Top 10 Foods For Smooth Glowing Skin

People who want great looking skin often look for the best creams and lotions they can find to give their skin a vibrant glow. What many don’t realise is that they can give their skin this vibrant glow naturally by eating all the right foods.

A healthy eating plan rich in vegetables and healthy foods provides countless benefits to your health and skin. Adopting a healthy diet containing the top 10 foods for skin listed below has even been known to reverse diabetes and skin disease, and reduce the risk of cancer.

Healthy eating is the key to having beautiful young looking skin. Here are the top 10 foods for skin put together by Simon Lovell, media expert and author of The Lunch Box Diet:

 

1. Avocado

The avocado is known for its numerous properties that benefit the skin. It contains many healthy fats that plump up the skin and smooth away the dryness. Avocados have the highest content of vitamin E when compared with other fruits, which is a powerful antioxidant that helps strengthen the white blood cells.

 

2. Berries

Strawberries, blackberries and blueberries are all good for the skin because of their high antioxidant content. These 3 berries have been found to have the highest antioxidant capacity of any foods. They produce collagen which keeps the skin smooth and plump.

 



3. Low Fat Yoghurt

Low fat yoghurt is rich in one of the most important components of skin health – Vitamin A. Experts have stated that the health of skin cells is largely dependant on how much Vitamin A is present in our diets.

 



4. Broccoli

Broccoli is a vegetable that contains an abundance of health benefits, and is good for the skin. Broccoli is high in Vitamin A and thus promotes good turnover of skin cells. Eating broccoli can help to renew skin cells quickly making your skin look fresher.

 



5. Whole-Grains

Whole-grains are rich in the mineral Selenium, which is why they promote healthy skin. Selenium has been shown to reduce skin damage after prolonged exposure to the sun. High levels of selenium in your system prevents your skin from oxidative damage that can increase cancer risks.

 



6. Spinach

Rich in vitamins B, C and E, spinach possesses strong anti-aging properties and helps to give the skin a healthy glow. Also, the iodine contained in spinach is said to combat skin disease.

 

 



7. Omega-3 Fish

Omega-3 is one of the healthy fats that are highly sought after by the health-conscious. Omega-3 fatty acids are good for strengthening the skin cell membranes and preventing toxins from being absorbed.





8. Non-Starchy Vegetables
Non-starchy vegetables are high a fibre and bolster your age-defying bacteria. If you have blotchy or tired skin this can often be due to a lack of fibre. Lack of fibre can lead to disrupted digestion that stops nutrients from being absorbed properly. This starves your skin of the nutrients it needs to look younger and healthier.

The health benefits of a diet based mainly on non-starchy vegetables are endless. In fact, a UK study has shown that adopting a diet consisting of only liquid diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables has been shown to reverse diabetes and cure the condition in just 3 months. Because they are non-starchy, they do not affect blood glucose.

Common non-starchy vegetables include carrots, broccoli, sprouts, celery, asparagus, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, peppers, lettuce, beets and watercress.

 



9. Green Tea

The health properties of green tea are vast. The list of skin benefits that green tea provides goes on and on. Green tea, whether consumed as a drink or applied to the skin, can decrease risk of damage from the sun and thus lessen the risk of skin cancer.

Green tea also has strong anti-inflammatory properties. Being as it is rich in polyphenols, it prevents inflammation and is beneficial to overall skin health.

 

10. Lean Red Meat

Not getting enough iron can result in having unhealthy skin. Lean red meat is a good source of iron for anyone who needs it, but you should be careful not to eat any red meats that are too high in fat.

With a healthy diet that includes the top 10 foods for skin listed above, it’s unlikely that you’ll need to rely on creams and lotions to give your skin a healthy glow. Fill yourself with nutritious and healthy foods, and your skin will take care of itself. The Lunch Box Diet is great for the skin because it’s packed full of the foods that your skin needs to look smooth and healthy. Within 7 days you will notice a difference. Click here for more information.

All the best
Daryl

The 8 Week Diabetes Cure?

For a long time now it has been speculated that type-2 diabetes can be cured by adopting a low calorie diet. This claim has been met by scepticism in many corners, but now we have evidence to prove that it may actually be true. But I’m not so sure it’s all cracked up to be…

Scientists from Newcastle University in the UK conducted a two month long study which they believe shows that type-2 does not have to be a life-long illness.

There study involved 11 participants who cut their calorie intake to under 600 calories per day for 2 months. 3 months after the experiment finished, 7 out of the 11 participants were free of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is caused when there is too much glucose in the blood. Unlike type-1 diabetes, which develops in children when their bodies cannot convert insulin into glucose, type-2 is very closely linked with obesity. This explains why theorists have suggested that a low calorie diet could cure type-2 diabetes.

Just a week into the study, the pre-breakfast blood sugar levels of the participants had returned to normal. MRI scans taken at this time showed that the fat levels inside their pancreas had also gone back to normal. This means that the pancreas had now regained the ability to make insulin.

One of the participants in the study, who had suffered from diabetes for 6 years, said that 18 months on he still did not need to take his old diabetes tablets. This is great, but what about the others?

So now the question is, how can a diabetic go about adopting a new low calorie diet plan that could free them of this disease? Going for 600 calories straight away… I don’t think so, but you could build up lower calories until you reach your optimum level, and stay there for life. How does that sound?

I’m not saying that if you have diabetes you shouldn’t use this 600 calorie method, but I know from my dieters that they are able to sustain their weight loss after my diet and I believe it can be used to reverse diabetes too. Many of them simply reduce their lunch box and breakfast and meal sizes over time. They lose weight, get healthier and have more confidence.

You could just eat a 600 calorie Lunch Box from all day from breakfast to you evening meal but I think there’s the way I just described would be more effective, long term.

We need to remember that those on this study would have been working under strict conditions and if you’re overweight and have diabetes, the chances of switching and sticking to a very low calorie diet are very slim, especially if you’ve been a yo-yo dieter in the past. We need to consider so many
different variables.

