If you’re trying to choose a healthy food to begin eating more often, consider adding more beans to your diet. Not only are they full of vitamins, low in calories and packed with feel-full fiber, they contain resistant starch. This type of starch may trigger key appetite hormones that make you feel sated (full).
More: Feel Fuller and Prevent Overeating
Bean There, Done That? originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 22:30:14.
Often times we get so caught up in our favorite style of training that we don't leave room for any other training modalities to enter into the picture.
Personally, I find it's a great idea to expand your weight loss and fitness horizons by trying out a few different exercise methods and allow each unique program to help you to become a more complete and healthy person. For example, if you were to take a yoga class it would help you to become more flexible, balanced, and focused on your breathing, which in turn would help you become better at completing your strength training exercises. Your strength training will also allow you to become stronger which would aid you in your running or other cardio workouts. You could even make a case for how practicing martial arts will sharpen your mind/muscle control which will then filter into any other area of your fitness program.
In the end it's your choice to find a particular activity that you enjoy doing to keep your body healthy and fit, but my suggestion is that you become as well rounded as you can to ensure that your entire body benefits!
It may be a Saturday, but today’s swap involves two other days of the week … well, restaurants with other days of the week in their name.
If you order a BBQ Chicken Wrap at T.G.I. Friday’s you’ll be taking in what many of us allow for an entire day! Over 1,500 … or, 1,540 to be exact.
Switch over to one of my favorite eateries, Ruby Tuesday, and order a grilled chicken wrap for less than a third of the calories … 436 to be exact.
That’s a savings of 1,104 calories! Talk about saving room for dessert!
More: Ruby Tuesday Quick Guide
Saturday “Smart Swap!”: Tuesday or Friday? originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 21:41:10.
Tired of wondering which diet is the right one for you? Recent research says your genes may hold the answer!
As Ron Winslow recently reported in The Wall Street Journal, women who were found to have a genetic predisposition toward a low-carb diet lost more than two times as much weight as those who did not have the predisposition, but followed the same diet.
Study participants who were found to have a genetic makeup that favored a low-fat diet lost substantially more weight than women who did not have the same genetic makeup and followed the same low-fat plan.
Could Your Genes Tell You Which Diet is for You? originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 19:23:01.
Men, looking for one more reason to work toward a healthier weight? According to recent research, obese men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer are twice as likely to die from it than men of a healthier weight. Every point a man’s BMI drops lowers his risk by nearly 7 percent.
Related Reading: What is BMI?
Men: Lower Your BMI to Increase Survival Rates originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 22:01:37.
In my last post I spoke about how you really can continue losing weight or at least maintain a healthy weight while on the road. After that post I got a question about what my workout consisted of and how long it took.
The second part of that question is easy. My travel workouts typically only take a maximum of 20 – 30 minutes so that I can get back to being with the people I’m on the trip with.
Now, here is my actual workout that I did with just a set of dumbbells since that is all my hotel gym had:
1A. Dumbbell Squat Presses x 10 reps
1B. Pull-ups x 10 reps
1C. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts x 10 reps
1D. Dumbbell Axe Chops x 12 reps on each side
All of these exercises were done in a row like a circuit with 90 seconds of rest in between. I also completed 3 rounds of that circuit. You could even substitute 1-arm rows for pull-ups if you’re not able to do that exercise. Also, you don’t have to be on the road to try out this dumbbell only travel workout!
This next step of recovering from setbacks and motivating yourself involves “letting go” and not stepping into more gloom and doom when you make a dieting mistake. Sometimes our human mistakes literally hold us in a real negative way of thinking which can keep us from finding the more positive healthy habit of learning from mistakes which I discussed the other day. And sometimes letting go is not merely letting go of the mistake, it also means letting go of your way of doing things which you may think really works for you.
No matter what, avoid intense "controlling thinking" when you blow it. All it does is make you feel worse about yourself and literally drains you of the needed energy to find the real solutions you need to work at your weight loss in a more positive way.
And as the saying goes, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results!” It really does come down to some deep problem solving and refection which contributes to success in weight loss. (Please review the link above which puts the whole issue of "letting go” in a much clearer perspective.) Get rid of the baggage and find the real solutions you are seeking to your challenges.
In a few days I'll show you how to take this step.
Losing weight or maintaining your weight while on the road can be difficult. This weekend I'm at an industry conference and they were providing everyone with a complementary lunch since we only had a 30 minute break. The problem was that they were serving pizza (and really bad pizza at that) as the only option. To make matters worse the seminars did not end until 7:30pm.
By now I've come to expect these challenges while traveling, so here's what I did to plan ahead:
I brought with me my own protein powder shake mix and I just went back to my room to grab it while most people were taking down 3 to 4 slices of reheated pizza. I also have my own 20 minute travel workout I can sneak in before meeting everyone for dinner after all the day's events have ended.
So you see, if you plan ahead and get a little creative you really can stay in shape while away from your normal home routine!
I had the chance to try out a couple new ways to use bananas. I always buy them in bulk and end up getting tired of eating them alone or in cereal so these ways are fun to use up those I might not have used otherwise.
I sprayed a pan with cooking spray and cooked slices of banana for a couple minutes. I then put a small amount of light margarine on a piece of whole-grain bread and topped the bananas and added a smidge of cinnamon sugar. Yum!
Then, I made a simple smoothie using one banana and a half cup of frozen mango chunks, about a half cup of fat-free milk and a cup of ice. A quick blend and breakfast was ready in a flash.
Do you have a fun way to add more fruit to your diet? Post it in commments!
Yes, We Have Some Bananas! originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 23:14:25.
Low-fat dairy products may help reduce levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that may lead to belly fat development, thanks to calcium! Here’s why.
Do You do Dairy? originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 23:11:47.