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jonasmaurer · 2 years

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Les Mills TONE Review

Les Mills TONE is a total body workout blending cardio, strength, and core work. It’s designed to sculpt, challenge, and strengthen your muscles. Learn about the workout in this review and use my link to try it out for 30 days free, plus all of the amazing workouts on the Les Mills + platform.

Hey hey! How’s the morning treating ya? I hope you’re having a great one so far. I’m LOVING these early morning walks with the pups. The weather has been beautiful and it’s the perfect way to start the day. The rest of the day is filled with conference calls and working on some behind-the-scenes stuff (fitness plans are going to be 50% off for my birthday next week!), and I’m excited to catch a Les Mills TONE workout later today. This is a newer workout format for me, so I thought I’d share a review here!! It’s really the WHOLE package and the Les Mills quality I love so dearly – I think you’ll like it, too. 😉

Les Mills TONE Review

What is Les Mills TONE?

From the website:

LES MILLS TONE combines blocks of strength, cardio and core training into one complete and convenient workout, which includes a mix of exercises to work the whole body and elevate the heart rate. The multi-peak workout helps burn calories and build fitness and strength while improving energy levels, flexibility, balance, agility and core strength. You will finish feeling empowered and on track for all-around functional fitness.

This workout combines so many elements into a single workout. You’ll get strength, cardio, core, and functional training all in one session. I feel like it challenges me without being *too much* (for the days I don’t want to do intervals or a ton of impact) and I feel centered afterwards, like I’ve just taken a yoga class.

Here is how the class is structured:

The class includes a warm-up, cardio, cardio/strength, strength, strength/core, core, and a cool down. Just like many of the Les Mills workout, each track has a specific focus and repeats the same core movements with room for modification or progression. It has elements of Les Mills classes I already love: the explosive cardio elements of BODYATTACK, the strength focus of GRIT STRENGTH and BODYPUMP, the mind-body connection of BODYCOMBAT, the mobility and core aspects of CORE, and the high-energy intervals of GRIT.

Here are some of the moves you can expect in a TONE class:

Cardio: side lunges, skaters, knee lift tap back combo, burpee, burpee to spider jump, jumping jack, tuck jump, lateral plyo jumps, bear crawl, surfer burpee, mountain climbers

Strength: reverse lunges, pulsing lunges, rear delt raise, calf raise, squats, plate curl, plate press, rear leg extension

Core: static squat with diagonal reach, wood chop, halo, hip bridge, 3-legged dog, crunch variations, leg extension pulse, single-leg bridge

Les Mills TONE in Action

Check out this super short sizzler to get a taste of what it looks like:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Is Les Mills TONE good?

You guys, it’s SO good, but I can say that for pretty much all of the Les Mills workouts. The instructors and movements and phenomenal, and I love that the music always matches the movements. Movement is such a motivating factor, and I love that Les Mills really harnesses this power and create choreography and playlists that are inspiring. This workout is the full package: you get strength, cardio, mobility work, functional training, and core, all in one.

How many calories do you burn in Les Mills TONE?

I’ve found that I typically burn between 200 and 300 in a 30-minute class, depending on the cardio drills and how hard I’m working. I feel like for strength workouts, calorie burn is not a huge indication of a great workout. When you’re strength training, you’re positively impacting your metabolism (muscle is hungrier than fat and needs more fuel to maintain) and protecting your joints and bones. These things can’t be measured with an Apple Watch, ya know? 😉

Is TONE coming to Les Mills on demand?

TONE is already available on LMOD! They’ve rebranded to Les Mills+ but it’s the same platform we all love. If you’ve been wanting to try out the Les Mills workouts, use my link for 30 day free trial. It’s the perfect way to try something new as we head into the holidays, and you can do the workouts anywhere. It’s very convenient for quick home workouts or a travel option.

So, tell me friends: are you a fan of Les Mills? Does your gym offer it? I keep praying we’ll add it to our gym – I miss teaching BODYPUMP.

Any workouts or workout trends you’d like me to review?

Gina

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jonasmaurer · 2 years

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2021 Holiday Gift Guide for the Kids

Sharing holiday gift ideas for the kids this year! We tend to stick to the purchasing strategy of: “ Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.”

Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful Halloween weekend! The kids had the BEST time trick-or-treating with the fam, and I officially feel like I’m in the holiday spirit. It’s an onslaught of fun festivities from now until January and I’m SO READY FOR IT.

I’m really excited for today’s gift guide because kiddos really bring the magic to Christmastime. I’m basically like Buddy the Elf and thought that nothing could possibly make the season more enjoyable… and then we had kids. They just magnify all of the magic of the holidays. I’m sharing the kids’ gift guide early this year because of supply chain and shipping issues. We’re getting our holiday shopping done early, so I wanted to put some ideas out there if you’re doing the same thing.

When we holiday shop for the kiddos, we keep things on the simpler side. They get their Santa gifts and stocking stuffers, and then from us, we stick to the “something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.” This checks all of the main boxes and keeps things from getting too bananas with gifts from my parents and their other relatives. [Another hack: any gifts that aren’t opened in the first couple of days are stocked away in the playroom. I bring them out on a rainy day or when the kids say they’re looking for something to do.]

2021 Holiday Gift Guide for the Kids

Today, I’m sharing some of the things on their personal wish lists, along with tried and true favorites if you’re shopping for kids their ages (5 and almost 9) this holiday season!! I’d love to hear your kids’ gift requests in the comments and any ideas you have!

2021 Holiday Gift Guide for the Kids

Something they want:

– Karaoke system

-Horse earrings

– American Girl doll. These are always a huge hit… I think we’re up to 10 now lol

– Puzzle sets

– Birthstone wish bracelet

– Zingo! This is a perfect board game for younger kids. They also love Guess Who, and I recently got them Twister and Bop It

– New roller skates or skateboard

– Baby Yoda

– The most incredible tutu

– Barbie dream house

– Magnatiles (P has been playing with these since she was a toddler and still adores them. She’s also really into Lego anything right now.)

