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The Missing Link in Your Health & Fitness Routine
This weekend gave us two big reasons to cheer:
- Nearly 50,000 people crossed the finish line in the TCS New York City marathon. Congratulations to all you amazing athletes who participated in this incredible test of endurance!
- Most Americans enjoyed an extra hour of zzzzzzz’s thanks to the end of Daylight Saving Time.
So I thought I’d use this Motivation Monday to encourage everyone to think about an often overlooked piece of the well-being puzzle: your sleep habits.
Why do we need sleep? Research shows along with helping us stay energized, sleep helps regulate our mood and learn and retain valuable information. There are even studies linking inadequate sleep to weight gain. On a personal note, when I rack up too many consecutive nights without enough shut-eye, it’s harder to concentrate on everything from work to working out and I find myself annoyed by trivial things that usually roll off my back.
Here are some ideas for incorporating those all-important zzzz’s into your healthy routine:
- Exercise: Physical activity can help you sleep. However, if I exercise less than two hours before going to bed, the endorphins keep me up. Aim to wrap a workout three hours before bedtime.
- Alcohol: Anyone who’s read this blog for some time knows I enjoy a glass of wine to unwind at the end of the day. However, too much alcohol can have the opposite effect of calming the nerves and end up
- However, too much alcohol can have the opposite effect of calming the nerves and end up wrecking your night. Of course, having a hangover the next day after too many libations is never a good thing.
- Caffeine: I have some friends who can have a cup of coffee after dinner at 8 pm and still fall asleep at 10:30 pm. If I have caffeine after 3 pm, I’m looking at a rough night ahead. The key is to pay attention to how your body reacts. Make sure you check for “hidden” caffeine in things like herbal teas and chocolate.
- Hunger: The bottom line is you don’t want to go to bed hungry, but you don’t want to be too full either. I try not to snack at night after dinner, but if I do, I go for a single-serve bag of 94% fat-free popcorn, a skinny cow fudge pop or a few clementines or mandarins. Frozen grapes are great for taming those sweet cravings, too.
- Stress: This an area I hope to manage better this year. I recently read somewhere it’s a good idea to write down all your worries an hour before getting into bed. Whether it’s the to-do list for the next day or some project that’s been on your plate for awhile, writing things down gets the worry “out there” and you can deal with it in the morning. I find the nights I write in my journal (which I’ve been keeping since I was
- Shutting Down: If you scan the Internet, you’ll find plenty of research on how watching TV in bed and using smart phones and other portable devices can be overstimulating when your body is trying to wind down. Aim to power down at least 30 minutes before closing those tired eyes for the night.
Remember, if you’ve made the commitment to workout and watch what you eat, you also owe it to yourself to give your body time to rest and recharge. It’s all part of the winning formula to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Highs and Lows
Looking Forward to the Good Times Ahead!
What a difference one week makes.
It’s hard to believe it was only seven days ago when I shared my excitement and exhaustion after completing my third Avon39 Walk to End Breast Cancer. On this Motivation Monday, I find myself experiencing those same polar opposites again. I’m overjoyed my father made it through severe spinal surgery five days ago, and I’m exhausted for the very same reason.
Obviously, this experience turned my normal routine upside down. Workouts were skipped; my eating-every-three-hours rule was broken; veggies and fruits were forgotten and sleeping came in small fits at best. However, one week of disruption is a small price to pay for my dad’s well-being. Hopefully by the time you’re reading this post, he’ll be on his way home from the hospital or maybe he’s already resting in his own bed. That makes today the start of getting back to normal.
Dad has four to six weeks of recovery ahead of him. That means a little extra worry for Mom and me while we try to keep him comfortable. But things will soon fall into a rhythm like they always do, even when those things are a little out of the ordinary. Workout schedules and healthy eating habits can be resumed, but having your loved ones healthy and happy can’t always be guaranteed. So, I’ll embrace the schedule changes knowing I still have my Dad going strong at 80-years-young.
I close this not-so-fitness-focused post with a huge thank you to my family, friends and everyone who offered prayers, support and concern during an overwhelming few days. With such an amazing support team behind me, I know it’s only a matter of time before I get back on track with my own plans to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Hitting the Pause Button
Don’t forget to stretch! Photo by Leslie Hassler
Wow. Here we are celebrating another Columbus Day and marching toward the middle of October. Meanwhile, more holiday displays keep popping up in the stores. To me, it’s all proof that time flies by faster each year and life simply gets more hectic as we get older.
