Chef Reuben Ruiz - An Inspiration

Food Network Star Season 10 recently ended, and as an avid fan of the show, it is disappointing to know that I have a long time to wait before the next season starts.One of the fan favorites this season was Chef Reuben Ruiz, who grew up in a traditional Cuban family and lives in Miami, Florida.This is not another post about how Reuben went home too soon (although I’m a firm believer he should have gone farther in the show than he did). This...

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Skewed Vision

Working in the fitness industry has really opened my eyes to a mass of communities, lifestyles, and people I never even knew existed. It’s been a great experience for me, and I am constantly learning more and more about fitness and healthy living. Before getting involved with fitness, I had written several essays and took classes on women’s image and appearance, especially in media. I don’t claim to be an expert in women’s studies, but fitness is...

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Motivation Monday

You’ve worked hard.You’ve spent hours, days, or even months on a project for your job. You’ve worked late; you’ve worked on weekends. You’ve been putting all of your effort into it, and then it’s finally time to turn it into your boss.You’re nervous.What if he/she doesn’t like it? What if I messed up? Did I forget to add something? You hand it over to your boss, and when they finally look it over, they say, “Okay. Thank you.”Huh? Wait… that’s it?No...

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Weight Lifting, Composing, and Mental Focus

Practicing an instrument, composing music, and lifting weights are very much the same mental and physical process (assuming you do them correctly). Of course only one of these three activities takes up a substantial amount of my time these days: weightlifting (I kid). More often than not it surprises people to learn that weightlifting is one of my favorites hobbies (likely because I have the natural physique of Gumby on Atkins). In actuality,...

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Sweet Corn Has Antioxidants!

August is here, September is approaching, and Midwesterners everywhere are celebrating sweet corn season. While summer is usually ushered in with commitments to work out and eat healthier in order to be in tip-top shape for swimsuit season, the festivities and parties of summer can have the tendency to shove those commitments to the wayside.But never fear! Summer is not yet over and you can remain committed to choosing one of the healthier options...

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10 Must-Do Summer Activities to Complete Before Summer's End

This entry was contributed by Stephanie Berger, a Public Relations and Marketing intern at Hedstrom - Ball, Bounce and Sport. She studies at the University of South Carolina and is addicted to breakfast foods and sunshine...

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Racing is a Sport

"NASCAR isn't a true sport. All you do is sit in a car all day." Ryan Ellis, part-time driver in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, disagrees with that statement. For those who have never experienced what it is like inside a race car, it is difficult to understand the demanding physical and mental strength, as well as the endurance, that is required: “You don’t perform at peak potential, mentally or physically,...

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Fitness Memes: No Excuses

Memes are the internet’s way of giving a voice and uniting opinions of millions of users all over the world within the click of a “share” button. We’ve all seen incredibly hilarious memes explode into a craze of shares and retweets. Millions of people agreeing on one single frame of an amusing expression is a pretty amazing concept. My personal favorites include the Success Kid meme and the Yao Ming meme. The ease of adding a caption on the...

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3D XTREME™

15 people + 10 BOSU® Balance Trainers+ 1 Gym Room= Utter ExhaustionNobody ever said that workouts were supposed to be for the meek.Nobody ever said that plastic balls were supposed to be for the weak.I was intrigued by the assurances of the fliers in the gym that the 3D XTREME™ class session would combine together cardio, conditioning and core workouts all into one package. So I signed up. Yet I didn’t expect as much sweat to be coming out of...

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You've Come A Long Way, Baby

We’re over halfway through 2014. Since it has been 50 years since 1964, I think that this calls for a shout out to some special people in our lives who are celebrating special anniversaries. While the baby boomers in particular have special affection for these milestones, these anniversaries are uniquely American and nobody else in any other country can lay claim to them. So bring out the champagne and let us raise a toast to Mustangs, astronauts, civil...

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8 Fitness Activities to Add to Your Bucket List

The CrossFit craze has taken the United States by storm in the past decade. Membership is still steadily increasing and brands like Reebok are coming out with lines of apparel expressly designed for CrossFitters. CrossFit competitions further suggest that CrossFit is not going to loosen the firm hold that it is has gained in the fitness arena.You can’t deny that CrossFitters are enthusiastic and dedicated to what they do, but their enthusiasm for...

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