Follow these 6 rules from Shape.com to make smarter choices when you indulge in candy, cookies, ice cream and fast food.
1. Control cravings
Complete deprivation is not the solution. A denied craving can quickly spiral out of control, leading to bingeing or overeating. If you’re craving fries or chips, for example, eat a small serving of fries, or buy the mini 150-calorie bag of chips and be done with it. Also to consider: a healthier alternative like chips made from blue corn.
2. Indulge sensibly
Splurging on occasion is acceptable — just don’t get carried away!
3. Avoid stocking treats in your cabinets or fridge
Buy something only when the craving hits and enjoy a small quantity. Then share or trash the rest.
4. Mix it up
Try eating something healthier thing along with the less-nutritious food, like a piece of fruit with your cheesecake. By eating the fruit first, you’ll dull your appetite and be less likely to wolf down a second slice of the cheesecake.
5. Count calories
Compare the amount of fat and calories found in healthy, filling snacks vs. less-healthful foods. For instance, a medium apple contains just 81 calories and no fat.
6. Focus on fat
Take extra care to read labels. After reviewing several types of packaged food, like cookies, snack cakes, and chips, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that less expensive items tend to have more trans fats than those that cost a little more. These processed fats, which have been shown to raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol level, may show up on ingredient lists as partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated oil and shortening.
The Girl Scout Cookies are looking out for your health this year.
The popular classics like Samoas, Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos, Trefoils, All Abouts and CafM-i Cookies — are still on the menu, but all with a healthier twist. All of the cookies have been reformulated to be free of trans fatty acids- the fats responsible for bad cholesterol. They have even created sugar-free brownies for those who need to cut back on their sugar intake.
Pelleres weighted arm-sleeves are the secret to getting fit fast!These biomechanically designed weighted arm-sleeves are proven to strengthening your core, burning more calories and it events prevents injuries!
This is a great solution for athletes who want to train at an advanced level, but it’s also great for busy mothers who want to lose weight while working around the house.
Here’s how it works:
“By applying weights to the forearms an imbalance is instantly created in the upper body which overloads the body and engages your core. As the core muscles work harder to compensate for the imbalance, the core is simultaneously strengthened and stabilised. When the body is overloaded with weight it is forced to adapt and become more powerful.”
Be sure to start with a weight that’s right for you and to check out the website Here.
Discover other great solutions like this one, or offer your own, at findsolve.
findsolve
This is not new information for most of us, but it’s always nice to be reminded of the benefits of our healthy habits or a reminder of why we should develop these habits.
Celebrity trainer and former body builder Rich Barretta shares the four healthy-eating rules his clients swear by, which you too can easily adopt with Shape Magazine.
1. Cut back on booze
If drinking is a big part of your social life, your waistline may suffer. Not only is alcohol loaded with carbs and empty calories, but people tend to make bad food choices when they’re buzzed. A couple sugary cocktails can easily add up to a thousand calories (half of the average person’s daily need), so Barretta advises avoiding alcohol altogether. If you are going to indulge, opt for a glass of wine or slim down your drink with smart swaps like trading tonic for club soda.2. Just say “no” to fried food
“Grill it, bake it, broil it, steam it, just don’t fry it,” says Barretta. Frying something perfectly healthy, such as chicken, takes away nutrients, while adding fat and calories. Plus, by eating fried foods at restaurants that still use trans fats, you run the risk of raising artery-clogging bad cholesterol and lowering fat-clearing good cholesterol3. Avoid carbs at night
There’s no need to deprive yourself of carbs, but you should be conscious of when you eat them. By consuming high-carb foods (potatoes, rice, pastas and breads) early in the day, you have more time to burn them off. At night, carbs are more likely to go unused and be stored as fat. Barretta’s rule of thumb: Stick to lean protein and veggies after 6pm.4. Pass up processed foods
We all know that fresh foods are better for us, but often reach for processed products out of convenience. While it’s challenging to cut out processed foods entirely, there are certain ingredients Barretta suggests you steer clear of, including high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, white flour and processed sugar. Your best bet is to shop around the perimeter of the grocery store, where you’ll find fresh meats and produce.
I came across this diet that I had never heard of before. It looks simple enough.
No funny science or calorie accounting involved, just a few simple and mnemonic tricks for giving your willpower the upper hand.
There are just three rules and one exception:
No Snacks
No Sweets
No Seconds
Except (sometimes) on days that start with “S”
So maybe the saying “you are what you eat” isn’t that far from the truth. Try adding these foods to your daily diet for a more energetic, happier and healthier you!
1- Walnuts
A handful a day may reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death for women, according to research from Harvard Medical School. Walnuts are fatty so eat them with carbohydrates like an apple or on a salad.
2-Salmon
Omega-3-rich fish can help reduce your chances of a heart attack and regular fish consumption can lower your chances for most cancers.
