New Habits


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Setting a new habit is one of the hardest things anyone can do. It takes on average 2-3 weeks of doing something everyday, consistently to make it a new full fledged habit. So this week’s blog is aimed at all … Continue reading

Sweat, Baby Sweat

Pic for Blog- Sweat, Baby Sweat

Now that the weather is changing, our bodies begin to embrace the warm weather. Although, some people’s bodies embrace it more than others with a little thing called sweat. Personally, I am a hot box. I am always warm, uncomfortable, and 99% of the time I am sweating. My friends always laugh at me because my closet consists of every style of shirt you could imagine, in one color…. black. I am sure some of you can relate, sweat doesn’t show when you wear black!

Sweating was something that I always use to be embarrassed of. I purposely never use to raise my hand in class, wore tanks in the middle of winter, and even tried some of those deodorants that would help you “not” sweat. I forked over the money and bought a dose and thought it was great, until it was 2am and my armpits were on fire and nothing other than sleeping with cold washcloths in my armpits helped soothe the pain. So instead of continuing to torture myself, I decided to embrace it. Everyone sweats, so I decided to spread the word. Here is information, facts, and reasons why sweating is perfectly normal and nothing to be embarrassed of.

What is a pore? A pore is a small opening on the skin where sweat is released. We have millions of pores all over our body; even in areas we wouldn’t think we would. This is why we sweat in all areas of our body, not just under our arms. Pores can become clogged with dirt if you have poor hygiene, which can cause infections. Looking for another reason to take 2 showers a day? There it is! (What is a Sweat Pore?)

What is the purpose? When our body sweats, it means that it is heating up. By releasing sweat through your pores, the body is cooling down. The reason that some people’s sweat stinks is because it mixes with bacteria in the air.  After awhile, it creates that pungent body odor the kid next to you in the gym has (because you never smell, right?). You also might notice that your cheeks become rosy red whenever you start to perspire. This is because when sweat is moving towards the surface of the skin, blood is able to move closer to the skin, which is where the red appearance comes from (Health Benefits of Perspiration).

So after understanding the science of why it is good to sweat, now do you realize that it is a positive thing? Everyone has different reasons for sweating, whether it is exercise, stress, embarrassment, excitement, etc.

Here are some other great facts about sweating:

  • Sweating helps cleanse the body of toxins.
  • Yellow underarm stains are caused when proteins and fatty acids leave the body in your apocrine glands, which makes thick and milkier sweat.
  • Men sweat 40% more than women (except me!)
  • Cows sweat from their noses.
  • Hippos have red sweat.
  • During intense exercise in the heat, athletes have the ability to sweat off 2-6% of their body weight (it’s called water weight).
  • One of the most important: You don’t need to sweat in order to lose weight! (Raising your heart rate helps you lose weight and sometimes people just don’t ever sweat when they raise their heart rate!)

Sweat is a great thing, and if we all start to embrace it and not be embarrassed, life will be MUCH easier. So the next time you see someone with large dark circles under their armpits, don’t laugh at them. Walk over to that individual and give them a HUGE high-five because sweating is normal and I feel bad for those that don’t have water fountain underarm pores like me! (Maybe not)


~Kenzi Weidman

Sources: What is a Sweat Pore?, Health Benefits of Perspiration, Cool Facts on Sweat, Sweats Facts

Have Your Ice Cream, and Your Diet Too








Stay Healthy. Stay Strong.

Mary Marren

Let’s Talk Choc!

Pic for Blog- Let's Talk ChocIt’s the 16th hour of Day 26. 14 Days remaining. Life lacks meaning and joy and is instead a cold harsh expedition. This is the log of my days without the one thing that I lose all willpower when it comes to its magnificent and monumental presence. This is a log of my days without…chocolate.

Wait! Before you double check the website url, this is still a fitness blog site. You did not accidentally click a journal of a food addict. This is me admitting to you that as someone who tries to maintain a healthy diet, has its faults when it comes to sweets, especially chocolate. I chose to give up chocolate until Easter and let me tell you it’s been a long 26 days so far. With that being said, I am going to use this experience to talk about chocolate and how to curb chocolate cravings by making tasty and healthy alternatives!

  • Cocoa nibs: Cocoa nibs are also referred to as “nature’s chocolate chips”. They are peeled and crumbled from whole cocoa beans and obtain a rich and yet pure chocolate flavor. They have plenty of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber. If you want to make a clean desert or just want to satisfy your sweet tooth try sprinkling these on yogurt, mix them with trail mix, or just eat them out of the bag like I do!
  • Carob: This alternative contrasts from regular processed and sugary chocolate and has less chemicals. The cocoa bean naturally has a bitter flavor that is deluded with sugar, more so for milk chocolate than for dark chocolate. In addition to all of the sugar added to chocolate is complimented with oils, milk or cream. All of these added ingredients result in the product being hard to digest. Carob is a favorable alternative because it originally does not have a bitter flavor or grainy texture so it does not need sweetening or smoothers (oils and milk products).
  • Date Bars: Dates are naturally sweet and rich tasting, therefore they pair with the bitter taste of raw cocoa nicely. This recipe for Chocolate-Coffee Date Bars uses dates as the sweetener to overpower the bitter raw cocoa instead of sugar. This treat includes baking chocolate (100% cocoa) almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts, dates, raw cocoa or unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and teaspoon of expresso powder.

Although giving up a guilty pleasure such as chocolate can be difficult, I am always up for a way to apply creativity to my diet and these a few ways that you can too. A lot of us may think that finding a tasty alternative for chocolate is impossible, but you may be surprised as to all of the clean desserts that are possible. One of my favorite recipe sites My Clean Treats has plenty of recipes for delicious healthy desserts. Get creative and try whipping up a sweet concoction that’ll prove that you can have your cake (or date chocolate bar) and eat it too!

“It’s a good day to have a good one!”

-Alena Purpero