Welcome to Week 3 of Wunda Wednesdays!  From May 1st through July 1st, I’ll be participating in a 60 Day Challenge with WundaBar Pilates.  I’ll be taking 3-4 classes per week in exchange for documenting my progress weekly here on the blog.

Today I complete 10 WundaBar Pilates classes.   The 10-20-30 Principle in Pilates is that in 10 sessions you will notice a difference in your body, in 20 sessions you and others will notice a difference in your body and in 30 sessions, you will have a whole new body.  Along with the type of food you put into your body, I think there’s some merit to the 10-20-30 Principle.

Image: mag3737

After 10 sessions at WundaBar I do notice a difference in my body.  Someone else might not be able to physically see the difference but I certainly physically feel a difference in my body.  I’m very aware of my posture – how I sit, stand and move in every day activities.  Now I find myself thinking about my core muscles and I can actually feel them.

I have heard the phrase “engage your core muscles” by every exercise class instructor I’ve ever experienced.  I’ve tried (oh how I’ve tried!) but only since I’ve taken classes at WundaBar do I realize that I never have truly engaged those deep abdominal muscles but I feel them now.  Now, I really understand why I’ve been wrestling with the same back injury for years and years – all of my other muscles have been doing the work for my non-existent core.  Not anymore.

In honor of Week 3, I want to share 3 of the exercises specifically recommended to me by some WundaBar instructors to get the back and core STRONGER (can you hear Britney singing it?) after injury.

1. Footwork:  Lying prone on a Reformer and using the footbar in a single leg or double leg manner allows for core and back strength development. This was the foundation that began in Physical Therapy and continues during my weekly PT sessions.  With both feet on the footbar, just raising and lowering (articulation) of the spine can engage the core.  Bending, straightening and extending the leg or legs (moving the Reformer carriage against a springload) in a specific combination triggers the mind and body connection.

Before WundaBar, my quadriceps and hamstring muscles of my legs were performing “the heavy lifting” and now my hips and back are being supported by the muscles of my abdominal area to do the work.

Obviously not me. Image: WundaBar.com

2.  Kneeling/Plank:  WundaBar instructors love these exercises.  In the hands and knees position, picking knees up off the floor is called 4 Point Kneeling and it will engage the abdominal muscles immediately.

Plank, AKA upper push-up position, can be performed on hands or elbows.  Doing a Plank on a WundaFormer and having to move your body even a half an inch against spring tension does not compare to doing it on the floor.

I’ve been doing Planks at home but in every single class a WundaBar instructor has adjusted my hips, rear or shoulders and my back and core feel the difference.

3.  Arm Arcs with Abdominal Crunch:  This is not your average “flatten your lower back, hands behind your head, pull on your neck up and attempt to have your chin meet the sky” type of crunch.  As with many contemporary Pilates exercises, a neutral spine, allowing for the natural curve of the back is encouraged at WundaBar.

Hang 10 Measurement by Helene

Instructors will place a hand in a vertical hang-ten sign down the abdomen to ensure proper positioning.  Once in position lying on the Reformer with knees bent and diagonally raising straight arms with hands in straps (attached to spring loaded tension pulleys) already allows for some central tension.  Even the smallest core crunch can help develop strength.

Depending upon spring tension, my arm arcs up and down are small.  Neutral spine and a lengthened form take work for me.  Keeping proper form to finally develop my core and back muscles are paramount!

In addition to the above WundaBar instructor recommended exercises, I’m sharing my personal favorite exercise so far called Madonna Arms.

Madonna Arms!

The true name to this exercise is Reverse Saloon Doors but I will always call it Madonna Arms (minus the veins) anyway.  The exercise is performed on the Reformer, upright on knees, hands in pulley straps, elbows at hips with hands facing outward with tension on the straps to bring out the best in your biceps!  Hello!

This works the arms for sure but without engaging the muscles of the core and back there is no stability to kneel upright.  I like seeing what my inner muscular athlete looks like without Photoshop.

Next week is my 1 month check in.  I’ll share my Fit-Fax body composition analysis follow-up and my goals for Phase 2 of the 60 Day Challenge.  If you’re new to the series, this is the post for Week 1 and for Week 2.

