Author: Shawn LeBrun
Title: How A Food Journal Helps To Build Muscle

Article: It’s amazing what you’ll eat during the course of a day without even realizing it. And then a month or two later, you wonder why you’ve put on 20 pounds.

Remember that old saying about computer programming “Garbage in equals’ garbage out.”

The same can be applied to the food that passes your lips. If you take in garbage, you are going to get garbage in return. The garbage in return will be low energy, sickness, disease, and poor overall health.

Have you ever really thought about what you take in as fuel during any given day?

Want to perform a “wake-up call” exercise right now? Sit down and write out all of the food or liquid that has passed through your lips during the past 24 hours.

After you write it out, look at the list and ask yourself if most of what is on that list can be put under the “garbage in equals’ garbage out saying?

Often times we are not aware of what it is we are doing until we are forced to confront it. Now is your chance to confront what you are doing to your body.

This is one area that most people have to really take a long and hard look at because it is usually the one area that sabotages any chance to achieving the body you want.

When you find your daily caloric maintenance amount and begin to gradually reduce it, you want to keep a written log of those foods you consume so that you can tally the foods and make sure the total calorie amount is close to that calorie number that you figured.

How can you keep track of your daily calories if you have no idea what they are?

If you figure from the worksheet that someone your age and weight requires 2000 calories to maintain, reducing by 200 calories now brings you to 1800. This is the number you are going to shoot for throughout the day for the next week.

How can you hit that number if you do not know the calorie amounts of certain foods and write them down?

This is a necessary part of the muscle building and weight loss process, but not one you have to continue with forever.

If you want to stop after 30 days or so, that’s fine, because you should have a pretty good idea which foods have what amount of calories.

When you have your number, 1800 for example, you must ensure that your daily calorie amount is less than this number. If you go over this number, you are not creating a calorie deficit.

So in your food journal or notebook, at the top of the page, write 1800 calories.

Under that number, write:

Meal 1: Breakfast
Meal 2: snack
Meal 3: Lunch
Meal 4: Snack
Meal 5: dinner
Meal 6: snack

Next to each meal you write the approximate calorie total for each. If you had a couple eggs and toast for breakfast, you would write 220 calories next to “breakfast.”

If you had a meal replacement for a snack after breakfast, write down 240, or whatever the amount is, next to snack.

You do this throughout the day. After your last meal, tally up the number and see what your total is.

If it is less than 1800 calories, but not significantly less, pat yourself on the back because progress was made.

If it came back 2500, realize that this is not moving you closer to your goals and understand that you must be more aware of the portions and the types of food you are consuming.

Writing this down makes it crystal clear in terms of what is actually going on versus what you “think” you are eating.

If you are not willing to do this process for a short term, you are probably not willing to stick with any type of workout or nutrition program.

After all, it’s hard to figure out if you’re consuming too many calories day in and day out if you don’t write down what you’re eating.

If you are not sure why you are having a hard time losing weight, specifically body fat, than keep a written food journal with you for a month of two. Write down specifically what you eat, the serving or portion size, and the approximate calories in that food. Do this for each and every meal

At the end of the day, tally up the calorie amount you consumed and check it against what your daily calorie amount should be (from above step).

If the number of calories you actually are consuming is always higher than your daily maintenance amount, weight loss will not happen. It simply will not occur unless you are expending enough calories through your exercise to create a calorie deficit.

It’s amazing how things can become clarified when you write them down. Many times, we do not know where the calories are coming from and how they are adding up until we document what we ate. That way the proof is on paper.

Do not write down what you wished you had eaten, but rather exactly what you did eat. You need to be real with yourself so that way if there is a problem in your nutrition, you can find it and work to solve it, instead of pretending it does not exist.

Journaling your calories is a simple yet effective way to be sure that the calories you are taking in throughout the day is not more than you need to effectively lose weight.

If you are unsure of how many calories a certain food contains, go to the bookstore and pick up one of the calorie count books or find a website that has the total calorie amount for certain foods.

