9 SparkPeople Articles Every Beginner Should Read

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!

Spark: Where to Begin
 

The last champagne bottle has been popped and you've swept up what you pray is the last of the glitter, meaning there is only one logical thing left to do: determine who you're going to be in 2018. Now, I'm not talking about some "She's All That" transformation where you ditch the glasses, learn to wear your hair down, miraculously get hot, start attending all the best parties and land the high school quarterback who actually seems to like you just the way you are. Resolutions that get too big are doomed to fail. Life and errands and deadlines will eventually get in the way and trying to take on too much change all at once will inevitably lead to frustration and quitting. Who you become could just be 2017 you, but on time for social gatherings. It could be you, but someone who cuts down from six cups of coffee every day to three. Maybe it's a you who decides to make the move to the front of spinning class.

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Two Wonderful Things We Love This Month

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!

Savor: Spirit Animal Crackers for Adults

I have a confession: I am an aggressively bad snacker. I break a lot of snacking rules and I'm actively trying to perfect my snacking strategy so it helps my overall goals, rather than rudely hinders them. In an effort to overhaul my bad habit of diving into last year's Easter candy or finding my hand at the bottom of a bag of plantain chips (again), I keep an eye out for foods that can satisfy my need to snack, while offering some kind of nutritional value or keeping me full instead of jonesing for even more salty or sweet goodness.

While I've replaced overly processed granola bars with homemade popcorn and fun-sized candy bars with a banana and peanut butter, the weakness I can't seem to shake is the craving for crunchy crackers. Cheez-Its, Cheetos, Teddy Grahams, Wheat Thins—you name it, I've eaten half a box or bag in one sitting. There's just something about the texture, crunching sound and taste that get me hooked every time. I very well might have been the inspiration behind Pringles' "Once You Pop, You Can't Stop" slogan. I know they're chips, but they might have been spying on me, guys.

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3 of Our Most Favorite Things This Month

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!

Shop: A Challenge a Day Keeps the Boredom Away
 

Unless you're a loud and proud creature of habit, finding new ways to exercise your body and challenge your muscles every day can be exhausting. Scrolling through an endless feed on Pinterest or doing a million Google searches with variations of "great abs moves" or "killer leg circuit" day after day, week after week, is enough to crush the spirit of even the most tenacious workout warrior.

Not to sound like a broken record, but a major part of sticking to an exercise routine is keeping things interesting and exciting. If you're going to get bored going to the same spin class with the same instructor every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, you're going to get really good at coming up with excuses for skipping out (not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything).

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Challenge Your Balance With This Tough 7-Move Circuit

Don't let the tutus and pointed toes fool you—ballerinas are tough athletes. Just reading about the training regiments of any aspiring or professional ballerina dancer is enough to send most back to the drawing board and reconsider their own commitment to their goals.
 
For years, Jillian Dreusike was one of those tough, yet graceful ballet dancers, training to strengthen and improve her body as a full-time student pursuing a dance degree at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Despite envy-inducing flexibility and muscular strength, however, Dreusike noticed that while she and her peers looked physically fit on the outside, they lacked the cardiovascular strength they needed to get through long days of physically challenging classes and practices.
 
In response, she started working on developing a cross-training regimen for the small muscle groups in the body, in hopes that the training would allow dancers to maintain their ballet figures while improving their cardiovascular health. The result was allongée, a ballet boot camp designed for training tiny muscles using fast repetitions and a large range of motion. Meaning "to lengthen" in French, allongée classes include simple choreographed sequences based on real ballet movements designed to keep the heart rate up for at least 20 minutes.

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Body Bullies and Happy Tears in This Month's Go Get It Guide

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!
 

Smile: Happy Tears
 

Sometimes life is scary and depressing and just plain sad. Whether it's a tragic event, a news story or just a bad self-esteem week keeping you down, we can all use a reminder that there are uplifting stories and beautiful people out there doing beautiful things for this world.
 
This month, Ellen DeGeneres delivers with a video montage of her favorite stories of everyday heroes. If you're an Ellen fan, you may have seen some of these stories (as a Saints fan, I have the Drew Brees and best friends story bookmarked for days when I need a good cry.). Watching these videos all at once, watching the kindness of strangers, of friends and of people for eight minutes is an important reminder that there are good, great and selfless people in this world. It's also a good reminder that you should always keep tissues at your desk because I forgot and ended up wiping my face with my shirt sleeve until it was drenched.

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Free Workouts and Tangle-Free Hair in This Month's Go Get It Guide

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!
 

