April 2009 Newsletter

An Inspirational Quote

"All illness is physical, mental and spiritual, and therefore it is best to utilize all modalities to assist recovery. The body will do whatever the mind believes. The healing of the body and the achievement of heatlh are accomplished not just by addressing the body directly, but also by addressing the mind and moving into the field of consciousness."

Dr. David Hawkins, M.D. Healing and Recovery.

Energy Exercises: Tibetan Rites
by Catherine Carrigan, catherine@totalfitness.net

One of the most powerful things you can do to increase your energy, lose weight, improve your fitness and lower your stress level is to practice Tibetan rites on a daily basis.

Without exaggeration, these five yoga exercises will change virtually every aspect of your life.

Why? A simple understanding of energy flow will suffice. The Tibetan rites open and balance the charas.

Chakras

The chakras include seven major energy vortexes that correspond to your endocrine glands.

The chakras feed the acupuncture meridians.

Your acupuncture meridians feed the organs of your body.

And the organs feed energy flow to your muscles.

Too often, when people have health challenges, they turn to drugs or surgery when the real problem is blocked energy flow. Performing the Tibetan rites or other energy exercise such as tai chi or qi gong every day can unblock and balance the distribution of energy in your body, literally wiping away years of pain, exhaustion, hormonal imbalance and many other ills so that you experience true vitality in every aspect of your being.

The Tibetan rites are among my all-time favorite series of energy exercises. Follow these directions and build up to performing 21 repetitions of each of these exercises every day.

Rite 1:

Spinning: Stand up and spin clockwise, from left to right. Chakras should not only be open, they should also be spinning in a clockwise direction.
	Rite 1, Spinning

Rite 2:

Step 1: Lie on your back with your palms flat on the floor and your feet flexed.
	Rite 2, Step1

Step 2: Inhaling, lift your chin to your chest. Exhale and pull your belly button to your spine.
	Rite 2, Step2

Step 3: Inhale and lift your legs up keeping your feet flexed and your belly pulled in.
	Rite 2, Step3

Step 3, advanced option: Roll your legs back over your head towards plow
	Rite 2, Step3 - Advanced

Step 4: Exhale and carefully lower your head and legs simultaneously, pulling the belly button to the spine and activating your core.
	Rite 2, Step4

Rite 3:

Step 1: Come to your knees on a comfortable yoga mat. You may want to double up your yoga mat to give more cushion for your knees. Place your hands at the side of your thighs and pull your belly button to the spine.
	Rite 3, Step1

Step 2: Inhale and bring your chin to your chest.
	Rite 3, Step2

Step 3: Exhale and lean backwards and challenge your quadriceps muscles, keeping your buttocks tight and your chin one fist distance from your chest. Keep your belly button pulled into the spine. Inhale as you return to the starting position.
	Rite 3, Step3

Rite 4:

Step 1: Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you, your feet flexed, your hands behind you and your fingertips pointed towards the body.
	Rite 4, Step1

Step 2: Inhale and bring your chin to your chest.
	Rite 4, Step2

Step 3: Exhale, lifting your body off the floor. Contract the muscles in the back of the body. To improve your eyesight, move your eyes and look in all directions, as if you were moving your eyes around the numbers on a clock.
	Rite 4, Step3

Step 4: Inhaling and exhaling, return to the starting position.
	Rite 4, Step4

Rite 5:

Step 1: Come into a down dog position. Bring your hands and feet shoulder width apart. Arch your lower back, pull back through the inner thighs and stretch all the long muscles in your body.
	Rite 5, Step1

Step 2: Inhaling, come into extended upward facing dog. Keep your hands and feet exactly where they are, squeeze your gluteal muscles and gaze straight ahead. Exhale, and return to downward facing dog.
	Rite 5, Step2

Is Your Exercise Program Actually Making You Healthier and Leaner?
by Sue Maes, sue@totalfitness.net

In the last few months I have had a client who truly exhibited the epitome of too much stress from over exertion.

I know that Catherine has always talked about this but what a great example this story is.

Jane (not her real name) had worked with me for over three years to overcome fibromyalgia and had been using kinesiology, fitness and nutrition to reach a better level of health.

