Take Action & Respond: What steps do you take to push yourself mentally to make sure you do your best during a workout? While the post’s title seems like a dichotomy, striking the right balance between these two feelings ensures your ability to stay consistently active. Pushing yourself mentally usually revolves around two scenarios: getting the workout started and doing your best during the workout. Listening to yourself physically also has two main points: knowing when to p

Overcoming Chronic Dieting: How About Half a Burger and a Big Salad? I frequently work with clients who have “tried every diet” and feel stuck, frustrated, and sometimes even defeated by their excess weight or declining health.  They keep trying the latest fad diets – eating like a caveman, avoiding all gluten, drinking endless juices – gain a little traction and then lose it, sometimes slipping back further than when they started.  Lose 20 pounds, regain 30.  Wash, rinse, re

Guest post by Dwayne Brown, CSCS The date is January 1st. Today is the day when most people are trying to put into action the resolutions that they hastily made on New Year’s Eve. Gyms across the nation will be bursting at the seams with new members and I’m pretty sure Weight Watchers’ business is always at its best right after the New Year. For the next couple of weeks people will make a valiant effort to keep those resolutions. Then after the New Year buzz wears off (pun in

I have the pleasure of training some awesome clients at a boutique gym in Jersey City, Hamilton Health and Fitness (HHF), that has an on-site pool. Pools are coveted in urban areas, so there are a lot of swimming programs at HHF – including many for kids. As a result, these kids briefly walk near the training floor on their way to the pool. I’m always amused at how they look at all of the weights and machines in wonder. Sometimes they’ll just stare and other times they ask th

I originally wrote this post for the Hospital for Special Surgery blog, which you can find here. From the HSS On the Move Blog, “In the Mind of a Nutritionist” (me!) – “I eat chocolate. And I eat salads. I don’t count calories, but I pay attention to my portions (i.e. I know when I’ve eaten too much). I try to eat slower, a constant battle considering my genetics. I drink diet soda a couple times a week, but I drink a lot of water every day. I drink a glass of wine or beer on

As I watched some of the world’s best athletes compete last month, I started thinking about all of the time, energy and resolve they devoted over the past four years to earn a brief, but well-deserved moment in the spotlight. Spotlights that may last as little as a few minutes (think skiing, ice skating, or snowboarding). And from there, only three of the top eight or ten competitors from across the world actually win a medal. Considering odds like that, I am amazed that anyo

You want to work hard enough to get results.  But not so hard that you get injured and laid up for six weeks – and there goes those results.  How hard you should train depends on three factors: The goal – Are you trying to lose weight or win a powerlifting competition? Your current level of activity – Consider the feasibility and safety of training 5 days a week if you’re currently doing next to nothing. How you feel that day – Probably not worth going for personal bests on d

In Death of the Diet, I stress the importance of determining your Why – the true motivating force driving you to improve your eating and physical activity habits.  While many people “would like” six pack abs, not everyone realizes the amount of effort required to not only attain, but sustain such a low percentage of body fat (likely in the mid-to-high single digits for men, and the low double digits for women).  However, I understand some people still want to give it their al

High intensity interval training, often abbreviated as HIT or HIIT, has become quite the rage in a world where time is precious and the last thing most people want to do these days is “slave away” on a treadmill or elliptical for an hour.  I wrote a blog post about three tips to maximize your interval sessions here.  While the easiest and most common way to perform an interval is through traditional cardiovascular exercises (jog/run, elliptical, stair climber, rowing, etc.),

Image: sakhorn38 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Over the past couple weeks I’ve received a few responses and inquiries as to what aspects of yoga I dislike – it seems that more people have gotten hurt performing yoga than I thought. I hope this post sheds some light on the dangers of improperly performed yoga so you can take steps to minimize your injury risk while still enjoying a practice that you love. Take a breath…this is a long post. What Looks Right is not Always Right When p

