Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Archives for August 2011

Raspberry Rhapsody

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This is a tasty pudding that can be enjoyed morning, noon or night. It’s quick and easy to make, so you can have a healthy snack in just minutes. Increase the ingredients and serve it to your guests, they’ll find it hard to resist as this lovely dish will leave them with a lasting impression.

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup raspberries
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp honey
Add walnuts on top

Directions:

1. Raspberries can be cooked with a squeeze of lemon juice in microwave if preferred.
2. Blend rest of ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Add raspberries and blend until mixed in.
4. Spoon into individual bowls and top with walnuts.

Health Benefits:
Yogurt provides healthy live cultures that aid the digestive system and it is a good source of calcium. Low in calories, low in saturated fat, low in cholesterol and low in sodium. Raspberries are packed with phytonutrient antioxidants and are rich in Vitamin C. Cinnamon helps to regulate blood sugar and is high in calcium, iron and fiber.

Positive Words To Position Your Fitness Success

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Affirmations are one way to position yourself for women’s fitness success. Repeating daily affirmations will actually coax your brain into a conspiracy to do what you command. By using affirmations as part of your tools for fitness you will find that it is one of the easier ways to get your body and mind in shape.

If you have never used affirmations before, I encourage you to give them a try for at least a week. Repeating phrases to yourself, preferably in front of a mirror is the best way to get the most out of your affirmations. They don’t have to be long, but they must be sincere. You must first believe that it is within your power to bring these commands to fruition.

One example would be to state that you will exercise for 30 minutes each day. Repeat this affirmation every day for one week. It’s a no-brainer, because you know that you can certainly fulfill that affirmation, but even if you feel too tired, you need only to call that affirmation up and realize that it is a command to yourself that you need to make happen.

Once you state the affirmation, it is as if you have given a job command to someone who works for you, you should expect it to get done. It is an order, not something that gets done if there is time, but an actual command and you should expect results.

I like to say my affirmations each morning before I go out to begin my day. It’s a great way to start the day and helps to focus my mind on what I want to accomplish. Affirmations are also instrumental before retiring to bed, as it helps to feed the brain and allow it to sleep on the goals that you have set before it. You may want to experiment saying affirmations in the morning one week and the next week saying them before bedtime, or just when the sun is setting, which for some people can be a time for reflection.

Five Foods To Eat For Healthy Hair

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Diet, as I have talked about before, is much more than a change in your eating habits. The word diet means “a way of life,” or a way to live better. Since every part of your body depends on your diet in order to survive, the old saying, “you are what you eat” is entirely true. From your toenails to the hair on your head, all the cells in your body need nutrients in order to flourish.

Perhaps that is why beautiful hair is such an attractive feature. When a woman is mal-nourished, her hair suffers in appearance. The texture, volume and shine, are all related to the health of the hair, which in turn is dependent on the health of that particular woman. In other words, what you eat, your diet—makes a big difference in the health of your hair.

To make things simpler, I have made a list of five foods to eat for healthy hair. Of course, this is just a short list, as many foods attribute to the health of your hair. However, the foods listed are also good for other cells in the body and should be incorporated into your diet on a regular basis.

Foods Rich In Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Polyunsaturated, omega-3 fatty acids are healthy fats that can help to prevent lots of medical conditions, including heart disease, breathing problems, such as asthma, depression and rheumatoid arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids promote healthy cell growth and protect against free radicals that cause cancer and other diseases. Below are a list of excellent to very good sources of omega-3’s.
Salmon
Cod Liver Oil
Flaxseeds
Walnuts
Sardines
Cauliflower
Oregano
Cabbage
Shrimp

Dark Green, Leafy Vegetables
You know how your mom told you to eat your veggies in order to be pretty? Well she wasn’t just making that stuff up! Eating vegetables with high contents of iron is one of the best ways to take care of your hair and nails. That’s because iron is such an important part of a woman’s diet. We need iron for energy and cell growth and when we don’t get enough iron it shows. The dangerous part is that by the time it shows in our hair and nails, our body is suffering from a lack of needed iron for all the other important functions of our feminine bodies. Below are some great examples of iron-rich leafy green vegetables that are low in saturated fat and full of vitamins and nutrients.
Broccoli
Kale
Spinach
Turnip Greens
Collard Greens

Protein-Rich Foods
I can’t stress this factor enough. Protein is the building block of every cell in the human body. It is vitally important to a woman’s health to eat protein at every meal. Not only will it give you beautiful hair, but every part of your body will benefit from eating protein-rich foods. Of course, with protein, saturated fats become an issue. But there are many low-fat food choices that supply plenty of protein without overloading your diet with these bad fats. Below are some selections to choose from. Remember, to keep calories and fats under control, cook these foods with a minimum amount of added fat, choosing instead a monounsaturated fat such as olive oil, which carries a wealth of health benefits on its own.
Beef
Chicken
Shrimp
Fish
Turkey
Pork Tenderloin
Avocado