I've learned that you can eat carbs and still lose weight. You just need to make good choices and watch your portion sizes. Here are some seriously healthy carbs for you to experiment with:
Calcium often gets all the glory when it comes to bone health. But calcium wouldn't benefit your bones much without its partner, vitamin D!
Why? Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium and keeps your bones strong; without enough vitamin D, the bones become weak and brittle, a condition called rickets in children, and osteomalacia in adults. Adults from 19 to 50 need 200 IU (international units) per day, while those from 51 to 70 need 400 IU daily. Those over 70 need 600 IU per day.
Unfortunately, not too many foods contain vitamin D naturally. (Tuna and sardines canned in oil are exceptions.) The good news is that many foods are now regularly fortified with vitamin D, including milk, some yogurts, margarines, and cereals. You can check the Nutrition Facts panel on packages and containers to see which products contain vitamin D. It should be listed after vitamins A and C, along with the percentage of the Daily Value that a serving of the food contains. The Daily Value (a standardized amount) for vitamin D is 400 IU, so if your milk has 25 percent of the Daily Value, it provides 100 IU per serving.
Your skin can also make vitamin D using sunlight — you need about a half hour of exposure to the midday sun twice a week to make enough. However, because of the increasing incidence of skin cancer in recent years, many experts are wary about recommending sun exposure.
So take a closer look at milk, yogurt, cereal, and margarine selections when you're doing your weekly shopping, and stock up on brands that are fortified with vitamin D. Challenge yourself to consume one source of vitamin D at least three days in the coming week! If you cannot eat or do not like any foods that contain vitamin D or are fortified with it, talk with your health care provider ASAP about taking a supplement. Your bones will thank you for it!
I like to do this one to intensify and maximize my ab workout, and get those washboard abs!
How to Hit the Abs:
How Many: Begin with one set of 8-12 reps and gradually progress to two sets of 8-12 reps. The most important part of doing your ab exercises is proper form. Don't cheat!
When You'll See Results: Do your crunches at least four days a week and you will see a noticeable improvement in three weeks!
I like to do this one to intensify and maximize my ab workout, and get those washboard abs!
How to Hit the Abs:
How Many: Begin with one set of 8-12 reps and gradually progress to two sets of 8-12 reps. The most important part of doing your ab exercises is proper form. Don't cheat!
When You'll See Results: Do your crunches at least four days a week and you will see a noticeable improvement in three weeks!
Keeping your home clean and free of clutter is a key component to healthy living. Clutter builds up quickly; most people don't even realize that they're pack rats until they start going through closets and realize they have shoes they haven't worn in a decade or piles of newspapers dating back to 2000!
If this is you, it's time to declutter your home. Remember the old adage "Cluttered home, cluttered mind"? Rejuvenate your peace and well-being by vowing to clear up the clutter. To decide whether something is worth keeping or not:
Remember, coming home to a clean and clutter-free space will leave you feeling calm and relaxed. Embrace the concept — you'll be glad you did.
Everyone is looking for that elusive, magic weight-loss trick. The only "magic" weight-loss trick I know of is strength training - weight-bearing exercise designed to build and strengthen your muscles.
Muscles work miracles on your metabolism. For every pound of muscle you add, you automatically burn and extra 35 to 50 calories per day. The reason? Muscle demands more energy than fat does. Therefore, the more muscle you build, the more calories you body burns.
Keep in mind that conditioning your muscles doesn't mean bulking up so that you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. It does mean burning more calories and giving your body and whole new shape!
Your arms and legs will look and feel firmer. Your waist will become narrower and your belly will shrink. Your clothes will fit better. You'll start to look younger and feel stronger!
Building muscle is a must-do when it comes to losing weight and getting fit. So even if my toning exercises aren't your favorite exercises, you need to do them if you want to lose weight and be fit. You'll love the results — both how you feel in your clothes and how you look in the mirror.
When
When should you do toning and strengthening exercises? Strengthening exercises should be an important part of your regular exercise routine. However, when you do strength training it's important to give your muscles time to rest and recuperate after a workout. With this in mind, you should not strength train the same muscles everyday. You can do toning and strengthening for all your muscles every other day (giving yourself a day of rest in between), or you can alternate - doing lower body exercises one day and the next day upper body exercises - as I do on my shows. The exception to this rule is the abdominal muscles - they can be exercised everyday.
Equipment
Even if you've never exercised before or aren't used to working with weights, you can do my toning exercises. They don't require a gym membership or fancy machines. In fact, if you don't have the basic tools listed below, you can use items that you probably have around the house:
