50th post and Hooray, it's May!

"How's it going with your trainings?"  Business has been good and steady.  I'm proud of what I started here, and I want to make my clients proud of themselves for participating.  Spring started at a good tempo and I'm finally making room for more clients again.  I'm training 25-30 clients each week, mostly in hourly sessions at the gym.  Several new clients are taking it outside, especially now that the weather has improved (finally!).

See that complimentary session gift on my business card?  Well, now you can use it outside in a Bootcamp!  

The SunnyDayFitness Bootcamp series starts June 1 for Wednesdays at 6:30am on June 1, June 15, and June 29.  Meeting at Danehy Park and Champions Track in North Cambridge (map link), we will dust off the old cobwebs and shine with my outdoor *rain or shine* group fitness Bootcamp.  Sign-up by e-mailing me at sunny@sunnydayfitness.com or just show-up with $20 per workout.  

A high quality nutritional choice

Low quality nutrition

Speaking of Champions... Bootcampers will be given a few nutritional challenges.  Real champions need to eat better foods than cereal, pizza, and peanuts.  We will endeavor together to clean up our diets and fuel our bodies with what we *know* we should be eating.  Each Bootcamp participant will take a weekly diet challenge during the 2 weeks between sessions and will report back.  Are you ready to get fitter and eat healthier?  You'd better be on board!  Wednesdays at Danehy, 6:30am in June.

Healthworks Happenings

It's March already.  How did this happen?  I can honestly say that my busy-ness at the gym has hit new highs.  While still serving my SunnyDayFitness clients on their territory, I worked many long days and nights with new gym joiners in this new year 2011 at Healthworks Fitness for Women.  So many people are now training with me for weight loss and in small groups, it's wonderful!  

Although January was epic and February was full,  I still gave time away to do what I love:  teaching folks how to do new things like

Indoor Rowing

This lady loves taking a break from rowing

Kettlebell Swinging  

She needs a bigger bell to swing, for serious, really. 

and Making Better Nutritional Choices.

Me at Tulsa's QT trying "boston baked beans" and a slushy drink.
Not really your best choices for convenience store eating...sorry!

 Here in March I am actively seeking other venues to teach.  Do you have a community center, a church, or a tennis club where I could share a class like "Restore the Core" to post-natal moms?  Or a senior center with people who'd want to know about "Building Bones with Weight Bearing exercise" to prevent osteoporosis?  

Please think of me and SunnyDayFitness for your fitness teaching and athletic coaching needs.  I offer a complimentary in-home training or consultation to all new clients and a free training session to you if you refer me to someone who does become a client. It's nearly time to run and play outside again, but will your body (or your mom's or your sister's or your grandma's) be ready for that next sunny day...?

October...now December, and 60F?

Welcome to weirdly warm winter weather. For those not following on Facebook, I wanted to let you know what SunnyDayFitness has been doing this fall. I have been trying a new workout location and training venue every other Saturday this fall -- Stadium Stairs at Harvard U. Banners in red along the top edge cite all of Harvard's Ivy League and National titles in football. The field is radiant green field turf with "CRIMSON" blazing in the end zones. It feels like the place should be protected and locked when not in use on game days, but it's always open.

It's quite a simple meet-up and workout, really. Just start walking (or running) up the stairs in each section 1-37. The stadium is rather old and the stairs are tall. Without too many breaks the stadium can be completed in about 40 minutes. But most first-timers are happy to get only half way around the horseshoe of sections before the trembling calves and quads start firing.

We went on Oct 10, 24, and Nov 7, 21. and now it's time for December 5th, Saturday, 11am. Join us if you can stomach the shift to colder weather! See the facebook page for more info

Sunny's Top 5 Nutritional Tips

I check labels and make informed choices about what and when I eat. But nobody's perfect, and sometimes I slip up ... a lot. See my Saturday log and how bad it got? I used to log my diet daily, even hourly to see what my hunger triggers and relievers are. Now I think a little longer term and have come up with 5 tips for better nutrition.

Here are my top 5 tips to drop 5 pounds with fewer calories and minimal hunger:

1. Drink water. 2 liters daily, at a minimum. Start with a tall glass 12oz before every meal and another glass with snacks. Add more water by drinking every 5-10 minutes while working out whether with cardio or with strength. Yes, you'll pee more but you'll also feel full more quickly and feel hunger less often.
2. Get green. Rethink snacks and look for veggie options like cucumbers with s&p or mustard, leafy green salads, steamed broccoli with a sprtiz of lemon. These are not on the shelves at CVS or Shaw's so you'll need to use pre-pack your snacks. Invest in ziploc baggies which microwave easily and small plastic boxes that won't leak.
3. Grains keep giving. Complex carbohydrates are slow burners that are perfect workout fuel. Whole grain bread and barley or whole grain couscous salads will leave you full for hours, especially if eaten with a tall glass of water. The darker, chewier, and less processed grains are best. Try cooking a new/old grain like quinoa today!
4. Nix sugary snacks. Fruity yogurt, begone! Unless you add the blueberries yourself, you're getting more corn syrup and sugar than goodness from fruit-included yogurts. And check the labels on so-called diet or nutritional bars also. Rice and cane syurp are common additives that only add quick-burn sugar to your diet. Use sparingly if at all.
5. Keep one treat. In all things, balance -- if you too strict, you'll likely really fall off the wagon quickly. Follow the above guidelines 90% of the time and indulge a little, daily with your free 10% of the time. If you allow for a little 100-200 calories "fudge" factor you can more easily keep the rest of your diet squeaky clean.

That's the recipe for contentment and success! I use this to drop 5 pounds almost every summer and usually within just a few weeks. It takes cooking and packing meals, plus snacks, and several large water bottles, but it's very doable. You don't need to write it all down, but it helps -- just keep it real and honest. It's that hard look in the mirror that makes us able to see what's real, and grow from it.

Drop me a note at sunny@sunnydayfitness.com if you want to know more about a nutritional lifestyle for weight loss or healthy weight maintenance. I look forward to hearing from you!