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Are you overloaded
with work, family and personal demands, often rushing to adhere to a
stressful "24/7" schedule? If so, your everyday meal solutions don't
need to come from drive-through windows or Styrofoam take-out boxes.
Even with a busy lifestyle, you can put nutritious meals on your dinner
table with ease. Being time-starved doesn't mean you have to sacrifice
nutrition. A few small changes in your meal and snack strategies can
yield positive results.
Shop Smart
Supermarkets
today offer an array of partially prepared products and other kitchen
"shortcuts." When you're busy, you can still put good nutrition on your
table without doing all the time-consuming preparation yourself.
Keep
fresh lettuce on hand and then add nutrient-rich extras: grated cheese;
bite-size grilled chicken, tofu, or chopped hard-boiled eggs; cut-up
vegetables; sliced apples, pears, or berries; toasted nuts or seeds.
(Keep a variety of salad dressings on hand for variation.
Add
your own flair to "ready-to-prepare" dishes: add diced lean ham,
chicken breast, or chopped carrots, broccoli or tomatoes to cooked
macaroni and cheese; chopped dried fruit or nuts to rice; sliced red
and green peppers, mushrooms, and broccoli florets to a good quality
frozen pizza.
Flavor your protein with prepared sauces and
spreads: barbecue, steak or teriyaki sauce on pork chops, chicken
breasts, burgers, or fish steaks; hummus as a sandwich spread; salsas
for quick tacos or quesadillas; pasta-ready or pizza-ready herbed
tomato sauces.
Use any oil-vinegar based dressing as a vegetable, meat, poultry or seafood marinade.
Do It Ahead
When
you're doing it all yourself, it's best to do it ahead. Spend some
kitchen time on nights or weekends for easy meal prep during the week.
Plan - Keep an ongoing shopping list so you always have nutritious, easy-to-prepare ingredients on hand.
Pre-prep
when you can. Put breakfast cereal and bowls on the table or put
together a packed lunch the night before. Assemble tomorrow's casserole
while you clean up from tonight's dinner. Wash and slice raw veggies
ahead so they're ready for snacking, salads, or a stir-fry.
Make
double or triple batches. With soup, stew, salads (i.e., pasta salad or
chicken salad), sauce, or whole grains, such as rice, you can make
enough at a time for several meals. Or prepare two casseroles at a time
- one for now, one to freeze for later.
Cook once for two
different dishes/meals. For example, grill enough chicken breasts for
dinner tonight and for lunch tomorrow. Prepare hearty vegetable soup on
Sunday; add chicken or beans and rice for variation on Tuesday. Cook
plenty of pasta - some for tonight's primavera, some for tomorrow's
pasta salad.
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Something
about a 20 minute workout having the same impact as a typical long
winded session at the gym really appeals to me. Fast Fitness that
targets all the major muscle groups, makes me sweat, torches tons of
calories, boosts my overall metabolic rate and still leaves me time for
a shower? Where do I sign up? I'm talking of course about HIIT: High
Intensity Interval Training.
How
does this miraculous sounding workout get powerful results? The answer
is in the science behind it all. The goal of HIIT is to hold an
anaerobic state over an accumulated amount of time. It's designed with
rest intervals to allow you to do longer and harder bursts during your
workout. For example, if you were to sprint for 100 meters, you would
go full out for about 15 seconds (depending how fast you were). Compare
this to a HIIT workout. 5 minutes is generally spent with warm up and
cool down (essential for preventing injuries & not over-working
your heart!), and 15 is spent with the workout. Of the 15; 4-8 minutes
will be spent in those bursts or sprints - depending on your fitness
level.
Here are some basic tips to get you started with your HIIT:
Its intense.
You will zap more calories during the workout, and it will increase
your metabolic rate. Be sure to eat about ½ an hour before your workout
- something light and energizing!
Take a break.
HIIT should only be done every other day at the most. Doing HIIT every
day will overtax your body, and could zap energy. It works best for
burning calories and increasing strength when your body has a day
between workouts to rebuild.
Try something new.
There is a variety of workouts you can do with HIIT. The point is to
incorporate intervals. The most effective is jogging with sprints, but
you can try intervals on the bike, elliptical machine, jump roping,
swimming, and more.
Mix it up.
The point of High Intensity Interval Training is to avoid the plateau
and keep your body on its toes. Sticking to one HIIT routine will bore
your body and start to decrease in effectiveness. Mix up the pace or
interval of your bursts, or switch the type of workout you do your
intervals with.
Raise your heart rate.
To be effectively doing HIIT, you want your heart rate at or above 80%
of its maximum rate during your bursts. The regular periods should be a
jogging pace.
High
Intensity Interval Training is sure to be a challenge to anyone, and
will definitely give you the results you want in no time at all - while
leaving you plenty of room for all the other things in your life!
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By
now, you have seen countless articles promising you an easy way to flat
abs, or seven exercises that will create flat abs in just three weeks.
The truth is that these are simply lies. Yes, exercising your
abdominals will help you to create flatter more toned stomach, but the
key word here is "help." In order to actually decrease the size of your
abs you have to lose the fat that is covering them. Here are some of
the more basic principles behind the real way to lose inches and
increase muscle tone:
 Cardio workouts: in order to burn fat, you need to raise your heart rate for sustained periods of time.
Only
work your abs in the direction you wish them to go: If you do crunches
by forcing your abs out, you effectively train those muscles to
protrude. Instead, do exercises that focus on pulling your abs back
toward your spine.
