Friday's Food

The problem with healthy eating is that it can often be expensive, especially when you want to load up on fresh vegetables. Even after springing for a bountiful of produce, many of us then watch our hard earned cash go down the drain as the food spoils before you can eat it. FitBritt's solution is to grow your own vegetables and fresh herbs. Growing your own vegetable garden saves you a ton of money, ensures freshness and allows you to pick only what you need to avoid spoilage.

If you have a nice big backyard, find a spot that is exposed to plenty of sun and create a plot by digging up the soil and getting rid of any large rocks. Then add store-bought potting soil to the ground in order to promote growth. Worried about predators eating your vegetables? You can construct a fence around the garden to keep animals out but remember some animals, like rabbits are good at digging so make sure the fence extends at least a foot under the ground. Another option is to use chicken wire over individual plants.

Is your problem no space for a garden? You can still grow your own vegetables by using containers and placing them on a balcony or patio or windowsill. For those of you really cramped for space, look for community gardens. Many cities have plots of land available for citizens to use for the purpose of gardening. Check you city's webpage for further information.

Now the question is what to grow. Fresh herbs can cost as much as $2 for a bunch and most often its not possible to get through the entire bunch before it goes bad. Popular herbs to grow are basil, parsley, mint, thyme and cilantro. A good tip here is to find a plant either at a local nursery or even your grocery store and then transplant the plant into your soil. Besides growing herbs, some great fresh veggies include tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, radishes and peppers. Just make sure that what you plant will grow in your region and at the time of year when you plan to plant them.

For more information on growing a vegetable and herb garden check out these useful websites or ask an expert at your local gardening store or nursery:

WikiHow: How to Grow Your Own Vegetables

My Great Home This site has some good information on growing vegetables in a small space

How Stuff Works- Growing Your Own Vegetables

Fit Tip: Gardening is also a great activity to burn calories. So not only are you getting healthy food but you are also saving money and getting some mild exercise!

Sounds on Thursday

So given yesterday's posting FitBritt thinks its only fair to offer an extra special Sounds on Thursday and provide a playlist suitable for busting out some dance moves. As always, songs are available on iTunes or, as FitBritt recently found out, also available on Amazon for $0.99 compared to $1.29 for most songs on iTunes.

Bust-A-Move Playlist
1.) Canned Heat by Jamiroquai- A good warm-up song because of its fun upbeat tempo.

2.) Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas- This was recently suggested by a Frugal Fitness follower and is a great song for some hip hop type moves.

3.) Feedback by Janet Jackson

4.) Anything by Lady Gaga espeically Telephone, Bad Romance and of course, Just Dance

5.) Womanizer by Britney Spears- This has a good beat although FitBritt would like to take this opportunity to make a clear distinction between head shaving Britney Spears and Frugally Fit FitBritt- not at all the same person.

6.) Krazy by PitBull feat. Lil' Jon- Just get crazy!

7.) Get Me Bodied Extended Mix by Beyonce- Check out the middle of the song and see if you can emulate the words of the song. I.e. "Drop down almost to the floor"; "Pose for the camera"; "Do an old-school dance"; "Shake your derriere"; "Do the scissor leg, touch your heel, touch your toe"; "Do the Naomi Campbell walk" You get the picture.

8.) Love Generation by Bob Sinclair- If this song doesn't make you happy and want to dance then what will?

9.) Put Your Hands Up For Detroit by Freddie Le Grand

10.) Don't Feel Like Dancing by the Scissor Sisters

11.) And if you are trying to channel Dancing With the Stars and you are interested in some Latin flavor try out a few of these: Conga by Gloria Estefan, Maghalenha by Sergio Mendes, Let's Get Loud by Jennifer Lopez

Wednesday's Workout

This Wednesday's Workout is a lot of fun and completely *free*. FitBritt suggests putting on a great playlist of music consisting of all of your favorite upbeat songs and dancing around the house. Its like that hip hop class at the gym you always wanted to take but didn't have the courage, only now no one is watching you so you have no excuse! So you think you can't dance? No problem! Just move to the music. The important thing is to keep going to burn some calories. Try to keep it up for at least a half hour.

Looking for more structure? There are plenty of exercise dvds offering to teach you dance steps. One of FitBritt's favorites is Julianne Hough's (from Dancing With the Stars) Cardio Ballroom. Another option is to check out YouTube for some dance videos and see if there are any moves you can pick up. Or just watch MTV or VHI for an afternoon (that is when they actually play music) and see if you can get some ideas from some of you favorite celebrity singers.

