food – Page 10 – Alicia Bell IFBB Pro and Online Coach

3 Steps To Help You Grocery Shop

Take grocery shopping into your own hands. The following three steps will help you to properly navigate your way through the grocery store in order to support your healthy lifestyle, avoid diet sabotage, and impress your family or the significant other in your life. Carry these tips in this article before you make your next trip to the grocery store and remember to never go grocery shopping if you are hungry.

STEP 1: THE SHOPPING LIST

Before heading to the grocery store prepare a comprehensive weekly shopping list. I recommend sitting down on a Sunday to plan out your main meals for the week, from there you can create a shopping list of all the ingredients/items you will need to make your healthy meals. You can do this on a scrap paper, in a notebook, iphone or blackberry.

Having a list will help you stay focused in the grocery store and avoid picking up “temptation items” that can be detrimental to your healthy, clean eating diet. Lastly, remember to stick to the main rule: IF IT’S NOT ON THE LIST KEEP IT OUT OF THE CART! That meals not even an extra candy bar at the counter. Sticking to the list also helps you stay within your budget.

STEP 2: THE GROCERY STORE

For the majority of your food items you will only need to stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. Processed foods and foods that contain sugar and startch are what is normally found in the aisles. Along the perimeter is where the fruits, veggies, meats, dairy, and whole grains can be found. You can venture into the aisles for food items like flax seeds, oatmeal, cooking oils, spices, or whole grains.

STEP 3: READING LABELS

Reading food labels can be very confusing and most people don’t really know what to look for. Avoid foods with: Trans fats, long ingredient lists with lots of artificial ingredients and added chemicals, unhealthy additional sugars such as sucrose, glucose, sugar, maltodextrin, corn syrup etc. Do not believe everything you read because occasionally food labels make claims to trick you into thinking they are the healthy choice when they truly aren’t. Watch out for statements that include claims like “no added sugar”, “contains real fruit”, “all natural”, “fat free”, “low carb”, “high protein”. Be aware and investigate these claims by checking nutrition labels and ingredient lists. These claims are made in order to deceive people into buying it so don’t fall into their trickery so always double check.

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Your Sleep Patterns May Be Preventing You From Weight Loss

Did you know that your sleep patterns can effect weight loss and can even cause weight gain? Lack of sleep may increase your appetite, effect your metabolism, and cause weight gain. Follow these steps for sleep and nutrition to help you with your weight loss battles.

1) Try to get six to eight hours of sleep a night. Less than this has been linked to a slower metabolism and weight gain.

2) If you are restless and need better sleep eat foods high in tryptophan at night. Tryptophan acts as a natural sedative and is used in your body to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter best known for calming your body and making you sleepy. Foods like this cause what we know as (the itis) and include turkey, lentals and whole grains. Eat these with a carbohydrate source such as brown rice, broccoli, milk or honey. This works because in order for tryptophan to be used, it has to make its way to the brain. When you eat carbs, insulin is released, which transports competing amino acids into your muscle tissue and it then leaves tryptophan alone, so it can make its way to your brain.

3) Don’t drink caffeinated beverages late in the day because it will effect your sleep pattern and ability to fall asleep at night.

4) Don’t drink a lot of liquid late at night. This will cause interrupted sleep to use the bathroom.

5) Give tea a try. Chamomile tea is a natural sedative and can help you fall asleep at night.all asleep with ease.

So the next time you are having problems losing weight make sure to check your diet because it could be causing irregular sleeping patterns and in turn your ability to lose weight.

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How To Eat

Everyone is attracted to something different in a partner. On average women want a man that is not too skinny and not too big. We all want someone who is healthy and takes care of their body not just in the gym but at home with food choices. A perfect mate isn’t 100 pounds and definitely isn’t a 300 pound muscular superhero. There is a balance.

Remember to lose or gain weight you must eat more. Most people only eat two to three big meals a day. Male or female youneed to eat more often to be healthy and have the body that you want. However, it is important that you make your food clean and healthy for both healthy weight loss and weight gain.

Follow these ten tips for successful clean eating for your perfect body:

1. Eat five to six small meals a day. If you eat less your body may be a risk for malnutrition, diabetes or it can even cause weight gain in the form of fat storage.

