Daily Motivation...every day counts.

You can't just read a book on being positive and you'll be positive for the rest of your life... you have to practice every day. Same as hiring a trainer - one session of training doesn't make you fit.

It takes every day!

That's why I made the Fit Chick Tips. I want to make it a little easier to stay motivated. Sign up today - you'll see what I mean.

Go to the form on the left of my blog. www.fitmomsociety.blogspot.com

Cheers,

Mia

Top 10 Bootylicous Butt Exercises

1. The Back step lunge : Start with you standing with your feet together. Keep your chest out and your abs tight, do not slouch forward. Place your hands on your hips or by your sides if you are not using extra weight. Step backward with your left leg. Bend both your knees until your left knee is nearly touching the floor. Your right shin should remain in a straight line with your ankle perpendicular to the floor. Pull yourself forward using the right leg until you're in the standing position again, squeeze your glutes. Then swap legs and perform the exercise again stepping back with your right leg. Stay tight and watch your balance.
2. Sumo squats: stand with your legs wide apart - (about a foot wider than shoulder with on each side). Point your toes out ward (I think like a sumo wrestler but you might want to use the ballerina approach!). Keep your chest out and your abs tight. Holding one end of a dumbbell with both hands or a barbell behind your back, lower yourself making sure your back is straight. If you lean forward you will lose the effect and not be able to go deep enough into the squat. Squat low until your thighs are parallel to the floor and make sure to push through your heels squeezing your glutes and inner thighs.
3. Single leg bench step-up: Position a bench in front of something tall and bolted to the floor. The power rack is a good piece of gear to use for this. Stand on the bench holding onto the power rack and squat down using only ONE LEG. The hanging leg should be curled up by your butt just resting (or squeezing your hamstring if you're a keener!) With the assistance of your arms helping to pull you up, push with all you have using your hamstrings and butt to get back into the standing position.
4. Glute Kickbacks:Get on your hands and knees on a mat on the floor with your back parallel to the ground. In a controlled motion, thrust one of your feet backwards as though you are kicking like a horse. Be sure to really flex your butt for a one-count when your leg is fully extended back behind you. Return to the start position and repeat with the opposite leg.
5. Exercise Ball Butt Raises:While laying on your back, place your feet on the top of an exercise ball. Slowly raise your butt off the floor and really squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement. Slowly lower your butt back to the starting position and repeat.
6. Exercise Ball Leg Lifts:Place your hands securely on the floor and position your feet on the top of an exercise ball. Position your body so it's almost in a 90 degree angle and raise one leg as high as you can towards the ceiling. Make sure to really squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement. Slowly lower your leg to the starting position and repeat with your other leg.
7. Lying Butt Bridge: Lie flat on your back on a mat with your knees bent pointing up to the ceiling and your arms at your sides. Simply raise your pelvis up toward the ceiling to a point where your body will be at a about a 45 degree angle relative to the floor. At the top of the movement, be sure to really flex your butt for a one-count. Return to the start position and repeat.
8. Heel Kicks:From the hands and knees or from Downward Dog Pose, kick one leg backward and up, then contract it to bring your knee to your chest. Ankle weights will make this significantly more difficult.
9. The Fire Hydrant:This actually targets the abductor or outer thigh muscles. Begin on your hands and knees, and lift your leg out to the side and up, keeping the knee bent and shoulders level. For an extra challenge, hold your leg up and extend at the knee in a roundhouse kick.
10. Hover Squats Sit: On a high step bench, with dumbbells on shoulders. Lift off to stand, but stop midway and hover a moment before pushing all the way to standing position. As you lower back down to sit on the bench, hover again just inches away from the bench.

Welcome to December! Tips to stay sane and healthy during this month of craziness!

The parties, sweets, alcohol, missed workouts, late nights, mall-crawling, small talk, family issues, breathing air on crowded planes -- ah, it's the holidays.

Exercise During the Holidays.
The experts say you need to get in training and be mindful to stay healthy and stress-free. Exercise Tips for Holiday Health Fabio Comano, a certified trainer at the American Council on Exercise, recommends plunging in and getting in shape now, knowing that the holidays will bring a few pounds. "Most people tend to put on weight in winter," he tells WebMD. "It's part of our (biological) survival pattern, a little like animals packing it on for hibernation." Comano thinks the holidays are stressful enough without loading yourself down with unrealistic exercise goals.

"If you exercise 45 minutes a day, you may only be able to do 30 minutes," he says.

• Start the day with deep-breathing and meditating (if you meditate).
• Take a walk before a meal, then one after. Or take a walk after dinner but before dessert.
• If you bake cookies as gifts, walk them around to the neighbors' houses.
• If you exercise in the morning normally, keep up that schedule. Just don't skip.
• Buddy up with a family member. Walking is a good time to catch up.
• Start some family traditions that are active, such as cross-country skiing.
• Gillespie recommends make-work projects, such as setting the table one piece at a time and returning to the kitchen in between. "Put on some holiday tunes and dance!" she urges.
• Don't stress out about exercise. It's the other way around -- exercise eliminates stress!

Tips for Calming Holiday Emotions
"You need to get sufficient sleep during the holidays," Steelsmith says. This is part of a "lifestyle tune-up" she recommends. The No. 1 priority in such a tune-up is to see if you are spending your time on the things you value most.

Stress goes up if you do things you don't value.

• Write down what things are most important to you -- family, care-giving, work, status, whatever it is -- and pursue those most important. If you are over-committed, say no. Don't feel guilty.
  

The person who asked probably didn't want to do it either. If the holidays are a time of religious observation for you, leave plenty of time for that. If there are children around, remember how they love this time of year and look forward to it. Make sure they get sufficient rest and get to help with the wrapping, shopping, decorating, and cooking, even if they make these projects take longer.

The ACE recommends against unrealistic expectations. Don't expect to throw the perfect party or find the perfect gift for everyone. Somewhere, at almost every moment, a dog is eating a dropped turkey. It's part of life.

To get in touch with the "new you," take 15 minutes to be alone each day. Do some stretching.Read. Or just focus on what is around you with every sense. Do you hear tinkling bells? Smell gingerbread and pine? See sparkling lights? Feel the soft cheek of a napping child curled up next to you? Taste a sip of mulled cider or a dab of traditional eggnog on your tongue? See? The holidays are not all scheduling, stress, sore feet, arguing, and obligation! ~ By Miranda Hitti

Happy December everyone! Mia