Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Go for fiber-rich fruits and vegetables

Fresh fruits and veggies are not only loaded with a whole range of valuable micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, they are also the best natural sources of dietary fiber. Fiber is a multi-edged weapon against obesity it helps delay the release of sugar into the blood, helps control the level of hunger-stimulating insulin in the blood, keeps hunger at bay, gives a feeling of fullness with hardly any calories, helps metabolize fat, and aids bowel movement and excretion of toxins. If need be, one can also go for a natural fiber supplement like psyllium husk.

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Monday, November 16, 2009

Here are the seven reasons the dieters were successful

1. The dieters accepted failure and kept on trying.

2. The dieters did not deny themselves--they indulged from time to time.

3. They weighed themselves often.

4. They exercised one hour a day.

5. They added little bits of activity into their daily life.

6. They followed a high carb and low fat diet.

7. They ate 5 meals a day.

When I compare my own weight loss success to the list above, I would say I learned how to maintain weight loss due to the following: I do the best I can with what I have available. Sometimes I am not always in a perfect situation with the healthiest choices, but I make do with what is there and I stick to the plan. If I make a not so healthy choice, I don't beat myself up for it.

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Friday, November 13, 2009

Losing weight doesn't mean you have to starve yourself...

There is definitely one thing you should not do when trying to lose weight: do not starve yourself! If you constantly skip meals, your body will think it is being starved. Eventually your body will begin storing calories in the form of fat instead of burning them up during the day.

If your weight loss has reached its limit, consider switching up your routine by adding a dance, kickboxing, or step class.

Get your day off to a great start by drinking a glass of water as soon as you get up in the morning.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Cutting back on calories..

Calories are NOT like money – you don’t have to save them for a rainy day. If you are keeping track of your calories, it is best to spread them out over several meals, rather than save them for one big meal. Remember, the key is to keep your metabolism working constantly, and not just in short bursts.

Cutting back on calories is a good way to lose weight, but remember to do so gradually, and in combination with an exercise program. If you suddenly and dramatically lower your caloric intake, your body will react by storing more of them in the form of fat. It’s your body’s way of making sure it doesn’t die!

Snack away! Eating a small, sensible snack in between your large meals will not only help you maintain your energy and metabolism throughout the day, but they can also keep you from feeling hungry. What does this all mean? Small snacks in between meals keep you from eating too much during the day’s big meals.

Don’t expect instant gratification. Understand that losing weight is a gradual thing. Most experts will tell you that on average, a loss of 1-2 pounds a week a good goal to set. Anything more, or less, and you should take a serious look at your weight-loss techniques.

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Basic Rules of Proper Food Combining

1. Eat acids and starches at separate meals. Acids neutralize the alkaline medium required for starch digestion and the result is fermentation and indigestion.

2. Eat protein foods and carbohydrate foods at separate meals. Protein foods require an acid medium for digestion.

3. Eat but one kind of protein food at a meal.

4. Eat proteins and acid foods at separate meals. The acids of acid foods inhibit the secretion of the digestive acids required for protein digestion. Undigested protein putrefies in bacterial decomposition and produces some potent poisons.

5. Eat fats and proteins at separate meals. Some foods, especially nuts, are over 50% fat and require hours for digestion.

6. Eat sugars (fruits) and proteins at separate meals.

7. Eat sugars (fruits) and starchy foods at separate meals. Fruits undergo no digestion in the stomach and are held up if eaten with foods that require digestion in the stomach.

8. Eat melons alone. They combine with almost no other food.

9. Desert the desserts. Eaten on top of meals they lie heavy on the stomach, requiring no digestion there, and ferment. Bacteria turn them into alcohols and vinegars and acetic acids.

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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Simple Steps To Stop Eating So Much And Curb That Uncontrollable Appetite

More often than not, most of us seem to eat out of craving and habit rather than due to real physiologic hunger and need, so much so that many of us may never have allowed ourselves to experience the true physical symptoms (e.g., like stomach contractions) of hunger onset.

Unrestrained impulsive eating that is not related to physical hunger inputs calories that are not required by the body, which therefore get stored as body fat.

This combined with the fact that most of these calories possibly come from junk foods only makes the battle of the bulge more difficult. In fact, in the spate of umpteen slimming diets (low carb, low carb high fat, low carb high protein, etc.) and exercise plans going around, a simple aspect of weight loss that has not been given due attention is – curbing the appetite and switching off the very desire to overeat by adopting some simple do-it-yourself strategies instead of resorting to some appetite-suppressant drugs or supplements.

Here are some tips that will not only help you curb habitual impulsive eating but will also help you control genuine hunger:

• Learn to recognize the difference between craving for food and genuine hunger. First and foremost, you have to learn to identify the physical signs of hunger onset (e.g., stomach contractions). Eat only when you start experiencing these signs mildly. Irresistible food cravings can be controlled by means other than eating, as discussed below.

