Weight Loss – Best Diet to Lose Weight

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Fruits are nature’s colorful creation. Their varied shapes, sizes, aromas, textures, and flavors add to the attractiveness and appeal of food.

Like fruits, vegetables also provide color and variety to meals. You don’t need to go to the vitamin shop or vitamin store when you’ve got veggies. They contain significant sources of essential nutrients, vitamins (particularly A and C), minerals (particularly calcium and iron), fiber, and phytochemicals necessary for preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health. Not only that, eating veggies is the best diet to lose weight.

Fruits and vegetables are not only cancer fighters; they also provide healthful benefits against cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, stroke, obesity, diverticulosis, micronutrient deficiencies, cataracts, and birth defects.

Many people, however, regard fruits as accessory food items which one can never live without. Vegetables, on the other hand, are considered as dishes and not a major focus of meals.

Take advantage of the healthy benefits of fruits and vegetables.

  • Snack on fresh fruits or crispy vegetable strips should you get hungry between meals. Going green is the best diet to lose weight.
  • Enrich your breakfast cereals with sliced fruits.
  • Pick a vegetable or fruit you have never tasted before, like kiwi fruit, kale, or asparagus when shopping for groceries.
  • Serve fresh fruits for dessert, sliced and arranged creatively.
  • Add thinly sliced vegetables to noodles (e.g. sotanghon, miki, or misua) to increase its nutritional content.
  • Drink fresh fruit juices instead of soda, coffee, or tea to quench your thirst.
  • Choose food establishments that offer fruit-vegetable salad bars when eating out.
  • Buy fruits and vegetables in season. They are cheap and at their flavor and nutritional peaks.
  • Enhance your cooking skills by trying new fruit and vegetable recipes.
  • Garnish your food presentations with creatively sliced fruits and vegetables. Fruit and vegetable garnishing adds nutrients, color, and eye appeal.
  • Display fruits and vegetables where they can be seen often. You will more likely eat them if they are reachable.
  • Be innovative. Try raw vegetable salads. Simply slice the vegetables thinly. Add salt and calamansi. Toss with chopped tomatoes and onions.

Here are some recipes that you might want to try:

Pechay Salad

Ingredients

1 small bundle fresh pechay leaves, sliced thinly

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 small onion, chopped

2 tablespoons calamansi juice

Salt to taste

Procedure

Toss all ingredients gently. Serve immediately.

Variation

Pechay may be substituted with other vegetables like Ampalaya or Radish.

Buttered Vegetables

Ingredients

1 large carrot, diced

1/4 kilo Baguio beans, 1 inch cut

1 large Singkamas, diced

1 can whole kernel corn

1/3 bar butter

Salt to taste

Procedure

Blanch carrot, Baguio beans, and Singkamas. Drain. Combine corn with blanched vegetables. Mix butter while vegetables are still hot. Add salt to taste.

Green Bean Omelette

Ingredients

1/2 kilo Green beans, 1 centimeter cut

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon Olive oil

Salt to taste

Procedure

Saute garlic and onion in a pan. Add the beans. When beans are cooked, add the beaten egg. Serve.

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Source by Virginia Price

Fertility: Enjoying a Healthy Diet

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Many people don’t associate fertility and healthy diet with each other, but they go hand-in-hand. Your reproductive system is affected by what you eat. Everything you eat eventually enters your blood stream and travels throughout your body. If you put processed foods or unhealthy foods into your body, it affects your digestive system, nervous system, immune system and reproductive system. For increased fertility and reproductive health, you’ll need to make a few lifestyle changes that involve eating a healthy diet.

Incorporate the following foods in your diet that are good for your reproductive system.

  • Green leafy vegetables are high in folic acid. Include Brussel sprouts and asparagus as part of your daily intake. Folic acid reduces the risk of ovulation issues.
  • Fruit are high in vitamins and have numerous nutritional benefits. Oranges and strawberries contain vitamin C which strengthens the immune system and improve sperm quality. Bananas contain vitamin B6 which regulates the hormones for egg and sperm development. Apples are high fibre and low in calories.
  • Cereals that are high in fibre are also good for your reproductive system. It helps to control sugar levels and protect heart health.
  • Almonds contain vitamin E which is an antioxidant and helps to protect the DNA in the sperm and eggs.
  • Chicken is an important source of protein that is great for egg production.
  • Dark chocolate contains amino acid which can double the sperm volume.
  • Garlic improves the blood flow to the man’s sexual organs and it protects the sperm from damage.
  • Tomatoes boost the sperm count by up to 70% and can increase their swimming speed.
  • Sunflower seeds and oysters each contain zinc. Zinc is crucial for conception and is an important mineral for male and female fertility.
  • Carrots also increase your chances of conception because it is filled with carotenoids.

