Fit-tastic Friday Links!

How Difficult is it to Qualify for the Boston Marathon? -- Fittish.com

Things You Will Only See at Planet Fitness -- Buzzfeed

Things I Wish I Knew as a New Runner -- Active.com

Clean Eating Made Me Fat, but Ice Cream and Subway Got Me Lean -- buzzio.com

Fit-tastic! Friday Links (weird news edition)

Three links today, all weird, one completely unrelated to health and fitness:

#hotguysonthenyhalf -- Huffington Post

Courtney Love found the missing Malaysian plane! -- cnet.com

"Ugliest Runners' Feet" (click at your own risk...) -- Runner's World (Seriously. Only view if you're prepared for some really nasty blister shots.)

healthy green recipes for your St Patricks day weekend

I wish I had kids to help me get excited for holidays. I love how the little holidays like Valentine's Day or the 4th of July or St Patrick's Day can be a huge deal to kids. Instead of reaching for the green food dye for your Paddy's Day meal, check out these recipes:

Fresh Asparagus Soup from Allrecipes.com



image from here

Avocado Sauce to put on anything from Oh She Glows

Green Falafal from Food Wanderings

image from Food Wanderings

Green Mac n Cheese by Heather Christo

Popeyes Ice Cream from the Blendtec website

Fit-tastic! Friday links

Only two links today, but both worth reading:

Putting Pin to Paper -- Runner's World

"Maybe it’s the paper, rustling against my clothes. Maybe it’s the early morning wake up, the intention behind what I eat, when I go to bed, and what I have laid out on my dresser. Maybe it’s being part of the pack, the community, the sense of truly belonging someplace... . Maybe it’s the ache at day’s end that says “you did something good today". Pinning on a number is bold. It says, yes, I am a runner. It speaks to the idea of getting out there, putting ourselves out there, and the glory of the try."

"1200 Calories" -- Sophieologie (warning, there's some language)

"[Women] should be exposed to the same messages [as men] of eating nutritious food, with lots ‘o protein, and enough calories to build our bodies into Goddess-like proportions. We should not fear muscle. We should not shy away from the weight room because it is perceived as “odd” and out of place when a woman approaches the squat rack. I am so tired of watching my girlfriends get mislead by the media on how to be healthy. I am so annoyed by this skinny obsession – which literally robs women of their power."

Fit-tastic Friday Links

Some common reasons why marathon training doesn't always translate to weight loss -  Runner's World

Salads from a vending machine? This looks awesome - Farmer's Fridge

Running for Megan Cross Menzies, the Virginia runner struck and killed by a drunk driver last weekend - here and here via Runner's World

This video has nothing do to with fitness or health.... but it's hilarious. - Magic Vines via youtube.com

Fit-tastic Friday Links

How Can I Keep My Exercise Routine in the Winter? -- Lifehacker

Neil Hilborn - "OCD" -- via YouTube

"Counting calories is flawed. But here's why I still do it." -- Greatist

9 Worst Gifts for Runners -- Runner's World

Fit-tastic Friday Links

Look at me being so prepared- you may THINK I'm posting this live, but I'm actually on the Appalachian Trail right now. Or frozen to death. One of the two.
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Unbelievable Images of Female Athletes - the Huffington Post

Best Race Signs - this blog is awesome!

5 Life Lessons I've Learned from Running  - Life Hacker

Black Friday Survival Guide - REI.com

Fit-tastic Friday Links

Four Last Minute Costumes for Hikers - Washington Trails Association - [I know, I know, a little late. Whatevs.]

5 Pounds of Fat vs. 5 Pounds of Muscle - Flickr

Cute Marathon Gifts - PopSugar Fitness [I love the "twenty six point freaking two" bag.]

Running with Dogs - Runner's World [Omg I want this job. Also, "[He] had to give up running because of repetitive stress injuries from skydiving, which may be the single greatest excuse for not running I've ever heard."

Fit-tastic Friday Links

The Nacho Dorito --- The New York Times [Potato chips? No thanks. Cool Ranch Doritos? I have a hard time stopping with just one! This explains why...]

Yoga by Equinox -- Equinox Youtube channel [I stumblied upon this while looking for something else and was fascinated by this woman's awesome skills.]

