March Madness for Health

Lately with Trader Joe’s opening and all, I have been pounding down delicious but not-so-healthy stuff. I’ve still been doing my workouts and eating mostly well, but I haven’t been focused. It’s time to get back into the groove. So it’s time to put aside the multiple slices of banana cake, overdose of “Gone Bananas,” and gorging of licorice. It’s time for moderation. I’m not saying I’m doing away with all sweets or junk (after all I’m not in contest prep), we still have to have our Hangry & Fat (obvious alter egos) moments, but it will be limited. Roughly a 90/10 type of deal. I’m going to lay it out nice and clean for myself and for you if you should join me.

The dangerous stuff…

Operation Be Healthy, Feel Great

Overview: To make you feel great, you need to treat your body well. This means focusing on proper nutrition first. Following a rough 90/10 ratio of healthy to indulgence, moderation through limiting treats and “cheat” meals. Follow a workout split and try to follow as closely as possible. Rest days should be few, but workouts will be varied. Clean eating is the main focus

Rule #1: 3 cheat meals per week. Whether that be a piece of cake, a pizza dinner, or going crazy with nachos. Count each one, but it can be WHATEVER you want. 🙂

Rule #2: Follow a workout split and stick to it. Make workouts a priority. Schedule them and plan them for the entire week. 1 rest day per week allowed.

Workout Split (not including cardio):

Legs (to support my 2014 goal of squatting 200lbs)
Back (to support my 2014 goal of 8 pull-ups in a row)
Arms + Shoulders
Core
Circuit (always fun to try new circuits out there and switch it up)
Yoga (because damn, my hamstrings are tight)
Chest (to support my 2014 goal of benching 100lbs)

I am happy with my shoulder progress though

Rule #3: Each strength workout should be matched with a cardio workout at least 5 times per week. Not including multiple walks with the pup

Rule #4: Meal plan at least the night before. I know Chris and I well enough that I’m not going to commit myself to Sunday meal planning (though I should). We are too spontaneous for that. Instead, I will write down a lunch and dinner plan each night so we don’t end up ordering pizza when I’ve spent all my cheat meals. Meals should look like a lot of veggies, clean carbs, and protein (including tuna, tofu, and protein drinks).

Rule #5: You are allowed dark chocolate, but girl, take it easy. For myself, I will allow myself a square of dark chocolate after one meal per day. That should satisfy my sweet-craving and allow some willpower to stop myself from eating 12 Gone Bananas at once.

Chris and I split a pint of Glacier ice cream a few nights ago

Rule #6: Get rid of the crap now. This means that today I am bringing in the stuff I know that will tempt me (again, I am not restricting myself completely, just want to stop any binge or gorging on stuff) to work! That Trader Joe’s strawberry licorice or the banana cake I baked will be out of the apartment and into some grateful mouths. Sounds like a nice switch.

Rule #7: Meditate every day. Because meditating makes me a happier, healthier person. Simply that.

Pharrell’s “Happy” is what goes on in my head

Rule #8: Record everything. I personally use MyFitnessPal (add me: nanathetiger), but I’m open to any kind of recording. Recording what you eat and exercise really helps you see what you’re doing with your body and also gives motivation. Record even the bad stuff!

I think that’s good for now. This will last for the entirety of March and I will see how I feel at that point. It may be eight “rules” but really they are just guidelines on paper to help me remember my goals and how I want to accomplish feeling great every day. It’s not about the way I see myself in the mirror, it’s how I feel sitting in this chair, writing this post. I feel blah, so I want to clean up my habits. Pure and simple. It’s not that we are super unhealthy–we are close to the opposite. But I want to step it up a notch. I’m ready to sweat hard with clean nutrients in my body. Who’s with me? Join me for #marchmadnessforhealth. Yes I just made that hash tag up. Let’s do it up!

Question of the Day: What makes you want to get healthier?

PS- We recently learned that we got accepted as a FitFluential Ambassador. We are THRILLED about the news. More information coming your way.

