Personal Training In Ridgewood NJ!

I love the beautiful small town vibe in Ridgewood New Jersey and the surrounding towns of Bergen County New Jersey. This area has some of the best restaurants, activities, school systems, physicians and so much more! Ridgewood NJ even has a quaint little authentic French cafe that I am madly in love with.

Offering Personal Training In Ridgewood NJ over the last fifteen years has been a blessing. I have met some of the most amazing people from celebrities to sports professionals to some of the highest ranking women and men in corporate America! Each one has taught me something along the road to their fitness and overall health goals and many have become dear friends!

Fit, Healthy and Fabulous, LLC started out as personal training in Ridgewood NJ but has branched out over the years to offer a more balanced approach to fitness. I have taken multiple courses and have been certified in many new modalities in fitness and wellness so that I could offer my amazing clients more ways to feel healthy and fit. 

We offer help with nutrition and healthy eating and when necessary refer to our Registered Dietician for more in depth counseling. Meditation and learning how to breathe is one of the most important things that you will ever learn in your lifetime. We teach you how to relax and learn healthy breathing techniques with guided meditation. If you are more of a group type we have a fantastic meditation coach that offers weekly classes. 

I have also added Reiki to Fit, Healthy and Fabulous, LLC. After going for a Reiki session myself and feeling the difference it made in how I felt. I was hooked! I am now a Certified Reiki Master Teacher Practitioner and Certified by The Angel Quest Healing Center as an Angel Therapy and Energy Healing Practitioner. If you are curious about these services feel free to contact me for more information and an in depth description.

All of these additions have brought many new clients who are looking for so much more than a fitness routine with exercise and set counts for an hour training session. The clients at Fit, Healthy and Fabulous, LLC are educated on the importance of being healthy and fit BODY, MIND and SPIRIT! And we have everything they need to help them achieve and live a healthy lifestyle.

What are you waiting for? Contact us today to start living your best life ever filled with positive, healthy choices. 

https://fithealthyandfabulous.com

How Are Weight Loss And Strength Training Related?

How Are Weight Loss And Strength Training Related? I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked this question. The truth is, they simply go hand and hand when it comes to a well planned fitness routine of diet, exercise programming and a few simple lifestyle changes!

Weight loss and strength training are directly related because the latter maintains lean body mass while it aids in long-term fat loss. It's important to remember that you want to lose fat not muscle mass, and that's why you will want to incorporate strength training into your plan to lose those extra pounds to get a leaner, toned look.

When it comes to losing weight, many people think that they would prefer to just diet and not have to commit to some form of exercise program. But what usually happens is that they try one diet which works for a short time and as soon as they are off the diet, they gain back their weight, often even more than what they started with! So, they try another diet and the same thing happens again, many call this the yo yo dieting trap. Most people who practice exclusive dieting with no accompanying fitness program will regain their lost weight, whereas strength trainers rarely do.

The concept of dieting is to eat fewer calories each day. Eating fewer calories causes your metabolism to drop and when your metabolism drops, you have a harder time losing weight. Also, when you drastically reduce your calorie intake or don't get enough of everything your body needs, you lose energy and you lose muscle mass which makes your body appear less toned and actually give a loose skin look. the dreaded "skinny fat" look.

A good weight loss and strength training program will make you feel and look healthier. It reduces the risk of injury, heart disease, strokes, cancer, arthritis and osteoporosis too. This type of training ensures that you burn more calories 24 hours a day, not just during your workouts, this is known as the post workout caloric burn. Maintaining muscle takes more calories than maintaining fat so if you're consistent in your strength training, you will be burning more calories all the time. So it is important to eat a healthy diet consisting of protein to build muscle.

The best way to lose weight is slowly and consistently. A good benchmark is to lose no more than two pounds per week. You can stick to this by reducing how many much fat and sugar you consume and making sure that you get enough whole grain, vegetables and fruits. And of course, you will combine your good eating habits with a solid strength training program.

If you're out of shape, start slow, just 10 to 15 minutes per session for two or three days per week. Eventually, you'll want to build this up to 60 to 90 minutes three days a week. On your off-strength training days, try to get some cardio activity in such as brisk walking, swimming, tennis, or whatever gets your heart rate up. Again, if you are just starting out, add this in gradually. You can wait until you've gotten consistent enough with your strength training and then take a 10 minute brisk walk a couple of times a week. This can be built up as well so that you are exercising between five and seven days a week for anywhere from a half hour to an hour each time.

