The 15 Greatest Weight Loss Strategies of All Time

 

There is always a new diet tip or trick to try, but what about the old favourites? Wellness experts are often called on to give dieting advice, but which weight loss strategies do they always, without fail, recommend? The best weight-loss tips are the ones that stand the test of time so we’ve spoken to top diet authors, celebrity trainers, and doctors for their all-time favourite weight loss suggestions.

 

1. Never Skip Breakfast: ‘Eat breakfast,’ instructs Mehmet Oz, MD, presenter of The Dr Oz Show. ‘It’ll energize you for the day and keep your diet in check.’

 

2. Nibble Your Pudding: ‘Use the three-bite rule with dessert,’ recommends JJ Virgin, author of The Virgin Diet. ‘Have three small bites and put your fork down.’

 

3. Keep the Burn Going: Fitness expert Jillian Michaels advises, ‘During your workout, rest no more than 30 seconds between exercises. This will dramatically bump your calorie burn.’

 

4. Avoid Eating in the Evening: Mark Hyman, MD, author of UltraMetabolism, explains, ‘Finish eating three hours before bedtime. Your metabolism slows down when you sleep so you shift from fat burning to fat storage.’

 

5. Don’t Forget Your Dumbbells: ‘Increase the strength component of your workout,’ suggests celebrity trainer Sara Shears. ‘Adding lean muscle to your body not only tones, it also increases your metabolism.’

 

6. Question Your Cravings: Michelle May, MD, author of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat, notes, ‘Before you eat, ask yourself, “Am I hungry?” Unless a craving comes from hunger, eating won’t satisfy it.’

 

7. Get Plenty of Sleep: ‘Get six to eight hours of sleep a night,’ Manuel Villacorta, RD, author of Eating Free, stresses. ‘Without it, the appetite hormone ghrelin increases, which could result in weight gain. And schedule at least two three-minute breaks during the day to practice deep-breathing exercises. It will reduce the stress hormone cortisol, which builds fat around your mid-section.’

 

8. Train Your Brain: ‘Be specific about your weight-loss goal,’ asserts Heidi Grant Halvorson, PhD, author of The Psychology of Goals. ‘The brain detects a difference between where you are and where you want to be, so when you’re specific, your brain throws resources like willpower at it.’

 

9. Start with Greens: Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, comments, ‘Eat in the right order. Eat vegetables first to naturally have more of them and ultimately eat fewer calories.’

 

10. Snack Away: Pamela Peeke, MD, author of The Hunger Fix, points out you should ‘Eat every three to four hours so you’ll be equipped to say no to temptations.’

 

11. Set a Firm Goal: ‘Set a tangible goal with a firm deadline,’ says Ramona Braganza, the trainer who got Jessica Alba in shape for a photo shoot less than three months after Alba gave birth. ‘For example, schedule an “after” photo shoot. It will help you stay motivated.’

 

12. Steel Yourself: ‘Expect some discomfort,’ warns Anne Parker of the Miraval Arizona Resort and Spa. ‘You’re leaving your comfort zone of old eating habits. Knowing that it can be uncomfortable will help you get through it.’

 

13. Schedule a Cheat Day: Jim Nicolai, MD, Miraval Arizona Resort and Spa, recommends, ‘Resist cravings by postponing indulging to a future day when you’re free to eat whatever you want.’

 

14. Use Your Arms: Celebrity trainer Jeanette Jenkins suggests, ‘When you are doing a treadmill workout, add arm exercises with light weights to increase your calorie burn.’

 

15. Stop Drinking Fizzy Drinks: ‘Put the soda down [and] step away,’ instructs Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD. ‘Regular soda drinking may make muscles less likely to burn fat.’

Categories: breakfast, Snacking, Weight Loss

How Nutrition is the Key to Your Child’s School Success

Helping your child succeed at school is a big part of family wellness, but you may be going about things the wrong way. While helping with homework and meeting with teachers can help your children academically, you’re better off starting with their overall wellbeing. According to award-winning child nutritional wellness expert Dayle Hayes, MS, RD, ‘Experts in both education and health are beginning to realise that more attention to children’s bodies will also help their brains work better. Whether you call it the Learning Connection or the Wellness Impact, the message to parents and schools is clear: Eating smarter and moving more are essential for optimal performance and behaviour in the classroom.’ So what does your child need to succeed?

 

1. Breakfast, Every Day: Hayes notes, ‘Without fuel for morning classes, students cannot focus, concentrate and learn. At home or school (or even in a car or bus), breakfast changes everything. Any breakfast is better than no breakfast and a bowl of whole grain cereal with milk and fruit can actually be a good source of key nutrients. Even if your kids eat at home in the morning, your support for school breakfast is critical for those children who need it. One kid who is too hungry to learn can disrupt an entire classroom.’

 

2. Safe Routes to School: ‘Some of the hottest research on activity and brain function comes out of Dr. Charles Hillman’s lab at the University of Illinois,’ says Hayes. ‘Brain imaging and other tests show that a simple 20-minute walk can improve a student’s performance in both reading and math. Takeaway for caring parents? Walking (or biking) to school means your kids arrive with brains that are ready to learn. Concerned about their safety? Get your workout by walking or biking with them – or get involved in a Safe Routes to School group.’

 

3. Active Recess Before Lunch: Hayes points out, ‘Physical activity at recess is good for kids brains (and their bodies) for the exactly the same reasons as walking or biking to school. However, recess before lunch has been shown to have some other very important benefits. When children are active before coming to the cafeteria, they eat better and behave better. Studies show that they actually eat more entrée, vegetables and fruits – and drink more milk. When kids rush through lunch so they can run out to play, lots of food goes into the garbage can and students are short-changed on afternoon fuel. Breakfast helps children learn in the morning, but lunch is just as necessary for afternoon classes.’

 

4. Comfortable Cafeterias: ‘Sadly, many cafeterias are not pleasant, positive places to enjoy a meal,’ laments Hayes. ‘The good news is that they can be. All they need is a bit of bright décor and adults who are trained to encourage appropriate conversations rather than just patrolling between the tables and telling everyone to hurry up and eat. Parents can help create Comfortable Cafeterias by eating with their children and making positive, pleasant mealtimes part of a local wellness policy.’

 

5. Smart After-School Snacks: ‘Since children are all-day learners, they need regular refueling throughout the day, including after-school snacks – for sports, homework and academic enrichment programmes,’ Hayes explains. ‘Many snack foods (candy, chips, soft drinks, etc.) do not offer the lasting power that kids need…Fruits and veggies are always good, but protein power is even more important. Yoghurt, string cheese, nuts, nut butters, sliced deli meats, beef jerky, hard cooked eggs and hummus can all be incorporated into at home or on-the-go smart snack routines.’

