Why BOTH are Important

We are conditioned by society that we need to be a certain size and look a certain way. Let’s face it the fashion and cosmetic industry can pretty much make you buy anything with claims of making you feel or look five years younger. I’ve been suckered in many times.

With age comes skepticism and questioning sprinkled in with a bit of wisdom and ability to spot a red flag marketing campaign. But why do these industries keep making a fortune?

Because looking good on the outside is important.

Now, bear with me as I can hear the eye rolls that “our appearance isn’t all that important”.

What we look like on the outside (healthy skin, hair, healthy weight, good muscle tone) reflects what is going on inside the body. Having clear skin and full hair indicates a diet rich in nutrients, lean in fats and filled with plenty of protein building blocks, topped off with plenty of hydration. When our...

The Key to Consistency All Year Long

The calendar year turns, and we all start making resolutions, setting new goals and reflecting as if a magical force swarms over us as the new year arrives bringing enlightenment and new perspective.

Reflection is an amazing gift. When done correctly it gives you hindsight and we all know that hindsight is 20/20 . But in all reality, reflection is only as good as the actions that follow. To gain perspective, yet, do nothing with it is futile. You remain in a loop of victim mentality. Never willing to make the effort needed to utilize the reflection.

So, how do we find the efforts when all seems lost and an uphill climb?

We find our why.

Each person’s why is very, well, personal and individual. It is a reason deep within them that propels them forward in any situation, no matter how hard. Whys can range from attending a wedding or reunion later this year and wanting to show up your best or needing function...

How to Navigate the 12 days of Holidays TOA Style

December is here and all the holidays are on us! Everywhere you look we are seeing signs of Christmas, Hannukah, Santa and sparkling lights! It is easy to get wrapped up in the season of treats, movies and couch time watching the weather from the warmth of your fire.

However, that doesn’t sound like a TOA style holiday season. So, we’ve created a 12 Days count down for you to incorporate into your December this season. You remember the song, right? “The twelve days of Christmas my true love gave to me….”, just follow the theme through the 12 days (December 12-24).

Day 1: A one mile or 10-minute walk/ruck. To make this more challenging add a ruck vest or if you’re a runner, pick up the pace.

Day 2: Complete a 2-minute plank. Utilize a bench, counter or make it challenging by heading to the floor. Break this up as needed but complete 2 minutes. By the end I bet...

Lower temps, more socials and the perfect condition for cold and flu season. 

Winter is coming. 

With the colder months, come holidays, holiday parties, puddles and damp outer wear. All creating the perfect conditions for the cold and flu to fester, infect and take over our best skiing and sledding days. So, how can we fight this and make sure we spend as little time on the down and the most time on the up and up?

We know that 70% of our immune system lives in our “gut” (digestive tract). So, in theory if we boost our gut health we can boost our immune system and body’s strength to ward off the ick. Let’s look at some easy ways to increase that immunity (gut health) naturally and supplement free.

1. Fiber Fiber Fiber!Fiber is the key to gut health. It is the food our “good bacteria” eat, this fuel helps them grow and multiply, pushing out the “bad bacteria”. Fiber is ONLY found naturally in plants, fruits,...

As tensions rise, we need to take a relax break.

Inhale for five, exhale for five, inhale for five, exhale for five.

October brings the first holidays of the season, the first of which is centered around candy, sweets and total overindulgence. It is just four weeks we will watch a stressed-out nation make a big political decision. We must navigate gift buying and secret Santa’s and we have extra house guest destroying our daily routines.

This time of year, the stress is really kicking into high gear. We have two options: give in or fight.

I choose to fight the stress with serenity. That’s right; as stress rises, I choose to calm my mind, stick to my routines, and have as much fun as possible. Here are some easy ways to beat the stress this holiday season.

Calm the Mind

Our mind can dwell on the past and harbor fears of the future. So, the best thing we can do it live in the present. Let go of the past and future. Being...

How to keep ourselves and our loved ones from falling.

Every second of every day an older adult (55+) falls in the US.

I’m sorry, WHAT? That seems like a ton! Not all these adults end up in the hospital of course, but they are falling. Why? And What can we do about it?

September 23-27 is National Falls Prevention Awareness Week; so this month we are going to expose you to as much education as we can when we talk about falls and how to prevent them.

Falls occur for a few main reasons: lack of strength, coordination, vision, or hearing. We can address all of these with a few simple steps and a bit of consistent work.

LACK OF STRENGTH

Strength can diminish quickly if we take time off from our fitness classes or stop challenging ourselves. To prevent falls we need to be strong. This takes challenging yourself (your TOA instructor will make sure you are pushing yourself daily!) with heavy weight. The more you lift, the stronger you...

Back to school for the kids and back to basics for us.

It’s fall and the kids and grandkids are heading back to school. As we kick off a new school year lets kick off a simpler way to navigate through this thing called life.

Have you ever heard the phrase K.I.S.S.? It means keep it simple stupid. Remove the stupid (so many better words in the English language) and add in Seriously and you’ve got a great saying. Keep It Seriously Simple. So many things are overcomplicated these days. From nutrition to fitness to finances. It can be hard to navigate the world with so much information. So, lets K.I.S.S.

Here are some quick tips to keeping life simple in a complicated world.

1. Focus on what you can control. There are so many inputs in our daily lives. It can get super overwhelming as we try and take it all in. To keep this simple, let’s try and focus on just the things we can control. Namely, our actions and reactions. A hard life lesson is that we cannot control...

Celebrating the history of the USA and fitness.

It’s July and we are approaching the nations Independence Day this month. We are celebrating 248 years of growth (more to come) as a nation and as a fitness industry.

250 years ago, fitness wasn’t even a thing, not even close. People physically moved throughout the day, working to survive. With the beginning of the industrial revolution (first “factory jobs”) kicking off people were working hard in the factories and fields, in their trade shops, working for food, all without machines to do the work for them. Life was physically demanding, why workout when your daily routine was filled with physical labor.

The first time we start to see “fitness” is linked to the military during WWII. 90% of men called into action would be turned away due to deficiencies in health and fitness (1). As war developed, so did these tests and when the soldiers returned, they too continued their...

Rules of engagement with the sun

The summer is here and we are often concerned about many things associated with summertime. Target number one is the SUN! Let’s take a look at the benefits of the sun and ways to maximize it without causing damage.

BENEFITS OF THE SUN 

1. SUN + VITAMIN D Sun increases your vitamin D. We have all heard that we absorb vitamin D from the sun, but really, we consume vitamin D through our diet and then the sun activates it. Vitamin D helps with heart health, increase your immune function, strengthen bones, and increase mood. To consume your “preD₃” eat fish, mushrooms, and eggs, plus fortified foods. Then just a few minutes in the sunshine for activation!
2. SUN + MOOD The sunshine increases mood by increasing serotonin and dopamine levels. These hormones play a key role in the “reward center” and memory, movement, learning and motivation. You are rewarded when doing things you need to survive.
3. SUN + MORNING LIGHT Morning...

How to maximize your garden this season.

It’s May and if you haven’t started your garden yet, no worries there is still plenty of time.  

Many of you may be thinking is a garden really worth it. Won’t I spend more time and money tending to my garden that I will actually harvest food to eat?  The quick answer to that may be a yes, but there is more to a garden that harvesting food and if done right you can really maximize your space and amplify your harvest.

Let’s take a look at 5 tips to make your garden worth it this season: 

3. The benefits of gardening goes beyond the food you’ll produce. Working in the garden exposes you to physical activity, sunshine, and a plethora of new and beneficial bacteria! Working in the dirt exposes our skin (largest organ of the body FYI) and therefore our microbiome (natural “good bacteria” found on/in our bodies. The bigger variety the better) to a whole new set of microbes. One gram of...