Fitness
A 3-Step Plan to Give Your Diet, Fitness Routine and Mindset a Reset for Spring
To help you do this, we’ve tapped our Start TODAY experts for simple tips to lighten up meals, move in ways that boost metabolism and and refocus our mindset to get motivated to keep working toward your goals. Apply their strategies and finish the month feeling lighter, more energized and motivated to move forward. Here’s the plan to make it happen:
>>Download the 31-day calendar here
31-Day HIIT & Walking Challenge
This month’s workout plan is focused on short workouts that pack a punch. “HIIT workouts give you a bigger bang for your workout buck! They provide a more efficient workout because you’re alternating the pace and intensity rather than sticking to a steady, moderate pace,” says Mansour. “Changing things up with HIIT prevents boredom and keeps your muscles guessing. This is how we can get the body to change — whether that change is speeding up your metabolism, burning more calories, building muscle, losing weight, or just improving overall health — keeping your body guessing is the magic ticket to seeing results!”
Active recovery days include stretching to improve flexibility and walking for a cardiovascular workout that aids muscle recovery. When weather permits, Mansour encourages people to get outside on walking days. “Walking outdoors isn’t just a workout, it’s a chance to breathe in fresh air and get out of the house to change your environment,” she says. “Each time you go outside on a walk, even if you go on the same path, you’ll see or feel something different. Maybe it’s a change in weather, plants or flowers, people or things. Prioritizing taking your walk outside can hugely benefit your mental health. Getting out of your regular environment and into nature can be a form of meditation, too.”
Get the full 31-day workout plan with unique workouts sent to you daily — plus, walking podcasts, healthy spring recipes and mindfulness tools — in the Start TODAY app!
3 Simple Spring Diet Tips
In addition to mixing up your workout routine, use spring as an opportunity to start lightening up your meals by packing them with seasonal ingredients. Start TODAY dietitian Natalie Rizzo shares her top tips:
- Incorporate more seasonal foods. After a long winter of eating the same foods, your palate is ready for a change! Aim to add at least one spring fruit or vegetable to your meals each day, like asparagus, peas, spinach, radishes, citrus or strawberries. This Spring Asparagus Pasta is a simple weeknight dinner that feels both light and comforting. Seasonal produce is fresher, more flavorful, and an easy way to naturally boost vitamins and fiber. Plus, seasonal produce is more affordable than other items in the produce section.
- Use fresh herbs to brighten up your dishes. Fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, mint, or dill can instantly upgrade simple meals without extra salt or heavy sauces. Sprinkle them on salads, roasted veggies, eggs, soups, or grain bowls for a burst of spring flavor. Cilantro is the perfect finish to this Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potato, while herbs are blended into cottage cheese in this Herby Cottage Cheese Toast with Tomato recipe for a pop of fresh flavor.
- Shift from heavy comfort meals to balanced plates. As the weather warms up, it’s time to move away from heavy comfort foods and embrace lightened up spring dishes. Build plates with a mix of lean protein, whole grains or starchy veggies, and plenty of colorful produce. Think roasted veggie grain bowls, hearty salads like this BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad, or simple stir-fries instead of creamy casseroles or heavy stews.
Spring Clean Your Mindset with This Mental Health Exercise
Yes, we are working to propel ourselves forward toward our health goals, but an important part of that process is slowing down and reflecting.
Getting permission not to rush in a world that feels like it’s moving faster than we can keep up is a reminder that most of us need.
Yasmine Cheyenne, start TODAY mindfulness expert
“Getting permission not to rush in a world that feels like it’s moving faster than we can keep up is a reminder that most of us need, but how often would we admit that?” says Cheyenne. “ When the to-do list feels long, and we’re trying to get everything done, we often say the opposite, disregarding how we feel, and push ourselves. Yes, we all have deadlines and things that need to be done. But we also need the reminder to take care while handling our responsibilities.”
