Fitness4Fashion

Building Momentum: Taking the Time Required, Building a Team

2010-02-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

Statistics prove that people who exercise or train with others are more likely to stick to a diet or exercise regimen. It is often difficult to surround ourselves with people with similar passions. I love fashion but want to be around healthy fit models, not gaunt starving ones. There is a fine line sometimes.

I have been building a virtual team of trainers, health and fitness experts, and active everyday folks to assist us on our journey to a fitness and fashion conscious lifestyle. I will be posting their fitness profile photos and then updating with Video interviews, training regimens and dietary advice. Below is a preview: If you would like to be a featured profile please contact me. I would like to have a diverse group of individuals who share a likeminded interest in both fitness and fashion.

Above: Brice Frazier, Personal Trainer at Gold's Gym. Also a competitive bodybuilder. His perspective will be invaluable to those who want to build lean muscle mass as well as those who wish to have a lean physique.

Brian: Baseball enthusiast. Brian plays on a recreational team but grew up playing in Atlanta, GA.

He works out regularly and has a very disciplined diet. He splurges from time to time but only when his metabolism is up for it.

Xavier Espejo

Xavier is a Club Promoter and GoGo dancer in Los Angeles and San Diego.

He told me he has a hard time gaining weight. So For the reader who has always been skinny and wants to put on some pounds his story and profile will be good reference.

Groupon.com one of my favorite sites for the bargain hunter.

2010-01-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

The Daily Deal for

Los Angeles

Area: Los Angeles

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

$45 for Six Group Classes at Mind 2 Body (Up to $270 Value)

$45

worth:	discount:	savings:
$270	83%	$225

Company Information:

Mind 2 Body

www.mind2body.net

Locations:

4617 Van Nuys Boulevard
Sherman Oaks, California 91403

If the mind is a terrible thing to waste, the body is a terribler thing to waste. Today's Groupon gets you six physically enhancing workout classes at Mind 2 Body in Sherman Oaks for $45. Follow your sweatlust to any group class you want, from Pilates to gyrokinesis to yoga (you can mix and match), and feel your limbs swell with muscleness.
A New Year's resolution is like a stick of gum-it's no good unless you chew it, because if you don't chew, it will get old and dusty and wrapped in a comic strip filled with outdated references to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Chew your fitness goals with a trail-mix variety of five different types of classes, each broken down to courses for intro, beginner, intermediate, and specific focuses:

Pilates Reformer Classes and Pilates Tower Classes: Embrace machine-assisted Pilates with different classes, all to build proper alignment while delivering an intense workout for your core's strength and flexibility (all classes last 50 minutes).
Pilates Mat Classes: More traditional Pilateers can rely on the resistance of the human body alone to forge a deep-burning workout and a heartfelt connection to your Pilates mat (50 minutes).
Anusara Yoga: A quieter workout that focuses your energies through playful and graceful movements and postures, uniting mind, body, and spirit (90 minutes).
Gyrokinesis: Commit your body to natural flows and rhythms using stools, mats, and the floor to open up your energy and sooth oxygen back into your entire system. All this while making your back a straighter, happier creature (60- and 90-minute options).

Mind 2 Body is a health-centric operation that implementsenvironmentally conscious practices within its facility and employs licensed experts to motivate and encourage students to become fitter, more balanced versions of themselves. Exercise in small groups of five to seven people to ensure personal attention that elevates you to your personal best while fulfilling your personal resolutions for the new decade.
Read More...

Does the word "yoga" sound enough like "soda" to justify your emerald heist?

2 Other Deals in Your Area

Inland LA
	$10 for $20 Worth of Breakfast or Lunch at The Peach Café

Orange County
	$45 for a One-Hour On-Location Photo Shoot and Two 8x10 Prints From Illuminated Photography

Today's Side Deal

$6 for a Two-Hour Hollywood Forever Cemetery Walking Tour ($12 Value)

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Email us: support@groupon.com Call us: (877) 788-7858 Monday - Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm CST

