This Week & Still Time for Another Intensive

Hello!

Just a quick note to let you all know the session schedule for this week. Shoot me an email to let me know if you can join us this week.

Core Group Session - All Levels
Tuesday: 9:30a
Friday: 10:00a

The current 6 Week Intensive continues on Wednesday & Friday at 9am.

Note: No session on Thursday due to a Mom's Day event at Kellen's (my 4 yr old's) Pre-K.

All Sessions at the track in Redondo (Man Bch Blvd & Aviation)

Another 6 Week Intensive
For those of you who were not able to do the current Intensive, and are still interested in doing one before the school year is over, I'd be happy to set one up. Tuesday and Thursday mornings are best for me. We can shoot for the week of May 17th as a start date. Let me know. Would need 4 people minimum to make it happen (6 max).

As usual, tell your friends! Here's the link to my site for more info. http://barbfit.sports.officelive.com

If you have ANY questions, please feel free to contact me.

Have great week!

Barb

Ways to keep warm this week!

Wow! It's cold out there. Makes me want to curl up on the couch and eat comfort foods!

OK, to ward off the couch potato urges, try one of these: Go for a run (I just did, it really helped!), Get out to the park and run around with your kids and/or come to one of my sessions this week!

Schedule for this week is as follows:
Tuesday and Thursday 9:30a
Friday at 10am

As usual, we will be at the track in Redondo (Aviation Field corner of Manhattan Bch Blvd and Aviation)

The 6 week Intensive continues this week at our usual times Wed & Friday at 9am. Although this Intensive is full, if there is enough interest, I am happy to kick start another intensive if there are enough people. (4 min, 6 max)

Also here's a healthy and tasty way to stay warm with Stuffed Cinnamon French Toast (from Men's Health Nutrition Guide). My husband, Bryan, made these Easter morning and they were REALLY good, hard to believe that they are actually good for you! Enjoy! Barb

Stuffed Cinnamon French Toast

2 tbsp part-skim ricotta cheese
2 slices whole grain bread
1 tsp honey
pinch+1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp slices almonds
1 egg
1 tbsp 1% milk
handful of fresh berries

Spread the room-temp ricotta on a slice of whole-grain bread. Drizzle the honey over the cheese and sprinkle lightly with a pinch of cinnamon. Top with sliced almonds and another slice of whole-grain bread. Whisk together the egg, milk, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Dip the bread into the egg mixture and cook over medium heat on a nonstick griddle of skillet coated with cooking spray, until the bread is lightly browned and the cheese is melted. Serve with berries. Makes 1 serving

Per serving: 340 Calories, 17grams protein, 41 carbohydrates (8 g fiber) 14 g fat (2 g saturated), 390 milligrams of sodium

6 Week Intensive Starts This Week!

Hello!

We are starting the 6 week intensive this week. We have room for 1 more person if anyone else is interested. Let me know ASAP if you are interested. The Sessions will be Wednesday & Friday at 9am at the track in Redondo (Manhattan Beach Blvd & Aviation).

Regular Sessions for this week will be Thursday at 9:30a and Friday at 10am. Hope to see you all. As usual, bring a friend!

Don't forget to check out my new website at: http://barbfit.sports.officelive.com

Have a fantastic week!

Barb

The Barbfit Website is Live!

Hey Everyone!

I'm happy to announce that I have the first version of my website live! Woo Hoo!

Check it out at http://barbfit.sports.officelive.com. Here you will find info about the workout sessions. Bookmark the site and share it with your friends. It's the first version, so I will be adding more pix and more info over the next month. Let me know if there is something more you would like to see on the site and I will try to incorporate it.

Note that I will continue this weekly blog as it's a great way to send you info, articles, recipes etc. And also an easy way to let you know what's going on every week.


Week of April 11th Session Times:
Workout Sessions will be Tues & Thursday at 9:30a at the Redondo Track (Manhattan Beach Blvd & Aviation) I am also holding a Wednesday session at 9am, as I am heading out of town early Friday morning and cannot run a session on Friday. Let me know what day or days you can join so I can plan accordingly.

