fitness

*This post is sponsored by Balance Bar

Hellooo! Anyone else ready for summer? Puh-lease! Yesterday in DC it could have easily been January and the wind was wretched. Nevertheless, spring is “supposedly” coming and you know what that means…put away the sweaters and pants, break out the shorts and tanks (or at least dream about that in the near future!)

It’s not super easy to pull your body out of the frozen tundra that is winter. I know some people who can maintain fitness throughout the winter, but not many. I usually look at winter as a time to chill out a bit on my workouts and let my body refresh. Obviously this year, I had little choice (thanks herniated disc!)

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But you’ve gotta do it if you want to start feeling like your old self and get back into prime shape for spring and summer. You ALSO have to get your food back in order. Have you been eating waay too much fattening, high sodium potato soup like me? You’ve got spring clean your food items as well! I’m ready to be back to this:

Balance Bar has paired with nationally recognized Registered Dietition Sharon Richter, who came up with 5 ways to “spring clean” your kitchen. I took the liberty of adding 6 actions to take to “spring clean” your fitness.

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1. Rearrange. That’s right, grab your fitness clothes out of the bottom drawer you barely ever think about and put them in the top drawer that you can’t help but see everyday. It will be a good reminder plus you’ll remember how cute your stuff is and want to show it off.

2. Buy & Try Something New. You don’t have to spend gobs of money. My favorite new brand? Fabletics! I’m actually wearing them right now. They are like a lower priced Lululemon and I love their stuff. If not them, hit up your local sports store and pick something out to get you motivated.

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3. Set Your Alarm & Stick To It. It hurts, it does, but it’s so worth it. Even if you are not a morning workout person, I recommend getting up early to get other things done so you can stop stressing about them after work when you do workout. For you morning exercisers, it’s just a matter of getting back into the habit again. It will get (a little) easier!

4. Get a New ‘Do. Everything good you do for yourself helps other areas of your life. So if you get a great new haircut, you’re going to be motivated to get the rest of yourself feeling good.

5. Sign Up For a Class. How many times have you said, “I’d really like to take [zumba, yoga, barre, CrossFit, etc.] and not done it? Sometimes its hard to make the commitment but it is super motivating once you do! You’ll never know unless you try.

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6. Set a Goal. I’m the worst at this but I’ll tell you, when I did the Core Power Challenge, with a goal of doing core work everyday for 30 days, it made me stick with it. Make a goal to run a certain distance, workout a certain amount of days per week, each vegetables everyday or start meditating nightly. Whatever it is, write it down and put it where you can see it everyday!

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1. Empty everything from your food pantry. It’s okay to start with a mess and you’ll

2. Throw away anything that has expired, has been open for more than a couple

3. Organize everything by category – snacks, meal starters, nuts and dried fruits,

4. Check the labels. Here are a couple ingredients you simply shouldn’t have in any

5. Make sure you have plenty of portion controlled snacks readily available and at the front of the pantry. You tend to eat more of what is eye-level or easily accessible.

6. BONUS: While some get rid of all their sweets, I don’t recommend that. You need something for when your sweet tooth kicks in! I’m not kidding when I say that Balance Bars are actually the perfect thing for that. I mean, hello, they have “cookie dough” flavor, how much more could a sweet toothed girl want? Keep them stocked so you’ll know where to run when that desire kicks in.

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Twitter Chat Fun

Balance Bar and Sharon Richter will be hosting a live, one-hour Twitter party focused on Spring Cleaning on Thursday, March 20 at 9:00 PM ET.

Joining the Twitter party via the hashtag #SpringIntoBalance will be the most trusted natural products company, J.R. Watkins, and Balance Bar blogger ambassadors, Run Gia Run, The Nutritionist Reviews, and yours truly 🙂.

*Balance Bar and J.R. Watkins products will also be given away to participants using the hashtag throughout the Twitter Party. 

Are you coming?!

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How do you get ready for spring after winter has kept you off your fitness game? What kinds of good nutrition decisions can you make this week get back on track? Are there certain healthy foods or activities you like a lot more in spring/summer more than winter?

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