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Starting Over in New York City

This is the story of Vidya Thangirala, a true world traveler, who started a new life in New York City in her mid-30s. And over the last three years made it her new home. In this interview we discuss what it is like to build a new life in one of the busiest and most exciting cities in the world.

5 Steps for Building an Exercise Habit

I have been trying to build a life long exercise habit before turning 40 and I am about 10 weeks into a 6 month (plus the rest of my life) process. I can honestly say, I exercise now nearly every day (confession – I did stop when on vacation). In this post, I’ll quickly summarize the 5 steps that led to my own success so far. For more details, you can read my four part series on Building the Exercise Habit .

15 Great Quotes by Inspirational Women

In honor of International Women’s Day, here are 15 quotes by some of the most interesting and inspirational women out there – businesswomen, journalists, comediennes & politicians. Let their words inspire today as we celebrate women everywhere.

What it Takes to Be a Tech Entrepreneur

This is the story of Dan Lee, co-founder of Qalius and CTO of Pllenty. He had the heart of an entrepreneur before being an entrepreneur was in fashion and Toronto became the Tech and Innovation hub that it is today. In this interview I pick Dan’s brain about what it takes to be a Tech entrepreneur and learn about his journey.

Discover a New Side of You on Vacation (while still staying relaxed)

Going away on a sunny holiday to a resort? This is the only “free” time you’ll have for a while? Here are some easy ways to discover new parts of you without trying too hard that you can bring back to “regular” life.

Learning to Cook a Feast

This is a story of Adam, who doesn’t know how to cook but always wanted to learn and how he made his first “fancy” meal with the help of an up and coming Toronto Chef.

Building the Exercise Habit Part 4: Create a Simple Cardio/Weight Training Routine

Two years after turning 35 I realized that if I wanted to prolong my life, have mood stability, and prevent steady weigh gain – I have to start exercising regularly. I realized my days of cutting out carbs and going for walks to shed a few holiday pounds are gone. I needed to start regular cardiovascular exercise with strength/resistance training – and I have to do it regularly. Otherwise my risk of heart disease, diabetes, being unhappy and feeling less confident in my body go up, way up. As a skeptic of the diet and fitness industry, this was a hard truth to accept. Currently, I am about 40 days into building a lifelong exercise habit that will (hopefully) carry into my 40s, and I will write about what I learned in this series.

For a long, long time I was in denial that strength training was a crucial component of fitness. It never looked or felt particularly delightful – not like a step class or a brisk walk. I set out to prove that strength and/or resistance training was not necessary. But when everything I read indicated muscle loss with age is a real thing, I had no choice. So I built my routine, something super simple, repeatable that I can easily execute without much thought, day after day with both cardio and strength built into it.

Building the Exercise Habit Part 3: Identify & Remove Barriers

I am not sure why as a society we focus on motivation as the key barrier to exercising. Lack of motivation is one minor roadblock to regular exercise. There are SO many more impediments to building an exercise habit that are brushed aside as excuses. Here is my list below:

Building the Exercise Habit Part 2: Prepare for a Six Month Commitment

The mental preparation required for a six month+ commitment is completely different than a short term one. In order to make the exercise habit stick, it became a matter of weathering uncertainty and motivating myself 180 days in a row. I am still hoping that after six months, the habit will form and it will be much easier to just do my thing without having to motivate myself or be mindful of it on a daily basis.

Building the Exercise Habit Part 1: Understanding Habits

I am not competitive by nature – I personally think competition is a waste of energy as ultimately no one can win at EVERYTHING (also is it “winning” if no one gives a shit, more on that some other day). I do not play sports – I never had much opportunity growing up in Bangladesh but also not much talent either. So how do I make sure I exercise regularly? Even when I had endless time, I was not able to stick to an exercise routine long-term. Like many people, I joined a gym or a class. Then went 3 times a week for about 2-3 weeks, then dropped down to 1 time for another 2 weeks, then stopped altogether until next cycle, usually a month (or more) later.