"MovNat = Move Natural / Movement in Nature / Movement for Nature MovNat® is a philosophy and practice that empowers Zoo humans to experience their true nature.
the Zoo… The “zoo” is a modern, global and growing phenomenon generated by the powerful combination of social conventions, technological environment and commercial pressures. Increasingly disconnected from the natural world and their true nature, zoo humans are suffering physically, mentally and spiritually. Are you experiencing chronic pains, are you overweight, do you often feel depressed or do you suffer from frequent illnesses and general lack of vitality? These symptoms indicate that you are experiencing the zoo human syndrome. Modern society conditions us to think that this is normal and unavoidable. We don’t think so. Our true nature is to be strong, healthy, happy and free. We have designed a complete education system that empowers zoo humans to experience their true nature. It is called MovNat." - Erwan Le CorreMovNat is by far the best training/all inclusive lifestyle method that I have ever seen. Absolutely LOVE it!! Watch for this movement to take over. No more gyms, no more expensive equipment, no more prepackaged diets. Live the way you were deigned to live as part of nature! Does this make perfect sense to anyone else? If you took a wild bear and put into captivity and feed it processed unnatural food, what would happen? No doubt, the bear will suffer health consequences. Why would we think that as human animals we can do the same thing and be okay? The concept of the modern "zoo" is an intriguing concept to think about, but it makes sense. We have created a fake environment that promotes sedentary lifestyles, pushes mass consumption of processed foods and consumer goods, manifests disease, wrecks havoc our amazing planet and encourages stressed lives of mediocrity. I do not accept that lifestyle as my own and encourage others to make small lifestyle changes to move away from the traditional way of thinking that is keeping our planet and our species in the health crisis that we face today. Could we be the first species to extinct ourselves? Not changing anything is putting ourselves on a Fast track to failure as a species. The answer is simple……incorporate where we came from, what is natural and the knowledge that we have today about the human body. A treadmill is not natural, nor is processed food. We did not survive millions of years to sit in front of a computer all day and worry about finances. There is more to life. There is more to a being human and the answer is right in front of us. Nature. Nature has written the laws that we must follow. If you feel depressed, deprived and stressed, my advice is to get outside, go explore nature feel what it is like to be a real human in your natural habitat. God created us to be FREE!!! Free yourself from the bondage of the environment that we have created. Peas&Love, Shanna Tokarsky ‘10 Resources: More about MovNat: http://movnat.com/
 The New Year is here! No surprise that the most popular new years resolution is to lose weight. According to a new survey commissioned by Weight Watchers and Harris Interactive(R) almost half (45%) of U.S. women say losing weight will be one of their New Year's resolutions for the upcoming year. Among those 45% who will resolve to lose weight in the New Year, almost all (97%) say they will need some assistance to keep their resolution. So what is your plan for 2010? Will this be another year with unfilled promises to yourself or will this be the year you rock your body into shape and become the healthy person you’ve always wanted to be. Why not this year? Here are three things that I have learned over the years about successful weight loss plans; 1) they have to be convenient and work with your personal style, 2) you must be accountable to a plan and to someone, a friend, a family member or a fitness professional and 3) you have to see and feel results to stay motivated. The great news is that you live in an excellent community that offers resolution-helping options for you and your family. Here are some ideas to stay in shape at Lake Carolina this year: • Utilize the trails and paths Beautifully landscaped sidewalks connect our neighborhoods, while miles of bicycle and nature trails amble through 200 acres of preserved Lake Carolina wildlife areas. Currently, over 30 miles of sidewalks, bike paths and walking trails interconnect Lake Carolina, its 34 neighborhoods and Town Center. Use them! 3-4 times a week for at least 20 minutes if you are walking. Get a group together and be accountable to each other. • Join the local outdoor boot camp Did you know there is a local outdoor boot camp in Lake Carolina? Boot camp classes meet daily in the morning and night. Find a class that fits your schedule. You will see results from boot camp classes and you are accountable to be there once you have paid. Plus the group dynamic and constantly changing workouts keeps your fitness plan fun and exciting! Click Here for more! • Play outside Lake Carolina has a handful of beautiful outdoor public parks for you to use. Get outside and play! Walk the dog. Start a game of family football. Get your neighbors involved too. • Get involved in the sporting events