This can be easier said than done. So Cheyenne offers up a simple exercise to help: Write down the words you need to hear each day to make yourself a priority and work toward your goals. Put them somewhere you see often, like your fridge or bathroom mirror, and recite them out loud daily.
“This is a perfect example of a reminder that seems small, but can come at the perfect time and help us care for ourselves,” she explains. “One of my favorite examples is: Take it slow and don’t rush, your nervous system deserves peace.”
“When you tell yourself the thing you’ve been needing to hear, it allows you to admit the quiet rumbling within you and take the steps you need. It might be admitting ‘I’m tired and will give myself an early night this week.’ Or you’re saying ‘I’m so proud of the way I’ve committed to moving my body everyday.’ Whether you’re cheering yourself on or reminding yourself of what you need, we don’t always slow down enough to hear what we need from ourselves, and this practice is a great way to start.”
Talking out loud to yourself may feel strange at first, but Cheyenne says over time it will help shift your mindset and translate those words into action. “When we hear ourselves recite these words, it’s like we’re planting positive seeds within us. The more we say what we need, the more we remember it, and we’re more likely to follow through and care for ourselves,” she says. “Our actions really start with the words we say to ourselves. Reading them out loud helps us rewire the way we talk to ourselves and that inner shift is exactly what opens the door to transformation.”
Join our live “Spring Reset Workshop” on March 22 to get one-on-one coaching from Yasmine Cheyenne and connect with other Start TODAY members. Sign up here!
Les Mills, the New Zealand Olympian who opened an Auckland gym in 1968 that grew into an international group fitness brand, has died aged 91, his family confirmed.
Mills, a four-time Olympic athlete and former Auckland mayor, and his wife, Colleen, founded the first Les Mills gym on Victoria Street in central Auckland after a sporting career in which he represented New Zealand in shot put and discus.
More than five decades later, Les Mills workouts are used by clubs around the world.
The business, now run by later generations of the Mills family, became internationally known for choreographed group-exercise classes set to music.
Mills’s son, Phillip, joined the business full-time in 1980, and his partner, Jackie, helped develop the music-driven group-fitness model that became central to its global expansion.
Les Mills became an international fitness brand. (Supplied: Les Mills)
Phillip Mills said in a statement that his father had achieved a great deal in his life, but the common thread was that he always wanted to help others.
“Dad was immensely strong, driven, and always cared deeply for the less advantaged,” he said.
“He left a lasting impression on everyone he met, and his spirit lives on in gym workouts around the world, continuing to help people fall in love with fitness.“
Les Mills was born Leslie Roy Mills in Auckland in 1934.
He competed at four Olympic Games from 1960 to 1972 and won five Commonwealth Games medals, including discus gold at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
Move into politics
He later moved into local politics and served as mayor of Auckland from 1990 to 1998.
Juliet Yates served on Auckland Council during his first term.
She told RNZ he brought others together.
“He was a very, very pleasant person to work with,” she said.
“He was really good at bringing people together and achieving things for the benefit of the city,”
she said.
“At the time, I think the achievements of the council he was mayor of were benefiting the whole of the city.”
He also remained active in sport as a coach, helping guide New Zealand discus thrower Beatrice Faumuina to the world title in 1997 and Commonwealth Games gold in 1998.
Les Mills was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1973 for services to sport and a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002 for services to local government and sport.
Reuters
Chester County has an elaborate new outdoor gym, installed as part of a national campaign to encourage exercise and combat obesity.
The infrastructure is called a Fitness Court and it features seven stations that enable people to get a workout in seven minutes.
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The Fitness Court was funded by Independence Blue Cross as part of the National Fitness Campaign. The $100 million initiative will work in collaboration with schools and municipalities to build 5,000 outdoor gyms across the country by 2030.
“By investing in accessible, welcoming spaces like this, we’re helping remove barriers to healthier lifestyles and ensuring more residents across Chester County have opportunities to stay active and connected close to home,” Marian Moskowitz, vice chair of the Chester County Board of Commissioners, said in a statement.
