The Ultimate Home Workout for Women

The following are a few simple exercises that you can do at home that require no specialized other than basic equipment that you may find around your home that you can do to tone up and look great!
The object of the workout should be intensity, so rest no more than two minutes at the end of each circuit before starting the next one.



Other tips: Perform 8-12 repetitions of each exercise (resulting in failure at the last rep), and work up to four to six complete circuits.

Now before you start, you should warm up properly and stretch. Warm-up exercises and stretching are essential to any workout. Both help prepare your muscles and joints for more intense activity. This helps prevent injury, as well as promoting circulation. Warm-up exercises should be done before stretching.

Warm-up exercises increase the temperature of the body, making the muscles more flexible and receptive to strenuous activity. Warming up should slightly increase the heart rate but not to the level experienced during your workout. The warm-up should be intense enough to increase your body temperature but not strenuous enough to cause fatigue. A rule of thumb might be to work hard enough to break a mild sweat.

Eating a Rainbow Every Day

Though you can’t literally eat a rainbow, you can consume a rainbow of colors in your produce.  Because beneficial vitamins and phytochemicals are found in a variety of fruits and vegetables, to get enough of them in your diet means consuming a spectrum of produce.  Certain colors are equated with certain nutrients*, too, such as orange and the antioxidant beta-carotene.  Foods sharing the same color have specific properties that target specific diseases.  Cancer experts recommend eating from each of the following rainbow groups daily as a measure of prevention:

Got a Favorite Snack that's a little odd?

Anyone else have some go-to snacks that seem to make those around you nervous? The more new health food novelties I experiment with (kale chips? Bright orange nutritional yeast sprinkled on everything?) the more I'm discovering a great side benefit: I can freely offer to share with those around me, and no one takes me up on it!

My new favorite, which I mentioned last time, is a seaweed snack that the sinister folks at Trader Joe's are seducing innocent snackers with.

I was cheerfully oblivious for many years, because I've never been a sushi fan and thought "seaweed? No way!"

And the first time I tried one of these seaweed snacks, I almost spit it out.  Eww!  It tastes fishy, what a vile and disagreeable thing for a cracker to do! Who would eat these on purpose? That's... hmm, hang on... because it seems there is this also a nice little oily salty crunchy action going on behind the fish taste.... Maybe not so gross? Perhaps one more... No, Eww there's the fish again! Aack! But wait... mmm, oil and salt, yumm!

By the end of the first pack, sadly, I was hooked.  Now, damn it, I am forced to visit Trader Joe's on an ever-escalating schedule. Because if I tried to buy a week, or god forbid, a month's, supply... I'd need a forklift and a dumptruck and it's hard to find parking for 'em in the crowded TJ's lot.

However, it could be worse: as it happens, there are lots of nifty seaweed health benefits, since sea vegetables have "anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anticoagulant, antithrombotic, and antiviral properties."

And despite the lovely oily/salty flavor, the nutritional info isn't too horrible at all:

Hate Me For Going On and On About Trader Joes 'Cause You Don't Have One?

Doesn't it suck that we can have a McDonald's on every freakin' corner throughout the world, and yet getting to your nearest Trader Joe's may require you to drive for 47 hours and cross through several large red states on your way?  Well, there are other brands of seaweed snacks at Asian grocery stores and health food places. And I'm too much of a novice to have investigated other sea vegetables, or even tried the bit sheets of nori that aren't conveniently marketed and displayed as snacks. But I suspect these may be options as well.

Anyone else know of any Scary Snacks, either that you or others around you fear? Or any thoughts on anything at all?