Categories: after-school snack, breakfast, Children, comfortable cafeterias, hayes, Kids, nutrition, safe routes, School, school snacks

Breakfast Beauties: How to Start Your Day the Right Way

If you want your diet to benefit your wellbeing, the best place to start is with breakfast. By eating the right mix of fibre, protein and carbohydrates, you can get your morning off to a flying start. Here are a few recipes to help you start your day in a wellness way, as well as some top tips for success:

 

1. Cinnamon Breakfast Squares with Yoghurt and Berries: This recipe makes six squares. Heat your oven to 425°F and lightly butter and flour an eight-inch square baking tin. Add one cup of Honey Bunches of Oats Morning Energy Cinnamon Crunch cereal to a mixing bowl, and stir in 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, three tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Make sure you slightly crush the cereal with the back of the spoon while you’re stirring. Next, beat three eggs in a separate bowl, and mix in 1/2 cup non-fat milk, two tablespoons melted butter (cooled) and one teaspoon vanilla. Combine the egg mixture with the flour mixture until it makes a thin batter, and pour it into your baking tin. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes and then set on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cut into six bars and top each one with a dollop of Greek yoghurt. Surround with fruit, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon.

 

2. Mixed Berry Smoothie: This recipe makes four servings, and can be ready in minutes. In a blender, add 1/2 cup Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted cereal, two cups cold fat-free milk, one container (6 ounces) strawberry low-fat yoghurt, one package (four-serving size) strawberry flavour gelatine and one cup frozen mixed berries. Cover and blend on high speed for 15 seconds, or until smooth. Serve immediately.

 

3. Morning Energy Mocha Balls: Place one 1/4 cups Honey Bunches of Oats Morning Energy Chocolatey Almond Crunch cereal in a food processor and process until the cereal is finely ground. Then add 1/2 cup walnut halves, one teaspoon chia seeds, one teaspoon flax seeds, one teaspoon sesame seeds, four tablespoons almond butter, two tablespoons honey, two tablespoons pure maple syrup, two tablespoons dried cranberries, one teaspoon vanilla extract, two teaspoons espresso powder and 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt to the bowl. Process until all the ingredients are well combined and form a stiff dough. Form the dough into a compact ball with your hands. Then, make as many one-inch balls as possible and roll in 1/4 cup toasted unsweetened coconut, if desired. Leave the balls to stand for an hour on a wax-paper lined sheet, and then transfer to tin or container with tight lid. You can chill the balls, but at room temperature they will keep for at least a week.

 

As well as eating a balanced breakfast, there are other ways in which you can get your morning off to a flying start.

• Hydrate: Make sure you drink a generous glass of water first thing in the morning to replenish your body with the hydration it needs.


• Move around: Mornings are busy times, so if you don’t have time to start your day at the gym, try to work in a ten-minute walk before work, or walk to work if it’s close enough. This small amount of movement will get your blood pumping and help you start your day off on the right foot.


• Make a plan: If there are things you would like to accomplish today, write them down. That way, you’re setting yourself up for success.

Categories: baking tin, breakfast, crunch cereal, honey, honey bunches, Mixed Berry Smoothie, Morning, morning energy, Morning Energy Mocha Balls, oats morning, teaspoon, teaspoon vanilla

How to Make Sure Your Weight Loss is Healthy

 

Although all weight loss is important for your wellness and wellbeing, there are good ways to lose weight and there are bad ways to lose weight. A good way to lose weight is to eat healthier food and increase your fitness and activity levels, and a bad way is to follow a fad diet. In addition to this, there are several important things that you should bear in mind which can make or break your weight loss efforts.

 

Don’t’ skip breakfast. All research shows that eating breakfast actually helps you to control your weight. Whilst some people skip this meal, thinking that it will help them to lose weight, missing meals actually doesn’t help you to lose weight because it slows down your metabolism. It can also mean that you miss out on essential nutrients and can encourage you to snack more during the day as it leaves you feeling more hungry than you would otherwise. Just make sure that you choose a healthy, low-fat breakfast.

 

On the same note, you should eat regular meals. If you eat regularly throughout the day, you will burn calories at a faster rate and it also reduces the temptation to snack on other foods that are high in sugar or fat instead.

 

Make sure that you also eat plenty of fruit and vegetables during the day. Not only are they packed full of vitamins and minerals, but they are also high in fibre and low in calories and fat.

 

Your activity levels are also vitally important. The more active you are, the more likely you are to lose weight and to keep it off as well. Exercise helps to burn off any excess calories that you haven’t managed to cut out. Find some form of fitness that you enjoy and that you can fit into your daily routine.

Categories: activity levels, breakfast, calories, fitness, Lose, Lose weight, nbsp, weight, Weight Loss

Dangerous Moments for Dieters: How to Avoid Temptation

You don’t just need the right diet to lose weight and build lean muscle; you also need to guard your wellbeing against a few ‘Make or Break’ moments that every dieter faces. It’s not the lack of knowledge that hampers your weight loss wellness; it’s life’s little distractions that get in the way of your motivation to reach your goals. The best way to reduce risk of temptation is to pin point and identify these moments that can make or break your diet and be prepared to handle them diligently:

 

1. The Moment When You Wake Up Hungry: If you wake up hungry, you might be tempted to fill that void quickly by eating biscuits or other readily-available snacks, instead of delaying gratification. However, if you drink a large glass of water as soon as you wake up, this will suppress your hunger long enough for you to either make a big omelette loaded with veggies or some oatmeal. A nutritious, healthy breakfast is absolutely vital if you want to avoid those mid-morning junk food cravings. Plus, eating right sets your brain up for the day, and helps you stay fuelled for your morning tasks.

 

 2. That Moment Half an Hour before the Gym: More often than not, you forget to eat before the gym, which leads to a poor workout that leaves you completely knackered. Your muscles breakdown more than they should, and experience extra wear and tear. Therefore, you should eat a snack half an hour before you workout so that you have the energy you need to succeed. Set your clock to remind you, and make sure your snack is high in slow digesting proteins and simple carbohydrate. A whole grain toast with low fat cheese, banana with peanut butter or a protein shake/bar are all great options.

 

3. That Moment after Your Workout: After an intense gym session, all you want to do is go home and crash. However, it’s essential that you refuel your body with amino acids to repair your muscles, and also provide them with glycogen. Again, you need a snack or meal that is high in protein and carbohydrate. Protein powders and snacks containing carbs are easy to put in your gym bag, or you can wait until you get home as long as you make sure you get it on time.

