Healthy Lifestyle Bloggers

I am back! And so glad to BE back! While I do love vacation and visiting family and friends, it sure does get me all out of whack! I love my routine, my foods, my own bed!

Did I find the time to workout? You betcha! Even though pulling my 35 lb suitcase and carrying my laptop case was enough work in itself, I still found time to get in some workouts.

At my sisters house, she did have some dumbbells and stability ball, so I did some Sumo squats, pushups, step ups on the steps, decline push ups, chest press, dumbbell pullovers, and some dumbbell swings. Along with that, we went for lots of walks. We stayed right downtown, so instead of driving, we walked everywhere we went! One morning, we went for a 5 mile walk along the river by Minneapolis! Its was so beautiful!

So, it can be done. You can workout while you are on vacation! I did!

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This week definitely won’t be a normal week. I am sick and definitely don’t want to overdo it so I’m going to take it easy. I’m bummed because I have the Summer Blog Party Challenge going here on my blog but I have to take care of myself. I’m glad to see I have participants though so I’m totally cheering them on.

We had to skip the gym and spin class this past weekend and I’ll probably go ahead and skip all 3 days of Turbo Kick class this week so my goals for this week are to get better, eat healthy and drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. I’m pretty sure we’ll make it to spin class next weekend if we are better.

Don’t forget to head over to Cindy’s Goal Call Monday post and leave a comment with your personal weight loss/fitness goals. Then come back here and let me know you posted so I can be sure to check out your goals over there.

Have a great week everyone!

Here is a great article I received from Lauren over at BeThree-Mind, Body and Soul.

So now you know why our beautiful bodies sweat. But, there’s a time and a place for everything. Come interviews and public speeches, unless you’re willing to inject Botox into your armpits (like some summer brides are doing - ewww!) or have nerve-severing surgery on your sweat glands (like some with hyperhidrosis do - ouch!), we’re guessing you’d like an au naturale way to reduce sweat. Yes? If so, read on.

Shave: Unless you want to look like you have Adam Duritz in a headlock when wearing your favorite tank, shave your pits regularly as armpit hair can trap odor like spiders in a web.

Snack: Avoid spicy foods like curry, garlic, and onions - they can actually cause you to sweat more. (Think Reuben Feffer in Along Came Polly. Grody.)

Sport: Wear natural-fiber clothes like cotton or silk.

Shield: When all else fails, there’s always disposable underarm dress shields. Dorky? Yes. But so are pit stains.

Stress: Oh, and reduce stress in your life (as if that were easy!).

Stop Stink: Use the right deodorant. Some contain aluminum chloride (bad). Others contain ingredients like sage and lemon (good). Try Weleda’s all-natural deodorant, which comes in a recyclable bottle in scents citrus, sage, or wild rose. Or try Burt’s Bees herbal, spray-on deodorant, a blend of sage, lemon, and lavender.

Sage: A study from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences found that tea with sage, a natural antioxidant known for its healing and astringent qualities, helps reduce excessive sweating when applied to the skin. Try it: Mix three tablespoons of dried sage leaves with 8.5 oz of room-temperature water. Let steep for 1-2 days, then rub into underarms or other problem areas. (Note: Do NOT drink the tea.)

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Mel over at A Box Of Chocolates blog has a giveaway opportunity going for a chance to win a Weight Watchers Online subscription.  I personally haven’t had any recent experiences with Weight Watchers but I used to go to local meetings with my mom when I was much younger.  Those were very positive experiences for me so I decided to enter to win this subscription because I would like to be able to review the program for my readers who have asked me what I think about those types of programs and I also think it would be a benefit to my own weight loss endeavors.  What a great opportunity.  You should stop on by Mel’s blog and enter yourself.  That would be cool if one of my readers won.

If you are already familiar with Weight Watchers Online, please feel free to share your thoughts here.

