Tag Archives: guest post

Aug 27 2012

Guest Post! Exploring The iPhone

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Happy Monday! I’m back from partying it up at my best friend’s wedding, and took today off from work. This is the only day for the entire summer that I’ve taken off with a “vacation” mindset … so I won’t be doing a thing today. I’ll be back on the blog tomorrow, but until then, here’s a GREAT post from one of my fave bloggers!

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Hello Yellow Haired Girl readers! My name is Kammie and I am a healthy living blogger over at Sensual Appeal where I blog about food, health, and fitness. Today I wanted to take a break from the regular healthy recipe or health tip posting and take a different look at wellness… in terms of technology. Namely, the iPhone!

There’s no hiding the fact that this Apple product is hugely popular. I’ve had mine for some 2 and half years and still love it. I have fallen in love with the ease of use and the big variety of applications that are available. And that is exactly what I wanted to talk about today. Apps for iPhone! I know I’m always on the look out for some cool apps to add to my collection, and I know many others think the same so I’m sure a lot of you will benefit from this little list I have compiled.

 Health/Fitness Apps:

  • MyFitnessPal is a free app (and a website) that I use daily to record what and how much I eat to make sure I stay within the calorie range as well as keeping track of all of the macros. It also allows you to record the physical activity you do, while calculating approximate calories burned, although I don’t use the activity option since it messes with the calorie allowance a bit. Anyway, I find this app the best of all food trackers because it seems to contain a lot more products than other apps (like Lose it!) does.
  • Gym Pact is another free app which I use regularly. It’s awesome because it gives you monetary incentives to work out! If that doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will. You get money for reaching a pact you set for yourself (mine is to go to a gym 4 times a week even though I      go 5-6 times but I want to make sure I have wiggle room in case I forget to check in once). If you don’t meet the pact, you get charged a certain amount of money as well. So it’s hugely motivating. Get your ass into the gym and get paid, or pay to lazy it out.
  • Nike Training is a cool free app which has a whole lot of different workouts ready for you to do; you can choose the intensity, length, and goal of the workout and you will be given a prepared workout.
  • Tabata Timer is a simple free app that acts as a tabata timer. I haven’t had any problems with it so far so I think it’s a good one.
  • GAIN Fitness is another free workout app with various pre-programmed workouts for you to do based on the factors you set out you want to work on.
  • Daily Ab workout (free) is a free version of an app which gives you an ab workout of different length of choosing. The workouts come with videos in the beginning to make sure you do them right. The only down side is that it’s all crunch-based.
  • Seconds is an app I use for interval training. I haven’t had much luck finding good interval training apps but I haven’t had any problems with this one yet. I use the free version with the only downside being unable to save your interval timers.
  • RunKeeper is a free GPS running app. I started using this app very recently because it joined forces with Gym Pact and it’s awesome. It tells you how far you’ve ran and your pace every 5 minutes while it quiets the music down a bit to say it. It’s a nice way to stay on track without constantly checking your phone (which is what I was doing before) while running outside.

Other apps:

  • ShopKick -  it’s a rewards app in which you get points for visiting various stores and scanning products while you’re there. The points go toward cool rewards such as gift cards to Target, Starbucks,Coach, and many many others.
  • Pandora -  I think that’s self explanatory; it’s an awesome music radio app. I love their pre-programmed workout stations. Rap Strength training FTW
  • Dropbox - It’s cool to use if you use Dropbox to store files online; I often put pdf files of e-books to read on my dropbox so that I can easily access them through my phone or iPad later.
  • Pinterest -  It’s a mobile version of Pinterest that we love. I check it sometimes before bed when I don’t feel like reading or doing anything too mentally exhausting. Looking at pictures is pretty easy going for the sleepy brain haha.
  • MyRadar - it shows you the current weather situation at your location (and others) with a live doppler so it’s pretty cool. I like seeing if there’s any storms coming my way without an objective opinion of a weatherman.

Games:

  • Fruit Ninja - you slice fruit like a ninja to get points while making sure to avoid bombs. It is ridiculously addicting. So addicting that I had to buy the full version.
  • Pogo Games - has a fun little compilation of their most popular games that they have on the Pogo website. Yes, I am a nerd and I sometimes go on game websites… haha.
  • Words with Friends - it’s like scrabble and you get to play with your social media friends or randoms.
  • Matching with Friends - it’s a new game by Zynga in which you play with your social media friends or randoms to get color blocks of three to get points. It’s fun but sometimes not engaging enough.
  • Shape Shift - I was obsessed with this one for a while, you shift blocks around to form 4 of the same color. It’s easy to get but harder to perfect. Very addicting.
  • Yeti Town - it’s a cute game where you build a yeti town by placing matching scenery, three or more together. It’s pretty addicting.
    Thanks again for having me do the guest post, YHG! You rock!

- Kammie @ Sensual Appeal 

Aug 24 2012

Guest Post! Striking A Balance

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Hey guys! I’m in the midst of helping prepare for my BFF’s wedding … it’s almost here! I was at her and her fiancee’s house last night, and now we’re on our way to the location of the ceremony. It’s going to be a busy day, but exciting. I’m stoked for tomorrow’s festivities! The wonderful Alyssa has written a fabulous post for you today. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I’m going to need to remember these tips ;)

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Hello to all of you fabulous Yellow Haired Girl readers! I’m Alyssa and I blog over at Fit and Fun in Third. I’m a newlywed 3rd grade teacher who loves a sweaty workout, a salad the size of my head, a glass (or two) of wine and a great dessert! ;) I try to balance it all while keeping myself fit and having fun along the way!