Tuesday's Trim Down

This Tuesday's Trim Down is another *free* workout. Most of us know iTunes as a source for downloading music for our iPods, but what you may not realize is that iTunes also offers Podcasts. Podcasts are digital files that can come in audio or video form and are available in episode format. There are Podcasts for a range of subjects including the news, market information, arts and crafts, language learning and much more. Most importantly for our purposes, there are a wide variety of Podcasts on Health and Fitness. You can find a Podcast for almost any type of sport or fitness interest. Some great examples are Elsie's Yoga Class and Dave Farmer's Power Yoga, both of which offer free full-length yoga classes through audio instruction. Or a personal favorite of FitBritt's is the Pilates on 5th video Podcast, which offers instruction on Pilates moves and has 10 min and 30 min Pilates classes. IndoorCylcingPodcast offers an audio indoor cycling class including music and instruction, which is a great substitute for an indoor cycling class. And for all you runners, there are a multitude of Podcasts providing coaching on everything from how to run a 5K to tackling a marathon or triathalon.

In addition to fitness instruction, there are Podcasts on nutrition, such as Vegetarian Food For Thought and Dishing Up Nutrition, which offer information and suggestions on eating healthy. You can also find Podcasts for workout music mixes or motivational speaking.

Once you have found a Podcast (or two) that you like, you can choose to watch or listen to the individual episode streaming online or you can subscribe to the Podcast and have the episodes automatically downloaded to your iTunes library daily. And of course, the best part is that all of this information and instruction is *free!*

Readers, any Podcasts you enjoy?

In addition to

Monday's Retail Madness

This Monday’s Retail Madness is an absolute gem for those interested in frugal fitness. And in fact it was suggested by one of Frugal Fitness’s own followers. The website Groupon offers discounts for popular services in cities throughout the U.S. What this means for Frugal Fitness followers is that you can get great discounts on things like personal training packages with local gyms, fitness or dance class packages, rounds of golf, rockclimbing or tennis lessons and many other active pursuits. Some deals offer as much as half off the original price or more!

The way it works is simple: a business chooses to participate with Groupon and offers one of its services for a discounted price, if enough people choose to sign up for the service then the deal is on and your credit card will be charged. Unfortunately, if there is not enough interest, the deal is off and you cannot take advantage of the savings but your credit card will not be charged.

Groupon offers one deal every day, so it is worth it to sign up and have the deal emailed to you directly to avoid having to constantly check back on the website. For more information about how Groupon works, check out the sites FAQs.

Fit Tip: Groupon has offers for non-fitness related services and products such as spa treatments, dinners out, tickets, etc. So this site is great to use for all kinds of different activities and merchandise. Just make sure all these discounts don’t tempt you away from your fitness goals and do take advantage of the great fitness offers available!

Weekend Activity

Given our recent posting on the Bicycle Commuter Act and biking to work, this weekend's activity is biking, of course. Most of us loved to ride our bikes when we were kids, but riding a bike as an adult can be really fun and is great exercise. If you live in a city, check out the bike paths available and map out a ride. Most cities, such as Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, have websites to show you local bike paths. If you live outside of the city, visit a state park and try trail biking or just bike around the neighborhood.

If you don't own a bike, you can rent one from a local bike shop. And of course, a frugal fitness bonus, renting a bike is very inexpensive, but make sure you either buy your own helmet or rent one as well.

Fit Tip: Before you take off view these bicycle safety tips from be-safe.org.

Friday's Food

Using the internet is a great resource for finding tips of staying healthy without spending a lot of money (ahem, not to toot Frugal Fitness’s own horn). Recently FitBritt came across this gem from Cooking Light. It’s called Feed 4 for $10. It is an excellent resource for putting together inexpensive meals. It even breaks down the cost per meal. Although the recipes assume that you already have some things in your pantry like spices, so this must be taken into account when considering the meals.

Fit Tip- If you are cooking for two instead of four, just halve all of the amounts in the recipe to make two portions. If you are cooking for one, make two portions and save the leftovers for lunch or dinner the next night.

