FitSugar

ACTivism: One World Running

FitSugar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:00:00 PDT

Running shoes are not cheap no matter who you are, but for some people they're simply unattainable.

Donate new, gently worn sneakers, and worn sneakers to One World Running - an international nonprofit program promoting an awareness of health, fitness, and nutrition by providing running shoes to those in need in the United States and around the world. They will take your new or gently worn sneakers and send them overseas to someone who needs them. The shoes that are a little more loved (aka beat up and not suitable for shipment) are sent to Nike to be ground up and made into running tracks and playgrounds through the Reuse-a-Shoe program.

Regardless, you know your shoes will be in good hands, and feet. Send all your sneakers to:
One World Running
958 Cherry Vale Rd.
Boulder, CO 80303

Source

Oh Please! Worst Gym Pickup Lines

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:51:19 PST

It's Valentine's Day and maybe you have found love at the gym (I met my hubby in a yoga class!) While there's nothing wrong with a little harmless flirting during a workout, some people take it a little too far. Sometimes Cupid's arrow really misses the mark. To celebrate these awkward blunders, we've rounded up some of the worst pickup lines overhead at gyms. Maybe one of these has been used on you?

Read on for some cringe-worthy come-ons:

I know milk does a body good, but baby, how much have you been drinking?
Your daddy must have been a baker, because you've got a sweet set of buns.
You look like a cool glass of refreshing water, and I am the thirstiest man in the world.
Do you have tickets? [you say, "Tickets?"] Yeah, do you have tickets? Tickets to the gun show. [he flexes biceps]
I know an activity that’s fun and burns 350 calories an hour . . .
Are your legs tired? Because you've been running through my mind all day long.
Do you squat here often?

Keep reading for more cheesy gym pickup lines.

In Her Shoes: April Beyer, Matchmaker and Relationship Coach

Anna Monette Roberts — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:05:36 PST

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, April Beyer, expert relationship coach and matchmaker, gives SavvySugar an insider's look into her unique career. Helping men and women find lasting relationships for almost 14 years, she is the founder and president of Beyer & Company, a matchmaking and relationship consulting firm. She's frequently interviewed and has been seen on Dr. Phil, 20/20, and Good Morning America. Beyond her weekly clients, April writes on her blog, conducts seminars, and is working on a book to help women prepare for love and romance. April tells us what it's like to assist other people on their journey to finding love and happiness.

SavvySugar: Can you tell me about your career path and how your business has grown throughout the years?

April Beyer: I started out in the high-end matchmaking industry nearly 14 years ago. I had worked with a matchmaking company and was there for about six or seven years. I was responsible for many marriages there. In 2003, I decided to venture out on my own and start a relationship coaching and consulting business. Now, I still have my matchmaking company. I work with a handful of highly successful marriage-minded men. I am also a coach and a writer.

Now my passion is to help women better understand themselves first so then they can naturally attract the man of their dreams. I am a little bit more of a holistic dating and relationship coach, but I think of myself more as is a communication and authenticity coach. For me, it's not about teaching people dating skills, it is teaching them relationship skills.

Click here to read more about April.

Kristen Stewart Talks Badass Fairy Tales, Bella Swan, and Her New Leading Man on Snow White Set Visit

Molly Goodson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:01:00 PST

Last October, we were so excited to pay a visit to the set of Snow White and the Huntsman outside London. We got a sneak peek into the amazing world Kristen Stewart and her costars, including Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Charlize Theron, and more, inhabited while shooting the action-packed fairy-tale movie. We have tons to come from our day poking around the remarkable set and learning about everything from the costumes to the fight scenes. While we were there, we even got to see the aftermath of Kristen accidentally actually punching Chris Hemsworth in the face filming a scene. Check out our chat with Kristen and stay tuned for lots from the set:

Is there something you admire about Snow White?