If you did a search on the Internet for “calorie counts” you would find many sites that have many popular foods listed with the calorie amounts they contain.

This process of writing down all your food consumption is part of taking full and complete responsibility of your current situation, which is a huge part of this process.

I can honestly tell you that the most important step I took while getting in shape for my bodybuilding show was writing down all of my calories for the day.

It took all of the guesswork out of figuring if I had eaten too many calories for a certain meal or how many calories I could consume at night. When the numbers are staring back at you on paper, it is very hard to make a mistake and continuously eat more calories than you should.

Does this mean that you are stuck writing calories for the rest of your life?

Of course not. We as human beings often repeat the same behavior and do the same things. This means that we will often eat the same foods throughout the course of the days, weeks, and months.

By process of association and repetition, you will soon know that this food has X amount of calories and that food has Y amount.

So as you begin to eat some of the same foods, you will know off the top of our head how many calories certain foods have and this makes the process of figuring and staying under your daily maintenance amount much easier.

Keep a written log of what you eat and when you eat. At the end of the day, check to see how close you came to hitting your calorie goals.

Soon, you’ll have a good idea just how many calories you need each day to reach your goals. Want a simple, proven program that guarantees you”ll see more results in less time? Check out “Simple Steps To Get Huge And Shredded” from personal trainer Shawn Lebrun:
Simple Steps To Get Huge And Shredded”

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Author: Jim Brown
Title: Learning and Managing Nutritional Data

Article: People use nutritional tools to manage the nutritional values that enter their body through food sources. Learning nutritional data requirements for every body type will ensure that no person is vulnerable to improper nutrition while going through dieting and weight loss programs. Learning nutritional data will ensure that everybody in the family gets a healthy dinner tonight and has more energy the next day. The nutritional data provided on consumables allows people to develop a sound mind and body.

People use nutritional data to help the body recover from major illnesses. A physician will place many people on restricted calorie diets after they are discharged from the hospital following a heart attack or stroke. Heart patients are well accustomed to dietary changes but often wonder if caloric restrictions will improve their health. Using the nutritional data on food products, heart patients can monitor the amount of sodium in the diet and it will help them count calories at every meal.

These patients will see a marked improvement in their circulatory system after learning nutritional data information. Helpful nutritional guidelines are on all canned foods and heart patients can heal faster when they see the total fat content in foods, and the amount of cholesterol that they are introducing into their systems with the foods that they consume. Some low carb diets would fail miserably if the patient had not been learning nutritional data that identified the total carbohydrates in food products.

Quick start diet plans can have unhealthy consequences if a person did not prepare for the affects of weight loss before the diet plan was started. Sudden weight loss weakens the body and the immune system and some heart patients will not be able to manage the stress placed on the body during this time. Learning nutritional data values will ensure that all quick start diet plans are heart-healthy as well as being low calorie diet plans that are guaranteed to be very nutritious. Heart patients can learn from nutritional data and lose weight in a healthy way.

Some people are learning nutritional data guidelines because these helpful pieces of information transmit how various foods affect weight loss efforts and how the foods will ultimately affect total body health. By learning the nutritional data values, people are finding out which foods are low in calories. Those nutritional values will pay off handsomely when people can eat less and gain the same nutritional values without overeating. Detailed and informative facts about the nutritional values in foods will guide people to eating foods that are healthier and many dieters use nutritional data to lose weight while following the sensible advice of a physician.

Many people will alter diet plans after learning nutritional data because some food scores will contain more vitamins and minerals. Other foods will be eliminated from the diet entirely because the nutritional data indicates that these foods are high in sugar content and saturated fats. Some food stuffs will contain anti inflammatory characteristics which would help people that suffer from arthritic pain a great deal. Some nutritional data indicates food product scores that will serve the body well in later years because the foods contain antioxidants that hinder the aging process. James Brown writes about DrugStore.com coupon, Puritan.com coupon and ZONELIVING.COM coupon

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Author: Mark Cooper
Title: How To Cook Italian Bread

Article: An important part of our daily diet, bread is such simple food stuff that it is often taken for granted. In United Kingdom, the popular idea of bread is quite disheartening; it is considered a horrible mass-produced loaf wrapped in plastic with additives and preservatives aplenty.