Slow and steady is the key when introducing any new eating habits so that the results can be sustained. I’d bet a fair amount of money that if 1,000 people tried eating 600 calories for 8 weeks and then maintaining a healthy weight, not even 10% would succeed long term because of the psychological and emotional battling that goes on when you restrict yourself for this long.

Low-Calorie Diabetes Diet Plan

As we have seen from the study, the participants restricted their calorie intake to 600 calories per day. So, the way a diabetic can design a new diet plan is to learn about the calorie levels in different kinds of foods and drop their calories down.

With this knowledge, a diabetic can plan their daily meals accordingly and make meals and snacks out of the low calorie foods they enjoy.

Before getting on to what kinds of foods are good to eat on this kind of diet, we need lay the ground-works. The key to dieting is not just about what you eat, but how you eat.

Eating Schedule

When starting out on a diet, it’s important to get a good eating routine going. Rather than just eating 3 large meals a day, it is much better to eat smaller meals, and then have snacks in between (ie from a Lunch Box). As I mentioned earlier, instead of reducing your calories to 600 straight away, you could use The Lunch Box Diet by gradually reducing the box size over time and then reduce the portion size of breakfast and evening meals so you’re reducing your calorie intake more steadily. This is how a lot of people have had amazing weight loss results on the plan.

 

Figuring out a rough time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day can start a good flow that your body will get used to. Then you can identify the mid-point between these meals when you can have a snack. So if you decide to have breakfast at around 8am each morning, and lunch at 12:30, you can have a snack (or eat from your box) in between at around 10:15am.

Eating in this way is important for all sorts of reasons. It fills your body with energy frequently and keeps you metabolism moving fast. It is especially important to eat this way with a very low-calorie diet, as you are likely to get hungry quite often. Eating more frequently throughout the day will make sure you are less hungry because there will be no large gaps in between your meals.

Knowing About Calories

So after working out a rough eating plan, the next step will be deciding what to eat. To ensure the eating plan stays low, knowledge about the calorie levels in different kinds of foods is needed.

With good knowledge of calorie levels, it becomes easy to design appropriate meals. It can even be a lot of fun to create meals out of the low calorie ingredients that are to your liking.

Low Calorie Foods

To give a brief overview of the calorie levels of some common foods, here is a breakdown of some of the lowest calorie foods:

Under 50 calories (per 3.5oz):

Boiled Beans

Brocolli

Brussel Sprouts

Lentils

Fat-free yoghurt



Under 100 Calories (per 3.5oz)

Mung Beans

Low-fat Cottage Cheese

Low-fat fromage frais

Noodles

Porridge

Tofu



Under 150 Calories (per 3.5oz)

White fish

Lite Mayo

Boiled Bleached Pasta

Wheat Pasta

Boiled Chick Peas

Long Grain White Rice

Brown Rice

Spaghetti



Hopefully this list gives a good idea for what kinds of low-calorie meals can be designed to fit in with this diet.

With knowledge of calorie levels, creating meals can be a lot of fun, and involve a lot of creativity.

There are plenty of options for low calorie breakfasts, lunches and dinners. For breakfast you could enjoy a bagel with fat-free cream cheese, or oatmeal with raisins for less than 200 calories.

A simple tuna, turkey, or smoked chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes can be eaten for lunch at around 240-280 calories, or you’d have your lunch box to nibble on. It’s better this way because you’re blood sugar levels tend to spike when you’re just eating ‘lunch’. I try not to think of ‘lunch’ as lunch and just graze…

A low calorie dinner option could be salmon with a quick serving of brown rice, salad and low calorie salad dressing, or maybe a 2oz whole wheat pasta dish with frozen shrimp, feta cheese and marinara. Perhaps Asian stir-fry containing carrots, broccoli, red pepper and garlic would go down well with little over 300 calories.

For snacks in between meals, a tossed salad, a fruit salad or a slice of raisin bread is unlikely to be over 50 or 60 calories. If you’re on the go you could pick up a quick low fat cereal bar or rice cakes to keep you going.

These are just some of countless possible examples of how creative you can be with a diet like this. There are actually lots of low calorie eating options, so there are plenty of possibilities for making meals that contain the foods you like best. Obviously dieting is much easier if you enjoy the food you are eating, so you should focus on including your favourite low calorie foods as often as possible.

If you know all the possibilities available for designing low calorie meals and snacks, adoption this diet can be easy and a lot of fun. The health benefits of having a diet plan like this are vast. As we have seen, some people have been able to cure their diabetes for good by adopting a low calorie diet.

Even if the diabetes doesn’t go away, no-one can possibly not be in better health by eating a diet like this. Chances are having diabetes would be easier to cope with anyway, that’s if it doesn’t get cured all together.

All the best

Daryl

Sneaky Tactics To Give You More Energy & Productivity At Work

Dealing with the pressures and challenges that most of us face in the workplace on a daily basis is no easy task. You really have to go an extra mile in the workplace in order to get noticed, but you certainly do not have to compromise your health to do this. Eating healthy at work isn’t hard when you know how…



It’s no surprise that some people get tired and stressed at the end of a long day at work. However, there always seems to be some people who are bright and vibrant all day long who seem to deal with all situations easily. These are the people with more energy – more often than not they are the ones who are getting all the vitamins and minerals they need from their diet to stay sharp and focused throughout the day.

So, how can you improve your productivity and performance at work through your diet? Here’s how…

First of all, make sure you eat breakfast every day. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and can determine your energy levels for the entire day. A combination of milk and oats or cornflakes is an ideal breakfast and provides your with lots of calcium. Boiled egg is also a good way to start the day – this gives you lots of proteins and carbohydrates to get you through a busy morning and afternoon.

While you are at work, do you ever get tempted to drink coffee? I know it can be very tempting, but in actual reality coffee can have the reverse effect that people are hoping for. Most people drink coffee to boost their energy levels, but too much caffeine can lead to lethargy, and can cause your body weight to increase at faster rates.



