My Fiterazzi latest: Tights Review, HIITs & Tips for Staying Healthy this Holiday Season

Happy Friday! For some reason, weeks after holidays always feel the longest. It's not like anything bad has happened -- I love my job -- but something has had me looking forward to a low key weekend all week long.

I blame the grey winter weather that's rolled in. Anyway.

Over the past few weeks, I've been doing a lot of photography, writing and organizing for Fiterazzi Magazine, who I moonlight for when I'm not working for the USO.

Just before Thanksgiving, my article all about the latest and greatest in workout leggings hit the web and has been doing fabulous!

I've gotten a lot of great feedback from readers about this article, so that's super encouraging. I think next time I'll try to keep the prices of the products I sample in mind. Some of my readers pointed out that the options were a little out of thier price ranges. Woops.

Anywho. Here's a sneak peak for you to read :)

You can read the full piece here.

Oh, and if you're feeling like you want to get a workout in, I also whipped up a fun Pre-Turkey Day HIIT.

I also wrote a fun little piece about a few easy tips and tricks to staying healthy during the holidays.

I think people can get caught up in the business of holiday festivities and forget to take care of themselves, so I thought it would be helpful to write up a little guide of how to keep yourself on track no matter how festive you might get.

Here's a peak at that story.

You can read the full piece here.

Enjoy!

Behind the Shoot: Spooktacular-ly-awesome photos for Fiterazzi Magazine!

Happy almost Halloween! I hope you're as jazzed about the festivities tomorrow as I am!

This past weekend I hosted the fall shoot for Fiterazzi Magazine with a few of my fit-minded friends. the idea behind this shoot, in comparison to the summer shoot was to capture some fall foliage/scenes and showcase some new fitness moves in the cooler autumnal weather -- andd talk about autumnal weather, we scored the JACKPOT on Sunday. 60 degrees. Sunny. What's not to like?

My four lovely models and dear friends -- Alisha, Sarah, Autumn and Sara -- donated their smiling faces and strutted their stuff on camera for me about two hours total.

It's funny, before the shoot,  I don't think any of the girls new each other, but they all knew me, and by the end of the session, they were all laughing, smiling and getting along splendidly.

I met each of these ladies in a very different way and each at a different time in my life.

Autumn, the lovely African-American sporting the charcoal sweater, met me when I was 18 when we were both starting out playing on the GW softball team together

Alisha, who's gorgeous dark complexion makes her pink jacket just POP, I met earlier this year while playing dodge ball at a local social sports league, USS, here in the city.

 

Sara, the fierce gal rocking the short hair cut, has been my creative competitor and close friend for years, since we studied journalism and video production together at SMPA.

And the other Sarah, who's wearing my favorite pair of BODYPOP watercolor print leggings, was one of the first real-world friends I made when I was working with her at Post TV -- the video outlet of the Washington Post.

Each of these women has been a friend to me in her own special way -- which is why I was so glad they all got to meet each other and help represent Fiterazzi with me, looking fit and fabulous in on the streets of D.C. on that spectacular fall day.

Like fitness? Like empowerment? Love your ta-tas? Then read this NOW!

I don't want to steal the clicks, from Fiterazzi.com, but I had to share a couple of snippets from some of my recent articles that I've done for them that I'm super jazzed about!

I just loved working all all of these stories -- they're all very real and very personal for me. I think that's why I like writing for Fiterazzi so much.

Anyway, enough of my blabbering. Check out a few snippets from my Fiterazzi latests below & be sure to head to Fiterazzi.com for the full stories and more good healthy living reads!

Sports Bras 101: What Your Mom Never Told You

Boobs. Ta-tas. The girls. Breasts. Whatever you call them, if you’ve got two X chromosomes and survived puberty, then you’re familiar with the fabulous (and sometime annoying) experience that is having a pair of breasts to call your own.

While having breasts makes for a sexy silhouette, caring for them and keeping them under control can be a tricky task, especially for an active girl. Let’s be real — who ever invented tuck jumps didn’t do so with chesty girls in mind.

As fitness companies are evolving to cater more towards the needs of female athletes, so too are their sports bras technologies. Gone are the days of non-supportive and uncomfortable sports bras and in are the days of specially designed, high-impact sports bras tailored towards just about any cup size.

(Read more here!)

This 12-Year-Old Girl’s Letter Sparked a Big Conversation about Female Representation in Fitness

[...]

When I was growing up, I remember dealing with this constant dilemma when I was looking for new sporting gear to wear while playing softball. Did I want to wear boy’s gear that featured an annoying baggy crotch? Or did I prefer some awkwardly cut, high-waisted women’s gear that transformed me into a pre-teen soccer mom? Why wasn’t there anything made just for me?

Only I was a teenager, circa mid-2000s, did I start to see a wider-variety of products tailored toward the tastes and styles of female athletes and fitness fashionistas like myself. Brands like Lululemon and Athleta popped onto the market and major sporting companies like Nike, UnderArmour and Mizuno started to create special lines tailored towards the growing female demographic.

However, as much as I love seeing more and more female sporting good products in stores, it’s hard to deny that the large majority of sporting good apparel is still tailored towards men.

It’s 2014, not 1964. The Title XI ruling was in 1972.

(Read the full story here!)

Guess what? I throw like a girl.

Last week, my story about the female gender stereotype in sports published on Fiterazzi.com, along with a photograph from my photo shoot last week.

While I was totally tickled that my photos were featured on the site-- call me vain-- I was more excited that my small take on females in sports went live on the interwebs. While my article was by no means perfect, I really tried to show the push and pull that many females feel-- particularly those in the sports world.

See, I find the whole feminist v. traditional gender roles argument confusing, complex, and often convoluted. While I love the idea of women empowerment and equality, I also can't deny the fact that I, personally, enjoy the value of traditional gender roles. I love to cook. I love to keep a clean house, and frankly, someday, I hope that I become a mom who can stay at home with her kids, at least part time, while my future husband works full time. However, I also want a lifelong career. Success. And happiness.

See what I mean? Its not exactly a black and white subject.

Anyway, I'm pretty proud of my article. Check it out, and peruse Fiterazzi while you're at it. I feel so proud to be among a group of fit ladies who are writing about the real deal.