June 2011

29 Ways to Workout at the Park! Plus: I Climbed to 13,000 Feet!

June 30, 2011

Every mom knows that working out with kids is tough but it doesn’t have to be all work – check out my slideshow on Shape.com “29 Ways to Workout at the Park” for ideas on how to use your local park for a fun and free workout. (Kids totally optional but they do add some extra resistance!)   This was my fave pose from that workout! Yes Gym Buddy Allison has her son with her in the port-a-potty!   And because I’m still on vacay, I had to share with you guys what we did yesterday: Gym Hubby, me and [...]

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We Have Elk in Our Front Yard! [Plus: Heidi Montag's Exercise Addiction]

June 27, 2011

No children eaten by bears. No bears terrorized by children. I only burned half of dinner. I got one leg shaved before the KOA Kampground Kabin ran out of Khot Kwater. (Do you think the Kardashians were inspired by KOA?) All in all I’d call this a camping success! Seriously though – I’m having a blast with my family. Best thing? Tomorrow is my first birthday in 15 years with all my immediate family members. Best 33rd Birthday Present EVER. My sister is throwing me a Great Fitness Experiment Birthday Party! Pics will definitely be coming. In the meantime, if you [...]

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28 Exercises to do with a Jump Rope Besides Jump It

June 23, 2011

Good news: The Gym Buddies and I are jumping for joy because we are the #1 story on Shape.com today with my slideshow of 28 exercises to do with a jump rope (besides just jumping it)! Yay! (You know, like tripping your friends while you make them jump and smile simultaneously about 500 times in a row.) Bad news: Um, yeah, that’s my butt they used to illustrate the story on their homepage. It’s so… shiny! And a little dominatrix-y! And if you’re missing me while I’m on vacay, you can check me out this week: My article on 10 [...]

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I’m One of Athleta’s Top 5 Fave Bloggers! [Giveaway! Vacation!!]

June 23, 2011

This woman is actually an Athleta model. Sit around and just look cute? I think not! (They even have an interview with her up on their blog!) Their catalog permanently resides in my bedroom. The sale tab on their website is where I’ll go browse when I’m stressed out and just need a minute. (Yes, yes, compulsive shopping worries duly noted – mostly I just look.) Their clothes have made many, many, many appearances on this blog. When picking out a birthday present for me you can pretty much close your eyes and point to anything in their catalog and [...]

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Fat Substitutes Make You Fat [Research to Make You Go Doh!]

June 21, 2011

“Wasabi Chips: Wakes you up with every bite!” Or turns you into a self-cannibalizing zombie. Whatevs. On some level your body just knows when something is artificial. It’s why we all have had such a negative gut reaction to Hugh Heffner marrying then not-marrying then replacing that random blond he was “engaged” to for publicity purposes. So we shouldn’t be surprised that the latest food research out this week has discovered that eating fake fats will actually make you fatter than if you’d just eaten the full-fat version in the first place. Researchers, having the best job ever, fed mice [...]

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Relay For Life: My First Fundraising Race [Why I exercise]

June 20, 2011

“If you are a cancer survivor, light your glo-stick.” A few lights sparked around us. “If you have a parent that has had cancer, light your glo-stick.” More lights crackled on around us as the stillness of an impending Midwestern thunder storm pressed down. “If you have a child with cancer, light your glo-stick.” My heart caught in my chest and I said a silent prayer, thankful that my glo-stick remained unlit. And on it went until the bleachers around us were lit up with red, yellow and green glo-sticks like so many fireflies in the deepening dark. As we [...]

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Do You Have a To-Do List or a To-Be List*?

June 19, 2011

Nothing like the glaring light of social media to make you see yourself differently. Especially at 11:30 at night. When I first saw my friend’s status update on Facebook, my heart froze in my chest. Immediately I knew it was about me and I knew it wasn’t good. Fear, anger, sadness, and defensiveness all shot through me like electricity as tears sprung to my eyes. But as the feelings settled I was left with just one: disappointment, in myself. People say negative things about me on a fairly regular basis but most of the time I can dismiss them without [...]

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The Where of Being a Father

June 16, 2011

That’s me sitting on my dad’s lap right in the middle! Ah, the ’80′s. You can’t tell but I have my Rainbow Brite shirt on. In the parking lot of the hospital where I was born, he dropped me while carrying me to the car to bring me home for the first time. I reciprocated months later by sitting on his face with a soaked diaper while he was napping. (And that was back when cloth diapers were the norm.) In preschool he caught fireflies in a bottle for me. I serenaded him with my “movie star voice” and told [...]

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Is The Furor Over This Yogurt Ad Justified?

June 15, 2011

Oh how I love Natalie Dee! Expensive little non-eco-friendly cups of skim dairy, artificial sweeteners and fruit of dubious origin – I have little love for conventional yogurt.  With all the great health benefits of full-fat plain yogurt that is not only super cheap but super easy to make at home in your crockpot, I don’t see any need to buy the processed stuff. But for all that it is not, is Yoplait a trigger for eating disorders? Watch this first (possible trigger warning for eating disordered thoughts): It’s an advertisement for Yoplait lite yogurt that features a woman looking [...]

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What To Do When You Get Injured Exercising [Good Sore Versus Bad Sore]

June 14, 2011

Scene: the sweat-soaked, MRSA-ridden, gritty, black stretching mats at the Y. My face is planted in a pool of someone else’s grime while I try and stretch my quads. I am trying not to inhale. Grossed out? It gets better. I look up to see my friend Bobby (Hi, Bobby!) taking off his running shoe and gasp as his sock is covered in oozy bright red blood, nearly to his ankle. Bobby seems unperturbed. “That’s funny,” he says. “I didn’t even feel anything!” “Blister?” I ask. I shouldn’t be grossed out – a mother who is a nurse breeds that [...]

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