Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

Archives for December 2012

Christmas Colored Salad

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Red, green and white are the traditional colors of Christmas, but you won’t have to wait until December to enjoy this sumptuous salad. As vivid as a Christmas tree, this salad brings excitement at every presentation.

1 large red tomato
1 large yellow tomato
1 large green pepper
1 jar of black olives

Directions:

1. Cut up and mix together all ingredients.
2. Add a pinch of olive oil.
3. Garnish top with 2 tsp of fresh basil.
4. Drop curled ribbon on the table around the base of the bowl, to draw attention and entice your guests.

Health Benefits:
Low in saturated fat, low in cholesterol, low in sodium, low in sugar and low in calories, this salad is a great way to get a jump start on your daily fruits and veggie requirements. Full of heart healthy antioxidants and high in Vitamin C, it’s a good source of fiber.

Wet, Wild and Wonderful Water

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Water is essential to good health. It helps to rid the body of toxins while delivering essential nutrients to our cells. It helps us to digest our food and keeps us hydrated.

Eight glasses of water per day is the goal. Not only will this help to flushes contaminates from your body water will also fill you up without adding calories. Drinking water with your meals is a great way to cut down on extra calories and will help you to lose weight quicker.

If you don’t like to drink water or find it boring and tasteless, unsweetened tea is of course a healthy substitute. A squeeze of lemon to your water or to your tea, will add flavor without additional calories, too. Lemon is an alkalizing food, and thus could help you avoid acid reflux.

It is important, especially when you exercise to keep your body well hydrated. Drinking water while exercising helps to regulate the body’s temperature through the sweat glands. As we sweat our body cools down. By keeping ourselves properly hydrated, we keep this vital process working at its best.

You can usually tell if you have been drinking enough water by the color of your urine. Unless you are taking vitamins that are high in iron, your urine should be lightly colored. Iron tends to make the urine darker. When you are properly hydrated, the water leaving your body in the way of urine should be almost clear.

Drinking enough water each day will improve the function of your kidneys, too. By aiding in digestion, and speeding up the way your body processes food, an ample amount of water will actually speed up the metabolism, making weight loss easier and longer lasting.

Water stimulates the circulation of blood and regulates your skin’s natural balance. It helps to revitalize, detoxify and oxygenate the skin. Drinking plenty of water will help replace the moisture that your face loses through free radicals and other forms of stress in our everyday lives.

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How to Survive the Holidays Without Destroying Your Diet

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We all know it’s coming. We can feel it in the air as summer fades and we head straight into fall. Soon the air will be thick with rich holiday smells wafting from the kitchen enticing us to gorge on sweets and goodies that we’ve denied ourselves all year.

It’s a fact that most people will gain their fair share of festive holiday weight during this time of year, but that doesn’t mean you have to set your diet aside completely. It also doesn’t mean that you have to deny yourself a little holiday treat now and then either. The problem most people have is they completely put their diet on hold for a couple of months to enjoy the holidays. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are some tips on surviving the upcoming holidays this year with your belt buckle still intact.

1. Don’t deny yourself. For most of us, there are a couple of days in the holiday months where we are presented with delicious food. It’s ok to eat what you want on these days as long as you limit yourself to just a few days! Just because you ate badly one day doesn’t mean you have to give up the next! If you allow yourself a few days to splurge on your diet, it’s not going to ruin your diet. Plus you’ll have something to look forward to that may help you say no to sweets before the big day.

2. Keep up the exercise. Exercising during the holiday months is crucial if you want to splurge on your diet. By keeping up your daily exercise routine, you can maintain your weight and stay trim through the pieces of pumpkin pie and ice cream.

3. Eat smaller portions. Yes, you can eat pie on Thanksgiving, but try just having a small slice instead of the jumbo one you really want. By eating smaller portions, you still get to have the food you want, but you’re not stuffing yourself silly with high calories foods.

4. Keep a healthy balance. OK, so you ate a large portion of cheesy mashed potatoes. Balance out that meal by eating a portion something healthy like steamed broccoli or spinach. If you’re the one cooking the meal, make sure there are an equal amount of healthy options for every indulgence you cook.

5. Consider why you are eating. Before you take that first bite of gingerbread cookie, consider why you are eating. During the holidays people tend to overeat because they are depressed or lonely. Make sure before you put that cookie in your mouth that you are doing it for the right reasons. If you think you may be depressed, a quick call to a close friend can help alleviate some of your depression.

Dieting during the holidays doesn’t have to be a lost cause. If you allow yourself some treats but still keep up with healthy eating and exercise, you’ll make it through the next few months without even one extra inch.

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