Real Neat Blog Award!

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I am not sure if this a dream or reality, because it was just last night I was up late doing an award that I was nominated by from my dear blogger friend PoojaG, now I am nominated once again after waking up. LOL. This seems unreal, and partly funny because I go to bed with an award and wake up with one. I feel like I am accepting Grammy’s now, let me not get too carried away but seriously this blows my mind! Thank you my dear blogger friend PoojaG for nominating me for an award, one I have never done before, and one that I seen is your first time as well! I appreciate your support on my blog, and I appreciate your positive vibes on your blog, I would recommend giving her blog a look, maybe even set up a tent and stay the night there, because she has made tons of people followers, I mean seriously, it blows my mind. She started around the same time as me in blogging and let me tell you, she is taking the blogging world by the handles and running with it, I am proud of her for how far she has come, keep up the good work!

RULES are as follows:

Put the award logo on your blog.
Answer 7 questions asked by the nominator.
Thank the person who nominated you.
Nominate any number of bloggers you like.
Let them know you nominated them. ( By commenting on their blog)

The answers to the questions given to me are:

If you could change something in the past, what would it be and why? This is a good question, a real good question. I have skeletons in my closet like the next person and some of mine come with demons as well. I have many things I could name and wish I had done differently, but one thing that stands out to me, is I wish I had not chosen to make fun of this girl in 6th grade, I wish I didn’t make her feel less of a person, ugly, make light of her family’s hardships and put her through hell in the name of making me feel better about who I was and being “popular”. I wish I hadn’t laughed at her when she talked about being poor with no TV , I wish I had not made light of her clothes when I knew where she got them from, I wish I didn’t put her down in front of others, I wish I could have been a bigger person and stood up for her when my friends and surrounding people called her names and talked really horribly about her. I wish I didn’t feel like I had to fit in with people to be validated, after all the hell I put her through, all the shit she endured, she chose to still be nice to me, to still talk to me the same and to still smile, at the end of the year, she ended up handing me a picture of a dove that she had drawn (she was a damn good artist), she told me she was moving away and let me know that she was happy to know someone like myself, even if it made her hate herself, she knew I had good in me. I have to say this is probably one of the hardest things I had to type because thinking about it brings me to tears. If I could see her now, I would give her a million sorry’s and let her know that I paid the price and had to endure the same pain she felt from me from others, and it hurts and that no one should have to go through it.
What is your favorite genre of music? Hmm, I am not sure much anymore, it changes and depends on the artist. I venture out sometimes and find music I like in different genres.
If you could spend a day in the past with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? I would say one of my aunts that died when I was a baby, I never got to know her and would have loved to meet her now.
Where is one place you want to travel to before you die? I think Greece would be fun, but if we are talking about within the states, I would say Cali, Florida and New York City
Who is your biggest inspiration? I don’t have one. I tend to like different people for the significance they played in my life, the changes they made in the world that were positive.
Who is your favorite Author? Oh here we go, i used to be a HUGE book reader but since 8th grade, I haven’t paid much attention to books. I don’t know who would be my favorite author these days, as I haven’t read much of anything, and as a kid I don’t remember whose books I would read a lot of. I was kind of a weirdo, and read many books that people didn’t care about. 😛 Lmao. I was THAT kid. Um, to be honest, I like the book the Great Gasby (also love the movie), Huckleberry Finn, I know why the Caged Bird Sings, 50 shades of grey was decent, a child called IT, to Kill a Mockingbird, the Lovely Bones – just to name a few but I also enjoyed the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
What is your favorite Color? Blue.

My nominees are:

TinkBug

FunEmployment

Anne

Questions for my nominees:

Rather live in the country side, or city life?
Do you like being on airplanes? why, or why not?
Do you participate in any winter sports?
Favorite season?
Do you prefer to cook or bake?
What is one fear?
Favorite candy bar?

