From Kevin Hensel, Owner Fit-4-Life, Cherry Hill Personal Training Studio
There are simple preventative measures you can take now to help you stay healthy in the future. As part of my commitment toward helping you achieve a better, healthier tomorrow, I’ll help you every step of the way with useful tips and product suggestions.
Five Tips to Retaining a Normal Blood Sugar Level
1) Achieve a healthy weight
In a properly functioning body, insulin, a hormone made by your pancreas, helps transport glucose into the cells of the body so it can be use for energy. However, in overweight individuals, cells of the body can become resistant to insulin’s action. One of the best ways to retain normal blood sugar levels is to achieve a healthy weight. Try the Cinch® Inch Loss Plan, an effective and clinically tested program powered by leucine, an amino acid that helps preserve your muscle while you lose body fat.
2) Eat foods with a low glycemic index
When you’re constantly on the run, it’s easy to forget about giving your body the proper nutrition it needs. You may find yourself reaching for a bag of cookies, which most likely have a high glycemic index (GI), meaning the carbohydrates in those cookies are quickly broken down to glucose and released into the bloodstream. This quick release can then lead to a sharp rise in blood sugar, followed by a sharp drop in blood sugar leaving you with feelings of low energy. Help retain normal blood sugar levels by eating foods that have a low GI. Cinch® Shakes and Meal-in-a-Bars are a great alternative because they taste great, fill you up and give your body the sustained energy it needs.
3) Enhance your health
So, your at a healthy weight and your blood sugar is where you want it to be. What else? How about the health of your heart, brain, digestive system, and other body parts? Keep the healthy momentum going and remember to take your vitamins and minerals on a daily basis. Shaklee Vitalizer™ is the perfect supplement for daily nutritional support. It’s 80 bio-optimized, clinically proven nutrients that enhance immunity, protect your DNA, and help manage your stress. It contains more than 20 antioxidant compounds and essential vitamins and minerals you need for a comprehensive approach to health, wellness, and vitality.*
4) Additional botanical support
Certain minerals and botanicals have been scientifically shown to help retain normal blood sugar levels. These include banaba leaf extract, which helps stimulate glucose uptake, and chromium, a mineral essential to insulin function. Shaklee Glucose Regulation Complex® contains these plus other normal blood sugar supporting ingredients including magnesium, vanadium, zinc, taurine, and alpha lipoic acid.*
5) Stay active
Last, but not least, stay active. Try to get in 30 minutes of regular physical activity, such as brisk walking, bicycling or swimming most days of the week. If your busy schedule won’t allow that, break your activity into sessions–10 minutes in the morning, 10 in the afternoon, and a short 10 minute walk in the evening. Being more active will not only make you feel good, it will enhance your body’s ability to use insulin and help you maintain a healthy weight.
Lessen Your Cravings and Maintain Your Energy Levels
Glucose Regulation Complex offers a diverse set of nutrients that provide natural support for efficient glucose metabolism. Alpha lipoic acid, for example, helps make your cells more responsive to insulin so they get the energy they need. Vanadium works with chromium, magnesium, and zinc to help balance your blood sugar, preventing energy ups and downs.*
With Glucose Regulation Complex, you’ll regulate your blood glucose more efficiently. You’ll have more energy and fewer food cravings. By retaining normal blood sugar levels, you’ll even be contributing to overall health.*
From: Kevin Hensel, Owner Fit-4-Life, Cherry Hill Personal Training Studio
THE CHALLENGE:
Low energy all too often leads to cravings for unhealthy, high-calorie snacks and drinks. So how can you boost your energy without adding a bunch of extra calories?
THE SOLUTION: Cinch Energy Tea Mix
CinchTM Energy Tea Mix gives you a quick energy boost anytime you need it and can help you feel more alert, too. The Shaklee proprietary triple tea blend, T-LiftTM , includes Matcha, a premium green tea used in Japanese tea ceremonies, rooibos red tea from South Africa, as well as white and green tea extracts. Cinch tea also delivers potent antioxidant compounds that
naturally occur in tea leaves. Whether you drink it hot or cold, it’s the natural way to boost energy.
