We all have pet peeves. Fruit salads that overuse mayonnaise and people who chronically pee on public restroom toilet seats top my list. For my buddy Brenda at the gym, nothing sets her off more than an inconsiderate soul leaving heaps of used towels around the locker room sinks or floors. It seems to get worse during this time of year, with countless droves descending upon our fitness club following their New Year’s resolutions. Chances are that their mommas didn’t raise them this way. So you have to wonder - does etiquette matter when it comes to working out?

You don’t have to be Miss Manners to know the answer is yes. That is, if you’d like to keep coming back. We’ve all glared at the guy who hogs four stations in the weight room during prime time, or made sure not to get off the elliptical machine quickly for the chick waiting nearby carrying on super loud cell phone conversations. Long-time exercisers should know these infractions and more. But if you’re new, you might not. After all, Time Magazine estimates that 60% of gym memberships will go unused as resolutions fade. So I’ve prepared a list of tips to help those with good intentions thrive at their new fitness club.

Rule #1 – Clean up after yourself. You know that sweat puddle on the floor underneath your stationary bike? It’s normal to create it during intense workouts. Just don’t leave it behind as a token of affection when you’re done. Mop it up with a towel or disinfectant wipes. The same applies for sweaty benches in the weight room and equipment in aerobics classes.

Rule #2 – Less is more. Lots of people bring hair dryers, styling products and flat irons to use in their locker room clean-up. But there’s no reason to go overboard when sink space is at a premium before work. In the past few months, I’ve seen one girl bring in her own radio despite the fact that a satellite music channel is piped already into the area, and another spread a week’s worth of clothes, makeup and products around a vanity area designed to accommodate four. If I’m blogging about it, you know others are noticing too.

Rule #3 – Respect boundaries. My boyfriend cracked me up with a story about a strange, fiftyish woman at his gym who wore a spandex leotard that resembled a corset. She would constantly interrupt others during their workouts to correct their form or offer advice for doing it better. Only problem is that she wasn’t a certified fitness trainer and her tips were all wrong. The day that she interrupted my guy to incorrectly “correct” his form on the rowing machine, he had no problem revealing his status as a member of a crew team. Needless to say, she never bothered him again.

Rule #4 – Do Onto Others. Treat people with kindness and respect and typically, that’s what you’ll get in return. Haggling with a fitness fanatic for the last spot in Yoga class isn’t very Zen. Rudely cut another person off to get the last spin bike in class, and you can be sure no one else will save you a bike next time.

Do you think that etiquette matters at the gym? Any other rules or advice to add to new exercisers?

I’m one of those people who has spent most of my life dancing as fast as I can. You know, in the proverbial sense, without a ballet tutu or sparkly ballroom outfits like my Barbie dolls wore. The first big sprint started when I competed in speaking nationwide during high school (yeah, I’m a self-confessed debate geek and proud of it), worked three jobs at one point to afford college and then jumped feet first into my corporate PR career. I never made time to breath, much less sleep. No wonder I carried an extra 50 pounds by age 24.  

After I lost the weight, things seemed to speed up even more in my life. There were ups – winning PR awards, starting my own business, buying my townhouse two years ago. And downs – a hard divorce, my dad’s death and the economic downturn. Through all of it, somehow just living and being happy wasn’t enough. I pushed myself to grow my PR practice larger before it felt comfortable and was relentless in working on my book proposal. A natural hostess, I constantly had to be the one planning engagement parties, baby showers and dinner parties.  More than 100 people showed up at my housewarming party in 2008, and all I wanted to do was hide in the closet with the baked pecan brie dip.

Then a few months ago, I started slowing things down. Moved my business into my home and took the agency virtual. Paused in the middle of the book to figure out how to do it right. Started just relaxing on weekends instead of working on Sunday afternoons. Like the “Slow Food” movement, this new approach is making a big difference in my life.  And now, as I’m about to depart for my annual Girls Trip to Canyon Ranch in Tucson, I’m taking that experience slower too.

Gone is the need to take hours worth of exercise classes, or plan every minute of my day. I’m going to wake up when my body wants to each morning. I may choose to lie by the pool reading instead of hitting the gym. Who knows? I’m just going to take it slow.

 Has slowing down ever helped you have a happier life?

The Beatles famously told us “Baby you can drive my car.” But they never gave any lyrical advice on what to eat when you’re behind the wheel.

