Fit Tips: How to Prevent Hangry Episodes

Recently, I've become more health conscious and really want to take better care of and love my body. So as I think of things that are helpful to me in living healthier, I wanted to share them with you and also get your tips on how you maintain a healthy style!

Since I've been following the strength training workouts in the Women's Health: Lift to Get Lean book, when I get hungry I want food right then or I go into a hangry episode. To combat this, I've started getting serious about planning out easy snacks the night before that I can eat without prep. I try to pack a snack for mid morning and one for the afternoon/pre workout.

Some of my favorite snacks are

Greek yogurt (I'm addicted to key lime Fage split cups!)

Almonds

String cheese

Easy to eat fruits like grapes

Kind chewy granola bars (I'm hooked on the caramel macchiato ones)

Hummus and pretzel chips (Try hummus with pretzel chips instead of pita, you will be hooked!)

Rosemary and olive oil Triscuits

Apple slices and cheddar cheese

What are your favorite healthy snacks and how do you ward off hangry episodes?

Fit Tips: Keep Your Shoes Fresh

Workout shoes go through a lot, and can get a little smelly even if you wear socks. Here are some ways to keep your gym shoes smelling fresh.

1. Alternate your shoes.Don't wear the same shoes everyday so they have a chance to dry out.

 2. Spray Odor-Eaters on your feet before a workout to prevent the bacteria that makes your shoes stinky.

3. Sprinkle a little bit of Odor-Eaters powder or any powder with baking soda in your shoes after workouts to soak up any  post workout sweat and odor.

Hopefully these tricks will help keep you from having to throw out your favorite workout shoes too soon! What are your tricks for keeping your workout shoes fresh?

Fit Tips: Drink More Water

We all know we need to drink more water. One way to make sure you're getting your eight cups of water each day is buy yourself two 32 ounce water bottles and fill them up with lots of ice water each morning. Once you finish one off, start with the next. By having the two bottles already filled, you can visually see how close you're getting to reaching your goal. I've also noticed that I drink more water when I use a cup with a straw, so I recommend either stocking up on straws or buying a water bottle with a built in straw. If you don't like straight water try adding fruit or Crystal Light packets for some flavor. What are your tricks for drinking more water?

Review of Women's Health Lift to Get Lean Book

Women's Health Lift to Get Lean: A Beginner's Guide to Fitness and Strength Training in 3 Simple Steps by Holly Perkins is the perfect book if you've been wanting to try strength training but don't know where to start. Holly, a certified strength and conditioning specialist starts the book by explaining all the benefits of incorporating strength training into your workout. If you're skeptical about building muscle, this part of the book will have you convinced that strength training is answer to getting the toned, feminine body that you want.

 I was already convinced strength training was the way to go (just look at Miss Mississippi who swears by strength training). What I needed was parts two, three, and four where Holly explains everything you need to know to get started. Part two has wonderful explanations of her simple three step system for building muscle and how to properly do each exercise. She even gives advice about how to navigate the weight training section of the gym without letting guys make you feel intimidated! To take the confusion out of knowing which exercises to do, part four goes over four plans that will take you from beginner, intermediate, and major transformation stages of strength training. Part four explains everything else you need to know to get started like tips for your first workout and food suggestions to fuel your workouts.

I bought the book a month ago, and I wanted to try it out for myself before I suggested it to other people. I've been working out consistently for a month now, and I'd definitely recommend it!

I'm usually skeptical of people promising major body transformations, but the book lined up with what I've learned from my undergraduate studies in Nutrition and Dietetics and my current graduate studies in Occupational Therapy learning about the anatomy and kinesiology of the body.

I love how Holly Perkins geared the strength training to work for the females instead of taking a male approach. I also loved how she covers everything in a way that's simple, so even though it was awkward the first few workouts to workout with the guys, I felt confident that I was performing the exercises correctly. The only con is that you do need a gym membership to do the workouts. I've found though since I'm paying for a membership that I've stuck with the workouts, and I've really started to enjoy pushing myself and using the weight equipment. This is a great book for all women who are looking for a way to get fit that's sustainable and that will change the way their bodies look!

Favorite Workouts for Spring

Over the last month, I've really started to notice that sitting all day in class and at home studying is starting to show in how my back and legs feel. It's become clear that I'm going to have to step it up and do more walking, stretching, and exercising this month! Here are five of my favorite workouts that I've found lately. 

The Ultimate 30-Minute Cardio Pilates Workout!

This workout is a doozy! It makes your arms, legs, and abs burn and gets your heart rate up. My goal for the month is to make it through whole the workout. Right now, I do well until the last ten minutes and then I turn to jello! This is perfect for when you want to work everything, but don't want to spend forever or do a bunch of different workouts to get it done.