10 Suggestions to avoid the Holiday Plump

10 SUGGESTIONS TO AVOID THE HOLIDAY PLUMP | BLOG COLLABORATION | STARBUCKS E-CARD GIVEAWAY

October 24, 2016

No one has to live with regret during the holiday fun, don’t allow your old habits to come back and bite you, instead consider planning out your festivities in advance, don’t change your workout habits on the account of turkey and apple pie, make people aware of your progress for support, if things get to be hard, consider using one or more of the 10 suggestions.

This is a blog collaboration written by Shay-lon (Fitnessgrad) and Jen (Gojenbefit). You can learn more about both of them below:

Hello everyone, my name is Shay-lon. I am the writer behind https://fitness9555.wordpress.com/, I am a fitness/health blogger, degree in exercise science and working on my personal training certification. I don’t like telling people what to do with their bodies and mind, I would much rather cater to my audience and clients with helpful suggestions and providing a starting point. I struggled with body shaming throughout my life without actually knowing what it was. My story is upside down, because I was considered “thin” and that just goes to show no matter your body type, someone out there won’t like it. I provide a means for people to feel this internal boost of confidence, I want men and women to focus on having a positive outlook on their bodies & with that I also want men and women to have a positive mindset. “Nothing will be perfect, I know this, I just want to know that I made you smile, walk with a hint of confidence and not be afraid to be who you are” -Shay-lon Moss

I am Jen. I’m the creator behind https://gojenbefit.com/ which was developed about 1 year and a half ago, to document my weight loss journey. I have loss 95 lbs, going from 242 lbs to 147 lbs. I am a fitness blogger and AFAA/NASM Certified Group Fitness Instructor. Now my new journey is to help as many people as possible jumpstart their weight loss journey and/or lifestyle. Onhttps://gojenbefit.com/ you can find weight loss tips, tricks, and overall wellness content. I post new content every Wednesday, check it out. Also, get your free weight loss and goal setting downloadable worksheets in “The Library”

Here are 10 Suggestions on How to Avoid the Holiday Plump

Suggestion by Shay-lon (Fitnessgrad)

Don’t stack your plate high with food, think about it, if it doesn’t fit on the plate properly, probably something you can wait for later. Nothing wrong with going back for seconds, but no reason to stack a plate high (thinking you will need to finish the food when you might be full)
Don’t change your workout habits, if your someone who works out 4 times a week, don’t change it because of the holidays, plan your workouts around your holiday plans; stick with your routine (don’t make excuses)
Have an accountability partner. The holidays can be tough, actually the toughest period of time for people who want to stay within their fitness/health goals. You might have gone this long with no accountability partner because you didn’t need one, you kept yourself disciplined. During the holidays everything you worked hard for can go out the window because you are focused on having a good time and don’t think nothing of the choices you make, that is usually when you make decisions that you regret later on. I would say having someone who helps to keep you accountable will be a life saver! Trust me, not everything can be done alone.
Watch your alcohol consumption, you don’t need a drink to have a good time. Although if you drink wine and take shots like I do, then you will know that you need to have yourself a limit so that you don’t go overboard. What is a party if your blacked out in the bathroom? Lol
Eat until you’re full, not beyond that. I say this for many reasons. On the holidays some people are social eaters, they will eat even when not hungry as long as others are doing the same thing. Secondly, forcing yourself to eat more food after you are full is not healthy and can cause issues. Thirdly, many of you will have more than one party to attend on the same day, it is okay to eat at the parties, but you don’t have to eat at both parties (you are not rude for not wanting to eat at one party because you ate at the other), it is okay to say “no thank you”, some people feel obligated to eat at every event because they don’t want to come off “rude”. Truth be told, most people will understand once you explain to them that you have eaten previous to their party.

