HEALTH / FITNESS
Information about fitness, health, nutrition and weight loss
Do you know of a new diet or fitness routine that you'd like us to review? Or perhaps you want to write a review yourself and see it in print! Got a great recipe you want to share? Let us know at submissions@ssbbw-magazine.com.
In this Section....
- March Recipes
- March's Exercise
- Daily Diet Tip
- March is Nutrition Month - Eat Right
- Believe You Can
March Recipes - Click Here
This is nutrition month and we also celebrate Saint Patrick's Day! The Irish have a great history of good food that has been carried down through the years and enjoyed by Irish and everyone who loves good cooking. There's no green beer, but lots of yummy recipes, some of which contain Irish whiskey to give them a real Saint Paddy's Day flair!! When the weather's frightful, curl up with someone special and enjoy some nice hot Irish coffee to warm yourselves up fast!! Have a great Saint Patrick's Day and enjoy!!!
We'd love to feature one of your favorite recipes in any one of our monthly issues, just send them on to us at recipes@ssbbw-magazine.com. Hope to hear from all of you in the following months!
 | New Feature! Each month we will feature a simple exercise you can do at home and without buying fancy expensive equipment. Click here to view this month's exercise. |
March is Nutrition Month - Eat Right
The American Dietetic Association urges everyone to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. The American Dietetic Association created Nutrition Month in 1973 to promote healthy eating for everyone. Use this month to learn more about nutrition and eating healthy foods. You probably already know that a nutrient is something that is good for you, but do you know what a nutrient really is?
Macronutrients
"Macro" means big, so the macronutrients are the big nutrients, better known as protein, fats and carbohydrates. Except for zero-calorie foods, everything you eat contains varying amounts of these nutrients. Despite the popularity of some fad diets that require you to drastically reduce any of these macronutrients, all of them are important for your health and you need them everyday. Proteins are necessary for building the tissues in your body including all of the muscles, organs, skin and the parts of the immune system. Your body can use extra protein for energy or can convert it to fat. Carbohydrates include sugar, starch and fiber. Sugars and starches are needed for the energy that your body needs to function. Extra carbohydrates are converted to fat. Fats are needed for the membranes that surround all the cells in your body, for normal brain and nerve function and for signaling hormones. Just like protein, the extra fat can be used as fuel for the body or can be stored as fat.
Micronutrients
"Micro" means small so the micronutrients are the nutrients that we need in small amounts. These include the 12 vitamins and 13 minerals that we need every day. Vitamins are grouped as water-soluble or fat-soluble depending on whether they can dissolve in fat or water. Minerals are divided into two groups, the major minerals and the trace minerals. Water-soluble vitamins include vitamin C and the seven B-complex vitamins. They have a variety of functions and you need all of them to be healthy. Chronic deficiencies of these vitamins can result in poor health. Fat-soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E and K. Vitamins A and E come strictly from the foods you eat. However your body can make both vitamin D and vitamin K. Your body can store these vitamins in fat tissue. While it is extremely difficult to get too much of these vitamins from the foods you eat, you can build up toxic amounts of these four vitamins if you take massive amounts as dietary supplements everyday. Major minerals include calcium, phosphorus, chloride, magnesium, potassium and sodium. These minerals are particularly important for healthy bones, teeth, muscles and fluid balance in the body. The trace minerals are chromium, copper, fluoride, iodine, iron, selenium and zinc. Your body needs all of these minerals for a variety of processes to keep it working. Eating a healthy diet with lots of fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, whole-grains, lean meats, poultry, fish and dairy products should provide you with all of the micronutrients you need. There are people who may need to take additional dietary supplements may be helpful, such as women at risk of osteoporosis or people with age-related eye diseases. Always follow label directions if you take any dietary supplements.
Phytonutrients
"Phyto" refers to plants. Many different phytonutrients are found only in plants. Many of these natural chemicals are found in the colorful skins and flesh of fruits and vegetables. Some of the best known phytochemicals are the carotenoids, such as beta carotene, lutein, lycopene and zeaxanthin and flavonoids such as quercetin and anthocyanins. Phytonutrients have a variety of functions in the body. Some of them may function as antioxidants that protect the cells in our bodies from free radical damage. We don't know exactly how many of these different phytonutrients we need, however a healthy diet including at least five servings of fruits and colorful vegetables every day will supply your body with lots of phytonutrients.
Source: http://nutrition.about.com/od/nutrition101/a/nutrients.htm
Submitted by: Maria Albus
Believe You Can
After 13 days of watching the Olympics I find myself experiencing even more admiration than I thought possible for all those superb athletes. Behind their individual performances lies years of training; years of suffering physically and mentally to become the best athlete they could become; years of giving up parties, rest & free-time just in hopes of making the Olympic Team. What made them stick to it? Money surely didn’t’. Fame didn’t (we Canadians have good knowledge of professional athletes but give little attention to the amateurs until the Olympics occur). No, they just wanted to be the best they could be, and I admire them for that.
What is it that holds us back? We want to lose weight, we want better health, and we want to be physically fit yet reach an impasse because the daily grind seems just too much. Mind you there is no Olympic medal if we reach our goal; what we get is just a tremendous amount of self respect. Instead of feeling constant guilt, we develop pride in what we have done. You don’t have to be thinner than another person , or do more exercise than everyone else you just have to do those things that you know will make you feel better about yourself.
Think “SUCCESS” – don’t think “failure.” You will achieve; you will not fail. You will keep on trying, because this is your life and you want to succeed at health. We cannot ever give in to those thoughts of failure. (For example: “I’ve done this before and it never works.”)
Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are. Successful people are not superhuman. Success does not require a superior intellect. Nor is there anything mystical about success; success isn’t based on luck. Successful people are just ordinary folks who have developed belief in themselves and what they do. Never, ever sell yourself short.
When I watch these athletes, I know that at no time was there ever any guarantee they would be successful, or the best in their sport. All they could do was train hard, eat right, and train more in the hopes that one day they might be good enough to qualify for the Olympics. They trained without any guarantee of success. Can you eat right and exercise even though there is no guarantee you will reach your goal? It is tough isn’t it? But is there any other option?
Getting up every day, affirming that you will ‘do your best’ and then trying to eat 3 small meals and 3 small snacks, and do some exercise is in the Olympic spirit. You do it to make yourself better. You do it because you know if you’re consistent that good things will happen. The end result is indeed in the future, but you must learn to enjoy this day, and learn to enjoy the good feeling that occurs when you have a day of clean eating and have done some exercise.
It’s difficult. It isn’t impossible. It does take mental work. The results, however, are worth it. So, don’t give up. Work on today, don’t fret about tomorrow. You WILL do it!
Written by: Dr Doug