Even in the case of avoidance of the ‘packet sliced white loaf’, it is possible that you purchase your bread from a supermarket. If this were so, go in for the more over-priced, mass-produced specialty breads that most super markets sell these days. Only a few people in the UK buy their daily bread from a baker nowadays, and hence, village or town bakeries are shutting down. Ensure that you support a small bakery in your vicinity, if there is one, as the produce that you buy from there will be markedly better than the bread bought from a super market.

Over the last few years, the popularity of bread has gone downhill. People now see bread consumption as one of the slimming deadly sins. However, if you ensure that you don’t eat too much of it, you will be fine, provided you eat bread made of unbleached white flour, yeast, water, sugar and salt; or even the wholemeal version. Fresh and wholesome bread is good for you than many other foodstuffs that you substitute into your diet.

The home-baked variety of bread is a rare commodity these days, even though is the most widely used staple of all. Making bread at home is much simpler than you imagine, and is a much more enjoyable process than buying it in the super market.

Some people feel that bread fills them with excitement and anticipation, and is a pure delight. In Italy, no table is laid without bread and no meal is considered complete without it. Prepared nicely, with good basic ingredients, and allowed to rise for the correct length of time, bread is highly nutritious; a complex carbohydrate that releases energy gradually through our blood system. For a bread-lover, the greatest food combination may well be – bread and olive oil. All the various stages of bread making are accessible and simple, if taught properly. A good recipe book, with a baking section, will teach you the basics of bread baking, which require three basic things, namely – the correct ingredients, proper equipment and an oven.

There is a ‘wealth’ of different style of bread in Italy, where you can find the tastiest of breads in the whole world. Focaccia is a very popular Italian in demand abroad too. Focaccia is bread that is baked flat in an oven, having toppings of onions, herbs and other foodstuffs. Traditionally baked in the hearth of the fire, Focaccia gets its name from the Latin for ‘fire place’ or ‘center’. Focaccia is usually seasoned with olive oil and herbs, with cheese on top. Outside of Italy, this bread is mainly used to make sandwiches.

At a traditional pizzeria in Italy, if you have had the chance to eat a real Italian pizza, you would have actually relished the deliciously crisp bread base of the pizza, which simply is the best bread on earth. Mark Cooper hold master degree in Mass Communication and creative writing. He writes articles for http://www.italianfood-recipes.com and his new article is http://www.italianfood-recipes.com/how-to-cook-italian-bread.htm

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Author: Peter Finch
Title: Gardening Tips – How to Build and Maintain A Garden

Article: A garden adds beauty to the surroundings with its colorful treasure of trees, plants, flowers, butterflies, fruits and more. Gardening is an infinitely pleasurable exercise and a hobby for some. If you have enough space to plant herbs or small plants, it becomes your garden. So, it is not a tough task, even if you do not have the experience. Here is a gardening tip for amateurs – start small instead of overdoing things at your first shot.

Gardens tend to have a soothing effect on our minds. You can just sit or lie on your back on the lawn you mowed or in your garden to relax and unwind. The garden should not only look good, but should also be in a place easily visible to everyone. Here is a gardening tip – Build your garden in front of the house. It not only adds to the beauty of the place but also creates a delightful impression on people entering your house.

Basics Of Gardening

The first important gardening tip is to learn the basics of gardening. Most people are very taken in with the idea of creating a garden but you need to know the basics before taking the plunge. One would start dreaming about flowers, fruits and vegetables all over the place even before beginning to build the garden. Which plants to grow, where to plant it, how to do it, and when to do it are common confusion areas for novices.

