5 Reasons To Eat Real Food

This is a great post that I'm re-blogging from the 'MyFitnessPal' website. The post is about the 
advantages of Clean Eating. This is only a portion of a larger post that I hope to reblog at a later date.  For people who want to have a better diet but don't know were to start, this article should help you.

1. Eat “healthier” without thinking about it. It’s useful to think of food as nutrients (macro- and   micronutrients) so we can better understand our body. When it comes to healthy eating, it’s more useful to think of food simply as food. Choosing “real” foods lets you eat healthier from a nutrient perspective without thinking too much about nutrients.

2. Redefine your relationship with food. Do you find yourself labeling food as “good” or “bad” based on a predefined notion of what healthy eating looks like? Nothing should always be that black and white, least of all a healthy relationship with food. Choosing real foods forces you to reevaluate the foods you think are healthy (aka processed foods labeled “low fat,” “sugar-free” and so forth). That being said, if you’re willing to buy real food ingredients to bake a cake, you should be able to enjoy a slice of dessert without a side of guilt.

3. Get the most nutrients out of the foods you’re eating. Processing foods usually removes or destroys valuable nutrients. The two exceptions are fortified foods (think: orange juice with added vitamin D) and preserved foods (think: canned and frozen). Choosing mostly real foods helps you maximize the nutrients you get from the foods you eat.

4. Cook, connect and celebrate with friends and family. Real food means real cooking! Since real foods come in the most natural form, it pushes you to be creative in preparing and cooking your meals. Cooking is an essential skill when it comes to living a healthy life. Since good food is a cause for celebration, get your friends and family members involved if you can.

5. Live a longer, healthier life. “You are what you eat” is a simple mantra capturing the impact that diet quality has on your quality of life. Eating mostly real foods will decrease your chances of getting a debilitating chronic disease like heart disease, stroke, diabetes or cancer. After all, the goal of being physically healthy is to live a long life whilst avoiding these pitfalls. 

I think people have forgotten that first line in #5, 'You are what you eat'.  This phase isn't new. I remember being in school some 50 years ago and reading the same thing. I think people use to pay more attention to what they ate. Today all we look for is convenience and price. Isn't that the real problem with our overweight population? We want to spend more time relaxing and less time worrying about our health or our appearance.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

The 5 Meal A Day Plan For Weight Loss

You need to read about Probiotics, it can help you lose weight among other things.

Probiotics may seem new to the food and supplement industry, but they have been with us from our first breath. During a delivery through the birth canal, a newborn picks up bacteria from his/her mother. These good bacteria are not transmitted when a Cesarean section is performed and have been shown to be the reason why some infants born by Cesarean section have allergies, less than optimal immune systems, and lower levels of gut microflora.

Probiotics are believed to protect us in two ways. The first is the role that they play in our digestive tract. We know that our digestive tract needs a healthy balance between the good and bad bacteria, so what gets in the way of this? It looks like our lifestyle is both the problem and the solution. Poor food choices, emotional stress, lack of sleep, antibiotic overuse, other drugs, and environmental influences can all shift the balance in favor of the bad bacteria.

When the digestive tract is healthy, it filters out and eliminates things that can damage it, such as harmful bacteria, toxins, chemicals, and other waste products. On the flip side, it takes in the things that our body needs (nutrients from food and water) and absorbs and helps deliver them to the cells where they are needed.

The idea is not to kill off all of the bad bacteria. Our body does have a need for the bad ones and the good ones. The problem is when the balance is shifted to have more bad than good. An imbalance has been associated with diarrhea, urinary tract infections, muscle pain, and fatigue.

The other way that probiotics help is the impact that they have on our immune system. Some believe that this role is the most important. Our immune system is our protection against germs. When it doesn't function properly, we can suffer from allergic reactions, autoimmune disorders (for example, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis), and infections (for example, infectious diarrhea, Helicobacter pylori, skin infections, and vaginal infections). By maintaining the correct balance from birth, the hope would be to prevent these ailments. Our immune system can benefit anytime that balanced is restored, so it's never too late.

Now your probably wondering what that has to do with losing weight. Well, If your stomach isn't working properly it might be keeping you from losing weight. If your not digesting food properly too much of your food is turning into fat and not energy. Your food will either become energy or be stored as fat. 3500 extra calories in your diet will become one ounce of body fat. Probiotics will put good bacteria in your gut to help you digest food. You have to have more good bacteria than bad bacteria. That's what doctors mean when they talk about a balance of the right bacterias in your stomach. You need both, but you need more of the good, than the bad. Bad bacteria can build up in your system from eating the wrong things. This is where you want to do some research. I know you can buy probiotics in the drug store, but you can get probiotics from the food you eat. You can research that and see what foods will help you put good bacteria back into your system.

Your weight problems can be caused from a stomach problem and you wouldn't even know it.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

It's The Holidays, Forget The Diet

It's a very special time for every family. A season of celebration. I hope you can spend some time with your family, even if it's on the phone.

Celebrating has always involved food and drink, it's a tradition that has gone on for thousands of years and I'm sure it will continue on, but we don't have to pig-out.

Yes, you have to taste the important traditional dishes that your friends or relatives have taken hours to prepare, but use a small plate, take small amounts and try and avoid the sugary stuff. Remember you can't work-off a lot of calories.

A one hour workout for an experienced athlete will only burn about 300 calories. For a person with less athletic experience you might only burn 100 calories. On a festive holiday like Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year it's easy to consume 3000 to 4000 calories between all the food, snacks, and drinks for the day. That kind of consumption can increase your weight by 2 or 3 pounds at least.

So if you can hold down your calorie count to say 2000 calories which should only be a few hundred more than normal, you should be able to work off those extra calories in a couple of day.

The problem we all have this time of year is the continual party, one after the other with very little time inbetween to recoup. Than there's the shopping for gifts. We go after work and spend a couple hours trying to find gifts and no time to eat, so we eat in restaurants with friends which involves more celebrating and more calories.

Did you know that the hoiday season is the busiest time of the year for restaurants. It's not unusual for a family to eat out 4 or 5 times a week during the holidays. So if you add up all the meals we eat in restaurants and all the social events we have to attend, it's no wonder that the average adult will gain between 5 and 10 pounds during the holidays.

This is the typical weight gain you have to avoid. It can take months to recoup, if you can recoup. Most of us will try to diet in January. We'll lose some weight but not much, because the winters are cold and in the cold weather we tend to eat more comfort food and that's high-calorie food.

Eating the wrong foods even in small portions will keep you from losing weight. You can't exercise away a bad diet. Once the weather starts to warm up most of us find it easier to cut back on food, but by that time it's hard to break the bad habits we had during the winter. We will trim down a little because we are more active in the spring and summer because the days are longer and we have more time to work outside.

I know all about this life cycle because that is the way my life was. All the weight I would gain during the cold months never quit left me. I always ended up one or two pounds heavier at the end of the year. Of course, we never remember how much we weighed the year before, so we don't realize we keep gaining weight every year. That cycle is call "creeping obesity". The one or two pounds you gain every year and don't even realize it. Then when you get to be 50, you wonder how you gained all that weight. On average, a 50 year old male will weigh between 40 and 60 more than he did on his 21st birthday. The more you weigh when your 21, the more you'll gain over the years. This doesn't hold true in all cases, it's an average over the entire population, some people are very athletic and never gain weight. I weigh the same today as I weighed when I was 17, of course I spent years yo-yoing from 220 pounds down to 160.

Be mindful what you eat. Keeping your body is good condition is your responsibility. It would be better for you and better for your health if you never gained any extra weight. When an adult gains weight they are adding body fat. Not good. The human body is only built to carry a small amount of body fat, like 15% of your weight. It's there in case of emergency. When you can't find food your body will still have fat to survive on. But because of the American diet we are adding too much fat and it only causes health problems.

Controlling your weight and keeping your body in good condition is your responsibility. Your doctor can only relieve your symptons. Give a pills or repair a broken bone. Your body has to heal itself and your have to feed it the nutrition it needs to do that.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks.  “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

Are You Destin To Be Fat?

Your genes are why your eyes are brown and your hair is red. They are what make you,  "you". But can genetics determine the size of your jeans?

Research shows that differences in your genes can lead to weight issues. So if your parents are obese, you’re more likely to be, too. But that doesn’t mean you will without question. Many people with obesity in their families aren't heavy. And you can fight the odds with diet and exercise.

Is There a “Fat Gene?”

There’s one gene that’s getting a lot of attention, called FTO. Scientists found that people with certain differences in this gene have a 20% to 30% higher chance of obesity. And those differences are pretty common. That said, I don't think your genes will make you fat, but your parents genes change as they change. So if they were overweight when you were conceived then maybe those genes may have created a fat baby, but that doesn't mean you're going to stay fat. I remember a case in my family were one boy was born over 11 

pounds but throughout childhood and now as a young adult his weight is perfectly normal.

Dozens of other genes are linked to weight as well. Some, for example, cause people to just naturally store more fat. That could be heredity. But it’s still unclear exactly how much weight genes really do carry. Are you really destined to be overweight?

“Obesity is a very complex disease, and many factors can contribute to it and cause it, including genetics, behavior, and environment,” says Naima Moustaid-Moussa, PhD, director of the Obesity Research Cluster at Texas Tech University. Obesity can run in families -- not because of genetics, but because of habits and environment, she says.

