Frances Sheridan Goulart is a Pilates mat and Reformer instructor, Hatha Yoga instructor, certified clinical nutritionist and the author of sixteen books on health and nutrition, including the recent Super Immunity Foods: A Complete Program to Boost Wellness, Speed Recovery, and Keep Your Body Strong (McGraw Hill). She lives in Ridgefield, CT.

Do you step on the scales when you step off the mat? And then weep? You’re not alone. But it may not be all your fault, either. We tip the scales for a dizzying number of reasons.

Take five (okay 10) and do the Series of Five. Both of them. You know the first: the fabulous abs series that starts with Single-Leg Stretch and ends with Criss-Cross. But what about the second? It’s for your nutritional mouth—not your mind/body core. This series of five foods is just as fabulous for your abs but in a nutritional way.

by Frances Sheridan Goulart “The Pilates Method of body conditioning reawakens and stimulates brain cells, stimulating further the functioning of the mind.” —Joseph Pilates How mindful are you? Do you hit the mat without any idea of what’s in store for your core? Probably not. Nor should you pull up to the plate without any [...]

by Frances Sheridan Goulart “I’ve been high, I’ve been low, I’ve been people that I don’t know,” sings Jeff Bridges in the movie Crazy Heart. Indeed, each of us is a high and low crazy quilt of possibilities that we explore in many ways as we perform our Pilates day after day. Pilates helps us [...]

Sustained movement along with appropriate placement of that shoulder, leg or hip plus careful alignment and a considered trajectory for each part of the body.

We know these bundled cues as the principle of Precision. But did you know that Precision has a crossover value? What’s good for the transversus, in other words, is good for the esophagus.

Something as simple as a bowl or cup of homemade soup is a slurp in the right direction toward better health and healing this winter, especially after a session on your mat or apparatus. According to research from the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, a higher intake of fruits and vegetables (just what you get in a bowl of homemade soup) is associated with a reduced risk of many common forms of cancer. The World Cancer Research Fund reports that consuming at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits daily is associated with a 50 percent reduced risk for cancer. That produce-rich minestrone or chowder also lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and degenerative conditions such as arthritis and diabetes.

Sometimes, when doing Pilates, ingenious props can assist or support our bodies, helping us get to wherever we want to be on our mats. And if physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness, as Joseph Pilates instructed us, nutritional fitness is certainly a companion to that requisite. Indeed, props at breakfast, lunch and dinner can help us reach our healthy hand-to-mouth goals, especially when we are short on time, energy or inspiration (or all three)! Here of some of my favorite, must-have props for the kitchen.