Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Fad Diets Or Bad Diets – The Secret To Never Dieting Again

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Fad diets come and go, but the truth is you shouldn’t have to go on a diet at all. Your diet should be the way you eat all of the time. Most doctors agree that going on a severely restrictive diet will help you lose weight temporarily but won’t help you over time. As a matter of fact, diets that are too strict may have you neglecting certain nutrients that your body needs and may do you more harm than good.

Bad diets are designed to fail. You may lose weight in the beginning, but as soon as you begin to eat normally, the weight returns. Unfortunately, the more often this yo yo type dieting occurs, the harder it is to lose weight time and again. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can learn the secret to never having to diet again.

Instead of dieting, you will learn to make changes to the way that you eat. These changes won’t be temporary. The changes you choose to make will be ones that you can live with. Changes that won’t leave you feeling deprived or depressed. Slowly, but surely, you will willingly turn away from foods that don’t meet your criteria for the body that you desire.

Eat five meals a day, instead of the traditional three meals a day and never feel hungry. Eating smaller portions more often is a good way to cut down on calories while staving off hunger. You can control the urge to overeat at each meal knowing that your next meal is only a few hours away.

I have been eating this way for years and have been able to control my weight, improve my health and balance my hormones. It is the foundation for the Fitness4Her Diet and has been successful in helping others manage their weight too.

Many people like fad diets because they cause you to lose weight fast. The problem is that for a diet to make you lose weight fast, it probably restricts calorie intake way below normal. If that is what you are interested in, you can do that by yourself by starving yourself. This is not what smart women interested in a healthy lifestyle should even be considering. No matter how frustrated you get about losing those stubborn pounds, choose a wise a healthy path and stay away from fad diets.

Peruvian Tastes – The Newest Superfoods

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Get supercharged with the latest superfoods from Peru. South American foods are trending at many upscale restaurants that are featuring these tasty delights. Popular for their versatility, these healthy foods are high in vitamins and nutrients. Great sources of antioxidants and vegetable protein, these superfoods will boost your metabolism, fight infection, reduce inflammation and keep you energized. Here’s just a sampling in the latest superfoods from Peru.

Kiwicha also known as amaranth, is a small whole grain that is gluten-free. This miniature quinoa is known for its dense nutritional content. Famed in Peru for over 4,000 years, Kiwicha is considered an anti-aging food. It contains all 10 essential amino acids, and makes a great plant protein for vegetarians. High in fiber, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc and manganese.

Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit that tastes like maple, caramel and pumpkin all combined together. With orange/yellow colored flesh, it has the texture of a hard boiled egg yolk. Cultivated since 200 A.D. this fruit was known as the “Gold of the Incas.” High in carotene, fiber, iron and niacin, the fruit is not available locally, but the Lucuma powder is available at many health food and vitamin stores.

Maca helps to balance hormones, boost energy, improve fertility and provides health benefits to beautify skin, hair and nails. A tuber root of Peru, most commonly referred to as Peruvian Ginseng. It is high in these minerals: calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc and up to 20 essential fatty acids, lipids, fiber, carbohydrates, protein, and amino acids.

Pichuberry a small, smooth berry also known as the Inca berry. From Peru, it is as small as a cherry, but comes wrapped in a thin, papery green shell making it look more like a tomatillo. The pichuberry has a low glycemic index (25-28) coupled with a high concentration of vitamin C and carotenoids meaning that it has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Quinoa, though not new to menus, is still one of the top superfoods and deserves to be mentioned. Quinoa contains more vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants than any other grain. Vitamin B6, thiamin, niacin, potassium, and riboflavin, plus minerals like copper, zinc, magnesium, and folate, as well as the antioxidants phytonutrients quercetin and kaempferol, which lend anti-inflammatory and disease-fighting prowess to each bowl consumed.

Look for these superfoods at your health food store or grocery store, as well as finer dining restaurants. Many menus feature these superfoods in sauces, salads or garnishes. Expand your taste and give these Peruvian flavors a try.

Journaling – The Best Kept Secret For Staying In Shape

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When asked what my secret is for staying in shape, my response varies. I could answer that it is my diet or that I exercise 6 days a week or that I truly believe that a fit body is a healthy body. The truth is that journaling is the real secret behind my success.

Journaling is the act of keeping a journal. While there are all sorts of journals, like work journals, travel journals, or personal journals much like diaries, the journaling I am referring to is a fitness journal. Within the pages of a fitness journal, I record everything that I eat and everything that I drink. I record my physical activities such as my strength training sessions and my cardio workouts. I make notes of the level and intensity of each exercise and write down how much time I spend walking, running and playing.

There are many advantages to keeping a fitness journal. It gives me a starting point and helps me to visualize my goals. The very act of writing these acts in a book, make them more of a reality than if I just keep it all in my head. When I am ready to take my workout to the next level, I write these goals in my journal and then form a plan to make them happen. It’s not always easy, it’s not always convenient, but I truly believe that it helps me.

It has been proven time and again, that people who keep a journal of every thing they consume and all the activities they do to burn off calories have a far better chance of success in losing weight and getting in shape than those who do not. It’s such an easy and rewarding activity and it really does help to validate your fitness goals.

You can purchase a journal with pages that can be removed or added or you can just use a composition notebook. In this digital age, many women prefer using their phones or computer to record their food consumption and workouts. I prefer the old school method of actually taking pen to paper and writing. I enjoy writing and the act of journaling both soothes and energizes me in so many ways.

The wonderful thing about writing down your goals, is reading them later and reflecting on how much hard work, commitment and dedication it takes to achieve the goals that you set for yourself. Begin journaling today and you can turn your dreams into reality.