LINDSAYGEE.CA

Fitness programs, workouts and so much more to help you keep active, motivated and on track.

5 Days Of Health & Fitness Tips: Day ONE – Working Out

By

I get asked a lot what my top tips are for health and fitness and it’s really hard to come up with one or two, particularly because there are so many categories of health and fitness. Workouts, nutrition, hydration, self-care, sleep, routine, community, metabolism…and that’s just a few.

Over the next five days I’m going to give you my top tips for the following categories: working out, nutrition, hydration (drink your water, yo), self-care and a Follower’s Q&A.

Lindsay’s TOP TIP for Working Out:

Aside from ensuring you’re meeting the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology’s recommendation of 60 minutes of physical activity per day, my top tip for working out is: Exercise all systems.

What the heck does “exercise all systems mean”?

In the body, there are oodles of systems. For example, you not only have a cardio system and a muscular system, within THOSE systems you have little mini-systems. Squeee…I love this shit.

I’m going to keep this as simple as possible, so if you’re an expert in this field, move along – I’m going uber basic.

When you train cardio, there are numerous systems you need to train. Aerobic, anaerobic lactic and anaerobic alactic are some of them. You need to use different types of workouts to train a particular system.

Still with me?

For example, if you’re sweating through a low and slow workout, you’re training your aerobic system – good for everyday life and gives you a good baseline aerobic fitness which helps you get through the day with less fatigue. If you’re sweating through a 45-second interval workout, you’re training your anaerobic lactic system – good for boosting your metabolism and helping with weight loss.

Don’t even get me started on the numerous systems involved in strength training! YOW! Did I mention I LOVE this stuff?!

Mix it up, baby. Mix up your workouts and keep it spicy. Keep your body guessing. You don’t necessarily need to understand what each workout is designed to do (though at a baseline level it’d help, you don’t need to know the cellular physiology), but you do need to know the more you mix it up, the more systems you train.

The more systems you train, the more well-rounded of a fitness-goer you’re going to be. Ultimately, I know you want results and mixing it up and training multiple systems helps you achieve the results you desire.

Think about it. Have you ever gotten into a really good routine, say jogging, where you feel strong and healthy and fit? Then, your friend asks you to come to a spin class and you almost die? Yeah…it’s called cross-training and the entire purpose of cross-training is to mix it up. “Shock” your system, so to speak.

Don’t get complacent in your fitness. Keep changing things, adding things, trying new things. Keep mixing it up and keep your body on its toes…literally and figuratively.

Train run day…I died. #crosstrainingisouchy

Yeah…train all your systems, that’s absolutely my #1 Top Tip for working out.

If you’re unsure where to begin, talk to me! I’d love to book a call and chat with you about your goals. We can also work together and create a program to help you achieve those goals!

Tomorow’s top tip will be all about nutrition. So, stay tuned. If you have a question about health and fitness that you’d like me to answer, drop it in the comments below – maybe yours will be the question answered on Day Five.

Think Your Patience is Low with a Toddler? Wait For It…

By

I lost my shit on my kids the other day. Fully and completely lost my mind. I yelled, I snapped and I couldn’t catch my breath. My shoulders were near my ears, my heart was racing, I was shaking, raging..and I simply lost it.

Know what they did?

One couldn’t find a shoe and one left her purse on the stairs.

Yup, that’s it. Nothing major. Just everyday issues in our house. But that day, these everyday issues sent me over the edge of reason. Simply not locating a shoe and, once again, not doing something I’d asked THREE times that morning to have done resulted in me losing my ever-loving mind. Big time.

I put myself in a timeout and I made myself reflect on what the hell I’d just done.

What was my problem?

Why did I explode like that?

It’s a shoe, Lindsay. A shoe.

It’s a purse, Lindsay. A purse.

But no…it’s a shoe we have had to find every single morning of every single day for the last 10 years. And, it’s a purse that I’ve asked to be put away 879,747 times in the past 3 years. It’s the little things that creep up on you and force you over the edge of sanity and reason until you explode from frustration because…KIDS ARE FUCKING FRUSTRATING.

Why did I lose my patience so quickly?

I didn’t.

I lost my patience after 10 years of incredible patience.

Think about it. Think of how patient you have to be with a newborn who cannot communicate and who cries when he or she needs something.

Think about the patience it takes to teach someone to use the potty. Think about the patience it takes to teach a child to hold a spoon and eat.

