Category Archives: Fitness

Podcast 000: Who are The Minimalists?

Source: http://www.theminimalists.com/000/

By Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus · Follow: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

In this introductory episode of The Minimalists Podcast, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus discuss their personal stories, as well as the format of their new podcast.

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Mentioned in this episode

Ryan Nicodemus’s Packing Party
The Minimalists’ TEDx Talk
How we started our blog
Books: Everything That Remains, Essential, Minimalism
Watch excerpts from our documentary
How to contact The Minimalists
Theme song: “Every Little Thing” by Peter Doran

Our podcasts are completely free, so if you found value in this episode, and you’d like to help us produce more, please consider donating a dollar to The Minimalists. Your donations help keep this podcast 100% advertisement-free (because advertisements suck).

If you’d like to comment on the podcast, you can leave a review on iTunes. Not only do we read every review, but positive reviews also help our simple-living message reach more ears.

If you have a question for The Minimalists you’d like us to answer on our podcast, please leave a message on our voicemail at 406-219-7839. We’ll also answer lightning-round questions fr…

6 Ways to Create an Awesome 2016

Source: http://zenhabits.net/awesome-2016/

By Leo Babauta

It’s the start of a new year, and like me, you’re filled with optimism.

A new year is like a blank slate, and you can fill it with whatever you want!

Unfortunately, most people make a bunch of resolutions and then let them fizzle out by the end of the first month or so. How can we overcome this, and keep our motivation throughout the year to make it as awesome as it can be?

I’m going to offer some ideas to consider. You don’t have to do all of these, but pick a couple and most importantly, put them into action!

Monthly challenges with weekly focuses. The problem with a year-long resolution is almost no one can really stay focused for an entire year. But if you break it into monthly challenges, then it’s much more doable. For example, if you want to get into shape, do a January challenge to go for a walk every day, or run three days a week. Even better: break the month-long challenge into weekly focuses … so you just have to run for three days this week. Then another focus the next week, etc. Once the first month is over, take what you learned and use that to shape your next month’s challenge.
Make someone else pay for your failure. This is a really powerful form of motivation. Set a challenge for yourself for a month, and if you fail, then a friend agrees to have something bad happen to her or him. For example, if you don’t run three times a week for the month of January, then your fri…

Herbal Nursing Mom Tea Recipe

Source: http://wellnessmama.com/76418/nursing-mom-tea/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nursing-mom-tea

I had a slight panic moment the other day when I realized (while drinking my pregnancy tea) that I will have a newborn in a month or so (nesting is now in hyperdrive).

With a precious new little one comes baby coos and tiny clothes and breastfeeding. I love the newborn phase but the early days of nursing are always a little tough for me and I feel that it is harder to get enough calories and nutrients when I’m nursing a baby.

This time, I’m prepared ahead of time as I’ve mixed up a batch of nursing mom tea to have on hand when this little one makes an entrance. I’ve also been busy getting my birth kit in order, eating dates (I’ll keep you posted on that one!), obsessively cleaning (nesting for the win!) and optimizing all of these factors to help make labor easier!

Nursing Mom Tea

Pregnancy is a time of extra demand and nutrient need for the body. Labor is a physically demanding time on the body. Breastfeeding is also a time of increased demand and nutritional need. All in all, having a baby is a couple years of wonderful exhaustion, and while it is easy to focus on the beautiful baby, it is also important for us, as moms, to nourish an…

psycho fat burning

Psycho Fat Burning

Psycho fat burning? If you’re looking for lots of serious fat melting, calorie crushing, ab revealing results from your workout, this is for you.

There are a lot of reasons to hit a workout like this, including travel, or just being plain busy, or you can’t make it to the gym. Or hey, maybe you’re just tired of paying that monthly gym membership!

Psycho Fat Burning

We’re going to fire up two exercises and 30 minutes of your time. The two exercises are bodyweight squats and push ups.

The idea is to get as many reps as possible in 30 minutes. A cycle may go like this.

  • Bodyweight squats – 30 reps
  • Push Ups – 15 reps
  • Repeat (resting when necessary)

In order to get a little static contraction back work in as well, be sure to hold your arms straight out in front of you for all your squat reps. Or lightly lace your fingers behind your head and do the bodyweight squats in “prisoner” style.

On the squats, go as low as you can on each rep, under control. Pause for a second at the bottom of the repetition.

Now, your strength level may vary a lot so I’m going to give you a list of bodyweight squat and push up variations so you can make this routine tougher or easier on you, as needed.

