You’ve heard it time and time again…

To lose weight you have to eat less and move more.

Exercising more is easy. You just get off your butt and workout.

Where most people have a problem is saying “no” to delicious food that’s bad for your waistline.

Well, I just came across a fascinating study that reveals a simple technique that could have you eating less at every meal (even if you’re about to eat your favorite food, like chocolate, for example).

I like to call it the imagination diet.

Here’s the scoop…

A study at Carnegie Mellon University took two groups of people.

One group was told to visualize eating 30 M&Ms and putting 3 quarters into a washing machine. The other group was told to visualize putting 30 quarters into the washing machine and then eating 3 M&Ms.

Then, the researchers told the volunteers to eat some M&Ms out of a bowl that was placed in front of them, in preparation for a “taste test.”

After each volunteer, they weighed the bowl to see how much the volunteer had eaten.

Here’s where it gets fascinating…

The group that visualized eating 30 M&Ms ate HALF as many than the group that visualized eating 3.

To make sure this wasn’t coincidence, the researchers performed the experiment four more times with other people.

And in every single trial, the volunteers that visualized eating 30 M&Ms ate HALF as much.

According to the lead researcher, “Merely thinking of a food does increase our appetite for the food, but if we perform the mental imagery that would accompany its actual consumption, this kind of thought actually decreases our desire for the food.”

So how can you use this to reach your fitness goals?

Anytime you feel like cheating or having a kind of food you know you shouldn’t… try visualizing eating  it 30 times first. Make the experience as real as you can.

Chances are, you’ll find yourself eating a LOT LESS! (while still enjoying it just as much).

Or better yet, you’ll find that they craving for it went away completely.

As you know, nutrition accounts for about 90% of your success. So go ahead and use this tip as often as is necessary!
  ]]> http://ppttucson.com/news/tip-to-eating-less-at-every-meal/feed 0 http://ppttucson.com/news/instantly-improve-your-health-and-fitness-by-eliminating-this-one-common-food http://ppttucson.com/news/instantly-improve-your-health-and-fitness-by-eliminating-this-one-common-food#comments Wed, 03 Nov 2010 04:18:50 +0000 ppttucson http://ppttucson.com/news/?p=117 In your kitchen right now lies one ‘food’ that can be wreaking havoc on your waistline and health. It’s practically guaranteed you have this in your refrigerator and cupboards now as you read this. And multiple studies have shown this one ‘food’ can be a cause of poor health and weight gain. It literally is in practically everything. What is it?

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS for short.)

Manufacturers use HFCS in everything — including bread, sodas, soft drinks, juices, “health” bars, candy, salad dressings, jam, ketchup — even beer! The reason is that’s its cheaper to produce than real cane sugar. Plus it’s easier to transport. You already know sugar isn’t good for you or your fat loss efforts. But HFCS takes things to a whole new level. Mainly because its hidden in foods you think DON’T have sugar. As you already know, eating sugary foods spikes your insulin levels. Constantly elevated insulin leads to things like obesity, heart disease and diabetes. But the sugar in HFCS isn’t the only reason you want to stay away from it. It can directly affect your health. For example, HFCS is bad on your liver.  In one study published in the Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, rats were given HFCS in their diets. The result? The rats developed livers similar to those of raging alcoholics! In short, HFCS caused the rats to show signs of cirrhosis of the liver.

Bottom line: Whether your goal is health, fitness, a better body or all of the above, you’ll want to avoid HFCS at all costs.

Here’s a few starting points:

Check the label. No matter what you buy at the grocery store, make sure you check the label. If it indeed contains high-fructose corn syrup, it will be in there (probably towards the end).

Avoid “low-fat” foods. Surprisingly, most health and low-fat foods are laden with HFCS. This is because since they’ve removed the fat, they have to make it taste good. The answer? You guessed it. HFCS!

Drink only water. 99.99% of all soft drinks, sports drinks, juices, etc. WILL contain HFCS as the main sweetener. Not only that but these are a source of empty, useless calories that will go straight to those hard-to-lose areas. Stay on the safe side and drink good old H2O.

Eat minimally-processed foods. Chances are that if it comes in a box or bag (or some other kind of packaging designed to make the food last longer) then there’s a VERY good chance there’s HFCS in it. Instead, stick with foods that haven’t been processed (Hint: if it’ll go bad in 2 – 3 days then it’s a good bet that it’s minimally processed.

