Summer Skin

Doesn't it, though?

With summer fast approaching and swimsuits on the brain, a lot of my clients are changing their fitness goals from maintenance to weight loss. The first step I tell them to take is to make sure they are keeping track of their calorie intake. Working out plays a huge part in losing weight, but often times, it's not your workouts that are holding you back from shedding pounds, it's how much you're eating.

I'm a pretty active person. On a daily basis, I run around the city from client to client, I workout with some of my clients, and I usually try to squeeze a workout in on my own; but even though I'm doing that much work, once I let watching calorie my intake slide, I start to see the pounds on the scale go up. So, what I do and what I tell my clients to do, is keep a food journal. I keep track of my calories with myfitnesspal. It's free, easy and you can access it through an app on your android or iphone. That way, you know you have you have no reason not to keep track, because let's be honest, these days our phones are like additional appendages--that thing is always with you. With the app at your fingertips, you can ensure you're keeping accountable. Also, myfitnesspal has almost every food known to man in it's searchable database. Had a samosa at your favorite Indian restaurant with dinner? That samosa's calorie count and nutritional information are in the database. Even if you're eating out, you won't skip a beat.

How many calories should you eat to lose weight? Losing weight is a simple math equation-calories in vs calories out. If you eat more calories than you burn, you'll gain weight, if you eat less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight. It's that easy.*

This is how to find out how many calories you should be eating a day to lose weight (1-2 lbs per week--a healthy amount of weight to lose that you will have an easier time keeping off rather than quick fix/fad diets that will have you shed a lot of pounds quickly, but that you will instantly gain back once you start eating normally again).

1) Go to this link to find out your BMR (basal metabolic rate): http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

2) Then multiply that number by: 1.1 if you're super sedentary during the day (i.e you sit at a desk all day and you drive to and from work); 1.2 if you move around a little bit during the day (i.e. you're doing more than sitting at your desk all day or you walk to and from work); 1.3 if you move around a moderate amount (i.e. you're like me--you're a fitness trainer and you're standing a lot of the day); and 1.4 if all you do for your job is move (you're a construction worker).

3) Then subtract that total by 500. Cutting 500 calories per day will help you lose 1-2 pounds per week.

4)  If you are exercising on certain days, add the number of calories you burned from your workout to the final total so that you aren't under eating. Under eating will stall your metabolism and will cause you to hang on to fat.


5) Cut out processed foods. Eating natural foods like fruits, veggies, organic meats, nuts, and dairy is a great way to aid in your weight loss. You can eat more of these nutritionally dense foods for less calories, too. Who doesn't like to eat more for less?

Those are the basics to get you started. Stay tuned for some additional summer weight loss tips in my blogs to follow.

Be Well!

*Be sure to see your physician before starting any weight loss or exercise program.

Cardio Kicboxing with Jillian

I've taken up cardio kickboxing again. I always like to mix up my workouts and I'm always doing something new and different when it comes to exercise, but I reserve a special place in my heart for punching and kicking in the air to house music. I love cardio kickboxing because the workout is tough; I can work every muscle in my body; I can punch and kick like a mo fo if I need to get aggression out; and the moves take coordination, but not too much, for a girl like me that used to frequently cry in coordination frustration after Modern Dance class in college. So fun!

Like I revealed in a previous post, I started my journey with cardio kickboxing at the age of 18 when Billy Blanks and I were acquainted via VHS via my first college roommate, Angela. The love affair with CKB and BB began, and will forever be a part of my exercise soul.

This January, I renewed my love for CKB  by making a visit to class at New York Sports Club a once per week recurrence that I just can't shake. NYSC offers many different times in which you can take a CKB class, but there is only one hour per week that works with my schedule. After getting hooked on taking class again, I needed a more-than-once-a-week CKB fix. Even though I'm a Billy Blanks lover, I've been exercising to his DVD's for way too many years to count, and I needed another option. That's when I discovered that Jillian Michaels has a brand new kickboxing DVD on the market, and it was mine for the taking.

Jillian Michaels is my new personal trainer lady crush. I have become a follower of her podcast (that you can download for free on itunes) and through listening to it, I have learned what an awesome fitness guru she is. Girl knows her stuff. I love how she melds wellness with fitness and stresses the importance of ass-kicking workouts with moderation and balance. Through exercising to her DVD's and listening to her philosophy on working out, I have learned that she trains just how I as a personal trainer work and give advice, and that's something I can get on board with.

Even though Billy will forever be my first CKB love, Jillian took CKB to the next level with her new DVD, Kickbox Fastfix. This disc is comprised of 3 separate 20-minute workouts that are intense enough to do if you've only got a short amount of time to workout. It can also be done in a 60-minute series, one workout after the other, by fast-forwarding through the cool-down at the end of each 20-minute session.

The first of the three workouts focuses on upper-body, the second lower-body, and the last on abs. However, in all three, you will still get a total body workout in, no matter what body part the 20-minutes is supposed to be targeted towards.

I have done the DVD about 5 times now and I have only done it as a 60 minute workout. It leaves me sweaty, tired (yet energized), and super glad that I got a great workout in. The cast of women who are working out with JM are inspiring to watch and get me pumped up to do each exercise better than the last, even when I'm fatigued. Jillian starts the DVD with a tutorial that will help you learn what kinds of moves will be performed  throughout the workout if you've never been in a kickboxing class before, but some of her combos (not performed in the tutorial) are taught so quickly that it takes you a while to really catch on. This might leave you standing there for a bit, trying to figure out what it is that you're doing next, which diminishes the intensity of your workout. The great thing about a DVD, however, is that you can always pause, rewind, and start again. By the 5th time I did the workout, I remembered the combos, and I was good to go. Thus, the workout was even harder because I could really get into the movement without wondering if I was doing it correctly or not.

Another negative is that Jillian never tells you to switch to work the opposite side of your body, and if you don't notice that, you'll only be working the same arm and leg for most of the workout since she does 2 sets of almost all of her exercises. Take note and make sure to perform the exercises on the opposite side for the second time around.

To conclude, kickboxing rocks and it rocks even more that I've got two of my favorite trainers in my corner when I can't get to class (thanks, Billy and Jillian). If you can't get to the gym, workout at home for a fraction of the price and kick your own ass! No excuses!

Be Well!

Quick and Easy Rules to Live By

Yesterday, I was training a client at her apartment (remember, you don't need a gym to get in amazing shape) and she shared that she got a great deal on a skincare package at a silent auction she recently attended. After our session, my client pulled out the package to show me the goods. Amidst the facial cleanser and exfoliator, sat a stack of about 50 small, square cards that had 5 pieces of de-stress advice on them from skyn ICELAND. I want to share these tips with you today, because I think they are rules we can all live by on a daily basis. Well, besides #3's blatant product pushing. Still a good piece of advice, nevertheless.  Be Well!