Goal Setting, fail to plan=plan to fail

2010-01-19T18:05:00.000-08:00

For many, starting a fitness regimen can seem foreign and overwhelming to say the least. Not everyone can just leave their jobs and family and go on a reality show like "The Biggest Loser" and have someone hold them accountable, teach them how to eat, show them how to work out, and be surrounded by 24hr encouragement. I'll have to admit. I dont watch that show, but I have seen some clips where I was impressed by the way the trainers educated on snacking and finding quick alternatives to poor eating choices. They understand the psychology of the people who do not have the skill set to get themselves fit on their own. There is no way I can deny my sister's impact on my fitness lifestyle.
She used to wake me up early in the morning and we would go to the gym together. I like waking up in the morning but there was a time where I was so slow at waking up (and still am at times super slow), but once I got the routine down I was up and at 'em to the gym with my sister every day during the work week and even on Saturdays when she would go to step class. If you do something like that for a year it teaches you that it is attainable and you will see the results. During that time we had a goal; The Body for Life contest. We entered the contest because we felt by entering a contest and investing in supplements we would not quit due to the investment of money. At the time we were both living with our parents and didn't have much disposable income. We finished the course and I have photos somewhere of us holding up the newspaper in our little shorts and sports bra somewhere, but thats not the point. We set a goal. We had a road map. We followed it and made it to our destination.

On your fitness journey, you need to set a goal; a destination. Where do you want to arrive? How soon do you need to get there? This journey cannot afford many detours to the fast food drive in. You can't keep stopping at your favorite ice cream shop and arrive to your destination on time. It will always prolong your goals if you deviate from your plan. Lets talk about types of goals we all need to set.

We all do this anyway. Now we are going to do it with intent, vision, and rigor.

1. Daily goals. Set goals that are attainable.

I am going to drink 4, eight ounce glasses of water by lunchtime. (this means I'll probably go to the restroom 2x by then). Think about your work environment. Do they have bottled water near your workspace? That gets you out of your seat 4 times and moving.... that requires energy spent, energy spent requires calories burned. That is not going to get you into shape though its a start.

Walk for 30 minutes. Great, that is an attainable goal. Raining? Go to an indoor mall and walk around each level. See how long that takes you. When I first began working out again after a long break I set a 15 minute goal in the pool. 15 minutes without a break. I thought that was attainable. I did it. When I was done, I still had energy and kept swimming laps, only I allowed myself to rest whenever I wanted after my goal was attained. Sometimes, if I'm really busy, my goal is to make it to the gym. Once I'm there it doesn't matter what I do. I made it and that is really hard to do more often than not in our busy world.

2. Weekly Goals

Work out 5x this week.
What does that look like? For beginners, it looks like 30 minute walks around a track 5 times. What if you you miss a session? That is when we re-evaluate our goal. Was it really attainable? What transpired? Did you get sick? or just sick of walking? Just kidding, but we need to stop and think about our goals and reset them back to either the same or adjust. I actually work out 6x, but my 6th workout is always something fun and sports oriented or maybe just to sit in the jacuzzi or sauna at the gym.

My average week contains a mixed variation of resistance training, cardio, and yoga. When Soccer season starts up I'll go work out with the team and practice. Thats about 2 hours of cardio right there! Here in Los Angeles we have Griffith Park and Runyon Canyon to take the dogs and that counts as a workout for me. So you see, if you look for alternative ways at an active lifestyle it might knock down a barrier toward your goal. Its not all iron and treadmills.

3. Monthly Goals

Lose a dress or pant size.

Lose or Gain ___ pounds of fat/muscle. I know that is funny one but some people are trying to gain weight when others are desperately wanting to lose it. But this blog will try to help speak to fitness as a lifestyle, not a get thin quick exercise.

If you can make it through one month of attaining your goals you are well on your way to living the fitness lifestyle.

In the next post we are going to begin tying fitness to my other passion; Fashion! I look forward to sharing my thoughts about eating disorders and we will do a comparison of healthy and unhealthy models.

But for now, write down at least one goal. Put it on your bathroom mirror, or your driver's wheel.
Keep it in front of you as often as possible. Visualize your self and how you feel after you have accomplished your goal.

Sunday, a good day to reflect and reward

2010-01-17T17:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday to you all. I did a few things this week that I am proud of and a few that I'm not. I'll share both but the good ones first.

Yesterday morning I finally made it to the gym. When I arrived I couldnt help but notice that they were filming a commercial inside the gym on a Saturday morning! Ugh, I thought, this is going to mess up my routine and crowd the equipment, great. As I walked in and scanned my card I had to ask the front desk clerk for my swim fins that I left at the gym on Thursday. (I have foolishly done that a few times. This time I called and they located them and tucked them away for me).

I had to wait for maintenance to go and get them from the lost and found. While waiting, I was approached by a good friend; the Operations Manager, he approached me and asked me to be in the commercial for the Ab Coaster. Its the machine in the gym you kneel down on and then rock your knees toward your chest while bracing your arms in holds to help carry your weight. At first I said no, no way. Then he reminded me how it is to cast a shoot and that they just need a few more bodies to finish and its a wrap. He also said, "the faster they wrap, the faster they pack up and get off my gym floor". When I considered that, I said yes.

What a great experience! I got to try the machine with guidance from the manufacturer and I really was impressed. In just a few minutes my abs were burning and my heart rate was up and I broke a sweat. I was laughing at myself for judging the machine and people who would "ride the swings" at the gym. If you control the movement you really engage the abs and get a great burn in your midsection. I felt a bit silly trying to answer the questions being thrown at me by the director while completing a loooooong set on the AbCoaster. I definitely would use this piece of equipment as my warm up for ab training, then move on to more isolation exercises. It is quite enjoyable for me to focus on one muscle group and really be aware of the contraction and retraction of the muscle. All that to say, I was in my first commercial and it was for fitness equipment! Yay for both. See; Ab Coaster Pro Abdominal Trainer

Another thing I did this week was added the Lose It! application on my iphone. This is a great tool that will track your progress toward your fitness or weight loss goal. Its a calorie counter and will also track the amount of fat, protein, and carbs I consume after I enter in my daily intake. I'm on a pretty aggressive lose 2l bs of fat a week plan that cut my calories down to about 1800 a day. Actually as long as I'm eating healthy its actually easy to stay under that count and stay full all day. It feels like I'm eating so much more than normal, only its all healthy food. I just need to have a rigorous discipline to enter in all the foods.

Now for confession time. I had fried flautas for dinner last night. I need to be careful of eating a meal like that because I have avoided fried foods and flour products for the past 3 weeks and it can give me a tummy ache after eating such a meal. I made sure that I hydrated as much as I could last night. When I got home I had a Macadamia nut cluster and a small piece of toffee before bed. Bad Donnie. Bad Donnie. I'll tell you what though, when I used to binge it would have been a lot worse than that; so I'm getting better. I just want you to know that we all make mistakes but we can strengthen our discipline talk about it together and move on. I will be in the best shape of my life starting this year and it will be a life long commitment. Not just for swimsuit season. Hello, I live in LA. Its almost always swimsuit season. :)

Lead by Example

2010-01-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

In 2006, my father passed away from heart failure. He had lived a full life and his heart health was impacted by muscular dystrophy/atrophy. Although my father knew of his condition he didnt start making dietary adjustments until after he required a pacemaker. Many memories of my dad eating donuts or chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk for breakfast cause me to smile, but I hold knowledge of the fat and sugar content of those "dead" foods. Watching my fathers health decline really motivated me to get my heart and lungs in good shape and I started a regular running routine along with some resistance training and yoga.

I lost about 40 pounds from my heaviest point but have struggled with that bottom 20lbs of weight. I wanted to share how I did it the first time and then share the adjustments I've made and the current diet I keep along with my exercise regimen. Im the type of person who walks up to people in the gym and asks them about their workout and diet. Of course I had previous conversations with them and they become familiar with me but I will from time to time approach a stranger. I guess I dont care if they misunderstand me. However, one thing I will never understand is why people in the gym can be so grumpy! I thought it was supposed to release endorphins and create community etc.

Information sharing is something I've become a huge fan of recently as I launched my photography career and began following blogs authored by seasoned pros. They offer all of their knowledge to the community they belong and dont ask for a dime. I love that. And so, I too want to perpetuate information sharing where people can post comments and ask questions and we can all learn together. When I finally started losing weight and my muscle tone increased people noticed and asked me what I was doing. Of course they got an earful of information and I rattled off product names and supplements, names of trainers, yoga instructors, group exercise classes etc. They dont often remember all that stuff so I am going to post links and product photos and the like. I will also do this for the guest profiles I will be posting in the near future. I have a bodybuilder booked for the end of the month and am in talks with a pilates instructor who has a PHd in movement theory! I'm so excited to be building a community of health, wellness and fitness!

