Understanding the Glycemic Index

Things get so confusing when it comes to understanding what foods are high on the glycemic index scale and what effects your blood sugar production. I have focused a lot of my diet around eating lower glycemic index foods, but more importantly understanding that even when you eat high glycemic foods you can help reduce the blood sugar impact, by eating a combination of both high and low glycemic index foods together, that overall helps slow down the insulin production in your body. What I mean would be the following example :

Say you?re hungry for toast in the morning. Your first and worst option would be to grab a couple slices of plain white bread and put jelly and butter on them. You have three sets of problems with this scenario. One is the bad carbohydrates in the over processed white bread and the next is the saturated fat levels in the butter, and third is the sugar content in the jelly that factors into spiking your insulin production. So many people eat something simple like toast in the morning and this is just one example of a choice that could be improved upon. Let?s look at another way to eat more healthy:

So you?re hungry for toast in the morning. How about this option : Select whole wheat pita bread that is all natural. I get mine from Trader Joe?s!! I love this store. Next you slice the pita in half and put NO FAT or reduced fat cheese in between the pocket and toast away. Now you have incorporated a lower glycemic index carbohydrate that provides more fiber and added a protein in the NO FAT or low fat cheese, that in combination with the consumption of the good quality carbohydrate, produces a mucher lower effect on spiking your insulin production.

So Make your choices wisely when it comes to selecting the right types of foods that have an impact on raising and lowering your blood sugar levels quickly.
Remember it takes less than an hour to metabolize carbohydrates, between 2-3 hours for proteins, and over 3 hours to metabolize fat in your diet.

Ever get that hungry feeling less than an hour after chowing down on a bag of Doritos or potato chips. Ever feel hungry less than an hour after eating a plate full of oriental food that was all vegetables. It is because your body starts metabolizing almost right away, when it comes to carbohydrates. Now just imagine those carbohydrates are made up of simple carbohydrates (sugar-like in regular soda, potato chips or other over processed snack foods, or French fries- deep fried potatoes that are loaded with saturated fat and heavy on the high glycemic index scale of carbohydrates.) Also there have been some recent studies that have stated that high fructose corn syrup- found in many foods produced for children that include fruit drinks, fruit snacks, and things like ketchup, are helping enormously to contribute to the huge increases in childhood obesity.

A BAD COMBINATION THAT DOES NOT SUPPORT A HEART HEALTH LIFESTLYE

Here are some other great options : One of the keys to a lean, sexy, healthy body is controlling insulin production and blood-sugar levels. The easiest way to do that is by eating healthy low-glycemic foods -- things like vegetables, fibrous fruits, whole grains, seeds, nuts, lean proteins, etc. Generally, it's a good idea to avoid most foods that contain high-glycemic ingredients like white flour, white sugar, corn syrup, etc. These are those 'bad' foods that wreak havoc on your insulin levels and increase your body fat levels in the process. They can also damage your health over time.

However, if you can?t stand the idea of never again eating some of your favorite foods - pancakes and muffins for instance - and 100% whole grain flour just isn't an option for you, there is an easy way to lower the glycemic count of just about any food: Oat bran

Oat bran can be added to most foods to help lower their glycemic counts. It?s one of those ?magical? fiber foods that does all kinds of good things for your body. In fact, oat bran is probably one of the healthiest low-glycemic carbs you can eat.

The best part is that oat bran can be added to literally hundreds of different foods and recipes without significantly changing their taste. That?s not the case with most other brans and whole grains, which definitely alter the taste and texture of any food they?re added to. You can mix oat bran into muffins, pancakes, breads, scones, soups, stews...the list goes on! These normally high-glycemic foods all become quite a bit healthier when you add in a good amount of oat bran...and less likely to cause your body to store more fat. (Of course, using whole grain flours and whey protein powders will make them even healthier and MUCH lower on the glycemic scale!)

Pure oat bran can be purchased at many health food stores and natural grocery stores, as well as on the Internet. Always choose an ?organic? version when possible to limit your intake of harmful chemicals.

