How To Get Fit In A Year
Transform Your Body Without Losing Your Mind
By: Leo Harley
Ah, fitness. Every year it seems like the ultimate goal. Every gym in January is suddenly crowded with the noble pursuit of strength, endurance, and those glorious endorphins. But with all the latest fad diets, TikTok workouts, and gym bros yelling, “Go hard or go home!” - Where do you even start? Well, you can start right now with a whole year ahead of you.
What if I told you that a year is all you need to become a fitter, healthier version of yourself? That’s 52 weeks, 365 days, or roughly 525,600 minutes of commitment. Sounds doable, right? Well ok… What if we break it down into bite-sized, achievable steps that’ll make you want to stick to the plan and, more importantly, have fun along the way. Shall we?
Step 1: Set Intentions, Not Just Goals
January rolls in, and everyone’s suddenly a “new me.” Easier said than done - fitness
isn’t just about setting goals like “run a marathon” or “lift my body weight.” It’s about mindset.
The ‘Why’: Why do you want to get fit? Is it for more energy? To carry all your groceries in on one trip? To feel confident on the beach? Whatever that is, write it down.
The ‘How’: Don’t aim for a perfect plan; aim for consistency. The goal isn’t a flawless year - it’s to keep showing up, even when it’s messy.
Step 2: Start Small
Gains will come but fitness works as a slow cooker. It takes time, seasoning, and patience.
Month 1-2: Focus on building habits. Walk more. Stretch. Experiment with workouts you don’t hate.
Month 3-6: Gradually increase intensity to your workouts. Add weight. Try that yoga
nourishment, not punishment. Learn to listen to your body’s hunger and fullness cues.
Step 5: Celebrate the Wins Fitness isn’t just about weight loss or muscle gain. It’s about those strange,
You’ll eat too much cake. Life will get messy, and you let yourself go. But setbacks aren’t
Forgive yourself quickly. The next workout, the next meal, the next weekthose are your chances to bounce back. By finally get it: fitness isn’t a destination; it’s a ones, but you’ll also have strength, stamina,
Commit to being kinder to your body, one day at a time. Even if you don’t end up with a six-pack, you are guaranteed to end up with something far better - a version of you that alive.
Get in touch with us. Share your progress, your questions, your selfies to be featured hotbodies@hotspots.lgbt
3 Smart Ways to Support Brain Health
By: Family Features
Staying healthy goes far beyond physical activity. If you’re laying out a path toward healthier living, keep your brain’s fitness top of mind. As the command center of the body, it influences every aspect of life and requires healthy stimulation, nourishment and adequate rest.
Consider a few key suggestions from the experts at the Mayo Clinic to keep your brain sharp:
Satisfy Cravings with Healthy Foods
You can establish a strong foundation for brain health by consuming healthy, whole foods such as whole grains, fish, legumes and healthy fats, plus an abundance of fruits and vegetables, including grapes and leafy greens. Research suggests grapes help maintain a healthy brain. In a human study of elderly subjects with mild cognitive decline, UCLA researchers found consuming 2 1/4 cups of grapes every day preserved healthy
metabolic activity in regions of the brain associated with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
Combinations of these healthy foods can be made into tasty dishes that support brain health such as this Chicken and Grape Cauliflower Rice Bowl, which features fresh Grapes from California alongside grilled chicken, cauliflower, zucchini, garbanzo beans and healthy spices.
Sleep Well
Health experts recommend aiming for at least seven hours of sleep per night. As noted by the Mayo Clinic, adequate sleep may help boost overall memory and brain health by giving the brain time to effectively consolidate memories.
Sweat It Out
Physical activity provides well-known benefits for the entire body, including increasing blood flow to the brain. After
breaking a sweat, make sure you refuel with a post-workout snack like Grapes from California for natural hydration and an energy boost.
For more information on grapes and brain health, visit GrapesfromCalifornia.com and find more tasty recipes that support brain health.