– Power Wheels. We did this a few years ago and they’ve been a huge hit

– Giant Gem discovery kit

– Science magic kit

Something they need:

– New Ugg boots <— the waterproof ones last the longest

– Rain boots

– Art supplies

–Arts and crafts library

– Dance or gymnastics leotards

– A new jacket

– Experience gifts are always a hit, like tickets to a museum or activity they love

– A kids’ yoga mat

– New water bottle

– Practice goal and a new soccer ball

Something to wear:

– The cutest unicorn onesies

– Christmas sweater dresses

– Unicorn sweater

– A festive dress or dapper blazer

– Holiday jammies

– Unicorn slippers

Something to read:

– The Babysitter’s Club graphic novels. Liv has read all of these and LOVES them. I highly recommend if you have an 8-10 year old.

– Harry Potter box set

– Ivy & Bean

– Pinkalicious collection

– Fancy Nancy

– Pete the Cat

– Where’s Waldo?

– Mad Libs

– The Ramona Set

– The Boxcar Children (this makes a fun read-aloud)

What’s on the kiddos’ wish list this year? Any previous gifts that were a home run?

Gina

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*Note: none of my gift guides are sponsored, and companies are not able to purchase spots on my gift guides. These are all items I curated myself and genuinely think they’d make awesome gifts for someone you love. Affiliate links are included, which don’t affect purchase price but enable me to earn a small kickback. Thank you so much for purchasing through these links and supporting our family. <3

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jonasmaurer · 2 years

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Friday Faves

Hi friends! Happy Friday and Happy Halloweekend 🙂 What do you have going on? I’m so excited for this weekend. The girls have a costume parade at their school, we’re carving pumpkins and have Trunk or Treat on Saturday, I’m teaching a barre class and a live Fit Team workout, and Sunday night, we’re taking the crew trick-or-treating with my dad and stepmom. I hope you have a fun weekend ahead, too!

We had Trunk or Treat at the squadron last weekend, so it was fun to walk around and see all of the different trunks (some were so elaborate! My favorite was the one offering margaritas to the adults) and the kids spent the evening living their best sugar-buzzed lives. Liv wore her dead bride costume and P wore a giraffe costume we’ve had for years. Her real costume this year is a sparkly witch – it’s the first year their costumes have ventured more on the scary side than cute side.

Necessary picture with the squadron bar warthog:

Stay tuned for a pic of the guinea pigs in their costumes on Instagram stories, and of course, Maisey and Caro.They’ve become the cutest little friends. As the mornings have gotten colder, I’ve found the two snuggled up together on the couch. Pretty adorable.

Some pics from the Pilot’s bday celebration:

We had the fam over and some friends for dinner and drinks later Sunday night after P’s party.

The appetizer spread:

(Shrimp cocktail, Mexican pastries, artichoke dip and crackers, chips and salsa)

Plus these cute mini taco salad bites! (I based this off a few I found on Pinterest and just used baked wonton wrappers in muffin tins, seasoned ground beef, guacamole, salsa, chopped red onions, olives, and cilantro)

We had “cowboy dinner”: grilled tri tip (Madre makes the best), baked beans, biscuits, salad, tortillas

And the famous dump cake with homemade vanilla ice cream:

It was a perfect night celebrating out favorite guy

and it made my heart happy to have everyone over, chatting and hanging out around the fire.

It’s feels great now that we no longer have a giant hole in the backyard.

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below!

Fashion + beauty:

New Beautycounter holiday sets! BC released three new holiday sets this week and you can get free shipping on orders over $50 from now until Sunday. New clients can use the code CLEANFORALL20 for 20% off.

Good Scents Bath Oil Trio – love this for a holiday gift idea. Three different scents: Invigorate (Rosemary, eucalyptus, and peppermint), Clarify (Ginger, cedarwood, and coriander) and De-Stress (Chamomile, eucalyptus, and patchouli). These are formulated with avocado and jojoba seed oils.

Countertime Deluxe Mini Set – If you have been thinking about purchasing this line, this set is a great way to try out the line before committing to the full size! This set is suppose to last for more than a month (some of these will last far longer that that) so it’s the perfect time to take this line for a test drive. The set includes: Countertime Lipid Defense Cleansing Oil, Countertime Mineral Boost Hydrating Essence, Countertime Tripeptide Radiance Serum, Countertime Antioxidant Soft Cream and Countertime Tetrapeptide Supreme Cream (my FAVE nighttime moisturizer).

Clean Sweet Hyaluronic Balm Duo: I love this balm duo as we head into winter aka chapped lips season. Apply as needed throughout day to hydrate and soften lips. It has a unique contour shape and can be used on lips or cheeks for a dewy glow. It comes in two shades: Nada (translucent) and Pinch (a warm, rosy pink)

– Locks in moisture to keep lips conditioned and hydrated, helping them to look more plump

– Infused with lip-loving ingredients for advanced nourishment that leaves lips soft and supple without greasiness.

– Optimized shape forms to contours of lips, swiping on easily. It reminds me of our Clean Deo but half the size.

– Can be applied to cheeks in a pinch for a dewy glow

– Smooths and softens lips with mango seed and murmur seed butter, jojoba, and avocado oil. These oils are known to mimic the skin’s natural lipids to help retain moisture, leaving lips soft and supple.

I got a Trunk Club this week, and while there weren’t a lot of keepers, I loved these comfy joggers. I know I’m going to live in these.

The perfect black pants. I wear these with button-up tops when I want to look more put-together (I had a meeting the other day and wore leopard slides and a silk button-up), or with a sweater and cute earrings.

