The Beautiful Truth

Why I'm going to quit:

2010-04-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

I found some more info on smoking and stress. While smoking may alleviate the symptoms of stress at first, it compounds them and returns them with interest. Smoking increases your cortisol levels, which is the stress hormone. (studies are inconclusive, but both deprive your brain of oxygen which directly leads to your decreased intellectual capabilities.

Fun New Exercise

2010-03-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

I just discovered a fun new exercise and I wanted to share it with you all. Find your 5 year old, any child really will do. Get them to sit on the floor. My favorite method is to turn on a TV show. Take your shoes off. Stand next to them and simply put your foot on top of their head and keep it there without hurting them for five minutes. This proved to be a great workout for both me and my son. Switch sides and repeat. Happy workouts!

Power Chairs

2010-03-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

Last night my husband and I were at the grocery store and we watched a little old man, who was parked in a handicapped spot, walk out to his car assisted by store personnel, and painstakingly get into his car with his cane and the small bag that held what he had purchased. The whole process took about five minutes. Earlier in the store, the manager had rushed to help him because she remarked "he usually doesn't come this late". My husband made the comment that this is who those motor-powered wheelchairs are for, the truly disabled who can not do for themselves, not for excessively large people who decide they can't be bothered to walk anymore. I think he hit the nail right on the head. We are making a mock of our healthcare system, eating too much, failing to educate ourselves on nutrition, and just generally indulging ourselves in unhealthy habits. I think it is disrespectful because it takes resources away from those who suffer from conditions they can't prevent. My heart goes out to this man and those who suffer like him. It certainly can be a tough world, and if some of us aren't healthy enough to help, who will help us?

The Workout

2010-03-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

I found a new workout on Exercise TV, and I love it. 20 minutes 3 times a week and I already look better. Less cottage cheese on my butt, and I can tell if I keep at it, I really will have a body that looks good in a bikini - whether or not I actually want to wear one is a different story. A word of warning to you though, I actually gained weight with this. My skinny frame put on an extra 5 pounds of muscle. I went from my 115 back up to the 120 that I weighed in high school when I was dancing 24/7. Anyhow, to find it, go to exercisetv.com and type in bikini body workout. The first one that comes up with Stephanie Vitorini is it. You will definitely be sore the next day.

http://www.exercisetv.tv/workout-videos/cardio/bikini-body-workout-4487

Herbs for your brain..

2009-03-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

If you are feeling down and depressed, there are a number of things you can do:

fish oil
flax oil
acupuncture
shock therapy
massage
folic acid
vitamin B-12
St. Johns' Wort
Lower Bowel Formula
exercise
go to bed early
get up early
service
cut out sugar
cut out red meat
cut out HFCS
eat healthy
pray
meditate
relax
yoga
pilates
go have some fun
get out in the sunshine
start a project
focus
aromatherapy

What else have you tried?

Chaparral Tea

2009-02-25T07:57:00.000-08:00

I was going to limit this blog to exercise, but lately I am learning so much about herbs by using the internet that I want to share, and I will change my title later - maybe. I use the internet to research everything, I am quite the googleholic. In any case, my latest favorite herb is Chaparral. It is used to treat many things from bad breath to cancer, and it has been making my moles go away - slowly, but noticeably. I actually have one small one which has disappeared - wait, I don't have it. It's completely gone, and the others are shrinking. In any case, read the full story here and do your own research.

Doctrine and Covenants 89:11 "Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving."

Click here to learn about Chaparral Tea

Agave - a safe alternative to sugar

2009-02-24T10:39:00.000-08:00

I love that we are getting smarter about nutrition these days, and recognizing that unprocessed foods are better. This article gave me just a little more hope. I have also heard of a sweetener called sucranat, which is evaporated sugar cane juice. It is my hope that as more people become aware that more of these items will be found on our grocer's food aisles, replacing the unhealthful foods that unfortunately occupy space there today. http://health.msn.com/nutrition/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100233248&gt1=31036

Fit TV

2009-02-17T15:17:00.001-08:00

We recently got cable and so far I use it for two things: Exercise and spiritual uplift. Needless to say it is mostly off. But here I want to talk about Fit TV. What an awesome idea. Some of the instructors are weird, but I was doing a workout the other morning and the lady on there says "this exercise is good if you have cramps." I was so impressed. I think if I were overweight, I would turn this station on and keep it on until I was in shape. It is also great because when the kids get to me for a minute there is almost always another workout coming. If you miss jumping jacks, do yoga, etc. It's a bit random but it is still better than sitting still all day long.

They say you can't judge a book by its cover.

2009-01-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

I took an aerobics class in college and was surprised to hear the teacher say, "you don't need to do crunches, they are unnecessary. You work your abs with every movement you make, all day long, and in every other exercise." She is partially right. Most of us use our abs all the time, but that is exactly why we need to strengthen them. That is your core that keeps your back straight. If nothing else, practice sitting up straight, all the time - here at your computer, when on the floor, changing a diaper, anything you do. It will help develop those muscles and keep you from getting a hump on your back.

The other point here, as the title suggests, is that you should really look at people when they give you advice. Just as you wouldn't want to follow a financial consultant who is broke, you may not want to take workout advice from someone who does not have the kind of body you enjoy, like my aerobics instructor, who, while being in fairly good shape, did not have the sort of belly that I would enjoy.

A more positive way to say it is this: when I was on drill team in high school, we danced pretty hard for at least two hours a day. I practiced even moreso on my own, hoping to make the cut for each dance, as did many of the girls on the team. By the end of the year, all of us looked roughly the same. So pick your model, and do what they do, unless it involves anorexia, of course.

Wrestling and Playing

2008-12-29T07:31:00.000-08:00

The Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith loved wrestling and stick pulls. He also loved to get on the floor and play with his children. It is said that he "did more for the salvation of mankind than any man, except Jesus Christ". While priests of other sects criticized his enthusiasm for physical sport, he sanctioned it, saying that the mind is like a violin string, it needs to be relaxed between periods of serious mental thought.

I remember a seminary teacher who got on the floor and wrestled with a boy in our class. I remember thinking that something was seriously wrong until I saw both of them stand up grinning from ear to ear, red in the face. He probably was my favorite seminary teacher.

In any case, if you want to be in shape, and you have kids, get down on the floor and tickle, wrestle, hug, roll, make shapes for them to crawl through, and go down the slide at the park with them. Enjoy your body.

Nutrition For Us All

2008-11-06T07:11:00.000-08:00

I ran across this site this morning when I googled "herbal tooth". I was amazed at the stories and wanted to share.

http://herballegacy.com/Herbal_Tooth.html

Up on your toes.

2008-08-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

Today I fell off the step, almost twisted my ankle, bumped my arm on the wall and fell face down on the floor. The point of this story? Just take note of that almost. I was lucky. Now this never happened when I was in dance classes, for this reason: I had strong ankles. Strong ankles come from being up on your toes all the time. This is not something you have to do as part of an hour long workout or gym session where you try to work every muscle imaginable. You can do this anytime. It is fun to twirl around and try to do leg lifts while up on your toes, strengthening your calf muscles, ankles and shins. Walk around in high heels - but don't trip, or better yet, just pretend those heels are there and you can't come down. The result is that you will be less likely to twist your ankle and your legs will look great, at least from the knee down.

Why you're not losing weight:

2008-08-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

This article was particularly good because it addresses things that we don't always think of. It uses common sense. http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100213228&imageindex=1

More Pilates

2008-08-10T22:42:00.001-07:00

Hooray! I won a total body toning kit for doing a testimonial for Ana Caban. She liked it! She says my kit is on it's way, I am that much closer to being so buff.

Sweat

2008-07-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Need I say more? Sweating is good for you, and it is a sign that you are getting in shape. Just make sure to get enough fluids.

More Walking

2008-07-09T23:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a walking workout you can try. There are three different levels, one per page. Enjoy!

Click here to get walking.

Don't beat yourself up!

2008-07-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

I have a dear friend who used to berate herself. "How did I let myself get that way." You don't do that any more, do you? In any case, whenever you catch yourself with these thoughts, replace them with "look how great I'm doing now" and a few push-ups, situps, jumping jacks, whatever. Just get going.

5 Minute Office Workout

2008-06-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

This guy has some great tips and sound advice. I love that he uses facts and logic to help people stay in shape.
5 Minute Office Workout

Pilates

2008-06-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

I love pilates. I did it when I was pregnant. Sometimes my back would pop back into place while I was doing it. Ana Caban, whose dvd I use (Beginning Mat Workout) got into it because her back was severely injured. If you want to get a great body and relax your back all at once, this is a great program. The dvd has a 25 minute basic workout and a 12 minute power workout, so it is very easy to fit into my schedule. Sometimes the kids like to climb all over me while I do it. For the most part I just let them and call it resistance training, and meanwhile they have fun.

