The next time you want to drown your boy problems in a half gallon of Ben and Jerry’s, you might want to read the nutritional info.

Newsweek recently uncovered the six most fattening ice cream flavors (Personal note: there wasn’t any real news to cover, Newsweek? Like the upcoming elections, the crumbling economy, or the War on Iraq?). Here are the results of the study, with my personal opinions on whether 6 hours at the gym is worth a scoop or two.

1.Haagen Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter: 360 calories, 24 grams of fat

This should really come as no surprise. Chocolate+Peanut Butter= guaranteed muffin top. But it’s sooo good! Still, 360 calories will take about half an hour of vigorous cardio on a CrossTrainer, and can you really trust yourself to stop at the teensy half-cup serving?

Fight this craving with: two frozen peanut butter cups.

2.Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby: 330 calories, 20 grams of fat

Umm, did anyone EXPECT fudge-covered, peanut-butter-filled pretzels, swirled in vanilla malt ice cream and rippled with even more fudge and peanut butter to be healthy??? Sure, Ben and Jerry might be a perfect rebound after you spied your ex at the bar with the dorm sleaze, but you won’t be able to fit into your skinny jeans after more than a bite or two.

Fight this craving with: a 100 calorie pack of Mr. Salty chocolate-covered pretzels. Read More »

Have you ever stumbled across a song and thought, “damn, this song should be my soundtrack as I walk down the street in my new short shorts”?

Well, if you’re like me, then you HAVE had this thought before. Everyone needs a song that gets them feeling badass. Everyone needs a pulsating, bass-a-rific riff that makes them forget that they’re just driving to the store to get some milk and instead imagine that they’re in an action movie where the opening credits are rolling as they ride down the highway, hair flying and looking hot.

David Guetta (with Chris Willis on vocals) has supplied us with the first perfect badass summer song of the season, Love is Gone. The beat is undeniable, it works on the treadmill as well as on the car stereo, and the music video is kind of weird and awesome.

Congrats. Summer is here.

Check out the video for Love is Gone after the jump. Read More »

On running, that is.

I’ve come to realize that while working a high stress job in the city that never sleeps, moments of pure “zen” are few and far between. I go to bed at night lulled by fire engine sirens and cars honking and then wake up to fight the crowds of people in order to smash myself into a sweaty subway car.

The only time I feel clarity and almost a sense of euphoria is while running. I know, that sounds virtually impossible to be peaceful while huffing and puffing on the treadmill, but it’s true.

Science has just proven that I’m not the only crazy one. Running literally gets you high…

According to a new study done by German researchers, running releases a flood of endorphins to the brain, resulting in mood changes. The more endorphins to the brain, the greater the effect. Read More »

You guys have probably noticed that my usual, semi-prompt weekly entry is a little late. Papers on top of thesis proposals on top of research is never fun. Still, despite all that, there’s a pretty important factor that has lead to my lack of writing;

I am f*cking exhausted.

Now, I’ve been able to handle six or seven hour nights before. I was great at it last semester, and the semester before that, and the semester before that…well, you get the point. Thing is, since I’ve started adjusting my diet, I have just been utterly exhausted. There’s also the fact that my patience for dieting is wearing thin, and I’ve admittedly been cheating, like with that handful of jelly beans I had just an hour or so ago. My weight isn’t going down, and I’m getting kind of upset about that. So I’ve been trying to distract myself.

The gym on campus was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was. I didn’t go alone this time; I dragged along one of my buddies and we hung out there for a good hour or something like that. No bike this time; I was on the treadmill for 25 minutes and the elliptical for 25 minutes. The treadmill was a nice warm-up for the elliptical, and while I was on it I realized something amazing. Read More »

My first all-nighter at the end of my freshman year taught me some important lessons about what my mind and body is capable of when placed under the stress that is going without sleep for more than 24 hours.

