As the weather gets colder and the mornings get darker, you find that it's harder to get out of bed in the morning. It's also harder to keep yourself motivated to work out, harder to eat food that is good for you, and harder to find that extra energy in the day to complete a workout before or after a long work day. At the end of a long day, when it gets dark out so early and literally feels like midnight by the time your out of work, the last thing you want to do is go home and cook a good meal for yourself (especially when Chinese takeout is so readily available). HOWEVER, these are the times that you need to persevere through. It's all about getting into a routine. Set your workout schedule for the week at the beginning of the week, stick with it. Set your meals at the beginning of the week, plan ahead, stay on top of it.

The transition into winter is probably the hardest transition I face every year. Everyone is getting the flu or colds, the weather is so cold, and it's SO hard to get yourself out of bed in the morning when it's pitch dark out. Some things I find to make the transition easier is setting ONE alarm in the morning. If you set more than one, then you know you have the ability to hit snooze. When you set one alarm, you know you have to get up right in that moment. Also, make your alarm your current favorite song or something you won’t get sick of! Nothing wrong with waking up in a happy mood right off the bat.

In the summer it is so easy to keep up with workouts, whenever you feel like going for a run or a bike ride or anything it just seems so much easier. The sky stays light out much longer, the weather is warm, and you WANT to get up and off your couch. In the fall/winter, I find that I have to plan out my workouts ahead of time. Some things to make it easier: sign up for classes a week in advance, this way you already paid for them and feel as though you need to hold yourself accountable and go to them. If you're a runner and get frustrated with the increasingly colder weather, there are indoor classes that can definitely help you continue your running or even help cross-train. MyStryde, Barry's Bootcamp and Orange theory are all awesome substitutes. Spinning and Yoga classes are awesome for cross training too.
​ Go for a fall hike, the foliage is SO beautiful this time of year, and being so close to Vermont, New Hampshire, and even Western Mass, we are amongst some of the most beautiful hiking trails. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced hiker, there are trails ALL over of all different lengths and levels. You will be able to find whatever you are looking for.

As for sticking with healthy eating....this is the hardest advice for me to give. Mainly because I have trouble following my own advice. Here are a couple techniques I've found recently, that work for me. Every Sunday/Monday, I plan out my breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks for the week. Meaning, I type out a document of all the ingredients I need from the grocery store with the recipes attached. This way, when I get to the grocery store, I am focused on exactly what I need to get and don't waste my time (or tempt myself) going down the junk/comfort food isles . Of course there are days when I get to them and I'm not in the mood for what I planned. I try to work with myself and switch around days and plan accordingly when the time comes to eat.
However, I'm a big believer in not depriving yourself completely of sweets. One little sweet at the end of the day after dinner is totally acceptable. I love ice cream way to much to ever preach that you should not be eating sweets at all.


These are my techniques for staying in shape and keep the workouts going strong going into the fall/winter, what do you do to keep yourself motivated?

         There is nothing worse than being sick, but I've recently learned, there is nothing worse than being sick and being unable to teach YOUR class. Getting sick happens to everyone, no one can be mad when you're unable to teach, however the feeling of having to give up your class to another person because you are unable to do it is the worst feeling in the world. Everyone understands and no one is angry, but it feels as though you're throwing away a class you have worked so hard to build up. When you tell people the week before that you'll see them at class next week, you feel as though you're breaking their trust. It's scary, and you get nervous that they might not come back. It's this anxious feeling that comes over you. I hate not being in control of situations, especially ones with being sick or injured. I love teaching my classes, I work so hard every week on building them up, and having my riders trust me. 
      One thing I absolutely hate doing, but is absolutely necessary, is letting my body recover. I was told by the doctors I wasn't able to workout for the remainder of the time that I was on antibiotics. I immediately got extremely frustrated with them for delivering this news. How could they expect a fitness professional not to workout for TEN DAYS?! TEN DAYS. I knew that there could have been worse diagnosis and longer recovery periods, but it was still frustrating. However, I was just thankful I had the energy to even talk through the class, to go back to work, and to be able to teach off the bike.
        When you get sick and are out of commission, this really makes you realize the importance of finding your happiness in the little things in life. When I think I'm "bored" during my extra time at work, it's really all my extra time to work on my website, blog, playlists, workouts, etc. When I was sitting at home on bedrest, I wasn't able to get done a lot of the things I needed to get done. I take the extra time I have at work for granted and I totally realized that when I didn't have it for a couple days. Now I'm working towards mini-goals of getting better, goals that will help me achieve the overall goal of being able to completely teach again. 

       I feel like there has been SO MUCH bad news recently. In the news, in the media, in everyday life. I woke up this morning feeling really down for some reason. Really sad. Why? It was a beautiful day, but the reality is that there is so much bad news and things going on around us. What happened in Vegas the other day was absolutely crushing. I get choked up thinking about it, thinking about the families and friends that lost a loved one for NO REASON. I immediately thought of my friends who knew or have friends in Vegas and checked in with them. Luckily they were ok, however there were 500+ people who were not ok. It is so sad that this is the world we're living in. No one should be afraid to attend a concert, a movie theater, a mall or even walk around their college campus. People should not have to live in fear and be ready to constantly protect themselves, but unfortunately, that is the sad truth right now. A picture was posted the other day of the top five deadliest shootings, I'm sad to say I am only 23 years and have lived through four of those top five. 
       It's times like these where people need to stay positive. Hopeful that there WILL be a change in the world. People need to find their outlet to deal with this sadness and stress of the world. My outlet is exercise. When I'm feeling really down or stressed I either go for a nice long run and listen to music I love, or go take a spin class from some of my favorite instructors and sweat out the stress. It is important to be open about the way you're feeling and let yourself go free during these classes you take. I always tell people at the beginning of class to bring their focus into that room and that room only. I give them a whole song towards the end of class to think completely to themselves, to let their mind wander, to really take in the class. These songs can be therapeutic and can tap into a lot of emotions. I know when I was a rider/am riding in other peoples classes, that one song where you get to connect to yourself and your soul really make you feel a certain type of way. There are classes that I have left crying, some happy tears, some sad tears, but its important to know how you're feeling and let that emotion come over your body.
      All riders are welcome to come connect with me the rest of this week. If you're stressed about things that you can't control (like me), come ride, come connect, come let loose, come let your emotions shine through. We will get through the bad news together and hope for more positive things to come to light.   

As I stated in my previous post, I was holding myself accountable to eating healthy last week. So far, so good. As a person with 2/3 ish jobs I did not find myself having a lot of extra time to cook meals or even the energy to cook when I get home from teaching class. This is when I found New Vision Nutrition. New Vision Nutrition is a website, where you can pre-order your meals, have them delivered, and heat them up when you're ready to eat. All of the food is super healthy, and SO TASTY. Not going to lie, I was nervous about the freshness of the food lasting in the fridge, but everything tastes amazing. Last week I had Tilapia with broccoli and noodles; a couple of minutes in the microwave and it was ready to eat. It perfect for bringing to work. You can choose a continuous meal plan, or choose to order your meals every week. They have such a wide variety of food to pick from, and everything I've had was delish. (I've also had the Chicken Caprese, the BBQ pulled chicken, and salmon dishes). 

Posted below shows the details of how it works: 

They make everything so easy and fast. New Vision Nutrition can also help with weight loss and put you on a plan according to how much weight you want to lose. Feel free to reach out for any questions or give them a follow on insta: @newvisionnutrition