Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Vitamin D—The Dynamo of Daily Living

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Did you know that Vitamin D can keep you trim, uplift your mood, stifle your sniffles and drastically cut down your risk of cancer. We all know about its ability to build strong bones and teeth, that’s why vitamin D is so important to our health and everyday life.

Sadly, nearly a third of all women fail to get enough vitamin D for their bones and even a greater number of women are missing out on the disease fighting abilities of this miracle nutrient.

Drinking a glass of milk is a great way to get your body’s requirement of D but there are other sources of vitamin D as well. Oily fish such as salmon, sardines and tuna are naturally rich in D. Other foods are fortified with vitamin D, such as orange juice, soy milk, butter substitutes and some yogurts and cereals.

A wonderful source of vitamin D that is important not to ignore, is the sun. Aim for 10 to 15 minutes a day of sunshine without using sunscreen. If you have very fair skin, you may need to limit yourself to 5 minutes in the sun. The reason I stress getting in the sun without sunscreen is that for every minute you spend in the sunlight, your body can produce about 1000 IU of vitamin D, you would have to drink about ten 8-oz glasses of milk to achieve that same benefit. Spending time in the sun means not adding all those extra calories to your diet too.

Vitamin D really is a dynamic vitamin, adding health benefits for nearly every phase of our life. Some of these include:

• Lowers your risk of cancer
• Fights off winter weight gain
• Protects your heart
• Lifts your mood
• Provides a natural defense from colds and flu
• Prevents autoimmune disorders
• Builds stronger bones
• Helps protect teeth

Fitness4Her recommends drinking low fat milk and eating foods that are naturally dense in vitamin D. Get outside each day and lift your spirits with plenty of warm sunshine, a natural source of the dynamic D.

Is Vitamin D helping you?  Tell us about it in the comment space below:

Healthy Food Recipes To Keep Your Diet On Track.

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Making the decision to lose weight is not an easy one. Sure most of us know when we need to do something about our weight, but when it comes to having to change the way we eat, it’s a different story altogether—especially if we have to deprive ourselves of our favorite foods. Many times, this is the problem with staying true to a diet. Not being able to eat the foods that we enjoy can cause our motivation to drop.

If you’ve experienced this sort of waning in your motivation to diet then you need to find some healthy food recipes that incorporate your favorite foods. If you like French fries, try sweet potato fries—baked in the oven. If you miss milk shakes, try a low-fat fruit smoothie, instead. There are so many good foods to choose from, there is no reason that you have to do without.

Food is not the problem. Food is the answer to losing weight and staying healthy. That’s why we need to find healthy food recipes to cook for our families and ourselves. Cooking foods that the whole family will enjoy will make it much easier to keep your diet on track and keep your motivation soaring. And motivation plays a large part in a successful diet plan.

It takes inspiration and a desire to begin dieting, but it requires a commitment and motivation to keep you dedicated to a diet. That’s why I offer articles and tips on inspiration, motivation, women’s fitness, exercise, journaling and diet. When you become a member of Fitness4Her.com, you’ll have easy access to healthy food recipes under my Healthy Cooking category.

If you’ve been searching for healthy recipes for yourself or a whole crowd, you’ll find nearly 100 mouth-watering entrees to choose from. Learn to be a sneaky cook by substituting turkey sausage for pork or canned pumpkin in place of oil and egg yolks in cakes and muffins. You’ll find these tips and more at Fitness4Her.com.

For most of us, there doesn’t seem time enough in the day to prepare healthy food, even though we know that what we eat is the secret to losing weight. Listen, I know what it’s like to be pressed for time. A personal trainer, fitness model, wife and mother of three boys, I stay very busy, too. That’s why I rummaged through my secret stash of healthy food recipes that you can prepare in minutes. Many of my recipes take about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Remember, to keep your diet on track you need to eat foods that are healthy and nutritious. But you must watch your portion size as well. In many of the healthy recipes that you’ll find at Fitness4Her.com, I’ve included suggestions on portion size to make it easy for you to add this menu item to your diet. Fitness4Her.com—it is the go-to-place for free healthy food recipes.   Here are just a few.

Aye María! Black Bean Quesadilla
Extreme Oatmeal
Smoked Trout or Salmon with Dill Sauce
Monster Mashed Cauliflower
Easy, but not Greasy, Muscle Building Meatloaf
Sweet and Simple Snapper
Super Food Scrambled Eggs A Favorite From Breakfast at Karens
Smoky Turkey Chili

Healthy Chicken Recipes

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Chicken is one of my favorite foods to eat. When I was growing up, my mother always insisted on a well balanced diet and enjoyed trying out various healthy chicken recipes. She was always careful when she cooked chicken, making sure it stayed moist and flavorful. I would quickly finish every bite because it tasted so good.

Now that I am a mom with three boys and a husband to feed, I find myself searching the Internet and scouring cookbooks for healthy chicken recipes that I can feed my family. It seems they are always hungry and they happen to be quite fond of chicken too.

My youngest likes oven baked fried chicken, while the other two enjoy grilled chicken avocado sandwiches. My husband prefers my Chicken Parmesan with extra tomatoes. Tomatoes are full of antioxidants and are best eaten with protein for extra health benefits. The girls from the club prefer my Ficarelli Special; a healthy chicken recipe that includes grilled chicken, Bibb lettuce, tomato and goat cheese.

