Well today marks the end of this era. We’ve decided that it’s time for Zeena Warrior Fitness to retire.

Don’t worry though! I will continue updating all of you through a series of columns on the Health and Fitness section of OCRegister.com. In fact we will immediately continue with the “Blogger’s Butt” reduction plan. My first exercise prescription for Jenny will be a column posted this week… so stay tuned!

For all those loyal readers out there, thank you for your support. It’s been a fun journey and I hope I’ve inspired some of you to make your fitness a priority.

Remember, you only have One Body, One Life and One Opportunity.

Feel free to visit me at www.zeenafit.com

I was recently approached by OCRegister mom blogger Jenny Angelici who has been worried about the growing size of her “bloggers butt” (yes that’s it at left — she’s brave!). We decided to team together and bring you the “Bloggers Butt Reduction Plan.” Jenny has a goal of losing 7 lbs in 8 weeks, and I’m going to help her out. We haven’t met yet (haven’t even talked on the phone!) but with a ton of emails back and forth I will put her on a plan to help her achieve success.

Below is the first post from JENNY who responded to a series of questions I asked her. We will be posting our blogs on Fridays to give you updates and tips that you can take with you. Stay Tuned!

Click here to read Jenny’s post.

Start face down on your hands and knees. Make sure you hands are DIRECTLY beneath your shoulders. Draw in your abdominals and pull your shoulder blades down and away from your ears. Place one foot straight behind you tucking your toes under. When ready, place the other foot back making sure your feet are hip distance apart. Make sure that there is a straight line from your head to your heels.

When you are ready, gently lift one leg off the floor a few inches making sure NOT to adjust your hips. Point the toe of the leg behind you and squeeze your butt and hamstring muscles to support your leg. Hold for 10 seconds, then switch to the other leg.

It’s important on this exercise to keep your pelvis and shoulders still and stable. You can progress this exercise by pulsing your leg up and down, again only taking your leg so high that you don’t move your hips.

I have to expose everyone to my NEW favorite treat: 33 calories, 2g of fat, 5g of carbs, and a MOUTHFUL of happiness!

I discovered Downey’s Chocolates a few weeks ago after the owner Tracey Downey informed me of her line of vegan chocolates. Being on a rather new “no gluten, no dairy” diet, it was tough to find sweet treats. A few of Tracey’s chocolates are “vegan” and everything is made from natural ingredients. It’s even sweetened with Agave nectar!

Downey’s Chocolates has a cafe in Aliso Viejo, but also sells their products at Whole Foods. You can also order their chocolates online. Give the “Rasberry Symphony” a try and I promise you will not be sorry…

What I love about this show and other’s such as the Biggest Loser and Dancing with the Stars, is that they finally put our bodies and health on main stream television. Hopefully these shows remind our general population that taking care of your body is of high importance. In one of the sequences in SYTYCD tonight, a judge told an overweight “panting” dancer who was proud of his “comedic” look that he needed to take better care of his health.

In a sea of shows where the women look borderline anorexic, where the chubby husband get the hot wife, and where drinking and drugs reign supreme in high school dramas, these shows are a nice reminder of how healthy, fun exercise can produce great results.

Looking for a way to hire a Personal Trainer at a FRACTION of the cost? Lucky for you, technology has gotten so savy that it’s gotten quite inexpensive to have a relationship with someone to help get you in shape.

There are some definate pros and cons to hiring a PT online. The major CON would be that the trainer doesn’t have any “hands on” ability to really help you utilize proper form and alignment while exercising. If you have injuries, then online PT would not be the answer for you.

However if you have a solid history of exercise, and you’re looking for a way to keep things fresh and new, then working with someone online may be a great option.

How does it work?

For anywhere from $10 to $100 a month, you can get access to an online account that will provide you with pictures/ videos of workouts to help you meet your goals. For the cheaper sites these workouts are usually automatically generated based on your answers to a medical feedback form. For the more expensive sites, there may actually be a Personal Trainer who is taking a look at your info and designing the workouts for you. In addition to the exercise help, the site will recommend cardiovascular exercise and help to monitor your nutrition. Nutrition help can vary from site to site but most will actually provide you with a menu to help meet your goals.

The main reason most people succeed with Personal Training is accountability. If the site can provide this for you, then take a closer look at this option for your fitness needs. Here are some various sites and different prices points to check out:

 http://online-personaltraining-nyc.com/t…

 http://www.fantasyfit.com/index.html

 http://www.global-fitness.com/

 http://www.changingshape.com/

Check it out:
 https://www.google.com/health/html/tour/…

It seems like a great idea to help you consolidate all your information into one location. The internet continues to get more and more savy…

In all seriousness, a plan in being unveiled to create a physical fitness test for adults. The test is made up of cardiovascular, strength and flexibility components. The tests can be done easily with little equipment; a run/walk, a few pushups, a few crunches and a sit and reach test. A website will provide results and guidelines to help determine where you stand on the scale of “fitness”.

Now my big idea is: when do the high scoring people get tax deductions?? It’s about time we get a little financial incentive for all that working out!

For more information, click here.

BAD weather:

Hit the gym for a quickie strength training workout

Visit your local YogaWorks (had to plug) and engage in a relaxing, yet invigorating Yoga Class

Pop in a DVD at home and do some Pilates

Channel surf on FitTV and find a low impact aerobics class

Walk up and down the stairs at your house 10 times, drop and do 10 pushups, repeat!

RAD weather:

Go for a walk/jog with a friend or a canine buddy

Run up and down the stairs in front of your apartment/house/condo/beach access

Do Yoga on the beach with a podcast (FREE at Itunes)

Hop on your bike, ride to your grocery store, eat an apple, ride home

SURF!!!

Enjoy the weather, embrace creativity, MOVE your body!

I was walking up a mild hill and was suddenly surprised to find myself huffing and puffing! I had totally forgotten how much harder it was to MOVE at over 6000ft. Since the oxygen pressure is lower, the heart has to work harder to meet it’s oxygen demands, hence the “huffing”. For new exercisers, working out in elevation can be dangerous and lead to symptoms such as fatigue, nausea and vomiting.

We didn’t have time on this trip to hit one of the major hiking trails Idyllwild has to offer, however we found a beginners trail that we plan to do on our next trip. For those thinking about venturing up the mountain, a few hiking tips for you:

1. Always take water, a snack, some money and ID on you.
2. Take breaks every 20-30 minutes to make sure that you are pacing yourself in the altitude.
3. Never hike alone.
4. Take some time to enjoy the view, take pictures and breath the fresh air!
5. On your way down, watch your joints (especially your knees) by taking it slow and concentrating on your muscles. Never go down “running” unless you’ve trained especially for this activity.
6. Drink PLENTY of water!