Last week, I shared with you my story of how Couch to 5k got me moving and eventually back to a healthy weight after the babies. I also shared with you a fun virtual race for you and the whole family that the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans is throwing called Run the Hood ’11.

Are you in?? Did you do any training this week? There is still time if you haven’t, the race is well over a month away!

If you’re wanting a fitness jumpstart and a great community in which there are safety in numbers, between us at 5 Minutes for Mom, and the Sisterhood, we’ve got you covered.

If you are working toward the Run the Hood race in October, how did you do this week? Was it hard? Are you excited?

Post about your progress and link it up in the linky below! And then go visit each other for support, it’s a great way to meet new people with all the same goals!

If you’re interested in joining us, take a look at last week’s post and join in any time! Last day to register for the race and get a shirt and medal is September 22.

Have a great weekend!

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom contributing writer, Christie O.

Guest Contributor Maggie Voelker is a health nut and science nerd with a BS in Kinesiology and Health and is here to tell you how to use technology to help you stay fit.

Which apps should I chose?

When I first looked into fitness and calorie counting applications, I was overwhelmed by the variety of apps claiming to be the best. After wasting a couple bucks on a few, I realized “the best” was a relative term.

Now, months later and a couple pounds lighter, I’m familiar with many programs and am here to help you wade through the app abyss.

Note: These are iPhone, iPad or iPod applications only.

Nutrition Apps

Lose It! (free) sets nutritional goals and establishes a daily calorie budget that will allow you to meet your goals. The program is straightforward and allows you to record your food and exercise so that you stay within your calorie budget. The app has a comprehensive list of foods and exercises so users are generally able to find their food or exercise and quickly add it to their record. In addition to calorie tracking, nutrients such as protein, fat and carbohydrates are monitored.

MyFitnessPal (free) is another tool used to track exercise and nutrition. This app has a huge food database so you rarely need to create custom foods. Frequently used foods are remembered and you can even reuse entire meals. The newest update allows you to scan barcodes to record foods. The app features over 350 exercises, the ability to create custom exercises or enter calories manually. You can set goals, track your progress and analyze your data which is automatically synced to the website. The MyFitnessPal online community is large and loves to provide motivation.

Daily Burn (free) is another great app for tracking diet and exercise. The app has a large food database and can create nutritional plans based on your goals including weight loss, low carb and low fat diets, and bodybuilding. The FoodScanner allows you to scan barcodes for quicker logging. The Daily Burn community is large and many upload their data to the website for analysis. I have not personally used the training plans included in the app, but many people enjoy having all their fitness needs met in one program.

Cardio Apps

iTreadmill ($.99) is a fantastic app for basic step counting. Just drop you iPhone or iPod touch in your pocket and the (surprisingly accurate) accelerometer will measure your step count, distance, calories burned, pace and time elapsed. The app even works on the treadmill or elliptical! The program stores your data so you can set goals and monitor your progress. I would recommend this app if you want an idea of your daily energy expenditure; it was certainly motivation for me to park a little farther away.

Couch to 5K ($2.99) is a popular app for beginning runners. The program eases you into running and incrementally builds up stamina through a 9 week program. The 5K plan is structured around 30-40 minute long workouts 3 days per week. Each session alternates between walking and running through audio alerts. Your distance, pace, weight and calories burned are tracked so you can keep a workout history. You can also listen to your own music without leaving the app or share your progress on Facebook or Twitter.

RunKeeper (free) is the perfect app for regular runners. The app uses your device’s GPS to track your fitness activity. The program tracks distance, time, pace, calories burned and path traveled. When your run is finished, the data is synced to the RunKeeper website where you can review all of your stats. I personally love the interval coaching during my workouts to keep me on pace. Another feature is the iPod integration so you can listen to music and change tracks without leaving the application.

Edomondo Sports Tracker (free) is another great app for tracking distance based fitness—running, cycling and walking. The app tracks duration, distance, speed and calories burned and automatically uploads data to the website. The app gives audio feedback for every mile, and friends who use Endomondo can send you messages during your workout. Finally, manually entering a treadmill run, spinning, swimming or weight training session is simple and is automatically included in your stats.

