Remember growing up when someone would dare you to do something and you couldn’t resist the challenge? The idea of taking a risk was so filled with adventure that fear, if it existed, was something you were willing to face just to prove you were up the dare. The idea of taking a risk is like fuel, it gives us the courage we need to play by our own rules and go out on a limb. Risks don’t have to be big in order to be impactful. They can be small changes, or even decisions we m

What do you call it when you walk for a cause, volunteer for something you believe in, and share your love for fitness and health? I call it a cathartic experience, and that’s what I had when I participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer's. Last year I led the warm up for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s in my local community, St. Charles, Illinois. This year I had the opportunity to lead two more warm ups for two Walk to End Alzheimer’s events. I’ve lost both of my parents to demen

Thanksgiving is days away, and while we appreciate the joy of family, friends, and celebration, we want to feast without adding fat. Like most prescriptions for a healthy diet and proper exercise, it’s much simpler than we think. With a little modification, we can avoid packing on the pounds while still enjoying the holiday festivities. Check out these five tips. 1. Avoid famine before you feast. Many make the mistake of thinking that if they starve themselves up until it’s

1. Did you know that chewing your food more before swallowing can help you slim down? When we chew more, we spend more time eating and less time consuming. If you're a fast eater you can consume a lot of calories in a short amount of time, which can quickly translate to unhealthy weight gain. The next time you take a bite count the number of times you chew before swallowing, then increase that number, double it if you can. By slowing down, we’re paying attention to the signa

1. Listen to Your Body’s Signals: Did you grow up the way I did, where you were instructed to finish your dinner before you left the table? Somewhere along the way we may have been so busy listening to instructions that we forgot how to listen to the signals our body sends telling us when it’s hungry or full. Our body knows what it needs. It's up to us to get our signals straight and it may be that we need a little retraining. Try This: The next time you sit down to dinner gi

The kids are back to school, the weather’s getting cooler, and we’re falling back into a fitness routine. Exercise is an investment of our t

What do you do when the couch sounds better than cardio and you’d rather make muffins than work on your muscles? Try these six strategies that are sure to give you success. 1. Prompts are Powerful: Prompts are little reminders that serve as motivators, such as posters or sticky notes that you hang throughout your house reminding you to workout. When you place your shoes by your bed so they’re waiting for you in the morning, or you put your workout clothes in your car so you’r

Last week I wrote a blog about exercise relapse, what causes it and how to distinguish a lapse from a relapse. Now it’s time to talk about prevention. Two of the most critical considerations when starting an exercise program are learning how to identifying situations that put us at risk for relapse, and learning how to avoid relapse. How to Identify Situations that Put You At Risk: 1. Reflect: Think about past situations where you fell off the wagon and stopped exercising. Wh

Nothing parallels the power of female connection and few things soothe the soul more than a girls’ getaway. Women for me have always been a source of comfort, security, and unconditional love, and it’s because of their profound support that strong female connections have become my life support. It’s also the reason I foster my friendships and find ways to make girls getaways not a luxury, but a necessity. I’ve had two girls’ getaways in the past few months. The key I’ve decid

Nothing parallels the power of female connection and few things soothe the soul more than a girls’ getaway. Women for me have always been a source of comfort, security, and unconditional love. I grew up in a female only household- four sisters and my mom, and my husband and I raised two daughters. I also have girlfriends throughout the world, thanks to multiple moves and plentiful work travel over the years. These women are sustenance to my soul. I count on them to be there w

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Did you know? 1. Did you know that 3,500 calories equals approximately 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of fat? That means you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. If you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day you'd lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories). 2. Did you know that only doing crunches will not get rid of belly fat? Unfortunately we can’t spot reduce. The best way to target abdominal fat is to reduce your o

A reflection on love: In Eastern philosophy, self-love is thought to be the cornerstone of inner peace. A journey toward self-discovery is believed to be essential, as introspection promotes understanding and harmony with oneself, which lends itself to harmony and peace with the world. Love is the foundation of human compassion toward others, but first and foremost toward oneself. It would be difficult to embrace the differences among us, and to feel empathy toward those with

We don’t lack exercise programming in our society. There are more exercise programs, workout DVD’s, gyms, equipment, ideas, tips, and information than ever before. What we do lack is motivation to start and maintain an exercise program, and that’s something that can’t be packaged or sold. The thing about motivation is that it varies from person to person, depending on interests, lifestyle, upbringing, and beliefs. What motivates me might not motivate you, and vice versa. I’ve

Smoothies aren’t just for summer, and nothing tastes better than a cool smoothie after a hot workout. Too often, people share with me that they don’t have time to eat before coming to the gym in the morning. I know that mornings especially can be crazy, but time is about management and priorities and if we want the best return on our investment we have to invest wisely. That means that we have to practice sound nutritional principles to supplement our workouts. Just as we can

For the last two weeks I have blogged about New Year’s Goals, and this week I’m wondering how many of have you taken on those goals with a vengeance, and how many are still procrastinating? Sometimes when one of our goals seems daunting, and we can’t find a way to break it into smaller, more manageable pieces, we are paralyzed by our own internal struggles. At the core of those struggles is the power of our thoughts, namely that nagging voice inside us that creates self-doubt

Last week I wrote a blog about the power of goals vs. New Year's Resolutions and six steps for goal setting success. I promised to share a goal setting contract this week because contracts are a great way to stay on track and keep us motivated. That said, before we sign a contract it's important to consider potential pitfalls when setting goals, aka mistakes in that stand in the way of our success. Here are Five Potential Pitfalls to avoid and a contract to keep us accountabl

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else.” - Hall of Fame baseball legend Yogi Berra Last year I wrote a blog about the importance of setting goals vs. New Year’s Resolutions. As 2016 approaches I’d like to reinforce the power of goals in helping us to achieve our greatest potential. Goals are impactful; they give us direction and help us stay motivated. They lead us to accomplishments we might never have thought possible, and they help us begin

Here's 10 Tips to Get You Motivated If I challenged you to list five things you love about exercise and five things you hate, which would struggle with more? In my past life, my younger years you could say, I had a plethora of things I didn’t like about exercise, but in my life today you’d be hard pressed to keep me away from my workouts. I depend on them for my sanity, self-preservation, sense of routine, and mostly because they provide me much needed mental space, (it’s the

Try These Functional Bodyweight Moves Long before bodyweight training became “in vogue,” those of us who have been around the block for a while trained this way because all the popular “toys” you now see in group exercise rooms weren’t around. We learned the art of bodyweight training and how to properly position our body against gravity because gravity was all we had. Like good and bad fashion, what’s old is new again and bodyweight training is no exception. This is one “fad