SoulCycle Superstar Stacey Griffith’s Spiritual Spin on Healthy Living

Stacey Griffith is a SoulCycle superstar, but her first book, Two Turns From Zero, is not about spinning. Fitness is a theme, of course. But her many fans (and there are many) wouldn’t be surprised by the fact that she gets the most excited when talking about what motivates her—and how she then uses that supercharged stamina to motivate others. “I care about every person’s experience in every situation,” she says. “I watch out for people as a general rule. It’s who I am.” Griffith’s book is no fairy tale, either. It gets gritty about her past personal struggles—from drug problems to career stumbles—while painting a picture of how each failure drove her to succeed, both on and off the bike. RELATED: 3 Goal-Setting Tips to Succeed at Anything Here’s how the celebrity Soul instructor lives well—from spirituality to Skinny Pop. How Does Stacey Griffith Live a Nutritious Life? What’s your go-to breakfast? Oatmeal with chia seeds. Your go-to workday lunch? Sweet potato, avocado, baby greens, one sunny side egg on top. RELATED: Amazing Avocado-Egg Recipes to Make Now What’s the one food you always have in your fridge? Blueberries and Bai Bubbles. The one food you’d never buy? Liver, ew. The snack you always have with you when traveling? Skinny Pop popcorn, plain flavor. Your favorite food indulgence? Too many to list: PIZZA, Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding, Bill’s Birthday Cakes. How often do you exercise, and what’s your workout of choice? I teach 18 classes a week. After running around the floor, I have little energy for myself on the weekends to ride at SoulCycle, but I also love cross-training and doing Michelle Brugal’s studio workouts. Rumble is super fun, XPT training when I can get to it. And surfing now that summer is here and my ocean fear has passed…and lot’s of SUP boarding! What’s your go-to tool for managing stress? Listening to Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle’s Youtube’s. They’re the best. RELATED: A 2-Minute Calming Meditation to Manage Stress How do you pamper yourself when you need it? Facials at Tracy Martin, massages with Makaila and Lisa Hoffman, and baths with my spiritual bath salts SBbySG…coming soon in June!! Do you have a favorite health gadget? I’m a gadget girl but not for health. I find them to sometimes to be disappointing. When you think you killed it and it says, “eh… you only burned 200.” I think we’ve gotten to the age where you rely on a gadget to gauge your performance, and sometimes it’s more rewarding to just know in your gut you really had a fantastic training session. It’s crazy how many people are addicted to that little thing. I personally think they get in the way and can be very distracting in a dark room. Which healthy habit do you wish you had more time for? Working out. I’m so tired from my job, I don’t have the energy for myself. I give it to all of my students every day, 900 classes a year. Lightning Round Meditation or massage? Massage. A hot shower or a soothing bath? Bath. Almond butter or peanut butter? Almond. Coffee or tea? Coffee. A long run outside or a dark spin class? Spin class. Photos: Instagram/staceygnyc

A 30-Minute Yoga Routine to Fight Stress and Build Strength

Think you’ve got to hit the gym to build muscle and then make time for sun salutations to keep your stress levels in check? With this strength-building yoga style, you can roll out your mat for just half an hour and get it all in at once. Superstar yogi (and graduate of The Nutrition School!) Danielle Diamond created Xen Strength Yoga to combine yoga and meditation with muscle building for major mind-body benefits. (Including the ability to carry that luxe, heavy yoga mat all over the city without breaking a sweat?) The method involves both weights and warrior poses and is now super popular. Diamond even launched a free teacher training program for current yoga, fitness, and other wellness pros that you can participate in from home. RELATED: How Yoga Star Caley Alyssa Follows an “Awareness Diet” Ready to try strength-building yoga at home? She shared a 30-minute sequence you can do anytime, anywhere, below. Work it into your weekly routine for maximum benefits. Strength-Building Yoga