 

4. That Moment When You’re Stressed at Work: When you’re stressed, your body releases a hormone known as cortisol, which deludes you into thinking you need a sugary snack. In actual fact, all you really need to do is let off steam. If you’re the kind of person who keeps emergency chocolate in their desk, you’re just inviting temptation into your diet the minute you have a bad meeting or tight deadline. Instead, only keep healthy snacks around the office and, when stress strikes, go for a walk around the block. This will give you a chance to get some fresh air and clear your head, and exercise is well-known to help keep cortisol in check. If you still need a pick-me-up when you get back, go for some fruit or a handful of baby carrots.

 

5. That Moment When You Enter the Supermarket: Under no circumstance should you ever go food shopping on an empty stomach. When you’re hungry, you’re more drawn towards packaged snacks and ready-to-eat meals, rather than the lovely, healthy foods that make up your nutritional weight loss plans. Eating a good snack before you go to the supermarket can help you to better adhere to the list of healthy food items you want to re-stock or try out, and stick to only those.

Categories: breakfast, Healthy, moment, nbsp, Snack, snacks, Stress, Weight Loss, Workouts

Summer Breakfasts To Fuel Your Day The Healthy Way

We’re told time and time again of the importance of a good breakfast, but sometimes time constraints make it difficult to opt for something healthy as well as fast. These recipes are perfect for beginning your day in a healthy way, as well as being quick and easy to prepare.

Burritos

Breakfast burritos are a popular start to the day, but they aren’t always the healthiest meals – often laden with fat and carbohydrates, they require something of a makeover in order to be the nutritious meal you need to fuel your busy day. The good news is that you can achieve just that by making some small changes to what you fill your burrito with. What goes into your burrito is down to what you enjoy eating the most – you can fill them with anything from cucumber, hummous and roasted peppers to goat cheese, mint or even strawberries and honey.

• 2 sheets brown rice paper


• 4 dates, pitted and sliced in half


• 2 tablespoons goat cheese crumbles


• 4 large basil leaves

Begin by dipping one sheet of rice paper into warm water and spreading it out on a dry plate. Arrange half of the remaining ingredients in a horizontal line down the middle, leaving around an inch on either end. Fold the right and left sides of rice paper inwards over the filling, then fold the bottom of the rice paper over the filling and roll. Repeat with the remaining sheet of rice paper and the filling ingredients. These contain around 187 calories and are a quick breakfast snack to whip up before you head out to work.

Overnight Chia Pudding

Blending chia seeds with leftover brown rice is the perfect way to create a healthy, no-cook alternative to a classic dessert. The best part is that this is created overnight, so you don’t need to worry about preparing anything first thing in the morning.

• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice


• 2 tablespoons chia seeds


• 1/2 cup unsweetened rice milk


• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1 teaspoon raw honey


• 2 tablespoons crushed walnuts


• 1/4 cup berries (optional)

In a large bowl, mix the rice, chia seeds cinnamon, vanilla, honey and chia seeds together. Cover and set in the fridge to sit overnight. In the morning, mix the pudding again and top with the walnuts and berries if desired. This will last for a couple of days so it’s perfect if you want to make a larger batch to last you, saving you time and making this a really cost-effective breakfast. The berries, nuts and milk all provide different nutrients to fuel you throughout the day, and the brown rice is a healthier alternative to the more common starchy breakfasts we’re used to beginning the day with.

Open-Faced Salmon Sandwiches

Taking inspiration from a classic high tea, this is a great way to jazz up your breakfast toast. If you wish, you can replace the salmon with baby shrimp, goat cheese or a hard-boiled egg.  Avocadoes and salmon are both loaded with healthy oils and fats, so they make a great addition to your breakfast meal.

• 2 slices smoked salmon


• 4 slices cucumber


• 1/4 cup sliced avocado


• 2 pieces whole-grain or gluten-free bread


• 4 2-inch pieces chive


• 1 lemon wedge (optional)

 

Take a slice of bread and arrange the salmon cucumber and avocado slices on the top. Top with chives and, if you wish, you can also sprinkle with a little lemon juice. These sandwiches can be updated with a variety of different ingredients and contain just 330 calories.

Categories: breakfast, Brown Rice, chia, Chia Seeds, goat cheese, nutrition, paper, Recipes, Rice, rice paper, salmon

What Are the Healthy Foods That Could Make You Fat?

Think you know everything about diet and nutrition? Think again. The food that you may feel are beneficial for your wellness and wellbeing may actually be helping you to pile on the pounds and feel sluggish and unwell.

 

Bread is one of the biggest food traps. Bread lovers will be dismayed to find out that it is possible to eat too much bread in just one single sitting. If you really need bread in your life, and can’t live without sandwiches, then allow yourself to have some, but try to limit the amount that you eat to just one or two slices a day. Bread isn’t the enemy, but you do need to control the amount of it that you eat. Instead of bread, you can have grains such as rice, couscous, quinoa or whole-wheat pasta.

 

Fruit-flavoured yoghurt is also a trap – even if it’s low fat, it’s too easy to scoff several cartons of yoghurt, increasing the calorie intake. Instead of fruity yoghurt, buy plain non-fat yoghurt and stir in your own fresh fruit. Having to mix your own fresh fruit is enough of an incentive to stop you over indulging on yoghurt, according to a study carried out by Weight Watchers.

 

You may think that your breakfast cereals are a safe bet, but all kinds of breakfast cereal (even the healthy kinds) can make you pile on the pounds. This is especially the case if you eat breakfast cereal straight out of the packet as a snack during the day. Even healthy cereals can really help to increase your calorie count over the course of a day. To avoid falling into this trap, make sure that you only eat breakfast cereal in the morning, with milk and a spoon. When combined with the milk, you will eat less cereal, and if you use skim milk but with far fewer calories.

Categories: Bread, breakfast, breakfast cereal, Cereal, eat breakfast, Fat, foods, fresh fruit, Healthy, yoghurt

Easy Ways To Cut 100 Calories Out Of Your Diet Today

Diet’s are hard, particularly if you find seeking out lighter alternatives difficult. It doesn’t have to be a constant battle though; all you need to do is make small changes to your diet and you’re sure to see results. Here are some ideas for ways that you can change your diet in healthy way. When it comes to breakfast, everyone loves a bacon sandwich but it’s never usually listed on diet menus and or good reason! You can still enjoy this breakfast treat by substituting two thin slices of turkey bacon instead of your usual pork bacon – pork bacon contains 224 calories, whereas turkey is just 135. Continuing in the breakfast theme, why not update your eggs? If you were to fry two eggs in a tablespoon of butter, you’d be consuming 250 calories but by simply poaching them instead, you only need to eat 150 calories worth of eggs without losing the taste. Do you take cream in your coffee? By replacing it with four tablespoons of whole milk you’ll be saving yourself a bundle of calories – the same amount of cream contains 232 calories, whereas milk has just 60. And as an alternative choice for breakfast, why not have a buttermilk waffle with maple syrup? One 60g waffle with one teaspoon of maple syrup and a tablespoon of whipped cream has 185 calories, whereas just one 85g corn muffin has 258 calories.