- Matcha Green tea powder—a premiere green tea prepared to naturally retain all of
the nutrients found in tea leaves including fiber, minerals, and antioxidants.
- White tea extract—also known as baby green tea with a higher level of antioxidant
compounds compared to green tea.
- Rooibos red tea extract—unique to the Cedarburg region of South Africa and with
unique polyphenol antioxidant compounds
* A safe, natural, healthy, and effective alternative for boosting energy
Includes taurine, widely studied for enhanced alertness, energy, and endurance
* Perfect natural energy alternative to coffee, sodas, and sweet snacks
* Tastes great hot or cold (makes a great iced tea!)
* Convenient single-serving sticks
* Only 5 calories per serving
* Available in two flavors: unsweetened green and pomegranate = Pomegranate is my favorite
Exotic white, red, and Matcha green teas are delicately harvested and blended to create this extraordinary drink. Whether you drink it hot or cold, it’ll give you a natural energy lift and a feeling of well-being whenever that’s what your day calls for.
From: Kevin Hensel
In the midst of a mid-afternoon slump…
Dear Clients and Friends,
Feeling sluggish at work? Don’t reach for that sugary soda for a caffeine kick or even another coffee concoction…I’ve got a much better alternative to share with you this month.
First, why you most certainly shouldn’t reach for the sugary option. British researchers have concluded that people who downed a sugary drink containing 42 mg of sugar and 30 mg caffeine—the amount in a 12-ounce cola—showed slower reaction times and a greater number of lapses in attention for the next 70 minutes compared with those who sipped a sugar-free beverage. Although a sugar rush has been shown to boost cognitive performance, the effect is very short-lived, lasting only about 10-15 minutes.
According to CBS News, more than 50% of Americans drink coffee everyday. And they average about 3 cups! That’s A LOT of coffee. But what troubles me is that the trend is toward the REALLY rich coffee drinks (i.e. almost everything Starbucks and other coffee shops serve). The smallest café latte at Starbucks has…
200 Calories, 11 grams of fat—7 of them saturated—and
15 grams of sugar…before you add another thing to it!
And it’s not just the coffee shop coffee that can hit you with a bunch of empty calories and saturated fat…as soon as you start adding creamer or sugar to your drink, and then drink multiple cups, the fat and calories add up quickly. How about a lighter, healthier alternative for that energy boost?
MATCHA…the SUPERFOOD for Mucho Energy!
Matcha is a premiere green tea prepared to naturally retain all the nutrients found in tea leaves including fiber, minerals, and antioxidants. And matcha has consistently been rated by many leading nutritional sources as one of the superfoods (meaning it has tremendous nutritional value). Another superfood is pomegranate. And it just so happens that the cinch Energy Tea I now drink as a replacement to coffee has pomegranate in it too, as well as white tea extract (which has even higher levels of antioxidant compounds than matcha), and rooibos red tea extract, packing even more antioxidant compounds. And this tea is…
Liquid oomph!
You can drink it hot or cold (it comes in a granular form that dissolves right in your water - no tea bag to steep) for a quick energy boost that compares to coffee—without the precipitous ‘crash’ you get after the caffeine wears off. Besides being a great replacement for coffee if you need a pick-me-up midday or afternoon jolt, it’s also a great replacement because….
It tastes great…has only 5 calories per cup…and can be easily mixed into hot or cold water.
So next time you’re feeling a bit sluggish and need a pick-me-up, skip the soda machine and the coffee bar, and reach for matcha instead! And avoid the regular caffeine crash.
P.S. Inside this month’s issue we’re focusing on memory. Why do we forget things more often as we get older and, more importantly, what can we do about it? Still want to know more about how to live a healthy lifestyle at any age, email me at
kevinhensel@fitlifeinc.com.