Last year, approximately 37% of the people in the United States were obese, down slightly from a record-high of nearly 40% in 2022, a recent Gallup poll reports. The drop is due in part to the rise in GLP-1 weight-loss medications. More than 34% of adults and more than 15% of children in Pennsylvania are obese, according to statistics from the Obesity Action Network, a national nonprofit advocacy group.
Obesity is a chronic condition that increases the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and other serious health issues.
The Fitness Court is located at Charlestown Township Park, which already had play structures, basketball courts, picnic pavilions and a one-mile paved trail. The new outdoor gym is designed for people 14 and older and adaptable to different fitness levels.
People can use the Fitness Court app for workout challenges and metrics to help people track their exercise goals and outcomes.
Horsham Township in Montgomery County also has a Fitness Court at Lukens Park at 540 Dresher Road.
Other municipalities, schools and organizations throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania that own accessible public space may apply for grants to help build Fitness Courts, according to IBX.
InnerCity Weightlifting volunteers find a sense of fulfillment by helping clients improve their fitness.
When people think about treating or managing their mental health, therapy, journaling and reading are often among the first solutions that come to mind. While those are all valuable tools, one of the most effective outlets is often overlooked: physical fitness.
At the Lift US Foundation, based in Oakland, leaders emphasize the mental benefits of exercise for adolescents through a strength-training-focused approach. Through its partnership with the NBA Foundation, the organization has expanded its efforts to empower young people and, as founder Mike Jenkins describes it, “create superheroes.”
“The need in the community is very foundational about strength and health in general, physical and mental,” Jenkins said. “I locked in on a term I like to call generational health, and what that means is the young people in our program become the healthiest in their families, and they take those values going forward in their own.”
As for InnerCity Weightlifting, which is based in Boston and Chicago, the organization uses personal training to help people affected by systemic barriers and past challenges build a new path forward. The nonprofit helps individuals with histories of gang involvement earn personal training certifications before connecting them with paying clients.
Though some people may not want to pursue personal training full-time, ICW still provides them with fitness tools they can carry throughout life while also helping guide their next steps into the workforce.
“Learn how to work out safely, learn how to give your friends a workout and then tell us what you need, what kind of jobs you’re interested in, what’s holding you back from some stability,” said ICW’s head of development Ian Kilpatrick.
Fitness to opportunity
From the ground up, Lift US focuses on teaching young people how to understand their bodies through fitness, nutrition education, counseling, mentorship and mental health support, all while helping them develop a future-focused mindset beyond the program.
Seeing a program participant progress through each phase and ultimately succeed is Lift US’s ultimate goal.
Rucker Johnson Jr. joined the organization at age 10 with a passion for science, art and drawing. Over time, he developed a love for weightlifting as well, eventually earning a spot on Team USA and setting his sights on representing the country at the 2028 Olympic Games.
“A complete human. A complete person, physically strong, mentally strong, academically strong, and not relying on getting a football or baseball scholarship. They are just doing it to empower themselves,” Jenkins said.
Johnson Jr. also branched out to the Hidden Genius Project, an Oakland-based nonprofit that trains and mentors young Black men in technology, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The organization has partnered with the NBA Foundation for several years.
Job pathways beyond fitness
As mentioned before, ICW ultimately helps place participants into jobs even outside the fitness industry, with their interactions with clients playing a key role.
The organization has seen numerous trainers transition into different industries simply by networking and performing well with the people they train. “We had guys get jobs at Toyota because a training client was a manager at Toyota, we’ve had a client start a dog grooming business and hire her trainer as one of the first employees,” said Kilpatrick.
The organization also builds partnerships with corporations such as UPS and Home Depot to streamline job pathways for participants.
Looking ahead, ICW is also focusing on creating more in-house managerial roles for participants who may not want to become full-fledged trainers. Either way, the organization provides volunteers with a sense of belonging and direction that helps them rebuild stability in their lives.
At their core, both organizations aim to build belonging and long-term success through fitness, which is a great place to start.
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