No doubt, you’ve heard the old saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” What was true in 1866, when this phrase was coined is true today. “Eat an apple before going to bed, you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread.”

Eating an apple every day will improve and help to maintain your health. This gorgeous piece of fruit contains some powerful vitamins and nutrients that are vital to our well-being. For best results, make sure apples are a part of your daily diet.

This beautiful forbidden fruit contains vitamin C to help boost the immune system. They produce a high level of phenolics that decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Eating apples helps to reduce tooth decay by helping to clean the teeth and kill off bacteria. Apple consumption has been linked to reduced attacks in asthma sufferers, too. The quercetin, found in apple peels has been proven to protect brain cells against neuro-degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and decreased risk of diabetes.

Not only are they fabulous for your health, they are delicious too. There are so many different varieties that it’s easy to find something that you like most any time of the year.

The amount of phenolics in your apple varies between the different varieties of apples. With Fuji apples leading the pack, followed closely by Red Delicious and Granny Smith. But whatever your taste, apples are the perfect choice for an in-between snack.

Apples are great in the morning too. Eaten with a piece of goat’s cheese or low-fat cheese, it’s a tasty sensation.

I like to eat an apple before going out to a restaurant. I’ve found that by eating an apple and drinking a full glass of water, I’m less tempted by the basket of bread that comes before the meal. That way, I’m able to enjoy my dinner much better.

It’s amazing how many benefits the apple provides, start adding one-a-day to your diet to preserve your health.

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Calories, for so long have been treated like a bad word. We cringe at the numbers of calories in different foods. We make dinner selections based on the calorie count of certain entrees. What exactly is a calorie and how many should we consume each day? The answer to that question depends on several factors including age, gender, height and level of activity.

Our bodies require calories each day in order to thrive. Calories represent energy for the body. Without calories, food has no sustenance for building muscle, bone, tissue or fat. Our body uses the calories we need and then stores the rest as fat. That is why the calorie count for each individual varies to a certain degree.

It makes sense that a person who is active will burn more calories than a person who lives a sedentary lifestyle. But did you know that the more muscular your body is the more calories you will burn off? For every pound of muscle in your body, you burn 35-50 calories per day without doing anything extra to expend it.

3500 calories of unused energy equals one pound of fat stored in the body. This means for every pound you want to lose, you will need to create a deficit of 3500 calories. When you first start a weight loss plan, it sometimes seems to take forever for those first few pounds to come off. This is probably due to the loss of muscle mass in the body. Once you start building muscle, the extra fat will burn off much quicker.

Remember, when counting calories that your daily intake should not fall below 1200 calories, unless under a doctor’s supervision. When you lose weight too fast, you cause your metabolism to slow down as your body begins to protect its resources. Once you return to a regular diet, your weight will escalate and this is what causes the dreaded yo-yo weight loss/gain syndrome.

By participating fully in the Fitness4Her Diet and 30 Minutes To A New You Exercise Program, it will be easy to reduce your caloric intake and shed those unwanted pounds without going hungry. Best of all it takes only 30 minutes a day. Leaving you extra time for all of those other important things in your schedule.

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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!

• Cajun Chicken with Salsa
• Chicken and Broccoli with Brown Rice
• Chicken Cacciatore

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 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.

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You’ve probably heard of the USDA food pyramid guidelines that suggest “five to seven servings per day of fruits and vegetables.” That strangely misleading guideline sounds like it means that seven is the upper limit recommended, but that is not the case. Frankly, that’s just a lame government bureaucracy trying to confuse you, and trying to keep the meat and dairy lobbies satisfied by not overemphasizing the healthiest of foods—fruits and vegetables. There is nothing unhealthy about having eight or ten or even twelve or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

As long as your overall caloric intake is not excessive, you will help yourself lose weight and stay healthy if you shoot for ten or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day—a goal that even the USDA will endorse, if you press them.

Eating an abundant amount of fruits and vegetables will ensure you don’t succumb to unhealthy cravings of sugar or fat-laden snacks.

Start each day with a glass of juice, a piece of fruit or a warm vegetable. Choose sliced fruit rather than chips or cookies for your morning snack. Pile lettuce leaves and tomato slices on your meat sandwiches for lunch. Enjoy slices of avocado with a half piece of pita bread or eat an apple before going out to dinner, this will help to keep you from filling up on bread prior to eating your meal.

Did you know that eating fruit helps to keep your breath fresher? Fruits help your saliva glands work at optimum condition, keeping your mouth fresh and sweet smelling.

For the best possible results make sure your diet includes these densely nutritious vegetables: sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, eggplant, garlic, onion, asparagus, peppers, tomatoes, and greens.

By replacing high calorie snacks with fruits and vegetables, you’ll lose weight faster, boost your immune system quicker, and feel stronger and healthier. Just 10 veggies a day.

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