A client recently wrote me a text after our session that read, “I hate running, but after exercise, the whole world opens up. I have a window of time where I’m insanely mentally, emotionally and physically on fire.”

A Christmas card from another client read, “If some had told me a year ago that exercise would be the path back to my writing, I never would have believed them.”

I share all of this because I believe that exercise can be a powerful path to self-transformation—to living the lives we dream of.  In our culture, we are bombarded with messages that exercise is something that is ‘hard,’ takes a lot of discipline and will power, that we are somehow failing if we are not doing it, and perhaps most dangerously, that we will only be happy when we have six pack abs and the body we dream of.

I want to invite you to re-frame this belief. To stop seeing exercise as drudgery that must done so that ‘one day’ we can be happy when the weight has been lost; but, instead understand exercise as an access to direct happiness in the here and now.  

My own re-framing with exercise began seven years ago, in my junior year of college when I found myself in a period of lethargy and depression, unable to get back to my usual upbeat, vibrant self. I went to therapy, talked to friends, did activities I loved—but nothing seemed to help.

This all changed one afternoon when I decided to go for a run.  I hadn’t run in years and, literally, a week before had said to a friend, “you’re crazy”when he explained that he wanted to start running every day.

But now, with what I can only attribute as an act of grace, I got the impulse to go for run and  felt the cloud of lethargy, fatigue and sadness lift as I ran. The next day I went for a run again—for no other reason than it felt so darn good. Pretty soon, I was running every day, getting up to 12 miles without ever consciously meaning to. People started commenting how happy I seemed, how great I looked-- I lost weight and got toned without consciously meaning to and gained the confidence to take on projects that before felt impossible.

When we discover the joy of exercise—the pounds will naturally drop-- but more importantly, we will have a tool that can give us direct access to happiness, energy and a new perspective at any given moment.   When we begin to exercise regularly--our whole lives begin to change--we gain confidence, let go of anxieties and long held dis-empowering beliefs. Our bodies change on the inside and out as we gain access to new levels of energy, inspiration and tap into the parts of ourselves that have been lying dormant for too long. Often, I have seen clients transition careers or get promotions, re-discover passions that have been untouched for years, tap into their creativity and take their relationships to new levels, all while learning to love to run and do push-ups.

Anti-depressants are the most widely prescribed pharmaceuticals in this country-- isn’t it time we found another way of accessing our happiness?

A piece I wrote for the Medea Project’s Performance at the Planned Parenthood Fundraiser

If I could whisper tenderly to your womb,
and ask her to reveal her deepest secrets,
what would she share?

Would she speak of the synthetic hormones, elevated prostegeron and estrogen levels that make her insides churn? Would she share her grandmother’s memories of DES that left the next generation unable to have children of their own? Would she ask if you remembered Delilah, your mother’s friend, born with the truncated arms because of the oral contraceptives the doctored had advocated so many years ago?

Would she ask, “Do you think it’s really that different now?”

Pharmaceutical companies prophesying that little purple pills falling from the sky will save the day?

Is this what sexual liberation looks like? Is this what reproductive rights have come to mean?
If so, I want a new Revolution.

And yes, I think women should have a choice.

But television commercials blasting advertisements of pills miraculously making PMS, acne, babies go away, Cosmo flashing colorful tag lines of “Let Freedom Ring” and doctors dispensing pills for this aliment and that, like it was candy, is not what choice means to me.

Does the next generation of mothers even know what natural forms of birth control look like?

When are our girls ever taught that the beautiful complexity of the female body gives clear signals of fertility and wellness without the words, “it’s unreliable, unsafe, can’t be trusted…” used in the same sentence?

To me, this is the true, if even unconsciously waged, war on women–The dispensing, the advocating, the prophesying that our own innate wisdom can’t be trusted

That we are ‘unsafe,’ ‘not fully functioning’ ‘lacking freedom,’ unless we chose to drug ourselves
Instead of learning to tune in.

May our daughters know freedom
And may they know it, regardless of what the government decides.

The New Year is often a time when we make health and fitness resolutions, with the number of people hitting the gym in January exponentially increasing. But as so many of us know all too well, the truth is that by February, most of us have lost sight of our goals, with our New Years’ intentions never realized.
 A main reason that people fall so quickly out of their New Year’s fitness routine is because they are not seeing immediate results. We often think, “I’ve been busting my butt in the gym for three weeks, and I’ve only lost a pound, this is not worth it!” We become demotivated and so we stop working out.
In hopes to help people break out of the fitness rut and truly create a fitness routine that is sustainable and enjoyable, here are:

9 Tips for Making this New Year Healthy, Joyful and Fitness Filled!

1. Keep tuning into how you feel from exercise rather than how you look

In our fast paced, results driven culture, we often want to see change NOW. And while, yes, surgery can provide that and participants who are on the biggest looser exercising 8 hours a day can achieve quick results, the truth is that for most of us, healthy, sustainable weight loss is a slow process. If we only focus on how many pounds we are losing, than we often get discouraged and give up.
If, however, instead we instead how we feel after exercise–how much better our mood is, how peaceful our mind is, how much more energy and focus we have, than we will keeping coming back to exercise because these mental and emotional benefits will be enough within themselves. The catch is that using these benefits as motivation will create a sustainable exercise routine that sticks, which is what, in the end, will bring the physical results we initially hoped for!

2. Nurture your body
How does it feel when someone says to you, “I hate you, I wish you looked different. If only you looked different than my life would be better…”
Not very good, right?
We often shut down, become lethargic, angry and resentful in the presence of this type of energy.
Yet so many of us of are carrying around these very beliefs about our own body and are still wondering why our bodies aren’t making the changes we hope for and why we can’t find the motivation to exercise or eat right.
If we are in a constant battle with our body, we will not be able create a sustainable and enjoy fitness routine.
But if we relate to our body with love, gratitude and compassion, then anything is possible!
Think about how good you feel when someone bathes you with genuine love, gratitude, and patience. Often, this fills us energy, motivation and joy.
Our bodies respond the same way.

Bathe your own body with love and compassion, and notice what kind of energy, motivation and lightness opens up.


3. Focus on the parts of your body that you Love!

We are so often caught in the vicious mind trap, “Oh if I just lost ten pounds, or if my hips were smaller, butt bigger, then I would…” The truth is, this kind of thinking is a vicious never ending cycle. How many people do you know who look amazing and are still complaining about one part of their body or another? Or how often do you think, “wow, I was so much skinner then, if only I could look like that again?” when at the time, you were thinking, “Man, if I could just lose 10lbs, I’d be so much happier.” As with so many of life’s paradoxes, it is when we let go of ‘needing’ to look a certain way, that our body actually changes.
Often, the more we obsess on how much weight we need to lose, the more weight we put on. If instead, we focus us on the parts of ourselves and our bodies that we love—maybe a shoulder blade, neck line, or shape of our hips–then we can find the space to be in harmony with our body, rather than in battle with it.

4. Find a form of exercise that you love to do and do it!

People often ask, “What’s the best kind of exercise to do?”
And the answer is: the one you’ll keep up.
Yes, you might burn more calories on the stair master or rowing machine than a yoga class or elliptical, but if you don’t enjoy doing these activities, then you likely won’t keep them up , making the amount of calories you burn eventually nil.
When, instead, we are motivated by joy and the love of the activity, rather than by calorie counting and will-power, we will effortlessly find ourselves exercising. Exercise will become part of a day that we greatly look forward to and this is what will ultimately make it a sustainable, life long practice.
To find a form of exercise that you’ll enjoy, I encourage you to try out a new class or think back to activities that you enjoyed as a kid. Perhaps you loved playing soccer in high school, then look into joining a local recreational league, or maybe you’ve always wanted to try a Zumba class, this January, go!
There are so many amazing sources of exercise out there: Pilates, Yoga, Spinning, Running, Swimming, Zumba, Dance, Martial Arts, Qi Gong, just to name a few—this January, I encourage you to try a least three new classes and see if any stick! Keep searching until you find an activity that you really love, I promise it’s out there, and once you find it, you’ll be so grateful you did.

5. Weight loss is 80% diet – So Eat Delicious, Natural, Non-Processed Foods!

What the Biggest Loser doesn’t show us is that the participants living on the Biggest Looser Campus are experiencing huge amounts of weight loss because they are exercising andeating healthy, delicious food in good proportions—there’s no McDonalds or Wendy’s next to the gym.
Exercise has incredible benefits, including lowering blood pressure, increasing energy and mood, clearing the mind and strengthening the body, but if weight loss is a main goal of yours, eating a healthy diet is what will make the biggest impact.
Here’s the number one thing you can do to transform your diet:


– Eat Natural, Un-processed Foods! Home cooked meals made of all natural ingredients will transform your health! It’s very hard to eat an excess of calories if you’re eating vegetables and meat prepared at home. Processed foods and restaurant prepared meals are often filled with excess oils and mysterious ingredients, exponentially increasing our caloric intake and filling our systems with foreign chemicals.
Things to watch out for while eating out:
– Aim for packaged foods with five or less ingredients, such as Lara Bars.
–Avoid packaged foods with ingredients you don’t recognize. In the words of Michael Pollen, “if you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it.”
–Watch out for excess oils, found in things like salad dressings and sauces, as these can automatically turn a 200 calorie salad into a 1000 calorie filled meal.
As with exercise, notice how you feel after you eat. If you feel lethargic and stuffed, chances are, it wasn’t the best food choice. But if you feel energized and satiated, then you ate a meal that your body loved!


6. Take time to ‘Work In’

While getting your heart rate up and exercising hard is a great way to get in shape, just as important is taking time to ‘work in.’ Working in includes practices like meditation, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga, disciplines through which we can turn the gaze inward and find a place of stillness and calm.
In our go, go, go culture, our bodies are often under a lot of stress, which can lead to excess weight retention. Through ‘working in’ exercises, we can learn to more deeply listen to the needs of our body and find time for much needed rest.


7. There’s no one ‘Right Way’

Today, we are constantly bombarded with advertisements for the latest fad diet, diet pill or new tool that will miraculously take the weight off. As a fitness trainer, I’m often asked, “what kind of exercise and diet is best?”
The truth is, there’s no one ‘right’ way to get in shape. But if you tune deeply into your body, you will learn to understand what food and forms of exercise best serve your individual needs.
All of our bodies are unique, some of us respond better to eating meat, others to a vegetarian diet, some of us thrive with yoga, while others from running. Only you can truly decide what diet and form of exercise is best for you. Tune into your body after you exercise and after you eat –notice how you feel and what signals your body is sending you. Let yourself be guided by these signals and you will come to discover the forms of exercise and food that your body will thrive from.

8. Seek Support

Often, the amount of information we have to decipher to understand what a healthy ‘diet’ is can be quite overwhelming.
And often, it can be difficult to find the motivation to exercise when we are living busy, full lives.
Seeking support—whether it be a friend you make a commitment to exercise with, a fitness trainer, wellness coach, yoga instructor, or nutritionist, it can be very helpful to have someone you continually check in with, share triumphs and work through challenges with.

9. Enjoy the Ride!

Enjoy the journey of creating a healthy lifestyle for yourself! Notice all the positive changes that are happening along the way, not matter how small or unexpected they may seem.
I love hearing clients say, “Polina, for the first time in years I walked up the stairs without getting out of breath!!” Or, just last week a woman shared, “Polina, I cut out processed foods, and for the first ever, I didn’t have menstrual cramps—that was so unexpected!”
As Billy Polson, the owner of DIAKADI, www.diakadibody.com, explains, much like the Buddhist philosophy of non-attachment, if we take the focus off of the end goal of weight loss and ‘enjoy the ride,’ we will reach the results we seek…. If we make living healthy enjoyable, we will keep at it.
To do help do this, Billy suggests reveling in the day to day, finding the meditation in the ordinary. “Go to the farmer’s market, find out about where your food comes from, get the story, talk to the farmers, it’s fascinating!” Billy also suggests, “Ride your bike to work, park your car father, or get off the muni a few stops…keep finding ways that you can make your day more active and fun without it feeling overwhelming.”
So here’s to enjoying the ride in 2013, may it be a healthy, fitness filled and joyful New Year!

A woman came to me for her first fitness training  session yesterday; we’ve known each other for a couple of years in the context of a theater group but this is the first time we’ve talked one on one.

She’s been struggling with her weight since the age of 12. She’s a big woman, tall, beautiful, bold, intimidating until you get to know her softer side.

“I’ve been in Overeater’s Anonymous for 18 years,’ she explains, and then laughs, “I know everything there is to know about healthy eating and weight loss, but knowledge doesn’t seem to make a damn bit of difference.”

She’s struggling with obesity, with emotional eating, with finding the motivation to exercise.  I ask her what it would mean for her to lose weight and she replies,

“The truth is, Polina, I’m scared to lose weight. Every time I’ve started losing weight in the past, people begin commenting on it and  I gain it right back. I believe if I’m smaller, thinner, I won’t be as intimidating and I’ll be more likely to be attacked.”

 “Were you attacked when you were smaller?”

“Yes, I was raped when I was 12, and I’ve been overweight ever since…”

When our body goes through such a traumatic experience,  it’s only natural for us to create  a protective response. I tell her, “Of course you’re body doesn’t want to lose the weight, given the trauma it’s been through. But as long as you keep holding onto the belief that if you are smaller, you will be attacked, the weight will never come off, no matter how much exercise you do.”

I’m passionate about exercise, it’s transformed my life, but I’m clear that our bodies and the way relate to them and to our food, are a direct manifestation of our unconscious beliefs. By bringing to light the unconscious beliefs we created about the bodies we ‘should’ have, whether it be for the need of protection or to gain more love,  we can begin to release them and open the space for true well-being, self-love and vitality to come through.

The motivation to exercise and eat right will come naturally as a response to the opening we create.  The fight to find the ‘will-power’ to exercise, the ‘discipline’ to eat more vegetables, will lift, and we will find ourselves more easily making good choices because we will be relating to our bodies from a place of Love rather than from a place of ‘needing’ to look a certain way.

What beliefs did you create about your body as child or adult? How do these beliefs no longer serve you and what would it look like if you let them go?

May the Journey be a beautiful one.

~Polina

I recently returned home from my first 10 day silent Vipassana meditation retreat. It’s hard to say exactly what compelled me to go as I think often our spiritual draws come from a place outside of the rational, conscious mind, but I do remember Ben, Jeremy and Brigid, friends I so deeply respect, talking about profound transformations occurring through their sitting silence.

Profound transformation sounded nice, so I thought, ‘why not!’ My ego made profound transformation mean bliss, peace, serenity, perhaps even white lights and feelings of oneness —all that good stuff that they talk about in the spiritual books! But by day nine, when my mind was still screaming, ‘why are you doing this??? Think of all the things you could be doing if you were at Home! You should be working, doing doing doing, not sitting, sitting, sitting….” I went crying to the teacher, “It’s day nine and the meditation still isn’t working, my mind is louder than ever!” The teacher looked at me softly and said, “The meditation is working perfectly, you’re exactly where you need to be, recognize your craving for something different, your aversion to what it is, recognize that this is causing your suffering, not the actual circumstances in themselves….”

So much of the Vipassana teachings center on the idea of impermanence, that every moment, every object, every emotion and every cell in our body is impermanent, and when we have a visceral understanding of this, than we will no longer cling so strongly to the good feelings and try so hard to run away from the bad.

On day 10, when I could talk, and felt euphoric, I thought of the previous 9 nine days, of moments when I thought “If I have to sit another moment, I’ll go crazy!” But how still I sat, and how the craziness passed.  I thought of all things I would have done if I had been at home when the inclings of craziness emerged, how I would have reached for the ice cream, the caffeine, the drugs, a lover or an intense workout,  instead of just sitting with what was. 

I come home feeling grounded, catching myself wanting to reach for outside influences, but having a deeper part of me remember that  ’this to shall pass.’

There’s, of course, a lot of wisdom and complexity to the philosophy of  Vipassana that doesn’t feel quite right for me to go into right now. What i’ve been sitting more with is if this a path I want to continue for my own spiritual growth, and while I  feel deeply grateful for the past 10 days, I don’t know if i’ll ever be ready to call myself a Vipassana Meditator.

In January, I went of 5 day silent retreat with the amazing  teacher, Adyashanti. In contrast to the rigid discipline and structure of Vipassana (waking up at 4am, meditating for 10 hours a day, following a very specific meditation technique, no exercise…) Adyashanti said, “if it serves you to meditate now, meditate, if it would serve you more to go for a walk, go for a walk…your deepest Self knows what’s best for you, learn to listen that voice.” Adyashanti didn’t teach a specific meditation technique, just told us to sit in silence, and tune deeply in…For me, this teaching was profound, as previously I had been grasping so strongly for a teacher and a technique that would lead me to my own Awakening. After meeting Adysashanti, I’ve learned to listen to myself.

And after 10 days of listening, so to speak,  I see strongly that movement is a big part of my spiritual path. It is my path way to joy, to the calming of the mind, the feeling of the breath, the opening of the heart. It’s why I do the work that I do, movement has changed my life, and as the Vipassana teacher said, “when you find something that profoundly changes you, you can’t help but want to share it with others!”

What has profoundly changed your life? What gifts are you inspired to share with others?

Here’s to all of our unique, exciting and eclectic gifts!

With Love,

Polina

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” ― Pema Chödrön

For the last two months, I seem to have fallen into a funk that comes without many thoughts or explanations. I am reminded of what an invisible force depression can be, that on the surface we can be smiling, and seemingly bright, but on the inside, doing everything in our power to hold back tears and just ‘keep it together.’ I am reminded how little we know of what is really happening for someone and how important is to treat our strangers with empathy and care, for who knows where they have been or where they are going, and what feelings lie just underneath the surface.