Exercise Apps

iSometrics ($.99) is a unique app that allows you exercise virtually anywhere. Isometric fitness is a form of resistance training in which muscles contract without significant movement—so no expensive equipment or large area needed. The app has exercise guides that target major muscle groups with built-in timers for each exercise. You can track your fitness and workouts using the planner. I’ve found squeezing in a few iSometric exercises throughout my work day reduces stress and breaks up the day.

GymGoal ($1.99) is a great tool for tracking exercise. The app features 280 exercises with animations and instructions to ensure proper form and equipment use. There are over 50 workout routines to follow or you can create your own. It has programs for strength, muscle size or weight loss—a great feature for novice gym goers. The app tracks your workout history and shows muscles that have been neglected during past workouts.

Authentic Yoga ($1.99) is a wonderful app for all yoga students. The program includes instructional poses and videos for beginners to experts. Each pose is demonstrated and has audio and visual instructions too. I’ve found that the actual photos, as opposed to animations or just descriptions, put this app above other yoga apps. Yoga video lessons that range from strength building and flexibility, to stress reduction and relaxation, are also included.

Maggie recently graduated from college and relocated to Indianapolis, IN to begin her first “real-world job” as a content writer. Her most recent work includes an online sun safety resource and hopes to continue to produce health-related content. Outside of work Maggie loves live music, the beach, traveling, sunglasses, attempting to cook, and good books.

Environment – a key factor in a healthy lifestyle

Today I want to talk about your environment. Wherever you are right now in your health has been determined in part by the environment that you surround yourself in. I am talking about the people you hang out with, the places you go to eat, and the types of activities you do.

Biggest Loser interview

I got to interview a mother/daughter from the Biggest Loser. I asked them if it was hard for them to go back home after they had lost so much weight. They told me something interesting… They said that it wasn’t that bad, because they just had to change their environment up.

They had to change the places they went to eat, the friends they hung out with, the activities they use to do. If they tried to keep their environment the same and just engage in will-power, the results wouldn’t have been the same and they would have most likely gained the weight back.

How do you change your friends?

So how do you change the people you hang around? Here is my approach:

First talk with those you love and tell them that you are going to focusing on getting healthier and share with them the reasons why. Ask them for specific steps that they can take in order to help you along. Ask them if they are committed to helping you reach your goals. I have found most of the time they will say yes, but many won’t follow through once you start getting into it.

There will most likely be some who will try to sabotage your efforts and get you back into the old habits that got you to where you are today. One more time you should talk with them and say that you are concerned that they aren’t helping you reach your goals and that you might need to spend less time with them.

Most of the time you will probably lose a few friends that you had, so you must find things to do that will fill that void and friends. I have found the best thing to do is to join some club or group that shares a common interest. Hopefully this interest or hobby is healthy and active. For example, maybe you have wanted to try out rock climbing, join a climbing group and in no time you will be meeting new people and hopefully making some new friends that are looking to be fit and healthy.

You will find as your habits turn more healthy, you will gravitate towards others who are healthy and it becomes a cycle of health and fitness being part of your life. As a fitness professional, many of my friends are trainers, so for me to go against the healthy active lifestyle that my friends live, would be to go against the norm of my peers. We are all looking to fit in, and when we don’t fit in, we usually try to make our behaviors line up with those around us. That is why having a strong group of supporters around you is key to lasting success!

I would love for you to go checkout my Fit Moms For Life community and begin to receive our monthly workout DVD program. You can learn more at www.fitmomsforlife.com/thankyou

I am Dustin Maher, America’s Trainer to the Moms. I am a leading expert on getting moms in shape. I have appeared 88 times on local and national TV, appeared in many magazines and newspapers and been on over 25 radio shows. I have a blog (www.dustinmaherfitness.com) that receives over 1,000 visitors per day and an active mailing list of 6,000 people. I run 11 fitness bootcamp locations in Madison, Wisconsin, and have sold over 10,000 fitness DVDs. My mission is to reach one million moms by the end of 2015 with the support they need to change their mindset, eat better, exercise effectively, and be part of fit families and communities so they can transform their bodies and their lives.

PLEASE NOTE: We at 5 Minutes for Mom are NOT health professionals, nor do we make any health or medical claims or advice here. Please consult your doctor about all medical issues and make sure you follow your doctor and health professional’s instructions regarding your health and diet.

