Laura Forte Fitness

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Laura@LauraForteFitness.com

Archives for October 2012

Laura’s HOT Music Playlist!

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Run BETTER with good music! This is my friend Marcie and me during the Gasparilla half marathon last year.

Tell me if you can relate.

I have the same music playlist running for weeks at a time.  At first, it totally pumps me up on a run, or during a hard workout.

But after time, the songs that used to get me really FIRED UP tend to get super boring and I find myself keep hitting “next song”.

There’s nothing better than a really good song to push me through those last few reps or sprint on a HIIT workout!!

So, I thought I’d share a few songs on my current playlist.

In fact, if you have Spotify (a smartphone app – even better than Pandora), you can download my entire playlist for FREE! [Read more…]

7 Healthy Snack Ideas for the Office

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So it’s Friday.. woo hoo!  It is 3:00 and you get off in two hours, but you are STARVING.  You only have a few minutes in between clients, so you run to the vending machine for a quick snack.  What do you see?  Cookies, chips, candy bars.  Nothing with any nutrition.  So what are some ideas for snacks you can bring next week?

Here are 7 snack ideas that you can eat quickly, but that will satisfy your hunger AND give you some nutrition!

1. Apple and Almonds

Bring an apple and 1/4 cup of unsalted, raw almonds.  This will give you lots of energy, healthy fats, and hold you over until dinner time.  Also – it is easy to store in your bag if you don’t have access to a fridge.

2. Hard Boiled Eggs

Hard boiled eggs are a great portable way to get some protein into your mid-afternoon snack. Boil a few on the weekend so you always have one to grab in a hurry. For perfect hard boiled eggs, pop eggs into a muffin tin and bake in the oven at 325 for 30 minutes. [Read more…]

9 Tips to Staying Fit on Vacation!

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Relax.  Unwind.  Refresh.

You are counting down the days for a much anticipated vacation.  You are SO excited for a trip away, getting to see old friends, new places… but one thought pops into your head.  You start to stress about coming back with unwanted pounds.

I have clients all the time tell me they are finally feeling energetic, have a great routine going, and are excited about leaving town for a few days.. but scared about breaking the good thing they have going with their fitness routine.

Here are 9 tips to help you stay the course while on vacation!

 1.      Make a Plan

Know how many days you are leaving and plan your workouts ahead of time!  Know you have a full day of travel?  Make that your rest day.  The day after you don’t start until 9 AM?  That will be a 6 AM cardio day.  Whenever clients leave town, they know exactly what workouts they will be doing and which days.  They when they come back, they jump right back into their routine!

Not motivated to exercise alone?  Look for 5K’s in the city you are traveling to and sign up!  One of our Bay View Boot Camp members, Jaime, is going to Chicago this weekend and while she is there, is already signed up for a 5k! :)  Not a runner, but love golf?  Research the country’s top courses.  Headed to the beach?  Ask around for recommendations on surfing lessons or ocean kayak rentals.  Not only is this a great way to see and do more than the typical vacationer, you are burning calories and staying active.

2.     Be Active Each Day

Some vacation destinations, such as theme parks, museums and large metropolitan cities, require you to be on your feet and walking all day long.  Take advantage of this opportunity to sight-see and get exercise all at once.  If you are going to a more relaxed destination, take walks along the beach, head down to the hotel gym, or sign up for something you’ve never done before.  Many cruises offer classes such as yoga and dancing which are great ways to learn something new while burning some calories.  Make it a family affair and get the kids involved!

[Read more…]

Transformation Tuesday: Valerie

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Valerie started with us back in April of this year during our 21 Day Body Transformation program.  After just a few weeks of eating clean and boot camp 3-4 days per week, we saw a huge transformation in her.  Not only physically with dropping pounds and over 13 inches in the first 3 weeks, but her energy level skyrocketed and she became so much stronger!

I remember along the way her telling me her aches and pains started to go away, and every few weeks she would tell me she felt younger and younger.

I am SO proud of Valerie and the hard work she puts in at 6 AM class.  She brings such a great energy to class and gives 110% in everything she does.

Here is Valerie’s Story as SHE tells it:  [Read more…]

St. Petersburg weight loss

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“As I get older, my metabolism keeps getting slower!!”

“Man – I used to be able to eat anything.. now I can’t even get away with a bite of cake!”

Sound familiar?  As we age, it is crucial to keep our metabolism at a good rate.  The rate of your metabolism depends on the amount of calories you eat, calories burned exercising, and your genetic make-up. Age does seem to cause a slowdown in metabolism.. BUT I have good news!

Regular exercise can thwart this slowdown.

In fact – here are 7 different ways to boost your metabolism.

1. Build Lean Muscle

Lean muscle mass burns more calories than fat while the body is at rest. When you strength train, your body breaks down muscle tissue to repair it even stronger.  This can rev up your metabolism for up to 72 hours.

2. Afterburn Effect

You can actually TORCH calories and spike up your metabolism after an intense metabolic workout.  Here’s how: increase the intensity (try interval training), add weights, and push yourself!  I wrote a blog post JUST on this topic.. you can read it HERE.

3. Interval Training

Interval training, where you mix up high intensity with easy effort moves, stimulates fat-burning in the body. Interval training boosts endurance, burns more calories, and causes you to work harder without spending a lot of time at the high intensity.  A type of interval training that is trending in the top gyms and one of our boot camp favorites is called tabatas.  Here’s how to do it: 20 seconds of exercise (HARD!), 10 seconds of rest, 20 seconds of exercise (HARD!) for 4 minutes.  Give it a try with jump squats! :) [Read more…]

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