Being fit will NOT make you happy, but being fat WILL make you miserable. Repeated psychology studies, billions of advertising dollars, the careers of Dr. Phil, Charlie Sheen, most politicians, more professional athletes, and the entire self-help industry all highlight the one simple truth: humans suck at figuring out what makes us happy. Be honest. If I could wave a magic wand to make all of your problems disappear, you would just go get new ones. I know I would. We all did. Think back to your first car. Before you got it, you had a list in mind of all the things it would be. Was it? Mine either. Over the years my list of “must haves” in a car has drastically changed (to the point that I once had a smack-down with a 7th grader over the sex appeal of anyone driving a minivan). How about yours?
What we wanted as a Jr. High-er and what we want NOW are wildly different. And it often changes once we get what we thought we wanted. That is when we raise our sights a little. Sure, some things I want are still the same; 6-pack abs, a ‘62 Corvette convertible, the ability to take a beautiful woman to a restaurant more upscale than the golden arches. But that car isn’t nearly as important as I once thought. We have to ask why we want these things. (Otherwise a guy could end up with a great body and a nice car while he eats dinner alone.)
Sure, there are some desires that aren’t absolutely essential, but are reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta-have-it” scale; cash, health, a place to hide from errant Dodgeballs. Most of us have those, but deep down we know those are not really what life is all about. We have friends who love us no matter what (after all, they stuck around and listening to our complaining while we got fat). We have family who will be there no matter what (even the times we wish they would go away).
But after we know that we aren’t likely to die in the near future, and after we know which people accept us, we start looking around for more. And television is RIGHT THERE to tell us what we need in order to be happy. We are told we should “just do it”: That we need Reeboks to be “Crossfit”. We are told that being “in shape” means mixing powdered supplements, having arms the size bowling balls, and standing on a stage in a speedo. What crap! Being fit gave our ancestors the ability to catch lunch, and keep from being lunch. (And they did it without fancy shoes, over-hyped DVDs, or 24 hour access to a room full of machines) Being fit allows you to dodge whatever the kid with jelly stains on his shirt throws at you and garden all weekend without needing to take Monday off of work. It is not an end unto itself. Getting “back in shape” is recovering a part of ourselves that we have lost; Something akin to picking wild mushrooms (which can be learned at the knee of a knowledgeable mentor, but is usually left out of our public education). It can be just as dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing and, just as often, leaves you feeling lost in the woods. Fitness is PART of what we need for happiness, not all of it.
There are plenty of gyms across the world selling fitness but only delivering a room full of machines. Most of them go out of business in the first 5 years. Nobody needs a gym to get fit. You can buy EVERYTHING you would need to get in the best shape of your life for less than $100. This is why your friends here at WORX are NOT in the fitness business. WE are in the hospitality business. WE are in the DREAM business. We are here to help YOU build YOUR dream. We teach the classes. We provide the trainers for 1-on-1 or small groups. We supply the Game Plan so that you know what to do when you get here. We will even hold a Strategy Session to make sure you get what you want from your workout. We will help you get from WHEREVER you are to WHEREVER you want to go. We provide the place, the tools, the toys, the knowledge, the encouragement, the accountability, and the experience; everything you need EXCEPT the answer to one simple question...
Once you GET fit, what will you DO?
This heart-healthy recipe not only shows how much you love your Valentine, but that you care about his or her heart, literally and symbolically.
Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a pan; add onion. Saute until onion is translucent. Add garlic and saute until garlic is fragrant (do not brown the garlic, or it will turn bitter). Add spinach, toss, turn off heat and cover to wilt. Season with salt and pepper. Add the juice and zest of ½ lemon and set aside.
Meanwhile heat ½ tsp olive oil in an oven-proof skillet until shimmering, but not smoking; season fish with salt and pepper. Sear fish skin side up until golden brown, turn fish over (skin side down) and carefully pour in the white wine. Place pan in a 350°F oven for 5–6 minutes or until done to your liking.
