Shapin' Up

Join me in my love of all things health and fitness. Snag workouts, healthy recipes, race training tips and hear about my life in NYC. Finding the balance of fit and fun one workout at a time.

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Summer Recipe: Warm Grilled Peaches

In New York, MM and I were extremely fortunate to score an apartment with a backyard. The first necessary purchase was a grill. I had no idea how much this would change our cooking and eating habits. We started grilling weekly, first with meats and veggies, and then experimenting with different fruit. We’ve tried watermelon (tasty but honestly not worth the effort), bananas (yum) and one of my favorites–peaches.

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The San Francisco Half Marathon with Lululemon

Before I moved to San Francisco I read about the half marathon and was tempted to sign up, knowing it would be taking place just a month after arriving. As tempted as I was, I didn’t sign up since I hadn’t been running much and wasn’t feeling that comfortable in the city. Where could I do my training runs? How far is it to the race start? What’s the route? Could I handle the hills? After many years of running NYC races and being very familiar with the courses and terrain, signing up for the SF seemed like too much too soon.

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My 5 Favorite NYC Races

New York City is a crazy and crowded place. Before I lived here and got into the running scene, I never would have thought of NYC as a running city. Being a concrete jungle full of busy streets, you might be surprised to know that NYC is one of the best places to be active. If you enjoy doing races, you will never run short in this city. Thanks to New York Road Runners, there are races nearly every weekend, ranging from 1 mile to 26.2+. Whether you’re trying to win the race or merely get in a few fun miles with friends before celebrating at brunch, there are tons of great races to take part in.

I ran my first NYC race back in July 2005 when I was interning in the city during the summer. That one race got me hooked. The energy is electric, pushing you to work harder than your typical pace thanks to race day adrenaline and thousands of excited runners surrounding you.

Here’s a look at my five favorite New York City races. If you’re considering logging miles in the city, put these on your to-do list.

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My One More: May Goal + Race Training Week 9

Each month, in partnership with Premier Protein, I share my goals, the extra X I hope to accomplish in the month ahead. Thanks to proper nutrition, getting the right amount of protein in my diet and healthy habits, I’m able to accomplish something extra each month. This month the extra X is all about enjoying my last month in NYC. I created an NYC to-do list (honestly, it’s 90% places to eat) and I’m down the final 3o days!

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Saying Farewell to NYC

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a while, and now that it’s time to actually write it, where do I begin? After nine years of living in NYC, the time has come to say goodbye and move on.

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WEDDING WELLNESS PART I: GETTING ORGANIZED

Welcome to Part I of Wedding Wellness! Today’s post is all about getting organized and learning how to prioritize all the things on your to-do list. When it comes to your mental wellness and not feeling overwhelmed during the process, the key is figuring out what you need to do and by when.

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RACE TRAINING WEEK 3 + DEALING WITH A COLD SNAP

Another week of training in the books and despite overloading my teaching schedule at Equinox, I almost made it through all of my scheduled workouts. As much as I love running and it’s something I always want to have in my fitness life, lately I’ve been feeling a stronger pull towards group fitness. On Saturday I had no workout plans, and while I know I needed to get in a speed work, I opted for a bootcamp class at Equinox with a friend instead. Maybe it’s because I’ve been running solo and at the gym I get a few minutes before and after to catch up with friends but when given the choice, I’ve been leaning towards the gym; Equinox or weekly classes at EVF Performance. Running enough will be key in getting prepped for my half marathon, but strength classes will also help me feeling my strongest come race day.

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INTRODUCING THE WEDDING WELLNESS SERIES

Image via

Getting married is an exciting time that should be enjoyed, feeling your best. Unfortunately, along with your ring, comes wedding planning and prep stress. Basically the day MM and I got engaged, we were asked when and where was the wedding going to be. I immediately felt overwhelmed (and guilty for all times I’ve asked new brides the same thing!). How do you pick a venue and a date and hire all those vendors and do the other thousands of things a bride needs to do PLUS, how do you stay calm and feel good doing it? I allowed myself to feel very stressed out for about two weeks and then reminded myself that a wedding is FUN and prepping for it should be too. I should feel excited, lucky and beyond happy that I get the opportunity to throw a wedding, I shouldn’t feel down and overwhelmed thinking about it. The process is only as stressful as you make it, and my goal is to stay cool and be as un-bridezilla-like as possible (we can all check in with my mom in a few months and see how I’m doing).

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Half Marathon Training: Week 1

Not to get too ahead of myself, but I’d like to pat myself on the back for completing week 1 of my half marathon training without skipping any of the workouts! I can’t guarantee this will hold up over the next 11 weeks, but let’s take a moment to celebrate a successful week 1.

