narrowing your choices down, go take a tour of each facility. The club that seems like the best choice on paper may not be. Do you feel comfortable? Is the staff friendly and attentive or does it seem like they’re just going through the motions? Do they ask about what you want in a gym or are they just focused on “selling” what they have? When visiting a club, go at the time you intend on using it. Touring a facility at 9:30 AM on a Tuesday because you have the day off doesn’t give you a good indication of the atmosphere or how busy the place is after work at 5:30 PM.

Determining your priorities before you start visiting clubs will help you ask the right questions and make a more informed buying decision. The more comfortable you feel and the easier it is to integrate exercise into your lifestyle, the more apt you will be to maintain the habit.

If you’re ready to get fitter, healthier and more toned, let’s talk about the options you’d have at Body & Soul Fitness. Call Mickey today at (717) 509-7777.   

2 Bodyweight Circuits For You

Below are 2 no-equipment circuits you can use at home or while you're traveling.

There are 6 exercises in each circuit. Perform 10-15 reps of all 6 exercises with as little rest in between them as possible. (If you haven't been exercising, you may want to start out with 8 reps per exercise.)

Rest 30-60 seconds and repeat. You can work up to 6 rounds if you have the time and fitness level.

If you're looking for more of a challenge, go with Workout B.









Let me know what you think!

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