Music is God: Worship Your Body

It's that time of year. Summer is creeping up on us again - but this time not so slowly. The weather, while still jumping from rainy days to humid and cloudy, is just one of the reminders that summer is almost here. Of course, it's not going to be all fun and games, especially when everyone is worried about whether or not their perfect beach body will be ready on time - me included.

If you're like me, you know firsthand what it's like to constantly watch your weight. I always considered myself to be very lean and fit, running around all the time, playing sports and keeping away from an unhealthy diet. And then puberty hit.

Rapid weight gain, hips and acne. Wow, puberty did not do me well. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was not a pretty girl. Two and half years passed and everything changed. The weight dropped off and my skin cleared up thanks to my amazing dermatologist (kudos Dr. Katz!). I was ecstatic.

I'm 23 years old now and it is no longer a struggle to keep my weight down. However, the effects of my "ugly years" can still be felt. I still carefully watch what I eat and complain that I'm fat - as non-fat as I am. Even though I know I will never be fully satisfied with my body no matter how low my body fat percentage is I can change the way I feel by working out.

Working out has given me an outlet to relieve my stress, improve my stamina and get toned. I even get to listen to the underplayed songs that have gotten lost in the thousand-song shuffle that occurs daily on my iPod. I want to share an important tip with you about the one thing that you can do to your workout to keep it interesting and effective.

Cardio: If you're quick to put down cardio and say it's boring, you're not quicker than me. The idea of cardio is to get your heart beating fast enough and hard enough for it to burn more calories at a faster rate than normal. There are a lot of different things to do that will get your heart going and leave you gasping for air, but there aren't as many that you can do in front of everyone on the exercise floor.