Women Fitness E-Mag can also be viewed at http://www.womenfitness.net/emag_current.htm

Volume No. 310

Thursday July 09, 2009

   

   

 
 
 

To reduce food cravings, the body needs real support � and lots of it. Eating healthy foods, eating breakfast every day, taking nutritional supplements, moderate exercise and lots of emotional support can almost miraculously curb cravings. This week we focus on Food Craving: understanding body signals.

 

Enjoy good health,
Namita Nayyar, AFI

 
 
 
 

Stretch Before AND After Exercise

 

The question often arises, �should I stretch before or after exercise?� This is not an either/or situation, both are essential. It is no good stretching after exercise and counting that as your pre-exercise stretch for next time. Stretching after exercise has a totally different purpose to stretching before exercise. The two are not the same.

The purpose of stretching before exercise, is to help prevent injury. Stretching does this by lengthening the muscles and tendons, which in turn increases your range of movement. This ensures that you are able to move freely without restriction or injury occurring.

However, stretching after exercise has a very different role. Its purpose is primarily to aid in the repair and recovery of the muscles and tendons. By lengthening the muscles and tendons, stretching helps to prevent tight muscles and delayed muscle soreness, which usually accompanies strenuous exercise.

 
 
 

 

Unconditional success

 

Success comes more quickly and more surely to those who refuse to put conditions on their commitment. An attitude of "whatever is Convenient" won't accomplish very much. An attitude of "whatever it takes" is impossible to stop.

What is your priority -- convenience or commitment? What do you seek most passionately -- comfort or accomplishment? Do you look for the easiest way out, or the most effective way to move forward? Unconditional commitment produces unconditional success. When opportunity comes along you must follow it, or it will leave you behind. It will rarely be convenient and will often be uncomfortable.

 

It will interrupt your favorite TV show, and ask that you drive to the other side of town or fly to the other side of the world. It will require that you meet new people, learn new skills, and get up earlier in the morning.


Whatever it takes, for as long as it takes -- that will accomplish anything.

 

Note: WF Members receive motivation like this in their e-mail box every Monday morning! Those of you looking for added motivation, can go ahead to download Free motivational Wallpaper Changer at http://www.womenfitness.net/downloads.htm

 
 
 

 

"You will find the key to success under the alarm clock.
~ Benjamin Franklin

 

 
 

 

Berry Pudding Cake

 

Serves:  8 servings

 

Ingredients:

  • 1-1/2 cups blueberries

  • 1-1/2 cups raspberries

  • 1-cup flour

  • 1-teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/4-teaspoon salt

  • 1-1/2 cups sugar

  • 1/2-cup skim milk

  • 3 tablespoons non/lowfat margarine, melted

  • 1-teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1-tablespoon cornstarch

  • 1-cup boiling water

Direction:

  • Place fruit in the bottom of a 9-inch square baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray (nonfat).

  • Combine the next three ingredients and half the sugar in a mixing bowl. Add milk, butter and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour batter over fruit.

  • Mix remaining sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and sprinkle over batter.
    Pour boiling water over mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Nutritional Information: Serving Size: 1/8 of dish
Calories 270
Fat 5 g
Cholesterol: 10 mg
Protein 5.5 g
Carbohydrates 45 g
Fiber 2.5 g
Sodium 70 mg

 

 

Food craving: understanding body signals

 

Food cravings mean that the body has its signals mixed up. When we are exhausted or blue, we have low blood sugar and/or low serotonin, and the body signals the brain that it needs a pick-me-up. This signal causes a sugar craving or carbohydrate craving.

Why do we crave for food?

 

There are three basic factors responsible for food craving:

  • Hormonal Imbalance

  • Dieting

  • Adrenal fatigue

Serotonin is our basic feel-good hormone. Hormonal imbalance or weak digestion can lead to low serotonin. Unfortunately, sugars and simple carbohydrates release a short burst of serotonin � we feel good for a moment, but soon return to our low-serotonin state � then crave more sugar and simple carbohydrates.

 

Insulin is responsible for maintaining stable blood sugar levels by telling the body�s cells when to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. Being insulin resistant means your body stops responding to insulin, and instead grabs every calorie it can and deposits it as fat. So no matter how little you eat, you will gradually gain weight. Insulin resistance leads directly to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. And a low-fat diet makes it far more likely you will suffer from this condition. At the same time, your cells cannot absorb the glucose they need, so they signal your brain that you need more carbohydrates or sugars. The result is persistent food cravings.

 

If you eat a low-fat diet in the hope of losing weight, you unintentionally make the problem worse. If, like millions of women, you have eaten a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet for many years, or followed fad diets, the odds are good that you have become at least partially insulin resistant. Millions of women are trying the Atkins Diet or the South Beach Diet. While these diets are an improvement over the conventional low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, they can worsen your metabolic problems, because dieting itself is stressful to the body. So many women need to heal their metabolism first before even considering weight loss.

 

Click here, to read the complete article on Food craving: understanding body signals.


More Articles:

Women tend to have more body fat than men�about five percent more. By nature, a woman's body is developed to protect her and a potential fetus. As a result, women have more enzymes for storing fat and fewer enzymes for burning fat. Additionally, the estrogen women have activates fat storing enzymes and causes them to multiply. Read more about Body Fat and Women at http://www.womenfitness.net/body_fat.htm.

 

Aloe is a lily-like, green, and sometimes spiny shrub with very little, if any, stem. Aloe Vera derives its name from the Arabic word 'alloeh', which means bitter. With a high water content of nearly 96%, the aloe vera plant has been hailed as a medicinal plant with many a beneficial property. The aloe vera plant can easily be grown at home - it is virtually maintenance free. Read more about Aloe Vera : a wonder plant for skin at http://www.womenfitness.net/beauty/skin/aloevera_skin.htm

 

A year-long clinical trial by Penn State researchers shows that diets focusing on foods that are low in calorie density can promote healthy weight loss while helping people to control hunger. Read more about Calorie Density: key to losing weight at http://www.womenfitness.net/calorie_density.htm

 

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