Our bones are continually breaking down and rebuilding themselves, as we age. Calcium is the one thing that comes to mind when we think about bone health.  Our bones absorb and excrete calcium as the body needs it. That is why it is so important to get in all your diary requirements, eating calcium prepared cereals and drinking mineral waters and fruit juices.

Most of us love our coffee and salt but try to stay away from excess salt and caffeine – they can increase the rate at which calcium is lost by the body.

Must do’s for bone health

• Vitamin D is essential for the development and maintenance of your bones.
• Eat your fruits and vegetables.
• Check the sodium index on food packages, your salt intake must be less than 2300mg a day.
• Ad dark leafy greens or a fish with soft bones to your meal to get a calcium boost
• Sunlight will do wonders for your Vitamin D intake
• Mind your coffee intake, coke and other fizzy drinks.
• Take a calcium supplement

Our Herbalife Nutritional shake can help you with your daily calcium need.  Enjoy it once or twice a day and add the Herbalife supplements like Joint Support for your benefit.

For more information on Bone Health and Herbalife Nutrition visit www.shapelife.co.za or e-mail me on danita.shapelife@gmail.com

Eating healthy food is the first step you need to take in becoming fit and losing weight. You can use the tips below to plan your diet. Buying healthy food may seem more expensive at first, but once you have made the necessary changes to your monthly menu you will reap the benefits such as weight loss, increased energy, proper functioning digestive system, and reduced chances of cardiovascular diseases.

Healthy food and Herbalife

We need a moderate portion of omegas and balanced nutrition in your diet every day. If you are concerned about putting on weight, you should note that moderate quantities will benefit your effort. Herbalife makes it easier to get the nutrients contained in healthy food through our supplements. Our Herbalife supplements contains all the fatty acids required, and thus makes it easy to get your daily dose of omega and nutrients as part of a balanced eating plan.

Green tea

Looking for a nutritious fluid to go with your new eating plan? Green tea is the answer. The fluid is known for its anti-oxidant properties and helps to keep blood pressure under control. It is also known for its fat burning properties and should form part of your daily meal plan. Herbalife provides the Thermojetics Herbal Tea to make it possible for you to get the value of green tea on a daily basis.

Visit our products page on www.shapelife.co.za for more supplements that contain the goodness of healthy food and read our tips on dieting plans for optimal weight management.

It is possible to obtain physical fitness within 12 weeks. If physical fitness is still an overwhelming concept and you feel you don’t have the time, start by making the following changes in your lifestyle.

Home and lunch hour

You don’t have to be inactive when at home. Make time for training by getting up 20 minutes earlier and when used to it, change it to 40 minutes and then one hour earlier. It is also the best time to train as no calls or responsibilities will interfere with your training session. Start by doing 10 minutes of warm up and stretching exercises. Also complete your training session with stretch exercises as it will help prevent injuries and sore muscles.

Start slow

If you are extremely unfit, do walking exercises for the first two weeks and then light exercises for another week. Once you are able to handle exercises for ten minutes at a time while still being able to manage a conversation, you are ready for a 12 week physical fitness training program. Yes it is difficult to do it on your own, but fortunately the Shapelife website is packed with motivational articles and products to help you through every stage.

Assistance through Herbalife supplements

If you need help to build your energy level, have a look at our energy drinks, vitamin supplements, protein bars, and diet products. Make sure you obtain the nutrition required when training by adding enough protein, vitamins, and minerals to your daily eating plan. Simply view Herbalife’s products page and the categories relevant to your physical fitness needs.

Visit www.shapelife.co.za or e-mail me danita.shapelife@gmail.com

The best place to do a fitness assessment is a gym or training facility equipped for doing a well planned and monitored fitness assessment.

The following activities may form part of the fitness assessment:

• Circumference measurement for neck, waist, and abdomen.
• Heart rate monitoring.
• Flexibility testing.
• Aerobic ability testing.
• Muscular and strength measurement.

Flexibility testing

It includes testing to measure your ability for stretching and reaching certain body parts. It can for instance, include a sit and stretch test where you will be required to stretch forward in order to reach your toes while in a sit position. The yardstick and measure tape are used and the furthest of three attempts is taken as the result.

It can also include a back and shoulder stretch activity where you will need to reach over your shoulder to a certain point on your back and touch the other hand. The shoulder flexibility is measured by taking the gap between the hands as the result. It should be noted that proper warm up and stretching exercises will be done before the tests to prevent injuries.

Aerobic ability

Apart from flexibility, your aerobic fitness level will be determined through a timed stepping test. The heart rate will be measured to determine the cardio fitness.

Muscle and endurance

Your ability to do knee curls and push-ups will be assessed. It should be noted that endurance will also be measured. The total number of completed cycles is taken as the result.

Although the fitness assessment may sound difficult, it is an excellent way to determine how fit you are and what level of exercise you will be able to handle without compromising your health.

Herbalife Products

With Herbalife’s range of products you can choose the program that suites you the best to help you in your fitness assessment. Choose from Herbalife’s Weight loss, Weight Gain or Weight Maintenance or even our Energy and Fitness products.

Visit www.shapelife.co.za or email me danita.shapelife@gmail.com to find out more.

Basic nutrition facts for low GI

Nutrition facts on the food product labels can be confusing and when ordering at a restaurant, you will be extremely lucky if the nutrition facts of the food are available. Becoming healthy and fit entail a well planned nutritious eating plan, supplements, and regular exercise. Although we cannot provide all the nutrition facts in one article, our site is filled with useful information regarding healthy eating, fitness, and supplements. The following tips are meant as guidelines only to help you make the right food choices for a healthier and leaner body.

Learn about the Glycaemic Index (GI)

If you are serious about weight loss, but want to sustain good health at the same time, you should learn how to keep the GI level in control to ensure regulation of your blood sugar. It is easier than you thought. Start by replacing the GI high foods with some GI lean foods:

• Whole wheat bread instead of white bread.
• Brown instead of white rice.
• Replace potatoes with pastas.
• Replace processed white sugar with brown sugar and where possible, with honey.

In addition, add flaxseed oil, green tea and loads of water to your diet. To lower the GI level of your meals you can also add the following:

• Organic acids such as apple vinegar to meals that contain a high level of starch.
• Green veggies to high starch meals.

Apart from taking simple steps such as not eating very ripe fruits, replacing certain foods and doing regular exercise, you can lower the GI level through Herbalife supplements. Herbalife products have comprehensive product descriptions listing the relevant nutrition facts. Visit our products pages to learn about our comprehensive range of supplements to promote good health, fat burning, endurance, and muscle building.

For more information on Herbalife’s nutritional facts visit www.shapelife.co.za or e-mail me on danita.shapelife@gmail.com