Strength levels can vary widely for people in bodyweight exercises. While someone may crank out 50 push ups non stop, someone else might only get two. So here are some variations for you.

For bodyweight squats you can do the following:

* Half Squats (don’t go down all the way, stop around top of thighs parallel to ground)

* Full Squats (down as far as you can go)

* Close Squats (feet turned out about 45 degrees with heels an inch apart, or touching if you can handle it). Arms pointed straight out in front of you.

Push Ups:

* Wall Push Ups

* Incline Push Ups (standing and leaning forward into a bench or table, so you’re lower than leaning
into a wall)

* Kneeling Push Ups

* Half Push Ups (put something like a ball or stack of books under your chest)

* Full Push Ups

You could do:

Bodyweight squats – 20 reps
Push Ups – 10 reps
Repeat (resting when necessary)

OR:

Bodyweight squats – 10 reps
Push Ups – 5 reps
Repeat (resting when necessary)

Give this routine a try for 20 minutes, or 30 if you’re up to it. See how many reps you can get (30 may be too much on the squats. Try 20). You can adjust the push up number as well.

Even 20 minutes might be too brutal to start. You’d be surprised how much you can make 10 minutes of this hurt!

Next time you do it, try beating your rep total. That is for those serious about psycho fat burning.

If you have one simple piece of equipment (a chin up bar) you can make it a tri-set with Bodyweight squats, push ups and pull ups (or inverted rows if you can do that).

You can also flip it. Instead of trying to hit a certain number of rounds in a set time, you can set a rep total and go for time, trying to beat that time in a future workout.

So maybe you go for 200 squats and 100 push ups (whatever variation you choose) with the same rule of double the squat reps to push up reps each time before going back to squats.

Really feeling it? 400 bodyweight squats and 200 push ups! Come on, Rocky!

Brutal, short and effective.


Are you interested in more fitness info? Check out my free report:

“10 FITNESS HACKS YOU NEED TO KNOW”

At This Dinner Party, Talking About Death With Strangers Isn't Taboo

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/01/02/461635753/at-this-dinner-party-talking-about-death-with-strangers-isn-t-taboo?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Stock graphic of people eating at a table

iStockphoto

Talking about grief and the loss of a loved one isn’t typically dinner conversation. Many people, even those struggling to cope with loss, will avoid talking about such heavy topics, especially over supper.

But a fledgling nonprofit designs dinners specifically for young adults to get together and talk about their experiences with loss.

In cities across the country, the group The Dinner Party advises 20- and 30-somethings on how to arrange these gatherings.

Some say it’s one of the new ways that young adults, often skeptical of organized religion, are connecting to find meaning in their lives.

At a recent dinner in Boston, it first seemed like any other dinner party. Everyone was putting the last-minute touches on the meal as they waited for all the guests to arrive. They talked easily, even though it was the first time they had met in person.

Rosy Hosking was hosting the dinner in her Jamaica Plain apartment, where she set the table and prepared the main course for her guests.

“I have prepared a ratatouille. It’s very easy, and it’s also vegan,” she said. “So it hits all the plus points of making dinner for people you d…

A Meditation for Personal Renewal

Source: http://www.sonima.com/videos/renewal/

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCTyZWSDCxo

Meditation is our way to refine the quality of interactions with others and ourselves. In this 18-minute video, Elena Brower, a renowned yoga and meditation teacher based in New York City, will help you acknowledge the importance of releasing expectations and inviting creativity, listening, and trust into your life. This meditation is about taking some quiet time in order to accept and acknowledge the connection between yourself and your thoughts and believing in the flow of the day as a pathway to feeling refreshed and renewed.

Related: A Meditation for Beginners by Deepak Chopra

 

Photo by: Matt Roy

 

The post A Meditation for Personal Renewal appeared first on Sonima.

A Quick Thank You

Source: http://tonygentilcore.com/2016/01/a-quick-thank-you/

I told myself I wouldn’t do it, I tried to hold off, but dammit, amidst everyone else tossing in their “Reflecting on 2015/Year in Review messages” I figured I’d join the parade.

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in”

It’s hard not to come across 100% cliched here and not say 2015 was an amazingly baller year.

Because, it was!

During our annual New Year’s dinner in the North End last night, Lisa and I reminisced and attempted to list our respective highlights from the past twelve months. Mine were, in no particular order:

1) I managed to make a Pumpkin Chili using our CrockPot and not set out apartment complex on fire.

2) I went a full-year without getting a traffic ticket from the city. Hahahahahaha….FU Boston.

And well, that’s pretty much it.