How To Yoga Stretches for Low Back Pain & Sciatica Relief by Jen Hilman

The last couple weeks I've had issues with one of my legs going numb from sciatic entrapment. This video is short but seems to be helping loosen my tight muscles and relieve the pressure on that nerve.

4 Back-Strengthening Moves | The Yoga Solution With Tara Stiles

Last week in my classes we learned about transfers and about the kinesiology of our back muscles. I never realized before how important it is to protect our backs from injury! Little back strengthening workouts like this one, along with using good body mechanics, can help keep you and your back happy and healthy.

Yoga for Women - Yoga For Cramps and PMS

Love my Yoba with Adriene! We all need this sometimes.

Little Black Dress Boot Camp - Total Body Sculpting Workout

I haven't tried this workout yet, but I tried a fitness blender workout this week and love it! The videos are very straight-forward and tell you at the beginning how many exercises you'll be doing, how long you'll be doing them, and how many rounds. You will need your own music though since there's none in the video. I've been in a dresses and skirts mood, so I thought this workout would be perfect!

Get Fit in 2015 using Youtube

At the beginning of January, most of us make New Year's resolutions. For some of us these resolution have to do with losing weight or getting healthier in the upcoming year.

This year, one of my resolutions is to not just to get skinny but to get healthy.

Since learning almost all the muscles in my OT school anatomy class and being a nutrition major in undergraduate, I have such an appreciation for our bodies. I don't want to just be slim, I want to take care of myself and live well for a long time.

That means strengthening my heart with cardio and doing strength training to strengthen both my muscles and my bones. My plan is to exercise for 30 minutes every day that I can, and if I can't work out for 30 minutes to at least do something even if it's just for 5 minutes. Hopefully that'll help me make taking care of my body part of my lifestyle.

If you're like me though, you get bored doing the same workout video or exercise machine for thirty minutes. My solution the last couple months has been to break it up using fitness videos from youtube. My favorite are from popsugar, and they last 5 to 10 minutes. I combine a few videos, and before I know it my workout is over.

Here are a few of my favorite videos for beginners. I like to work out by focusing on one area a day. For example, I'll have an arms day, legs day, abs day, back day, and flexibility day, so I've tried to structure the list by areas. I also try to throw in at least one cardio video everyday, but you can structure your workouts however works best for you!

Warm-Ups

•  Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Ultimate Warmup

•  Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Cardio Warmup

Cardio

• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Jump Rope Workout
• My favorite
• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute At-Home Cardio Sweat Workout
• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Cardio Tai Box Workout
• This one is great if you want to work out some frustration!
• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Bombay Jam Bollywood Dance Workout!
• So I don't have the coordination for this one, but if you love to dance this one is for you!
• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Become Beyonce Dance Workout
• Because who doesn't want to be Queen Bey?

Arms

• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Tightest Arms in Town 
• This one is my absolute favorite! Perfect for beginners.
• Popsugar Fitness: 5-Minute Sexy, Sculpted Arm Workout 
• Since this one is only 5 minutes I usually do it twice along with the first arms video. You could also do it with heavier weights if you want to challenge yourself but only have 5 minutes.

Legs/Butt

• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Pilates Butt Workout
• My favorite. I can feel it working!
• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute The Ultimate Inner Thigh Workout
• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Leg and Butt Toning Workout

Abs

• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Abs and Core Without Crunches Workout
• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Pilates Ab Workout, Define Your Midline
• This one is challenging for me! It's definitely effective though.
• Popsugar Fitness: 5-Minute Crop Top Workout 

Back/Shoulders

• Popsugar Fitness: 6-Minute 6 Exercises to Strengthen Your Back
• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Bikini Workout, Arms and Shoulders
• Shoulders can be tough! It's definitely ok to start with smaller 2 or 3 pound weights.

Cool Down

• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Full Body Stretching Exercises
• I'm so inflexible. I need a good stretch at the end of my workouts.

Flexibility/Yoga

• Tara Stiles: 10-Minute Basic Breathing Beginner Yoga
• If you've never tried yoga before this is the video to start with. What I love about yoga is the focus on breathing and the slower pace of movement. Afterwards I always feel very calm and focused.
• Tara Stiles: 10-Minute Flexibility and Range of Motion Beginner Yoga
• Popsugar Fitness: 10-Minute Vinyasa Flow Workout

So obviously I'm a little obsessed with the Popsugar fitness videos! These videos are just what I like though. With all the videos out there on youtube you're sure to find fitness videos that work for you. If you want something a little different, Greatist has a really interesting, fun list of the best free workout videos on youtube. Hopefully, this gives you some ideas to get you started on your way to a fitter 2015. I'd love to hear what your favorite youtube workouts are!