Make a bed of the sauteed spinach, top with one salmon fillet. Finish with ½ tsp olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and fresh shredded basil.
I know the voices in my head aren’t real, but at least one of them usually tells me what I want to hear.
You know the anonymous “they” of “They say”? (They say the best way to lose weight is...”) Yeah, “Them”… “They” are all in my head.
I know I need to exercise and eat right to get the body I want; but who do I listen to? Seriously, it is like a presidential election; Lots of different opinions all arguing about the best way to do something. And there is no way for me to tell which ones have a clue and which ones don’t. There is always someone in there who will tell me that it is not my fault. Someone will tell me I’m not that fat. There is always someone in there to tell me there is a secret that will make it fast and easy.
There is always someone in here to give me permission. “The all you can eat buffet is a great deal, right?” (I think that one is Gingrich) “I don’t have to think about what I’m doing until Monday because diets and exercise programs only work when started on magic Mondays, right?” (I could never get the hang of Thursdays)
Which diet should I be on? I listened to the voices as I went through the diet section at Hastings (The fact that Hastings HAS a diet section...). They all called to me, each diet guru claiming to have THE ONE TRUE ANSWER: Low Fat, Brown Fat, Belly fat, Flat-Belly, Flavor point, Fast Food, Fresh Fruit, Raw Food, Grapefruit, No Fruit, Cabbage Soup, Baby food, Body for Life, Thin For Life, Best Life, Big Breakfast, Biggest Loser, Paleo, Rice Solution, Lemonade, Cookie. Morning Banana, Protein Power, 6-pack, 5-Factor, 3-Hour, Alkaline, (Am I a battery?)17-Day, 4-day flush, 3-Day, Fruit Flush, Blood Type, Personality Type, Sugar Busters, Carb-Lovers, Cheaters, Perricone, Pritkin, Naturally Thin, Jenny Craig, Weight watchers, Nutrisystem, Zone, South Beach, LA Weight Loss, Beverly Hills, Park Avenue, Vegetarian, Hormone, Hallelujah, HCG, High School Reunion, High School Musical, Mediterranean. French Women, Model, Medifast, This is why you are fat.
I think there is a Johnny Cash song in there somewhere re-made by Mc Donald. (bad joke, but so are most of those diets)
It is no wonder we don’t have a clue what to eat. Dr. Atkins disagrees with Dr. Weil, and Dr Laura thinks Dr. Phil has “Stupid” written on his forehead. Add congress declaring pizza a legal vegetable, and there is always a voice telling me what I want to hear. One of them will give me permission to wimp out, I just know it. After all a waist is a terrible thing to mind.
Then there are the exercise routines...Really? How to figure THAT one out? Crossfit? Thighmaster? Stair-monster? Pilates? That hippity-hop ball? Strata-lounger? Bike? Step? BodyPump? Yoga? Is the human body REALLY meant bend that way? Every magazine has pictures of some celebrity who makes more money per movie than most Americans will make this decade. The guys are all ripped. The women have better defined abs than I do. And a voice from the back chimes in with, “Why bother? You are never going to look like that. Who has that much time?”
How about JUST ONE VOICE? Not a website, not a book, not a DVD, not uTube, but an actual, live voice) The voice of someone educated? Certified? One voice to quiet all the others. Your friends at Gold’s Gym of Wenatchee and Eastmont are here to give you just that; someone who has forgotten more about exercise than most people ever learn. We are here to GIVE you a GAME PLAN so you know which machines to use and when. We are here to sit down with you for a personal STRATEGY SESSION to build a COMPLETELY CUSTOM program for YOU. (YOUR body, YOUR history, YOUR aches and pains)
Because NOT getting help at the gym, (especially when it is so freely available) would just be crazy.
I blame Walt Disney for the obesity epidemic in America.