One of the most exciting areas in longevity research has been the study of genetic regulators of aging. Recently, scientists identified in laboratory studies that resveratrol –a compound found in red wine—activates genetic regulators of cellular longevity pathways, which may have positive effects on DNA, cellular health, and metabolism.* Shaklee scientists took this very exciting research to the next level to create Vivix.
The Most Potent Resveratrol
Our scientists sourced the purest and most potent natural resveratrol. In fact, this extract’s resveratrol content is no less than 98%, and the amount of resveratrol found in Vivix is guided by the latest scientific studies and emerging research.
Super Polyphenols from the Super Grape
Our research also zeroed in on a remarkable super grape, known as Vitis rotundifolia. This is the only grape found in nature with an extra chromosome, which scientists believe greatly enhances it polyphenol profile and potential health benefits.* In collaboration with scientists from the University of Georgia, Shaklee scientists employed a bioassay-guided process, which resulted in a patent-pending super grape extract with ellagic acid, a polyphenol not found in ordinary grapes. Ellagic acid is thought to be responsible for many of the unique cellular anti-aging actions of the super grape in the Vivix formulation.*
VIVIXTM BENEFITS AT A GLANCE
FIGHTS CELLULAR AGING & MORE*
In Laboratory studies, Vivix ingredients:
*Help protect and repair cellular DNA
*Positively impact genetic regulators
*Promote mitochondrial biogenesis
*Slow AGE protein formation
*Supports heart health and cardiovascular function
*Supports brain health
*Supports immune function
*Supports joint health
*Promotes cellular longevity
*Supplies antioxidants; fights free radicals
*Increases cellular energy
THE SHAKLEE DIFFERENCE
3,000 Glasses of Red Wine
A 30-day supply of Vivix delivers the equivalent amount of resveratrol found in 3,000 glasses of red wine. One daily serving delivers the equivalent amount of resveratrol provided in 100 glasses of red wine.
10X More Powerful
In laboratory studies, Vivix ingredients have been shown to be 10 times more powerful than resveratrol alone at slowing the formation of AGE proteins.
Exclusive to Shaklee
The most complex product in Shaklee history, Vivix took years to develop—first to create and isolate a unique profile of polyphenols shown in laboratory studies to fight cellular aging, then to develop a patent-pending extraction process to harness the polyphenol profile of one of the key ingredients, and finally to secure the entire output from the largest and best growers in the world. These comprehensive product development steps make these cellular anti-aging benefits available exclusively to you.
All Natural, Patent Pending
Multiple patents have been filed to protect this innovation. No artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, or preservatives have been added.
Posted in Supplements at 10:18 pm by Administrator
THE CHALLENGE:
Often referred to as the “silent disease”, osteoporosis is a debilitating disease in which bones become fragile and are more likely to break. Often there no warning signs, no symptoms until a bone fracture occurs. And while osteoporosis is often thought of as a disease that affects the elderly, it can strike at any age.
In fact, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, each year in the U.S. this disease leads to 1.5 million fractures and osteoporosis affects more than 28 million Americans, 10 million who know they have the disease and another 18 million with low bone mass, placing them at increased risk.
Although this disease can affect both men and women, it tends to be more common in women. This is because women generally have less bone mass than men, tend to live longer, tend to get less dietary calcium and need the hormone estrogen to keep their bones strong. But, men please be aware that 25% of all cases of osteoporosis are in men, although the risk factors are a bit different.
In addition to being female, there are other important risk factors to be aware of, like small, thin body stature; family history of osteoporosis; early menopause; low calcium intake; lack of weight bearing exercise; smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. Chronic usage of steroid hormones is another big risk factor, for both men and women. Osteoporosis in males tends to be associated with excessive alcohol usage and the resultant liver disease as well as other chronic intestinal disorders.
So if any of these risk factors apply to you, you’re at risk for osteoporosis and building and maintaining strong bones should be an integral part of your lifelong health. Taking steps to keep your bones strong and healthy will also ensure your independence as you age. Some of the most important steps you can take now are to get plenty of calcium and other bone health nutrients, exercise regularly, don’t smoke and limit alcohol consumption.