If you’re a parent, you struggle with the complexities of your children growing up. All of us eventually face challenges as our parents age. At times, situations can be overwhelming and paralyzing. This is why it’s so important to carve out some precious moments of time to pause and regroup. Little did I know I’d find a big jolt of strength spending 30 minutes doing something I hadn’t done in far too long.
On Saturday morning after my usual Physique57 workout, I stayed an extra half hour for stretch class. Those 30 minutes did more wonders than I can explain. If I had an internal pause button, I’d say it clicked. That allowed me to worry only about three things for 30 minutes: inhaling, exhaling and holding stretches to release some of the tension in the multiple tight spots of my body.
I often write about the importance of making for ourselves, but today I offer the reminder that sometimes that means finding a few moments to simply breathe deeply and stretch. What is your body telling you? Maybe it doesn’t need the hard-core boot-camp experience today. Maybe the lungs need to fill up with some extra air and your muscles need some TLC. As my wonderful instructor Lindi reminded us throughout the stretch session, sometimes you also need to shut out the noise and remember the good things in your life: the people who make you smile or a memory of a family get together or carefree moment at the beach.
As we all get back into fall sports, now’s the perfect time to re-focus your attention on flexibility and the all-important stretches too many of us skip as we rush out of the gym to our next busy activity. A lot of injuries happen at this time of year as people get back to their not-so-lazy-days-of-summer routines. Remember – if you haven’t played fall ball since…well, last fall…you need to warm up and be careful with muscles that may have been inactive for awhile.
If you’re off on this Motivation Monday for the holiday, why not take just 10 minutes to breathe in some air, think about stretching out the kinks in your hard-working body or at least plan a 10 to 20 minute block of time this week when you can. Whether you want to try a new group exercise class, meditation or a new nutrition program, deciding on a new goal is the first big step in making things happen on our never-ending journey to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Time for Fall Fitness Fun!
Welcome Fall!
Welcome to the first Motivation Monday of fall! I’ll admit I tend to get a little sad when summer, my favorite season, comes to end; but I perk up quickly when I think about all the opportunities to try new things on the health and fitness front.
Talk about perfect timing: I was recently inspired by Cotopaxi who offered a great infographic to share with my readers featuring simple ways to make healthier choices. It made its debut around World Health Day, but since I consider each day we’re lucky enough to open our eyes a new opportunity to own our healthy decisions, I thought it offered a great perspective at the start of the new season. As of today, there are 84 fall-filled days to try some new activities and simply do great things for our bodies, minds and souls.
Here are my top two tips for the season ahead:
- Take a Hike – seriously! You don’t have to climb to the top of a mountain to get your heart rate up and muscles moving in the great outdoors. Even if you live in a concrete jungle like like yours truly, a nearby park, deserted beach or those trails you’ve always wanted to explore are just waiting for you. For some added weight resistance, wear a backpack filled with minimal but important essentials including a water bottle; a healthy snack; identification, and a few portable first aid items like Band-Aids and some antiseptic wipes. Don’t have a backpack? Why not treat yourself to one from Cotopaxi, since a percentage of every sale is donated to various organizations that support global health initiatives. (Learn more about the company’s mission here.)
- Stock up on seasonal snacks! Whether you pick them in an orchard or find them at a nearby farmer’s market or grocery store, ’tis the season to bite into lots of crisp, delicious apples! Consider pairing one with a handful of almonds, pistachios or pumpkin seeds for a portable, powerful snack wherever the day or trail takes you.
So what’s on your fitness agenda for the fall of 2016? I’d love to hear from you! Thanks again to Cotopaxi for reaching out and for the additional ideas below. Sharing tips and tricks will always be a surefire way of helping people on their journey to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Make Your “Me Time” Belong To You
Knock Out The Noise!
Photo by Leslie Hassler
This short and sweet Motivation Monday post is all about you. Specifically, it’s a reminder that’s exactly what the time you make to exercise should be – time for you and nothing else.
I can’t tell you how many times I’m surrounded by people on elliptical machines or even at the weight rack who focus on their texts or emails when they should be concentrating on their form, their breathing and the oh-so-wonderful benefit of clearing the mind. Snap your Instagram photo and move on to your exercise routine, people! Honestly, if you’re not a doctor or emergency worker on call or a mom with a sick kid at home, how many of us really need to respond to that new email right away? Will the world stop spinning if you update a client on a project 30 minutes after you receive the message instead of ten?