Read, watch, listen:

Celebrities saying Trick or Treat

Do these things to have more energy during the day and sleep better at night

What’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to you?

If you’re in the mood for some spooky stories

Steps to have a more positive morning

Phantom is back on Broadway! (NYC friends please go see all the shows for me because who knows when I’ll go again. SO so happy Liv and I made this trip a couple of years ago.)

Fitness + good eats:

Grab your pumpkins and try this workout!

This sweet potato gnocchi looks amaaaazing.

Apple spice amazeballs

Possibly a good reason to aim for 5 hours of moderate intensity exercise each week.

Are you dressing up this year? Please let me know what you and/or your kiddos are going to be!

Favorite Halloween candy? I love the Reese’s pumpkins and Almond Joy.

Happy Friday, friends!

Gina

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jonasmaurer · 2 years

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Important Things to Remember When Working with Clients Who Have Autoimmune Disease

Every diagnosis brings on unique challenges. As an individual becomes aware of symptoms affecting their wellbeing, navigates the health system, receives a diagnosis, and then learns to manage the disease, the way they see their body and interact with their environment may change significantly.

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jonasmaurer · 2 years

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Why I tried Nutrisense (and What I Learned)

For the past week and a half, I tried out Nutrisense and wore a CGM to monitor my glucoses levels. Sharing a recap of my experience here! I was gifted the Nutrisense membership for 1 month to try, and this post is not sponsored. My code to try it out is GINA50 for $50 off <— not affiliate, just wanted to share a discount with you all.

Hi friends! How’s the week going? Thank you so much for all of the beautiful birthday wishes for P! We had a great day celebrating and capped it off with the requested hibachi dinner. I hope you’re having a wonderful week, too!

For today’s post, I wanted to share a recap of my experience using Nutrisense. I’ve been curious about this company for a while, especially after doing my Inside Tracker bloodwork earlier this year. My fasting glucose levels were a little on the high side, and I was concerned that it may be a deeper problem. I waited it out, and after my good friend Mia posted about using Nutrisense to monitor her blood glucose levels, I knew I wanted to give it a try. I reached out to the company and was excited when they offered me a month to try it out and see how I liked it.

I received the product and was SO nervous to put it on (hi, I’m a giant needle phobe) and waited and waited until Mia said that she’d walk me through the whole process and attach hers at the same time. You can watch the video here and witness the moment I almost started having a panic attack on live video. (She was like, “See, you can see the needle right there” and I turned white.) I really wanted the data, so I took a deep breath and went for it. I’m really glad I did, because having the ability to see my body’s response to different foods was extremely valuable.

(I’m smiling but panicking. Turns out, attaching the CGM was NOTHING like I imagined it would be. It was painless and super easy.)

Why I tried Nutrisense (and What I Learned)

What is Nutrisense and how does it work?

Nutrisense is a program that offers expert guidance in alignment with a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). The CGM tracks your blood glucose at 15-minute intervals throughout the day, so you’re able to see how sleep patterns, diet, exercise, stress, and nutrition impact your blood glucose levels. Continuously elevated glucose can cause inflammation and damage in the body, so it can be helpful to see how your body responds to the factors above, particularly how it recovers. For example, if your blood glucose spikes after a carb-heavy or sugary meal, does it stay elevated? Or does it recover within 2 hours? How high is the spike??

When you sign up for Nutrisense, your CGM is delivered to you, along with details on how to attach it. (You can watch me do this here!) You’ll attach the CGM and protective patch, download the app, and scan your CGM to start tracking the data. It usually takes about an hour after adding it for your phone to recognize it and start scanning. (You just click “scan” on the app and hold your phone up the the CGM where the camera is located.)

Within the app, you’re initially paired with a Registered Dietitian who can help you interpret the data, make recommendations, and run experiments.

The service starts at $350 for month, and the cost goes down depending on the time commitment. (With a 12-month commitment, it’s $199/month.)

The CGM that Nutrisense uses is the Freestyle Libre and they expire in 14 days. (You app will let you know when your sensor is expiring.)

What type of data do you receive and how do you interpret the data?

Your blood glucose is charted 24/7 and you can see how high gets and how long it takes to stabilize. It can be interesting to see spikes throughout the night how different patterns affect your blood glucose.

I got this from my RD, who messaged me frequently and was always available to answer questions: (this was after a smoothie that caused a higher spike than I expected)

To help provide more context, I want to walk you through what I’m looking at as I assess a glucose response so let’s check out your breakfast on 10/11 as an example (chocolate, smoothie, almond milk):

Peak (^ on your meal card). First, we want to look at the peak glucose value and aim to avoid repeated exposure above 140. Your peak glucose value was 114, which is well below the threshold and a normal peak!

Exposure (squiggly line on meal card). Second, we also want a small area under the curve (AUC). So a quick glucose spike to 150 but a return to pre-meal glucose values within 1 hour of eating is a small area under the curve, but a slow glucose climb to 130 and staying elevated for 4 hours would be a much larger area under the curve. We want glucose to return to pre-meal values within 2-3 hours after eating. You can help monitor your AUC by assessing your meal card AUC values and by checking your standard deviation in the analytics. Your AUC was 42.9- I would say optimally I’m looking for <30, but <50 is still okay!

Stability (triangle on meal card). We also want to avoid major “shifts” in glucose. So it may be possible that after a meal you only went to 130 (which is good!), but your pre-meal value was 70, so that would be quite a big swing. You can monitor this by assessing your delta values, as we always want to strive for a delta <30. Your delta was 33, which is great!!

Recovery (2h score on meal card). Finally, we want glucose to return to pre-meal values within 2-3 hours after eating. Your response was 23, which tells me you were 23 points from baseline value at the 2 hour mark.

