Below I’ll share some of the tips and principles I’ve learnt along the way. I strongly believe these habit builders can be the difference between good intentions and real, lasting results.

Start with a plan. Take a minute to jot down your fitness goals. Read the list back and memorize each goal. Display them in an attention grabbing spot—maybe beside your bed, in your office or on the bathroom wall—and read them whenever you have a chance.

Schedule workouts. Your workout is just as important as a business meeting, so treat it like one. Block out the time in your calendar then mentally check each workout off as you complete it.

Find support. Find a workout buddy or go to an exercise class. Planning a routine with like-minded people helps keep you honest and focused. Tell friends and family about your fitness program and they can provide support too.

Enjoy yourself. Getting into the habit of exercising regularly and enjoying yourself is more important than forcing yourself to conform to a certain mode of exercise. Which is more effective, the super high-intensity lifting program you do for two weeks or an enjoyable mix of sport, group exercise and light jogging that you stick to? Short-term change will only yield short-term benefits. Focus on creating a program you can see yourself doing this time next year.

Avoid the “all or nothing”. Don’t demand too much of yourself in an effort to get “there” more quickly. Think of fitness as an on-going process. If things get hectic remember that any exercise is better than none and if things are really crazy it’s alright to miss a workout. Don’t get down on yourself over things you can’t control, just schedule a date to get in and have a great workout next time!



I buy a heap load of bananas. I consumer some during the week, but I also freeze them. Instead of using ice for my smoothies, I use bananas!

Simple tip I know, but oh so good!

We all get emotional at work and sometimes feel overwhelmed.  For me, frustration, anger, sadness and even happiness ("happy tears") can be expressed by crying, but I've had to learn to curb my emotions on the job. Crying at work over stress or frustration doesn't help you, and it makes a tough work situation more awkward for those around you. You and your coworkers can't focus on a solution if you're crying. And you also don't want to be viewed as the person in the office who can't handle tough or stressful situations.  When you're at work and feel tears coming on, taking a break from the situation ("going outside") can help you calm down, get your emotions in check and return to the situation with a clearer head.

Women are often accused of being "overly emotional," and I'm not suggesting you can't be emotional at work -- but if you can learn how to channel your emotional energy into constructive ways, you'll be able to solve problems when they arise and not let your emotions cloud your judgement.

This, however, is where I start to hate Facebook. It's gotten too public. WAY too public - I'm friends with my parents, my godfather, friends of my parents, professors. I'm even friends with the dean of my graduate school on Facebook; his recent trip to China seemed to go quite well, by the way.

There is public information about me on Facebook that I'm not comfortable with displaying. However, the alteration of recent privacy settings means that I'm not able to make that information private. Some people have suggested that if we're not comfortable having certain information available to the wider public online, then maybe we shouldn't be engaged with that information or have those friends.

To this idea and people who espouse this view, I'm baffled. Have they always shared every bit of information about themselves to every person they meet? I'd rather not let my grandmother know about certain bits of my life, just like I'd rather not let my friends know everything I'm interested in. What I tell my brother may be drastically different from what I tell the kid that sat next to me in 10th grade math class. And you know what? That's perfectly fine.

The point is that it's for us to decide what information is made public about ourselves. It's not Facebook's job to make pictures of me open for public viewing. It may be more lucrative for Facebook to sell my public information to marketers, but individual privacy shouldn't be determined by profits. We shouldn't be tricked into making that information public, also.

Navigating Facebook privacy settings is confusing and takes a long time. However, here are some articles that will help you protect your information and allow you to choose what you show the world and your various social circles.

How to Protect Your Privacy with Facebook's New Privacy Settings in 17 Easy Steps

8 Steps to Regain Control of Your Facebook Privacy

A Facebook Proposal: Let's Make Gmail Contacts and Google Reader Subscriptions Public

Demand Your dotRights: Facebook Petition - a petition by the ACLU about putting comprehensive privacy controls into the hands of users.

