Archive for Author fitlizzio

Why Your Workout Pants Don’t Need to Cost More Than Your Gym Membership

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I’m definitely not going to disagree with the rest of the world, lululemon pants rock the body.  They look great, they feel great, and they are super trendy. What I don’t like? The price tag. Holy moly! I live in Santa Monica and work at a boutique, somewhat classy gym. Membership here is $89/month. (It’s a lot compared to other parts of the country, but for Santa Monica it’s about right.) The latest trend in workout clothes has pants that cost around the same price! While beauty can definitely be a price worth paying, I prefer to find the bargains when it comes to my workout attire.

LADIES: You don’t have to sacrifice cute workout outfits just because you don’t want to pay the high dollar. There are plenty of options that will keep you looking great and not going broke. 🙂

 

1. Reebok!

Reebok just came out with a new line of workout clothes called ReebokONE. They have styles for all types of workouts! Whether you’re doing Crossfit, Yoga, Running, or Weightlifting, they have it all. And the best part? You can find their prices to be about half of lululemon’s. NOW, they definitely have some pricier options, but if you look around the site a bit, you can find some bargains. They also have frequent coupon codes (currently if you sign up for their newsletter, you get an automatic 15% off). I snagged these bad boys for $55 including shipping/tax with a coupon code.

reebok

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Victoria’s Secret

I have been wearing Victoria’s Secret Most Loved Yoga Pants for years now. They are comfortable, can be used in the gym or just to lounge around and run errands in, and they last a pretty long time. I have used them for running, weightlifting, playing sports, sleeping, you name it! Right now, this link goes straight to a clearance where the pants are only $19.99 a pair. I just found out when I fetched the link, so excuse me while I go shopping before I finish the rest of this post….;-)

vspants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. TJ Maxx/Ross

You have to be in the mood to dig, but I’ve found great designer clothes (both workout and regular wear) at both TJ Maxx and Ross. Some trips are better than others, but I’ve found designer workout pants for less than half the cost. Can’t beat that.

4. Trunk Shows

Finally, call your local stores and find out if they have any upcoming trunk shows. I know lululemon and Lorna Jane both do them at yoga studios and gyms occasionally. Trunk shows usually yield a discount of 20-40% off of their new clothing. It’s definitely worth making the phone call.

While I say all of this in the name of saving, I still spend $200 on a pair of jeans without blinking an eye. Hey, you have to splurge somewhere, right?

What are your splurges and what do you try to save money on? Any discounted deals to add to this list?

 

*Note, I am not affiliated with ANY of the companies above (aside from Iron Gym). Although I definitely wouldn’t mind it 🙂

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Make a Workout Date!

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fun gym 3

One of my favorite ways to stay accountable for a workout is to make a date with a friend. I try to do this a few times a week for two reasons:

1) I get to catch up with my friends while getting my fitness on! We’re all pretty busy, so this is a great excuse to catch up while we sweat.

2) Another person to push you. I don’t know about you, but nobody is ever allowed to beat me. And if they do, I’ll die trying to catch up.

Today, I made two dates with two different friends. It is also Tuesday, which means it’s hip hop cardio day. Needless to say, it was quite the active day!

Workout #1: The morning workout consisted of pushups, pull ups, snatches, burpees, box jumps, leg press, and a 15 minute elliptical session. I did this in between work (I work at the gym, which makes it easy for me).

Workout #2: today was hip hop cardio. I love this class so much because I’m NOT a dancer. Yes, you heard that right. Most people get excited because they were a dancer as a child, or they love to dance and are good at it. I’m a metal head. This is so different from what I’m used to and I have an absolute blast. I’m not the best dancer, but I have fun and sweat my booty off, so I win!

Workout #3: Finally, my friend met me at the gym this evening for Date #2. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. 😉 I found the workout below on instagram and we decided to do it. We did two full rounds of it and finished off with some freestyle dancing and shenanigans as always.

kb workout

The moral of the story? Making a date with a friend will greatly improve the chances of you showing up AND will likely push you to work harder. I don’t recommend making 3 dates in the SAME DAY, however, so learn from my mistakes. Somehow I think getting out of bed tomorrow is going to hurt….

sword fight

The next time you’re feeling less than thrilled to workout, grab a friend and enjoy some friendly competition and catch-up time!

Do you make workout dates with your friends? What is your favorite thing about them?

Posted in motivation, Workout tagged with , , , ,

Survey and Goals

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I always forget how much I love writing/blogging until I start doing it again. I decided today is as good a day as any!

It’s a lazy Sunday, and I’ve put in a tough week of workouts including, but not limited to: hiking, tabata, strength training, running, plyometrics, hip hop, and kettle bells. Now that I write that out, I really hit a rainbow of workouts this week! It’s always fun to mix things up and do different things. I actually didn’t do any steady-state cardio on a machine this week, and still feel like I kicked.my.booty.

Goals of This Blog

–Healthy Eating: I’ll document some of the healthy foods I incorporate in my life. It’s taken me a long time to find my health-shui if you will and now that I’ve got it, I think it’d be nice to share it with the world. My quick outlook: Make the healthiest choices you can that still make you happy. That is, if you just want to have the fries, but don’t really care to have cheese or a bun on your burger, then by all means do it. Make the changes that you don’t notice as much, and keep the foods you enjoy in your life in moderation. And sometimes? You just go get frozen yogurt because your boyfriend wants it. 🙂

–Exercise and Fitness: I’ll document my workouts, give some workout suggestions, and share my thoughts on exercise. I am a certified personal trainer and a 6 year test dummy with fitness. I’ve tried it all from bodybuilding to power lifting, to crossfit, etc. In addition, while, yes, I work at Iron Gym in Santa Monica, I’ve also really enjoyed the new group fitness program we’ve implemented called Momentum. I’m going to start highlighting the different classes we offer there because having these classes available to me have helped me to try new things that I never would have otherwise. Maybe you will find some inspiration as well!

Since it’s been a while, and my life is constantly changing, I thought a little “about me” survey would be in order. As I type this, I’m enjoying TJ’s Spicy Ranchero Egg White Salad and baby carrots dipped in TJ’s Spinach and Kale Greek Yogurt Dip. Holy yum.

Spinach and Kale dip front tjseggwhite

Here we go….

A – Age: 25..a quarter of a century! (gulp)
B – Bed size: Queen
C – Chore you hate: i know this is weird, but dying my hair. I get gray hair because I’m 25 going on 92, and paying to get it done every 3 weeks is just insanity, so I do it myself. It sucks, but it’s cheap 🙂
D – Dog’s name: My dog in AZ is Knuckles. Here in LA, I don’t have one yet…..but I’m working on convincing the boyfriend that we NEED one now. A boxer would be just dandy 🙂
E – Essential start your day item: Workout and caffeine. In any order.
F – Favorite color: black and gray. I’m dark 🙂
G – Gold or Silver: Silver
H – Height: 5’7.5…that .5 counts ok!
I – I am: very strange, a hard worker, and somewhat frustrating. But I’m funny, so that cancels everything else out. 😀
J – Job: You mean jobS. I’m a manager at a gym, a part time office manager for a celebrity, a sound engineer, a personal assistant/office manager for an executive, and the owner of MyPartTimeManager. I work a lot 🙂
K – Kids: Just my boyfriend.
L – Living arrangements: I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with a roommate and my boyfriend.
M – Mom’s name: Caryle
N – Nicknames: Lizard, Lizzio, Gizmo, Giz, Zeedee, Lizzandra
O – Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Thankfully, never.
P – Pet Peeve: I have so many. People tend to annoy me in general. I definitely hate when people leave you waiting, rather than just giving you an answer. I also can’t stand stupid people and incompetence. Oddly enough though, I get along with pretty much everyone.
Q – Quote from a movie:? I have always said if you could have a career in quoting movies, I’d do that. But alas, I am asked this question with nothing coming to mind.
R – Right or left handed: Both!
S – Siblings: Sister (32), Brother (30), Brother (21)… although looking at that there is no way my baby brother is that old!!!!!! He is still 10 in my head. 😀
T – Time you wake up: 8 or 9ish usually.
U- Underwear: I wear it, yes.
V – Vegetable you dislike: I LOVE vegetables. But peas? No thank you.
W – Ways you run late: Left, right, center.
X – X-rays you’ve had: dental, elbow, shoulder, etc. I’m an athlete. While I’ve had no major injuries, I’ve definitely had minor ones.
Y – Yummy food you make: I make weird things. I get on a kick and that is what I eat for weeks straight. Right now an egg white sandwich with ezekiel bread (toasted), egg whites and TJ’s Spicy Jalapeno Sausage cooked together and topped with a little bit of colby jack cheese. Yummmmmm.
Z – Zoo favorite: I went to the San Diego Zoo last year for the first time since being a kid. It was the most depressing thing ever and I’ll never go back.