It’s important to not skip any meals during the day and that’s where the Lunch Box Diet comes in, it’s always available to you, you can keep it on your desk or in your office fridge. When your workload piles up, it can be easy to skip meals in order to get things done, but try your best to eat all the meals you need. Take responsibility for the food you eat. If you are being served a work lunch, get yourself a nice salad or whatever is the healthiest option. Your choice of food will have a big impact on you work performance.

If the food provided by your work is not up to scratch, don’t hesitate to make your own lunchbox and use my tasty combinations to keep you interested, that way you’re more likely to stick with it.

If you are going to snack when you get home, which you will probably be tempted to, try and supplement it with something healthy like a piece of fruit. So if you feel like eating some fried food, eat something healthy along side it to restore the healthy balance. A great healthy diet plan to look at is The Lunch Box Diet which has been called one the best diets ever by Elle Magazine who said it became a ‘way of life’. Click here to find out more.

Summary: Eating Healthy to Excel at Work:

- Eat breakfast every day

- Avoid drinking too much coffee at work

- Don’t skip any meals

- Stick to salads and healthy sandwiches made from home

- Supplement fatty snacks with healthy accompaniments

All the best

Daryl

How To Combat Stress Through Healthy Eating

Stress can be one of your biggest challenges if you are trying to lose weight. Unfortunately, stress is virtually unavoidable in this day and age. When you’re feeling stressed out, the effort involved in sticking to a responsible eating plan can feel like something of a nuisance.

The big problem is that if stress leads to unhealthy eating, then the unhealthy eating will lead to more stress. And in reverse, healthy eating will result in a reduction of stress. I know it seems hard at times, but the times you when you feel most stressed are the times when eating healthily is most important.
Often, pressures in the workplace can lead to unhealthy eating.



Sometimes it’s just a lot easier to pop into the nearest fast food restaurant when you don’t have much time to eat. The harsh truth though is that this is simply being irresponsible if you are trying to lose weight.

There are plenty of healthy foods that you can buy that can be prepared quickly. A sandwich shop can easily whip you up a healthy sandwich with wholemeal bread and a piece of fruit just as quickly as McDonalds can crank out a greasy cheeseburger. Alternatively, make a healthy lunch at home and take it to work with you.

This way you won’t even have to leave the office at lunch time.
Now I understand that fast food can be very addictive and tasty, but they do a lot of harm to your body, and can even weaken your immune system.

Not to mention they will make you fat. Eating greasy and fatty foods will not help your concentration levels at all, so if you want to perform well at work, you should eat something better.

Remember this, the more stressed you are, the more healthy you need to eat. Be sure to start your day off well with a nutritional breakfast. A simple bowl of cereal and a glass of fruit juice can be prepared in seconds if you don’t have much time.

There’s so many healthy options available for lunch meals that you really have no excuse to go to McDonalds. A healthy lunch could consist of rice noodles or pastas with fresh boiled vegetables. Sandwiches with granary bread filled with egg white, meat or vegetables are another easy lunch to make.

Try to go easy on adding butter and cheese to your sandwiches, as you want to keep your calories under control. In addition, a piece of fruit or two is a great snack to eat along side it.

Eating healthily and reducing stress involves eating healthy meals and eating at appropriate intervals. It’s a good idea to eat healthy snacks in between your meals. You could keep some canned fruit, cereal bars and whole wheat crackers in your store or office to keep you going throughout the day.

So remember, when you are stressed you have two cycles to chose from:
Stress > Unhealthy Eating > More stress > Health problems
or…
Stress > Healthy Eating > Reduced Stress Levels > Stronger Immune system

Which would you prefer? The Lunch Box Diet is a great option as a healthy diet plan because as well as helping you lose weight, it is also a great stress busting diet due to all of its health properties. Click here to find out more.

All the best
Daryl

How to Avoid A Yo-Yo Diet In Simple To Follow Steps

There are certain characteristics that differentiate healthy diets and unhealthy diets. The less effective diets are the usually the ones that promise rapid weight loss and only last for a month or so.

The healthier diet programs give more of a focus on losing weight over a longer period. These diet plans are tailored for the individual so are easier to stick to for a long time.

Something that is common with people looking for a weight loss solution is that they don’t have the right knowledge about what healthy eating really consists of. Many people are attracted to fad diets that promise them fast results.

These diets are usually temporary solutions. Many people have good success with such diets, but being as they don’t know what a healthy diet really consists of, they return to their old eating patterns soon after and start piling all that weight back on.

There is nothing wrong with trying out a fad diet, and they may well work. The problem is that many people don’t have a plan B for when the diet finishes. There’s no real use in eating healthily for 30 days and then returning to your usual unhealthy diet.



These diets are sometimes referred to as ‘yo-yo’ diets. Sometimes the dieter will regain twice as much weight as they lost after returning to their old eating habits. This is because of the effects that these eating changes have on their metabolism.

Here are some of the characteristics that fad diets often possess. If you spot things like this then you know that they are most likely not a diet with sustainable long term benefits:

• They focus on just one or two nutrientsThere are several dieting plans around that focus on drastically reducing carbohydrates. These once popular diets have begun fading away, which hopefully reflects the new awareness people are gaining regarding long term healthy eating practices. For long term health benefits, your body needs a good variety of nutrients, including carbohydrates and fats. Balance is the key.

• They promise fast weight loss resultsWhile they may make you lose weight quickly, they are just temporary diets. This means that when the diet is over there’s a good chance you’ll pile that weight back on. You could even put on more weight than you lost.

• They focus on magic foodsA big trend with diets these days is claiming that a certain food like lemon, grapefruit, cinnamon, celery etc. will burn fat fast. While certain can foods can have a positive effect on the metabolism, they should not be considered the solution to long term weight loss.

• They come in supplement formThere’s all sorts of magic diet pills and supplements doing the rounds. Remember, they are called a ‘supplement’ for a reason. They are intended to supplement an overall healthy eating plan. There’s nothing wrong with taking supplements, but they should not be solely relied on in order to lose weight.

