Take a Bike!

image via Bowery Hotel

I wrote about biking earlier last week, everybody is doing it including Ms. Beyonce, so it's only expected that the travel industry is listening.

Imagine, how fun would it be to ride your bike around vibrant New York City or beautiful San Diego! One of my favorite New York hotels, The Bowery Hotel is providing a fleet of complimentary gorgeous bicycles for their guests to take out. They even come with cute baskets to put your newly acquired purchases in, and because it is NYC, the lovely fire engine red bicycles come with locks and helmets.

Also on the list are Liberty Hotel in Boston, Occidental Hotel in San Diego, and Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. See, working out during your vacation can be a lot of fun, you just have to take advantage of the right elements!

Get Fit!

Image via papertissue

Happy Friday! Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead, enjoy the weekly roundup from our blog, things you might have missed during the week.

It's warm and sunny outside! Take the bike out and go for a ride like Beyonce.

pushups on grass, motivation, and volunteer vacation, fun items from the web.

Circle of Red is a fantastic branch of the American Heart Association.

Isn't it time to follow your bliss? They think so.

Berries are good for you. No arguments there.

Are you on Twitter? Follow us.

Wishing you a healthy weekend filled with fun, sun, and play...

Berry Good

photo by mit el soleil, via cup of jo

More good news for berry-lover. At the 2009 Berry Health Benefits Symposium, more than 20 acclaimed researchers presented their latest studies. The result? Well, consumption of colorful berries such as blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries leads to a longer and healthier life.

Berry properties like antioxidants, anthocyanins, elagitannins and polyphenols play a vital role in fighting health-related issues such as brain aging, cancer, cardiovascular disease and metabolism.

This morning, for a yummy and healthy breakfast, throw some in the blender and make a smoothie or better yet, personalized your cereal sundae with them! What a lovely way to start your morning.

Following Your Bliss

image 1, 2 via. papertissue

Everybody is in search of one singular thing. Everything that we do has one end goal, which is to make ourselves happy. Well, London based TopTips.com is campaigning for happiness by twittering daily acts of happiness. The goal of the campaign is to remind us to have a good time and enjoy ourselves. TopTips.com is also asking you to send in your own daily acts of happiness, and the selected ones will win prizes. Best of all, the campaign is used to fund cancer research in the U.K.

As Joseph Campbell said... "Folow your bliss." Check out TopTips.com and support their effort in spreading the Happiness!

This Heart of Yours

I've mentioned Circle of Red and Go Red for Women a lot in this blog and I'd like to briefly talk about what it is and why they are important. Heart disease is a leading cause of death for women and Go Red for Women is a national campaign to raise awareness as well as inspire women to take charge of their own heart health.

Circle of Red is a group of women who have the resources and influence to significantly impact the community by providing personal commitment to help find a cure of heart disease through funding research grants, education, and community outreach programs among other things.

Both are parts of the American Heart Association, a non-profit that is very dear to me, they offer programs that makes a difference in people's lives and is very dedicated to get one step closer to a cure.

We'd like to get more women (and the people who loves them) to get involved in this wonderful cause, please contact me if you'd like additional information at angela (at) tntgetfit.com.

Happy Monday

Image via PaperTissue

Good morning! Some interesting things from all over the web to help you jumpstart your morning!

Get outside and practice your pushups on the grass.

Motivation, does it matter? maybe not.

This year, spend your vacation doing good for others.

Get Outside!

photo by theboldbanana, via etsy

One of the best part of the summer is that the warm weather makes it possible to do plenty of outdoor activities. Wouldn't it be nice to dust off the old bike you have stashed in the corner of the garage and go out for a spin? PLUS, if the ms. diva, Beyonce, herself can put on a pair of sneakers and go for a bike ride and enjoy herself - I'm sure, we all can do the same.

Get Fit!

photo 1. moaan

Happy Friday! Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead, enjoy the weekly round-up from our TNT blog! Taking a day break from the laptop and will be back first thing Sunday morning.

Two lovely new girls on the team. Say hello to Jodi and Kim.

Raw food in NYC? New Monday morning blog feature.

My notes from the Take Five! event, check it out.

Calorie-free snack, breathe in your chocolate, kids!

Erika's clients, Donna Winters - June's client of the month!

Who doesn't love breakfast?

Enjoy your day. :)

Good Morning, Sunshine!

I'm a big fan of breakfasts. There's no better way to start the day than a yummy, well-balanced breakfast, imagine my delight when I came across this article in Real Simple magazine about 9 Fast Healthy Breakfast Ideas. Apropos, no?

This one in particular sounds nothing short of delightful, easy to make, and most importantly - portable! Cereal "Sundae," amazing!

Client of the Month: Donna Winter

Every month, I ask my Health Educators to nominate a stand-out clients for us to recognize. For June, we've picked Donna Winter, who was nominated by her Health Educator Erika Spann.

Erika nominated Donna for her hard work and determination. Despite a number of physical challenges, Donna works hard, exercise as much as she can, and faithfully follows her eating plan, resulting in a steady and fast weight-loss. "The fastest out of all of my clients!" Erika noted.

Donna lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband Charles. Her goal for 2009 is to be healthy and to meet her goal weight, she pointed her mother as her hero - who was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago - and at 79 is eating healthy and walking 3 miles/week.

Donna credits Erika for providing her with the tools and knowledge to continue her new healthy lifestyle.

Congratulations, Donna!

Breath in the Fresh... Chocolate?

Le Whif, tres chic! Have you heard of the newest way of eating chocolate, sorry, not eating, breathing! It's chocolate without the calories.