BONUS KITTY PIC

Sleepy Sajah

Feb282014

Walking in Winter Weather: Do It Safely and Know Your Limitations

This is a guest post by Eva McElwain Tucci AKA Gammianne and mom to Hungry

I think that the majority of us would agree that it has been a rather unusual and harsh winter with near record snowfalls in many areas of the country. I was always an active and physical child, however, a Phys Ed assignment my sophomore year in High School led me onto the path of a more organized exercise regime (Thank you Mrs McCormack!!). Our assignment was to choose two sports which we either had to participate in , or choose a spectator sport. As my family was somewhat limited on funds (I am one of nine children) I chose to roller skate, an activity which I had been attending with my Church Group for years and asked my teacher if I could design an exercise plan for myself as my second activity. Being a nerd and overall highly graded student, I was given the go-ahead. That was in 1975 and little did I know when I made that decision that I would be choosing a path for life .

Although disabled in 2008 by a rather serious spinal cord injury at C5, I have been exercising since 1975 and spent many years being a gym rat. I do routinely go to the gym five or six days a week although many of my exercises have been curtailed due to injury and I do have limitations in what I am permitted to do .

Currently away from home , I have not been to the gym since December 22nd (yikes). Instead, I have been largely walking which has been challenging with all the ice and snow (I cannot afford a slip and fall) so I am writing about how to walk outdoors safely in this weather as I have heard too many stories about people slipping, falling and breaking bones and they are much younger than I , not to mention in physically better shape.

The photos in this post show my daily walk (read more at Winter Ninja). It has not been plowed and there are many icy patches as well as uneven terrain. So..what do I do ? I have been walking on top of the snow, simple enough as there is traction to be had there. Rather than walk on the pathway , which is riddled with patches of ice as well as frozen slush making for a ridiculously easy scenario to slip and fall I keep myself on the snow, which today was covered in an icy coating . I am heavy enough to make an impact but light enough not to sink in. Other days there has been more snow and I have,again, learned about limitations.

The weather has warmed up a bit and that crunchy upper layer is uncertain. Again, I walk with great trepidation over any areas that are icy and I definitely recommend avoiding them (beware as if there is a thin coating of snow there is almost certainly ice beneath that, which is quite dangerous) . I was walking last week and the snow was not solid enough ..there was neither tracks or footprints and at points I was slipping in to the ankle while the other leg went in knee-deep. NOT smart…I did happen to fall into a puff of soft snow, and possibly , for the first time in my life I stopped in my tracks and turned around and went back which is something my younger and more fit ego would never have permitted. At almost 55 and with some serious injuries I made a decision to not take the chance and that is okay .

I still go out daily and check the terrain. Yesterday, after yet another snowfall, I went to a familiar and quiet neighborhood and walked around the streets (and in the streets when necessary) . It is almost always possible to get in some type of exercise…you need to know yourself, your limitations and be wise about what you are doing . It is always possible to stay Hungry & Fit as I am a testament to this. Hungry used to fall asleep in the crook of my body while I was doing sit-ups when he was a baby. 🙂

Feb232014

Best Ways to Burn Calories: Jump Rope

A long time ago, I started this series about alternate forms of “cardio” and suggested swimming. It was a pretty popular post and we got tons of questions about how to incorporate it into individual’s workouts. Now, since I have started working out a bit… again, it struck me that I should state my opinion on jumping rope.

Every discipline has its hero. Buddy Lee is that man when it comes to jump rope and as a result of watching a recent Buddy Lee video, I decided to go back to trying to get my jump rope game in its proper place. Two weeks ago, with my heavy rope, after 20 minutes of double-unders, I finally got a triple under and then stopped before my shins split in two. It’s challenging yet simple, effective yet easy, and there are tons of ways to jump rope… so let’s talk a bit about them in this introduction to jump rope.

Buddy Lee! (Image source)

Most people hit the machines when they need to burn calories or perform their “cardio.” In gyms, the easiest ways of doing this, keeping track of time, your heart rate and burned calories is with a machine such as a bike, treadmill or elliptical. Steppers are getting more popular although I love Jacob’s Ladder (Google it). As I mentioned before, swimming is more difficult because it is naturally more challenging and also makes it harder to really keep track of the calories you burn. Jump rope is in a similar realm which is why you don’t see it being used as a typical form of cardio.

Preparing for jumping!

But that’s enough of me dragging on, let’s look at some terms and what you need to consider.

1. There are different kinds of ropes. Cheap ropes. Expensive ropes. Light weight and heavy weight ropes. Ropes made of leather, sand filled rubber, cable and more. Your goals and style will dictate what kind of rope you should buy. If you are like me, you have just about every kind of jump rope. My recommendation is to buy a cheap one first before you make a bigger investment since not everyone enjoys it. Once you get serious, look at Buddy Lee’s line of jump ropes. (I’m not sponsored or paid by them, but they have served me well over the years.)