When it comes to losing that bulge around the middle, staying clear of high-fructose corn syrup will help tremendously.

Do it for your fitness and your health.

One more thing …

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During this consult, you’ll receive detailed information on how to get fit that’s tailored to YOUR body.

This will help put you on the path to end yo-yo dieting … help maintain and keep your healthy wait … and burn fat from those hard-to-scuplt areas that make you self conscious.

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You hear it all the time …”To eat healthy, you need to stay away from fat.”

This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, if you want to lose weight, keep it off, and look great year-round, you’ve got to eat fat.

The truth is your body NEEDS fat to survive (About 66% of your brain is made up of fat!).

But there is a catch –

You can’t just eat any kind of fat. You’ve got to eat more healthy fats.

See, there are “good” fats and “bad” fats.

Bad fats make you sick. Good fats heal your body, protect your heart, reduce inflammation and boost your metabolism.

So what foods contain good fats?

Mainly, it’s any food that’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids and oleic acid.

Here are a few you can start putting into your diet today:

Almonds — great to snack on and good source of omega 3.

Avocados — high in heart-healthy oleic acid.

Egg yolks — despite what you’ve heard, eggs (including the yolk) are good for you! They’re rich in omega-3′s, contain the full spectrum of amino acids, and have plenty of vitamins your body needs.

Grass-fed beef – Beef that’s been grass-fed is very high on omega 3 fats, which are incredibly good for you.

Fish — make sure it’s wild-caught, to avoid mercury contamination, among other things. Wild-caught salmon is a great choice.

Walnuts — another great choice for snacking.

n addition to these, use healthy oils as salad dressings whenever possible. Good choices include extra virgin olive oil and Sacha Inchi oil.

So there you go. You have permission to eat more fat. But make sure it’s the good stuff.

And as with everything, don’t over do it. Even though good fats are healthy, they’re still high in calories. Aim for 50 – 80 grams of good fat per day, depending on your calorie requirements.

Good nutrition accounts for 80% of your fat loss success. The other 20% is knowing how to workout properly and effectively for your body type.

Try something new. Now that the weather is warmer and the days are longer, why not add an exciting new outdoor activity or sport, such as inline skating, mountain biking, tennis, basketball, surfing, or climbing to your exercise program?  With all of the options available, there is no excuse for allowing yourself to become stuck in a comfortable rut this summer.  Use your imagination.  Buy a new pair of walking shoes or dust off your bike and explore uncharted territory.  Join a softball team or running club.  If there is no club in your area, start one.

Engaging in several different types of sports, exercises, and activities on a regular basis (sometimes defined as cross training) can add excitement and variety to your exercise program.  Cross training also increases the odds that you will be working different muscle groups and varying the amount of aerobic and anaerobic exercise that you obtain on a regular basis.  Significantly increasing your level of physical activity not only improves the efficiency of your cardiovascular system, but also increases muscle tone and metabolic rate, making it easier for your body to burn fat, even while you sleep!

Clean up your diet and clean out your pantry. Start taking time to read food labels and increase your nutritional awareness by becoming better informed.  Throw away the items that you instinctively know are your biggest downfall and start with a fresh, clean slate.  Cutting out junk food, fried foods, and simple sugars can make a considerable difference in your energy level and in the way that you feel about your body at the beach this summer.  Be especially cautious of products that are high in trans fats and saturated fat.  Not only do saturated fats raise your total blood cholesterol, but there is also a link between diets high in saturated fat and the incidence of certain types of cancer, most notably colon, breast, and prostate cancers.

Eat higher quality foods. Concentrate on eating food for the nutritional value and not simply for the taste.  Take a trip to the health food store and try something different.  Experiment with new healthy recipes and ask friends for fat reducing tips.  Increase your consumption of antioxidant-rich vegetables, legumes, and whole grains by frequently cooking a big pot of healthy vegetable soup.  Get a vegetable steamer and put it to good use.  Put your fresh fruits and veggies out where you can see them.  Cut up raw, nutrient filled foods such as carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and celery and snack on them during the day or take them to work with you.

Make it a high priority to drink at least eight glasses of water a day in order to provide your body with a clean internal environment and prevent dehydration.  This is especially important during the hot summer months.  Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink water because thirst is your body’s way of letting you know that you are already starting to dehydrate.  Be aware that caffeine and alcohol can also have a dehydrating effect on your body as well.

