Category: Podcast (Page 18 of 21)

Running and Staying Healthy with Wendy Rivard

April 9, 2019 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

In episode 31, Jill and Chris talked with Wendy Rivard about her fitness journey.

Wendy has been a runner for most of her adult life. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner for a large medical practice in Chicago. Besides running, she does a lot of yoga, strength trains at a Cross Fit box, enjoys boot camps, water skiing, stand up paddle boarding, and kayaking.

She started running to help deal with anxiety in her 20’s, and continued running to help with other life challenges: infertility in her 30’s, stress of grad school in her 40’s, and now in her “old age”, she continues to run to help her stay healthy.

In 2014, she achieved a personal record of 4 hours 17 minutes at the Chicago Marathon at age 52 using a low mileage training plan with lots of cross training. Her bucket list marathon was Big Sur which she completed in 2016.

Her most recent half marathon was in Mobile Alabama in January, home of the original mardi gras. She met up with several bloggers and ran through the beautiful neighborhoods with the live oak with moss hanging down over the streets. The finish line featured women wearing the southern belle dresses with hoop skirts greeting the runners with their finishers’ medals. Red beans and rice was served with a dixieland jazz band party after the race.

She writes about her journey at the Taking the Long Way Home and has made many running friends online and in person through the blog.

We discussed:

Her cross training as well as events like the indoor relay, Ragnar, half marathons and marathons.
The benefits of the therapeutic massage and how it differs from a regular massage. Other recommendations for recovery.
Loves the Ink n Burn clothing because of the wild colors and the pockets. She was a brand ambassador. https://www.inknburn.com/ladies/
Her diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis two years ago and how she is learning to live with it and refuses to let this disease defeat her.

“It’s not the running that hurts the joints, it’s the arthritis.” She has cut back on some running but has added more strength training to support the muscles around the joints.

How to contact Wendy Rivard:
Find her at www.takinglongwayhome.com
Instagram

Also mentioned in the podcast:

Marcia from Marcia’s Healthy Slice
Holly from Ho Ho Runs
Deana Kastor: Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory
Kathrine Switzer: Marathon Woman
Jill ran the Hop for Hope 5K
Veggie Challenge: Beets and watercress

Improving Fitness Through Spinning with Sherry Chlysta

March 26, 2019 / Jill McCauslin / 2 Comments

Fit Strong Women Over 50 Podcast Episode #30

In episode 30 of the Fit Strong Women over 50 podcast for the Becoming Elli community, Chris and Jill discuss improving fitness through spinning with Sherry Chylsta. They talk about the basics of spinning, working your muscles, and share advice about working out.

Sherry is a Star 3 lifetime-certified spinning instructor who enjoys making classes challenging and fun for all at a gym in Hudson, Ohio. She has been a certified instructor for about ten years. Sherry loves athletics and while she misses road races, she knows a no-impact workout like spinning is something she can enjoy for a lifetime.

On a professional side, Sherry is the Director of Studies at Western Reserve Academy, a co-educational boarding and day school in Hudson, Oh. She teaches college level calculus and is the school’s head volleyball coach. During her tenure at WRA, she has coached track, girls’ basketball, and a winter conditioning and weight training program. She lives on campus with her husband and three children.

Improving Fitness Through Spinning

Chris has taken many spinning classes from Sherry and loves her ability to motivate. Sherry encourages everyone to try something new at the gym — especially different classes. She advises new members to overcome the feeling of intimidation by those who are already in shape. She suggests you remember that everyone had a first workout, and they didn’t look any better starting out than you do now.

In today’s episode, Sherry provides some advice for the gym in general and spinning in particular. She advises us to introduce ourselves to the instructor before class, who will help modify a workout if necessary. For a spinning class, Sherry says the instructor will also help get the bike adjusted for you before you begin. That’s something that many of us struggle with when we’re first starting out.

Spinning Tips and Techniques

Sherry explains some of the principles of spinning and how to use what she calls periodicity in work outs and in training. She also describes the three positions of indoor cycling and the advantages of each. Sherry shares some of the mistakes that some riders make that can cause injury and how to know when you have too much or too little resistance set on your bike. The group also discusses how to get faster for riding outside and how to use your heart rate to determine your recovery, even if you don’t wear a heart monitor.

Ever wonder about fast and slow twitch muscle fibers? Chris asked Sherry who explains the benefits of training both fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers and tells us what they are.

