Today's blog is featuring a fantastic new initiative here in NYC, that I am delighted to be a part of. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the Dept of Health have joined forces to introduce, BeFitNYC, which provides free and low-cost fitness to all five boroughs of NYC.

I have blogged before about my feelings towards fitness trends (check back to my "Fitness Trends" blog!). They come and go, they are specific to different groups and classes, and they are often unrealistic, which has a direct relation to their lack of longevity. My company, Urban Escape Fitness, is built on the idea of living the "lifestyle" as opposed to wacky dieting and unfunctional exercise trends.

BeFitNYC is providing us an opportunity to join different activities in our neighborhoods for free, with fellow New Yorkers. By surrounding ourselves with locals who are involved in the same interests, we can create a familiar network of support to help on that daily fight for a fit lifestyle. Not to mention that the chances of regularly being a part of workouts that are no cost and nearby are much higher. Notice some shots from a recent event held in in Washington Square park. All ages, shapes and sizes are a part of this initiative, and our hope is to spread the word to even more. This month, I am holding a free class outside in Washington Square, hoping to bring some new faces to the movement, and teach some of my methods for equipment free, bodyweight training to help with the idea of working out "anytime, anywhere" in the city.

"Bodyweight Bootcamp" will be held on September 24th, in Washington Square, starting at 10am. The class includes core, cardio intervals, bodyweight strength training and yoga. After class, I'll spend some time sharing my favorite fitness tips, and also a little Q&A. Helping me lead class is my good friend and awesome fitness blogger Lauren, check out her blog "Gympressions", for more great reading. Go to the BeFit facebook app, to sign up for our class on Sep 24th, and also view other classes available for everyone to attend. I encourage everyone to go for the double whammy, after attending my class on Saturday, head out for the "Largest NYC Zumba Party ever" which will take place Sunday, September 25 at 1:30 pm at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home of the Staten Island Yankees, Staten Island. My last, but most important piece of information about that day: its my 28th birthday Saturday, my present to all of you is to host this class, and your present to me is to come and have a blast!!!!!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the Solstice in Times Square. Picture this: 630am on a Tuesday morning, taking the train to Times Square (the one place in NY that non-tourists avoid in the same way as Papaya Dog and the financial district at night) for a much hyped yoga class. I'm not going to lie, part of my motivation in attending was the promised yoga mat and gift bag for the first group of 1000 people, which I was sure I would make it into easily. Then I arrive, and somehow there is already a sprawling and bustling group of laughing, chatting and energetic people, dressed in their yoga apparel finest. After a pause of surprise, my next emotion was excitement, before beginning my walk for multiple blocks in search for the end of the line.



We can all admit that throwing a huge yoga class in Times Square, among all the lights, traffic and people is a pretty cool idea, that needs no further justification. But the Solstice is more than an exciting "Mind over Madness" yoga class. The Solstice has held its place as an important time in the human calendar across hundreds of cultures and thousands of years. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, and the turning point for longer days rather than shorter, also known as New Years Eve. Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, and the longest day of the year. On this day we are the closest to the sun, and at the peak of our creative energy. The two solstices are at complete opposition with each other, much as the idea of an indulgent night of celebration perfectly opposes an early am of empowering yoga!!









































A huge part of the Urban Escape Fitness theory is finding ways to do things in your daily life to have an "escape" from the hustle and the grind, especially those of us in NYC, where our daily stressors are somewhat magnified. The Solstice celebration yesterday meant a lot to me, because it felt like a large family of people who are trying to do just that, find an escape in the heart of all the madness. I almost missed the cutoff of the first thousand, and my free gift bag was at risk, but it made me feel great that there are so many of us out there trying to live the lifestyle. We are all out there fighting the battle, trying to keep our quality of life high, sculpting our bodies strong and forming a healthy mind. Good for you NYC, I'm proud to call this city home.

