Search results matching tag 'healthy diet'

Anna's Healthy Breaky Tips!

Anna — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 13:42:00 GMT

Your momma was right!

Breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day. Eating after 6 or more hours of fasting (which is what is happening when you sleep) is absolutely key to maintaining a healthy body weight. Making breakfast a daily ritual will help set your metabolism (your fat-burning furnace) for the entire day, and help you refrain from those mid-morning junk food binges, or pulling into the first fast food drive in on your way to work in the morning.

Here are my top foods for a healthy breakfast that will contribute to energizing your day, helping you lose weight, and maintaining a healthy body weight.

Whole grainy goodness – Quinoa, kamut, spelt, amaranth or good old-fashioned oatmeal – all are extremely healthy examples of whole grains. Look for cereals that are organic. These are made with less preservatives and salt (yes, some cereals do contain a lot of salt), so be conscious of what your putting in your breakfast bowl.

Raise and shine to good fats - Sprinkle flaxseeds or walnuts on your oatmeal, and get a serving of Omega 3’s. These help maintain a healthy body weight, lubricate joints for less injury, and keep your hair and nails healthy, strong and shiny.

Make fruit a morning staple – Fresh is always best, but frozen will do! Berries such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries will spruce up your cereal with natural sugars (fructose), so you don’t have to use sugar or artificial sweeteners. A ½ cup of fresh or frozen fruit on your cereal serves up a bounty of natural antioxidants. When you’re buying frozen fruit, look for those with no sugar or syrup added.

Your morning protein punch! This is especially essential if you work out pre-breaky because protein will help your body recover and rebuild muscle faster after your workout. Try an egg white omelet or a cup of fruit and whole grain cereal mixed with low fat cottage cheese.

It’s a soy-o-day! If oatmeal or plain whole grain cereal is a bit dry for your liking, mix it with some soy milk. It will add a little moisture and flavor – you can buy soy milk flavored with vanilla or almond. You can also use it to make a healthy protein pancake.

What are your favorite, healthy breakfast options? Come on, share them with us...

Stroke your metabolism fires

Anna — Tue, 29 May 2007 10:00:00 GMT

We all know that the key to losing and maintaining a healthy body weight is your metabolism. The speed of your metabolism will determine how fast your body is able to burn calories. So obviously a faster metabolism has its benefits. The body is like a furnace, and you can think of your metabolism as the fire that fuels that furnace - a hotter fire will burn calories faster.

So how do you stoke the metabolism fire? Try 'Anna's 4 Metabolism Stoking Tips' on for size:

Weight train - if you don't figure any resistance training into your weekly workouts you're missing out. Think of it like this - the more muscle mass you have in your body, the faster and more effective your metabolism will be.

Eat small, frequent meals - Eat every 3 hours, and keep your meals small and healthy (roughly 400 calories).

Water, water, water - is your best friend, and you should drink at least 8 to 10 glasses a day - more if you work out. It keeps you hydrated, stops you from eating when you think you're hungry, but are actually just thirsty.

Stop dieting - it's confusing your body. Kick the fad diets and just aim to maintain a healthy, balanced eating plan. You should be incorporating lean protien (chicken or turkey breast, fresh fish, lean beef) and complex carbohydrates (whole grains like brown rice, couscous or quinoa and fresh fruits and veggies) into every single meal.

Is there a difference between willpower and self-control?

Anna — Thu, 24 May 2007 10:00:00 GMT

Every once in a while we all need a bit of a self-evaluation - even good ol' Anna!

As soon as summer hits I make it a point to get outside more, eat more fresh produce and clean up any sluggish winter habits. Over the weekend a friend and I had a discussion about my so-called willpower - to workout regularly and stick by a fairly clean diet. Then this morning I uncovered a study by the Mayo Clinic in my latest edition of Oxygen magazine. According to Mayo researchers self-control is much more effective and different than willpower...who woulda known?

The folks at the Mayo Clinic lay it out like this:

Willpower is this: "I am going to a friend's BBQ this weekend and I'm making brownies for everyone else, but I'm just going to eat salad."

Self-control is this: "I am not going to make brownies because I will be too tempted by them. Instead I'll bring a fresh fruit tray and a healthy salad so I know there will be something that I can eat at the BBQ."

So I believe what they are saying is that willpower is stating you'll make a change, but not removing the temptations in your life; whereas self-control is making a change and taking action to make it happen (no brownies for fear of temptation). I think I'm going to take action and start focusing on self-control a little more so than just old fashioned willpower. You know, pre-making healthy meals so that I'm not stuck stopping at a convenience store, etc.

After all - I'm only human :p