My 5 Most-Effective Ways to Avoid Weight Gain this Holiday Season...and Beyond: Tip #1

Happy Monday, ya'll!

I hope you had a great weekend. I spent mine coaching bootcamp, meeting with clients, revisiting the American Museum of Natural History and buying and decorating my first Christmas tree! I say first because I've never had one in my own apartment before. Since I go back to Maine for the holidays, I've always just waited until my Christmas vacation to trim the family tree. It's a nice tradition: the adult children coming back to decorate the tree and listen to Christmas tunes. I realized that the only drawback is that I end up suspending my full holiday immersion: it's like I can't fully embrace the season until I get back to Maine. Because I'm eager to get into the spirit a little earlier this year, I bought my own little Charlie Brown-style tree which I'm in the process of decorating with red lights and hand-strung garland. My hope is that this little tree, along with the smell of pine, gets me into the holiday mood (and hopefully motivates me to finish my shopping!).

Want to know what doesn't need to be motivated to get into the holiday spirit? My stomach, LOL. This time of year is like an endless smorgasbord, and I'm sure you can relate when I say that it can be hard--like really hard--to stick to our healthy-eating goals.

[Source]

But if you know me you know that I love a challenge, which is why I am not only aiming to maintain this holiday season, but lose a little extra fat. Don't misinterpret this, though!: I am not passing any judgement on myself for "letting myself go," or making this out to mean anything other than what it is. I'm a wee bit softer than I prefer to be right now, and that's it. No guilt, no shame, no judgment, just a fact.

To help me shed this holiday season, I'm employing some of my most helpful strategies to avoid holiday weight gain by actually putting the seasonal indulgences to work for me. These tips have helped me to lean out, stay energized, and avoid any crazy, neurotic behavior that's derailed past efforts. Over the next couple of days, I'll share with you my most effective tips 'n' tricks for healthy fat loss that you can use any time of year. Whether it's spring time and you wanna shed a little fat before hitting the beach, or the holidays when food is abundant and willpower is at a minimum, these strategies will get you on track without diminishing from your quality of life!

Today's Tip:

Structure your indulgences around your workouts

Carbs are often vilified in the fitness industry, but when it comes to making gains in your training, carbs are your friend. Consumed prior to a workout, they'll provide energy to get you through those long lifting sessions or killer metcon workouts. You'll lift heavier, jump higher, sprint faster, and perform better when your body has that immediate source of energy at its disposal.

Consequently, after a heavy workout, our bodies tend to be more glycogen-depleted we deplete our glycogen stores. Glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrates, and it is the primary form of energy that your body accesses in order to perform. Intense exercise vastly diminishes these reserves. When glycogen stores are in this depleted state, you can afford to eat more carbs because your blood sugar levels won't rise as fast or as high, so you're not going to experience that damaging insulin spike. In fact, post-workout nutrition can help to optimize the release of insulin and human growth hormone to help promote muscle synthesis.

Some articles on this topic get into the minutiae of post-workout feeding, arguing that a high-glycemic carb source paired with a fast-acting protein (like whey protein isolate) will most effectively promote muscle synthesis post-workout. I'm sure there's an ideal ratio to best exploit the glycogen-depleted state, but I'm a firm believer in both feeding my muscles and appealing to my palate. If I can sneak in some of my favorite foods and mitigate their effects, I'm not going to worry too much about the macronutrient make up of my post-workout. In other words, #justfeedmecarbs

In conclusion, there are a couple of ways to strategically indulge over the holidays to both avoid weight gain and even lose some fat. By structuring your treats around your heavy workouts, you benefit by either increasing the stores of energy accessible to you during your training session or taking advantage of a state of glycogen-depletion where a heavier meal won't hinder your fat loss efforts, and may in fact spur muscle growth and protein synthesis! 

Your Body Is Your House: Build A Strong Foundation

I love the gym. 

It’s a sanctuary for me, a place where I can go and hit ‘pause’ on whatever may be bothering me that day. When I’m in the presence of the iron, nothing else seems to matter except the pursuit of strength, but strength that is two-fold: strength of body and strength of spirit. What’s so amazing about strength training is the transformative effect it can have on other parts of our lives. I’ve spoken to many people, women specifically, who talk about how getting stronger physically helped them become stronger mentally, feel more capable, and experience more confidence both inside and outside the gym than ever before.