Having Fun

The point of spinning is that we all want to be there to have fun. If the instructor can make hard work fun, then you will continue to attend class. Sherry tells how she uses music, little mind games and light humor to making classes challenging and fun. These are some of the ways she helps with improving fitness through spinning. Sherry’s love of spinning is reflected in her words, “I get to teach spinning.”

Some of Sherry’s favorite sayings for spinning class are “No one wants to go spinning, but everyone wants to have been spinning” and “You can do anything for one minute.”

As an added bonus, Sherry was kind enough to share her favorite potato and kale soup recipe.

If you have any questions for Sherry, you can send them to Chris@becomingelli.com or Jill@becomingelli.com and they will forward the questions to Sherry.

Hormone Health for Women Over 50 with Jeannie Beaudin

March 12, 2019 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

Fit Strong Women Over 50 Podcast Episode #29

In Episode #29 of Fit Strong Women Over 50, Jill and Chris interview Jeannie Beaudin, a recently retired pharmacist who specialized in balancing women’s hormones for over 10 years, while she owned her own pharmacy.

Her clients appreciated her broad knowledge of non-drug, natural and standard treatment options.

As a compounding pharmacist specializing in balancing women’s hormones, Jeannie would take time to thoroughly review the hormone-related symptoms, explain available choices and discuss the woman’s preferences for treatment.

In today’s podcast, Jeannie explains how she became known as “The Hormone Lady”. The podcast explains how women can work together with a compounding pharmacist and the doctor to improve hormone health. Four levels of treatment are outlined.

She describes how she and her husband eat following a health scare 14 years ago. “No white flour and I make my own bread.” She mentioned Michael Pollan’s rules for eating: “Eat real food. Mostly plants. Not too much.”

Also in this episode:
Chris and Jill talk about their winter training and look to the spring.

Veggie Challenge – how did you prepare your vegetable of the week?

Using Triathlons to Overcome Adversity: Diana Woolf

February 26, 2019 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

Fit Strong Women Over 50 Podcast Episode #28

In episode 28 of the Fit Strong Women Over 50 Podcast, Jill and Chris talk with Diana Woolf about how she overcame her PTSD resulting from years in the fire service and how that motivated her to try to help others battling PTSD.

In 2009, Diana Woolf began competing in off-road trail races and triathlons to deal with her own PTSD symptoms and found great healing in the sport. Since then, she has competed in over 50 triathlons, including 7 half-distance and 3 full-distance Ironman triathlons, consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile marathon.

Diana has been a part of the fire service for 20 years serving on volunteer, part-time and career departments. Diana retired from her fire service career in December, 2018. She now works in Environmental Health and Safety at the University of Akron.

Using Triathlons to Overcome Adversity

In order to raise awareness for others in the fire service who are battling PTSD, Diana has completed some of the full-distance Ironman triathlons while wearing full fire-fighting gear for the marathon-length run. She created Rescue 4 PTSD to help raise funds for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and to encourage others in the fire service to discuss their emotions with someone. Diana wants to help remove any stigma of dealing with PTSD and to support resources for others in the fire service.

In this episode, Diana talks with Jill and Chris about how she heals trauma through hard physical effort. She also discusses her training to be able to compete while wearing firefighting gear and how she cross trains. Diana does CrossFit in the off season and practices yoga on a regular basis. She attributes her lack of injury to yoga. Diana also tells us how she eats and how she fuels herself during a race.

Diana’s journey is an inspirational one. It’s amazing to hear what she has done to challenge herself.

Links:

Contact Diana Woolf: Rescue 4 PTSD

Rescue 4 PTSD Website

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation

Diana’s Ironman Boulder Video

You might want to check out an earlier episode of this podcast for a discussion with another triathlete, Loretta Harland. Episode 18 of Strong Fit Women Over 50, Interview with Loretta Harland

How to Crave Healthy Foods & Stop Dieting – Melanie Jatsek

February 12, 2019 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

Fit Strong Women Over 50 Podcast Episode #27

In Podcast # 27, Jill McCauslin and Chris Brown interview Melanie Jatsek, a registered dietitian nutritionist who broke free from the dieting trap.

