According to a study in published by Psychological Science, you can be motivated subconsciously by reading inspirational words such as triumph, strive, confident, go for it, achieve or graceful. So if you need an extra push to go for what you want, surround yourself with these words so you see them everywhere you look. Sounds easy enough, right?

Self magazine suggests writing them on sticky notes and posting them throughout your house. Another great idea is to make a collage of inspirational words and use it as your computer desktop image. Or you could wear your motivation on your t-shirt like this “Chase Dreams” organic cotton and bamboo option from Tees for Change.

Fit Celeb shares Maria Menounos’s healthy recipe for this lean ground turkey Mykonos burger.

The Budget Ecoist offers tips to stay green as you celebrate red, white and blue on the 4th.

My Super-Charged Life attempts to inspire with seven ways to rekindle your creativity.

The Weighting Game shares a study about how reading fitness mags can undo the feel good effects of exercise.

Whole Story takes us on a trip to Ecuador to explore fair trade certified roses.

Eating Fabulous tells you why your answer to “Got milk?” should be yes.

“By the age of ten I had won Wimbledon in my mind thousands of times.”

-Andre Agassi

There are plenty of abdominal exercises that can make you feel a little silly when you’re doing them at the gym, but it’s all in the name of flat abs, right? Here’s one of those exercises–the Wicked Wiper straight from an Olympic trainer as shown in Women’s Health. Only thing is, if you can actually pull this exercise off any snickering will be replaced by worship. Something to work towards…I’ll try it tomorrow, I swear.

If you’re up for the challenge, hang from a pull-up bar (you may want to enlist a friend to spot you) with your arms shoulder-width apart and palms facing outward. As you continue to hang, raise your hips, back and shoulders as much as you can to try to get your body parallel to the floor. Lift your legs up into a pike. Now like a windshield wiper, lower your legs to the right, raise them to the center and lower to the left. Amateur variation: Do the same action on a mat.

Apparently Kate Hudson isn’t Lance Armstrong’s only new venture, he just launched a new site, Livestrong.com. Like many health sites, you’ll find lots of articles and videos covering nutrition and fitness, but Livestrong has sections on stress relief, relationships, family and beauty too. And more importantly, the overall mission of the site is to inspire people to take action and make their lives better through everyday victories. It’s even connected to my favorite online food diary, The Daily Plate, so you can get everything all in one place.

The site also stresses the community aspect so you can ask other members questions and cheer each other on. One of my favorite things is the “Dare to Change” section. You can identify and set goals (i.e. Eat Less Sugar, Eliminate Debt, Do More Cardio), track your progress, chat with other members working toward the same goals and read articles that’ll help you achieve your goals. So check it out to see if you get inspired and if you join, add JivaFit as a friend!

Blueberries are packed with phytonutrients, fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Manganese giving them lots of healthy benefits. Studies show they can help improve memory, promote healthy aging, prevent urinary tract infections and improve vision health. And since it’s clear that all of you love blueberries based on your comments in the Skin Appetit giveaway, I wanted to share one of my favorite light blueberry desserts from Cooking Light: Upside-Down Berry Cakes.

This recipe creates single serving warm blueberry treats that offer all the nutrients this superfood has to offer along with the sweet deliciousness you crave for dessert. And it’s easy! Mix together 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and a dash of salt in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup skim milk and 4 teaspoons reduced-calorie stick margarine, melted; stirring just until the flour mixture is moist. Coat two 10 ounce custard cups with cooking spray and divide the batter evenly between them. Then top each with 1/2 cup of blueberries. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until they’re bubbly and lightly browned. For extra credit, pick your blueberries yourself!

Have you ever wondered what order you should do your strength training exercises in, if it matters what muscles you work first or if you should mix up your routine each time? I asked our new contributing personal fitness trainer and coach Jason Onserud (check out his bio here) to give us the answers. Here’s Jason…

When you’re starting a resistance training program, there are guidelines to consider when you plan your routine. If you follow them, you’ll see better progress and reduce your risk of injury. You should change your training program every 5-8 workouts to prevent reaching strength plateaus and reduce the risk of injuries like tendinitis.

1. Start with your weak spots. The strength of the muscles you train at the beginning of your workout will improve the most. So if you feel your shoulders are weaker than your chest muscles for example, do the shoulder press before the chest press.

2. Train larger muscle groups before smaller muscle groups. For example, do squats (quadriceps) before sit-ups (rectus abdominus) and chin-ups (latissimus dorsi – upper back) before curls (biceps). If you train smaller muscles first, you’ll fatigue the auxiliary muscles and in turn limit your ability to train the larger muscles to the fullest. Read the rest of this entry »

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

–Henri Matisse

With the vast array of Pilates moves and crunch variations out there, it’s easy to forget that a lot of other activities strengthen your core too. That’s why I love this plyometric exercise from Runner’s World that proves bursts of cardio can work your abs.