Friday, 9 September 2011

Lose weight with a right daily schedule

6:30 AM: Get Some Early Exercise
"Studies show that most people who wear pedometers clock up more steps before lunch compared to after lunch," says accredited dietitian Kate Di Prima. "Morning exercise raises your heart rate and metabolism early to give you physical energy for hours, so from that perspective it also helps burn more calories throughout the day." Depending on where you live, there are also generally lower pollution levels in the morning.

7:15 AM: Have Breakfast
"Eating breakfast kick-starts your metabolism -- especially since we don't eat for around ten hours overnight," says Di Prima. "Eggs are a high-satiety food and good to begin the day with."

Keep your carbohydrate intake light at breakfast if you're trying to lose weight; think one slice of wholegrain toast instead of two, and include beans or spinach rather than the empty calories of white bread, jam and butter.

"Aim to get 25 percent of your total day's calories at breakfast, with five other small meals throughout the day. Think breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper -- and two dainty snacks -- like a princess!"

9:15 AM: Skip the Morning Latte
Forgo the large, full-fat latte in favor of a small, skim latte, or better still, try tea. "This will save a lot of calories," says naturopath Kevin Griffiths. "It will also help keep sugar cravings in check, and blood sugar levels on an even keel."

11:00 AM: Ditch the Juice
Have an apple instead. "A glass of apple juice has the calories of almost three apples," says Di Prima. Studies also show that regular fruit juice intake may increase diabetes risk by 50% due to massive sugar hits. "Also, the fiber -- which is what helps you fill up faster -- is left out of the juice. By making this one swap you'll save calories every day."

12:30 PM: Love Your Lunch
"Don't eat at your desk. Get outside, go for a walk and be conscious when you do eat of what's going into your mouth," says Di Prima. "If you want to cut carbs, have a stir-fry with extra sprouts and vegies, but ask for fewer noodles. Eat fish with salad instead of fries, and if you must have bread, ditch the top of the sandwich and have it open." Plus: What's for Dinner? Try a Quick Stir-Fry Recipe!

3:30 PM: Avoid the Afternoon Sugar Slump
If you don't want to look like the Michelin Man, drink water and avoid soft drinks. A Harvard study of 6000 people found that drinking just one soft drink a day (diet or standard) increased the risk of obesity by 31%. And now there's more evidence that diet drinks are as bad as normal ones; one university study found that rats fed artificially sweetened drinks for ten days gained more weight than those fed sugar-sweetened drinks. Researchers theorize that when you eat artificial sweeteners, your body prepares for a large intake of calories. When these fail to materialize, your body demands food by making you feel hungry. Di Prima agrees. "Soft drinks are liquid candy. Aim to make water the main drink that passes your lips, outside of a daily coffee and a glass or two of skim or low-fat milk. And aim for a maximum three or four glasses of wine or beer per week. "Beat sugar and salt slumps by having solid food snacks at your desk, such as low-fat yogurt or fresh fruit."


4:30 PM: Breathe Easier
Although morning exercise suits many people, for athletes looking for that extra endurance -- or for those who are asthmatic or easily exhausted -- working out between 4pm and 5pm may be best. One study of 4800 people by the American College of Chest Physicians found that lung function peaks (at about 20% higher) during this period, with midday exercise returning the lowest lung function.

"The main thing is to exercise at a time that's best for you," says Rob Daly, an exercise physiologist from the University of Melbourne. "For people with depression, sunlight on the eyeballs in the morning is good. For others, afternoon works better. The main thing is to do it -- not just think about it."

6:30 PM: Enjoy a Drink
There have been countless studies trumpeting the health benefits of moderate daily alcohol intake (emphasis on "moderate"), with wines -- especially the newer organic breeds – linked to reductions in arterial and cardiovascular diseases. So go ahead, we're not saints or robots.

But try to aim for low-alcohol (and therefore low-calorie) varieties, and don't be fooled by the latest low-carb beers; it's the calories that count, and there's actually little difference in calories content between standard beer and the low-carb varieties.



8:00 PM: Stop Eating
"Unless you are an insulin-dependent diabetic, it's better not to eat two to three hours before bed," says Di Prima. "If you are tempted, give your body an 'automatic' brain signal that eating is over for the night. This might include washing the dishes, putting away all the leftovers and flossing and cleaning your teeth thoroughly. If you've done this, you're less likely to be tempted to put anything but herbal tea past your lips late at night."

By Jane Washington from HealthSmart

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Understand the things impact you belly fat

Belly fat is worst fat on your body.

Excess accumulation of belly fat is more dangerous than any other fat around your hips and thighs. Belly fat is very common to associated with serious health problems, such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Your genes could be one reason that contribute to overweight and accumulate belly fat, but poor lifestyle are most likely to cause the issue. Belly fat appears to be especially bad for the heart. Studies have linked belly fat to heart failure, atherosclerosis, and other cardiovascular problems. It also has been associated with osteoporosis, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, colorectal cancer, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, and other health problems.



Common misunderstanding: High-fat foods are the biggest cause of belly fat.

Eating fatty foods such as butter, cheese and fatty meats a lot does excess calories, increase waistline and contribute to your belly fat. Still, there is no single factor of belly fat. It could be your genetics, diet, age, lifestyle and most likely the combination of them.  Changing dietary habits can help you fight the battle of the bulge and fight belly fat: Read nutrition labels, reduce trans fats and saturated fats, increase the amount of fruits and veggies you eat, and control and reduce your portions.


Calories from drinks are worse than others for belly fat.

Excess calories from sweetened beverages, alcohol, or oversized portions of food can increase belly fat. Especially the alcohol, it has almost as many calories as fat. And because when you drink alcohol, your liver is too busy burning off alcohol to burn off fat, leaving you with a beer belly. Studies show that alcohol can also make you feel hungry by affecting hormones and blood sugar that regulate a sense of satiety.


Remember, you should always avoid Trans fat.

Modern researchers found that trans fats which are created by partially hydrogenated oil not only will cause heart disease, alzhimer's disease, diabetes, etc. but also increase the amount of fat around the belly and move fat from other parts of the body to you belly. Trans fats may be found in such foods as margarine, pastries, cookies and crackers, and fried and convenience foods. Training yourself to read product labels or looking zero trans fat mark when you buy the food is a good practise to avoid trans fat.


Drink green tea to fight belly fat.

Green tea could be the best drink to help you fight belly fat, it contains salubrious polyphenols, in particular catechins, the most abundant of which is epigallocatechin gallate. Green tea also contains carotenoids, tocopherols, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), minerals such as chromium, manganese, selenium or zinc, and certain phytochemical compounds. Green tea consumption has been associated with several health benefits, such as hydration, cardiovascular health, cognition, and weight management. These different health-related benefits have been attributed to specific dietary compounds found in tea, such as flavonoids (including catechins), theanine and caffeine. Drink green tea daily can help you lose weight as a lot of researchers have demonstrated substances in green tea such as catechins stimulate the body to burn calories and lead to loss of belly fat.

Avoid fast food as much as you can.

Almost all the fast food are typically high-fat, calorie-dense foods with a large portions, make it becomes the worst combination that contributes to excess calories, gain the weight, and add the fat on your belly. It becomes more and more common to check the nutrition labels when people pick their meals in the fast food restaurants, but my suggestion is skip it when you can choose anything else, that more healthy the food more help to fight your belly fat.


Avoid sugar-sweetened soft drink as much as you can.

According to a study from the American Heart Association, “soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the No. 1 source of added sugars in the American diet.” Added sugars mean added calories, a regular 355ml can of coke contains 39 grams of sugar and about 140 calories. And those calories are something that you want to avoid to loss weight and reduce your belly fat. Even more, high-fructose corn syrup has gradually replaced refined sugar as the main sweetener in soft drinks and has been approved as the main cause to the obesity epidemic.
 
Does switching to diet sodas help? Although some research has suggested that people who drink artificially sweetened sodas as part of a calorie-restricted diet do lose weight, other studies have suggested that diet soft drinks could even lead to weight gain since new studies show in some conditions the sweetener in diet sodas will decrease the ability of human body to convert the fat to the blood suger as known as burn fat which is only way to lose your belly fat.

Eat a diet high in fiber.

Add whole grains to your diet to trim your waistline. Such as, choose wild or brown instead of white rice. Refined and other highly processed foods have less fiber within them and can lead to weight gain and interfere with weight loss. A recent study showed that a calorie-controlled diet rich in whole grains can trim extra fat from the waistline of obese subjects.

Choose right exercises.

Doing sit-ups, crunches, or other abdominal exercises are not specifically designed for reduce the belly fat, although they will strengthen your core muscles and help you lose a little fat on your body. You need understand that spot exercise won’t decrease belly fat and remember the only way to lose belly fat (or fat on any part of your body) is through dieting and exercises that keep your heart rate at your "fat burning zone" which is about 60% to 70% of your maximum heart rate. Aerobic exercises, such as walking, running, jugging, swimming and bicycling are some of the best exercises to help reduce body fat, include belly fat. Weight control experts recommend a combination of a calorie-controlled diet and with 30 to 60 minutes of exercise at least three times per week could be your best choose to reduce your belly fat.

Friday, 2 September 2011

A daily food guide to keep you body healthy and slim

Thanks Health Canada publishes those information on their web site. I am using it here for the reference to demonstrate the food need for a normal people on a daily basis. This is definitely not a list for you guys that who are trying to get six packs back on your stomach. Even for everybody else with normal daily activities, the list is only tell you the amount of the food you can or shall have per day, but there's at least one more thing you need to know to use this list effectively, which is when you shall have these food on the list during the a day? I will explain that to you in another article in a near future.

The Recommended Number of Food Guide Servings chart shows how much food you need from each of the four food groups every day.

Find your age and sex in this chart to see how much food you need.





A Food Guide Serving is simply a reference amount. It helps you understand how much food is recommended every day from each of the four food groups. In some cases, a Food Guide Serving may be close to what you eat, such as an apple. In other cases, such as rice or pasta, you may serve yourself more than one Food Guide Serving.
Look at the examples below to find out how much food is equal to one Food Guide Serving.


Examples of one Food Guide Serving are:


Vegetables and FruitSalmon, rice, salad and a glass of milk
  • 125 mL (½ cup) fresh, frozen or canned
    vegetable or fruit or 100% juice
  • 250 mL (1 cup) leafy raw vegetables or
    salad
  • 1 piece of fruit
Grain Products
  • 1 slice (35 g) bread or ½ bagel (45 g)
  • ½ pita (35 g) or ½ tortilla (35 g)
  • 125 mL (½ cup) cooked rice, pasta, or couscous
  • 30 g cold cereal or 175 mL (¾ cup) hot cereal
Milk and Alternatives
  • 250 mL (1 cup) milk or fortified soy beverage
  • 175 g (¾ cup) yogurt
  • 50 g (1 ½ oz.) cheese
Meat and Alternatives
  • 75 g (2 ½ oz.)/125 mL (½ cup) cooked fish, shellfish, poultry or lean meat
  • 175 mL (¾ cup) cooked beans
  • 2 eggs
  • 30 mL (2 Tbsp) peanut butter

Canada's Food Guide provides ideas and tips to help you make wise and healthy food choices.

Make each Food Guide Serving count …
wherever you are - at home, at school, at work, or when eating out!

Vegetables and Fruit
    Eat at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day
  • Go for dark green vegetables such as broccoli, romaine lettuce, and spinach.
  • Go for orange vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and winter squash.

    Enjoy vegetables and fruit prepared with little or no added fat, sugar or salt
  • Have vegetables steamed, baked or stir-fried instead of deep fried.

Have vegetables and fruit more often than juice


Learn more about vegetables and fruit  



Grain Products
    Make at least half of your grain products whole grain each day
  • Eat a variety of whole grains such as barley, brown rice, oats, quinoa and wild rice.
  • Enjoy whole grain breads, oatmeal or whole wheat pasta.
    Choose grain products that are low in fat, sugar or salt
  • Compare the Nutrition Facts table on labels to make wise choices.
  • Enjoy the true taste of grain products. When adding sauces or spreads, use small amounts.


Learn more about grain products  



Milk and Alternatives
    Drink skim, 1% or 2% milk each day
  • Have 500 mL (2 cups) of milk everyday for
    adequate vitamin D.
  • Drink fortified soy beverages if you do not drink milk.
    Select lower fat milk alternatives
  • Compare the Nutrition Facts table on yogurts or cheeses to make wise choices.


Learn more about milk and alternatives  



Meat and Alternatives
    Have meat alternatives such as beans, lentils and tofu often
    Eat at least two Food Guide Servings of fish each week
  • Choose fish such as char, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines and trout.
    * Health Canada provides advice for limiting exposure to mercury from certain types of fish.
    Select lean meat and alternatives prepared with little or no added fat or salt
  • Trim the visible fat from meats. Remove the skin from poultry.
  • Use cooking methods such as roasting, baking or poaching that require little or no added fat.
  • If you eat luncheon meats, sausages or prepackaged meats, choose those lower in salt (sodium) and fat.


  







Enjoy a variety of foods from the four food groups.