Liquid Strength by Story von Holzhausen

Doing the right thing

2012-01-25T06:36:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone is having a great start of the new year. I have been busy getting Abby ready for her audition for the Professional Performing Arts school. As much work as it has been, it has been a way to work together towards a common goal. At 10 (now 11 but just barely), she wanted to play many times when she had a voice lesson. Peeling her away from the play ground for a monologue rehearsal was not fun. Now that we are a day away, she is in the "I would do ANYTHING to get in to this school" mode.

Living enough years on this earth teaches us to keep those goals that seem SO far away as children a little closer to our hearts. We learn that we need to train, sacrifice and stay focused to get or become all we want to be. With our "eyes on the prize", we can keep ourselves pretty much on track.

A few things happened this month that makes me realize that as adults, we likely still have room for understanding (I know I do) better about staying power on that road to get to where we want to be. People learn from positive and negative feedback. We are not all that far away from our beloved canine counterparts in that way. Most times, instead of a person teaching us, it is "Life" that doles out our feedback. Direct or indirect results that have been effected by the choices we have made. The hard part about this process is that "Life as master" can take a long time to deliver the message of "good job". If we are not paying attention, we can miss it. We can miss the entire learning process in the minutia of our day to day.

As we get older, it is harder to stretch ourselves out of our comfort zone to grow in new ways. With a combination of ego and insecurity, we bristle at criticism and fail to hear the positive. This can happen in our relationships and in our work. If we can somehow find a way to be open and to "listen" with open hearts , we will hear the love that is often accompanied within what we perceive to be criticism.

Every person on this earth can get better. As friends, parents and workers we have room to grow. If we can embrace that journey and even get excited by it, our lives can and will move constantly towards a better place. Last month, the national director of Equinox came and took my spin class. After class she had some very insightful feedback. Both good and bad. I had a choice to make when I spoke to her. If I chose to listen with my ego and insecurity, I would have heard only the negative. Instead, I listened to her. Having a "fresh pair of eyes on the ground" is a valuable asset. Having taught for so many years, I need to be more in tune with people who are walking into my class for the first time. Every word she said was true. My classes are stronger now from the feedback and wisdom I gained from her. I could almost feel my younger self and older self processing this information and all the various choices I could have made. I am glad I made the right one.

As most of you know, I am divorced from the twin's birth father. Like any divorce, it was tough. I have been working towards a better relationship with my ex husband for years. During this middle school process, we had to work together. We did. In fact, we learned to actually enjoy the process. We both made the right choices and moved towards the greater good. To see our children's amazement at us enjoying each other's company was magical.

This month, I taught my daughter that we have to have "long" vision as we go through our lives. We have to consistently make the right choices and stick to them. Even if we don't see the results we want for a long time. While I was teaching her, I was learning too. I hope that as I grow ever older, I will always be open to that process. I wish for all of you that you will be too.

Story von Holzhausen

Life and happiness

2011-12-22T06:25:00.009-05:00

I tried to cut and paste a great article by Erika Isler (my cousin by marriage, a very cool lady and a life coach) but it is not formatted in a way that will allow me to do it.

She talked about setting goals that were not "punishing" but that make us happy. I vote yes. One of the beautiful things that come with getting older is that very simple things make me happy. For Christmas this year, one of my best friends (Susan) , Kurt and I made and ate an amazing gourmet dinner. Well, truth me told, I assisted and Susan (who is an amazing cook) made a wonderful dinner. We get the twins tonight and will have our "Christmas" tomorrow morning. In my younger years, the fact that I was not with my kids ON the 25th would have ruined the holiday. I would have missed the simple joy of wonderful food and company because the day wasn't the stereotypical Christmas I have always known. There is such a beauty to traditions and doing things the same as when we were children. What I have found however is that life doesn't always allow or lend itself well to what we imagine is "best" or perfect. Letting go of the control of what our holidays, bodies, families and lives should look like, can allow us to be happy with whatever shape they happen to take.

As we watched yet another tacky, sappy Christmas special (I am the biggest sap about this time of year and Kurt has surrendered to the fact that we will have music/special overload), Kurt casually said "You know, I always thought I would have a big family and live in a big house. But then again, I thought I would marry my high school sweetheart". That may have hurt some wive's feelings. I laughed. I met his high school sweetheart and she was great. She married a man she is crazy about and I would choose her as a friend if our paths had ever crossed in our lives.

When we met, it was instantly clear to both of us that we were a perfect fit. This in itself was and is shocking. I was in the middle of a very difficult divorce, was a single mother of 5 year old twins and my heart was not open to anyone. I never wanted to get married again and was very vocal about it. I was looking for a fast cyclist to train with and that was all. Kurt was younger than I was, never married, successful and always wanted kids and marriage. His friends thought he had lost his mind. On paper, even I hated the sound of it. Successful and gorgeous 37 year old investment banker, never married and a 39 year old single mother of twins. UGH.

Amazingly, Kurt (and his family) never batted an eyelash or questioned it. I sure did. Letting go of the "expectations", labels and resumes that life thrust upon us (me) allowed me to see how perfectly perfect our family was. Kurt's Mom said to me (nearly fainted) "Kurt bought his house, just waiting for you guys to show up and be a family". The first day (this is less than a week after our first date so it could have gone very differently) I met his father, we had lunch and went sailing. At the table, my cell phone rang and it was the twins. As I walked away to take the call I almost cringed for Kurt's sake as he would have to explain to his parents who was on the phone. When we were getting ready to leave that day, I went back into the house and his Dad said "Kurt, on a scale of 1 to 10, she's about an 11". I still can't type that without crying. I had wished for a father to say that about me my whole life.

I learned from this family, that beauty and happiness are there for us to see and embrace. If in our stubborness, we insist on judging ourselves ,each other and our lives, we can be miserable too. How differently it could have all gone.

So much of our happiness, success and joy are found not in our "reality" but in our perception of that reality. We have the ability to learn, grow and choose our joy. This year, as we consider "New Year's Resolutions", let's adjust our lenses and see clearly, lovingly and openly our own lives and our "selves". Life will fly by in an instant and spending it trying to impress other people or making our lives appear to be anything besides what we ourselves want them to be, is the ultimate waste of the gift we have been given.

Story von Holzhausen

"blue' colored glasses/big news

2011-12-19T07:09:00.003-05:00

It seemed much easier to see the world through "rose colored glasses" when I was younger. It was a survival instinct for me. As life has stabilized and become far less dramatic, it is more "logical" to see the hurdles and snags that lay ahead.

It seems when our lives are happy in general, the "problems" stand out pretty blaringly and it is easy to give them center stage when they really don't deserve it. Imagine how many people would gladly "swap" our problems for theirs. Sometimes it feels like it is in our nature to "find drama" and hold the things that don't work in our lives under a microscope. Blowing them up to poster size and allowing them to blot out all the amazing parts.

I have noticed that people (especially women) never see how great they look (being my job, I hear about this a lot) until they look back at photos from years back. When they were living in the body that they realize was"fit and wonderful", they had too may complaints to see the big picture. I have seen this so many times over the years I can laugh when I look at my own photos. We "miss" the moments we are living sometimes. We dont' realize that these are the some of the best of our lives. Blogging is a strange thing. All I can write about is my own life. I would never break the confidences of my clients, students and friends to talk about their lives so I am stuck with mine. Not for a second do I think anyone cares (nor should they) about my life very much but it is the only example I can use to try to connect with my fellow man. More than anything in life, I hope to use my experiences here ( especially the bad ones) to try to make a positive impact. So much of our lives are spend in small talk and carefully side stepping the parts of our lives and depth of our selves that could lead to a better understanding of each other and of ourselves. I am not waiting to be an old lady (although I am half way there) to be a bit eccentric. There is enough "photo shopping" in life to waste my time with it.

The issues I am working on right now are big ones. The ability to see my life through rose colored glasses is a gift I never really appreciated until it became harder. As a teen ager, all I had was my hopes for the future and my ability to not see my life when I walked in the front door of my house. At school, I was a carefree happy and breezy person. It was wonderful. Those hours were real and I got to be happy. We all have the power inside of us to have joy in our lives right now. Like a skill or muscle, it takes practice and training to keep up the ability.

This year I am on an amazing journey. As most of you know, Kurt and I have been working our way through the infertility saga for years. When we lost our twins and I was hospitalized with major complications, I lost the ability to carry a baby. Have I been bummed about that ? Amazingly, not as much as you would think. We are very blessed to have embryos left from the start of our journey (at this point that was 4 years ago !). This year we have had the amazing chance to find and get to know a very special woman who will be a surrogate for us.

I have debated as to whether I wanted to blog about this or not. It is intensely personal. It was my surrogate who asked me if I would. Our hope is that sharing this journey will inspire and touch other people's lives. I am still trying to decide where the appropriate "home" for our joint blog will be. For now, I wanted to share this:

I am grateful for the difficulties that my family has had over the last 4 years with infertility and loss. Through the hard times, I saw the beauty of my friends(. Sharon was in the hospital with my so many time, she deserved a metal.) My students, family and friends made me realize how amazingly blessed we are. We grew as a family having shared the challenges. Even the miracle of childbirth (if it happens) will be all the more beautiful for the sharing with another woman and a family that my own family has had the honor to get to know.

I am making a promise to myself to hold onto that ability to see the world through rose colored glasses. You do not see any less clearly. You simply have the joy of the moment.

"That Time of Year"

2011-12-06T08:45:00.002-05:00

This is a crazy time of year. It seems every year older I get, time speeds by at more alarming rate. I find it harder to "bother" with the decorations and hoopla when I know I will just have to take it all down again. If I didn't have kids, I would not bother at all. When I stop for a minute and remember the awe and joy I used to get around the holidays, it is a little sad that it has lost it's splendor for me. There is something deeper about it now that is more beautiful but much more evasive and subtle. If I am not careful, I will miss it. I know all of you (especially the Moms about my age) will relate when I talk about the lack of desire to get "done up" and go out. I used to love to get dressed up. In my work I don't really have to be "dressed" ever. In my younger days, I had a whole wardrobe for my weekends. Not so much now. The thought of having to get dressed up enough to go out to eat is so unappealing to me, I would rather order in.....

Taking care and "joy" in decorating ourselves or at this time of year, our houses or apartments, gets harder as we get older and busier. I have a feeling that somehow it is more important than ever for that exact reason. Our days, our years and our lives pass by faster and faster. Taking the time and effort to celebrate them while we are IN IT. Is really important. Every time I bother to get "done" (usually inspired by a friend who knows how good it is for me), I feel differently about my "self". There is a feeling of "ah yes, I remember you". Before I was a wife and a mother, I was just "me". You were just you. It was fun.

Spend some time with that "you" this holiday season. Get dressed. Decorate your living space. Light that candle that you save for a special occasion. We get to pick if our own lives and experiences are "special" enough. The years will pass by regardless. Let's choose to take the time and the energy to celebrate and mark our time here together. For our children but also for ourselves. We are worth the memories.

Life Phases

2011-11-12T06:52:00.003-05:00

I heard from one of my students who moved this week. One of reasons I love what I do is getting to really connect with amazing people. It is always hard to "lose" someone to a move. Especially since I do not teach where they are moving.

Every year when I do my "6 week challenge", I am amazed at how every single person who signs up is lonely on some level. The most beautiful and exciting person/life has "holes" in it. Areas that are lacking on some level. The feeling of connecting, being "seen" and loved are what make us happy. Knowing we are valued,making a difference in someone else's life and sharing a bond with another human being are as needed as food and water if we are to "thrive".

In all phases of life, we ache for something and mourn the loss of something else. When we are children, we want to "be older" and we want our freedom passionately. Never realizing the responsibility and stress that comes with it. We search for a "life mate" or we search for Mr/Mrs. Excitement. The journey and beauty of the search is only seen clearly in hindsight. Every one of my single friends laments their singledom. Anyone married (who is honest with themselves) will admit that there is a kind of "loss" in the mystery of "how your life will unfold" being behind you. You can love your spouse deeply and have a very satisfying marriage but the thrill of discovering someone and "falling in love" is behind you.

As a Mother of twins, I remember asking everyone "when does it get easier?". I laugh at that question now. "It" doesn't get harder or easier, it just changes. You have to physically work with a baby. Changing diapers, feeding, bathing etc. As your child grows, you have to "direct" them into doing those things themselves (hopefully not changing diapers but you get the idea). Some days, I think it was easier when I could just do it myself. The worries change and we swap one issue for another as we journey through life. I used to worry that my kids might get burned by a hot stove. Now I worry about them being burned by an unkind word.

At 44, I find it harder to have "fun". Having been blessed with quite an eventful life, there is not much I "can't wait for". I am grateful for the security and peace of my life but at the same time, I see my "unsettled" friends and see the fun and beauty of the "searching" that they can't see.

All of us move through phases of our lives. Some are clearly awesome. Some really do stink. Mostly, they have an olio of extremes and gentle waves of happiness and challenges. What a gift it would be (to ourselves) if we were able to see with clarity, while we are "IN IT", the wonder of our own lives exactly where we are right now.

Story

The Honesty of Trees

2011-11-10T08:02:00.003-05:00

I love Fall. It is a time where I feel we are the most in touch with the earth. We celebrate the trees as they transform to living fire. The smell of fall, crisp air, leaves, apples and the age old feeling of "harvest time" are some of the reasons I love this season so much.

Although I can't remember exactly how old I was when I learned this, I remember thinking it was the coolest thing I had ever: The color the leaves turn in fall are their "true" color. The colors were there all along. The chlorophyll (green) that infuses the leaves and functions to take in and convert energy, completely hides the colors.

The tree and therefore the leaves need the chlorophyll to survive and it functions as their equivalent of food. As humans, we go beyond our brother trees and wrap ourselves in needed and unneeded layers. We create some layers and steal from other animals to create some. We do this in order to survive and in some cases we do this to hide or to create our "Self" from ourselves or others.

What if we could see the colors in each other under our layers of fashion and fear? I wonder at how few people would ever have the courage to look at their own foliage let alone let the world see it.

There is an honesty to the trees that I admire. When the "season" comes to let go of the illusion and of the "youth" of Spring and Summer, it does. The beauty is astounding. There is an inspiration there for all of us if we care to see it.

Story von Holzhausen

getting back to blogging

2011-11-04T13:09:00.003-04:00

I ran into a friend/student today. One of those people who are like a bright light that shines on you when they smile. She asked me if I was ok because I hadn't blogged in a long time. It was great to know that she was reading the blog but I realized that it has been a very long time since I have reached out and connected with all of you.

This has been a tough few months for me in some ways and a wonderful stretch in others. Classes are amazing and I feel inspired and moved by all of you. I am so lucky to get to do what I do for a living. Some of you will have noticed that I have had some joint pain the last few months and have been sick to my stomach. I can't imagine anything could ever keep me from doing all the things I love but it has been a bit harder lately.

One of the reasons I have not blogged is that I wanted to have some resolution before I opened up about it. Life rarely gives us the "resolution" we want so we need to find the peace within ourselves and enjoy the journey.

Keep tuned in and I will keep up my blogging .....

Story von Holzhausen

A few of my favorite things

2011-08-11T08:21:00.006-04:00

I wanted to share a few things that I have discovered (or in some cases rediscovered) that are great:

1) Thermos Large Stainless Steel Hydration Bottle

It is a large bottle but ice will stay ice overnight even in the heat of August as I walk around. AMAZING !

2) You can take out the insoles of your shoes/cycling shoes and wash them. Often.

3) Athlete's foot powder in your shoes can help keep your feet smooth (that hard skin is often yeast/fungus based)

4) Reading is such a great way to travel, explore and live a million lives w/very little money. This year's picks:

a)George R.R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones" series. (I reread the whole thing this year because after 6 years the 5th book is finally out)

b) Cutting for Stone

c) Fall On Your Knees

5) Kat Von D tattoo concealer (it is light, does't run or show and can hide anything)

6) Benefit "Girl Meets Pearl". This stuff rubbed into your cheekbones makes your skin look perfect

7) Apifeni clothing for working out. So brilliant to put body shaping technology into workout wear. Compression helps recovery.

8) NibMor chocolate bars. They are sweetened with Agave

9) Vitamin Water Zero. The only easy to find drink sweetened with Stevia

summer love

2011-08-09T09:20:00.002-04:00

I have been so remiss about blogging this summer. I got sucked into reading the George RR Martin series again after watching the HBO series and I was an addict all over again. I am not 5% away from finishing book 5 which took 6 years to come out. UGH.

I don't know where to begin in the praise of all my students ! This year has marked a huge growth in Liquid Strength® classes in NYC and the first time that there has been a class outside of NYC. Greenwich classes are as crowded and excited as all my NYC classes are.

I hope all of you are taking advantage of the delicious food that summer has to offer. I have been making myself Soft Shell Crabs. I never knew how EASY they are. I just lightly dust them with buckwheat flour and pan sear in olive oil. It takes 5 minutes and they are unbelievable. Cherries and watermelon have been my treat and daily splurge. YUM.

It will be really interesting when September comes around and everyone comes back to class how we are all going to fit in to the room....I have a feeling that it is time to add a few more classes.

Have a wonderful rest of summer everyone and I will see you in September !!!

The Best You

2011-07-05T07:53:00.002-04:00

Standing in line at the grocery store, it is easy to get sucked into the sea of magazines that feed on tragedy, gossip and "who looks horrible in a bathing suit". These magazines stalk you when you get a haircut, see the dentist or have to wait in any room specially designed for just that purpose. The few times I am forced to get a manicure pedicure (I am not really a mani/pedi girl) for an event or job, I see women reading said "magazines" during the sacred half an hour they have managed to carve out of their busy lives that is supposed to be their "me time".

My viewpoint on "bottom feeding" is well documented here on my blog. (see "Global Spiritual Economy" post below). Nobody can feel good about themselves when they are knocking someone else down. Reading and supporting the selling of human misery is like passive bullying.

The next time the choice is there, pick up something to read that will teach you something. Working with people like I do on their "Self" and their "Self-worth", I see that all of us have talent and gifts to share with the world. Our biggest stumbling block is our "Selves". Many times as I try to help someone get to a great place physically, we discover that they are engaging in self abusive behavior. This can be in the form of feeding themselves badly, working themselves sick, a drinking or drug problem but more commonly, relentless self inflicted verbal abuse.

How can a person give and share with the world their "best self" if they can't find it ? Our lives are comprised of little decisions that we make every day. Your "Best You" is already there. Perfect , peaceful and patient. It is just waiting for you to stop chasing your tail and repeating the cycles of obsession and insecurity. Just let it go and decide that are going to be your own biggest fan and supporter.

Happiness attracts happiness. Joy radiates and spreads. Decide that you will be a a force of good in the world. Start by being a force of good in your own life and with the ultimate kindness towards your "self".

Story von Holzhausen

Story

The"fake it till you own it" trick

2011-06-08T06:21:00.003-04:00

It is amazing how much of our lives and happiness is based on how we perceive. As I get older, I am less ticklish. I also am not afraid of needles or pain. Perhaps Liquid Strength has something to do with it, but I have learned to have a lot more "say" about how my body perceives stimuli. Even the emotional kind.

We get to choose how we experience our lives, our selves and the people around us. "Truth is the daughter of time" is my favorite quote. It allows me to sit back and let myself and those around me "figure it out". Justice, honesty and good will reveal themselves with time. False fronts will slip away and show their cracks.

In my work, I get to have intense personal connections with such a wide range of people. Even the physical boundaries of our society are not relevant in what I do. I can't count how many times in a day I reach out and put my hands on my students/clients bodies and move them into position. The places I normally touch would be beyond inappropriate in any other setting.

Perception forms our "truth". That truth will be different when viewed through someone else's eyes. Insecurity, fear and confidence in most adults are based in their perceptions of themselves, their bodies and their belief system of how they themselves are perceived. Some of the most beautiful people I know, are deeply insecure. The attention and pressure that they feel can be daunting. Many of my more famous clients suffer the most from this pressure. What I have noticed is that they have a kind of "persona" that they slip on when viewed by the "public". This persona is part protection, part costume and only partially based on reality.

The ability to project the image they wish the world to see is a gift. It allows them to "be" that image in many ways. I call this the"fake it till you own it" trick. Our posture, our aura and our "presence" all send a message to the world. More importantly, they send a message to us. The more we feel that we are something special and "worthy", the more we become just that.

Vanity and ego are the exact opposite of true confidence. They are "needy". A person who believes in their worth, does not need the attention of everyone around them. The irony is that such a person will get just that.

My son asked me while back, "Mommy, what is it to be cool?". That gave me pause. I had to think about it a while. Sometimes it seems (through our teenage perception) that "cool" can mean aloof, apathetic or even mean. What I told him is this "being cool is when you don't need anyone else to think you are cool, because YOU think you are".

We all have so much to give. There are opportunities for kindness and generosity throughout our day. The better we feel about ourselves and the less time and energy we waste on insecurity, the more we have to give to the world. Just like training our bodies, we can train our minds. We can begin to change the dialogue in our brains from "I am so fat/old/ugly/stupid" to "I perfectly embody myself". "I have so much to give the world". "There is so much power within me". We can all "Fake it till we own it". There is a grain of truth in nearly every statement. Nurturing the grains of truth that we want to believe and to be, is the most important job we have. We all have the power to change ourselves, our lives and the world. All we need to do is begin.

Story von Holzhausen

Rediscovery

2011-05-24T07:41:00.002-04:00

Most of us like our routines. We get into our "grooves" and like it there. The day begins with our morning ritual and stretches out from one to the next in the patterns of our days. It is human nature to crave routine. From the time we are babies, it helps us function.

The downside to these routines is that they make our comfort zone very rigid. We begin to cease having to think or adjust ourselves to new stimuli. There was a study this year that showed that simply changing our route to work every day can help us keep our brains healthy. Some routines I find myself trying to get into. A routine of flossing I have done but can't seem to motivate myself to master one for my skin.

This year I have made a conscious effort to form some routines (like organization and household chores) while losing the routines that are not useful to my daily life. There is a real challenge to keep our passion and our "edge" with things that are so common to us that we cease to see them. Most of us have a job we have done for many years. We are likely good at or in this economy, we wouldn't have it anymore. When we began this job, we likely had a passion for breathing new life into it and doing it better than anyone ever did. I find with age, many people are threatened by new ideas or anything that may question how we do things. That is the very attitude that will limit us and "age" us. The moment we think we know it all, is the moment we cease to get better.

I have been teaching indoor cycling for 17 years. This year I have rediscovered it. Not an easy feat but a wonderful thing to have happen. Liquid Strength is a constantly evolving entity. That is why it is so special. The road will never end in a destination but continue on a journey leading us to a better place both physically and mentally/emotionally. Let's try to take that growth into our lives and rediscover how fun and challenging our lives are.

Story von Holzhausen

beautiful

2011-05-11T06:25:00.002-04:00

I love that word. Beautiful. The weather right now is just that and what a difference in our lives it makes. The funny thing about beauty is that you really can't define it. It means something different to everyone. Beauty can be a superficial thing or the deepest and most profound of praise. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is as beauty does. There are endless cliches I could quote but I will spare you.

When it comes to people, I have learned that beauty (the superficial kind) can give you an advantage or a handicap. It seems that we all find people who are confident the most attractive. In many cases, just thinking you are "gorgeous' is enough to convince everyone around you of that fact.

