Rule # 1: Do Not Punish Yourself with a Workout! Blackday @ Adobe Stock
The 5 Best All-time Hangover Cures
Yes, that’s right, 2023 is going to be our year! But first, you have to get through day 1. And most of us will not wake up on January 1st fresh as a daisy. It’s ok, you earned the right to celebrate. Whether you stayed up later, ate more treats or just had one too many glasses of champs (or um, shots) here is your ultimate DAOFitLife hangover toolkit.
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New Africa @ Adobe Stock
How to lose the last (or next) 10 pounds like a boss
As the New Year approaches, many of us are focusing on getting back into shape. With so many diet plans out there, it can be tough to find one that is right for you. Below are some helpful tips on how to lose weight and keep it off, catalogued with some of my best weight loss posts.
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Photo by Hermes Rivera
Guilt-Free Winter Comfort Foods
It’s cold outside. It’s snowing. You are so ready to sit under your Ugg throw and snug with a book or a binge watch.
Maybe you already got your workout in, and it’s time to relax. But what you nosh on during that sesh can totally erase whatever calories you burned during spinning.
But that does not mean you have to miss out on what you love to eat when the weather is so chilly. I have found a way to enjoy my favorite comfort foods without guilt, and I am sharing a list of the usual suspects with you, and my recommended substitution.
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Photo by By VadimGuzhva @ Adobe Sock
7 Tips to Stay fit during holiday parties
Why you should care about fitness while you part-ay It's easy to forget yourself during all the fun and excitement of the holidays. That in addition to the friends and…
xartproduction @ Adobe Stock
Level up your workout game
It is time to level up your workout game. But you have to start somewhere. And that’s what you will learn here whether you are at ground zero or reaching for that next rung of the ladder.
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GoodIdeas @ Adobe Stock
Cardio v. Weights Decision Tree
It is the debate that has rocked the fitness world. When you want to level up, combining cardio and weights is ideal. But when you do go for that combo, what do you do first? The answer can make a difference in how quickly you level up your fitness game.
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Literally, the room is this color. At the Washington DC Dupont Circle Barrys.
The Hardest Workout in the World: A Guide to Barry’s Bootcamp
It’s a workout that has attracted the biggest celebrities and gained a reputation as THE place to be if you want to push yourself to the limits. As most global brands do, it started with a crazy dream. Barry Jay founded this fitness craze together with his partners in West Hollywood in 1998 and has since opened dozens of studios in 15 states and 15 countries (including Norway, the UAE and Qatar). It has attracted celebrities like Jessica Alba and Jake Gyllenhaal, David Beckham, Adriana Lima, and Harry Styles (who was rumored to have been recently in the DC Studio – unconfirmed)
Barry’s can be summed up as this: a red room, blasting music, a motivating instructor, and everyone going so hard you would think it’s the Hunger Games.
The DAOFitLIfe Guide to Barry’s follows (note: all views are my own opinion and not supported by any outside organization).
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Photo by Pro Church Media
Enjoy Thanksgiving and Keep Your Fitness on Track
It’s official – travel for the holidays is back. About 70% of Americans said they have travel plans to travel for the holiday, Airport officials and industry analysts say passenger traffic for the Nov. 24 Thanksgiving holiday through New Year’s is set to reach or exceed 2019 levels.
This post updates the hottest tips for staying sane and healthy during Thanksgiving.
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Do you have to choose between being sad or skinny? Read on to find out what your options are. terovesalainen @ Adobe Stock
When treating your mental health makes you gain weight
Would you rather be sad, or skinny? Would you rather be fat and happy, or thin and sad? These are questions that magazines are actually asking mostly women about the fact that treating depression and anxiety would some forms of medication could potentially cause weight gain
The articles featured in Vice and Self magazine echo a deeper sense of self- conflict about mental health – at what cost do we pursue our well-being and happiness? For some this can mean taking prescribed medication, which can lead to intended and unintended consequence. And one of the biggest ones whispered about in anonymous forums is this: weight gain.
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Photo by Mineragua Sparkling Water
The DAOFitLife Hotlist: The 5 Don’ts of Drinking Water
Drink more water! That’s what we are told for maximum health and hydration but it turns out we may be drinking water the wrong way. Here’s 5 reasons we are drinking water the wrong way and how to fix it.
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She has the "turtle" down. You will be an expert too! Photo by Tamara Bellis
How to Look Amazing in Photographs
According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the world’s first selfie was taken in 1839 by Robert Corneulius, an amateur chemist and photography enthusiast, in the back of the family store in Philadelphia.