Image: sakhorn38 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Inspired by the NY Times article, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body”, I took a moment and began to reflect on my experiences with yoga: as a class attendee, an exercise physiologist working with clients and as an anatomy and physiology instructor, training groups of soon-to-be yoga teachers in Jersey City. My gut instinct is one of thankfulness that I have learned enough about the human body to have a basic understanding about what it can…

Three Ways to Make This Lat Pulldown More Effective Image Courtesy of: Microsoft Images / Corbis Being physically active is an important habit (Habit #6) for maintaining health and fitness, but after attending the 2013 American College of Sports Medicine conference, I have even more reason to believe so.  A classic 1956 study by Jean Mayer showed that those who eat the least number of calories tend to have light/moderate activity levels.  Higher calorie intake comes with thos

Weight: Only One Marker of Fitness Results Image Courtesy of Microsoft Images The one instrument that most people use to measure health and fitness progress – the scale – is the one that we have the least amount of control over.  Lots of other things influence weight (i.e. time of day, recent meals, what you’re wearing, the scale you use, the time of the month, maybe you’ve gained muscle, etc.), and it’s usually the last to respond to the progress we make compared to many oth

Interval Training Courtesy of Mircosoft Images An excerpt from Death of the Diet: “Interval training is an advanced, highly effective form of cardiovascular training. It involves brief bursts of higher-intensity work – anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds – followed by a recovery period. A classic example is to run or walk quickly for 30 seconds, then walk more slowly for 60 seconds, and repeat. The amount of time spent resting between high-intensity bursts usually starts at two or

Weight Loss Success: Choose Inspiration Photo: Microsoft Images In many ways, jealousy and inspiration are fundamentally opposite emotions.  They are yin and yang. Why does one story of success make us feel inspired to do better ourselves, while another makes us feel jealous and say, “what the hell – why them, not me?”  The success can be the same, but the interpretation yields two different feelings.  A story first, then three steps and three questions you can use to turn j

Setting the Bar – and Clearing It Image Courtesy of Microsoft Images Leave a Comment: What’s the current bar you’re reaching for? I had a great conversation with one of my clients the other day about setting expectations.  She told me that when she normally goes to the gym, she tends to expect a lot from herself – high intensity intervals, long-duration cardio bouts or hard training sessions – and anything less feels like a letdown.  However, for a variety of reasons, she has

We know what to do, but do we choose to do it? Photo: marin & freedigitalphotos.net If knowledge were all it took for people to be healthy and fit, then nearly 70% of America wouldn’t be overweight or obese and I would be out of a job (or at least working much less). But as we’ve all learned, knowing what to do doesn’t automatically translate into doing it. Everyone needs to find their own motivation and desire to take consistent action on their knowledge, while learning from

“Monday came. Alright, Monday came and I started. And I’m going to go back and I’m going to tell everybody that Monday came and I’m getting it done.  How many times, it might be 1,000. But on 1,001 I started.”                      -Neil Perota Yesterday I watched a movie that struck a strong chord within me: Lbs., directed by Matthew Bonifacio and starring Carmine Famiglietti. Maybe it’s because I saw a little bit of myself played out in the main character. Granted I was neve

Rolling, rolling, rolling. Keep those IT Bands rolling. The holidays are a season of giving, so let’s make sure we give our body and muscles the TLC they deserve. We often go about our day-to-day interactions (and workouts) with chronic stiffness somewhere and that tightness leads to “movement compensations”. Usually movement compensations initially manifest themselves as just a nagging tightness or slight discomfort that you feel every so often but don’t think much of. The p

Squatting is one of the main exercises and human movements performed on two legs (other exercises, such as walking, lunging and stepping up are performed on one). When performed correctly, squats help build lower body strength and promote trunk stability. My previous post discussed the importance of proper squatting (getting out of chairs, picking things off of the ground, working out in the gym, etc.) while shedding light on the disconnect many of people have with this basic