We are spending more time in our automobiles than ever, commuting to work, driving car pool, frantically running errands during jam-packed lunch hours, etc.  According to Answers.com, the average American is behind the wheel about three hours per day. No wonder a growing number of people are eating breakfast, lunch and all sorts of snacks in between red lights and crowded intersections. It’s a dangerous trend for road concentration and our waistlines.

But being in your car doesn’t mean you have to decorate the floor board with fast food chain wrappers. I just got a call that cracked me up from a friend who’s a professional fitness instructor.  While she was leaving her cul de sac, a neighbor flagged her down and asked for advice on how to get rid of “love handles.”  A quick conversation revealed that the woman often snacked on Doritos or pumpkin bread from Starbucks while in transit. “But I’m always driving my car,” she protested, like calories consumed in an automobile should magically vanish.  When my buddy responded by pointing out the banana, nectarine and bag of raw almonds adorning her passenger seat, that argument for healthy eating on the road merited a (somewhat) joking obscene hand gesture in return.

How do you handle snacking in your car? Keep it healthy or dig into junk food with abandon?

5 A Day public service campaigns worldwide have encouraged kids to consume more fruits and vegetables for more than a generation. From the Fruit of the Loom Guys to the Veggie Tales characters, pop culture has given appealing, quirky personalities to nature’s wholesome goodies. But for some reason, fruits and vegetables have become the equivalent of the girl who everybody likes but no one wants to date.  

According to a new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans are flunking easy goals for healthier eating - http://tinyurl.com/24zpqqp . When it comes to fruit, public consumption has dropped over the past decade and remained flat on veggies.  Only 32.5% of adults are eating two daily servings of fruit and 26.3 percent for three servings of vegetables. None of the 50 states in our union hit the mark.

I started pondering this sad state of affairs and realized, until this year, that I fell into the underachieving   majority.  Sure, I watched calories but all whole lot of what was coming in consisted of low calorie pudding snacks, protein bars, reduced fat treats, etc. I would steam some broccoli or asparagus to accompany my dinner, but heaven forbid I’d snack on a banana or really dig into some berries instead of something processed.  When I injured my feet last year and lost the ability to burn pounds off easily through exercise, I had to do things differently. Now I exceed that five a day bar most days and wish there was some sort of grown-up merit badge for it.

Why do you think the general public has such a hard time eating fruits and veggies? How have you tried to incorporate them into your eating?

Over the years, I tried lots of things to appear “cool” to the outside world. Like attempting, in vain, to adopt Farrah Fawcett’s famous hairstyle while in elementary school. Getting everything monogrammed during the preppy craze of the 1980’s. Drinking my weight in beer on various dance floors, and paddling a canoe in Class Five rapids when I couldn’t swim.  Funniest of all was the summer of spray tanning in 2005, when my skin turned an odd shade of burnt orange.

But now, I proudly admit to being a nerd...a blogging nerd, that it. In the past year since I started this blog, ideas for posts come flying in constantly…when I’m in the shower, working out, driving my car, suggestions from my friends and followers, etc. - you get the picture.  I also really enjoy following other interesting bloggers. Today one of them, www.missymaintains.com, wrote a post that really resonated with me. A certified holistic health coach, Missy has struggled with being overweight and then too thin in the past.  In her post, she decided to officially “own” a few things, like enjoying a daily drink and a dessert. 

With so many people beating themselves up for not eating only whole grain, grass-fed, sugar free, low calorie and unprocessed choices 24/7, I thought it was a refreshing and honest change. Made me start to think about how having a designated day of eating whatever I want once a week has helped maintain my long-term weight loss.

So here are my culinary pleasures. I love eating the Pad Thai and an occasional piece of Carrot Cake at Café Sunflower in Atlanta.  Tortilla chips in Mexican restaurants with fresh guacamole makes my heart sing (as long as I don’t try to conquer three baskets). Homemade sweet potato fries baked in olive oil are delightful, as is a serving of warm flatbread with spicy hummus.

I admit that this list is different than it would have been 20 years ago. Back then, my daily three to four servings of vending machine chocolate and curly fries habit meant it took something over-the-top...perhaps a quart of mac & cheese or third of a cheesecake...to qualify as a special treat. Alas, I'm not even exaggerating.

What are your favorite culinary pleasures? Does "allowing" them  - daily, weekly, monthly, or on special occasions - help you maintain a healthy lifestyle the rest of the time?

When I think of the term “stealth,” images of ninja warriors and spy planes fill my mind. But there is something far more insidious that sneaks up on most people on a daily basis, wreaking havoc with our waistlines – mindless snacking.

In contrast to my childhood friends who doodled the name of their seventh grade crush or played with their hair while stressed or bored, I typically turned to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or Pringles as a diversion.  Sure, I’m healthy most of the time these days. But mindless snacking can still catch up to you. Like if I leave a bag of raw nuts on the table and an hour later, seem to have inhaled five servings.  Bringing the carton of fresh ground almond butter out with a teaspoon in front of the television is just asking for a world of trouble.

If you’ve ever devoured a box of Cheez-It crackers while watching The Bachelorette or finished off the pack of graham crackers for your kids in the car two blocks before arriving at car pool, you know what I’m talking about. So I turned to Lindsey Walder, MS RD LD of Live Better Nutrition in St. Paul, Minnesota (www.livebetternutrition.com) for some answers.

“Mindless snacking can be triggered by a variety of internal and external factors,” she explains.  “In addition to stress, emotional states such as feeling anxious or being depressed cause many people to seek comfort and momentary solace in sugary, fatty, and salty foods.  Ideally, addressing the deeper issues that prompt mindless eating is preferable but not always practical in the short term.  External environmental cues are also big players in the mindless eating game.”

Lindsey also provides the following steps for identifying and breaking this pattern for good:

1. If the underlying cause of the emotions can be dealt with, start here.  For example, if you know you eat mindlessly in the evening because you are stressed at work every day, ask your boss if something can be done to lessen your workload. 
2. Acknowledge the mindless eating, and start to substitute eating from boredom, depression or anxiety with exercise or a hobby.
3. Before you take a bite, you should always take a moment for a self check-in.  Ask yourself, ‘Am I hungry, and would I really enjoy this?'  If you have already started eating, determine, 'Am I eating this mindfully?’   
4. Practicing mindful eating when you are calm and relaxed is also necessary.  To learn how to eat more mindfully, take time to consider the physical aspects of a food item: aroma, taste, texture, temperature, and appearance.  Eating in slow motion and setting down utensils between bites can help reinforce the process of mindful eating and help you develop a true respect for food. 

If you engage in mindless snacking, what foods typically lead to your downfall?

Back in the 1960’s, pop culture was obsessed with all things “space age.”  From movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Barbarella to freeze-dried astronaut food, we couldn’t get enough of the stuff.  Watching the lunar landings brought people together around the world. 

Absorbing all of this as a kid in the mid 1970’s, I fully expected to one day commute to work in a space ship and have a robot maid that cleaned my house. Glad I didn’t hold my breath. But as this Wall Street Journal article reports http://tinyurl.com/2akkjgr, we are one step closer to having a robotic assist with a daunting task – losing weight.   

This snappy little device, named Autom, is the world’s first robotic weight loss coach. Her eyes blink and she is programmed to give feedback and support through daily conversations.  Autom’s creator also claims she is easy to use and relatively inexpensive compared to in-person resources.  

Many people are now turning to technology for help in claiming a healthy lifestyle. Mobile phone apps and online communities abound that remind you to exercise, eat better and provide support. Guess that makes Autom the next logical step.

Would you consider using a robot to help lose weight, or refer the device to others?

George Michael might have rocked the music charts with his 1987 hit “Gotta Have Faith.” But way before he ever wore spandex on MTV, many people already turned to a higher power for help. Some pray for guidance about illnesses, finances or relationship challenges. Others seek insight on big questions like “why are we here? “  Now it seems that a growing number of people are turning to God for an assist in losing weight. 

As this clever story from CNN (http://tinyurl.com/37oscua) illustrates, we’ve officially reached the days of What Would Jesus Eat…which is the actual name of a weight loss program. A new exercise DVD features a fitness professional, surrounded by a full gospel choir, urging viewers to praise the Lord through aerobic exercise. However, seeking divine guidance on shedding pounds transcends any particular religion. Oprah’s endorsement of “Women, Food and God” - a spiritual perspective on overeating – made the book a runaway bestseller.  A number of individuals turn to meditation, trusting their intuition and meaningful revelations from journaling to support their weight loss journeys.

