Monthly Archives: February 2018

Master of Modification: Adaptive Athlete and CrossFit Sensation Lindsay Hilton

This is a guest post from Carole Klein. She is the manager of social media and content for Unique Fitness Concepts located at their headquarters in Vernon Hills, IL.  She has a B.S. in exercise physiology and is a fitness industry expert with more than 20 years of experience as a competitor and personal trainer. 

It might be tempting to think that being born without arms or legs would pretty much make it impossible to become a fitness inspiration to the entire world. However, that’s exactly what incredible adaptive athlete Lindsay Hilton has done. Hilton first grabbed people’s attention when a video of her working out went positively viral in 2016. Since then, she’s become a CrossFit sensation and a serious inspiration to people all over the world.

She continues to influence athletes and fitness enthusiasts all over the world as she sets (and accomplishes) new goals, and we personally can’t wait to see what she does next. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Lindsay Hilton and her amazing journey as an athlete. We’ll touch on some of her most noteworthy achievements. We’ll go over a few useful lessons we can all learn by watching Lindsay set the fitness world on fire, as well.

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How to Keep Up Your Workout Routine When Traveling (MOTIVATION!)

This doesn’t include one of our notorious hotel workouts. This doesn’t have a ton of exercises and numbers. You won’t find any programming here: No sets, reps, rest, etc. This is strictly motivational and completely intended to help you remember that you can make up as many excuses as you want, but you can also take them away. It is all on you. 

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The Ponte: LA Restaurant Review

When we started this project (Must-Visit Restaurants in LA), we knew there would be challenges depending on our schedules, but we vowed to keep the wheels on the wagon and here we are for our third installment. While we didn’t order our top 40 list, The Ponte definitely would’ve fallen into the top 10. With Food Network celebrity chef Scott Conant behind this high-end Italian restaurant and considering his reputation for pasta mastery, our expectations were high.

But then, we were thrown a curveball. When researching The Ponte, it seemed as if they had a slew of entrees in the $28-32 dollar range, which is in our $$$ range. However, I didn’t consider that my Valentine’s Day reservations might have come with a third wheel on our date: a fixed, four-course meal. Still, as we valeted our car and walked through their enchanting entrance at the back of the restaurant, we decided that our entire focus would be on enjoying this experience.

And. we. did.

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3 Benefits to Drinking Lemon Water

Did you know that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are at least 2 billion people around the world that are exposed to contaminated drinking water? And did you also know that contaminated water causes 800,000 – 1,000,000 deaths around the world? In case you don’t know, contaminated water doesn’t just cause an upset stomach or diarrhea, it can actually cause some serious and fatal diseases such as cholera, dengue, dysentery, typhoid fevers, and polio. And with how much pollution grows every day, coupled with the chemical wastes coming from factories and plantations, it is estimated that by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living with potentially contaminated water. You can just imagine how exposed you and your family will be to the various diseases brought about by contaminated water. If you don’t want to deal with the eventual threat of contaminated water to you and your family, then it would be a great idea to start drinking lemon water today. Lemon water provides a lot of health benefits to our bodies in addition to having the usual nutrients and minerals found in safe drinking water. Here are the top 3 benefits of drinking lemon water that will surely convince you to start practicing the habit.

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Was the Black Panther Even THAT Good?

*WARNING: There are spoilers in this post. This post is intended for people who have already seen Black Panther. If you have yet to see it, we absolutely think this is a must-see as it is a marvel in filmmaking. 

If you follow me on social media, you’d know that we saw the Black Panther later than intended due to a wedding in Mexico this past weekend. I couldn’t help but get even more excited seeing the Pantera Negra posters all over Mexico City, since this film is being hailed as a major opportunity to realize that the inequality in Hollywood should be addressed in a way where action is taken. By the time we walked into the famous Auditorium 7 at Hollywood’s Historic Chinese Theatre, the pot was about to boil. 

black panther

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Meditation All About Love

Happy Valentine’s Day (or: Single Awareness Day)! To speak plainly, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have that special someone in your life. Love is not always about another person, and even when it is, it doesn’t necessarily need to be romantic. You can love your dog, or your friend, or your coworker, or yourself! Love doesn’t even need to be directed towards a being. Love can just be love. It doesn’t need to be cute or mushy or gross. Love at its barest form is pure and unabashed–without flowers or chocolates or obligations. It’s a powerful force that binds the world together (ignore the slight Star Wars reference). Let’s try just taking a moment today to focus on love and find what good it can do for you. Below is a short meditation all about love to get you in the right mindset today.

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There is NO National Pizza Day!

Is anyone else extremely skeptical about all of these new National (Holi)days that have been popping up? Am I the only one who thinks that there were actually four National Donut Days and five National Pizza Days in 2017? Could this all be a huge scheme by major industries to get us to buy more of this and that? Is the illuminati behind all of this?

Seriously though, we’re all about trying to find a way to create balance in your life so that you can eat your pizza and look/feel great, but there are some serious challenges that come with all these days being created. While certain pizza might not be “bad” for you, they aren’t going to be the “best” source of nutrition on any given day. The same goes for donuts, ice cream and every other day that revolves around eating foods that are often considered cheat meals or guilty pleasures.

pizza

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How To Take Care of Yourself

This was originally going to be a “review” of my recent trip to High Five Hand Therapy, but let’s talk about something much more important. I think we’re all really bad, or out of touch, when it comes to recognizing our physical and mental/emotional well-being. There are so many people who try to talk themselves into their condition being worse than it is and there are others who try to convince themselves that something serious isn’t so bad. As a result of our extremism in this realm, we often end up ignoring our issues and failing to deal with them properly. At the end of the day, that lack of awareness turns into negligence and eventually makes our problems worse, often creating even more problems. 

As a professional in this field, this is always on my mind, but it can be hard to communicate with clients since so many people can take it the wrong way. Instead of being reasonable and level-headed, in an effort to create a sound plan to reach a goal, most people take offense to any kind of feedback and in the end, they end up suffering more. We’re all victims of it, to a certain degree, myself included. This was made aware to me, or more aware, during and after my trip to this therapy spot in Garden Grove, CA, which is really far from where we live. Still, since health is an important investment, I decided to take the time and money to go, and I’m glad I did. 

take care of yourself 

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Not-So-Fit Lemon Bars

We are Hungry & Fit…we eat a lot and we work out a lot. We love to embrace the concept called moderation. It’s one of our favorite things. So yeah, you’re allowed a donut here and there as long as you’re not throwing one back every day. I mean, really, you can do whatever you want, but if you are trying to be moderate, be moderate. Don’t kill yourself exercising so that you injure yourself (lookin’ at you, Hungry) and don’t binge every night. To us, life is all about balance and moderation. Add gratitude, and we think it’s the key to a full, happy life. In a way, you can have your cake and eat it too through moderation! Hungry and I chow down but still manage to keep fit. Thus, I present to you the Not-So-Fit Lemon Bars

I based this recipe off of Genius Kitchen’s lemon bars. Even though I wouldn’t call my recipe healthy, I certainly “healthized” (it’s a word, trust me) it up from its original state. This recipe has much less sugar and way more lemon–I prefer a tart dessert over a sweet one. I love lemon bars because of that tartness. It’s that tang that first hits you and then the sweetness melts you over. Mmm! These Not-So-Fit Lemon Bars are very easy to make and are sure to impress. 

lemon bars 3

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