All posts tagged: fitness

5 Fitness Tips For The Holidays

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With the holidays upon us there are countless goodies of food, drink, parties, and events. In fact many fitness enthusiasts even dread this time of year because of all the delicious temptations that might throw them off plan from their goal of sculpted abs or a leaner mid-section. Say what??? In fact the later part of the year includes Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years – talk about a landmine of extra calories! The truth of the matter is you’re not going to be very successful with your goals if you try to avoid everything…and it’s going to be a very miserable Holiday Season. So rather than avoid all of your friends and loved ones, here are some tips to manage those unwanted pounds. i) Water Drink your water. I had to repeat this again. Personally I take in 3-4 L water daily and always recommend my clients to do the same because not only does it provide hydration, aids in controlling cortisol levels (the stress hormone that causes weight gain), delivers nutrients and oxygen …

The Top 7 Reason Why You Should Include Kettlebells Into Your Fitness Routine

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Having kids give you a lot of love and joy but certainly not a lot of time. As a fitness professional and athlete I used to train 1 – 2 hours a day in a gym setting. I had all the time in the world (oh the life!). Of course after my little bean was born that all changed…drastically! I was now on his schedule with very little time for myself and since fitness  is the business I own as well as my entire being, I needed to find a way to keep it up. I knew for my own sanity, health and overall mindset as a New Mom that I needed to continue training even if the time was cut in half. So…I welcomed the Kettlebell into my routine. As a lifter at heart I loved the fact that I could bring the Kettlebell upstairs and while Jackson napped I could get a full body and challenging resistance workout in 20-25 minutes sometimes even less. I loved it so much that I decided to …

“Life Always Gets In The Way…”

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None of us are exempt from the pressures in life. We all have stress and situations that test us or possibly even push us to the brink of crumbling. All too often, something or someone or some moment, causes us to lose track of our goal and revert back to behaviours that no longer add value to our lives. We’ve all been there right? Of course most of the time we don’t choose our adversity BUT we certainly have the power to choose our response to it. And it’s this response that I call the “IF Factor”. IF we respond positively to challenges and difficulties, then the outcome will be potentially positive. IF we respond negatively to our challenges and difficulties, then the outcome will be potentially negative. IF we respond to challenges and difficulties in the same manner as we always respond to it (i.e. emotional eating, BLTs, etc.), then the outcome will almost certainly be the same. The pain of adversity never leaves us unchanged, but if treated right, can be the catalyst …

Feeling Bloated?

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With today’s typical diet being low in nutrients and high in empty calories coupled with high levels of stress and added medication, it’s no wonder that more and more people are suffering from some kind of bloating. In addition to feeling discomfort bloating can come with every embracing symptoms such as gas or needing to go to the bathroom very quickly. So what are the most common symptoms of a bloated stomach? If your stomach protrudes outwards and you constantly feel uncomfortable because you have built up gas inside of you then this is a sign of bloating. In fact many sufferers from bloating even joke around saying how pregnant they feel because of the need to unbutton their pants when their bloating becomes severe. The great news is a bloated stomach is very different from actually gaining fat mass around your stomach since the bloating is temporary with air simply being stuck around your abdomen causing the tummy to distend outwards. Even better, stomach bloating can be rectified very quickly by simple changes to …

My Top 10 Rules To Be Your Best Self & Best Mother To Your Child

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I love being a Mom, it’s the biggest gift and blessing I’ve ever received. I think as women we build up the perfect picture of what Motherhood should be, while trying to do it all ourselves, not taking time for ourselves and on top of it all trying to look amazing while doing it, sound about right? Why are we so darn hard on ourselves? I’m guilty of this but I have a few rules that I live by to help me replenish my soul and keep me on track to be my best self and Mom to Jax. 1. Cut TV time and get to bed early so I can wake up before Jackson and enjoy a cup of coffee and a book or creative writing time in silence. 2. I weight train 4 times a week and go on a daily walk with my boy. 3. I plan a date night with my hubby once a week. 4. I listen to a podcast while having a mani-pedi. 5. I garden (I usually have …

“I LOST 45 LBS (AND LOOK AT THE MIDSECTION DIFFERENCE!!!) AND MY LIFE HAS CHANGED FOR THE BETTER!”