 

When it comes to lunch, a hamburger is on the menu for many people. Why not try eating a ham sandwich instead? One plain hamburger has 274 calories, whereas a sandwich has just 133 calories. If you ditch the usual can of coke, you’ll not only save calories but also cut down your sugar intake as well. A 30ml can of cola contains a whopping 150 calories, where a simple glass of water has none! A great swap that improves your health at the same time. If you enjoy a tasty bowl of coleslaw with your lunch, adding carrot instead to ready-made produce will help you to stretch it out. Take 250ml of deli coleslaw with two 225g packs of shredded carrot – a 250g serving of this will contain just 100 calories and will up your vege intake at the same time.

 

On the subject of vegetables, make a healthier stir fry by using one tablespoon of oil, which contains 120 calories, in a non-stick pan rather than two tablespoons in a plain wok – you’ll instantly half your calories for the meal. And if you trim the visible fat from a 100g steak, you could save yourself 100 calories instantly. If you’re really hungry come dinner time, you could grill a 170g piece of salmon (130 calories) instead of the same quantity of beef tenderloin, which has a massive 406 calories. Couple that with a baked sweet potato in place of fries – the latter has 210 calories, whereas a sweet potato has 136 calories and even counts as one of your five a day! As dessert is often the trickiest part of any diet, you’ll be pleased to know that there are some alternatives. Opt for a large banana instead of a 45g bag of chocolate covered peanuts, which saves you over 100 calories instantly and contains a number of nutrients as well. And make sure you do a sensible swap when it comes to sweets, but forgoing four caramels, which contains 120 calories, for one lollipop which has just 22 and still gives you that sugar hit.

Categories: Bacon, breakfast, calories, calories instantly, diet, maple syrup, pork bacon, sweet potato, time, weight

How to Keep Healthy by Eating Vegetables for Breakfast

We all know that appropriate diet and nutrition are essential if you want to protect your wellness and wellbeing, but how many of us eat vegetables for breakfast? It may sound insane, but there are genuinely ways to incorporate vegetables into your breakfast on a daily basis.

 

The percentage of people who eat the recommended number of daily servings of vegetables is shockingly low, and continues to decrease, and so it is important that we look at ways of getting as many extra vegetables into the diet as possible.

 

Breakfast is vitally important anyway, and starting off your day in the right way can mean that you feel inspired to keep up the good work for the rest of the day (as well as enjoying the benefits of the extra energy and vitality that healthy food at the start of your day is bound to give you).

 

Firstly, omelette is a great breakfast, and you can add vegetables to this very easily. Why not try adding some bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, onions or zucchini next time you do an omelette for breakfast? If you’re too busy for all this chopping in the morning then you can top your omelette with some chunky salsa and some slices of avocado. You could even vary this by making a frittata and adding broccoli, cauliflower or any other hearty vegetables.

 

A whole wheat or corn tortilla can also be a great way to start the day, and they are full of protein and nutrients. You can make a veggie quesadilla abut adding some refried beans, chopped tomatoes, bell peppers and onions and topping with a little low fat grated cheese, then pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This is a great, healthy and very tasty way to start the day.

Categories: adding, Bell Peppers, breakfast, nbsp, omelette, vegetables

How To Lose Some Weight For Your Holiday

We all love going away on holiday, especially if that means a fun and warm break in the sun. But along with loving the feeling of sitting on a beach, swimming in the sea and getting the chance to really relax that you don’t really get at home, going on a beach holiday can actually cause a certain level of anxiety for us. For some people the anxiety comes from the stress of organising the holiday for others it is the stress of trying to afford the cost of the holiday. But a huge number of people also worry about the way that they will look when they are in their swimming costume on the beach.

 

If you have been lucky enough to book a holiday recently you may be feeling like this. Perhaps you’ve gained a little weight since your last holiday and you’re worried that you might not fit into your swimming costume like you used to. But don’t worry, all is not lost. We’ve got a really fantastic dieting plan that is the perfect way to help you drop those extra pounds very quickly and get in shape for your beach holiday. Based across just seven days, it is ideal for those people who need a quick fix to remedy their pre-holiday blues.

 

So how does it work? The plan is designed around a basis of cutting calories and going a lot of high intensity cardio work. In fact the overall goal of the plan is to create a daily calorie deficit of around 500 calories. When you consider that women generally need around 2,100 calories per day to maintain their weight, it’s clear that if you want to lose weight, you need to bring your calorie intake down. In the case of this diet, you’ll take it down to 1,600 calories and then workout to work off more calories.

 

On the first day of the diet you’ll eat for breakfast two scrambled eggs with one thin slice of wholemeal bread, without butter. Then enjoy a morning snack of an apple and six almonds. For lunch, have a salmon fillet with a butter-less roll, then a low-fat yoghurt and a half a carton of blueberries for your snack. Then for dinner have a low-fat chicken tikka masala made without the use of cream, with a small portion of brown rice on the side. To compliment this you’ll need to do interval training on the treadmill for 40 minutes.

 

Day two sees you having Weetabix for breakfast, celery and cottage cheese for your morning snack, baked sweet potato with ratatouille and feta for lunch, two satsumas for your afternoon snack and finishing the day with stir fried pork for dinner. Today is a rest day, so you don’t need to do any exercise.

 

On day three you’ll have porridge for breakfast, a slice of melon wrapped in prosciutto for a snack, bacon and lentil soup for lunch, a pear for your afternoon snack and Bolognese made with Quorn for your dinner. Then 50 minutes of interval training.

 

On day four have French toast for breakfast, miso soup as a mid-morning snack, chicken and avocado wrap for lunch, a small bunch of grapes for your afternoon snack and skinless cod fillet for sinner. Then complete a one hour walk for your exercise.

 

On days five, six and seven, simply repeat the contents of days one, two and three and you’ll be on course for a fabulous beach body that you’ll be proud to show off. So why not get started today?

Categories: afternoon snack, beach holiday, breakfast, exercise nbsp, holiday, holidays, Interval Training, morning snack, nbsp, Snack, swimming costume, Weight Loss

Best Tricks to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Wellness

Losing weight and improving your fitness doesn’t have to be an awful process. It is possible to improve your wellness and wellbeing without going to any swanky resort or putting yourself through hell down at the gym.

 

If you’re trying to do it the easy way, fibre is your friend. Fibre helps you to absorb the fat and cholesterol in your body and it also travels down your digestive tract really nicely which helps to stop any excess weight from water retention or constipation.