Pair strength training with cardiovascular exercise. Combining weight training with aerobic exercise doubles the chances that you will lose bodyfat and gain more lean muscle mass this summer.  Try to really concentrate and focus on using correct form while strength training with weights.  It’s much more important to use proper, safe form than it is to try to lift as much weight as possible.  If your goal is to add more muscle mass, use heavier weight and fewer repetitions (around 8 reps).  To increase definition of the muscles, use lighter weight and higher reps (10-12). Also, keep in mind that at least 20 minutes of uninterrupted cardiovascular exercise is necessary to begin burning fat as your primary source of fuel.

Go for it! Push your exercise and athletic boundaries further by signing up for an event or race that you have never participated in before.  So what if you don’t finish first or if your time is slow?  Setting a new goal for yourself gives you something specific to work toward and leaves you with a lasting sense of accomplishment.  You might be surprised by just how much you can achieve when you set your mind to it.

This is your summer to feel healthier, happier, and stronger.  Go for it!

This article was written by Dr. Suzy, chiropractor and Health and Fitness Educator

http://www.pure-life.com/pages/5tips.htm

Healthy eating begins with learning how to “eat smart”—it’s not just what you eat, but how you eat. Your food choices can reduce your risk of illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes as well as defend against depression. Additionally, learning the habits of healthy eating can improve your health by boosting your energy, sharpening your memory and stabilizing your mood. Expand your range of healthy food choices and learn how to plan ahead to create and maintain a satisfying, healthy diet.

Healthy eating tip 1: Set yourself up for success

To set yourself up for success, think about planning a healthy diet as a number of small, manageable steps rather than one big drastic change. If you approach the changes gradually and with commitment, you will have a healthy diet sooner than you think.

• Simplify. Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories or measuring portion sizes, think of your diet in terms of color, variety and freshness—then it should be easier to make healthy choices. Focus on finding foods you love and easy recipes that incorporate a few fresh ingredients. Gradually, your diet will become healthier and more delicious.
• Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time. Trying to make your diet healthy overnight isn’t realistic or smart.  Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking.  As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
• Every change you make to improve your diet matters. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a healthy diet.  The long term goal is to feel good, have more energy and reduce the risk of cancer and disease. Don’t let your missteps derail you—every healthy food choice you make counts.

Healthy eating tip 2: Moderation is key

People often think of healthy eating as an all or nothing proposition, but a key foundation for any healthy diet is moderation.  Despite what certain fad diets would have you believe, we all need a balance of carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to sustain a healthy body.

• Try not to think of certain foods as “off limits.” When you ban certain foods or food groups, it is natural to want those foods more, and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. If you are drawn towards sweet, salty or unhealthy foods, start by reducing portion sizes and not eating them as often. Later you may find yourself craving them less or thinking of them as only an occasional indulgence.
• Think smaller portions. Serving sizes have ballooned recently, particularly in restaurants. When dining out, choose a starter instead of an entrée, split a dish with a friend and don’t order supersized anything. At home, use smaller plates, think about serving sizes in realistic terms and start small.  Visual cues can help with portion sizes—your serving of meat, fish or chicken should be the size of a deck of cards. A teaspoon of oil or salad dressing is about the size of a matchbook and your slice of bread should be the size of a CD case.

Healthy eating tip 3: It’s not just what you eat, it’s how you eat

Healthy eating is about more than the food on your plate—it is also about how you think about food. Healthy eating habits can be learned and it is important to slow down and think about food as nourishment rather than just something to gulp down in between meetings or on the way to pick up the kids.

• Eat with others whenever possible. Eating with other people has numerous social and emotional benefits—particularly for children—and allows you to model healthy eating habits. Eating in front of the TV or computer often leads to mindless overeating.
• Take time to chew your food and enjoy mealtimes. Chew your food slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of what is in our mouths. Reconnect with the joy of eating.
• Listen to your body. Ask yourself if you are really hungry, or have a glass of water to see if you are thirsty instead of hungry. During a meal, stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly.
• Eat breakfast, and eat smaller meals throughout the day. A healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, and eating small, healthy meals throughout the day (rather than the standard three large meals) keeps your energy up and your metabolism going.

Healthy eating tip 4: Fill up on colorful fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are the foundation of a healthy diet—they are low in calories and nutrient dense, which means they are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. Fruits and vegetables should be part of every meal, and be your first choice for a snack—aim for a minimum of five portions each day. The antioxidants and other nutrients in fruits and vegetables help protect against certain types of cancer and other diseases.

