Simple Health Tips

Studies have shown that people who live healthy are happier than those who don't. Poor health doesn't just result from a lack of diet and working out. Sometimes it's easy to overthink the aspects of healthy living. This blog is for simplicity; the two simplest and possibly most important ways to add to a healthy routine.

Let's begin with sleep because who doesn't love sleep? It's important to catch as many z's as you can! Sleeping is one of the best way to improve overall health. For people that have severe sleeping problems, studies have shown that lack of sleep produces stroke, heart failure, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Resting rejuvenates the body and mind providing you with the proper energy you need to get through your day. Sleeping also correlates with weight fluctuation. Even if you eat healthy and exercise, a lack of sleep will inhibit the body to lose weight. Working out provides your body with energy. If you work out at night, sometimes your body has a harder time falling asleep. That work out will not improve your weight loss if it causes you to stay up all night.

For the endomorphic body type, keeping your body active is key. This doesn't just pertain to a basic workout at the gym. Ladies, get your butts outside and start moving! This is a fun way to stay in shape. Go out with a group of friends and explore nature on a hike or on a bike ride. Get competitive with one another and play a game of soccer or basketball. Even taking the steps instead of the elevator or walking instead of driving can make an impact on your life. Not only does physical activity provide weight loss and disease prevention, it is also proven to make you a happier person. Happiness is the essential key to healthiness; so interact with good people and get your body going.

Grub That Curves Love

The key to living a healthy lifestyle consist of both diet and exercise. You can spend all of your time exercising, but that hard work can be ruined by maintaining a poor diet. Making simple changes to your everyday eating habits is a great way to start your journey into living a healthy lifestyle. Jasmine Martier, a health sciences major at Bloomsburg University, is going to share her knowledge of maintaining a healthy diet for all of you ladies with an endomorphic body type.

You can still eat most of the foods you love by simply altering the bad with the good. According to Martier, "Endomorphs should steer clear of consuming excess carbohydrates, incorporate mostly fruits and veggies into your diets, and have a good control on caloric intake."

Let's start with grains. Whole grains such as brown rice and whole grain bread are the best type of grains for endomorphs. Although white bread is delicious, it is not the most nutritious option. Whole grain bread has a significantly lower glycemic index than white bread. "The Glycemic Index is a system that ranks foods on a scale from 1 to 100 based on their blood sugar levels. The lower the number the better the food is for your body," said Martier. By simply switching to whole grain, you are cutting down your glycemic index by 30-40 percent.

Carbohydrate consumption is crucial to maintaining a healthy diet, but it's important that you are eating the right carbs in the proper portions. Carbohydrates are in fatty foods like pizza and ice cream, but they are also in fruits and veggies. "Endomorphs have a harder time burning off  excess fat usually due to excess carbohydrate intake. Carbs that have a high glycemic index are usually in fatty, processed foods. Consuming those kinds of carbs every day will kill your diet and show no results, said Martier." Fruits and Vegetables with the correct portion size are the carbs that should fill up your diet because they have a lower glycemic index.

While carbohydrates should make up 25 percent of your diet, protein should make up 35 percent. Some foods with high protein sources are: Meats, eggs, seafood, nuts, and beans. "White meat has fewer calories then dark meat, but the difference is not significant. Red meat is the one that shouldn't be consumed in excess," said Jasmine. Although red meat has vitamins like iron and zinc, it has been proven that consuming too much red meat can be cancer causing.

Eating healthy does require time and effort, but the end results will be worth it. Although it's important to consume healthy foods, we can't forget about our cheat days. Yes ladies, I'm telling you that all of your hard work can be rewarded with whatever tickles your junk food fancy. Whether it's pizza, cookies, cheeseburgers, or ice cream, you can treat yourself every now and then because you and your curvaceous, hardworking body deserve it.

Working Out for Curvy Ladies

You either hate it or love it. Sometimes finding the motivation to do it seems close to impossible. You sweat, you burn, and sometimes you contemplate crying when you really exceed your limits. Yes ladies, I’m talking about your favorite activity: working- out.

All body types differ in shape and size. Finding workouts specifically pertaining to your body type provide you with the best results. By completing the body type quiz, you can determine whether your body type is Ectomorph, Mesomorph, or Endomorph. We are going to focus on the Endomorphic body type because this blog pertains to thick women with curves. The Endomorphic body type includes: a blocky, thick rib cage, wide joints, hips, calves, and shorter limbs. We are going to explore different types of workouts and find some of the best work outs to give curvaceous ladies the best results.  

One of the most important aspects of working out, especially for the endomorphic body type is cardio.  That word might make some of you cringe; others might get a positive adrenaline rush. Whatever the case may be; cardio is guaranteed to be one of the best ways to burn calories and speed up your metabolism. Without cardio endomorphic body types usually struggle to fight off excess fat.  The best part about cardio is that there is an exercise for everyone; and you can have fun doing it. Whether it’s walking, biking, swimming, running, dancing, or even playing sports; there’s something for everyone.

A fairly new workout with a lot of cardio incorporated in it is HIIT (high intensity interval training). This is a high energy workout for all of you hardworking ladies that can’t dedicate a lot of time to working out. You don’t need equipment and you can do it anywhere. HIIT requires high intensity movements followed by short recovery periods. This high intensity level of cardio is proven to give you the best results in a short amount of time.

Many women have misconceptions when it comes to weight training. Some think that it has the power to make their body’s look bulky. Others think that just focusing on cardio is the only way to lose weight. For all of you women with a muscular build; weight training is actually one of the best ways to tone your body and extenuate your curves. Lifting weights builds lean muscle mass while burning fat. Therefore, if you have a lot of muscle mass it should be easier to burn that fat off.  To avoid “bulking,” stay away from a lot of weight and focus on less weight with more repetitions. There is a large variety of exercises in weight training to target every inch of your body to provide you with the best results.   

Depending on who you are and what you like, yoga may be the right exercise for you. Yoga incorporates poses with meditation and breathing for a spiritual workout. Yoga is usually a lower intensity workout that has the ability to relieve stress, reduce weight, improve energy, and prevent injury. It incorporates movements on both beginners and advanced levels to make it possible for everyone. Hot yoga is a new workout trend that everyone is loving. The room is set at a temperature of 95 degrees giving you the ability to feel your body sweat and detox. It burns even more fat then regular yoga due to the high temperature. Yoga is a great way to tighten up your core, and become one with your body.