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Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – 3rd Annual Girl Scout Cookie Challenge

It’s that time again. We’ve got another Girl Scout cookie challenge on this week’s Addicted to Fitness podcast. We’re on our third year of this fun fitness challenge and this time Shannon is going to give it a go.

For all those new to this challenge, the ultimate goal is to burn off the calories contained in 3 Girl Scout cookies as quickly as possible.

Just like in previous years, we chose the peanut butter & chocolate Girl Scout cookie known as the Tagalong. We were primarily concerned with the calorie content for 3 of these cookies, but the other nutritional facts are: 14 g fat, 20 g carbs (12 g sugar), 3 g of protein.

Shannon downed three of these bad boys, performed a 5 minute warm-up, then jumped on our beloved Peloton cycle to burn off the 210 calories worth of cookies.

While Shannon was doing most of the heavy lifting, or in this case riding, I gave our training recaps for the week.

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In addition to doing several sessions on the Peloton, Shannon did yoga almost every single day and got to a yoga class at her home studio, Bella Prana. She also performed a couple HIIT workouts to round out her fitness for the week.

I had my personal training sessions at Title and Tampa Strength, including a session with a new ETTampa client. I’ve also been working hard on creating new content for you ATF listeners. We’ll be making an exciting announcement about our new weekly show real soon!

While Shannon was chugging away on the bike, I shared several interesting factoids about Girl Scout cookies like:

  • Since 1999, Girl Scout Cookies bring in about $700 million in annual revenue
  • Thin Mints are the most popular
  • All the girls on the boxes are Girl Scouts
  • In 1985, a 13-year-old girl sold $25,000 worth of cookies

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Thanks to Shannon’s Apple Watch, we were able to count down the final seconds before she reached the 210 calorie goal. Make sure you listen to this week’s episode to find out how long it took her to complete this year’s challenge. Then you can go back and listen to the previous years episodes to find out who completed the challenge faster.

Let us know what you think of this fitness challenge on the Addicted to Fitness Podcast Facebook page. While you’re there, please leave us a rating & review, which we’d also appreciate if you could do in iTunes. It only takes a few minutes and really helps us reach more listeners.

All you ATF coffee lovers should definitely check out our sponsors The Hemp & Coffee Exchange. Visit hempcoffeeexchange.com and read about their delicious & nutritious sustainable super coffee and when you place your order, make sure you use the promo code “ATF” at checkout to get 20% off your order.

Links to this week’s episode:

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/addicted-to-fitness-podcast/id1121420986?mt=2

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nick-burch-702220833/3rd-annual-girl-scout-cookie

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/3rd-annual-girl-scout-cookie-challenge

 

Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – Apple Watch Review & Childhood Obesity

Welcome back!

Nick and I have been making progress on our training, bit by bit. We kick off this week’s podcast episode with a recap on what we’ve been doing.

Nick has been finding his Title Boxing classes to be a built in workout, which has been good since time between work and parenting has been somewhat limited.

He also gets into what he’s doing in his diet – intermittent fasting (phase two – which includes a 10 hour eating window and 14 hour fast). He’s already lost five pounds, which he wasn’t expecting, thinking he didn’t have that much weight to loose.  The point was never to loose weight, but rather to attempt to eliminate precursors of detrimental health conditions like insulin resistance and cancer. You can read more about his previous blog post on intermittent fasting and its benefits here.

I meanwhile, have been focusing on childcare, which is a workout in itself, but have already dropped over 20 pounds off my pregnancy weight (mostly due to breastfeeding). My available time to workout is about 30 minutes, so whatever I choose to do (Peloton bike or yoga usually) must fit in that window.

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We’re big fans of our Peloton Cycle

My cardio is the area that I have seen the most need for improvement. My goal for training has not been to loose weight though, but rather just to continue to combat postpartum anxiety and depression.

Our first main topic of the episode is a review of the new Series 3 of the Apple Watch.

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Now, if you’ve been listening for a while, you might recall my review of the Fitbit Charge 2 earlier this year (listen to that ATF episode here) in which I stated that it was a test on whether I would like a fitness tracker and heart rate monitor at all. I wasn’t ready at that time to invest in anything more.

Well, I decided recently that I was ready for a smart watch, as the actual watch functionality was something that I really missed. With the latest release of the Apple Watch, Series 3, I felt it was finally time to make the move.

