If you're trying to lose weight, you know that going to the grocery store can feel like being asked to walk through a mine field. It can be terribly hard to know which way to go and what to choose with so many foods all claiming that they can help you slim down fast. Unfortunately, food manufacturers don't really care whether or not you lose weight with their product, they just their foods to taste good enough that you continue to buy from them regardless of the damage it may do to your waistline.
So, if you can't believe the health claims on the food packages in the store, how are you supposed to tell whether or not a particular food will help you lose weight or if it will only make you fatter? Become a label reader! Regardless of what the front of the package says, manufacturers are required to list their ingredients on the back. Reading labels will help you make better choices and lose weight faster. Avoid the following foods like the plague and watch your bathroom scale take a nosedive.
1. High Fructose Corn Syrup - This is number one of the foods that create fat. Up until the past 35 years, almost all the sugar we ate was in the form of sucrose. It was produced from sugar cane and beets. The danger of pure corn fructose is in the fact that it is without enzymes, vitamins or minerals. The energy required for the liver to metabolize fructose forces the body to overuse its mineral and enzyme stores. High fructose corn syrup seems disrupt metabolism to such a degree that collagen and elastin production are markedly reduced. That's bad news if you suffer from cellulite! Eating this will make cellulite worse.
2. Cooking oil - Corn oil, canola oil, soybean oil and cottonseed oil are the cheapest cooking oils produced. They are used most often in the home and in restaurants. Unfortunately, they are so high in polyunsaturated fats that they are not healthy. They also oxidize much faster than other fats which generates free radicals and damages all the body's cells. Many degenerative diseases and certain cancers have been linked to this process. Healthier cooking oil options are unrefined coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil.
3. Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil - This deadly type of oil is also known as "trans fatty acids". Deadly, heart clogging stuff and terrible for the waistline as well. You will see this most often in pre-packaged snack foods, coffee creamer and commercial peanut butter. If this stuff is anywhere on the ingredient list, don't eat it!
4. Low fat or fat free snacks - Labeling food as "low-fat" or "fat free" has been really good for food manufacturers bottom lines, but not so good for consumers. These types of snacks, while they may be low in fat, are extremely high in sugar. Most often that sugar comes in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Research also shows that people overeat foods labeled as low fat. People think that the low fat foods contain about 25% less calories when in reality they only contain about 10-15% fewer calories. There is also a decreased sense of consumption guilt so people generally eat about 20% more of these so called healthy foods.
5. Soda - Both diet and regular sodas are basically carbonated chemical soups plus high fructose corn syrup or dangerous artificial sweeteners. There are absolutely no redeeming nutritional qualities in soda at all. Soda contains no vitamins, no minerals and no enzymes.If you crave a flavored drink without the calories, try a flavored herbal tea sweetened with stevia instead.
The bottom line is this, in order to lose weight fast it's an absolute necessity that you eliminate the foods that create fat and replace them with foods that burn fat.
Showing posts with label burning fat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burning fat. Show all posts
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
How To Choose The Right Fat Burner
One supplement that's hot on the fat loss market is fat burners. Every time you walk into the local supplement store you're greeted with a variety of products that all promise to get you the body of your dreams if you just take a few pills a couple of times a day.
But are these fat burners really worth your hard-earned money? Will they really help you shed that unwanted weight or would your money be better spent on something else - perhaps some new clothes that flatter your current body better.
That is what has to be determined.
The first step in doing so is to understand that not all fat burners are the same. There are different types of fat burners to match a variety of goals and objectives, therefore the first step will be finding the one that's best suited to you.
Thermogenics
The first type of fat burners fall into the thermogenic category and are aimed to help increase the metabolic rate and body temperature. Often these will contain ingredients such as ephedra, yohimbe, and caffeine.
Be aware that these are stimulants and as such, will create additional stress on your CNS. If you decide you aren't comfortable taking stimulant types of products, there are non-stimulant thermogenics that are available for purchase as well if you so choose.
The most noticeable side effects you'll see with these are an increased rate of energy, potentially an increased heart rate, feelings of jitteriness and nervousness (in some people), and lack of appetite.
Carb and Fat Blockers
The next type of fat burners out there are classified as carb or fat blockers. What these products essential try to do is block the digestion and processing in the body of any foods eaten that contain carbohydrates or dietary fat.
By doing so, you thus reduce your total calorie intake for the day and this is what will help the fat loss process along.
As these are non-stimulant in nature, you won't experience quite the same side effects as you do with the thermogenics.