I can certainly attest to this fact. Strength training helped me discover my passion for fitness, and realize my desire to make a career out of it. The strength I’ve built in the gym helped me develop the confidence to try all kinds of techniques and methods, including power-and-Olympic lifting; barbells; kettlebells; and more. I’m more willing to try exercises and lifts that intimidated me before, and I approach challenges with enthusiasm and curiosity.

Most significantly, however, is what strength training has done to connect me to my body. Of course I love the aesthetic results of my efforts, but I feel more attuned to my body now than ever before. Now, I desire to work with my body, not against it: I train because I love what my body can do, not because I resent it for not looking a particular way. Strength training brought me to terms with my body, by which I mean that it has given me a renewed appreciation for everything it can currently do, as well what it will be capable of in the future as long as I train intuitively and listen to its needs.

One aspect of this is listening to my body’s cues about how it wants to move, which lately I've interpreted as “simply.” As much as I love all the gym “toys,” trying new techniques, and practicing the heavy barbell lifts, my body craves the fundamentals. It desires a more stripped-down version of traditional strength training that revolves around bodyweight movements that, while simple, are not easy and never boring.

5 Travel-Friendly Workouts for Summer Vacation!

August is a great month, wouldn't you agree?! It's finally hot enough for beach days, and it's the unofficial "getaway" month when most of use our accrued vacation days to do just that! Yes, ladies and gentleman, August is the height of the summer travel season for most Americans. Now through Labor Day, families pile into the minivan to go and visit loved ones; groups of twenty-somethings rent a car and go cross country; and single folks like yours truly go back to their hometown to spend some good, old-fashioned bonding time with the folks!!!

Now, don't get me wrong: I am psyched to be spending the following 2+ weeks in Maine. How lucky am I that my parents still reside in arguably the most beautiful, pristine, and unadulterated state in the country? People flock from all over to visit Maine in the summer--to eat our lobster, swim in our rivers and lakes, hikes our trails, and pick our berries. After all, it isn't nicknamed "Vactionland" for nothing :-)

Sure, I'll be taking advantage of the myriad summer activities that my home state has to offer when I'm there this summer. I'll also be sure to get plenty of R&R because those two Rs are key components to a sustainable healthy lifestyle, and keep me motivated and committed to my fitness goals. You can't just go hard all the time and expect to progress without building in time for recovery! That being said, I will not use my vacation as an excuse to give up on my fitness efforts. Sure, I may not have access to a full gym whenever I want, but there are alternatives--lots of them!

To be honest with you, I kind of get excited when I travel because it's like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" scenario: you never know what you're going to encounter in terms of equipment, space, or time, which means you get to be super-creative and do things you may not normally do! I'm not suggesting to your that you fly by the seat of your pants--at least not entirely!!--when it comes to travel-and-vacation fitness endeavors. But getting in daily movement outside of your regular environment doesn't have to be anxiety-inducing, and can be quite fun and sweaty!

I've said before on this blog how much I enjoy cycling through the conditioning workouts from Jen Sinkler's Lift Weights Faster and Lift Weights Faster II workout libraries: they're both a God-send when I travel because they're organized by 1) available equipment, and 2) time, so I can always find something to do that gets me sweaty and feeling super-strong, in the time that I have, with the equipment (or lack thereof) available to me. It's a win-win-win!!!!

Borrowing from Ms. Sinkler for inspiration, I've created a few conditioning workouts for my summer travel arsenal that I'm so happy to share with you! 3 of the 5 workouts require nothing but your bodyweight and you can do them anywhere, including the comfort of your own hotel/motel room. Another requires nothing more than your own body and a moderate flight of stairs! So what're you waiting for?! Pick a workout, give it a spin, and let me know what you thought on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook!

How Lifting Weights Saved Me From Myself [and a product plug!]