In a world where we search workouts that give us the biggest benefits in the shortest amount of time, we absolutely owe it to ourselves to make those precious minutes count. So here’s my challenge for you this week: whether you decide to take a 20-minute walk in the morning, squeeze in a 30-minute workout on your lunch break or commit to a total hour of a group exercise class after work, tell your colleagues, family and friends you’re simply not available during that window of time. Before you snicker and say, “Laura, that’s impossible,” think about this: if taking 10 minutes out of your day to bang out some burpees or take a brisk walk is going to make you calmer and think more clearly when challenged by deadlines; difficult clients or your kid’s core math homework, then you owe it to yourself to be strong and tell people when you need a few minutes of me-time.
Sometimes the hardest part of taking care of ourselves is telling even the people who love us the most what we need to be a healthier and happier person. Why not use this week – when we welcome a brand new season – to take a chance and see what happens. If the world doesn’t stop spinning because you waited 20 minutes to respond to a few texts, then I’d say you’ve taken a bold step forward in your journey to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Get Ready to FALL into Fitness!
Here Comes the Fall!
Is it me, or does the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day fly by faster with each passing year? I know the calendar says we still have 16 days until the official start of autumn, but for me, summer ends with Labor Day. Sigh. I hope everyone enjoyed the end of the season and that the new month is off to a strong start.
One thing I love about September is the fact that all the back-to-school buzz makes this the perfect time to re-focus your attention on getting your health and fitness routine in tip-top shape. Maybe you’re thinking: “Laura, are you kidding? I’m too busy trying to get the kids back on a regular schedule, I have no time to even think about working out!” Well, why not turn that challenge into an opportunity? As you help the family re-adjust to the non-summer-Friday work weeks and new start times for school and after-school activities, it’s also the time to fit some fitness into your own routine. Who deserves to carve out some time get that daily dose of much-needed endorphins? The answer is simple – YOU!
Here are some tips to set the pace for a FITASTIC fall ahead:
- Seek Out New Schedules & Offers: Group fitness schedules often change in September. Maybe this is the season that total body conditioning class finally fits into your schedule. Be sure to ask about any back-to-school specials, including friends and family rates. This is a great time to make exercise a family affair or schedule bi-weekly workouts with a buddy!
- Fall Into Healthy Eating Habits: Packing lunch for the kiddies? Add just a few more minutes to the prep time and create some healthy snacks or small meals for yourself. I spend approximately 30 minutes every Sunday slicing and dicing veggies including peppers, celery sticks and carrots and then pack them in reusable containers. I can grab a portion anytime as a healthy snack or side dish or I can mix the veggies with brown rice for a mini-meal. Some of my other favorite go-to eats include raw almonds, green apples and hard boiled eggs.
- Put It In Writing: If you drive your kids to school or your spouse to the train station, figure out if there’s time immediately following a drop-off or right before a pick-up for a workout. You could hit the gym for a group exercise class, drive a few more blocks to the park for a run or meet a friend for a brisk walk. Typing the activity in to your smart phone task list or putting an old-fashioned sticky note on the fridge is a great visual boost to keep that workout on the schedule.
- Ten Minutes of Something is Better than Nothing! As time seems to grow more precious each day, there are plenty of workouts geared toward gaining maximum results in less time.Click here for a refresher on my “Tear-It-Up-in-Ten Circuit” Do you really only have five minutes to spare? No problem. Click here for a reminder on how you can burn some calories and get the heart pumping with the four-minute Tabata workout.
- Wardrobe Prep: Do you help your kids pick out their clothes before they go to bed? Then go ahead and put out your own morning workout gear, too! Put your clothes in the bathroom the night before. It’s usually the first room we visit after we wake up, so if your clothes are staring you in the face, it may be harder to ditch the workout. If you’re exercising after work, pack your gym bag the night before and leave it by the door to grab on your way out. (And don’t forget to grab one of your prepped snacks for some healthy fuel, too!)
Finally, it’s important to remember getting fitness on your schedule and healthy foods into your fridge are two big steps toward a healthier you in the season ahead. During my annual August blogging hiatus, I had many conversations with several different gal pals (who also happen to be great moms) about their frustration over falling off the fitness wagon over the summer. Between keeping the kids entertained and all the BBQs, they found themselves eager to get back into a leaner, meaner routine. I’ll tell you what I told them: leave the “sins of the summer” in the past, but keep the memories close in your heart. Just as the leaves are sure to fall in the days ahead, you’ll soon find yourself back on track with your efforts to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Asking for a Little Help from my Friends
I Need Your Help to Make this My BIGGEST Avon 39 Walk Yet!
We made it to the first Motivation Monday of August! Not only am I excited to savor what’s left of the summer season, but as many of you repeat readers know, this is also the month I take a break from writing and recharge my batteries by the beach as much as possible.
Before I go on hiatus, I hope you won’t mind this call for help. In 75 days from now, I hope to be joining my high school friend Sue in our third Avon Walk to end breast cancer here in New York City! As the daughter of a breast cancer survivor and friend to other amazing women who are waging their own battle against the disease, walking 39.3 miles seems the least I can do to join in the fight. The catch: I can’t do it without your help. I have to raise a minimum of $1,800 to get to the starting line on October 15th, but I hope to raise much more than that and make this my biggest and best fundraising effort yet! (To that end, for those of you who follow my other social media channels, get ready to see some fundraising posts on those, too.)
Net funds raised will go to organizations right here in the New York area that help with everything from preventative screenings to holistic therapies to help patients manage the many effects of this terrible disease. Some of these groups include:
- You Can Thrive!
- The Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center
- Mount Sinai School of Medicine
- God’s Love We Deliver
- NYU Cancer Center and Bellevue Collaborative
You can make a donation by simply clicking here and be taken to my personal page on the Avon39 website. Despite all the advances in research, the sad reality is 40-thousand will die from breast cancer in the United States this year. So let’s do this! While I look forward to another weekend of making memories to last a lifetime, my dream is that one day we won’t have a need for the Walk.
I close with a big thank you in advance for your support and a wish for a wonderful month ahead filled with good times with family and friends. Just remember to stay hydrated, wear sunscreen and listen to your body when it needs a break. Now get out there and soak up some sunshine and get on with your plans to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous! See you in September!
Starting Over…Sort Of
Felt SO Good to Get Back in the Gym Over the Weekend!
Whoever coined the phrase the lazy days of summer obviously never dealt with a move in the July heat. Now that my parents are slowly settling in their new home, I am thankful this Motivation Monday signals the start of my own return to normalcy.
Probably the most important part of re-establishing my routine involves getting exercise back on my schedule. Saturday marked the first time I stepped inside a gym in three weeks. That is simply excruciatingly too long for this fitness fanatic. However, between my production gigs; the hours of packing; scheduling and re-scheduling contractors and moving dates and the nasty summer cold that stole my energy and my voice, something had to give. However, I always reminded myself that the stress was temporary and eventually things would get better. As I sit on a Manhattan-bound train for the first time in weeks, I realize they already are.
We’re all tired and covered in scrapes and bruises thanks to some unexpected run-ins with furniture and box cutters. Yet we’re all healthy and looking forward to our annual escape to the beautiful Montauk beach.
I also look forward to getting back to my Physique57 workouts; enjoying small, healthy meals throughout the day and catching up with with friends I haven’t seen in forever. I also know I have to be patient with my body. While I’m probably in the best shape of my life at 42, I also know I need to give my body time to adjust to a vigorous exercise routine again. I will pay extra attention to stretching and staying hydrated. And I will constantly remind myself that I will start feeling like my strong self again soon.
Consider this my roundabout way of saying there are plenty of things in this life that will throw us off course. However, reminding yourself that the road will eventually lead to a familiar path is half the battle in getting there. If your summer to date has included more tacos than Tabatas or too many margaritas killed your motivation to make it to those early morning boot camp classes, don’t sweat it. Today is a new day and there’s still plenty of summer left to work on those plans to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Summer Emergency 411
This is a first-of-its kind Motivation Monday for me. It isn’t a series of killer workouts or late-nights out that have me extra wiped at the start of this new week. What makes this day so different is it’s the first Monday in 37 years that my parents have a new address. Helping Mom and Dad move out of my childhood home was probably the most physically and emotionally draining experience I can remember. Now the move is over, but the unpacking begins.
So, after a grueling week featuring some ridiculously hot days, I hope you’ll forgive this reboot of a post offering some timely reminders about how to recognize heat-related illnesses:
Heat cramps: These are painful muscle spasms, usually in the legs or abdominal region, that could be a signal that a more serious emergency is imminent.
What to do: If you experience heat cramps, stop exercising immediately. Find some shade or move indoors where it’s cool and drink water.
Heat exhaustion: This is more severe than heat cramps, and can occur when you’ve been exercising strenuously for a long period of time in extreme heat or humidity. Signs and symptoms include:
- Moist, pale, or cool skin
- Headache or dizziness
- Muscle cramps
- Heavy perspiration
- Nausea
- Weak pulse
What to do: Get out of the heat, loosen all tight clothing and cool the body with wet towels, but not to the point of shivering. Also, be sure to get some cool water into your system.
Heat stroke: This is the most severe heat emergency and usually happens when signs of heat exhaustion go unchecked. In this situation, dangerously high internal temperatures will cause your body’s vital systems to fail. Signs and symptoms include:
- Altered level of consciousness
- Rapid, shallow breathing
- Little or no perspiration
- Weakness
- Rapid pulse
What to do: Get out of the heat, loosen tight clothing and cool the body with wet towels. If you can find them, you can also put ice packs under the armpits and groin area.
Now that we’ve identified the emergencies, here are a few reminders on how to keep them from happening in the first place:
- Try to exercise outdoors before 9 am and after 6 pm.
- Stay hydrated! Basic guidelines call for you to drink 16 oz of water two hours before exercise, but you can drink an additional eight to 16 oz if you’re exercising in warmer weather. Personally, I simply have water with me at all times and take a sip or two whenever I rest between sets or just stop for a breather.
- If you have cardiovascular or circulatory problems and are taking medication, always check with your doctor before adding any outdoor activity to your routine.
I leave you with two important tips:
- Always call 911 in an emergency.
- Listen to your body. It knows when something’s wrong.
Don’t let this post prevent you from soaking up the summer season by working out and hanging out in the great outdoors. Just remember to keep the water bottle full and use a little extra care move ahead with your summer plans to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
LauraLovesFitness Turns Five!
My friends who are parents tell me time goes by faster and faster as their kids get older. As this Motivation Monday marks the start of the week my “baby” blog turns five-years-old, I can totally relate!
It’s impossible to highlight all the changes we’ve witnessed as a country since my very first blog post on July 13, 2011. We’re marching toward what many consider to be the most important presidential election in our nation’s history. Everything from the climate, the state of Wall Street and celebrity relationships change on what seems like a daily basis.
Closer to home, I’ve been through plenty of changes in the past year alone. New opportunities emerged in the world of production and on-camera spokesperson work. I added Fitness Nutrition Specialist to the fitness industry certificates hanging on my wall. I powered through my second Avon 39 Walk for Breast Cancer and can’t wait to lace up for a third adventure in October. Of course, there have also been some major upheavals. Just last week, I said good-bye to a high school friend taken from this world far too soon in a tragic accident. Later this week, my parents will move out of my childhood home and start a new beginning at a new address.
As each year passes, I realize just how quickly things can turn from happy and exciting to scary and sad. I also know I’ve managed the ups and downs of another year thanks to my faith; an amazing network of people I am blessed to call friends and family and that daily surge of endorphins I get through exercise. It’s amazing how a good sweat helps bring me back to center even when I feel like life is completely out of whack.
Then there’s the weekly installments here at LauraLovesFitness. In this chaotic world, I find some sense of clarity when I can get my thoughts out “on paper.” It’s cathartic to share my successes and failures on the never-ending quest for well-being.
Here are some of my favorite posts since July 2015:
Sticking with those Healthy Resolutions
A Little Support Goes A Long Way!
I close this blog birthday post like all the previous ones: with a heartfelt thank you to all my readers who inspire to keep on keepin’ on! Whether you’ve been following my blog since the first post or started just recently; taken the time to retweet something I’ve written; liked, shared or commented on my Facebook or Instagram posts – each act of support goes a long way! If there’s anything you want to read more or less about here, I’d love to hear your suggestions for ways to take LauraLovesFitness through another year.
So, here’s to what comes next not only for my blog, but for the adventures that await on our continuing journey to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
lauralovesfitness 