Food Addict Pumping Iron - Weight Training is For Women Too!

Are you afraid you are going to end up looking like a body builder if you pick up a five pound weight? I'm not making fun of you, I know the feeling! Women have become more aware of the benefits of weight training, but not as much as men, even though we need it just as much.

I've been very skeptical about the whole 'pumping iron for women' thing. To tell you the truth, I was a little scared too. It hurts! Seriously, in this case the "no pain, no gain" applies.

A few months ago I met this lady who really inspired me with her writing and great sense of humor. Turns out she motivates others to get fit, and she lifts weights (gasp). She recommends this book Body for Life by Bill Phillips

and I set out to add it to my list of books to borrow from the library. I didn't pay much attention to the book until my husband picked it up and started flipping through it. You couldn't blame him, there was a good looking guy on the cover and his wife was about to read it. He was getting more interested and pointed out pictures of very muscular men and women to me. My thoughts: O great, a body building book!

My husband has always been a fan of body building and have made great strides in this area as a young man, but I couldn't care less. That was, until I started reading the book. This guy had so many good things to say, so many things I should actually know.

What it boils down to for me: Women need to build muscle too!

Of course we do. If I think about it, it makes perfect sense. We are the ones doing most of the chores around the house, carrying loads of laundry up and down the stairs, weeding the garden, moving the couches to vacuum, the list goes on. We are also the ones who need to carry extra weight 24/7 for nine months long, push out that baby and then we get to carry the sweetie around for another, oh say, 5 years! How is it that we bought into this myth that women should not train with weights and build muscle? I don't think many of us will ever put in the amount of time it takes to become world champions in body building (maybe). Most of us will probably just end up with a well toned, strong body. Who doesn't want that?

So I set out to become a strong woman, yes in spirit and soul, but this time also in body. I hit the gym, armed with notes form my book. I've actually done weight training for many years, the kind where you never go to far from the ten pound mark and never feel any pain afterward. So here I was, willing to tear into those muscles, scary thought indeed. But according to my latest reading (of course I got a second opinion on the internet) muscles are much leaner and prettier than fat. Also, muscle building speeds up that metabolism to start burning fat. All of this was going through my mind when I load up those weight to, dare I say it, fifty pounds! I was ready to kick-start this sluggish metabolism. I was done with weight loss plateaus. This was it!

My pose of treadmill walkers looked at me funny. The men with the big arms looked at me with suspicion, but the few strong ladies around gave me "the nod". You know which one I'm talking about, the one that says: "You go girl!"

Weight training will help you so much in your fight to loose some excess weight. However, if you don't couple this with healthy eating, cardio exercise, and spiritual and relational wellness, you can not get out of a serious struggle with food such as Food Addiction.

If you need more help and guidance and want to know How to Stop Binge Eating please visit my website. I have a story to tell you that goes way beyond exercise. I found healing for my body, mind and spirit. Please come have a look and see if my 12 Week Online Course is something that might benefit you.

Autor: Heleen Woest Heleen Woest
Level: Basic PLUS
Heleen Woest wrote a program for women who struggle with food related issues such as Bulimia, Overeating and Binge eating disorder. She has a heart ... ...

http://www.eatingsdisorders.com/food-addiction.php

Added: June 1, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

6 Tips - Help For Binge Eating

Are you tired of feeling guilty every time you binge? Would you like to finally be able to go to social events on be stressed about what you're going to eat or not eat?

Many people who binge eat also exercise compulsively. This means they revolve their life around when they can workout and eat. From my experience, a lot of binge eaters are very health conscious and make every effort they can to workout and eat properly.

Even though they think they are doing everything right to stay healthy and to look good, they could actually be on a path of self destruction. There are a few tips to help resolve binge eating.