Hello summer. Along with this amazing weather, I've developed an equally amazing workout. My thought process was to take movements and exercises we've been doing all winter, and spruce them up for training outside. My demo photographs were shot at the Tompkin's Square playground, or what some call the prison yard. If you can't make it outside to the playground, there are alternate ways to perform each exercise. Email me for customized suggestions for alternate locations.

Exercise 1 Elevated Reverse Plank

Start w feet propped up, lock the core, then lift off the ground by extending hips, ending in a straight line from shoulders to feet.



Exercise 2 Single Arm Plank Knee to Elbow

Set up in a full plank position, then transition to a one-arm hold. Pull the opposite knee up towards the holding elbow.



Exercise 3 Single Leg Mountain-Climbers

Starting point:



From starting position, hop forward towards hands, then return to start.



Exercise 4 Cobra Plank

Start from a normal straight-arm plank position. Bend arms while keeping elbows in tight next to the body and hold. Be sure to hold the plank with the same integrity you would in the normal straight arm style.



Exercise 5 Bodyweight row w/ leg raise

Start hanging, then pull body up towards bar. While holding body up, lift leg while maintaining a straight core position, then lower. Repeat lift and raise opposite leg.

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(**NOTE: Without a focus on core, this bodyweight row has no more excitement than a normal row. Lock straight before your row and leg lift, then keep it tight until you get back to the bottom!!)

It was no mistake that I only supplied the exercises and left off the reps, rest and frequency for this workout. Depending on factors such as goals and fitness level I am going to recommend differently. Send me an email or a comment and I'll hook up all the necessary info.

The thought started while looking at a flyer for an new healthy Asian fast food restaurant. Listed as the restaurant's desirable features were "organic" and "vegan options". But also listed was MSG. In my head rings "oooooh noooo" and "thank goodness they don't use that!". But my very NEXT question was "why"? We are always aware of additives to avoid (or add), but do we also understand why?

So let's start with the infamous MSG. What is it and why don't we want to ingest it? Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) was initially used as a food additive in Asian sauces. In 1907 they decided to manufacture MSG in an isolated form, then introduced it in the US in 1947. The big concern is that MSG has caused brain damage in mice, but the more relatable concern is that MSG downplays our appetite suppression. This causes you to feel hungrier and eat in excess. Aside from that, ever noticed how excellent Chinese take-out is for no apparent reason? There's a good chance, that at some point, we have all ate a ton of somewhat crappy takeout, thinking to ourselves: "It's so good, I HAVE to finish". Assuredly that was thanks to our sneaky little flavor enhancer MSG. Knowing what we are dealing with, I won't go out of my way to have MSG, but I won't skip a meal just to avoid it. I'm not here to tell everyone only eat this and never eat that. It's just important to be educated about what goes into your body so that you can make your own intelligent decisions.

So what other mystery additives are out there? And what do they "add" to our food experience? How often do you have:

Artificial coloring?












High-fructose corn syrup?









Aspartame?













Sodium benzoate?













Sodium nitrite?








Trans fat?









Read the full article at WebMD.com. Very need to know!!

And make sure the decision is your own to indulge or to PUT DOWN THOSE CHOPSTICKS!!!

Simplicity. A cliche idea we like to use to describe elements of our lifestyles that are anything but. So. New goal in this eternal battle for the yin of physical and mental perfection, neatly yang-ed with happiness and wellness. I am trying to acheive simplicity in dieting. Here's the thing: I preach about living a realistic lifestyle of healthy eating and exercise, and not so much the whole "I'm on diet because I feel fat." Which I admit to having said. Out loud. Multiple times. :)

But, with the whole theme of being realistic, we have to admit that we all have not so "skinny" times when we go on vacation and live it up, or work 24 hour days and stress eat. Which might cause a little unexpected weight gain (no sarcasm at all...) I've found that the key to being where you want to be physically is to sometimes get aggresive. Work really hard for a few months, and keep the diet tight. Focus. Be a little extreme, don't cut ANY CORNERS!! Then you can maintain, which is much easier than losing.