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What can I say about the gorgeous Celine who came to me dreading shopping and a goal of covering up her body every time she went out. And… I cannot have any of my STRONG GIRLS feel like that so we put together a strategy to get that weight off using plenty of food, creating dietary structure, lots of food variety, and resistance training to shape her body…and shape it we have! To date, Celine is down 45 lbs down along with 8 inches off of her waist, 8 inches off of her hips and 4 inches off of her thighs! Insane. Celine says, “I was yo-yo dieting with my weight for such a long time and when I signed up with Jenny, I was the heaviest I’ve ever been. I was blown away by my friend Ilana who is a Strong Girl and looked absolutely stunning and it took me a while to take the plunge and commit. I wanted to lose weight and dreamed of being fit. Today my lifestyle has changed for …

“I was struggling with my weight for quite some time and tried so many diets…”

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One of my favourite STRONG MOMMY Transformations courtesy of the gorgeous Jen M. who dropped 35 lbs and is not only looking incredible and also feeling fantastic! With a strategy of eating whole foods, plenty of food flexibility, and an introduction into weight lifting (and moving away from mind numbing cardio), she knocked her goals out of the park surpassing what she originally planned out for herself. Even better she shredded an incredible 7 inches around her belly button, 6 inches off of her things, and another 6 inches off of her hips! Jen says, “When I first decided to sign up with Jenny I didn’t know what to expect. I had been struggling with my weight for quite some time and tried a number of different diets, etc. I knew I wanted to not only lose weight but get stronger and look healthier and fit and looking at Jenny’s other client success stories that how they all appeared! I sent Jenny my goals, which were more aggressive goals than I ever set for myself but …

Weight Loss in a nutshell…

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One of the biggest reasons people fail or give up on their diet is because they’ve never truly understood the process or been given realistic expectations for true fat loss. When it comes to weight loss, there will be good weeks and slow weeks. But if you’re fully compliant there are never, ever bad weeks or even reasons to be discouraged. Most of us have tried fad diets in the past and may have lost some weight off right off the bat and this is usually followed by the weight being put back on because the methods were too extreme. I’ll repeat over and over again that this is NOT a good dieting strategy. This would be like getting your hair done and having it look fantastic after the salon only to have it all fall off the next week. A great dieting strategy is one that is long lasting, sustainable and maintainable. This process takes time and does not happen overnight just like gaining body fat doesn’t happen after consuming one off plan meal. …

Daily Rituals

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! With 2016 now here (YAY!), I want to ask you all how many of you achieved what you set out to do for the year? How many of you had actual objectives? Some of the things that I’m going to be focusing on with my clients on an interactive basis is goal setting, making true decisions, leaning from your decisions, staying committed to your decisions (but flexible with your approach), and (most importantly) enjoying the decisions you made. Of course all of this encompasses diet and training but obviously can cover a lot of other things in your lives as well. What really changed my life a few years back was to create STRONG, personal, guilt-free behaviours that are congruent to my goals as a person, as a wife (and now as a mother), and as business woman that are done on a DAILY BASIS. Make no mistake in thinking that my rules that I apply to myself are righteous or correct (you might actually disagree with them) but these are rules …

Inside Fitness Hot and Fit 100

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I’m ecstatic to be a part of this year’s Hot and Fit 100’s Top 3! This time every year I look forward to seeing friends, colleagues, new faces, and other Fitness Professionals (that I greatly admire) grace the pages of Inside Fitness’ annual event and the issues just get better and better! A heartfelt congratulations to everyone featured! I am so honoured taking a place within this incredibly gorgeous and inspiring group of women especially since I took some time off from partaking in any photo shoots and events last year due to pregnancy so this recognition is extra special to me (thank you Arthur Kwiatkowski and Valeria Nova for the awesome images!). Thank you to Terry Frendo, Arthur  and the Inside Fitness staff for putting out such an incredible issue and a moment that the fitness industry eagerly awaits in bated breath for. I know it’s certainly one of my most favourite times of the year! Thank you so much to my STRONG GIRLS for continuing to motivate me daily with your commitment to …