Here are a some suggestions on what to eat after a workout:

* Bread, a bagel, or an English muffin with cheese or peanut butter
* Dried fruit and nuts
* Cottage cheese with fruit
* Fruit juice with cheese
* Yogurt with fruit
* Veggie omelet with toast or roll
* Chocolate milk
* Cereal with milk
* Eggs and toast
* Turkey, ham, chicken, or roast beef sandwich
* Vegetable stir-fry with chicken, shrimp, edamame or tofu
* Crackers with low fat cheese
* Rice or popcorn cakes with nut butter
* Smoothie (with milk, yogurt, or added protein powder)
* A protein or energy bar
* A protein or energy shake
* Any regular meal that contains lean protein, starch, and vegetables

from Spark People

• Water is a dieter’s best friend. Drink Plenty of Water: Water helps control your appetite by making you feel fuller faster.

• Eat Slowly: It takes 20 minutes for your brain to register that you’re full. So, savor your food, drink lots of water and slow down. Give your mind a chance to catch up with your body. According to experts, eating slowly, putting your fork down between bites, and tasting each mouthful is one of the easiest ways to enjoy your meal and feel satisfied with one plate full of food.

• Eat Before the Party Starts: Don’t go to dinner starving. Eat a healthy breakfast and a low calorie snack before hitting the holiday buffet. Start your day with a small but satisfying breakfast — such as an egg with a slice of whole-wheat toast, or a bowl of whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk — so you won’t be starving when you arrive at the gathering. Eating a nutritious meal with protein and fiber before you arrive takes the edge off your appetite and allows you to be more discriminating in your food and beverage choices. You’re less likely to overeat if you’ve got your appetite under control.

• Eat the Special Stuff: Don’t blow your precious calories on large portions of food you can eat everyday. Fill your plate with small portions of holiday favorites that only come around once a year so you can enjoy desirable, traditional foods. While each of us has our own favorites, keep in mind that some holiday foods are better choices than others. White turkey meat, plain vegetables, roasted sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, defatted gravy, and pumpkin pie tend to be the best bets because they are lower in fat and calories.

•No Seconds: If you eat slowly and drink plenty of water with your meal, you shouldn’t feel the need to go for seconds. If you’re being pressured by your host to take seconds, politely say, “No.”

from womensfitness

To strengthen bones, we’ve always heard that weight-bearing and high-impact exercises (like running and lifting weights) are best. This leaves many people assuming that their low-impact workouts aren’t doing much to improve bone strength. Swimming has long been touted as a low-impact exercise, one that’s easier on the body and good for individuals with joint pain.

However, a recent study from Israel’s Wingate Institute in Netanya indicates that women who frequently swim laps have greater leg bone mass than women who don’t swim at all.

Action Sparked: While weight-bearing exercises are the best way to strengthen your bones, swimming is another option, especially for obese exercisers who experience pain and difficulty moving. Try adding a few laps to your regular routine to relieve boredom, and to surprise your muscles…and bones!

Time Involved: At least 20 minutes

Body Benefit: Stronger heart, lungs, muscles and bones

from Spark People

It doesn’t matter what weight you lift or for how many reps as long as you are completely EXHAUSTING your muscles. That’s where the progress comes from. Some people lift very light weights - so light that they could do 20+ reps without feeling exhausted - but stop at 12-15 because those are “the rules” of lifting.

Achieving total exhaustion is key to developing more lean muscle. It will increase your metabolism as you build strength and tone your muscles, and give your metabolism a boost for several hours post-workout.

To find your ideal lifting weight, first decide how many reps you want to do, which depends on your lifting goals. To build strength, do higher weights for 6-8 reps. For overall toning, try moderate weights for 8-12 reps. And to build endurance, do lighter weights for 12-15 reps.

Once you decide your lifting and rep goals, it’s a matter of guessing and checking. Pick a weight. Within your chosen rep range, you should feel EXHAUSTED - meaning you could not possibly do another rep in good form - on the last rep.

For example, if want to do 10-12 bicep curls for overall toning, you might try 10-15 pounds. If you can do more than 12 reps, the weight is not enough. If you can’t do 10 without breaking proper form, you should lighten up a little. After a few workouts, you’ll get the idea.

