Healthy Tips Blog by Fitness Reloaded

Episode 93 – Yoga teacher Kathryn Budig on aiming true, goddess Diana, and how she approaches failure.

Maria — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:10:31 +0000

Woo hoo! I'm interviewing Kathryn Budig in today's episode. If you haven't yet heard about Kathryn, then I must tell you: Kathryn is an internationally known Yoga teacher, author and founder of Aim True Yoga. She is the Women's Health Magazine yoga expert and a contributor for The Huffington Post, Yoga Journal, Gaiam, The Daily Love and MindBodyGreen. She is also famous for her arm balances. Don't believe me? Look at that. Or, that... In this interview I am satisfying my curiousity about Kathryn, goddess Diana, and how Kathryn handles failure. As a Greek I am more than proud to discover how Goddess Diana from the Greek mythology acted as an inspiration for her. Let's start watching! Here are the topics we cover in detail:

Where does Kathryn's "Aim true" come from and how is it related to Goddess Diana from the Greek mythology? (1:00)
What does "aim true" really mean? (2:00)
Why yoga? What has a teacher like Kathryn gotten from yoga? (3.30)
How did Kathryn feel when at first she tried to do yoga poses, e.g., arm balances, that she just couldn't do? How did she handle the "I cannot do this but the person next to me can?" (5:00)
What do people who make yoga a habit do differently than those who don't? (7:00)
What advice would Kathryn give you about today as your personal guru? (10:00)
What's the difference between expectations and intentions? (11.30)
Where you can find Kathryn (13:00)

Can't wait to connect more with Kathryn? Start with her site, or follow her on Facebook.

Episode 92 – The Star Crunch: Best home exercise for abs.

Maria — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:49:24 +0000

Even though I usually advise avoiding exercises that target your abs specifically, I do think that if there is one abs exercise you should include in your home or gym workout, then it's the Star Crunch. I hadn't really discovered this exercise, until I did 6 sets of it a few weeks ago. The result? I felt sore and realized that my body had muscles I had no idea were there! And this is exactly the reason I believe this is the best home exercise for abs. It works your upper abs, lower abs, your abs deep within...It pretty much does not leave anything out.

So if you are ready...let's see how the Star Crunch, the best home exercise for abs, is done!

Star Crunch Breakdown

Starting position Ending position

Want more?

Kill your abs.

Pick your favorite plank variation.
Then, go deeper with your abs.
Then, do a few more planks.

A good posture needs killer abs and a killer butt. Seriously. Try one of the best butt workouts ever. Or, do a complete home workout routine.

Episode 91 – Got 30 seconds? Take a moment for you.

Maria — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:20:23 +0000

Fitness Reloaded episodes are usually kind of fancy...but today is different. This "take a moment for you" episode is super-simple. No fancy DSLR camera, audio recording devices, expensive backdrops, and photographer lights used. Just me taking a moment for myself...with you...using my computer's webcam. It's very easy to let life keep us busy. Now is a good time to take a moment for you, just for you. Do nothing else. Just sit down and "be". You can focus on your breath, think about what would make this day awesome, or just...be. You don't really need to do anything to take a moment for yourself. But be warned: Taking a moment for you may make you relax. It feels really good. Once you get started, you might actually want to take more moments like this one. You might get addicted to feeling good. That said, let's do this. Hey hey... I got an idea. If you enjoyed taking a moment for yourself, then why not make it a habit? You can do it after you wake up...as part of your morning routine, or after you go to bed at night as part of your evening routine. I love this idea! I think I will do it at night...as I relax myself into sleep. What about you? Will you make taking moments for you a habit? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.

Episode 90 – The two major exercise breathing techniques & the one rule you should never break.

Maria — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:06:35 +0000

[Shh...There is a dirty secret below. But I cannot tell right now.]

"Inhale through the nose, expand your lungs, exhale as you push your body back in the starting position....Now repeat again. Inhale though the nose..."

I could never understand the emphasis on breathing during exercise. Why all those different breathing techniques? Wasn't it enough that I was working my body? Why did I have to pay attention to how I breathed? When I was a novice exerciser I used to get really confused with breathing during exercise. The instructor would tell me when to breathe in or out, yet that would only add to my confusion. Not only did I have to pay attention to the exercise at hand, I was also supposed to somehow make sense of how I was supposed to breathe. All those different techniques and tempos were the equivalent of clutter for me. Luckily, I can see things more clearly now. I now know when to inhale and exhale. But most importantly, I know that as long as I don't make this one mistake, as long as I don't break this one rule, then I cannot really get it wrong. In today's episode I am showing you...

The two major breathing techniques practiced during exercise along with the one breathing mistake you should never make.

Dirty Secret: These breathing techniques are not just great for exercise. They are amazing for relaxation and meditation. Just try them! ;) So which breathing technique do you prefer? And do you ever catch yourself breaking the breathing rule I described? I’d love to know! Find me on Twitter or Facebook.

Episode 89 – Is your back straight? A simple technique to check whether you have kyphosis or not.

Maria — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:51:55 +0000

A few weeks ago I would have responded to this question with a big YES! But then I learned this simple kyphosis check, and to my disappointment, I discovered that I too have a rounded upper back. You see all those hours of daily slouching, sitting in front of my computer, take their toll. In today's episode I am showing you the simple kyphosis check that opened my eyes, so you can see for yourself just how straight your back is!

If you discovered you have kyphosis:

Don't get discouraged. Most of us in the Western World don't have a perfect posture, because we spend all this time sitting and slouching. Here is what you can to get back into having a straight posture: 1. Daily - teach yourself to slouch a little less, and sit straight a little more. Honestly, all the exercises in the world won't help you if you keep having the same bad habits that created the kyphosis in the first place. 2. Daily - do this upper back release technique. It will greatly help your upper back muscles open up. 3. Three times a week or more - do the best posture exercise ever. It's perfect for your upper back and for people who sit too long. Make sure you do it right.

Really interested in having a straight posture?

Check this episode for a super simple technique to check whether your shoulders are rounded or not. It's a quick hack to straighten your posture after a few hours of continuous sitting... Want more? Check out whether your exercise program accidentally...ruins your posture. Was your back straight? I'd love to know! Find me on Twitter or Facebook.

Episode 88 – How to stop worrying and start living…ninja style.

Maria — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:43:59 +0000

"Take that worry!"

[worry vanishes] [ahhh...you feel relief...and happiness] Boy, does it feel good...to feel good? ;) Why don't we do it more often? I mean, our natural state is to feel good. When we don't, it's because we have negative thoughts distracting us. The queen of negative thoughts? Her name is "worry". But we can live without worry. We can live by seeing the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. Doing so feels better + gets us better-equipped to go after our dreams, fulfill our souls, and ultimately...conquer the world. So what is it that you want? More money, love, health? You are in a better position to get them when you are in your inner peace state than when you are in your worry state.

As a friend Mercedes Maidana says: "Hell Yeah!". It's time to stop worrying and start living!

In your worry state you will mostly find yourself...

Procrastinating.
Feeling alone.
Feeling helpless.
Spending your time worrying about getting what you want, rather than doing something to get what you want.

In your inner peace state, you will mostly find yourself...living!

Taking inspired action to get what you want.
Feeling on top of the world.
Feeling like there is nothing too big to go after.
Feeling content and happy.

So watch today's episode to learn my ninja trick to stop worrying and start living. And when worry dares to come back...shut the door in her face... Warning: The more you let yourself indulge in appreciation and happiness, the harsher it will feel should worry beat you instead of you beating her. By practicing the ninja trick in the video you will find yourself getting better and better on remaining calm and joyful despite the circumstances. Don't get discouraged if at first you find it hard to remain peaceful. Use the ninja trick in the video: "I know that day by day I am getting better...". I'm not just getting this trick out of my head. Since last December I have been actively practicing mindfulness. And during the last few months I have learned a lot on inner happiness and inner peace. I have also become much better at guiding how I feel and I am now less prone to let outside circumstances dictate whether I am happy or not. The ninja trick in the video to stop worrying and start living is one of my best. Got any other ninja tricks? Contact me on Twitter or Facebook and let me know!

Episode 87 – Stiff back? A simple technique to release your back.

Maria — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 23:09:58 +0000

So you are spending the whole day sitting? You are not alone. Me too. With the way our lives are structured we can hardly escape sitting too much. And reversing those slouching habits is just hard! So what do you do? Are you doomed to bad posture? No! I learned this upper back release technique in a posture workshop a month ago. I got to say: It feels great. It's not an exercise. It's a method to help your back take its proper shape and not be in "slouchy" shape. Mom, if you are reading this, this one is for you :)

Watch the episode to release your back + learn a quick test to check how stiff your upper back is ;)

(If you find that your back is not stiff at all, then congrats!)

Equipment Needed

You need a small massage ball or a tennis ball. Either one of those work. In the video I am using a massage ball. [Why a massage ball? Because it helped me get rid of my chronic pain, and eventually increase my leg flexibility beyond my wildest imagination! But for the purpose of this technique a tennis ball works just a well, if not better!]

Release back technique Breakdown

Lie down and put the ball under your upper back. Hold it for 30 sec. Then put the ball under another spot of your upper back. Repeat as needed. If you send hours slouching every day, then it's highly recommended you do it daily. Come on don't get discouraged. It feels good when you do it. And it's not exercise. You just lie down. Try it and then do what works for you.

Level it up!

Combine this this technique with this posture exercise for maximum benefits. Liked this technique? Then, share it with your friends + family. It's an opportunity to practice kindness. Don't let it slip. Thank you :)

Episode 86 – Author Dean Dwyer on “Weight loss is not just about diet and exercise”.

Maria — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 22:13:18 +0000

Can't lose weight with just diet and exercise? According to Dean Dwyer, author of "Make shift happen", there is a good reason for that. Weight loss is indeed not just about diet and exercise. Now you might be wondering...

But if weight loss is not just about diet and exercise, then WHAT ELSE is it about?

Watch the interview with Dean to learn exactly that! And then scroll down for a good karma opportunity.

In detail:

1:00 - Why Dean was disappointed with the usual weight loss advice that is out there. 4:00 - If weight loss is not just about diet and exercise, then what else is it about? 5:00 - What does it mean if what you are doing to lose weight doesn't work? 6:00 - Is your weight loss plan perfect? 7:00 - Dean, what things did you try on your weight loss journey? 8:00 - Ok, so you forced yourself to follow through for 30, 60, or 90 days. What happens next? 10:00 - Do you need to go hardcore like doing P90X to change? Or, is there another way? 11:00 - How a 300-pound woman dropped 140 pounds...without forcing herself to change. 14:00 - How you think about yourself, determines how fast you are going to change. 19:00 - What to do to boost your willpower. 22:00 - Dean's final wisdom nugget.

Good karma opportunity.

I'm taking care of your afterlife ;) Here are two opportunities to express your kindness...and get some good karma as well. 1. Go over to one of Dean's websites and say "hi" or "thank you" - beingprimal.com and DeanDwyer.com. 2. Share this interview on Facebook or Twitter, so that more people get exposed to how small mindset shifts...bring magic!

Episode 85 – Splits in 4 months? If I did it, you can do it too with this leg flexibility stretching routine.

Maria — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:58:43 +0000

I always loved the idea of being flexible but it just didn't seem possible for me. Even though I could so splits when I was still in school, a thigh injury took my flexibility away. I went from flexible to stiff in an instant! For years even the idea of splits caused me pain. Every time I tried to train for it, I would get re-injured at exactly the same spot on my thigh. Bye-bye flexibility dream. I had tried and re-injured myself at least 10 times until I understood how to get over my chronic pain injury...for good. Then, flexibility was just a matter of following an effective stretching routine. I was an eager student. In 4 months I went from totally inflexible to splits! I couldn't even believe it! In today's episode I am showing you the exact routine I followed that helped me increase my leg flexibility.

What I can do after sticking to this stretching routine

I can now sit on the floor and actually open my legs wide.
I can (almost) touch my belly on the floor when I am in this position.
I can do splits.
I can touch my toes and bring my chest to my knee.

I still have a long way to go (yes, because I have BIG flexibility dreams) but I am truly happy with my progress. It's a lot more than I ever thought was possible for me. In today's leg stretching routine I am showing all the preparatory stretches you need to do to get yourself ready for splits and dramatically increase your range of motion. Ready? Let's go!

Safe Flexibility Stretching Guidelines

I have already talked about how to stretch for flexibility without injuring yourself. Having re-injured myself multiple times with stretching I am sensitive to this issue. In short:

Warm-up first. Don't want to do it? Try the "I don't want to workout" routine. Or else, try this home cardio routine, or just...defy gravity.
Never feel pain.
Hold each stretch for 30 seconds.
The first 10 seconds of a stretch is the "easy stretch". You can push a little further afterwards.
Do two sets of each stretch (or more!). You will find you can go further with each set.
If you are really looking for flexibility, then you got to follow a stretching routine at least 4 times a week.

For more, watch the safe stretching episode.

Stretching Breakdown

1. How far can you bring your chest to your knee? 2. How far can you open your legs? How far can you walk your hands to the front? 3. Can you touch your toes? I dare you stick to this leg stretching routine. Do it at least 4 times a week for 4 months. Then, send me pictures with far you have gone! Will you take me up on this? E-mail me and say yes! I can't wait to see your results!

Episode 84 – Find time to work out…without having to mess with your schedule first.

Maria — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:02:36 +0000

Sometimes, I just have to stop and praise the sweet heavens above that science has evolved and one of the most common exercise myths...is finally busted. This myth holds people back. Even though they want to feel empowered, they want more energy and vitality, they want to live longer, enjoy themselves more, look good...this myth prevents them from engaging in the one thing that will get them what they want. It prevents them from getting started with exercise. It prevented me from getting started with exercise as well. Oh, how I wish I could go back to my younger self and dispell that myth! I would definitely be in better shape now + I would have enjoyed myself more back then!

Busting the myth that stops our dreams dead in their tracks

Do you think you need to "find time to work out"? Do you think that in order to get some exercise you need to...readjust your schedule? If your answer to either question is yes, then you too are a victim of this myth. Watch today's episode to learn what the myth is about and how you too can get exercise in, without having to mess with your schedule!

The 3 steps to find time to work out & make exercise part of your daily routine...even if you have no time to do so.

Ok, so now that they myth is busted...what? You are three steps away from making exercise a daily habit. Read on.

1. Decide What to do

I suggest starting with two exercises - push-ups and squats. Those two exercises alone work each and every muscle of your body, hence just those two cover your whole body. Pick your favorite push-up variation, and then do the same for squats. I suggest aiming for 4 sets of 10 repetitions for both of those exercises...daily: Monday through Friday.

2. Make smart rules

Now that you know what to do, you need to find a way to integrate it in your life. We all know about those fitness DVDs that you have but never use. The DVDs tell you what to do, but integrating them into your life is a very different story. Don't let push-ups and squats have the same luck as those fitness DVDs. That's what smart rules are here for. For example...

After I have lunch, I will do one set of squats.
After I come out from a meeting, I will do one set of squats and one set of push-ups.
After I get up, I will do my whole workout for the day.

Rules help you get organized. And since you are not going to devote much time to each chunk of exercise, you don't need to use your calendar to schedule exercise. Good stuff, right?

3. Take action

Many of us know what we should do, but we don't do it. Why? Because the status quo is strong and hard to turn around. Your current momentum leads you to inactivity...because that's what you have been doing so far. Since exercise is something new, you might encounter resistance. You know you've met resistance when you find yourself thinking that 5 or 10 minutes are "not enough", "won't do anything", etc. Well, 5 or 10 minutes will do wonders! Plus, the alternative that your brain is trying to push you into is to keep the status quo: do nothing. So when you encounter resistance, ask yourself: Do I want to keep doing nothing or do I want to get fit? The answer is a no-brainer, right? Or, try this (and click to tweet it): When exercise excuses come along, ask: Do I want to keep doing nothing or do I want to live longer? via @FitnessReloaded Now you are well-equipped to include more movement in your life and claim all the benefits exercise is famous about - better mood, focus, energy, vitality, strength, looks...The list is endless! March on!

Episode 83 – 7 reasons this lazy workout routine is amazing.

Maria — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:37:38 +0000

I'm human. Translation? I'm sometimes too lazy to go to the gym. I just don't feel like dressing up and driving. It feels like too much effort. Especially when I am tired. But I do feel like...watching TV! Especially when I get hooked with yet another TV series...I just love spending my free time watching it :) But watching TV is not the only thing I like. I deeply enjoy the after-workout feeling. I enjoy becoming stronger. I enjoy moving. Skipping my workout and spending multiple hours sitting on the couch does not sound ideal, even though I may be watching my favorite show. Remember, sitting kills. Sitting at my desk all day and then spending even more time sitting is in direct opposition to my goal of living a long and vital life. The solution?

