Welcome to the Friday Fitness Check In! I am using this as a bit of a fitness diary to keep my goals in check while sharing exactly what I am doing with you (since I get so many questions about it! Feel free to link up and/or do your own Friday Fitness Check In in the comments where you can keep track of the following:

1. Fitness: Workouts for the week, how did you feel?
2. Food: Did you eat well? Not so much?
3. Strength Training: Did you lift weights this week? Which ones?
4. Mind and Motivation: Where are you mentally? What motivated you this week?
5. Weight: Have you lost weight this week? gained?

Monday: Spin Class
Tuesday:  Involuntary Rest
Wednesday: Spin and Zumba Practice
Thursday: More Rest
Friday: ??
Saturday: Teaching Zumba

Monday:

• Dead lifts
• Bent over rows
• Plié squats
• Shoulder press
• Oblique side stretches

Wednesday:

• Lunges with kettlebells
• Kettlebell swings
• Chest press
• Squats
• Windshield wipers
• Leg raises

Because of the insanity of this week I was extra cautious with my food. Without getting into specific detail something terrible happened at the job on Wednesday sending me into a full panic. I wanted to eat. A lot. Until the food filled up the void of the long day. I did have a cookie—But I didn’t go off the deep end. That to me, is progress.

I didn’t have a lot of veggies but my fruit stayed up. Although I am still feeling the emotions, I hope to get into a better food routine soon.

Thank goodness for blogging and twitter and good blogging buddies. I appreciate you guys SO much. Reading your blogs and tweets keep me going. So thank you.

I felt good. I had complete plans to be EPIC this week since last week was such a bust. Work however made the decision that being epic would have to take a seat.

We are in the process of two new system training’s on the job and it is brutal. I usually go to the gym during my lunch break but that wasn’t happening this week. I was able to get out miraculously on Monday and I hope to get out today but that is as far as it goes. I got up early on Wednesday and made it to spin class but even that took *everything* out of me (because the four year old woke me up so many times the night before) waking up at 4:35am for spin was like the hardest thing ever but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it otherwise.

So yeah, my schedule was really crazy. I hate the excuse that you don’t have “time” to workout but if you have to be like me and get up at 4:30am to get it in, so be it.

It’s time for you to check IN! How are your food/fitness goals coming along this week? How do you manage busy work weeks & things that throw you off your workout schedule? 

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Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

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The post Friday Fitness Check In: When Life Conflicts with Workouts appeared first on Brooklyn Active Mama.

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My Prom Story

My hubby (18) and I (16)

Kids everywhere are preparing by buying dresses and tuxedos. Today, as a part of Joi’s Blog Challenge I will be sharing my prom story with you guys!

Since it was simply too much to write I decided to talk with you about it, it really was one of the best nights of my life and I had so much fun recapping it in this short video!

Tell me about your prom. Did you go? Did you have a limo? Did you have a date? What about your dress?! I want to know it all!

Author information

Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

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Weekly Wednesday Workout: Windshield Wipers

This week’s Weekly Wednesday Workout is a fun variation on the leg raises I talked about a few weeks ago. I’ve mentioned before that abs are my biggest problem area so when I find an exercise that works all parts (lower, upper, obliques) I’m down!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQMAuU7LvkI

As you can see, it looks very simple but when you try it, its pretty difficult! you have to use all parts of your midsection and oh my word I felt the burn just after a few of these, but I suppose that is what makes a good move right? The difference between these and the leg raises is that now we are bending at the knees and going left to right instead of going up and down. It’s a great variation and change for the ab exercises!

Have you ever tried Windshield Wipers?

Author information

Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

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Fitness Magazine Blogger Meet and Tweet

Last week, I was extremely lucky to get an invite to the Fitness Magazine Blogger Meet and Tweet held on the west side of midtown in NYC.  I was so excited to be able to hang out with other healthy living bloggers plus see some of my favorite girls from fitbloggin. If you follow me on Twitter then you saw me tweeting away with reckless abandon with the hashtag #fitblognyc.

