Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Archives for November 2010

Mediterranean-Style Chicken Stir Fry

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A real family favorite, this chicken stir fry will please the most discerning tastes. Plenty of veggies round out this meal, serve over pasta and you’ve got a complete meal. There’s enough here to serve 4 people.

4 skinless chicken breast
6 ounces of dried fettuccine or linguine (whole wheat) optional
nonstick cooking spray
2 cloves garlic minced
1yellow summer squash / 1- red pepper
2 cups broccoli florets
1 Tbs. cooking oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes
4 green onions
1 Tbs. parmesan cheese ( fat-free optional)
1/3 cup of fat- free Italian dressing

Directions:

Cook pasta to directions on box, drain, return to pan keep warm.
Thinly slice chicken into bite size strips.
Coat an unheated skillet or wok w/cooking spray, medium heat.
Stir fry garlic 15 seconds, add squash and broccoli, red pepper for 4-5 min.
Remove veg. from skillet or wok heat oil stir in chicken strips in hot oil 3-4 min, until cooked.
Return vegetables to pan.
Add cherry tomatoes, green onions and salad dressing, toss cover and heat thoroughly.
Serve, spooning chicken and mixture over hot cooked pasta, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Health Benefits:
An excellent source of protein, chicken is low in saturated fat and calories. Tomatoes and onions add just the right amount of antioxidants and the squash is a great source of Beta Carotene, too. Broccoli is high in Vitamin C. Choose this meal because it’s nutrient dense, low in fat, sodium, cholesterol, sugar and calories.

Lower Body Workout Illustrated

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Squat
If you have ever squatted down to pick up a child or something off the floor and had a hard time standing back up, you need to practice this exercise and work those muscles.

Beginning with your feet shoulder width apart, place your hands on your hips, lift your chest and draw your shoulders down your back, pull your navel inward to engage your core muscles. Inhale as you lower your hips down. Now exhale as you stand back up. Push your heels into the floor as you straighten.

Photo of Squat

☺Take it to the Next Level: Holding dumbbells in both hands, try to get the back knee low to the ground without sacrificing form.

Photo of Squat with Dumbbells

Caution! Always keep the knees behind the toes, chest lifted. Try to look slightly upward instead of down to the ground.

Lunge
Excellent for stretching the muscles in the calves and ankles, lunges are a great way to prepare your muscles for long walks or runs.

Standing with your feet together, place your hands on your hips, lift your chest and draw your shoulders down your back, pull your navel inward to engage core muscles. Inhale, step with your right foot forward and lower your left knee towards the ground, as you exhale step back with your right foot to a standing position. Hold your shoulders squarely on top of your pelvic area. Repeat on the left side, lowering your right knee to the ground and then stepping back with your left foot.

Photo of Lunge

☺Take it to the Next Level: Holding dumbbells, try to get the back knee as low to the ground without sacrificing proper form.

Photo of Lunge with Dumbbells

Caution! Always keep the knees behind the toes, chest lifted. Look straight ahead instead of down to the ground.

Shoulder Bridge
Lying supine on a mat, bend your knees and place your feet hips width apart, arms extended by your sides, palms facing downward, elbows extended with your shoulder blades reaching down your back. Draw your navel inward towards your spine and press your lower back down towards the mat keeping your chin level. Inhale, lift your hips away from the mat by rolling up one vertebrae at a time, exhale return your hips to the mat again rolling one vertebrae at a time.

Photo of Shoulder Bridge

☺Take it to the Next Level: Try doing a single leg shoulder bridge keeping the knees and thighs together without sacrificing proper form.

Photo of single leg shoulder bridge

Caution! Always keep the knees and ankles hips width apart. Look straight up to the ceiling keeping chin level. Remember to keep the navel drawn inward towards the spine.

Donkey Kicks
Beginning in quadruped, your knees directly below your hips and your hands directly below your shoulders, navel drawn inward towards your spine and your shoulders reaching down your back, inhale, lift your right heel towards the ceiling with your knee remaining bent. Exhale, lower your knee back to the mat. Repeat on the left side.