The 10-Year Plan: Create a vision of your future

Knowing what it takes for people to commit to making a change, I like to do an exercise with new clients that I call the 10-Year Plan. This is a way of helping you envision where you want to go and where you don’t want to go – and it can be very powerful in helping you stick with the changes you make.

photo by shadowkill

Close your eyes and think about how your life will be 10 years from now if you continue with your current negative behavior. Obviously we all engage in some healthy behaviors and some unhealthy ones. For now, let’s just focus on the negative ones. If you continue living the way that you’re living right now, how will your life look in 10 years? Take a few seconds to think about this. What would it look like? How would you feel? What would you be able to do – or what would you not be able to do that you can do now?

For example, maybe your lifestyle and the way you’ve been eating have caused you to gain weight pretty consistently over the last ten years. Think about what another ten years of weight gain will do to your body and your life.

Maybe right now, hiking a mountain is pretty tough for you. In ten years, going up two flights of stairs might be very difficult for you. Right now, you aren’t fitting into your pre-baby clothes. In 10 years, you might not fit into an airplane seat, or be able to sit in the bleachers for your child’s basketball game. Or maybe you have an 18-month-old and barely have the energy to keep up with him or her. If you don’t change something, would you be able to have more kids like you’ve always wanted?

Record it!

Get as graphic as you can. Put as much emotion into this as you can. Remember, we’re trying to make this painful! Maybe there’s a person in your life who has poor health or limited mobility because of lifestyle choices they’ve made. Think about whether you want to be like that in 10 years.

When I talk with women in their 40s or 50s, many of them say, “I don’t want to be like my mom. She’s in her 60s or 70s and she can hardly do anything.” On the flip side of that, picture how your kids will think of you as they get older. Are your kids going to look at you and think, “I never want to be like that”? Are your grandkids going to think of you as “old” and weak?

Now that you’ve visualized that, write down how you’ll feel, how you’ll look, what you’ll struggle with and what your kids will think of you if you continue on the path you’re on. You might even want to write more in a separate journal – spend 10, 15, 20 minutes journaling if you can, so that you really create a powerful image of what your life will be like if you don’t take care of yourself.

A positive vision for the future

Okay, that’s the first part of the exercise. Now we’re going to contrast that and think about a positive vision for the future, where you’re living the healthiest life you can imagine. Snap your fingers and change the course your life is taking.

If you start putting yourself first, taking care of yourself and making healthier choices, what will your life look like in ten years? Now that you’ve changed those negative behaviors and started taking care of yourself, what will you be able to do that you couldn’t in your negative vision? Will you be able to hike that mountain that’s a challenge today? How will you feel? Where will you be able to go? What will you be able to wear? Who will you get to see? How does that make you feel? What kind of joy will all these things bring to your life? What kind of mother, grandmother, friend, sister, or wife will you be?

Think about it for a while, and attach emotion to it just like you did with the negative vision a few minutes ago. Meditate on it and think about how much more fulfilling your life will be when you make these changes.

After you’ve thought that through, go back to where you just wrote down the negatives and now write down the positives that you visualized, and the emotional images that go with it. Just like with the negative vision, the more detail you can imagine and write down, the better.

Which future do YOU want?

Now that you’ve done this exercise, you can see two distinctly different futures for yourself. I hope the first one was very negative and the second one was very positive, because that is what will motivate you to make a change and stay on a positive, healthy path. There will be times when you don’t want to get up in the morning to exercise. There will be times when you just don’t feel like planning your meals for the week. You have a cold, or you stayed up too late working on PTA business. You’re traveling for a week and that gives you an excuse to eat less healthy. But if you have these positive and negative visions of your future in mind – or even better, if you have them posted on your refrigerator so you see them every day – you can keep yourself motivated, and get yourself back on track if you’ve started to slide.

My client Trish started coming to boot camp after her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her sister’s illness made Trish realize that the path she was on was not a healthy one. It was suddenly very easy for her to picture a future that she knew she didn’t want. She educated herself about cancer and nutrition, and started exercising to take off her excess weight. “I knew I had to do this if I wanted to do anything in the future,” she told me.

That motivation is what keeps Trish going even now. “Any time I don’t want to get out of bed or I don’t want to go to boot camp, I think about my sister Bec,” Trish told me. “She always loved to run and get out and be active, but she can’t do it anymore. So, it’s like, I can get out and do it and I have no reason not to. That keeps me going.” Unfortunately her sister lost her battle with cancer, but Trish is now in a healthier spot than ever before.

There are so many more mindset strategies I could share, but you are a mom and I know you are busy.

If you enjoyed this, I have a free gift to give you at www.dustinmaherfitness.com. It is a free report called, How To Fit Into Your Skinny Jeans and Still Have Room Left Over.

You might also want to check out some of my home workout DVDs programs that have helped thousands of moms from around the world.

I am Dustin Maher, America’s Trainer to the Moms. I am a leading expert on getting moms in shape. I have appeared 88 times on local and national TV, appeared in many magazines and newspapers and been on over 25 radio shows. I have a blog (www.dustinmaherfitness.com) that receives over 1,000 visitors per day and an active mailing list of 6,000 people. I run 11 fitness bootcamp locations in Madison, Wisconsin, and have sold over 10,000 fitness DVDs. My mission is to reach one million moms by the end of 2015 with the support they need to change their mindset, eat better, exercise effectively, and be part of fit families and communities so they can transform their bodies and their lives.

PLEASE NOTE: We at 5 Minutes for Mom are NOT health professionals, nor do we make any health or medical claims or advice here. Please consult your doctor about all medical issues and make sure you follow your doctor and health professional’s instructions regarding your health and diet. Photos for this post were found on Microsoft Office online and from our account at Fotolia.

Kristin, a mother with three kids, is frantically throwing the carry-ons into the overhead containers. Kristin and her kids are meeting her husband in Orlando for a fun filled week at Disney World. Kristin’s husband has had business meetings the past 3 days and she is looking forward to seeing him.

“I NEED help!”

As Kristin gets her three kids, ages 2, 5, and 7, buckled in and seated on the plane, she lets out a deep sigh, thinking to herself,

“Wow, traveling has sure become stressful since kids have come along. Heck, life in general has become so overwhelming at times it is hard to see one minute into the future, let alone one year. I am so burnt out, I feel like I just give, give, give. I basically take care of my kids alone since my husband is always traveling for work, and when he is home, he is dealing with issues on the job. I am responsible for feeding the kids, taking the older ones to school, picking them up and taking them to soccer practice and then off to swimming lessons.

After that I have to have a meal waiting for them and then off to bed or homework for the 7 year old. Then I also have to work part time because my husband had to take a pay cut during these tough economic times. That isn’t even the hardest part. I am having to keep an eye on my aging parents and trying to help them figure out what they are going to do in their later years and dealing with their medical issues. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I NEED help! Can anybody hear me? Help! Help! Help!”

Kristin is about ready to scream, when the flight attendants begin to go through their safety speech. Kristin had heard this a hundred times before, but for some reason today was different. Maybe it was because she was exhausted, or because of the dialogue she just had running through her head. Whatever the case it hit her, and it hit her hard.

“That is IT!”

Over the loudspeaker came, “In the rare case that the plane would lose cabin pressure, oxygen masks will fall down from the ceiling. Take your mask and put it on your face. Make sure you have safely secured your mask, before assisting those around you.”

All of a sudden Kristin froze. “That is it!” Kristin thought to herself. That was her problem. She had been going through life helping everyone else around her, but she forgot one important thing… her own oxygen mask!

This article is written for those who feel like life is taking control. You never feel like you have enough time in the day, or enough energy, or enough confidence, or enough passion. You have been the caregiver to everyone in your life, you kids, husband, boss, parents, friends, church, and neighbors. All of the stuff you have done to this point is great, you have done so much and helped so many, but the one person you haven’t helped is yourself.

Here is my question to you.

If you don’t help yourself, who will?

But Dustin, you don’t know my life, I don’t have time to spend working on me. Look at all these other people and situations I have to deal with!

You are right, I don’t know your situation, but I can promise you that having worked with thousands of woman, I can guarantee that if you begin to put yourself first, take care of yourself, and respect yourself, all other areas of your life will get better.

Your relationship with your kids will be better because you will have more energy to play with them and more patience when they misbehave. You will be a better wife, because you will have more confidence in your body and you will be more optimistic. You will be a better contributor at work because you will be able to think clearer, and focus more. You will be a better volunteer at church or other outreaches, because of the greater self-awareness in your ability.

So how do you begin to put yourself first?

I have created the 5 pillars of health and fitness that have been proven by thousands of women to be the 5 keys to getting healthy and staying healthy.

What are these 5 pillars?

5 Pillars of Health and Fitness

• Mindset
• Environment
• Nutrition
• Strength training
• Burst training

Different fitness professionals have very different perspectives on what people should do to achieve their optimal fitness. I’m not saying my way is the only way. There are absolutely tons of different ways to get in shape and to stay in shape, but what I can tell you is that my program works. It’s not a gimmick or a fad or a magic pill that promises amazing results with no effort. It’s an approach to fitness that is well-rounded and sustainable, and one that busy moms can fit into their lives.

My program is built around five pillars of health: mindset, nutrition, strength training, burst training and environment. You might be able to get some results in the short term by just focusing on one or two of these areas, but I believe you’ll get your greatest results when you incorporate all five. I’m going to cover each of these pillars in a lot of detail in the upcoming weeks, but for now let’s just look at the big picture of what each one means.

Mindset

I actually think the mindset is the most important aspect for someone who wants to change their life and their fitness level. You’ve got to believe that you can make a change and that you’re worth it. So many people have negative attitudes towards healthy eating or exercise. They feel like they’re going to be overweight no matter what they do – so they don’t do anything. And so many people, especially moms, don’t believe that they’re worth it. They put everyone else’s needs above their own, and neglect their own health. With that kind of a mindset, it’s going to be really tough for you to get in shape and keep in shape.

Environment

The next piece of the puzzle is the environment. This is really key to maintaining the changes you make in your mindset, nutrition, and exercise routines. The good news is that, as a mom, you have a lot of influence on the environment within your home and your family. More likely than not, you make most of the decisions about what foods come into your house and what activities your family does. You can switch your weekly “movie and popcorn night” to “dance party in the living room night,” and you can choose to spend snow days with your kids sledding instead of baking (and eating) cookies. But you also need to look at who you’re spending time with, how you spend your free time, and how you entertain yourself. You have to make an effort to be part of a fit family and a fit community.

Nutrition

You’ve got to be eating healthy. People think that they can eat poorly if they work out enough – and most people find out the hard way that just isn’t true. I’ve seen so many people try this, but they all learn that their body’s not going to change that much by doing just the exercise portion. I want you to eat a good combination of whole foods, in small portions, 4-6 times a day. Planning ahead and starting a food journal will help a lot.

Strength training

This is what I’m all about as a trainer. I’m a big fan of strength training using heavy weights, and I’ve seen it work for hundreds of women to get into the best shape of their lives. Contrary to popular belief, running marathons or doing long-distance cardio doesn’t help your body to burn fat and keep it off. In fact, I believe that traditional cardio makes you fat. Obviously you have to build up to lifting heavy weights, and do it safely, but my program is all about pushing yourself to your max – which means leaving those five-pound dumbbells behind.

Burst training

I’m not a big fan of traditional, steady state cardio, where you raise your heart rate moderately for long periods of time. Burst training is much more effective and takes a lot less time. With burst training, you exercise at a very high intensity for a short duration – anywhere from ten seconds up to maybe a minute – and then you rest or go to a lower intensity to bring your heart rate back down. Then you bring it back up for that short duration again, and go back and forth for 10, 15, maybe 20 minutes. (You may have heard of “interval training” before. That’s a similar philosophy, but the transitions are more gradual. Burst training is more intense, and more effective.)

So there you have it, the 5 pillars to guarantee success in fat loss and overall health. You might be able to see some success without all 5, but chances are it won’t last.

In the upcoming weeks I look forward to getting deeper into all 5 of these areas so you can live life to the fullest, have a sexy body that you are proud of, and have endless energy to keep up with your career, family, and friends.

If you want to start now, visit my website at dustinmaherfitness.com and download your FREE fat loss report, “How To Fit Into Your Skinny Jeans and Still Have Room Left Over.”

I am Dustin Maher, America’s Trainer to the Moms. I am a leading expert on getting moms in shape. I have appeared 88 times on local and national TV, appeared in many magazines and newspapers and been on over 25 radio shows. I have a blog (www.dustinmaherfitness.com) that receives over 1,000 visitors per day and an active mailing list of 6,000 people. I run 11 fitness bootcamp locations in Madison, Wisconsin, and have sold over 10,000 fitness DVDs. My mission is to reach one million moms by the end of 2015 with the support they need to change their mindset, eat better, exercise effectively, and be part of fit families and communities so they can transform their bodies and their lives.