Work in all three directions: do a variety of ab exercises that bend you forward, laterally and diagonally (twisting).
Focus on posture: stand up straight and pull your abs in; bad posture can contribute heavily to a belly pooch.
Check
your diet: if you are eating a lot of gas-producing foods or eating on
the run (which causes most people to chew and swallow too quickly) some
of the stomach bloat you notice may be the result of your body working
to digest food or passing gas through the GI tract. You should also
avoid high-fat foods at all costs.
Lower your stress: studies
have shown that the body, when under stress, stores more fat cells in
the belly. Avoid activities - such as smoking and not getting enough
sleep - that increase cortisol in the body.
Work all your
muscles: your body is like a machine in which all components work
together to perform. You should never focus on strength-training only
one muscle group. For example, well developed back muscles are
essential to strong abdominal muscles.
Achieving flat abs comes
down to three things: getting plenty of cardiovascular exercise, doing
full-body strength training that includes a variety of ab exercises,
and adopting a healthy diet.
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Avocado
salad made with cucumber, carrots, cauliflower, and mushrooms is a
tasty filling for pita bread, and makes for a low fat, high energy
lunch.
Ingredients:
1 avocado, halved and peeled
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped cauliflower
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup cubed low-fat Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup low-fat Italian dressing
4 whole wheat pita pockets
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped tomato
Preparation:
Dice half the avocado. Reserve other half.
Gently toss diced avocado, cucumber, carrot, cauliflower, mushrooms, and cheese with Italian dressing.
Slit pita breads and separate halfway around by pulling edges apart to form a pocket. Fill each with 1/4 of the mixture.
Mash remaining avocado with fork and stir in lemon juice and tomato. Spoon into each sandwich.
Yield: 4 pocket sandwiches
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In this Issue:
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Contact Information
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Name
Phone
Website
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Portion Control
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If
you are eating healthy and still not shedding the weight, you may be
eating too much. No matter how healthy your selections are, weight loss
boils down to calories consumed and expended. To get a handle on the
calories you are consuming, know what a serving size looks like – its
much easier than measuring it!
This should get you started:
1 serving size of:
Meat (3 oz) = a deck of cards
Fruit (1/2 cup) = a med. Sized piece, or the size of a fist
Vegetables (1/2 cup) = Size of a baseball, for a cup, or 1 medium piece
Rice, Beans, Pasta (1/2 cup) = Rounded handful
Fish (3 oz) = Checkbook
Peanut Butter (2 Tbsp) = a golf ball
Chips/crackers/fries = the size of your palm – disclude your fingers
Drinks (8 oz) = most glasses are 12 oz, so stop filling it up all the way.
Check packaging as
well. Breads that are loaded with sugary ingredients will have a higher
caloric content per slice, and you’ll be more likely to consume more.
Go for low calorie, high fiber options for a more controlled, and still
satisfying portion.
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H2Oh!
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Water
is critical to our survival, but beyond that, most people don't think
too much about their hydration levels. Sadly, many of us are
chronically dehydrated. , The average person requires 64 ounces of
water a day for optimal functioning, but this requirement increases
with exercise as well as other factors like heat and humidity.
Here are some easy tips to keep you easily hydrated:
H2O to Go:
Combat dehydration by having on-the-go water containers to take with
you anywhere. Having a hands-free system, water bottle, or similar
portable water container on hand will give you easy access to drink
throughout the day
Have a Reminder: Set
your watch, PDA or timer; or try wearing 8 rubber bands, removing one
per 8 ounces of water consumed. Having a reminder throughout the day
will keep you consuming the requsite amount of water evenly throughout
the day.
Drink before you feel thirsty. Thirst is not an accurate indicator of hydration. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.
Watch for signs of dehydration:
Fatigue, headache, nausea, and light-headedness are all indications of
dehydration. Feeling lethargic? Go for water, not coffee.
Workouts: Drink
approximately two cups of water in the two hours before exercising,
then drink an additional 1/2-3/4 cups for every 15 minutes of activity.
Remember,
Water is the best fluid for staying hydrated during exercise sessions
of less than one hour. Sports Drinks are great for longer sessions, but
the sugar and sodium can deplete your fluid levels overall, so be sure
to drink plenty of water as well!
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Relaxing for Self-Confidence
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When
people experience stress, they often start to feel like they're losing
control of the situation, which undermines their confidence. Most of us
have felt this way and will probably feel it again--it's all a part of
being alive and interacting with your world. But when it gets to be too
much to handle, try adopting some healthy habits. Here are some
relaxation tips to help you feel grounded and confident again:
1.
Take a break from what you're working on and do something different for
a while. If you're in a high stress environment, leave for a short walk
if you can. Take some deep breaths and clear your head before returning.
2.
Play relaxing background music while you work. Some people prefer
classical music or sounds from nature, but your idea of "relaxing"
music may be different, and that's ok.
3. Slow your breathing and focus on relaxing your body.
4.
Take a hot bath or shower to release tension in your muscles. If you
can't do that, go to the bathroom and wash your hands in warm water,
massaging them up and down the arms. Take deep breaths and focus on the
warmth and feeling the release in your hands.
5. Light a calming aromatherapy candle or get some oils with relaxing scents that you like.
6.
Practice mindfulness - being present in the moment - so that you are in
tune with your mind and body and can detect the subtle changes as you
relax. Start by spending 5 minutes a day just sitting quietly, noticing
the sights, sounds, and sensations you are experiencing. When you are
aware of what your body is reacting to and what it needs, you will be
better equipped to deal with stress and may possibly even prevent it
altogether.
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