fitness

#12WBT Review / Where I Am Today

11.25.2013

The time has come… my Michelle Bridges body transformation project has come to an end. So excited to say I made it 4 weeks, without missing a single workout and maybe had only about 1 or 2 hiccups with additional cheats/treats. It has really been a great experience and I am so proud and thrilled to say that I feel great!

I obviously haven’t mastered my posing, but I feel much tighter in my core, my arms and legs are much more defined and my head is in the right place. I wasn’t looking to loose much weight, but I did end up losing 3 pounds.

Where I am today….

+My workouts are consistent. I have gotten used to the 6 day/week routine and rest day Sundays. I wont have a problem keeping this up because the feeling after an amazing workout is what I love most.

+Love having a Saturday super session. For those of you who follow my social media may have seen some of those 1000+ calorie burns on my heart rate monitor. AMAZING workouts…and never thought it was possible to burn that many calories in only 1 hour 15-30 mins!! More to come in upcoming posts about that intense calorie burn…

+Consistency with having 1 cheat meal on Saturdays. Never thought the day would come when I can hold off all week for that one glorious meal. It’s actually not as hard as it seems. Getting used to that habit makes it easier to resist a 3pm piece of candy everyday. It is possible, just takes time to adapt!

+I learned to pay more attention to portion sizes and how many calories I’m actually taking in. 1500 calories/day was hard at first but my stomach shrunk pretty quick and that amount became pretty satisfying.

A few things that could improve…

+This plan didn’t emphasize the 6 small meals a day rule. Rather, there was a designed breakfast, lunch and dinner with a few small snacks in between. I really believe in having 6-7 small meals a day and feel like I would have seen more results if that was the case.

+This plan would be absolutely GREAT for beginners who are looking to change their lifestyle and getting you through the steps. However, I was sort of lacking in the more advanced nutrition plans. I would have loved to see workouts and meal plans catered to a specific individual and their nutritional needs.

I really truly feel that this plan gives you all the tools you need to change your lifestyle and makes it easy to adapt. If you are considering a change or need an extra push, now is your chance!

Michelle’s FULL 12 week program goes live in the US in January 2014!! Sign ups for the first US round start on December 16th. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot!

Are you ready to take the plunge? I’m here to give you that extra push…. It is worth it, YOU are worth it! 🙂

Read more about my #12wbt here and here.

Guest Post: How to Maintain Your Weight During the Holidays

11.19.2013

Happy Tuesday! In case you missed my last post from a totally amazing woman and founder of Burn pilates, I wanted to bring her back for another guest post! This time Lisa Corsello talks about how to get through this holiday season to prevent weight gain and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Here she is:

Maintain Your Weight During the Holidays

Fitness Expert Gives Tips to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain

The Holiday season has jump-started, which means fun with family and friends are in the near future! Gathering around a table for a feast with our loved ones can be fun, but can also put quite a dent in our efforts to keep a healthy lifestyle.

This season, keep your diet on track! Personal trainer and fitness expert, Lisa Corsello, wants to share these five tips to keep your weight in check during the holidays, while still being able to enjoy the assortment of foods on the dinner table.

1. Weigh Yourself Regularly– Studies show that those who weigh themselves regularly are able to maintain their weight more easily. By being aware of when we start to gain weight, we can make small, manageable adjustments to diet and exercise to maintain weight.

2. Exercise Portion Control– Don’t skip meals or deprive yourself of the foods you love this holiday season. Instead, practice eating only half of what you would normally eat when it comes to dessert and rich side dishes. Load up on the healthier side dishes (high fiber veggies) and leaner cuts of meat (breast) so you’ll stay fuller longer.

3. Stay Active– Try to carve out a bit of time for exercise each day. Not only will regular exercise help maintain your weight, but it’s also a great way to relieve stress and sleep better.

4. Plan Ahead– Go online and research just how many calories are in the foods you normally eat during the holiday season. Being aware of what you’re putting in your body can help you find healthier alternatives. Also, try to stock up on healthy snacks that help ease cravings and satisfy your appetite, such as nuts or plain popcorn.

5. Change it Up– Try a new exercise class, walking/running route, or sport. Trying something different will challenge your body in a new and healthy way, and it will help keep your routine fresh and your mind more engaged.