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Why Kettlebells are your Secret Workout Weapon

I never put too much thought into what type of weight I use for workouts. A weight is a weight, it’s something heavy you lift up and put down, how different can things be? Apparently things can be quite different and depending on your workout and goals, there’s a certain type of weight that aligns.

Gaining in popularity is the kettlebell, different from a dumbbell because the center of mass is located away from the hand in a kettlebell, which makes it ideal for dynamic swinging exercises. With a kettlebell there’s are extended options of motions and they can link up to create a multi-targeted workout.

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How to Deal with Feeling Overwhelmed (+ a giveaway!)

Do you ever feel like you’re going a bit crazy with all the things on your plate? I hate saying “I’m so busy” because we are all busy and when I feel overwhelmed, it probably means I’m not doing a great job of prioritizing. I fear that I am often doing many things (blogging! working! teaching!) but doing all of those things at a mediocre level. Maybe it’s because we can so readily compare ourselves to those around us and feel like we are doing a less than stellar job, when it’s not necessarily the case (let’s dive into this more at a later time, shall we?).

Read More for tips to deal with feeling overwhelmed and enter for a chance to win a $20 Starbucks gift card + Premier Protein snacks

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SKI WEEKEND PART II & A VIRAL VIDEO SURPRISE

Time to share Part II of my ski weekend (you can check out Part I here). One of the crazy, exciting and totally weird things that happened during the ski weekend is my friend's video of their baby went viral. On Friday morning my friends who were on the ski trip, Stephen & Michael, posted an adorable video on Facebook of Stephen's son being confused by his dad and his twin (I'm sure you've already seen it but if not view it HERE). At the start of the ski trip we saw the views go up slowly, hitting around the 10k mark. We kept joking, OMG it's going viral! When is Ellen going to call? The views continued to spike and all of a sudden it took off at an insane rate, jumping up into the hundreds of thousands by the hour on Sunday. Working in media, I know about videos and the goal to have them gain speed, but I've never organically seen something go viral, not to mention, completely unexpectedly.

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Power Yoga to Work Up a Sweat

One of my February goals was to add more yoga to my routine. As I’ve mentioned before, yoga isn’t typically at the top of my workout to-do list. I’ve always thought that if I’m going to spend time working out, that time is best spent pushing hard and sweating. One of my most persistent thoughts during a yoga class is “Instead of staying in downward dog, I could have gone for a run and burned so many more calories.” While the calorie burn in a run may be greater, it’s not always about that. Yoga has its own set of benefits, but in order to actually get myself to a class consistently, I had to find a type that I enjoyed. Enter Power Yoga. It’s yoga with the intensity turned up. When done right, your heart rate goes up and you will definitely sweat.

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A Blizzardy Proposal in Central Park

Don’t you just love an NYC blizzard? Well I do, and the one a couple of weeks ago was just the best. Read the whole story here.

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The NEW Shapin Up!

Hey Tumblr buddies. Some blog news to report. I’ve updated my site and it now lives on Wordpress! Not to worry, you can still follow along as a subscriber to ShapinUp on Tumblr and I’ll share all new posts via a link to the new site. 

You can check out the launch info of my new site HERE.

Let me know what you think!

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Cardio & Strength: Why You Need Both

There’s been an ongoing debate for years: what’s better for you, cardio or strength training? The answer depends on what type of results you’re looking for. If you’re strictly trying to lose lbs or sweat out last nights margarita, I’d suggest cardio, but if you’re looking to build muscle and tone, strength training is a must. Really though, you need to do both. One won’t cut it without the other, plus by making your workout routine varied, you won’t get bored. 

While cardio burns more calories per minute, strength training builds muscle and with increased muscle, you burn more calories throughout the day, well after you put down the weights. 

I tend to go through very cardio-focused phases, especially when I’m training for a race or happen to load my schedule with too many spin classes. I’ve been trying to be more conscious of this and infusing my workouts with strength training. Doing weights on my own, I lose interest in about 10 minutes. To combat this, I’ve been seeking out classes that combine cardio and strength training. With winter in full effect and no races coming up that I need to train for, I'm taking advantage and trying different fitness classes across the city. 

Hitting on that cardio+strength combo, last weekend I visited the Vanderbilt YMCA (47th & 3rd) for a spin+kettlebell ‘Bikes & Bells’ combo workout. YMCA invited me to try a few of their classes and this was my first one, also my first time inside an NYC YMCA! I had no clue they have such enormous fitness centers, extensive group fitness schedules, and nice pools (note to self during triathlon training season).