Fitness Magazine Blogger Meet and Tweet

When I tell you that I was so excited for this conference, I couldn’t barely sleep the night before? Last year I remember watching those #fitblognyc tweets wondering how did I not know about this? Why wasn’t I invited?! *cues “started from the bottom”* lol!

I arrived at the club to find my girl Patty from Enjoying This Life. I was early.

Once we got in we were given our press passes (!!) Some breakfast, and went out to the very beautiful and spacious rooftop area.

My name is jacked but its okay

Side note: I have never ever ever been so impressed with a gym. The Mercedes club has an outdoor pool, outdoor yoga classes, machines for days, smoothie stations, and the facility is simply spotless. Dear universe, I need a membership to that gym. Let’s make it happen. Thanks.

Once everyone arrived it was time for the sessions to begin.  There were lots of different sessions which will be covered in the upcoming weeks in separate posts. The information was just too good to squish it into one recap post. I didn’t bring my industrial sized notebook for nothing! So stay tuned for makeup tips from a Stila makeup expert, interviews and tips from some of the biggest bloggers out there and interviews from both Brett Hoebel from The Biggest Loser and the drool worthy Rocco Dispirito!  *swoon*

After that it was lunchtime and there were some very very healthy choices to choose from. I ended up drinking a smoothie.  After that it was off to the sponsors!

The first place I stopped was at Reebok. I couldn’t help it, the neon called to me! They were amazing enough to give us a pair of sneakers in our swag bags. Oh Reebok,  you sure know the way to this bloggers heart.

Then I went over to Vichy who had a great product for cellulite and stretch marks. I was over there because my belly is desperate for tightening after baby #2!

Aliah from The Get Fit Diva and I took some poses for some free peanut butter from smart balance. You can’t see but we were on the BOSU ball the whole time!

Next I dropped by Athleta and they have a beautiful line of workout clothes coming out this fall and we got to lust after peruse them.

After that I went to Saucony, where amazingly enough they were giving out ANOTHER  pair of sneakers! And to my excitement they were green, Zumba green! Yes! I’ll be honest it took a lot for me not to give the sneakerman a big hug. I was that excited.

Finally we ended up by the Ford Fiesta Movement both and I got to take these hysterical gifs with Christine from  Love Life Surf and my Blogalicious roomie Lia.

After that I got a bit of downtime and then we were off for the Mad Cool Fitness Cardio Dance class. We worked  so hard! We squatted so much I thought my whole toosh was going to fall off! Jen Turner is the truth!

We all retreated to the locker rooms to organize the insane amount of swag, and we went home. All in all I was SO humbled and excited to be invited to be a part of such a wonderful event. The Fitness Magazine Blogger Meet and Tweet was an even that I couldn’t even have imagined 2 years ago when I started blogging. Thank you Fitness Magazine for the opportunity!

 Has anything really special happened to you recently that you want to share?

Author information

Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

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Blog Meets Brand Presented by Single Edition Media

The lovely ladies over at Single Edition Media were gracious enough to invite me to their very fabulous event Blog Meets Brand. The venue was located downtown in Soho and of course I got lost and ended up 2 miles away. Soho and I never did make a good couple.

Once I got there (20 minutes late), there was a really awesome Delta airlines set up that looked a lot like an airport terminal, there were actual flight departure times on the screens, men that looked like pilots dressed in full uniform (whether they were or not, I’ll never know) and full displays of their new airline snacks and beverages. Very fancy.

I looked to my left and I saw a bunch of women huddled very closely to a table and of course it was the Elizabeth Arden table. At that table was so many pretty summery shades of blush and eye shadows all wrapped up in the most pretty gold packaging ever. (I am a sucker for pretty packaging I can’t lie)

I went upstairs next and saw GLO a revolutionary (my word) new way to whiten teeth. Apparently all you have to do is hookup the little device shown in the picture. Put some gel on your teeth, do it for 8 minutes for 5 days straight and WALA! You have got teeth that are 5 shades lighter!