Combine watching TV with working out in a lazy way!

7 reasons this lazy workout routine is amazing.

I get to do it while I watch TV.
I get the empowering "after-workout" high without leaving the house.
I don't skip my workout, I just do something else. I keep my exercise momentum going.
I do it while lying on the floor - perfect for my laziness.
It is actually very effective. Do it just two times a week and in 14 days you will be feeling your legs getting stronger - this actually happened to me.
It only takes 10 or 20 minutes to complete - depending on whether you do the cycle once or twice.
It works out multiple muscle groups - your abs, your lower back, your butt, your thighs, your quads, your hamstrings, your calves.

If you ever plan on actually DOING this workout (rather than it staying on your wish-list...forever), then you got to be strategic.

I strongly suggest you try this workout routine before you feel tired and lazy. Why? Because when you actually feel tired and lazy you might not feel like watching my video - you just might feel like sinking on the couch. However, if you already know what to do, then you are much more likely to actually devote a few minutes to exercise. This is why having a plan B workout is so important. So come on, press play, and get into action with my favorite lazy workout routine!

Workout Breakdown

We start off on the floor, with knees bent, feet on the floor. We will be doing a famous exercise called "The Bridge" but will be using multiple variations to work our muscles really deep and from all angles.

Closed Bridge

Open Bridge

Not a beginner? Do it on your toes.

The open-close bridge

Instead of raising your torso up and then bringing it down, keep it up and open and close your knees. Want more variations? Watch the video. I showed you what I do when I feel tired and lazy. What about you? What do you do when you are lazy? P.S. If you are reading this from Technorati, then this is the code - 7D3M4MJCGHNQ. If you are not then no need to bother about what this is about ;)

Episode 82 – How to stop being self-conscious when you are an exercise newbie.

Maria — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:30:25 +0000

When you are just starting out with something new, and start hanging out with people who have being doing this for a while, then it's only natural to feel self-conscious. Just like when you are getting started with exercise. You go to a gym and suddenly find yourself not knowing what to do, surrounded by people who seem to know everything AND are quite fit! Ahh... It's only human to feel self-conscious.

I know this very well, because I get the self-conscious feeling every time I do something new - be it attending a yoga class, trying web design, or...snowboarding.

But I don't have to feel that way and you don't have to either. We have every right to be where we are. And we have a good reason for not knowing everything already - we are just getting started! There is a good side to being a beginner - you can make almost any mistake and get away with it, because after all, hey, you are just getting started! Brilliant! But if you are like me, then even though you acknowledge the good side of it, it's still sometimes hard to stand being a beginner. You are already in a process of adjusting your habits, which is not easy, and on top of that you also worry about how you look or what others think of you. It's draining. It can also be embarrassing - like when I first played squash a few months ago and I couldn't even hit the ball when I served...Really! I felt embarrassed and wished nobody was looking at me, yet I stuck to it, because I knew that once I became a "decent" player, squash would transform from frustrating to fun. It was worth it! In today's episode I am giving you...

Two ways to handle feeling self-conscious when you are just getting started with exercise.

Which one of those two ways seems a better fit for you? Why?

Episode 81 – 7 office stretching exercises to get energized at work.

Maria — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 05:00:24 +0000

Sitting kills. Multiple studies now support that sitting is the new smoking, with people who sit too long having a 54% increase in heart attack risk. Even though most of us spend multiple hours on our desk chair every day averaging 9.3 hours of total sitting a day, there is light at the end of the tunnel: Taking frequent breaks at work, to get up and walk or stretch, breaks the vicious sitting cycle and reduces the brutal effects of sitting on our longevity. That's why I have created the Office Exercise & Stretch app. I did it to help myself get up from my chair more often - because I too sit for multiple hours a day! It's available on Android and Windows 8. In today's episode I included 7 stretching exercises from my Office Exercise & Stretch app to do when you need to take a break and get some extra energy at work. You don't have to do all 7 - even if you do 1 or 2 you are going to make a difference in how you feel. Some of these office stretching exercises can be done without even getting up from your chair - perfect for those second-long energy breaks! Yet, I do recommend getting up as frequently as you can, because as I said before...sitting kills. Plus, getting up gives you an immediate boost of energy - why miss that?

7 office stretching exercises to get quick bolts of energy at work!

Which exercise is your favorite? Which one will you be doing on a daily basis from now on? ;)

Just in case you want more on this subject...Additional anti-sitting resources:

Episode 80 – The secret to massive life satisfaction.

Maria — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 03:59:05 +0000

Life satisfaction... I have always been in search for ways to increase it. I don't see this as a goal - I see this as a way to feel more satisfied with myself, and hence, be happier and enjoy life more :) In late 2010 I became more serious about happiness. I started thinking a lot about how I wanted to live my life, about what mattered to me. I realized that living a long and healthy, vital life was one of my priorities. Yet, I also could not help but notice that the path that I was walking on at that time, was not leading me to a healthy and vital life... It would probably lead me to being fat and sedentary in about 10 years time.

There was a gap between where my actions were taking me and where I really wanted to go.

At that point I realized that...

Life satisfaction does not come from being passive and enjoying a movie.

Pleasure might come this way, but life satisfaction is more than that.

To be massively satisfied with your life, your actions need to be true to you. For example, if you believe you shouldn't lie, but you do, then don't expect to be massively satisfied with your life. Similarly, if I wanted to live a long, healthy and vital life, then yo-yoing exercise and eating habits were not the actions that were congruent with my beliefs and with what was really important to me. I was not following through. I decided to change that. Two years later I got to say - I am leading a healthier lifestyle now, one that is closer to my desire of living a long life. As a result, I feel more secure with my actions. I am happier with my decisions. Even though I am not 100% "there" yet, I am progressing. Progress feels so good. Life satisfaction is not that hard after all! Watch the video to learn the secret I discovered that...if you are like me, it will help you dramatically increase your life satisfaction. In what area of your life do you think "I know I should...but..."? What step will you take to bridge the gap?

Episode 79 – Best posture exercise for…slouching too much when sitting, or else hunchbacks, or else kyphosis.

Maria — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 05:30:54 +0000

Two weeks ago I attended a postural assessment workshop. Unfortunately, even though all of the participants were fitness professionals, over 90% of us discovered we had thoracic kyphosis, or else, a rounded upper back. For most of us kyphosis was not obvious, but if you actually went through the assessment you could see it that we were not actually as straight as we would thought we were. Needless to say, I was disappointed. My back might look straight, but it's not really. I started measuring some of my friends, and they were all found with kyphosis too! You see, our lifestyles make us slouch too much. Most of us spend at least 8 hours a day sitting. Even though sitting kills, that's how are lives are structured. We don't sit straight. We skip doing office exercises. Multiply this slouchy posture by years of daily bad sitting habits and we get muscle imbalances that create a hunchback, or else, thoracic kyphosis. Luckily muscle imbalances, and hence, kyphosis....can be fixed.

I got in a quest for the best posture exercise.

In today's episode I will show the best posture exercise to fix your kyphosis. You have probably done this exercise before.

However...

In this episode I am showing you the correct way to do this posture exercise, so that you don't just strengthen your rounded back muscles, but that you straighten + strengthen your back muscles.

You see, if you are strengthening your rounded muscles, then you might be actually ruining your posture even further.

You need to both straighten + strengthen you muscles. That's why this exercise is one of the best posture exercises!

Ready? Let's go fix our posture!

For better results, I suggest doing this posture exercise daily. Why? Well, if you are slouching daily, then you must also try to straighten up...daily.

It doesn't take more than 1-2 min to do (compare this to hours of slouchy sitting every day), and it feels great. Doesn't it?

If you are not sure how you can make this exercise a daily habit, then I suggest you check out Exercise Bliss. It helps people make exercise a daily habit in 9 weeks. Sounds good, huh?

Better oral health: 4 diet secrets to make it…unavoidable!

Guest — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 07:44:57 +0000

The tips for better oral health below are a courtesy of Rory Mycek: a guest contributor from www.TopDentists.com, the dental resource site of Everyday Health. In an attempt to get not only keep my health in check, but my oral health, I decided to change my diet. I knew it would be a rough journey, but I was determined to change my lifestyle so I could live a healthier life and enjoy better oral health.

I made better oral health unavoidable by...

1. Incorporating more Calcium into my diet

Now I have heard plenty of people tell me to take a calcium supplement, which I do try to take daily, but it is also important to eat foods that actually contain calcium. Calcium does not only help improve the strength of your bones, but of your teeth too - a great step for better oral health. One thing I love, green leafy vegetables (i.e. spinach, broccoli, bok choy)! What a lot of people don’t realize is that there is tons of calcium in these vegetables, and it’s so simple to add them into your diet, especially spinach. Easy ways to incorporate more green leafy vegetables into your diet are to:

Add spinach to your pasta dishes,
Use spinach as a garnish on your chicken, fish, and beef (like you would parsley),
Include kale and spinach into your juicing recipes.

Another way that has helped me increase my calcium intake for better oral health is by drinking almond milk and eating almonds and Brazil nuts as a snack between meals. Almonds and Brazil nuts are a great source of calcium, but also a great source of protein and good fat. Choosing almond milk as an alternative to regular milk was my choice not only because I wanted to limit my intake of dairy and decrease calories, but it also has 50% more calcium than regular milk!

2. Switching from Coffee to Green Tea

I have to admit I LOVE coffee and find it extremely hard to quit, but I have limited my intake to one cup per day. I used to drink 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day. Now I have chosen to drink one cup (with almond milk and a natural sweetener), and then I switch to green tea for the rest of the day. Green tea not only helps speed up your metabolism, but also helps maintain a healthy smile! Green tea has anti-inflammatory properties, which helps decrease inflammation of your gums that can lead to gingivitis and periodontal disease, making the maintenance of better oral health easier. It also contains powerful antioxidants that help reduce your risk of oral cancers and fight bad breath! Now with all those benefits, why wouldn’t you choose green tea?!

3. Choosing Whole Grains

My freshman year of college, I kid you not, I probably had some form of pasta every single day. I know, that’s A LOT of pasta! I was a picky eater and without my mom’s home-cooked meals I was very selective with what I chose to eat. While back then I had a very speedy metabolism and did not gain weight, I wasn’t really gaining anything nutritious from eating all that pasta. Now instead of regular pasta that is white flour-based, I choose whole wheat and multi-grain pasta. Whole grains (i.e., brown rice, whole grain bread, multi-grain or whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, and quinoa) contain vitamin B and iron, which are both important in maintaining better oral health. Getting more vitamin B and iron in your diet means less chance of developing sores and swelling in your mouth. Sounds great to me!

4. Increasing Water Intake

I remember a day when I was younger and used to say, “Ew water, that’s gross!”. Now I drink more water than ever. Water not only helps keep you hydrated but also helps your mouth produce more saliva, which helps maintain the enamel on your teeth. Not to mention, it also helps clean your teeth! A great step to better oral health! I found the easiest and most effective way to increase my intake of water was to carry around a water bottle with me, or at the very least always have a cup in front of me. Even if my cup was empty, it would serve as a reminder to refill it and hence, drink more water. Another way I increased my intake of water was to find ways to flavor my water so I would WANT to drink it more often. I’m not too big a fan of adding lemon to my water, but I love to add fresh cucumber and strawberries to my water. When I was adding a little natural flavor to my water I began to crave it more often. I also began drinking decaffeinated teas toward the second half of the day, which also helped. While now it’s easy to follow these simple better oral health, it wasn’t so in the beginning. I hope sharing my story with you all has helped you in some way to start caring not only for your bodies, but your smiles too! Photo Credit: Ivan McClellan

Episode 78: How to believe in yourself & have a love affair with…you!

Maria — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:08:13 +0000

Self-limiting statements are evidence you need to learn how to believe in yourself more. "I can't". "I'm busy". "I know I should, but...".

Excuses. A surefire sign that fear is holding you back.

Last week I talked about how fear lies between us and our dreams. We don't go for our dreams, we don't exercise more, we don't even try to make more money, because fear is in place. However, there are people out there who actually take action. They go for their dreams. They take responsibility for their lives and purposefully work to improve it. They may be working on health, money, or relationships, but they are definitely not pretending "they don't want it", or making excuses like "I don't have time" to avoid doing what they know is important. These people tend to be more successful and most importantly, more content with their lives. Fear does not have as much power over them.

What do they do differently?

They believe in themselves more. Believing in yourself is not something you are born with. And it's not something you need to earn. It's just a different approach to life. A self-loving approach to life. You too can overcome fear. In today's episode I am giving away the #1 thing you need to do differently to believe in yourself with all your heart. It's not difficult at all, definitely not rocket science, but it does need practice to master.

How to believe in yourself and have a love affair with you!

Are you making the mistake I describe in the video? How are you going to apply this tip in your life this week to love yourself and little more?

Episode 77: Best butt workout routine to look and…walk better.

Maria — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:09:57 +0000

Several people neglect doing a butt workout. They focus on their upper body and forget about their lower body. I guess they don't know that a worked out butt does not only give you good looks - our butts are instrumental for our walking and posture. If your butt is weak then your walking will suffer. You will compensate by ruining your posture, or else said, putting the weight on your bones rather than on your muscles. This practice poses multiple risks - from arthritis to severe back and knee pain. But let's not get negative. You are not going to get that because you will do this butt workout routine. Right? :)

Why this one of the best, if not the best, butt workout routine

We are used to working our muscles either to the front or to the side. But what about the other directions that are in between? Everyday movement requires us to move in all 360 angles, so why don't our workouts match our lives? Well, this butt workout routine is based on rotations - to make sure that you work your butt from as many angles as possible :)

Best Butt Workout Breakdown

All 3 butt exercises of this workout routine have a similar, if not the same, starting position. Starting position: Use a chair for support. Feet point towards the chair, knees are bent. Lift one leg back.

Butt Exercise 1 - Lift your leg up for pulses.

Butt Exercise 2 - Push back.

Butt Exercise 3 - Rotate your leg that touches the floor. Rotate your upper leg to the side, straighten, bend, and bring back yo starting position.

Don't forget to repeat for your other leg! :)

Episode 76: You can do and be more than you think you can.

Maria — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 03:46:00 +0000

More than you think is possible. You can truly do and be more than you think you can. What you believe you can do, determines how much you will achieve or not. As Henry Ford said:

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."

In Part I of the Personal Limits Series I gave you the recipe to get over "can't" and get to action! Today, I am explaining exactly how this recipe works. How fear stops us in our tracks. How excuses, often go unnoticed, but are always evidence of fear.

We all have personal limits. We believe in ourselves until we don't. The result? We don't do the stuff that are actually important for us like exercising more. We don't pursue our deepest desires. We procrastinate.

For example, if you are currently making $20,000 a year it might be perfectly possible for you to make $50,000 a year. But because $50,000 are in the Red Zone, you are probably not even considering this option! The result?

You might want to go up to $50,000 but you are not really doing anything about it.

Procrastination, excuses, scream that fear is in place. But you beat that. You can do more than that. You can expand.

There are two methods to bypass fear. In the video below, I am explaining method #1. Next week, I will be discussing method #2. They are both equally important, and work better when used in conjunction.

Come on now, it's time to put an end to procrastination and self-doubt. It's time to follow up with your dreams. You can be more than you think you can. Ready?

You can be more than you think. Watch the video to learn how.

Like this video? Spread the word and share it with your friends.

Personal limits: The recipe for going from “I can’t” to dreams achieved!

Maria — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:05:49 +0000

It might be the mindfulness experiment I started in December... It might be the journaling habit I got into. I don't know what has led me here, but I realize more and more that personal limits are a creation of our minds. They are not real.

Limits are not real. Personal limits are just what our minds perceive as real. Change your thoughts and change your limits, change what you can or cannot do, change who you are, or how much you can be or have.

A few months ago I interviewed Pole Fitness champion Natasha Wang who now trains for multiple hours a day, 6-7 times a week. Natasha said that when she got started she would do pole for fan once a week for 4,5 years. Then, she once attended two classes. She actually thought that two classes a week...was too much for her. Now physically two classes a week is ok. You are not overtraining. Your body can handle it.

However, if you are used to seeing yourself as someone who exercises once a week, then twice a week is a stretch.

This an example of the personal limits I am talking about. You are used to seeing yourself in a certain way. Every change is viewed in the light of where you are today. That's how exercising twice a week was too much for Natasha when she was still exercising once a week, but if you now told her to only train twice a week instead of 6-7 days, then she wouldn't do it! Twice a week is close to nothing for her right now.Even though personal limits are not real, they are perceived as real, and consequently...guide how we live our lives.

