The Fit Skool | by Kelly

April 4, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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FRIDAY FAVORITES

I am so excited it is Friday and the weekend is here. This week went by pretty fast, and my body is ready for some relaxation.

Well, that relaxation won’t happen until Saturday afternoon because I am participating in a Fundraiser Boot Camp bright and early tomorrow morning. The fundraiser is for Celiac Disease in Somers, NY. I am looking forward to a nice morning workout with one of my friends!

So onto some of my FAVORITE things from today and this week:

This morning I had an egg scramble with veggies in coconut oil! YUMMM. Sometimes the simple things taste so good.

I also made these bran muffins with applesauce. They turned out surprisingly moist considering I almost forgot the oil. As I was baking these I was teaching Ava how to “bake” and after I put them in the baking cups I realized I forgot the oil!!! I improvised, and used my misto to spray some olive oil on top. Whether that worked or not they tasted great!

On Tuesday after my boot camp workout class I tried this Complete Cookie from Lenny & Larrys. it is vegan, dairy free, all natural, and super chocolatey!! I highly recommend it if you have a chocolate craving. (you can find them at vitamin shoppe)

Veggie Chili… this is such a healthy side dish or main course meal. Recipe to come…

This TRAMPOLINE… my dad bought for me. Whenever he sees something fitness related I guess he thinks I need to have it! I am all for it and can’t wait to try a trampoline workout!

Fruit.. I have been eating tons of bananas, pineapple, and canteloupe!

and of course Cooper & Ava they will always be my favorite! Cooper posed for the camera.

Have a great Friday!

April 3, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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MARCH OF DIMES

On January 25^th, my sister-in-law and her husband welcomed their beautiful baby boy Alexander John into this world eight weeks early, only to have to say goodbye a mere day later. It was not the outcome any of us expected.

Everyday thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. So with empty arms and a broken heart, Melanie and her husband would like to try to help other families with premature babies.

Together as a family, we are walking in March of Dimes, March for Babies at the end of April. The March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

Please consider making a donation in honor of my nephew Alexander to help us help other babies begin healthy lives!

www.marchforbabies.org/kgarofalo

Every little bit counts!

April 2, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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Golden Roasted Plantains

If you have a craving for sweets, try some of these GOLDEN ROASTED PLANTAINS! Marc and I had bought some green plantains a couple of weeks ago with intentions of making plantain chips. Well, change of plans.. the plantains were too ripe so we decided to roast them.

The result was yummy, soft, golden goodness and I couldn’t have just one! The good news is this recipe is healthy and nutritious.

GOLDEN ROASTED PLANTAINS

Ingredients:

2 yellow ripe plantains
1-2 tbsp canola oil
Sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a baking sheet with baking spray.

Peel and Slice plantains into 1/4 inch thick slices. Coat the plantain slices with canola oil and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes and flip. Cook another 10-12 minutes or until golden and crispy on the top.

We tested out a new recipe last night for plantain chips. They came out pretty good but we need to perfect the recipe a bit. I am thinking a tad more oil! I will post that recipe soon

April 1, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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Tight hip flexors?

After a week of tough workouts and getting back into my normal exercise routine, I have experienced some tight hip flexors over the past few days.

All the squats and lunges I have done in boot camp this week have made my hips a little stiff, so I have added daily stretching to reduce the tightness.

Do you sit all day at work all day? You might want to stretch out… if you sit all day this causes the muscles in your hip to shorten up. The good thing is you can get that flexibility back.

Here are a couple of pictures that demonstrate a hip flexor stretch. Make sure to ease into the stretch if you have never done it before. You don’t want to over stretch the muscle.

To get a deeper stretch raise your arm straight up and bend it slightly over your head.

This is just one of many stretches for the hip flexor. I have also been doing the butterfly stretch and the seated straddle stretch. I am hoping that after a few days of stretching my hip flexors I will be able to get a little deeper and more comfortably into my squats!

How often do you stretch? Do you feel better after you do?

March 31, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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Core Cardio T-25 Workout

On Saturday morning while Ava was napping I did the Core Cardio T-25 workout dvd at home.

Sweat was dripping off of my face and my heart was pumping. I loved it. I enjoyed this workout so much more then the core speed workout I did the other day. I didn’t have to make any modifications for my shoulder and I was extremely happy!

The balance planks were my favorite.

I can already feel my shoulder getting stronger each day and I am not far away from being able to do more pushups and heavier weights!

After I completed that workout. I did some of my physical therapy exercises. All of these exercises are helping to stabilize my shoulder.

This first one is done with resistance tubing. you keep your arm extended straight over head, you lift your shoulder up slightly and let your arm fall back just a little so you feel it in your serratus anterior muscle. Since my injury, my shoulder blades have been winging out a bit so I am fixing it by strengthening the serratus muscle.

The second exercise is a wider row.

