5 Reasons Why Fitness Boot Camps in San Francisco Are Highly Effective

1- Consistency and Accountability – Your workout results directly correlate with how consistent you are in implementing your exercise plan. (Just think of how many times you’ve blown the gym off in the last few months to get some extra work done in the office). When joining a fitness boot camp, you instantly have a support system of professional personal trainers who hold you accountable to showing up for your classes so you won’t be tempted to skip them.

2- Support and Motivation – When working out on your own it is easy not to push yourself to the limit with your weight and cardio vascular training. I often see people stop their strength training sets before pushing out those last few repetitions which makes a huge difference in the results you obtain from your workouts. Boot Camps are staffed with trainers who know how to encourage you to work your hardest in class so you see body changes fast. Furthermore,  Boot camps bring like-minded women and men together to accomplish similar health and fitness goals. With this support system you cannot fail!
3- Variety of Exercises Offered – One of the biggest secrets to seeing incredible results from your workouts is through “muscle confusion” – integrating a variety of exercises and training styles into your workouts so your body never hits the dreaded plateau. 7 years ago I changed my own personal workouts from repetitive, slow, and boring cardio to calisthenics, (body weight exercises) and quick, intense cardio bursts. This variety of exercises tone your body, strengthen and burn fat fast.

4- Professional Coaching- Having a coach with you during your workouts to correct your movement patterns is essential to getting great results. Fitness trainers understand how your body works.This helps to avoid injuries that can occur over the long term from lack of proper exercise form.

5- Master Your Metabolism without dieting- Boot Camp workouts are fast and effective helping you to fire up your fat burning furnace through toning and endurance workouts. You’ll be encouraged to work to your limit to burn the maximum amount of calories during class.

If you decide to try a fitness boot camp or any other type of intense workout, here are 3 Tips you can use to avoid injuries during your exercise program:

1 – When starting a new exercise program, it is important to consult your doctor. I highly recommend using the chiropractors at Executive Express Chiropractic. They can assess your posture and movement patterns and help you determine a safe level for you to begin your exercise plan.

2- Remain diligent about getting your post-workout static stretches in. I watch gym members rush to get in their last strength training set and skip out on their stretching all the time.  Weight training leans and tones your body through muscular contractions. So, it is essential to stretch the muscles after weight training to avoid multiple days of muscle tightness and fatigue.  If you miss too many days of stretching it will eventually lead to injury.

3- If you do get injured during a workout despite being diligent about working at your own level and doing your post workout stretches, ice your injury (never heat) and go and see your doctor at Executive express chiropractic. They specialize in ART (active release therapy) which will alleviate muscle soreness. Art is a soft tissue, movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, fascia, ligaments and nerves. ART breaks up scar tissue so you can get your full range of motion back to the muscles. It would even be smart to get this treatment done on  a regular basis to prevent injuries from occurring in the first place from over-use.

I wish you all the best of luck in your workouts this summer season! If you are interested in checking out what a fitness boot camp is all about, please see our offer for a free week of classes below. Remember that in order to get the results you want from your exercise plan you must be consistent and stay injury free.  Take it easy when you are starting a new program so your body can adapt to the new exercise variation and techniques and consult your doctor at Executive Express Chiropractic to get the best results.

If you would like to come and check out a free Boot Camp classe courtesy of “I Luv My Body Fitness” please visit www.sanfranciscobootcamps.com and click on the “Registration Tab.” For more information about our boot camps or to download your free report on the “10 Quick Ways to Weight Loss” visit www.sanfranciscobootcamps.com.

If you are trying to maintain/lose weight and get healthy, making your own healthy smoothies with real fruit, proten and/or veggies is much better alternative. These are fast to make, excellent for the summer time and make a great recovery drink after your strength training workouts!