So remember choose low glycemic index foods that do not cause your blood sugar to spike and insulin production to jump. If you are eating potentially higher glycemic index foods select the best ones that provide the most in the way of nutrition and health, and always try to incorporate proteins that will help slow down the metabolizing of those higher glycemic index foods and keep your blood sugar and insulin production in check.

Robert Adams holds an Associates Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America, is a Certified Coach in Coaching for Personal Development as well Interaction Management, is a member of NESTA- National Endurance Sports Trainers Association, and lives a healthy lifestyle through his Body Perfect Fitness philosophy of healthy eating and fitness focus.

5 Amazing Diet Tips for Powerful Weightloss

Before you try starving yourself or turning to diet drugs in order to lose weight, take some time to research and discover more natural and safer methods of reaching your weightloss goals. Here are five food and excercise tips that you can get started with today.

1. Try to have breakfast within one hour of waking. It's always best to have breakfast within an hour of waking so that your body can charge itself with the energy it needs for the day. The idea is not to wait for yourself to get really hungry. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but that does not mean that it should be the most filling meal of the day.

2. Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice. Juice is often sweetened but fresh fruits have natural sugars. When you eat fruit, you are taking in a lot of fiber, which is needed by the body, and fruits of course are an excellent source of vitamins.

If you do have a craving for fruit juice then go for fresh fruit juice instead of those that contain artificial flavors and colors. Or even better, try making your own fruit juice taking care not to sweeten it with too many calories.

3. Fix times to have meals and stick to it. Try to have food at fixed times of the day. You can stretch these times by half an hour, but anything more than that is going to affect your eating pattern, the result will either be a loss of appetite or that famished feeling which will make you stuff yourself with more than what is required the next time you eat.

4. Tuck in your tummy whenever you walk. Get that proper gait. And the best way for that is to tuck in your tummy and inflate your chest. Do not let your tummy hang above your belt line like some unruly layer of flesh. Bring it under the belt.

Each time you tuck in your tummy, you will feel the pressure on the muscles of your stomach. This tightening and loosening of these muscles is even better than stomach crunches.

5. This excercise routine is our favorite - punching your pillow. It may sound like one of those weird ideas but believe me it works. Not too many of us have punching bags at home and if you have really fluffy pillow giving it a good punching routine is just as good as anything else.

This is also a nice way of letting off steam, so go for it. After all, something is better than nothing. But I would suggest that you do not hit it too violently or else the stuffing might come out. Do not bother too much about the force with which you hit the pillow. It is number of hits that are important. Try to get at least fifty punches in one bout.

I would like to give you a little tip over here. If there is somebody that you particularly dislike like your boss or your neighbor, or may be your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, try fixing a picture of the person's head on the top of your pillow and then try punching it. I promise you, it will give you a lot of satisfaction!

James B. Allen is the publisher of Power Living Press. He invites you to come learn more about living a healthier, wealthier, more beautiful and more powerful life TODAY by visiting:

http://www.PowerLivingPress.com

Eating Out

I know how difficult it can be do stick to a healthy diet when trying to eat out. Here are some tips that might prevent you from totally ?blowing it? the next time you dine out.

1. As soon as your food is served, ask for a box and put half of your meal into it to take home. Restaurant portions are usually twice the size they should be anyway.

2. Don't ruin a nice, low fat salad with creamy dressing. Go for the vinaigrette or oil and vinegar, and use them sparingly.

3. If you go out to dinner, are at someone?s house for dinner or are generally in any situation where you cannot prepare your own food, do the best you can to choose the healthiest food possible. Scrape heavy sauce off meat, order salad dressing on the side, and eat your salad first.

4. Eat your salad first and, when your dinner is served, eat your veggies first, then the carbs and meat. You most likely will not be able to finish.

5. Request steamed veggies.

6. Don't let yourself down by getting (or sharing) a dessert. Order some fruit or Jell-O instead, if you must have something sweet.