Americans consume more dairy products and calcium than any other population in the world, yet we still have one of the highest rates of osteoporosis. Calcium doesn’t work alone to build and maintain strong bones. Think of calcium as the bricks in the bone-building process. Bricklayers know that a house is only as strong as the mortar that holds it together. And the nutritional mortar for building and maintaining strong bones includes vitamins D and K, magnesium, boron, zinc, copper and manganese.
THE DEFENSE:
OsteoMatrix is more than just calcium. It contains a nutritional matrix with a perfect blend of “brick-and-mortar”
nutrients to build a strong and healthy bone matrix:
- 1,000 mg (100% DV) of elemental calcium from nature’s most concentrated and easily absorbed sources
- 400 mg (100% DV) of magnesium to help incorporate calcium into bone and help strengthen bones
- 400 IU (100% DV) of vitamin D to stimulate calcium absorption
- Boron in a clinically supported amount to aid bone metabolism*
- Vitamin K to help bind minerals to form bone matrix
- Manganese, copper, and zinc — co-factors that activate enzymes that help build bone mass
OsteoMatrix also helps retain normal blood pressure and reduce symptoms of PMS.*
WHO MAY BENEFIT FROM OSTEOMATRIX?
- Anyone concerned about building strong bones and maintaining long-term bone health
- Anyone whose diet may be low in key bone-building nutrients, particularly women age 30 and older, teenagers, and the elderly
- Those who smoke, have high intakes of alcohol, or frequently drink soft drinks —lifestyle habits that can limit or interfere with the utilization of calcium
- Women who experience PMS symptoms*
- Those concerned about retaining normal blood pressure*
- Anyone who finds calcium supplements too chalky, too big, or hard to swallow
OsteoMatrix helps build bone density in the young and minimize bone loss as you age. It provides a unique matrix of critical nutrients including calcium, vitamins D & K, magnesium, and more to build and maintain strong bones.
Posted in Supplements at 10:00 pm by Administrator
You know that good, healthy feeling you get when you’ve just cleaned house? Sorry to spoil it, but you may have just made your home dirtier.
Think of it this way. You wouldn’t let your kids play with toxic chemicals, so why would you let your baby put the toy in it’s mouth that you just wiped off with bleach containing sodium hydroxide? That’s much more dangerous than the dust or germs that were just on it.
How dangerous? Just take a look at these statistics.
- Common chlorine bleach is the #1 household chemical involved in poisoning. The chemical known as hypochlorite in bleach causes more poisoning exposures than any other household cleaning substance.
- Organic pollutants, found in many common cleaners and even air fresheners, are found at levels 2 to 5 times higher inside your home than out.
- A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning soap scum off shower walls could inhale three times the “acute one-hour exposure limit” for glycol ether-containing products set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
- Common cleaners give off fumes that can potentially increase the risk of kids developing asthma, the most common chronic childhood disease.
- 1 in 13 school-aged children has asthma. Rates in children under five have increased more than 160% from 1980—1994.
- Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants. Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more water, eat more food, and breathe more air than adults. The implication of this is that children will have substantially heavier exposures than adults to any toxicants that are present in water, food, or air.
- If your home is anything like the average U.S. home, you generate more than 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year, and can accumulate as much as 100 pounds of household hazardous waste in your basement, garage, and
storage closet.
- 176,000 tons of household waste from cleaning products generated annually. Cleaning products make up about 11.5% of the 1.6 million tons of household waste annually.
