Diet Plan 1-2-3 » healthy diet

Achieving the abs of your dreams

GuestPoster — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:15:07 +0000

You might want to have a body that looks like models in the magazines or you just want to slim down Remember that how much you want to achieve your goal, also determines your preparation. Dreaming small would lead to failure and stagnation. Try to dream big and get a six pack abs.

Here are some ways on how to actually get it

Don’t go for just crunches when you know that they don’t work when you have fats in the area. Belly fats are the greatest enemy of establishing a six pack. Try to lose them first. The best way to do so is to do Cardio Exercise and also proper diet.

Cardio exercise is a way to burn fats. You can do any activities as long as it meets the criteria, which is to make you sweat and make your heart beat fast. The list goes on for cardio exercise, which includes jogging, running, swimming, playing basketball or even walking. The key element is to do them regularly and in a specific amount of time. To be effective you should do at least 30 to 60 minutes cardio exercise daily or at least 5 times a week.

Proper diet includes eating healthy fruits and vegetables. This simple diet requires eating small amount of food but frequently. This is a way to promote metabolism and reduce hunger. Don’t go for weight loss pills or other fad diets that require you to not eat certain food groups. The healthy diet is the best way to flatten your abs. Fast food and junk foods contains empty calories, this means they give you more calories and lesser nutrients, which means more weight gain and belly fats. The way to handle them is to minimize your serving size. Either by sharing or going small size servings instead of regulars or large size meals.

This is the key of flattening abs. After this you can start your workouts. The best six pack workouts include the basics which are crunches, bicycling, and leg raise and their variations. Do this at least 3 times a week, but if you really want to reach your goals of having a six pack then do them 4 times a week and do the repetitions in increasing style. With this you can surely see those abs formed in a short span of time.

Don’t Let Your Salad Be Your Diet Downfall

GuestPoster — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:56:04 +0000

You know that person. The, “I’m just going to have a salad,” person. The one who is giving themselves a pat on the back for getting the healthiest menu option when eating out. Unfortunately, there are some big salad misconceptions in this day and age.

Does your “healthy” salad look something like this? You start with greens, (perfect choice), next is a plethora of veggies and fruit, (way to go), some kidney beans, eggs, and ham, (starting to creep up those calories…), and then it’s all down hill from there…macaroni/mayo coated salad, hoards of cheese, about an inch of full-fat ranch dressing covering the entire plate, topped off with sunflower seeds, bacon bits, and croutons. These aren’t exactly the fat burning foods that are going to help your diet.

Let’s do some math shall we?
Lettuce 2 cups = 20 calories
6 cherry tomatoes = 10 calories
1/4 cup green peppers = 5 calories
1/4 cup peas = 30 calories
1/4 cup cucumbers = 10 calories
1/4 cup pineapple = 30 calories
1/4 cup kidney beans = 55 calories
1 boiled egg = 70 calories
1/2 cup macaroni salad = 180 calories
1/4 cup cheddar cheese = 110 calories
1/4 cup ranch dressing = 300 calories
1/4 cup croutons = 47 calories
1/8 cup sunflower seeds = 100 calories
1/8 cup bacon bits = 60 calories

Grand total? 1,037 calories…hmmm….should have gone with a personal pan pizza. A personal sized cheese pizza has about 600 calories…still not the best option, but better than that “healthy salad” you’re eating.

Some other shockers…
California Pizza Kitchen’s Thai Crunch Salad with Avocado = 2,238 calories
T.G.I. Friday’s Santa Fe Chicken Salad = 1,800 calories
IHOP Chicken, Spinach and Apple Salad = 1,600 calories
Cheesecake Factory Chicken Caesar Salad = 1,510
Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad = 1,430
Einstein Bros. Bistro Salad with Chicken = 940 calories
Panera Tomato & Mozzarella Salad (w/fat free dressing) = 920 calories
Quiznos Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard = 1,070 calories
Do these numbers shock you? They should.

How to de-calorize your salad.
- Load up on the greens. Go for The leafy greens vs. the ice berg lettuce. They are low calorie and they are GOOD for you.
- Other “low-cal” veggies: beets, peppers, red cabbage, carrots tomatoes, cucumbers, sprouts, onions, peas, mushrooms. You can eat TONS of these for low calorie counts.
- Fruit can be a good option as well. It can be higher in calories, but is still a good choice: Try pineapple, apples, mandarin orange sections, grapes, berries. etc.
- Pick one good source of protein:
Chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, tuna, lean ham, beans, edamame.
(Although you might think it smart to load up on the protein, you are more so just loading up on the calories. Stick with just one, and watch your portions.)
- Try to limit yourself with the high calorie add ons…
Nuts, croutons, pasta, pepperoni, fried noodles, any sort of pre-made creamy salad.
- If possible…avoid cheese. It’s a waste of your calories, and it’s too easy to go overboard.
- Be salad dressing smart! Try to go for fat-free, low-fat versions of salad dressings if possible. It’s always a better option to get it on the side. Always. That way you can just dip your fork in and use the dressing at your discretion. If you pour it all over the salad, you’ll be eating all of it. That is just the way it is. If you just can’t live without your full fat dressing for sure put it on the side, and try mixing half regular dressing with half low fat. You probably won’t even be able to tell the difference!

A healthy salad can be a great meal, and a great way to get in some solid fruit and veggie servings. Just be an “aware” salad eater! Continue reading for more healthy eating tips to lose belly fat

Healthy Weight Loss Has Many Advantages

Diet Plan — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:15:51 +0000

Everybody today is talking about health, beauty, and looking great. In fact, there are many people that are overweight these days, so healthy weight loss seems to be on everyone’s mind. Unfortunately, there are ways to lose some of that unwanted weight that are not healthy ways. If you choose to follow some of the unhealthy methods, not only can you wind up less healthy than you started out, you are likely to gain the weight back, as well.

Take it Slow and Easy

In terms of Food – There are really no quick and easy way when it comes to healthy weight loss. One has to note that when it comes to losing weight correctly, the body needs to adapt and this is done slowly. Here, weight loss should be thought as changing one’s eating habits forever rather than in a couple of weeks. Any drastic change could lead to crash diet.

In terms of Exercises – Do not come up with a rigorous exercise plan because this would not achieve its purpose. Instead, pick an exercise or activity you enjoy doing and do it consistently over time.

Never Eliminate Food from the Equation

Do not even think of eliminating food or beginning to take only drinks as a route to healthy weight loss. This is very dangerous. In the short term, it might make you lose a few pounds, look and feel lighter but in the real sense you are not shedding fat but instead muscle. This usually leaves you with more body fat than you started with.

Maintain A Healthy and Adequate Diet

To successfully undergo a healthy fat loss, the adoption of a healthy and adequate diet in terms of quality and quantity cannot be over-emphasized. One’s diet should be composed of the essentials such as calcium, grains, fruits, etc.

Pick an Exercise You Like

The increment of one’s activity level is very fundamental to healthy weight loss. Eating healthily and sufficiently alone cannot help tone the body and keep it in shape. There exists numerous ways in heightening the amount of activity that one does. The most helpful thing to do is discovering what one enjoys doing and adequate steps in doing it regularly and consistently. This way one would not get tired or fearful doing it.

Let me site a few examples here: Assuming you are a person that enjoys visiting parks, tourist centers, etc., then try taking a walk in the mornings, visiting parks, jogging, running etc., and make this a self-imposed tradition. If you are one that is in love with exercises that make you feel at ease, then try Yoga or Pilates. These exercises though are low-paced, they help one to healthy weight reduction, as well as toning and shaping the body.

Healthy Diet Menu for the Real World

Diet Plan — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:43:13 +0000

A healthy diet menu is something that most people know they SHOULD be incorporating. More than likely you know what sort of items comprise a healthy diet menu, too. The problem is putting it all together and consistently eating healthy the majority of the time. I say “the majority of the time” because you do need to live a little. Everyone should have an occasional indulgence. I’m not the diet dictator. Even I’ve been known to scarf down a handful of potato chips to squelch a PMS-induced salty craving. Hey, I’m only human!

3 Simple Steps to Organize A Healthy Diet Menu

These are some really easy ways to follow a healthy diet menu:

Step 1: Sit down and map out what you’ve got in the fridge or what you need to buy to plan out your meals for the whole week. You plan so many other things in your life.

Spending 15 minutes to sit down and create your menu for the week is no big deal. This is the start of a healthy lifestyle. There’s even a show on the Food Network that helps you plan out easy healthy meals for a week with minimal time and ingredient preparations. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of it. I think it might be Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller. She has a recipe book, too.

Step 2: Avoid processed and packaged foods. You’ve got to realize that while a lot of these “items” (I can’t really classify them as food) are tasty, they have ingredients which actually work against your weight loss success. Even the ones that are low fat or low calories. I know they now have these little bags in 100 calorie servings. The problem is that it’s still 100 calories of crap that you don’t need. Your body gets nothing beneficial. I used to use the Rice-a-Roni(mmm, chicken “flavored”) out of the box. Then when I discovered that it was filled with preservatives and junk (duh! Of course it is) I made the switch to buying a nice, pure rice. Plus, it’s cheaper.

For convenience, look for one that doesn’t take an hour to cook. And no, minute rice does not count. NO enriched white rice. Jasmine or basmati varieties are healthful and taste good. I’ve found some that take only 15 minutes to prepare.

Step 3: Incorporate variety! A wide array of brightly colored fruits and vegetables can make following a healthy diet menu, fun, pretty, and tasty. Blueberries and broccoli are considered “super foods” because of all their wonderful health benefits.

The goal of a successful healthy diet menu is to be well balanced and increase your intake of vital minerals, vitamins, and other necessary nutrients. You’ll feel more energized and start looking trimmer in no time. Plus, it’s just a great thing to do for yourself and your family.

Steps Towards Leading A Healthy Life

Diet Plan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:18:44 +0000

It is correctly said that health is wealth. The realization that the quality of our life depends on the quality of our health is bringing about a lot of change in people’s lifestyles. To remain healthy, we need to take care of various aspects of our life. It is no rocket science that a healthy diet and moderate exercise are the two golden rules of leading a healthy life; we get to listen to that from almost everyone. The catch, however is that what kind of diet and how much exercise is essential to maintain a perfect balance in our body.

The levels of stress in our life are on the rise with every passing day. It is this stress along with the lack of time that results in most of us ignoring our body and thus our health. We often indulge in fast foods instead of healthy meals because they are simple and convenient ways to fill ourselves up. The irony is that these fast foods are not as fast, when it comes to digestion. Also, they contain only empty calories that do our body no amount of good. In fact, over a long period of time, they only make us obese and unhealthy.

In order to keep ourselves away from any such situation, the only saving grace is that we take charge of our eating habits and watch what kind of food we provide to our body. Most of us stay away from healthy food because we live under the misconception that these foods can never taste good. The fact however is that healthy food can also be as delicious as any other fast food, sometimes even more. Healthy recipes are very easy to find all over the internet. These recipes help you come up with the most amazing tasting dishes, which are not only healthy, but also good to look at and irresistible to eat. Healthy food boosts your energy levels as opposed to the high calorie fast foods, which tend to slow you down.

For people, who are intending weight loss, these recipes prove to be a bane. There are a lot of websites that provide hundreds of free recipes for weight watchers, along with their calorie count. You can experiment with all the possible options and enjoy the process of cooking yourself and your loved ones a healthy yet delicious meal. This process will eventually turn into a habit and you will never have to worry about health issues again.

Have all of us not had acidity problems in our lives? This comes from the acid-alkaline imbalance in our bodies. Due to our unhealthy lifestyles, the acids in our body supercede the alkalis and these result in the damage, which is caused to the cells of our body. Hence, to keep our body in good position, we should try to maintain a balance in acids and alkalis. Alkaline water promises to do just that.

This water is structured and ionized in such a way that it helps to raise the level of alkalis in our body. It is with the intake of this water that we can ensure that our body contains same levels of acids and alkalis.

A Lesson in Eating the Right Way. Helpful Information to Remember

Diet Plan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:41:58 +0000

It possibly comes to you as naturally as breathing—the art of eating. However, you might never have been taught about eating the right way. This is vitally important for the reason that, unless you learn to eat well, you may never master the art of dieting. In our society, certain wrong eating habits have become normally. By attacking these habits, you can boost the likelihood that you will actually lose weight.

To begin with, it is significant that you learn to eat slowly. At the start, this might be completely a challenge. We have been conditioned to live in a fast food world. We rush meals in order to have time to run to soccer practice, to a piano recital, or to school and work. We think that rushing saves us time—but such a habit can easily backfire, leaving us with unwanted pounds. Studies have shown that at least 10 minutes is required before the brain receives the message that the stomach is full. This means that you could be eating long after you are actually satiated. Your meal—whether it’s in the morning, afternoon, or evening—should last at least ten minutes. Train yourself to lengthen your meal by engaging in conversation, resting your fork between courses, chewing slowly, and drinking plenty of water between courses. You should also wait at least ten minutes after your main meal before deciding if you need dessert. Within that period of time, you may discover that you weren’t really hungry after all.

Another trick is to place serving dishes on the counter and leave them there. So, you’ll actually have to get up out of your seat in order to get more food. You may decide that it’s not worth the bother. Or you may find that you discover that you need no more food between courses. Additionally, do not eat directly from an ice cream carton, tortilla chip bag, or cracker box. Otherwise, you could find yourself easily overeating.

You should always eat at the table. This prevents you from trying to engage in multi-tasking, such as surfing the ‘Net, watching television, or flipping through magazines while you have a meal. At the table, you’ll be forced to concentrate on how much food you are putting into your mouth. If you eat wherever else, you may lose track of how much food you’re consuming.

Leave behind the idea that you must clean your plate. It is purely not true. Study has shown that more than half of adults require cleaning their plates, even when they are already full. This means that you are overeating merely out of respect. Such a habit only serves to add unwanted pounds. Instead of cleaning your plate, try eating only that portion of food that makes you feel full. You’ll be healthier and happier that way.

Do not keep food in plain view during the day. If the cookie jar is open or the pretzel bag is out on the table, you’ll have a incredible impulse to eat, even if you are not hungry. Following a meal, put your food away in the refrigerator, inside your cupboard, or in the Lazy Susan. This way, you’ll in fact have to do some work to get at food before you eat it.

If you happen to eat too much, don’t spend a great deal of time sulking. Accept your fault and move on. If you’ve veered off course, take corrective action and forget about it. Otherwise, you could find yourself eating out of disappointment, or going off your diet entirely. It’s better to sabotage a single meal than a lifetime’s worth of meals.

You may be self-conscious at first as you try to change your eating habits. Realize that your bad habits did not start overnight, so it will take some time to fix them. While it may seem an hard task at the start, it is well worth the attempt. You’ll quickly find that your new eating habits have helped you to lose unnecessary weight. Granted, such techniques as hiding your food and eating more slowly will not in themselves cause you to lose weight, but they will help you to curb your overeating over the long run. And you’ll be a better person for it.

Visit this blog in order to know more about effective weight loss!

Stay healthy and fit! Visit this blog in order to know a lot of useful info about weight loss!

Discover how to lose weight fast!

Eat Healthy On The Run

Diet Plan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:26:25 +0000

Ever get tired of that same old question “What is for dinner?”

This week you have just started a new commitment to yourself that you are going to eat healthy and start exercising and you’ve just gotten off work after a seemingly endless day. It’s been hectic and you still have a million things to do; pick up the kids, walk the dog, get your work out in, go to some recital or game, or do your laundry. You know, the never ending list of “should do’s” or “gotta get done’s” that make it seem as if there is just not enough time in a day. You have been so good all week and hate to blow it. It’s hard to always been good when you’ve had long day. The last thing you want to do is try to find some time to go shopping and make a healthy dinner!

It is ever so tempting to skip your workout and run through a fast food joint just to make your day just a little be faster and easier. After all you have had a hard day and deserve a break, right? However, you know that you’d feel better sticking to your promise to yourself and your family to eat healthier. So what do you do?

If you are like me you probably end up at a sub sandwich shop ordering some chicken bacon ranch sandwich, justifying to yourself “It is not total junk food, it’s not fried and I got the baked chips.” Then to compensate you add another 15 minutes to your power walk out of the time you saved from not making dinner. Yea, you know who you are. That is ok. We all do it. It is my goal to reduce the amount of times a week I do this. So how does one keep from being in this situation? Prepare.

Preparing for “What’s for Dinner?”

I am not a person who likes to pre-plan every meal for the week. I am not very organized and I never really know what I am going to be in a mood to eat so planning the menu for the entire week is difficult for me. If you are like me here are a few things that I have found helpful in answering the “What’s for diner?” question in a more healthy way.

Find some recipes that you can make for dinner in 30 minutes or less. There are loads of healthy dinner ideas on the web. Keep the basic ingredients for simple, fast recipes stocked in your kitchen. You need to take the time to plan and shop. This doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking but remember you are also trying to create healthier eating habits so some changes have to be made.

Make extra portions that can be frozen or refrigerated and reheated or cooked later. Make twice the recipe and then freeze half for later. Make an extra big salad keeping the extra for later in the week. Pre-cook chicken breast that can be chopped and added to the salad or can be used a quick wrap or sandwich. Have quick healthy snacks on hand that you can grab and take with you; fruit, cheese sticks, nuts, veggie sticks, cooked chicken or turkey breast, protein bars, etc. This will allow you to not be as hungry until you return home and get something healthy. These are a few things that have helped me eat healthier and has helped to keep me from the fast food drive thrus and I am the least organized domestic engineer on the planet.

Can You Start Losing Weight Quickly Without Risking Your Health?

Diet Plan — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:48:49 +0000

Are you concerned about the health risks of losing weight quickly? It is not easy to lose weight quickly but if it’s done correctly it can be accomplished!

The first thing you need to do is to spend some time on your diet. Now, you don’t want to try and change your diet dramatically because this is definitely not going to help you achieve anything, except making your body lose energy fast and make you feel bad. You need to sit down and determine what you eat every day and figure out what little changes you can make to your diet to make it healthier.

Eating a healthy diet every day is vital to losing weight, but you have to be smart about it or you can be doing more damage than you are good. It is always wise to do some research about the type of foods to help you lose weight quickly. Then plan your diet for the immediate future and always remember you can make changes to it to meet your goals for the most weight loss possible.

The second most important thing is to exercise on a regular basis. This doesn’t mean you have to go to your local fitness center for an hour every day. This means that you need to add a little physical activity to your days because keeping your body moving will help you to burn calories and lose the fat.

So, start out by taking a short walk each day and then increasing it how far you walk as you can handle it; Get an exercise bike and hop on it when you watch television, or do any physical exercise you enjoy that will help you lose weight fast. The important thing to remember is that you have to exercise on a regular basis if you want to lose weight.

These are the most important things for you to do and remember when you want to start losing weight quickly without endangering your health. Weight loss is not going to be easy for anyone, but it is definitely possible to lose it and to do it in a quick way if you are smart about how you do it. So, get started today so you can start losing the weight you want to immediately.

—————————————————-
Are you desperate to lose weight quickly? Gerda Peter eliminates the pain and hassle of losing weight with the best weight loss strategies online today. Plus you get all kinds of free information here too!

http://secretslimmingtips.com

Better Nutrition for a Healthy Life

Diet Plan — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:07:02 +0000

How many times do you say that you have finished meal only to pick up another piece of food and eat it? Many people do this on a regular basis and they have programmed their mind to believe that there is always more to come simply by the actions that they are taking on a regular basis.

It makes no difference what you say to other people or what you try to have them believe. It is not helping you one bit to tell everyone that you won’t be eating any more cake. What counts is what you do and whether you are doing what you say you will do.

Eat right

Starting on an exercise routine and taking care to improve your nutrition is the best way to turn back the body clock and it is never too late to start winding back the years. Obviously the sooner you start the better but starting is the essential ingredient that you need right now.

Lifestyles create the body we have to live with and the effects of poor lifestyle choices are multiplied as we age because the abuse that we have been giving our body through poor food choices throughout our life accumulates with fat and other health related problems like heart disease and osteoporosis .

Hormonal changes in the body can also affect the shape that you are in but there is one thing that always remains the same at all ages – If you consume too much food and alcohol you will put on more fat .

Lose weight

You need to understand from reading this that you won’t be able to get the look of rock hard abs by using the latest advertised abdominal machine each day if the muscles are hidden by a layer of fat. Sure you will be able to add support to the whole of your body by strengthening the muscles but you need to reduce fat to get in shape no matter what else you do. Take some action now!

Training will help to burn the fat as will diet and you will find that most of these solutions that are advertised in the infomercials that promise such startling results include dietary recommendations and it is by applying those changes to your diet that has the most influence on your body shape rather than the exercise equipment.

At any stage in your life, no matter how old you are you can benefit from improved nutrition and exercise. Anything that will reduce the excess levels in your body fat will assist in helping you to live longer and to enjoy that time more. You’re never too old.

Start Your Health Fitness Regime For A Healthy Life

Diet Plan — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:59:08 +0000

When you think about living a health fitness lifestyle, what does that really mean? Basically it means getting in some moderate exercise on a weekly basis, eating healthily, and quitting smoking, limiting alcohol consumption and maintaining a normal weight. To the average person who is strapped for time and busy with job and family commitments, maintaining your health may seem overwhelming. It does not need to be. As we will see, small changes in your daily living can mean big changes in your health.

Eating a low calorie diet does not have to be a chore. Simple changes you can make while on your next visit to the grocery store can get you on the right path to eating better. Small substitutions like eating more fruit and veggies and eating less refined and processed foods over time saves calories and adds nutrients to your diet plans. Don’t force yourself to shelve your entire diet and start with something restrictive. Feeling deprived leads to failure. Go slow and enjoy each new item you add to your diet to ensure weight loss.

Exercise does not have to be a dirty word. If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, start slow and increase your activity level as you reach small goals you set for yourself. It may be just using the stairs at work instead of using the elevator. Over time, you might decide to walk for part of your lunch break. Eventually you may want to join a fitness center to increase your progress. Go at a pace you are comfortable with and enjoy.

If you smoke, consider a smoking cessation program. There are medications in pill, patch and gum form that can assist you in stopping. Talking to a counselor or adopting a quit-smoking buddy has been shown to help smokers quit smoking at higher rate than trying to go it alone. Side effects of smoking include rapid heartbeat, decreased circulation, and shortness of breath and more serious problems like cancer, emphysema and heart disease can eventually develop.

Drinking alcohol in moderation has actually been shown to benefit the cardiovascular system. However, consuming more than a glass or two a day can cause liver damage. The liver acts as a giant filter system of the body. When the filter is clogged, the body does not function properly. Jaundice, gallstones, blood clotting difficulties, organ failure and death can result when the liver is compromised.

By watching your diet and incorporating health fitness into your daily routine, you can more easily maintain a healthy weight for your body type. To calculate your body mass index (BMI), divide your body weight by the square of your height, or simply go online and use one of the many BMI calculators available.

You may have let yourself go. Your body feels sluggish and you have no energy. You may have health issues that run in your family. What should you do? Adopt a healthy lifestyle. Add healthier food choices to your diet gradually. Make health fitness part of your daily routine. Stop smoking and drink a glass of red wine with a meal. To maintain a normal weight, eat right and increase your activity levels. The lifestyle goals you set for yourself are that much closer when you make small changes over a period of time.