Burn calories this summer on the cheap

Summer is officially here! Take advantage of the weather by getting outdoors for your cardio workouts and scorch some calories.

-Tennis. Country clubs, like the Brier Creek Country Club, and Raleigh Parks & Recreation offer tennis lessons in the area. Learn the basics to stay injury free, since the lateral movements and swings can cause knee, back and shoulder injuries. Burn up to 441 calories per hour playing singles (for 160lb person).

-Swimming. Stay cool during the hot, humid weather this summer by swimming. Swimming is a great full-body workout that is easy on the joints. Raleigh public poolsoffer lessons and is a cheap way to stay fit this summer. A 15-visit punch pass is only $36. Burn up to 618 calories per hour (for 160lb person).

-Jogging or hiking. Jogging/hiking is the ultimate free workout. Check out the numerous trails in the triangle, but just make sure you jog/hike in the morning or evenings when the heat advisory is high during the day. And always wear moisture wicking material so you'll stay cool and dry. Burn some major calories at 744 per hour (10 min/mile for 160lb person).

-Jump rope. Bring back this grade school activity and feel your heart rate soar. Choose a light-weight ropethat reaches your arm pit when you step on the middle of the rope. Take rests in-between 30 second -1 minute bouts of jumping until you build up your endurance. And try to avoid jumping on concrete. Jumping for an hour will burn up to 762 calories for 160lb person.

-Cycling: The triangle is home to many cyclists and is a great way to get to know the area. Great for the knees too! Check out NC Bicycle Club or TarWheels to find a group to ride with. If you like mountain biking, check out TriangleMTB. Safety first, though, always wear a helmet, obey traffic laws, use hand signals and lights when biking at dusk or dawn. Burn up to 428 calories per hour at a 10 mph pace for a 160lb person.

Top Mistakes Healthy Women Make

From my experience training women, I find some of the following are the biggest mistakes fit, healthy women make:

1. Only focusing on the short-term. Many women focus on fitting in that wedding dress, pair of jeans or losing weight for an event. It's important to set short-term goals, but the long term lifestyle change is much more important. Once the event is over, motivation wanes. Priority number one is to be fit the rest of our lives. It helps prevent disease and improves quality of life. So don't forget to set long-term goals, like staying off blood pressure medication.

2. Not listening. Be open-minded. Leave all preconceived ideas at the door. When your doctor, trainer or dietitian shares information with you, it's always in your best interest. We're not "selling" you on anything. We are here to help you. So no quick-fixes. No fad diets. Just real-life ways to improve your health and to live longer. Take it and make it part of your life. 

3. Being a cardio queen. Cardio is just one component of fitness. We also need strength-training and flexibility. The combination of all three help us be as healthy as possible. Strength-training is vital for women. It helps prevent osteoporosis as we get older. It's the only way to shape our bodies how we want. And as a bonus, it makes us feel strong and improves our self-esteem. 

Flexibility is necessary to stay limber and prevent injuries. Always stretch at the end of your workouts when your body is warmest. And try yoga, it's going to help you become more flexible, balanced and less stressed in life.

4. Afraid of getting "big". Piggy-backing on the above mistake, many women use wimpy weights while strength-training because they are afraid of getting big, body-builder muscles. Fact: women do not have enough testosterone to get "big". In order to tone, we need to build muscles. Lifting challenging weights will do that and improve our metabolism in the process. 

5. Avoiding complex carbs. Thanks to fad low-carb diets, women are afraid of bread, rice and pasta. While you should stay away from refined carbs (aka white versions), our bodies need about 50-60% of our daily intake from carbs. We need the fuel from complex carbs to power through the day and our workouts. Be smart, choose whole-wheat breads and pastas, brown rice and old-fashioned oatmeal. Your body needs the nutrients from these foods, so eat up.

Food obsession

I'm obsessed with food. It wasn't always like this. Trust me, I think about all the time. Food is an amazing thing. It repairs & heals the body. I didn't always have this frame of mind.

I used to think I could eat whatever I wanted, and I could. Playing basketball throughout high school allowed me to eat a whole bag of BBQ potato chips dipped in sour cream without gaining an ounce. More colby cheese & saltines, please! How about a whole carton of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream? Bring it on. Needless to say, I didn't give nutrition much thought.

Enter college. Ordering pizza & breadsticks several days a week was the norm. All-you-can eat bagels & cereal from the cafeteria was my dream. Still no weight gain. I continued to workout, play basketball & row on the crew team. Age was in my favor and it was great! Until my last couple years of college. I wasn't playing any sports, but continued to workout. Alcohol & highly processed foods (pizza rolls, anyone?) started to take a toll. But these Twizzlers are fat-free! I don't know why I'm gaining weight??

After college, a desk job & twenty pounds later, I continued on my fat-free thinking. And the pounds kept packing on until I wised up I was eating too many calories. It's all about the calories, stupid!

The weight started to come off after I developed the habit of keeping a food journal (and continue to do so). But I still wasn't eating enough wholesome foods, like fruits & vegetables. I cut calories, but was still eating Special K bars, Jello (with artificial sweetener), high-sugar cereal & 100 calorie snack packs. My body was not getting the nutrients it needed. And my energy level wasn't what it needed to be. Needless to say my workouts took a dive, too.

I finally met with a "whole-food" chef. She really opened my eyes. Fruits, vegetables & whole grains. Pretty simple, eh? If it comes from a box, you probably shouldn't be eating it. This is the my mantra now. My obsession with food and how it can transform your body continues to grow with every article & study I read. It's really quite amazing what is in kale or blueberries. And how it can nourish your body and improve how you feel. The single best thing you can do to improve you diet (and your life) is eat more fruits & vegetables. I know it's hard to get the amount you need every day. I think I'm getting about 6-7 servings on most days. And we're not talking about weekends. So I've decided to add to my diet the next best thing, Juice Plus+. It's reassurance for me on those not so great days, I'm getting what my body craves & needs. And you know if it wasn't whole-food, I wouldn't be taking it. Period. I don't even take protein shakes because most have synthetic preservatives.

I wanted to share my story in hopes that if you're struggling a bit with your diet, be patient. Try to do something every day to improve it. Small changes add up. It's a journey and not a short one. You're trying to change habits you've had your entire life. But if you need a little help, please let me know. I'm always here (unless I'm at the beach). :-)

A little bit about me...

For almost 8 years, I was in the uninspiring advertising profession as a graphic designer. I told myself if I don't do this now, I never will. So I dug deep, pushed down those feelings of fear and went for my true calling as a personal trainer. I should have known back in my little league days as a first basegirl, I would end up doing something I am passionate about, fitness.

Being active has been a life-long pursuit of mine. Coming from a rural West Virginia town, there was not much to do. Playing basketball is where my passion for fitness and health began. It all started with a dream to play basketball for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. That scholarship did not quite work out. But along the way, I trained hard, but realized I was not training smart. I learned how to push myself. Out of that came confidence and strength I did not know I had, which is the number one reason I love working out. I have total control over what my mind and body can accomplish in any given workout. My sports career did not end up too badly. I did play collegiate basketball and rowed on the crew team. I won a few medals. And I even considered getting a degree as an athletic trainer, but my creative calling was too much to ignore, and I ended up with a degree in Fine Arts. Funny how things turn out.

So now I am back to my true calling. Even with this little detour, I have never left my love and continued to strength train, run, jog, walk, bike and work up a sweat on the elliptical machine. With yoga, I have stretched parts of my body never been stretched before. Along the way I have gone from, "I can eat anything because I exercise" to "Nutrition is 80% of the battle". Tweaking, adjusting and learning from my training experiences has been exciting and never ending. Now I have the opportunity to help others find their true healthy and happy self through exercise. Fitness is my way of life and I have a true passion for it. I think there is no better way to help people than by lifting their health, well-being and quality of life. And having fitness become their way of life, too.

Lift your mind. Lift your body. Lift your life. Just lift.