"If I loved my back, how often would I do this exercise?"

I just completed a proposal to teach self defense for teen women and their allies at a local agency. I'd love to share the meat of the proposal with you here. The statistics were gleaned from Erin Weed's Fight Back Productions and the Liz Claiborne Foundation's Love is Not Abuse.

If you are interested in bringing self defense training to the teen women in your life, contact me at (413) 527-8317 or email trainer@compassionateconditioning.com.

Teen Women Need Self Defense Training

Teen women are especially vulnerable to violence.

For example:

• 1 in 4 college women experience completed or attempted rape during their college years. (National College Women Sexual Victimization Study, Fisher 2000.)

• College age women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than other age groups. (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.)

• College females are 4 times more likely to be assaulted by someone they know than by a stranger. (National Crime Victimization Study 1995-2002.)

Teen women are at risk of sexual and relationship violence earlier than most parents realize. The Liz Claiborne Foundation has conducted extensive research into teens’ (including young teens’ or “tweens’”) experience of and risk for relationship violence.

Read More...

A new client was quoting a friend of hers when she said,

"Exercise is awesome--movement changes the mind!"

There is science to back this statement up--or you could just try it for yourself and see how you feel! I feel smarter, clearer and calmer after a good workout.

"I always feel better when I exercise!"

"It is easier to be out of shape."

Easier if you mean you don't have to do this exercise I'm just now describing...but harder if you think of how much harder it is to do everything else (work, play, sleep) when your body is deconditioned.

I invite you to read "For the Overweight, Bad Advice by the Spoonful," a New York Times article by Gina Kolata, one of the most provocative journalists writing on health/fitness topics.

Kolata's summary states:

"Weight control is not simply a matter of willpower. Genes help determine the body's "set point," which is defended by the brain.

Read More...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Lynne Marie Wanamaker
Personal Trainer
(413) 527-8317
trainer@compassionateconditioning.com

Free Wellness Event Features Local Practitioners

Read More...

For all of you busy mamas and papas who struggle to find time for your workouts, I want to share this link with you. Kara at Mama Sweat is raising four--count 'em, four!--kids under six while remaining committed to her own wellness. Her path isn't easy and she's honest about the pitfalls and obstacles. But her determination to prioritize her own health and to think creatively about how she can fit in fitness inspires me all the time. I especially like today's post about what she learned from her very active vacation.

If you're a new or expectant mama, be sure to check out Kara's posts on fit pregnancy and postpartum fitness too. She's right on the money.

Another plug here for Mark Bittman's 101 Simple Salads for the Season.

Tonight's supper: #3 (a winning cucumber salad, had to be repeated); #16 (fennel and apple, I added a touch of honey to Mark's recipe); #30 (the yummiest, easiest, potato salad I could imagine, with lovely new potatoes from River Valley Market); #61 (a sophisticated salmon salad. I may have tossed in a few tablespoons of mayo, but only because my sweet darling doesn't eat yogurt.) I rounded the table out with a caprese salad and some cornichons. This is food with tremendous nutritional value, in season and delectable, minimally processed and full of the good fats (olive oil) without much of the bad stuff. Lovely summer supper!

What are you eating?

Around here, we love our veggies. Still, there comes a point in every farm-share season when we are simply sick of our old standbys--Grandma Bobbi's cucumber and white onion salad, roasted beets, zucchini sauted with green onions, green salad with mustard vinaigrette.

That's why I was so excited to read Mark Bittman's 101 Simple Salads for the Season in the July 22 issue of the New York Times. If you by-pass #78 (Chicago-style hot dog salad) and leave out the optional bacon in one or two recipes, you'll discover that Bittman has assembled an incredible array of low-fat, high-flavor seasonal treats. He's also organized his recipes very well: Vegan, Vegetarian, with Seafood, with Meat and Grain salads.

We're working our way through them and so far, everything I've tried has been a hit with me and with my six year old daughter. (My sweet darling is tomato averse, so it's hard to please her with July's produce.)

Read More...