The shape of things

Don't know if you're a fan of tennis or not - but I've been watching the primetime U.S. Open matches the past few nights. I love watching pros play because their games are so fast and so calculated! When I play tennis and hit the ball I just hope it goes over the net and into the lines - definitely haven't gotten to the point where I'm strategic with my shots (want to get there though).

Tennis is a great workout and a fun sport to play after you're out of school. It only takes two people to play and you can always go to a practice wall and hit by yourself. A lot of people "play" (I put it in quotes, because people say that they play and really haven't since high school) but regardless it's not difficult finding a partner.

The sport is relatively cheap too. You need a racket (you can find an entry level one for $30-50) and you need tennis balls and that's it. If you get more competitive you might want to invest in real tennis shoes, but for just getting started any sneakers will work.

Besides being a great cardio workout, it's also a great upper body and core workout. If you play a match you'll feel sore in your abs, obliques and all over your arms, back and shoulders the next day!

Still aren't convinced to try? Well, you can wear some really cute outfits when you play! Tennis skirts, dresses, tanks, shorts, visors, hats, etc. So much fun. I have a great collection of sassy skirts and cute tank tops and they are all so functional.

Center court has turned into a fashion runway lately. Maria Sharapova (pronounced "sha - raw - pah - vah" not like "share - a - poh - vuh" this according to my Russian-speaking husband) and Serena Williams have such great contracts with Nike that they get new dresses designed for each grand slam (Maria has three for the U.S. open, a white "day" dress, a black "night" dress, and her special sassy "center court" red dress.)

I saw the press conference when Sharapova "unveiled" her dress and thought it might be a bit over the top. Then I saw her in this picture and I thought - man, she's got it going on in that red dress!

(Courtesy AP)

If I've convinced you to try tennis I've got two suggestions:

1. Tune in to USA network tonight and the next few nights and watch the prime time tennis matches.
   
   
2. Go to google and find out if there are some beginners lessons you can take in your area. Sign up and learn. It's the best way to really learn tennis because you get the basics from someone who knows what they are doing and you'll gain confidence to play. (Check your local YMCA or university, they may offer lessons)

One of my friends got engaged last Friday, and during a chat yesterday she mentioned how she wanted to have "toned arms" for her wedding. Of course the workout-fiend inside of me just went to town thinking of all the great exercises and moves she could do to target the upper body.

I told her we'd need to focus on several body parts - the biceps, triceps, shoulders, upper back, chest and abs.

I found some great workouts on Shape.com targeting each of these spots. If you're interested in toning up your upper body, read more...

Triceps -

• three great and simple moves to tone - Notice how you use one arm at a time on these moves, this is great because i've noticed that a lot of times my stronger arm will take over
• the moves in this set are a little less coventional - but still effective!
  

Biceps -  we all know the biceps curl - but unfortunately a lot of us do it incorrectly. While you're doing the curl your upper arm has to stay completely still or you aren't effectively using your bicep muscles.

• This set of biceps moves tries to elimnate that upper arm movement  (3 moves)
  

Shoulders -

• Great moves to get those nice curved shoulders(3 moves)
  
• One move that's great for shoulders (1 move)
• Another good one for those shoulders (1 move)

Upper Back -

• This workout really uses both the shoulders and the back
  
• Can't go without a lat exercise (1 move)
• Great for back and shoulders (1 move)
  

Chest -

• Push ups (they hurt, but they work!)
  
• Chest press (1 move)
  

An allover move -

• Bench press! (don't be scared, you can do it)
  

Ultimately - the most effective way to tone up is to keep your muscles guessing. That means never doing the same workout over and over and over. You need to constantly alternate between several workouts so that your muscles have to work hard doing something they're not familiar doing.

If you seriously want to tone you're going to need to strength train at least three times a week. And if it's for your upper body you'll want to focus on it the majority of the time, but don't neglect other parts either. 

Got some great upper body moves? Post them in the comments 

Found a couple of interesting articles in the food and diet arena:

1. The Skinny on Spicy Foods: growing up in South Louisiana this article really hit home. It features several reasons why spicy foods are good for you. The good for you spices include red pepper, turmeric, curry and spices in chiles. 

Adding spices to your diet can curb hunger, strengthen muscles, boost your brainpower and improve mood, new research shows. Plus, you get instant big-time flavor for a few calories and nearly zero fat.

 Ready to reap the spicy benefits? Use these recipes that include those spices: Hot Pepper Chicken, Middle Eastern Lamb Burgers, Wolfgang Puck's curried Chicken Satay, and Jambasta.

2.  Can Drinking water make you skinny? Nope, sorry. Although it benefits every cell in your body, hydrates your skin, and improves your mood - but it doesn't help you lose weight.

