Eating Healthy: Quick Tip

Just a quick little piece of advice to any readers who are attempting to eat healthier.

Try to avoid processed sugars.

You'll be surprised by how differently you eat when you take the time to read labels and avoid these sugars. Most people have no idea how unhealthy they eat. "But I bought it in the organic section at the grocery store." "But it's tea."

But, but nothin. Take the time to read the labels. Put an honest 100% effort into eating foods with no processed sugar for one week. You're mind just might be blown. It's everywhere!

Know Your Kitchen + One Great Dinner

Want to be healthy? Get to know your kitchen! Your relationship with the kitchen shouldn't be like one of those "friends" you only see when you have to and might be a little scared of because you never know what they'll do next....we all know someone like that. And it's not a pit stop on your way to the TV. Nope, none of that. The kitchen should be your best friend, always there for you before work, the bright sunshine in your morning, and even a cold floor to sit on after a bad breakup. You and your kitchen deserve to take care of each other.

That being said, healthy starts in the kitchen! Workout all week, great, but in the end of the day, the thing that is going to keep you healthy till you're old and grey is your kitchen.

Rethink your kitchen. First off, and a probably the most problematic device to ever enter the kitchen is your microwave. The microwave should be used for two things, warming up leftovers and defrosting meats. It is not for heating up instant meals or, and despite what I thought as a child, not for standing in front of for long periods of time in hopes of gaining superpowers via the minuscule amounts of radiation pumping into my face.....

.....anyways.

Personally, it has taken some time for me to truly understand my kitchen, how to cook, and what to cook. And I'm still learning, always will be. The best way to learn how to cook, and to best understand your kitchen, is to simply get in there and try new things. Open a cookbook, pick a page, and try it out. Do this once a week and you'll be confident home chef in no time.

Here's a little something my girlfriend and I whipped up about a week ago out of my newest cookbook: The Feed Zone... http://feedzonecookbook.com/

This was an Orange Chicken marmalade dish with a Roasted Beets and Greens salad. Hannah also added popped Quinoa to the salad which I think added a great flavor and a necessary crunch to the recipe.

 

 

Don't Count On Calories

It's time we had this talk.

Let me guess, you're trying to lose weight so you're counting calories? I've got some bad news for you. No matter how you break it down, your 100 calorie pack of Oreo's will never be good for you. But get this, if you eat food that is actually healthy, you can eat more of it, still lose weight, and never be hungry. Fact.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't the end all be all solution to fitness, but it is a must. If you aren't putting the right foods in you body, it will catch up with you. Even people that are naturally skinny but shovel cookies and french-fries into their face all day will eventually see the consequences to what they have been eating. Not necessarily by gaining weight, but in other ways...less fun ways.

Exercising frequently and living an active lifestyle are still must do's. We aren't stagnant creatures. We are humans, primates, animals, however you want to break it down, but we have to move, it's in our nature.

Wake Up Better: Eat Breakfast

One massive mistake people make when trying to lose weight is skipping breakfast! Don't skip breakfast people! If you are trying to accomplish anything, whether it is bulking up, toning down, losing weight, or just trying to have more energy every day, you need to eat breakfast. It is hands down the most important meal of the day.

Eating breakfast kick starts your metabolism when you wake up, gives energy for the day, and makes you less hungry throughout the day. Simply put, when your body has food going into it your metabolism is working harder. Meaning, eating a big breakfast, and continuing to eat will actually allow you to lose weight while eating more. Who would have guessed?? Actually, a recent article out of Tel Aviv University explains just why breakfast is so good for you and there are incredible health benefits beyond just the weight lose. According to the article link below eating a healthy breakfast lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. After monitoring two groups of women over 12 weeks, those who ate breakfast lost on average 11.2 more pounds more than those who did not eat breakfast. Read more about this study and the stunning results that will make breakfast your favorite meal of the day, if it wasn't already!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2385383/Could-fry-good-Scientists-discover-eating-big-breakfast-prevents-diabetes-high-blood-pressure.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Food = Energy

