Let’s face it - you’re busy! In between classes, homework, mixers, meetings, parties, and dates, every college student’s dream is to find the 25th hour in the day. And that’s not generally so they can use it to head to the gym for a strenuous cardio session.

Unfortunately, if you spend all your time in a sedentary position, snacking to kill boredom and keep yourself awake, you’re body will have no choice but to store the extra caloric energy as fat. When it comes to weight gain, all you need to worry about is whether the number of calories you expend is greater than the number of calories you ingest. In order to not gain weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat.

Making sure you hit the gym a couple of times a week (4-5 times would be ideal) for at least a half hour is a great way to jumpstart your metabolism and burn some extra calories. But when you can’t make it to the gym there are ways to make sure you’re still being active and moving around—even on the busiest of schedules. Read More »

I go to a school of about 50,000 students, in a metropolitan area of approx. 1.6 million. It’d be a bit redundant to tell you that driving is an issue. A parking permit at my school alone will set you back $700. Plus, you have to move your car for all home sporting events and any other time the school says, “Hey, the space is ours, we’re taking it back.”

For everyone else out there who will be walking (literally) in my shoes this fall, here are some ideas to get you by…

Getting back home: Just because you’re without a car, doesn’t mean everyone else is. This is the one instance where I think bribing is ok. Be nice and offer to help pay for the gas. It goes a long way.

Getting around town: It’s called walking. It’s what people did before cars. It’s good for the environment, and good for you. So strech out those legs every now and then. Heck, even a bike will suffice. But if you need to go somewhere a bit out of walking/biking distance, looking into public transit is a good idea. Most college towns have a bus system, and you can look up the routes online. In my case, it’s free for students, but just in case, I’d start saving coins if I were you. And if you really are just the laziest person in the world, buy a Vespa.

Getting to class: My campus is huge, and parking on campus is pretty much non existant. If you live on campus, be sure to leave with enough time to actually get there. There’s no longer a “drive 80 on back roads to get to school” option. You have to hoof it. Read More »

Just when I had you convinced I’m a lazy cow, I took some action. The weather’s gorgeous, I have many a short little dress waiting to come out, and frankly, the time has come for me to take your advice, which has been much appreciated. I’ve started walking to and from work rather than hopping on the subway, and so long as it’s sunny and nice, I’ve decided that my new habit is going to be a post-work run, and that the thirty-block walk home can be a nice little warm-up.

I started slow, running about three quarters of a mile outside without falling over dead, and walking briskly after for another twenty or thirty minutes. May not seem like a lot, but in the city, speedwalking is essentially a slow jog. I have to say, it felt pretty damn good to take in the scenery of New York while bobbing and weaving through crowds on the sidewalks.

Fortunately I live fairly close to a park on the East River (one of those waterways that’s pretty from a high-rise, but should never ever be touched for fear of hepatitis or happening upon a dead body), and was able to set my route accordingly. I’m actually looking forward to going out again tonight, with my goal of extending by a few blocks and hopefully getting that extra quarter mile into my routine by the time next week starts. Read More »

Please note that it has been almost a month since I signed up for my race. I haven’t been to the gym since that initial trip, although I was rejected from said gym when a new front desk worker didn’t even know there was a corporate gym in the building and I had left my ID at home. Instead of delving right into running, I started walking home whenever it was warm enough and I wasn’t heading to class directly from the office.

I’m failing miserably and I haven’t done anything yet.

The walking surprisingly has given me more energy, but I’ve realized that it’s not quite the same as a nice jog or run. Feeling a bit pathetic, I decided I needed to change my diet again and pretend I actually cared about eating healthy food. I traded actually running for giving up chocolate and other sweet snacky foods. I subside largely on vegetables, natural peanut butter, and whole grains. I’m not exactly a vegetarian, but for the most part I don’t really eat meat or seafood more than once or twice a month, so I’ve been trying to find healthy, creative ways to get my protein.

Natural peanut butter is my addiction, with avocados at a close second. They’re not at all the same but they’ve been a good way to get healthy fat. Also have been working on getting protein from beans, lentils, chickpeas, and the like, so I don’t make myself anemic. Read More »

“Nice ass, you must walk a lot?”

I just read that a group of researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands found that people who walk, and move about more often, had the highest overall physical activity levels.

Before you say “duh”, it gets better. They also found that although the participants (men and women) who ran burned more calories, the moderate exercisers burned more calories overall.

In other words, in the 30 day study, the runners with their laced up, geared up sneaks laid around after they hit the road, and the moderate walkers bounced around a bit more post-workout.

Makes sense… I can recall many a post-job moment when all I did was grab a PB&J, hit the couch and watched Grey’s.

I’m glad I read this news, I was just starting to berate myself for choosing the stroll instead of the run. Also a side note for you… My Biology professor said that you burn very close to the same amount of calories whether you run or walk a mile. The difference is the after burn of a run is greater…it also perks up the ole’ metabolism.

But, hey, lets just keep walking for now.

Welcome to Thursday! Last week I was channeling Grandma, and while some of those habits have carried over from last week (I still can’t get enough of crosswords!), there’s a whole new crop of cool that’s just waiting to be unveiled to you all.

This week is about being healthy and happy. It’s not as hard as you think…

Fashion Obsession: Navy Blue

Everyone’s abuzz with the news that navy is back! Well, did it ever really go anywhere? Not to me! It’s been a long standing fashion no-no to pair navy blue and black, but not anymore, and I couldn’t be more excited. What’s even better is that it’s so easy to hop on the blue bandwagon that there’s no excuse not to give it a shot!

Check out this adorable little frock from TopShop (love the collar) or this navy raincoat from Forever 21 that is cute as a button! Read More »