My name is Gina- I’m so happy you’re here.
On this blog, I like to share some daily happenings, as well as quick, effective workouts and healthy recipes.
I started writing The Fitnessista when we were living in Valdosta, Georgia. I was in maintenance mode after losing 40 lbs, but healthy options were pretty scarce. Going to Whole Foods in Orlando was a vacation in itself, and the little things, like being able to harvest my own organic produce made me scary excited. The blog was a little way to share healthy recipes and workouts with some of my personal training clients and since the beginning, a lot has changed:
-My eating style. I started off the blog eating “diet foods” and eventually transitioned to more whole, unprocessed foods. I also experimented with pescatarianism but went back to eating chicken a couple of years later. Today I like to focus on lean protein, fruits, veggies, grains (I prefer to eat gluten-free), chocolate, wine and all the fun stuff sprinkled in.
-Our location. Since we’re military, we travel and move fairly often and are currently stationed in Tucson, AZ. If we never leave, I’ll be fine with that 
On the other hand, since we’ve had the chance to live here near my family, it doesn’t matter where they send us next. Being a military wife has its challenges (we’ve been through 3 deployments and who knows how many TDYs), but it’s exciting at the same time. Oh, and the honeymoon feeling? It never goes away.
-Our family. We started off as The Pilot (my husband, an A-10 pilot and the love of my life I met at Starbucks), Bella (our maltipoo) and myself. In January 2012, we welcomed our daughter Olivia into our family. After dreaming about her for years, meeting her and having her in our life was even better than we imagined. You can read more about our family adventures, the pregnancy, birth, and musings as a new mom over on the family page.
-My jobs. Since we move so frequently, I’ve changed jobs along with our location. I currently teach group fitness classes at a world-renowned health resort, in addition to being a full-time mom, puppy wrangler, wife and blogger.
Certifications:
AFAA-certified group fitness instructor
AFTA certified personal trainer (taking the NASM exam this winter)
Zumba licensed and ZIN member
Level 1 Raw Foods Chef (105degrees)
I try my best to respond to every comment and email I receive. If I happen to miss yours, please leave a comment on a recent post, send me a tweet or hit me up on Facebook! I apologize that I’m unable to create personalized workout training plans and provide nutritional consultations at this time. If that’s what you’re looking for, be sure to seek out the help of a local personal trainer and/or registered dietician. My workouts are designed with the average gym-going Jane in mind- if you’re injured, or just starting out, please be sure to modify/omit exercises as needed.
You can “Like” The Fitnessista on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for more updates and pictures.
Thank you so much for reading <3
Interested in sponsoring? Send me an email at fitnessistasponsor at gmail dot com for a media kit and current rates.
Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
hello my name is Jessica and i am trying to find a workout that will fit my needs, i want to have a beach body. i want to firm and tone my arms , butt, legs , abs, and the muscles firm my boobs. is there anything i can do, do i need to buy a dvd for the work out
Hi Gina,
Last week my 12 month old son was diagnosed with wheat allergies (long with a slew of others). I know nothing about what foods do or don’t have wheat in them. Knowing that you also have a wheat sensitivity, can you point me in the right direction? What foods should we be avoiding and what do you find to be good alternatives? I’m interested in your opinion, thanks so much!
-Emily
hey girl,
i’m sorry to hear your little guy has wheat allergies! brown rice is pretty much my go-to substitute for everything wheat. there are so many brown rice options out there, but definitely check bottled sauces to make sure wheat hasn’t found its way in there
Hi Gina,
I am really enjoying reading your blog about your workouts and great food. I especially like your abs routine.
My name is Melanie Strout, and I’m the Community Manager for NOW Energy Bars. My job is to create awareness and engagement with NOW Energy Bars and their social presences. By way of background, this energy bar was created by Phil Keoghan, host of the television show, The Amazing Race. As a result of following you I think our product might be of interest to you as an influencer in the fitness space.
As an influencer, I would love to offer you a few special opportunities. The first is to try our NOW Energy Bars and give you an exclusive sampling of our new Trail Bars. The Trail Bars are so new they aren’t available to the public yet, if you are willing to share your mailing address, I can send you a sample of each. In addition, I’d love to invite you to participate in an exclusive live chat event with Phil Keoghan later this month.
