5 Ways to Exercise--At Home!

I have always loved a good workout! I've been active my entire life. Growing up in country, I hiked, biked, and ran all the time. I started organized track and field in fourth grade and ran all the way through high school. I did ballet and ballroom dance through college for exercise, too. I much prefer to be outside than working out in a gym. But lately, it's been super cold and gross outside. Here are 5 ways to get a good workout in your living room!

My cat, Dorian, loves yoga!

1. Yoga. I've been doing yoga for over a year, now--and I've never taken a class! Do I have the "perfect" form? Probably not, but I've learned what works for my body and how to listen to what my body needs, so it's worked really well for me. Here are a couple sites I used to get started:

• http://yoga.about.com/
• http://www.yogajournal.com

2. Barre Technique. If you have ever been to a ballet class, you have probably started at the barre. So take it to your workout! It sounds easy, but it is a workout. Make sure you have a mirror and you use correct posture and technique, or you could really hurt yourself. Here's a good site to get you going, but if you don't have an experienced ballet instructor who can check your posture and positions, it might not be a good idea to try it on your own.

• http://dance.about.com/

3. Exercise Ball. This thing is not only great for a workout, but sit on it while you watch TV--your abs and obliques might feel a little sore the next morning! An exercise ball is really good for a variety of exercises. You can target certain areas and also do a full body workout. Here's the most complete list of exercises to try:

• http://www.ball-exercises.com

4. Dance with the Stars. I competed in ballroom a few years ago and loved it! Dancing with the Stars is huge right now and these DVDs are pretty fun. They aren't completely accurate when it comes to "correct" ballroom steps, so don't get good at them and think you know how to dance, but they are really fun to do!

5. Do Housework. Sounds silly, but a few weeks ago, this study came out. In 1965 women did 25.7 hours of housework and in 2010 women only did 13.3 hours of housework. Women in 2010 were, on average, 22 pounds heavier than women were in 1965. So get up off the couch and run a vacuum around your house!

Hope you're staying warm and staying active!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

5 Easy Ways to Feel Great on International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day! In honor of today, here are 5 ways to feel amazing without going through too much trouble.

1. Give yourself a quick manicure. If you have a favorite color of nail polish, break it out! If you don't like nail polish that's okay, too! Give yourself a nail soak, use an orange stick to *gently* push back your cuticles, and then take a nail file to the rough edges of your nails. Clean and even nails are a great way to feel great in 5 minutes!

2. Do 15 minutes of yoga. In silence. What woman isn't overwhelmed?! Turn off the TV, radio, and iPod, grab your yoga mat, and breathe in a quick, calming workout!

3. Straighten your house in 3 songs. Whether you're a working woman, stay-at-home mom, or somewhere in between, a lot of us have the instinct of wanting a clean house but we really don't like cleaning. Put Pandora on your favorite station, crank it up, and straighten up your house for three songs. You'll be surprised at how much it actually helps!

4. Do something for only yourself. We tend to spend our lives helping everyone around us and ignoring ourselves. What is the one thing you used to do by yourself that you miss most from when you were single or before you had kids or before you got a job? Take 10 minutes and do it!

5. Do something for the women you love. We do help the people around us, and we like doing it! So today, do something for the women in your life that you love. Maybe a phone call, a text, or an email just to see how they're doing would be nice. Or if you want to step it up, flowers or chocolate are always appreciated. Well, almost always...find out what that woman's stance on chocolate is before you give her a box of it! ;-)

Have a wonderful day celebrating yourself and the women in your life!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Weekly Resolutions

Well, here we are: almost a week into 2013. The excitement and dedication to New Year's resolutions is wearing off a bit. Some people are still going strong, but others of us (including myself for some of mine) have already fallen off our resolution plan and are trying valiantly to get back on it.

I got to thinking about resolutions and the month or so during which we all try so hard to keep them. While it might be pessimistic to assume that everyone is going to fail (although statistically, most people do fail), I love the feeling that January has. Everyone is trying hard to do the "right" thing: eat better, work out, be nicer to coworkers, rekindle the flame in marriage, be more patient with kids, etc. Everyone is actively trying to do a better job in their lives. I love that! To me that means that no matter if (or when) people stop doing their resolutions, the first part of the year, whether it be a week in January or the first few months, is infinitely better than it could have been if people hadn't tried.

