The Sequoia Advisor

IN THIS ISSUE                                                        September 15^th 2013

• Feel Better With More "Me" Time
• Take The Stress Out of Losing Weight
• Upcoming Events... Workshop Series... There's No Place Like Home 
• Osteoporosis Support News... Yoga Nidra and Safe Senior Yoga
• Posture Perfect!^TM  October Beginner Class Starts in Herndon/Arlington
   

Feel Better... Live Better

Feel Better With More "Me" Time
By Woody McMahon

Don't Put "Me" Last
You hear it too often. I don't have time to take care of myself because I
am (you fill in the blank). Everybody and everything else seems to come
first instead of you taking some time to exercise, eat a nutritious
breakfast or spend a few moments in quiet reflection. The next thing you
know the old body is acting-up with back pain, headaches and aching knees
in response to neglect and you ask "why me?"

Giving From a Position of Strength
If you are going to give of your time to others, make sure you are coming
from a position of strength. Just like you wouldn't lend someone $50 if
you have to go hungry; consider yourself first before giving to others.
You say, "Oh that would make me selfish and a bad person." But in reality,
people will know when you are not taking good care of yourself. They will
watch what you eat, notice when you look tired and in need of a rest and
see if you give off good, positive energy. The last thing you want is to
give of your time to a good cause and have everybody thinking they should
really be helping you instead.

Try 3 Ways to Help Take Better Care of You

1. Create a "You" Calendar
Place a calendar on the wall or the refrigerator for everyone to see.
Mark in those times for your workouts, quiet time and other healthful
pursuits. Make it known that those times are for you. You are not to be
besieged with a "honey do" list. There are enough other available hours in
the day that you can be ready to do your collective part.

2. Make Time to Relax
Having activities that you find relaxing are a great way to take care of
you. Here are a few suggestions:

Massage is one of the best, natural ways to relieve pain, enhance
circulation, lower blood pressure, improve flexibility, reduce stress
levels and relax. Massage will help to restore your sanity and neutralize
a hectic and fast paced lifestyle. It's good to know there is still a
simple, practical and extremely effective way to improve your health in
this world of high tech solutions.

A Quiet Walk where you can take in the wonders of nature or feel the
warm, soothing rays of the sun is another terrific way to reduce stress
and improve "me" time. Take off the pedometer and forget about how many
calories you are burning and just feel the pure joy of moving your body.
It doesn't have to be fast or on any particular time schedule. Focus on
being aware of your surroundings as much as possible as you walk and
take-in lots of deep breaths.

Reading an Uplifting Book is a powerful way to change how you feel.
There are books on improving your bottom line, spirituality, relationships and
travel to name a few. Make sure the book you select has a strong positive
message that makes you feel good.

3. Include Health-Based Exercise
Health-based exercise programs have been shown to help you feel
better faster. Participating in a regular exercise program has much to offer
your health and quality of life. Health-based exercises are specially
targeted to help reduce pain, increase mobility and boost self-esteem.
If you are over age 50, it makes more sense to adopt a health-based
exercise program. If you don't know how to start, give me a call. I can
create a well balanced health-based fitness and conditioning program
especially tailored to your needs.

Try these suggestions for 30 days and you will be amazed at how good
you will start to feel.

Would you like to reduce stress and improve your bone health but
don't know where to start? I provide an easy to follow program called
Be Bone Strong! that helps improve your bone health, posture, balance
and strength while reducing fracture risk. Contact me anytime for a
no cost consultation at 703-628-2880 or email to
woody@sequoiahealth.com.

Take The Stress Out of Losing Weight
by Woody McMahon

Making Weight Loss Less Stressful
Whether you have 5 or 45 pounds to lose, healthy weight loss is always
the same three step process: eat less food, increase your activity levels
and strive to discover your need to overeat. The reasons for overeating
are as diverse as the people who need to lose weight. Once you discover
the reasons for your overeating habit (it is a habit), that knowledge will set
you free, releasing you from what I call "food slavery."

A Different Approach for Better Results
Many people have lost and gained the same ten pounds. There is nothing
new about that. But here is a story worth telling; one that makes Katie's
story particularly special. Katie's story is all about how she lost her weight
(60 pounds) "The Healthy Way." No short cuts, no fad diets or maniacal
Boot Camp exercise sessions. She just started exercising regularly, ate
more sensibly and worked on stopping her stress eating. To make it even
better, now a full 2 years from the date she started, Katie weighs a healthy
125 pounds.