Monday-
100 stability ball crunches
20 min. sitting on stability ball
Ab Coaster- 95 reps
50 min. Turbo Kick class
(resistance bands and jump rope too)

Tuesday-
Day Off

Wednesday-
50 stability ball crunches
35 min. sitting on stability ball
Ab Coaster- 70 reps
50 min. Turbo Kick class

Thursday-
4+ miles walking at amusement park

Friday-Sunday
Sick Days (caught hubby’s cold and am down for the count)

So this week didn’t turn out as I had planned.  Didn’t meet the goals I set for myself this week.  I also have this Summer Blog Party Challenge going on right now and I can’t even participate but sometimes you just have to take what life hands you, ya know?  I’m rooting for those doing my challenge and hope more will join in.  And I look forward to setting up another challenge on my blog in September.

Were you able to get in some great workouts this week?  Tell me about them!

TGIF

It’s time for your Fit and Healthy Friday Tip.

Today’s Tip:  Baby Steps

Take small steps towards your health and fitness goals.  Remember that this is a lifestyle change so you’ll make changes over time.  If you try to make too many changes, you’ll find yourself overwhelmed and that is when many people just give up altogether.

Start out easy by choosing one or two goals a month for the first 3-6 months and then you can add on from there.  I can almost guarantee that if you take small, baby steps towards your health and fitness goals, you’ll have the success you desire.  Here are some ideas of simple baby steps you can take towards a healthier lifestyle.

1. Walk 10 min. a day
2. Give up one soda a day and replace it with a glass of water
3. Try one new fruit or vegetable a month
4. Eat breakfast
5. Add a new exercise to your routine

What steps will you take to a healthier lifestyle?

I may be biased, but the men of this world do have it easy in more ways than one when it comes to getting fit and staying that way. They don’t go through the numerous physical changes that women go through in a lifetime, changes that make their weight fall and rise like a roller coaster ride. There’s puberty and the hormonal changes it brings along with the weight gain; no sooner have you regained your figure than you get married and pregnant. While a baby is a bundle of joy, pregnancy weight issues are certainly not.

The pregnancy cycle repeats depending on the number of children you desire, and then just when you think your days of playing weight yo-yo are done, menopause hits with its associated problems. And if you’re unlucky enough to be beset by thyroid and uterus-related problems, well, let me just reiterate here that men do have it easy in more ways than one.

In spite of the hardships associated with all the above aspects, women are still stoic enough to go through them without too much fuss. But if there’s one thing that does torment and taunt the fairer sex like nothing else, it’s infertility and its related side effects. I’ve seen a friend go through the gamut of treatments there is, for 10 long years before she finally called it quits. From artificial insemination to IVF to ICSI, she’s been injected with more than her share of fertility drugs and hormones in an attempt to conceive.

While men have to do nothing more than get friendly with a cup, women in fertility treatments are put through both physical and mental agony. The endless injections and the seemingly endless wait for the blood test results to come in, followed by the disappointment and depression, take a toll on your general health and your psyche. The worst aspect is that your weight balloons up due to all the hormone supplements you’re given, the enforced period of physical inactivity, and the mental stress you go through.

It’s ironic in a way – obesity has been cited as a cause for infertility, but for women who go through one IVF cycle and face failure, getting back into shape before the next one is a nightmare. The motivation to lose weight comes from the fact that you want a baby so badly. But when you go through three successive failed cycles, you find it extremely hard to summon up the enthusiasm needed to keep going with your diet and exercise routine. You keep thinking of the end of the procedure when you’re going to be met with an “I’m sorry, but we could try again” look from your doctor.

All’s well that end’s well though - I’m happy to say that my friend did find a solution to end all of her problems with one stroke – adoption. This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of Nursing Schools. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

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To lose weight you must overcome the mental blocks that are stopping you from achieving your goal.

There must also be a vivid picture of your goal in your sights that is always in your mind. This is the key to losing weight and by visualizing a picture of yourself at that ideal weight; in your mind you will set the framework of motivating yourself to lose weight.
Motivational Mindset to Lose Weight is transformational and helps you with your mental blocks that are stopping you from losing weight.

Mental Blocks:
What is stopping you from achieving your goal of weight loss? Make a list right now and take action will help you determine when you will lose that extra weight.
Is it lack of self esteem or worthiness that prevents you from losing weight? Some people do not think they are worthy of being in great shape that they are resigned to being overweight and unhappy or depressed.
This is not true but it can be blocking you from taking action on a subconscious level that you may not even be aware of in your mind.  Also you do not have to remain the same and you can lose that weight if only by removing the blocks that are stopping you right now. Write down what you feel you are struggling with, if it is your mindset then changing the way you think will bring results.

