smart girls have more fun

Suburban Kids and Streetwear

Last weekend, I was in LA. The bulk of Shopping Day (because there’s Pool Day, Beach Day, and Shopping Day in every good vacation) was spent on Melrose and Fairfax. I am totally aware of how douchey that sounds.

Fairfax is kind of neat. There are lots of streetwear stores along these blocks—brands like Supreme, Odd Future, Diamond Supply Co., yeah those…the brands that relatable /not all-the-way-rich/sometimes-I-skateboard-sometimes-I-don’t rappers wear. Apparently, these are the brands that attract younger crowds because of their popularity and accessibility.

There were a lot of 13-17 year old boys that lingered around these stores. They were cool boys. A lot of these cool boys had their nice moms with them too. Mind you—these brands are on the pricier side and I would say they are for more luxurious, occasional splurges than a regular ol’ Sunday shopping spree with mom. These kids were decked out from head to toe in major streetwear names, literally every. article. of. clothing. on. their. scrawny. bodies. If you put these kids into a Coin Star machine you’d get about couple thousand G’s—just trying to put it into perspective.

My idea of taking a 13 year old boy shopping is taking him to Old Navy and getting him the good pair of jeans that aren’t on clearance yet because you want him to have what’s best, right? My idea of taking a 13 year old boy shopping is not spending $95 on a hoodie with a skateboard and donut on it.

I don’t know these kids and their really really generous and naive mothers, I don’t know their lives. This was simply an observation and some thought vomit. So in conclusion, there are lot of suburban boys who shop at really expensive stores that rappers (again, the not all-the-way-rich-like-Kanye rappers) shop at and their moms are spending a lot of dough on really trendy sweaters and tye-dye tanks and even SOCKS…come on guys, Fruit of the Loom makes a really good sock.

Survive and Thrive: Girls on the Go

Author: Alex Mogannam, Health Contributor

Excuses—the little demons inside of us that justify why a triple brownie milk shake has nutritional value because milk has protein. They tell us we deserve happy hour after a long day, when we really know hitting the gym would be better for those last ten pounds that need dropping.

Excuses also tell us that we don’t have time for anything, especially ourselves. You may use one of these excuses or you may use all of them. Either way, it’s just not going to work anymore. Since we are all smart girls here, we are most likely always on the go, getting an education or pushing for that career. Life can distract us from taking care of ourselves. You are blessed with one beautiful body and it’s time to put the excuses aside and take ownership of what’s rightfully yours.

Below are a series of tips that I like to call Excuse-Busters. Some are exercises that can simply be done at work or home at your own pace and some are diet tips to help make healthier decisions throughout the day. Please note that if at any point you find yourself making excuses as to why these tips will be just too difficult to follow, you might need to figure out just how important your health is to you. Trust me, fit girls have more fun. And there is a fit girl in all of us. It’s about time you met her! Let’s get to it!

Excuse-Busting Exercises: 12-20 repetitions/3 sets

Floor Bridge: How long have you been typing away at that desk? Two hours? Eight hours? Guess what? Your hips are not happy. Sitting for long periods of time shortens our hip flexors. That means, over time we will start to lean forward excessively. The floor bridge reverses that tightness.

Step 1: Lie on your back with your knees up; feet on the floor.
Step 2: Raise your hips in the air while keeping your feet planted on the ground, creating a bridge. Squeeze your glutes (your booty) like there is a pencil between your cheeks. This will tone your butt too so squeeze away!
Step 3: Lower your hips slowly toward the ground without actually touching.

Chair Squat: Just in case you didn’t know, your glutes aren’t actually glued to your chair. You can get up whenever you need to. In fact, when you sit for long periods of time your legs don’t get the proper circulation needed to function properly. Hence the desperate need to stretch after long periods of sitting.

Step 1: Stand one foot away from the base of your chair.
Step 2: Sit down (with your arms out in front of you for balance) till your butt hits the edge of the chair then immediately stand up, thrusting your hips forward and squeezing your glutes. Make sure your heels never come up and you shoulders are pulled back.

Wall Push-up: Yes, you can do a push-up! Let’s just modify a bit. So far we have a core exercise, a leg exercise, and now we need an arm exercise.

Step 1: Place hands on the wall just right outside your shoulders. Step your feet back a few steps so you are somewhat at an incline.
Step 2: Bend your elbows to begin the push-up while keeping your stomach in and head pulled back. Let your heels come off the ground.
Step 3: Push back away from the wall, straightening your arms completely.