Celebrity Trainer Holly Rilinger Shares Her Healthy Secrets

Here’s a fun fact about celebrity trainer Holly Rilinger: She’s not a fan of road biking. That’s despite the fact that she built a crazy-loyal following of fans while on a bike…albeit, the indoor kind. Rilinger is currently the creative director (and a top instructor) at growing indoor cycling brand Cyc Fitness. She’s also a Nike master trainer (and you may have seen her on Bravo’s Work Out New York last year). And while she’s a pro at motivating people to pedal faster, she also knows the benefit of slowing down and getting centered. Evidence: She’s also the creator of LIFTED, a workout that pairs high-intensity interval training with meditation. RELATED: Try This 2-Minute Calming Meditation Turns out meditation is just one of the ways Rilinger takes care of herself while pushing her body—and clients—to the limit. Find out more, below. How Does Holly Rilinger Live a Nutritious Life? What’s your go-to workday dinner? Either sushi—my go-tos are sashimi and non-rice rolls—or RARE Steak and veggies. What’s the one food you always have in your fridge? Avocado. It’s my quick fix! The one food you’d never buy? Processed meats. The snack you always have with you when traveling? There’s a great new bar on the market called Nutshell. Fantastic ingredients and made in small batches. What do you eat before and after a workout? Before, it depends on the time of day and how much time I have before the workout. I like fruit in the morning before my workouts. Midday, I can eat protein, like slices of chicken or eggs. Post workout: I love a good smoothie with protein and greens. My favorite proteins right now are pea and collagen. RELATED: 3 Foods That Boost Collagen That Aren’t Bone Broth Your favorite conscious indulgence? Corn Cookies and Cereal Milk Ice Cream from Momofuko! (I just got excited.) Other than water, what do you sip regularly? Ginger Fireballs from Juice Press. How often do you exercise, and what’s your workout of choice? 6 days per week! I teach indoor cycling at Cyc and it’s my PASSION. How do you stay active outside the gym? I’m a big surfer. If I could surf every day, I would. It’s HEAVEN. What’s your go-to tool for managing stress? Meditation. I meditate every morning for at least 10 minutes. Do you have a favorite health gadget? Lacrosse ball. It’s my portable foam roller and helps me work out the knots. RELATED: How Your Lymphatic System Can Help You Lose Weight How do you express and spread love? I share my journey through my work. People love to hear where I’ve fallen along the way. They love honesty. I’m such a work in progress. We all are. I don’t eat perfectly or feel great every day. I like to share these sides of myself so that other people feel like it’s okay to be less than perfect. What’s your weirdest healthy habit? I don’t know that it’s weird, but I like to sleep A LOT. I also need a lot of alone time. I need to recharge by being alone. I give a lot to others during my regular day, so partying and socializing is not a huge part of my life. Which healthy habit do you wish you had more time for? Yoga. I need to make time for it. Lightning Round Meditation or massage? Massage. A hot shower or a soothing bath? Hot shower. Almond butter or peanut butter? Almond butter. Coffee or tea? Coffee. A long run outside or a dark spin class? Dark spin class.

Why Fitness Pro Adam Rosante Is All About Smoothies (and Cocktails)

The personal trainer to celebrities, creator of The People’s Bootcamp and author of The 30-Second Body reveals his personal secrets to living a balanced (but busy) life.