This appealed to me because I am incredibly vain inside after I got the disaster with my teeth finally fixed I decided to do a professional whitening. The results were amazing but the pain (called zingers) were unbearable.  My girlfriend did the same treatment and she was beside herself in pain. This is fantastic because its zinger free, and cheaper than what I paid for treatment!

Next, I went over to footpetals. I met the very lovely owner who has designed little fantastic inserts for pretty much everywhere in a shoe that causes discomfort. She had pads for the base of the foot, heels, top of toes, ballerina slippers, everything. She was in some really killer heels so I give her the benefit of the doubt!

After footpetals I went over to the BluePrintCleanse table. I’ve always been very wary of cleanses but these were pretty awesome. They have a full line of juices that they recommend people drink only for 3 days to naturally clean out your system. I tried the pineapple one, it wasnt terrible. If I had to, I could probably try this!

Finally I went over to Completely Bare. I was legitimately excited about meeting them because I am a cult fan of Completely Bare. There are millions of shady spa places in NYC but the ONLY one that me and my friends go to is completely bare. Why? Its extremely clean, the customer service is outstanding and the atmosphere is extremely relaxing (which is what you need when you are about to do something painful highly uncomfortable). I got to speak with the owner who is so awesome and my new bff in my head, and she was super gracious and sweet. Love to meet strong business women that are so down to earth!

I was able to hang with Quiana from Harlem Love Birds and we sat and watched the presentation together. After that, as usual it was way past my bedtime and I grabbed my swag and got on the train home.

Thank you so much to Single Edition Media, Blog meets Brand was a great event!

Have you ever had your teeth professionally whitened? Do you wear inserts in your heels? Have you ever had a cleanse? Isn’t this an insane amount of questions?!

Author information

Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

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The post Blog Meets Brand Presented by Single Edition Media appeared first on Brooklyn Active Mama.

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Welcome to the Friday Fitness Check In! I am using this as a bit of a fitness diary to keep my goals in check while sharing exactly what I am doing with you (since I get so many questions about it! Feel free to link up and/or do your own Friday Fitness Check In in the comments where you can keep track of the following:

1. Fitness: Workouts for the week, how did you feel?
2. Food: Did you eat well? Not so much?
3. Strength Training: Did you lift weights this week? Which ones?
4. Mind and Motivation: Where are you mentally? What motivated you this week?
5. Weight: Have you lost weight this week? gained?

Monday: Spin Class (with new bikes!)
Tuesday:  HIIT Elliptical
Wednesday: Rest (Injury – weird neck pain)
Thursday: Cardio Dance
Friday: Rest
Saturday: In Charlotte

Monday:

• Leg Press

Tuesday:

• Lat pulldowns
• Leg Curl
• Leg extension
• Oblique stretch
• Leg raises
• Sit-ups
• Squats w weights

Food was a bit weird this week. It was a busy week for events and work. I ended up skipping a few meals and eating really late (after 8pm) on  a few days. I know that is a no no when it comes to weightloss but I was HONgry, mama had to eat.

I tried TOFU the other day and I was not impressed. Maybe I will try again but not any time soon.

There were some really bad choices and some really good ones, I really hope it all balances itself out. As I head to Charlotte this weekend for bloggy bootcamp, there will be no guarantees (I’ve been dreaming about room service for a realllllly long time!)

Even with AF being here this week I still feel pretty good. I realized that I really need to be nicer to myself. The quote “you are your biggest enemy” surely applied to myself this week! I had such a hard time accepting the fact that I only worked out 3 times this week. Then I realized,  its ok.

In the weightloss world the emphasis is always on more more more, exercise until your legs fall off, do 300 squats, etc. I couldn’t do that this week. Period. I had a scheduled workout ready for Wednesday but unbeknownst to me I slept so badly the night before I could barely turn my neck to the right side much less workout.