3- Pumpkin
Pumpkins are the only produce that contains the triple crown of beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lutein — substances known as carotenoids, which your body converts into vitamin A, and which protect you against heart disease, says New York City-based nutritionist Keri Glassman.
4-Yogurt
A serving of yogurt helps you get your daily requirement of calcium. The vitamin B-12 also boosts your energy levels.
Go for natural flavor and add your own berries to avoid the unhealthy sugar.
5-Raspberries
“Colorful berries are packed with immune-boosting antioxidants, and with raspberries, you also get big doses of vitamin C and pectin, which have been shown to lower cholesterol,” says Glassman
6- Kidney Beans
According to studies by the Department of Agriculture, small red kidney beans are packed with more antioxidant protection per serving than any other food,” says Murray. “Legume-rich diets can also lower cholesterol levels, improve blood-sugar control, and reduce the risk of many cancers.”
7- Broccoli
A phytochemical called indole-3-carbinol can lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, say scientists from the University of Hawaii.
8- Oats
“Diets rich in whole grains have been shown to protect against chronic degenerative diseases, especially cancer.” Oats are also a good source of beta-glucan, adds Glassman, a fiber that lowers blood cholesterol and blood-sugar levels.
Looks like Vitamins C and E aren’t working like they should.
Easy on the E
Vitamin E, in particular, took a big hit. This was once touted for its antioxidant properties, and diets rich in vitamin E from food sources such as nuts and olives are associated with longevity. The recommended daily allowance is about 15 milligrams or 20 international units (IU). In pill form the dose is often 100 to 400 IUs. Couple this with the fact that vitamin E is fat soluble and lingers in the body for a while, and you’ll see the potential trouble.In September researchers behind a four-year, $100-million study on selenium and vitamin E for the prevention of prostate cancer, funded largely by the National Cancer Institute, called off the study, telling participants to stop taking their supplements. Neither selenium nor vitamin E did anything to prevent cancer, and there seemed to be slightly more cancers among the men taking 400 IU of vitamin E. (The selenium group had more diabetes.)
By October doctors came to realize that vitamin E pills did nothing for the heart. As detailed in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 400 IU of vitamin E did not prevent cardiovascular disease in the over 14,000 subjects followed in the massive and ongoing Physicians’ Health Study II, run by Harvard University.
The same study found that vitamins E and C, together or solely, did nothing to prevent any type of cancer over the course of 10 years. This was reported last week at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Washington, D.C.
Vitamin C for cancer
Meanwhile, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York studied the interaction of vitamin C and cancer cells. Apparently cancer cells love vitamin C as much as healthy cells do. This is why previous studies have shown cancer to worsen in patients taking too much vitamin C.
The researchers found that every chemotherapy drug they tested did not work as well if cells were pretreated with vitamin C. In the cell culture experiments, 30 to 70 percent fewer cancer cells treated with vitamin C were killed depending on the drug tested. Turning to animal studies they found that chemotherapy could keep cancer in check but that tumors grew more rapidly in mice given vitamin C.
The researchers theorize that vitamin C protects cancer cells from drug damage at the mitochondria level. These findings were published in the October 2008 issue of Cancer Research.
According to LiveScience.com
While it is still important to see you doctor every year for a physical, it’s also just as important to do your own check-up of your own. Evaluating everything from your flexibility to your waist line are great indicators of your over all health and great ways to pin point any problems.
Here are easy tests from Fitness Magazine that you can do at home. Follow the link for more details.
1. Test Your Flexibility
2. Monitor Your Menstrual Cycle
3. Count the Number of Moles on Your Body- Beware if you have more than 50
4. Feel the Backs of Your Arms
5. Inspect Your Arches
6. Record How Much Weight You’ve Gained Since High School
7. Track Your Toxic Fat
8. Measure Your Waist-It should be no more than 32 inches
9. Test Your Attention Skills
10. Note How Often You Have a Headache or an Upset Stomach- More than once a month is a problem
11. Check Your Eyelids for Allergies
12. Take Your Temperature When You Wake Up- if it’s below 98.6, that could indicate a condition known as hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid
13. Monitor Your Breathing
We all dislike tests, but when it comes to your health it’s more important than ever to make sure you ace them.
Here are 10 tests that should be done regularly to provide you with all the information you need for a healthier life.
1- Waist Circumference
2- Heart Risk
3- Body Mass Index (BMI)
4- Blood Pressure Checks
5- Bad Cholesteral
6- Bone Mineral Density (BMD)
7- Blood Sugar
8– At Home Cancer Checks
9- Cancer Screening
10- Test for Known Risks
According to MSN.Sympatico
and they’re still growing!
According to the latest study 26% of Americans are considered obese. Despite warnings to slim down, Americans continue to add on the pounds.
PLAY