Dr. Jordan Metzl’s High-Intensity, Fitness-Focused Nutritious Life

Dr. Jordan Metzl’s mom had a motto that clearly stuck with him: “Rest means rust!” The esteemed sports medicine physician, popular fitness instructor, athlete, and best-selling author almost never stops moving, and his new book reflects that ethos. Dr. Jordan Metzl’s Workout Prescription: 10, 20 & 30-minute high intensity interval training workouts for every fitness level brings the science of high-intensity exercise to the busy masses, with workouts you can do quickly, wherever you are, no equipment required. To celebrate the launch, we asked Dr. Metzl to share how he lives his own most Nutritious Life daily, and he dished out the details on how he swims, bikes, and runs all over the town, the foods he eats for fuel, and more fun facts. How Does Dr. Jordan Metzl Live a Nutritious Life? If you had to name your healthy diet, what would you call it? “Dr. Metzl’s A Little Bit of Everything Diet.” I’ve done 14 Ironman triathlons and 35 marathons, and food is fuel to me. I love all different kinds of food, and the more efficient I make my body, the more foods I can enjoy. What’s the one food you always have in your fridge? Greek Yogurt. It’s simple, fast, and packed with protein. The one food you’d never buy? Peanut butter. I hate it! What do you eat before and after a workout? I like doing the “naked workout” once or twice a week—as in working out on an empty stomach. If I do eat before a workout, it’s usually some type of complex carbs like whole wheat bread with honey and coffee. Afterwards, if it’s been a serious training session, I usually go for the first thing I can get my hands on. Your favorite food indulgence? Ice cream. Other than water, what do you sip regularly? Coffee. How often do you exercise, and what’s your workout of choice? Every day. I try to never miss a day. I vary my workouts regularly. I run, swim, bike, and I’m obviously a huge fan of HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) that focuses on strength. My latest book is all about that. Which workout would you NEVER do? There isn’t a workout I wouldn’t try at least once. How do you stay active outside the gym? I’m hardly ever in the gym! I get around New York City on my bike. If I have a meeting or an event downtown, I’ll put clothes in my backpack and run to the closest Equinox. I keep it moving all the time. My mother always says, “rest means rust!” What’s your go-to tool for managing stress? Exercise, 100 percent. How do you express and spread love? I try and do it as much as I can. I smile and high-five every single patient I see and every person I interact with. I try to build that same idea within my IronStrength fitness community, too. We do a lot of partner workouts and supporting and cheering each other on. Which healthy habit do you wish you had more time for? Sleep! Lighting Round Meditation or massage? Massage. A hot shower or a soothing bath? Shower. Almond butter or peanut butter? Neither! Coffee or tea? Coffee. A long run outside or a dark spin class? Run. “How Do You Live a Nutritious Life?” is a recurring column. Featured guests complete a questionnaire and select answers are then chosen and edited to share, here. Are you a wellness pro interested in sharing how you live a Nutritious Life? Email lisa@nutritiouslife.com to be considered.

Why Your Pelvic Floor Needs Strengthening NOW

Do you remember your mom telling you not to make her laugh because she’ll pee her pants?  Chances are she spoke to someone about that, and they told her to do Kegels. Doing Kegel exercises are the cookbook recipe that doctors prescribe when a patient complains of “peeing a little” when she sneezes, coughs, laughs too hard, or jumps rope. While Kegel exercises will strengthen the opening of the urethra, as a Pilates instructor, I want you to do a little bit more to strengthen the entire pelvic floor. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that provide support for the organs that reside in the pelvis, stabilize joints around the pelvis, and control the elimination of waste from the body. These muscles also help the body to have better orgasms. So yes, the pelvic floor is IMPORTANT! Things that weaken the pelvic floor are childbirth, being overweight, and continuous straining from constipation. (Eat your greens!) How to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor To perform a Kegel exercise, you first have to know how to find the most superficial of the pelvic floor muscles. The best way to do this is to stop the flow of urine midstream. That’s a basic Kegel, and once you’ve figured it out, you’ll want to practice doing them with an empty bladder (continuously doing Kegels while urinating can cause an increased risk of bladder infections since the bladder may not be fully empty.) But the problem with the basic Kegel is that you’re only exercising the most superficial layer of the pelvic floor muscles. While you’re taking the time to strengthen them, you might as well work all of the layers. When working with my Pilates clients in the studio, I cue them to begin with a Kegel or to imagine that two elevator doors are closing (the doors being your labia) and then imagine that the elevator is going up towards your belly button, feeling it (the elevator) lift. That lifting of the elevator is exercising the deepest layers of the pelvic floor. It’s important to note that you should do this exercise in a few different positions. The contents of the pelvis – the bladder, the uterus, the intestines and the rectum – put pressure on the pelvic floor while standing, but the pressure is different when you are on your back, stomach or side. In the studio, I’ll cue clients to do the elevator lift while doing Pilates exercises in the varying positions. You can easily do this, too. Do the elevator lift when you are driving, standing in line, doing side-lying leg lifts in barre class, or when you get into bed on your back. Aim for three to five lifts each time you do them and try to do them every day. A healthy and strong pelvic floor may not be as satisfying as looking at six-pack abs, but there’s something to be said for enjoying a great belly laugh without having to worry about peeing on yourself like mom.   About Cassie: Cassie Piasecki, who is  Nutritious Life Certified nutrition coach is also a Pilates Method Alliance, Certified Pilates Teacher, and personal trainer based in Newport Beach, Calif. With over two decades of experience, Cassie has taught fitness to over 10,000 people! She now connects with clients both in the studio and online. You can find her on Twitter or her website, The Wow Life. Her favorite quote comes from Joseph Pilates, “Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.”

