​So you went away, saw a new part of the world, and now you’re back. You ate, you drank, you relaxed, and then you ate some more.

And now it’s time to face the music.

As you wake up on Monday morning after your week of less-than-healthy eating… Your body is puffy and bloated. Your joints are achy. Your clothes feel tight.

Maybe you are feeling that way right now.

Here are 5 steps to get you back on the fitness fast track after your trip.

Step One: Focus

Your vacation happened. You ate things from the “never eat these” list, you drank more that you should have…but now it’s over.

Draw a line in the sand. You’re back home so the bad eating stops now.

If you’re serious about your fitness goals, then your vacation was the exception, and not the rule. Don’t beat yourself up for letting loose on your trip. Simply get back up, dust yourself off and get focused.

Step Two: Hydrate

While travel days can take on many forms, the end result is most often dehydration and water retention. The only way to restore your balance is to get hydrated.

Your first priority in getting back on track is to drink plenty of water throughout your first few days home. Start with a tall glass of water in the morning, and carry a water bottle with you to sip throughout the day.

Don’t add any artificial sweeteners or stimulants to your water – these will sabotage your hydration efforts. For flavor, add sliced fresh fruit, herbs or vegetables to your water, just like at the spa.

Step Three: Cleanse

For your first few days home I need you to be extra picky about what you eat. Stick with only whole, real foods like fruits, vegetables and lean meats. Whole, real foods will help to restore balance and block out cravings.

Don’t eat any packaged foods for the next few days. This means no snack foods, processed meat slices, dairy, baked goods or alcohol.

Try the recipe for Quick Chicken Stir Fry below – this is a wonderful, whole food dish.

Step Four: Rest

As relaxing as vacation days are, most end with the feeling of exhaustion. Make catching up on sleep a priority over the next few days.

When your body is low on sleep, it becomes easier to make poor eating choices. You’re also less likely to get back into your workouts if you don’t give your body a chance to rest.

Aim for getting a full 8 hours of sleep each night.

Step Five: Exercise

It’s time to sweat out all those vacation indulgences. So lace up your shoes and put on your favorite gym clothes. When you start your first workout, ease in slowly. Take the time to warm up and stretch your muscles before powering up to a solid 30-minute routine.

I have just the exercise plan for you – one that will not only help you recover from your vacation, but will help keep you motivated and going strong in the future.

If you haven’t joined yet, now is the perfect time for you to start. Together we will get you to your goals with my results-driven method.

Simply call or email me today to set up your first workout.

​A big salad peppered with fresh veggies is one of the healthiest things you can serve up for dinner. Here’s a new, tasty salad recipe to try…

The best salads are a cornucopia of fresh vegetables, with little added fat. This salad combines some of the garden’s tastiest veggies and is dressed lightly with no added oils. Serve with a side of lean protein for a healthy, vibrant meal.

Servings: 4

Here’s what you need...

• 4 eggs
• 1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
• 1 cup curly endive
• 1 cup dandelion greens
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• ⅛ cup red onion, thinly sliced
• ½ red bell pepper, thinly sliced into matchsticks
• 1 packet Stevia
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 Tablespoon raspberry vinegar

1. Place the eggs in a pan of water; bring to a simmer for 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Crack the eggs all over, and then place in a pan of cold water for one minute. Remove from water, peel, and slice. Set aside.
2. Bring a medium pot of salted water to boil. Add the asparagus and cook for 4 minutes. Rinse in cold water then set aside.
3. In a large salad bowl combine the endive, dandelion greens, tomato, onion and pepper.
4. In a small bowl combine the Stevia, lime juice, garlic, Dijon and vinegar. Mix well.
5. Coat the salad with the dressing. Top with asparagus and sliced egg.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 119 calories, 5.5 fat, 137mg sodium, 9g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, and 8g protein.

I hope that you get a chance to give this recipe a try this week. Remember that I’m only a call or email away to assist you in all things fitness. And if you are not yet one of my prized clients then call or email me now to set up your first workout – I’d love to help you achieve your best body ever!

​Have you ever been frustrated over a lack of results from your workout routine? If so, you are in good company. Even the most seasoned athletes experience times when their results plateau.

When you continue to put in the same effort day after day with little or no results it is safe to say that you’ve hit your own fitness plateau.

Your body adapts quickly to any repetitive routine. The definition of ‘insanity’ is to do the same thing over and over while expecting different results. This holds true for your workouts. When your results stop then it’s time to do something new.

I have good news—the following 4 tactics are guaranteed to crank your workouts up to the next level and to deliver the fast results you want.

#1: Focus on Negatives

Each time that you do a weight lifting repetition you are utilizing three types of strength. These are:

1. Positive strength: the motion of lifting the weight.
2. Static strength: holding weight in a contracted position.
3. Negative strength: the motion of lowering the weight.

Most people completely miss the benefit of the negative in each repetition by allowing the weight to drop quickly with little control. It is understood that the negative portion of a repetition is just as important as the positive portion, and possibly more important.

Focus on the negative portion of each repetition by lowering the weight very slowly. Concentrate on the negative contraction, and make each repetition count.

