Fitness Corner

I wrote this column a year ago, but never submitted it for publication. For me, the Thanksgiving holiday each year is a reminder to engage more deeply with the gratitude I feel for so much in my life. I hold this Edmonds experience close to my heart even now, as we have not visited since….

In a perfect world we’d always feel like working out. Obviously, this is far from a perfect world! Even if your workouts are a solid part of your routine, even if you have carved out the time on your schedule and even if you are fully motivated, sometimes it is simply the last thing you…

  I feel old these days. Right now, people reading this that know me personally are laughing hysterically, especially my longtime older clients. They tried to warn me about what it is like getting older back when I was in my 30s and they were in their 50s, 60s, 70s. Of course, I nodded and…

“Beating the competition is relatively easy. But beating yourself is a never ending commitment.”—Nike, There Is No Finish Line ad copy Since the moment I saw this image, from Nike’s “There Is No Finish Line” ad campaign, I was inspired. Everything about it was — is — me. When I first laid eyes on it,…

There’s a collective energy in the air at this time of year. Wafting all around us are feelings of freshness, motivation, potential for change, new opportunities, and chances to make ourselves and our lives better — promoted and perpetuated by newspapers, magazines, books, social media, our friends and family, and of course, ourselves. I’m a…

Lately, it hasn’t felt in the Seattle area as though winter is near (and hardly even fall) although this may have changed by the time this column is published. In fact, this is the perfect time to take a good look at your current exercise program and think about how you may want to prepare…

When I was growing up, all I ever wanted was a pool. I was obsessed with pools. The most exciting thing in the world for me was when my grandmother would come to visit from England and stay at a hotel with a pool. My sister and I would be in that pool all day…

A couple of weeks ago, there I was, as usual, on the couch. A common place for me to be, two months into recovering from what felt like the slowest-healing-ever sprained ankle and pain-won’t-go-away broken wrist. That was the moment when I realized that I felt too comfortable on the couch. Far more comfortable on…

I sit here with a broken wrist and a sprained ankle, unable to do much of anything. As a trainer and coach, I am the queen of modification. I would never let a client off the hook if they had any kind of localized injury because, I would say, “we can always work around it.“…

As a daughter, there were always three sure things in my life. Death, taxes and the deep, passionate love my parents have always had for each other. So it seems fitting that every year my parents’ May 11th wedding anniversary occurs near Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Because from my perspective, they are who they…

The last time I played golf, my driver mysteriously disappeared out of my golf bag. I only realized it was gone when I went to grab it for my first shot on the first hole. To describe my reaction as shock, well, that is an understatement. This isn’t a club that leaves the bag except…

What is the thought that gets you exercising? What is it, exactly, that makes a sedentary person decide that they want to get active? Or an overweight person decide they want to shed some pounds? Or a person decide they want to start lifting weights? It’s a decision that comes from a thought that motivates…

Twenty years ago, I started my career in the fitness industry, but exercise was already an integral part of my life for long before that. I’ve been exposed to a great deal of formal and informal learning over the years, including advice, tips, tricks, methods, methodologies and multiple schools of thought about anything and everything…

Every January I feel that this coming year could be a great year, maybe the best ever. I usually look to January as a time of positive change. If nothing else it’s my preferred month to do some organizing and clearing out of stuff! Even if my “resolutions” don’t bring lasting change, at least I…

My late husband and I are at our favorite golf course in Palm Springs. It’s 108 degrees in June. We are on vacation, precious time away from our Edmonds home and most especially, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, which my husband visited at least monthly in the good years and way more in the bad years….

There’s always effort involved in starting and maintaining a consistent exercise routine. Although it’s possible to fall into it, like I did when a boyfriend started dragging me to the gym several afternoons a week to lift weights, most of us aren’t so lucky. It takes conscious desire, effort and work to begin and continue…

Ask any of my clients and they will tell you that I am an expert in working around all sorts of physical and mental limitations. For example: Client text: I tweaked my knee and so I don’t think I should workout today. Coach Pritam reply: We can do all kinds of things that don’t involve…

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it…

This has been an unprecedented and overwhelming year. Even as we move into winter, COVID is not letting up. Our lives have been compromised by the significant consequences of this pandemic and we all feel the cumulative and collective stress and worry. We’ve figured out various ways to cope this year, and with good reason…

No one wants to get old, yet we can pretty much agree it is far better than the alternative! There are few of us who don’t complain about how our bodies and minds change as we get older. But as 90-year-old Edmonds resident Janet Robertson demonstrates by her own experience, aging doesn’t need to be…

Walking, it seems, is now a “thing.” If there was a form of movement that most of us can do, made for a stay-mostly-at-home-avoid-crowds-crisis, it is definitely walking. And with this pandemic apparently here for the foreseeable future, as well as summer upon us, there is never a better time to make walking a part…

Six years ago, I was in the midst of the worst circumstance of my life—the death of my husband. Now, as we are collectively experiencing the worst thing our country has experienced in our lifetime, I have been constantly reminded of my grief journey. Perhaps you can relate to what I am feeling. Heartache. Anger….