Hi Fusers! Happy Friday :) Hope your weeks have been good so far....the weekend is here!

Here's what we're looking forward to this weekend:

1) Giant's game tonight!!! Pascha and I are HUGE Giants fans, to the point that we'll cancel work, clients, drop everything to watch our beloved boys in orange and black in the World Series. You'll find us together tonight with our kids and friends, hooting and hollering, hoping to see our boys clinch the third game.

2) Halloween party tomorrow night! We'll be celebrating Halloween at my husband's super awesome nightclub, The Night Light, in Jack London Square on Saturday evening. The kids will be tucked away at home, and us grown-ups will be getting our party on!! All are welcome, come on out to see what Pascha and I will be dressed up as!!

3) Colusa Circle Halloween event Sunday! Our little community here on the Colusa Circle will be hosting a Halloween event for the kiddos from 10-1pm. Our studio will be making a kid's obstacle course and giving out Spooky Punch, while the other small businesses will be hosting their own kids' activities. Always a good time, come on out and visit us!!

It's been a great week here, we spent all last weekend re-organizing our studio and the feedback has been great! Clients are loving the new feel of our studio, which is awesome. So grateful to Beverly and Josh for helping us out last Sunday.

And lastly, here's a roundup of all that we shared and were inspired by this week:

Monday Motivation

Tuesday Tips of the Week "12 Counterintuitive Health Tips that Really Work"

Wednesday Workout!

Tabata Core 20/10 x 8 A) Hollow rocks B) Superman

AMRAP-12 minutes 1. 10 Scapular push ups 2. 10 squat jumps 3. 6 Foward/reverse lunges per side 4. Suicide sprints

Thursday "Multitasking Damages Your Brain and Career, New Studies Suggest"

Foodie Friday "8 Comforting Paleo Turkey Chilis"

Have a great weekend!!

Yours in Health,

Kristin at The Fuse Fitness

Hi friends :) First off, I want to wish my wonderful friend and business partner Pascha a very happy birthday! This has been a wonderful and crazy last few months, and I'm so very grateful to be doing this with you :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I did :)

Mine started with an awesome morning Monkey Ninja Bootcamp--shout out to Beverly, Damon, Josh, Kristin, Lashunda, Kattt, Beth, Noa, Rebecca, Joanne, Daniela, and Samantha. We jumped, lunged, chopped, crawled and sweated our way through an intense calorie and fat burning workout--no guilt eating later for us :)

Afterward, I joined my family at my parents' house--we had a small gathering this year, my parents, my husband Doug, my lil' bro Jase, and my step-daughter Ava. Major props to my mom who had been cooking and preparing food for a couple days. I joined in helping her as soon as I arrived. My main contributions were a pumpkin pie and preparing and cooking the green beans and brussel sprouts.

A few pics of some of our food....

Lastly, I'd like to share a few things I'm thankful for, as well as some of the things my family is thankful for (we shared what we were thankful for during dinner)....

1. My family--there is nothing more important to me than my family. I appreciate how close we all our and how accepting everyone is. We are notorious for always having a good time, filled with laughter, joking around, lots of food and drinks.....my friends love coming over for celebrations because my family is just that fun.

2. According to Ava, my 10 year old step-daughter--"I'm thankful for my family, my friends, my pets and the planet Earth." Well said little one, and well rehearsed. Her response, "I know, we had to recite this in class."

Luckily for her, when she recited what she's thankful for, she had no idea what was coming. Something else to add to the list--dessert :)

3. My mom told a touching story about seeing a woman at the grocery store helping her daughter out of the car. She said the litte girl was probably about Ava's age and had cerebal palsy. Seeing this woman made her feel very grateful for everything we have. It's not perfect, but it's plenty.

4. "Margaritas!" A little out of character, but that was my dad's response. He spoke the truth though, maybe even what we were all thinking in the back of our heads, margaritas are something to be very grateful for.

See that bottle of tequilla behind the turkey...um yeah, so we have a thing for  margaritas. We'll keep working on that bottle the rest of the weekend :)

All joking aside, I'm truly grateful for the love and support of my family and friends, for the amazing oppportunities I've had thus far in my life, for my health, and for being able to do what I love--share my views on fitness and health with all of you. Thank you for being a part of my life :)

Yours in Health,

Kristin @ The Fuse Fitness, www.thefusefitnessstudio.com

Hey everyone! Hope you had a great weekend! We had an awesome workshop at the studio this weekend--our wonderful yoga instructor Tia did an amazing workshop called Unwind, Unknot and De-stress. Wow, it was really good! If you missed it this time around you really should come to the next one she does--I think we'll bring her back in late winter/early spring. I'll keep you posted...

Just wanted to post this awesome video of my client and friend Ale, kicking ass doing the side to side reverse crunches on the TRX last Thursday.

[wpvideo gE9DrBvH]

Nice form Ale!

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to get into the holiday mood just a bit. I hardly even realized that Thanksgiving is just NEXT week....time really is flying by. It was brought to my attention because my youngest brother is coming into town Thursday(!!!!) and in case you couldn't tell by all the exclamation marks, I'm very excited.

I know it's a little up close....lol, sorry about that. This is the most recent picture we took, back in September when I went to visit him in NY. Isn't he cute? ;)

As many of you already know, I am just the luckiest sister in the world, because I have 3 brothers! Unfortunately I don't get to see all of them this holiday. But they all mean the world to me.

Here they all are being their awesome, dorky selves, clowning for the camera person (me!)! I'm obviously biased, but I think that's a good looking group of boys! More importantly, they are all so incredibly intelligent, inspiring, funny and so much fun to be around....I love being the only sister!

Anyway, I can't resist sharing a couple mores pic of my little bro and me....like I said, I'm ridiculously excited to see him :)

Jase, if you're reading this, get ready for lots of Mexican food, margs, laughs, cupcakes (I saved you some!), and good times! Can't wait to see you!!!

Yours in Health,

Kristin @ The Fuse Fitness, www.thefusefitnessstudio.com

Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday! Mine got off to a great start with an awesome TRX Power class--way to go Beverly, Kristy, Scott, Rebecca, Susan and Pascha!

While I wasn't able to get in a video of today's class, I was busy sweating away, here's a clip from last week's same class with a few different people. Last Wednesday I was taking a rest day....I somehow have a few ribs out of alignment (wtf?!)....so I've been trying to take a bit more rest here and there. You're probably wondering the same thing I have been....how does one go about knocking multiple ribs out of alignment without falling off a roof....I'm still working on the answer to that one :)

[wpvideo rLiCOfKC]

If you've been following my blog, you've probably started to realize that I'm a huge advocate for letting loose and having fun....all the hard work and dedication of training hard and eating healthy has to have its rewards. For me, it's about enjoying the pleasures of life while maintaining my level of fitness. However, sometimes I get carried away....this past weekend was no exception. I ended up going out to eat 4(!) nights in a row....not normal for me AT ALL. I celebrated my best friend's birthday on Friday night....here's a photo of how it went down.

Many, many margaritas :) The following 3 nights my parents were having a mini-vacation and staying in SF...and invited us to dinner 3 nights in a row. Wow, I'm one lucky girl. My parents are so much fun and we had a great weekend. Lots of food, lots of wine, lots of laughs :)

And last, I have to recap on my chronicles with my clients' pets. Here's a video of Kit....if you read my blog then you know she is having a love affair with my gym bag.

[wpvideo mN8AtWQI]

And here is a photo of Rudy, another client's pet.

....isn't he handsome? He's so sweet and despite his size vs. my size, he always tries to sit in my lap. He's definitely not a "lap dog." I'm usually covered in dog fur by the time I leave their house...and doggy kisses :)

Hope to see you all in class soon! Please feel free to leave me a comment ;)

Yours in Health,

Kristin @ The Fuse Fitness, www.thefusefitnessstudio.com

Hi friends :) Happy very almost weekend! Isn't it funny come Monday morning it seems as though the weekend will never rear its head again....and then before you know it, it's Friday afternoon! I love hearing about everyone's plans for the weekend and love to know how you spend your down time.

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm heading out to the parents' Saturday afternoon. They only live 45 minutes away, however it seems a world of difference....at least in terms of my relaxing abilities :) My Saturdays always start with a 9am client (let's me sleep in a little bit!) and then teaching my Monkey Ninja Bootcamp over at my studio, The Fuse Fitness in Kensington. I love teaching my Saturday class! Most of the people who take it have been taking it for a long time, so I can really.kick.their.asses! Love it! And for some weird reason, they keep coming back for more :) Tomorrow's workout is already planned, and it's no joke. The kind of workout that will leave everyone laying in a sweaty puddle at the end of the hour, unable to move. And even though I am up front and honest about what kind of workout we'll be doing (HARD!!) they show up anyway! Like I said, weird, huh?

After class I clean the studio from top to bottom, getting it ready for the beginning of a new week. We close down Sundays so we can all get a bit of rest. And then I'm heading to the parents', where I will get to chill (so looking forward to that, it seems like it's been a while), maybe even by the pool (we strangely get our summer weather in September and October), take a nap, *try* to cuddle with our cat (mainly chase her around and most likely get bitten by her), and go out to dinner with my parents and husband to one of our favorite restaurants, Town. I think that name is so cute...going out for a night on the Town. Anyway, they have great cocktails(!), awesome food and the atmosphere is fun and lively. And the company is wonderful :) Sunday I will get to really sleep in (woo hoo! it's been forever) but I'll probably wake up early anyway....at least I don't have to wake up to an alarm, that always makes for a great day. And if the weather is nice and warm, which it's supposed to be, I'll head out to my parents' pool with my book and probably fall asleep in the sun :) In case you couldn't tell, Sundays are my rest days and I plan on resting to the max this Sunday!