Sometimes I wonder where I would be right now if it weren't for weightlifting. While I will never know for sure, I imagine that that I would be much less content, more self conscious, and less confident. I've said it before but it bears repeating: physical strength begets mental fortitude. Lifting weights made my body strong, but it's done more for my mind than hours of therapy! It's kind of embarrassing to admit that even with the sheer amount of privilege my life circumstances afforded me, I was an unhappy person whose focus on what she lacked prevented her from enjoying the blessings of what she had. I can truly say that all this changed when I discovered the bar and all the other implements of strength that set me off on this remarkable journey of self discovery.

You gotta get your mind right first. 

One thing that's particularly powerful about the iron is that it's working on you when you least expect it. Gaining physical strength made me question some of my most fundamental beliefs about the world and my place in it. It fulfilled my deep desire to feel worthy of every dream and hope that I had. More specifically, it made me believe that the achievement of my goals was not only possible by inevitable. It made me a better friend, daughter, sister, lover and citizen of the world because it revealed me to myself. It helped me to realize that authenticity is the key to true happiness and fulfillment.

Before I started weight training, exercise was a necessary evil. I loathed it because it felt like a punishment. Oh, you ate that pizza? One hour of cardio, then! I hated exercise but I hated myself more. This led to being eating and then more anxiety and guilt which was the only emotion that got in the gym. The vicious cycle led me to the emergency room and a diagnosis of hypertension. I was in my early twenties and I had the blood pressure of an elderly, overweight woman. It was so shameful. But the shame did nothing. You can't shame yourself into weightless of living healthily. What I didn't know then was that lifting weights would ultimately rescue me from this binge--guilt--self-flagellation cycle of despair.

I wish I'd embraced this sooner, but better late than never!

I can't overestimate how weight lifting saved me, nor can I express adequately here how much better a place I believe that world would be if more women embraced the iron. Of course, I think everyone should lift, but women stand to gain so much more from it, like self confidence, self worth, strength, independence, and passion are just a few of the positive side effects.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of deep-seated dogma out there that discourages women from getting and being strong. Many traditional values regarding where and how women should exercise persist. Many gyms are designed in such a way as to separate the sexes into their "expected" roles, with men crowding the weight rooms and women relegated to the cardio equipment and group exercise classes. This is a particularly sad fact as it perpetuates the belief many women hold onto that cardio exercise is effective for fat loss and lifting heavy weights will only make them "bulk up." I would never blame any woman who believes this propaganda because I used to believe it, too. I never could have imagined that I would do a complete 180 and actually seek out the weight room, let alone seek out the heaviest dumbbells I can safely manage! If you'd told me that I would high off an upper arm or glute pump, I would have laughed!

Typical dudes, bangin' weights

Seriously, what are they even doing?!

It takes effort to bulk up! If you start lifting, you'll look more like this
sooner than you would ever look like a bodybuilder!!!

Why did we stop listening to our
elders?! This lady knows what's up!

And yet, here I am: stronger, leaner, fitter and happier than ever before in my life. I can't say that I owe it all to the iron, but I certainly give credit where credit is due! What's most surprising to me from this transformation is that despite not doing much of any traditional cardio for the last two years, I have better stamina, endurance, and lung capacity than when I was training for distance races and racking up the elliptical and treadmill miles. I recover so much faster between sets and after my workouts, and I don't even experience that gnawing hunger that inevitably set in an hour or two after a long run.

Why and how is this possible???!! It's possible because I discovered the most effective way to burn fat and build strength simultaneously using a method best summed up as Lifting Weights Faster. One of my fitness idols, Jen Sinkler, who I've mentioned numerous times before on this blog, coined the phrase when a reporter asked her during an interview, "But, what do you do for cardio?" Jen, in her signature style, answered honestly, "I lift weights faster!" And the rest is history. Since then, Jen has shared tons of free workouts, exercise demos, and pointers through her website and social media in an effort to spread the message about the effectiveness of this training method. Whether you call it circuit training, metabolic resistance training or lifting weights faster, the premise is to move weight as quickly as possible in the safest way possible. That weight can be anything from your own bodyweight to barbells and kettlebells: whatever you have at your disposal. What I truly love about it is that it truly democratizes exercise; anyone, anywhere, can get an effective, total body workout that builds muscle and burns fat.

Best collection of conditioning workouts that you'll find anywhere!