 

The recommended daily consumption of fibre is 30 grams, and it should be easy enough to get this into your diet. For breakfast, you could have a cup of Greek yoghurt with granola, some popcorn for a snack, chickpeas with your lunch, apples and almonds as a snack and then broccoli and quinoa with your evening meal, and that would fulfil your dietary requirements.

 

There are also easy ways to drop a few pounds quickly. For example, most people consume a great deal of calories at night, which is a bad idea because your metabolism slows down and you find it harder to burn off these calories again at that time of day. A really simple strategy to help avoid this is to make sure that breakfast is the biggest meal of the day. If you start with, for example, a 500 calorie breakfast and then have 400 for lunch and a 200 calorie tea, with a couple of 100 – 200 calorie snacks during the day. This will give you your total calorie content for the day but just in the reverse order to what you might expect.

 

Beating your cravings is also possible. Instead of depriving yourself altogether or tucking in straight away, the best way to beat cravings is simply to delay gratification. Tell yourself that it’s not that you won’t indulge, but that you won’t indulge straight away.

Categories: breakfast, calorie, easy, fibre, loss, nbsp, Tricks, weight

How to Fit Weight Loss into Your Busy Daily Schedule

These days, we’re just too busy for wellness or weight loss. You could be working a 40-hour week, looking after your family, taking an evening class, making time for friends and having a modicum of “me-time” all in an average week – when do you have time to go to the gym or cook up an über-healthy meal? Luckily for you, we’ve rounded up the best tips for taking care of your wellbeing, and your waistline, when time is of the essence.

1. Incorporate workouts into your daily schedule: Tina Haupert, author of Carrots ‘N’ Cake: Healthy Living One Carrot and Cupcake at a Time, notes, ‘When I worked in an office, I used daily planner that kept me organised with all aspects of my life—from projects and school deadlines to grocery lists and social events. I wrote down everything, including my workouts. On Sunday afternoons I’d spend some time scheduling my workouts for the week, just like I would with other obligations.’ You can also schedule fitness classes like you would unmissable appointments. Seeing it all written down in front of you helps you to get your head around the fact that you can physically fit workouts into your life.

2. Exercise in the morning: If you leave exercise until the evening, something will inevitably get in the way. Whether it’s a late meeting, happy hour or event with friends, the best of intentions will go awry if something more urgent or appealing is on the table. This is why Haupert started exercising in the morning. ‘Working out first thing in the morning guaranteed that I fit it in before my day got carried away and excuses popped up,’ she says. ‘Even though I’m naturally a morning person, becoming a morning exerciser was no easy task! The first few mornings were really hard, but the more I forced myself to do it, the easier it was and eventually it became a regular part of my routine.’

3. Track your calories: According to Haupert, ‘In the past, I half-heartedly kept a paper-and-pen food journal, but it was time-consuming and inconvenient to calculate all of those calories, so hundreds of them often went unaccounted for each day.’ However, turning to a free online weight-loss journal that tracks calories, exercise, goals, and progress made food journaling a lot quicker and simpler for Haupert, and it can for you too! Filling out serving estimates online shows you just how much you underestimate portion sizes. Haupert adds, ‘I began using measuring cups at home to learn how to identify a healthy serving.’

4. Plan a packed lunch: Planning your lunch ahead of time helps you to stick with healthy options instead of falling prey to the temptation of the pizza place next door to your office. Haupert explains, ‘Every Sunday I sat down and planned a week’s worth of quick, travel-friendly lunches. Brown-bagging what I ate during the day meant I had more control over how many calories I consumed…Plus, once I bought the food and had it readily available in my kitchen, I had no excuse for not packing a nutritious lunch.’

5. Keep healthy breakfast foods at the office: Skipping breakfast is detrimental to weight loss, so if you’re too busy to wait around for porridge, do what Haupert did and keep non-perishable, healthy breakfast options in your work desk. ‘Many mornings, I’d bring a piece of fresh fruit from home (often a banana) and used hot water to make instant oatmeal,’ she recalls. ‘I kept various ingredients to mix in like dried fruit, sunflower seeds, nuts, and a jar of peanut butter in my desk, so I never had to think twice about planning my breakfast.’

Categories: breakfast, daily schedule, haupert, Healthy, healthy breakfast, Morning, schedule, time, weight, Weight Loss

How to Keep Going Until Lunch with These Filling Breakfasts

There are so many reasons as to why breakfast is the most important meal of the day, not least of all because it aids in your weight wellness. Whether you’re trying to maintain the healthy weight you’re at, or get to a better BMI, you need to do breakfast right in order to ensure success.

Let’s start with the right time to munch your morning meal; as early as possible. While you might not feel hungry first thing in the morning, eating it soon after waking up is the best thing you can do for your wellbeing. Leta Shy, Associate Editor for Fitness at PopSugar UK, notes, ‘Studies have found that eating breakfast jump-starts your metabolism, and not only that, it can help ensure that you don’t feel so starved later that you make bad eating choices for lunch or dinner.’ Therefore, you need to eat your breakfast sooner rather than later in order to take advantage of your body’s fat-burning potential.

Not having an early-morning appetite isn’t great, but having too much food is equally as damaging to your weight goals. When you’re making your breakfast, watch out for portion sizes. Sure, a hearty breakfast can help to fill you up until lunchtime, but overdoing it can mean you fill up unnecessarily, and add on extra calories you don’t need. Rather, it’s better to go for smaller, healthy yet still filling options, instead of those foods that are packed with calories or enough sugar to ensure your mid-morning crash. Your breakfast should be full of slow-digesting nutrients to help keep you satisfied throughout the morning, so stock up on high-fibre, high-protein breakfast options for plenty of energy and fullness. Here are a few healthy breakfasts that really fit the bill.

1. Yoghurt, granola, and fruit: When you’re adding foods together, it’s important that you watch out for how the sugar content adds up. Combined, this morning meal contains 14.9 grams of sugar, with six ounces of Chobani plain Greek yoghurt providing seven grams of sugar, a ¼ cup of Bear Naked Fit Vanilla Almond Crunch Granola providing four grams, and ½ a cup of sliced strawberries adding the last 3.9 grams.

2. Vegetable omelette: For this delicious omelette you will need two large eggs (providing 0.4 grams of sugar), five cherry tomatoes (2.2 grams), six broccoli florets (2.4 grams), one cup of spinach (0.1 grams), three medium mushrooms (0.9 grams) and one ounce of shredded monterey jack cheese (adding nothing to your sugar total). Altogether, that makes a fibre- and protein-packed breakfast with only six grams of sugar.

