Everyday we’re bombarded with ads and news stories of “eat this, not that!” One day eggs are terrible for you, another day you can eat them in unlimited quantities. One week kale is all the rage as the “ultimate superfood”, the next week it’s revealed kale's no greater than spinach. It can be very confusing to understand how to fuel your body for holistic wellness, but I stick to a just a few time-proven habits, rather than chasing the trends. The tips below are like the little black dress for your wardrobe: tried and true, will make you look and feel great, and will never go out of style.
 

1. Fill the majority of your plate with whole fruits and vegetables

 
Nutrition experts around the world agree: a diet that is focused primarily on fruits and vegetables is better for your health, your mind, AND the planet. “Plant based” can mean 100% animal product free, or it can mean a diet made up primarily of fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, beans, and legumes, with smaller amounts of meat and dairy still incorporated. Either way, the benefits are enormous: Prominent research has shown that plant based diets can lower your blood pressure, reduce or reverse your risk of heart disease and diabetes, and reduce your risk of diabetes. A Harvard study of 110,000 people tracked over 14 years showed that people who ate 8 or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day had a 30% decreased risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
 
Fruits and vegetables truly are superfoods in their own right! Try filling at least 50% of your plate with fruits and vegetables of several different colors--focusing on them as the main dish rather than just a side dish. 
 

1. Incorporate whole grains for energy and fiber

 
Many people have gone off grains like whole grain oats, brown rice, and quinoa because of their carbohydrate content, but a moderate amount of whole grains are essential to our everyday diet. Whole grains provide an array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and protein, and consuming them has been linked to a reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure!
 
Oats are one of the quickest and easiest ways to incorporate whole grains into your diet, and coming into the Fall season are a perfect hot breakfast, lunch, or snack! Check out the nutrient powerhouse of one cup of dry oats:
 
Manganese: 191% of the RDI
Phosphorus: 41% of the RDI
Magnesium: 34% of the RDI
Copper: 24% of the RDI
Iron: 20% of the RDI
Zinc: 20% of the RDI
Folate: 11% of the RDI
Vitamin B1 (thiamin): 39% of the RDI
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): 10% of the RDI
Smaller amounts of calcium, potassium, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) and vitamin B3 (niacin)
 
This is coming with 51 grams of carbs, 13 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat and 8 grams of fiber, but only 303 calories.
 

1. Make sure to supplement

 
Though we always aspire to eat healthy and hit all our food groups, a busy life can often get in the way. That’s why it’s important to incorporate a good round of supplements into your day. My family and I swear by Young Living’s supplements: they are infused with essential oils and studies have shown the body is able to absorb them up to 46% better.
 
 If you only add one supplement to your diet. I’d highly recommend Omegagize3. One the whole, most Americans don’t get near enough omega 3’s in their diet to properly feed the brain. OmegaGize3™ combines the power of three core daily supplements—omega-3 fish oil, vitamin D3, and CoQ10 (ubiquinone), and the omega-3 used is one of the purest available on the market.
 
Benefits of Omegagize3 include:
 

• Antioxidant/Reduce free radicals formed in the body in adults
• Maintain/support energy levels in adults
• Helps enhance/promote general health and wellbeing in adults
• Maintain/support healthy teeth in adults
• Maintain/support bone health in adults
• Maintain/support healthy cardiovascular system function in adults
• Maintain/support cognitive function/mental function in adults
• Maintain/support brain function in adults

 

1. Enjoy your favorite treats in moderation

 
Completely eliminating entire food groups or treats from your diet not only isn’t healthy, it’s not sustainable long term and can even lead to overeating and weight gain later on. While it is best to limit things like refined sugars (candies, sweets, juice, breakfast cereals) and alcohol, learning to incorporate these items as small treats (if you want them!) will work better than trying to abstain from them 100%.
 
Nutrition is often more than half the battle in our overall journey to wellness. I’d love to talk with you more about a nutrition and exercise plan that meets your unique goals. Contact me today to get started!

​Pilates is more than just exercising, and it does more than just improve muscle tone and strength, relieve chronic pain, and produce an evenly conditioned body with long and lean muscles. At The Pilates Center, Pilates is a way of life, and when you practice with us, it will change your life. Pilates will create emotional changes in the way you feel about yourself, helping you to stand taller physically as well as emotionally, helping you move through the world with more confidence and ease. This is in large part to our strong, dedicated, and highly educated and trained team of instructors.
 