Changing the picture of yourself that you hold in your mind, will change your whole outlook on weight loss. It is not practical to remain the same and people do want progressively healthier lives as they get older. Mental blocks can be removed to reveal the new you if you set aside time to reflect and think of the changes needed to bring about the new you.
Emotional eating when you are hurt, angry, sad or feeling depressed these are obstacles that can be overcome. You cannot digest food properly when you are angry, sad or feeling emotional about some other event.  Waiting until the emotion subsides will improve your chances of eliminating emotional eating tendencies.

Motivators:
What will motivate you to lose weight, will it reach the point where you have a disease such as diabetes or heart problems?
Is it that you want to be healthy for your spouse, family, or children so you can be active, happier and want to create a better lifestyle for other people in your life?
Making life transforming changes requires you to be aware of what needs to be changed in your mind, how to remove those mental blocks and over come the feelings being overwhelmed.
When you set a priority of “eating well” and ask yourself a question every time you take a bite of food, like will this help you? Will it nourish my body? Your whole new mindset will become “Whatever I put into my body has to benefit and nourish me” and will give you a better perspective on eating properly.

When we remove the emotional blocks and reinforce the motivational mindset there will be greater chances of successful weight loss in your life.

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August, 15-22, 2008 is my week to be host of Scale Junkie’s Summer Blog Party. Thank you Diana for the opportunity to participate.

I have set up a challenge for all readers that can help kick start your weight loss, give you more energy and help you feel great.

The Challenge: 4 miles a day for 7 days

You can do any type of exercise that will equal 4 miles. It does not have to all be completed at once, you can break it up through the day. If you are using a pedometer, approx. 2,000 steps equals ONE mile so your goal each day for this challenge is 8,000 steps a day or 4 miles.

This challenge starts this Friday, August 15th and ends Thursday, August 21st with your final challenge check in to be made on Friday, August 22nd.

Be sure to eat healthy foods and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Don’t skip any meals and keep your daily calorie intake in a healthy range.

Are you ready to step out of your comfort zone and accept this challenge?

If so, reply here with your name and email address and “I, (your name) accept this challenge and will try my best” (use this email format angie(at)losingitandlovingit(dot)com so the spam bots don’t get your email address)

This gives you one entry into the prize drawing for the challenge. You can get another entry at the end of the challenge by posting an update and letting us know how you did.

*Get extra entries throughout the week by doing the following (leave a separate comment for each thing you do)

A) Blog about this challenge with a link back to this post

B) Subscribe to my blog

c) Sign up for my Losing It & Loving It newsletter

D) Tweet about this challenge

All names will be put into a hat (or bucket LOL) for the chance to win a weight loss/fitness themed prize and the winner will be announced on my blog the week of Aug. 25th.

* U.S. Residents only (for prize entries), No anonymous comments, no need to have a blog to enter but you must provide an email address

** Always check with your physician before starting any type of exercise program. Please read this disclaimer.

Stayed the same this week.

Current weight 192

Goal weight 135-140

Pounds left to go 50+

Feel free to weigh in and stay accountable too. Wishing you a successful week!

My first guest post comes from Biray Alsac who has her Masters in Exercise & Wellness with a focus on  Exergaming. Thanks for the post Biray!

By now, most people have had a Nintendo Wii experience; if not, they at least know what a Wii is. Video games (like Wii, Dance Dance Revolution, EyeToy: Kinetic) which require players to physically move during game play are extremely popular. These so-called ‘exergames’ (video games + exercise) have caught the attention of doctors, fitness instructors, exercise physiologists, health educators and personal trainers who are now integrating them into their prevention and treatment programs. In fact, some researchers are suggesting this could be the next step to combating childhood obesity.

Although the idea of playing video games for fitness seems too good to be true, it would be negligent not to ask the obvious question: can exergames really deliver significant fitness results or are they simply an overhyped alternative to sedentary game play?