1) Stop counting calories. Many people who binge eat count the calories of every meal they eat. While this method could have started out of good intentions, it has a dark side. Counting calories can turn into a compulsive act, and can do more damage than good. Counting calories can become very stressful as well making it difficult to eat meals with other people. It may be very hard at first, but stop counting calories.

2) Make smart food choices. Try to eat whole, natural, unprocessed food. These foods are basically single ingredient items and aren't found in a box. Examples are dry, unroasted nuts, lean meats, fruits, vegetables, beans, etc. Foods in boxes (even "diet" foods) are full of preservatives and usually lots of sugar and white flour.

3) Don't restrict yourself all the time. When a lot of people start a diet they say something like, "I'll never eat (fill in the blank) again." While you may think it is smart to eliminate a food that isn't so healthy, this can bite you later on. If you try to restrict or eliminate a favorite food for long, I promise you'll end up binging on it later.

For example: I love Oreos. If I told myself I would never eat them again, bad things would more than likely happen. Instead, I let myself enjoy them once or twice a month.

4) Have a meal once a week that is stress free. You can't "diet" all of the time. Once again, if you try, you'll end up binging. Have a meal or two a week that has no restrictions. If you want pizza, get it. Make sure this is guilt free. There is nothing wrong with enjoying your favorite foods.

5) Do workouts that give you better results in less time. Weight training will give you "more bang for your buck" than traditional cardio workouts. There are a few very reputable programs that will help you build a lean, athletic body in only 3 days a week. Find a program you enjoy, train smart, and get on with your life.

6) Learn to revolve your diet and exercise habits around your life, not the other way around. This comes with practice, and social support.

Autor: Nia Shanks Nia Shanks
Level: Platinum
Nia Shanks is a professional personal fitness trainer. Her goal is to help as many people as possible lose fat with proven training methods and ... ...

To help put a stop to binge eating once and for all, visit http://www.niashanks.blogspot.com and get a free report, Five Fast Fat Loss Tips.

Added: May 30, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Stop the Binge Eating Cycle Once and For All

Before you can solve a problem, you need to understand it. Binge eating is no different. Before you can take active and targeted steps to stop overeating episodes, you need to figure out the emotional process you're going through. Then, it will be just simple as it can be to put an end to it.

Understanding the Binge Eating Cycle

Binge eating involves a cycle of actions and emotions that you go through. The key is being able to break the cycle at any one point. Do that enough times and you will never binge again.

Phase 1 - Emotional trigger - Binge eating is always the result of some emotional trigger. Some of us eat when we're sad, others when stressed out, some of us out of boredom. This is what causes you to overeat. It is often a bad emotion which makes you feel like you need instant comforting.

Once that emotion appears, you get insanely hungry, often with a specific craving. The urge to eat is unbearable. One way to stop this urge is to make yourself count to 60 everytime that you feel like eating, another way is to do some physical exercises, anything to take your mind off things.

Phase 2 - Bingeing

This is when you overeat. Sometimes it's a whole day worth of calories in one sitting. The way to stop this from happening is to make sure you don't have a lot of food lying around, especially the kind you like to overeat.Clear out your kitchen and pantry and make your home a more favorable environment.

Phase 3 - Feeling bad... the cycle continues

Usually, when we stop bingeing, instead of feeling comforted, we feel rather bad. We feel that we're weak, that we've let ourselves down, and that we will be fat (or fatter) because we overate. This is an emotional trigger for yet another binge later on and not a constructive way to stop binge eating.

The way to avoid this from happening is to realize that you can't be perfect all the time. You will make mistakes and overeat on occasion, but this will improve with time as you get better at breaking the cycle. Don't be strict with yourself and you will have a much better chance to cure binge eating forever.

Autor: John Davenport

For more tips and tricks, go here: Stop Binge Eating

John Davenport lost over 30 pounds in his twenties after being overweight most of his life. He now runs a weight loss forum and publishes a diet and fitness newsletter. To read more about emotional eating, click here: The Binge Eating Cycle

Added: May 29, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/