Almond Milk in my Vitamix

Oh how I love thee Vitamix blender. I have waited a long time for you. I finally broke down and bought one on a three installment plan courtesy of the sales representatives at IDEA fitness convention in Los Angeles in August. I have passed by the demonstration stations at Costco for years- longing and drooling. The deal I received was better than any I had previously known and so I went for it. I received my Vitamix about a week later, and I started to experiment.

As a personal trainer I speak to my clients about smoothies as a low calorie snack or meal replacement option, especially for breakfast. You can make a homemade healthy smoothie with a good balance of carbohydrates and protein for half the cost of stopping at your favorite smoothie bar. Blenders are not created equal, and most of the hassle of making your own concoctions comes with bad blending. Having the right blender creates happy smoothie making.

I wanted my Vitamix for additional reasons, not just smoothies. I wanted to make my own nut butters, and non-dairy milks like: rice, coconut, and almond. Making your own "milks" is much more reasonable that store bought products. I always find greater satisfaction making something from scratch as well. My blender came with three recipe books, but I went to Youtube to help me find a video on how to make Almond Milk.

Almond milk is recognized by the USDA as a significant source of non-dairy calcium, supplying 45 percent of our daily caloric requirement in one eight oz. glass. It is also an excellent source of vitamin E and is antioxidant rich. Almond milk contains no cholesterol or lactose and is low in calories especially if left unflavored.

Many people have lactose intolerance and milk allergies and look to other sources of calcium in their diets. Almond milk is a wonderful substitute for dairy or soy products and is especially useful when putting the body through a detox that rids they system of potential allergenic foods or food products.

I love the taste and creaminess of almond milk. The hardest part of this recipe is waiting overnight for the almonds to soak. Check out Jane from www.Blenditandmendit.com. She is very quirky, but I really enjoyed her uniqueness.

Yoga Flow in Snow Canyon State Park

This was the first yoga video I filmed with a voice over. It gives me quite a chuckle because of the raspy voice and Southern Utah drawl I seem to adopt from time to time. Mike Gardner with DMG films filmed this for us.

The scenery is amazing and that is what really makes this video. The full length version is 15 minutes, and it was intended for fitness on the go. Even though people don't like to admit it, everyone can incorporate 15-20 minute workouts into their busy schedules.

Yoga is unique because it doesn't take a lot of time to make significant changes in the way you feel both physically and emotionally. This video represents a flowing yoga sequence based on Hatha yoga. Hatha yoga is the practice of asana, or movement, that prepares the body for meditation. Hatha yoga also incorporates pranayam, breathing exercises, that assist in creating greater states of health and changing the emotions. Hatha literally means: sun and moon. The sun and moon represent polar opposites. Hatha yoga assists in bringing balance to the duality of life through masculine (sun) and feminine (moon) energies.

What is My Fitness Partner?

My Fitness Partner was created 5 years ago and started out as an idea for anytime, anywhere fitness. My partners and I spent a lot of time and money into developing an interactive website that allowed our clients to log in and track fitness goals, find fitness buddies, and create custom workout programs. We patented a video shuffle system full of 3 minute video clips using various fitness equipment and working specific muscle groups. The user could simply select how much time they had, what equipment they were using, and what type of a workout they wanted: upper body, lower body, core or total body. The system would then shuffle the videos into a unique combination every time for a custom workout.

Our idea was in alignment with Youtube exercise videos and sites like www.livestrong.com. Unfortunately we did not have the capitol or resources to keep up with technology and the ever expanding internet. We knew very little about internet marketing, and spent most of our money developing the website, filming videos, and creating our shuffle system. We were even bamboozled by a company that had us pay for old technology because we didn't know any different.

Major companies were designing websites and offering them to the public for free. We couldn't compete with that, but our goal was to only have about 2,000 active users that were looking for a more personal approach to fitness and coaching. We didn't want to sell out with supplements or sexy promises either.

All in all, it was a tremendous learning experience. Full of love, disappointments and regrets. My partners Jay and Tina still maintain a version of our original website and Jay is very actively pursing inspirational speaking engagements, coaching, and personal fitness for individuals and businesses.

What Does Fitness Have to Do With 9/11?

I work at a destination spa, and I have for more than 10 years. I happened to be working the morning of 9/11. I had two small children at the time and remember watching the news reports of the twin towers. I was watching when the second plane hit. I was a mess and didn't understand what was going on, everything seemed to be chaos. I had to report for work that morning and teach fitness classes. How could I act happy during a time like this?

In the fitness industry we are actors and actresses on stage giving clients a workout and a performance at the same time. I didn't think anyone was going to show up for class, the property was in pandemonium. Guests were just coming off their morning hikes and hearing the news for the first time. Many were from the East Coast, specifically New York and New Jersey. Calls were being made, and cries were heard across campus.

I couldn't teach; I didn't want to. I was crying; everyone was crying. People started showing up to class, begging me to teach. The pleas were to please take their minds off of what was happening. And so it was, amid the pain and terror we were all feeling, I had to become a cheerleader and give them a performance. I had to suppress what I was experiencing and compose myself enough to make them move and smile, to give them a few hours of solace before the magnitude of what was really happening to our country set in.

I have worked every 9/11 since 2001. I have watched the effects of that day span 10 years of fitness at a destination spa. In 2001 I taught 40 people a stretch class. Today my biggest class was 14. Our nation changed forever. Our economy has completely reversed as well. People stopped spending money on fitness- related services, stopped going on vacations, and many have lost their jobs. Our country has been at war for 10 years.

Tonight, I ended my meditation class with the mantra " I am peace, peace is in me." I heard someone on the radio today talking about the impossibility of peace; it made me sad. Through fitness the last 10 years, I found yoga and meditation. I didn't have the coping mechanism in 2001 that I have today or the hope for the future like I have today. On 9/11 10 years ago, fitness taught me that no matter the circumstance people wanted to move; the movement made them happy. The movement gave them a direction, a focus. Fitness helped to bring us all together that day and project happiness during a time that negativity abounded.