Here  are some of my favorite Fruit/Veggie Smoothie Recipes:

Bannana – Penut Butter Smoothie

• 1 Bannana
• 1 TBSP Salt Free Penut Butter
• 3/4 cup chilled milk
• 1/4 cup blueberries

**Put all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.

Strwberry Almond Butter Smoothie (recipe from whole foods)

• 1/2 cup frozen whole strawberries
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 1/2 cup chilled soy milk or regular milk

**Put all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.

Get Your Greens Smoothie (recipe from whole foods)

• 3/4 cu p plain almond milk, rice milk, hemp milk or regular milk
• 3/4 cup packed baby spinach
• 3/4 cup frozen berries

**Put all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.

Making your own meal/ snack replacement smoothies can help you reach your recommended daily intake of Fruits, Veggies and Fiber so I highly recommend trying them out! Plus they are fast to make which is an added bonus for the busy professional!

**For more great tips on getting healthy, visit www.sanfraciscobootcamps.com

Unfortunately most Salmon in our local supermarkets are Farm Raised. A long time went by before I learned the difference between eating Wild and Farm Raised Salmon. And for those of you San Franciscans who are still confused about it, here are some nutrition facts that may make you go “wild” next time..

Farm Raised Salmon

• Tend to have low levels of protein and high levels of fat, much higher than Wild Salmon.
• Are pigmented with food coloring to turn them pink when they are naturally white.
• Contain high levels of PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyl’s. PCBs are toxic organic compounds that were used in things such as coolants. There are high levels of these in small fish in our oceans and salmon consume these. The levels of PCBs were 8 times higher in Farm Raised Salmon than Wild Salmon.
• Contain high levels of antibiotics. Farm raised salmon are given these to fight off disease because they are grown in tight spaces with tons of other fish.

** Bottom line is that eating Farm Raised salmon will not get you healthy… For more important healthy tips, visit www.iluvmybodyfitness.com and sign up for our newsletter!

I decided to help you take the guess work out of healthy snacking by providing you a list of options to choose from (I highlighted my favorites!)

1. 5 Whole Grain Crackers with cheese. I recommend Ak Mak or Raincoat Crisp Crackers
2. 1 cup Plain Yogurt with 1/2 cup blue berries mixed in. I love the brands FAGE and Saint bonnet
   
3. Handful of almonds and dried fruit (no added preservatives)
4. Preservative free granola or dried fruit and nut bar such as Kind Bars and Lara Bars
5. 3/4 Cup baby carrots and 4 Walnut halves
   
6. 1 Slice cheese with 1 apple or any piece of fruit
7. 1 Apple with 1 tbsp peanut or almond butter
8. 1 piece of celery with 1 tbsp peanut or almond butter
9. 1/2 cup soybeans with 1/4 cup dried fruit
10. 1/4 Avocado on 5 whole grain crackers or 1/2 slice of whole grain bread
11. 1 Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella cheese and basil

For More Healthy Eating tips, check out our boot camps in san Francisco where we combine the importance of workouts and nutrition for weight loss and maintenance! Visit www.sanfranciscofatloss.com

Classes held at My Gym (901 Minnesota Street, San Francisco 94107)

San Francisco Boot Camp Details and Inclusions:

• Body Fat Testing from MV Nutrition and before and after pictures.
• Unlimited Access to all Classes held at My Gym
• 1 Free Class and $100 off your first month of training.
• Meal Plan and Grocery List Samples.
• Workouts fast! Only 45 minutes long.
• All boot camp classes use exercises that Burn Fat and Tone your entire body.
• Class times: M/W/F 6:30am and M/Tue/Th 6:30pm.

**30 day 100% Money Back Guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the classes within the first 30 days I will issue you a full refund, no hard feelings or hassles!

SIGN UP:

• Email Kristenfitness@gmail.com or call 877-359-3633 to Sign Up Now!
• Visit www.sanfranciscofatloss.com to see what clients have said about my San Francisco Boot Camp!
  

Classes held at My Gym (901 Minnesota Street, San Francisco 94107)

San Francisco Boot Camp Details and Inclusions:

"Patty Lost 55 pounds of Body Fat at my Boot Camp!"

• Body Fat Testing from MV Nutrition and before and after pictures.
• Unilmited Access to all Classes held at My Gym
• 1 Free Class and $100 off your first month of training.
• Meal Plan and Grocery List Samples.
• Workouts fast! Only 45 minutes long.
• All boot camp classes use exercises that Burn Fat and Tone your entire body.
• Class times: M/W/F 6:30am and M/Tue/Th 6:30pm.