These are just a few of the gentle lessons I have been reminded of during this period of melancholy. For underneath my tears and the hallow feelings, is a deep intrinsic knowing that our sadness is always here to teach us something, to help us grow and lead us to a deeper evolution of ourselves. I know that once I have moved through the darkness, I will be very grateful for the lessons learned along the way. In the meanwhile, I thought it could be helpful to take some notes—If you are inspired, I’d love to hear your thoughts, your own learnings and what periods of sadness have opened up for you.

The Gift of Vulnerability— I’ve heard it said so many times– being vulnerable is a pathway to deeper connections, a richer life, healing and a profound experience of Aliveness. But how easy is it to be vulnerable when we have jobs to keep up, social statuses to maintain, teeth to brush and lives to live? Yet, a gift of this depression is that at times I have NO choice but to be vulnerable.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a co-worker I barely know, my Tai Chi teacher or a newly found friend, if the tears are getting too much to hold in, then they will come out, no stopping them–and there I am, cheeks wet, gasping for breath, gently apologizing—as the person across from reaches for my hand, asks if I need anything or if I’d like to talk… and while moments before  we may have been  small chatting about the weather, all of a sudden my tears abolish the walls of social formalities and we are left relating in the realm of Vulnerability.  There is no turning back, a new found depth has been discovered and changed the nature of our relationship forever.

The Gift of Community –Riding on the back of Vulnerability, I have seen how much community has emerged from unfiltered sadness. As I’ve had episodes of tears  in various settings (it’s almost embarrassing the amount!), I have had new found friends and teachers say, “Polina, why don’t you come for lunch tomorrow and we’ll talk more…if you want a place to stay tonight, our home is always open…” In the past two months, my relationships with the communities I am surrounded by has exponentially deepened and it  is the doorway of sadness that has provided access.

The Gift of Discovering New Modalities and Teachers—It’s part of my personality, and I think quite natural, that when things don’t feel out of balance, for us to seek out new systems of support.  It was, after all, during a depression in my early twenties that I discovered exercise as a pathway to deep healing and started my career path. In this current period of depression, I’m realizing that my  ‘old tricks,’ so to speak, (i.e. exercise, good food,  spiritual work, spending time with friends…) aren’t quite pulling me all the way through, though they are providing an incredible foundation.  So, I have begun exploring new practices that would have otherwise gone untouched. Last week, I attended a beautiful Native American Prayer Circle, I went to a meditation group and have sought counsel from elders. Each of these things has opened me up in new ways and are becoming integral parts of my life. We can never truly say what will fully pull us through, but I know I will not stop seeking until I find it.

The Gift of Being Taken out of our Comfort Zone –Buddhist Teacher Pema Chodron writes, “To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” As a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, it goes through a period of great discomfort. As our body grows taller, it goes through growing pains and as athletes train for the Olympics, they are continually taken out of their comfort zones so that they can perform better than ever before.  Transformation, it seems, is no walk in the park.  Sometimes we don’t voluntarily take ourselves out of our comfort zone– it is taken out of us. So here I am, tears trickling down my face, at times wondering if it really can get more intense than this, but all the while knowing that something inside of me is growing, shifting, evolving, and when it chooses to reveal itself in ways I cannot yet predict, I will know, and I will be all the more grateful for it.

So here’s to riding through the darkness with gratitude and ease…may it serve as a pathway to the light.

My flight to New York City is two hours delayed. So I wandered into the airport magazine kiosk to see if I could find something to read.

Now I should say that I’m pretty removed from mainstream media and pop culture these days—I don’t own a TV, my radio dial is set to KQED-the local public radio station, the only magazine I subscribe to is Spirituality and Health and most of my Facebook friends post affirmations of what they’re grateful for and photos of Rumi quotes rather than their musings on the latest Kardashian affair.

Simultaneously, I’m immersed in a community that values holistic health and wellness, nurturing a belief that the spiritual, emotional, energetic, psychological and physical aspects of our well-being are intricately intertwined and, therefore, deciding to just ‘eat 500 calories a day’ or drink water and maple syrup for 10 days will never fully satisfy the deeper desires we are ultimately seeking—i.e. loving our bodies, feeling nourished by our food choices, energized by exercise and feeling confident in who we are and what we stand for.

All this to say, when I walked down the magazine aisle and saw this, I was shocked.