Chicken and Grape Cauliflower Rice Bowl
Servings: 4
Chicken:
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric salt, to taste pepper, to taste
1 pound (3-4 pieces) small boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Zucchini:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium zucchini, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
1 1/3 cups halved red Grapes from California
Cauliflower Rice:
1 bag (1 pound) thawed frozen riced cauliflower
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup water
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed well
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro salt, to taste pepper, to taste
Add turmeric, season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste, and whisk to blend. Lightly pound chicken pieces to even them out then turn to coat in oil-spice mixture. Let stand 20-30 minutes.
Heat heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken, smooth side down, and cook until golden brown underneath, about 4 minutes. Flip with spatula, reduce heat to medium and cook about 4 minutes until just cooked through. Transfer chicken to plate and tent with foil. Do not clean pan.
To make zucchini: In medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil until hot. Add zucchini pieces and cook, stirring often until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
To make cauliflower rice: In colander, drain cauliflower well. In same large skillet used for chicken, add oil, onion and water over medium heat; cook, stirring until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, cumin and turmeric; cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Add drained cauliflower and garbanzo beans; cook until hot, about 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Divide cauliflower rice among four large soup bowls. Slice chicken against grain and arrange on top of cauliflower rice along with grapes and cooked zucchini. Serve warm.
To make chicken: In medium bowl, combine oil, garlic, ginger and cumin.
Nutritional information per serving: 420 calories; 34 g protein; 42 g carbohydrates; 14 g fat (30% calories from fat); 2.5 g saturated fat (5% calories from saturated fat); 65 mg cholesterol; 280 mg sodium; 10 g fiber.
Joe Adorno is a Gemini that was born in Philadelphia of Puerto Rican decent.
What city do you live in?
Orlando
Are you Single or in a relationship?
Single
What are you looking for in a man?
Someone with a high emotional intelligence and who is confident
What’s your perfect date?
I enjoy a good conversation, so give me some food, a glass of wine and stimulating conversation and oh yes, we have to laugh. I think I am funny, but if the guy is funnier than me then he has my attention.
What do you do for a living?
I own a social service agency. YOLO
Mentoring LLC, and we are currently franchising if anybody is interested, go to Yolomentoringllc.org. The agency works with kids and child welfare. I
started my agency after I adopted my son. I was the first single gay man to legally adopt a kid out of foster care.
When did you start working out?
I was a fat kid growing up and once I got my driver’s license, I joined a gym and the rest was history.
What’s the best thing about working out?
Seeing all the results.
What do you do for fun?
I do axe throwing. It’s so much fun and it calms me down. I am also an ambassador for Bear Jamboree and I love doing that. Starting in the new Year, One Magical Weekend will be doing a DJ tour and I will be touring almost on a bi-weekly basis to different cities. Everyone can check my Instagram (below) to find out about events and parties.
What does the future hold for you?
I’m hoping within the next year or two to have my company go nationwide to help kids at a macro level.
The South Florida Pride Youth Band’s 14th Season
Concert Scheduled for Sunday, February 23 at The Parker
The South Florida Pride Youth Band Season 14 Concert Presented by FLoatarama is scheduled for Sunday, February 23 at 7pm at The Parker. Tickets are $45 and can be
Director of Athletic Bands at West Virginia University. Also conducting will be Dan Bassett, Artistic Director of the South Florida Pride Concert Band since 2006. Mr. Bassett is a Florida music educator with more than 25 years of experience and a founding member of the South Florida Pride Youth Band.
"We are deeply proud to keep fostering a safe and inclusive space for marginalized youth," said Adam DeRosa, board chair of the South Florida Pride Concert Band. "Our nonprofit is profoundly grateful to our generous supporters, whose contributions
enable us to empower these students both financially and through the guidance of musical mentorship."
During the Season 14 concert, the South Florida Pride Concert Band will award more than a dozen individual $1,500 scholarships
“The FLoatarama LGBTQ Youth Fund grants are awarded to South Florida agencies, such as the South Florida Pride Youth Band, which provides critical services to support the one-in-five youth who identify as LGBTQ+ here in Broward County,” said Scott Schramm and Roderick MacKenzie, co-founders of FLoatarama. “It is incredibly gratifying to support these talented young people by providing them with scholarships as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.”
A signature program of the South Florida Pride Concert Band since 2012, the non-profit arts organization has donated $220,000 in youth scholarships over the past 13 seasons.
"The need to support the arts for young people is immense, and we’re thrilled to offer these talented students the invaluable opportunity to rehearse and perform alongside members of our band, including many former professional musicians," said Dan Bassett, artistic director of the South Florida Pride Concert Band.
The South Florida Pride Concert Band is celebrating its 38th season and remains the oldest LGBTQ+ arts and cultural organization in the state of Florida.
For more information on the band, go to: Southfloridapridebands.org
What can you tell me about growing up in Toledo and spending some time in Ann Arbor?
I was just a little queen dancing around in Toledo, but we only had one gay bar called Bretz and me and my friends would drive up to Michigan and go to the Nectarine. Is it called Necto now or do they still call it Nectarine?
What do the people back home in Ohio say about you being “The Gay King of Christmas”?
My family loves it. It's been a journey going from a little gay boy in Ohio scared of his own shadow, because it's just a different place to grow up. You have to code-switch. You have to do all these things to protect yourself growing up and then to really own who you are and be unapologetically yourself. And then to do that on national television and then to tell queer stories with love stories that look like your love story for the world to see has been such a journey. It really has.
And it's scary at times, but also so rewarding for so many, many reasons. I tell these stories and make sure that we're telling queer love stories on Hallmark because I think Hallmark has the power to reach such a vast audience.
After doing my first Hallmark movie, “The Christmas House,” where I had the first same-sex kiss, I saw the outpouring of support and love and the need for that story to be told. I knew that my purpose in life and my mission was to tell queer stories to a broad audience and not tell queer stories to a queer audience because those stories are being told a lot.
But what I wanted to focus on was telling
queer stories to a broad audience that might not know an LGBTQ+ person in their life or might not know that they know one and be able to really show the humanity of those characters — and what their love looks like — so that way people watching could then identify with them as people and maybe connect with them as people. Maybe you can also change some hearts and minds that way.
You keep breaking new ground regarding LGBTQ+ inclusion onscreen on Hallmark. Do you intend to keep moving in that direction?
I love challenges, and I love doing things that haven't been done. That's what ignites me. Tell me no, because that will fire me up more than anything. Tell me we can't do it, because I will find a way for it to happen. Being a queer actor in Hollywood for 20 years, I got so many no’s and doors closed that it just fuels your fire where you're like, I now have a tank, a battering ram, a cannon, and I will bust down any door that you try to close and I will open it no matter what. And it's not about me opening the door, it's about who walks in the door after I open it. That's my goal: opening the doors of new characters and new storytelling on Hallmark and just in the Christmas space and in the romantic-comedy space in general. I love breaking down doors, but I also do it because I'm excited to see who walks through it after me. It's not about me, it's about the stories. I'm happy to open the door to let others walk through.
After seeing one of the contestants, Daxton Bloomquist, on “Finding Mr. Christmas” and hearing his story as a fellow gay Midwesterner, you got emotional. What was going through your mind?
I think that moment with Daxton in the first episode is a culmination of all my hard work for the past four years of telling queer stories. And I remember him saying to me, "The reason I'm able to be here covered in glitter with a big rainbow sweater and a boa and feel confident prancing down the runway of the sweater challenge is because I feel safe because you're here. Because I know you did it." And when he said that to me, I got so emotional because it was like that moment where you're like, it worked. It friggin’, friggin’, friggin’ worked. There's that old poem about the person going with all the starfish that washed up on the sea, and they're throwing the starfish back and they look down and the guy says, "But there's thousands of them. This isn't going to make a difference." And the guy picks up a starfish and throws it back in the sea and he goes, "It made a difference to that one." And so, it's like, I'm not going to be able to save everyone and I'm not going to be able to do everything for everyone, but just Daxton telling me that was enough. I did it. I open the door and guess what? Daxton was the next person to walk through it.