2. Never skip a meal. When you skip a meal your body goes into starvation mode and tends to store fat in unwanted places. If you eat frequently (i.e five to six small meals) your body stays constant and does not go into starvation mode and store fat.

3. Combine lean protein and complex carbs every meal. Make sure to include dark green veggies in every meal as well. Remember that variety is the spice of life and having variety at each meal is very important.

4. Avoid sugars and processed foods, refined sugars, and white breads. The best way to do this is try and shop along the outside aisles of a grocery store and avoid the middle (and the candy store). Alcohol is also included in the avoidances. A lot of alcohols are high in sugar and calories especially if you mix them so make sure to always avoid cola’s and juices.

5. Drink plenty of water. On average you should be drinking at least two litres a day or 8 glasses of water. However, if you are active or out in the sun for long periods of time you should be drinking even more.

6. Take a daily vitamin. It helps with nutrient absorption and that will help you digest your clean diet properly.

7. Avoid fried foods and saturated fats. These are high in trans fat and will cause you to gain weight and store fat instead of build lean muscle.

8. Take a daily dose of Omega 3. There are many health benefits of omega 3 fatty acids. They can boost heart health and lower triglycerides. Omega 3’s also help with rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and many more.

9. Prepare your meals beforehand. Try making your meals on Sunday night for the rest of the week. If you fail to plan you have planned to fail. Make sure that you have lots of tupperware on hand for your meals, label them for the different days and refrigerate them until you need them.

10. When choosing a protein make sure to chose a lean meat such as chicken, turkey, fish or lean ground beef. If there is excess fat on your cut of meat simply cut it off. Avoid seasonings for your meat that contain sodium and cook with olive oil or coconut oil instead of using fattening butter.

These ten tips if followed properly will guarantee success in your search for the perfect diet for the perfect body that women want. However, it will only be successful if you are exercising regularly. So hit that gym, plan your meals and eat a variety of clean planned and prepared meals.

Lets Talk Libido

It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, young or old you can have problems with your sex drive. This can seriously affect your personal relationships and/or marriage with your spouse. It has lead to separation or divorce in many cases. In men a reduced sex drive is often linked to erectile dysfunction.

Some Ways to Boost your sex drive include:

Libido Enhancers
Technology and medicine have advanced so that you can pop a little blue pill and get the desires that you were seeking in many circumstances. This pill does not solve the problem it is only a quick fix. Basically like just patching a tire instead of changing it. However, this does not always work. When some people take these medicines they have minimal to know effects.

Some people prefer natural libido enhancers. There are products out there from a lot of different companies that have pills that advertise themselves as being “natural.” Oftentimes these products can be packed with random substances that aren’t scientifically proven. This is where the consumer should be careful.

There are some that are packed with herbs and other natural ingredients that can increase your sex drive with all natural ingredients that have been scientifically proven.

Dietary Changes

Also some studies have shown that by taking supplements that include tribulus terrestris, tongat ali, acai berry, chaste berry, ginseng and ginkgo biloba, muira pauma have been shown to be effective. Also Zinc has been proven important in testosterone production. It is found in a lot of meets.

Also taking protein supplements. If one increases their protein intake It helps give you better recovery, more power and stamina and can also aid in naturally boosting testosterone production. Again I recommend Rivals products because I know they have been scientifically tested and proven. http://www.rivalus.net/online-shop/products/promasil-milk-chocolate-2-33-lb

A low carbohydrate diet and low sugar diet. This is because carbs and sugar affect your body’s insulin level in the blood and that directly affects testosterone. The result of this is a decreased libido.

Make sure that you are eating Essential Fats such as Omega 3s. Again they help naturally boost the body’s testosterone level, and blood flow. Examples are fish oils, olive oils, nuts and flaxseed.

Lifestyle Changes
In today’s society more and more people are becoming sedentary and not physically active. This is why in today’s world more and more people are overweight or obese. Obesity has been linked to you guessed it, A low sex drive as well as, poor blood circulation which again effects your libido. This can also lead to erectile dysfunction. So get off the couch and stop being a couch potato and get active. Start out small and gradually increase your activity levels. It is important not to do to much too fast. Grab a friend to keep you motivated and as you shed the pounds watch your libido come back!

