People always ask what a day in the life of a fitness instructor is like.  When I lived across the street from the gym I owned in NYC, I would constantly run into members at the most inopportune times.  And they always wanted fitness advice.  At 6am on a walk with Pinot, when my eyes were barely open, hair and teeth unbrushed, I looked up to see a woman waving frantically at me and asking how to get rid of her “bingo arms” – ie triceps fat.

Umm okay – do you want me to drop in the dirty street and show you some exercises with my morning breath and my dog pooping next to your foot?

I had another woman chase me down in the grocery store and start looking through my basket saying, I want to eat everything you eat so I can look just like you!  She was a 5′ 8″ Caucasian woman with blonde hair.  I don’t think eating any amount of the same food I eat will somehow transform her into a 5′ 2″ Taiwanese woman with black hair.  Just saying.

Yes, that is a bag of cookies in my basket.

Well, if she wants to eat everything I eat, then she has to do everything I do.  Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the life of a fitness instructor (a Saturday as it happens).  Warning: if you had preconceived notions of what a fitness instructor eats or does all day, you may become disillusioned by what you are about to read.  Warning #2:  This is more of a disclaimer.  I am not recommending that you have to do everything I do in order to stay fit.

7:30am – Rise and Shine.  Time to take the dogs out.  I am their hop-on hop-off bus to get down the stairs.  Lokie can go down by herself but since she sees Pinot getting carried down, she waits for me to come back up and give her a ride too. (Hint:  stairs are a great source of cardio activity.  Try going up and down 10 times and see if your heart rate doesn’t go up).

8am – Breakfast time.  I eat the strangest things for breakfast.  Today it is leftover homemade pizza with fresh mozzarella, kale (from our garden), peppers, onions, mushrooms and turkey bacon on top and a cup of coffee.  Oh, and some fruit.

8:30am –  Check on my garden, then time to put together a playlist and plan the class I am about to teach.  Lokie likes to give me ideas of what to torture the class with.  So class, you can thank Lokie for some of the things I make you do.   Dressed and out the door by 10am.

10:30am – Ready to teach my cardio sculpt class.  I teach the best group of women ever at Apogee Fitness and Wellness.  Here are some of the awesome ladies in my class.  Can you find my mom?

12pm – Home again and now I’m starving.  I put together a lunch of shrimp with zucchini, tomatoes and basil from our garden and corn.  I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I love the Pioneer Woman.  I am addicted to the Pioneer Woman.  I am in love with the Pioneer Woman (sorry Jim).

1pm – Time for an after lunch walk with the dogs.

1:30pm – I have to fill an order for my etsy shop Pinot by Lyn and am also designing a new shoulder bag so it’s sewing time.

3:30pm – Jim and I decided to clear out the creek next to our house that runs into the lake.  We cleared a lot of the debris left by a recent storm as well as moved rocks to help stop erosion.

I thought I could move the big rocks by myself.  I kept repeating – Lift from the legs, not the back.  Lift from the legs not the back.  Lift from the legs … but despite how many times I repeated this, I couldn’t get the big ones to move.  Jim just smiled and shook his head (But don’t forget my chant when lifting heavy things – lift from the legs, not the back).

5pm – Whew, clearing creeks and moving rocks is hard work!  We found some leftover spinach dip from a recent get-together and chowed down with chips.  No, this is not fat-free dip.  This is spinach dip made from cream cheese, sour cream, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

6pm – Time for our evening walk with our neighborhood dog walking group, the Woof Pack, started by my friend Stacy.  Pinot likes to be the alpha dog and lead all the dogs, most of whom are much bigger than she is.

7pm – Dinner time!  Can you tell I love food?  We decided to BBQ tonight.  We marinated chicken in Soy Vay teriyaki and added fresh garlic and ginger.  We love this marinade.  It’s great with anything, including skirt steak, shrimp and veggies.

With the chicken, we grilled peppers from our garden, onions and mushrooms.  And corn on the cob, made Taiwanese street food style.  Nothing beats a great meal made with fresh food on our deck overlooking the lake after a productive day.  Except maybe some ice cream to top it off.

8:30pm – After watering the garden and then working a bit more on the purses, it’s time to relax with a nice glass of wine and watch TV with Jim and the dogs.

People always assume I eat nothing but steamed vegetables and chicken or fish.  But as you can see, I eat a variety of healthy fresh food, but also indulge in some not so healthy but yummy food.  I believe in “everything in moderation.”  I am lucky that I love to move and am constantly doing something physical because I love food so much.  If I didn’t move as much as I do, then I would have to change my eating habits.  I’ve found a good balance in what I eat versus what I do all day long and it works for my body.  Every person is different and it’s just a matter of finding the right balance for your life.

11pm – ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz (that’s Jim and Lokie snoring.  Pinot and I don’t snore).  Sleep is good.  Sleep is important.  Good night.  See you tomorrow.