If you think that exercising 2x a week is a lot, then you are not going to try to exercise more frequently than that, not until you become comfortable with the idea that exercising 2x a week is "normal" to you.
If you think that making $20,000 a year is normal to you, then $30,000 will seem like a lot, but you won't try to get to $40,000, not until you feel comfortable with seeing yourself as someone who earns $30,000 (and earning $30,000 for some time).
If you think that getting to Stanford or Harvard is out of your league, you won't even apply. Maybe you would be accepted, had you applied. Maybe if you thought you could get accepted, you would have studied harder. But you decided that this was impossible. You were the one who disqualified you. Was it really impossible?

Embed this image on your site by copying the link at the bottom of this post.

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

- Wayne Gretzky

You could accelerate your progress is every realm of your life, if you got your mind to be comfortable with achieving more. If you don't believe you can get something (personal limits), then you are not even going to try. You might be able to get it, but because you think that this possibility is non-existent, you are not going to spot the opportunities that are there waiting for you. If exercising twice a week seems like a lot, then you might rethink that. Is it really a lot? Or is it your mind being uncomfortable? How can you make it more comfortable? Some people say "You get what you ask for". How true is that. If you don't ask for more, you are surely not getting more. But if you ask...you might get it! When you say "I couldn't do that" think again. Are you 100% sure that you couldn't? Is the probability of you doing it 0%? Or, is there maybe 1% chance you actually could? If it is possible after all, then what would do to make that 1% materialize?

If you shift your thinking from "I can't" to "How can I?", then you might be surprised by how much you can do or achieve.

Asking "how?" will eventually lead you to spot opportunities that you wouldn't see if you stuck to "I can't".

However, you cannot ask "how" and believe that you "can't" at the same time. But you will ask "how" if you think you might be able to get your goal.

It's easier to get your mind to "chill", ask "how?", and feel comfortable with this question when the "how" is about a small change, or else, something that is in the vicinity of where you are.

E.g., going from exercising once a week to twice a week, and then from twice to three times, etc. Your mind does feel comfortable when you move in the vicinity of where you already are but towards the direction of where you want to go. Take advantage of this. Too many of us want to get somewhere that just seems way too far. We don't feel comfortable and we are led to believe that we "can't". It's hard to overcome personal limits when we don't believe we can! We don't ask "how can I?" because we are stuck to "I can't". For example, if you currently make $20,000/year, then $40,000 will seem impossible (even though it might not be, but you think it is). Instead of saying "I can't make $40,000/year" and end the conversation there, scale back. Instead of $40,000/year aim for $21,000/year. Ask "how". How can you make $1000 more this year? Now this does not seem overwhelming. It is just $83.33/month. It actually seems close enough that you ask "how" without feeling stretched. It might actually seem intriguing. Heck an extra $1000 could be a trip to the Caribbean. Not bad. Adios personal limits!

The recipe for overcoming personal limits.

Acknowledge that you are thinking "I can't do X" - sometimes we disqualify ourselves and we don't even realize we are doing it!
Scale back your big goal to a goal that is in the vicinity of where you are but in the direction of where you want to go. You might think you are not able to get X, but what about X/2 or X/10?
Ask "How can I achieve X/2?"
Take a notepad and write down the ideas that are immediately coming to you. If no ideas come to you, then you are probably overwhelmed, hence scale back some more (step 2).
Start doing. Get moving!

And one last tip: You are not alone in this. Countless of people are getting past their personal limits right now. Thanks to:

John Muldon (who explores just how much he can do by running a new experiment every month),
Chris Guillebeau (who is formally unqualified to be a leader, yet he is),
Adam Baker (who couldn't shoot a film because he had no experience but did it anyway),
Christina Rasmussen (who dared to overcome the grief of the loss of her husband),
and many others who have learned that asking "How" might be surprisingly rewarding and teach that personal limits are more fictional that real with their actions.

Where are you heading next?

No, you don’t need to…

Maria — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:00:09 +0000

No, you don't need to...

Sweat for 1 full hour to get the benefits of exercise and extend your life. 16 min of interval training will do. Just decreasing sitting time will do.
Change your diet all at once to live healthier. Just replacing your regular cookie with a fruit or vegetable will do.
Start running by running. Walking to the end of the block is fine.
Live in a house you can hardly afford, and stress about the rent every month.
Do something because "everyone" is doing it.
Accept something as ok because "everyone" is doing it.
Defer happiness for later: When you graduate, when you get married, make more money, then you will be happy. You can be happy right now. When your goal materializes you will have another set of problems to deal with that is now not on your mind. Don't defer happiness for later as you will only be exchanging your current set of problems with another set.
Get permission to do the things you love.
Say "yes", when you really want to say "no".
Say "no", when you really want to say "yes".
Believe that you can't. Maybe you can?
Accept you not doing the things that are really important. You know your health is important. It might not be urgent like taking care of your work that is due tomorrow, but it is actually more important than the majority of tasks that need to be done today. Find a way to live today a little healthier than yesterday. This is your most important task.
Grant other people's opinions as more important than what your own experience is telling you.
Expect things to be hard. What if they are not and your expectation is only creating road-blocks?
Get the fanciest car/house/purse, etc. I am not saying that you shouldn't, I am just saying that you don't need to. You may be surprised by how fake some bells and whistles may prove to be.
Do things the hard way. The hard way may not even work. Try the simple way first, and if that doesn't work, then consider the hard way.

What inspired this "You don't need to" list....

I am building the membership section of Exercise Bliss. Apart from actually creating the program, writing the scripts, shooting the videos, and editing, I first needed to actually build the site. You know, a site that actually lets people login, have an account, and access to particular content.

I was assuming it would be hard, and so it was. I ended up choosing a software solution that did not satisfy me, and cost 10x the solution I ended up switching to....after 2 months of trying to make solution #1 to work.

Self-fullfiling prophecy? Totally! I lost 2 months, and quite a bit of money, because I expected that finding the right solution for me wouldn't be easy. I expected I needed to get the most powerful solution to satisfy my requirements, and the one with the most features. You see, when I first started researching my options I was immediately drawn to the most expensive solution because I falsely thought that this was the only way to fulfill my requirements. Boy, was I wrong. Too bad that this solution did not actually satisfy my needs regardless of how many bells and whistles were accompanying it (and believe me they were a lot!). Now you might be thinking that had I done my homework, I would have realized that that particular software was not the right one for me. Maybe. But I was convinced that I needed some features I couldn't find anywhere else. And I didn't expect that this solution wouldn't work the way I wanted it to work. Now I am glad I made the switch. I feel relieved.

I realized...

I don't need to start by making it complicated, assuming that I would have to get the most fancy solution and that I needed all those features.
I don't need to lose so many hours trying to configure a software solution that would never work.
I don't need to spend so much time being frustrated about making things work.
I don't need to spend a lot of money in order to build the site I want to build.

What about you? What is it that you are currently doing (or assuming) that you don't need to keep doing? Photo Credit: Roberto Taddeo

Why you can’t avoid overeating when you are eating out & 5 tips to do just that.

Maria — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 02:57:02 +0000

You are going out for dinner tonight. Excellent! You are excited to be with friends and enjoy a nice meal. There is only a slight problem though... You are actually taking care of what you eat and you desperately want to avoid overeating tonight - what you usually do when you are eating out. Did you notice the key word in the above sentence? It is the word "usually". Do you know what usually means? It means repetition. Or else...it implies habits. Overeating, or eating too much when you are eating out, is already an established habit. You will naturally tend to overeat, without even realizing it! Before you know it, you will think "Ooops, I think I ate too much!" Now sing with me: "Ooops, I did it again, I played with your heart..." Haha, just kidding. At this point you will feel guilty. After all, you made a deal with yourself NOT to eat too much and watch your portions. Yet you couldn't avoid overeating. What happened?

Restaurants are filled with triggers that your brain has long associated with eating whatever is in front of you, or else, overeating.

The lights
Your friends' company
The drinks
The music
The conversation
The menu with their "garden-fresh" tomatoes, and "fresh, wild-caught" salmon
The delicious food that smells...and looks great
The big portion in front of you

All the above conspire into one thing: making you eat. Plus, that's what you have been doing in the past again and again. When you get in this environment, you eat. A lot. That's what you do. Overeating at restaurants is a habit that has been reinforced countless times. Now you think that by pressuring yourself you should be able to restrain your appetite. Let me ask you something: How is "restraint" working out for you? My guess is that you go to a restaurant, thinking you will restrain yourself, only to slip once again and eat...too much.

There is a reason you cannot avoid overeating...no matter how hard you try.

Habits are not related with your goals. Habits are ruled by your habitual (or unconscious) mind while your goals are ruled by your executive (or conscious) mind.

When your habits are strong, your goals cannot overpower them.

Or else, strong habits are stronger than your goals. As researchers Wendy Wood and David Neal said in their paper "A New Look at Habits and the Habit-Goal Interface" paper published in Psychological Review:

"Habits are not easily changed through persuasive appeals that target people's goals".

Your executive mind cannot make your habitual mind comply with your goals if your habits contradict them, are strong, and reinforced by repeating them over and over. So you might be thinking that you should have tried harder, but the truth is... No matter the amount of effort you put into avoiding overeating, you are not wired to beat a strong habit. You can't.

Hence, beating yourself up makes no sense, because it was not really your fault. You couldn't have performed better in the restaurant situation.

But you are not helpless. You can avoid overeating. Even if you have strong "eating too much" habits.

5 strategic tips to avoid overeating when you are eating out

1. Don't go to the restaurant.

Simple enough. If you don't expose yourself to a restaurant situation then you won't run the risk of eating too much. There will be no lights, friends, delicious smells, menus that make you order more, etc. to activate your "eating out" habits.

2. Eat a little before you go.

Try eating half of your portion. Then, go out. Now at the restaurant, you won't be hungry, impatiently waiting for your food. You will be calm. When you see your food you won't be compelled to devour it.

3. Take an appetizer.

An appetizer is usually smaller than an entree. You are saving yourself calories...

4. Tell the waiter to bring half of your portion, and put the rest in a box.

Fine. Take that steak. But don't eat all of it! Now if the waiter brings you a full plate with a steak and french fries you will most probably eat all of it. It's hard to resist something so delicious and so available. It's right in front of you and it just smells so good! But if you tell the waiter to put half of the portion in a box, and then bring you the rest on your plate, then you just saved yourself hundreds of calories!

5. Drink water.

Water fills your stomach. Plus, it gives you something to do with your hands that is calorie free. Keep drinking water, to avoid nibbling more and more food. Next time you go out for dinner thinking you will "restrain" yourself and avoid overeating, think again. Be strategic and you will save the day! Photo credit: Sam Howzit

5 uncommon wellness habits for the New Year (+ giveaway winners announcement!)

Maria — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 05:48:33 +0000

So you want wellness habits to make your 2013 even better than 2012...BUT you are looking for new, maybe even uncommon, wellness habit ideas. We all know about wellness habits like eating right and exercising more, but what about something different? You are in the right place. I did a small survey to uncover wellness habits that are different than diet and exercise. Did I find any? You bet I did!

Wellness habits to get you inspired for 2013...

1. Switching an energy drink...with a green smoothie.

Sterling Morris says:

"I have learned that vegetables contain some the of highest quantities of phytonutrients, vitamines, minerals, and nutrion of any food source. I decided to switch out my daily energy drink consumption by making and consuming one green smoothie everyday this year as a supplement to my exercise program, and attempt at living a healthy lifestyle. I have much, much more energy than I ever had consuming 300+ MGs of caffeine, and I've only been doing this for about two weeks."

2. Taking care of YOU...without feeling guilty about it.

Jennifer says:

"I have begun 2013 by declaring it the year that I will take care of me. I will take the time that I deserve to show myself that I am important and deserve to be cared for and loved. Examples include sea salt baths, giving myself time for enough sleep, even a spa day. Moms especially need to learn to take time for themselves without feeling guilty about it or making self care another chore."

3. Looking amazing to conquer the world!

Anna says:

"When I was working at home, I used to go days without seeing a human. I sat around in my sweats all day, didn't brush my hair or put on makeup, and didn't bother very with my looks unless I was going out somewhere (every couple of weeks). At the end of last year I got a job with an agency and suddenly found myself in an office situation every day. It's a very relaxed work environment, but it made me take a look at my outward appearance and how it might be impacting my career in some ways. Beauty is inside and out, taking the time to relax and not think about work even if it's only a few minutes a day. By taking the time to get ready and put on my best possible exterior "armor" (clothes, makeup, hair, genuine smile over a life I love) for work each day, I'm going to be much more confident and poised - and I've already decided that this year is my year to conquer the world, so I'm going to need that extra bit of help :-)"

4. Doing stuff you feel like doing rather than forcing yourself.

Stacy Garay says:

"I am resolving to be more present. Like turning my phone off, only doing/working on things when I feel right doing so. I noticed when I try to "force myself" I always wind up with either substandard results or it takes me so much longer than it should."

5. Be in celebrating mode more...by drinking champagne more often!

Julie says:

"I resolved to drink more champagne this year because i learned counter-intuitive resolutions work really well. Drinking more champagne means I will:

need to find more reasons to celebrate
celebrating means spending more time with friends and family
it needs nice surroundings
I need to be able to toast my health so I need to maintain my health
and finally rather than stressing about denying myself the things I enjoy or doing more of things I don't enjoy, I will be pressuring myself to indulge. Plus, champagne in moderation is good for your heart."

New Year's Healthy Habits Giveaway Winners

I'll admit it - I had a hard time choosing the winners. There were many entries that I really liked...alas I only had 3 spots, not 20! So here you go. Below are the three winners along with their answers to the question:

"What New Year’s Habits do you want to tackle?"

1st Place - Diane (wins a FitDesk, access to the healthy habits course, and one month of Exercise Bliss)

"More exercise! Eat right! I need to lose the weight that I gained when I quit smoking and well, the menopause thing doesn’t help either. Once we change the clocks again and it’s light outside longer, I plan to go back to waking after work every day as a start. Also, I’ve cut out drinking soda and now only have pizza once a month. It’s a start!"

2nd Place - Summer Plewes (Wins access to the healthy habits course and one month of Exercise Bliss)

"Actually, exercise is my new years choice – I refuse to call it a resolution because they fail. AND although I hate my weight, it is not for my weight, I have chosen to do this for my mind. It helps with my depression and other things. So I have chosen to do it for my head, instead of my waist "

3d Place - Becky (wins one month of Exercise Bliss)

"I want to further a creative and active lifestyle full of health and wellness with my husband and children. I am hoping that leading by example will instill the best healthy lifestyle values in my children. It has always been a struggle but I try to do it every day."

Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to everyone who participated.

Regardless of whether you won or not, what is truly going to make a difference in your life is whether you follow through with your wellness resolutions or not.

Make it a habit and your life will change!

Photo credit: ganesha.isis

The Mindfulness Experiment: How a simple intention started…3 new habits that fill me with joy!

Maria — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:45:44 +0000

It's been a little more than a month since I decided to pay closer attention to how I feel throughout the day, or else, since I started the Mindfulness Experiment. My initial intention was just to observe myself, nothing more. Little did I know that this innocent goal would transform my morning routine and make me start not one, not two, but three new habits! And those habits...fill me with joy and appreciation. I love them!

Habit #1: The art of pausing and e-mails

Soon after I started the mindfulness experiment I discovered that I felt the urge to check my e-mail often. That urge was sometimes stressful and irresistible. I just had to check e-mail. I was addicted to e-mail, especially in the mornings after waking up. The remedy? As mentioned in the write-up of my practicing mindfulness experiment at 2 weeks:

"I would pause and wait for 30 seconds or so before I actually tapped the Gmail tab on my tablet. I wouldn’t count to 30, and I wouldn’t set a timer. I would just sit on the couch with the tablet in my hands and wait. My mind would roam. Or, maybe I would focus on my breathing. But as I did that the feeling of anxiousness was smoothing out. It was decreasing. And I felt better."

This simple "pause" helped me reduce the anxiety I felt and gradually make e-mail "less irresistible". :)

Habit #2: Meditation - Visualization

But this simple "pause" did not just help me with e-mail. About two-three weeks in the mindfulness experiment I found myself "pausing" for 20 minutes! I just loved the quiet time, thinking about what is important to me, or just appreciating the treasures in my life. My mornings got transformed. I am deeply looking forward to these moments when I get to sit by myself in peace, and "expand my optimism". Seriously, this is how I would describe what I am doing. I have found that most of us hold limiting beliefs that prevent us from reaching to our dreams. Some of us do it more than others, but still, we are all guilty of being our own worst enemies. In the morning, I am training myself that expanding...is ok and safe. I indulge in optimism and positivity and in this state fresh ideas are just pouring to me! ...which led me to the last habit...

