Health and Fitness Advice from iNSiDE Out STUDiO barre
/I am really excited to do my first health and wellness blog post featuring someone I have known for many years (I won’t say exactly HOW long I have known Janine, but we did go to elementary and high school together to give you an idea…). It is incredible to know someone from such a young age and see the amazing things they have accomplished, it is so inspiring!
Janine and her husband Greg opened the first ever barre-based fitness studio in Ottawa a few years ago and due to the massive success of the first one they recently opened their second studio (Not to mention having two kids in the process! They know a thing or two about being busy while trying to maintain a work/life balance and staying healthy in the process!). They have both been involved in fitness and health for most of their lives and have some great advice to share with you in this post. I am sure you will find their tips helpful. And if you live in Ottawa, I highly recommend you go visit one of their studios and try out their barre workouts!
Your Names:
Janine and Greg Charron
What do you do for a living:
We are the co-founders of iNSiDE Out STUDiO barre. Ottawa’s FIRST-EVER barre based Fitness Studio.
Name five things people can do to create a healthier lifestyle:
– Plan their meals (Prepare food in advance to accommodate their busy lifestyle – when we don’t plan, we tend to make the wrong food choices.)
– Plan their workouts (Turn your “should” into “musts”. Just like we schedule a business meeting, it’s important for you to schedule in exercise to benefit you and everyone else in your life that you are taking care of.)
– Get sleep
– Drink lots of water
– Think positively and focus on gratitude (Gratitude is the highest emotion for humans. When life is stressful, go to a place of gratitude.)
What piece of advice would you give to someone that wants to be healthier, but doesn’t know where to start? How do you create realistic fitness goals?
JUST START NOW. Even if it’s just a 5-10 minute walk, a body in motion stays in motion, a body in rest stays in rest. So just move. If the gym is intimidating, walk, do laundry, groceries, garden, play sports etc. There are many ways to stay active without making it feel like a job. Find something you love to do. Sticking with an exercise routine you love is much easier than something you despise doing. Half the work is showing up.
What are thee tips you could give someone to keep going and to stay focused on achieving their health/fitness goals:
– Use a vision board. Post photos of their dreams and goals coming to fruition. Let it be the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see when you go to sleep. If you have HUGE goals – take the HUGE goal and break it into smaller goals so you have targets along the way that are achievable.
– If food is a big problem for you, spend the money to work with a nutritionist. There’s so much information out there, you need to inform yourself. better to learn how to buy and cook foods for yourself and family then just guessing daily.
– Plan a minimum of 3 workouts a week to start. If you try to come out of the gate 7 days a week and make all these extreme changes in your diet you’re going to burn out and rebound. You know when you eat something if it’s good for you or not. Get in your workouts, plan your meals and get that much needed rest. Don’t stress if you mess up one day, just get back on your plans and keep going. Life is about balance and fun.
What inspires you:
Greg and I inspire each other, our children. All the guests that come into our STUDiO. It’s funny because at different stages in your life, different things inspire you. I find when I (Janine) was younger, the more superficial things inspired me and now I’m learning the more important things in life. How grateful we are to be able to get out of bed every morning, let alone go and workout. Some of our most basic functions in life we take for granted. Life itself inspires us, family and friends. It’s amazing from a fitness perspective what the body can do. How individuals can transform, not only from the outside, but from the iNSiDE too
How do you stay balanced in your busy life:
Carve out personal time. Time for children and hobbies. Right now life is really hectic so we make sure to shut off work at a certain hour. We make sure we sit down for family dinners etc.
What piece of advice would you give your 20-year-old self:
That you don’t need to workout 3 hours a day and starve yourself to look great. To sleep more. Eat more. Being healthy is a lifestyle.