The good thing and bad thing about Central Park is that it is a ZOO of a meet up location.  Street entertainers, charity events, tourists, eclectic people all congregate by the USS Maine Monument.  For this reason, I am moving my FitCamp meet up spot to the water fountain in front of Ferrara Cafe.  Now, you might say 'Wait a minute.  There are two Ferrara Cafes!'.  Well, the one I am referencing is closest to Central Park South.  If you are in the right spot you should be able to see a FedEx office across the street. 

On Weekends, we will still meet at the West 63 Street Entrance to Central Park.

It feels like Summer just shoehorned it's way into the city leaving Spring somewhere on I-95. This drastic shift in temperature is challenging for everyone and since most of us can't spend all summer submersed in a cool pool of water with rubber ducks, here are some tips for handling the heat.  

1. Be mindful of the clothes you wear. Loose clothing is your best bet. It allows air to circulate and keep you cool.  Light colors are a plus.
2. Spend some time outdoors. Getting acclimated to the heat requires you to spend some time in the heat. The benefit to getting out in the heat and managing the exposure now is that the rest of the summer will seem bearable by contrast.  This will typically be okay if you are a healthy individual under 55 years old and the temperature does not soar to 95 degrees F or higher.  Every individual is different.  If you are in doubt, seek the advice of your doctor. 
3. Do drink water and cool NON alcoholic beverages liberally.  Stay away from sweet drinks too unless you just worked out.
4. Wear a Heart Rate monitor when working out outdoors. If you can wear one, you can see how hard your heart and body is working. This tool can show you are working just as hard as last week even though you are moving at a slower pace.
5. Heart rate monitors allow you to... listen to your body!  But if you don't have a Polar Heart Rate monitor you can still pay attention to clues your body gives you.

Don't ignore symptoms of discomfort in the heat; your condition can worsen resulting in a medical emergency. Signs and symptoms include:

• Muscle cramps
  
• Nausea or vomiting
  
• Weakness
  
• Headache
  
• Dizziness
  
• Confusion
  

( Note: Some medications may actually behave differently due to sun exposure and/or dehydration.)

If any of these rear their ugly head....Stop exercising!  Drink up ( H2O) and find some shade under which to cool down.

6. Try to workout with others. It makes the workout more enjoyable and safer.

Stay healthy, my friends!  And feel free to share your ideas on how to workout outdoors!

This weekend the opportunity arose to sit down with friends and the family of the off-Broadway play with Bollywood roots, Bunty Berman Presents  cast members. At the after show dinner the subject of "Why is it so hard to lose those final few pounds?"

It is because the body adjusts and adapts to the caloric shift (assuming one is using a traditional calorie deficit weight loss program).
The longer you are on it, the harder it is to lose weight.

Here is an example that will help you understand why the pounds come off slower.

When an overweight person cuts down significantly on what he eats, the body defends itself by using fewer calories. The effect can be long-lasting: If a person’s weight drops to 150 pounds from 250, significantly fewer calories must be consumed daily to stay at that weight than would be necessary if the person had never been overweight.

Even if a 170-pound person loses 20 pounds, he needs 15 percent fewer calories to maintain the new weight than someone who always weighed 150. Short of bariatric surgery, very gradual weight loss — say, no more than 20 pounds a year — may be the a way around this metabolic slowdown. This strategy gives the body and appetite a chance to adjust.

An alternative is to exercise which will increase metabolism instead of just relaying on calorie reduction to manage weight.

Another strategy is to replace some starchy foods with protein sources. This simple swap of calories makes it easier to manage weight because protein requires more calories to be broken down and used for fuel.

Strength exercises, if done properly, can also help you add or increase the muscle fibers in your body. These fibers require more calories. Effectively the muscle consumes calories that would be normally stored as fat. Thus keeping you leaner, stronger and healthier. Healthier because your body fat would be lower.

There are ways to reset or wisely manage your metabolism, but it usually requires a game plan and a dose of commitment.

Stay healthy, my friend.

Any questions please feel free to reach out to me at 212.729.4445

Chew on this for a prize!  We are all aware of the rapidly expanding presence of processed foods (and doing our best to avoid them, right?) but did you know that most processed foods are constructed from powders? 

Let me give you an example of one such common food.  See if you can guess which "fast food" venue serves up this delicious, uber processed sandwich?   Here are your hints.  The food, which can be found in almost any 4 block radius in NYC, is made up of... “55 are dry, dusty substances... [out] Of the 105 ingredients,” (according to a prominent news article).  The names of these "dry, dusty substances" sound familiar only to those who regularly read ingredient labels, names like disodium guanylate, calcium disodium EDTA, and other ingredients you probably don’t have lying around your kitchen.  Still sound yummy?!

Guess which "Fast Food" place offers this mouth-watering, savory food.  First person to submit a correct answer gets a free Roy Alexander Fitness Bootcamp session in Central Park!!!  Comment below or shoot me an email: royalexanderfit@gmail.com