***When doing these exercises, the most important thing is that you breathe. Exhale when lifting up in the bridge, standing up from the squat, and pushing back from the push up. Inhale when coming down toward the floor in the bridge, sitting in the squat, and coming toward the wall in the push-up.

Excuse-Busting Eating

As a fellow girl-on-the-go, I rely a lot on convenience. I drive everywhere, I eat in my car, and I can turn anywhere and anything into a gym. With that said, always being on the go develops habits; some good and some bad. Below are some solutions for the habits that add pounds to the scale.

Your Morning Caffeine: I know your caramel macchiato is probably your number one weapon when it comes to conquering the 7:00am sleepies. But the truth is, you are starting your day off with straight up sugar. Processed sugar is the reason why we gain wait. It is too hard for our body to break down so it sits in our bodies, making us fat. The substitute: if you’re addicted, try the sugar free syrups. A couple pumps will satisfy the craving. If you want to quit cold-turkey, my go too pick-me-up is a short black coffee with some low-fat milk and cinnamon.

Cinnamon is a metabolism booster so I add it to anything I can. Make sure that you don’t consume more than 16 ounces of coffee a day. When the body needs energy, it turns to fat stores as fuel. Coffee basically prevents that process from happening.

Your Grab-and-Go lunch:

Follow these simple guidelines:

Lean Protein
Veggies
Whole Grains

If these guidelines feel limiting, get creative! How about a brown rice spicy tuna roll with seaweed salad on the side? Or a half turkey sandwich (hold the mayo and cheese, sub with avocado and you’ll stay more full longer) and a big salad with a vinaigrette. Or (my favorite) run to the mall and grab some Korean! Just get a meat with no sauce and ask for extra veggies if they don’t have brown rice. Make it spicy too! Add as much hot sauce as you want. Spicy foods control your appetite and boost your metabolism. Go ahead! Get crazy with the sriracha!

Snack time: No matter what, I always keep a bag of almonds on me. If I have clients back to back, I never know when I am going to eat next. Instead of starving and devouring enough food for a family of 10 later, I keep myself satisfied with my quick snacks. Below is a list of trainer approved, non-perishable snacks:

Almonds
Bananas
Protein Bars/Shakes
Kale Chips
Pretzels
Trail Mix with Dark Chocolate
Apples

So next time you’re stuck on the train, waiting to get home and eat, pop a couple of almonds in your mouth and it will be easier to control your appetite. Snacks are important because they prevent us from going into starvation mode. When we don’t eat for many hours, our body thinks it’s starving (a little dramatic right?) and the next meal you put in your mouth, no matter what, will turn to sugar to give you energy. And you know what sugar does!

Remember, it’s hard enough to be woman in this world. We have to fight for our jobs, our rights, and even our choice on what we do with our bodies. We have a lot of obstacles in our way. Don’t let excuses and a hectic schedule become yet another hurdle to jump over. You are capable of a healthy lifestyle and it starts with healthy choices!

Questions, comments, concerns? Want more? Like Dynamo Fitness on Facebook and message me! I promise I won’t bite.

Visit www.dynamofit.com!

I Quit Counting Calories

Calorie counting is the worst because anything that involves counting is already bad (what?…I’m not a numbers person) and nobody really knows what a calorie is anyway.

I’d consider myself a pretty healthy twenty-something year old and very little of my physical health is credited to counting calories. Scientifically, I get it—the whole consuming/burning calories relationship. Personally, it doesn’t do much for me.

I grew accustomed to a physically active lifestyle as a kid so healthy habits came subconciously as I got older. Now that I sit at a desk for 9 hours every day, my health is something that I try to prioritize…by buying a Nike+ Fuel Band and downloading the My Fitness Pal app.

My Nike+ Fuel Band will throw a rave on my wrist with lights and numbers and things to tell me I’ve reached 2000+ Nike Fuel points which are more numbers that confuse me because wtf is a Fuel point anyway? Can my Nike+ Fuel Band light up and read “Good job you have no more cellulite!” That deserves a wrist rave.

The My Fitness Pal app serves as my food diary and primary calorie counter. According to MFP, I should not be consuming more than 1800 calories per day. According to my stomach, I consume more than 1800 calories per day. When I go over, I feel judged by MFP but I’m like “hey app…I ate like 4 servings of bell peppers…they’re bell peppers.” So I’m not entirely confident that my health is being tracked accordingly.

For the past few months, I have been fixated on counting calories (inaccurately), so today I have decided to quit. By now you know that I’m not a metrics-driven person. Rather than letting technology and numbers rule my health, I will take matters into my own hands by increasing physical activity and maintaining good eating habits to ensure that there will be no cellulite on my butt because there’s no machine or app that can ever tell me that…yet.

