I know its been a while but I've recently been inspired. I have finally found another person, in this case a Ph.D in psychology, who believes that it is ok to eat for emotional reasons. For years, authors and authorities of all types, whether it be nutritionists, therapists, Buddhists, personal trainers, etc., said, "Don't eat for emotional reasons. Try meditating, taking a walk or a bath." At the same time I saw the reality of emotional eating from the perspective of myself, my friends, loved ones and clients. It seemed that finding a balanced way was needed. What I've been saying for some time is that if you are going to eat emotionally (which seems a given), then make sure you're being mindful and fully embodied at the same time. Finally someone agrees with me. Now I won't seem so crazy, will I? :-)

Let me share just a few juicy thoughts and you can read the rest of his book if you'd like. It has many other fun, interesting and not too preachy ideas on mindful eating. This information is from "Eating the Moment- 141 mindful practices to overcome overeating one meal at a time" by Pavel Somov, Ph. (2008). In chapter 4, he discusses mindful emotional eating in detail and provides 5 key steps to success. I've summarized them here.

1. Accept emotional eating as a legitimate coping choice, not a coping failure
2. Before eating, relax a bit by deep breathing or meditation for a few minutes
3. Try to eat in company, not alone
4. Follow a ritual- pick a place to eat, with a start and end time for your eating
5. Remember that emotional eating does not have to mean emotional overeating
(All emphasis added is mine)

I also recommend eating foods that will really satisfy and be sure to eat it mindfully and fully present in your body. This way you have the best chance of dealing with the emitionas while minimizing the risk of feeling guilty about it afterwards.

I hope this helps.

Ian

A chance to regroup

The time of year for me to put on my grubby jeans and boots and baseball cap has come.

I leave tomorrow for my annual family camping trip with my wife and her family. I have come to really look forward to this chance to sleep in while listening to the river running outside my tent, to smell like campfire smoke all day and eat way more than anyone person needs in one day, even with the hiking and wood chopping.

Being with family out in nature allows me to really slow down and relax, letting go of all the million and one things that I have to do "back in the world." Without this time I would just keep accelerating into a whirling dervish.

Instead, I will return rested and rejuvinated, ready to get back to seeing my clients and my right livelihood. I feel very blessed. I hope you have an opportunity to do the same.

In health,
Ian

Grand opening recap

Well, to say that our open house was a success would be as they say, an understatement. We are so thankful to all of you who attended and we hope that those of you who missed it will come by at your convenience to take a tour and find out about what we are up to. Our staff is filling out and we are really excited and happy that one of our favorite people, Jordan Fanning, will be rejoining us for at least this summer. It feels great to be working as part of a team again: the synergy, the camaraderie, the accountability, the laughter. I liked working for myself and I still do, but working in a co-op style is even better. When you have great people who have similar passions and great skills and are nice to be around, what could be better? We will have the rest of our equipment shortly, some of which just arrived today. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to my first Food 4 Thought Event next Friday at 7.

So, today is the big day. Our open house at Edge Performance Fitness. Looking forward to seeing lots of excited people check out our unique approach to health and wellness and get to know the awesome crew I have the privilege to be working with. There's gonna be lots of food and drink so it should be a lot of fun to just hang out and meet great people. Hope to see many of you there. Look for the next post to fill you in on what all happened.

I hope this post finds you enjoying the summery weather. This year has brought lots of growth in my garden and in my life. As some of you already know (and now all of you), I have been offered an exciting opportunity to join forces with two close friends and business associates in a new integrated health and fitness training facility centrally located in North Portland. Kate Fischer, formerly of Alameda Fitness Center, is opening Edge Performance Fitness and has asked me, my Tae Kwon Do teacher and friend Mark Pearson, and a few other fantastic health and fitness professionals, to join her in offering a team-based approach to health and fitness.

My time with all of you at Alameda Fitness was great, and I look forward to more great times at Edge Performance Fitness. I am excited by the new opportunities that Edge will offer, including working with friends of mine again and being able to offer more of my whole-self food and nutrition services.

Our website edgeperformancefitness.com will be up soon so please continue to check it out for more information about what we're doing and how we might be of service.

In the meantime, please join me and the rest of the Edge staff for an open house on Friday, June 12th after 5pm. See the facility, talk with the staff and enjoy some refreshments.

I hope to see you there!

Your friend in health,

Ian Rubin

Edge Performance Fitness, LLC
1502 N Ainsworth (On the Interstate Max Line)
Portland, OR 97217

P.S. Please forward this along to anyone you'd like. Thanks for your continued support.

Once again, into the fray

So, here I sit again in front of the computer trying to come up with something interesting to say in relation to my business and livelihood that might be interesting to you all. I guess I’ll just go with what comes to my head.

Many of you have asked me how my business has been going, considering the economic times. Blessedly it is going really well! My personal training clientele has been growing steadily, and those I’ve been training for some time seem more committed than ever. It seems to me (and I’d be interested in your feedback) that people are reassessing what is most important in their lives and health and wellness seem to float to the top of the list.

In the midst of these difficult times, how you feel in your body takes a great precedent. If you need to work as many hours as I do, having energy and being pain free is a huge benefit to working out. Eating the foods that work best for me does the same. Even with tight budgets, eating “well” and exercising can be achieved with little pinch on the pocket.

Where do you put wellness, food, and fitness in your priorities right now? Let’s start a discussion and help each other keep it or put it higher on the list than we normally do so that we can keep our physical bodies and all that comes with it in good stead.

Jumping in

Well, here I go again with this whole blogging idea. I like many of you have been feeling the stress of the current economic situation. Similarly, I am trying to look for the silver lining or the opportunities presented by said situation. I am inspired by how many people seem to be on the same page of taking the opportunity in this environment to build or rebuild community as a way of coping. For example, while I’m writing this, my good friend Mark is here at the house and is working on some of his own things. Left to our own devices, we might not be doing this. We’ve made this time specifically so we could support each other in taking these action steps to improve our lives. Another great example has been the reaction of many like-minded wellness professionals I know who have responded positively to the idea of building more community. Not just as a way to develop more business but to help each other realize that we don’t have to go it alone or try to reinvent the wheel.

Lastly, and possibly most inspiring is what is happening between me and my neighbor. She has decided to feed herself and her family from their own garden and yard as much as possible. I try to do the same. So we’re going to help each other. We’re developing a plan so we grow different fruits and veggies and then sharing whatever we grow between us. We’re even replacing a section of fence with a gate so we can work in each other’s yards with ease. Supporting each other’s efforts means that we will be more successful in our goal of feeding ourselves, have more fun, build stronger connections and who knows, maybe even safe a few bucks.

I encourage you to look into for opportunities to build community, especially around food. They are a natural complement to each other. Try sharing a meal with extended family or friends once a week. Make it a potluck or maybe one family hosts each week, relieving the burden of cooking for at least one meal a week for everyone else. Try new recipes or stick with family favorites. What matters is that in this time of economic challenge, community matters more. Spending time with friends and family is more important than ever and what better way to spend it than sharing food.

Your friend in health,

Ian