• There is no exercise involvedYes some fad diets even claim that no exercise is required and that the special diet alone will make you lose weight. Exercise is a vital practice regardless of your diet. If a dieting product attempts to sell you on the fact you don’t need to exercise, stay well away.

As you may have noticed after reading the above, fad diets are unbalanced and focus on miraculous and rapid changes. Truly healthy diet plans a like a reality check. The best way to be healthy and lose weight is to eat well consistently in the longer term.

There are many healthy diet programs out there that promote long term health in order to lose weight. While they don’t promise success in just a few weeks, they give the groundwork for eating healthily in the long term. Stick to a sustainable plan like this and you body will naturally form its optimum weight over time.

Because a true healthy diet is stuck to for the long term, there is no danger of sudden weight gain as the diet does not end. So the way to spot a healthy diet among all the unhealthy diets out there is to focus more on long term health, rather than overnight weight loss.

In addition, a healthy diet plan focuses on proper eating practices. This includes the frequency and size of meals, which is an important factor which many dieters overlook.

Here are the common features of a healthy diet plan:



Ensure You Consume Enough Calories

Many fad diets can contain a drastically low amount of calories. Starving your body of calories is not the best way to lose weight – you need to reduce calories gradually.

A healthy plan will be tailored the your current calorie intake. Seeing a nutritionist can be helpful to calculate your average weekly calorie intake. A major decrease in your average intake will not serve you well if trying to lose weight properly.

Allowing Snacking Between Meals

Rather than just eating your 3 main meals a day, it is better to have a slightly smaller breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then eat some small healthy snacks in between. This increases metabolism and fills your body with energy. It also settles your appetite and prevents overeating.

Contains a Wide Selection of Foods
You shouldn’t be confined to eating just one kind of food. A healthy diet plan will contain a good mixture of vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans and lean meat.

Sustainable & Flexible
A healthy diet is designed to last for a long time. This is why the best diet plans can be tailored to your own eating habits and your lifestyle.

An effective eating plan will include all your favourite foods to some extent – as long as you don’t overindulge. This makes the diet more effective as you will have more will-power to stick to it.

When you search for a healthy diet plan, evaluate the plans you see and try to identify the above elements. Doing this can help you separate the genuinely healthy diet plans for the fads.

Look for a sustainable diet plan that you know you will be able to stick to for a long time. Find a suitable plan and it will make achieving your health goals a lot easier. The Lunch Box Diet by Simon Lovell reached acclaim because it’s one of the few diets that causes yo-yo dieting as it’s more of a healthy lifestyle plan. Voted ‘the best diet’ by Elle Magazine they said it became ‘a way of life’ – very few diets offer that kind of benefit. Click here to find out more…

All the best for now

Daryl

10 Tips For Losing Weight Fast

Getting rid of those extra kilograms around your waist can be a grueling task but if you follow these 10 Tips for losing weight fast, you should be well on your way to being slender and healthy.

There is a ton of information out there on the internet about what you should and what you shouldn’t do when it comes to weight loss but the problem is that some of it is simply to generic or isn’t really useful.

This is why I have tried to come up with a great list of tips for losing weight fast so that all the information you get from it is both useful and ready to be applied, with immediate results.

So, without further ado, I give you my personal list of 10 Tips for Losing Weight Fast and healthy.

1. Take the time to experiment with food

Everyone knows that eating healthy is the first prerequisite for a diet with enduring results. It is the only way that you will lose weight and kept the extra pounds off. This is why, you should try a lot of different healthy foods so that you will never get bored of your menu and start eating foods that will add to your waistline.

2. Have Smaller Meals

This is something that you will see mentioned in many diets and for good reasons. If you eat smaller meals you won’t put any strain on your stomach and you will also get used to eating less every time you sit down at the table. This is a sure fire way to cut down on your portions on the long run.

3. Drink Lots of Water

This is mandatory not only for losing weight but for living an overall healthy life. Water is the fuel that drives your metabolism so get a lot of it to make sure that you keep burning as many calories as possible throughout the day.

4. Avoid Alcohol

In case you didn’t know it, Alcohol comes with a significant sugar concentration so if you want to lose weight fast, remove it from the menu completely. If you are in a social situation where you absolutely must raise a glass, go for red wine because it gives you a nice metabolism boost and increases your blood flow.

5. Don’t eat after 6 pm

This is another golden rule in the Tips for losing weight fast book. The idea behind it is to avoid eating during the period of the day when your physical activity will be reduced significantly and you won’t burn as many calories.

6. Stay away from Junk Foods and Processed Foods

This should really go without saying but there are many people out there that manage to convince themselves that it’s ok to eat that McDonald’s Salad and completely forget about the fat-laden dressing that it comes with.

7. Run

Out of all the tips for losing weight fast, this is the simplest and most effective I can give you. Just go outside and run because there is no way you will get rid of the extra pounds fast, without any physical exercise.

8. Eat Raw Food

Include vegetables and fruits to your menu but don’t add them, use them to replace other cooked foods.

9. Don’t eat before you sleep

Try to always be active after a meal because it is the only way you will lose weight fast.

10. Never leave the table feeling full

If you want to shed off pounds fast, always leave the table feeling a little bit hungry.

There you have it; these are my 10 Tips for Losing Weight Fast. Follow all of them and you should see results sooner than you expect

All the best for now

Daryl

Fat Genes or Phat Jeans

Fat Genes or Phat Jeans

You've been genetically programmed to bear extra weight

By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

Thorough studies and extensive research have determined that you may be overweight or obese due to heredity. Everyone from doctors to dietitians proclaim that you gain weight and/or get fat due to genetics.

Even though your parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents were healthy and at an ideal weight, you can inherit this "genetic fat gene". *enter sarcasm here* They reason, "it's not your fault", to make you feel better.

How does that strike you? This should down right anger you that they are spending millions of dollars to "prove" that you are genetically predisposed to be heavy with the inability to lose weight.

You've literally been brainwashed by leading officials in the "health care industry" that you gain weight due to a genetic disposition. On top of that, they want to create a drug to combat this "genetic fat gene".

This is along the same lines as, "if heart disease run in your family, there's a great chance you'll get it too". I'm sorry, but that's a load of crap. Families inherit eating traditions and unhealthy lifestyle habits.

If you follow an unhealthy eating pattern, you will suffer the same risk factors and consequences as your parents and grandparents. If you change your eating, you can change your health and well-being.

When the "health care industry" tells you that you have a "genetic fat gene", you will be more likely to tolerate weight issues and accept prescribed drugs to "balanced" the condition for the rest of your life. What a brilliant marketing plan. They take themselves and you out of the equation, and blame weight issues on something beyond your control.

My primary question is, if obesity began to increase at an alarming rate in the last 25 years, where was that fat gene then? Why did it all of a sudden become an issue? Is the fat gene contagious? Is there a fat gene epidemic?

When the pharmaceutical industry funds certain "studies" and "researches", drawing out conclusions that are beyond one's control without the aid of drugs, something is wrong.

There is a lack of true science involved in most researching, simply because they are focused on the result they want. By manipulating time, subjects, amounts, etc., ANY study can be created with any result they want.

Get The Weight-Loss Truth and Start Losing Weight TODAY!

Breaking the Silence

Granted, heredity can play a great role in weight issues, but it does not determine whether you will be skinny or fat. These factors can be broken down into body types and body shapes. What I can say is your diet and exercise can be based on these two factors to create the type of body you desire.

Some causes of weight gain can be contributed to overeating, carbohydrate abuse (past or present), eating too much processed food, lack of exercise, etc.

As you can see, these are learned or acquired behaviors. You don't pop out of the womb with these traits.

There is another side to the equation, such as medical issues, including metabolic challenges due to hypothyroidism, sluggish liver, improperly functioning pancreas, sluggish digestive track, medications, and so on. I will tap on a few of these later.

How to Battle the Bulge

Dietitians, physicians and other "experts" declare that to lose weight you must eat fewer calories and exercise more. Burn more calories than you eat. Of course, that sounds logical.

Another panel of "experts" suggests that to lose weight you have to reduce the amount of fat you eat, because we all know that fat makes you fat, right? This too sounds logical.

So there you have it. In order to lose weight you have to lower calories and fat, and exercise more. Now, if we lower calories and fat, we are left with eating only carbohydrates and protein.

 Pardon my sarcasm, but isn't the latest trend in the weight loss and fitness industry, that carbs make you fat?

Therefore, we are left with cutting calories, fat, and carbs, and doing a lot of exercise. That must be the secret to weight loss. I'm sure many of you have tried this method only to lose muscle and energy and ended up a smaller version of your previous fat self. Right?

After a quick scan of our top "expert's advice", we realize that they are all wrong.

Statistics show that what we are being taught about weight loss is not working. Rather than giving us true facts about how to master fat loss, we are being told that it's in our genes. How absurd is that?

Look at all the success stories of people who were over weight and even obese that ate right and exercised and lost fat. What happened to their fat gene?

Break the Mode and Start Shedding the Pounds!

Revealing the Truth

No matter what, the truth is usually the hardest thing to face. So, what's the truth about fat loss? Technically, it's your body's chemistry.

Your body chemistry determines how your body responds to food. The benefit to this is that you can alter your body chemistry and make it work in your favor. The detriment is that you can also alter your body chemistry and make it worse, causing weight gain.

This is where it's important to know how to play the weight loss game. The secret is in understanding how your body responds to certain macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbs) and using that information to manipulate the body into burning fat.

Undisclosed Facts

There are many factors affecting one's weight loss, and many of these issues have not even surfaced through the media or magazines.

Specifically engineered diet foods and other processed foods are one of the leading causes you may be overweight or have a difficult time losing weight, not a genetic fat gene. The majority of the population is consuming chemically altered substances called, food.

These man-made food imitations are loaded with various toxins, such as sugar, artificial sweetners, MSG, and many other chemicals that prevent the body from breaking them down to use or dispose of. These toxins literally clog your body's systems, alter your body's pH, and virtually pollute your body to the point where it can't lose fat or retain muscle.

 To make a bad story worse, these chemicals (additives) causes illness and diseases.

Today, people are eating diet foods by the truck loads for that extra weight loss advantage. These foods are labeled, "fat-free", "low-calorie", "cholesterol-free", "sugar-free", "“low-carb", "carb-free", etc. Why aren't people losing weight on this stuff?

 It is marketed to those interested in losing weight. These diet food products to lose weight and be healthy that couldn't even be manufactured 50 years ago.

The dirty little secret about these wonderful diet foods is that the food industry is putting ingredients in food products to make you hungry and make you addicted. Now, it's not just diet foods only.

  Anything processed contains chemicals to work against the body and cause adverse reactions.

Envision this. You are composed of 73 trillion cells that are engineered to be healthy. Cells perform all the fundamental functions of life.

These cells carry out daily tasks to keep you healthy and alive.

A healthy and clean diet rich in natural foods produced by Mother Nature will equal healthy cells that function optimally. On the other hand, a polluted diet composed of processed and commercial diet foods including deli cuts, anything boxed or canned, fast food, and such will yield polluted cells that don't function as they were engineered to.

Simply stated, your body is designed to breakdown and digest natural foods, those you can hunt, gather, fish, and pick. When you put a foreign food in your body (processed), your cells don't have the ability to break it down and digest it.

This foreign matter can't be used to rebuild the body's tissues, and these toxins just hang around in your body, clogging up your system and altering your pH. When your body can't rebuild itself with a toxic diet, it will turn on itself to feed its needs.

This literally means that your body will rob your bone and organs to get the enzymes it needs to survive.

Therefore, when you develop osteoporosis at a young age, look at your diet. Is your diet high in processed foods, which lack and rob calcium? Are you eating enough natural vegetables that are calcium rich? Osteoporosis is not genetic, it's acquired.

