5 Tips for a Healthy and Fit Thanksgiving

You Can Have Your Turkey (and Stuffing) – and Your Fitness, Too!

Welcome to the winter holiday season – the most challenging season of all for those of us who are working on our nutrition and overall fitness!

Between short, colder days and your great aunt's incredible Thanksgiving stuffing, it's really no wonder so many of us struggle with our health and fitness plans this time of the year.

But there is hope, and a lot of it. You don't have to choose between severely limiting your enjoyment of Thanksgiving (not to mention the holiday treats to follow) or giving up your fitness and nutrition plans until January.

There is a better way – a way to have your turkey (and your great aunt's stuffing) and to maintain the progress on your health and fitness that you've worked so hard to achieve up to now.

To kick the holiday season off right for your body and your taste buds, here are five tips to help you have your Thanksgiving dinner and maintain your waistline, too:

1. Exercise before -- and after: If you're a Better Living Fitness Center member, come on in for Full Body Fit at 5:30 this Wednesday and either the 9:30 am Cardio and Core (if you want to get up early) or our 12:30 pm Full Body Fit class on Friday. But don't stop there! Even a brisk walk before you sit down to that heavy, groaning Thanksgiving table will leave you feeling less full and groaning after you eat. Click here for our fitness class schedule.
2. Eat breakfast: It might be tempting to “save up” your appetite for Thanksgiving dinner, but hitting the table extra hungry will make it much harder to avoid overeating. Instead, have a good-sized breakfast tomorrow morning to keep your metabolism higher throughout the day – but not just any breakfast. Go with a higher-protein, low carb start to your day: for example, Egg Beaters with onions and peppers (maybe with a bit of low fat cheese), and a side of a low-glycemic fruit like berries.
3. Use smaller serving spoons: Thanksgiving dinner isn't a normal meal –
   
   it's more like a buffet, because there are so many wonderful foods to choose from. By using smaller serving spoons you can still have a taste of everything, without taking a full-size portion of each yummy thing you want to try.
4.  Take your time: On average, Americans spend five hours preparing Thanksgiving dinner – and only thirteen minutes eating it! Eating quickly is a sure way to overeat. On the other hand, taking our time doesn't just allow us to know when we're getting close to having enough – it also gives us space to savor the special Thanksgiving textures and flavors. Besides, doesn't it make sense to bring up the average time we spend eating the meal when our loved ones spend so much time making it for us?
5. Try on a new family tradition: Thanksgiving may be America's big eating holiday, but that doesn't mean dinner needs to be the only focus of the day! If the people you're celebrating the holiday with are open to the idea, try to
   
   schedule something fun in addition to your dinner. Take a walk together in a nearby park, play some touch football, or even bring out the board games or a deck of cards for awhile. Physical activities are obviously best from the perspective of your overall health and fitness, but anything fun that distracts people from the constant temptation to eat (and eat, and eat…) will help.

Thanksgiving is just the first holiday of an entire season that encourages us to fill our plates and overfill our bellies. The good news, though, is that you don't have to choose between feeling left out or rooting through your closet for your old pair of “fat pants.” Add a few extra exercise sessions, enjoy Thanksgiving dinner and the season's other tasty foods in moderation, and you'll be in great shape to start reaching for even bigger health and fitness goals come January!

...and remember, the entire staff at Better Living is here for you. Contact us today for whatever support you might want to help you get through the holidays with your health and fitness intact, from nutrition counseling to personal training sessions. We're here to help!

Here's wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, and love-filled Thanksgiving day!


Photos courtesy churl, Peter Barker, and Nathan Rupert via Flickr

A Passion for Fitness Results: Introducing Better Living Fitness Trainer Jesse Richards

Jesse Richards' career as a personal trainer and fitness expert started with a cadaver.

He admits that this sounds a bit creepy, but as a student at Hope College, Jesse took an anatomy class – a class that included a visit to Hope College's cadaver lab.

And while some people might have found the experience uncomfortable, Jesse says it inspired him to learn everything he could about how our bodies work.

“I decided I wanted a greater understanding of how God created us, and to learn the purpose of each of our muscles, organs, tendons, and joints,” he says.

Jesse with Better Living Fitness Client Joey Mullick

Jesse followed his passion all the way to a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science. Along the way, he was selected for internships as a strength and conditioning trainer for student athletes at Hope College, Oakland University, and the University of Michigan.

Today, Jesse says, he loves working with Better Living Fitness clients because he's thrilled when his clients achieve the results they're looking for.

“When I was working with student athletes I had a huge passion for athletics and seeing my students get results on and off the field,” he says.

“As a personal trainer, my passion has shifted. Instead of helping a swimming star improve their time by a few seconds, now I get to help people heal injuries that have bothered them for years – and I get to be there when one of my clients, who hasn't been able to lose a pound in ten years, is able to drop twenty pounds.”

While he doesn't currently have any athletes as personal training clients, Jesse says he works with a wide range of people, from folks who are athletic to others who have never exercised before. But whether a new client is a weekend-warrior athlete or a member of Couch Potatoes Anonymous, Jesse says that he particularly loves working with people who are motivated to reach their goals and willing to try new things to help them reach those goals.

In addition to working with clients, Jesse's favorite aspect of working at Better Living Fitness is our team approach to helping clients with their health and fitness.

“Every one of the trainers on the Better Living staff has different areas of expertise, so we can help each other out. If I have a client with an issue I haven't seen before, I can bring that issue up in one of our staff meetings – and someone else will have an answer that I can use to help my client succeed,” he says.

“This team approach is pretty different from any place else I've worked as a personal trainer.”

Work out with Jesse: click here to schedule your first personal training

Jesse with Better Living Fitness client Dawn Weirauch

session!