• Eat small but frequent meals. Dividing the total daily calorie requirement into 5 or 6 small portions rather than 2 or 3 big meals helps meet continuously the nutrient and energy requirements of the body, without ever subjecting the body to calorie overload or calorie deficit at any time. It, therefore, helps maintain optimum blood sugar and insulin levels, thus keeping your cravings under control – insulin as you may know is the hunger-stimulating hormone.

• Drink plenty of water. There is no more effective, healthier and cheaper appetite-suppressant than plain water. Many a times, people mistake thirst for hunger – so go for a glass of chilled water if you feel hungry without any rhyme or reason. Water not only gives a feeling of fullness, it also helps eliminate accumulated metabolic wastes from the body and mobilizes the process of fat burn. Foods with high water content like watermelon and cucumbers have a similar filling effect. Ever tried a cucumber–tomato salad with a dash of salt–pepper and a squeeze of lemon? It can keep you feeling full and stay away from food for a long time when you are not quite hungry but are just craving to munch on something.

• Shun carb-only meals. Carbohydrates, especially the nutrient-stripped refined variety, are high-glycemic-index foods, implying that they are metabolized fast and cause rapid surge in blood sugar/insulin levels, igniting further hunger. In layman's terms, they get digested and leave the stomach fast compared to fats or proteins, making you feel hungry sooner. However, when combined with fiber/fats/proteins, carbohydrates – especially the complex, slow carbs as those found in whole grains – take longer to leave the stomach, keeping one feeling full for longer duration.

• Cut down on carb calories and increase protein calories. Proteins have a stronger hunger-satisfying effect than carbs because they digest slowly, so cut down on carbs and increase your protein intake. When eating a carb–protein combo meal (e.g., rice/bread–chicken/lentils), always start with the protein part.

• Go for fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and veggies are not only loaded with a whole range of valuable micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, they are also the best natural sources of dietary fiber. Fiber is a multi-edged weapon against obesity – it helps delay the release of sugar into the blood, helps control the level of hunger-stimulating insulin in the blood, keeps hunger at bay, gives a feeling of fullness with hardly any calories, helps metabolize fat, and aids bowel movement and excretion of toxins. If need be, one can also go for a natural fiber supplement like psyllium husk.

• Eat slowly by chewing thoroughly. Research has shown that it takes the brain a good 10 minutes to receive the signal that the stomach is full and take appropriate action. Eating slowly not only improves digestion, it also prevents one from overeating.

A number of appetite-suppressant drugs/supplements are also available in the market that help control appetite, the most popular among them being Hoodia herbal supplements.

Other such appetite-suppressants that can be resorted to if all other methods to curb appetite fail include: 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan or 5-hydroxy-l-tryptophan), a precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin; Tyrosine, an amino acid that controls hunger by increasing the levels of the hormone noradrenaline, especially in combination with caffeine; Satierol, which is a kind of peptide; and Histidine, an amino acid.

However, it's prudent to take these appetite-suppressants under medical supervision as they may have some side effects.

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Friday, November 6, 2009

The 7 Best Foods & The 7 Worst Foods For A Long Life

The Top 7 Foods For Adding Years To Your Life:

1. Black raspberries
2. Strawberries
3. Blueberries
4. Flax Seeds
5. Raw greens
6. Tomatoes
7. Broccoli sprouts

The above foods contain high antioxidant capacity. These foods were chosen because of discovery of the most powerful phytochemicals and anthocyanins which illustrate strong inhibition of chemocarcinogens.

Other foods with high antioxidant and high anti-cancer potential include walnuts, sunflower seeds, pomegranates, beets, cabbage, peppers, and parsley. Make your diet magically protective by including these highly beneficial foods. Produce is the most important health care your money can buy.

The Top 7 Death Foods Are:

1. Cooked Oil
2. High Fat Cheese
3. Fried Foods such as Potato Chips and French Fries
4. Doughnuts
5. Salt
6. Sausage, hot dogs
7. Pickled, smoked or barbequed meat

Bonus Item: Alcohol - not really a food, but it's so devastating it had to be added to my list.

These are effective foods for those attempting to die younger. How many of those people do you know?

Foods high in saturated fat and trans fat are consistently associated with high cancer rates. High Fat Cheese typically contain over 10 times as much saturated fat as fish and white meat chicken and turkey.

Salt has been consistently linked to stomach cancer and stroke even in populations that eat diets low in saturated fat.

Add the carcinogenic potential from heated and overcooked oils (usually trans containing) delivered in doughnuts and fries with the powerful cancer inducing properties of carbohydrates cooked at high heat (acrylamide formation) and you have a great cancer potion.

Needless to say, I advise people to avoid the foods on my “worst list” entirely. The best foods to eat are fresh fruits and vegetables. By making these foods the major portion of your diet, you can protect yourself magically against cancer and other serious diseases and extend your youthful vigor into later years.


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