3. Apple cinnamon oatmeal with almonds: This breakfast is a real winter warmer, and you’ll love it once the Christmas season arrives. Combine ½ a cup of organic rolled oats (one gram of sugar), one small apple (15.9 grams), ½ a tablespoon of honey (8.6 grams), eight raw almonds (0.5 grams) and ¼ a teaspoon of cinnamon (0 grams). Together, that makes one of the most sugary breakfasts on this list – coming in at 25.9 grams of sugar – but it’s still full of healthy goodness, and is too delicious to resist.

4. Wheat toast with almond butter and banana: This filling breakfast has such an earthy, wholesome feel to it. Simply spread two slices whole wheat toast (which contain six grams of sugar) with two tablespoons almond butter (two grams) and slice a medium banana (14.4 grams) on top. Again, this one isn’t the least sugary breakfast you can have, but it’s full of fibre and will keep you going until lunch.

Categories: almond butter, breakfast, Filling, grams, Healthy, Morning, morning meal, Portion Size, Sugar, wheat toast

How to Keep Going All Day with a Fatigue-Free Diet!

Is there anything more precious than a good night’s sleep? Perhaps it’s all the more precious because, let’s be honest, you rarely get one. Once you reach a certain age, you can’t even remember a day in which you weren’t tired but does that make the daytime drag inevitable, or is there something you can do to guard your wellbeing against tiredness? Aside from getting those blessed seven to nine hours a night, you can actually support your sleep wellness through your diet – who knew?

 

The first thing to remember when eating to beat tiredness is to have a healthy, balanced diet that contains foods from the four main food groups in the right proportions. If you can’t think back to when you did the four food groups at school, here’s a little refresher:

 

1. Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy foods

2. Fruit and vegetables

3. Dairy foods

4. Meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein

 

However, not only do you need to keep regularity within your meals, but within the times you eat them. Although it’s not always possible to eat at the same time every day, eating regular meals allows your body to work out when the next meal is coming and prepare for it. This helps you to manage your feelings of hunger (which is good for weight loss as well as banishing tiredness) and you also sustain your energy levels more effectively. The best method is to eat three meals a day and limit your intake of in-between meal snacks, especially if they’re high in fat.

 

Speaking of meals, it’s important not to neglect the most important one of the day; that’s right, breakfast. You need breakfast if you want any chance of getting the energy you need to face the day. Still, according to the British Dietetic Association (BDA), up to a third of us a regularly skipping breakfast – no wonder we’re all so knackered! The best breakfasts contain healthy options (obviously) so stick to porridge with fruit, a nice vegetable omelette or wholemeal toast with low-fat spread or jam. If you really can’t face food first thing in the morning, it’s far better to take a high-fibre snack to eat on the run, rather than snacking on high-sugar or high-fat foods when the mid-morning hunger pangs strike.

 

A good snack to choose would be fruit and vegetables, as these are good sources of vitamins, minerals and fibre, which are essential nutrients that your body needs in order to work properly. It doesn’t matter if you get your five-a-day through juices, or if the produce is fresh, frozen, tinned or dried; it all counts. Similarly, starchy foods or carbohydrates are also vital for helping you maintain a range of nutrients in your diet. Moreover, potatoes, bread, cereals, pasta and the like are a good source of energy, and so if you want to stave of tiredness starchy foods should make up about a third of everything you eat. However, not all starches are created equal; you need to go for slow-burning whole grain or wholemeal varieties, as they provide energy in a gradual way.

 

Finally, there are a few foods that you simply need to avoid to stay alert throughout the day. You’re probably good at telling your kids to go easy on the sugar, but do you take that advice yourself? Sugar steals your stamina, as well as rotting your teeth and ruining your waistline. It’s impossible to eliminate sugar from your diet, but cutting down on foods with lots of added sugar, such as sweets, cakes, biscuits, non-diet fizzy drinks and chocolates, is always advisable.

Categories: breakfast, diet, Food Groups, foods, high, nbsp, potatoes bread, Regular Meals, starchy foods, Sugar, tiredness

How to Get Clean & Lean in Time for Christmas

If there’s ever a time to lose your unwanted flab, the lead-up to Christmas is it. To prepare for all the turkey, chocolates and general Christmas foods, you need to get your wellness in shape and celebrity trainer James Duigan is the man to help you do it. His Clean & Lean diet plan asks you to cut out the ‘toxic’ foods that threaten your wellbeing and encourage the body to store fat. This means saying bye-bye to alcohol, sugar and processed foods and bringing on the fish, lean meat – including turkey and chicken – and fresh, preferably organic vegetables.

 

Duigan explains, ‘My diet works on the principle that your body’s natural state is lean and fit, not sluggish and fat. But processed foods and drinks and excess sugar pollute the body, causing fat to cling to the hips, thighs, bum and tummy. However, as soon as you stop doing the wrong thing, your body responds very quickly, and you’ll get lean fast. But you have to believe you can do it. It doesn’t matter how often you have failed in the past. What matters now is focusing on what you want and taking action.’ So, which changes do you mean to make to your diet in order to get a flat tummy in time for Christmas?

 

1. Cut out the CRAP: An appropriate acronym if ever there was one, the CRAP – i.e. caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol and processed foods – is what you need to avoid on the Clean & Lean diet. According to Duigan, these foods are so crappy because they encourage fat to cling to your body.

 

2. Let yourself have a weekly cheat meal: Although the CRAP foods should be avoided, as part of the Clean & Lean diet you’re allowed – nay, required – to have an indulgent meal of whatever you fancy on a weekly basis. As long as you’re eating clean the rest of the time, you can choose a day every week in which you give in to temptation, be it from creamy pasta or a giant slice of chocolate cake. In fact, apart from helping you to go into craving-mode, an occasional high-fat treat actually speeds up your metabolism, meaning you’ll actually lose more weight.

 

3. Step up your supplement intake: While supplements are no replacement for good nutrition, one pill you should start popping is a fish oil supplement. These pills help you to burn up fat, as well as providing your body with essential fatty acids.

 

4. Never skip breakfast: Any dietician or nutritional wellness expert will tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially when it comes to weight loss. That doesn’t mean that whatever you eat first in the morning will count as “breakfast” – you need to eat within one hour of waking up for it to count. If you’re not food-inclined first thing in the morning, or you don’t have time to sit down for a proper breakfast, grabbing a piece of fruit and a few nuts will do just fine.

 

5. Avoid eating late at night: As eating early in the day is good for helping you develop better abs, it logically follows that you should also eat your evening meal as early as possible. Your digestive system works better earlier on in the day, so you should try to avoid eating anything after 8pm. Not only is eating a large meal in the evening when your body is slowing down or sleeping is a bad idea for your weight, but it can also do a certain amount of harm to your digestive system, which can cause uncomfortable bowel troubles.

