Now, if you have yet to guess, Melissa is a fitness expert, based in New York City, and she knows her stuff. She earned certifications in personal training from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, pre and postnatal, integrated flexibility training, and the TRX system. Melissa also happens to have a degree in nutrition and dietetics, giving her an additional edge.  Currently, Melissa is a top trainer at the exclusive Reebok Sports Club in Manhattan, the fitness coach at Neighborhood Holistic, and partners with Lux Photo Studios in NYC to offer brides fitness and nutrition support.

Plus, she’s a doll! It’s kind of hard not to adore her and literally want to follow her every move in hopes of carving out a body that mimics hers. I, as many other ladies, want her secrets. Hence, I picked Melissa’s brain on some of the top workout “do’s” for women. Check out her responses below. See you in the weight room!

What’s the biggest misconception women have about working out?

That if they lift weights they will bulk up. A pound of muscle burns  more calories than fat while you’re doing absolutely nothing. By hitting the weights, you won’t bulk up. In fact,  you will lean down helping your body work efficiently. Women do not have enough testosterone to bulk up. It takes professional body builders years to build muscle. Muscle also takes up less space, so even though your weight may not change, your clothes will get bigger. Muscle also strengthens bones and connective tissue. Overall, muscle changes your body composition, giving you shape and making you healthier.  But foot note ladies: just because you had a hard workout does not mean you can eat anything you want.

How long does it take to really change your body?

It depends on your goal and peoples’ bodies adapt at different rates. When training for a marathon, 16 weeks can get the job done. When training to lose fat and gain muscle, it could take a little longer, but you can see results after a few weeks, if on a proper nutrition plan!

If you had 30 minutes a day to workout what would you do?

If I only had 30 minutes, I would want to get my heart rate up to challenge myself cardiovascularly,  but also build lean muscle mass. To do this, I would keep my rests between sets very short (10-30 seconds) while hitting every major muscle group.

Example:

• 20 Jump squats
• 15 Pushups
• Repeat, rest 10-30 seconds
• 30 second Plank
• 30 Mountain climbers
• Repeat, rest 10-30 seconds
• 15 Step-ups, each leg
• 15 Chest presses
• Repeat, rest 10-30 seconds
• 15 Lunges, each leg
• 12-15 Rows
• Repeat,  rest 10-30 seconds
• 20 Curls
• 15 Dips
• Repeat, rest 10-30 seconds

What do you find inspires people to keep going?

Good music, a partner, a goal or vision board, knowing other people who have made the same change. Whether your goal is to lose a  significant amount of weight or just complete an iron man, you should seek out someone who has done it and ask them what kept them on track. We all have different motivators (i.e. our children, a photo shoot, lower cholesterol, a wedding), so it’s important to write it down. Set yourself a completion date and make a road map on how to get there. Every day read it and remind yourself why you’re doing this! Sometimes it helps to have a partner to set workout dates with so you stay accountable.

What are most women missing in their fitness regimen?

A proper stretch, including foam rolling that helps increase flexibility while reducing muscle tension.  By slowly rolling on the points of most tension you are correcting or helping soft tissue return to a normal state. In turn, making your muscles work more efficiently getting more out of each exercise. Also, yoga is a great way to tune into your body. Sometimes we are so busy that we neglect the small signs our body could be telling us to slow down. A restorative yoga class that incorporates passive yoga poses to encourage relaxation is something I highly suggest to my clients!  It is like therapy for your insides, giving you the opportunity to really focus on yourself.

Now, what do you need to add to your workout routine?

Find out more about Melissa by visiting Melissa Paris Fitness

Dove's Evolution Campaign

This weekend I received the November issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), allowing me to keep in the know on the latest and greatest nutrition info.  This month’s featured study was, “Does a Health-At-Every-Size Approach Work?” I tweeted a link to this press release earlier in the week, so I was surprisingly thrilled to receive my legit in-my-hands paper copy.

Surprisingly True Tidbits

• 15% of women and 11% of men say they would sacrifice more than 5 years of their lives to be the weight they want; 24% of women and 17 % of men say they would give up more than 3 years, according to a survey by Psychology Today
• 70% of girls ages 8 to 17 believe they are not thin or pretty enough, according to a study commissioned in 2008 by the beauty brand Dove
• A national survey of 1,007 women and men conducted for Fitness magazine by ICR/International Communications, found that over half of them would rather lose their jobs than be overweight, and a significant number of men (17%) and women (11%) said they would give up 20 IQ points to achieve a perfect body

Health Versus Weight

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty

These nuggets of newsworthy data had me thinking … what a conundrum. In a time when  America’s waistbands only continue to expand and the average height and weight of a woman is 5’4’’ and 163 pounds, we rarely see a real woman complete with curves, breasts, and a bum on ads. When  a women sees this lack of real-deal chickadees in media it will make her self-lovin’ plummet (just reread the above facts!) and may even cause her to stop all healthifying efforts because let’s face it–when you feel like you’ll never “get there,” you’re less likely to go all out for it.  But, the question is, what are people trying to achieve: the perfect weight or better health? If women are willing to give years of their lives and IQ points to weigh less, something tells me the focus is on the wrong thing …

So, what happens if you stress HEALTH way more than weight in the effort to get to that lean, mean, green, disease-fighting machine state–would people be more willing to keep up their healthifying ways? Would they feel better about themselves, accepting their bodies more, become slowly but surely HEALTHIFIED and get their self-lovin’ back up? Just look at the women above from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty … they’re not the skinny-minis we’re accustomed to, but these gals look pretty fit, healthy, and gosh darn happy.

With all this floating in my head—I received my handy dandy ADA Journal with guess what?!? Okay—hold onto your seats—an article in-line with my lil’ noggins thoughts AND more importantly, some answers. Altogether now—woo-hoo!

Question–what was the article about?

Answer–the Health-At-Every-Size (HAES) Approach

You ask what is the Health-At-Every-Size (HAES) Approach?

HAES argues that health is related to behaviors independently of body weight status. HEAS approaches do not consider weight loss as the main outcome, but rather focus on a healthful lifestyle by promoting overall health benefits of behavior change related to dietary habits and physical activity, with an emphasis on size acceptance and non-dieting.

I LOVE this approach!

Key “Take Homes” from Does a HAES Approach Work?

• The HAES approach helped women NOT give into their unruly cravings or their surroundings (i.e. eating just because a huge plate of brownies at a BBQ or mounds of Cheetos at a party are right there).
• Plus, the HAES way may help get women to that lean, mean, green, disease fighting-machine state. In the study,  HAES ladies were more likely to shed poundage and keep it off than gals in a weight support group or those not in any weight/wellness program.  P.S These ladies were NEVER prompted to lose weight … their healthified actions caused that lil’ something extra to just come off
• One last note—gal pals in the HAES group were led by an RD (whoop-whoop!) and psychologist!

What Does This Mean?!?

Well—it means to start focusing on HEALTH and not the scale! That number you see when you look down will change slowly overtime (a good thing!) as you increase your healthifying ways (i.e. having an apple instead of a candy bar, checking portion sizes, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, brown-bagging it at lunch, sweating it up–you know this stuff!).

BUT, what will change more quickly is your energy level, self-confidence, mood, ability to hit the hay faster, the fact that you now can run that mile and hey—you’re not winded, and that extra perk you feel when you choose the broccoli as a side instead of mashed potatoes (disregard any looks you may get at the table, you’re on a mission for your health!).

SO, my lovely readers, I have a proposition for you …

Right now—think of 1 thing you want to do to be healthier, not lose weight—just be healthier! Got it? Okay, good. NOW—grab a pen and piece of paper. Oh YES, I am serious. Come on now, go on, yes, that pen on our desk will do just fine and so will that Post-it. Got it? Fabulous!

Now write down:

• One healthifying thing you are going to do
• How often you will do it
• Why you want to do it
• One thing your health allows you to do
• Finally, keep this somewhere you frequent and every time you do YOUR healthifying activity just notice how you FEEL and use this good-for-me feeling to keep you going on YOUR health journey.

And, just in case you’re wondering, YES–EVERYONE has something they can do to feel healthier and better.

Green Grapes Blog (GGB) On a Mission for Health

To wrap it up, I want you to know that GGB is simply devoted to getting readers a lil’ healthier while having some FUN. That is my promise—not radical weight loss through potions, or pills, but through a healthy lifestyle full of healthified ways.  Remember, we’re in this for health, not the perfect body or lowest weight, but health. Don’t ever forget that.

Want to make that healthifying goal right now???

Or, share a HEALTHIFYING tip of your own???

Go ahead & post a comment!