Selecting The Right Place

Another important gardening tip is to choose the right location for your garden. You should get a great view of the chosen place from inside your house. Now that the problem of where to garden has been dealt with, you have to think of what to plant. If you want to grow any particular plant, you should first check out whether the climatic and other conditions are conducive to its growth. If you live in a place that is hot, then make sure you do no plant in areas exposed to afternoon sun, which is hotter and drier than the morning sun. Also, ensure that the chosen place is not directly exposed to heavy, dry winds.

Selecting The Plants

After the location is finalized, the next gardening tip for you is – choose the right plants. Select appropriate plants in accordance with the environmental conditions in your area. You can grow roses or vegetables – it is up to you. Herbs are ideal for any place as their growth can be controlled, if there is not enough space.

Common Problems

Lastly, here is an important gardening tip for you on tackling the common problems. If your garden is attractive, you can expect unwanted visitors like pests, insects, animals, children to cause damage to your plants. You should be careful and safeguard your garden. You cannot keep watch 24 x 7. However, while you water your plants, make sure that you check for changes in the color, or if insects have damaged the stems, leaves, or the plant itself.

You should also prune the extra growth of the plants so that they are not only healthy but also serve their purpose.

With a helpful gardening tip or two, your green thumb, care and attention, you too can create a beautiful garden at home. Get all of the latest in gardening tips know how from the one and only true gardening resource at http://www.herbgardensadvice.com/ Be sure to check out our gardening tips pages on our web site.

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Author: Doug Preston
Title: Healthy Sources of Energy

Article: In today’s fast paced lifestyle people are always looking for a boost of energy. Whether someone wants something to help them wake up in the morning, to get them through that afternoon meeting, or to improve their performance in athletics, there is no question people love edible energy. Unfortunately, most people today turn to coffee or energy drinks. I say unfortunately not because these are horrible options but because when they are used in excess they can often cause dependencies, and even harm your body. It is in your best interest to explore healthier options for daily energy, and you can start with fruits, lifestyle changes, or even some healthier energy supplements.

When you wake up in the morning tomorrow why not skip the coffee and grab an apple? Apples have been shown to provide a healthier, cleaner feeling of energy to someone just waking up. If you don’t have time for a complete breakfast grab an apple and head out the door, you’ll probably feel surprisingly good. The other advantage to apples over coffee is that they don’t leave you feeling jittery, and you won’t crash hard when the caffeine wears away.

If you refuse to drop the coffee, or dislike apples for some reason, start getting more sleep. Yes you’ve probably heard in countless times throughout your life but sleep is the number one thing you can do to recharge yourself for a long day. If you find yourself getting less than 8 hours sleep a night it may be time to try and readjust your schedule. Making time for a proper nights rest is extremely important to mental health and daily energy.

Exercise is another great source of energy. Daily exercise routines will provide your body with the fuel it needs to perform. You may be asking yourself, “Won’t exercise make me even more tired?” and the answer is NO. At first you will have muscle aches, but you will quickly notice yourself with higher endurance levels. You will be able to perform your tasks longer and more efficiently with a healthier state of being.

If you are content with your current lifestyle and refuse to back away from portable energy fixes like coffee and energy drinks, at least start using the healthy alternative. New energy drinks like FRS Healthy Energy aren’t loaded with sugar and actually have many other benefits than just supplying energy. FRS Energy Drink contains many antioxidants that help fight disease and support immune function. Whatever you do for yourself, make sure you look at your daily routine. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find a few activities, or dieting habits that you can change to improve your overall health and well-being. Doug Preston maintains an informative health and wellness website which contains information on the newly available FRS energy drink

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Author: Alec Moreland
Title: Tough Economy, Successful Fundraiser: Is it Possible?

