FitSugar

Get the Bod: Tori Spelling Post-Pregnancy

FitSugar — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:00:00 -0800

After seeing photos of Jessica Alba's rockin' body just two months after she gave birth, Tori Spelling's initial reaction was disbelief that she, too, would be able to quickly bounce back to her pre-pregnancy weight. Tori had gained 50 pounds during her second pregnancy, and after giving birth just six months ago, the mother of two is sporting a teeny bikini in In Touch magazine.

Six months is longer than the time it took Jessica Alba to shed her baby weight, but losing weight is not a race. This is the mentality that enabled Tori to lose weight healthfully and at her own pace. Here are the highlights from Tori's In Touch bikini feature.

Her diet: While losing weight, Tori didn't count calories but watched what she ate. She said, "Breakfast was yogurt, fruit and nuts. Lunch was homemade soup with a sweet potato or soy milk base. We'd snack on celery and peanut butter, and then I'd make lean protein with vegetables for dinner." Her maintenance plan involves three well-balanced meals each day with snacks in between, and she'll indulge on her cheat days.

To see what she did for exercise, read more.

Her workouts: Tori said, "For me to go to the gym and leave my kids doesn't make sense." She walks with her family and takes her family swimming when weather permits. For toning, she does three sets of 12 crunches and sit-ups every day, does squats, and lifts weights.

Tori is proud that she achieved her goal weight on her own and said, "I'm a working mom of two, so to know that I did it all by myself was huge." Props to her for confidently doing things her own way.

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Fit Gift Guide: Healthy New Mom

FitSugar — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0800

While the new mom in your life might be sleep deprived, chances are high she still wants to work out. Here are some goodies I wish I had when my girls were newborns, so I think any new mom would love them too.

Baobei Active: Nursing Sports Bra: This nursing sports bra looks fabulous and offers support, function, and style. The ease of the crisscross front makes breastfeeding quick and easy. This bra is a must for boot camp moms, moms on the go, or any mom working to get her body back after baby.
Strollometer: The Strollometer is a wireless speedometer that attaches to a stroller. It includes every function a new strolling mom could use: current speed, average speed, maximum speed, trip distance, daily distance, trip time, real clock time and ambient temperature. The Strollometer should fit any stroller out there and clips right to the handlebars so a new mom knows how many miles she has logged over the course of a day.
Yoga Ma Baby Ga DVD: This yoga DVD is designed to help new moms incorporate their babies into their yoga practice. It comes with multiple viewing options; one includes a large screen format with images to entertain the baby, with a small screen in the corner of the yoga poses for mom to follow. It reminds me of Baby Einstein meets mommy yoga.

New Moms Need Their Zs to Lose Lbs.

FitSugar — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:30:00 -0800

I will be the first one to tell you, if you don't already know – when you are sleep deprived because you have a newborn baby to take care of, you don't want to workout or count calories and you don't have time to really focus on yourself. This just might be one of the reasons that new research has found a correlation between lack of sleep and lack of weight loss in new moms.

The study showed that mothers who slept five hours or less in a day when their babies were six months old were three times more likely to have kept on the extra weight at one year when compared to more rested mothers. On average, the underslept moms, at one year postpartum, were more likely to have kept on 11 pounds. The relationship between lack of sleep and weight gain is not new, but the study once again emphasizes the importance of sleep for physical health and in a special population. Losing weight gained with pregnancy is an important goal for maintaining a healthy lifetime weight. Getting the pounds off, may seem impossible, but it is well worth it.

Fit's Tip: One thing I trained myself to do was nap when my girls were napping. Sleeping during the day can make up for lost nighttime sleep.

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Have You Ever Hung Up a Photo as Motivation?

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

I haven't yet cracked a copy of Andre Agassi's new tell-all, Open, but I have been reading reviews and can't help but be fascinated by the revelations about the tennis star, his equally talented wife, and his ex, Brooke Shields. I especially love this tidbit:

In preparation for her wedding to Agassi, Shields embarks on an exercise regimen and hangs an inspiration photo on the refrigerator door. The photo is of the woman who Shields thinks has perfect legs. The woman is Agassi’s future second wife, Steffi Graf.

Growing up, my mom often put a photo of her younger self on the fridge when she was trying to lose weight. Have you ever done anything like this?

