I have been offering my 4-Week Slim & Strong program for 7 years now. Every month new participants sign up who want to lose fat, get lean and get into great shape. Some make incredible changes in a month and drop 10 pounds or more. They change their outlook on food, how they feel in their body, learn the most effective way to work out to see changes fast. They learn everything they can during that month. They ask questions about nutrition and exercise and ask for guidance when they’re challenged. They make full use of the program and work it and rock the results.

However, there are also always people who sign up and work only part of the program. They may come to all 12 workouts, but not change their diet because they think it’s all about how many calories you burn (it’s not…). They may go on a diet and restrict themselves, without learning anything about their body in the progress and after 4 weeks go back to their old habits. They may go so extreme that they end up unable to maintain any of it because changing your entire life is unrealistic. They think that a 4-week program will solve all their body issues.

Then there are those that start with amazing intentions, show up to every workout for the first week, then miss one and decide with their all-or-nothing attitude that they might as well miss the rest too because they weren’t ‘perfect’ in their attendance. Their black-or-white mindset can’t be flexible and adapt to what life throws at them. There are all kinds in Slim & Strong and as a Fitness, Nutrition & Motivation Coach it is my goal to help everyone fill in the missing bits and pieces to help them understand the full picture.

What’s the full picture? Fitness is a lifestyle, not a 4-week effort. Fitness is a mindset where you recognize what your body needs way beyond the 4 weeks. Once you understand what type of workout is ideal for your metabolism, what foods speed up your metabolism and which create fat storage and disease, how food affects you emotionally and how to tackle life’s challenges you have won. The Slim & Strong program supplies all that, but it is up to the participant to take advantage. When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Here’s to a new month of Slim & Strong. If you want to lose body fat, get lean and fit, learn what’s best for your unique metabolism and how to handle the typical challenges that derail progress, this is your program. Let’s create a body you can keep for the rest of your life, a mindset that helps you stay in shape, and a nutrition approach to fuel your body and health.

Here’s the scoop:

Slim & Strong

March 7-April 1, 2016

The 4-Week Slim & Strong Challenge is a fat loss program not for the uncommitted. It’s designed to help you drop significant body fat, gain lean muscle, lose at least 10 lbs, and kickstart your metabolism. This program is designed for everyone who has been dieting without lasting results, has a slowed-down or damaged metabolism and wants to get out of diet prison.

Compete to win $250 for dropping the most weight and body fat.
What do you get?

• 3x weekly workouts (15 max)
• Before & After Measurements and Pictures
• Daily emails with nutrition, workout education and motivation
• A customized fat loss nutrition plan
• A Nutrition Workshop that teaches you how fat loss works – forget everything you’ve ever read in a diet book
• Goodie bag with tank top, resistance bands and my favorite fat loss snacks
• A team mate to hold you accountable

You can attend boot camp classes at the following locations:

• Complete Body & Spa, 301 E. 57th Street (2nd Ave)

Mo, Wed, Fri 6.30am

• Stepping Out Studios, 37 W. 26th Street (6th Ave)

Mo, Tue, Thu 6.30pm. Sat 10am

Your motivation:

• You want to feel and look your best by Summer!

• You want to stop struggling with food

• You want to learn what really works for your metabolism

• Win $250 for losing the most body fat % and % of body weight

How to join:

• Sign up by March 6th, 2016
• Get your ‘before’ weigh-in and measurements before your first class
• Get your ‘after’ weigh-in and measurements done at your last class

Price: $299

See you on Monday! Sign up here. 

Every time I post a picture of my kale cakes on Facebook or Instagram, I get recipe requests. So, let me tell you a bit more about this magical cake that you can have and eat, too: I discovered these about 4 years ago on one of my weekend trips to Woodstock. There’s a store called “Sunfrost” that sells organic produce and they have a juice/breakfast bar with delicious dishes. That’s where I had my first kale cake. They are pretty much the perfect veggie dish because you can have them for breakfast with your eggs, or as side dish for lunch or dinner with your protein. Or, you can just eat them as a snack.

Here it goes:

INGREDIENTS

1 lb kale(lightly steamed and then chopped finely)

2 onions (chopped finely)
3 garlic cloves (chopped finely)
6 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup corn (can be the frozen kind you defrosted or fresh)
Flour (I use whole wheat or almond flour – just a dusting to make it stick together a bit)
pepper and salt
olive oil or coconut oil

Step 1: Steam the kale in a steamer for a few minutes. You want the leaves to still be crisp. It’s just right when the leaves get that bright green color. Chop it fine.

