Funny Fit Clips: Animal Inspiration

Filed under: Fitness , Yoga Aerobics instructors and jazzercise devotees back in the ’80s had no idea how much joy their perfectly feathered hair, matching leotards and corny commentary would bring to us in the future! At That’s Fit, we’re rounding up a few of our favorite funny fitness videos . Some are the real deal, while others are purposely playful, but no matter what, they’re sure to bring a smile to your face. If you have a favorite, please share it with us! Pets are good for your health in a number of ways: They get you outside and walking , and they can lower your stress level (except when they chew on your running shoes, naturally). Every time we see our pooch bow down into a fluid, graceful downward dog, we feel inspired to grab our yoga mats and crank out some asanas of our own. With all the great videos out there featuring animals and yoga, we may never skip a yoga class again! Downward Dog: the Real Deal Your four-legged friend might benefit your health, but you can also help his by involving him in your yoga practice. This clip shows you how to teach your dog, well, downward dog. You know, in case he doesn’t already know it. No Distractions You know how yoga instructors are always telling you to be present and ignore distractions? This one really practices what he preaches — at least until the end of the clip. (Also, does this happen to anyone else when they do yoga at home? Our pets just love to join in!) Stretch Kitteh Likes to Stretch You can’t have an animals and yoga video roundup without Stretch Kitteh! We dare you to watch this video without spreading out your toes and stretching your back. And also without saying, “Awww!” Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Funny Fit Clips: Animal Inspiration

Challenging Myself to Get Healthy — for Real

Filed under: Motivation , Tipping the Scales Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Success! Well, sort of. Last week I had a pretty good few days of healthy eating . I even exercised a few times. I did my usual Tuesday morning weigh-in and found that I’d lost 3.8 pounds! And then things started to slip away again. I started to forget to log my food . I started making poor food choices. And this week’s weigh-in found me gaining 3.2 pounds. Further proof that every day is a new day. Every minute is a new minute. (Tell me if this sounds familiar.) In a moment of weakness, I make a bad eating decision, maybe a doughnut at that early morning meeting. Then I kick myself for it a few hours later. Then lunch rolls around, and I think to myself, “Well, I’ve already messed up today — might as well go all out.” I then proceed to inhale anything and everything I can find, all because that one doughnut ruined my day. Sounds stupid, right? Well, I’ve done it. And I bet you have, too. So it’s time to get serious. I’m tired of bouncing around on this. At the beginning of the year I made that decision. The decision to stop. Sometime around May or June, I lost track of that decision. So now I’ve got to get back on track. Some people like to lose weight in a group . I’m not a big fan of that. I used to go to Weight Watchers meetings. Don’t get me wrong; I like Weight Watchers. I think it’s a solid program that works. For some people. But as much as they’ve tried to gear it toward men recently, it just didn’t work in my stupid male brain. I think my last meeting may have been when one of the ladies in the class was excited because her bra fit better. She went into great detail. Yeah. I can’t relate to that. I’ve done other diets, too. Atkins . South Beach . My favorite was the Weigh Down Workshop . I liked it because she said, “Eat when you’re hungry. Stop eating when you’re full.” Duh. Why haven’t I thought of that? Do you know how hard it is to tell when you’re full? Or even when you’re hungry, for that matter? I really struggled with that. Still do. I still think it makes a lot of sense, but it’s a concept I haven’t mastered yet. Plus, that lady was kind of scary. A Denise Austin/Rachael Ray kind of scary — way too cheerful for her own good. I’ve started up my SparkPeople.com page again and am logging my food. I have to be meticulous about this one. Because if I know that I have to write down that I ate a whole box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I’m less likely to eat it. What I’m really excited about is working out. My wife and kids are starting to come to the gym with me after school. So, now I’ve got built-in workout buddies and accountability. I love it! Another thing I just found today is a challenge by another blogger I read. He has challenged his readers to go a month without soft drinks. This is huge for me. While I choose only diet sodas, I drink a lot of them. I love the large $1 Diet Coke at McDonald’s. But I know it’s not good for me, so reading his challenge got me thinking that I should try that, too. Let me know if you want to try the challenge with me. Now I realize and recognize my mentality. I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy. So it’s quite possible that I can overdo it with the goals and make it that much easier for me to fail. But this isn’t too much, right? Just exercising, eating right, journaling and no more soft drinks. It’s not like I’m trying to change my life or anything. Oh, wait. After decades of dieting only to gain it back, two That’s Fit readers have decided to finally rethink their relationship with food and exercise over the next year to move toward a lifetime of fulfilling, healthy living. Come by every week as Ashley and Lee share their successes and challenges as they tip the scale. Find out how Ashley tried to stay healthy during a time of sorrow. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Challenging Myself to Get Healthy — for Real

