Category Archives: Healthy Living

High sugar content in low fat foods

It really is vital to stick to unprocessed low fat foods when you are dieting. Staying this disciplined will cut your intake of high fructose corn syrup sweetener, which will help aid in weight loss and at the same time give you more energy. It also going to boost your metabolism, and will make you feel better throughout your day. High fructose corn syrup is added to nearly 70% of processed foods just to make them taste sweeter. So increasing the hidden calorie content.

When shopping read the labels on everything you buy and stick with foods that are unprocessed. In reality fresh fruits and vegetables are some of the best foods you can eat in every day life. They are packed with nutrients and natural energy boosters as well as fiber and vitamins you need to stay on track.

If you’re one of the few people who read the labels make sure you are looking for the terms fructose, and no added sugar.

When many food manufacturers take out the fat they tend to pack it with sweeteners to make the flavor taste good. (Believe me unprocessed foods tastes a lot better).

So just simply buying foods that state they are low fat or fat free does not guarantee you are better off then buying those items. Many of those fat free and low fat foods are packed with twice the amount of sugar to maintain the flavor. (Lets face facts there is enough evidence now. Yo support the facts that it is carbohydrates, not fats that are the are the main causes of being overweight).

When looking at what to eat in a typical day think of the following menu options.

  • Fresh fruit
  • Fresh vegetables
  • Tomatoes still on the vine, rich in monosaccharides – very healthy
  • Chicken which is baked (not fried)
  • Tuna
  • Probiotic Yogurt which is high fructose corn syrup free
  • Oatmeal
  • Eggs
  • Peanut butter (in moderation)
  • Other lean protein
  • Complex carbohydrates which release good carbohydrates into the bloodstream throughout the day

Eating five to six small meals a day of unprocessed foods will help the weight come off your midsection quickly. You will notice an increase in energy and you will feel much better all around. Your metabolism will be quickly recharged, and you will notice a healthy weight loss over your whole body.

Just because you are omitting high sugar content from your diet. It does not mean there are no sweeteners you can use. When you feel like adding a little sweetness to your foods or drinks, choose these ones which are better for you.

  • Brown sugar
  • Molasses
  • Honey
  • Maple syrup
  • Brown rice syrup

High sugar foods have many damaging components to them. For starters they are usually made from corn, which many people are allergic to nowadays. It has a very negative effect on the major organs liver, pancreas, and the organs that naturally help us lose weight. In high doses they can really damage your body, and even in smaller doses it can have negative effects leading to raised blood sugar levels and eventually diabetes.

There’s more information on this subject of low fat foods, in Mike Geary’s book the Truth about Six Pack Abs.

The sad truth about most protein powders

If you’ve ever been near a health food store, or even a supermarket, you should know first-hand that there is no shortage of protein powders available today. In an effort to easily increase your daily protein intake, you’ve probably been tempted to buy one, or more of these (or maybe you already have) and made them a part of your fat burning diet plan.

But there’s a problem…

Until now, there has not been a protein powder that I felt confident about recommending, to you or even taking myself (there may be 1 or 2 on the market. But they’re either ridiculously expensive or taste downright awful).

1) – Most protein powders are sweetened with artificial sweeteners. If your protein powder lists aspartame or sucralose as the sweetener…throw it out. These sweeteners are downright dangerous and toxic to your body. They seriously hinder your fat burning efforts. Instead of helping you burn fat by increasing your protein intake, these artificially sweetened protein powders prevent you from losing fat by overwhelming your body with harmful toxins. Throw it away now, – in the bin!

2) – Most protein powders use a low quality source of whey, they are processing it at high temperatures. This method of manufacture completely denatures the protein and decreases the protein value (making it kind of pointless and a waste to take at that point). For commercial reasons it is extremely difficult to find out exactly how your protein powder has been processed.

Well Prograde Nutrition have finally done it. They have finally formulated a Protein Powder that is not only delicious, but one that is sweetened with Stevia (a completely natural sweetener), and that they have only used the highest quality, cold processed whey.

The best thing about the people at Prograde is that they listen! Myself and many other fitness authors that I truly respect were downright honest with them and told them frankly we would not recommend any protein powder with artificial sweeteners in it! Guess what happened? They actually listened and spent months formulating this new product.

This is as much great news for me as it is for you. If I have a protein option that’s going to be easier than scrambling eggs for breakfast or making a full post workout meal, Then I’ll take it! With this new protein powder, I’m going to be able to maintain my current protein intake in a much easier way.

