The Fit Skool | by Kelly

September 9, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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Trainer Tip Tuesday #2- Exercising outdoors

Trainer Tip Tuesday #2

Try exercising outside. The fresh air and amazing temperatures we have had the past few days makes working out more enjoyable! Being outdoors can be soothing & it can help reduce stress levels. When I am outside I tend to relax, take in the views, and my mind clears. They also say a little Vitamin D is good too right??

For a lower body focus grab a set of dumbbells and try these 2 exercises:

Sumo Squat:

To maintain good form for the Sumo Squat keep your chest up, rotate your hips back as you squat, and focus on keeping the weight in your heels as you stand.

(please excuse my face, the sun is bright)

Lunges:

A key point on form in a forward lunge is to make sure that your knee does not pass your toes as you lunge forward. Also try not to drop your chest forward.

WARM-UP with a light 5 minute jog around the block or a brisk 5-10 minute walk.

Complete 3 Sets of 20 Repetitions of each exercise. In between each set perform 20 Jumping Jacks.

***Always consult a Doctor or Physician before beginning a new exercise program***

September 8, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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9 Month Baby & Postpartum Update

9 Months seems a whole lot older to me then 8 months. I don’t know why, but it just put everything in perspective for me. Time flies and I need to start living more in the moment because before I know it Ava will be driving a car! (Well not that fast but that’s what everyone keeps telling me)

AVA’S UPDATE

Ava is weighing in at 18lbs 8oz…she is super long but I don’t have an exact update on her length, we head to the doctor this week.

She is saying mama and dada, and rotates between the two. The last couple of days have been primarily dada which is a nice break since she said mama for about a week straight. I’m not too sure she knows what those 2 words mean yet, but she will learn fast.

Ava is super brave and loves the water, she literally will crawl in the water at the beach and pretend swims when she is in the bathtub. I hope she’s a great swimmer one day!

EAT

One thing I learned this month is that a healthy child eats great!

Ava loves her puff cereal in any flavor, she also loves oatmeal still
She loves fresh fruit… bananas, peaches, watermelon (in tiny pieces)
Hates broccoli…
Spinach and strawberries do not agree with her!
Loves sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, squash, etc.
She likes waffles & eggs, and is open to new things
She’s a good eater and easily opens her mouth for you to feed her
To let you know she is done, Ava will clench her mouth shut or push the spoon away

(Don’t let her fool you… she cannot hold the bottle on her own yet!)

SLEEP

I have no complaints; as long as Ava sleeps through the night I am a happy camper! Generally she goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up at 630am. She usually takes one morning nap for an hour or and one afternoon nap for usually 1-1 ½ hrs. (Sometimes they are flip-flopped)

The days I really need her to nap she doesn’t and then when I don’t care when she naps she takes her best ones. So now I try not to think about them and now I am just happy when she sleeps J

PLAY!

Ava loves to play & explore! She thinks its fun to climb the stairs, and if the gate is up she does a fake cry for help to move the gate.

She loves pulling on Coopers tail and touching his mouth. She has no fears when it comes to pulling a bone out of his mouth.

Lately her favorite thing to play with is Cooper’s water dish. I guess it is a mini pool to her, and she will splash her hands and empty it on the floor. It was fun the first couple of times and now I wish she either knew how to clean up the mess or she was careful not to sit in water!

The summer is over and we have had our fair share of fun at the beach… it gets me excited for next year when hopefully we can really get in the water together and I can teach her to swim.

I am looking forward to the day Ava walks… yes I said it! Everyone keeps telling me “it’s all be over when she starts walking” but I am up for the challenge and I can’t wait!!

POSTPARTUM UPDATE

There isn’t much to update here, besides some strength gains. I am feeling strong again and I am loving being able to challenge my body. I went for a jog yesterday (I don’t run too often) but I felt strong and I felt that I could run forever.. well that was until I got bored. I enjoy boot camp workouts where there’s more to focus on.

My core is gaining strength and my shoulder is finally feeling close to 100%…. yessssss.

