Happy Fitness Tuesday! Today I want to talk about fitness with your furry friends. If you follow me on social media you know that I am a SoulCycle junkie or if not by my matching shirt with my sweet puppy Stella. I try and go at least 4 times a week if not more, but I am not like Venessa Hudgens who says if she can goes twice a day. That is a little crazy to me! When I got Stella she was only 3.5 lbs of pure fluff and now she is 22 lbs. Some people think she is bigger than that because of all of her fur. All of my old dogs were large golden retrievers so once they were about 6 months they were too big to pick up on my own, but this isn’t the case with Stella. Since starting my workout journey I have tried every type of exercise in the book…except hot yoga out of fear I will pass out in the room. I never realized that by picking Stella up all the time and carrying her I was really building up my muscle strength. So I decided to do something that involved me working out and Stella. I now try and do lunges while I am holding her across my living room floor. She sometimes gets a little squirmy, but eventually she lets me hold her. The other exercise that I love to do with Stella is running. I love running outside with her for many reasons. First because of her size she runs really really fast! You can ask my family in Miami whenever she is there she runs around my house in circles and is so fast. She is so fast that my brother Ira who to this day says he is the fastest in our family can barely keep up with her. Sorry to break it to you Ira, but Stella is the fastest Marcus now. If you are going to take your dog out for a jog please take a collapsable bowl that can be attached to your leash for water. I know too many people that didn’t do that and thankfully none of their dogs got hurt, but they were severely dehydrated. If you have a furry friend like my sweet Stella do these two exercises with them and see what I am talking about. Sadly my SoulCycle t-shirt is no longer available, but a similar shirt to the one Stella is wearing is up on their website. Click here to purchase it for your sweet furry friend. <3
Throwback Thursday – Overalls
Today I thought I would bring back an outfit that I probably wore on repeat in 4th grade any chance I could. What outfit am I talking about? Overalls! I had my favorite pair of denim overalls that I wore at least once a week to school maybe even more my entire 4th grade year. I still remember my Dad trying to get me to buy a different pair of overalls so I could switch it up and I wouldn’t budge. Finally once they got a hole in them it was time to say goodbye. Recently I have been spotting the trend everywhere from H&M all the way to Bloomingdales. One of my favorite bloggers is WeWoreWhat and when I heard she had created a line of overalls I was desperate to get my hands on a pair of them. I luckily was able to snag two pairs of her coveted Second Skin Overalls including this pair that I am wearing. These are her high waisted black skinny overalls and I am OBSESSED!!! They are so comfortable and fit so well that I don’t want to take them off. Being that I am only 5’2 1/2 (yes that 1/2 of an inch is very important) I always struggle to find things that fit me properly. I always seem to have to take any pair of jeans or jumpsuits to the tailor, but for the first time in a long time I didn’t have to. These overalls fit me perfectly without any need to take them in to a professional. I personally never realized how versatile overalls truly were until now. You can wear these overalls with sneakers, slides, flats, booties, heels or even sandals. The tricky part is finding the proper top to go underneath. For me I have worn body suits under it, off the shoulder tops, crop tops and also tight tanks that tuck in on the sides. The tank that I am wearing is a looser fitting tank from GAP and it is tight on top, but not as tight as a form fitting tank. If you are purchasing from Second Skin Overalls I suggest ordering two sizes. In one of the overalls from a previous collection I was a size XS, but for these I wore a size small. If you are concerned with the $ of these overalls I am here to tell you that it is worth every penny, but if you aren’t sure if you will wear them often check out stores like Forever 21 and H&M for less expensive options. Hope everyone has a great Thursday and is ready for the weekend! <3
Fitness Tuesday – Summer Body Ready
It’s Fitness Tuesday here on Just Jodi Style and I want to discuss something that everyone knows is coming…SUMMER! With Memorial Day coming up soon everyone is a panic to get their beach bodies ready. I have noticed this personally in all of my work out classes these past two weeks. Normally the 7 am spin class I attend is 75% full, but now there is always a waitlist to get into the class. I want to stress to everyone to not overdue it just to get beach body ready. In reality that body won’t stay long if you are just trying to get an easy fix. For example I have seen a ton of people doing juice cleanses to drop a few lbs fast, but the moment you start back on solid food the weight just comes right back on. Trust me I have done 2 juice cleanses in my lifetime. Yes, I lost a great deal of weight while doing them, but the moment I started back eating normally food all the weight just came right back on. The best way to keep your body great all summer long is to be consistent. Yes this will requiring working out, but you will also need to watch what you are eating and drinking. Something that I learned helps with your metabolism is to start your mourning off with a hot cup of water with a little bit of lemon. This will help jump start your metabolism and also I have noticed that it has helped me when I feel like I may be getting sick. Another thing that helps is portion control. I know that everyone posts about their meal prep for the week, but that gets boring after a while. You want variety and there is no shame in admitting that. I personally look at my schedule for the week every Sunday night to determine my meals for the week before hitting the grocery store Monday morning. I do this because Monday SoulCycle classes open up for the next week and that way I can also plan my meals around my workouts as well. It’s a win win situation you plan your week of fitness ahead of time and what you will eat. Now I don’t plan specifically what day I will be eating certain meals, but I plan out how many meals I will eat at home and enough options for all of those days. I hope this helps all of you with planning your summer bodies. Have a great day <3
Fitness Tuesday – To Stretch Or Not To Stretch?