When you develop heart disease before the age of 40, take a good hard look at your diet. Your body doesn't care where it gets the enzymes, as long as it gets it.

If this means robbing Peter to pay Paul, it will do it! Before you go blaming your parents and grandparent's, take a look at your own eating habits first. It's not your fault. "Conventional-wisdom" has deceived you.

Why Wait? Start Losing Belly Fat NOW!

Failure to Inform

Why isn't this in the news? Why isn't our doctors' telling us this? With the cost of insurance and doctor visits, you would think they would enlighten us rather than telling us we have inherited a genetic fat gene.

Well, one reason your doctor doesn't tell you this is because they are taught very little, virtually two clock hours of nutrition in medical school.

 Doctors are taught how to write prescriptions and do surgical procedures in medical school. If our bodies survive on food, which is comprised of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, then why do they dismiss the very essentials that we are built on and our bodies thrive on? They simply don't know.

The United States is number 37 on the World Health Index and in the top 5 in technology. With all our technology, why are we so overweight, out of shape, sick and diseased? Why is our health at stake? A new drug is not the answer.

Obviously all their studies and research aren't doing much good. The public is being kept in the closet on fitness, nutrition, and health. The true scientific facts are being suppressed, at the cost of your waistline and health. Angry yet?

Metabolic Weight Loss Challenges

Earlier I mentioned certain conditions that could be hindering your weight loss endeavors, such as a poor functioning liver or pancreas and such. Not always, but generally your filtering and metabolic organs can become toxic and prevent them from functioning optimally.

Usually people go straight to their doctor to get the latest drug or surgery, but before you do, give detoxifying a try. Often times our bodies run under par due to the amount of toxins we receive from processed foods, personal hygiene, and/or polluted air and water. Toxins need to be flushed out because they get trapped and stored in fat cells.

They can bloat you, alter your pH, prevent fat loss, and cause a whole host of illnesses and diseases. A simple detoxifying program can purge all the impurities out of your body and allow it to operate as it was intended to do.

Bust out of Those Phat Genes

Now that you know that you are not genetically predisposed to be overweight, you can look into eating more natural foods and detoxifying your system to get your body to work with you, and not against you.

Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

P.S. Discover how to take weight off naturally and safely... and keep it off in How To Lose Weight; FOREVER!

Thanks for that Karen

All the best

Daryl

How Can A Healthy Diet Give You A Healthy Heart?

We live in a world where people are seduced by fat food every day. So many people choose the taste of greasy and fatty sausages or burgers over the nutritional value of healthy fresh salad. It is pure madness, but it shows how addicted people have become to the taste of junk. These people have a total disregard for what it is doing to their hearts.

Alarmingly, more and more medical related deaths have been recorded in the last few decades that are related to heart related problems and cardiac arrests. It is no secret that fast food has played a big part in this.

Studies have shown us that around 80% of heart disease can be prevented through healthy eating. A staggering figure I’m sure you’ll agree. To have a healthy heart, all it takes is the willingness to learn new habits.

While learning new eating habits may seem like a massive step, don’t worry, you don’t have to make 100 drastic changes all at once. You won’t need to turn into a rabbit and only eat vegetables and nothing else for the rest of your life.

If you want a healthy heart, you can start by changing how you cook your favourite non-vegetarian foods. Adding spice to non-veg foods like sage, dry mustard, dill, tarragon, marjoram or oregano can reduce fat saturation and cholesterol. If you like to eat lots of meat, stick to lean red meat and white meat.

Pure vegetarian foods however need to become a large part of your diet. Start gradually eating more and more fresh vegetables. Veggies still contain fats,but not as much.

Foods like cucumber, tomatoes, carrots and leafy vegetables are very healthy and don’t add cholesterol to your body. The Lunch Box Diet is a great healthy diet based on the popular grazing principle that boosts your metabolism through eating small regular meals.

Red and green fruits, low fat milk, olive oil and wholegrain foods are also good vegetarian foods you should have a lot of in your diet if you want a healthy heart.

When you buy foods from the supermarkets, be careful and don’t always trust the labels when they say the product is low cholesterol. Always avoid Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) – this is bad cholesterol, which can cause heart complexities. In contrast, High Density Lipoprotein is good cholesterol – this can help to protect against cardio-vascular risks.

Unhealthy non-food related habits are also important to eradicate. If you smoke or drink lots of caffeine and alcohol, this is something you should cut back on. Exercise is also good for strengthening you cardio-vascular system. So if you’re a bit of a couch potato, now is the time to hit the gym.


All the best for now and speak soon,


Daryl

A Useful Article On Healthy Travel Food

If you go travelling a lot you might be horrified by the lack of nutritional food on offer. Most companies that dish food out to travellers are more interested in profit than nutrition.

Going travelling can often force us to eat lots of unhealthy meals. It’s hard to have control over your calorie intake as your food options will be so limited.

Don’t be worried though, you can still enjoy delicacies on your travels without turning into a pig! With a little care, you can enjoy yourself without being over-indulgent.

If you want to try various delicacies, try to share them with a partner and use your common sense to pick out snacks and meals that are most likely to have the most nutritional value.

If you’re on the road and eating breakfast at service stations, avoid eating deep fried eggs and bacon. Stick to cereals and sandwiches. If you’re going to have eggs, stick to boiled eggs or an omelette.

Take plenty of healthy snacks with you from home to ensure that you and your kids are guaranteed to get some nutrition. You never know what your food options are going to be when you travel, so at a bare minimum you can make sure you have a few healthy snacks in your bag. Take things like protein bars, whole wheat bread sandwiches, fruit and juices. Don’t take high fat and salty snacks like crisps and chocolate bars. Alternatively a great diet for on the move is The Lunch Box Diet which you can combine with a simple cool bag to keep everything fresh.