FitSugar Readers Name Their Top 5 Yoga Poses

Last week I asked you to tell me what your favorite yoga pose is , and even though the results varied, a few poses were mentioned over and over. Keep reading to see what poses FitSugar readers love most, and make sure to click through to the end to see what the all-time favorite pose is. View Slideshow ›

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FitSugar Readers Name Their Top 5 Yoga Poses

Reader Needs Recommendations: Relaxing Yoga Music?

FitSugar reader sassymolassy needs your help! Check out the question she left in the Yoga Stretch and Tell community group. Yesterday while I was stretching after a 20 mile marathon training run, I was trying to find some good yoga music to listen to. You know the kind you hear during a class with soothing noises, ocean waves, piano, guitar, etc. Not necessarily savasana pose music, but music for the entire practice when I don’t want to follow a podcast. Fellow yogis, do you have any suggestions? Thanks! Sass Have a burning fitness question or yoga query? Pose your question to the Fit Questions group and the community will help you out.

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Reader Needs Recommendations: Relaxing Yoga Music?

Fit Tip: Don’t Put Workout Gear Away

Whenever I finished strength training at home, I used to stash my dumbbells in the closet. But I realized that if they were visible, I’d be more likely to pick them up and use them later. Same goes with my yoga mat. Instead of keeping it under my bed, I keep it out on a shelf. Seeing it there when I wake up reminds me to start every morning with a set of stretches . A friend of mine keeps a portable StairMaster under her couch to use whenever she watches TV , and I keep dumbbells in my kitchen to use on baking breaks. I also keep my running shoes by the front door so I can throw them on whenever I’m heading out. Morale of the story? When it comes to workout gear, don’t clean up. But if the idea of dumbbells sitting out on your coffee table is unsettling, meet this idea somewhere in the middle. Find an area of your house that you can designate as your “home gym,” and keep your gear stored neatly there. Having a fitness corner in your house is still a good visual cue to keep moving!

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Fit Tip: Don’t Put Workout Gear Away

Strike a Yoga Pose: One-Legged Four-Limbed Staff Pose

As if holding your body a few inches above the ground in Four-Limbed Staff wasn’t challenging enough, here’s a variation to make your upper body, abs, and booty work even harder. Sanskrit Name: Eka Pada Chaturanga Dandasana English Translation: One-Legged Four-Limbed Staff Pose Also Called: One-Legged Chaturanga Curious to know how to get into this pose? Then read more. Begin in Mountain pose . Inhale to raise your arms overhead, and exhale as you fold forward, placing your palms flat on the floor in a Standing Forward Bend . Inhale to look up with a flat back, and exhale to step or jump back, coming into Four-Limbed Staff . Hold here with your body in one straight line. Your elbows should be above your wrists and your shoulders in line with your elbows. Lift your right leg a few inches off the floor, pointing your toes, and holding for five deep breaths. Release that foot to the floor and lift your left leg for another five breaths. Release your left foot to the floor, inhale into Upward Facing Dog , and exhale into Downward Facing Dog .