Sounds on Thursday

This Thursday we're going back a bit, the sound is Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. This 8 minute song will keep you pumping at a steady pace so its good for high resistance work such as a standing or seated climb on a stationary or spin bike, high resistance on the elliptical, or a large incline on the treadmill. Alternatively, it offers a good pace for weight lifting.

As always, available at iTunes for $1.29.

Wednesday's Workout

Last Wednesday's Workout focused on staying fit while at work. One of FitBritt’s suggestion was to ride a bike to work and/or talk to your employer about incorporating healthy activities for the office. Well, following up on last Wednesday’s report is some exciting information to incentivize both a bike commute and employer assistance. We have all heard of the Emergency Stabilization Act as basically being the bailout for American financial institutions. However, buried in this large piece of legislation is a gem to fitness fanatics, the Bicycle Commuter Act., which has been enacted in the US Tax Code. The Act allows an employer to reimburse an employee as part of a transportation fringe benefit, up to $20 a month for costs relating to commuting by bicycle. Qualified costs include purchasing a bike, bike improvements, repair and storage. The employee must qualify as a commuter by bike meaning that he or she regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of travel been his or her residence and place of employment. Additionally, the employee cannot receive any other type of transportation benefit, so this cannot be combined with other forms of transportation benefits such as public transit or parking subsidies.

If you are interested in becoming a bike commuter or you already are one, you should talk to your employer about utilizing this benefit. To find copies of the laws, click on the above links. For further information, check out the League of American Bicyclist's website or check your local congress representative's website to see if they provide any details.

Tuesday's Trim Down

This Tuesday’s Trim Down is a very inexpensive way to stay fit throughout the year and its so simple it comes straight to your mailbox (snail mail that is). Besides subscribing to a fitness blog (ahem), subscribing to fitness magazines is a great way to get new ideas for keeping fit. Most magazine subscriptions are around $14, which means you are spending about $1.16 per month on pages and pages of fitness tips and ideas. That’s much cheaper than a pricey gym membership. Plus, a subscription saves you an incredible amount of money over the newsstand price, which is usually around $4 per issue or $48 a year. Most fitness magazines feature an article each month on strength training or cardiovascular activities such as walking, biking, etc. The benefit to these articles is that they have pictures and commentary to explain how to do the moves, which can be helpful if you are new to exercise and need a little guidance on how to perform common exercise moves. Additionally, the magazines also offer tips on gear or equipment that you may find useful. A few good examples of fitness magazines for women are Shape, Self, and Fitness. For men, try Men’s Health or Men’s Fitness Magazine. If you have a specific area of interest such as running, yoga or pilates, try looking for a specific magazine such as Runner’s World, Yoga Journal or Pilates Style Magazine.

Fit Tip: If you are not interested in the content of the magazines but don’t want to commit to a subscription, check out the magazines websites. A lot of information that is contained in the print issue is available online, including some features not available in print like videos of exercise moves.

Monday's Retail Madness

Nothing is better for sore, tight, overworked muscles than a great massage. However, this fit frugalista cannot justify spending $100+ on a massage every time a muscle aches. Enter the frugal fitness solution: a foam roller. This device is a great tool for stretching out and massaging tired and sore muscles. The roller creates the same movement as the techniques used by massage therapists in giving a sports massage, which helps release muscles that have become tight or sore due to overuse, injury or lack of stretching.

Gaiam offers both half and full rollers on its website with prices ranging from $9.99-$29.99.

Here are a few exercises for stretching and massaging your muscles:

1.) Back-Lie down on the roller lengthwise so you head, kneck, shoulders and back are on the roller. Keep knees bent with feet flat on the floor. Gently rock yourself from side to side allowing the roller to massage your back.

2.) Upper Back- Lie cross wise on the foam roller so only your shoulders and upper back are on the roller. Hands behind the ears, as if you were doing situps on a stability ball. Feet are on the ground with knees bent. Slowly roll back and forward targeting the roller on the upper back.

3.) Glutes- Sit on the roller with hands on the ground behind you and feet on the floor in front of you. Begin rolling slowly forward and backwards to release glute muscles.

4.) Hamstrings- In the same position as above, move the foam roller down so it sits on the back of the legs now. Roll the roller up and down the hamstrings slowly.

5.) Calves- Continue with the same exercise as above but move the roller down to target the calves. Keep the buttocks off the floor to place a little bit more pressure on the muscles resulting in a deeper massage.

6.) IT Band- This is a really great massage/stretching technique for walkers and runners who will naturally have tighter IT bands. Lie on your side with the foam roller under your hip and legs stacked. One hand should be on the floor. Take the top leg and place your foot in front of the other leg that is still on the floor and straight.(as if you were doing inner thigh leg lifts). Slowly roll the foam roller from your hip down towards your knee.

Fit Tip: Gently roll the foam roller over areas of your muscles that feel tight and stop on an area where you feel a lot of tightness. Hold until the muscle relaxes and continue to roll. Make sure you use the roller on the muscles and not on your bones or joints.

If you want more ideas for massage and stretching with the foam roller, check out the book, Foam Roller Techniques for Massage, Stretches and Improved Flexibility by Michael Fredericson, available at Amazon or the DVD The Foam Roller Workout & Massage with Michaela Sirbu also available at Amazon.

Weekend Activity

This weekend to get active try rockclimbing. Rockclimbing is a great activity that can be done indoors or outdoors and has appeal to people of all fitness levels and ages. It has fantastic benefits for strength, especially in the core, and flexibility. It is also a great tool to overcome a fear of heights and to introduce some excitement into your life!

A great way to learn to rockclimb is to enroll in a course, which will provide all of the equipment as well as instruction. Visit indoorclimbing.com to find a local gym near you and find out about their beginner's classes. If you would like to learn outdoors, many organizations offer either day or weekend courses to teach you to climb outside. REI's Outdoor School , Eastern Mountain Sports , and Outward Bound all offer climbing courses for a reasonable price.

Friday's Food

A great way to get healthy food is to visit a local farmer's market. Farmer's markets offer tons of fresh produce that have sometimes been harvested within the last 24 hours. They also offer other products like dairy, meats and seafoods. Shopping at a farmer's market supports the local community and it can be enjoyable to shop outside. Check your local newspaper or city's website to see if you can find a listing for farmer's markets in your area.

Another good option is to join a CSA, which is a subscription with a local farm to receive a box of fruits and vegetables available from the farm. This is a great way to boost your fruit and vegetable intake. Visit localharvest.org to find out if there is a program in your area.

Sounds on Thursday

Today's tune is another remix (which we are a big fan of at Frugal Fitness), Seal's Waiting for You remix is a great pump up tune that can be used for pretty much any form of cardio. Also check his other remixes at iTunes.

Wednesday's Workout

This Wednesday's Workout is based on a recent reader question:

Do you know a good workout routine for people who may be stuck in an office all day with little opportunity to get up from their chair and move around?

What a great question! Here is FitBritt's suggestions for fitting in a workout while stuck at the office.

When you are stuck in an office all day long you can start to feel very sedentary and what is worse is that you sometimes don’t feel like you have any energy after work to workout. The best thing to do is to try and burn as many extra calories you can in a day even while you are at the office. Remember, to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume. Here are a few tips:

1.) Start the day off right by walking or biking to work. If it is feasible and you live close enough, you can walk or bike to work. No need to go at full intensity if you are unable to shower afterwards, a leisurely walk or ride will be sufficient. If you are really motivated, walk or ride home as well.

2.) Not everyone lives close enough to walk or ride to work so if you don’t, try to take the stairs instead of the elevator in your building.

3.) Keep moving once you get to work. Instead of calling or emailing a colleague, walk to their desk to speak with them (this may also be helpful in building a better rapport with your colleagues). If you can take breaks during the day, do so away from your computer. Walk outside and take a quick stroll around the block.

4.) Try to get some exercise at lunch. If you work close by to your gym this is an excellent time to go for a workout. You will feel energized for the remainder of the day if you can get in a midday workout. If you don’t work close to your gym or you don’t have a gym membership, try to go out for a run in a local park. If your building does not provide showers and change rooms then skip the run and try a walk instead. Even just 20-30 minutes of walking at a moderate pace will up your calorie burn and help keep you metabolism going. Plus, it may help you clear you heard for the remainder of the day.

5.) Bring a jump rope to workout and hit the playground at lunch. A jump rope is cheap and portable. See our previous blog on jump rope workouts by clicking here.

6.) If you buy your lunch, don’t get delivery, get up from your desk and go get it.

