Quotes from Anna Kaiser

I love working out at AKT. I will jump into one of my instructor's classes, hold a secret session with friends, or jam it out with my team, five days per week, 60-90 minutes each day.

Some great soups are filling and warm. So, at the four o'clock hour, when people are craving caffeine and a cookie, soup is a really great option because it fills you up and feels like a meal, so it can keep you going until dinner, but it's not hugely caloric.

Our skin is the largest organ and one of the ways we eliminate waste.

I will make a ton of meat and fish and poultry on Sunday and then again on Wednesday. It's not always easy to get protein if you don't prepare in advance.

There's nothing that helps clear my mind and improve my mood more than sweating in a room with my friends to some amazing new music and feeling stronger and taller every time I walk out. It's truly incredible. I'm addicted. And the results aren't half bad, either.

As I get older, I think about the quality of my life and a balanced way to enjoy that. That's true wellness - being well from inside out.

Pregnancy has been a huge lesson in patience and in allowing myself to be open to whatever the day may hand me.

Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to caffeine during pregnancy. I work full time, and with the extreme exhaustion pregnancy brings, I need a little boost a couple of times a day. On days when I can't stomach coffee, green tea has also proven to be very helpful and soothing.

Your core is the center of your entire body - everything else is an extension - so you want to make sure you're strong in your entire core and not just part of it.

I knew that my career in dance would come to an end at some point, and transitioning into a career in fitness was a natural progression.

If your goal is to look different, you'll see results faster with strength training than with cardio alone.

Soreness is not something you should always look for. It's good once in a while: it means you are pushing back on plateaus. But just because you aren't sore doesn't mean you aren't working hard.

If you want to see your abs, you have to lose fat. I want to be sure there are no misconceptions that specific abs exercises will give you abs! I work with the core. Think about your abs and back working together to support your spine - that will give you an amazing physique!

The side plank and plank jumping jacks are all really great; just be sure to hold that naval to the spine as hard as you can. As for reps, do as many as you can and try for more on your next workout. If you can only do five on Tuesday, make sure you do six or seven on Wednesday. The only rule? Never go back to five! Always continue pushing forward.

Caffeine is hard on an empty system, so I try not to do it unless it's to get my heart rate up. If you drink caffeine 15 minutes before the workout, it can make it more effective. So I'll do tea or coffee after breakfast.

You can tell if you feel like you are unable to recover from the workout you had. It's still hard to breathe. You don't have energy. You are sore instantly. You just can't seem to get enough water. Then it's too hard.

I love giving myself and my clients gold stars every day that they've completed a workout - it feels really good.

From a lifestyle standpoint, for every workout that you do, give yourself $5 to buy a piece of clothing to inspire your next workout.

The most important tip is to find a workout that you love - one that you're excited to go to. And do it with a group of friends. That's one of the reasons I created Happy Hour. It's effective, but it's also really fun to dance together under a disco ball.

If I have my breakfast after my workout, I'll do a shaker with whey protein, chia, greens powder, and maca. When I get out, I'll put ice in the shaker with coconut water, shake it, and have it for breakfast.

The majority of us spend anywhere from three to ten hours - or more - being active and working out every week. Why not develop a skill and get better at something while you are getting the best full-body workout?

Dance classes are not designed to be workouts - they're designed to teach skill.

Workouts, for me, are more about stress relief and having more energy to do the things I need to do. That's a much healthier way of approaching exercise. All of those other things will come if you commit to it. It really is about being a happy person.

One meal option is a piece of poached chicken the size of your fist with a green salad sprinkled with lemon juice, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and celery. Another is a cup and a half of quinoa with minced veggies, all cooked at once so the quinoa absorbs the nutrients.