It is amazing how much power we can give to the elusive quest for beauty. We cannot even see ourselves unless we choose to look in a mirror but yet our day can be ruined if we don't like what we "see". We could just "opt out" of the whole thing and just not look. The reality is that it would make very little difference, I mean, we can FEEL it if our bodies are uncomfortable or (in my case anyway) our noses are too big to fit in a glass when we drink but otherwise, as long as everything is working properly, why should care ? You sure as heck don't see any other animals worrying about such a silly thing. Yet for many people, a big part of their self worth comes from how they are perceived by others. Many times by strangers.

What if everyone chose to believe themselves to be "beautiful"? What if we were sure that everyone who saw us thought we were a perfect 10 ? How would our lives change? The reality is that they wouldn't very much. We would either love our jobs or not, be lonely or not and be happy or not. All that really matters is what YOU think of yourself. Yours is the only opinion you hear about all day long.

In my younger years, it mattered so much to me that everyone "like" me. I find as I get older, it really isn't about me. As long as I do the best I can to be good and do good, the lens with which the world will view me, isn't mine. Each person's lens will be clouded by past experiences, their own fears and insecurities and personal taste. It is really "none of my business" what anyone thinks of me. The important people in our lives are of course are a different matter but anyone walking down the street, if they notice us at all (and as we get older we very happily realize that everyone is far too busy with their own baggage to notice US), it is none of our business.

A very clear way to find happiness is to live our lives so that we like the person we are. The less we need validation from others, and the less time and energy we waste seeking it, the more we have to give. I find that training hard and gaining strength both physically and mentally, I earn my own respect. I can see from watching all of you, that you earn yours too. The most beautiful people I know are those who seem to have peace within themselves. They have such a strong base in their sense of "self" that they are not egocentric or boastful (these are hallmarks of insecurity). They are truly interested in learning / growing and excited for the success, talent and joy of others.

Every one of is responsible for the health and strength of our bodies. We are also responsible for the maintenance of our souls and minds. The more we feed ourselves and the stronger we get, the more we have to offer the world.

Where is spring ?

2011-03-25T06:03:00.003-04:00

The weather is a reminder of just how much we don't control our world. As much as we think we do, the reality is that much of our lives hinge on fate/god/karma whatever it is you believe in. That can be a scary thought or a beautiful one. I am reading an amazing book called "Cutting For Stone" right now. It is set in Ethiopia but the characters are Indian. The god Shiva is the god of destruction. As Americans, we have a hard time understanding how a god that causes destruction could ever be good. If you think about it, the end of anything is the beginning of something else. When our lives change, we learn. With every turn of the road , we take in different scenery and are forced to take stock of our surroundings and even our own footfall. (If you have never seen the movie "Outsourced", it is a great film and shows with great humor exactly what I mean)

Looking back at my own life, I am grateful for the hardest times. The most difficult roads led me (even if the journey was agony at the time) to exactly the place I was supposed to be. That being said, I am grateful that I did not see the hard times coming. Not knowing exactly what will happen is a gift. It allows up to hope and dream. Perhaps the important thing is that we walk on our road with conviction and do our best to leave the people that we pass better for having crossed our paths.

Striving to better ourselves, whatever that means to you, is a journey too. You will have legs on your journey that don't feel "successful" to you. I truly believe that they are exactly the experience that you were meant to have. The secret is allowing yourself to "own" your limits and failures and learn from them. I like to think about the tough times in my life like muscle soreness. When I heal from it, I am going to be that much stronger.

Story von Holzhausen

5 weeks left

2011-03-21T08:46:00.000-04:00

Hello all, I "left you all alone" over the weekend. After the first 3 days, one of 3 things happened:

1) You pretty much stuck to the three days because it was working and not as hard as you thought it would be.

2) You decided to add in some foods in and through some trial and error, feel ok about how it is going.

3) You intended to stay on the basic 3 day plan but to add some foods in and slipped off the deep end like it was a sheet of ice.

No matter which scenario fits, only 1 week has gone by and we have 5 left.

Sometimes, time is the hardest part of making change. We have to wait until the small shifts gather enough momentum to yield results we can feel and see. I would like to give some ground rules for everyone to follow. Some are specific to goals and some are for everyone.

For everyone:

1)Everyone should be doing 2xs of cardio a week and 2xs of strength training during this challenge. This can be power walking (intervals are best) or classes for cardio and push ups, walking lunges, weights or classes for strength training. Liquid Strength counts as one of each.

2) Doing your journaling and stretching/meditation daily (especially important to do during the time you normally eat badly to replace the behavior)

3) Read the blog, check into the facebook page or reach out to your teammates. Daily communication is really important.

4) Drink water with lemon in the morning and before dinner.

If your goal is weight loss:

1) exercise (even gentle)

2)Strength training that leaves you sore (especially larger muscle groups like glutes) during those twice weekly sessions.

3)Make dates with your teammates, trainers, DVDs etc. to work out.

4)Decide and plan for your eating plan.

If your goal is inner related (even if you wouldn't mind dropping a few pounds too)

1) Focus your journaling on what you are experiencing or not experiencing in your day. Watch for the emotional triggers that bring about the desire to self sabotage. What makes you feel good/bad about yourself during your day.

2) Take a very practical look at your day. Are there ways to make your life simpler ? Could you ask for help. Even hire a college student to do tasks that would allow you to have better quality attention on what is really important?

3) Write down what changes you would like to make and slowly push the boundaries around you towards a place that is healthier for you.

4) Take some time to focus on your belief system. (this can mean religion, philosophy, friendships etc.). What do you truly believe in ? What are you passionate about? If you never had to work again, what you choose to do? These are very important questions. The more closely we can align our lives up with what we love and what we believe we are supposed to be doing, the happier we are.

Answer these questions:

1) I feel best about myself when I am doing ________

2) I admire _______ in my friends.

3) I have always wanted to __________

4) I wish I could _________

5) I think I am really good at _________

Let yourself answer these unedited and then go back and read them. What can learn about the life you would like to have. One of the hardest challenges is finding the answers to these questions. Maybe you have no idea what you are passionate about. To be interesting, even to ourselves, we have to have passion about what we do in our lives. Finding that passion and fostering it's growth is perhaps the most important thing we can do in our lives.

I would love to hear what all of you do that you are passionate about. You can email the group or post on the facebook page etc. I will go first:

1)My children, dogs and friends

2)making a difference in women's lives and how they feel about themselves

3) reading and crossword puzzles

4) learning and curiosity

With 5 weeks left, we can really do so much

Story von Holzhausen

"Global Spiritual Economy"

2011-03-17T08:26:00.004-04:00

As we watch Japan in the aftermath of this tragedy and send our thoughts out to all the people suffering, conversations in our house have been enlightening. My son (10) asked me "Mommy, how do you survive a Tsunami?". I had no answer for him. Some things are too big and hit too fast to have a plan for. I asked Kurt (he is in finance and I am learning that there is a beauty and an art to the web and movements of the economy) how this will effect Japan's economy and how it will effect the world. I was an Art Major (health major). I loved studying art history. The art of any given period reflects the "pulse" of the time and people it was created around. It expresses the politics, sociology and social trends, giving a much fuller understanding of the culture it was created in. Money and finance has never been of any interest to me. I am learning that (and this is amazing to me) the "global economy" is a lot like art. If you watch the history and movement of "the money" in the world, you will see the history of almost every major discovery and development of man kind.

When I asked Kurt if the tragedy in Japan will change the economy here, the answer was a beautiful one. He said "Many people will imagine that was is bad for someone else must be good for us but it doesn't work like that. It is a global economy. It is like we are a big woven structure and all the countries of the world are threads that interlock. What is bad for one is bad for all. The whole structure is damaged and comes down."

This "global economy" is beautiful to me when I think about it like that. I can see that there is a "spiritual global economy". Every one of us is a string that is woven into the web of mankind. The trend towards "green" and "giving" that is happening in our country and world is elevating all of us. Unfortunately, on the other side of the balancing scale, we have tabloids, hacking, scams, gossip and celebrity news.

No single person can change the world but every single person can help keep the part of that weave above their heads elevated. By living an authentic life and giving what you can when you can, you help keep that interlocking web over our heads, up. Sometimes just saying hello and looking someone in the eye is a "gift". There a million little ways to do good built into our days. Every minute we make decisions of what our behavior, actions and thoughts will be. We teach our children by how we speak to taxi drivers and if we even notice the person bagging our groceries. I truly believe that our own happiness is directly connected to our behavior towards others. Karma isn't something that is off in the distance like some big abacus counting out the good and bad of our lives. Karma is here and now. We live in joy or misery we express in our words and deeds.

If you imagine that "global spiritual economy" as a web like a tent that keep us safe, we keep that web up by our deeds, thoughts and intentions. When tragedy strikes (and it will) and that tent comes crashing down on our heads, we either push it back up or we are entangled in it and fall.

On a very small scale, we do this every day. How we judge others and ourselves. When we feel envy towards others and misery towards ourselves, we are lost and tangled in that web. How can we feel joy, acceptance and love for ourselves unless we can feel it towards everyone. There is no "competition". We are not kicking and crawling over each other to reach some prize. We are a team. We pull each other up. We stand on each other's shoulders and give each other a boost. If we don't all get there (wherever "there" is), nobody does.

If I could wave a magic wand and give you a perfect body, would you be happy? Do you want everyone around you to be jealous of you ? If we view our lives as a competition, we cannot ever "win". There is no joy in isolation and friction with the people around us. I believe that our physical beings are in many ways a reflection of who we are.

In this challenge, the biggest "challenge" is to reject the damaging pattern, that our culture seems to ferment, pitting one woman against another. (Obviously men too but women are far worse) We need to understand that our fibers are woven together. What uplifts one, uplifts us all. If you see someone (especially someone who has not been very nice to you) who has suddenly lost weight, married a great guy, been promoted or has a killer outfit, the hardwiring reaction is to be jealous and resentful. I get that. Ask yourself though, after you see that person and have that reaction, do you feel good about yourself ? No. You feel like a black cloud is following you and you feel "yucky" about the whole thing. If we can turn that around and understand that joy and "good" for one is good for all, you can change your life. This is not easy. Especially if you are in a place in your life that you are not happy. I believe without question that this is the secret of happiness though. To train yourself to truly feel joy for others. To not have it be "not about you", will free you. The web above your head will be lifted and you will be able to breath. Just like training a muscle, this will take some work and some pain may be involved. With time, you will get to actually enjoy it and it will get easier.

To view yourself without judgement and with joy, you must view all people that way. To have joy in your life you have to take joy in others. It is so simple and so logical. We have among us in the challenge some amazing women. Last night as I sat alone (a rare and splendid anomoly) watching Law and Order (my guilty pleasure), when Deb appeared. She was there on my television looking sultry and beautiful. I jumped in my chair. She was so impressive. I had a decision right then. I could be either A)threatened and jealous or B)really proud and happy for her. I chose the later. I emailed her right away. I felt great about seeing her and thinking she was so beautiful. The very opposite thing would have happened had I chosen option A. Within the safety net of our group, it is easier to feel "on each other's sides". Try to extend this beyond to the (this is real hard part) people who don't extend it for you.

I was talking to a model in our group. She is stunning. She was saying how hard it is around people from her home town. They treat her differently. She wonders if she has changed. Almost certainly, it is not "about her". The resentment and jealousy she must bring out in others must be terrible. She can feel it like a spider web she has walked through. Subtle and invisible put covering her. She is punished for her beauty through not fault of her own. She can't change this reaction. We can all learn from it though. How isolating and sad that her true beauty is wasted. Her friendship thrown away, leaving her lonely and sad and these "friends" feeling miserable for sure and certainly no better about themselves.

In my life, just like yours, there are people who are most certainly "not on my side". It is a struggle to be on theirs. That is what I need to be though. I can only change my behavior, thoughts and deeds. Sometimes, you fight that battle alone. To elevate and "love" someone who is doing their best to drag that net above your head down, is really hard. It takes constant training and exercise to stay strong enough to keep pushing it up.

I support you in this noble and exhausting "dance". Together we support each other. The real power of this challenge comes from that.

Story von Holzhausen

A Day 3 Note from Erika

2011-03-16T10:26:00.002-04:00

Hello Again Challengers!

Now that everyone’s on their way and has nearly completed the first three days, I have a little assignment for you.

Please take a look at your to-do list for this week. If you don’t have one, take a few minutes to write down some things you would like to accomplish over the coming days. This can be related to your Six Week Challenge or not; the choice is yours.

After you write your items, take a few minutes to assess why you’re doing each thing on the list. For example, if you’ve written “I have to visit Aunt Pat,” and you’re not really all that crazy about Aunt Pat, ask yourself why you’re going to visit her.

Let’s tease this idea out a bit more. If your logic for what you’re about to do is something like, “Aunt Pat will be mad if I don’t visit,” or “My mom will be mad if I don’t visit Aunt Pat,” then there’s a little bit more going on in your story.

I’m asking you to look at your choices here and oh yes, you have many more choices than you’re aware of at this juncture. You make choices every day—we all do. Some choices will feel good—as in eating well and exercising. Other choices, like forcing yourself to visit Aunt Pat out of obligation or guilt, will feel, well, pretty crappy. But it’s still your choice.

So when you look at your list and think about why the item is even there, notice where you’ve internalized invisible words like “I have to” and “I should.” The reflexive use of these phrases is very common for us all and guess what? It tells us we have no choice, even when we do. It makes us feel victimized in our lives.

If this column gives you a little charge, that’s a small sign that something here resonates with you. Spend some time exploring your “have to’s” and your “should’s" on your lists. They’ve got some pretty important messages for you, about you.

Please don’t hesitate to email me directly if you have a question. I’m here to help and as always, I’m cheering you on!:)

Day 3 of our 3 day "kick off"

2011-03-16T07:01:00.003-04:00

So many amazing emails. It is vital that any communication I have with you is private. No emails will never be shared without your permission. That being said, if I shared all of the communication here you would all be so riveted to your computer you would get no work done. The group of people doing this challenge are so impressive on so many levels that I am honored to be a part of it.

We live in a strange place. Sharon told me a story that summed it up quite nicely. She was in the elevator in Fairway (usually a zoo at all hours with very aggressive crowded customers). The store was nearly empty. Another woman got on the elevator and commented how nice it was to have the store so empty. Sharon said (such a classic line)"It's funny, we live in a crowded city full of people and we spend all of our time trying to get away from them". The exact words may have been different but the meaning was the same. A famous quote from Hopper (the artist who did the painting of the diner late at night) is "If you ever want to be completely alone, move to NYC".

Coming from a small town, I can tell you that you can live anywhere and feel this way. In a small town, everyone knows you. You walk out of your house, go to the mall or grocery store and others will hear about it. Good or bad things happen and people actually care (sometimes in a nice way but many times not in a good way). We seem to thrive on gossip and "reality tv". To watch as other's lives fall apart. Somehow this validates us that our lives are "better than that".

In NYC, nobody cares if your wearing your pajamas or if your hair is dirty. They don't know you and will never see you again. Once (very funny story) many years ago when I was teaching so much I couldn't eat enough or stay awake, I fell asleep eating a balance bar. I walked out of my apartment and glanced at myself as I left. The mirror was on the wall so I saw my left side. I sat reading in a coffee shop because at that time, it was my only company and I liked to be around other people in the morning. Everyone kept staring at me. We all know that living in NYC, this is unusual. Tourists may stare but we do not. When I walked back into my apartment, the mirror showed me my right side. I had part of said balance bar stuck in my ear and chocolate smeared over half my face. I laughed so hard. I would never see those people again and they had no idea who I was. In my home town, I would have been horrified. There is good and bad to both. In NYC, we have our privacy. We are not "big frogs in a little pond". The downside is when anyone asks us "how are you?", They really don't care.

The friendships and bonds we are forming here are breaking the "cubicals" we live in that isolate us from ourselves and each other here in NYC (and everywhere) . I can hardly wait to get everyone together !! We have decided (almost everyone) that thurs is better than wed (tonight). Next week we will be organizing a "night out" on wed.

If you have not had a perfect 3 days, please do not let it stop you from moving forward. I believe that getting three days under your belt when you are trying to change behavior really makes a difference. Sometimes it can take a few more days than three to get those days in. I am feeling my sinuses are better and my sleep is better. Later today I will blogging about next steps and some questions I would like you to consider while you decide what the next phase of the 6 week challenge will be or if you want to stay in this phase for a little longer.

Taking the time at night to write in your journals, stretch and meditate (I have also added cleaning up my apartment so I feel organized and wake up to a clean apt instead of watching any tv) at night should be just as important as changing your eating habits. We are trying to do behavior modification and new habits must replace old ones.

On the facebook page, I would love for you all to add some positive things you are going to try to add to your routine instead of snacking. Maybe Erika can chime in here and lead us with some self searching to better clarify our path. She is offering a special price to all of you for personal life coaching and by reading some of your responses, I believe many of you would gain more from a life coach than a trainer. The body is a reflection of the "self" and both need to be trained and worked on.

We would all love to hear how you feel today. What differences do you notice from eating this way? Good or bad. I have heard from many of you but everyone would love to hear all that I have been lucky enough to....

Day Two

2011-03-15T06:27:00.002-04:00

I am hoping that we are still on track. Hearing from so many of you has been huge. The Facebook page and emails between teams have made the difference between all of your good intentions and the ability to really make changes in your lives.

I would love for all of you to post your recipes (we heard of some great ones yesterday on the email chains but for people outside your team, they missed them). Many of you will have noticed that I always teach with tissue next to my water bottle. I have a life long struggle with sinus issues. I have cleared my throat all my life and I have come to understand that it may be caused by "silent reflux" (eating at night causes acid to back up into your sinus and inflames and irritates them) or allergies or likely, both. One of my goals is to cease eating 2 hours before bed. This means a bigger lunch so my calories will remain constant but will make a difference in the quality of sleep for me and Kurt (I will snore less !!). Likely many of you would also benefit from this shif

If I were to program the food I ate yesterday into a nutritional program, I would likely have surpassed my RDAs on every vitamin and mineral. (not to mention all the flavanoids and antioxidants). For the same calorie consumption (I am trying to keep the same calorie base), the nutrients in all those fruits and vegetables are impressive. The same is true for you.

During these three days, the actual volume of food that you are eating should be much more than you are used to. You should be eating a wide array of colors on your plates. (Ironically, Sharon is doing a big campaign for just this. She was in Philly yesterday on their local Today Show). Every color indicates a different vitamin. She will likely chime in on this later.

Just as important as what you are eating right now is the addition of journalling and meditation (or quiet stretching) into your lives. I have decided to try to get my "splits" back by the end of this challenge.

Erika has offered a special for the 6 week challengers and I think for some of you this is perhaps the most important part of the challenge. Hopefully, she will also be writing a little guidance on what we can specifically be doing with our journalling to get the most out of it.The work on your life and on what is missing or not working is what will make true changes in YOU. Some of you have lost the weight before and found that "nothing had changed" and you gained it back. Many times, weight gain is a symptom only and we have to reach beyond the symptom into the real problem to change our lives. The biggest reason I believe Liquid Strength works, is the mind/body connection. When we conciously focus on finding the joy in our bodies and spend time "inside our bodies", actually listening, we change our relationship with our bodies and that is what changes our bodies.

It is hard to believe that tomorrow night will be the end of this "3 day cleanse/kick off". I would love for anyone who thinks they will make the get together (7-9:00 pm) to bring some simple food that helped them get through these days. This is not obligatory by any stretch but it would be fun.

Make sure you make it to classes this week. The group support is perhaps the most important aspect of all of this. There have been many studies into life longevity and illness and their connection to "community" and strong social ties. Living in NYC, we live side by side and painfully isolated at the same time.

Today, I would like for all of you to write something on the Facebook page. A recipe, an idea, an update. Some thought for the day to share, comment or even a question. I have my string tied around my right wrist and I am proud and excited for all of you and grateful for the gifts you will share.

Ongoing support through these 3 days

2011-03-13T10:38:00.002-04:00

Hello 6 week challengers. We have added a few more to our ranks (some of you have never met but you have heard about this because someone who cares about you is excited about this and told you about it).

I will be emailing specific things to teams and a couple of emails that I think all of us need. I wanted to share a funny quote (Deb sent it this week)

"I don't fail, I discover what doesn't work"

We all have done that very successfully. Now we find what does work. The smallest group of challengers this year is the group that is mostly concerned with weight loss. It has been an amazing experience to get to know all of you and realize that we may think it's "just me" but all of us feel and experience unbelievably similar things. I am going to forward to everyone an article that Emily sent me as we started this challenge. It is about "The Secret of loneliness".

Please follow Sharon and my twitter accounts as that is where it is easiest for us to keep the support/feedback and ideas coming. Please use the facebook page to ask questions (many of you have emailed me the same questions and most likely if you ask it, someone else wants to know too). I also want to hear your voices, humor, struggles as it unites us.

It all starts tomorrow so get out there today and shop (the MOST important thing) and plan ahead and get excited about doing this amazing thing for yourself and spending time with such an amazingly talented and special group of people.!!!!

Sharon Richter dietician and superstar gives us our 3 day kick off

2011-03-12T10:19:00.004-05:00

The below is from Sharon. She and I really wanted this to be about "What you can eat and what you are DOING for your body" and not a "don't eat" list. If you think about it, carbs from fruits and vegetables are full of flavanoids, vitamins and trace elements that grains and oats and breads just don't have. The variety of colors and nutrients offered are amazing for us. It is really easy to eat a lot of calories from other carb sources and be lacking in a lot of nutrients. Our 3 day kick off program is going to up our nutritional intake quality and we are going to have to eat a LOT of food !!! You may well be eating more than you usually do and that is great. I have some added rules for you on this 3 day plan as well:

1) Eat a food you have never had before once a day (think purple kale, starfruit, or yellow kiwi)

2) Get a full 8 hours sleep. This will be possible because I want everyone to watch no more than a half an hour of tv a day.

3) 10 minutes (minimum) of stretching, meditation or focused breathing in absolute quiet. Mary (one of our challengers) who is a professional classic musician and busy Mom, has some guided meditations of varying lengths that she will gladly share so perhaps she can give us some links via email or facebook.

4) Daily exercise of some sort.

5) Daily "real" conversations with our team mates or close friends. You need to connect.

6) Taking the time to brush and floss and take good care of your skin, nails etc. I find as a Mom, I do not do any of this. I am not "well groomed" and don't dress well or look "together". It is not really my "thing" but for these 3 days, I am changing my tune. You know that "put your oxygen mask on first before assisting other people" thing, well it all starts here.

7) Journal (can be 2 sentences) about this experience. Your thoughts, struggles, what you learn, etc. Sometimes you can learn very funny or insightful things only as your hand is writing them.

From email to blog, the structure of Sharon's writing will be wrong so it is a good idea to print out the email but I wanted to post it anyway so that anyone who is not "officially registered" can still follow along.

