Women’s Gym Ban

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This is crazy and so sad! Another great reason to be so thankful for the freedom that we are so fortunate to have.

Saudi women could see their private sports clubs and gyms closed down because the government seems likely to agree licensing of the clubs for men only.

But news of the likely shutdown of dozens of female-only gyms came as a government official suggested that women might be allowed to vote in municipal elections, although they would still be barred from running for office.

With the sexes strictly separated in public in the conservative kingdom, the two reports illustrate the slow and fitful nature of the progress made since the octogenarian King Abdullah instigated reforms three years ago.

This year the government appointed its first woman as deputy minister to run a department for female students. But women are still banned from driving and they face many other restrictions. They are required to have compulsory guardianship by a male.

Read the Rest Here

Kashi GoLean Crunchy

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What it is: A convenient, deliciously satisfying snack bar made with crispy whole grain cereal… dipped in chocolate!

Nutrition at a Glance: 170 calories, 8 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, 5 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbohydrates, and 13 grams of sugar. Also made with whole grain cereal and the all-natural, minimally-processed ingredients Kashi is famous for. The bar also boasts an “optimized glycemic response,” which means the carbohydrates included in the bar are designed for slow release to help balance blood sugar levels.

What it tastes like: A candy bar without the guilt. The Chocolate Almond flavor is sweet, but doesn’t leave its consumers feeling saturated with sugar (only 13g per bar).  True to its name, this bar is CRUNCHY!, so get ready to sink your teeth into its chocolaty goodness!

When to eat it: As an alternative to a less-healthy snack options.  At 170 calories, the CRUNCHY! bar has fewer calories, less fat, and more protein and fiber than candy bars and similarly marketed snack/protein bars.  It’s great in-between meals when hunger tempts us with other calorie-dense, highly processed choices. In a pinch, it’s better than skipping a meal altogether, but definitely strive for a nutritiously diverse breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.

Why we love it: Taste! Nutrition! Convenience! Unlike many “health food” products, the Kashi GOLEAN® CRUNCH! Protein & Fiber Bar delivers nourishment full of flavor, in a handy grab-and-go package. Throw a bar in your gym bag or purse to help between meals – and forget about feeling drained before your next workout!

Also try these flavors: Chocolate Caramel, Chocolate Pretzel, Chocolate Peanut, Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Where to buy: Kashi Store or grocery and health food stores nationwide

A.M. vs. P.M.

Filed Under Fitness, Health|Nutrition | 2 Comments

Maybe it’s just a matter of preference or maybe it’s more. Maybe it’s like the difference between morning coffee and evening coffee, breakfast crepes and dessert crepes. Are workouts meant to be an A.M. or a P.M. thing?

What We Love About AM Workouts. Nothing starts off a long day like a solid workout. Apart from getting the endorphins flowing, it’s a great feeling to start your day off by dominating your workout, it makes that lunch meeting a little bit less intimidating. A morning workout is normally followed by a nice, healthy morning meal and we all know breakfast is the important meal of the day (or so they say). A morning workout also allows you to wake up a little bit earlier, which means by the time you finish and head to work you’re already wide awake and ready to attack the day.

What We Hate About AM Workouts. 5am is soooo early! The last thing you feel like doing at the crack of dawn is rolling out of bed, finding cute workout clothes and heading to the gym. Trying to tackle hair and makeup at the gym isn’t high on our list of things we feel like doing in the morning either.

What We Love About PM Workouts. There’s something to be said about the dedication that it takes to make it through a long day and still head to the gym to get your workout in. That post workout high seems just a little bit more intense after a long day and we love it.

What We Hate About PM Workouts. When life gets in the way and we never quite make it to that workout, which seems to happen more than we’d like it to. PM workouts can be tough because there are so many other things competing for your time, like dinner!

Whether you decide that you’re a morning workout kind of a girl or  an evening workout kind of girl, the most important element to maintaining a consistent workout is having a plan. Start keeping a workout journal that lays out your workout schedule, that way you’ll be able to look back on your week and evaluate your progress. Think about this, when you have a lot of errands to run in a day you sit down and plan out your day, look at your workout the same way, sit down at the beginning of your week and create a plan of action. A well thought out plan is the first step to consistent workouts.

Happy Earth Day!

