Healthy Eating Daily

Developing healthy eating habits is easier than you might think if you make the transition to healthy eating gradually. Healthy eating daily begins with fresh food simply cooked, lots of fresh vegetables, salads and fruits and smaller helpings of meat, fish, poultry, seeds, nuts, pulses and wholegrain. You also need to drink plenty of water.

Keeping a daily food journal of everything that you eat and drink helps you to recognize when you overeat. Until you actually write it all down, you sometimes don’t realise just how quickly the calories add up. It is also a good idea to plan your shopping so that all that nice healthy food is at hand when you need it.

All of the food we eat can be divided into five groups.

Fruit and vegetables

These should make up about a third of your diet and can be eaten as part of every meal and also as snacks. You should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. They provide essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals and contain fiber and many other compounds associated with good health.

Bread, rice, potatoes, cereal and pasta

This group should make up another third of your diet. These foods contain starchy carbohydrates providing your  main source of energy. Choose the wholegrain varieties where you can as they are rich in fibre and other nutrients and you may have a reduced risk of certain cancers, diabetes and coronary heart disease.

The following third of your diet is made up of three groups containing foods that need to be consumed in smaller proportions than the other two groups. These food groups also contain nutrients essential to your diet, so it’s important not to leave them out completely.

Meat, fish, eggs and beans

This food group includes both animal and plant sources of protein, which helps build, repair and maintain all your body tissue.

Milk and dairy foods

These should be eaten in moderation because of their high saturated fat content but they are an important source of calcium which is essential for healthy bones and teeth. Choose low fat or reduced fat versions where possible.

Foods containing fat and foods containing sugar

This group makes up the smallest section of your diet and should be eaten sparingly. It includes foods such as oils, sweets, cakes, biscuits and sugar rich drinks, including alcohol. They are high in calories and contain very few nutrients. Foods from this group are also high in saturated fat, sugar and salt, all of which are associated with an increased risk of developing certain diseases. However, fats are essential in your diet for proper nerve function, but should be in polyunsaturated or monounsaturated form, such as olive oil or sunflower oil.

Research has shown that following a healthy eating plan can reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure and can lower an already elevated blood pressure. It can also help to prevent certain diseases known to be related to diet and nutrition, particularly heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.

Healthy eating daily does not mean food has to be boring. There are lots of healthy yet tasty recipes to choose from. A healthy eating plan should be enjoyable, delicious and family friendly, and generous and flexible enough to stick to for the long term.   You will feel great with lots of energy, look slim and trim and be physically fit and active and you will have the motivation to continue along this path for a lifetime.

Summer and swimsuit season is just around the corner. That means it’s time to start working on those flat abs you want so badly. Don’t have time to work out for hours every day?  Not to worry, with a little planning and ten minutes a day, you can have the flat, toned abs you want.

Step 1

Pay attention to your fuel.   Track what you eat and what you burn each day.  Abdominal fat is just that, fat.   If you want to see the muscles underneath and get rid of the bulge you’re going to have to consume fewer calories than you burn.

There are wonderful,  free and easy to use programs and iPod/iPhone applications that will help you track what you eat and what you burn each day. Use them to stay on track. One pound of fat is 3500 calories. That means that by simply burning 500 more calories a day than you eat you can lose a pound in 7 days.

Tracking what you eat will also help you see what foods fill you up longer and what foods burn quickly.   Quick burning foods mean you’re hungry soon after you eat them.   Aim for lean protein, lots of fiber and fruits and vegetables.

Step 2

Get moving!    Move your body;   it wasn’t designed to sit on a couch or at a desk all day.   Take the stairs, take a walk around the block, move your body and find a way to take at least 10,000 steps a day.  Studies have shown that people who take 10,000 steps a day lose weight faster and keep it off.  They’re healthier and thinner. You can be too!

Step 3

Okay, now you have pounds melting off just by tracking your intake and moving your body.  The next step is to work your core muscles, and you can do that in just ten minutes a day. The best fitness activities are ones that focus on your entire core, your back and stomach.   Sit-ups are great but they only work specific muscles in your abdominals.

