Cultivating Success: Focused Results and Lake Forest College
When I started my senior year at Lake Forest College, I needed an internship to graduate. I applied to many places, but the only one willing to take a chance on me was Focused Results. I’m glad they did, because completing my internship here has taught me valuable life lessons, skills, professionalism, and so much more.
Giving back to the community is one of the core values for the team at Focused Results. We primarily do this through our personal training and nutritional coaching that is designed to help you feel better, move better, and have an improved quality of life. Behind the scenes, past all the sweat, dumbbells, mats, and TRX straps, Zak and Kristen Rivera, owner and co-owner of the studio, are helping students in both high school and college achieve success.
I asked Zak a few questions about his involvement with the community and different ways he’s helped students, like myself, transition from higher education to a full-time job:
Have you...
Ignite Your Fire: Interview with Iain Campbell
"You don't find the time, you make the time". These are the words of World Championship Ironman competitor Iain Campbell. On this episode of the Ignite Your Fire podcast Zak and Dani sit down with Iain to discuss his fitness journey and how he became a world championship competitor.
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Flip Your Health With Buckwheat Pancakes!
Food is only unhealthy if you make it that way. There’s always a healthy alternative!
A weekend favorite at our house is buckwheat pancakes. When we make buckwheat pancakes, we get our kids involved so they can learn how to cook, build a positive relationship with food, increases fine motor skills, reading, math, and safety skills along with their vocabulary and scientific concepts. Not to mention buckwheat is healthier for them, so we avoid common brands like Bisquick, Aunt Jemima, and Krusteaz since they put so many additives into the mixture and it’s those additives that cause health problems.
In one box of Bisquick pancake mix you consume: monoglycerides (which can be contaminated with toxins like lead and mercury during the manufacturing process), corn starch, salt, DATEM (an additive that can lead to “leaky gut syndrome”) and dextrose. When you make buckwheat pancakes from scratch, you avoid all the additives food manufacturers...
Is Intermittent Fasting For You?
Intermittent fasting; everyone is doing it, right?! Is it a good fit for YOU? Intermittent fasting has become extremely popular in recent years and with many people having great success following this structure, others have followed suit. However, there are some things to keep in mind when thinking about, or implementing, an intermittent fasting schedule. Let’s understand what intermittent fasting is first, then figure out if this diet can work for you.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where your day is segmented into a period of eating and a period of fasting. The most popular breakdown is fasting for 16 hours of the day and an 8 hour “feeding” window where you only eat within those 8 hours. This is not the only way to intermittent fast; one can divide their fasting and feeding periods however they choose. For example, another common break-down is a 20-hour fast, 4-hour feeding window.
Benefits of...
Keto 101
Keto 101
“Keto” this, “keto” that; you’ve read and heard about the keto diet all over the internet and in the news over the past couple years. Many of you may have even tried to adopt a keto diet. Like many diets they come and go like the seasons, but the keto diet has persevered as the best new weight loss diet… or is it? Will following a keto really aid in weight loss? Is following a keto diet beneficial to YOU? We are going to break down what’s actually going on in your body while you’re on a keto diet and the pros and cons to eating this type of way.
What is the keto diet?
The keto diet is characterized by consuming higher amounts of fats and lower amounts of carbohydrates. A “true” keto diet may put you as low as 0-5% of your total calories coming from carbohydrates (this is a drastic change from the standard American diet, which consists of roughly 50% total calories coming from...
What is P.R.I.?
What is postural restoration?
Over the past 30 years, Ron Hruska and his team at the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) have been developing a systematic approach to address postural-related issues. These postural issues can cause a wide range of chronic and acute pain throughout the body like knees, lower back, neck, and even jaw pain. These irritations can occur because the human body is an integrative machine that uses multiple systems at any given time to achieve tasks and to continue living life in a healthy sustainable manner. When one part of the body isn’t performing as it should, other parts of your body begin to underperform as a result. Each part is connected to one another.
That is exactly how the Postural Restoration approach differs in changing posture and G.A.I.T. mechanics (the mechanics you use to walk) to affect change in performance. The PRI approach gets the nervous system and respiratory system involved to invoke change to your...
Speed Up Your New Year Weight Loss Goal
A new year means new resolutions.These are often some form of health related goal, weight loss being the most common. Healthy behaviors and lifestyle choices are the keys to sustained weight loss, but this is easier said than done. Many of us suffer from a bit too much impatience and want to see results from our efforts - fast. The reality is we have put on these extra pounds over a prolonged period of time and they simply won’t fall off our bodies overnight. That being said, there are changes you can make in your daily life that will speed up your weight loss and put you on the path towards sustained, permanent weight loss. Starting a new workout routine or implementing new healthy behaviors can be difficult and overwhelming; be realistic with what you can change right now and focus on those new changes until they become habits. We are going to focus on six important keys to speed up weight loss and do our best to put us on a path of sustained weight loss.
Key #1...
