Skinny Tip #9

Don’t Skip Meals!

If you are trying to lose – or even maintain – your weight, never skip a meal! Eating regularly throughout the day will help increase your metabolism so that you can lose weight effectively.

When people skip meals, their body’s metabolism slows down and attempts to conserve calories and keeps stored fat on the body, rather than losing it.

Healthy Snacking

If you are eating four to six times a day, make sure that you are eating very healthy foods throughout the day. You do not – I repeat!- You do not want to start eating junk food throughout the day and in-between meals, since this defeats the whole purpose of eating throughout the day, which is to increase your metabolism to help you lose weight!

A great snack in between meals would be to munch on low calories foods such as vegetables or fruit! Perhaps on your more intense workout days, you can include a higher calorie  (still very healthy!) snack such as a almonds, walnuts, or pistachios (or another type of nut!).

Always snack in moderation!

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Tags: metabolism, skinny tip

Turmeric

Turmeric is a spice that has been used in India for over 2500 years, and once you learn about some of the health benefits of Turmeric, you won’t be too surprised it’s been used for so long!

Benefits

• May increase metabolism and aide in fat loss or weight management

• Naturally detoxifies the liver, which helps boost liver function

• The active ingredient in Turmeric is curcumin. A study in 2009 showed that the combination of curcumin and vitamin D helped the immune system to clear the brain of amyloid beta, which is a substance that forms the brain plaque associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

• Natural Antiseptic and Antibacterial agent.

• A study done in 1992 has showed that Turmeric may be able to help reduce cholesterol level and fight atherosclerosis (which is when the artery wall thickens).

• Natural pain killer

• May help prevent Melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer.

• Natural anti-inflammatory that works just as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs on the market – with less or no the side effects. Because of this, it can be used as a natural treatment for arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

• Early studies show promise that Turmeric can help slow the progression of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Intake

Dried – You can find Turmeric in a dried powder form to use in a variety of recipes. I typically find this spice used in Indian dishes, but you can be creative and use this however you want! Test it out, and have some fun!

If you prefer, you can usually find Turmeric in a pill at your local health food store. Just follow the suggestions on the bottle for use.

Precautions

If you are pregnant or nursing, consult your doctor first (by the way – I am pretty sure every spice and herb says this!).

Turmeric should not be used by people with gallstones or bile obstruction.

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Image Credit: FotoosVanRobin on Flickr®

Tags: Alzheimer's disease, Anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, Antiseptic, cholesterol, culinary, curcumin, immune system, liver, melanoma, metabolism, Multiple Sclerosis, pain killer, spice, Turmeric, Vitamin D, Weight Loss

Real Salt by Redmond

Why Real Salt?

Let’s start at looking at the competition. Table salts, or “iodized salt” has gone through intensive bleaching and refining processes, and then on top of that, many have undergone a heat processing and even include additives and chemicals.

Real Salt by Redmond is carefully taken from deep within the earth, crushed, screened, and packaged to stay all natural. It has a pink coloring, which is from the 50-plus trace minerals that weren’t stripped away by any refining/bleaching process.

Taste

Yes, Real Salt by Redmond actually tastes different than other processed and refined salts out there. Good news is, when I say “different”, I mean that it actually tastes better. It is not so different that you don’t think you are tasting salt, but I believe there is just so much more flavor to it, that you will actually enjoy your salt that much more! Nice.

Health Benefits

Salt is good for you- if you have the right kind of Salt. Some of the benefits of Salt, are as follows; Salt helps regulate the body’s metabolism, food digestion, necessary for proper function of nerve fibers, keeps the water balanced correctly around your tissues and cells in your body, and Salt even helps your heart function, or beat, properly.

For those bloggers out there who believe salt is bad for you, or believes that salt does not have a lot of health benefits is either A) talking about processed and bleached iodized salt,  or B) does not know what they are talking about.  Yes, you need moderation in all things, but to flat out say Salt is not beneficial is just not logical when you really do your research and list the facts.

I recommend going to Real Salt’s website to read their testimonials.  Not only will you  find that I am not the only one who thinks it tastes better, but you will actually come to find how many switched to Real Salt to lower their high blood pressure, among other things.

Many of you may think “well…it’s just salt!”, but remember that each step you take to become healthier,  it makes such a difference for your body! Yes, it is salt. You can now throw away your cheap salt you bought at the grocery store (and not feel guilty about it),  and replace it with an all natural salt that is actually beneficial for your body.

Now, you are one step closer to a healthier you.

For more information, you may visit realsalt.com

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Tags: all natural, better taste, bleaching, food digestion, good for you, heal benefits, Healthy, iodized salt, lower high blood pressure, metabolism, necessary, pink, Real Salt, Redmond, refining, salt, white

Twinkie’s Challenge: Throw away your Microwave!

What exactly is a Microwave?