Instead of sit-ups, spend ten minutes working through a low rep workout.   Do full crunches where your legs also come off of the ground, bridge, single leg abdominal press, plank pose, and side plank.  Move through each repetition slowly so you get the full benefit of the movement and hold the exercise for a few seconds before releasing it.  You’ll build muscle and burn more fat.  Repeat each exercise eight to ten  times then move onto the next exercise.

The good thing about these core exercises is that you don’t need any fancy equipment to do them.  All you need is ten minutes.  Get down on the floor during your favorite television show or do them right when you get up in the morning before your shower.

With commitment, a plan of action and a little bit of willpower you can have those flat abs you want.   Watch what you eat, get moving and find ten minutes each day to work your core muscles.   You’ll have that beach body in no time.

Tags: burn fat, flat abs, flat stomach, quick burning foods

Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle is a program by Tom Venuto that shares with you all the secrets to burning fat permanently. Tom Venuto is a natural body builder and he has also been involved in other aspects of the fitness and weight loss industry.

Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle is based on fitness models and the things that bodybuilders do to reduce body fat. The program is simple to follow with detailed step-by-step instructions and will let you achieve your desired body in the shortest possible time. It not only can help you permanently lose fat but will explain to you the reasons behind it so that you understand the whole process. A feature of this program is that it teaches you techniques that have been successful for bodybuilders for ages instead of some new technique for losing weight.

Inside Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle eBook, you will learn nutrition habits that you can keep for life. The nutrition program does not involve starvation or following a very low calorie diet as this results in slowing your metabolism and does  this does not help fat loss. Instead, Tom teaches you what foods and liquids you should take and also suggests replacement for some of the harmful foods. The eBook also includes chapters on exercise, which is also essential to achieve permanent fat loss.  The exercises include both cardio and weight training.

Tom also tells you weight loss and fat loss are different and your goal should be to lose fat. You will be taught all the common methods to test body fat and how to measure your results. One benefit of Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle is you will learn how to determine your body type and how to personalize the nutrition and training to match it. This is because not everyone’s body reacts in the same way to the same diet and exercise. Another extremely useful feature is it teaches you how to use goal setting and mind power to achieve any desired goal.

Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle is suitable for you if you want to lose body fat forever without starving yourself, losing muscle, and slowing your metabolic rate. Furthermore, it is also beneficial to you as it helps improve your health.

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Tags: burn fat feed muscle body fat

Fat Loss 4 Idiots is  a diet plan that teaches you to eat the right foods at the right intervals during day.  It is based on calorie shifting where you change your calorie intake every day and therefore confuses your body into burning off more calories.

At the start of the Fat Loss 4 Idiots handbook, you are presented with two weight loss programs and you choose which you want to follow. One is the Diet Generator which is for people who wants to lose weight quickly. The other is a more casual approach, in which you follow ten weight loss rules and not a fixed diet.

The ten guidelines include advising you to eat four meals a day, changing the number of carb/protein meals every day, stop eating when you are satisfied and not full, drinking lots of water daily, and more.  These guidelines are simple to follow and not complicated things you have to do.  The rest of the handbook provides you with information on other aspects of weight loss and how to maintain your weight after you achieve your goal.

It includes information on why following a low carb diet does not help lose weight, what to do when eating at a restaurant to keep within the plan, what to buy at grocery stores, ten foods to avoid, and many more.

It also advises you on the truth behind certain types of food which clears up any misconceptions you may  have regarding these foods.

As for the Diet Generator, it is an online meal generator. Firstly, you are asked to choose your favorite foods out of 46 choices.  It then generates a diet plan for you based on your choices, and you just print it out.  You eat four meals a day.  This is a 14-day cycle where you follow the plan for 11 days and eat normally the next three days.

After that, you repeat the cycle until you achieve your desired weight. A unique aspect of  this diet plan is that it allows you a glass of wine each day and has a vegetarian version.

Fat Loss 4 Idiots is great if you want a simple to follow plan to lose weight and to be able to see results in 11 days.  With this plan you need not starve yourself or eat foods you do not like in the process.

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The 31 Day Fat Loss Cure is written by Vic Magary, a former US Army soldier who has  a black belt in both karate and taekwondo. In the 31 Day Fat Loss Cure he reveals the secret that will help you lose up to 29 lbs of belly fat.

The 31 Day Fat Loss Cure shares with you 5 different 31-day programs and you should choose one of them and follow it for 31 days.   The programs include a beginner’s and advanced version for both working out at the gym and home as well as one for seniors with injuries.

The beginner program is suitable for everyone and the advanced program is for those who are in great shape but who just want to lose a few more pounds.   If you have not been exercising for quite a well,  there is also a two week  warm up routine to prepare you for the 31-day workout.

In addition, there are instructional videos for the exercises that teach you step-by-step how to exactly perform each exercise.   To access these videos, you can just click on their links in the eBook and you will be directed to the online videos.

Along with the workout plans, The 31 Day Fat Loss Cure also provides information on nutrition.  The nutritional philosophy Vic believes in is that “if a caveman could not have eaten it, then neither should you”.   It basically advises you not to eat processed foods and  also lists some foods with the servings you should have.   You are also encouraged to avoid certain foods and drinks during your 31-day workout program.   There is also a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions list as well as Vic’s Top 10 Tips to get the best possible results.

The 31 Day Fat Loss Cure with its different workout programs is suitable for everyone and  you can do bodyweight exercises at home.  Stick with the program and it won’t be long before you see the results.

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Tags: 31 day program, lose belly fat

Eating is a part of life.  Your body gets its nutrients from food.  Sometimes we can go overboard with our eating habits and it can result in gaining weight.  One issue with food is emotional eating.

The problem of emotional eating may end with the scale but it begins in the mind.  Stress takes its toll on your life.  When your defenses are compromised, your health takes a hit and so do your emotions.

Everyone has good days and bad days.  How we deal with the bad ones brings emotional eating into play.  You look for comfort for your hurts.  People who turn to food for comfort find a coping mechanism that won’t judge them, hurt them or tell them “no.” To complicate the issue, eating pleasurable foods can stimulate the release of endorphins just like exercise.  So, after you eat, you feel better.

Emotional eaters use food to relieve stress.  They hide behind the food instead of seeking solutions to the problems.  This is not uncommon when the stressor is something horrible such as physical abuse or a death.

But, how do you know you are using food in this way?  The first sign is obvious.  You will gain weight if you eat too much.  In light of the weight gain, examine other areas of your life:

* Have you been under stress lately at work or at home?
* Has anything traumatic happened in the last year?
* Are you dealing with a problem but haven’t found a solution?

Answering “yes” to any of these questions could mean that you are an emotional eater.  You eat but you are not necessarily hungry at the time.  The foods that you choose are what we term “comfort foods”:

* High fat foods like French fries, fried foods
* High carb foods like macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes
* Sugary foods like ice cream, donuts, cookies, cake

There is help for emotional eaters.  The first step is recognizing that you have a problem.  You’ll experience feelings of helplessness and guilt.  The guilt is over potentially ruining your health and the helplessness lies in the fact that you don’t see a way out.

Secondly, seek counseling.  There are many types of counselors out there that can meet your need.  Emotional eating has nothing to do with dieting or changing your eating habits but gaining control over your emotions.

A counselor might suggest things like visualization, practicing problem solving skills, relaxation techniques and family support.  Visualization helps you to see your problems in a realistic way and not blown out of proportion.  You will also learn to see food as nutrition for the body and not an emotional crutch.

Thirdly, your family can learn your triggers for stress and be on the lookout for changes in your eating habits.  They can help you be aware of the foods you are eating, assist you in making healthy food choices and exercise along with you.  Proper diet and exercise increases immunity, blood flow and positive thinking.  Yoga enhances the mind/body connection so you don’t eat when you aren’t hungry.

Finding new ways to solve your problems and deal with stress will push food out of the equation.  You’ll feel good about finding solutions which will replace the dependence on food.

Tags: emotional eating, relieve stress