Lisa Newton's Blog – December 2008 Archive (17)

Today is New Year’s Eve Day. 2009 officially starts tomorrow. Tonight many people will be watching the ball drop at Times Square in New York City, drinking an (or maybe more than “an”) alcoholic beverage, eating junk food, and making merriment. It’s tradition to celebrate the start of a new year which is only a few hours away.

But, when it’s all over, what will you do tomorrow? Will you wake up early and start your new fitness routine?…

As some of you might know, I’ve been participating in a December Challenge over at DCUrbanDad. It’s been hard during the holiday season to keep up with my workouts and not eating cookies, pastries, and other holiday goodies. In fact, I was given a box of chocolates more than once during this past week.…

It looks like it. Maybe the recession has some upside.

In Friday’s LATimes, they predicted that the top three expected consumer food and dining trends for this year will be:

1) Dieting out in lieu of good nutrition. And all I can say is that it’s about time. Quick fixes won’t be…

As I stated in a previous post, one of the things I did for myself this holiday season was to get a new bike. Well, I’m excited to say, it arrived on Saturday!!

I ordered it online, but had it delivered to a local bicycle store, so all…

I did it!!

On Saturday, I completed my first 10K--The 31st Annual Santa Monica-Venice Christmas Run & Walk, which benefitted the Harvest Home.

The Pre-race

The 10K started at 7:30, so I woke Saturday…

Too often, during the holiday season, we are so busy shopping, cooking, visiting family members, house cleaning, our children, and a myriad of other activities--we forget to do take the time to relax and do something, anything, for ourselves.

We tend to neglect ourselves.

One stress reducing strategy recommended by the…

Lately clouds have been present here and even some mild sprinkles.

But the sun has poked through long enough for me to get a few walks in. However, they haven’t been as long as I’d like. To top it off, I’ve been trying a new training technique--I’ve been walking up and down a very steep hill. It’s a bit monotonous but the results are not.

Walking up and down a hill qualifies is a HIIT…

The prevailing philosophy when starting most weight loss programs is to eat less and exercise more. The exercise part is totally accurate, however the eat less part isn’t always the case.

Here’s an example:

As this year is quickly coming to a close, and what a wild ride we’ve had lately, I’ve been thinking about the goals I’d made for 2008. Some turned out great, more than one moved forward at a snail’s pace, several just sat there, and a couple didn’t do anything.

Some of us are perfectionists and want it all Type-A personalities, but life isn’t always like a race, or something that can be scientifically executed.…

December is the month full of holiday cheer. It isn’t typically associated with the time to start a challenge for weight loss and fitness maintenance, but that’s what I’m doing.

DC Urban Dad has issued a challenge called the…

I spent Thanksgiving Day in San Diego, and before the festivities began, I wanted to start my day off with a brisk hike. I don’t get to San Diego too often, but when I do I like to make the best of it, of course. I’ve passed by the entrance to this park many times, so I decided that today was the day I was going to explore its grandeur.…

Even though I just started my own strength training, I wanted to share what I’ve learned about its benefits so far.

Unless you’ve added strength training to your exercise routine, you’ll be unable to maintain your muscles ? Instead, you’ll start to get flabby and lose muscle strength. Those little sags, muscle wobbles, and lower physical performance.

I know because I’m experiencing it right…

In a recent post, The Indoor Minimalist Workout, I explained how I’m achieving fitness results with a minimum of equipment, basically using my own body weight as a resistance factor.

Now, I’d like to take another look at the list I…