Nutritious Life: Healthy Tips, Healthy Recipes, Exercise

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Ultimate Success Starts With This One Simple Activity

There’s a good chance you’ve heard of Dogpound, the personal training studio that’s sculpted half of Hollywood from Ashley Graham to the Victoria’s Secret model squad. Sure, it’s a hot spot for celebrity sightings, but it’s the trainers like Julia Brown that have put the studio on the map.  Brown accredits her healthy lifestyle to one simple rule, “Live a full, healthy, and happy life,” she tells Nutritious Life. “I motivate my clients the same way I motivate myself by setting goals and being my best for them.” She sits down with Nutritious Life sharing her personal pandemic journey and reveals the tools that have helped her push through—from at-home workouts to her favorite sleep-aiding app.  How Julia Brown Lives a Nutritious Life What are some of your tips to stay focused…especially now?  My advice on how to bring focus into your life during this pandemic is to set short and long-term goals. Your short-term goals should cumulatively guide you into your long-term ones. Journal and write about them as if you’ve already achieved them. If you are a visual person, a vision board can help you see what you want to manifest. If routine works for you, create a healthy and consistent schedule for yourself.  Do you prefer to work out in the morning or evening? Morning. That is when I have the most energy.  What is your fitness philosophy? Not one body is the same, so do what works best for you. and do it well.  How often do you exercise, and what’s your workout of choice? I exercise 4 to 5 days a week, mixing strength training, cardio, and HIIT. How do you motivate yourself (and your clients) to work out? I motivate my clients the same way I motivate myself by setting goals and being my best for them.  If you had to name your healthy diet, what would you call it? The Thrive Tribe. The goal is to live a full, healthy, and happy life.  Has it been hard to stay on track with your nutrition while in quarantine? In the beginning, yes, because snacking is one of my weaknesses. When I started to notice how much weight I was gaining, I cut down and got back on track.  What’s your go-to breakfast? I typically fast in the morning. To break my fast, I’ll have a juice or a smoothie.  Your go-to workday lunch? A nice, green, crunchy salad filled with chickpeas, seeds, pickled onions, cucumbers, and olives. What’s the one food you always have in your fridge? Fruits and vegetables. What do you eat before and after a workout? It depends on the workout I am doing. Typically,  I’ll keep it light before a workout, unless I plan to lift heavy. Before, I’ll have juice and rice cakes with peanut butter, or slices of apples with peanut butter. Afterwards, I’ll always have a protein shake.  Your favorite food indulgence?  I absolutely love thin french fries with the perfect amount of crisp, and salt and ketchup on top.  Other than water, what do you sip regularly? Wine, preferably red.  What causes you stress? A high volume of work causes me stress. To manage it, I’ll make a list and prioritize what needs to be done first. How do you pamper yourself when you need it?  I pamper myself by listening to my body and what it wants that day. Pamper days include treating myself to a massage and spending the day by myself, preferably by the ocean. How do you express and spread love? To me, love is an act of kindness sprinkled with generosity. It’s doing something out of your own willingness with pure intention. It’s putting your all into something and still feeling whole. You can spread love with positive actions and words.  How have things changed for you since COVID-19 hit? Amidst the pandemic, my physical environment changed. I had to adapt my approach with clients to ensure that they could stay motivated at home and still achieve their fitness objectives. The biggest challenge was that my client interaction was now through a screen! I am a very hands-on trainer, and I found it difficult not to be physical with a client (such as correcting form or even high fives!). With the city shut down, my home became my workspace; and at times, it was hard for me not to be distracted. Being inside allowed me to reflect more. I took the time to figure out what was working for me and what wasn’t. Did I like routine or flexibility? What emotions was I feeling and why? For me, it has been about digging deep into my issues, tackling them head-on, and finding solutions. COVID-19 has made me appreciate life even more. It has allowed me to see things in a different light. Although we are still in a pandemic, I now choose to see the positive wherever (and whenever) possible.  What is your evening routine to wind down at the end of the day? I wind down once I’ve completed my work for the day by taking a nice warm shower and doing my nightly facial routine. I crawl in bed with my dog and turn on Insight Timer, my favorite meditation app. I use sound frequencies to fall asleep. Sometimes, I’ll meditate and journal before going to bed, but that doesn’t always happen.  Bonus Workout Grab a timer and do each exercise for 30 seconds followed by 15-20 seconds of rest after each exercise. Complete 3 rounds.  Pulse squats  High knees  Jack knives  Side lunge  Push ups  Spiderman plank  Mountain climbers  Burpees  Shoulder tap plank jacks    (photo credit: Dogpound)