 Three days to relearn what food TASTES like. The goal is not to stuff  oneself but start tuning in to what food taste like, what if feels like  to be hungry and thirsty, feeling satisfied and not stuffed. Think of  your stomach as the size of your fist. You should only eat to fill it,  not stretch it, breakdown that food and refill about 3 hours later.  Start your day with a large glass of water with tons of lemon in it.  Each of your 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner should consist  of about 5 oz protein 2 cups of vegetables and 2 fat (1 TBSP oil, 1/4  avocado, 2 TBSP seeds). Your snacks can be fruit, nuts, nut butters,  seeds, 3 oz protein... Keep a journal for the 3 days of what you ate,  when, how you felt, etc. Don't obsess over it, rather explore flavors,  taste, what non food social exchangement can you replace with that time  obsessing over food. Here is an example of a day:   Breakfast smoothie: 1 scoop hemp protein, 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 cup  blackberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 TBSP ground or milled flax seeds   Snack Greens juice   Lunch- 5 oz grilled chicken chopped over 1 cup arugula, artichoke  hearts, 1/4 avocado, 1 TBSP pumpkin seeds, 1 TBSP olive oil   Snack- Papaya with lime squeeze on top   Dinner- 6 oz salmon, 1cup roasted brussel sprouts, 1 c spinach sauteed in 1  TBSP oil and garlic   Dessert- pear with almond butter   Fruits Permitted Apples  Apricots  Blackberries  Blueberries  Cantaloupe  Cherries  Coconut  Figs  Huckleberries  Kiwi  Kumquat     Loganberries  Mangoes  Melons  Mulberries  Nectarines  Papayas  Peaches  Pears  Plums  Raspberries   Vegetables Artichoke  Arugula  Asparagus  Avocado  Bamboo shoots  Beet & beet greens  Bok Choy  Broccoflower  Broccoli  Brussel sprouts  Cabbage  Carrots  Cauliflower  Celery  Celery root (celeriac)  Chives  Cucumber  Dandelion greens  Endive  Jicama  Kale  Kohlrabi  Leeks  Mushrooms: all  Onions  Pak choi  Okra  Red leaf chicory  Sea vegetables/seaweed:  kelp, dulse, hijiki, arame,  wakame  Radishes  Rutabaga  Snow peas  Spinach  Sprouts: all  Squash: winter & summer  Swiss chard  Turnip  Watercress  Zucchini    Protein  free-range chicken turkey  Lamb  Buffalo  Wild game: venison, quail,  pheasant, rabbit  Cold water ocean fish: wild  pacific salmon, ocean char,  cod, halibut, haddock, sole,  pollack, tuna, stripped bass  Water-packed canned tuna  (without added soy protein)  Sardines  Anchovies    Protein powder: hemp, brown rice or pea   Nuts  Almonds  Cashews  Flax seeds  Hazelnuts (filberts)  Pecans  Poppy seeds  Pumpkin seeds  Sesame seeds  Sunflower seeds  Walnuts  Hemp seeds  Note: All of the above can be consumed as butters and spreads (tahini,  almond butter, etc).  Nuts and  seeds are best consumed raw (not roasted) and unsalted.     Oil  Almond  Flax seed  Coconut (best for cooking at  high temperatures)  Olive  Pumpkin  Safflower  Sesame  Sunflower  Walnut  Hazelnut  Truffle  Note: Please make sure oils are unrefined, extra virgin, non-gmo,  organic, cold-pressed, etc.    Vinegar  Apple cider  Balsamic  Red wine  Rice  Tarragon  Ume plum      Dairy substitutes  Almond milk (unsweetened)  Hemp milk (unsweetened)  Hazelnut milk (unsweetened)  Coconut milk or water  Rice (whole grain, brown rice)  *rice milk is the most processed  of the dairy substitutes and  often sweetened.  Other dairy  substitutes preferred.    Other Beverages  Teas: herbal, white, green water vegetable juices- cold pressed preferred   Spices  Allspice  Anise  Basil  Bay leaf  Caraway seeds  Cardamom  Celery seeds  Cinnamon  Clove  Coriander  Cumin  Dandelion  Dill  Dry mustard  Fennel  Garlic  Ginger  Mint  Nutmeg  Oregano  Parsley  Saffron  Sage  Salt-free herbal blends  Savory  Sea salt  Tarragon  Thyme  Turmeric  Vanilla extract (pure)  Raw cacao   Mustard (made with apple cider  vinegar) Wheat free tamari              Sharon Richter www.sharonrichter.com You only have one body. Treat it with respect. ™

teams...

2011-03-09T05:53:00.005-05:00

I am sitting here at 5:53 with papers strewn all around me. Each of you have a page in my 3 ring binder with notes and key words/goals on it. I have matched you up in pairs and in teams for a few reasons:

1) Your time flexibility

2) goals

3) some common interest

4) something you can learn or will like about each other.

5) something I feel this person/group will add to you or your life.

I have held back on pairing myself up because there are a few "groups" that I fit into and will be checking in on.

The teams are as follows:

"Designing Mommies":

Grace

Gina

Sarah

Caroline

Rumena

"Meet me at the gym"

Noura

Dana

Iris

Martine

Christine

"The balancing act"

Tina

Deb

Mary

Nicole

Jazz

"Fresh air crew"

Ann

Suzanne

Yvonne

Katina

"lights, camera, raw"

Mimi

Rachel

Alison

"Manhattan Superstars "

Marie

Allison

Sharon

Florina

Kathleen

Joanne

"If I had a cape, I'd be a superhero"

Susan

Teri

Emily *(I would like this team to "captained" by Scott (instructor) and would love

Noreen for you guys to meet up and decide about partnerships/calling tree etc)

Elizabeth

Barbara

Scott

Please let me know if I have somehow missed someone.

We start Monday March 14th. As we "Spring ahead" we spring ahead. These season is historically a powerful one, reaching way back from pagan times through to now. I believe that there is an energy that we can all harness to guide us on this journey.

You have agreed to be a part of this and I want you to do this for yourselves and for all of the people in your life. Some rules are flexible and some are not. More than any other year, I plan on being involved and will be calling, emailing and holding you accountable to yourselves and each other. The more you reach out to your team, the more you can change your life. All of us want better friendships and to be connected to each other. We are all guilty of "being too busy" and avoiding the communication that would make that possible. Instead, we watch television, eat, read magazines, do crossword puzzles etc. This is only SIX weeks out of your lives. All of your personal details are private and I will never share them so I will use "me" (and a little bit of all of you too) as an example of what this "challenge" is about.

The First 3 days:

This is the only part of the challenge that is strict regarding food. We are doing these 3 days to cleanse our bodies of: toxins ,artificial sweeteners, pesticides, preservatives, habits, emotional connection to food, patterns and all of our "norms". This is a time that we get our own attention and say to ourselves "I am doing something big and important here". "I am taking really good care of me and loving myself as much as I love everyone else in my life". It is vital that we get excited about these 3 days. You will feel fed, energized and healthy.

*If you blow off this phase, please let me know and I will start a new team for "alternate route 6 week challenge"

This is what we are doing:

1) We are eating (all organic when possible):

a) fruits and vegetables and lean fish, chicken, tofu, turkey or eggs.

b) raw nuts (handfuls as snacks or dessert), plain yogurt/skim milk (optional) ONLY.

c) lemon/lime and herbs as seasonings.

You can eat all you want to (I encourage you to eat a ton in fact. Especially of leafy multi colored greens and veggies). You can use Olive oil after cooking (raw) and cook with safflower oil (handles heat better) or another similar type of oil.

You cannot have:

Anything processed

added salt/sugar or artificial sweeteners

During these 3 days all of us are:

1) journaling daily

2) meditating (or sitting quietly breathing deeply)/stretching for a minimum of 5 minutes a day.

3) reaching out to our team/partner. Email, text or call.

I want all of us to take these 3 days very seriously. The rest of the 6 weeks will take care of themselves but these first 3 days will be what allows us to change ourselves and our lives.

There will be "meet ups" with some fun stuff. Games, laughter, advice from specialists etc. I will be blogging/twittering (sign up to follow liquidstrength) daily.

I will be emailing your "teams" so you can all have each other's email addresses. I will not share phone numbers. It is your choice what means of contact you share but I hope that you are open to really getting involved.

I would like to have a "kick off" gathering (for anyone who would like to come) at my apartment. Drop me an email and let me know if that would interest you. Also let me know if anything has changed with your ability to do the "6 week challenge". I am excited about this.

Life Coaching and the Six-Week Challenge

2011-03-08T09:13:00.003-05:00

Hello to all you Six Week Challengers!

My name is Erika Isler and it's so nice to meet you all! You’re embarking on a wonderful journey in this Liquid Strength Six Week Challenge and I'm thrilled to be a supportive part of your team. As we begin this process, I believe it’s critical at this juncture to take some time to look deeply at your thinking as you begin.

I’m going to urge you to take a few minutes to reflect on and write more about the goals you’ve highlighted for yourself. I believe that when things swirl around in your brain all the time, it only adds to the confusion of figuring out what you want. So be really clear with these and commit them to paper.

Here’s a first step for you and you can put this right in your binder: List four things you really want. I want you to focus on the things you think about most often—the ones that you believe would “complete” you. If you’ve already buddied up with someone, it may be interesting (to the level that you’re each comfortable) to share these desires. I think that sharing will help underscore my next point.

Okay, now that you’ve made your list, take a minute and imagine you already have each item on that list, whether it’s a 35-pound weight loss, a killer body, three million dollars in the bank or a partner that has all of the preceding and more. So the two lists will look something like this:

Thing:

After I have it, the sensation I’ll feel is:

Now here’s what’s interesting about this. Regardless of the specific items on everyone’s lists, feeling states are usually universal and predictable. People want security, love, acceptance, joy and inner peace. Since most of us are primed to seek outside approval, we confuse these feeling states as things we get from others or from circumstances in our lives. Here’s how those kinds of inner monologues often look:

“If I lose 20 pounds, I’d have lots more confidence.”

“If my mom wasn’t so critical, I’d be happy.”

It’s important to get really clear on what you’re telling yourself what you need for happiness. What thoughts are looping about your successes? What are you already foretelling about any potential setbacks?

Can you start this challenge as though every goal you’ve highlighted has already been met and then notice how you’re real self can step up to the plate?

I’ll be stopping back regularly to see what’s happening with you all and to see what questions might have arisen through this process. I’m excited for your successes and I’ll be cheering you on through every step!

If you’d like to read more about my work and are interested in more information about a special offering for Liquid Strength Six Week Challenge participants, please stop by the programs page at erikaisler.com.

Finding your "true" goal

2011-03-07T07:21:00.004-05:00

Ok, We have more than 30 amazing people doing our 6 week challenge. We have designers, PR people, bankers, models, moms, life coaches, photographers etc. Every single one of you bring something special to this dynamic. It would be great to have everyone able to comment on the blog so we have lot of dialogue to read to support each other. All you have to do is make up a gmail account and sign up. You never even have to check your gmail mail.

Sharon is "moving in" for a few days. We are going to lay out all of your answers and my notes and make "teams". There will be partnerships or in some cases groups of 3 or 4. I know that some of you will be more "available" than others to check in with your partners/team mates. I am matching you up with people who have similar goals/interests and who I think you will gain something by in friending. The connection may be very obvious or very subtle. This matching up, along with finding your "true goal" is the most vital part of the challenge.

In looking for your "true goal" , I invite you to go back and read past entries in the blog to help you and inspire you. This is the most challenging blog entry as I attempt to "guide you" and help you peel back the layers of yourselves and your lives to find what is underlining your goals and the hurdles standing in your way. This is so highly person and varies with each person that it is hard to find the words that will fit for a group of individuals.

Reading your answers to my 10 questions, I learned a lot. Some of you are interested in getting fitter but the majority of you are more interested in gaining confidence, forging stronger friendships and connections, and taking better care of your "selves". These are the most important parts of this challenge. If we can all work on those things, by the end of these 6 weeks, our bodies will be in a great place. The heart/mind/soul and body are so connected that I truly have come to believe that our physical selves are reflections of what is going on inside of our deeper selves.

Now, onto the hardest part of the challenge.....we all must begin to peel back the layers of our lives to find what needs our attention and focus. To begin that process, I want you to look back at how you answered the 10 questions I asked. Read them as if you are someone else and catch of glimpse of the summation of your lives.

Take a minute and write down the life you "always wanted" and the person you "always wanted to be". Write out what a typical day looks like in your life. Go back and read all that you have written and try to discern the differences in what you want and where you are.

For myself, I have a lot of energy. I have a duality happening in my life between being very centered, calm and self aware and also being frantic and scattered. For me, this challenge is really about finding a way to make my average day a little easier, more organized and calm.

I am going to be working on some very practical things to make this happen (like training my dogs better, getting a dog walker, having a system for my twins to follow in the morning so they do more for themselves and actually making changes in my apartment so we have places for everything so we can all keep the the apartment neater and more organized). At night, I am going to try to change my routine (as all of you will be too). There is going to be no tv (I don't typically watch tv but can mindlessly tune in and it becomes a habit that doesn't yield anything positive in anyone's lives) and I am going to take 5 minutes to meditate and stretch at night.

Your goals will be yours. I believe it is far better to set up "will do" and look forward to the changes in your lives rather than set up a "I will not eat.....". I want this to be about being good to yourselves not punishing yourselves. Set up things you are looking forward to and make changes that substitute damaging behaviors for ones that bring you to a better place.

Erika will be chiming in to try to help with all of you with this process. If I can help at all, please feel free to reach out to me too. Historically, we have had group meetings that have helped us all focus and find out more about what we are after. During this challenge, we are going to have (fully optional) meet ups. These will be fun and festive and have always been my favorite part of the whole process.

This week we are going to start our "cleaning out" process. Try to cut down on processed food and junk in your diets and start taking the best care possible of YOU. We will all be doing 3 days of trying to eat only organic fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and dairy with no artificial sweeteners or salt added. This will be the strictest part of our challenge and serve to "clean" our taste buds, bodies and get us ready to move onto whatever we decide our "plan" is going to be. You can eat as much as you like, but it has to be good for you and in it's natural form. More specifics to come to use these next few days to make subtle changes so the three day won't be so hard.

6 week challenge prep

2011-03-03T06:55:00.005-05:00

There will still be some people joining this week so I can't "officially" start just yet. I wanted to take some time to explain what will be happening and give all of you some homework to get you started so you can get the most out of this very cool time together.

This 6 week challenge is not a physical "meeting" or time consuming thing. It will be whatever you make of it and whatever you need/want it to be. I can tell you (as I have a lot of time in with this stuff) that the more connected you are to your "partner/team", the more connected to yourself you will be and the more you will get out of this. In our busy lives (I use my own life as an example because I believe we all run around pretty similarly and using my own experiences is not violating anyone's privacy) we all get into the pattern (I am very guilty of this) of "I just don't have time" for ...... we lose touch with our friends, family and people who are really good for us. We wrap myself up in our frantic "to do list" and then feel like it's too hard to "catch them up" so we avoid calling. We don't want to "commit" to any additional things we have to do. (sound familiar?). The result is that after we run around like a whirling dirvishes getting all of those things done ( for me: kids homework, lunches made, dogs walked, feed everyone, shop for food daily, laundry, dishes, blogging, baths, making 2 dinners (Kurt is on a very special diet for migraine syndrome), getting to my classes on time, clients, returning emails lining up subs and subbing, cleaning up after cooking etc etc.,) not really connecting to anyone as just "us". I believe that humans need to connect and process their day when the day is done.

In this challenge, we will be connecting to our challenge partners/team mates. This is a really important part of the whole process. The other part of the process is taking the time to to keep a journal (you can write as little or as much as you like but you must write something EVERY day).

If your goal is weight/diet/health related. Sharon and I want food journals to help you in your process. Keep a journal of typical "normal" days. Write down every single thing you eat without altering your norm at all. If you can get these food journals to us ASAP, we can give you some amazingly helpful and creative feedback that will help you on your way. They will also help us make better partnerships for you in the challenge.

Buy yourself a 3 ring binder with pockets and get writing TODAY. Get those food journals to us and start writing down what you are days are like.

I will be blogging daily and giving you more homework and information on what the next steps are. I hope you are all getting really excited about making some great changes.....

6 week challenge roster so far....

2011-03-02T08:12:00.006-05:00

So happy to be back from vacation and teaching again. This week has already (with one class) brought a few new very solid LS'ers to our fold ! There will be a lot of action on this blog as we enter our 6 week challenge. Some of you have been telling me that you have had problems emailing me. I think the problem is solved but let me know. This is the final week for registering for the challenge. Get those 10 answers to me and get on the roster. Next week we work towards "finding our true goal". That is a really cool process where you strip away the superficial "go to" things we tend to obsess over and find what you really need to change your life/body and happiness.

The roster so far:

Marie

Emily

Iris

Caroline

Alison

Gina

Barbara

Elizabeth

Kathleen

Rachel

Grace

Dana

Mimi

Deb

Suzanne

Nicole

Katina

Ann

Alison

Teri

Yvonne

Noura

Susan

Martine

Florina

Noreen

President's week

2011-02-24T09:21:00.002-05:00

I have gotten the hang of skiing. Vacation is a time of breaking from our routines (mine is seems is the habit of healthy eating haha!) I miss Liquid Strength so much and all of you. I will be more than ready to start the 6 week challenge after the 10 days of sweets I have (and will continue to have I am sure) consumed while on vacation.

Remember that Scott is teaching at Ripley-Grier studios tonight at 6:00 on 72nd Street. Email him a confirmation. Class will be hard and I wish I could take it too !!!!

We will be working hard when I return (hopefully I will be able to keep up with all of you !)

While I'm gone (Feb 19th-28th)

2011-02-18T05:28:00.002-05:00

Scott and I (mostly Scott) taught our class at Ripley-Grier studios on west 72nd last night. It will be interesting to see how he manages to move today. While I am away next week, Scott will be teaching thursday night @6:00 p.m as usual. Email him: scott.byrd@ymail.com to reserve a spot. The space is small but the energy is so amazing (not a gym so there is a really artistic vibe) it is first come first serve (20$) and it will be the ONLY Liquid Strength® class in the whole city next week.

Tribeca classes are so rockin that I will likely change them to level 2/3 on the schedule. Upper East side has lead to some of our hardest moves as I have searched for ways to break down the basics so we get the most out of everything. So many of you are bringing friends (love that) and I want to ensure that first timers and "advanced" LS'ers all have a great experience. My UWS (tuesday @Columbus Circle) class has proven to be my "fastest learning" group of my entire teaching career. I love being in the Yoga room and for some reason there is such a connect in that group that we are already at a high level even though it is new.

Scott and I were also talking last night about how great it is to see more men in class. Traditionally, Liquid Strength® attracted a lot of men. In many ways, it makes sense. The moves are not "choreographed" and many are directly pulled from sports. I am hoping that this year will see more men finding their way into class. Artie (Tribeca) has blown me away this year in what he can DO (forget the fact that his body looks like he's 18) !!!

As much as I am excited to be away, I know I will miss my classes so much. There is a magic happening right now that I excited and grateful for. No two classes are ever the same. Every one of you helps create what we do in a given hour. Your energy (on every level) influence the room (and me) and together we create something new and completely original every time we get together.

Please see below to join the "6 week challenge". I will be in touch all week and collecting information.

Story von Holzhausen

"joining the 6 week challenge"

2011-02-15T16:43:00.011-05:00

Joining the 6 week challenge

You must email these answers before Feb 28th to register

I have a 3 ring binder (as you should have for the 6 week challenge). I am writing your names as you send me emails to "join". What you need to do is email with the following:

1) Name and email address

2) age (this helps me pair you up)

3) who do you live with (alone, pets, kids, husband etc. married, divorced etc)

4) what do you do ? What are your hobbies ? What would you LIKE to do ?

5) where you heard about the challenge and where you live (NYC or other)( are you my student, Sharon's client, heard about it from a friend etc.)

6) What time of day do you need support most (afternoons at work snacking, night time mindless eating etc., getting yourself out the door to work out)

7) What do you think your goal will be ? (for now keep it very basic such as "taking more time for myself", "working out more", "eating better" "more positive attitude" , "taming my sugar addiction", "Lowering stress levels", "better friendships" etc. We will be working in the next 2 weeks to find our "true goal")

8) what is your current fitness routine?

9)which one sounds like you (you can choose more than one):

a) I need to learn what it means to eat healthy (I want to learn more about nutrition/recipes/ideas)

b) I know what to eat but lack will power to resist unhealthy foods (old habits die hard, especially when stressed)

c) I eat healthy for the most part but eat at night for emotional reasons. (I am lonely, bored, stressed)

d) Food/diet is not an issue for me

e) I am a complete foodie and I cannot eat food that I don't love.

10) Are you currently or would you like to follow a specific philosophy of diet (vegetarian, raw, low fat, low carb etc.)

Before we begin our challenge, I will be posting our "official list". If I have not received the above information from you, you will not be on that list... liquidstrength@aol.com (I will send you a "confirmation email" when I receive yours)

After you email me your answers @ liquidstrength@aol.com and you are officially registered you can start doing the "pre-challenge work". You can read past postings on this blog for very specific directions but here is the lowdown:

First Steps (pre-challenge homework)

1) Count how many walking lunges and push ups you can do.

2) measure your:

arm 2 inches below armpit (when your arm is at your side)

around your core @ your belly button (this is NOT your waist and that is intentional)

your leg 2 inches below your groin.

3) *NEW THIS YEAR* write down the average number of hours sleep you get a night and how tired you feel on most days on a scale of 1-10.

4) Get the fat back of your upper arm measured. If you live in NYC, I will do it for you. You can do it at home very low tech by pinching the skin/fat on the back of you arm (2 inches below your arm pit) and having someone use an adjustable wrench (funny huh ?), tighten it until it just touches your skin on both sides (about an inch "into" the skin you are pinching). Take a ruler and measure in mm's how far apart the prongs are.

5) *NEW THIS YEAR* General observations on your skin, eyes, nails and allergy symptoms.

6)*NEW THIS YEAR* How do you feel about yourself ? (on a scale of 1-10).

7)*NEW THIS YEAR* How "happy" are you about your life? (1-10)

Prepping yourself for what's ahead

All of will have different goals and challenges during our challenge but there will be a lot of similarities too. We will all be doing a 3 day "detox" to kick off our challenge. For these 3 days, we eat ONLY fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins. Ideally only organic but I respect the cost/availability issue.( There is the option to include plain non fat yogurt but it has to be organic.) Very specific information is coming about this very important phase. This is the most important part of the whole program. We are attempting to reset our taste buds, really feed our bodies all of the nutrients we need and eliminate all chemicals, additives and processed food.

The "3 day detox" is a tough thing to do for most of us. We will need the support of this blog, each other and our "challenge partner". I know I will be on the phone w/mine in the evenings when my sugar cravings kick in. To help you (and me) have a successful experience, for these couple weeks before we start, you can do a lot of preparation.

I have been making small changes that I know will help me in our 3 day detox. I suggest you make some changes too:

1) Stop using sweeteners in coffee/cereal/yogurt etc.

2) Eat fresh/handmade meals instead of anything canned/frozen/packaged

3) If you are a big sweet person (like me) gradually eat less sugar every day and replace your sweets with fruit.

4) If you are a "salt" person, reduce your salt intake.

5) Double your vegetable portions at your meals.

6) Keep journaling. Especially during the times of day that emotional eating is an issue for you (or if it is not an issue for you, journal when you are stressed/lonely etc.) Write about how you feel about yourself, your life and what you would like to be doing as you write. You can't get this wrong. The more you write, the more you learn and grow.

7) Focus in on your "true goal". This is such a huge step. It should take you a while to figure out what your goal really is.