My new goal is to increase my pull-up strength. With my shoulder injury Pull-ups were one of the exercises I avoided because of the impact on the shoulders. I know I can improve and I am looking forward to the challenge of adding them back into my workouts

HAPPY MONDAY!!

September 5, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
2 Comments

Day 4 of Paleo.. and it’s got me thinking

As many of you know already, I have been doing a Paleo challenge since Tuesday, and have also challenged all of you as well. I am very happy with the response and participation I have received from everyone and look forward to hearing from everyone as we continue on with the 2nd week…

WIth that being said, after Boot Camp last night I was able to get some feedback from some of you and it got me thinking! Yesterday, I myself found it hard to get full and at times I was sick of fruits and veggies as snacks. How many more nuts and nut butter should I eat?? I am not sure what I was looking for to feel full, but nothing I ate satisfied me. I started questioning if I was missing something in my diet.

I like following Paleo and it has lots of benefits:

It increases fruit and veggie intake
eliminates all process foods and alcohol
helps you to focus on eating healthy fats & lean meats
it forces me to be creative in the kitchen

BUT I also like some of the stuff that is not on the diet. Things I think are healthy in moderation; yogurt, oatmeal, milk,and peanut butter to name a few.

“Eating everything in moderation” is the philosophy i use in my own life style as well as what I preach to my clients.

So the point of this post is to tell you that if you are participating in the challenge I think you should listen to your body. I learned to listen to my body when I was pregnant and since then I feel like that has helped me to feel satisfied with food & life in general. I don’t normally crave foods, but yesterday I really wanted some granola or oatmeal. I thought to myself why am I not eating this? I am doing this challenge for myself but if my body wants something maybe I should listen to it!

NOW… I am not saying to go eat a bag of potato chips (that is a craving you should fight) but if you are craving dairy, have a yogurt or some milk in your coffee…… just don’t go eat a cheese pizza!

I am continuing to do PALEO until the challenge is over, but I can definitely see myself adding in some things when needed!

Does following the Paleo diet make you crave other foods??

Do you like following the Paleo diet?? I would love to hear your feedback!

Check out more of my food pics for the challenge on Instagram @TheFitSkool

September 4, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
2 Comments

When I like a meal I tend to eat it a lot, is that bad?

Yesterday in my WIAW you probably noticed for breakfast I had sauteed spinach and pan fried potatoes with 2 over easy eggs on the top. I love the combination of all the ingredients, trust me it’s good! The runny egg yolk packs a lot of flavor and nutrition so you can’t beat it! I have had this for breakfast the last couple days and I can’t seem to get enough.

I had several people comment to me that it looks so delicious and they wanted to know the recipe.

Lucky for you, this dish is super easy to make!

Runny Eggs over Spinach & Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

1 medium potato

2 handfuls of baby spinach

olive oil or coconut oil

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Poke a few holes in the potato using a fork. Wrap it in wax paper and microwave for about 5 minutes or until soft. Place 2 small frying pans on the stove with a little bit of oil in each pan and turn heat to high. In one pan add the spinach and saute for a couple minutes.

Slice your potato and place it in your other pan. Pan fry the potato for a couple minutes on each side. Place both the spinach & potatoes on a plate. Then add 2 eggs to one of your frying pans and cook until the egg whites are white, then flip and cook for about 30 seconds.

Place eggs over the spinach & Potatoes and pierce the eggs so they are runny. Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper and Enjoy!

I love the combination of this dish. I try to get a little spinach, egg yolk, & potato in every bite!!

Are you a fan of over easy eggs??

When you like a meal do you eat it a lot?

September 3, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
4 Comments

What I ate Wednesday- Paleo edition!

I am bringing to you a What I ate Wednesday post today. (really it’s what I ate yesterday and maybe I should’ve titled it that way!) I was overly pleased with my first day doing the Paleo, I never was overly starving except for after boot camp!

Here are my PALEO Eats!My breakfast started off with some Black coffee. I do like the taste, but I drank way less then I normally do!

I had sauteed spinach and pan fried potatoes in Coconut Oil and topped that with 2 over easy eggs. It was SOO Good, you need to try it.

