Contributors
Posted by Vita Girl on April 8th, 2011
Ok, so I mentioned a couple of months back that I finally got on the bandwagon and got an iPhone and I have to say, I am beyond stoked about it. I mentioned a few getting-in-shape apps that I had come across, but since then I have discovered so many more! Did you know there’s an app for practically anything you can think of? Street maps, locating your nearest happy hour, home improvement tools? It’s kind of crazy. But here’s my favorite category of apps – Health apps. Who would’ve ever thought a few years back that you could monitor your health through your phone? I mean, weren’t we all just concerned with cell phones giving us cancer? Now they can actually help you improve your health? Well anyways, check out these awesome personal health apps:
Fight Anxiety – DoAsOne.com’s free Custom Breath Pacer is an awesome tool to use next time you find yourself starting to get tense at work. The app helps you focus on relaxing your breathing. And we all know that it is so important to practice deep breathing when stressed because it helps lower your heart rate and blood pressure.
Take Your Yoga to Go – If you are someone who is always traveling around and don’t have a lot of time to pop in to your local yoga joint, this app is perfect for you. The All-In-Yoga HD app is only $3.99 and gives you access to a library of 25 yoga videos, available in both beginner and expert versions. But that’s not the only cool thing. You can actually personalize your yoga workout with this app. It uses an algorithm based on your goals, skill level and time to design the perfect yoga workout for you. There’s also a ton of instructional videos for all those poses that may seem foreign to you. Pretty cool, huh?
Don’t Get Burned – Ok, so this one’s not really an app but really more of a cool idea. Being a San Diego local, I know that if I go 20 minutes without sunscreen I turn into a lobster within 5. The bad thing is, I seem to forget this on a routine basis. And skin cancer is an all-too-common phenomenon nowadays. For only $4.95 a month you can sign up at OhDontForget.com to receive routine text messages reminding you to put in sunscreen. And honestly, it really does make a difference seeing that friendly reminder everyday.
So friends, if you haven’t already, seriously check out all the apps and cool things you can do with your smartphone. Marketers are coming up with some pretty clever stuff…. Who knows? Maybe there will be a Vitalyte app someday soon…
Posted by Vita Girl on April 6th, 2011
We’ve boasted for awhile now that our Electrolyte Replacement Solution is amazing for curing hangovers. It basically replenishes your body of the essential electrolytes it needs for healthy functioning. But, we thought we’d give you some other hangover pointers that the famed Dr. Oz has suggested.
• EAT PLENTY OF FOOD – Neither Dr. Oz nor we can stress this enough. Make sure to have plenty of food in your stomach before you drink. You will feel the affects of alcohol a lot sooner and a lot harsher if you drink on an empty stomach.
• DRINK THE CLEAR STUFF – Pale spirits, like vodka, white wine and gin are a better option than their partners red wine, bourbon and whiskey. Dark booze contains more congeners, chemicals that up inflammation in the body, making your hangover worse.
• H20, H20, H20 – Yes, hydrate! During the party you are at, and when you get home. Before hitting the sack, drink at least two glasses of water. Alcohol dehydrates you and dehydration reduces the liquid around your blood cells and leads to headaches, dizziness and nausea.
• EGG IT UP – The next morning have eggs for breakfast. Dr. Oz claims them to be his go-to hangover cure because they contain cysteine, a substance that breaks down acetaldehyde, a hangover-causing toxin in alcohol. He also says that both broth and bananas are a good choice because they replenish sodium and potassium lost.
• SKIP THE CUP O’ JOE – Although most of us love coffee when we are hungover, it actually does nothing to help. Rather, it delays the hangover. Try peppermint tea or a glass of 100% fruit juice. Peppermint soothes your stomach and fructose in the juice helps the body metabolize alcohol faster.
• WORK IT OUT – While Dr. Oz says you can’t flush alcohol out of the system with exercise, he knows just like we do that exercise produces happy feeling endorphins that make you just feel better overall.
I should make a point here to say that excessive drinking is always unhealthy for your body. It is best to limit your intake to one drink at a time. However, we have all been down the over-indulgence road from time to time. Hope these tips help!
Posted by Vita Girl on March 31st, 2011
If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’re a running enthusiast. If enthusiast is too strong a descriptor, you’re probably looking for ways to improve your time or maybe just enjoy it more. I’ve had my share of injuries. Years of gymnastics, dance and over-training will do that to you. I heard about Chi as I was searching for ways to enjoy running again. They had become painful, labored and with joint pain everywhere, I found it difficult to relax and settle into a groove.
Ultra runner Danny Dreyer and his wife Katherine founded Chi Running in 1999. Since then it has grown into a movement. If you haven’t at least heard of it, you may have been living under a rock! So what exactly is Chi? Chi is hard to define, but has been referred to as vital force, cosmic energy and biorhythm. It is our connection to the flow of the universe and the force within the human body. Chi is not just energy, it’s what gives energy the power to be energy.
Thanks for the lesson, Vita Girl, now what does that mean for my workout? By paying attention to your body and adopting this technique, you’ll minimize injury (at the very least) and start enjoying yourself. The key to Chi is good posture and relaxation. Form is emphasized over speed and power, as well as body alignment, arm positioning, heel strike prevention and maintaining a constant cadence.
Posted by Vita Girl on March 28th, 2011
You know those runners whose minds go blank when they work out? The ones who say, “My head goes silent and I just concentrate on the road?” Well, I’m not one of them. If anything, I use the time to constructively work through the day’s events. For me, it’s cheap therapy. I go until I feel better, the problem is solved or I’m just too exhausted to worry about it anymore. So by the time the endorphin rush kicks in, I’m already halfway to Happy Land. Some of the best ideas of my life have come to me on long runs where I let my mind wander. The more there is to process, the faster the workout goes and the more refreshed I feel.
Adversely, I find when I “concentrate on the road” my workouts seem tedious and all-around unenjoyable. I become overly occupied with the click in my left knee, the tightness of my sport bra, my breathing, my pace and how much distance I should cover. I notice other runners on the road and feel compelled to compare our strides. To me, concentrating on the road is a lot like sitting at your desk on a Friday afternoon and watching the clock tick down to 5 o’clock. But I know this is what many do when they lace their running shoes.
No matter your preference: letting the miles fly by as you jam to your favorite tunes, periodically checking your watch as you pass pre-set road markers or letting the free time act as your therapist, there is no wrong way to enjoy your workout. Runners may take different routes, but we all end up at the same place at the end—better off than we started.
Posted by Vita Girl on March 25th, 2011
Everyone runs differently. The goal is to relax, fall into a rhythm and finish the race in a respectable amount of time. Right? For some participants, yes. For others, not so much. I realized this during the last race I ran. It was a long one, so I had time to make some observations. And let me tell you, you can tell a lot about a runner’s motivations by their stride.
The Waddler: Is this person even moving? This one is the easiest to spot. There isn’t much else to say. You know exactly who I mean.
The Shuffler: Similar to The Waddler, except they can make impressive headway. So why the shuffle? Maybe they’re injured and have adopted this stride in effort to minimize impact. Maybe they don’t like the idea of having only one foot on the road at a time. Or maybe they really, really enjoy tap dancing. Who knows. All I know is this type of form reminds me of someone walking over hot coals: shoulders up and tight, bottom clinched, feet working out a little soft-shoe action. They just don’t look comfortable.
The Dinosaur & The Paddler: Like a T-Rex with its short arms hanging limply in front as it forges through the forest, The Dinosaur is on a mission. Usually a fast-moving breed, they could improve their time if they only worked their arms into the race. I considered naming this type of runner, The Paddler, then realized it deserved a separate, yet related category. The Paddler is what The Dinosaur wants to be. The Paddler may let his arms hang down, but unlike The Dinosaur, he slaps at the air and pulls it behind him. The Dinosaur gets dusted by The Paddler, left alone and wishing evolution was a speedier process.
The Gazelle: The most beautiful runner on the street. Carefree. They lope through the course with the boundless energy of any number of forest animals, but only the gazelle shares this runner’s grace. I’ve often wondered if they were taught this form, because you tend to see packs of The Gazelle at cross-country track meets. But after years of trying to mimic this stride and failing miserably, I now believe they were born this way.
Like a UFO blasting into space, The Gazelle appears as a flash in the corner of your eye and then is gone. The next time you’ll see him, he’ll coolly be sipping Vitalyte and downing a banana as you cross the finish line.
The Shi-Shi: There’s a whole lot of prissiness going on here. Usually dressed to the 9s. They look like they know what they’re doing but are too concerned about perspiration ruining their outfit to really go for it. Their stride usually has some lateral motion, some wicked hip swagger and possibly some chest protrusion. The Shi-Shi/Dinosaur hybrid is fairly common. I’ve seen many. Next to The Gazelle, they are the prettiest runners, albeit for totally different reasons.