I win.

Okay, kidding.

I think it goes without saying that the highlight of 2015 for me was getting married.

Wedding Picture Dock copy

Not coincidentally it was also the hardest thing.

I’ll spare the particulars, but …

secret to cardio training

The Secret To Cardio Training That Could Double Your Results.. in Less Time!

What is the secret to cardio training? Traditional long form cardio is getting bashed all over the place nowadays.

It’s not my favorite form of exercise either, nor do I think it’s the best option for fat loss and overall health and fitness.

At least not if that’s all your doing.

Secret to cardio training

But cardio can definitely be effective and have it’s own place as part of a well designed fitness program.

Cardio should be one component of your program, not the only component.

Then the question that gets asked a lot is, “if I’m training for fat loss, when should I do my cardio, before or after my weight training session?”

Great question! You’re on a roll! Oh, wait! That’s just the same question asked again!

So, weights then cardio, or cardio then weights?

Weights then CARDIO!

If you want a complete training routine to maximize your fat burning results, you’ll want to include the following:

1. Strength Training

2. Conditioning or Metabolic Training

3. Metabolic Finisher

4. Strategic Cardio

And this does NOT mean you need all four in the same workout. Just using two of them in a workout can be extremely effective and more than enough.

Very rarely will you use all four components in one workout.

So why resistance training first?

For starters, if you do cardio first, your weight training performance (and results) will suffer.

Here’s a dirty little secret cardio bunnies and makers of “aerobics” dvds don’t want you to know.
Intense, high quality weight training is MORE effective for taking fat off and keeping it off than cardio!

Hit the weights while you’re fresh, then move to your cardio. Yes, of course, you can do a few minutes of a general warm up if you need it.

Glycogen Depletion

By hitting the weights first, you’ll also deplete your glycogen stores, leaving your body primed and pumped to dip into its stores of excess body fat to fuel your the cardio portion of your workout.

The flip side of that is that fat is not an efficient fuel for weight training. Glycogen is the preferred source of fuel for short, intense muscle contractions.

By hitting the weights first, you’ve allowed your body to have the preferred muscle fuel available and primed it to burn fat as soon as you start your cardio. NICE!

If you want to be efficient and MAXIMIZE your results, it’s strength training first, then cardio!

 


Are you interested in more fitness info? Check out my free report:

“10 FITNESS HACKS YOU NEED TO KNOW”

12 Insightful Reflections on How to Change for the Better

Source: http://www.sonima.com/meditation/how-to-change-for-the-better/

We all want to evolve. That desire is what drives most of us to work toward becoming better versions of ourselves. Year after year, we painstakingly peel back the layers to get to the heart of who we really are and who we aspire to be. But as anyone who has ever spent time feeling down in the dumps or had a conflict with an irate co-worker knows too well, it can be tough to stay cool, calm, patient, and kind on a regular basis, especially in the face of discomfort.

That’s why we turned to the experts—psychologists, yoga teachers, and meditation masters—for their thoughts on the best practices for getting to the root of negative emotions, taking a look at yourself when you’re blaming others, naming your role in what’s not working in your life, and more. Of course, it’s not easy work. “Your quest for improvement will invite tests for your self-destructive doubting aspects,” says Elena Brower, a yoga and meditation teacher in New York City and author of the newly re-released Art of Attention. “However, if you can see these tests and lessons for the blessings that they are, every new understanding can help you grow.”

Linda Mainquist, co-director for the Center for Leadership Performance at the David Lynch Foundation agrees, though cautions that it can be tempting to get into a not-very-helpful “self-help” mentality. “These days, we seem to make ourselves eternal self-improvement project…

Ready. Set. Let Go!

Source: http://www.theminimalists.com/ready/

By Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus · Follow: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Resolution or no, a new year is upon us. Here are a few ideas to help make your forthcoming year an intentional one:

Start a blog.
Get out of debt.
Simplify your diet.
Plan for retirement.
Take a writing class.
Read one book per month.
Say goodbye to fake friends.
Join a free local meetup group.
Exercise eighteen minutes every day.
Play the 30-Day Minimalism Game.

Happy New Year, y’all. Thank you for allowing us to contribute to your lives these past five years, and for helping us contribute to the world around us: last year, with your help, we built an elementary school in Laos, funded a high school in Uganda for a year, installed clean-water wells in a Malawi village, and constructed a family-style orphanage in Honduras.

This year, it’s time to jettison the trinkets of the past and replace them with something meaningful. Pick one or two items from the list above, and make them a priority. Ready? Set. Let go!

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