What I learned using a Nutrisense CGM:

– Some buffers to prevent a blood sugar spike, especially when you’re having higher-carb meals: take a walk before or after your meal, have some type of protein first, moderate carb intake, and meal timing. Since your insulin sensitivity is better during the day and wanes towards the evening, you may tolerate foods better if consumed in the afternoon instead of late at night. This is absolutely the case for wine with me – if I have it late-afternoon, it doesn’t affect my sleep.

– Whole foods-based carbs do not have a significant effect on me, especially when they’re paired with protein. (Berries, apples, bananas, and oranges didn’t cause a spike, even when I ate them by themselves.) Oatmeal, paleo pancakes, Siete tortillas, and starchy veggies were the same. Refined carbs, on the other hand, did cause a spike. We went to a party at a friend’s house and I had more sweets and refined carbs than usual (plus champagne) and my blood glucose was elevated all night and the following day. It was interesting to see how one meal can affect your insulin sensitivity for the following day.

– Wine spikes my blood sugar, tequila does not. (An important lesson haha.) Both recover fine if I have one glass, but two glasses led to increased levels the following day. This experiment verified the fact that I don’t do well with a ton of alcohol, and it’s been a good reminder to minimize it. (Right now I’m at one or maybe two drinks per week.)

– Also, my body loves tacos, beans, and rice. 🙂 I had my usual Wednesday night Mexican meal with the family and no huge spike.

– Peace of mind. A large percentage of our population is not metabolically flexible, which can impact how we handle stress, injuries, and recover from illness. I was concerned that my last blood test showed a higher fasting glucose, but this was able to verify that it isn’t the case for me normally (my blood test was an outlier) and a good indicator of my metabolic health. That was my main concern going into this and it was a welcomed sigh of relief.

Pros:

– The RD support was invaluable. I loved having the ability to ask questions, and she did an excellent job about teaching me how to see my patterns, assess my response, and ideal target ranges.

– The app is very well-designed, easy to navigate and use. I liked using the app and found that even as a newbie, I figured it out fairly easily.

Cons:

– I ate a little strangely when I first put it on. It’s like I was afraid to eat anything that would spike it, and eventually I had to tell myself to get over it and eat normally after a couple of days. The data wasn’t going to help me if I only ate protein and vegetables for 14 days. So I had margaritas, tacos, desserts, all of the things I normally eat, so it would provide a true picture. If you have a history with disordered eating, I wouldn’t recommend using this.

– It was uncomfortable and I ended up taking it off a few days early. (I think it was more the adhesive than the actual sensor.) I recognize the privilege I have to be able to say, “I don’t want to wear this anymore” and remove it, when I have friends out there who depend upon a CGM for survival. Just wanted to put a little note here that I see you. <3 I didn’t sleep well at all for the 11 days I had it attached – it was super light sleep because I was subconsciously worried about rolling onto it and sleeping on it during the night. Also, I was a little shocked by the catheter when the Pilot removed it for me – it’s a teeny plastic tube, but it was longer than I expected lol.

All in all, it was a really valuable experience and I enjoyed having access to all of the data + learning from my Nutrisense RD.

Am I going to attach the second sensor? I think I’ll definitely do it eventually but am taking a break for a couple of weeks. I want to run some more experiments with meal timing and eating certain foods by themselves + in conjunction with other foods.

Any questions about Nutrisense? Is this something you think you would do? If you decide to try it out, you can use the code GINA50 for $50 off 🙂

Gina

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jonasmaurer · 2 years

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Happy birthday, P

Our baby is 6 and for some reason, 6 is hitting SO much harder than 5. She truly feels like a big kid now, and I’m constantly in this mode of wanting to freeze time while simultaneously loving to see these babies grow into such amazing and fun kids.

Some things about our now 6-year old:

– She’s always ready for a snuggle, and I call her my baby koala. If I had a pouch, she’d let me carry her around in there all day… and I would love it.

– She’s our little engineer and can build or create anything. It’s not unusual for her to have tape, scissors, glue, and paper, crafting or making some type of contraption, or building elaborate Lego sets. When she’s in Lego mode, I can’t even go near her until she’s gone through the entire book and built the whole thing by herself.

– Our little comedian; she’s constantly cracking us up with silly voices and facial expressions. Her Zingo victory dance is a gold star, let me tell ya.

– Her favorite foods are avocado toast, poke bowls, scrambled eggs, and sushi.

– This kid is full of hip hop dance moves, soccer dribbling, and can ride a horse better than most kids twice her age. She loves animals and they always seem to love her back.

– She has such inherent goodness in her heart and is always bursting with joy. The first 6 months her life were filled with the most painful and horrifying reflux, and we think that once she realized how great she feels when she doesn’t have reflux, she’s been the happiest little goose ever since.

– She’s super smart and very silly… and watching her and Liv play together is one of my favorite favorite things.

We had her birthday party this weekend (on the Pilot’s actual birthday… sorry Pilot haha) and are celebrating her all day today 🙂 Her party was at TRAK (horse rides, petting zoo, face painter) and we had a blast celebrating with friends and family. It was a double celebration, because the Pilot’s birthday dinner was at our house later that evening. For dinner tonight, she requested, “The place where they light the table on fire and cook your food” so that’s where we’ll be. 😉

Have a lovely day, friends! I’ll see ya in the am with a full post on my experience using Nutrisense.

Gina

P’s birth story is here. Reading it for a good cry today <3

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jonasmaurer · 3 years

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Friday Faves

Hey hey! Happy Friday! How was the week? I hope you had a great one! It was a bit of blur over here: tons of podcast recording, getting new Fit Team plans ready (they go out next week!), and prepping for party weekend. We have Trunk or Treat tonight, the Pilot’s birthday on Sunday, and P’s birthday party…. it’s going to be a festive and wild weekend. I hope you have a wonderful one, too.