Your turn!

Posted in about me, nutrition, random, Workout tagged with , , , ,

Healthy Snacks

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There are two types of people in this world. Those who eat 2 or 3 solid meals per day, and those who graze. I am a total grazer. I like to snack and would rather eat 5-6 small meals a day than only a few big meals. Basically I’m like a cow with less spots. And no utters. I hope.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Snacking can be really dangerous if you’re not careful because many snacks don’t really fill you up, leading you to just keep, well, snacking on them! I’ve compiled a list of my favorite healthy snacks that both allow me to munch on them throughout the day and give me some great health benefits.

Scandinavian Crisp Bread w/ Whipped Cream Cheese
-Fiber city meets Fat town. It tastes good and is good for the gut too. I find the crisp bread in the kosher aisle at Ralph’s (or Kroger, or Fry’s depending on where you live)

(I’m likely going to get a lot of flack for this one because cream cheese is dairy and has fat in it, oh no!!! But I’m not afraid of fats and full fat cream cheese is delicious. Depending on how much criticism I get for this, I may dedicate an entire post to why I include it in my diet as a HEALTHY food.)

Baby carrots w/ Guacamole
–Trader Joe’s chunky guacamole is by far my favorite, but Wholly Guacamole is a close second. Their portion control packs are awesome. 100 calories of delicious avocado goodness.

Strawberries and Greek Yogurt
-It’s like dessert. Oh, so delicious and filling. Perfect blend of protein and carbs too! You can use 0% fat greek yogurt, or get crazy, sexy, cool and buy full fat. Whatever you’d like!

Almonds w/ stevia and cinnamon
-Like candied almonds without all of the sugar!

Coconut Oil + Cocoa Powder + Stevia
–Emily Zaler taught me this one. Mix equal parts coconut oil and cocoa powder with stevia to taste. Mix it up and freeze it for 10 minutes. When it melts in your mouth, you can come thank me (or Emily). 🙂

What are some of YOUR favorite healthy snacks? Add to this list!

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Change It Up

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While there are so many different exercises out there in the world, it can be really easy to fall in the rut of doing the same things over and over. Even if you’re changing things up daily or weekly, you tend to go through the same motions quite often.

Yesterday afternoon, my friend texted me to see if I wanted to work out with her after work. I had done some cardio that morning, but felt like doing something else since I’d been sitting most of the day. I didn’t necessarily feel like doing weights since I’d done a pretty intense crossfit/weight training workout the day before, but I wanted to do something that wasn’t cardio and that challenged me.

What I came up with combined strength, balance, coordination, stretch, and athletic movements. It was just what I was looking for!

Change Up Workout

Since this exercise was most confusing, here’s a video for it.

Single Leg Deadlift to Row:

If you get a chance to try this, let me know! You will feel your legs and butt working and I guarantee you’ll sweat. Best of all? It’s a total change from what you’re most likely doing (although maybe not!). Either way, give it a whirl and have some fun!

**As with anything, make sure you speak with your doctor/naturopath/mom/dad/WHOEVER, before starting a new fitness routine. Honor your body and injuries and if anything ever hurts, STOP. Recognize good pain vs. bad pain. This is  not to be intended for beginners and is only a recommendation. I am not a doctor or physical therapist, just a personal trainer spreading the good word. 😀

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Winter Workout

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It feels like a whirlwind, but somehow the holidays came and went and we’re all getting ready for New Years! You want to know what I’m doing for New Years? Grilling venison and plopping on the couch with a movie. Yeah, we like to party hard. At least I have a hot date.

So where the hell have I been?! I last left you with the Legend of the $5 Coffee Table. Well you will be glad to know that it’s still in my living room and is now accruing more stuff on top of it. Operation Jungle Gym is in full effect.

Anyways, I headed out to Kansas with the boyfriend to visit his family for the holidays. I’m an Arizona girl converted to a Southern California girl. Kansas=cold. As a kid, I spent many winters in Chicago with my extended family, but it’s been a good 10 years. The only snow/cold I’ve been in recently has been for snowboarding, which is an entirely different situation altogether. Needless to say, I don’t do well in cold. Hell, the Santa Monica arctic temperatures right now are killing me!

At this point, you’re probably wondering why you’re reading my complaints, but I promise I have good intentions. You see, even in the blistering cold, I managed to run outside twice and do two indoor workouts. Point being=there is no excuse for not being able to fit in a workout! I did these workouts before, between, or after family events and although it was NOT comfortable, I felt SO much better afterwards.

I do realize that I’m a little bit psychotic and not everyone is ready to venture into 16 degree cold to get a workout in, but the workouts I did inside were absolutely killer and required no equipment and minimal time. I made my manfriend join in too and even though it only further solidified his theory that I’m trying to kill him, I think he secretly enjoyed the challenge.

Try these out and let me know how it goes 😉

cold outside workout

(This workout takes about 20 minutes give or take.)

Warm Up: 25 burpees

then

10 Rounds for Time

10 Air Squats

10 Push Ups

10 Sit Ups (or mix it up and throw in different ab exercises)

Then finish off with one more round of 25 burpees

Feel free to modify the reps, sets, etc, but this was a butt kicker! Let me know how it went when you try it!

Stay tuned for Workout #2….

Happy New Year from Us!

merry christmas 2012

Posted in holidays, motivation, Uncategorized, Workout tagged with , , , ,

The A.D.D Workout

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Is it just me or do other people find that as soon as they step on a treadmill, they suddenly have ADD to an extreme level? I’m not poking fun at anyone that actually has ADD (I am pretty sure I actually do have it), but I know I’m not the only one that feels this way about the revolving sidewalk of death.

Today I had 45 minutes slated on that thing and the patience of a puppy at a dog park. I decided to get creative and have some fun. It tends to keep me from getting bored and pushes me to change things up.

The A.D.D Workout

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

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What am I Gonna Do…..with a Coffee Table

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If you’ve seen Wayne’s World, the title of this post might make more sense.

Sometimes I do strange things. Things I can’t explain. And today, I did one of those things.

It was a dark and cloudy day, and this girl had quite an agenda.

As I ran errands this afternoon in preparation for my trip to the South Pole Kansas, I had to make a stop at the beauty supply store. Which happens to be next to a thrift store. Which happens to be a great place to buy books. (Can’t beat $1 books.) Needless to say, I was already parked, so it would have been wrong of me to NOT go in.

As I walked through the store, perusing the myriads of 50 year old microwaves and VHS tapes, I grabbed a few cheesy chick-lit books and started to head towards the counter. And then it caught my eye.

A slightly worn-down, pretty nice looking coffee table. Antique-ish and kind of classy, with a hint of homely. (I should be a wine taster with adjectives like that eh?) It should be noted that what REALLY caught my eye was a sign on it that said $5. I went straight to the lady at the counter and asked her if that was correct and if there was anything wrong with the coffee table. She said it was just fine and that it was, in fact, only $5.

The next thing I knew I was driving out of the parking lot with 2 books and a coffee table.

coffee table

After my internal celebration started to dwindle (i love a good deal!), my mind started working. (Always a scary thing when that happens.) It wasn’t until I had started making my turn out of the parking lot that I realized I had no idea what I was going to do with this coffee table. I kind of sat there for a minute trying to figure out why it was that I even bought the coffee table. I was left with nothing.

Here is what I came up with:

1) I can try to sell it on Craigslist for a best-case scenario $30. A whopping $25 profit that will probably take about 56 hours of my time to get.

2) Keep it in my already-too-crowded apartment in an attempt to complete the at-home jungle gym I’ve been building.

3) Give it to someone as a gift. (Hi Uncle Steve, I bought this old, worn out coffee table and it totally reminded me of you!)

4) I could give it to Goodwill and continue to tell the story of how I bought a coffee table that I gave away the same day for the rest of my life.

5) I’m leaving this one up to you guys.

WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THIS COFFEE TABLE?

Tawk amongst yahselves….

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The Woods Have Palm Trees

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Yesterday I was feeling rather stressed out and overwhelmed. Being in a gym around a bunch of equipment and people was the exact opposite of what I needed, so I headed out to Temescal Canyon. Temescal Canyon is part of the Santa Monica Mountains and has several hikes to offer. The Santa Monica’s literally have miles and miles of trails, and Temescal has at least 5 or 6 good ones to choose from. Basically there is a main entrance, and as you hike on there are several forks in the road to choose from. It seemed fitting for my mood.

I did a mix of hiking and trail running and just let me feet go where they wanted to go. I took a break at the top to admire the gorgeous day I was experiencing. Southern California definitely has it’s perks.