Please let me know if you’d be interested in participating. Thank you!
Melanie Strout
ps. If you are a fan of Phil Keoghan and The Amazing Race we would also like to share a DVD of his documentary movie The Ride. Just let us know.
Twitter:
@melaniestrout
Facebook:
melaniestarnerstrout
Hi,
I have a daughter who is struggling with anorexia. She is slowly starting to gain some weight, but she is struggling mightily. She reads your blog religiously. Is there any encouragement you can give (or advise) on adding extra calories so needed in recovery.
Thanks.
CM
Hi,
Just the fact you recognize and are trying to help her through this is incredible. I have a sister who went through the same thing while we were growing up and my mom tried many things to help but what ended up working was my mom asked my sister to help her cook in the kitchen. Slowly my sister learned about food. That veggies are good for us and filling and low is calories and lean chicken and fish make you feel good not bad. Cooking takes the fear away about food. My mom literally started her off chopping veggies. Nothing with protein and she never made comments about how this will help. Eventually it got to a point my sister started sitting at the table again and then she started eating again. She wanted to know our opinion about what she had cooked, about what she had created. She wanted to see our reactions. Since then she went to CIA or culinary institues of america and is now a certified chef
I hope this helps
Hey Gina!
I’m a Navy wife who used to live in Jax and I fell in love with your blog both because of the military wife aspect and the food aspect. Me and my husband’s palates are quite often at odds and it’s great to see how you and the Pilot make it work.
I would have emailed this to you but I can’t find your email here on the site. If it works out or works into what you were already planning or you just feel moved to; please speak out against this: http://blessedmommy.hubpages.com/hub/Lose-Up-To-10-Pounds-In-3-Days-On-The-3-Day-Diet
When I first met my husband, folks tried to suggest stuff like this. Luckily for me, my mom’s a nurse and she taught me well and so I was able to pass on good information to him. Not everyone has that and this diet just seems insane.
-aWR
Hey Gina,
We are a big fan of your blog and have been following you for a while now. We wanted to reach out to see if we can cross-market ourselves.
We are an online athletic and yoga boutique (http://www.evolvefitwear.com). Like yourself, we are super passionate about working out (and having quality, flattering clothes to do it in).
We hand pick the products we sell on our site and carry variety of sportswear brands like OmGirl, Beyond Yoga, Hyde, Onzie, Soybu, Alo, Spiritual Gangster etc.. If you want to see who we are and watch our 2 min video here’s our page: https://evolvefitwear.com/content/about-us
We would love to send you some workout clothing for you to try out and in return perhaps you could give us a shout out on your blog, facebook or twitter- in return we could of course do the same!
We could also add you to our “how-to” page (launching soon) with health/ fitness tips and tricks. Let me know if you are interested and we can chat further about building an online relationship.
If you are interested and we can discuss things further!
Hope to hear from you soon,
Nina
Nina
Gina, I’ve been an avid reader of the “The Fitnessista” for over 2 years now. I know you don’t do giveaways but a few times a year (maybe just around your blogiversary?) I’m starting a business that will launch in November that I think is right in line with your blogging approach and audience and would love to talk to you about potential sponsorships or giveaways. I don’t see an email address on your site where I can reach you. What is the best way to get in touch? You can email me at hilaryzwahlen at gmail dot com.
Thanks!
Hilary
send me an email: fitnessista at gmail dot com
giveaways and sponsored posts are pretty rare, but i’d love to hear more about your business
Hi there! I just found your blog through Iowa Girl Eats and I’m so glad I stopped by! I love your positive attitude and outlook on life. I will be sure to add you to my reader from now on! Thanks
thank you so much chelsea- nice to meet you!
Hi Gina
Just found your blog and LOVE IT! ♥ I’d really like to subscribe via email, but don’t see it as an option or else I overlooked it. Can you hook me up? ;o)
Thanks so much Gina!
Beth
I have been researching fitness/wellness blogs and found yours to be really interesting. I am contacting you to let you know about a new site we are launching this week, http://www.thefitit.com/. This will be the first site of its kind – a multi-faceted, centralized forum for fitness enthusiasts and professionals.