(Painted these skulls with the girls last weekend)

Maisey, the unofficial soccer mascot:

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some faves from the week and around the web. I always love hearing about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below 🙂

Read, watch, listen:

I love the idea of a restaurant surprise.

Check out this week’s podcast interview here!

The paradox of “less is more” and how it can improve your life.

Great list of productivity tips.

Fitness + good eats:

HallowLEAN workout

Making a batch of this pumpkin oatmeal bake for easy breakfasts next week

LOVE this twist tie top from Carbon38 and wear it all the time. Code GINAHAR gets you 15% off orders over $100.

Apple crisp with oatmeal topping

This my go-to chicken tortilla soup recipe

Fashion + beauty:

Omggggggg friends. One of my favorite companies, HigherDOSE (they make my beloved sauna blanket) just released a red light face mask. I’ve been on the fence about investing in one and have been reading reviews, but decided to wait. I’m glad I did because as soon as I saw that they had released one, I knew it would be the winner. The price is significantly lower than other brands I’ve checked out, and it has all of the same benefits. It includes red and near-infrared lights that can help to boost mood, collagen production, skin healing, and can help to reduce wrinkles and sun spots. Bonus: it’s cordless!! You can put it on and walk around like a creeper lol. Just in time for Halloween! Check it out here 🙂

Beautycounter is 20% off for new clients (code CLEANFORALL20 and email address not associated with a previous order) and holiday sets are included!

Some of my top picks:

Mini lip gloss set (love breaking these apart for stocking stuffers and little gifts for Liv’s friends), Clean Dreams (comes with the cutest sleep mask), Mini Must-haves, Good Scents Hand Cream trio (another one you can break apart, and love having these in my purse and the car for the colder season), Best in Clean Heroes (mini versions of our bestsellers! A great way to try out the brand if you’re new).

Happy Friday, friends!

Gina

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jonasmaurer · 3 years

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The Science of Orange-Colored Fruits and Vegetables

When fall rolls around, the color orange suddenly seems to be dominating our spaces. From the parks with orange and yellow-colored trees to our porches and homes decorated with orange pumpkins and fall decor to even our refrigerators, orange-colored produce is a favorite for fall recipes.

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jonasmaurer · 3 years

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089: Balancing Fitness and Motherhood with Courtney Alcala

Hi friends! Today I’m chatting with Courtney Alcala all about balancing fitness and motherhood. It can be tricky to do all the things, but she has some great tips and insight.

Here’s what we talk about:

– Balancing a corporate career, training, and life as a mom (her baby is 5 months old)

– Her background in health and fitness

– Behind the scenes of the bikini competition world

and so much more.

Here’s a bit more about Courtney:

Courtney received a double dose of determination and grit growing up as an Army brat. The child of an intelligence analyst and a Green Beret, she learned how to assimilate, make friends quickly, and do things that were uncomfortable at a young age. In her youth, she was very involved with youth group, showing horses, dance team, competitive canoe racing, and salsa dancing.

Courtney’s mission is to build and nurture a fitness community of busy bee women who desire support in balancing their wellness goals with their career and family obligations. She works full-time as a traveling clinical research monitor, and remotely as a fitness coach/community leader. Courtney is a signed fitness model and winner of the 2020 Arnold Classic Model Search, which led to her first magazine cover. She has experience teaching a multitude of GX classes (Pilates, boot camp, body bar, barre, cardio dance, salsa, bachata, cha cha); summits; seminars; and opening gyms.

Courtney is an ACE certified personal trainer and holds her M.S. in Health Education. Her dedication to provide quality education to her clients has led her to work with renowned athletes and athletic trainers. Courtney and her husband welcomed their first baby into the world in May of 2021. She looks forward to leading her first STRONGCAMP postpartum in Spring of 2022, and is currently working with groups of women in her Fitness App to help them fit “fitness” into their busy lives.

You can connect with Courtney on her Instagram.

Resources from this episode:

The weather is cooling down, and I’m still obsessed with my sauna blanket. It feels even BETTER when it’s chilly outside and you can use the code FITNESSISTA75 for $75 off! This is one of my favorite ways to relax and sweat it out. I find that it energizes me, helps with aches and pains, I sleep better on the days I use this, and it makes my skin glow. Link to check it out here.

Get 15% off Organifi with the code FITNESSISTA. I drink the green juice and red juice daily, and also love adding the gold powder at night for relaxation and sleep.

I love love love the meals from Sakara Life. Use this link and the code XOGINAH for 20% off their meal delivery and clean boutique items. The goji rose donut is my very fave and the salads and enormous and delicious.

Thank you so much for listening and for all of your support with the podcast! Please leave a rating or review if you enjoyed this episode. If you leave a rating, head to this page and you’ll get a little “thank you” gift from me to you.

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jonasmaurer · 3 years

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Fitness Favorites For Fall & Winter

I’m sharing fitness favorites – from cozy layers and leggings to soft sports bras and beanies – that I’m loving for fall and winter.

With fall in full swing and winter not far off, I’ve switched out my summer shorts and breezy tanks in all the bright colors for some of my favorite layers and leggings! If you’ve been wanting to revamp your fitness attire and gear for the cooler months ahead (it’s jogger season!), I’m sharing some fitness favorites that I am loving lately. I am really into the rusty brown color palette that’s trending!

Whether you’re doing at home workouts, or back to hitting the gym, these comfy finds will help you feel good no matter how you’re moving.

Fitness Favorites For Fall & Winter

Lululemon Invigorate Training Tank Top in Aztec Brick – The ideal cropped tank for weight training or Peloton rides. Adding a couple to my shopping cart now!

Lululemon Align Joggers in Copper Brown – Obsessing over this copper brown color and Align is one of my favorite fitness fabrics. It’s the softest and wears well for a long time.

Lululemon Align Reversible Bra – Cute tie dye sports bra for my fellow smaller chested friends. I have two of these and love them.

Athleta Coaster Luxe Sweatshirt – I’ve heard great things about this Athleta sweater. You can definitely dress it up or down and it’s the perfect layer to throw on after yoga.

Athleta Kinetic Beanie – Versatile beanie to keep warm on winter walks!

Century Leggings 2.0 – I have these and get compliments every time I wear them. (Also, can leopard never go out of style, please?) You can use my code GINAHAR for 15% off your Carbon38 order over $100.

These short-sleeve tees are my fave (also from Carbon!). I wear them constantly to train clients and they’re cute with leggings and a sweater tied around your waist.

Free People The Way Home Shorts – I’ve been eyeing these popular shorts for a while and might snag a pair. They come in a million colors, have a flattering high rise and would be perfect for fall hiking in Arizona.

Free People Full Hearts Tank – I like the details of this flowy, almost peplum like, tank with a V-neck.

Aerie Twist Headband – Cute accessory to keep the hairs from going wild during a sweat sesh.

Where do you get most of your fitness gear these days? Any faves you’ve found lately? Hope you have a great day and I’ll see you soon!

Gina

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jonasmaurer · 3 years

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10 frequently-asked fitness questions and their answers

Do you have a question about fitness? Sharing a post with some of the questions I commonly receive about fitness with their answers. Please keep in mind that while I’m a certified personal trainer, women’s fitness specialist, and P1 Nutrition Coach, I’m not a doctor or Registered Dietitian. If you have specific health considerations, please reach out to a local health professional for guidance.

Hi friends! Hope you’re having a wonderful morning! We’re back in the school grind after a lovely fall break. We went to a birthday party, Liv ROCKED her first gymnastics practice meet, and also went to a happy hour at a friends’ house. If you missed Fit Team enrollment, I opened it for 24 more hours for my friends out there who still want to join. Snag your spot here (if you’re on the fence, try the 1-month option!) and you’ll get instant access to our membership site and October content, plus the new November workouts and bonuses on the 28th. (This post was supposed to go live yesterday and didn’t publish! I’ll close enrollment at noon PST today.)

For today’s post, I wanted to chat about some frequently-asked fitness questions and their answers. These are the types of questions I receive from clients all of the time, and many of these questions I also had myself when I was first getting started in the fitness world. If you have any burning fitness questions, please leave them in the comments below! (I’ll definitely do a follow-up post; I already have 5 more to answer, but this post got very lengthy!)

10 frequently-asked fitness questions and their answers

1. How much cardio should I be doing?

The answer to many of the questions on this list, including this one, is “it depends.” I know. It’s frustrating to hear that answer, but I’ll break down WHY and hopefully this will help you determine the best method for your unique body.

With cardio, the amount you’re doing depends on a lot of different factors: your current activity level, your goals, and how hard you’re working. If you’re currently sedentary, general recommendations of around 150 minutes of moderate cardio each week (about 30 minutes most days of the day), would be way too much. In that case, you’d start with shorter rounds: 10-15 minutes each day of easy cardio (like walking) and build on from there.

If your goal is strength and lean muscle gains, you don’t want to do too much cardio. No daily long jogs if you want to build muscle, because after a certain point, your body will begin to use protein (aka muscle) as fuel. Many strength training exercises, especially circuit training, can count as cardio if it elevates your heart rate and sustains it. Many workouts can hit the strength and cardio box in one session and remember that intensity and purpose > duration.

If you are consistently doing intense cardio workouts (like HIIT or sprints), you will need less overall cardio time because you’re working harder. Check out this post on how much cardio you should be doing, and how to modify it for your intensity and fitness level.

2. How often should I rest?

Rest is such a huge piece of the fitness puzzle and it’s easy to forget that the magic happens when we REST. This is when the body is able to restore its levels, rebuild muscle, and gather energy and fuel for the next session. If you’re constantly working yourself into the ground, there’s a point where you’ll hit diminishing returns. Too much exercise can lead to overtraining, which can potentially cause elevated resting heart rate, injury, poor sleep, low energy levels, depression/anxiety, agitation, decrease in performance, and extreme soreness/pain.

The amount of rest you need will also depend on your current routine, how quickly you recover, your fueling strategies, and the intensity of your workouts. If you’re working out at intense levels a few times each week, you may need more rest time to recover in between sessions. If your workouts are lower-intensity, you could possibly work out every day without the effects of overtraining. Make sure you have at least 1-2 days of full rest each week to allow the body to repair and prevent overtraining.

3. Should I stretch before my workouts?

Research is mixed on this, so if you don’t want to stretch, you can skip it! Static stretching before a workout has actually been shown to DECREASE speed and performance. If you’re going to stretch before a workout, use this chance to move your body through full range of motion exercises to prepare for the workout you’re about to do. Your warmup moves should mimic the “meat” of your workout and include dynamic stretching. Static stretching (holding for 15-25 seconds per stretch) is a better choice AFTER your workout. You can foam roll either before or after your workout.

4. How much weight should I be lifting when I strength train?

When you choose a weight for strength training, pick a weight that’s “heavy for you.” For example, 5 lbs may be heavy for one person, while 50 lbs is heavy for someone else. You should be able to complete all reps in a set with good form, and have to push yourself to finish the last 1-2 reps of each set. If you could easily breeze through 15-20 reps of an exercise at your current weight, it’s a good sign to bump it up a little. On the other hand, if you’re struggling to complete all reps and compromising form, decrease the amount of weight or resistance you’re using.

5. What is the best way to ”tone up” aka burn fat and build muscle?

You can absolutely burn fat and build muscle at the same time, but it takes conscious nutrition and training. You’ll ideally want to be in a little bit of a calorie deficit, weight training with challenging weights, and eating sufficient protein. (I typically recommend .8 – 1.2g per target lb of body weight, depending on goals and preferred eating style. For example, I’ll recommend less protein for a vegan friend.) Nutrient timing can also play a part in this, once nutrition foundations are set (protein and produce throughout the day, adequate hydration, eating slowly and mindfully, eating to your needs). To lose body fat, consume a majority of carb-dense foods before and after exercise. Outside of the 3-hour window following exercise, you can shift your focus to mostly protein, veggies, and healthy fats (25% of each following meal using carb-dense foods).

Here is a handy infographic with some nutrition guidelines, based on body type:

Source

For your workouts, add in new stressors (like a barbell instead of dumbbells, unilateral exercises, heavier resistance, band loops) and follow a plan based on periodization strategies. You need a plan? I gotchu, boo.

6. What should I do about muscle soreness?

Contrary to common belief, sore muscles do not mean that you had a *good workout* and you shouldn’t aim to be seriously sore after each session. I find that when clients are super sore, it hinders their activity level for the rest of the day and days following the workout. For this reason, we take it easy on the first session because no matter what we do, it’s different and new, which means they’ll be a tiny bit sore. What’s the benefit of pushing yourself super hard so you can’t move the rest of the week? If your muscles are incredbily sore, focus on adequate water and protein intake, stretch your muscles (dynamic and static stretching feels great), a bath with epsom salts, and magnesium oil. Easy cardio and moving the legs can help to reduce soreness. Also, if you have a sauna blanket or access to a sauna, this is an incredible recovery tool for sore muscles and inflammation.

7. How do I get started?

As always, talk with a doctor before making any fitness changes. The best way to start a fitness program is consistent walking and establishing a cardio baseline. Aim for 5-15 minutes most days of the week. Once you’re able to hit this consistently for a few weeks, add in 5 minutes until you can reach the 150 minutes of moderate cardio guidelines. (30 minutes, 5 days per week) From here, I recommend meeting with a certified personal trainer to determine a personalized strength plan you can follow 1-2 days per week. (One upper, one lower, or two total body circuits) From here, you’ll be able to progress into different strength training styles and methods depending on your goals, but I love starting with walking!

8. What’s the best diet for my fitness goals?

This depends on so many things: medical history, preferred eating style, activity level, metabolism, medications, specific goals, how many meals you like to eat each day, so.many.things. This is why one-size-fits-all nutrition programs are a huge red flag. I recommend focusing on the foundations first: eating enough vegetables and leafy greens, protein intake, hydration, eating slowly and mindfully, and eating to your needs. If you need help with nutrition foundations, I’m opening a wait list for January group coaching. Make sure you’re on my newsletter here so you can get the details first!

9. How often should I work out?

This depends on intensity and your goals. If your goal is general movement, your ideal amount of workout days will be different than someone who is training for a grueling athletic event. You could train 2-7 times per week, depending on intensity. Make sure to vary intensity in your workout plan each week so you have a mix of challenging, easy, and moderate intensity levels. Always include 1-2 days of full rest. Need help creating a workout plan? Here’s a post I did allllll about this.

10. Should I work out my abs every day?

Nope! Back in the day, I thought if you wanted a six-pack you needed to work out your abs every day. Our abdominals are like any other muscle group: they need rest to recover and repair. Also, SO many exercises that are not considered “ab exercises” work your core, like squats, deadlifts, push-ups, hip raises, balance work, etc. If you put your mind to muscle and focus on breathing during your exercises, you may be surprised to see how much this works your core and can improve definition and strength. I don’t think you need to do core work more than 2-3 times max per week.

Whew! High fives to all of my friends out there who made it through this entire post. 🙂 It was a beefy one, but I love talking about this stuff and answering your questions.

Do you have any burning fitness questions?

What are some of your tips for friends out there who are just getting started?

Gina

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jonasmaurer · 3 years

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Friday Faves

Hi friends! Happy Friday! How’s the week going so far? Thank you SO much for your amazing Fit Team enthusiasm and welcome to our new members! I’m so pumped to have you on the team and I can’t wait to hear how you like the new platform + our upcoming November workouts. If you’d like more info about Fit Team, check out this page. The price will jump tonight at midnight!

How’s the week going so far? I hope you’ve had a great one. The girls are on fall break, so we’re thinking about doing a staycation at a local hotel for a night. We’ve also been on a mission to check out all of the pumpkin patches and fall festivals.

We went to the Marana pumpkin patch last weekend:

(One of my favorite headbands; link is here)

Check out the girls in the back – the best ever:

(PS that ride was called the Cornado lol)

we ate pumpkin pie and P, always fearless, went on an enormous zipline.

We also met up some of the girls’ friends from school to see Addam’s Family 2. I’d have to give it a 5/10 but the wonderful company (the best Roadhouse Popcorn), which increased the film’s enjoyment to a 10.

What’s going on this weekend? I hope you have a great one up ahead. We’re headed to a happy hour at a friend’s house tonight, Liv has her first gymnastics competition (!!!), another fall festival, and a birthday party on Sunday. I don’t even care that our schedule is packed until December – it’s nice to have things to do and look forward to.

Read, watch, listen:

The second season of The Babysitter’s Club is out (on Netflix) and I can’t wait to watch it with the girls. We loved the last season! Major nostalgia for me and it got Liv hooked on the books.

I started this book and ommmggggggg it’s intense. I got it from Book of the Month and while I never read horror books or anything scary, y’all promised me on Instagram that it isn’t too bad. While it’s definitely creepy, it’s intense, intriguing, and I’m totally sucked in. I’ll probably finish it this weekend.

Make sure to check out this week’s podcast episode here! We’re chatted all about postpartum recovery and restoring abdominal function after baby.

Loved this post from my friend, Julie.

