To All Who Suffer, Lend Me Your Ears!

Week 3. Week. F*cking. 3!! Life’s been throwing my schedule curve balls left and right. I can’t even keep track of what day it is right now I’m juggling so much. And that’s really the challenge isn’t it? It’s not about how many push ups I can do, but that I can find a way to maintain the discipline to continue doing them at all.

Life is rarely constant. Especially in an economy where you may be forced to work odd and inconsistent schedules to make ends meat. For some of us that involves working multiple jobs, and for others it’s just a matter of working a job where the hours vary from week to week. Consistency and routine are two of the rarest commodities we’re afforded anymore. That’s one reason it can be tougher than a vibranium shield to stick to the plan to stay healthy.

So, pondering aside, let’s get to the review of how things have been going: Pretty damn good!

I’m now actually doing MORE than 100 push ups per day. Not a lot more but in the neighborhood of 110 to 120. Because…I can do more at a time!!!

When I started, I was barely able to get 30 out of my body before meeting the floor face first. Now, I’m in the 35-40 range, and last night I made it to 42 for my final set.

I’ve started the clapping push ups. OUCH! Holy f*ck balls, ouch. It’s that kind of divine pain. I can get somewhere from 12-15 per set of them. I’ve also been doing 3-point push ups, which is where you put one leg over the other, thus you only have 1 toe supporting you. It’s kind of like upping the incline on the treadmill.

Despite experimenting and integrating the new kinds of push ups into my routine, I’ve also been making sure I have one set that’s still the good ol’ fashioned, as much to keep up my morale as anything else. Staying motivated by feeling like progress is being made, that’s as important as any other aspect.

Still breaking them up into 3 sessions throughout the day. However, due to exhaustion, my first set is usually around noon in my office and my boss gets some entertainment out of it. Because he’s a cool boss that is amused by randomness.

1 more week and the challenge ends. Can I keep up the momentum? Can I add more claps? Will I be brave enough to attempt a 1 arm? Tune in to find out!

Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel,

The Dude

A Dude’s confession: I’m no longer in the most immaculate shape of my life. I was at one point. Second semester of Freshman year I was in that frickin’ gym 4 times a week, sometimes 5. I had pecks that make The Rock’s surgically enhanced ones seem like, like, something, uh, less impressive as the pecks as I had! Yeah! And abs? 6 pack. That’s right. 6 pack.

But not only did I look good, I felt good, 8 hours of sleep per night, never got sick, never got tired, soreness was a constant validation for the better quality of life I was living. Now, years later, I have a job — 3 jobs in fact — and I’ve got bills to pay, and an apartment to not get kicked out of, and what’s one of the first things that went by the wayside as I entered adulthood? Gym membership! I’m not The Blob, but I’m not The Great One anymore either. So here’s what’s going to happen: For the next 30 days, I’m going to do 100 push ups every day.

At the peak of my physically prowess I actually could do over 50 without stopping, now…well let’s say at one of my jobs last week, we had a push-up contest and…I didn’t win…really didn’t…but flab be damned! Read More »

Eating food that come straight out of the back of a truck is heavenly. Seriously. Korean barbeque quesadillas, classic Los Angeles street tacos, lobster cut rolls and more delicious delicacies are prepared fresh in a mini-kitchen that’s smaller than my dorm room. More affordable than a gourmet restaurant and not as unhealthy as fast food dollar menu items, those concoctions are a local indulgence for this California girl, and I’m more than happy to support a little culinary creativity while getting some serious bang for my buck.

Some things food truck menus are not: responsible for childhood obesity or more dangerous than marijuana. Yes, both have been suggested recently and, if a new piece of legislature is passed, may soon be acknowledged as true.

Read More »

Although it’s probably not the most realistic way to measure health or fitness, a lot of girls have become obsessed with achieving that space between your thighs. Cassey Ho, Pop Pilates instructor on Youtube, shows us the easiest way to get that look. Trust me, these will make you burn!

Okay, so I guess I’m a gym rat. I am the one who loves to get to my campus fitness center when it opens at 6:30 in the morning (and who was infuriated when the opening was delayed from 6:00 a.m.). And I have tried just about every class and machine offered on the commercial market. At various times in my life, I have been the yoga class-clown who slips out of downward dog — and eventually the student fellow classmates look to as a model.

I like to say I’ve seen a lot of different ways of exercising and done a lot of different exercises, which means I’ve made every mistake imaginable along the way. So, whether you are prepping to take advantage of your school’s gym in the fall or you want to work off some summer puff while the sun is still shining, I offer you a few suggestions to make your return to the gym a great success: Read More »

Foods that help combat fat, including cheese!

How to make your workout more effective

Helpful running lessons from the fabulous Heidi Klum

Get healthy and fabulous in under 5 minutes!

Does your personality determine what you weigh?

Foofy to fierce smoothie recipes

Home remedies for those pesky bites and stings

Top diet rules to get rid of

Taking your fitness routine to the next level

Beat the system by boosting your metabolism

Exercise is not just good for the body, but also for the brain!

Organic products that go too far

Why you should be eating breakfast daily

So you think celebs get out of bed all skinny and perfect and shiny? Well, maybe they do. But because everyone loves to stalk celebs at every single moment in their lives, we also know that they hit up the gym sometimes just to keep up appearances.

For some reason, there seem to be a LOT of pictures of only a few celebs leaving the gym floating around the internet. Where are your super secret workout spots located, everyone else??

Anyway, here are a few of our fav celebs post-workin’ on their fitness.

We are busy girls, no doubt. But being busy is never a good excuse for skipping out on a workout. Not only is it BS (you could spend a little less time shopping online, you know), but it’s just not good for you. And you are gonna feel really crappy later when your body turns to mush and you can’t play Rock Band or paint your toenails without breaking a sweat.

I agree that it is not always easy to find an hour in the day to get a full workout in, especially with a brand new semester and all the work that comes with it giving you the stink eye.

That is why you need to work out more efficiently.

There are certain exercises and combinations of exercises that burn calories faster than others. If you only have 30 minutes to work out, walking on a treadmill is probably not the best way to burn off that box of cookies from last night (though it is better than skipping the gym altogether…)

So, which exercises are the quickest calorie burners and the fastest routes to a healthy and fit body? Read More »

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Jennifer Hudson forgives.

The best health and fitness products of the year.

LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian are at it again.

Cameron Diaz has a really rough life.