Healthy Living - 6 Vital Nutrients Women may be Missing from their Diet

Baylor Health Care Systems has a wonderful article on 6 vital nutrients many women are missing from their diet. Each nutrient that is focused on includes information on why you need it and what (or how much) you need. They also include a remedy for getting more of what you need.
CLICK HERE to go to Baylor's article.

Nutrients discussed:
• Calcium
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Iron
• Folate
• Magnesium

Exercise - Workout To Go from the National Institute on Aging

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has a good beginner program, Workout to Go, featuring 13 exercises that anyone can do with detailed information and some videos.
To explore these, CLICK HERE

Exercises include:
• Hand Grip
• Wall Push-Up
• Overhead Arm Raise
• Back Leg Raise
• Side Leg Raise
• Toe Stand
• Stand on One Foot
• Heel-to-Toe Walk
• Balance Walk
• Ankle Stretch
• Back Stretch
• Thigh Stretch
• Shoulder and Upper Arm Stretch

Recipes - Healthy Recipes from Baylor Health Care Systems

Baylor Health Care System has some healthier recipes posted on their website, HERE.

Some recipes include:
• Roasted Winter Squash Soup
• Garlic Whipped Potatoes
• Lighter Green Bean Casserole
• Pumpkin Almond Cheesecake
• Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Fudge

Healthy Living - FREE - A Primer for Women's Health

The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) is offering a FREE Primer for Women's Health, Learn about your body in 52 weeks. Click here to order. They also have other articles and guides you can order.

Food - The Best and Worst Breakfasts for Your Health

Yahoo Health had a nice article, The Best and Worst Breakfasts for your health.

As we all know, eating breakfast is important for jump-starting your metabolism. When you skip breakfast, your body doesn't have the fuel it needs to be at its peak until your next meal. People who are not used to skipping breakfast tend to munch-out until lunch adding not only calories but unhealthy calories.

On the other hand, eating breakfast foods which are dripping in grease or full of fats are not benefitial either as they will contribute to heart disease and/or diabetes.

In this article, a study was performed to reveal the risks of eating different types of breakfast. They analyzed healthy participants before and after they ate breakfast sandwiches loaded with egg and cheese (the sandwich contained about 900 calories and 50 grams of fat). Two hours after they ate the breakfast sandwiches, their blood flow showed significant reduction to the heart - that's from one sandwich. Imagine if they ate that type of greasy food all the time. The blood's inability to reach the organs eventually leads to organ failure (including heart attacks).

Food - Oprah - Hidden Fat Traps on Restaurant Menus

Oprah's website has a great article this week on Hidden Fat Traps on Restaurant Menus. Learn to decode those advertising-slick words.

Salads - Ordering the dressing on the side can actually make you use more than the chef would drizzle over the top. Avoid empty calorie toppings such as crunchy noodles, croutons, sunflower seeds, and walnuts.

Avoid "crispy" because it indicates food fried in oil. "Crusted" means the item was covered in butter or oil and covered with breadcrumbs. "Sizzling" contains lots of oil.

Stay away from Miso soup which is high in sodium and Tempura which is deep fried.

Some vegetable puree soups contain lots of cream or sour cream, actually making them fattening.

Just because dessert has fruit on it, doesn't make it healthy. This article pointed out a chocolate cake slice which had less calories than a bigger slice of pear tart. Disappointing!

Food - Ending Your Sugar Cravings

One of my biggest weaknesses - and most people's - is sugar. It's an endless craving that happens all the time and any time - in coffee, for breakfast, for snack, for dessert, for afternoon snack, before dinner, for dinner dessert, etc. In time, it becomes habit, an addiction, and it's difficult to stop. I've read articles that compare soda with cocaine addictions. Sugar definitely affects the brain. So now what?

Once sugar or caffeine becomes an addiction, there could be withdrawl symptoms when trying to quit cold turkey. Your body has become used to these flavors/chemicals. When you take them away, your body freaks out. But, never fear, they eventually go away!

First, in order to break the sugar addiction, one must stop the every day habit completely and you must want to stop.

Second, be cautious of substitutes. Aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet, etc) can have undesirable side-effects and will not teach you to avoid sugar. Sometimes we use more sugar substitute than we should because we can't reach the level of sweetness we crave. So instead of one packet in our coffee, we use two or three.

Third, improve your diet. If you feel satisfied (and full), you are less likely to turn to sweets.

Fourth, stop buying sweets/sodas. If you don't have access to them, you won't eat/drink them. It will take time to get over the cravings, but it will be worth it to your health and your body.

Have a craving attack in the middle of the day? Try going for a short walk. Get your mind off the craving.

Maybe you simply have an urge to chew - try some sugar-free gum.

References: Sugar Addiction by L. Wilson, MD. WebMd - 13 Ways to Fight Sugar Cravings Nourished Health - End the 3pm Slump Cravings Dr. Mark Hyman - How to Rewire Your Brain to End Food Cravings