The Happiness Project

Great book! -Can "teach" you how to be happy.

By-Gretchen Rubin -Jinifit review

Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one day while simply riding on a NYC bus.  “The days are long, but the years are short,” she decided. I couldn’t agree more.  When I read this on the back cover of her book, The Happiness Project, I was immediately interested.  From there, I found that the best description of her book could be found in her Note to the Reader…

A “happiness project” is an approach to changing your life.  First is the preparation stage, when you

Holy Guacamole!

I am a foodie, that is for sure.  I grew up in a family of foodies, I worked in upscale restaurants for a number of years and  I consider myself to be a confirmed culinary snob, a gourmand if you will. So what does a foodie do when following a healthy lifestyle, eating to stay lean and mean and on top of her game?

First, I indulge every now and then-that's a given-and there is nothing wrong with that!  IF, every now and then does not turn into...every day.  Then, I am always looking for new and interesting recipes to satisfy my craving for undeniably good food that fits in with my healthy lifestyle goals.

How to Break a Fitness Plateau -Part II

Last week’s post on overcoming fitness plateaus focused on dietary and lifestyle aspects of training that could be preventing you from reaching your goals. This week, we take a look at some more strategies, this time targeting the way you spend your time in the gym…

•    Change up your workout-Fitness experts are always talking about how important it is to change up your workout and keep your body guessing; that’s good advice. But what is meant by “changing things up?  Can you be more specific?  Well, sure...

Get honest with yourself –There’s no need to bring yourself to the brink of death to experience a training effect.  But let’s be honest…are you hot and sweaty when you finish working out?  Or do you chit chat your way from one side of the gym to the other, with no

How to Break a Fitness Plateau-Part I

You’ve been working out for…not months, years!  You read all the magazines, talk about workout trends with your friends and you're always trying a new diet.  You’re well-educated in this area and you feel like you’re doing everything right.  But your body isn’t changing and/or you’re not getting stronger and you don’t know why.  You know there’s nothing medically wrong with you yet, you’ve reached a plateau.  It happens to every “gym athlete” at some point.  So what can you do to get “unstuck” and move forward with your training program, to start seeing results again?  Here are five suggestions that will help; and they will work-IF you do them!  

• Eat more protein -Most people have no idea

Organic Chicken...Really?

I eat a lot of chicken. At first, I bought organic chicken because “everyone” told me it was better for me and I just assumed “they knew.” Then, as I studied to become a nutrition consultant, I learned why it was better.  Recently, I found an even more compelling reason to eat only organic chicken:

Contaminated Chicken

The New York Times recently reported that two new studies suggest farmers may be feeding chickens with feed laced with drugs like Tylenol, Prozac, Benadryl and antibiotics.  Are the groups making these claims, attempting to create hysteria surrounding commercially raised chickens to further an agenda on behalf of organic poultry growers or is there something to this?  Is it true? If so, why is this happening?
 
Two new studies by Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of

Concrete Gymnastics

Gymnastics performed on concrete in urban jungles. No, you did not misread that.  What you just read was a description of a non-competitive French extreme sport called parkour, also known as “free running” and it is beginning to take hold here in the U.S. as well.

Originating in the suburbs of Paris, the word parkour has its roots in the word “route” and its practitioners are known as "traceurs" who trace the route…of Parkour founder David Belle.

Asked for their definition of parkour, American Parkour participants felt a need to ask the entire national community for their personal definition of the sport. The final version, by a committee of American Parkour employees and also by people outside of American Parkour, was truly a community effort (this sport really takes things seriously!):

“Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment.” Below you’ll find an even more detailed description of what Parkour is-and is not.

Father’s Day Fitness

Since you won’t be getting your Dad a tie for Father’s Day, what will you get him? Dads are tough to buy for.  Beer-of-the-month club is also out of the question (too many carbs.)  Argyle sweater?  Go ahead; I dare you!

So what are some good Father’s Day gift ideas for a Dad that works out?  Here are 5 ideas that might help.  But you better hurry, you don’t have much shopping time left!

Demonbells- I wrote about these in a recent blog post.  They are the coolest thing ever!  If your dad is serious about training,