Appetite Suppressants
The next class of fat burners are appetite suppressants and they are targeted towards killing your appetite. If you find that you are the type of dieter who struggles more because you are just simply hungry than because you have cravings for certain types of foods, this is likely the product you should be looking into.
Without feelings of hunger, dieting should be a much easier process for you.
Cortisol Blockers
Finally, the last type of fat burner that you may be interested in purchasing is cortisol blockers. Just as fat blockers and carb blockers work to stop these nutrients in the body, cortisol blockers serve to help stop the release and the effects of cortisol in the body.
Cortisol is a hormone that every dieter should be trying to minimize because it only encourages the accumulation of body fat, particularly in the stomach area. It is released due to a variety of different factors including increased stress, lack of sleep, being on a very strict diet (especially if its low carb), and when you exercise too much.
So, since it's virtually impossible to completely eliminate the release of cortisol entirely, doing what you can to minimize it is in your best interest. This is precisely why cortisol blocker products tend to be quite popular.
So, next time you're in the market for a fat burner, consider all your options. Also keep in mind that no matter what the product is promising, no supplement will 'magically' melt pounds off your frame. All they may do is potentially make it easier for you to get through the diet and exercise components that will help you lose the weight.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Your child’s nutrition (1): What are you programming Your child for?
The discerning parent would know why a dull child is not doing well at school.Food choice and breakfast may play a very important role. These days, adults are so busy trying to work to generate enough income to keep body and soul together that they do not pay attention to food choice and combination in their homes. Feeding properly seems to be a task for even families with a lot of money. Why? It’s simply because a good balanced diet requires attention and care. Preparing such meals can also be time consuming.
Tired and worn out parents have a way of feeding their children fast and ready-to-cook, tired and worn out parents find it easy to feed their children fast ready-to-cook meals.some family most especially Nigerians and Africans eat rice and stew on a daily basics!, for some others, plain noodles are permanently on the menu. Where are the fruits, vegetables, essential amino-acids, essential fatty acids, etc. The fast food treats do not make it any better; they only add a lot of saturated and trans fats, salt, sugar, etc. Today, we will take a look at free sugar in relation to a child’s diet and health. The sugar that we refer to is the table sugar used on a daily basis to manufacture drinks, confectionery, added to foods at home like beverages, custard, pap, etc. How does it affect your child¡_s health, especially in high content?
Sugar in your child’s diet: Sugar is a very popular chemical in our daily diet. Three sources provide over two thirds of the free sugar our diet and especially the diet of our children. These are, soft drinks, table sugar, which we add to foods, like tea and confectionery like biscuits, cakes, etc. Unfortunately, these are the very foods which are popular with children. This is largely because these foods are promoted by intense advertising and have a profound effect on food choice by children. Immediately after watching one of these glamorous adverts promoting highly sweetened drinks, my son nearly always asks me if he can have it. I firmly tell him no and explain that it is bad for him if he wants to grow up to be big and strong! Only careful parental guidance will teach a child to choose a fruitover a sweet when offered both.
As populations got more civilized, the amount of sucrose (sugar) they consumed increased. Prior to that, most of the sugar in the diet was from fruits; fructose – fruit sugar.
Sugar and the Teeth: I must applaud dentists. They have continually educated the public on the harmful effects of sugar on the teeth. They seriously deserve this commendation because the sugar cartel are a very powerful international body. Sugar sells and it is available everywhere. It is interesting to note that sugar was so scare in England during queen Victoria’s time, that only the elite ate it. The Queen, on the other hand, ate so much sugar; because of her privilege, that all her teeth were rotten! Many countries, especially in the third world; have traditionally eaten a high starch low sugar diet.¨ These population, like Nigeria, used to have a low incidence of dental caries i.e. holes in the teeth were not common. The deterioration of dental health, grew with the introduction of free sugars and foods high in it into their diet.
This is in line with research conducted by Newburn et al in 1980, which concluded that starchy foods are not cariogenic (i.e. they do not decay the teeth to cause holes in them). I will not usurp my esteemed dentists job by writing on how sugar decays the teeth. It suffices for me to say here, that a low sugar diet is compulsory for your child’s dental health to be good.
Sugar and Nutrient Deficiency; Drinking large quantities of soft drinks can lead to deficiencies in several important vitamins and minerals. A survey of more than 4,000 children, aged 2 to 17 years, foundthat soft drinks consumption rose 41% between 1989 and 1995. Soft drinkers were less likely to get the recommended levels of Vitamin A or calcium, and were at increased risk of magnesium deficiency. Sugar depletes magnesium, and the high levels of phosphoric acid in soft drinks can combine with calcium and magnesium in the gut to cause a loss of these vital minerals.