More than a third of adults in the United States are obese, Moustaid-Moussa says. “The number of Americans with obesity has steadily increased over the past five decades, but this can’t be explained by some dramatic changes in our genes.”

Jung Han Kim, PhD, an obesity researcher and professor at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, agrees. Obesity has increased around the world with industrialization, a sedentary lifestyle, and a fat-filled diet, she says.

The Bottom Line

Family history alone doesn’t seem to be enough to make you obese. “Genetics does play a role, but the truth is who you are is still determined by how you live your life,” Li says.

So the same advice holds true:

Get active. Aim for 2 1/2 hours of moderate-intensity exercise like brisk walking every week. Even doing 10 minutes at a time helps. Weight training, done at least twice a week, will help make your muscles strong.

Eat less. Cut calories. Lopping off 500 to 1,000 a day can help you lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.

Choose good-for-you foods. Go for fruit, veggies, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy foods. Fish, lean meats, beans, eggs, and nuts are also good options.

There's a bunch of different opinions about cutting calories for weight loss. Personally, I had to change the food I was eating. If you eat fresh, healthy foods you will be cutting calories. It's all the manufactured foods and drinks that are loaded with calories. 

If you really want to lose the extra flab you can get help, I write 4 blogs and I’ve written two E-books. E-books are the easiest and cheapest way to learn about any subject without groping through hundreds of website looking for the material you want. 

My first e-book is “HowBadDoYouWantToLoseWeight” and it sells for $2.99 on most online bookstores like Amazon, BN.com, iBook, Kobo, and Gardner books in the U.K.

My second e-book is available in the same stores. And on smashwords.com. Just type in the search line “getting to a healthy weight”.

The Right Diet Will Burn Fat

This post is from the HungryGirl website and confirms that your diet will help you burn fat. The right diet will burn more fat than exercise. I write about this subject every week and I know you can't starve yourself and lose weight. You have to eat the right foods. There are actually foods that help you burn fat. If you eat the right foods, you'll never be hungry. It's not the quantity, it's the quality. Sticking to a healthy diet is tough — we need all the extra motivation we can get. Adding fat-burning foods to your meals 'n snacks does double duty: They're healthy additions in and of themselves, they help burn calories. Try the following: One bean, two bean, red bean, blue bean. And when I say "red" and "blue," I mean "pinto" and "navy." Whatever type of bean is your personal favorite, you can count on one thing — experts insist it'll be great at helping your body burn fat. Beans are all-around amazing because they contain lots of protein and fiber. Eating protein is one of the very best ways to encourage your body to burn fat: It boosts your metabolism and helps you feel full and energized. Where does the fiber come in? Studies show that dietary fiber can help regulate your appetite and slow down your digestion, both of which are great for weight control. Aside from those navy and pinto beans, stock up on other fat-burning beans like soybeans, garbanzo beans, black beans, white beans, kidney beans, and lima beans. Bonus: Beans are incredibly budget friendly. Who doesn't love that? While most types of seafood are smart choices, they're not all fat-burning superstars like salmon and tuna. You've probably heard that salmon and tuna are great sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Why should you care? Because not only do omega-3s help grow your hair and nails, they stimulate a protein hormone in your body called leptin, which jumpstarts your metabolism and regulates your appetite. Well, then, allow me to introduce your new best friends: quinoa, brown rice, oat, and corn. These foods are considered whole grains (not to be confused with refined white carbs, which are basically the opposite of fat-burning foods), and chowing down on them fuels your bod with much-needed fiber and complex carbohydrates. It's the "complex" part that helps burn fat: 1) Complex carbs break down more slowly than the simple variety, meaning your energy levels won't crash, and 2) They hold your insulin levels steady, which is good because insulin spikes encourage your body to hang on to fat. If quinoa is your new best friend, yogurt should come in at a close second. Dairy products contain both protein and calcium, which help keep your muscle mass intact while promoting weight loss. Another tidbit of good news about dairy: Studies show that of two groups of participants on low-calorie diets, the group that included dairy in their diets lost more weight than the dairy-free group. And, as if you need more reason to grow a milk mustache, research shows that probiotics found in some light dairy fights fat. Dairy can be scary because it usually contains fat, but it's not difficult to stick to fat-free and light varieties of milk, yogurt, and cheese. There are so many delicious options out there. As if we needed another reason to drink red wine. I've saved the best for last: A recent study suggests that red wine (from extracts found in a certain type of red grape) may help your body fight fat. The study found that people who ate a high-fat diet accumulated less fat when they also consumed Muscadine grapes. Conversely, the group that also ate a high fat diet but didn't consume the red grapes accumulated the amount of fat that would be expected based on their food choices. The results are attributed mostly to something called ellagic acid, a compound found in Muscadine grapes. Muscadine grapes are grown primarily in the southeastern United States, and they’re used to make certain American wines. Cheers! If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.  There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K. My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

We Need To Exercise

You probably wonder why exercise is so important to our body after all my father never exercised or his father either. Well, they came from a different generation. They lived a more physical life. I remember my grandparents; they worked sun up to sun down on a small farm raising chickens, and taking care of their garden and orchard. And my parents didn't have it that hard but without all the conveniences we have today they stayed busy all day between their jobs and shopping and keeping up the house. Today the average adult spends about 16 hours a day either sitting or lying down. When the body is sitting for more than 20 minutes it can go into hibernation mode just like when you're lying down. Several hours in hibernation mode will slow down body functions and will actually cause health problems.

Exercise comes in many types. Playing sports like soccer or swimming or walking, jogging, using hand weights are just a few way to exercise.

More people than ever are starting to exercise. People are realizing the benefits. I don't want to minimize the diet part but exercise has benefits for everyone even if you don't want to lose weight. Exercise will make you feel better and be a happier person with more energy. Of course, the diet part of losing weight will give you the energy you need to exercise. Overweight people generally are tired most of the day. They use up their energy in the morning and slow down after that. Yes, it can be because they're heavy but mostly lack of energy is because of the food you're eating. If your food isn't giving you energy for the whole day, maybe you're eating the wrong food.

Getting started with exercise

What should I wear?

You should wear comfortable, moisture wicking clothing and a good pair of athletic shoes (or barefoot for yoga!). PS: Always have a water bottle nearby to stay hydrated!

How often and how intense should I be working out?

The CDC recommends 150 minutes of cardio a week and two strength training sessions a week. You decide how, when, and where! The options are endless. Just get moving!

How do I know if I’m doing it right?

Good form equals good results. Read the instructions we provide, but more importantly, listen to your body. Muscle fatigue means “Wow! I’m working hard, I can barely do another repetition.” Muscle pain means ”Ow! Something doesn’t feel right.” Work to muscle fatigue. Never work through muscle pain.

Help! What’s a set?

Here’s some help decoding fitness jargon:

• Rep: Short for repetition. The number of times you perform an exercise.
• Set: The number of rounds of repetitions.
• Cardio: It’s heart-pumping exercise that gets you breathing through your mouth, not your nose. The difference between “window shopping and mall walking.”
• Strength Training: Working your muscles. You could be lifting weights, using a resistance band, or doing bodyweight exercises.
• Flexibility: Stretching your muscles and mind-body exercises like yoga

This post comes from MyFitnessPal and gives the beginner some great tips on exercising. 

Send me an email if you have any questions but we all need to start some sort of exercise program that you can stay with.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

How Do People Stay Thin?

It's not the mystery of the Century. I wondered the same think before I lost my body fat. Losing your body fat is key to the mystery. In order to lose fat you must learn how to eat and what to eat so your body burns that excess fat. The mistake I made for many years was thinking that I could burn the fat by exercising.

Exercise is part of losing body fat but exercise itself won't burn fat, it helps your body to function better. You increase the oxygen in your blood stream and increase your strength and balance. You also strengthen your heart which is key to good circulation. It's better circulation and a strong heart that give you energy along with eating the right foods.

So how do people stay thin? Once I lost most of my fat, my BMI was 21 at that time, I was already in the habit of eating fresh food. I follow the suggestions on the food pyramid. This is referred to as the Mediterranean diet. It was voted the best way to eat for the past three years. Following the suggestions from the food pyramid is the healthiest way to eat. There won't be any calories to count and you won't starve, there are plenty of choices, just stick to the pyramid and don't cheat.




At first it might look like a lot of carbs, but they're good carbs, no processed foods here, they're all fresh foods. I know it has "sweets" listed on the pyramid and I do eat dark chocolate occasionally. I know that many of you don't see things on the pyramid that you like to eat, but that was the challenge for me. I had to stop eating desserts and drinking calories. Half of my daily calories came from the liquids I consumed.

Calories are your enemy when you're trying to lose fat. The good part for my was that I could stop counting calories. When I picked food from the pyramid I had no problem overeating. I would eat five small meals a day before six pm and nothing after. The 5 meals during the day kept me full and evens out blood sugar levels so you don't have food cravings.

At first you might gain a pound or two but after a few weeks your body will become accustom to your new meal plan and your appetite will decrease.

Along with daily exercise you can reach your goal. It's a long term plan but changing the food you eat is "life changing". You will regain the energy you thought you lost forever.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.