Category: Women’s Health

Body Building Women Is That You

When I say body building women, what image comes into your mind? Is it of a well toned lady with a flat stomach, small waist and a pert bum? Or is it a woman who looks more like a man with bulging muscles all over the place? It is probably the second option but this is not how most body building women look. The ones with the excessive muscles have usually been taking steroids and let’s face facts. A woman’s body was not meant to cope with an overload of testosterone.

If you want to tone up and slim down, you should seriously consider doing a bodybuilding course at your local gym. Find an instructor who specializes in helping females to work out as our routine will be slightly different to the male bodybuilders. Most of us women want to target our stomach, bums and thighs as these are the areas where fat seems to be attracted to most.

A lot of people use the excuse that if they build up muscle it will turn to fat when they stop working out. This is a bit like thinking brass is going to turn into gold. Fat and muscle are two completely different substances and one cannot turn into the other. What tends to happen is that when you are bodybuilding you will eat more. In fact the recommended diet is to eat at least five or six small meals a day with plenty of quality protein, vegetables and healthy fats. If you stop working out, your body will not need as much fuel as it did previously. But often people forget this little point and continue eating at the same level. If you are not burning the energy produced by your food intake, you will put on weight.

Certain bodybuilding activities add shape and definition to the areas you want to target. Your instructor will be able to help you come up with a bodybuilding routine to maximize the effect of your training. You will also need to do at least 6 sessions of cardio workout a week. The bad news is that these are most effective when done before you have had breakfast so you need to set that alarm clock for a little earlier! Another myth about bodybuilding is that you cannot combine it with aerobic exercise as it will prevent you building muscle. In my opinion this is rubbish. Aerobic exercise burns calories and fat, is good for your health and actually helps to increase muscle mass. So make sure it is part of your new bodybuilding routine.

Following a bodybuilding diet will help you to get the most out of your weight training program. Eating smaller but more regular meals will boost your metabolism helping to burn the calories. It will also help to regulate your blood sugar levels helping to prevent those cravings that can cause the end of the diet. And perhaps most importantly you won’t get that deprived starving feeling associated with most weight loss plans.

If you need some inspiration consider the fact that the models you see on TV with their superflat stomachs and toned legs are all body building women.

Body Building Tips For Women

All us women want is a nice chest size, low body fat, small waist and a flat stomach. Not too much to ask for really is it? Well not so long as you forget about eating candy, cake and chips. Try these body building tips for women and see how you can improve your body and your overall health.

The first tip is to set yourself some goals. By writing these down, you are increasing your chances of success. Now be realistic. It is completely pointless setting a target that you know you won’t reach. Try small but challenging goals as your motivation increases when you successfully reach each one.

When writing these down, you need to be specific. It is not enough to say I want to have a slim stomach. Writing down something like I will lose 2 inches by a specific date is much better. Don’t call your new regime a diet as that word has negative connotations for most of us. You are not on a diet, you are on a new healthy eating and exercise program.

You should keep a diary to track your progress. This will show you at a glance how far you have come. Perfect for those days when we are less motivated than we should be. Now you have set your targets, you need to write down the plan for achieving them. Your plan should cover the number and type of sessions you are going to complete per week, the amount and type of foods you will eat etc.

Clear your house of all the foods that are not good for your bodybuilding diet. You can’t be tempted if they aren’t around. Also prepare your meals in advance so that you don’t reach for a takeaway or processed meal because time is running short. You should have five to six small meals a day to help increase your metabolism. You want to include lots of vegetables, good fats and healthy protein. Eating regular meals will help the digestive process so you shouldn’t have that sluggish feeling anymore.

You need to do at least 6 cardio workouts a week preferably before breakfast to get the best results. You may have to reorganize your day to fit in this new routine but it is extremely important. Aerobic exercise helps with the growth of muscle as well as burning calories and being good for your health.

Don’t worry about becoming very muscular when bodybuilding. This only happens to those men and women who take anabolic steroids otherwise known as synthetic testosterone. Training with weights will help you to tone your muscles and thus prevent wastage. Follow a weight training program as you need to repeat patterns of workouts on specific areas to see results.

The more organized you are the better your chances of success. If you know exactly what you have to do each day, you are going to procrastinate less. You will sleep better and believe it or not, getting sufficient sleep is one of the most important body building tips for women.

