If you are trying to lose weight, regardless of which diet plan you choose, watching your carbohydrate intake can be helpful for several reasons. Benefits of counting carbs include:
Creating a gluten-free eating plan with foods that have a low glycemic index, or GI, can be a balancing act. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and possibly oats that causes a severe autoimmune reaction in people with celiac disease. The starchy vegetables and grains that replace foods with gluten may have a high GI value, meaning that they can raise your blood sugar quickly after you eat them. Whether you have celiac disease or are eating gluten-free foods for other dietary reasons, you can keep your blood sugar stable by emphasizing low-GI gluten substitutes and increasing your intake of foods that are naturally gluten-free.
Strategies for Achieving Your New Year’s Resolutions By Amanda Gore
You rush around for the holidays — eat and drink too much and then find the best party you can go to on New Year’s Eve, drink buckets more, and the next morning think about what resolutions you need to make for the new year. You decide to change your life or give up every bad habit you’ve ever had or may make some other simple changes.
The new year is a fantastic opportunity to spend time (preferably a couple of hours) working on your life rather than just being caught up, running around in circles, in your life. Time is so precious that we are flat out getting the basics done, let alone thinking about our lives and how we are functioning.
So you regularly get 8 hours of sleep every night but you still feel tired during the day. What’s the deal? For starters, the 8 hour sleep guideline is just that—a guideline.
Yes, the 8 hours of sleep standard has been routinely researched to be the number of hours of sleep that most people need. However, it doesn’t always work for everybody, and you may need to adjust it a little to get it right for you.
Too much sleep can be just as bad as too little sleep. It’s important to dial in your personal body clock so that you feel refreshed and ready to tackle the day, everyday.
To do this, figure out what time you need to get up in the morning.
Count back 7.5 hours as a good time to start getting to bed.
7.5 hours is a good benchmark because the average person goes through five 90 minute sleep cycles alternating between sleep (non-REM) and deep sleep (REM).
It’s best to wake in-between deep sleep cycles rather than in the middle of one. Waking in the middle of REM can lead you to feeling groggy during the day. If you wake during non-REM you’re more likely to feel alert and attentive as the day progresses.
Try this 7.5 hours sleep duration for 3 days. If you find yourself waking about 10 minutes before your alarm goes off, you’ve found your perfect bedtime. If however you’re still relying on your alarm clock to wake you up, try moving your bedtime back 15 minutes every 3 days until you find yourself waking just a few minutes before your alarm goes off.
Once you find your body’s perfect internal sleep-clock, stay consistent with it. The less you vary from the norm, the more alert you will be during the day and the better you will function.
If you find yourself having difficulty getting to bed on time every night, there are a few things you can do to help you get to bed quicker:
Diet and exercise can go a long way towards getting better rest at night and being more alert during the day. Balancing healthy eating choices with routine exercise can dramatically affect the way you perform throughout the day.
Foods to Avoid to Improve Sleep
If you practice the above guidelines of a healthier lifestyle and better sleeping habits but still find yourself suffering from daytime drowsiness, it may be a sign of a more severe medical condition such as: obstructive sleep apnea (OSA),anemia, thyroid problems, narcolepsy, depression, restless leg syndrome, undiagnosed heart disease, or deficiencies in key nutrients. If you think that you may be suffering from one of these medical conditions you should contact your physician or local sleep clinic immediately.
Originally posted at http://www.alaskasleep.com/
Having a well-planned grocery list gets you in and out of the store quickly and helps you stick to your healthy eating plan.
Organize your food shopping list and fill your grocery cart with the healthiest foods that won’t bust your budget or diet.
Maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are:
Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons)
Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons)
Different names for sugar: Sugar, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), dehydrated cane juice, fructose, glucose, dextrose, syrup, cane sugar, raw sugar, corn syrup,
Other sugars fall into the same category often labeled healthy like: agave, honey, organic cane sugar and coconut sugar
50-100 Grams Per Day – This range is great if you want to lose weight effortlessly while allowing for a bit of carbs in the diet. It is also a great maintenance range for people who are carb sensitive.
20-50 Grams Per Day – This is where the metabolic benefits really start to kick in. This is the perfect range for people who need to lose weight fast, or are metabolically deranged and have obesity or diabetes.
When eating less than 50 grams per day, your body will get into ketosis, supplying energy for the brain via so-called ketone bodies. This is likely to kill your appetite and cause you to lose weight automatically.
30 to 38 grams a day – Men
25 grams a day – Women between 18 and 50 years old
21 grams a day – If a woman is 51 and older.
Another general guideline is to get 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories in your diet.
56 grams per day – for the average sedentary man
46 grams per day – for the average sedentary woman
The DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound.
When you’re on vacation, it’s all too easy to abandon everything you know about eating healthfully — and then return home unable to button your pants. But, experts say, it is possible to indulge in your favorite foods and beverages while on vacation without the resulting weight gain.
It’s true that vacations are no time to try to lose weight — but they don’t have to put an extra notch on your belt, either.
“Maintaining your weight is a realistic goal during your vacation getaway,” says Dawn Jackson-Blatner, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
So before you order that extra pina colada at the swim-up bar, consider these five simple strategies to avoid vacation weight gain:
25 TRICKS TO CONVINCE YOUR BODY IT’S NOT HUNGRY
1. Drink Water – This is one of the most essential ways to stay healthy and stick to your diet. Not only does drinking water flush toxins from your body, it keeps you energized and makes your stomach feel full. Do not force too much water down, as that will make you feel sick. However, drinking eight glasses a day plus one before each meal will stem your hunger.
2. Chew Gum – Sugarless gum is a guilt-free way to keep your jaws busy. Many people attest that chewing gum can help you lose weight and make you feel as if you are eating food. Other benefits, such as building stronger jaw muscles and increasing concentration, are also associated with chewing gum.
3. Take a Nap – Can’t stop thinking about how hungry you are? Take a little nap and you will probably wake up feeling more energized and more satisfied. Most people don’t feel hungry first thing in the morning and that is because there is less acid in your stomach. A nap can recreate this feeling.
4. Eat Small Meals Throughout the Day – One of the best ways to not feel hungry is by constantly eating! Yes, this can actually help you lose weight. By eating smaller meals throughout the day instead of a few large meals, your metabolism stays high and your stomach always has a little food in it. Try six meals a day instead of three.
5. Fill up on Fresh Veggies – If you really need a snack, you should eat one that is guilt-free and that won’t contribute to more hunger. Non-starchy vegetables are “free foods” that you can eat all day without gaining weight. They also stick to your ribs longer than other snacks. Did you know that it takes more calories to consume a stick of celery than are actually in the celery? That is why celery is referred to as a “negative calorie” food.
6. Reduce Your Carb Intake – Carbohydrates turn to sugar and stimulate your body’s insulin, thus causing a vicious cycle of hunger. Remember, food is supposed to satiate your hunger, not increase it! Reduce your carb intake to gain control over your constant hunger.
7. Eat Lean Protein – Protein stays in your body longer than carbohydrates, so choose a lean piece of meat over a low-fat bagel. There is a reason why people were dropping serious pounds on the Atkin’s Diet. While that is an extreme diet, you can sensibly increase your lean protein intake and minimize your hunger between meals.
8. Increase Your Fiber Intake – Bulky, high-fiber foods usually fill your stomach quickly and keep you satisfied for a long time. They also require quite a bit of chewing, which psychologically triggers the feeling of satisfaction.
9. Don’t Skip Breakfast – So many people run out the door before eating a good breakfast. Likewise, misinformed people who are trying to lose weight will sometimes skip meals. Breakfast is definitely not the meal the skip, as it gives you a much-needed metabolism boost to keep you going until your next meal.
10. Eat More Eggs – Looking for a low-fat, high-protein snack to stem your hunger? Eggs will give you that in spades. If cholesterol is a concern for you, skip the egg yolks and make yourself an egg white snack.
11. Brush Your Teeth and Tongue – How great does a minty, clean mouth feel? Probably good enough to make you think twice before you eat something directly after a good tooth and tongue brushing. This is a method used by many dieters.
12. Exercise – A nice long walk or jog is certain to boost your adrenaline and kill your hunger… for a while, at least. Burning more calories will make your body hungry. However, most people are not hungry directly after exercising, so this can be a great way to pass the time between meals instead of eating.
13. Drink Vinegar – A fad diet that has come and gone involved drinking two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar before each meal. While it was proven that vinegar does not directly cause weight loss, some people feel less hungry after drinking it because it’s so unappealing.
14. Avoid Salt – Excessive amounts of salt is never good for your body and can definitely lead to dehydration. Since many people can’t recognize the difference between hunger and thirst, eating salt could make you feel as if you are hungry when you really aren’t.
15. Avoid Sugar – Foods that are high in sugar may taste delicious, but they burn through your body too quickly. Even sugary snacks that are low in fat are a bad idea, as you will just get hungry soon again and require more food.
16. Stay Busy – Many people convince themselves that they are hungry when they are actually just bored. If you find yourself eating because there is nothing else to do, put yourself to work. Keep your mind off food and your diet.
