Healthy Food Choices

Give Yourself a Break with the 80/20 Rule

July 1, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

The 80/20 principles is not a diet. It is a lifestyle change that invites balance and moderation into our daily consumption of food and sustainable weight loss into our lives.

Rigid limiting diets fad diets are temporary fixes at best and invite boredom, excuses and failure. Depriving yourself of sweets and treats all the time is neither realistic nor sustainable.

The 80/20 rule on the other hand allows you to be human. By allowing special indulgences into your meal plans, you will feel happier, more fulfilled (no deprivation) and healthier, all resulting in a slimmer you.

If you want to be social and enjoy a meal and a drink with some friends you have an open door to do so…without the guilt. Guilt is never a good thing…it is the poison that steals our momentary joy. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Healthy Food Choices, Weight Loss Basics Tagged With: 80/20 principle, healthy eating, proper mind-set, weight loss tips

Nutrient Dense Green Smoothies

June 25, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

Green smoothies continue to take the world by storm. So what’s the big deal? What’s so great about green smoothies? What kind of equipment is needed, how many greens are used, how much do I need to make and how long does it keep?

These are all very valid questions for those of you who haven’t ventured into the “green smoothie” world yet.

To start with, green smoothies are easy to make, delicious and no they don’t taste like spinach.

What I love about greens is the chlorophyll they convert straight from the sun that boosts nutrition for optimum health and well being. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Healthy Food Choices, Super Foods Tagged With: nutrient dense green smoothies

Optimal Food Choices for Nutrient Dense Eating

June 10, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

We all know how important it is to eat nutrient dense foods.

Here’s a guide list that will help you to make wise choices.

Optimal Protein Choices:

Choose free-range, cage-free, grass fed and no hormone added sources whenever possible. Avoid any farm raised fish.
Lean free range, organic chicken and turkey
Cold-water wild caught fish and shellfish (wild salmon, Alaskan halibut, sole, scallops and sardines) [Read more…]

Filed Under: Healthy Food Choices, Weight Loss Basics Tagged With: nutrient dense eating, nutrient dense meal timing, optimal food choices

The Power of Protein

May 28, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

Proteins, carbohydrates and dietary fats are all considered macro nutrients and each one plays a different role in keeping the body vital and healthy. Without a doubt, the single most important macro nutrient in the human diet is protein. Protein is absolutely essential for life and without it you would cease to exist.

Every cell in the human body contains protein. All hair, skin, muscles, organs and glands contain protein. Proteins are the building blocks of life. The body uses protein to repair and maintain itself and without adequate amounts of protein in your diet your cells and tissues could not function properly. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Healthy Food Choices, Super Foods, Weight Loss Basics Tagged With: essential amino acids

Wheatgrass is a Powerful Friend

May 19, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

Wheatgrass is a nutrient rich young grass in the wheat family. Wheatgrass is grown from wheat seeds and contains high levels of chlorophyll. Usually people choose to juice with Wheatgrass but it is also available in supplement form.

A one ounce serving of Wheatgrass has no fat, only seven calories and virtually no carbohydrates or protein. Neither does wheatgrass contain any essential omega-3 fatty acids nor is it rich with vitamin content except for vitamin C.

So, what’s all the hype about wheatgrass then? The magic is Chlorophyll…the green pigment that increases the blood’s oxygen content and whose role is critical in photosynthesis (the process which allows plants to absorb energy from the sun). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Healthy Food Choices, Super Foods Tagged With: chlorophyll, wheatgrass

Conquering the Dreaded Weight Loss Plateau

May 15, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

Are you frustrated and discouraged with dieting? Have you reached the dreaded weight loss plateau where it doesn’t seem to matter what you do you can’t seem to budge, burn or coerce your weight down any farther?

You don’t need to be discouraged any longer. There are steps you can follow that will help you to break through your weight loss plateau.

First you need to understand that weight loss plateaus are to be expected as long as you are actively losing weight. Our bodies naturally resist change. Most people who eventually reach their ideal weight challenged many plateaus that lasted for several weeks along the way to their desired goals. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise and Weight Loss, Healthy Food Choices, Mind Power and Weight Loss, Weight Loss Basics, Why Can't I Lose Weight? Tagged With: food diary, weight loss plateau

Frustrated with Fat Loss?

April 30, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

There are a few major principles that you need to adhere to in order to shed fat from you body and keep it off.

The Principles of Fat Loss:

Regardless of your baseline metabolic rate, you can choose to elevate your metabolism by taking the appropriate actions and thereby increase the rate at which you burn fat. In other words, your metabolic rate is not cast in stone. You do have the controls.
Muscle cells burn fat continuously whereas fat cells merely store fat. When you incorporate strength training into your exercise habit you build muscle tissue and thereby increase your base metabolic rate. More muscle means less fat in the long term. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise and Weight Loss, Healthy Food Choices, Weight Loss Basics Tagged With: calorie deficit

Sugar turns on the “Fat Switch”

April 21, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

There’s no hiding the truth anymore. What you eat does matter. Recent studies show that you do not get fat from simply eating too much nor do you get fat from eating fat, the belief that has been held for so long.

It has now been proven that you do get fat from eating the wrong types of fat and the wrong type of carbohydrates. Basically you could safely say that becoming and staying overweight could be viewed as a symptom of eating an improper diet, one that consists of chemically-laden processed food that is not natural to our chemistry and biology. Not a real surprise to anyone reading this I am sure.

It’s not just the food and calories you are consuming that is keeping you overweight; it is your habits, eating the wrong type of nutrient depleted foods, dead calorie foods. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Healthy Food Choices, Weight Loss Basics, Why Can't I Lose Weight? Tagged With: fat-storing switch, nutrigenomics

Eat Healthy Even When Enjoying Dessert

April 15, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

Just because you are dieting does not mean you can’t enjoy an occasional sweet treat or two. The key is to eat healthy even when you are snacking or treating yourself to dessert. Can a dessert actually provide you with anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes? Is that possible? You bet it is.

Healthy raw dessert recipes are the answer to getting raw, uncooked and unprocessed food into our bodies and those of our family. Raw dessert recipes are cost effective and can be made in a reasonable amount of time while providing health-promoting vitamins, enzymes, fiber and healthy fats. They provide us with better nutrition and will help prevent disease and overweight conditions as well as slowing the aging process while increasing energy. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Healthy Food Choices Tagged With: carrot raisin energy bites, gluten free, raw food, sugar free

Delicious Banana Coconut Chia Pudding

March 31, 2014 By slwradmin Leave a Comment

The amazing Chia Seed. Chia seed is the most nutritious seed available anywhere and among the best health-building super foods or nutritional supplements around. Chia seeds promote health to everyone who takes it.

Chia seeds will actually reduce cravings for sweets and junk type foods. These miraculous little seeds help slow digestion, sustain balanced blood sugar levels and have high soluble fiber content because they are able to absorb so much water. They release natural, unrefined carbohydrate energy slowly into the bloodstream to keep you feeling “fuller” for longer periods of time. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Healthy Food Choices, Super Foods Tagged With: no gluten, super seed