Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Wild Rice and Chicken Salad

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If you like chicken salad, you’ll love this healthy variation with wild rice. Ladies, this dish makes 4 servings, so if you want leftovers, you might want to double up on everything. It’s a great choice for lunch or dinner.

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 cup cooked wild rice
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 Tbsp dried cranberries
3 to 6 Tbsp toasted walnuts
2/3 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp lemon juice
Salad greens
1 pkg. cherry tomatoes

Directions
1. In large bowl, mix all ingredients, except salad greens and tomatoes.
2. Refrigerate for one hour.
3. Serve over greens and top with tomatoes.

Health Benefits
An excellent source of protein, chicken is low in fat and calories. Wild rice is a much healthier choice for your fitness program than white rice and the salad greens and tomatoes add fiber and wonderful antioxidants needed to fight the effects of free radicals.

Mmm!  What an excellent dish!  Share your thoughts in the comment space below:

What To Do When Your Workout Becomes Stagnate

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It happens to the best of us; even fitness women who are seasoned athletes experience an idle period in their workout program where it seems like no effective change is taking place. That’s probably because you’ve reached a plateau in your exercise plan and need to rev things up a bit.

Jillian was a young lady who wanted to lose about 25 pounds. She hired a women’s fitness trainer. She was committed to taking the weight off and did great on her diet for the first month. Exercising six days a week, she could feel her body becoming stronger in just the first 30 days. Best of all, she lost a total of 9 pounds. This was more than a third of the weight that she had set out to lose.

Although her fitness trainer cautioned her that she may not see that big of a result every month, Jillian was sorely disappointed when the following month she had only lost an additional 3 pounds. “I don’t understand,” she cried one day, “I’m doing all the same things yet I’m seeing fewer and fewer results.”

Jillian’s fitness trainer could see the writing on the wall. If she didn’t help her client mix things up a bit, Jillian was going to lose all motivation to keep up her diet and fitness plan. If allowed to give up, all of her hard work will have been for nothing. Not to mention the ill effects on her body by bringing her workouts to a complete halt.

The next day, when Jillian showed up at the gym, her trainer had a jump rope and an exercise ball. She taught Jillian some new exercises and showed her how to advance some of her old exercises by using the ball. The jump rope not only provided a fun cardio exercise, but also became an implement for stretching exercises and resistance training.

At the end of the session, Jillian’s fitness trainer presented her with a little book. “It’s your own personal fitness journal and I think you will find that it will help to remind you of all of the hard work and progress that you are making. A journal can be a great asset to keep you motivated, even when your workout becomes stagnate.

Fitness4Her believes that a fitness journal is part of the tried and true trilogy to any successful fitness program. My program has three parts, a diet that you can live with, an exercise plan that’s easy to follow and a journal to show your results. It’s the secret to Empower Beauty® and it’s possible for each and every one of you.

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Nurturing Your Spirit with Journaling

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The single most important instrument for nurturing your spirit is a personal journal. The most successful tool for encouraging your weight loss and exercise program is a diet and fitness journal.

Down through history, women and men have kept journals. It’s a good thing that they did. If not for their steadfastness we would not have any reliable records of the past.
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I think our ancestors found pleasure in recording their day-to-day events and I’m sure it provided a sort of therapy for the hard times that they endured.

If you have ever kept a journal or a diary, you know the joy journaling can bring. I learn so much about myself when I maintain my journal.

Reading entries about challenges I’ve struggled with in the past helps me find solutions to problems I face today. It’s like having my own life story. Best of all, journaling helps me realize how truly blessed my life is.

By being truthful in my writing I become accountable for all of my actions. Once I have assumed this accountability, it’s easier to refrain from deeds that don’t produce desirable results.

There are all sorts of different journals that a person can keep. Anytime a person wants to make changes in their life, a journal can be a great asset that helps you stay focused on your goal.

When a person decides to change their life by getting in shape they sometimes keep a fitness journal. A successful tool for losing weight, gaining weight or getting fit, a diet and fitness journal could double your results. That is, if you use it daily to record everything you eat and drink and write down all of your physical activities and exercises.

For women especially, gaining or losing weight can be a complex matter. We over eat or under eat for various reasons. Identifying our habits, determining why we do certain things, and deciding what action to take can all be recorded in a fitness journal.

Let’s say you want to lose or gain weight. You need to record your present weight and measurements. Remember, your fitness level is not about a number on a scale. You are so much more than that! Your measurements will give you a closer idea of how much weight you gain or lose.

Next you’ll want to begin writing down everything you eat and drink. Many calories can be consumed by what we drink, so be sure to include every juice, tea, coffee or soft drink. You might be amazed when you see it all on paper.

Before you are finished with the day’s entry, record your activity for the day. Did you go for a walk, bike ride, run or work out with weights or calisthenics?

Perhaps you are a body builder and you’re reaching for that next level. Seasoned athletes like you can benefit immensely by keeping a diet and fitness journal. An ongoing journal is the best way to truly challenge your self.