6 week challenge count down (and to do list)

2011-02-14T08:02:00.002-05:00

I have heard from many of you via Facebook, email etc. and know that many have not yet heard about the challenge but will shortly. Although we had wanted to start our challenge today (on Valentines Day) I am putting it off for a few weeks for very important reasons. First off being that I have not had time to tell everyone and get them started. The "to do list" is vital before any of us can start and I haven't even given it yet. Secondly, I am away next week. I will be announcing it in my classes this week once again. I know that not having Liquid Strength® for a week is hard on many of you. (The more you work with me the more you miss it's mind/body connection and how it makes you feel about yourself and life in general). The wonderfully talented instructors who agreed to help me by subbing my classes will not be teaching Liquid Strength®, but I encourage you to take their classes and challenge your bodies by doing something new. It is also a great time to take all you have learned in my class about "finding your comfort zone outside of your comfort zone" and putting it to use.

It is vital that I hear from you if you are planning to do the 6 week challenge. I am making a list of participants and I am pairing you up. If you do not live in NYC, please tell me a bit about yourself and share with me your "homework". Every year I am honored to be trusted with very personal information and it is never shared. My celebrity clients as much as my regular clients are all under a sacred trust and anything that they share with me is never shared with anyone else.

I expect our start date for the 6 week challenge to be mid March. We will need that much time to get everything done.

To do list for the 6 week challenge:

1) Buy (or find) a 3 ring binder with pockets and get some lose leaf paper.

2) Do your physical tests (directions in past blogs but you need to do pushups and walking lunges)

3) Take "before" photos, take measurements and if can take a second to see me, get your body fat taken on your arm.

4) Journal for a few days to take measure and learn about yourself. Some of you will have physical goals and some very personal emotional or lifestyle goals. Both groups will be working on both issues BTW. I will be blogging later about the "rules" for this year but there are some changes from last years and we will all have mind AND body goals. The journaling is vital to help you "find" your goals and gain some insight of what work you need to do. Journaling entails a complete food diary but more importantly writing about your day, thoughts and taking time away from television, computer, smart phone, work and other jobs to spend some quiet alone time with yourself.

What is the 6 week challenge?

2011-02-12T07:49:00.003-05:00

"is the 6 week challenge?"

The 6 week challenge is a free program that anyone is welcome to do no matter where you live and who you are. It is an organized "workshop" that allows you to:

1) Learn

a)About yourself, your goals, life and dreams.

b) The science of nutrition and exercise and new skills to help you use this knowledge.

2) Gain a new perspective:

a) Sometimes we are "too close" to really see our own truth. This can be body image/confidence, relationship, job or emotionally related.

b) The "same old road" will never get you a new place.

c) Supportive new friendships give us new perspectives on life.

3) Make Profound Changes In Our Lives:

a) Make New Friends Who Support Your Positive Changes.

(In this world of cyber friendships, walking around having conversations on our cell phones, listening to our I-pods or reading on our kindles, we can be in a crowded subway car and be completely alone and isolated.)

b) Behavioral Modification Takes Work and A Plan.

c) Change Your Body/Life/Job.......

Many of you are new to the "Six Week Challenge". This schedule period has seen a doubling of Liquid Strength® Classes. I am thrilled to share with all my new students into this amazing "secret" that has changed my life/body and attitude. Only Tribeca Equinox offers Liquid Strength® twice a week. That is the biggest issue we are dealing with this year and one we are working on. The group fitness directors are so on board and are aware of the desire for more. (I added my Thursday night class at Ripley-Greer on 72nd street to try to remedy this and also so that non members could have access to Liquid Strength ®.)

2011 Six Week Challenge

2011-02-10T07:23:00.001-05:00

This will be the third year of my annual "6 week challenge". Each year I learn a little more and hopefully am able to make it a better experience. I know many of you have been waiting for this all year as our track record for truly amazing life changes is impressive.

This year brings some exciting additions to our challenge. First and foremost being the addition of Sharon Richter, register dietician and media superstar. Our blogs will be linked and our clients and students will be entering into this together. Sharon's site is : http://www.sharonrichter.com/

Sharon has graciously offered her time and expertise to all of you. She will be available for private sessions (even if you only meet with her once, it can make a huge difference as she has great nuggets of information regarding eating out, ordering in and shopping ideas) and will be sharing recipes and tips throughout our 6 week challenge. I studied nutrition and nutrition and aging in college so I will be chiming in but this is Sharon's specialty and she is above and beyond gifted in this area. Her humor and understanding of "real world eating" bridges the gap between the fitness world and reality.

Also new this year is addition of Erika Isler, life coach. The nature of my work as an instructor and trainer is a bit like a life coach so I never would have dreamed that I could learn as much or gain as much insight as I have from Erika. The most important changes that we make in our lives have to do with issues that we are sometimes so "close to" that we don't see them clearly. As and I have often said, it is never "about the weight/food". For many people the struggle with issues in their lives are tied up and connected with body image. Learning to separate these is often the biggest battle. For most people, the real issues and challenges in life are hard to face/address and they tend to have a "weight fixation" as a familiar "go too" to protect them from facing the deeper/harder issues. Erica will be giving us some great insight and challenges to bring some very meaningful changes in our "selves" and our lives. She is also available for one on one coaching. Liquid Strength is very much a mind/body discipline and the mind and the emotions are just as important and the physical work. Erika's website is:

http://erikaisler.com/

The structure of the 2011 6 week challenge is very different from the past two years. The "finding of a goal" and the physical testing will be the same so I would like all of you to go back in the blog and read last years segments on the 6 week challenge. The blog entry labeled "Brand new 6 week challenge" should be the first one you read but you should try to read all of the posts that follow as they all will help you on your way. Some of you will have goals that are not weight related and you will have different protocols depending on your goal.

You will need to get a 3 ring binder with pockets this week in order to do the 6 week challenge. I strongly urge you to attend one of the weekly meetings as they are your most powerful tool and have been proven to make a significant difference in success rates. To summarize the process for those of you who did not do it last year and to lay out the (very cool) additions to our challenge for this year, I am going to do a simple outline:

Week One:

We will hold a few different "meet ups" so everyone can hopefully make it to one.

1) Find your "goal"

2) Learn the issues that have kept you from achieving this goal.

3) Do your push up and walking lunge tests.

4) Have your photos (will not be shared), measurements and body fat taken.

5) Get your shopping list.

6) Connect with your "challenge buddy" (the MOST exciting change for 2011) and work out a daily call schedule.

7) Write out your goal, history and food diary and submit it.

8) Construct your exercise plan (find the time to talk to me to personalize this)

Week Two:

1) Begin "The 3 Day Reset diet" (very specific details to follow but everyone will be "eating clean" and cutting out all alcohol, sugar and processed food.

2) Start your daily journal

3) Decide on your "11 day extreme challenge" plan (the first two weeks of our 6 week challenge will be the strictest. This section will be highly personal for your goals/issues and lifestyle.)

4) Utilize the resources offered in this amazing "6 week challenge" to get the support/information you need to be prepared for the next 4 weeks.

Week three-six:

1) Continue to attend "meet ups", classes and/or appointments with your support crew.

2) Keep journalling daily.

3) Share what you learn (recipes, helpful hints, mistakes and humorous stories) on the blog here and on Sharon's website.

4) Stick to your exercise plan and any other lifestyle changes that are specific to your goals.

5) Finally, when we reach that 6th week, retest and reflect on the amazing changes you have made.

There is a kind of "magic" right now in my classes and I believe that this year will bring amazing things to Liquid Strength and to all of you. I am honored and excited to enter into this new chapter.

Story von Holzhausen

"what is it really all about?"

2011-02-08T06:18:00.005-05:00

I had a conversation with a woman yesterday. She was anywhere from 70 to 80+. She told me she never tells her age but that she has had two face lifts. She described herself as a "Smart Old Jewish Lady" and told me "Life comes down to two things, Money and Sex". Her logic was sound and her conviction/passion was palpable.

When I walked away, I felt a sadness that I took the next hour sorting out. If that is really what it's all about (and all these years I thought it was the Hokey Pokey, haha) than I don't want to "play". What I realized is that in a way she is right. At our basest level we struggle and compete for "power" with everyone around us. Fear alone is the root of our "evil". I do not believe that anyone is inherantly good or bad. Fear of failure, abandonment, "not being good enough", past hurts and insecurity (and a million other bad experiences and maybe even some help from our DNA) all lead us to our "lower selves". We are capable of very bad things from there. If you think about how toddlers behave you will see the core of all of us. Our loving sweetness interwoven with our "MINE" and our constant asking for things. We have to learn to consider (even to notice) other people. Empathy and compassion are partly natural and mostly learned. It takes work to grow and tend the "good" in a child and in an adult. The gifts these yield are subtle and may never be "impressive" to other people who measure your worth by money and power.

It seems to me that "what it is all about" is the journey to make it not be "all about money and sex". Somehow I doubt that even if the whole world envies your life, you will find much joy in it without believing yourself to be worthy and "good". There are many paths open to us. For some, Religion, yoga, teaching, music, art, nature, volunteering, charity, parenting or just being a good friend. Whatever path is yours to follow, find it and work hard to find your way to what it is "all about".

6 week challenge

2011-02-03T07:35:00.003-05:00

The most "wonderful time of the year" is the 6 week challenge and we are gearing up for it again. I am going to repost the blog entries so that everyone is caught up on what it is, what they need to do and what will be different about this year. The big change for this year is that I am working very hard on the "support" aspect of the challenge. I want to have meetings and group support, challenge "partners" and I am bringing in the "big guns" with Sharon Richter (registered dietician) and Erica Isler (life coach). With this "dream team" and all of you amazing people, we are going to do great things.

As I have been discussing in class, we are going to begin another 6 week challenge. Last year I learned a lot about how to make this work. I am sure this year I will learn even more !! This is a rare chance to get very personalized programing and emotional support to make huge positive changes in your life. MOST importantly I want to say that this is NOT a diet.

Hopefully many of your goals will be to have better self image or healthier lifestyles or cut out habits that you don't want in your life, anything you want.... Your individual goals should be very personal. Last year we sat in a discussion group and ended up changing our goals as we really thought about what changes and WHY we would like to make in our lives. The goal is the first step to moving towards a better life. Your goal should be something that will make a difference in your life. The more specific and clear cut you can be, the better.

I am going to blogging and giving step by step instructions for this challenge. I will be going over food diaries, learning the best way to support you and give you the tools to make a successful challenge. Even if you do not live in NYC and do not come to my classes, you are welcome to be a part of this.

The assignment for this week is to FIND what your true goal is. I am going to give you a few examples of how to find YOURS:

If you say " I want to lose 5 lbs"

From here to you have to ask yourself, why is this important to me?

Many times women (especially) obsess over the smallest weight issues when the real issue is feeling stressed or unhappy in your relationships or self esteem issues. How will losing weight positively effect you? What are you hoping to gain by this? I can tell you as a professional who has been doing this for over 20 years, you won't like yourself any better 5lbs thinner unless like yourself now. The best goals are ones that are specific. If you are trying to do a marathon or have a better PR in a race, losing 5lbs may really achieve your goal.

The best way to find your goal is to sit in a quiet place and ask yourself questions to learn what is really going on with you, your self esteem and your life. Some examples are:

1) "what do I really want in my life"

2) Do I have behaviors that are self destructive? Why do I do these things?

3) Is there an athlete inside of me I want to free?

4) what would I change about myself if I knew I only had a year left of life?

5)If I was my child, what would I want for myself?

6) Am I happy? Am I happy with my body? Am I happy with my choices and my life?

There are a million questions you can ask yourself. I have found that most of my clients start out with a "goal" and when I ask them question after question, we learn that there is a deeper desire. Something very personal that you only learn about as it comes out of your own mouth. THIS is the goal we are looking for.

You do not need to share this (or any information) with even ME. It is for YOU to know and learn. This is your homework. Find your goal. When all of your questions and digging lead you to that last place and you stay there, THAT is what we are looking for.

Once you find that magic goal, decide if you are ready and WANT to make this change in your life? Once you commit, we are ON !!!!!!

"Regular or Stinging ?" Cycle For Survival

2011-01-29T08:20:00.004-05:00

Kids seem to have the same "ugh" attitude about going to bed that we adults have about getting OUT of bed. My twins wait till the last possible minute to use the bathroom or brush their teeth (usually after the 4th time we ask, they actually do it). Jake commandeers the bathroom that has the toothbrushes and toothpaste for his nightly ritual. Abby tries to coax him out or at least "pass out her toothbrush and toothpaste". Last week, as Kurt and I listened to this ritual, Abby asked the usual "can you pass out my toothbrush" and after a pause, he did. Then with a great sigh and roll of her eyes "Can you pass me out the toothpaste?" After a pregnant pause Jake replies "regular or stinging?"

I knew exactly what he meant (we have a few different kinds and some are a little more minty). The concept of asking "regular or stinging" was hysterical to me. To think that his perception was so radically different than ours that he had a completely different "definition" and experience/reality than we did. He wasn't wrong, strong mint does sting but for some people that is a good thing.

Almost everything we experience in our lives takes on a unique definition/reality as it gets filtered through our perceptions, beliefs, prejudices, insecurities, past experiences, preferences and senses. In many ways, none of us can ever experience anything the same as someone else can.

We do get a "say" in all this though. I believe that working on our "selves", we can let go of a lot of judgement about others and even about ourselves. In almost any experience, person or thing we can learn to "find the good". We can choose the "it's gonna be great" reality.

Choosing to be an optimist is just that, a choice. We can also choose to be miserable. The question is...why would we ?

It takes a constant effort to deflect all the "not nice" that comes at us in our lives. Not unlike how hard we train to be able to tolerate more intense physical challenges, we can get our "emotional teflon" stronger but exercising our "it's gonna be great".

I will be teaching and riding with my team f0r Cycle For Survival again this year. Jen Goodman, who started this amazing charity, is a great example of someone who is" like Wonder Woman deflecting bullets with her magic bracelets" with her "it's gonna be great". She is on her 7th round of battling cancer and still she is doing great things and living an amazing life full of purpose and meaning. Her blog is: http://youfearless.com/page/fearless-blog

We can all benefit from "flexing our optimism muscles "and making them stronger. Do good, be good and believe that there is goodness all around you and in everyone (yes everyone). That is just as much a reality as believing otherwise. There will be "good" if we allow it, become it and open our arms to welcome it.

Please give to Cycle For Survival. My team is Liquid Strength and I am grateful to be able to do this good thing. I hope you will feel as blessed giving and joining hands with Jen to feed the "good" all around us.

Story von Holzhausen

Taking on new challenges

2011-01-25T06:43:00.006-05:00

My cousin Erica sent me this and I thought it was really worth sharing. We are all taking on some new challenges this year and keeping the right attitude about them is vital to us having a good experience. I believe (as Erica does) that our belief system influences our "outcome". The dialog and joy (or lack of) we enjoy with our bodies and our "selves" manifests itself as physical reality. We are doing amazing work right now in classes. Challenging, fun and intense work. I want everyone to work on "watching it happen". With open minds and hearts, allow your strength and power to shine and come into the world.

A message from Erica Isler:

http://erikaisler.com/blog/

Cycle For Survival

2011-01-15T08:12:00.003-05:00

I am teaching and riding again this year for Cycle for Survival. This amazing event raises money for rare cancer research. I am asking all of my wonderful students to give. Give $1 or $100. Just give. Send the message and know that you are part of something that is making a difference for all people.

My team is Liquid Strength (shocker huh?). Please go to the site cycleforsurvival.org and GIVE !

Story von Holzhausen

The intellect/happy irony

2011-01-14T05:30:00.005-05:00

Have you ever noticed that we, as people, strive for happiness yet it is those among us who are more withdrawn, sullen and discruntled that we think of as "cool". A person who is "happy" is often thought of as less intelligent as their peers.

Especially in youth, we seem to be drawn to and emulate the more conflicted and dark among us. The joyful and chipper teenager is rarely as interesting as the James Dean type. With age (and life) it gets harder to be blissfully optimistic. When you think of people like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, they are usually smiling. These amazing human beings are very aware of the spectrum of joy/pain that is the human existence. The choice to "be happy" and to be hopeful and positive is available to all of us. Life gives us sometimes very valid reasons not to be happy but it is our personal choice how we let these challenges effect us.

If you really think about it, the more selfless we are the less we need or expect those around us to "feed" our personal needs (both physical and emotional). To be sad and sullen is actually to be incredibly self indulgent. We impose our needs onto everyone around us and require others to "take on" what we are feeling. There is a fine line between forming bonds and having personal connections with the people we love and trust with the struggles of our daily lives and living in a state of requiring the attention of others. In this world of constant contact via Facebook, Twitter, blogs,email and text, we are all becoming a bit narcisistic aren't we ?

Sometimes happiness needs us to fight for it. We have to hold on and refuse to let go no matter what the day brings. Holding steadfast to the beauty of our lives. Those simple joys like laughing or petting a dog that are here and now all around us. It is our choice to carry worry and fear and hate around with us, missing the wonder that we are walking by.

Perhaps it takes great "intellect" to just put that baggage down and let ourselves feel the breeze, smell the flowers and notice that we are perfectly happy in that moment. There have been a few really interesting studies this year about the "age of happiness". People seem to get happier as they get older (past 50 anyway). How many 80 year old do you know that don't smile when they see a baby ?

Perhaps there is a wisdom to happiness. When we understand how hard life can be but still we allow joy to creep into and infuse our lives, maybe it is then and only then, we truly find it.

Story von Holzhausen

Liquid Strength 2011

2011-01-09T08:04:00.003-05:00

This new year (and new schedule at Equinox) has allowed a whole new group of people to be able to take group Liquid Strength. I welcome all of my new students and want to thank all of my regulars for their continued work and energy they bring to class.

Some changes to my website are coming. The schedule portion will be updated regularly so that I can keep everyone abreast of changes and private classes (outside of a gym setting) in my schedule. This year will finally bring classes taught by Kathleen and Scott who have been diligently working and studying to teach for years now. They bring not only their individual talents and creativity to Liquid Strength but also times and classes that I cannot offer.

There seems to be a kind of magic happening around Liquid Strength right now that is reminiscent of when I first created it. The changes that I am seeing in all of you inspire and feed the program (and all of us). Many of you have had very significant improvements in posture, confidence and body composition. This new year promises to further all of you down that very healthy and happy road.

So often during the ("meditation") closing moments of class as I ask all of you to focus on something very positive in your days or in your lives, I find myself feeling such gratitude for your presence and (as my son Jake would say) your "awesomeness" that I want to take this opportunity to say "Thank You".

Story von Holzhausen

New Year

2010-12-31T08:45:00.011-05:00

This is typically a time that people make "resolutions". Usually it is whatever obsession they tell themselves every day that they "should" be doing. There is no secret power that comes on Jan 1st to help you make "this time" any different. Everyone knows what they "should" be doing or "not doing" to be healthy, more positive and productive people. The challenge seems to be the action needed to turn our "hopes" for our lives into our actual "lives".

Human brains seem to operate and run in deeply etched grooves. These grooves are formed from years of repetitive behavior. Sometimes the first "scratch" of a deeply formed groove can come from a childhood experience or just from some self formed belief. These grooves are so deeply formed that they become WHO we are if we do not take care and pay attention to them.

There are "addictions" of all kinds. Two nights ago there was a program on about two women struggling with strange addictions. One was addicted to eating toilet paper and the other to sleeping with her blow dryer on. It is hard not to laugh at such strange addictions. The reality is that anyone not struggling with a specific addictive behavior cannot understand "what the big deal is". Perhaps that is the secret behind it all. The build up and focus on "not doing" something places that thought foremost in our lives. If I say "don't think about a pink elephant", you do.

I would like everyone to turn the usual "resolutions" over and laugh them off. Begin just not giving the power to your own struggles. Let it be easy. Let go of the obsessive worry and energy you give your own angst.

This year, find your joy. Let your life be easy. Think about all the things you want to do, eat, say, learn and experience. Practice the art of imagination, hope and belief. It won't happen in a day but it will happen if you commit to making this change. If your current way is "not working for you", take a good look at those grooves you are etching deeper and deeper and do the work to change them.

We do not get to choose our genetics or our families. We don't get to choose our childhoods or what we look like. We do get to choose who we are and who we will become. We get to choose how we let experiences and challenges change us. Terrible circumstances can make truly amazing human beings. They can also create horrible ones.

Most people work pretty hard at "looking good", having a clean house, a nice car or a successful career. How many people work as hard at being the best person they can be? Can you just imagine how much joy there would be in this world (or in our own lives) if we all began to do just that?

I have asked a very special life coach to guest blog here and she (Erika) will be giving some very good advice about how to begin taking the first steps on that road:

Big thanks to Story for this opportunity to spend time with you! She and I always have meaningful, deep-minded chats when we’re together, so I’m thrilled to share some time with you here as well.

Here’s my first suggestion to you for 2011: Table your sweeping plans for change. Just drop them for a while. Don’t worry; you’ll be able to pick them up after considering a few points.

Step 1-Ask yourself why you’re planning the changes you’ve highlighted for the coming year. If your plan is to lose 15 pounds by June, stop for a moment and consider the source of your motivation. Is it something you think you “should” do? Any desire hinged upon words like “should,” “need to,” or “have to,” is not a sign of internal desire; it’s a sign of obligation to some norm outside of you. If your goal is weight loss, give it a positive spin in your inner and outer monologue. In other words, instead of saying “I should lose 15 pounds,” say “I want to lose 15 pounds.” The earlier version sounds a bit victim-like, doesn’t it? Sort of weighty (no pun intended) in its tone, isn’t it? Yeah, I’m not feeling it either.

However, in saying “I want to lose 15 pounds,” you’ve carefully chosen words that by their very nature feel more energized and motivating. And energized and motivated are indeed two real feelings that can certainly help you in nearly every facet of your life.

Step 2-Become a scientist in your own life. By stepping away from judging yourself, and instead simply sliding into the role of observer—a lab-coated witness to everything you say, what you think and how you act at different times—with absolutely no judgment whatsoever—can be a very revealing exercise. If, for example, I’m the type of person that sets huge goals repeatedly only to rapidly fall back into old patterns, I might ask myself why? What’s my payoff in continuing to overeat? What am I telling myself about this tendency? Which leads me to the next step.

Step 3-Gently and regularly remind yourself that your thoughts are not who you are. They are simply what they appear to be—thoughts. Start looking at where your thoughts about yourself are unkind, lacking compassion and wounding. Remember, thoughts and facts are two different things. Facts are verifiable; thoughts are beliefs built on a lifetime of repeatedly thinking them. For real clarity, start noticing and then questioning your thoughts.

So if we go to the goal of losing 15 pounds, where in your internal dialogue are you already giving up with condemnations like, “Yeah, I tried this last year. I couldn’t do it. I’m a failure and I lack discipline.” Where are the facts in that thought? More importantly, where are the beliefs?

Our source for deep, lasting improvement is inside, not outside. Our mission is to get clear on what we desire and why. If the motivation is a thinly shrouded effort to please anyone but us, success will be elusive.

Now, get your resolution list back out and spend a little time writing about your “whys.” The items on the list that are true to your essential self will feel more like a pull than a push. The plans that you feel pulled by are authentically you. Stick with those and you’ll chart a whole new kind of success.