When I was a kid, every Disney movie I saw told me that with pluck, determination, animal friends, and Elton John lyrics, all my dreams would come true. There was always an evil villain or wicked step-mother plotting my downfall, and at just the right moment my singing animal friends would clear the way for me to take my rightful place as ruler of the kingdom, complete with beautiful princess and adoring in-laws.
As a teenager, I was convinced that I would be the next Jukebox Hero. I had visions of jamming with Eddie Van Halen, Boxing with Rocky, busting bad guys with Starsky and Hutch, jumping muscle cars with the Dukes of Hazard, and having Maverick as my wing-man. (it’s a generational thing)
And so, I waited. I drifted through High School with mediocre grades and sports while waiting for the heavens to part; waiting for a spotlight to shine down upon me, and for some omniscient narrator with a voice like James Earl Jones to proclaim, “This one...this one has value!”
Someone cue Pink Floyd to start playing “Welcome to the Machine.”
But it was all a load of crap. No-one will ever make a movie of my life. I was raised in a comfortable home where there was enough money for enough food that I could over-eat. I played sports with some budgetary constraints. The heavens never parted. No evil villain oppressed me. The only time I had singing animal friends, the lyrics were more Ozzy Osborne than Elton John, and I was VERY glad for a friend to calm me down. I never learned to play guitar. I got too busted up trying to be Rocky to get into Basic Training, let alone an F-15. The Duke Boys smashed up so many cars that I never got my hands on a 1968 Challenger., and a 1991 Geo metro just isn’t the same There was never any great obstacle to overcome. All of my
childhood dreams died of apathy rather than adversity.
Then one day I woke up. I was fat. I was slow. I hurt; a lot. And someone cued up that other Pink Floyd song in my brain; the one that says; “You missed the starting gun. So you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking.”
Sound familiar?
Look around. How many people do you know that are working jobs they don’t like, coming home tired at the end of day, and unwinding to a TV show or movie showing a life or adventure they will never have? How many people do you know who get their ideas about how life “should be” from reality shows? How often do the people we watch on reality TV actually watch TV? They are too busy doing things to watch.
I need to break it to you; there IS a difference between Hollywood and reality. If you are waiting for a spotlight to fall, and a Disney movie of your life to start, you are going to be waiting for a very long time. There is no montage here. The only “power song” you are ever going to get is the one you load onto your own iPod. There is no fate, but what YOU make. There are no shortcuts. To get the results you want, you have to actually DO the consistent repetitions, the
early morning workouts, the WORK that wouldn’t make any highlight reel; the 10,000 hours that end up on the cutting room floor.
All of my education in exercise, all of my personal experience, all of the research I have ever read points to ONE conclusion. There is ONE way to get the body you want; YOU HAVE TO PUT OUT THE EFFORT.
We are not singing animal friends, (and even if we were, the music would be different), but your friends at Gold’s Gym are here to tell you that with our help, a little determination, a plan, some perseverance, and a LOT of effort, you WILL reach your goal. And who knows, there might even be a great adventure along the way.
We ran across these "at home" video's a few months back and although the instructor in the video, Zuzana, is EXTREMELY fit - I feel like we need to add, "results not typical", we found these workouts can be tailored to a range of fitness levels. Most workouts consist of completing as many reps as possible in a set time - an interval timer is used, and can be set to increments of 20sec - 1min to meet your indiviual level of fitness.
Here's a great abdominal video, based on bodyweight exercises - give it a try, tell us what you think!
These ARE extreme workouts - if you are unsure of the correct form or need modifications come in and ask one our trainers to show you the ropes - We DO NOT want you to get hurt!
Just exactly how big IS your but?
NOT that one. We can ALL see how big that one is. I’m talking about the OTHER one. The one where you say, “I want to workout but...” or “I try to get to the gym, but...” And just like , “once upon a time...”, those three little dots signal the start of a James Cameron-sized story, involving time traveling robots, aliens, or a hidden obstacle you couldn’t see because you refused to slow down to a reasonable speed.
