Help NYC's Children Get Fit!

I don't normally post contests on my blog, but this one is dear to my heart.

Emil has been running his company, Fit 4 Life NYC for several years now. He has not strayed from his original goal of helping New York's children lead healthy, active lives. F4L just submitted a wish to Intuit’s Small Business Growing Strong campaign.

Help Emil's organization make a wish come true! Fit 4 Life NYC's mission is to help children in New York City's poorest communities to become active and fit, but most of the children in their programs do not have proper shoes or attire to exercise and play in. In addition, due to the high cost of sports/fitness equipment F4L's classes are taught with little to no equipment. 

Click here to vote for Emil and his team: http://bit.ly/11lxQjc [You can vote once a day and you don't have to register for anything!]

F4L would use the prize money to purchase shoes for their neediest kids and new sports equipment for their programs. Thank you for supporting NYC's children.

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'Tis the season

I'm a sucker for external gratification

I finally joined a gym and am back to making physical fitness a priority. Trust me, I know how close bikini season really is!

Luckily, this time around I have some pumped up kicks and a coworker who is willing to get sweaty with me at lunch or after school. We may not actually workout together once we get to the gym, but at least I have someone to ensure I get my butt there when I say I will!

I only began a couple weeks ago, but already I've upped my running to 15 minutes straight! That's pretty significant for this self-proclaimed "non-runner."

What do you do to stay in shape? How do you motivate yourself to actually "just do it"?

^via cute and supportive: what more could a girl ask for in a shoe?

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Back to the grind

Hello readers! I hope you haven't given up on me because I've been MIA lately.

This week I started back at work...FULL TIME...after not working at all for over 6 months! Though this opportunity came out of the blue, it was the perfect time since I was ready to go back to work, but having to jump in full force with no notice has definitely taken a toll on my body:

I am so tired!

a photo of cassius from the archives

I haven't felt this exhausted since Indio was born. I can barely keep my eyes open after 9pm and have fallen asleep on the couch this week more times than I care to count.

To add to my fatigue I've managed to do 3 super workouts this week, one at the gym with my class--a perk of the new job!

Even with my need to hit the sack early, I'm loving the new venture and I'm invigorated by my workouts!

What's been keeping you busy lately?

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Fat Blaster? For real?

Remember that *resolution* I made to get my butt to the gym 3 times a week this month? Well, I have to admit, it hasn't been as easy as I thought.

My pass is only good during off-peak hours, so 7am-5pm, and I thought I would take advantage of Indio's naptime to get to the community centre, but that's much easier said than done.

I will say that I have kept up with 3 workouts each week for the past 2 weeks, though lately I've been relying on a set of DVDs that E has lying around called "Barry's Bootcamp". Yes, these are high on the cheese factor, but they are also high on the potency of the workouts. I've only been doing the 21-minute upper or lower body *Fat Blaster* workouts and I'm already feeling a difference.

I've said it before, I don't like exercise, and hardly have the motivation to do it alone at home, but if I can get in a decent workout in under half an hour, including stretching, I'm game. This week I doubt I'll be able to get to the gym at all, so I'm going to try to add the 12-min *Mission Specialist* ab workout to the end of my regular 21-min workout.

Any tips on how to stay motivated? And what about that whole thing called healthy eating? How do you stay on track? That's my next hurdle.

^via

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Village on a Diet

As much as I dislike exercise, I love watching other people do it. E and I used to watch the Biggest Loser every Tuesday until the producers thought it would be a good idea to make the show 2 hours long each week and we quickly decided we had better things to do with our time! We had a quirky [secret, until now] routine of eating Taco Bell takeout while watching the BL participants trying to change their eating habits for the better.

Now Canada has its own version of a Biggest Loser-type show called Village on a Diet. It's about a small town in northern British Columbia where 60% of its inhabitants are overweight or obese. The entire town wants to get healthy and in the process, try to lose a collective 1 ton in 10 weeks! And health and fitness experts have been flown in to help them do just that.

We watched the first episode last week and the second tonight and I have to say, I'm hooked. Though there are moments that are a bit overly-dramatic [trainer being "tough" with trainee], this documentary-style show is done so well, giving viewers an inside look at the struggles and triumphs of an entire town.

Village on a Diet is definitely giving me motivation to stick to my own goals. Hopefully, the rest of the season won't disappoint.

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If I write it down I have to do it

I'm not big on new year resolutions [I tend to make more around my birthday], but healthy living is always on my list, anytime of year. Exercise is definitely not my favourite thing to do and sweets top my list of sustenance, so this is a real challenge for me. Luckily, I married a fantastic fitness expert who helps keep me in line.

In November, I finally bit the bullet and joined the gym on a 3-month trial. I hadn't stepped foot inside a gym since the days of being pregnant with Indio! During November I was pretty good at getting to the gym, but December was a bust! First, we were in NYC, then I had strep and we had guests for the last 3 weeks. [I know the die-hard fitness buffs would call those "excuses".]

Well, it's now January and I am back on the wagon [or elliptical machine!]. I only went to the gym once last week, but I'm still hurting from that workout. My goal is to go 3 times a week before my pass runs out in February, so that's 12 times. Will you help me stay motivated?

I think I'm going to convince E to buy me a pair of Nike Free running shoes if I can keep up my gym routine until spring. What motivates you? What do you do for exercise? How do you stick with it and not lose steam?

via

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What have I gotten myself into?

Ack! I just signed up for a 3-month contract at a gym! I haven't stepped foot into such an establishment since mid-2008, but I finally realized that just living with a fitness guru wasn't really getting me into shape. I'm nervous and excited to get back on track. Wish me luck!

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