**30 day 100% Money Back Guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the classes within the first 30 days I will issue you a full refund, no hard feelings or hassles!

SIGN UP:

• Email Kristenfitness@gmail.com or call 877-359-3633 to Sign Up Now!

Holidays are coming up and eating healthy becomes such a struggle for most people to keep up with!

After all the questions from my clients about how to maintain or even lose weight during the holidays with so many temptations around, I started thinking about how I could make fat loss an easy and effective system to make a part of your daily life. What I came up with are the the 3 F Words of Fat loss:

1. Food Journaling.
2. Fast, effective workouts.
3. Five meals a day.

These steps may seem fairly obvious but when done, they are highly effective! In fact my clients that use these 3 basic techniques lose weight faster than the others because they are more aware conscious about what they are putting into their mouths.  Remember, it is one thing to know about them and a whole other thing to actually use these techniques so USE them and I guarantee you will see results!

1 – Food Journaling
I am sure you all have heard that writing things down is extremely helpful for losing weight. You have no doubt even tried it for a week or two and have seen great results at the time. This is because writing things down makes you keenly aware of everything you put in your mouth! It helps you think twice before eating that second holiday cookie or slice of pumpkin pie.  The key is to make the recording process easy and effective for you. For some, this means recording online, for others, it means using their I-Phone and for the rest of us, it means actually buying a small journal and manually recording our meals to include approximate caloric value, fat, sodium and sugar content. Create a system which is fast and easy for you so that you have no excuse but to record your meals!! I will share some helpful websites for you all who enjoy recording online at the end of this post.

Another great advantage to writing everything down is that this allows you to plan your meals in advance. If you know that Friday is going to be a hefty day of eating because there is a holiday party at work during the day and another party at a friend’s house that night, make sure that you consume less calories on Wednesday and Thursday to make up for it.

2 -Fast, effective Workouts
My favorite topic! You do not, I mean DO NOT need to stay in the gym for hours and hours doing endless amounts of cardio and trying to burn calories you consume. Really you don’t. Here’s the secret: Get off the elliptical machine and move on to some circuit style weight training. I have tested numerous workouts on myself and none of them burned as many calories and moving from one strength exercise to the other with little rest time in between.

Example Circuit:

**Warm up, then complete 3 rounds of the following exercises:
1 – Squats
2 – Push ups
3 – Lunges
4 – Lat Pull Downs
5 – Rows
6 – Plank
**End with stretching
**Remember, do one exercise after the other and repeat 3 times !

Again, get off the cardio machines and do some circuit training. You will free up lots of precious time during the holidays to get your shopping done and attend all of your parties. The gym does not have to consume your life during this season or at any time.

3 – Five meals a day
This is probably one you have heard of and know that you need to take action on. People are always telling me they can’t find the time to eat 5 meals a day, there is not enough healthy food around, they don’t know what to eat, etc. Eating 5 meals does take a little planning but is very doable if you put your mind to it! The other trick to this one is to spread out your proteins and carbohydrates throughout the day with every meal so that your body stays satisfied for a longer period of time.

Example Meal Plan:

Breakfast – Oatmeal and 1 hard boiled egg
Snack 1 – Apple and 1 serving of almonds
Lunch – Spinach salad with 1 serving of grilled chicken breast and lots of veggies, slice of Whole Grain Bread.
Snack 2 – Yogurt
Dinner – 1 Piece of Broiled or Grilled Salmon with roasted veggies, green salad, and 1 serving of Quinoa.

There you have it, my 3 F Words of Fat Loss! These techniques are highly effective when it comes to fat loss and maintaining your beautiful figure throughout the holidays. Use them and please post a comment on your results.

Oh, and here are the websites you can use to record your meals:

http://www.fitday.com

http://www.nutritionforyou.com/

Write your comments below and check out how my clients feel now after implementing these techniques: www.sanfranciscofatloss.com