Get With the Program!

So this post started off being about the fact that I signed up for a new training program.

Yep, I'm currently I'm up to my eyeballs in oligosaccharides and polypeptides and phospholipids, trying not to freak out about making my way towards the ACE Health Coach Certification. Which I'm psyched about! It seems to offer a solid foundation for exercise/nutrition assessment, planning, and programming, for any life and wellness coaching clients who should want that.

But for clients who like to do their own thing, they still can. I promise it won't make me all bossy all of a sudden.   I'm still a wishy-washy psychotherapist at heart and am much more likely to ask annoying questions than provide concrete advice.

So will you be hearing more about this shiny new program at some point?  You betcha! Lucky readers! All the details and implications of my educational endeavors will no doubt make for fascinating reading. Blame Malevolent Andrea who alerted me to this thing.
  
However, my signing up for an official, structured program does bring up a more general question that comes up all the time in a health and fitness context:

Do you get the best results by picking a good program and following it by the book?  Or is it better to navigate your own best path through a field of intriguing but possibly conflicting alternatives?

"Mute Monday"-- Not Quite as Catchy as "Wordless Wednesday." A Recent Bike-Walk-Run to the End of the World.

Ask The Personal Trainer: Hotel Room Workout

So in this next installment of "Ask the Personal Trainer," we take on the following question:

Do you have any recommendations for a portable 10-30 minute workout that could be done in a hotel room or other not-well-equipped space? Something that either just uses body weight or something that might be handy or wouldn't be too difficult or expensive to bring along?

So let's see what we got!

Turning 53 and Up to My Ass in Whey Protein Powder

Yep, in attempt to solidify my health blogging reputation as a PR rep's worst nightmare, this post is indeed partly about some very tasty 365 Everyday Value Vanilla Whey Protein powder.

How thrilled the folks at Whole Foods will be to see they've secured a great blog review accompanied by reference to, and a picture of, the reviewer's posterior!

But hey, we're all about multi-tasking here at Cranky Fitness, so the post is also about greed, aging, and birthdays.  Plus it contains a sincere cry for help.

Awesome Active Wear, Clever Backpacks, and Sneaky Bloggers

Yep, this is a product review post: some Kuhl active wear, (the shorts pictured above), as well as a Kuhl top and pair of pants, plus an Airbac Journey backpack.

And yes, it's a bit annoying when a blogger devotes a post to a bunch of pictures of herself wearing stuff she got for free and telling you what's good about them and what's not, but on the other hand...

Um, on the other hand....

Well shoot, at some point I'll figure out why it's not as annoying as it sounds.

 So, what's the "sneaky"part?