Browsing Category : Health

December 28, 2017

Are there any Health Benefits of Walking?

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Sooo, walking?- (confused face followed by lighthearted chuckle), am I right? (I know. It’s a hack comedian line but still a keeper). Have you ever thought about starting a workout regimen and wanting to go as easy or light as possible? Of course not you, you hard worker you! I mean other people who want to make an easy go of it. Do you know any of those types? Well I see them online often asking questions about simply walking. Can I just walk they’ll ask. Many say “No! Walking isn’t exercise”, or Black Girl Walking Infinity“Real exercise involves heavy sweating, racing heartbeats and of course weights”…right? Well not necessarily. Walking isn’t useless at all in the grand scheme of things. It’s something that most of us able bodied people do pretty regularly in day to day life, but it could be SO much more.

Benefits of Walking for Health and Fitness

Just regular daily brisk walking can have positive effects including:

  • Maintaining a healthy weight
  • Can prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes
  • Strengthening your bones and muscles
  • Improving your mood
  • Improving your balance and coordination.1

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    October 23, 2017

    Allergic to Exercise? Runner’s Itch Relief!

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    I didn’t know I had runner’s itch at first. It all started a few years ago when I was way into working out! I exercised probably 2-3 hours a day. I slowed all the way down since then, (for shame) but I do remember something really weird that started around that time. I was running in some hills in California. I had run up the hill and gone up and down some heavy terrain steps a few times and I was in the home stretch headed down a simple paved road back to my car. That’s when it happened! I had a little itch in my leg that soon became a big itch. I tried to keep running but literally had to stop and scratch. The itching had taken over my whole entire upper leg, booty and stomach. I stood there scratching for my life. My husband was embarrassed because he didn’t know what I was doing. I told him I was itching and he wanted me to just ignore it. I tried to explain that it couldn’t be ignored. The irritation was too great. It went from a simple itch to my body feeling so inflamed that I had to put my hands inside my pants to ravenously claw at myself.

    My Legs After Scratching

    My poor thigh after scratching my runner’s itch.

    About my Case of Runner’s Itch

    My personal case of runner’s itch will vary from other people because many describe different circumstances. I usually get the itching in the fattiest parts of my body- my thighs, butt, stomach, breast, and my triceps. I have never gotten it while lifting weights so it is purely about cardio for me. I have only gotten it while exercising outside so I thought that it was temperature related. (I have heard some mention that they got it while on a spinning bike at the gym too!) It is more apt to happen when it is cooler or normal temp than when it is a scorching hot day. It also usually happens when I am running downhill, so basically when I’m trying to go home. Well originally when it happened I did what any normal person with a health crisis would do. I googled it. Oddly enough me putting in the symptom of itching while exercising turned up some pretty sad news. Many others complained about it happening, but said that doctors tried to convince them it was in their heads. Only recently have I met someone that gave it a name and when I looked it up I finally got some validation.

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    chocolate peanut butter chia pudding September 27, 2017

    Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Pudding

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    Well chia seeds certainly got popular out of nowhere. Gone are the days when they are just displayed around silly pottery faces. These little seeds are quite the little powerhouse of nutrition providing fiber, antioxidants & heart healthy Omega 3 fatty acids. I decided to hop on the bandwagon to see what all the to do was about. Honestly I wasn’t floored by them at first but they grew on me once I started making the pudding. Well chia pudding is super simple to make. You just mix 3 tbsp of the seeds per cup of liquid, stir a few times and watch them expand to form a gelatinous pudding (especially if the liquid is creamy). If you use a milk (or nut milk) you will have to add a sweetener. I like to use vanilla almond milk because it is already lightly sweet. I can eat the stuff like it’s going out of style. Really. Who would have thought that I could have gotten so much gratification out of my life if I had stolen my friends grandmother’s plant and put the seeds in almond milk. The pudding will put you in the mind of tapioca pudding because it has a somewhat similar consistency. Trust me it is good stuff. Also be on the lookout for that fiber. It WILL clean your clock, and by clock I mean bowels. I feel like mine must have been sparkling shortly after. (TMI?) Anyway, here’s the recipe for this masterpiece

    6 tbsp of chia seeds to your chocolate milk & let it sit for a minute. Stir. Let it sit for 5 minutes & stir again. Let it sit for 10 minutes and stir again.
    Place container in the fridge and allow the chia seeds to expand and form the “pudding”.

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    FitTea Detox Tea March 30, 2017

    Review for FitTea All Natural Detox Tea

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    FitTea approached me to review their product “ FitTea detox tea”. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try it at first because I was on a fitness challenge on my Youtube channel and I wanted any progress that I made to be only from my exercise regimen and diet. I was, however, able to squeeze it in for about a week and that’s why you’re seeing this review. Yay for pointing out the obvious!

    Well first off it comes in 2 sizes. There’s the 14 day detox and the 28 day detox. I only used the product for 7 days though. Secondly this is loose leaf tea so it’s not in a teabag. You will have to purchase a tiny mesh tea strainer like the one pictured. Not for nothing though, the tea ball made me feel really classy, like I was having tea time in England. Lol. The ingredients are pretty primo. No junk in there really except for the corn (not that corn is junk but you know what I mean). Honestly I have no idea why there would be corn in tea but it’s there. I actually saw a full kernel! Anyway, the other ingredients are cool. Ingredients: Oolong Wu Yi, organic rooibos, ginger (yum), pomegranate, guarana, birch, stevia, corn (for enhanced flavor and aroma) and honey powder. See all good stuff. Well FitTea claims to detox, boost your metabolism, suppress your appetite and also to give you energy without jitters. A lot of it is caffeine type ingredients to give you a bit of a jolt- and that’s what it did for me. I was expecting to have to be very near a toilet all day, everyday but it didn’t have that kind of detoxing effect on me.

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    March 12, 2017

    Low Fat Deviled Eggs with No Mayo

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    Deviled eggs are a favorite at summer time bbqs and events. They are small, portable, easy to make, easy to fit in the mouth, and let’s face it~ they are freaking delish! The pitfall is that, it is not particularly a low calorie or low fat food, which can be an issue for those of us that are counting calories (damn you myfitnesspal!). An egg has about 60-75 calories each and mayo is about 100 calories per tablespoon. That can lead to some serious calorie intake when you start tossing back these little devils, pun intended. This is not including any other specialty ingredients that you might add like bacon (Yum) or the basic relish. So it seems that low fat deviled eggs aren’t a thing that can actually happen right?

    Well my hubby makes me deviled eggs for breakfast because eating scrambled eggs everyday was a complete and utter bore. I love deviled eggs and I don’t even care about the calories most times but when I tried to get back into myfitnesspal I decided to ask him how much mayo he used in the egg yolk filling. He has an aversion to using a measured spoon and always wants to just use regular spoons in the kitchen, even though I tell him they are not accurate for measuring. To make a long nagging session short, he basically gave me a puzzled look. He said “Mayo??” Now I was puzzled. “Yeah mayo! Deviled eggs at its very most basic level is boiled eggs with mayo. You can’t make deviled eggs without mayo”.

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