#fabandfit

[lisasargese]

Thank you @fab_and_fit16 for inspiring me to get back to the gym! You reminded me of the joy that comes with strength, discipline, and precious me-time. I am blessed to call you my friend. ❤❤❤ #womenhelpingwomen #womanwarrior #womenwarriors #fabandfit #fatand fit #bopo #bodypositive #sizediversity #healthateverysize #gymforall #haes #fatfitness #bigmovement #proflisa (at Tone Fitness)

[belladoliva]

What’s your #guiltypleasure ? @godiva #chocolate with a glass of #barolo #redwine divine #foodie #instafood #belgium #darkchocolate #healthyfood #fabandfit #antioxidants #healthyeating #healthyeats #foodlover @belladoliva_by_la_marchesi #DomAmoreDOP mangiare ciao bella! #yummy (at Bella D'Oliva by L.A. Marchesi - Importer of Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

[msdaliah]

Happy Sabbath! I swear my daughter and I look like sisters. the Natural Life! Get you some! #fabandfit #sabbathselfies #msdaliah #foreveryoung

[divalashfx]

#Workout #done #fabandfit what's next on my to do list....I'm on a roll!!! Let's rock this day ladies!!! 👆💋

[workittofreedom-blog-blog]

🎉 Tomorrow is the day!!! Our team is kicking off a 9⃣0⃣ Challenge Group, and it's not too late to be a part of it! 🍎Eating healthy 💪👟Working out ⌚Meeting our goals🎯 #weightloss #workittofreedom #fabandfit #workinitwithchristine #healhyeating #dailygreens #detox #tightenandtone

[brooklynscanvas]

Lunch 👌🍴🍲 #cleaneating #mealprep #mealprepmondays #pspfit #fitness #fitfam #fabandfit

[theprofessionista]

Getting fit with Olympic Coach Jonathan Miller at @CatFitGlobal! #atl #fitness #atlanta #FabAndFit #workout #judo #jujitsu #jiujitsu (at Catalyst Fitness)

[chinafab]

back by popular demand, i give you another tracy anderson 'how to .. look like gwyenth paltrow without long butt' video. this time, i teach you all how to do 'muscular structure' which is the supplement to 'dance cardio.' you're supposed to do both 30 minute videos 6 days a week. key word there is 'supposed' .. 

i am currently on days 70-80 of my 90 day 'metamorphosis' with tracy. i move to the next level once i've done 10 full days of cardio + muscular structure. if i only do one or the other, the day doesn't count. this video is from days 50-60, level 6. it has gotten much harder, i am now doing 'tracy' push-ups, almost 50 of them, and swinging my legs in the air like an actual maniac. i wince in pain. i am yet to do a 'complete' day yet. as you can see, she doesn't sweat, breathe, or make strange faces. i do.

i forgot to mention in my thanksgiving post that i am thankful for tracy. as a very smart elle woods once said, 'endorphins make you happy, and happy people don't kill their husbands.' unfortunately, she doesn't recommend laying on the couch, watching nearly all of season one of the oc, while eating latkes, brie and gluten free vegan magic bars. which is how i spent my sunday. but, since the magic bars were 'clean', nothing else counted ;)  

happy monday, you are welcome. i am happy to embarrass myself in order to entertain you all ! 

[brooklynscanvas]

In a pan lightly coated with olive oil, I've thrown in some peppers and opinions, and crumbled up some vegan burgers, seasoned everything with liquid smoke, a touch of garlic, a little salt and pepper and that's it! Once the veggies are browned to my liking, I'll mix it all together and then it's ready to serve! 😊 Hurry food, I'm hungry!!!! #cleaneating #mealprep #fitness #fitnessblogger #healthy #healthyeating #blogger #fabandfit #bblogger #fashionstudent

[brooklynscanvas]