So first, a quick introduction to what I got!

I purchased the Series 3 – 38MM Apple Watch with GPS and the gold aluminum case, along with the Pink Sand Sport Band.

apple & Apple

The specs include:

  • Gold aluminum case
  • Built-in GPS and GLONASS
  • Faster dual-core processor
  • W2 chip
  • Barometric altimeter
  • Capacity 8GB1
  • Heart rate sensor
  • Accelerometer and gyroscope
  • Water resistant 50 meters
  • Ion-X strengthened glass
  • Composite back
  • Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz)
  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • Up to 18 hours of battery life
  • watchOS 4
In terms of the look and comfort, the 38mm size is great for my wrist size, as is the band, which fits even my smaller wrists surprisingly well. Plus the band is made of high performance fluoroelastomer that will stand up to my heavier use. The ability to customize the look by switching out the bands is the icing on the cake!
One of the best parts of this watch, is the watch face/s. Not only do they actually show up when I look at my watch (the Fitbit was not as sensitive) but the multiple, customizable faces that you can switch between and manage on your iPhone via the Apple Watch app, are crystal clear and very convenient.
Another key strength of this device is the integration with the iPhone, which is truly amazing. Everything is customized and controlled/setup through the iPhone via an app. It even has some of the same functionality (flashlight, talk to text, Siri, reminders, sound controls, etc.) to the iPhone.
Some of my favorite apps/programs include:
  • Heart Rate Monitor is pretty accurate and can run ongoing or in the background, depending how you’re using it (will drain battery life if using it to track an activity).
  • Activity – Set goals and get reminders. All of which integrate into the Health App on your iPhone
  • Workout – Quickly select a workout for tracking purposes. All metrics integrate into the Health App on your iPhone
  • Weather – Pretty straight forward, but seeing it on your watch at a glance is remarkably helpful
  • Timer & Stop Watch – Again, straight forward, but handy for a variety of instances
  • Maps – Would probably be good when you’re walking around and need to find something. Just takes a little time to get the directions on your watch.
  • Messages – Not particularly health focused, but is a simplified version of the Messages app in your phone. The talk-to-type tech is surprisingly accurate and makes it all that much easier to respond to texts without having to get your phone.
Finally, the magnetic charger sits in my bathroom and is super easy to lay the watch on. The fact it’s the basic charging cube cord makes it easy to interchange with other cords in my house (which are everywhere since we have so many apple products!).
The popularity of the Apple Watch means it’s been appearing on the wrists of people of all ages, including teens and kids! The question of whether these younger age groups are truly using these gadgets for fitness is somewhat questionable given our next topic… childhood obesity rates.
Nick came across this article in Time magazine recently that cited a study in a medical periodical, about how the BMI (ratio of weight & height) indicates that childhood obesity has risen 10 times worldwide over the last 40 years. [Insert gasp here]
The study reported dramatic increases in childhood obesity in African and Asian countries especially, which have historically had low obesity rates. This was a surprise to us. Additionally, in several countries where childhood obesity rates were already high (including the U.S.), the rates have plateaued, however, the researchers believe it is more due to coincidence and not policy action.

 

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A related article Nick recently saw from the Washington Post (link) stated non-alcohol-related fatty liver disease (cirrhosis of the liver) is the fastest growing reason for liver transplants among young adults in the U.S.. This disease can be caused by obesity, hypertension and diabetes (i.e. high intake of sugar and grains IMO). One researcher in the article stated that they had a patient develop this condition at age 13.

It should be noted that the number of liver transplants due to non-alcohol related cirrhosis is small, but what is alarming is the dramatic increase in its prevalence over the last 10 years.

All in all, it’s an alarming study, reinforcing how important food and health education is among our youth!

As we wrap up, we encourage you to please visit our sponsor hempcoffeeexchange.com and use the code ‘ATF’ to get 20% off at checkout!

Reach out to us on social media (FacebookInstagram or Twitter) or send us and email at elementaltampa@gmail.com.

Links to this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/apple-watch-review-a-childhood-obesity/id1121420986?i=1000394456914&mt=2

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nick-burch-702220833/apple-watch-review-a-childhood

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/apple-watch-review-a-childhood-obesity

Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – How Juicing and Alcohol Consumption Could Help & Hinder Your Fitness

This week’s show notes brought to you by Shannon.

