Bad news New Years Resolutionites: looks like all that work you are doing at the gym isn’t quite as impressive as you have been lead to believe. Nor will it lead to the extreme or quick results you have been counting on. A recent article in the New York Times is claiming that the calorie counters on your favorite machines – especially the cherished, Elliptical – are wrong. Sometimes way wrong.

This news isn’t a total shock to most people – I mean, unless you are slightly delusional or in denial, you should be able to tell that a 30 minute stint on the cross-trainer could not possibly burn 500 calories – but it is still a little disconcerting. What is the point of having calorie counters on machines if they are so off? And how many calories am I burning during my workout? Read More »

It’s that time of year again.

You know, the time when we realize that our New Year’s resolution to lose the pounds is on its way. Motivation? Yes sir! Motivation with a capital M.

So to get into tip-top-Fergalicious shape, I decided to hit the gym as much as possible. I’m singing along with Gwen and then… WHAM. Someone had the audacity to let one rip while I was hard at work on the elliptical.

Let’s discuss. I understand once in a while it just slips out. We’ve all had those moments. But this mystery offender just kept letting them rip! I felt as if I was in a war zone and the missiles just kept coming, I wanted to run for shelter but I didn’t know where to turn.

I was in a predicament. Do I keep working out while holding my breath and hope I don’t pass out (either from the inhalation of the stink bomb or from holding my breath) or do I quit and save my nostrils? Plus do I really feel like making that awkward face every 5 minutes- you know the one — your nose is scrunched in a ball and the “ewww who farted?” look written all over your face just so the people next to you won’t think it was YOU?

Way too much effort for a workout. Read More »

I love the Fall in Michigan.

I love the way the leaves go from boring green to bright and beautiful reds, oranges and yellows. I love it when I can start to see my breath outside and I have to wrap one of my grandma’s homemade scarves around my neck. And I am absolutely obsessed with apple cider and donuts at the Cider Mill.

But as I sit here at 5:00 PM on a Monday and look out on a street that is pitch black, cold and dreary, I can’t help but feel the pangs of seasonal depression start to sink in. I don’t want to leave my house. I don’t want to leave my bed. I just want to sit, eat and watch TV.

It’s awful. And it explains why I always gain five pounds every winter. It also explains why there is a large and permanent butt print in my couch cushion. And why the guys at the Thai delivery place up the street know my name already.

So, this year I am trying everything I can to avoid my winter blues. In my quest not to retire to the couch (with a giant bag of Dark M&Ms) this winter I have been doing some research and have found some surefire ways to stay happy this winter:

Bring on the Light: One reason people get a little down in the dumps in the winter is because there is less sunlight during the day. Doctors agree that the best way to lift your sagging spirits is to simply get some more light: open the curtains as soon as you wake up, go for a walk, etc. Even a short amount of natural light (even on a cloudy day!) will put some pep in your step naturally.

Hit the Gym: One of the hardest things for me to do in the winter is get to the gym. Why go out in the cold to work out when I can cover my fat with oversized sweaters and sweatpants? Well, it turns out that getting exercise is one of the best ways to feel better on a dreary winter day. Those endorphins will get your body pumping and feeling great for hours to come. Bonus: a good workout will also warm you up! Read More »

With Thanksgiving literally only 24 hours away, I have been forced to prepare my list of things I am thankful for this year, which will be shared holiday dinner table.

Not that it is hard to come up with a list; I have so many things in my life that I am so fortunate to have. Things that I should really appreciate more year round, come to think of it. Things that I should not come to expect, but should rather feel lucky to have.

This is a problem many of us have – wanting more and appreciating nothing – so I thought I would take this opportunity to get all of you in the spirit of giving thanks by sharing with you just a few of the things I am more than grateful for this year:

1. My DVR: I know this shouldn’t come before family, but my DVR really is there for me when no one else is around. Like really early on a Saturday morning when I can’t sleep due to some interesting sounds coming from upstairs. Or after a long day of work when I want nothing more than the wisdom of one Ms. Oprah Winfrey.

2. My Family: I have put them through a lot these past few years; from my post-college depression to my spur-of-the-moment move to NY and then my spur-of-the-moment move back home. They are supportive, funny, loving and all around the best people I know. But they are still not willing to sit with me at 6:45 on a Saturday morning. Hence their number 2 spot. Read More »

I know what will be on my Hanukkah List this year: a few private sessions with Whitney, Lauren and Audrina’s trainer. Not that I find him attractive – I usually don’t go for beefy dudes in tight t-shirts who like to “cheers!” to everything.

No, I want to train with a guy who makes people go for a walk, do five jumping jacks, punch a little bit in the air, grab a few cocktails and end up looking like Whitney. Could her legs be more ridiculous?

Seriously, I don’t think this dude is a real trainer. I think he hangs out at the gym pretending to be one in order to lure hot girls into his giant beefy arms. And, clearly, it worked! He snagged one of L.A.’s hottest and managed to get a deal training some hot new music stars. Perhaps they – like me – saw Whitney and fell for his training charade.