Habit #3: Journaling

The ideas and golden nuggets I got from meditation and visualization were so many that I needed to start documenting them. Ideas are so fleeting that it's either document them or let them go. I chose to document them. I started journaling. It's been 3 weeks since I got started and I love looking back in my journal and seeing how many "problems" I have overcome through this time I am devoting to myself in the morning. I have overcome irrational fears, I have gotten insights about my business, and about what I truly want in life. Not to mention how good appreciation of the good things in life feels. I am honestly wondering...Why didn't I start this visualization-journaling process earlier? Every morning I feel overjoyed in appreciation of being healthy, living in a house, having food in my fridge, being married, having a family, my friends... Every morning I get some kind of "A-ha" moment that leads me to say "Eureka"! At least this is how most mornings are. There are some mornings that don't fill me with joy, but there has never been a morning when this meditation-visualization-journaling process didn't make me feel better than before I went into it.

In just 1 month... A simple mindfulness experiment...led me to three new habits that fill me with joy every day!

Being fit is not just about having firm abs. It's also about leading a fit life, a life that is joyful and fills you with satisfaction. I have found that the three new habits I got help me appreciate my life more, and get me one step closer to what I see as a fit and happy life. I honestly love them! Will I continue practicing them? Of course! I may change them in the future, but I feel that I am just scratching the surface here. It's funny how I got so much happiness and creativity through a simple intention to observe how I feel and running a mindfulness experiment... Photo Credit: Mindfulness

The 7 Fitness Reloaded highlights of 2012

Maria — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 03:08:26 +0000

It is customary for the New Year's to look back at what you accomplished in the last year, and then look forward and dream about the New Year. I'll be honest - I am not deep in the dreaming process. You see, in the past I have fallen in the "deep dreaming" trap - making plans that were more like guesses than plans. Dreaming and thinking big is good. However, when I got in the second phase of making a plan to get to the dream, I would get off course if that plan was more than 3 months away. My plan would not be a solid plan I could rely on, but a guess. Just a guess with hardly any validity. Jason Fred from 37Signals agrees that yearly plans...are more like guesses. Let's call plans what they really are. So this year I am sticking to thinking big, but I am avoiding "planning big". But before we get into the dreams for 2013, let's see what happened in 2012.

1. The Vegetarian vs. Paleo Health & Fitness Duel with Leo Babauta and Steve Kamb

I started the Power Up sessions Podcast with two series: the "Do the Impossible" and the "Health & Fitness Duels". The most popular of the podcasts is the Vegetarian vs. Paleo duel. I guess that there are many of you out there who are just like me: We don't know what we should eat! No wonder that this particular duel was so popular!

2. The Exercise Habits Report

Last year I was deep into research about how some people get to be successful with exercise, while others that may have tried the same things like the successful people, fail. I did a survey of 540+ people, and in this report you will learn about:

“How much time do people like me devote to exercise?
“What benefits are they getting?”
“How do people manage to make exercise an…effortless habit?”

3. Nobody is Perfect

Most beginners think that more experienced people than them are flawless. For example, beginner exercisers think that experienced exercisers, people who have made exercise a habit, rarely skip workouts. Not true! Through my research on Exercise Habits I found that 30% of the people who have exercised for 5 years or longer, skip their workout once a week or more. Every week! Next time you turn judgmental towards your progress, comparing yourself to others and making assumptions about what they do or do not do, I dare you to think again.

4. Sitting kills

I thought that since I am a regular exerciser I was fine. Yet I found out that regardless of whether you are exercising or not, sitting too long...may actually make it 54% more likely to die of heart attacks. When people ask me about what they should do to exercise, I usually tell them that to start with, they should not worry about the mode of exercise, aerobics, strength training, running etc...but instead aim for moving more. You just cannot imagine the benefits you reap even by walking for a total of 10 min a day. Yes, that means walking to the bathroom to wash hands, taking the stairs, running an errand on foot.

5. The book: Surprisingly...Unstuck

I admit it. I didn't plan to write a book this year. 12 months ago, I didn't put a book on my 2012 dreams plate, and becoming an author was not on my to-do list. When I first started writing I was aiming for a 20-page quick guide to help people create healthier habits. The project kept expanding until I had 200 pages. Now the book is all done, and you may get it on Amazon.

6. Fitness Reloaded as a software developer

Last year I released 6 apps on the Windows 8 Market: Abs, Legs & Glutes, Stretching, Upper Body, Total Body, Office Exercise & Stretch (android + Windows 8). I even recently found out that I have a developer profile on CNet!

7. Ditch New Year's Resolutions. Go for New Year's Habits instead.

A New Year is starting and we'd better prepare ;) This year I suggest to ditch New Year's Resolutions. You know they don't work. Many of us set them, only to stop by February. Instead I propose to aim for New Year's Habits. Habits that stick. And at least when it comes to healthy habits, I am helping you with that. I am giving away 1 FitDesk, 2 admissions to the Healthy Habits course that is coming up in 2013, and 3 one-month subscriptions to the Exercise Bliss program! Leave a comment to take part in the giveaway. So what's coming up in 2013? Well, if you read #7, you know - a closer focus on habits. Exercise Bliss helps people create exercise habits, by supplying them with daily 5 min workouts reminders, and support, while the Healthy Habits course is for the habit designers among you, who want to eat better or exercise more, but don't know exactly hot to make that happen. Bring it on 2013! ;)

Healthy Habits in the New Year: A giveaway to get you started!

Maria — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 06:54:34 +0000

The New Year often acts as a reset point for many of us. It's a great opportunity to get started with healthy habits. We resolve to quit smoking, devote more time to our families, or get fit. Unfortunately, many of our New Year's Resolutions get abandoned by February. It's not your fault. It is that by default...New Year's Resolutions don't work. (Don't believe me - listen to Stanford Persuasion Lab Director BJ Fogg explain the science behind the ineffectiveness of New Year's Resolutions).

For 2013 I propose something different: Forget about New Year's Resolutions. Go for New Year's Habits instead.

Instead of resolving to, e.g., walk for 30 min daily, resolve to walk for 10 min daily (easiness), after dinner (specificity), and tell your partner and best friend to call you every day reminding you of your resolution (trigger). Put it on your calendar too and set reminders (triggers). Wear comfortable clothes for walking before dinner - so that you are already ready to go after you are done with eating (easiness). The easier the new activity is, the higher the chances you will follow up with it, past the month of February and beyond :) Also, the more triggers you add (like your friends calling you and your calendar reminding it) the higher the chances that, again, you will keep going past February.

Today I am announcing a very special giveaway to help you acquire healthy habits in the New Year.

1st place gifts

One FitDesk
Free one-month membership to the Exercise Bliss program
Free access to the Healthy Habits course

2nd place gifts

Free one-month membership to the Exercise Bliss program
Free access to the Healthy Habits course

3d place gifts

Free one-month membership to the Exercise Bliss program

About the gifts

The FitDesk (1 FitDesk)

How the FitDesk will help you create healthy habits The FitDesk is the most amazing exercise bike ever. Why? Because you can do almost anything...while you are burning calories. Here are a few 2013 habits that the FitDesk will help you acquire:

Watch TV while burning calories (rather than sitting on the couch)
Read a book while building muscle (rather than sitting on your armchair)
Respond to e-mails on your laptop while moving (rather than sitting on your office chair)

You see, the FitDesk is made so that you can use your laptop or read your book while you are cycling. That's why it's so amazing. I got one last June, and I have been using it almost daily ever since. That's why I am raving about it. It helps me reduce how long I spend sitting every day. See my video review here. Now, you don't need to spend hours on the FitDesk every day. Even if you sit there for 10 min every day, you are still building the exercise habit. The FitDesk will make you a healthy habits winner because it just makes exercise so easy. You just sit on the bike while you do your work. Brilliant!

Free access to the Healthy Habits Course (2 people)

The Healthy Habits Course teaches you how to manipulate your brain to actually build the habits you want to have in your life. You might want to...

Eat healthier snacks
Cook more
Go to yoga more often
Walk more
Stretch more
Meditate more

If you have had trouble with any of the above areas, then the Healthy Habits course will give you the tools to tackle it. You will get access to 4+ weeks of high-quality videos and spreadsheets that explain you the nuts of bolts of why we do what we do, why we don't do what we want to do, and how to make change happen. Through the course you will tackle at least one area of your life you want to improve on. By the end of the course you will feel like a different person! The course launches in Spring so if you win, you will be one of the first people who will get access to it!

One month of Free Subscription to Exercise Bliss (3 people)

The Exercise Bliss video exercise program helps you create the exercise habit...even if you have no motivation or time to exercise. Seriously, if you wish you exercised more, and feel guilty for not doing so, then Exercise Bliss is a great fit for you. Here is how it works: Every day you get a reminder e-mail to a 5-min exercise video that you can do at home without equipment (trigger). The exercises are custom-tailored for beginners. You are committed to 5-min of exercise a day Monday through Friday (easiness). Now, if you want to do more than 5 min, then you will have access to longer exercise videos once you are done with the 5 min. But what if you cannot do the 5 min of daily exercise? Well, what is not allowed in the program is beating yourself for not doing enough. What you need to do though, is take a deep breath and move on with your life. Don't sweat the small stuff. Through your one-month subscription you will be enrolled in the daily 5-min videos and receive the motivational reminder e-mails. The next class of Exercise Bliss is scheduled for early 2013, so grab your seat and you will soon get started with a solid exercise foundation. This one-month subscription is beyond the normal Exercise Bliss free trial.

"Loved Exercise Bliss. Super simple, easy to commit to. Easy to fit into my hectic schedule." - Jacquie, busy mom of toddler twins "Liked Exercise Bliss very much. Showed me my weakest areas and made me want to get stronger without making it seem impossible to achieve." - Karen Williams "I enjoyed it very much. It was what I expected and I am glad I participated." - Carol Murphy

What to do to win the giveaway and get new healthy habits in the New Year

1. Mandatory - Leave a comment below: What New Year's Habits do you want to tackle? What will you do to make that happen? 2. Bonus points - share this post on social media (Facebook + Twitter)! The more you share, the higher your chances. 3. Bonus points - like Fitness Reloaded and the FitDesk on Facebook. Follow Fitness Reloaded and the Fitdesk on Twitter. 4. Mandatory - Complete your participation in the giveaway by filling out the Rafflecopter form below. 5. My decision is subjective and final. I reserve the right to change the gifts or terms related to this contest without notice.

The contest ends on Monday January 14th at 11.59 am PST. Winners will be announced in the few days afterwards. The selection of winners is subjective (but social media points do affect my judgment) ;)

People all around the world are eligible to participate, but if you come from countries other than the US and Canada, then you are not eligible for the 1st prize (the FitDesk only ships to North America at the time being).

Ready? Go! Scroll down to leave a comment: "What New Year's Habits do you want to tackle? What will you do to make that happen?"

a Rafflecopter giveaway

P.S.Stay Updated and get more bonuses!

Want to learn when Exercise Bliss and the Healthy Habits course launch? Sign-up below to be part of the Fitness Reloaded Insiders. You will get the first 5 chapters of my book "Surprisingly...Unstuck", and will stay updated :)

Practicing mindfulness: Results after 2 weeks of experimenting.

Maria — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 04:43:08 +0000

It suddenly struck me: I wanted to make the most of every moment. I wanted to decrease the moments I felt anxious and increase the moments I felt content and in the flow. I decided to get into a practicing mindfulness experiment. So what would I do differently through this experiment? I would be paying attention to how I feel. And I would operate under different priorities with "feeling good" coming first.

Practicing Mindfulness & my relationship to e-mail

Right from day 1 of practicing mindfulness I discovered my sensistive spot: e-mail. I felt a strong urge to check it, and anxious while my e-mail was loading and I was waiting to see if there was something new. Anxiousness was the opposite of "feeling good". Checking e-mail is fine if you feel good, but is not ok if you feel anxious. The urge to check e-mail was irresistible on two specific times of the day:

Checking e-mail was the first thing I would do in the morning - before coffee, and sometimes even before using the bathroom! It was also the first thing I would do after the gym. I would get in the house and immediately reach for the Gmail app in my tablet.

Through the rest of the day I was not particularly addicted to e-mail. I wasn't checking it all the time, and I didn't feel anxious when I was checking it. It was those two moments - after waking up and coming back from the gym, that I was, literally, addicted to e-mail.

Break the habit: The art of pausing.

I needed to break the habit but I couldn't just do it. I tried not to check e-mail but the urge was almost irresistible. I couldn't just stop checking my e-mail after I woke up or after the gym. So I found another way to make change happen: I would pause and wait for 30 seconds or so before I actually tapped the Gmail tab on my tablet. I wouldn't count to 30, and I wouldn't set a timer. I would just sit on the couch with the tablet in my hands and wait. My mind would roam. Or, maybe I would focus on my breathing. But as I did that the feeling of anxiousness was smoothing out. It was decreasing. And I felt better. After a little while, when I actually tapped on the Gmail icon, I wouldn't feel anxious anymore. I felt that I was ok, that everything was ok. I didn't feel content necessarily, but I didn't feel anxious either.

Practicing mindfulness: Results after two weeks.

After two weeks of experimenting with practicing mindfulness, I can now resist the urge to check e-mail when I wake up and when I come home from the gym. In the morning, I can make my coffee first, and then, check e-mail. I can also skip checking e-mail after the gym quite easily. In addition, when I am checking e-mail I am not feeling anxious. I feel fine! I am on the right path :)

I will keep practicing mindfulness because I know that there are quite a few untapped "feel good moments" throughout the day that I could take advantage of.

Living my life while feeling good is way too important not to pay attention. Join me? P.S. What a coincidence! Right after I got started with this mindfulness experiment, I found out that my friend John Muldoon from MonthlyExperiments.com was also getting into a practicing mindfulness experiment for the month of December. He is doing this along with Kristen Ruvnik. Learn how others are doing in the Mindful December experiment here. Photo credit: mindfulness

Strength training or running? Two experts in the most loving debate ever!

Maria — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 07:25:15 +0000

Some people run, some people choose strength training. Both are strong advocates of why their choice is the best. You may be confused. You don't know what to choose. Should you do strength training or running? Or...should you do both? That’s why I have created the Health & Fitness Duels series. To bring light to health & fitness confusion! Today’s duel is about which mode of exercise to choose: strength training or running…

Listen to strength training & running experts Jason Fitzgerald from StrengthRunning.com & Amy Clover from StrongInsideOut.com in a "Strength training or Running" health & fitness duel.

Which mode of exercise is a better fit for your needs and your lifestyle? Or, maybe you should do both? Right-click on "Download" and select "Download Linked File As" to download the podcast on your computer. Want to get more Podcasts? Subscribe to my iTunes channel.

In this Health & Fitness Duel podcast, you’ll learn:

Why should someone do strength training? Why running?
How is strength training different from running (e.g., muscles worked, equipment used, time required, cost…etc)?
What is the runners' high? Do people who do strength training also get it?
Suppose I am a beginner. What should I expect after my first month of strength training/running?
How do I get started with strength training or running?
Who should NOT do strength training/running?
For what types of people is strength training a better choice? What about running?
Strength training or running? What should you do? How do you pick?

About the guests:

Jason Fitzgerald has been running competitively for over 14 years and ran 2:39:32 at the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon. He’s the author of 101 Simple Ways to be a Better Runner, a Top 50 Sports book for the Kindle on Amazon. Jason is the founder and coach of StrengthRunning.com, a blog about improving as a runner and injury prevention that hosts over 50,000 readers every month and has been featured in Yahoo, Health Magazine, Lifehacker, and the Huffington Post. When he’s not being a running geek or running his own workouts, you can find Jason pounding coffee with his wife Meaghan somewhere around Washington, DC. Amy Clover, CPT, CES PN1, is a personal trainer, bootcamp instructor andBangin’ Body Coach based in Los Angeles, CA. Her blog, Strong Inside Outblends fitness and self development to empower you to overcome life’s obstacles. She recently released her premier ebook, Make This Your Moment: A Step-by-Step Guide to Changing Your Life… for Good, to help people make the choice to change so that it sticks. Like Strong Inside Out on Facebook for daily updates and inspiration for fitness and for life! Photo Credit: Lululemon athletica

Three simple healthy habits you can master in the next 5 days.

Maria — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 10:04:29 +0000

Can you be a happier, healthier person in one week? I say yes. If you start today, then by Monday you will already have a different life. Here are three simple healthy habits to get you started. Just pick one and get going!

1. Floss your teeth.

Many people hate flossing. Yet the benefits of flossing cannot be denied. Flossing is the most effective way to remove food that is stuck between your teeth. After you brush your teeth at night, floss one tooth. That's it. Just one. But what about the rest of your teeth? Don't worry, you will get to them. By Monday flossing this one tooth will be a routine. A very easy routine. Once you find it very easy, you will "accidentally" catch yourself flossing more teeth. Oops! ;) You will start flossing more and more teeth "accidentally" - not by dragging yourself to do it. Read Leo's post if you want more details about how to develop the flossing habit.

