Thick and Thin of It

From Couch Potato to Personal Trainer

The first step to a healthy life is getting off the couch.

Let’s talk about some special populations of people who have much in common and most likely have the same feelings and apprehensions when taking the first step towards moving, a first attempt at some kind of exercise. I’m talking about the couch potato who has never worked out a day in their life and who believe that just going to work or working around the house is enough exercise. Also, there are people who have become obese and find it difficult to even move around and we have people who suffer from arthritis or fibromyalgia and find it very painful to move. Movement is important for all these people. This was me. I was a couch potato when my kids were little and I gained a lot of weight and felt obese at 190 pounds. I was very unhappy …

• Photos (1)

Thick and Thin of It

Video: Ways to Get Moving at Home

Handy gives you some easy exercises to get you started at home.

Hopefully, we’ve all started our weight loss journey and are keeping up with our food journals and goals. We should have a good idea of what we need to do nutritionally, and now the next step is to begin a simple exercise program that will work for us. So if you don’t belong to a gym or are intimidated by the thought of joining one in the beginning, we can start an exercise program at home with little or no equipment. The video gives a few ideas on how to get started with at home. If you don’t have a staircase at home the exercises can be done on the floor or even outside in your yard. You can intensify the squats and lunges by holding some weights. Other cardio exercises you can do are jumping jacks, jump rope or power walks (holding …

•  9 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Videos (1)

Thick and Thin of It

Looking Inside to Transform the Outside

Handy talks about food triggers and how the buddy system can help.

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for your wonderful comments and the support on my first article. I do hope to get to know more about my readers so we can share our struggles and triumphs together on our fitness journey. It is important as we start this journey to look deep inside ourselves and be very honest with how we got here. If we aren’t honest about it, we will not succeed with our fitness goals. Let’s begin with thinking about what we consume – both food and liquids. We need to figure out how we ended up with our poor eating habits. Are we really hungry when we eat or is it out of boredom, anger, mood swings, habit or are we just used to eating whatever we want whenever we want? My problem is that I love good food. I’…

•  9 Comments
• Photos (1)

Thick and Thin of It

The Thick and Thin of Weight Loss

Fitness guru Ann Handy is prepared to take the weight loss journey with you.

Welcome to the Thick and Thin of it. I’m Ann Handy, a personal trainer, fitness instructor and a second-degree black belt. I’m also a single mother of two that has been living and working on the South Shore for 22 years. I work at World Gym in Wantagh, train people from all around Long Island, and have made a point of being very diversified in my training. I teach kickboxing, bag training, body sculpting, pilates, yoga, aqua exercise, TRX and cycle classes. I also started a wellness program at World Gym that is open cancer patients and survivors, as well as people recovering from surgery or those that have limitations working out. I also work with children that have special needs and hope to start up a program at the gym with these …

•  20 Comments
• Photos (1)

Activity Works Pilot at North Bellmore Schools May Become Model for National Program

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy visits Newbridge Road School to see children engaged in unique education-plus-exercise program.

Last spring, during a hearing on promoting healthy habits among children before the House Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee she chairs, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-New York, learned about a unique education-plus-exercise program called Activity Works being piloted in New York.   Yesterday, McCarthy visited Newbridge Road School to see the Activity Works program in action.  "My committee has been pushing for physical activity as part of overall childhood nutrition, anti-obesity policy-making," McCarthy said, adding that since First Lady Michele Obama has taken up the cause, it has received greater national attention. Nancy Copperman, director, Public Health Initiatives, Office of Community Health and Public Policy at North Shore-…

• Photos (11)

Yoga Day is Every Day 'Round Here

Do you know the way to Namaste?

The third Saturday of January is Yoga Day USA, an annual celebration of the modern-day exercise of the ancient Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline. The brainchild of the Yoga Alliance, Yoga Day USA was created to celebrate the art of yoga and invite those who have never experienced it to try it. It's also a day when many yoga studios and instructors across the country offer free demonstrations to spread the word to newcomers about the practice of yoga and its spiritual and physical benefits.  While just one Bellmore and one Wantagh celebration of Yoga Day USA is taking place and little else is going on locally in honor of this national event, a great deal of yoga is being taught and practiced on an ongoing basis throughout our area.   …

• Photos (3)