It is important to note that you’ll need to make a lot of changes to your diet if you are one who usually eats junk food or take-away meals. Smoking, alcohol and medication can all have a negative impact on your fertility. So you will need to cut down on these too. Good nutrition which is largely based on natural foods is essential for a healthy body and a productive reproductive system. A fertility doctor will advise you that a fertility treatment can be a challenging phase and it is always best to have a healthy lifestyle. Always consult a doctor when making lifestyle changes to your health.

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Source by Aziza Cassim

7 Food Habits That Work for Weight Loss

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Are you tired of dieting? If you are then try a few of these tips to get started on better eating habits for long term success with weight loss. You will find simple lifestyle changes such as quick and easy breakfast ideas, smart snacks, and food label tips. They may not sound magical – but they do work!

1. Breakfast Basics

Getting into the habit of eating breakfast gets you and your metabolism on a regular schedule and our bodies do better with a routine. For quick and easy breakfasts try a piece of fruit, granola bar, yogurt, hardboiled egg on toast, English muffin with peanut butter, a smoothie, cereal, frozen waffles, oatmeal, or even just a glass of milk or juice.

2. Lunch List

Planning ahead is the key to having a healthy lunch. You can take a turkey sandwich and chips or fruit from home for 500 calories or go to a restaurant and order a sandwich and fries for 600 calories or more just in the sandwich. Make a list of foods you would like for lunches. Wraps, popcorn, cheese & crackers, or premixed salads can make a quick, healthy lunch.

3. Supper Slim-Down

This is often the meal where we often overeat because we have not eaten enough during the day and we are starving by supper time. There are many tricks you can use here but finding a way to eat smaller portions and lower calorie foods is the goal for weight loss. Try these suggestions. . .

* Use a smaller plate

* Keep the serving dishes off the table

* Make it a rule not to eat while watching TV

* Eat slower and pay attention to the flavor of food

4. Snack Smarts

When we start eating less at meals it is normal to get hungry between meals. Snacks can help your body control weight and help prevent overeating at meals. 100-200 calories for a snack is generally a healthy range. Yogurts, fruit, raw veggies, whole grain crackers, pudding, an ounce of nuts, or 5-6 cups popcorn light buttered are all sour ideas that are also good sources of nutrients. If you are craving some "junk food" then for 100-200 calories you could have a snack size candy bar, 4-5 hard candies, 3 caramels, 5-6 Hershey's kisses, 4 licorice twists, a 20oz cappuccino made with low fat Milk, 1 envelope hot cocoa mix with water or low fat milk, or 15-20 chips.

5. Beverage Balance

Be sure you are not drinking too many calories. To lose weight and still get necessary nutrients you will not have room for many caloric beverages other than low fat milk. Drinks other than small amounts of juice should be a treat. Think of soda pop as liquid candy. The acid and sugar eat away at your teeth and the calories can sabotage your weight loss efforts without giving you any nutrition. Next time you reach for the 20oz soda at the store remember you are getting over 15 teaspoons of sugar.

6. Restaurant Rules

Set some new rules for yourself when eating out. I try to limit how often I eat out to once a week or less. Restaurant meals are usually 2-3 times the recommended calorie amount and are generally high in fat and sodium. When you do order out try these ideas to keep your calorie close close to your goal:

* Share a meal with someone

* Ask for a to-go container right away & portion before you eat

* Avoid fried foods & skip the appetizer

* Ask for sauces, butter and dressings on side

* Order thin crust pizza instead of thick crust

* Remember alcohol is high calorie also

7. Diet Deletion

Stop looking for the magic pill or quick-fix diet because it does not exist. What have been proven to work time after time are changing eating and activity habits and practicing those changes until they become our new lifestyle. Diets are temporary, restrictive and mess up our body's metabolism so that each time we try to lose weight it gets more difficult.

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Source by Karen Marschel