Your Weight is the Tip of the Iceberg
Katie's weight loss success story has very little to do with the amount
of weight lost or the time involved in losing it. Katie's success was in
learning to change the way she thought and interacted with food. This
new understanding allowed her to finally learn how to leave her
weight loss struggle behind. If you want to lose weight and keep it
off for good, read Katie's story and consider adopting her approach.

Food is NOT a Stress Management Tool
Even though just about everybody uses it as one; food is a very poor
stress management tool. For a short period of time, food does make you
feel better but eventually it takes ever increasing amounts to get the
same feeling. Managing your stress and weight is more successfully
accomplished by adopting new healthy habits such as increasing exercise
activity, making better food choices and creating time to relax.
Fortunately Katie decided to avoid shortcuts and instead make healthy
lifestyle changes. She dropped the excess weight, improved her
relationship with food and empowered herself all at the same time.

A Strong Motivator Can Be Important
Katie's September wedding was a strong motivator. Even though her fiance'
Shawn was saying nothing about her physical appearance, Katie didn't want
to get married looking like she did. As she put it "My face kind of looked
like one of those South Park kids." It wasn't so much that Katie looked
bad but it was how she felt about herself that really mattered. Deep down
Katie realized that food had control of her life and not the other way
around. It was time to do something; stopping her struggle with food while
regaining her sanity and self-respect.

Solve Your Life Long Struggle
When Katie was younger she was troubled by an eating disorder. She was 20
pounds under weight at one point in her life. Her excess weight gain now
was just a rebound from all the years of restrictive eating habits and
anxiety surrounding food. Being out of college and in a less structured
environment gave her the time to indulge in food. The only problem was
that all the indulgences were starting to catch-up to her around the hips
and thighs.

Katie's Insights
This story is unique because Katie has been able to change her thinking
about food. Most people go through the motions of exercising more and
eating less through diets or some other approach. They never really
understand what their true motivation is to overeat. Katie came to realize
that her struggle with food was not new. She learned that there was both a
physical and emotional hunger for food. As a result, her food portions
were in the "way out of control" category. She could finish a meal and
then find herself heading to the refrigerator "for just a little snack" 30
minutes later. Was it really possible to be hungry in such a short period
of time right after a meal?

Learning to Control the Hunger
Once Katie realized there were two hunger centers working, controlling
food and losing weight was much easier. Her first hunger center,
controlled by the stomach was easy to understand. The second was a little
more difficult. Her brain was also getting into the act asking for food in
an attempt to help it feel better. Without other healthy habits to reduce
stress, food was the obvious but not the better choice.

Support Was Vitally Important
She also realized that it was valuable to have a personal trainer and lifestyle
coach. Someone who would help keep her accountable while helping create
a balanced and structured exercise program; improve her poor eating habits
and help her find ways to reduce her stress levels. It would be much easier
with professional guidance.

The Highlights of Katie's Program
Here is the actual plan I developed for Katie in March of 2010 and she
continues to follow today.

Katie's Daily Plan:
1. Keep a detailed food and life journal for review weekly
2. Develop consistent daily eating times: 3 meals and 2 snacks
3. Drink at least 64 oz of water each day
4. Eliminate soda and alcohol in the short term
5. Research/develop menus and recipes
6. 3 hours of exercise per week (2 hours of weights)
7. Participate in hobbies 30 minutes a day
8. Practice stress reduction activities daily
9. Weigh in once a week

This is the perfect time of year to try Katie's approach and make your
own success story.

Try these healthy lifestyle changes for 30 days. Feel what it is like to be
a part of the health solution rather than a health burden. If you need
additional suggestions and advice on living a healthier lifestyle, email or
call me for a no cost consultation, at 703-628-2880 or email to
woody@sequoiahealth.com.

Upcoming Events and News

Workshop Series... There's No Place Like Home
Your home is your castle and you want to stay there as long
as you can. One of the big life decisions is whether to stay
in your home or live in a retirement or assisted living community.

Recent research has shed some light on the darker side
of retirement home living. Everything from higher costs to the
loss of personal freedom and independence has been examined
in these recent reports. These reports say that living in a
retirement center is not as easy or glamorous as one might
think.

On November 7^th, Pat Williams of Graceful Care and I will
begin a four part workshop series entitled
There's No Place Like Home where we will discuss the many
benefit you receive by staying in the comfort of your own home. 

Watch this newsletter for times, dates and registration information
coming soon.

