Do You Live in a Fit and Healthy City?

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) ranks the 50 fittest and healthiest metropolitan cities in the United States every year. They base it on a number of factors including smoking habits, exercise, obesity rates, and numbers of chronic health problems (diabetes, heart disease, asthma, etc.). So where does your metro city rank? Here is the list starting with the number one fittest and healthiest city, going down to the least: 1. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. 2. Washington, D.C. 3. Boston, Mass. 4. Portland, Ore. 5. Denver, Colo. 6. San Francisco, Calif. 7. Hartford, Conn. 8. Seattle, Wash. 9. Virginia Beach, … Continue reading →

Extreme Way to Lose Weight: Tongue Patch Diet

I recently learned of an extreme way to lose weight, the tongue patch diet. It is a surgical procedure where a doctor uses prolene mesh; a material used to repair hernias and sutures it to the tongue. This makes eating solid foods very painful, limiting a person’s diet to liquids. The patch usually stays on for no more than a month and according to some doctors, it has had success. There are also claims that side effects have been minimal. There is so much to say about such an extreme and potentially dangerous way to “help” someone lose weight. First … Continue reading →

Forcing Americans to be Healthy

One of the things I enjoy about being an adult is the ability to make my own decisions. I also enjoy as a parent being able to make decisions about my own children. To take it a step further, I also enjoy the freedom of this country and how we are able to make our own decisions in a number of areas. Yet San Francisco has recently made the news because an ordinance has been passed which bans toys from Happy Meals that consist of high fat and high sugar foods. Now don’t get me wrong. I understand the reasoning … Continue reading →

Total Fitness Routine: Part II

As I mentioned earlier in the week stretching and balancing exercises are two of the first aspects of fitness to incorporate in to your body shaping and physical fitness routine. Stretching warms your muscles, helps your joints to move more freely, helps to reduce stress and improves your posture. Balancing, which tends to dwindle as our age progresses, will help to keep you steadier, which will decrease our chances of falling and sustaining further injury. Core strength, aerobics and muscle strength training are also advisable for a well-rounded fitness routine.  Core strength: The core of your body is considered … Continue reading →

Total Fitness Routine: Part I

An all around good and balanced fitness routine contains several aspects for your optimal health outlook. These aspects will cover all areas of your physical strength and health and leave nothing out or “off” balance. By incorporating these in your weekly health fitness routine you will not only look better, but you will feel better.  Stretch your body: Everyone knows that a good fitness routine always begins with stretching. Stretching gives your body a chance to “limber” up and warm those muscles before getting down to the nitty-gritty of exercising. Stretching your muscles also will help to increase your … Continue reading →

Creating a Challenging Workout Routine

Now that I am training for another marathon I am back to running 30-36 miles per week. However, I could (and should) be running more miles per day in less time. That’s my challenge for the fall and winter (the marathon is next spring). The author of the training guide that I followed for my previous marathons is quick to point out that challenging yourself is extremely motivating. He’s right. After all, anyone who exercises on a regular basis knows when a routine is too easy. The challenge comes in pushing yourself to the next level instead of being satisfied … Continue reading →

Focus on the Olympics: New Series

With the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing just around the corner, we’re going to be spending some time over the next few days talking about the Olympic hopefuls. In an age of commercial and reality television, I feel like the Olympics have become overlooked in the United States as one of the most profound statements on physical fitness. History of the Olympics Legend states that Heracles founded the ancient Olympic Games. According to written record, the first games were held in 776 BCE (though it is commonly accepted that the Games had occurred for many years previous to that date). … Continue reading →

How Is Your Fitness Going?

How do you measure how your fitness is going? Do you measure it in how you feel personally? Do you measure it in inches lost? What about pounds? Do you measure it in performance? These are all valid ways to measure your fitness, but you shouldn’t just use one of these to measure how you are doing. Consider for a moment, how do you measure how your job is going? A Measure By Any Other Name When I look at my job or my career, there’s any number of questions that I ask myself in order to measure how it … Continue reading →

Wow — Is it 2008 already?

January 1, 2008. January 1, 2008. January 1, 2008. Can it really be 2008 already? Seriously? Yep. Here we are. It is 2008, in Hollywood, the writer’s strike continues at full swing and my daily viewing for my workouts is severely hampered. Closer to home, my little girl turned 7 and my husband and I celebrated 8 years of marriage and we’re looking 12 years together total. 2007 was the Year of a Million Dreams at Disney. It was the year of overexposure for Paris and Britney. 2007 started out with my husband recovering from an emergency appendectomy and I … Continue reading →

Post-Op Exercise

I’ve had a lot of opportunities to practice post-operation exercises this year and no matter how hard they knock me down, I am not giving up until my workout programs return to where they were previous to my surgeries in February and August. With that in mind, here are some tips for exercising after surgery. Ankle You just slowly push your foot up and down. You can do this lying flat on your back or sitting in a chair. You aren’t extending your leg or any other part of your body, just your foot and your ankle. You do this … Continue reading →