Boy, I’m telling you, this is one of the worst cases of cabin fever I’ve had in quite a long time. Even though I know my husband and I can’t afford it right now, I’m so tempted to just book us a quick little trip to Mexico, I keep getting emails on these great deals to sunny, warm destinations where I could actually not be bundled up and be comfortable, how tempting!

Not only that, I just want to get outdoors, run, stretch my legs, and get physical. Maybe do some things out in the garden and get my hands dirty again, smell the earth and the new greenery growing and hear the birds chirp again. Oh yeah, and see that yellow disk in the sky that’s been so shy as of late.

If you have spring fever, then you can do a few things to try to get over it. You can go on a vacation where you can work out and jog outside if you want, lay on the beaches and hike in the warmth and be the physical creature that you want to be, or maybe you can pay to go in a sauna. We love our infrared sauna, it really helps us feel like we’re escaping the cold in the middle of the winter when you feel like you’re one big popsicle all day long.

Or, you can maybe get some great workout dvd’s that show tropical, outdoor scenery. It sounds kind of ridiculous and trivial, but I love watching the Gilad shows Total Body Sculpt and his other one too, because they are exercising outdoors in Hawaii. It sort of makes me feel like I’m there with them, and the moves they do certainly make me feel like I’m sweating it out on the beach.

Cabin fever is bound to take hold when you live in an area, like I do, where it snows a lot in the winter and the temperatures are cold enough to keep you indoors most of the time. However, if you choose the right outlets, you can escape the winter doldrums in your own home!

I saw an interesting headline that I just had to watch the other day on the news that said that exercise is actually not beneficial for some people in regards to helping them maintain or lose weight. Some people can exercise every day, and still look like they have never exercised, and the study that was originated in the UK wanted to look at why about 4 out of 5 people who work out do not really see any type of weight loss benefit or weight maintenance benefit from doing so.

The study though, I think puts the more important aspects of exercise aside, like how it makes you feel, how it gives you more energy, conditions your heart and lungs, and has a multitude of other health benefits, not just as use for losing weight or maintaining a certain said weight.

For example, my hour on the elliptical machine could be wasted if my only goal were to burn calories and control my weight if I belonged to this class of people who do not benefit that way from exercise, however, I do receive that benefit form exercise, I know I do because I am leaner and thinner when I am consistently exercising. Of course, I have to watch my diet as well, but still.

These 1 out of 5 people are apparently missing some piece of genetic makeup that allows them to aerobically burn off calories and oxygen, which is the key component to burning off calories and controlling your weight via cardio exercise. Because of this, they do not garner those benefits, but that does not mean they aren’t garnering many other benefits such as mood enhancement, cardiovascular conditioning and heart health, circulatory health, and even digestive system health benefits by following a regular exercise routine.

Exercising releases endorphins, it lowers stress hormones like cortisol in the body, and it conditions our bodies to be strong and more lean and also to be conditioned to go through strenuous, physically taxing situations. That right there is enough in itself to make you want to exercise, at least it is for me!

We all know that a couch potato existence is no good for our health and overall longevity, but now there is even more evidence that shows that sitting for long periods of time, even if you do habitually work out, is not good for your health, and triggers dangerous chain reactions in your body that send signals to your heart and other major organs to stop working as effectively.

Your blood sugar and blood pressure may also be affected. This is for all people with desk jobs by the way, even if you do happen to work out periodically, since most people with desk jobs happen to sit for long periods of four or more hours at a time.

Think about how bad this is for your circulation. At least try to get up every hour on the hour and take a brisk walk to get those heart and circulatory functions going again, like you’re alive instead of a person on the brink of death, which is basically what sitting for long periods of time tells your body to do. It goes into a sort of conservation mode, so it slows the metabolism and other key functions that help you to maintain your health and keep your body running optimally.

I have had a desk job now for ten years. It was really hard for me to get used to this lifestyle because up until I started this job in my twenties, I was used to having very active jobs, like waitressing and restaurant work where you were constantly running your tookus off to get people things, set tables, run and grab food, make food, you name it, for customers.