7. Arrive with a healthy meal in mind and ask for it without opening your menu. This will spare you the pain of looking at an array of temptation.

8. After each bite, put your fork down, and don't pick it up again until you've completely swallowed the last bite.

9. Drink a glass of skim milk or soy milk before you leave your house.

10. Look for restaurants that serve contemporary, spa or California cuisine.

OTHER EATING TIPS

Treat yourself once a week to a something you love. Don?t pig out the whole day because you will undo all your hard work from the previous week.

Bring your own lunch and snacks from home. Prepare the night before to save time.

Every time you crave something (example: a burger, pizza, cake, cookies, etc.) write it down on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. On Saturday or Sunday pull one item out of the jar and go for it!

Be Well & Stay Fit!

Aimee Deak
Personal Trainer & Nutrition Analyst
AIM 4 NUTRITION
http://www.aim4nutrition.com

Aimee Deak is a certified personal trainer, nutrition analyst and author of the book, Every Body Loses, an easy-to follow, step-by-step guide to fat loss.

You can find more information about fat loss and exercise on her website http://www.aim4nutrition.com

Diabetic Diet Plans

If you have diabetes, it is essential that you take special care with your diet. For an adult with Type 2 diabetes, diet and exercise may not be sufficient; they may require medication like diabetic pills or insulin injections as well.

A diabetic diet is essentially a healthy, low-fat, balanced eating plan that helps the patient feel better and more energetic, and achieve some control over the symptoms like fatigue, thirst, blurred vision.

Type 2 diabetes sets in when you skip meals and eat large meals of refined, processed or simple carbohydrates and fats. Starving results in huge variations in blood sugar, and overeating affects your metabolism.

You should eat little but more frequently, and consume foods that will burn slowly. This will maintain your blood sugar level to controllable limits throughout the day, without adding large amounts of glucose to your bloodstream.

Complex carbohydrates are processed more slowly than simple carbohydrates, and help to maintain stable blood sugar levels. So, complex carbohydrates including high-fiber and starchy foods like whole grain breads, brown rice, oats, fruits and vegetables are recommended instead of simple carbohydrates found in cakes, muffins and pastries.

As a general rule, a diabetic diet provides 50% starch, 30% protein & 20% fat in calories. Follow these simple rules: eat only those foods which are on the diet list, do not skip or miss meals, and eat only the amount of food specified.

Measure your food using a standard 8-ounce measuring cup, a standard teaspoon and standard table spoon. Bake or boil your meat. Avoid frying foods unless fat is allowed. Buying special foods is unnecessary. Foods can be chosen from the same foods purchased for other family members.

Avoid sugar, sweets, candy, honey, pie and all foods prepared with sugar. Stay away from high-fat and -cholesterol diets, beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages, and red meat. For weight control, avoid fats, fried foods, sweets, and all foods prepared with sugar and oil.

Diet Plans provides detailed information on Diet Plans, Free Diet Plans, Weight Loss Diet Plans, Diabetic Diet Plans and more. Diet Plans is affiliated with Online Diet Programs.

Weight Loss Instructions

Obesity is a growing concern in today?s world. By following the given weight loss instructions you can lose weight and maintain a steady weight throughout.

Chinese diet tea

With the intake of Chinese diet tea one can reduce weight and can live slim and trim. Chinese diet tea causes rapid and substantial weight loss. Chinese diet tea prevents the formation of body fat. Experts say that intake of Chinese diet tea significantly increase energy expenditure and also significantly effect on fat oxidation. Chinese diet tea does not contain caffeine that?s why it does not affect heart rate. So it is safe and highly helps in weight loss.

Water

Intake of water helps weight loss. Water has no calories, cholesterol and fat. Studies showed that a high consumption of water does not allow more fat to be deposited inspite of being metabolized into energy and helps in weight loss. So, increasing of water consumption will prohibit fat deposition and in this way you obtain weight loss. Eight to twelve glasses of water help in weight loss.

