Osteoporosis is a condition that affects women and causes the bones to become porous and thin. It is a serious and painful disease that will make your bones weak and brittle over time. There are little to no symptoms early in the disease and by the time symptoms begin presenting themselves, the disease may have already progressed. That’s why it is important to have bone density screenings before you start to suffer from the discomforts of bone pain and tenderness, lower back pain or neck pain, fractures with little impact, a stooped posture and a loss in height.

Your physician can order a bone density test, which will indicate early signs of osteoporosis. You usually have to go to a hospital or other imaging center to have the tests made. The test takes just a short amount of time and involves no pain.

The disease affects women twice as much as it affects men and it tends to affect Caucasian and Southeast Asian women more than any other race. Obviously the older you get or if you have a family history of osteoporosis in your family, you may have a greater chance of developing the disease. Even bad habits like smoking and caffeinated soda consumption have been linked as causes as well.

So considering these factors, it might be time to kick any bad habits you might have. Smoking and excess alcohol consumption can wear done your bones eventually. Too much caffeine can present problems with sleep and since it is a contributing factor to osteoporosis, then it should be limited as much as possible. Soft drinks are high in sugar, caffeine and empty calories and should be avoided, too.

Instead, eat dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale. Drink low fat milk and eat low fat cheeses and yogurts. Any kind of canned fish like salmon and sardines will also help to protect your bones. Also add soy into your diet. The estrogens found in soy have been shown to help maintain bone density. Your doctor may even suggest a calcium supplement.

Another great deterrent to osteoporosis is exercise! Building up strong bones starts with a healthy women’s fitness program. Fitness4Her is a diet, exercise and journal program developed exclusively for women of all ages. Designed to enhance the beauty of the female body, Fitness4Her will help you find exercises that work for you and help you work toward your fitness goals.

Most of what controls your metabolism is totally involuntary. You see, some people are born with a high-burning metabolism, while others have a rather slow metabolism and may tend to gain weight easier.

Gender plays a big role too, in how the metabolism functions. Most men have a metabolism that is 10 to 15 percent higher than women’s; mainly because of their larger size and greater muscle mass.

Metabolism is simply the total of all body processes that burn calories – your metabolic rate plus your activity level.

Whether you’re a man or a woman, your metabolism naturally decreases with age. Scientists have estimated that metabolism slows about 5 percent per decade, beginning at age 40, as we lose muscle mass and increase body fat.

However, your metabolism doesn’t have to deplete so rapidly. You can burn more calories and thereby lose more weight, just by making some changes in the way you live.

1. Build muscle. Strength training with dumbbells or resistance bands at least twice a week is essential to boosting your metabolism. And here’s the really good news: Your metabolism stays pumped for many hours after you finish your workout.
2. Get moving. As with the 30 Minutes To A New You Exercise Program, at least 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise every other day will raise your metabolism. I’m talking about walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or some other form of fun activity a minimum of three times a week to complement your strength training exercises. Both types of exercise work together to increase endurance, build strength and help to burn fat quicker.
3. Eat regularly, every day and don’t skip meals. This may be hard to comprehend for someone who is trying to lose weight. But starving yourself is the absolute opposite of what you need to do if you really want to lose weight. Instead, eat five portion-controlled meals a day to keep you metabolism working at its peak.
4. Don’t eat sugar. Sugar throws your metabolic system into fat storage mode. Aim for a diet with a predominately low glycolic index that break down gradually to maintain blood sugar levels. Eat a couple of pieces of fruit every day to satisfy your sweet tooth
5. Be sure to eat breakfast. It’s a fact that people who eat a healthy breakfast are skinnier than people who don’t. Be sure to include a protein at breakfast and at every other meal.
6. Pop a pepper. If Mexican and Thai are favorites, you’re in luck. “Spicy food that has hot peppers in it appears to boost metabolism,” Lieberman says.
7. Drink green tea. You can stimulate metabolism longer and more effectively by drinking green tea rather than coffee.
8. Stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water essential to flushing the body of toxic byproducts that are released when fat is burned. Cold water may also give your metabolism at least a small boost because energy is required to heat the body.
9. Avoid stress. Physical and emotional stress activates the release of cortisol, a hormone that slows metabolism and is responsible for increased belly fat.
10. Sleep, rest and relaxation. Getting enough sleep is key to keeping your metabolism working at it best. Research shows that people who don’t sleep for seven to eight hours a night are more prone to weight gain. In addition, it has been determined that lean muscle is regenerated in the final couple of hours of sleep each night. So those last few hours of sleep really are important.

