Working Out Green

Going green has become a huge thing in the past couple of years, and most likely it will gain even more interest in the coming years. There are sooo many websites that have tips on going green and are dedicated to this purpose. I thought I'd research about some things to consider as you plan your workouts.

First of all, GET OUTSIDE! This is the best way to make your workouts more green. When you run, bike, play sports, etc outside, you're not using up precious energy. What makes this more fun is getting a friend to workout with you outside, or joining a group. If you need to go to a gym because the weather in your area is not always great, try to find one with eco-friendly qualities. This eco-friendly gym will most likely be easier to find in a large city... I'm pretty sure gyms where I live don't think about these things yet, but to do your own eco-friendly thing at the gym, only use 1 towel (or none), bring a reusable water bottle, and set the treadmill to a higher incline to use less energy.

You can also stay at home and workout. There are great workouts you can do in your house including yoga, pilates, and weight training. Write down or memorize a great workout and do it while you're watching your favorite TV program at night, or better yet, do it in your backyard and enjoy the surroundings. If you need workout equipment, try to buy used and if you need workout clothing or accessories, buy from places like Patagonia, REI, and Gaim that have eco-friendly products.

Ok, I saved the coolest thing for last. There is this thing called Pedal-a-Watt that is an indoor bike stand that's hooked up to a generator so you can help give power to things in your house or even re-charge a battery. Talk about multi-tasking :). There are also some green gyms popping up around the country where a lot of the energy they use comes from people using the cardio equipment. At the one I linked to, members get $1 for every hour they're on the bikes that they can use at the gym... great idea. I can definitely see these types of things becoming more and more popular in the coming years, so you should get on board and see how you can make your workout more green :).

Get ready to be Inspired! Join Earth Cinema Circle and learn ways you can protect the environment and reduce your carbon footprint.

Music Makes Life Better... and Working Out

So I just read that the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology has reported that music enhances endurance by 15%, which wasn't originally the reason for me wanting to write this blog but hey, sounds good :).

Seriously though, I love music. I love it on my way to work in the morning, while I'm working at my desk for 8 hours, on my way home from work, in the evening, and especially when I'm working out.

Do you also have lots of specific playlists or artists you listen to when you're in different moods? For me, when I'm pissed off at work, I'll listen to Korn or Nine Inch Nails, or something like that... when I'm getting all psyched to go out, I'll listen to some Hip-Hop or Techno to get me pumped... when I'm sad I'll listen to some Death Cab for Cutie or something super mellow, I have others too... too much to get into.

For working out, I have this random mix of a bunch of stuff from up beat late 80s/early 90s (ah the good 'ole days), to Techno, to Hip-Hop, to Alternative, to Punk, yeah.... very random. I've found that whether I'm at the gym or working out outside alone, listening to music makes it go by soooo much faster. I pretty much won't workout anymore unless I have my iPod or a friend running with me to bitch about guys with. I love my iPod more than anything and can't really imagine holding my old portable Sony CD player in my hand while running :). Oh, so 1 thing not to do is to get a piercing on your tragus and try to shove an iPod headphone in there the day after... very disturbing.

What does everyone's motivational workout playlist consist of???

Great Reasons to Weight Train

Maybe you think weight training is only for people want to gain muscle mass, get stronger, and get cut. While weight training DOES do those things, there are many more reasons for why it's good for your health too. Here's a few:

• Increases your metabolism (each pound of lean muscle mass burns 35-50 calories/day)
• Improved balance and restoring bone density (which are 2 reasons why weight training actually becomes more important as you get older and falling / osteoporosis is of more of a concern)
• Decreased risk of Cardiovascular Disease by reducing blood pressure and cholesterol (Did you know that for every 10mm hg increase in blood pressure, your CVD risk DOUBLES? That's of course in my ACSM book).
• Better performance in sports, exercise, and life. Weight training makes climbing stairs and carrying heavy objects around easier.
• Helps you look and feel better since weight training reduces overall body fat.
  

There are obviously many more reasons but those are some good ones. I also just read an article off the MSNBC website about a study where they linked decreased blood flow in elderly to loss of strength (which can be reversed with strength training). Here it is. There's also another interesting article on the same site about how weight training may help breast cancer survivors which is really interesting. Here it is.

And on that note, I'm going to cut this off and go do some weight training in my living room before I get in the car and drive the 7 hours to visit my brother in New Hampshire :). Have a great weekend!

Biggest Loser Season Premier Tonight!

Ok, so technically the Biggest Loser Season Premier started 15 minutes ago here, but still, you should tune in because it's 2 hours long :). Anyway, I felt the need to blog about this because I was going to talk about motivation today, and every time I watch that show, all I want to do is workout and stop eating chocolate.

The contestants on there really work their asses off and it makes my hour to an hour and a half workout 6 days a week look like the easiest / laziest thing in the world. It's also so touching when they get up there and lose weight that I feel like watching this show will be enough motivation to make anyone start working out. So if you've been playing with the idea of starting a program recently, you should definitely tune into NBC, now!

I'm also completely inspired by the trainers Jillian and Bob and am really going to strive to be as good as they are once I get my ACSM certification. They are super tough when they need to be, but also obviously have hearts and truly care about the people on the show. Jillian and Bob's workouts on Exercise TV On Demand are also superb (but of course you should buy them :)). Go test 'em out if you have Digital Cable... you can find it in the On Demand channels. I also have reviewed a few of them in my forum, so check that out too. Ok.... go watch!

I Heart Pure Protein Bars!

If you're like most people (including me not too long ago), you see the word "diet", "nutrition", or "high protein" slapped onto a bar and assume it's healthy and that you should eat it all the time, right? Not really... The majority of "bars" include just as much sugar as a chocolate bar (which is why they taste good), or they really don't have that much protein at all.

And most likely at 1 point in your life, you've tried out a Powerbar or some other very high protein bar and almost gagged on it because it was this strange chewy consistency and tasted slightly like chalk...right, anyone? :)

So I assumed there was no good compromise between the two (yummy, high sugar, low protein and nasty with high protein), until my boyfriend introduced me to Pure Protein bars. I'd have to admit that since I was addicted to Luna bars and Odwalla bars, the first one wasn't that great, but a week or so later I was hungry again and tried a better flavor (S'mores) and didn't stop eating them after that.

For a protein bar, the nutritional information is quite impressive for the taste. The S'mores flavor has 180 calories, 5g fat, 20g carbs, 2g sugar, and 19g protein. For comparison, I'll give you some information from other bars:

Odwalla Bar (Chocolate Chip PB): 250 calories, 7g fat, 38g carbs, 14g sugar, 8g protein
Luna Bar (Pecan Pie): 180 calories, 5g fat, 25g carbs, 8g sugar, 10g protein
Powerbar Protein Plus (chocolate chip): 290 calories, 6g fat, 37g carbs, 18g sugar, 23g protein

All those carbs and sugar are going to go directly where you DON'T want them...

I have a huge sweet tooth so if you're like me and looking for a flavor to try, my #1 is the Peanut Butter one, #2 is the Chocolate Chip one, and #3 goes between the S'mores and the Double Chocolate. They also have fruity ones and I'm not a huge fan of fruit inside of things, but try one if YOU are!

Anyway, next time you think about eating "diet" or "nutrition" bars on a regular basis, try to re-think it a little and check out the label. Staying under 10g sugar per bar would be a great way to start. As always, the best way to get your protein is with lean meats (chicken, turkey, tuna, seafood, etc), but if you need something for on the go, try my new obsession :). They have them at this place at the bottom of my blog, and also at most grocery stores, just maybe not all of the flavors.

Mini Exercise Bands

The first time I saw these mini exercise bands was in a boot camp class I started taking at the Xerox gym. I have a gym I go to other than my work one, but I went to this class once and got addicted so decided I needed to take it once a week. Anyway, one of my favorite pieces of "equipment" we use are these mini exercise bands.

I love how you can really target those awesome areas of extra fat in the inner and outer thigh. It also ads a good amount of resistance for doing other exercises such as push-ups where you continuously move to the side as you do more. Sometimes our instructor even has us put 1 around our knees and 1 around our ankles for more resistance.

If you want to test them out, you can click on the picture in the top of my post and it'll take you directly do them. Also they're on sale right now for $2, so I'm going to grab a few. They'd be a great investment if you're looking for something very compact for workout out on the go. I would advise you to start with yellow or green (I use green all the time). There are a couple guys in the class that use blue and no one that uses black, so you'd have to work up to that probably :).

They also have an exercise sheet specifically for these mini bands right on their site and a demonstration video that really helps show what you can do with these. Have fun :).

Wii Fit for Random Workouts?

It's Labor Day, and most gyms are closed (at least mine is). You don't really feel like going outside and running but still want to do SOMETHING... turn on that Wii Fit :). My parents of all people were the first ones I knew to own Wii Fit when it came out. So what did I do? I checked out every single exercise on it for like 2 hours... it was pretty cool.

When they got it it was around Christmas time and I was spending a few days there minus weights, a gym, or being able to go outside (it was probably about 10 outside...). I put a couple sweet workout routines together where I would do some lower body strength exercises, then some upper body ones, some running, hula hooping, stepping, back to running, hula hooping, etc. I would finish up with some balance games and yoga... and at least 60 minutes would've gone by. Awesome, at least I did something.

Anyway, I was looking online today and found this website that you can join for free and you can create your own Wii Fit routine. You can choose between strength, balance, weight loss, easy, medium, hard, time of workout, etc. There is a lot of other stuff on there too that I haven't gotten a chance to check out...

So do I suggest to ONLY workout with the Wii Fit? No, but it's a way to do something active if your gym is closed :). It's also a good way for someone to get more interested in exercise if they're not currently involved in a program. One issue I kind of have with it is that is bases your fitness level mainly on balance, which isn't the best indicator. Also, with the running, you're only on the balls of your feet and after doing it for about 30 minutes, my calves really started tightening up (make sure you stretch them out after).

Oh, and if you get on the Wii Fit and you're very muscular, it will most likely tell you that you're overweight even if you have 18% body fat. This is because it only measures your BMI (body mass index) which relies only on weight and height. If you have an average amount of muscle, it's a fairly good indication of whether or not you are within the right weight range.

I like that it yells at you if you haven't been on it in a long time... it's a good way to get you up there more :). It's also fun to watch your relatives passing you as you're running with the Mii's. Have fun with it!

Saving 100s of Calories at the Bar

It's Friday, and all you can think about is leaving work and getting drinks at happy hour. I totally understand this, but thought I'd talk about low calorie cocktails, and ways you can save up to about 100 calories (and sugar!) per drink simply by adjusting one of the ingredients.

Lets first list some popular drinks that have under 150 calories (and by this I mean a single, not a double...):
*Green Apple Martini (1oz ea/ vodka, sour apple, apple juice, 148)
*Bloody Mary (5oz, 118)
*Red Wine (5oz, 120)
*White Wine (5oz, 120)
*Light Beer (12oz, 95-136)
*Champagne (5oz, 106-120)
*Spiced Cider w/ Rum (8oz, 150)
*Mimosa (4oz, 75)
*Rum and Diet Coke (8oz, 100)
*Mike's Hard Lemonade (11oz, 98)
*Whiskey Sour (125)

Ok, there obviously aren't many listed above and the problem with most cocktails is the mixers. A shot of alcohol is generally around 80-100 calories, but you can add hundreds of calories on top of that, especially with the more complex ones. To save a lot of calories on your favorite drinks what you can do is use diet, lite, or sugar free mixers such as diet soft drinks, lite cranberry juice, lite orange juice, diet tonic water, crystal lite, splenda, etc.

Another alternative is obviously just to have shots, but that doesn't work so well when you're going out for social time with friends... you might be really messed up by 8pm...haha. A couple favorites of mine are Black Cherry vodka with Sprite 0 (or any fruity vodka) and Captain Morgan's with Diet Coke. My boyfriend drinks a lot of Three Olives flavored vodka with sugar- free Red Bull (good if you have a sweet tooth or are tired!).

Some of the worst alcoholic drinks you can have (and this might depress some people), are Long Island Iced Teas, Margaritas, Pina Coladas, White Russians, and Mai Tais. All of these have between 400 and 800 calories EACH! So much for dinner... I won't even bother getting into the crazy concoctions they offer at restaurants, because those can be well over 1000 calories each. It's sad, because that TGI Friday's Mudslide is soooo good.

So I'm obviously not going to say never have a Margarita, but just keep these things in mind when you're wondering why you're feeling a little bloated the next day. I saw somewhere online that a lot of Americans DRINK 20% of their calories... not good.

p.s. You can also switch out every other drink with a non-alcoholic one, which is what I do sometimes... partially because of calorie watching, and partially because I'm a light weight :).

If you have anymore ideas of low calorie cocktails, feel free to post them in my Fit Chicks forum because I'm always looking for new options as I'm sure others are too.

Have a great holiday weekend!! :)

Seriously... do I have to drink THAT much water??

Yes!! Haha. So I know there's always all this hype about making sure you get 8, 10, or 100 glasses of water a day...and maybe you think it's complete BS, or something we are told so we will go out and buy more bottled water or whatever, but here are some reasons why you actually do want to drink this yummy clear beverage all day:

1. We all know our bodies are mostly made up of water, so when you don't put adequate amounts of water into your body, it leaves your muscle tissue unprotected from getting burned off. Yea, not good.

2. Water helps control your appetite. If you're feeling a little hungry, most likely you're slightly dehydrated. So if you drink a glass of water, it will help take away your craving of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (sorry, daydream).

3. Water flushes out impurities in your skin and drinking lots of water will help with your complexion and also makes your skin look younger. Water also cleanses your body from toxins and pollutants that may make you sick.

4. Studies have shown that within 10 minutes of drinking a bunch of water, your metabolism increases. Cold water increases your metabolism more.

5. An adequate amount of water is needed for all the chemical reactions to take place in your body and perform at its maximum level. Body functions that require water: energy production, muscle building, and fat burning...you don't want to interrupt THOSE processes, do you?

I could ad more numbers about water being beneficial, but I'll just leave you with those top 5 for now...

Want to find out how much water you should be drinking? Go here and take a 9 question quiz... it's sort of fun... Am I drinking Enough Water?

If you think it's going to be hard to drink this much water, think about bringing a Nalgene bottle to work and keeping it at your desk... I get through 2 large Nalgene bottles worth just when I'm at work.

Question you may ask: Won't drinking a lot more water make me bloated? No, it has been shown that drinking more water actually helps your body stop holding onto its extra water, so you should actually lose some of that extra water weight.

Another question you may ask: Won't I start having to pee a lot more? Yes, of course, but it's a good way to get a 3 minute break at work :).

Good luck!