Wishing you authentic success for the coming year!

Erika Isler is a Martha Beck-trained life coach who works with smart, motivated people ready to reconnect to what they really want. For more information on her and her work, visitwww.erikaisler.com or email her at erikaisler@gmail.com.

Happy New Year !!!

Story von Holzhausen

Believing......

2010-12-15T06:38:00.004-05:00

This is the time of year that we believe in miracles. The shimmering memories of childhood are still palpable. Anything could happen.

The promise of magic is still there just waiting for us to believe. The connection between our minds and our bodies is still a mystery. Many people believe there is a very powerful and literal connection. Many body builders subscribe to the belief that by sheer focus, they are able to alter parts of their body. In fact, entire religions are based on the ability to "heal" through faith.

When I created Liquid Strength, it was during a time of great stress and personal difficulty. I was not feeling good on many levels. My body image was horrible and I found that the lack of joy in life and about "me" went hand in hand.

I will always be grateful for the parts of my life that nearly killed me. Every childhood agony helped teach me that joy and love were only in my life if I brought them. No amount of abuse could "make" me lose my hope or my desire to do and be "good". There was and is a tremendous power in that.

As adults, we bring that abuse to ourselves. We stand in the mirror and unleash a litany of "mean" on ourselves.

I have trained and taught thousands of people. Some rich, famous and beautiful and some very normal. The most amazing thing is that no matter what the rest of the world sees, every one of these people only get to experience (enjoy or suffer for) what THEY see.

I work with bodies. I know them. How they move. How the proportions tend to be similar in some types and how each "kind" reacts to certain things. Much of what I have come to learn and believe is not yet explained (or even mentioned) by scientists. We may never understand The amazing bodies we live in completely. Especially the effect that "We" as mental/spiritual beings have on the physical manifestation of ourselves.

I completely believe that when a person (this person can be me too) "sees" , feels and believes themselves to be / look strong and great, they do. It sounds like science fiction but it's not. I have seen it hundreds of times. When formerly heavy people start to lose weight and get excited and happy about themselves, that is when the huge changes happen.

The hard part comes when there are not huge changes to make. Most of my student/clients look great. The changes they are after are subtle and small. In some cases, literally ALL of their misery is in their head. Sometimes I wish I could put them behind glass and pull strangers off the street to give their critiques and force them to listen.....

All of us our born with a body. Hopefully it is a fully functioning healthy one. For that alone we have to be profoundly grateful. The few times I have been injured and unable to train, I have realized that there is a huge difference between not being ABLE to train and just not feeling like it.

Some of us have long legs or long torsos. Some of us are tall. There a million subtle differences between all of our bodies. We tend to love whatever it is that we don't have. It is amazing to me how much time, energy and misery humans bring on themselves contemplating their bodies.

If you take a moment and think about anyone you love or maybe even someone you are envious of, can you picture every single inch or shape of their bodies ? No. You don't really care. I have news for you. Nobody cares about the tiny "flaws" in your body either. NOBODY but you.

The minute you decide to be beautiful and "hot" is the moment you are. What makes someone sexy? Mostly it is confidence. Anyone who walks tall and with posture that screams "I am fantastic", is.

Stop reading beauty magazines. Stop reading tabloids that feed on your insecurity and create a nation of jealous and spiteful people waiting to rip apart each other. You are beautiful, sexy, unique and perfect.

What you are attracted to is as unique as you are. There is no "ideal". It is just opinion. We all get to decide if we are beautiful. I can tell you this, anyone who feels good about themselves is NOT vain. They are happy. They are free to be generous with their compliments and not threatened by beauty around them. They are joyful and have time and energy to think and do truly important things. "Vanity" is when a person (this happens a lot with celebrities) does not really believe in themselves or feel good about who they are but throws attitude around.

There is a story about Marilyn Monroe I love. She was walking with a friend down a busy street and nobody recognized or noticed her. She turned to her friend as said "Want to see me become "her"?" She suddenly changed her internal attitude and suddenly EVERYONE recognized her and mobbed her.

Today I want you to do that. I want you have all the confidence, joy and fun that you would have if you allowed yourself to believe that you looked "perfect" (whatever that means). I want you to fake it if you need to and see how it feels.

I have come to believe that if you can do this, you can change your physical body and more importantly, change your life.

Story von Holzhausen

subbing

2010-12-14T07:31:00.001-05:00

I am subbing today at 9:30 at 74th and 2nd and Tuesday 12/21 @ Columbus Circle at 11:00 in the Yoga studio.

FOOD

2010-12-10T06:51:00.004-05:00

Most of us love to eat. We all have tastes and textures that we just can't get enough of. Over my years of working with people trying to change their bodies and their lives, I have seen a strange relationship between people and food evolve.

In an effort to "control" their weight, food becomes the enemy. Something to be managed, stressed over and scary. Certain foods (often labeled "binge foods') become barred from the house and they become invested with such power that they are like "the boogie man" of our childhood fears.

I remember one client had this relationship with french fries. Others have it with peanut butter or with candy etc. Even if you don't have one food that you tend to be a little strange with, you may have other types of emotional eating issues. I know very few adults who do not have any kind of emotional attachment to food.

How do we strip our groceries of "power"? How do we turn this strange cycle around? Most people know exactly what they should be eating but the problem seems to be finding the way around these emotional land mines.

I have learned that the path that seems to work the best is one that leads people away from "dieting". Food needs to be celebrated and redefined. Food needs to be something you love and relish and enjoy again.

If you "diet" all day and strip all the joy out of your meals, at night, after all you do for the rest of the world, you are going to want a "reward". You will find that "forbidden fruit" impossible to resist.

How did I handle my client with the french fry obsession ? I told her I wanted her fridge FILLED with french fries. I made her promise me to eat french fries at every meal. We made huge changes as I explained all the healthy foods that she had to try to fit into her day. (The healthiest diet is based on diversity and every color of vegetable needs to be a part of our diet along with lean meats, fruits,nuts and seeds which ends up being a lot of food !).

Whatever your favorite food, there is likely a way to work it into your daily life in a way that is healthy and that can make it no longer "taboo" which is a far healthier emotional place for it to be.

Some foods (like french fries) are so unhealthy that first you need to find a way to improve them before you work them into your diet. This is easily done by possibly using sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and then working on a healthy oil or even possibly baking them. Other foods that are pretty healthy already just need to be put into your diet in a way that makes sense and helps balance out your eating as a whole. There are many ways of doing this. If you have specific questions or need ideas, you can consult a dietitian, find great recipes on the Internet or even email me !!!!

The important thing is to stop "dieting" and take the fear/power out of food. Find the joy again in what you are eating and start to look at fueling your body like a fun puzzle. How will you fit all those great foods into your day? How will you ever be able to EAT all that food ?

I am going to start blogging some cool ways that I am helping specific people tackle these issues. I will also share some really great and pretty easy ways to make healthy food truly delicious.

Be well !!!!

Story von Holzhausen

human contact

2010-12-06T07:54:00.002-05:00

This is a magical time of year. It is also a stressful and sometimes lonely time of year. As we move forward in the age of technology and "delivery" of anything and everything, we leave our houses less. We step outside our comfort zone less often. Here is NYC you can be cramped in a train full of people and be completely alone. All of us with our ear buds/ I-phones/crossword puzzles/smart phones/kindles, stand isolated in a crowd of people. Many studies have also shown that our brains stay healthy and young by changing our daily patterns.

I spend my first year teaching in NYC literally morning, noon and night and had no friends. I had a "cult following" and was so lonely. I know on some levels everyone can relate to that. It seems much more common in a big city to be lonely than a small town. We rarely have "old friends" who live here and if we do, they may very well be in a different phase of life than we are.

There have been small towns where people live much longer than normal. These towns have been studied and one factor that seems to be within these communities there is a strong sense of well, community. People are connected to each other and have daily interactions.

If you do not have co-workers like many people who do one on one work or own their own businesses, you spend most of your time alone or with people that it would be unprofessional to spend time with socially. Many stay at home parents or out of work individuals also suffer the effects of isolation. Sometimes, being a "new Mom" can be the most isolating thing to happen to a person. There are so many scenarios that can potentially lead a person to feeling "alone".

How do we create this sense of "community" in our lives? In this world of electronic intervention, how do we stay connected? I have been pondering this and have some ideas.( I would love to hear some of your ideas too):

1) Join a place of worship (there are places that don't follow any religious dogma but are open to whatever your beliefs are.

2) Learn a new sport (there are clubs for fencing, running, boxing, martial arts etc. and you can meet an amazing array of people there)

3) Take a class to learn Chess/bridge/a new language etc. Not only is this good for your brain but it is also really good for YOU.

4) Change the timing of your day and see what new people you meet.

5) Throw a party and have everyone you know bring 2 friends you don't know.

6) Volunteer.

7) Go to a dog run (even if you don't have a dog, you can always do some research to figure out if you want a dog or what kind of dog would be a good fit).

8) Tag along with a friend through their day. Anything outside of your norm leads to all new possibilities of interaction.

9) Go to a neighborhood you have never been and sit in a small coffee shop and be friendly to the people there.

10) Unplug. Look around you. If you think something (like how nice that sweater is on the person is next to you, SAY it). When you "make someone's day", you make your own. We all have amazing power to create joy all around us.

11) Do good. Look for ways to do this. It may be a stranger or it may be someone you already know very well.

12) Listen to your mother. Ask her what she did when she was younger. You may get some ideas.

Story von Holzhausen

steel cut oats

2010-11-29T06:42:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a great holiday and you are all looking forward to the rest of the season. I wanted to take a minute and give some really basic info on some ideas for healthy and stress free eating and to answer some questions that some of you have asked.

Lauren asked about freezing Steel Cut Oats. They are actually really easy to freeze. They are slow to cook and can be "started" by soaking them overnight before you even begin the boiling process. I have some really big containers and just leave one on the counter overnight with the lid off to thaw it out for use the next day.

Steel cut oats are so filling and they can be prepared as a sweet or a savory. Kurt adds some really funky things to his that I am going to share as these ideas will keep you full and add a ton of nutrients and antioxidants. I suggest changing it up so you do not get "sick" of steel cut oats.

Kurt is not eating Dairy and I buy Organic unsweetened (this is VERY important as milk contains lactose which is a natural sugar and most almond/soy/hemp/rice milks have added sugar unless you are buying ones that state "unsweetened") Almond or Hemp milk with calcium and vitamin D if I can find it. I use organic skim milk for myself and kids. The sundry list of "toppings":

Sweet steel cut oats

1)Cinnamon (great for blood sugar and metabolism)

2)raw coconut flakes (natural fats keep you full/antioxidants)

3)cocoa nibs (antioxidants)

4)ground flax seeds (yummy nutty flavor with Omega-3s)

5)ground hemp seed (" " some protein too)

6)nuts (huge benefits that we are just starting to learn about such as brain and anticancer powers)

7) bananas (potassium and other nutrients)

8) raw sunflower/pumpkin seeds

9) berries or fruit of any kind.

10) Stevia sweetener

11) honey/maple syrup or agave

12) real vanilla extract

13) nutmeg

Savory steel cut oats (something akin to grits)

1) veggies

2) olive/hemp oil

3) garlic

4) turmeric/chili powder/Tabasco

5) tomato puree or salsa

6) lean proteins in a slices or cubes

7) grated cheese

8) avocado

9) Hummus or Tahiti swirled in

10) fresh or freeze dried herbs

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T08:26:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I had everyone focus on gratitude. We all know we should do this more often. The things we have in our lives that we barely "see" anymore they are so familiar are exactly the ones that deserve our gratitude the most.

What I ask of you now is different from the usual. I want you to take a deep breath and with great courage, look at the parts of yourself that you are the most ashamed of. The parts you cringe at if forced to contemplate.

Hopefully we are on a never ending journey to be better people. To grow and evolve. Learning to let go of fear, jealousy, judgement and hate (towards others and towards our "selves"). To free ourselves up for all the beauty of our potential. This year I want you to stand on that "road" that can seem so long and overwhelming. I want you to turn around and see how far you have come. I want you to be grateful for even one step you have had the courage to make on the road towards evolving in to who you might be. If you think and remember, you may just be surprised at how far you have come. Let yourself be inspired and fortified to endure on your path. That journey, however slow your pace, is the true measure of who you are.

Homecoming

2010-11-12T06:41:00.002-05:00

I have always loved the word "homecoming". I love the Fall season and the smell and sound of leaves crunching under my feet. Growing up in the extreme north, Fall is crisp and vibrant. The smell of apples and leaves transports me home. The memories of football games, floats and cider still make me giddy even after all these years.

This is a season that we, as humans ,begin our preparations for the winter. We crave hearty food and comfort. Some of us dread the coming winter and some of us love every second of the string of holidays that are underway.

This year is interesting for my family since Kurt is eating "raw" and our menus are so radically different than normal. We have always eaten very healthy food. I have come to realize that people crave and love the food that they eat the most. I see this is my children most of all. If kids have always eaten healthy, they love and want healthy food. The very same thing is true about us.

After cooking fish at lower temperatures and for less time, when I see the salmon I used to eat at my local deli, it looks awful to me. It appears shriveled and burned. My "norm" has been shifted. Many times over the years I have noticed this amazing phenomenon. We get to choose what our "normal" is. That is a pretty cool thing.

When I am teaching a lot (which over the years I have taught up to 5 classes a day), doing 3 spin classes a day is no big deal. Earlier this year when I was pregnant, I would remember my "younger years" of training and be shocked that I could ever have run 10 miles in a stretch and teach all those classes. Training at that level seemed impossible and I was sure that now, being 42, I could never do that.

Just a few months later (not being pregnant anymore), I am back to that amount of activity level. It was a slow increase and I hardly noticed until I thought about it. The more we do the more energy we have. I am amazed that at 43 I can run 10 miles no problem and teach 3 classes a day and not blink an eye. My "norm" was simply recalibrated.

When it comes to what we feed our bodies, we do the very same thing. After these last few months of experimentation and exploration, I have come to believe certain things about food. Having studied nutrition in college and having many of the "facts" I learned later proven to be false, I do not think we know very much about the food we eat. The idea of flavanoids, photochemicals and enzymes being present in food is just beginning to be discovered. Many people (doctors, nutritionist and holistic health practitioners) sound pretty out there with their philosophies on food science.

One of my best friends is a very talented and quite famous dietician. She helps people find practical ways to eat healthier. Her clients feel better and lose weight. She can take your take out menus and shopping lists and work wonders. Sharon knows about brands and products you don't even know existed that can help make your life easier and get you to your target weight with ease.

The average person knows very little about the science behind food. For those of us on the other side of "normal", we are a different beast completely. One of my students is so "food phobic" that she eats almost nothing. She could scare you off of eating almost anything with tales of chemicals, pesticides, mercury etc. There is actually a new "eating disorder" that is classified as being overly aware and obsessed with healthy eating.

Somewhere between the "average American" and the "health nut", there is a balance. I believe that we need to take more responsibility for our food. We have gotten very lazy and lost many skills that our grandparents had.

We can re-set our idea of "normal". Even the busiest person has time to feed themselves an their family well. It is not so hard to cook our own food. Once we get into the habit, it actually is no big deal. With a little creativity and a freezer, you can actually work LESS.

I am going to tell you what I believe to be true about food. This is a blog. My blog to be specific. Although I have done extensive reading, research and experimentation and truly believe these truths, I am not going to explain all the reasons behind them. It would simply take too long and I am not sure that anyone cares of would be able to follow the science without a background in food science:

1) Our bodies have a Ph. When that Ph balance is off, all kinds of problems arise including yeast, energy and health problems. When we eat more plant based foods in their natural/raw state and less meat products and processed food, we help keep a healthy Ph.

How do you do this? Here are some very easy ways:

a) Cook a huge pot of steel cut oats over the weekend. Freeze some and keep the rest in the fridge to be eaten for breakfast and even as a snack or dessert. Flavor it with nuts, stevia ,cinnamon, crushed flax seed etc.

b) Eat salads. Be brave and creative with what you can eat raw. Bok Choy, sprouts of every kind, grated purple cabbage, raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds, berries, pomogranite seeds. Almost any fruit or vegetable can find it's way into a salad and add really great texture and flavor.

c) Bring food with you. Don't get stuck starving with no options. Toss an apple in your bag. I have been making an AMAZINGLY yummy "trail mix" lately that is super easy to make:

1) Bare Fruit freeze dried cinnamon apples

2) raw almonds

3) raw unsweetened coconut flakes

This mixture is beyond yummy and has great texture and really satisfies you.

2) We crave sugar and salt the more sugar and salt we eat. This is what companies know and use to get us addicted to junk food. I tell my students and clients, if you can't "pick it or catch it" don't eat it. After a few days of real food, you will be amazed at just how salty that can of soup tastes and how grossly sweet that salad dressing is.

3) Eat when you are hungry. So many people are obsessed with WHEN they will eat certain foods. Our bodies are very wise. They will guide us very well if we start to listen. Children eat more one day, less the next based on their activity level. We get used to our portion sizes. If we start to be open to the fact that sometimes we are really hungry, sometimes we are not, we will eat what our bodies need. There is a lot of research that shows that our metabolisms respond well to a varied caloric load. It is a bit like interval training. I call it "interval eating". If you eat a diet of 1200 a day, your body will turn down it's metabolism to survive on that diet.

4) Get over your fear of fat. Plant/fish fat is really good for you. Fat keeps your brain and skin healthy. It keeps you full and makes the food you eat really satisfying.

5) Cooking at high temps and for long periods of time, chemically alters food. Food that is brown/carmalized is cancer causing, will age you and has lost a lot of what we are eating the food for. Cook your fish below 325 and take it out when it is just flaking. Keep your vegetables vibrant in color and still crunchy.

6) There are a lot of chemicals on our produce. I will spare you the scary numbers but will tell you that there can be up to 20 different chemicals sprayed on your food. The FDA studies each one separately but has never studied how they may interact with each other. That being said, organic food is expensive. When we buy organic, we "vote" that organic practices are important to us. We send the message to farmers that we want them to be more ethical in their treatment of animals (watch the documentary "Food Inc" and you will NEVER buy anything but organic again). I buy only organic dairy products. ESPECIALLY for my children. Girls are getting their periods so young these days and many experts believe it is from hormones and chemicals in our food. For food like broccoli that I don't peel and that has a a porous surface I buy only organic. I also buy organic pears and apples since we eat a LOT of them. The foods, I will buy that are not organic are foods that have a thick skin like melon, bananas, citrus, kiwis etc.

There is a lot more to share and I promise to be better about blogging. Please reach out to me and let me know your thoughts and questions.

Story von Holzhausen

"The Lever" on you tube

2010-10-20T07:12:00.002-04:00

I have posted "The Lever" on You Tube. There are 3 segments. The first is the tutorial. This is the most important. If you (even if you are advanced) do this only a few times, you will have great form and it will target and work on your entire lower body and core. The second segment is workshop and the third is Full Moon Cycle.

I invite all of you to really study this move. Understanding and getting this right will move you forward in your practice of Liquid Strength. I cannot say enough how beneficial this could be for everyone. I would love to hear from all of you as to your progress. This is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xJZ_geVeHI&playnext=1&videos=IaXEJeoJY7E&feature=mfu_in_o

getting our groove back

2010-10-08T08:05:00.002-04:00

I love this time of year. It is room temperature outside and you don't sweat all day after you train. Running, cycling and walking outside allows you to see the beauty of the change of season and smell the leaves as they crunch under your feet.

Kurt is hanging in there with his mostly raw diet. At first it sounded so daunting but now that he is in the habit of packing his breakfasts, it feels effortless. So much of our behavior is just that, habit. We have the choice of what our habits are. Making those changes are not easy. The first day (or 3) are pretty darn hard. Especially if we think/make it hard. I have found that the 'lighter" I keep the choices :"I think I am going to just brush my teeth and go read now", around the time I am considering diving head first into the candy bowl, the easier they are. Our vices will be there tomorrow, but today we can just say "nah, think I'll pass".

Kurt loves and knows a lot about wine. He really enjoys drinking it and tasting it. He has begun to explore herbal teas at night and getting into that and now that is his habit. I have been buying actually leaves and twigs and roots and we boil it into a tincture. It's actually pretty fun !

Our classes have gotten very advanced and I find myself back in my creative mode and I love that. All of you are at a level now that there is a freedom in our classes that anything I can throw out at you, you are open and able to do.

Adding in the varied times, a lot more people are able to get to classes and the core group of Liquid Strength is growing. That is very exciting. I am trying to get together a "study group" of people to test drive my DVD while I watch so I can see what kind of graphics I need to add so that people will be able to do it.

The DVD will be released shortly. I am not very good at the "business" end of all this so I am trying to grow and learn become better......

Story von Holzhausen

New Liquid Strength CLASS !!!!

2010-09-27T12:41:00.000-04:00

The new class will not be monday but Friday at 9:30 am !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Story von Holzhausen

Thursday night classes......

2010-09-24T10:46:00.002-04:00

I have found a studio on West 72nd that I am considering renting to teach classes on Thursday nights. I would love for all of you to think about what time would work for you and if you are interested in adding in another day...

Story von Holzhausen

raw.....

2010-09-23T06:43:00.003-04:00

Our kitchen looks like a vegetable stand. There is green in every drawer, shelf and crevice. As I blogged earlier, Kurt was doing a yeast free diet for his migraine syndrome when I brought home a free sample of recovery drink that he liked. The man who created the drink is the author of the "Thrive Diet". He is champion Iron Man competitor and he is vegan and raw. I also read (interesting timing) a book by Dr. Perricone about "ageless mind". This book gives specific nutrient advice and dietary guidelines for anti aging and optimal health.

There is some commonality between these books. It seems like these common bonds are the ones that are worth passing onto my readers. Kurt is better. He is off of coffee, sugar and processed food. His energy and mood are so great that as hard as this diet is, I want him to stay on it. He also looks younger. I can't put my finger on what it is but there is a difference. When you marry someone younger than you, you notice these things, haha.

I am not as motivated as he is. Sharp blinding pain is a pretty good motivator. I have made some changes and been very surprised by some things I have found. Let me give you the basics about what all three of these "theories" share:

1) Our bodies are aged by food that contains sugar. It causes inflammation on the cellular level.

2) We change our PH when we eat badly. This may or may not cause an over growth of yeast. This can manifest itself as illness, exhaustion, headache etc. For me (and my daughter), we get skin rashes. Really dry feet are fungal/yeast related. Very chapped lips (which I have suffered from my whole life) and pimples/rash on the back of your arms and on your behind can all be caused by yeast/fungus. When we eat sugar, we "feed" the yeast and make our PH friendly to yeast.

3) Cooking food (especially meats and oils), changes the chemical structure. High temperature alters healthy fats into unhealthy ones. Similar to sun damage on our skin, cooking meats/fats harshly ages our bodies.

4) We lose photo nutrients and enzymes in food when we cook it.

These are the claims that these three books make. My personal experience beliefs are that these facts are mostly true. The changes that I have made are big but doable:

1) I eat no sugar

2) I cook my own food and eat no canned, packages, boxed food.

3) My intake of leafy greens (spinach, Kale etc) is much higher than before.

4) I am cooking our fish at 325 degrees

What I have found is:

1) I like green juice.

2) Some veggies are great raw. They are much more filling but also give me gas.

