Diet Help
With Christmas gone and New Year’s here, this holiday season with family and friends is a test in your self control as well, when you feast your eyes on an array of delicious food at parties and family gatherings. Holiday season is usually a leap back on your weight loss plans. However, it is possible to enjoy your holidays with foods you love, if you know what weight loss foods to eat around the holidays.
Whole wheat, extra fiber bread is a best weight loss food. You can make various kinds of sandwiches that are fat-free or low-fat.
Chicken is another weight loss food that is high in protein. However, chicken should be eaten grilled, baked or steamed, as opposed to deep fried or coated with refined flour. Use it in soups, salads or sandwiches.
Egg is also a rich source of protein and nutritious too. Eat eggs, poached or broiled in salads, sandwiches or with cooked brown rice, instead of frying them or eating them scrambled with lots of cheese.
Vegetables, of course, are excellent for weight loss. Eat them raw in salads or cooked in pizzas, soups, stews or curries. Green leafy veggies, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, beets and lettuce are some weight loss foods to eat around the holidays.
Holidays are capable of derailing the strictest of weight loss plans. But try these fun ways of losing weight around the holidays and see if it works.
Adopt portion control when you serve food for yourself. Have small portions of food and wait for at least 15-20 minutes before going for a second helping because the brain takes that long to signal if your stomach is full or not.
Eat plenty of salads, which is healthy, before going for the main course. You will already feel full from salads and will not eat too much of the main course.
Drink lots of water as it is normal to confuse thirst pangs for hunger pangs. If you still feel hungry after a full meal, drink enough water and your hunger pangs will go away.
When you go for parties, stand instead of sitting or shake your legs to the music as opposed to nibbling needlessly at fried snacks.
Self motivate yourself with some pep-talk. You can say,” I will not eat” or “ I can say no to food” whenever you see food.
Enhance the fun factor with friends and family at some resort with physical activity like hiking, swimming or dancing during the holidays.
Prepare oil-free healthy dishes with chicken, veggies, fish and use these fun ways to lose weight around the holidays.
Motivation is an unseen force that drives your will power to fulfill any task to its final stage and is directly dependant on your emotions and experiences. Weight loss motivation is hard to acquire and very easy to lose. Higher weight loss motivation leads to greater weight loss achievements.
Set up realistic weight loss goals that are easy to meet. Exercise with a partner or join a fitness group having similar goals. Watching others exercise will motivate and inspire you to do push yourself to do better.
Breathing deeply, visualize that you are filling in energy, power and motivation through your whole body from the top of your head to the tips of your fingers and toes.
Imagine inspiring images of a seaside, with the cool breeze breaking over the strong clear blue waves, sweeping into your body or the color and energy of the red gold sun flowing through your body and turning you into a pulsating being like the sun and the sea.
Turn on your favorite song and allow the music to fill your being. You will find yourself smile and enjoy doing the aerobic exercises in an exhilarating mood. Recalling your past achievements and successes and reliving the satisfaction and happiness you felt at that time will improve weight loss motivation.
Calorie is a unit of measuring food energy and 1 calorie is used in reference to the energy required by the body. When we ask ourselves “how many calories should I eat today”, you are referring to the unit of energy required by your body per day in order to perform your daily activities.
You can track your calories in two ways. Firstly, how many calories do you consume or how much energy are you taking in. Secondly, how many calories do you burn while exercising or how much energy do you take out.
When you consume more calories than needed for metabolic functions, then the excess calories are stored as fat in your body. If your calorie consumption is less than what you need, then your body burns fat to get extra energy.
Ideally, women should consume 2,000 calories a day & men 2,500. But if you are on a weight loss program, you should consume between 1,300 to 1,900 calories per day.
However, it would be prudent not to get obsessed with counting calories as there are many low calorie foods with questionable nutritional content and could be potentially harmful. Instead, exercise consistently, make healthy food choices and change your lifestyle.
You can choose how many calories you should eat with sensible eating and keeping your body well hydrated always.
Non-vegetarians can get their protein from fish, meat and eggs but where can vegans get their protein foods and what are proteins needed for?
Proteins are builder blocks of our body. They are made up of a sequence of amino acids and are necessary for structuring, functioning and regulating the organs and tissues of your body.
Traditional and very healthy proteins are found in organic beef, chickens, turkey, cold water fishes like salmon and tuna, rich in omega 3 and eggs.
Some top quality vegan foods rich in protein are bee pollen, wheatgrass, sprouts, algae like chlorella, spirulina and E3 Live are high in nutritive value as well.
Other vegan sources are sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, lentils, beans, buckwheat and nuts like almonds, cashews, pecans and walnuts.
To increase the nutrients and enzymes in seeds and grains, soak and sprout them just a little bit. Make sure you shop for certified organic grown food that is not sprayed with chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Protein rich food is vital for increasing your energy, stamina, concentration, immunity against diseases, better functioning of the brain, help in weight loss, regulate bowel movements and better growth of hair, nails and skin. Start on a protein diet today
High Protein Foods (Slideshow)
Follow the link below for a full article on high protein foods which includes an extended list of protein rich foods, health information, and warnings: www.healthaliciousness.com Protein is a macro nutrient composed of amino acids and necessary for proper growth and function of the human body. While the body can manufacture several amino acids required for protein production, it also needs to obtain protein from animal and vegetable sources. There is considerable debate over the amount of protein a person needs to consume in any given day, the current recommended daily intake(RDI) of protein is 46 grams for women aged 19–70 and 56 grams for men aged 19–70. Any excess protein consumed is turned into energy by the body, and it is controversial whether this excess protein causes a strain on the liver. A deficiency in protein leads to muscle atrophy, and impaired functioning of the human body in general. This is a slideshow of high protein foods intended for everyday consumers, not body builders, and therefore does not contain protein isolates. Photo Credits: Cheese: julesjulesjules m www.flickr.com Beans: marc kjerland www.flickr.com Beef: Minimalist Photography www.flickr.com Pumpkin Seeds: HealthAliciousNess www.healthaliciousness.com http Chicken: jameelwinter www.flickr.com Fish: pelican www.flickr.com Caviar: The Evilist Monkey www.flickr.com Yeast Extract Spread David Haruk www.flickr.com Crab: rick www.flickr.com Peanuts little blue hen www.flickr.com Music: Opus …
Where Can I Find a Low Calorie Diet? I ask myself. A low calorie diet will work when you are able to adapt to it very well in your daily life. Make your own list of low calorie food by maintaining a food journal to keep note of what you eat.
There are many online calorie guides with listings of units of calorie of each food item. Design your low calorie diet around foods that are high in nutritive value and low in calories. Armed with the list, you can go to a super market and stay honest to the list despite the tempting array of food displayed there.
Avoid sugar laden foods like white rice, white flour, desserts, cakes, breads and pasta, as they make your body release excess insulin which hampers your body’s attempt to burn fat.
Low calorie foods are vegetables like sprouts, broccoli, boiled potatoes, mushroom, celery, tomatoes, bell peppers and watercress, fresh fruits like grapefruit, melons, apricot, currants and chayote, meat and poultry like chicken, lean ham, Canadian bacon, skinned beef, ground turkey, egg whites and low fat cheese.
Drink plenty of water as it has no calories and no substitute. Quite often thirst pangs are mistaken for hunger pangs and you end up eating unnecessarily. Ensure that your low calorie diet does not affect your metabolism.