Photo of Donkey Kick

☺Take it to the Next Level: Use a dumbbell behind the knee and try to lift the leg as high as without a dumbbell while maintaining proper form.

Photo of Donkey Kick with Dumbbell

Caution! Always keep the pelvic area stable as the leg lifts and lowers. Never allow the pelvis to rock forward and back

Side Lying Leg Lifts
Lying on your right side with forearm on the mat, shoulders drawn away from your ears with your elbow directly below your shoulder, inhale, lift your right leg up with ankle flexed. Exhale, lower your leg back to the mat with your ankle extended. Repeat eight times then switch to the left side.

Photo of Side Lying leg lift

☺Take it to the Next Level: Use an ankle weight and lift leg as high as without an ankle weight while maintaining proper form.

Photo of Leg Lift with Ankle weight

Caution! Always maintain navel to spine, spine long and lengthened, and shoulders away from ears. Reach the leg as long as you can keeping the knee extended.

Pilates Hip Circles
Lying supine on a mat, with your chin level, shoulder blades reaching down your back, arms extended by your side, palms facing down, navel drawn inward towards your spine, raise your right leg, with toes pointing towards the ceiling. Inhale, circle your leg to the right, then forward then across to the left and back to the starting position. Repeat eight times then switch to the left leg.

Photo of leg pilates hip circle

☺Take it to the Next Level: Use an ankle weight and lift leg as high as without an ankle weight while maintaining proper form.

Photo of leg pilates hip circle with ankle weight

Caution! Always maintain navel to spine, spine long and lengthened, and shoulders away from ears. Reach the leg as long as you can keeping the knee extended and the pelvis level on the mat.

Pilates Long Levers
Lying supine on a mat, with chin level, shoulder blades reaching down your back, arms extended by your side with palms facing down, navel drawn inward towards your spine, bring your legs to table top (knees bent at 90 degrees directly above the hips) ankles extended and your toes pointed. Inhale, lower your toes to the mat, exhale bring your knees back to the starting position. Repeat eight times.

Photo of leg pilates long levers bent knees

☺Take it to the Next Level: Try extending the knees and lowering the entire legs to the mat maintaining proper form especially low back on the mat throughout the range of motion.

Photo of leg pilates long levers straight knees.

Pilates Single Leg Stretch
Lying supine on a mat with your legs extended on the mat, draw your navel inward towards your spine and press your lower back down towards the mat. Keep the spine long, your chin level, shoulder blades on the mat, back of your ribcage on the mat, and low back on the mat, arms extended with palms down by your sides. Inhale, draw right knee towards your body while extending your left leg with toes reaching away from your body, exhale draw your left knee towards your body, your right leg extending with your toes reaching away from your body. Repeat eight times.

Photo Pilates Single Leg Stretch

☺Take it to the Next Level: Roll the upper body off the mat. Keep looking down towards the navel with shoulder blades reaching down

Photo of with upper body rolled off the mat

Caution! Always keep the navel drawn inward towards the spine, low back on the mat.

Pilates Double Leg Stretch
Lying supine on a mat, draw your navel inward towards your spine, press your low back down towards the mat with your legs in tabletop. Keep the spine long, your chin level, shoulder blades on the mat, back of the ribcage on the mat, and low back on the mat, your arms bent with palms facing your ears. Inhale, extend your arms overhead and your legs forward. Exhale, returning to start position. Repeat eight times.

Photo of Pilates Double Leg Stretch

☺Take it to the Next Level: Roll the upper body off the mat. Keep looking down towards the navel with shoulder blades reaching down your back.

Photo of upper body rolled off the mat.

Caution! Always keep the navel drawn inward towards the spine, low back on the mat. Never allow the low back to arch away from the mat. If the shoulders are an issue, do not fully extend the arms overhead.

Pilates Bicycle
Lying supine on a mat, draw your navel inward towards your spine, press your low back down towards the mat with your legs in tabletop. Keep the spine long, your chin level, shoulder blades on the mat, back of the ribcage on the mat, and low back on the mat, your fingertips behind your ears. Inhale, roll your torso up drawing your right knee towards your body and extending your left leg away while rotating your spine bringing your left shoulder towards your right knee. Remain rolled up and switch sides bringing your left knee towards your body, your right leg extended and right shoulder towards your left knee. Repeat eight times.

Photo of Pilates Bicycle

☺Take it to the Next Level: Use an ankle weight while performing this exercise without sacrificing proper form.

Photo of Pilates bicycle with ankle weights

Start a discussion.  Tell us abut your workouts.

Craving Something Sweet, Salty and Creamy

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Everyone gets a craving for dessert every now and then, but when you are working out, you don’t want to blow all your hard work on some worthless calories. Many snacks are prepackaged to make calorie counting easier. You can indulge in any Jello® sugar-free 60-calorie pudding snack for a reduced-calorie but tasty treat.

So many flavors to choose from:

Double chocolate
Dark chocolate raspberry
Cheese cake
Sunday style

For a low cal snack make a healthy version of a hot fudge sundae.

Zap one of the pudding snacks in the microwave for 1 min.
Add a little banana, peanuts and fat-free cool-whip.

Health Benefits:
Provides a healthy snack that is very satisfying and under 100 calories. Bananas are full of fiber and potassium. You can even try strawberries, raspberries or a little jam if you are out of fruit.

Positive Affirmations To Take Off The Pounds

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If you are interested in the power of affirmations, then you’ve come to the right place. I sincerely believe in the positive force that is created through repeated affirmations. I like to say mine first thing in the morning, before I start my day. These declarations provide the boost that I need to get out there and make something wonderful happen.

While I will admit that there are many things that are out of my control, many incidents in life in which I have no say so whatsoever. But for all the things that I can direct whether by my mind or my actions, I want to take the wheel and drive. Because the goals I have are not easy to attain, I need the positive effects of affirmations to help me stay focused to succeed.

What goals have you set for yourself today and how will you go about achieving them? Do you believe whole-heartedly that you can reach your goals; that you can attain success? Shout it out with daily affirmations. These positive words of acknowledgment and praise will challenge your mind and help to bring about desirable results.

Daily affirmations are easy to fit into your busy schedule. All you need is about 5 minutes and the benefits can last throughout the day. Set aside this small amount of time, preferably in the morning. It’s best to repeat your affirmations in front of a mirror and look at your reflection as you say them. You must believe it to achieve it.

So, if your goal is to lose weight then you should repeat affirmations such as:

I am losing weight.
I am eating healthy foods.
I will not overeat today.
I will eat 3 servings of fruit today.
My clothes look better because I am losing weight.
I will eat 3 servings of vegetables today.
My body is my temple.
I feel sexy when I eat healthy foods.
I feel confident that I can lose all the weight that I want.

Sound simple enough? Affirmations are one of the easiest parts of dieting and getting in shape. All you need to do is set aside a few minutes every day. Write out some affirmations that you can believe in and start repeating them to yourself. Put it to the test, but remember in order to get positive results, you must believe that these affirmations that you say are possible in your life. If you don’t believe it can ever happen, then it probably won’t happen.

Start your day on a positive note, set yourself up for success at the beginning of each day. Just 5 minutes of daily affirmations can be the difference between a weight loss program that works and one that does not.

Sex and the Seafood Connection

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You’ve probably heard before that seafood is good for your sex life. But does that apply to all seafood? I went on a discovery mission to find out the truth. I wanted to know whether it was about what the seafood contained or the way that it looked? You know oysters and other mollusks have a very sexual appearance when you crack them open.
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I searched the Internet and consulted my nutrition books and it looks like most experts agree. The omega-3 fatty acids contained in most seafood has the ability to enhance your mood and sometimes that’s all it takes to make sex better.

