Thursday, May 31, 2012

Motivation to Move: 7 Fabulous Fitness Quotes

If you read my last blog post, you'll know I'm quite fond of Twitter for staying up to date on fitness trends and information. It's also a great source of motivation for me. At least once a week, someone tweets a quote that makes me stop and marinate... and then wonder in awe at either the sheer simplicity and/or brilliance of that nugget of wisdom.

In no particular order, here are some of my favorite fitness quotes that I've gleaned from Twitter. Here's hoping they motivate you to push a little harder on your fitness journey.


If your goal doesn’t excite you and scare you at the same time, you need a bigger goal.  - Charli Cohen
You can't outtrain a bad diet. - Todd Durkin
Methods are many, principles are few, methods often change, but principles never do. - Alwyn Cosgrove

Biceps don't grow on trees. - Fit Studio

I started thinking about exercise as an investment in myself instead of a chore. - Michelle Obama

You're only one workout away from a better mood. - Anytime Fitness

If you don't focus on your ass, no one else will. - Charli Cohen
Which quote is your favorite? What other words of wisdom motivate you in your fitness quest? Please share!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Twitter as a Fitness Resource: Top 9 People to Follow

Say what you will about social media... it can certainly be a burden to keep up with, but it can also be an excellent source of information and motivation and an efficient means of communication. My new favorite form of social media, especially for all things fitness, is Twitter. By following a handful of competent fitness "tweeters," you can have a plethora of fitness blogs, advice, workouts, and health tips delivered to you daily. And it's free! But as we all know, when things are offered freely and also not regulated in any way, we need to be wisely selective in the information we choose to consume. In other words, there are a lot of nuts out there who don't know what they're talking about in relation to health and wellness - proceed with caution!

To get you started, here are my TOP 9 Favorite Fitness Tweeters. They also happen to be very legitimate and professional. Most of them have blogs and/or websites that you can glean even more great information from.

9) Huffington Post's Healthy Living  @HealthyLiving    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/living
    Great health/wellness articles.

8) RevolutionaryAct.com  @RevAct  http://www.revolutionaryact.com/ 
    Awesome website and app.


7) Kim Shand  @rethinkyoga  http://www.rethinkyoga.com/
     Best mind/body connection tips.


6) Charli Cohen @TrainWithCharli    http://trainwithcharli.com/
     Great quotes, links to good articles.


5) ACE Fitness @ACEFitness  http://www.acefitness.org/
    My certifying organization, so I'm biased. BUT, they always tweet links to quality blogs/articles and exercise videos.


4) Valerie Waters  @ValerieWaters  http://www.valeriewaters.com/
     Awesome celebrity trainer, PLUS she's the trainer of my most favorite actress ever (Sasha Alexander) and my 2nd most favorite actress ever (Jessica Capshaw).  So Ms. Waters could make the list simply because of that, in addition to the fact that she's who I want to be when I grow up. But putting aside my inner-13-year-old-fangirl, she actually tweets links to articles and shares fitness tips & insights, instead of always just trying to sell her products (unlike some other celebrity trainers on Twitter).

3) Anytime Fitness  @AnytimeFitness   http://anytimefitness.com/

2)  Women's Health Magazine  @WomensHealthMag  http://www.womenshealthmag.com/
    One of my favorite women's health magazines... and they tweet links to good articles and interesting information.

1)  Alfonso Moretti  @AngryTrainerFit  http://www.angrytrainerfitness.com/
    Mr. Moretti is the male version of who I want to be when I grow up. And he has the best fitness website you'll find! Great blogs/Q&As/product reviews and workouts - all FREE. And I absolutely love his fitness philosophy: very down-to-earth and grounded in common sense. Plus he just seems like a really nice guy. Like, who wouldn't want him as their trainer?!?


So what are you waiting for?  Get a Twitter account if you don't already have one, and start following a few of these folks. Who are some of your top fitness Tweeters?
   

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Top 5 Things I Gave Up for Fitness

Last week, I read an interesting blog of a successful "weight loser" over on SparkPeople.com (which is a pretty good fitness website if you haven't checked it out... and it's free). In this blog, the author describes things she "gave up" in the name of health and wellness and I've been marinating on my own answer to that question over the past few days.

It is true... when you decide to commit to healthier living, you have to let go of a few habits and guilty pleasures. I gave up a weekly indulgence of chicken fingers and cupcakes. It was hard and my mouth does water a bit every time I drive by the local chicken finger specialty restaurant. I also have a 100 foot restraining order on myself from the local cupcake shop. But you also get to give up ridiculous mindsets and annoying habits that masqueraded as coping mechanisms. 

Here are the top 5 things I have given up in the pursuit of health and fitness and I don't miss them a darn bit!

#5 Stretching my t-shirts after washing them and having to hang-dry them so they didn't shrink. I'm sure many a large-chested girl has done this too. Cotton garments just have a way of losing a few centimeters when they get washed and then losing a few more in the dryer. If I wasn't the one on laundry duty that day, I would have to dictate to my spouse which shirts could be dried and which ones needed that special post-wash "stretch" in the bust area. It was embarrassing and time consuming.

#4 Worrying if I'll fit in the airplane seat.  It's enough to have to worry about if my plane is going to fall out of the sky or some lunatic passenger is going to put a bomb up some bodily orifice. Having to worry if the seatbelt would securely and comfortably fit around me was a headache I did not need.

#3 Worrying if I'll fit in the rollercoaster seat at the theme park. Same anxiety as the airplane seat. On a rollercoaster, I want to be locked in as securely as possible. And I want to be able to look at the person I'm sitting next to and not have my over-the-shoulder safety harness or safety lap bar sticking out 5 inches past hers.

#2 Buying the unisex or male version of clothing. Aeropostale and Old Navy have super cute shirts, but I could never make a successful purchase there unless I shopped on the guy's side of the store. That neon pink and teal t-shirt that looks like it escaped from the 1980s via the DeLorean? The largest female size wouldn't fit my thigh, so off I went in search of an XL in the men's section. There's nothing so humbling as having to find plus-size wear in a store that caters to the crowd that's 15 years younger than you.  

#1 Coming up yet with another creative way to say "not tonight, honey." I'm going to be blunt with this one. One of the top benefits of losing weight is that your libido and your confidence in the bedroom have an indirect relationship with the amount of weight you lose. As the scale drops lower, the libido and confidence get higher. Yes, there are those among us who might say "it doesn't matter what you look like, you should be confident with yourself and you should be with a partner who loves you for who you are, not what you look like." But having been there and weighed that, that trite aphorism is easier said than done. My guess is that most overweight individuals struggle with body image in all areas of the house, but especially the bedroom, regardless of how wonderful, loving, and supportive our partners are. It's just human nature. With that said, it's amazing what even a mere 5-10 pounds can do for the physical intimacy within your relationship. It's not so much about the changing shape of your body, although it is pretty darn amazing  when you realize you do have hip bones! But as we all know, confidence in oneself is sexy and when you work hard and achieve your weight loss goals, that pride and ego boost is immediately transferable to how you present yourself to others, including your partner.


What things have YOU given up in the name of health and fitness?  Please share!