I used to have to skip on smoothies in the morning because I would be late for work or class, so I decided it was time to both preserve the fruit I was buying and get the day started right with a dose of something natural. So if you're a student, have kids, or are just pressed for time in the morning or during the day, prep and bag premade blends of your favorite fruit and freeze them! Pop them out of the freezer in the morning, add whatever you'd like and blend! #mealprep #cleaneating #fitness #healthyeating #smoothieprep #smoothies #fabandfit #brooklynscanvas

[brooklynscanvas]

Both my parents have suffered from Diabetes for a long time, all of my life really, and today my father will undergo an amputation because of the effects of Diabetes. Sometimes, on this journey to becoming healthier, it's easy to be motivated by vainities, like being a smaller size, having the perfect hips, but it's things like this that are the root of it all. Education is power. It saves lives. It saves limbs. Through all this I see how little the older generations of my family know about nutrition and how foods affect our quality of life. I realize, that if I can't save people like my dad from going through this again, than I have failed. For my Father. For my Mother. For My Family. No matter how hard you fight me, I'll never stop trying. Be strong Daddy. #diabetes #cleaneating #fitness #mealprep #fabandfit

[brooklynscanvas]

I know one thing about myself; I don't like working out with time constraint goals. If I think "I'm gonna go workout for 45 minutes" I'll dread every minute of it. So I say, I'm gonna keep going till I hit {insert number of calories burned}. Today, my goal was 500. I was in the gym for about 50Minutes. At this point, it's not about the amount of time it takes for me to get it done, as long as I get it done. Mission Complete 😊👍 #fabandfit #blogger #fitness #weightloss #brooklynscanvas #fashionblogger #bblogger

[chinafab]

yoga

the above, is a video of the instructor who led my yoga workshop this weekend. i know, holy #%&! skip to the portion about pure yoga to learn more about my experience ..

i know i’ve been spending a lot of time with tracy anderson, but, i need my yoga too.

i’ve been practicing yoga for about 10 years, i think i first went to the bikram studio in norwalk, ct when i was about 16, and since then, it’s become part of my life.

less for the body aspect, more for the mind and spirit components. when i moved to LA in the fall of 2009 (after graduating from college), yoga sort of kept me sane. i was lonely, i was working for the first time and i had total FOMO (fear of missing out) of all my friends in new york.

yoga was an important part of my routine, and classes with rebecca and anthony at city yoga really transformed my practice. in LA, i continued to practice all around the city, and found some favorite classes + teachers: funky friday (a yoga trance dance session) and soulful sunday’s lead by julian walker and vinnie marino’s crazily sweaty ultra-packed flow classes at yoga works on main street. and sometimes i would make it all the way out to silver lake to practice with tony guiliano.

so, i’ve been scouring shanghai for some good yoga. i haven’t found anything i love yet, but two things are promising:

yogaglo - this is a great online resource for yoga, if you’re comfortable practicing alone. i think there is something really nice about the community spirit found in a yoga class, but i no longer need the motivation of a group workout to get out of bed. anyways, this site has an incredible selection of classes from well-known teachers across the country. (obvi the US, not china) so, subscribe for $18 a month, and take a GOOD class whenever you want.

pure yoga - this hong kong based studio is opening reasonably close to my apartment in october. to celebrate, this past weekend they hosted a free yoga workshop in two different spaces in shanghai. they brought a couple from LA, briohny smyth (her insane video featured above) and dice ida klein to lead the workshop, which was focused on arm balances + inversions. (another video with both of them doing acroyoga, they’re nuts .. also, equinox’s marketing is so sexual, but hey, sex sells)

i went friday night, after a sort of stressful day, and it was packed with chinese people. (of course, i should know by now that everything, and i mean literally everything, ever, is packed with chinese people). it’s also a little weird listening to an english class, and also having a translator. but, i got into it and ended up practicing next to and partnering with a local yoga instructor, yuqi. friday was reasonably challenging, and when i woke up saturday, i wasn’t feeling super motivated to do 5 hours of yoga, but, i did, and it was incredible.

the first 2.5 hour session focused on arm balances .. my arms are still bruised from jumping in and out of crow pose so many times. but, for the first time ever, i was able to get into a tripod headstand! and it’s much easier than i thought it was - i was just putting my arms in the wrong place. the afternoon session focused on handstands, something i’ve gotten much better at in the past year or two, but i’m still sort of terrified of doing them away from the wall. after nearly 2 hours of practicing, dice came over and spotted me, and said that i don’t need the wall at all! i was able to hold it for almost 20 seconds !

it was exhausting, but exhilarating. there’s something exciting about yoga milestones. and, asians are really, and i mean, really flexible. at one point as briohny led the class, she said ‘ok, and now you can choose to go into the bind’ and observed the room, and said ‘only in asia would everyone be in the bind’ .. i wonder if the translator picked that one up ? all in all, looking forward to pure’s opening! and i’m looking forward to trying a class at raja yoga with my new friend yuqi.

- - - -

here’s some of the yoga i’ve tried so far in shanghai .. my overall note is that it’s expensive (like $35 for your first class) and a lot of studios want you to buy a membership and don’t let you drop in. since i like to do tracy on the weekdays, i really only want to buy 20 or so classes, so this pricing model doesn’t really work for me. and, i’m a spoiled LA yoga girl. i just don’t think the teachers are that good.

y+ yoga (anfu studio) - i definitely took the wrong class here. i don’t love ashtanga yoga. it so prescriptive, and at the end, it gets really hard, since there are certain poses i just can’t do. i imagine if i were to regularly practice ashtanga i would feel differently, and probably get better. a lot of people like y+, and they have a lot more than ashtanga, and three different studios in shanghai. i loved the hang out areas outside the studio where you could relax and drink a tea and read a magazine. the packages were exorbitantly expensive.

body and soul yoga (jing’an) - studio was really small, and hot, and it wasn’t a hot yoga class. i’ll give them it was probably one of those hundred plus degree days. class wasn’t super challenging, just sweaty. didn’t like the way they pushed the membership multiple times.

red door yoga - this was my favorite of the few, which isn’t really saying much, i thought the flow class was challenging, a little strange to have everyone in a circle on the outside of the room, facing in.

yoga summit (hangzhou) - literally impossible to find, and very little english speaking. the class i took was a workshop / yoga hybrid. an indian teacher speaking in english with a translator speaking to a chinese class. the description of the studio made it seem like there’s an incredible view from the top of this mountain as you practice, i did not notice that.

[brooklynscanvas]

Mixed Greens, Feta, Cranberries, Tomatos, Sunflower Seeds and Chicken; My lunch in class. I know. Be Jealous ☺ #fabandfit #cleaneating #mealprep #blogger #fashionblogger

[chinafab]

tracy anderson update

- i think i am finally learning what tracy means when she says to be 'light on your feet' because my shin splints are going away. 

- i'm on my third tracy dvd and the muscular structure is definitely getting harder. she says its because 'i'm getting good at it.' thanks for the motivation trace! 

- i appreciate that she eases you in. like if i had started with the third workout, i would have been like 'wow, this bitch is cray' but instead i feel like i can almost do it. i am really flailing my arms like a wack job though. 

- i wonder what the downstairs tenants think happens between 7-8 am. a herd of elephants ?

- i don't know how a person could ever do the leg exercises with ankle weights. i want to cry without them. i guess gwyneth really does work hard for her hot bod.  

[chinafab]

fab followers, i know that you have been wondering what on earth i have been doing without soul cycle, equinox, barry’s bootcamp and numerous barre + spx classes in my life.

the answer, is, tracy anderson. since i am now a pro, i will share some of my dance cardio moves. one day soon, i will look like gwyneth. yes, i am wearing a soul cycle shirt. i am simultaneously finding my soul and flapping my arms wildly like a person in a victorian insane asylum having an epileptic fit (see 2:35 for details).

i am aware of the quality of my video, and that i should have filmed it horizontally. perhaps one day soon i will fix it. i hope that even sooner she will invite me to one of her instructor retreats.