The Best Workouts To Begin Your Week

best workout to start the week

There’s something about starting the week strong that can set you up for success. ClassPass, the fitness collective that streams thousands of live or on-demand workouts from top studios around the world, released new data revealing the most popular days, times and workouts for their millions of active users. Monday morning strength training and Sunday yoga were among the most popular.  With thousands of people partaking in each, we did some digging of our own to find some healthy body benefits that will help motivate you to get up and move. Monday Morning Strength Workout According to the ClassPass research, strength training early Monday morning is the most popular among users. Mondays are also my busiest days with clients. They view the beginning of the week as a clean slate or as a need-to-makeup-for-their-behavior-over-the-weekend day. So, a challenging, strength training workout can make sense to kick start your morning. If you need some motivation to set that alarm to lift those weights, there are many benefits to strength training. You’ll  increase lean muscle, decrease body fat, and burn calories more efficiently.  Plus, it can help more than just your muscles. Strength training first thing in the morning has been found to  jump start the brain. Recent studies have shown that exercise has the potential to increase levels of BDNF (brain-derived neurotropic factor) — improving cognitive health.  Sunday Evening Yoga Benefits Yoga is such a beautiful form of exercise. The challenging poses of yoga improve posture and flexibility over time making it a great workout to go along with strength training, running, HIIT, etc.  Also, it can help your gut. Yoga’s twisting the body poses help your digestive system.  I like to visualize my body as a sponge being wrung out. “Twists help massage abdominal organs and stimulate Agni,” according the the Chopra Center. “Your body’s Agni allows you to digest food efficiently and absorb essential nutrients from your food. By gently twisting your body after a large meal, you encourage fresh blood to flow to your digestive organs.” Another big part of yoga is using and being mindful of your breath. How many times have you been told to stop and take a deep breath when feeling stressed or anxious? Breath can be calming. In my yoga studies, I have been taught that by steadying the breath, we relax our body and tell our brains that we are not in fight or flight mode.  Whether you want to improve flexibility or to just have a relaxing, stress-free moment before the week starts — Sunday yoga is a great way to do something nice for your body.    — By Jane Hanisch, NLC, personal trainer  

How to Do a Bent-Over Dumbbell Row the Right Way

How to Do a Bent-Over Dumbbell Row the Right Way

By Robin Barrie Kaiden, MS, RD, CDN, NLC The bent-over dumbbell row is a great exercise—when done with proper form. It improves your posture, stabilizes your core, and sculpts your upper, mid, and lower back. In particular, you’ll work your latissimus (aka lats), trapezius, rhomboids, and erector spinae, along with your biceps. Yeah, that’s a lot. If you’re not super familiar with these muscles, here’s a quickie primer: Your latissimus is found at the side of your back, and it’s the main muscle we’re targeting with this exercise. It’s the largest muscle of the upper body and spans all parts of the spine, which is why this is a solid move for those who suffer from back pain. RELATED: 5 Simple Tips to Improve Your Posture—for Confidence and Overall Health Your middle trapezius is located across your shoulder blades, and the rhomboids are between the shoulder blades—you know, the ones you <3 showing off in a racerback tank during the summer. (Trust me, you’ll feel these muscles working hard if you have proper form!) The erector spinae is a group of eight muscles that span the back from the bottom of your pelvis to the back of your skull, and they’re super important for keeping you stable and upright. They also help you maintain that confident, promotion-worthy posture (NBD). The biceps are a secondary muscle used in the dumbbell row. Since they’re much smaller and weaker than the lats, they often “feel” the exercise and tire out first. Of course, this is all contingent on you doing your bent-over rows properly, and form is *so* important in this exercise. It’s crucial to avoid rounding your back, rotating your torso, and using jerky pulling motions, all of which can cause, instead of alleviate, back pain.  And no one wants that! So, here are the key cues to follow while rowing: Place legs out wide, about 3 to 4 feet away from the bench.  Begin in an athletic position with knees bent and hips back, pressing knees out. Place one arm on the bench, maintaining a flat/neutral back and tall chest. Row the dumbbell towards your chest, pulling elbow towards back pocket and keeping elbow inside the knee. Slowly return to the starting position, without dropping your hand too low or rounding the shoulder. Repeat with your other arm. Start with a low weight and advance once you’re certain you’re in the proper position. Remember: Good form is always more important than more weight. You’ll be surprised how much you feel your muscles work when you perform a bent-over dumbbell row correctly—and you’ll exit the gym with better posture, feeling more badass than when you entered. And isn’t that the whole point? More Perfect Form with Robin Barrie Kaiden:  How to Do a Push-Up How to Do a Plank How to Do a Squat How to Do a Deadlift

Leanne Shear Promotes Fitness Feminism and Eats Kale for Breakfast

Leanne Shear Uplift Studios

For Leanne Shear, opening a fitness studio was never just about giving people a place to get in some cardio and sculpt their abs. Uplift Studios was the first women-only fitness spot in New York City, and under Shear’s leadership, it’s become a destination for female empowerment. It’s a place where women show up to build muscle and then also make connections, find community, and further their careers. The tagline she uses to explain it all—Strong Women Uplift Each Other—could not be more accurate, and her focus on supporting new discussions around feminism (that lead to action) is part of who she is. In reality, “living consciously” seems coded into her DNA. “For me, it means understanding that life is always going to be a little crazy, a little cluttered, and sometimes off-kilter,” she says. “I don’t believe in the idea of ‘balance’ because I think it’s just another patriarchal concept which makes (especially) women feel bad about themselves, and thus, subjugated. So, I embrace the madness and excitement—the poles—of this life!” Here’s how she does that day-to-day, and how you can emulate the habits of someone who describes herself as a  “fundamentally happy and resilient person.” Sounds like a good plan, right? How Does Leanne Shear Live a Nutritious Life? If you had to name your healthy diet, what would you call it? The Anti-Diet diet! I don’t believe in fads or trends or calorie-counting when it comes to being healthy. RELATED: What Yo Yo Dieting Actually Does to Your Body What’s your go-to breakfast? I honestly often eat my homemade kale salad with lemon and tahini for breakfast: I wake up craving it! Your go-to workday lunch? Lentil Soup from Pret A Manger next door to Uplift. Your go-to workday dinner? I prefer to eat a lot more in the middle of the day. I am not a “big dinner” kind of person, so in the evening, I’ll snack on almond butter and brown rice cakes or something small and tasty. What’s the one food you always have in your fridge? Pickles from the Chelsea farmers’ market. The snack you always have with you when traveling? Dry roasted and lightly salted almonds from Trader Joe’s. RELATED: The 7 Healthiest Frozen Foods at Trader Joe’s What do you eat before and after a workout? Almonds before and a hearty meal after. Your favorite food indulgence? Cheese (and a nice Pinot Noir) for days! Other than water, what do you sip regularly? Green tea, Verday Chlorophyll Water, Jus by Julie juice…and wine. How often do you exercise, and what’s your workout of choice? I try to work out every day, even if it’s short and sweet. Running is my first true love, I adore Uplift’s classes, I spin at Cyc, and do yoga at Modo. How do you stay active outside the gym? I live in NYC so am accustomed to walking everywhere, even cities like LA, where everyone else is driving (and looking at me like I’m crazy). How do you pamper yourself when you need it? I head straight to The Strand or Three Lives to binge on some books. How do you express and spread love? Is it weird to say in all ways, as much as I can, and every day?! I’m known to sprinkle “Love you” into conversations with people whom I’ve just met! RELATED: How Gratitude Transformed One Woman’s Relationship What’s your weirdest healthy habit? Making “healthy nachos” with black beans, Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, salsa and Mary’s Gone Crackers as the “chips.” My friends always make fun of me for those, but I love them! Which healthy habit do you wish you had more time for? Stretching and foam rolling. 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? Tea. A long run outside or a dark spin class? Long run outside.

3 Insanely Effective Pilates Moves for Core Strength

Pilates moves core strength

By Kristin McGee, NLC Whether you’re yearning for visible abs or want to get stronger in your core for deeper reasons, Pilates is the way to go. I’ve been teaching Pilates since the 90s, and I truly love it. The system of exercises—either using equipment or on the mat—is designed to improve your strength, flexibility, posture, and mind-body connection, all while working your core muscles. And not only will developing core strength help you move more gracefully, you’ll feel much more confident in your body. RELATED: 5 Expert Trainer Tips You’ve Never Heard Before To get you started, I’m sharing my favorite moves that are insanely effective for tapping into your powerhouse. Try doing these three moves three to four times a week, anytime, anywhere. I’m using a TheraBand to increase the resistance, but you can also do them without one. RELATED: 10 Free 10-Minute YouTube Workouts for Full-Body Fitness Soon, you’ll feel stronger, more toned, and will carry yourself with better posture. The best thing about Pilates is how much awareness it gives us about our body. You’ll move with more ease and feel great, overall. 3 Effective Pilates Moves for Core Strength The Roll Up This is one of the best core moves according to researchers at Auburn University in Alabama, who say, “The Pilates roll-up is 30 percent more effective than the standard crunch, because it challenges your abs through a fuller range of motion and recruits more muscle fibers.” Start lying on your back (with a band wrapped around your feet if you’re using one). Engage your core and start to lift your torso up off the floor as you roll up one vertebrae at a time. Dive forward over your legs and scoop your belly button to your spine. Slowly roll back down. Repeat 6-8 times. If you’re using the theraband, press your arms back behind you as you dive your head forward. The Swan So often we forget our back is also part of our core, but Pilates works our body 360 degrees, and this move is a great example of that. I love this move for trimming the oblique muscles, upper back, and lower body. Start lying face down with your arms overhead (holding the theraband in each hand). Lift the entire body up as you pull the band apart or just lift up if using no band. Repeat 6-8 times. Use the breath and inhale as you lift, exhale as you lower. Make sure to keep the abdominals engaged, which can be challenging when you’re lying on your belly. The Frog In Pilates, we often work in a turn-out position, or a Pilates V stance, with the heels together and the toes turned out. When we engage our legs this way, we activate the inner thighs, which are directly related to the pelvic floor muscles. Pilates is great for toning the hips, inner thighs, and buttocks—while still challenging that core. I also love this move because it mimics the leg springs on the Cadillac and reformer Pilates machines. Lie down on your back with knees bent. Bring the heels together and turn your toes out. Wrap the theraband around your feet and pull the ends to the floor with your elbows along your sides and shoulders relaxed. Exhale and extend your legs out as you squeeze your inner thighs and glutes. Inhale back to starting position. Repeat 16 times. About Kristin: Kristin McGee is a nationally recognized celebrity yoga and Pilates teacher, speaker, mompreneur, and author of Chair Yoga: Sit, Stretch, and Strengthen Your Way to a Happier, Healthier You. She is also a graduate of The Nutrition School. Her unparalleled knowledge of fitness and health has established Kristin as a sought-after yoga and Pilates trainer with a continuous roster of high profile celebrities including LeAnn Rimes Cibrian, Emilia Clarke, Tina Fey, Bethenny Frankel, Savannah Guthrie, Steve Martin, and Christine Taylor Stiller. Her appeal has always been that she makes fitness fun, cool, and accessible to students of all ages and stages. She has appeared on Access Hollywood, CNN, Fox, Good Morning America, The Early Show, and the Today Show and has been featured in Fitness, Glamour, Health, InStyle, People, Prevention, Shape, Vogue, and Women’s Health. A contributing editor at Health Magazine, a spokesperson for Power Pilates Gym on HSN, and a brand ambassador for multiple companies, Kristin is a proud mom to three boys: a toddler, Timothy and newborn twins, Robert and William. Visit Kristin’s website at kristinmcgee.com and follower her at @kristinmcgee.

5 Expert Trainer Tips You’ve Never Heard Before

expert trainer tips

If you’re paying attention, expert trainer tips (like all wellness tips!) can start to sound like a broken record. Lift heavier. Drink more water. Protein, protein, protein. All of which, of course, is great advice. But you’re a smart, wellness-savvy human, and you’ve heard it all before. Thankfully, in the course of interviewing top fitness pros for our column “How Do You Live a Nutritious Life?”, unique tips pop up pretty regularly. These are the people who are living on the cutting edge of exercise, so their own practices (both inside and outside of the gym) are often forward-thinking. To inspire your sweat sessions (and overall wellness habits), we compiled five interesting expert trainer tips you’ve probably never heard before. Maybe one is the missing piece of your personal fitness puzzle? 5 Surprising Expert Trainer Tips 1. Stop practicing fitness monogamy. One person may be all you need in the romance department, but when it comes to exercise, Heidi Powell says you should really shop around. “I believe in dating all forms of fitness, even the ones you don’t want to try, to find out what you actually like. You might be surprised!” Read more. 2. Carry a lacrosse ball. The importance of recovery and stimulating the lymphatic system has been getting more attention lately, and suddenly foam rollers are all the rage. But they’re super bulky and can be expensive. Cyc’s Holly Rilinger suggests going back to basics and using a lacrosse ball. “It’s my portable foam roller and helps me work out the knots,” she says. Read more. 3. Keep moving when you’re not at the gym. Exercise is important, but movement—when you’re not wearing leggings—is just as key. Dr. Jordan Metzl is super active, yet hardly ever goes to 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,” he says. “My mother always says, ‘rest means rust!’” Read more. 4. Volunteer. One exercise celebrity trainer Adam Rosante wishes he had more time for? Not squats, not running…but volunteering! In fact, research shows volunteering isn’t just good for your community and the world, it’s linked to lower blood pressure and longer lifespans. Read more. 5. Don’t stress about dinner. As the end of the workday approaches, desk stress is replaced with dinner planning stress. Should you make the same chicken dish you already had twice this week? Why didn’t you make the time to prep grains last Sunday? Top trainer Holly Perkins says that if you eat well throughout the day (especially if you’re adding extra fuel after workouts), dinner doesn’t have to be such a momentous occasion. “I eat so well all day long that often I’m not hungry at dinner. Sometimes I just do a protein shake.” Read more.

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

Jordan Metzl healthy habits

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.

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