Kaia ladies: involve your family

Kaia lifestyle is not a solo journey you take in the middle of the desert while taking drugs and hallucinating. (I think that's finding your spirit animal?)

Kaia life has to involve your family members because they are part of your life. How can you be successful if your partner/husband/children are not on the same page as you?

Are you going to eat a separate meal from your family? I hope not. Including your family in your fitness lifestyle can be tough, but doable. Slowly introducing healthy and nutritious meals is the way to go unless your family is already there with you. Education is key. Let them know what's up, why you are doing this, and what it means to you. They are going to be more receptive if you explain things rather just surprise them with a whole new way to eat. Maybe explain that they may not look unhealthy now (if children are younger), but if they continue on this path (of eating junk food), they may have lots of health issues later, and may have lots of problems down the road.


Don't let it just be nutrition either. Including your family in your journey will help you reach your fitness goal faster. You can include your family in your fitness routines: start walking your dogs as a family, go ice skating together, try stand up paddle-boarding as a family, take a group dance class together, walk around the marina and invite friends and family - it's a great way to catch up while also burning calories! Instead of inviting your friends to dinner, go out and go rollerskating? When was the last time you roller-skated? I think roller-kingdom is still open? When your family knows that you are trying to lose weight, or fit into that size ___ whatever__ dress, or just be healthier, they will help you in your efforts once you are on the same page.

When Ryan (my husband) and I got together, he wasn't really healthy. He would drink beer during the week after work, binge drink on the weekends, and played video games a lot. At that time, I would occasionally workout, but I wasn't very active otherwise. We were going down a dangerous path. We both came down to Las Vegas one Christmas and our families were brutally honest with both of us, since we had both gained some weight. That definitely hurt my feelings but I also found that to be an eye opener. Who else is going to be honest with you besides your tribe? I joined Kaia later. Later Ryan started doing his own P90X workouts after work. We have also now found something together. We like kickboxing together. We drink less often, just special occasions and are a lot healthier than when we started. The point is, I told him, that I wanted to be healthier and he got on board. I didn't force him to do any of it. He has to be ready to allow that change to happen. So ladies, don't force it, but explain to your family that this is something important to you.


Life changes made Kaia aren't just for 6 weeks, it's made for a lifetime.

Burn calories! Just stand up!

Recent survey shows the average person is on their butts for 12 hours a day - either at work, on the computer, or watching TV/relaxing at home. Add that to the 6-8 hours we spend sleeping. That's a whopping 18-20 hours either on our butts or laying down.

Did you know that just by standing, a person's heart rate is 10 beats faster than a person sitting. That measures out to about 0.7 calories per minute. That's between 40-50 calories per hour, depending on how active one is standing. If you stand 3 hours a day for 5 days, you've burned anywhere from 600-750 calories. Added up over a year, that's 30,000 extra calories burnt which is about 8 pounds of fat. Just from standing. 

We can't all stand up at work, but small adjustments will increase this amount. If you have a desk job, maybe walking over to your co-worker's cube instead of emailing them? Standing while talking on the phone.

We've had research done on this subject since that 1950's. So why, are we only now making this a priority? Did you know that some elementary schools are actually taking out sitting desks and replacing them with desks where children are able to stand? It stimulates better blood flow and better focus. Better focus means better learning.

This could be you at work! Better blood flow means better focus to your work which means more efficiency at the workplace!

Even if you're not a fitness buff, or just trying out Kaia, keep this in mind for at home. Something as simple as standing could help you shed some pounds as compared to being sitting.

Here is a list of standing activities (waiting in line, getting dressed) and a calorie calculator for these activies for 30 minutes.

How you can avoid sitting a bunch. What the cool video with fun music.

You can also read up on standing student desks here.