Archives for November 2019

November Member of the Month – Lenese Ross

November 27, 2019 By

It is our pleasure to recognize Lenese Ross as the CV Fitness Member of the month.

Lenese has been a member of CVF for two years.  She is a Nurse Educator at Kaiser Permanente.  She likes gardening and traveling – she visited Rome and Paris this year.

Her original goal was to do something different than what she could do at 24-Hour Fitness.  She wants to lose weight and gain muscle definition.  Since joining CVF she feels stronger and is making progress towards that muscle definition.  She has more energy and is able to spend more time gardening.

She likes the custom workouts based on her goals and the personal attention she receives in smaller training sessions.

The three words Lenese uses to describe her experience at CVF are “personalized”, “fun” and “challenging”.

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IT’S TIME TO PANIC!!!

November 20, 2019 By

OK. Next week is Thanksgiving. A few weeks after that is Christmas. The week after that is New Years Day.

IT IS CLEARLY TIME TO PANIC!!! 

ALL THE FOOD AND FAMILY AND COMMITMENTS AND STRESS AND SHOPPING AND PARTIES AND STRESS AND COOKIES AND STRESS AND THINGS TO DO!!!!!

As a personal trainer who has worked with hundreds of people over this time of year I am going to tell you that what you’re about to go through over the next six weeks is inhuman. There is no way out. You will feel stressed out. Terrible. Horrible. Like your head is about to explode. Like there is no end to the calorie laden, sugar-filled sweets that will literally be shoved down your throat unceasingly.

You will feel this way because it is the truth. You might as well face it. You will spend the rest of your life trying to recover from the damage that you will endure.

Of course I’m joking, but every year I do hear some version of what I wrote. I know this can be a stressful time of year for a number of reasons but I hope that at the end of it you can look back and realize that you enjoyed and appreciated it. We only get a certain amount of these, you know.

Let me give you three quick tips to help you with that.

  1. Breathe. If you find yourself starting to spin out of control take a step back, notice how you feel, know that it’s OK, and take just a few minutes to breathe and think about nothing else other than that. I know this isn’t easy to remember to do in those stressful times, but if you do it will make a huge difference. I promise you.
  2. Exercise. This is the time of year when people start skipping their workouts. I get it, there’s a lot to do. In January, though, I start to see the people that skipped workouts really regret it. Study after study shows that exercise is one of the best ways you can combat stress. Just do what you can. 15 minutes is better than nothing. Put it on your schedule and DON’T BREAK THAT APPOINTMENT WITH YOURSELF!
  3. Eat. Don’t be the person at the dinner table talking about how much cardio you have to do to pay for that extra helping of stuffing. Just eat and enjoy yourself. I personally plan on eating an entire 9×13 pan of pumpkin bread pudding with caramel sauce, Tillamook Vanilla Ice Cream (the creamiest ice cream I’ve found) and whipped cream. And that’s before I get to the Apple Pie!
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The Last Few Weeks At Castro Valley Fitness…

November 6, 2019 By

It’s been a hectic few weeks here at Castro Valley Fitness. Like everyone else we’re starting to get ready for the holidays. People are working hard at the gym.

We are pretty busy here, as I’m sure you are with your life, and when you’re busy, sometimes it can be hard to take a step back and see some things that have been going on.

Here is a short list of things some of our members have told me over the past few weeks:

  • One of our members remarked how much more stable she felt as she went on some long hikes over a weekend trip
  • One of our members told me that this was the best he’s ever felt and the most consistent he’s ever been with any kind of exercise
  • One of our members said that she was able to run 10 gates to catch a flight after her connecting flight landed 45 minutes late
  • One of our members told me she was better able to pick up her child
  • One of our members tripped over something in her kitchen and fell pretty hard sliding across her floor. She was able to get right back up with just a few bruises to show for it

I think we can all agree that the ability to do all these things is pretty good. It’s empowering. These are the kinds of things we can point to as being conducive to living a better and fuller life.

I want to point out one more thing.

None of these things is about losing weight.

Please let that sink in.

Yes it’s true that being better able to do some of these things might result in weight loss, but if weight loss is your main focus then I believe you are missing the proverbial forest through the trees.

weight loss misses the forest through the trees

I don’t see a scale in this picture

What I mean is that if your only focus is a number some appliance tells you then you’re missing what really matters. Being able to enjoy a trip, being able to avoid injury, being able to play with your kids or grandkids. Aren’t all these things more important?

If so, why do so many of us let that number determine how we feel about ourselves and our progress? Does that seem healthy?

Is it healthy that we tell ourselves losing weight is good for us only to feel shame and stress every time we eat?

Is it OK that we’re made to feel like failures when we don’t lose weight as easily as the model in that Facebook post or magazine article tells us we should?

Does it seem right that we can live better, fuller and more vital lives and still feel we haven’t accomplished anything because of what our scale tells us?

I don’t think any of those things feel right or healthy at all. Not in the slightest.

Now this is the part when I challenge you to try something. I want you to try and adjust your thinking a little bit. Instead of your success being determined by an external force (your scale) I want you to go a little deeper.

I want you to think about what you really want. What will mean something to you and allow you to live that more vital life we’re talking about.

Is it

  • being able to walk longer distances
  • having more energy to play with your kids or grandkids
  • feeling less pain
  • getting stronger so you can remain independent

or is it something else entirely?

Whatever it is, I’m sure that losing weight isn’t at the core of what you really want.

So I’ll ask you one more time:

What do you really want?

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PAS, PN Level 2
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way
510-755-9191
Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com

 

 

 

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