Nick and I are chatting about popular beverages on this week’s show!

Not so much recipes, but rather the health benefits of oh-so-trendy juicing and the often debated alcohol. Before we get into that though, a little recap of training.

I was in recovery mode after a yoga immersion weekend – which is almost a full three days of yoga – it takes a toll, especially being fairly pregnant at this point. With only a couple months of yoga training left though, the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight. Still learning some important lessons though, including the importance of self-care, especially as a teacher or trainer.

Nick meanwhile, has been shooting a lot of exercise videos for the Tampa Strength YouTube channel (link). If you’re interested in remotely training with ETT, you don’t have to move to Florida. Give Nick a shout, elementaltampa@gmail.com, and he can build an online workout for you.

On a sad note, one of Nick’s and my favorite Peloton instructor, Steve Little (who focused on heart rate training), is moving onto another career, so we say goodbye (with a couple water eyes). We’ll miss you Steve Little! And if you’re curious about learning more about Peloton, check out our past podcast that features an on-bike review by Nick.

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We’ll miss you Steve Little! (Image courtesy of Peloton blog)

Pros & Cons of Juicing

We used to be pretty hardcore juicers a while back. Our juicer of choice is the Bella NutriPro juicer (sadly discontinued so we can’t link to it) and we used to juice every day with it. Green juice was our preferred recipe, though we grew to love beets as well.

We even learned a few lessons. Lessons like drinking juice straight away, which provides the optimum delivery of nutrients. Some of the lessons, we got from the Juice Generation book, which includes some great recipes and info.

To help highlight some of the pros and cons of juicing, we gathered together a nice little list for you!

Pros:

  1. Great way to provide a large amount of your daily nutrient requirement
  2. Make nutrients in produce easily absorbable
  3. Great way to eliminate food waste

Cons:

  1. Depending on the ingredients, can deliver a large sugar spike
  2. Can be expensive
  3. Lose out on the fiber

Different types of juicers could minimize the amount of fiber loss.

While I am more of a fan of juice than smoothies, Nick is the opposite. What camp are you? If you are a juice fan, let us know what your favorite type is.

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Yes you need all this, and more, to make green juice for two

Now onto an epic debate. Is it possible to call alcohol healthy?

More specifically, does MODERATE alcohol consumption provide health benefits? Moderate meaning 1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men.

(1 drink is defined as 12oz beer, 5oz of wine & 1.5 oz of spirits)

In our personal experience, one health benefit (which might be rather obvious) is the relaxation and social lubrication provided by moderate alcohol consumption.

In addition, red wine contains resveratol, which certain studies suggest helps prevent damage to blood vessels, reduces LDL cholesterol and prevents blood clots.

Certain studies have linked moderate alcohol consumption, other than just red wine, to improved heart health. One 12+ year Norwegian study stated that moderate alcohol consumption lowered heart failure risk by 33%. However, other studies claim that even one drink could cause irregular and possibly harmful heart arrhythmias.

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Red wine is healthy……..or is it?

Our final verdict is that the studies/information is inconclusive on whether or not alcohol is healthy. Even the studies that found beneficial results associated with moderate alcohol consumption state that their findings do not prove causation, meaning they could not determine whether or not the improvement in items like heart health were actually due to alcohol consumption.

We do know that excess alcohol consumption can lead to plenty of negative health issues like liver and pancreas diseases, heart failure, hypertension, cancer, stroke, behavioral issues and obesity. According to the CDC, excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths each year in the United States from 2006 – 2010 (link).

So no magic bullets on the alcohol front.

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As we wrap up, we have a couple friendly reminders for all our awesome listeners.

First off, keep checking cltampabay.com to see if you can vote for ATF for the “best local podcast” in the Best of the Bay contest.

Secondly, take advantage of Nick’s current free fitness consultation by emailing him at elementaltampa@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for more episodes and give us a shout on social media (FacebookInstagram or Twitter).

Links to this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-juicing-alcohol-consumption-could-help-hinder-your/id1121420986?i=1000390234743&mt=2

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nick-burch-702220833/how-juicing-and-alcohol

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/liquid-calories-how-juicing-and-alcohol-consumption-can-help-hinder-your-fitness

 

 

Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – Core Strength & Green Spaces: Tips to Live a Longer, Healthier Life

You may notice that this week’s episode starts off a little differently. I hate to give a spoiler but I did the intro this week! Nick handed over the reigns and let me take a crack at kicking things off. How’d I do?