I was thrilled when YHG asked if I would write a guest post for you guys while she is off enjoying (what I’m sure will be) a fun wedding weekend! Thinking about “wedding weekends” got me thinking about this past spring when I was in 4 different weddings within 2 months.

To say that I needed to get myself “back on track” after all the wedding festivities would be a understatement! With each wedding came a bridal shower, a bachelorette party, a rehearsal dinner & of course, the actual wedding. That basically means that for 3 months straight I was “indulging” every single weekend.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the occasional treat…

… but a girl can only handle so many of these “treats” before she begins to feel the effects, am I right? ;)

So how can you get back on track after falling off the wagon for a few months??

  • Quit boozing your face off. During those crazy couple of months, I was enjoying way too many drinks on Fridays, Saturdays, and even Sundays. It needed to stop. As tough as it was, I started saying “no” to all the cocktails and “yes” to water or club soda. If you are like me, when you drink, you snack… and this helped curb that! Don’t get me wrong, after a tough day in the classroom there is nothing like a good glass of wine to help de-stress, but every night? No, thanks!

  • Cut back on the sweets and processed carbs! Having an indulgent dessert once every couple of weeks? I’m all for it. Having it twice or even three times in one weekend for three months in a row? Someone’s clothes were getting tighter, and that someone was me! ;)
  • Weekend sweat sessions. When you are busy all weekend long with wedding related activities, it’s tough to get in a good workout. Sometimes it happens, no big deal. But when it started becoming a habit, I knew it needed to change. During the week, I workout almost every day, but now, I make sure to get in at least one good weekend workout on top of that!
  • Get enough fruits and veggies! I know, I know… who wants to eat a ton of fruits and veggies while you are out celebrating a wedding? Even just a little bit makes a big difference, though! Eat your veggies first, and you’ll be naturally less hungry for the not-so-healthy stuff!
  • When all else fails… get out on that dance floor. If your like me, your weight fluctuates every now and then. Accept it. Realize it’s not forever. Enjoy yourself and your surroundings! :)

I’d love to see you all on my corner of the internet, and of course, I hope YHG has a wonderful weekend of fun! :)

How do you get “back on track” after you find yourself slacking in the health department?

Aug 23 2012

Guest Post! Running Motivation

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Hello all! It’s not a typical day for me, I’m on my way to my best friend’s house to get last minute things ironed out for her wedding this weekend. So, in my place I have a fabulous guest post from one of my favorite bloggers. I hope you enjoy it … I definitely did.

Thanks girl!

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Hey there! I’m Heidi from over at Idlehide. I am a big fan of Yellow Haired Girl’s blog and am a faithful reader. I was so excited when she asked me to do a guest post for her.

I figured since YHG recently started running and I enjoy running, that I should talk about it. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find it hard to “just get out there and run”. Sometimes “getting out there and running” is easier said than done. I think it is human nature to sometimes not want to get out of your warm, cozy bed and hit the pavement for  __km’s or miles.

Motivation is where it’s at. There are certain things that really help me to get off my butt and run, or head to the gym…

Planning ahead. This helps me out SO much. I have to mentally prepare myself to do a long run. Usually a few days before I have a long run planned I start preparing myself for it. It’s my little way of motivating myself and it really works. It almost gets me excited for it to be over. By planning ahead I think about the mileage I am going to cover and gives me a chance to prepare for it by drinking lots of water and eating lots of protein. (I find carb-loading weighs me down and makes me feel groggy so protein works a little better for me) I do eat carbs the morning of a long run/race, but I don’t eat a ton of them leading up to it.

Getting your gear ready the night before. Your alarm goes off and your little running pile is all ready for you to put on. It sure beats digging through your workout clothes while you’re half asleep. I usually put my shorts, sports bra, running shirt, headband, socks, sneakers and Garmin all in a pile in my closet. I put it on before I realize what I’m doing and ta-da… I’m ready for my workout.

Just do it! I am stealing Nike’s motto, but it’s so true. Just step outside or just go to the gym. The hardest part is getting there (for the gym) or the first step out the door (for running). I find after 1 km I am feeling warmed up and already feeling better about myself for going for this run. After I walk in the gym and see other people working out I am instantly motivated and ready to just work out!

Remember why you run/workout. This often helps me out. I remember just why I workout. I workout and exercise to be healthy, to maintain my weight, to be able to enjoy eating food, and to feel good about myself. Oh yeah, and I want good legs and abs ;)

The post-workout feeling. Yep. You know what I’m talking about. Have you ever had a workout where you regretted it? Probably not. 99% of the time I feel awesome after my workout and am so happy that I worked through it.

Pinterest. I had to include this one! If I ever am having a really hard time getting motivated I just go on Pinterest and go under the Health and Fitness section. Nine times out of ten that does it for me. My favorite one is” You can either feel sore tomorrow or you can feel sorry tomorrow.” I would much rather feel that good sore muscle feeling than feeling guilty that I didn’t work out.

Now, all that being said. I strongly think that you should listen to your body. If you’re feeling sore, really tired, sick or anything else and you really feel like you need a rest day, please listen to your body. You know your body more than anyone else so don’t go beyond what you think you should. On the flip side though, don’t be a slacker;)

I hope some of these methods will help you next time you’re not really feeling your workout. Just remember why you workout/run/cycle/swim!

 Questions:

What is your biggest motivator?

Do you have a favorite motivational quote from Pinterest?