Good news! Exergaming research is actually proving to be comparable to traditional forms of exercise (walking, kickboxing, cycling). But will it prepare a fitness-enthusiast for a marathon or make significant improvements in muscular hypertrophy? Not exactly. Or more correctly, not yet. With the exception of a few games (Expresso Fitness) which might still be too expensive or not available for home use, exergames that tailor to higher levels of fitness performance are still in their infancy.

It seems the target audiences for most exergames are children, video game addicts and/or those who lead inactive lifestyles. Adults who play exergames enjoy them as an alternative to traditional forms of activity. For the most part, exergames are seen as a ’stepping stone’ to other forms of activity. A 12-week study of overweight children in West Virginia schools found kids who played Dance Dance Revolution saw significant increases in their fitness levels. As a result, game play decreased over time because the kids felt confident in participating in other forms of sports play.

The fact of the matter remains that 76% of the U.S. population is not meeting the Surgeon General’s recommended 30-minutes of moderate physical activity a day. Sometimes getting people to ‘just move’ is a challenge! Exergames are offering another (fun) opportunity for people to lead active lifestyles.

As technology advances, fitness and video games will continue to discover innovative ways to work together. But the exergaming movement is on the rise and Nintendo Wii is just the beginning. Who knows, one day you’ll walk into the gym and see exergames as part of the normal landscape of the weight training area and aerobics room – just like the Reebok Steps, kettleballs, and BOSU.

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The other day in the grocery store, I was craving Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They were a HUGE craving of mine over a  year ago. My husband and I used to buy them in bulk. Now, when I think of them, my teeth actually hurt at the thought of all the sugar in them! YUCK! So while I think it might not have been the Reese’s that I was actually craving, but the thought of peanut butter and chocolate together.

So, I picked up some peanut butter and chocolate chip rice cakes ( I normally don’t eat rice cakes, too many carbs for me) and headed home to make my concoction. I topped the rice cake with all natural peanut butter and then added some dark chocolate chips. I even made a face out of it! Like the title says, “Not so healthy, but yumm”. And it was definitely that! I guess it was a better choice than the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!

Here is what MY yummy snack looked like! (Like the little smiley face? Hee hee)

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Goals for this week:

Keeping things the same again

I will go to Turbo Kick class 3 times
I will go to Spin class 2 times
I will sit on the stability ball for at least 15 min. a day
I will do 50 stability ball crunches a day
I will do at least 50 reps on Ab Coaster each time I go to the gym

Starting Friday, I will be hosting a pretty tough challenge for the Summer Blog Party so be on the lookout for a post about that.

Don’t forget to go over to Cindy’s Goal Call Monday post and leave a comment with your personal weight loss/fitness goals. Then come back here and let me know you posted so I can be sure to check out your goals over there.

Have a great week!

Angie

I posted last week about creating my goals, using Dax Moy’s Magic 100. I am almost done with my Magic 100 list. I have gone through all the categories and posted my goals for each of them, now its just a matter of putting them all together in order of importance. Hopefully I can get it finished by the end of the week.

So in doing this list of goals, I decided I wanted to use the Law of Attraction. I honestly believe in the Law of Attraction. I feel that things have been happening in my life the past couple months because I have been believing in them and staying focused on only the positive things. Some examples….I wanted to get more boot campers to my boot camp and also wanted a place to have the classes, so that I would be able to do them all year round. I sent an email to my church and told them about my idea and they said that had been thinking about doing something like that for over a year now! Whala! There it was!

After cutting my daycare hours more than in half, financially things were tough. But I never worried about not being able to pay the bills, but instead I focused on bringing in more money and it worked! At the end of every month, bills were paid!

So, while all this has been going on, along with doing the Magic 100, I decided I needed a vision board as a constant reminder of what I was working towards in my life. But I wanted something more special, more meaningful than just a board filled with pictures. So I made a Vision Screensaver! I absolutely LOVE it! Everytime it comes on, before I move the mouse to shut it off, I concentrate on a couple of the pictures and think about I want. I just used Windows Movie Maker, added some photos and some music and it was done!

Give it a try and share your vision screen savers! Below is my vision screensaver!

