Here are ten of the top power packed foods designed to give you energy, vitality and all around good health!

1. Beans – If they give you gas, take precautions before you eat them. Soaking them first can help. Beans of all kinds (kidney, navy, lentils, chickpeas, Northern) are high in protein. This is plant protein so it contains very little fat, carbs and calories. If fiber is a problem in your diet, eating a healthy portion of beans each day can keep your digestive system healthy.

2. Oatmeal – Oatmeal is coming into popularity as a food that lowers blood cholesterol. You can make it yourself with rolled oats or eat the instant kind if you are in a hurry. Oatmeal is a filling grain that also provides much needed fiber to keep hunger at bay and your blood sugar constant.

3. Fruits – Fruits are filled with antioxidants such as Vitamin C and A. Antioxidants fight free radical damage in the body and reduce the risk of cancer. Berries such as blueberries and grapes have the highest amount of antioxidants. But choose an array of fruits in a wide variety of colors for maximum health. The antioxidants in fruit boost the immune system to fight the effects of aging in the body.

4. Allium foods – This class of foods includes garlic, onions, leeks and shallots. Garlic is known for lowering cholesterol. Allium vegetables healp guard the body against the risk of cancer and many other ailments. They also help lower blood pressure and prevent blood clots. Eating these power packed vegetables in their natural state especially garlic increases their health benefits.

5. Salmon – Eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids reduces the risk of heart disease and other conditions like atherosclerosis. Wild salmon is a fatty fish but it contains good fats that has been proven to improve health in children and adults. Salmon is rich in protein which is of great use after an exercise session to build muscle tissue.

6. Flax seed – Like salmon it contains omega-3 fatty acids. These seeds also contain omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids. You get a lot of power to fight high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes with this seed. Ground flax seed can be added to fruit smoothies, sprinkled in yogurt, eaten with cereal or added to pancake mix to name a few.

7. Peppers – Peppers are colorful. They contain antioxidants like beta-carotene and Vitamin C. Peppers range from mild and sweet to so hot you’ll be calling the fire department. All peppers contain a substance called capsaicin. Capsaicin has the properties of an anti-inflammatory, a pain reliever, lowers cancer risk and heart disease. They are good in salads, salsa and all sorts of dishes.

8. Nuts and seeds – Nuts are high in fat but those fats are the good kind. Peanuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts and pistachios are all providers of good fats and protein. Crush them into a fine powder and use as a coating instead of higher carb bread crumbs. Nuts help to lower cholesterol. Eat them right out of the shell with no additives.

9. Açai – This berry has been in the news lately. It is rich in antioxidants and increases energy. You can get more done and look better while doing it. You can get Acai juice and supplements in your health food store.

10. Yogurt – The fat free variety is good for you. Yogurt contains calcium, Vitamin B, and protein. If you don’t drink milk, yogurt is an alternative to get your calcium in to build strong bones and teeth. Live yogurt also contains friendly bacteria to help promote a healthy digestive system.

Building a better healthier body begins with what you eat. Try these super foods to get started on the right foot.

During the warmer weather, it is easy to get physical activity. We work in the garden, go for walks in the evening, bike ride with the family, and spend lots of time outdoors. When someone wants to go, we jump up and go. There seems to be more energy in our steps.

The main motivation is looking good in great clothes. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all want to look our best for as long as we can. The by-product of looking good is that we can achieve great health benefits. Unfortunately, when winter rolls around, all we desire is to curl up on the couch in big sweaters and slippers. It’s not cute but it’s comfortable.

But, that big sweater gives us a false sense of security. We can’t see how much damage we could potentially be doing by eating and maintaining a sedentary lifestyle. It is okay to want to slack off a bit on the exercise but totally dropping things is a no-no.

Here are a few tips to help you stay motivated during the winter months. To start, set a regular time to work out and stick to it. You may not feel like meeting a friend at the gym for a class but you can pop in a DVD or VHS tape and sweat at home. Instead of cranking up the car and braving the cold, you stayed comfortable and worked out anyway.

Maybe the busyness of the holidays has you skipping workout sessions. Exercise is cumulative. Every little bit adds up. Fifteen minutes in the morning plus another fifteen minutes in the afternoon equals thirty minutes of physical activity that day.

Physical activity doesn’t have to be an hour of jumping up and down to a routine. It could be reading a magazine while walking on the treadmill. Dancing around the room, as you vacuum and clean, counts as exercise, also.

Talk to a friend or workout buddy even if you can’t get to the gym with them each day. Use the telephone to keep each other motivated. When the weather leads you to slouch on the couch, phone a friend and get a pep talk until you jump up on your feet and get going.