The brighter, deeper colored fruits and vegetables contain higher concentrations of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants—and different colors provide different benefits. Some great choices are:

• Greens: Greens are packed with calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, vitamins A, C, E and K, and they help strengthen the blood and respiratory systems. Be adventurous with your greens and branch out beyond bright and dark green lettuce—kale, mustard greens, broccoli, Chinese cabbage are just a few of the options.
• Sweet Vegetables: Naturally sweet vegetables add healthy sweetness to your meals and reduce your cravings for other sweets. Some examples of sweet vegetables are corn, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes or yams, winter squash, and onions.
• Fruit: A wide variety of fruit is also vital to a healthy diet. Fruit provides fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. Berries are cancer-fighting, apples provide fiber, oranges and mangos offer vitamin C, and so on.

Avoid: Fruit juices, which can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar per cup; avoid or dilute with water. Canned fruit is often in sugary syrup, and dried fruit, while an excellent source of fiber, can be high in calories. Avoid fried veggies and those with dressings or sauces—too much unhealthy fat and calories.

Healthy eating tip 5: Eat more healthy carbs and whole grains

Choose healthy carbohydrates and fiber sources, especially whole grains, for long lasting energy. In addition to being delicious and satisfying, whole grains are rich in phytochemicals and antioxidants, which help to protect against coronary heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes. Studies have shown people who eat more whole grains tend to have a healthier heart.

• Include a variety of whole grains in your healthy diet, including whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, and barley. Experiment with different grains to find your favorites.
• Make sure you’re really getting whole grains. Be aware that the words stone-ground, multi-grain, 100% wheat, or bran, don’t necessarily mean that a product is whole grain. Look for the new Whole Grain Stamp. If there is no stamp look for the words “whole grain” or “100% whole wheat,” and check the ingredients.
• Try mixing grains as a first step to switching to whole grains. If whole grains, like brown rice and whole wheat pasta, don’t sound good at first, start by mixing what you normally use with the whole grains. You can gradually increase the whole grain to 100%.

Avoid: Refined grains such as breads, pastas, and breakfast cereals that are not whole grain.

Body fat comes in two varieties. There’s subcutaneous fat, a noticeable layer of fat that lies just below the skin, and then there’s visceral fat, which is buried beneath the muscles. Visceral fat is the more worrisome variety because it surrounds vital organs and is metabolized by the liver, which turns it into blood cholesterol.
Visceral fat can go largely unnoticed because it’s not visible to the naked eye. In fact, the only effective way researchers can locate visceral fat is by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses magnetic waves to take a picture of the inside of the abdomen. Researchers can use this picture to estimate the amount of visceral fat a person is carrying.
What Causes Visceral Fat?
Your genetic makeup is between 30% and 60% responsible for the amount of visceral fat you carry. Nevertheless, research shows that both your diet and your level of physical activity contribute to your level of visceral fat. People who consume large amounts of saturated fat and people who perform little or no physical activity are likely to have high stores of visceral fat.
Short of talking a physician into performing an MRI on your abdomen, how do you know how much of this unhealthy fat you have? Check your waistline. A trim waistline is a good indicator that you don’t have a large buildup of visceral fat.
Getting Rid of Visceral Fat
Research shows that people whose diets contain polyunsaturated fats in place of saturated fats have less visceral fat. Polyunsaturated fats are found in high concentrations in sunflower, corn, and soybean oils, as well as in fish. Also, just exercising moderately—doing things such as walking, swimming, or playing tennis—on most days of the week will help you prevent visceral fat from accumulating. What’s even better is that doing regular bouts of vigorous exercise can markedly reduce the amount of visceral fat you already have.
Building muscle—through weight lifting or other resistance exercises—will help, too. Muscle burns calories and helps you maintain your metabolic rate. The more muscle you have, the bigger your body’s engine, and the more likely you will be to burn fat
Once adipocytes get the signal from hormones and release fat into the bloodstream, they shrink just like a balloon that you let air out of. When they shrink, so does your body fat. But if you eat excess fat once you’ve shrunk your adipocytes, chances are it will find its way right back to the adipocyte, and once again you’ll gain fat.
No matter how much physical activity you do, adipocytes never shrink so much that they disappear entirely. Like a balloon that you let all the air out of, you’re always left with some remnant. The only way to totally remove adipocytes from your body is with a surgical procedure such as liposuction or excision. But even with these procedures, if you go back to eating excess fat, you’ll put all the fat back on.
The physical activity recommendation for improving health is to accumulate 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week.