TC 5

As beautiful as this picture is, it doesn’t do an ounce of justice. Yes, I measure justice in ounces.

I hiked back down the mountain and decided I wasn’t done with nature just yet. I sat and listened to the running water and trees blowing for a bit. This was my view…

TC 6

 

Eventually I ventured off further and discovered a tree that happened to be perfect for climbing. So I called on  my inner 5 year old and did just that. Probably the best thing I’ve done since I’ve lived in LA.

 

 

 

tree climb 1

 

I’ll let the pictures speak for the rest of this. But needless to say, nature walks/runs/hikes are by far the best thing ever.

tree stump 2

bridge

And just in case you forgot I was in LA, yes, that’s a palm tree in the woods…..

PALM TREE

 

Posted in Nature, random, stress, Workout tagged with , , , , , , ,

Why Writing Rocks

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It’s funny how the most vulnerable moments can sometimes be your most awakening moments too. Sometimes I learn new things about myself just by trying to explain something to somebody. It’s weird, because you would think I knew what I was talking about before I started speaking, but that isn’t the case with me. I talk, then think while talking, then keep talking, and eventually drive people to complete insanity. Keeping mental institutions in business since 1988 baby!

drive crazy

All joking aside, today was definitely one of those moments where it wasn’t until the words were spoken, that I realized how right on I was. I was trying to explain myself to someone. If you know me, you can probably imagine how ridiculous this conversation was. Let’s just say, I plan on donating my brain to science so that they can try to figure it out. I’m pretty set on being the first born of a new species and going down in history.

crazy brain

I started describing my many interests. It makes my head spin sometimes, but if I could I’d probably have about 5 different careers and 4,586 hobbies. It’s unrealistic for me to do EVERYTHING that I want to do (time and money really put a damper on things sometimes) and part of my 20’s to-do list has been figuring out how to balance it all and still not feel like I’m losing out on anything. I love a lot of things and don’t want to give up any of them.There are a few that I am absolutely sure MUST be a big part of my life. These things include: Recording/Mixing and music in general, working out and living a pretty healthy lifestyle, and being able to take time off to travel and be outdoors. Of course, there are SEVERAL other things that are super important to me, but those are can’t-live-withouts that are at the top of my list.

Writing is another one that I realized today was so important to me. Oddly enough, I used to hate writing. Writing a paper was the bane of my existence and I just never thought I was good at it. It didn’t help when a professor of mine basically told me that my writing was “totally random and doesn’t make any sense.” Okay, she didn’t “basically” tell me that, she flat out said it. She also forgot to put eyeshadow on both eyes sometimes though, so I’m still not sure why I believed her for so long. Regardless, at that point I decided math was my thing and that I would avoid writing at all costs. And I did a really good job at it. I think I wrote 3 papers during my entire college career. (For consulting on what college classes require the least writing, feel free to e-mail me.)

Then I started blogging back in 2008. I originally did it to journal my fitness endeavors, but ended up really loving it and finding it to be a huge outlet for me. It led me to writing health articles for various websites (Xyience, All Pro Supplements) and helped me find my own voice in writing. I was finally able to write the way I wanted to write and not confined to the box of essay writing.

Today, I’ve realized how much more writing can do for me. Now prepare yourself for what I’m about to tell you, because it’s absolutely earth shattering:

I can write about ANYTHING I want to write about!

whatever-i-can-do-what-i-want

Are you okay? Did you get hurt? If so, don’t sue me. I don’t have any assets so you will just be wasting your time. Trust me.

But really, I never made the connection that I could keep several of my interests “active” in my life simply by writing about them. It still keeps them close to me even when I may not be able to physically be doing them at that point in my life. As silly as it may sound, it was a revelation for me. It reminded me once again why writing is such an amazing tool to have and use.

I encourage you all to find your voice in writing as well. Many people tell me that they wish they could write or that they aren’t very good, but when you write from the heart, you may surprise yourself. I have no formal training and if you read through my high school and (very few) college papers, you’d probably wonder how I even passed 2nd grade. Once I was given my own platform, I was able to practice and hone in on my own personal writing style. I am still working on my writing and still working to test out several different styles, but each are of my own choice and for myself depending on how I’m feeling at the time. What I learned about writing is that it has to be YOU and it has to be FOR you. Even when writing for other people or for clients, my writing is ME.

me

Do you write? If so, how did you get into it and if not, why not?

Posted in motivation, writing tagged with , , , , ,
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