Listen—you’ve worked mighty hard all year. Why throw it all away during the season of frivolity and food? It won’t be easy to stay motivated, but friends can help. Stick to the routine as much as possible and you won’t feel the after effects of a long indulgent holiday season – you’ll be one step ahead when January rolls round too.

1. The Bridge Butt Lift – Sounds like a plastic surgery technique but it is an easy way to tone your buttocks. Lay down with feet flat on the floor, legs shoulder width apart. Place your hands, palm side down, on either side of your body. Pushing with your feet, squeeze your gluteal muscles and lift your butt off the floor. Hold the position for a count of five to ten and release down to the floor.

2. Squats – Squats work the butt, the hamstring muscles and the quadriceps. If you aren’t sure of proper form, you can use a chair. Stand with feet shoulder width apart and feet firmly planted. Push your butt back as if you were preparing to sit in a chair. Keep your abs tight and your upper body straight. Once you reach chair level stop and hold the position for a count of two to five and release. At the lowest point, place all of your weight on your heels for balance and maximum toning.

3. Reverse Lunges – Lunges work the quadriceps muscles. They can be hard for people with knee problems. A reverse lunge still tones the right muscle groups but with less pressure on the knee. Stand with feet together and arms at your sides. Take one leg and move it backwards until you are in lunge position: front leg bent at a 90 degree angle and back leg extended until you are on the ball of your foot. From this position lower yourself down until the back knee almost touches the floor. Hold for a count of two and return to starting position.

4. Pushups – This is a classic toning exercise that works all areas of the arms plus the chest muscles. If you aren’t comfortable or strong enough to perform a pushup on your toes, lower your body to your knees. Be sure your arms are tucked into the body and your back straight as you lower and lift your body.

5. Crunches – Abdominal muscles can be worked every day to build strength and muscle tone. Lying on the floor in sit up position, lace your fingers behind your head. Squeezing your abdominal muscles, lift your upper body until your lower back is about to come off the floor. Hold for two to five counts and return to starting position.

These five exercise moves can be done whenever you have time. The best thing about exercise is that its effects are cumulative. Even five or ten minutes at a time will work to your advantage.

• Yoga - Grab 30 minutes before the kids wake up and start your day with a quiet yoga routine. It is good for the body improving your overall flexibility and strength, and it is good for the soul, leaving you feeling refreshed and clear headed, better able to concentrate. Then you will be ready to tackle your day.
• Pole Dancing Workout - Poles aren’t just for firemen and strippers anymore! Pole Dancing workouts have exploded in popularity – you can find organized classes, or install one yourself to do your workout in the privacy of your own home. While definitely not low impact, the workouts tone muscles like thighs, calves, abdomen and arms. And because of the sexual overtones attached to a pole workout, it can leave you feeling more sexy and feminine.
• Walking - An excellent low impact aerobic activity that can be done outdoors, around the neighborhood, or the local track – on the nice days. Indoors your options may be a little limited. If you have a treadmill – then hop on and walk away to a walking workout tape, or put on your MP3 player and listen to music that will get you walking at a good pace. Another indoor walking alternative is shopping malls, thing is you have to walk, not shop! Walking is excellent aerobic exercise when done strenuously enough.
• Resistance or Exercise Bands - Think giant rubberbands with benefits. Seriously, these bands can be an affordable alternative to free weights. They are compact, and ultra portable, so they are easy to tuck away or pack to take with you anywhere. Check on the package as they are typically colorcoded by resistance levels. Too many benefits to go into in this little space, but not only can they help with building strength and muscle tone, they can also be beneficial in improving coordination and balance.
• Balance Ball - Also known as an Exercise or Stability ball. This is an affordable option for beginners, and for those more advanced, it can bring some variation to your normal workout routine. You can do exercises with it to target core muscle groups, as well as use it being another way to improve your overall balance and coordination. It will be a great addition to your home-gym equipment, as long as you can keep the kids from bouncing on it.

So, the next time it’s 100 degrees outside in the shade, or tomorrow, take the dirty clothes off the treadmill, clear a spot on the floor somewhere. Add one or two of the above twists to your summer workout. Keep it indoors, and don’t sweat it – as much. LOL!

While most of you have probably been working out all winter long through diet and exercise, the key now is to maintain both routines throughout the summer. Here are a few tips and suggestions on staying fit for the summer.

