Three years ago, I started working out on a regular basis. I joined an all women gym. This is not Curves, where they have a limited number of machines and put you through a circuit for 30 minutes. This is a small gym, but it had cardio machines, weight machines and classes. Sure it did not have the variety of 24 Hr Fitness, but you only need a few basic items to get into shape.

Previously, when I had access…

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The cold bug is circulating around the office. I felt its nip last week, but the symptoms did not start appearing until this week. Like most beginners, I am afraid that I might loose the momentum of working out if I rest for a few days. It is so easy to just sit in front of the TV or play some mindless computer game. A year ago, this would not even be an issue for me. I would take any…

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We know that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Since we are from different planets, it is no surprise for me to find that the two genders approach loosing weight differently.

Mentality
When women think about loosing weight, they think about going on a diet. When men think about loosing weight, they think about getting fit.

Eating
Though both genders tend to eat in response to positive emotions (ie. celebrations or promotions), men usually can stop at…

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A year ago, my husband and I decided to loose some weight together. We ate the same meals and exercised. And you probably guess this — three months later he is down 10 pounds and I loss a measly 3 pounds. So the moral of this story? Do not try to loose weight with your husband! It’s depressing and causes you to eat to ease that depression. Just kidding.

From this little experiment, I notice that men do have an advantage over…

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Do you have an excuse for why you cannot exercise? Do you find yourself using any of the excuses below?

1. I will only exercise if I have to.
For people that make this kind of statement, what are you waiting for? After a breakup? After a heart attack? After you gained 50 pounds? Why does it take something extreme to motivate you to improve your health? Doesn’t it make more sense to prepare your body before these painful events so you will…

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Most people spend 30-40% of their waking hours sitting in front of a computer at work. I actually spend more time than that since I usually like to end my evenings reading other blogs and news before going to bed (Please tell me that I am not the only one voluntarily spending more time in front of a computer at home). A car accident two years ago messed up my back. Various activities will make…

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I have a friend who starts the New Year with a new gym membership for the last five years. Inevitably, she would stop going within one month. I finally asked her what is the reason she quitted each time, she said:

‘I am afraid I will look stupid because I do not know what is going on at the gym.’

Oh, I understand that feeling all too well. I remember when I started at the gym for the first…

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Last Christmas everyone in my office was trying to get their hands on a Wii for their kids. One co-worker, over the course of four weekends, stood in lines similar to Black Friday, to get her hands on four Wiis for herself and her friends. Wow! I hope that when I have kids I will not think it is fun to get up at four in the morning on a WEEKEND to get them a toy. Please let my…

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I am going to Orlando for my belated honeymoon next week. I am a little anxious. No matter how good you are doing at home, once you get away from a controlled environment (my home), I am afraid that I will fall back on my old habits of getting “my money’s worth when eating out” or eating most of the meal since I have no way of reheating my meal if I get a doggie bag.

This week…

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Spending time in a garden is believed to have many emotional healing effects. It can reduce your stress and lower your blood pressure. Of course, I do not get to enjoy these benefits until I take my allergy medication the night before, but it is well worth it to be around a small piece of nature in your own backyard.

Exercise benefit
Gardening is considered a good form of exercise. It combines all three components of physical activity that is…

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When I am busy, I loose weight. My weight starts to creep up when I have plenty of free time unless I am consciously monitoring it. My sister, on the other hand, gains weight when she is busy. She forgets to eat and grabs whatever is available at the vending machine. And when she comes home, she crashes in front of the computer screen and mindlessly eats until it is time for bed.

How does your personality affect your goal…

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According to a study commissioned by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), casual dressing leads to a two pounds weight loss a year. On average the participants of the study walked 8% more on days when they wore casual attire to work. Comfort clothing inspires more physical activity throughout the day.

Two pounds do not sound impressive if you are trying to loose 20 pounds or more, but every little bit counts. The average person gains 1-2 pounds each year…

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Muscles do not know the difference between free weights, machines, or bands. All they understand is load, fatigue, and recovery. Stressing muscles is what makes them stronger. For home workouts, free weights are an essential if you do not have regular access to a gym. You still need to work on strength training even if you prefer to exercise at home. You can get some ideas of how to use free weights here with the cartoon animation.

The Advantages of free weights:

• You…

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I had soft tissue damage on my back from my car accident a few years ago. The pain was excruciating. I am not talking about the ache on your back after a day of weeding in your garden. I am talking about 12 OTC ibuprofen pills popping a day type of pain that last for months. I always thought I understand back pain when other people about it. But I never really understood it until I cannot sleep even after…

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Here is an interesting post by Jonathan Fields on blogging on this treadmill. This idea has been around for a while now. Here is an article on it at the New York Times in 2005.

There are probably small ways to include movement in our sedentary activities. It is the small everyday movement that we can squeeze in that is going to determine whether we can keep up this change for a healthy style.

I have a mini pedal bike. It does…

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March — the time of year when spring is just around the corner and the crowds starts to thin out. This is the time of year when regulars get their gym back and the New Year Resolution members slowly drop off the bandwagon — again.

Why is there such a big difference between the regulars and the New Year Resolution crowd? The New Year Resolution crowd might start the year with a new nutrition or exercise program with…

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According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE) the top 10 most effective abs exercises are:

1. Bicycle Crunches
2. Knee Lifts on Captain’s Chair
3. Crunches on Ball
4. Crunches with Vertical Legs: This exercise is just like a traditional crunch but with your legs extended up into the air.
5. Torso Track Machine
6. Crunches with Arms Extended: This exercise is just like a traditional crunch but you extend your arms overhead, clasping your hands together, and squeezing your…

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Reading this post complaining about the Biggest Loser Club reminded me of my experience with the Biggest Loser Volume 1 workout dvd. I brought the dvd thinking that it might have some good beginner routines in it. Boy was I disappointed.

There was a lot of high impact moves in the dvds. I do not like high impact exercises. I am not in good enough shape to do these high impact moves at the tempo of the trainer. My knees will hate…

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Quite often most people end up undoing all their hard work when exercising by eating too much. Exercise in does not compensate for that bowl of ice cream. But it took me a long time to realize that. I figured that since I was sweating and out of breath, I must have burned it off 15 minutes into exercising. In reality it actually takes an hour of moderate exercise to burn that bowl of ice cream off.

According to a…

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According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the minimum recommended amount of exercise is 30 minutes for general health and 60 minutes for weight loss at a moderate intensity for most days of the week. Moderate intensity means it is difficult to talk, but we can still have a conversation if needed.

I can workout for 30 minutes. I can push myself to 40 minutes if necessary. But 60 minutes is an intimidating number!

But I am…

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Strength training does not have to be painful to be effective. This will be a series of post talking about the three most common strength training injuries (rotator cuffs, the kneecap, and the lower back). This post will focus on the rotator cuffs in our shoulders.

We should replace ‘no pain, no gain’ with ‘no strain, no gain’ as our motto when lifting weights. If we are lifting, most likely we will experience some muscle soreness. The important thing is…

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The knee is a complex joint that not only bends, straightens, but also twists, and rotates. It is heavily dependent on the soft tissues and ligaments surrounding it to help support our weight and to power through its various motions. In a previous post, I talked about the rotator cuff as the number one area most likely to get injuries by newbie exercisers. The knee follows a close second.

A thick pad of cartilage acts as a…

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Men have only 26 billion fat cells in their bodies. That sounds weird, using the word “only.” Women, on the other hand, have 35 billion fat cells in our bodies. In addition, the fat cells in a woman’s body are 5 times larger than a man’s (more room for storage!).

How dieting impact our fat cells
Dieting shrinks the size of our fat cell, not decrease its number. However, most people end up starving themselves, eating poor…

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I am dying to get home from work today. Yep, today is the expected arrival of my Wii Fit. After reading reviews of the game from nytimes and here, I cannot wait to give it a spin. And to spend the weekend writing a great post about it.

I am not looking to replace my workout dvds any time soon or give away my elliptical machine, but I think it might just add an element of fun…

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According to SuperFoods HealthStyle, women feel the negative impacts of a sedentary lifestyle at last ten years before men. Women are already at a disadvantage physically because we have more body fat and less muscle mass as noted in a previous post. Now to find out that our musculoskeletal capacity age 10 years before men do?!! Or another way to look at it, we age normally, but men physically age slower. Wow!

This is the second…

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Did you know that being overweight or obese decrease the amount of testosterone in a man body?  Testosterone is as important to a man as estrogen is to a woman.  This hormone that the male bodies produce gives them the physical upper hand over women by giving the males more muscle mass and less fat storage capacity.  But by being overweight or obese, men weaken their physical advantage.

Fat cells lowers testosterone production
Fat cells produce inflammatory…

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Do you find yourself depressed, moody, erratic, volatile, forgetful, and impulsive when you do not get your sugar fix? Can you say no to a small slice of cake without eating half the cake? You just might be addicted sugar like I am. Sugar addiction is a result of low serotonin and beta-endorphin (brain chemicals).

Low serotonin
Serotonin helps control impulsive behavior and mood. When we have low levels of this brain chemical, we cannot “just say…

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I asked a co-worker once how she could be satisfy with a small microwave dinner for lunch every day, approximately 250-300 calories.  She was 53 and I was fresh out of school.  Here I was, wolfing down 400-500 calories every day and still hungry by 3pm.  She said to me : ‘When you get older, your body just need less food.’

Eat less calories at middle age to maintain your weight.
Human metabolism naturally slows down with age. …

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Like children, sometimes what we hear and what we do when it comes to improving our health are two different things.

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I love the “Got Milk?” ads of a celebrity with a milk mustache. I do not know whether these celebrities are regular milk drinkers, but they sure make drinking milk look sexy. And they also reinforce the idea that drinking three glasses of milk a day will lead to weight loss. That is as true as a fairy godmother.

Milk does not help us to lose weight!
The National Dairy Council has spent more than $300 million since 2003…

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Lately I have been obsess with playing DDR - Hottest Party for the Wii, to the point were I am neglecting my normal workout routine.  For the last three weeks, I played that game at every free moment in hopes of passing another level. 

Generally, I am not a big fan of cardio.  I prefer weight lifting or pilates.  I only enjoy cardio that involves lots of movement like step aerobics or kickboxing.  My husband gets…

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