Reading this segment will help you optimize your fitness routine, learn effective training methods and even improve your overall quality of life… or at least provide a quick distraction from a busy day at work.

YOUR fitness related questions will provide the subject matter for my weekly posts. Email me at ralph@enrgfitnesschicago.com, then check back next week to see which fitness problem/myth/conundrum we’ll be tackling first!

Want to learn more about my background? Click here for a brief history lesson.

In the meantime though, to preserve a level of sanity we all seem to forget about when re-adjusting to large, life changing decisions, I joined the Junior League of Stamford-Norwalk.

I can't begin to write about how excited I am about this.

A friend of mine, shortly after we graduated college, suggested I look into it in DC, but I never quite got around to joining past going to the info sessions. Too much money, too much time and I was too busy working two jobs and planning a wedding.

But now? I've got a lot of time. I don't know many people outside of family and a couple of bloggers I met last year at BlogHer, so I went to a couple info sessions, and the first provisional class. So far, so good.

Reasons why, if you're on the fence, you should join Junior League:

Meeting New People

There are almost 30 girls in my provisional class. Many of whom I'm sure I'll become fairly close with by the end of the spring, I'm excited that a few of them live close to me and that most seem to be around my age and a couple of them are new to the area like myself! What better way to make pals?

Service

Junior League, is first and foremost, about serving the community. Each chapter has different causes they work for, but all of them are centered around women, families and communities. Many chapters, in addition to the community service, advocate for other causes such as human traffiking and programs that support women and families.

Networking

Not only does something like this look good on a resume, but it's a great source of networking. With the number of women involved you're sure to meet someone who will help any career goals you may have. In my chapter here, 60% of our members work (as opposed to other chapters who have less working women), you're sure to meet someone with interests similar to yours. Not only that, but the leadership you can gain from junior league is sure to give any stagnant post-collegiate resume a boost.

Do I even need to rave about the famous women like Eleanor Roosevelt, Sandra Day O'Connor, Barbara Bush, Laura Bush, Katharine Hepburn, Nancy Reagan, Shirley Temple and Betty Ford. What an amazing mix of legendary women!

You can find a chapter in your area here. Also, find out more about Junior League causes here.

What do you turn to as an attempt to lift your spirits? For many women, it’s shopping, or “retail therapy.” The blog Money Management International highlights the results of a study that show when you’re feeling blue, sad shoppers tend to spend as much as 300% more for an item compared to other shoppers who are in a more “neutral” mood. An additional study shows that when you spend money on an experience instead of more stuff, you’ll be happier.

So the next time you’re feeling blue:

• Phone a friend and make plans to see each other (for NON-shopping activities).
• Treat yourself to dinner – somewhere you haven’t been before, or an old favorite.
• Go to wine, cheese or chocolate tasting – in Chicago you can experience all three at Enology.
• Take a yoga, cooking, dance or art class. Look for a yoga studio where you can drop in for a class even if you’re not signed up.
• See what book groups or author events are happening at your local bookstores and libraries.
• Head to an exhibit you’ve been wanting to check out.
• Go see a movie, play, comedy show or a local dance troupe.
• Find an organization that you feel passionate about and volunteer.

Even better, check out what free days and activities are available around town and your local museums. In Chicago, the Local Tourist compiled this “free days” calendar.

Just like grocery shopping when you’re hungry results in poor food choices, shopping when you’re sad can result making bad financial decisions. Respond to your mood with choices that will have a better impact on your well-being, both immediately and in the long-run.

What activities and experiences would you recommend instead of shopping?

[Image: FreeFoto.com]

image c/o Getty

As a new mom at 33, I have PLENTY of things to tell you about body image.May I also add that my pre baby clothes do not fit, I have a new set of hips and my chest looks like it exploded in a carnival theme park:).

So many things to say, but I decided to list some of my top ideas below. I hope some of you pay close attention to them:

1) It starts with science. In your early 20s, start forming good eating and exercise habits because your metabolism sloooows down. This happens to all of us. Every single one. This isn't about keeping a trim figure, it's about having a balanced approach to food and nutrition.

