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Pelvic Floor Health with Kim Vopni

September 24, 2024 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

163 – Pelvic Floor Health with Kim Vopni

In episode 163, Jill and Chris talk with Kim Vopni, a leading authority in health & fitness coaching for women with pelvic floor dysfunction and is known as The Vagina Coach.

She has helped thousands of women learn how to do pelvic floor exercises, ditch the incontinence pads, eliminate their prolapse symptoms and get back to living life to the fullest!

Kim is a certified fitness professional who became passionate about spreading information on pelvic health when she was pregnant with her first child. She is the author of 2 books – Prepare to Push – What Your Pelvic Floor and Abdomen Want You To Know About Pregnancy and Birth and a second title Your Pelvic Floor – The Inside Story.

Kim is the founder of Pelvienne Wellness Inc and co-founder of Bellies Inc. She is also the founder of Kegels and Cocktails™ – a women’s health event designed to empower and educate women on the importance of pelvic health.

We discuss:

What constitutes the pelvic floor group of muscles and how we can train that group of muscles
How we can reverse incontinence caused by hormonal changes, pregnancy, childbirth
Kegels and other exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor
Food and supplements that help
How to prepare for pelvic surgery
Why she goes by the name of The Vagina Coach
How she helps women overcome incontinence and organ prolapse
How you can train your bladder to wait longer (and sleep through the night!)

Links

Her website: The Vagina Coach
Her YouTube Channel: Kim Vopni – The Vagina Coach
Facebook page: Vagina Coach
How To Do Kegel Exercises To Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor (the best instruction…with visuals!)

Looking Back at Our Veggie Challenges

September 12, 2024 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

Chris recently posted about how eating more vegetables helps her maintain her weight and included some information about roasting zucchini. For some reason that made me think about some of our earlier posts about vegetables so I decided it was time for looking back at our veggie challenges.

If you enter Veggie Challenge in the search field, a lot of entries come up. Scrolling through the search results, I realized we have a lot of great ideas on how to get more vegetables onto our plates.

I found a recipe for a kohlrabi slaw that I made in 2019. Five years ago so I guess that’s why I forgot all about this dish but it sounds good. I need to make it again. It’s basically kohlrabi and apples chopped into matchstick sized pieces with a vinegar and oil dressing.

As I continued looking back at our veggie challenges, I found a post about making a watercress salad. The salad looks great and I remembered that a doctor recommended that I eat more watercress because I think it helped with digestive enzyme issues.

Chris and I are big fans of cabbage apparently because we’ve both posted plenty about it. Cabbage is a versatile vegetable so if you’re looking for ideas on using it, do a search on our website.

Besides maintaining weight, vegetables are good for getting fiber into our diets and provide a wide range of vitamins and minerals. For example, that watercress I mentioned includes calcium as well as plenty of other vitamins.

It was kind of fun looking back at our veggie challenges. This year (2024) we did a Eat the Rainbow challenge. Several of us struggled with getting all of the colors (curses, you blue/purple veggies!) I haven’t discussed it with Chris yet but perhaps we’ll repeat the Veggie Challenge in 2025. I’m sure we can all come up with even more creative ideas on getting in our vegetables.

Just Lift with Jackie Errico

September 10, 2024 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Just Lift with Jackie Errico #162

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Jill and Chris talk with Jackie Errico, a nationally certified strength and conditioning coach, a certified personal trainer, and co-owner of Just Lift Fitness training studios located in the Chicago area.

Jackie focuses on helping women gain confidence in their bodies. She educates women on the physical and mental benefits of strength training and how to fuel bodies with the right food; teach them how to lift weights properly and safely; and help them create a fitness and nutrition game plan so that they can achieve the results they deserve.

We discuss:

Why it’s so important for women to do strength training
How women’s fitness needs differ from men’s
Common misconceptions women have about working out and lifting weights
The importance of knowing your “WHY” for working out
Her advice on fueling our bodies with the right food
Dietary tips she recommends for doing strength training Ideas for women over 50 to get enough protein
How she works with women online at her Chicago area gym

Links:

Website: Just Lift Fitness
Online classes
Instagram Jackie Errico
Facebook Jackie Errico
YouTube

Keeping the Weight Off with Fresh Veggies

September 3, 2024 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

I love veggies from the garden. I know it is helps me in keeping the weight off. My favorite is roasted vegetables.

After losing a significant amount of weight between 2007 and 2012, I’ve been working on keeping the weight off and staying fit and strong. For those that listen to the podcast and are part of the Becoming Elli community, it comes as no surprise that one of my “secrets” for keeping the weight off is by eating lots of vegetables.

If you haven’t heard our “story” before, you may want to listen to our 3rd podcast episode called: Turning 50 and getting fit

I slice the zucchini in half and then length wise

Trying to keep them a uniform size is a good idea because they will cook evenly.

I just reused the matt that I used from cooking the other vegetables. I lightly sprayed them with extra virgin olive oil spray and lightly salted.

My stove works well at 375 degrees for 25 minutes on the first side. Flip once and roast again for 10 more minutes. Delicious!!

What’s your favorite way of roasting vegetables? Temperature, baking sheet? Olive oil? Do you use salt? I’m always looking for ways to make it more healthy and more delicious!

Finding Wellness with Dr. Malaika Woods

August 27, 2024 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

# 161 – Finding Wellness with Dr. Malaika Woods

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We had a great conversation in this episode with Dr. Malaika Woods who is a Certified Practitioner for the Institute for Functional Medicine and has a Double Board Certification with both the American Board of Obesity Medicine, and American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Dr. Woods is the founder of Dr. Woods Wellness, established in 2013. When not working in the office, Dr. Woods enjoys singing, especially gospel music. She has been a choir director throughout the years and a wedding singer for many of her family and friends. Spending time with her wonderfully supportive husband, daughter and son are her most treasured moments.

She is a native of Wichita, Kansas and earned her Bachelor’s degree, with cum laude distinction, from Wichita State University. She completed her Doctorate of Medicine and Masters of Public Health degrees from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Dr. Woods completed her residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

We discuss:

why she decided to get into both integrated functional medicine and weight loss from
how to find a functional medicine doctor and how they are different than other types of doctors
the relationship of replacement hormones and cancer (and the misunderstandings about it)
when to consider bioidentical hormone replacement therapy
the effects of menopause on weight loss
her advice for women 50 and over for losing weight
what she thinks about the new weight loss medications
how she helps her clients lose weight

In Finding Wellness with Dr. Malaika Woods, we mention these links:

Her website: https://drwoodswellness.com/

Her free report to: kick fatigue to the curb, lose that stubborn belly fat, and ignite your fire in the bedroom

Improving our Podcast Outreach

August 20, 2024 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Many of our readers found us through the Fit Strong Women Over 50 podcast. We’ve been publishing it since 2018 a couple times each month and recently released our 160th episode.

In a way to learn more, stay current and keep on keeping on with the podcast and Becoming Elli community, we are attending the Podcast Movement conference. Here we are finding out that there are many ways to use all the technology but it seems like sharing ideas with other podcasters in person is a great way to keep getting re-energized.

In the near future, Jill and I plan to survey our readers and listeners to learn more about what you like, what you’d like to learn and how we can improve our content and outreach.

We know we are doing somethings very right.

I was reminded about one of the podcast measuring tools, www.listennotes.com, that we learned about in 2023 at the Podcast Movement conference. In the last 12 months, our podcast has moved up a little bit and now Listen Notes has the podcast ranked at a listen score of 38 and rank of 2%.

I’m still not exactly sure what that means, but I really liked this embedded app that allows you to listen and share the podcast episodes easily. Click through to see what I mean.

There are many ways to use this website. Please let me know of your listening experiences with Listen Notes by leaving a comment below, thanks!

Elite Athlete Bree Lambert

August 13, 2024 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

160 – Elite Athlete Bree Lambert
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Bree Lambert is a personal trainer, running coach, nutritionist and ultra runner. She has been pursuing endurance sports since her teenage years, starting with road triathlon, Xterra off-road triathlon and now ultra running.

Bree completed her first 50K in 2005 and since then has completed distances from 50k to 100 miles. Each finish represents hundreds of hours of training, dedication and mental preparation.

Bree coaches other runners to achieve their goals while providing personal training services to both runners and non-runners alike in San Jose, California and online. She believes in a healthy lifestyle and thinks that no matter where your health is now, you can make an improvement.

She’s committed to her family and loves to cook and spend time with close friends.

We discussed:

How she trains for ultra running – “Time on feet” especially makes the difference. She considers the terrain, nutrition, distance
Bree has run the Boston marathon 3 times, and even used it as a training session for one of her ultra marathons
How she uses road runs to keeps her legs snappy
How she has learned to keep a strong mental attitude in all types of weather with little or no sleep
How it feels to finish…and even win some of the most challenging ultra races!
Her experiences as Three-Time 100 Mile Women’s National Trail Champion at the Tahoe Rim Trail, 2016 USATF 50km Female Masters Trail Champion and more
How she deals with fueling before, during and after an ultra-event

Why she is in love with beautiful landscapes, runs with serious elevation and the technical challenges of trail running. “It’s the sensory experience.”
How she uses her Spinning bike in her garage studio and why she lost her passion for road bike riding .
Why the functional mobility training by using her own body natural pattern of movement. She finds that this type of training serves her better with the challenges of ultra trail running where she needs strength, endurance, and flexibility.

Links mentioned in episode 160 Elite Athlete Bree Lambert:
Website: livewellfinishstrong.com
Instagram @catchthebreez

Consistently Walking in the Morning

August 6, 2024 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Trying to be consistent with exercise can be a challenge, but I feel pretty good about consistently walking in the morning. While consistently walking is not a strenuous workout, I find it one minor way I can be consistent with exercise.

Like most women, I balance a lot of different activities. I also tend to put other people or priorities ahead of getting consistent exercise, so I’m pleased that I’ve been able to walk about 10,000 steps daily average this summer.

In winter and spring I was consistently going to the gym and I felt good about that. I imagine once the weather starts to change, I’ll be back indoors.

Walking in nature has been quite enjoyable for any number of reasons:

I take the dog, so she gets her steps as well.
It’s fun to listen to podcasts and audiobooks.
I’ve seen many of the same people and now have a regular group of “friendly walkers”
Inspiring chats – like the one I had the other day with someone wearing a rim-to-rim t-shirt, or the woman who is training for a bi-athalon.
The rest of the day I find it easier to sit still when I have to (commuting or computer work)
I’ve found some new trails or ways to lengthen existing trails.
Great time to think thru (real or imagined) problems that are bugging me

Of course, I am incorporating other forms of exercise into my week as well… but I am a real creature of a regular routine. Right now I am finding it very satisfying to grab a walk first thing in the morning before the days events take over or the heat of the day forces me back into the air conditioning. Consistently walking is an easy habit for me to make.

Do you have a regular routine that helps you stay healthy and fit? Leave a message below to share with everyone on what consistency looks like for you.

These are photos from my walks. Cloudy sun, Peanut & bears, trail ahead, the Crooked Cuyahoga and one of many deer I see all the time.

Healthy Living with Alicia Jones

July 23, 2024 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

#159 – Healthy Living with Alicia Jones

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In episode 159, Jill and Chris talk with Alicia Jones who helps transform the health and the lives of women over 40 through her fitness and weight loss strategies.

She has a B.A in Kinesiology and has many certifications, including National Coach of Canada (NCCP), Advanced Sport Nutrition, Certified Group Fitness Instructor, and Personal Training Specialist: Canfit-pro.

Alicia has appeared on various health and wellness television programs and produced and hosted Health Matters and The View: Health and Wellness On Rogers TV.

