As I sit here stuffing a sandwich in my face while I work, I’m reminded from our guest blogger why it’s not such a good idea to multi-task during meals. Learn how mind-less eating can be detrimental to your healthy eating lifestyle.
Mindful Eating Means Never Eating Too Much
It’s easy to go crazy or unconscious at mealtime, or even get stressed out around meals (how much to consumer, where to eat, what to eat).
HOW and WHEN you eat has just as much bearing on how much nutrition you ingest as WHAT foods you eat. If you eat while totally stressed out, or when not focused on your meal, your body absorbs fewer of the vital nutrients it needs to function well and keep you full. In fact, your digestion and metabolism slow to a crawl, and your body can excrete stomach acid that is counter-productive to proper absorption.
So taking time to relax and enjoy your meals is a no-brainer. Whenever possible, focus on your meal without distractions, and take time to chew and taste every morsel. You’ll feel better, and eat less!
Sometimes motivation comes from competition. I have to admit… I like to compete. If I’m not competing with someone else, I’m competing with myself. So, when I took a kickboxing class I think it was a match made in heaven. Learn why a kickboxing class might give you the competitive edge you need to stay motivated in your fitness routine!
Kick Box and Kick Butt
I was set on losing weight two years ago so I joined a gym. I went to step classes to build up some endurance and then tried kickboxing. I loved it for its all-over body work-out. It made my arms just as strong as my legs and the kicks loosened up my lower back and hips the same way yoga did. I can’t get into treadmills — too boring. I need a group exercise class to keep me going.
With kickboxing, I had a whole room of people to compete with. Just being in a high energy class like that was inspiring. It’s tougher than any other exercise and I loved that! It took six months, but I lost 35 pounds and I’ve kept it off for a year.
Maureen Nelson, Career and Resume Consultant
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Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pamlovespie/8190611701/sizes/m/in/photostream/
If you’ve read my other posts here, you know that I admit to being a big ol’ sweaty mess when I leave the gym… if I’m not, it means it was not a good workout!
But, what happens when you workout and just can’t stop sweating? That can be a real problem when you’re trying to get work, an appointment or just relax after that hard workout.
So – here are some tips to help you if you’re one of those people who can’t stop sweating after a workout: (more…) read more →
Using Yoga as an intense form of cross-training can be extremely beneficial to a number of sporting activities. Not only does it strengthen, tone, and elongate our muscles, it teaches us to be present in the moment while placing our focus on our breathing.
Learn how our expert guest blogger incorporated this technique into her training and how it improved her performance.
Yoga helps us to expel the toxins that build up in our bodies. Learn from our expert guest bloggers about how this process works and their favorite yoga pose that stimulates the detoxification process.
Let’s face it! One of the benefits of regular exercise is looking great. In fact, this is the reason why most of us drag our butts out of bed an hour earlier than necessary every morning to squeeze in a workout. Our expert guest blogger explains to us today the youthful benefits of exercise.
Learn how the benefits of Yoga in your exercise routine can make you look and feel younger!
This sequence is a tonic for great toned “Bikini” buttocks as well as building general strength and flexibility, calmness and a sense of wellbeing. It comes to us from Jane Ribinskas who is giving away a training package in our Swimsuit Ready Challenge.
Follow along with Jane who tells and shows us how to do this sequence:
“Virabhadrasana A” (Warrior) Sequence for “bikini Body” Buttocks
1. Start at the front of your mat with the soles of the palms together at the chest,the feet with the knuckles of the big toes together and the heels slightly apart then gently lift up through your heart.
2. Next breathe in through your nose with a slow even breath as you take the arms over head until the palms meet. Next as you exhale step back with the right leg to creating a lunge and you’ll be on the ball of the right foot. Gently work the heel into the mat so it’s a good stretch for you. Whilst you’re there draw up the right glute and gaze up to you’re palms (if your neck is sensitive gaze straight ahead. Make sure your shoulders are gently drawing down to the earth whilst you draw the navel to the spine and connect your pelvic floor for a subtle ab workout too. Keep the breath steady and even in and out through the nose whilst in holding in the posture for around 5 x breaths.
3. On the next exhalation press through the palms(good for toned arms)and take arms sideways as you fold forward down to the mat.
Once both palms are on the mat…
…take the left leg back so you’ll meet the right foot with the feet hips width apart into downward dog or in Sanskrit “Adho Mukha svanasana”.
4, Then breath in and take the right leg up in the air with the toe pointed engaging the glute.
Hold for 3-5 in-out breaths on the last out breath bring the leg through to the front in a lunge. As you breathe in take the arms up over head until the palms meet. You could repeat this sequence either side of the body from 5-20 times. Remember to also keep your pelvic floor muscles engaged throughout the sequence. This will work abs and buttocks in sync.