Using the RJL Bio Impedance Machine, we were able to track her progress.

Using the RJL Bio Impedance Machine, we were Our machine calibrates health by measuring phase angle on a scale of 1 to 12. able to track her progress.

In December 2008 she was at 5.4.

Her lean muscle tissue was 68% and her body fat was 32%.

Although her overall health still needed improvement, she was moving along. At this time, she was invited to do a five week biking and hiking trek in another country. Although the trip was good, she was exhausted when she returned and so we again did the Bio Impedance test to mark how things had changed. We were shocked to learn that in two months of consistent exercise, she had made herself considerably more unhealthy.

Her phase angle had gone down to 5.1 but the real deterioration was in her body composition. While hiking and biking, her lean tissue had decreased to 51% and her body fat had increased to 49%.

To reverse this serious decline, we increased her protein to a very high level and had her only do weights and resistance training. We asked her to ditch the excessive cardio from her heavy bike riding (at least 50 Km a day or double) and hiking.

By getting very serious with a trainer and using the proper balance of protein from food sources along with a nutritionally sound protein drink after each workout, in one month time this was the results:

• Phase angle 5.5
• Lean muscle 70%
• Body Fat 30%

Using kinesiology and balanced nutrition and a personalized program, she is on her way back to better health.

Sometimes a health scare comes and we are not sure of the reason, but this was self induced. Truthfully, it was an exciting trip but at a great cost to her physical health.

There are many important lessons in this story.

1. The importance of working closely with someone who has expertise in fitness, nutrition and natural healing cannot be stressed enough.

   We at Total Fitness are committed to helping people heal on all levels, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Check us out and reach the optimum balance for yourself!

2. You may be making yourself fatter if you do excessive high intensity cardiovascular exercise, where your heart rate exceeds 90 beats per minute, especially if you have a damaged metabolism or you are not balancing your heavy exercise with enough protein or other nutrients and adequate rest. If you are not sure whether or not you have a damaged metabolism, set up an appointment with a Total Fitness practitioner to discuss what kind of exercise would actually make you healthier and leaner.
3. Weight training is essential for improving body composition, losing body fat and improving metabolic health. Most women think all they need to do to lose weight is to eat less and go for a walk. Although this particular client has had health challenges in the past, we have seen countless clients get fatter, lower their metabolic rate and become even more unhealthy by joining boot camps, participating in marathons and/or doing endless cardio. Work smarter, not necessarily harder.

The Top 10 Ways To Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Naturally
by Paula Owens, paula@totalfitness.net

1. MANAGE STRESS: Although stress is a normal part of the human experience, it is how we manage stress that determines our level of health or disease. Uncontrolled stress and anxiety may raise your blood pressure, cause a reduction of blood flow to your heart or raise LDL cholesterol. Most people in Stage 1 or 2 of adrenal fatigue typically have elevated blood pressure secondary to increased cortisol and adrenaline. Those with hypertension should always rule out heavy metal toxicity.
2. ELIMINATE ALL PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED OILS (TRANS FATS): Partially hydrogenated oils are found in thousands of processed foods (breakfast cereals, cookies, chips, fried foods, packaged foods). Trans fats are proven to cause heart disease. Restaurant food, especially from fast food chains, often serve food loaded with trans fats.
   