2. There are different kinds of workouts where you can jump rope. Do you want to have fun? Are you trying to get certain results? How about a little bit of both? Is it your warm up for a muscle workout? Is it a cool down or maybe even a part of a circuit? Jump rope can fit anywhere in there and whether you are a boxer, martial artist, sport athlete, or someone trying to stay in shape, it can be very beneficial to you.

3. There are different ways to jump rope. You can go for an hour straight or go in intervals. You could use a heavy rope for five minutes of single unders and then skip to a cable speed rope for a minute of triple unders. You could stay in place or move in any direction. You could stay on flat ground or integrate boxes into the workout. Any of these can help take away the monotony that is often associated with jumping rope for fitness.

4. There are different techniques. Some people at this point might not know what single, double or triple unders are. The name refers to the number of times the jump rope goes under your body. Heavier ropes make it more difficult while speed ropes typically make it easier. You can touch your toes or heels to the ground, use the full foot, alternate feet, hop laterally, high knees, kick your butt, essentially there are tons of variations and you can make your own up. Just remember to take your joints into consideration to properly distribute the impact throughout your whole body.. not just your ankles, knees, hips, spine, etc.

5. You can play with weights. I typically throw on some extra weight. When I used to jump rope every day, I would use a 40 lb weight vest, two 10 lb ankle weights, two 5 lb wrist weights and two 3 lb hand weights. That way I could jump at 306 lbs and then drop down to 225 and feel the difference. Be smart when adding weight, in terms of where and how much you add.

I am going to link a motivating Buddy Lee video below and eventually do a full YouTube video on jump rope because it is my personal favorite form of “cardio.” Look forward to more content on jumping rope and let me know in the comment section below about specific questions referring to technique, workouts, products, and what is right for you!

OH, and how could I forget to introduce Buddy Lee, an American hero and one of the greatest individuals in the world of fitness. He is an Olympic wrestler, International motivational speaker, and trainer to US soldiers and professional MMA fighters. I’m not anywhere near as skilled as Buddy but I have my own style that focuses on power and explosiveness, which is highlighted when I do triple unders with a regular rope with 100 lbs of added weight. Jump rope to stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Caught the cuties cuddling!

Feb192014

A Review of Neila Ray Workouts

Now this may be a review and critique of Neila Ray’s workouts, but I want to in no way de-value her workouts. I think what she is doing is great. She is a graphic designer that puts workouts into a friendly and accessible way. I love when people get other people to workout. The action to help other strive for health should always be appreciated. That being said, I wanted to give you how I felt about eight of her workouts, how they treated me, and just a basic review.

Neila Ray likes to put workouts into themes. The ones that my friend, Jamie, sent me are pretty much Superhero workouts with the exception of Jedi and Stormtrooper. I did these eight workouts as a workout challenge, doing one after the other. I didn’t exactly see how the exercises related to their respective superheroes, but I was game to try it. All of them did not require weights which is great for people who don’t have a gym or home gym. Again, I never want to diminish people trying workouts, I am simply giving my own take.

Day 1: Flash

I have no knowledge about the superhero, Flash, so I cannot comment on how the exercises relate to him. But I am assuming it has something to do with speed. This was surprisingly one of the toughest workouts of all eight. The high knees with the other exercises was a difficult combination and definitely left me gasping for more air and sweating. For me, un-weighted squats almost have no effect on me since I’m used to squatting 95lbs or so. A little repetitive with pushup/plank position.

Feb172014

Weekly #Workout Plan

As you may or may not know, we just got a puppy, so it’s going to make our workout lives a little different. One of us should be with Noke as much as possible as she really shouldn’t be left alone for more than 2-3 hours, so that means we split up more. Which means we don’t get to go to the gym together (womp womp) and we have to take turns! This went okay over the weekend, but now comes the work week and I’m not exactly sure how it’s going to pan out. All in all, we just have a lot less time and flexibility to workout. But here is our plan…

