Fitness Files: Erica Ziel

Erica Ziel

Being a fan of healthy food makeovers myself I was intrigued to learn about Erica Ziel’s lunch makeovers! Erica has contributed to articles in Fit Pregnancy, The Huffington Post, and Web MD to name a few.  As a Certified Personal Trainer, Pilates Instructor, Nutritionist and “Mom of 3″ Erica helps her clients attain a fit, flourishing lifestyle. Continue reading to learn more about Erica and how she maintains a healthy lifestyle.  

NMFIT: Has fitness always been a major part of your life or was there a catalyst/point in your life when you made it more of a focus and priority?

EZ: I always played sports when I was younger but had bad knees so would end up injured half way through every sport season. Finally we figured out what was wrong and strengthening my legs was exactly what I needed to end the chronic knee pain I had experienced since kindergarten. Through learning how to initially lift weights properly from my high school strength and conditioning coach I decided I wanted to pursue fitness as a career and attended Iowa State University and majored in Kinesiology and Health. From there I went on to dive deeper into Pilates and pre/postnatal training.

NMFIT: What are a few of your go-to healthy snacks/drinks that help keep you on the straight and narrow?

EZ: 1) I always eat 3 eggs (and sometimes with avocado) for breakfast and coffee, I've been doing that for over 10 years now.
2) I always have water with me and I drink kombucha almost every day.
3) I eat dark chocolate every day, yup that's right, every day - it keeps me satisfied plus if you find the good dark chocolate it's high in fiber and protein and has very little sugar.
4) Nut butters - because they are high in fat that keep you satisfied so you don't crash later in the day and cave.

NMFIT: At Nadia Murdock Fit our motto is “Train Your Mind, Change Your Body” so we must ask: How do you train your mind and stay motivated?

EZ: You say it well, being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle really is mental - you have to "want it", and I do. I make healthy choices because that's the life I want to live (and my family too), I want to feel good. To train my mind I am constantly reading the newest research that's out there, from more of a holistic approach too, and learning new things on all aspects from nutrition, holistic living, exercise, and self-improvement - we can and should always try to continue to grow but I try to never be hard on myself when I miss a workout or enjoy a yummy treat here and there. The key is to know when it's time to get back on track. 

NMFIT: How do you change your body?  What are your fitness favorites?

EZ: For my body I love Pilates combined with weight training. You go through phases where you push harder to really see a change and then you go through more of a maintenance phase, and the cycle continues. For me to see a huge change in my body it typically means putting on a little more muscle and increasing my cardio workouts. Believe it or not I don't workout like crazy (I did pre-kids and it wasn't healthy), I workout regularly but I don't destroy my body - super intense workouts aren't my thing and if I do interval workouts they are short (10 - 30 minutes max!). That's why I love Pilates, it keep me strong but helps work out imbalances that have been created by having 3 babies, and weight training to keep/increase my muscle mass, plus I want to stay strong to keep up my very very active little ones. 

For more information visit: http://knocked-upfitness.com/ 

Nadia 

Training minds, changing bodies!

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