What inspired the portrayal of a gay man within a circle of straight male friendships in “The Groomsmen”? Could you share what influenced this dynamic and what thoughts guided you in shaping this group dynamic?
I got married two years ago. My group of friends were my groomsmen in my wedding; some were gay, some were straight, and I was the groomsman in most of their weddings the years before that. Some of us were gay, some were straight. And I thought that was a really interesting plot for a storyline because it's something that really happens in 2024. And it's something we don't see in movies a lot. We don't see straight friends and gay friends in one kind of squad brotherhood, navigating life. But that's the funniest group of friends
to navigate life with. And it's the most interesting group of friends to navigate life with.
Because in my group of friends, we make fun of each other constantly every single day. If you're being nice to me, I know something's up; if you're making fun of me or calling me out or cracking a joke at my expense, that's how a lot of men show love for each other. That's how we share our emotions with each other.
But then that same group of friends, at the end of the day, if you're crying and need someone, a shoulder to cry on, they're the first ones there. So, I think there's a really fun dynamic of taking the piss out of each other. I can't lie to my squad. If I try, they call me out instantly and they're like, “Bullshit, Jonathan.”
And then, if at the end of the day, those same guys that are making fun of me for not being authentic and real, I can then call and say, “I need help,” and they're the first ones to show up. So, I think it's a really powerful dynamic to show in movies, and we've never seen it before.
People on the internet are really into the chemistry between you and your co-star, Alexander Lincoln. What should people know about building that relationship for the screen?
You know what? Alexander is such a goof
and an idiot, and I mean that in the best way possible. He's just unapologetically Alexander. And that's what's so fascinating about him. And it goes back to the thing that I really try to strive for, which is being unapologetically yourself. And he is that. And so, it was so easy to have chemistry with him because we both were like, here's who I am. Here's my quirks. Here's what I do. It was almost like when I met my husband, Jaymes. I was just myself and just so stupid and corny and cheesy and wacky, and that's what made Jaymes fall in love. And so, meeting Alex, we both were just authentically us. It was just so fun to have him on set because he also is different from any of the other Hallmark actors that you're used to seeing. He has a different style in his acting, which I thought was really refreshing.
What did you think of the new “Mean Girls” adaptation?
I haven't seen it because I was busy being on Broadway. I didn't get to see the movie because I was in a show eight times a week, but maybe I'll watch it one day.
Did you ever steal anything from the “Mean Girl” set?
No, but I stole my jacket from “Christmas House” because... well, I wouldn't say I stole it, but I took it and then they never asked for it back because it was fitted to me like a glove. It fits so well that I'm like, OK, I'm taking this home. I need this jacket in my life. And then they called a few months later and were like, “We need the jacket back because it's going in the Smithsonian archives under the LGBTQ+ archives for the first time there
I have to ask about you and Lindsay — Lindsay Lohan, of course. You are now both a part of the Christmas universe. Does that mean you two will bring your universes together at some point?
So let me tell you what I want: I want to do a Christmas movie with Lindsay, and I want her to be my guardian angel. I want it to be a “Christmas Carol” where she's like the Christmas angel or ghost that comes and helps lead me through whatever I need to learn on my journey around the holidays, because I think that would be so funny, and I think Lindsay would look so fierce in a really amazing, sexy, white outfit, and she's just like my angel that comes and leads me around, and I think that would be a really fun movie to make.
was ever a same-sex kiss in a Christmas movie. And I was like, OK, it's a good weekend to give the jacket back. And so, I have to go pretend like, oh, I must have taken it accidentally and send it back to the network so they could put it in the archives. The one time I take a jacket that's fitted to me like a glove is the time that the Smithsonian calls and is like, "We need the jacket back."
Chris Azzopardi is the Editorial Director of Pride Source Media Group and Q Syndicate, the national LGBTQ+ wire service. He has interviewed a multitude of superstars, including Cher, Meryl Streep, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ and Billboard. Reach him via Twitter @chrisazzopardi.
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