True or Falsies

True: falsies are ridiculous.

I haven’t attempted to glue these baby furbies to my eyes since maybe the second or third year of college when false eyelashes were a weekend usual. Last weekend, I gave it another shot. Let’s just say that applying falsies does not involve the same muscle memory as riding a bike.

After watching several YouTube tutorials to refresh my memory, I successfully glued the left falsie to my left eye and unsuccessfully glued the right falsie to my contact lens. Post splitting the lash from the lens, I had to throw the lens away which left me with a box of 5 left contacts and 4 right contacts and that is the worst thing to happen to anyone’s day. At that point I considered gluing the left lash to my right lens just to even things out. It made sense at the time…all the fumes of the glue really helped make sense of it all.

So after one hundred and twelve minutes of gluing things to my face, I had two bat wings hanging from my eye lids and the worst night of my life followed. I literally could not see a thing. I felt like Snuffaluffagus and every time I’d blink, I could literally feel my eye lashes slap my chin. They were so heavy oh my god.

Removing the falsies is another story. Let’s just say I now have 11 total eye lash strands left…and that’s it.

What the Wine?

I went wine tasting this weekend. I’ve gone a few times and I like it. What’s not to like about getting day-wasted in a sun dress?

However, I have recently come to notice how strange wine tasting can be. There are many things about it that make me feel very awkward. For one, I never know what to say when the wine lady says, “Hi there! Here to do some wine tasting?” Well yeah, I’m in a wine tasting room right? That’s like walking into a restaurant and the waitress greets you with a “Hi there! Here to do some eating?” Yes mam, I am here to do some wine tasting in the wine tasting room. I hope I’m at the right place.

Then the wine lady hands me a list and starts talking about the notes that will leave my tongue because the wine was fermented in an oak barrel, not a steel barrel, in a vineyard whose climate is cooler because the wind flows West, not North East or South, and chills the grape fungus which grows underground because the branches of the trees are at a 30 degree angle and will taste really good with cheese. And this is all supposed to click with a sip of wine. As I sip I nod because I totally understand the chilled fungus and everything…and at the corner of my eye I see the tiny bucket where I’m supposed to spit the remains of my wine. But then I realize there are no remains and I question if there really has to be any remains because there aren’t any. And then I feel judged.

Wine tasting makes me nervous because I know nothing about wine. I forget to swirl, smell, and obvi spit the remains in the tiny bucket. I just know that there are whites and there are reds and that I don’t like reds. So I tell the wine lady “I’m a white girl” and then she looks at me funny.

This is where it gets hard. Is wine tasting without buying a bottle the same thing as going to Sees candy and asking for a sample without buying an assorted box?? Because I admitted that “I’m a white girl” I have 3 bottles in front of me that I supposedly tasted minutes ago and now I’m supposed to buy one to bring home. Who am I??? I don’t drink wine at home. I drink chocolate soy milk…not even in a glass, I drink from a box with a bendy straw.

The bendy straw keeps the chocolate soy milk aerated. The soy comes from a plant whose climate is cooler because the wind blows North, not East South or West. You will taste the chocolate notes which come from a steel barrel, not an oak barrel. You get the rest…

Are Girl Scouts Future Kiosk Sales Ladies?

I have never purchased a box of Girl Scout cookies. Something about it doesn’t feel right. I’d give her $5, get a box of cookies, she smiles, her mom claps, and I’d walk away thinking “What did this girl accomplish? Why is her mom clapping? I did the work, that was my $5…” and then I’d get cookie wasted. So most of the time, I ignore them. Sometimes they’re cute and I’ll make eye contact and smile but then feel really sad knowing that they could possibly grow up to be mall kiosk ladies who sell really expensive hair straighteners or microwave bean bag pouches.

Everybody means well—the Salvation Army people ringing bells at Christmas time, neighbors who beg for your petition to ban trash cans, and even some drug dealers. Not that Girl Scouts operate similarly to drug dealers…well, I don’t know…Thin Mints.

Let me explain. I have nothing against Girl Scout girls, I have something against Girl Scout moms. These little girls are kind of sweet and I like their shorter-alls, but I am not okay with their mothers who stand proudly behind them all-smiles while their 6 year old daughters are corner-hustling cookies to strangers at train stations and Safeway’s. When I was 6, I was playing sports and learning to read (preparing myself to be the blogger I am today obviously). I was not held accountable for achieving outstanding cookie sales for a cloth badge.