*This post is part of my series Wunda Wednesdays which I have agreed to write in exchange for classes at WundaBar Pilates for the next 60 days.  All opinions are my own.

Image: My Secret Admiral

Based on a tradition started in Italy, there is a similar movement taking place in coffee houses called Suspended Coffees that allows you to pay for a future coffee for someone else who may not be able to afford one.  This is a video about the concept:

Suspended Coffee from Mummu on Vimeo.

The concept has spread through Europe (even Starbucks in the UK participates) but has not become widespread in the US per this article from the New York Times written in April 2013.  I like the idea of paying a nice gesture forward (as I’ve been doing myself) but can’t help but wonder if those really in need have coffee as a first priority (or even realize that these programs exist).

In Los Angeles there is a large homeless population but in my small city, homelessness is invisible.  In New York, homelessness is visible on every corner.  Wild Boy grew up giving our local homeless man money or food every time we saw him.  My child has grown up knowing that we aren’t monetarily wealthy but that we are rich because we are healthy, happy and enjoy many creature comforts.

It has been a priority to teach Wild Boy that it is important to share what we can when we can.  The first yard sale we ever had, it was Wild Boy’s idea to give half of his earnings to a local animal shelter and it made me proud to see that the spirit of giving was taking hold at a young age.  A friend started a tradition at a birthday party last year by asking attendees to send donations to a designated charity in lieu of gifts and we’ve done the same for the last 2 birthday celebrations.  While we all joke at the idea of having #firstworldproblems, we are lucky to have them.

Image: Philippe Lin

My heart loves the idea of Suspended Coffees and a viral spread of the concept in the US would be a fantastic step in a direction toward creating an environment of hope and “spreading the love”.  It isn’t providing basic needs like food, clothing or shelter to help those really in need but it’s a start.

Do you know any places that participate in the Suspended Coffees effort?  Do you know of something else like it near you? 

It’s a great song and one of the most brilliant renditions ever. Enjoy!

My favorite healthy meal in all of NYC is not a high-end establishment but it’s a place that nearly every NYU student knows well.  It’s Dojo on West 4th and Mercer.  Dojo has a long history in NYC and used to have two locations (Dojo East on St. Mark’s closed) but now has only one.  This location has sentimental value to me.  If you’re a New Yorker, you might know that years ago this used to be the site of the ice cream parlor Swensen’s – one of the places I went after my HS Senior Prom.

Even after the restaurant changed over to Dojo, an Asian-inspired, inexpensive healthy restaurant.  I’ve been a fan.  Every single friend I have has likely met me at Dojo for lunch because it is my favorite place on earth to eat a healthy meal for under $10.

I’ve said this before but I’m definitely of the mindset that things taste better when someone else makes it and that goes for coffee, salad and yes, Dojo’s steamed vegetables over brown rice.  However,  Dojo has been making what you know as Carrot Ginger dressing since 1973!   Dojo’s original ginger-carrot-tahini, Kamikaze Dressing is so good that Dojo actually sells separate containers so you can attempt to replicate their delicious magic on your meals at home.

Steamed Vegetables with Tofu over Brown Rice and Dojo Kamikaze Dressing

I’ll admit that I eat my steamed vegetables and tofu over brown rice with carrot dressing every single time I go to Dojo.  I might add a miso soup or a homemade lemonade.  Despite my singular meal focus, Dojo has many offerings on their menu.  I would tell you not to miss Dojo’s frozen yogurt for dessert.  They serve in the old fashioned silver cups (maybe leftover from Swensen’s?) and the taste isn’t anything you’d get from the many froyo chain stores around.

Do you have a favorite restaurant that you think no one else appreciates?  I’d love to know.

I have no affiliation with Dojo Restaurant and was not compensated or influenced to write this post.  All opinions are my own.

Welcome to Week 2 of Wunda Wednesdays!  From May 1st through July 1st, I’ll be participating in a 60 Day Challenge with WundaBar Pilates.  I’ll be taking 3-4 classes per week in exchange for documenting my progress weekly here on the blog.

This week I want to give an overview about Joseph Pilates and his contributions to the components of the mothership of WundaBar Pilates, the WundaFormer.  The WundaFormer is the unique machine that brings together a modern combination of the best features of some of the most well known machines used in contemporary Pilates today.