2. Eat slowly.

Most of us eat fast and don't savor our food. Plus, it takes 20 minutes for our brain to "register" how full we are. If we are too fast, we may end up overeating. Hello new pounds, welcome on board! I was talking with a nutritionist today, and I came up with an idea: Instead of eating in a hurry, why not take advantage of eating as a way to relax and get away from what troubles us? Start by sitting in front of your plate, relax and count 5 breaths. Once the 5 breaths are up you can go ahead and start eating. I didn't realize it at the time, but that's considered meditation. There are even books on meditation that suggest this mindfulness-before-eating practice. Yes, it seems that many people had this idea before I thought of it :) I am actually doing this experiment myself, and will let you know of the results. Join me?

3. Improve your relationship with your significant other.

I found this fascinating answer on Quora that I had to share with you:

"When I was in a dark period I instituted a simple rule that changed my life. Rule: When I arrive home from work, the very first thing I tell my wife is the best thing that happened that day. No exceptions. No complaining. Just the best thing that day, even if it was just a good cup of coffee. This had the effect of starting our evening off on a positive note and it changed our relationship."

What a simple but amazing way to improve your relationship with your other half. Start today and let me know how things change by Monday!

Remember: Feeling accomplished makes you come alive.

You love solving problems and then feeling that "Yes, I made it!". Just like when you are playing a video game and get to the next level... Just like when you are trying to achieve something important to you - a promotion, getting in to the university of your dreams, or do your first pull-up...The feeling of achievement just make us feel alive. So... I dare you to challenge yourselves. Look at the list with the simple healthy habits above and if one of those habits sounds like something that could improve your life and make your happier, try it. Seriously. You don't have to wait til Monday to get started with something new. You can start today with simple healthy habits and already feel better by Monday. Want to learn more about simple healthy habits? Sign up below to be part of the Fitness Reloaded Insiders. You will get healthy tips that don't get posted on the website. Photo credit: donireewalker

Why we don’t do what we want to do

Maria — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:45:01 +0000

All of us want to be healthy. Yet few of us actually take the steps that will bring us those results, like exercising more or eating better. We want to be healthy, but we don't take the steps to be healthier. Of course, it's not that we haven't tried. We have. Yet, when 60% of gym memberships go unused, when people lose weight only to take the pounds back, we know that the reason we don't succeed is not that we don't want to. We do want to succeed and that's why we try in the first place. The problem is more complicated than that.

Why we don't do what we want to do

1. We don't know what to do.

We might not know what exercises to do, how many we should do, or the proper form. We may not know how to change our diet. Or, we may have a general idea of what we should do, but a general idea does not cut it. It needs to be specific for us to do it. E.g., if you know you could do push-ups (general idea), but are insecure you are doing them wrong (specific), you will probably not do them at all.

2. We know what to do, but it's not top of mind.

So you know you could do push-ups, and know how to do them right. Yet, push-ups have not achieved top of mind status for you. You just don't remember about them during the day. Or they may vaguely be in your mind, but getting distracted by what you are already doing is easier.

3. We are not organized enough.

We may now what to do, and how to do it. Yet we are not organized. We have a ton of healthy recipes, but no groceries on our fridge. When it's time to cook, the healthy ingredients are missing.

4. We lack the right triggers.

Triggers spur us into action. Your workout buddy with your 7 am exercise class is a strong trigger for you to exercise. Your brand new workout clothes that fill you with excitement when you wear them are also an exercise trigger. The healthy grocery shopping list that is on your fridge is a trigger to buy the right ingredients. At the same time, the warm croissants offered at your work are triggers for you to eat them, even if you don't feel hungry. Your work is a trigger to just keep working...or makes you feel stiff and offers you a trigger to get up to walk or stretch. We often don't adhere to our shiny healthy plans because the trigger balance in our lives is not encouraging enough. You may have more unhealthy than healthy triggers. And the more unhealthy triggers, the more you have to debate with yourself about doing...what you want to do.

5. We have not solved potential problems in advance.

What happens if you are on a diet and you slip one day? Do you spend the next day accusing yourself? Do you eat less on the next day? Do you review why you slipped and how you can avoid a similar occurance in the future? What if you usually exercise in the morning, and you skip your morning workout on that day? Do you do it later? When? Do you just forget about it? How do you feel? Many of us get disappointed about not adhering perfectly to our healthy plan. The result is that some of us quit, because we feel that we can't make it. Is that really true, or is it a distortion of the truth? Coming up with solutions about problems that may arise before you get started with your healthier living plan will dramatically improve how you feel during your journey, and the results you get out of it. Are you also wondering why you don't do what you want to do? Or have you come up with "easy excuses" like "I'm lazy" to avoid digging into the issue further? You will often find that simple changes in how you approach the living healthier issue will bring unexpected results. I thoroughly explain what to do to live healthier in my book "Surprisingly...Unstuck". Sign up below to get the first 5 chapters for free.

A fascinating weight loss study you have to know about

Maria — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 06:53:22 +0000

I came across this weight loss study from Stanford University and couldn't help it but be blown away.

Really, what would you think of a weight loss program that...prohibits weight loss for the first 2 MONTHS, but instead teaches you about weight maintenance?

What would you think if you were told that such a program that makes you wait first...

Is as effective as a similar weight loss program that does not make you wait, but much better than it because weight loss results last longer?

The weight loss study's authors found that "maintenance first" women had regained only 3 pounds at the one year market after the end of the study. Yet, the other group, the one that started right away and did not "wait" first, had regained 7 pounds.

“Those eight weeks were like a practice run. Women could try out different stability skills and work out the kinks without the pressure of worrying about how much weight they had lost,” said lead author Michaela Kiernan, PhD, senior research scientist at the Stanford Prevention Research Center (as reported by Susan Ipaktchian).

I find this weight loss study results fascinating to say the least.

So many people just think about losing weight, start on a diet immediately, without having planned anything. Without knowing how to maintain their weight after the diet is done. Several of them have not even planned how to help themselves adhere to the diet. They start on a diet, without thinking about the triggers that surround them, and without using the harnessing motivation technique. I talk thoroughly about creating a solid strategy to lose weight, eat right, or exercise more in my new book "Surprisingly...Unstuck".

Another reason I find this fascinating is that is shows that having the "luxury" to play with a concept that most people find so limiting, such as weight loss, does help people create better strategies to get results. Playing, feeling no pressure because, after all, you must wait, can create miracles. This weight loss study has shown that playing first...really works! A popular saying dictates that...

"Failing to plan is planning to fail".

And Khalil Gibran said:

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet

and the winds long to play with your hair."

I say combine both: plan while playing. Then, play some more and plan some more. See your plan as a game and enjoy it. And make your dreams come true. Photo Credit: Alan Cleaver

Your time to vote: Which Exercise Bliss logo do you like the most?

Maria — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 05:00:17 +0000

I am starting a new service called Exercise Bliss. It's meant to help people who wish they exercised more but haven't yet found a way to include regular exercise in their lives. The service is not based on guilting people, or whipping them to do more. On the contrary, it's based on nurturing them, encouraging kindness, and finally...successfully making exercise a habit. So I need your help. I have two logo ideas for Exercise Bliss, and don't know which one to choose. I would love to know what you think.

Here is "the sun" Exercise Bliss logo:

Here is "the figure" exercise bliss logo:

Now that you've seen both, it's your chance to cast a vote: The sun or the figure?

Why “less is more” has upgraded my fitness.

Maria — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:00:07 +0000

A few weeks ago I noticed that I avoided to do a specific back exercise at the gym. It was probably at least a month that I hadn't done it, even though I am supposed to do it once a week. So I asked myself, why I chose not to do this particular exercise...

"It is hard", was my answer.

Indeed, every time I did it, I just found it too hard. So right at that moment I thought that since that was maybe the best exercise for my back, I did want to go back to doing it regularly. Yet something needed to change, because I was already avoiding it for a while, and I didn't want to keep doing this. So I decided to make it easy. I reduced the weight I had to lift. I reduced it so much that I thought that I was making it "way too easy" and that I was afraid I would "lose my muscle by lifting so few weights". Yet, what was the alternative? Keep it hard but never do it? Wouldn't I lose muscle by NOT doing this exercise at all? So I accepted that it was ok to just lift fewer weights. And that day I did the exercise. And I enjoyed how easy it felt, even though I was still kind of judgmental about the amount of "easiness". And then, a miracle happened. A few weeks later and I am back to lifting my normal weight. And I don't avoid the exercise anymore. Making it easy, expecting less from myself, actually helped me increase my fitness level.

Had I not made the exercise easier, then I would have kept avoiding it, and my fitness level would have decreased.

Indeed, sometimes easy is better than difficult, and less is more! Photo Credit: 200MoreMontrealStencils

Waiting til Monday…Is this you? I know it’s me!

Maria — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:12:06 +0000

I can tell you in three words why your previous attempts at getting fit have failed, and then in four more I can tell you how to make it finally succeed. Ready? Ok, first why they have failed. You have been telling yourself this for a while: I’ll start Monday! Sound familiar? In a second, I’ll tell you the four words that will break the cycle, but I have to tell you a story first.

The Longest Weekend Ever

We often make the decision to improve health but say we'll wait until after the weekend. I had a weekend recently that lasted, oh, about a month and a half. You see, I had been making great strides in my own personal fitness. I had started 30 day challenges for myself, and even started bringing people from work in. Our most recent 30 day challenge, we had almost half our department playing along. It was fantastic! But then something amazing happened: I became a dad. What does that have to do with fitness? I’m sure any parent knows that answer. The baby took over my life. Now, it’s reasonable to accept that the first week is going to get you all tossed up and around, and it’s appropriate for a baby to take over your life. The problem is I just dropped everything else. That’s when the longest “weekend” began. I said during that first week that on the following Monday I’d get back to schedule. The week after that, I “rededicated” myself to it and said the Monday after that. This literally went on for about 6 weeks before I decided I’d had enough. “Monday” just never came.

The secret to breaking the cycle

I told you at the beginning of the post that I had four words that could break the cycle. Ready? Don’t wait until Monday! It sounds easy, doesn’t it? I say this a lot on Finding My Fitness, and I’m positive Maria would agree with me: if you can start on Monday, you can start today. (click here to tweet this) The problem most people have in saying they’ll start Monday is that they don’t. Something always comes up, and soon you find yourself promising you’ll start on the following Monday. Pretty soon, you’ve gone a month or more without starting. I know how it is, because I’ve done it myself.

So what can you do about it?

Simply saying “don’t wait until Monday” doesn’t help you. Yeah, it’s tweetable, but it doesn’t give you anything you need to get going. So I want to end this exhortation with a challenge. I don’t want you to just read it, I want you do actually do it. It’s your first step to breaking the cycle. You already know the behavior you want to change. Maybe it’s to work out more. Maybe it’s to start a specific diet. Maybe you just want to stop drinking soda or eating candy from your coworker’s bowl (guilty as charged!). Here’s the challenge: take one step towards that change TODAY. Right now, if you can. What does that look like? Here are a few ideas of what I’m talking about:

Take a 15 minute walk as soon as you’re done reading this. If you have to wait until later, decide right now exactly at what time you’ll be able to do it.
Download Maria's Office Exercise & Stretch app to help you remember to do some quick exercises at work!
Tell your coworkers what you want to do. Ask them to help you (some of them will be MORE than happy to call you out when you’re about to cheat...). You might even encourage them to join you.
Say “NO!” to the next impulse you’re trying to control. For me, that would be when I walk past the bowl of “fun size” candy bars. It works every time, now that I’ve started it.
Take some time to plan your menu for the next week, or even the next couple days. When you know what you’re going to eat, it’s easier not to cheat
If that’s too far in advance, decide right now to eat a healthy dinner.

I am 110% confident that when you take one step towards the fitness desires you’ve already started thinking about not only will you reach those goals that much sooner, but you’ll feel better about your ability to get it done this time. Go forth and rock! Jason has been overweight his whole life and is on a journey to being healthy and fit. He writes about his 4 Hour Body adventures with tips, encouragement, and advice on FindingMyFitness.com. Subscribe to his newsletter to get some great “slow-carb” recipes! Photo Credit: Andrew Morrell

Wish you exercised more? I am working on a solution for you!

Maria — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 22:02:47 +0000

Exciting times here at Fitness Reloaded! First, I just published my first book "Surprisingly...Unstuck". If you wish you exercised more, or ate better, but don't know how to make this happen...If you have tried in the past yet your efforts were not successful, then you might want to check it out here or on Amazon. Second, I am developing a product to specifically help those of you who wish you exercised more but don't. My method will involve exactly zero "whipping". I don't just want to you to exercise, I want you to feel good about it.

I want to turn you away from dreading exercising, or seeing it as a chore, and towards loving exercise & actually looking forward to it!

Haha, you might think it's impossible but I have to disagree. If it sounds like a good idea to you, if you think it's worth testing, then, I need your help. I need a few volunteers to try out a new method I have designed to help you make exercise a habit and love it! In return, you will receive free training and several health benefits, like better mood, increased self-confidence, more energy, etc.

The program lasts 5 days & will take 5 min. a day starting on Monday Nov 4th through Friday Nov 9th.

Every day you will get an e-mail from me with links to an exclusive 5-min exercise video. The workout included will be custom-tailored to beginners. At the end of each day, I will ask you whether you completed the 5 min of exercise. You will reply with a "y" for yes, or "n" for no, and offer any comments if you want to. That's it. Now you may be worried that you will feel bad if you don't do those 5 min of exercise. Don't worry, I have a remedy for this...I can't tell you what. It's a secret. But you will find out if you join the program. Again this program is not created to make you feel guilty, and pressure yourself to comply to exercising. It's made to make you feel good. That's the primary objective. Exercise is secondary. That's why I called it "Exercise Bliss"! Your contribution will be invaluable. I really want to design a breakthrough product that is different from the mainstream "whipping" policy of the health & fitness industry. But most importantly, I really want to get you results. And to do that I need to know what is working for you. Sounds good? Fill-in the form below to join the class of Nov 5th-Nov 9th.

UPDATE: The Nov 5th class is sold out and overbooked! New classes will open, so if you want to get notified, sign up here.

How Natasha Wang became a pole dancing champion in her 30s…with no previous exercise experience.

Maria — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 22:17:25 +0000

Natasha Wang was never an athlete. She casually started pole dancing in her late 20s, attending class just once a week. She actually thought that exercising more than 2 times a week was just too much for her. A few years later she would find herself dominating in pole competitions, spending hours exercising every day. How did that happen?

Listen to Natasha Wang talk about her pole dance journey in a "Do the Impossible" talk.

What were her secrets? In this "Do the Impossible" podcast, you'll learn:

What are Natasha's most significant pole achievements?
How did her pole journey start? How old were she? How many times a week were she exercising?
When did she start taking pole more seriously? Why?
When did she do her first performance?
How did she get over her stage fear?
Which was her first competition and how did she train for it?
How did Natasha deal with self-doubt?
How did Natasha balance working full time & training?
What is the most common mistake among pole dancers?
The 3 things to which Natasha attributes her success.
How did Natasha decide to leave her job and focus on pole full-time? Was it a difficult decision?
There are many pole dancing fans who aspire to become like Natasha. What tips would Natasha give to them?

THIS IS an EPISODE OF THE "DO THE IMPOSSIBLE" SERIES. YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN THE "HEALTH & FITNESS DUELS" SERIES WHERE 2 EXPERTS DISCUSS CONCURRENTLY A CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT.

Or, you can get them all in itunes!

About Natasha Wang:

Natasha Wang used to be a publicist…She started casually attending pole dance classes with friends in her late 20s. At the time she did not yet suspect that a few years later she would dominate the stage and be announced as the winner in pole fitness championships! She has now put her publicist career on hold, to let her pole fitness career blossom!

Exercise during long-term travel: The ultimate guide

Maria — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 04:49:36 +0000

You are packing your bags ready to travel the world. You leave most of your stuff behind. Along with stuff, you leave your friends, family, and...your gym membership. At least for a while. You put on your backpack, check you have your airplane tickets with you, and shut the door behind you. There is one thing you haven't quite figured out yet. What will you do to exercise during your long-term travel? You certainly don't want to stop exercising. But how will you pull this through? Sure you will be walking a lot, exploring different towns, yet even though walking counts, you want something more than moving. You want to work your muscles. Exercising when you live at home is different than exercising when you are on the go. When you are at home it's relatively easy to stick to a routine. You go to the gym 4 times a week and have a specific plan for each day. Or, you go to your favorite yoga studio 2 times a week. However, when you are traveling there is no routine for you. Your gym and yoga studio are not available, and you cannot depend on finding a gym or yoga studio in your destination. Even if you try to create a routine...it will be hard as where you stay, and your timezone...keep changing. What you need is a workout plan that you can do anywhere. Making it short and efficient only adds to your flexibility. Let's make this work!

1. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).

High intensity interval training (HIIT) is the first tool in your travel exercise kit. HIIT involves alternating between short intense bursts of exercise and low intensity exercise (or breaks):

Sprinting as fast as you can for 30 sec, walking for 60 sec.
Doing as many push-ups as you can for 50 sec, rest for 10 sec.

HIIT is an efficient way to exercise and let's you get a full body workout in just 16 minutes....or less. Aim for 70-85% of your heart rate. Read more on why HIIT works in Wikipedia.

Sample Workout 1:

Run as fast as you can for 30 sec, walk for 60 sec.
Repeat until you reach 10 min.

Sample Workout 2:

Do as many pushups as you can for 50 sec. Rest for 10 sec.
Do as many lunges as you can for 50 sec. Rest for 10 sec.
Do as many snowboarder's jumps as you can for 50 sec. Rest for 10 sec.
Hold a plank for 50 sec. Rest for 10 sec.

Did that? Intense right? That was 4 min. Now repeat this sequence another 3 times to reach a total of 16 min.

You will need a timer to do HIIT. You can download a "tabata timer" or "HIIT timer" to your phone (check the app store), or you can go here if you have internet access.

If you want to get more workout ideas with HIIT, then go to maxcapacitytraining.com . I cannot recommend Samy's book "Max Capacity Training" more. His website is a great resource for people who care about efficient exercising. See a sample workout here.

Sample Workout 3:

Repeat the following 3-min routine another 3 times for an effective 12 min workout.

2. Bodyweight exercises.

If you are used to going to a gym, then you need to teach yourself new exercises...that don't need weights. You see, carrying weights with you is not...recommended during travel. You need to learn new ways to work your body. Believe it or not, you can exercise with the same intensity using your own's body weight even without weights. Listen to this bodyweight vs. weight training debate between bodyweight expert Mark Lauren and weights expert Vic Magary to learn more about the differences between the two. Mark Lauren is the author of You are your own gym, a great book to expand your options on bodyweight exercises. Take a piece of paper, or your smartphone, and jot down a few exercises. To get you started, here are a few ideas...:

Burpees
Push-ups
Planks, Side planks
Squats, Jumping squats
Lunges
Supermans
Downward dog

Keep in mind that bodyweight exercises tend to work various muscles of your body at the same time. This makes them harder than most machine exercises at the gym. Take a look at burpees for example:

3. Make your own equipment.

If you are really used to going to the gym, you will naturally want to do exercises with weights. You can still do it: Make your own equipment!

Use your backpack as a weight.

Or, bottles of water.

Or, use furniture in your hotel room.

4. Take an exercise band with you.

Just in case you are inclined to forget about your workout while you travel...Hey, I didn't say it will happen to you. Just in case...I strongly recommend you take something with you that is light to carry yet shouts "exercise" at you. An example could be an exercise band. Every time you see the band...Boom, visual cue to do your exercise. The more visual cues you have, and the better prepared you are (i.e., have a list of exercises done before you actually feel like you want to exercise), the more likely you are to actually follow through with exercising. That's the power of triggers. Don't know what to do with an exercise band?

5. Run.

You can always go outside and run. If you like running and the weather is ok, then go out and run. Use HIIT to mix it up if you want.

6. Get your heart beating.

You want to do cardio exercise, yet running outside is not for you. You have 3 options:

Do HIIT. HIIT makes your heart beat fast. It does not only work your muscles but your cardiovascular system too.
Do Jumping Jacks. Look at Steve's video for Jumping Jack Inspiration:

Do Step ups. You cannot just space out with step-ups like you do when you are on the elliptical machine. You need to take care you don't fall. Focus.

7. What about warming up?

Warming-up does not need to be a separate activity. Just do the activity that you plan to do in a lower intensity:

If you plan to go out running, then start by walking for 2-5 minutes.
If you want to do squats, start with a set of squats where you don't really go low.

8. Don't forget to stretch.

Stretching is a heavenly sent tool of wellbeing...Particularly useful when flying...Watch the video for airport and airplane stretch ideas.

8. Remove your barriers: It's ok to just do 5 min.

We are used to thinking of exercise as an activity that needs at least 30 min. Well, it does not have to be like that. Studies show that each minute counts. For example, dividing a 30 min workout in three 10-min chunks during a day, is as effective as doing 30 min in a straight segment. Read Gretchen Reynold's "The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can: Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer" to get more on the science behind how much we actually need to do. So if you wake up, and have a few spare minutes, then why not do a set of abs? Later on during the day you might find you have a few more minutes. Why not do a set of squats? Don't limit yourself with what you think you have to do. You know that exercise is good for you. You might even feel the urge to stretch and move. Then, don't be afraid to take advantage of it. Every minute counts.

9. Revolutionize your workouts like Charles Atlas.

Charles Atlas got pumped...in the 1930s. No protein shakes or other supplements. No weight lifting at the gym. How did he do it? By using bodyweight exercises along with one more method... He created his own resistance. Think about it. When you exercise, regardless of whether you are doing bodyweight exercises or weight lifting, you are using external resistance to make your muscles work. However, you don't actually need to do that. You can just make your muscles contract on their own, without using external resistance. For instance, lift your arms up and down as if you wanted to do shoulder press. Did that? Now contract your upper back, shoulders, and arm muscles. Keep contracting for 20 sec while you do the movement. Feel the burn? So yes, you could technically hold on to dumbbells and just press up and down. However, you can actually do this movement, while you are resisting the movement on your own. It may sound confusing, but it works. And the best part is that it is quite safe, esp. for your joints. If you want to explore this method more, then read "The Miracle 7". Or go to the author's website and check out the exercises for yourself. You are set! Make a list of do-anywhere exercises, put an exercise band in your suitcase, and possibly download one of the books above to your Kindle or Nook. They will be a great resource during your long-term travel. Or just, visit the Fitness Reloaded Workout Routines archive. All workouts are short and can be done anywhere. No equipment needed. Photo credits: charlesatlas.com ; ???@??

Hey you…It’s time to make friends with the mirror..?

Maria — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:28:30 +0000

I rarely talk about appearance here in Fitness Reloaded, as I see weight loss and better looks as a side-effect of living healthier rather than the actual reason to exercise or eat right. Yet, let's be honest with ourselves. We all care about how we look. We know it affects our self-confidense. No matter how much we claim we care for our health, with health being a long-term thing, appearance is what takes prevalence in our perception. So let's address this issue today... When I was 16 I didn't like shopping for pants because I found it hard to find a pair that would actually fit nice. To be honest, I hated going shopping for pants. I needed to get new pants and shorts, yet I couldn't find anything that would at least look ok. One day, after trying a pair of jeans that left me disappointed (once again)...I thought:

"I have a troubled relationship with the mirror. This affects me every day, as I have to choose what to wear every day, and I have to look myself in the mirror every day. It's not as if I can skip the mirror. Hence, I am kind of annoyed or disappointed every day. What if I was actually happy with how I look? What if the mirror was a delightful experience? Wouldn't that be great?"

Well, my idea of "being happy with how I look" was to exercise... a lot. Cut out carbs and really take care of my diet. Stuff myself with veggies. Once I did all that, then I would be free to look in the mirror (and yes, I would have a good time when shopping for pants as well). Luckily in the following years I would find out that you don't need to become a fitness freak to find pants that fit and like what you see in the mirror. It's actually much easier.

"Getting drunk is a dubious way to learn to love your looks..."Source: someecards.com via Maria on Pinterest

But I digress. The point of this article is not how to love how you look, or what to do to improve your looks (getting drunk works only for a few hours - not recommended), or how to find pants that fit. The point is our own relationship...with ourselves. Those daily annoyances of "I don't look good in this pair, I have to find another shirt that matches better with this, I need to change the lighting in my house so that I have a better daily experience with the mirror" do take a toll on your psychology and self-confidence. Plus, you experience them DAILY. They affect you EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE. Getting rid of them would mean an INSTANT UPGRADE OF THE QUALITY OF YOUR EVERY DAY LIFE. You see, when I realized that these kind of thoughts affected me every day, I realized that not liking the way you look is similar to financial debt.

When you are in debt, regardless of whether it is credit card debt, student loans, or a mortgage, the debt is always somehow in your mind. You buy something and you cannot avoid thinking about your debt. Being in debt does not only affect you when it's time to pay your balance, it also affects you daily, with almost every small or large purchase.

Similarly, not liking how your body looks, does not only affect you when you need to get clothes, it also affects you every day. With every look in the mirror... With every reflection on a shop's window...

Actually becoming friends with the mirror means a huge boost in how you feel every day.

Here is the trick though: You cannot get rid of your debt, or you cannot actually like how you look, without working on it. The good news is, of course, that you do have the power to change your relationship with the mirror...if you take the right steps.

Just like you have the power to make more money or save more, you also have the power to change your body. So this is what I thought to myself back then:

"I have the power to actually make my daily mirror experience from a so-so one, to a delightful one! I could just do what it takes and then I would make friends with the mirror."

I didn't exercise at the time. Life as a high-school student often takes a toll on our athletic activities. I could change that though. I knew I could. I tried exercising for 10 min every day, yet I didn't keep doing it. I often asked myself "Why?". I knew I had 10 min. Then, why did I not do it? I didn't really have a good answer for that (but I do now...more in my new book "Unstuck"). So years passed by...I accepted the fact that I would never make friends with the mirror. Then, I went to college and started exercising regularly. My body started changing. After my first year of exercise the mirror started liking me better, and I liked the mirror more. As years were going by, our relationship was actually improving. Right now I don't have a perfect relationship with the mirror, yet I don't have fights with it either. I also don't dread shopping for pants :) The mirror is not yet a delightful experience, but it's rarely bad either. Me and the mirror are on better terms now. And my daily life is not burdened anymore by my relationship with the mirror. So now the light is on you... How do you want to live the rest of your life? How is your relationship with the mirror? If it's good, then wonderful! If not, then maybe...just maybe...it's time you take control over it. You can change it! And your body will start changing as soon as you take the right steps. Farewell :) Photo Credit: Freedom House

Get unstuck: No more yo-yoing and never-ending battles with yourself.

Maria — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 20:52:28 +0000

It is no secret that people view exercise and healthy eating as a chore. They feel they should do it, and push themselves to do it, yet they don't quite succeed. Then, they feel guilty, that they "gave in too easily", that they "didn't try hard enough", and just feel bad for themselves. On top of that, others tell them that...

They didn't try hard enough
They didn't really want to change
They were not determined

Believe it or not, even though the statements above sound plausible, they are not actually true. Well, what if I told you that...

You could have not tried harder than you did?
You really wanted to change?
You could have not been more determined?

Could that be true? And if yes...then...you are wondering...

"Why the heck have I failed again and again at sticking to exercise and healthier eating?"

Some people get especially baffled with their behavior. E.g., they would really like to exercise, they like the feeling they get after they are done, yet they somehow cannot include exercise in their lives...permanently. And then they are wondering...

"Why don't I do what I want to do?"

Others get started with healthier eating or exercise, and try and try and try, and push some more to make themselves stick to it...

Does transitioning to living healthier have to be hard?

I had all these questions myself. For more than a year I have been researching this subject. The answer ended up lying in behavioral change, behavioral economics, and social science papers...

It appears that we humans are not wired to be rational.

This is just how our brain is structured. That's why we even don't understand why we do what we do. I also found that if we don't yet live healthier, if our weight yo-yos, or if we have tried to stick to a program and have stopped...it's not actually our fault. No we could have not tried harder or wanted it more. It's just that we tried changing without accounting for our own irrationality. As I said earlier, we humans are not as rational as we like to think of ourselves.

I collected the knowledge from the academic world, combined it with my own knowledge about exercise and healthy eating, added case studies of real people's success stories, and packed it all in a book called "Unstuck".

It's for all of you who want to live healthier, either by eating better or exercising more, yet don't know how to make that change happen, last, and be pleasurable.

Here is a sneak-preview of what is in the 150+ page book... Part I. Why you get the weight back, quit the gym after 3 weeks, & cannot make eating your vegetables daily a habit

The fallacy of “I need to try harder…"
Conventional wisdom has it wrong.
How people set themselves up for failure right from the start.
Why motivation is not the answer.
How willpower runs out.
It’s not your fault.
What actually works.
Why most health & fitness resolutions are worthless.
Short-term vs. long-term goals.
Persuading the boss.
What makes me do what I do…just once?
What makes me do what I do…over and over again?
But why do habits form in the first place?
Habits and goals: Friends or foes?
How fast can you make a new behavior a habit?

Part II. How much should I do?

Informed Radical Change.
Ridiculously small steps.
It’s not just black or white.
No more goals.
How much should I do?
How will I get there faster?

Part III. Tools to guarantee your success.

The harnessing motivation technique.
It’s never as straightforward as it seems.
What makes a task easy or difficult? 20 Examples.
Triggers: Focus or distraction?
Making it IMPOSSIBLE TO miss your goal
The recipe for success.
Joy: The maverick of success!
Celebrating small victories.
When the goal is too long-term.
Urgency: The longer you do nothing, the harder it gets.
Belonging as the major attractor.
Money makes all the difference.
Accountability or social rejection?
Fun: What we are all looking for.
Work with your barriers.
Convenience can make or break your success.
Psychological barriers.
What does it all mean for me?

Part IV. Practice makes perfect.

Doing better than 90% of people.
Indulgence is a must.
Gaining momentum.
The world is yours. Go conquer!

The book will be first be available on Kindle. Want to know when it will be published? Then, fill in the form below to join the Fitness Reloaded Insiders. You will get tips that don't appear on this site, and you will also be the first to learn about the book.

Two experts debate LIVE: Strength Training or Running?

Maria — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:01:08 +0000

So you decided to start exercising. Great. Running is amazing. But wait, your friend is just going to the gym and never runs. Who has made the right choice? Your, or your friend? Or, maybe, you are already running and wondering if you should get started with strength training. Or, you are doing strength training and wondering whether you should also run? How...?

Listen to strength training & running experts Jason Fitzgrald from StrengthRunning.com & Amy Clover from StrongInsideOut.com in a Fitness Duel between Strength training and Running.

Which one is a better fit for you?

The live Strength Training or Running discussion will take place on Tuesday September 18th at 1 p.m. PST.

Drop in your e-mail below and you will get the live call-in info! You will also get this free PDF I designed to make sticking to exercise in the long run...easy. Oh, and you will get tips from me that don't get published on Fitness Reloaded.

If you don't make it on the call, then the recording will be sent to you in the following days.

In this Health & Fitness Duel podcast, you’ll learn:

Why should someone do strength training? Why running?
How is strength training different from running (e.g., muscles worked, equipment used, time required, cost...etc)?
Suppose I am a beginner. What should I expect after my first month of strength training/running?
Who should NOT do strength training/running?
For what types of people is strength training a better choice? What about running?

About the guests:

Jason Fitzgerald has been running competitively for over 14 years and ran 2:39:32 at the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon. He's the author of 101 Simple Ways to be a Better Runner, a Top 50 Sports book for the Kindle on Amazon. Jason is the founder and coach of StrengthRunning.com, a blog about improving as a runner and injury prevention that hosts over 50,000 readers every month and has been featured in Yahoo, Health Magazine, Lifehacker, and the Huffington Post. When he's not being a running geek or running his own workouts, you can find Jason pounding coffee with his wife Meaghan somewhere around Washington, DC. Amy Clover, CPT, CES PN1, is a personal trainer, bootcamp instructor and Bangin' Body Coach based in Los Angeles, CA. Her blog, Strong Inside Out blends fitness and self development to empower you to overcome life's obstacles. She recently released her premier ebook, Make This Your Moment: A Step-by-Step Guide to Changing Your Life... for Good, to help people make the choice to change so that it sticks. Like Strong Inside Out on Facebook for daily updates and inspiration for fitness and for life! Photo Credit: lululemon athletica

How to get over panic attacks that you have suffered from for decades…accidentally!

Maria — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:00:50 +0000

This is the first public "Do the Impossible" podcast series. In this series, I will be featuring a guest who managed to do something that the thought of as impossible...at least before actually making it happen! Today's guest is Suzanne Ludlum, a yoga teacher from Virginia. You might remember her, as she was the first guest in the Health & Fitness Duels series (Yoga or Pilates?). What I didn't know about Suzanne was that she had a deep story behind her. She was suffering from panic attacks from her teens up until she was 40. Yet, she healed, without even trying to cure herself. It just happened! Suzanne had tried all kinds of treatments. She had spent hours in therapy. Yet no treatment worked. She had actually accepted that she would have to spend the rest of her life with panic attacks. Now, this may not sound too bad if you are not suffering from them, but this is what it means for people who do...