Melanie holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Dietetics from the University of Akron and is the author of three books, including Missing Peace – Eleven Secrets to Restore Inner Harmony with Your Food, Body, and Health. She also created the Healthy YOU program. Melanie is passionate about helping people transform their relationship with food.

During this podcast we discuss:

How she was able to break free from dieting after years to stop struggling with food.
Why many women struggle with diets and their relationship to food
Dealing with emotional eating and how she overcame three years of struggling with a binge eating disorder
How the food pyramid guidelines (with grains on the bottom and fat on the top) did a disservice to women over 50 with misinformation. “We know better now.”
Why counting calories is not the way to go
Why she switched from her 20 year vegetarian-based diet to more of a Mediterranean-based diet

Melanie reveals some secrets for helping your body to crave healthy foods like:

• “Your body gets full off of nutrients, not calories.”
• “The body craves what you’re feeding it the most.”
• “The bacteria in your gut is what is craving food.” Bad bacteria crave sweets and highly processed foods. Good bacteria crave whole foods.
• “Low Fat and Fat Free – when we restrict fat we are always hungry.”
• “Good dietary fat actually helps you to burn fat.”

During this podcast you will learn why she roasts her veggies with avocado oil instead of olive oil, how she trained her body to crave raw vegetables, and how she avoids hidden sugars in food like peanut butter and chocolate.

She helps people develop a healthy relationship with food and talks about:

• The balance of good-for-you foods with a sprinkle of fun foods (ie. chocolate.)
• The outdated guidelines of 12 servings of grains and pasta a day.
• The effect of heavy servings of carbohydrates makes on your body (easier to produce insulin, gain weight and store fat.)

Melanie feels that no food is forbidden and believes that you will crave what you feed your body.

To connect with Melanie, visit her website: www.melaniejatsek.com or her Facebook Page: Healthy You.

Group Exercise Instructor Diane Reuther

January 22, 2019 / Jill McCauslin / 1 Comment

Group Exercise Instructor Diane Reuther talks with Jill McCauslin and Chris Brown about being fit as a woman over 50 in episode 26 of the Fit, Strong Women Over 50 podcast.

Diane is a group exercise instructor and has been one since 1986. She’s seen a lot of changes in the fitness industry and how instructors are trained and credentialed. Today, Diane teaches:

Pilates (certified through SCW Fitness Education)
Silver Sneaker (certified https://www.silversneakers.com/)
Step class

We discuss why some of us like step class and why others don’t. Diane explains that step a visual class, walk through the steps repeating the motions so that the class feels like a dance class.

Some of the questions that we ask Diane is how she defines fit and if we had only 15 minutes in a day to work out, what should we do. Diane says anything we do for fitness should be fun and safe. Also, she reminds us that the pool is our friend.

Hiking

Diane is an avid hiker. She and her husband hike a lot of trails close to home and Diane tells us about the wonderful sounding hiking vacation the two of them took. Chris said it sounded a lot like Janet Palcko’s hike on the Camino de Santiago. Jill is wondering if she should train for a hiking vacation.

Recovery

Last summer Diane had a hysterectomy and discussed her recovery with us. Before the surgery, she was very active and in good physical shape, but she followed her doctor’s advice and took baby steps to recover. She had laparoscopy with four small incisions of thumbnail size. Her recovery was limited to what she could do without pain. Diane started walking two days after surgery. At first, she walked the length of her driveway because she was anxious to get moving outside. So, at first, she walked five minutes. The next day she walked for seven minutes and the next day nine minutes. She made sure her husband accompanied her on these walks.

Disclaimer: Neither Diane nor us at Becoming Elli are doctors or physical therapists. We are not providing you with any kind of medical advice.

Our discussion with Diane was informative and enjoyable. She has some good advice for women over 50 who are trying to improve their fitness and health.

Jill and Chris also talk a bit about healthy eating and finding new vegetables to try.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode by calling our voice mail at 330-970-6662 or leaving a message at the Becoming Elli website.

Setting Goals for the New Year 2019 fit strong women over 50 podcast

Setting Goals for the New Year Podcast

January 8, 2019 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

In podcast episode #25, Jill McCauslin and Chris Brown discuss their intentions for 2019 for exercise, healthy eating and mental focus.

