Dancing for health and happiness

Six months ago, she was overweight, tired and unhealthy. With a Greek heritage, she had a tendency to love cooking and eating. “I blame my husband for what I call the ‘contentment factor’ but I was always losing weight on yoyo diets and gaining it right back,” she explains “and my husband jokes that the only thing he’s invested in that’s doubled in the last 20 years is me!”

As a newly converted vegetarian, she decided to supplement her diet with BOOST® “to make sure I was getting the vitamins, minerals and protein needed,” she explains. Then, she was watching television one evening and saw kids dancing to Xbox Kinect. “I hate exercising,” she says, “but I love dancing and this looked like fun, so I bought a console with a dance central DVD as well as a fitness DVD.”Recently, she added a zumba dance DVD to her collection.

After about 1-1/2 hours a day, five days a week dancing to Lady Gaga, doing Tai Chi and kickboxing as well as running on the treadmill, Hope has lost 25 pounds and 16 inches off her body. “I still have a way to go,” she says, “but I notice that now I can go up and down stairs without holding on to the railing and my breathing is so much better.”

She credits her good health to “good Greek genes, moisturizer, no sun exposure and a good attitude,” she says, “not to mention living here on the Sunshine Coast we like to call paradise.”

With her $1,500 prize from BOOST® Meal Replacement drink, she’s considering buying an exercise machine to build her core and upper body. “I will then be on my way to being a hot senior mama,” she quips.

Boost your body strength
Hope Ryckman is looking for ways to boost her upper body strength and core so she can enjoy her dance routines even more. Here are some ways of increasing body strength:

1. Swimming is an easy and effective way of building body strength. To exercise arms and shoulders in the water, stand neck-deep with arms stretched out to both sides. Bring them together in front and straighten until your hands are touching. Bring arms back to sides and repeat.

2. To exercise legs in the water, raise your right leg and bend at the knee. Push off with the left leg and land on the right. Then push back with the right leg, landing on the left. Repeat this ‘rocking horse’ exercise several times. Remember to pack a BOOST® Meal Replacement drink for a pick-me-up after pool exercises and swimming.

3. Other strengthening exercises include climbing stairs, rowing and gardening.

Stay Strong, Stay Active
BOOST® is a complete meal replacement rich in nutrients that helps you stay strong and active so you can keep doing all the things you love. BOOST® meal replacement provides complete nutrition with 26 essential vitamins and minerals and 10g of protein to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. For more information, visit BoostNutrition.ca