To ensure your copy of WF E-Mag don't forget to add Women Fitness email address to your email browser's "safe list" or address book. Click here for complete information.

Thursday November 19, 2009

Women are constantly bombarded (in the press, advertisement, films and television) with images of the perfect body. The enormous pressure built up on them leads many women to go on diets to help them lose weight. Some women have developed a very unsettled relationship with food, followed by complains of chronic constipation, lack of energy or food intolerance. one thing common to all eating disorders is the love-hate relationship with food. To learn more check out this week's article on Top 10 To Combat Eating Disorders.

Keep your weight training short and sweet. Training Workouts do not need to be long to be effective, in fact, if they are too long, they are counter-productive. The goal of weight training is to go into the gym and stimulate muscle growth, not to annihilate the muscles. By stimulating them with progressive overload, you are forcing them to respond and adapt to this progressive overload. Anything more is futile over training. Try to complete your workout in less than 45 minutes. This short time period will ensure you do not over do it, it will ensure intensity. It's much easier to focus for 30-45 minutes than it is an hour. The growth-assisting hormones secreted in your body actually peak after about 30 minutes of weight training and then begin to decline rapidly. So try to keep it quick and intense. No total body workout. Choose one or two muscle groups, train them well, and leave under 45 minutes.

Look up in Hope

An automobile accident ten days before his high school graduation left Shane Vermoort classified as quadriplegic. 

All of his life Shane had wanted to be a doctor. But was it still possible for him as a quadriplegic- or was it really impossible dream. He went through a year of rehabilitation and then went to Southern Illinois University, where he received a B.A. in physiology. His goal was medical school, but he was rejected time and again by medical schools all over America.  

Eventually, he was accepted at the Medical College of Georgia. He excelled in his preparation and received the Clinical Neuroscience Award, was elected president of Medical Honor Society, and became the first student to graduate from the college in wheelchair. Shane reflects, " People have a tendency to reflect on what we don't have. If people would just look in the mirror and focus on the good things, they would be a lot better off." Do not look down in despair on what you don't have but look up in hope and use what you possess.
 

Learn more 

"Don't give up at half time. Concentrate on winning the second half."  
--Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

BROCCOLI CAULIFLOWER GRATIN

Ingredients:

• 1 small cauliflower (about 250g/90z)

• 1 small head broccoli (about 250g/90z)

• 150g/50z/1/2 cup natural lowfat yogurt 

• 75g/30z/1 cup grated reduced fat cheddar cheese

• 5ml/1 tsp wholegrain mustard 

• 30ml/2 tbsp whole-wheat bread crumbs

• salt and black pepper

Direction:

• Break the cauliflower and broccoli into florets and cook in lightly salted, boiling water for 8-10 minutes, until just tender. Drain well and transfer to a flameproof dish.

• Mix together the yogurt, grated cheese and mustard, the mixture with pepper and spoon over the cauliflower and broccoli.

• Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and place under a moderately hot grill until golden brown. Serve hot.

Nutritional Information: (per serving) 

• Energy 144 Kcals/601kJ

• Fat 6.5g

• Saturated fat 3.25g

• Cholesterol 16.5mg

• Fibre 3.25g

Top 10 To Combat Eating Disorders

Women are constantly bombarded (in the press, advertisement, films and television) with images of the perfect body. The enormous pressure built up on them leads many women to go on diets to help them lose weight. Some women have developed a very unsettled relationship with food, followed by complains of chronic constipation, lack of energy or food intolerance. one thing common to all eating disorders is the love-hate relationship with food.

Try working out through following exercise to understand how your body works with food, so as to turn eating into a positive experience:-

1. Understand the nutrients your body needs:

Try to understand your nutritional needs with regards to calories, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and water to develop a healthy metabolism and gain energy to carry out your normal daily activities.

The body puts on excess fat only when it takes in calories it does not need. As a WF member, you will gain knowledge of your individual nutritional needs, so as to manage your body in a healthy manner. Here you will understand that food has far more uses than simply the negative one of "making you fat". It is important to try to get your body to a stage where it is a little stronger, without feeling that your weight will carry on going up and up.

The nutrition content of WF fitness program deals with all essential nutrients individually along with their sources and daily requirements to help you make healthy choices of food.

2. Calculate your ideal body weight:

Use your body mass index to calculate your ideal body weight. BMI of 19-25 is considered healthy. Below 18 is considered underweight. You can check your target weight at: www.womenfitness.net/freetools.htm
 

Learn more about this article