Sugar Wise: How Fruit Stacks Up -- Greatist.com [Anyone else surprised that grapes are so high and pineapple is so low?]

Skinny, by Kate Savage -- emBody Blog [An old post about body image, conformity, and social expectations from a blog I love dearly.]

Fit-tastic Friday Links - Good Eats Edition

All of the following have been tried, tested, and approved by yours truly:

Garden Tomato Basil Soup -- Season with Spice [Ahhhhh this was so good. We were lucky enough to have received a nice haul from a friend's garden, so almost all the ingredients in this were fresh. We could not stop exclaiming during dinner how delicious this was.]

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries -- a Kitchen Addiction [This is my favorite way to season sweet potatoes.  iI won't do it any other way. The chili powder and brown sugar is a great combination!]

(no sugar) Cranberry Banana Bread -- Once a Month Meals [No sugar, no honey... where does the sweetness come from? It's a mystery. But man this is good. When I was training for my my marathon in March I ate the whole loaf in one weekend.]

Cauliflower Pizza Crust -- One Good Thing [This was surprsingly really good! I liked it thin and we used less cheese than it called for. We also doubled the recipe for both of us.]

Fit-tastic Friday Links

10 Most Commen Cardio Crimes -- Spark People [I am so guilty of #7 and #8!]

OMG! 7 AMaZinG Tricks to Lose Belly Fat!!!1!!  -- Runner's World

An Open Letter to all of my Weight Loss Clients -- HuffPost Women [This is absolutely a must read!]

New Yorker Rides into Obstacles in Bike Lane to Prove a Point --  22 Words  [This was posted a while ago, but it made me laugh. Hard.]

Fit-tastic Friday Links

Dustin Hoffman on Female Beauty -- Huffington Post [If you only click on one link out of this list, please let it be this one.]

Reasons You Shouldn't Go to the Gym Today-- Buzzfeed [Who needs working out, anyway?]

6 Bad Excuses for Overeating -- Healthy Living MSN [I'd like to add my own personal and well used favorite... "But I ran/hiked/rode  X number of miles on Saturday! I can eat whatever I want!" Yes, this works to some extent for one meal. Or one day. But not all weekend!]

6:36 Mile in Death Valley... Dressed as Darth Vader -- Runner's World [Really, people? This is a thing?]

And, in the Biggest Loser news...

Tara Costa, "Biggest Loser" Contestant, Sued over Weight Gain

Ruben Studdard of American Idol to Compete on the Biggest Loser

Celebrities: they're just like us! (Marathon Edition)

Can You Beat These Celebrity Marathoners? -- Runner's World

Celebrity Marathon Times -- Men's Health

Knowing my marathon time is faster than Shia LeBeouf's gives me great satisfaction. That guy seems like a jerk.

Fit-tastic Friday Links

How to get your boyfriend/girlfriend to hate your sport -- Adventure Journal [More climbing oriented, yes, but it made me chuckle.]

Plyometric ideas to add to your gym routine -- via Kiana Tom of Fit Mom TV [Titles like "Shape up for Spring" really rub me the wrong way, but I did the circuit this video suggests and really liked it.]

What type of hiker are you? -- Backpacker Magazine [I think it's no secret I would be the "Mileage Master"]

What 2,000 calories looks like -- Huffington Post

Fit-tastic Friday Links

1. Love this article from Runner's World about thinking while running. One of my favorite things about running is the forced alone time. What do you think about when you're running?

2. I don't even know what to say about this. In college, I focused a lot of my research papers on body image and the influence of the media. Even after pages and pages read and written on this subject, why do I still not have an answer?

3. Active.com has some really good articles, like this one titled "What Happens to Your Body During a 30 Minute Run".

4. I cannot get enough of this no sugar banana cranberry bread! I've made it 3 times in the past several weeks.... it freezes well and makes a great snack.

We're off to the hills this weekend for an overnighter on the AT. Happy Friday!

link roundup: confidence builders, funny ads, nasty burgers, and great reads!

Some good stuff I've found this week:

Great tips for body confidence -- Diets in Review

 I lol'd -- ODEE

Um, gross. As if SuperSize Me didn't convince me enough. -- Best of Mother Earth

Beef up your Google Reader with blogs that help with your goals! --- Medicalchemy

Traveling for the holidays? Read this to help you be prepared for food traps. -- Yahoo! News