Tip: Rate your current exercise routine on a scale of 1-10, 1 being something extremely easy and 10 the most challenging. During your next workout, try to increase that number by 1. After a week, if you’re feeling good, increase it again. Being mindful of the quality of your workout will help lead to better, healthier routines with great results.

About Lisa Corsello
Lisa is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer, nutrition consultant and group fitness instructor who works with clients to create customized, goal-oriented exercise and nutrition plans. Using her extensive training and fitness background, Lisa has developed a popular new fitness technique called Burn. The 55-minute workout brings the benefits of dynamic individualized workouts to groups using a method that draws upon the best of Pilates, strength and core training for optimal results. Her programs emphasize constant movement using circuits to challenge and improve endurance, agility, balance and strength, with appropriate focus on stressing proper form and method. Each workout incorporates dynamic strength and cardiovascular training with active recovery techniques targeting all major muscle groups. Sessions are intended to be learning experiences that constantly evolve, keeping each one challenging and fresh.

She has successfully adapted and applied her methods to clients with a wide range of abilities and capabilities; absolute beginners needing basic knowledge, enthusiasts who want to increase lean body mass and reduce body fat, people recovering from sports injuries or _serious illness, and professional athletes in training. Lisa, a Lululemon Athletica Ambassador, has been a featured fitness expert onWebMDas well as inMy Family Doctor Magazine, LowCarb Magazine, Current Health Magazine, and Cornell University’s Food & Fitness Advisor newsletter. In fact, Lisa is a regularly featured fitness expert on the KPIX Weekend Morning Show. Lisa is currently a contributing fitness expert on SingleMindedWomen.com.

Thanks for reading! And thanks for the great tips Lisa! 🙂

Holiday Season Thoughts

11.13.2013

The holidays are right around the corner! Scary thought to think that the new year is almost here. This year seemed to fly by for me. Anyways, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New years, what are your thoughts about temptation this time of year? And by temptation I mean, all the sweets, and food galore that the season brings. Well guess what, it doesn’t mean the hard work you’ve put in all year has to go to waste…but beware, it can!

After thinking long and hard about this, I think that now is the time to work harder than ever before! Personally, when the food is in front of me, its hard to resist. Out of sight out of mind, is what I do day to day at home and work. BUT, not so much the case during the holidays. By working hard in the gym and keeping my nutrition on point, I’ll allow myself a little splurge at a family gathering or holiday party. My friend posted on Instagram which I loved: “I prefer my winter coat to be part of my wardrobe, not my body.” (Thanks Chels!)

When you are working hard and putting in all the effort in the world to look and feel your best, the chances to ruin your progress are slim. Also, remember when you eat like crap you feel like crap? Yep, perfect example this weekend after indulging in more ice cream then I deserved- I felt like crap the rest of the day! My point? By putting in 110% into this lifestyle, having a few cocktails, a traditional Thanksgiving meal and piece of pie isn’t going to be a big deal.

So it’s up to you to decide…you can say screw it the next few months, but those splurges will only dig you a little deeper and all that work and results you started to see will be a big waste of time. Let’s not let the traditional New Years resolution “to work out starting January 1^st” be your time to commit. Why not work out all year round?! You will be far ahead of the game!

Don’t feel bad about a treat here or there, don’t over-think it, just keep up the great work and you will be able to enjoy the holidays even more!

How will you be going about your fitness lifestyle this holiday season? Please do share! xo

#12wbt…Making Progress!

11.07.2013

I am 2 weeks deep into the Michelle Bridges #12wbt program! Pretty dang happy with myself that I made it this far! This program has taken 120% commitment and has lead me to do nothing other than focus on my goals. Work/#12wbt/life balance has definitely been an ongoing issue the past two weeks and to be honest, I’m still learning how to handle it all. One of the most important things I’ve learned is that planning is key when squeezing in a workout, meal prep, boyfriend and family time. Let’s just say, I have been a busy little bee!

This being my first time sticking to an actual “plan” and going by what someone else has provided me, I have learned too much not to share!

1.) You must want it enough! This is a lifestyle change. I am constantly focusing on my meals and after work plans to either work out and/or grocery shop, then meal prep. Then do it all over again. My head is spinning but it gets easier with time. If you don’t want it enough, the work simply won’t be worth it to you. You gotta want to work your butt off to see results!

2.) I have never cooked so much in my life and I’m starting to really enjoy it! I love all of the recipes this plan consists of, and there are so many to choose from! Eating something other than the staple chicken, veggies and complex carbs is nice too. 🙂

3.) After my first grocery shopping trip for the program on Sunday, my reaction: holy sh*t I just spent how much money…!?! However, that was because I chose a different recipe for every single meal that week. Learned my lesson! Sticking to the same breakfast or lunch (which I don’t mind) totally cuts down the grand total by a lot! Now, I am eating more efficiently and spending much less money. Also, without eating out as much, I have saved a lot of money here also. This is one thing that I wish this program would mention- grocery shopping on a budget.

4.) Don’t be afraid of carbs. I was shocked to see how many whole wheats are incorporated in each recipe. I actually had to ask one of the nutritionists to make sure I wasn’t consuming too much. I have cut down a few more than what the plan calls for, but no longer afraid to eat whole wheat tortillas, pita bread or whole grains. You need these grains to give you energy and stamina to make it through the rigorous workouts. Overall, I love the variety that this plan offers and how it has opened up my eyes to new meal assortments and portion sizes.

5.) There is not a lot of cardio in this plan, but you don’t need it!! Can you believe it, very little cardio? I know, I questioned at first myself, but truth is, cardio is not an important factor is losing weight or training to gain muscle. Lifting is key! Especially when incorporating so many supersets, pyramid sets and circuits, your heart rate is up even more than it would on the treadmill or elliptical. LOVE this because cardio inside a gym is b.o.r.i.n.g. for me.

All in all, I am making progress! I feel stronger, leaner, and most of all more confident. With time, I am hoping to focus more on balance, because there’s no way I want to give up this lifestyle! Fingers crossed I can show you guys the before an after picture I have envisioned for myself. 🙂

Do you guys have trouble with work/life/fitness life balance? If so, what’s your trick?

Disclaimer: I am getting financially compensated for this campaign, however all opinions are my own.

Michelle Bridges Body Transformation Challenge

10.30.2013

I have some more exciting news! I feel like that’s all I’m writing about these days, but hey that’s not a bad thing! For those of you who follow my Facebook or Instagram are already filled in… but I am so excited to share that I am deep into day 2 of a 4 week preview of Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation (we will call it “12wbt“). By being a part of a fabulous group called Girls Gone Sporty I was chosen to preview this program before Michelle opens it up to US peeps. Seriously debating at first, as I knew it would be a HUGE commitment to sacrifice the food I love and my regular workout routine. But I am SO glad that I decided to take the plunge!

Michelle is the workout queen of Australia who hosts the Biggest Loser over there as Jillian’s counterpart here in the US. This plan is AWESOME in every way. And trust me, I am not paid to say that! Each meal, snack, drink is planned for my specific needs and each workout (6 days a week) is tailored to suit my goals and fitness ability. I have only gone through 2 workouts so far, and let me tell you…I have never been through a tougher session in my life! And loved every minute of it. That feeling of going to bed with a sense of accomplishment and waking up ready to do it again, is what it’s all about for me.

Some of the “pre-season” tasks included:

Setting goals- doing my personal best, dedicating and committing 100%, seeing my best personal results
Gearing up- mentally and physically
Getting rid of all the junk in the kitchen- out of site out of mind!
Organizing the plans- I have a folder of all the information I need as well as meals posted on my fridge
Measuring and taking a pre season fitness test- testing will be taken throughout the 4 weeks

Check, check and check!! Now onto the workouts, delicious meals (there are so many to choose from) and weekly challenges to get motivated.

This my friends, is going to be it for me. This is what is going to get me 150% dedicated and I cant wait to see the results! There is no way that I will get off track these next 4 weeks. No matter what fitness level, age, or weight, this plan gives you all the tools to succeed. Not to mention, Michelle is a superstar with the best attitude! Stay tuned for much more to come. Can’t wait to share my journey with you guys and keep you posted as to how things are going!

Have you every used an online personal trainer? If so, please do share in the comments!

Keep up with Michelle Bridges: Website / Facebook / Twitter

Disclaimer: I am being compensated for this campaign, however all opinions are my own.

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