For mid-morning snack I ate a banana, a homemade Larabar, and some baby carrots! Odd combo but the carrots came a little while later.

Lunch was some leftover grilled chicken with grilled veggies over a spring mix salad with a vinegarette dressing. I also had a baked Sweet Potato with olive oil & salt. Super healthy but filling!

I found myself eating an afternoon snack earlier, I guess I wasn’t really too full from that salad! I didn’t have almond butter so I had an apple with some mixed nuts on the side.

I made a crockpot PALEO Turkey & Bison chili for dinner. I will post the recipe this week. I liked it a lot!

After Boot Camp Marc made some Pan Fried Tostones (plantains lightly fried in coconut oil with sea salt) So sweet and salty!

(Missing from the pics was some plantain chips that I snacked on!!)

That’s it for today!

What did you eat??

For more food posts from WIAW check out Peas and Crayons Blog

September 2, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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Labor Day Weekend Recap & Day 1 of my Paleo Food Challenge

Isn’t it awesome that today is Tuesday??!! That is the beauty of 3-day weekends.

Going into the weekend I decided instead of taking pictures of everything we did and all the different foods we made and ate, I would just sit back and enjoy the last weekend of summer. So the pictures I do have were taken from other people!

My weekend was great! Although the weather was iffy all weekend the rain held out for us. We BBQ’d every day with family and friends, and I loved that I didn’t have to cook!

Ava had her own food at my parent’s BBQ. She’s naked because it’s easier for me to clean up!! She is a messy eater and gets food EVERYWHERE!

Yesterday morning I taught Group Power. I was looking forward to my morning workout before heading to a Family BBQ at the beach but to be honest it was the longest hour EVER.

Usually Group Power is fun and I love how I feel after, but the air conditioner wasn’t working so it was brutal! The sweat was literally dripping off my body and it literally looked like I just came out of a pool when we finished. I drank 3 large water bottles during the hour long class and it wasn’t enough. It was almost like we did the workout in a sauna, I was not a fan. I left feeling drained!

When I got home, I hydrated some more and then attacked the fridge. My appetite was crazy! After I re-fueled and showered I felt SO much better.

We headed to Todd’s Point around 12 for our last BBQ of the weekend.

I’m not gonna lie the weather was GROSS. Don’t you just hate being hot and sticky?? Thank goodness for the Long Island Sound.

Being in the water was hands down the highlight of my day, and if Ava could swim we probably would have stayed in longer.

She was literally crawling around getting hit by little waves and had no fear of the water. She’s just like me and it was a lot of fun to watch her!

Today was the first day of my PALEO Food Challenge! I enjoyed my coffee black this morning.

I will post some of my “eats” tomorrow!

Are you joining me on the 2 week PALEO Food Challenge?

September 1, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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Meal Ideas for the PALEO Food Challenge

I hope you are all having a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

In case you missed my last couple of posts, I am starting a Paleo Food Challenge on September 2nd. Yesterday I posted my Grocery List and today I am bringing to you some meal ideas that I was brainstorming for this week.

PALEO MEAL IDEAS

BREAKFAST

Omelet with Peppers & onions

Bacon & eggs with fruit

Scrambled Eggs, with veggies

Hashbrowns with over easy eggs

Egg Muffins with bacon

LUNCH

Tuna Lettuce Wraps with almonds

Chicken Salad with Avocado & Tomatoes

Tossed Salad with Chicken, Veggies, Lemon Juice & Olive oil

Grilled Fish with Broccoli & olive oil

Lean ground beef taco salad

DINNER

Steak with Grilled Asparagus & salad

Pulled Pork with Cole Slaw

Chicken stir Fry

Blackened Salmon & Homemmade sweet potato fries

Taco lettuce wraps with beef, peppers, guac, & salsa

SNACKS

Apple with Almond Butter

Hard boiled eggs & avocado

Raw Veggies

Plantain Chips w/ guacamole

Sweet Potato Rounds cooked in Olive or Coconut oil

Nuts (except peanuts)

Smoothie with almond milk & strawberries & Ice

None of these meals & snacks are set in stone, but it is nice to have a plan to branch off of!