3) I can eat a ridiculous amount of raw nuts and lose weight (I don't even want to lose weight). This is the weirdest part as if I add up the calories, the math does not make sense...

4) Ice cream does not sound good to me.

Kurt is eating all veggies raw. He is eating only fish. We have use almond milk, hemp milk, soy milk and I use skim milk in my tea. The easiest way to "eat out" is to order salads or steamed or poached fish and veggies.

I will keep you all posted on how it is going. I am not sure what further changes I will make or how long we will stay on this diet. It is interesting as a fitness/health professional to document and witness these changes. I hope you all find it interesting too. You will have to tell me if you see changes that I may not notice.

I have to say, the best part for me is that I have no desire to eat junk. NONE. The kids candy, dessert etc. is not tempting to me. That alone is huge.

Story von Holzhausen

Theory/quackery/health

2010-09-17T08:45:00.003-04:00

It is amazing what a big business health/fitness/weight loss is. Even for someone who knows all the science and lingo, the bevy of claims is dizzying. There are so many theories about nutrition. Everyone has a philosophy that they swear by. Many of these completely conflict. How do we sort through what is fact and what is fiction?

The answer is illusive. So much of food science we still don't understand. Every year there is new research and then a few years later a study will come out proving it wrong. So much of what I learned in college in my nutrition classes has now been proven wrong. In college, we learned that trans fats were simply fats with an extra hydrogen atom pumped in. We had no idea that these fats were damaging. We also learned that Coconut oil was saturated and unhealthy. It has now been proven to be one of the healthiest for us.

The food pyramid has been re-written and everyone has their own version. I have been reading a few books lately including:

The Thrive Diet (vegan/super athletic/restrictive calorie)

The Yeast Diet (sugar/fermented food etc. free)

Pericone's ageless face/ageless mind (antioxidant/anti-inflammatory)

The authors of these books are passionate about their diets. They are convincing in their presentation of science/results. There are aspects of these books that are highly questionable in the medical community. That does not mean that they are wrong or right, it simply means that they are unproven either way.

In the effort to grow and learn it is important to constantly question our knowledge and our "knowns". It is also very important to realize that every person is different. Their DNA and physical/mental traits are uniquely their own. That being said, we are all the same species and there are some commonalities we share. In the effort to educate , I am going to attempt to pass on the salient points that I have taken from these three books/theories.

Although each book has it's own regimen and sometimes they are in conflict, there are some points in which they all agree. For me, these are the points that seem most important and valuable to most of us.

There seem to be 3 major issues dealt with here:

1) Our bodies react to food. Food can change our PH balance and can cause inflammation and create an environment for yeast to grow and for our natural digestive flora to be thrown off.

2) Food contains anti-oxidants and flavanoids/natural chemicals that can have a very positive and healing effect on our bodies.

3) The average American Diet has been invaded by genetically altered very unhealthy food.

Tackling these issues will take me more than one blog entry. I am using myself and Kurt as test studies, taking to Sharon Richter, my very good friend and nutritionist and various other health professionals to attempt to take the "good" out of these theories and present them in a way that is helpful and authentic.

So far there are some things I have learned (or relearned) that are worth sharing:

1) Nobody can argue that fresh fruits and vegetables are the best things we can eat. If we do not process or overcook them, all the better. Many veggies are best for us raw. Veggies can and should be worked into all of our meals. The more variety the better and there is no such thing as "too much".

2) The concept of "fat free" is wrong and unhealthy. Vitamin A,D, E and K are fat soluble vitamins. We need fat in our diet. Essential fat is called essential for a reason. We need to eat healthy fats and get the rest out of our diets as much as we can. Healthy fats (I will get into this in more depth later but this is the point I find most exciting) not only are good for our hearts and brains, they can actually HELP us lose weight.

3) Sugar is horrible for us. Horrible. Nobody needs it in their diet. It is so addictive and (I know I LOVE sweets too !!) in is in way too much of our foods. Sugar is hidden in our food to make us eat more and buy more and traps us in a cycle of cravings and guilt.

Story von Holzhausen

eating clean

2010-09-16T06:58:00.002-04:00

Kurt had to go to Sweden and had a hard time finding food to stay on the "yeast free" plan. When he ordered sushi he said he could taste vinegar in the sushi rice. A migraine followed so he is starting to believe that the mold allergy could be a big factor in his migraine syndrome. Did you know that you can order "gluten free" meals on most airlines. You can also pack salads and carry them on the airplane with you. In most cases, the food you bring is a much better option than airline food....

I have been eating a lot of bison burger. There is a gazpacho soup (home made but not by me) that I LOVE and I just cut up the bison or turkey burger and put it in the soup with some added veggies. I do not eat red meat usually but I know that I am a little anemic after some health issues over the summer and I find that my body wants and needs these bison burgers. Normally, I eat only fish and cage free eggs but bison is very lean and I am "diggin it" right now.

Going into week 3 of being essentially sugar free, I am less hungry at night and do not have cravings for junk. Although my brain still asks: "what can I munch on now" while I am watching tv or doing a crossword puzzle at night, I find that nothing sounds good to me and I just brush my teeth and go read. That is a huge change for me.

I am eating a lot of nuts. It seems logical to me that raw nuts (not roasted) are healthier for you since they are in their natural form. Many oils break down when cooked and are better used post heat. (Canola oil is a much better oil to cook with than olive oil for this reason). I love all nuts so I buy them in bulk and grab a handful to munch as dessert. Strangely, if I counted calories (which I do not believe in and have never done) I should be gaining weight but I am not. I feel great. There is no swelling in the morning in my joints or hands/face and my energy is way up. I am also back to my pre-hormone/pregnancy weight.

Being such a sweet toothed person, I find it amazing that after a week or so, it can be so easy to not eat sugar. There is a lot to be said for "avoidance" vs. "moderation" in my opinion.

Story von Holzhausen

Liquid Strength® Fall. "yeast free diet"

2010-09-13T08:30:00.003-04:00

After 3 years of trying everything for his "migraine syndrome", my husband is now trying to the "Yeast Free Diet". Allergy tests showed that he has a delayed and very extreme mold allergy. We all hear about people going "dairy free" or "wheat free". The jury is still out as to what if any benefits these diets offer the average person but for some people they can be life altering.

What has been enlightening to me is just how hard it is to eat so simply. Basically, mold/yeast is in anything that is fermented (this means no vinegar, wine, beer, mustard, soy sauce etc.). Mold can also grow in the shells of nuts, in coffee beans, tea leaves,fruit with pits and all melons and berries. Sugar is said to "feed yeast" so all sugar and sugar containing things are out too. That means even dairy products because they contain Lactose, a natural sugar.

Because I am the one who shops and cooks, I have had to educate myself and get creative with our food supplies and menu. Although I am not doing the diet like Kurt is, it is hard to argue with the logic of eating fresh fruits and vegetables and lean protein with no added junk....

We are not the "average" couple/family as it is regarding diet and exercise but this experience has taught me that even we use some products that are not 100% healthy. The first thing to go was the artificially sweetened products. In an effort to avoid sugar, it is easy to ingest a great deal of chemicals. Especially in drinks and yogurt etc. The only natural sweetener that is chemical free is Stevia and very few companies are using it.(Vitamin Water Zero is the only mainstream drink I can think of that currently uses Stevia).

We all LOVE bread/pasta/bagels etc. but the reality is that nobody can argue with the fact that fresh fruits and vegetables are better carbs. They yield myriad nutrients and photo-chemicals that we are only beginning to understand. I am going to share our journey a little with this way of eating. Kurt has a very specific and compelling reason to try this diet. He has spent 3 years battling horrific migraines that he has up to 70% of the time. Very few people need to eat with this kind of rigidity but all of us could steer our diets more along the lines of this kind of eating and be much healthier for it.

I invite all of you to come along on this journey and try to make some changes in how you "feed" your body and your awareness of what is in the food you eat. The next couple weeks I am going to be sharing some samples of the changes we have made and what I see happening with Kurt and with myself. I am curious to see what will happen....

The "Allowed" foods:

Grains:

oats (steel cut only), rice, barley (not malted), potatoes, sweet potatoes,

buckwheat

Fruits:

any kind of fruit besides grapes, melons and berries (up to 2 pieces a day but I am eating more)

Vegetables:

all

All lean proteins

oils:

olive, safflower, sunflower all raw.

Nuts and seeds:

almonds, brazil, cashews, filberts, pecans pumpkin seeds.

It sounds pretty easy but breakfast was really challenging. Kurt has no time and the cafeteria at work is not an option. What we did was buy several boxes of steel cut oats and cage free eggs and basically turned our kitchen into a mess hall.... I hauled down the "lobster pot" and we cooked the biggest batch of steel cut oats I have ever seen. (Steel cut oats must be cooked for up to 45 minutes so you need to plan ahead.) We also "soft boiled" 3 dozen eggs and put them back into their cartons so we could grab them as needed out of the fridge.

For breakfast, Kurt is packing a tupperware container with a the steel cut oats (I cooked some cinnamon with them for flavor and added anti oxidant benefit), two eggs and an aluminum container with unsweetened soy milk or almond milk.

For lunch he eats a salad with whatever he likes with olive oil and lemon. For dinner, I make a typical fish and vegetables dinner. The biggest challenge has been trying to find something to marinade the fish in. I usually use wine and some soy sauce so lemon is all I have left. I toss in lots of herbs and freeze dried garlic and onions.

I would love to see all of you try a day/week of eating like this. It takes a little bit of work but it is not as hard as I thought it would be. After 3 days, you get pretty used to it. I will be checking in and sharing the challenges and what I see happening with Kurt and myself.

Kurt has given up coffee which I have not. The first day he had a headache (not a migraine) but some advil cleared it right up). He is on day 5 and has not had a migraine but I am not sure that it is the diet that has made a difference yet. He said he felt "full in his stomach but still hungry" for the first 3 days. I ate oatmeal for dessert at night. I can't sleep if I am hungry. Kurt has lost a pound (not that he needed to). After a week we will add in nuts which will help him a lot.

Story von Holzhausen

A health nut American in Spain.

2010-09-08T06:58:00.004-04:00

Kurt and I arrived in the beautiful seaside Eden of Marbella Spain. Our hotel was beyond elegant and had 3 upscale restaurants. We like to empty out our mini bar of booze and temptations and fill it up with healthy stuff. It makes trevelling more cost effective and much healthier.

We walked to the grocery store to the horror of the hotel staff who could not believe we could possibly walk that distance. (To a New Yorker, it was about a 10 block stretch and no biggie). We armed ourselves with a back pack and rolling shopping basket and prepare to witness the "way healthier and less processed" edible offerings of the Mediterranean. The dairy section was first up and with my Italian and Kurt's Spanglish we begin to attempt to conquer the wall of yogurt. The goal was to find fat free and unsweetened. 20 minutes later we both have what we think to be just that but take 3 options just in case. Next up in natural order is the cereal aisle. Some brands are familiar (Special K) but we find some very comical alterations. There was a box with a shapely womanly figure with the word FITNESS in big lettering. This particular cereal came in Chocolate and Dark Chocolate flavors only.

The next section was the Pate/meat in various forms. We saw more glorified Spam and shrink wrapped animal fat than I have ever seen in one place. Heading towards the "fish" section I spotted what I thought was some kind of pasta. On closer inspection, it turned out to be small eels that resembled nothing so much as a mosh pit of worms preserved in plastic. 40 minutes into our shopping trip, we looked down into our basket and had....yogurt.

The fruit and vegetables in Spain are fantastic. The fish and olive oil are some of the best I have ever had. I was amazed however at just how few "healthy" options there were. There were very few heavy people in Spain. It was clear to see that the difference between American and Spanish diets were portion size, less snacking and more freshly prepared meals. We are very aware of "fat free" and I believe that perhaps that is not the way to go. Healthy fats seem to help our body let go of fat (fat is essential after all) and be much more satisfied with smaller and healthier meals. A plate of grilled fish and vegetables with a grassy and flavorful olive oil is so satisfying that you don't miss the bread and "bulk" of the typical American plate.

Presentation and plate size are radically different in Spain. The celebration of food,quality of ingredients and taking time to prepare and to sit down and eat (slowly and with relish) were reminders of what we, as Americans, have drifted away from.

We can all bring the inspiration and example of the Mediterranean to our lives. Be daring in your exploration of fresh produce and the many miraculously diverse and delicious offerings of the Sea. Just like wine, olive oil is varied and subtle and worth tasting all different kinds to find which flavor from grassy to spicy and you like best.

The more we move away from "dieting" and begin to actually feed ourselves with joy and relish, the healthier and happier we will be.

Story von Holzhausen

I am away till Sept 7th. Important news for Fall.....

2010-08-25T13:13:00.005-04:00

I will be back to teaching and adding some classes in the Fall. I will be adding wed am classes. Back to back cycle and Liquid Strength® @ 74th and 2nd.

We MAY be changing my schedule at Tribeca a bit. The Wed class will remain exactly the same but the Friday may be changing. I will keep you posted as soon as I know. I hope you are all doing great. I miss all of you.

Love,

Story

Big Children

2010-08-18T09:46:00.003-04:00

It is amazing watching kids as they navigate the social and "political" maze that is "the playground". This is the forum in which they learn all about interaction with their peers. The insecurities and bits of ego are already there but are not yet "steering" their behavior. The whole point of the activity is to have "fun".

As adults, the goals are more complicated. We need to be successful and earn money. We also want to earn respect and esteem from our peers. The years have allowed those bits of insecurity and ego to carve some pretty deep writing on the pages of our lives and have a lot more control over our behavior.

Many times, the more frightened or vulnerable we feel, the more "cocky" and critical we become. We communicate the exact opposite of what we intend. Most prejudice and bias is deeply rooted in fear and insecurity of the unknown and "uncontrollable". It is a lifetime journey to pry our minds open when we want to "control and protect" the most.

If all of us could work on this, there would be a lot less meanness in the world. One of the hardest things in life is to stare down behavior that pushes all of our buttons, makes us cringe and makes us ashamed and embarrassed. The grace of forgiveness for ourselves and from others is a miraculous thing. The potential for growth and understanding from our worst mistakes is something that can be awe inspiring if we allow it to be. If we can face, forgive, learn and love ourselves, others can too.

Story von Holzhausen

Moving outside the box

2010-08-15T10:03:00.003-04:00

Imagine if you could watch on a split screen t.v. a boxer boxing vs. a boxing class or a basket ball game vs. an interval class doing "jump shots". What would be the differences between the two images?

The movements of the "real" sport would be constantly changing. The basketball player would be running, avoiding other players and getting to the basket at different,angles, heights and directions each time would be need a varying amount of force to "make" the basket. The boxer would be ducking and weaving and trying to land a punch differently every time. The people who were doing a simulated "class" would likely be standing with their feet facing a mirror and going at the same angle or at most changing sides with feet unmoving and repeating the same angle and body position repeatedly. The "real sports" would require changing momentum (using the core and muscles to quickly overpower the direction the body is moving and propel into another direction), shifting balance and a great deal of explosive force with each shot/punch to actually succeed in making the basket or delivering a powerful punch.

We can make our workouts more effective and constantly challenge our bodies if we begin to move "outside the box". If we are doing timed intervals of one exercise or choreography based exercise, we can be creative and explore the many different ways of doing a movement. Our workouts can be creative and exploratory if we stay present in our movements and make it a goal to make each one "real" and authentic. Not only could we reduce repetitive movement injuries but we could develop the strength in our muscles and ligaments to support our daily movements in 3D not just in a linear fashion.

Too often, our workouts don't really train our bodies to move in the real world. When do you ever stand straight (legs shoulder distant apart) ,directly in front of your cabinets, to lift groceries in a straight line ? We don't. Our lives require us to be able to reach, twist, push, pull and move at constantly changing angles.

Why don't we start to make our workouts more effective by thinking and moving "outside the box".

"The Posture Guru" test

2010-08-10T05:13:00.000-04:00

Having worked in the fitness and modeling field for many years, It amazes me is how little people think about how they HOLD their bodies (no matter what those bodies look like). Our posture broadcasts for the whole world to see, just what we think of ourselves. If you stand tall, proud and strong, you appear that way (even if you are 4'8" tall). The most amazing body in the world won't look good if you slouch. Bad posture can cause back, hip and neck pain, profoundly age your body, steal your height and bone health. Posture is a "rent to own" arrangement and we get to choose our own. How do you reverse lifelong bad habits and turn things around? Having great posture takes awareness and practice but you can make changes instantly, transform yourself and don't have to wait to see results. Do this simple check to see how you are doing:

1) Facing the mirror, are your shoulders rolled back,dropped down as you lift your chest upward (there should be no crease at chest level)? We call this "Joyous Chest" in Liquid Strength and that is exactly how it makes you look and feel.

2) Are you as long as you can be from your hips to your neck (keeping #1 unchanged !) ?

3) Turning sideways to the mirror, is the back of your head in alignment with the the back of your shoulder blades (are your head and chin forward)?

4) Is your tailbone raised a little until your pelvis is slightly rotated forward with a slight arch in your back (not slouched under) ?

Holding your body correctly, you feel the muscles you must strengthen to improve your posture. The visual difference and how good it makes you feel is huge. If you look at people who work in the public eye vs. photos of ordinary people, you will see a big difference. celebrities and models have honed the skill and strength to hold good posture. It makes them look better in pictures and on film/television and their livelihoods depend on that. Not everyone can be rich, famous and beautiful but they can look and feel just as regal and sexy as anyone on the red carpet. It is never too late to start. Here is a super easy exercise to help you turn back years of bad habits:

1) Stand with your heels almost touching a wall. Roll your shoulder blades back and drop them down until they touch the wall, slightly lower your chin and pull the base of your head against the wall (lengthening the BACK of your neck). Hold this position for 15 seconds, breathe, rest and repeat. If you cannot touch the wall than your goal is to work up to it slowly.

Story von Holzhasuen

www.liquidstrength.com (website, blog and video promo)

Follow me on Twitter: Liquidstrength

Facebook fan page: Liquid Strength

vacation

2010-08-08T11:25:00.002-04:00

As you can see from my blog schedule, I have been subbing a lot the first two weeks of August. I have my twins the last two weeks of August so I will ONLY be teaching (I am driving in from Greenwich) on Wed the 18th @ 12:30 and thursday the 19th @12:20. I will be away from then on until Sept 8th. I have secured wonderful subs so please come and work hard while I am away.

This week I teach an extra Liquid Strength at NIGHT on wed night @7:15 at 54th and 2nd

Please make sure you watch my promo on Youtube and pass the link onto all your friends !!!

Story von Holzhausen

liquidstrength

inner "fitness"

2010-08-04T05:31:00.004-04:00

I am taking a break from the "terms of fitness" list to strike a balance between the mind and body. I have been writing a lot of articles lately about posture and more scientifically based topics but it is vital for me (and you) to keep our eyes turned inward and our awareness of "self" always present.

When I was pregnant with my twins, the one thing I wished for them was to be "curious". The GIFT of curiosity, the love of learning and of growing spiritually and emotionally is a precious one. Without it, we cease to evolve and live lives with as much depth and meaning as we could. We stagnate and are not content with our "selves" or our lives.

Take the time to ensure you are being "fed" on every level, every day of your life. Seek out new friendships, paths and challenges that scare you a little and challenge you to re-evaluate your comfort zone and what you "know".

Try "The Lever" (a Liquid Strength movement cycle)

2010-08-02T16:50:00.001-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMxCAyK_2Hg

my subbing schedule as of yet

2010-08-01T15:29:00.002-04:00

Tues August 3rd-

6:00 pm spin @ 74th and 2nd

7:00 spin @ 74th and 2nd

Wed. 4th:

6:30 am spin @ CC

12:30 Liquid Strength@ Tribeca

5:30 Liquid Strength interval drills (Tabata) @ Wall st

6:30 Spin @ Wall

Thurs 5th:

6:30 cycle@ Tribeca

7:30 Interval Liquid Strength (Tabata)

12:20 spin @ CC

Mon 9th:

6:30 am spin@CC

6:15pm cycle @74th and 2nd

7:15 cyle @ 74th and 2nd

Wed 11th:

6:30 am cycle@CC

12:30 Liquid Strength@ Tribeca

6:15 Cycle @ 54th st

7:15 Liquid Strength@ 54th

Thurs 12th:

12:30 cycle @CC

Definition of Fitness

2010-07-31T09:15:00.008-04:00

It has been a while since I had to lose weight.( I am very grateful that Liquid Strength was "given" to me as it made that whole battle a thing of the past.) Since I have had to lose "baby weight" this month, I have again become aware of just HOW well Liquid Strength works.

I did a phone interview with a writer who is doing a story on why Manhattan women are thinner than the national average. It was amazing talking to her. I have worked for so many years in this field that I thought everyone knew what I did. Evidently, that is not the case. I wanted to explain the basic science behind exercise. It will help you to understand the goals and gains of different types of training.

Let me first explain what the term "fitness" means. The American Council of Exercise defines fitness as:

1) Muscle strength

2) Muscle endurance

3) body composition

4) cardiovascular capability

5) flexibility

Basically, we need to have enough strength to move our bodies around and perform our daily duties. We need muscle endurance to be able to maintain the tasks we do (for an athlete that can mean running a marathon for a non athlete it can mean holding up your end of the couch you are moving so you don't drop it on your foot). Body composition is the ratio of "lean body mass" (your lean muscle tissue and your bone density) to body fat. Cardiovascular capability is pretty straight forward. Flexibility is really about the"range of motion" we have (are you able to reach up to get that bowl on the top shelf?)

Muscle Strength: There are different methods for gaining muscle strength. Muscle can be gained from repeated activities (this would fall into the "high rep" kind of training) or by overloading the muscle with weight training. Overload can also happen in daily life when you lift or push against a force and you get muscle soreness from the activity. Muscle can also be gained by explosive movement which we call in the fitness world "plyometrics" (Think about jumping as hard and high as you can and landing in a squat and jumping again).

When we lift weights , do walking lunges or do explosive movements, we get sore. The science behind getting sore is that you have made tiny tears in the muscle fibers. Fluids flood the muscle and the muscle swells causing a temporary enlargement of the muscle. The body then uses amino acids (building blocks from protein which is what your body is made of) to repair the damage and rebuild the muscle to be stronger by adding muscle fiber (everyone always asks what is in my water bottle when I teach. Amino Vital is my choice for amino acid supplementation because the chemistry behind it is perfect for muscle recovery). This allows your body to survive and function in an adapting environment (if you had to overpower other animals to eat in order to survive, your body needs to evolve and change to meet that need). I highly doubt any of us are wrestling bison in the Stop and Shop but it wasn't that long ago that dinner was much harder to come by.

Only in recent years have we come to understand how important adding lean muscle mass to our bodies is. Your metabolism is basically the measure of your lean body mass which is comprised of muscle, sinew and bone. As we age, our metabolism slows down because we lose muscle mass and bone mass.

The beauty of strength training is that it adds muscle mass and bone mass. Calcium is the building block for bone. Weight bearing exercise enables the calcium to be "packed" into the bone. Basically, we can halt the effects of aging on our bodies but doing strength training. Every pound of muscle burns close to 50 extra calories a day. If we can add 10 lbs of muscle, we basically can burn 500 calories a day doing nothing more than walking around, sleeping and eating.

