The Holiday Season is here! Some tips to avoid weight gain!

I can't believe it's already December 5th. I need to start writing in my blog more often! A lot has happened since I last wrote. I now have a new job! Well I'm still a trainer but I am at the Wellness Center in Arlington Heights. I love it there!! So many positive people surround me each time I walk into the building.
So what are your holiday plans? How are you going to prevent holiday weight gain? I read that people gain an average of 7 lbs between Thanksgiving and New Years Day! That's a lot for a short person like myself so I'm not about to let that happen and neither should you.
Here are some suggestions/tips for you:
Start a food log and be completely honest! Yes I had 3 hershey kisses today but let's keep it at just 3 and not 10. To stay in check a couple of my friends and I are going to show each other our food logs twice a week. We are just writing what and when we are eating.
Plan your workouts! It's easy to put off exercise when it's cold and snowy outside. So try to find a couple times a week that you can get to the gym and put it in your schedule. I recently ran out of time to do my strength training but now that my scehdule cleared up I'm penciling it in so I don't have an excuse to slack off.
Find an exercise you like!! I love love love Zumba!! So I'm going to take a few more classes this month. I've also started taking classes with my friends at Flirty Girl Fitness in Chicago. This gives us a chance to catch up and spend time together and it doesn't revolve around food!
Bring your own healthy recipes to your holiday events. I made a Hungry Girl lowfat pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving and it was amazing!
Never starve yourself before a holiday meal...that usually results in bingeing! So still eat your breakfast, lunch and light snack if your big event is in the evening. Protein is key to making you feel full and keeping you full longer so make sure you eat lots of it :-)
And last but not least remember what the holidays are all about! Our society places such a huge emphasis on having delicious food at every social occassion, but we should think about volunteering and feeding people less fortunate.
Start new traditions with your family and friends! Stay in the moment! Happy Holidays!

P.S. When in doubt buy a new workout video to do at home! Then you really have no excuses!

Fall is officially here!

I can't believe summer is really over! This is my first fall in 4 years so I'm on a mission to make it a fun one! First and foremost let's all make sure that we stay active even if it means signing up for my Zumba class or something in your neighborhood to keep you consistent with your workouts! Let's try to get in better shape now so when January first rolls along we a new resolution that doesn't involve weight loss or jean sizes! Make sure to take some time out of your busy days to look at the leaves changing colors and take a deep breath of the crisp fall air. Find a fun pumpkin recipe that's relatively healthy to cook up and enjoy! I just made Trader Joe's pumpkin pancakes and they were delicious! Try not to have millions of pumpkin spice lattes although they are so addicting. My goal is to embrace this new season and I hope you do too!

This blog is just a random fall post but I just wanted to write a little bit. I have lots of changes happening in my life and I'm ready to start training privately. Let me know if you need a trainer and check out my website http://www.wix.com/shapeupwithalison/alisonb

Happy Autumn!

Clean Eating

How many people exercise day after day but aren't getting the results they would like? Do you ever look around at the gym and see people working really hard but they look the same week after week? I know first hand that if you don't change your eating habits you won't get the results you want. I trained for a marathon but thought that was an excuse to eat whatever I wanted...needless to say my weight stayed the same.
So what is clean eating? Clean eating is staying away from processed foods! It's pretty much as simple as that. If the label has tons of strange ingredients in it...stay away. After getting back from LA I've decided to revamp my eating habits. The key to clean eating is finding healthy foods that you enjoy. And slowly incorporate foods you don't enjoy but are super healthy....that would be broccoli for me! Another key to eating healthy is always having your healthy foods and snacks ready to go. It's as simple as preparing chicken breast, putting almonds in baggies, or just making sure you make the time to go to the grocery store. So here's to eating clean!! Start today!

Favorite hungry girl breakfast recipe!

So this summer I've had lots of family in town for my sister's wedding. Well I discovered an amazing healthy french toast recipe that I had to share with everyone!! I made it for my running buddy after our 10 mile run, the bridesmaids the day of the wedding, and then my family of course. The Hungry Girl cookbooks are amazing. It's junk food made healthy and tasty! Enjoy!

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/hungry-girls-jammed-cheese-stuffed-french-toast/

Skin Cancer is no fun!

I had a mole on my head a little over 4 years ago and went to a dermatologist because it grew and was pink. The Dr. removed it and said things were fine but then I got a call saying I had basal cell skin cancer. I ended up having Mohs micrographic surgery to make sure that all the cancer was removed. I think this happened to me because I was moving to California and needed a reminder to wear SPF every time I went into the sun. I just wanted to write today to get my blog up and running again and to remind people that it's important to wear sunscreen even in the fall, winter, and spring. Today I went to buy a daily moisture lotion with SPF in it and found that there weren't a lot of options. I went with the Lubriderm because it doesn't have much of a scent and it's not too oily at all. I wish that there were more lotions with SPF in them, I'm sure there will be more one day. So don't forget to lather up this fall! And stay away from tanning beds!! Lots of love! <3

3500 Calories = 1 lb!

Losing weight is all math!! I've found that there are tons of different theories on losing weight. Eat 6 times a day, drink lemon juice/cayenne pepper, low carb diets, etc...so which is the right way to lose weight? I think everyone is a little different when it comes to weight loss and we all have different trigger foods. But it all comes down to math. 3500 kcals is equal to 1 pound. So what do that mean? To lose weight you have to burn more calories in a day than you eat. You can calculate your basal metabolic rate at this site http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ from there you just figure out your activity level and how many calories you need to maintain your weight. So to lose weight you can subtract 500 cals a day (to lose 1 lb a week) or you can subtract less than that if you are adding exercise in. Weight watchers, Jenny Craig, South Beach...all of these diets work because you're consistently eating less than you were eating pre-diet. So I'm done listening to some of my coworkers telling me to eat more! I wasn't seeing resuls that way and since I've started track my calories I've lost 1.5 lbs. Time to get a workout in :-)

I was born to run...

I actually enjoy running....it's my time to listen to music, reflect on my life, and get my heart rate up! I ran the Rock N Roll Marathon in San Diego back in June of 2008. In March I signed up for the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Sweet Home Chicago and can't wait to run it August 1st. I've decided that one of my goals is to run all of the Rock N Roll races. There are 14 races in 14 different cities and after August 1st I'll only have 12 left to run :-) Check it out... http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/
I just wanted to write and share my goal with everyone. I love running and traveling so I might as well combine them and run races in cities I've never visited. What activity makes you happy?