   Consequences of a diet high in trans fats include:
   • Increased inflammation
   • Decreased immune function
   • Lower testosterone
   • Arthritis
   • Cancer
   • Decrease IQ - learning disabilities. American IQ has dropped 20 points in the past 20 years
   • Diabetes
   • Elevated blood pressure
   • Free radical production
   • Heart Disease
   • Interferes with neurological & visual development of the fetus
   • Liver damage
   • Obesity
   • Osteoporosis
   • Type II diabetes
3. LOSE BODY FAT: Excess body fat stresses your joints and organs, including your heart. Decreasing body fat in a healthy, slow, steady manner will improve your health, lower your cholesterol and reduce blood pressure and your risk of diabetes.
4. CONSISTENT EXERCISE: This isn't breaking news. Exercise will help you reduce stress, decrease body fat, increase your metabolism and lower your risk of diabetes. Adequate, consistent exercise will lower your blood pressure AND increase the "good" HDL cholesterol and lower your triglycerides. Take a brisk 30 minute walk every day. There is evidence that resistance training results in a more favorable balance in myocardial oxygen supply and demand than aerobic exercise due to the lower heart rate and higher myocardial perfusion pressure. Moderate intensity strength training can control or prevent hypertension. Circulation 116: 572-584, 2007.
5. ELIMINATE HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP: This is the number one source of calories for most Americans and causes obesity. You'll find high fructose corn syrup in processed food, sodas, syrup that goes into your latte from Starbucks, etc. High fructose corn syrup is extremely toxic to your liver, increases inflammation and oxidative stress and creates an aggressive insulin response.
6. SUPPLEMENTS FOR HYPERTENSION: Omega-3 fish oils, magnesium, vitamin D, COQ10, Biotics VasculoSirt, Green Tea Extract, Hawthorne Extract, Digestive enzymes, Probiotics, Folic Acid, Ginger:
   • Ginger has blood pressure-lowering effects that can protect against the chronic brain injury caused by hypertension. Vascul Pharmacol , 2005 Oct;43(4):234-41
   • Cinnamon - The Journal of the American College of Nutrition (2006; 25(2):144-150) found that supplementing with cinnamon lowered blood pressure and insulin levels.
   • Supplementation with at least 5000 microg/d folic acid for at least 6 weeks may reduce systolic blood pressure slightly. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine , 2009; 8(1): 15-24

   The drugs that are typically prescribed for high blood pressure and high cholesterol cause many problems.

   • Diuretics cause potassium levels to drop increasing the risk of hypokalemia.? Diuretics cause potassium levels
   • Beta-blockers reduce heart rate and cardiac output potentially reducing exercise performance.
   • With calcium channel blockers, systolic and diastolic blood pressures are reduced during exercise which may result in light headedness and peripheral edema post-exercise.
   • Additional side effects from hypertension drugs include: dizziness, increased risk of breast cancer, memory loss, nausea, asthma-like symptoms, joint pain and impotence in men.

   SUPPLEMENTS FOR ELEVATED CHOLESTEROL: Omega-3 fish oils, tocotrienols, pantethine, vitamin D, Biotics VasculoSirt or GlucoBalance, LipidSirt, CoQ10, Green Tea Extract.

   According to a recent study, men with higher vitamin D levels had a 59% reduction in heart attacks. So if vitamin D's only benefit was to reduce coronary heart attack rates by 59%, the net savings (after deducting the cost of the vitamin D) of every American supplemented properly would be around $85 billion each year. Arch Intern Med . 2008 Jun 9; 168(11):1174-80

7. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE increase potassium rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes and fish. Most Americans consume only half the recommended daily intake of potassium and twice the suggested limit for sodium! Potassium can influence blood pressure levels by increasing sodium excretion from the body and stimulating the blood vessels to dilate, opening potassium channels.

   FOR ELEVATED CHOLESTEROL increase consumption of plant sterols, sometimes called phytosterols. Plant sterols are the healthy compounds that occur naturally in a variety of plant foods such as fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts. These foods are recognized for their proven role in lowering LDL "bad" cholesterol levels.

   FOR BOTH, ELEVATED CHOLESTEROL and HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE include beta-glucan for fiber, a natural occurring soluble fiber found in whole-grain, oat based cereals. Beta-glucan has LDL cholesterol lowering benefits and substantial decreases in blood pressure.

8. INCREASE CONSUMPTION OF SMART FATS and ORGANIC PROTEIN:
   FATS - avocado, wild fish, raw (unsalted) organic nuts and seeds, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil
   PROTEINS - Grass-fed beef and buffalo, cage-free poultry, wild salmon, fish, eggs, quality whey protein isolate or concentrate.
9. DECREASE ALCOHOL and CAFFEINE CONSUMPTION and INCREASE WATER INTAKE: Alcohol and caffeine cause adrenaline rushes that make blood pressure soar. Alcohol, sugar and processed, refined grains also lead to insulin resistance, hypertension and elevated cholesterol. Alcohol can affect your nerves and how your liver processes fat in the blood. Alcohol and caffeine disrupt blood glucose levels. Not only is alcohol hard on the body, just one drink can cause cellular death in several organs such as the brain.