Women's magazines and diet gurus have long promised that if you gulp a lot of water, you'll feel full and eat less, and the pounds will melt away. If only it were that easy. Unfortunately, that's one of the biggest diet myths out there.

But just because it won't make you skinny, still drink it! Especially if you replace water for your sugary-calorie-laden drinks like soda or fruit juice - then it could actually help you lose weight because you'll be taking in less calories.  

I'm not sure if any of you attempted any of the EASY recipes from last week, but I had so much fun putting it together that I decided to do it again this week. So get shopping and start cooking some meals that will blow your family away.

Sunday: 5-Vegetable Fried Rice with 5-spice pork this one is a little higher in the calorie content BUT the HUGE amount of veggies in it makes up for it (in my book) This makes a ton, so it's a great leftover for a few lunches...

Monday: Moroccan Beef Patties - These are delicious. I usually make up some rice instead of couscous and serve with a small salad. I also sometimes make them a bit smaller than the recipe calls for therefore the nutrition content stays down a bit and we have leftovers the next day.

Tuesday: Pulled Chicken - This recipe is actually for a sandwich which Rachael smothers in cheese but I modified it for more of a dinner by just making the chicken and serving it with a great side dish. This chicken tastes amazingly like you got it at a small BBQ joint - and it's so light!

Wednesday: Pineapple Shrimp Kebabs - These take a little longer to prepare (cutting the veggies and soaking and threading the skewers) but they are so great - light, fruit and veggie filled. Yum.

Thursday: Marinated Flank steak - This dish is great and you marinate it for 45 minutes - 2 hours and it comes out tasting like it's been soaking all day! So lean and light (but remember to eat about 4 ounces - size of the palm)

Friday: Lemony Chicken Milanese - This is a surprisingly easy dish that comes out tasting pretty gourmet, get a bottle of white wine or light red wine (mmm... pinot noir). Not quite as "healthy" as the others, but it's Friday so you can splurge a little, right?

Saturday: Sausage, Egg and Cheese Turnover - Breakfast for dinner - perfect for saturday evening. These taste great. Italian sausage, egg and cream cheese all up in a puff pastry turnover. Sigh. So great - and around 400-435 calories per turnover - priceless.

I love setting goals for myself. It's a great way to get me motivated and moving. Whether it be signing up for a 10K or deciding that I want to be able lift a certain amount of weight - I always need a goal or two to get me going.

So when I saw an article in the new Shape Magazine about "being the girl who can do pull ups" I was immediately hooked. My husband pokes fun at me because I lift weights 2-3 times a week and yet I still can't pull myself up while hanging on a bar. Of course he doesn't take into account the fact that it's a lot harder for women to do a pull up - but enough with excuses!

I tried to find the article on Shape's website, but they haven't posted it so I'll share it with you here:

1. Do seated lat pull down exercises - load 20-30 pounds and sit at the machine and pull down the bar. For form tips read this article. Keep adding more weight so that by the last two reps (out of 10) you can barely do another one.

2. Standing Lat Pull Down - Attach handles to a high cable machine, holding handles with palms facing forward. Bend your elbow, pulling handles down towards your shoulders. return to start position; repeat. When you can lift half your weight, advance to the next move.

3. Assisted Pull Up - set the weight on an assisted pull up machine to half your weight. When you can lift 80% of your weight, try number 4. Watch a good video on form and how to use these machines. (disregard the cheesy dude) hehe.

4. Pull-up  - Grasp a pull up bar with hands wider than shoulders and palms facing away you. Bend elbows, pulling chest toward the bar. Lower to start position and repeat. Do 2 or 3 sets of 2-5 reps.

You did it! Go Girl!!

I'm a sucker for good advertising - I admit it. Having two degrees in Mass Communication has definitely taught me to be a better consumer and media critic, but when an advertising dept. does a good job, it does not go unnoticed in my book.

That's why I've consistently loved Nike's advertising to women athletes. I could name numerour Nike Ads targeted at young women - The Mia Hamm/Michael Jordan Anything You can do I can do better - The Maria Sharapova I feel Pretty Ad (and the list could go on).

So when I read an article today in New York Times about a new commercial that puts women back on the pedastal and in front of a HUGE megaphone (figuratively and literally) I was thrilled. The article includes a clip of the ad and it's pretty neat. They have all the gals there (Gabrielle Reece and Mia Hamm to name a few) and they yell in to the megaphone what it means to be female and to be athlete.

Some of the female athletes are interviewed by the NY Times reporter and the consensus seems to be that women's sports is slowly falling off the radar and that less and less young girls are getting involved. That's a sad story.  

Perhaps I'm turning to this topic too often, but it saddens me that the same fervor and excitement that surrounded women's sports when I was growing up is being overshadowed today by Lindsay Lohan's rehab stint.

Perhaps with the summer olympics coming up in 2008, women's sports will get its much-needed attention. But on a much smaller level all of us can do our part to make sure we encourage and nurture young female athletes. If you have a talent in a sport, go coach a youth-league team, if you're not talented or don't have that time - then encourage your kids and your friends/family kids to get involved in youth sports and go out there and cheer them on!

This may sound really cheesy, but one of the main reasons I never smoked (EVER) is because when I was young I found this poster of all the gals on the gold-medal U.S. women's soccer team and it said something to the effect that you can't play soccer and smoke. So basically you need to choose. I chose soccer. 

I love it when I find articles about research that confirms coffee is good (posted about it here)...as if I needed another reason to pick up my morning cup of coffee...

I found this article about a new research study that debunks a common coffee myth. You may have heard that drinking coffee dehydrates you, therefore you should steer clear of caffeine before a workout. But in reality, caffeine in moderation does not interfere with your workout (moderation is less than 500 mgs - which is equal to roughy 3 eight ounce cups of coffee or ten cans of soda). In fact the caffeine may give you the jolt you need to perform better during your workout - helping you last an average of 30 minutes longer! 

30 minutes longer running is equal to roughly 300 calories - and doing that three times a week could help you lose 13 pounds a year! Wow. Drink up, and CHEERS!

Read the article here. 

I've mentioned the Website Fitday.com before in a few other posts. Basically it's an online food journal - free - but so much more. In addition to recording the food you ate, you can log your exercise and create physical and nutritional goals for yourself (even with deadlines! i.e. lose 5 pounds by Sept. 21).

I've been using it all summer - just because I'm a little OCD about food/workouts journaling and I hated carrying a notebook around all the time (AND wasting paper). 

The feature I'm so in love with right now is the "nutritional report" section. If you have a fitday account (if you don't go get one, they're free) log in and on the right side click on the "Reports" link. Once you are on that page go to the Nutrition link, and click to generate your report. It will look something like this. 

As you can see the report analyzes all the food you've journaled and lets you know how much of each vitamin and mineral you've had that day and what percenatge of the recommended dailly allowance you're at. The numbers in red mean that you haven't met the RDA yet. So as you can see, for me today I haven't had enough Vitamin D, E, K. I'm a little low on iron and zine (89% and 95% respecitvely) and I'm low in calcium and magnesium.

It may seem like a bunch of random numbers to you - but look at it this way. I see that I'm lacking in some vitamins and in calcium so I know in a few minutes I'll go to the fridge and grab a glass of milk and a banana.

So perhaps you're an avid multi-vitamin taker, well with these reports you can try to get all your vitamins and minerals using the food you eat instead of relying on a pill.

Here's a close up of this detailed information:

I'll tell you the truth, at first using the journal can be tedious because you have to search for all the foods and what not, but with this feature alone it's worth it!

Other great features? Calories burned by workouts, percentages of fat/protein/carbs, weight goals, nutritional goals, etc. 

Did you know the American Heart Association recommends that people limit trans fat intake to 2 grams a day? Yep, that's it.

Even more surprising - when you see "zero trans fat" on a label it might not actually mean that there is no trans fat in the food. The FDA doesn't require food labels to include trans fat if there's less than 0.5 grams per serving. The catch is that many people eat more than one serving - so that means the "zero trans fat" could easily add up to 1-2 grams! (which is the recommended daily intake!) Read the article.

So what can you do to make sure the zero trans fat food you're about to eat really has no trans fat? Check the ingredients. If "partially hydrogenated oil" is included - it's the primary source of trans fat.

Another tip - don't just look for trans fat. Saturated fat also raises your risk for heart disease, so be vigilant.

Crocs craze has hit America by storm. If you don't know about these plastic shoes, you've probably been living under a rock. The craze has also affected kids who wear these shoes everywhere! WebMd talked to some doctors of podiatric medicine and school principles about the safety of these shoes.

Jenifer Garner's cute little daughter sports the crocs trend. (Source)

They talk about where kids should wear crocs - and more importantly where they should not. If you're a mom or if you know some croc-loving kids, you may want to pass this article on to make sure your little ones are wearing the proper footwear.

So where should they and shouldn't they be worn?

Activity OK for Crocs?

Gym Class No

Hiking No

Walking to and from class Yes

Recess No

Going to the beach Yes

Going to the pool Yes

After-school sports No

Boating Yes

Walking on a cold winter day No