Categories: amp lean, avoid eating, body, breakfast, Clean & Lean Diet, CRAP Foods, foods, lean, lean diet, meal, nbsp, processed foods

Great Recipes for Kids Who Just Won’t Eat their Breakfast

When it comes to your child’s wellbeing, you cannot skimp on a healthy breakfast. According to wellness expert and educator Andrea Hermitt, ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially for children. Without building a habit of eating healthy meals early in the morning, children can be doomed to a poor metabolism problem that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Besides that, numerous studies have shown that kids who eat breakfast perform better in school. Most kids don’t get a good breakfast because they are short on time.’ So, we’ve gathered together a few effective recipes that can help you ensure your kids get the nutrition they need.

 

1. Special smoothies: Hectic mornings aren’t just for office commuters, children and young people are often out the door before you can say “Have a nice day!” Therefore, a healthy and nutritious smoothie is perfect for giving them everything they need to start the day, whilst already getting started! Simply whip up a cup of cubed fresh or canned pineapple (canned is probably easiest when you’re pressed for time), one sliced banana, half a cup of low-fat plain yoghurt, a third of a cup of frozen passion fruit concentrate, half a cup of water, two ice cubes and a tablespoon of wheat bran or oat bran in the blender until the smoothie is creamy. In a single serving, there is 109 calories, two grams of fat, 26 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, two grams of fibre and four grams of protein.

 

2. Amazing apple squares: Apple squares are more of an American-style breakfast but you’ll be happy to bring them to good old Blighty once you realise how simple they are to make! Sure, apple squares are perhaps not as healthy as wholemeal toast or cereal, but these squares do at least contain oats, apples, and nuts, which are all healthy choices. Plus, the key here is to get your kids eating breakfast at all – and there’s no way they can resist these treats. Apple squares are best served as soon as they’re made, but as they take a little time you might want to do them the night before, or save them for a weekend treat – they go really well with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream.

 

Start by preheating your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark four, and coat a nine-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Take a large bowl, and combine one and a half cups of self-raising flour, one cup of old-fashioned oats, one cup of light brown sugar, a teaspoon of lemon zest, three-quarters of a teaspoon of baking powder, half a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and quarter of a teaspoon of nutmeg. Once you’ve combined these ingredients, use your fingers to work in three tablespoons of canola oil and quarter of a cup of apple juice – do this until coarse crumbs form. Peel, core and thinly slice two tart, medium-sized apples (Granny Smiths are good choices). Into your prepared baking tray, firmly press two cups of the oat mixture, and then arrange your apple slices over the crust in three rows. Coarsely chop a quarter of a cup of walnuts and mix these into your remaining oat mixture. Sprinkle this evenly over the apples and pat firmly into an even layer. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the apples are tender when you pierce them with a sharp knife. Leave them to cool completely on a wire rack, and then cut them into squares.

Categories: Apple, Apple Squares, breakfast, Healthy, oat mixture, Smoothie, squares, teaspoon

Nutritious Tips that Can Help to Enhance Your Sex Life

People go to all sorts of lengths for sexual wellness; you try little blue pills and powdered rhino horn, but shouldn’t sexual nutrition be a little bit simpler? The truth is, eating the right nutrients to enhance your overall wellbeing – which everyone should be doing anyway – can also give your sex life a boost, unlike those mostly unproven aphrodisiacs. According to Beverly Whipple, PhD, RN, professor emeritus at Rutgers University and co-author of Science of Orgasm and The Orgasm Answer Guide, ‘One of the best things you can do to ensure a healthy sex life is to eat a well balanced diet.’ In fact, you’re probably eating many of the vitamins and nutrients that support a robust sex life right now—just not in sufficient quantities. Let’s take a look at a few dietary tips for bolstering your bedroom experience:

1. Eat a balanced breakfast: First thing in the morning, grab yourself a meal containing protein and fibre, such as peanut butter on whole wheat toast or yoghurt with fresh berries. Registered dietician Susan Kleiner, PhD, author of Power Eating, explains that as this combination takes your body a long time to digest, it gives you steady energy all morning and stops you making unhealthy food choices throughout the day. Why does this help your sex life? If you have more energy, you won’t be on a sugar-low, moody or grumpy, when you get home in the evening; you’ll be ready for action.

2. Avoid carbo-loading: While it may make sense to apply marathon logic to a lengthy bedroom session – e.g. eat carbohydrate-rich meals, like a bagel with cream cheese, before attempting to go the distance – loading up on carbs is actually disastrous for your sex life. Too many carbs will cause your blood sugar to spike and then plummet, leaving you sluggish and in the mood for nothing except a nap.

3. Hydrate: Kleiner points out, ‘If you’re low on fluids, you will be low on those important sexual fluids too. Drink a couple of cups of water when you rise in the morning after your overnight fast; this is the most dehydrated time of the day.’ Throughout the day, sip on low-calorie beverages and snack on high-water content foods to stay mentally and physically alert.

4. Don’t overdo the lattes: Yes, drinking plenty of water and other low-calorie beverages is key to having a healthy sex life, but downing caffeine like it’s going out of style will give you the jitters, meaning you’ll be in no mood for sex. Leslie Bonci, a registered dietician and director of sports medicine nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, warns, ‘Too much caffeine is a central nervous stimulant. You may end up chasing each other around the bed and be too wound up to get down to business!’

5. Eat chicken, fish, and lean protein: Without enough protein in your diet, your brain doesn’t emit enough dopamine—the neurotransmitter associated with feelings of happiness and romance. Kleiner recommends, ‘An active woman should have at least 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily. Divide your body weight in half, and that is the least amount of protein that you should have in a day.’

6. Lay off the red meat and processed baked goods: Lean protein is a big “yes” in the sexual wellness stakes, but the unhealthy saturated and trans fats found in red meat and processed baked goods, on the other hand, contribute to clogged arteries and lowered blood flow. Whipple comments, ‘When the blood supply is blocked, there is less blood flowing to the genitals. Women won’t feel as lubricated and will have less feelings of arousal.’

Categories: baked goods, better sex, breakfast, caffeine, calorie beverages, healthy sex, lean protein, processed baked, red meat, registered dietician, sex life, Sexual Wellness

Little Lifestyle Tweaks that Can Cause Major Weight Loss

You buy the books, you sign up to the classes and you even fill your cupboards with the lemongrass and bulgar wheat, but the second a colleague offers you a cupcake, that’s it; diet out the window. Surely there’s a better way to lose weight than going the whole hog and falling at the first hurdle? According to Marissa Lippert, RD, author of The Cheater’s Diet, making a few tweaks here and there, rather than taking the all-or-nothing approach, ‘can lead to more weight loss than you ever imagined.’ So, which of our dieters’ slim-down secrets can help your weight loss wellness in a real-world way?

