What is Fitmob? + Athleta Giveaway

October 20, 2014

This weekend, I had the good fortune of attending a Fitmob class and seeing for myself firsthand what Fitmob was all about. I first heard about Fitmob from my boss of all people, and I had been interested to learn more ever since. So …

What is Fitmob?

What is Fitmob? Good question – Fitmob wanted a way to help motivate people and make fitness fun again! They have a really cool community based approach to fitness that let people workout both indoors and outdoors within their own neighborhood. They essentially are creating fitness communities within San Francisco and holding great workout classes for people to attend! It’s a very innovative approach and so on point, as most people enjoy working out with others and not alone. Fun fact, Tony Horton is one of Fitmob’s co-creators. Yep, the P90X guy, how cool is that?!

My experience with Fitmob

If you go on the Fitmob website, you are prompted to enter your zip code and are then brought to a page where you can browse through a bunch of different workout classes. I decided to try a class called ‘UrbanKick’ this saturday because I absolutely love kickboxing.

Fitmob Headquarters; easy to spot!

I went with a friend (double the fun!) and unfortunately, we could not do UrbanKick because there was no power in the Fitmob HQ, and the door was locked! The instructor, Justin, was quick thinking and asked if we would all be alright with going to a park nearby and doing a bootcamp style workout. I did not mind although I asked if we could do a more cardio focused bootcamp since I had done a Kayla Itsines circuit the other day, and he was very accommodating. The workout itself was great! We started out with a warmup consisting of high knees, jogging on the spot and sprints (shudder) and moved on to some leg work (think squats, squats, and more squats!) and then finished up with some core work. It was definitely a good workout although the park was pretty muddy and I got my new Asics all muddy!!! I wish I had worn my old Nikes haha, but oh well. Justin was such a fun instructor and kept us all laughing despite wanting to yell obscenities at him when he made us do jumping lunges (they are HARD!).

Me and my lovely friend, Amy

Me and Justin, our instructor!

Although I do prefer doing my own workouts, I think Fitmob is definitely something to try if you want to be motivated and to have fun whilst working out. There was a great community feel and everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

Athleta Giveaway

Onto the fun stuff … giveaway 🙂 Who doesn’t like the chance to win free goodies? And this is a truly good one as you get the chance to win a $25 gift card to Athleta! Athleta is a chic brand that sells activewear such as yoga pants and lots of other fun workout clothes. All you have to do is follow the instructions below, easy peasy!

EDIT: Although it is not required, I would love for you to leave me a blog post of what you answered for the question. I was supposed to make that option ‘Leave a Comment on the Blog’ as opposed to ‘Answer a Question’. You don’t have too, but I would truly appreciate it 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hope you all enjoyed this post. I am so happy I finally tried out Fitmob and I hope you try it out soon too!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Special thanks to Sverve on behalf of Fitmob for sponsoring this post & giveaway. All views remain my own unbiased opinions.

Health, Products I love

5 Healthy Foods I am Loving!

October 15, 2014

For the record, in this post I am not telling you that you NEED to be eating these foods. I am simply sharing what 5 foods I like and always seem to be eating, as a way to share their nutritional benefits with you and to inspire you to include these into your diet. Some of you may already know and eat all of these, but I am sure there are a few out there who haven’t tried them or do not eat them regularly. And here at Honestly Fitness, I want to help everyone 🙂

1. Brown rice

Brown rice is such a powerhouse of a grain. I like eating it because it has more texture than white rice, is a good source of fiber (de-bloating, ahoy!) and is a complex carbohydrate. As such, it helps to keep you fuller for longer. It is also full of vitamins and minerals such as iron (important for the ladies), vitamin B-6, and magnesium.

2. Strawberries

Okay so I truly hope all of you reading this post have tried strawberries before! Strawberries are such tasty gems of a fruit, and very healthy for you too. They are also full of vitamins and minerals, are low in calories, and has a lower sugar content than many other fruits.

3. Oatmeal

Mmm, this was most certainly an everyday staple during the winter when I lived in England and still something I eat at least twice a week. Not only are they a comforting and heath breakfast, they are also high in iron, high in fiber, and low in sugar. I normally have rolled oats with some skimmed milk and berries when I do have it for breakfast, and it honestly keeps me full and satisfied for hours.

And yes, the oats in the photo on the left are the ones I use to make my oatmeal 🙂

4. Asparagus

Hehe, okay so my love affair with asparagus took a while, but now I am madly in love with it! I found that baking asparagus with a small amount of olive oil, pink himalayan salt and black pepper created a mouthwatering dish. Like most vegetables, they are low in calories, but they are also high in fiber (seeing a connection here?) and have a variety of minerals and vitamins including potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and more. I dare you to not like asparagus after making it the way I like it 😉

5. Coconut water

Having lived in Asia my whole life, I was surrounded by fresh coconuts and enjoyed their delicious flesh and coconut water almost daily. Since moving first to England, and then to the US, I have been pretty disappointed in many of the commercial brands of coconut water … they do not taste like fresh coconut juice! I always order a coconut if I see it on a restaurant menu. Finally after endless searching, I found a bottled coconut water that has my seal of approval; Harmless Harvest coconut water! It tastes JUST like the real thing. Some of their waters are pink, which I would love some more explanation about, as I have never had a fresh coconut with pink coconut water … Anyway, coconut water is fabulous because it has a bunch of vitamins and minerals, and is great to have if you are craving something sweet. Have it in moderation though, as it is fairly high in sugar.

[Tweet “5 Healthy Foods I am Loving! Have you tried them?”]

Let’s see, today I have had 3 out of the 5 foods I just posted, haha! Oh, I truly am a creature of habit. I love my healthy lifestyle, and I love these healthy foods. What are your favorite 5 healthy foods?

Honestly yours,
Alice xx

Fitness, Health

Rest & Relaxation

October 8, 2014

Feeling tired, worn down and just plain sore all over? It is probably time for a rest day my lovely!

Exercise can be addicting and sometimes it can be hard to tell ourselves to take a rest day. If your body is giving you signals of being tired and worn down, do not ignore them! Rest days are vital for allowing our muscles time to repair so they do not become tight and damaged. You must make sure you are stretching properly after each workout and taking a full day off of exercise (no strenuous hiking either!) to make sure you do not get injured. Overtraining can result in some painful injuries (shin splints, knew injuries and etc) that can make it hard for you to keep exercising. And if you continue to not let your muscles rest, you may tear or break something, and you may be forced to rest for months on end (i.e. no exercise for months)!

“Give yourself a break“

As well as physical rest, be sure to give yourself some ‘mental rest’ too. By this I mean the mean things we say to ourselves in our heads such as ‘Ugh, I am so fat’, ‘Why can’t I look like X?’. You would be surprised at how much of an effect this negative mental activity can have on you. Unfortunately, this sort of thought mentality is not uncommon amongst women today and I am certainly no exception. Although I have a pretty good attitude about myself and things in general, I can still get some really dark days where I compare myself to others and wonder why my progress is not like theirs. Having a journal really helps me get my mind off things, as does a good manicure/pedicure or spa day (if you can afford it, which I can’t lol).

Trust me, just take a day off!! Relax, recuperate and your body and mind will thank you so, so much for it.

Honestly yours,
Alice

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