Suggestions By Jen (Gojenbefit)

Invites: Monitor the invites that you accept. You don’t have to attend every holiday festivity that comes around.
Decide: If you are going to attend a party or holiday festivity make sure to decide what you will eat BEFORE you arrive and stick to it.
Get Active: During the holiday sessions it get a little chilly and the last thing any of us want to do is get ready and hit the gym in the cold. I suggest a at home workout DVD or create your own circuit. For example : 10 squats, 10 jumping jacks, 10 mountain climbers (Do each 5 times at your own personal pace ) you just got in a mini workout in the comfort of your own home
BYOF: Bring your own food. It’s okay if you attend an even and bring something you can snack on so that you don’t indulge in all the goodies that are available (you can have some but NOT all lol)
Leave some: If you count calories make sure to leave some calories available so that you can have some goodies at the holiday parties. For example: Your calorie intake is 1500 and you know you are attending a party tonight. Eat 1,000 calories throughout the day and leave the 500 for grandma’s famous pie or dad’s secret stuffing.

Here’s Our experiences with the Holidays and how do we handle it

Shay- Lon’s Experience for the Holidays & how she handles it:

I got lucky with a big family, plenty of food and multiple gatherings during the holidays. I have to admit, it isn’t normally a happy ending when I am finished eating, I tend to pack my plate with the goods, come back for more, and drown myself in god knows what kind of drinks. I typically don’t think twice about what I am eating and why, I just fall asleep and wake up the next morning regretting my decision to fall face first into a pot of mac & cheese and turkey, licking the leftover apple pie from my fingers. Seriously, I am “that” chick on the holidays. I “used” to be anyways, followed by my obsession to check the mirror to see how much weight went to my stomach, it is not a life to live, let me tell you. I find it strange that this year, I am going to do things completely different, I mean last year I said this same exact thing and ended up with a hangover. Lol. Hmm something tells me I am on a losing streak, but don’t give up on me now, I am only human. This year I have things planned out and I will hold myself accountable, I have gotten better at saying “no” and have done a better job at watching what I eat since I do IIFYM. I am going to handle it like a “boss”, and I’m not going to regret my decisions, I will watch my portions on my plate, be more attentive to what is in my cup, slow down on the apple pie, eat at a decent time, include my workouts on the holidays, and allow my family to know how far I have come so they can support my decisions in my eating habits and exercise. I would say that is all a great start, so join me this holiday, and let’s get through this together. I have faith in you! Have faith in me too!

Jen’s Experience for the Holidays & how she handles it:

During the holidays it is hard for me to not indulge in the sweets because I work in an office where people are constantly baking goodies all year around but it triples during the holidays and I am a sucker for anything sweet. I have had my few shares of too many sweets, but I negate it with staying active and packing my own lunches. I usually pop in a workout DVD when I don’t want to head to the gym. There are days I wake up, shower and head to the gym because if I don’t do it that way, then I just won’t go. There are times when I pack my own lunches but sticking to it is the hard part, I am a true believer that if you calculate your calories wisely you can have what you packed for lunch and still leave room for if you want a small brownie. I make a huge effort to log my food so I can know what I have eaten and to see what else I can have. I hope that at least 1 of our suggestions is useful to you.

Best of Luck!

If you have read this far………..

Giveaway time:

Answer this question in the comments. How do you avoid gaining extra pounds during the holidays?

We will pick a winner and email you a $5 e-Starbucks card! By Tuesday October 26tth, 2016

Blogger Recognition Award!

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Thank you PoojaG for nominating me for this award, I am very pleased! & congrats to you for being nominated as well! If any of you have not had the chance to check out her blog page, you should. PoojGa creates poetry and shares inspirational quotes among her audience. Definitely give her a page a look!

How my blog started: I was in my last semester of college before graduating, and one of my professors at the time recommended that I should start a blog since I wanted to get recognized in my field. I graduated in exercise science, and planned on being a personal trainer, but didn’t imagine blogging. My Professor always told me that I was going to go places, that I had what it takes to be a fitness mogul if that is what I wanted to be and if I wanted to be the best personal trainer I could be, I needed to get my name out there, get certified and make others believe in what I could do too – I decided I not only wanted to be the best personal trainer I could be, but I wanted to be the name behind fitness/health, I wanted to improve other people’s lives and I wanted to share advice, tips, knowledge with others & I wanted to start this chain reaction where people knew their body doesn’t define their beauty, it doesn’t define your personality, it doesn’t define your life; your body doesn’t have to be the same as everyone else’s.

