GirlTalk

Well, it’s upon us. 2009. Time to get back into the swing of the daily grind, and for many of us that means getting our holiday-food-padded tushes back into the gym and back on normal diets that don’t contain Christmas cookies.

I headed back to my gym today and definitely noticed quite a few more cars in the parking lot than usual. My trip today was my first of the new year after a long stint of slacking. It started in November after a tragic breakup with my boyfriend of one year (i’m a twenty something ... a year is seriously a long time for me), followed by an extra-heavy work schedule at both of my two jobs, followed by a week at my parents’ house in Michigan with, admittedly, excuses mixed in between them all.

But January is here and I am ready to get back on track. One of my resolutions is to drop 20 pounds (and not gain it back by January of next year). I seem to always start out the year doing really well, maintain it through the summer months and fall apart when it gets cold again. I’m going for not doing that again this year.

With that said I’m hoping to update more on my progress and successes (and failures, I’m sure) throughout the year and hopefully readers can share their stories, too. I’ll start tonight with my first, and favorite, workout tip:

My first tip is for people who like to run (or just want to). If you have an iPod, there’s this brilliant product called Nike+ that essentially acts as a personal trainer and progress tracker. It’s a little chip that goes in your sneakers that connects wirelessly to a chip you plug into your iPod. It tracks your runs and you can then upload all your info to the Nike+ Web site and monitor your progress. The Web site will even personalize daily workouts for you to help you reach any goal you set. Check it out here.