Is a Weighted Vest the Missing Piece in Your Fitness Routine?

If you're someone who’s already committed to getting your steps in or taking recovery days seriously, you might be wondering: Do I really need to add a weighted vest to my walks?

The short answer: maybe not need, but if you're in your 40s or 50s and focused on body composition, energy, and preserving lean muscle, a weighted vest could be a game-changer.

I’ve had several of my own clients ask if they’re worth it, and here’s what I think. When used on Active Recovery days, a weighted vest adds just enough resistance to increase calorie burn and encourage strength-building, without compromising your recovery. Think of it as a way to get a bit more out of what you’re already doing.

What my clients love most:

• It boosts calorie burn during lower-intensity movement (hello, smarter fat burn)
• It improves core engagement and posture during walks or chores
• It creates a muscle-preserving, bone-loading effect that supports metabolism and long-term strength

For midlife women, this matters more than ever. Hormonal changes in our 40s and 50s often lead to muscle loss and decreased bone density. Carrying even a small amount of extra weight during movement helps counteract that, without needing to spend more time in the gym.

If you’re new to this, start with just 5 pounds. You’ll feel the difference, but it won’t slow you down. The goal isn’t to turn your walk into a workout, but to help your body work a little smarter while still recovering.

So lace up those sneakers, clip on your vest (or don’t...this still works beautifully without one), and head outside. Every small choice like this adds up, especially when your body is craving balance, not burnout.

Summer Road Trip to Newport, RI: Highlights and Adventures

We just wrapped up another fantastic summer road trip to Newport, RI, and it was everything we hoped for and more! We stayed downtown, which meant we could easily walk everywhere and soak up all the charm this beautiful little city on the sea has to offer.

We arrived around lunchtime, so we enjoyed a picnic on the lawn outside the O'Club on the Navy base, with stunning views of Narragansett Bay and the Newport Pell Bridge. We also hit up the Exchange where mrC scored some new sneakers!

After checking into the hotel we were ready to get out and about in Newport. We hopped on the free trolley to explore the Great Elephant Migration exhibit at Salve Regina University on Bellevue Ave. Stunning! Life-size Indian elephants made out of lantana camera, an invasive weed that encroaches on wildlife habitats. It started to rain, so we headed back to the hotel for cocktails before dinner.

Dinner that night was a treat at Mother Pizzeria, a new spot we tried, followed by our traditional Kilwins ice cream downtown. You can't go to Newport without having some Kilwins!

Day two was just as wonderful. We started with another trolley ride to see more elephant exhibits at Rough Point and Breakers mansions. We even saw the iconic Rough Point camels! The Breakers was charging people full price to see the elephants, so we walked around the back on the Cliff Walk to get a peek. The views were worth it!

We hopped off the trolley to have some coffee and tea at a charming shop on Bellevue Ave while people-watching. 

Lunch at the Lobster Bar was a highlight—great views of the harbor and the boats coming and going made it extra special. Afterward, we walked down Thames Street and window-shopped a bit before popping into Giusto to enjoy an afternoon cocktail on Hammetts Wharf. They did not have the same yummy appetizer as last year.

The kids joined us in the evening for dinner at Diego's on Bowen’s Wharf, where we had the best Mexican meal we've had in Newport. We wrapped up the night with drinks at Surf Club, enjoying the outdoor seating and great conversations. My brother and sister-in-law who made it to Newport also joined us!

Our final day started a bit rough after a fun night out, but we grabbed some healthy food from the hotel and met up with the kids for a sailing tradition. Since the sailboat could only take five, I stayed behind with baby Frank. We had a blast playing on the lawn, looking for shells, watching the seagulls, and spotting a baby bunny at the O'Club. We walked over three miles, soaking in the last of Newport’s beauty.

It was a trip filled with memories and fun times with family. Until next year, Newport!

15 Minutes of Fire and Breaking in New Shoes

Tuesday's workout was 15 minutes of FIRE!!

Haha, not kidding. I should have known that Head Trainer Le was going to bring the fire to her Kettlebell workout. She always does. This workout had every single muscle shaking and completely dead in 15 minutes.

There were three pods

Each pod had 2 sets

Set 1 was 3 minutes of EMOM

Set 2 was 2 minutes of endurance

Here are some screen shots of some of the moves. To see videos of my workouts, you can follow my IG stories.

OMGOSH! Those were the longest 3 minutes and 2 minutes!!

It was the toughest FASTer Way workout for me so far in 2021 and I love it!

I love being part of a program that continues to challenge me. As I told my VIP clients this week, if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. I might not have finished all the reps each time, but I know that in this program I will continue to get stronger and grow. I’m proud of that!

The weather was so much better (if you missed it, Monday I wore pants), so I was able to get in a walk for my LISS. Best part, I broke in my new shoes! I know they are running shoes and I don't run anymore, but after walking over 15 miles last week, I need shoes with cushion. This is my first pair of Brooks and I figure run happy, walk happy. Same, same.

I only had time to walk to the Lanikai Monument and back before getting home to eat and get cleaned up for client calls. The monument turn around used to be my long walk. I love going down the hill to the lava rock to look for honu (turtles) and enjoy the view. No honu today, but the view was spectacular.

Do wear different shoes for your workouts (HIIT, strength) from your running/walking?

Supersets with Tempo and a Booty Challenge

Today was our first strength training day following the new programming for July: Supersets with Tempo. We are going to be focusing on doing two exercises at a time back-to-back. One will be straight reps and the second we will vary the speed to increase the time under tension, aka max out the muscles!

I was really liking the mixed pyramid sets we were doing in June, but I know that in order to see change, we have to mix things up. That is why I love being in FASTer Way VIP. I get the perks of a personal trainer without the price!

This month we are also doing a Booty Challenge. So a couple of days a week we get bonus content to build our lower body strength. Today was day 2 and let me just say that things were on fire!

After my workout I did a cool down walk. It was a stunning day here in Hawaii with great trade winds, so I took advantage and headed toward the Lanikai Monument. This monument marks the entrance to the Lanikai neighborhood. 

The monument is my turn around spot, but I like to walk down the hill to the lava rocks and take in the view first. If you follow my Instagram stories you will see that I am here a lot! mrC and I love to sit and enjoy the breeze while looking for turtles. We came here almost everyday when the beach was closed at the beginning of the COVID quarantine.

I just love looking at the amazing view of Kailua Beach and the Kailua blue water from here. We truly are blessed to have this as our playground.

One reason I love this walk, is because it is all sidewalks and walking paths from our apartment (unless we take a side street which has very little traffic). The walking/bike path goes right through Kailua Beach park.

I spent the rest of my day working a little, chatting with my Functional Medicine Practitioner and eating! BreakFAST was one of my favorites: egg, tuna, avocado and hummus on gluten free, dairy free toast. The bread is made locally here on Oahu and is the best GF bread I've ever had.

While I was working, I had a 3 pound turkey breast cooking in the crockpot, so dinner was turkey breast, steamed broccoli and sweet potato chips. Turkey is my new chicken!

I got a bit of a game plan from the FMP today to help with my gut health and cortisol spikes. More on that in my next post.

Do you mix up your strength training workout programming or does someone do it for you?

Motivation Monday: FASTer Way 5K in Kailua, Hawaii

We moved to Hawaii over a year ago and I am still in awe over how beautiful it is. One of the first thoughts I had was, how amazing would it be to run here!

While it is a bummer that my knee can no longer handle running, that is not stopping me from logging the miles and enjoying the scenery. In fact, we have gotten into the habit of walking almost daily to the beach which is about 3 1/2 miles round trip!

For Motivation Monday, I am taking us back to November. Back in November, we officially walked a virtual 5K with the FASTer Way community for our traditional Thanksgiving Day activity. We looked for a local event to join, but there really wasn't any planned for the actual day and sadly, the ones that were did not have a walk option.

So we planned our own!

It was always so important to pick out the right run outfit, so just for fun, the night before I laid out my 5K outfit.

In true 5K fashion, we headed out early, took #walkfies along the way and logged our walk route. It was perfect!

The FASter Way 5K was part of a challenge in the FASTer Way to Fat Loss VIP community. For 5 weeks the VIP community trained together, motivated each other and supported each other. I loved that we did this as a community. The veteran runners were able to go out and do their thing, the new runners leaned on each other through the training days and for those of us that walked, we were 100% embraced and recognized for our accomplishments, too.

One thing that I have learned through all this is that you have to keep moving forward. Even when there is change or injury or whatever road block might be put in front of you, you just have to do what you can, when you can. Feel good about that. Embrace that. Focus on what you CAN do, rather than what you can't. No excuses!

Happy Monday!!

Do You Travel with One of These? + Tight Muscles

mrC makes fun of me for carrying a tennis ball in my purse when we travel. But seriously, it is a mini-massage ball, a tiny foam roller, magic for making my muscles feel better when I don't have a masseuse...or a foam roller handy.

My legs felt pretty good after my run on Saturday, but I noticed that the range of motion for my left knee felt a little tight. I can usually relieve that with a good stretch session, but zeroing in on tight spots with the tennis ball has a much better result.

While mrC went off to play work in the simulator on Sunday, I took our dirty clothes to the laundry room. I walked on the treadmill while the clothes were washing. It was a rest day, so I kept my pace moderate and the incline only on 2.

I do not put my workout clothes in the dryer, so I took them to the room to hang up and have some coffee while the rest were in the dryer.

It was a cold and blustery day ---> perfect for some chicken noodle soup. It's been awhile since I had this microwaveable Campbell's soup and I remember it tasting better than it did today.

When mrC returned and had eaten, we went for a walk. It ended up being much shorter than I wanted because it was super windy and the wind was really, really cold! We explored the center next to the hotel and found a used books/movies/music shop. I thought it was such a great idea because you can buy and sell.

Before dinner I did a yoga video ---> Travel Yoga - Revitalizing Flow (I'm trying to bring back the yoga practice). I didn't really know it until I got going, but my legs had gotten a little sore, I guess from my run on Saturday. So the short and sweet session definitely felt good!

In the picture I'm doing wide leg forward fold with a twist and wow! I could feel this stretch in all parts of my leg muscles including the outside of my ankles up to my knees. It made me think about how many tight muscles I have in my lower body - a lot more than I realize.

We ordered pizza for dinner and then mrC did some more studying while I watched tv. It was a pretty relaxing day!

What do you carry when you travel that people might find strange?
How do you spend a relaxing day?

Weekly Wrap: My Effort

It's true what they say about effort and success...

I started the day with the goal of fasting as long as I could, which I hoped would be at least a couple hours longer than my normal extended fasting window. So if I made it to 2 or 3pm, I'd call it a success.

It would all come down to effort.

First of all, I woke up hungry (which is unusual). It's like my body knew what was about to happen. Like waking up right before the alarm goes off or getting a headache when a storm is coming. Needless to say it was kind of annoying that my stomach was rumbling and I hadn't even had my first cup of coffee. Like a good carb-cycler, I ignored the feeling and went about my morning.

It was going to be another scorcher (heat warnings were predicting temperatures at 94 with feels like above 110), so after doing some chores around the apartment mrC and I took a walk. This is always a good distraction from thinking about food. We were hoping to beat the heat, but the heat had an early start.

The first part of the walk was not bad. We cut through the trees and took the shaded steps down to the beach. There are two storms brewing out in the China Sea and they're bringing pretty nasty air quality to Hong Kong, but that hasn't stopped people from braving a day at the beach.

Despite the feels like temperature of 104, we saw runners, walkers, bikers and even full tennis courts.  People around here are way more hard core than we are. There is no shade or breeze on those courts.

We did a a one mile loop and that was enough for us. The final stretch is all uphill and mostly unshaded. We hung around outside for a few minutes because living at the top of the hill has the perk of being what we call the windiest spot in DB. In other words, it's a great place to cool off, most of the time.

After the walk, I tried to distract myself with laundry and even put on one hour express teeth whitening strips, but by 12:30 I broke.

I was hungry and I knew I had left-over buffalo chicken quinoa. (Have you tried this recipe?)

I did not give 100% effort today.  I knew my 24 hour fast would not be successful and I'm ok with that. I adjusted to what would work for me, today. Carb cycling and intermittent fasting does not mean that I must do a 24 hour fast or I fail. That's why this program works for me. I can modify it to my needs and still be successful. Maybe I didn't complete my fast for as long as I originally planned. I still fasted. My body still experienced the benefits of an extended fast and that's what matters to me.
**Want more information about carb cycling and IF? Click here for FASTer Way to Fat Loss® info.

Here's a look at the rest of my workouts from the week. I think my overall effort is excellent!

Monday - Laser hair removal day - took a walk

Tuesday - took a walk

Wednesday - strength training

Thursday - Bodypump

Friday - Bodystep

Saturday - strength training

Linking up with Tricia and Holly for the Weekly Wrap!

How would you rate your effort this week?
Can you think of any other examples of when our bodies seem to know something?