7.) Workout while sitting down. No, this is not a crazy infomercial. Replace your desk chair with a stability ball. Sitting on a stability ball forces you to engage your core muscles and requires you to maintain good posture in order to stay balanced on the ball. Sitting on a stability ball instead of a desk chair will help you whittle your middle!

8.) If you have an office in which you can close the door or a cubicle that is secluded, try to get in a short workout. Do it at lunch or work through lunch and take some time in the afternoon. Just do it when you have a block of time to spare. You can easily fit in a free yoga workout using yogatoday.com (see yesterday’s blog). You can also bring in your own dvd, such as a pilates or weights dvd and play it on your computer with the sound on low (or just use the visual cues). Otherwise, bring in some dumbbells and keep them at your desk. When you get the time, try doing these exercises: bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, squats and lunges holding the weights, row (bend forward at the wait and allow arms to be straight in front of you with palms facing your body, bend your elbows and draw the weights in towards your chest, lower and repeat), deadlifts (standing and holding weights in front of you with hands at thighs and palms facing in, dip forward at the waist keep legs straight with only a slight bend in the knee, keep the back straight and lower down until palms are at about knee level, squeeze glutes to lift back up and repeat), overhead raises (arms out to the side with elbows bent creating a goal post shape, lift weights overhead and straighten arms, bend elbows to lower back down, repeat), weighted ab curls (place one weight in the center of your chest and perform curls). If you have swapped your chair for a stability ball, don’t be afraid to do some exercises on the stability ball as well.

9.) If you don’t want to try a full workout using dumbbells, try using the equipment you have. If you have not swapped your desk chair, do some squats with the chair. Stand up from you chair and bend your knees to lower down as if you were going to sit back down but about an inch away from the seat, squeeze your glutes and rise back up. Repeat. Try some tricep dips (this works well if you don’t have wheels on your chair, if you do consider anchoring the chair by placing some books against the wheel to act as a stopper). Sit on the chair and place hands down on either side of your hips. Move you butt off the chair but keep your hands where they are. Your feet should be flat on the floor and your knees should be bent. Bend elbows to lower your body closer to the floor. Straighten your arums and repeat. Also do some exercises that do not require equipment like crunches and pushups.

10.) If you can’t get a workout done during the day, don’t rush off at the end of the day. Take advantage of your building’s staircase and do a stair workout. Click here to see our previous blog on stair workouts. Just bring some clothes with you to change into and hit the stairs after work. The best part? There is no need to worry about showering and changing since you are just heading home.

Finally, a good way to get fit at the office is to get others involved. Find a buddy who wants to workout with you at lunch or talk to your boss and see if you can organize an office-wide fitness regime. For example, set up a competition or a race that will motivate everyone to train. Or see if you can get a fitness instructor to come in one day a week to the office at lunch or immediately following work. If enough people are interested and willing to chip in a few bucks, you may be able to get a local personal trainer to come in and lead the group through some exercises. Since employers are now required to provide healthcare to employees, they are interested in keeping costs down by having healthy employees. Therefore, they should be willing to listen to your suggestions and assist you in setting up healthy activities that will benefit everyone.

Readers, do you have any comments or suggestions on staying fit at work or getting your employer to assist you in creating a more fit office?

Tuesday's Tone Up

This Tuesday's Tone Up is another great way to enjoy *free* yoga! Yogatoday.com offers streaming video of free yoga classes on a weekly basis. The classes are one hour in length and can be watched on your computer in full-screen mode just like a dvd. Each class usually has a focus, which is a great way to help you learn new yoga moves. For example, last week's free class introduced headstands and shoulder stands as part of the one hour class. This week's free class focuses on sun salutations. Other classes might focus on core strength, stretching your hamstrings, alleviating knee, neck or back pain or even on yoga for a specific purpose like sports or jet lag. The classes are also broken down by level from beginner to guru (advanced), so these classes are suitable for everyone! Another great bonus is that most classes have reviews by other users so you can find out if the class is right for you or what other people thought of the class before selecting the class.

Yogatoday has three instructors; Sarah Kline, Adi Amar, and Neesha Zollinger. Each instructor has her own style and type of practice. The types of yoga featured are usually Anusara, Ashtanga, Hatha Blend, Kundalini or Vinyasa. (For more information on any of these types of yoga click on the links provided.)

If you decide that you like one of the classes you have watched, you can own the class by purchasing it for $3.99. This means the class will be saved to your computer and you can watch it anytime. Or, if you prefer to have access to the entire library of yoga classes, you can join for $9.99 a month for unlimited access or use Yogatoday's special promotion of 25% off and join for one full year for $89.99. This is a particularly great way to get used to practicing yoga if you are too nervous to go to a live class since you can do it in the privacy of your own home. Another bonus? You can take it with you wherever you go! So get your downward dog on today!

Monday's Retail Madness

Here's the dilemma: you want great fitting/good quality workout clothes/equipment but you don't want to pay a lot of money. Solution- eBay! Finding clothes and equipment on eBay is simple and you can get great stuff at a minimum cost. For instance, a recent eBay search for "nike" revealed a great pair of Nike sneakers for only $20.50! Here are a few tips for shopping on ebay:

1.) Remember eBay is a bidding process, which means that during the bidding period (listed with the item) others can attempt to bid higher on the item. This of course means that when you place a bid on an item you will not necessarily get to purchase the item. Sometimes the seller is willing to forgo the bidding process and will list a "Buy It Now" price, which means you can just click on the item and purchase it as you would normally do with an online retailer. Otherwise, if you want to win an item you have to think about strategy. Normally you will be requested to put in the highest bid you are willing to pay for an item. You have to consider what other people might be willing to pay and then try to outbid them. Each time you place a bid, the price of the item goes up incrementally by a dollar but at the end of the bidding process, the person with the highest maximum bid wins the item. Readers, do you have any tips and stragies for how to win an item on ebay without paying too much?

2.) An important consideration when purchasing equipment or clothing on eBay is quality. There are a couple of ways to ensure quality. First, most items are accompanied by a photograph, which gives an indication of the quality and condition of the product. Second, most products also given an indication of the condition of the product, e.g., used, never-been-worn, like-new, etc. But because the seller is inputting these descriptions, its important to ensure that the seller is reputable. eBay offers seller info which provides feedback on the seller by percentage. A seller with 100% positive feedback has a great reputation based on the reviews from purchasers. Additionally, a potential purchaser can read feedback left by previous purchasers from this seller. Finally, the seller's contact details are usually provided so it is possible to contact the seller if you have any questions or require further information about the product.

3.) Find out the return policy. Find out if the seller accepts returns if you are dissatisfied with the item.

4.) Have a PayPal Account. Most sellers only accept payment through PayPal so it is necessary to set up a PayPal Account. The good news? Its easy and free!

5.) Check out eBay Buyer Protection. This program will cover the cost of the item and shipping if the item does not arrive or the item is not as described. A few caveats: first, the item has to qualify for this protection so its important to find this out before making the purchase. Second, a buyer must go through a process of contacting the seller first to resolve the issue, then contacting eBay and finally after a seven day period of trying to resolve the problem, eBay will determine if it will cover the item based on the items qualifications.

So if you are looking for some new things for spring... Happy Bidding!

Weekend Activity

After a long week by the time the weekend rolls around, working out may be the last thing you want to do. However, a great way to stay motivated and have a lot of fun while getting a good workout is to join a sports team! Adult sports teams have gained in popularity recently because of the competitive fun they offer, as well as a chance to meet new people (which is great if you have recently moved to a new city or even if you are just looking to branch out your social circle). Common sports offered are soccer, softball, touch football, basketball and kickball. Worried about your lack of experience? Don't worry, most leagues have beginner teams and even if they don't, many will have teams where beginners are welcome. This is a great opportunity to explore a new sport or pick up an old high school sport.

If you are concerned about the time commitment, don't be. The leagues are meant for busy working adults and therefore do not hold practices but instead meet only on the weekends for friendly games. Many leagues are co-ed although there are also usually men's teams and women's teams available. There is, of course, a registration fee; however, the fees are usually not very high and are meant only to cover court or field registration and umpires. An even greater benefit? Often times portions of the registration fees are donated to charity making this option not only great for frugal fitness but also for doing something good.

To find out information about your local sports teams, visit your city government's website and search for their parks and recreation section, which will often have information on local sports leagues. Otherwise, try a Google search!