Yes. It’s strange playing a character that you actually could never truly embody. Her spirit affects people. . . I can’t have Snow White’s effect on people. I can’t actually be completely selfless because nobody is. You can only really play a character like that in a fairy tale and play it with an awful load of integrity. She’s very fully formed, but very farfetched-from-the-reality-that-we-live-in type of person. She also is strong in a very different way than you’d expect. Strength, yeah, but also gusto. I mean, she’s strong. She can kick ass. It hurts very much to do so and so it’s not like you’re watching her go take down a kingdom. You’re not watching going, "Yeah! Kill him!" Really it’s more like you’re watching someone having to do something that doesn’t just go against your sensibilities or that you agree with. It’s gutting. It’s physically gutting, literally. A million reasons, but she’s special.

Do you like that she’s not like your prissy fairy tale?

Yeah, because that’s just a very surface, though she is prissy sometimes. That’s the other thing. It takes her the whole movie basically to become who I’m talking about now. I’m really sort of talking in retrospect. It’s strange. It’s a total identity movie. It’s all about not finding yourself, but actually just being OK with who you always have been and not being ashamed of being the only one who sees the light. It’s an enormous burden and she’s so stunted. She was put away when she was 7 years old and your mother and your father were killed basically right in front of you. We’re not doing the version of a fairy tale that wouldn’t deal with all of those things, where you just sort of skim over all those things, and it's like all of these things are actually really important to the characters. She literally bleeds for her land and her people, and that’s just such a cool concept for me because it’s other people caring about people. It’s very simple, but it’s so common. Every day all the time you see people not caring about each other, and this is just about that.

She learns to be a leader or she’s born a leader inside, do you think?

She’s definitely a born leader. I mean, it’s literally pumping through those veins, but it’s been taken from her. She’s been so stolen from.

To read the rest of the interview, including her thoughts on Bella vs. Snow White and what it was like to punch Chris just

read more. Is it helping you get into the character's mindset to wear those cool costumes? Absolutely. If you look down and something doesn’t feel like you would definitely be wearing it, or if you go to grab your knife and it flops around or - basically [Colleen Atwood] thinks about every detail. It’s so wearable. I also have puffy sleeves. Somehow she manages to make puffy sleeves look butch. I was always expecting to personally wind up in a - basically what I’m wearing underneath it, like that little blue dress, which is just thin and wispy. I was really happy that she’s got something heavy on - a bit of armor before she actually finds her own armor. How did you feel the first time you put on the armor? Did you feel more badass? Yeah. That’s the first thing you want to [pound your chest]. Also, my armor doesn’t have a huge top on it. All the guys, unfortunately, they [raise their arms] and they hit themselves in the head. I can run around in mine. Somehow the armor on the men - unless they’re on horseback and they look amazing, but there’s also something kind of dainty about it, too, like pointy toes. It fits a woman’s body better, I feel. I don’t know, the guys running around suddenly look like little toys - slightly feminine little toys. Both Snow White and Bella had traumatizing experiences in the woods - being led out to die or have her heart broken - compare those two experiences? Well, it’s funny. I think [Snow White] genuinely lacks that innate fear of death that we all have. She’s got a serious, fierce survival - not skills, but insights. But she isn’t afraid of anything. What’s harder is to have dreams and hopes that you lived your whole life sort of be just shattered in front of you. So I think probably it’s totally impossible to compare the two. And I know that doesn’t make sense, but I kind of can’t compare. Can you compare the movies in general? Are there similarities at all? Bella and Snow White both come to find that they’re leaders. I mean, that’s definitely a similarity. They’re different. They’re very, very, very, different people. Also, I guess in a very sort of righteous way as well it’s all very like - everyone’s telling them “no” and both of them I guess see the light. Both of them are sort of a little more intuitive and spiritually, for whatever reason, connected and their gut is always sort of dead right. What about working with Chris surprised you? Did you have any preconceptions of him? Before I met him, I was like, "gosh, so charming." You know what I mean? Like he’s so ridiculously, seemingly nice. Movie-star caliber nice. But he really actually just is. But then again, it’s strange working - cause I mean it’s not a secret. It was completely different part before. It was totally like a rethought. So when he came in it was like "Wow! This is f*cking interesting!" I mean, it was like they really elevated it. Chris is an amazing, nice guy and also [has] great instincts and he can roll with everything on set. He’s really relaxed, whereas I’m always like, "oh my god!" I use my anxiety to do this and he’s always sort of like - he’s a good energy for me. I really like working with him. You actually punched Chris filming a scene and gave him a black eye? It’s actually a very confidence building experience. I don’t like punching anyone. So, you know, when you dream and your hand just slides right down their face, it doesn’t do that in real life. It really works. God, that really made me feel horrible, though. I mean, like instantly hot tears and I was like "oops!" We were watching it. It looks - it’ll be in the movie. Favorite fairy tale as a kid? I honestly don’t - somebody asked this the other day. I wasn’t here til the end of fairy tales. I really liked The Jungle Book. I was obsessed with The Jungle Book. Chris said Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and he was always like humming Enya as we were trudging up the mountain. I was saying basically, "You should make a remake of Lord of the Rings. Why are you doing this? . . . We’re doing Snow White and the Huntsman, Chris!" Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