TheFitIt.com provides a better focus to peruse images, websites, blogs, and fitness tools with a ‘Move It’ button, similar to pinning with Pinterest. With thoughtful fitness related categories, you can look through favorite fitness attire without searching a general fitness category. If specialized workouts are what you’re interested in, preview the board and ‘Move It’ on to your own desired Move Board for easy accessibility. If you follow your favorite fitness gurus on Facebook and you want to pin or ‘Move It’ on to your Move Board, TheFitIt.com allows you to do just that. Boards are invaluable for organizing images for inspiration, tracking details, or envisioning what the future can hold for your fitness goals.
The next phase of our site will be the adjunct of a variety of tools/applications that will facilitate or improve your fitness journey experience – these applications are currently in development, but will eventually add expanded value to the site.
I’d like you to share the details about The Fit It on your site – in exchange, we will offer you one year of free advertising on our site.
Please contact me at heather@thefitit.com if you are interested in the advertising opportunity, or have any questions or comments.
Regards,
Heather Vollmers McGraw
952-270-6163
Please contact me to request a media/advertising kit for TheFitIt.Com.
Hi Gina,
I’ve been following your blog for awhile now and I love it….I’m just curious do you ever do any personal training online instead of just in person?
Thanks!
Meg
hi meg,
thank you for reading! sorry i don’t :/ hope you can find a trainer you love in your area!
I love your blog and you! I am also a military wife (AF), and I know what it’s like to find yourself in an area where the healthiest restaurant is smothering everything in cheese and the area itself is so not workout friendly (no sidewalks!?!). Anyway, great articles, great recipes. I love eating veggies and healthy, and my hubby loves meat and taters. Oy. Happy to see other active mil. wives who work toward a healthy lifestyle instead of complaining about where they are and blaming their double-digits sizes on the area!
Hi Gina,
I am a big fan of your blog and I’m interested in breaking into the fitness teaching industry. What type of job do you have? It seems like its almost like you have a full time teaching gig at a gym but I wanted to know for sure!
Thank you and keep up the motivating and educational posts!!
Kim
Great blog! I’m semi-comatose on the Face Book, on my girlfriend’s laptop, and I noticed she’s got you faved, so I read some posts. Even though we live in Europe, we can totally relate to your family, and your situation. We both love to cook, but she’s got a lot of quirky dietary preferences, and I eat whatever’s stupid enough to lie down in front of me, even better if it used to walk around mooing, and she’s an instructor at a gym near the army base, too. Although you’ve got more crazy sounding classes than she has to hold, hahaha
Cheers!
I wanted to buy your zumba video you have, but before I buy it I want to know if the music is actually latin music. I have bought videos before and the music is horrible! Thanks!
Hi Gina,
i found your blog through an old Cleo magazine, i had ripped out the page about your blog and saved it for a rainy day, well, i guess its that rainy day:) so excited to read your blog! I’m getting into a fitness schedule slowly but surely…started gym and I’m loving it! so reading your blog is going to keep me motivated! I’m also moving into my own place so the cooking tips will be beneficial!
thanks so much, so far, love your blog!!!
Candice
Hey Gina! I love your website! I see that you like to juice; what do you think about Naked juices? I often will drink the Green Machine as part of my lunch and wondered what you thought about it nutritionally. Thanks for any input.
hey i love them! i think they’re a little bit of a sugar bomb, though, so i’ll drink half (which is one serving) and save the other half for the next day
Hi Gina! I absolutely love your blog. Love it even more now that I am 14 weeks pregnant; it’s great to read about your experiences with pregnancy and parenting. I had a fashion-based question. If you can recall, what style Lululemon pants are you wearing in one of the pics on the BOB revolution SE review post? http://fitnessista.com/2012/09/review-of-the-bob-revolution-se/ The purple ones when you are pushing Liv in the stroller around town? Thanks so much!!!!
thank you so much, michele!
they’re the studio pants… i have 5 pairs now- they’re my absolute favorite xoxo
Any particular workout pants/shorts you prefer that hide sweat and any extra flaws? I have a problem with some of the nice workout pants being a tad bit too thin! Thanks!
Gina:
I have been following your blog for about 2 years now. I love it and really like your attitude and approach to fun, fitness, food and family. I have created a daily journal/calendar that I think you might like. Its called “Keeping it Together – A Girls Guide to Living Life to the Fullest”. Would you consider emailing me directly so I can send you a copy? I am not requesting a review or anything – just trying to spread some good karma and help all the gals I love make 2013 their best year yet!
