***CLOSED***Congrats to Megan on winning!

Do you ever feel like there’s a huge lull in your life after Halloween?  Like you’ve gone apple picking, you’ve admired fall foliage and you’ve turned your 2nd grade magician costume into a just-like-new Sexy Houdini costume. And now there’s nothing left. (Well, besides stuffing your body full of Turkey and assorted carbs and pies.) It’s just final papers and exams and professors refusing to move your final exam even though it’s on the last day of exams at the last possible time and  all your friends will have already left for winter break.

Fitness Magazine totally understands that this lull happens. But rather than embracing this wah-wah of a few weeks, they want you to fall into health. How? Well for starters, they’re teaming up with us to giveaway a pedometer, Yogi tea AND a $200 Visa giftcard. You read that right. We’re giving away money. It’s for your health.

FitnessMagazine.com is encouraging young professionals – women and men – to embrace a healthy lifestyle whether that means remembering to eat three meals a day, managing your time better so you get to bed a decent hour or reminding yourself to exercise a few times a week to relieve some stress.  They’re also promoting a new online tool created by Aetna – HealthyIs.Aetna.com, which is a great resource to help young professionals get a better handle on their health and health care costs as they prepare to embark on their career paths.  Find out more by checking out their Live Smart Page (also check it out for a chance to enter another great $300 giveaway)

Want to win this sikk (note: sikk is the opposite of sick) gift basket?

1. Tell us what your tip for staying healthy and sane for the end of the year. That’s it. You’re automatically entered to win this amazing prize.  Oh, and make sure to use your real e-mail address so we can contact you if you win.

2. Contest closes at 11:59 PM on Nov. 6th 2011

3. Please note this giveaway is only open to US and Canadian residents. For official rules and more legal mumbo-jumbo, click here.

If you take a stroll around my city, you’ll see girls and guys alike donning short shorts and track jackets, music a-blastin’ from their iPods. They’re only participating in the latest craze we like to call running. If you haven’t joined the club, now is the best time to do so! Why?

1. Nothing feels better than setting a goal of 5K, 10K, half or even a full marathon…and actually finishing it. Talk about extreme motivation.

2. Trying to get that 6-pack to peek through? Running has amazing cardio benefits that’ll shed an extra layer of fat.

3. You don’t need equipment. Just your fave pair of running shoes and you’re good to go.

4. The running community is extremely supportive. There are fun runs almost everywhere! Check out places like Sports Basement, Lululemon Athletica or Nike.

5. Runner’s high! It exists, trust me. Read More »

It's time to try something new. And that includes wearing an actual shirt to the gym.

If magazines like Women’s Health or Fitness are considered a part of your required monthly reading (or, really, as long as you haven’t been living under a rock), you have probably learned that switching up your workout routine is vital. In addition to being a surefire way to speed up weight  loss by ensuring that you’ll burn more calories, varying the things you do at the gym will ensure that your body is up for any challenge.

Now, if only I had listened…

Last week, I returned home from school for the long-awaited Christmas break and was informed by my mom that I would be accompanying her to her training session. She works out once a week with a nice (and semi-attractive) man who seems to be pretty un-intimidating, and seeing that she is a 52-year-old mom and I’m a 22-year-old rock star in pretty good shape, I figured that it would be a piece of cake. I can run on the treadmill, right? I can do bicep curls with ten pound weights! Bring it on!

Instead, I was forced to endure pull ups (I cannot do these), lunge and squat around the entire room while carrying crazy weighted sticks, lie down on that squeaky medicine ball while doing sit ups, fling around little black weights that looked like cowbells and bruised the inside of my wrists, and lower myself into numerous machines while I pushed and pulled and panted until I could barely breathe. Meanwhile, my mom was just humming to herself and completing her tasks without a word. Read More »

We all know that summer marks the beginning of an endless season of barbecues, outdoor cocktail parties, and weekend vacation getaways where the food is always in abundance and the drinks never stop flowing. You want to get through these hot months without ruining the bikini bod that you’ve been working on all winter, but you also want to enjoy your social life and not be that girl who brings her own carrots and hummus in a little plastic baggie to the party.

There ARE ways to partake in all the festivities while being health conscious, and it only takes a little thought.

High Calorie Drinks vs. Low Calorie Drinks
There are some cocktails that you just have to stay away from if you’re dieting or trying to maintain your weight. Anything with the word “daiquiri” in it is guaranteed to be packed with calories, and this goes for pina coladas (387 calories for just 6 ounces) and thick fruity margaritas (almost 400 calories for 8 ounces), as well. Those slushy coffee-liquor drinks that resemble Starbucks frappucinos (hello, Britney Spears’s fat phase) should be totally off limits, as only 3 ounces of coffee liquor clocks in at 348 calories.

Instead, stick to champagne (the lowest calorie choice, and even more fun when you add some OJ for a morning mimosa), low-calorie beer (I’m loving the 98-calorie Michelob Ultra right now), or a small glass of sparkling wine. Bloody Mary’s are fun too, if you’re starting the beach drinking early (or taking an airplane to your fabulous vacation destination). And remember: the higher the alcohol content, the higher the calorie-count. Read More »

The thought of bathing suit shopping will make most women cringe. Those harsh lights. The mirrors. The way your legs look super pale after a winter of sweat pants and Uggs. And the extra few pounds that found their way onto your ass since the last time you saw yourself wearing so little.

Who would enjoy that?

I remember the first time I went bathing suit shopping with my mom. I was young, naive and didn’t care what my pudgy body looked like in that Barbie bathing suit. But my mom was a different story. I remember hearing the now-familiar gasp/shreik combination as she pulled on suit after suit…and came out empty handed…in tears.

It is sad but true (and recently proven in a poll by Fitness Magazine): Shopping is no leisure activity. In fact, to most women, it is a nightmare for their self-esteem. Fitness magazine polled 1,001 women about their experiences with shopping and some of the more staggering statistics are below: Read More »