JERI ROSS INTERVIEW WITH PERSONAL TRAINING COACH
Jeri Ross, co-owner of Institut’DERMed, sat down with personal fitness coach, Annette Cavalier, to ask her some heart felt questions about how she works effectively with women and their bodies.
Personal Fitness Coach Annette Cavalier
J: How would you describe your purpose?
A: When a woman comes to me she is asking for help. My approach is one based on how I can assist a woman to heal, to live more consciously, to provide honest answers that will build holistic strength for body, mind and spirit. The work creates a personal connection between us that changes lives for the better. Also women who are making an investment in themselves monetarily, physically benefit.
J: Why did you decide to be a fitness coach and body therapist?
A: I was in a 10 year relationship that was not healthy for me. I hated my job and I was over weight. I had to make some changes. I started working out and as I lost the weight, I started getting compliments and finally had the courage to leave the relationship and the job. I discovered who I was as a powerful woman through training, toning and reducing. Because of my own experience and how working out had changed my life I became a trainer. I wanted other women to experience that transition from despair, set a goal, and then follow it through to attain their desired life. I try to teach by example.
J: In terms of body image, let’s talk about two issues that seem to be the most emotionally charged for women, weight and aging. How do you address losing weight with your women clients?
A: Most of my women clients come to me to lose weight. I have a philosophy that the extra fat on the body is the symptom of an underlying cause. When I approach weight loss I know that the weight will not come off or not stay off if the reason it’s there in first place is not included in sessions with clients.
Many women view their body as the enemy that they dislike or even hate because it doesn’t fit the mold of how we have been programmed to think it should look in order to be attractive to others. The body hears you and it responds. Not liking the body results in a life long discontent that almost always leads back to the same shape you try to avoid. Positive attitude matters. It needs to be cultivated and included in any fitness program, especially for long term results. When you start doing healthy things for yourself you want to do more healthy things for yourself.
J: What kind of attitudes do you run into with the aging woman and her changing body?
A: I work with many women who, for most of their lives, got attention for their physical attributes and they identify their physical with who they are. They continue trying to keep themselves in their mid-30’s as the state that they best identify with in terms of being attractive. Some women are terrified and feel like, ‘Oh my god what’s happening to me?’ Their being attractive is so tied into how they relate in the world. They have always seen themselves in someone else’s eyes. Then as they age, they stop getting that attention. They look in the mirror and see that older woman’s face and body looking back at them and they are scared and feel out of control. They start comparing themselves with younger women, the perky breasts, slim legs and now it starts affecting their self esteem. Again I see a woman that perceives her attractiveness as being how she is loved and accepted by others. Of course there are varying degrees of this association, but it is very prevalent.
J: What are some treatment strategies you use to help the aging woman to feel better about herself?
A: We have discussed that whenever you do something for yourself, the simple act in itself nurtures you and your body responds and feels this. It hears you. I really love to help the aging woman connect more with her higher self through body treatments such as detoxifying lymphatic massage, Synergie, and corrective body products. I have a client that has been coming to me once a week for 5 years for lymphatic massage. Her sessions with me support her to relax, relieve stress and boost her immune system. She has expressed to me that her weekly treatments give her the space to let go of the fear of aging. And after struggling with a dysfunctional, dissatisfying relationship for years, at 60 she has re-invented herself and is in a new, more joyful relationship.
J: I’m an aging woman. I am now 55 and still very inclined to exercise especially now to help keep me flexible, prevent age-related illnesses and of course, to keep off unwanted pounds. Are you suggesting that body treatments and products be added to exercise regimes for the aging woman and if so why?
A. I do recommend body treatments and products for the aging woman because one thing that slows down with age is circulation and cellular rejuvenation that includes layers of the skin. The body ages just like the face. Loss of elasticity causes sagging in body parts that are helped with treatments like Synergie and CelluliteRx that manually increase circulation from the outside in. Of course exercise is critical for over-all health and the body needs exercise to function optimally. The aging woman needs a little extra help to jump start cellular metabolism in the skin to improve elasticity and fortunately today’s technology can do that.