held at Lake Carolina – The big event every year is the Tri the Midlands Triathlon during the middle of June. There are also countless other races and sporting events that happen in Lake Carolina year round. You need some serious motivation sign up for a triathlon or marathon, knowing that everyday the race gets closer will get you out of bed in the morning! Check out The Lake Carolina Blog for a list of upcoming events. • Join the YMCA – Enjoy the 55,000 square foot, $10 million Jeep Rogers Family YMCA at Lake Carolina. Adjacent to Kelly Mill Middle School, the new 12-acre Y is simply stunning. They also offer various kids programs and adult fitness classes. It's important that you take into consideration your fitness style. Just because you pay for a membership to a gym does not mean that you will be getting fit. If you have never enjoyed going to the gym save yourself some money and try something else from the list. Visit www.columbiaymca.org for more about the Y. • Hire fitness professional – Make it easy for yourself hire a professional that knows what steps to take to get you to your specific goals. The good ones will keep you accountable because they know they have a vested interest in seeing you succeed. If you are not seeing the results that you are looking for its probably time for a new trainer. All trainers are not created equally! Find one that you like and that can give you what you are paying for…..RESULTS!! And you don't have to join a gym to take advantage of a personal trainer there are trainers that will come to your house, making it even more convient for you! Check it out! • Start a weight loss competition – get a group of neighbors, friends and family together and start your own weight loss competition. Host meetings occasionally to share successes and to keep each other motivated. You can also get fitness professional to help facilitate your competition. Here is a program that is already put together. • Shop at the Farmers Market – Fresh local produce brought to your backyard. Every Thursday from May until November Lake Carolina has farmers market in Town Center, making it easy and convenient to pick up fresh produce every week! Eating whole foods is a great way to stay on track. The closer the food is to coming straight from the Earth the better. Stay away from processed food as much as possible. Peas & Love, Shanna Tokarsky '10
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Women who want to lose weight and keep it off need to exercise for almost an hour, five days a week, according to a new study from the University of Pittsburgh.
Researchers found that a 55-minute regime was the minimum needed to maintain a 10 percent drop in weight.
During the four-year study, 200 overweight and obese women were told to eat between 1,200 and 1,500 calories a day, and do one of four different exercise programs, which varied in intensity and variety.
After six months, all of the women lost up to 10 percent of their body weight, but only a small percentage was able to maintain it. Those who did keep the weight off were those doing more exercise -- about 275 minutes a week, on average.
Research points to a combination of exercise and calorie control as having the best chance of success in weight loss. This latest research once again confirms that plenty of exercise is a key ingredient.
Sources:
Archives of Internal Medicine July 28, 2008;168(14):1550-1559
BBC News July 29, 2008
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
A new study in the journal Obesity gave some pretty dire statistics about the future of Americans’ health. By 2030, the report says, 86 percent of U.S. adults could be overweight.
What’s worse, by 2048 they say 100 percent of adults, and one-third of children, will be overweight!
So pinning down the best way to use exercise for weight loss is as urgent an agenda as any.
But is exercising for one hour, five days a week, really the ONLY way?
Exercising for Weight Loss: How Long?
While I completely understand that there are few absolutes, I tend to agree with this study’s researchers. This may sound excessive, but the truth is I simply have not seen consistent, positive results for losing weight with exercise levels below this.
Remember, this level of exercise is only required if you are overweight, as then you have accumulated an exercise debt that must be “repaid” to regain health. So not everyone needs this amount of exercise. In my experience, those who are overweight, have high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol or are diabetic do benefit from this high level of exercise until they are able to normalize their health challenges.
Does this mean that you must become a slave to the treadmill and sign up for 90-minute long jog sessions everyday?
Absolutely not. There’s more to exercise than just hopping on a treadmill.
How to Get the MOST Exercise Benefit in the LEAST Amount of Time
A nice long jog is a great workout. I’ve been doing this type of endurance cardio training for most of my life, and still use it as part of my fitness routine. The downside to hour-long (or more) cardio workouts, though, is that they’re long (which is especially challenging if you’re working out indoors, staring at a wall or a mirror for an hour).
If you aren’t careful with your exercise program and focus exclusively on long distance endurance training it can actually be counterproductive and decrease your longevity by accelerating oxidative stress. If you aren’t careful with protein replacement you can also lose muscle mass.
A great tool you can use is interval-type training, which is a type of exercise that combines short bursts of high-intensity activity with periods of rest.
In one study, those who cycled for 40 minutes, alternating four-minute bursts at 90 percent effort with two minutes of rest, improved their cardiovascular fitness by 13 percent, and were able to burn 36 more fat during a later hour-long moderate cycling session.
Even more revealing, researchers from the University of New South Wales found a way to burn more fat exercising for 20 minutes than for 40 minutes!
In their trial, women either exercised for 20 minutes, alternating 8 seconds of sprinting on a bike with 12 seconds of exercising lightly, or exercised at a regular pace for 40 minutes.
After exercising three times a week for 15 weeks, those who did the 20-minute, alternating routine lost three times as much fat as the other women.
“We think the reason that it works is because it produces a unique metabolic response,” said the team leader, associate professor Steve Boutcher, head of the Health and Exercise Science program, in the School of Medical Sciences at UNSW.
“Intermittent sprinting produces high levels of chemical compounds called catecholamines, which allow more fat to be burned from under the skin and within the exercising muscles. The resulting increase in fat oxidation drives the greater weight loss,” he continued.
The bottom line? If you only have a short time to exercise, doing it “interval style” can greatly increase your results.
More Exercise Essentials
Along with cardio (both endurance and interval) your exercise routine should include strength training (at least twice a week) and possibly something to promote flexibility and core muscles, such as yoga.
When you engage in cardio-type exercises, make sure you do it intensely enough so that it’s difficult to carry on a conversation. If you can’t talk at all, you need to tone it down, but if conversation is a breeze, you’re going too slowly to generate the aerobic benefits that exercise is capable of doing.
To help you keep track, you can print out this daily exercise table. I find that keeping this schedule someplace visible (on your refrigerator, bathroom mirror, or desktop at work) is an extremely motivating way to stick to your routine.
If you find you need even more help getting psyched up for exercise, give the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) a try. It can help you remove the blocks that are preventing you from successfully implementing your program.
Water! Simple glorious ice cold water. Drinking water is one of the best nutritional changes you can make for yourself and see immediate results. You probably have heard the 8 glasses or 64oz a day, that’s a little vague. I usually recommend a minimum of half your body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 140lbs the minimum amount of water you should be drinking is 70oz. That’s a minimum remember, if you are an athlete or exercise regularly you need to replace the water that you are losing through sweat on top of the recommended amount. Three to six ounces of water for every 20 minutes of exercise is a good rule of thumb, but each person's sweat rate is different. Just use your head, if you are running outside in 90 degree weather then you probably need more than 6oz every 20 minutes. Not drinking enough water causes dehydration. Symptoms include energy loss, headaches, dizziness, and irritability. Its estimated that 70% of Americans are regularly dehydrated. Regularly!! Stop taking pills and and drink some water people! Maybe you do drink water just make sure it’s enough. Thirst is not really a good indicator of hydration, usually by the time you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated. Though it’s a little gross, the color of your urine is a good indicator of how hydrated you are, it should be close to clear.
Okay now that you know how much to drink lets talk about why. First of all, the human body is made up of more than two-thirds water. Your body needs water to function. Just to hit the tip of the iceberg; water helps regulate body temperature, carries every nutrient, vitamin, protein and chemical messenger, is essential to the cleansing processes, and regulates metabolism. That’s right drinking water helps your body metabolize body fat. Awesome! And its practically free!
Please be smart about your water drinking! Avoid plastic water bottles for the sake of your planet and your body. Besides that fact that over 100 million in the US alone are ending up in landfills every day, plastic water bottles contain the toxic hormone-disrupting Chemical BPA. Instead of plastic water bottles opt for aluminum bottles, steel bottles or corn based biodegradable plastic bottles. Your body and planet will thank you!
-Shanna Tokarsky 2009
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