Hungry

Monday: Legs, get some power and explosiveness back, hit the jump rope and box jumps hard
Tuesday: Core, focusing on strengthening my lower abs, which have always been weak
Wednesday: Back and biceps, trying to peak out my biceps and strengthen the lower back
Thursday: Shoulders, packing some strength and size onto my front delts, side delts, and traps
Friday: Chest and triceps, building that inner chest from top to bottom, thickening the triceps
Saturday: Legs, getting some size and strength back, balancing the hamstrings and quads
Sunday: Core, focusing on full core exercises such as planks and hanging medleys

Fit

Monday: Core and Elliptical
Tuesday: Circuit Training and Run
Wednesday: Yoga and Swim
Thursday: Chest and Run
Friday: Legs and Elliptical
Saturday: Back and Swim
Sunday: Arms/Shoulders and HIIT

And all those days will be supplemented with additional walking with the new pup. Who knows if we will hit every workout. I’m sure there will be days where we just want to flop down because of puppy exhaustion, but I believe it is very important to make a plan! Create a workout schedule to stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Day: What’s your ideal time to workout?

BONUS PUPPY PIC

Feb122014

What’s in Your Gym Bag? Part 1

This is labeled “Part 1” because you will get Fit’s gym bag in a few posts later! There is no definitive answer to this one since I have so many gym bags for different gyms and types of workouts. I stock different bags depending on what and where I plan on working out. We have a huge amount of our own workout equipment and once again, depending on my goals and plans, this can change greatly. I will, however, say what I always have in my gym bag… 90% of the time.

Creepy picture of my gym bag!

Tiger Balm. A lot of it. Ultra Strength tins and Muscle Rub tubes. Whenever I am sore or stiff, I like to apply some muscle rub to my muscles and/or ultra strength to my joints. I have a pocket that holds about two of each.

The other side pocket has a few locks. I usually keep a combination lock and a key lock, with the key in it. I workout at a few facilities and most of them provide lockers but no locks. I don’t typically bring a wallet to the gym and I keep my phone on me for music and recording my workouts but I would rather someone not steal my clothes while I am swimming so I have to drive home in my towel.

The front section, in my normal gym bag that I have been using lately (one of Alana’s old soccer bags), holds my staple swimming gear for my post-workout recovery swims. I have my towel from Korea, a size 30 Dolfin ugliezzzzz drag suit, Speedo contoured paddles, and prescription Speedo vanquishers with a bungee.

In the big section, I usually keep my Flexsports elastic wrist straps, an old leather belt, a heavy resistance band, two utility jump-ropes, a clean gym towel, my Big & Little’s snapback/trucker hat, some knee wraps, two Captains of Crush (right now a Trainer and Level 1), a Lacrosse ball, ProGryp circle grips, 3B Kinesio tape, an Aylio heavy hand extensor band, and a pair of Madgrip utility gloves.

Those are the staples. Clothes change, supplements change, footwear changes, and additional gear changes, again, depending on the workout. I might bring a weight vest, ankle weights, wrist weights, different grips, fins… who knows… we have a lot of stuff.

I didn’t include all the details such as color, brands, sizes, etc but there is a lot of information here. I usually try to workout with as little equipment as possible, but it is nice having it available if I decide to use it. So there you have it, that is my current staple gym bag.

If you are looking for something specific but you are unsure, feel free to ask and we can point you in the right direction! Remember any additional equipment should be used a tool but never a crutch! Use it to improve but use it in moderation and don’t let it use you! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Day: What do you have in your gym bag?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Feb102014

Monday Meditation

I teach a Meditation every Monday and I believe it’s a good way to set up and shape the week ahead. I can’t think of a better thing to do on a Monday, before the madness and stress of the week totally grabs you. You can either let the week rule you, or you take control of the week. It’s the difference between stress and happiness. And it can only take 5 minutes. When I wake up to face the day, I either go for a morning walk or I do three sun salutations and meditate for a few minutes. It leaves me refreshed, calm, and ready to take on the week with a smile. Here’s the meditation I did today, very simple:

Beautiful nature always helps for meditation!

Start by sitting upright in a comfortable position
Then begin your active breathing…using the counting method, inhale for four counts, hold at the top for four counts, and exhale for four counts. Do this for a few minutes until your mind and body calms down
To move to the focus of this meditation, I want you to think of kindness and inhale the kindness, and exhale entitlement. Inhale kindness, exhale entitlement. Do this for a few minutes until you have a smile on your face.
Finish with three big stress relief breaths. Use your body and raise your shoulders as you inhale, and exhale with a loud breath (as if sighing), slumping forward. Do this three times.