Here are a few of my favorite Prograde Protein Powder Recipes. I will be making regularly with my new batch of Protein powder:

Pina Colada Protein Shake

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. water
  • 4 oz coconut milk
  • 4 ice cubes
  • 3 scoops vanilla protein powder
  • 1/3 cup Pineapple chunks

Mix all ingredients in the blender.

The ideas and recipes for protein shakes are endless. I use either water or coconut milk but you can also use almond milk or rice milk if you’d like. It’s time to get creative, and add a variety of fruits, raw nuts and nut butters for a delicious breakfast, or meal replacement any time of the day.

Easy Protein Oatmeal

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup oatmeal (dry)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 scoop protein powder

Cook 1/3 cup dry oatmeal in 1 cup of water. Next mix 1 scoop of protein powder with a little amount of water, in a separate bowl, until it becomes thick. Add the powder and water mixture to the oatmeal. (oats contain beta glucan which are crucial compounds to help the body stay healthy)1 Top it with fresh fruit or raw nuts and enjoy!

To save time, I make several servings of oatmeal at once and keep it in the refrigerator for the next few days. In the morning, I scoop out 1 serving (1 heaping cup full) and heat it up on the stove top. This saves me a few minutes in the morning (every second counts, especially if you add them all up)

Protein Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese (if you can tolerant dairy foods)
  • 4-5 egg whites (I don’t like to throw away quality yokes, its wasting good nutrition. So I save them for other recipes, or to add to my next meal. I tried to make this recipe with whole eggs and it doesn’t work as well.)
  • 1 scoop protein powder (vanilla)

Blend all ingredients until the mixture has a batter consistency. Then pour into a frying pan like normal pancakes. I use butter to cook these.

You can add your own items for flavoring… for example

Mix in 1/2 cup blueberries after blending (Blueberry pancakes). Or try adding half a banana before blending for banana flavored pancakes. I also like to add apple sauce, cinnamon and a dab of honey.

These are really easy to make ahead of time, so you can have a nice protein heavy breakfast without a lot of morning preparation.

You can read more on this subject in Mike Geary’s ebook, the Truth about Six Pack Abs.

Ref: [1] Super foods: Beta Glucans..

The realities of fat burning foods

It’s time for a quick trick that will help you safely lose 10 pounds in a short space of time. But first let’s talk about a serious health problem – weight gain with aging. Here is some truths about fat burning foods.
Did you know that runners between the ages of 18 and 50 gain weight at the same rate regardless of the number of miles run per week. The average is 3.3 pounds every 10 years…for a runner. Weight gain as you age is inevitable.

It’s part diet, part exercise, and part gravity. If runners can’t keep weight off by running, what are the rest of us supposed to do? Since we can’t turn off gravity, we going to have to work on the other two.
I have a simple solution that will help you start losing weight safely and naturally. I use it every day. Something to do with healthy eating.

We have a common enemy, everyone that is. That common enemy is processed foods and their condiments. The amount of junk in the form of added sugar in today’s factory-made food, adds to our waistlines, and our western world obesity problem. Life could be so different if we dieted with healthy foods.

It’s one of the reasons I am so passionate about healthy eating.

Let me ask you 3 simple questions:

1. Do you struggle to add green vegetables to your diet?, add some Broccoli, it goes with just about any meal.

2. Do you add unhealthy condiments to veggies? Ketchup, yuk read the ingredients

3. Do you want to lose weight eating healthy food that tastes great?, add a side salad with a little Olive oil

Did you answer “Yes” to any of these questions?

If so, I have a simple solution for you.

And, it’s the exact same solution I use.

Find out exactly what I’m talking about here.

Imagine what it would feel like to lose 5 pounds, 10, 20 pounds.

I remember when I started eating healthy, and lost my first 10 pounds… what an amazing feeling.

– It felt amazing to put on my jeans without struggling.

– The people around me started making comments about how fantastic I looked.

– I was ever so excited about heading to the beach with the family.

Its alright, it’s not your fault. The processed foods that we have been force-fed with for so many years have made it virtually impossible to keep the weight off.
You can read more ideas and tips like the ones above in Mike Geary’s ebook the Fat Burning Kitchen which is packed full of nutrition advice, and healthy lifestyle.

Importance of muscle building nutrition

It’s been said many many times that nutrition is responsible for at least 75% of your muscle building effort. I think that is dramatically overstating the obvious, but nutrition is critically important to your muscle building efforts. Without the proper muscle building nutrition you will never build the physique you desire. Below are listed a few easy to follow muscle building nutrition rules that will help you get bigger and leaner. Follow these rules and you will see results, ignore them and you could be in for years of frustration.