If you are advanced, then use a training partner to assist you in moving heavier-than-normal weight into a contracted position, then lower it very slowly.

Another way to utilize negative repetitions on a machine is to lift the weight using two limbs but then lower it with just one. For example, use both legs to lift the weight on a leg extension machine, but then lower it back down slowly using only one leg.

#2: Do a Drop Set

Drop sets have long been used to fight off exercise plateaus. This technique is great for adding muscle strength, endurance and for increasing the cardiovascular benefit of your workout – resulting in more fat burn.

Here, in a nutshell, is how to do a drop set: When you perform an exercise to exhaustion, don’t stop there. Drop the weight by 80% and do another set.

You could take it a step further by dropping the weight twice, making it a double drop. Or drop the weight three times for a descending drop set.

Use this technique only once or twice per workout, on the final set of the exercise.

#3: Modify the Exercise

There are certain exercises that are considered ‘staples’ in the gym. The squat. The lunge. The chest press. The shoulder press. The bicep curl. You get the idea…

While you shouldn’t throw these exercises out the window, find creative ways to modify the familiar motion in order to challenge your muscles. Try these exercise modifications:

• Squat on a Bosu ball or balance board.
• Place a weighted bar across your shoulders and do walking lunges.
• Use an exercise ball for chest presses instead of the bench.
• Do a full squat between each repetition of shoulder presses.
• Do a shoulder press between each repetition of bicep curls.

#4: Use Active Rest to turn each workout into High Intensity Interval Training

Every minute of your workout is an opportunity to increase intensity and to burn more fat. Don’t waste precious minutes with long rest periods between exercises.

While it is important to catch your breath if you feel winded, most of the time you would benefit more from an active rest than a passive one. Perform one of the following activities for 30 seconds between exercises and turn your regular workout into High Intensity Interval Training.

• High Knees with Alternating Punches: Alternately bring each knee high to your chest in a quick jumping movement while alternating forward punches at shoulder level.
• Burpees: Start in a sanding position and bend at the waist. Once your hands hit the floor, push your entire body back, extending your legs until they’re straight and you’re in the push-up position. Go down for a push-up, and when you push yourself up, jump slightly to bring your feet back near your hands. Finally, jump in the air with your arms fully extended over your head.
• Side-to-Side Jumps on Bench: Stand on one side of an exercise bench. Place the foot closest up onto the bench, jump up and switch feet, then land on the opposite side of the bench.
• Mountain Climbers: Place your hands wider than shoulder-width apart on the ground in a push-up position. Bring one knee to your chest and then back to the starting position, alternate each leg quickly.
• Side-to-Side Ab Twists: With feet close together, jump and twist your legs left to right – holding your abs tight. Keep a bend in your knees and swing your upper arms with each twist.
• Jump Lunges with Pop Squat: Start in a lunge position, lunge down then quickly jump up, switching your leg position in midair, land in an opposite leg lunge. Once you’ve done both legs, jump straight into a squat.
• Medicine Ball Squat Jumps: With feet wider than shoulder-width apart hold a medicine ball at chest level. Squat down until your knees are at a 90 degree angle. Explosively jump up, raising the medicine ball straight over your head.

If you’d like a sure-fire way to break through your fitness plateau and to melt away unwanted fat, then contact me for a fitness consultation.

Call or email today – I look forward to hearing from you.

My custom-made fitness programs remove all of the guesswork for you. I know what works, and I make it my mission to see you reach your goals. 

​There’s nothing quite as satisfying as a hot-off-the-grill burger. The problem with most burgers is the bun that it comes wrapped in. Buns are filled with grains, gluten and simple carbs that are easily stored as unwanted fat.

This recipe for Cheese-Stuffed Lettuce Wrapped Burgers gives you that burger taste and satisfaction that you love, without the downside of the bun. To make this burger even tastier, and to really make you forget about the bun, I placed a cube of fresh mozzarella cheese in the center of each patty – making every bite a cheesy, ooey-gooey experience.

Servings: 4

Here’s what you need...

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 lb grass fed ground beef
• 1 Tablespoon ketchup
• 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 oz mozzarella, cut into 4, 1-inch cubes
• 1 head iceburg lettuce
• 1 tomato, sliced

1. Place the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Preheat your grill to medium-high.
3. In a large bowl combine the beef, ketchup, mustard, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix with your hands until the ingredients are fully combined. Divide the meat into 4 equally sized balls.
4. Press a piece of mozzarella into the center of each ball of meat, and flatten into a patty. Make sure to keep the mozzarella fully covered on all sides.
5. Grill the patties for 4-5 minutes per side, until cooked to your desired doneness.
6. Assemble the burgers with a large piece of lettuce, a slice of tomato and a spoonful of tender onions. Enjoy!

Nutritional Analysis: One burger equals: 354 calories, 16g fat, 8g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, and 44g protein.

I hope that you get a chance to give this recipe a try this week. Remember that I’m only a call or email away to assist you in all things fitness. And if you are not yet one of my prized clients then call or email me now to set up your first workout – I’d love to help you achieve your best body ever!