I Am All That and More

Now, I am certainly not saying that you should have a swollen head about yourself. We all know our little imperfections. Of course, we are not happy with them, but we are trying to do something about them. That is where you owe yourself a little bit of credit. Keeping motivated is key if we are going to overcome our battles and move forward. We have to have some confidence in ourselves in order to do this. You may not look as you feel you would like to. Most women will agree with this, as we are very hard on … Continue reading →

Fitness Builds Self-Esteem

Low self esteem is a problem that men and women alike struggle with throughout their lives. Many of us are confident kids, but somewhere around puberty, our confidence begins to waver and self-doubt creeps in. Self esteem can take a few body blows as a result of social interactions, personal body image and more. The major problem with low self esteem is that it can impact your quality of life from relationships to school and work performance. Coping with Low Self Esteem President Roosevelt stated during his first inaugural address, “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief … Continue reading →

How to Build a Better You

Have you ever looked in the mirror and wished you could be better, faster, and stronger or something ‘more’ than what you are? The first tip towards achieving that goal is recognizing that you are who you decide to be. If you want to be a better person, then be a better person. If you want to be a fitter person, then be a fitter person. There is no waving of the magic wand that turns your rags into a beautiful ball gown and the dogs in your life into capable footmen. The truth of the matter is you build … Continue reading →

Take Back Your 30 Minutes

It seems like every day we have more to do and more to see and more places to go. Yet, we don’t add any hours to our day, each day is just 24 hours in length and most of us need to spend at least 7 to 8 of those hours sleeping. That leaves 16 hours to get stuff done in. You spend 8 hours at work and that’s 8 hours gone. An hour to get there and an hour to get back, yep, there are 2 more hours that are out of there. Meals take an average of 1 … Continue reading →

Make Your Own Fun

We talked about making fitness your own personal choice. Now let’s talk about making it your own personal fun. Because let’s be honest, no matter how much you may need to exercise and no matter how much you may tell yourself this is what you need to do – unless it’s fun, exercise can be a tedious, less than inspiring process. Who wants to do something tedious every day? I Hate To Do Dishes For most of my life, the household chore I have despised the most is doing dishes. It doesn’t matter that we own a dishwasher. It doesn’t … Continue reading →

Becoming a Parent Means Becoming Sedentary?

Don’t scoff, that’s what a recent study done by an exercise physiologist at the University of Pittsburgh. Apparently, when you get married – your workout habits are not likely to change, but when you become a parent, they change significantly. Now, don’t get upset – those of us who are parents recognize that this is a problem. Most moms struggle with the pregnancy weight and after one or more children, that struggle becomes omnipresent in their lives. As a new parent, you probably feel like you’re on the go, all the time. You barely sleep. You are being pulled in … Continue reading →

How Do I Know If I Am Exercising Too Much?

I asked earlier: Have You Ever Heard of an Exercise Disorder? After writing it, it occurred to me that we could go into more detail on how you could know if you are exercising too much. Doctor Fassihi of the Menninger Clinic offers the following important clues that may help you answer the question: How Do I Know If I am Exercising Too Much? You cannot miss your workout, it doesn’t matter how you feel or what’s going on – you absolutely cannot miss it and if some act of Congress prevents you from doing your workout – the guilt … Continue reading →

Have You Ever Heard of an Exercise Disorder?

I hadn’t heard of one until recently, but the more I read about it, the more sense it made. An exercise disorder is similar in nature to other excessive disorders such as eating disorders. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a difference between an exercise enthusiast and someone who has an exercise disorder. Exercise Obsessed Someone who is exercised obsessed, you exercise in spite of injuries, when you feel poorly and when you are in danger of really hurting yourself, because you feel you have to and you can’t stop yourself. An exercise enthusiast is one who exercises frequently … Continue reading →

Puh-Lah-Teez – Constructive Contradictions

Everything about Pilates is a contradiction and yet, it’s not. It’s a difficult and often times troubling workout that really kicks you in the pants. It looks hard and at the same time, it doesn’t. For years, I used to dance and I loved dancing – everything from ballet to jazz to modern and more. I still love to dance, but I don’t train for it professionally. Have you ever watched a group of dancers and wondered how what they did could really be so hard? It doesn’t necessarily look hard – until it does. The same description can be … Continue reading →

Pilates – What Do You Need to Know

Joseph Pilates created Pilates (pih-lah-teez) is a mind and body workout that engages the whole body. The former gymnast designed the workout based on yoga and poses based on animals. His goal was to create a workout that helped injured dancers to recover and grow stronger. Like yoga, Pilates focuses on the core of the body (abdominal, obliques, lower back, thighs & butt). It is a flexibility workout, a strength workout, an endurance workout, a coordination, balance and good posture workout. In other words, it does a little bit of everything. Pilates can be a demanding discipline, but like all … Continue reading →