How to Overcome a Weight Loss Plateau

How rewarding is it when you set out to lose weight and it actually works?! In the beginning, you set your mind to it and the weight started to come off.  At first the weight dropped off steadily, and then there probably was a little weight loss plateau, but then you felt better than you had in a while, and the success from dropping the first few pounds helped you keep at it. Now, you’re really getting to your goal, when all of a sudden you feel stuck with those last few pounds. Sound familiar? In the beginning, it was easy. You may have started by cutting out what you knew was keeping the weight on . . . the soda, the office muffins, the extra slice of pizza . . . and your body responded, which motivated you to keep going. When you hit that little weight loss plateau you started pulling back on portions (even of the healthy stuff), drinking more water and switching the sandwich at lunch for a gorgeous salad. Go you! You’ve been doing everything right. You feel great. You are almost there. You are almost there. You are almost there. What the *$&%@*?! Those last lingering pounds aren’t budging. Maybe they’re just there to mess with your head? What’s the deal?   How to Overcome a Weight Loss Plateau   Diet trumps exercise in weight loss. I struggle when I have a client a few pounds from his or her goal weight who is so fixated on the number on the scale that nothing else matters. I always tell them not to give that number too much power. Easier said than done? I know. To lose weight, the most important thing is to change your diet. However, especially when those final few pounds won’t budge, you also need to take a really close look at other pillars of your wellness. Let’s focus on exercise and stress here. Exercise: Sometimes you’re feeling fit, your clothing is fitting better than ever but the scale wants to show 148 pounds, instead of 145. If those 3 pounds simply must come off, you may need to pull back on the spin classes, heavy strength training or swimming and head over to a low and slow treadmill workout or a yoga or barre class to meet your number goal. Intense exercise, like spin and boot camps can build muscle, which is dense and adds to the higher number on the scale. Let’s not forget though, that changing up your routine in this case is just to accomplish that number goal! You may actually feel better at 148, so maybe this is a good time to assess if 145 still is the goal. Another thing to consider, is that we all have a set point, which is the weight our bodies tend to hover around naturally. You don’t get to choose your set point (boy, wouldn’t that change the world!), but with hard work you can lower it. It will take time. Not days. Not weeks. But months and months of consistent work. Finally, instead of yelling profanities at the scale every morning, try measuring your waist, thighs, hips, arms and chest, or get a body fat analysis to see how you’re doing. Your scale has feelings too. Stresssssss Is there more to those three pounds than diet and exercise? Is it possible that you’re fighting your biology with mixed goals? If you’re like too many people, you’re living a busy, stressful life. You’re also trying to live a healthy life. Those two things don’t always work together so well. When you’re stressed, your body produces adrenaline and cortisol, hormones that make it harder to lose weight. Your heart may feel racier and you may find yourself craving junk, thanks to sabotaging hormonal effects. Look honestly at your stress and how you’re managing it. It’s just as important as your diet and exercise. What will help YOU manage your stress so you can kick those few pounds to the curb and also boost your health? Try one of these stress reducing methods daily: meditate for 10 minutes a day, take a long shower or bath nightly, or read a book instead of getting back on your computer before bed. Of course there are more than a couple reasons (age, sleep deprivation, hydration, medications, yo yo dieting history…) why you’ve hit that weight loss plateau and those few extra pounds may be lingering, but exercise and stress are two biggies that are super important and often overlooked. Good for you for getting sooooo very close to your goal. Tweak and refine what is already working for you by switching up your exercise and ditch the stress. And if it’s any consolation, we think you look great;)   Tried it all, but your weight still won’t budge? Learn why your hard work isn’t paying off and how to re-channel your energy to lose the weight. Check out my e-book: Why Can’t I Drop the Weight?    

The Fastest Way to Lose Weight This Week

You’re searching high and low for the fastest way to lose weight this week. You’re stressing. You’re kicking yourself for eating pizza over the weekend and missing your Sunday morning hot yoga class because you were hungover. Whether it’s for a date with the hot new guy at the office (our lips are sealed), that tropical vacation you’ve been waiting on for months, or as a jumpstart to your weight loss plan, you need to drop a few pounds stat. We’ve all been there. If you want to look amazing in your LBD but the zipper is way tight and you can’t quite sit down in your favorite jeans at the moment, read on for the fastest way to lose weight in a jiffy. And no, starving yourself is not the answer. The Fastest Way to Lose Weight This Week 1. Eat Empowered Eat real food. Often.  Stop worrying about what extreme diet you need to start. Stop counting calories and start thinking about the real food you’re going to eat. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner—and at least one snack a day (no skipping meals!)—consisting of whole, real foods. I’m talking loads of veggies, lean protein such as grass-fed steak, chicken, fish and eggs, and healthy fats as in cashews, pecans, olives, avocado and coconut. Ditch the packaged and processed foods—especially anything that includes added sugar. If you need an exact plan, I’ve got you covered here. Begin your day with breakfast and eat every few hours or when you feel slightly hungry and stop when you feel slightly satisfied. Not sure what that feels like? Check out this hack . Eating real food combined with listening to your body is your new winning combo. Fact: Eating real food makes you feel better and that alone can make you look better. If you’re skimping on nutrients or need a way to boost your protein, check out our Nutritious Life-developed Life’s Abundance Greens Blend and Life’s Abundance Vanilla Plant Protein. It’s the fastest way to up your nutrition game. RELATED: Sugar Cravings: 4 Reasons They Happen and How to Stop Them 2. Sweat Often Get 45 minutes of movement in—every day this week. I’m a fan of mixing up exercise. This might mean getting in HIIT workouts one day, long bouts of cardio or a hike on another, and pilates and yoga on other days. But, most of all, I’m a fan of being consistent with exercising and moving, in whatever way, shape or form makes you feel your best. The fastest way to lose weight means sticking with whatever movement makes you feel good. When you feel good, you’re more likely to be consistent. Also, when you feel you good, you eat well and you sleep well which, guess what … helps you eat well again. This intertwined cycle is what a Nutritious Life is all about. This week, I want you to focus on being consistent with your exercise and doing it daily. You don’t even need to hit a gym to get it in. Here’s a quickie workout I do just about anywhere. Five-mile run sound good? Do it. Spin class right up your alley? Get that in. Hike in the hills all you want to do? Go for it. Fact: Yes, you’ll shed pounds by burning calories when you exercise, but exercising also increases blood flow. This helps with circulation and gives your skin a healthy glow. Exercise can also help reduce stress, which will help you sleep better. Both exercise and sleep are needed to calm your nerves. RELATED: Quick 5-Minute Full-Body Workout You Can Do Anywhere 3. Sleep Deep Aim for 8 hours of sleep a night, settle for no less than 7.  For some reason, sleep is still one of those things that we give up in order to fit everything else into our busy schedules. Many of us still feel like we should get a gold star when we triumphantly go without sleep to log more hours at a bar chatting it up with friends or burning the midnight oil at our desk. Unfortunately, no medals awarded here. Sleep should be a top priority. It’s right up there with what we put into our bodies, especially when we want to be looking and feeling our best. This week, practice good sleep hygiene by picking a bedtime and sticking to it. Allow yourself 15 minutes of winding down time before your head hits the pillow. Fact: They don’t call it “beauty sleep” for nothing. While we sleep, our body’s natural antioxidant and sleep hormone, melatonin, fights off free radical invaders. If you’re not getting enough sleep at night, you’re reducing the amount of time that melatonin gets to fight off wrinkles, and those bags under your eyes will only get worse. By getting enough sleep at night, you not only look and feel well-rested, but your immune system will be strengthened. RELATED: Sleep Procrastination: What It Is and How to Stop Doing It, Pronto! 4. Drink Up Drink eight glasses of water and two cups of green tea a day. For two days before your special occasion, drink one cup of dandelion root tea as well. Trust me, this one is important. Being properly hydrated is linked to metabolism, energy and skin health. Fact: It might sound counterintuitive, but drinking water throughout the day, helps you to reduce bloating, flush out toxins, hydrate your skin to achieve a healthy glow, and keep your digestive organs in good working order. On top of that, green tea has been shown to boost metabolism and dandelion tea will help flush you out, further reducing toxins and any bloating. RELATED: Do I Really Need to Be Drinking Water to Lose Weight? 5. Nurture Yourself No time or money to book that expensive facial? Have no fear, your DIY cleansers are here. Give these easy homemade facial cleanser and mask a try. You’ll almost be able to feel the antioxidants and nutrients seep into your skin making it soft, smooth