Do you have any PALEO approved meal & snack ideas?? I am not that creative so please send over some ideas!

August 31, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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PALEO Food Challenge Grocery List

Today I am going shopping for the week to get prepared for my PALEO Food Challenge. This list of groceries first shows my protein choices, then my carbs, and lastly my fats.

I am sure I am missing something! Somehow that always happens and I end up running back to the store

Are you in??

GROCERY LIST

o EGGS

o BACON

o LEAN GROUND BEEF & GROUND TURKEY

o CHICKEN

o STEAK

o PORK LOIN

o TUNA

o SALMON

o PEPPERS

o ONIONS

o POTATOES

o SWEET POTATOES

o BROCCOLI

o ASPARAGUS

o CELERY

o BABY SPINACH

o AVOCADOS

o CUCUMBERS

o TOMATOES

o ROMAINNE LETTUCE

o FROZEN STIR FRY MIX

o BANANAS

o APPLES

o ORANGES

o STRAWBERRIES

o ALMOND MILK AND COCONUT MILK

o COCONUT OIL & OLIVE OIL

o NUTS

o ALMOND BUTTER OR SUNFLOWER BUTTER

If you are looking for a couple on-the-go snacks some LARABARS & RXBars are Paleo approved!

I will be posting some meal & snack ideas tomorrow I hope you are having a lovely LABOR DAY weekend!

August 29, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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2 Week Paleo Clean Eating Challenge

Are you up for another Healthy Eating Challenge??

I really hate to say it, but summer is coming to an end and most of us will be back to a more strict schedule. There’s no better time then now to focus on eating right and exercising more.

I am starting a 2 Week Paleo Challenge on September 2nd and would like all of you to join! If you need support, ask a friend or family member to join you! 14 days is not a lot of time so don’t give me any excuses as to why you can’t say “I’m In”.

If you are unfamiliar with Paleo, here it is in a nutshell:

What To Eat	Avoid
Fruits	Dairy
Vegetables	Grains
Lean Meats	Processed Foods & Sugars
Seafood	Legumes
Healthy Fats	Starches
Nuts & Seeds	Alcohol

For more information about rules & recipes check out these links:

I have done Paleo before but only for 1 week at a time. In my previous experiences I loved it, I was less bloated, I felt better, I had great energy, I got creative in the kitchen, it helped me incorporate more veggies into my meals, and it has become part of my lifestyle.

Sooooooo…. stop thinking about it and questioning whether you can do it. Of course you can do it!

I will be sending more information this weekend with meal planning, grocery list ideas, recipes, etc. So look out for my next post!

I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

August 28, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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Asiana Cafe & Eating Healthy at a Restaurant

Last night we went out to celebrate a friend’s birthday at a local restaurant called Asiana Cafe in Greenwich. We were lucky that the weather was nice and we grabbed a table outside!

When eating out at a restaurant there are obviously tons of unhealthy choices, but there are also ways to eat healthy too.

To start try ordering a salad or a broth based soup.

I ordered a Ginger salad, which was super simple with a healthy dressing. Avoid creamy dressings, they have way more calories.

It seems now a days the portion sizes are extremely large, so try splitting an entree with a friend.

I split this chicken & broccoli dish with one of my friends and it was the perfect amount of food. It helps you avoid getting overly stuffed where you want to unbutton your pants!

As a side at an oriental restaurant try choosing the whole grain brown rice instead of the traditional white rice. It contains healthy grains and fiber! You will leave feeling great about your healthy choices.

It was a great night out with my friends and I look forward to our next girls night

Additional Tips for Eating Healthy at a Restaurant:

Drink water and avoid sugary beverages
Order steamed, grilled, or broiled meals and stay clear of sauteed & fried
Ask for the salad dressing on the side
choose main dishes that include lots of veggies

Most importantly enjoy your company when you eat out!

Do you have any tips for eating healthy when dining out??