How to Avoid the Freshman 15

For most freshman, college is that time to experience freedom for the first time. Don't let it go to your head, and subsequently to your waistline.

Beware of thoughts such as these:

"Pizza for breakfast? Heck yeah."

"Hit up the ice cream machine in the dining hall for lunch, first? Why not."

"Pick up that third or fourth giant-sized caramel frap on the way to class? You know it."

If you're heading off to college, don't get caught up. Skipping real meals, because, well ... you can -- or loading up on all the fast food your poor arteries can handle, will catch up with you.

It will.

And when it does, you'll regret all of those horrible dietary decisions you made. Don't let it get to that point. You don't want to come home after year one, to be met with raised eyebrows from family, or worse, direct in-your-face comments about how pudgy you've gotten.

Watch this video and follow my tips on how to get through a year at school without letting your diet get out of control.

Keep it tight my friends. Keep it tight.

Know a college-bound student, or current college student? Do them a favor, share this with them!

Tiff's October Fitness Challenge

If you're like me, you like a little challenge here and there. You know, to test yourself, and make sure you can buckle down and take care of business.

Maybe you didn't reach your goals for the summer and want to start now for next summer? Perhaps you want to get out ahead of the holiday feasting? Or maybe you just want a good 'ol challenge? Whatever your reason, I'm glad you want to take control of your fitness.

The entire month of October will be all about focusing on achieving a goal specific to you. Think of a goal you want to reach, and post it somewhere you'll see it frequently -- maybe your bathroom mirror? This will be a constant reminder of why you're doing this when times get rough -- and they will. Just hang in there and focus! It's only 31 days. C'mon, you can do anything for a mere 31 days, right?

Here are the rules.

• Exercise EVERY DAY 
• Do an accumulation of 210 minutes of cardio each week 
• Weight train 4 times each week
• Do a new type of exercise or class every week that you don't usually do (i.e. pull-ups, hiking, yoga, planks, Zumba, kickboxing, spinning, etc.)
• Every Sunday, write out your meal plan and workout schedule for the upcoming week.
• Eat 5-6 times each day, every 2-3 hours.
• Never skip breakfast.
• Drink a minimum of 64 oz of water each day.
• Reduce starchy carbohydrates (rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, etc.)
• Allow yourself ONE cheat meal each week.
• Reduce dairy intake in half or have none at all.
• Eat a minimum of 2 pieces of fruit each day.
• Avoid as many processed foods as possible (see below). 
• No alcohol (you can have one serving at your cheat meal each week).

Recently, I came across the blog Eating Rules and for the month of October, people are pledging to go the entire month without processed foods. Seems fairly easy, right? Well, click on the badge below to find out more information --  it might be a little tougher than you think. 

Just about everything in a package is processed. And of course, some processed things are less horrendous than others. But I like this idea, and I think you should consider taking the pledge as part of this challenge. It'll pretty much eliminate any bad food choices and will help you stay on track to eating a clean and healthy diet.  

In addition to the above rules, every day there will be a mini fitness challenge. Below is the list of the 31 challenges for each day of October.

Each number corresponds to the day of the month that you are to the challenge.

There you have it! Are you game? Can you handle it? I'm ready! I'll be doing the challenge with you. I encourage you to write out or print out the rules to the challenge and post it to your fridge. You may also want to bookmark this page for a quick reference. 

Follow me on Twitter or like my Facebook page as I will post the daily challenges there. I will also post meal ideas and what some of my workouts look like. On Twitter, I'll be using the hashtag #TOFC, for Tiff's October Fitness Challenge, search for it!

Ready? BREAK! 

Today's Workout: Saturday, July 21

I had a great workout today, so I thought I'd share. I've recently changed my workout split from select body parts each day to total body workouts. I always encourage changing your workout routine entirely, at least every 4-6 weeks. Otherwise, your body adjusts to the work load and it will no longer be challenging, which slows results. 


Here's what I did today:


20 min cardio: speed intervals on the StairMaster
Pull-ups
*one minute sprint on treadmill*
One arm dumbbell rows
*one minute sprint on treadmill*
Bench knee-ups (abs)
*one minute sprint on treadmill*
Straight-legged deadlifts
*one minute sprint on treadmill*
Front squats with overhead press
*one minute sprint on treadmill*
Step-ups with dumbbell curl
*one minute sprint on treadmill*
Swiss ball crunches
*one minute sprint on treadmill*
One-legged elevated lunges
*one minute sprint on treadmill*
Roman chair knee-ups (abs)

Then I followed up with total body stretching and a little yoga.

When I got home I made a pina colada protein shake inspired by a recipe I saw in the August 2012 Oxygen Magazine. I used almond milk, fresh pineapple, shredded coconut, vanilla protein powder and ice.

Have a great weekend!

4 Ab Exercise Mix-ins

It's easy to get into a rut with your ab routine. We end up going on autopilot and doing the same exercises over and over. If your goal is to get 6-pack abs, you have to mix things up. Our bodies adapt to the exercises that we do often, making those exercises less challenging. And when our bodies are no longer challenged, results no longer happen.

Check out these 4 ab exercises. There may be a couple new ones you haven't done before or haven't done in a long time and will be good to mix into your current ab routine. To keep seeing results with your workouts, it's important to keep your body guessing by changing things up.

Do 2-3 sets of 10-20 reps depending on your fitness level. If you can only do a few to start, that's fine. Be sure to hold your abs in tight during all abdominal exercises.

SLIDING KNEE TUCKS: These are great because they are definitely challenging, hitting the entire core area. You'll want to get a couple old towels and do this move on a tile or wood surface. You can also do this exercise on carpet if you have gliding discs.

SINGLE LEG KNEE TUCKS: Similar to the sliding knee tucks, the single leg version is the modified version, but still very effective, hitting the entire core are.

SINGLE LEG CROSSOVER KNEE TUCKS: The primary muscles targeted in this exercise are the obliques. The secondary muscles targeted are the rectus abdominis.

WALKING PLANKS: This move is a variation on the standard plank. Walking your arms up and down forces you to continually contract your abs in a different way than in the standard holding plank position. This move targets the entire core area.