Take a class with Jesse: Jesse teaches Full Body Fit on Thursdays at 5 pm, and CVT at 8:15 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Check out our memberships, which include these fitness classes, here.

How to Choose the Right Personal Trainer for You: 4 Quick Questions

There are a lot of personal trainers, and companies that offer personal trainers, here in Ann Arbor. I did a quick Google search for “personal trainer Ann Arbor,” just to see what would happen, and got over 200,000 results!

Obviously, there's no way our town has over 200,000 personal trainers – not counting home football game days, the entire population of Ann Arbor is only a bit over 100,000. But, after quickly scrolling through my search results, I think it's safe to say that Ann Arbor offers well over 100 individual trainers specializing in helping clients with their health and fitness goals.

With all of those options, just finding the right personal trainer could start feeling like a workout by itself.

To make the process easier and let you start your fitness program faster, here are four questions to help you choose the right personal trainer for you:

1. How much training and education does the trainer have? The State of Michigan doesn't have licensing requirements for personal trainers, but most if not all fitness centers require their employees to have at least one certification. In addition, there are several community college and university degrees (both at the Bachelors and Masters level) that would-be fitness professionals can pursue.

As a general rule, the more education a trainer has, the more able they will be to help you meet your goals while avoiding injuries in the process.

Also, while degrees are wonderful, don't discount experience! For example, two of Better Living's trainers, Mallory and Jodi, collectively have over 30 years' experience as personal trainers in addition to their certifications. 

2. How much ongoing education is the trainer involved in? Exercise science is changing almost daily as research tells us more about our bodies and what they need to be healthy and fit. To get the best results from your fitness plan, it's best to find a trainer who keeps up to date on these developments.

3. What are the trainer's specialty or specialties? If you're a 50 year old woman who just wants to make sure you'll be able to walk and carry your own groceries when you're 80, you don't necessarily want to work with a personal trainer who specializes in getting people ready for triathlons. At the same time, a trainer who is all about functional fitness may not be the best choice to help you train for your first marathon.

4. How willing is the trainer to customize a program so that you'll not only meet your goals but also enjoy the process? As a rule, any solid health and fitness program will include exercises to increase your strength, cardiovascular health, and flexibility – but there's a lot of “wiggle room” within that rule to cater to people who love some specific exercises but who can't stand (or can't do) others.

Deciding to start a health and fitness program is a big decision. So is choosing a fitness professional to help you achieve your goals. But finding the right personal trainer for you doesn't have to be that difficult. First, decide what you want to accomplish. Then, using the four questions above, narrow your search.

With all the personal training options that Ann Arbor offers, it shouldn't be that hard for most people to find the right fit.

Looking for specific help in selecting a personal trainer to help you achieve your goals – or help defining your goals in the first place? Give us a call (734-747-0123)  or send us an email and we'll be happy to help!

Better Living Members Burn Over 11,000 Calories & Raise Over $3,000 for disabled veterans

Our October 14th Cardio Relay charity event for the Michigan Department of Disabled American Veterans was a huge success:

• Fifty-six participants got their sweat on by walking or running, rowing, or by working out on one of our elliptical machines – in all, our cardio machines were kept busy during the eleven-hour event!
• In total – we counted – Cardio Relay participants burned over 11,000 calories!
• Thanks to the generosity of our Cardio Relay participants, our co-sponsors, and the support of local businesses, we raised over $3,000 for the Michigan Department of Disabled American Veterans to help disabled vets in Michigan plow through the mountain of paperwork standing between them and the health care and other benefits they've earned and deserve.

We owe a huge thank you to our co-sponsors, Tortoise and Hare Running & Fitness Center and Between The Lines. I also want to thank the local companies that made the donations, either in the form of refreshments or items for our silent auction:

A2R3 Therapeutic Massage
Anderson Paint
Campus Barber & Beauty Salon
Nicola's Books
The Lunch Room
The M Den
Washtenaw Dairy
Zingerman's

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Communities: Ongoing Charity Initiatives at Better Living Fitness Center

One of the reasons I opened Better Living Fitness Center was to have a place that can serve the better health of our entire community in addition to helping Better Living members achieve their health and fitness goals.

To that end, every month we donate a portion of our proceeds to a local charity that we select during a staff meeting. Our Fitness Center has only been open since January, but it was important to me to start this business off right as a solid corporate citizen here in Ann Arbor.

This month, of course, we're making our donation to Michigan Disabled American Veterans. As time goes on, we plan to support all sorts of organizations that make life better here in Ann Arbor: nonprofits that serve homeless individuals, charities that take care of animals, and more.

Likewise, we aren't able to give a huge amount now as a relatively new fitness center – but as we grow, so too will the amount we're able to give to local nonprofits.


This means that your membership with Better Living Fitness Center isn't only a fantastic investment in your health and fitness goals – in addition, you're also contributing to the health of our wider community! (Check out our fitness classes and memberships today and you can start making your dual investment – in yourself and in our wider community – right away!)

Stay tuned to our blog, website, and/or Facebook page for information the charity we choose each month. I'm looking forward to creating a thriving partnership between Better Living, our clients, other locally-owned Ann Arbor businesses, and the entire Ann Arbor community.

Health Note: $99 month Unlimited Memberships are still available for a limited time. Better Living Fitness Center Unlimited Memberships include all of our classes, allowing you to customize a weekly and monthly workout routine to target all of your health and fitness goals: strength, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility. In addition, a portion of your membership (or membership upgrade) will benefit a local Ann Arbor charity through Better Living Fitness Center's monthly donation program.

Take a moment to check out and sign up for your Unlimited Membership today.