Modern PT session using Pilates inspired apparatus – Official US Navy Imagery

I found it fascinating to discover that Joseph Pilates was a sickly child who studied many forms of self improvement and dedicated his entire life improving physical strength for himself and others. Pilates developed his “mat work” exercises in order to support the mental health and physical fitness for himself and others while at an internment camp during World War I.

After being transferred to a second internment camp, Pilates took springs from beds and anchored them to create spring resistance and “movement” to help rehabilitate hospitalized patients.  In 1925, Pilates came to America and with his nurse-wife, Clara, he developed the Pilates method of exercise by translating the use of springs to develop flexibility, core strength, endurance and coordination from the internment camps into a number of specific machines.  Some of the best known pieces of Pilates equipment used today are the Reformer, the Jump Board and the Wunda Chair which are all integral parts of the WundaFormer at WundaBar Pilates.

Pilates Reformer – see Jump Board leaning on mirror.

The traditional Reformer is a cushioned sliding platform (carriage) anchored on one end by an adjustable footbar and on the other end by a series of springs.  Exercises can be done lying on the back or side, kneeling, sitting or standing on the movable carriage (there are shoulder blocks and a head rest for stability).  The footbar can be used as a handlebar to allow the Reformer to be versatile in developing core strength, flexibility and stability.

The amount of body weight resistance needed to move the carriage is determined by the type and the amount of springs used.  The springs are color coded to indicate the amount of resistance or support that will provided in a specific exercise.

A Jump Board can be attached to the end of a Reformer for plyometric activities or to provide superior lower body control.

Image: @lunamarina

Joseph Pilates developed the Wunda Chair originally to do double duty as furniture and exercise equipment.  In the modern Pilates studio, this amazing rectangular shaped box promotes core strength with over 75 different exercises.  With a cushioned top and a lever on the side, the Wunda Chair can be used lying on one’s side, sitting, standing and leaning and it tests stability and flexibility by the same type of color coded springs as you’d find in a Pilates Reformer.

Inspired by the philosophy, results and the machines of Joseph Pilates, the Founder and CEO of WundaBar, Amy Jordan, designed the WundaFormer to integrate efficiency to the group Reformer fitness class.  By combining the capabilities of the above described pieces of traditional Pilates equipment into one machine, Amy knew that she could reinvent the way people obtained the benefits of core strength, flexibility and stability in a fast paced, group fitness experience.

Look closely at the WundaFormer and you’ll see a sleek Reformer, a Jump Board with its own ballet bar and a retractable Wunda Chair all together in one piece of equipment.  It’s practical but it’s anything but simple.  WundaBar is a fitness studio made for people like me who have (what I call “Fitness ADD”) and crave variety in their workouts.

WundaFormer via WundaBar.com

I’m a New Yorker at heart so I definitely embrace the efficiency element at WundaBar.  In every 50 minute class I’ve taken so far, we cover a lot of WundaFormer real estate and work my body in ways I’ve never worked it before.  Despite the strenuous effort I put out during each class, I’m surprised the class time flies by so quickly.  My stability and flexibility continue to be challenged byinnovative instructors and their permutations of the exercises available for the Reformer, Jump Board and Wunda Chair elements.

I’m still the one with the sweat rivulets dripping down my arms just 2 minutes into class because I’m working so hard to keep my form and stability.  I can’t perform all of the reps asked for and there are moves where my spring levels need to be adjusted in a manner that might now match the average class goer but it supports my developing core, arms, legs and back.  The muscles in my body are definitely feeling a difference.  I am cultivating strength from places I never have before and even my physical therapist says she sees a difference during our weekly sessions!

It’s not easy but I made a promise that this was the year I did something different to heal my back injury.  I’m thinking that Pilates may become a staple in my future fitness routine and I believe it may be the key to getting me back to running sometime soon.

*This post is part of my series Wunda Wednesdays which I have agreed to write in exchange for classes at WundaBar Pilates for the next 60 days.  All opinions are my own.

I think every girl had this jewelry box Image: zhouxuan12345678.