PLEASE NOTE: We at 5 Minutes for Mom are NOT health professionals, nor do we make any health or medical claims or advice here. Please consult your doctor about all medical issues and make sure you follow your doctor and health professional’s instructions regarding your health and diet.

Here is a FUN workout that you can do anywhere, at anytime. Grab a deck of cards, lace up your shoes, and let’s get MOVING!

*Draw 15 cards from the deck and put them face down on the floor.
*Walk/jog around your house for about 2 minutes as a warm-up.
*Squat (don’t bend, squat!) down and pick up the first card.
*If it is RED, do as many jumping jacks as the number on your card. (example: red eight means 8 jumping jacks.)
*Don’t rest, draw the next card!
*If it is BLACK, walk up and down your stairs for that number. (example: black queen. Go up/down TEN times)
*Continue to draw cards until they are all gone; following the red and black exercises.
*Finish up the workout by doing 5-20 push-ups.

If you have the time, continue the workout with the rest of the deck.
If you are time crunched, grab some water and pat yourself on the back. You just completed a tough workout in a short period of time!

I guarantee you WILL feel better when this is done. Try it out and let me know how it goes.
Remember gang, never underestimate the power of a workout!

This column is hosted by Lisa. She can be found doing squats and lunges over at Workout Mommy.

Thank your legs: Do 1 minutes of squats, either on the wall or stand alone. Follow that with one minute of lunges. Thank your knees by being gentle and only going to the point of tension, not pain.

Thank your arms: Push ups! (yes, you can!) I involve my son by doing as many as I can while he sings the ABC’s.

Thank your heart: Jog around your house or run up and down your stairs for several minutes. Work up a sweat and get your heart rate pumping!

Thank your abs: Crunch time! Keep your abs drawn in and keep your lower back pressed into the floor. For added resistance, I like to place my baby on my stomach. He thinks it is great fun and I get a tougher challenge.

Thank your mind: We are an over-stressed society. Take a few minutes to bring some calm back into your life by meditating or doing some calming yoga stretches.

How are you giving thanks and moving MORE today?

This column is hosted by Lisa. She can be found doing squats and lunges over at Workout Mommy.

Today’s workout is the low plank. It is one of my favorite exercises that can be done anywhere and anytime. While my boys are playing, I get down on the floor and practice my planks. (Sometimes my oldest thinks it is fun to sit on my back, even though I don’t really appreciate his “help”!)

Low plank looks like this:

Make sure to keep your neck relaxed, draw your belly button toward your spine, and don’t forget to breathe!

Hold the position for as long as you can, and then count 5 seconds longer. Challenge yourself!
Repeat this at least 3 times per day and before you know it you will be planking for minutes.

Ready? Drop down to the floor and try it out right now. Don’t worry, we’ll be here when you get back!

This column is hosted by Lisa. She can be found doing squats and lunges over at Workout Mommy.

One of my favorite exercise tools is my pedometer, which only cost $15. I clip it on my pants first thing in the morning and wear it everywhere I go. With my pedometer, I make sure I reach the 10k minimum on most days of the week.

Here are a few ways to get those extra steps in your day:

*Find a walking buddy and make a date to walk together.

*Avoid escalators and elevators, always take the stairs.

*Park in the farthest spot away from the building or store. Not only will you get more steps, but it is less likely that you will get any door dings.

*If the weather is too cold for you, most malls open up early for walkers. There won’t be any crowds and you won’t be tempted to spend money.

*Don’t use the remote control, get up to change the TV channel instead.

*Have a parade with your kids and march around the house.

How do you get 10k steps in your day?

This column is hosted by Lisa. She can be found doing squats and lunges over at Workout Mommy.

I set my watch (or you can use a kitchen timer) to beep every 30 minutes. At that point, I do either 10 push ups, lunges, jumping jacks, or squats. (rotating the exercises throughout the day). I let my kids know the “drill” and they always remind me to get up and move when my watch goes off.

“Let’s exercise Mommy!”

We have a lot of fun doing our exercises together and over the course of a day I am able to get a solid workout.

So set a timer and get moving gang!

This column is hosted by Lisa. She can be found doing squats and lunges over at Workout Mommy.

Let’s get up and MOVE! Even just a few minutes of activity will give you a gigantic boost in energy.

