Self Love

I'm a freelancer! Which means that I answer to me. I have no boss. Thank goodness! But that also means my work days are longer than 9-5. My work spills into my personal life really easy if I'm not careful. As a group fitness instructor, personal trainer and social media influencer, I am always GIVING! I love giving, inspiring, and promoting others on a daily basis, because I believe this is what I am supposed to do.

It makes me happy…BUT it can also can leave me exhausted, stressed, drained, and overwhelmed.

My days are full of personal training clients, classes or doing social media work and my "to do” list is always a mile long! It can make me feel very antisocial and down in the dumps. Not good, right?!

I'm not taking care of me so how the heck am I suppossed to take care of others? I started thinking "how can I start to get ME back? What can I do?" Here are two really simple things you can do to take care of #1.

Less TV: When I'm not training clients or working out, which isn't offen, I am typically in my apartment ALWAYS working on the computer. I have no TV on and no music. It's just me and my cats. I embrace the silence and I enjoy the silence. I also find that I am more productive and happier. I will not give up the television completely though, I need to be able to indulge my addiction to ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

Reading: I LOVE reading! I'm even more into it now that I have access to hundreds of books through the library app on my iPad. Since my days are filled with traveling, my iPad helps keep me hooked on books. Reading is peaceful, relaxing, and comforting, it is the perfect thing for me to do as I take the NYC to and from clients all day.

These are 2 things that have helped me in taking care of myself. Working on YOU is not easy. Do you have any tips? I'd love to hear about them.

It takes you getting out of your own damn way and admitting your faults BUT when you put in the time and the work, some pretty amazing things can happen.

I am even surprising myself and I LOVE THAT!

The Worst Advice Ever Heard about Fitness

It’s fun to eavesdrop on conversations about other people's exercise routines or listening to a personal trainer giving weird advice to a client. Some of the strangest advice comes out of information that floats around in gym conversations. Most of these tips and tricks have been proven wrong or are not proven to be true at all.

Weird Fitness Tips

There is still a misconception that women should not lift heavy weights or any weights at all. Lifting weights will “bulk” you up. Certified personal trainers who know better state that women’s bodies are different. There is not as much testosterone flowing through a woman’s body as a man’s body. Unless you use supplements and increase your caloric intake significantly, lifting weights will not cause women to gain excessive muscles mass. The real truth, women, should consider adding some form of resistance training to their exercise routines. Lifting weights provides important health benefits. You hear this one all the time: “No pain, no gain.” This is a widely accepted motivation tool, but it just bad advice. Exercising may result in temporary discomfort or an uncomfortable feeling, but it should not leave you writhing in pain.

A new trend is confusing your muscles by constantly switching up your routine. The real truth? If you change too many exercises too often, it is difficult to get better muscles and adapt to any of those exercises. If you want to get stronger legs, for example, doing a hundred different leg exercises in one session will not do you any good. Exercise routines are called routines for a reason. Keep routines consistent and don’t change up before you start to recognize some benefits. Switch it up periodically.

Another odd piece of advice, when you are doing squats, you should pick a spot on the ceiling to look at during your exercise routine. Staring at one spot on the ceiling is a horrible technique. It takes the spine out of a neutral position. When you have a neutral spine, you are giving strength to movements. A neutral spine keeps your back in better alignment.

Have your heard this one? Don’t drink water while working out. Drinking water before and after is great, but water during workouts is not so great. Wow! Hydrate during exercise. Don’t believe the “Old Wives Tale” that drinking water while exercising might extinguish the “fire” that starts in the belly while exercising. That is quite a funky fitness piece of advice. There is a true story told about a woman who thought there was a literal fire in her belly while she worked out. If she drank water, the fire would go out.

 A very interesting nutrition fitness tip is “eat only fruit before noon.”  This piece of advice states that taking in only fruits and fruit juice in the morning will positively affect calorie burn. This advice is terribly wrong. Balancing meals and snacks with protein, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber is what delays blood sugar spikes and crashes and gives you the right mix for energy. The idea that eating only fruit is ridiculous, based on what science says the body requires.

You can’t believe everything you read about exercise, nutrition and fitness. Weight loss and fitness fads enter the media all the time. The best advice is to exercise regularly and eat a balanced nutritional diet. Combine both diet and exercise to help you become fit, and don’t listen to weird advice.

There is some strange "advice" out there. If you like to hear about all the cooky things people do to stay or get in shape check out my other project

Clean Eating?

I would bet that most of you have heard the term “clean eating” by now, right? Whether you have a friend who is trying to lose weight or heard it from a celebrity in their latest interview, the term is all the buzz these days. But, what does it really mean?

Basically, eating clean is a way of eating healthier. With so many processed foods (with tons of added sugar, sodium and fats) on the market today, many people are choosing to limit their intake of these overly processed items. When you “eat clean”, you look to eliminate foods that have unhealthy fats or have been excessively processed, choosing instead to consume items like fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, nuts, eggs, dairy and whole grains. A good general rule of thumb is to avoid chemical based-preservatives, food coloring, Trans fats, and any artificial sweeteners.

One of the more popular items in a clean eating diet is whole nuts. They are an easy source for snacking, easily transportable yet still pack the nutrition sourced wholly by nature. Nuts are considered a “raw” food (also included in this category are dried fruits, sun dried vegetables and beans). Raw foods are often sought after because they contain more natural energy due to the fact that they retain all of their nutrients that are often lost during cooking.

Raw foods have higher water content and fiber so you feel fuller longer upon consumption. Snacking on nuts can save you from choosing an unhealthy snack between meals. Because of this fact, raw foods- like nuts –can help you lose weight while gaining energy. Check out www.nuts.com for a wealth of information on this great snack!

One of the sections on the nuts.com website that you will want to check out is the info on Spirulina Spirulina is one of the most nutritionally dense foods in the world! It is packed with iron and is a complete protein that provides high levels of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

What exactly is  Spirulina, you ask? (Well, you wouldn’t be the first!)

Spirulina is a blue-green microalgae that grows in freshwater lakes and ponds. Incredibly, it is one of the oldest life forms on earth! Because of its exceptional nutrient content, spirulina is today considered a “super food”. It is available in powder form so it is easy to incorporate in to your daily diet. One of the easiest ways to use this powder is to mix it in a smoothie. Check out the nuts.com page to access great ideas on how you can incorporate spirulina into your healthy diet plan

Keep in mind that by simply adding spirulina into your daily diet, you could replace your current iron supplement if you are on one! A one ounce serving provides over 40 percent of the daily recommended value of iron. In addition to iron, spirulina is a detoxifying agent and provides many other vitamins and minerals.

Check out nuts.com for more info.

#1millionminutes

I’m so motivated to fuel my #1MillionMinutes goals with Puritan’s Pride! All summer I plan to sculpt my way to a healthier, fitter me, and I’ll need help staying hydrated and fueled during all my Funky adventures!

I will make sure I stay on track and will rely on oatmeal and almonds to keep me well fueled before, during and after workouts, and my H2O to keep me hydrated!

I’m most excited to try Organic Health Invigorating Tea Tree Oil Shampoo and Yogi Tea Berry Detox Tea from Puritan’s Pride because they look Funky Fresh

One supplement I’ve never tried but am curious about is Vivioptal Multivitamin-women. I think it might make me extra sassy!

Bring it, #1MillionMinutes! I’m ready to go!