Burpees | Bites | Beauty

Time for some fun! We talked about how your mindset can cause a huge difference is feeling like your best self. One of the best ways to do that is to join in activities that make you happy. Whether that be a walk in the park, joining a sports team, or anything that makes you smile, do it! Something fun that I did recently was indoor sky diving! I did this at the iFly facility back home in King Of Prussia, PA. There is a facility in Yonkers and I suggest you go! This was one of the most fun things I have ever done. Once you get there and get dressed in your jumpsuit, they sit you down for the instructional video. Next think you know, you're flying through the air, an instructor at your side. Sky diving is something that I have always wanted to experience and this was a good warm up to the real thing. So go out, do something fun for you today! Enjoy your Monday for a change.

This month marks two years since I've moved to New York. From the beginning, I have lived with a model named Madlena Kalinova. She has helped me out immensely, giving me advice and recommendations about anything and everything. Originally I wanted to interview Madlena to show what the typical modeling lifestyle is, but after reading her answers I realized that there is no one way to be fit. Since both of us are models, we are required to be healthy and fit. The focus of this post is to show that there is not one way to be healthy.I decided to do a little bit of a comparison because even though we are similar in a lot of ways, we live our lives differently.  I interviewed Madlena about her modeling career, favorite foods, fitness regimens and beauty tips and then I answered the same questions. Here were her answers: How long have you been modeling? I got into modeling 15 years ago. How did you first get into modeling? I was discovered shopping with my mom on a local str...

So here is the second part, as promised, to my collaboration with my trainer Mike Castle. I sat down with Mike after one of our workout sessions and asked him a few questions that I thought might be interesting to all of you. I thought that his answers were interesting and I hope you do as well. How did you become a personal trainer? This is the short version: I never wanted to become a personal trainer. I always wanted to be a police officer.  I almost didn't have a choice in becoming a personal trainer.  When I was a kid I weighed 315 lbs.  I thought that I could get into some sort of shape by joining a kung fu school, but they told me no, they told me to try the boxing school up the block. In about 6 months I lost over 100 lbs and dropped down to 198 lbs.  All of my friends saw the dramatic change and started to bombard me with questions like “What did you do and how?” and “Can you show me?” And I did.  And I learned...

While in the process of becoming our best selves, many of us forget the importance of relaxation. Stress is often a major cause of weight gain and can lead to many other health problems. Relaxation of the mind and body helps to ease your way to healthy weight loss and a healthy life style.  Whenever I am taking a break from the city and have a weekend at home, I almost always take an epsom salt bath. Epsom salt is extremely high in magnesium, which is an element that most people are deficient in but it is very important to the body. Magnesium helps with many of the main bodily functions, like controlling muscles, energy production, and the elimination of harmful toxins. Magnesium deficiency as led to heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and many stress related illnesses. You can get epsom salt almost anywhere, from your local supermarket to CVS. It is very easy to find and not expensive. Some packages say to take a bath 2-3 times a week but I just do it as needed. Occasiona...

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything just seems completely out of control and unorganized? There was a period of time for me where I felt like my life was all over the place. In the world of modeling, you don't get your schedule until the night before at 6 pm. As you can imagine, that last minute scheduling can cause a constant change of plans. There is an importance to having a schedule and I realized it after I completely forgot about a doctor appointment. So, later that day I picked up a calendar. This is my how to post on how to stay organized! This is my handy dandy calendar. I personally like to write things down but you can also use the calendar in your phone. The most important thing to help you keep your schedule is to write down everything. Even if it is a tentative plan, write it in pencil or mark it as a different color in your phone. Just make sure you have it written down somewhere. Next, remember to bring your planner with you wherever you go....

As someone who does a lot of googling, naturally, I end up on Wikipedia pretty often. On one of my trips through the blackhole that is Google, I found myself on the Wikipedia page for "Physical Exercise". There were a lot of basic points on this page about how physical exercise is good for your health and some points that went in depth about the different types and why exactly you should be enjoying some type of physical exercise every once in a while. As I scrolled down however, there was a very small section on "fitness" that didn't seem right to me:  Individuals can increase fitness following increases in physical activity levels. [24]  Increases in muscle size from resistance training is primarily determined by diet and testosterone. [25]  This genetic variation in improvement from training is one of the key physiological differences between elite athletes and the larger population. [26] [27]  Studies have shown that exercising in  middle age  leads ...

I started this blog to help people live a healthier, and therefore happier, lifestyle. With summer here, I decided to dedicate my first post to helping you get your ideal beach body. People usually think that when it comes to losing weight, the best way to shed pounds is to hit the gym as much as possible. While exercising is very important, weight loss is mainly driven by cutting calories and eating healthier foods. That being said, it isn't about starving yourself; I want to stress the importance of eating the right amount and types of food. Heavy or healthy, 30 minutes of rigorous exercise is hard for anyone. On average, it burns around 350 calories, which is the equivalent to cutting out just two 16-ounce sodas a day.   The average American eats 2,674 calories a day according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The healthy amount of calorie intake is around 2,000 for the average woman and about 1,500 to lose a pound per week. There are many calorie calculators o...