Fab Fit Squad

So here were are 6 months into 2011 and I’m revisiting what I’m doing for me this year. This is the longest that I have gone without a fitness goal.  I got to tell you I’m a feeling a little out of sorts.

This past week I sat down and got clear about what I want to accomplish between now and the end of 2011.

1. Finish the Falmouth Road Race

• I’d like to run this in under 1 hour
• I’d like to properly train for this race, the past few years I’ve done a half ass job training for it. (more…)

Chipotle Scrambled Egg Skillet

1 (14 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 small avocado, diced
5 Tbsp chipotle pepper sauce, divided
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped green onion
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
8 large eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt

In a glass or plastic bowl, mix together the tomatoes, avocado, 3 tablespoons of the chipotle sauce, garlic, green onion, and cilantro in a small bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, remaining 2 tablespoons chipotle sauce, water, and salt. Spray large heavy skillet with non-stick spray and put over medium heat. Add egg mixture and cook, stirring only as egg sets up. When eggs are almost set, flip a few times.
When eggs are completely set, spoon tomato mixture over and immediately slide off onto plates to serve.

The calendar may say its spring, but if you live in New England it certainly doesn’t feel like it. But like they say, if you don’t like the weather in New England just wait a minute and it will change. For the past few years, our weather has a way of skipping its way right through spring and into summer without much notice. So that’s why I think a 30 day challenge is EXACTLY what we all need to get us ready for summer. What does this mean? Typically when you think of making a lifestyle change, you list ALL the things that you need to do and then get overwhelmed or only make a few changes because you get overwhelmed or you quit because you are striving to be perfect. The Fab Fit Squad 30 day challenge is not about being perfect, it’s about making small changes so that you can stick with them over the long haul. Just like me on Facebook and each day I will post a tip of the day, to help you keep up the challenge. The challenge starts, Friday, April 1st. Are you ready?  Leave me some comments below about what you are hoping to change in the next 30 days.

It’s time that you and Mr./Ms. Scale broke up. You’re not going to call him anymore, you’re not going to stalk him on Facebook.  Your just not into him/her any more.

Let’s get real here!

How many of you weigh yourself every day? Multiple times? When you weigh yourself do the results make or break your day? Or do you avoiding weighing yourself because you don’t want to know. (more…)

I hear this all the time. We are all guilty of uttering this phrase. I want lose weight, but is it okay if I still have pancakes and bake apple pies on Sundays? I mean they are homemade, not store or restaurant bought. If you are looking for me to validate this it AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN!  (more…)

I teach a number of group fitness classes that require 2 sets of weight. (1) heavy for your lower body and (1) lighter weight for your upper body. It never ceases to amaze me how many women under estimate their strength or better yet think that lifting heavy will cause them to BULK UP so they grab 3 pound dumbbells. Seriously ladies if I were to take your backpacks, laptop bags or purses and put it on a scale it would weigh more than 3 pounds.  In fact the average women’s purse weighs about the same as a sack of sugar. PS> Sugar comes in 5 pound sacks.

So the next time you reach for the 3 pound weight think about this: If you don’t have a regular strength training program in your 20s, you will lose appx 5 pounds of muscle every decade! That means that by the time you are 70 you will bearly be able to lift a sack of groceries, a gallon of milk or even your grandkids.

So come ladies reach for the big weights the benefits of strength training are amazing, sides would having Madonna arms really be that bad? PS … She didn’t get them from just doing yoga.

I have worked in the Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood for a number of years and have always wanted to go to the Copley Square Farmers Market, but for some reason I never had the time.  Looking back it makes me laugh because the market is open Tuesdays and Fridays 11-6 so why couldn’t I sneak over and check out what they have to offer. Well I FINALLY made it over to the market and it was awesome. I picked up the best corn on the cob, the juiciest tomatoes and the best blueberries. I could go on and on and on.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve picked up some of the best and freshest produce I have gotten in years. The farmer’s market runs until November and according all the warm weather that we have been experiencing in New England has produced bumper crops this year.

The farmers market has had such an influence on me that I’m considering joining a CSA farm, community supported association. That means that each week during the main growing season and bi-weekly during the winter month I would receive local produce or meats.  Gotta go, it’s Friday and I want to make sure I get the best selection and a parking spot.

So many people ask, how do you do it? Here are a few easy weight loss tips. I TRACK EVERYTHING, I have been writing down my food and my workouts for years. Some may say really or I just don’t have the time. My response is how will you know what is going on when you don’t lose weight or you’re not increasing your weight in regular increments.  What is your track record? I look at this as my fitness bank account. I wouldn’t just write checks without keeping track of the checks I wrote, and some how you have time to write that down. Think of this in the same way. (more…)

These 5 letters that crept into my brain this week. I am roughly 7 weeks away from my next fitness competition and DOUBT crept into my mind. Can I do this? Should I do this? What the hell? Is this my life? Imagine this all going through my head within 30 seconds. Here’s a little background. I have been competing since 2005. I started competing after I lost 30 pounds because I needed a goal. I lost the weight, but now what. What was my next fitness endeavor. My trainer at the time was a former bodybuilder and suggested I give fitness competitions a try.

Now I’m not a glamour girl by any stretch of the imagination and walking in a bikini with clear heels didn’t seem like my cup of tea, but in April 2005 I took the stage at the Fitness America, show in New Haven, CT and I’ve been competing ever since. I typically compete in 4-5 shows/year like a machine. I wind up every January and wind down each June and the process begins again. Except this time!  (more…)

You heard this term from your bodybuilding friends or you heard about the book from Tosca Reno. Clean Eating means,  eating food as close to its natural state as possible. Basically, if you can grow, fish for it, pluck it, that’s clean eating. When you eat clean your goals are to avoid eating additives as much as possible. So what are additives?  I tell all my clients read the back of your food to really understand what is inside the box. The front of the box is where food manufactures try to sell you on what’s inside, the back of the box is where the FDA requires them to come clean with what’s inside. So the less ingredients you see the closer to the source the food is.

Here are just a few of the more popular additives.

• Aspartame: better known as Equal/Nutrasweet and is 180 times sweeter than sugar, plus in my humble opinion has an after taste. Be careful with how much you eat, as too much may cause headache and vision issues. For more information on Aspartame dangers.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup: is a highly processed sweetener made from corn that more than 40% of all food products in the US contain. When processed by your body, it’s sent directly to your liver, because it can’t be absorbed by your cells. Once processed by your liver, it’s stored as FAT!
• Mannitol: the sugar alcohol that is in many of those “sugar-free” products.  While it doesn’t have calories, it does a dosey on your stomach, causing some to spend some quality time in the bathroom, if you know what I mean.
• Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (trans fat): This is the “trans fats” that you have been hearing so much about.  They are in baked goods and margarine. It’s a low cost way of increasing the shelf life of foods.  Why are they so bad for you? They aren’t good fats, and increase your changes of heart disease, raise the bad cholesterol levels while reducing the good cholesterol levels. Bottom line — STAY AWAY!
• Sucralose: Also known as Splenda, it’ 600 times sweeter than sugar and honesty the jury is still out. So similar to aspartame, take in small doses.