Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Seven Simple Steps To A Younger Looking You

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Your diet and lifestyle play major roles in how your skin looks and how old you appear. If you are interested in looking and feeling your very best, follow these seven simple steps to see a younger looking you.

1. To achieve soft, supple skin, eat foods rich in Omega 3s such as flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, avocados, salmon, tuna, mackerel, and olive oil. Omega 3s nourish the skin and also help to combat inflammatory skin conditions like acne and psoriasis.

2. Eat plenty of bright, colorful fruits and vegetables, daily. Pick fresh produce that is abundant in zinc, selenium, vitamin C, and beta carotene, all of which are key players in the body’s production of collagen. Red bell peppers, broccoli, sweet potatoes, oranges and carrots are all great choices.

3. Every meal you eat should include one serving of protein. All of the cells in your body depend on protein for growth and rejuvenation. Insufficient protein can cause tears, wrinkles, and cracks in your skin, making you look much older.

4. Limit the amount of alcohol you drink. Too much alcohol can cause adverse effects on your skin. Alcohol is a natural diuretic and drinking too much can cause dehydration, which leads to older looking skin. In addition, excessive alcohol use can cause Rosacea outbreaks and increase fine lines and breakouts in your skin.

5. Get a good night’s sleep. Not enough sleep can cause the appearance of dark circles, bags under the eyes and an overall tired look. One of the least expensive and most important things we can do to help us look and feel our best is to get plenty of rest. Make sleep a priority and you will see the difference it makes overnight.

6. Exercise every day to look and feel fabulous. The many benefits of exercise include helping you look younger and to virtually slow the effects of age on your body. Exercise increases your oxygen level provides a rejuvenating effect on your skin, lungs and heart.

7. The warm rays of the sun feel magnificent against my skin, but I dare not go out without sunscreen protection. Excessive exposure to the sun’s UV rays can cause wrinkling and carries a strong risk of cancer. Protect yourself and keep your skin smooth and sleek with a regular moisturizing regimen and plenty of sunscreen every day.

Sleep For Better Health

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Getting a good night’s sleep is vital to our health, but there are times when sleep just doesn’t come easy. If this happens more often than you like, you may be suffering from insomnia.
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is common among adults. It is defined as short and poor quality sleep that affects your ability to function normally during the day. Most women need between 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.

Some symptoms of insomnia include:
• Lying awake for a long time or having trouble falling asleep
• Waking up during the night and having trouble returning to sleep
• Waking up too early in the morning
• Feeling like you never fell asleep

Recently, researchers have begun to think about insomnia as a problem of your brain being unable to stop being awake. Most adults have had some trouble sleeping because they feel worried or nervous, but for some it’s a pattern that interferes with sleep on a regular basis.

Anxiety symptoms that can lead to insomnia include:
• Tension
• Guilt over past events
• Worrying about future events
• Feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities
• Overstimulation

To overcome anxiety, many people choose to use stimulants. However, these can be counterproductive, as many stimulants, including food, can disrupt sleep.

These include but are not limited to:
• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Nicotine
• Heavy meals

There are many techniques to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Your body needs rest and relaxation to function properly.

Instead of stimulants, try some natural ways to ensure better sleep:
• Eat early and eat often
• Exercise every day, but not before bedtime
• Keep a fitness journal and a diary
• Say affirmations
• Meditate daily
• Hide Your Clock
• Lower the temperature
• Darken the room
• Scent the room with lavender
• Use visualization to take you to your happy place
A healthy diet, regular exercise, and plenty of sleep are the fundamentals of a healthy lifestyle. Keeping a fitness journal not only ensures you stay on track for these three, it also allows you to write down your emotions, organize your thoughts and optimize your ability to focus on future events. This goes a long way in helping to reduce anxiety so you can get a better night’s sleep.

Reduce Inflammation With Better Health

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If your workout is suffering because your body is hurting due to inflammation, giving up exercising is not the answer.

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, 30 minutes of exercise daily can reduce inflammation. Studies have shown that regular physical activity also lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. Just as we’ve long suspected, exercise is a vital part of our overall health and well-being.

All inflammation is not bad. Inflammation is a necessary part of the body’s immune response. It helps your body heal from injuries and illness. However, recurring or chronic inflammation can lead to disease. This type of inflammation can be controlled or prevented with the right diet and exercise.

Your diet, exercise and lifestyle have much to do with controlling inflammation in your body. Too much of a good time can wreak havoc, so go easy on the drinking, don’t smoke and get up and get moving because that couch-potato lifestyle can cause a hot mess of inflammation in your body.

• Eating protein at every meal, including breakfast lunch, dinner and even snacks, helps your liver rid itself of toxic chemicals that might be wading through your blood stream.

• Get the majority of your carbohydrates from vegetables, legumes, fruits and whole grains. These foods are filled with blood sugar-regulating fiber and antioxidants to help fight inflammation. As in all things, diet plays a major part in regulating inflammation in your body.

