All week long we’ll be offering our tips and ideas to help you tackle your (and our) New Year’s resolutions. Whether you’re a staunch believer in resolutions or not, we hope our cool picks will help motivate you as we hope they do for us!

Between weaning my fourth baby and the holiday eating season, I promptly packed those last 10 baby pounds right back on. Argh! With a spring break beach trip on the books, that means I’m determined to get back into shape before I’m forced back into a bathing suit.

Aside from tossing all the sweets, here are five cool picks that will help make your trips to the gym or even your at-home work outs much cooler.

1. Lululemon

After years of listening to all my
friends tell me how fabulous their workout clothes are, I decided to
toss out my old, stretched out yoga pants and splurge on a few new
pieces for myself. And from what I’ve heard, their fit and quality are
outstanding. And they actually make your butt look good. Your current
butt, that is. Definitely worth it.

If
there’s anything I’ve learned with working out after breastfeeding four
kids, a good sports bra is invaluable. My all-time favorite is the
Moving Comfort Fiona Bra, which offers
excellent support for girls of all sizes. And the adjustable velcro
straps (which you can fix with one hand) make these nursing friendly as
well. Just don’t breastfeed the baby while you’re working out. Heh.

When
I started a C25K program a couple
of years ago, the best advice I received was to get fitted for running
shoes. Since then, I’ve worn the same brand, that is until I found
Newtons, a special running shoe that’s made to produce a natural running
experience — sort of like those odd-looking barefoot running shoes but
with something you’d wear outside of working out. The cool color combos
(love the pink!) are a bonus.

Aside
from picking up Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea’s Run Like a
Mother Book, I strongly
recommend grabbing one of their awesome running shirts. The fit is super
flattering and comfy for any sort of work out, but I think the best
part are the sayings. My personal fave: Are my kids still chasing me?

For just under $8,
you can purchase 6 Week Six Pack and have Jillian
Michaels yelling at you for a solid 25 minutes, which is way cheaper
than the real thing. I lost almost all my baby weight after my 3rd baby
thanks to her DVDs; I use her Ripped in 30 DVD as a back-up when the weather isn’t cooperating for my runs.

Stay
tuned for more of our New Year’s Resolution help posts. And if you need
more help getting in shape for 2012, head over to Cool Mom Tech, where
you’ll find awesome gadgets to help you lose weight as well as ways to
use tech to shave off the pounds.

Cool Mom Picks is an amazon affiliate.