TRX

As I said in my first fitness post, my fitness outlook and regimen changed March of 2012 when I met Meriah and started training with her. Even though I have changed a ton of my practices (including in the kitchen) if I had to pin point one thing in the gym that was a huge game changer for me, it would be TRX. I had never even seen one of these before and I would have never guessed that ropes with stirrups could be a complete body workout! I would attribute any definition that I have in my core, arms and back to TRX. TRX forces you to lift your own body weight and your form is essential. I could do countless posts with tons of exercises that you can do with TRX but here are 4 exercises to start you off.

So to start I think the most elementary in an Inclined Squat. Stand at an angle on your heels and drop your booty as if your sitting below chair level. Then pull yourself up with your arms and squeeze your glutes as you stand. For more of a challenge, try this but making it a squat jump.

 

 

The next one is the V, T, Y, I - The easiest way to describe this is that your body will be making each of these letters to count as 1 rep. Start with your feet flat on the ground (arms in front of you), still with your body at an diagonal angle and push your arms down towards your body outside of your thighs so that your arms form a downwards V.

 

This picture above is what I refer to as "start position" for VTYI

 

Then lean back into the starting slanted position and pull your body up by stretching your arms outwards on either side so that your body forms a T shape. 

Then lean back into starting position and raise your arms up and pull your body up so that your standing straight up and your arms form the shape of a Y

Lastly, return to starting position and then pull your body to a stand but have your arms positioned straight up in the air so that your body forms an I

 

The third and fourth exercises are for your core. The third exercise is a Reverse Crunch. Place your feet into the handles/stirrups and you raise your legs in the air so that your body is in a plank or wheelbarrow position. Then curl your knees into your chest while simultaneously tucking your chest and neck into your core and repeat 20x.

 

 

The 4th exercise is the Pike. Start with your feet in the handles again and resume the wheelbarrow position. Then keeping your legs straight, lift your butt into the air as high as possible. Once you reach as high as your body will let you, drop your legs back into wheel barrow position and repeat 20 times. A tip here for proper form is to lift your head so that your back doesn't round down too much.

If you don't see this in your gym, ask someone that works there because normally this is something that only trainers bring out for specific client training sessions. Give it a try and let me know what you think! You can't see it in these pictures but these ropes look like a hanging harness and it has to be attached to a high stabilized bar.  I will post more TRX workouts in the future because the options are ENDLESS and the results are amazing!

Celine Me Alone

They say wear your heart on your sleeve but now everyone is literally wearing their feelings on their shirt. Conversational fashion statements are hotter than ever ranging from affirmation and uplifting quotes to racey and edgy phrases. As our design team is prepping for 2014, it seems that this trend is only going to become more explosive. I found this awesome "play on words T" through an account I found on Instagram. Unfortunately, I don't want to share the specific account because they took FOREVER to ship me my order and I don't want to lead you guys into that frustration but here are some other fun options I found: here, here , here, and here. Since I was wearing a basic T (which isn't really like me) I decided to be obnoxious and wear my yellow denim jeans and my pink and orange suede heels from zara - similar on sale here. The cherry on top was my neon necklace from Zara - here is a similar neon option that I love from Bauble Bar

Dewey Beach Recap

If you follow me on Instagram you would've seen that my 8-Girl Wolfpack (including Currently Coveting) took our annual trip and this time it was to Dewey Beach. For kids that grew up in NOVA, it's our Jersey Shore. So from 4 different states, we packed up our cars and were beach bound early Friday AM. Never a dull moment and full of laughs, we danced for hours every night to AMAZING cover bands who played the BEST of the 90s - I'm talking the best of the TRL Countdown- Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Spice Girls and the list goes on. We beached, brunched, twerked, and I even got in a couple of beach workouts. I hope you all enjoyed your first official weekend of summer too! Xo

Flower Child

A little late to the party with Coachella bringing out the Halo Craze but I've had a couple of them for a while now and finally mustered up the courage to finally sport one. I went to brunch with a girlfriend in Hells Kitchen and we stopped by this adorable flower mart so I could fully embrace my inner flower child. Then I decided to really become one with nature and climb around a tree - the looks I got were as if I was from Mars but it was nothing I couldn't laugh off.

I actually found the halo through Instagram - I've found so many great new shopping sites through Instagram and GlamGirlyGirl is one of them. The shirt is Sugar Lips, the cross-body is Rebecca Minkoff, and the flower printed denim shorts are from Lord & Taylor. Lord & Taylor has the absolute best denim prices and I recently fell in love with the brand Tinsel when I was there. The sunglasses were a giveaway from the BCBG press event and I love how they are tinted blue. Here they are in purple. After this outfit, I have decided that Coachella is on my bucket list for next year :)
 

 

 
 




 

Instagram Fitness Craze

Fitness has always been a part of my life but as many of you know, I only started getting results in the past year when I started training with Meriah. Since I've made the commitment to living healthier, I have started following a ton of accounts of fitness pros, bikini models, health experts etc for workout plans and healthy recipes. But of course, along the way I have had a ton of "holy shit moments" where I've felt discouraged about my own journey and progressed because I'm looking at people who have already reached their goals and who do this for a living. One of the fitties that I follow is this awesome NPC Bikini Competitor, Rachel Del Vescovo. Her blog that captures her life, her fitness progress and competition prep is called Pretty and Pumped. A little background on Rachel - she was born with arthritis and her pain was so intense that she had to be home-schooled until she eventually got both of her hips replaced and look at her now! Obviously she has a different appreciate now for being able to work out when the littlest things were such a struggle before but it's a really inspirational story about overcoming adversity and not letting yourself be your own excuse.

Last week she posted about the Instagram Fitness Craze and how she felt the same way prior to being competition ready and it just made me have so much respect for her. In her post she talks about how prior to competing she would stalk fitness models on insta and start to obsess with wanting to be like them (just like every other girl) and the effects that it can have on a girl's head. I really wanted to share this post with the rest of you because it is refreshing and 100% real. Check out Rachel's post here and the rest of her blog for more amazing fitness and health tips

 

 

   

All About The Skort

True to fashion, a trend from the past has circulated back to present day- the skort! Does everyone remember loving these in the 80's and 90's? Well now they are popping up on almost every fashion blog and email blast as a major Summer trend. I found this one months ago during the end of the year 60% off sale at Big Drop NYC I must have premeditated psychic fashion abilities because now I am seeing them everyone - one of my favorite ones being at Zara.

I wore this outfit for a Girls Night/Birthday dinner this past weekend and I will definitely look to add more skorts to my closet.

Deats: The skort is Jennifer Hope. The shoes are from ShoeMint. The tank is a simple Sugar Lips One-Fits-All tank that I own in every color. The bag is Prada. The statement necklace is a custom made design by Jennifer Hoodenpyle.

 

 

 

Collection 18 Gives Back Carnival Fundraiser Benefiting CancerCare

For all of you New Yorkers out there, I wanted to share with you an event that my company is throwing tomorrow night and the proceeds go towards CancerCare. The event is Carnival themed and being held at Hudson Station Bar and Grill from 6:30pm - 9:30pm. Open bar, food, carnival games, and raffle giveaways will all be taking place for an amazing cause!

Click this link for more details and where you can purchase your beer and wine open bar ticket ahead of time for $50, if you pay at the door the night of it will be more expensive. Hope to see you there!

Some of the Raffle Prizes!

Laredo putting together the Step and Repeat