Be Fit Fitness Blog

Here is a checklist of all the ideas that I have thought of to show you how you can reduce the amount sodium in your diet substantially. These days, many people consume too much sodium a day and this can have a negative impact on your health and it ends up costing the health system or your pocket book a lot of money in the long-term.

Do not buy prepared frozen prepared foods as they contain a lot of sodium. Even the frozen products that say they contain less amounts of sodium, they still contain too much!

Do not buy frozen meats or fish. Buy meats or fish that is fresh and freeze yourself.

Do not buy prepared meals from grocery stores.

Do not add salt when you are cooking. As flavoring, use fresh or dried herbs and spices instead.

Cut down on the number of times you eat at restaurants because you don’t know how much salt they add to foods. It’s always best to prepare your own meals. However, nowadays, some restaurants are indicating what goes into their meals.

Compare labels for the sodium content of products.

Always opt for the non-salted variety of your favorite product. For example, instead of salted peanuts, buy unsalted peanuts.

If you use these ideas, you can substantially reduce the amount of sodium that you consume on a daily basis. Basically the fresher the food is and the more control you have over the ingredients of your meals before processing, the less likelihood that the food will contain sodium.

In France a research study was conducted between the correlation of exercise, nutrition and breast cancer. The French researchers found that women who exercise and eat a low fat diet i.e. no saturated fats decrease the chances of getting breast cancer. The reason is that cancer cells seem to grow in the fatty tissue of a woman’s breasts. By reducing these fatty tissues, you possibly eliminate an ideal environment for the cancer to grow and you stand a better chance of not contracting this disease.

Other researchers refute this study claiming there is not enough evidence to support these findings. It’s possible that this could be true especially if other factors play a role in developing breast cancer like our polluted environment and stress in. I guess further and continuous study is necessary over the long-term.

Regardless of whether you believe either side, it’s a good idea to stay healthy by exercising regularly and throughout your life, eliminating the bad fats from your diet, avoiding overeating and eating foods high in antioxidants and Omega 3.

Fitness in Ten Minutes. If you’re reading the title of this article and thinking, Bah, humbug, to yourself, I wouldn’t blame you. I’ve been there, done that myself. But that was only until I realized that there was more than a modicum of truth to this statement. Yes, it is possible to get fit by spending just ten minutes a day if you know exactly what you want to do and doing it diligently. So if you’re ready to take a trip down the road to fitness, continue reading.

Interval training:
This is the single most important aspect of fitness – to put it in a nutshell, it’s fast and furious. It’s great for people who have absolutely no time to spare but who want to stay fit. Interval training is simple – all you need to do is choose a cardiovascular exercise that you’re comfortable with, like cycling, running or swimming. Now let’s say you’ve chosen running – warm up for two minutes, then run as fast as you can for the next 30 seconds (or 1 minute if you’re up to it). Now slow down to a walk for the next 30 seconds, and when your heartbeat is almost back to normal, start sprinting again. Repeat this cycle for 10 minutes and you pack in a workout equivalent to an hour’s worth of jogging. By alternating bursts of high intensity exercise with periods of rest, you improve your fitness and stamina, and also lose weight.

Strength training:
Working out with weights helps you tone and strengthen your muscles, but there are some strength-training exercises that don’t require you to use weights. If you have ten minutes to spare, use them to do three sets of 12 squats each, and/or three sets of 12 lunge pairs (a single lunge on both legs counts as one lunge pair). If you have a pair of dumbbells, hold them in your hand to improve the intensity of your workout. These exercises will have your thighs and buttocks looking great in no time at all.

Active lifestyle:
If you spend half an hour watching television, use ten of those minutes to do your chores around the house. If you take the elevator to your office, get to work ten minutes earlier so you can take the stairs. And if you live close to your workplace, walk to and from your office. It takes a little time to get used to an active lifestyle, but once you get going, you’ll see that even ten tiny minutes is enough to make a difference in your fitness and weight.
Remember however, that you must try not to negate the positive effects of your ten-minute workouts by eating more than necessary. Eat every couple of hours so that your stomach doesn’t start to crave food and binge on unhealthy and fatty stuff. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, juices (without sugar), salads, and baked snacks (with low sodium) are healthy snack ideas in between meals. And while it’s ok to indulge your taste buds once in a while, not counting your calories could lead you to count much higher up on your bathroom scales.

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Amy S. Cook, who writes on the topic of LVN to RN. Amy welcomes your comments at her email id: amy11s.cook@gmail.com