The Five Best Races For Women

espnW — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:09:19 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from espnW here on FitSugar!

By Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea

Sage Steele, SportsCenter anchor, is preparing to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World on Feb. 26 and hoping to fall in love with running in the process. Follow Sage’s journey on espnW.com

Women's races offer a decidedly different vibe than their coed cousins': more camaraderie, a sole sister atmosphere that welcomes all runners and walkers, and lots more running skirts. Here are five of the top women's races and series in the country. Sign up then train like Sage.

Disney Tinker Bell and Princess half marathons
Sage picked a winner. Let your inner child run free through the Magic Kingdom at these festival race weekends. Tinker Bell is in Disneyland, while Princess is in Disney World, but both allow thousands of runners to mix and mingle with Disney characters on courses that wind through each park. Racers put almost as much effort into costumes - Snow White, Belle, or Minnie, anyone? - as training. Bonus: your kids will be especially psyched to cheer you on.

Sage Steele gets some training advice from Disney runMom Lori Lovell

Nike Women's Marathon
Yeah, it's tough to snag an entry, but if you can, this race is so worth it. (Psst: Go through Team in Training.) This 26.2-mile race, and its half-marathon companion, traverses San Francisco with sweeping vistas of the Golden Gate Bridge and Pacific Ocean to take your mind off the killer hills in the first 10 miles of the race. Tuxedo-clad firefighters bestow each finisher with a Tiffany & Co. pendant.

Run fast by fueling up smart

Three more great races after the break.

Baby's Debut: Celebrity Tots' First Official Photos

Rebecca M Gruber — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:06:14 PST

Welcome Blue Ivy Carter! Beyoncé and Jay-Z kicked off the weekend by introducing the world to their daughter via a post to Jay-Z's website. They join a long line of celebrity tots who've made their public debut through some careful planning by their parents.

For a long time running, it seemed People had a monopoly on introductory celebaby photos. Nicole Richie, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, and the Jolie–Pitts all turned to the well-established magazine to show off their newest family members. However, today, many celebs are turning to competitors who are doling out generous offerings to new parents. Others are releasing their own photos - either on their own or through photo agencies - to bypass the whole magazine scenario. See how your favorite Tinseltown parents debuted their lil ones and tell us how you think the newest Hollywood babies will be introduced to us!

In Defense of the Chronically Late Mom

BabyCenter — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:01:11 PST

We're excited to share this post from our partners at BabyCenter! Every week, we will be bringing you the best parenting and lifestyle stories from the experts at BabyCenter, including this post from Betsy Shaw about being late for school.

If I were to wear a scarlet letter it would be T.

T for tardy. T for turd ball. T for totally inept mother.

We are late for school with such alarming regularity it’s embarrassing. The last time we were on time, after a mini snowstorm that excited my children enough to urge them into their snowsuits and outside at 6:30 a.m., we got to school five minutes early to find it dark and empty. Delayed opening. I was apparently the only mother who didn’t get the memo.

Calling Charlie Brown…

Being late for school brings up a vicious brew of conflicting emotion in me. On the one hand I just don’t care. Life is short. Far too short to risk traumatizing your children with a bullwhip and terrorizing morning walkers and squirrels, not to mention my own white-knuckled children, speeding our way to school like Toad on a motorcar bender each weekday morning.

On the other hand I am ashamed, deeply embarrassed, to be “that mom.” All the other moms can do it, even the single ones. Why. Can’t. I? What’s wrong with me?

I complained about this once to a woman from South Carolina who I met on my Guatemala trip and she told me her school started at 7:30. She also made it clear her kids were never late.

Never late.

Keep reading for more of Betsy's reasoning for being late.

Rising Star: Shailene Woodley's Easygoing Glam

Brittney Stephens — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:20:58 PST

Shailene Woodley has been popping up on our radar a lot lately, and we're pretty stoked about it. The 20-year-old actress first gained notoriety for her role as Amy Juergens in the ABC Family series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, but has hit superstar status since costarring alongside George Clooney last year in The Descendants. With a much buzzed-about film comes numerous red-carpet opportunities, and Shailene has been handling her newfound spotlight like a pro - she's already proven that she isn't afraid to take a risk or buck the trend and still feel comfortable in her own skin. Just the other night at InStyle's Golden Globes afterparty, Shailene traded her high heels for a pair of Vibram FiveFingers running shoes - a bold move for any starlet, but especially for one so new to the fashion world's hypercritical lens. We love Shailene's red carpet confidence, and can't wait to see more of her classic yet bold, laid-back style choices. Click through to see 10 recent examples of why Shailene Woodley is one to watch.

10 Things You Do to Save Money That End Up Costing You More

Wise Bread — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:15:37 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Wise Bread story here on Savvy!

Have you heard of the expression “penny wise, pound foolish”? It’s something I heard a lot growing up, from my parents, and it can have multiple meanings:

You are very careful with small amounts of money, but throw caution to the wind with large amounts. This is akin to someone who eats from the dollar menu every day but then blows a hundred dollars every month on a gym membership that’s never used.
You do things to save money now, only to have those savings cost you more farther down the road.

The second definition is what I’m focusing on today, because it’s a lot easier to fall into the trap of saving money only to have it bite you later on. Here then are 10 things that you may be doing to save money that could actually cost you a lot more in the weeks, months, or years to come.

RELATED: The Case For Expensive Shoes

1. Avoiding Regular Checkups With the Doctor, Dentist, or Optician

It’s something I did in college when money was tight. “Aah, who needs to pay money to a dentist to have him tell me I should floss more?” Well, after leaving the dentist alone for a few years, I paid the price. Avoiding the regular cleanings and checkups left me facing a hefty bill later on when I needed a bunch of costly fillings. I was lucky that I didn’t need root canals or replacement teeth. Now I have a dental plan that covers free checkups twice a year, but even if you don’t, get to the dentist and doctor for health checks. It’s a lot better to pay a co-pay now than pay for major surgery later on. And worse still, it could even cost you your life, especially as so many conditions can be treated if they’re caught early enough.

Read on for more.

6 Tips to Start Your New Job Right

Kiplinger — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:08:12 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

I learned some valuable lessons about how to succeed in the "real world" while starting out at my first full-time job, and you can, too.

I never expected my social circle, at age 22, to use the phrase "I feel so old" so much. We know we still have our whole lives ahead of us, but making the transition from college to career can really make you feel like you've aged 20 years. For example, unlike in my college years, convincing myself to go out on a Friday night these days takes almost as much work as getting out of bed on a Monday morning. And I never thought I would be spending my beloved lazy Sundays running whatever errands I didn't get done during the week. Even four internships, including one with my current full-time employer, the Kiplinger Washington Editors, hadn't fully prepared me for this whole professional-life thing.

To help you make the adjustment and overcome common obstacles you might face when you're just starting out, here are some lessons I learned in the first few months of my first job. I hope these tips will help you feel as young as you are. SEE ALSO: Our Quiz on Navigating the First Weeks at Your New Job

Read on for tips.