Le Whif is the brainchild of David Edwards, a professor at Harvard University, he said, "Over the centuries we've been eating smaller and smaller quantities at shorter and shorter intervals. It seemed to us that eating was tending toward breathing, so, with a mix of culinary art and aerosol science, we've helped move eating habits to their logical conclusion. We call it whiffing."

Still confused? Well, think about it as an inhaler that delivers chocolate in a breathable form, and they even provide detailed instructions on how to whif correctly.

Take Five!

Take Five event was so much fun! And as promised, here's how to make Take Five! works for you. I've also included some meal suggestions, enjoy.

1. Set realistic and measurable goals. Change takes time

2. Eat small, healthy meals/snacks throughout the day. Apply the 3-4 hour rule. Choose foods with a combination of lean protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats per each meal/snack

• Breakfast: Serving of Kashi cereal (high fiber) with skim milk and cashews
• Lunch: Turkey sandwich with whole grain bread, tossed salad with light olive oil and balsamic vinegar for salad dressing on the side
• Dinner: Grilled fish or chicken with small sweet potato. Steamed vegetables with slivered almonds on top
• Snacks: handful of nuts, low fat yogurt with granola on top or 1 tsp of all natural peanut butter on an apple

3. Watch out for Portion Distortion. Did you know Americans tend to underestimate what they eat by 50% primarily because they don’t understand serving sizes?

• Example: a regular bagel is 2 ounces but bagels served at restaurants are 4-5 ounces. These extra ‘unknown’ calories add up in the day
• Note: be careful not to under estimate your calories due to over estimating your exercise

4. Limit your sugar intake to 10% per day

• Example: if you consume 2000 calories a day. Keep simple sugars down to 200 calories a day. This can be found in just 3 ounces of m & m’s. This can also have a huge effect on your energy level

5. Seek a support system

• This can be found via friends, family members, co-workers or even by seeking help from a professionals. Studies show that to make a positive life style change and to maintain it –support is key

6. Bonus Point -Stay active

• Individuals who exercise regularly are less likely to develop heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoporosis and certain forms of cancer. Regular physical activity helps control weight and builds and maintains healthy bones, as well as promotes physical well being.
• According to the American Heart Association for every 1 hour of exercise you add 2 hours of life expectancy.

Have a Great Week!

Thinking about joining a gym? Do you know the right questions to ask?

The official presidency candy and snack! (hint: it's a fruit!)

Delicious raw/vegan restaurant in NYC's Tribeca neighborhood.

Putting twitter to work for your body, the ultimate food diary.

Supermodel Karolina Kurkova's beach snacks.

Gear up for the weekend and reward yourself with a day-cation...

Enjoy and wishing you all a wonderful and healthy week!

New Gals!

We're welcoming two new additions to the TNT team! Kim and Jodi are the new Heath Educator for the Lake Norman and University are locations, respectively.

Kim is a New York native who spent her college and post college years deeply immersed in the soccer world, playing for the Wingate University in 1997 and eventually becoming a trainer for Charlotte Eagles. With background in athletic training and exercise physiology, Kim opened Balance Fitness Studio in Feb '02 focusing primarily on sports performance, rehabilitation, and weight management.




Jodi's background in holistic nutrition allows her to consider a client's environment, emotions, values, when helping them with their health and nutrition. Jodi is a published author and enjoys writing health/nutrition pieces, she'll be contributing regularly on the TNT monthly newsletter. In the process of earning her PhD in holistic nutrition, Jodi also coaches the varsity cheerleading squad at Cannon School in Charlotte.




To learn more about Kim and Jodi's qualifications, and to read Jodi's latest article on Benefits of Weight Loss for Diabetics, check out our monthly newsletter!

Circle of Red

On July 15th, I'll be co-hosting the Heart Healthy Lunch with Sonya Barnes from Harris Barnes Image Consultants. Sonya will be speaking about how to look and feel good at any size and I'll be speaking about nutrition and fitness.

Sonya specializes in personal and corporate image consulting, she teaches you on how to best project a winning and polished at all times! We're working with American Heart Association (Charlotte Chapter) to put together this event, so please save the date and plan to stop by.

I'll be posting more details on the location and additional info as we receive them!

Run for Peace & Splash Bash

I'm a firm believer in community-supported events. I always encourage our staff and Health Educators to support their communities whenever possible. That's why, I was excited when Sara (from TNT Pineville) told me about the 5K Run for Peace at Home at McAlpine Creek Park and the Fort Mill YMCA's Splash Bash.


This past Saturday, TNT was one of the sponsors of this charity race that helps prevent domestic violence and victims of. All proceeds went to United Family Services Domestic Violence programs, which for more than three decades have been supporting battered women in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. There were about 500 runners and tons of supporters in attendance! TNT was thrilled to donate a one time plan as well as a metabolic test as a prize for the race. The race was followed by a charity concert, Rock for Peace at Home that featured local bands.

This Friday (06/05), TNT will be participating in the Fort Mill YMCA's Splash Bash. The goal is to host a day of fun and entertainment for local residents while promoting local businesses and community involvement. The proceeds from tickets will go to the YMCA's Open Door Scholarship fundraising campaign, a acholarship program that help community members who can't afford to have a YMCA membership. This event will be held from 2-5pm at the Fort Mill YMCA's Waterpark. If you're in the area, please stop by and support this event, say hello to Sara, and have a great time!

If you have any questions about upcoming events or if you'd like to chat with Sara and get to know her more, please contact her at sara@tntgetfit.com