And Angry. And wanted to Vomit. And thought, “Really, America, this is the best we can come up with? These are the messages we want to continue feeding ourselves and the messages we want to pass onto our daughters?! Who writes these articles?? Have they ever thought to reflect just a little more deeply for one second?? I’m not asking for much here, just that for a millisecond we stop obsessing about our weight and what we’re eating and how we look and put the focus outside of ourselves.

Alongside  all the quick “lose weight quick” and “get the perfect butt” gimmicks, this particle article rose my blood temperature a couple of degrees:

TITLE: Food Lies that are Making you Fat

Example: Organic Produce Packs more Nutrients than the Conventional Kind

Real Deal: “Although buying organic helps protect the environment, research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Found they have no nutritional advantage over their conventionally grown counterparts…”and goes onto to say therefore there’s no real need to buy organic.

To state the obvious, eating organic over non-organic has nothing to do with making us fat, but more importantly, I got angry with this article because of its greater implications that having a positive impact on the environment is not enough of a reason to influence our food choices.

Lately, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the amount of waste we as a consumerist culture produce. I alone, find myself throwing away countless wrappers,  cappuccino cups, to-go containers and plastic bags away on a daily basis. I recently learned that only about 5% of what we recycle actually gets reused and  I think about ‘advancements’ we in the ‘Developed’ World have created—dishwashers, flushing toilets, laundry machines, toilet paper—and how about each of these  is out of sync with the natural world and continues to deplete the Earth’s resources.

Just about the same time I began to think about all these things, an amazing  woman moved into my home. B. grew up in an indigenous culture in Columbia and she tells me of her childhood, living off of the land, eating the fruit and vegetables that grew abudantly around, human waste serving as fertilizer for the ground, saying a prayer before each meal—the concept of garbage unimaginable.   When she speaks, I feel a yearning to know what a life like this would be like.

But I digress--

To go back to the article– There is a lot to be said of the debate on organics vs. non-organics, and the idea that ‘organic’ has just become yet another make money branding scheme—all of which I will not get into here. But the idea that we need not consider the environment in our food choices is something I ask we seriously reconsider. In an age where doomsday predictions of global warming are feeling eerily close and some scientists say 50 years is all we got left unless we make some serious changes—I think it’s important to ask what are the changes we can make in our day to day to help chaperon in a future we can be proud of.

And, this can start with the food choices we make.

Processed foods in plastic wrappers bumped with chemicals=bad for your health and bad for the environment.

Locally grown seasonal foods grown without pesticides=good for the environment and good for your body.

So this New Years, to help with your fitness resolutions, instead of picking up some trashy magazine  that will probably make you feel worse about yourself and end up contributing to the world’s trash problem, plant a garden, make a meal from ingredients bought at your local farmers market or ride your bike to work–the Earth and your body will thank you.

My Mom is visiting and wanted some Magnesium  (b/c Tim Ferriss claims it helps you sleep better) So we took a trip to GNC; along with Diet Shakes and supplements, this is what I found…. 

Okay, first off, to state the obvious, these products are RIDICULOUS!!!!

And…in a nation that’s facing an ever increasing obesity epidemic, I have a hunch that the Hollywood Cookie Diet is not quite providing the solutions we’re looking for…

Last night My Mom and I also saw Forks over Knives, a documentry that “…examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.”

While much of the research was compelling (and the images of McDonalds and heart surgery quite intense), for me, the movie had a similar blind-spot that the Hollywood Cookie Diet and the Appetite Control Spray hold: they all don’t address the underlying question of WhyWe Eat.

One of my clients recently lost over 100ibs by going on a supervised liquid fast (not something I would recommend…) while her results are amazing, she continually tells me of people who are back on the program for the second or third time, having gained back all, if not more, of the weight they initially  lost… Like the Holiday Cookie Diet, going a liquid fast still didn’t address the underlying question of why we eat and when participants no longer had a rigid structure to follow, they fell back to old patterns and triggers, re-finding comfort in chips and ice cream….

Food is so loaded with emotions and memories, that if we don’t examine this, then we are likely to come up against the same triggers again and again.  For me, ice cream is associated with excitement, because it is the treat I was given after dinner as a kid. Borsch reminds me of my mother and rice pilaf is comforting, because it’s what my mother cooked when I asked for something special.

We all know we should eat well and exercise, yet most of us face barriers to doing this.  So often we are looking for the solution outside of ourselves, we turn to the latest fad diets, supplements and pills that promise to make us slimmer, stronger, sexier…but ultimately, these things are unsustainable if we don’t look inside of ourselves and realize our own, individual barriers that stop us from making healthy choices. The reasons are different for all of us, and only you, yourself can fully understand and uncover your own personal triggers.

