Poll: Economy Affecting Your Weight?
July 31, 2009
Is the economy affecting your weight? I’ve heard both sides of this issue.
On one hand, watching your wallet can lead to less eating out (healthier), find free activities (walks, parks, beach), and spend less on social events (happy hour).
On the other hand, when you have to spend less money, unhealthy food on a dollar menu or the old ramen standby can suddenly become more tempting. You might also have to drop your gym membership and stress can play a part in over-eating. So which scenario fits you?
Take a second and vote on how you feel about watching your money and how it plays into your health.
Select your choice and then don’t forget to hit “Vote”!
The outcome of this poll will influence a future blog post series!
[poll id="3"]
Healthy Food Option – Cedarlane Frozen Meals
July 29, 2009
Sometimes you are just too busy to cook dinner. Sometimes you want to take lunch but don’t want to make something. These are the reasons that frozen meals were created. However, most frozen foods aren’t healthy for you, they are full of preservatives, empty of vegetables and high in sodium. I was excited to find Cedarlane All Natural Frozen Foods which include pizza, lasagna, tamales, chicken dishes and even some breakfast meals! They taste good and are some of the healthiest frozen meals available. I was able to try the stuffed focaccias and was pretty impressed. One pizza made 2 servings for me at about 450 calories each and I just heated up some leftover marinara for dipping sauce. This was the perfect “I’m at the office way too long but really don’t want to order takeout” meal! These meals are readily available in grocery stores and of course healthier grocery chains as well. Recently, they have even started a delivery meal plan which allows you to eat healthier all natural foods without the effort!
Thanks to Cedarlane for sending me product to review!
Exercise How-To: Stability Ball Hamstring Curl
July 28, 2009
Looking to sculpt your butt, thighs and challenge your core? Grab an exercise ball and do this hamstring curl! Usually when we want to tone our lower body, we do lunges and squats but this exercise is a great alternative for those who have bad knees or are just looking for a new workout move.
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Indiana Going Green with Wind Turbines
July 27, 2009
On my recent trip to Indiana to see friends and family, Chris and I were commenting on the endless rows of corn and soy beans when we noticed wind turbines in the distance. We saw them often in California but never up close and never in a midwest cornfield. We decided to check them out up close and were amazed.
First, these things are huge! I had no idea how tall the tower was or how huge the blades were!
Second, there were over a hundred just in a few miles! This means lots of energy being created and with less than 1/3 acre per tower, these farmers aren’t losing much space to make energy and earn extra cash!
Third, building these wind farms is helping give jobs at a time when it is much needed.
Finally, I’m just so proud of Indiana to be proactively seeking out ways to go green and use the farm space in as many ways possible.
AmyMac is a FitFiend Featured Blogger!
July 23, 2009
Good news! I’m now a featured blogger on FitFiend.com! It’s a site dedicated to the health and fitness community and has a wide range of FitTools, Tips, Articles and Reviews to help you stay motivated and working toward your goal! It is a fairly new site (still in beta) designed to connect FitPros and FitFiends. All topics are covered – dealing with stress, improving your workout, dealing with injury, workout DVD reviews and BMI calculators. There are also opportunities for FitPros to talk amongst themselves, which is a nice feature. Check out the site if you get a chance and make sure to add me as a friend!
Easy Dinner Fix: Fewer Calories, More Vegetables!
July 22, 2009
How to add more vegetables to dinner? How to make the meals lighter? How to blend it all seamlessly so it still tastes good? I’ve found a great way to do all of this when making taco meat and spaghetti sauce. I’ve started using half the amount of meat I usually do and instead add a filler vegetable as seen in the table below. This is working out so well because we are getting more vegetables mixed into our meal and I’m only using 1/2 the meat which is cutting down on the grocery bill and my daily calories! Finally, we are using all of our purchased produce, which is awesome!
| Old Way | New Way | |
| Tacos | 1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey – veggies for toppings | 1/2 lb of lean meat and 1+ c. of corn, black beans, or chopped mushrooms |
| Spaghetti | 1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey – no veggies | 1/2 lb of lean meant and 1+ c. of chopped mushrooms or diced asparagus |
Poll: Nutritional Info on Menus
July 21, 2009
[poll id="2"]
Menus in NYC are already posting nutritional info but does it really matter? According to Time Magazine (Fast Food: Would You Like 1,000 Calories with That?, June 29, 2009) 82% of New Yorkers said that having the calories clearly posted affected their decisions at restaurants. I couldn’t really find anyone that opposed having calories on menus, only people that didn’t think it would make a difference in the obesity epidemic. Now I want to know what you think? Will having calories posted on menus help you or will they just blend into the background after a few months?
Fit Link:
Fast Food Menu Calorie Counters Should Be National Law – Business Week
Are You a Selective Germaphobe?
July 21, 2009
In our daily lives, most of us are pretty particular about germs and cleanliness. For instance, I can’t stand it when the person that touches my food also touches the money, therefore defeating the purpose of wearing the gloves, but anyway. When we are in the gym, we wipe down our machines, we put towels down on shared yoga mats and we wear flip-flops in the shower but I have to say, if I make it to the Blarney Stone, I’m kissing it! What do you think? Trip Advisor recently released a list of the ‘germiest’ tourist places such as the Blarney Stone in Ireland and the Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle. Does this bother you? If you’ve traveled a long way are you going to be the 400,001 person to kiss the Stone this year or do you watch from afar and yet still pull out your hand sanitizer?
Kissing, chewing — the ‘germiest’ tourist attractions – CNN.com
Exercise How-To: Dumbbell Row
July 20, 2009
In this Fit Life Fit Bit, we are toning our back and arms with the Dumbbell Row. This is an upper body exercise but the whole body is engaged. << Watch Video Now! >>
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Super Water Workout
July 19, 2009
I’ve been swimming for about a month now and in addition to doing laps, I also do other exercises using the water’s resistance (kicks, lunges, bicycles). I always get the strangest looks and I was starting to think that I was the only one to do more than just laps in the pool. This article, Workout in the Water, from the LA Times provides some fantastic ideas about how you can add exercises to your water workout to really get the maximum benefit. Also, it is easier on your joints to do strength training underwater, so if you have any aches or pains, this might be a great way for you to begin recovering and regaining some muscle mass. It might be a little selfish, but I’m hoping you’ll start doing some of these so that I’m not the only one looking like a dork in the pool…as if the swim cap wasn’t bad enough!
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