The Official Blog of Tara Marie Segundo, M.A.

"To be successful, you must have the three C's: Conviction, Creativity, and Courage." ~Tara Marie Segundo, M.A.
September 15, 2010

Training Tips for Great Glutes

I am always asked what I do to get my glutes so round and developed. Since I have designed a very detailed leg/butt routine that consists of thirteen different exercises (doing 4 to 10 sets per exercise), I tell people that there is no brief answer to the question.

However, if I had to choose the top three exercises (of the thirteen in my lower body routine) that really have developed my glutes, I would select the following:

September 13, 2010

Calories Count

Are you eating a low-fat diet rich in complex carbohydrates with moderate amounts of protein, and you’re still one of the millions of people getting fatter and fatter?

Did it ever occur to you that even though your diet may be low in fat it’s too high in calories, and that’s why you’re not losing weight?

The “eat-all-you-want-as-long-as-it’s-low-fat” approach is the reason that many people think it’s OK to eat half a box of low-fat cookies everyday as an afternoon snack…then they wonder why they can’t zip their pants!

Think of your body as a bank account: if you make more deposits than you do withdrawals, your bank account grows.  In the same way, if you consistently eat more calories than you need (and make too many “deposits” in your fat cells) your hips grow!

While there are many factors that determine how many calories your body utilizes each day, the bottom line is that you cannot eat as much as you want just because it’s low in fat; calories do count! 

August 30, 2010

The F.I.T. Principle

 Are you having trouble designing the perfect exercise program to reach your goals?  If you can’t afford a pricey personal trainer and need to create a balanced, effective exercise program on your own, consider the F.I.T. PRINCIPLEF-I-T stands for frequency, intensity and time.  These three variables can be manipulated to generate different results based on what you are trying to achieve.

August 27, 2010

Easy Ways to Monitor Your Heart Rate

I often get asked about easy ways to monitor one’s heart rate during exercise. I am normally not a big stickler about this, as your body has a way of telling you when you need to slow down. However, some people must monitor their heart rate diligently due to a previous cardiac event or another health issue. These people should wear a heart rate monitor, which will provide an accurate, up-to-the-minute reading of their heart rate.

For people for whom there is no cardiac issue to consider, there are 3 easy ways to gauge exercise intensity without the use of a monitor.

August 18, 2010

It’s Just Like Sugar!

I have found the BEST new product, and I have gotten all my personal training clients hooked on it. It’s JUST LIKE SUGAR!

I do not eat sugar and have not for many, many years. As a personal trainer and Pro Natural Figure Competitor, I am well aware of the deleterious effects of sugar on the body, including effects that can be seen (high body fat levels), those that you can feel (decreased energy and stamina, blood sugar fluctuations), and those that you cannot (a compromised immune system and the many diseases that sugar promotes.)

I had resigned myself to a life whereby nothing sweet would ever cross my lips. I did not want to poison my body with artificial sweeteners, nor could I tolerate alternative sweeteners, as they all messed up my blood sugar mechanism, just as sugar did.

August 16, 2010

TAG, You’re It!

Recently, more than a few people have emailed me asking who, pray tell, designed my web site??!!

Instead of answering the same question again and again, I have decided to spill the beans right here in my blog!

If you are looking for a full-service web company and want to work with people that are highly professional, exceptionally creative, unusually honest, and genuinely caring, your search is over! They can take care of all your needs: designing, hosting, programming, social media, and e-commerce!

March 19, 2009

New Year, New Beginnings

I am sitting here with writer’s block trying to come up with something interesting to say…nope, no sudden inspiration.

I am tired as a dog, and all around me I see my friends working hard and feeling the pinch of this economy.  I think at this point, we are all in the same boat.

My life since the launch of this site in August 2008 has been interesting, to say the least.  Right after the launch, I left for a ten-day trip to visit my family in Florida knowing that I would come back to a busy, exciting fall in New York City…little did I know what I was in for!

August 19, 2008

Welcome to My Blog!

I am so pleased to be writing this, the first entry in my blog. It signifies the launch of my new web site, and this project has been long in coming!!

Like most people, I am overloaded, under-rested, stretched to the max, and flying by the seat of my pants. As someone that preaches balance to my clients all day long, I often need to remind myself that I need to practice what I preach, or I won’t be taken seriously. Attaining a state of balance in my own life has been supremely challenging lately.

My dear Mom always said, “When it rains, it pours.” Like most old sayings that stick around, this one seems to be true.