No matter what type of diet regimen you’ve been on, it may be a good idea to continue the diet until after the summer is over. Maintaining a healthy diet will enhance your ability to participate in all forms of sports and activities throughout the summer months. Also, your diet will afford you the opportunity to continue to eat light, healthy meals as opposed to fried, fatty, and heavy foods during the summer.

Summertime is synonymous with barbeques. No doubt you will have your fair share. Sticking to your diet will help you keep the pounds off, especially on those special occasions when outdoor barbeques entice you with foods and drinks which may add excess calories. Drinking your excess calories is usually the biggest culprit of weight gain over the summer. There are many calories in all the summer drinks. Whether it’s beer, mixed drinks or fruit lemonade’s.

Continue your exercise routine throughout the summer. During the hot summer months, your body will fair much better in the heat if you are in good shape. No doubt, you may engage in running, walking, or other strenuous exercises. Therefore, continuing your exercise program will only benefit you in the long run. Whether you spend time in your garden, swim, or bike ride – any physical activity will enhance your health.

No matter what form of physical activity you choose, whether it’s cycling, hiking, swimming, gardening or hitting the gym, make it enjoyable. In fact, turn it into quality time with family, or perhaps some quiet time to de-stress after a busy day.

Keep active and continue your diet regimen throughout the summer so that you will look your best at all those patio parties. After all, you’ve worked very hard over the long winter months to achieve your goals. Now is the time to stay that way.

Val Selby
Health coordinator
Busy Momma Wellness

Many people have trouble sleeping because they are overly stressed.  The worst part about this is that sleep deprivation can increase your cortisol levels, which makes you feel more stressed.  Cortisol is one of the hormones that is responsible for our flight or fight response to stress.  If the levels are not lowered then it can also make you irritable and less able to deal with stressful situations.  This is why most insomniacs have increased levels of stress hormones.  While exercise makes these hormones rise initially, after several hours the levels fall.  These hormone levels actually become lower than before you exercised and lower than they would be if you hadn’t worked out at all.  Regular exercise can end the vicious sleep-stress cycle once and for all.

Most insomniacs simply can’t clear their mind of their problems when they lay down to bed.  The stresses of the day run repeatedly through their minds instead of relaxing.  Exercise can be a time to escape the stressors around you and figure out solutions to your problems.  If you figured out what to do about your latest work crisis during your morning run, you don’t have to stress over it at bedtime.  This leaves your brain free to sleep.

Exercising also makes you need sleep more.  The more you work your muscles, the more they need to regenerate through sleep.  While you may think this is just going to make you more tired when you can’t sleep, it will actually help you have a deeper, more restful sleep.  Even if you can’t sleep more, you’ll sleep better and be more rested and energized in the morning.

An important part of using exercise to cure insomnia is timing.  As I already mentioned, exercise produces chemicals in your brain that make you feel more awake and energized.  This is why it’s not a good idea to exercise before bedtime.  But how close is too close?  It is generally recommended that you exercise more than four hours before you sleep; however, you may find you need a longer rest period.  If you find you’re not sleepy, start pushing your exercise earlier gradually till you find a good time.  Obviously, the best time to exercise is in the morning, and this will make you feel more energized all day long.  It will also help you to focus on all that needs to be done during the day.  Once you have set that routine it will help ease your mind in the evening.

If you absolutely can’t exercise during the day, there are things you can do at night instead (or in addition) to help you get to sleep.  Studies have shown that exercises as simple as stretching can help improve insomnia symptoms.  You can try doing stretches or yoga closer to bedtime to help you relax.  You can find books or join a class to learn specific positions and more to promote relaxation and sleep.  Definitely stay away from the computer and tv.  The bright lights will stimulate your brain and make it even harder to go to sleep.

While exercise helps you sleep more, it has other wonderful benefits.  Exercise helps you lose weight, feel great, and have more energy during the day (and so will sleep).  Before you try supplements, pills, or other crazy sleep solutions, try working out first.  It will cure your insomnia along with some great positive side effects.  And the best part of all is, it’s free!

Val Selby
Personal Trainer
Mom’s Online Retreat Wellness Coordinator
www.BusyMommaWellness.com

Here are a few must have foods to incorporate into your daily diet.

Green tea – Not only is this drink loaded with health benefits, it will also help the look of your skin by reducing inflammation and fighting free radicals that cause skin damage.  So drink up.

Water – You probably already know this one but we need approximately 8 glasses of clear water a day (no sodas, soups or other drinks are included in this quota).  For maximum benefits clear water is best.  It helps purify your body and eliminates toxins.

Selenium – This powerhouse nutrient is found in foods such as turkey, brazil nuts, tuna and whole grain breads.  Include at least one of these foods in your daily diet.