When I started such an inactive job, I was really fidgety and found that I was exhausted at night on the way home, even though I had not physically exerted myself at all during the day. Sitting all day or the majority of the day has the opposite expected effect on your energy. It actually takes it away. You’d think you were “conserving” your energy by sitting all day, but what really happens is counterintuitive, you become more tired and less energetic and focused.

Sitting really is a no win situation. Sure, it’s something we all crave and like to do, but if you make this sedentary position the majority of your life, then you may pay the health price for it dearly.

Before you know it, it’ll be out with the indulgences and in with the strict discipline when it comes to two things :Food and Working Out. Both of these tend to get a little out of control around the holidays for those of us that celebrate the whole full 25 days of Christmas with reckless abandon. For us Americans, I think that we look at the holiday season as a free for all, a cart blanche to do whatever we want in regards to food and exercise, whenever we want. I think that it’s honestly a big reason why we love the holiday so much. We can, relatively without guilt, feel like we can do this once a year and not get hassled about it by our inner conscience of friends or family.

Shoot, I’ve admitted numerous times that my workouts wane and my appetite for fatty, greasy and sugary foods increases triple fold around this tricky time of year, and I consider myself to be a fairly nutritionally and health aware person who tries to do the right thing most of the time.

In January, companies are already gearing up for the inevitable rush on fitness equipment, DVD’s, workout accessories, and anything that is related to losing weight, toning up, and getting back into shape after so many of us have thrown caution to the wind long enough to do some damage to our slim physiques. You can also count me in that boat.

I plan on definitely getting my mojo back when it comes to my shape, my fitness level, and my muscular definition, which has suffered due to not enough working out and too much indulgence in things like sugar cookies, candies and cakes, and not to mention things like mashed potatoes and fattening soups, and fried foods.

One of the fitness items that has been on my list for a while to buy is a good, gym quality punching bag. I would love to have a heavy bag to hang from the rafters in our basement, as I think it would be great to tone up a place on my body which I’ve always felt was a bit thick looking, my arms. I would also like to get a medicine ball, I’m just waiting on these types of items to go on sale.

Although, I don’t expect to find any incredible clearance deals, word on the street is that most retailers have not overstocked this year, and there will not be as many good clearance deals. Hopefully next year will be a little better.

We recently got a hot tub rental for two weeks. It was through a sort of charity auction that my (now) husband bidded on for ninety bucks for two weeks of the usage of a hot tub they came and installed in our backyard.  We also do have an infrared sauna, which I love dearly, and I was curious as to how the hot tub would match up to the sauna as far as muscle soothing and fighting soreness and fatigue. Well, it really is no match I think. The sauna wins, hands down, as far as the relaxation factor as well as the muscle soothing factor.

I like the hot tub because it’s relaxing, and there is something to be said about being weightless in water for twenty to thirty minutes. However, it just didn’t achieve the deeper muscle tissue penetration and relaxation and loosening that I feel I experience in our sauna that’s in our basement. I’m sure it also has something to do with the fact that I favor dry heat over wet heat any day, and that the sauna also gives  you the added benefit of feeling like you’re in the summer heat for a while, and the hot tub just doesn’t do the job there.

I also sweat a lot in the sauna, and I feel like I get a detox affect, while in a hot tub, you don’t sweat, you  just kind of sit there. I have to say that one of the biggest downside to a hot tub over a dry sauna is also that I hate being soaked in chlorinated water for so long. When you own a hot tub, you have to chlorinate it just about every day, and when you get in, you can smell the chlorine. Even if you don’t get your hair wet, the steam lands in your hair and you can smell it on your head when you get out.

I don’t care for being a pruned, dried out mess when I get out either.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t totally hate hot tubs, they’re just not my thing and I guess I’m just way more into relaxing in dry heat rather than soaking in a hot water tub.  The jets can be nice for muscle relaxation, but even these are limiting since they can’t get to all your muscles and you have to keep shifting around for them to get different areas.  All in all, I would never buy a hot tub after using one for two weeks, I find the far infrared sauna so much more therapeutic and beneficial to my health.