I’ve heard rumors that Girl Scouts teaches responsibility and life values or something. And that really confuses me because I’m not sure how that can be taught via cookie sales. I can see, however, little Lucy spending that time volunteering at a puppy shelter or gathering old toys to donate. And I think that’s something a mom could stand proudly behind.

Also, cookies? You’d think Girl Scouts would be selling carrot sticks or packets of hummus. I’m sure the girl playing soccer on the box of Samoas didn’t eat all those cookies.

What’s up with your resolution?

Author: Alex Mogannam, Health Contributor

Real talk—January is over. How are those life-changing resolutions treating you? Or, better yet, how are you treating them?

In my experience, the gym is packed the first few weeks of the year. Come February, the treadmills are slightly more empty and by the time March rolls around, the gym is left with the same old regulars of the year passed. You know, the old man in the cut off shirt curling 25s, the housewife who never misses a Pilates class, or the 200 pound teen who treats every workout like its her last. What is their secret, how are they so motivated? More importantly, how are they so successful?

I’ve learned what it takes to become a regular and what common characteristics are shared among these weekday warriors; what their secrets are to reaching goals. Over the years of being on both ends of the trainer-client relationship, I’ve seen and experienced failures and successes. I call it “LEAN”. I follow it, my clients follow it, and those gosh darn regulars follow it. LEAN takes hard work, dedication, time and patience. Let’s break it down:

Log: Logging is one of the most tedious aspects of a healthy lifestyle but I believe it is the most crucial to achieving goals. You must log your food daily, log your weigh-ins, and log your workouts. Logging takes the guess work out of meal planning and workout planning. For example, if you weigh-in at the end of the week and see no results, scan your log of that week and figure out what worked and what didn’t. The most successful individuals are the ones that are honest with themselves about logging.

Make it Mobile: My Fitness Pal

Exercise: Ok, obviously you need to exercise to be healthy…but how? Variety. Variety. Variety. I am constantly mixing up and trying new workouts. I run, I lift, I rock climb, I play soccer, I practice yoga. When you practice different ways to exercise and burn calories, you are constantly shocking your body, consequently boosting your metabolism and strengthening many different types of muscles.

Make it Mobile: Nike Training Club

Attitude: I am going to keep this short and simple. You can either choose to be fit or you can choose to be fat. Let me emphasize the key word here: CHOICE. Your attitude dictates the choices you make. Ask yourself daily if you made choices that were helpful or hurtful to your goals.

Make it Mobile?: Nice try. Technology can’t replace an attitude adjustment. Hold yourself accountable for your own actions.

Nutrition: I will preach this till the day I die: eating healthy is more important than working out. If the insides aren’t happy, the outside will show it.

Here are some guidelines to start with-

1) eat 5 small meals daily

2) only eat “brown” simple carbs (i.e. brown rice, whole wheat bread) and limit simple carbs after 3pm

3) drink 8 cups of water daily and/or unsweetened tea. Avoid sodas and juices unless they are fresh squeezed

4) avoid sugar. It is highly addictive. Always look at labels! Usually fat-free items

contain more sugar. Limiting sugar is more important than limiting fat.

5) eat lean protein items such as chicken, fish, or turkey.

6) consume 20g of protein after a workout to stay toned and fuel your muscles.

7) cheat one meal a week. ;)

Make it Mobile: Actually it’s a book! “This is Why You’re Fat” by Jackie Warner (another Jillian Michaels-type trainer) Plus, it has a bunch of exercises listed in the back of the book!

As I said before, the key to LEAN is honesty. Be honest about how bad you want to achieve your goals. Be honest about what you eat, how hard you work, and how much you are willing to give of yourself-mentally, physically, and emotionally. Everyone has those days where quitting seems like the only option, even the gym regulars. What separates those who achieve from those who fail is pushing aside those voices in your head telling you to quit. Don’t. Stop. Moving.

Questions, comments, concerns? Want more? Like Dynamo Fitness on Facebook and message me! I promise I won’t bite.

Visit www.dynamofit.com!

Buy toilet paper, not puppies

Please adopt—do not buy your next pet.

Adoption is humane. Though this sounds vague, it is very true. Every animal deserves a second chance as their purpose in shelters comes from neglect, abuse, or plain disinterest from previous owners. As this is happening more frequently, it seems that less people are willing to adopt and would prefer to purchase a pure bred puppy. However, shelters can only care for a handful of animals and must make the difficult decision to euthanize the ones that have not been adopted. Adoption is more than simply fostering a homeless pet–it’s saving a life. With more action taking place in shelters, the number of euthanized animals can decrease greatly if more families choose to adopt.