We talked about some great prehab (before rehab) exercises and Alicia was kind enough to provide lots of video links to show examples of how to do these exercises:

Video Exercise Links:
The Essential Workout For Over 50
Big Toe Lifts – a very difficult but important exercise!
3 Exercises to Strengthen the Knees and the Tummy
This balance workout explains how to place your foot for arch support
Healthy Shoulders and Arm Toning Workout: Fitness for Women Over 50
3 Exercises You Should Modify, NOT Eliminate if You are Over 50
Macros for Weight Loss: For Women After 50
3 NEW fitness habits to adopt in your 40’s 50’s, 60’s 70’s and beyond! (Alicia does these everyday!)
Exercises to Strengthen the Wrists: Exercises for Over 50
Why You NEED to Exercise your feet over 50

Social Media Links:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AliciaJonesHealthyLiving
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliciaJonesHealthyLiving/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajhealthy/

Food Finds with Chris and Jill

July 9, 2024 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

#158 – Food Finds with Chris and Jill

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In this episode, Jill and Chris discuss various websites and ideas for food challenges. They talk about what they love to eat in the summer and where they get inspiration.

Discussed in this episode:

Jill did a bike ride on Greenbriar River Trail in West Virginia and saw some UNUSUAL wildlife!
Rainbow Challenge update
Chris’s favorite salad currently: spring mix base with feta cheese, cherry tomatoes cut in half, chopped mushrooms, sardines in water, chopped walnuts, chopped olives, chopped yellow peppers and avocado.
Jill likes to put tuna or sardines on her salad sometimes. She also uses chicken breast when she has some already cooked.
Chris likes to make inside out egg rolls with shredded broccoli slaw, olive oil in a pan and ground turkey. With a little bit of soy sauce to taste, she says it’s a really great dinner.
She also does sheet pan veggie roasting during the summer, by roasting veggies early in the day while cooking breakfast, before the heat of the day.
Chris got a silicone baking mat so it makes for easy clean up. It is a food grade mat good for up to 500 degrees and is supposedly safe and doesn’t leach any chemicals
Jill is trying to add more fermented foods into her routine. She mixes plain and flavored Kefir together.
Chris has a frozen food find Zoodles. They are spiralized zucchini noodles that you can pretend is spaghetti if you cook them a bit, and serve with a warm sauce over them. She says if you do cook them, just for about one minute and then drain while running cold water over them.
Jill uses a spiralizer that goes on her kitchen mixer. It works pretty well, although she only uses it only occasionally.
Chris mentioned she was looking at the Julienne Peeler Stainless Steel Vegetable for about $15 from Amazon
Jill said she recently read another article about how great Turmeric is for us. it think of our discussion with Shivani Gupta. We talked with her in episode 133

Favorite Websites mentioned in the Food Finds with Chris & Jill episode:

Julia’s Album Chris gets a lot of salad ideas from Julia’s Album. It not only has wonderful recipes but also incredible photography. This is someone we’d love to interview on our podcast for another episode.
Jill likes a website called DETOXinista and she especially recommends the flourless chocolate cake recipe for special occasions. There are also some fish, lots of plant-based dishes. Most of it is gluten-free and low in sugar with healthy, quick, and easy plant-based recipes for every day using common ingredients, cooking hacks and minimal equipment.
Another site she recommends is DAREBEETS which is the recipe branch DAREBEE https://darebee.com/ (Darebee is a great site for workout ideas.)
One website that both Chris and Jill really like is Heike Yates’s website. They both enjoy her Pursue Your Spark podcast and her Recipe Packs for meal planning suggestions. She has been a guest twice on the Fit Strong Women Over 50 podcast in episode 71 and 146.
hungry-girl.com Chris loves the colorful recipes on the hungry girl website – like red, white, and blue desserts for 4th of July parties. She has found that some of them have more sugar than she wants to add or not so healthy fats. Sometimes using a recipe “as is” is not necessarily the best choice. Most recipes can be modified to make them more nutritious.Great for ideas!
www.skinnytaste.com has lots of air fryer recipes. Chris got one from her husband for Christmas and she is still learning to use it. The air fryer is great for when it’s hot outside, like it’s has been here during the last few weeks.

Leave a comment below and let us know your food find recipes! We’d love to hear from you. If it’s okay with you, we’ll even mention you in one of podcasts and share your healthy recipe with our Becoming Elli community.