• Green tea has natural antioxidants called catechins that fight free radicals and help the body rid itself of unhealthy toxins. Catechins have also been attributed to a reduction in body fat, according to a recent study on the beneficial effects of green tea.

• A stressed out mind comes with a stressed-out body. Between workouts, squeeze in some restorative yoga poses. Yoga helps to decrease stress levels by increasing levels of leptin and adiponectin, natural chemicals that work to alleviate inflammation.

• Every day, take some time to do something that restores your body, mind and soul. Whether it be a long solitary walk to get in touch with your inner self, or time you set aside for meditation, give yourself time each day for healing to refresh your mind and restore your spirit.

If you are suffering from chronic inflammation, assess your lifestyle including your diet and exercise routine. Begin to examine the foods that you eat by keeping a fitness journal to monitor your diet and daily activities. If your condition persists, see your doctor and bring along your journal to help you both figure out what activities and foods you eat may be contributing to your condition. In all things be healthy and happy, body, mind and soul.

Health And Happiness – The True Connection

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Happiness and healthiness go hand in hand. A healthy body, mind and soul is a happy body, too. On the same note, when you are unhealthy it is hard to be very happy. But people do persevere. Even in the worst of diseases and illnesses, many people can find the bright side of life. They look for the positive in the rubble of the negative. Although suffering from their illnesses, these remarkable people choose a positive attitude over a negative one.

Studies have shown that negative emotions and thoughts harm the body. Long-term stress and fear can alter biological systems and over time can cause illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Chronic anger and anxiety can interfere with the heart’s electrical functions and lead to cardiac disease. Have you ever felt your heart race when you are scared or angry? Your stomach too, may begin to hurt due to the release of certain hormones that are released by the body when it is stressed. These negative emotions have a harmful effect on your body.

Striving to live a healthy lifestyle can make you very happy. Of course, it won’t ensure happiness, as there are many other areas of your life that factor into your own personal equation of happiness. However, all preferences aside, living a healthy lifestyle means fewer colds and illnesses, less bloating and gas, less times waiting on food or being hungry and building the body you always wanted.

Living a healthy lifestyle means never having to say you are sorry. You automatically forgive yourself and those around you so that you can live a life of true grace and beauty. You will be amazed at how wonderful you can feel when you let go of negative feelings and embrace love and forgiveness. This also applies to your diet and exercise efforts. Be happy with your achievements but don’t ever stop trying. Let patience and persistence be your guiding mantra. Remembering to be patient with your body and persistent in your efforts.

I strive for health and happiness every day. My husband and children remind me of how important my health is to my family and how grateful I am for their health, too. When I focus on all that we have to be thankful for, I feel all my stress and anxiety melt away. I do believe there is a direct connection between health and happiness, and I am so happy to be healthy and truly want you to be healthy and happy, too.

Rest, Refresh and Rejuvenate

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Your sleeping habits affect your body, mind and soul. If you get less than 6 to 7 hours of sleep each night, you could be at a greater risk of developing heart disease and other diseases. Getting plenty of rest will allow your body time to restore, refresh and rejuvenate after a full day of activity.

Getting adequate rest benefits your heart, brain function, appearance and overall mood. Lack of sleep has been linked to higher blood pressure and cholesterol, two factors that play a big part in heart disease. Sleep reduces stress and increases production of melatonin, a hormone that is thought to protect against cancer.

Sleep makes you more alert and helps improve your memory–key benefits for an active mind. When you are sleep deprived, simple decisions can become more difficult, making it hard to complete complex tasks. You might make more mistakes when you are tired, which is usually a signal that you need to take a break.

It is important to get adequate rest whenever you are involved in learning. Just as your brain needs sufficient sleep before learning something new, it needs lots of rest in order to process and retain the information that has just been learned.

Sleep refreshes your body, mind and soul. Your eyes and face appear more refreshed and relaxed following a good night’s rest. Your skin will become more radiant and your hair will have more vitality when you give your body the rest it needs. Every cell in your body is affected by sleep. While you are sleeping, your body repairs any damage done to cells.

If you exercise regularly, then you need adequate rest in order to repair and restore muscles. This is why it is a good idea to alternate the muscle groups you work on each day to allow time for them to recover. Many times an active lifestyle with plenty of exercise makes it easy to get a good night’s sleep since your body is working hard and becoming fatigued at the end of the day.

Getting a good night’s sleep is not always easy. Most women need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. Of course, it is also important that the sleep you get is quality, restful sleep. If you often have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, you should talk with your doctor.

Make your sleeping environment as quiet and peaceful as possible. Stop eating for at least two hours before going to bed. This way your body’s energy can be used for healing and rejuvenation rather than digestion. Avoid caffeine or any stressful mental activity in the hours right before bedtime. Try to relax with a good book, some soothing music, enjoyable conversation or meditation instead.