Fantone Fitness

It's about Fitness. A fit life is a fun life!

Archive for the tag “peace”

Hindsight is 2020. Back onna Plan!

Six pics! First two are from the beginning of January 2020. Gotta admit I have a sweet tooth and December of 2019 was a sweet tooth binge. Okay, I got that out of my system. Here we go starting off at 152 pounds and 15.2 % body fat. Then I got the flu. January was a really tough month. Travel to Ohio to see mom and while I’m there she passed away. Here’s to my sweet family for how wonderfully they cared for her in her last few months. I feel blessed to have been there to see her go and to see the love she got from everyone. So, we start again in February. The second two pics, from February 2nd, 148 pounds and 13.3 % body fat.  Finally starting to feel a bit better. And now for the last two most recent pics. March 2nd. 2020. 144 pounds and 12.4 % body fat. Moving a bit slower than normal this year. Stiil, I’m committed to staying the course and finishing strong. This year is the year of rebuilding. Oh yeah, I had my left shoulder replaced last May. Here we go! 61 is so much fun!

How’s it going so far? 2019?

Okay, people what’s happening? Are you in any way more fit than New Year’s day? Well, as you know it is my job to be in shape. So I’ve been working on it very diligently. I’m now down to 146 pounds, and 10.5% body fat. That’s 1.5% down in body fat and 6 pounds lighter. I feel so much better!!!I must admit, it hasn’t been easy or perfect, but I made a decision to stick to it, no matter what happened. I think I’ve eaten a bit too many nuts, though. I think I am turning into a nut. I have eaten a tree-full of apples and more than my share of blueberries. Anyway, I’m human and I need a treat now and then. These are my staples. I’m not a vegetarian, I eat more of a Paleo diet, with proteins vegetables, nuts and fruits. I’ve basically just cut out sugar and starchy carbs. Oh what a difference. I also have upped my workouts to almost every day. Sometimes I do 30 minutes of easy cardio, some days I’ll spin for 20 minutes using a high intensity interval style and other days, I push it hard with push ups, pull ups, jumping lunges, lunges, jumping squats, squats, kettlebell swings, Vipr, Bulgarian bag, RMT Club, and calisthenics combined all together in a massive Tabata style workout. It’s very challenging and fun!

So, how’s it going so far for you? 2019? Leave me a message describing your New Year.

 

Check out my most recent article in the Neighborhood Trainer August newsletter!

Urban FitnessJim

by Jim Fantone, personal trainer

It’s just another day in the city. Not just any city though. We, here in New York City are fortunate to have opportunities on every corner and in every neighborhood for exercise.

First of all, we walk. A lot. I do anyway. It’s a choice to walk 20 blocks each way to my next client rather than take the bus or subway. If I do ride the subway, at the end of each ride is yet another opportunity. Subway stairs are notorious for taking your breath away. I see a set of stairs and I see quads and glutes in action! Take two steps at a time and I see extreme walking lunges. Man, that feels good. A little bit of cardio too. Just don’t stop right at the top please. Don’t get me started!
I find exercise everywhere. As I’m walking up Broadway toward home, I encounter people walking haphazardly across the sidewalk. My friend calls them Diagonerds. You know those people who seem to be angling to the left until you try to go around to the right, and just then they change tactics and begin to go to the right, right in front of you! Back and forth they go. Almost like they’re blocking for you. My take on this is they are my offensive line and I am a running back following my blocking until we get clear of the oncoming traffic (the tacklers) and then I don’t need them anymore and I shoot the gap and fly past them. Thank you!
With so many obstacles and challenges in a city like this, there is no excuse for not exercising. None! Use a backpack so your shoulders are even and the weight of your stuff is not hanging off to one side and get out there and move! Raining? Snowing? It just adds resistance to the exercise. Use the energy to navigate rather than complain. Let’s use our bodies the way they were meant to be used. Moving! You will feel better, guaranteed.

 

Breathing 101-Breathing is Fundamental

Game Changer- 60 is The New Sexy


 

60 is The New Sexy

We all know by now that abs are created in the kitchen, not the gym. So don’t over-do it this year living it up on stuffing and pie. Or if your like me, and you wait all year to eat pumpkin pie, then I say live it up for the holiday and get back on the plan right away! Oh yeah and try working out every day!

Abs in the Kitchen

Abs are created in the kitchen!

Loss

Today I’m thinking about “loss” in a different way. I feel a sense of loss today that I can live with. It starts out feeling empty and for a moment it hurts. If I am still, that moment passes. If I don’t try to hold onto it, it goes rather quickly. On the other hand, if I want to keep that feeling of loss, I can create attachments that keep it with me. For example, I feel the loss of a relationship and it hurts for a moment. That feeling is sadness in my gut. I begin to cry and that experience starts to tell me things like I’m losing a part of myself, I’m never going to have another relationship, I will be so alone, I have failed. I ask myself, what have I done to deserve this. That kind of reaction will undoubtedly create more pain and sadness.

But, as I said, I am experiencing loss in a different way today. It’s more like this; I am feeling sadness over the change in my relationship, I breathe and start to cry. Crying is, in my opinion, one of they truest forms of expression there is, so I am going to enjoy this cry. My heart is full, not empty, if I am crying. It feels full! I am letting out the pain of this loss. Is it pain? Yes, it hurts. I feel suddenly alone. Wait. I like being alone. I do. It allows me to reflect on the beauty of my life, which, if I look back at it I realize that the challenges I have faced in my life have always forced me to grow in ways I otherwise might never have. Now that feels less sad. In fact the feeling I now have is gratitude. I am grateful for all of the sad times and the losses in my life because they have given me growth. I have grown considerably over the course of my life, but never as much as when I have been hurting. I am grateful.

This is a true story. Life isn’t good, or bad. Life is Life. How I choose to experience life dictates the quality of my life. Deepak Chopra has a quote I use to remind me of this. “Because I accept life as life, in my world, nothing ever goes wrong.” I am grateful today. I am happy.Image

Rest and Recover

I work out very frequently. Sometimes I go for days on end working out every day. So when I get that feeling that I just need to sit, I do. Today is Thundering Thursday. I sat and experienced a beautiful thunderstorm from my window. Just sitting and breathing. Sometimes you the best workout is one that you don’t do. Take a day off. Enjoy!

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