Just as I had expected, and as I always rave about my employer having an in-house gym in past posts, there is new evidence that having in-work gyms benefits both the employer and the employee, making it even more worth the investment of having a stress busting gym, yoga studio, or other outlet for physical activity at work.  It’s called on the job fitness, and it’s catching on in the work place these days, where stress levels are really high, and people are becoming more and more aware of how important fitness and health is.

Even on the job weight loss programs are becoming a huge hit with employees, and the employers are benefitting from that because it is reducing the health care costs they have to pay out for work place health benefits.  Not only can these on the job workouts cut down on stress and make you more productive, but they can reduce cholesterol readings, cut down on illness and call offs, so you have people present when they should be and less absences, and you also have a generally better attitude at work, which rubs off on other people and makes it much more pleasant, which increase worker retention and turnover, another huge benefit for the employer, especially in the years when the economy is booming and it’s hard to keep good talent because of competing jobs.

Offering a gym or other outlet for exercise at work really shows that the employer is concerned about the individual’s wellness and health, but also about their work-life balance, since it allows them to do something that they normally have to do in off hours at home, on their lunch times at work.  I’ve found this to be the most useful, since it makes it so I don’t have to go out and waste time and money on lunch, and also so that I can have more free time when I get home to spend with my loved ones.  All in all, work place gyms are a win/win situation for both employee and employer.

If you read the news at all, you’ve seen the unfortunate and terribly tragic news about two deaths that resulted from and extended stay in a sweat lodge, which is a sauna-like contraption that is usually hand built.  This particular one was in the Sedona, Arizona area, and was part of a several day long retreat that was designed to refocus, rejuvenate and re-energize people, make them more aware of their goals, and help them to cleanse their souls, and their bodies.

It was all part of the burgeoning and ever growing movement in Arizona where people are moving to become more spiritually aware.  It actually sounds like something I’d be drawn to do, it sounds interesting and definitely like it could be the experience of a lifetime.  And for such an unfortunate tragedy to occur out of all of this innocent stuff is really just horrible, because it now may make people irrationally fear sweat lodges and even saunas for no good reason.

When investigating, and the little I’ve heard about the investigation so far, it appears that this particular sweat lodge may have had way too many people in it at one time, and it may have also gotten too hot, as some clients were treated with burns on their bodies.  The likely accomplice of the deaths were severe dehydration, but of course, autopsies are going to be performed on the two people who were reported not breathing at the scene and were pronounced dead at the hospital.

It is not clear whether everyone suddenly fell ill at the same time, or whether everyone got sick at different times, but some say that if you have too many people in these things, since they are like tents and are somewhat airtight, the oxygen could have been used up and the could have accounted for people feeling so ill.  However, you add the burns treatment to the picture, and the actual temperature in the sweat lodge may have played a part as well in both the illnesses and the deaths that occurred.

One things for sure, with my infrared sauna, I sure do make sure that I get out when I  know I’ve had enough, but it is a great rejuvenation tool that I use often in the winter, and I don’t know what I’d do without it to be honest.  It’s sad that tragedies like this give otherwise healthy recreation a bad name, but tragedies do happen, they happen all the time.  My heart goes out to those poor people and their families. Who could have foreseen such a thing…..

If you know anything about the WWE, or World Wrestling Entertainment network, then you have heard of the WWE “Diva” Trish Stratus.  She’s the buxom blonde babe who fought her way to the top over and over again, winning “championships” several times over (although we all know it’s fixed, still she was the biggest face on WWE since China pretty much), and left the WWE a few years ago. I’ve actually seen some matches since my fiance watches the stuff from time to time, and she was one of the more talented and entertaining girls to watch in the ring because she knew what she was doing, whereas some of these girls screw up their moves constantly or just look sloppy out there.

After she left the WWE, apparently she opened a yoga studio called Stratusphere, where several different types of yoga classes were taught.  I even looked her up and she’s very good at yoga, getting into the most ridiculous poses that I could never even hope to put my body into.  You can tell that the practices has totally transformed her body too. When she was a regular on the WWE, she was more stocky and muscular looking, whereas now, she is longer and leaner, and I must say looks much better and healthier in the ring.  She came back to do a guest appearance on the WWE just a few weeks ago, so I saw that.

