Keri Lynn Ford

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See the official Press Release here!
And read our photographers' blog over at Femina Photo + Design!
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Wow, wow, wow. It's hard to believe that the IGFW weekend has already come and gone. It's amazing to meet such an incredible group of women, from literally all over! We had women from New York, New Jersey, California, Illinois, Texas, Pennyslvania, Alabama and Georgia, just to name a few. The weekend was hosted at The Forum Athletic Club in Atlanta, Georgia.

I set out to create an in-person IgniteGirls Fitness Weekend that would bring us all together, and I feel I did just that. There were laughs, hugs, stories, workouts, and yes, even tears. I feel that I truly accomplished what the IGFW was meant to be about. It was intended to educate, inspire, motivate and empower every single woman that walked through those gym doors.

The IgniteGirls endured some brutal workouts both in the Turf Room and the weight room. Saturday included partner workouts where the girls flipped tractor tires, pushed a weighted sleigh and ran sprints. Sunday they survived a 40-minute long circuit-based workout that ended with agility drills and speed work in the turf room.

The turf room at The Forum Athletic Club that was all ours this weekend!

The circuit workout included 10, 1-minute exercises for a total of 4 sets. The girls had no rest until 1 set was completed. If you want to try it for yourself, the workout looked like this:
1. Romanian deadlifts using a 40lb bar
2. Speed squats using 25lb dumbbells (50lb total)
3. Speed squats using 35lb dumbbells (70lb total) 
4. Burpees (option: push up at the bottom)
5. Inverted Pull Ups on bar rack (underhand grip)
6. Walking lunges with arms overhead with 20lb bar
7. Steps ups onto a 24" box
8. Jump squat ladder drills
9. Weighted-plate shoulder rotations
10. Push ups 

Sharing our stories, talking about our challenges, where we are in our fitness journey and where we want the future to take us.Not only did we talk about lack of workout intensity, but also the other end of the spectrum: overtraining. And Registered Dietician, Dana Casendino, shared some of her insights on general nutrition, specific macronutrients and her 5 E's to success. Casey Shipp, WBFF Pro and ISSA Certified Trainer, came by to tell us how she became involved in fitness and about her journey. She also demonstrated proper lifting technique for exercises such as squats, romanian deadlifts and single-arm rows. It was a great weekend filled with a lot of material and information.

Fitness Pro Casey Shipp demonstrating proper squatting technique. A self-proclaimed "Paula Deen of Fitness", Casey says, "Tits up, ass out!"Here is Coach Casey showing IgniteGirl Marilyn how to do a proper squat.One of our other guest speakers, Chef Tesia Bunton, came to my house later on Saturday to show us how to shop local and create an incredible roasted mushroom, herbed brown rice and rosemary chicken farm-to-table dish. The house smelled delicious when we walked in, and it was fun to watch her cook such a simple, but yummy dish. Chef Tesia also educated us on reading the ingredients on a label, and lost over 50 pounds herself just by exercising more and watching what she eats.

Chef Tesia working her magic in the background with some whole foods cookbooks in the foreground.Chef Tesia explaining how to make an easy, flavorful sauce from lemon juice.IgniteGirl Tanya's collage of the Cooking and Tasting Demo!_________________________________________________________________
See the official Press Release here!
And read our photographers' blog over at Femina Photo + Design!
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After an intense day, everyone went back to the hotel to shower to get ready for our Girls' Night Out at Bonefish Grill for dinner and drinks. The food is always so fresh and tasty there! I ordered a filet mignon with steamed broccoli and a side of chick peas. I also opted for a mango martini that donates $1 to the Ocean Trust. It was delish.

IgniteGirls Courtney, Terry and Jen. They clean up well!

We were also fortunate enough to have amazing raffle prizes and goodie bags filled with our sponsors' products! It was fun to pick out three lucky ladies' names to win products from FizzyFitness, ActivewearUSA, BodyRock Sport and Blender Bottle. In addition to raffle prizes, each girl went home with a goodie bag that was jam-packed with products. They each received a custom FizzyFitness IgniteGirls Fitness Weekend mug, ActivewearUSA discount online promo code, BodyRock Sport discount online promo code, the latest Blender Bottle Sports Mixer and Chef Tesia Bunton surprised us ALL with a homemade rosemary olive oil blend!

This raffle prize included a NUX red/black jacket, BodyRock Sport camoflauge sports bra, zebra socks, GEO Organic Egg White Protein Powder, an ActivewearUSA $25 gift certificate and a red Blender Bottle. This raffle prize included a neon yellow Ignite racerback, zig zag socks, GEO Organic Egg White Protein Powder, NUX black/white leggings, BodyRock Sport velvet satchel, asparagus saver tupperware and a FizzyFitness hand-painted "oh my quad!" burlap pillow.The last raffle prize included a neon yellow Ignite racerback tank, FizzyFitness hand-painted peach inspiration scarf "Train like a beast, look like a beauty", BodyRock Sport floral sports bra, NUX grey leggings, striped socks, GEO Organic Egg White Protein Powder and an orange Blender Bottle.Hand-painted FizzyFitness mugs made just for this event! Cute, right?!I was dying when I walked into my house and saw these on my counter from Chef Tesia. I love them!

For the IgniteGirls that attended the weekend: I am truly blessed to have met each and every one of you. I can't wait to see how your journeys continue, unfold or begin. Stay tuned for more pictures from Femina Photo + Design! And a huge thanks to Tanya and the other IgniteGirls for the above images.

Until we meet again, perhaps in a city near you...
xoxo, Coach K

A collage IgniteGirl Tanya made of IgniteGirls Kyla, herself, Nicole, Noelle, Melissa, Marilyn and me.

