I remember not even being  knee high to a grasshopper, getting into my very own aerobics clothing, taking my gym towel out of the closest and then sitting in front of the TV doing my regular session of ‘Body Beat’.

Now this might be a foreign concept for anyone born post the 1980s and well for most of my friends too, who weren’t into that kind of TV programme; but I do and I was. The kicks, steps and music gave me my daily dose of home-based training session.

This has changed a lot, and now sitting in front of the TV usually doesn’t involve a lot of strenuous exertion. But this doesn’t have to be the case. It is still possible to get great cardio exercises done from the comfort of your own home.

Try these:
* While sitting on the couch lift your legs off of the ground slightly and then gently lower them (you might think this is a silly exercise, but this actually helps you burn calories).

* While you are walking around pump your arms alongside your body, and maybe even lift your legs higher with each step- avoid going into a slow jog.

* As you get better fill two small, plastic bottles with water and use them as weights while you walk around.

There are so many ways how you can incorporate exercise into your life and you wont even notice it. Try this and find your own innovative exercises.

Yes, this is a line from Disney’s Mary Poppins. No, I won’t break out into song. This is merely a way of showing how a little bit of laughter (ala sugar) can make the world a happier place.

Jean Houston said it best, where she said that “at the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.”

Laughing has some serious health benefits that make laughing even more worthwhile, such as:
* It has been scientifically proven that a good laugh strengthens the immune system, reduces food cravings and increases pain threshold.

*It seems that a good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension, stress and relaxes your muscles for up to 45 minutes after.

* Laughter is good for your heart as it improves the functioning of your blood vessels and increases blood flow. (This can actually protect you from a heart attack.)

* In addition it strengthens the diaphragm and abdominal muscles while burning calories.

Have you had your daily laugh yet? If not, you may be missing out on improving your health and well being  in a very easy and fantastic way. Just remember these words: “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”  - e.e. cummings

Our bodies require a certain amount of energy on a daily basis so that we can go on with our lives. Even while we are sleeping, we use up our energy levels. By consuming the right food can make a huge difference in terms of fueling our minds, bodies, our stamina and productivity levels.

Image courtesy of channel4.com

* Carbo-Loading your diet
Allen Lim, Garmin-Slipstream Pro Cycling Team’s physiologist, compares the human body to a house. “You’ve got to build a foundation and the basic foundation is carbohydrates.” Primarily these take the shape of rice, potatoes and oats.

* Eat Fat and Protein to maintain and sustain energy
Endurance athletes are well aware of the fact that simple carbs can only do so much. Your body actually needs a combination of complex carbs, fat and protein to keep you going. This could take the shape of oatmeal with fruit, nuts and yoghurt; an omelet with eggs, rice and cheese, the list is endless of food packed with the goodies to keep your body strong.

* Using Carbs and Protein for your recovery
After a session of training or an event, it is crucial that you refill your energy tank. In these circumstances it is key to find a balance between sufficient carbs and protein and rehydrating your body.

* Foods that decrease energy
The foods that actually counter-balance the energy sustaining foods are: caffeine, refined, processed, chemicalised and white foods, medication, coffee, soft drinks, alcohol, too much meat or not enough, tobacco, milk products, sugar, artificial sweeteners, and trans fats. These actually result in an initial boost of energy followed shortly by a plunge in energy level.

Make sure that you choose the right food to keep your body going. We only have one body and we need to treat it well.

July’s Daily Strength calendar is ready! We all need some encouragement and words of wisdom every now and again, and with the downloadable Daily Strength screensaver, this will never be too far away.

My daily strength keeping me going for this month is by David Bailey, a British Photographer:

“We live in deeds, not years: In thoughts not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heartthrobs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.”

Click the download button by the Daily Strength tab on the right and your journey will begin.

We all need strength on a daily basis, may it be in a work situation, at school, doing sports, in our relationships, or to get through a day unscathed. A dose of some daily strength can give you that needed boost to make any day an extraordinary day.

The June Daily Strength calendar is ready for download:
Downloading the calendar is easy. If you go to our daily strength section, you will see a nifty little download button and that is your access to your daily dose of motivation.

My inspiration to you today is keeping me going this week and I hope it helps you too.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
- Dr Seuss

We all need strength on a daily basis, may it be in a work situation, at school, doing sports, in our relationships, or to get through a day unscathed. A dose of some daily strength can give you that needed boost to make any day an extraordinary day.

The April Daily Strength calendar is ready for download:
Downloading the calendar is easy. If you go to our daily strength section, you will see a nifty little download button and that is your access to your daily dose of motivation.

My inspiration to you today is keeping me going this week and I hope it helps you too.

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
-    Confucius

Is it the lack of training and preparation, is it the lack of encouragement from the sidelines, or is it all just in our minds? We all feel our legs burning or our lungs slowly giving in, we all feel tired uphill and out of breath as we finish an exercise programme for the day, but what can we do to train our minds to be stronger? How can we build up our inner mental cheerleaders to get us across the finish line, to finish a competition or a match?

We train physically to achieve something, whether it is gold on a podium, lose 5 kg’s or to be a part of a solid, unbeatable team. We do it for ourselves, we need to finish that race, score that goal, stretch further, climb higher, run faster, but how do we align our bodies with our minds?

Jim Donovan author of ‘Handbook to a Happier Life’, believes that through using various affirmations we can achieve mind strength - training our minds to think the way are bodies do.

He also believes that we must develop one or two affirmations that express our desire or goal. They must be in present tense and positive, like I am, I have, I will, I can, and so on.  The more you repeat these affirmations to yourself, whether in diary entries, thought or saying them out loud, the more your mind will begin to naturally think these things and make you stronger and fitter.

So, I will win my race, I can get higher, I am the best and I have the ability to beat my record, will start to become a reality. So start thinking and training your mind so that you become a well-rounded, positive athlete with a strong body and mind.

But for now, I can, I have and I will continue to be the person/athlete/friend who brings you updates right here Keep in touch for more!

Here is a bit of inspiration to get you through 2009. And remember, make every day a strong day.

Health:

• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
• Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
• Live with the 3 E’s - Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
• Make time for prayer.
• Play more games.
• Read more books than you did in 2008.
• Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
• Sleep for 7 hours.
• Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

• Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
• Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
• Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
• Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
• Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
• Dream more while you are awake.
• Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
• Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
• Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
• Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
• No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
• Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
• Smile and laugh more.
• You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

• Call your family often.
• Each day give something good to others.
• Forgive everyone for everything.
• Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
• Try to make at least three people smile each day.
• What other people think of you is none of your business.
• Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

• Do the right thing!
• Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
• GOD heals everything.
• However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
• No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
• The best is yet to come.
• When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
• Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Not because the general population classifies it as being “unhealthy”, but rather because a recent run-in with an army of dental people left me unable to chew for a bit - wisdom should not be measured by the extra teeth gained. I must admit I did panic a bit, because ‘2000-and-mine’ was supposed to involve a concerted effort to do the whole 5 portions of fruit and veg a day business. But apparently in the rock-paper-scissors championship battle, issues involving wisdom teeth outweigh chewy, crunchy fruit and veg.

Image courtesy from Fertile Foods

In the time since, I’ve become the bestest friends with a blender. I’ve worked out just about any possible combination of smoothies/milkshakes you could have. And you know something? It’s really so much easier to get your 5 portions of fruit in if it’s all whizzed up. I am not a nutritionist or a dietician of any sort, but I do know that I often do not have the time to remember to eat all these things, but pop it into a blender and whizz with some yoghurt and milk for a few seconds and you’ve got a really healthy, variety laden quick meal on the go.

So far, my favourite has been a bit of mango, a squizz of orange juice, some granadilla, a dollop of yogurt and about a glass of milk all zapped into a creamy froth. The only fruit I’m wary of is banana, because that seems to overpower the taste of just about any other fruit added in. (Generally they’re not one of my favourite fruits so I might just be biased.) Handfuls of bran cereal or muesli also make for interesting texture additions to your smoothies, as do sprinklings of certain flavourings like ground cinnamon or cardamom powder, the fruits are sweet enough and don’t require extra sugar - bonus.

Breakfast, as the adage goes, is the most important meal of the day. These smoothies provide the convenience of getting a good, healthy breakfast in a gulp before you head out to face the day and keeping you going while you strengthen up in your fitness programme. So maybe my current condition was a blessing in disguise?!

We all need strength on a daily basis, may it be in a work situation, at school, doing sports, in our relationships, or to get through a day unscathed. A dose of some daily strength can give you that needed boost to make any day an extraordinary day.

I am a huge fan of receiving (and passing on) great quotes and sayings from my friends. A number of times these have helped me realise that I have the power to overcome any obstacle in my way and this has sparked a great new feature on NikeWomen; the downloadable Daily Strength Calendar. This is where we share a whole collection of my inspirational quotes, hopefully giving each other that extra boost in sustaining or creating our very own strong days.

Downloading the calendar is easy. If you go to our daily strength section, you will see a nifty little download button and that is your access to your daily dose of motivation.

We would love to share and pass on your daily strengths that have helped you along the way by adding these to upcoming Daily Strength Calendars. I would love to see which quotes have helped you recently, and pass on their power to others. Feel free to post one that has positively influenced your day by simply commenting on this entry and adding your quote(s).

I look forward to sharing daily strengths with you.

Keeping me strong today is this amazing quote that I found from Henry David Thoreau, an American author and poet, hope it gives you that special boost that you might need for today:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”