Category Archives: Health & Fitness

31 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise from Zen Habits…

From zenhabits.com

145652418

“80 percent of success is showing up.” – Woody Allen

Post written by Leo Babauta. .

How do you find motivation to exercise when you just don’t feel like getting off your butt? I ask myself this question every now and then, and I have the feeling I’m not the only one.

A few weeks ago, I wrote 4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit … and the fourth and final step was to add motivation as needed until the habit sticks. This post is to help you with that fourth step.

There are a million ways to motivate yourself to exercise, actually, but these are a few that have worked for me. And trust me, I’ve had days when I’ve struggled with exercise. Most recently, the things that have helped include finding a workout partner (one of the best motivators!), logging my exercise, reading magazines, books and websites, and rewarding myself.

Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

10 Thoughts On Mindful Living…

 

111652409

1.   Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion.

       Keep yours moving.

2.   Alignment comes naturally.

       Balance cannot be achieved by force.

3.   Yoga is more than a series of poses; it’s an approach to life-

       and to the world around you.

4.    A daily walk can reengage your body and mind.

5.    You can’t force flexibility.

        It’s about releasing and opening gradually.

6.   Experiment with exercise that soothes as well as strengthens. 

7.   Balance isn’t static; to achieve it,

       you have to move, adjust, and change.

8.    Your core supports the whole body.

        Explore ways to keep it strong.

9.    See physical fitness as a practice, not a goal.

10.  To find your strength, push past your comfort zone.

Tagged , , , , , ,

An Update On A Lot To Lose…

98841921-tape-measure-squeezing-scales-to-form-waist-gettyimages

Today, I decided to take that dreaded step up onto the scale expecting to see the number higher than the last time I weighed myself and to my surprise I lost 4lbs! The past week and a half I’ve logged 27 miles of walking which I’m extremely proud of. I also started cooking each and every night, healthy, low calorie meals choc-full of flavor thanks to fresh herbs. I’ve sort-of reintroduced myself to my kitchen during this process because to be totally honest, I haven’t been cooking dinner for years. My husband has been the chef in the family and a fine chef he is, but I could see where we could tweak our diet here and there, cutting calories and enhancing the flavor of the food. It’s all coming together nicely and most importantly, it’s WORKING! I would like to close with leaving a picture of myself but I’m still not that brave, maybe next week

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

10 Thoughts On Mindful Living…

124910547-red-strawberry-and-red-lips-gettyimages

1. It’s important to occasionally go out on a limb-especially if you expect to get the best fruit.

2. Walt Whitman may have said it best: “If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred.”

3. Think about the places or environments that bring out the best in you. Now figure out a way to visit them more often

4. Dwelling on small joys is more rewarding than obsessing over little annoyances.

5. File under clichéd-but-true: The quirky things that make you “you”-even the so-called flaws-may turn out to be assets.

Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

My Brain Not on Drugs

brain-on-drugs

By Ethlie Ann Vare 

Huffington Post

This week, I celebrate 24 years free from drugs and alcohol. Go ahead and applaud. We drug addicts are perfectly willing to be congratulated for running out of a burning building. It’s our charm, a combination of inflated ego and low self-esteem sometimes referred to as “a piece of crap the universe revolves around.”

Anyway, the point of sobriety is that — minus major surgery, a valid prescription and someone holding your meds for you — you don’t use mind-altering substances. Period. What I have discovered over 24 years, however, is that you don’t need substances to alter the mind. As an addict, you can get addicted to pretty much anything. Recently, science has caught up with me.

Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

8 Energy Zappers—and How to Avoid Them…

134044998

Call it a personal energy crisis. On the surface, your life seems full enough—maybe even too full—yet you’re running on empty. You feel stretched thin, stressed-out, drained.
Sound familiar? It’s an epidemic, as described in Boston-based psychotherapist Mira Kirshenbaum’s revelatory new book, The Emotional Energy Factor. The most common complaints Americans bring to our doctors, she says, are: “I feel tired all the time,” and “Why do I feel so blah?” Once possible physical causes of fatigue have been ruled out (a crucial first step), many doctors diagnose mild depression and reach for the prescription pad. But is this really depression—or just depletion? And why do some people always have energy?

Continue reading

Tagged , , , , ,

Easy secrets for body confidence

Easy secrets for body confidence

By WeightWatchers.com

women-abs-weight-loss-stomach-jeans

Photo:Google Images

Not happy with your reflection or brimming with body confidence? Unsurprisingly, you’re not alone. But sadly there are too many women are embarrassed with their bodies and giving their figure the thumbs down. New research from the University of Queensland shows that about 80% of Australian women are unhappy with their body image.

Continue reading

Tagged , , , ,

A Compact Guide to Creating the Fitness Habit…

6063429849_b4322d4c0e_o

Post written by Leo Babauta.

A new year, a new slate of resolutions.

Perhaps the biggest resolution at New Year’s is to get fit — start exercising, start eating right, and all that jazz.

But resolutions never last. As you might already know, I’m not a fan of resolutions.

Instead of creating a list of resolutions this year, create a new habit.

Habits last, and they lead to long-term fitness (and more). They require more patience, but they are worth the wait.

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Ridiculous & Downright Bizarre Branding: Mermaid or a Whale? What?

Mermaid or a Whale? What?

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and b…beautiful woman. The caption was “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?”
The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:
“Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.
Mermaids do not exist.
But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?
Without a doubt, I’d rather be a whale.
At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.
We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn’t enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: “How amazing am I ?! “
(The girl on the picture is French model Tara Lynn)

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Do I have an eating disorder?

Do I have an eating disorder?

As someone who suffered for many years with various forms of an eating disorder, I often asked myself this question – “do I have an eating disorder” or am I just extremely health conscious, a perfectionist, possibly slightly depressed and overly conscious about food and weight.

Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , ,
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,944 other followers

%d bloggers like this: