Clean Up Your Diet!

Achieving and maintaining healthy lifestyle has a lot to do with your environment. For most people, your environment includes home, work, and all points between. Changing the types of foods you eat on a daily basis can help your body rid toxins and absorb new nutrients  giving you that fresh new feeling...
The first step is getting rid of “dirty” foods. This list seems to be never-ending, but includes most processed foods, fast foods, sugary foods and drinks, foods containing enriched flour, alcohol and artificial sweeteners. Nonorganic foods also contain chemicals that can slowly poison the body and put added stress on the liver, kidneys and other vital organs. All of these foods seem to make the body dirty by causing inflammation, digestive problems, inadequate detox, weight gain, dehydration and lack of energy. Start with Adding some more healthful foods while cutting out some processed snacks can help your overall health. And don't forget the water!!
Some Tips:

• Toss a few heavily processed staples

Instead of overhauling your pantry all at once, start by eliminating corn oil and soda both highly processed. "That alone is a huge first step." Another easy step is replacing refined breads and pastas made from white flour with ones made from whole grains.

• Focus on favorite foods

To keep it simple, assess what part of your diet supplies the most calories, If you're an omnivore, buy meat that comes from grass-fed cattle and eggs from pasture-raised chickens, but stick to conventional produce instead of organic. If you're a vegetarian, buying organic produce makes more sense.

• Shop the perimeter

Most whole, natural foods are on the outside aisles of grocery stores that's where the produce, dairy, and meat sections usually are. As you go deeper into the center of the store, you encounter more processed and packaged food. "Find the stuff that spoils,"

• Check the labels

It's the easiest way to distinguish a "clean" food from a highly processed one. Think about it: a head of lettuce has no label (totally natural), while a bag of ranch-flavored corn chips has a dozen or more ingredients (highly processed). Instead of eliminating all processed foods, study the labels on the packaging and choose those with fewer and simpler ingredients (avoid hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors and colors, stabilizers, preservatives, excessive amounts of fat and sodium, and added refined sugar).

• Think nutrients per serving

Consider the amount of nutrients in a product rather than focusing solely on price. Ask yourself if the price of the food is worth the nutrients (or lack thereof). You can make this assessment on every item by comparing the protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins against fat, sodium, sugars, and chemical additives. Some clean eaters also focus on the environmental impact of the food. Some stores are promising to make the assessment easier.

A new organization called the Ecological Food Manufacturers Association is pushing companies to go even further. "A consumer should be able to pick up a product and, by looking at one little score, instantly know how safe, planet-friendly, and nutritious it is,"

• Cook more meals at home

This is an easy way to shift more of your resources toward whole food and potentially save money. Plus, many restaurants rely on highly processed food to create their meals. To make home cooking easier, master a few one-pot or one-pan dishes with simple ingredients that you can whip up quickly and that will feed the family for days. Cooking helps you appreciate and enjoy your food more, especially if you share the process with others. Involve your family by giving them a job (wash, chop, stir, set the table, etc.). As a bonus, you will notes that people who cook tend to eat more healthfully and weigh less than those who don't.

 

• Adjust your tastebuds

If you're accustomed to eating food with lots of salt, sugar, fat, and other additives, you'll need to retrain your tastebuds to appreciate the more subtle flavors of whole foods. For instance, if you don't immediately like the taste of brown rice, mix it with white (in decreasing amounts) until you adapt. (You can do the same thing with whole grain pasta.) It works for salty and fatty foods, too. Instead of switching immediately to, say, low-sodium soups, mix a regular can with a low-sodium version and adjust the ratio toward less sodium as you get used to the flavor. It can take up to 12 weeks to adjust, says Richard Mattes, MPH, PhD, a professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue University.

• Follow an 80-20 strategy

Eating plans go bad (and are eventually abandoned) when they turn obsessive. Clean eating is no different. To avoid that trap, take an 80-20 approach. That is, try to eat natural food percent of the time, with a 20 percent buffer for when you're traveling or socializing or simply can't.