In writing my book on life after weight loss, I’ve interviewed several long-time success stories who credit a higher power for their lower scale numbers. Like Gerri Helms, a life coach in Florida who started losing 100 pounds in 1993 and has maintained it ever since.  She wrote a book called “Trust God and Buy Broccoli” after prayer helped her end 30 years of yo-yo dieting.

“If I have ice cream an inch from my mouth, I’m not going to be able to hear God say that it’s not a good idea,” explains Gerri. “The work for me is to go to the store and buy the best nutritional food I can. I feel that the way I eat now is spiritual, honoring my body. I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to maintain this weight loss and it has to be God’s help.”

As a pop culture loving, spiritual but not particularly religious nice Jewish girl, I say hallelujah if having faith helps you claim a healthier life. Has it ever played a role in your wellness journey?

From an early age, I have been a bonafide bookworm.  I devoured books ranging from Little Women to I, Robot like candy before even learning how to ride a bike.  (Of course, that was probably due as much to an inherent lack of coordination as much as a curious mind.) You know those corporate/local library programs that reward kids with a free hamburger for reading a certain amount of books during the summer?  I usually collected my prize within the first two weeks.

This summer, two books have really struck me as outstanding so far. The Passage by Justin Cronin is a uniquely literary, post-apocalyptical story of a virus that turns people into vampires; it reminds me of Stephen King’s The Stand, his best book, from decades ago. In contrast, The Help by Kathryn Stockett looks at the beginnings of the civil rights movement in Jackson, Mississippi through the eyes of African-American maids in the early 1960’s. Both reads are wonderful because they have stayed with me for weeks after turning the last page. Guess my literary tastes are as diverse as my palate.

Since this blog focuses on a healthier lifestyle with a sense of humor, I started pondering awesome books I’ve read in the past that are related to food, fitness or positive personal transformation. A few of my favorites include Eat Pray Love, for Elizabeth Gilbert’s journey to heal through Italian food, yoga and then love and Jemima J, a chick-lit book by UK author Jane Green, where the heroine loses a lot of weight for a potential romance and then ends up finding herself.   

What are some of your favorite books – fiction or real life – related to a healthier lifestyle? We’d love to hear your summer reading list suggestions!

If there was a Hall of Fame for bad hairstyles, the Mullet would deserve a special place of honor.  With its own catchphrase - "business in the front, party in the back" - this shaggy cut was popular with many guys at my South Carolina high school back in the 1980’s. Heck, I still see some gents walking around with the ‘do, so maybe it has an eternal appeal.

The reason I’m thinking about mullets right now is because today I managed to wear the fashion equivalent of one. My turquoise silk blouse was nice enough and it’s usually paired with a suit. But the jeans and sneakers that accompanied it pretty much obliterated any semblance of elegance.  Didn’t have any client meetings or social interactions planned beyond the time spent getting ready at the gym.  But that wasn’t the reason for my lack of sartorial splendor.  You see, I am approaching almost a year anniversary of a nasty case of plantar fasciitis. Sneakers with orthopedic inserts have replaced my cute sandals and low heels of yore.

Now I’ve had plantar before and dealt with it easily enough.  Somehow, though, this time was more stubborn. It spread to both feet despite going to physical therapy. The doctor told me to wear splint boots at night, prompting my boyfriend to lovingly nickname me “clumpy.” Anti-inflammatory meds and creams didn’t help. By January, I was banned from spin class and any form of really challenging workouts. After a bad case of inflamed nerve bundles and more physical therapy, looks like I’m finally starting to get a little better. Got cleared to go back to the elliptical machine for 10 minutes at a time, and you would have thought I won the Pulitzer Prize from my cheer.  If all goes well, I might even be able to branch out of the sneakers again in a month or so.   

I’m not the most patient person in the world. Just ask anyone who has known for me for longer than 20 minutes. But in seeking meaning amongst the chaos – something we upbeat types are prone to do – I discovered an unexpected benefit. For years, I maintained my healthy weight loss by counting calories and working out. A lot. Having exercise taken away meant that I needed to pay more attention to food. Like if something was processed or not, or how nutritional denseness mattered a whole lot more than calories ever did.

So here’s my philosophical question to you. Has a setback or challenge ever forced you to pause and completely rethink a belief or practice…and ended up making you happier or healthier in the long run?