Smoking and alcohol can also result in a poor sex drive. Smoking can cause breathing problems, is linked to cancer and can affect your circulation which in turn can affect your sex drive. Also Alcohol can cause a reduced sex drive due to mood swings, depression and again blood flow. So stay away from these two addictive substances if you are having problems with a low sex drive.

Try and stay happy and stress free. Increases stress causes a substance in your body called cortisol to increase and again that will affect your natural testosterone levels. Try and stay calm and relax. Try meditation, pilates, yoga or tai chi to reduce your stress levels.

Overall my advice is don’t abuse your body, stay active, stress free and try and stay away from things that are toxic for your system. This will keep your sex drive active, healthy and hopefully active for many years to come.

Alicia Bell
http://www.twitter.com/trainitright

Are You Eating Enough Protein?

Protein is the major source for building material for the body and next to water is the most plentiful substance in the body. Protein is important in the growth and development of all body tissues and is used to build and maintain muscles in addition to many other bodily uses.

Protein requirement always differ according to your body size and activity levels. Some calculations are very simple, and many nutritionists calculate your protein requirements by dividing your total weight by two and the result indicates in grams the amount of protein you require each day.

For example, a person weighing 160 pounds requires approximately 80 grams of protein daily. Lean meats such as chicken and fish are great sources of protein. A 6oz chicken breast contains approximately 30 grams of protein and 6oz of white fish contains approximately 35 grams of protein.

Lets Talk Carbohydrates And Individuality

bread

Carbohydrates are only used in the body for energy while fats and proteins are used for production of hormones, cell membranes AND energy. What most people don’t realize is that this means the intake of carbohydrates should correlate with the amount of exercise that you do in a day.

When you have a high intake of carbohydrates such as white bread and refined sugars it causes your blood sugar levels to rise and will then cause hormonal changes in the body that causes most of us to become unhealthy and store fat. In children it has also been linked to ADHD, mental health issues, development of diabetes and obesity.

While there is some controversy regarding the amount of food an individual should eat from each of the four food groups to maintain a healthy diet, one should also keep in mind that each person has individual nutritional needs (i.e. athletes versus non-athletes, diabetics versus non-diabetics). These differences mean that one diet will have a very different effect on different individuals. This means that the required carbohydrate intake will vary from one person to another and is largely determined by the amount of lean muscles and the amount of daily exercise. It is suggested to make sure that your diet includes but is not limited to lots of lean meat, fish, eggs and is combined with lots of dark green vegetables.

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Oil Up - Why You Should Use Olive Oil

The traditional cooking ingredient our parents and grand parents use to cook and bake with was butter. There are a lot of alternatives in todays market for using to cook other than butter. Even though butter is very flavourful it has a high fat content and is not a healthy choice. You can substitute butter with many things. Some of the alternatives include margarine, coconut oil, and sesame seed oil just to name a few. Another alternative to baking things with butter is by using olive oil instead. Olive oil is one of the many healthy alternatives and one of my favourites.

Why should you use olive oil for baking and cooking?

Olive oil is an acquired taste. Especially if you are switching from rich creamy butter. Take your time and slowly start introducing it into your baking and cooking. Eventually you will stop noticing the difference and enjoy it just as much as you enjoyed butter. Your body and heart will also thank you later for making the switch.

Besides olive oil being a healthier alternative you should use it for baking and cooking because It may help to fight cravings and suppress appetite. A study recently conducted concluded that serotonin levels were raised in participants when they ingested olive oil with yogurt. Why is this significant for you? Because serotonin is a hormone that tells your body that you are full. This means olive oil has high satiety. This keeps you fuller longer than most cooking substances. Olive oil does this by containing compounds that can slow down your glucose absorption and keep you fuller longer.

It is also affordable and comes in all sorts of brands, types and sizes. So go ahead and pick up some olive oil and start swapping your butter for it when you bake or cook.

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It’s leaves are changing, the air is crisp which means it is fall. That means that it is pumpkin pie season. Pies can be high in carbs as well as sugar and fat content. Here is a pumpkin pie shake recipe that is a fast and easy healthy alternative. This is one of my favourite recipes that can be used for a post-workout, breakfast, or as a snack. If you love pumpkin flavour anything like I do I promise that this shake won’t disappoint you because this shake isis thick like a milkshake and tastes like a creamy pumpkin pie. Perfect for your fall taste buds.

In a blender combine the following ingredients:

– 3 scoops of pumpkin out of a cone

– 2/3 ice cubes

– 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk or any other milk of your choice

– 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

– 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

– 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

– 1 teaspoon stevia, coconut sugar or sweetener of your choice

– 1/2 of a banana (I prefer frozen)

– 1/2 – 1 tablespoon non-fat plain Greek yogurt

Blend ingredients thoroughly and pour into a glass and enjoy!

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- See more at: http://livingcivil.com/pumpkin-protein-shake-recipe/#sthash.XjMdV96X.dpuf

The Uses Of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has many uses. Not only is it good for you but it is also affordable. You can use it as lotion, hair treatment and you can even cook with it. It is available at most local grocers, walmarts, health food stores and even some pharmacies.

According to Dr. Oz “Studies have show that intake of coconut oil can help our bodies mount resistance to both viruses and bacteria that can cause illness. Even more, it also can help to fight off yeast, fungus and candida.” He goes on to say that “one 2009 study found that women who consumed 30 milliliters (about 2 tablespoons) of coconut oil daily for 12 weeks not only did not gain more weight, but actually had lowered amounts of abdominal fat, a type of fat that is difficult to lose.” These are all very good reasons as to why you should add coconut oil into your diet. The following are some of my favourite uses for coconut oil:

Lotion – Coconut oil is very moisturizing. It absorbs well and it also has anti-bacterial properties that are good for the skin.

Baking – Slight coconut taste but its not harsh. It is less fat and full of good omegas. That makes it better for your stomach.

Frying – Much healthier to fry foods with coconut oil. It works as a better medium than butter, and it has a higher smoke point than animal based fats.

Butter Replacement – It makes a great spread. Wherever you put butter you can put coconut oil. Eventually you won’t even notice the difference.

Infections – When applied directly to injury sites, it provides a barrier from additional debris/dust/jerms to aid healing.

Energy Booster – Coconut oils contain and excellent source of Omega-3 fatty acids which are great for boosting energy. Just put some on a table spoon and enjoy.

Hair Mask/Conditioner – Coconut oils can work as a great deep conditioner for the hair, and you can use it daily, as a rinse out; or weekly as a leave-in, under heat.

Sunscreen – Coconut oil actually contains roughly 5 SPF so if you don’t require a high SPF you can definitely lather on the coconut oil.

Base for Body Scrubs – If you mix coconut oil with sea salt it makes a great exfoliating scrub.

Toothpaste – Mix coconut oil, baking soda and mint extract together. Place a dab a little of the mix on your toothbrush and brush.

Deodorant - You can use coconut oil alone as a deodorant. However, it is more effective with combination of cornstarch/arrowroot powder and baking soda.

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How I fight My Sugar Cravings

candy

Do you have a sweet tooth? Are you constantly sabotaging your fitness goals by giving in to your cravings? I love chocolate and sweets. I use to spend hours in the gym working out only to be craving chocolate or candy after my workouts. I had little or no self control. Everyone can benefit from fighting those sweet cravings with tea instead of a high calorie sweets.

What type of tea can help with sweet cravings?

It is all about personal preference. One day I was out shopping with a friend and we went into a specialty tea store called DAVIDS TEA. This store has every type of tea imaginable. It doesn’t matter if you are craving sweet, bitter, salty they can find the tea for you. They also carry every type of tea roobios, black, green and many more types. You can choose caffeinated or decaffeinated. The options are endless. Even if your neighborhood doesn’t have a Davids Tea you can order online or visit a local tea shop for similar options.

tea

Why is tea good for you?

Scientists have found that the antioxidants in green tea extract increase the body’s ability to burn fat as fuel, reduce waist circumference and lower your BMI. Scientists have also found that drinking tea could help reduce the risk of heart attacks, lower risk of Parkinson’s disease, help prevent against cardiovascular disease, and help combat certain types of cancer. What is even more important is that tea is hydrating to the body (even caffeinated tea as opposed to coffee).

If you find the tea that you choose is not sweet enough you can add natural sweeteners like stevia, agave or even a bit of honey instead of sugar. My favorite tea is called “red velvet” and it tastes just as delicious as the cake. When I am craving something sweet it hits the spot. I add in some coconut milk and it is almost as good as the real thing.