Now the enterprising Ms. Stratus is coming out with a Wii game that involves the yoga practice, and I may even get it since I love a good challenging yoga class, and have yet to find a video that challenges me to the extent that I can be challenged in an actual live yoga class.  For example, my sister and I went to a hot yoga class in California that pushed my boundaries as far as positions and length of time held, and I felt great after that class.

None of the yoga shows or DVD’s I’ve tried do that for me though, including the Yoga show on Fit TV, which I really like, but honestly it’s just not challenging enough sometimes for me, and I don’t break enough of a sweat to consider it a real “workout”.  However, hopefully the Wii game Trish has is going to contain several levels of difficulty and really works the body so that it can really change the body after a little bit of time.  I’ll let you know if I get it and you know you’ll be getting a review!

The famous trainer from the Biggest Loser huge hit show on TV, Jillian Michaels, has recently announced that she will be introducing a new line of supplements to the market. I’m a fan of Jillian, as I think her workouts are great, and I think her attitude is equal parts compassionate and kick ass about both weight loss and getting in shape. She herself started off as an overweight kid who scarfed down lots of salty, sweet and fatty snacks, and she has taken what she has learned from her experiences with weight loss and fitness, and shared them with legions of people.

I actually have a couple of workout DVD’s by her, and they are a staple at the house, I do them at least once a week and work them into my program because I find them to be highly effective as well as time efficient, which is really important for me seeing how I essentially have two full time jobs. So, I was naturally interested when Jillian announced that she would be selling diet supplements. I love supplementation and totally believe in it for losing weight and for a host of other problems and health enhancement as well (health enhancement is my favorite part, enjoying great health, skin, energy and more is awesome, and taking a few little supplements a day to get that is nothing short of a miracle).

She has released a diet system that includes a serious fat burner, a detox part, and also Quickstart package which is supposed to help jump start your body into the weight loss process and enhance the results you are getting right off the bat. I’ve read a little about Jillian’s recommendations about supplementation and natural ways to help increase metabolism and energy levels, and even how to get rid of excess water weight naturally without harm like over the counter diuretics can do to your system.

I like one of her recommendations for getting rid of excess water weight, which is combining lemon juice, sugar free cranberry juice, dandelion root tea and water in a drink and drinking that concoction for a few days to help get rid of excess bloat and water retention before a big event or to get rid of water you’re retaining perhaps because you’re on your period if you’re a woman. If you want to check them out, she has her own website which links to the new supplements – of course the website is named after her, so it’s easy to find!

There’s a new study that may not make those of us that are hardcore workout manics too happy. But then again, it makes people like me, who like to exercise moderately, pretty darn happy. A new study is suggesting that working out too many hours in the gym or wherever else it is that you happen to pump iron and do your cardio, may actually make it harder for you to lose weight. The reason is that your body starts overcompensating for too many calories burned and over stressing the body, and it demands more calorie intake, which consequently sort of negates the impact that your exercise if having on your body since it makes you consume more calories.

While the study still concludes, as it should, that moderate working out helps in long term weight loss and healthy weight maintenance, it is important not to go overboard when you are actually trying to lose significant amounts of weight, because your body will start to become more hungry. There has been a lot of conflicting information on whether working out increases or decreases your appetite, but truthfully, it depends on the day for me. Some days I’ll eat just as much working out as I would if I hadn’t really been active at all, and some days I seem ravenous all day no matter what I’ve done, if I’ve worked out or not.

Working out is still extremely important because it does increase lean muscle mass, define the body, and more importantly, it still is vital to maintaining respiratory and cardio health for healthy lungs and other organs that are vital to us staying alive and well, including our heart. Not to mention exercise’s powerful impact on our mental well being. This can be proven by taking a look at the weeks you work out and your mood vs the weeks you don’t work out and your mood. You’ll be able to see a difference right away in all your cognitive functions, and there is even a lot of evidence that it can ward off aging of the brain and the body.