But this, by no means, implies not asking for support in the process! In fact, I think support is key in creating a healthy, nourishing relationship to food and exercise. I recently started working with an amazing emotional eating coach, Darshana Weil, because I want my relationship with food to shift from being one of an unconscious and emotionally numb nature, to that of nourishment, ease and joy. Darshana doesn’t tell me what foods to eat, or prescribe a diet plan, instead, she asks me to tune into my body, to slow down, and really pay attention to what my body is asking for.  Chances are, it’s not ice cream…

So today I invite you to tune in, slow down, and listen to what your body’s asking for.

May this May find you in peaceful and nourished spirits.

~Polina

I’ve just returned home from the Medea Project’s writing workshop. Today’s assignment was to write about miracles. One woman wrote about having her own home after being homeless and another told her of raising her granddaughter who was born in jail.

The Medea Project feels so real, there’s no bullshit, no masquerades, no pretending to be more together than we really are.  I feel like I can be myself, my worst self, and I will still be loved. It is a beautiful reminder in the power of community, in healing, in speaking our truths and coming together as women.

At the end of the workshop, one woman said, “I stopped eating sugar and wheat for four days, then had some on July 4th, it made SO sick I will never touch that stuff again.”

Yes, sugar is a drug. Wheat can be a drug. This is what Over Eater’s Anonymous teaches. Get off sugar, get off gluten. It won’t be easy and it won’t be pretty, you might shake, you might vomit and feel like the world is collapsing around you, but once the withdrawal has ended, you will experience a whole new level of aliveness.

I think I’m writing this more for myself than anyone else.

Hence, Healthy Tip: Go Gluten free for 2 weeks!

OA and Paul Chek (and others) believe that many people are gluten intolerant, but not on  a large enough scale to be detected by the tests done in the traditional medical community. The affect of gluten intolerance can include sugar and carb cravings, bloating, fatigue, mood shifts  IBS, among many other unpleasant symptoms. Lynn Hardling, a food addiction counselor, believes that 99% of  people with food addictions are gluten intolerant.

In order to see if you yourself are, try not eating gluten (basically wheat) for two weeks, and see if you notice a difference in how you feel.  If you do eat gluten again after two weeks, notice how your body reacts.

Here’s a list of gluten free products from Trader Joe’s: http://www.traderjoes.com/pdf/lists/list-no-gluten.pdf

Enjoy the Gluten Free life!

12 

Healthy Habit #1: Drink Water and Lots of It!

Drink at least half your body weight in ounces each day! Getting enough water is vital to helping the body flush out toxins and metabolize stored fat efficiently.

Helpful Hint: To help make sure you’re drinking enough water, keep a water bottle by your desk and drink from it at least once an hour.

Extra Bonus: Drink Clean Water! Paul Chek and others believe the chlorine found in tap water not only kills the bad bacteria, but also the good.  Instead, they recommend drinking water from a high quality water filter system, which can easily be installed into kitchen sinks. You can order a water filter at: www.seagulldistribution.com

Healthy Habit # 2:  Get your Heart Rate Up!

There are soooo many benefits to exercise, including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, increasing mood, relieving stress, weight loss, increased self-esteem and confidence…the list is endless!

Types of exercise:

Strength Training: Strength Training includes building strength through lifting weights and body weight exercises, such as push-ups and squats.  Working your legs requires more energy than working the arms and therefore, burns more calories, so be sure to include leg strengthening exercises in your workout, such as through lunges and squats.

Cardio:   You don’t have to do the same exercise for 45 minutes (i.e. 45 minutes of elliptical), but can mix it up among different cardio exercises, such as the treadmill, spin bike and rowing machine. If you don’t like exercising in gyms, walking, running, dancing, Bootcamp classes and cycling outdoors are great options.

Helpful Hints:

1.Find an activity you love to do, and do it!  When we love something, we will do it, with joy and ease! The rest will follow…

2. Find a support system through which to exercise, whether it is a class, a personal trainer, or a friend.  Having someone to help encourage you will keep you on track and motivated!

Healthy Habit #3 Keep Moving, all Day Long!

While exercising hard core in the gym for an hour can be very beneficial, if it is followed by sedentary behavior, much of the benefit can be lost.   To help keep your metabolism high all day long, keep moving!

Suggestions for doing this:

• Use the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator


• Walk to and from work


• Park father away in the parking lot


• Get off  a few muni stops earlier to walk more


• Get a bike! Bike around the city! This is great cardio, and it’s very convenient! Many people attest to this being a life changing new habit!