In a quick recap of our training, we both shared our recent use of the Peloton including my preference for switching up class types on certain days of the week. We also discuss our fondness for Peloton instructor Steve Little’s (peloton profile link) endurance classes which focus on zone 2 training. Nick loves to compliment long rides on the bike with intense strength training sessions at Tampa Strength, while I like to mix in yoga and HIIT workouts at home.

Something we’ve both been focusing on in our own ways is core work. Which brings us to one of our primary topics for this week – Core “complaints”.

Steve little pic

One of many story posts from Nick’s instagram (@ettampa)

Nick found an informative article in Health magazine discussing several common complaints from individuals trying to get rid of “ab flab” including the common “I can’t see my abs.” So why do all those crunches not result in a rock hard, visible middle?

An individual’s core is not just those 6-pack abs – it’s all the muscle groups that make up our midsection (abdominals, obliques, lumbar, etc.).  Whether you can see the cut muscles or not (which frequently comes down to diet – tip: increase soluble fiber, good fats and calcium) a stronger core helps you have better control of your extremities and allows you to be more mobile later in life.

Another common complaint discussed is people saying they hold fat in their midsection, but this largely comes down to your genetics and body type. You can avoid that troublesome belly fat by staying away from refined grains & processed foods. The article offers up some good suggestions on other diet tips if you’re interested.

Whether you sit a lot for work or are just looking to strengthen your core, be sure you get up and move during your day; even standing will help you build core strength. Try to see if your office will get you a standing desk or better yet a treadmill desk!

From here we segue over to several “unconventional” tips on extending your life from a recent blog post by Mark Sisson. The five tips that we break down are:

  • Live somewhere green/grown lots of plants
  • Follow your life’s purpose
  • Eat lots of collagen
  • Get really cold/really hot on a regular basis (check out our past episode on cryotherapy)
  • Keep your spouse as healthy as you are (we agree this is the most important)

We’re always looking to share methods on how to live healthier lives on this podcast. Which is why we’re excited to announce that next week’s episode features an interview with the owner & founder of an organic grocery delivery service, Carlen Garmon (Growing Rootz Facebook). You won’t wanna miss it.

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You can stay up to date with everything we’re doing by following us on social media. Nick has been working hard on keeping his Instagram, including stories, up-to-date so be sure to check it out. Get in touch with us in between episodes on Facebook or by emailing us at elementaltampa@gmail.com. Your feedback and support continues to help us grow and we are extremely grateful. Keep rating, reviewing and sharing the podcast!

Links for this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/core-strength-green-spaces-tips-to-live-longer-healthier/id1121420986?i=1000385205121&mt=2

Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/core-strength-green-spaces-ways-to-live-a-healthier-life

Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – An Interview with Juice Plus+ Senior Sales Coordinator, Elise Rosato-Devin

This week’s episode starts off with a bit of celebration as the podcast hits a monthly download record of about 1500 downloads in the month of March. We couldn’t have done it without you! So first off we have to give credit where credit is due and thank you all for listening and sharing the podcast each week.

We’ll keep things rolling so you can keep on listening!

Before we dive on into the main interview of the podcast, we chat about an interesting new experience for Nick. This week, he left the kickboxing bags and mitts and donned some sticky ankle socks for some work at the barre. No, that is not a spelling mistake. We’re not talking about some booze filled tavern, but rather the isometric workout that focuses on small movements for a total body workout that will give you a new respect for all those ladies who are hitting the barre hard multiple times a week.

The reason for all the pelvic tucking and toe pointing exercise at Pure Barre South Tampa was the instructor, Elise Rosato-Devin, who is not only a pure barre instructor but also a spin instructor, a fitness competitor and a national sales coordinator for Juice Plus.

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Follow Elise on Instagram at @barrebellafit

Nick and Elise met up at a local coffee shop and dug into some background and details.

First up, as it was top of mind since Nick just completed his first class, was the Barre workout. The contracting of muscles, the intense control, is all about tearing down the muscle fiber and rebuilding them with isometrics. This training usually appeals to women (95% of clients are female) because it builds long lean muscle, while men come in, try the workout and usually struggle with the poses. In his 55-minute workout, Nick burned almost 400 calories!