Free diet plans

Free diet plans are also helpful in weight loss for those people who are busy and don?t have time for shopping and preparing their own meal. Free diet plans are mostly prepared on the recommendation of dietician and nutritionist. Hence, these are specially organized for athletes and dieters as they contain less fat and calories. As a result, by using free diet plans you can lose weight and maintain it steadily.

Balanced and nutritious diet

With balanced and nutritious diet one can lose weight. Balanced and nutritious diet should be according to your own body need. If you want to take balanced and nutritious diet then you must take exclude fat from your diet and should include juicy fruits, green leafy vegetables, roughages, cereals and brown bread which is free from fat and full of proteins.

We have made an independent research to find the most effective diets. Find the results only on the Weight loss instruction and diet reviews site. All about diets on LeanderNet - http://www.leandernet.com

Are you stuffing your feelings down with food? In other words, when you get stressed, frustrated, angry or depressed do you find yourself eating rather than dealing with the circumstances that are causing you to feel a certain way?

Don?t beat yourself up if you are doing this. You?re certainly not alone. Not only are millions of people doing the same thing, but I?ve been there too.

Challenge

We don?t start out in life eating for emotional reasons. It?s actually something we learn. As we grow up we learn not to trust our body to tell us when to eat. Emotional eating is usually taught by our parents or other authority figures. What happened when you fell down and hurt yourself? Did you get a cookie ?to make it better??

In our society, we also associate holidays, birthdays, and almost any event with food. We eat for almost any reason ? stress, anger, sadness, boredom, happiness, excitement, just about anything but physical hunger.

Do you ever crave ?comfort food?? This is usually a sign that you are experiencing some kind of intense emotion. You may not even realize this if you often engage in emotional overeating. Comfort food allows us to ?stuff down? those feelings and ?numb out? temporarily from the feeling.

Food is a distraction and when you overeat so much that you feel sick, this creates an even bigger distraction. If you can relate to this, don?t beat yourself up. Like me, this is how you learned to take care of yourself, it?s a protective measure. You could have learned to use drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling, or any other destructive habit instead of using food.

Solution

There is good and bad news. First, the bad news ? you will have to feel your feelings. The good news is as you truly allow yourself to feel your feelings, they will lower in intensity and so will the desire for comfort food.

Of course there is a good chance you won?t know what you are feeling. This is because food is usually the response to any intense feeling. So first, you need to be aware of when you are going for food. If you find you really aren?t physically hungry, ask yourself what you?re feeling. This isn?t always so simple, especially when you do not want to face the truth of the issue. Run through a list of emotions ? anxious, lonely, bored, tired, angry, hurt, embarrassed? If you can?t identify the feeling, that?s ok. Keep trying and practicing as feelings come up. Journaling thoughts and feelings is very helpful for some people to identify what emotion is going on.

If you can determine the feeling, ask yourself, ?Am I going to die if I sit with this feeling for five minutes?? All you have to do is sit and feel. It may not feel very good, but notice how it gets less intense as you allow yourself to feel it. As you practice this more and more, you will find it easier to deal with emotions and find yourself less drawn to food to solve your problems.

This article has been excerpted from the special report, ?6 Simple Steps to Guilt-Free Eating? available for download at www.healthieroutcomes.com.

Gillian Hood-Gabrielson, MS, ACSM, is the president of Healthier Outcomes, a nationwide coaching practice specializing in intuitive eating and fitness coaching. For more information please visit http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com.

Gillian can be reached at gillian@HealthierOutcomes.com or 866-650-6464.

When it comes to weight loss creativity and innovation, body fat wonders never cease to amaze you. Consider that now, both your taste preferences and palette can delve into freshly prepared, highly effective, and even completely delicious meals delivered right to your home via weight loss diet plan health food delivery services.