New Beginner Posture Perfect!^TM Class in Arlington
We have a new beginner Posture Perfect!^TM class starting in Arlington on
October 7^th at 11 am. You may take your first class for FREE giving you
an opportunity to try the class without risk. To register please contact
Woody McMahon at 703-628-2880 or email to woody@sequoiahealth.com.

The class address is:
The Rock Spring Congregational Church
5010 Little Falls Road
Arlington, Virginia 22207

Please wear comfortable clothes and bring a towel, a bottle of water
and an exercise mat if you have one.

Rock Spring Congregational Church currently offers a Yoga and Tai Chi
class at their church. Posture Perfect!^TM will be a nice addition to those
two offerings.

Posture Perfect!^TM for Spinomed Program
I have created a new companion back strengthening exercise program to
help anyone wearing the Spinomed orthosis. The classes include helpful tips
on getting the most from your Spinomed as well as exercise instruction that
helps strengthen your back, improves your posture and increases your balance.
Click Here to learn more about this exciting program.

Posture Perfect!^TM First Class FREE

Instead of holding a monthly Posture Perfect!^TM demo class, several
people have asked if thy can just come to one of the classes. For a 
limited time, you can try your first Posture Perfect!^TM class for FREE.

RESERVATIONS are REQUIRED
so please call Woody McMahon at 703.628.2880 or email to
woody@sequoiahealth.com for more information or to make
your reservation.

The FREE Posture Perfect!^TM class helps introduce you to the many
benefits of our safe and effective posture, balance and strength program
co-developed by Sara Meeks, PT and Woody McMahon, personal trainer.

Come and experience how each class can help strengthen your bones,
improve your balance, alleviate back aches and neck pains, improve
osteoporosis and teach you how to sit and stand-up straighter. 

The History of Posture Perfect!^TM
When I developed the Posture Perfect!^TM classes over 2 years ago, there
were no safe and effective exercise programs available for "over age 50" adults.
Everywhere I looked there were older adults in classes that used seated
exercises (bad for your back); machine style exercises (bad for your balance)
treadmills (a poor leg strengthener); and performed movements that
involved crunching, bending and twisting. (increases the risk of spinal
fractures).
  
Posture Perfect!^TM solved all of these problems by offering a safe and effective
approach helping older adults become more active. Each class improves your
posture, strengthens your bones, enhances your balance, alleviates back
aches and neck pains, reduces fracture risk and teaches you how to sit
and stand-up straighter. 
 
We have several people in our current classes who are coming to strengthen
their bones and over half of the others are interested in exercises and posture
changes to help make their backs and necks feel better.

Please call Woody McMahon at 703-628-2880 or email to
woody@sequoiahealth.com for more information, class times and reservations.

Posture Perfect!^TM Testimonials...
Posture Perfect's! momentum continues to grow. Here is a glowing testimonial
from one of our class members.

"Posture Perfect!^TM class has not only met my expectations, but exceeded
them! There are several reasons I enjoy the class. The small class size
gives each of us extraordinary personalized training; your knowledge,
expertise, patience, and sense of humor makes me look forward to
coming to a class I thought would be only for 6 weeks; and I have
learned so much more than I expected."

"For example, I now think about my posture every time I sit, and just when
I thought I'd begin to have a hard time rising from sitting on the floor, you
taught me how to make it easier. I try to practice some of the balance
exercises a couple of times a week (I know, I should do it more often!).
I thank you for all I have learned from you so far, and hope to continue
this class for the foreseeable future!"
P.S.

Click Here to read more about S.A.F.E. and effective Posture Perfect!^TM
classes.

Woody

Woody McMahon
The Sequoia Advisor

Sequoia Health and Fitness, Inc.
483A Carlisle Drive
Herndon, VA
20170

Required Disclaimer: The material provided herein should not be construed
as a health-care diagnosis, treatment regimen or any other prescribed
health-care advice or instruction. The material is provided with the
understanding that the publisher is not engaged in the practice of medicine
or any other health-care profession and does not enter into a health-care
practitioner/patient relationship with its readers. The publisher does not
advise or recommend to its readers treatment or action with regard to
matters relating to their health or well-being other than suggesting that
readers consult appropriate health-care professionals in such matters. No
action should be taken based solely on the content of this publication. The
material and opinions provided herein are believed to be accurate and sound
at the time of publication, based on the best judgment available to the
authors. However, readers who rely on material in this publication to
replace the advice of health-care professionals, or who fail to consult
with health-care professionals, assume all risks of such conduct. The
publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions.

Copyright (c) 2006-2013 by Sequoia Health and Fitness, Inc.

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