
You know him, you love him, you grew up with him Pretty Little Liarsand rooting for him You: Shay Mitchell is the famous bestie we didn’t know we needed. Despite its undisputed reputation and a multi-million dollar company, It is relatable to be our best friend (he publishes himself eating pizza, so that’s something, right?). But there’s another superstar and his team helping Shay, well, Shay, and he’s becoming a celebrity in his own right.
Kelsey Heenan is a popular educator, media model, keynote speaker, and health host. Recently, he was featured in Shay Mitchell’s exercise routine (it’s like breaking a sweat with Shay for free and from the comfort of your own home). What I love most about Kelsey is not only that she has celebrity clients who are as famous as her biceps but also that her entire mission is to help people love and accept their bodies through food, nutrition, and meditation. So, since I am a healthy person, you know me add Let’s grill Kelsey for the best food and all her health tips to get your best body. Read on for nine of her best secrets to ditching the gym, eating healthy, and helping you get toned (approved by Shay-Mitchell):

Kelsey Heenan
Celebrity trainer, nutrition coach, and creator of HIIT BURN
Kelsey has been featured in publications such as Shape, Forbes Women’s Health, and Nike Training, and works with clients to improve their relationship with food, exercise, and their bodies.
1. Focus on continuous weight transfer
Between HIIT, yoga, or good old fashioned strength training, there is a lot of confusion about the best type of exercise to get stronger, but Kelsey is a big believer in emphasizing simple as well as strong increases in time, anything like that. to you. His #1 tip for clients looking to get stronger is to keep the weight on. “Over time, increase the resistance and tension you put on your muscles. A simple example of this is lifting heavy weights or increasing the flexibility of a challenging movement such as squats. and subtraction.
In other words, plan for reps and weights. When you feel comfortable with the same weight or resistance, increase a little for a greater challenge and to strengthen the muscles (but make sure it does not sacrifice to avoid injury! ). Also, be patient. Don’t start with 10 pounds and expect to be 30 pounds by the end of the week. Take a few weeks to get comfortable with 10 pounds, expand to 12 to 15 pounds for a week or two, then go to 20 pounds, etc.
2. Aim for just five minutes
Even famous trainers lack motivation. Whether it’s a busy day, a time change that makes you tired, or just a time in life where you don’t feel like going to the gym, Kelsey tells her clients that the most important thing is to just exercise. five minutes. something. “In a day and time it seems impossible to stay motivated, determined to move just five minutes,” he said. “Sit, walk, or do squats and push-ups. Once you start moving, it’s usually easy to move on. If you still don’t see it after five minutes, do it for the day. Either way, you kept your promises and did what you said you were going to do.” No, you don’t need to commit to 60 minutes of vigorous exercise a day to be healthy. You just need to commit to 5 minutes when you are not motivated.
3. Put whole foods first, and be consistent
I am a huge fan of Kelsey because even though she is a trainer and fitness expert, her approach is. can be approached. You know I’ll pick her brain for the best diet advice (because I refuse to believe that Shay Mitchell eats nothing but pizza, like her). Instagram diagram). The answer: Put all foods first, but make changes. “Prioritize the same foods for most of your meals such as meat, veggies, avocados, nuts, rice, fruits, etc., and enjoy your favorite foods every now and then,” he suggested. Your diet should not feel restrictive (that’s just a recipe for failure), and food should not be divided into two separate lists of “Eat This” and “Don’t Eat This.”
Instead, a healthy diet is a method of careful choice to train your body and mind as much as possible. Kelsey gave an example of being on vacation: If you know you’re going to hit a delicious pizza place for lunch, choose a veggie omelet for breakfast instead of French fries or split French toast at the table to have. being able to eat fewer meals but still prioritizing protein and nutritious veggies. Bottom line: Make healthy choices while allowing yourself to eat your favorite foods. “If the path to nutrition is difficult, it will always be the path to the end.”
4. Make sure you enjoy the workout
No matter what exercise you hear is best for weight loss, toning, or strength, it doesn’t matter if you don’t enjoy it enough to want to do it regularly. When you’re busy or unmotivated, you won’t do the exercises you dread or that make you tired. Although Kelsey likes strength training and HIIT, she says the best form of exercise is the one you like the most. “There are many ways of doing things; the best is the one you actually do.” You can try different types of workouts, gyms, or even playlists for your daily commute, and try new things until you find the perfect routine which you expect and like, then change when you start to get tired of the process. .
5. Find a balance of cardio and strength (that’s good for you)
As a fitness editor, I get asked all the time whether strength training or cardio is important or if you need both. For example, doing a runner of course need a day to lift weights, or do a lot of exercise of course Do you need to spend more time on the elliptical instead of just on the floor? Naturally, I asked Kelsey, and she gave me all the tea. “Everybody needs to focus and get stronger and get their heart pumping all the time, but there’s a lot of ways to do that,” he said.
Yes, everyone needs a healthy balance of both cardio and strength, but that balance will be different for everyone. For strength training, Kelsey recommends lifting weights, weight-bearing exercises, or lifting heavy weights as ways to get the job done. Likewise for cardio, whether you go jogging, walking, doing HIIT, dancing, jogging, hill sprints, or chasing your child around the playground, you will improve heart health for long-term health. “There is no type of exercise that will make everyone fit. Personally, I don’t like to go for long runs, but I will lift weights when I go into cardio with sprints. These things are fun for me taste and they are in line with my goals.”
6. Protein and carbohydrates are key before and after exercise
So you’ve already learned what to eat-and-die-for? If you’re looking to get more specific, a veggie-filled diet with a balance of fat, protein, and carbohydrates is always important, but Kelsey recommends focusing on protein and carbohydrates before and after a workout for energy and recovery. “Before exercise, protein and carbohydrates can provide energy, while after exercise, both help to increase muscle mass,” he said. But before you grab a protein powder or a ready-made bar, try fueling with whole foods. Kelsey is a fan of eggs and fruit, chicken and sweet potatoes or rice, as well as protein shakes and some fruit. But most importantly, know what is good for your body. “Everyone is different, so knowing what foods help you feel good is really important,” she said.
7. Rest is very important
Do you feel lazy or behind when you take a break? FYI, you are not lazy or behind, you are health. We’ve talked about many reasons why rest days are not only important for recovery, but taking time off also helps you be as healthy as possible, and Kelsey totally agrees. “Rest is important,” he emphasized. “A rest day helps the body and mind repair and recover and helps avoid injury and fatigue.” Take at least one or two days off each week to do some light exercise, a relaxing yoga stretch, or a gentle walk. Also, prepare for sleep first (yes, that means even before your early morning workout) and don’t skip it with your workout. Listen to your body when it asks for rest, knowing that your body cannot be at its best, strongest, or healthiest without it.
8. Honor the hunger and honor the satisfaction
Being toned and healthy is not the only thing What and you eat when and What. Kelsey knows that good health is self-limiting, so she doesn’t coach her clients to count calories, measure their meals, or be restrictive. Bottom line: If you’re hungry, eat. “Many people try to ignore hunger and eat less or wait until they have to eat again because they feel like they ‘shouldn’t’ be hungry but they think about eating throughout the day, eating more, or eating later,” he said. “It’s not bad to be hungrier some days than others. Honor the animal by feeding it when it’s hungry, pay attention when you’re starting to feel full, and slowly check if you’re hungry.”
9. Put your relationship with your body first
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Mindset is everything. You can work out every day and eat completely plant-based foods, but if you don’t have a healthy relationship with your body, you won’t be truly healthy. Even if you want to lose weight, look more toned, or change the way your body looks in any other way, you can still accept your body where it is now. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change your body shape, but even in the midst of that change, we need to respect our bodies,” Kelsey said. “Many people struggle with body shape, but no matter what your jeans size is, it’s important to learn body acceptance.”
Why is acceptance important, other than your mom telling you to love your body when you’re in high school? Bad language about our body can be harmful to us. We begin to work on eating nutritious foods as a way to torture or change our body more because our body needs to eat as it is. So how do we work in our relationship with our bodies? Kelsey approved thanks. “No one has to love every part of their body every day, but being grateful for what that body does for us will help us gain more grace and respect for our bodies.” Now that’s it a good tip that I can get behind.