Ever have one of those days where you were supposed to make an appearance at the gym but got caught up in a marathon study session and platefuls of tater tots instead? Yeah, me too. It’s called Saturday. But don’t beat yourself up about those less active days; compensate for them!

There are a lot of simple changes you can make in your life that will not only undo those lazy days, but really make a difference in your overall health and fitness. If you can do at least one per day, I guarantee that you’ll be making a positive change in your lifestyle. You ready for the easiest health advice of your life?

1. Take the stairs
Studies have shown that taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator will burn 2 times more calories. That makes sense, since taking the latter means just standing there and awkwardly not talking to the other people just standing there. Even if it’s just a few stories up to your next class, make the effort to walk there. If you don’t want to make the 6-story trek to your biology class, then start by taking the stairs down.  Any little effort makes a huge difference. Read More »

The 90s for me (and most girls) can be summed up into three little words: The Babysitter’s Club. Whenever my sparkly pink nail polished hand got a hold on one of those crisp chapter books I was lost for an entire afternoon, dedicated to Claudia’s strict parents and Kristy’s uber bossiness. That is, until my mother called me down for dinner: mac and cheese and a Swiss Cake Roll.

Sigh. Those were the good old days.

But now there is good news for me and my fellow Babysitter’s fans. Scholastic has decided to give the books a re-vamp and bring them into the 21st century.  I haven’t heard better news since I found out Taylor Lautner was gaining 20 pounds of muscle for the Twilight saga films! I could not have special ordered better news.

Will there be a new girl at the BSC in charge of maintaining their website?
Will the girls get in trouble for Facebooking on the job?

Just thinking about it makes me giddy. Actually, thinking about the 90s at all makes me wanna do a little dance in my stirrup pants. Well, if I still had them. The 90s were a pretty fantastic decade full of pretty rad stuff (like the word “rad”), and if we’re bringing back the BSC, maybe we should consider bringing back a few other key things. Read More »

“For this workout you’ll need a roman chair, a set of 5 pound weights, 10 pound weights, and 12.5 pound weights, a Bosu ball, an incline bench, a cable machine, a pull-up bar, two resistance bands, a mat and a partner.”

WTF?

Whenever I see workouts in magazines/online that tell me that I need 23,494,201 pieces of equipment to get a full-body workout all I think is, “I’ll stick to the elliptical thankyouverymuch!” But while the elliptical is a great cardio workout, it’s not enough to get into shape and stay healthy. A girl’s gotta lift some weights.

But where? And how?

Typically, the weight room on college campuses is the “man’s domain” (as we control the cardio machine kingdom), so walking in there – never-mind actually using different machines while frat guys look on with tongues hanging out – seems less than appealing for many women. You think I’m gonna do some squats while that meat head looks on? No thank you.

And that’s pretty much why I designed this workout. The routine hits all the important areas of the body and doesn’t require a lot of time, equiptment, or beefy guys staring at you as you fumble with the inner/outer thigh machine. All you need is one flat bench and a set of weights, anywhere between 5 and 15 pounds depending on your strength level.

I recommend starting with the biggest muscles (legs) and then moving on from there, but the order is totally up to you! Read More »