Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Love Food Lose Weight

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Lose weight and manage your weight for the rest of your life when you learn to love food and give it the respect it deserves. Food sustains us and keeps us healthy. It comforts us and instills memories that time cannot erase. Food is life.

Food is not the enemy when it comes to losing weight. One the contrary, food is the answer to losing weight. As a matter of fact, eating 5 times a day may help you to lose more weight than the traditional 3 meal a day spread. Of course, the portions will be smaller, but if you give yourself a few minutes for your stomach and brain to get in-sync, you may find that you are satisfied without the desire to go back for seconds. When food tastes delicious we naturally want to eat more, but that extra helping can be the difference between feeling well satisfied and bloated. When you overeat, you cause your body to spend time trying to digest and adjust to all the extra gas produced by the digestion process. Eating less gives the body the nutrients it needs and allows it to easily digest the meals you eat, thereby ridding the body quickly of waste and excess calories. Smaller meals and shorter waits between mealtimes means there is less chance of your body storing extra fat and calories.

Every meal you eat should be enjoyable and satisfying. Never feel guilty about eating. If you happen to overeat or succumb to temptation of some sweet confection, don’t let feelings of disappointment cause you to feel guilty. Instead, take time to enjoy what you are eating. More often than not, your craving of that particular treat will be diminished once you have given in, eaten it, and enjoyed it, thereby conquering the nagging feeling that you have somehow deprived yourself.

Dress up your meals with seasonings and herbs, colorful fruits and vegetables and garnishes. Use pretty plates and place settings so your meals never feel rushed. Avoid watching television or reading when you eat. These distractions can mask how much and how fast you are eating. Slow down and chew your food, especially meat and vegetables so that they have a better chance of digesting completely.

As often as possible, promote family gatherings and share your meals together. Although you shouldn’t have to be reminded to get together with family and friends, dining with loved ones creates a pleasant surrounding that makes mealtime enjoyable. Eating with others helps you to slow down, chew your food and really enjoy the flavors of a finely cooked meal.

Five Fat-Burning Foods To Help You Lose Weight

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Fitness4Her believes that women should enjoy the foods that they eat, foods that taste good and are nutritious too. Nutrition is the foundation of a healthy diet and all weight loss programs should include foods that supply the vitamins and nutrients that a woman’s body requires. Just because you go on a diet doesn’t mean you should deprive yourself of good tasting, nutritious foods. But you should watch the fat content and portion size of your meals.

There are many foods that you can eat that will help you to burn fat quicker and easier. To make it easy, I have come up with five fat burning foods that are full of vitamins and antioxidants. I have examined each food item and have given a brief description of the benefits you can achieve by adding these to your diet.

Milk
Drinking a glass of milk, especially after a workout will help your body to build muscle and burn fat. People with a greater muscle mass burn fat faster and easier, even when they are lying around on the sofa. Some studies on drinking milk have reported twice the weight loss for dieters who drank a full glass of milk each day.

Oatmeal
Full of fiber, both soluble and insoluble, this whole grain is an excellent way to start the day. Oatmeal helps to lower cholesterol, fills you up, keeps insulin levels balanced and helps to relieve constipation.

Grapefruit
Full of vitamin C and antioxidants, grapefruit is low in calories. Eating grapefruit as part of a diet can help you to burn fat and reduce weight.

Green Tea
Loaded with antioxidants, green tea has a chemical called ECGC that speeds up the brain and nervous system and increases the metabolism. A couple of glasses each day can help to burn an additional 80 to 90 calories.

Sardines
A wonderful source of fish oil, eating sardines and reducing fat intake, can increase weight loss and help to actually burn fat, too. Studies indicate that people who substituted 7 grams of fish oil for 7 grams of fat, lost weight faster and easier than those who did not.

