One of my favorite websites...

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to be mindful of what you are eating on a daily basis. Particularly if you are trying to drop some weight it's that much more important to your success. I've seen a direct correlation in the clients I've trained in relation to keeping a food journal and getting results...those who kept a journal would get results and those that didn't sometimes would get results, but most of time they didn't. It is such a huge accountability factor that in my opinion can't be left out of a fitness program.

You have to find what works best for you. Some like a journal they carry everywhere with them, others might type it up on a word doc at their desk, or use a certain software on their phone. One of my favorite ways to track calories is through an amazing free website thedailyplate.com that a friend told me about a few months back. It's super quick and easy. My favorite part is you can customize it to your goals and enter your daily exercise as well.

So weather you're just a fitness junkie or trying to lose a few pounds before swim suit season I highly recommend this little gem to help you get to whatever your goal might be.

"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.

Do it yourself...

Okay so I love these things. Snacks, treats, crackers, etc. made into these cute little 100 calorie packs so you won't overeat or overindulge. Whoever thought of these things was on the right track because our portions are out of control these days and we all know it's hard to eat only two cookies when the whole bag is sitting there staring at you. (Please tell me I'm not the only one this happens to!)

The only downside...you pay extra for the packaging and in these economic times who wants to pay 2-3 extra dollars when you don't have to. I say do it yourself. This is just a reminder that with a little bit of planning you can make the same thing at home and save lots of money in the process. So next time your at the store pick up some of the snack size Ziploc bags and start portioning out your favorite snacks ahead of time.


ADD MOMENT: Along these lines, if you want to read an interesting study on fast food portions click on this link. It's shocking to see how much extra food we consume now compared to just 20 years ago.

Food/Exercise Journal

I've recently recommitted myself to writing down my food and exercise logs in a journal. This is something I've been really good about doing the last 2 or so years of my life. I got a little off the bandwagon with the summer, but I've started it back up.
I like this idea for a couple of different reasons.
1. Accountability-It's like a little coach. Maybe I'm the only one, but I hate having to write down a junk food binge or not being able to jot down any type of activity for several days in a row. Even if I'm super busy I'll just get out and take a brisk walk so I can write something down for the day.
2. Recognize Habits/Trends-Getting everything on paper is a huge step to see what is going on. We like to make ourselves out to be perfect and oftentimes in our mind we think we're doing a lot. After a week of writing everything down you can look back and notice you might have a energy drop at 2 and you're always going for sugar or that if you don't get in a workout in the morning it doesn't happen. Just get in the habit of writing it down. Good or bad and then you can work on your weaknesses and recognize your strengths and build upon them.
3. It works-Of all of the clients I've trained the most successful were the ones who religiously kept a food/exercise log.
So what are you waiting for? Grab some notebook paper and start keeping a log of your food/exercise each day. Keep it simple and stick to it!!! I promise it will help you move forward in reaching your goal quicker than if you don't.

Great website...

I found a really fun website that I have to share with everyone. Make sure you check out the 30 second commercials about health listed on the top right of the home page.
Educating and teaching about the importance of health is so important. (It's one of the reasons why I have my blog...to share some of the things I've learned and continue learning.) What a great tool this is to get people moving and make fitness fun!
I hope you take a few minutes and check it out:
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