Going green is all the rage now.  It’s not even just a fad, thankfully. It’s a realization that we are all growing in population, taking over much more of this green earth and polluting it, and we really need to start thinking of how we are taking care of the earth.

We also need to be more mindful of our energy and water consumption, as these are not completely infinte resources.  Another consideration is gas or fuel for our cars. Many people consider gasoline an infinite resource, but really it is what is called a fossil fuel, and there is only so much of it under the ground.

Sure, more gets made as time goes by, but it can take several years to get to the point to where it is usable.  Mining techniques for the various forms of energy are not earth friendly, so humans really need to start considering their energy consumption.

This can often go hand in hand with staying healthy and active and maintaining a healthy weight.  Taking the steps more and skipping the elevator is an example of being greener and more mindful. Elevators run on electricity and can take a considerable amount of energy to haul your butt up several floors.

Cars are another example, and not taking your car as often is a huge step in the right direction, for both your health and your green endeavors.  It can be hard if you live in the middle of nowhere and don’t have anywhere that is within a realistic walking distances, but if you live near a city or in a suburb, you can definitely skip the car and walk as many places as you can.

If you’re in a shopping plaza, for example, and one of the stores is way down at the other end – don’t get back in the car and drive to it – walk.  These little sacrifices not only are better for your health, but are better for your local environment and air quality since you are not polluting the environment with the emissions from your car.

Planting trees has been a huge lesson in going green for us. We have also gotten great exercise lugging around water buckets, walking our acre of property and checking them for health.  Planting trees takes a considerable amount of work the first year of their lives, and this means you burn calories taking care of them.

It also means your contribute to the natural cleansing of the air by adding more oxygen producing plants.  It’s better for you too. The mere sight of green trees and plants has been shown to calm the mind and rejuvenate the spirit.

Well, getting away on a relaxing vacation can certainly put a kink in your “on a roll” status with working out. I think that virtually everyone who works out on any type of regular basis has experienced slumps in their routines due to life demands, commitments, getting sick, feeling lazy and a gazillion other excuses.

However, vacations are one of the wores for working out to take a dive for the worse. When people go on vacation, they typically look at it as a vacation away from most of the doldrums of their normal lives. They look at it as a vacation from their commitments. And guess what one of people’s least favorite commitments tends to be?

WORKING OUT.  It is a sort of license to not work out when you go on a vacation – especially if it’s a celebratory one like a honeymoon or a family vacation or some sort, or a wedding getaway. However, as long as the vacation isn’t over a week, it shouldn’t damage your fitness level too much.

Even if you can sneak in long walks on the beach or walks around town and get some sort of cardio in to your days – or even swimming in the ocean or in a pool – which is great cardio and muscle conditioning – you are ok.

Some vacations are really active, while others are slugfests where you laze around in hotel rooms, by the pool, or at the beach drinking mojitoes and not burning a single calorie.  I prefer a mix of both. Since not being active during the day really makes me feel lazy and useless, I don’t like to lay around for too long.

I like to mix it up a bit. Maybe take a hike during the day, then relax at night, or go sightseeing with some comfy running shoes on so that you can really walk without getting a sort back or feet. That way you still get some sort of physical activity in while also enjoying your vacation.

You can also keep your energy levels up since you’re getting exercise, so you can enjoy every moment of your vacation instead of feeling like you want to sleep through it – which is exactly what happens when you eat rich foods and tend to sit around.  Cruises are probably the most notorious for this!

Top 10 Gym Mistakes

They always say that the hardest step toward a new healthy life and exercise program is the first step to begin it in the first place, but sadly this is not the only step. Workouts and gym regimes are challenging to say the least and mistakes in various areas of the gym are hugely common. It is important to ensure that not only are the best efforts being involved, but also an awareness of some of the most common mistakes that could be standing in the way of excellent results:

1 – All or Nothing

Too many people use the excuse of not having a full hour or time to do their routine as reason enough to do nothing. In reality, even a ten minute session can make a huge difference so never adopt the all or nothing stance.

2 – Lack of Balance

Many will always be keen to work on specific muscle groups and areas of the body, perhaps to gain a certain appearance or build strength. This can of course work in the long run, but in order to really build any area, the whole body must first be trained equally.

3 – Poor Form

Gym equipment may look easy to use, but an incorrect stance or seating position has the potential to invalidate the whole exercise. If in doubt, or even if modestly confident, ask for a few tips from the trainer just to make double sure.

4 – Too Much

Working out too hard, too fast or too often can be hugely detrimental and limit results in a big way. Resting in a nice comfy arm chair is an integral element of importance and should never be overlooked.

5 – Variety

It is all too tempting to find a routine that suits and then stick to it without exception. Eventually, all such workouts can lead to boredom, injury or perhaps burnout – so always ensure a sensible amount of variety is thrown in.

6 – Machine Adjustments

Too many people jump on the next piece of equipment in the gym and just go for it straight away because the adjustment appear to be ok for the job. When working out, ok is not enough and it is essential to make all the necessary adjustments with pinpoint accuracy to achieve positive results.

7 – Distractions

It is of course important to enjoy working out and keep entertained, but reading books and watching TV during exercising can lead to distraction from the task at hand and a lesser amount of effort put into the exercise itself – so be careful to strike a balance.

