Fab Fit Squad

Feeling exhausted?  Pop a handful of blueberries in your mouth and enjoy a little energy boost, along with a ton of nutrients. Blueberries contain anthocyanins and other pigments high in antioxidant properties possibly having a role in reducing risks of inflammatory diseases and certain cancers. Let me put on my big brain and tell you that blueberries contain pterostilbene, anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, and resveratrol (yes that stuff that stops wrinkles), all which inhibit the cell development of cancers.

Blueberries are also a good source of vitamin C, manganese, fiber, and vitamin E , and are low in calories! Many studies have found that blueberry consumption lowers cholesterol and total blood lipid levels, possibly reducing the risks of heart disease and high blood pressure. Even more studies have found that a diet rich in blueberries may enhance short-term memory in older adults while reducing symptoms of depression.

Fresh blueberries keep very well and can be packaged and stored easily. Blueberries usually hit the peak of their season, depending on the region, sometime between May and October.

I love heading to Farmer’s Markets this time of year and get fresh blueberries and putting them on my oatmeal, cottage cheese, plain yogurt or just eating them out of the container.

If you have any recipes you’d like to share leave the comments below.

You just picked up the latest People, Us Weekly or Star magazine and on the cover is some movie star or singer showing off their rock hard abs.  You then look at your abs and vow today is the day that I will do 1000 crunches everyday until summer to have those abs.

Ladies you’re not alone! To get great abs, you must do more than crunches. You will need to:

• burn more calories than  you eat — 1 pound = 3500 calories, you will need to create a 500 calorie deficit everyday to lose 1 pound each week.
• work your large muscle groups — butt, quads, lats, and chest using resistance/strength training and cardio.Working your large muscles will help you burn fat, that maybe covering those gorgeous abs of yours.
• limit your sugary treats,  ladies we tend to store our sugary treats in our mid-section.
• consistency! To see results you must work consistency or your eating and exercise regimen.

I hope you found these tips helpful. If you have any others, I would love to hear them, just leave me some comments below.

I was recently at event where they were hyping a “cleanse”. “Cleanses” aren’t worth it regardless of how “all natural” they claim to be. Your body already has its natural cleansing system called your liver. All things pass through your liver and despite what the bottle says or what you heard from a friend your body has a great cleansing system.

So instead of doing a “cleanse” why not focus on cleaning up your diet. You know removing all the processed foods from your diet so that you won’t feel the need to “cleanse”. Here are some great spring fruit and veggies to give a try.

• Asparagus — great source of fiber, folic acid and B vitamins. I like to roast it in the oven or put them on the grill
• Beets — I know they seem like a fall veggies but they are still readily available. I love my roasted with a little Udo’s oil, feta cheese a walnuts. Yummy!
• Cherries — my favorite fruit I LOVE cherry season. I really need to practice portion control with these.
• Kiwi — I like my on the firm side. I add it to cottage cheese or greek yogurt with a touch of honey — YUMMY
• Strawberries — Yahoo — I love fresh strawberries on my oatmeal nothing tastes better. The mix of hot with the cool berries. Sorry I was having a dream weaver moment

What is your favorite spring fruit or veggie, I would to hear it.

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…)

Summer’s coming, we can no longer hide behind our sweaters, for the past few weeks you’ve been receiving catalogs and emails with bathing suits on the cover.  Each time you look at the cover you shutter thinking I’m  not ready!
Each morning you get out of the shower and glance at yourself in the mirror and think is this the year I dust off my bikini?  Maybe if I close my eyes and click my heels together 3 times, I’ll look like a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model. Sorry, ladies, I tried this and it doesn’t work, when you finally open your eyes, you’re still you.  To get a bikini body, it takes time.  The good news is if you start now, you will be well on your way to a great body by the time beach season arrives.  Here are some tips that will help get and keep a bikini body. (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 have had the pleasure of getting my hair done at Simply Erinn for as long as I can remember. She not only is a great hairdresser, she is a great person!  Every time I go into the salon we always talk about hair, men and workouts. On Monday, November 29th at 7pm I will be hosting a FREE Body Fat Loss Secrets at her salon.

We’ll be discussing the best ways to burn body fat and busting nutritional myths. If you are ready to feel great and look fabulous the time is NOW!

For me September always signals change.
Change in your laid back summer attitude, kids going back to school, the return of traffic (at least here in Boston). So why not take this time to change your breakfast. What do you typically grab for breakfast? It is highly CARB based — bagel, fat free or low fat muffin, just coffee or heaven forbid NOTHING!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and by adding a few more grams of protein, it will keeps us from indulging in sugary snacks later in the day.  Here are some snack ideas:

• Scrambled egg whites with spinach and Ezekiel toast — don’t have time? microwave eggs while in the shower and stick in the toast
• Add some egg whites — don’t judge eggs are in all baked goods, why not oatmeal or protein powder to your oatmeal
• Plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese with some fresh or frozen (non-sugar added) fruit or wheat germ.
• Whole wheat waffles and egg whites or Greek Yogurt or cottage cheese.

If you have any more breakfast ideas, I would love to hear them just post them in the comments below.

This has been the topic of discussion this week, with a number of my clients. Many are asking about making more improvements with their body composition. I know what their workouts look like, but I don’t know what they are doing in the kitchen. When we go through their food journals we realize that they are not getting enough protein in their diets. (more…)