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Common weight loss diet plan obstacles include the following:

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Lack of Money - (Solution): There is much controversy and debate over whether or not being in great shape with maximized performance ability is truly costly, or merely a basic sacrifice that one chooses to make in order to attain more self-satisfying, long-term, weight loss diet plan success. Perhaps you notice that typical junk foods don?t really cost you much. Yet, they also leave you high and dry in terms of healthy meal diet plan weight loss support. Probably, like other things worthwhile in this life we live, items that provide consistent, reliable service come with a slightly higher ticket price. Yet, weight loss diet plan food delivery services strongly appear to keep your financial outlay at reasonable minimums. Lack of cash need stop no one from attaining the level of fitness they highly desire and truly work to achieve. Less of the bad things and more of the good remains part of a smart, highly recommended, professional health food delivery strategy. Weight loss diet planning is not about money; it?s about awareness, commitment, and dedication.

Lack of Motivation - (Solution): For many, it?s hard to get started on almost any weight loss diet plan at all. Even for some, simply getting up in the morning proves a chore in itself. Yet, a good weight loss diet plan remains an essential part of the body fat reduction process. Without such advance body fat planning or strategy, you leave yourself wide open to yo-yo dieting behavior. That is, you try one weigh loss approach for a while, it fails you; then you return to where you started, feeling frustrated and doubtful about your ability to attaint consistent and lasting body fat results. Viable healthy meal food delivery services augment your drive to achieve weight loss results by providing your body with not only physical fuel in the way of food energy, but also helps you release your mental powers with added focus on losing weight. Liking gaining an extra, customized, personalized, or specialized tool to cut excess fat away from your body? diet meal plan food delivery gives you extra options and more alternatives to healthy eating behavior.

Lack of Time - (Solution): To lose body weight effectively, it is important that you be able to concentrate and focus on the daily chores you constantly face. Time management contributes to peace of mind and reducing undue stress, which is counterproductive to weight loss achievement.

Probably the greatest fact you can take home with you, in regard to diet meal planning and health food delivery, is this: Convenience need no longer be a stumbling block to your body fat success. Imagine the power of having professional, caring, educated, and specialized experts affordably prepare your meals CORRECTLY, virtually each and every day, so that you can be as free as possible to reach body fat and weight loss goals effectively, safely, reliably, enjoyably, and in good taste, too.

Being successful at weight loss will almost always require that you do at least three things with as much accuracy and precision as possible. You must keep your health food or weight loss diet plan, plus:

1. Maintain a daily negative energy balance.

2. Monitor your input and output, carefully keeping accurate records of your progress and failures, too. (Yes, record failures too, so that you can fix them and avoid future repetition.)

3. Challenge and engage your body with gradually increasing, higher energy action of intentionally longer durations. (This is how you build and develop maximum endurance, energy, power, stamina, and strength.)

Adding weight loss diet plan food delivery services to your above action plan propels body fat reduction success rates to optimized attainment levels.

Take a good look at weight loss diet plan health food delivery services in the mindset of losing body fat with additional commitment and reachable body fat goal support. Without proper health food diet plan eating habits, even the best exerciser struggles with losing weight because it?s practically all about calories. Exercise can only increase calories out, depending upon your level of fitness and the intensity at which you can stand to operate.

Yet, with or without exercise, health food delivery diet planning virtually always scores points for you in body fat achievement because the everlasting body fat equation remains true:

ENERGY IN (that?s the food you eat), minus ENERGY-OUT (that?s the exercise you do), equals ENERGY BALANCE (that?s the amount you weigh right now). In a nutshell, if your health food weight loss diet plan remains simple, effective, and delicious, then you can stick with it and get the results and rewards you desire or attempt to reach. Easy or not, health food diet planning is necessary, and weight loss diet plan food delivery services can help you with this challenging task.

Kenneth G. Dockins, body fat specialist - Owner, Better-Body.Biz, is an ACE Certified Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant with over 17 years experience in diet, exercise, fitness, and health. See Better-Body.Biz diet food delivery services for more detail.


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