Remember, the key with weight loss and strength training is consistency. My fitness programs consist of exercise, healthy food choices, meditation and Reiki for mindfulness and stress reduction which I feel is half the battle for many people due to the high levels of stress society endures on a daily basis. Stress increases cortisol which in turn makes many people choose unhealthy foods and sugary snacks and increases belly fat.

For more information on my fitness programs and how to start living healthy and fit go to fithealthyandfabulous.com

Gratitude

Everywhere you go, you hear it these days...Be Grateful! Yet we hear so many people complaining!

Gratitude is a very important part of your daily mindset. In fact, gratitude has been proven time and time again to make people feel happy, more content, less stressed, helps lower blood pressure and even can help promote better sleep habits. I am a firm believer in practicing gratitude daily. When I feel like I'm having a bad day, I stop myself, take a deep breath and think of all the things that I am grateful for such as my family, my health, finding the love of my life and all the amazing things that he has brought into my life, the love and mutual respect we have for each other is a true blessing every day. A rare and amazing man for sure xo

I often think about something as simple as having food on our table, a roof over our heads and a warm bed to sleep in as a gift in itself. After spending extended time in Mexico volunteering in dog rescue, meeting so many local residents with their dogs and families, I realized how much I have in my life. Seeing so many living without basic necessities, enduring daily abuse, literally working 12+ hours just to make enough to buy a few items was a lesson learned well by me. It made me a better person and one who will always live with gratitude and give back to those in need.

Once a week I have a ritual that I do it's called from the heart to pen to paper. I sit and write everything that I am grateful for down on paper, think about what I wrote and put it in a glass jar that I made with pretty little accents and photos of things that I am grateful for. It makes me stop and think about what was positive in the day instead of what may have gone wrong or was negative on that day, it honestly makes the not so happy stuff seem so less dramatic and stressful.

We ALL live with some level of stress and negative encounters in a day, it is a matter of how you want to respond to those things that can potentially take your energy levels down, ruin your day and make you feel negative and complain for the rest of day, which in my opinion always feels like the more you complain and hear the complaint the more life you give it and the worse it feels!

So what kind of day do you want to have today? Start the day with gratitude and positive energy! Try my little ritual of from the heart to pen to paper and even involve your entire family in it, it turns out it can be so much fun for the kids and brings spouses closer together too!

https://fithealthyandfabulous.com

I am GRATEFUL!

How Your Body Rebuilds Muscles During Sleep

Ever tried to go to sleep with a throbbing thigh or a swollen ankle? Muscle strains and sprains are painful, which can make it hard to fall asleep. However, sleeping seems to affect the speed at which your muscles recover. If you want to get back on your feet faster, your best solution may be to go back to bed for a few hours.

Many athletes can’t make time for sleep between a busy training schedule or other responsibilities. However, sleeping less than seven hours per night has been linked to multiple chronic diseases, such as diabetes and depression. In the short term, it can make you irritable and less happy about training. Also, sleep deprivation may impede your ability to recover from injuries.

Of course, if you increase your hours of sleep each night, the improvements in your athletic performance can be immediate and dramatic.

More Sleep, Improved Performance

The benefits of increasing the number of hours that you sleep may extend beyond healing your muscles faster. In one study, a basketball coach added a new requirement to the training regimen - sleep at least 10 hours each night. Well rested basketball players had faster reaction times and reported less fatigue, as expected. More surprising, their shot accuracy improved and those surveyed said that their physical and mental well-being was better after the sleep extension.

Why Sleep Is So Essential

Everyone knows that sleeping makes your muscles feel better after a while, though the feeling of lying in bed may be uncomfortable. However, scientists are now hypothesizing about the chemical processes that occur during sleep. One study suggests that certain chemicals, like growth factor 1, aren’t released as much when you’re sleep deprived. Since these components have a role in regenerating muscles, sleep loss may lead to muscle loss.

So, in addition to eating your protein (which has been demonstrated to help muscle recovery), make time for a few more hours of rest when you’re trying to recover from a hard workout or injury.