On Saturday morning I grabbed a friend to join me for Ellen's spin+kettlebells class. The spin class lasted a solid 50 minutes and included a warm up, a lot of intervals and a cool down. The intervals were totally my style, getting us to work hard, get breathless, then ease off to catch our breath before hitting the next round. The class was road-based, no fancy push ups or rhythmic routines to it, very straightforward. For my cyclist pals, if you need an indoor workout, this one is good for training. After we cooled down from the bikes, we moved them aside and grabbed our kettlebells. The kettlebell section lasted about 20 minutes and gave us a full-body workout. I am not new to kettlebells but I learned some new moves in this class.

I loved the combo of spin followed by weights. The spin class got my heart rate up and had me sweating and during the kettlebells I was challenged and could feel the burn (not to mention next-day soreness). Unlike spin classes that incorporate maybe a song or two of weights, this combo class left you feeling like you got in both a solid cardio workout and a solid strength workout.

This class was extremely approachable. There were people of all ages and fitness levels participating and our instructor Ellen set up the class in such a way that no one would feel like they couldn't do something, but for the fittest of the fit, you were challenged as well. 

If you are new to spin or kettlebells (or any class really!), I can't recommend enough that you get there a few minutes early and let the instructor know. They can help you get set up, give you an idea of what you're in for and will make the class a smoother and more enjoyable experience. 

For this combo class, wear your standard workout gear and be sure to bring both your cycling shoes (if you have them) AND sneakers. Trying to handle kettlebells in spin shoes, not a great idea.

I know that for some new to the workout scene, speciality studios can be intimidating. The Y is an awesome place to get comfortable with fitness, you know you are in good hands. For my east-side readers, check out all of the classes available at the Vanderbilt location (cardio & strength!); I bet you'll be surprised at just how much they offer.

*This post is in partnership with the YMCA. All opinions are my own. In this partnership I’m going to check out additional Y locations and classes, stay tuned to hear more.

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To & From the Gym Must-Haves

[image from last winter in NYC, will this year be as bad?]

Wednesday mornings are simultaneously my hardest and my favorite morning of the work week. While I teach or workout most mornings, Wednesday’s are particularly challenging because it’s the earliest class that I teach, starting at 6:15am and it’s close enough that I can walk (1 mile to be exact), but far enough away that I need to bundle up to make it there without freezing. Funnily enough, the cycling studio is located 3 flights up at Equinox so once I get there, I immediately climb the stairs, leaving me a sweaty mess by the time I actually enter the studio. All of this happens before 6am. 

Let’s back up to that 1 mile walk to the gym. Why do I walk? Public transportation is iffy at such an early hour and I can’t justify paying for a cab when I know I could walk. 

To survive this walk, I’ve become a layering master. 

Here are my musts for those wintery walks to and from the gym:

Lululemon Top Knot Toque: Bonus points becuase it has a slot for your ponytail!

nicepipes Leg Warmers: I wear cropped leggings and sneakers, leaving my poor calves exposed to the elements. These leg warmers are a must for wintery fitness peeps- the only ones I’ve found that are made of sweat wicking material and because they aren’t bulky, can easily be stored in your gym bag. 

Nike Element Thermal Gloves: Warm enough but sleek enough for easy movement.

Thermos Tumbler: Confession, I drink coffee on the way to class, I NEED it. And this coffee mug keeps my coffee warm for 12 hours, so when I fill it up at 5:40am, it’s still warm at 5:40pm how crazy is that?

Athleta Cozy Karma Hoodie: I opt for a turtleneck-ish layer to keep my neck warm should my scarf move a milimeter out of place (did I mention I’m a total wimp in the cold?)

Lululemon Vinyasa Scarf: An awesome infinitely scarf made of sweat-wicking material.

The key element to most of these pieces is that they are made of workout material, even if I’m not actually working out in them. The hat, scarves and leg warmers for example- I put these back on after my workout for my 1 mile walk home and I can’t be bothered to wash them every single time. Because they know how to deal with sweat, they last multiple wears.

Pair all of the above with the warmest jacket you can find and you’re ready to battle the early morning gym commute!.

Oh and remember how I said while being difficult, Wednesday mornings are my favorite? This is because nothing beats the accomplished feeling knowing you got in really good workout so super early. I’ll typically stick around after my class to take a conditioning class (Metcon3), for a killer cardio+conditioning combo, all completed before 8am. Other days I’ll take the extra time at home to put together a hearty breakfast. Either way, by the time I hit my desk, I feel full of energy and ready to take on the day.