Fashion + beauty:

Ok, what are we feeling about the shacket trend? Are we into it? I scoped out this one from Shopbop (it’s sold out) but so many of them look boxy and lumberjacky. Do you have a shacket (I even hate the word)? Please tell me about this!

Beautycounter’s new cream blushes are here!

We’re having a little virtual pop up next week and it would be so fun if you could join us! We’ll share some skincare tips and giveaways – all you need to do it grab your comfies and favorite beverage. Please let me know if you can make it (in the comments or email [email protected]) and I’ll send you the call info!

So glad I kept this plaid shirt from my last Trunk Club. I’ve worn it twice already with jeans and leggings + low-top sneaks.

Fitness + good eats:

Try this pumpkin smoothie bowl. One of my favorites for fall!

Peanut butter bliss balls.

New nut and seed blends from Sakara! (my code XOGINAH gets you 20% off.) They’re individually-packed and perfect for on-the-go snacks. They’re seasoned perfectly and have very simple ingredients.

How to store and cook different types of grains.

Thai coconut soup with tofu and rice.

Happy Friday, friends!

Gina

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jonasmaurer · 3 years

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088: Abs after baby with Daisy Andrea Bravo

Hi friends! Happy Thursday! I’ve got a new episode up on the ‘pod and today I’m chatting with Daisy Andrea Bravo about abs after baby.

When you hear “abs after baby,” it’s easy to think about getting a six-pack (or getting your six-pack back) because that’s the messaging that we’re constantly bombarded with online. I’m not talking about the appearance of your abs (even though that can be a nice bonus), but we’re talking about FUNCTION. Restoring core awareness post-pregnancy is a huge piece of the recovery puzzle and I’m excited that Daisy is here to share her insights on one of my favorite fitness topics.

We also chat about:

– Considerations for prenatal fitness

– Why everyone should see a pelvic floor PT

– Some of her favorite exercises for core awareness

– Postpartum recovery

and so.much.more.

If you’re not familiar with Daisy and her work, here’s a little bit more about her.

Daisy Andrea Bravo is the founder of Strong Moms Fitness. She’s dedicated more than 15 years to helping women reach their health and fitness goals. She has helped many women prepare for birth safely, post-pregnancy she helps rehabilitate and bring women back to sports and the activities they love. Her approach to health and fitness includes butt-kicking exercise, education, motivation, and body image work. She is a certified Pre & Post Natal Exercise Specialist, Medical Massage Therapist Specializing in Sports Therapy, Pre & Post Natal Therapy, and Post- Injury Rehabilitation Therapist.

You can connect with Daisy on her website, her Instagram, and check out her book here.

Resources from this episode:

Join Fit Team! If you’ve been waiting for the chance to join, let’s gooooooooooo. Enrollment closes Sunday and I’d love to see you in the group!! I created Fit Team to provide my friends with solid, challenging, science- backed workouts that will help them towards their goals. All workouts are based on periodization strategies (so we can avoid plateaus!) and you can finally find the consistency and motivation we’ve all been looking for 🙂 Our community is truly amazing and we cheer each other on along the way aaaaand we have a brand-spanking-new membership site. Check out all of the details here.

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jonasmaurer · 3 years

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The Science and Benefits of Consuming Locally Seasonal Produce

Eating local, seasonal produce has tremendous benefits for your nutrition, the environment, the local economy, and even your bank account.

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jonasmaurer · 3 years

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Fit Team is open! (Enrollment ends Sunday)

Sharing the details about Fit Team and our new membership site + app!

Hi friends! Happy Wednesday! I have exciting news this morning: the Fit Team membership site is officially live!! I’ve been SO pumped to share this with you and working hard to get it together over the past couple of months. I’ll post more details about the new changes below, but first I want to tell you what Fit Team is all about! This is the LAST TIME I’ll be opening enrollment in for 2021, so if you’ve been curious about joining, now is the time.

Fit Team is open!

What is Fit Team?

An affordable online workout membership for those sick of hopping from plan to plan without seeing results, falling off the bandwagon constantly and struggling to stay consistent for months and years. Fit Team was created to help you FINALLY stay compliant on a workout plan, supported by a coach (who is also a busy, working mom!) and a community of like-minded women with similar goals and who want to cheer you on!

Fit Team was created because 14-day jumpstarts aren’t long enough, 30-day challenges aren’t long enough, and 60-day transformation contests aren’t long enough. My clients want REAL results and REAL lasting change + consistency. I created the Fit Team program as a way to provide constant fitness options, effective workouts, mindset tips, and recipes with my inner circle who are ready to take their fitness to the next level and finally make it a consistent and rewarding part of life.

Let me design your workout programming for you, and you’ll know that everything was crafted for optimal results with periodization strategies to keep plateaus FAR AWAY. With our weekly fitness trackers, you can also shuffle the workouts around according to your unique needs and schedule.

If you’ve been puzzle-piecing your fitness routine and not seeing results, you can definitely benefit from having a plan and more structured training. The workouts are fast, fun, and sweaty, with room to modify or progress, depending on your level.

You can read all about Fit Team, including Q&As and testimonials here!

Here’s what’s included:

Brand new strength workouts each month and weekly fitness planners so you can hit your workouts with the confidence of having a strategic plan (value $197)

Modifications for beginners, postpartum and low-impact through short and sweet video tutorials for each exercise so you can modify as needed

Access to our exclusive private community, where you can connect with other Fit Team members, ask questions, share recipes, and ask for support. Your Fit Team friends and myself are excited to cheer for each other along our journeys. (Value $297)

Live group workouts with me where we can work out as a team and I can help with form cues on the spot (value $97)

And so.much.more. (Including bonus recipes, training tips, motivation strategies, accountability challenges) I love to surprise my Fit Team members with bonuses and extra goodies to help with motivation and accountability (value $197)