Stargurl80's Blog

I think I might have found a book series that I enjoy even more than "Harry Potter" and "Lord Of The Rings"...Twilight!  I've always been a sucker for vampire lore.  I loved watching "Dracula" moves when I was growing up.  The "Underworld" movie series is one of my favorite of all time as well.  Along with vampire movies and books, I also have a soft spot (like many women) for romance.  When I first heard about Stephenie Meyers' romantic vampire book series, I knew I had to read it.

I was a little late on the "Twilight" train, but it was for the best since I managed to get my hands on a used copy online.  I stronlgly suggest that you buy cheap books online!  It sure is a lot cheaper than if you buy new books in bookstores.  Anyways, I must have burned through the first book, named "Twilight" after the series as a whole, in under 3 days.  Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down.  The story of Edward and Bella had me riveted!  Everything from the unique plot to the terrific development of supporting characters like Bella's father, Charlie, Jacob and James left me constantly wanting more.

I have since read "New Moon", "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn".  The most staggering thing that I've found from this saga is that it gets better as it goes!  I couldn't imagine any book being better than "Twilight" and then came "New Moon".  I couldn't imagine any book being more interesting and gripping than "New Moon" and along came "Eclipse".

As many of you know, they already released a movie version of "Twilight" which is absolutely fantastic.  They are looking to make each book into it's own movie which I am looking forward to beyond words.  If you haven't seen the movie, rent it!

If you are a girl who enjoys romance, action, interesting characters and books set in current times with unusual circumstances, pick up these books ASAP!  You will thank me later!

I don't normally harp on people who are doing something wrong at the gym. The fact that they are at the gym is respectable enough. However, there is something that I constantly see at the gym that not only gets on my nerves, but isn't going to help the person one bit.

If you are a girl who uses one cardio machine, whether it be an elliptical machine, step machine, treadmill, or exercise bike) don't use the same machine for more than 30 minutes. I know it is easy to simply use one machine...you don't have to wait, you don't have to do much cleaning etc. In the end, it won't be beneficial to you. There are a few reasons why I say this...

First off, it is very annoying when someone is hogging a machine for that long. Every time I see a girl reading a magazine or on the cell phone while she's walking on the treadmill, I'll always look over to see how long they have been on the machine. More often than not, they have been on or are planning on being on longer than 30 minutes. This is very annoying, and to be honest, a waste of a cardio machine.

Doing all of your cardio on one machine is better than not working out at all. However, it is far from optimal. Your body eventually gets used to the constant motion of an elliptical machine, for example. If you go to the gym 3 times a week and do a 45 minute elliptical workout every day, you will find that it is burning far less calories by the third week than it did at the beginning. Once your body gets used to an exercise, it won't work as well.

Since I brought up this complaint, I feel it necessary to explain the solution. Next time you are at the gym, try doing 3 or 4 different cardio machines for 10 or 15 minutes. Try working all of the cardio machine staples into your workout, and you can even throw push ups, sit ups, pull ups, boxing and jump rope into your workout. You will see that if you do this at a higher intensity, it will be a far better workout. Doing this, coupled with the body detox of a sauna or a body detox of a steam room will be far more beneficial to you (and everyone else) then spending all of that time on one machine.