Why Your Instructor Matters
 
There are a LOT of fitness “instructors” out there, and the quality varies greatly. There is no shortage of YouTube and Instagram sensations with little to no substantial training, who have millions of followers. Underqualified and over-promoted celebrities and influencers can spread unhealthy and dangerous fitness messages at worst, or provide shoddy products focused more on decreasing your body size than on real health and fitness. And following these influencers can have a negative impact on our overall well being: Recent studies have even shown that while those who follow fitness influencers on social media found the access to the information to be beneficial, the content also negatively influenced their well being and their perception of what was a healthy goal. Another study of college age women showed that the “fitness” images on social media led to greater body image concern and did not motivate participants to engage in more levels of activity.
 
Choosing the right Pilates instructor is important because you’re going to invest time and money, and as with any investment, you want to get a good return. This is your body and your whole well being we’re talking about- would you trust that to just anyone?
 
What Makes Our Instructors Different
 
Every one of the instructors at my studio has completed over 500 hours of training through classroom lecture, self-practice, observation, and apprentice instruction before obtaining their teaching credential. This means not only do they have a very strong knowledge background, they also have real world, on the ground experience working with the different needs of different bodies.
 
But I also don’t just hire any trained instructor off the street. I look for that something special, that something extra, that I know will deliver the absolute best results for our clients, and have built a well rounded team that is able to develop personalized and customized Pilates sessions for any type of client. My team comes from all walks of life: from lifelong dancers, athletes, and gymnasts, to recovered chronic pain sufferers, stay at home moms and corporate CFOs. No matter who you are, chances are we’ve walked a mile in your shoes, meaning the Pilates program we develop will meet your needs and your specific goals. This is our love and our joy and we are so excited for you to join us on this journey.
 
Come join us! To get started today, sign up now or contact us to get started. 

​“You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.”   - Dr. Seuss
 
Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy, and keep choosing it every day.” -Henri Nouwen
 
Life is beautiful. It is also messy. Emotional wellness is not always discovered in our circumstances; even when life is going great. As we all know, life is often stressful and the challenge is learning how to choose to stay peaceful, calm, and centered, through the messiest of times. Emotional wellness doesn’t just happen when you have enough money, or you’re in a great relationship, or all of your kids are healthy and safe. Emotional wellness is something that we create, regardless of our circumstances, using our “muscles” of choice and intention. These muscles require our focus and attention in order to strengthen-- just like any other muscle! Today we are talking about some of the self-care habits I've put into practice to stay, not only physically, but emotionally healthy.
 
Pilates for Emotional Wellness (no surprise here! - this is a Pilates studio blog)
The role of exercise in improving emotional wellness has been thoroughly established in the research, and Pilates is especially well positioned because it is a true mind/body exercise. Pilates is mindfulness: its movements are intricate and controlled, with a heightened focus on tensing some muscles while relaxing others, and incorporating your breathing. Because of the many different components working together at once, your mind has no choice but to live in the present, focused on your body and the soft, encouraging guidance of your instructor. In this way, Pilates enhances your body and your mind.
 
Exercising through the practice of Pilates three or more times a week has been shown to:

• Reduce stress and depression
• Improve memory, thinking, and reasoning abilities
• Reduce normal rates of cognitive decline as we age
• Delay the start of Alzheimer's for people at risk of developing the disease or slow the progress of the disease
• Slow the rate of brain tissue loss as we age

 
For more in depth information on the role of exercise in mental health, check out my blog post “The Anti-Aging Fitness Regime: Pilates to Protect Against Dementia.”
 
I know it’s not easy to commit to a regular Pilates practice: life has a habit of “getting in the way,” and if you’re anything like me, you are always feeling pulled in a million different directions. But our physical and mental health is foundational to everything else we do! When you prioritize showing up for yourself and carving out that exercise time, you’ll find it’s that much easier for you to show up for everything and everyone else.
 
Rounding Out Your Practice: Essential Oils for Emotional Wellness
 
I know what you’re thinking- “Heather’s going to get all ‘woo woo’ on me while we burn incense and sing folk songs.” I was skeptical at first, too, but then I learned the the science behind this stuff, witnessed its power in my own personal circle- and guys- this is for real! The olfactory system is the ONLY sensory system (smell, touch, taste, hear) that involves the amygdala and the limbic system in its primary processing pathway. This explains why smells can bring back strong memories and how scent can affect our emotions. For example, when I smell cinnamon I immediately think of my grandmother who always made us cinnamon toast and feel nostalgic.  If you're so inclined for a little biology lesson, here's a high level view of how it works:
 
 When you smell an oil, some of the molecules dissolve in the mucus lining of the olfactory epithelium on the roof of the nasal cavity. There, the molecules stimulate the olfactory receptors, and neurons carry the receptor signals to the olfactory bulb, which filters, processes, and sends the information to the brain’s limbic system.  The different parts of our limbic system then release neuro messengers like serotonin, endorphins, and other hormones to provide feelings of relaxation, calm, or stimulation (depending on the oil). 

