Archive | Diet & Nutrition

The Importance of Combining Exercise With a Healthy Diet

There can be dozens of different factors that can sway things when you look at what goes into a healthy lifestyle that includes aerobics. Exercising rigorously will not reach its capability if healthy eating habits are not formed. Getting energized about working out and doing aerobic exercise goes hand in hand with eating well.

When it comes to staying and remaining in shape aerobics can go a long way with helping you realize your weight goals, but recognize that having a good meal everyday and watching your diet is going to play significant roles in the results you get.

Before you begin your weight loss and aerobic routine, make a commitment you are going to adapt and transform your eating habits.

Seek out your physician for what should be and shouldn’t be incorporated in your diet. After taking into account what is now going to be included in your new diet take action, and start a new beginning with your new healthy lifestyle. Once you have begun the process by first changing your diet plan you need to develop and start executing your aerobic workout routine. This is one of the more difficult steps in getting your workout routine down because people tend to not take action. Many will take action in the beginning, but sustaining this new routine is a another story.

Performing aerobic exercises properly burns fat so part of your new diet will need to incorporate proteins to help supplement for your new weight loss. This is why people will often find out their diet is not working for them. Not getting the proper nutrition during strenuous workouts can lead to a loss of energy and a break up of your exercise routine.

For that reason making a commitment and sticking to your new plan for improving your diet is what could determine how victorious you’re going to be. Make sure you get the proper nutrition by speaking to a experienced physician who specializes in dieting and more specifically to losing weight as a result of aerobic exercise.

It is all about giving yourself the best chance to succeed and accomplish your goals, and making sure you get plenty of water and good nutrition that supplements your aerobic exercise. All of these things will go a long way for you and you should see improvements in your lifestyle and how you feel as a result.

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

The Water Diet – Is It Safe and Does It Work?

The Water Diet has been around for quite a number of years now, and yet many people have no idea what it actually is or whether it can work. Many people believe it involves replacing food with water but this is not the case at all.

In this article we are going to discuss the two most important questions you should ask of any diet – ‘Does it work?’ and ‘Is it safe?’

Before we get to those questions, we will first discuss exactly what it involves.

Some people believe the Water Diet involves fasting and that drinking water will somehow make up for the harmful effects of not eating sufficiently. This is not the case. Fasting is not a safe or healthy, or indeed an effective in the long term, method of weight loss. Increasing water consumption while fasting will not make this a safe way to lose weight. No nutritionist will recommend fasting as a weight loss method, whether with water or without, for good reason. Thankfully, fasting plays no part in a Water Diet.

What the Water Diet actually is, to put it simply, is drinking a lot of water whilst eating normally or additionally following some other healthy diet. One popular method is to eat normally and drink an 8-oz glass of cold water shortly before every meal, another one during and another one shortly after. This is known as the Before, During and After Diet. A slight variation on this, and believed to be a more effective method, is to combine the water drinking with a more conventional diet that has been recommended by your nutritionist. In any case, the most important component of any Water Diet is that at least eight 8-oz glasses of cold water are drank every day.

At first glance it does not seem an effective way to lose weight. After all, how can drinking water lead to weight loss? However, there are some sound reasons why it may work and some recent research has shown that it does indeed have an effect on weight loss.

The research in question was carried out by Virginia Tech and was revealed at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) by the senior author Brenda Davy, Ph.D. The clinical trials showed that adults who drank two cups of water prior to their meals, whilst eating a low calorie diet, ate up to 90 calories less during the meal. Over the course of 12 weeks those who drank water lost around 44% more weight (about 5 pounds) than those who didn’t.

The most plausible theory is that by filling your body with water, you will not need to eat as much to feel satisfied which leads you to naturally eating less. Another reason people believe a Water Diet will work is that by drinking a lot of cold water, your body needs to burn more calories to warm the water to your body temperature. Whilst this is indeed true, the amount of calories used in this process is not a great amount and will not have a significant impact on weight loss.

So, that’s what it is and how it’s supposed to work, but does it actually work? Well, the short (and unhelpful) answer is yes and no. For some it has been very effective and for others, not so much. The main problem it seems is the large amount of water that needs to be drunk. Some people feel uncomfortable and bloated and combined with more frequent bathroom visits, this is enough to discourage them.

For others however, it can lead to great success. The most striking example, as reported by the media, was 41 year old Blake Silva. After a number of unsuccessful diets and weighing 270 pounds, he began a Before, During and After Diet in which he claims to have ate completely normally but drank up to 10 glasses of water every day. Over seven months he lost 70 pounds. There have been other reports of success also, although not quite so dramatic, with the amount of weight lost varying considerably between different people.

So, we know that it can work for some, but is the Water Diet safe? Well, the good news is, it is. Whilst drinking too much water can, in some rare cases, be harmful, it requires considerably more than 8 glasses to be drank to be dangerous. In fact, it is perfectly healthy and good for your body. Benefits to drinking more water include, amongst others, helping your body to detoxify, increasing your alertness and concentration and even helping you look young and healthy by helping to keep your skin hydrated.

Finally, does it work in the long term? Well, like any diet, it will only lead to long term changes if you don’t go back to the bad habits and lifestyle that lead to being overweight to begin with. That’s not to say you should remain on a permanent weight loss diet however. The best way to maintain a healthy weight is to eat healthy foods and exercise. There are many good articles on the subject of healthy living so I won’t go into detail but eating plenty fruit and vegetables and avoiding high fat foods is a great way to start. Combining this with even a little exercise, such as walking every day, will mean you are on the right track to avoiding the need for any future weight loss diets.

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

Muscle Building Diet – How to Get High Quality Protein to Turn Fat Into Muscle

Have you already bought into the theory your muscle building diet requires cans of protein supplements? Articles, magazines, and many bodybuilders will tell you it is required to spend your money and stock your shelves full of protein powders if you want to turn fat into muscle. It is all a big fat lie!

First let us get rid of one issue. You cannot turn fat into muscle. It is not possible. Your goal need to be to burn off your excess fat, and to build new muscle. Your exercise routine can be fueled by your excess fat, but to turn fat into muscle would require a magic wand.

Now, Let us turn to the issue of protein powders and supplements. Look carefully at the can of protein powder. Where does it get the protein from? Many times it comes from one of two sources, milk or eggs. If this can of dried protein is so good for your muscle building diet, then would it not be equally true eating the natural versions of protein is even better and healthier?

In the case of eggs, this would be very true. Egg whites are rich in protein and should be a part of every serious effort to build muscle, lose fat, and become strong. Throw away the egg yolks. They are too high in fat for our purposes. You can include one egg yolk in the morning if you’d like.

If you look back in history, you will find many top bodybuilders and strong men kept hard boiled eggs with them all the time. They would eat the egg whites throughout the day to give them high quality protein. Eggs are plentiful and cheap. Think about the price you pay for large can of protein, and you’ll quickly see your could buy many cartons of eggs for the same price.

Another great option is chicken breasts. This lean white meat is packed with protein and low on fat. When grilled with a great citrus marinade they are nutritious and will help you pack on the muscle. When you stock up on chicken breasts during a sale, you can fill your freezer with high quality protein for your muscle building diet very inexpensively. The quality of natural protein is always higher than the canned, processed, and dried equivalent.

Grilled fish needs to be part of your muscle building diet, also. If you have not been a fish lover in the past, you need to change your methods of preparation. Fish grilled outside with a little lemon or lime flavoring is delicious, and provides some of the highest quality protein available.

I mentioned many dry protein supplements come from milk. This is one area I’ll recommend you do not use heavily as a source of protein. Milk is high in lactose, a form of sugar. When you are trying to get burn fat, build muscle, and get ripped, lactose is not going to help. Having a little dairy every day is fine, but don’t use it as a major source of your protein.

I understand eating natural protein is going to take a bit more work on your part than buying cans of processed supplements. You need to make a decision, isn’t nutrition just as important as your workout? You spend more hours per week in the gym than other people to make a statement with your body. Spending a few more minutes in the kitchen to have the highest quality protein possible must become a part of your muscle building diet.

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

The Proper Nutrition For Bodybuilding

A successful muscle building routine will always need to include a proper diet. People who lack experience with weight training tend to place a lot of importance on the types of exercises, and the way the exercises are put together in a routine. The reality is that mental focus and discipline, along with awareness about proper nutrition for bodybuilding are far more important elements.

Your body will react to almost any sort of exercise, or repetitive motion by increasing your strength and endurance fairly quickly. However, this will not happen if you don’t apply proper nutrition for bodybuilding success.

If your body is lacking in protein, carbohydrates, water and body fat — your metabolism will not allow your body to go into an anabolic (muscle building state).

Protein

The most commonly talked about element of nutrition for bodybuilding: You need to consume approximately 0.5 – 1 grams of protein, per pound of body weight. Whey protein supplements, along with beef, chicken or pork are all great sources of high quality protein.

Carbohydrates

When your body is lacking in either carbohydrates (carbs) or fat stores, it consumes its muscle tissue to maintain energy levels. How many carbs you should be getting will depend on your metabolism. Many slim people with very little body fat, can consume an endless amount of carbs and never gain fat and may need 4 grams of carbs per pound of body weight in order to build muscle. People with higher body fat will likely only require 1 or 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight to gain muscle.

Water

There is no reason to focus on proper nutrition for bodybuilding if you’re dehydrated. Your muscles and digestive system need water to get the job done.

Body Fat

If your body fat percentage is low, that means your body isn’t getting enough extra calories to produce fat. While this is desirable for many people, bodybuilding for muscle gain requires your body to be satisfied with the amount of calories you’re consuming, so it can go into an anabolic state.

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

Health Fitness Nutrition – Tips and Advice

If you are looking to get in a shape or just want to learn a few tips and advise on how to improve your diet and exercise routine, the issue of health fitness nutrition is one of extreme importance. Health fitness nutrition means eating the right foods and getting the right amount of exercise, to attain and maintain a healthy body weight and keep your self esteem and self confidence high.

If you find yourself interested about health fitness nutrition and creating a proper health nutrition system for yourself, the first thing you are going to need is do is learn about what foods you are currently eating, eliminate the bad ones from your diet, and include the ones that you should be eating. To attain the best health fitness nutrition, you should start a food diet before you start making changes. Write down a plan for an entire week of what you eat every day. And then at the end of the week, see what you have written, and you will be surprised with the results.

The majority of people do not realize how much bad food they are eating or simply how much they are eating until they simply keep track of it all and take a look at what they are in reality putting into their bodies on a regular basis.

For the proper health fitness nutrition, you are going to have to come up with a proper exercise routine. This means you have to go through a routine that is not only effective, but one that you are going to be able to work and stick with.

For example, if you work full time and only have the evenings off, it is obvious that you will not be able to go to the gym during the day. It is important that you coordinate your health fitness nutrition exercise plan your life, and your life alone.

If you require the help of a professional such as a nutritionist or a personal trainer, this would be a wise decision as they would be able to help you out immensely. Just make sure that you check their credentials before agreeing to do business with them. When hiring a professional, you are going to want to make sure that you get the best one if you want to achieve spectacular results.

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

What is Proper Nutrition?

Most people do not have proper nutrition because they do not know what it is. It is very common for the average person to not know what is good for them and what is not. Knowing what is best for you can be an extremely difficult. This article will briefly describe what proper nutrition is and how you can achieve it.

This is most commonly known as eating correctly or dieting. Diets are formed to fit the specific needs of people. Some people have disorders like diabetes, therefore they have certain diet plans they should stick to. This diet plan does not represent good nutrition, it meets their needs.

Nutrition does not have to mean dieting. This means eating what is the healthiest choice. This can be many different things for people and can change over time, however there is a basic plan that physicians recommend. This plan is fit for the average person and consists of eating a balanced food diet.

Most people remember the triangle chart that states how much and what kind of food you should eat on a daily basis. This is known as the food pyramid. The food pyramid is very important when eating proper. Other things that should be taken into consideration are fiber, fat, cholesterol, and calories. Some diets only focus on one or two of these things, whereas proper nourishment will take everything into considerations.

The food pyramid that was previously mentioned consists of six sections. These sections start at the bottom of the triangle and continuously get smaller. At the bottom is the bread, cereal, rice, and pasta group. This means that you should have much more of this in your daily diet than anything else. The second from the bottom section is split into two. Those two sections are fruits and vegetables. The next row consists of poultry and dairy products. On the top are fish, oils, and sweets. This pyramid is very important to good nourishment.

Now that the basics of good foods have been explained, it is time to put everything together. Proper eating is not about dieting; it is about a proper diet. When thinking of nutrition weight, lifestyle, and dislikes should all be taken into consideration. After deciding these things, people can begin to look at the food aspect. People should get the right amount of all the things in the food pyramid. These food groups are separated into portion and should never be forgotten. For example, everyday people should get 2 – 3 serving of dairy products. The next step is to add in the rationing of fiber, fat, cholesterol, and calories. The best way to do this is to consult a family physician. Your family doctor will most likely know you the best and be able to tell you the proper portions for you.

Good nutrients are a very complex thing. It should be taken into consideration every time you take a bite of food. People that do not eat properly are more likely to become subject to health problem. Proper nutrition is very important and is crucial for living a healthy life.

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

Exercise For Weight Loss – Why Exercise is Better Than Dieting When You’re Trying to Lose Weight

There is some debate these days as to the best and most effective way to lose weight. Basically there are really only two sides to the debate. Is dieting better or is exercise better?  Now we all know that a combination of both is what’s needed, but if you consider which method actually gives better results over the long term there is only one winner. Exercise for weight loss wins hands down for a number of reasons.

1) Doing something positive Vs eliminating something negative. When we begin to exercise we are actively doing something positive to create a change in our life. As we continue to do this positive thing it begins to spread into other areas of our life. We start to take better care of ourselves generally and look for other positive additions we can make to make out life work better.

In the case of dieting while we may be adding healthy foods (a very positive thing) the mind set most people have in relation to dieting is giving up so called “negative” foods. Most people rebel against giving up stuff. If you are a comfort eater and then you try and force yourself, or pay someone else to force you, to give up your favourite foods you wont like it even if it is in your best interest. And things we don’t like we tend to avoid as much as possible and give up as soon as possible.

2) Exercise builds muscle VS dieting removes fat. The world is full of skinny saggy people. These are the people who have emphasised dieting and not exercise as their weight loss method. Sure the fat is a lot less and they are 30lbs lighter, but there is nothing under the sagging skin.

If these people had chosen exercise then there would be muscle there. Less weight and fat and more muscle makes for a hotter bod. Skinny and saggy does not.

3) Exercise for life Vs dieting for tomorrow. Once you get into the habit of exercise believe it or not it’s actually fun to do. You begin to create fitness and strength type goals rather than pounds lost goals or how many calories I didn’t eat today. Just getting active and moving again makes you feel good and is much easier to keep as a part of your ongoing healthy lifestyle.

Dieting for the most part is looked on as a short term solution. It obviously isn’t because we should be very mindful of what we eat and try to optimize our diets to help us live longer and healthier lives. But for most people dieting is something they try to get finished as quickly as possible so they can get back to the normal life just weighing less.

To create the body transformation you desire and lose the weight you want to lose obviously a combination of diet and exercise will work best. But as a way to lose weight now and improving your health and well being for years to come exercise for weight loss really kicks dieting butt.

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

Fitness, Exercise, and Diet Tips to Improve Overall Health

Obesity is becoming a larger problem not only among adults but children as well. Our lifestyles do not always permit us to have the time and/or energy to fit in exercise to our daily routine. Eating habits have conformed to what is easy and convenient, not what is healthy. People are bombarded by a plethora of information on exercise and fitness from numerous sources. Many do not have the time to gather all of the information in order to establish a solid workout routine to improve their fitness. This is a problem because an individual’s overall fitness can affect their health.

So what do I mean by overall fitness? In my opinion, overall fitness is comprised of three factors: activity, diet, and motivation. Activity is essentially how active you are. Do you exercise regularly, play sports, or take part in some sort of activity that could be designated as exercise? Weight lifting, biking, swimming, running, playing basketball, or taking a yoga class would all fall under activity in overall fitness. Although, it is not limited to these activities mentioned. The more active you are, the better your overall fitness will be.

The second component is diet. People tend to sometimes claim ignorance on this aspect. Many people tell me, “I just don’t know how to eat healthy.” Eating healthy in large part is simply common sense. I think the average person knows that grilled chicken and vegetables is healthier than eating a hamburger and fries. We sometimes say we don’t know when we really do. Calorie consumption and portion control are also two key elements in an individual’s diet. Nutrition facts on the items we buy will help with these two elements. Many times the serving portions are smaller than most of us are probably used to. The key is not to totally deprive yourself of everything because then you set yourself up for failure. You can eat desserts, french fries, and pizza but the key is doing it in moderation.

The last component of overall fitness is motivation. This is probably the most important component of the three. Why you ask? Well think about it, if you are not motivated to exercise and eat right, then how are you going to improve your fitness? The two most difficult aspects to motivation are getting started and staying consistent. Many people will keep putting off exercising or changing their diet. The key is to just start it. You don’t have to do it on the first day of the week or month. You can start right now.

The second aspect of motivation is staying consistent. Now that you have chosen to start exercising and eating right, it’s time to maintain it. Incorporate eating healthy and exercising into your daily routine. Make it part of your day just like working or going to school is. If you set a routine, you will be more likely to follow it.

All of these aspects of your overall fitness of course can be broken down even further. It’s important to focus on each one of these and try to improve each of them. If you can do that, you’re well on your way to improving your overall fitness.

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

1200 Calorie Diabetic Exchange Diet Allows Variations of Food

A 1200 calorie diabetic diet limits intake of carbohydrates, fats and proteins so that you get only 1200 calories per day and nothing more than that. You can use this diet to control blood sugar or to lose weight. You can take the help of a registered dietitian to plan your diet. While planning your diet always keep in mind that instead of large meals take small meals and increase number of meals, for example replace the regular three meal pattern (that is breakfast, lunch and dinner) with a six meal pattern by adding snacks between the meals. Always give preference to fresh food instead of refined and processed foods. Drink lots of water because it is calorie free and helps to flush away the toxins.

A 1200 calorie diet healthy breakfast will include one wheat bread with low fat butter or a cup of cereal with a boiled egg and one small fruit. For a lunch options are mixed salad, baked potato, and French bread pizza. You can also include some vegetables like broccoli, bell peppers, cabbage etc. For a dinner choose grilled chicken or fish and pasta salad or mix vegetable salad with some dressing. To ensure the right quantities of these foods you can take the help of a dietitian.

To plan a 1200 calorie diet above food list is not compulsory and you can make variation of foods and also manage calorie intake. This can be done with the exchange system. The exchange food system provides information about food content from which you can easily estimate calories in any food. It also helps to maintain the balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats throughout the day. Before developing diet plans you must know your nutritional requirement in terms of calories, then select the food from exchange list and plan your daily meal according to your calorie requirement.

The exchange system contains six different lists of foods and food from each exchange group is well defined so that one serving of each food contains the same amount of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat. These groups are starch/bread, vegetables, fruit, milk, meat and fat. From each food list a certain number of exchange choices are allowed, but amount and type of these exchanges are based on a daily exercise, insulin injections, blood pressure and body weight. The food substitution can be done only within an exchange list but not between lists even if they have the same calorie count. In the exchange lists some foods are free; these foods contain less than 20 calories per serving.

In 1200 calorie diet you can include per day five exchanges of starch/bread exchange group, two exchanges of vegetable group, three exchanges of fruit group, two exchanges of milk group, four exchanges of meat and three exchanges of fat group. Each exchange of starch/bread group contains 80 calories. In vegetable exchange group each group contains 5 grams of proteins, 5 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber. In fruit exchange group each exchange contains about 60 calories. For a diabetic 1200 calorie diet avoid artificially sweetened milk and include skim or very low-fat milk and milk substitutes. When you choose meat remove the fat before cooking. You can include high fat meat exchanges maximum three times a week. Include fat exchange in very small amount. In this calorie diet avoid saturated and Trans fatty acid instead of that choose polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats.

Drink lots of water because it is calorie free and helps to flush away the toxins. Did you know that flavored carbonated water has no calories, sugar, body, sweetener, color or preservatives?

The taste is fantastic, extremely refreshing and gives diabetics a great drink without any carbohydrates. Read more about flavored carbonated water concentrate at carbonatedseltzerwater

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

Natural Bodybuilding Tips – How to Build a Workout Routine For Fast Muscle Building Results

To build muscle, it takes determination, consistency, the proper nutrition, and a smart weight lifting routine, to obtain the muscular physique of a natural bodybuilder.

On this page, I will shed light on the proper measures each individual should take, in order to achieve a well rounded, muscular, striated physique.

Here’s a list of my top suggestions for building a workout routine for the fastest muscle building results:

1. Never over train. What is over training? Over training is when you do not allow your body the proper rest or days off to fully recuperate and rebuild. Try training every other day for no longer than 60 minutes in each workout.

2. Pick 4 exercises for each body part, and rest for no longer than 2 minutes between each workout set.

3. It isn’t necessary to work any muscle group more than once a week. When it comes to building a workout routine, more is not always better.

4. 10 repetitions for your first set is a perfect amount.

5. 4 sets for every exercise movement is plenty.

6. Try pairing two body parts per workout.

7. Add cardio after your weight training, or on some of your off days for extra fat loss. About 30 minutes of cardio is plenty at high intensity.

8. If you’re the type that counts calories, then 15 calories for every 1 pound of body weight is a good amount for building muscle, and losing body fat.

9. Change your routine completely every few weeks to give your muscles variety. I change my workout routine every 3 or 4 weeks.

10. Oxygen is important during your lifts; make sure to breathe in on the downward motions, and then breathe out on the upward motions.

11. Basic workout gear that gets the job done just fine includes: Barbells, dumbbells, pull-up bar, and of course a workout bench with weights.

12. When performing your repetitions, try to make sure that you are fully engaging the muscle by fully concentrating on the intended muscle group that you are working.

13. Make sure you get a full range of motion when performing any exercise.

14. Make sure you warm your muscles up by stretching before you begin your workout.

15. Always make sure you enjoy your workout routine. Never hesitate tweaking your routine occasionally to better suite your needs. It’s crucial to enjoy your workouts because a better routine allows for better muscular contractions.

I hope this helps you gain some nice results. Apply all of this information and I assure you that your muscle building results will come a lot faster!

Thanks for reading.

Posted in Diet & Nutrition0 Comments

/html