How Jennifer Garner Maximizes 20-Minute Workouts

FitSugar — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:30:00 -0700

There never seems to be enough time in 24 hours to accomplish everything and still get a good night's sleep, and the feeling is only accentuated when kids are in the picture. Mom-of-two Jennifer Garner is all too familiar with time constraints and has recently started working out again after giving birth to her baby, Seraphina Rose, a few months ago.

Jennifer works out under the guidance of her trainer Valerie Waters, who offers advice to new moms that could work for anyone without much time in their schedule for fitness. She says to focus primarily on building strength if you're squeezing in workouts and explained, "If you can only exercise 20 minutes three times a week, you should be strength training - squats, push-ups, lunges, planks. You'll burn the same amount of calories [as cardio] but you'll also add lean muscle, which speeds up your metabolism."

A great thing about her advice is that it leaves little room for excuses - all of the exercises she mentioned can be done anywhere, anytime, with no equipment necessary.

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Functional Fitness: More than a Trend

FitSugar — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:15:00 -0700

You work all day. You go to the gym for 60 minutes. You go home and continue your life. Do you ever feel like the work you do at the gym has nothing to do with the life you lead? Well let me tell you, workouts - they are a changing.

Functional fitness has been identified as the biggest fitness trend of the year. But by the looks of it, it is anything but "trendy." More and more personal trainers are creating work outs to help their clients with the tasks of daily life, as well as the physicality of their jobs.
For example take a new mom, a functional workout would have her lift a weight through a movement path that mimics hoisting a heavy stroller into her trunk. This motion trains her entire body to handle the stroller, where bicep curls would just, well...work her biceps. Or another example would be an avid skier training with one legged squats instead of leg pressing a lot of weight at a machine. The standing one legged squat will challenge the skiers leg strength, balance and core in a functional position - yep, that'd be standing.

A great comparison is the bent over row using free weight versus the seated row using weight machines. The bent over row has you lifting while bent over - how many time a day do you lift things bent over? From teaching rehabilitative Pilates for years, I can tell you just bending over correctly is an art unto itself. Add some free weights into the mix and you are training your entire body (legs, core, back and arms) for real tasks. The seated row using a machine will just isolate specific muscle groups without integrating them into real movement.

I like to think of a workout, or a Pilates session for that matter, as time in a body laboratory where you can train your body in a controlled environment to have good movement patterns while strengthening your muscles. So when you are out in the world and something unexpected happens, your body knows how to deal with it.

Fit's Tip: If you are shopping for a trainer ask if they work on functional fitness and go to them with certain daily tasks that you would like to make easier. Be it lifting the hood of your car or running with your two year old thrown over your shoulder, a good personal trainer will help these tasks become easier.

Is Running While Pregnant Safe?

FitSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:00:52 -0700

It's not every day that you see a pregnant woman going for a run, like Miss Kourtney Kardashian here. On her hour-long jog, I'm sure she got some stares and whispers. Not just because she's famous, but because she's got a big bun in the oven. They're probably wondering, is this safe for her baby, and safe for mom?

Regular exercise is encouraged by doctors for those expecting, because it can help a woman stay healthy, and alleviate some of the discomforts like stiffness, back pain, leg cramping, or constipation. Working out can also prevent unnecessary weight gain, relieve stress, and get a woman ready to endure the physical challenges of labor.

With that said, there are some guidelines a pregnant woman should follow when working out.

Don't make any big changes to your exercise program once you become pregnant. If you were running regularly before you conceived, then it's safe to keep it up, as long as it feels good and you don't overdo it. If you want to start a new type of exercise, talk to your doc first.
Be OK with modifying your routine, especially as your pregnancy progresses. If you used to run four miles a day, you may find that you'll need to cut down in the beginning of your pregnancy. And once you're in the end of your second trimester, or third, walking may be best.
Don't do any types of exercise that put you or the baby at risk, like extreme sports that require balance, speed, or could result in you falling. Your doctor will probably recommend you save the surfing, skiing, horseback riding, biking outdoors, and rock climbing for after delivery.