Spark: How to Find Cheap or Free Workout Classes

 
I went to my college gym approximately five times in my four years of attendance. Now that I'm older, wiser, I'd like to take this time to apologize to ye olde college gym for my complete and utter negligence: College gym, I am so terribly sorry that I never truly appreciated the luxury of having a free and fully stocked gym a mere 10-minute walk from my residence and classes. I can't believe I never took advantage of your many exercise classes, stacks of dumbbells up for grabs or the various cardio machines available for my use, for free. And while our time together was brief, I will never forget those five times swiping my college ID and having the opportunity to work out for free (mostly. Thanks, tuition).
 
As I've discovered since graduating and moving into various apartments over the years, getting fit can come with a steep price tag. Trendy athleisure and home equipment aside, boutique studios and specialty workouts can drain your bank account faster than your kid disappears the minute it's time to clean up after a sleepover. According to USA Today, the average gym membership costs just under $60 a month, but a boutique membership can cost anywhere from $50 to $250, depending on where you live, not to mention that a single class could cost $20 to $40.

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A Full-Body, Abs-Burning Bosu Ball Workout for Beginners

Maybe you've seen it in the gym and thought to yourself, "Why would someone slice an exercise ball in half?" Perhaps you've seen people precariously perched atop one, their gaze fixed ahead as they focus on balancing. Whatever your experience, the Bosu has become a fixture in many gyms and, when used correctly, can offer a unique burn for every muscle group. 

Due to its design, the Bosu ball creates a balance challenge for the body, whether it's sitting with the flat sound down or with the dome side on the ground. As with a traditional exercise ball, you are forced to engage your core and legs in order to perform many moves, making it a versatile and challenging piece of equipment.

When you're ready to feel an abdominal burn like you've never felt before, start with this full-body workout from our friends at Fix.com. Pick a few moves here and there, or dive right in and try the whole workout from start to finish. Aim for one to two sets and eight to 12 repetitions for each strength move. For cardio, start with 20 to 30 seconds for each exercise, working up from there as your endurance improves over time.

If you are a first-timer, take a few minutes to review some safety tips before you get started and be sure to always start slow, especially when performing balance-based movements. 

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This Video About Healthy Eating Is so Funny Because It's Painfully True

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!
 

Spark: Carbs Are Bad! No, Wait! It's Eggs That Are the Enemy!
 

Here in my head, we have a saying: Another day, another diet fad. My inbox is regularly flooded with pitches about the latest and greatest in healthy eating, many claiming that this ingredient or that nutrient is to blame for years of obesity and health issues. Others swear by a regulated list of diet rules based on some vague research study or decades-old philosophy that—Hallelujah!—has been resurrected to save us from our worst snacking sins.

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8 Low-Impact Barre Moves You Can Do Anywhere

If you've ever gotten out of bed the day after a workout, grimaced and thought to yourself, "I didn't even know I had a muscle there!" you're probably experiencing a post-barre-based class soreness. The trendy ballet-based workout that utilizes a barre for deeper muscle-burning moves continues to attract new devotees due to its body-transforming powers and hurts-so-good tiny, pulsing movements that leave your muscles feeling shaky yet strong. You've never felt isometric moves quite like these.
 
Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, The Bar Method wants you to know it's different than the other barre-based classes out there. While the technique is also based on the Lotte Berk technique, The Bar Method was created with the help of physical therapists to accommodate and challenge students of all ages and body types, even those with physical limitations. "Every new exercise and/or variation is vetted according to high standards," Kiesha Ramey-Presner, a Bar Method master instructor and trainer, says. "The technique itself has evolved over many years to provide an even safer and more effective workout that includes modifications for a multitude of injuries and ailments."

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A Rant Against Unrealistic Diet Expectations

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!
 

Spark: No, I Really Don't Care What Cher Eats for Lunch
 

There's a trend that's been popping up all over the internet the last few months and, before you ask, no, it has nothing to do with using the weirdest item in your home to apply makeup. No, this trend is worse because it simplifies a complicated issue by trying to make us think, "Celebrities: they're just like me!" But, I mean, they're not.
 
As editor of SparkPeople, I make it my mission to stay on the up-and-up with the latest and greatest in health, fitness and nutrition. To keep up, I follow several outlets on social media. A few months ago, I started to notice this framework, over and over and over again: "What [Insert Popular Celebrity Who Probably Has a Bangin' Bod] Eats in a Day." A quick search and you can get an intimate look into the breakfast, lunch and dinner plates of everyone from Nicole Kidman, Shay Mitchell and Cher to Misty Copeland, Gigi Hadid and Wonder Woman herself. Also, the Queen. Oh, and the Kardashians, obviously.

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50 Things to Consider Before Giving up on Your Goals

When you set out on your journey to self-betterment, what were your goals? Were you determined to fit in that dreamy dress before December? Pushing toward becoming a Pilates pro? Fixated on flexing your fierce muscles four times a week? Maybe you were motivated to meal-plan your way to health? Riled up by the idea of running a race posthaste?
 