More Food: Less Energy Substitutes
You skipped breakfast because you are trying to lose weight? Now you are at work tired and worthless so you start chugging energy drinks and coffee. This happens all the time and it is extremely counterproductive and unhealthy. Consider first what goes into your energy drinks: caffeine, B-12, and sugar. That is essentially all that energy drinks are. This is a blast of momentary energy that will leave you jittery and shaking for about an hour or two and leave you dragging and defeated shortly after. Not to mention eating processed sugars isn't a part of any diet. And I'm talking about the same processed sugars that most Americans put in their coffee every day! If you are looking for another reason to get off the energy drinks, think about this: two to three days after drinking an energy drinks your heart will sometimes show a small heart murmur on an EKG....try and tell me that's normal.

To be clear, I am not saying that coffee is bad, but if you are going to drink coffee drink it black or with milk. Avoid putting sugar and sweeteners in anything.

Protein Breakfast
Eating a breakfast with protein will help keep you fuller longer. This will also help fuel your muscles and allow them to work harder and burn up more fat. Eggs, bacon, ham, steak, protein pancakes, and nuts are all great examples of protein breakfast foods that will keep you from getting hungry just a couple hours later.

More Early
Remember, breakfast is the most important meal of the day! So, if you are going to go big for any meal during the day, make it breakfast. You have all day to burn up that energy (and you will).

Summary
- Breakfast kick starts your metabolism for the day and gives you the energy you need.
- Protein early in the day will help keep you fuller longer.
- Avoid unhealthy energy substitutes like energy drinks and sugar.

Learn You Foods!

Learning your foods and basic nutritional facts is a crucial part losing weight, keeping it off, building muscle, or whatever your physical aspirations are. Take the time to read about what you are eating. Remember there is no point in wasting all your time in the gym if you are just going to throw it all away with poor nutrition.

I was guilty of this myself. It took me until I was about 21 years old before I even knew that most breads and pastas are made with sugar. I was always told that carbohydrates gave us energy and never thought for a second that those foods were not necessarily good for me.

Fun fact about grains: Ever wonder what the real difference is between a loaf of white bread and a loaf of whole grain bread? Why are they called whole grains? Well, whole grain is exactly what it is! Wheat is actually a three part grain, but after the refining process only one part of the grain remains, removing a majority of the grains nutritional value.

Learn about grain biology and nutritional value here --> http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/what-is-a-whole-grain

Fat burning foods:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/nutrition-101-eat-to-burn-fat.html
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20553780,00.html

Muscle building foods:
http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/muscle-building-foods

One Egg: The Perfect Nighttime Snack

A lot of people trying to lose weight are told to avoid eating anything two hours before bedtime. There is truth in this and it is certainly a valid trick when trying to lose weight.

An even better trick is to eat a single egg before bed (within an hour of sleeping). A single egg is low in calories and high in protein. Consuming a single egg before bed will keep your metabolism working harder while you are asleep.

Eat up! Get out! Be active!

Super Food #1: Almonds

Almonds!

Almonds are the first "super-food" I will be talking about on this blog. What is a super-food? It is a food that is packed full of vitamins and nutritional value to power your body, aid in normal bodily functions, and often help fight cancers and diseases.

Almonds are a fantastic, delicious food, that contains healthy fats, proteins and vitamins including: calcium,  B-6, and vitamin E. Almonds also contain the minerals iron, zinc, and manganese amongst others. They are great for the blood and heart, helping to balance cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. With so much manganese,  and calcium, almonds are obviously great for your bones.

Besides the health benefits, almonds are great weight loss food because they keep you from getting hungry.

Eat a handful of almonds a day and you will see and feel the difference, both now and in 20 years!

Read more about almonds and what they can do for you at the links below.
http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/age-erasing-superfoods/age-erasing-almonds.php

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsuperfoods/a/Almonds-Health-And-Nutrition.htm

Zinc in Almonds- http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/minerals/health-benefits-of-zinc.html