I can also tell you what I don’t want for Hanukkah this year. And that is Spencer Pratt. First of all, that blonde haired/blue eyed freak could never pass for a Jew (and my papa wouldn’t approve). But second, and most important, Spencer makes me ill.

Not like “annoyed” ill. More like “I hate and judge a lot of people but you totally take the cake to the point that you make me lose my appetite for cake. Which is one of my favorite things” ill. Read More »

Every day, girls all over America are doing their best to be “cute and skinny”.

Dieting, working out, spending hours in the bathroom, squeezing ourselves into tight pants, strapping on a pair of Spanx, we’ll do whatever it takes to reach the pinnacle of girly beauty.

Over in Japan, guys are doing the exact same thing (minus the Spanx…I think).

Traditionally, it was the women of Japan who strived to be tiny, but after the country went through a “health and exercise boom” about 7 years ago, the “new Japanese woman” wasn’t afraid to show off her curves and muscles, and was “proud” of her sexuality.

Guys, on the other hand, started to shrink.

“Young males between the ages of 18 and 30 make up the slimmest segment of the [Japanese] population” explains the International Herald Tribune, “and the ideal fashion weight as decreed by the apparel industry is 57 kilograms, or about 125 pounds, for a height of 175 centimeters, or 5 feet 8 inches”.

No six-packs or bursting biceps here. At 125 pounds, most of these guys probably don’t have the arm strength to lift much of anything, let alone weights. Read More »

I used to think Yoga classes were a bunch of people stretching, meditating and laying around and, quite frankly, I wasn’t going to waste an hour of my precious time touching my toes in a circle with a bunch of tree hugging freaks.

But, after incessant begging by my sister-in-law, I threw on some Hard Tails and joined her for some Vinyasa Yoga fun.

Let’s just say I totally ate my words. Not only was the room filled with fit and beautiful people, but the class was f*cking hard and totally awesome. I was bending and stretching in ways I didn’t think possible. I sweat enough to saturate not one, but two towels.

And all the while the teacher was talking us through the pain; reminding us how strong, beautiful and completely amazing we all were.

And it was impossible not to believe.

Not only did the difficult class leave me feeling like I accomplished something great, but I left that class feeling fabulous. I felt cleansed, strong and sexy. As I drove home with my natural high I realized that yoga is more than just a good workout; it is also great for your mind…and your sex life.

First of all, at its core Yoga is simply a series of strengthening stretches. You spend a ton of time on the floor reaching for your toes and bending your body in unique ways. Read More »

Based on everything you hear, see, read, and study, you might think that there is some super secret to losing weight.

Take a moment to think and it is easy to come up with at least 10 different diets:

South Beach…Atkins…Weight Watchers…L.A. Weight Loss…The Cabbage Soup Diet…The Juice Diet…The Cookie Diet…Medical Weight Loss…The Zone…That one where you order the food…

If only losing weight were as easy as a simple equation.

Oh, wait. It is: burn more calories than you eat.

Makes you feel stupid, right? I mean, I have personally spent the past 10 years battling my weight. I go up, I go down, I plateau. I’ve done cardio, weights, pilates, yoga. I have spun, I have run, I have swam. I guess I am just not good with math and equations because I am still battling the bulge.

Besides my addiction to all things cake related, my biggest problem is that I just don’t know how many calories I am burning. Sure, the elliptical has a calorie count, but who knows how accurate that is?

Thankfully, there is a handy new tool on the market to help all of us with our weight loss battle. Introducing the Bodybugg. Read More »

Most of us drag ourselves to the gym every other day or so not because we like it, but because we’re determined to keep extra pounds away and stay healthy.

Hell, I don’t wake up in the early morning, walk four avenues, and make myself sweaty on the elliptical because it’s fun—I do it because I have to.

Which is why I was super pissed (I mean, honestly, pissed) to read an article that was originally published in New York Magazine.

Why am I so mad? Because the article insinuated working out does nothing but make us hungry.

Without denying that 30 minutes a day on the Stairmaster is good for our health, journalist Gary Taubes recently explained that “most studies on the link between swimming laps and losing weight demonstrate little beyond one widely accepted fact: “exercising makes us hungry.”” Even more annoying, Taubes points out “exercise may even lead to a weight gain.”

According to Taubes, Jean Mayer, a nutritionist and “physiological chemist”, invented the “myth” of exercise being directly related to weight loss.

Taubes claims Mayer’s facts were “often contradictory”, but somehow his words caught fire with the American public and have stayed with us ever since. Read More »

Any girl who has been to college realizes the pressure that you feel to be slim. I know that when I first arrived at my college campus, it was hard to ignore all of the stick thin girls strutting around. No matter how much you try to completely ignore it, the feeling that maybe you should lose some weight or get in better shape will inevitably come over you at some time throughout your four years.

Although I eventually developed a healthier lifestyle in college, there were times when my slimming down habits were not necessarily healthy or good for me in the long run (i.e. fad diets). I was lucky that I never developed a serious eating disorder like so many college girls do after feeling all of the pressures to be thin.

Well, apparently, some genius dude thinks that the pressure girls feel is a great thing and that it will help them get healthy! Obviously, he has never been a girl in college and had to deal with any body image issues… Read More »