Think about the patience needed to teach your child to talk, to tie a shoe (omg….nightmare…”through the rabbit hole…no….throooough…no…oh, good try…nope, through the hole…through it. Good try, but no, put that through it”.

Or teaching them to read. To sound. It. Out.

Me: “Th-en. Th-en. Th-en. Then. You got it buddy, that’s the word ‘then’. It was in the sentence you just read and we learned in just a minute ago. It’s the exact same word…see how it’s the same? T-H-E-N. Then.”

Sweet child: “Got it, Mom!. The cat tripped and th – th- th- th- th…hmmm, I don’t know that word Mommy.“

FOR THE LOVE!

As I thought about my lack of patience I realized the reason was simple. My patience was used up in the first ten years of my childs’ lives. I was so patient for 10 years and now that my kids are older, the expectation is that they can actually find a shoe and they can actually put a friggin’ purse away.

Mommy’s patience has dwindled. They used about 98.2% of my patience over the last 10 years, so the little things well, the little things aren’t little and my patience meter is loooooooow. Not because I’m not a patient person, but because I’ve had to be patient for 10 years and I’m about tapped.

I need to reserve patience for the big things that are coming. And maybe my depleted patience level will somehow fill up a bit so that I can tap into the patience vault when they’re teens. I’m 150% certain I’m going to need it then.

So, while I’m in this sweet spot where my kids are old enough to know better but not old enough to know everything, I’m giving myself a little grace when I lose my shit. Because I’m patience-tapped and my reserves have not been filled back up yet.

Mamas, if you find yourself losing your mind over the smallest of things, please know you’re not alone. Please know that they’re not actually small things, they’re big things because you’ve had to repeat yourself so many times about those small things. At some point, going lose your marbles over the most of requests or questions.

And you know what? It’s okay.

The lesson is simple. You’re human. You’re allowed to lose your patience. But, you also need to apologize and explain to your kids why you went full-on crazy snowman from Frozen.

It’s okay, Mamas. We breathe. We rage. Then, we apologize, laugh and move back onto being our amazing selves. Sometimes patient. Sometimes not. But, always, always filled with love.

5 Emotions I Felt When My Child was Diagnosed with a Mental Illness

By

The battle to get my son into the mental health system seems like it lasted years. Because…it lasted years. From trying to manage his panic attacks and anxiety with books, online strategies, Dr. Google, school counselors, psychologists and waitlists up the wazoo (yes, wazoo), we fought for over 4 years.

He fought for four years. And, there’s guilt there – but I’ll get to that.

I learned a ton. I still need to learn a ton. But, I’m constantly asked why I’m so public about the process and why I share as much as I do.

Why? Because…how else can we create change? How can we force people to pay attention to the mental health epidemic (yes, EPIDEMIC) that is waging war on our kids? How else can I force the difficult conversations that I know need to happen?

I’ve always been authentic and true and brutally honest in my writing, so why would I start sugar-coating something as important as childhood mental illness?

The day my child was diagnosed by a psychiatrist with panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety and depression will be forever engrained in my soul.

Here’s what I actually felt:

1. Relief. We’d been battling for so long and the relief was visible from my son when he heard his diagnosis. When he heard the words, he exhaled deeply and his little shoulders, that had held so much tension and stress for so long, relaxed just a little. His relief is my relief.

I was relieved not only for him, but because having a diagnosis gets him “in the system” and finally, finally, we were going to get the help and care he needs. Relief was a strong emotion, but not the strongest.

2. Sorrow/Anguish/Sadness. I group these words together because they relay the overall grief undertone of my reaction. I felt sad. Sad for my child. Sad for what he’s had to endure. Sad for the years he’s battled and won but that had caused his little body to shut down and let depression in. I began grieving the moments he didn’t have because anxiety held reign on his brain for so many years.

3. Dread. I was filled with dread. 100% dread. I wasn’t terrified for the medication the psychiatrist wanted to put him on. I was filled with dread for my son because I know the hard work real counseling involves. I know how draining it can be and I was so scared of the things that were to come for him. I wasn’t wrong to dread this. It’s been really hard. And, to be honest, being in the middle of it now, it hasn’t gotten better. I dread the sessions every week because I hate putting my son in a place so raw and scary for him.

And yes, I know they need to uncover and heal and dig in to the sensitive areas, but I can still dread it. I can dread walking into the room after his session and seeing his little face exhausted and sad. I’m allowed to dread that. You never, ever want to see your child suffer. And yes…I realize…short term pain, long term gain. I can still dread those moments. And I do. 100%.

4. Guilt. If I had pushed earlier. If I had not yelled at him on this day. If I had just a little more patience. If I had protected him a little better. If, if, if. Those if’s are going to get you. Hard. While I realize I’ve been a pretty okay Mom, there’s always the guilt of “maybe if I had _________, we wouldn’t be here”. For years my child battled. For years he suffered. And I wasn’t able to help him the way a Mom should help. Guilt. It’s a real bitch.

5. Anger. My son and I often talk about how much we hate anxiety and depression. We hate it. It takes control and we haven’t learned to tame it just yet. We hate it. So, when my kiddo was diagnosed, I was pissed at anxiety. I was pissed that these were the cards he was dealt because mental illness sucks and why, oh why, did my son have to get it?! Why him?

He’s a rockstar. Smart, kind, caring, sensitive. So I was pissed that this had to happen to him. That he had to battle the way he does. I was pissed because I knew the stigma associated to this and I was pissed because NO ONE was talking about it. NO. ONE.

So, what does one do when they’re pissed off and angry at a thing they have no control over? They create change. They ban together, with one another (mom and son), and go public. A decision made in the vehicle after diagnosis. A decision made because my child was relieved and overjoyed with being diagnosed.

My emotions were NOT his. I don’t think he truly knew the work he had to do to “get better” and I think that now, after some of that work has taken place, he may not be so thrilled with the diagnosis…but, I still believe his #1 emotion would be relief.

My #1 emotion? I couldn’t possibly say. All I knew was that I was going to have to be stronger than ever before…and I wasn’t at all wrong. If I thought panic attacks were hard…they aren’t anything compared to healing and working through the “stuff” my child needs to work through.

To all of you out there reading this and who have a child with mental illness, I guess I write this to say to you: embrace your emotions. Use them to fuel change. Use them to support, advocate and persevere through healing. Because this road is treacherous and you’re going to need any and all emotions to get you through.

They key? Any negative ones? You MUST turn them to fuel for change and you must somehow find the positive. You must. For yourself. For your child. For your family. They all need you.

We’ve funnelled our emotions into a campaign to raise funds for raising awareness for childhood mental illness. My son will help allocate the money raised and present it to organizations he believes are doing great work in the area of childhood mental illness. If you’ve yet to donate, please consider doing so. We’d be forever grateful. If you have donated already…THANK YOU!

Please continue to talk about this. It’s more important than you could possibly know.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CAMPAIGN to raise awareness for childhood mental illness. Thank you.

#PushingForAwareness UPDATE – And a Favor from Local Businesses, First Responders, Sports Teams and Families…

By

Our #PushingForAwareness challenge is going full-swing and currently, on Day 3 of the challenge, we have 48 people participating. We’ve raised over $2000 for organizations that help raise awareness and/or support childhood mental illness. With every pushup we do, my son seems to be just a little more proud of the work he’s doing.

We are far from our goal of $5000, but I am totally confident that we will get there. CLICK HERE to donate.

Owen and I after DAY ONE of 50 pushups for #PushingForAwareness

What do pushups have to do with childhood mental illness?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But, it’s the conversations that we have while we post about the pushups or the daily facts I discuss live on my Lindsay Gee FB Page that help raise awareness.

It’s my son doing pushups at his baseball game and being supported by not only his coach, but by multiple teammates and having them ask why they’re doing pushups.

It’s people reaching out to me telling me that it’s because of something they heard during the campaign that a lightbulb went off and they realized that maybe, just maybe, their child is experiencing anxiety and it isn’t just “bad behaviour”.

We’re making a difference. And, the conversations are starting.

So, there’s the update. 48 people participating and fundraising for #PushingForAwareness. $2090 raised. $5000 is the goal.

How can you help?

Well, if you’re a local business and you’d like to sponsor a day’s worth of pushups, THAT WOULD BE AWESOME! We will tag your business on FB and if you’d like, we’ll come to your business and do the pushups WITH YOU on a day that works for you.

So? Fire departments, RCMP, grocery stores, clothing stores, local spas and ANY local business who would like to sponsor a day for #PushingForAwarness…we’re game. We challenge you to 50 pushups. We’ll go live and support your business for helping us support kids and families battling childhood mental illness.