Happy New Year everyone and happy first fitness Tuesday of 2017!! I am finally recovering from this weekend and getting back into the swing of things. I started January 1st with a 90 minute SoulCycle class and when you hear people say it is hard that is an understatement even for me who does spinning at least 4 times a week. When I used to do spinning I would always leave before the stretch part because I would just want to get out of the class and shower. Even when I was younger I would always just do the bare minimum of stretching not until I played JV basketball in High School did I start to take it more seriously. I didn’t want to injure myself because I wasn’t stretching properly, but with spinning didn’t think that I needed to stretch more than I normally did. One thing that I have learned since starting to work out more is that stretching is more important than you think. Even if you don’t really stretch fully before any type of workout after you should always stretch every muscle you have. There are times I would think oh I don’t need to stretch out my arms because I barely did any arm work, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t use your arms in a way you didn’t realize. As I have previously stated a foam roller is great for stretching, but you can use anything in your house. I personally use a towel to stretch out my legs by using wrapping it around my feet and holding either end of the towel and then pointing and flexing my toes in the process. It may sound silly, but think about all the stretches you did in your middle school PE classes and do those today. They are more helpful than you think and they will prevent you from getting stiff muscles and possibly hurting yourself in the long run. Hope everyone had a great weekend and for those of you in New York City are staying dry on the cold rainy day. <3
Fitness Tuesday: Fitness Resolutions
Happy Fitness Tuesday everyone! It is the final Tuesday of 2016 and it’s time to finish this year out strong. Now I know everyone makes and breaks their new year’s resolutions, but this year I am also making a fitness resolution. Over the past 6 ½ months I have committed myself to working out more and having a healthier diet. I have noticed a transformation not only in my body, but in how I feel in my everyday life. Khloe Kardashian had it right when she said her new body isn’t a revenge body. She said it was a reset body in order to reset her body to a better place than it was before. Numbers on a scale don’t mean anything as we have also seen in so many articles you can be the same weight, but your body can look totally different. All that matters is how you feel about yourself and how you feel while wearing your clothes. In 2017 my fitness resolution is to continue to hit the gym as I have been at like 5 – 6 days a week. If I need to have more of a rest and only do 4 days one week that is okay too! You should rest and allow your body to recover after intense work outs. Part of my fitness resolution I want to continue to cook at least 2 out of my 3 meals a day at home. I know that I eat better when I cook at home because I know what is going into my food and I can better portion out my meals. If you are trying to start 2017 with being better about your fitness my biggest suggestion for all of you is to start out slow. I used to work out 6 days a week my final semester in college and I lost that once I started graduate school. This past summer when I wanted to get back into better shape and needed something to do during the day I took it slow. I started with 3 classes a week at different places and found what worked best for me not only for my body, but for my schedule. I know in 2017 I will switch up my workouts a bit because you don’t want to continue to do the same thing every week because then you won’t see the results you are seeking. Remember it doesn’t matter what everyone in the class is doing or what others at the gym are doing it matters what works for you and your body. Hope everyone has a great final Tuesday of 2016 and look forward to Fitness Tuesday in 2017!
Fitness Tuesday: The Right Leggings For You
Its Fitness Tuesday here on Just Jodi Style and I wanted to share with you all my new go to work out legging. In the past I have always loved leggings for working out, but as we all know leggings don’t always stay put where they should be. Also while working out a lot of the times I feel like they lose their shape to the point where I am constantly pulling up my leggings in the middle of my work out classes. Well say no more to this problem because I have found the answer. The answer is high waisted leggings! These amazing leggings from Lululemon are not only high waisted, but they keep their shape through every wear. One of the many complaints I have seen in the past from other shoppers at Lululemon is that the leggings tend to billow by the middle part and also tend to get white little balls of fuzz all over them after so many washes. These leggings are the full – on luxtreme and I can guarantee you that the problems that you may have faced before with previous leggings from Lululemon are a thing of the past. I have had these pairs of leggings for over 6 months now and they still look like brand new every time I wear them. If you are not into the high waisted legging, but want to make sure that your leggings stay in perfect condition then the way to go is full – on luxtreme. Next time you go to a Lululemon store ask a sales associate for any legging style in full – on luxtreme. I promise you that you will not regret it. It has truly changed my workouts in the sense that I am not constantly fussing with my leggings while I am at the gym and I know that after every wash they will look exactly the same as the day I bought them. Check out their website now for all of their amazing options. Happy Shopping <3
SoulCycle x Apple Watch
Today is Sunday so it should be a day of rest right? For me, I enjoy working out especially on Sunday’s because it makes me feel that my week ended on a high note. I have always loved working out and taking classes, but while I was home in Miami there wasn’t as many options as I would like. In New York, there are work out classes almost on every block, but I wanted to find something that was close to my home in Miami and also in NYC. I had tried SoulCycle in the past, but never got into it that much. I always thought it was just a fad and it would pass. Boy, was I wrong. I started to go when I was home since they opened a SoulCycle studio 10 minutes from my house. I figured why not get back into the gym slowly… Now I am addicted. I go a minimum of 4 days of week. It is addicting, but something that people may not realize is when you look at a SoulCycle schedule when it says SoulSurvivor that means the class is not the general 45-minute class it is an HOUR LONG, but for the same price! So why not go for an hour vs 45 minutes if you can? I try to go every Sunday for a SoulSurvivor class to just prepare myself for the week ahead. One of the things that I can’t go to class without is my apple watch. I have the first generation of the watch that my brother Ira gave to me as my graduation gift from Graduate School. I use this to track my workouts and even though sometimes it isn’t 100% accurate it has been really helpful through my workout journey. I have done the recent software update that came out this week for the watch and it has fixed a lot of the issues with my watch that I was having before. Another thing is if you have an apple watch just remember if your phone is nearby make sure to put your watch on sleep mode. It will still track everything to your phone, but from experience the last thing you want is your watch to start ringing on your wrist in the middle of class because someone is calling your cell phone. Happy Sunday Everyone!!