Have you ever heard the phrase “success breeds more success”?  I believe it to be the truth.  Just as you can get have a snowball effect with gaining weight and losing money, you can also start generating momentum to winning and being successful.  Lifting weights and fitness falls right in line.
If you follow this blog, you know my workouts have increased in quality, duration, and frequency since I started blogging.  The results have started to follow suit and now I look stronger, I feel stronger, and I am stronger.  In fact, I’m so excited to workout now that last week …read more

Your success in working out can be boiled down to this blog. The key question is what motivates you? If your motivation isn’t there, your workout will not materialize to any significant level.
Motivation is why we start working out and the lack thereof is why we stop working out. Now, keep in mind I’m not talking about music here. As I’ve mentioned previously, music does help while you workout (scientifically proven if you want to argue with me), but what gets you in the gym week in and week out to improve yourself?
If you’re not working …read more

As stated by b5media’s own Darcie Vany from Fitdarcie.com in a recent comment on Fitness Machine Marketing : “In my experience as a trainer, it’s not the machines you buy that help you lose weight, it’s your motivation and dedication.” I couldn’t agree more.
Motivation is a huge key to getting and staying fit. The problem isn’t so much motivation as is ambition. Unless you’ve been fit your entire life, you’ve said to yourself at one time or another “I want to get fit”. That’s motivation right there. Want being the key word. You want to get fit. You may have …read more

see more puppies
True or False?
If you lose weight, you will lose cellulite.
Place your bets now, and click below for the answer.

There’s good news and bad news.
The good news is Thanksgiving was wonderful. I spent a little time with the boy’s big, friendly family, then headed to my parents’ for dinner with just the 4 of us.  I ate lots, but not too much and had a great time.
The bad news is 1. I forgot my camera so I didn’t get to take any pics to share with you guys, and 2. I’m sick again.
I have no idea how it happened, but I was so achey I had to bail on going over to my boyfriend’s band’s house to celebrate with them. …read more

toothpastefordinner.com
Looks like Susan and I have opposite Thanksgiving eating philosophies.
While many people will starve for days before and after Thanksgiving, in order to give themselves permission to stuff their faces with Thankgiving appetizers, main courses, side dishes, desserts, and leftovers, I will be eating a mindful breakfast, a few healthy appetizers, a nice big Thanksgiving dinner, and small slice of pie. I will workout the day of Thanksgiving just like normal.
Holidays have morphed,  not only into an excuse to eat whatever we want, but also into a source of food guilt, over exercising and stress. And weight gain. I don’t need that …read more

Yes, yoga has taught me yet another lesson. You don’t need to spend a lot of money or be a conspicuous consumer to be happy or have nice, meaningful things or a beautiful existence.
One of the key lessons of yoga is that it teaches you to appreciate the simpler things in life. To be present. To be in the moment. This practice alone has not only helped to quiet my mind, in recent months it has also saved me a lot of money.
In fact, my shopping habits have changed significantly. I buy less processed, ready-to-serve foods and eat more healthfully …read more

Holly left this comment on my Opposite Day post last week:
This might be a totally dumb question, but I always kind of thought you did “opposite” exercises on the same day (like I would do biceps and triceps/quads and hams), but Jillian Michael’s book said not to…..can I still do them on the same day? I think it’s kinda fun. :-)
Here’s my caveat: I have never read Jillian Michael’s book, so I’m sure some of this may be out of context. Maybe just for her plan, thats the way she prefers to have people work out, maybe she said it …read more

I went to the library, hoping to find some workout DVDs because I can’t bring myself to buy any.  I found 1 Billy Blanks Tae Bo and then one that looked like it was filmed and produced in someone’s basement. I wandered over to the books.
I always go for nonfiction because I like to learn.  I’m not a big “reading for leisure” person.  There, I found Caroline Knapp’s Appetites: Why Women Want.  And what a find it was.
Caroline’s book examines women’s appetites, why we feel the need to supress them, and how we can embrace our appetites in a world …read more

It’s winter in the northern hemisphere, and I don’t know about you, but I’ve already seen a fair number of pretty cold days.
For me, this isn’t such a bad thing.  I use this time to turn my thoughts inward, and that normally benefits my practice and my outlook. 
What I do find helps make the transition to these homebound days a little easier is turning a private space within my home into a meditation and practice room.  I can’t move everything out.  I know that.  But I do spend a few days each year clearing out things I don’t need, moving them into another space, …read more