Fitness Friday! Sexy Arms For that Amazing Wedding Dress with Kimberlee

Beautiful Bride Prep- Nutrition Tracking Basics & Upper Body Blast

Fitness Pro: Kimberlee Marino

Hello Brides! First, please allow me to tell you a little about myself. My name is Kimberlee Marino. I recently got married and had the immense pleasure of working with Amber J Photography. It was the best day of my life and I owe a huge thank you to Amber and Shelly for making it such a wonderful experience.

Professionally, I am a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Life Coach, Group Exercise Instructor including Les Mills BodyCombat & CX Worx and Spin, and Certified TRX TEAM Coach. 
I currently work at Best Fitness, 911 Central Ave Albany, NY and have many clients who are getting ready for their weddings. I love helping people get to their goals. It’s so rewarding to see how hard work pays off for my clients’ as they look and feel better every day!

Ok, now on to you, you gorgeous bride-to-be! Does your dress show off a little upper body? Whether you have straps or are going for a fully strapless dress, you want to feel and look your best on your big day. Following some simple guidelines and putting in a little hard work can get you arms to be proud to put on display.

There are two parts that go into this process, nutrition and exercise.

First, we can discuss nutrition. The easiest way to stay on track with healthy eating is to track your food. Just having the accountability of writing it down will make you want to chose healthier foods. There are many apps that can help you with this.
You just have to set your calorie intake by calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate here http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/. Keep your calorie intake slightly below your BMR if you want to reduce your body fat percent. The apps typically track how many grams of carbohydrates, protein, and fats you eat. A healthy range to stay in is 40%carbs/ 30%protein/30%healthy fats. That way you know how to make healthy choices and eat the right balance of foods. OK, don’t get overwhelmed with all this. As long as you are
 choosing healthy foods and eating lots of veggies and not a lot of packaged foods, you should be heading in the right direction.

Now, let’s talk photo worthy arms. This is where the real fun starts! You can do this workout 1-2 times per week and watch that upper body transform.You won’t be able to stop checking out those sleek, sexy arms!


As far as which weight to chose for each exercise, you don’t want it to be so heavy that you can’t complete 12 reps but not so light that you can do more than 15. Your goal is to perform each exercise with really good form. You always want to keep your abs tight and your spine in neutral (flat back). The best way to make your time working out effective is to practice good form so you get the full benefit!

Dumbbell Bent Over Row 12-15 reps
Biceps Curl 12-15 reps
rest 30 seconds, repeat 3x

Dumbbell Bent Over Row

Bicep Curl

Dumbbell Chest Press 12-15 reps

Arnold Press 12-15 reps

rest 30 seconds, repeat 3x

 Dumbbell press

Arnold Press

Skull Crusher 12-15 reps

Plank-ups 12 reps, alternating hands

rest 30 seconds, repeat 3x

Skull Crusher

 Plank Ups

Every Wedding Is Different, Stop Comparing

Comparison. The great destruction of confidence, love and security.   It's not just for weddings, it's life.  The invention of Facebook gave us a front row seat to the art and destruction of comparison.  We may not even realize we do it sometimes, but stop and listen, I bet we all do it more that we think we do.

For you beautiful wedding couples about to get married this year.  Stop comparing.  Your wedding is special because it's yours.  That may sound cliche, but it's true.

This will not be a drawn out lengthy post about wedding day do's and don't, but I want to pass along this beautiful piece of advice from someone I was talking to this week.  She is someone who has spoken into my life more than she probably realizes!

"I always want to see couples spend more time getting ready for their marriage than getting ready for their wedding day.  The wedding day is gone in just one day, the marriage is what they have left"

Spend some fun time together in the month leading up to your wedding where you aren't really focused on the wedding planning.  Just enjoy each other for a few moments before you starting combing through the guest list once again :)

xo
Amber and Shelly

21 Amazing Reasons To Come Visit For Your Portraits and Weddings {Featuring Photographer Caleb Jacobus}

There is a reason Upstate NY is one of the most beautiful destinations for weddings and portrait work. This year alone we have had the chance to work with couples from India, England, Paris, NYC and California who have traveled here to get married or be photographed with their family. Of course we have many local clients who know when they have a good thing!
When you own your own business, you can go anywhere. It's freeing and terrifying all at the same time. However, when I saw the work of Caleb Jacobus, I realized he was telling the story I so wanted people to hear and know. Instead of writing out all the reasons Upstate NY, Schoharie County and quaint little Middleburgh feature some of the best locations EVER,  I thought I would let Caleb show in you in some of his work. Of course, there are many more reasons and I will probably stalk him again to feature more work. For now, enjoy the very reasons I live and work right here and why you should probably come here too.
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oh hey....there's my studio :)

Need I say more?