We are excited to announce the upcoming, transformed website release of Poosh (2.0)! The Poosh Team has been working away in the office with their designer and programmers to put together an updated, creative and unique service to share with YOU.  Without giving away too many of the invigorating details of the latest and greatest Poosh service, here’s a sneak peek to what we’ll be launching shortly:

The Poosh team was sitting in the office and eating lunch one day when one of us asked, “So why do we eat greens? I mean I know it’s healthy but why?” We sat there stumped, and decided to put our work aside to do a little research on why people should eat greens. After a few minutes, we compiled our top three reasons that we think everyone should know on why you should eat your greens.

#1 – Greens provide a great source of antioxidants that help your body by protecting its cells and combating against potential diseases. The popular drink VitaminWater prides itself of having “triple antioxidants” in each bottle, but do you really want the additional 32.5 grams of sugar that go along with it? In short, antioxidants will help prevent your body from being damaged and green foods have a ton of them; we recommend eating three servings (or more!) of greens everyday.

#2 – With an insanely low number of calories relative to the other common foods that we eat, greens contain a large amount of water in them too. This means that no matter how many greens you eat, you can never get fat. What a concept!

#3 – Greens help prevent cancer. Need we tell you again why you should eat your greens?

We know you’re probably groaning to yourself that you have go back to eating healthy and cut down on red meats, sugars, and oily foods. And our job here at Poosh is to remind you about eating healthy, right? Nope. This time, we decided to tell you how to go green while having fun. How do you achieve both?

Extra interesting tip with Alcohol: Instead of going to your local shop to get your typical six pack of Coronas, get organic beer instead. For example, Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Ale or Scarecrow Pale Ale. Organic beer differs from normal beer in that its ingredients, like barley or hops, do not have chemicals or preservatives. The lack of toxins translates to the easier processing of these foods in your body and a much healthier liver. Like all other organic foods, organic beer is a bit pricier. But if you’re going to buy some beer, might as well enjoy some nicer and healthier ones, right? Go to your local supermarket and get an organic beer. Tell them Poosh sent you.

Photo courtesy of MadeToRun

Ambassador Jaime Komer shares her thoughts on some of her current tunes she listens to when running (minus the outfit to the left).  Check them out!

Top 15 Songs to Run to if you love…  

We each have that one song that triggers our motivational tripwire. “Wooha! Here we go, now I’m ready to run!” The music starts and something within us turns on, zapping us out of a lull.

With our unique tastes in mind, we’re thinking a bit outside the box and encourage you to do the same.  Here are some of our favorites (song title + artist + album title):

If You Like a Daily Dose of Dance Party:  
-Paradise by Mashup-Germany
-Breakn’ A Zedd by Jeremy Zelig & Phlex Mash
-Control by Benny Banassi, Control (Remixes Feat. Gary Go)
-Boom Boom Pow by DJ Big E, Bootfellas
-Feel So Close by Calvin Harris, Feel so Close

If You’re Moved by the Music in Movies (Own up to it, you know you love it!): 
-Sinner Man by Nina Simone, The Thomas Crown Affair
-The entire album by Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard, Gladiator
-Time by Hans Zimmer, Inception
-I’m Not a Hero by Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard, The Dark Knight
-Frankenstein’s Monster by Henry Jackman, X-Men: First Class

If You Love Rockin’ Out to it All:
-How Far We’ve Come by Matchbox Twenty, Exile on Mainstream
-Without You (Sample Gee Remix) by David Guetta ft. Usher & U2
-Every Body Talks by Neon Trees, Everybody Talks
-My My My by Armand Van Helden, My My My
-Glad You Came (Alex Gaudino Radio Full Vocal) by The Wanted, Glad You Came

Let’s embrace your one-of-a-kind awesomeness by customizing your very own fitness challenge!

Keep in mind this is a challenge.  Not a diet.  A challenge like this is geared towards guiding you to leading a healthier lifestyle.  One that you can maintain, and more importantly, one that you enjoy!