   Take your bodyweight and multiply by .7 - this will give you the number of ounces of water you should be drinking daily. Add a pinch of Celtic sea salt and lemon to your water to improve your absorption of water at the cellular level.

10. ELIMINATE SUGAR, REFINED CARBOHYDRATES and ALL ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS: Phenylalanine, which is found in Nutrasweet and over the counter antihistamines, can aggravate high blood pressure.

Webstore Specials

Get 10 percent off Destressing Formula, Multiprobiotic and our Meditation CD by entering the code ten at checkout. Visit our webstore and key in the coupon code - ten.

Tell us about your favorite Total Fitness newsletter articles and we will send you a coupon. List your top 5 favorite articles from the past two years of newsletters, explain what you liked about them and how they have helped you with your health and fitness program, and we will send you a coupon for 10 percent off any one product of your choice.

Want another bonus? Send us a list of 5 topics you would like us to write about in upcoming editions of Total Fitness newsletter and we will send you a second coupon for 10 pecent off any other Total Fitness product. Drop an email to Catherine@totalfitness.net catherine@totalfitness.net to get your coupon today.

Upcoming Total Fitness Seminars and Talks

The Seven Steps to Lasting Self-Motivation
a workshop, presented by James Williams

Date: Saturday June 27th, 2009
Time: 9.30AM to 1PM
Location: Total Fitness, 1951 Northside Drive NW, Atlanta, GA, 30318

• Do you sabotage yourself despite your best efforts?
• Do you procrastinate when you really want to get something done?
• Do you want more out of your life or your body?

In this powerful, fun, life-enhancing new seminar you will:

• Discover why you procrastinate and sabotage yourself.
• Learn the seven small, quick things you can do each day to keep yourself on track for good, and sustain your motivation.

Let James Williams show you how to motivate yourself consistently so you can change your health, finances, weight, relationships, or career more easily. You'll experience each of the seven techniques during the workshop and will receive a course manual which you can continue to use at home.

Early Bird Prices: $75 per person, or book with a friend and pay just $55 each! To claim the Early Bird discount, please pay by 5/31/09.

Price after June 1st: $85 per person.

Call James Williams at (404) 475-5569 for more information and to book your place!

The Money Class
a workshop with Sue Maes

Date: Saturday and Sunday, July 11-12
Time: 9 to 5 p.m.
Location: Total Fitness, 1951 Northside Drive NW, Atlanta, GA, 30318

What you will learn:

• Basic kinesiology to identify and clear issues
• How to have a healthier relationship with money
• Identify and clear blocks to building and maintaining wealth
• How to get out of survival mode and develop true abundance in your life

Cost: $400

For more information, please contact Catherine@totalfitness.net

For more information on how to sign up please visit Sue's website or contact her at sue@totalfitness.net or call 519-471-1174.

Yoga and Qi Gong Classes in Atlanta

Yoga Classes: Every Tuesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Holy Spirit Catholic Church
4465 Northside Drive, Atlanta, GA.
$15 per class or $65 per calendar month.

Yoga classes are taking a break for the month of July and will resume August 12. All the proceeds from August yoga will benefit the Atlanta Pet Rescue.

Qi Gong Class: Every Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.
1951 Northside Drive, Atlanta, GA. $15 per class.

Booking appointments with Total Fitness

To schedule an appointment to find out about a personalized fitness, nutrition or healing program that will help you get results, please contact us:

In Atlanta

Catherine Carrigan catherine@totalfitness.net, Phone: 404-350-8581

James Williams james@totalfitness.net , Phone: 404-350-8581

In Los Angeles

Nina Lynn nina@totalfitness.net, Phone: 323-336-7677

In Phoenix

Paula Owen paula@totalfitness.net, Phone: 480-706-1158

In London, Ontario, Canada

Sue Maes sue@totalfitness.net, Phone: 519-471-1174

You can also visit us on the web at www.totalfitness.net