If you’ve tried journaling before and could never keep it up, I’ve got a few tips that will help you succeed.

Form a Habit
Make journal writing a habit by planning a specific time of day when you will write in your journal, such as every morning when your start your day, in the evening before you go to bed, before you have breakfast, or during lunch, you may choose to write everything down at one time, but I find it inspiring to write little notes all throughout the day. Writing consistent journal entries will make future reading more enjoyable.

Make it Easy
Keep everything together so it will be easy to write in your journal. Place it in a convenient location, place it near your purse if you’re taking it to work or place in your bag to carry it to the gym. Be sure to keep pens handy so you won’t have to spend time looking for something to write with.

Keep it Simple
Your fitness journal can be fruity and fancy or just a binder of pages for writing. I find it helpful to have a book that’s easy to carry but not so small that I can’t write in it. Something that I can tuck in my purse or gym bag is the perfect size.

Organize your Thoughts
Get an idea of what you want to write in your journal. Make it as complete as possible. It may seem tedious in the beginning, but the more information you provide the easier it is to know what changes you need to make to reach your desired goal. You’ll be glad you took the time to be concise when you read these entries later.

Be Honest
Remember, this is your life story. The only person who is getting fooled is you. Be honest in your daily entries by writing down everything you eat, drink and all of your activities. This accountability will help you to break habits that are standing in your way and help to highlight the successful things that you are doing so you know what’s working for you.

Vary Your Entries
Make sure you write your feelings and thoughts about the things going on in your life. This will go a long way in determining how your emotions affect your appetite, eating habits and exercise routine.

Read your Thoughts
Make a regular habit of reading your past entries. Perhaps before you begin writing each day you could read an entry from the previous week or month. It will help to inspire your writing by opening your mind to a different day’s experience.

Electing to get fit and healthy by losing or gaining weight and getting your body in shape can do wonders for your life. She who has health has hope and the woman who has hope has everything.

Record your journey of hope, personal change and success. Tell your story, if for no other eyes than your own. It won’t be history but it will be herstory, a Story4her that doesn’t hold back. Begin writing your story today.

Share your journaling spirit with us and our readers by leaving a comment below:

Orange Banana Nut French Toast

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A wonderful way to start any women’s day! My version of French toast is sure to please everyone in the family both youngsters and adults. Keep it healthy with whole wheat bread and sugar free syrup.

2 eggs or 2 egg whites
1/4 cup low fat milk
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
8 slices whole wheat bread
2 bananas
A handful of walnuts (crushed)
Sugar free syrup

Directions
1. Whisk eggs, milk, orange juice and cinnamon in pie plate.
2. Dip bread slices in egg mixture to coat both sides.
3. Spray skillet generously with PAM.
4. Cook over medium heat until browned, 3 minutes on each side.
5. Toast walnuts (optional).
6. Top with banana slices and warm syrup.
7. Sprinkle with crushed walnuts.

Health Benefits
Low in fat, sodium, sugar, cholesterol and calories. Bananas are an excellent source of potassium and fiber that keep the heart healthy. A power packed food, bananas are a mainstay for a successful women’s fitness regimen. Whole wheat bread is best to use because it is higher in fiber than white bread and contains less sugar. Milk provides calcium and the eggs are a good source of protein, while the orange juice gives us that wonderful vitamin C, responsible for boosting the immune system.

Did you try this recipe?  What do you think of it?  Please leave a comment below:

The Secret Ingredient To A Healthy Lifestyle

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The path to a fit and healthy body is not only achievable; it’s much easier than you can imagine. But it requires a secret ingredient that is such a critical component that without it, women will fail time and time again.

Perhaps you’ve tried diets and exercise before, only to find that they just didn’t work for you. Frustrated with this sense of failure, you may have given up and quit. Left with feelings of regret, you might even dread the thought of starting another program for fear that you will never succeed.

It’s time to throw off those feelings of defeat and embrace the winning spirit within you. If you are visiting this site and reading this blog, that’s proof positive that you have the desire to make a change in your life. That’s the way success begins…one little spark of curiosity, one thought, one idea and the desire to make it happen.

Are you feeling that spark today? Is there a slow fire burning inside you that’s begging you to make a change in your life? Are you ready to transform the way you look and feel?

It requires a commitment from you. That’s the secret ingredient to achieving your fit and healthy body. Making a promise to yourself and vowing to keep it, focusing on that commitment everyday will make your journey to success an easy one.

Now, I’m not discounting the challenges of exercising and staying on a diet. I know that this is easier for some people and more difficult for others. But I have also witnessed determined people lose 30 pounds while others who were less committed struggled to lose 10 pounds in the same length of time. That is the power of this secret tool.

To help boost your level of commitment, start each day with affirmations of praise and appreciation for all that you have achieved. Speak positive words of encouragement and keep a journal of everything you eat, drink, and all of your daily activities. Make a list of your goals and allow yourself time to meditate on them. You will come away feeling refreshed and ready to take your life to a new level.

Share your healthy lifestyle tips in the comment space below: