Month: June 2015

Snacking is SO not Chic!

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I snack everyday. How about you? I actually text a Fit and Fabulous group everyday around 3:30 to have a snack and take their supplements. (only the best supplements of course.)

I am reading a new book. I found Jennifer L Scott of The Daily Connoisseur on youtube. I became obsessed. I bought her book Lessons from Madame Chic 20 Stylish Secrets I learned while living in Paris.  It arrived in the mail and I open up the book to find an adorable 5×7 book. I am savoring it. It is all apart of a Fit and Fabulous lifestyle!

Live a Passionate Life

Live a Passionate Life

Part 1 Diet and Exercise. (“MAKE DINING WELL A PRIORITY”)

Part 2 Style and Beauty. (Jennifer Loves An Apron.) (Who doesn’t?)

Part 3 How to Live Well. (“CLUTTER IS SO NOT CHIC.”)  Jennifer is also a fan of the LIFE CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo.

The first chapter of MADAME CHIC, Snacking is So not Chic.

I agree, sitting down on the sofa, eating potato chips and watching TV is SO not chic. I do better especially in the afternoon when I have a snack. Here is my favorite snack. I try to sit down and enjoy it instead of shoving it in my mouth as I go out the door. I think the point is for me, slow down, take a moment and savor what I am eating. I not only enjoy it more, I noticed that I am eating less and feel more satisfied. AND bonus round  less bloat!

I love reading lifestyle books. I love when people have their rules that they live by. It is always inspiring and motivating for me to do things a little differently and little better. You don’t have to do things exactly their way, tweak it to create a wonderful life for yourself and your family.

Let me know what if this resonates with you. I love to hear from you.

Love,

Mary

I couldn’t do this ten years ago!

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10 years ago, I could barely do 2-3 push ups in a row. I was a distance runner with no concern with upper body strength. Now, my workouts are a 45 minute full body workout focusing on strength, endurance and flexibility.

Check out the push-up off the ground. I was impressed with myself the first time I did this and to be honest I am impressed every time I do it:). It is very empowering. We are working on this in my class and most of the ladies can push up off the ground. Are you local? Would you like to learn more about my program. Click here.

FIT AND FABULOUS…AGING OPTIONAL

One of my clients touched his toes last week! It was a big deal. Flexibility is also so important. What are you working on today that you couldn’t do ten years ago? Please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Rest and Restore

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It has been 7 days of Rest and Restore.

This is one of the responses from my friend Jessica that I received after my last blog post about being benched.

” This is great! Nice reminder to everyone. Now, make a suggestion when you say “slow down and take care of you” so many people don’t even know what that means or how to do it so breaking it down with a few little/easy to mix into your day examples will show them even more how practical it can be. Right? Like even saying little things you do that help u to actually “slow down” (that aren’t the result of back pain) but just your normal day to day little things u throw in there to actually “slow down and take care”….!!!”

In so many ways I feel guilty about rest and restore. Something physical needs to happen to actually stop me. This week back spasm actually stopped me.

I have had a minor set back this week. I am striving for optimal health, fitness and feeling great. I want to achieve this in an easy way.  I am tried of pushing so hard to achieve it.  In the past, as a competitive runner, I pushed for years. I have been reading Dr. John Douillard’s author of Mind, Body, Sport work on Nose breathing.

I want to share one thing you  can easily integrate to rest and restore even while exercising.

Breathe in and out through your nose. It is amazing the difference this can create immediately. Breathing through your nose creates a calm and activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Breathing through your mouth is an emergency response, flight or fight as though you are being chased by a bear. Mouth breathing activates the sympathetic nervous system which tends to increase your heart rate and adrenaline.

While exercising, I would get confused when to breath in and when to breath out. Here is a tip from my smart husband, “Breath in and blow it up”. For example, while doing a pushup, breath in through your nose and BLOW IT UP out your nose while you are pushing your body up. (Great video idea…coming soon:) Make sense?

I would love to hear from you. How do you slow down and take care of yourself?

Slow down, Rest and Restore. Savor and appreciate.

Slow down, Rest and Restore. Savor and appreciate.

I have been BENCHED!

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It is time to rest, which is not an easy thing for me to do. I love working out with my group. I love how I feel when I workout. Doing pushups, mountain climbers and burpees is  all very empowering.

Sometimes your body tells you to slow down and take care of yourself. My body probably has been telling me that for awhile but I don’t like to hear it.

This weekend went spent hours in the car and my back seized up so now I really need to rest, ice and some foam rolling.  Movement is good but I can’t push it to the pain level. I tend to push through the pain as an athlete you learn to do that. Right? I don’t need to anymore. The goal is to be healthy, fit and feeling good.

So for now I have been benched.

Sometimes you just need to sit on a swing.

Sometimes you just need to sit on a swing.

Actually, I can move as I want as long as it doesn’t cause pain. Movement is good, pain causes inflammation. It is especially important to be taking my supplements now. They will help reduce the inflammation in my body.

How do you do with taking time off from working out? Does it make you cranky, irritable or are you happy to have a break? I would love to hear from you.

Take away…be nice to yourself!

Love,

Mary