• Walk during your lunch break


• If you work a desk job, get up at least once an hour to take a stroll

Healthy Habit #4: Take time to ‘Work In’

While getting your heart rate up and burning lots of calories is very important for weight loss, just as important is taking time to ‘work in.’ Working in includes practices like meditation, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga, disciplines through which we can turn the gaze inward and find a place of stillness and calm.

In our go, go, go culture, our bodies are often under a lot of stress, which can lead to excess weight retention.  Through ‘working in’ exercises, we can learn to more deeply listen to the needs of our body and find time for much needed rest.

Healthy Habit #5: Cut out all the white stuff—sugar, white flour, white rice, white pasta (brown rice pasta is good alternative), white table salt.



*Use Stevia, an all natural sweet, no calorie, sweet plant, as a replacement for sugar.

*If you need Salt to season food, choose an all-natural, organic mineral salt.

Healthy Habit #6: Avoid Processed Foods!!! Processed foods are packed with hidden calories, artificial sweeteners, chemicals, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and many unnatural ingredients, all of which reek havoc on the insides, make the liver work overtime and cause weight gain in the long run.

Suggestions for doing this:

• Avoid ingredients that you can’t pronounce


• Eat whole foods—whole grains, vegetables and fruits


• If buying packaged foods, stick to products that have 5 ingredients or less.

Healthy Habit #7: Eat Small Portions!

In the United States, with the encouragement of Super Sizing and the philosophy that ‘more is better’ our portion sizes have become hugely distorted. The consequence is that we are taking in many more calories than we need, leading to excess weight gain and extra stress on the body.

Suggestions for doing this:

• Never put big bowls of food on the table, keep them in the kitchen, this way it’s easier not to be tempted to eat more when it’s out of sight.


• Don’t keep foods in the house that you are going to be tempted to eat large quantities of.

• Take 3 deep breaths before beginning to eat, bringing a deeper awareness to the meal


• When eating at home, keep the main dishes in the kitchen, rather than on the table


• Use smaller plates and bowls


• At a restaurant, ask the waiter to put half the dish in a to-go container before bringing it out


• Every thirty seconds, put your fork down and take a deep breath, allowing you to eat slower and with deeper consciousness


• At a restaurant, order 2 appetizers in place of meal, or order a salad, or ask the waiter to pack half of the meal away before he or she brings it to the table.

**In the beginning, this may be the hardest guideline to adjust to, but can make the biggest difference in the long run!

**Right now, on average, Americans consume 3,800 Calories a day when most of us should be aiming for under 2000!

Healthy Habit #8: Make Vegetables the main component of a meal, with meat and grains the side dish.

Suggestions for doing this:

• Start your meal with a salad


• Eat spinach or lettuce with every meal


• Looking at the plate, make sure at least half of it is veggies!

Healthy Habit #9: Go Gluten free!

Over Eater’s Anonymous and Paul Chek, among others, believe that many people are gluten intolerant, but not on a large enough scale to be detected by the tests done in the traditional medical community. The effect of gluten intolerance can include sugar and carb cravings, bloating, fatigue, mood shifts  IBS, among many other unpleasant symptoms. Lynn Harding, a food addiction counselor, believes that 99% of  people with food addictions are gluten intolerant.

In order to see if you yourself are, try not eating gluten (basically wheat) for two weeks, and see if you notice a difference in how you feel.  If you do eat gluten again after two weeks, notice how your body reacts.

Helpful Hint: Here’s a list of gluten free products from Trader Joe’s:http://www.traderjoes.com/pdf/lists/list-no-gluten.pdf

Healthy Habit #10: Sleep, 8 hours!!!!

Getting 8 hours of sleep is hugely beneficial in keeping the body energized, curbing food cravings and keep cortisol (stress hormone) levels normal.  Less than 8 hours of sleep can be very taxing on the body, leading to unhealthy food choices and extra stress on the body.  Also, it is ideal to get to bed by 10pm each night.

Healthy Habit #11: Log your Food!

Numerous studies have shown that tracking our food is hugely beneficial for weight loss. Keeping track of our food helps us to gain a deeper understanding of what we are eating as well as making us more conscious about what is going in our bodies.

Helpful Hint: A great resource for food tracking is www.fatsecret.com

Healthy Habit #12: Set 3 small goals each week!

Set 3 small, very attainable goals each week, because small changes=big rewards!! A healthy lifestyle comes one step at a time, day by day, with small goals being the ladder leading to our ideal health. Keep your goals attainable and inspiring, and keep congratulating yourself along the way!