I'm returning from a long vacation in a steak and potatoes country, and with the warm breeze of summer in the air, I'm hitting up a 6 week lockdown and tighten up plan. For 6 weeks, I'm going to follow my Ten Simple Diet Rules, (adding 2 additional rules every week) and go high intensity on workouts. GUARANTEE: by May 18th I'll be beach ready.

So I took my normal guideline poster off the wall...



And wrote out my Week One Rules:
1. Abs everyday
2. Aim for 5 small meals a day.
3. Yoga on Wed.
4. No beef or pork.
5. No drinks w calories except coffee, whiskey and green juices.
6. 5 days in the gym (Yoga doesn't count). 3 are cardio and two are strength. One strength day is endurance and two cardio days are high-intensity intervals (my FAV days). ALSO 2 a days are always ok to me, if I feel like I have the energy for an extra 20 min cardio.
7. High intensity when working out WITH clients.
8. Workout in tight clothes.
9. No food after 10 pm (I work late so this is a real challenge for me).
10. One healthy treat a day or a glass of red wine.

Here's the key when writing your personal guidelines: look at your lifestyle, and the things about it that you think will impact your weightloss the most. For example, I don't have enough time during the day and often catch up with a big meal when I get home late. Also, going high intensity when training with clients gives me a great opportunity for extra calorie burn.

Meal choice updates and exercise ideas on TWITTER...

And in closing. My blurry, sad, pale, loosly clothed BEFORE pic :)

Recently I decided to take some time off from the NY grind and travel. Davram and I went to Argentina to study spanish and backpack. After this experience, I am officially adding rest and relaxation, as well as travel and exploration, to my quickly growing list of recommendations for health and wellness!!! Therefore, my post in celebration of my return to blogging is all about the importance of rest for our mental AND physical bodies.



Living in NY is counterproductive to any attempt we make at sleep or rest. We work long hours, and when we aren't working there is always a plethora of extracirricular activites to engage in, social gatherings to conjour at, and personal errands to run. Forget NY, this is the case no matter where you live, or what you do. We all know it's not a good thing to "burn the candle at both ends". Obviously. Because you run out of wax. But why? I mean, "you're only young once" and you can "rest when you're dead".

Let's start with the obvious reasons. Sleep is not just to give your feet a rest from your heels, or your eyes a break from the computer. Sleep is the time when your body shuts down most of its functions, so that it can spend energy on repair. Sleep can be compared to your body going on vacation. A few of the top benefits:

*Helps to repair your body.
*Helps keep your heart healthy.
*Reduces stress.
*Improves your memory.
*Helps control body weight issues.
*Reduces your chances of diabetes
*Reduces the occurrence of mood disorders.

Full article explains the WHY :)

We all know how much we need sleep, is it truly impossible to fit it into our schedules? Maybe a little bonus lesson to help...

During my short career in professional body building, I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of sleep. I had entered into the figure category of the competition, which involves looking lean and mean, yet feminine and curvy at the same time. During the first few months, I was DETERMINED to cut the body fat early and coast into competition with smooth sailing. I worked out multiple times a day, ate the bare minimum, and still worked 12 hour days in between. Then I would find a few hours a night for sleep. After the first six weeks, I discovered that with all that hard work and suffering, NOTHING was changing on my body. That of course to me meant, eat less, work harder, get up earlier for an extra workout, etc, ridiculousness, etc. Finally, I broke my foot. Super painful stress fracture in my left foot that put me up in bed for a week. Discouraged and exhausted, I started to sleep. And then I started to lose weight. With minimal exercise, strict diet and lots of rest, there came a turning point!! The weight started to fall off.

When you don't rest, your body becomes desperate for energy. Desperate bodies hold onto everything they can, by burning your metabolism low and saving fat for emergency fuel. Same as a dehydrated body, which holds onto as much extra water weight as it can. Our bodies want to always be prepared. Like little Boy Scouts.

So,think about that tonight during your decision between "one more" online episode, and calling it a night ;)

SLEEP HELPED ME CROSS THIS BRIDGE: