Hey Winter Lovers!  Put down those barbells & step AWAY from the Stairmaster!!  It’s a winter wonderland out there, and all good “green” girls know how to flirt with Jack Frost & make the most of the Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrisk weather!  The COLD air can lead to a HOT bod!! Didn’t Santa ever tell you that braving the low temps can actually help you burn more calories? Ho-Ho-Hold on a minute!!  It’s true!  That gorgeous body of yours needs a lot of energy to keep its core temperature warm.  And energy is calories!! So ditch your fair-weather friends & grab your true blue mates to help you heat up that chill in the air!  Brave the bitterness and battle the Winter blues with these fun, fabulous, outdoor activities that sooooooo don’t feel like working out.

It’s A Wonderful Life:  Sledding

Remember those carefree childhood days, when the rose in our cheeks came from the wind in our face (and not the pricey blush in our Marc Jacobs bag)?! Who says kids & blondes have all the fun?!?! Reduce your footprint on the earth, by making footprints in the snow!! Be ever-“green” AND Give in to your nostalgia with an old school wooden sled.  You’ll be a buff modern update of a classic ‘Normal Rockwell’ as you take a running start & fly away without ever leaving the ground.  The trek back UP the hill is the real cardio/strength training!  You’ll fire up the heart rate, boost metabolism, and at the same time feel the burn in the quads, calves, core, & booty!! Now that’s OUR kind of aerobics!

Frost Bitten:

Snowball Fights:

You’ll need your partners in crime for this one, so grab your arctic allies & Create 2 armies. Get your cardio on & go breathless in NO time at all, dodging snowy missiles & throwing powder puffs! Wage a relentless war against fat, lethargy & boredom as you reconnect with friends and family & make the most of the flurries. And don’t forget about the tremendous upper body workout you get hurling those snowballs!! I mean… have you SEEN A Rod’s biceps???  How’s THAT for frost bite?

Snowman & Snow Angels:

Stretch your muscles both physically & creatively with a fun series of blizzard based activities! Work off that Organic Tomato Soup & Grilled Soy Cheese sandwich you had for lunch by creating ‘heavenly’ works of art!  You’ll streamline your side body & oblique’s while also getting a great stretch for the arms, back & legs. Get taller and leaner, simply by creating length in the spine & strength in the core.  Or, get your heart rate up by challenging your friends or family to a ‘snowman building’ race, with points for speed, creativity, & execution.  Melt away fat, without melting away your  new snow-friend J. Yet ANOTHER way the (organic) carrot can help improve our bodies!!

Ice Ice Baby!: Ice Skating

Whether you reside on the CA coastline, or in the middle of Wisconsin, you can enjoy this perennial winter favorite. Grab your argyle gloves & hat and hit the local outdoor skating haven… YES! Even Sunny Santa Monica CA has an al fresco option! Work your favorite moves along with your inner & outer thighs! Skating is a great full body workout no matter what your level of coordination.  Remember, falling burns calories too! Just be sure you channel your inner Michelle Kwan, not your inner Tonya Harding!

“36-24-36 HIKE!!!”: Flag Football

No snow needed for this activity! Fight gender lines AND get healthy while giving guys a run for their money!  Throw on your faux-fur bomber & hit your friendly neighborhood park for a day of straight up cardio cleverly disguised as friendly competition.  Maybe Guys vs. Girls?!?! And no tackling allowed, (we’re not that kind of girl!!) so have fun, suit up, & literally run your booty off!!

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?: Shovel the Driveway

Interval training is ALL the range, but we don’t need an elliptical or a sweaty gym to do it!  Why not get the optimal fat burning workout WHILE being a Good Samaritan AND making the world a better place.  (WOW! We are seriously AWESOME!!).  Build upper body, lower body, and core strength by getting down & dirty (you know you want to) and shoveling your own driveway.  Then be neighborly and gather your posse of pals to shovel all the driveways in your development.  Live in a big city apartment?? NO problem! Plenty of sidewalks to keep clear there!! Gosh, we are such a GOOD person!! …. With such WICKED abs!!

