Category Archives: FIT + WELL

HUM Supplements : Beauty Starts WITHIN

February 19, 2017

I am over the moon about all things HUM !

I read this article in GOOP, by Dr. Frank Lipman the other day and flipped – I realized I needed some D BADLY! I asap hopped over to HUM and scooped up:

HERE COMES THE SUN ($10)

boosts D3 deficient bodies
  • High Potency vitamin D3
  • Perfectly dosed for busy professionals

Dr. Frank Lipman on Vitamin D Deficiency via GOOP

For the last 30 years or so, doctors (dermatologists in particular), health officials, beauty experts, and many product companies have been demonizing the sun. They’ve told us to avoid it because without sunscreen, exposure to the sun’s rays will damage skin and cause cancer. But this oversimplification distorts the facts. In the past few years, numerous studies have shown that optimizing your Vitamin D levels may actually help prevent as many as 16 different types of cancer including pancreatic, lung, breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancers. And the best way to optimize Vitamin D levels is through safe, smart and limited sunscreen-free exposure to the sun.

For hundreds of thousands of years, man has lived with the sun: Our ancestors were outdoors far more often than indoors. We developed a dependence on sunshine for health and life, so the idea that sunlight is dangerous does not make sense. How could we have evolved and survived as a species, if we were that vulnerable to something humans have been constantly exposed to for their entire existence? Is it possible that our bodies are made in such a way that the sun is really a lethal enemy? Not in my opinion. Like all living things, we need sunshine, and it feels good for a reason. Much as plants harness the sun’s rays through photosynthesis, our bodies use sunlight to help the skin produce the Vitamin D it needs to build bones, quell inflammation, bolster the immune system and protect against cancer (including skin cancer).

Let the Sun Shine In

Western medicine has made a practice of telling us to abstain from things that are bad for us in extreme quantities, when in fact those same things⎯fat, salt, and sunshine for example⎯are very good for us when consumed wisely and in moderation. In the case of sunshine, our UV paranoia is contributing to a silent epidemic: Vitamin D deficiency. It’s silent because most people don’t know they are deficient. And it’s deadly, because this deficiency can lead to cancer and a multitude of other diseases. But we’ve demonized the sun and been brainwashed into believing that even small amounts will harm us. We are told to slather on sunscreen whenever we are in the sun, which blocks Vitamin D production and exacerbates the Vitamin D deficiency induced by our modern, indoor lives.

Studies show that as many as three out of four Americans suffer from Vitamin D deficiency. A study published in 2009 in the Archives of Internal Medicine (a leading scientific journal), found that 70% of Caucasians, 90% of Hispanics and 97% of African Americans in the US have insufficient blood levels of Vitamin D. Indeed, it’s thought to be the most common medical condition in the world, affecting over one billion people and we now have research showing just how essential Vitamin D is to health.

U.S. and Norwegian researchers have found that people who live in higher latitudes are more prone to Vitamin D deficiency and more prone to developing common cancers and dying of them. It’s now thought that this is due in part to the body’s inability to make enough activated Vitamin D to help regulate cell growth and to keep cell growth in check. Independent scientific research has shown that whether you live in a sunny or not-so-sunny climate, exposure to the sun and its UVB radiation will increase your production of Vitamin D and help lower the risk of a host of debilitating and fatal diseases—including many cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure, Type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and depression.

And now the experts are concerned that we’re passing an epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency down to a new generation. Studies have shown that Vitamin D deficiency may imprint on an infant for the rest of his/her life. Infants that are deficient at birth can remain Vitamin D deficient for the first several months after birth, which may put them at risk of developing many chronic diseases much later in life.

Head over to GOOP for the full article.

HUM is the easiest site and best brand to grab all your beauty supplements.  Here are some of their other amazing supplements.