It was okay though, yes I try to set a four time weekly workout minimum, it didn’t happen and it won’t always happen either. It was a weird week where blog life and career life overlapped and I threw a injury in there to make things interesting. Happy I got to do what I could and we shall see what happens next week…with no pressure of course.

It’s time for you to check IN! How are your food/fitness goals coming along this week? How do you manage injuries/unexpected things that throw you off your workout schedule? 

Author information

Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

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The post Friday Fitness Check In: Being Nicer To Myself appeared first on Brooklyn Active Mama.

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I love Mothers Day, it’s the perfect way to celebrates our moms, aunts, grandmas and all of the women who raised us.

Usually we don’t go out on Mother’s Day but this year I decided to join my mom at her church’s annual Mother’s Day dinner.

We all got dressed up (I put on sandals for the first time this season) and we were off! My aunt came to get us and took a picture with the kids, isn’t she fab?

When we got there the kids were nice and calm because they didn’t know anyone, however as the night went on they got really friendly–really fast.

They were running and giggling and I was regretting wearing those heels! It was quite the sight seeing me run after my almost 1.5 year old who decided he wanted to greet every single attendee at the 200 person dinner.

The four year old meanwhile was incredibly full of energy (when is he not?) and was egging his brother on.

As you can imagine there was a lot of chasing from mommy and daddy especially because baby did not want to stay in anyone’s hand, he just wanted to go go go!

A highlight for me however was that the church hired a steel band to entertain us while we ate. Fun fact about me is that I used to PLAY the steel pan when I was in junior high school. I hated it. But I played non the less. I even hired a steel band for the first part of my wedding!

We ate our dinner, the kids kept running and we were able to put them down for a quick bedtime as soon as we got in. It was hectic, a bit crazy but I probably wouldn’t have done anything else Besides, the boys make my mom so happy I can’t help but indulge her.

How was your Mother’s Day? What do you do with two little boys that always want to go go go?!

Author information

Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

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The post These Boys Are Unstoppable! appeared first on Brooklyn Active Mama.

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Walk Now For Autism Speaks 2013

Last week Sunday, my co workers and I did the Walk Now For Autism Speaks 2013 held in Queens New York. It was a bright beautiful day, not a cloud in sight and an insanely perfect day for a walk.

I have mentioned a few times before that my first cousin, who grew up in the same household as me is affected by Autism. Growing up I really didn’t know what Autism was, I just knew he was different, and I didn’t know why. My cousin and I are 8 years apart and we call each other brother and sister because it simply feels like we are. As a child I always had trouble explaining what was different about my cousin but I just claimed him as mine. So when my company asked me to be a Team Captain for Walk Now for Autism Speaks 2013, I didn’t hesitate!

Some facts about Autism from the Autism Speaks Website:

Did you know …

• Autism now affects 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 boys
• Autism prevalence figures are growing
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
• Autism costs a family $60,000 a year on average
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
• Boys are nearly five times more likely than girls to have autism
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism

My co worker was generous enough to give me a ride to the venue (and thank goodness for that because it would have taken me 3 trains and 90 minutes to get there, NO thank you!) As we waited for everyone to arrive, I took some photos of the warm and fun scene of walkers.

Since we got there early we were one of the first to be let into the field, this turned out to be a VERY good move because by the time we ended the walk there were hundreds of people waiting to get in! Since we were right at the starting line, I was able to take pictures of the  official cutting of the banner:

One of the coolest aspects of the walk was that we were going to walk a mile and a half on CITI FIELD! As a huge baseball fan, it was a surreal experience actually walking on the field that stars (like my beloved Yankees) have played on! I think a lot of folks were non baseball fans because I’m pretty sure that I was the only one with my jaw to the floor in pure excitement to be on the field! (squee!)

We walked, and talked and before you knew it, the course was over! I had such a great time with my coworkers and their family. The entertainment at the event was top notch as well. I’ve done dozens of walks/races and this one felt like family, it felt like love. I hope I get to do it again next year.

