An article on Sparkpeople.com titled, “How to Choose a Personal Trainer: Things to Consider Before Making the Investment,” got me thinking how important it is that you find a personal trainer that is an ideal match for you. The Sparkpeople article offers that, “Personal trainers are not just for the rich and famous. If you lack the motivation to workout on your own, like variety but don’t know how to create your own program, or you have very specific training goals, you might benefit from hiring a trainer.” Sparkpeople even includes a handy quiz aptly titled, “Do you...

Photo courtesy of The Epoch Times Wanna burn an extra 350 calories a day by doing practically nothing? James Levine, M.D., Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic says it’s possible by simply fidgeting, standing, and puttering more. Put simply, we sit too much. In his Mayo Clinic study on NEAT (Non-Exercise-Activity-Thermogenesis), Levine tracked every single movement, step, and fidget of twenty study participants who didn’t exercise regularly. Half of the participants were obese and the other half were not. Over a ten day period, he discovered that the lean group moved an average of 150 minutes more...

This short video titled, Piano Stairs by thefuntheory.com is guaranteed to make you smile and might even make you think twice before taking another escalator. Produced by Volkwagon, “The Fun Theory,” is the idea that if you make something fun to do, people will be more likely to do it. The installation team worked overnight at a subway station in Stockholm, Sweden to turn the stairs adjacent to the escalator into a giant piano. You’ll never guess what happened the following day. Okay you might. When subway commuters realized they could play the piano as the went up or down the...

Call me a dork, but I’m loving this new-to-me website that keeps track of exercise. My favorite tool is mapping your route. I map it out ahead of time and save the route. Once I complete the walk or bike ride, I just click on the saved route. This works perfectly for me because I’m a practical exerciser — meaning I walk or ride to things…like vintage stores and restaurants rather than just exercise for the sake of exercising so I know in advance approximately what route I’ll be taking. Another tool tells me how many calories I burned and what pace (in MPH) I set during...

I hardly have to think about getting daily walks in during the summer. I walk everywhere — to the farmers’ market, friend’s houses, the wine bar, or my favorite vintage or resale shop. Now that Fall is approaching and the nights are getting cooler, the days shorter, and the weather will be wet more often than not where I live, I’m struggling a bit to get moving everyday. I could go to the gym, but that would last about as long as me trying to give up high heels, coffee, or wine. Thanks to a Twitter pal’s blog (www.fitthisgirl.com), I discovered an awesome tool to keep...

My best friend has really long legs and she walks nearly twice as fast as me. We walk all over Portland…almost every day that’s not raining. We mostly walk for the sake of walking (as in getting exercise), but sometimes we walk to our favorite vintage and resale shops. The Gilded Closet – Portland, OR The Gilded Closet is our new fave for resale.   Sari Gueron Design I found the adorable dress to the right (by designer, Sara Gueron) the last time I shopped there. It’s so last year and I so don’t care! And it looks nothing like that on me! It’s much longer...

This photo and a corresponding article titled, Beach ball volleyball a hit with senior citizens, were printed in the Oregonian last week. My ninety year-old grandma, Mary Labelle (aka, my Dad’s Mom), is the one on the right in the bright red pants. She loves wearing bright colors. Apparently, my grandma also loves playing this sit-down version of beach volleyball and “thought her volleyball playing days were behind her after moving into the a retirement community in Beaverton, Oregon. Then she discovered beach ball volleyball. Now I schedule all my appointments around our games,”...

I participate quite frequently in the iVillage “Losing Weight” Message Boards. I offer a little advice here and there, but the best part is the reinforcement that we’re all in this together. We all have the same struggles and I think it’s awesome that people (in this case mostly women wanting to lose weight) are so supportive of one another!  Not trying to be overly sappy here, but it’s heart-warming! Brianne, AKA cl-bribug13, is our community leader. She’s like the mom of the group. She offers endless encouragement and I’ve never seen one discussion that...