Whatever goal drives you, there are bound to be days when you're just not feeling it. Between stress at work, shuttling kids back and forth between activities, getting dinner on the table, enjoying a happy hour, walking the dog and remembering to pick up the dry cleaning, daily life has a funny way of getting in the way of our goals and motivation no matter how determined we were at the start of the journey. On the days when the couch is calling your name or the thought of eating another kale chip makes you want to cry, even the most inspired vision board is futile. On those days, you'll be happy you bookmarked this list.

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Start Summer With Socks, Santa and Squats With Schnauzers

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!

Spark: Santa! I Know Him!

 

A post shared by SparkPeople (@sparkpeople) on May 20, 2017 at 5:25am PDT

Whether you were a skeptic or a more-excited-than-Will-Ferrell-in-"Elf" believer, most of us fell for the world's greatest lie to some degree as children. Santa Claus was the man. He could do no wrong, he was a people pleaser and that magical giggle was enough to bring a smile to even the grumpiest of faces.

As kids, we believed in the impossible, the magical and the opportunity for greatness. Santa Claus was the epitome of this and as we aged and stopped believing, many of us lost that zest for the incredible and magical along the way. One of the unfortunate side effects of our transition from the gawky teenage years to the anxieties of adulthood and beyond is that we sometimes stop believing in our ability to do great things. When life comes at you hard and fast, or you've experienced one failure after another, or you simply feel like you're stuck in a rut that you can't climb your way out of, it's easy to think "Well, I'm just not worth it" or "I guess this is just the way things are now." It's what leads to overeating and complacency, weight gain and being sedentary.

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Are Your Fears and Self-Criticisms Holding You Back?

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!

Spark: Little Ears are Listening

From a young age, it's an uncontested truth that mother knows best. While we don't do it often enough, every Mother's Day is a chance to reflect on all the ways the women who raised us regularly resembled superheroes in disguise. Whether it's them flying in out of nowhere to help you find that shirt that you swore was in your bottom drawer but is now lost and you absolutely must wear today; calming you down when you take the curlers out of your hair an hour before prom only to realize that there's a good chance your date might mistake you for a poodle; or talking you off the ledge the first year you do your taxes on your own, moms have this omniscient extrasensory perception that seems to give them advanced degrees in almost anything at a moment's notice.

As with any great power, this indubitable wisdom also comes with great responsibility. For moms who are struggling with their body image or weight, it's the offhand remarks that make just as permanent a mark as the intentional advice. "Well that cookie is going straight to my thighs." "I could never wear a shirt like that with these belly rolls." "I just wish I could lose my arm jiggle." "I love pasta but I always feel so guilty! Looks like I'll be skipping dinner tonight." Children especially are at risk of latching on to these self-deprecating sighs mumbled under your breath. Take this video featuring young girls repeating phrases they've heard their mother's say, for instance, and consider all the times you've verbalized a frustration with your own body.   

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Regain Agility and Reduce Pain with the Alexander Technique

It happens quickly, seemingly overnight. You stand up after a decent night's sleep and suddenly there's a small, irritating pain in your low back and you can't for the life of you figure out how you would have tweaked it. A few months later, it's your knee and then your left shoulder and neck. Suddenly it's difficult to remember what it felt like to spring out of bed like some kind of superhero without the twinges of pain that cause you to cringe before the day even begins.
 
Yes, getting older can be a literal pain sometimes, but you can decrease your chances of aches running your life with some smart, targeted training. While many are familiar with the benefits of functional fitness training, Mary Derbyshire, author of the book "Agility at Any Age," endorses another kind of training to keep your body in tip-top shape no matter your age. The Alexander Technique is a mindfulness practice that focuses on how our daily habits negatively interfere with how our bodies were designed to move. Introduced to the technique as part of her acting and theater curriculum in college, Derbyshire later became a certified instructor after realizing that she was drawn to teaching and communicating with people.

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Why You Should Embrace Humor and Your 'Thunder Thighs'

Every month The Go Get It Guide is your destination for motivation, musings on random goals and probably pop culture references. It's a space where we'll sort through the PR pitches and news, then share our honest thoughts on what's happening in the health and fitness world, what's on the horizon and just what we think of that video the internet obsessed over last week. Check in each month to Spark, Sweat, Smile, Savor and Shop with us!

Smile: A Love Letter to the Goofballs Who Play Baseball

I love baseball for a lot of really important reasons—the intensity of a pitcher's duel, the glory of a walk-off, the anxiety of a no-no in action, the excitement of Opening day, a well-executed double play, all-out diving catches in the outfield, the grace of an infielder flipping a ball behind his back or through the knees after a particularly epic sliding catch. My brothers play ball, I played softball, my family and I are aggressive Cincinnati Reds fans and, really, is there anything better than taking in a game on a cool summer night under the lights? I could go on and on.

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