Did you know that by managing your cortisol you can trim your waistline, sharpen your senses and even prevent a cold? This great survival mechanism was designed to protect our bodies in times of stress, but sometimes too much of a good thing can ruin the mix.

In order to understand the difference between good and bad levels of cortisone, it might be helpful to explore it further.

Cortisol is a hormone in the body that is secreted by the adrenal glands and provides for the following functions:

• Proper glucose metabolism
• Regulation of blood pressure
• Insulin release for blood sugar maintenance
• Immune function
• Inflammatory response
• A quick burst of energy in times of fight or flight.
• Heightened memory functions.
• Boosts the immune system.
• Lowers sensitivity to pain.
• Helps to maintain homeostasis in the body.

Our levels of cortisone are normally higher in the morning when we need to get things done and lower in the evening as we relax for the day. However, when we don’t get proper rest, we tend to produce an increased amount of the hormone. The increased production of cortisol can lead to further lack of sleep due to insomnia and other sleep problems. When cortisol spikes it signals the brain to demand high calorie foods as a survival tactic to supply the body with more energy.  This would be fine if you were faced with a fight or flight situation but not in the case of mental stress.

Often referred to as the stress hormone because of the high levels of cortisol released in the bloodstream when the body is enduring a great amount of stress, too much cortisol can cause problems with your health such as:

• Increased belly fat which is associated with a greater amount of health problems.
• Impaired cognitive performance.
• Suppressed thyroid function.
• Blood sugar imbalances like hyperglycemia.
• Decreased bone density.
• Decreased muscle tissue.
• High blood pressure.
• A lowered immune system.
• Higher levels of cholesterol.

The key to keeping cortisol production at a healthy level is relaxation.  As a matter of fact, proper rest is vital to the body’s well being. Getting 8 hours of sleep rather than 6 can mean a reduction in cortisol of up to 50%. Other ways of reducing cortisol are:

1. Meditation and prayer can cut cortisol by as much as 20%.
2. Listen to some of your favorite music to cut cortisol by nearly 65%. Fill your iPod with some new tunes and take a walk to lower stress and reduce belly fat.
3. Sip black tea. As it turns out, enjoying an afternoon tea has many health benefits such as reducing cortisol by about 45%.
4. Attend church or other religious service and reduce cortisol by 25%.
5. Do something nice for someone to reduce cortisol levels by 20%.
6. Go for a massage. Let a professional work out the kinks of built up stress and stiffening of the muscles. It can reduce cortisol levels by 30%.
7. Hang out with a fun loving friend. Someone you can laugh with and enjoy your time with, you’ll reduce cortisol by up to 39%.
8. Have a romp in the bed with your lover. Increased stress and cortisol can boost your sex drive, so why not take advantage and enjoy some love-making, you’ll reduce stress and cortisol levels, while burning about 70 calories in about 30 minutes.
9. Exercise regularly. By maintaining your exercise program, you’ll regulate cortisol levels and reduce stress and help to lower blood pressure.
10. Put stress in its place. Life’s challenges are sure to follow us but we can take charge of how we handle them and not let them control us. Enjoy life and preserve your health and happiness.

Diet and exercise have a lot to do with menstruation. Not only during your cycle but in the days before you start your period, what you eat and how active you are can mean the difference between a difficult period or an easy one.

I noticed that many women frequently read my posts regarding menstruation, so I wanted to dedicate this blog post to problems in this common area of women’s lives. From the age of 16 until around 50 years of age, women are reminded of their femininity by the return of their monthly cycle known as menstruation.

A normal menstrual cycle lasts from 3 to 7 days, cycling every 21 to 36 days. Most young women start their periods by age 16 and should consult a physician if she has not started by her 17th birthday.

For most women, they can continue a regular productive schedule during their menstrual cycle. Now of course, there may be days when cramping and a heavy flow may keep you from feeling your very best, but if your monthly period disrupts your life regularly, you might want to consult your physician.

