Livingston Lacroix: ‘This isn’t a $40 trampoline.’
Fun and home-based - that's all Livingston LaCroix, 55, wants from a fitness regimen. So the Guelph, Ont., raw-food chef stopped pounding the treadmill after discovering rebounding, an aerobic workout that simulates jogging and gives her boundless energy.
My goal
"To keep the figure I found years ago after dropping 25 pounds in three months on the raw living food diet. I'm 5 feet, 9 inches, I have size 11 feet and I truly am big-boned, but now I'm thin."
My workout
"I got into rebounding four years ago at the Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida, attending the Life Change Program, where I learned about raw food.
"Five times a week, I'm on my trampoline; I've built up to 20 minutes. It's great for helping lymphatic drainage, toning core muscles and having fun. I feel like a kid again. I do sideways twists at the waist, heel-to-butt touches and small circular movements with my arms stretched out add resistance. I've got the 39-inch Sundance model for $400 with quality springs, so this isn't a $40 trampoline."
My lifestyle
"I was in a depression and I went through the three-week program and never in my life had I felt so good. I loved the lifestyle so much I became a chef, trained by Alissa Cohen in Boston. My hours per week vary, depending if I am teaching a workshop or working part-time producing food with Divinely Raw.
"I start a typical day with tea with almond milk and stevia [a non-caloric sweetener from South America] and have a 32-ounce green drink. It starts with minimal fruit such as banana or berries, and then I load the blender with handfuls of President's Choice salad mix, kale, celery, cucumber and eight ounces of water, and then purée it - it's an elixir from the gods. I make enough to take for lunch. Dinner is a salad, but the key ingredients along with the field greens are Boston bibb lettuce, hemp hearts, dulse and frozen peas. My dressing is whole garlic cloves pressed deeply into the salad with extra virgin olive oil and lemon."
My motivation
"I have children and I want to grow old with them."
My anthem
"I rebound while watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta and I love old seventies funk."
My challenge
"Finding good, fresh, organic greens to eat in restaurants."
The critique
Sport athletic shoes
Fitness trainer and chiropractor Liza Egbogah of The Clinic in Toronto says the risk for rebounders include lateral ankle sprains and injury to knees and feet from overpronation, oversupination or a simple misstep, and that Ms. LaCroix should avoid exercising in socks. "I recommend wearing shoes designed for cross-training that offer a high level of control and stability."
Crunch nuts, hit nutrient target
Regarding Ms. LaCroix's diet, Dr. Egbogah's concerns are the minimal amounts of protein and apparent low caloric intake. "Incorporating a wide variety of raw nuts and seeds will ensure that Livingston consumes sufficient calories and maintains an adequate protein intake. Livingston should also take a multivitamin and calcium supplement, as it is difficult to take in all necessary vitamins and minerals with a restrictive diet."