Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Sweet Memories With Sweet Potatoes

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An all time family favorite, sweet potatoes bring back some of the best memories from my childhood days. Inexpensive to prepare, we ate them regularly with many meals. Of course, the sweetest times were at family gatherings like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since then, I’ve made a regular tradition of including them with various meals for my family and also for my women’s fitness groups. A high source of nutrition, sweet potatoes are an ideal vegetable for women who are interested in maintaining fitness.

Sweet potatoes have been enjoyed as a nutritious staple for centuries. One of the oldest vegetables, it is native to Central America, but cultivated in many countries today. Although mostly associated with having orange flesh, sweet potatoes range from white and yellow and can even have red or purple skin.

Beneficial to your health, sweet potatoes are rich in Beta Carotene, a powerful antioxidant that protects the body from cancer-causing free radicals and boosts the immune system. In addition, sweet potatoes make a great snack or side to a main dish, low in calories but very satisfying, the bright orange flesh fills your stomach quickly.

Here are just a few of the nutritious benefits that can be relished from eating sweet potatoes:

• Rich in dietary fiber, sweet potato lowers the risk of constipation, diverticulosis and colon and rectal cancer.
• Sweet potatoes have been found to be helpful in minimizing the risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
• Lowers cholesterol and helps to control blood pressure. Can help to reduce the chance of stroke and prevent blood clots.
• Sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index, so even women with diabetes can enjoy sweet potatoes.
• Helps to balance electrolytes and maintain bodily fluids due to a high level of potassium.
• Healthy levels of iron and calcium found in sweet potatoes ensure proper blood flow and improve bone density.

Women who are interested in eating a healthy diet should make sweet potatoes a regular dish. Especially if you are trying to lose weight, the sweet taste and nutritious benefits found in this veritable vegetable coupled with the low calorie and zero fat content make it an ideal choice to add to a women’s fitness diet.

Reminisce with family and friends over a piping hot sweet potato served with cinnamon, or scoop it out and make your own mashed sweet potato. Sweet potato fries make a great snack and can be baked right in the oven.

If you are searching for healthy recipes that your whole family will enjoy, skip right over to my Healthy Cooking section, right here at Fitness4Her.com. Learn to prepare delicious meals that are nutritious with selections ranging from breakfast to dinner.

Five Favorite Meals To Eat After A Workout

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I often have women in my fitness classes ask what they should be eating after their exercise program. My reply is always the same, protein and carbs. Protein supplies the amino acids that the body uses to feed, build and replenish every cell. Carbohydrates are converted to sugar and then used as fuel for energy. Even candy can be used to fuel the body, but it lacks the vitamins and nutrients of foods such as fruits, vegetables, brown rice or dairy products.

If you are watching your weight and fat intake, it’s best to choose foods that are lower in fat content. The meals below are easy to make and very enjoyable to eat.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts and Veggies
There are so many ways to prepare chicken breasts, but after a workout, keep it light and remember sauces add calories. A great source of protein, this favorite has nearly 35 grams in a four-ounce serving. It’s rich in niacin and Vitamin B, as well as containing some other good stuff like calcium, magnesium, iron and potassium. For your veggies, choose from a variety like bell pepper, carrots, half sweet potato, spinach or tomato.

Tuna with Brown Rice
When I began working out, I was introduced to this bodybuilder’s choice for a post-workout meal. Tuna is an excellent food because it is very high in protein, a whopping 42 grams in a regular sized can. The brown rice adds fiber and carbs, top off with a few veggies for a meal that is high in everything you need to keep building cells.

Steak and Sliced Tomato
The body immediately absorbs steak protein, which is why it’s a good choice for your after-workout meal. Red meat helps to maintain an active metabolism however it is higher in fat, so go with a small portion. Tomatoes will provide fiber and aid in digestion, especially with red meat.

Salmon with Spinach and Sweet Potato Slices
A colorful trio of high quality protein and omega-3’s accompanied by high fiber veggies loaded with vitamins A, B and C and Beta-carotene. For an extra kick of antioxidants garnish the sweet potato slices with slivers of dark chocolate in place of butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon to create a comfort food that is sure to warm the senses.

Protein Shake
Make with low fat or fat free Greek yogurt, your choice of berries, a half of a banana and some low-fat or fat-free milk. It tastes yummy, and makes a refreshing snack or meal after exercise.

Keep Your Motivation Even When Your Workout Is Compromised

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I was talking with a friend recently who was complaining about her recent weight gain. I was sorry to hear that she was having trouble staying motivated and currently was not participating in any type of women’s exercise program. She had always been active in the past, and it had been a great factor for her personal fitness goals.

A few months earlier, she had been involved in a jogging class with her daughter, but once the class was over they took up other schedules. She lost the interest to keep it going on her own. I ask her if she still went to the gym, but she said that too ended when her exercise buddy had to change her own exercise schedule, so she gave that up too.

