November 2002

Winter Walking: The Way to Be Thin, Happy and Calm

One of the biggest mistakes I see amongst new clients at Total Fitness is overtraining in cardiovascular exercise.

What does this mean? An example: A recent new client had been following one of the best-selling books that promises you too can look like a stud or studette. My new client had been faithfully following the program of high intensity cardio and weight lifting, but his EKG showed he was still in an extreme state of stress, his resting heart rate remained high, his blood pressure was not improved and his blood sugar was too low. I could tell all this from our initial evaluation.

All he noticed was that despite working out like a dog, he wasn’t losing weight. If you want to lose weight, train your body to burn fat—don’t train your body to burn sugar. I personally work out virtually every day of my life. I vary my workouts and I ALWAYS make sure I get in a few walks every week. Why: Walking trains your body to burn fat, not sugar. Aerobic exercise burns fat. Anaerobic exercise trains your body to burn sugar.

Many forms of exercise that most people believe are aerobic—aerobic classes, spinning classes and often running—are, in fact, anaerobic for most individuals. I have seen numerous women clients who fell into eating disorders while running and doing spinning classes. Other male clients will run for years without losing an ounce of fat. If you are in a good state of health, you want to think about balancing your workouts to include BOTH anaerobic and aerobic exercise. Walking restores chi.

Studies have shown that even patients with chronic fatigue syndrome—in severe states of stress and exhaustion—can significantly improve their energy by walking 1 hour, 10 minutes every day over a three-month period. Walking combats Seasonal Affective Disorder.

In Atlanta, we live at such a latitude that even during the winter months, we can get enough sunlight to stimulate the pineal gland in the brain to prevent SAD just by being outside. If you tend to be depressed in the winter, make sure you walk to boost serotonin levels. The negative ions in fresh air are also proven to lift your mood. Walking can be part of a stress management program. Are you too antsy to sit and meditate? You can train your brain into a meditative state by walking silently and focusing on your breathing.

Client Testimony:
Curt Bush, Strong, Pain-Free and Happy

This letter is a way of saying thank you to Catherine Carrigan from Curt Bush.

I sought out Catherine for yoga in the spring of 2002, for relaxation and pain relief, because at 43 my body was in such pain I found it difficult to walk down the stairs when I got up in the morning. My lower back and legs were so tight nothing I did relaxed them. I was also physically and mentally exhausted, not sleeping well and very much discouraged about the general condition of my life. And it was getting worse.

I have always been in shape and active, but now the thought of exercise caused anxiety because I knew how much I would have to push myself to work through the pain. Several doctors had told me that I would probably just have to live with the pain and would I like Prozac to feel better about myself. Somehow I just knew this was wrong and that I needed to get my metabolism back in order for everything else to fall in line. Although I had no idea how and nothing else I had tried had worked.

After starting Yoga with Catherine she told me about life coaching and that we should start with a program of exercise and nutrition. I agreed. After a careful analysis of my nutritional needs it was determined that my body was very deficient in the minerals it needed to function normally, plus my joints we inflamed, so she worked out a supplementation schedule. With the supplementation started we began working on the physical.

A combination of yoga, yogassage and exercise designed to allow my muscles to begin to relax and function more normally. At first simple exercises were an effort and our work outs were more stretching than anything else. With a fairly intense schedule, 3 personal sessions a week plus 2 yoga classes, I began to notice a difference after a couple of weeks. During this same time we began talking about my mental exhaustion, which was a combation of being in physical pain and pushing my self too hard in all areas of my life. Without allowing myself to relax mentally and become more spiritually grounded all of the physical work we were doing would be like treading water.

Catherine explained to me that we all hold tensions in our muscles and that I was holding a lot in mine. With a combination of kinesiology and holistic therapy we began a parallel course to the physical therapy, with my mental and spiritual well being. This 3 part approach: the nutrition, physical exercises and the mental began to produce dramatic results. After about 2 months I woke up and realized that I had not felt any pain for the last 2 mornings. I had not felt like that in over 3 years! I felt more centered and less stressed mentally, my sleeping patterns were starting to return to normal and my body was beginning to move with out constant pain.

It has now been almost 6 months since I started working with Catherine and it is amazing how much better I feel. I will leave the “how to” explanation of the processes we went though to get to this point to Catherine, but I would like tofeel more enjoyment for life and my connection to God is greatly improved. I have also learned new ways of looking at life and how to follow my own intuition to make the best possible decisions I can. I have had some other health benefits as a result of my association with Catherine. One of them being a condition that effects some men over 40, a prostate infection. I went to the doctor and he threw antibiotics at me and said it would go away. Well it did not. Catherine was able to find the appropriate supplementation for me and even though it took 3 months for the process to work I now am completely free of irritation in this area.

All of these things plus many more that I have not mentioned have greatly improved the quality of my life. It has taken a lot of time and commitment to get there, but when I look back at where I was 6 months ago I can’t believe bad I felt then and how good I feel now. My life is not all light and happiness by any means, but I now have the tools both mentally and physically to work through whatever life throws at me. I would just like to say thank you to Catherine for all of her time and effort and patience that she has given me.

Curt Bush.

Go to Catherine Carrigan's home page .