The cost of adoption is less. Adoption fees range from $90-120 depending on the location of shelters. This amount is significantly less than one would pay a breeder or a pet store, which can be as high as $1,000 or more. The purpose of the adoption fee is to cover the cost of a health exam, immunization shots, and spaying or neutering, whereas the money one would spend elsewhere would benefit a pet store or sit in the pockets of a breeder.

Rescue pets are healthy. General assumptions about shelter pets are that they’re infested, unhealthy, or have some sort of behavioral issues. By the kindness and compassion of medical care volunteers, each animal is thoroughly examined and are given vaccinations prior to being placed among other pets and volunteers. Animals are often screened for fleas and ticks as well, as they are treated if any are found.

Shelters know their pets. Shelters screen animals for specific temperaments and behaviors. Volunteers spend their time playing with and observing animals that are up for adoption, taking note of which animals would live best with families with small children, families that already own a pet, and various living situations. Shelters understand their needs as each animal has their own personality and will assure that families are choosing the right pet to love.

Put a stop to animal cruelty. Breeders and pet stores share a major concern of profit as opposed to the well-being of an animal. In these situations, there is a lack of medical care, social interaction, and improper feeding for puppies. Unlike shelters who are familiar with each animal’s behavior, pet stores are willing to hand over their “merchandise” to anyone for a cost.

By adopting instead of buying a pet, you are supporting the hard work and genuine care of volunteers in shelters that take time to assure families bring home healthy, happy and socialized puppies.

Shop at Target, not at pet stores!

#smartgirl Moments of 2012

4 more years for Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama has become a political presence all her own. Yeah she has amazing biceps and sports Michael Kors like nobody’s business, but her advocacy for her husband and dedication to this country is remarkable and inspring. Congrats to President Obama but an even bigger congrats to Michelle Obama because you know what they say—behind every successful man is a woman telling him what to do.

Bella becomes a ballsy vampire

If you were never a twihard or even a little bit interested, nothing about Kristen Stewart in Breaking Dawn Part 2 will move you. However, if you were kind of into it (more like really into but didn’t read the books so you pretend you’re not emotionally connected) then you will be so proud of K.Stew’s performance. Bella wakes up from a transforming slumber as a vampire where her motherly instincts combined with new yet sensitive supernatural powers make her 10x more exciting to watch. She still has that crazy underbite thing going on, but when it comes to protecting her human-vampire daughter, she means business!

The Fierce Five

Fierce Five, Fab Five, whatever…there’s five of them and they’re all great. The US gymnastics team made up of Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross, and Jordyn Wieber won the gold medal in the women’s team competition during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Their athletic ablilities alone will astound you but what’s even more impressive is that they’re all between the ages of 15-18. The talented ladies have become such a spectacle that they’ve prepared to take their act on tour performing their most popular stunts from London.

Selena is a free woman

Selena Gomez called it quits with Bieber in October. Are many rooting for the two to reconcile? Yes. Am I? Not really. It’s not that I don’t like the Biebs, I just like Selena a little bit more. She can sing, she can act, and she’s got her stuff together at a prime time in her life to make it big. And having her name tied so closely to someone like Justin Bieber, who’s progressively becoming more arrogant, may not be in her best interest. And he looks like a girl.

Knope 2012

Finally. Leslie Knope is elected an official and though Parks and Recreation is only a sitcom, I did shed a tear for her. I’m excited to see what she has in store for Pawnee, Indiana. I especially can’t wait to see how the Raccoon Relocation Project will play out.

Gold medal baby…literally

What could be more impressive than winning three back to back Olympic gold medals?-Winning that medal while 5 weeks pregnant. Kerri Walsh Jennings, American beach volleyball champ, learned shortly after her victory that she was pregnant during the games. I think it’s safe to say, she was playing with a little good luck charm in her belly. I hope that kid gets a nice allowance someday.

Twitter: Who to follow

1. Crazy Girlfriend @crazygfprobz

If you thought @shitgirlssay was the haven of all things annoying yet true, and borderline inappropriate, you’re certainly in for a treat.

2. Your Away Message @yourawaymessage

Travel back to the days when you had backne and said some very regrettable things for the world wide web to read.

3. Ustream Animals @ustreamanimals

Watch animals do animal things…all day. That’s it.

4. Geeksugar @geeksugar

If you’re a quirky tech lover that can’t say no to fun tips and toys, you’ll definitely want to check this out as well as geeksugar.com.

5. John Stamos @johnstamos

It’s Uncle Jesse, y’all. He’s verified.