(1) Squat Before You Sit:

Fact: sitting for hours leads to weight gain. One study shows that obese people sit 2.5 hours more per day than those who are leaner. This can put us at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and even bowel cancer. So, here’s what you can do to continue to stay on a healthy path even while on the job. Stand about 1 inch in fornt of your chair, holding in your abs. Squat as if you’re going to sit, but right before your bottom touches the chair stand back up and squeeze your glutes. You will burn 50 calories over the course of a workweek, if you perform this for 1 minute each day!

(2) Stretch Your Hips While You Type:

When we sit we fold our legs at the hip and shorten our hip flexors-this leads to stiffness and causes pain in the lower back. Try sitting at your desk with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Place 1 ankle on the opposite thigh so that your lower body forms the number 4. Exhale as you lean forward over the legs, and keep your back straight. Hold for 3 deep breaths. Switch legs, and repeat the process 3 times. What a relief!

(3) Tone Your Arms in the Ladies’ Room:

I know it sounds odd but a bathroom stall workout has results. Doing push-ups with your hands on the wall instead of on the floor makes them easier. A bathroom stall is a good choice, usually the end stalls have more room (as well as a sturdy floor-to-ceiling side wall). Just doing 10-15 a day will show noticeable improvement in the arms over a short period of time!

(4) Take the Stairs:

For all the obvious reasons! It works the lower body and gets your heart rate up to burn those calories. The simple action of getting your body moving keeps you from being stiff. Doing this regularly will result in weight loss and increased energy, in combination with a healthy balanced diet of course.

(5) Write Off Injuries with a Lower-Leg Stretch:

We love our heels, but the reality is they are not good to us! Research has shown that the ankle is not supported for the best mobility, which leads to knee problems. It is suggested that you do a move that stretches both your ankle and your shin: imagine your toe is the tip of a pencil and “draw out” the letters of the alphabet. This motion will impact the lower leg muscles, aiding in relief. You should try this 3-5 times each day…

For more workout tips at your desk, visit Oprah!

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We all know that exercise and eating right are keys to good health, but is something keeping you from hitting the gym? When you walk into a gym for the first time (even second or fifth), you may feel out of place; however, get into a routine and that feeling will eventually go away.

Some fears that could be keeping you from losing weight and getting that body you want:

Pushups – I can’t do even one!
Start with modifications and build your way up to a regular one. Ask a personal trainer, they can help you with modifications and others ways to build up your strength.

Getting Bulky – A women’s biggest fear
This is a myth. Although you may gain a few pounds when you first start working out, remember, muscle weighs more than fat. You WILL lose weight in the long run if you continue building lean muscle since it speeds metabolism and burns fat.

No Time – I don’t have an hour to spare
Busy schedule? First of all, you should make the time for YOU. Secondly, do shorter workouts, but make them count. Do something for 30 minutes everyday. Short bursts of exercise followed by short recovery breaks in between has the same effect as longer endurance exercise.

Learn more tips on overcoming your gym fears here.

Tony Horton (Photo by Amy Graves/WireImage/Getty)

Fall has arrived and so has a whole bunch of fall fitness strategy for those of us who wish to tone and tame our figures. Tony Horton, a fitness guru best known for the boot camp style home fitness program, P90-X, has just the right thing for all of us wishing to shed a few pounds this season (of course, so we’ll have room for turkey and dressing this Thanksgiving).

Check out a recent interview in the links below with Horton as he describes the new program and gives insight on it’s official release live on The Madd Hatta Morning Show in Houston, TX.

RELATED LINKS:

Exclusive Interview: Tony Horton Prepares for P90X-2

How 15 Minutes of Daily Exercise Can Help You Live Longer

Best Travel Bargains This Fall

What are your plans for shaping up for the season ahead? Share them with us below on the message board using your Twitter or Facebook profile to log in and leave a comment.

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Exercise TV’s fitness pro, Kendell Hogan shares a few ways to do this.