When food is offered to you during your journey, be it on a plane, a train or a ship, use you head to analyse the negative and positive aspects of the meals before tucking in. If possible, stick only to boiled, roasted or baked dishes rather than fried meals. Make sure you have adequate salads or vegetables to accompany your meal. These should always be provided as standard. You can check what food will be served before you arrange your journey.

Long distance travelling can be quite boring so it’s hard not to stuff yourself along the way. This is why you should take only healthy snacks in case you get this urge. If you are serious about dieting or losing weight, then you should have a natural eye for filtering out healthy food from junk. When travelling, its time to put this instinct in to use and stay disciplined and eat as healthily as you can.


All the best, see you soon

Daryl

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind

Don't Be Misled by Weight Loss Myths

For many people, weight loss is a struggle. Many people spend their time jumping on and off the scales only to find themselves disappointed. The reason so many people become disappointed is because they don't have their weight loss facts straight. Many people are misled when it comes to weight loss. Before you become frustrated, take time to read these weight loss facts.

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #1: Muscle Weighs More Than Fat
If you are exercising in hopes of speeding up the weight loss process, don't get discouraged if the scales won't budge. Even if your weight goes up a few pounds, this isn't a reason to get discouraged. The fact is, as you exercise, you will build muscle which will weigh more than fat. Instead of getting on your scale every week, pay more attention to other signs that show your weight loss.

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #2: Starvation Slows Down Metabolism
Many people think they can simply cut their calorie intake down to 500 calories per day and speed up the weight loss process. The fact is, when you starve yourself, you are actually slowing your metabolism down. Your body will begin to hold onto to fat and calories as a means of sustaining itself.

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #3: A Two Pound a Week Weight Loss is Healthy
Many people get discouraged after their second weigh in. This is normally because their first weigh in was a large number, such as 5 pounds. When they don't see another 5 pound weight loss, they become frustrated. Don't let this happen to you. The fact is, many doctors will tell you that a 2 pound weight loss is healthy and should be what you're reaching for each week.

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #4: Exercise Will Increase Weight Loss
Many people feel that a simple change in their diet is enough to take off the extra pounds. But, the fact is, you need to exercise in order for your weight loss goals to be met. Exercising will increase muscle mass, which will in turn increase the amount of calories you burn each day.

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #5: Diet Pills Can Be Deadly
Diet pills will cause you to lose weight, but is this weight loss worth risking your life over? Over the years, many diet pills have been pulled from the market because they caused heart attacks. Instead of rushing your weight loss, remember this little fact, and choose healthy foods and exercise for your weight loss regimen.

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #6: There Are Ways to Speed up Your Metabolism
Increasing your metabolism isn't complicated. This fact is, exercise increases your metabolism and so do certain foods. Spicy, red peppers have been proven to increase metabolism levels and so has green tea. Green tea can even be found in pill form, but green tea tastes so good, why not drink it instead?

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #7: Water Naturally Curbs Your Appetite
Many times, people will think they are hungry, when in fact they are actually just dehydrated. The next time you find yourself rushing to the snack cabinet, stop to drink at least 8 ounces of water. More than likely, you will find yourself feeling full. If not, this step will at least prevent you from overindulging.

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #8: Fiber Will Help with Weight Loss
The fact is fiber keeps you full longer. When you start your day with a healthy breakfast that includes oatmeal, or a high fiber cereal, you will find that you don't want to snack as much before your next meal. Fiber also helps with weight loss by carrying fats out of the body.

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #9: Any Food in Moderation Is Okay
One of the major reasons people fail to lose weight is because they cut out all of their favorite foods. When you do this, it will be much harder to eat healthy for a long period of time. Instead of going on a diet, make lifestyle changes. Lifestyle changes allow you to still indulge in your favorite foods. The fact is, if you cut out all your favorite foods, instead of enjoying them in moderation, you will quickly ditch those carrot sticks on go on a junk food binge.

Ten Weight Loss Facts to Keep in Mind #10: Your Pants Don't Lie
One last weight loss fact to remember is that your pants don't lie. Even if the scale has remained at the same weight for weeks, remember that the way your pants fit is what's really important. As you change fat to muscle, you may find that your weight loss has come to a stand still, but the important thing is you're still getting rid fat and the weight will come off.

Published by Amy Brantley - Featured Contributor in Lifestyle

thanks for some great facts Amy

Chat soon

Daryl

10 Steps on Improving Your Metabolism

By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

Are you sluggish and low on energy? Do you feel like you work and work toward your weight loss goal and never seem to make any dramatic improvement?

You could be suffering from a slow metabolism. Even though you may have a slow metabolism, it does not have to destroy your weight loss efforts. You can dramatically improve your metabolism, and boost your energy levels without taking supplements.

Your metabolism simply refers to the conversion of food to usable energy by the body. It is the biological process, by which energy is extracted from food, and the net result is how fast or slowly the body burns those calories.

A few steps you can take to improve your metabolism naturally are:

1. Drink Water for Improving Your Metabolism - Water is great to drink and you should be drinking a minimum of 8 to 10, glasses daily, of course, more is better. It will help increase your metabolism and flush out sodium, toxins, and fat. Drinking water before meals will fill your stomach so you feel full and prevent overeating. Avoid excess colas, coffee, teas, and sugary juices. Caffeine will dehydrate you, and the sugar will do more damage than good in the long-run.
   
2. Eat Every Three Hours for Improving Your Metabolism - Eat a small balanced meal every three hours, including snacks. Meals and snacks should be balanced, meaning they should contain a complete protein, carbohydrates, as well as natural fat. Failure to eat consistently can lead to a slower metabolism and fat storage. Also, skipping meals slows down your metabolism. To ignite fat loss you need to be consuming the right foods in a balanced manner throughout the day.
   
3. Don't Skip Breakfast for Improving Your Metabolism - Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it gets your metabolism running in high gear. You wouldn't drive your car to work on an empty tank, and you shouldn't start your day without adequate nourishment. Your first meal sets your metabolism for the day and keeps it going, as long as you eat every three hours. If you get up early and eat a late breakfast, you miss out on several hours of burning calories.
   