I created this challenge as guidance for you, so you can create what YOU need, hence its happy simplicity.

Let the challenge begin!

1. Create a Goal

What do you want to get out of this fitness challenge?  To have more energy at the end of the day?  To feel stronger?  It’s helpful to keep a goal in mind when challenging yourself.

2. Choose the length of your challenge: 

2 or 4 Week Challenge (or 8 Weeks perhaps?)

3. Create your own workout calendar:

Decide the days and times that you will workout.  BE SPECIFIC.  Where will you workout?  When?  What are you doing?  *Put this in your calendar.  For an extra motivational bonus: use a chalkboard/whiteboard or even poster board to write this up on the wall of your home to help you stay accountable to your goals!

4.  Reality Check.  What do I eat right now?

Your fitness regimen is only half the battle.  Your nutrition is VITAL to seeing any improvement in your health, inside and out.  So how do you customize your nutrition intake?  Let’s set some general guidelines that you decide on.

You should be fairly aware of what you put in your mouth.  If you can’t recall what the heck you even ate yesterday, I recommend keeping a journal and writing down what you actually are eating.  Be honest with yourself, there’s no judgement here.  This is for you and only you.

5.  Where can you make some nutritional adjustments?

Let’s talk percentages.  Let’s decrease the amount of refined sugars and processed foods we eat and increase the amount of raw and/or natural foods.  For example, choose to decrease the amount of processed foods by 50%.  Boom!  What a change in your health already!  And heck, why not increase your intake of fruits & veggies by 50% (If you choose to not eat them raw, try steaming the veggies.  This way you can hold onto most of the nutrients which can get lost when cooking them.)

*Bonus: Get dark greens in your meal plan every day!

Be aware: if you look at the ingredients of an item and can’t understand over half of them (and the list is longer than a kid’s Christmas List to Santa), then there’s probably some seriously iffy stuff in there that your body doesn’t know what to do with.  Keep it simple.

6. Find someone to keep you accountable:

Ask a friend, co-worker, loved one to hold you accountable to your challenge.  If you have a fitness instructor that you see on a fairly regular basis, TELL THEM about your fitness challenge so they can help keep you on track!

*Maybe even find someone to join you on this fitness challenge!  It’s okay if you have different goals and schedules, you can still support each other through it!

7.  Go Do It!

We will always find excuses for doing things later.  Yes, I know you probably have a party or dinner you’re going to this week.  That’s okay.  Start now and your body will thank you.  If you fall off the wagon for a day, hop back on.  There’s no one stopping you except yourself!

Photo courtesy of fooducate.com

Not to be a “Debbie Downer”, but we thought we’d share some rather overlooked information related to the grand celebrations of St Patrick’s Day.  Especially since it falls on a Saturday this year, many of you will have a FULL day to be festive, eat, drink and be merry.  And why not, you deserve it!

St Patrick’s Day is a great excuse to get together with your mates and down some pints.  Maybe dabble into some not-so-healthy corned beef and cabbage, soda bread or for you early risers, bangers (aka sausages).

Quick Tips:

• Pint of Guinness (16 oz) – 165 calories, 4.3% alcohol
• Try to stay away from the food & drink artificial coloring (e.g. Green Beer) – they are harmful to your body and studies show could lead to cancer.
• Drink a cup of water for every alcoholic drink you consume.  You’d be amazed at the effects of this strategy on the dreadful “morning after”.
• Cabbage = good.  As long as its not doused in oils, cabbage is low in calories and fat.  It also has a good amount of fiber and potassium, as well.
• According to livestrong.com, Dancing the Irish Step for 30 minutes can burn nearly 200 calories.  A couple sessions anyone?
• If you’re out and about away from your final sleeping pad, take a taxi or round up a respectable designated driver to bring you home safely.

Bottom line, enjoy the festivities March 17^th!  And maybe you’ll find a good pot of gold during the day.  If not, there’s always the Irish Step!

Cheers lads and lasses!!