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Decide on the front end that you will finish.

Staring down 13.1 miles of anything can be daunting. Since the finish line is not visible for the first 13 miles of the race, you are literally walking by faith that it is there. As you go, your enthusiasm will wane, but your determination must not.

Measure your progress by a reliable, absolute standard.

A mile is a mile is a mile. There is no way around that fact. Even if you are from a country that uses the metric system, a mile is still a mile. Along the route there were many times when I thought I was farther along than I actually was. “Surely mile 5 must be coming up,” I thought once. Nope, the marker confirmed I had just come up on mile 3. It didn’t matter that I thought I had 8 miles to go at that point, I had 10 and that was that. The only thing relative about the distance left to cover is how the marathoner feels about it. Hmmm.

Celebrate every victory along the way.

Every mile marker along the way reminded me that I was that much closer to finishing the race. I raised my arms in joy or hissed out a “Yes!” every time I passed one.

Be aware of the people around you, but not distracted by them.

There are some outrageously dressed folks who run half marathons. Enough said.

Take advantage of the encouragement you find along the way.

Thousands of people attend marathons – just to cheer! As the route took me through one neighborhood, I was moved by the sight of entire families standing in their front yards, early on that very cold morning, holding signs and yelling words of encouragement to everyone who passed their homes. The sight moved me to joyful tears.

Tend to small problems before they become big problems.

A full bladder and cramping muscles do not just go away if you ignore them.

Don’t measure your success by the progress of others.

Did I mention that I walked the half marathon? As a walker, I keep a decent pace. I walk a mile in about 16 minutes. But I am in no way considered fast. The fastest people in the race I never saw – except in pictures after the race. Runners and faster walkers literally passed me left and right the entire course. It made no difference as far as my progress was concerned. God bless ‘em!

The medal commemorates the journey, but the journey itself is the reward.

This is just another instance where the non-tangible trumps the material. This is not to say I did not enjoy receiving my medal or that I did not sleep in it Sunday night and wear it all day that following Monday.

To read more about “Life Lessons Learned From A Half Marathon” by Sheeri Mitchell, click here.

Follow Sheeri Mitchell on Twitter, catch up with her on Black Planet,  or visit her personal blog.

Other Posts By Sheeri Mitchell:

What’s The One Reason You Can Never Quit?

Successful Mistresses Do What Wives Won’t

How To Confront A Type “A” Personality

Let Go Of Your Past And Live

Why Check Lists And God Don’t Mix

Armless Boy Puts The “Able” In Disabled

Take a look

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How I Finally Amped Up My Workout

The only problem was that no matter which exercise regimen I employed, I could never seem to keep it up consistently. I always started well. In fact, I’d say I’m an amazing starter when it comes to exercise. Whatever the sport or discipline, I’d thoroughly research it, getting myself psyched up in the process. I’d make cards, keep charts, and journal my experiences – for about four to six weeks. Then I’d run out of gas and be unable to regain interest or momentum.

I came to realize that my failure to keep up any consistent exercise revolved around one simple question. Try as I might, I could never prevent myself from asking this question. And without exception as soon as I did, the workout ended and the regimen was trashed. The question was this: “Why I am I doing this again?” In other words, what’s the point? I knew all of the right answers. I’m working out so that I can improve my health. Improved health will allow me a better quality of life. I will set a good example for my (already active) children. I will (theoretically) lengthen my life span and live to see my children’s children,  and their children, too. Although all of these answers are true and significant, not one could keep me on the treadmill, on the elliptical, on the weight bench, or on the stationary bike any longer than the other. Even the desire to look better and just be the all around “fly” mommy, the determination to bypass the bathing suits with the skirts “next summer,” and the best reason of all – to take care of the temple of the Holy Spirit were not enough separately or combined to motivate me to roll out of bed in the morning, or motor to the gym in the afternoon, or do some ab work before bed. It seems the pervasive feeling of futility thwarted my exercise efforts at every turn. No answer to my haunting question was good enough to keep me going. That is until I discovered Team In Training.

Team In Training or TNT as they’re most widely known, is a group of regular folks, uber-athletes, and everybody in between, who all have one common passion: championing the fight against blood cancers. TNT takes any person at any fitness level and trains him/her to walk or run marathons or half marathons in exchange for raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). If it sounds pretty straight forward, that’s because it is.  Teams are divided by regions and each comes with a few coaches (who teach proper technique, pacing, nutrition, and equipment) and a slew of mentors who provide fundraising, training, and moral support. My group trains three days a week at a few different times. Trainees can choose 6:00 AM or 6:00 PM practices twice a week and one 6:00 AM practice every Saturday for a total of three practices a week.

But that’s not the best part. The best part is the athletes who train together. From almost every age demographic and walk of life, nearly every one has been personally touched by blood cancers in one form or another. Many have lost relatives to cancer. Some have relatives who are survivors. Others are survivors themselves. These people share their personal testimonies before every Saturday practice in what we call “Mission Moments.” Sometimes the testimonies brings smiles rooted in victory. Often they bring tears of sorrow as blood cancers are often fatal – especially in younger children, which so many victims are. Always, however, the Mission Moments before practice provide hope. Hope that one day a cure for cancer will be discovered. Hope in the fact that funds raised by TNT has directly led to the discovery of new drugs that increase the survival rate. And hope for families whose quality of life is made better and whose dignity is better preserved because of the services LLS can offer, largely from funds raised by TNT.

Since beginning training in July of this year, I have asked myself that dreaded question many times – especially on mornings when I rose and left a warm, slumbering house to venture out into the cold darkness for my pre-dawn workout. The difference is in this season the answers to that question come not in words but in faces. When I’m tempted to turn over I see the faces. I see Samantha,* who has lost a sister, a mother to blood cancers and who is fighting to save another sister and a granddaughter who are currently affected with auto immune disease – often a precursor to childhood leukemia. I see Elise,* a vibrant young woman, who discovered that she had Hodgkins’ disease while she was pregnant with her first child – a beautiful, plump baby boy. I see Thomas,* who nearly had his leg amputated, but for a surgeon’s newly acquired knowledge about myloma – knowledge obtained from a study funded by TNT. I see Omar,* who at 25-years of age is a five-time survivor of leukemia and who trains with my group. I see Randolph,* the father of a friend in whose honor I will participate in my first half marathon this November.

So when the thought comes to me, “Why am I doing this again?” I can answer, “I’m doing this for them and their families.”  The fact that I have lost 15 pounds and a few dress sizes is now just an added bonus, compared to the relationships I’ve forged and that wonderful feeling of getting to do a good thing for someone other than myself. These days, I’m so disappointed when I can’t make my workouts with the team, that I find a way to squeeze them in on my own time during the week.

So it turns out all it took for me to amp up my workout was to take the focus off myself and put in onto the good I can use my healthy body to do for others. Who knew?

I hope my experience encourages or inspires you in your own journey to find motivation to workout consistently and diligently. If you would like to support my efforts with a donation, I welcome any and all contributions. My secure LLS website contains not only my blog about training with TNT but also a button for donations. To visit my personal TNT page, click here or copy and paste http://pages.teamintraining.org/sctx/rnrsa10/smitcheosp into your browser.

I’m over 60% of the way to my fundraising goal and very motivated to complete my race in November. I thank you in advance for all forms of support, moral, spiritual, and financial.

Follow Sheeri Mitchell on Twitter, catch up with her on Black Planet,  or visit her personal blog.

Other Posts By Sheeri Mitchell:

How Many Kids Do You Want? Why?

Survive The Break-Up With Your Dignity Intact

Reasons I Outed My BFF’s Man

Gain Control Over The Chaos In Your Life

How To Confront A Type “A” Personality

Let Go Of Your Past And Live

Recession Sex Is Healing (Sexless Marriage Series, Part 4)

What things can you do in preparation for all of the overload of rich and delicious edibles you are planning to shove down your throat?

