​In honour of #BellLetsTalk day, I wanted to share my story of dealing with a mental illness and some benefits of exercising that affect you not only physically, but mentally as well. Millions of people live with a mental illness, and I am one of them. It can be consistent, or it can come in bouts that hit you like a wall. I want you to know that everything will be ok and that you shouldn’t feel ashamed of living with an illness.
 
I enjoy going to the gym because it is an independent sport and I can let out my frustrations in a healthier way. If I’ve had a bad day, I can count on the gym to help me work through the emotions I am feeling, and it allows me to reflect on why I may feel the way I do. It allows me the space I need to work through things on my own. Now, I would be lying to you if I said this worked all the time. It hasn’t, and I’ve also been that person pushing away uncontrollable tears while walking on a treadmill. The key to making it through is having everything in moderation (yes, you can have some chocolate or a glass of wine!) and listening to your body to know when you need to rest and focus on other things. For me, this involved getting outside on my lunch breaks and walking, biking or running around and looking at nature to appreciate my surroundings instead of just looking to see. I’ve also turned to reading a book with a candle lit in the bath; it all depends on your mood!
 
Exercise is beneficial for everyone – even those suffering from depression, anxiety, and stress. While exercising, your body releases endorphins which helps you stay focused. Endorphins can also increase your overall mood and reduce pain. Exercise can help you get out of constant worries or negative thoughts by solely focusing on what is happening in the moment while relaxing your muscles and relieving tension from your body. Alternatively, exercise helps sharpen your memory and thinking, increases self-esteem, regulates your sleep cycle and ultimately gives you more energy to tackle your day.
 
Remember, everybody is beautiful in their own way. Together we can end the stigma and do anything we set our minds to.

- A Valued Member

​The fitness industry is blessed with a wealth of information, and better yet, free information. There are tons of fitness pros that put out amazing content regularly via their blog, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and every other social media outlet possible. It’s overwhelming at times, but also awesome!

Unfortunately, any time there is a large volume of information being spewed out (especially in something as unregulated as fitness), you get a lot of bad information too. Whether it is just misinformed, or just flat out unscientific, you’ll see quite a mix of content on the internet.

How many times do you see something like this online, complete with testimonies of people who successfully achieved their goals?:
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• “Do these three exercises to get ripped in a month!”
• “The only piece of equipment you’ll ever need!”
• “Lose weight in 6 weeks while enjoying whatever food you want!”

All the time, right?

Here’s the thing that people seem to lose amongst all of this:
Anything will work for four to six weeks. That’s right. Pretty much anything.
Every time you see a four to six week program from a fitness resource, I am confident to say that if you follow that program to the best of your effort and ability, you will see a result. I’m not sure what the result will be necessarily, but something will happen. This all needs to be within reasonable parameters, of course. Like, if a program says, “drink a cup of bleach before each meal”, hopefully logic will prevail, and you won’t do that thing.

This holds even more truth if you haven’t been active lately. Makes sense though, right? Go from doing nothing . . . to doing something. You’ll get a result.

Go from eating 10% healthy foods, to eating 30% healthy foods. A result.
Go from exercising once per week, to exercising three times per week. A result.
Make a positive change. Get a result.

It’s a pretty simple relationship. And whether the information you followed is good, or not so good, it’ll probably still work for the four to six weeks.
Legitimately challenging your body by throwing a new workout, or new meal plan at it can lead to some pretty amazing results. Those early weeks are the time it takes to adapt. And the human body is crazy impressive. It will adapt, and it will make changes. And you will get a result.

So that is a good deal. Despite the quality of your programming, you still make progress. The weight is going down. The muscle is building. The strength is growing. But then, you seem to plateau. And you can’t seem to get to the next result, and are struggling with progressing your goals. What you were doing seems to cease working for some reason. Maybe the weight starts to come back? Maybe you are starting to feel some pain? Maybe you are just flat-out discouraged?
This is the critical piece.

Was the program that you were following actually well crafted, well thought-out, and designed for fitness and health? Or was it perhaps questionable information?
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Just because something helped you get a result once, doesn’t mean it was the best for your health and fitness. Especially long-term, but maybe even in the short-term.
For example, if you eat exclusively one 1200 calorie meal from a fast food restaurant a day for six weeks. You will probably lose some weight. But that doesn’t mean that what you are doing is healthy, or good for you. Right?

Or what about, going to the gym, and lifting the heaviest weights possible with questionable technique, despite that pain you feel in your back? Again, probably not the healthiest way to do it.
But you will still probably get some sort of result through the effort. There’s just a risk-reward balance to consider. Some risks may be worth taking, some may not be.

Now, I’m not here to solve the woes of bad fitness information on the internet. If I had that answer, I’d happily share it. But for today, my goal isn’t to force my opinion upon you.
Just know that there are differences in opinion on what is “good” and what is “bad” in the fitness industry. In my opinion when it comes to fitness, the more rooted in science it is, the more I trust it. The more evidence-based it is, the more I’m willing to apply it. The more I’ve utilized it, and experienced it myself, the more comfortable I feel with it. But that is just me. And I surely don’t know everything there is to know.

But more important than what my own personal biased opinion on health and fitness is, here is my lesson for you today:
Just because someone got a result from something does not mean it is healthy or right. Don’t blindly accept it. Think critically about it, and ask “why?”.

Simply asking “why?” can lead you to some of your greatest learning. It’ll help you to understand the nature of health and fitness better than you did before. And from there you can start to learn how to discern what information is good, and what information may be suspect.
And if you don’t want to do that, well, you are in luck!

You can ask for some help. That’s what we are here for. A good fitness resource, trainer, coach, or consultant will help you discern good information from bad information to the best of their ability. They will work with you to find, craft, teach, correct, and adjust a program so that you can exercise safely, effectively, all the while enjoying the experience. So feel free to ask those of us in those roles. We should be able to help explain the “why”, and if not, we should be diving into the sea of information to see what we can learn from it.

Not only can this help you achieve your goals in a healthy way, but you may really start to advance your health and fitness regime (for longer than 6 weeks). And heck, maybe you’ll learn a thing or two! And to be honest, we probably will too!

This delicious homemade recipe is a classic for anyone with a busy work schedule. Over the past few years, I've come up with around 6 or 7 overnight oats recipes to make things quick and easy in the morning. Yes, I will be posting these recipes over the next few months!
​These overnight oats are fantastic, very healthy and will give you the protein, carbs and fat to help keep you full until lunchtime hits.
Basically, you can make a weeks worth of breakfast in about 20 minutes! Such a time saver. 

Below are the ingredients and the amounts you will need for this recipe. I used to do a minimum of 3/4 cup of oats, but by mid-afternoon, I would be feeling EXHAUSTED. So I decided to cut back the carbs, and this had me feeling much better. Try it out and let us know how you like it! 

Maple Banana French Toast Overnight Oats Recipe
¼ cup large flake oats
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
⅔ cup of unsweetened almond milk
¼ cup sugar free, fat free vanilla greek yogurt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 banana sliced
1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup (Because Elmira is our home!)
 
PREPARATION

1. In a mason jar or sealable container, add the oats, chia seeds, almond milk, yogurt, cinnamon, and banana. Stir together.
2. Seal and place in the refrigerator overnight for up to five days.
3. Top with additional banana slices, peanut butter or chocolate chips if desired.
4. Enjoy!