As an athlete, a stronger body means better performance and even less risk of injury because your body has a natural "brace" and support system. The more variety we can add in our strength training (using functional training and varying the exercises), the more quality muscle and strength we gain. This is why Liquid Strength is so effective. We constantly vary the range of motion, speed and weight load.

Muscle endurance means the ability to "endure" or maintain a given movement for a duration. The ability for a runner to run a marathon is different from a runner doing a short sprint. The body types of these two athletes looks different and the muscle fibers that they have are different. To be truly "fit" we want to find the balance of both kinds of muscle fibers. Fast and slow twitch. In order to train our bodies to have both muscle strength and muscle endurance, we have to vary our training. Higher "rep" movements with lighter weights or no weights at all help the body to build muscle endurance. Muscle endurance is vital to be able to train for longer periods of time and do many activities (cross country ski, play a whole game of tennis, cycling etc.).

In Liquid Strength we work on muscle endurance and muscle strength. The blend of both types of training yields a strong and more elongated line.

Body Composition is the ratio of lean body mass to body fat. Although BMI (body mass index) is a good and easy ball park figure for non athletes, it is a very poor measure for anyone who is muscular at all. The best way to get a true measure of body composition is to test for body fat. This can be done with calipers that measure the subcutaneous fat at the arm, waist and leg (locations vary from device to device and for men and women) or with scales or handheld "body fat" scanners. These devices can give an idea but are reliant on hydration levels also so they can are not completely accurate. The only way to get a true body fat reading (mainly because we store fat in our muscles and under our muscles too) is under water weighing. This is an expensive and hard to find service. I believe a very well trained professional and a good pair of calipers is the most realistic and accurate choice for most people. The scale is a very poor measure of your fitness if you are doing any kind of strength training.

Cardiovascular capability is basically the measure of the how well your heart and lungs (and the delivery system of oxygen to your muscles) perform. To make this as simple as possible (there are a lot of complicated and very scientific elements to this), it is "how winded" you are when you perform at activity/sport. This is measure of heart health and it is important.

Flexibility is the most straight forward of the "elements of fitness" but what we are finding is that the measure of "range of motion" is actually more important than simple flexibility. The difference between them is: flexibility is the measure of how far your muscles and ligaments will lengthen passively (without using your muscles) such as pulling your arm behind your head in a stretch versus how far you are able to reach behind your head.

Our range of motion and flexibility decrease as we age so doing stretch class and yoga classes and strength training that explore a wider range of motion are really important to keeping your body young and healthy.

Story von Holzhausen

The grass is green here too.

2010-07-30T09:09:00.003-04:00

I find it fascinating how we seem to believe that other people are much happier than we are. If we are single, we envy the married couple or the new baby. If we are married, we wonder "what if" and we envy the freedom and time that our single friends have. If we have a big high power career or work very publicly, we crave the "leave your work AT work" and "privacy" of those who have different types of jobs. The curly haired want straight. The long legged want the tiny waists....you get the idea.

Working so many years with so many different kinds of people, I have learned a lot. Every day I learn a little more and realize just how little I know. EVERYONE has things they love about their lives. EVERYONE has things that make them miserable. The most amazing life on the outside does not feel that way from the inside. It takes hindsight to see this most often in our own lives. When your situation changes, you realize how lucky you were and that you never got to "enjoy it" because you were so focused on the things you WANTED.

It is vital that we at least TRY to change this is in our lives. I have been working hard on this lately. Mostly because I have friends who I am talking to on a daily basis and SEEING this phenomenon in action. Take a GOOD look at your life. Take a GOOD look at those you see as "having everything". You will see parts of their lives that they would trade you for in a heartbeat. When you get "all you ever wanted", you may be floored by the fact that you are not happy with it.

Look at your life with new eyes. What are the things that someone else would say "WOW, you are so lucky" about. Let me give you an example:

The single person: (this is easy for me so it's the longest list ha ha)

Having the choice to do whatever I like during my free time and never needing to "ask permission" or get a sitter. Sitting quietly and reading or going and doing ANYTHING I want. My career is what I make of it and has no limits. If I was offered an amazing job opportunity in China I could go there tomorrow. Could go on tour or join the circus. If someone has extra tickets, I can spontaniously go to any event at any time I want to. Can cook an amazing dinner or not. Clean my house or not. I can do everything on my to do list. I can work out whenever I want to.

The married person:

I love my children and family. They love me. I am never bored. The things I am working on are long lasting and the energy I put into them yield quality things.

I could do this list for:

The beautiful people: there is a lot of envy/ hate out there that you have to overcome before you even open up your mouth.

The famous:I am not free to come and go as I please and just people watch or be normal. I never know if I am loved for me or my fame.

The wealthy (this one is harder): I don't get the thrill of going places or getting gifts like when they weren't so easy to come by. Are my friends real or are they free loaders. There is nothing to aspire to or work to earn. I have no goals or dreams.

The whole point is that we are lucky. There are a million reasons why. The more we can try to focus on those things, the happier our lives will be. It is SO much easier to exercise and eat right when we are happy than when we are miserable. What if the choice was ours to make ?? Well, it is.

Story von Holzhausen

Liquid Strength

10 great things about getting older

2010-07-29T09:47:00.002-04:00

1) Realizing that "nobody really cares that much about you, what you are doing, not doing or what you look like etc. etc.

2) Playing trivial pursuit with younger people.

3) The ability to laugh (really hard) at yourself.

4) (this is a weird one) Being able to hear and understand song lyrics much more clearly.

5) Noticing and appreciating little things like a cool breeze in the heat, a good soundtrack DURING the movie, actually getting REAL mail.

6) Having "sight" instead of hindsight.

7) The ability to have "fun" doing nothing (remember the agony of boredom????)

8) Enjoying the result of "chores". (you HAD to clean when you were younger but it never felt so GOOD when you admired your work)

9) Actually LIKING family reunions.

10) WANTING to go to bed.

Story von Holzhausen

Liquid Strength fix for TCESESM

2010-07-28T06:26:00.003-04:00

I have decided to start blogging about the small stuff. The things that come up (or I learn) in daily life. When it comes right down to it, that is what the whole point of life is right ? It has been a strange year. So many people really effected by the economy. You can feel how the "bling" nation has turned into the "green/cost saving" nation. What was cool just a few years ago (lots of flashy, glossy displays of wealth) is completely tacky and "out" now. I personally love that change since I am low on fashion sense and seems a very good thing too as I try to teach my children what matters in life.

There is a balance (and I know a lot of you struggle with this too) between living an evolved and meaningful life and yet still "caring what you look like". I remember my Mom telling me when I was a teenage that "I would still care what I look like when I am 50". I thought she was nuts. Once I am married and "old", that stuff won't matter at all to me (I thought). Yeah, right. I know a lot of very intelligent and giving people who work for multiple charities and causes and are not in the least bit trivial. I do not know ONE person who does not care how they are perceived or "how they look". Hopefully, as we age, we care a lot less about how MOST people perceive us and care more about earning affection, value and respect from the few that really matter.

It seems that what we strive for is to be free of insecurities that take up our time and thoughts so we can focus on what matters to us. Being a trainer and a model, I obviously have even an economic stake in how I look. At the same time (as most of you know, ha ha) I am very lazy and don't care much about my clothes, hair etc. I know a woman who works for a non- profit. Her life's work is to do "good" and she does. This woman also has amazing style and looks so put together every time I see her that I think "I need to get a STYLE", take the time to put myself together like that. Of course, the thought is gone in 5 minutes but it was there.

If you think back on the times in your life that you were the happiest about yourself, most likely you spent very little time thinking about it and very little time looking in the mirror fussing with your clothes, hair, etc. What I have noticed over the years is that when we are UNHAPPY with what we look like, we tend to spend a LOT of time thinking about it. It invades our consciousness like cancer. The energy that we could be spending DOING good gets sucked up into our insecurities and our obsessions with "losing 5 lbs". Most often I see this in people who are beautiful on every level (many celebrities in fact) . They have amazing lives and you would never know that underneath it, they have this inner drama. This time consuming, energy sucking, tug of war with doing amazing things and internal "emotional self mutilating". (let's call in TCESESM for short) AH, you recognize this person ? I bet you do.

This has been a strange year for my relationship with my body. Being on massive hormones, being pregnant and then not being pregnant, has made my connection with my body and my self a bumpy road. I was thinking about it a lot. Part of it is that to "work" (modeling and promoting liquid Strength), I have to look good. My economy is directly tied to what I look like. No pressure !!!?

What I have found, is that although most people have jobs that are not directly related to what they look like, they care just as much if not more than I do about just that. There is often a good amount of guilt attached to this. On top of our "time consuming, energy wasting obsessing about our "thinning hair", "stretch marks", "bloated belly" (go on, I am sure you can think of 10 examples yourself) etc "self mutilating" (TCESESM), we get to add feeling GUILTY about the whole thing on top of the pile.

I am giving you (like I have the authority, right?) full permission to officially care what you look like. There, done. You do anyway, right? EVERYONE does. Do your best to get to a place where you are happy enough to STOP thinking about it so you can DO all the good you want to do in your life. I know for me, when Tamar from "Gotham Glow" (who I adore because she makes me laugh like crazy which is therapy in itself) comes to give me a body sculpting spray tan, I am teaching enough Liquid Strength and taking my Amino Vital and eating like I should (for me that means "PUT the brownie down) to be in a "good place" with the outside, I think about it very little. I get SO much done and have new ideas for making life better for anyone I can.

There is a mixture of real work and changes (like "putting the peanut butter jar DOWN" and training well) and also "emotional and behavior training" that will bring us freedom from TCESESM. Do what you can with those real world issues (get to class, go for that run and PUT THE FRENCH FRY DOWN) but also when you feel an attack of TCESESM coming on, push it out of your mind and focus on something else. You get better with time and practice just like Liquid Strength.

Story von Holzhausen's Liquid Strength video promo

2010-07-26T09:49:00.002-04:00

Please check it out and pass it on. The video is coming soon!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwYyaqqw9vY

people

2010-07-18T15:37:00.002-04:00

I love that at 42, I still learn every day. The most random lessons from friends and what they are going through. From parenting. From people I meet for a moment on the train or in my classes. As you go through life, you meet a LOT of people. As I get older, I am less impressed by most of them. There comes a point in your life, when you truly stop caring if "everybody likes you". It is an amazingly freeing when that happens. This usually happens when you figure out that you don't particularly like everyone either. It's not that you "dislike" them, but more that you begin to look for the quality and the connection that makes the human experience truly special. Time gets shorter as you get older. You have to decide who is really worth staying connected to. There are wonderful people that pass through our lives. Although it seems sad, it is part of the journey. Our days are spent in one location and usually in one routine. The people we spend those days with is somewhat predetermined for us. The very few extra hours you get in your week are precious. Make sure that you are surrounding yourself with people who feed you emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Make sure that these people are also being fed by YOU.

Story von Holzhausen

Sub dates...........

2010-07-06T20:18:00.003-04:00

Wed July 7th:

6:30 am cycle@ Columbus Circle

9:00 cycle @74th and 2nd

10:00 sculpt (liquid strength style) 74th

10:45 abs 74th

12:30 Liquid Strength (as scheduled)

6:30 cycle @ Greenwich

Friday July 9th:

9:15 cycle @92nd

July 14th

6:30 am cycle @Columbus Circle

12:30 Liquid Strength (as scheduled)

Thurs

July 15th

12:20 cycle @ CC

If You do not have all access, just email me.....

Every Morning We Get to Start Again

2010-06-29T21:10:00.003-04:00

I am loving every new day and happy to be on a path to get to a better place both physically and mentally. I hope all of you feel exactly the same. We get to "start again" every morning no matter what happens and that is awesome in the true sense of the word.

We are going to work HARD this week as always. We will be using heavy bars and weights and feeling every bit of our power and strength. I am hoping to be sore and elated after class. I can't wait to see all of you and get to it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Story von Holzhausen

Liquid Strength

life

2010-06-24T10:29:00.002-04:00

The gift of love and loving is a great one. When life and people matter to us, we risk the pain of that love. Given the choice, I would endure the agony of loss a thousand times over to feel as wonderfully intensely and passionately as I do.

Kurt and I had some very bad news yesterday. We had identical twins that shared a placenta and a sac. This type of twins is the most dangerous. The cords became twisted and we lost them. There is no way to say that softly and there is no way to endure it gently. It is part of life and part of love. The gift and honor I have of loving and liking my wonderful husband so much is that I have to feel the pain of his pain. Given the alternative, I am grateful for that agony.

Life is not fair and it is not easy but it is a rich tapestry of events that shape us and give us choices. We can learn and grow and hope or we can become angry and bitter. Every day we get to choose our happiness. Some days are harder than others. Just like the pain we go through to strengthen our bodies, so does our soul grow and strengthen.

Thank you for all of your love and support through this journey. The twins were here and real and loved for the short time we had them. They will live always in our hearts and lives. Kurt and I want to move on and "fight the good fight" to have a baby. I will not let fear cripple me. I will take this experience and it will enable me to feel empathy for others and it will teach me that we do not control our lives but that we have to go on this journey with gratitude for every day (not matter what it brings) and do the best we can. Love and grace and joy are not for the weak but for the strong. We have to work very hard to attain them.

All of you have roads with bumps along the way. I applaud your victories and your struggles. Together we will grow and become stronger in our hearts and souls and bodies. Thank you for your thoughts. I can feel them with me and I am awed by the gift.

Story von Holzhausen

life update

2010-06-21T08:16:00.002-04:00

Thank you SO much Kathleen for jumping in wed and teaching class. The baby and I are ok. Very scary little episode.......

It was a week for surprises and not good ones. Friday our much beloved dog Snoop started to act strange (he is a 3 year old mini hot dog) and cry if we touched him. He was arching his head back in a strange way too. By morning he was paralyzed from the waist down. His breed has weak spines and this happens to them unfortunately. He had to have surgery and will be in the hospital till wed and then we have to wait and see if he gets better...... It sure makes you stop and think about how lucky we are. It takes a huge injury to have something like that happen to a person. We walk around and feel pretty darn good day to day in our lives with very little gratitude for that fact. Our bodies are miraculous even when we are critical of them. We can express ourselves and move and feel and touch. I for one want to make sure that I do not miss the "gift" in that.......

Today we will be at Simple Studios (134 w 29th I believe) to practice with the video and I will likely teach a little too. We are meeting at 11 and will go for a couple of hours. Any and all are welcome. Thanks Deb for your continued work and passion on this DVD project !!!!

Story von Holzhausen

Story's Liquid Strength summertime

2010-06-16T09:42:00.002-04:00

I have not blogged in SO long !!! It is hard to blog as openly as I usually do when I have been reluctant to talk about the fact that I am pregnant. There I said it. Being pregnant and feeling changes in my body has given me a fresh and insightful perspective into issues of "the body" and feeling comfortable no matter what you physically look like.

Summertime is always a big challenge since we drop down to one class a week only. The good news is that the energy of wed classes has been AMAZING. Such focus and positivity that it is downright addictive. Even the first timers are being swept up into the current.

The big thing I want everyone to focus on during the summer is that small consistent changes yield the biggest and most life altering changes. If you can't make it to class (or since we do not have friday classes till the fall), take 5 minutes and do as many walking lunges as you can and push ups. It is amazing how just those two things can greatly alter your strength and how you feel in your own skin !!!!!

For many of us, the twice a week mental stress relief of Liquid Strength is what is missed most. Take the time (especially when you are really stressed out) to do "full moon cycle" or "open the castle door" and imagine pushing all the things that stress you out away from you. Take a minute at your desk and do our neck stretch with a personal focus into your open palm and let your "mental chatter" calm for a moment. The very real world physical changes that happen in your brain chemistry are amazing.

I want to thank all of you for your support and what you create when you are all together in a room. The fun and joy that we all feel is from YOU. I am so blessed to be able to count all of you as my friends and students. I have the BEST job in the world !!!!

Story von Holzhausen

link to my teaser

2010-05-07T20:42:00.002-04:00

Thank you DEB !!! This is the teaser for my upcoming DVD. Remember now, I am a big puffy pregnant lady so I may not be as lean as normal but I sure am HAPPY !!!!!

http://rcpt.yousendit.com/867135971/38b28dfbacaf19dbefc9e990a1c4e7cb

"waddling to a gym near you"!!!!!

2010-05-04T21:01:00.002-04:00

Holy estrogen am I a voluptuous chic this week. I have swollen everything and it is GOOD. Not in a long time have I personally connected with the feelings that many of my students and clients feel about not liking their bodies completely. It has been a week to reflect on how much "I really care" about what other people think of my body. I realize at 42 that I care a WHOLE LOT less and I am truly grateful for that.

This week, after my procedure, I spend 2 days in bed or a wheel chair. Rarely have I learned so much about life for people who cannot "step out" of that chair in a couple of days. Very few things make you more grateful for your body and all that it can do (what a luxury to be LAZY and just choose NOT to work out). What if you COULDN"T ????

This week we are going to celebrate our physical strength but working hard and feeling the gift of that possibility. I cannot train hard still but I CAN waddle around and give pointers and see all of you lean strong bodies doing Liquid Strength!!!!!

I will try to be better about blogging. I have been very preoccupied with trying to get pregnant and have slacked off a great deal. This may have worked and it may not have, but I will still be lucky to be healthy and have all of the wonderful people who I love and who love me all around me. I may not be super lean right now or fit into my clothes but NOBODY loves me less for it. You know what is REALLY cool ??? The same is true for each of you !!!!!

this week for Liquid Strength

2010-04-26T17:21:00.002-04:00

I am LOVING how hard everyone is working. This week we only have wed. so we are going to be focusing very hard. What I want from all of you is to give the best QUALITY of work you can give. The harder you can work just TWICE a week, the more we can really change how you feel in your body.

It has been a very interesting month for me with all my hormone funks. I have learned a lot about how to let the attachment to what my body looks like go. The reality is that feeling strong and attached and confident is what it is all about. I see those changes in all of you and it is inspiring.

Being capable and strong and sexy is all about what YOU think of YOU. Nobody else's opinion really matters. That confidence radiates to everyone around you and to you too. It is a happy and positive energy. It is already there inside of you just waiting for you to notice.

Story von Holzhausen

ONE LITTLE BIT

2010-04-19T17:46:00.002-04:00

I have noticed with myself and my clients and even my children, that when a person makes a tiny change for the better and feels GOOD about that change, it is easier to keep making them. Sometimes I think that the path to greatness is really just the gentle veer of the path you are already on. So simple and so small that you barely notice the change but over the long haul, it matters. It really matters. That change can be being nice to a total stranger when you really feel grumpy or simply NOT reacting to someone who is a grump to you. Those little choices tell you something about yourself. They tell you that you are powerful. Your actions have echos throughout the days of everyone you chance to meet.

Even more powerful are the effects on YOUR life. When you do something that you know is right or good for you, you are telling yourself that you are important to YOU. You have a sense of "accomplishment" or respect for your own actions. That feeling inspires a chain reaction to make better choices more often. It can lead to really liking the person you are TODAY. It can make it easier to be someone you are happy to be tomorrow.

getting back in the groove of Liquid Strength

2010-04-09T16:14:00.002-04:00

The last couple weeks have been intense. In and out of class. I am always amazed at just how much I learn from NOT getting what I want. Being grateful and "in a good place" is only really worth something when you have to find it in yourself. That ability gets stronger every year just like my muscles. THAT makes me grateful.

liquid strength subbing tomorrow

2010-04-08T08:48:00.002-04:00

I am subbing a 45 min class tomorrow (yes, you can do a DOUBLE !!) @ 10:00 on 74th and 2nd

Did not work....but see you in class tomorrow !!!!

2010-04-06T15:58:00.001-04:00

liquid strength into SPRING.....

2010-04-06T12:06:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone. I must apologize for the LONG duration between posts. I have been a bit obsessed with my own things (most of you know what I am talking about and let's just say that it is not looking good at this point) lately. I have missed my "connecting" with all of you. Sometimes, when we are a little sad, it is very easy to pull away and "dis" connect with everyone around us. That seems to be the normal reaction. Unfortunately, it is at those times that our connections are the BEST for us and the most important.

I am both looking forward to and dreading tomorrow. I am so swollen from my meds that I feel awful. THIS is when I need to practice what I preach and find my "good". I know that with Liquid Strength, I will be back to my usual warrior self in no time. I just need to give it time. That is so hard isn't it ? We all want it NOW.

The work and level of classes (in SO many ways) is mind blowing right now. I find it vital that my more experienced people are closest to me so that I do not get caught up (like you know I do!) in working with the new students to have "perfect form". They will get it eventually and I want the class to move forward like it has been doing. I just LOVE that I can call out the names of the cycles and everyone knows what they mean !!!!! We have a FULL week this week and I plan on using it wisely and getting the MOST out of class !!!!!!

Story von Holzhausen

WE MADE THE VIDEO

2010-03-31T09:12:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, with the help of Deb, Scott, Chamisa, Kathleen, Stann and Todd we shot the video. It went amazingly well (I think anyway). We should have a rough cut within a week and start posting some snippets on the site shortly. I hope everyone had a great week. Today we will be working with great focus since we only have this ONE class for this week.

My trip to San Francisco went well. Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and well wishes. I am guardedly hopeful that it was a success. It is with great restraint that I do not blog the details of the trip as it is so personal. I will tell you about it in person.

Remember that our 6 week testing should be done by now. I would love to hear what the end numbers were for pushups and walking lunges !!!! I am elated at the level that classes are at right now. It just feels quite magical.

Story von Holzhausen

Spring is here for Liquid Strength

2010-03-25T07:42:00.002-04:00

I have been so pleased at how full classes have been even with the weather being awful (raining) or wonderful (in which case being outside is very tempting). If everyone ever shows up at the same time, we will be uncomfortably crowded but so far it has worked out great.

I will not be here tomorrow (Friday) to teach. I will be in class next wed and out Friday again so make sure you are THERE ! I would like all of you who did the pre 6 week challenge testing to test again and tell me your numbers !!! I will be bringing my tape and calipers to class the week after next.

I was perfectly sore from class yesterday. I hope all of you are feeling the same. So many of you are changing before my eyes that I am inspired every time I see you !!! Tues I will be shooting my video (small privately funded so it will not be a fancy thing). I will be able to hopefully offer some home tutorials and demos on the site. That will be great. I hear very often from students who have moved and can no longer attend classes so for all of YOU this will be a huge thing. I know myself that once your body changes from Liquid Strength, it is a huge bummer to suddenly lose it as nothing else does quite what this does !!!

The level at which we are working is so advanced at this point that I find myself getting really excited about the future and creating new moves and cycles that will get us further and further along in our practice.

One goal I have for EVERYONE is to see the effect of all your hard work happen before we are in full Spring gear. That being said, I would like for everyone to pick ONE very simple rule that they will follow going forward that will improve themselves in one way or another. I am not talking about radical changes (although those may well happen with time) but something very doable that you actually can and will do.

