First off, I want to start this post off by stating that by no means do I consider myself a fitness guru, trainer or health specialist. I do live a fairly active lifestyle and I find that working out is essential to giving my mind a break after staring at a computer screen and not moving for hours at end during the work week.

The below is what works for me and what my body responds to in a positive way. Hopefully what I share inspires and motivates you to get active too!

Also, if you have any questions or want to leave me a helpful tip, I would love that. I'm always down to hear what works for others and try it out myself. You can leave me a comment below. :)

Now on to my fitness routine!

My motto: I work out to get energy not become exhausted. 

On average I workout between 3-4 times a week. Even though I consider myself a motivated person, I need to attend a class to really get a good workout. Going for a run sounds nice but lets face it, that never happens in reality. I have to have a hard cut off time like a 6pm class to pull me out of my chair and actually get me to workout. If I didn't have that I would probably workout once a week if that.

So for me being a part of Classpass (no they are not sponsoring this) has been a huge key to my success in getting active. I do the 80 credits / month plan and it's been great. I usually use all the credits but if I don't up to ten credits will roll over to the next month so I don't feel like I'm getting jipped.

If you want to try it out, highly recommend taking advantage of their offer for $40 off your first month which you can access here. 

A question I get a lot is: how do you keep your workout routine going while traveling so much?

Again, I'll be referring to classpass because monthly memberships are valid across thousands of studios across the country. Pretty much every major city I go to offers some classes through classpass so I just make it a point to sign up for one. If classpass isn't available, I use Yelp.com to find recommended studios nearby to where I'm staying. I'm a huge fan of going by reviews for wherever I'm staying so I'll usually go to the one with the best rating (and I always look at the pictures to get a feel of their studio). 

It's actually fun going to studios in different cities because I get to see more of the city and go to places I normally would never visit unless I was there for a class. And it helps me overcome jet lag and gets me in-sync with my body aka, I don't binge on sugar and carbs which are both my weakness.

My normal weekly routine is: 

Monday: Pilates class

Some of my favorites include:

• Fitmix Studio (LA)
• WundaBar (LA & NY)
• Carrie's Pilates (LA)
• X-Core (Bay Area)
• BodyRok (Bay Area & NY)
• Bold (Bay Area)

Wednesday: Cardio class

Favorites for cardio (send me recommendations of more places!)

• Fitmix Studio - the mashup class (LA)
• Barry's Bootcamp (LA, Bay Area & NY)
• Flywheel (LA, Bay Area & NY + more)
• SoulCycle (locations everywhere but not on Classpass)

Thursday or Friday: Yoga

Some of my favorites: 

• Namaste Yoga (Bay Area)
• YogaWorks (locations everywhere)
• Yogamaya (NY)

Saturday or Sunday: Pilates class 

(see favorites above)

My 'regular diet' -- What I eat

I combine this with having my regular morning latte and eating smaller-ish meals through out the day.

I hate having big meals. Ever since I was little I never liked the tradition of eating a big three times a day. Whenever I do this I feel sluggish and puffy and just all over not myself. I know some people swear by eating breakfast first thing in the morning but it's just never worked for me. 

I'm also not gluten free, dairy free or any type of 'diet free'.

Everything in moderation is what I apply here. I do try to have more veggies than meat on a regular basis and if the gluten free option is just as delicious as the regular option I'll choose the GF one. But the main thing for me is keeping my portions smaller and listening to my body when I get the feeling of 'I'm full'. 

Personally, I'm a big fan of saving leftovers and eating them the next day. Another pet peeve of mine is wasting food. I was raised by amazing grandparents that grew up with the scarcity of the Great Depression so we never wasted anything growing up. I find that it's a rare quality these days to care about wasting something but one person at a time we can change that mentality. 

Last thing, I notice a very big difference in my skin when I eat a lot of sugar. If I start to break out, I will immediately switch from sugar desserts to fruit (natural sugar) desserts. 

SO! There you have it. That's a little summary about what works for me! 

Share your health tips below and let me know if you have any questions!

xo, Katie