Funny workout machine...

Are these girls for real??? This is totally crazy. Even better it's $650. I think I'll stick with the gym. Hope you enjoy the laugh though.

"I be up in the gym just working on my fitness"

Fergy, Britney, JT, Christina, 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas, Timberland...These are just a few of my favorites that I listen too when I'm working out. Now I love me some great mellow music, but not when I'm working out. To be honest I've never been able to figure out why people go to the gym and read a book. Next time you're at the gym take a look at those people and you'll notice they usually aren't going at a very fast pace.

After doing a little research there are studies that prove my theory to be true. What you are doing while working out can actually enhace your performance. A recent study showed that music can enhance endurance by 15% and help you enjoy your workout more. Another study I found suggests that listening to music while exercising helped to increase scores on a verbal fluency test among cardiac rehabilitation patients. There are also several websites dedicated just to this topic of working out and music. A few of my favorites were the top ten health benefits of working out to music you can find here and another website that maps out the best songs and playlists that will increase your pace and thus your overall beats per minute. Have a favorite song? Go to this website and see if it's at a fast enough pace for you to be working out to.

Take home message: Working out has to be fun and adding music to your routine is one more way to motivate and encourage you to keep going. My rule of thumb is to mix up my play list and get new tunes when I start to feel sluggish in my workouts. It's amazing what a few new songs can do!!! Give this tip a try and I guarantee you'll be looking like Fergalicious in no time.

Mini Meals

Just thought I'd give a quick reminder/challenge to eat mini meals through out the day. It seems like most people maybe get 3 meals if they're lucky. Best rule of thumb is to eat smaller meals that are more like snacks every 4 hours. By doing this you will actually speed your metabolism which will help you burn more calories just by eating. (Your body has to burn calories just to eat food and when you constantly fuel your body you will have an increase in your total calorie burn for the day.)

For those of you that still don't believe me I'd like to use my survivor example. If you were stranded on a island and were only eating once or twice a day your body would hold onto your body fat and not let you lose weight. Even if you're only eating 1000 calories or so. It doesn't make sense but it's true. Trade this with eating about 300 calories 5-6 times a day and you will likely lose weight and/or you won't be hungry anymore knowing that you can eat again in a few hours.

Challenge for the week: add mini meals to your day and notice the increase in energy and decrease in cravings and hunger pangs.

I'm Back...

I apologize to my viewers for my absence the last month and a half. Due to a recent move, vacation, lack of home/internet, and a busy schedule I haven't had much time to blog. I'm back though and I hope everyone missed me!

I have lots of great ideas for posts to come so keep checking back for those, but tonight I just want to share my feelings on new years resolutions specifically when they relate to one's health. I don't particularly like resolutions b/c it's something that people stop doing within a few weeks. When I worked at the gym I always hated how crowded it would get and how suddenly people were going from never working out to working out 6 times a week. Motivation soon dies and people fade away and another year goes by where everyone is overweight or unhappy with the way they look and feel.

My suggestion...Set a resolution everyday of your life to be healthy. Eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, take care of your body. It's the only one you'll get so treat it like the temple it is. Of course you'll have days or weeks where you might get off track, but tomorrow is another day and you can start over. I challenge you to look at your motivation and goals that you might have set earlier this year and break them down to a day to day thing so each day you succeed. Use these positive changes to keep you wanting to move forward and get better. Improve each day and make it a lifestyle. In time being healthy will be like brushing your teeth. Good luck and keep up the great work!!!