October Newsletter 2016

CLUB NEWS!

The summer has ended and now it's time to get involved in some of our great Fall programs! We have something for everyone. New group fitness classes, great junior swim and tennis programs, along with awesome group training! This time of year is the best! We will also be having some great social events such as our annual Halloween Party! We will also be doing some fundraisers for local schools and a Movie Night for the kids. I hope everyone has a great October!

See Ya at the Club!
Ryan

OCTOBER 21ST 5:30-8:30PM

Games for kids
Buffet Dinner $12 Adults/$6 Kids (includes tax)
Live Music
Live dance performance by the NHS Dance Team
Pumpkin Painting

GUEST PASSES ARE HERE!

Your 2016/2017 guest passes are ready to be picked up at the Front Desk. Next time you are at the club please stop by and pick up your 12 passes which will be valid until September 30, 2017. Any adult member on your membership may sign for your passes. Only one set of 12 will be issued per membership.

Please note that we will not be sending them out with your statement or issuing additional passes in April as we have done in the past.

DITCH THESE TO ROCK YOUR DREAM JEANS

By Fitness Director & Rock Your Dream Jeans Leader Danielle Williams

“We make progress by eliminating things, by removing the superfluous.”
-Steve Jobs
SURPRISE! I’m not about to talk about your caloric intake and how it affects weight loss. You already know that. And if you’ve struggled to lose weight, you also know there is so much more to this puzzle.

When it comes to making real, lasting changes in your body, your THOUGHTS matter just as much, if not more, than any calorie in/calorie out component. If your mind is not ready, Rocking Your Dream Jeans in a lean body is an endless lesson in frustration. Don’t bother.

Holding steadfast to past beliefs repeats an endless cycle that holds you back from any meaningful results. To achieve change, we cannot be trapped in old wounds and outdated thought processes. We need to be willing to be vulnerable and trust the experts. As a weight loss expert and leader of the 8-Week Rock Your Dream Jeans Weight Loss Program here at OVAC, I fully understand and empathize with overwhelming and stressful it can be to embrace bold changes.

But there is also power in learning to trust a weight loss expert. You quickly become liberated as you cut from your life things that no longer serve you or have no purpose. You literally become the BOSS of your life. You learn to simplify and create order in your external world, which provides you with internal clarity and peace of mind.

A subtle shift occurs in your life. As you start to lose weight and lighten your load physically, you become unburdened and will have more room for things that matter. Where’s your extra weight coming from? Eliminate the unnecessary, clear your mind and you will find you are less burdened for the change your about to make. Deep down you know you are ready. Get started by eliminating the following:

1. Daily Expectations
Progress simply does not occur linearly with fat loss. Actually it doesn’t with any goal, whether it is professional or personal. Your individual life’s journey will consist of peaks, valleys and plateaus that can be both short or long and sustained. The peaks, valleys and plateaus are present at work, in our relationships, in your confidence levels and in your computer speed.

On your journey you will make tiny, small wins that will seem inconsequential. But analyzing just one day, or workout or one victory doesn’t give you a clear representation of your true journey and your progress. This is one of the biggest reasons to find a weight loss coach.

You are going to be facing those days when exercise seems physically impossible and the weights seem unfathomably heavy. There will be days when you are ravenously hungry for everything in sight. Your confidence will start to wane. It happens to all of us, even me. Don’t’ fall into the trap of eating dessert=diet ruined=bad day=I might as well give up. You simply cannot be perfect. You cannot crush every workout or every single exercise. Peaks, valleys and plateaus.

Daily habits and daily goals are important. Embrace the start of each day as a fresh opportunity. String all your tiny victories and seemingly inconsequential wins together so that you can continue to gain momentum and progress. Don’t focus completely on the number you see on your scale every morning. Don’t focus on what you didn’t accomplish in any single day. Instead focus on the direction of the trend overtime and throughout the day. As I tell my weight loss clients, FOCUS ON PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION.

Do not allow yourself to get mired down in the valleys of the day and just chalk it up to a bad day. Bad bits of a day do not equal a bad day. Focus on the bigger picture or ask a weight loss coach help you to see it. The small details should not cause you to lose sight of the overall journey or lead you to downplay the peaks of the day because of the valleys you had to travel to get there.

Eliminate the expectation that a “good” day is one without valleys.

2. Labeling Foods as “Bad” or “Unhealthy”
Context applies here. One salad and a lot of heavily processed fried fast food does not constitute healthy, and a few cookies along with your fruits and veggies does not make you unhealthy.

Instead think along the lines of there are healthy choices (eating vegetables) and less healthy choices (eating Ben & Jerry’s repeatedly for many days), but NO FOODS ARE CATEGORICALLY GOOD OR BAD FOR YOU.

There are no evil foods that must be completely avoided because in and of themselves they will completely ruin your weight loss plan. In fact, any food substance has the ability to harm you depending on how much of it you eat.

Don’t fall into the trap of adding moral labels to food (good, bad, right, wrong) or you will negatively affect your eating experience. One of your goals should be to have a sustainable and happy relationship with food. Otherwise you start to feel that you are a bad person when you eat “bad” foods.

Of course there are food choices that are better for you when you are trying to lose weight and there are foods that you can only consume in moderation, but these foods are not “good” or “bad”. And it’s not just semantics. Words are incredibly powerful to your brain, both on a conscious and unconscious level.

It should be no great surprise that successful weight loss occurs with the consumption of mostly whole, nutrient dense, high quality foods at the majority of your meals. But you are certainly not “bad” if you enjoy the occasional ice cream. A weight loss coach can help you strike a balance between eating all types of foods in the appropriate quantities to ensure that your food doesn’t have control over you.

Food should not be feared or a constant source of stress or worry. Foods are not evil or bad. Nor are carbs, sugar, fat, or salt the enemy. It’s just food, which is a source of fuel for your body and an overall source of enjoyment, taste and pleasure.

Eliminate the demonization of food.

3. Having “Guilty” Pleasures
Guilt. Drop It. Guilt is usually intermixed with shame, regret and embarrassment for enjoying something we think is wrong. Guilt should be reserved for crimes committed, injury you cause another or things you do that you know to be morally wrong. Don’t waste guilt on eating things that bring you pleasure, even if you are committed to a weight loss plan.

Feelings of shame and guilt are emotionally draining and not helpful. There is no point to feeling defeat and failure for deriving pleasure from food. Don’t get caught in a downward spiral of thinking you’ve ruined everything.

A weight loss coach can help you develop a plan for eating the things you love so you can stop being sorry for what makes you, YOU.

Eliminate apologizing for your food choices.

4. Saying “I Can’t Eat__________”
Yes, you can, unless there is a medical reason like a food allergy or food intolerance. Or, unless you make a choice to avoid certain foods. Again intentions and wording are important.

There may be times when your weight loss coach will give you some hard rules (especially if it’s a period of focused, intense fat loss) that will make your trigger foods off limits for a specified period of time. It’s not a long range abandonment of those foods, but it is necessary to change your body.

But again saying “can’t” gives food power over you that it shouldn’t have. Think about what happens when you repeatedly tell yourself you can’t do something. Take a more empowering approach and replace “can’t” with I CHOOSE not to eat______. You can eat it, but you choose not to, which is totally ok.

By eliminating the word “can’t” and replacing it with “choose not to”, you will have the same outcome of not eating that item. But it now comes from a place of empowerment for your mind and positivity, not deprivation or negativity with is endlessly taxing.

Eliminate saying “I can’t”.

5. Fitspiration
Do you look at photos of famous (or infamous) females who have the body type you dream of for yourself? Do you save or post pictures of fit woman and celebrities with flat stomachs to motivate you to lose weight? As a weight loss coach, I find that many want to not only change their body, but to morph into a different body all together? Pinterest, social media, magazines – you see these “perfect” bodies everywhere. They become your figurative and literal vision board of images of the way you hope to look.

STOP!

Using these images to motivate you is a sure fire way to set yourself up for disappointment. Your body is your body, not hers. Even if you overlook the work done by a team of makeup artists, hairstylists, tanning spray, carefully aimed lights, practiced posing, and photo retouching, you will never be her. You will never have her body, her abs.

You can of course set a goal to be lean enough to see your own ab definition. Your abs. But once you decide your goal is her abs, you’ve already failed. You can never reach that goal. Only she can have her abs.

If anything or anyone in your life or on social media makes you feel less than, ashamed about the way you look or about your body, eliminate them. Embrace things that offer encouragement and empowers you. If you feel envious, frustrated or defeated, this will not be conducive to making progress.

Don’t be afraid to admire and appreciate someone’s fitness level, strength, muscles or hard work. But don’t look at her and judge and certainly don’t allow yourself to feel inadequate.

Eliminate comparisons.

6. The “No Pain, No Gain” Mentality
Workouts can be just that – work. You have to learn to accept that they aren’t always fun or easy, and this is in no way an indicator of the effectiveness of your training session or your coach.

Despite what popular advertising would have you believe, you shouldn’t be completely depleted after every single workout or exercise class. Feeling crushed by a workout is not required or recommended to achieve meaningful results. Read that last sentence again and let it sink in because it goes against our culture’s overachieving norm.

It isn’t unusual to be sore with new exercises or a new workout program, especially if you are just starting, but aiming to be sore every time or to achieve full body fatigue is simply dangerous. Why be miserable and risk injury when you don’t need to?

Pain is a sign of something wrong.

Work hard, but eliminate the “no pain, no gain” mentality.

You may be ready to change your body, but never forget that it is the work done on the inside that is going to be the key to success and lead to a long lasting impact on the outside. Your thoughts and words are your reality.

Start eliminating what weighs you down and stop holding yourself back. We are here to guide you every step of this journey in the proven successful 8-Week Rock Your Dream Jeans Weight Loss Program.

SCULPT THE BODY YOU WANT IN 8 WEEKS!

What Makes This Program Special? IT WORKS! Every last bit of information that you will need to make sure you get the most out these 8-weeks and look your best in those dream jeans. If you’ve done Dream Jeans in the past, you are definitely going to want to try the all new Rock Your Dream Jeans 8-Week Transformation.

What Should You Expect? You will bring in a pair of jeans that you would like to fit into but currently can’t get buttoned. In just 8 weeks you WILL be wearing those jeans. This is a REINVENT your body program. You will learn the importance of strength training and metabolic training in the quest to lose fat. You will experience breakthrough moments and the feelings of empowerment that come along with such breakthroughs.

What Does It Include?
*Two Small Group Training sessions per week for the entire 8-week transformation with a certified personal trainer utilizing the proven effective all new Rock Your Dream Jeans metabolic workouts.
*Eight more all new solo strength training programs designed to maximize your fat loss.
*A complete Nutrition Plan and Food Journal.
*Personal motivation via group emails from the Rock Your Dream Jeans Expert Trainer Danielle Williams.
*Five educational emails per week about health and fitness.
*Q & A via email with Rock Your Dream Jeans Expert Trainer Danielle Williams on all training and nutrition questions.
*Delicious recipe ideas designed to be healthy, nutritious, and supportive of your weight loss goals so you can stay excited and interested at mealtimes.
*Travel and Home Workout options in case you need to be away for part of the 8-week transformation.
When Does It Happen? October 10 – December 1
Tuesdays & Thursdays at 9:45am with Danielle
Mondays & Wednesdays at 5:00pm with Sarah
Mondays & Wednesdays at 6:45am with Corkey.
On vacation some of these dates? We can accommodate make-ups or pro-rate out your missed sessions.
What Does It Cost? Two payments of $198.50 for members non-refundable (billed in November and in December). $476 non-refundable pre-pay for non-members. Note that non-members will enjoy complete gym access during open gym hours during the 8-week transformation to complete your solo strength training workouts.
How Do I Sign Up? Spaces are limited and will be filled on a first come-first served basis by emailing Danielle Williams at [email protected] or calling 818-219-4835.

NEW GROUP FITNESS CLASSES

Pilates Fusion
Wednesdays at 8:30am with Kirby (Intermediate)

Cardio Sculpt
Fridays at 8:30am with Eden (Difficult)

Step & Strong
Thursdays at 7:00pm with Peggy (Intermediate)

Vinyasa Yoga
Saturdays at 10:30am with Jill (All Levels Welcome)

HOW THE PSOAS CAN AFFECT LOWER BACK ISSUES AND AN EASY WAY TO HELP RELAX THEM

By Personal Trainer & Yoga Therapist Robert Evans

A part of the stress response hardwired into our nervous system is the contraction of the major flexors of the torso—somewhat like the response of a caterpillar if you poke it with a twig. A verbal jab from a co-worker, the close call on the freeway, a long-standing argument with your spouse, free-floating anxiety—all of these elicit a contraction in the flexors. This is the tightening in the gut, the hunching of the shoulders, or the sinking of the heart. As with all responses to stress, the problem is that the response becomes habitual, resulting in chronic tension and contraction, which we then experience as our “normal” state.

The psoas (so-as) muscle, an important flexor with an exotic name, is particularly sensitive to emotional states. It is the major flexor of the hip—it’s the psoas that lifts the thigh as you walk.

Chronic contraction of the psoas, whether from stress or repetitive activity, limits range of movement in the hip sockets, with the frequent result of strain in the lumbar spine and the knees. A few simple stretches will go a long way to help release the tension in the psoas.

For psoas problems, modify the basic corpse pose to encourage relaxation of the psoas itself as well as to induce an overall state of deep stillness and calm. If the psoas is shortened, it will tug on the lumbar spine when you lie flat, arching the back off the floor and straining the lower back. You can take the pull off the lumbar spine by supporting the back of the knees so the weight of the legs doesn’t pull on the spine. Roll a blanket or use a bolster under the knees to support the thighs and release the tug on the spine. Another option is to bend the knees, place the feet on the floor to the outside of the pelvis, and rest the knees against each other.

There are so many possibilities to help alleviate pain with the proper stretches and/ or exercises designed specifically for you, and I’d be more than happy to help you. Please feel free to contact me if you’re interested in learning more at (805) 798-2810.

Sincerely,
Robert Evans

CONGRATULATIONS DOLPHIN CLUB SWIMMERS

THANK YOU COACH RICK!!

Sept 15, 2016 marked 30 years Rick Goeden has been serving OVAC as our Master’s Swim Coach. He has inspired and motivated so many of us. We are so thankful to him and his dedication to OVAC and the Ojai Community through swimming. WE LOVE YOU RICK!!

SAVE THE DATE! NOVEMBER 5 SWIM COMBINE!!

OVAC Aquatics will be hosting an upcoming Swim Combine Swim Meet and get together. All OVAC swimmers are invited to participate (all ages, all levels). Swimmers will swim odd events (150 IM, 75 FREE etc…) and then enjoy a BBQ lunch. $10 includes lunch and t-shirt. More info and registration soon!

OVAC HEAT WAVES UPCOMING SWIM MEETS!

• OVAC @ CAMARILLO OCTOBER 8
• OVAC @ NAVAL BASE OCTOBER 22
• PUMPKIN PUSH INVITATIONAL OCT 29
• SWIM COMBINE@ OVAC NOVEMBER 5
• LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS DECEMBER 3

UPDATED OVAC Lap Pool Schedule

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
6:00am- 7:00am	Masters		Masters		Masters
7:00am- 8:00am
						Masters
8:00am- 9:00am
		Masters		Masters
9:00am- 10:00am	Masters Technique		Masters Technique		Masters Technique

11:00am- 12:00pm
12:00pm- 1:00pm	Lunch Bunch Masters		Lunch Bunch Masters		Lunch Bunch Masters
1:00pm- 3:00pm
3:00pm-4:00pm
	Youth Swim Team		Youth Swim Team		Youth Swim Team
4:00pm- 5:00pm
5:00pm-close			Stroke Clinic 5-5:45 Lane 1 & 2

• OVAC coaches will always do their best to accommodate lap swimmers. As swim class attendance continues to grow you may be asked to share a lane if you plan to swim during scheduled classes. To ensure a comfortable lap swim, it’s best to plan your lap pool workout before or after swim classes. plan to swim during scheduled classes. To ensure a comfortable lap swim, it’s best to plan your lap pool workout before or after swim classes.

Tennis

LADIES INTERCLUB ROUND ROBIN

On October 3rd the ladies A2, B and C team will have a round robin social at 9am.

SAVE THE DATE....

On November 5th OVAC will hold a doubles club championship tournament for men and women. The tournament committee of Ryan, Jim and Thomas will form teams of even strength.
We decided on a 'Calcutta' format. The club will host the draw and teams will be auctioned off on Friday afternoon. The winning bidders whose team wins the tournament will receive 50% of the pot. The other 50% will benefit the junior program in form of scholarships for clinics, tournament entries etc.

Appetizers and drinks will be provided, on Saturday there will be a BBQ.
Entries are limited to the first 32 men and women. The fee will be 25$.
Please look for the sign-up sheet in the next few days.
Any questions please contact Thomas at (805) 407-4481.

CLAY COURT UPDATE

The first of the clay courts has been redone and is in great shape.

TENNIS NEWS

High School Clinic Mondays from 4:30pm-5:30pm

Future stars Tuesdays from 4pm-5pm

Advanced Clinic Wednesdays from4:30pm-5:30pm

Intermediate Clinic Thursdays from 4pm-5pm

Please call Thomas at (805) 407-4481 for more info

IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T LET IT GET BROKE

BY JULIE FOX, PILATES INSTRUCTOR

The old adage, If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, is one that doesn’t work well in the Pilates world. Pilates is known for being preventative against injury and also assisting in recovering from an injury. As instructors, we do our best to guide our clients to a balanced body that improves functional movement. Don Diaz has been an OVAC Pilates client for 1 ½ years, and says, “my body moves more fluidly.” Pilates is known for its depth and complexity. Improvement is gauged by the quality of the movement and not the ease with which you do it. Exercises do not get easier, they get better. The better you perform them, the more you’ll feel the work more deeply and intensly. You will be in touch with your movements which means you can react to them. You will focus on how you will be moving so as you move throughout the day you are moving the way that you should.

There is a real trend that we’re seeing among athletes who are now embracing Pilates as a very crucial injury prevention and rehabilitation exercise regime. Some of those big-name athletes who are adopting Pilates as part of their workout and rehab routines include names such as Tiger Woods, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James. By engaging in Pilates core exercises regularly, athletes will create better movement patterns and decrease the chance of re-aggravating old injuries, as well as developing new ones. Not only that, but Pilates is used by athletes to help achieve optimal performance and get the most out of their bodies.

“Fixing” the body so it won’t get “broke” is the adage I promote.
Enjoy the Pilates journey! Remember, the first session is Free.