In addition to teaching barre, Elise is also a spin instructor at Soho Cycling, where her focus is more on building cardio. She is even a fan of Peloton and she recently visited their home studio in New York to train!  Elise focuses on the shake and burn while in the barre studio, she uses interval training in her spin classes to burn fat and build heart health.

Elise also goes into her experience as a fitness competitor. When she was training to compete in 2016, she was lifting weights six days a week, but overtraining most likely led to a back injury that forced her to put her hopes of competing on hold. This temporary setback helped her realize she needs to have a different mindset when she restarts her training later this year, especially as a vegetarian, which can make consuming enough protein without consuming too many carbs difficult.

The topic of nutrition helped draw their conversation to her use of Juice Plus for its whole food nutrition. The supplements are based on a “juicing” concept to provide individuals with a multivitamin that people can actually absorb, unlike synthetic vitamins you get at the drug store. Since our current food system is drastically lower in nutrient dense whole fruit and vegetables, Juice Plus juices fruit and vegetables fresh from the farm in order to provide the maximum amount of nutrients possible.

The supplements provide the nutrients we need to fight inflammation and oxidative stress, which can causes illness and disease. Elise tested the product on herself for four months before she started sharing it with her network of friends and family as a sales coordinator. She was impressed by the large amount of clinical research Juice Plus did to confirm the legitimacy of their products’ nutritional benefits. Plus, if you use Juice Plus, you can sponsor a vitamin program for a child for free up to four years – a great program giving back to kids in need.

Learn more about the Jucie Plus products Elise provides HERE.

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Nick and I were both really impressed with Elise’s diverse fitness journey. I was a wee bit jealous of her trip to the Peloton studio in NYC for sure!

Since the topic of Juice Plus had been requested by one of our friends and listeners, Katie C., we were happy to finally get into this, especially with a great interview subject. I have used some of the Juice Plus products previously and had positive experiences. No doubt, we’ll be looking into Juice Plus ourselves in the future, Nick is really eager to try it out before officially endorsing it to clients and family.

If you’ve used Juice Plus before, we’d love it hear about it, along with any other feedback you’d like to provide about the podcast. Don’t be a stranger and get in touch with us. Connect with us on our social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) or send us an email at elementaltampa@gmail.com.

Thanks again for making March our best month yet!

Links to this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/interview-juice-plus-senior-sales-coordinator-elise/id1121420986?i=1000383626057&mt=2

Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/an-interview-with-juice-plus-senior-sales-coordinator-elise-rosato-devin

Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – 2nd Annual Girl Scout Cookie Challenge

I had so much fun last year, I had to do it again this year. That’s right. We’ve got another Girl Scout cookie challenge on this week’s Addicted to Fitness podcast. If you didn’t hear the first Girl Scout cookie challenge, I urge you to go back and listen to that episode (link). The ultimate goal of the challenge is to burn off the calories contained in the cookies as quickly as possible. Last year we used battle ropes and jump squats. This year we tried a different piece of exercise equipment.

I’ll admit to you guys now, we didn’t get actual Girl Scout cookies. However, Wal-mart makes some pretty damn good knockoffs. I woofed down 3 of the Tagalongs look alikes and then jumped onto our Peloton cycle (click here for more info on this awesome piece of machinery). I choose to go with spinning as my exercise choice because we discovered in a past episode of the podcast (link) that it burned a tremendous amount of calories in a short period of time. Shannon did a great job entertaining everyone with information about the cookies’ nutritional facts, her recent yoga training, and Wim Hof all while I sweat out 240 calories worth of sugary goodness.

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This year’s challenge was just as tough as last year’s

This is a fun challenge to do once in a while, but this is by no means a recommended way to exercise. I would never suggest that anyone eat RIGHT before working out, let alone eat COOKIES! Even though I worked off the calories associated with the cookies, that doesn’t mean there aren’t determintal health effects associated with eating nutrient poor items that are high in sugar. If you have a strong grasp on your fitness, and you can afford to have a sweet treat every so often, go for it. Just don’t buy a year’s supply of Girl Scout cookies when you see them set up in front of your grocery store.