You know the biggest sexual organ is our brain. Yep, that’s right and everyone; men and women have this big ol sex organ called the brain. If the brain ain’t ready for sex, nobody is going to be happy in the end. And the funny thing is, people have known this fact for centuries.

As a matter of fact the word horny most likely came from eating rhinoceros horn, which many claimed would help elevate the sexual sensation and make you “horny.”

Seems people have been searching for aphrodisiacs for a long time. Eating seafood has always been believed to get you in the mood. Plus, the delicacy of seafood, along with the higher price, makes eating seafood a luxury rather than everyday eating. This might be another reason that it may have gotten some of its acclaimed fame.

Throughout history, people all around the globe have tried certain foods, beverages, drugs, and even medicines in the hopes of being bestowed with some magical aphrodisiac powers. The fact that some foods look similar to men’s and women’s genitals, or are even derived from animal sex organs, was no accident. Named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, aphrodisiacs are substances that are said to elicit sexual desire and arousal, enhance sex drive and sexual “performance,” and extend sexual energy.

However, there is proof even today, that there is a connection between eating seafood and having good sex. After being treated to a nice dinner, couples find themselves happier and sometimes a bit more affectionate. We set aside some of the stress of the week and focus on the good tasting food and the company of our companion. This leads to a much more agreeable sexual encounter.

Another reason that seafood might have gained such fame; is the fact that it is lighter on the stomach than other meats. It’s easy to digest and doesn’t lay in the stomach the way red meat tends to do. It’s hard to feel sexy or even want to get into rocking and rolling if your belly is full of food. It just kind of interferes with any lovemaking you have in mind.

Eating foods that are good for you combined with regular exercise can also go a long way to enhance your sex life. The better your health, the more energetic you will be in the bed. Plus, with exercise, you increase your flexibility and stamina so you can perform better in the bedroom and enhance the sensual feelings of desire.

And don’t think your partner won’t notice the changes that exercise provides for your sex life. He’ll become your own private cheerleader as you work toward your fitness goals. So don’t be surprised if he wants to have seafood more often. He’ll associate that wonderful liaison with the scrumptious taste of succulent seafood.

Reducing the size of your belly also helps to make sex more enjoyable. You feel more like making love when you don’t have a big gut to deal with. However, for men, an oversized stomach can cause sexual problems. The more fat cells that a man has on his body, the more estrogen is released in his body with a decrease in testosterone.

For overall health, sex is very important. For men, a dip in sexual desire or performance can indicate other underlying health problems. Sex is an important part of our lives, so our sexual organs need to be in optimum condition. We need to give careful consideration to any changes in our body and consult a physician for regular check ups in addition to seeing them when you are ill.

If you see a doctor regularly, they have a much better chance of catching illnesses or conditions before they become worse. Things like your blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol levels need to be checked at least once a year, if not more often.

If you are on blood pressure medication, you need to have it checked weekly until it is under control and then at least keep it checked monthly. Many stores have free blood pressure checks and although those are not as accurate as your doctor’s device, it can signal an alert and let you know if you need to see a physician sooner than later.

As far as blood pressure goes, you might find it advantageous to purchase a monitoring system of your own. That way you can monitor whether certain foods, with say high levels of sodium are causing any fluctuations in your pressure. This information is very valuable to your overall health picture.

That’s where seafood comes back to the forefront. Not only are those omega 3 fatty acids useful for elevating your mood to improve your sex life; they are excellent for protecting your heart from disease or stroke.

You see, our own bodies cannot produce these essential fatty acids; however we need them in our diet. That’s why there is so much attention given to foods containing omega 3’s. So whether you go out to a nice restaurant or visit your local fishmonger, add seafood to your diet for many health benefits that will keep you living happier and longer.

Remember the better your sex life, the longer you will live. It really is a source of life.

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