What every woman wants to know about fashion but was too afraid to ask…

If you’re a woman, you feel modern trendy and fashionable, but knowing all the ins and outs of fashion is probably not something you have time to learn and research.

We live busy lives, so we just buy what we think will look nice and can afford.

However, there are simple tips you can follow to keep yourself ‘In Fashion’, so to speak.

It can be tricky for women to find a great outfit, here are some basic tips:

Don’t try to update your whole wardrobe at once.

It’s always best to try out ‘a look’ or ‘new fashion’ before buying out the store.

You may find the look is great for you and then you can add more pieces when you can.

Sometimes you’ll feel the look is all wrong for you…

Ever wanted to learn the best ways to put together stylish outfits and looking your best?

So adding only a few new amazing pieces won’t break the bank account?

You should never buy something you feel you are “too old” to wear.

If you do buy it, you probably won’t wear it because you won’t feel comfortable in it…

You shouldn’t be scared to dress outside of your normal age group.

When you are 55, that doesn’t automatically take mini skirts out of your wardrobe.

Just because you are 25, doesn’t mean you have to wear mini skirts, either.

Go with the fashion and style you look good in and feel comfortable wearing.

Black clothes almost always look more flattering, expensive and sophisticated.

Having some black ‘staple’ clothing is always a good fashion idea.

When you don’t have money, don’t go shopping…

A totally weird concept?

Buying cheap clothing just because you went shopping is usually a bad investment.

It won’t be what you really wanted and you probably won’t wear it that often.

Don’t shop based on fashion fads.

By the time you’ve heard about a particular fashion fad, it will probably be over.

Fad fashion never has a long lifespan, so stick with the general fashion trends.

Step outside your ‘fashion box’ for a while…  

Find fashions that only look expensive and learn the best ways to wear what you already own for your most stylish you ever.

If you are normally conservative, try a miniskirt or some low cut jeans for a change.

Not comfortable with that?

Just add a fringed or sequined handbag to your collection.

Everyone, no matter what their fashion sense, should have fun with the fashions they wear on occasion.

Even though you will normally go back to your old look, you will probably have a new approach to it.

Don’t allow fashion to jeopardize your professional image… 

See-through, low neckline, sleazy fashions will never do wonders for your career.  Those fashions are simply inappropriate for the 9 to 5 world.

Fashion is only a small part of the whole you…

If you put a lot of time and effort into other aspects of your life, what you wear won’t be what everyone notices about you.

Don’t spend all your time worrying about your wardrobe…

When you look at fashion, it is all about YOU and your choices.

Love a look, look great in it…can afford the clothing, then buy it.

Fashion can be just simple…

Women and Fashion

Have you been struggling with your weight this year?

You’re doing a lot of exercises yet you still haven’t been losing weight?

Maybe you’ve added belly fat, some extra  pounds/kgs!

Well, at least you’ve come to understand its all about consciously making decisions in your life…

Choices that revolve around making healthy decisions.

This week your healthy diet challenge is focused around developing strategies to cope with emotional eating.

Maybe it’s a forbidden topic? Do you feel this problem is an issue that you’ve dealt with at one time or another?

Well, I know I’ve had my fair share of struggling with emotional eating. Why?

Because life is full of surprises mixed in with boredom, stress and anxiety.

Allow me to explain…

I’d like to take this opportunity to share strategies and more importantly to ask you how you’re able to handle these issues or problems?

Are your eating habits holding you back and making you feel angry?

After a while it becomes second nature to sabotage your appetite in an unhealthy fashion.

Let’s talk about how to answer these questions with basic guidelines/rules that have helped in the past:

• Eat when you start to feel a little bit hungry…
• Don’t wait until you are starving because when you’re famished you run the risk of overeating and eating too quickly.
• Take your time eating, eat slow, thoroughly chew and enjoy your food
• Eat small portions…

Your biggest challenge will most likely be about portion size and control…

What if you’re unsure about what “food portion size” means for you?

Don’t worry, we’ll be spending time on this and going over it in more detail.

The strategy is simple…you want to finish eating feeling light and satisfied.

If you feel heavy, too full or tired you have most likely eaten too much.

If you give your body too much food, it will start to store it as extra weight.

First and formeost, learn to listen to your body.

So called diet experts tell you this and that…their diet book has the answer, but what helps you is getting back in tune with what your body is telling you.

Are you listening?

Are you paying attention to the signals?

Are you aware of the little call from your brain every 2-3 hours that you need to eat something because you’re a little bit hungry?

Really, that’s how simple it really is to get back in control…

If you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss it, so it’s important to develop this basic body awareness.

Truly, I believe your body is more than capable of telling you when and how much you want to be eating, the trick is learning to listen.

As you begin to pick-up on your body signals, you get more intune with those distractions…

Yes, in other ways that avoid you feeling like dealing with your feelings by turning to food.

Now, you may have tried all sorts of diets in the past…

Some of the most common distractions include watching t.v, reading your favourite glossy magazine or even going out shopping.

All of these distractions work of course, and I’ve done them a million times to distract myself from emotional eating.

We all go through daily ups and downs, we have our own personal stories full of life’s various hurts and disappointments.

Unfortunately some of which still may continue to haunt you.

Remember those profoundly negative experiences and dramatic changes?

Overall, all these experiences cahnge your attitude and direction in life.

The question is how you deal with or handle it all for positive and enriching life, instead of moving from one empty distraction to another…

What if you focused on building, creating and learning.

The greatest joy of learning is having an open mind to what areas you feel passionate about in your own life.

Once your focus is on developing yourself, you can make much better decisions in every area of your life…including your diet.

This leads to the importance of treating yourself with respect.

What if your best friend was upset that they were having a tough time dealing with emotional eating?

Honestly would you beat them up even more with harsh words and a judgmental attitude?

You’d be caring, supportive and kind, yet how many times have you stood in front of the mirror berating yourself angrily for slipping on your diet?

You want to learn to treat yourself as if you were your own best friends!

That means caring and nurturing your soul with loving kindness.

Nothing is gained when you add your own insults and self criticisms…often playing like a broken record in your head.

This is a difficult habit to break…perhaps the most important lesson of all.

Please will you treat yourself well and affirm the positives? If you slip, then get back on track and resolve to be stronger the next time.

Refocus on your goals and continue to move forward.

You may repeat this process a hundred times and each time you get back up on your feet you’ll be a little bit stronger.

Eventually new healthier habits will form and you’ll reach a breakthrough ready for new diet and exercise challenges 🙂

Talk with you soon…Jody

If you remember the following formulas…

You can discover how to lose weight, healthy weight loss and keep it off!

Formula #1:

Calories out is greater than Calories in = Weight Loss

This formula is as basic as weight loss gets.

If you exercise and burn more calories than you eat…at the end of the day you will lose weight. Plain and simple!

To lose weight fast is all about calorie intake or creating  “calorie deficiency.”

At the end of a day that does not mean you have to starve yourself.

In fact, decreasing your calories too much can have the opposite effect on your body causing shut down or “starvation” mode.

The human body is built for survival…

When you consume too few calories and not enough water, your body can actually shut down your metabolism to a point where you’ll not burn fat.

Actually your body will store water (called water retention).

So, you definietly will not lose weight and you could in fact gain weight by increasing water retention.

This is where Formula #2 comes into play:

Water + Oxygen = Fat burning

When you breathe, you move the rivers and streams of internal water within your body.

Your physical body is over 70% water and your blood is 90% water.

This water is filled with electro-conductive metals such as sodium, potassium, iron, manganese, magnesium, etc.

This is how bio-electricity is conducted through your physical body.

Basically, your body needs water with increased oxygen to burn fat as an energy source.

Water intake can be anywhere from 1/2 gallon for women.

As you drink water, your body will be able to use the retained water for excretion or detox (elimination of toxins) prompting healthy weight loss.

This is not the same as sitting in a sauna and sweating which actually dehydrates your system.

Drinking water will rehydrate your system and enable your body to burn more fat.

As long as you increase your oxygen intake by doing some form of exercise:

• Walking
• Swimming
• Biking
• Jogging
• Calisthenics
• Gardening
• Lifting weights can help with fat loss and working your cardiovascular system…

Here are some sample calorie expenditures (calories burned) for a variety of exercises for women who weigh 130 – 190 lbs.

If you weigh more than 190 lbs you will actually burn calories, more calories at a faster rate than a lighter woman:

Aerobics:  130 lbs – 300 Calories Per Hour
                     190 lbs – 500 Calories Per Hour

Basketball:   130 lbs – 475 Calories Per Hour  
                        190 lbs – 675 Calories Per Hour

Pushups:  130 lbs – 480 Calories Per Hour  
                   190 lbs – 690 Calories Per Hour

Child Care:  130 lbs – 210 Calories Per Hour  
                       190 lbs – 300 Calories Per Hour

Gardening:  130 lbs – 290 Calories Per Hour  
                        190 lbs – 400 Calories Per Hour

Jogging:  130 lbs – 410 Calories Per Hour  
                  190 lbs – 600 Calories Per Hour

Pushing Stroller:  130 lbs – 150 Calories Per Hour  
                                   190 lbs – 210 Calories Per Hour

Jumping Jacks or Rope:  130 lbs – 450 Calories Per Hour  
                                                  190 lbs – 650 Calories Per Hour

Swimming:    130 lbs – 550 Calories Per Hour  
                          190 lbs – 890 Calories Per Hour

Tennis:   130 lbs – 400 Calories Per Hour  
                  190 lbs – 600 Calories Per Hour

Walking 3 mph:  130 lbs – 250 Calories Per Hour  
                                 190 lbs – 350 Calories Per Hour

These are just a few of the popular exercises you can use to burn calories.

In fact, everything you do (breathing, sitting, standing) burns calories even while sleeping!

As you can see from the above exercise list, any activity that help you burn calaories more are the most rigorous or can be done for several hours.

Take a look at my other health related articles for information on calories as part of the weight loss equation.

It is never a good idea to limit your calories under 1500 calories per day.

In fact, you should consult a nutritionist or dietician if you plan to go under 1500 calories.

The main reason is you can lose weight but become unhealthy due to lack of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from a lower calorie diet.

Remember, the key to lose weight with any weight loss program is drinking water.

You want to eat health food and drink water while developing a fitness plan that helps you add oxygen to burn calories, fat or excess fat.

This will produce the “caloric deficiency” needed if you want to lose weight.