If you are like me, you get tired of the same boring food week after week. Even dining out, I sometimes feel like all the food tastes the same. That is when I decide that it’s time to find something different to make. I don’t always have the ingredients that are called for so I create my own variation of healthy chicken recipes and most turn out delicious. I guess between watching my mother and grandmother cook and getting tips about what tastes good from my boys, I’ve turned out to be a pretty good cook.

I’m a personal trainer, specializing in women’s fitness, so I encourage the women that I work with to eat healthy foods and to always include a protein at every meal. We exchange healthy recipes, healthy dessert recipes and healthy snacks that we share with one another. It’s a fun way to emphasize a healthy lifestyle.

You can find a whole coop full of healthy chicken recipes when you become a member of Fitness4Her. It only takes a few minutes to join. Once you sign up, just look in the category called Healthy Cooking to find nearly 100 recipes, complete with explanations of the health benefits of each entree. These are recipes that I have gathered over the years and that are low in sodium, saturated fat, cholesterol and sugar.

Not only are there delicious recipes available in the Members Only Section, you can learn exercise routines, get advice on weight loss/weight gain and all around fitness tips and tools to help you get started. There are on-going challenges and contests for Members Only and best of all—it’s free to join!

An active lifestyle and what you eat are important to your overall health. As a member of Fitness4Her.com you’ll have access to my exercise program. A combination of strength training and aerobic exercise aimed at keeping your body in optimum shape. Couple that with a diet that is healthy and lean to control weight and increase overall strength.  Here are a few healthy chicken recipes!

Feel free to add your favorite healthy chicken recipes to the comments below!

Exercise routines, healthy chicken recipes and down to earth tips and advice—all free when you join Fitness4Her.com today. So what are you waiting for? Join today.

Fad Diets Are Bad Diets

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Fad diets always exaggerate weight loss results. The truth is losing weight requires work, that is, if you want to keep those extra pounds from coming back.

The latest trendy diets all claim success, but for how long? Chances are they are so low in calories that you will definitely lose weight but when you resume eating regularly, you’ll put that weight right back on.

There are many reasons that fad diets are bad. One of which is because they lack a balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats. Many of these diets shun certain food groups and are just not nutritionally sound. Succumbing to these types of diets sets you up for failure or worse.

When you deprive yourself of a certain food group, you run the risk of nutrient deficiencies. An imbalanced diet can lead to ketosis. Sound scary? It is! This is a condition that causes the body to break down muscle tissue. No! This is the last thing you want to do, as a matter of fact it’s a last ditch effort from your body indicating that trouble is brewing.

Another reason that fad diets don’t have lasting effects is because they are terribly boring. Eating one particular food all day long, completely avoiding certain food groups or having to eat foods in a specific order are lifestyles that few people can adapt forever.

Think about people whom you know or celebrities who have lost weight. Which ones have kept it off? Was it the friend that was on the grapefruit diet or the extremely low fat diet? Was it the celebrity who is endorsing the diet that’s guaranteed to work? More often than not, it is the one who was willing to combine exercise with a balanced diet.

Many of these fad diets are extremely low in calories, no wonder people lose weight from them, but are they depriving themselves of needed nutrients, by eating such a small amount of food? Most importantly, is this a quick fix weight loss or one that will last forever?

The only way to achieve permanent weight loss is to find a diet plan that you can live with. If you love ice cream, fine! Just reduce your calorie intake by portion control or food choices but keep a balanced diet and stick with a regular exercise routine. If you find that you begin to level off or start to gain weight then you may need to re-examine the type and quantity of food that you are eating.

Starting a journal will help you to keep track of your diet and weight loss plan. By writing down your foods and activity each day, you are preparing yourself for a life, free from the worries of weight gain. This method has been proven to work time and time again.

Making smart choices about what you eat, combined with a sound exercise plan can be your ticket to permanent weight loss and a Beautiful body. Stay away from fad diets, they only work for a short while, and winners like you are interested in benefits that last a lifetime.

Tell us about your diet experiences in the comment space below:

Richards Strawberry Cheesecake Mousse

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So sweet and berry-delicious, a delectable dish to complement any meal. Makes enough for 10-12 servings, so everyone can enjoy. A great dessert for ladies’ lunches, family gatherings or small parties.

4 tsp. gelatin
¼ cup water
8 oz. low fat cream cheese
1 cup pureed strawberries
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
4 large egg whites
¾ cup stevia

Directions
Whisk together gelatin and water, let stand 5 minutes until gelatin blooms, and is completely dissolved. (glue-thick)
By hand, whip cream cheese, strawberries, lemon juice and gelatin mixture until smooth.
With electric mixer, whip egg whites and sugar.
Pour cream cheese mixture into egg whites and gently fold together.
Dish mixture into a pretty dish, looks lovely in a glass trifle.
Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or for best results refrigerate a few hours.
Serve cold in a chilled wine glass over strawberries, or cut a slit in a strawberry and garnish your glass, it looks pretty and tastes heavenly.

Health Benefits: Low-fat, low-sugar, low-sodium, but still a tasty treat. The strawberries are rich in fiber, potassium and vitamin C while the egg whites give it the protein needed at every meal. Sweeten with stevia, for a no calorie way to enhance this dish. Stevia doesn’t affect your blood glucose levels, either.

Tell us and our readers what you think of this recipe in the comment space below: