Fitness

It is time to whip yourself into shape for bikini season. Waste no gym time with this total-body workout. It keeps the heart rate up while toning you from head to toe. Press play and get ready to get your sweat on!

Beginner yoga poses may look easy at first glance, but after holding your body still and feeling your muscles burn, you'll realize these poses are the ticket to rocking your swimsuit. Here are seven beginner yoga poses to strengthen and tone your bikini body. View Slideshow ›

This week, POPSUGARTV touched on everything that you need to get your Summer off to a great start. We counted down the best Office episodes of all time as we prepared for the series finale and found inspiration from nature to create a stylish Summer wardrobe. On the beauty front, we tested out new bronzers to get that perfect tan glow and shared our classic salsa recipe for you to use at your outdoor dinner parties. Click through to watch all these videos and visit POPSUGARTV for even more great shows! View Slideshow ›

If you're obsessed with reading labels, then you've probably come across the ingredient maltodextrin. Sounds like some type of sugar, but is it safe to eat? It'll settle your mind to know that this common additive is an easily digestible carbohydrate made from rice, corn, or potato starch (celiacs beware - it can also be derived from barley or wheat). It's made by cooking down the starch, and then acid and/or enzymes break the starch down even further. Maltodextrin is a white powder often used in processed foods as a thickener or a filler since it's fairly inexpensive, as well as in pharmaceuticals as a binding agent. You'll find it in canned fruits, snacks, cereal, desserts, instant pudding, sauces, and salad dressings. Since it contains fewer calories than sugar, it's also found in sugar substitutes, such as Splenda or Equal. Maltodextrin is usually used in such small amounts that it doesn't have a significant impact in terms of the amount of protein, fat, carbohydrate, or fiber it adds to foods. Although maltodextrin is processed and it's not the healthiest thing to put in our bodies, at least we know it's made from real food, not some nasty chemicals.

The pattern remains the same for a lot of us - we hibernate during the Winter months and get ready to shed our cold-weather selves as the weather heats up. By the time Memorial Day comes around, we're looking for a few smart ways to shed a few pounds before it's time to don that bikini. For other's, it's not as frantic: your cold-weather workout routine differs little from your bikini-ready one, and you're careful to balance comfort foods with fresh, low-calorie options all the time. We want to know: where do you stand on your Summer weight-loss goals? Are you looking to shape up for Summer, or does your diet and exercise plan remain the same throughout the year? popsugar pollAre You Shaping Up For Summer? Yes - I'd like to lose weight for Summer. No - I'm not changing any diet and exercise habits for Summer!

Anyone who runs a 10.5-minute mile needs to listen to this new 5K playlist on her next run. There's a little something for every runner's needs in this perfect blend of rock, pop, and soul. Subscribe to the Spotify playlist, then keep reading for the full list of songs.

Some things of lately: ( A bright and early Friday morning Sabino Canyon hike: (did about 4 miles) and then after breakfast, Livi and I met up with friends to play at the Children’s Museum for the morning. It’s so cute to watch Livi crawl up the foam rainbow with no probs, when not too long ago, she would perch on it apprehensively. She’s got the rainforest room conquered Home for naptime, chores for me, (I do little bits of cleaning throughout the week, but Friday is my cleanstravaganza day. A random tip: I mop the floors with dish soap and water. It works extremely well, and smells crisp and clean without overpowering. I do a second round with water to rinse, and then dry by “ice skating” with towels under my feet — nice bonus leg workout) When Liv woke up, I assembled lasagna with her on my back in the Ergo: She really wants to see what’s going on in the kitchen, but is still a little too small for one of these things. I made the meat, spinach and sauce mixture while she was napping, and when she woke up, she watched me put the layers together. No-boil pasta noodles, meat mixture (chicken sausage, spinach, garlic, marinara sauce, chopped fresh basil, oregano, splash of balsamic), ricotta mixture (with salt, pepper and a hint of nutmeg), sauce and goat cheese. I baked everything for 45 minutes, and then let it cool before wrapping and placing it in the fridge for us to quickly heat and eat Friday night. Saturday, I taught all day, and it was rough after being off for a week — I was out of breath after the World Beat warm up Dinner was Mongolian BBQ, (we need to switch it up more often!) and the evening was spent chilling at home. The Pilot had late nights last week, so I feel like I haven’t seen him very much lately. This week, I’m excited to use from produce from the market to make our dinners, in addition to our fresh herbs growing in abundance out back. Bella is shocked that everything is still alive…. Me too, Bell, me too. Here’s what’s on the tentative schedule this week: Prep ahead: Protein fudge (I’m officially obsessed) Baked chicken Smoothie packs Protein pancakes for the week Pancakes for Liv  Lunches/dinners: Curry chicken salad in romaine Smoothies (Smoothie a Day challenge is still going strong, even though I’ve been slacking with posting my smoothies and juices) Slow cooker chicken tacos Asparagus Caesar Salad Sweet potato pasta with grilled chicken and pesto Kale, avocado and strawberry salad Sunday: Teach Zumba Monday: Yoga Tuesday: OFF Wednesday: Teach Zumba, teach Barre Thursday: Teach DJ Dance Friday: OFF Saturday: Teach Zumba + weights What’s on the menu for you this week? Are you taking any new fitness classes or trying new recipes? Feel free to link away in the comment’s section! See ya later with some pics from the day xoxo Gina