After my emotionally heavy post on Friday about the other side of Mother’s Day, I’m lightening up a bit today.  I’m not the girliest of girls.  I don’t conform to many of the girly stereotypes – I don’t live to shop, I can’t stand pink,  I rarely buy make-up and wear it maybe 4 times a year but every now and then I enjoy being reminded that I am indeed, female.

When my friend Mr. Pasadena arranged a date a complimentary blow-out at the Dry Bar in Pasadena for Rachel of Glassofwin.com and me a few weeks ago, it made me want to sing, “I Feel Pretty” out loud (almost)!

It was so uncharacteristic for me that I figured that it might be fun to share 3 easy ways to enjoy being a girl.

Simple Way #1 – Achieve Hair Greatness

When my hair looks good, I can’t lie, I feel better about myself.  I’m lazy and my hair rarely is out of a ponytail most days.  As much as I want my hair to look like Gwyneth Paltrow’s, I’m not putting in the effort to do so.  My philosophy is that good hair is like a good salad – always better when someone else does it for you  - and they do it so very well at Dry Bar.

The Dry Bar experience gives you more than just a good blow out and style,  it’s a luxury experience.  I can’t imagine things being much better than having champagne while watching a chick flick, eating some nibblies (yes, I just got all AbFab on you) AND being able to walk out of a place feeling and looking gorgeous!

Upon walking in, you feel like you’ve walked into modern, sleek spa.  The “bartenders” (receptionists) and the stylists were welcoming and friendly.

The grey, white and yellow decor throughout the salon felt ultra-luxe but blow-outs are $35 no matter what style you desire (I chose the “Manhattan” of course) or hair length.

I enjoyed my Pasadena experience so much I that patronized one of the Dry Bar on a “girls day out” NYC with a bestie and I’ll definitely be back again soon!

Simple Way #2 – Afternoon Delight

Get your minds out of the gutter!  It’s afternoon tea, my friends. I love afternoon tea.  I’ve been to a few upscale spots (feeling much like a misplaced clod) but mini sandwiches, scones with clotted cream or jam, pastries and flowery smells of delicious hot beverages make me want to adopt an English accent pronto!

However, the NY accent is the only one I’ll likely ever have so I did the next best thing and had an early afternoon tea with my favorite British friend (and blogger), Victoria,  a few weeks ago while I was in NYC.

Having small portions of delicious food, great conversation and the encouragement of lingering at the table is close to my idea of heaven.  Sharing the experience with a great friend or two or ten can allow one to catch up with friends who are often busy with parenting and/or demanding jobs and the hour or two at tea can feel like a much-needed vacation.

Simple Way #3 – A Little Polish Goes A Long Way

Image: daftgirly

Manicured hands and feet make me feel polished and put together in a way workout clothes can never will.  When my fingers and toes are well cared for I feel like I’m telling the world that I make taking care of myself a priority even if it isn’t true.

I rarely get anything but a neutral polish on my nails but sometimes I’ll get a crazy color on my toes.  It’s my own little rebellion of Girl Power!

In NYC, it’s easy to walk a block and find a plethora of clean, nice nail salons where you can get an inexpensive mani/pedi.  In LA, it’s not as easy but it’s do-able.

It’s not always easy to find the time to have a spa day, go for brunch/lunch/dinner/drinks or to take an actual vacation but things as simple as a blow dry, afternoon tea or a mani/pedi can help me revive my inner girl and my outer Grrrl!

I was given a complimentary blow out by Dry Bar in Pasadena (not in NYC) but was not obligated or monetarily compensated to write this post.  All opinions are my own. 

I’ve been lucky enough to see HoJo live a few times and he never disappoints. Not even the time he lost his voice and the entire audience had to sing for him at his closing show in NYC at a club called Shine (that no longer exists).

I like a lot of HoJo music and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to catch him on the Regeneration Tour that was planned for this summer (but seems to be up in the air since Human League had to pull out of the tour in April).

“Life In One Day” was one of the songs I definitely overplayed in the 80′s but the lyrics “the old man said to me don’t always take life so seriously” were words I think I need to hear more often.

Enjoy and I’ll see you Monday!

