Despite all the diet mumbo jumbo that overwhelms women on a daily basis, weight loss is a rather simple formula: burn more calories than you eat. The end.

How do you burn those calories? Duh, you workout. You run, you swim, you blade, you work so hard your shirt is soaked with sweat and you smell like one of the guys asking you for money on your way to class. It’s brutal and it’s annoying, but you gotta do it if you don’t want all those late night pizza runs to stick to your booty.

But a new study from LSU has proven that exercise may not help us lose weight after all. In fact, what it does do is make us all hungrier so we end up consuming all those calories we just worked so hard to burn…and end up with the same results we would have had if we had simply stayed home and watched Real World Cancun on the couch. Read More »

With the sun shining and the weather heating up, it’s hard to motivate yourself to spend an hour inside a dark and smelly gym. At the same time, if you’re not into running, getting a good workout outdoors isn’t always easy. Or fun. So what can you do to take in the beautiful summer weather and burn some serious calories?

Join a summer sports league.

It doesn’t matter if you are living in a big city, or crashing with the parentals in suburban America – you can find a summer sports league near you. They range from softball to dodgeball (and everything in between) and are a great way to meet people, get a little workout, and have a really good time doing it. Read More »

With finals right around the corner, you may be feeling pressed for time. Instead of skipping that workout, here are a few ideas on how to get the most from the time you have when it comes to exercise.

1 Minute Abs
The one minute abs workout can be done anywhere – from the gym to your dorm. It’s a routine that works every ab muscle and will get results if done properly without rest in between moves. It’s a combination of 3 moves, each for 20 seconds.

*Leg Lifts – To get started, lie on your back with legs straight, lifted about 6 inches above the ground. Feel free to put your hands underneath your butt so your low back doesn’t arch. Lift legs to 90 degrees so they are right above your hips and lower them. Repeat for a total of 20 seconds. This move is commonly referred to as leg lifts.
*Toe Taps – Immediately go into the next move called toe taps. Bring legs above hips, out straight or with a slight bend and reach your hands towards your toes. When you come back down, stay about 3 inches above the ground and reach right back up. You don’t have to actually touch your toes but reach as far as you can without putting too much strain on your neck. Complete toe taps for 20 seconds. Read More »

We all love to sex because, frankly, it’s fun and it feels good. But what if there was another benefit of gettin’ down? What if I told you that engaging in various sexual activities is actually good for you? As in it makes you healthier. Might just make you feel a little better about snuggling in bed instead of hitting the gym the morning after…

It reduces stress – According to an article on msnbc.com, having sex releases endorphins and oxytocin, increasing relaxation, easing anger, and thus improving your relationship. Sex may also cause you to heal faster, get sick less frequently, and even live longer. However, the beneficial effects start to fade when there are problems in the bedroom. According to the article, the situation is a “catch-69, the cruel irony that a proven cure for stress — a hot sex life — is exactly what stress destroys.” That’s definitely enough reason for me to get goin’.

Sex burns calories – Okay, so you can’t exactly skip the gym (every day, at least) to have sex. However, according to webmd.com, a half hour of sex burns about 80 calories or so, depending on your weight. Foreplay can also torch calories – 50 per half hour for a 150 lb. person. Go to this site and enter your own weight and time and see how much you’re burning off during your hook up sesh. Read More »

On average, people gain 5 lbs during the holiday season.  Wearing sweat pants and bulky sweaters to keep warm can mask and even increase the amount of the added weight, but I’m pretty sure the bikini you are preparing to wear in 6 weeks won’t.  I didn’t say it, but you know what I’m talking about: Spring Break!

They gym is probably overflowing with New Years resolution fanatics and Spring Break obsessed tanorexics.  This is a guide for those who want to lose weight in a healthy yet effective and quick way.

First, I have good news for those short on time.  You can actually burn just as many calories – if not more – in a shorter amount of time on any piece of cardio machine.  Fitness professionals have known this for a long time, but still I see many people jogging at the same pace for 40 minutes.  If you work out using intervals, you’ll burn more calories.  Intervals require you to workout at a hard intensity for short bursts of time followed by a lower intensity rest period.  For example, run at a 7.5 mph for a minute, followed by 5.5 mph for 2 minutes, repeat with a 7.5 mph minute burst.