IgniteGirls Jen and Terry

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See the official Press Release here!
And read our photographers' blog over at Femina Photo + Design!
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Pat M. in New Jersey asks: "I had my baby almost 10 months ago and got back down to my pre-pregnancy weight (110-115 lbs). I really need to tone up badly... thighs, butt and especially my tummy. I haven't been working out because I am scared to lose more weight. What can I do about it?"

Not knowing what your diet is like, I would suggest eating a little protein with each meal (about .5g of protein per pound of your weight). Some of the best sources of protein will be foods like: egg whites (or Gifted Earth Originals Organic Egg White Protein Powder), chicken, turkey, cottage cheese and greek yogurt. This will maintain the muscle you have (and therefore will maintain your weight) and burn the fat around it, giving that "toned" look without being squishy. And if you are breast feeding, make sure you are also eating enough calories because you can burn anywhere from 200-600 calories per day from producing milk!

Regarding exercise, I have found that some of the best post-pregnancy exercises are lunges, squats, plank variations and lower back hyperextensions. I also love love love using the stability ball or the bosu ball for new mommies because this works in some balance and resistance training using your own body weight (BONUS: you can workout at home!). These moves will help rebuild your core and lower back strength, and it will tighten up that booty! I would also recommend working in some incline walking at a moderate pace, as well as free weights for upper body training.

xoxo
Keri

*Please get clearance from your doctor before starting any nutrition or exercise program.

I set my alarm today for 5:54am (I have a weird thing about setting my alarm at random times), but of course in the fog of sleep I didn't hear it or turned it off. I finally got out of bed at 6:28am. SUCCESS! I got up early! In college it was so hard for me to get up early that I had three alarm clocks strategically placed around my dorm room so I would have to get out of bed to turn them off. Otherwise, I forgot it went off and would go back to sleep. 

I had laid out my workout clothes the night before (balling them up on the floor at the foot of the bed is the same thing, right?) so I slipped on my cold stretch pants, black long sleeved thermal shirt and mosied into the kitchen to whip up my first meal of the day. Breakfast is my favorite meal even though I eat almost the same thing everyday.

Looks yummy, doesn't it?!Today's workout was chest/biceps/triceps and 60 minutes of cardio. It was a hard workout, but leg day is worse. Even before New Years the gym was packed, but today it was surprisingly empty which always makes for a better workout.

Is it possible that start my day earlier also allowed for more things to fill my day? This week has been such a whirlwind!! 

love,
Keri 

This week on my fitness review series featured on Spoiled Little LA Girls (SLLG) is about the Insanity Workout DVD Series.  

I was introduced to the Insanity DVD collection by one of my fabulous fitness friends. And let me tell you…the Insanity workouts are exactly that – INSANE! I originally bought these bad boys for my husband as a holiday gift, but secretly knew that it was also a gift for myself.

The extreme workouts are led by Shaun T, who is also a native of New Jersey like myself. He is most known for his choreography on television as well as theater. Hehas worked with many companies and artists including Mariah Carey, Aaron and Nick Carter, Nike, the Los Angeles Lakers and Marc Jacobs.

The workout DVD series comes with 10 discs that incorporate 30 to 60 minutes of plyometric drills at maximum-intensity intervals of strength, power, resistance and core training moves. The best part about this hardcore workout is that I don’t need any equipment! I only need a large bottle of water and a small area in front of the TV. I also love that Shaun alternates the heart-pumping bursts with yoga-influenced stretches as active recovery, which also increases your range of motion and flexibility.

Entire set is available for purchase at Beachbody® for $119.85.

Pros: challenging, cardio/flexibility/resistance training all in one, dynamic moves, convenient 
Cons: background music, not good for beginners
Spoiled Little LA Girls is a blog dedicated to reviews on everything from beauty products to tech toys for women.

This week on my fitness review series featured on Spoiled Little LA Girls (SLLG) is about my ALO Sport workout pants that are eco-friendly and fashionable. These cute pants use slimming technology and recycled fabrics.

After six months of obsessively checking the workout section at Target for my kind-of-shiny, “spand-sexy” pants sold by cut and leg length (ahem, bootleg, short) I finally gave up figuring they must have discontinued making them in that fabric. One afternoon I decided to check out the supply at Dick’s Sporting Goods where I tried on roughly 9 pairs of pants… everything from Adidas capri pants to Reebok’s Toning Apparel. The last pair of pants I tried on were the Blocked Waist ALO pants. Not only did these pants fit my curvy little booty, but they were comfortable, slimming and I loved the pink stitching design!

Upon ordering my second pair of pants (yes, I ordered the exact same pair) from their website, I discovered that ALO is actually an acronym for: Air. Land. Ocean. which only made me heart them more for their eco-friendly fashion sense. These cute pants, hot pink waistband and all, are made with sustainable fabrics like modal, bamboo, organic cotton and recycled polyester. They are also treated with their Anti-microbial Treatment to prevent the increase of bacteria, Coolfit™ Technology that features dry wicking capability to pull moisture away from the skin and their slenderizing StretchFlex™ Technology slims your tummy and thighs!

Aside from their eco-conscious, recycled fabric selection, they are a completely green company. Their Solar Power Headquarters has reduced their energy usage by 5000 kilowatts per month, they recycle their office supplies and use only natural cleaning products that are bio-degradable, non-toxic and hypo-allergenic. They also advocate carpooling amongst employees and have a hybrid company car available for use.

Pros: eco-friendly, slimming, sexy design, comfortable
Cons: price

Spoiled Little LA Girls is a blog dedicated to reviews on everything from beauty products to tech toys for women.