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Monday-
10 min. Elliptical
50 min. Turbo Kick class
Ab Coaster- 50
Stability ball crunches- 50
30 min. sitting on stability ball

Tuesday-
50 min. Turbo Kick class
Ab Coaster- 50
Stability ball crunches- 50
43 min. sitting on stability ball

Wednesday-
50 min. Turbo Kick class
Ab Coaster- 70
Stability ball crunches- 50
20 min. sitting on stability ball

Thursday-
Day Off

Stability ball crunches- 50
20 min. sitting on stability ball

Friday-
Day Off

Stability ball crunches- 50
20 min. sitting on stability ball

Saturday-
Day Off

Sunday-
50 min. Spin class
Ab Coaster- 70
15 min. sitting on stability ball

Took a few days off this week and I’m OK with it.  Need to think about my workout goals for the week because starting Friday I’ll be hosting a summer blog party here and the challenge is going to be a tough one that will start on Friday, Aug. 15 and go for 7 days.  I’ll post about it this week.  Be sure to check back for that.

Didn’t meet all my goals this week but came very close.  How did your week go?

(I am still trying to find just the right image to go with my love ya links post..thought this one was pretty cool!)

Here is a great link I found that gives you a shopping list of nutrient rich foods, has a guide to nutrition labels and much more! Very informative!

What’s your take on the Exercise Pill? I think its ridiculous! I would so much rather work my butt off to get where I am today than to be able to just take a pill and be this way! That’s just plain NUTS!

If you are in to Kettlebells, I found another great site, with videos, forums and articles all for the Kettlebell FREAK!

I love the blog Zen Habits. His posts are always so inspiring…and this one is GREAT and goes along with my blog’s subject…Minimalist Fitness.

Do you tweetwhatyoueat? I am becoming a huge fan of twitter lately! And this sounds like something I could use to try and stay on track with my meals. Check it out and them make sure to follow me on twitter!

If you missed this post, I will be gone for almost a week and am looking for some guest bloggers to help me out, so that I can enjoy my vacation without worrying about getting my blog posts done. Send me an email if you are interested! come on peeps, help a fellow blogger out!!

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I am going back to MN next Tuesday until Sunday to visit family and have a “girls weekend” with some old college friends. I am SUPER excited and cannot wait to take some time off from all the responsibilites! We do the girls weekend once a year and I haven’t seen my family since last November, so it should be a really great trip!

But I don’t want my blog to go empty for an entire week if I don’t get the time to post. So, I thought this would be a great opportunity for some guest bloggers! If you already have a great post in your archives or if you want to do a new post, send me your post with your byline at the end and I will post them accordingly throughout the next week! I just ask that your post are nutrition and fitness related somehow!

Thanks and I am excited to see what you all bring to me!

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Happy Friday!  It’s time for your fit and healthy Friday tip.

Today’s Tip: Personal Accountability

It’s very important that you stay accountable to others. “Why is accountability important?” you ask.  I truly believe that you will feel the need to keep following your plan because your accountability partners will expect you to check in regularly.

Here are a few things you can do for personal accountability

• Join online or local weight loss groups
• Starting a blog is something many people are doing to keep track of their progress to help them selves be accountable
• Find people who are willing to support you and be a positive influence.  Encouragement from friends and family is necessary

Your family is an important piece of the puzzle.  Be sure to inform family members about your weight loss goals.

My personal accountability partners are my hubby, parent’s and both online and off line friends.

Do you have accountability partners?

No change this week.

My current weight 192

Goal weight 135-140

Pounds left to go 50+

Feel free to weigh in and stay accountable too. Wishing you a successful week!

Goals for this week:

I will go to Turbo Kick class 3 times this week
I will go to Spin class 2 times this week
I will sit on the stability ball for at least 15 min. a day
I will do 50 stability ball crunches a day

Above are the same as last week and I’m going to keep at it but I have added one more

Use the Ab Coaster every time I go to the gym (at least 50 reps)

This is a new piece of equipment they added and I absolutely love it.  I think I now know what I want for Christmas.

Don’t forget to go over to Cindy’s Goal Call Monday post and leave a comment with your personal weight loss/fitness goals. Then come back here and let me know you posted so I can be sure to check out your goals over there.

Have a great week!