Weight Loss and Exercise Stories from the front lines

Most of the parents have this problem of making kids eat right kind of food. Children are very fussy about what they eat. They hate eating vegetables and all that is nutritious.

Due to fast foods dominating healthy eating habits, it has become tough to convince the child that healthy eating is vital for better health as well as immunity. Vegetable diet is full of fiber and vitamins. But children do not understand this and give you a tough time in dealing with this.

Now, in this case you must be tricky. You must add vegetables to various foods in such a way that your child likes the delicacy.

Remember, for kids, presentation does matter. You must make the delicacy presentable. If you want your child to have a plate full of salad then you can use various methods of salad dressing like adding cheese as toppings or crushed dry fruits and cookies on the plate etc.

You must add vegetables to their favorite dish say in plain yogurt, muffins etc.

You can use chocolate and ketchup dips to make salad plate more delicious.

Give everything your child likes right from pizza to burger. But this must be in moderate and limited quantities. But do not forget garnishing these things with lots of vegetables.

Children love variety. Give them veggies in different forms say, grilled, steamed etc.

Using different tricks will help you in making your child eat healthy veggie diet.

Did you know that the diet and exercise habits of your friends and family members can actually affect your weight?

It’s true. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a person’s chances of becoming obese increased by about 40% if a spouse or sibling became obese, and by a whopping 170% (!) if a good friend became obese.

Other studies have found similar results for young adults and children who spend time with overweight peers.

Of course we can’t change who our family members are. And it’s not a good idea to drop your current friends and find replacement friends with better habits.

But we should definitely be mindful of these findings. They could help us understand why our eating or exercise habits are changing over time, especially if there doesn’t seem to be any other good reason for it. We may be slowly picking up bad habits from those around us and just not realizing it.

One way you could fix the problem? Become proactive. Change your ways–eat better foods, become more active–and be careful to stick to your new habits when you’re with family and friends. Maybe they will pick up those good habits from you! Then, you’ll not only be doing good things for yourself, but for others as well.

Yogurt is nutritious dairy product which has many health benefits. This dairy product is basically a result of the bacterial culture addition in milk. With addition of bacterial cultures, sugar lactose in milk gets converted into lactic acid. You must include it in your everyday meals. See why?
Yogurt helps in fighting bad breath. It keeps your mouth health in a tip top condition.
Yogurt is believed to be beneficial in arthritis.
Yogurt is also a strong cancer fighting agent. You can therefore keep away chronic health problems.
Yogurt has lots of calcium. Therefore you can ensure the best bone health.
The list is really long.
There are many ways in which you can add yogurt to different delicacies. You can chop vegetables finely and make tasty salad. Add 3-5 spoons of yogurt in that with a pinch of salt and pepper. You will love this.
You can even add fruits like berries, pomegranate, apples etc in 1 cup of yogurt. This works as a nutritious snack.
Adding mint leaves and pepper in yogurt along with a pinch of salt will give you flavored yogurt. And it tastes amazing.
You can add yogurt to any recipe as you wish. This is because; it has a taste which gels up with any food and flavor.

If you watch The Biggest Loser, then you know that in the most recent episode, the contestants visited Washington DC. All the contestants were very concerned about their weigh-in because their schedule differed so much from what they were accustomed to. However, despite their concerns. most contestants lost more weight than they expected. How is this possible?

Our bodies become accustomed to workouts. In the exercise world, trainers may refer to this as hitting a plateau. When this happens, it’s best to change your workout. While it’s a great idea to get into a routine of exercising ana make it a habit, it’s also great to change up your workout. Varying the kinds of exercises you do will not only keep you from getting bored, but it will also ensure that your body won’t hit that infamous plateau.

In the show this week, Bob reccomended running up and down stairs. That’s a great cardio exercise. There are so many different options you can choose for your cardio workout. Mix it up by trying Pilates, Yoga, or Kickboxing. You can also take a dance or a step class. Changing your workout will prevent burnout, and your body will respond better!

You may have seen commercials for the bender ball, which claims to create 6-pack abs. It’s a small, flexible ball that you place in the small of your back while you perform crunches. The idea is that you are working your ab muscles with both movements (going up and down).

I have a Bender Ball, and I will say this. It does significantly work your ab muscles. It is much more effective than traditional crunches. However, as with any abdominal exercise product, the guarantee of 6-pack abs is a bit of a myth.

In order to get 6 pack abs you have to get rid of belly fat first. The only way to do this is to eat healthy and to perform cardiovascular exercise. You can build up your ab muscles if you have belly fat. However, the belly fat sits on top of the muscles. Making your ab muscles stronger can actually make your belly fat pooch out more.

If 6-pack abs are your greates desire, then you should eat healthy, engage in cardio exercises for 45 minutes 5 days a week, and incorporate a strength training regimen into your workout 3 days a week. The Bender Ball is a good buy. It’s worth the money, but if you have belly fat, use it in conjunction with a healthy diet and additional exercise.

If you’re a woman and you’re trying to get into shape, then you’ve got to incorporate strength training into your workout schedule. Not only will you decrease fat and increase muscle, but there are so many additional benefits of strength training. It will increase your sex drive, strengthen your bones (thus preventing osteoporosis), and improve your immune system. The overall health benefits are overwhelming.