Article: With the US economy in turmoil right now, it is the turn of the stimulus packages and the new Obama administration to make the headlines. But what a tougher new economy translates to are tighter purse strings. Earlier, when you set off to raise funds for any cause, even a fundraiser was an easy way to get the required amount of funds. However, with people being more concerned about the money they spend, it is harder now to carry out a successful fundraiser than it ever was before. However, tough as it may be, it is not impossible. By employing the correct methods, you can still host a successful fundraiser.

The key to organizing a successful fundraiser under the present circumstances is to manage your budget carefully while taking care not to overburden the parents as well. This means managing your finances well as well as making the snacks available at the fundraiser appealing and affordable. Of course, health must be kept in mind as well since a fundraiser that sacrifices health concerns will never be a successful one.

First and foremost, go the healthy way when organizing a fundraiser, be it for your school team or for some other purpose. Obesity and Type-2 diabetes has found victims in an alarming number of young children today. This does not bode well for the future. The general lack of exercise, coupled to high calorie fast food has meant that most of these children have a great risk of developing serious health complications in the coming year. As a result, the once common chocolate fundraiser has been banned in most states of the country. New rules and regulations have been laid down to make way for fundraisers that are healthier. The California SB-12 is amongst such laws which pave the way for fundraisers which have far less health concerns.

When you set out to organize a healthy fundraiser in a tough economic scenario, you still have the chance of raising a handsome amount. What you have to do is order California fundraising snacks that are both tasty and healthy at the same time. Conveniently enough, you can order online or just call up and place your order. Once you do, all the fundraising snacks, generally arranged in packets of different prices, are delivered to your doorstep in time for your fundraiser. They contain an assortment of healthy, low fat and low sugar snacks, such as fundraising rice krispie treats and more. You do not need to pay up immediately! You can instruct the children to sell these snacks to other children at the fundraiser. Once the event is over, you get to keep half of the proceeds to yourself and send back the other half as payment for the snacks.

In the present scenario, a healthy fundraiser, therefore, makes great sense. Not only do you not have to invest anything up front, you get to keep 50% of all the sales proceeds. Basically your fundraiser pays for itself and then brings you profit! As a coach, you can now concentrate on getting the best out of your team! Alec Moreland promotes wellness, nutrition and healthy snacks in fundraising to reduce obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in schools. “America”s #1 Healthy Snack Fundraiser” is The Chocolate Alternative.
Healthy_Fundraising_Solutions
Contact Alec at alec@healthyfundraisingsolutions.com

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Author: Art Gib
Title: Natural Meat Is Healthy And Tasty Too

Article: Many consumers today are choosing to purchase organic produce and other grocery items. It’s a trend toward better health that makes good common sense. With all the recent scares concerning the safety of supermarket meats, why take the chance of getting sick from them when there is an alternative? There are growers out there who still take the time to raise animals in a more traditional and natural environment, and the products that come from these beasts are healthier and taste better too.

– Animals that are genetically modified or who are fed modified feed have found their way into America’s meat supply. These modifications are used to increase the numbers of animals produced, make them grow faster, and other “improvements.”

Unfortunately, the long term effects of genetic modification are not really known yet. When changes are made to an animal’s basic building blocks, however, the desired effects are not always produced. Organically raised beasts are, of course, not subject to these genetic alterations and consumers are in no danger of the possible repercussions of modifications.

– BSE in cattle (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) is a direct cause of Jacob’s Disease in humans that consumer infected meat. Cows pick it up from eating feed containing animal protein, and it has since crossed over into other species as well. For the last 25 years, meat can only be called organic if its sources have not been exposed to that particular feed.

– Antibiotics are routinely used as a preventive measure in mass-production, non-organic meat farming. The crowded and often inhumane conditions under which these animals are reared encourage the rapid spread of disease in these herds. The antibiotics are not used as an “as needed” medicine, but rather, are administered in large amounts to every animal whether it needs it or not. Organic farmers only use an antibiotic when it’s needed, and so its presence is much less prevalent and in much smaller amounts.

