Exercise Equipment- Stability Ball

Besides my dumbbells, my stability ball has got to be my most used piece of home exercise equipment. They are widely available and affordable. You can get one for $20-$30. They add an extra challenge and variety to your everyday workouts. You can even use them just for sitting for a good core workout or just to get some wiggles out.

How to Choose the Right Size Fitness Ball for You
Select a ball based on your height:

45cm ball = under 5 ft tall

55cm ball = 5’ to 5’7”

65cm ball = 5’8” to 6’3

”75cm ball = over 6’3” tall

Some, even come with a DVD workout or charts showing you exercise moves. If not, there are lots of resources on the Internet. Just google exercises on stability ball. Here is one of my favorites moves.

Squat with a Ball
Yes, this is an awesome thigh and butt toner. Find a larger wall space than you think you'll need before hiking up the ball to the wall.

Do it:

Place an exercise ball between the wall and the curve of your lower back.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Bend your knees and lower 5 to 10 inches, keeping your shoulders level and your hips square. Hold this position for 3 seconds and then stand back up.
Start with 5 reps and work up to 12. Rest for 30 seconds and do another set.


Smile. You're already one step closer to looking great in that swim suit!
Sincerely,
The Fit Mamas

Healthy Recipe--Lowfat Oatmeal Banana Bread

I love to bake. It's like therapy for me. Sometimes though, the things we bake aren't the healthiest. Take an innocent sounding recipe like banana bread. For a small slice we're talking anywhere from 200-500 calories and sometimes lots of fat. The solution? If you're trying to watch fat and calories you can almost always find a healthier version that still tastes good. Bonus, this recipe also has good for you oatmeal. I love Joy's description of her banana bread so much, I just pasted her whole post here.

I’d like to introduce you to Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread. If this bread were one of your dear friends from high school, it would be that friend who wore old lady shoes because they were the most practical, and played the trombone, and was the super smart editor of the school newspaper. This bread would be the friend that was super sensible, and sweet and just downright made you feel good about your day.
Go ahead, think of this Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread as your friend… and then it eat. No, there’s nothing weird about that.

This bread is packed full of happy, heart-healthy oats, cinnamon spice and crazy ripe bananas. It’s just the thing to throw together over the weekend, slice up, wrap individually, and freeze for breakfast for the entire week. I just grab a slice from the freezer as I’m running out the door, and by the time I have a chance to eat it, it’s perfectly defrosted. Of course the microwave and toaster oven work wonders too.

Low fat Oatmeal Banana Bread

Joy the Baker

makes 1 loaf of 10 slices, 4 points per slice

- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- 3 tsp canola or walnut oil

- 1 large egg, beaten

- 2 medium egg whites, beaten

- 3 large bananas, ripe

- 1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients including the oats and cinnamon.
In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or fork. Add oil and whole egg and mix thoroughly.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. Batter will be fairly thick.
In a medium sized bowl, with an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions.
Pour batter into pan and bake until top of loaf is firm to touch, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Flip out and cool on a wire rack for another 10 minutes. Slice loaf into 10 equally sized slices.

Sincerely,

The Fit Mamas

Spark People--A Great Resource

A couple of years ago I discovered a great website. Sparkpeople.com. This website is awesome. First of all, it's totally free. There are so many valuable tools and resources here. Great for someone who is looking for a way to get started and doesn't quite know what to do. Also great for someone who is really fit and wants to keep exact fitness and diet records and anyone in between. Here are a few of my favorite tools.

Weight loss Calculator- You enter in your current weight and the date. Then enter in your weight loss goal and when you would like to achieve it. They will figure out your calories and exercise amounts to reach this goal.



Food Diary- Although it can be a little time consuming, I would highly recommend this resource. You can enter in the foods you eat (even save recipes with calorie counts) and they will calculate fat, carbs, proteins, etc. They even offer daily diet plans and let you know about how many fat grams, carbs, etc. you should be getting.



Fitness Tracker-Keep track of your workouts. This website will also show you how to's on strength training and other fitness moves.


There are also recipes, chat rooms and communities for everyone. Lots of support and motivation.

I highly recommend taking advantage of this great website.



Sincerely,
The Fit Mamas

11 Small Changes for Big Results

In conjunction with my challenge for you to start with small changes, I'd like to share with you 11 small changes that can lead to big results. According to a study published in a behavioral medicine magazine "participants who made one small, potentially permanent change in their food choices/ and or physical activity each week lost more than twice as much belly fat, 2 1/2 inches more off their waistlines, and about 4 times more weight during a 4 month program, compared with those who followed traditional calorie-restriction and physical activity guidelines." The reason? The all or nothing approach is too hard to follow. When you focus on small, permanent changes, you are much more likely to be successful.