So there you have it!!! Ditch the dreary indoors this winter, and make Mother Nature your new Best Friend!!

Forget the Twelve Days of Christmas!  Nowadays, people start celebrating the holidays before Halloween can even make her grand exit.  Jack-o-lanterns give way to Jack Frost before you can wipe off your vampire-werewolf-warrior-princess make-up!  On the stroke of November 1^st, out come the colored lights, jingle bells, and pine scented candles!! We start going crazy for Frosty & Rudolph, and we just don’t stop celebrating until New Years Day!  This gives us 60 full days of hall-decking & merry making, and before we know it, Jolly Old St. Nick is not the only one with a belly “like a bowl full of jelly”!  We have cookie decorating parties, and Holiday Parties…. office parties, family parties, dinner parties, tree-trimming parties new years’ eve parties….. I could go on and on, but I think we get the picture.  As our raucous Christmakwanzakah celebrations rage on, we are faced with glaring & seemingly insurmountable temptations, coming at us from every direction!  One minute you are chatting up your office ‘crush’ under the mistletoe at a seemingly innocent company party, the next you are uncontrollably downing handfuls of gingerbread cookies, “bite sized” confections, and chocolate snowmen.  Don’t even get me started on the candy cane martinis!!  Of course we want to be fabulous, because… you know…. “’Tis the Season”, but how can we be “merry & bright” without waking up January first needing a separate zip-code for our ‘snowglobes’?  Here are some of my tried & true ways to show our love for the Jolly Fat Man in the red pants, while staying in our skinny jeans!

Don your ‘gay apparel’!: No matter what our size, we all have fun dressing up now & then!  We know the incredible feeling of slinking into your favorite little black number that highlights every curve, or putting on a sharp suit that makes you stand a little taller.  You might query: “what does this have to do with staying fit?”, and I answer you “Everything”!!!!  If you take the time to take pride in your appearance  from the outside in, it can inspire you to do the same from the inside out!  Baggy sweats, oversized Tees, & forgiving elastic waistbands invite us to be sloppy, out of touch with our bodies & to indulge with reckless abandon.  BUT…. When we dress up in our holiday finest, we remember how good it feels to look our best!  Sometimes, this incentive alone is enough to steer us away from the 7 layer cheese dip & over to the cru d’ete!

Keep “visions of sugar-plums” out of your head : to most of us, there is nothing more tempting than a seemingly endless buffet of sweet treats, and no more sure-fire way to give in than to walk into the party famished!  Eat before you go!  Nothing huge… (I mean, let’s face it, you KNOW you’re going to arrive & try at least one mini-quiche and maybe a cracker with spinach dip), but satiate your hunger.  A protein rich snack is best… maybe cottage cheese, or a handful of nuts.  You can even indulge your sweet tooth nature’s way, before leaving the house!  Try eating an apple, or even a banana with light coat of peanut butter. Mmmmmm!!  Satisfy your craving in a filling, healthy way & you’ll be less likely to stray.  If you really have a love/ hate relationship with your willpower, slide a few slices of dried mango or pinapple in a Ziploc & toss it in your bag.  Then instead of reaching for the coconut snowball, save hundreds of calories with your own sweet-treat!!

Some days…. and for some reason it seems to be particularly MONdays… life can seem exceptionally overwhelming. You know the feeling when you wake up in the morning (sometimes before the sun even rises) and you just want to pull the covers up over your face, hit the snooze button & hide from the world? Well on THOSE days, I need a little extra motivation to get moving, and to choose to face the world with open arms and an open heart. Even before my first cup of coffee.

Here are some of my favorite places to find ONLINE inspiration:

Specialolympics.org – My dad started coaching a special olympics bowling team in Virginia about 8 years ago. Whenever I was in town I’d go join in on their practices. Despite the fact that every kid out there easily beat me by upward of 60 points, I always had a blast. It is incredible how much courage and joy I saw in each of these extraordinary young athletes. A great reminder of how very much this life has to offer! Check out this site to learn how to get involved. Nothing feels better & more rewarding than making a substantial difference in someone’s life. Bring JOY to your community and your World.

