Why I Hate 'Diets'

We've all heard about those crazy diets running around. You know, the ones where you eat nothing but tofu for 6 days straight and then you're supposed to lose 25 pounds. Or you know, some of these. Even the more popular diet systems, like Jenny Craig, or Nutrisystem also have their problems. I dislike a lot of these silly 'diets' that come around. Yes, they may work in the short term, and on some of them, you will lose weight, even a significant amount of weight. But here's the simple truth that a lot of people don't seem to understand:

Diets don't always work long term.

Progress Update

Hey guys!

At the beginning of this year I made a New Year's resolution to take better care of myself. That resolution encompassed a lot of things, not just losing weight. I planned to get more sleep, to get better quality sleep, eat healthier, exercise more, lose weight, all those things.

Now that the year's just over half way done, I thought I'd share my progress with you guys.

The Sweet Tooth Problem

Hey folks! I noticed that I had been doing an awful lot of articles with exercise tips, so it was time for one centering around food.

If you're anything like I am, you absolutely love sweets. And who can blame you? As it turns out, our brains are hardwired to crave sugary, fattening things. That's all well and good, but, what does this mean for people who are dieting or trying to eat healthier? Do we have to cut out sugar completely in order to avoid those extra, empty calories? Absolutely not! There are plenty of delicious sweets and cakes that can satisfy even the most extreme of sweet teeth, all while sticking to your healthier eating plans.

The Hazards of Finding Exercise Wear

Recently, I've been trying to find exercise clothes. I didn't realize, going into it, how difficult it was going to be. Specifically, I was looking for a sports' bra. I'm slightly larger chested, so I do have a hard time finding bras sometimes. Finding a sports' bra, however, proved to be almost next to impossible. After several stores, lots of trying things on, and lots of frustration, I finally found some that work. I actually found a lower impact sports' bra, and a higher impact sports' bra. So, my article today is going to talk about the places that I found the sports' bras, and some recommendations of places to look, based on what you might be looking for.

On Zumba, Gyms and Varying Exercise Routines

Hello again everybody! Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I promise I'll get back on a regular schedule as soon as possible.

Now, if you're like me, exercising can be confusing, difficult, and even frustrating trying to figure out what types of things to do. Add on the knowledge that doing the same routine over and over can lead to the body getting used to the routine, thereby making it less effective, and it can all seem overwhelming. It leaves a girl questioning: "What can I do?"

Finding Exercise Routines that Work for You (aka, why I'm not a Jillian Michaels fan)

Hello again everyone!

Well, when I last updated, I had been doing the 30 day shred workout. I wanted to update you all about my progress. I got through about 7 days on it, and then decided it just wasn't working for me. It wasn't what I wanted for a workout routine for myself, and, quite frankly, I just wasn't the biggest fan of listening to Jillian Michaels over and over. I even tried a different work out video of hers, to see if that would help. Nope. It didn't work for me either. So today, I thought I'd talk to you guys a bit about finding a workout that works for you, and, some of the things I enjoy in my exercise routine.

Exercise Tip: Know Your Limits (aka, how Jillian Michaels taught me to recognize when I might be about to hurt myself)

One of the biggest challenges I've had this year is exercising more. I'm getting better at eating healthy, but I've been working on exercising more. But I've never been good at exercising. Recently, I bought my first exercise DVDs. The first one I'm trying, Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, is meant to be a quick, intense workout that you do every day for 30 days. The advertising says you can lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days. I figured it was worth a try. And I'm glad I did. I learned some pretty important lessons.

Eating Healthy On the Go: Struggles with Restaurants and Weight Loss

We all know that restaurant food can pose problems when you're trying to lose weight. Restaurants have much larger portions, and you don't always know what's going in the food. Calorie and fat content is way higher in a meal from a restaurant than when you can make that same meal yourself. Does that mean you shouldn't ever eat at a restaurant? Of course not. Here are some helpful hints to eating at restaurants and staying within a diet.

Diary Reboot: A lesson in Goal Setting

Hello again, everybody!

I know it's been awhile since my last post, and I apologize for that. Life's been crazy with various things happening, and I didn't have as much time as I wanted to for updating. I did stick with my diet and exercise routines, as much as I could in the craziness that's been my life the past few months. I'm proud to say that I've lost 23 pounds so far. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty proud of myself.

My Fitness Pal

 Hey folks!

I wanted to take some time to tell you all about the app I've been using to aid in my weight loss endeavor, because it's a pretty good app. 

It's called "My Fitness Pal" and it's a free app for both Apple and Android. 

Reasons I love this app: It's really easy to use. I entered in my starting weight, my goal weight, and at what rate I wanted to lose weight. It then calculated the amount of pretty much every nutrient in food I should be eating per day. Really. Fat, calories, carbs, sugar, protein, it's all there. It also calculated how much exercise (cardio) I should be doing in a day.

New Year, New Goals.

Hello again!

It's been a long time since either Dancing Dragonair or myself updated this blog. We kind of got a little distracted with life and various other sundry things, so we put this by the wayside for a little while.

But, it's a new year, and we have new goals. And, more importantly, we're going to stick to them this year, come hell or high water.

I've never set much stock in New Year's Resolutions before, but, this year, I decide to actually make one. It's incredibly simple, yet also incredibly complex: Take better care of myself.