Posts Tagged ‘exercise’

We're always complaining about our bodies. Too fat. Too lumpy. Too large. Too flabby. It's common to hear people complain about the size of their hips, the girth of their thighs, their pudgy tummy or their multiple chins.

But let's banish that negativity! Give yourself some love. Tell us about your favourite body part for a chance to WIN a copy of the new yoga DVD The Pursuit of Happy Hips with Eoin Finn and Elite Athletes.

For a chance to WIN, just Subscribe To This Blog and post a comment telling us about your favourite body part. Is it your trim waist? Your cute feet? Your graceful neck? Your tiny wrists? Your beautiful complexion? Your strong shoulders? Or even your ample bosom! You have until Wednesday, April 28 to let us know. I'll announce the winner here on Thursday, April 29.

Have you signed up for Spring Boot Camp yet? Spring Boot Camp is just around the corner. Sign up today and starting on May 3, 2010 you'll receive an e-newsletter each day for six weeks to motivate you to get healthy and fit - just in time for the summer. You'll lose weight and feel great!

Spring Boot Camp is just around the corner. Sign up today and starting on May 3, 2010 you'll receive an e-newsletter each day for six weeks to motivate you to get healthy and fit - just in time for the summer. You'll lose weight and feel great!

On Day 38 of Boot Camp, I asked you about how you plan to continue to stay in shape and eat great once Boot Camp is finished.

Congratulations to our five winners, who have each won a complimentary four-week experience at Booty Camp Fitness, a national women's-only boot camp that promotes fun, friendly fitness. Each prize is valued at $159.

Anu says:
"I will keep up with exercise - at least 30 minutes a day - and drink more water. I will eat less junk food and more fruits and veggies."

Krista says:
"I have learned so much about eating properly and how important it is to eat healthy. I love the way it makes me feel when I eat right, and I will continue to do so because I have incorporated it into my lifestyle. Also, I LOVE Boot Camp. It is an amazing program that has worked wonders in changing my body!"

Cassie says:
"Janis Joplin once said: “Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.”

I realize now that I need to stop compromising my dreams for the sake of others. I spend so much helping others through volunteer work, my office job, family duties, you name it, that I forget to take time out to focus on myself. In fact, when I do take time for myself I feel like I’m being selfish. Why?! The most selfless thing I can do is to focus on myself, by bettering my body and mind through the Boot Camp program. The other people in my life will benefit from the new me just as much as I will!

Staying motivated after class ends will be tough, but I have a few strategies. I’d keep in touch with new friends I make in class to form a support network to keep each other motivated. I’d keep two photos on the fridge – a “before Boot Camp” shot, and an after shot– to remind myself what a much happier and more vibrant person I have become. Chances are this reminder will help me choose carrot sticks instead of chip dip!"

Janice says:
"I certainly will miss the Boot Camp Diaries. Great incentive to get healthy! I have decided that getting encouragement daily is necessary for me to keep at this, and to make time in my hectic environment. I put out a request through a couple of social networks to find a few people who live fairly close to me, and who participated in Boot Camp, who were willing to keep on with it. Each day one of us will post an activity or healthy lifestyle tip. It must be easy and doable for all of us. I think it will be fun and give me the opportunity to possibly make some new friends. I stayed away from relatives and close friends, because I thought it would be much too easy to make excuses."

Dianne Ward says:
"I know after all I've accomplished I look better and feel better. Everyday as I leave the house I will look in the mirror and compliment myself. I will stay on track because I have some positive routines in my life and I like them. I know to stay happy, physically and emotionally takes work on your part and I am motivated.
Dianne Ward

P.S. I walk with a happy song in my mind."

On Day 8, I asked you to tell us about a goal you had achieved for a chance to win a Hamilton Beach premiere cookware 5.5-quart slow cooker.

Congratulations to our winner, cheryl, who says:
"I achieved my goal of losing 20 pounds before my daughter's wedding last July. I started in January by going on the treadmill twice daily for 20 minutes each time. I ate no sweets from January until the wedding. I also cut down on the portion size of my meals. So by the BIG DAY I had lost the 20 pounds! I wanted to look good in the wedding pictures and I must say I looked slim. I was very proud of myself for achieving my goal."

I hope you've been enjoying your daily dose of Boot Camp motivation and information in your daily e-newsletter. Did you know that CanadianLiving.com has oodles of nutrition and fitness  articles online year round? Some have appeared in Canadian Living Magazine, others are exclusive to the website.

You can find great nutrition articles here:
www.canadianliving.com/health/nutrition

Stay healthy with our prevention articles:
www.canadianliving.com/health/prevention

Keep fit with our fitness articles:
www.canadianliving.com/health/fitness

Check out our workout videos:
videos.canadianliving.com/Health-Wellness-Club-video-10831-Boot-Camp-Workout-Week-Six

And keep an eye on your waistband with the Health and Wellness Club articles:
www.canadianliving.com/health/health_and_wellness_club

Even though we've been dedicated to working out and eating healthy foods for the past five weeks, it doesn't mean we shouldn't live a little!

Rewarding yourself for good behaviour and enjoying a treat now and again in moderation is one of the best things we can do for ourselves.

How do you treat yourself? Let us know how you show yourself some love and you could WIN these two new books:

• Be Happy Without Being Perfect: How to Break Free from the Perfection Deception by Alice D. Domar, Ph.D., and Alice Lesch Kelly
• Live a Little! Breaking the Rules Won't Break Your Health, by Susan M. Love, M.D. and Alice D. Domar, PH.D. with Leigh Ann Hirschman

For a chance to WIN, just Subscribe To This Blog and post a comment telling us how you live a little. You have until Thursday, February 18 to let us know. I'll announce the winner here on Friday, February 19.