I am opting for one thing physical and one thing emotional. I am avoiding gluten and wheat. I have a lifelong post nasal drip, runny nose and "clearing the throat" habit that seems to magically disappear if I avoid gluten/wheat. I am loving that. In a different area altogether, I am trying to listen more and be less defensive. I find as I age and feel much more comfortable with who I am (and like that person !) that I am less concerned about pleasing everyone around me. I have always been (and likely will always be) a person who likes to please and make others happy. Sometimes this can call for knocking myself down a little to be more "unthreatening". Being 42, I am ok with someone not liking me for their own reasons. It is more important to me that I like myself and what I stand for. I want to be a role model for my daughter and my students/clients. I want all of you to be just as competent and smart and daring as you are without feeling the need to "lessen" who you are to be more readily excepted. If someone is threatened by you, you don't want them in your life anyway. You want to surround yourself with strong and able people who will challenge you to be ALL that you can be and cheer you along the way.

liquid Strength six week challenge testing

2010-03-22T07:09:00.002-04:00

WELL, Our 6 weeks are over. Going into the 6 weeks, I do not expect to see any shocking changes in anyone (although I have been pretty surprised). I do expect for all of you to have some clarity on the changes you want/need to make and how to start to slowing shift your lives to get there.

I will be away this Friday and next so we only have wed classes for the next two weeks. I would like for all of you to do the "testing" on your own. Today would be perfect so that you are not overly sore for Wed's class. You need to do push ups and walking lunges just like we did them for the pre challenge testing. I can't wait to hear about how those numbers are changing !!

We will be planning a post challenge party so let's start thinking about what night works for everyone. It should be a lot of fun.

As per request, I am going to give some VERY easy ideas for lunch/dinner that I have used in the past few weeks:

1) Bake up a big batch of fish (I like trout as it is very mild) and add it to miso and vegetable soup, over salads or even with hummus.

2) stir fry onion, broccoli and soy sprouts and throw in chicken or tofu or fish. (these can be pre-made I use frozen cooked shrimp)

3) make an omelette for dinner with all the healthy stuff in your fridge.

4) make up salmon/turkey/bison burgers with sliced heirloom tomatoes and fresh herbs with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon.

Beauty.......Liquid Strength style

2010-03-18T16:04:00.002-04:00

This blog entry is a long time coming. There is an ugly secret that we humans have. We (most of America anyway) love to see those we admire (envy) fail. There is such a fascination and obsession with "beauty". We seek it at any cost. We also punish and hate those who "have" it. we spend a lot of money and time trying to be "beautiful" but when/we you are, people will judge you or dislike you for it. You may spend half of your time trying to be beautiful and then the other half constantly atoning for it.

It is natural and normal to want to feel great about yourself. One thing I learned along the way is that no matter what I look like, it does not change how happy I am. Some people will not like me either way. I can never make everyone like me. I have learned that it is none of my business if they do. If I know I am being the best person I can be every day. If I am happy and true to myself and my beliefs, and I like who I am, that is all that matters. If a person does not like me, it is most likely nothing to do with me. They have their own insecurities and issues on any given day. I can wish them well but it is NONE of my business. My daughter is 9 and I can see it happening to her already. She is a beautiful little girl. She goes OUT of her way to wear a black tattered bandana and dress as "unpretty" as she can. Girls are nicer to her that way. It is so silly.

How did we get here as women? Why are not "on each other's sides"?

One of the things I love about all of you, my wonderful students and clients, is that you are NOT like that. We have a choice in what we decide to call "success". If I ask most of people who are DESPERATE to lose 10lbs, if they were ever 10lbs less, and they were, I always ask "Were you that much happier in your LIFE"? The answer is always "But I LOVED my body". That is not the question. "Were you happier in your life or with yourself"? The answer is usually NO. The dieting and wretchedness of a consuming obsession with their bodies usually made them pretty miserable and their lives did not miraculously change having other women envy them.. (shocker huh?)

I believe that we have to get to like ourselves NOW. We have to look at what our bodies can do and how good they feel. Think about how wonderful a back rub feels. Think about how wonderful it is to feel your skin against someone you love or even a pet your love. That amazing feeling of "the cuddle". You can thank your body for that amazing gift. When you step back and really think about it, you can't even SEE what you look like unless you look in a mirror. You spend MOST of your time (I hope anyway) nowhere near a mirror. If you "dig" what you are about and what you do in your day (and who you spend it with), who really cares what you look like. NOBODY who loves you does. If you were gorgeous, you would have more people wishing bad things on you and not liking you anyway.

I want to take great care of myself. I want to look my best but not because it really matters what strangers think of me. There is a certain amount of self respect you get from taking care of yourself. It shows respect of YOU. When you start to believe that losing 5 lbs will make you HAPPIER though, really think about it. It changes nothing. Most people are far too busy obsessing about their own junk to even notice your weight. If you are healthy and happy and able, that is a gift.

Take some time and put it all in perspective. When it stops being such a THING in your life, it is much easier to eat well and take care of yourself simply because you respect and like yourself. THAT my friends will bring you happiness.

I am destroyed from wed's class. I mean ridiculous ! We will be doing a lot of upper body and core. The lower body will be about movement and stretching. I will be giving students who were NOT in wed's class some other work to do while we are in abs (they will be doing the arm moves from the "home" position.

Story von Holzhausen

Liquid Strength Blog

2010-03-16T07:08:00.002-04:00

Hello out there. I would like to hear from you about what you would like to read about on this blog. There are two different roads to go down. I can write about the very practical stuff (what I am doing for exercise or diet and what I recommend for you to do) or I can write in a conversational way (like I do often) about issues beyond fitness. If you have any questions you can ask. If you have any thoughts to share, you can write to me and I will blog and not use your name. I have been amazed at how much you have all helped each other with your openness. I would like that to continue.

I invent recipes that are pretty good and pretty easy. I can share those too !! Please help me make the most of this arena. Let it be a place that you gain support and learn. As we bring our 6 week challenge to a close, please do not let the lessons and growth end. The idea of taking care of yourself in every way should continue and become a part of your life. The 6 weeks that we do, as a structured thing, should be more of a behavior modification that we keep up with. Next year when we do it again, I hope you will see (as I have) that many of the changes have become permanent. Next year the challenge will be a brush up course and you will move further along in your choices to be happy.

Story von Holzhausen

LAST WEEK of Story von Holzhausen's 6 week challenge

2010-03-15T08:45:00.002-04:00

Well, we are now in our final week. I know that this year the "challenge" has been a very subtle one. The changes and struggles have been mostly emotionally and having to do with our LIVES and not our bodies (which we all know are so connected that one effects the other so profoundly that they cannot be separated). I am so proud of you. I have been moved to tears by the honesty and courage you have all had dealing with some pretty hard issues. I can see the changes in you and I know that you can too. I would like to ask that everyone do me a favor this week....

Do the push ups where you move ONE weight every time you as you push up. With each time you move that weight, I want you to think of something you are proud of about yourself or something you are opening your life up to. Fight very hard to get every single last one you can out of your set. (while you make each one count and be very effective to make you stronger). Take the time to reflect on how you have changed. Feel that warrior in you that will fight for what you believe in.

We will be doing the "testing" to see if our numbers have changed the first week of April. I want all of you to work hard this last week so that you are BLOWN away with your own improvements. Take this last week to feed your body so well that you feel amazing and strong. I have learned so much this year and grown so much this year. The joy I feel upon seeing all of you when I walk into class is huge. NYC can be a very lonely place. Women especially are not usually "on each other's sides". We tend to punish ourselves and each other based on some strange and ridiculous pecking order of attractiveness. I love that in our gatherings, we are happy with each other's growth. Men and women have the same warrior and team attitude. It is such a small thing but I do not ever remember being less lonely than I am right now. Largely because of the amazing kindred atmosphere of my classes. I thank you all for what you teach ME. I celebrate your fighting and fierce and noble spirits. You ROCK !

Story von Holzhausen

subbing Monday (tomorrow) @Greenwhich 12:30

2010-03-14T10:57:00.002-04:00

Would love for some of you to be there! I was very sore from Friday. In my entire core especially. I would love some feedback about how it all went for you guys !

The future of Liquid Strength

2010-03-11T17:28:00.002-05:00

There is a current of energy around us that is gathering strength and momentum. I can feel it when I walk into the room. I can see it when I look at your faces. It is awe inspiring and fun. It is powerful and happy. It is the very real lives we are creating for ourselves and I am very grateful and blessed to be "in on it".

We are coming to a level where the boundaries of what we can physically accomplish begin to shift. I am sure you can see it in the students around you. Every time I walk in to teach, I am shocked at the changes in all of you. I wish I could divide the room into levels and work exactly how each level needed. Some of you are newer and need the very basics explained and need to practice not "losing" Joyous chest or the connection to the work doing very simple movements. Some of you are ready to be very dynamic and creative in your practice. We are reaching a point where I have to grow with the need of my students. I would like to start to teach more classes and have them taught in various levels. I would also like to teach my MAT WORK Liquid Strength class.

I am looking into studio space to rent to be able to offer a wider array of classes and times. I have been amazed at the support I have received at the thought of this venture. I will remain at Equinox (no worries) and teach my core classes but I want to have the freedom to grow the program and have other talented people be able to teach also. The difference between doing 2 classes a week and 3 or 4 (If I am able to teach different types of Liquid Strength classes that specifically do different things you are actually able to do more) is unreal. The body changes (even mine) at an alarming and addicting rate. The calm and positive state of mind also deepens with the additional practice of "choosing to be comfortable outside your comfort zone.

I am currently looking into to the Upper West Side since that is where I live. I would want the space to be very close to the express train at 72nd so it would be easy to get to. Yesterday we had our production meeting for the DVD and we have a very talented group of people who are so generously GIVING their time and talent to this project because they also believe in Liquid Strength. Thank you Deb for coordinating. Thank you Stann and Todd for your amazing insight and willingness to "jump on board". I can hardly wait to see what the future holds.....

half way into Story's 6 Week challenge

2010-03-09T07:12:00.002-05:00

We are nearing the halfway mark on our challenge. It is amazing how different this year is than last year. So much of what we are working on is internal. The changes and work is much deeper and braver. 6 weeks is not long enough to see the lasting and amazing results of serious life changes. I have been blown away by the honesty and bravery that many of you are showing as you face some pretty heavy life choices (that you did not realize you HAD) and begin the process of changing your "hard wiring". At the same time, many of you who have been doing Liquid Strength with me for a long time are having huge JUMPS in finally "getting it" and getting really sore. I myself am learning so much in how to teach better and lead my students/clients to more body (and of course mind) changing work. I have embraced this quote (that I don't know if anyone but me has ever said but they may have...):

"As soon as I think I am the best, I stop getting better"

I love being on that journey. The destination is the least interesting part. There have been some blog comments and emails (some of you are having trouble posting on the blog so you have sent me emails to post) I have chosen NOT to post. They are so movingly personal and open. Unfortunately, not everyone who may read this blog is coming from the same place that we are. I am willing to put myself out there but I am very protective of all of you. Just know that the love and courage it takes to put those things in WRITING is felt by everyone even though I have chosen not to post it publicly.

I was so sore after Friday that I was pretty shocked. If you are NOT getting very sore in these weeks, please come early/stand in front/stay after class and let me work on your form with you. It makes SUCH a difference. I am available for privates too. One private can make such a difference in classes it is mind blowing.

I love seeing all of your bodies change weekly. Your faces and how you hold yourselves changes too. I cannot express the joy it gives me to see you succeed. Gratitude and pride are the gifts you give to me every week. Thank you !

Story von Holzhausen

Liquid Strength

pushing buttons

2010-03-04T06:55:00.002-05:00

I am going to blog about the issue that was brought up in class yesterday. This is something that I have helped so many of my clients and students deal with (unfortunately). When your body begins to drastically change, there can be some huge reactions from the people around you. Some of the reaction is wonderful but sometimes it's not.

When we make changes to better ourselves, our choices and our lives, it can "push the buttons" of the people around us. When a person sees an example of very brave and positive change, issues in their own lives can come up. Everyone has insecurities and issues that they do not want to face and work on (let's face it, it is HARD work and much easier to just keep things as they are) and when we see people in our lives making these changes, it forces us to see what we are NOT doing to make the same changes.

Most "bullying" and cruelty and meanness in the world is really just a manifestation of fear. When addicts are attempting to clean up their lives, they need to change their entire social network. There are people in our lives who we love and who love us who will not be positive about changes in our lives. It will scare them, it may cause jealousy or fear and they may lash out in some pretty surprising ways.

I have learned this over the years. I have seen sisters where one was always the "pretty" one and one was the "heavy" one. After years of very loving relationships, when this balance and "norm" changes, things can get ugly.

In a perfect world, we would all be true to ourselves and happy with our lives. We would welcome and encourage the people in our lives to grow and better themselves. The reality is that most of us are insecure and unhappy about certain aspects of our lives. Oddly, some of the most beautiful people I have known are the most insecure and jealous. The important thing to realize is that this is NOT ABOUT YOU. It is not your job to make your love ones do the work on themselves to get to a better place. It IS your job to set very clear boundaries about how they treat you when you are making these changes. I have found that turning the tables on a nasty comment and asking "why would you say/ask that?" (very lovingly and gently), can lead to some very positive and life changing conversations.

Most relationships in our lives can handle these times of transition and actually get stronger. Communication and honesty is vital to make this happen. As you find your own "truth", you may find (as I have) that helping people get there is a huge joy to you. Be open to being a catalyst of change to the people in your life who are open to it.

Unfortunately, you may find that there are people in your life who want to keep you in an unhealthy place because of their own issues. These people can love us and believe themselves to have our best intentions in mind but in truth, they are toxic to us. If anyone in your life wants to keep you unhappy with yourself or keep you feeling powerless, this person is not someone you want to keep at your side on the day to day. It is our responsibility to set our own boundaries around these relationships. It does not mean you stop loving this person. It does not mean you end your relationship (although sometimes it does). It means that it is OK to choose when and where you will have interaction. Without getting into any specific relationships (I know so many of your personal stories and there are MANY examples of this in all of your lives), let me give a generic example that is quite common. Your MOM, she loves you, she uses food for emotional reasons, she may not like what she looks like or myriad other things in her life. Whenever you see her, she pushes food on you or comments on what you are or are not eating (this can go in either direction). Half of my clients (especially women) have this issue in their lives. What will help is to sit down with your Mom (or whoever it is you need to talk to) when the behavior is NOT happening and you are calm. Very honestly say what is on your mind like "Mom (insert other name), I am really working hard on myself right now and trying to make good choices for myself and my life. I know you love me. It is really important to me that I feel you are "on my side' and supporting me in these choices.

The next time the behavior happens, very calmly say "I am sure you are not intending to not support me right now so let me tell you how I would like this situation to change so we can both enjoy our time together" (be very honest about the behavior that you need and are comfortable with). If the loved one refuses to change their behavior, it is ok to limit your interaction with them around the situations that are not working for you. Be very open about it. "I would love to spend time with you but I have noticed that you are not comfortable supporting me in my efforts of change so I would rather not be in that situation" (if this is an issue of mealtime etc. make arrangements to meet and spend time together where the issue (food or your relationship status etc.) is not the focus of the get together.

Find people in your life who cheer you on your way to a better you. A new you and a new life may well mean some new friends. I have so many wonderful friends. Over the years your lives change and your interests change. You can stay close and love a friend forever and find that you spend very little time with them. That is ok. That is part of life.

The healthier our friends/family/mates are, the healthier and happier lives we will lead. It is hard work to change our lives. It can be painful to realize that we have some people in our lives that for their own reasons may not support us. What we do and how we handle these situations will impact us. It will prove to ourselves that We are worth fighting for. Making these changes and these boundaries are creating new "grooves" for us to follow. Every time we do not allow ourselves to further deepen the ruts that are not healthy for us, the less 'hard wired" we become. All of us can change our lives and our habits and our "hard wiring". That is an amazing gift. It is not a gift that is easily won but it is the most important victory we will ever achieve.

Story von Holzhausen

Liquid Strength

in the midst of things

2010-03-03T08:17:00.002-05:00

It is a rainy day today. I know my favorite part of it will be class today. We are going to be doing NO weights. I want to really focus on putting the very most into every single move. Instead of moving with the thought of "how many", I want us to do every single move just in the moment and if it is the ONLY one we are ever going to do. We are going to work on truly being present in our bodies and in the room today. I want you to get out of every second the most that you can. There is no room for any thoughts outside of the RIGHT NOW in a class like today's. We are going for a moving meditation where we feel and really love the power of our bodies and how they move.

You will know by how sore you are how much you are achieving the deeper levels of Liquid Strength. You will know and feel if you are really IN your body or in your "chatter". Today is a very hard physical challenge but ONLY if you are able to achieve the inward challenge of intention and connection.

Story von Holzhausen

I am subbing Friday March 7th 9:00 at 92nd street Equinox

2010-03-03T08:16:00.000-05:00

Liquid Strength

2010-03-01T07:26:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I subbed a class at Greenwich Ave and it was the most delightful class I have ever subbed in my life. They did amazingly well and to a man completely understood and connected with Liquid Strength. I want to thank my regulars who came and helped the energy of the room so much.

As many of you know, we are doing the video shortly. There has been a lot happening lately (I always tell Kurt that there is a kind of "magic" happening with all of you that feels completely different and feels like we are on the verge of something huge). I am considering renting a space and growing the program to a higher level. As a few of you know, there are 3 different type of classes that go under the "Story Method" heading:

1) Liquid Strength (this is the type of class where we use very broad movement cycles and combine them)

2) Story Method Mat (we have done some of these movements in class)

3) Fundamentals (we do this method when we work on holding our connection to the "work" and moving very minimally)

So many of you are sharing your stories about the changes in your lives that are happening as you change your attitudes about your "selves" and make very real and difficult changes in your lives. I invite you to share your experiences with each other (if you get really brave you can even post them here !!!). I am looking forward to the future and the amazing things we will do. Please give me feedback on where you would like a studio to be and if you are interested in other time slots and classes being offered. Thank you for your amazing energy and inspiration.

Story von Holzhausen

Time

2010-02-27T13:27:00.003-05:00

I am sitting here alone in my office. I have spent the last 20 hours by myself. That is such a rarity (anyone who is a Mom understands that !). It is amazing to sit in your apartment without the tv on and without using your phone etc. Time takes on a whole new quality. The actually space around you feels still. I want all of you to take an hour or even 30 minutes this weekend and spend it technology and people free. The most important part of the work we are doing is learning who we are and what really want out of our lives and ourselves. For some of you, it is learning boundaries or enforcing them others around you. For others, it is making huge changes in how you approach yourselves and those around you. In the day to day of our lives, we get lost in our chores and routines and so often lose the big picture of what we are doing in our lives. What we believe in and are truly passionate about. Youth brings these questions about naturally. "What do I want to be when I grow up?", "Where do I want to live?", "Who do I want to marry". As we age and have already made many of those choices we allow ourselves to go through our days and years digging a rut that over time gets so deep that we cannot see out of it to what our lives COULD be.

You are still allowed to ask yourself those questions about who you are and what you want. You can make changes in your marriages, your careers and your selves. It is never too late. The only way we fail is if we except our lives as inevitable and don't see that we can work to make them anything we want to. It takes courage and work and support but anything is possible. The journey starts but figuring out exactly Where you want to go??????????

SUBBING Liquid Strength Sunday 11:00 @ Greenwhich

2010-02-26T06:56:00.002-05:00

Please come and help me show Greenwich Ave how wonderful class can be. Just a 45 minute class but we will be MOVING !

Mid week Liquid Strength

2010-02-25T07:57:00.002-05:00

I am sore. Really sore. It feels amazing. I am hoping that you all feel it too. A lot of people have been emailing me asking me if it's OK to come to class even if you are not doing the "challenge". My 6 week challenge is a gift I give to those who want it. My classes are open to everyone and anyone who wants to be there and give of themselves and their energy. If you are an experienced Liquid Strength practitioner you can come to class late, leave early WHATEVER as I would rather you get some time in and I know that sometimes time is tight. Never feel badly about it just wave hello or goodbye so I know you are ok.

Friday will be the same feel as Wed. was. All the usual tools but Friday we will start with the bar and move to the large single weight (I never seem to get to them otherwise). Let me know what I can do to help with your challenges or your goals if you are not in the challenge. I am not sure if my banter on a daily basis is helping or not. I would welcome feedback about what I can do on the blog that would be useful to you. I am so proud of all the hard work you are putting in. Classes have a magical quality and I am hearing from so many of you "I just want to be in the room because my head needs it". I could not agree more.

Story von Holzhausen

Story von Holzhausen six week challenge tips and myths

2010-02-24T08:06:00.002-05:00

Today we will be using standard weights. All three things. I will be using 5lbs weights and a 12 and a yellow bar. Very large movements today and lots of variety. We are practicing our ability to "keep it" focused and connected when we move. Please feel free to go at your own pace. For some of you this is a process that will be very gradual. If you need to go slower than I do to keep connected than PLEASE do. Your job is to make every movement very purposeful and focused and make it yield as much benefit as you can.

I got an email that I wanted to answer to all of you as I think it will benefit everyone. I know that there are a lot of of theories and myths about certain foods being eaten together or alone. Certain times you should eat etc. Many of these theories are not proven and are just a way to sell books and diets. When you put gas in your car, you drive a set amount of miles to burn a set amount of fuel. Your body is very similar. The reason why eating a lot at night is not a good idea (and I do not believe that food is then stored as "fat" and it certainly has never been proven by science) is that you do not sleep well when your body has to digest a big meal. Sleep is the time that your body needs to heal and repair and produce human growth hormone (which heals and repairs and makes us grow when we are younger). I personally get acid reflux in my sinus cavities and I snore and feel exhausted the next day (such a pretty picture huh?).

As far as foods needing to be eaten alone or together, that is just myth. Your body needs a steady stream of fats (healthy) ,protein and carbs to be fueled properly and function well. For a more muscular person and if you are trying to build muscle, you may want more protein than someone who is not training.

You will find that you feel better when you fuel yourself well throughout the day. I personally feel (and it has been proven by science) that we naturally have days where we eat more and days where we eat less. This is called in science "alternate day fasting" (which is a misleading name as you are never really fasting but your caloric intake changes on certain days). Our appetites naturally vary from day to day and when we "listen to our bodies" we will eat very naturally in this fashion. It is believed (and proven by science) that this helps our metabolism to stay higher as our bodies do not slow down our metabolism thinking that we are short on food.

The list of foods that I gave below in this blog is the list I want you to eat from every day. Change it up and explore. Be active and move around for the joy of it. Try new flavors and try very hard to not obsess about "dieting" as that will bring you further away from a healthy relationship with food. Food is a blessing and a wonderful and enjoyable thing in our lives. When we open ourselves up to it instead of trying to "control" our relationship with food, we can get back to trusting ourselves and enjoying our lives so much more.

I have heard from many of you regarding "numbers". This is the obsessive counting of calories, pounds, calories burned, etc. The biggest part of my challenge is to forget all of that. Chances are you have been doing that for years and it is not working for you. You simply get more obsessed and focused on those stupid numbers (I ate 2 cups of veggies etc). I never count or weigh anything. I choose really healthy foods and I eat them. I give myself time between bites and rest half way through to give myself time to process that I just ate and then I eat till I am satisfied. I will pick up a yummy sweet (trying to make it quality) and I will eat a small portion for dessert. It is that simple. The more you make it that simple, the more you leave the "Bridget Jones' Diary" type life alone. We are all so capable and strong and every day we are making huge gains in strength and focus and confidence. Let that fill your day. Take some time to feel how good your body feels when you put your groceries away and pass people by on the subway stairs. IT ROCKS and so do YOU !!!