Fatty Acids – These are found in oils such as walnut and flaxseed.  Oily fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel are also rich in essential fatty acids.

Dairy – Low fat dairy products are high in Vitamin A which is beneficial to the skin.  Low fat yogurt is also good for the digestive system which in turn helps skin health.

Fruits and Vegetables – A variety of fruits and vegetables are good for overall healthy skin but there are some foods in particular which are very high in powerful antioxidants and promote good skin health.  Berries, such as blueberries, strawberries and blackberries are great for fighting against free radicals which can cause skin cell damage.  Vegetables that are brightly colored such as red peppers, yellow peppers and sweet potatoes are also great skin foods.

Now that you know what to eat there are some things that should be left out altogether if you want to look young longer:

White Flour Foods – White bread, rice, pasta and sugar are less nutritious than the whole grain types and will cause inflammation in the skin which can lead to aging.  Try cutting these items from your diet for two weeks and look in the mirror.  Your skin should look less inflamed and fine lines will be less apparent.

Alcohol – dehydrates the skin and speeds the aging process, try to only have it in moderation.  A little red wine may have some health benefits whereas beer does not.

Smoking – This will age you, cutback or better yet cut it out altogether.  Your skin and lungs will thank you for it.

Processed Foods – Processed foods are loaded with sugar and additives, these wreck havoc on the skin and are best left out of your diet altogether.  Sodas and other sugary drinks are not only bad for your health but can also rob your skin of essential nutrients.  They’re also not good for your waistline and have been known to cause cellulite (even the diet variety). 

For truly glowing, young skin a balanced diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and essential oils is best.

Val Selby
www.BusyMommaWellness.com

Weights are great for everyone and have an incredible amount of benefits.  Benefits include an increase in calorie expenditure daily, slower bone density loss, slow age related muscle loss, makes you less prone to lower back and other injuries, gives you confidence, and increases your HDL cholesterol (the good stuff). These are just a few of many benefits of weight lifting.

Your weight routine and genetics will determine your results, not the mere fact that you lift.  Have you ever watched the Ms. Fitness competitions?  Those women lift weights and I don’t think anyone would call them anything less than feminine.  Some of us do carry genetics that will allow us to build muscle mass very quickly, but we still have control over whether or not we do.  If you want to build nice long, lean muscles then do 3 sets of 15 reps for each exercise.  If you want to body build you will do approx. 4 sets of only 3-5.  See the difference?  You will do much more weight if you only lift 3-5 times per set.  Where as doing 15 reps per exercise will take more endurance and much lower weight.

If time is your enemy at the gym then just do some generic weights.  Hit each major muscle group at least once per workout (ie. biceps, triceps, back, chest, shoulders, legs and abs), twice per week with a day of rest in between.  If you need any help planning a personal  routine please email me at val@busymommawellness.com .

If you ever have any fitness, health or nutrition questions you would like addressed please email me anytime.

Val Selby – Personal Trainer
www.BusyMommaWellness.com

There is no one in the world that wouldn’t like to change at least one thing about their bodies.  That is because we are all unique, but yet we compare ourselves to others.  When was the last time you took a compliment with a polite thank you and left it at that?  How many of us will say thank you and then make a degrading comment about another body part of ours?

It is time to stand up and be proud of ourselves.  Accentuate your best assets and be happy with what you have.  So you may have stretch marks?  Glow with the fact that you had beautiful babies because of it.  You have saggy skin?  Hmm, could it be from the wonderful job you have been doing with your weight loss?

Really analyze yourself when you make degrading comments to yourself.  Whether it is outloud or in your own head.  Figure out why you feel that way.  Maybe it’s just someone else’s baggage you are bringing into your life.

Here is a great article to read about women’s locker rooms.

I have paid attention to the news as the ages dropped of women, but I had no idea that older women were ignoring their chances.  My Grandma (on my other side) had breast cancer in her 60′s, but I kind of associated it with the smoking she did heavily.  I don’t believe that is necessarily the case anymore.

Just from my 1 year of school I have learned so much about our bodies.  We women are at serious risk of so many things because of menopause.  Our hormones protect us from so many things and when they go out of whack and then stop producing completely, it leaves a hole in our immune system.

This is why self exams and regular mammograms are so important.  They can take care of it for us, but it is so much easier when you catch it early.

Here is a great article about post-menopausal women and Diahann Carroll’s battle with the disease. 

Val Selby ~ Wellness Coordinator
Busy Momma Wellness

Please send me any health and fitness questions.  I look forward to helping with any info I can.  We need to learn something new everyday!