How to Rest Better

Aching muscles can keep you awake at night, but they need sleep to recover. You can overcome this situation by focusing on improving your sleep habits and comfort level in bed.

First, keep a consistent bedtime and wake-up time, even on weekends. Your body calibrates its internal clock using many mechanisms, but it likes consistency. If you go to bed at 9 p.m. each night, your body will learn to start releasing sleep hormones, like melatonin, at that time. Even if you’re in pain from a rough workout, the melatonin release will help ease you into slumber.

Second, make sure your bedroom is comfortable. People need different firmness mattresses depending on their body weight and preferred sleeping position. Check mattress reviews to see if your bed is a good fit for the way that you sleep. Another way to make your room more restful is to minimize distracting light and sounds. Blackout curtains and a white noise machine may help.

Lastly, don’t exercise right before bed. In the summer, it can be tempting to wait for the cooldown of the sunset before working out. However, the rush of hormones from exercise can make it difficult to fall asleep afterward. If you must do some activity in the evening, keep it light, like easy yoga or stretching.

These tips should help you get the sleep you need to recover from tough workouts and feel better soon.

Guest Blogger @ SleepHelp.org

Are You Tired of Feeling Tired?

Well, if you said yes, you are not alone, you answered the same as most people do. That is because we are living in a society where we are always on the go, a society where we never take the time to care for ourselves. This type of constant strain inevitably takes a toll on each of us, and often the effects strike when we least expect it. The results of this lifestyle? Simple, fatigue, resentment, premature aging, poor health and the inability to function properly on a daily basis. Simply put, we are trying to pour out of an empty cup day… after day… after day. Do you try to drive your car without gas or proper maintenance? You can't so what makes us all think we can drive our bodies on poor maintenance and low fuel?

I want to talk about this topic today because it is easily one of the biggest complaints I get from my clients and prospective clients when inquiring about how they can get healthy and fit. They reach out to me for help because they are tired all the time and feel fatigued.

Today I am going to give you three simple tips on improving your energy and, in doing so, improving your health for years to come!

1). Sleep is a Priority

When I talk to clients about being tired one of my first questions is always on not only quality of sleep, but also quantity. How much are you sleeping each night, and how well are you sleeping? Believe it or not, chronic sleep deprivation can wreak havoc with your brain chemistry and cause all sorts of long term and seemingly unrelated problems. The first step is to pay attention to when and how well you are sleeping.

Some great tips for better sleep include:

• Limiting screen time before bed. Studies show that exposure to blue light before sleeping can change brain patterns and make restful sleep harder to achieve.
• Creating a restful environment. Removing distractions from your sleeping space can help you relax and achieve a more restful sleep. Use lavender spray on your pillows, this is one of my favorite little rituals before bed!
• Exercise! We will talk more about this in a minute, exercise works to make the body tired and ready to recharge in a healthy way, unlike fatigue from constant stress on the mind and body. A tired body sleeps better and you will wake feeling more refreshed for a new day.
• Limit alcohol before bed. Alcohol may seem to help you fall asleep initially, but it will disrupt the second half of sleep which is the most important because it interrupts REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Disrupted REM sleep can cause drowsiness, poor concentration, sleep apnea and will throw off your overall sleep patterns.

2). Make Time for Yourself!

Many times, when I ask my clients what they are doing for themselves, they aren’t quite sure how to answer. This is mostly because in our culture doing something for yourself is equated with being selfish. My friends this is not the case! You are not really beneficial in any family, business or group activity if you are too mentally tired to function.

Let me ask it this way. How can you continue to care for everyone and everything around you if you are constantly trying to pour out of an empty cup? Here’s another thought. If you will not take care of yourself, how do you plan to take care of others?

It’s something to think about!

Ways to add self-care to your day:

• Take time to do something you enjoy every single day. Even if you just carve out 15 minutes to walk around the block and clear your head, sit outside and read a book, it will help you relax and focus on the demands of tomorrow.
• Mediate or stretch before bed. These activities help to calm and focus the mind which improves sleep quality while also offering a sense of well-being.
• Take a Yoga class. Yoga, and other similar forms of exercise, provides you with a one-two punch in terms of your health. Not only do they work to burn calories and tone your body, but they also clear your mind and help energize you for the rest of the day.