11 Small Changes For Big Results


1- Keep a food diary. Research has proven if you write down how much you eat, you're much more likely to practice portion control. People who keep a food journal typically lose up to twice the amount of weight as those who don't.



2- Don't watch commercials. It sounds laughable, but if you watch an average of two hours of television a night, simply getting up and skipping, dancing, running in place or anything to get your heart rate up, can burn about 270 extra calories a day! That equals 28 lbs. a year!


3- Limit high fat foods to one per week. This has been an idea that has worked really well for me. For example, if you're eating a few cookies each day, try going one day without eating any cookies. Each week, drop another day until you're down to one or two. As an added benefit, replace the unhealthy food with something healthy like fresh fruit, veggies, or nuts.


4- Sign up for healthy newsletters and/or e-mails - A study done by Kaiser Permanente found that people who received weekly e-mails about diet and fitness for 16 drastically increased their levels for exercise and ate more fruits and vegetables and less fat.


5- Walk 5 minutes more every day- If you are having a hard time starting an exercise program or just want to step it up a little, start off small. Even if it's only 5 minutes a day. Your goal should be to eventually reach 30 minutes each day. Also, this doesn't have to be all at one time. Go for a short 15 minute walk. Later, do another 15 minute activity.


6-Strength Train-Squats and push ups are easy ways to build more muscle. A good rule of thumb is each exercise should fatigue your muscles within 60-90 seconds. Try this mini- workout


Do 10 reps each : push ups (kneeling or regular), squats, crunches, lunches and chair dips. As your body gets stronger, you can add more reps. (It will take your muscles longer to feel fatigued.)


7-Climb 3 extra flights of stairs daily-If you can squeeze in 2-3 minutes of stair climbing (equivalent to about 3-5 floors) daily, you can eliminate the average American weight gain of 1-2 lbs. a year.


8-Take a pedometer wherever you go- Research shows that pedometer users take close to 2500 more steps a day than non-users. Over a year that adds up to burning off an extra 10 lbs.!


9-Take Your lunch to work at least once a week-A pre made chicken Caesar wrap from a chain restaurant has about 610 calories and almost half of them come from fat. Make your own at home with wheat bread, light mayo and deli chicken breast and shave off almost 400 calories which leaves room for healthier options like fruit or a side salad and still add up to a 28 lb. weight loss over a year.

10- Obey the 1 mile rule- If you are doing errands less than one mile away, walk instead of driving. Or park where you can do a couple of errands within a mile of each other. If you did this everyday, you could lose 13-17 lbs. by next year.


11- Take 10 minutes to eat a treat- If you're trying to kick that sweet tooth try this trick. Take one serving of your favorite treat. Smell it, look at it, think about it. Take a small bite chewing very slowly and moving it around your mouth. Ask yourself if you still want another bite. Repeat this time, chewing the food at least 20 times. Continue until you are satisfied, or have finished the treat. Most of the participants in this study said after awhile they didn't enjoy the treat s much as they thought they would or were satisfied with only a few bites.


Even if you can only make one or two of these changes, it will still greatly improve your health and your waistline. Write it down! Look at it everyday! I know you can do it!


Sincerely,

The Fit Mamas



*Source- Prevention Magazine*

Fitness Book Review- Denise Austin's Tone Your Tummy Type: Flatten Your Belly and Shrink Your Waist in 4 Weeks

Fitness Book Review


Denise Austin's Tone Your Tummy Type

I (Sallie) purchased this book a couple of years ago when it first came out. Having had four children, I'm constantly on the look out for ways to tone and tighten my tummy and seriously, who wouldn't want abs like Denise Austin's?

At the beginning of the book you take a short quiz to find out which tummy type you are: Apple, Metabolically Challenged, Peri/Postmenopause Type, Stressed Slender Type, or After Baby Type. There is also a short chapter dedicated soley to men. She goes through several myths about trimming belly fat and why abdominal fat is more dangerous than other types of fat.

Once you determine what type you are there are specific chapters dedicated to your tummy type. Each chapter gives a small description of your tummy type with special tips for your type, specific moves, and a tummy- slimming snack.

She then moves on to her Core Moves Fitness plan which includes a 10 minute core complete routine, 20 minute core cardio blast and 1 minute easy fidgetsizers. The idea is to do the 10 minute core routine twice a week, 20 minutes of cardio 5 times a week, and 10 1 minute fidgetsizers 7 days a week. She includes detailed pictures and explanations of each move in the routines. The only equipment required is a large exercise ball and some dumbbells.