Okay here goes; Back in Oklahoma where I lived at the time (2005), I joined the YMCA. It was a terribly kept gym but it was all I could afford and I was determined to get fit. My dad had recently left the hospital and I just returned from a holiday visit. My New Years Resolution was to get lean and have a healthy heart and lungs. I didn't have health insurance so no doctor was involved for me to bounce questions off of or have blood work, hormones checked etc. I knew in my heart that sedentary living and poor eating habits were to blame anyway. I went to the library and read Men's Health Magazine and wrote down a grocery list from the recipes and supplements within. I used that list and then started buying the magazine when i could afford it so I would learn more recipes and training tips from the articles. I now know not to believe everything I read in those magazines but it was great for motivation.

I then decided that I was going to try fat burners. Please consult a physician here! I tried them all and almost all of them were making me feel sick to my stomach, jittery, or just made me feel crazy!
Im going to list them but not endorsing any of them but I will tell you the one I used that I felt fine with and got some results. I tried the following:

and all of them did not make me feel well when taking them. As soon as I stopped I was fine. I know I followed manufacturers directions and was drinking a ton of water along with the occasional sports drink after a long run. I then bought a book by Shawn Phillips brother of Bill Phillips who started the Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength program. My sister and I actually entered the original contest from EAS supplements before he sold the company. But I liked the way Shawn wrote about being a personal trainer in ABSolution: The Practical Solution for Building Your Best Abs you can buy this book for about a buck now! He mentioned his morning routine and supplements and I adopted his philosophy. I took
Lean System 7-Isatori Advanced Metabolic Support Formula, 120ct (New Improved Formula) for those 3 months. It really worked for me! I went from 215-220 down to 175-180 in about 3 months of being on his schedule and supplementation regimen. I felt great, my abs were starting to pop and I was so excited running along the river in Tulsa, logging close to 30-40 miles every week.

Soon my priorities completely shifted. I found money for new running shoes a the New Balance store. I would recommend going to an actual store and getting fit by a specialist, but you can find a pretty sweet deal once you settle on a model number. I rotate my shoes often so the foam has time to bounce back and I stay injury free.

I went from having a cheat day on Sundays all day to a cheat meal, then to a cheat dessert or item.
My body changed, I changed. If I ate pizza I felt sick and bloated immediately and I soon found my palate wanting more pure ingredients. I would spend 15-20 bucks on a dessert from a gourmet store and not feel guilty about the price because I wasnt spending money out in restaurants anymore. I was saving money by eating healthy at home. Food costs were quite low in Oklahoma at the time and I was not buying Organic as I do now. But I think its worth every penny.

So thats a small sample of what I did. I wont get into the diet and regimen too much. But I followed the skeleton of Shawn's diet and added my own spice to it according to the food I liked. And I used protein powder in a smoothie along with flaxseed caps and liquid minerals from Dr. Wayne Garland http://www.askdrgarland.com/who has a newsletter for wellness and supplements that I follow and often refer people to.

This is how I got started. I'll post a photo of me after I lost those first pounds but I dont have a photo of what I looked like before. Just imagine a pale, heavy and lethargic version of me that was too serious and anxious about life. I have to tell you its one of the best things I've ever done and this year as I come out of some pretty dark times I feel the foundation of those years of real fitness (2005-2007) as great foundation. The last two years have been hard for me to find a schedule for fitness and rest. Even when I was consistently working out I was battling a irregular sleep pattern and began gaining weight again. I will have to do a post on Rest and sleep related to fitness. Maybe Arianna Huffington could be a guest blogger!

Fitness4Fashion Begins

2010-01-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

Welcome everyone! Thank you for visiting Fitness4Fashion.

This blog started as I began photographing both fitness and fashion models and the conversations about health, nutrition, diets, exercise and supplementation left me a bit discouraged.

I wanted to create a motivational format for fitness and fashion models and those of us who admire their work. Many models use unhealthy means of "appearing" fit and healthy only to face health problems later on in life. The myriad of health problems spans from, eating disorders, addictions, and other psychological disorders to the effects of substance abuse and improper use of supplements.

I am no way a medical professional. This blog will merely showcase photos and interviews of trainers, educators and average people who live a fit lifestyle.

Before implementing any of the advice posted, please consult a medical professional.

From time to time I will post photos of fashion shoots for inspiration. If you would like to be a featured fitness enthusiast email: donniemadden@ymail.com