Everyone from beginners to conditioned athletes can benefit from adding resistance tubes or bands to their strength-training program.  Resistance bands or tubes can add challenge and variety to any workout.  They are also affordable and convenient enough for you to take with you anywhere you go. 

To consistently see gains from your workout program, and to avoid hitting a plateau, it is important to continuously vary your workout.  This means alternating machine exercises, free weights, stability balls and resistance bands or tubes.  Resistance bands or tubes offer a variety of exercises allowing you to move more freely and achieve a greater range of motion as opposed to a machine, which controls where you start and stop.  Bands and tubes allow you to create resistance from all different directions and allows you to mimic movements that you do in real life. 

Bands or tubes are a great way to add resistance training to your workout if you do not have weights or do not belong to a gym.  They offer a safe and effective alternative to any strength exercise you can do in the gym.  You can work every muscle in your body and use them anywhere.    Because they are lightweight and take up hardly any space, they are easy to travel with, use at home, or even behind your desk at work. 

If you are on a tight budget but want to purchase a piece of equipment that you can use at home, resistance bands are a great buy.  Since you control the resistance, you only need one.  Bands and tubes differ in their degree of difficulty from a light to heavy resistance.  You can control the tension of each exercise by shortening or lengthening the band.  Start with a light resistance and increase to a heavier one as you progress in strength.  You can find bands at any local sporting good store or visit www.healthybalancefitness.com to order one. 

If you have questions about what band to use or what exercises would be right for you call us for a free consultation.

This is the perfect time of year to fire up the grill, surround yourself with family and friends, and have a BBQ.  If you are watching your weight, Healthy by Design Nutrition Specialists suggest these tips.

WATCH PORTIONS

• Limit starchy sides such as potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans and bean salads to 1 cup. The size of a tennis ball.
• When choosing meat or chicken, picture a deck of cards, which is approximately 3 ounces of meat.
• Salad dressing can pack on the pounds. Your thumb = about 1 tablespoon. Choose reduced fat instead of full fat or creamy dressing.
  

FILL UP ON VEGGIES 

• Fill ½ your plate with green salad or grilled veggies.
• Crunch on a variety of cut up veggies with a lower fat dip or hummus-instead of chips.

 WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO THE MOST

• If you're dying for a big cheeseburger, stick with a green salad or grilled vegetables and fruit as sides. Hold off on the starchy sides.
• If you're not into burgers, go for skinless grilled chicken or fish on top of greens. Have a tennis ball size of your favorite starchy salad and baked beans.
• If dessert is your thing, have 3 oz. of lean protein (chicken, fish, hamburger patty), grilled veggies or a green salad so you can indulge in dessert.

GET UP AND MOVE WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED

• Play a game with the kids.
• Get everyone together to play horseshoes or croquet.
• Take a walk.

Stacey Whittle, RD, CPT and Dorothy Bernet, MS, RD, CPT are Co-Founders of Healthy By Design Nutrition Specialists in Santa Monica, CA. For more information visit their website at:  www.healthybydesignnutrition.com

Call Stacey Whittle by June 30th to receive $50 off an initial
nutrition assessment and consultation.

The Merck Manual of Medical Information defines menopause, also known as "climacteric", as the time in a woman's life when the cyclic function of the ovaries and menstrual periods cease.   It is important to note that menopause is not a disease but a normal physiological transition that indicates a phase in a woman's life where she makes the passage from a reproductive to a non-reproductive state.

Essentially the symptoms of menopause usually occur between the ages of 48 and 55 with the median age being about 51. Problems that a woman is likely to experience are: fatigue, headaches, irritability, nervousness, vaginal dryness, night sweating, and the most common of symptoms, hot flashes, which is found in 75% of women.  A woman may experience loss of bladder control, inflammation of the bladder or vagina, and pain during intercourse. Osteoporosis (severe deterioration of the bones) is also a major health hazard of menopause.

Chinese medicine can help a woman in this period of transition from reproductive to a non-reproductive age in a gradual and healthy way. Herbal treatment, acupuncture, meditation and a correct diet will help a woman with menopausal problems. The treatment of a woman with oriental medicine will not yield 'quick' results, but will give natural and balanced protection. Chinese medicine with its gentle and safe manner will help with menopausal symptoms without side effects. Chinese medicine can be combined with HRT, and there is no contraindication of combining the two treatments because both treat menopausal problems and symptoms in separate ways.

Menopause is inevitable; there is no denying that fact. How a woman copes with this period of her life is entirely in her hands and those of her trusted practitioner. Embrace the wondrous changes that occur in all phases of your life. 

Lucy Postolov, L.Ac.  Acupuncturist and Herbalist in Los Angeles, CA. 
For more information check out her website at:
www.lucypostolov.com or call 310-444-6212.

Mention you are a client of Healthy Balance Fitness and schedule an initial consultation and treatment and receive 20% off your first visit.

Facilitated by Linda Landon, ACC

Achieve personal and financial success regardless of what the economy is doing.
 

Learn to stay steady as you walk through fear to freedom and create your personal plan for financial recovery. Over six weeks you will receive the best of Linda's coaching modalities, which integrate The Four Agreements®, Speak With Confidence, meditation, her innovative process, DreamShifting, and more.

Enroll in this transformative coaching program and gain:

* A Clear Vision for Success
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(includes Power of Pause book and CD, handouts, and more)

Teleseminar Series
Thursdays 5:00 pm-6:30 pm PDT
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Price: $295

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Do you drop in and out of exercise because you
aren't getting results?

Do you want to lose weight and keep it off?

Do you find exercise boring and can't keep yourself motivated?

What if there was a better way to achieve your health
and fitness goals?  And it worked?

If you keep promising yourself that some day you will get in shape but you just don't know how to get started, this may be just what you have been waiting for. 

Call for a complimentary, no obligation, Fitness Consultation
and Strategy Session today.

310-200-6223