Once you have completed the two week jump start you progress to phase 2. Similar to phase one except you switch to a new 25 minute cardio workout and an advanced 10 minute Core Complete workout.

Along with the exercise program she includes her special tummy trimming diet plan complete with recipes, calories, menus and shopping lists. This eating plan focuses on the basics. Lean meats, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and fat free dairy products. Most of the recipes are fairly simple but you'll have a pretty long shopping list to stock your kitchen. You'll start off eating about 1200-1300 calories and move up to 1500 after two weeks.

She concludes with a chapter on how to maintain your results.

The verdict: Right away I knew the diet was out of the question. I usually work out 5-6 days a week for at least an hour and knew that 1300 calories would not be enough food for me. Most people require more than 1300 calories a day. If this is the case, you could incorporate some of the recipes into your daily menu and just add extra (healthy) calories to reach your daily calorie requirement.

The cardio routines are simple and fun, but it's kind of a pain looking at the book for each new move. A dvd would be much more convenient.

I LOVE the 10 minute Core Workouts. In fact, my husband and I did them together nightly for about two years. After having my fourth baby, I noticed my lower back ached pretty much all the time. After about 1 month of this program it went away and as long as I was consistent, my back pain was completely gone. My stomach got noticeably stronger and more toned. Plus, 10 extra minutes a day isn't much to ask. To me, the price of the book was worth it for just the 10 minute routines and I would recommend them to anyone looking to strengthen their core.

You can purchase this book at Amazon.com or a variety of other stores.

Sincerely,
The Fit Mamas

Healthy Recipes--Strawberry Banana Protein Shake

I know I've mentioned on my cooking blog that I eat a lot of oatmeal. I really try to keep my breakfasts simple. For me, if I start my day off eating healthy it makes me feel better and motivates me to eat healthy for the rest of the day. Also, I workout first thing in the morning so my breakfast needs to replenish all the calories I've just burned off and fuel my body for the rest of the day. Besides oatmeal another one of my favorite breakfasts is protien shakes. They are quick, filling and delicious. This is one of my favorites. You can vary the fruit and flavor of protien for variety.




Strawberry Banana Protien Shake

1 cup (8 ounces) Light Vanilla Soymilk *see note below*

1 serving protien powder (this varies depending on which protien powder you buy, usually 1-2 scoops) I LIKE CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA

1/2 banana, sliced

1/2 cup frozen strawberries, slightly thawed

1/2-3/4 cup ice



Put all ingredients in blender. Blend until desired consistency is reached. Serve immeadiately.




Approx. Calories : 275


Calories will vary depending on which protien and milk you use




*You can replace the Soy Milk with skim milk, but the Vanilla Flavored Soy Milk adds sweetness.*







Sincerly,

The Fit Mamas

Shape Magazine Workout Move of the Month

Move # 3

Move #2

Move #1

We'd like to include a variety of things on our blog. We'll see what works and if there's something specific you'd like to see, let us know! These will include a new workout move every month, reviews of diet and exercise books and programs, fitness and nutrition tips, workout routines, information on athletic events, healthy recipes, diet and exercise myths and more.

January's move of the month is a 3 part ab workout from Shape Magazine. Core strength is so important. So many people suffer from back pain that can be alleviated by building a stronger core. To build a sculpted midsection you need to do more than just crunches. Do this routine 2 to 3 times a week. Do one set of each, in order, rest briefly in between and repeat twice.

Move # 1- SEATED KNEE TUCK
Sit with your knees pulled into your chest, feet raised, and hands on the ground out to the sides and slightly behind you; round your back slightly and engage your abs. keeping your chest lifted, slowly extend your legs in front of you, off the ground, as you lean back. Slowly return to the starting position, bringing knees in, and repeat. Do 6 to 8 reps.

Move # 2 - SIDE PLANK
Lie on your right side and support yourself on your right elbow; place left hand on hip. Extend legs and place left foot in front of right on the ground. Contract your abs and raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from head to feet. Hold for 20-30 seconds; switch sides and repeat. Do 2 on each side.

Move #3 - TWISTING JACKKNIFE
Lie face up with legs straight on the ground, arms out to the sides. Raise left leg and reach right hand toward outside of left ankle, lifting right shoulder blade. Lower to starting position and repeat with opposite arm and leg to complete 1 rep. do 6-8 reps.

Sincerely,
The Fit Mamas