Aloha Everyone!

Okay, I think I am the last person on Earth to Blog! I am so excited, this will be really fun to get to know all of you via this media. I truly appreciate all of the emails asking me, “why don’t I have a blog, where is my blog, how can I get your blog, when will I be blogging, blog, blog, blog.” Here it is and here I am!

What have I been doing? Glad you asked! For the past years, my husband and I traveled to the Riviera, Alaska, Europe, Carribean and South America. We got married in Maui at sunset in the oceanside chapel at the Grand Wailea Resort. This is the location of my very first filming of “Kiana’s Flex Appeal.” We (well, I) had 2 little girls, (FUN-full time gig right there), designed our custom dream home, started a new business, wrote 2 new fitness series, finished my custom Harley Davidson Motorcycle, just got an adorable new puppy and well – now I am blogging! Despite the fact I wrote an instructional format health & fitness book, “Kiana’s BodySculpting” (St. Martins Press, NY), my favorite way to write is as if we are sitting here talking together. So let’s talk!

I created “Kiana’s Flex Appeal” around the concept of “lifestyle fitness.” My belief is that if fitness is fun, you will be more likely to do it, if you do it, it will easily be part of your daily lifestyle. I like to have fun and I like to be fit. I don’t, however, like to waste time. I maximize my time by using time efficient exercises, time sensitive training, super sets, drop sets, tri sets, circuit training, cumulative training and meal planning.

My goal is that you will be able to take my tips and incorporate them into your daily lifestyle. I hope that my Blog will help you live your healthiest life too! Enjoy!

Living the lifestyle of health and fitness influences the choices we make throughout the day. If we are passionate about being healthy, we will make decisions that will enable to us to perform at our best. What we eat, our workout routines and the frequency of, where we go, what we wear, how we spend our leisure time and the lives of our children.

Okay, for some reason I envision your eyes rolling. Just because I had 2 babies does by NO MEANS make me any sort of expert in child rearing. I was a Guest on the Late Show CBS and in the monologue the host joked, “Why does every Celebrity who has a baby have to write a book about it?” (he wasn’t talking about me, I haven’t written a book about kids – yet). I am just saying that because I live the lifestyle of health and fitness, my kids do jump squats, push ups, love broccoli and organic squash from our garden, read the nutritional breakdowns on packaged foods and they just say “no” to sugar cereals. Okay, so the last one isn’t true, but you get the point. Seems that the role model thing is true! For my first blog, I am going to begin with 2 important health and fitness components for adults and fit kids: Exercise and Food.

Fitness Lifestyle Components:
#1 Exercise: Good news and not so good news. You have to exercise BUT I can make it doable and realistic for you. On “Kiana’s Flex Appeal” I created a special segment on “exercise, the fountain of youth.” A very popular segment. The U.S. Government recommends cardiovascular and strength training exercises. I was asked to speak on behalf of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness for FOX News Channel and discussed the importance of regular activity and strength training. Regular exercise not only strengthens your body, but your overall outlook and mental well being too! Personally, I prefer training first thing in the morning. It helps me make the best choices throughout the day.

Realistic Workouts: If the workout isn’t realistic or doable, you won’t do it. One of the favorite segments I created on Flex Appeal is “Home Gym Workouts.” I developed this segment because it is a necessity and so convenient. People can get in a complete workout using hand weights found in any local sporting goods store or weighted household items. You can exercise in the convenience and privacy of your own home, you don’t have to drive to the gym, you save $ and you can wear your college sweats. Plus you can multi task and get things done while you workout. I like to make the best use of my time. I love to multi task, as I write this blog, I am literally on the exercise bike, have the laundry and the dishwasher going and the kids watching an educational video. I may just get up and rub on some self tanner too, now that I think about it.

Variety: It is so important to vary your workout routines so that they are less “routine.” I literally change up my workouts every single time I train: machines one day, free weights the next, combination of the two, jogging, elliptical, intervals, etc. It’s a very efficient way to workout, much more fun and your body responds much better. The key point is BE ACTIVE. If you are having fun playing sports, lifting weights, doing aerobics, kickboxing, etc. do it and do it often! Exercise is cumulative, so if you can only workout 15 minutes in the morning, you can do another in the evening and you reap the benefits of 30 minutes! Household chores count too! When you clean your house, put on music, you’ll work up a sweat, enjoy a clean house and save a couplehundred bucks.

Here is a realistic total body circuit training workout I created for Kiana’s Flex Appeal. It is very efficient, you keep moving, strengthen your entire body and only need a couple sets of hand weights. Do the entire circuit once, work up to do 2-3 circuits, 3-4 times per week.

#2 Food: The next component to a healthy lifestyle is food. Meal planning is essential. You must meal plan, to avoid going to the market a zillion times. When I go to the grocery store, I mainly shop the perimeter of the store where the fresh produce, meat and dairy are located. The canned, processed and pre-packaged items are in the center and at the end. I like to think of our meals like art. Incorporate a variety of colors, textures and flavors to get the most nutrients and an visually appealing meal. Buy lean protein, fresh fish and green leafy vegetables. Whole grain breads and brown rice. Drink lots of water, it makes your skin look great and flushes toxins out of the body. I try to eat as close to nature as possible. No artificial sweetners, no complicated ingredients, the less ingredients the better. Read the nutritional breakdowns and the ingredients. More often than not, if you can’t pronounce it, don’t put it in your mouth.

Restaurants: Healthy people order differently. Did you ever see that well known scene in “When Harry Met Sally?” Um, NO not THAT scene, the “other” restaurant scene: the one where Sally is very picky, ordering everything on the side, without dressing, etc. That is me. When I eat at a restaurant, I order everything on the side, grilled or broiled fish/meat (never fried,) brown rice, black beans, whole wheat bread no butter. It is a given, it is a natural way of eating for me and my family. A few summers ago, I was in Paris, France at a beautiful restaurant and ordered in my usual healthy way. The chef actually came out to tell me what I was missing by not having the dish prepared as it should be – (with the 5 cups of butter sauce!? I think not!) Another tip to eating healthfully is to “prioritize!” My kids love french fries but we let them have some if they trade out other treats. Pick your “cheat foods” make sure it’s worth it to eat it. If you LOVE dessert but could do without the pre-meal loaf of white bread, skip it and have a little piece of dessert. Prioritize.

Snacks: It is important to keep you blood sugar levels even. In other words, eat a healthful snack in between meals so you don’t get starving, grumpy or moody, and head for the vending machine or whatever is handy. Outsmart yourself. I keep raw almonds and dried fruit handy, low fat string cheese, healthful bars, bottled water, etc . at home, in my gym bag, purse and in the car. I am literally a walking snack bar. My husband, kids and I get very irritable if we don’t eat every couple of hours so I am prepared. The snacks must be of good quality and filling to prevent a sugar high/sugar low and also to prevent unecessary tension or stress.

Preparation: Living the fitness lifestyle means preparation. Prepare foods ahead of time to make sure you have quality foods handy and not get stuck grabbing junk food because you are starving. When we would travel for Kiana’s Flex Appeal, we’d bring coolers on the airplane with skinless chicken breasts, hard boiled eggs, nuts and tons of bottled water. Can’t bring all that on the airplane now, unless you fill up on “3.4-oz container or smaller and transported in a one-quart clear, plastic, zip-top bag.”

Well, that’s it for now. Share your tips to Living the Fitness Lifestyle tips@kiana.com!

XO Kiana