Children and Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes used to be called "adult-onset" diabetes, because it mostly occurred in people over 50. But this is no longer so. The rising rate of diabetes in children is epidemic. Dr. Gerald Bernstein, an endocrinologist with New York's Beth Israel Medical Center said, "If you go back 20 years, about 2% of all cases of new onset diabetes (type 2) were in people between 9 and 19years old. Now, it's about 30% to 50%." It is now a well established fact that the incubation of type 2 diabetes is directly related to diet (about 90%). More specifically a diet that continually floods the blood with a high sugar content; a diet high in refined carbohydrates and free sugars. Children with a positive family history maybe programmed to develop type 2 diabetes earlier if they are fed the later type of diet.Sugar and obesity: The combination of high sugar and high fat in food is a very deadly one. This is because the presence of sugar in the blood after a meal is digested makes the pancreas to secrete insulin. Besides it normal function of helping to metabolise sugar, insulin makes the body deposit fat cells! You can see that this is an unwholesome combination.
You are more likely to put on weight much faster with the sugar in your diet encouraging the deposit of fat. Obesity is increasingly becoming a problem in children. Besides inactivity (not burning energy by engaging in physical activity), a diet combination as is being described here is one of the major contributors to the rising problem of child obesity. We will talk more about obesity in children.Sugar blues: An intake of a high sugar food gives a sudden boost, a temporary high. The habitual intake of such items leads to the craving for the quick sugar
high when one does not have it. Have you observed the speed with which some people gulp down a bottle of soft drink? As if their very life depends on it!
Today’s youths have been described as jetfighters.¨ They refuel on the move. They live off junk food, confectionery like sweet and canned drinks. A condition described as reactive hypoglycaemia¨ has been found to be common among them. This is the sugar blues, which occurs immediately after their blood is deprived of their high sugar fuel. They feel extreme tiredness, depression, aggression and have been known to even attempt suicide! In North America, a Professor Schoenthaler even traced it to criminal behaviour.
Most importantly, families should device ways to reduce the amount of free sugars in their children’s diet. Soft drinks should be few and far between, and even then, diluted. Water is by far the most satisfying fluid. If you teach your child to appreciate and drink plenty of water, then they are less likely to have sugar addiction.
This article may not be entirely true for American audience,it may be well suited to fellow Africans and Aisians
Tired and worn out parents have a way of feeding their children fast and ready-to-cook, tired and worn out parents find it easy to feed their children fast ready-to-cook meals.some family most especially Nigerians and Africans eat rice and stew on a daily basics!, for some others, plain noodles are permanently on the menu. Where are the fruits, vegetables, essential amino-acids, essential fatty acids, etc. The fast food treats do not make it any better; they only add a lot of saturated and trans fats, salt, sugar, etc. Today, we will take a look at free sugar in relation to a child’s diet and health. The sugar that we refer to is the table sugar used on a daily basis to manufacture drinks, confectionery, added to foods at home like beverages, custard, pap, etc. How does it affect your child¡_s health, especially in high content?
Sugar in your child’s diet: Sugar is a very popular chemical in our daily diet. Three sources provide over two thirds of the free sugar our diet and especially the diet of our children. These are, soft drinks, table sugar, which we add to foods, like tea and confectionery like biscuits, cakes, etc. Unfortunately, these are the very foods which are popular with children. This is largely because these foods are promoted by intense advertising and have a profound effect on food choice by children. Immediately after watching one of these glamorous adverts promoting highly sweetened drinks, my son nearly always asks me if he can have it. I firmly tell him no and explain that it is bad for him if he wants to grow up to be big and strong! Only careful parental guidance will teach a child to choose a fruitover a sweet when offered both.
As populations got more civilized, the amount of sucrose (sugar) they consumed increased. Prior to that, most of the sugar in the diet was from fruits; fructose – fruit sugar.
Sugar and the Teeth: I must applaud dentists. They have continually educated the public on the harmful effects of sugar on the teeth. They seriously deserve this commendation because the sugar cartel are a very powerful international body. Sugar sells and it is available everywhere. It is interesting to note that sugar was so scare in England during queen Victoria’s time, that only the elite ate it. The Queen, on the other hand, ate so much sugar; because of her privilege, that all her teeth were rotten! Many countries, especially in the third world; have traditionally eaten a high starch low sugar diet.¨ These population, like Nigeria, used to have a low incidence of dental caries i.e. holes in the teeth were not common. The deterioration of dental health, grew with the introduction of free sugars and foods high in it into their diet.
This is in line with research conducted by Newburn et al in 1980, which concluded that starchy foods are not cariogenic (i.e. they do not decay the teeth to cause holes in them). I will not usurp my esteemed dentists job by writing on how sugar decays the teeth. It suffices for me to say here, that a low sugar diet is compulsory for your child’s dental health to be good.
Sugar and Nutrient Deficiency; Drinking large quantities of soft drinks can lead to deficiencies in several important vitamins and minerals. A survey of more than 4,000 children, aged 2 to 17 years, foundthat soft drinks consumption rose 41% between 1989 and 1995. Soft drinkers were less likely to get the recommended levels of Vitamin A or calcium, and were at increased risk of magnesium deficiency. Sugar depletes magnesium, and the high levels of phosphoric acid in soft drinks can combine with calcium and magnesium in the gut to cause a loss of these vital minerals.
Children and Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes used to be called "adult-onset" diabetes, because it mostly occurred in people over 50. But this is no longer so. The rising rate of diabetes in children is epidemic. Dr. Gerald Bernstein, an endocrinologist with New York's Beth Israel Medical Center said, "If you go back 20 years, about 2% of all cases of new onset diabetes (type 2) were in people between 9 and 19years old. Now, it's about 30% to 50%." It is now a well established fact that the incubation of type 2 diabetes is directly related to diet (about 90%). More specifically a diet that continually floods the blood with a high sugar content; a diet high in refined carbohydrates and free sugars. Children with a positive family history maybe programmed to develop type 2 diabetes earlier if they are fed the later type of diet.Sugar and obesity: The combination of high sugar and high fat in food is a very deadly one. This is because the presence of sugar in the blood after a meal is digested makes the pancreas to secrete insulin. Besides it normal function of helping to metabolise sugar, insulin makes the body deposit fat cells! You can see that this is an unwholesome combination.
You are more likely to put on weight much faster with the sugar in your diet encouraging the deposit of fat. Obesity is increasingly becoming a problem in children. Besides inactivity (not burning energy by engaging in physical activity), a diet combination as is being described here is one of the major contributors to the rising problem of child obesity. We will talk more about obesity in children.Sugar blues: An intake of a high sugar food gives a sudden boost, a temporary high. The habitual intake of such items leads to the craving for the quick sugar
high when one does not have it. Have you observed the speed with which some people gulp down a bottle of soft drink? As if their very life depends on it!
Today’s youths have been described as jetfighters.¨ They refuel on the move. They live off junk food, confectionery like sweet and canned drinks. A condition described as reactive hypoglycaemia¨ has been found to be common among them. This is the sugar blues, which occurs immediately after their blood is deprived of their high sugar fuel. They feel extreme tiredness, depression, aggression and have been known to even attempt suicide! In North America, a Professor Schoenthaler even traced it to criminal behaviour.
Most importantly, families should device ways to reduce the amount of free sugars in their children’s diet. Soft drinks should be few and far between, and even then, diluted. Water is by far the most satisfying fluid. If you teach your child to appreciate and drink plenty of water, then they are less likely to have sugar addiction.
This article may not be entirely true for American audience,it may be well suited to fellow Africans and Aisians
How To Burn Fat And Build Muscle
Are you unhappy with your current fitness level ? Do you want to build muscle and lose fat ? Do you envy some one who you believe has a better shape that you do ? Well I believe the Problem lie in what I can the "must do's of building muscle, losing fat and achieving great shape.Here are the three "Must-Do's" for a great body and superb fitness levels.
Number 1
You must learn to get involved in some endurance training ( weight ) to increase in muscle and physical strenght.
You MUST perform some type of resistance (weight) training to ensure lean muscle growth and strength increase. Building lean muscle (toning the body) is done by weight training and proper recovery/nutrition.
It starts with the stimulation of muscle growth from the stress of resistance training and ends in growth of lean muscle tissue from rest and proper nutrition.
Weight training could be very difficult but I believe when the goal is big the sacrifice has to be big,self discipline is the key.You should try and weight train 3 to 4 times a week, sufficiently training each muscle group once each week. If you train a muscle group (i.e. biceps or triceps) with intensity and proper resistance, once a week is all that is needed for adequate muscle stimulation.
Number 2
Learn to perform some aerobic/Cardio workout to ensure reduction in calorie and fat and the raising of resting matabolic rate (burning calories throughout the day at rest).