• Discover pleasure in real food

Clean eating is all about the pleasures of food. Celebrity chef Alton Brown of the Food Network says "You know, as long as it's made with love ..."
It really goes back to the whole French paradox thing: While the French are talking with family, drinking wine, and turning eating into a celebration, we're scarfing down handheld food in our cars. His message was to think about where your food is coming from, who's preparing it, and especially how you're eating it."
In other words, be mindful. It's a word that comes up repeatedly in discussions of clean eating. Be more mindful of how you shop, how you cook, and how you eat.
Choose to eat this way for many reasons, One of the biggest is enjoyment. There doesn't have to be a trade-off between pleasure and health. If you eat this way, you can have both.

Healthy-eating Mistakes You Could Be Making!!

Food used to be simple. You ate what you grew on the land or you bought from nearby farmers. Processed food was nothing more than canned, frozen, or cured. Today, food is much more complicated  and we're both better and worse off for it.
We can eat a greater variety of healthy foods than our ancestors did (think fresh berries in Winter), but we also can eat a lot more highly processed, chemical-laden ones. And that fare seems to be winning the day, if our epidemics of obesity and diabetes are any indication.

But an increasing trend toward clean eating with its emphasis on whole, fresh, traditional fare could mark a turning point in our sometimes dysfunctional relationship with food and help us achieve good health, culinary satisfaction, and optimal fitness.
To help you clean up your own diet and reap the benefits (weight loss and possible decreased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer), Start taking baby steps to adjust your diet, and you'll be eating clean in no time!

•  If you count calories, Determine the right intake for you

You already know this: Take in fewer calories than your body needs to maintain your current weight and you will drop pounds. But only 11% of Americans correctly estimate their ideal daily calorie requirements, according to one survey. The rest of us tend to overestimate. Let's say you assume that consuming 2,000 calories per day will allow you to reach your target weight, but it really takes 1,800: Those extra 200 are enough to keep an additional 20 pounds on your frame.

Do it better: Go to  Calories Calculator and plug in the weight you want to be (as well as your height, age, and activity level) to get your daily allowance of calories. Then set limits on your meals and snacks. If 1,800 calories is your max, split it into three 500-calorie meals and one 300-calorie snack.

• If you're consistently active, Rev your routine

When you spend a few hours running errands, it feels like you've worked off some serious weight. But despite all those aisle laps at the mall, hauling around shopping bags, and loading and unloading the car, you burned only about 400 calories that's about 1/10 of a pound.

Do it better: Short bursts of intense activity burn more calories and up to 36% more fat, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Strolling around the mall or a park for an hour works off about 150 calories; pick up the pace 1 minute out of every 5 to burn over one-third more calories (try a similar method if you bike). Swimmers can switch from freestyle or breaststroke to a more challenging crawl every few laps, or just go a little faster.

• If you choose nutritious foods, Keep portions in check

What you put on your plate is important, but healthy eating is also about being mindful of how much you consume. For example, your husband has pancakes with butter and syrup for breakfast, your son grabs a doughnut, and you opt for a cup of oatmeal with a handful of walnuts, a sliced banana, and a large glass of organic blueberry juice. You may win on nutrients, but when it comes to calories, you're dead last: That healthy-sounding meal adds up to almost 700 calories, more than a third of your allotment for the day.

Do it better: The best way to know if you're eating too much is to write it down. "Even if you note it on a napkin and then throw it away, that's okay. Just the act of writing makes you more aware,". Portions control cues help too: a baseball-size serving for chopped veggies and fruits; a golf ball for nuts and shredded cheese; a fist for rice and pasta; and a deck of cards for lean meats.
Also, swap higher-calorie healthy eating foods for high-fiber, lower-cal varieties like these:

Vegetables: Per 1 cup, raw spinach has 7 calories and boiled eggplant contains 35 calories; mashed sweet potato, however, has 249.
Fruits: A 1/2-cup serving of strawberries has 23 calories, while a medium banana has more than 100. An orange has almost half the calories of a glass of orange juice. More low-cal picks include melon and blueberries.
Whole grains: Two full cups of air-popped popcorn (a whole grain) has about the same number of calories as three little whole wheat crackers.

• If you order the "healthiest" menu item, Do your dining out research in advance

Choose the turkey sandwich over pizza and you think you're being good, but again, looks can be deceiving. A turkey sandwich at Panera Bread comes on focaccia with cheese and mayo and delivers 970 calories. Two slices of pepperoni pan pizza from Pizza Hut total 520 calories. Put your sandwich in a spinach wrap instead of regular bread? It's the same difference, says Tara Gidus, RD, a former spokesperson for the ADA "My clients think they get more nutrients and save on calories with 'healthy bread,' but often that's not the case."