And that’s it. Only takes a few minutes and really sets a beautiful tone for the day. I focused on breathing in kindness (because we all need more of that) and exhaling entitlement because I believe entitlement always leads to other problems like greed, anger, frustration, and so forth. I hope you do this meditation sometime this week! I promise it will be worth it. And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Feb052014

At-Home Abs!

Alright, folks, no excuses here! Let’s get a core workout out on the table so we can beast our way to the health we want! This workout is designed to be done at home, though you can obviously do it anywhere. The world is in need for more home workouts to prevent excuses of time, lack of gym, or lack of energy. Whenever I’m feeling meh, I know that I can motivate myself enough for a home workout whether it be arms, shoulders, core or so forth. So let’s get going! (My apologies for the absolutely terrible lighting!)

1. 3 sets of weighted crunches. Hold a weight, lift up your feet, and reach for the sky. Until failure (until you can’t complete another rep)

2. 3 sets of weighted russian twists. If these are too hard with a weight, drop it. Sit on your bum, lift your feet so you’re balancing, and twist from side to side, turning your shoulders completely. 12 reps on both sides.

3. 3 sets of jackknife. Use a stability ball for this one. Place your shins on the ball and get into a push-up position. Using your feet, bring the ball in towards your chest and then back out. This one is one of my favorites. Until failure.

4. 3 sets of stability ball crunches. Put the small of your back on the ball and simply do a small crunching motion up. Keep your abs activated. Until failure.

5. 3 sets of side touches. Stand up tall and reach side to side, creating resistance for your obliques (or love handles). 20 reps on each side.

6. 3 sets of Spider Man planks. Get into a typical plank position (forearms and toes on the floor). Now bring your knee up near your arm and then the other. It looks like Spider Man crawling up a wall. Until failure.

7. 3 sets of 6 inches. Lay on your back, put your hands under your bum and raise your legs six inches off the floor and hold for 30 seconds.

8. 1 set of plank. Forearms on the ground, core strong, back straight, and toes touching the ground. Go for 1 minute.

For me, I threw on some “timed abs” on at the end, but even without it, the above is an incredible workout for your core! If this seems too long for you, just reduce the number of sets. I usually like to do them in supersets, meaning pairing two exercises together and do them back to back. No excuses! Do this workout to stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: What’s your favorite core workout?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Can’t get over the adorable-ness of this picture…and yes they did that by themselves

Feb032014

Workout Challenge and Weekly Round-Up

Happy Monday all! Well…not if you’re a Broncos fan. That game was painful to watch. Anyways, onto the good stuff. Another week has gone by (happy February!), and we are hungry for more workouts! First, let’s see how we did last week. You can see in this post, what our plan was for this past week. May not actually match up completely, but maybe we didn’t do so badly.

Hungry

Chris and Piper (a dog we babysit)

Monday: Rest day (stress and rescue scuba class)
Tuesday: Rest day (stress and rescue scuba class)
Wednesday: hour long lower body strength workout, hour long lower body circuits focusing on box jumps and jump rope
Thursday: filmed two hours of swimming instructional videos, arm strength workout using circle grips to increase forearm strength
Friday: 75-90 minute shoulder strength workout focusing on pre-exhaustion and the shoulder support system (hurt right shoulder, somehow, and couldn’t lift arm rest of day!)
Saturday: Was Hangry & Fat (lots of video games, pizza, soda, and cookies)
Sunday: 60 minute chest and triceps strength workout

Fit

Getting ready to chow down at our favorite gourmet pizza place

Monday: Legs and Elliptical
Tuesday: Arms/Shoulders (at home) and long walk
Wednesday: Core (at home) and elliptical
Thursday: 1 mile run
Friday: Chest/Back and 20 min elliptical
Saturday: Rest day (being Hangry and Fat, lots of pizza and video games)
Sunday: 2.75mi walk

So maybe we didn’t hit our mark exactly on the dot, but we didn’t fare too poorly either. I’ll let Chris write his workout plan for the week, but I’m going to be doing something a little different this week. This is the Workout Challenge. My friend, Jamie (you can see pics of her in this post), sent me this link of various workouts in “Superhero” formats. At my job, I’ve been creating a Superhero workout program, so it definitely interested me. Before I can critique or properly review it, I must try it. It’s 8 workouts so I’ll be doing it Monday to Monday. It slightly screws up my own workout split, but I’m okay with it because I’m still going to add separate cardio and do certain exercises (like squats, bench press, and pull-ups) when I would have anyways. I’m excited to tell you guys all about it at the end! Do it with me!