The Oaks Ojai for a Solo Spa Retreat

February 17, 2017

The Oaks Ojai  is a totally old school spa and I love it – just like Ojai – down to earth and serving nothing but realness.  I am obsessed with Ojai (who isn’t?) and this spa reeks of Ojai history.  I went solo for a couple of days of healthy, clean eating, and QUIET – perfect to clear and rejuvenate my mind, body, soul. And oh did I. It was BLISS.

I had a fantastic massage, ate super clean and simple food, watched small groups of ladies do pool aerobics ( I was recovering from minor surgery – don’t ask –  so I took it way easy!) I forgot my bikini – no prob I walked around in a robe and undies and no one noticed or cared or even looked twice. The chef will work your diet very specifically. I really felt like I was in the 70’s for some reason and loved every bit of it. The women at the desk so amazing. It felt like camp.

My casita was gorgeous – totally private and my little Spanish villa to myself. I confess to spending half my time in the enormous tub.

The Oaks Ojai is majorly unpretentious and perfect for a mother-daughter getaway. The crowd was not your uber-snobby LA wellness workout warrior freaks – but just normal women or all shapes and sizes. Many were older too, so once again, a great for a mom-daughter thing.

They have lots of event weekends (hikes, yoga, etc.

Make sure to check out upcoming programs.

And let’s not forget the town of Ojai is dreamy. You can step out and you are right in the center of it! SO MUCH GOODNESS EVERYWHERE!


Wasn't kidding about walking around totally comfy just like THIS! 

Jordan Spieth and Kelly Rohrbach show off their skills in the new Under Armour Spieth One golf shoe in Malibu.

February 14, 2017

Last night, Under Armour and Jordan Spieth celebrated the third stop of the Spieth One Global Tour at an intimate event in Malibu, CA. Jordan was joined by actress, model (and avid golfer) Kelly Rohrbach, and his long-time swing coach Cameron McCormick at the iconic Nobu Malibu to honor the global launch of his first signature shoe, the Spieth One.

 

Kelly and Jordan participated in a Q&A with the beautiful California sunset as the background. The pair discussed Jordan’s recent victory at Pebble Beach this weekend – his first victory wearing the Spieth One – his partnership with Under Armour, and how he worked closely with UA to develop his first signature shoe. Jordan and Kelly also talked about Jordan’s recent trip to Asia for the first two stops of the Spieth One Global Tour in Tokyo and South Korea. While in Asia, Jordan was able to experience the global love for the game of golf as he interacted with fans, media, partners, and students. A highlight reel of the Asia trip can be found here.

To wrap up the event, Jordan’s swing coach Cam McCormick joined the group and gave some insightsinto their relationship on and off the course. He also shared some key tips with the audience and Jordan praised Cam for teaching him how to overcome hurdles and honing his craft over time. Cam then challenged Kelly and Jordan to a little putting game called “Crash the Gate” that Cam uses to help Jordan with short game skill development. Kelly, a former Georgetown University golfer, held her own against the 2-time major champion, sinking all four putts. 

Photo credit:  Under Armour

Y7 A Tribe Called Sweat : Melrose

February 9, 2017

Yoga For People Who Put On Gangsta Rap and Handle It

— Vogue

I just took my first real yoga class since I had my bilateral hip replacements (last one in 2012) and it was amazing. I am a certified Hatha Yoga instructor and back in 2000 I made a living solely teaching all around town and privates (ok full disclosure I was on a TV series too cause teaching more than 10 classes a week is HARD so that kinda helped). So I’ve been terrified to take a class with my metallic hips, worried one, or both, might pop. And even though I teach spinning and my own signature fitness class, there are too many counter-intuitive poses that scare the F out of me in yoga.

Alas, it was time. I needed to get back on the mat. And indeed it did at Y7  where a trifecta of love came together for me last Saturday morning in True’s class.

Hip-hop and dry heat and sweat.

The class was not too fast (thank god), but rather a deep slow, challenging burn and in the dark with only candles to keep things aglow. The music was not all hip hop, but perfect for a Saturday morning when I had to go on to teach two classes of my own. The sweat was unreal, the people – lovely, friendly, unpretentious (!!!) and REAL. This was not pixie yoga dust annoyingness (I’ve been there. I WAS ONE!). Nope. Y7 has a real-deal NYC vibe which was so refreshing – the yogi thing is so oversaturated in LA that it’s become a parody. This place is free of all of it. YAY! To say this place is my jam is an understatement. I cannot wait to go back!

Y7 Mission:

WE FLOW HARD™

At Y7 we do things differently. We give you 60 minutes of intensity combined with heat and strength complemented by deep breathing and a calming of the mind. We ask you to step outside the chaos and embrace the fire inside. You’ll flow along to the latest beats. There are no mirrors in the candle-lit studios. The darkness, the sounds, and the heat will take you to a place you’ve never before been. Join us for the best hour of your day. Leave here feeling strong, clear and ready to take on whatever the city has in store for you. Take a class and never look back.

WE FLOW HARD™ VINYASA

60 MINUTES

Vinyasa is mindful movement. We flow through our sequences with intention, braiding postures together that will open, stretch and restore your body from the inside-out. Each class will help link breath and movement, deepen the connection of mind and body, and bring a greater consciousness to your subtle body. We will peel back the layers through a smart and safe yoga sequence, carefully choreographed to music that ranges from The Weeknd to Stevie Wonder. We ask that you come with an open mind, stripped of any and all expectations you carry of yourself, and take an hour long vacation of body exploration, transformation and movement.
All levels welcome.

WE FLOW HARD™ SLOW BURN

60 MINUTES

Different than Y7’s Vinyasa class, Slow Burn works toward not only reaching our edge, but surpassing it. This class is slower than a typical Y7 Vinyasa class, as the teacher guides you deeper and deeper into a carefully selected series of postures. We will focus on foundation and structure within our movement, while mindfully tackling some of the master asanas. With a deeper emphasis on both the necessity and support our breath allots us as practitioners, we will use pranayama to both inspire our movement and guide our mind. Although we aren’t flowing as fast, please come prepared to sweat, work, breathe and finally, to restore. This is a great class to take in the evenings when you’re ready to turn off and tune in. All levels welcome.

PRIVATE INSTRUCTION

Private and small group instruction is available by appointment – and is ideal for those with specific physical goals or constraints, athletic teams and corporate business employees.  Email hi@y7-studio.com to book.

Address: 8270 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046

Phone: (818) 425-8448

Guest Post! Living Your Best Life by Carey Peters, Co-Founder of Health Coach Institute

February 6, 2017

Today I am living my personal and professional dream, training others to run successful health coaching businesses through my company, Health Coach Institute.  Students tell me their time with us is transformational, or even revolutionary.  it is a business that I created with my co-founder Stacey Morgenstern through grit, determination, and a lot of hard work. It’s a true labor of love and I could not be more proud.

But it wasn’t always this way…

Flash back several years.

I was a professional actress struggling to earn more than $50k a year and hating my life.  Even though acting was my passion, I just wasn’t happy or fulfilled living the starving artist life, and some part of me knew that I wanted something more. At the same time I was struggling with a very complicated relationship with food. I was completely addicted to Diet Coke of all things!  I drank two liters a day and my diet practically consisted of junk food during the day followed by a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream every single night before bed. I also had a binge-eating disorder that haunted me for years. I knew something radical had to change and I knew that, to take back my life, I’d have to start changing what I ate and how I ate. That was the first step to a full-blown love affair with health.

When I discovered Health Coaching, I knew I had found my path. Suddenly everything made sense.

After several years of study and hard work, I built a six-figure coaching practice in under ten months. I had always been passionate about becoming an entrepreneur and when I discovered coaching as a career, it truly felt like it was made for me. I was like “I get paid to become my healthiest self and help others do the same? Hell yeah!”  It was as if the heavens opened above and said, “Carey, this is your new life!” I was scared though, because it seemed too good to be true—that I could turn my passion for health and personal growth into a career that helps people?! It took a little while for that to sink in, but when I saw other people doing it successfully for a living, I thought “Why not me?” After that, I was all in and have never looked back.