1) Between 3 and 5 a.m. I am incapable of forming coherent sentences on paper and possibly aloud. I have some stellar thoughts, complex ideation that I am incapable of during normal waking hours. But when it comes to recording them, I have the language capability of a non-Einstein like fourth grader trying to write about quantum physics.

It’s funny in retrospect, but it makes me want to jab a pencil in my eye when I need that thought to get me through a paragraph or two at 6 a.m., when I’m able to write again.

2) Hot chocolate disappoints like no other, as it’s more of a distraction than an aide in concentration. Marshmallows - either their presence or the mere of idea of them melting sugary goodness in your cup - are the funnest thing ever when you’ve been studying pre-colonial African history for seven hours.

Coffee will never let me down, but hot chocolate is more of a party in my mouth kind of beverage and not quite the upper I wanted and needed it to be.

3) If I end the 24 hour no-sleep-athon with a 20 minute run, upon beginning my cool down, I will have an orgasm. Read More »

Despite the fact that I have been experiencing severe tail-bone pain for the past two weeks (due to a semi-drunken tumble down a flight of stairs), I have been attempting to keep up with my five-days-a-week gym schedule. Any other time of year and I probably would just take advantage of the fact that my ass is a lovely shade of eggplant and sleep in instead. But, being that everyone else in the world is using this month to get in shape, I felt motivated to do the same.

Being that I can’t partake in my usual morning classes (spinning with this bruise? Not a chance), I have been forced to return to the cardio floor. And my return has reminded me why I have been avoiding it for so long. Maybe it is because it is so early in the morning, or maybe it is because I really hate being at the gym until my workout is actually over and I’m sipping on my coffee, but there are some gym people that are just starting to piss me off.

There may not be a list posted anywhere, but there are some unspoken rules regarding gym etiquette that everyone is supposed to abide by. Like warning someone before they set up all their stuff and begin working out that the treadmill is broken. Not after when they nearly fall off and break their necks because the belt was sticking. (Welcome to my morning).

Sorry. I’m getting angry all over again, but I am sure I am not alone in my frustration. So here is a list of my biggest Gym Pet Peeves. Let us all commiserate together. Read More »

I don’t really exercise. Don’t care for it too much. My excuse being, I live in Manhattan and walk constantly, so shut up.

On the rare occasion that I am feeling spunky, however, I will work out and take it to the Elliptical, a.k.a the Poor Man’s Treadmill, just like this hottie. But I cannot and will not work out, if I don’t have good music to help me on my sweaty, fat-burning journey. And that music best suited for my JOURNEY? 80’s music. Journey. 80’s music.

The New York Times just featured an article on the effect that certain songs have on us while we exercise, and while it’s not all that exciting or earth-shattering to read that faster songs correspond to a faster heart rate (NO SH*T, really?) it is pretty interesting to see some of the suggestions of songs to add to our playlists, to help pump us up and keep us motivated.

Self.com is a website after my own heart, as the NYTimes article mentions they chose Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go as a workout playlist hit. There is nothing like a good Wham! classic to really get me going. Which got me thinking of one of my personal workout faves which is also from the 80’s, called Baby I’m a Star. It was originally sung by Prince, but in my opinion, The Lil’ Soul Man does it waaay better. Plus, his backup dancers are rocking those shoulder pads, and his wig is amazing. Read More »

Bad news New Years Resolutionites: looks like all that work you are doing at the gym isn’t quite as impressive as you have been lead to believe. Nor will it lead to the extreme or quick results you have been counting on. A recent article in the New York Times is claiming that the calorie counters on your favorite machines – especially the cherished, Elliptical – are wrong. Sometimes way wrong.

This news isn’t a total shock to most people - I mean, unless you are slightly delusional or in denial, you should be able to tell that a 30 minute stint on the cross-trainer could not possibly burn 500 calories – but it is still a little disconcerting. What is the point of having calorie counters on machines if they are so off? And how many calories am I burning during my workout? Read More »