Hungry here…Last week didn’t work out so well because of a nagging cold, with lots of congestion, some shoulder issues, and being attacked by a dog, so I won’t set the bar so high this week. Maybe I’ll just try to get better, get rid of my cold, rest my shoulder and knee, etc.

Hungry

Monday – Back and biceps workout, using circle grips to activate forearms more in every exercise
Tuesday – Isolated core workout focusing on all the abdominals, lower back, and hips.
Wednesday – Recovery day, easy swim, hot tub, sauna, eat a lot
Thursday – Shoulders and arms, working on strengthening those shoulder as always
Friday – Lower body, lots of hamstring work and pickup basketball, if the knee is feeling better
Saturday – Chest and core, lots of planks and pushups
Sunday – Back attack!!!

Fit

During a morning at-home core workout!

Monday: the “Flash” workout, heavy squats, and elliptical
Tuesday: the “Jedi” workout and run
Wednesday: the “Batman” workout, pull-ups and swim
Thursday: the “Thor” workout, bench press, and run/elliptical
Friday: the “Spiderman” workout and swim
Saturday: the “Stormtrooper” workout
Sunday: the “Arrow” workout and elliptical

So that’s the plan for us, I’m betting we will stick to it pretty well. Mine is perfectly prescribed which makes it easy to stick to and Chris’ week isn’t as crazy as last week. Remember that making a workout schedule for the week really helps keep you on track. Is anyone with me to try the week of these “themed” workouts? It’ll be fun! Make a workout schedule to stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Week: Do you ever do themed workouts?

BONUS…SNAKE PIC!

Dovah wants to be brass knuckles

Jan282014

WaterFi Waterproof iPod Nano Review

This is a guest post from our good friend, Nerdy Neanderthal, a nerdy fitness dude (see pic below). Expect more posts from him ranging from workouts to beer discussions to nerd surges!

Sick tattoo!!

Pros:

Good price point (156 dollars)
Helps monotony
iTunes is easy to use
Small size
Free Headphones

Cons:

Doesn’t function the way it should (can’t skip songs!)
Sound is inconsistent above and below water
Can easily get in the way
Headphones wont stay in

This product barely does what it is supposed to do. I hopped in the pool and clipped the nano to my suit. Swam one lap, that was great, but it was all downhill from there. Buttons stuck, hollow sound and most of my workout with less than two headphones in my ears.

Before even going into my swim, my biggest problem with this product is its functionality: I CAN’T SKIP SONGS! Customer service told me that the buttons can get stuck in the water-proofing process. Solution, put the iPod between a desk and a heavy book and press down in circular pattern. I did all this and all I got was a better understanding of the word, “futility.” This is a huge issue for me because I listen to 40 minute podcasts when I do cardio. So if you listen to quick songs and make a good playlist ahead of time, this won’t be a big issue.

Now, to get to my actual swim. Off the first flipturn of my swim, I push with moderate force and out pops the right earbud. Finish the lap, readjust. Third wall less push but same result. Put a cap on over my ears and now when the headphones come out they hang half in your ear; both physically annoying and psychologically. I get the hang of pushing weakly off the wall and using my biceps during streamline to squeeze the headphones back into place. Even when I did hit a rhythm the sound is hollow and far away below water.

Like the night before a hangover, this product seems like a good idea at the time. It’s cheap, barely more expensive than the base Nano, came with free waterproof headphones, and dropped off by USPS free of charge. (I used Amazon) The computer side of the input is a breeze for anyone familiar with Apple products. The size is a great plus, exact same diminutive size as the regular Nano; easily fits in any pocket. When I got the headphones to stay in, the right track on the Nano, with the correct volume it did create that “in the zone” feeling I was looking to obtain.

My thoughts on this MP3 player are hugely mixed. My Nano couldn’t skip tracks, creating this feeling of uselessness in the device. The headphones that came with this product were garbage, both in sound and staying in during rigorous exercise. But even with these massive negatives, it is still a waterproof Apple iPod for barely more money than its base partner. Like the proverbial moth to the flame, I will come back to this device once I can get it working properly. I can not damn this product, but I do wish to severely hedge your expectations.