Ideal Bite

Survival of the Fittest

Wanna dominate at the gym...or at least hold your own when it comes to carrying your reusable bags of groceries (canned goods = serious weights)? Naturally, select one (or all) of our fitness tips to evolve your workout routine.

1. Take it outside.

Save some dough and still ditch that doughy tummy by forgoing the gym membership (and electricity-draining treadmill). Enlist Mama Nature (and all that mood-boosting vitamin D from the sun) to help you get fit by hitting local hiking trails, volunteering for park clean-ups, or trying out a simple 30-minute outdoor workout routine (burns at least 260 calories). Get the full Bite.

2. Clothes call.

Time to kick those '70s-style polyester sweatpants to the curb. Update your workout wardrobe with natural and sustainable fibers like bamboo and hemp to help your skin breathe when you're getting all sweaty (skin's responsible for 1/7 of your body's respiration). Also, check out cozy organic cotton options to keep pesticides at a distance (regular cotton production is responsible for 25% of the world's insecticide use). Get the full Bite.

3. Walk the walk.

For short trips, let your feet do the, uh, walking instead of hopping in the car. Even at a leisurely pace, you'll burn about 100 calories per mile. Plus, walking a mile a day instead of driving will save you about fifteen cents a day, and walking instead of driving 10 1-mile trips a week will avert about 500 pounds of CO2 emissions in a year. Get the full Bite.

4. Curl up and diet.

Skip the cost and potentially severe side effects of lipo and weight-loss drugs by slimming down naturally. Drink metabolism-enhancing green tea (which helps you burn up to 70 extra calories a day), eat breakfast to avoid overeating the rest of the day, and load up on grapefruit to combat diabetes and metabolize sugar. Get the full Bite.

5. Go to the mat.

Get a little closer to nirvana (and farther from nasty chems) while you're downward-dogging it by opting for an eco-friendly yoga mat. About 90% of conventional mats contain PVC plastic, which releases carcinogenic dioxins during production. Plus, natural rubber and fibers like jute provide better traction than plastic. Get the full Bite.

6. Leggo my preggo (pounds).

Get back down to your prebaby fighting weight with at-home workouts (save money on a gym membership and a sitter) that target problem areas like abs - some routines even involve the little one. Working out at your own casa with a DVD or podcast will also cut down on any transport emissions to the gym or driving your baby to the sitter. Get the full Bite.

7. Break the cycle.

Go Lance Armstrong with your wheels, and hop on a bike. You'll burn calories (about 173 an hour for casual biking) and save bucks - a typical fam spends about $8,000 a year maintaining a car. Plus, it's easy on the earth, since biking's pollution-free. Check out your local bike shops for great used bikes. Get the full Bite.

8. Gear up.

For most activities, you've gotta get equipped with the right sports gear, but opting for gently used equipment can save you some dough (it usually runs about half the price of new) and saves resources used for the creation, transport, and marketing of new gear. Plus, you'll keep the used stuff out of landfills and avoid wasting time breaking in the newbies. Get the full Bite.

9. Stair 'em down.

Avoid the awkward silences and proximity to others' BO by bypassing the elevator and taking the stairs instead. Climbing stairs burns up to 10 times more calories than standing in an elevator - plus, depending on the type, capacity, and usage, an elevator's yearly energy use can equal that of seven homes. Get the full Bite.

10. If the shoe fits...

If you're gonna hit the ground running, do it in an eco-friendly shoe. Big brands like Nike and Brooks now offer green options using locally sourced materials (Nike) and biodegradable midsoles (Brooks). Also, check out varieties using alternative materials like silicone-based rubber (rather than petroleum and PVC) and animal-free lines that jettison the leather. Get the full Bite.