For the rest keep reading

How Kristen Bell Stays Fit as a Fiddle

FitSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:50:16 -0700

Kristen Bell is no stranger to the spotlight, with her villainous role on Heroes and also starring in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Now she's in another new flick, Couples Retreat, and with her busy career, Kristen has maintained her amazing figure.

In a recent interview with Women's Heath magazine, the blond actress shares how she tries to squeeze some kind of physical activity into her schedule every day, whether it's going for a walk, taking the stairs, or hiking with her pooches. Yoga is also part of her routine to help her stay aware of her body, and strength training helps her stay toned. I love that Kristen admits she'll lift weights for much longer with a trainer than she would by herself.

Does Kristen count calories? To find out read more.

You may be surprised to hear that Kristen does keep track. "I find it almost comforting to count calories, because it makes me conscious of what I'm eating." She is a conscientious eater too. Kristen decided to go vegetarian at age 11 for animal rights, but her mom made sure she was healthy about it. Bell explains, "I try to eat more fresh foods than processed ones, and the grainiest bread possible."

Another great tip? Kristen will exercise during lunchtime, and afterward, snack on her lunch the rest of the day. Instead of devouring it all at once, she'll enjoy a handful here, do a little work, then have another gigantic handful. She says, "It spaces the meal out to a place my body can handle." When it comes to preparing food, Kristen loves to cook. Perusing recipes online and trying them out is one thing she loves to do for others. Making food yourself is one sure way to know what you're putting in your body, so you can make sure it's healthy.

Keri Got the Votes, But All Moms Are Winners to Us!

FitSugar — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 03:00:00 -0800

While it was unanimous that anyone who is able to lose the baby weight deserves a round of applause, Keri Russell's down-to-earth attitude about it all is really refreshing, which could be why you picked her as the best new mom slimdown of 2007 - by a landslide, might I add. She recently told Self, "I stayed really physical during my pregnancy. I stuck to my normal prepregnancy workout, minus the stomach exercises and twisting. I really felt it help my whole well-being."

Marcia Cross was also ranked high for getting back to her prebaby weight after having twins. You were also impressed that Mel B did it by dancing.

It's always important to keep in mind that celebs have resources many of us do not, so it's OK if it takes you a little (or a lot) longer than Keri to get back to your prebaby weight. Regardless of who you are there are many things to be proud of as a new mom and getting back to a healthy prebaby weight is definitely one of them.

Source

Gabrielle Reece on Fitting Fitness Into a Busy Life

FitSugar — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:50:52 -0700

Gabrielle Reece is a fitness idol of mine, and I was lucky enough to speak to her about fitness and motherhood recently. I thought she was cool before, but now I wish she could be my new BFF.

Needless to say, Gabby is a busy lady, and many of you were curious about how she fits fitness into her daily routine. Simply put, she's aggressive about it. Comparing her commitment to working out to her obligations as a mother, she says that you wouldn't skip out on picking your kids up from school, so you shouldn't skip taking care of yourself. One way to ensure she doesn't blow off her workout is by running a circuit-training group of 10 women on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Since she's responsible for the class, she's there. Gabby saves the other two weekdays for cardio - biking or swimming. She explained her reasoning:

"It comes down to this . . . I am going to be a better wife, a better professional, a better mom, and definitely a nicer human being if I train. So I schedule it. And I think it's critical to schedule with other people because then you're accountable. You just can't blow it off."

To see how becoming a mom has changed her workouts, read more.
A mother of two young girls, Gabby knows that once you become a mom, you have a lot less time, and time constraints force you to be a lot more flexible. She explained that she has become more focused, too, when she has a scheduled workout.

"I have become a lot more serious about that time. If I have allotted an hour, I don't mess around with that time. I don't chitchat. This hour is golden and I am here to bust it. There have been days where I only have 20 . . . Instead of freaking out I say, 'Today is 20 minutes and 20 minutes is better than nothing.' With being a mom, you have a mix. I have become softer and harsher about it all."

As a working mother with two girls of my own, I fully relate. That 6 a.m. workout is the time I have to work out, so I make it work. Says Gabby: "When I am training, it's an opportunity to just be me, not do the mom thing. It's a chance to plug into my inner athlete."

Here's to a victorious inner athlete! Stay tuned for more on Gabby's food, abs, and working out with Laird, her surfer-pro husband.