During episode 25 of the Fit, Strong Women Over 50 Podcast they discuss setting goals:

Heart Rate Training Techniques: MAF Technique Go slow to gain speed and heart rate zone charts. Fitbit, Polar, Wahoo wearable trackers.
Signing up for races:
Strength training and group exercise – Consistency over Intensity.
Challenge yourself with increasing distance or increasing frequency.
Vegetables -V8 or V9, avoiding prepared foods, food prep, inflammatory foods, eating without TV, computer, phone or other distractions
My Fitness Pal tracking
Spark People
Restorative Yoga
Meditation
Sleep

Let us know your challenges and goals for 2019 by calling our voice mail at 330-970-6662 or leave a message at the Becoming Elli website.

Challenges

Reflections on 2018: Year-End Wrap-Up Podcast

December 24, 2018 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

Episode #24 of Fit Strong Women Over 50 Podcast for the Becoming Elli Community

In podcast episode #24, Jill and Chris reflect on 2018. They talk with amazing women from episode 7 Diane Berkley and episode 8 Juel Fitzgerald to find out how their 2018 went and to talk about plans and goals for 2019.

Diane Berkley talked about:

Thyroid issues and how that affected her workout
How she got her running speed back
Participating in the Ultimate Fitness Challenge at her gym with thrusters, the assault bike and push-ups
How her trainer Mike helps her measure her fitness levels
Which measurements she tracks
Different types of dead lifts
What cardio she is does at the gym along with her two days a week strength training
How she maintains her eating plan
Possible new challenges for 2019: swimming and her first time race

We talked with Juel Fitzgerald about her reflections on 2018 and plans for 2019:

How she encouraged 7 other women to accompany her to Las Vegas to walk the Rock N Roll half marathon
How she plans to do the St Jude Seattle Rock n Roll half marathon to add bling to her Rock n Roll Race Series collection.
Her work with GirlTrek and the difference it is making in women’s health
Differences between the Garmin and the FitBit
Seeing Chris and Jill on Abbey Road during the Cleveland Marathon. Did Juel do the half, the 8K, or the 10K this year? She couldn’t remember, but she did the HALF and the 8K in 2018.
Her challenge in 2019: She wants to find women who want to train and walk a 26.2 mile marathon. She will help coach them through it with her! Are you up for it?

Links mentioned during Diane’s and Juel’s interview:

Fishcreek Raccoon Run a 5K fundraiser for an elementary school in Stow Ohio,
Hop for Hope in April, a 5K fundraiser for fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma and/or leukemia in NE Ohio.
Active.com to find 5K races near you
and where to find Upcoming Races by City and State
Volunteering to hand out medals at the Niagra Falls Women’s Half Marathon & 5K where runners and walkers travel past Niagra Falls TWICE! (get your passports ready!)
#girltrek GirlTrek the most inspiring Health movement in the country for Black Women.

Jill and Chris reviewed their 2018 year. We are particularly proud of our completing 24 podcasts and the ongoing growth of the Becoming Elli community. Thank you to everyone who listens to our podcast, reads our articles, belongs to our facebook group and supports our community!

We also talked about our races, the ultimate fitness challenge, and the MS150 Buckey Breakaway bike ride. We discussed Jill winning the age group award for the Firecracker5K race. She had completely forgot and still wasn’t sure until Chris texted her this photo as a reminder.

(Side note from Chris: With Juel forgetting if she did the Half or the 8K at the Cleveland marathon (she did both) and Jill forgetting that she won her age category for the Firecracker Run, I think it is safe to say that most of the races we are doing are not about winning, losing, placing! it really doesn’t matter! What matters is getting out there, being with like minded women and simply just participating – that’s the key to having fun at a race! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!)

Eat Well to Live Well – Heather Lentz

December 11, 2018 / Chris Brown / 3 Comments

Fit Strong Women Over 50 Podcast Episode 23

Jill McCauslin and Chris Brown talk with Heather Lentz about her opinions about food, diets, her roles as a health coach and director of wellness at at a well-respected green grocery chain and about her KOI Gourmet Skincare. She is a certified holistic health practitioner, food wellness advisor and good food advocate.

In episode 23, Heather discusses:

Food is medicine: Selling food-based supplements, super foods, and proteins, is the pharmacy of the future.
Veganism is great if you thrive on it. Not everybody does. Paleo/Keto works well for some. People should eat in the way that’s right for them, but there’s no one way of eating for everyone.
Obsessing too much on how to eat gets us into trouble. We think way too much about food. We give food way too much power.
A lot of it starts with body image. We think we have to look a certain way.
Our society is in a nasty cycle because we eat to lose weight and then we stress about it and the stress releases hormones that make you unable to lose weight or to gain weight.