9 Ways to Work Out at Home

Exercising among hundreds of sweaty gym goers just isn’t for everyone. If you don’t enjoy squeezing yourself into a corner of a room for a class or sweating taking the chance of sweating it up next to a man who smells like garlic then going to a health club to get your fit on just may not work for you. That’s no excuse not to up your fitness. You just need to figure out how to workout at home, or at least not workout in a gym. There are endless options, but here are 9 of my faves. 9 Ways to Work Out at Home 1. Maximize tube time. Most commercial breaks last 60 seconds to 2 ½ minutes. Don’t fast forward your DVR or get up and go to the fridge, instead use these breaks to up your fitness. How about trying: crunches or planks (try to get as many in or stay as long as you can in the pose until your show returns); lunges, push-ups, squat-jumps or burpees (do as many as you can without stopping); yoga poses or stretches (hold each pose or stretch for 30 seconds). Every little bit counts, so challenge yourself to increase your repetitions or time as you progress. 2. Go digital. If you’re contemplating diving into the gym but aren’t sure if you’d like zumba, boot camp, yoga with weights or another gym class you may have heard of, try it at home first before doing it en mass. If your dvd player already made it to the technology graveyard with your VCR, then there are plenty of streaming options for you. Youtube is the easiest place to start. If you’re interested in Boutique style workouts, give Booyah Fitness a try. Got a smart TV? Check out your hub for free fitness VOD apps. Options are endless, you just gotta think outside the gym. 3. Make the playground your playground. Commit to getting an outdoor workout in (even if it is quick) every time you bring your kids to the park. Hint: if you wear your new athleisure wear, I promise you will be more motivated. Climb. Chase. Swing. Throw and catch. Use the bench for dips, step ups and Bulgarian lunges. Use a tree to secure your TRX. Do laps around the swing set. Small children are often fit because they never stop moving, and they don’t need to do conventional movements to be their most healthful selves. Imitate them (including the laughing and goofiness) – it feels great and you will look great too. See those monkey bars? Go try a pull up! 4. Bring the gym to you. Consider purchasing a doorway gym system. There are several options out there, such as TRX, that are portable and easy to set up. Other options are to purchase a cardio machine or hire a personal trainer who will come to you. Whatever you choose, make it part of your routine and schedule your exercise like a doctor’s appointment so that you’ll really commit. Feel like splurging? Treat yourself to a Peleton instead of diamonds. Bikes can be a girl’s best friend, too. 5. Don’t think gaming systems are just for gamers. Not just for kids, Wii, XBOX, or whatever system you prefer has several games and services that will really get your sweat on. There’s tennis, golf, baseball, dancing, bowling and so much more if you’re feeling sporty, and there are celeb fitness trainer workout options if you’re feeling celeb workouty. Who knew you’d be the one fighting over the controls with your kids?! 6. Hit the cold. Try an outside winter sport such as ice skating, skiing, snow shoeing or sledding. You’ll be having so much fun you won’t even know you’re exercising. You can even burn cals making snow angels and snowball forts, so no judgement here if you aren’t as winter sport coordinated as you’d like to be. And with so many cute winter sport apparel options, going into your closet will be all the motivation you’ll need to head outside. 7. Stand up. You burn 33% more calories standing up than you do sitting down, so decide to stand whenever the phone rings during the day. Make an effort to fold laundry standing. Stand at the computer or when waiting for the bus. Remember your posture. Shoulders back, tummy in, stand straight. 8. Get cleaning. Join a community clean-up program, de-clutter your garage/attic/basement, wash the windows, scrub the tub, find the grass in your yard by removing leaves and debris, re-organize your closet and drawers . . . this work is endless yet rewarding.  It keeps you movin’ and groovin’. 9. Walk a dog. Having a pet is a great excuse to get out and move. Pups that live indoors require at least a 30 minute stroll to get their energy out and stay healthy. Try to maximize your dog’s requirements and your own at the same time. Wear comfortable shoes and keep a good pace. And did I mention this will save you from having to get Sparky’s toenails clipped? Of course check with your physician before embarking on a new fitness routine. Think outside the fitness box and you will be successful. Cheers to your most healthful and fit self!

How does Natalie Jill Live a Nutritious Life?

Natalie Jill helps people across the globe reach their health, fitness, and business goals. Natalie left a very successful career in corporate America to follow her passion with health and fitness. As a Licensed Master Sports Nutritionist and functional fitness trainer, Natalie leveraged the power of the internet and in a short amount of time she was able to help hundreds of thousands of people worldwide get in shape and be their best selves. In the process, she created a globally recognized brand with over a million social media followers worldwide and created an online business that has helped hundreds of thousands! Although many see Natalie Jill as a fitness and nutrition expert, she is increasingly garnering attention for her ability to help others create, define, and monetize their brand in the online space. In health & fitness, or in business, Natalie brings out the BEST in everybody she works with and helps them GET RESULTS! What’s not to love about that?! Every time I chat with this amazing woman and friend, she brings out the best in me too! Read on to learn how she lives a Nutritious Life. Oh, and if you wanna get rockin’ abs like she has, check out her awesome workout programs or her book the 7-Day Jump Start! How do you DRINK UP? Proper hydration is also very important for me so I always bring a water bottle with me. I LOVE my stainless steel water bottles – they stay cold, are inexpensive, and come in fun colors and patterns. I also have a fruit infused water bottle to carry with me all day long. Having it by my side is an instant reminder to drink more water! I normally know I have not gotten in enough water if I start feeling drowsy… Time to hydrate! I am also a HUGE fruit and veggie eater so those keep me hydrated as well. How do you EAT EMPOWERED? I am a fan of eating an unprocessed food diet. I have an auto immune disease called Celiac Sprue where my body can’t process Gluten, so I have been gluten free for 15+ years now. I chose to “unprocess my diet” and have learned the benefits of eating an unprocessed diet that is also naturally gluten-free. I eat much more fats (healthy fats), unlimited fruits and veggies, proteins and eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. Nothing is off limits, but the majority of what I eat once “grew and needed sun”- meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, sweet potatoes. I do not count calories and I do not eat at scheduled intervals. I listen to my body, eat real, natural unprocessed foods and THAT is what I teach and what is on all of my programs. As I noticed the change from the unprocessed diet, I started to unprocess everything including the way I worked out and how I dealt with people and life. Unprocessing every aspect of my life resulted in my mindset changing, the weight leaving and staying off, my body re-defining, looking and feeling younger, empowered, and ultimately becoming truly happy. How do you LIVE CONSCIOUSLY? Deciding comes first. I decided to fix things. I put everything I knew into play- from goal setting, to vision boards, to eating unprocessed foods, positive thinking and getting negatives out of my life. I turned my life around through accountability. Accountability is everything. It doesn’t matter what I am dealing with. I take accountability and ownership and do what I can do in my current situation to change it for the better. Now, my motto is “Be Happy…Be Healthy…Be FIT!” and that is how I live my life in addition to striving to empower other people in achieving their life goals through mindset, drive, fitness, and nutrition. How do you LOVE MORE? I focus on making what I love about myself shine brighter and let go of the self-hate and quit actively looking for what is wrong. I collect loving people in my life every day. When I meet positive, goal oriented, successful, happy, loving, and energetic people…I want them in my life. I find ways to be around them. They energize me, inspire me and help me want to better myself! And when I am my better self, I am able to love more. How do you NURTURE YOURSELF? I workout daily, go hiking, do yoga, eat unprocessed and nutritious foods, listen to motivating music, spend quality time with my family, occasionally go out with friends, and surround myself with motivating, happy, positive, and creative people. How do you SLEEP DEEP? Being happy, healthy and fit, learning to manage my time, and being with the people I love is my secret to having deep sleep. And OH how I love to sleep. I actually get excited around 8:30 pm because I know it is time to wind down. I do take magnesium before bed and drink chamomile tea. Both help me shut off my mind so I can read for a bit and then go to sleep! How do you STRESS LESS? This is a work in progress. I have taught myself to be more present in the moment and to take deep breaths before “reacting”. I stay very scheduled so that I have room for everything important. I make sure not to overbook or book things too close together. I focus on my strengths and delegate the rest.  I focus on what I am good at, what I like to do and the things that I do that make me get lost in time. The amount of money and time I actually SAVE having people help me with the things I am terrible at, has freed up my life and given me time for more of what I am good at and enjoy doing. That has made me more productive, more focused on the right things and more successful. How do you SWEAT OFTEN? I do short, intense workouts that get my heart rate up, and send some sweat running down! Those are the workouts that truly challenge me.  One of my favorite types of workouts is a track workout. This is my type of “cardio”. These workouts can be extremely effective and the training ideas are endless at the track.     Learn more