On Day 23, I asked you to share what's on your workout play list for a chance to win an Obus Forme shiatsu massaging cushion with heat.

Congratulations to our winner, Lena, who says:
"My list goes like this. It's got to be music that moves me.

1. Crystal Waters - Pure Love
2. Kat DeLuna - Whine Up
3. Keisha - Tik Tok
4. Sean Kingston - Somebody call 911
5. Rihanna - Please Don't Stop the Music
6. Lady GaGa - Pokerface
7. Mariah Carey - Obsessed
8. Black Eyed Peas - Meet he Halfway
9. Massari - Body Body

Pitbull - I know you want me
10. Nelly Furtado - Promiscuous
11. David Guetta - Sexy Chick
12. Stereos - Throw Your Hands Up
13. Jennifer Lopez - Waiting for Tonight
14. Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow up
    And last but not least an oldie . . .
15. Cher – Believe (remix)
 Because everyone should while they workout!
    Thanks for letting me share!"

Today's contest is custom-made for those who are loving their midlife. We all know wisdom comes with age - tell us what important piece of wisdom you learned with age and you could WIN a great selection of books, including:

• The G.I. Diet Menopause Clinic: A Week-by-Week Guide to Coping with Middle-Aged Spread, by Rick Gallop
• Fit and Fabulous After 40: A 5-Part Program for Turning Back the Clock, by Denise Austin
• Start Fresh! Your Complete Guide to Midlifestyle Food and Fitness, by Diane Clement and Dr. Doug Clement
• The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest, by Dan Buettner

For a chance to WIN, just Subscribe To This Blog and post a comment to let us know the lesson you had to wait until midlife to learn. Did you have to turn 40 before you could really understand the meaning of family? Did you need to turn 45 before you truly understood true love? Did you turn 50 before you really understood what it meant to seize the day? You have until Tuesday, February 9 to let us know. I'll announce the winner here on Wednesday, February 10.

Are you watching The Biggest Loser this season? I am (it's my guilty pleasure), and I cannot believe how mean Jillian Michaels can be to the contestants! She's super-tough, but she sure does get results.

For a chance to WIN a copy of Jillian Michaels' book, Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balancing your Hormones for a Hot and Healthy Body! (exclamation point!), just Subscribe To This Blog and post a comment telling us about a time when you had to overcome adversity - you may have had to stand up to a bully, work through a difficult personal problem, or make a choice where there was no easy solution. Let us know how you handled it and share what you learned.

You have until Friday, February 5 to tell us about how you overcame adversity. I'll announce the winner here on Monday, February 8.

On Day 18, I asked you to tell us what makes cooking fun for you for a chance to win these three great cookbooks:

• Flavour: A World of Beautiful Food, by Vicky Bhogal
• One Pot French: More Than 100 Easy, Authentic Recipes, by Jean-Pierre Challet with Jennifer Decorte
• Cooking up a Storm: The Teen Survival Cookbook, by Sam Stern

Congratulations to our winner, Irene, who says:
"I love to cook and bake! And I love to eat and try different foods. I love to experiment with recipes from different ethnicities and see if I can "healthify" them. I have learned to cut the sugar by half on baked recipes and sometimes use applesauce. I also find it a creative challenge if I could take a recipe and reduce the calories by substituting or omitting the fats for a healthier choice, but still keep the dish tasty.

And the most fun I enjoy about cooking is the learning how to pretty the food by garnishing, decorating the plate by painting the sauce (something I picked up by watching cooking shows), and simple things as just piling the food in layers in a mound like at fancy restaurants. Most of all, cooking allows me the opportunity to not only try my tricks of the trade creations with my family and friends but to share good food and memories with them."

Have you checked out the super-fantastic new 'Healthy Options' button on our Recipe Search? Try it today - just visit www.canadianliving.com/search_recipe.php and click on 'Healthy Options' to find terrific, free healthy recipes.

On Day 16, I asked you to tell us how you combat excuses, and I am totally inspired by our winner's entry!

Isabelle says:
"I was a pro at excuses!! I decided to make myself a motivation booklet in order to combat these. First, I wrote down my goals and objectives, then I wrote down all the benefits of being healthy (eating right and being physically active. On the few pages after that, I listed all the excuses I have as well as all the obstacles I see. As soon as I find (or make up) a new excuse I write it down there. Then, I made a collage that says: THIS IS NO EXCUSE!! And wrote down motivational quotes and stories for many of the other pages. Sometimes, I simply need to read the goals page to motivate me again. Sometimes, I need to read the whole excuses page to remind me that there is no good excuse for not being healthy. Finally, on really bad days, I read the whole motivation section and usually by that point, my excuses seem completely irrelevant and I am back on track for that training session or to put aside junk food!"

Isabelle has won:

• The Easy Fitness Work Book: The Complete Fitness Class in a Book, by Lorna Lee Malcolm
• Fat to Skinny Fast and Easy! Eat Great, Lose Weight, and Lower Blood Sugar Without Exercise, by Doug Varrieur
• A pair of Banglz ½ pound weighted bracelets to add resistance training to her daily routine

I'm ready to start working on my own motivation booklet tonight! Right after dinner. And a nap. Ooh, and after I watch American Idol. And check my email. But after that, I'll definitely get to it . . .