 

1. Eat in a little more: Kerri Butler, of Joplin, Missouri, notes, ‘I used to eat out at restaurants up to nine times a week! By cutting back to just once a week and ordering a grilled chicken salad instead of a large bowl of pasta, I’ve lost 20 pounds in one month.’

 

2. You can buy salty snacks, just not at the supermarket: ‘I reached my goal weight after I stopped routinely buying snacks at the grocery store’ says Heather Del Baso, Worcester, Massachusetts. ‘If I wanted a bag of chips or a candy bar, I had to walk to the store to get it. That inconvenience usually made me ignore my cravings.’

 

3. Never skip breakfast: Bo Hale, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, explains, ‘I used to skip breakfast, but now I never go without. I always eat about 300 calories of a healthy mix of protein and whole grains. My go-to meal: a sandwich with natural peanut butter and apple butter. It keeps my hunger down so I snack less throughout the day. In a little over a year, I’ve shed 65 pounds.’

 

4. Run, Forrest, Run: ‘When I wanted to fit into my skinny jeans again, I started running 20 minutes a day during my lunch hour,’ says Lauren Castor, Anniston, Alabama. ‘In two months, I’ve lost 20 pounds, have tons of energy, and just finished my first 5K. Those jeans? They’re too big now!’

 

5. Just quit: Leila Fathi, Memphis, Tennessee, asserts, ‘I quit smoking, and right away joined a gym and started working out with a personal trainer. There was no way I could exercise and feel healthy if I kept lighting up. I’ve already dropped 37 pounds in three months!’

 

6. Purge your sins: ‘I totally cleaned out my pantry,’ Lori Feldman, Coconut Creek, Florida, remembers. ‘Once I replaced the foods I used to overindulge in, like ice cream, with lower-cal snacks, such as roasted sunflower seeds or Special K Chocolatey Delight cereal, I began making better choices automatically. Now, I’m slimmer than I was before I had my two kids!’

 

7. Turn happy hour into healthy hour: ‘After work, my colleagues and I always grabbed dinner—and it was usually deep-fried,’ admits Ellen Setzer of Cleveland, Ohio. ‘Then we changed things up. Instead of nights out, we started walking and running around a local track. A year later, I’m down 40 pounds.’

 

8. Let the music take control: ‘I loaded my iPod with jams that make me look forward to going to the gym,’ Kara Marshall, York, Maine, comments. ‘They energise me, allowing me to pick up speed on the elliptical—and because I want to hear my entire playlist, my workouts are longer now. Two months later, I’m down 13 pounds and have killer legs.’

 

9. Add a few veggies into the mix: Janessa Mondestin, New York City, New York, asserts, ‘By adding vegetables to the foods I love—like eating pizza topped with arugula and green peppers instead of pepperoni—I became so full so quickly that I no longer had room to eat things like chips or super-rich desserts. I said good-bye to four dress sizes!’

Categories: breakfast, Healthy, nbsp, pounds, pounds nbsp, Run, skip breakfast, snacks, ve lost, vegetables, weight, Weight Loss

Having a Continental Breakfast? Healthy Choices to Make

If you are travelling a lot, it can be hard to keep a handle on your diet and nutrition. Not everything that you are served up in a hotel is good for your wellness. Even something as innocent as a continental breakfast can be damaging for your wellbeing, as all those calories in the bagels and pastries start to add up.

 

There are ways to enjoy a continental breakfast without piling on the pounds, however, as there are often many different options available. If you know what you are doing you can avoid the fattiest products and stick to the healthier options.

 

For a start, most continental breakfasts include a fruit platter. If you are watching your weight or simply trying to be healthy, fill up on all this lovely fresh fruit, knowing that it is packed full of vitamins and nutrients and very low in calories.

 

Granola is also a good option. If you are going for this breakfast food then make sure that you keep your serving small, however, such as a half cup or less. It is packed full of healthy carbohydrates and good sugars, but it does also contain fats. Combine it with skimmed milk, fruit and low fat yoghurt to fill you up without too many calories.

 

Fresh fruit juice is usually available on the menu too. Go for the tomato or vegetable juice option, if possible, as these will fill up your stomach, pump you full of vitamins and minerals, but will not contain the number of calories that are usually present in the fruit juices.

 

You should do your best to avoid bagels, however, as these are absolutely packed with calories and that’s before you even add any topping. Steer clear too of bear claws and other sweet pastries, as they are pure sugar with very little nutrition.

Categories: breakfast, calories, calories nbsp, Continental, continental breakfast, fresh fruit, fruit, health, nbsp

Health Mistakes You"re Probably Making Every Day

Drinking Fruit Juice

The fruit you consume should be fresh. Reading the ingredient list on almost any fruit juice’s nutrition label will reveal that what is in the container bears little resemblance to what was originally picked off the tree or bush. What remains is mostly sugar, which wreaks havoc on your smile, your waistline and, when you find out you have cavities that need to be filled, your bank account. If you continue to consume such sugary liquids, you will have no choice but to enlist the aid of Indianapolis dentures and dental services that can provide you with dentures. You should drink water, green tea or black coffee instead.

 

Not Flossing

Your smile cannot survive on brushing alone. Flossing does about 40 percent of the work that is required to remove plaque—which, just as a reminder, is sticky bacteria—from your teeth. Setting aside a few minutes each day for flossing may seem like a waste. However, when the alternative is a root canal or some other painful, expensive dental procedure, the time investment seems like a great trade-off.

 

Eating Low-Fat or Fat-Free Foods

Contrary to popular belief, eating fat does not make you fat. In fact, unsaturated fats are an essential part of a well-balanced diet. Saturated fats, on the other hand, should be avoided. Most low-fat or fat-free foods (for example, fat-free peanut butter) are loaded with sugar to compensate for their lack of fat. If you are going to purchase such foods, read the label to make sure they are low in sugar, salt and other nutritionally worthless additives.

 

Not Getting Enough Sleep

Sleeping less may marginally improve your productivity in the short run. In the long run, though, skipping out on even a couple hours each night will weaken your immune system and reduce your mental acuity. You will also likely be quite grumpy, which will have a negative impact on your coworkers, family members and friends.

 

Skipping Breakfast

You should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a commoner, and dinner like a pauper. Being in a hurry is no excuse for skipping breakfast, which truly is the most important meal of the day. You should be eating generous servings of complex carbohydrates, protein and good fats to start your day off right. Foods such as unsweetened oatmeal, wheat toast, whole eggs or egg whites, natural peanut butter and Greek yogurt will provide you with a beginning-of-the-day boost and prevent mid-morning snack cravings.

Categories: breakfast, foods, free, free foods, Fruit Juice, health, Mistakes, nbsp, peanut butter, Skipping Breakfast, Sugar