Duke Cameron Crazies (photo courtesy of Bleacher Report)

That’s right folks, NCAA college basketball is in FULL swing.  For some, March Madness is the ultimate sporting event in all of the United States.  Yep, bigger than the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Indy 500 or World Series.  Why you ask??

You have these student-athletes, naïve and still maturing with nothing to lose, working their butts off for several months to get that one shining moment under the spotlight on CBS.  These athletes are in the best shape of their young career and playing for their school, their college town, and the respect of their program.  They aren’t paid (well honestly, some do get extra “incentives”), looking to better themselves in hopes of going Pro or simply enjoying their college experience to the max.

Three weeks of high intensity, crowd favorites (i.e. Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse to name a few), Cinderella stories and brackets are all words you’ll hear during the month of March.  Office pools will be going crazy during the weekday, with many keeping track of the scores on their computers or office TV during “breaks”.  For some its bragging rights, for others its just plain FUN to follow & root for the underdog or alma mater.

If you’ve never experienced the Madness in March, we encourage you to watch the first week of action.  Turn on CBS and begin to feel the excitement build, you might get hooked!  Watch with friends, have a bbq or party.  This is a great social event…just make sure you don’t over exude yourself with those fatty and unhealthy apps or consume too many beverages.  But with all the non-stop stimulation, it may be hard to resist!!  Plus, you’ll probably want to hit up the basketball courts to get a solid workout in while the teams aren’t playing.

Who are you rooting for this year?  We’d love to hear your Final Four picks…leave a comment below!

These bold texts get up in your face and let you know the real deal.  The category organizes a highly unique set of text messages that cover a wide variety of topics, but all share one common theme: no sugarcoating crap. Apart from telling you why you should not be lazy, these texts provide invaluable health and fitness related information and facts that will open your eyes and realize some vital and even overlooked lifestyle truths.

Here is a health example:
Your stomach is only the size of your fist, so it takes just a handful of food to fill it. Do NOT binge eat, it’s #*@%ng unattractive.

Here is a fitness example:
Even A-type fitness freaks need a rest. A 20 min power nap can actually increase productivity, alertness and enhance your mood. Give it a rest for a bit.

Unlike “General Health & Weight Loss” and “Olympian Mindset,” this “In Your Face” category differentiates itself by playing on one factor: awakening. Awakening is more than just awareness. We hear facts and advice every single day, such as “eat fruits” or “wake up early and exercise,” but how many actually make us think about our habitual activities and decide to change? “In Your Face” is meant to make you have that realization – to stay motivated and committed throughout the week.

As hard as we try to make this category as effective as possible, individual realization is a perception that is unique to each person, and will be perceived differently from one person to another. Maybe some of our texts will hit you like a ton of bricks, but maybe they won’t even tickle you. Therefore, we are asking YOU for feedback. If our text is not “up in your grill” enough, let us know! If you have suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us! Remember, customer feedback is the most vital factor in making any company successful; we are directly providing you this service and we want to give you exactly what you want.

This category is collectively assembled by our Ambassador, former USA Olympian and overall a great-hearted lady – Jaime Komer.  Her messages are designed to bring you into her thoughts throughout a demanding week of “work”.  Being a former professional athlete, current health & fitness extraordinaire and international ambassador, Jaime delivers powerful & informative messages directly to you!

After competing in the Beijing ’08 Olympics and experiencing first hand the excitement and energy, she’s gearing up to root on USA for this upcoming Summer Olympics in London.  Follow her Olympian Mindset category for further updates on the Olympics, some healthy eating habits and her favorite advice towards a better lifestyle.

Lin electrifying New York and the rest of the world! (Chris Trotman / Getty Images)

Linsanity has brought the world to a recent state of frenzy.  Jeremy Lin has been bringing win after win for the New York Knicks. I mean, you can hardly go on your Facebook newsfeed without seeing a new meme glorifying Jeremy Lin.

Rudy Gay (NBA player) tweeted, “Jeremy Lin is killing right now, I’m always rooting for the underdogs.” Lin graduated from Harvard and joined the NBA undrafted.  He was picked up by the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, but was cut by both teams. The New York Knicks sent him down to D-League, and only really gave him playing time when the Knicks were desperate for a win against the Nets. From that point on, Lin had been consistently leading the Knicks to victory with a tremendous number of points and assists. But why is it that Lin had seemingly come out of nowhere and decided that he’s just going to start winning from now on?

Kobe Bryant said, “Players playing that well don’t usually come out of nowhere. It seems like they come out of nowhere, but if you can go back and take a look, his skill level was probably there from the beginning. It probably just went unnoticed.”  Lin couldn’t have just suddenly gotten better out of nowhere; there must have been some external factor that granted him the opportunity to prove himself.  When asked how Lin went from zero to hero, he said, “It’s a combination of the system, being able to fit into the system, being comfortable, being able to play through some mistakes, and then building confidence.”  Alright, ignore everything except the first six words. I think many can agree that by the style the Warriors play, it may have not been the fit for Lin to exert the best of his abilities. His capacity to assimilate with the Knicks’s playing culture has allowed him to utilize his agile speed and set up plays for his team.

So what can we take away from this Linspirational story? It’s simple. Find your system. No, not the Kobe system. YOUR system. This doesn’t have to apply to basketball, but in your habitual goals towards bettering yourself socially, physically, or even professionally. You don’t get buff by going to the gym everyday and lifting weights. You have to balance it out with a sufficient amount of cardio and running, and most importantly you have to EAT RIGHT. If you spend 10 hours a week at the gym, that means 94% of your week is spent NOT at the gym; that is when your muscles are broken down, repairing itself, and growing, and that’s when FOOD directly comes into play while your muscles are regenerating.

So this is just one of the many applicable stories, but all in all, FIND YOUR PERFECT SYSTEM. Think about all the factors that come into play when trying to achieve that goal, balance them out, and execute.

Need help staying dedicated while finding your perfect system? Let Poosh help motivate you!

To reach your goals, it’s 80% mental and 20% physical. The connection between the two is HUGE, and it’s worth your time to focus on both. Here are a few tips from Poosh Ambassador, Jaime Komer:

You and you alone decide how you react to a situation.  You have a choice as to how you FEEL.  This is an extremely powerful ability.  If this is true, that means that you get to actually decide whether something bothers you or not.

Have you ever walked into a room where everybody is in a great mood?  It’s absolutely contagious!  You can’t help but be lifted up by the positive and exciting energy.  Yet the opposite is just as effective.  If everyone is upset or in a bad mood, you feel it right away and it’s hard to not get dragged down with everyone else.

So what type of vibe are you sending out into the world?

I can’t help but ponder the possibility of what would happen if large masses of people shared the same positive energy, the same happiness.  I remember feeling the beautiful synchronized energy pulsating throughout the arena at the opening ceremonies at the Olympic Games.  It was a very humbling, yet inspiring moment.  Unfortunately we’ve also seen what happens when a mass of people share a negative agenda, we can see crime, chaos, and even war.

So how can we help train our minds to respond more positively to situations that we find ourselves in?

Within the eye-opening documentary, The Happy Movie, studies were shown that people who, on a weekly basis, write down things that they are thankful for, were consistently happier.  Man, I love being happy!  Who doesn’t, right?  Sometimes it just takes a little extra love, an extra happy thought, to make your day a great one.

Let’s try it out, shall we?  This will take a little reminding on your part – unless you want me to keep you accountable every week!

Write down 3 things that you are thankful for:
1.
2.
3.

*Write your answers down once a week*

Want to add a little bonus?  Share what you wrote with a friend, I’m sure you’ll get a smile!

There are always things to be thankful for in one’s life.  Sometimes it’s only a matter of how we react, how we decide to feel, and how we perceive what comes our way.  The power of optimism, my friends.  Let the contagious feeling spread!