4. Don't Fear Fat for Improving Your Metabolism - Fat has developed a bad reputation. Many people think fat makes you fat. This is false. The type of fat and how much fat you eat impacts your body fat composition. Fat is needed by the body. Those who follow a very low-fat diet have a harder time ridding their body of fat. Choose natural healthy fats such as olive oil, avocados, various nuts, flax, and natural peanut butter to receive your necessary fats.
   
5. Omit Trans Fat for Improving Your Metabolism - Trans fat is the bad fat, the cause of weight gain, low energy, depression, cancer, and heart disease. You will never get the body you desire by eating "healthy" fast food, frozen dinners, and other processed choices. If it's man-made, it's not the best choice and will halt fat loss endeavors. Eat the foods Mother Nature has provided to meet your fat loss goals.
   
6. Be Active Daily for Improving Your Metabolism - Stay active at least six days a week. Take the stairs when possible or park further out to get that little bit of extra movement to keep the heart and lungs working optimally. The more movement you get daily, the better you will feel overall.
   
7. Do Cardiovascular Exercise for Improving Your Metabolism - Cardio exercise is necessary for heart and lung health. It also burns calories. Doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach can tap into fat stores, and keep your body burning calories at a high rate for about an hour after cardio is finished. If you fail to eat adequately daily, first morning cardio on an empty stomach can work against you. Doing morning cardio on very low calorie diet can burn muscle. Another good time to incorporate cardio is in the evening after your last meal. This allows you to burn calories so you are not sleeping on them. You do not have to implement a morning and evening session, choose one or the other or cycle between the two to prevent staleness and boredom.
   
8. HIIT It for Improving Your Metabolism - Blend some High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) into your cardiovascular program from time to time to give your body and metabolism a good shock. The body is programmed for adaptation Therefore, doing the same cardio format day in and day out can become stale really fast. Take one or two days a week and implement some HIIT to give the body an added shock.
   
   HIIT is basically alternating low intensity and moderate to high intensity cardio training. For example, a 20 minute HIIT session would look similar to this: Minute 1 and 2 - Low Intensity (Walking)
   Minute 3 and 4 - High Intensity (Light jogging or running)
   Minute 5 and 6 - Low Intensity
   Minute 7 and 8 - High Intensity
   and so on.
9. Weight Train for Improving Your Metabolism - Resistance training builds muscle, which is metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you acquire, the faster your metabolism will be. Adding more lean muscle tissue to your body will put curves in the right places and allow you to eat more calories a day.
   
10. Listen to Your Body for Improving Your Metabolism - Killing yourself with workouts is just as dangerous as not working out at all. Listen to your body and get proper rest. Don't train if you are ill, still sore from the previous workout, or just simply too tired. Training in such a state can cause more problems than it solves.

If any of the above fail to prove results in 4 to 6 weeks, there could be an underlying problem, such as a food allergy, sluggish thyroid, hormonal imbalance, toxins, parasites, etc. If so, I recommend searching for a natural healer in your area to determine the cause and work from there. For the most part, proper diet, detoxifying, and herbs can correct any ailments.

Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
aka: MsFit

P.S. Want even MORE weight loss secrets? Stop running around in circles and get the facts that will shed the fat in How to Lose Weight Forever!

Thanks Karen -

Daryl

Balanced Weight Loss Diets

Composition of energy value and preparation of food ration is called a diet. A balanced diet is necessary. More fruits and vegetables and a variety of diet should be taken. The best method is to follow a diet plan. Diet plan should be followed strictly for weight loss. Otherwise, health problems like tension, heart attack, cholesterol and diabetes may occur. Diet planning should be followed regularly otherwise it will lead back to obesity. . A balanced weight loss diet is one that provides all nutrients necessary for the body.

While on weight loss program, soup is a supplement and vegetables can be substituted according to taste. Vegetables like asparagus, peas, corn, turnips, cauliflower etc. can be added but beans should be avoided because they are high in calories.

Food containing low calories and low saturated fats should be taken. This makes the body healthier and wards off diseases. Proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins should be taken in regular quantity. Carbohydrates should be less in quantity. Dairy products rich in fat should be avoided. All these measures help people live longer.

A balanced weight loss diet is the diet that gives all the necessary nutrients. Weight loss diet does not ask you to starve. We should take food to gain energy and keep ourselves active. Weight loss diet replaces damaged tissues and cells through proteins, vitamins and minerals that we take in. The more active we are the more energy we need. So it is essential to eat a well balanced diet. A right combination of cereals, vegetables, fruits, milk, yogurt etc should be taken. Enough food provides energy for the body but more food stores it as fat to put on weight.

DAY1: Lots of melons is recommended the first day. Chances are that you lose 3lbs.
DAY 2: Stuff yourselves with all vegetables-unlimited amount or type.
DAY3: Mix fruits and vegetables-except bananas and potatoes.
DAY4: Eat as much as eight bananas and three glasses of milk.
DAY5: Eat 10 oz of lean beef and six tomatoes. Increase water intake to clean the body of uric acid.
DAY6: Eat unlimited amount of beef and vegetables.
DAY7: Take brown rice, all vegetables and fruit juice.

High protein and low carbohydrates food should be taken. Dairy products and fat products should be avoided. Cholesterol leads to heart problems and carbohydrates change into fats. Vegetables, chicken, grains, fish and nuts, which are protein rich and low in calcium, add to diet plans. Regular exercises and walking is a must. This helps in burning excess fat. A balanced weight loss diet provides the nutrients necessary for your body.

Quality as well as quantity of food should be taken close care of. Some tips are:- Milk can be used in place of cream in coffee and eat vegetable salads and drink fruit flavored water.

Advantages of weight loss diet foods:

A diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables not only gives vitamins, nutrition and minerals but also acts as a good antioxidant which wipes out free radicals and plays an imperative role in making us healthy and younger thus enabling us to lose weight in a natural way.