Click here to order from Gaiam

Walking

2008-06-17T09:38:00.001-07:00

"Pioneer children sang as they walked." and so did the women, and the men, and the elderly, and when they circled their wagons at night they played music and danced because God wanted them to.

I think walking is a great way to be able to test your endurance. I tried this yesterday and I think I did pretty well. Other than a few small blisters (I walked all over town for two hours), I handled it and do not feel too shabby today. I didn't dance last night, but overall I think I got a pretty good workout.

Father's Day Fitness

2008-06-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

Click here to read this article from MSN health & fitness.

Take it slow

2008-06-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

Doing exercises in slow motion works a different kind of muscle and yields faster results. So rather than pumping through your workout as fast as you can, slow down those reps and feel the burn.

Powerful Push-ups for girls

2008-06-07T22:14:00.001-07:00

Ok, this really is not a mystery, at least for me: any exercise that is difficult and does not damage your body is great for you. The only time in my life I was overweight was at Snow College. I was already dancing 2 hours a day - lazily, due to my disillusionment with the drill team - no excuses. I put on a crushed velvet outfit for a performance, looked in the mirror and thought "I look pregnant." I am not unnecessarily harsh on myself, I really did look a month or two along. Well enough of that. I started doing 50 push-ups every night. A month or so later I was back in dancer shape. End of story.

Ok, we can't all do 50 push-ups. Yet. I made myself. Slow, even if it took 10 minutes, I got through it. I allowed myself to push up to an upside down V, but I made the rule that my weight must be somewhat evenly distributed between my hands and feet at all times.

If you do this and you hold your body right, it is a very intense total body workout that is relatively short. It usually puts me in the mood to exercise, which may be why it worked for me down at Snow. But whatever else I did, I kept doing 50 push-ups every night for 4-5 years. Somewhere I slacked off and I am working my way back up. I don't do this every night, as I have learned taking a few nights off allows muscles to heal and build up. I am up to 30 push-ups. How many can you do?

Thunder in my Thighs

2008-06-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Keep this on your mind, because thinking about exercise a lot will lead to doing exercise. Here is one simple exercise that you can fit in throughout your day because it is tough, but you control how tough it is. Sit (without the support of a chair) against a wall and, so you are not using your back to hold your body up, do reverse crunches. Lean forward to almost 45 degrees and then press back until your back almost touches the wall. This will take less than a minute unless you are in incredible shape. Figure out how many times you want to do it in a day, keep a chart, and eventually you may work up to even a minute. The key is to do it on a regular basis.

Have contests with others to see who can do this for longer. If your kids are old enough, this could build a fun memory. It could even be a hoot with other peoples' kids, so you teachers, no excuses. It just takes a minute and could wake everybody up. Besides, the mind works better when it has fresh oxygen.

There. I just did twelve sitting reverse crunches. How many did you do?

A Simple Six Pack

2008-05-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

What would my blog be without links to great fitness articles? This one is well-written and encourages healthy habits - a great bonus in my book.

The Six Habits for a Six-Pack

Chicken Legs

2008-05-28T12:43:00.002-07:00

I decided to write this blog because of an experience I had while working at a gym several years ago. I was going about my duties, racking weights, etc. when one frustrated young man carped about not having the legs he had been working for. "I max out on the leg press all the time", he grumbled, "and my legs never get any bigger". My initial answer was to stare at him blankly and walk away. I had no idea how to help and I felt sorry for him. So sorry, in fact that I thought about it and the gym was shut down before I came up with a solution: be a soccer player. No soccer player that I know of has ever complained about chicken legs. They all have shapely, well-proportioned bodies, and while they may hit the gym to supplement their workout, most of their work is on the field doing competitive drills and actually playing. So unless you are into power-lifting, here is your option.

The other solution is to get off the leg press and do real squats. This engages your 'powerhouse' or core muscles, which in turn allows you to build your thighs and hamstrings. Without the core muscles to support the extra weight, your body can not handle huge legs and thus does not allow that much muscle to build. Pretty smart, huh?

Body Building for Dummies and/or Brains

2008-05-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

So you want to have a perfect body, huh? Well here's my blog. Every day (or at least most, I may pick up a life someday) I will inundate you with facts, tips and joyful phrases to help you in your pursuit. If you don't know a push-up from a pull-up (the exercise, not the diaper), then this is the site for you.