You cannot tone up the body and develop any type of defined physique if your muscles are covered by layers of fat.
Ensuring to do serious aerobics/cardio training 2 to 4 days a week will hasten the fat building process and also help in body metabolism in efficience at buring calories.
Many believe Calorie are being burnt while engaging in aerobic exercise only but the truth is , you are burning calories during the exercise AND you are conditioning the body to burn more calories even after the cardio session is done.
Intense, brief (15 to 20 minutes) cardio sessions help raise the body's resting metabolic rate (the metabolism) so that you burn off more calories even while resting.
Many weight lifers are not happy with their physic due to their ignorance of doing some cardio sessions alongside their routines.
For effective fat burning, 3 to 4 sessions (15 to 20 minutes each) a week is sufficient.
Number 3
Th last but important thing you must do if you are really serious about burning fat and building muscle is to watch your nutrition.You must cultivate the habit of proper eating throughout the day if you are really interested in seeing results.Eating small but well-balanced meal in a 3 to 4 interval will help in building up body metabolism to make it more able to burn out the food intake.
Doing this means you will be eating about 5 or 6 times a day.
Make each meal a high-protein, moderate-carbohydrate, and low-fat choice. Foods like chicken breast, turkey, fish, low-fat dairy products, and lean red meats are excellent protein sources.
Carbs should come primarily from vegetables as well as whole grain breads, cereals, pastas, rice, and legumes.
Nutrition is the most important of the "must do's" of a great physique.Importance must be attached to eating properly as not eating properly could ruin all your effort ,it doesn't even matter how much exercise you do.
The next time you are not satisfied with your current levels of fitness and the condition of your physique, I can almost assure you that the answer lies in one of the three "must do's" of fitness:
To build muscle and lose fat, you have to focus on intense cardio, moderate weight training, and proper nutrition.
Number 1
You must learn to get involved in some endurance training ( weight ) to increase in muscle and physical strenght.
You MUST perform some type of resistance (weight) training to ensure lean muscle growth and strength increase. Building lean muscle (toning the body) is done by weight training and proper recovery/nutrition.
It starts with the stimulation of muscle growth from the stress of resistance training and ends in growth of lean muscle tissue from rest and proper nutrition.
Weight training could be very difficult but I believe when the goal is big the sacrifice has to be big,self discipline is the key.You should try and weight train 3 to 4 times a week, sufficiently training each muscle group once each week. If you train a muscle group (i.e. biceps or triceps) with intensity and proper resistance, once a week is all that is needed for adequate muscle stimulation.
Number 2
Learn to perform some aerobic/Cardio workout to ensure reduction in calorie and fat and the raising of resting matabolic rate (burning calories throughout the day at rest).
You cannot tone up the body and develop any type of defined physique if your muscles are covered by layers of fat.
Ensuring to do serious aerobics/cardio training 2 to 4 days a week will hasten the fat building process and also help in body metabolism in efficience at buring calories.
Many believe Calorie are being burnt while engaging in aerobic exercise only but the truth is , you are burning calories during the exercise AND you are conditioning the body to burn more calories even after the cardio session is done.
Intense, brief (15 to 20 minutes) cardio sessions help raise the body's resting metabolic rate (the metabolism) so that you burn off more calories even while resting.
Many weight lifers are not happy with their physic due to their ignorance of doing some cardio sessions alongside their routines.
For effective fat burning, 3 to 4 sessions (15 to 20 minutes each) a week is sufficient.
Number 3
Th last but important thing you must do if you are really serious about burning fat and building muscle is to watch your nutrition.You must cultivate the habit of proper eating throughout the day if you are really interested in seeing results.Eating small but well-balanced meal in a 3 to 4 interval will help in building up body metabolism to make it more able to burn out the food intake.
Doing this means you will be eating about 5 or 6 times a day.
Make each meal a high-protein, moderate-carbohydrate, and low-fat choice. Foods like chicken breast, turkey, fish, low-fat dairy products, and lean red meats are excellent protein sources.
Carbs should come primarily from vegetables as well as whole grain breads, cereals, pastas, rice, and legumes.
Nutrition is the most important of the "must do's" of a great physique.Importance must be attached to eating properly as not eating properly could ruin all your effort ,it doesn't even matter how much exercise you do.
The next time you are not satisfied with your current levels of fitness and the condition of your physique, I can almost assure you that the answer lies in one of the three "must do's" of fitness:
To build muscle and lose fat, you have to focus on intense cardio, moderate weight training, and proper nutrition.
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