How Does Your Milk Score?

These days, there are hurdles big and small that every woman has to face. From career woman to a full-time mom, life doesn’t stop for anyone. Having a hectic schedule is not an excuse to settle for less than what you really need. Isn’t it about time you demanded more from your milk?

It is just about strong bones?
When someone says milk, calcium is the first thing that comes to mind. Apart from aiding in strengthening and developing bones, calcium has the capacity to maintain optimum bone health as well as help prevent degenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It is also known to cut pre-menstrual symptoms in half drink. Drinking a glass of milk can also aid in reducing the unwanted stress your period brings. Calcium from milk also aids in blood clotting and the regulation of your heart’s rhythm. It’s a small price to pay for good health don’t you think?

Does milk make you fat?
More often than not, most women avoid milk altogether simply because of the notion that drinking it encourages weight gain. Low-fat milk isn’t high in saturated fat unlike other dairy products. And it has a significantly lower amount of fat and calories while maintaining the same amount of calcium, protein and vitamin content. Just imagine having the same perks as drinking whole milk while maintaining a killer body!

Can milk protect your skin?
Living in a tropical country has its ups and downs. With the sun’s hot rays and harsh polluted city air, your skin is bound to suffer. Shouldn’t your milk contain Vitamin A, Vitamin E and Zinc? The combination of vitamins act as antioxidants vital to protecting your skin from harmful ultraviolet rays that produce cell damaging free radicals. And with Vitamin E as an active ingredient, now milk can help prevent fine lines and wrinkles.

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Weight Loss Facts

Send your tummy a stop eating signal!

Sweat off your appetite
Another reason to hit the gym: Exercise may help control hunger, reports the journal Plos Biology. Obese rodents that were put on a regimen of cardio exercise had increased levels of an anti-inflammatory protein in their brains and ate less as a result. Obesity causes inflammation in the hypothalamus, which decreases its sensitivity to the hormones that tell us when to stop eating. Exercise reduces inflammation and restores those signals. More research is needed to see if the same is true in humans.

Cheat now, play later
Here’s why it’s important to stick to that weight-loss resolution: People who gained 14 pounds in a month by exercising less and eating more were still up nearly seven pounds from their original weight 30 months later, despite going back to their healthier patterns, according to Nutrition & Metabolism. Researchers believe gains can have long-lasting effects because fluctuations may cause the body to find a new set point for its normal weight. Weigh in weekly to stay on course.

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Tips on Good Parenting

Here are some ways on how you and your child can manage to go on and on after a day of work and play.

You lead, I’ll follow
When moms set a good example, the kids are bound to follow. Choose not to camp in front of the TV on weekends, and engage in a physical activity instead.

Chowtime, fun time
Make mealtimes a family activity. If you can’t eat together every mealtime, schedule at least one (breakfast or dinner). Make sure your daily menu includes a healthy mix of meat, vegetables, and fruits too.

Twosome are the best
Get your child involved in your fitness routine. Let her join you during a walk or a run, or let her familiarize yourself with what you use in the gym.

Smile!
There is so much to be thankful for. Every day, find a reason to smile. Exchange stories on the day’s highlights with your child.

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Shoulder Pain Relief and Exercise

Don’t neglect your shoulders. The shoulder muscles are particularly vulnerable to injury, primarily because we tend to abuse them. Most people do not properly strengthen the entire shoulder area but rather concentrate on one or two muscle groups and forget about the rest. Moreover, poor posture (sitting or standing in a slouched position with your shoulders hunched forward) can gradually weaken your shoulder muscles. To add insult to injury, few people properly stretch their shoulder muscles after working out, which leaves them a tight and inflexible. This creates imbalances in the shoulder region, which will inevitably lead to injury. If you don’t have any shoulder problems, we urge you to follow the program exercise below so that you build strong, flexible shoulder muscles.

Here’s what happened if you don’t. One day, you might reach for a suitcase in the overhead compartment of a train or airplane, and your shoulder will go into spasm. This common injury is known as a rotator cuff injury and it can be quite painful, but if you take proper care of your shoulders, it doesn’t have to happen to you.

If you have a shoulder problem, please check with your physician or physiotherapist before doing any exercises.

If you have acute shoulder problems, don’t lift anything heavy over your head, and don’t do the overhead press exercise at the gym or with weights. It is critical for you to keep your rotator cuff muscles strong and flexible. Here’s a great exercise for your rotator cuff.

Rotator Cudd Exercise

1. Tie one end of your exercise cable to a doorknob or a stair banister and hold the free end in your right hand. Facing the door or banister, bend your right arm 90 degrees, keeping your right elbow close at your side.
2. Pull the cable away from your body and then release it back in toward you. Repeat the exercise. Do two sets of 15 repetitions. Switch arms and repeat the exercise on the other arm. Do the Rotator Cuff Stretch after this exercise.

Rotator Cudd Stretch

1. Keep your right arm bent 90 degrees while keeping your right elbow close to your side, similar to the starting position for the Rotator Cuff Exercise.
2. Place your right hand on the edge of the wall while still keeping your elbow at your side. Slightly turn your body away from the wall until you feel the stretch in your upper shoulder. Hold the stretch for 15 seconds, and then repeat the stretch on the other arm.

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Tips on Preparing Meat, Poultry and Fish

  • All meat, poultry, and fish should be baked, broiled, grilled, sauteed or poached with little or no oil. For moisture and added flavor, baste red meat with broth and poultry and fish with lemon or orange juice.
  • Trim meat of excess fat before cooking.
  • Add 1 to2 teaspoon of your favorite condiments (barbecue sauce, peanut sauce, mustard) after cooking to enhance flavor. Don’t smother your food in fattening sauces. That’s not clean eating!
  • Indoor grills are a great way to cook meat, poultry, and fish. They’re not only more convenient and easier to use than outdoors grills, but are healthier. Grilling meat, a cooking method where food is exposed directly to the flame, produces cancer-causing chemicals in the smoke when the fat from the meat drips into the coals. Indoor grills allow for fat drainage into a special container without producing smoke.  Furthermore, cooking meat at high temperatures – under an oven broiler or an outdoor grill – also produces cancer-causing substance within the meat itself. Indoor grills are specially designed not to exceed safe temperatures and should not produce these chemicals.
  • A note for cooking novices: Food must be handled safely or you can get sick. Use a separate cutting board for meat and produce. Be careful about not reusing knives and utensils used to cut meat or poultry on vegetables or fruit before washing them first. Wash all cutting boards and utensils in hot, soapy water or in a dishwasher. Poultry can harbor salmonella, bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Be extra careful about handling poultry and washing down any utensil or surface that comes in contact with raw poultry.
  • Use a meat thermometer to make sure that meat and poultry cooked through. The Center for Science in the Public Interest recommends cooking beef to 160 degrees, poultry 185 degrees; and lamb, veal and pork to 170 degrees. You can salmonella from eggs, too, so be sure to cook eggs thoroughly. Quickly refrigerated cooked meats after serving them.
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