• Eat small meals every 2-3 hours. Eating this way helps keeps your body in an anabolic state, and keeps your metabolism running along at high speeds so that you don’t get fat. If you need 3,000 calories per day to build muscle. Then it is much more effective to have five 600 calorie meals, or six five hundred calorie meals than it is to have three larger 1,000 calorie meals. Doing that will lead to fat accumulation and also has you going too long without eating which only leads to muscle loss.

• Build your meals around lean protein. Proteins (Amino acids) are what builds muscle, so every time you sit down to eat should eat certain types of proteins. This should be the primary goal of every meal. Once you have covered that, then you can add starch, vegetables and healthy fats. As the daily protein needs, you should take one gram per kilogram of body weight per day. The only time you need more than that is when you are dieting and carbohydrates are very low.

• Eat vegetables at every meal except breakfast. There are incredibly healthy because they provide lots of nutrients and fiber, they also slow down the absorption of your meals leading to less body fat accumulation.

• Eat organic foods whenever possible. There is so much artificial junk in the food we eat these days that it is really a very wise decision to eat organic as often as you can. This includes meats, fruits, veggies and grains.

• Avoid sugar, artificial sweeteners and saturated fats as much as possible (with the exception of coconut oil). Consumption of saturated fat and sugar is what leads to a wide range of health problems and diseases. Too much saturated fat and sugar also leads to inflammation in the body and can actually aggravate the nagging injuries and lead to further pain. Many people actually feel a reduction in pain in back when they cut saturated fat and sugar diet.

• Some saturated fat in meat is fine from time to time, but you should really try to cut sugar and artificial sweeteners. Although they do not talk much in this country USA, there is much evidence that artificial sweeteners are not the least bit healthy – quite the opposite!.

• Eat most of your carbs at breakfast and immediately before and after your workout. These are the times when your insulin sensitivity is at it’s highest, and when you will use carbs most efficiently with the least risk for body fat gain. Don’t be scared to eat some carbohydrates at this time because most of them will be used for building muscle and will not usually add to body fat accumulation.

• Drink at least a half gallon of water per day preferably bottled water. Doing this keeps you well hydrated which keeps your performance levels high. Even a slight decrease in hydration will cause a drop in performance. About half a gallon is a good start but anything upto a gallon is usually better, especially in the summer.

• Pay close attention to your sodium intake. When I say that I mean in the opposite direction that most people and doctors will think I mean it. I think you must be sure that your sodium intake is adequate. This is especially true for athletes who play in the summer when it’s hot and you sweat a lot. Without adequate sodium intake, your performance suffers greatly. Sodium levels also help maintain adequate strength levels during a diet.

This article was written by Jason Ferruggia who is a world famous fitness expert, well known and admired for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as possible. He is also the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine, where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. To get more muscle building nutrition tips, and to access his training program, check out. Renegade Diet Program.

Jason Ferruggia's Renegade Diet

Does juicing provide nutrition when dieting

Juicing works – of course it does:

Apart from the fact that juiced fruits and vegetables have very low calories and no fat (just make sure you make them yourselves), they are loaded with a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes that help your body to perform at its best. Our bodies spend a lot of time trying to detoxify, repair and protect cells. When we are undernourished our bodies go into protection mode and store fat for survival. But, when your body is functioning at its peak condition and getting all the nourishment it needs, it can focus energy on fat loss. Juicing delivers a concentrated healthy cocktail straight into your body. No extra effort is needed to break down the juice and so it is absorbed quickly and starts working magic immediately.

Keys to weight-loss success while juicing:

Juicing vegetables and herbs while reducing fruit. Yes, of course fruit makes it taste so delicious. Yes, fruit sugar is healthier than refined table sugar… but it’s still sugar and will still cause spikes in your insulin and if your body cannot clear those sugars out, they will convert to fat stores. Also, watch how many carrots you use, believe it or not they have a lot of sugar as well.

Save juicing fruits for before and after your workouts. For the same reason as above, when you work out your body becomes primed for using glucose.

Skip snacking and start juicing. It seems that people always get hungry between meals. The solution to avoid binging on things you probably shouldn’t be eating before dinner, is to juice up a big green glass of nutritional goodness. Hopefully the liquid will tide you over until your next meal, or at least it will get your brain thinking about health-conscious snacks.

Snack while juicing. Not on cheese and crackers or anything man-made but on the vegetables you are getting ready to juice. Sometimes our brains like chewing and feeling food in our mouths and stomach’s, so give it that satisfaction while nurturing you.