Benefits of Eating Well for Women Over 50

Suggestions for women over 50 for ways improve their eating program for better living:

Greens are a power food and an excellent way to add vitamins into your eating.
For meat eaters: the best meat is grass fed (or pastured) local meat from some grocery stores or local farms or farmer markets. If can’t get that, look for (non-local) grass-fed. If can’t get that, look for organic.
Make sure you’re enjoying life and not obsessing over food and weight.
Know the source of your food, including where your fruits and vegetables are coming from and where your meat is coming from.
Switch to natural peanut butter.
If you eat meat alternative products, be sure to check the labels because some are highly processed. Look for ones where you recognize all of the ingredients.
Be sure to get Omega 3 fats
Everyone could benefit from taking turmeric, a good whole-food multi vitamin, a good B complex, and a probiotic.

Koi Beauty Bar

Heather created KOI Gourmet Skincare, a line of artisan crafted skincare products, formulated with select organic superfoods and essential oils, to nourish and replenish the largest organ we have… our skin. As a former cancer research technologist, Heather has developed a unique perspective about food and its impact on the human body. She has come to believe that just as we need to pay close attention to what we put in our bodies for optimal health and wellness, we need to pay equal attention to what we put on our bodies.

The skin is a living, breathing organ with an important and often overwhelming job to do. When not properly fed, it can develop issues (eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, acne) that are difficult to resolve. That’s why, if we want our skin to stay fresh, clear and youthful, it’s vital that we feed, nurture and protect it.

Bonus: We will be giving away a free Wheat Grass Beauty Bar from Heather’s line. Call the Becoming Elli Voicemail by December 31, 2018 at 330-970-6662. Leave your name, that you’re interested in the beauty bar and be sure to include a way for us to contact you.

Links mentioned in today’s podcast:

Koi Beauty Bar
Facebook
Instagram
Recent book she read Missing Peace (affiliate link)

Inspirational Messages with Vicki Prussak

November 27, 2018 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

Episode #22 of the Fit, Strong Women Over 50 Podcast

In episode 22 of the Fit, Strong Women over 50 Podcast for the Becoming Elli community, Chris and Jill talk with Vicki Prussak about the value of inspirational messages. Vicki is a life-long learner, the eternal optimist, a certified wellness coach, ACE Fitness Nutrition Specialist, animal lover, artist, retired belly dancer and jewelry maker.

Vicki has had several careers including wellness coaching and graphic design for various large corporations. At one time Vicki practiced belly dancing to stay fit and agile. In her latest career, Vickie has developed a line of jewelry to encourage others to stay focused and positive.

Vicki’s inspirational line of handcrafted jewelry, Carry Your Message, involves tucking an inspirational message into a necklace to helps us stay motivated and focused. She created this line of jewelry when she realized that her wellness clients were not remembering or focusing on their goals.

Chris and Jill talk with Vicki about how she overcame the despair following an accident with her eyes and how she got the weight off after three years of being sedentary following that accident. As part of that discussion, Vicki talks about eating naturally and how she uses intermittent fasting or, as she calls it, intermittent eating.

Mainly, though, they discuss the power of words and how focusing on the positive improves our self-esteem and increases our ability to make a change. Vicki explains how internal inspiration—those things we say to ourselves—is more powerful that external motivation. It’s this that allows you to use your strengths and natural abilities to excel. During the discussion of the power of positive affirmations, Vicki gives us the three words she uses for her inspiration: feel, focus and flow.

Vicki meditates every day and finds it to be of great value. She recommends looking at the Deepak Chopra and Oprah 21 day free app

https://chopracentermeditation.com/article/6-oprah_deepaks_21_day_meditation_experience/

There are lots of other meditation apps, including Headspace app which Jill has used.

Chris and Jill conclude the episode by discussing some healthy tips for the holidays, focusing mainly on how to work in some fitness and how to manage food and alcohol at social events.

Vicki’s jewelry can be seen on her website, www.carryyourmessage.com and she can be found at these social media locations:

Facebook https://facebook.com/carryyourmessage

Twitter https://twitter.com/wellcoachvicki

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/carryyourmessage/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/carry_your_message/

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickiprussak