When it comes to my perfect combo choice, I am going with fitness and beauty. I am continuing my all around the world outfit segment and today’s featured blogger is Elena from Santiago, Chile, who is a personal trainer, and yoga and pilates instrucot. She loves fitness, going for walks and riding her bike. Lena has a fitness blog in Spanish - http://www.sportinstructor.blogspot.com/ and more of a personal one about life in Chile in Russian! Yay for another bilingual blogger out there! http://www.chilelavida.blogspot.com/
I highly recommend you check out her blogs, she’s got a lot of great info on there, and it’s always fun to learn about life in other countries.
Cheers
Z
Когда речь заходит об идеальных парах, я выбираю красоту и фитнес. Сегодня я продолжаю раздел моего блога о Повседневной моде со всего мира, и сегодняшний блоггер – Елена, из Сантьяго, Чили.
Лена: “Я живу в Чили в Сантьяго, я персональный тренер, а также преподаю йогу и пилатес. Обожаю, естественно, спорт, гулять, ездить на любимом велосипеде. Мой основной блог о спорте на испанском языке этот http://www.sportinstructor.blogspot.com/
А также на русском о Чили этот http://www.chilelavida.blogspot.com/” В общем пальцы вверх за еще одного двуязычного блоггера! Я всем рекомендую зайти на ее блог, там очень много полезной информации, и мне кажется всем интересно узнать о жизни в другой стране!
Now before you read todays post, I highly recommend that you watch the entire (40 min long) presentation/speech by Jean Kilbourne!
I have posted many times about the importance of staying fit, it’s the way I’ve been raised, and it’s the influence of oh so many episodes of The Biggest Loser that I’ve watched. I have also emphasized the importance of eating healthy, of bringing all sorts of vegetables and fruits into your diet, if you don’t believe me – ask my husband. I also have covered a subject as sensitive as violence against women, based on a story of a high school friend of mine. But after watching this I couldn’t help but wonder – Have I also been killed? And killed softly?
I am going to have to say yes to this, admit that I, too, have been influenced by the ads, commercials, the many many TV shows, movies and everything that comes in between.
Growing up in Russia you’d think I was only exposed to the images of healthy looking peasant women, popping babies left and right:
You’re so wrong, I grew up reading Cool Girl, OOOPS! and YES! (if I remember all these titles correctly), an Eastern European version of Teen Vogue and Seventeen:
When we got our first VCR all we had were work out tapes. My mother was extremely obsessed with her self-image, she worked out at the gym 3 times a week after work, I was in 8th grade then. Needless to say I got hooked onto the Cindy Crawford workout videos, as a matter of fact up to this day, her workouts remain some of my favorite ones. Thanks to those workouts I always ran track in high school and college, nothing wrong with being athletic!
I was 16 when I got my first highlights. I was never happy with my hair color, I always thought it was dull and flat. How crazy is it to realize that this was 9 years ago! I haven’t dyed my hair since 2009 and I couldn’t be happier. But yet again, I am thinking of getting high lights this spring (Blake Lively obsession, unhealthy, right?)
Now I have always been anti Botox, Implants and all the other body “alterations”. I remember watching an episode from one of the earlier seasons of Nip/Tuck where a surgeon put the implant in the wrong way, so he then had to take it out, and there is blood and silicone and mess everywhere. I am a B cup and always will be, so I am pretty happy with what I’ve got!
Moving on to the subject of violence – I think some women should stop dressing slutty. I remember the SLUT walk Sam and I came across once walking around Minneapolis. No won’t mean no when you are dressed like a hooker. Growing up at a church we were taught one golden rule that applied to clothes – Would you wear it if you were going to go hang out with Jesus? And by hanging out I don’t mean death or anything, just a usual stroll in the park with the Lord. I am pretty sure Jesus would’ve been proud of my fashion sense, I am 25 and finally know how to dress myself!
Now how did this documentary affected me personally? Well they say step 1 is acknowledgement, and then what? Am I going to stop dressing up, using make up, reading Vogue and trying to achieve the unachievable? NO! Call me stupid, call me anything you want, but when we are walking the streets of Minneapolis my husband is proud he is married to me, everyday he tells me how pretty and sexy I am, and that’s what matters the most. I am sure a lot of you are getting madder at me by the second, especially now that I brought my husband up, but you can tell this same thing to yourself! You don’t need a guy to approve of you! When I lived in Manhattan my hair was two different colors for crying out loud! Yes, I can always say I was trying to pull off the ombre look, but who will I be kidding?