The problem is that I’m a personal trainer; my job is to bust your but. (Well, that one too, though you really have a 1-track mind here) I’ve heard all the stories. I’ve told some whoppers myself. They are better entertainment than most of the movies that came out last year. Take a moment and lay out your best excuse right now. Say it out loud. Is someone opening an envelope and handing you a statue for the “most
over-dramatized scene”? Are you being handed the business card for a personal injury attorney who specializes in settlements? Did it have more insurmountable opposition than a James Bond knock-off film? After being in the fitness industry for more than 20 years, and teaching Jr. High PE, I would bet my mortgage that I can come up with more excuses than you can. Any takers?
No?
It’s because you know I’m right. (It happens every so often; my wife is always surprised). Nobody is going to take me up on that bet because deep down you know that your but is almost as believable as Arnold Schwarzenegger's acting.
Let it go.
If you want a smaller but, start working on your glutes. If you want help, that’s what your friends are here at WORX are for. We will GIVE you a personalized game plan. We teach the classes, so that you don’t have to wonder what to do, just show up and sweat. We have strategy sessions in order to build a workout from scratch just for you. We consult with you. We encourage, cajole, and TRAIN you. We are very good at busting buts. Come find out what we can do with yours.
And most important, when you see yourself in workout shorts in our mirrors, your but looks smaller.
So, is Gold’s Gym honestly scary?
I think a better question would be, is a strange new place with people you have never met, in a building filled with odd fantastical objects that you have no idea how to work scary? Of course but, anything I don’t know everything about scares me at least a little. That is why we try to make the transition of stepping thru the doors and embarking on your fitness adventure as easy and smooth as a glass of cold water on a hot summer’s day.
How the heck do we as Gold’s Gym employees help make this transition from average Wenatchee citizen to Superhero Fitness Adventurer? Well we try to do so in a variety of ways. The first one is always providing a fun and welcoming atmosphere in the gym as soon as you walk thru the door. This helps ease people into doing the hardest part of fitness. WALKING THRU THE FRONT DOOR.
Second we are always providing members with different options to meet with a trainer and help them get going onto their specific goals. Don’t know or don’t have any goals? Sign up for a Game Plan with one of our trainers and we will help you get set up with some goals…it’s free (hint, hint).
Third we love to be providers of information. Nothing is more annoying then walking up to the seated leg curl machine and seeing the 6 different adjustments on it and having no idea where the heck to begin. (It took me 3 days to figure it out). If you need a machine shown to you on how to use it properly and safely, we are happy to do that. That is why we have Fitness Consults. So we can take a half hour to go over any questions about how the machines operate.
Fourth we are always looking for ways to make personal training affordable and convenient for our members. Schedule a Fitness Consult to get a better understanding of the machines but if you are still hungering for more of a challenge sign up with a few sessions with one of our fun (and slightly oddball) Personal Trainers. The trainers can so you how to modify certain exercises get you more acquainted with functional training and even give sport specific workout plans or injury rehabilitation plans. We have several different types of training to try and make it as least expensive as possible.
So is Gold’s Gym really scary? YES but, let us as trainers and staff members help you shed some light on the scary gym and ease any fears you may have. If you would like to sign up for a Game Plan, Fitness Consult or Personal Training, feel free to schedule an appointment at the front desk or with a trainer themselves.
If you skimp on breakfast, you'll miss out on important health benefits. Learn what makes a breakfast nutritious, and get some out-of-the-box options.
It might be the last thing on your morning to-do list, or worse, it might not be on your list at all. But a healthy breakfast refuels your body, jump-starts your day and may even benefit your overall health. So don't skip this meal — it may be more important than you think.
Even if you're short on time, quick-and-flexible options you can grab at home give you plenty of healthy ways to put breakfast back on your daily menu.