Panic attacks: You cannot be in a place with lots of people at the same time. If you do your heart will start racing and you feel like you are going to die. And when I say lots of people...three may be enough people to trigger a panic attack.

Apart from feeling like sh*t, panic attacks seriously limit a person's lifestyle. For example, Suzanne would have liked to be a teacher, but a teacher tends to be in a room with lots of kids at the same time. Bye bye teacher career. Suzanne had to attend meetings at her job of course. That was another burden for her. She was always scared a panic attack would come... Yet Suzanne managed to get over panic attacks. And she did that while she was not trying. One day she realized that she was with a group of people and she actually felt fine. "How did that happen?" she thought. Yet, there she was. Her heart-beat was just fine. And she felt ok.

Listen to yoga teacher Suzanne Ludlum explain how she managed to get over panic attacks.

Bonus: You are also about to find out how she got more than 1 in. taller after the age of 40 ;)

About the expert:

Suzanne Ludlum, RYT 500, E-RYT 200; Thai Yoga Massage Practitioner. I believe that Yoga is for every body, no matter what your age or physical condition. Practiced mindfully and safely, Yoga can transform your life. I can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, and on my website, www.trinityyogaandhealing.com or my blog, www.theimperfectpilgrim.com. Photo credit: child is a rebel

Vegetarian or paleo: Leo Babauta & Steve Kamb in a health & fitness duel

Maria — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 17:24:11 +0000

You want to eat healthier…But you don’t yet know how! You have heard that vegetarianism is one way to be healthy. But wait, you have heard that about Paleo as well! Health & Fitness subjects have become quite confusing, don't you think? Right at the time when one expert supports one thing another experts argues for the opposite. That's why I have create this Health & Fitness Duels series. To bring light to health & fitness confusion! Today's duel is about diets...Two very dissimilar diets: paleo and vegetarian.

Listen to vegetarian Leo Babauta of Zenhabits & paleo-fan Steve Kamb of NerdFitness in a "Vegetarian or Paleo" health & Fitness Duel.

Which diet is a better fit for your needs and your lifestyle?

In this Health & Fitness Duel podcast, you’ll learn:

What is vegetarianism and paleo?
What made Leo and Steve change their diets to vegetarian or paleo?
Did Leo & Steve consider any other diets except for vegetarian and paleo?
What changes did Leo and Steve notice in themselves after switching their diets to vegetarian or paleo?
Can someone do paleo or vegetarianism "wrong"?
How does someone become a vegetarian or a paleo follower? Tips for a successful transition.

Other Health & Fitness Duels you may be interested in:

Or, you can get them all in itunes!

About the experts:

Leo Babauta is a modern minimalist. He is a guy who went from being overweight, a smoker, and a non-exerciser, to a healthy vegetarian, non-smoking, exercise fan! Oh, and he meditates too. And learned to floss his teeth. Wondering how he did it? By re-engineering his habits...His journey is documented in his super famous blog zenhabits.net. Make sure to look back to the 2007 archives. They are worth it! Steve Kamb is probably the most successful disorganized person I have ever met. This guy has really mastered "going with the flow". Oh, and he is an everyday hero, always looking for new adventures. In the last 1.5 years he went on quests to over 15 countries (and made sure he exercised in each one of them). He blogs at nerfitness.com, which is exactly what it sounds like. If you are a gamer, if you want to be (or feel like) a hero, and level up your fitness, then Steve's posts will amaze you. Photo Credit: sbshine

Are you suffering from the junk effect?

Maria — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 23:18:09 +0000

A reader writes:

"I wish I exercised more often, but every time I try, I end up feeling much worse after my workout than when I started. What is going on?"

Dear reader... You say that exercise makes you feel worse when you are done with your workout. I can think of two possible reasons behind this:

You are actually training too hard.
You are suffering from the junk effect.

If you are training hard, then you'd better chill out. Your body does not like it, and you are also risking an injury by over-training. Plus, your muscles don't adapt as fast as they would had you NOT over-trained.

But what about the junk effect?

If over-training is not the case, then what is going on? My guess is that you have too much junk in your head. Here are some junk examples:

"You are embarrassing yourself!"
"Everyone is doing better than you."
"Everyone saw that you could not complete that last rep!"
"Your belly is so big that it is going up and down as you walk on that treadmill. Ridiculous."

It's only natural that if you spend more than 5 min listening to this junk, you will feel exhausted, demotivated, and physically weak. This is "the junk effect".

But exercise is supposed to make me feel better after I work out. Why do I still feel worse?

Because the effects of the junk effect are 10 times higher than the effects of exercise. So yes, exercise does give you a natural high. The junk effect effect though gives you a "natural low" 10 times stronger than exercise.

How do I deal with the junk effect?

There are multiple ways to get rid of the junk effect:

1. Stop exercising altogether.

“Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do.” - Napoleon Hill

This is actually what a lot of people who cannot stand being beginners do. Yet, if you go down this path...you are confining yourself to have lower self-confidence, a flabbier body, and almost no health benefits of exercise. This option does not sound very rational to me. Thank God there are more options.

2. Just keep going.

"If you're going through hell, keep going."

- Winston Churchill

In other words...suck it up and keep exercising. The junk effect will gradually lose its power.

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

- Vincent Van Gogh

3. Stop doing what makes you feel so bad & uncomfortable and either scale back, or change your environment.

For example, if going to the gym makes you so self-conscious that you feel worse after exercise, then you might want to consider exercising at home, where nobody watches! Or, if being part of a marathon group makes you feel tiny...And if that feeling is super bad...then you might want to consider to start jogging on your own for a while and then go back to the group. As you get more and more comfortable with exercise, you will feel less and less self-conscious and the junk effect will disappear! Of course, maybe junk in your head is not generated just by your own insecurity. It might be generated because other people are mean to you. If that is the case...run! Run away. Your health is a very serious matter to risk being affected (and thus quitting exercise) by what negative vampires have to say about you. Hint: If this thought of them bullying you somehow angers you, then you may want to stick and fight! Whatever you decide keep in mind that protecting and nurturing your exercise habits is your first priority. The last thing you want is quitting exercise. Find a way to make it happen. Photo credit: yachtfan

Two steps to accepting where you are

Maria — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:57:53 +0000

We often accuse ourselves for not being good enough. Maybe we are not thin enough. Maybe we succumb to emotional eating too much. Whatever it is, we have our "shoulds" and when we don't comply with them, an internal war is on. When the war is on, we whip ourselves. We lose trust in ourselves. We sabotage our dreams because we "are not worth it". We become our own worst enemy. It's only natural to do that when we are so religiously devoted to our "shoulds". The problem with "shoulds" is that they often have a...weak relationship with reality. For example... "Dogs should dig in the ground to poo and then cover it up, just like cats do" This is a nice "should". If dogs did that the environment would look cleaner. Yet no matter how hard you or me or anyone believes in this "should", this belief is only destined to bring pain. Actually the more emotionally invested we are in this belief, the more pain it will bring. Why? Because dogs behave like dogs. And cats like cats. And if I believe that dogs should behave like cats, I will only get angry at dogs "unsanitary choices"...I will be mad at dogs, and maybe even spend some of my time trying to teach dogs to behave like cats. I am not sure how successful my efforts will be. Because the truth is that dogs behave like dogs...And no matter how hard I try I will probably not succeed in making a dog behave like a cat. However, just in case I ever see a dog pooing the way a cat does, then I will feel pleased. So when things go according to my "should" then I will be happy. When they don't I will be sad or angry. Unfortunately, I will be more angry than happy as..dogs behave like dogs, not like cats. Now, think back to a "should" that you believe in (and you may or may not conform to it). E.g.,

"I should keep a healthy weight."

If you have a healthy weight then fine, you will be pleased. If you don't, you will feel bad with yourself. Actually the more you believe in this belief, the worse you will feel. You will accuse yourself for not having a healthy weight. You will think of techniques to whip yourself into shape. Now, I am not saying that you should not keep a healthy weight. What I want to say is that you should not have a healthy weight..until you actually do. If you see yourself as a dog, and see the healthy weight as the cat, then telling yourself that you should have a healthy weight will not work, just like trying to teach a dog to dig in the ground and poo in there and then cover it up (just like cats do) does not work. Because dogs behave like dogs, and cats like cats. And you are currently a dog, and asking you to do it like a cat is destined to bring misery (because it does not work). That's not to say that change is not possible. You can switch from being a dog to being a cat. But asking yourself to behave like a cat while you are being a dog does not really work...

Two steps to accepting where you are

Let's investigate this belief: "People should keep a healthy weight" 1. Is this belief true? "Probably yes. People with healthy weight live longer, have higher self-confidence and even make more money." 2. Is this belief absolutely 100% true? "Hmm...probably not. There are a lot of overweight people who live long, have very high self-confidence, and make a lot of money." Oops, now you see that more possibilities are open for you. You don't absolutely need to have a healthy weight (and that's why you don't). You can if that's what you want, but you don't absolutely need to. You have the option to be happy just the way you are. I am not asking you to drop the belief that "people should keep a healthy weight" or any other belief. What I am asking you though is to think whether your belief is...absolutely 100% true. You will most probably see that beliefs are seldom...100% true. They are just beliefs. So if you are now feeling bad about yourself, bad for not being where you want to be, asking these two questions may open your mind to more possibilities. And as Lord Thomas Dewar said...

Minds are like parachutes. They work best when they are open.

If what you want is to accept where you are, then you will certainly do that. If you like this reality check, then you might want to check out the work.org. These are only 2 of the four questions presented in "The Work". I was delighted to get introduced to Byron Katie's work during my vacation and did turn around quite a few beliefs that were holding me back. Here are all four questions that can lead to your freedom. Photo credit: parachute - Horia Varlan

Making healthier living a habit…and the FitDesk winner is…

Maria — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 23:29:07 +0000

I am very excited to announce this. We have a winner! The winner is Aimee. Aimee's response to "What does the next health and fitness level look like for you and what’s your biggest challenge in getting there?" was:

"I am ten pounds in the obese BMI zone. My first goal is to lose my first ten pounds, so I can get out of the obese category and into the overweight category. Then, through eating properly and exercise, I plan on entering the healthy BMI zone. I'd like to have a healthy BMI by the end of this year. That's 40 pounds I have to lose. My biggest challenge thus far has been a lack of support from my partner. I'm trying to ear under a certain number of calories per day, but then he'll want to go out to eat, or will bring something unhealthy home. He really tests my willpower, and I don't always win."

Congrats Aimee! I am sure you'll put the FitDesk into good use. I am happy that you realize that willpower does not always work... You see, the Nr. #1 reason people fail with their healthier living changes is relying too much on motivation and willpower. Luckily, there are better ways to make change happen. And these ways are all about carefully rewiring your brain so that you establish the right habits. Once exercise or healthier eating become a habit, then you no longer have to think about it, or debate with yourself about it. You just do it. The right behaviors just happen...automatically. Before I end this post, I have to share two awesome tips from the contest judges.

A message from the contest judges

Matt Frazier from nomeatathlete.com says:

"One of the most important shifts you can make when you're struggling to find the time to exercise is to start making exercise a "must" instead of a "should." It's got to be up there with brushing your teeth, making dinner for your family, going to work, or whatever it is that you do every day without thinking about it, without having an internal argument in your head every time. One of the ways to make this happen is to focus on making exercise a habit, not just something you do from time to time when you're feeling motivated."

Steve Kamb from nerdfitness.com says:

"I think your readers could really benefit by focusing on small specific changes and habit goals...instead of this broad, generic "I need to lose weight and exercise more or do more yoga" - BE SPECIFIC!"

You see both Matt and Steve emphasize small steps, which is like the opposite of or-all-nothing thinking. That's because small steps work. Even ridiculously small steps work. If you are not sure how to get started, then make sure you download my guide (just fill-in the form above to do that...).

You can be anyone you want to be, or what I’ve learned from 1 year of blogging

Maria — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 05:51:41 +0000

When I started out blogging about fitness, I felt extremely embarrassed. Yes, embarrassed. I felt as if I was doing something bad that I should hide. I was hiding it as much as I could. At least I was hiding it from the people that know me. I was actually quite comfortable with strangers that I have never met in person. Facebook is a good example:

Even though I launched the site in July 2011, I did not create a Facebook page for Fitness Reloaded until 6 months later, January 2012.
Even when I did create a Facebook page, I only invited a few of my friends to join.
I invited all of my friends to like my page just this past week.

It took me 1 year to be confident enough to invite everyone (or almost everyone) that I know to see my work. [Btw, if you like Fitness Reloaded, you should like it on Facebook as well!] On top of that, there were many times through this year that I thought I should quit. I had every reason to consider that:

I created this website because I felt I had a message that people should know about. I wanted to teach people that living healthy is actually easy and that they should not feel guilty if they are currently not living as healthy as they would like to. Yet, when it comes to what I would gain through blogging...I did not have a specific purpose.
Since I had no specific purpose, I was full of doubts about this endeavor - why devote all this time? I could just focus on my MBA...
Plus, blogging = exposure. Why expose myself? Again, it was the lack of specific purpose that made me have all those thoughts.

Ahh, blogging is lonely and sometimes harsh. Yet, I kept on. After all, I had a message! And I can tell you that blogging has its own unique highlights.

First, I did things that I would not have done otherwise:

I created my own report on Exercise Habits. I had more than 540 people participate in my research and the results were fantastic.
I was featured on Chicago Tribune, and on a lot of other newspapers of the associated press.
I launched my first office exercise mobile application.
I used the knowledge I gained from Fitness Reloaded to create another website from scratch.
I collaborated with awesome people, like Dr. BJ Fogg from Stanford University.
I shot and edited more than 80 exercise videos...

Second, I learned A TON that I would not have otherwise:

Copywriting.
SEO.
Branding.
Grassroots marketing.
Public relations.
Blog outreach.
Html, CSS.
User Interface Design.
Networking.
Social media marketing.
E-mail marketing.
Interviewing.
Podcasting.
Video editing.
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere.
The art of overwhelming people with way too much nerdy information on behavior change (best skill ever!).

If you don't understand what I just talked about, then please keep in mind that this is normal. I wouldn't get many of those words as well before I got into blogging.

Third, I became an expert in habits creation.

Ok, I may not be a habit-focused university professor, but (yes I will dare to say it) I am good. For example, a few days ago I gave a workshop on creating healthy habits and one of the participants told me with excitement:

"You make the most sense in 20 years!"

Fourth, blogging is empowering in its own unique way.

You have the power to talk about anything you want. If you feel that things are not done the way they should be done, like I do with healthy living, then blogging is a great way to refine your thoughts and spread the message on what needs to change. For example, I believe that there is way too much guilt when it comes to health. I believe change is easy, not hard. Sorry, I don't just believe it - I know it is easy..! What most people do:

Common way of embarking on changes: I will go from zero exercise to 4 days a week. =>NO PLAN, TAKING TOO MUCH RISK.
Common result: Quitting after the first few weeks. Feeling guilty. Demotivated and discouraged.

What smart readers do:

Fitness Reloaded way of embarking on changes: I want to go from zero exercise to 4 days a week. But I have to think first...how will I support myself once my motivation decreases? What are my limits? =>STRATEGIC THINKING, CREATING A SYSTEM OF SUPPORT BEFORE ACTUALLY EMBARKING ON THE CHANGE. MINIMAL RISK.
Fitness Reloaded result: Success! Guaranteed.

Fifth, building a community is amazing.

It is just so wonderful when someone tells you "thank you". When I had first met Steve Kamb, he had also mentioned the same thing - his favorite kind of e-mails are the ones that say "thank you". Knowing that you have had an impact on people's lives is AMAZING. It really is. Every time someone thanks me or tells me that they get value from my tips I feel surprised but blessed!

Finally, I have changed my lifestyle into a much healthier one.

It seems unbelievable. For example, my latest achievement is eating salads & fruit salads, and preparing them myself. Now this may seem easy to you, but I was the kind of person who would prefer to just eat cereal (takes 1 min to combine the milk with the cereal) rather than spend 5-10 min to prepare a salad. It felt too much of a hustle. I was thinking like that for many years. Yet I am now doing it, and I am doing alright. I am not suffering as I thought I would. Feel free to laugh at me, but sometimes we do get overwhelmed with relatively simple things, and changing that is not trivial. At the same time my exercise habits are top-notch. In the last year:

I have been exercising 4-6 times a week (usually 5) without miss. Really, I didn't even miss one week, not even at Christmas or while traveling.
I have expanded into learning basketball and squash.
I added more exercise minutes to my life on top of my workouts by getting the FitDesk and cycling throughout the day.

Looking back I feel like I changed a lot. It was a year of growth. I feel like I am a different person, and the best part is that I feel in control.

If I have learned anything from this one year of blogging is that you can be anyone you want to be.