Anyways, it’s everyone’s personal choice whether to be affected by it all, or not, and it all depends on the way you’ve been raised, and what values have been implanted into your brain, because trust me, I never leave the house, unless I think that Jesus would’ve been proud of my outfit
It’s Monday, and we all know that a lot of people do the whole: “Starting Monday, I’m going to….” (fill in the blank!) thing. And most of the time that blank is – EXERCISE. Having lived in the States for about 2y 9m (yes, I’ve added up all of my trips here), I managed to maintain and in some cases even lose my weight. And the stress factor doesn’t count. So today, I thought I’ll share some of my tips. You should try them, because they work. And I am happy as can be, being under 120 lb!
1. Walk everywhere – it’s so easy to do living in the big city. Even when I lived in suburban New Jersey, I found some destinations I could walk to – like the CVS pharmacy, the post office or Church. Sometimes I just took walks around the neighborhood. I also had a friend who would meet me at Verona Park and walk or jog with me! Then I moved to the UWS and NYC is NYC, owning a car there is a bigger hassle and expense than not owning one! Plus the location was fab – I was less than a block away from Central Park. And that was a great play to walk/jog! Plus the peer pressure of Manhattan – staying skinny, working out, because everyone else is! After moving to Minneapolis, I can gladly say that I am still able to walk everywhere, plus Minneapolis turned out to be a city full of bikes! Which makes it even more awesome! I am now looking forward to next spring, when I will be able to ride my bike everywhere I can’t walk to
Plus celebs like Kate Bosworth, Elle Macpherson and many others do it, so should you!
2. Take the stairs! That always works, whether you are at a mall or in a skyway. No stairs? Walk on the escalator! Besides if you only think that walking up is a good workout – you are wrong, because walking down is just as good of an exercise!
3. Drink water, but not just any water – drink lemon water, because it helps break down the carbs and digest food better. Sometimes Aloe Vera juice is a good source to run to, because it’s sold in the laxative aisle at your local store Another recipe that I follow sometimes is: a full glass of water, plus a tbsp honey, plus a tbsp NATURAL apple cider vinegar, 4 tbsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp aloe vera. Mix it and drink in the morning, before your coffee, before your breakfast, before you basically do anything! That mix helps boost your metabolism!
Important: When I say lemon water I mean real water that has a slice of lemon in it, or at least some ReaLemon juice, not the bottled flavored water!
4. “I don’t want to be like them” technique – that is going to sound harsh, but I firmly believe that this method works! Call me a skinny bitch, but I am not giving it up! I simply say to myself – that I don’t want to be like them, I don’t want to be fat, I don’t want to have health problems, I don’t want to have to see a doctor about my weight. I’d rather be skinny and a head turner! Besides, clothes do look better on skinny people. And I will not take any excuses from anyone. Because in the end, wouldn’t you rather look like this?
5. Go to the farmer’s market. I do question where our local one get’s it’s produce, but hey I am not going to argue 2 dollar tomatoes. Anyways it’s easy to eat healthy in America, in spite of all arguments from people who think that US = McDonald’s. Over the past few years the number of health food stores increased drastically – all the Trader Joe’s and Co-ops and other fancy places. Yes, it’s going to be expensive, but some things are worth buying natural!
I remember reading a Zooey Deschanel interview for Self magazine, where she also argued with people who say that it’s hard to eat healthy when on tour. She made her point by saying that Whole Foods is in every big city these days, so those people are just making excuses.
6. Stop making excuses! I know old habits die hard, but there is a place for self-control, motivation and determination in everyone’s life. Besides, if you have a person to support you, it’s that much easier!
Have a happy fun Monday, and a great week everyone!
Day 6 of my LIVESTRONG Zhenya project went well, I think I got the whole healthy eating under. I did, however, have 2 chocolates, which I know wasn’t the best decision.
My bathroom floor finally got installed, and after the workers left I spent about an hour cleaning everything up, then I went grocery shopping, and also did some ABS exercises before I went to bed.
I also made a milkshake (frozen strawberries, a banana, yogurt, milk, water and sugar sub). Love it, lasts forever too:)
I also witnessed the most touching moment in several months, I witnessed my Grandpa crying over my Grandma, which made me cry as well. It was both sad and amazing at the same time, this was also the very first time I saw my Grandfather cry. (He is a former KGB agent, they don’t cry often, do they?)
I also learned about a new facial soap to try, it contains seaweed (I used to work with a girl who said SEEDweed), mud, and green tea. Supposingly, it clears up your skin better than the birch bark soap I’ve been using, but smells better! So now I am on my quest to find it! Will keep you posted!
Last night I made my first video for YouTube, it’s about my Love and Lace Flowers project, I will be adding a new video approximately once a week. And will definitely keep you posted!
So today was day 2 of my LIVESTRONG Zhenya project, and I felt so good today, you know that light feeling that they mention? Yes, I had that. Now it could’ve been dizziness, but I am not that skilled to tell the difference.
With a shocking number of 50 calories to spare left over from Day 1, I decided Day 2 was going to be better! And it was! The day started off with a shocking breakfast, that consisted of 1 Pancake (I found this recipe for 100 cal pancakes), and some tea. No syrup, no honey, no jam! Yup, that’s me!
I am also getting my bathroom floor redone! So today the workers came to tear down the floor, and after they left, I put on my shoes, and off to the tile store I went. They also sell linoleum (we all know how much I love putting linoleum in different things), sinks, toilets, wooden floors, carpets and other fun stuff. And I came to realize that I love these stores more than thrift stores. Why? Because thrift stores I can afford, and construction supplies stores are something I drool at!
So I was out and about for an hour and a half, running errands, paying bills, and apparently burning a lot of calories!
I had a mushroom omelette for lunch, with some whole grain toast, and a banana for dessert! I also had some white grapes and walnuts for snack before dinner!
Now I am planning on having some of my not so infamous salad for dinner, with some whole grain toast and some fruit for dessert! I am also planning on doing another workout after two more lesson tonight before bed! This is the one I am planning on doing today:
I’ve been working out since 9th grade, my mom got me into it. She went to aerobics classes 3 times a week. I never went with her, but I remember buying our first VCR and getting the workout tapes! It was fun, still is. I wanted to share my favorite ones with you. I have never weighed over 120 lb, so these just help me stay toned. I also don’t diet, but I don’t pig out either.
1. Namaste Yoga by Kate Potter. This is a popular yoga workout, that you can
find on FitTV. It is usually on around noon ET. Each episode includes a warm-up, a sequence work-out, and relaxation and savasana. It’s a great muscle stretch, and gets you all toned in about a week. I’ve tried other yoga workouts, and they literally made me sick!
There are 3 Namaste Yoga DVDs out, I own two of them! Can’t wait to get my hands on the third one!
2. NTC iPhone/iPod App. First of all – it’s a FREE App. But it requires you to
have about 2 Gb of free space on your device, so I had to delete a lot of my music, mist of which I wasn’t listening to anyways. So I killed 2 birds with one stone: got a great workout app, and got rid of old music I skipped through anyways. There are 4 sections you can choose a workout from (Get Lean, Get Toned, Get Strong, Get Focused). Workouts last from 30 to 45 min, except for in the Get Focused part, where they are 15 min long. You add your own playlist, and listen to the instructions. If you don’t know how to do a certain exercise, there are useful videos, or step-by-step directions. This is an extremely motivational workout for me, because I just love the way these women look. I have tried The Biggest Loser Workout, but I already know I look better than those people, so there is no motivation there. But I am not saying TBL is a bad workout, it’s just not for me. NTC also has a system of awards, it’s a lot like a video game where one unlocks badges. I believe I am on Bench Marker now, meaning I have worked out for 360 minutes using this app!
3. Cindy Crawford’s workouts. I had them both on VHS! Can you believe it? I have them on DVD now, a sigh of relief, lol. Anyways, she is good!
The first DVD includes 3 workouts, and the second DVD is one long workout, which may seem like a drag at first, but once you get used to it, it’s fine! You will recognize a lot of moves, they are used in a lot of the modern day fitness programs.
This is what got me through High School actually, I did her workouts, and ended up looking better than most of the girls in my class!
4. Gilad bodies in motion. Yes, he is still alive! And even though he cracks me
up, he is good, and has an accent, if you dig those! You can also find him on FitTV, just like Namaste Yoga. They used to be back to back! The workouts are also about 25 minutes long (with the commercials). Unfortunately I don’t have any of his DVDs, so the only thing I recommend are the TV workouts.
5. This last one is called 10 Minute Solutions. I do these when I am feeling
lazy, but I still want to workout!
I hope these help, I know I am no personal trainer, or health expert, but I am sharing these because they’ve helped me!
