Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Five Easy Steps to Fat Loss and Building Lean Muscle Mass

Successfully building lean muscle tissue can be a challenge. So often people gain muscle only to add fat as well. With 5 simple steps you can add size without adding the weight you don't want.

1. Eat 4-6 small meals daily.

Spreading your calories out during the day keeps your metabolism moving and your energy levels high. "It may be the most important aspect in fat loss" says Bobby Hiatt, online fitness trainer. It's also important to make sure that each meal contains a balance of nutrients, namely protein, carbohydrate and fat. Good sources of protein include fish, lean meat, chicken, eggs, turkey, and whey protein. Preferred sources of carbohydrates include fruit, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. Olive oil, nuts (including peanuts) and fish oils are a healthy source of fat. If you're too busy to cook and prepare regular high-protein, low-fat meals, then meal replacements (such as Max-Meal High Protein) and nutrition bars (like Cyclone Bars and Max-Meal bars) will help you to feed your body with the nutrients it needs to burn fat and build muscle.

2. Choose the right carbohydrates.

Complex carbohydrates that are high in fiber (like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts). Highly refined carbohydrates like sugary cereals, cookies, chips, fizzy drinks and chocolate bars have little nutritional value and can easily be stored as body fat. Eat these foods in moderation only. If you have cravings for chocolate, Max-Meal bars will help to satisfy your cravings for rich, delicious food without making you feel guilty.

3. Don't forget completely about the fat.

Despite the hype in the 80's and 90's, fat IS an important part of everyone's diet and is necessary for fat loss. In fact, the latest research shows that CLA, a type of fat called Conjugated Linoleic Acid (known also as CLA), can make losing fat and building muscle faster and easier. CLA refers to a family of naturally occurring polyunsaturated fats found primarily in beef, lamb, and dairy products. Unlike stimulant-based fat burners, CLA is natural and safe. Many previous trials show that CLA also has potent muscle-building effects. Every fat cell in the body wants to get big. What the CLA does is force that fat cell to stay little by affecting a number of enzymes that are ordinarily responsible for filling it with lipids. In other words, CLA literally diverts the calories you eat away from fat and into muscle tissue. .

4. Don't cut your calories too low.

Drastic calorie cutting attempts usually result in failure. If you want lasting results and not just a quick fix, then your best bet is to reduce the number of calories in each meal, rather than skipping meals. A great and easy way to do this is by replacing some of the starchy carbohydrate in your diet with fruit and vegetables. For example, instead of having a bowl full of cereal, cut the serving size in half, and replace it with berries (such as strawberries or raspberries). Using whey protein (such as Promax) and water instead of milk will also help to increase the protein content of your diet.

5. Give yourself one cheat day per week.

If you are eating "clean" 6 days a week, you deserve a cheat day. Pick one day per week and save all your cravings for that special day. Make a chocolate dessert, or have some extra pasta with dinner. Whatever it is, after 6 days of keeping your diet in order you deserve a day of eating some of your favourite foods. Your body can handle it. Remember that you can't gain a significant amount of fat in just one day. It takes weeks of poor eating to add that weight.


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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

5 Foods for Instant Healthier Diet

Have you ever said to yourself that "I want to start eating healthy?" Then only to figure out you don't know where to start. The first idea is often fruits and vegetables which are important though there is more to eating healthy. Live Lean Today has listed 5 foods that will work perfect for any person to add to their diet and it will become instantly healthier. You can plug these foods and more into you own online diet plan.

Cranberries

They earn super status for their ability to help fight off nasty urinary tract infections. About 10 ounces of juice a day does the trick. Plus, recent research shows that cranberries might also help fend off colds and fight stomach bugs, gum disease, and certain types of cancer. Add a little unsweetened cranberry juice to smoothies, and sprinkle some dried berries into cereal and muffin mix. Cranberries are great to add to any weight management program.