8 – Not Cooling down

The cool down after the workout is incredibly important and must always be addressed before running off into the showers. Just a few minutes to stretch the muscles and lower the heart rate can make all the difference.

9 – Unrealistic Goals

Everybody would like to be able to resemble a Greek God overnight but his will sadly never be possible, therefore set realistic goals from day one and ensure no motivation is lost along the way by expecting too much.

10 – Watching Others

Just because someone has the body that most would die for does not mean that their workout will work for everybody, so never stray from a personal program for thinking another individual’s may be better.

Well, it’s official. My husband and I are much more tolerable people to be around when we work out after we get home from work, rather than laying like slugs in front of the television or our computers til it’s bed time.

It’s tempting to do this when you’re beat from a day at work. The stress and anxiety of the work day can really get you down and sap all of your energy. Many days I don’t get to the gym on my lunch or I get very little exercise during my work day otherwise.

When I come home, I’m even more exhausted from sitting all day, even though that seems counterintuitive.  But what working out after I get home from work, and for my husband too, does for us, is it relaxes us and puts us in a much better mood.

We actually laugh together more, we are more  affectionate with eachother. We kiss and hug more, and we are generally more lighthearted, energetic, and fun people to be around. In short, we really like eachother!

You know how marriage can be. You can sometimes nit pick eachother, or get into little fake fights or bickering sessions all day long. But when you are both working out and getting out all those angsty feelings, that’s when you really get a chance to let it all hang out.

Instead of being agressive with eachother, you are being agressive and working out anger and frustration on a punching bag, a treadmill, an elliptical machine, a recumbent bike, or something of that nature. You literally feel like you have gotten all the anger out of your system.

That leaves a lot more room for a loving, and fun loving relationship. You want to be around eachother because you have the energy to put forth into your relationship. Your husband or your wife no longer seems like just another obligation and another compromise.

I’d suggest you try both you and your spouse or partner working out. I guarantee it will make both of you happier. It will even boost your sex drive and feelings of sexuality and sensuality toward eachother, because it improves your body image as well as improves those feel good hormones (and sex hormones) running through your body.

In short, you really should work out in tandem with your significant other. You’d be amazed at how much better your relationship is!

If you are primarily focused on exercise as a way to burn calories, then there are some things you should know about which activities can give you the most bang for your buck. What does that mean in this day and age?

Well, it means what can you do to burn the most calories possible in the least amount of time, so as not to use up too much time for little return.  Time is really, really precious, and that seems to go doubly so for the people of today’s rushed and harried world.

Women are a large part of the work force as well, and men share in more of the child rearing duties these days, so both women and men are under the gun in these modern times to get a ton of other things done besides just getting their workouts in for the week.

So, what are some of the acitivities that you can partake in that will really burn calories, in your every day life, errand running and more?

If you have a handy jump rope around, or a punching bags, these are two quick and fun things that you can literally pick up in a few minutes and burn mega calories while you’re doing it.

They are both super high intensity (especially if you picture someones face you’re not happy with in place of the punching bag), and they burn a lot of calories in a very short period of time. More bang for your buck!

Swimming is a great calorie burner. The best part about swimming is that you don’t even realize you are torching hundreds of calories after swimming all day until you get out of the water and your day is over. Not only are you usually famished and dying to restore the calories you lost, but you also will sleep like a baby.

Jump on the recumbent bike for a bit if you want to amp  up your calories burned for the day and keep that metabolism up higher during the day time as well.  The bike is a great way to tone and burn calories because it works the quads, some of the biggest muscles in the body, very hard, and these muscles take up a lot of calorie consumption.

One of the rules that I’ve always followed, unless I really do have a lot of pent up energy and need to work out to get that energy out, is to not work out at least two to three hours before bed time. For me, I follow this rule because exercising gets my endorphins going, and my adrenaline usually stays higher for a few hours after I work out.

If I work out a couple hours before bed, I’m likely going to still be in this “jazzed” state before I hit the hay, and I’ll probably lay there forever before I can actually get relaxed enough to sleep.

Another good reason is that your body really needs to start producing melatonin, and dimming the lights and winding down before bed is better for your chances at a good nights sleep when you follow this type of procedure.

Some people might be different though. There are some people who could probably fall asleep at the drop of a hat, no matter what they had down a few hours before bed time, and those people are probably the exception to the rule.

While it is true that working out on a regular basis makes for a better sleeping habit in general, and deeper sleep, this is only true for those that work out in mid day or morning, not those that work out too late in the evening.

I’ve noticed that if I work out too close to bed time, it sort of fools my body into thinking that there should still be more time at the end of the day, and that I’m cutting my day short.  Now, if you are going to either be a couch potato, or get your workout in at the end of your day, then obviously, the smarter choice is to get that workout IN!

Working out is always better than not working out, no matter what time of day you are committing yourself to.  There are some who really can’t work out any other time, such as people that work later shifts or have little children that need their attention until they go to bed.

Those people may be better off just getting that workout in the evening, instead of leading a more sedentary lifestyle, which would be the alternative if they couldn’t get the exercise in.