Can you guess which supermodel went for a bike ride at the beach? POPSUGAR Quiz Guess Which Model Took Her Bike Out For a Spin? ? To see the comments on this, you must guess right or give up!

Whether you run on a treadmill and glance at the display, or keep track of your run outside with a GPS, it's nice to know how many calories you're burning, especially if weight loss is one of your goals. Here's a nifty chart to let you know what your pace and workout time translates to in calories burned. It can also help you figure out how intensely and how long you need to exercise in order to negate the cupcake you savored at lunch. *Calculations based on a 130-pound woman table.tiptable {border-collapse: collapse;} table.tiptable tbody {background: #acc;} table.tiptable tbody td, table.tiptable th { border-bottom: 4px solid #fff; border-left: 1px dotted #fff; vertical-align: top; padding: 10px; } table.tiptable th { padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left; background: #ccc; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em; font-weight: bold; font-size: 110% } table.tiptable tbody tr.odd {background: #FFCCCC;font-size:13px; } table.tiptable tbody tr {background: #eee; } Miles per hour Minutes per mile Calories burned in 20 minutes Calories burned in 30 minutes Calories burned in 45 minutes Calories burned in 60 minutes 3.0 20:00 66 99 149 199 3.5 17:00 72 108 162 216 4.0 15:00 81 122 182 243 4.6 13:00 90 135 202 270 5.0 12:00 144 216 324 432 5.5 11:00 162 243 364 486 6.0 10:00 180 270 405 540 6.6 9:00 200 300 450 600 7.0 8:30 214 321 482 643 7.5 8:00 225 338 506 675 8.0 7:30 243 364 547 729 8.5 7:00 261 391 587 783 9.2 6:30 279 418 628 837 10.0 6:00 297 446 668 891

Chock-full of protein, eggs are a quick and easy way to get protein any time of the day. From omelets in the morning to quiche at night, you may be shying away from the yolks to save calories and cholesterol. The yolk may contain all the fat, but it also contains most of the vitamins and nutrients. Take a look at the comparison below to see what you may be missing when you hold the yolks. table.tiptable {border-collapse: collapse;} table.tiptable tbody {background: #acc;} table.tiptable tbody td, table.tiptable th { border-bottom: 4px solid #fff; border-left: 1px dotted #fff; vertical-align: top; padding: 10px; } table.tiptable th { padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left; background: #ccc; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em; font-weight: bold; font-size: 110% } table.tiptable tbody tr.odd {background: #FFCCCC;font-size:13px; } table.tiptable tbody tr {background: #eee; } 1 egg white 1 egg yolk Calories 16 54 Total fat (g) 0 5 Saturated fat (g) 0 2 Cholesterol (mg) 0 210 Sodium (mg) 55 8 Carbs (g) 0 1 Fiber (g) 0 0 Sugars (g) 0 0 Protein (g) 4 3 Vitamin A (IU) 0 245 Vitamin B12 (mcg) 0 0.3 Vitamin D (IU) 0 18.2 Calcium (mg) 2.3 21.9 Folate (mcg) 1.3 24.8 Potassium (g) 53.8 18.5 Selenium (mcg) 6.6 9.5 Omega-3s (mg) 0 38.8 The yolks are where it's at if you're looking to up your intake of vitamins A, B12, and D, as well as your daily calcium, folate, and omega-3s. If it's cholesterol you're worried about, the recommended limit is about 300 mg a day. That means you could enjoy an egg a day if you wanted to, but it's important to be mindful about how much meat, cheese, and other dairy products you eat during the rest of the day.