Do it better: Look up fast-food nutrition facts before you eat there. Many restaurants offer nutrition information. See if your favorite eatery has nutrition facts online or in the store you may be surprised at what you see. We were when we checked out Baskin Robbins: A medium strawberry-banana smoothie has 80 more calories than a strawberry milk shake!

• If you satisfy cravings with "diet" treats, Eat the real thing, but downsize your portion

When you want something sweet, all those fat-free, sugar-free options seem like a smart choice for weight loss. But researchers found that overweight people who choose low-fat versions of snack foods rather than the regular kinds consume, on average, twice as many calories. "The terms fat-free or sugar-free can create a green light effect, triggering people to eat more,". But many fat-free foods have about the same number of calories (or more) as their full-fat counterparts. One variety of oatmeal-raisin cookie has 107 calories and 9 g of sugar, and the fat-free version of the same brand has 106 calories plus 14 g of sugar.

Do it better: Go for reasonable amounts of the real thing. If you love ice cream, have a small scoop of premium. "You won't stick to a diet that doesn't include your favorites,". Bottom line: Life's too short for forbidden foods

• If you’re a crunches queen, Don’t forget your cardio

One of the biggest mistakes women make when trying to lose belly fat: too many crunches, too little cardio. No matter how toned your abs are, your belly won't look flat until you get rid of the layer of fat on top of them. For that, you need to rev your calorie burn. Interval training, in which you alternate high-intensity bursts of activity with easier bouts, has been shown to zap more belly fat than steady-paced moderate workouts.

Do it better:  Each week, aim for three interval sessions and two or three moderate, steady-paced workouts of 30 to 60 minutes each along with ab exercises for best results.

• If you eat snacks to quell cravings, Be more mindful of your intake

You may think you're vigilant about watching what you eat. But research shows that stolen bites and tastes (such as handfuls of a friend's popcorn at the movies or tasting the dough while baking cookies) can rack up a few hundred uncounted calories, which can put on pounds fast.
Eating while distracted can cause mindless eating too. When women who normally watched their portions had lunch in different situations, they ate 15% more (72 additional calories) while listening to a detective story, compared with when they ate alone and free of any distractions.

Do it better: Avoid eating when your mind's elsewhere (while on the computer, for example), and eliminate unnecessary distractions (turn off the radio; set aside the book). Tend to graze while you cook dinner? Chew gum. You have to take it out every time you sample your cooking, so you realize what you're doing.

Have a beautiful day! :)

Quick Tips to Overcome Sugar Cravings!!

Before I explain how you can help overcome your craving for sugar I thought it might be a good idea to explain why you have these cravings in the first place:

• Wanting to eat sweet things is what comes naturally and is in our genes as the first taste we all prefer from birth is for sweet things.
• Sugar is a form of carbohydrate and carbohydrates cause the release of serotonin a feel good brain chemical.
• Eating sugar also releases calming and relaxing endorphins that provide a natural “high”.
• Last but not least sweet things tastes good and because of this we use them as a way of rewarding ourselves.

However sugar cravings can also be caused by a hormonal imbalance or a medical condition such as diabetes or by stress. It is therefore very important to seek the advice of your doctor if you start to suffer from sudden and unexplainable cravings.

Tips that can help you to beat sugar cravings:

• Chew sugar free gum.
• Eat a few berries.
• Eat a sugar free jello.
• Eat a fat free yogurt, this contains a small amount of naturally occurring sugar.
• Have a Low Carb Creamy Hot Chocolate (but not too often!) or other sweet treat such as an oat bran muffin.
• Eat few tomatoes or hard boiled egg. It really works!!
• Eat regularly every 3 to 5 hours as this helps keep your blood sugar levels stable.
• Go for a walk and see if the craving disappears.
• Drink a glass of water and make sure you are drinking enough water each day. Being dehydrated can also cause sugar cravings.
• Don’t shop on an empty stomach as you will find it very difficult to control your cravings with all that food around!

Enjoy Your Day!! :)