The people you spend the most time with profoundly impact your life. If they make more money than you, chances are your income will rise. If they make less than you, chances are your income will fall.

It seems to me the same principle holds true with physique. If the people you spend the most time with are health conscious and fit, then you will likely become more fit. But if they are lazy and overweight, then you will likely become lazy and overweight, too.

One exception to this rule: If you are already healthy and fit, you will probably be unaffected by spending a little bit of time with a friend who is the polar opposite of you. In fact, by the power of contrast, it may motivate you to be different.

I’ve found this to be true in my own life. After spending time with someone who is well on their way to achieving an overfed, middle-aged suburban physique, I feel motivated to act and behave differently so I don’t wind up in the same place.

Ask yourself: Am I spending too much time building wrong relationships? Am I spending too little time nurturing right relationships? (Of course, when you consider these questions, it’s important to weigh many different factors, not just health habits.)

I’m sure that most of us are dealing with a lot of extra housework now that the holiday season is coming to an end. Many of us are probably facing taking down all of our holiday decor and deep cleaning our kitchens from all the yummy Christmas treats we’ve been making.

Although I love getting in the holiday spirit and making my house look festive, I definitely don’t go overboard because I dread the aftermath of taking everything down. I quickly tore down my Christmas tree the day after Christmas this year because I was so sick of it taking up space in my living room! Also, instead of making a huge Christmas dinner, we took my inlaws out to eat on Christmas Eve instead. My holiday style is definitely no-hassle.

But for those of you who are facing disaster areas in your home, I have good news. Apparently, housework is more effective than playing a sport for helping reduce your risk of breast cancer! Cancer Research, a UK based study, followed 200,000 women who cooked, dusted, mopped and vacuumed around 16 – 17 hours a week for over six years. According to their results, all this housekeeping reduced cancer risk by 30% for pre-menopausal women and by 20% for post-menopausal women.

The connection to lower cancer risk seems to be a combination of maintaining a healthy weight and being consistently active doing housework (as opposed to playing a vigorous sport less frequently.) The full article can be found here.

So for those of us who have been putting off getting our homes back in order again after the holidays, hopefully this will help motivate you a little. :) Happy New Year, everyone!

One of the best ways to kick-start weight loss is to build muscle through strength training.

Why?

Because by adding muscle to your body, you’re increasing your metabolic rate. You will naturally burn more calories throughout the day. (Muscle tissue “eats up” calories, even at rest.)

If you are trying to lose weight, a diet alone is a big mistake. As you cut back your food intake without exercising, your body will burn both fat and muscle, thereby lowering your metabolic rate. As your metabolism drops, you will burn fewer calories each day, and it will become increasingly harder to lose weight.

A diet plus cardiovascular exercise is better than a diet alone. But the best “recipe” for weight loss–the one with the highest success rate–will include strength training of some kind. Because the more muscle you build, the more calories you’ll burn.

An article by Jane Brody and published in The Rocky Mountain News says this:

With greater muscle mass, your basic metabolic rate will rise and you will burn more calories all day and night. And since muscle holds water and takes up less room than the equivalent weight of fat, by shedding fat and gaining muscle you can lose inches and sizes without losing actual pounds.

As Brody suggests, don’t be surprised if your weight stays the same or even goes up a little bit right after you begin strength training. This is simply muscle replacing fat.

Take my wife, for instance. She is 5′5″. During times when we’ve not exercised consistently, her weight has dropped as low as 116 lbs. But when she is in her best condition, her weight hovers around 120-122 lbs. This is because of increased muscle mass.

Oh, and one more thing: strength training is also excellent for improving sleep. The nights I sleep deepest are when I’ve done some good weight lifting and made my muscles work. Skip the expensive sleep pills… start strength training!

Ever since Stephanie and I started working out together again, we’ve been super consistent.

We hit the gym at least 2 times every week, usually 3.

After Owen’s birth, we had to exercise separately. I’d go while Stephanie watched the kids. Then she’d go while I watched the kids.

It effectively doubled the amount of time it took for us to both exercise.

Now we’re paying for a gym that has affordable child care. It’s so worth it.

When I’m feeling lazy, Stephanie motivates me. When she’s lazy (hardly ever), I motivate her.

Everybody should have a workout partner like Stephanie. Always disciplined; always motivated to burn calories.

If you can find an exercise partner, I highly suggest you do. It’ll make you both more disciplined.

I’ve got a question: what’s with the heavy metal at the gym?

Talk about a bad choice for exercise…

Sometimes they’re playing popular music. Sometimes heavy metal, classic rock, techno, country, etc.

It all depends on who’s “stereo captain” for the day.

I can handle everything but the heavy metal. It’s just horrible to listen to for any length of time.

If I had my pick, I’d play techno or popular music.

The techno is sometimes a little weird, but the fast rhythms are great for keeping up the pace when doing cardio and circuit training.

It’s almost like I can’t slow down… because it wouldn’t jibe with the beat!

If you have any techno music (or can influence what’s played at your gym), you might give it a whirl the next time you exercise. It’s really great for high-intensity workouts.