Fit Friday

Good morning and welcome to the first Fit Friday!  Since it's January 1st, I'm wondering how many people made resolutions to lose weight, get in shape, start exercising, blah, blah, blah.  Well, lets work on it together this year.  Did you know that it takes 21 days to make/start/create a habit and most people that make resolutions to start exercising, etc., stop by or before January 21? 

Today I wanted to share a few good health guidelines with you taken from Weight Watchers:

1.  Eat at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables each day.  A serving is 1/2 cup except for leafy greens which are 1 cup per serving.  Fruits and veggies are full of fiber, water, vitamins, and minerals.  They add bulk to your meals and help you feel fuller for longer.

2.  Choose whole-grain foods whenever possible.  Try to make at least half of the grains you eat whole grains (wheat, oat, or multigrain bread instead of white bread, brown rice instead of white rice, whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta.  Ok that pasta trade-off is going to be a bit difficult for me.

3.  Include 2 servings of milk products each day.  Calcium helps strengthen bones and may protect against colon cancer and high blood pressure.  Milk products also supply your body with protein, zinc, riboflavin, vitamin D, and calcium.  If you are not able to include 2 servings each day, consider taking a calcium suupplement.  Also keep in mind thatt foods fortified with calcium don't contain the same nutrients as milk.

4.  Drink at least 6 glasses of water each day.  Water is essential for almost every one of your body's chemical processes. 

5.  Have some healthy oil each day.  Try eating more fish, nuts, and seeds.  Make sure you get two teaspoons of olive, canola, safflower, sunflower, or flaxseed oil each day so your body get the vitamin E and essential fatty acids it needs.

6.  Make sure you get enough protein.  You'll feel more satisifed if you get enough protein (a serving or two) each day.  Besides lean meat, protein is found in soy, beans, peas, lentils, milk, and eggs.

7.  Limit added sugar and alcohol.  Alcohol and sugary foods contain empty calories that don't keep you full for long.

8.  Take a multi vitamin-mineral supplement each day.  There are so many supplements on the market right now, so choose one that provides no more than 100 % of the Daily Value (%DV), Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI), or Dietary Reference Intake (DRI).

Here are two of my favorite videos that I would like to share with you.   The first one is Leslie Sansone Walk Away The Pounds for Abs.  I know it's an oldie, but I really like this video.  Leslie talks alot, but her voice is encouraging and she doesn't hoot and hollar - that drives me crazy when I'm trying to exercise.  The ab belt may look like it doesn't work, but my arms get a really good workout especially when I do the 2 or 3 mile walk.  I do have to say that I have purchased some of her other videos and I like the older videos better.

The second video is Cathe Friedrich Stretch Max.  She is serious about her workouts!  This video has 3 different programs on it:  band-based stretching which is my favorite, stability ball stretching, and non-equipment stretching.  She is no-nonsense in her approach and I know I'm getting a good stretch in when her DVD starts playing.

A great website to go to if you are wanting to buying an exercise DVD is Collage Video.  This site has hundreds of DVDs and you can watch a 60 second clip of each video plus read reviews.  They have a good discussion forum on their site also.

Well, this is all I have for today folks.  Good luck on your fitness quest and I hope you have enjoyed what I have shared with you today.  Happy 2010 and let's get healthy together.