Ever hear of the runner’s high? Ever sit in amazement over those goshdarn people who seem to have never ending energy, vibrance, and seem half their age? Or maybe you’re envious that a certain woman or man you know never seems to gain a pound yet they are not on a strict diet all the time, although they may generally eat in a somewhat healthy fashion? Chances are those obejcts of our envy may be lifetime runners.

As I sat and watched football with my boyfriend last Sunday, I noticed a commercial with high profile NFL stars urging parents to take their kids outside and be active with them, and I thought it was just a really powerful and positive message, especially considering the fact that childhood obesity is an ever increasing problem here in the United States, and also the fact that obesity rates overall have increased 33% in just the past twenty to thirty years (I can’t remember the exact stats on that, but it’s something close to that).

Color therapy really does work. We actually have different colored lights we can put on in our far infrared sauna, and I can tell you that color definitely does affect mood. For example, blues tend to relax me, reds make me feel like I’m about to lose my mind, and yellow tends to make me feel a little smarter. But that’s just me, in my sauna, with my experience speaking about how colors tend to affect my mood, my mental sharpness, and my stress levels. They are known to even make people feel a little randier (ready for sex and intimacy), angry, lovey dovey and also more intellectual.

Yes! Self hypnosis is a great way to lose weight and also to boost your natural desire to work out if you use it correctly and consistently. I’m actually proof that it works. I have been using a hypnosis CD on and off (I use it again when I start to feel either lethargic and apathetic toward exercise, as well as when I gain too much weight and need that subliminal willpower to boost my weight loss and fitenss goals), for a while now, and I always notice that not only do I seem to only want and crave foods that are good for my body, but I also begin to want to work out more.

I think all of us make sure we have a big glass of water when we’re working out, to make sure we don’t get too dried out and overly heated from sweating a lot and getting rid of a lot of excess water, but what constitutes overhydrating yourself when working out? I’ve seen some people take it to the extreme, constantly swigging on water about every 10 to 15 minutes during their fitness routine, and unless you are sweating profusely, this is not the way to go because you are actually overhydrating yourself, which may slow your workout down and even make it less effective.

I had an interesting experience today at the gym where I work (for new readers, yes I am lucky enough to have a job that thinks a lot of it’s employees and has an employee gym you can go to on your lunch breaks, before and after work etc.) just today actually. I went in after, I’m ashamed to say, a couple day respite from working out. I was in desperate need of blowing off some therapeutic steam in the gym, and felt as if I were going to explode with all the stress and anxiety that had built up from those previous days of not working out. Ah, the benefits of being a workout junkie, huh?

I had to laugh when my sister asked me what was up with the crappy push up bars in our basement, and I told her that I thought they helped align you better to do a better pushup by elevating your body a little more off the ground and helping you to figure out which angle you wanted to do, whether you wanted to target your triceps or biceps, and how intense you wanted to make it.

I love the Horizon elliptical machine we have, no doubt about it. We’ve now had it for a little over a year, making it one of the first purchases we made when we finally moved into a home where we had room to put a little mini gym, and ever since then it is a staple in both mine and my boyfriend’s workout routine and also a pivotal part of our cardiovascular fitness routine and health.

Finally, there’s a video game with the emphasis on fitness, activity, exercise and balance. The Wii Fit by Nintendo comes with a balance board that informs the user of their weight, center of gravity and even their body mass index when their height is factored in.

With all of the information compiled, the Wii Fit informs the user of their fitness age. Wii Fit has approximately 40 different exercise activities. Included in it’s programs is a series on yoga poses. The balance board tracks your center of gravity during these activities.