This one takes about 15 min, depending on how much time you want to break because of mental reasons haha. 
5 Rounds:
30 mountain climbers
10 Swiss ball leg lowers
15 sit-ups

Alternates are dead bugs, kettlebell swings, or slam balls. If you don't have a Swiss ball, you can just have your legs together or put a towel rolled up between legs. 

MODIFICATION MONDAY EPISODE 6! Rows!

This is the first of the band series. All you need is you, a band, and a door!

This video covers how to do a row. A row is for your back shoulder muscles. It helps with shoulder and neck pain, as well as just general strengthening, and help with posture. Give it a shot! Feel free to post questions below too. 

I've seen a lot of people recently talking about how the holidays are coming and they are either giving up on their "diet" for the holidays, or just not sure how to eat well.

​First off, don't be scared of eating "wrong" during the holidays. This is a time to be with family and not add any stress to yourself or anyone else, as usually navigating the holidays and travel is hard enough. Do your best to eat "healthy" and don't beat yourself up if you have a cookie or two. Remember you didn't just start today, so a cookie and a little eggnog is not going to undo your months of work. That being said, try not to eat the entire tray of cookies. If you find yourself overindulging, try standing up to stretch, or walking away from the food area and chatting with other people, or go admire the tree, no one can fault you for that. If you are stuck at a table, ask someone you trust to please move the tray away from you, out of hands reach, grab a tasty beverage that you like, maybe tea, or even if it is eggnog you choose, it has an end since it's in a cup, so you can sip on it instead of gulping. In essence, try to change your situation to help you the best you can.

If you are local to the festivities, make a healthy alternative. Put some veggies out for an appetizer, you likely won't be the only one eating it. You could even look for some recipes that you consider 'good alternatives" where you get your chocolate fix, but it's got whatever you consider to be "healthy" in it. 

If you are traveling, we all know that some airports are great, and others aren't for finding some healthy treats. So plan ahead. TSA doesn't let you bring drinks through security, but food isn't on the "no fly" list yet. Make a homemade snack. I pack one for going and one for leaving. Get a bag and thrown some pretzels, or some fruit, or a sandwich, or whatever you want in it. I tend to go for my gluten free pretzels, a gluten free protein bar, no sugar added dried fruit, and some gluten free jerky. The reason I do these is because I have limited how much of them I can eat by putting them in a small bag or just having a set amount. Additionally, they don't go bad, and they can sit in my bag if I don't want to eat them or just stay in the bag so I don't have to take it out when I get to my destination and explain to my family why I have a bag of treats. Before you know it, you might actually be the trendsetter in the family. My mom and hubby both bring snacks with them these days. It's also cheaper! Save money and eat what you want instead of what is forced on you.

Lastly, get up and move. Go for a walk with the family to see the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Make it a fun adventure to get all bundled up if needed, we don't do it often so have fun. Get out of the house and head to a gym, lots of places have a free trial, I do that every time I go somewhere, just look online for the free trial things, or go with a relative or friend who can bring a buddy. It's a great way to escape the chaos for a little bit, get some energy and maybe anger, not sure what you feel at the holidays, and just be on your own. It might also make you less likely to grab the food because you just worked on yourself. I know some people think, oh I worked out, I can now eat more, but we have been doing this stuff for a long time, we know better. :) 

Here is a summary:
1. Eating one cookie and some eggnog isn't going to set you back months of work. Eat mostly good and indulge a tiny bit, it's likely better than what you did before you started your journey!

2. If you're home for the holidays, contribute to the feast with some foods that won't make you feel bad for eating, either with a healthy veggie, or a "diet" approved desert, or both!

3. If you are traveling, pack some food for the road! Just like meal prepping for lunch and snacks.

4. During a tempting time at the holidays, remove the food or yourself from the situation, go take a look at the Christmas tree, or the Chanukah candles, or some pictures on the wall. No-one goes and admires ornaments anymore, go be that person. :) 

5. Get up and move! Walk with the family, go to the gym, just do some movement so you can have some personal time and be around food less.

If you liked these tips, feel free to comment, if you have other ideas, please share!

A quick video on why it's important to schedule time for yourself and not just try and fit it into your schedule. 

Try making a calendar with your "you time" activity, and truly make it a priority for yourself. ​

I see this question a lot in different forums. I also think that it is one of those things people don't talk about a lot, kind of like how much money someone makes. For some reason we don't always ask those questions...not sure why we don't but we don't. I wanted to address it, so I did a Facebook Live that I put on youtube. Check it out below. 

Also, I do not claim to be an expert. I am just an average person, with above average knowledge of the human body and exercise, sharing my thoughts. This is not medical advice, just sharing information. I also understand that there are extreme cases and not everyone should workout for one reason or another, especially when on their period, but for the average person, here you go. Please feel free to ask questions, I am always happy to answer them. 

Dairy free - Check
Gluten free - Check
"Healthy" - Check
​Paleo - Check

All these things and somewhat easy to make. Not as easy as I normally like, which is just throwing everything in a crock pot, but still easy to follow. 

I hate those places that take forever to get to the recipe...so here it is: Healthy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

When we are on "diets", we often think of anything that is not on that diet as a "cheat meal". We beat ourselves up and tell ourselves that tomorrow we will start over. But we need to start changing this thought process and here is why. 

First, diets are tough. They limit the foods we eat. This in turn makes us eventually crave something that we used to eat, but aren't eating on that diet. We are depriving ourselves of certain foods, which makes our bodies want them even more. This isn't healthy, or necessary. Some people beat themselves up when they have a cheat meal. I was never one of those people. I always said oh well, gave in, and started new the next day. The problem with both of these thoughts is that we need to stop beating ourselves up for being human. For craving something. It is ok. Give in every once in a while. But this leads me to my next point.

When we deprive ourselves of something for a long time, or really restrict our foods, when we do have a "cheat meal", we end up over indulging sometimes. For me, it is cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies. I bought a box, ate the whole thing in the car, and threw away the evidence so no one could say anything and I didn't have to see what I did. That was because I restricted myself from so many things. Instead, when I happen to make cookies and eat 2 and tell my fiancé to bring the rest to work, I am fine. I eat two, am happy, and didn't "ruin" my "diet". We need to be ok with giving in every once in a while so that we don't go overboard. Above, I used the word "ruin"...which leads to me to why I said it in quotations. 

We don't ruin a diet, or fail a diet, especially when we aren't dieting in the first place. The goal is to make something sustainable. Relearn what healthy eating is. Create a healthy relationship with food. When we are on that path and that mindset, then nothing is "off limits" or "off the diet", because everything is fair game, in moderation. The key is learning that. 

It took me a long time to get to this place, but I have finally reached it. I try to eat "good" 90% of the time, which is a huge change from when I was 13 years old. The key is to do the best you can. I know I am saying this post now, and I am about to start a "diet of sorts", but it is for health reasons. I am going gluten free and dairy free for 13 weeks. This is for a medical reason instead of to lose weight. If I lose weight in the process, awesome, but that isn't the goal. A while back you might have seen some posts about me having knee pain. Well, found out I might have a gluten sensitivity, cut gluten out about 75%, and my knee pain magically went away. No joke. I was doing everything, from working out, to rehab, to ice, to rest, but my symptoms were not normal musculoskeletal symptoms. Turns out, my increase in gluten, which a nutritionist advised, ended up being horrible for me. Who knew? Well, I will be trying a gluten free thing in January for about 13 weeks, to see if other symptoms I have go away and see how I feel. While during that time I will be cutting out things, I also will make sure to make cookies one day that are gluten free. Give into those cravings when I need them. You might see me post about paleo, that is my choice because recipes are easy to find for paleo and that is gluten and dairy free so I won't have to adjust the recipes. You might also wonder why I am waiting till January. Simple...while I am telling all of you and the world about this, I do not like to cause trouble for others. Since I will be doing lots of traveling and being with family, I don't want to be a burden, and will keep it the best I can while I am there, so when I can control my food again, I will start it up. Feel free to ask questions, always happy to answer them.