Remember, the amount of weight you lift depends first on your strength training goals.

from Spark People

This hummus and feta wrap is so quick and easy if you store pre-cut vegetables in your fridge. It is a great, lowfat, heart healthy lunch!

INGREDIENTS
1 Bestlife Flatout Bread Multi-Grain W/ Flax
1/4 cup Athenos Reduced Fat Feta Cheese w Basil/Tomato
1/4 cup onions, raw, sliced
1/4 cup red peppers, raw, sliced
1/4 cup diced cucumbers
2 leaves of romaine lettuce
4 T Atheno’s Roasted Garlic Hummus

DIRECTIONS
Makes 1 Greek hummus wrap

Spread 4 T of hummus on the bread. Sprinkle a 1/4 cup of feta on top of the hummus. Add all of the veggies. Roll the bread in a burrito style and enjoy!

The dressing makes the fruit an extra-sweet treat.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup low fat vanilla yogurt

* 2 tablespoons honey

* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

* 2 large seedless oranges, peeled, sliced, and halved

* 1/2 large pineapple, peeled, cored, sliced, and cut into wedges

* 1 apple, cored and chopped

* 1 ripe pear, cored and sliced into wedges

* 1 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced

DIRECTIONS
1. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, honey and cinnamon. Stir well to blend ingredients.

2. Arrange fruit on plates and drizzle the honey-yogurt dressing on top.

Serves 6.

from SparkPeople

If you are doing both cardio & weights on the same day, how do you know which to do first?

Think about which aspect is most important to your workout: aerobic activity or strength training. Is your primary focus to burn as many calories as possible (aerobic activity) or build muscle (strength training)? If aerobic activity is most important, do it first because the intensity and duration could be diminished otherwise. If strength training is most important, do it first because the amount you can lift and how many reps/sets you complete can be affected if you are more tired. This will ensure optimal performance on the most important activity. (For example, someone training for a race would probably do aerobic activity first.)

Another thing to think about is occasionally alternating the order of activity. When you do the same exercises in the same order over and over again, your muscles get smart. They become efficient and aren’t challenged as much, leading to plateaus in strength gain and weight loss. Every once in a while, change it up for a week or so and you should continue to see results.

from sparkpeople

Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup low-fat plain or vanilla yogurt
1 medium banana, quartered
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1-1/2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup non-fat milk

DIRECTIONS
1. Purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

NUTRITION INFO (per serving)
Calories: 229.9
Fat: 9.4 g
Carbohydrates: 30.3 g
Protein: 9.7 g

from Spark People

Is there anything more boring than the treadmill? After endless hours staring at the same wall, anyone would start to wonder if that’s all there is to exercise. But it doesn’t have to be that way. By shaking it up and loading your workout with variety, you can rediscover the fun of a good treadmill workout.

Change up the pace
If you always walk at the same speed for the same amount of time, your body will get used to the routine and you might not see the long-term affects that you desire. Keep in mind that the body responds to changes in pace and sparks your metabolism accordingly. You can begin by trying a pyramid scheme. For example: walk at 3.2 mph for 1 minute then pick it up to 3.5 mph for 1 minute, then go to 3.3 mph for 2 minutes and then 3.6 mph for 2 minutes, etc. You can continue up the pyramid until you reach a point where the speed is at a level where you cannot hold it for the time period and then go back down. Before you know it, you will be walking faster and the time will have flown by.

This year I will again be participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life on June 19-20th. My Reason to Relay is in memory of my father who lost his battle with cancer 6 years age, to join people around the world in celebrating those who have survived cancer, and supporting the lifesaving mission of the American Cancer Society. Please support me in the fight against cancer by making a donation at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/rebecca.lesaffre

For those of you unfamiliar withe the event, the Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature activity. It offers everyone in a community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relays are an overnight event, up to 24 hours in length.

Relay For Life is a life-changing event that brings together more than 3.5 million people to:

• Celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer. The strength of survivors inspires others to continue to fight.
• Remember loved ones lost to the disease. At Relay, people who have walked alongside people battling cancer can grieve and find healing.
• Fight Back. We Relay because we have been touched by cancer and desperately want to put an end to the disease