Need a plan? Try this: (Do not take a break between each minute, just go right into the next)

Minute 1: march/jog around your house
Minute 2: jumping jacks (either high or low impact)
Minute 3: run up/down a flight of stairs
Minute 4: do squats, either standing squats or up against the wall. Keep your form in check!
Minute 5: dance around your house! Crank up the music and sweat!

Catch your breath, grab a drink of water and enjoy your energy! If you have more time, do it all over again.

I always find that a short burst of exercise gives me the energy I need to get me through my day. The next time you feel like you just cannot stay awake, try this out instead. You might be surprised by how GREAT it makes you feel!

This column is hosted by Lisa. She can be found doing squats and lunges over at Workout Mommy.

Now that my kids are old enough to take a bath together, I take full advantage of the opportunity for five minutes of fitness. While they play, splash, and squeal, I stand nearby and seize the moment to do five basic exercises.

Here are my favorites:

1. Squats: either on the wall or stand alone. I tell my kids that mommy has a pretend chair and she is practicing sitting in it. Great for your glutes (backside) and legs.

2. Push-ups: I do at least 15 of these, encouraging my oldest to count along with me. (I do my best not to notice the dirty floor.)

3. Bicep curls: I bring a pair of dumbbells into the bathroom and do 3 sets of 15 curls.

4. Tricep dips: I do at least 20 of these off the edge of the bathtub.

5. V-sit: this is a fantastic exercise for your abs and core. Ten to twenty of these and don’t forget to breathe.

That is it, you are done! Your kids are clean and you are a little more fit!

This column is hosted by Lisa. She can be found doing squats and lunges over at Workout Mommy.

I cringe when people tell me they don’t do squats because they “hurt their knees”. The squat is a fundamental part of our lives! In fact, it is considered an “activity of daily living” when performing fitness assessments on seniors.
Squats are an excellent exercise that can be done anywhere and require no equipment. They will tone your backside and help sculpt your legs.

I have a knee injury, so I understand there might be discomfort involved. The key here is to master your form, and then adapt as necessary.

So what does a perfect squat look like?

Just take a glance at any baby or toddler nearby. Their spine is in alignment, their knees are in line with their toes, and they can easily move in and out of the position. Most children can squat so low to the ground that it appears as if they are sitting down.

I don’t know many adults (myself included) that can get that low with their squat. Modify the exercise by sinking down to your challenge point while maintaining focus on proper alignment. Practice your squats in front of a mirror to make sure that your back stays flat and you are keeping your knees in line.

Just starting out? Do your squats up against a wall. Look down and you should be able to see your toes. If not, your knees are too far out and you need to readjust.

Today’s challenge for you is to do 50 squats. Yes, you can! They do not have to be done all at once, just get 50 done before the end of the day and report back here. Go on now, get moving!

This column is hosted by Lisa. She can be found doing squats and lunges over at Workout Mommy.

Instead of couch-slouching, why not get fit and enjoy your favorite shows at the same time?

Here are a few tips:

* Set up any exercise equipment you might have in front of the TV. Do you have an old exercise bike that now doubles as a clothes hanger? Drag it in front of the TV and start pedaling!

* Each commercial break is approximately 2 minutes. How many squats can you get done during the first break? How many pushups can you do during the second break? Can you hold a low plank for an entire commercial break? Keep a scorecard and track your progress.

* Get inspired by watching shows such as The Biggest Loser and Dancing with the Stars. It is very difficult to stay seated when you are watching other people exercising and dancing. Get up and move with them!

* Use your favorite shows as a reward system. For example, tell yourself that you can sit and watch TV after you have exercised for at least 10 minutes. You’ll feel better and get an added boost of energy at the end of your day.

These are just a few ways that TV time can also be fitness time. Have a tip that works for you? Please share it in the comments!

This column is hosted by Lisa. She can be found doing squats and lunges over at Workout Mommy.

Very rarely does he ever ASK to stop running. Running gives him a sense of freedom. He cruises down the sidewalk without a care in the world, squealing with excitement the entire time. Does he care what others think of him? Of course not! He is running because it makes him feel good.

So what can we learn from this?

Running is FUN! Take a cue from your kids and just get outside to run. You don’t have to buy any special equipment or clothing, (aside from quality shoes), and you can do it right outside your home. Don’t worry about how far or fast you are running, just get out there and do it! (Squealing is optional)

When you need a break, just stop to examine a bug or two.