Get Hot and Sweaty Today

Not a fan of chocolate, don't have a special someone or maybe you just don't like supporting the flower/card/stuffed bunny industries? Well, instead of filling yourself with sweats this Valetine's Day, how about you do something really sexy: go for a run.

Think about it.

What's more attractive than a strong body dressed in athletic gear kicking miles around town? Better yet, get sweaty with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Exercise is not only a great way to relax and lose weight, it's a great bonding experience to have with someone you care about.

Before today's over, lace on your shoes, call up your sweetheart and do a few loops around Greenlake together. Afterwards, stop for a few chocolates at Chocolati. Ahh, true romance!

Sure, you could skip your workout and instead put on a romantic comedy and snuggle together on the couch. But do that AFTER you put in some miles on the road or trail. You'll not only feel better, you'll be sexier because of it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tell Your Friends: Toning Shoes Don't Work [Infographic]

First there was the Reebok Easy Tone, then came Shape-Ups from Sketchers followed by a host of other imitators.  The age of the toning shoe has officially arrived, (and brought along a bunch of suggestive ads, see below). However, the big question is, do these shoes really tone legs and glutes while you walk?

As the title suggests, research says no, at least not according to a recent study by the University of Wisconsin and American Council on Exercise.

Squishy-soled toning shoes are supposed to work by making wearers work harder and stabilize with each step. In theory this is supposed to mirror the benefits of weight training on a swiss ball and engage more stabilizing muscles.

Unfortunately for the toning shoe industry, these shoes just doesn't seem to work very well or produce the results ads (like below) make you believe to expect.

The study reports:

"Our findings demonstrate that toning shoes are not the magic solution consumers were hoping they would be, and simply do not offer any benefits that people cannot reap through walking, running or exercising in traditional athletic shoes.”

Do you disagree? Are you a toning shoe convert or did you see this coming a mile away?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCHKXICefFw

My Big Clothes

I'm going to talk about how to donate your "big clothes" to charity.

Running burns calories like few other sports. While the stats are dependent on a number of factors including a runner's weight, speed and altitude, here is a basic formula. Take your weight and multiple it by .75 in pounds to find out how many calories you burn each and every mile (thanks, Runner's World).

So if you're a 170lb runner, you burn about 127 calories a mile. Multiple that for a pre-Marathon 5-mile training run, and you're burning over 600 calories on each of your training runs for the big race. Wow! This means if you're currently wearing your "Big Clothes", keep your routine up and pretty soon you'll be sizing down and getting race-ready. So you have a little context, each pound of fat has about 3,500 calories.

Let me tell you my story.

A few years ago (before I was a runner),  I had ballooned up to 209lbs on my 5'11'' frame. I didn't have much muscle to blame it on. I was just well, overweight. I was wearing my "big clothes". My size large shirts were pulling at the sides when I tried to tuck them in. My 36'' jeans felt uncomfortable as I sucked in to button up. I wasn't obese, but I knew I needed to lose weight. Luckily, two things happened that dramatically changed my figure.

1. Life Event First, I had to have double jaw surgery to address chronic pain that I had been suffering from for years. As part of the recovery I had to limit my diet to liquid-only foods. Despite my best attempt to keep my calories up (milk shakes, fruit and protein mixes), my weight started to drop into the sub-200 lb range within a few weeks. This, combined with making smarter food choices, started me on my path towards my prime weight.
2. Running What really made the difference for me, and took a temporary drop in weight and made it permanent, was running. I talk about how I "discovered" running in this post, but basically just fell into it as I healed from jaw surgery. By slowly increasing the distance and frequency of runs, I started to make a major dent in my weight. First losing five pounds... ten pounds... and later twenty pounds. I was finally moving closer to my target weight and was the fittest I'd been in over a decade.

Donating my Big Clothes

How did I celebrate? I went through my closet and drawers, and pulled out my "big clothes", the same shirts, shorts and pants that were pulling at my frame just a year before.. After I had a sizable pile, I delivered the clothes to a local Goodwill. On the same trip I even picked up a few new shirts and shorts as I felt proud to wear sizes I hadn't fit into in years.

If you are struggling with your weight, I hope you can find a path towards your target weight and eventually, to getting rid of your "big clothes".