Please share this with any local (Victoria, BC and area) business, first responders, sports organizations or even families that you think could sponsor us and that you think would fun “pushing” with us. We’d love to learn more about you so people can learn more about childhood mental illness.

Please email me at lindsay@lindsaygee.ca more more info!

To all who have donated…thank you. Thank you so very, very much. We are humbled by your generosity. So far, the money raised will be allocated to Buddy Check for Jesse, Head & Heart SK, Stigma Free and Family Smart. The more money we raise, the more help we can give.

If you’ve yet to donate, there’s plenty of time! CLICK HERE to donate to our campaign…and thank you in advance!

xoxo

Linds

Have You Tried a Fasted Workout? Here’s Why & How You Should

By

Have you heard of fasted workouts? It’s okay if you haven’t, but it’s becoming a more well-known practice and is definitely a not-so-hidden secret for fitness trainers. So, here’s the scoop on doing a fasted workout.

What exactly is a fasted workout?

As with any conversation in the fitness industry, there is mixed information out there for you on what a fasted workout actually is. You’ll read a lot of articles that suggest at least 3 hours after any type of meal before you workout, but a true fasted workout would be a workout done after at least 6 hours without any food ingested.

Some suggest as much as 18 hours of fasting, but if you’re just starting, let’s start slowly, shall we?!

Personally, my fasted workouts range from 10-12 hours after my last meal. I don’t eat after 8pm (unless there’s’ wine, then all bets are off) typically and I workout around 7am every morning.

What are the benefits of fasted workouts?

Fat burning. A lot of people have heard to do fasted workouts because of its magical power of fat burning. And, they’re not wrong. Starting your workouts in a fasted state allows your body to start burning fat faster for energy. This is a trained result, so don’t expect immediate results (as with all things fitness).

A quick lesson on how your body gets energy: Your body breaks down sugar for energy. Insulin is released to drag sugar into the cells to be converted to energy (sugar can’t go directly into the cell, it neeeeeeds insulin). After about 6 hours of fasting, your body enters a fasting state and quickly burns off stored sugar and moves on to breaking down fat, converting it into ketone bodies to be used for fuel.

During a fasted workout, if done correctly, you start your workout already getting some of your energy from fat. You’re already in a fat-burning “zone” and can increase your fat burning with a workout in this fasted state.

Insulin levels decrease. Excess insulin in your body is not good for you, in fact, it results in fat gain and can lead to Type 2 Diabetes. How can you decrease your insulin levels? Fasting works. So does exercise. Pair them together and BOOM…you’re an insulin decreasing ninja!

Exercise performance. We walk around carrying a huge energy supply in the form of fat. However, our bodies first burn sugar for energy and once that sugar is depleted, it’ll move into burning fat for energy. By doing fasted workouts, you train your body to tap into fat burning faster. You’re really just training your body to tap a different energy supply sooner. So, you train your pathways to train your body. Fun!

I like to call this metabolic flexibility. When your body can bend and twist and find different ways to get energy faster, you’re metabolically flexible and you get to burn a lot more fat during your workouts.

Muscle and brain fountain of youth? Okay, I could start spouting off about a bunch of different hormones, brain-derived neurotropic factor and muscle regulatory factors but I think I may lose you. So, let’s just say by exercising while fasted you may lay down some new neurons and new muscle cells. Basically by doing this type of workout you’re keeping your brain, neuro-motors and muscle fibers young.

Do’s & Don’t of Fasting Workouts

If you’ve never fasted before, please try fasting before you combine fasting with a workout! You need to train your body to tap into your fat stores and that takes time. So, allow your body time to train and figure out how to tap that fat quickly!

Start slowly. Try doing a walk or hike or an easy workout while fasted before you try any type of interval workout. You need to see how you feel and again, you need to train your body and get used to working out in a fasted state.

Do not do a long duration fasted workout. If you’re planning on a long run or anything over 40 minutes, you’re going to want to fuel properly before your workout/event/race. Your body does need fuel for those longer duration workouts, so a fasted long run is a terrible idea.

Eat after your workout. This is particularly true if you’re doing a weight session. Your body needs protein to help build and repair the muscles you destroy and tear to shreds (you beast!) when you strength train, so you need to refuel with a healthy meal after your workout. So eat all the good stuff.

Listen to your body. This is probably my best piece of advice. If you feel faint or nauseous while doing a fasted workout…STOP! Today is not your day. You can try again another day, but go eat an apple, drink your water and let your body catch up.