Sassy Scary Seasonal Cocktails (that are easy on your waistline)

It's almost Halloween!  I love all holidays and especially love a holiday that means I can dress up like something gross. Yes, I said gross. Slutty isn’t sassy…it’s desperate. Celebrating this coming weekend with cocktails can almost do as much damage has having a glass of calorie packed egg nog at Christmas. With so many people consuming mixed drinks that don’t normally drink at all even the well meaning calorie counter can drink too many empty calories.

If you love those scary Halloween drinks remember that they often have many different types of liquor, which means lots of calories. To keep you fitting into your Zombie Bride costume here are some fun options.

Chai Martini

Chai tea isn’t scary but the aroma and taste are 100% autumn. Use a brewed chai tea (from teabags) without added sugar and cream, and you'll add zero calories to the vodka, which has just 80 calories an ounce on its own.

Mimosa

Mimosa is an awesome cocktail and it’s only 140 calories. It’s not just for brunch you know, the orange color makes it festive for Halloween, and the champagne makes it a classy prop for a sophisticated costume.

Black Velvet

This drink is only 100 calories! YES!! Plus it’s a alluring black color makes it a perfect Halloween drink.

Red Wine

Because it’s blood colored you can stay festive but only consume about 30 calories per ounce. 

Keep your drinks simple. The more ingredients, the higher the calorie count usually is. One shot of liquor with a zero-calorie mixer is always a good idea: whiskey and diet soda, scotch and club soda, etc. Remember to drink water between your cocktails to ensure you stay hydrated.

Be responsible, spooky, safe and always sassy!

You Didn't Know I Was Pregnant

 I am constantly shocked at the women who roll into the gym where I teach and announce they are 6 months pregnant. They have absolutely no signs. If they hadn’t said a word I wouldn’t have known. There are no signs of a growing belly. They continue on with tough vigorous workouts and don’t seem to make modifications. Living in NYC there is a wide variety of shapes and sizes of people. Most women fret endlessly about what they eat and how much they weigh from the moment they conceive—and earlier. Why?  It can’t be healthy.

To answer my own question I did a little research into meaning behind the desire not to look too fat in pregnancy. Basically what I learned is that everyone in New York came here to make it big and a lot of people wait awhile to have kids because they are very accomplished, fit and basically don’t want a pregnancy to disrupt their perfect life. If you can go home after giving birth in the same dress size before you got pregnant you are a success.

I completely get why you would want to keep your weight gain a secret.  My hubs doesn’t really know how much I weigh. He has a general idea but really why does he need to know the exact number on the scale? It seems like a boring topic to discuss but….I’m not pregnant so there is no need for him to know. It almost seems comical that women would force their husbands to leave the examining room for their weigh-ins. Imagine going into labor and you decide you’d like an epidural so the nurse sends in an anesthesiologist  and she asks, ‘How much do you weigh?’ You can’t lie because you need the right amount of drugs, so you try to whisper the number to the doc and she’s says, ‘What? I’m sorry, I can’t hear you.’ So then you have blurt out your secret.  Crazy, right? 

Being a slave to your diet isn't healthy. Everything in moderation. Well how much should you gain to have a healthy pregnancy? How much you should gain during pregnancy depends on how much you weighed before conception.

1.              Multiply your weight in pounds by 703


2.              Divide the answer by your height in inches


3.              Divide this number by your height in inches again. This is your BMI.

4.              
Once you know your BMI, here is an example of the weight approprate to gain: 

◦                                  Underweight pre-pregnancy: BMI of under 19.8: gain 28 to 40 pounds


◦                                  Normal weight pre-pregnancy: BMI of 19.8 to 26: gain 25 to 35 pounds


◦                                  Overweight pre-pregnancy: BMI of over 26.1: gain 15 to 25 pounds

Keeping yourself active and making healthy food choices will ensure optimal wellness for both your baby and you. 

Sassy Sip

“If you want to loose weight drink water.” Don’t roll your eyes! I know you’ve heard it said 1,000 times but there is some truth to what you hear. If you can’t seem to get that weight off, try drowning your sorrows in nature’s magical weight-loss mineral. It works!

I know it’s super annoying for the first few days of consuming more water than you are used to because it seems like you can’t do anything without knowing where the nearest bathroom is located. Constantly paying the water bill can be so discouraging and most people give up before too long. But the good news that all these annoying restroom breaks are really allowing your body to flush out all the water your body had been holding onto for years. That means it is getting rid of the water that is being held in your hips and thighs. Eventally all the flushing ends and your life returns to normal

Plus water is awesome for your skin. Clean, clear and glowing skin is what every sassy girl wants and all you have to do to obtain it is turn on your faucet! Also, well hydrated skin plumps up nicely. If you are concerned with saggy skin due to aging or weight loss adding H20 to your diet will do wonders. And water helps improve muscle tone! All of your hard work won’t be seen if your muscles are dehydrated.

Okay so how much do I need? Eight glasses a day? Yep! Eight 8-ounces spread out through each day. It’s really not that bad. Try drinking a big glass of water 4 times a day and just casually sip throughout the day.  If you hate the taste of water adding a slice of lime or lemon adds some fun flavor. What you can’t have are fluids that have sugars, calories and other additives.

If you drink plenty of water you will feel less hungry and begin to see weight loss. In search for a slimmer physique drinking plenty of water is the secret. If you’re doing diet and exercise properly but aren’t getting the desired results you’re probably not getting enough water.

Goal Setting Sassy Style

I’m not sure what happened yesterday afternoon. I didn’t properly plan and when I got hungry mid afternoon what started out as an innocent meal turned into a caloric catastrophe. I know I’m not alone. Just because you are in tip top shape doesn’t mean you are immune to gaining weight. To help stay on track try constantly keeping your focus of motivation fresh. Whether it is your brother’s wedding, a class reunion, or a vacation that keeps you in check always having a reminder of what you are working towards can keep you returning to fitness.

If your goal is to lose weight, ask yourself why you want to lose weight. Is it to fit into those jeans that have been in your closet for years? It is to have more energy for your family?

Once you have defined your goal, write it down. I’ll say it again, write it down! It formalizes it and makes it more difficult to just wave away in your mind. Now put that written goal in a place you will always see it. Maybe your bathroom mirror, on your desk at work, in your purse. Find a picture that will help you stay on track. If your goal is to fit into your skinny jeans go and grab them and put them in a place where you can see them all the time.

Here are some ways to make sure you are setting your goals wisely:

Specific. Is your goal specific? You won’t be able to accomplish a goal that is too vague. For example, “lose some weight” or “walk a lot” are not specific goals. GOAL: I will lose 10 pounds.

Measurable. Can your goal be measured or defined? Walking a lot cannot be measured. What is a lot? That depends on whom you ask. Can we measure losing 10 pounds? You bet. Take your current weight when you set your goal and subtract 10 pounds. GOAL: I will lose 10 pounds and reduce my weight from 150 pounds to 140 pounds.

Attainable. Can you achieve this goal? Is it something you have can control over? You may not be able to lose 10 pounds if you have a surgery coming up next week that will keep you off your feet for the next 6 weeks. Let’s assume that you do not have any upcoming surgeries and it is reasonable to think that you can lose 10 pounds. GOAL: I will lose 10 pounds and reduce my weight from 150 pound to 140 pounds.

Realistic? Is this a goal that you can and want to accomplish? It is okay to set a goal that is difficult and will challenge you. However, you do not want to set a goal that you cannot achieve. Let’s assume that losing 10 pounds is something you feel that you can accomplish. GOAL: I will lose 10 pounds and reduce my weight from 150 pound to 140 pounds.

Timely. A goal should have a time frame. By when do you want to lose 10 pounds? If you don’t set a time limit, you’ll never get around to losing the 10 pounds because there won’t be a sense of urgency. GOAL: I will lose 10 pounds and reduce my weight from 150 pound to 140 pounds in 16 weeks.

Sore After Exercise?

My legs are super sore from a tough workout yesterday. Even though my legs don’t want me to do anything I know that lying around watching The Kardashian Wedding is not going to make me feel better. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned exerciser everyone experiences muscle soreness. It’s very normal to be sore. Don’t be scared of the feeling. Here are some things you can do to help.

Everyone should cool down after a workout, especially beginners. Cooling down helps lactic acid leave the muscles fast. That burning feeling that happens during your workouts is lactic acid building up. It happens because your muscles are not getting enough oxygen. You can help get rid of the lactic acid by continuing to get your move on. Walking is a great idea.

If you are sore for one or two days after a weight training session or a great cardio workout you are experiencing DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). DOMS is caused by microscopic tears inside the muscles.

REST: you have to rest the muscles you just worked the next day maybe take 2 days off if you are crazy sore. That does not mean you can lay on the couch snoozing with your cat. Maybe some cardio or if you love to lift you should try focusing on other muscle groups. If you don’t rest your body won’t ever get a chance to get stronger and you will get weaker. BOO!

 Take measures into your own hands:

1. Always warm-up for 5-10 minutes and cool-down for at least 5 minutes.

2. Stretch. Only stretch when your muscles are already warm from some kind of light activity.

3. Keep Moving. The more your muscles move, the faster they will recover from exercise and soreness. If you choose to rest completely instead of "actively recovering" with light exercise, you'll probably be sore longer. 

The Sassy Girl Sails The Sea

The genius behind the cruise industry is that they have created a vacation where you can eat like a pig, drink like a pig lay soak up the sun like a walrus on a log and still manage to feel thin.

It appears that overeating is really the reason people go on cruises. At meal after meal on our cruise ship, it looked as if I had missed the announcement that those who didn't eat their weight in appetizers would have to walk the plank.

Seriously, you can eat as much as you want and you can eat 24 hours a day. Here's the skinny:

There are three main meals on the cruise ship, and each is offered in either a serve yourself cafeteria setting or in a sit down dining room. The food's basically the same if not identical each day at the buffets. There is a plethora of fried things, pizza, ice cream and different kinds of meat on a stick and only one small tiny salad bar. Only serving iceburg lettuce. Heaven forbid the cruise ship waste any precious space in the cafeteria with an arrangement of foods that might actually be good for you. It was hard to eat healthy but somehow I managed to make decent choices. My husband didn’t do so well. He ate and ate. I think the man ordered at least 3 appetizers and 2 entrees for dinner EVERY night. He didn’t workout once, ate like an animal and is still the Italian Stallion I married almost 2 years ago.

Ok so if you constantly eat the gym is probably busy right? WRONG! Day 2 the gym had a fair amount of people getting their sweat on but by day 6 I was the ONLY person in the gym for the 60 minutes I was there. It was nice to have the place to myself but honestly I was a little annoyed that out of 2,000 people I was the only person to burn off some of the calories from dinner the night before. The only time I saw people on the jogging track was when the line to the buffet was backed up.

My gym attempt was lame and here is why. I fell off the treadmill twice! I struggled with my balance and the rocking of the boat was not my best friend. I had to hold onto the equipment to brace myself. It wasn’t my best but at least I was trying.  It was so bad that as I was riding the elevator down from the gym to my cabin a man in a wheel chair asked me if I was ok. Really? I look that bad that a pork chop on a Rascal wants to help me. Geesh! Did that stop me? Of course not, the very next day I got up and tried again only to stumble again on the treadmill. This time I found a machine that didn’t face the sea but faced a wall. I figured that would help and it did a bit. I still had trouble but did a heck of a lot better than the day before.

In the end I had a wonderful time with my hubby and even though the odds weren’t in my favor I think I still managed to stay sassy.