Blog Posts by Sarah McColl, Shine staff

Whether your gym membership was a casualty of the sluggish economy or you just don't like to leave the house to exercise when it's raining, workout DVDs can be the key to keeping your routine fresh. These favorites cover the spectrum from calming pre-bedtime yoga to oh-my-god-make-it-stop cardio.

On Real-Life Makeover we want to help you achieve the healthiest, happiest life possible. This means eating right and exercising, as well as having fun and improving your outlook. But managing all aspects of your life at one time can feel like cooking on all four burners while a cake's in the oven, the toaster's on, and the blender is whirring itself into a frenzy. As soon as one pot reaches a simmer, another one demands you turn up the heat, and then the toast pops up. When you've got too much cooking (and who doesn't?), sometimes the best course of action is to focus most of your attention on the one area that needs the most help. In other words, if you could drop the frenzied balancing act, what would you focus on?

It can be hard to appreciate how great your life is when you're consumed with feelings of self-doubt. And really, in this day and age, who doesn't have some insecurities sometimes? Our culture loves perfection in all its forms. Whether the pressure to be perfect is explicit or implicit, and whether we've internalized the messages or not, there is plenty of chatter to lead us to believe our homes, bodies, emotional selves, families, and career should all be perfect. Here's how to tune out the perfectionist crazy talk and start getting real.


You're not perfect. Thank goodness.
Perfection is manufactured. It comes to us through Photoshopped pictures, edited movies, and images agreed on by committees, boards, and market research. Real life is messy, exciting, and vibrant. Perfection, on the other hand, is inert, predictable, and, well, boring. Let's embrace the idea that imperfection can be charming, like Lauren Hutton's gap-toothed smile and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Write yourself a

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ---Abraham Lincoln One of the most fundamental ways you can make over your life isn't to lose 10 pounds or conquer your closet clutter, it's to change your perspective into something more positive. While unhappy people, to paraphrase Tolstoy, might be dysfunctional in 10,000 different ways, upbeat folks have some habits in common. Crib from their notes to bring more joy into any day (yes, even a Monday).


Reach out
Studies show that relationships are vital to a positive outlook in life. And it makes sense --- engaging with others reminds you that no matter how crappy your day or foul your mood, you're not alone. A superficial interaction like chatting with the mail carrier can make you feel like you belong to a community, but intimate relationships are what keeps us going even when times get tough. Send a text to a college friend telling her you're thinking about her, or call your spouse just to say "I love you."

Be

In our efforts to eat healthy, failing to plan may indeed be planning to fail. Because who hasn't forgotten to think about what's for dinner and then, in a fit of hunger, found herself hitting the speed-dial for Szechuan Garden? That's why these printable weekly meal planners on Etsy are so great. They come in three pretty color ways, and allow you to print out the breakfast, lunch and dinner plan for every day of the week. Did I mention there's a Spanish language version, too? Buen apetito!

We live in an age of self-awareness. We know the reasons why we overeat or sabotage our own success. I, for one, am tormented by my closet clutter. On a daily basis I think about the tops that are unflattering and dream about a streamlined wardrobe with fewer items that are each beloved. And yet everyday I don't touch the closet mess with a ten foot pole. At this point, not only is my closet filled with junk, but that mess is now encroaching on my psychic space. So how do you go from knowledge to action? That's the hump that can be hardest to get over. Here, some ideas on putting our awareness into action.

What's stopping you? Sometimes what keeps us from doing the thing that we know is best for ourselves, say, stopping after that first bowl of ice cream, is a deep desire to self-sabotage. Maybe we think we're not worthy of being fit and healthy or any of the things we associate with physical greatness: drawing attention to ourselves, attracting suitors, even achieving our goals. If

Sometime in the past several weeks, either while while running at the gym, skiing on a frozen lake, or just walking weirdly, I managed to hurt my knee. Not being able to exercise in the usual ways has been devastating, but it turns out that female athletes are between two and eight times more likely to injure their ACL knee ligaments than men. Studies have found that hormones associated with a women's menstrual cycle may affect the laxity of the knee joint. For those as addicted to the mood-boosting effects of exercise as I am, here are some ways to exercise that aren't as tough on the knees as pounding the pavement.

Stationary bikes
Even though you're not going anywhere, there's something transporting about riding a stationary bike. You can put on your favorite music, close your eyes, and just pedal in time to the music. Make sure your seat is high enough so that your knees are not bent beyond a 90-degree angle, and your knee should be slightly bent when your leg is fully extended

Okay, so your phone isn't going to magically transform you into a model of good health and spirits, but it can provide the tools you need to make a change. You still have to make the time and effort, but with streamlined, user-friendly interfaces, these technologies can make your journey a little bit easier. Here are some of the most beloved iPhone apps to improve your quality of life.

Get more life-improving ideas on Real-Life Makeover:

• How to deal with negative people and still stay upbeat

• Make over my fridge!

• 10 really great tricks to get your portion sizes under control