If you want to live healthier...you can do it.
If you want to learn a new skill...you can do it.
If you want to change your life, know that you can.

There are very few things in this world that you cannot do, yet trillions of things that you can do. Any habit can be changed. You have the power to make that happen!

The sky is the limit. Thanks for being part of this journey. P.S. 1 I am celebrating Fitness Reloaded's one year birthday with this giveaway. The giveaway ends tonight, on Friday July 20th. There is still time to participate! P.S. 2 Want to wish me happy birthday? E-mail me...and make sure you tell me what you like about my site, or how my site has helped you :) Birthday cake photo credit: basheertome

3 weird benefits of exercise: Orgasms, money, and brains.

Maria — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 07:27:22 +0000

Most of us know that exercise reduces our heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis risks. However, were you aware of the following weird benefits of exercise?

1. Exercise makes Women orgasm

Exercising may make women orgasm. Especially, when doing abs exercises. Seriously! Researchers at Indiana University asked women whether they had ever experienced "exercise-induced orgasms" (or else, "coregasms"). Up to 15% of women apparently do experience orgasm during exercise. Think that experiencing pleasure while exercising is rare? Hmm..think again. 40% of respondents reported they’d experienced orgasm or sexual pleasure while exercising more than 10 times. Now, just in a case you are a lady, and just in case you got curious, here are a few abs exercises to get started...hehe

2. Exercise increases your salary

New studies correlate making more money and exercise. In particular, a study published in the Journal of Labor Research found that people who exercise regularly (at least 3 times a week) make 9% more than their lazier co-workers. And this is just one study. Other studies have confirmed the opposite: that people who are not in good shape earn less. I think these correlations make perfect sense. People who are in shape usually have higher self-confidence than people who are not in good shape. Higher self-confidence increases people's "can-do" attitude. No wonder that a higher "can-do" attitude results in more money... Regardless of whether you are male or female, exercising more is correlated to more money...So if you want to earn more, you know what to do...get in shape! These quick workout videos are perfect for busy professionals like you.

3. Exercise makes you smarter

We start losing part of our brains starting at our late twenties. Exercise (even moderate one such as walking) helps us stop the deterioration of our brains. Scientists used to believe that we could not generate more brain cells. If that was the case, aging would just lead to lose more and more brain cells (and become dumber and dumber year after year). Yet, scientists have discovered that (fortunately) this is not correct. In particular, exercise can slower or even reverse the losing-cells process. The result is that, e.g., you can be a 65-year old with the brain of a 63-year old, after just 1 year of moderate exercise. Wanna increase your brainpower and be smarter? Be active! Here is a list of quick workouts you can do anywhere.

Orgasms, money, and brains. The benefits of exercise keep surprising me.

If you are not yet exercising, and if you think you don't have enough time for it, then make sure you participate in the birthday give-away I am currently running. The >$240 prize will solve the time problem for you once and for all. The give-away ends on Friday night, so...hurry. Oh, and just in case you want to wish Fitness Reloaded happy birthday (it is turning ONE after all), contact me here.

Fitness Reloaded turns 1 year old! Win a FREE FitDesk and burn calories when working…

Maria — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 21:01:10 +0000

Want to add 30-60 min of exercise a day without making any sacrifices at all?

Without having to make time or find motivation to exercise? You are at the right place! I achieved that 3 weeks ago with the help of a smart, innovative exercise bike, the FitDesk. It has indeed helped me add 30- 60 min of exercise every day, without making any sacrifices at all! Why?

Because the FitDesk is designed to help you do your laptop work while you cycle, while you are burning calories, while you create strong quadriceps (the muscles in the front of your leg), and while you increase your life expectancy...

And the best part is that it works. Even though I was concerned at first, thinking that I wouldn't be able to focus on my work while I am on a bike...I was delighted to be proven wrong. I have been using it for more than 3 weeks already and am on it almost daily! It is so comfy I just get on it without thinking about it. I don't have to get motivated to do it. It's just easy. Here is my FitDesk video review. Here are multiple amazon reviews. I found the Fitdesk so amazing that I had to share it with you. Since Fitness Reloaded turns 1 this month (first post was published on July 20 2011) I called the company to ask for a FREE bike for you, and they agreed!

Follow the steps in the box below to participate in the Free Fitdesk giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What to do to WIN a FREE FitDek, lose pounds, and add years to your life

To participate you need to submit a written entry in the above box telling me about your health and fitness goals. You need to answer the question:

What does the next health and fitness level look like for you and what's your biggest challenge in getting there?

You will also need to confirm you live in the USA or Canada to participate and unlock the bonus points options (note that people from Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada may have to pay part of the shipping cost, but everyone else gets both the FitDesk and its shipping for free). Not in the USA or Canada? Read below 'cause I am preparing some juicy stuff for you.

BONUS Social Media points...

Wanna really boost your chances of winning?

Like FitnessReloaded and the Fitdesk on Facebook,
Follow one or both of us on Twitter,
Share this giveaway on Facebook, or
Share it on Twitter...(you can do this multiple times for multiple points!)

BONUS Insiders Points...

Do you believe that small healthy steps today have the potential to pay DISPROPORTIONATE dividends in the future?
Do you believe that trying smarter is better than harder?

If you answered yes to both questions then you are a good fit for the Insiders List. The Insiders are a group of smart people that want to live a long and vital life! Joining this list is free. Fill-in your name and e-mail in the form on your top right or below a Are you already on the Insiders List? Contact me and tell me that you have participated in the free fitdesk giveaway.

This contest is open to people who live in the USA or Canada only. Not from the USA or Canada? Read below.

I wish this contest was worldwide but the FitDesk only ships to North America at the time being. However, if you come from another place of the world, I will have a surprise for you... Just sign-up for the Insiders List. Once you confirm your subscription to the Insiders List, I will send you a welcome e-mail. E-mail me back with "Happy Birthday Fitness Reloaded! Best wishes from ...[your country]..." In the next few weeks you will get some juicy stuff from me... Ready? Get started... a Rafflecopter giveaway

Meet the FitDesk: Exercise while you work!

Maria — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 21:06:23 +0000

Sitting is notorious for increasing mortality. E.g., people who sit for most of the day have 54% higher chances to die of a heart attack. After realizing that exercise does not protect you from sitting too much (just like exercise does not protect you from smoking)...I was looking for a solution to decrease my sitting time:

Sitting kills: 12 quick tips to avoid a premature death.
Commuting is hurting your health…It’s time to reverse its effects!
8 ways to exercise at work, reduce sitting time, and increase focus!
I released the Office Time Out app to help people sit less.

You see, other than my workout time, I would pretty much spend the rest of the day sitting. Finding ways to sit less was really important to me. One of the best solutions that I have found so far is the FitDesk.

The FitDesk is a stationary exercise bike that helps you exercise while you work. Seriously.

It has space for your laptop or book...so you can cycle and do your work at the same time.

Even though I am not recommending equipment on this site, and even replace standard fitness equipment like dumbbells with bottles of water and backpacks with books...I am so excited about the FitDesk that I HAVE TO talk to you about it.

I have been using it for a couple of weeks and I love it! When, considering the fact that exercising for 15 min a day extends your life by 3 years...Adding to it the fact that I am already working out....And now also reducing my sitting time...Gosh, I am so happy to get closer to my goal of living a healthy, long, and vital life! Please watch the video review to understand how it works. Watched the video? Loved the FitDesk concept?

I have good news for you. Next week I will be announcing a contest...The winner will get a FREE FitDesk!

Stay tuned for the official contest announcement. It's gonna be super-fun, and cool people like SteveKamb from Nerd Fitness and Matt Frazier from No Meat Athlete will also be involved... To make sure you will get notified...

Follow me on Twitter
Like Fitness Reloaded on Facebook
Or, follow the FitDesk: Twitter, Facebook

The harnessing motivation technique: 20+ ways to make any health endeavor a guaranteed success!

Maria — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:10:24 +0000

Any healthier living endeavor requires motivation to become a success. Unfortunately, too many endeavors start out with excitement, only to be left abandoned a few weeks later. Today's article will make any endeavor a success...by explaining you how to use the harnessing motivation technique that guarantees healthier living success...if only you apply it properly. Even though many people think they understand motivation, they really don't.

When they feel pumped up about something they momentarily live under the illusion that their high energy will last forever.

It won't. And it's only natural that it works this way. E.g., you may feel highly motivated to start a diet. You just read a book about dieting that you made you feel it's gonna be easy and fun. You are excited with the possibilities of a slimmer you, fitting in your old pants. You decide to start a diet. Then, after one, two, three days, or even after a few weeks, you become tired. You are no longer pumped up or excited. You need to push yourself to keep that diet! And you push...You are trying really hard!

Most people rely on pumping their motivation...which works but has limited and inconsistent results. Source: triathlonchic.tumblr.com via Maria on Pinterest

Most people in the diet case above would think that trying to motivate themselves when their motivation is low is what they need to do. Sure. This way works...kinda. Bear in mind that the results are limited. It's extremely hard to feel as motivated as when you were just starting out, and even the slightest increase in motivation will fade away very soon. Plus, relying on pumping up your motivation will not give you results consistently...Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't, but this method is definitely unreliable. So yes, try to keep your motivation up, but don't depend on motivation to save the day.

Here is what will save the day though...The harnessing motivation technique!

When your motivation is high, it's easy for you to do difficult tasks. However, when your motivation is low, then difficult tasks seem extremely or way too difficult for you. However, even during motivational lows, you are still able to do easy tasks.

Example #1: Getting fitter.

Finding and enrolling at a gym is difficult: You have to actually make the decision to do it, research nearby gym options, go to their locations, decide on a payment plan, pay, etc. The follow-up task of getting fitter is creating a workout plan and fitting gym-time in your schedule. These are part of your setting up process. However, once you do that, actually going to the gym to exercise on any given day is easier: You have already decided to exercise, you already know when to go, and what to do. In this case, you only need to pack your clothes and go.

When you feel pumped up and very motivated about exercise, then it's a good time to enroll at a gym, and create your workout plan and schedule. As your motivation lowers with time your tasks get easier, as going to the gym becomes a routine.

Note: Creating a workout plan, and a schedule that fits exercise are part of the setting up process. If you skip those steps, then you will find it harder to follow through with going to the gym: You won't know what to do when you get there, you will feel lost, and won't know what to aspire to. Plus, you won't know when to go, and you will always find it hard to find the time to get to the gym (it's hard to make the time even if it's already in your schedule..Imagine not having a schedule in the first place!).

Example #2: Healthier Eating

Going grocery-shopping and buying healthy foods is somewhat difficult: What will you buy? How do you plan to eat it? Plus, you need to get up from the couch and actually go to the super-market.

Another difficult task is of course eating the vegetables or the other healthy foods you bought. However, if you think strategically, you can make this task easy by tackling another hidden but difficult task: Once you come back home from the super-market and still feel highly motivated about your new healthier eating lifestyle, you wash your vegetables, and then pack them in lunch boxes for the week ahead, and place them at the front of your fridge.

Now the task of actually eating vegetables has become tremendously easier. You just need to grab your box and take it with you. When your healthy eating motivation is high you shop, wash, and pack. When it's low you just eat! Note: The "hidden" task of washing, packing, and placing the vegetables in the front of the fridge is crucial for your success. If you skip it, you may as well see your vegetables rotten at the back of your fridge one week later.

Bottom-line: The setting-up costs of starting any health endeavor are always higher than the costs of actually following through. The more effort your devote to creating a great set-up, the less effort you will need to follow through, and the higher your chances of success!

How to use the harnessing motivation technique to take 20 small steps to create a fit environment

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits recently talked about "20 small actions to create a fit environment". Even though those actions may seem "small", they do not bear the same difficulty level, and they are rarely as easy as they seem. However, if you use the harnessing motivation technique you will find it much easier to follow through and take the steps to a healthier life! In bold are Leo's steps, with my instructions below. Again, difficult tasks are to be tackled when your motivation is high, so that when your motivation is low you are left with the easy stuff. Note that most of those steps include hidden tasks. If you want to be successful you have to do those hidden tasks. I am including just some of those hidden steps in my comments... 1. Get rid of the snacks. Don’t keep them in your house or you’ll be more likely to eat them. The task of NOT buying junk food and snacks is easy. The -hidden- task of finding foods to replace your unhealthy snack cravings is difficult. 2. Don’t buy convenience food. You’re likely to eat this when you’re too tired to cook. Not buying convenience food (e.g., frozen meals) is easy. Finding a way to replace those meals is difficult (I am struggling with this!) 3. Instead, cook big batches of healthy food once a week. Have it in the fridge, ready to be heated up. Cooking big batches of healthy food is difficult. Having it in the fridge for later consumption is easy. 4. Take healthy snacks to work. Deciding what healthy snacks to take with you is difficult. Actually taking them with you is easy. 5. Create a healthy eating challenge with your coworkers. Coming up with a challenge and getting your coworkers involved is difficult. Participating in a healthy challenge of your company's Wellness program is easier. 6. Join Fitocracy (invite code: zenhabits) and make friends there. Log your activities. Joining Fitocracy is difficul: You need to visit their website, set up your account, learn how to use the program... Once you do all that, logging your activities is easier. 7. Join a running club. Joining a running club is difficult. Making time in your schedule for running is also difficult. Actually running is easier. 8. Find a workout partner. It may seem simple, but it's actually difficult. Just imagine how many people you may need to call to see if they are interested. On top of that your schedules need to match. Good luck! 9. Set up an appointment with your best friend to go walking or running every day. Talking to your best friend is easy. Finding a time that works may be trickier! 10. Get a coach. Difficult: you need to ask your friends for referrals, research online for trainers, then call them, agree on price and time, etc. 11. Set fitness challenges with your friends. Log them online, on Facebook or some other social site. Creating a fitness challenge, and deciding on the technology to use (e.g., I am using Google Docs with my friends) is difficult. Logging your activities is easy. 12. Have a chinup bar in your doorway, and do a chinup every time you walk by. Getting the chinup bar and placing it in your doorway is harder. Using it when you walk by is easy. 13. Join a sports team. Joining is hard - what team? where? how? Following through is easier. 14. Have nuts and fruit with you when you’re on the go. Placing the nuts and fruits at the front of your fridge and cabinets - difficult. Having them with you - easy. 15. Make it hard to turn on the TV (put it in the closet or something). Even getting rid of your remote control will make TV watching harder and less enjoyable (thus, less attractive for you). Finding out how to make turning on the TV difficult...is difficult. Actually doing it is easy. 16. Use a program like LeechBlock or Freedom to shut the Internet down at a certain time each day. Finding and setting up the program is difficult. Actually using it is easy. 17. Have healthy potlucks with friends or family. Assuming that you are already arranging potlucks, then making them healthy is easy - you just cook healthy rather than unhealthy food. 18. Publicly commit to posting body pics or measurements each week on your blog. Public commitment is hard. Following though with pictures is easy. Potential hidden task is finding a way to post pictures easily. E.g., if you have a smartphone then it may be easier with instant upload apps, than if you need to use your camera, then connect your camera to the computer, transfer the pictures, then upload the pics... 19. Make a list of healthy restaurants, or healthy meals at other restaurants, for when you feel like eating out. Making a list of healthy restaurants is difficult. Picking one restaurant of your list is easy! 20. Park farther away from things so you’ll walk more. Super easy task that you can start doing today! Thanks Leo for your list! It gave me wonderful examples to work on.

Here are the four take-aways from this article...about the harnessing motivation technique and making any healthier living endeavor a success!

Make your mind work for you with the harnessing motivation technique...and work smarter rather than harder! Source: musclesprod.com via Maria on Pinterest

1. When your motivation is high take advantage of it by tackling the difficult tasks. 2. The more effort you give into good preparation (i.e., the difficult tasks), then the easier it will be for you to follow through. Thus, you won't depend on extra motivation to do the following-through: even little motivation will be enough! 3. Note that any healthy endeavor is never as easy as it seems at first. There are always hidden tasks that need to be tackled, if you want to succeed (e.g., washing, packing and placing vegetables in the front of your fridge so that taking them with you becomes easy). Any proper preparation requires you to think through those hidden tasks and find solutions. If you don't do that then following through will be harder...and you may never succeed with your healthier living goals. 4. Actually tackling the hidden tasks is one of the differences between trying smarter rather than harder and the reason behind why so many people fail. You try smart if you prepare well. If you don't prepare well, you will find it hard to follow through, and then you will start nagging about how you need to "try harder"... No, you don't need to try harder, you just need to be more strategic! What healthier living goals do you want to set? What will you do to prepare and set up yourself for success? How will you use the harnessing motivation technique? Contact me and let me know of your answers! Or, tweet it to me, or post it on facebook... Photo Credit: Focus on Goals by MotiveWeight