3). Exercise! 

What many people don’t realize is that exercise provides so many benefits beyond simply getting your body up and moving. It releases endorphins which relate to mood. It also improves practically every major system in your body, making them function more effectively as you improve your overall health. It improves the quality of your sleep and it has the ability to greatly improve your energy as your body grows leaner and stronger.

Working exercise into your busy day can include:

• A 15-minute brisk walk around the block during your lunch break.
• Joining a gym, taking classes or working with a trainer. Most trainers offer 30-minute condensed fitness sessions that pack a major fitness punch and are easy on the wallet too!
• Finding a set of exercises videos, you enjoy and can follow in the comfort of your own home.

I WANT you to feel GOOD! I don’t want you to just burn a few calories and go on with your day, I want your quality of life to improve as you grow stronger and start getting more out of life. Take control of your day and you will start to take control of all areas of your life. Being fit and healthy is about the mind, body and soul!

If you have any questions about how we can work to improve your energy and quality of life, please reach out. I would love to hear about your goals and help you make a plan to achieve them!

www.fithealthyandfabulous.com

Aging And Weight Training

It is NEVER too late to get healthy!  

Weight training is a simple addition to your daily routine and does not require a lot of time. However, it is the most important exercise that you can incorporate into your health and fitness routine!

As we age, there are a number of physiological functions that decline; this increases your risk of developing osteoporosis, arthritis, type 2 diabetes and loss of muscle mass. 

Strength training 2–3 days a week can help prepare you to fight these effects of aging. It is a MUST!

It’s never too late to create new habits. Strength training for many people isn’t as fun as walking, spin class, yoga or playing sports. But the short and long term benefits of picking up those weights have proven benefits. 

Such as:
Increased bone density
Stronger ligaments and tendons

But the benefits do not stop there. Muscle allows us to continue to be active, functional and healthy. It’s critical for activity and movement, simply put weight training is critical to our happiness and long term health!

www.fithealthyandfabulous.com

Motivation And The Lack Of It!

Motivation, do you lack it? Stop making excuses and find the time to get healthy.

The top two excuses that I hear are "I don't have time to exercise" and "I don't have the money to join a fitness program".

I don't have time to exercise. You need to make the time and put some effort into your health and wellness. So many people want to get healthy and feel fit, but they get caught up in the "Busy Being TOO Busy Whirlwind" everyday. We are all busy doing things that make up our everyday lives, working, daily errands, taking the kids to after school activities, watching our favorite TV shows, having drinks or coffee with our friends, and you can add the honey do lists in there too. You have no problem finding the time for all of these things that you need and want to do, now you need to find the time to do the things that make you "able" to get all those things done, if you do not take care of your health and well being your body will start to let you know when it is not functioning properly, our bodies can only handle so much being on auto pilot. Think about how you feel when all you do is go, go, go and not take time for yourself, you feel back pain, neck stiffness, headaches, stomach problems and you may even feel short tempered and cranky. Just 30 minutes of exercise every day has been proven to help people handle life better, exercise reduces stress and blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, improves mood and can help those who suffer from depression and the list goes on.....

I don't have the money. Some people really do not have the extra money, BUT you can still take a group class, or get a few friends to start a small group training class for very little cost or you can start a walking group for no cost at all. What I find mind blowing is when I see people with high priced cars, expensive clothes, shoes and handbags and yet they claim that they cannot afford a personal trainer or health coach. I know it is just another excuse when I hear this, they need to see the value of a good health and fitness program and how it can improve their lives. Remember one thing, you cannot place a price tag on good health and a fit, properly functioning body.

I have never had one client tell me that they regret taking the time or spending the money to reach their fitness goals, lose the targeted weight we set for them or complain about waking up with more energy and excitement for the day ahead!

The truth is sometimes all you really need is a little extra inspiration and encouragement to get motivated. Once you start a fitness program you will learn to enjoy the time spent getting healthy and look forward to the feeling it provides, and soon it too will become part of your routine and budget!

Being healthy and fit is definitely a lifestyle, a commitment and a decision, you have to ask yourself how do I want to feel at the end of each day? The choice really is yours and no one else's. 

www.fitheathyandfabulous.com