Getting Online to Look Fine

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Lesbian fitness trainer Shawnee Harkins may not be in the running for surgeon general, but she’s been steadily climbing the bars of the celebrity fitness trainer ladder for years now. She’s part of Dr. Phil’s personal trainer team on The Ultimate Weight Loss Race (debuting Jan. 27), she has a fitness video series on shewired.com and she hosts regular fitness and nutrition spots on KTLA in Los Angeles. Heck, she’s even on a rip-off of The Apprentice, dubbed The Hydra Executives, that’s set in Dubai (which makes us all kind of jealous).

Since it’s the new year and we’re all trying to keep to our resolutions – day four of your editor’s natural foods meal plan is going well, thanks – we asked Shawnee to give Queerty readers some tips and advice on how to stay healthy without giving up your crippling Internet addiction.

QUEERTY: It’s the beginning of the year, you’ve been pigging out over the holidays and there’s the urge to get in shape. What’s the best way to start?

Shawnee Harkins: The best way to get in shape for the New Year, and to get out of the “holiday stuff your face rat race,” is to write your goals down on paper! When you write your goals down on paper, you activate attraction, accountability and consistency. Picture the “body image” you would like to create for yourself, and put that baby down on paper!

What’s a good and or realistic fitness goal to make as a New Year’s Resolution?

The perfect and most realistic goal for the New Year’s Resolution should be one that is time-bounded! Any goal both large or small is attainable when you have a clear and specific time to reach it! A realistic goal may start off like this: change my eating habits and make healthy food choices, stop eating until I am stuffed and only eat until I am satisfied. For your fitness activities, you might include visits to the gym, and find a work out partner. You would tell yourself to take less time laying on the couch, and more time “working on your sexy.” Everyone’s goals are unique, but they all start with vision and a plan!

What’s a bad or unrealistic fitness goal? What makes it bad?

A bad or even unrealistic fitness goal is one that is not planned out or consistent in its own design. When you commit to a fitness goal and/or plan, you make an obligation to yourself, and perhaps others, that you must fulfill. And anytime you just plain give up because it’s too hard or you get to feeling lazy, then this makes your new fitness goal bad and/or unrealistic. So, what do you do when you are hitting a rut? Stop making excuses, buck up and get back on the saddle! You are priority, you are special, so treat your health as such!

What can you do to keep your commitment to your New Year’s fitness goal?

There are several steps you can take to keep your commitment to you New Year’s fitness goals. First, write your new fitness goal(s) on paper, develop a program to achieve your goal and tell everyone! Vision written out on paper activates motivation, consistency and accountability to yourself. If you are unsure on how to develop a proper and safe program for your fitness goal, go to the professionals! Consult with a Certified Personal Trainer and/or Nutritionist that will properly, safely and effectively design your fitness program! You are worth the investment, be it time and money, so invest in yourself. Tell everyone you know, believe in, and are close to, that you need their support to achieve the new you!

What’s going to be the big trends in fitness this year? Are we all going to be doing Thai kick boxing or ballet or what?

Everyone loves new fitness tips to get their bodies to the next level, so what will this year’s fitness trends be? Online, online, online! Online personal training will make a splash this year, as everyone are busy bee’s always on the go. Online personal training offers a safe and effective fitness program, and at a low budget price. There are several online programs, out there–some Grade A, some grade C. Make sure when you are selecting an online program, you find it user friendly and fun to take part in. An online program will automatically incorporate accountability, and consistency to your goal, that is–if you log on!

With the economy collapsing, people don’t have a lot of money to spend on fitness. What’s the best way to stay fit on a budget?

With the economy in the crunch that it’s in, don’t let that be an excuse to refuse your crunches! There are so many resources and tools out there to keep you moving a long at staying fit! The best way to stay fit on a budget is to research and access various tools. If you find yourself wanting to work with a personal trainer, but the pocket book is tight, then utilize an online personal training web site—the subscriptions are usually low as 20 bucks a month. Grab a workout partner to keep you accountable and to have fun in the gym with. Take yourself out for jogs and/or walks in the mountains, as hiking can always be a lot of fun. Join a boot camp or dance class. You can even shave your one hour personal training sessions to half hour sessions. There are so many ways to stay active, and fabulous, you just have to put your mind to the test, and your body will follow!

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