17. Avoid Food – Literally. Not only should you keep yourself busy, you might want to avoid places where you will see (and smell!) food. Don’t hang out in the kitchen and don’t meet friends at a restaurant if you aren’t planning on eating.
18. Avoid Alcohol – Not only is alcohol filled with empty calories, it can greatly increase your appetite. It is hard to tell when your body is full after you become a bit tipsy. Alcohol also relaxes that willpower of yours, which makes you even more likely to go for a second helping.
19. Eat Slower – Often times, we will eat until we are “stuffed.” You don’t want to go that far before you stop eating, which is why you should slow down when you eat. You may be surprised at how much less you will have to eat before your body feels satisfied.
20. Suck on a Peppermint – Many physical and psychological benefits have been attributed to peppermint over the years. Although it hasn’t been proven by scientists, some dieters swear that sucking on a peppermint makes their body feel full when they are a bit peckish.
21. Avoid Caffeine – Although some people use caffeine as an appetite suppressant, you will just quickly crash after the caffeine burns through your body. This is similar to how sugar makes you hungrier than before. You really don’t need anything to drink other than water while trying to lose weight.
22. Chew Ice – Chewing will trick your body into thinking it’s eating and water makes your stomach feel fuller. Therefore, chewing ice covers both diet tricks at once! Mind you, chewing ice isn’t good for sensitive teeth or those with braces.
23. Learn to Manage Stress – Mind-over-body diet tricks are hard to control if you aren’t thinking with a straight head. Therefore, you should do your best to manage your stress level. Stress will not only make you want to eat, it is a leading cause of overeating.
24. Suck in Your Gut – Your body experiences hunger when the stomach is empty. By tightening your abdominal muscles (also known as “sucking in your gut”), you will compress your stomach and temporarily mask hunger pangs. It is recommended that you always keep your stomach muscles tightened anyway, as it helps you to get your abs into shape.
25. Put Your Fork Down Between Every Bite – This is a great way to make yourself slow down while eating and it also sends signals to your brain that you are through eating each time you put the fork down. Some dieters will put the fork down between each bite and take a sip of water.
Successfully fit people are successful not because of good luck, birth order, or family heritage but because they have adopted the right habits. They do things differently than the rest. To be a successful person, you must adopt the habits of success.
Stephen Covey’s theories on learning from the habits of successful people in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People suggest that by emulating the habits of successful people, anyone can enjoy the life he or she desires. Learn the habits, adopt the habits, practice the habits, enjoy the success. It really is that basic. Here, excerpted from Push by Chalene Johnson, the 10 eating habits of successfully fit people.
1. They Tend to Stick to the Same “Daily Menu”
The majority of fit people say they eat virtually the same meals every day, mostly the same breakfast, same lunch, same dinner, and when it comes to snacks and beverages . . . well, you guessed it, very predictable food. To clarify, they did not suggest that they eat exactly the same entree for every meal, but they often chose from three, maybe four things that they like for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
There are three possible reasons behind this shared habit among fitness professionals, individuals who have succeeded at taking off 100-plus pounds and keeping it off for years, and those who have been trim all their lives.
First, it allows “careful” eaters to predict their daily calorie allotment without much effort. Second, perhaps the most fit among us are entrenched in habit, including the habit of taste. Third, effortlessly fit folks are in tune with the energy and calorie needs of their bodies. When they find foods that deliver what they need and that they enjoy, why look further? Keep in mind, there’s a fine line between careful eating and disordered eating. The careful eater’s diet is a habit and not a matter of control or obsession.
2. They Eat Breakfast
This one common characteristic is nearly universal in statistical studies of people who have achieved and maintained a large weight loss. Eighty percent of those who have been able to maintain a weight loss of at least 30 pounds for at least a year report that they always eat breakfast. Research has consistently shown that the people who successfully lose weight are the ones that wake up and eat! Furthermore, people who eat breakfast regularly have better vitamin and mineral status and eat fewer calories from fat. Experts agree that the majority of people who struggle with overeating are those who undereat during the first part of the day, specifically those who skip breakfast. So it seems that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day!
Why does eating breakfast help people lose and ultimately maintain a healthier weight? One theory suggests that eating a healthy breakfast reduces hunger throughout the rest of the day, therefore decreasing the likelihood of overeating and making poor food choices at lunch.
3. They Drink Water
Not soda. Not iced tea. Just plain old water. This is the biggie. Drinking enough water is a vital part of any conditioning program because it keeps your body functioning in homeostasis and aids every aspect of bodily function. Highly successful fit people drink at least six to eight 12-ounce glasses of water a day, plus more as needed during exercise. Note: It’s possible to drink too much water, which dilutes the body’s electrolytes (potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium). Don’t drink more than a gallon a day unless you’re also replenishing your electrolytes.
4. They Eat Small—And Often
Most people know that small, frequent meals are absolutely the only way to go. Why? Because when we go longer than 3 hours without eating, our levels of the stress hormone cortisol rise. And high cortisol levels signal the body to store fat in the abdominal region. Keep in mind too that people who skip meals have the highest cortisol levels of all!
Eating small meals more often reduces cortisol levels, research suggests. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, people who ate six small meals a day for 2 weeks, as opposed to three large meals containing the same total number of calories, reduced their cortisol levels by more than 17 percent! They lost belly fat, too.
When you eat small, frequent meals long term, the body becomes efficient at keeping cortisol levels low, which helps both men and women reduce belly fat.
Eating throughout the day also makes you less tempted by the monster-size buckets ofpopcorn and supersize fries and drink containers that include triple and quadruple servings. Guided by their nutritional needs and deeply rooted habit to eat small meals throughout the day, the superfit stand steadfast, even in the face of a delicious, jumbo chocolate-chip muffin.
5. They Eat Whole Foods First
Successful fit people tend to eat mainly whole, unprocessed foods, including fruits, veggies, and whole grains (and products made from whole grains). Certainly they enjoy the occasional treat, but 80 percent of the time or more, their preference leads to whole foods.
Whole, natural foods—apples, steel-cut oatmeal, broccoli, salads, brown rice—are what food researchers call low-density foods. That is, they take up a lot of room in your stomach because they contain lots of fiber, which satisfies hunger with few calories. High-density foods are the opposite; they are things like butter, oils, candy, or ice cream. Think about how much frosting you could pack into your stomach if you really tried. (Okay, don’t think about it—it’s too gross.) Eating mostly low-density foods is the easiest way to keep your weight in check without feeling hungry or like you’re depriving yourself.
6. They Know Their Foods
This characteristic is truly universal among fit people: They know, generally speaking, every food’s calories and approximate protein, carbohydrate, and fat content. It’s not a case of being idiot savants but rather of having an understanding, a knowledge of food that allows them to make an educated guess. Their assumptions are almost always spot-on. This gift affords them the skill of making better food choices on a moment’s notice.
Just as important: They know what one serving of said food really looks like. You can show an effortlessly fit person a whole grain cracker, and even without looking at the label, he or she can accurately predict how many crackers count as one serving. It’s not a gift, actually. It’s a skill, and all habits are skills you can master.
This skill is easier to acquire than it sounds. A couple of weeks of label reading is all it takes. There are even apps for your phone and Web sites that provide this information quickly and for free.
7. They Eat Their Favorite Foods—Carefully
Despite knowing everything about their foods and tending to stick to the same foods day in and day out, fit people rarely report eliminating foods. If it’s something they crave, they enjoy a little taste. They know that simply eliminating foods they absolutely love will only set them up to fail when the temptation is too great. Instead, successfully fit people know that it’s okay to indulge every once in a while. They savor those moments instead of sucking down the food as if they’re afraid it’s the only time they’ll ever see it again.
8. They Don’t Keep Red Zone Food in the House
If you look in a successfully fit person’s fridge, pantry, or cupboards, you won’t typically find cookies, crackers, chips, chocolate, full-fat ice cream, or soda. Why? Because they don’t crave these things. They also know you can’t eat ’em if you don’t have ’em. Smart, right?
What’s interesting about these trim types is that they don’t have the same inner battle of healthy versus junkie foods that the average person who struggles with weight might have. They can walk past the aisle with chips and sodas and think nothing of it. Either they never developed the junk food habit or they kicked it.
9. They Close the Kitchen after Dinner
Unlike most Americans, successfully fit people eat their final meal at a reasonable hour, as opposed to eating dinner followed by a lavish 10:00 p.m. snack and another dessert. Most often they go to sleep, not hungry, but on an empty stomach. This allows them to wake up feeling thin, rested, and hungry for breakfast. It may take a little effort, but going to bed earlier and going to sleep without food awaiting digestion in yourstomach keeps your body’s metabolism in a fat-burning state. Instead of digesting, which causes restless sleep, your body can focus on other things—like repairing cells!
10. They’re Resourceful and Politely Picky at Restaurants
Successfully fit people find healthful alternatives to selections on any menu, from a five-star restaurant’s to Wendy’s. They know that it’s the food choices, not necessarily the restaurant choices, that help them to stay slim and healthy.
They generally steer clear of fried meat, poultry, and fish. Instead, they order their protein broiled, steamed, stir-fried, or poached. They also speak up in restaurants, politely making special requests like asking that their dish be prepared with little or no butter or sauces and with dressings on the side.
Article Reference: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/
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