Walnuts

These nuts are rich in omega-3s, which help reduce inflammation and increase good cholesterol. They may even help with depression and reduce your risk of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Top your salad with 1/4 cup or try them in pesto.

Beans

The humble legume may prevent heart disease and help head off colon cancer. Rich in two heart-friendly phytochemicals, beans are packed with magnesium, potassium, folate, and fiber. Get a 1/2 cup five to six times per week by adding canned kidney and garbanzo beans (rinse and drain first) to salads, burritos, and dips.

Fish

Studies show that eating seafood rich in omega-3s at least twice a week could reduce your risk of heart disease. And the reports say women of childbearing age and nursing mothers can safely eat as much as 12 ounces of seafood a week if they avoid high-mercury swordfish, shark, tilefish, and king mackerel; albacore tuna should be limited to 6 ounces a week.

Tomatoes

Loaded with the antioxidant lycopene, tomatoes and cooked tomato products pack a big health punch (at 32 milligrams, 1 cup of spaghetti sauce serves up the day's recommended intake). Studies show that women with lycopene-rich diets can have as much as a 50 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer. The antioxidant can also lower your blood pressure and bad cholesterol, and may even reduce your risk of getting macular degeneration and a host of cancers.


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Friday, December 28, 2007

How to Eat for Health: Fats and Oils

Fats are an extremely important part of a healthy diet, and the essential fatty acids are named essential for a reason. They aid in just about every bodily function as they play a crucial role in cell wall function. Working as a transporter, they pass oxygen and nutrients through the cell wall and help to keep invaders and other foreign bodies out of the cell. Other functions performed include brain cell function, immune system, nervous system and hormone function.

So what is hydrogenation and what are the results of ingesting partially hydrogenated fats into your body? Well, hydrogenation is simply the process of heating an oil to the point where hydrogen bubbles enter, becomes attached to the fatty acids and form a solid in fully hydrogenated and more of a thick cream, or butter texture when partially hydrogenated. Hydrogenated oil has a high level of trans fats and these trans fats act within a cell in a confused manor and will keep nutrients out and let the foreign bodies in. Not only do these trans fats lead to obesity, but also are linked to disease such as diabetes and coronary disease (the leading killer in America).

Trans fats and partially hydrogenated oils can be found in a number of foods, and are used because they are a less expensive alternative to other cooking substitutes such as butter. Baked goods, potato chips, cookies, crackers, are just a few of the food categories that contain partially hydrogenated oils, the worst of which is partially hydrogenated soybean oil. This soybean oil is noted to negatively affect the thyroid function resulting in feeling sluggish, a decrease in energy and reluctance to want to exercise.

How much trans fat is bad? When you find out something can lead to heart disease and obesity, I wouldn’t take any chances and I would avoid any of it at all costs. Some reports have shown that .5g of trans fat is equal to approximately 1.5g of unsaturated fat in terms of how it affects your health. You won’t see this in the label of many products as .5 g can still be labeled as 0% trans fat due to federal law. But when you scroll down the ingredients, you might come across partially hydrogenated oil present in the first few lines.

The best way to avoid trans fat is to read your labels thoroughly. Avoid grocery shopping in the middle aisles for food and stay on the outskirts of the store where the fresh produce, dairy and meat are located. When cooking, choose to cook with virgin coconut oil, although high in saturated fat, and low on many health food lists, it is unaffected by heat, and it is metabolized differently than other oils as it will be burned as fuel and not stored into the fat cells. Fats are extremely important to our diet, but you can make healthy choices about fats by reading labels and learning about the different types of fats and how they affect the body.


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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Food and Diet for More Energy

Do you find that you get fatigued during the afternoon? There are better choices than reaching for that candy bar, soda, or the latest energy drink. Food and diet is essential to giving your body more energy during the day. With making some easy diet choices you can have more energy and feel alive during those once sluggish hours.

The fatigue and lack of energy you feel is associated with how you fuel your metabolism. Another way of looking at it is the food you eat or not eat is causing you have low energy and want to take a nap at work. If you are having any lack of energy throughout the day, now is a great time to start making better dietary choices.

The common diet programs that create this lack of energy are low calorie diets or eating 3 meals a day or less. Also, if your diet habits consist of fast food, candy, or soft drinks then your body is simply not getting the energy it needs and how it wants it was balanced energy levels. Another aspect that affects your energy with poor food choices is a lack of essential vitamins, minerals, complex carbs, and amino acids. All of these are building blocks for proper metabolism functioning.

The major issue with the ineffective diet programs of Americans is bad habits actually create more bad habits. Many people think that if they just had will power they won't succumb to food cravings that crush their diets. The reality is that poor choices create times when your body is in low blood sugar and that period is what causes your cravings. It is physiology that causes them not a lack of mental strength. Did you know that once you start eating 5 small meals during the day your cravings for sugar go away? Follow me on this person's day. We are starting with breakfast though they don't eat breakfast because they have noticed that if they skip breakfast they don't feel hungry till lunch. So at lunch they go out to dinner with their coworkers. Now, from a lack of energy they over eat more food than they should at any one meal. The problem is this doesn't feel or looks like too much food because this is what they are used to. How do I know this is too much food because at around 2 or 3 pm they are crashing. Their energy is low and they have become exceptionally irritable. Does this sound familiar?

So what are we supposed to eat? The goal is to eat 5 small meals throughout the day. For the average American this is cutting their normal meal in half and eating the other half as a snack. Breakfast starts the day either burning fat or storing fat. You know you had a proper breakfast because you are hungry 2-3 hours later, and it is time for another snack. You want to keep having small meals every two to three hours throughout the day. The reason this is good is because your body is burning calories and wants more fuel to keep burning. I know it seems logical if you don't eat you will lose weight. The problem is when you don't eat your body stores the food you eat as fat. When you fuel your body every 2-3 hours your body starts to burn more energy and will stop storing energy. This is the key to healthy losing weight.

Another key aspect to controlling your energy levels is the use of caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that supports your body to release adrenaline into your system. Caffeine in moderation, as in one cup of coffee doesn't throw your body out of balance. Having a multiple cups or some of the energy drinks and your body is running on artificial energy and then you crash. Once you crash you want that good feeling again, and so you are off on another Starbucks run. I know people who go to Starbucks every 2-3 hours or after each time their body crashes. One thing on energy drinks, Red Bull has less caffeine than a cup of coffee though I can't guarantee what is in the rest of the energy drinks.

Do you need more protein or more carbs in your meals? If you find that your meals are made of mostly carbs or simple sugars than eating protein with your meals with balance you out. Most Americans are over eating protein. If you are not getting a small amount of complex carbs in each meal, this is another reason why you are low on energy. Carbs are you body's fuel. Protein is designed to rebuild your muscle tissue and your body doesn't want to use it as energy.

Adding proper supplementation can make easy healthy and throughout the day easier. For most people getting that mid morning or mid afternoon snack can be a challenge. Having a meal replacement bar or shake can give you the healthy fuel you need. Also, most meal replacement supplements are fortified with vitamins and minerals which is a far cry from the candy bar. Supplements allow you to get exactly the right amount of calories in your meal as well. Especially, if you are going after a weight loss goal you don't need to eat any extra calories. What should I eat for my 5 small meals? The first answer is the same things you are eating now only cut them in half. You will find that the sugar cravings go away so we automatically start eating less sugar. The goal is to go to the super market thinking about what you want to eat for your meals. If you buy it at the grocery store than you will have it ready when it is time to eat? Liveleantoday.com's diet program creates weekly menus that print out grocery lists to make this process easy. Start eating every 2-3 hours and turn your metabolism into a fat burning machine. I know you might be laughing, not your metabolism. Today if you start eating 5 small meals your body will start to turn over. You will know this is working because you will have more energy than you have ever had before.


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