6 Week Intensive: The Six week intensive is currently scheduled to start next week (Week of April 19th). I have space for 2 possibly 3 more if you are interested in siging up. The days and time that currently works is Wednesday and Friday at 9am. Note for those who cannot attend the 6 week Intensive, I will still run regular sessions on Fridays, but will need to move the time to 10a-11a. Hope that still works for you all. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Follow this link for a more detailed description of the 6 Week Intensive: http://barbfit.sports.officelive.com/SessionDescriptions.aspx

Hope to see you this week. Have a great one!

Barb

Welcome Back Workouts

Welcome back!

I hope all of you had a wonderful break and are all rested up and ready to come to a session this week! I will be doing workouts Tues, Thurs & Friday at 9:30a this week. Please let me know which day or days you would like to join.

6 Week Intensive:
I would like to start the 6 Week Intensive the week of 4/19. The goal is to have 2 sessions/week (ex:Tues/Thurs or Wed/Friday). The 6 week program will still focus on a core workout, but each week will be designed to increase the intensity of the work we do. I need a minimum of 4 participants to run the sessions. If you pay in advance, you will get 1 class free in the 6 week session. (12 sessions for $110) I would also like to start earlier (8:30a-ish) so that I can still run the other classes at the regular 9:30a time frame. So let me know who is interested and what days work best for you.

See you soon. Have a great week.

Barb

Spring Break Schedule & 5 Rules for Flat Abs

Happy Spring Break!

For those of you who are in town for some or all of this week, I'll be holding sessions Monday, 3/29 at 9:30a and Friday, 4/2 at 9:30am. Hope to see you. Email me if you can make one or both sessions!

For those of you who are out of town this Spring Break, I thought I would share with you some tips I found in Women's Health that will help flatten out those abs. Heck, with the weather we are having right now, we should use every trick we can to get bikini/bathing suit ready as fast as we can! Hope these tips are helpful!

Have an amazing week!

Barb



The Five Rules of Flat Abs: (I've summarized the article below):

Rule 1: Attack your hidden core muscles
To burn 1 lb of fat, you would have to do 250,000 crunches, moreover, crunches only will not work your core muscles. Instead work the muscles that lie beneath the superficial ones: your transverse abdominus, multifidis and internal obliques (for more detail on these muscles see this link: http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/abdominalcorestrength1/ss/AbAnatomy.htm). Strengthening these muscles pulls in your midsection like a corset! Exercises like the Plank is great for the transverse abdominus.


Rule 2: Move You Butt:
Your butt and your belly are unlikely partners in crime. Over time, sitting around too much renders your hip flexors to become stiff. This combo tilts your pelvis forward, which increases the arch in your back and puts stress on your spine. All of this essentially pushes your abdomen out! (UGH!) All this means that to lose your gut, you have to work your butt!


Rule #3: Eat Flat-Belly Foods:

• Pump up your protein intake: Try substituting meat, fish, dairy and nuts for carbs.
• Eliminate added sugar: the avg American eats about 20 tsp of sugar everyday in the form of processed foods (cereal, soda, fruit drinks). That's 325 empty calories/day. Al that sugar increases insulin production which slows down your metabolism.
• Don't cut out ALL fat: Choose foods that are rich in monounsaturated fats such as olives, nuts, and avocados. And it is OK to eat whole foods in moderation with saturated fats (milk, cheese, butter)
• Beat the Bloat: Carbonated drinks and even good for your foods such as beans and broccoli will make you swell. The best tip is to watch your sodium intake: Nutritionists suggest that you should consume less then 2,000 milligrams each day to avoid excess water (most get closer to 5,000/day)

Rule # 4: Stop Stressing
Anxiety caused by stress can produce an excess level of cortisol, a hormone that encourages the body to store extra fat, particularly in your belly. Researchers at Yale University reported that your midsection is 4x as likely as the rest of your body to store stress-induced fat. Tip: if you can, take a short break from work every 90 mins to breathe and relax. Also, stay away from junk foods during stress.

Rule #5: Work Your Abs Less Often
Don't do ab work daily. You only need 3 sessions/week to see max results. Give your muscles a full day to recover.

Reminder for this week

Hello,

Just a quick reminder about the modified session schedule for this week.

Please note that I will only be holding sessions on Monday and Tuesday at 9:30am as I am out of town Wed-Sat.

Hope to see you!

Barb