A certified personal trainer and fitness instructor with a bachelor's degree in health education, Nicole loves living a healthy and fit lifestyle and helping others do the same. Nicole was formerly SparkPeople's fitness expert and editor-in-chief, known on the site as “Coach Nicole.” Make sure to explore more of her articles and blog posts.
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How to Shop for Workout Clothes without Going Broke
Specialty workout clothes might not be a necessity to your exercise program, but the sweat-wicking fabrics and body-hugging designs sure can help! Clothes designed for exercise are made for bodies in motion; they're designed to fit right and stay put when you're on the go so that you stay comfortable. Both high-tech synthetic fabrics, and natural ones such as wool, can help pull sweat away from your body so you stay dry. That means you'll be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter—and that's more than a comfort issue. Regulating body temperature also keeps you safe. But beyond functionality, workout clothes are just plain motivating! Unfortunately, all that motivation comes at a price.
Last year, I confessed that I tend to spend more on workout clothes than I do everyday attire. $50 for one pair of pants. $15 for special wool hiking socks. $45 for a winter performance top. And I won't even get into the shoes, which need to be replaced every few hundred miles.
More than 60% of SparkPeople members agree that new workout clothes motivate them to exercise, but when asked what they tend to wear during their workouts, a whopping 75% wear "any old clothes" they have. The high cost of workout wear is a major deterrent for many.
Luckily, it doesn't have to be. Although I occasionally splurge on the high priced items, most of the time, I am a bargain shopper who wants high quality at a low price. Since I've been buying workout clothes for more than a decade, I have a few tried and true tricks that I use to refresh my own workout wardrobe on a budget. Here are some of my best tips on how to save money on workout clothes!
Posted 5/14/2010 1:00:00 PM By: : 116 comments 65,762 views
Every Wrong Turn Leads to Something Right
Believe it or not, working in the health and fitness world wasn't always my dream. Sure, I enjoyed playing sports and being active as a kid and teen. I even worked out regularly when I moved to college. But it was simply something I had enjoyed—a way to stay in shape. I didn't plan to make it a career. I actually started my undergraduate studies in art and design, first attending school for architecture, then transferring to an art school, and later switching schools a third time to double major in architecture and interior design and be closer to home.
But when my own health, fitness and weight became an issue during college, I knew something had to change.
Posted 5/7/2010 3:00:00 PM By: : 98 comments 24,727 views
2 Great Deals for May from the SparkPeople Store
This May, the SparkPeople Store is offering free shipping on all orders of $50 or more! Be sure to take advantage of this limited time offer by stocking up on spring essentials like water bottles, fitness towels, SparkPeople T-shirts and tank tops and more. Of course, one of my DVDs would be a great addition to your home gym, too!
In addition to this free shipping offer for May, we've also grouped some of our most popular fitness items into a great money-saving "Fitness Bundle" package for only $50. So what's in the bundle?
Posted 5/5/2010 6:00:00 AM By: : 21 comments 15,090 views
Habits of Fit People: Don't Make Exercise Excuses
You want to be a fit person, right? That's why I'm sharing my own habits for keeping fit and staying healthy in the ongoing Habits of Fit People series.
Here's one that works for me: not making exercise excuses.
The difference between fit people and unfit ones isn't a matter of intention—it's about consistency. We all have the best intentions to work out, but fit people will find a way to exercise no matter what life throws at them. They are committed to following their fitness plan day in and day out, even when long work hours, childcare, holidays, travel, and other unforeseen circumstances throw a wrench into their plans. They don't confuse "being busy" with being active. Fit people plan their workouts, maintain a backup plan, and even commit to a shorter workout if that's all that time allows. Put simply, they don't make exercise excuses. So how can you be more like them?
Posted 4/30/2010 7:00:00 AM By: : 150 comments 44,475 views
Body Bliss: Dress for the Body You Have Today
In college, when I was about 30 pounds heavier and several pant sizes larger than I am today, I hated myself. All I wanted was to be cute and tiny, but no matter how much I wanted it, I couldn't make it happen. Diet after diet ended in failure. Workout plans came and went. I never lost weight—only motivation. I was close to accepting my fate as an overweight person, bound to struggle forever.
Eventually, I learned that getting healthy—both physically and mentally—had to start with love. Self love. I may have wished my body was different, but if I had any hopes of changing it, I had to learn to accept my body in its current state. That meant caring for it and treating it with respect.
During my journey to self-love, one of the best bits of advice I ever received was to dress the body you currently have. This single, somewhat simple, piece of advice helped me on my way to loving myself and eventually led me to weight loss.
Posted 4/28/2010 8:00:00 AM By: : 258 comments 48,564 views
Free Reusable Bag Offer from the SparkPeople Store
In case you missed our earlier promotions, I wanted to let you know one more time about the April special going on at SparkPeopleStore.com. For a limited time only, you'll receive a FREE eco-friendly grocery tote (that's it pictured to the left) on all SparkPeople Store orders of $29.99* or more! *Simply enter the promotional code GOGREEN during checkout. This offer is applicable on orders placed April 1-30, 2010 that total $29.99 or more and ship via ground shipping.
You could spend that $29.99 on fitness products (like our Fitness Starter Kit for $29.99), SparkPeople T-shirts ($11.50 and up), or smart portion lunch kits. But to go with the whole "green" theme, I have another idea.
Posted 4/22/2010 6:28:26 AM By: : 31 comments 18,973 views
Low-Impact vs. High-Impact Exercises: Which Is Right for You
People often ask me whether certain workouts are "high impact" or "low impact," and in answering them, I have discovered is that there is a lot of confusion among exercisers about what these terms really mean. Yes, they deal somewhat with overall intensity and calorie burn, and are important for fitness tracking, but there's more to it than that. Low- and high-impact exercises offer different benefits and pose different risks. So here are the basics you need to know about the highs and lows of these different forms of exercise.
Posted 4/14/2010 10:00:00 AM By: : 128 comments 441,176 views
There's Nothing Funny about Chelsea Handler's Workouts
I must admit that I was a little surprised to see a bikini-clad Chelsea Handler on this month's cover of SHAPE magazine. Don't get me wrong—I have always thought that she looks great! But based on the jokes on her TV show, "Chelsea Lately" on E!, and the humorous stories I've read in her books, she never really seemed like the beacon of health and fitness, with all her talk of late nights, strong drinks, and lack of structured exercise routine.
As it turns out, this funny woman is a fit one, too. She made a decision to eat healthier and change her lifestyle, which is outlined in the April 2010 issue of SHAPE (find the story online here). These days, her diet is filled with wholesome and healthy foods like oatmeal, salads and edamame, but she still makes room for vodka. And while she has been active all of her life, she told SHAPE that finding a workout she loved was a real challenge. She'd quit every fitness program she tried out of boredom or a lack of results. (Like me, she wasn't thrilled with yoga either.)
But there is one workout that Chelsea swears has "changed my body—and my life." Can you guess what it is?
Posted 4/9/2010 11:00:00 AM By: : 101 comments 49,832 views
Are You Fit Enough for Life's Grand Adventures?
Last week, I went on the vacation of a lifetime. I traveled out west and spent six days hiking and camping in one of the most awe-inspiring landmarks in the United States: the Grand Canyon. With three friends, borrowed gear, and a lot of trepidation, I ventured to the very bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up, all while wearing a 42-pound backpack.
By taking various trails each day, I saw the Canyon from so many angles and perspectives (that's me enjoying the view in the photo to the left), each one beautiful and different from the next. These images are seared into my mind and I hope to never forget them. Although I took a lot of photos, they don't come close to capturing the scale and feeling of being there in person. Step after step, one thought kept returning to my mind: gratitude. In the midst of it all its spectacular beauty I felt grateful that I was healthy and fit enough to enjoy this experience—not just endure it.
Posted 4/7/2010 6:00:00 AM By: : 239 comments 46,715 views
Confessions of a Yoga Dropout
There are things that a "healthy" or "fit" person is just expected to do. Go to the gym. Consume copious amounts of water. Run several miles a day. You know what I'm talking about. Sometimes people are shocked to find out that I don't do everything that is expected of me. "What! You don't drink TEA?!" they say. (You must be from another planet if you don't like tea, I've learned.)
"No, I just don't like the taste," I explain, announcing my alien status. I like drinks that are either plain (water) or full-flavored, not some degree of light flavor in between the two. I have tried countless varieties of tea over the years, and they have equally made me want to gag. I love how it smells! I feel like I should be a "tea person" since it fits my persona, but it just isn't for me. Ultimately, I stopped trying to develop a taste for it just so I could add a few more antioxidants to my diet. I think my antioxidant levels are just fine.
"What about yoga. You do yoga, right?"
"No." In fact, yoga is the exercise version of tea for me.
Posted 3/26/2010 1:00:00 PM By: : 308 comments 46,100 views
For Exercise Buddies, Four Legs are Better than Two
I have been a lover of animals ever since I was a tiny tot. We grew up with cats, a bird and a handful of goldfish for pets, but I never experienced the joy of dog ownership until I was in college and my roommate got a miniature daschund that I helped care for. I would feed her, play with her, take her out in the middle of the night, and take her on long walks each day when my roommate was away at work or class. It took dedication, work, and an adjustment to my schedule, but I loved that dog, and the benefits of her companionship made it all worth it. When my roommate and I went our separate ways, I knew I would have a dog of my own someday, but not until I was ready to adjust my routine and lifestyle to best accommodate the dog's needs.
