by Ashley Borden, Celebrity Trainer, Fitness & Lifestyle Expert (NAPSA)—Start your holiday season off right with a balanced approach of healthy choices and a little guilt-free indulging, too. With a mix of high-intensity workouts and smart food choices, you'll feel motivated and invigorated come 2016! Workout #1: 1 minute of each move, repeat 4x with a 30 second break between rounds: Keep track of how many moves you get per minute and try to beat it the next time you do this work out. That’s how you progress with yourfitness! Push-ups Right leg reverse fly Left leg reverse fly Adios, Gluten! While never diagnosed as gluten-intolerant, as a fitness expert, I made a personal choice Air squats or jump squats Workout #2: 5 rounds of the following moves: 3x Push-ups 6x Right leg reverse fly 6x Left leg reverse fly two years ago to remove gluten from my diet and found I wasless bloated and tired after meals. I stuck with it because I had more energy throughout the day and saw a noticeable improvement in my workouts. It also helped me achieve a balanced and sustainable healthylifestyle. Here are a few healthy eating tips to reduce gluten: 1. Switch from wheat-based pasta to veggie noodles. Spaghetti squash, shaved zucchini ribbons and slices of hearty eggplant all make excellent pasta substitutes. 2. Grab a great tasting glutenremoved beer. Omission Beer is brewed with traditional beer ingredients, so it tastes like real beer, but it’s specially crafted to remove gluten.* If I drink beer, their Pale Ale is my go-to because I love its bold and hoppy flavor—notaste sacrificed! 3. Stay away from fried and flaky appetizers. Instead of reaching for gluten-full and calorieladen bites, reach for fresh fruits and vegetables and protein options like hummus, shrimp and Greek yogurt dip. 4. Focus on naturally glutenfree foods and stick to an overall anti-inflammatory diet. Foods like wild caught salmon, blueberries, cucumber, leafy greens, ginger, garlic and sweet potatoes are naturally gluten-free and help reduce internal and external inflammation. A large part of living a balanced life is finding waysto fluidly stick to your routine no matter the season. 9x Jump squats Consistent Eating right and staying fit during the holidays can help you have a happier New Year. The Holiday Challenge Timeis of the essence during the holidays. It’s normal for your schedule to be thrown off but that doesn’t mean you should compromise your training. Take a family hike or take the dog out for a run to get your body moving. You don’t need to go totally off the rails during the holidays AND eat low-quality food. Just keep your “off day” food standardsjust as high as your “normal day”food choices. If it includes the words partially hydrogenated oil, throw it out and instead look for items that have minimal, whole food ingredients. Having a few go-to workouts makes it easier to squeeze a workout in—even if you’re on vacation or have a housefull of visitors. The Workout Body weight exercises don’t have to be fancy to be effective. All you need is the space of a yoga mat and your body. Here are three moves easily incorporated into two quick workouts: 1. Push-ups (on knees or on a bench for beginners/full extended body for advanced athletes) 2. Single leg reverse flys (foot can be on thefloor for stability for beginners) 3. Air squats (beginner)/squat jumps (advanced). workouts are important, but are just one piece of the equation for a strong training program. Five Fantastic Training Hacks 1. Science has shown that High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)—short bursts of intense exercise—causes the quickest body change and givesa terrific 36-hour post-workout calorie burn called the EPOC effect. Perfect for the holidays, when overindulgence can use the post-calorie burn! 2. Choose full-body exercises like bench press, squats, pull-ups, reverse lunges and deadlifts. For these, use weight that feels like a “7/8” on a scale of 1 to 10. 8. Schedule your training a minimum of a week in advance. Treat your training time as a non- negotiable hour for yourself. If youre feeling unmotivated, join an online challenge or ask a friend to complete 4 weeksof training 3x a week together. 4. Trade-off imbibing with choosing a good, hearty meal to start the night. A turkey sandwich with spinach and tomato on whole grain bread with avocadowill keep blood sugar levels stable and you'll feel better the next morning! 5. Invest in a fitness tracking device. Knowledge is power, and knowing what kind of activity level you engage in will help you reach your goals and then adjust them accordingly. *Product fermented from grains containing gluten and crafted to remove gluten. The gluten content of this product cannot be verified, and this product may contain gluten.
