The best advice sometimes really does come from around the water cooler.

When a co-worker opened a packet of purple powder and slipped it into her water glass at 3 p.m. on a sluggish workday, I took note and went out to track down my own extra energy supply. My Vitality is a vitamin rich pick-me-up that helps to re-energize while reducing stress levels.  Caffeine-free (it relies on natural ingredients) and flavoured with juice concentrates, this mid-afternoon routine is worth scheduing in, especially if it steers us away from an afternoon snack served from a vending machine.

Drink in the energy boost. —Jaelyn Molyneux

$5.99 per three pack at www.drinkintuition.com

Junk food, we need to have a word with you.

We get it – you’re irresistible. You’re salty, you’re sweet and you’re always there for us when we crave you. But you see, we’re trying to stick to our eat-healthier-and-work-out-more resolutions so it’s time we parted ways. We’re going to opt for plant-based recipes designed for peak athletic performance (or at least the occasional jaunt on the treadmill) instead. While we may not be able to stick to the whole Thrive Foods diet, we love snacking on homemade energy bars instead of, you know, junk food.

So brush that potato chip off your shoulder. —Kelsey Dundon

Thrive Foods by Brendan Brazier ($20.36) www.amazon.ca

We’ve got the resolve, we’ve got the gear, and we’ve got the year-long gym pass.

Now all we need is a handy-dandy case to carry it all in. Enter the GLO Bag (Gym Locker Organizer). With two built-in shelves and three compartments, it hangs upright in your locker and unzips completely for easy access to your neatly folded towels and yoga pants. It even comes with a vented shoe area.

To which we say… our runners? Stink? Never. —Kelsey Dundon

GLO Bag $99 at www.theglobag.com

Some trends are slower to take off than others.

Like kettlebell weights. They were used by Russian weightlifters 100 years ago and now we’re seeing them more and more in Vancouver. The just-opened Body Function Studio offers muscle-torturing kettlebell classes for newbies like us ($17 drop-in). After a session filled with popping and thrusting and swinging what is essentially a cannonball with a handle, we were feeling it in muscles we didn’t even know we had.

But we didn’t sweat it—the studio offers indulgent massages too. —Kelsey Dundon

Body Function, 4335 Dunbar St., Vancouver, 604-565-6630, www.body-function.ca

You can always count on the Swedes to come up with a product that is more functional and better looking than its predecessors.

Say goodbye to the nose aspirator and say hello to the Nose Frida. This highly effective snot sucker works by allowing you to suck it straight out of your little one’s nose. Don’t worry, the mucus won’t come anywhere near your mouth, but it will come shooting straight out of their blocked passages. Not the most fun of tools, but you won’t complain once you’ve seen how well it works.

And after all, we want our turkeys and our stockings to be stuffed, but certainly not our kids’ noses. —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

$22.99 at Whole Foods, 510 W. 8th Ave., Vancouver, www.wholefoods.com

Vancouver has a certain reputation to uphold, and a rainy one.

Our signature drizzle is now celebrated as a spa treatment: the Vancouver Signature Sensation at the city’s newest luxury spa destination, Sense at Rosewood Hotel Georgia.

The designated Vichy spa room may be described as a rather large shower with a bed in it. Sounds ingenious, right? A shower while lying down. Using a local skincare line, Beauty Through Balance, one is exfoliated with a peppermint and basil-infused sea salt, leaving the skin with a breezy, cooling sensation, as it is showered away by warm water. Then, a massage with seaweed concentrate-mixed shea butter awakens the skin and the muscles. Water, salt, seaweed… we're loving this weather. —Anya Georgijevic

80/110 mins. $175/$225 at Sense, a Rosewood Spa, Rosewood Hotel Georgia, 801 W. Georgia St., Vancouver, 604-673-7045, www.rosewoodhotelgeorgia.com

Sure, we all love our yoga and our running but there’s nothing like a change in routine to keep your workouts fresh and fun.

Cadence Cycling, Vancouver’s first spinning-only studio recently opened its doors, and, judging by the packed early morning classes, this is one work out that’s working.  Quick and effective, spinning (a 45 min class can burn up to 600 calories!) is the perfect way to change up your workout or kick-start a brand new training regime.

Show up with a good attitude and the rest—shoes, bikes, and towels—are provided by Cadence. Expect high-energy instructors, pumping music, and a challenging workout that will take you up steep slopes and rolling hills. And just when you think your legs can’t take it anymore, you’ll coast into the cool down.  

Warning: spinning is highly addictive and may cause extreme sense of well being. —Kelsey Mulyk

$22 per class, $150 for one month unlimited classes. Cadence Cycling Studio, Unit 106, 1529 W. Sixth Ave., Vancouver, 604-800-8535, www.cadencevancouver.com

If you are only going to have two facials a year, those in the know recommend that you have them when the seasons change.

With fall looming, now’s the time to book yourself into Sabai Thai Spa for one of their Sabai signature facials. This includes the usual cleansing, exfoliation and moisturizing, but the best part is rhythmic massage with a herbal compress made of detoxifying Thai White Clay and twenty traditional healing herbs such as tumeric and lemongrass.

The treatment ends with a ginger tea, to flush all those nasties out of your system. Now you're ready to face winter! —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Sabai Sigature Facial, $119/60minutes, Sabai Thai Spa (locations in West Vancouver, North Vancouver and downtown), www.thaispa.ca Check out our review of their full body massage.

There's nothing glamourous about having a cold.

But at least your congestion relief can come from mineral-rich French seawater.

The all-natural Hydrasense saline nasal sprays not only work amazingly well, they're completely sterile and non-medicinal so they can be used as often as you like.

Now, about that deep, raspy voice.

$17.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart, www.hydrasense.ca

If you treat bikini season like a test (with dread and lots of cramming), then we’ve got the study group for you.

Shape up starts by enrolling in Survivor Bootcamp. The four-week intensives offer two, three or five day a week routine outdoor grinds in Canadian cities. Lead by very motivating instructors, they combine cardio and circuit training for trimming down and toning up. We’ll testify that they’re no walk in the park, but yield serious results.

And the high we had afterward felt better than scoring an A+.

From $190, find a location and sign-up at www.survivorbootcamp.com