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Strike a Yoga Pose: One-Legged Four-Limbed Staff Pose

Review: Kimberly Fowler’s "The No Om Zone"

Filed under: Reviews & Products , Yoga go2yas.com Kimberly Fowler’s ” No Om Zone ” book and DVD boast “no chanting, no granola, no Sanskrit.” For those who are serious and traditional about their yoga , this might be a deal breaker, but that’s not the crowd Fowler is targeting. Her goal is to make yoga accessible to people who might otherwise be turned off by certain aspects of the practice. As someone who positively hated her first yoga class and vowed never to go back, this is something I can truly appreciate. As Fowler, an accomplished triathlete -turned founder of YAS Fitness Center , states both in the book and on the DVD, many athletes have difficulty with yoga for several reasons. For one, athletic types are competitive; yoga is not. It’s hard to comprehend that it’s totally fine that the bony 87-year-old man in the corner can bend into a pretzel and hold himself on one arm when you can’t even come close. And while in the right setting (both physically and mentally), chanting can be really beneficial; it can also be scary and intimidating for someone who really doesn’t understand what’s going on. The book consists of 14 chapters, 13 of which focus on how to use yoga to help specific parts of the body from the head to the hips to the feet and ankles. Each chapter includes detailed instruction on several poses, with a 10-minute suggested routine using those poses at the end. This makes it really easy to tailor a short routine that can be done anywhere to your needs. (I’ve already taken advantage of some of the neck, shoulder and upper back asanas to combat the slouch I get while sitting at the keyboard.) The DVD offers three workouts — upper body , core and lower body . The entire DVD is a little over 53 minutes, but much of that is introduction, which you have the option to skip. Level of Difficulty Beginner. A few of the moves are slightly more advanced, but Fowler makes a point to mention early on that it’s not a competition and you should do only what feels good. “No pain, no gain doesn’t apply to yoga” is something she repeats often. Next-Day Soreness Very little, but it would be more for someone brand new to yoga. Who’s It For? Yoga beginners who are looking for a way to learn the poses without feeling intimidated or embarrassed. Likes I really, really liked the book. It would not only be helpful for beginners but also for those who have some yoga experience. It’s easy to flip through and find what you need, and I thought it was really interesting to learn a little bit about how the different poses affect our muscles. The video was also easy to navigate and offered a solid, if slightly short, workout. Fowler flows through the moves quickly but with good instruction. I found the directions easy to follow, but they might be a bit fast for a first timer. That being said, there’s always the pause and rewind option. Dislikes I wish each of the workouts were just a bit longer. The DVD says they’re 15 minutes, but I think that includes the segment intro (there’s also a long introduction to the DVD at the very beginning). And since there is a helpful “play all workouts” option, I would have loved to skip the corpse pose ending during the first two segments and instead hold that pose longer at the end. Although Fowler provides good basic instruction for each pose, I would have liked for her to explain a few more particulars — how to hold your body in the proper plane, for example. I think that would really benefit first timers considering attending a class, since those are the things I see corrected most often in a group setting. Bottom Line I like this concept, and I like both the book and the DVD. I believe I’ll get more use out of the book than the video, but they work well together. “The No Om Zone” is definitely one of the better options out there for yoga newbies, especially those who are generally quite athletic. Another good option for beginners is YogaWorks Beginner AM/PM . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Review: Kimberly Fowler’s "The No Om Zone"

Not So Southern-Style Green Beans

Filed under: Recipe Rehab with Tanya Zuckerbrot , Nutrition & Supplements Getty Images Southern foods are known for being robust and filling, and the traditional recipe for Southern-style green beans is no different. Usually seasoned with fatback, bacon or ham hocks, the beans are boiled until they are tender and have a dark green color and a salty taste. One of our readers wrote us with a request to make over his mother’s green bean recipe so that the calories represent a reasonable side dish rather than an entree. Fatback and ham hocks add quite a bit of sodium to the green beans, not to mention unwanted calories. But there is no question that they add a lot of flavor, which green beans on their own tend to lack. I will spice up the green beans with onions, garlic, black pepper and crushed red pepper to add flavor without extra calories. Cooking vegetables in large amounts of water until the color runs out leaches nutrients, which are then lost when the water is discarded. Other nutrients, like vitamin C and folic acid , are completely destroyed in the cooking process because they are not heat stable. It is best to cook veggies on a griddle or steam them . I am actually going to stir-fry the beans in a little bit of olive oil to help absorb the fat-soluble vitamins and intensify the flavors of the dish. Now this rehab may be a step away from your mother’s Southern cooking, but it is a delicious low-calorie way to spice up green beans. Ingredients: o.1 tablespoon olive oil o.1 medium onion, sliced o.3 cloves garlic o.1 pound green beans (frozen or fresh) o.1/4 teaspoon salt o.1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper o.1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper Instructions: 1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are tender. 2. Add the green beans and cover to keep in the steam. Cook for about 3 minutes. It may be necessary to add a little bit of water (1 to 2 tablespoons), especially if using fresh green beans. 3. Turn the green beans and continue to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the cover of the pan and add the spices. Finish cooking with the cover off until the green beans are slightly tender but still crunchy. Serves: 4 Nutrition Content (per serving): 80 calories , 4 g fat , 1 g saturated fat , 11 g carbohydrates , 4 g fiber , 3 g protein , 154 mg sodium Spice up another side dish vegetable: Try my Brussels sprouts ! Readers, I would love to hear from you! Please send me your favorite fattening recipes that need a RECIPE REAHB! Everything from your mom’s meatloaf to your kid’s favorite dessert — let me lighten it up. Celebrity dietitian and motivational life coach Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of www.ffactordiet.com and founder of www.skinnyandthecity.com and www.theskinnyondietitians.com , has helped thousands of people lose weight and keep it off with her program. Her philosophy? Tanya believes you should never sacrifice taste, even when you’re eating healthy foods. Have a recipe in need of rehab? Send us your recipe! Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Not So Southern-Style Green Beans

Mandy Ingber’s Yoga Pose to Heal a Broken Heart

Dealing with a breakup or the loss of a loved one can be an incredibly painful experience to go through. I deal with heartbreak by increasing my workout schedule - exercising produces endorphins , after all. But when the pain is too much to bear, I turn to yoga. Mandy Ingber - yoga instructor to Jennifer Aniston - told BounceBack that yoga helped her cope with the death of her father. A recent study even suggested that yoga produces higher levels of “mood improvement” in participants than other types of exercise. If you are going through a difficult period in your life, Mandy recommends Child Pose . “It is humble. It is restorative; it calms the nervous system and stretches the back. They say that backbends are heart openers. For me, the last thing I want to do when I am heartbroken is open my heart more! Anything forward-bend is pretty calming. Sometimes though, when there’s a lot of anger, Sun Salutes rock. Getting that anger to move OUT.” Has practicing yoga ever gotten you through a difficult period in your life?

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Mandy Ingber’s Yoga Pose to Heal a Broken Heart

DrSugar Answers: Digestive Woes During Period?

DrSugar is in the house! And she’s answering your health-related questions. Dear DrSugar, I am wondering why my digestion goes haywire during my menstrual period. I always keep my diet clean and exercise daily but I can’t seem to combat the gas, diarrhea, constipation and constant gurgly noises coming from my gut! What could this be and how can I stop it? - Too Much Fun Below the Belt Oh, what fun menstruation is! It’s our monthly reminder that we are capable of reproducing, which is a beautiful thing! But, unfortunately, it brings with it some not-so-fun symptoms, including the ones you’ve listed: gas/bloating, diarrhea, and constipation. The most straightforward answer for your question is that these symptoms you have are due to hormones and chemicals! For a more in-depth explanation, keep on reading.

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DrSugar Answers: Digestive Woes During Period?

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