Step 2: Stir-fry the chopped onions and garlic in a pan and then add the corn to it to lightly brown everything.

Step 3: Combine the kale, onions, and corn in a big bowl and then add the beaten eggs, along with your seasoning and flour. Mix it all together with your hands and let it all cool down to room temperature.

Step 4: Heat coconut or olive oil in a big frying pan. Form burger-shaped patties with the veggies and then sit them in the pan and flatten them with a spatula. That way the egg mixture can evenly distribute and glue it all together. Cook both sides until golden brown.

Serve them warm or cold. I have a total addiction to these.

April 2-9 2016

Join Ariane Hundt of Brooklyn Bridge Boot Camp and Stefanie DiLibero of Gotham Wellness for a magical week of fun, fitness, yoga & adventures in Belize!

Enjoy boot camp classes surrounded by toucans & hummingbirds. Practice yoga by candlelight as the sun sets behind the mountains & the sea.  Enjoy organic farm to table meals with a Caribbean flair. Snorkel, dive or sea kayak in the world’s second largest coral reef system. Ride horses through lush jungle, explore caves filled with Mayan pottery, float under waterfalls. Swim in the ocean or a spring-fed swimming pool. Hike Mayan ruins, canoe or tube through caves and rivers. Indulge in spa treatments & dance to live Garifuna drumming. Journey to Guatemala for a day & discover the ancient city of Tikal.

YOUR FITNESS ADVENTURE INCLUDES:

• 7 nights accommodations (4 in jungle eco-lodge; 3 in beachfront resort with spa)
• 7 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 4 dinners
• Daily boot camp fitness classes
• Daily relaxing yoga classes
• 2 onsite jungle adventures of your choice
• Unlimited use of sea kayaks, snorkel equipment, bikes, & lounge chairs at the beach
• Fat Burning Nutrition workshop with Ariane
• Goal setting workshop
• Vision Board Creating Night
• Daily meditation, relaxation and stretching
• Acupuncture Happy Hour with Stefanie
• All in-country transportation (BZE-jungle-beach-BZE)

ABOUT YOUR ACCOMMODATIONS:

April 2-6  Cayo District, Belize (Jungle)

 Your first four nights will be spent in a remote & highly rated ecolodge nestled between the Mayan mountains and the Macal River. All meals are organic, farm-to-table, and included. Dinners are a 4-course, candlelit affair. Boot camp classes will be held outdoors in rugged terrain, yoga classes in an open-air riverside palapa. There are hiking trails, horses, over 280 species of birds, nearby caves, waterfalls, and Mayan ruins. For swimming, there is a spring-fed swimming pool, and a sandy beach by the river.

There are a variety of adventure activities available onsite.  Of these onsite activities (guided river canoeing, river tubing, guided hiking, guided night hiking, guided birding) two are included. Additional on-site activities, and off site activities are available for an additional fee (examples: Tikal, horseback riding, waterfall hikes, caving, Mayan ruins).

Each cabin has one, two or three beds. The rooms with three beds are slightly larger than the rooms with one or two beds.  All cabins have modern bathrooms, ceiling fans and hammocks.

• If you book “Single Jungle” you will have your own cabin.
• If you book “Double Jungle” you will share your cabin with one other person & will have your own bed.
• If you book “Triple Jungle” you will share your cabin with two other people & have your own bed.

Diet: If you have any special dietary requirements, please let us know at the time of booking

April 7-9, Hopkins, Belize (Beach)

Our last three nights will be spent at a small Caribbean resort hotel on the longest & finest stretch of beach in the country, one mile from the small fishing village of Hopkins, considered to be the center of Garifuna culture in Belize.

Relax in two fresh water swimming pools, a whirlpool, or the onsite spa & restaurant. Enjoy unlimited & complimentary use of kayaks, bicycles, snorkel equipment, beach volleyball, lounge chairs & hammocks. Bike into town to explore local culture. Off-site excursions & spa treatments are available for an additional fee (examples: reef diving, bio-luminescence tour, hot stone massage).

Daily buffet breakfast at the restaurant is included (eggs, fruit, baked goods, juice, coffee). Lunch and dinner can be had at the onsite restaurant for $10-20 or in town for cheaper. You can dine with the group or go off on your own if you prefer. There will be complimentary live drumming and dancing after dinner one night.

There are two different types of accommodations: cabanas and two bedroom suites. All accommodation types have a/c, ceiling fans, safes, mini-fridges, internet, TV, hair dryers, beach towels, purified water dispensers, and coffee maker

Cabanas are spacious, bright and airy with vaulted ceilings and tiled floors.

• If you select “Beach Single Cabana”, you will stay in your own cabana with your own bed and private bathroom. Nothing will be shared.

Two bedrooms suites contain two bedrooms and two bathrooms. One bedroom has one queen bed and a private bathroom; the other bedroom has two twin beds and a private bathroom. The living area and kitchenette is shared between both rooms. Two-bedroom suites are over 1,000 sq ft & have large living areas & kitchenettes, and balconies or patios.

• If you select “Beach Single Suite” you will have your own private bedroom & private bathroom, sleep on queen bed, & share common areas with two others.
• If you select “Beach Double Suite” you will share a bedroom & bathroom with one other person, sleep in a twin bed, and share the common areas with one additional person.

REGISTER NOW & SAVE

Early bird rates available until February 15, 2016

If you come on your own, we are happy to pair you up with another single participant.

How to determine pricing: Choose what jungle room you want and then select your beach accommodation choice. The corresponding rate is listed in the 3rd column.

In order to secure your spot and guarantee early bird rates, a non-refundable $400 deposit is due by February 15, 2016. Payment in full is due February 16, 2016.

Once you’ve put down your deposit, please contact Stefanie DiLibero of Boston Integrative Wellness at stefanie@gothamwellness.com to secure your room options.

TRANSPORTATIONS & FLIGHTS:

Please fly into Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport (BZE airport code). Make sure your flight is scheduled to arrive in Belize before 3:30pm on Sunday, April 19, 2015 in order to make one of our shuttles. You will bel picked  at the (tiny!) airport and be transferred with other participants to our jungle ecolodge. In order to return with our group shuttle to BZE from Hopkins, your flight must depart after 11am.

If it is not possible to find flights at such times, we can suggest convenient accommodations that suit your budget and also help you arrange private transportation with a van or taxi to and from the airport.  We will send more info about the shuttles once everyone’s flight arrangements have been made.

TRAVEL INSURANCE & RELEASE FORM:

You are required to carry emergency medical evacuation travel insurance, valid during the retreat’s duration, in order to attend this retreat.  Please make sure you are aware of your carrier’s coverage and policies. Purchase a policy that includes emergency medical evacuation, flight cancellation/delay, international medical coverage, and trip cancellation, at minimum. You are also required to sign a release form prior to your departure from your country of origin. Failure to do so will result in the inability to participate on the retreat, and no refunds will be given.

Sample Schedule: 

7am:  Jungle Boot Camp
8-9am:  Farm-fresh Breakfast
9-12: Adventure or leisure. Tubing, caving, horseback riding, hiking, canoeing, Mayan ruins, swimming pool, waterfalls, hammock, reading, napping,

12-1pm: Organic Lunch
1-2pm: Fat Burning Nutrition Workshop
2-4pm: Acupuncture Happy Hour
5pm: Yoga
7pm: 4 course organic farm to table dinner by candlelight
Optional night hike or workshops

By placing your $400 deposit with us, you are agreeing to this policy:

If cancellation takes place more than 50 days prior to your departure date, any payments made, will be refunded minus your deposit. If cancellation takes place between 20-50 days prior to your departure, 50% of the trip price will be forfeited. If cancellation takes place less than 20 days prior to your departure date, 100% of the trip price will be forfeited. All prices are per/person and include a non-refundable deposit.  Final payments for full fee are due on February 15, 2016.

SIGN ME UP!

Protein bars are a great way to get a snack in when on the run or right after a workout when you can’t eat a meal. The market is loaded with bars and it’s hard for the average consumer to figure out which one to use for your goals and which ingredients to look for.

I discovered OATMEGA bars at last year’s Triathlon expo in New York. I was immediately taken by the unique ingredient: omega-3 fatty acids, which I only get by eating fatty fish or by taking my fish oil supplement. This fatty acid is so important to prevent inflammation, help with fat burning and gives you glowing skin, hair and nails. I had never seen it in a bar and after sampling it, I was hooked. So much so, that I included it as one of the Top 5 Best Nutrition Bars in the Well & Good Nutrition Bar Review. 

Each bar has

• about 15 g of protein (ideal right after a workout or to fill up),
• less than 10g of fat and
• about 7 grams of fiber, which is sure to fill you up.
• Plus, no more than 5g of sugar, which is hard to find

Additionally, the ingredients are organic, they are sweetened with Luo Han Fruit Extract, which is an Asian fruit that does not impact your blood sugar. The protein is sourced from grass-fed cows. Why is that important? You’re getting higher quality, more CLA (a fatty acid linked to leaner physiques), and no hormones. All bars are soy-free, not-genetically modified, and gluten free, so what more do you want?

I also love the company’s mission to contribute and give back.

Are you ready to try them? Join me tomorrow, Saturday, January 23rd at 10am for my Body Burn class and walk home with two samples.
Sign up here. See you at Stepping Out Studios, 37 W. 26th Street (Bway & 6th Ave)

If you’re a fan, order your own box of 12 at 50% off. That’s only $1 per bar!

Shop here and enter code BBBC50

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Ariane

Clinical Nutritionist, Fitness Expert

www.brooklynbridgebootcamp.com

Andres joined my Slim & Strong Metabolism program in November. He emailed me and said he needed to get his butt kicked hard because he was super out of shape. I promised him I’d do that for him (of course, it’s my job

Andres started coming to 3 Body Burn classes a week and worked hard to get stronger push ups, hold his planks longer, keep up with the cardio moves and plyometrics. At the end of the month he was a bit disappointed by his results. He had lost 2 lbs, but had gained a ton of stamina and strength. I suggested he’d clean up his diet more to see more fat loss as 80% of fat loss is the result of clean eating, not exercise alone. He was ready to work with me on his nutrition and sent me his food diary. It included granola, orange juice and milk for breakfast. Sure enough, that alone would make him hungrier the rest of the day and prevent his energy from being balanced. I suggested he switch to eggs, omelettes, egg sandwiches for breakfast, but Andres said he didn’t have time for that. I convinced him that getting up 5 or 10 minutes earlier to devote the time to eating a proper breakfast would pay off later on in the day. Not only would the 5 or 10 minutes of lost sleep pay off later on in the day with much better energy, but he’d also be a heck of a lot more productive if he ate better meals that gave him energy, instead of leaving him drained. He then decided to put the breakfast changes into action and sure enough, he was less hungry later on in the day, was able to stay up later without crashing and got more stuff done. Noticing the changes of just one meal made him excited about changing his lunch and dinner as well and sure enough it paid off.

The results of the December session were amazing. He lost 17 lbs in those 4 weeks and that during the most challenging time of the year – with holiday parties going on, booze and cookies everywhere! After the December session ended we discussed strategy for the weeks we were on break. He committed to continuing to work out in the gym with a routine I sent out and to keep an eye on his carb intake. When Andres returned this week, the whole class did a double take – 24 lbs lighter and his shirts are now just hanging off him.

I asked Andres to write down the exact changes he implemented. Here it goes:

“This is a list of the changes I made:

Breakfast: I used to eat granola with milk and drink orange juice. Now I eat eggs with onions and tomatoes and sometimes a bit of mozzarella and whole wheat toast and tea.

Lunch: Instead of a wrap or sandwich, I became the salad expert. I usually add fish or turkey if I’m very hungry.

Snack and dessert: Greek yogurt with almonds, blueberries and blackberries

Dinner: Salad with fish or chicken. I eat out a lot and usually order fish with veggies.

I cut out all desserts and sweets. When I’m drinking with friends I try to stay with red wine.

Workouts: I stayed super active: 3 Body Burn classes a week with Ariane, biking and weights when possible. It goes without saying that I feel amazing with lots of energy and stamina.

And that’s it! Nice and easy! Maybe not that easy, but the mindset change that made the biggest difference was to stop ritualizing all eating moments. Before, my salad consumption was minimal to never and I realize that was one of the biggest changes. I used to tease Ariane that Green would be my middle name. Now it is.”

Andres made a few changes, but he made them consistently and he knew why he was making them. There was no guessing what would work. There was no trial and error. We pinpointed exactly what had to change and it paid off immediately. Congrats Andres! Rock on!