2015 NPAA Magazine 2015 volume 1 | Page 9

WENDY GERMAIN What do you stand by as your philosophy for fueling your body so you have awesome energy for training and enjoying life? My philosophy for fuelling my body for training and enjoying life is to train smarter and to eat smarter. Although training is hard work, it doesn't have to be dreadful unless you make it that way. I like to train at a high intensity and challenge myself daily in a short efficient amount of time. When it comes to nutrition I feel it is important to eat foods that are enjoyable but also provide your body with proper macro nutrients. In order to achieve my best performance in the gym, I eat smart and train smart. I believe that this balanced approach and avoiding extremes feeds my mind, body and soul. We all work hard, thus play is so important. What is your favourite activity in the gym and outside of the gym that fills your life with play? My favourite activity in and outside the gym is definitely plyometrics! I can use my own body weight and complete a plyometric session outside on a nice day in the spring, summer, fall or even winter. I get the best of both worlds, playtime outside while achieving my fitness goals.  Love is in the little things, what are you loving about life and what brings you balance and joy with your healthy lifestyle? My definition of a balanced life is making sure I surround myself with friends and family that support me in everything I do. I prioritize making time for the ones I love because it fuels my happiness, keeps me positive and inspires me to keep striving in all aspects of my life ! JENNIFER LANE What do you stand by as your philosophy for fueling your body so you have awesome energy for training and enjoying life? For me, fueling my body means ensuring it has adequate and balanced input. This goes beyond nutrition. Our bodies need a combination of physical, emotional and nutritional support to be fully optimal for training and life. I think it’s important to have a balanced diet, and not a diet that consists of only chicken and cucumbers. We see a lot of people dealing with issues from food restriction; this may be a spectrum including metabolic damage and emotional damage. I think maintaining a healthy view of food, including all food groups that make sense for you (carbs, fats, meats/proteins, fruits, veggies and dairy) is very important. I also think nourishing your body with sleep, and maintaining a healthy level of work/life balance also helps fuel your body to ensure you have the energy to push into training and life. It’s all about fueling yourself for the things that matter both inside and out. We all work hard, thus play is so important. What is your favourite activity in the gym and outside of the gym that fills your life with play? Inside the gym I would say my favourite activity is legs. Working my Glutes and Hamstrings has always been a huge weakness for me. Suffering with Sciatic nerve issues and a slipped disk last year has really taught me how to focus on working my legs properly. Nothing is better than being able to squat low (this was my personal goal as I am very restricted in my hips) so when I can kill a good leg workout I am on top of the world. Outside of the gym I would say my favourite activity is travel. Those who know me know I am rarely in the same city for more than a week or two. Given a chance I will always fly off to the next travel spot looking for my new adventure. I have been fortunate enough to find a way to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle while hopping from one destination to the next. Next stop… Hopefully Japan. Love is in the little things, what are you loving about life and what brings you balance and joy with your healthy lifestyle? Lately I am really loving my new approach towards what healthy really means. I use to think healthy was over training, food restrictions, and always being in a state of exhaustion. I use to think that was what happy was because it meant I had abs, was fit and well…” fit in”. Now healthy to me is training when I feel like I need to, pushing myself when it feels right, eating… well eating whatever the heck I want. My new approach to food is that if its organic, non-packaged, and non-processed… its GAME ON…. Within reason of course. I am focusing on” living forward” these days, which to me means; focusing on what matters, following my intuition, fueling myself both emotional and physically, and making sensible decisions. This is allowing me for the first time since I started my fitness journey to really embrace self, be confident in the me I am today, and focus on the things that bring me joy. Things like spending time outdoors every day, reading good books, traveling often, coffee, good chats and of course hard workouts.   KEAGEN CAVE EWANCHUK What do you stand by as your philosophy for fueling your body so you have awesome energy for training and enjoying life? I think the majority of people equate fueling your body with clean eating, which is obvious. However, what’s not so obvio