Regular exercise like aerobics and strength training can actually help guard against cramping by strengthening the abdominal wall and back muscles. A sensible diet that is low in saturated fat and sodium can reduce swelling and alleviate some of the discomfort of premenstrual syndrome. I recommend my 30 Minutes To A New You Exercise Program and my Fitness4Her Diet to help you regulate your hormone levels and lower your chance of suffering from these symptoms.

It has been found that some women who engage in intense training such as runners, who run more than 50 miles per week, may actually stop having their periods temporarily or permanently. Although this may seem like a dream come true, it is let your doctor know that you have stopped having a period, as this could be an indication of a more serious medical condition.

Up to 43% of athletic women who work out at extremely high intensities do not have menstrual periods. This condition is known as amenorrhea and has been linked to low estrogen levels as well. Because estrogen is responsible for bone health, amenorrhea can lead to osteoporosis later in life and should not be overlooked.

If you suffer from crazy menstrual periods with gaps that last a month or two between cycles, you are not alone. This common menstrual dysfunction is called oligomenorrhea, or infrequent menstruation of two or more months between cycles.

But like amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea is not a permanent condition. In fact, in most highly active women, normal menstrual functioning returns one to two months after decreasing the level of physical activity. If amenorrhea persists, a woman should undergo a thorough hormonal and gynecological evaluation and, if necessary, receive medical treatment. 



One of most common and talked about types of menstrual problems is premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Believed to be caused by a hormonal imbalance of either an excess in estrogen or a deficiency in progesterone. Premenstrual syndrome encompasses a variety of emotional, behavioral and physical symptoms. Regular exercise has been known to lessen the pain and discomfort of these conditions. But a diet low in sodium and saturated fat will reduce swelling and cramping. Remember to drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated throughout this special time and avoid carbonated drinks because of their tendency to leave you feeling bloated.

So you see, diet and exercise have a lot to do with your menstrual cycle. Your period is an essential part of your health. When your body stops producing estrogen, you will cease having your period. After that, your body has its own problems that you will have to contend with. Start making this monthly time of the month, something you barely notice. Take charge of your life by eating sensibly and staying active and fit.

If your neck is causing you pain, it could be that the pocketbook that you are carrying is just too heavy. Although there are numerous causes of neck pain, a fully loaded purse carried every day, can press on nerves and stress muscles in your neck and shoulder.

No matter how fashionable your big bag is, an overloaded carry all is not healthy to tiny nerves, muscles, tendons, even the tissue in your shoulder and neck. Some bags have even left bruises on their victims.

But carrying a heavy purse is not the only cause of neck and shoulder pain. Sitting at a computer for hours can also cause a stiff neck with pain that surrounds your shoulders and upper back. If you work at a desk and find yourself spending long days hunched over a computer screen, then you probably have suffered a time or two with the pain that I am speaking about.

The number one way to alleviate some of this pain is to practice good posture. I remember my fourth grade teacher emphasizing good posture and I decided right then and there to always be conscious of how I was sitting and standing.

Practicing the Pilates principle of engaging the core helps to strengthen the lower back and torso, but also works to make the upper muscles stronger too. Because emphasis is put on the stomach muscles, and drawing the navel in towards the spine, this helps to promote good posture and protect the back from injury.

If your pocketbook is giving you a pain in the neck or shoulder, try carrying a smaller purse. Don’t attempt to tote all of your possessions around in your shoulder bag every day. Surely there are some things you can leave at home, in the car or in a locker rather than lugging them around all of the time.

For those of you who spend hours in front of a computer screen, make a habit of getting up every hour or so and taking a walk or at least stretching if this is allowable where you work. If nothing else, go to the restroom and do some light stretching exercises by raising your arms and lowering them to your sides and dropping your head forward to and rotating it from left to right to ease the stiffening of your muscles.

Any repetitive motion can give you trouble over time. If pain persists or wakes you up at night, you should speak to your physician. Don’t just assume that chronic pain is caused by muscle fatigue; you may need an X-ray or other evaluation by a healthcare professional.

Exercise is a good way to strengthen your muscles and ease shoulder pain. Resistance training exercises will increase your range of motion and flexibility to protect you from injury. These exercises also relieve stress, a major cause of the common pain in the neck.