Last year, Jen launched Lift Weights Faster, a conditioning workout library complete with 180 workouts, an exercise glossary, and demo videos. Last week, Lift Weights Faster 2 dropped, and it lives up to a predecessor! If you're looking for something to add variety to your conditioning workouts, or you just want to get stronger, faster and leaner in much less time than you probably currently spend in the gym, I can't recommend LWF or LWF2 more! Click here to buy and join me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to check in about the awesome workouts you're doing!

Talk soon!

P.S. I'm not being compensated or anything for the opinions in this post. As always, all opinions are my own. I just think this product is too good to keep to myself!!!

How To Do: The Turkish Get Up

Hi, friends!

I've been feeling lately like this blog's title and catch phrase aren't quite as aligned with what I post about as I'd like. For the most part, the blog has been a personal exploration for me as a new fitness professional, trying to figure out my niche and carve a place out of this cyber universe that is uniquely mine. It's been a great place to vent, get out my frustrations with the current state of industry, explore my anxieties/fears/dreams/wishes/hopes, etc., and subsequently, grow. And the thing about growing is that it shifts your perspective on things. I want the blog to more keenly reflect my belief that fitness should be a happy, enthusiastic endeavor. It should be something that you look forward to, that enhances your life in ways that extend past the gym door.

One of the best ways that I can think of to convey my enthusiasm about health and hopefully help you to catch the same bug is to share more tangible aspects of health and fitness with you. That is: workouts, exercise tutorials, form cues, recipes, fitness-related products that I like and use regularly, etc. Since care of the whole person involves much more than physical health, I'll still post my personal musings here and there. I'm just eager to make this blog a more valuable resource to you as an individual pursuing a higher expression of yourself through health. I hope you enjoy what I come up with!

The 3 Most Important Elements of a Metabolic Resistance Workout

Hey there :-)

As those of you who read this blog regularly know, I am a big fan of strength training. Whether it's heavy lifts with the barbell, complexes or combos with kettlebells or dumbbells, or a do-it-anywhere bodyweight blast, I'm a fan. Typically, I like my workouts to be short and sweaty: 25-30 minutes of hard work does the trick most days. I'll sometimes do a longer lifting session 1-2x per week, but more often than not, my preference is for shorter and more intense (and sweatier!) sessions. Once, I was leaving my gym and a man who saw me come in exclaimed, "What?! You're finished already?!" I replied, "It was short, but it did the trick!" My comment likely made no impression on him whatsoever. But it did serve to remind me of the fact that while there's no one-size-fits-all strength training program, there is a very effective protocol that can help you burn fat and build muscle simultaneously. What's it called? Metabolic Resistance Training.

Metabolic Resistance Training, or MRT, is basically performing weight-bearing exercises quickly with the goal of getting really sweaty. MRT sessions can be completed on their own for a quick sweat session, or added onto a longer lifting session where the heavier, single-joint lifts are completed first (think squat, deadlift, bench press). MRT exercises tend to incorporate the whole body to get more bang for your metabolic buck, so to speak, and are grouped into circuits of 3-5 exercises. MRT is an effective fat loss, strength-building tool because it combines multi-joint movements under load (weight) with short rest periods: the perfect combination to produce greater metabolic disturbance. Another way of defining MRT would be "cardio weight-lifting" because you're getting the benefits of cardio (greater cardiovascular health, improved work capacity, etc.) and weight-lifting (more muscle mass, stronger bones, efficient metabolism), all in one workout!

MRT circuits can be completed for reps or time. I typically set a timer for 25-30 minutes and complete as many rounds of the selected exercises as possible. I keep rep ranges low to moderate--between 8-12--but if you're new to this type of training, I'd recommend starting with 8-10 reps. Here's an example of an MRT circuit I like to do in the comfort of my own home:

Courtesy of Neghar Fonooni

Flexibility not rigidity is the key to staying healthy, sane, and active!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

It's been a doozy, as Winter Storm Janus caught us off guard and has been pummeling us with snow since early this morning! I was happy that I got to leave work early thanks to an official MTA advisory, but not so thrilled that the storm threw a wrench in my plans to hit the gym.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "A little snow's no excuse not to hit the gym!" Yeah, yeah, you're right. And my gym is less than a 5-minute walk from my house. Did I use the snow as a excuse not to go to the gym? Sure, I did! Did I use it as an excuse not to work AT ALL? Heck, no, I didn't! I got my sweat on in my living room with a quickie workout. Here's what I did:

25 squats (regular and sumo; I alternated)
15 glute raises
20 lunges (10/leg)
25 Fire Hydrants (25/leg)                 They look like this:

Source

AMRAP (Crossfit-speak for "as many reps as possible") for 20 minutes

Then, a quick ab circuit:
15 crunches
20 reverse crunches
15 bicycle crunches
15 sit ups
10 v-ups
1-minute plank

We've got to face the music: sometimes we're not going to feel like trudging to the gym. Heck, sometimes when the weather's fine I don't feel like going! It's important not to beat yourself up about it, especially when you're active and make the gym a priority most of the time. Flexibility not rigidity is the key to staying healthy, sane, and active. Working out should be fun, not a chore! In fact, we would probably be a much healthier, happier population if we focused less on getting in x amount of traditional exercise and more on just moving our bodies, any which way, as much as possible, all day long.

Take it from my girl, Jen Comas Keck (@jencomaskeck on Instragram) who posted a photo of herself today on Instagram swinging on a swing set. She writes: "NEPA (non-exercise physical activity) is so important! Even if you train hard a few times per week, you are much more sedentary away from the gym than you'd like to believe - especially those of us that are glued to our computers for work. Walk a lot, park further, play often, take the stairs, have sex - move yo bod every chance you get. #nepa"

LOVE.

Work-me-out Wednesday

Hey, hey, hey!

I promised I'd be back! This time, I have a lovely workout to share which will have you grasping for just enough air to curse me :) At least that's my prediction, as I was cursing myself for coming up with it  when I gave it a whirl yesterday evening! It's a quickie-but-goodie.

As always, honor your body and any injury or limitation you may have. And of course, consult your doc before making any major changes to your fitness routine (like ungodly amounts of HIIT).

Don't say you weren't warned :)

For form cues, see this link for plank ups; this link for single, straight-leg glute bridges; and this link for knee-to-elbow exercises.

I like to switch up the order in which I do the HIIT for each round. For example, if the first round, the order is: squat thrust/jump squat/mountain climbers, I'll do jump squat/mountain climber/squat thrust the second round. It keeps the body guessing and keeps you focused on something other than the pain :-)

Some fun photos of the weekend and a boredom-bustin' workout!

Hey friends!

I hope the first day of the week was kind to you! It's certainly been a news-filled one, what with the birth of the royal baby and all that! I'm really glad I didn't bet on the sex...I was sure it was going to be a girl! What do you think his name will be?! I wonder if Will and Kate actually have much a say in that matter, or if his name is predetermined due to his noble birth...hmmm...

Anyway, while Kate was biding her time waiting for her water to break, I was out enjoying the gorgeous weekend we had here in NYC! I'll admit: it was frightfully hot, but the heat wave did break on Saturday night and most of my day was spent by the water. All in all, it was terrific. I've got a few pics to share, along with a killer cardio/HIIT workout to share that kicked my bum on Sunday (I was glad for it though; I did indulge in a few cold ones on Saturday!). As I was a sweaty mess by its completion, I thought I'd share the love :) Here ya go...don't say I didn't warn ya!

All photos courtesy of womenshealthmag.com!

The Brooklyn Bridge! 

View of Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge Park 

New York, Newwwww Yorkkkkk (sung Frank Sinatra-style) 

Moi, with the skyline in the background 

Another, but notice the goofier smile :)

New-to-me personal training studio...something to check out!

Post-Independence Day A$$-kickin' workout!

Good morning, all!

I put together a pretty killer lower body workout to get myself back on track after an indulgent 4th of July (can you say 3 hefty servings of The Pioneer Woman's Best Macaroni Salad Ever?!?!). I didn't exactly follow my very own tips for a Healthusiast-approved holiday, BUT I didn't let myself get overwhelmed by guilt and got right back on track the following day (that counts, right?!)

Anyway, this workout definitely had me cursing that second and third serving of macaroni salad...maybe it'll teach me a lesson?! Unlikely, LOL :)

Try this 2-3 times a week on non-consecutive days. All the runners out there should definitely give this a spin: it really hones in on strengthening the muscles around the knees and ankles, particularly vulnerable joints for runners. It will also make your booty burn like the fire of a thousand suns, but it will lift and tighten it, too ;)

Enjoy! Let me know what you think in the comments below!

13.1 and beyond

Howdy, friends!

I ran my second half marathon this weekend! Two friends from college and I ran the Rock 'n' Roll DC Half Marathon this past Saturday, and what an experience it was! Despite the early training runs, late nights when I could think of nothing I'd rather do less than train, and all the aches and pains I developed, I have to say it was all worth it. Crossing the finish line with my two girlfriends was just simply a triumph.

Me, Liz, and Jenny before the race!

Just because I am who I am, one of the things I've been thinking about lately is: OK, you completed your second half marathon...what's next?! If you've been reading this blog, you know that I have been thinking about doing a fitness competition. Now that half marathon training is officially over, I have no more excuses! I'm planning to spend this coming week researching coaches who can guide me through the physical as well as the nutritional part of the process. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to what the next several months have in store for me!

And on that note, I wanted to share a little combination workout with you. I put this together on a whim for a friend who's interested in building strength and guarding against some of the aches and pains whose frequency increases in direct proportion to age (it's such a cruel, cruel trick that nature plays on us!)

Kick that boredom where the sun don't shine!

Hey everyone! Hope you had a great weekend. Mine was a little hectic, but sometimes I like them that way ;)

If you have been living under a rock, you might not know that a little storm called Nemo raged its way through the Northeast over the weekend, blanketing parts of NY, Connecticut and Mass with more snow then's been seen in a good long time! Believe me when I say that I woke up to a winter wonderland on Saturday morning!

As luck would have it, my 9-mile training day was Saturday, so I not only had to wrap my mind around running 9 miles, but I had to come to grips with the fact those miles would be logged indoors...as in, on a treadmill, a terrible, horrible, no-good-very-bad device of torture for distance runners. Sooooo maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but ask any runner and I'm sure they would tell you that running indoors always seems so much more difficult than a run out of doors when the scenery is constantly changing. There's also something new to look at, as opposed to the same digital reading whose very presence seems to slow down the passage of time.

Anyway, I managed to get through the training run relatively unscathed, and I thought it would be fun to share some great boredom-busting cardio workouts for those days when you want to maximize calorie burn whilst minimizing the torture of going round and round like a hamster on a wheel. I read several blogs about fitness and wellness, and one of my favorites, The Fitnessista, always has some great workouts posted that keep you actively engaged so you're not obsessing over how many more minutes you have to go. Do yourself a favor if you need a little inspiration and check out this post, this post, or even this one if you're feeling extra frisky and can't decide between cardio or strength and figure. There's also this workout below, courtesy of Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers:

Have a great week, everyone!

You spin me right round, baby, right round...

...like when I'm Spinning baby, right round, round round!

Photo courtesy of www.spinning.com

So maybe that's not EXACTLY how the words go, but I can't help but want to use it to sing the praises of one of my favorite cardio workouts! Although I heard about Spinning years ago, I didn't try it until recently, and didn't get hooked until just a few months ago. It combines all the best elements of a great workout: pumping music, group motivation, enthusiastic instructors, physical challenge and sweat, and there are plenty of opportunities for beginners to modify cadence and resistance to fit their needs.

Another thing I love about Spinning is that it's accessible: you don't need to be a member of a fancy-schmancy fitness studio to try it. Classes are widely and frequently offered at most chain gyms that I know of, and most include access to group fitness classes with the monthly cost of membership. My first Spin was in a gym in which I had an affordably monthly membership, and the YMCA that I attend currently offers more Spinning than any other type of group fitness classes throughout the week!

Even though I know it's nothing new, it bears repeating that Spinning is a great overall workout for anyone, of any age, at really any stage on his or her path to wellness. It's as challenging as you make it, or it's just challenging enough to keep you coming back for more! And when you're working towards a specific fitness goal or just looking to have a great cardio workout in a reasonable amount of time, what more can you really ask for?!

And with that, I'll leave you this to ponder if Spinning is really all it's cracked up to be...!

-Hilary