A Microwave is an “electromagnetic energy” that affects the molecules in your food. Food has positive and negative electrons in it (think North and South Pole!), and when touched by the wave energy from the Microwave, there is a polarity change, which means the negative electrons become positive, and positive electrons becomes negative. By this movement, heat is created with these waves, which is how our food gets cooked. My changing the polarity of the molecules in your food…there are some scary side effects that just don’t make the convenience of a microwave worth it anymore.

Nutrition depleted

Vitamins and Minerals are made useless when heated in the Microwave. Isn’t this the whole point of eating in the first place? Yes, I think foods should taste great…but we are supposed to feed our bodies with beneficial nutrients- Vitamins and Minerals. Knowing that the Nutritional value is depleted when using the microwave just makes me rethink using the microwave for its “convenience”.

People have found that when using the microwave for their fruits and vegetables, they are having a harder time digesting their foods. The microwave kills the nutrients found in the food which help your body digest it.

Harmful Effects outweigh the convenience

I have heard many studies confirming the harmful effects of using a Microwave on the foods and beverages we consume. Some of them are listed below.

-Create cancer-causing agents in not only most food containers you cook with, but also in the food itself. In many cases, it can cause intestinal tumors -anyone ever heard of Colon Cancer?

-Hormonal balances in both men and woman become destabilized or altered.

-Negatively affects your metabolism. If you are trying to lose weight, another reason to stay away from the microwave.

There is a story about a lawsuit back in 1991 in Oklahoma. A woman names Norma Levitt had hip surgery, and was killed by a simple blood transfusion when a nurse “warmed the blood for the transfusion in a microwave oven”. Now, if you do some research, you will get mixed answers as whether this story is actually true or not. Here at SkinnyTwinkie.com, I try to be as honest and open as possible. I really don’t know if this story is true or not. What I do know is this…I am not willing to risk using a Microwave on my Organic foods…or any other food for that matter.

Throw away your Microwave!

If you are the least bit concerned you might just use your microwave anyways, I suggest getting rid of it now. Before you get all sad thinking “my convenience is going away!” think again about what you are doing for yourself by using an Oven or Toaster Oven instead of a Microwave.

First of all, your food will not only have a better texture when it is baked or toasted, but it also tastes better! Who wouldn’t want that? No one that I know of! Second of all, it is much healthier for you , and all you have to do is wait a little while longer. Well worth the wait, especially if you understand the purpose of consuming Organic foods! Another reason to toss your microwave is that it is so much more fun to make popcorn on the stove (with a clear glass lid, of course)!

Still keeping your Microwave anyways?

Ok, Just because you might keep it…doesn’t mean you have to use it, right? And if you do use it anyways…use it to clean dirty sponges that were used for cleaning dishes! That’s right, the Microwave kills everything you put in it, so when you put a dirty sponge in the microwave for 15-30 seconds (depending on what setting you have it on), it kills all of the bacteria on the sponge! I actually tested this out myself with a sponge that didn’t smell all that great…I used the microwave, and smell was all gone. Sweet. Ok, so maybe there is one good thing it can be used for? Still…I don’t believe it is worth keeping around with the possible temptation of cooking your food, plus you might as well just buy another sponge for your kitchen anyways.

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Tags: cancer, cancer-causing, cancerous, convenience, digestion, electrons, energy, harmful, metabolism, microwave, minerals, negative, Nutrition, nutrition depleted, organic food, positive, radiation, thow away, thow away your microwave, vitamins

Drink more water!

Water is extremely good for you, especially considering that most of our body is made up of water. It’s hard for me to drink anything else (besides the occasional glass of home-made orange juice, of course).

Water linked to Weight loss

Water helps you lose weight, and helps you keep it off. Water is naturally 0 calories (that’s right, z-e-r-o), which is an obvious help to losing weight-especially since you don’t have harmful additives.

keep reading for some reasons why water will help you lose weight (and why you should throw out that soda…right now!)

Hungry?

A lot of times when you are feeling hungry, it is because you are actually thirsty. By making sure you are drinking your 8 glasses of water a day, you are not only curbing unnecessary food cravings, but quenching your thirst with something your body needs, which also helps to metabolize stored fat in your body.

Be creative!

Another way of adding water to  your daily routine is through fruits and vegetables. This doesn’t mean you get should skip your 8 glasses of water a day, but this is just another way to add water to your body!

Did you know that common fruits like apples, blueberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, and strawberries contain about 80% (or more) water? Some common vegetables like lettuce, carrots, spinach, zucchini, and cucumber are also about 80% (or more) water. Again, just another healthy way to add water to your body that you disparately need.

Got Water?

Water is beneficial for your overall health. It helps with your skin, kidneys, liver, metabolism, bladder, blood pressure, and helps your body just function better. It is important to keep hydrated year round to keep your body in full running order.

It’s best for your body to stay hydrated through water, and avoid sugar and caffeine filled drinks when you are thirsty. When you are showing signs of being thirsty, your body is begging for water, not the latest energy drink.

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Tags: blood pressure, hydrated, kidneys, liver, low calorie, metabolism, necessity, quenches thirst, skin, Weight Loss, year round, zero calories