Photo: notashamed/Flickr

Mother’s Day is one of the scariest days of the year to me.  It shines a humongous spotlight on what kind of responsibility it is to raise a child.  It is also a reminder that Mother’s Day is really a one-sided holiday for me.

Like countless other people, I had less than an ideal childhood.  I was a child of contentiously divorced parents who lived on opposite ends of the country.  I was was shuttled back and forth during summers and holidays originally because my parents were sharing custody of their children but later because my mother has paranoid schizophrenia.

There is absolutely no shame in having mental illness – unless you’re in denial and have children to raise.  Only as an adult do I have any inkling of what it must have been like for my mother who never got over the pain of my father divorcing her, remarrying a younger woman and being left with 2 young children to raise.  As a child I just knew something wasn’t right.

Me at birth

My mother was “kooky” but not outwardly unstable.  She was self-absorbed and even at a young age I was embarrassed that she never even gave the outward facade of trying to do more for herself or her family – Blanche DuBois would pale in comparison to my mother’s ability to “rely on the kindness of strangers” when it came to taking care of herself and two children.

I never thought I’d be a mother as an adult because I was forced to be my own parent at a very young age.

I was called the “responsible one” by my mother and had to remind her to do things like pay bills and go grocery shopping.  I didn’t realize until I was an adult that it was NOT normal to send a 10 year old to the liquor store 2 blocks away with an authorized note from your mother to buy cigarettes.

Only later when my mother had her first of many nervous breakdowns, was I relieved of my parental duties by my grandparents.  Eventually, even my grandparents could not manage my mother’s illness and two children.  In 1982, I left California to be raised by my father and his wife in New York and my sister followed me the following year.

While it took some adjustment, I was lucky to have a second chance to learn what a mother could be from my stepmother, Michele.  When she died of cancer after an extremely brief illness in 1987,  at 17 years old I had as much of a mother as I would ever know.  Michele’s death devastated my father, my sister and me and it unraveled the only real sense of immediate (and extended) family I knew.  I gave a woman who is not related to me by blood the greatest honor I could, I named my child after her.

My mother is still very much alive but I have little contact with her.  She is still ill and in denial.  When my mother does call me she most often says extremely delusional things, demands money or says unbelievably hateful things about me or Jay.  I’m lucky that I have a mother-in-law that treats me like her own.

My mother and I live in the same state now and every day when I see the cell phone with the phone number that she has, I pray that she doesn’t find out where I live.  My grandparents no longer take care of her (my grandfather passed away 2 years ago and my grandmother now lives with my uncle in Florida).

It might seem heartless of me to not be helping my own mother but it took me many, many years to come to terms with the fact that she is beyond help from me.  I’m not being spiteful but I can’t nor do I want to be responsible for her well-being.  I am her child but I am not her parent.  I know that my mother needs help and when I think about it, it pains me that I feel more obligation to help “my fellow man” than my own mother.  The fact may be that I often feel the need to help others because I can’t help my own mother.

A few years ago when my mother was in jail, I was asked by a psychiatric nurse if I wanted her to be placed under a California mental health conservatorship.  I said no because even though I knew it would get her off the streets (she’s voluntarily homeless) and the medication she needs, I didn’t want to be the one responsible to make the decision to that would involve “confinement to a locked psychiatric facility” where she “would be denied of personal liberty” according to California law.  It seemed cruel to be given the power to do that to any human being.

Wild Boy has rarely asked about my mother (or father but that’s a story for another time) but the last time he did, it nearly killed me to tell him that he wouldn’t get to know his grandmother when we moved to California.  When I told him that he couldn’t because my mother was ill, as a 5 year old would do, he asked if she could go to a doctor and get medicine to “make her better”.  Wild Boy didn’t really understand that we couldn’t “make her take her medicine” because she didn’t believe that she was sick but he stopped asking questions.

A gift from Wild Boy this week for no reason

Mother’s Day is Sunday and while I’ll enjoy being honored and loved by my family, these will be some of my underlying thoughts:

- I’ll be second guessing my choice to become a parent and my parenting ability

- I’ll be hoping that the genes that I carry for mental illness don’t get latently expressed in me (or my child)

- I’ll be wondering when/if karma is going to come and bite me in the ass by having my own child someday want to have nothing to do with me.

Mother’s Day might be when I have to answer some more questions about my mother and stepmother from the child I’m (jointly) responsible for raising and I know I’ll have to show a side of myself that may not be well received by someone who loves and respects me without question.

I’m not sure how I’ll answer the questions when they come but I know that as a parent it is my job to find a way to love, protect and educate my child no matter what and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

You can also see this post on Sisters From Another Mister – 20 Bloggers Making A Difference* by posting about Motherhood from May 8-18th to raise awareness about the importance of global vaccinations on behalf of Global Moms for shot@life and UN Foundation.  *Every twenty seconds a child dies of a preventable disease - Twenty dollars can save a life - Twenty bloggers are making a difference.

Welcome to Week 1 of Wunda Wednesdays (try to say that 3 times fast)!

I’ll admit that I was a little nervous about starting this 60 Day Challenge at WundaBar Pilates.  I have doing Pilates PT 30 minutes twice a week since February and I did take one 50 minute WundaBar Pilates class (just to check it out) but the thought of graduating to nearly 1 hour classes 3-4 times a week scared me a little bit.

This is what I saw while waiting for my class to begin.

I was intimidated by not having what I considered a “Pilates body” – tall and lithe with wonderful posture since I’m short, squat and round shouldered – but I know that Pilates has been helping to promote a healthy and strong spine and core in my PT efforts so I attempted to get over myself.

After my two sessions last week (May 1st was a Wed. making it a short week), I had classes with two different teachers, I realized I had nothing to worry about.  WundaBar classes have all different body types and people – young and old, men and women, and beginners and long-time WundaBar workout devotees.  Everyone was in class for the same reason – to get strong and have fun while doing it!

We’re told not to covet but the WundaBar instructors didn’t make it easy!  These women had WundaBodies for certain!  However, what I found most inspirational was that the 2 instructors I took classes with both suffered from back injuries!  It was easy to see that both Isabelle and Cassidy utilize the WundaBar method of Pilates for themselves and to help clients to work the muscles of the back and core muscles of the abdomen and to protect, strengthen and provide flexibility to the spine.

Isabelle, my first WundaBar teacher for the Challenge.

The small class size did allow the instructors to be attentive to not only my needs as someone with an injury but they were able to assist newbies and offer additional challenges to the experienced class goers.  There were definitely moves in class that I couldn’t do (like holding a ball in between my calves during side planks) but there were many that I could with no problem like side plank with a bar push down (see photo at the right).

It was (and will continue to be) my goal to focus on form and execution of the moves rather than attempting to keep up with reps.  Trust me, I still was a sweaty, shaky mess after both classes and I had the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) to prove that I worked hard in class.

Next week I’ll explain more about the specialized reformer known as the WundaFormer, introduce some of the moves that I’m learning in class and let you know how my body is responding to these new techniques.

*This post is part of my series Wunda Wednesdays which I have agreed to write in exchange for classes at WundaBar Pilates for the next 60 days.  All opinions are my own.

May 6, 2000 – Studio 450

13 years ago today, I didn’t cross a finish line but I crossed a threshold.  Today is my 13th wedding anniversary and therefore, I’ve achieved my very own special #13in2013.  It’s taken strength but no running has been required to get this far in this marathon.

I’m very lucky to have been married to my best friend for 13 years.  Jay and I have been a couple since college at SUNY Binghamton (a sordid story for another day but ABC’s Scandal may or may not have some resemblance to our initial romance – it’s the closest I’ll ever get to being the fictional Olivia Pope since I’m not nearly as gorgeous or well dressed but I digress….).

Jay and I have been together for 22 years – more than half of our lives.

There has been no one in my life who has had their life more enmeshed with my own on the planet.  This includes my immediate family.  My childhood was unstable and as an adult I have few family members that I have relationships with.  My family has been Jay and with him we’ve made a family of our own.

If you asked me 13 years ago, where I’d be I doubt I would have said in the suburbs of California with a child and a dog but I would most definitely would have said that I’d be with Jay (if he’d still have me).  Who cares if I can’t run, I got the best #13in2013 ever!

Happy 13th Anniversary Jay!  I love you.