My advice to new bloggers: Know what you want out of blogging, come in with a story and goal in mind. Nothing has to be “serious”, you can do it for recreation, but make it so your audience enjoys your hobby, interest, passion, job, etc. No one wants to read a blog page and not enjoy the content. Nothing is off limits when you write, there is no rubric you need to follow, no steps, no expectations you need to meet other than your own. When you write, let your hands do the talking – Shay-lon

My nominees are:

So you guys have to answer the same questions: how did you start your blog and what is your advice to new bloggers.

The Jump Squat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeTBwEL4m7s

Do you have hops?! lol.

No I am kidding, but seriously, do you have hops? If so this is one exercise that will test that but no worries, no competition. If you don’t have hops, this is still a good exercise for you to implement into your regular routine to have some variation and working on different muscle groups, not mention explosion.

From watching the video that I provided you, you would assume this exercise is “easy” and doesn’t take much to do, but let me correct you by saying, form and technique is needed if you want to avoid injuries. It is also assumed that like Scott, I have a 6 pack and women probably gawk at me and men envy me or the other way around, but I hate to disappoint you, I actually look better than this dude Scott and my hops carry me to the next planet. LOL. #sarcasm

How do you perform a “Jump Squat”?

You can either choose to cross your arms over your chest or do what Scott is doing and hold your hands together, OR you can put your hands behind your head, whatever works best for you. – typically just hold my hands like Scott.
Position feet at shoulder width apart, with back straight and head up – don’t want a rounded back
Keeping your back straight and chest up, you will squat down as you inhale, until your upper thighs are lower to the floor,
Using the ball of your feet, jump straight up into the air as high as possible, using your thighs as “springs” (exhale during this portion of the movement)
When you touch the floor again, immediately squat down and jump again
Repeat for the recommended repetitions.

Why should I “jump squat”?

Develop explosive power
Increase your heart rate
Builds strength
Helps with weight loss
Maintains mobility and balance
Can be used as a plyometric exercise, which can help reduce injuries if done correctly.
works on the quads, hamstrings, core, glutes and lower back

Make your Jump squat more challenging:

Use dumbbells
wear a weight vest
do more reps
use a barbell – although this is more advanced and not recommended if you have no experience, people tend to have too much weight and end up hurting their joints when using the barbell
The use of a sandbag
Medicine balls

For beginners, using the TRX can be helpful and be a little easier to manage a jump squat, I have found that in my opinion, jump squats were easier using the TRX. Again, this is an exercise you will want to consult with your doctor before performing. I hope you have all enjoyed learning about the jump squat, feel free to share this!

Your fitness blogger,

Shay-lon xoxo

Personal training: Helping a Friend Day 16

Fitness bloggers and Enthusiast,

Today was another morning workout with John, I woke up with snot all over my face from having this cold, and was sneezing and constantly wiping my nose, but I knew I had to continue with our plans of meeting at the gym. I am dedicated, lol. It didn’t help that the weather is gloomy and we had some rain, normally this is the type of weather that keeps me from the leaving the house and snuggled up in bed instead. I managed to wake up at 8AM this morning, which is surprising because I was up late watching the #debate2016 and laughing at the answers to our worldly issues. I shouldn’t be shocked by the answers and how dedicated politicians come off until they are elected and then what? We are back at square one, but who can blame them, they don’t run this country as much as we would like to think they do. Although that is just my take on things, no argument intended. To share my political views means I have to play lawyer, and I am not a fan of doing so, so we shall keep that one locked & seal; it is enough when my facebook is bogged up with people “threatening to delete friends who do not have the same political views”, which might be okay if their was a logical reason to do so, but I don’t delete people on facebook because of their political views, because i don’t expect everyone to have the same opinion as myself, but again, I don’t go around posting my views everywhere because it is none of people’s damn business unless I make it their business. Besides watching the #Debate2016 , I was partaking in conversation on twitter with all the people who were watching it live as well, and also juggling my show “American Horror Story” on my TV (which if anyone is a fan of this particular show, what did you think of last nights episode) lol. If this matters, I had more than 4 glasses of wine and all of them tasted delicious, judge if you please. So again, my morning was very “blah” and I was very sluggish, and I didn’t even make it to the gym a hour before John this time, let alone before he arrived, I was running behind this morning, and my cold is to blame.