Yogaeverywhere.com - Sometimes you just need to BREATHE! This website is filled with great information from the yoga sutras, to words of wisdom, to locations of studios near you. Now, there is no excuse! Trade your couch and your bag of potato chips (even if they’re “fat free”- yuck!) for a mat and a smart water! Get out there and live!

Epicurious.com – their logline is “for people who love to eat”.  Come ON! Now WHO can’t get on board with that? Get creative, and channel your inner “Julie & Julia”! learn to make a meal that is also a work of art. Pick up delicious tips on healthy eating, or grab your friends and learn how to entertain. This site has great tips on how to make life more tasty. What are you still doing here? Get going!!

Hautehealth.blogspot.com Ok… THIS site is near and dear to my heart. It is created and maintained by my dear friend Suzanne, who also happens to be one of the world’s most AMAZING women, and most inspired chefs! Suz uses her love of yoga, food, cooking and inner beauty to help you become the “whole, healthy, happy person” you’ve always wanted to be! Suzanne’s style is easy, accessible and fun. Best of all, I can tell you from experience that the main ingredient in all of her recipes…. is Love. In short, This site is absolutely delicious!

Nytimes.com – Let’s face it. Smart is Sexy!! Staying informed, and developing educated opinions about current events is IMPERITIVE to being a good citizen of humanity. Being a born and bred New Yorker, I am an absolute devotee of this paper (even though I have been living in LA for almost 4 years now). It’s easy AND “green” to view it on-line, so grab your cup o’ joe and your fluffy bathrobe and read up on the issues that affect you, and the lives of those around you. You can also try CNN.com for all the latest headlines

Komen.org – Most of us know someone, or know someone who loves someone who has fought breast cancer . For the past 2 years I have been a part of “pilates for pink”, a charitable organization which benefits breast cancer awareness, and encourages women to get & stay healthy with diet, exercise, and regular mammograms. Check it out at http://www.shapeonline.com/pfp/ . My feature in the October Issue of SHAPE Magazine was in honor of breast cancer awareness month, and proceeds benefitted the cause. From science, to stories of personal triumph, both of these sites give you ALL the info on how to run, walk, strut, or curl for the CURE!

Thelifestyleboost.ca – This is a phenomenal site started by another one of my incredible friends! I am SO lucky to be surrounded by people who are out there changing the world, one iPHone click at a time! Ipsita Paul (actor/ dancer/ singer extraordinaire) started this daily feed to help us learn how to live GREEN without loosing our fabulousity! As the fitness expert for the site, I can promise you that the health & wellness tips you’ll get here will be BRILLIANT!

Healthybitchdaily.com – yes. I am also the fitness expert for this fantastic new site! (I know, I know…. “how do I do it?”….. well, I am just so excited about being green, being happy and living well, that my wise words of wisdom cannot be confined to merely ONE fantastic daily feed experience!!). This site is specially designed for women of all ages, shapes, sizes, and locations. Think “sex and the city” meets ‘vegetarian chic’, and you’ll get the idea!

OnDemandBooks.com – My friend Johnny (who, by the way, I have known since we went to Paul VI catholic high school together and both survived the suffocating reading list of Fr. Lyle’s history class) is very busy in NYC saving the world of book publishing. Continuing on with our theme of ‘going green’, On Demand Books uses the “Espresso Book Machine” to create made to order books! This way, you can have the best of ALL worlds. Because, let’s face it, you saw “an inconvenient truth”, and you want to reduce your carbon footprint, but at the SAME time, you LOOOOOOOVE the smell of books, and you like to turn pages, and underline important symbolic passages. I know. Me too! Now… you can do both. Thanks Johnny! Looks like Fr. Lyle taught you something valuable after all!