Age And Cholesterol-Key Factors For Health Change

Many people think that cholesterol is bad for you… period. But that is inaccurate. The truth is that you need this substance and it is produced in your body. What is a problem is that age and cholesterol both tend to go up.

That means that as you age, you naturally tend to see your cholesterol levels go up. That trend is especially true with women.

Age and cholesterol can be a problem for men and women but post menopausal women might be at higher risk.

Prior to menopause, women tend to have lower LDL, or bad cholesterol levels then men of the same age, but after menopause women’s LDL levels often go higher.

You have both good, HDL, and bad, LDL, cholesterol in your body. The trick is to keep the good cholesterol at high levels and the bad cholesterol at low levels.

HDL tends to act as a cleaner and will keep your arteries flushed out. That is why it is so important to keep your levels balanced.

No matter what your age, or gender, there are many things you can do to make sure you keep your cholesterol levels in balance and at a healthy level.

It isn’t rocket science and it isn’t new but it is important. You also need to talk to your doctor.

You need to find out what your current levels are so you know what the appropriate course of action will be.

Once you’ve talked to your doctor, you can also start implementing some of these tips:

1. Eat better. All you need to do is stop eating so many foods that are high fat. Things like beef, dairy and fried foods.

Now, don’t think that means you have to give up every food you love, in many cases you may not need to. Sometimes, just cutting back a little bit can make a big difference.

Instead, start eating fewer servings of those bad for you things. You can cut back on the amount of times per week that you eat meat, for example.

Also, it isn’t all just about cutting back on some foods, but also about adding others. There are some foods that will help you lower your bad and raise your good cholesterol levels.

Things like nuts, brown rice, fresh fruits and vegetables and fish are some of the most common things you can substitute in your diet and start seeing results.

2. If you aren’t currently getting some regular exercise, now is the time to start. Every time you move your body it can be good for you.

You don’t need to go extreme or hardcore, and you should always check with your doctor first, but just get moving.

As you get stronger you should, and probably will want to, add more varied exercises to your routine.

Hey, we can’t do anything about getting older. And as we age, we all know that some things will change. But, we aren’t totally at the mercy of those extra years.

We do have things we can do to mitigate the effects on age and cholesterol levels and you can start right now…as soon as you see your doctor, of course.

Adult Onset Diabetes Diet

A good adult onset diabetes diet consists of a low carb, low-fat eating plan loaded with foods that have a low glycemic index. As a diabetic you need to eat healthy foods that will not cause your blood sugar to go up too high. If this does happens you will hear it referred to as a blood sugar spike and if it happens too often you may need to have your doctor adjust your insulin or your oral medication dosages.

Keeping your blood sugar on an even keel really is not that hard. Eating the right amount of food, with the right kinds of carbs balanced with protein and fats and eating each meal at as close to the same times everyday that you can is what is most important. The more consistent you are the more consistent your blood sugars will be.

If you are an overweight diabetic then using a low-glycemic index diet may even help you shed some extra pounds as well. Who knows, if you are a type II diabetic your diabetes may improve or even disappear altogether if you slim down. Give an adult onset diabetes diet a shot, what have you got to lose?

Carbs with a low-glycemic index are those made from whole grain. You can find whole grain in cereals, breads, whole wheat pasta, and brown rice. Try to stay away from refined carbs like white sugar and rice, they really have no significant nutritional value unless they are fortified which only means someone put back a portion of what they took out during processing in the first place.

Eat all natural foods and the fresher the better. Fruits and vegetables are a great way to get good carbs into your diet. Fruit has natural sugar in it and can bring your blood sugar up quite rapidly so always eat your fruit with some protein like peanut butter or yogurt to keep your blood sugar within range.

If you ever have an occasion when your blood sugar goes too low, called hypoglycemia, you need to get something in your system as quickly as you can. Most people drink some orange juice and, depending on how low their blood sugar is, mix in a little sugar.

I will go you one better though. If you can manage it at the time, eat a peanut butter and honey sandwich. Wash it down with some orange juice to give yourself an extra little boost but know that the honey will raise your blood sugar level quickly and then the peanut butter will help stabilize it so it does not act like a yo-yo.

Every one is different and while some people can still function quite well even when their blood sugar falls to 40 mg/dL others will have major symptoms when their blood sugar reaches 70 mg/dL.

Following an adult onset diabetes diet is the best way for you to keep your blood sugars from spiking and/or going too low. Be good to yourself and eat healthy to stay healthy.