With that said, there are certain supplements that will increase the productivity of your strength training sessions. Here are some of the supplements that I reccomend for women who are just beginning strength training.

1. NO Explode- It comes in a powder form that you mix with water. The lemon flavor is really good. This supplement increases blood flow in your body. It will give you tons of energy and a more productive workout. Follow the instructions on the bottle.

2. Protein-Protein is the building block of muscle. Not only that, it fills you up, decreasing your appetite. I use it as a meal replacement. It also comes in powder, and you mix it with water. I choose a chocolate flavor and mix it with milk, so it tastes like chocolate milk. Being under 300 calories, it works well as a meal replacement.

3. BCAA- These are Branch Chain Amino Acids. They come in a pill form, and if taken after a workout, they will increase recovery time. That means that you will be sore for a shorter amount of time.

Brown rice is also called as hulled rice. This form of rice is actually partially milled or is not milled at all. Brown rice is far more nutritious than white rice. The main difference between brown rice and white rice lies in the method of processing. In brown rice only the outer layer is removed. And in white rice several layers are removed thus there is more wastage of nourishment.

Brown rice serves with innumerable health benefits. It is rich in vitamins and minerals. It is also a rich source of fiber. Brown rice helps in regulating bowel movement due to high content of fiber. The vitamins and minerals that are present impart good immunity to your body. You can therefore keep chronic health ailments at bay. Brown rice is believed to be beneficial to women having menopausal problems. It is also helpful in controlling blood sugar levels and blood pressure.

However, you must wash brown rice thoroughly before cooking it so that dirt is removed. And you must cook brown rice in less water. If there is 1 cup of brown rice then you must cook it in just 2 cups of water. You don’t have to remove any water because this water has nutritional value. Because of such value offered by brown rice, it is recommended to use brown rice over white rice.

People are crazy to have six pack abs like models and actors. But in reality, it is a time consuming process and needs lot of dedication. The two main things that will give you sexy six pack abs are:
1. Lose Body Fat
2. Strengthen Abdominal Muscles

In order to lose body fat you must concentrate on having a good and healthy diet. Have lot of greens in your diet. Avoid saturated and processed foods. The food that you eat must be high in nourishment but low in calories. Exercises also play vital role in fat burning process. You must be regular enough in physical activities like walking, swimming, playing outdoor games etc.

In order to strengthen body abdomen muscles you must rely on high intensity work outs including cardio and weight training. Also rely on sit ups, leg lifts, crunches etc. It would take time but you must not lose patience. If you want you can even take help of a physical instructor.

It would be better to lose weight first and then go for strengthening body muscles. Six pack abs is a long journey. It is not a one or two day task. It is a process of at least a couple of months.

Belly bulge is a common condition for most men above 30 and women above 40. One of the primary cause for belly bulge lies in diet, especially poor eating habit. A combination of good eating habits and good dietary intake could reduce the chances of encountering belly bulge substantially.

Sodium is harmful as it facilitates retention of water in the body, contributing to puffing up the belly. People with belly bulge would do well to well to eliminate table salt and use alterative seasoning such as mint and basil that do not contain sodium.

Sugar alcohol present in low calorie sweeteners, carbonized drinks, sugar free foods and even candy, soda and gum are hard to digest and the bacteria present in the large intestine ferment them. This cause gas and even diarrhea, besides contributing to belly bulge.

Not just sugar alcohol, eating or dinking any food quickly, sucking a candy hard, sipping through a straw all entails swallowing air which causes the same effects of gas in the intestine causing disorders including belly bulge. Fresh fruits and vegetables ae healthy foods, but eating too much of it quickly take up room in the stomach and distend it, contributing to gas and belly bulge. Such effects ciuld be eliminated by spacing out the eating over the day.

The following tips will help you move toward healthier choices for

BREAKFAST

* Fresh fruit or small glass of citrus juice or any freshly made fruit shakes.
* Whole grain bread, bagel or English muffin with jelly or honey or low fat cheese with added fruit.
* Congee or arroz caldo with bean, onion or leeks topping.
* Oatmeal with fat-free milk topped with fruit plus raisins.
* Omelet made with egg whites with spinach or any vegetable filling.
* Multigrain pancakes without butter, just syrup or honey for taste.
* Non-fat yogurt (try adding cereal or fresh fruit) or cottage cheese on toast.

BEVERAGES

* Water with lemon
* Flavored sparkling with water (non-calorie) with lemon grass
* Juice spritzer (half fruit juice and half sparkling water)
* Iced tea with lemon
* Tomato juice
* Any diet soda to cut calories

APPETIZERS

* Vegetable aspic salad
* Fresh and crunch celery, carrot sticks or turnips
* Steamed or grilled seafood
* Shrimp cocktail (limit cocktail sauce)
* Cubed melons or fresh fruit frothe
* Bean soups or any vegetable puree
* Fresh lumpia of heart of palm (ubod)
* Salad with reduced fat dressing (or add lemon juice or vinaigrette)