Jane Ribinskas, Director/Facilitator, Yoga Concepts
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Swimsuit Ready Challenge
This exercise is part of our Swimsuit Ready Challenge (April 2-30, 2012). Do this exercise and comment below “I did this!” to be entered to win our $100 and $50 giveaways. You may enter up to one time per day through April 30th.
Also – be sure to share this on Facebook, Pinterest and other sites to let your friends cheer you on or – better yet – join in on the challenge so they can hang out on the beach with you this summer! read more →
This prize for our Swimsuit Ready Challenge comes to us from Jane of Yoga Concepts.
About Jane
I’m Jane Ribinskas Director/ Teacher from Yoga Concepts bringing to you over 25 years experience teaching and practicing Yoga and other Healing modalities and a background of competitive swimming & Gymnastics. With this experience I practice and live what I teach and as a mature individual live in a pain free fit agile (bikini) body and most of all have a healthy mind, I’m happy and live my passion.
My students come to me from all walks of life and I share my wisdom and “The Knowing Flow”Vinyasa dynamic yoga sequences giving them the opportunity to meet their full potential on a physical, emotional and psychological levels, which flows into all areas of life.
The Prize
The prize Imp offering is a 12 month membership to my online Yoga studio which offers a “tool kit “of physical yoga practices to follow(Videos) to cultivate your bikini body, as well as audio’s to prepare your mind so you can become more positive ,calm, creative and solutions orientated and truly enjoy your “bikini body” .
To sustain a bikini body through out your life an essential ingredient is a healthy “body, mind, soul, connection”. Youll be able to practice yoga any where any time 24 hrs and stream the videos & Audios via your computer or smart TV.
Enter to win this prize – just add a comment like “I want this!” to let us know you want this prize. Then – share it with your friends and go check out the other prizes that are available this month in our Swimsuit Ready Challenge!
(If this is the first prize you’re entering to win, you’ll need to Register for a login – it is super easy, just follow the instructions and you can use the same login over and over again to enter to win the prizes.) read more →
So, if you haven’t tried yoga yet, it’s probably because you feel like you don’t want to “waste” a workout hour on just stretching. That’s normally what people like us (Pretty Hard Workers!) think about yoga… before trying it.
But, when you arrive at class and see others doing poses like the one above (crow pose), you can’t deny that yoga has some intense benefits. What other kind of workout would help you hold your body in a balancing pose like that?
Today’s guest blogger drives home the point – if you haven’t tried yoga yet because you think it’s too easy… it’s time to change the way you think about this age-old practice:
I love going to my yoga class on Monday. It’s a Vinyasa practice and the instructor is always throwing in new ideas to keep it fresh and to continue challenging us.
Yesterday was no different.
Roll Up!
We arrived in the studio, set up our mats, stretched out into a child’s pose and waited to be guided into our sun salutation warm ups.
But… instead, the instructor told us to roll up our mats and follow her outside. I (and the rest of the class) was a little hesitant, but I’ve made myself a promise to take challenges head-on… so, out the door I went!
Getting Outdoors
We’ve had an unusually warm few weeks here in MIchigan, so I was glad to be going out into the evening sun that was still burning at about 70 degrees at 6:30pm.
And – who can argue with fresh air? It’s so nice to breath outdoors.
“Outside” is Filled With Distractions
But… let me paint a picture for you… my gym in is in the middle of a strip mall on a fairly busy street in our country-like suburb. Right next door there is a Dairy Queen, which – as you may have guessed on a warm spring day – was filled with people.
Here’s the street view in an image I pulled from Google Maps:
The yoga studio is in the building on the left, there’s the Dairy Queen in the middle.
See the grassy area over to the right? Yeah… that’s where she had us layout our mats.
Getting Through Distractions
When we started, I had a hard time with all of the noise. I heard EVERYTHING. The engines, the voices, car doors, birds, children yelling – it was really hard to concentrate.
But, after I relaxed and got over the fact that maybe, someone that I know would drive by and see my butt up in the air – all of the noise sort of blended together like one big ocean.
Reaching that point was really rewarding… I didn’t think I had it in me – but was really happy to find it!
Staying Warm
Along with figuring out how to deal with the noise and getting over my fear of public humiliation as the ice cream customers stood there and oogled at us as they ate their sundaes… I wondered how we would get warm enough to have a good practice.
But, no need to fear! The instructor simply had us hold each pose a little longer. So, even though we weren’t in a 90+ degree room, I was still able to get into each muscle group, warm it up, stretch it out and get it nice and strong.
Playing Outside
The best part was – it felt like we were playing! Doing a “yoga headstand” sounds so official and proper…. but propping up and falling over on the grass made me feel like a kid again!
So – if you get a chance to do so – get outside this spring and summer – I think you’ll find it’s Pretty Hard Work and a pretty cool experience!
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