2) Start to cut down on the amount of alcohol you consume. If you smoke, stop. I have many friends in their 30s who have lines around their mouths, care of the smoking.

3) Love your crooked nose. I have big eyes (I used to be called 'bug eyes'), a wide nose and a pinky fingers that I can't bend. I also have second toes that are longer than my big toe, hence the nickname in high school, 'eagle toe'.

4) People are born with certain genes. I had a girlfriend who always had porcelain looking skin (she still does) seemed to eat whatever she wanted and never gain a pound. I found myself trying to keep up with her, but I drove myself crazy and almost ruined our friendship. All because of my chromosome jealousy.

5) Enjoy real sugar. Really, sugar. Don't consumer a CRAP LOAD of it. But I use real sugar in my coffee and baked goods. In moderation, I think it is OK. Your body knows what to do with real sugar and butter...which means how to break them down. I hate to keep bringing up the French in my posts, but I will. They eat rich, but in moderation....and they walk a lot.

6) Remove the negative energy around you. If you are surrounded by other women that only talk about losing weight, going on binge diets or wants to cut up their bodies, this isn't healthy. 

7) Our bodies are dormant. This means that what you do to yourself in the early years will slowly simmer, boil and come to the surface later in life. The tanning I did in my teens came through in my 20s with new moles. My older sister had skin cancer.  The smoking I do not do and the sunscreen I use all the time shows - I always get complimented on having a youthful smile.

8) So you gained a few pounds? Who cares? I met my husband when I was the tender age of 29. That's right, my LATE 20s. I was a bit plumper when we met around the middle, but it didn't phase Michael. He told me he fell in love with my humor, confidence and overall spirit.

9) Develop a gym routine. Something as simple as three times a week. Stretching, lifting a few weights, etc. all leads up to strong bones, posture and a solid core. Having just given birth, I have another week before I can go back to the gym and I'm itching to go. I can't stretch as much, my back hurts and I need to sweat out some new mom nerves:).

10) Stop buying those tabloid magazines. 

If, at ANY time, ANY of you find yourselves questioning what you look like and want to talk to someone, I'm here. And if I can't chat with you right away, I'll find someone who can.

Heidi, you should join Gals' Guide:)

In researching different ways/tips to get organized, I came across Martha Stewart's website. She has different organizing checklists such as 6 Things To Do Every Day, Weekly Cleaning, Monthly Cleaning, Seasonal Cleaning, and more.  You can even print out these checklists and check items off as you go along.  These tasks seem so simple that a checklist isn't needed but the satisfaction I get from crossing something off of a list is worth it.  I am going to give her advice a chance and see how it goes.  I am hoping that these will eventually become habits and not something that I have to think about.  

Now I'm stuck in this apartment for a while, unless, god forbid, something should go wrong. So two months into my new life in Los Angeles my walls are still very bare and very sad. I scoured IKEA for some prints, but I didn't find anything that felt very "me" (for less than $60.) I've added so many prints to my list on Etsy, but after paying for and shipping all of it, well, I'd have less money to spend on wine. Obviously you see what my priorities are.

Then I got an idea. I remembered seeing a cute crafty project pop up in my Google Reader a few weeks ago. Someone created butterflies out of magazine pages and used them to decorate her walls. I wish I could remember the post so I could give her credit!

I started by grabbing past copies of Real Simple and Wired (my two loves) and tore out pages that I liked. Once I had a pile of about 50 pages, I cut out a stencil of a butterfly that I could trace on each one. It's time consuming, but totally worth it.

Once the butterflies are all cut out, first I do a happy dance. What? Those scissors get hard to hold after a while! I thought about doing different sizes, but I got lazy and only drew one stencil. Now it's time to place them throughout the apartment!

So there you go! One of my favorite things about the butterflies, besides adding some color to my walls, is that they are tiny pieces of a bigger picture. Sometimes I include part of an article on them or even an advertisement. There's a lot of variety!

Happy decorating!