As you know, I’m a BIG fan of the Shaklee products…and not just the incredible nutritional products like Shaklee Basics Multi-Vitamins/Minerals, Physique Workout Maximizer and Cinch Weight Loss, but also their household cleaning products. I believe in this company and the ethical, moral stand they take in the corporate jungle. There’s a reason Shaklee nutrition is used by many Olympic and professional athletes, NASA and others - and there’s a reason National Geographic and world renowned explorer Will Steger have teamed up with Shaklee to do a global warming impact study. The bottom line is you simply won’t find better products that work as promised, and a better, more socially conscious company to buy them from. My household is a Shaklee household through and through, and that’s why I enthusiastically endorse them to you, too! Shaklee (and I) stand behind all these products 100%. If you’re ever dissatisfied in any way, just tell me, and you’ll get ALL your money back, no questions asked. Happy Earth Day!
Now You Can Save $3,264.55 AND Help Save The Planet With The SAFE, POWERFUL (outperforms 12 national brands), GREEN and SMART Get Clean Starter Kit Including EVERYTHING You Need To Clean Your Home - Bathroom to Bedroom, Kitchen to Carpet, Dishes to Laundry - And It’s ALL Hypoallergenic, NON-TOXIC, With No
Hazardous Chemicals. You can also order these products individually by clicking here
What’s In Your Get Clean Starter Kit?
Everything but the kitchen sink! And with Get Clean you’ll be able to clean that with a wipe and a nice clear conscience.
Products Included In Your Kit:
- Basic H2 Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate
- Basic H2 Organic Super Cleaning Wipes
- Nature Bright Laundry Booster/Stain Remover
- Scour-Off Heavy Duty Paste
- Hand Wash Concentrate
- Dish Wash Concentrate
- Automatic Dishwasher Concentrate
- Fresh Laundry Liquid Concentrate
- Soft Fabric Concentrate
- Soft Fabric Dryer Sheets
- Hand Wash Decorator Dispenser
- Automatic Dishwasher Dispenser
- Nature Bright Dispenser
PLUS Everything You Need To Use The Products:
- Spray Bottles (2)
-Windows and Mirrors
-All-Purpose
- Basic H2 Dispenser Bottle
- Pump for H2 Bottle (2)
- Laundry Measuring Scoops (2)
- Dual Measuring Spoon
- Cleaning Accessories (4)
- Super Microfiber Cleaning Cloth
- Super Microfiber Window Cloth
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EVERYTHING You Need To Clean Your ENTIRE Home for MONTHS (powerfully, safely and with NO Toxic chemicals)…ALL for just $135.45. I use all Shaklee products and since Christina is a chef she makes a huge mess in the kitchen, all the products work awesome. They cut through all the grease Christina can muster. And because it’s so concentrate you barely use anything, it lasts forever.
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Use this recipe for a light dinner or quick lunch. It’s easy to make, tastes delicious and is low in fat. What’s more it’s full of natural protein. And guess what? Lentils are packed with cholesterol-lowering fiber. Yield: 8 servings
Here’s what you need…
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
- 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
- 1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes
- 2 quarts chicken broth, fat free, reduced sodium
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground toasted cumin
- Optional, spoonful of fat free cottage cheese
- Optional, dried parsley
Put the olive oil in a 6-quart Dutch oven and place over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and salt. Sauté for 6 to 7 minutes.
Add the lentils, tomatoes, broth, coriander and cumin; stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes.
Using a stick blender, puree the soup to your desired consistency. Serve with cottage cheese and sprinkle with dried parsley if desired.
Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 240 calories, 2g fat, 35g carbohydrate, 18g fiber, and 16g protein.
Kevin Hensel
Fit-4-Life
Cherry Hill Personal Training Studio
www.FitLifeInc.com
856-751-0033
I can’t figure out why, but people universally neglect to train their legs. It’s a funny thing, since proper leg training will dramatically deliver total body results.
Walk into any gym and you’ll see the bench press taken, the dumbbells being curled-and an empty squat rack in the corner.
Leg exercises are tough, I won’t deny that, but the benefits are more than worth the exertion.
A Case for Your Legs
Your legs are a major muscle group, so it’s no surprise that training them will get you big time results. Training your legs will…
1. Melt fat from your body. As I mentioned above, leg exercises are tough. Your legs are a large part of your body, so each exercise literally moves your whole body. This is precisely why a good leg workout will fire up your metabolism to melt fat away. You’ll burn more calories while exercising your legs than any other body part.
Due to the intense nature of a leg workout, your metabolism becomes elevated for more than 24 hours. That means that for an entire day your body continues to burn extra calories without any extra effort on your part. Who wouldn’t love that?
2. Build strength for everyday life. How often do you use your legs? Most of us depend on our legs constantly throughout the day-so wouldn’t it make sense to strengthen our individual mode of transportation? Kind of like putting a super charger on the engine of your car.
Exercising your legs isn’t only about increased strength; you’ll also improve your coordination and balance. This means that you’ll be able to do and experience things that you otherwise would have missed. You only live once, right?
3. Uncover natural muscle shape. Let’s be honest, toned legs are attractive. I’m not saying that you’re legs will bulge with muscles (unless we trained you for that), but I am saying that consistently training your legs will uncover your natural toned shape.
Many of my clients discover a whole new level of confidence after getting their legs back into shape. Women especially enjoy the freedom to wear shorts or a skirt without feeling embarrassed to show their legs. Wouldn’t you love that freedom?
Oh, and I should tell you that as you strengthen your legs you’ll also reduce the risk of injury to your lower back because you’ll actually learn to pick things up off the ground the right way.
Best Leg Exercises
Now that I’ve convinced you to pay more attention to your legs, here are three of the top exercises you should do. Each of these exercises have dozens of different variations, so have fun and always keep your workouts fresh and challenging.
The Lunge: Start with your feet together, take a large step forward and bend your knees down into a lunge position. Exhale as you press yourself back up to a standing position, or continue through with your step into another lunge.
The Squat: Start with your feet shoulder width apart, inhale as you bend your knees, keeping your back straight. Be sure to keep your knees from going past your toes. Exhale as you push back up to a standing position.
The Dead Lift: Grip the barbell with a mixed grip (one palm faces you, one doesn’t). Allow the barbell to hang down in front of you as you stand on the platform with your feet shoulder width apart. Lean forward at your waist, keeping your back flat, and bend your knees, bringing the bar down past them. Exhale as you straighten your legs and lift the bar up. When you are standing upright lean back slightly and squeeze the muscles of your lower back. Hold this contraction for a moment. Inhale and slowly return back down to the starting position.
By no stretch of the imagination are these three the ONLY leg exercises out available. And that’s the other great thing about training your legs… you have tons of options and variations.
Want to know more about leg exercises and which ones are the best for you? Are you finally ready to get into the best shape of your life? Let me help.
Reply to this email or fill out the form below we’ll schedule a consultation where you and I can assess your goals and I can show you the fastest and safest way to reach them.
Committed to your success,
Kevin Hensel
Fit-4-Life
Cherry Hill Personal Training Studio
Dr. Lynn Green, 50 years old, Cherry Hill, NJ, University Professor
It was just before my 40th birthday that a friend introduced me to Kevin Hensel and the Fit-4-Life crew; that was ten years ago. At that time, I had just torn a calf muscle but I showed up anyway, and the work began. To say that Kevin and his colleagues altered my universe would NOT be an overstatement.
My results were so great: increased energy, strength, reduced back pain, endurance, weight loss, body tone — that I continued my twice-a-week for years, through graduate school (could I have ever completed that dissertation without my stress-busting weekly sessions?) and into a new career.
Then, in 2003, my orthopaedic surgeon who had been caring for my scoliosis condition for ten years informed me at a regular check up that my back had curved another four degrees (putting the worst curve at 70 degrees), and that it would be in my best interest to have surgery to correct the condition.
The surgery was massive and would involve, for me, both abdominal and spinal incisions, a six month recovery (before returning to work) and at least a full year or two before returning to more normal activities.
I was devastated. However, my surgeon gave his consent to wait a year so that I could properly prepare for the procedure. During that year, Kevin Hensel whipped my butt into shape. I worked even more intensely than I had ever before. My last workout before the surgery was on a Friday; the operation took place that Monday.
It is beyond my ability to tell you what a difference my body condition made in the recovery period, even the FIRST day after surgery. On that day two, they made me stand up and take a few steps; I thought I was going to split in two, but I did not. Not only did I survive, but given the extreme physical limitations placed upon my torso due to the procedure, the superb strength in my arms and legs kept me one step ahead of the curve. With each successive post-op visit, my physician was quite impressed with my progress. At home, the strength in my extremities enable me to get in and out a chair more easily, climb steps, and do the very necessary walking for the best possible outcome. I was exuberant a year later when I returned to the real world.
Most unfortunately, within two years, I had a freakish fall — just stepping off of a curb! A couple of months after that, I was informed that the two rods had broken and I would need to have another surgery as the bone fusion was not complete.
I thought i was going to lose my mind, and I almost did. The second surgery took place at a very stressful period in my life; I had NOT been keeping up with my training visits and both work and family pressures were at an unusual high. I was NOT physically or emotionally prepared for teh procedure and everything, absolutely every aspect of the recovery, was more difficult.
However, we have a happy ending here thanks to my Fit-4-Life “gurus.” After 18 months of really struggling and believing I would never regain my strength, I returned to Kevin who graciously was willing to take me on as a client once again. That was a year ago. When I began, I could barely lift any weight whatsoever; a push up was impossible (even one), I had terrible balance, no flexibility, and I was easily exhausted. I was sad, depressed, and almost beaten down to the ground.
But I bounced back!
It is now twelve months later and I am cranking out side steps, balance challenges, about 10 pushups and so much more. I have so much more energy and flexibility! Cuts (the good kind!) have returned to my arms and my calves; I can work all around New York City for a day and NOT be in pain. It’s another shot at a normal life for me and I am eternally grateful to Kevin and his colleagues not only for sharing their professional expertise and knowledge, but for their incredible patience, coaching, encouragement, and support, week after week after week. I simply could not have navigated this second recovery without them.
No, I will not be playing tennis or rock climbing or a whole host of other activities. However, 18 months ago when my husband and I were on vacation, I did not even have the ability to go on a gentle snorkeling adventure; my legs were cramping and I felt afraid that my arms could not carry me if I needed to swim. I didn’t go through with it.
Last month, we were in St. Kitts for the first time and, as the photo here reveals, I did it! No one else on that tour boat understood the joy and outright sense of victory I had as I swam around with the fish. Len took this picture of me in the water; I even took off my flippers and climbed the ladder back onto the boat with NO assistance! What a rush.
My scoliosis condition is quite rare, and even fewer people will ever undergo surgery as I did, never mind twice. But the point here is this: no matter what your own personal challenges are to getting fit and living a healthier life, YOU CAN DO THIS. Getting back into gear means making personal sacrifices, tough choices, putting out some time and money, and cultivating perseverance and patience. I can only cheer each of you on and tell you it will be worth it; absolutely, no doubt about it! As I just celebrated my 50th birthday, I am in an entirely new and exciting stage of life, full of hope and in much better health. You’re worth it; you can do it!
PS
One very important note: if you are considering Fit 4 Life as your fitness advisors, please note: they are not all about the glitz and the glam! I avoided other gyms for years because they just did not suit my needs or fit my personality. Fit 4 Life is about helping each and every person find his/her appropriate level of fitness. Losing weight, if you want to or need to, is to me, a positive side effect of working on your physical health. The staff members are down to earth, super supportive, understanding, and encouraging. To me, beyond the technical expertise of these trainers is the truly, truly friendly and come-as-you-are attitude they exude. They will help you get to the best possible place and guide you every step of the way.
You could be our next success story fill out the webform below for your FREE Workout Testdrive
Fit-4-Life, Inc.
Cherry Hill Personal Training Studio
856-751-0033
www.FitLifeInc.com
Kevin Hensel