Recently we introduced a new addition to the reformer at Palm Wellness, the jump board. Jump boards were originally designed for use with athletes and dancers that needed the exercise to improve the jump in their performance. They are now being introduced to even our moderate Tampa pilates students.

Shown in this picture, the jump board is placed at the bottom of the pilates machine, in front of the foot bar. While lying with your back on the reformer, students will use their legs to push off the board in a horizontal jumping motion.

The jump boards are a great cardio exercise and can also strengthen your core stomach and leg muscles more than most other exercises. The less resistance in the springs, the better the ab workout.

Clients of Palm Wellness by Natalie Maddox are raving about the jump boards calling it their favorite new addition to their workouts! Come in and try it today!
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Did you know that new fans of Palm Wellness on Facebook receive a 10% discount on their first service? Palm Wellness also posts pop-quiz questions weekly for a chance to win gift certificates for pilates, acupuncture or aesthetic treatments, so follow us on Facebook for your chance to win even more discounts!

​It may seem obvious, but making a change in the way you look is not only about exercise. It requires a change in your diet as well.
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A great example of this fact was recently demonstrated on The Biggest Loser. For those of you that haven’t seen any episodes of this popular reality TV show, contestants on The Biggest Loser are extremely overweight, and they come on the show to workout with professional trainers and live on “the ranch” where they are secluded from their every-day lives and coached on how to make healthy life changes in diet and exercise. Every day the contestants work out with the professional trainers, and at the end of the week there is a weigh-in. The people that lost the least amount of body fat are up for elimination from the show.

On a recent episode, twin brothers that clearly wanted to go home, managed to show a +9 change in their weight. That NEVER happens. Its amazing that two people could GAIN weight when they are exercising hard, supervised by professional trainers, every day! The only explanation is that the food they took in that week was so high in fat and calories that their workout efforts made almost no difference in their health.

This shows you that exercise alone is not all that it takes to make a change in your physical fitness. With each new Pilates client, Palm Wellness instructors always provide guidance on proper diet and nutrition tips to help our trainees get maximum results. With a trainer at Palm Wellness, you get a nutrition coach and Pilates instructor for the price of one!

So next time you think to yourself, “I worked out today, so I’m going to reward myself with a big slice of chocolate cake,” think of The Biggest Loser twins. Don’t waste your workout!

When watching one of my guilty pleasures – the food network, a commercial break mentioned eating carbohydrates as a snack to help boost mind-calming/mood-altering chemicals in the body, essentially to feel calm and happy. If you know anything about me, I am revered by some as the “food police.” In my defense, I believe that food therapy is one of easiest ways that we can take control of our own health.  I discuss diet with every patient and usually send them home with homework – doing a food journal. In the future, I could see myself visiting my patients’ homes and cleaning out their refrigerators…that would be a good time for me! Okay…another guilty pleasure – fridge cleaning!

Back to the point…during the commercial, the suggestions were to snack on popcorn and other carbohydrates for that calming effect. Now, unless you don’t care about your waist or hip circumference…then, by all means, indulge in what is considered as those “comfort foods.” But if you are figure-conscious and want to look stellar in your 7 For All Mankind Jeans, then let me give you the skinny on the subject…

The neurotransmitter Serotonin is the chemical that, when released from the brain into the bloodstream, produces a calm and happy, almost sedative effect – hence the term “comfort food.” The food sources for serotonin to be produced are those that contain tryptophan and those that contain B vitamins. Tryptofan is an essential amino acid that can only be derived from food, the body does not produce it. In the brain, B vitamins convert the tryptofan to serotonin. Yes, some of these foods are carbohydrates such as brown rice. However, the others are kale, spinach, collard greens, broccoli, peas, sunflower seeds, almonds, salmon, blue green algae, brewer’s yeast, eggs, meats, and tofu. There are plenty of better foods to choose from when desiring a calming effect. The trouble when relying on the carbohydrates, specifically, the refined ones like cookies, cakes, white breads, is the blood sugar (insulin) crashing effect that occurs. And don’t forget that excess sugar not burned gets stored as fat…or in laymans terms – saddlebags, bat wings, muffin tops, belly pooch, etc.

In conclusion, if you’re feeling a little nervous or anxious and desire a little calmness, skip the bread and popcorn, bring on the kale salad or power green smoothie!

Here are a couple of my go-to recipes:

Kale Salad

• 1 bunch of lacinato kale (I prefer this to the curly kale) – de-ribbed and cut into bite size pieces
• 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (usually 3 limes)
• 1/3 cup organic extra virgin olive oil (could use grapeseed oil as well)
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ½ – 1 teaspoon raw agave nectar (or stevia) – if desire sweeter vinegarette

In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil to the lime juice, agave, salt, and pepper. Pour over the kale and massage (using clean hands) into all the leaves until kale softens.
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Add to the mixture some chopped veggies:

• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 10 carrots
• 1 cup broccoli (raw or steamed)
• 1 cucumber
• slivered almonds or sunflower seeds (raw, unsalted)

*Note: you can add just about anything to this salad – be creative!
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Power Green Smoothie

• 8 oz coconut water
• Large handful of kale or spinach
• 1-2 tablespoons of Blue Green Algae (I use E3live)
• ½ to 1 banana
• 1 apple – skinned and chopped (or whatever other fruit you like to sweeten this up a bit)
• Handful of ice
• Using a Vitamix, blend the liquids, add the banana and apple, then the green leaves and ice.

Enjoy!!!