Anyway, just wanted to wish everyone a great weekend and see what you guys have planned. Partying, working, resting, exercising? Please share!

Yours in Health,

Kristin @ The Fuse Fitness www.thefusefitnessstudio.com

Hi friends! :) Hope your Thursday is getting off to a good start. The weekend is almost here! I'm looking forward to getting out of town and visiting my parents. They live in Menlo Park, about 45 minutes from me, and it's so relaxing to leave my life here and have a very mini-vacay out there. My parents are so wonderful and have always been so supportive of me and I feel so lucky to have them :) They live close enough that I can see them regularly, yet far enough away that is allows me to unplug and unwind....which is often hard to do in my own home if you know what I mean :) There's always something that needs to be done in my house that it's often a bit challenging to relax....and I could use some relaxation right now. While I wouldn't have it any other way, it is exhausting working the way Pascha and I have been since we opened our studio....teaching 8 or 9 classes a week, training clients one-on-one between 20-30 hours a week, and then running and managing our business in all our spare time. Whew!! Anyway, I'd love to hear what your plans are for the weekend....that's always my favorite stretching topic in my classes or with my clients; I enjoy hearing what people do in their free time.

As many of you already know, we hosted the "Eating Healthy On The Go" workshop last weekend. Like I mentioned in my previous blogpost, it was a great success. It was our first workshop since we've opened in June, and our goal is to host one a month. We would absolutely LOVE to hear ideas on what type of workshops you might be interested in.

Back to last weekend's workshop....Pascha and I thought it would be very informative to expand on it a bit and discuss foods that fool people. What I mean by that are foods that are marketed towards the consumer to trick them into thinking it's healthy for them. Sound confusing? It is a bit....food marketing folks have it down--they know how to suspend your disbelief and get you to buy their product. Take low-fat or non-fat, fruit flavored yogurt. Sounds healthy, right? The packaging makes sure to say in big letters on the front that it's low-fat and low-calorie. There's usually a pretty picture of some piece of fruit, representing the flavor of the yogurt. How could you go wrong, this is surely healthy for you. Well, take a look at the ingredients....sugar is usually in the top 2 or 3 ingredients. A Yopait, low-fat banana yogurt has 26 grams of sugar in it, equivalent to 6.5 teaspoons! That's a lot of unnecessary sugar that is not good for you. The best way to enjoy yogurt is to buy plain yogurt and doctor it up yourself. If it's too sour for you, add some fresh fruit and a small amount of unrefined, natural sugar, such as honey or agave. One of my favorite snacks is whole milk, Greek yogurt, mixed with sliced banana, strawberries, slivered almonds, unsweetened coconut and chia seeds. Healthy, delicious, plenty sweet because of the fruit!

Another common trap when it comes to buying food is wheat bread. We all know that we're supposed to eat whole grains, so white bread is out. But little do we know that plain wheat bread isn't much better for you. Another marketing trick which does nothing for our health. Unless the package says 100% Whole Wheat Bread, you may as well buy white bread. What's the difference you ask? White and wheat bread are made with wheat flour, which the bran and the germ have been removed through a process known as milling. Milling gives white flour a longer shelf life by removing the bran which contains oil, allowing products made with it, like white bread, the ability to survive storage. In other words, it's processed. If the product is 100% Whole Wheat Bread, it has to use whole wheat flour that hasn't been processed or stripped of its nutrients. It may not stay fresh as long on the shelf, but who really wants to eat bread that weirdly doesn't go bad for weeks?

What I want you to take away from this is that it is absolutely necessary to read the nutrition facts and not get sucked into the marketing of a product. Even more important is to check the ingredient list. If sugar is in the top 1-3 ingredients, think again. Jarred pasta sauce is often another food that fools people--it's usually loaded with added sugar. You wouldn't know until you glanced at the nutrition facts and ingredients. Also, if the ingredient list has a whole bunch of items on it that you have no clue as to what the heck they are, do you really want that going into your body? Food is what fuels and nourishes every cell in our bodies...it's important to give it things that are healthy.

I challenge you to look past packaging and key-words marketers use, such as "organic," "low-fat," and "gluten-free" and to immediately draw your eyes to what really matters....the ingredients in that food and the nutrition facts. Don't be fooled by a processed, junky snack item that says in big, bold letters on front, "Only 100 calories per serving!" It may just be 100 calories, but if it's processed and junky, it has no benefit to you or your body.

Cheers to moving past food marketing traps and forward into healthy food choices. Please share your thoughts on this topic!

Yours in Health,

The Fuse Fitness