Find Your Fitness Secret With Your Fitness Journal

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The best and most successful weight loss programs have something in common, they advocate accountability. We all know that in order to find a solution, we must first identify the problem. When you are trying to lose weight, keeping an account of everything you eat and drink and all your activity will help you to figure out what is working for you and what is not. Accountability is the secret to a successful fitness program and it is the basis for keeping a fitness journal.

Journaling, the act of keeping a journal is not only a helpful tool in keeping you accountable, it also keeps you motivated and focused on your goal. When you begin your journal, be sure to write down your current weight and measurements. On a regular basis, record your weight and measurements as you continue with your diet and exercise. You might not see results in these numbers right away, but you might see other changes, such as your clothes becoming loose or seeing muscle developing where fat used to be.

History is good for reminding us where we used to be. Your journal can be your own history book of how your healthy choices transformed your body, mind and soul. If you begin to feel like you aren’t making strides in your fitness program, just read your entries in the early days when you first got started. I bet your body is much stronger than when you first began your exercise program. Your diet in the past and present is another interesting comparison. When you first started keeping account of what you ate and drank you were probably pretty surprised by all the food that you were eating.

Most people are shocked when they record every bit of food they eat. From the number of teaspoons of sugar in their coffee to the piece of hard candy they eat while standing at a co-worker’s desk, every morsel of food should be written down and recorded. This one act of accountability is tough but it is an awakening call if you are having trouble losing weight.

Always record how you feel when you make changes in your diet. Do you feel satisfied? Are you still hungry? Do you feel irritable or tired? Make changes gradually so that your body has tine to adjust. If you make changes gradually you have a better chance of making these changes a habit. Stay the course, don’t give up, even if you give in and eat too much. Remember each day is a new day and it is never too late to start fresh!

Affirmations for Fitness

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Improve your health and achieve your fitness goals with positive affirmations to rewire your brain and refresh your workout. Being physically fit will enhance your lifestyle and give you more energy to do the things you really want to do. But if your mind is stuck in some prison of its own making that won’t allow you to move forward, then it’s time to break those chains and find your fitness freedom.

Daily affirmations provide the positive reinforcement needed to re-program your thoughts to help you attain the healthy attitude you need to reach your goals. You can become more focused and energetic by channeling your positive energy, replacing negative thoughts with positive support.

I take time every day for positive affirmations. Usually in the morning, but all throughout the day as needed, I repeat the messages I want my brain to follow. It instills the love and appreciation I have for my body and my life. Just as I support my closest friends with words of encouragement, I give my body and my life that same respect. If I think I can, then it makes it much easier to succeed.

Below are 10 affirmations that I use for fitness. I have gathered so many over the years, because I believe these positive phrases really do work. Take a few minutes in the morning, throughout the day and then in the evening if you really want to channel your subconscious to a more positive way of thinking. It won’t be long before this becomes a regular and desirable part of your life.

1. I am a lean, fat burning machine.
2. I am physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually balanced and healthy.
3. I am focused on fitness.
4. I live a healthy lifestyle
5. I am thankful for my healthy body.
6. My body is my temple and I treat it with respect.
7. I am listening to my body.
8. I am changing my lifestyle to a healthy way of living.
9. I am reaching my weight loss goals.
10. Losing body fat is easy for me.

Veggie Delight Salad

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The key to a healthy diet that will keep you from counting calories is to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. That’s why this salad is an excellent choice for women who want to loose weight or just maintain the fabulous figure they always had. Great for lunch, dinner or snack, make it a head of time, and enjoy worry-free.

1/4 lb. carrots, green beans, snap peas and red onion
1 small bag baked red potatoes
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Bake potatoes at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
2. Grill vegetables in oven until crisp.
3. Let cool.
4. Mix together oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
5. Serve over Romaine lettuce.
6. Option: add cherry tomatoes.

Health Benefits:
Low in saturated fat, low in cholesterol, low in sodium, low in sugar and low in calories, potatoes are high in Vitamin C and B6. A good source of fiber, potatoes taste good and well as being relatively inexpensive and easy to make.