I recently joined up for Netflix (late to the party, I know!). One of the TV shows I was curious about was "This Is Us". I had seen some powerful commercials advertising the show and after passing the posters on the Toronto subway for weeks, I couldn't resist anymore. So I binge-watched two seasons of the show in about three [...]
If he can change his thoughts, he'll finally be able to stay lean. There was a time when I struggled with my weight. It's not that I was overweight, per se, but I was definitely carrying more fat than was ideal for me, especially as an athlete (I competed in Karate for 14 years). The main [...]
Don't feel guilty...it's OK to eat treats once in a while. There's a theme that comes up with nearly every client I've ever had over the course of my 17-year fitness coaching career. Many people like exercising, or at least don't mind it, and have developed a fondness for getting stronger with weight training over time. [...]
Want to have a better relationship with that donut? Many of us have a tenuous relationship with food. We only have to look at the state of our health (about 66% of North Americans are overweight or obese) to know that we aren't eating the way we should be. The struggle with food is real. Diets [...]
The Mind Muscle Connection Hi, I'm Ivana Chapman and today I'm going to talk to you about the mind muscle connection. So this is a term that's been around the body building community for quite a long time. It's basically talking about how if you're doing say a bicep curl, a concentration curl, you're really focusing [...]
You shouldn't be judged as lazy if you aren't yet successful with your physique goals. I admit it. I can be judgmental. Sometimes when I see someone who's wearing those scary earrings inside the ears (I think the technical term is ear gauging): I say to myself... "What were they thinking?!" Instead of: "Wow, what a [...]
You can accomplish many things at once...if you pick the right things. We're all busy, and we want to do as much as possible in the shortest possible time. There's a limit to what you can achieve at the same time, but we all want to get the most out of the precious little time we [...]
She's having that muffin and she's not going to feel guilty. I generally support the idea of "clean eating" in terms of keeping your food as close to actual food, as opposed to processed crap. Yes, I do believe that vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, poultry, nuts, and unprocessed oils like coconut oil and olive oil are [...]
I eat nutritious food, work out regularly, and enjoy the lifestyle that those things include. I'm active and passionate, and yes - I enjoy exercise. Are you a Freak? I've never been crazy about the term "Fitness Freak". Maybe it's because the word "freak" tends to have a negative connotation, but recently I've been giving [...]
Keeping moving in the right direction in life. I learned a very unhelpful habit from my mom many years ago and I've been trying to correct it in recent years. She has a habit of thinking about what "could have" been and stressing herself out about it. Most of the time it's related to money and [...]