Whether you remember taking rolls of film to the drugstore or only have ever taken pictures with a Smartphone, photos define our lives – our headshots invite potential employers and connections on LinkedIn, and we capture real life moments on vacations, with friends and family in real time.
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Photo by Jonas Jacobsson
How to attend conferences without blowing your fitness goals
If you are in a professional services field, you know that conferences are like our Superbowl. It’s the ultimate opportunity for companies to showcase their talent, swag, and brand power.
It’s also the ultimate opportunity to pack on the pounds. A lack of choice for food options, many of which are not healthy. Wining and dining. Little sleep from compressed schedules for presentations and time zone differences.
Slowly, you make decisions that you would never make if you were at your own home base. Like, maybe that stale mini cheese Danish IS a good idea.
If I know one thing from being a professional in this workforce for many years, pre and post-pandemic, I know how to navigate this minefield. And I am here to tell you all the best tricks and tips so you can come and go like the fit boss that you are.
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Finding your higher purpose is the first step to changing your life on the inside and out.
How to Use Your Why to Get What You Want
“This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.”- Bertrand Russell, prelude to autobiography
In my post about leaving a toxic relationship, I talked about a jumping-off point. There is a basic crossroads here – you either accept where you are at, or don’t. If you do accept where you are at, then you can keep things exactly the way they are.
If you don’t accept where you are at, then decide to do something about it. A decision to commit to change, to transformation, and to a new way of life.
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Photo by ViDi Studios @ Adobe Stock
A Separate Bank Account Can Protect You – And Your Relationship
It was the fall of 1992. Kieran and Olivia* had just been married. Kieran went to the bank to make a deposit in their joint savings account (note the date – none of this was avaiable via online transaction).
The teller asked him “which account?”
He snapped his head up and asked her back. “What do you mean which account? There’s another account?”
There was another account.
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Photo by Elnariz @ Adobe Stock
Some Tips to Look Like a Classy Badass This Fall
Fitness is definitely far more than just what you do for food and exercise. The whole way you take care of yourself inside and out is essential to defining your health and well-being.
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deine_liebe @ Adobe Stock
How to ghost sugar overload this Halloween (updated)
It’s Halloween already, and we are officially sanctioned to go back to trick-or-treating and Halloween parties. The drugstores and grocery stores are teeming with bags of fun-size candy bars and candy corn pumpkins. Offices and schools have candy bowls and homemade cookies EVERYWHERE. You may be going to one or a few Halloween parties this weekend. This is NOT the time to white knuckle. There is a better answer.
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Social interaction and the act of "waking up" are advantages to returning to the office. Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com
How Going Back to the Office Might Make You Happier
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African proverb
The Whiteboarding. The coffee machine hissing. The Bright lights. The Big monitors. The hum of the printer and the sound of people chatter mixing with the clacks of the keyboard for an ambient tone (in fact, you can actually download it if you want.)
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Photo by svklimkin @ Unsplash
How Working Out Like a Whirling Dervish Can Make You Fall In Love With Fitness
“Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.” – Rumi
The thrill of the pandemic workout craze is fading. UpSwell’s survey found that while 50% of respondents returned to the gym within 9 months of restrictions lifting, nearly a third (27.71%) of all respondents still have not yet returned to the gym, and 31.23% are working out less in 2022.
Peloton, the exercise bike company that saw huge success in the early days of the pandemic only to flounder as sales slowed, reported a $1.2 billion quarterly loss recently.
SoulCycle will close up to a quarter of its studios across the U.S., including six reportedly in the New York City area, amid adjustments related to the pandemic, the fitness company said Tuesday.
How do we bring it back? Enter Rumi, and Sufism.
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fahrwasser @Adobestock
DAOFitLife Hotlist: All the Different Ways you Can Experience the Pumpkin Spice Craze
Pumpkin Spice is EVERYWHERE – the good, the bad, and the just plain weird (uh, pumpkin pizza anyone?)
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Wait, what? Mewing isn't just for cats? Photo by Jeanie de Klerk @ Unsplash
Mewing – Gimmick or Gamechanger?
Spoiler alert: Other than the picture, this has nothing to do with cats.
But it does have to do with an important topic. Imagine walking through a gym. You pass by the weight room section and see various people sculpting their biceps with curls, benching, squatting, deadlifting, meticulously doing upper and lower ab work on the large mats. What is missing from this picture is that you do not see anyone working on the one body feature that defines us more than all of the other parts together – the face.
Now turn to your own face. Where is your tongue? According to the “mewing” phemonmenom, your “tongue posture” could potentially impact facial aesthetics, sleep and breathing quality and overall body posture.
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