However, things don't always go according to plan. Just a few weeks ago, my fiancé, Evan, found a stray dog near our home. It's not uncommon for us to chase down stray dogs, check for tags, or keep them in our fenced-in backyard until we can find their owners, so I didn't think much of it. But no one was looking for this dog that was very underweight and seemingly untrained, and by the time he had moved her from the backyard to our basement, I had a feeling she was here to stay. I wasn't sure that we had the time to care for a dog. I had always envisioned getting one in the future, maybe if I stayed at home or worked part time—not while we each worked full-time and part-time jobs that keep us away from home for long hours. After much planning, research and discussion, we adopted Ginger. My how our lives have changed over the last few weeks…
Posted 3/24/2010 6:00:00 AM By: : 179 comments 49,973 views
Alcohol and Weight Gain: Have We Had it Wrong All Along?
Did you down a couple of green-tinted beers this past Wednesday? What better time than post-St. Patty's Day to talk about how alcohol affects your weight. One new study questions if what we thought we knew about alcohol and weight management holds true. No, I'm not trying to send you into a shame spiral for indulging on Wednesday's famous drinking holiday, so don't worry. But since you may still have alcohol calories on your mind, well here it goes.
When it comes to weight management, one of the easiest things many people can do to cut back on calories is to drink less alcohol—or give it up altogether. After all, alcohol contributes non-nutritious ("empty") calories to your diet, can make you more likely to overeat when you're under its influence, and often results in more calories being stored as fat. Plus when you're on a calorie-controlled diet, you need to make the most of the calories you consume, choosing super nutritious foods to give you the most bang for your calorie budget. Makes sense, right?
If that's true, you may say, then people who drink the most are probably more likely to be overweight and people who drink the least (or not at all) would be more likely to maintain a trim, healthy weight. That is logical, but a recent study published in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine found that nondrinkers were actually more likely to gain weight than people who consumed "moderate" amounts of alcohol. (Yes, that is counterintuitive.) So is there more to this story or should you go back out to the bar and chug another beer in an effort to keep your weight down?
Posted 3/19/2010 12:00:00 PM By: : 229 comments 161,261 views
Exercise Secrets to Losing Big in 10 Minutes a Day
SparkPeople.com is the most highly trafficked weight-loss website in America. Needless to say, we know a thing or two about helping people lose weight. Our members have lost more than 10 million pounds to date by following our fun and healthy nutrition and fitness plans, but we wanted to learn more about what really worked for them, so we conducted a huge survey, asking the most successful "losers" what they really did to reach their goals.
We recently shared several of their secrets to weight-loss success with you, and included even more of their strategies in our book, The Spark, which we released last year. Soon after, SparkPeople asked me to create a workout plan based on the book, so I turned to the strategies of our most successful members for help. After all, I wanted this DVD to be more than just another workout DVD. I wanted it to incorporate tactics that were proven to help real people lose weight and reach their goals.
The result, Fit, Firm and Fired Up in 10 Minutes a Day, is a no-brainer workout plan that's fun, easy to follow, and truly effective. I believe it can help you learn to love exercise (if you're not there yet) and totally change your attitude about fitness.
Posted 3/17/2010 7:00:00 AM By: : 71 comments 60,803 views
The Secrets of Success: Look Forward, Not Back
When we were researching and writing our best-selling book, The Spark, we discovered 27 secrets of success that thousands of successful SparkPeople members have used to reach their goals, lose weight and keep it off.
We're sharing 15 secrets from the book on the dailySpark from March 1-15.
Secret #14: Don't look back.
We define "successful" members as the people who have reached their goal weight OR lost at least 100 pounds but are still on track to reaching their ultimate goal. Of all of the most successful members we surveyed, literally ZERO percent said they let setbacks derail their efforts. How did they get back on track?
Posted 3/14/2010 6:01:27 AM By: : 59 comments 29,918 views
The Secrets of Success: Tap into the Power of Positive People
When people first come to SparkPeople, they are often happily surprised by how positive our members and community are. SparkPeople members are by and large a positive bunch, continuously looking out for one another and spreading encouragement. This positive support system is so important in any healthy lifestyle journey--and it really works! Our most successful members--real people like you who have reached their weight-loss goals or lost at least 100 pounds in their journey to date--truly understand the power of positivity. When we recently surveyed this elite group, we found out so many things these big "losers" did to reach their goals and were finally able to quantify just how successful certain habits or strategies really were. You can find it all in The Spark, now a New York Times Best Seller!
We couldn't keep all the secrets in this book to ourselves, so we're sharing our 15 favorite secrets of success on the dailySpark from March 1-15.
Secret #12: Tap into the power of positive people.
Successful SparkPeople members don't just consider people a nice part of their community; instead they tap into the power of positive people and use that as a weight-loss tool. How?
Posted 3/12/2010 6:07:11 AM By: : 52 comments 23,716 views
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