Thanks!
Jessica Locke, R.D.
Love the updated About page!
thank you!
Hello Gina!
I learned about your blog from Cathy Trails and I must say I made a very good choice by taking Cathy’s suggestion and visiting your blog. You seem like hell of a fun and organised person who’s living her life in delightful and healthy ways. Hope to be a part of your daily adventures through your blog posts. Looking forward to a wonderful experience! Stay blessed. Keep writing
Hi Gina, I just found your blog and its really interesting thank you
You look amazing after your birth…I have scanned your blog for pregnancy exercises etc but I can’t find them…. did you post anything? I will keep hunting for them….
hi! LOVE your blog. just wondering if there was any way you can make searching previous posts easier? when i enter a search term, i can only see one blog post at a time. I wish there was a way to see a bullet list of all blog posts that contain the search term rather than having to go through post by post.
i was looking for ways to workout on vacation when there isnt a gym if you have any recommendations!
thanks!
Gina, Is there a way to recieve your posts via email vs RSS feed? Maybe I’m stupid
but I can’t find anywhere to subscribe via email on your blog.
Thanks-
Hi Gina! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now but I can’t find anywhere to subscribe via e-mail either (I see a few people have commented about the same problem). Is there something we are missing on your blog page or do you not have the option to subscribe via e-mail? Thank you for your consistently awesome workouts and blog posts! I look forward to reading everyday!
Hi there! Just want to let you know how much of an inspiration you are to me! I love reading your posts about life as a fitness guru, mother, wife, and working woman. I really hope to be as present in my everyday life as you are! For that I nominated you for the Sunshine award! Thank you so much for sharing yourself for us peoples on the interweb!
http://fitandfeistyfelipe.blogspot.com/2012/11/letter-to-my-health.html
Hi! just found your website and I’m obsessed!! I did a search and couldn’t really find anything about protein shakes. I feel like I should start drinking them, but they are intimidating!! Do you have any beginners suggestions – when you should be drinking them etc? Thanks!!
Looks like your blog got a new look! I like the new look. Very nice.
Keep up the great posts.
Hi! Love your blog. I just read the entry where you spilled the salad dressing in your car…all you need to do is put a bunch of orange peels in the car! Orange peels will soak up any disgusting odor. We used to throw them in our son’s room when it smelled like a gym sock.
Whenever we eat oranges we just leave the peels on the kitchen counter for a while, it makes the house smell really nice!
julie
Hi this is my first time visiting and i look foward to following your fitness journey. I have a question about energy and motivation. I want to shed some weight and get fit and tone. I i have the knowledge i need to get there but i am really struggling to find the energy to get up and start working out i honestly dont think its laziness i have a history of anemia and supplementing with iron or b12 injections do not work for me. Any tips you can give me? I also am a stay at home mom with 4 daughters on a budget so a gym membership is not an option. Thanks in anticipation
Hi Gina! I’ve been a follower for a long time and remember a few posts you did back when you were first pregnant that mentioned the foods your midwife recommended you eat while trying to get pregnant and during pregnancy. Do you have more info on that or is there a link to a post with that information? Thank you!!!
Seriously love your blog. I’ve been reading and following you for more than a year…and I absolutely love it. Your enthusiasm on family, life and health is inspiring…and motivates me! So thank you!! Keep them coming. Definitely a loyal fan!!!
Just found your blog – love it. I’m a big Turbo fan, too.
Hi Gina,
This is my first time visiting your blog and I LOVE it! I’ve also worked as a trainer, have a maltese poodle (Gabriella ♥ ) and (was) in a long-term relationship with a man in the military
I really want to receive email notifications of your new posts… but I can’t find anywhere to subscribe (I’m probably looking right at the button and just not seeing it!) ..If you could, let me know where I can subscribe! Thanks so much! ♥
hi jessica,
so cool to hear from a fellow trainer and maltipoo mama 
nice to meet you
here’s the subscribe info: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheFitnessista
..got it! thx so much! hope you enjoy your weekend!
Hi, I stumbled upon your blog while mindlessly pinning and just completely related to all your pregnancy posts.
I’m in my second trimester and find it SO hard to stay motivated with just the right shoes and time — I read your belly band post and the others that followed that and just got so motivated!
I’m sure you hear this a lot, but it’s really neat that there’s someone out there who had the same struggles I am having and is not making fun of me for wanting to stay fit. Thank you for your ideas and inspiration – pregnancy and post pregnancy!
Hi! Found you via Blush, Bows and Tangelos! I’m your newest follower and am LOVING exploring your blog!
Hi Gina,
I’ve been following your blog for about 3 years now and love it! My husband and I are currently in Hawaii visiting a friend who so happens to be an A-10 pilot. He mentioned something about moving to Tucson and it made me think of you. When I asked him if he knew “the pilot”, he wasn’t sure at first, until I showed him a photo of you guys from your blog. Immediately he knew who you were and I was completely shocked…it is a small world. My friend is Buddy Joca and he says hi : ).
Thanks,
Jen
OMG. buddy! i knew him when he was here for the b course! such a small world. that is so cool that he’ll be here in tucson again too
xoxo
I’m not sure if he will be moving there, but it is one of the options…military life. My hubs is in the Coast Guard, so we know the moving around all to well.
it’s awful and awesome at the same time :/
Hi Gina,
I have a four-year-old son and I have made a resolution to involve him in one community service project a month in 2013. I want to make a care package for the troops with him this month. I have seen quite a few websites that explain where to send the package. What I’d like to know from you is if you know a reliable organization, and what is it that the troops really like in their care packages? We may invite some of his friends over to help us, too. Packages from home, any soldier, and give 2 the troops are three websites I have found. has Tom had any experience with any of them?
Thanks!
i love this idea so much.
i asked tom and he suggested the USO. some ideas: magazines, gum, homemade treats, homemade trail mix, joke toys (like little nerd guns), they also love DVDs and video games (i’ll get the super inexpensive ones at target or walmart in case they don’t make it there)
Hello Gina
I’ve followed your blog for a while now, trying some workout and always getting to tired and quitting. Through most of my life I was denying being fat. I always thought I was just a little larger than everyone else, but now fat. Well now I’ve finally realized I’m just plain old fat. I want to make a change for myself, I have in the past but always failed due to workouts beginning to difficult and that got me discourage thinking I will always be this size. Well since discovering that we are going on a cruise in 8 months, I’ve decided I want to lose weight and actually feel in the clothing I wear. I want to feel confident in a short dress and not have to worry about my cellulite showing or my thighs rubbing together. I’ve never been able to wear jeans because I’m so self conscious. Right about now in my life I have no self esteem. I’m 20 I’m 5’6’’ and I weight a whopping 185 pounds. My GOAL is to lose 40 pounds in 8 months, is that possible? But I have a dilemma right now. I recently had surgery on my foot and can’t do any exercise till the end of the month. So I’ve come up with a meal plan I can start to follow to jump start my weight loss without exercise, this is where you come in. I’m wondering if this is a good meal plan or not. Here is goes:
Breakfast
Meal #1 at 9 AM English Muffin with Peanut Butter
Lunch
Meal #2 at 12 PM 1 cup of Vegetable based soup with pepper slices and cucumbers
Snack
Meal #3 at 3 PM baby bell cheese or a yogurt
Dinner
Meal #5 at 6 PM– Large Salad with veggies, a chicken breast or a packet of garden rice that is 2.5 grams fat and only about 160 calories or ¼ the package
Snack
Meal #6 at 9 PM–Yogurt or Air Popped Popcorn
Does this seem like it was start my weightloss while I cant exercise? And do you have any tips for my meal plan? Thanks so much. Oh and Happy New Year to you, Olivia, and Pilot
hey girl,
thank you so much for reading <3
#1 goal for you: to stop saying you’re fat. fat is a state of mind and has nothing to do with body shape. think about how you want to get healthier and take charge of your fitness- ditch the “f” word, mmm k??
i also think it would be beneficial to seek the help of a local rd or personal trainer. i can give you a couple of ideas, but there’s very little liability-wise that i can do from afar. i will tell you that your meal plan is way too low in calories (i guessed about 800 and you’ll need at least 1500 which will support weight loss but also keep your body from hitting starvation mode). don’t be afraid to add in more proteins and fats than what i’m seeing.
you can do amazing things in 4 months, but endeavor to make some changes you’ll be able to keep with you from now on. slow and steady wins the race. keep your head up, remember i’m cheering for you, and sending lots of love to you.