With this row you stop once your elbow is by your side. Again your are activating the serratus muscle.

Starting my morning with this workout made me feel so productive! I am hoping to keep up with these quick T-25 workouts on the days I am not teaching classes. I love the convenience of doing them at home and also the fact that they are only 25 minutes!

March 29, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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March of Dimes

Please consider making a donation in honor of my nephew Alexander to help us help other babies begin healthy lives!

www.marchforbabies.org/kgarofalo

Every little bit counts!

March 28, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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T-25 at home Core speed workout

Yesterday I was able to complete a T-25 Core Speed workout at home.

Before my workout I had this Pure Brownie Bar… YUM!! As you can see the picture is just of the wrapper because I was too hungry to snap the picture before

It only has 7 natural ingredients: Dates, Agave nectar, Brown Rice Protein, Cashew Butter, Almonds, Walnuts, & Cocoa

The Core Speed workout went by quickly and all of the movements required SPEED and being light on your feet. Some of the exercises involved the upper body so I needed to modify a few of them.. I am still not able to do full on ballistic movements like boxing, so I substituted more squats and jumping jacks in their place!

I loved the L-Squat movement.. it is similar to a squat jack that I do in my boot camp class!

I also added some knee pushups into my workout. I have been dying to try them. I don’t think my shoulder is quite strong enough to do them daily but I was able to finish 2 sets of 8. It’s a start and I’m okay with that!

I took this selfie of me and Cooper (I’m not usually a selfie taker).. I wanted you all to see my sweat dripping in this picture but I think my main reason of taking the picture was to of course capture Cooper passed out on the couch. He worked hard too!

Happy Friday!

March 27, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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The Chair Workout

Yesterday was a busy day for me so I wasn’t able to blog!

I am happy to let you know that last night I taught my first Group Power class since my collarbone injury. It felt awesome to workout in the group setting again! I am looking forward to gaining strength with my class in the next couple of months.

Besides teaching classes, I find that lately most of my other workouts are completed in my own home. I am sure that will change once Ava gets over this cold and the weather warms up but for now I have been enjoying some quick at home circuit workouts.

Today I have a fun Chair workout to share with you. The best part is that you can do this at home and on your own time. Depending on how much time you have, you can cram this workout into 10 minutes or stretch it out to 20 or even 30.

This workout contains 4 exercises. You will complete 20 repetitions of each exercise… set your time for however long you have, and complete AS MANY ROUNDS AS POSSIBLE!! Make sure to warm up with some jumping jacks, jump rope, or jogging in place to get those muscles warmed up.

CHAIR WORKOUT

SQUATS

TRICEP DIPS

SWING KICKS (kick your leg up and over the top of the chair)

STEP UPS

Cool Down with some light stretching!

**always consult your Doctor or Physician before beginning a new exercise program**

March 25, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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is it a good move to exercise when you are sick?

This topic is always up for debate. My motto is “listen to your body.” Sometimes sweating makes me feel better and other times my body tells me to lay on the couch.

Last Thursday I was feeling a little achy and I had a sore throat. Both symptoms weren’t severe and I attempted a low intensity workout. The next day my symptoms were a little worse and I chose not to exercise. Instead I rested, drank tons of fluid, and ate extremely healthy. By Sunday I was feeling a lot better. I still had some nasal congestion but my symptoms did not keep me from doing my daily activities and I was still able to exercise at a low-intensity.

Whether these helped me or not, here are some things that I think helped speed up the recovery of my cold:

Apples- an apple a day… (lots of other fruit too)

Avocado- a dose of healthy fats.

Tea

Light exercise

Veggies.. Especially Sweet Potato- my go to, feel good, comfort food

Vitamins- since my pregnancy, I have kept up with my vitamins and I truly believe that they help.

Water- my water bottle was by my side all day!

So all in all, exercise helped my cold on some days and other days it felt best to avoid working out. Again, listen to your body!

Do you choose to workout when you are sick? Was it a good move?

March 24, 2014
by Kelly @ The Fit Skool
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Easy & Healthy Turkey Meatloaf

Last week I was in the mood for turkey meatloaf so I created my own recipe with some sautéed veggies in the mix. It doesn’t look that pretty from the picture but it sure did taste yummy. The leftovers even make a great sandwich the next day!!

There’s only one slice of meatloaf pictured on my plate but I had seconds! We have also been cleaning out the grocery store on sweet potatoes, I am slightly obsessed lately.

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey

½ package of sliced mushrooms

¼ cup diced red peppers

½ medium onion

1 egg

salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

¼ breadcrumbs

1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

In a medium size pan sauté the veggies with olive oil for 5 minutes. Let cool. In a medium bowl combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Once the veggies are cool, add them to the bowl and mix. Spray a loaf pan with baking spray and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

Does anyone else LOVE sweet potatoes?