Do you know someone with Autism? Have you done any charitable walks/runs so far this year?

Author information

Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

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The post Walk Now For Autism Speaks 2013 appeared first on Brooklyn Active Mama.

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Welcome to the Friday Fitness Check In! I am using this as a bit of a fitness diary to keep my goals in check while sharing exactly what I am doing with you (since I get so many questions about it! Feel free to link up and/or do your own Friday Fitness Check In in the comments where you can keep track of the following:

1. Fitness: Workouts for the week, how did you feel?
2. Food: Did you eat well? Not so much?
3. Strength Training: Did you lift weights this week? Which ones?
4. Mind and Motivation: Where are you mentally? What motivated you this week?
5. Weight: Have you lost weight this week? gained?

Sunday: Walk For Autism Speaks

Monday: HIIT Treadmill
Tuesday: Rest (Injury)
Wednesday: Rest (Injury)
Thursday: Zumba
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Teaching Zumba

Monday:

• Pushups on the step
• Dead Lifts
• crunches
• bicycle
• leg lifts

Thursday:

• Leg Raises
• Situps with Dumbells
• Toe Touches

Food was MEHHH this week, I didn’t eat anything completely terrible but my choices were pretty 50/50 good and bad.  I seem to be eating perfectly by the book at work but when I get home I am a disaster. Finding a healthy choice that both my husband and I will enjoy is tough!

I also made the decision to end weight watchers. I may go back to them in the future, but right now I am not utilizing the tools enough to justify paying a monthly fee, Since September I’ve lost 14 pounds on the plan so it was a really great jump start for weight loss.

The lemon water experiment from last week was highly successful as well, I find myself more satiated during the day and all that vitamin C is doing wonders for my mood at work

So! On Monday morning I went to the gym to do my week 3 of HIIT Training and like a dummy I didn’t really warm up. I only walked for a few minutes then went straight into the sprints. My mind was really in the workout either (which was the second no so smart move) You need full concentration to do sprints at 7.5 for 30 seconds. I had been highly distracted for most of the day and that should have been an automatic trigger to not workout, or at least do something less crazy than sprints.

To make a very long story short, I ended up pulling something in my leg causing pain every time I took a step. I took two days off (Tuesday and Wednesday) and things returned back to normal by Thursday. It was most likely also the culprit of overtraining. I have been working out for 4-5 days a week with 4 days strength training for as long as I can remember. Mama needs to rest.

In a few weeks, I plan on taking a week long active rest which will include Pilates  long walks, and anything that doesn’t get my heart rate over 120. It will be challenging because I love to move so much, but its necessary.

It’s time for you to check IN! How are your food/fitness goals coming along this week? How do you manage injuries/overtraining? 

Author information

Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

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The post Friday Fitness Check In: The Consequences Of Overtraining appeared first on Brooklyn Active Mama.

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Weekly Wednesday Workout: Plank Row With Dumbbells

This move is one of those moves that works the body all around, I am highly familiar with this move as we used to do it in my old total body class ALL the time. I am glad I found it because I needed a refresher, I really haven’t done this in a super long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NP3Wke4GLA

When I do this move I feel it all through my back, I try not to go too heavy on the dumb bells (maybe 5 or 8lbs?) and staying in the plank position is not easy. My instructor used to give us a nice modification of putting our knees on the floor…and believe it or not there is still a lot of work being done in the modified position. If you don’t have dumb bells you can try it with a full water bottle, or even with nothing to start.

Have you ever tried plank rows with dumbbells?

Author information

Nellie

Mommy. Career Woman. Fitness Addict.

Full time working Brooklyn mommy of two boys that loves to stay busy, bake and workout. Follow me on my journey as I balance work, motherhood, small business and losing those last 15 pounds!

TwitterFacebookGoogle+

The post Weekly Wednesday Workout: Plank Row With Dumbbells appeared first on Brooklyn Active Mama.

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