I LOVE your white dinner plates (2 pic from top.) Where are they from?
thank yoU! i think world market?
Hi there!
I have been following your blog for about two years now. I am pregnant (currently 17 weeks), and was looking for some good pregnancy workouts to follow. I see on your workouts page, you have one listed (which I love!), but I was wondering if you had any more. I know you kept in shape during your pregnancy, but can’t remember if/when you posted any workouts for pregnant women. I was just wondering if you could point me in the right direction?
Thanks so much and love your blog! You are such an inspiration to me
while i was pregnant, i didn’t really post any workouts for pregnant women. i wrote about how i changed my workouts, so hopefully that will help a little!
happy, healthy pregnancy to you
http://fitnessista.com/2011/10/how-my-workouts-have-changed-2nd-trimester/
http://fitnessista.com/2011/12/how-my-workouts-have-changed-3rd-trimester/
Hi Gina, I am 5weeks pregnant with my 3rd child but I am worried as I have a very active job now. I am also a fitness instructor teaching a wide variety of classes. I’m nervous if I should carry on or not. Any advice would be great x
Gina! It’s Nicole from the spa desk at Canyon Ranch! How are you girl?
So I was Googling how to become a certified fitness instructor with the key words “military spouse” and I got your blog! I’m over in England and I know there are a ton of certification programs that are suppose to be internationally accredited for military. I was wondering if you knew anything about them, and what program you used.
Check this recipe for Nutzo. http://glutenfreemuse.com/2010/09/19/homemade-nuttzo-pf/
shut the front door. i’m on it
Hi Gina!
I’ve been following your blog for a long time and just wanted to say how wonderful it is. I’ve been looking into protein powder lately and have narrowed it down to Sun Warrior and Garden of Life. I just wanted to know your thoughts on both (I know you love Sun Warrior…and I’m sorry if this question has been asked before!), or maybe you have other brands you can suggest that are nutritionally great, taste good, and worth the money.
Thank you
- Yin
thank you so much, yin!
i like the sun warrior because it tastes amazing and doesn’t have any weird ingredients. it’s also vegan, raw and gluten-free
i haven’t tried garden of life, but i also like the vega protein powders. they have a fun mix of plant protein (hemp, pea, cranberry, etc) and while they don’t taste quite as great (stevia and cocoa powder helps), the nutrition stats and ingredients are fantastic
hope this helps a little!
This helps a ton, thank you! <3
hi! i am planning to get the turbofire advance dvd. i was wonderin if i can jump straight to the advance workout dvd without doing the regular turbofire? i finished insanity and am lookin for a workout that is not as intense as insanity
Hi Gina,
I just love your website and your tips with workouts. I love to do the tabata ones you post in particular but wonder if it is at all possible for the videos you’ve made to be on one list/page? I have found that as I am looking for the videos to do I cannot get to them very easily? I know you are so busy, but I just wondered if maybe somewhere down the road that could be an option? Unless maybe I’ve missed something somewhere you may have already something like that on your site but I just can’t seem to find it….let me know whenever you can!
Awesome 1st b-day party too! What a special family you have!
Good afternoon! I just stumbled on your website via eatinglikeabird on twitter. And I’m so glad I did. I am newly a clean eating, health nut convert thanks to a dairy allergy that I self diagnosed.
But I was an army wife (my husband did 5 years active duty, 2 deployments, 1 major change of duty and now is in school). And we also met at Starbucks, which I thought was a cool coincidence.
I can’t wait to dig more into your site!
Hi! I just found your blog yesterday and I just wanted to say how awesome you are for being a military wife. My husband was an air traffic controller (did LOTS of controlling in the middle east) in the USAF for 6 years. He is out now but those deployments are so hard! Stay stong, you are amazing!
ps wouldn’t it be funny if our husbands had deployed together?
chances are that they were! nice to meet you
xoxo
I’m in the military and so is my husband…I completely understand your life! Is there anyway to receive your blog via email??