Start Small with an Exercise Fast Break

While starting small helps you to avoid burnout when it comes to eating healthy, it also helps to avoid blowout when it comes to fitness. When you decide to start a fitness regimen, it’s easy to think you can just pick up right where you left, regardless if it was two weeks ago, two months ago or even two years ago! Unfortunately, fitness does not work that way. In fact, trying to jump right back in can be dangerous.

Whenever you work out, the muscles in your body break down and then repair themselves. The more active you are, the easier and less painful this process becomes. But when you jump right back into a workout routine after a long absence, your muscles are not prepared. It will take awhile for the body to recover from pressing too hard and one feeling will result – major soreness (a little is okay, after all).

By starting small with a fast break, you ease your body back into the routine of exercise without the pain (or at least not as much). And don’t feel like you are a wimp because you are starting small. By establishing a solid base, your body will soon be ready to roll and adding more difficulty to your workout will be easier than you think.

So what are effective yet simple fast break ideas? Here are some possibilities:

• Walk every day for 15 minutes
• Get 8 hours of sleep every night (good for energy)
• Stretch every morning
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator at work
• Skip a TV show and go outside instead
• Do push-ups or sit-ups for one minute (as many as you can)

Courtesy of: SparkPeople.com

Does Stress Got Your Metabolism Down?

I'm sure you've heard of the fight-or-flight response, and you probably know that it's the way your body reacts to danger or stress. But do you know what the fight-or-flight response is? You guessed it: It has to do with hormones.

When you're faced with a danger, your adrenal glands release three hormones: norepinephrine, epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), and cortisol. Norepinephrine and epinephrine cause several changes to help you survive the danger, including a pause in insulin release so you have lots of blood sugar available for energy, an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, and a suspension of your appetite. After the danger has passed, cortisol tells the body to stop producing norepinephrine and epinephrine and stimulates your appetite again.

This response evolved to help people deal with short-term survival situations, like an attack by a predator. The trouble is, it occurs in response to all stressors, including the deadlines pummeling you at work and the traffic that drives you crazy. When stress is always present, your body can't get rid of the excess cortisol built up in the blood. That cortisol just hangs around, causing lots of trouble: It turns young fat cells into mature fat cells that stick with you forever, and increases your cravings for high-fat, high-carb foods.

When you give in to those cravings, your body releases a cascade of rewarding brain chemicals that can set up an addictive relationship with food — you stress, you eat. If you don't consciously control the pattern, you can become physically and psychologically dependent on that release to manage stress. In fact, people who self-medicate with food tend have hair-trigger epinephrine reactions and chronic high levels of cortisol.

You can help yourself keep cortisol in check by limiting caffeine intake to 200 milligrams a day; avoiding simple carbs, processed foods, and refined grains; and getting plenty of high-quality protein. It's also crucial that you find stress-relief techniques that work for you. If you can tame your stress response and lower cortisol levels, you'll have a much easier time losing weight.

Courtesy of: JillianMichaels.com

Tightening Up Your Inner Thighs

Question:

I really like how my quads and hams have started tightening up, but my inner thighs have a long way to go. Any suggestions for exercises that will help this area?

Answer:

Sadly, this is where your body chooses to deposit its fat. Genetically speaking, your body is predisposed to carry weight there, so that will be the last place it's going to come off. The best thing you can do is watch what you eat and keep training. This will help you lose weight in general — and eventually those problem areas are gonna have to give!
That said, if strengthening the muscles in this area is the goal, I prefer old-school Jane Fonda leg lifts. They target the muscle you want to hit without creating bulk. I know this isn't exactly the answer you're looking for, but it's the truth, and if you stay the course, your inner thighs WILL tighten up. Just keep doing what you're doing!

Over 100 Super Foods for a Super You

Include These Foods for Maximum Body Benefits

Faster than a speeding bullet…
More powerful than a locomotive…
Nutrient-packed with health enhancing properties…

Here come the SUPER FOODS!

These foods benefit your body in so many ways. They power your brain, and correctly and efficiently fuel your body. Super foods fight infection, enhance your immune system, and protect against diseases such as osteoporosis, heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, and respiratory infections.

While this list of super foods may be longer than most, it shows that great things do come in small packages. These foods are not only healthy, but they're also affordable, familiar, and readily available at regular grocery stores and farmers markets. With so many choices, you'll discover just how easy it is to eat super healthy every day…even when on a tight budget.

This is an all-inclusive list, but some foods might not be right for your tastes, preferences or health goals. Remember that no single food can provide everything you need to be healthy. That's why it's important to choose a variety of super foods from each category to meet your daily nutrition needs.

