The Spring of Life

Body-Mind-Spirit Health, Beauty and Fitness in Organic Way

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

The Holidays – The Final Stretch

Here are some ideas to help you reduce stress and enjoy yourself through the holiday home stretch:

  • Try ten-minute workouts – they do have benefits! (It’s about the cumulative time spent throughout the day, not just one particular workout.) Some ideas:
    • Perform one set of exercises, to fatigue, for each of the major muscle groups (legs, chest, back, arms, and abdominals).
    • Try a quick cardio blast: start at an easy intensity to warm up for one minute then perform a variety of moves to increase your intensity for the next eight minutes (you should feel like you’re “working”). End with a one-minute cool down.
    • How about a yoga break performing ten minutes of sun salutation? You can find this series of yoga poses online or in most yoga books.
  • Avoid crowded malls and finish your shopping online. There are many websites that have almost anything you need, and your favorite stores probably have websites too. During the holidays you can often find great deals, like free shipping!
  • Carry individual serving size snacks for those times you get hungry while away from home. Items such as nuts, bars, peanut butter and crackers, and string cheese work well.
  • Get plenty of sleep! This will help with stress, keep your appetite in check and maintain your energy.

You can do this! Promise yourself this year will be a less-stressed, fun, and relaxing holiday season. You deserve it!

By Amy Lundberg
Lifestyle Fitness Coach
Amy Offer's a Free report on the 7 Keys For Maximizing Your Motivation: Toned and Fit Body at www.aimforfitness.com

Happy Holidays to You All,

Eve
Body-Mind-Spirit Health, Fitness & Beauty in Organic Way
http://www.TheSpringOfLife.net

posted by The Spring Of Life @ 8:22 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The Skinny on Fat

Long before the current trend of low-carbohydrate diets, we were obsessed with low-fat and fat-free. Today, there is the camp of people who aim to avoid fat, while high-protein advocates say a plate of bacon and eggs for breakfast every morning is just fine. What should we believe about fat?


Fat is one of the three macronutrients (along with carbohydrate and protein) that are essential to our bodies. Fat helps your body to build brain and nerve tissue as well as cell walls, protects your organs, helps your body to absorb and transport fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, & K), and provides your body with energy to fuel physical activity (if you relied solely on stored carbohydrate for energy you’d run out of steam before lunch!). Fat also helps to make food taste and smell good and plays a role in satiation, so that you do not get hungry too quickly.


From the perspective of someone who wants to lose weight, fat is more calorie-dense than the other two macronutrients (nine calories per gram versus four). A meal high in fat, therefore, is generally high in calories. But fat does not make someone fat. Over-eating causes weight gain. From the perspective of doctors and groups such as the American Heart Association, saturated fat can increase one’s risk of heart disease – the recommendation is that saturated fat be limited to no more than one-third of our total fat intake.


To be informed about the caloric value and fat content of foods in general is helpful, but getting caught up in counting grams and calories is no realistic way to live. And to label foods “bad” or “good” based on fat content is taking the issue out of context. For instance, avocados are high in fat – and calories – but also include protein, potassium, folic acid, thiamin, riboflavin, biotin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin E and vitamin K. Being high in fat does not mean this fruit should be avoided. If you enjoy it, incorporate it into your diet in a way that supports your overall health and fitness goals.


The bottom line is fat is a necessary nutrient that, like most foods, when eaten in moderation offers a number of health benefits and provides a tasty treat!

By Amy Lundberg
Lifestyle Fitness Coach
Amy Offer's a Free report on the 7 Keys For Maximizing Your Motivation: Toned and Fit Body at www.aimforfitness.com

posted by The Spring Of Life @ 9:14 AM 0 comments