Friday's Food

Sticking with our theme of staying fit on vacation, finding healthy food while traveling and while on vacation can be difficult. Here are a few tips:

1.) At the airport (or train or bus terminal), finding healthy food can be difficult. A good option is pack your own snacks such as fruit (grapes or apples are good), crackers, cheese wedges, vegetables & hummus or sandwiches. If packing your own snacks sounds like too much work for you, a good idea is to look for fast food places that have healthy options. For example, Starbucks usually has bananas and nuts available and offers nutritional information for its products. Smoothie joints can also be a good option, but again watch how many calories you are consuming. If you are buying a sandwich or a wrap, look for something that contains mustard instead of mayo and includes a lot of vegetables.

2.) Vacation can be a good time to splurge but in order to not completely derail your diet, try to limit the splurging. For example, breakfast is a great time to eat a healthy meal. Think oatmeal, cereal with skim or low-fat milk, fresh fruit and yogurt.

3.) Its possible to sample a lot of great food without going overboard. Try to leave a little bit on the plate to save some calories.

4.) Try to sample some of the great local food- try to incorporate local fruit or vegetables. A good idea is to visit a local farmer's market where you are staying.

5.) Don't obsess. Vacation should be fun and that includes the food. Remember your vacation is short lived and you have plenty of time to think about your diet when you get back!

Sounds on Thursday

This week's sounds is Fragile by Sting. This is a much slower song that can be used for a yoga or pilates practice or if you are looking for a good cooldown song. Often times people like to skip the cooldown and stretch portions of their workout. A good rule of thumb is to find a song you like and commit to stretching for the entire length of the song.

Fragile is available on iTunes.

Wednesday's Workout

After a much needed vacation FitBritt is back with more frugal fitness tips.

This Wednesday's Workout is a tip inspired by recent travels. Traveling and vacation can mean difficult maintaining your workout regime. Try this workout to stay fit while on holiday (especially good if you are going to be at the beach!).

In the pool:

If the hotel you are staying at has a pool (indoor or outdoor), try these moves to get in a good workout.

First, you can warm up by swimming some laps or treading water for a few minutes.

Then get some toning exercises in by going to a shallow end of the pool and holding on to the side of the pool. The natural resistance of the water will make these ballet inspired moves even more difficult than on dry land.

Plies- Hold onto the side of the pool with both hands with feet in a wide plie stance (legs out wider than hips and toes pointing to the side), sink down into a squat then squeeze your glutes to rise up. Complete 15-20 repetitions and then hold the last rep and do small pulses for another 15-20 reps.

Releves- Still facing the wall, bring feet in together so they are touching with toes pointing towards the pool wall. Lift heels off the ground and onto the balls of the feet. Lower heels down then lift and repeat. Do 15-20 reps. On the last rep, hold the releve and see if you can balance by letting go of the side of the pool.

Tendus- Stand with the left hand holding the side of the pool and left side of the body facing the wall of the pool with feet and legs together. Bring right foot in front of the body with toe pointed but keeping the foot on the ground of the pool. Then bring it back in to meet the left. Repeat 10 times. Then do the same move but this time bringing the right leg out to the side. Repeat 10 times. Finally, repeat the move but this time bringing the right leg behind the body to the back. Repeat 10 times. Then turn around to face the other direction and repeat the entire exercise on the left side.

Grand Battement- This exercise is the same as tendus, however, this time when you bring the right foot in front, lift the foot off the ground so that the leg is about hip height (but still under the water). Repeat to the side and back ten times each and then switch sides to work the left leg.

Donkey Kicks- Face the pool wall and hold on with both hands. Feet are together with toes pointing forward. Lift the right foot off the ground to the back and bend the right knee to make a 90 degree angle. Start to pulse the right foot to the back with the toe pointed. Try to keep the right thigh in line with the left thigh so it is just a small movement of the foot and you feel the work in the right glute.

Arm Circles- Step away from the pool wall so you have enough room. Raise the arms out to the sides to shoulder height but keeping the arms under the water. Start to make slow circles forward with the arms. Do this 30-40 times, then circle the arms backwards.

Rows- Start with arms straight down by sides. Bend elbows to a 90 degree angle out to the side, causing the arms to rise away from the sides. Lower and repeat 15-20 times.

Bicep Curls- Start with arms down by sides. Curl hands up 1/2 to 3/4 of the way to the top to perform a bicep curl (make sure your hands stay under the water). Release down but keep the contraction in the biceps by not releasing the arms all the way to sides but almost all the way and then immediately go back into the curl.

Once you have completed all of the moves, you can do a second set or to get some cardio, swim some more laps or tread water again.