Bites with Benefits:
The fact is that food isn’t just for the purpose of filling and fattening you up. Each ingredient serves a purpose and has a benefit. For example:
-Fat-Burning: Ginger, Jalapeno, Cayenne, Grapefruit
-Detoxing: Garlic, Flax, Artichokes, Berries
-Anti-Hangover: Asparagus, Spirulina, Oranges
-De-Puff: Sweet Potato, Banana, Avocado, Mango, Pear, Pumpkin
-Focus: Rye, Yogurt, Oatmeal, Blueberry
-Energy: Oatmeal, Lentils, Black Beans, Sweet Potato, Peanut Butter, Apple, Figs, Dates
INJURED or DISABLED? Upper Body Cardio for Lower Body Injuries:
You are finally seeing a difference in your workout regimen… and then you injure yourself. OR you have a disability that makes exercises difficult if not nearly seemingly impossible. SO many exercisers have injuries that can be extremely debilitating- both physically and emotionally. I know because I actually came up with the Upper Body Cardio Quickie Workout in Bed after I severed my ligaments in my ankle when I was a dance major in college. I became very depressed, couldn’t workout, and gained weight. Quickie Workouts in Bed, particularly the Upper Body Cardio Workouts, are no-excuse exercises to help almost anyone get back in the saddle and maintain their fit lifestyle even if they can’t walk. Cardio isn’t about moving your legs. It’s about moving your heart. You can get a great cardio workout only using your upper body.
Daily100s:
“I don’t have time…” is no longer an excuse. You have 100 seconds. A Daily100 is 100 seconds or 100 reps of an exercise, ANY exercise- Workouts in a Chair, Exercises on a Plane, even Tush Toners in the Car or At the Market. It’s your no excuse quickie workout and a great way to jump up your metabolism, burn a few extra calories, tone your muscles, and get in a fit mindset. A few ideas are:
100 seconds of:
Plank
X-Plank
Boat
Sit-up Stay
Tree
Wall Sit
Shadow Boxing
100 reps of:
Jumping Jacks
Wall Push-Ups
Crunches
Bicycle Sit-Ups
Skipping (yes, like when you were a kid)
Lunges
Squats
Jump Rope Rotations
Love to Bake? Chew Gum While You’re Doing It:
Just a “little” hunk of cookie dough actually has a lot more fat and calories than you give it credit for. Think about that little hunk and its ability to expand into a gigantic cookie in the oven. Yes, a hunk here, and a hunk there, and suddenly you have devoured 5 cookies before the baking has even begun! Chew a piece of fresh flavor-bursting gum while baking to help you resist the urge to lick the spoon.
Don’t Think, “I Messed Up, my fit day is destroyed, I may as well just go all the way.”:
It’ll take a LOT more workouts to work off the 5000 calorie gorge than the 1000 calorie splurge. Think about it this way: if your child got a D on a test, would you tell her she may as well give up and fail the rest of her tests? Nope. You will tell her that it’s ok, but to try harder next time. Tell yourself that too.
Walk In Place:
(I’m doing this right now as I write this at my standing desk…)
Walking place is like power walking in a box. It’s a great way to burn a few extra calories, up your step count (it’s recommended that you take 10,000 steps per day), and keep your metabolism kicking- even when you’re watching TV, making dinner, or talking on the phone.
Quickie Workout in Bed:
Are you a snoozer? Instead of another 15 minutes of bad sleep, start moving your leg, do arm circles, roll onto your stomach for pilates plank… suddenly you are oxygenating your brain, burning calories, and energizing your day! You can do 5 to 45-minute ab, butt, thigh, even arm workouts without ever stepping foot on the floor, slipping on sneakers, or even changing into more, ahem, appropriate exercise attire… Yes, you might break a sweat. And, yes, you can lose weight. You can also watch TV or (with some of the workouts) even check your iphone or read a magazine simultaneously!
Don’t Give Up:
When you want to give up… don’t! You know you can get through that workout. Once you do, you will not only be proud of your accomplishment, but you will know that in other life situations, you have the ability to get through it. And the great thing is that you will be stronger after.
Each Week = 1 New Thing:
Try one new fitness challenge this week- whether it’s 90sec Plank for the first time, walking up and down a flight of stairs 10 times, or practicing your salsa moves, challenging your muscles in new ways is not only great for motivation, but will burn more calories, and trim off the fat faster! Each Week=1 New Thing. Make it a goal!
Stiletto Quickies at Work:
In a bad mood? Feeling lethargic? Need an energy boost? Just because you’re at work, wearing stilettos, seated at your desk, doesn’t mean that you can’t up your attitude and burn some calories… right NOW. Beyond the burn, sometimes it’s all about attitude if you want to snap out of a funk. There are plenty of seated and standing exercises that you can do in your stilettos between meetings, while waiting for your microwave lunch to heat up, even while talking on the phone or typing an email. A few to try? Upper Body Spinning, Seated Jump Rope, Standing Side Crunches, Butt Squeezes, Bounce & Circle, Stand Up Sit Down.
Couch Potato Workout:
You can get a full-body cardio and resistance workout while watching TV by doing moves like marching in place (basically power walking in a box), and holding the Top of a Push-Up (Plank) and Top of a Sit Up (Crunch hold). Some of the most effective resistance moves require no moving at all. Instead, you engage the muscle then hold it in that one spot until it fatigues.
Fitness Bank: Bye Bye Piggy Bank…
Every time you REALLY don’t want to work out, but do anyway (even if it’s just a Daily 100), or every time you SO BADLY want a brownie but make a cup of tea instead, put $1 in your By Bye Piggy Bank, also called a “Fitness Bank.” Once it adds up a bit, you get to spend it anyway you want! Then when you’re strutting around with your new sexy stilettos, you’ll be able to think “my workouts and fit mindset bought this for me…”
