Fit Chick in the City » Fit World

Princess and the Pea

Jess — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:51:06 +0000

One of the very best things about vacation is sleep. Usually, I’m the princess and the pea when it comes to sleeping away from home. Luckily, that wasn’t the case in Napa last week. I slept like a baby. I didn’t sleep for the desired eight hours, but I did sleep for at least 6 solid hours each night. At home, I rarely have six hours of uninterrupted sleep.

We returned home from vacation late Saturday night. The number one indicator that I wasn’t on vacation any longer was the sleep factor. The second I went to bed my thoughts began racing. Until, that moment I didn’t even realize that my thoughts had been quiet while on vacation.

Believe it or not I try using counting to help lure me to sleep. It helps me fall asleep, but I still wake up in the middle of the night with sporadic thoughts regarding work and other things. How do I calm those middle of the night thoughts and dreams?

The Harvard Women’s Health Watch gives us six reasons to get more sleep:

People who sleep after learning a task perform better on later tests.
Consistent sleep loss may cause weight gain by altering hormones which effect appitite.
If you lose sleep, you are more likely to fall asleep during the day time while performing regular tasks such as driving.
We are more likely to moody and irritable without sleep. ( I tend to act like a toddler who missed their nap)
Serious lack of sleep has been shown to cause serious health problems such as elevated blood pressure.
It can alter immune function.

I would love to hear what you do to calm your thoughts before going to sleep. Curious to see if you are getting enough sleep? Head over to the Cleveland Clinic’s website to take a Sleepiness Quiz.

Friday Fitness Flashback

Jess — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:56:05 +0000

The year was 1992 and I was eagerly searching for ways to get fit. Okay so, at that age I didn’t care so much about my fitness level, I just wanted to be the skinniest girl on the block. I was already running as a way to keep sane, but I also wanted to do more than just run.

It just so happened that the hottest workout video of the year had been released right around…

my mom’s birthday. No, my mom is not a fitness freak like me, but it is what she got from her daughter for her birthday. Don’t judge, I like to think I was a resourceful kid that knew how to get what I wanted. Plus, I really thought she would enjoy it too.

I remember hearing about how horrible the exercises were for your back, so I stopped doing the video a few months after I gave it to my mom. However, she called me at some point this past summer and told me she had started using this video again. So, maybe it wasn’t the most selfish gift ever (yes, I advised her against using it).

Fit Mind, Fit Body

Jess — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:37:35 +0000

After writing last night’s post, I spent some time exploring Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. There is a wealth of information regarding body image, the media and statistics. I had no idea they had put this much work into their campaigns. The information below is directly from their web site.

Am I the only one who hasn’t read their information?

Luckily, we fit chicks love to workout and working out increases self confidence. Sometimes its the little things that make us feel better such as dropping to the floor and doing 10 push-ups RIGHT NOW!!! See that wasn’t so bad! Don’t you feel a little stronger already?

Remember its the little things that add up to big results! Have a great night and I’ll be back tomorrow for a little Tuesday Trivia.