Blog Posts by FITNESS Magazine

Bert Meadows/Fitness MagazineBy Christie Griffin

To get the best results from your workout -- and stay safe, too -- you can't keep ignoring the necessary upkeep and replacement of your most important items. "It's worth it, especially since most gear is fairly inexpensive and other gear may have useful upgrades," says Corey Twedt, NordicTrack Research and Development Manager. "You should always check your items for tears, cracks, or yellowing, and replace them so you can prevent injuries." Here's how to know when it's time to pony up the dough for a better performance.

Related: The Best Weight Machines to Use at the Gym


Tanks, Pants, and Other Apparel
When to replace them: Varies
Must-know info: The lifespan of your apparel depends on each garment's type of material and the manufacturer's specific instructions (which can be found on the tag, the information/price tag, or inside a pocket). Fabric softener diminishes the breathability, water repellency, and wicking ability of performance fabrics -- so those items

Sarah Kehoe/Fitness MagazineBy Kelley Heyworth

Try these 5 easy noon-till-night shortcuts. They'll add up to a thinner you!

Related: Try the Get a Better Body After Baby Workout

1. Lunch shortcut: Just add beans
To turn pasta, soup, or greens into a hefty meal, toss in garbanzo, black, or kidney beans. Besides containing fill-you-up fiber and protein, they also pack iron, zinc, and folic acid into each bite. Try this flavorful dish: Mix black beans with cooked brown rice, a little chili powder, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.

2. Snack shortcut: Empty your crisper
Take apples, oranges, and bananas out of the fridge and keep them in a bowl on your kitchen counter for easy-to-see (and eat!) treats.

Related: More Foods to Add to the New Mom Diet

3. Salad shortcut: Ditch the tossing
Yes, salads are a great low-calorie meal option, but all that chopping and arranging is hardly doable with a newborn. Instead, keep plastic baggies full of pre-cut baby carrots, celery, bell peppers, and grape tomatoes in your fridge

Alex Cao/PhotodiscBy Kati Mora, RD

Ready to sweat? Not so fast! Here, the best foods to eat before and after a workout so can fuel up the right way. Munch on these for your best sweat session yet.

Related: 11 Easy Lunches to Help Shed Weight

Before: Whole Wheat Toast with Sliced Banana and Cinnamon
When it comes to gearing up for workout, carbs are your gym BFF. The key is to have a mixed bag of complex and simple ones so that the release of energy during your workout is slow and steady throughout your routine. Whole-wheat toast with fruit gives you both types of carbs with the bonus of being super easy to digest. Complex carbs will keep your motor humming, while the fruit adds an extra kick of energy. For those training for a race, bananas are perfect in raising potassium levels, which drop when you sweat a lot. For an added bonus, add a dash of cinnamon. The spice has been linked to stabilizing blood sugar and improving brain function.

After: Grilled Chicken and Mixed Vegetables
Your body is in

Laura Doss/Fitness MagazineBy Pamela O'Brien

Munching between meals is a good thing, say nutritionists. But as our second exclusive snacking poll shows, our habits may be in need of a mini-makeover. Here, what you're eating?and what we might suggest as today's specials (all less than 150 calories!).

Related: The FITNESS 2012 Healthy Food Awards: The Best Snacks Under 150 Calories

Snack Facts
Top Drawer Fixes: Twenty-three percent of us are ready when a craving hits -- we keep a stash of goodies in our desk drawer at work. What you'll find nestled between the paperclips and Post-its:

1. Candy/candy bars/gum

2. Chips

3. Chocolate

Favorite Food Fixes: Thirty-nine percent of us tear into a bag of chips. Twenty-five perfect dip into the cookie or candy jar. Just 19 percent bite into healthy snacks such as fruit, nuts, low-fat yogurt, and cheese.

-- Americans spent more than $32 billion on packaged snack foods last year
-- Seventy-six percent of us are impulse eaters, grabbing whatever treats we can get our

Ann Elliot Cutting/Fitness MagazineBy the editors of FITNESS Magazine

Attitude means the difference between diet success and failure. Our 8-step plan will keep you on track.

Related: 11 Easy Lunches to Lose Weight Fast

1. Define Your Motivation
Weight loss is a three-part process: Exercising and cutting calories are vital, but your mental outlook can mean the difference between success and failure.
"Self-defeating thoughts are often the most overlooked factors when a dieter gets off track," says Jeffrey Wilbert, PhD, author of Fattitudes: Beat Self-Defeat and Win Your War with Weight (St. Martin's Press, 2000). "You feel disappointed when a quick fix turns out to be anything but, or weak if you succumb to an intense craving for ice cream." Without the resolve to overcome such thoughts, sticking with any major lifestyle change can be difficult, if not impossible.

The key is to adopt the right attitude before you start your plan. "If you're really serious about slimming down, you need to think long-term. That's why it

Brian Klutch/Fitness MagazineBy Maridel Reyes

You hit the gym regularly to be healthy and fit. Yet you may be getting more than flat abs and strong arms there. Gyms are hotbeds of germ activity, researchers say. Norovirus, which causes stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, can survive for a month on the surface of exercise machines. The fungi responsible for foot infections multiply at a blinding pace in the shower. And microbes like MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can lead to dangerous skin infections, lurk in the locker room. To help you stay safe, FITNESS asked top experts to ID the biggest danger zones in the gym and to share the best germ-beating strategies.

Related: The 12 Dirtiest Places in Your World

Hot Spot: Free Weights, Weight Machines, Exercise Balls
Germ Meter = High
Because so many people handle it, this equipment is rife with bugs and viruses that can lead to colds and other infections. "I've even found MRSA on an exercise ball in a gym," says Philip Tierno Jr., PhD, a clinical

Lisa Loftus/Fitness MagazineBy Colleen Moody

Turn heads no matter what shape you are. Try these styling tips from TODAY Style Editor Bobbie Thomas to look slimmer instantly.

Related: Save or Stash? Your Fall Denim Guide

Know Your Type
The first trick to styling yourself slimmer is to determine your body shape. "Most women's bodies mimic one of a few basic shapes -- pear, inverted triangle, straight, or hourglass," says Thomas. "Once you know which shape you are, aim to keep your upper and lower halves balanced. For a full-hipped, small-chested pear this might mean a dark, simple shape on the bottom and a playful, bold blouse on top. Broad-shouldered triangles might consider more of a fitted top and a fun, flared skirt. Hourglass and straight body types can invest in belts to highlight or create waistlines."

Graze, Don't Cling
We're talking about how your clothes fit, not about the buffet table or your current fling. "When it comes to T-shirts, tops, skirts, pants, and dresses, fabrics that gently graze your

Karen Pearson/Fitness MagazineBy Melissa Romero

Ah, sleep. It's something we relentlessly crave, but we never seem to get enough of it. Aside from the daily stressors in life, there's one big thing that can keep you from snoozing -- your diet. Here, the best and worst foods to eat for sleep.

Related: Stretches to Help You Sleep Better Tonight

Best: Cereal and Milk
Your go-to breakfast staple can also moonlight as the perfect pre-bedtime snack. Eating a combination of carbohydrates and protein enables our bodies to produce the "happy hormone" serotonin, which in turn produces melatonin, a neurotransmitter that has a calming effect, explains Danielle Omar, a DC-based registered dietitian. Just stay away from sugary cereals to avoid getting a sugar high right before bed. Other safe nighttime snack bets include cheese and crackers, cottage cheese and fruit, or oatmeal with milk for a similar soothing effect.

Worst: Protein
While protein is a vital part of our daily diets, too much of it means less sleep at the end