Article was taken from http://www.womenfitness.net/visceral_fat.htm

“Junk food” generally refers to foods that contribute lots of calories but little nutritional value. Of course, what’s considered “junk food” depends on whom you ask. Some might say pizza is junk food, for example. But I personally don’t think so, since it contributes real food with nutrients, like cheese and tomato sauce. Add whole-wheat or part whole-wheat crust, plus veggies as a topping, and I’d say pizza completely exits the junk food category.

One problem with junk foods is that they’re low in satiation value — that is, people don’t tend to feel as full when they eat them — which can lead to overeating. Another problem is that junk food tends to replace other, more nutritious foods. When people drink lots of soda, for example, they are usually not getting plenty of low-fat dairy or other healthful beverages like green tea or orange juice. When they’re snacking on chips and cookies, they’re usually not loading up on fruits and vegetables.

Most “junk food” falls into the categories of either “snack food” or “fast food.” And then there are things like breakfast cereals. They seem innocent enough, but some of them could definitely be considered “junk food,” as they mostly contain sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and white flour or milled corn.

Calories From Snack Foods

Popular snack foods are usually commercially prepared and packaged, like chips, cheese puffs, candy bars, snack cakes, and cookies.

The contribution of snack food to the calories we eat should not be underestimated. Between 1977 and 1996, the contribution of snack calories to total calories for American children between 2 and 5 years old increased by 30%, according to an article published in the Chilean medical journal, Revista Medica de Chile.

Fast Food and Overeating

Of course, junk food is also readily available at restaurant chains across the country in the form of French fries, chicken nuggets, shakes, soda, etc. Not only are most fast foods not terribly healthy, one study indicates that there may be something about fast food that actually encourages gorging.

In the study, from the Children’s Hospital in Boston, teens age 13-17 were given three types of fast-food meals (all including chicken nuggets, French fries, and cola). In one meal, the teens were served a lot of food at once. In another, a lot of food was served at the same time, but in smaller portions. And in the third test meal, a lot of food was served, but in smaller portions over 15-minute intervals.

The researchers found that it didn’t seem to matter how much food was served — the teens still took in about half of their daily calorie needs in that one meal. The researchers suggested that certain factors inherent to fast food might promote overeating:

• It’s low in fiber.
• It’s high in palatability (that is, it tastes good).
• It offers a high number of calories in a small volume.
• It’s high in fat.
• It’s high in sugar in liquid form.

Junk Food and TV

As we all know, many of the food commercials aimed at children are for foods high in fat, sugar, and/or salt, and low in nutritional value. And some research suggests that watching ads for processed foods encourages children to eat more.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom exposed 60 children, ages 9 to 11, to both food advertisements and toy advertisements, followed by a cartoon and free food.

The children ate more after the food advertisements than after the commercials for toys, the study found. The obese children in the study increased their consumption of food the most (134%) after watching the food ads, compared to overweight children (101%) and normal-weight children (84%).

Taking the ‘Junk’ out of Junk Food

Now that you’ve got the facts about junk food, how can you try to eat more healthfully in our junk- food-filled world? Here are three tips:

• Choose fast-food restaurants that offer healthier choices. And no matter where you are, opt for food and beverages that are made up mostly of ingredients that offer nutrients along with calories. Enjoy freshly squeezed orange juice or a whole-wheat bagel instead of soda or donuts. Buy a bean burrito, pizza topped with vegetables, or a grilled chicken sandwich on a whole-grain bun instead of tortilla chips with processed cheese sauce; frozen pizza rolls; or fried chicken pieces and French fries. Avoid sweetened beverages.
• Look for products low in sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, milled grains, and partially hydrogenated oils. Choose a 100% whole-wheat cracker made with canola oil, for example, or snack on a cheese and fruit plate instead of a bowl of cheese puffs.
• Limit TV viewing, for yourself and your kids. Certain TV shows seem to attract more junk food commercials more than others, so parents might want to discourage kids from watching these shows. Or try TIVO (where you can fast-forward through commercials) or watch DVDs.

Article by Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, is the “Recipe Doctor” for the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic and the author of numerous books on nutrition and health. Her opinions and conclusions are her own.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56170&page=2