– When standard farmers slaughter their animals, additives are often used to enhance the meat’s appearance, flavor, and even the texture. Organically reared beasts, which are raised in conditions much more conducive to good health and well-being, do not need such help. They feed on natural foods and get the exercise necessary to produce leaner meats.

All of these practices encourage the raising of healthy animals which produce naturally better tasting meats. We can all stand to put less chemicals and other harmful additives and substances into our diets: switching your family over to natural meat is a great place to start. For the very best in natural meat products, contact the good people at Niman Ranch (http://www.nimanranch.com/natural-beef). Art Gib is a freelance writer.

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Author: Mary Anne Durkee
Title: Top 7 Low Budget Healthy Foods

Article: With the bad economy and high inflation, everyone is forced to cut their budget, even if it impacts what we eat. Most of us believe that healthy and nutritious meals are expensive, is it really so? We can maintain low budget livelihood without sacrificing our health. How come? Well, it’ very simple! I have a few recommendations which are healthy and low budget:

Oats:

Oats are known to be the cheapest healthy breakfast options, and, as a whole-grain family member, they have a lot of nutrients in them. One serving of oatmeal doles out five grams of protein and four grams of fiber, with a very less calorie of about one hundred and fifty calories.

It is suggested to buy dry oats in the big canisters. It will cost you less and also you will be in control of extra added sugars and total calories in your breakfast. You can also add fresh or dried fruit (diced apple, sliced banana, berries, or raisins), peanut butter, chopped nuts, or a few teaspoons of preserves.

Fresh Fruits:

Fruits are a must for vitamin and mineral supply in our diet. However, costlier fruits such as pineapple, pomegranates, melons, and papayas can be kept out of your refrigerator as a weekly staple and used in special treats. You can opt for affordable ones such as bananas, apples, and oranges in your menu.

Bananas can be used in healthy fruit smoothies, or can be mixed into oatmeal, low-fat muffins, or pancakes, or you can just peel it off and eat it. Oranges and apples are easy to tote and they can be stored as fresh as compared to any other fruit.

Lentils

Lentils are a rich dietary source of fiber, protein, folate, iron, potassium, and a host of other trace minerals. They are super-affordable and very easy to prepare. Lentils with diced tomatoes and seasonings make a hearty side dish, or can be added to soups or stews to increase their protein proportion without loading your budget.

Canned Salmon

Fish are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids and we all are well aware of the health benefits of this fatty acid. Salmon is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acid, but if you buy fresh fish, it is going to be expensive. However, canned wild (Alaskan) salmon is pretty much economical to get the fatty acid as well as the yummy taste of the fish. You can also save some more money by removing the bones and skin yourself.

Fat-Free Yogurt

Fat-free yogurt is a rich protein and calcium supplier. Go for the large 32-ounce tubs instead of the pricier individual cartons. It will cost you less and you won’t have to be stressed about compensating the extra bucks. The 32-ounce containers come in only a limited number of flavors, so you can add some other items to it such as fresh fruit, raisins, and flavored extracts.

Eggs

Another high quality, protein rich source is eggs. When stored properly in the refrigerator, raw eggs last about three weeks in the shell, so you can stock up when they are on sale. You can use eggs to whip up cost-effective, meatless dinner entrees like omelets, frittatas, low-fat quiches, and egg sandwiches. To lower the calories, fat and cholesterol, better use egg whites instead of whole eggs in these recipes.

Sweet Potatoes

Potatoes have got a very renowned place in our kitchen. One medium-sized sweet potato can give you about 200 calories. To improve the nutritional aspect of it, use sweet potatoes instead of regular old white ones. These sweet potatoes are one of the richest sources of potassium, fiber, vitamin C, and beta-carotene. Mary-Anne is a featured member and regular contributor at ifood.tv, a global food network, featuring recipes from all over the world. Other popular recipes videos on ifood.tv include Sauce Recipes, Broccoli recipes and Pie recipes

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