4 Tips to Stop the Fat Talk for Good
Fat talk. We've all done it. We have all looked in the mirror at one time or another and said negative things about our physical appearance.
In fact, we probably do it so often that we don't even notice it anymore.
We pinch our bellies and grumble about our thighs rubbing together and look at the dimples on the backs of our legs in disgust for years. We say it in our heads, we share it with our girlfriends, and even when our partners complement our bodies, we argue with their assessment. We do it so often that it seems totally normal.
But it's not.
We aren't made to be filled with self-hatred, self-loathing and negative self-talk; yet somehow it has become completely acceptable to be our own worst enemy.
So how can you stop this kind of talk? How can we go from bashing our bodies on a regular basis to thinking more positively and replacing those negative thoughts with loving ones? Start with these four strategies.
Posted 4/17/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 92 comments 129,780 views
3 Symptoms Your Husband Shouldn't Ignore
Your husband says he has a nagging pain below his ribs, chest tightness that won’t quit or has simply been feeling sluggish lately, but doesn’t feel like calling his doctor (or doesn’t have one). Here are three symptoms he (and you) should take seriously.
Posted 4/16/2014 6:00:00 AM By: : 24 comments 135,600 views
A Quick, Zero-Equipment Cardio Workout
Are you getting bored with your cardio routine? Spice things up with this quick, efficient (and kinda fun!) cardio workout that can be done with or without impact in a small space at home. I’ll show modification options during the routine, so be sure to stick with whatever works best for your body!
Posted 4/16/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 135 comments 146,672 views
2 Easy Tips for a Great Workout Every Time
Whether you're a casual exerciser or an elite athlete, we've all been through workouts when our minds begin to interfere, preventing us from achieving our daily goals. In fact, research has proven that it's usually the mind—not the body—that fatigues first and stops us from reaching our full physical potential.
Even top Olympic athletes deal with mental distraction and fatigue during their training sessions. It is in these moments that they must learn how to effectively master their minds in order to sustain motivation, confidence, intensity, focus, and emotional control so that they can follow through on their pre-planned workouts and prepare for competition.
Posted 4/14/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 45 comments 53,895 views
How to Keep Your House Clean in 15 Minutes a Day!
If you hate having a designated cleaning day, but love having a clean house, it can seem that the only solution is to hire a cleaning service. But that can be expensive, and many people who hire others to do the dirty work for them often end up cleaning before the cleaning staff arrives anyway! You can avoid spending an entire day cleaning the house if you break the housekeeping chores up into about 15-minute segments each day of the week. This will let you maintain a pretty clean house much of the time without having to spend your entire Saturday scrubbing.
Here we've broken up most of the cleaning necessities into shorter sessions you can fit into each day of the week—with one cleaning-free day off to enjoy your spic and span house!
Posted 4/7/2014 6:00:00 AM By: : 111 comments 481,508 views
Kim Changed Her Eating Habits and Made a Commitment to Exercise to Drop 95 Pounds!*
Name: Kim Phelan
Username: KIMPY225
Amount of weight lost: 95 pounds
Hometown: Richboro, PA
Occupation: Clerical
Age: 28
While growing up, Kim played many different sports including soccer, softball and volleyball. In high school, she weighed 140 pounds. At the time, she felt overweight because most of the girls she knew weighed 120 pounds or less. When Kim started college, she weighed 155 pounds. Over the years, she kept gaining more and more weight until she reached 250 pounds. By that point she had stopped playing sports and stayed inside most of the time because she felt out of breath constantly and hated the way she looked. Unfortunately, she also didn't like herself enough to do anything about it.
Once Kim's doctor warned her that she had high blood pressure, which put her at risk for having a stroke, she knew she had to do something about her weight. Kim decided to do whatever it took to lose weight and be a healthier person. Learn how she accomplished so much more in the process.
Posted 4/6/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 71 comments 53,153 views
Declutter Your Home in 30 Days
Clutter can get out of control in a hurry. Odds and ends get stashed in a junk drawer to remain for eternity. Mud rooms become places where muddy shoes land and never leave. Nightstands breed glasses of water and hand lotion and books. And bookshelves, well, they become catchalls for way more than novels.
So you want to declutter and maybe donate a few things to charity or gear up for a garage sale, but where on earth do you start? The thought of decluttering the entire house is understandably overwhelming. But we've got a process to help you break this massive task into manageable pieces: a 30-day plan to less clutter.
Depending on the severity of your personal clutter, some tasks may be best suited for longer weekend projects or divided into smaller tasks (such as a garage clean-up). But some are smaller and easy to fit into any day. No matter how long it takes you, each item on the list will have you one step closer to a cleaner house and a lighter outlook on life.
Posted 4/5/2014 6:00:00 AM By: : 188 comments 1,131,938 views
Justyna Lost 65 Pounds with a Little Help from Her SparkFriends*
Name: Justyna Lawrence
Username: Justyna7
Amount of weight lost: 65 pounds
Hometown: Richmond, Ontario, Canada
Occupation: Bed and Breakfast Owner
Age: 53
Justyna experienced gestational diabetes with her first pregnancy which was complicated by an undiagnosed eating disorder (Bulimia) as well as being an emotional eater. Once her baby arrived she realized she needed to admit her eating was out of control and sought help. Overeater's Anonymous and their 12 steps helped Justyna realize the "dragon" in her life was real. In Alcoholics Anonymous, people learn to slay the dragon but in Overeater's Anonymous, participants have to learn how to walk the dragon three times a day.
Justyna got counseling to help her deal with her demons. She battled with yo-yo dieting through two more pregnancies after which she experienced a steady weight increase that was resulting in a ten pound weight gain every year. At her top weight of 264 pounds, walking was like walking on shards of glass. At 46 years of age, she wasn't the best candidate for knee replacements and found herself spending most of her days in an electric lift chair in a bedroom.
Posted 3/30/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 62 comments 45,350 views
.jpg)
3 Ways to Get Back on Track During an Off Day
We’ve all been there. We had a few fabulous days of eating healthy and exercising and then—BANG—all of a sudden life happens. A late night out with friends, a last-minute business trip, a sick child at home. You’ve either missed your designated time for fitness or you simply don’t have the energy to prepare a healthy meal. Either way, you’ve hit a wall and are having an off day. Sometimes it can take several days before you find yourself inspired enough to give your nutrition and exercise program another shot. It’s the vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting at its best, but it can be stopped.
As an expert of sport and exercise psychology, one of my objectives is to help my clients work through the off days we all inevitably experience from time to time. Here are three techniques you can use right now to not only get switched back on during an off day, but also to limit the amount of off days you have altogether. The end result is that you’ll give yourself the greatest opportunity to follow through on your daily goals and achieve your personal best mind, body and overall spirit.
Posted 3/27/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 107 comments 139,182 views
Amber Lost 100+ Pounds and Found Confidence in Herself*
Name: Amber
Username: EELS4PEELS
Amount of weight lost: 125ish
Hometown: Savannah, GA
Occupation: AR Administrator
Age: 24
Amber was happy with life before her weight loss, just not her physical appearance. Being obese nearly all her life prevented her from seeing what else her life could be. That was until reality smacked her in the face several times. Her first self-esteem crushing experience came while visiting an amusement park when she was removed from a ride for being too large. Another was when no one would dance with her during her senior year Homecoming party. But the most important realization came from watching her mother's health deteriorate and understanding how much of it was related to obesity. Amber hated seeing her mother in so much pain and did not want to be in the same position.
A new year brings new resolve and that is exactly what happened for Amber in 2011. She decided to take action instead of continuing to sit around and feel sorry for herself. She ripped a piece of paper out of a journal and wrote a list of things that she resolved were going to happen during the year. Her list consisted of key goals like losing weight, making new friends, spending more money on herself and learning to love herself. Although she knew she had a lot of work to do, her mind was made up and once she discovered SparkPeople.com, she was on her way.
Posted 3/23/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 58 comments 60,950 views
HIIT Workout: An Hour's Worth of Cardio in 20 Minutes!
These days, high intensity interval training is hot. More and more exercise researchers are discovering that steady state cardio still does a body good—but pushing your body during shorter bursts of high intensity effort can achieve similar—if not better—results in less time. Sure you have to work harder but I prefer to think of it as working smarter, taking a 60-minute indoor cycling class, for example, and getting all of the same health and fitness benefits in just 20 minutes. Who’s not up for that?
Posted 3/18/2014 5:00:00 AM By: : 22 comments 499,074 views
.png)
How Amanda Lost 105 Pounds the Healthy Way*
Name: Amanda
Username: POOKASLUAGH
Amount of weight lost: 105 lbs
Hometown: San Antonio, TX
Occupation: Stay at home mom
Age: 34
Amanda gained weight while dealing with years of medications and illness. Although she would eat healthy portion sizes and exercised regularly, she kept getting sick and kept gaining weight. The larger she got, the more shame she felt because of her size. She avoided photos and going to public places. She found it especially difficult to face people she had known before her illness, when she was more than a hundred pounds lighter. Amanda's body hurt all the time and she was extremely depressed.
Once she had fully healed from her illness, Amanda admits that she only tried halfheartedly to lose weight. She was angry, depressed and overwhelmed, and didn't really want to face the long journey ahead of her. Many people dealing with illness find themselves in the exact same situation. Learn how a dream and a slow and steady approach helped Amanda reclaim her life and her health.
Posted 3/16/2014 12:00:00 PM By: : 61 comments 66,405 views
Kimberly Dropped 100 Pounds and Took Control of Her Health by Making Small Changes *
Name: Kimberly Pinney
Username: KIMBERLY0916
Amount of weight lost: 100 pounds
Hometown: Logan, OH
Occupation: Student
Age: 38
Kimberly Pinney transformed her life and her body by making one small healthy choice at a time until they turned into habits that helped her lose 100 pounds and take control of three serious medical conditions: bipolar disorder, IBS and fibromyalgia.
Posted 3/9/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 82 comments 56,875 views
Love Motivated Donde to Change Her Lifestyle (and Drop 56 Pounds)!
Name: Donde Moore
Username: DawnDMoore40
Amount of weight lost: 56
Hometown: Marquette Heights, IL
Occupation: Assistant Manager
Age: 43
Donde Moore found the support she needed at SparkPeople to lose 56 pounds before her wedding. She longed to be a beautiful bride and achieved her goal by carefully tracking her food and exercising at home. She still uses the free resources at SparkPeople to maintain her weight without breaking her budget.
Posted 3/2/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 30 comments 43,609 views
A Cardio Workout That Anyone Can Do
The secret to getting started with exercise is simply doing what you can with what you have, today! There’s no need to join a gym or buy fancy equipment--you can start exercising right now with this full-length workout video that incorporates some simple every day items you probably already have around the house (like a sturdy chair and a broom). Join my mom, Debbie, and me for this get-up-and-go routine that can easily be done at home with little space and zero equipment.
Try this routine up to 3 non-consecutive days per week to spark your fitness habit!
And, if you enjoy this workout, please be sure to check out all of our beginner workouts on our website. Need something even more low-key to start with? Check out our seated chair workout series for more options.
Posted 2/26/2014 12:00:00 AM By: : 61 comments 142,985 views
‹ Back Read More Entries ›
.png)