It was during this time that I met my Health Coach Institute co-founder, Stacey Morgenstern, and together we built a multi-million dollar company called Holistic MBA— a world-class business training for health and personal development coaches. Holistic MBA was the forerunner to HCI.

Over the years we trained thousands of coaches who complained to us time and again that they weren’t able to coach for a living and were overloaded with nutrition information from their previous training.

They told us they wished we offered a certificate program that would train coaches from the start so they wouldn’t have to waste time and money in other programs that they felt didn’t work.

That’s why we created Health Coach Institute (HCI) – to fill the gap in the marketplace – to build a Health Coaching school that focuses less on theory and more on the practical skills that help coaches truly succeed.

The first few months with Health Coach Institute were hectic! Just as with running any new business it meant months and months of overtime and eating, sleeping and breathing it. Luckily, we had practice from building Holistic MBA so we weren’t total newbies but, still, every business is different and HCI was our baby. We poured time, love and energy into making it the best it could be. We started off with only three other people and Stacey and me. We had one sales person, Stacey wrote all the marketing copy, one systems operator and I was the businesswoman behind the business.

There was a steep learning curve, but it’s also the ultimate in self-empowerment and personal growth, because you are forced to develop a level of creativity, resilience and personal power that you didn’t know you had. In fact, that is part of what we teach in our curriculum. We teach students how to gain confidence and step into the most empowered version of themselves—and we were doing it right along with them!

Tapping into this purpose gave me drive that I had only imagined possible. I look at my life now and think about all of the time I wasted not chasing my passion. For me, a purpose driven career is the ONLY thing that matters. If I’m spending 40-80 hours a week giving my heart and soul to an endeavor that is NOT aligned with who I am or why I’m here, then what am I doing?

Too many of us are burnt out from dead end jobs that we wake up every day dreading. That’s such a huge waste of creative energy. Health Coaches are the ultimate advocates for purpose-driven lifestyles and careers because we are all about creating your life from your most empowered self, on your own terms, and owning it wholeheartedly.

If you’re someone who is thinking about starting a business or turning your passion into a career, then there’s a whisper inside you that’s getting louder and louder, saying “Do it. Go. Now. Don’t wait!”

The biggest piece of advice I can give is to listen to that whisper and TAKE ACTION. Enroll in that training, take that new job, move to that new city.

You may not know all the steps to take to get to where you want to go, but if you just keep taking the step right in front of you, then you’ll be shown the way.

What Is A Health Coach?

When it comes to food and exercise, most people know what to do, but just aren’t doing it!

A Health Coach is someone who makes it easy to follow-through with what you already know you should be doing.

A Health Coach is someone who inspires people to grow habits that support their well-being.

A Health Coach is a master of habit change.

As stated by Business Wire, employee’s number one request is to have an on staff Health Coach to help them achieve their personal wellness goals.

In our ground-breaking 6-Month Health Coach program we will teach you everything you need to know about nutrition PLUS the art and science of habit change so clients get real, lasting results. What this gives you is a structure that serves clients for life.

That’s not all…We’ve also spent years developing a proven business and marketing platform to launch your career as a Health Coach the right way so you can start seeing clients and making money before you graduate.

If you’ve been looking for that one unique, well-designed educational experience that will create a total breakthrough in the quality of your personal and professional life, then it’s no accident that you find yourself here.

From education, through transformation, to wildly successful career, we got you… every step of the way.

Click here to get program info and see exactly what you’ll learn in the 6-month professional certificate training.

What The Experts Have To Say About Health Coaching

According to the CDC, 86% of all health care dollars ($2.9 trillion and growing) are spent on chronic diseases and conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and arthritis. These are among the most common and costly of all health problems and they are preventable with habit change. Who will lead this movement of habit change? Health coaches.