It seems that the biggest obstacle in staying motivated to exercise is when we are faced with a schedule change. Creatures of habit, we can successfully continue our workouts as long as nothing interferes with our current plan of action. But a schedule change or slight inconvenience can put a rather large wrench in our scheme of things when it comes to exercising.

There’s simply no way to shield yourself from obstacles that might threaten to disrupt your workout. However, there are plenty of things you can do to help you deal with and empower these obstructions.

If you need a workout buddy but can’t depend on anyone that you know, consider hiring a personal trainer. Having a fitness trainer waiting for you is one way to ensure you’ll make your workout routine. Plus they can teach you new moves and recommend exercises for you to do on days when you work out on your own.

But you don’t have to be a member of a gym in order to get exercise. You can do strength training and Pilates exercises in your own home. All you need is some space to move around and an exercise mat. Make sure you exercise for at least 30 minutes and do these three days a week.

The rest of the week, get out and have fun. Play tennis or shoot a round of golf. Get out and go for a run, skate, or brisk walk. Go dancing at a club or take a dancing class. Go for a bike ride with family members, friends or by yourself. Adopt an active lifestyle and you won’t have to worry about your workout being compromised. You’ll feel motivated all the time and a healthy lifestyle will be the way that you live.

The Fitness Journal Is A Critical Component To Women’s Fitness

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Fitness4Her is all about women’s fitness for a healthy and happy you. Whether you want to gain weight or lose weight, we have a program that will help you reach your fitness goals. A complete diet and exercise program developed especially for women, Fitness4Her believes in the power of the fitness journal. That’s because it has been proven that those women who keep a journal of everything that they eat and drink and all of the activities that they do, have a much greater chance of success than those who simply diet and exercise without keeping a journal.

The first step in keeping a fitness journal is to understand your current eating and exercising patterns. You must know your starting point in order to recognize success. Journaling, or keeping a food and exercise log, is a great way to do it. By writing down everything you eat, you may discover that you consistently make the same poor food choices.

Chronicling what you eat and how you much fitness activity you do can be very enlightening. You might be surprised that you consume more food than you thought. Journaling helps to keep us accountable for what we are putting into our bodies. It also helps to challenge us to become more physically active.

Begin your journal today and keep it up for at least 90 days. That’s the key to a successful program, you’ve got to give it enough time to work and the rest will be easy. Fitness4Her offers an online journal just for you.

It’s also nice to have a journal that you can actually hold in your hands and there is something magical about the act of writing by hand. When you physically write your goals and daily activities by hand, you trigger a response mechanism in your brain. The effort involved in the act of writing helps to validate your desire for change.

There are many journals to choose from and they come in all sizes. You can select one small enough to fit in your purse or a larger one with full size sheets of paper to write on. It’s your journal so look for one that suits you best. To keep you excited about your journal, find one that is attractive and that allows enough entries for your day-to-day exercise and your short-term and long-term goals.

Remember, keeping a journal is fundamental to your success. Changing the way you eat and making a habit of exercising is not easy. The journal may be the easiest part of your whole program, a simple process that is also a critical component to your fitness plan.

Are You A Woman Who Lives To Serve?

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By helping others, we are able to enrich our own lives.

I recently heard an older woman friend of mine say that she lived to serve. It seemed such an odd statement at the time, but I realized there are many of us who live to serve, though we may never even mention it. Of course there may be others who are reading this and thinking, “No way, I’m not here to serve anyone.”

As women, even though we may reject the thought of serving another, we do live a life of service when it comes to family matters. Years of raising children, assisting the husband, helping the elderly grandparents or parents, volunteering for community projects or just simply helping neighbors are all forms of service to others.

Living a life of service is something to be proud of. It is through each of us that God is able to help others. That’s why it is important to take good care of your health. If you wish to be of service to someone else, you must first provide for your own well being.

Don’t neglect your health or overlook the things that you need to do for yourself. Visit your doctor regularly for check-ups and eat a nutrient rich diet. Get plenty of exercise and fresh air and laugh often. Seek positive avenues of entertainment that will refresh and inspire you.

Give yourself 30 minutes a day that you can call your own and start exercising today. For those of us who serve, we sometimes neglect ourselves, especially when it comes to fitness. With a whopping 1440 minutes in every day, you’ll still have plenty of time to help all the other people in your life.

When you make time for yourself, you become much more effective when helping those that you love. Exercise too, is a great way to spend your time because it gives back ten-fold. Exercise strengthens, builds muscle, increases flexibility, and improves endurance. But it does so much more. Exercise allows the body to burn off calories during and after the workout. It alleviates stress and boosts confidence, too.

Just 30 minutes a day is all it takes to keep yourself healthy and happy so that you can lead a life of service. For those who depend on you, your dedication to your workout will be a benefit to them as well.