Breakfast gives you a chance to start each day with a healthy and nutritious meal. It also lays the foundation for lifelong health benefits.
Benefits for adults
When you eat a healthy breakfast, you're more likely to:
Benefits for children
Breakfast is especially important for children and adolescents. According to the American Dietetic Association, children who eat a healthy breakfast are more likely to:
Even though you know a healthy breakfast has many benefits, you may not be sure what exactly counts as a healthy breakfast.
Here's what forms the core of a healthy breakfast:
Together, these core groups provide complex carbohydrates, fiber, protein and a small amount of fat — a combination that packs big health benefits and that also can leave you feeling full for hours. Find options from these core groups that suit your tastes and interests. And try to choose one or two options from each category to round out a healthy breakfast.
Cereal may frequently be your go-to item for breakfast, whether you grab a handful to eat dry while on the run, or you have time to sit down with a bowl with milk and fruit. But not all cereals are created equal. Read the Nutrition Facts label and ingredient list before you buy cereal. And remember that not all cereals have the same serving size. A serving of one cereal might be 1/2 cup, while another may be 1 cup.
The key items to look for when choosing cereal are:
| Examples of good options for dry breakfast cereals | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cereal and serving size | Fiber in grams | Sugar in grams | Calories |
| General Mills Cheerios, 1 cup | 3 | 1 | 103 |
| General Mills Fiber One, 1/2 cup | 14 | 0 | 60 |
| Kashi Go Lean, 1 cup | 10 | 6 | 148 |
| Kellogg's All-Bran Bran Buds, 1/3 cup | 13 | 8 | 75 |
| Kellogg's All-Bran Original, 1/2 cup | 9 | 5 | 81 |
| Post Raisin Bran, 1 cup | 7 | 17 | 187 |
| Post Shredded Wheat Original Spoon Size, 1 cup | 6 | 0.5 | 167 |
| Quaker Life Cereal, plain, 3/4 cup | 2 | 6 | 119 |
Source: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 23
Remember to top off your bowl of cereal with some sliced fruit and low-fat or skim milk. Or if you're on the go, take along a piece of fruit, a container of milk or some yogurt.
A word about cereal bars
Cereal bars also may be a good breakfast option. Just be sure to look for those that meet the same guidelines as dry cereal. Also, don't forget some fruit and low-fat milk or yogurt to round things out. Even fruit or yogurt cereal bars won't satisfy all your nutrition requirements for breakfast.
You have plenty of ways to get in a healthy breakfast each day, and it doesn't always have to be a traditional breakfast menu.
Here are some specific examples of healthy breakfast options:
If you skip breakfast because you're short on time each morning, plan ahead. Some tips to fit in breakfast on a tight schedule:
If you skip breakfast because you want to save calories, reconsider that plan. Chances are you'll be ravenous by lunchtime. That may lead you to overeat or choose fast but unhealthy options — perhaps doughnuts or cookies a co-worker brings to the office. Your morning meal doesn't have to mean loading up on sugar and fats, and it doesn't have to be time-consuming to be healthy. Keep the breakfast basics in mind and set yourself up for healthier eating all day long.
How many times have we approached that buffet table at a party and said to ourselves "I'm going to be good, just the vegetables"? Then it all flies out the window by the time we get to the end and have 14 types of dessert!
Make these holidays funner not fatter! It's more fun NOT to have to lose the SAME 10(20,30,40) POUNDS over and over. It's more fun to look and feel your best in those party clothes, it's more fun to make it to workout class in the morning and NOT have a hangover, it's more fun to try that new healthy recipe then to gorge on gravy, it's more fun to start a game to keep you away from the food, it's more fun to grab a few friends for a "holiday workout" date.
Make it a goal to have some extra "calorie free" fun and dont take steps backward before you step into the new year!!!
Monday - Friday
5:00am-10:00pm
Saturday - Sunday
7:00am-7:00pm