So what if, instead of making resolutions for a year, which is an awfully long time, we made one resolution for a week or a month at the most? I understand that it takes about three weeks to form a habit, but what about the person to whom three weeks seems like a lifetime? How can they possibly commit to that?

Weekly resolutions. That's all it would take to make our world an immensely better place. Because if you commit to something for a week and honestly try, you will see a positive difference. Then how could you not re-resolve that resolution the next week with new commitment and fervor?!

Also, weekly resolutions instead of yearly ones allows people to try more things. For example, I am an incredibly rigid perfectionist when it comes to schedules and tracking things. If I mess something up, I will almost certainly not continue it. Likewise, if I find something I would like to pursue in the second week of February, I will not add it to my "New Year's Resolution List" because I didn't start it in January, and it will soon be forgotten. Weekly resolutions would allow me to choose anything, anything, I wanted to resolve to try that week, regardless of when I discovered it. This would allow me to broaden my horizons without feeling guilty or "messing up" my schedule.

So. My weekly resolution for this week of January 7 through January 13 (Monday through Sunday) is to do yoga every day. I know it's incredibly good for me, I used to do it on a daily basis, and I have a time for it in my daily schedule. I am committing to following that for one week. I know it will make a positive difference in my life because I know it reduces my stress levels, which lessens the pain I'm in. The less pain I'm in, the more I can focus on helping the people around me which, in turn, makes me happy. Full circle!

Who knows? Maybe I'll end up with a habit again!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

5 Ways to Take Time for Yourself!

This morning I woke up to see 1520 views of ChickOpinion! Wow! I never thought I would get this many views in only three weeks! Thank you for making this fantastic opportunity a success! :)

I am going to take a day off of talking about the news today. I feel like it gets too negative and I don't want to start my weekend (or yours!) off like that!

The beautiful, cold autumn sky outside.

It's another gorgeous sunrise this morning! I am going to take today for myself (well, part of it!). I've gotten a little bit off track in terms of keeping tabs on my health over the last couple weeks because I've gotten busier. A lot of people have the misconception that taking time for yourself means blowing off responsibilities in other parts of your life. I think that only happens rarely--like if you don't routinely take time for yourself and then decide to take a whole day or a whole week for yourself. That can be damaging to your own psyche, your family, and your job because shirking your duties will really just end up making you feel guilty. You will end up making the false association between taking time for yourself and feeling guilty for taking time for yourself.

Here are five things I love doing to take time for myself that don't have to take a lot of time (but can take a lot of time if you want them to!):

• Yoga. I know some guys might think this a "girl thing" because girls are usually more flexible than guys. Well, I'm going to say it's for everyone. Breathing and focusing inward during yoga is so powerful and I definitely think men can benefit from it, too.
• Reading. Now I am well aware that not everyone loves reading. But I do! :) Sue Grafton is a huge favorite of mine for books (just finished B is for Burglar!) and for short stories I adore Guy de Maupassant.
• Cooking. This one is kind of funny, because it can be for someone else, but it relaxes me because it's just me in the kitchen and I get to do whatever I want. :) I don't know yet what I'll cook tonight, but I'm excited to have that time for myself.
• Pampering! This is not just for girls!!! If you look good, you have the potential to feel a lot better about yourself! So yesterday I decided to get my eyebrows waxed for the first time. For those of you who haven't seen me, I have brows reminiscent of those of Brooke Shields. :-/ So. I finally went for it! I love the result, but here's a tip: if you are allergic to aloe, tell them ahead of time. Ow! My eyebrow area was all puffy for a couple of hours after the wax because of the "soothing" stuff they put on afterward. Hopefully next time I decide to try the pampering thing it will go a little better! :)
• Create Something. This is something I really love doing. I know that it might sound all artsy-craftsy, but you know, everyone has different ways of creating! This blog, for example, is huge for me. I love it, because every day I get to create this thing that is part of me! I am definitely into the arts and crafts thing, too, tho--I'm making kitty toys this weekend for our little guys and starting on my wedding dress, so there are tons of different things to do! Try to find something that you like doing that is all you and create!

I know everyone has crazy schedules and I'm not trying to be "holier-than-thou" about all this. It's extremely important to take even 10 minutes for you every day. So today, take some time for yourself! Rebuild who you want to be, who you know you are, and get back on track!

Have a great weekend! I'm going to start posting on weekends just to see how it goes, so please keep up with the blog during your football-filled first weekend of Fall!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi