Showing posts with label Healthy Diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healthy Diet. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Tips That Will Help You To Cook Healthier - Starting Today

 

Do you want to try and eat healthier? Then this guide will tell you everything that you need to know in order to get started.

Make a Plan

If you do not have a plan for what you are going to eat, then you may find that you draw blanks when it comes to cooking dinner or lunch. For some people, planning out meals means writing down a menu or even a shopping list for the week. For others, it may be something as simple as having a few sticky notes with things like “pasta night” or “taco night”. Either way, it doesn’t matter what your process is because it helps to have a plan so that you can figure out what you want to make. This will help you to set yourself up for success, and it will also help you to avoid going for a takeaway just because there’s nothing in you fancy.

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Eat More Vegetables

Did you know that on average, only 14% of adults eat the right amount of fruit or vegetables? This means that over 80% of people are not getting enough fresh produce. At the end of the day, fruit and vegetables are very rich in antioxidants, and they are also very rich in fibre and minerals too. It’s highly recommended that you eat around 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables a day. This can seem difficult, but when you think about cooking, you just need to make sure that your fresh produce is the star of the show. This may mean that you need to make a fruit smoothie in the morning or that you need to have a big salad for lunch. You might also want to stuff a squash for dinner, or use vegetables as noodles. You can do this by using a spiraliser. If you want to really take things to that next level, then you can look up the best herbs for improving health with ease.

Saturday, January 30, 2021

How To Lose And Maintain Your Weight Successfully

 

 Are you satisfied with your current weight? If not, which measures have you taken to achieve a healthy weight? Obesity is a major cause of various health issues. Therefore, weight maintenance is an essential health aspect that every person should pay close attention to. I'm not talking about what I like to call the "Vanity Pounds", a 10-20 lb. discrepancy between what the charts say and your own weight. I'm talking about the unhealthy kind of weight that endangers organs, heart, ligaments and glucose levels.

Basically, for individuals struggling with obesity, a unique solution to achieve a permanent solution does not exist. Human bodies respond differently to various food and weight loss remedies. Hence, what works effectively in one person may not yield a similar result to another.

To discover a weight loss strategy that is likely to work effectively, you need patience, determination, and experiments based on different diets and food. The following are some of the ways you can apply and lose and maintain your weight successfully.


 

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1.      Reduce Calories, Carbohydrates, and Fats

Obesity can cause serious health issues, both physically and mentally. At times, due to size changes, it can negatively influence your choice of fashion. Discounted clothing may be your only option since your previous clothes may no longer fit you. Your choice of diet can have a significant impact on your weight and physical appearance.

According to experts, when you cut calories, your weight may reduce in the first few weeks. Therefore, to achieve a constant weight loss, you should continue reducing calories. Calories also have different impacts on the body based on the type of food. 

Some people eat food as a way of relieving their stress. This may slow any weight loss plans. The role of the hormone insulin is also another essential process linked to the weight of an individual. Consumption of carbohydrates triggers the body to produce the hormone.

Insulin prevents fat cells from discharging fats to be burned as fuel by the body. The hormone also creates extra cells for storing fats that cannot be burned by the body. As a result, you will gain extra weight. Consequently, the body needs more fats to burn. Hence your eating habits increase automatically. 

Reducing the number of carbohydrates can help in breaking this cycle. The reduction of fats that you consume can also have a significant effect on your weight. Avoid diets that comprise a lot of fats. Try as much as possible to include fresh vegetables and fruits in your diet. 

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Monday, January 25, 2021

Yesterday's Tomorrow + #MyPostMonday Linky The Week's Best Original Content

 My husband and I are having some difficulty keeping even a semblance of the good eating habits and body transformations we thought would be in store for us at the start of a new year.  I know, same old trite story, make the resolution--break the resolution. My husband has been saying each month for the past year that this will be the month he'll reach his goals. And each month has fallen flat. I don't know why January 1st would be any different than any of those other months, which is why January 1st really holds no significance for me. I've just been trying to maintain my 5-lb typical winter weight gain and not let it get out of control. It's been tough and I'm at a rough patch because I'm up 7 lbs. from my low this past summer. 

Every day, my husband says to himself, "today I'm going to have a great eating day. I'm going to eat everything correctly, balance my carbs, proteins and fats, and drink plenty of fluids, along with an amazing exercise session which consists of a 1.5 hour weight-lifting session, a 30 mile bike ride, or a 10 mile hike. 

Every single morning he starts out with a bowl of oatmeal, a yogurt bowl, eggs and tortillas, or some variation of a healthy breakfast. He takes his supplements, and downs a morning elixir designed to de-toxify the body. Then lunch comes around and he can't seem to cope with the extreme stress of the morning, which I'm not sure what it consists of because I'm at work, dealing with my own stress. So he caves and he buys take-out and also gets dessert. Then comes the evening, when he absolutely hates himself for what he did at lunch, so he says "I've already blown it, I'll just eat what I want and start again tomorrow." And so along with the dinner that he eats, it will be also be accompanied by a bag of Doritos, a large bag of M & M's, or a Haggen Dazs ice cream. If it's really bad, he'll eat all 3. But somehow, in the doing, he thinks of me. He invariably comes home with a "present" for me, which is, you guessed it, some kind of junk food. And he knows what my weaknesses are. He'll get the exact thing that I can't seem to resist after my own stressful day at work. And you'd think I'd be able to resist and say, no thanks. But I don't. I take the treat and I usually eat it, leaving nothing remaining.

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Monday, August 20, 2018

The Benefits Of Basil Everyday + Recipe

If you could only grow and use one herb, which would it be? I've decided that, for me, that would be basil. Don't get me wrong, I love all the herbs. This season I've got chives, rosemary, and mint along with my basil. I shouldn't play favorites, but I do.Why?  There are a few reasons!
 It smells so good--the smell of fresh basil sends me! It is so sweetly aromatic and pungent. It puts me in a good mood every time I inhale. And yes, basil used as an essential oil has vast benefits, among them aromatherapy.
 I can cook so much with it - It adds a nice Italian flair to almost any dish! One of my most favorite spreads is pesto! Anything with a good pesto on top is going to be delish! Basil is one of the main flavors in this amazing spread!

Astonishing health benefits - One of the most compelling but lesser known reasons to love basil are the many health benefits. Basil is so powerful in terms of antioxidant protection that a little bit is going to go a long way. Just a few leaves chopped up can give you at least 20% of Vitamins K and A and the minerals manganese and magnesium.

Including basil in your salads and salad dressing can inhibit dangerous bacteria that have been known to lurk on the leafy greens we love to include in our salads. Washing your greens in a 1% solution of basil oil will greatly diminish dangerous bacteria such as Shigella, a dangerous diarrhea-causing germ that could result in significant intestinal damage.

Another amazing thing is that eating basil can help prevent cancer! It contains phytochemicals that are amazing for that reason!

Unfortunately, basil can't simply be harvested and eaten like the lettuces we eat raw. Don't bother, I tried! It's not tasty at all. But something happens when it is infused into soups, salads, dressings or lightly sauteed with various foods.

With that in mind, I wanted to make use of the several basil plants growing on my porch and garden plot. These beautiful herbs need to be ingested and not simply looked at and sniffed. 
I thought about what I am already eating a lot of--something that might go along well with basil and the answer came quickly enough.

It is my sautéed vegetable and eggs breakfasts. I will now be
adding basil to the mix. This is how I do it. It is so easy, just how I like it. I don't believe in making essential nutrition something that is hard to do. I love being able to incorporate powerful hacks, nutritional or otherwise, into things I already do. Why complicate our lives that are already full to the bursting point? (See how I incorporate probiotics into my smoothies)


Sautéed Veggie And Egg Skillet

Ingredients - Olive Oil, Red Bell Pepper, Onion, 5 large Mushrooms, 2 eggs, 10 basil leaves, chopped

Chop the pepper, onion and mushroom into bite-sizes pieces.

Place the onions and peppers into a large skillet and

sauté until onions are tranparent and peppers are soft.

Add the mushrooms and stir into the mixture. Sauté for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the basil and sautee until limp. 

Add 2 eggs and cook them to taste, adding salt and pepper as desired. Top with cheese if desired! Enjoy eating healthy!




Friday, December 29, 2017

6 Ways To Get Back On Track After Holiday Overeating

Holidays, festivals, vacations, and even weekend celebrations--They are all meant to unwind, motivate us, and charge up our moods. Along with that comes good food, which is nearly impossible to stop ourselves from indulging in! But relax! It's perfectly okay to pamper yourself occasionally.

Although it is obvious we don't want to make it a practice, knowing that overeating can result in weight gain and makes people feel low in energy, sometimes it happens. Especially around the holidays. What we need to understand is that the actual problem doesn't arise out of overindulging, but because we don't know when to stop and how to get back on track after having a sumptuous meal.

A sobering fact is that the World Health Organization says that nearly 2.8 million people are dying each year as a result of being overweight or obese. 

After a holiday splurge, punishing yourself, or taking a guilt trip never works. Instead, you need to look for smart ways that can help you get back on track quickly.

Monday, July 31, 2017

All The Nuts - Health Benefits of Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts, Etc.


 I grew up in the San Joaquin Valley, home of Diamond Walnuts. As a matter of fact, nuts of all kinds grew there, in addition to any fruit or vegetable you can imagine. It was a wonderful place to grow up. We used to work in the walnut orchards owned by Diamond, as a volunteer project for our church youth program. The trees went on endlessly, as far as the eye could see. Who would have thought that 30 years later, the very existence of the almond and walnut orchards would be on the verge of collapse?

I've been so sad to hear about the conditions recently in northern California and the affect they have had on the nut crops, especially almonds. First it was the extreme drought conditions in 2014 that brought on the necessity for almond farmers to destroy thousands and thousands of acres of almond trees. Now in 2017, it's the opposite. Record rainfall is killing or has already killed the state's almonds. A record 27 inches of rain fell this last winter, the most ever recorded! And it's ironic that water is responsible for killing the trees, because almonds consume huge amounts of water and have even been accused of depriving other resources of adequate water! 

Being as it may, the health benefits of eating those water-greedy nuts is huge! I would urge anyone not to make their dietary plans so constrictive that they can't fit in a handful of some kind of nut into their daily food plan! By the way, peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes. Consider the benefits of eating a handful of nuts!
1) Great source of healthy fat! Of course we know that some fats shouldn't be consumed and other fats should be consumed in moderate amounts. Nut fats are helpful for weight loss, heart health and for brain health!

2) 20% less likely to die for any reason! That is huge! Studies found that a person who ate a small handful of nuts 7 times a week or more, were less likely to kick the bucket!

3) People who eat nuts have better cardiovascular health, lower risk for diabetes, lower mortality rate which then raises your longevity!

Sometimes you want something a little more exciting than just a handful of nuts. There are a lot of ways to dress up those nutritionally-loaded nuggets. 

Maple Cinnamon Pecans
2 cups raw pecans
1/3 cup maple syrup (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2  Tbsp. cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar for sprinkling

Combine pecans, maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon. Heat over medium heat in a skillet for 6 - 8 minutes until thickened. Spread onto wax paper to cool. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired, and store in an airtight container.

Rosemary Garlic Almonds
2 cups raw almonds
1 Tbsp Coconut oil
2 tbsp. fresh chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients and cook in a medium sauce pan, stirring regularly until toasted and fragrant. Spread and cool on wax paper. Store in airtight container. 

Either recipe is gluten free, vegan, and paleo! I'm such a fan of all the nuts and this is one obsession that I don't feel a shred of guilt for! So enjoy some nuts, and here's to your health!

sources: Grub Street 
Mercola.com
AgAlert 
CenterCut Cook