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We are big fans of fun fitness challenges, and if you have any in mind, please feel free to email them to us at elementaltampa@gmail.com. We’d also love it if you gave us a rating & review in iTunes and please share the podcast with a friend. We want to help as many people as possible enhance their quality of life by improving their health & fitness. I believe that this podcast can do that, but only with your help. Thanks in advance and stay healthy this week peeps!

Links to this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/addicted-to-fitness-podcast/id1121420986?mt=2

Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/the-2nd-annual-girls-scout-cookie-challenge

 

 

 

Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – 2016 Year in Review

Shannon here. I’m back!

The end of one year and the start of another prompts many traditions, including a look back at the year we’ve bid farewell to. 2016 was a pretty epic one for the podcast, being the inaugural year!

atf_2016_yir

We covered some great topics in the past year and picked out some special highlights for you in this week’s episode.

  • Interview Highlight – Vinnie Tortorich explaining the NSNG diet and how it could have a great impact on the country’s obesity epidemic.
  • Taste Test Highlight – Bone both review discussing the taste and benefits of this popular “new” food item.
  • Product Review Highlight – Peloton cycle review including an on-bike workout going through the features the bike has to offer.

Mostly, we want to thank all the listeners for your support which has helped keep us going through this first year and made Addicted to Fitness a 5-star rated podcast in the iTunes store. We are so appreciative for all your support. Don’t forget you can get in touch with us between podcasts and keep the feedback coming either on Facebook or by leaving a review in the iTunes store.

Thanks again for listening and Happy New Year!

Links to this week’s episode:

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/addicted-to-fitness-2016-year/id1121420986?i=1000379513408&mt=2

Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/addicted-to-fitness-a-year-in-review

Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – Our Holiday Gift Guide

Notes by Shannon.

No doubt, all of you put a “new episode of the Addicted to Fitness podcast” on your holiday wishlist, but the good news is you don’t have to wait until the 25th to unwrap that particular present!

We have a special Holiday-themed episode which includes Nick and I sharing some of our favorite Christmas memories (the heartwarming and the funny). I’m sure you all can relate to one or the other!

Plus, you will get a sneak peek listen into a future podcast topic this week, as we visited a local cryotherapy center with a group of brave souls from ETT, and quite literally chilled out together.  Nick hosted an interview with the owner and got the group’s reaction post cryo-session, which we’ll be bringing to you after the new year.

shannon-and-i-cryo

Shannon and I at US Cryo Tampa

If you’re interested in learning more about cryotherapy in the meantime, listen to our past episode which documents Nick’s first-ever experience with this innovative form of therapy.

The second part of our episode goes into our holiday gift guide for the fitness fanatic in your life. Don’t worry, we’re sharing gift ideas that are also perfect last minute finds – no need to fret about an item not shipping in time!

Nick’s gift suggestions:

  • Jump Rope – Inexpensive, easy-to-find and an amazing workout on the road or at home.
  • Resistance bands – Portable and challenging, but simple to use.
  • An Audible membership – Quick and extremely handy for those looking to learn new health info on-the-go.

Shannon’s gift picks:

  • Fabletics Gift Card – Who doesn’t always need new workout clothes, especially stylish ones?
  • Cryo session – Give the gift of recovery!
  • Socks – The best gift you never thought of, but everyone needs, especially for working out.

I share more ideas in a recent post over on my blog.

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Regardless of whether you’re traveling or staying home for the holiday, we’re going to be doing a little extra something special for you – the first ETT Facebook Live! Tune in on the ETT Facebook page on December 26th at 11:00 a.m. EST for a HIIT workout to kick your butt in gear after the holiday weekend.

That’s right! You’ll get a live-stream of Nick and I, plus an awesome workout all in one!

Mark your calendars.

Meanwhile, if you have a topic or interview that you want to hear us discuss in a future podcast,  send us an email – elementaltampa@gmail.com – or give us a shout on our social channels.

Addicted to Fitness is now a 5 star rated podcast in the iTunes store and it’s all thanks to you. We so appreciate all your support and don’t forget to keep the feedback coming either on Facebook or by leaving a review in the iTunes store. Thanks again for listening and have a happy and healthy holiday!

Links to this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-holiday-fitness-gift-guide/id1121420986?i=1000379106952&mt=2

Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/our-holiday-fitness-gift-guide