Fit Links Friday March 19th

So starting today, every Friday, I will post a list of my favorite fitness/health/wellness posts of the week. If you ever have a suggestion or a link, please leave a comment!

Fit Links Friday for the week of March 15

Total vs. Net Calories: Does it Matter for Weight Loss - That’s Fit

How Bad is that Diet Coke? – FitSugar

Surprising New Study: Women on the Pill Live Longer- Glamour

The Three C’s of Exercise – Oh She Glows

20 Ways to Spring Clean your Fitness Routine- Shape Magazine

78 Ways to Cut Fat Calories from Your Diet- Women’s Health Magazine

Getting It: When Green Smoothie Girl Meets Red Meat BoyShedding it and Getting it

10 + 3 Action Plan – Prior Fat Girl

Happy Friday! :)

Some Thoughts of my Own…

Dieting, weight loss, fat, skinny, over weight, fad diets, eating disorders, starvation, fasting, BMI, weight, counting calories, cleanse, detox, diet, skinny bitch, skinny fat, obese, carbs, low-fat, non-fat, cankle,perfect body, model, pounds.

Are words I constantly hear on a daily basis. Images like the one you see above and below, I see everyday. It’s not hard to see why girls obsess over their weight and why the diet industry grows faster every year. “Americans spend an estimated $40 million a year on weight-loss programs and products. Clearly the diet industry continues to boom, as the consumer market continues to be flooded with books, pills, gadgets, and fads all to tantalize our fantasies our achieving that “perfect” size.”

I can not lie, I am a girl who has obsessed over weight, a lot, and I would be lying if I said I still don’t sometimes. If you would have looked in my refrigerator this summer it would be filled with low-fat, non-fat, processed foods, and fake whole grain products. It wasn’t until this winter that I learned about REAL food. I am talking about the kind of food, that for the most part, gets pulled out of the ground and placed in a farmers market or the outside aisles of a grocery store. And I am still learning about real food everyday. I have to say I still love my Eggos! I wanted to believe there was a quick way to lose weight. But guess what I learned… there isn’t. For the first time in my life I am taking the time, that is needed, to change my body, not only to lose weight but to be healthy and happy.  It was hard for me to realize that there isn’t a quick way to lose weight. I am still trying to convince my friend that full fat foods in moderation will be better for her than the fake low-fat butter she is buying.

I hope by now you have met my good friend Stephanie, if you haven’t she is the post below this, check her out! Stephanie has decided to take the first step to living a healthier lifestyle. Now I can’t say I fully agree with Jenny Craig, but I don’t disagree with what she is doing. I truly believe, now, the best way to a healthy lifestyle is a balanced meal that contains REAL food. But I also believe everyone is different and something different works for everyone. I have tried my fair share of different diets to get me to where I am now. I wish I could say I ate real food right from the start but I can’t. I could not be more proud of Stephanie of taking the first steps to a healthier lifestyle. I hope Jenny Craig is the first stepping stone to a healthier lifestyle. I can not wait to hear how the rest of her time goes with Jenny Craig. Personally I was curious about the food, on the commercial they say “The baked potato is amazing!” Can that really be true? Everyone needs to take the first step to living a healthy lifestyle, and Jenny Craig was hers. What was yours? I would love if you could share your stories in the comment section.

Now I realize I need to tell you a little more about my own story. So look forward to a post all about me (that sounds weird) and my journey to a healthier lifestyle. I also promise to post about some new crazy classes I am trying too. Plus I love free stuff so I think it may be time for another giveaway soon. Until next time…

And the Winners are…

Thank you to everyone who entered my Blog Birthday Giveaway. I promise I will be doing another giveaway soon, I like free stuff so why not give it away! My 10-year-old cousin was actually the lucky one to randomly pick the winners because I wanted everyone to win. So here we go…

The winners are:

  1. Lauren Owens from {Reading & Running} Lauren. I have to say, I said the more you enter the better chance you have of winning. She entered every single day! Thanks for all the support!
  2. Caitlin Valentino, “I would love love love to be able to pop in one of those DVDs right now before i have to run off to class/library/test all day (medical school!)” Good luck at school!
  3. Emily from Run,Study,Travel who’s fitness goals are “to maintain a generally high level of fitness that allows me to decide, four weeks before the race, that a half marathon is a good idea. I love running half marathons but it would be so much easier if I just stayed in shape! I think that one of the core fusion DVDs would definitely help out with that!”
  4. Danielle from Cartertwins.org who is a busy college student running multiple music fan sites and loves to stay in shape!
  5. Kady Rose from In that Autumn Breeze are Marvelous Things who would like these DVDs because “reading your posts makes me want to try the DVDs soooo badly since I am unable to attend any similar classes in my area. I’m desperately trying to lose over 100 pounds and really working on losing at least 1 size before this summer when I will be a maid of honor at my best friend’s wedding.” I know you will look great in that dress!

I will email you later tonight so I can get your addresses to send you, your DVDs! Now I have to get ready for my boyfriend’s Birthday on Monday :)