Products I’m Obsessed With: BootyWrap

I’m not normally an O Magazine reader, but I happen to have an issue in my house at the moment and have come across so many things that I must tell you about. In the coming weeks I’ll list the others, but for now, here’s one…

From the maker of the Invisibelt (a belt that leaves no lumps, bulges, or bumps!) comes the ingenious BootyWrap. It’s part sweatshirt, part fanny pack, but without the embarrassing fanny pack part.

It ties around your waist like a sweatshirt and has smooth zippered pockets to carry all your essentials without the bulk. Take it to the gym, on vacation, or to walk your dog. Perfect for when you just need your keys, some cash, lip gloss, and a cell phone, but don’t want to be bothered by a bag. It comes in 4 different colors and 3 different sizes, and at only $30 how could you say no!

Note: I offer these product tips merely as things that I’m literally obsessed with. I’m not paid for posting them, so when I say I love these things, I mean it!

10 Simple Ways to Rev Your Metabolism

this picture has no connection to today's post, but I thought it was awesome

Obviously working out will help boost your metabolism, and you’re still going to need to do it, but here are my top 8 are ways to help move it along:

10. Have sex – Experts say that people burn an average of 300 calories per hour having sex. What a nice added perk!

9. Drink water – When you’re dehydrated your metabolic rate slows down to help conserve your energy, so make sure to drink more to keep it moving strongly.

8. Fidget – Ever meet someone who seems like they move and speak a mile a minute? Aren’t they usually pretty thin and lean? It’s pretty hard to be bouncing off walls like that with so much extra energy and not lose weight. Tap your fingers, shake your foot, bounce your leg, pace back and forth. Believe it or not, but all this extra (and EASY) activity really boosts your calorie burn for the day. I’ve read things that say that you can burn up to 350 extra calories per day just by doing this simple little thing!

7. Clean your own damn house – It’s nice to have the luxury of having a cleaning lady or housekeeper, but think of all the extra calories you’ll burn just by doing it yourself. Look at taking out the garbage, mowing the lawn, picking up your kids’ toys, and doing the dishes as opportunities to move more and lose more.

6. Get a pedometer – Aim to take 10,000 steps per day. You’d be surprised at how addicting this little gadget can be. You’ll see only 7,000 steps one day and want to beat that number the next.

5. Walk like you’re late – Even if you don’t have to be somewhere, pick up the pace when you’re walking as if you are. When we were dating my husband used to make fun of me for being the slowest walker ever (in all fairness, he’s 6’1” and I’m 5’1”, so it’s a bit harder for me to keep up with him), but since getting our dogs and having to walk them every day I’ve become the speedy one and he lags behind. Whenever I feel myself slowing down I remind myself to act as if the dogs were there.

4. Set a timer – Make sure to move around for at least 5 minutes every hour. It’s easy to sit for hours on end and not even realize the time going by. Especially if you work at a desk job!

3. Get a pedometer – Aim to take 10,000 steps per day. You’d be surprised at how addicting this little gadget can be. You’ll see only 7,000 steps one day and want to beat that number the next.

2. Sleep – Studies have shown that people who get less than 4 hours of sleep for an extended period of time have slower metabolism. Aim to get 7-8 hours for the best benefit.

1. Have breakfast – You should be eating at least 100 calories within the first hour of waking up. When we sleep our bodies go into efficiency mode, which is why our heart rate and breathing rate slow down (which means our metabolism slows down). By eating within the first hour of waking you’re signaling to your body that it’s time to wake up and speed up for the day. If you wait till lunch to eat your body will stay in this efficiency state and it will be too late to catch up.

21 Day Challenge – May 3rd to May 24th

Beginning today, I’m starting a new feature of my blog. Every 21 days I will be posting “The 21 Day Challenge”, which will help you create a complete lifestyle change. Rather than just tweaking one thing here or there without any direction, these challenges will make conquering yourself much more manageable and doable. So, get out your calendars, mark today as your start date and then mark 21 days from now. Cross off each day as it passes and don’t be too hard on yourself if you “mess up” (which is likely to happen at some point – it’s normal), just recognize why it happened and come up with a plan to deal with it next time.

Today is May 3rd, so 21 days from now will be May 24th.

Yesterday I realized that if I were to think of the one thing that has helped me lose weight over the years and really signifies the fact that I have changed my lifestyle it wouldn’t be the amount of time that I work out during the week. In fact, that’s really a much smaller portion of it than I thought. It’s what I do when I’m not in the gym that gives me the extra edge, like not taking the subway when I can walk, carrying a basket in the supermarket and not using a shopping cart, or simply standing more than sitting.

So, for the next 21 days your challenge is to make sure that you’re putting in the extra effort, even if that means deliberately standing for 5 minutes every hour that you’re at work (that’s an extra 40 minutes of activity every day!). Just choose one more thing and do it for the next 21 days. Let me know if you need help or suggestions. Good luck!

Maximize Your Treadmill/Elliptical Workout

If you’re like most people trying to lose weight, you probably hop on the treadmill or elliptical at the gym and simply select the “weight loss” program thinking that this is surely going to help you drop pounds and inches fast. Well, I’m sorry to say, but the program you’re choosing is based on flawed understanding.

The thinking is that when you’re working out at a lower intensity you will be burning more calories from fat than carbs. While this is true, the real goal should be to burn as many calories as possible. It doesn’t really matter what kind of calories you’re burning. When working out at a lower intensity it will take much longer to burn 250 calories than it would if you stepped it up a bit.

Next time you go to the gym, use the “manual” or “quickstart” button and vary your intensities by walking one minute and jogging/running for 2 (otherwise known as an interval workout). If this is too difficult for you, lower the running bit to 1 minute. The idea is to end up running more than walking. With this kind of workout, you’ll be playing with your heart rate and will end up burning more calories per minute in the long run.

Everyday Activities

Exercise isn’t the only thing that burns calories. Everyday activities do as well, so get active!

(All calculations are based on a 135lb person)

– Sweeping (10 minutes) – 34 calories
– Vacuuming (30 minutes) – 107 calories
– Mopping (30 minutes) – 107 calories
– Showering (15 minutes) – 31 calories
– Carrying Small Child (30 minutes) – 92 calories
– Carrying Groceries (10 minutes) – 36 calories
– Playing with Children, sitting (15 minutes) – 38 calories
– Grocery Shopping, with cart (30 minutes) – 70 calories (try and carry a basket instead!)
– Getting Dressed (10 minutes) – 20 calories
– Gardening (15 minutes) – 61 calories
– Washing Dishes (15 minutes) – 35 calories
– Making the Bed (5 minutes) – 10 calories
– Getting Manicure/Haircut (30 minutes) – 31 calories
– Driving (30 minutes) – 61 calories

Be mindful of these counts and you’ll be zipping through calories in no time. Now, the trick is calories in vs. calories out, so if you can’t make it to the gym, it’s ok, but just make sure to be more active at home and watch what you’re eating, so you don’t replace the burned calories with food. I bet you and your house is going to be sparkling now!