The Body Politic

Treva Brandon Scharf: If you’re a political junkie trying to stay healthy during this election season, there’s nothing like two weeks of back-to-back political conventions with high drama and high stakes to throw you off your program and make you fat.

Treva Brandon Scharf: When it comes to quitting, you gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em. So how do you know when it’s time?

Treva Brandon Scharf: He’s called people liars, losers, even a pussy, but to me, the worst slight of all is being called “low-energy.” Low Energy Trump

Steve Hochstadt: American culture is fixated on skinny as a moral virtue, and encourages the denigration of those who weigh more. I too am critical of people who use worries about weight as a weapon to assert their superiority. That makes me an enforcer of “political correctness”.

Treva Brandon Scharf: When it comes to fitness, yoga gives you the most bang for your buck: it strengthens, lengthens, and relaxes all at the same time. It can invigorate or restore; it can energize or quiet the mind.

Treva Brandon Scharf: Very few people really ever push their bodies to its limits on any kind of regular basis, and there’s emotional and physical evidence that you can and should.

Treva Brandon Scharf: Yoga is many things to many people: exercise, discipline, relaxation and restoration. But it’s the higher, more spiritual calling and deeper connection of yoga that people are seeking.

Dave Zirin: She is our Jordan. She is our Jim Brown. She is our Babe Ruth, calling his shots. She is no longer content to dodge bullets, but understands how to stop them. Serena is that rare athlete who has not only mastered her sport. She’s harnessed it.

Treva Brandon Scharf: Confident people don’t bash themselves; they don’t let negative thinking and self-loathing screw up a good workout or undermine their progress.

Treva Brandon Scharf: Can't afford a gym membership? Get bored easily by exercise? Don’t want to run into your ex at Equinox? No problem! There's always the great outdoors - otherwise known as your local park.

Tiffany Phillips: Within minutes, my foot was falling asleep and I could feel a cramp in my leg so I switched positions, only to switch positions about 100 more times because I just could NOT get comfortable. I thought to myself, “This is some bullshit.”

Treva Brandon Scharf: You don’t have to be a marathoner – or even an athlete – to appreciate the kind of runner’s high you’ll get from setting a goal. All you need are some tried-and-true goal-setting strategies and a little determination to get you going.

Treva Brandon Scharf: Everything above your waist is immediately eye-catching, but how about what’s in your pants? Quads, glutes, and hamstrings are all crying out for love and attention too.

Treva Brandon Scharf: If you despise the gym, don’t despair. There’s a hiking club, tennis court, running group, or bike path near you. You've got no excuses, so get your ass up and get involved.

Treva Brandon: Here’s the bottom line with pot: you don’t have to smoke it, eat it, use it, or even like it. But if you're pro-business, enjoy tax revenue, and prefer a natural way to medicate, then just make sure you vote for it when it comes to a ballot box near you.

Treva Brandon Scarf: I am filled with the kind of dread, anger and worry that not even the stiffest martini will take away. I have “Post Election Stress Disorder (PESD),” and I’m pretty sure a lot of you progressives out there have it too.

Treva Brandon Scharf: Everyone should exercise their right to bare arms – just not in the state of Georgia though, where every Second Amendment nut job feels the need to show off their guns everywhere they go.

Treva Brandon Scharf: I use these parks and trails for exercise, for social time with friends, for activities with out-of-towners, for romantic outings, and for the spiritual benefits I get from communing with nature.