Depending on how in shape you are, either lower or raise the intensity.  A favorite workout of mine is switching intensity every song.  I make a play list that is around 25 minutes.  The first song is a warm up, the second a little faster, the third slower, fourth faster and so on.  Use creativity and make sure the bursts of high intensity get your body going.   This will burn roughly 300 calories! Read More »

Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t the only person with a dream.

Obama honors MLK with a national day of service.

Inaugural concert rocks D.C.

The 20 cutest celebrity kids.

Oh, that’s really embarassing, Katy Perry.

Take a little fashion dare.

No need to work out; fidgeting burns calories!

He may be talented, but Mickey Rourke is….weird.

We wish people broke out into spontaneous dance around us more often.

Show your allegiance: Gossip Girl Team T-Shirts

Now that the holidays are over and my jeans are extra tight from the cookies and cakes I stuffed in my face the past week (I know you’re feeling it to0, ladies!), it’s time to start thinking about how to improve (and drop the holiday weight) for the New Year.

Instead of making that vague “I’m gonna work out this year!” resolution that never works, why not take a more focused approach? Here are a few resolutions that will get you on track for actually fulfilling your fitness goals in 2009. My opinion: start small:

- Start a Workout Program: If you don’t work out regularly, make it a point to do so. Join a gym (many have holiday specials still going on until Jan 1st!) and get into a routine where you hit the gym a few times a week. Don’t set an unrealistic goal (“I will run 10 miles, 4 days a week.”) – even if it’s just to start walking on a treadmill or taking a pilates class or two, you’ll never believe the difference it can make!

- Increase Your Workout: If you’re a regular, every day worker-outer like myself, start increasing your daily dose of exercise. For example, I normally run 1.5 – 2 miles a day and do ab work for about 15 minutes. Starting this week, I am upping my workouts to at least 2.5 – 3 miles a day with increased stretching and core focus on my abs to get that six pack (wishful thinking!) by the summer. Read More »

According to a recent study in the UK, the weight of a woman will fluctuate in stages over the course of her relationship.

I know what you are thinking: who needs a study to figure this out? I agree, ladies, and so do my fat jeans.

But while we all know how quickly we turn to ice cream when our BF breaks up with us, I don’t think anyone has really given much thought to the many stages of a college relationship and how they affect our bodies.

Mostly, by making us fat.

The following are typical gains and losses over the course of a rather tumultuous college relationship. Weigh in (haha) on what makes you fluctu-weight. (See what I did there? Yeah, I’m good.):

Lose 5 pounds when we first meet the man – after that one-nighter in the bathroom we want to make sure we are hot enough to keep him from doing that with anyone else.

Gain 5 pounds back when the boy starts sleeping over and we know he’s all ours.

Gain another 5 pounds (in cake) when we find out that man has indeed taken another girl to the bathroom our special place.

Lose 15 pounds due to too-depressed-to-eat syndrome/”Just wait until he sees me now!” Read More »

Being in a relationship is great, but getting there totally sucks. You meet someone, start to like that someone and then go crazy trying to figure out if they like you, why they aren’t calling, if you should text them, if you should have kissed them, if telling them you love The Hills was too much information…

It sucks, which is why I think one-night stands are the way to go. Seriously, if you are safe (read: wrap that sh*t up) the one-night engagement is a total win/win. And here are 5 reasons why: Read More »

In our health conscious and body obsessed world, almost any activity you do can be converted into calories burned. Whether you test out websites such as calorie-counter.net or caloriecontrol.org, there is definitely not a shortage of calorie info.

Everytime I walk up the four flights of stairs to my new apartment, I wonder just how many calories I am burning off. I try to justify my exhaustion by reminding myself what great exercise it is and how great my calves will look after a month. This tactic makes me feel better about 5% of the time.

Well, if you are sick of boring and tedious ways of burning a few calories here and there, check out the list from Women’s Health Magazine called “100 Ways to Burn 100 Calories: Who knew fighting fat could be so much fun?”

Just to give you a little taste, here are the top 10:

1. Slather on lip balm 765 times.

2. Relive the ’80s. Lip sync George Michael’s Faith 16 times.

3. DVR an episode of Arrested Development and watch it commercial free. (Ten straight minutes of laughter can burn 40 calories–no joke.) Read More »