A Lifestyle, Not a Diet

I’ve been using the blog to promote a fitter lifestyle: healthy food tips,  work out classes on a budget,  the science behind certain excercise routines, etc. I rarely use the word “diet,” because I believe all diets are fads and inefficient at obtaining (and maintaining) the goals your mind and body want. Sure, there are lots of “magic” pills, master cleanses, and restricted eating plans that may help you lose the weight, but ultimately they can be ineffective and often times make you miserable. You have to be happy with yourself first, and then the gains will begin.

Yoga: The Art of Transformation

This weekend my boyfriend surprised me with a surprise date to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery to go and check out the newly opened (limited time!) yoga exhibit called “The Art of Transformation.” I’m an avid yogi currently practicing at Corepower Yoga (check out my past yoga blog here) but I do not know much about the history of yoga or its prominent relevance to Indian culture.

“The origins of Yoga: The strongest evidence for the emergence of yogic techniques and goals dates to between the fifth and third centuries BC. In northern India men and women seeking to transcend suffering renounced society to devote themselves to meditation and austerities. Building on the tenets of the Vedas, the primary texts of orthopedic Hinduism, these renounces shared a belief in the samsara (the perpetual cycle of inherently painful lives) and in the idea that actions produce results (karma.)  Upon attaining omniscience they became enlightened, blissfully released from samsara.”

How to End Your Work Out

 

Sometimes the hardest part of the work out is taking the extra twenty minutes to cool down and stretch! Sometimes after a really hard work out (or even a not so hard work out) all we want to do is escape the gym, take a cold shower, and go on with our day. But STOP! Stretching and post-work out care is just as important as the actual exercises, and it benefits your joints, muscles and reduces soreness.

How to (start thinking about how to) Run a Marathon

In honor the the Marine Corps Marathon, I thought I would dedicate this post to the root of all exercise: cardio! Now I mentioned that I’ve started dabbling with weight training, and all of my fitspiration instagrammers assure me that I can get the results I want without EVER stepping foot on a treadmill again. That sounds amazing and everything, but there’s something about a runner’s high and the physical total-body burn that still keeps me running back to my running sneakers. There are lots of articles about how to train for a marathon (check out NY Daily News article here and NY Time’s blog series here)  but how do you actually wake up one day and decide you’re ready for a marathon?

Vacations and Exercising

The most important part of balancing a fun vacation and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is moderation. This weekend I traveled with my family, best friend and boyfriend to the one and only sin city: Las Vegas! While it is much harder to eat and exercise healthy when you’re not cooking at home and on a routine, there are definitely some perks to working out on vacation.

Review: LA Kickboxing

 

Last year I scored an amazing groupon to LA Boxing in Georgetown. It was something like ten classes for $39, which was a huge deal compared to their pricey membership packages. The studio was located only two blocks from my apartment and provided lots of flexibility with class times, for both regular boxing and kickboxing. But be warned, this class is NOT for the weak!

Instagram Fitspiration

One of the greatest motivations for me to work out and eat healthy is actually social media! Instagram to be precise. I often find myself looking at “fitspiration” pages of people in killer shape, as well as food insta’s that show the most delicious looking smoothies and snacks. Normally, if I look long enough, sometimes it even causes me to go to the gym or bake something healthy. While no calories are burned from scrolling and “liking,” it still keeps me in the right mindset. If anyone wants to follow some of my favorite fitspo pages, here is a guide to a few of my favorites!

Healthy Cooking: Guilt Free Cookies

This weekend I made guilt free soft batch banana coconut oat cookies with chocolate chips, inspired by @nikiadyson. These were the easiest cookies to make: they required only six ingredients, limited cooking time, and tasted delicious. I made these to eat as a snack throughout the day as well as post work out. 

Lerner Health & Wellness (GW University Gym)

 

If you’re a student, then you definitely have some sort of access to a university fitness center. At GW, I think we have one of the best gyms around (but then again maybe my perspective is a little narrow because I can only compare it to my basement makeshift gym at home…)

Lerner Health And Wellness Center, or more commonly known amongst students as HelWell, is a great option for fitness if you can beat the crowds. I personally hate working out when there’s a lot of people I know at the gym, so I prefer to go before 8am which guarantees a decently small crowd. Crowds pick up around 9am, fluctuate, and peak after the work day.

Yoga on a Student Budget

One of the biggest struggles I have as a student trying to stay in shape is budgeting in the classes. Gym memberships, studio fees, and even the buy at home equipment/DVD’s can get really costly! When it comes to specials, Groupons, LivingSocials, discount-whatevers, I always try to take advantage of them. In addition, a lot of studios (especially yoga studios!) offer new member specials as well as student discount prices on single classes and package rates.

So, with that being said, I love rotating around yoga studios when I find an intro special (some are free!) and try to save money. Another plus is that this is a great idea when on vacation–my family rented a house in New Jersey for a week last summer, and I found a yoga studio that offered a $15 unlimited week for new students. If you live in a huge city like DC, there are tons of yoga studios to take advantage of!