As clear as the science is, you can’t expect that you can just smell an essential oil and feel better instantly. Key in an essential oils practice are mindfulness and setting clear intentions. Mindfulness involves being aware of our thoughts as they happen so that we can change damaging thought patterns and replace them with more positive, helpful thought patterns. Author Elizabeth Erickson describes this as building new train tracks in our minds. Sometimes we can get caught in the same thought patterns, like “I’m not worthy.” We think these thoughts for so long they’ve built train tracks in our mind and the train runs on them constantly. When we mess up, or when our boss or spouse gets upset with us, or when we don’t like the way our body looks in the mirror, that train starts chugging. Mindfulness is about recognizing that train, and building new train tracks--new thought patterns--for the train to ride on. You can set a mantra, or an intention, like:

• I am strong, I am beautiful, I am enough
• This too shall pass
• This is a moment of suffering. Suffering is part of life. May I be kind to myself in this moment. May I give myself the compassion I need.
• I will get through this

 
Oils from Young Living that I really love to help with my mood and emotional wellness are:

Joy essential oil blend
A blend of oils to promote positivity-- Ylang Ylang, Geranium, Jasmine, Palmarosa, Rose, Bergamot, Lemon, and Tangerine

Lavender
Shown in studies to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, promote sleep, and improve feelings of well being. Promising results in the treatment of painful periods.

Orange
Helps with anxiety, depression, inflammation, and stress

Peace and Calming II blend
Includes Tangerine, Orange, Ylang Ylang, Patchouli, German Chamomile, Vetiver, Cistus, Bergamot, Cassia, Davana, and Young Living’s exclusive Northern Lights Black Spruce essential oil. Contains the naturally occurring constituents germacrene D, linalool (promotes relaxation), alpha-pinene (reduces inflammation), and bisabolol (skin healing and anti aging properties)

Peppermint
Uplifting and invigorating, this oil can refresh us from fatigue, help clear our minds, and promote mental and emotional clarity

Jasmine
Helps with depression, improves mood, promotes energy and positive feelings, encourages a sense of calm

​Understanding that we can choose what we want to feel, and for how long we want to feel it, is the start of a more meaningful, intentional and healthy emotional state. At The Pilates Center, we are committed to partnering with our clients to discover our best self, both physically and mentally.  To learn more about our Pilates offerings and/or our Essential Oils offerings, contact the studio today at 817.737.2673. 

It’s very rare that science can actually point to one thing as a silver anti-aging bullet, and I always approach any “too good to be true” claims with skepticism. (“Reduce Belly Fat with Chia Seeds!” Really??.). But one claim DOES have the science to back it up, and that is that exercise really is the fountain of youth. Exercise has been shown to:
 
Physically

• Reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes
• Strengthen your bones and muscles
• Improve your sex life
• Help you live longer

Mentally

• Reduce stress and depression
• Reduce normal rates of cognitive decline as we age
• Improve memory, thinking, and reasoning abilities
• Delay the start of Alzheimer's for people at risk of developing the disease or slow the progress of the disease
• Slow the rate of brain tissue loss as we age

 
The protective effects of exercise against dementia are especially important, since strong evidence indicates that memory and other cognitive functions start declining at age 50, and people are living longer than ever.
 
How does exercise protect against dementia?

Recent research shows that physical activity seems to help your brain not only by keeping the blood flowing but also by increasing chemicals that protect the brain and countering some of the natural reduction (brain tissue loss) in brain connections (nerve cells) that naturally occurs with aging.
 
A recent study found that physical activity might reduce the buildup of a normally occurring protein in our brains called b-amyloid. When b-amyloid clumps together and forms “plaques” on our brains, it erodes our nerve cell synapses, which are essential to things like storing memories, processing thoughts and emotions, and planning and ordering how we move our bodies. Preventing the deterioration of these synapses preserves these areas of our brain.
 
Low-grade inflammation is common during aging and seems to be linked to brain tissue loss. Lower levels of inflammation and healthier nerve cells equates to better cognitive functioning.
Researchers from Brazil and Belgium have found that regular physical activity helps reduce the cytokines in our bodies that promote inflammation (“pro-inflammatory cytokines”) while improving the concentration of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). BDNF is a protein that, in our brains, helps the nerve cells mature, grow, survive, and function optimally.
 
Lastly, exercise has been found to help our existing nerve cells communicate better as well as help us develop new nerve cells (neurogenesis)! Researchers found that physical activity increases the length and branching of our dendrites (dendrites are a nerve cell part that brings electrical signals--information--to our cells to tell them what to do) and also increases the production of neurons (nerve cells) in our hippocampus (the area of our brain responsible for memory, learning, and emotion). 

Image credit: https://www.ducksters.com/science/nervous_system.php