BUT, while John did his workout Today, I did my own, because I didn’t need to do his cardio workout with him today, he could handle it and not to mention I wanted to do my #legday strength exercises. My mom made to the gym this morning and did her cardio and strength exercises for her arms and of course she decides to ask me goofy questions which is typical of her, sometimes I have to tune her out so I can focus on my own workout, lol. John had someone smile at him who he thought was cute, so that made him smile all the while we were at the gym, talk about the “koolaid” man smile, it was HUGE, but hey, nothing wrong with smiling; especially since today wasn’t a hard workout for him. He did complain of ankle pain and some knee pain, but he swears it is nothing serious and just discomfort, I remind him to have it looked at it if it becomes too much of a problem, but I can tell her ignores my recommendation because he just smiles and says “Shay, I am fine, not a big deal, I can still perform without slowing down” – his favorite answer. Funny thing is I told him tomorrow he should go up to the person who smiled at him and say “hello”, maybe it would give me a boost of confidence to do the same to people who I find attractive, hahahaha

In the mix of all this crazy, I had a blogger come to me about their sibling possibly wanting to be interviewed for my article (the one I asked for professionals with a degree in nutrition and/or registered dietitians, so I am happy about this as well, partly because I am on a time crunch (my fault) and partly because I didn’t want to be lame and use studies 😛 but I would have. I might have to if they decline my offer, *fingers crossed*, but appreciate everyone who liked the post. Thank you.

Lets get to the workout shall we, oh and I will post my #legday workout as well for today, it was easy and not much to it today because of me not feeling so well. My workout will be underneath’s John’s workout for today:

John’s Workout

Warm up:

Dynamic stretching:

Skips
lunges
high knees

Workout Session:

Treadmill – 20 minutes, 4.0 speed, 2.0 incline – he had to reduce speed and incline because he complained of ankle pains
Elliptical- 20 minutes, no resistance, 4.0-4.5 speed and if he could maintain a 5.0 speed, I would prefer it. He complained of knee pains, but his ankle pains went away during this exercise.

Ab Session:

I decided to introduce him to one of the many ab machines to see if he would like it, and he did. His previous goal was to do 31 crunches and he beat it today with 32 total in 1 minute with 10lb resistance the first set and 20 lb the 2nd and 3rd set. (The machine comes with weights, 10 is the lowest)

Cool down:

Walk 2 laps around the gym

My workout (leg day & abs)

I conquered the same warm-up as John with him.

Workout Session:

A 20 minute circuit consisting of:

walking lunges using a 20lb barbell ( I could use more weight next time, but again took it easy today)
Air squats using a 25 lb weight plate ( I did 12 reps)

A 20 minute circuit consisting of:

Single leg deadlifts using 10 lb weight plate (I should have used heavier, I knew better, but wasn’t in the mood) I did 10 reps on each leg
Walking lunges using a 20 lb barbell
Air squats using 25 lb weight plate

Ab Session:

I used the same crunch machine as John and we did abs together. I did 3 sets. I was able to do 50-51 reps with 45 lbs, and about 40-45 with 65 lbs 🙂 pretty happy with it, I could do better next time, we shall see, but with this cold, I wasn’t really pushing myself like I normally do.

I did the same cool down as John (we did it together)

Your Fitness blogger,

Shay-lon xoxo

I love hearing about your workouts, so always feel free to share in the comments 🙂

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