Healthy habits don’t end with juicing. Whether you are having 1 juice a day or 5, remember that beyond your glass jar, you need to be eating healthy all day long. It defeats the purpose of juicing for weight loss when you eat a big bowl of sugary cereal for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and burgers for dinner.
Fill up on fresh juice before meals or going out. Even though juice is digested quickly, you will soon feel hungry again. Your hunger may be quenched by the nutrients more than the feeling of full.

Alternate your veggetables. Two ways that this works: you don’t get bored and you get a variety of nutrients.

Add some barley grass powder, spirulina, chia seeds, avocado, or olive oil. Healthy fats and fibers are not only good for you, but will keep you fuller longer. Have you seen my article on Coconut oil. Try some.
No one wants to diet, or spend their time with someone who is dieting, who has a big hungry monster in their stomach.

Create lasting habits:

Remember juicing for weight loss is not a diet. It is the basis for a much healthy lifestyle. If you are taking the time to clean, chop and juice fresh fruits and vegetables then you should be making time to prepare and cook healthy homemade meals.

Some people like to test the water with one glass of juice slowly adding more as they feel necessary. If you prefer to start the day with a balanced, nutrition-rich eating regime, you will find that having at least one glass of vegetable juice per day will make it easier to reach your weight loss goals in the long run. Have you thought of replacing your morning, afternoon, snacks with a juice, then you are well on your way!

Why not see what advice, Mike Geary has to offer on such foods whilst dieting in his fat loss program.

In the mean time why not try.

Morning-time: 1 beet, 1 pink lady apple, 1 small slice of ginger

Before dinner: 4 tomatoes, 2 green onions, ½ green pepper, 2 carrots, 2 celery ribs, Handful of parsley, 1 peeled lemon

Before bed: 2 cucumbers, 4 romaine lettuce leaves, Handful of mint

Variety of healthy fruits in the fall.

If my practice has taught me one thing, it’s that a variety of foods are absolutely essential healthy fruits being an essential part of one’s diet. Almost every one of my friends and clients eventually comes to a point where they just can’t stand to eat one more salad, or filet of salmon. Eating boringly is dangerous when you’re learning how to be healthy. If you don’t have many options, you’re more likely to fall back on the convenient processed but bad-for-you foods you relied on in the past. Healthy eating requires variety, and lots of it.

Luckily, nature is on our side. The start of fall doesn’t only mean walking our kids to the bus stop and bracing for cooler weather. It also means we have a whole new variety of fruits and veggies to choose from! Eating seasonally offers real taste, budget, and health benefits. Here are just a few of them:

We all know that fruit tastes better in season. If you’re eating a summer fruit in the middle of winter, the chances are it was produced either by growing in a greenhouse, or other controlled environment. Or it was picked early so it could be saved and shipped to you on demand. While there’s nothing wrong with either of these methods – an out of season apple is still an apple – both methods have a real effect on taste. Fruit that’s allowed to ripen fully on the vine as they say, not only tastes better, but contains healthy sugars called monosaccharides. When you’re training your palate to like healthy fruits / foods, taste is essential.
In-season fruit is less expensive. Transporting food across long distances in the off season costs companies money, and they’ll generally pass that cost on to the customer. With a few exceptions, fruit is scarcer in its off-season. That apparent rarity is what drives up costs, which means that buying your fruit in season can significantly lower your shopping bill at the checkout. You can of course buy in-season fruit and freeze it so you can keep it longer.
Nutrients are more plentiful in seasonal healthy fruits. Fruit has only a certain amount of time it needs to ripen to be at its maximum free radical-fighting weight. Picking it early – or growing it in artificial conditions – depletes its nutrient store.

Keeping a list of what fruits and veggies are in season is a great way to make sure you aren’t eating exactly the same thing,on a daily basis, for the entire year. Here’s a list of fall fruits you can stock up on:

Apples: Some researchers believe that apples may aid weight loss by reducing the number of calories you eat throughout the day. For the full antioxidant effect, make sure you eat the skin, which is packed with nutrients.

Pumpkin: Pumpkin’s are high in fiber and packed with vitamins A, C, and beta carotene, which help boost immune function. Plus, pumpkin makes a great entrée, and a tasty dessert (heat it up and sprinkle with a little cinnamon).

Grapefruit: Research suggests that grapefruits can aid weight loss. Plus, it contains 75% of your daily value of vitamin C.

Other healthy fruits you should look for, include cranberries, grapes, figs, pears, and pomegranates.