Greetings From Aruba

Week #1 is almost over and I’m feeling great. I forgot how much better my body feels when I’m drinking 80oz of water a day. I feel hydrated, energized and healthy.

The food of the week is leafy greens. I made a delicious and high protein salad by combining kale, swiss chard, spinach, quinoa, carrots, beets, walnuts, sesame seeds, tomatoes, and sunflower seeds in a bowl. I topped it with a bit of balsamic vinegar. Delicious! Next week is quinoa week, so I can’t wait to make it again!

Today I left for a week long vacation to Aruba. Eating well while traveling is always a challenge,

especially at the airport. Though I had grapes and bananas at home, I had little else to pack with me for the flight.  Given that I left my house at 6am and didn’t get to the hotel until late afternoon, I had to find something to eat. The airport has limited options, but I was able to find a few good choices. The bookshop had a wall of trail mixes and nuts. I steered clear of the bags with chocolate, candy and dried fruits, and instead looked for options such as whole, unsalted nuts. The bookshop also had a variety of protein bars to choose from. I was sure to read the ingredients and nutrition facts of the bars to make sure they had only natural ingredients. Many seem healthy, when in reality there are not.  I opted for a bag of pistachios and a large bottle of water. The airport also had a variety of flavors of pop chips, a to-go restaurant serving customizable vegetable omelets, allowing you to eliminate the cheese (but they didn’t serve egg whites), and many salad options. With so many “bad” foods around, it is refreshing to see that you can eat well in an airport if you try!

I’m ready to finish week one off strong and begin week two. I hope Boston warms up for you this week..I’m off to the beach!

Starting Strong, Boston Strong

It’s here. 6FIT begins today! The past week has been full of preparation for the upcoming 6 week fitness challenge. Gina sent out the manual, explaining both the fitness and food challenges we’ll be participating in, our teams, the spreadsheet we’ll be using to track our points, and the 14 minute workouts. Tonight is the first 6FIT meeting and I cannot wait to meet everyone in person. The past week has been so scary in Boston and I am blessed to live in a city that faced such devastation as a strong community. Even though 6FIT always has such an amazing community feel, I think that this time the family aspect of 6FIT will mean so much more, and that everyone will be even more supportive and motivating.

This week’s challenge is Water Cleanse and Cardio Attack. I’m hoping this week will be a perfect introduction to 6FIT and a little less of a challenge for me. Aside from one cup of plain coffee or tea before noon, the only thing I can drink is water.

Prior to last September’s 6FIT, I was an avid coffee drinker. Always black, but usually more than 5 cups a day. When I heard the first challenge was to drink only one cup in the morning, I took it upon myself to cut coffee out of my diet completely. The first week was definitely a challenge. I felt excessively tired and I missed having something hot to warm me up. I sought motivation and advice from my teammates who suggested eating an apple, drinking more water, and going outside to get some fresh air. All of those recommendations helped! I made it through all six weeks sans coffee and with only 1-2 cups of tea a day after the initial week. Following 6FIT, I had one cup of coffee and felt horrible! I was shaky and dizzy and just felt overall uncomfortable. Since that cup, I have yet to have any coffee! I feel so great without it.

This time around, I want to try cutting another unhealthy habit out of my life. My name is Lindy, and I’m addicted to gum. Not only am I addicted to it, but I have a gross habit of chain-chewing it. I put in one piece, chew for 10 minutes, then spit it out and take another - getting up to 3 packs in a single day. I really love the dark green and dark blue Orbit flavors. Not only is this super gross, but it’s so bad for me! It’s bad for my jaw muscles, it’s bad for my teeth, and the amount of aspartame I’m consuming is horrible and dangerous. I am going to commit to cutting all aspartame out of my diet for all of 6FIT, and hopefully limit it as much as possible even after the challenge ends. I hope y’all can keep me motivated to be aspartame and especially gum free!

The other aspect of the week’s challenge is cardio. Outside of the required DanceFIT classes, we must partake in at least 90 minutes of cardiovascular activity. I used to work in Back Bay and would walk 2 miles to and from work on most days. Unfortunately, I moved to my company’s office in Westwood and have to drive to work now. I have to actively work to get these cardio minutes in! I will hopefully have time to go for a run a few days and week before DanceFIT classes. I am running a half marathon in the fall and really want to run the Boston Marathon next year, so a commitment to running is very important!

See y’all tonight!

Anxiously Awaiting April 22nd

I am counting down the days until April 22nd when 6FIT begins and I’m hoping that everyone reading my blog will join me in this absolutely phenomenal challenge!

I can’t think of a reason why anyone wouldn’t participate in 6FIT. DanceFIT studio offers a variety of classes at a variety of times both in studio and virtually. Anyone can find 1 hour in their day to dedicate to themselves!

During 6FIT, you must exercise for at least 30 minutes a day for 6 days out of the week, log your food and drink consumption daily, attend 4 DanceFIT classes a week, sleep at least 7 hours a night, drink 60 oz of water a day, participate in the set challenges, and attend a 7 pm class on Mondays, followed by the 6FIT group meeting. Reading that list may seem like a lot of rules, but these guidelines are super important to helping your body run as well as it can. I promise, 6FIT is an easy commitment, especially with the extraordinary support you receive not just from your teammates, but from everyone in the 6FIT community. You want to do those 10 extra pushups and eat a colorful meal because what you do during those 6 weeks does not only affect you, it affects your entire team. Plus, what’s better motivation to stay healthy than knowing you will achieve visible results in 6 weeks AND get a discount on DanceFIT classes if your team wins!  

I thought I would start y’all off with a healthy recipe to get you ready for your lifestyle change. I borrowed the recipe below from my mom. She made my family the tomatoes as a side dish and we all loved it! I decided to make it at home, but rather than serve it as a side, I put it over baked spaghetti squash. As a 23 year-old girl living with roommates, it’s often a challenge to cook single servings, especially on a budget. This recipe is cheap and perfect for leftovers..although when I made it for my boyfriend and myself, we split it in half and ate three servings of tomatoes each!! Good things it’s healthy :)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons good olive oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)

2 pints cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 spaghetti squash

Directions

Cut the spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise. Remove the seeds. Bake rind side up for 30-40 minutes at 375. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan large enough to hold all the tomatoes in one layer. Add the garlic to the oil and cook over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to lose their firm round shape. Scoop the squash out of the shell. Top with the tomato mixture.

I put a lid on the pan and let the tomatoes sit for about 15 minutes- until they were squishy, but you decide how you like them!

I hope everyone has a fantastic week and I can’t wait to join you in 6FIT on April 22nd--don’t forget, registration closes on April 15th!

p.s. Gina asked her fans to complete the blanks in a sentence to get a deal of 3 classes for $30 if 30 people post by Monday. Here is mine:

I love DanceFIT because I love all of the instructors and leave with a smile on my face after every single class. My favorite class is BalletFIT with Gina because it challenges me and brings me back to my childhood ballerina days. I think all my friends should try a DanceFIT class because you will become addicted and after you finish a class, you feel great for the rest of the day. <3

#earnyourdiscount