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Sometimes I find myself wondering what I can do to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. There are definitely the obvious things that I struggle with like driving an SUV and leaving all the lights on in the house. But I’m sure none of you struggle with those big things, you probably only struggle with small things, although going green and considering our environment is starting to become more of a priority in our society; there is always more that we can do. Here are a few things that we can do from a fitness viewpoint to help take care of our planet:

1. Run Outside instead of always running on the treadmill.
2. Re-use your water bottle instead of throwing it out after every workout.
3. Try hand-washing and air-drying some of your workout clothes that need to be washed more often.
4. Try working out from home a couple times a week.
5. Recycle your running shoes when you’ve worn them out.

What’s Going on this Earth Day:
[me] & goji is running a 1 cereal = 1 tree promotion (you buy cereal. they plant trees)
DisneyNature is releasing their powerful film Earth
Global Water Network aims to make sure that everyone has clean drinking water, they’re partnered with the Earth Day Network

Allyson Felix Opens Season

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In her first track meet of the year, Glisten Founder Allyson Felix, ran the 4×100 and 4×400 relays at the Jackie Joyner Kersee Invitational at UCLA. She was able to lead her 4×100 relay team (Dawn Harper, Michelle Perry, Ginnie Powell) to a come-from-behind victory. Her 4×400 relay team (Carol Rodriguez, Natasha Hastings, Michelle Perry) had a huge lead by the time Allyson received the baton on the anchor leg and easily ran away with the win.

Congratulations Allyson and we look forward to the next meet! (Mt. Sac Relays, April 18)

DJ Fitness - What’s Hot!

Filed Under What's Hot in Women's Fitness | Leave a Comment

We love music. We love working out. We love dancing… But what if we put all 3 of these together? There’s a new craze sweeping the nation that’s all about fun upbeat music, open spaces and great workouts.

Here’s how it works. All you need is an open space and few friends, crank your music up and dance through your workout. If you need a little bit more direction there are already well-known fitness DJ’s and popular dance-fitness workouts. You can get more info about the new craze from the girls over at VitalJuice.

The Glisten Rundown
Here at Glisten we think this is a great idea, but it will probably be one of these things that you’ll do every once-and-a-while, not everyday. This exercise option will provide an incredible cardio element and most of all will be a lot of fun! We give it 3-Stars and suggest you check it out as soon as you feel like a dance!

Enjoy!

Glisten Changes

Filed Under the 4-1-1 | 1 Comment

You may have noticed that we’ve made a few changes and improvements to Glisten.

First of all, we’ve started sending out the Oasis Workouts! These workouts are designed to provide women with a “friendly” workout, you don’t have to worry about scary machines at the gym or even leaving the house or hotel room for that matter. The exercises are circuit based and perfect to complete with a friend or group. Read Here for more info.

We’ve also updated the homepage! The aim of the new homepage is to create a sleek and friendly user interface that’s ideal for visitors and subscribers alike. Let us know what you think!

Hopefully you’re enjoying Glisten, we’re enjoying putting these workouts out for you and are so grateful that you’ve chosen us to help you live a healthy lifestyle.

Stay Tuned for a couple more new things coming your way soon!

The Glisten Team

What’s Hot Friday!

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Jukari Fit to Fly

We’re a culture who thrives on interesting amalgamations. We love mixing French fries and ice cream, merging different music genres, and wearing mini-skirts and ugg boots. Here’s a new union that’s got the fitness community buzzing.

From the collaborative efforts of Reebok and Cirque du Soleil comes Jukari- a new prototype in women’s fitness. Reebok’s focus on training combined with the imaginative, artistic design of Cirque du Soleil has produced an exercise regime unlike anything the fitness world has ever seen. One-part trapeze bar, one-part intense core-training, and one-part dance, participants can’t help but agree with Reebok’s mantra: “Fitness should be fun.”

So here’s what a typical workout in this atypical experience looks like: cardio movements that will work your legs and biceps, lunges and kicks geared towards tightening your glutes and core, and pull-up exercises to strengthen your arms, back, shoulders, and chest. All the while, you’ll be bending and fluttering through the air. Even celebs such as Brooke Burke, Mischa Barton, and Molly Sims have all tried their luck with the trapeze bar at the Jukari Fit to Fly studio in Los Angeles. The consensus seems to be that time flies (as will you) when you’re having fun- and working your body hard.

The downside to this innovative exercise program? There are only a handful of studios in the world equipped to enable the Jukari fitness experience. However, Reebok is encouraging gyms to incorporate Jukari as one of their programs. Whether you’re ready to fly or feel safer on the ground, at least you know what’s hot in fitness.