Vegetables Asparagus Avocados Beets Bell peppers Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Collard greens Crimini mushrooms Cucumbers Eggplant Garlic Green beans Kale Mustard greens Onions Peas Portobello mushrooms Potatoes Rainbow chard Romaine lettuce Shiitake mushrooms Spinach Summer squash Sweet potatoes Swiss chard Tomatoes Turnip greens Winter squash Yams Calcium-Rich Foods Almond milk Cheese, low fat Cottage cheese, low fat Milk, skim or 1% Orange juice with calcium Rice milk Soy milk Yogurt with active cultures, low fat

Fruits Apples Apricots Bananas Black olives Blackberries Blueberries Cantaloupe Cherries Cranberries Figs Grapefruit Grapes Honeydew melon Kiwifruit Lemons Limes Nectarines Oranges Papaya Peaches Pears Pineapple Plums Prunes Raisins Raspberries Strawberries Watermelon Grains Amaranth Arborio rice Barley Brown rice Buckwheat Bulgur Corn Jasmine rice Millet Oats Quinoa Rye Spelt Triticale Wheat berries Whole grain breads, cereal, pasta Whole wheat breads, cereal, pasta Wild Rice

Proteins Almonds Beef, lean Black beans Cashews Chicken, skinless Chickpeas Egg whites Eggs Fish, unbreaded Flaxseed Garbanzo beans Hemp seeds Hummus Kidney beans Lima beans Lentils Miso Navy beans Nuts Peanut butter, natural Peanuts Pinto beans Pork, lean Pumpkin seeds Salmon, canned or fresh Seafood, unbreaded Sesame seeds Soybeans Sunflower seeds Tahini Tempeh Tofu Tuna, canned or fresh Turkey, skinless Veggie burgers Walnuts Wild game, skinless Miscellaneous Canola oil Dark chocolate Green tea Olive oil

Courtesy of: SparkPeople.com

Multivitamin Supplements

Should you take a multivitamin supplement? If you eat a healthy, balanced diet that includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean protein, you probably don't need one. But if you want to be sure you're getting the recommended daily amounts of important vitamins and minerals, a multivitamin pill can be a good way to do so.

Vitamins and minerals are nutrients found in foods that your body needs to function optimally. Because your body can't make these nutrients on its own, they must come from food or other sources. Some important ones include the following:

• Vitamin A: Needed for healthy vision and cell development; also acts as an antioxidant, protecting the body's cells from substances called free radicals. Food sources of vitamin A include liver, fish, fortified dairy products, carrots, and sweet potatoes.
• Folic acid: Helps the body make new cells. It's especially important that women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant get adequate amounts of folic acid. It's found in dark leafy greens, dried beans and peas, oranges, and fortified grain products.
• Vitamin C: Plays a role in building connective tissue and keeping the immune system healthy; also acts as an antioxidant. It's found in citrus fruits, broccoli, green peppers, spinach, and other fruits and vegetables.
• Vitamin D: Contributes to bone health, in part by helping the body to absorb calcium; also plays a role in the immune system. Your body makes vitamin D when your skin is exposed to sunlight, and it's also found in fortified dairy foods and cereals.
• Vitamin E: Helps to repair body tissues and acts as an antioxidant. Vitamin E is found in fish, milk, egg yolks, vegetable oils, nuts, and other foods.
• Calcium: A mineral used to build bone. It's found in dairy products and, in smaller amounts, in greens like broccoli and kale.
• Iron: Helps to carry oxygen to the body's cells. Food sources of iron include organ meats, beef, poultry, beans and lentils, and fortified cereals.

Before you purchase a multivitamin, read the label to see what percentage of the recommended daily amount (RDA) of each vitamin it contains. As you'll see, some brands contain much more than the RDA, while others contain less. It has not been proved that taking more than the RDA is beneficial, and taking very high doses of any vitamin can be harmful. Choose a multivitamin that covers the bases but stays at 100 percent of the RDA or less. In addition, check that the label carries the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) symbol. This will ensure that the supplement's manufacturer adheres to certain purity standards and that the supplement can be easily broken down in your digestive system and absorbed.

And remember, taking a multivitamin doesn't mean you can forgo eating well. No pill can replace the benefits of eating a healthy, balanced diet, but a multivitamin supplement can provide a little additional assurance that your body is getting the nutrition it needs.

Courtesy of: The Duke Diet

A Creative Way to Stay Motivated

Courtesy of: SparkPeople

Visual images can be powerful tools in helping you reach your goals. There are lots of creative ways to use this motivation technique, such as posting an image of your goal where you’ll see it most—in your car, on a bathroom mirror, or on the refrigerator. Visual images can also help you reach your weight loss goals. Create a chart to measure your progress, display before and after pictures, or get a brochure of the vacation destination you’ll visit after you reach your goal. These are all good ways to constantly remind yourself of the commitment you’ve made.
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Don't Drink Your Calories

Courtesy of: Duke and Diet Fitness

Calories consumed in the liquid form of fancy coffee drinks, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages can waylay you when you're trying to lose weight. That's because people don't seem to "count" liquid calories as part of their daily calorie total. Those extra liquid calories add up fast.

A 20-ounce soft drink packs 250 calories, a 12-ounce mocha coffee drink has around 300, the average mixed drink has 300, and a glass of wine or beer about 150. Multiply that by a few servings and you can see how the extra calories can spell trouble for your weight-loss efforts.

Even if you drink only one soft drink a day, over time those liquid calories will have a big impact. For example, imagine that you had a can of regular cola with your lunch every day. Over the course of a year, that would add up to nearly 55,000 empty and unnecessary calories — or a little more than 15 pounds!

What's the solution? Make water and unsweetened or artificially sweetened seltzer, iced tea, and coffee your beverages of choice. Each has zero calories (unless you add milk to your coffee, and if you do, be sure to use low-fat or nonfat milk).

If you must have a soft drink, reach for a diet version — at least you won't be drinking hundreds of empty calories. But remember that soft drinks contain sodium, which you won't find in water, tea, or coffee.

In time, you may find you lose your taste for high-calorie beverages. And you'll lose a lot of extra calories too!