Think about it, if you cut back and exercise now, the damage won’t be as severe as it could be.  30 minutes to an hour of exercise 3 to 5 days a week, more vegetables and water could be the key.

Here’s a clip that demonstrates some simple exercises you can use to prepare for the holidays. Let me know what you think.

We’d love to hear back from you with any suggestions we all could use as we approach this holiday season.  Remember we’re in this together.  Diet and weight loss is a lifelong journey.

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You may be on a roll and working out diligently, but it can be easy for you to backslide away from your work out agenda. It can sneak up on you slowly, but yet unexpectedly.
When you’re stuck in a rut and no longer seeing progress, it’s important to figure out how to get out of the slump and back on track. When your progress begins to slow, re-evaluate your plan, and then start back at it. Read on to learn which culprit is to blame for your fading energy, and what you can do to give it a boost.

Culprit #1: Boredom

If you’re doing the same exact thing every time you work out, your body will become conditioned to the exercise. Pretty soon, the challenge is gone, and you’ve stopped improving and seeing visible results. But how does this happen-even when you’re being consistent?

Say you’re doing bicep curls several times a week with the same weight and the same number of reps. This exercise used to be hard but after awhile you can do it with ease. Instead of basking in the effortlessness of the workout, bump it up! Increase the frequency and intensity of the activity and you’ll start to see more progress. Shock your body into making changes.

Another way to avoid boredom is to spice up your fitness routine. A good exercise program doesn’t have to include an hour at the gym each day. For a new challenge, try hiking, riding a bike, playing tennis, or doing yoga. Even an hour playing outside with your kids will burn calories. Keep things interesting to keep the boredom at bay. You also might try hooking up with a “fitness buddy” to keep things entertaining. A pal can keep you motivated and challenge you to push your body.

Culprit #2: Overtraining

While some people need to increase their gym time, there comes a point when you might be working your body too hard. If you’re going to the gym on a regular basis, you’re creating a healthy, lifelong habit. But if you are going to the gym for hours each day, you might be tearing your body down too much. Muscles need recovery time to build back up. Overtraining affects the body as well as the mind. You’re probably pretty drained if your life is starting to revolve around the gym every day. What’s the cure you ask? Take a couple of steps back. This might mean cutting back on your workouts, or taking a week off to replenish your body and mind. After you’ve rested and recovered, come back to your workouts slowly, paying close attention to how your body responds.

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Culprit #3: Diet

In all probability, you’ve heard about the calorie equation. To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat. But, if you’re drained during your workouts, take a good look at both sides of this equation.

You can’t focus on exercise if you’re not also mindful of what you eat. If you’re still overeating, then working out alone isn’t going to change your body. At the same time, eating a lot of the wrong foods (junk, empty calories, sugar) won’t give your body enough energy to complete an intense workout.

Water is another key to a successful workout. Drink water throughout the day on a consistent basis, but also make sure to drink extra water during your workout since you lose hydration through sweat. Water helps keep your joints moving fluidly and your muscles primed for exercising.

What are two other ways to get motivated for working out? Click here to find out.

Read more
via www.Hellobeautiful.com

In an event celebrating the launch of her recast President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, Michelle Obama took time to exercise and focus on making the most of your life with healthier eating habits.

Michelle Obama wasn’t the only one getting physical with the children. Star athletes including fitness expert Donna Richardson Joyner, gymnast Dominique Dawes, figure skater Michelle Kwan and NASCAR driver Carl Edwards were also in attendance actively participating in fitness trainings and more.

For more details on the story and to find out how you can get involved, visit BlackAmericaWeb.com today.

Do you think the First Lady’s health and nutrition initiatives will continue to inspire people across the nation to gain control of obesity and issues with their weight? How do you personally maintain a healthy lifestyle in your household?

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