Posts Tagged ‘Weight Loss’
3 Easy Tips on how to be Healthier today
You can be skinny in a number of different ways. To narrow it down, you can become Skinny by doing unhealthy things to your body (diet pills, drugs, anorexic, etc), or you can become Skinny by being Healthy (excercise, eating healthy, etc). I try to focus my efforts on being healthy, which in the end is what is going to help my body resist deseases, illness, fatigue, depression- and be “Skinny”.
From my own observations, here are a couple of things you can get in the habit of, to help you become more healthy.
1) Replace your Soda with Water
The average 12 oz can of regular Soda has about 150 calories in it. Multiply that by how many cans of soda you drink aday, and it adds up. Even if you are drinking “diet” soda with 0 calories, that doesn’t make it healthy for you. Swap the Soda and other sugary drinks like juice for water. Your body will thank you.
2) Park your car far away from the store
Get some more walking in your day! Europeans are known for walking a lot, and Americans need to get in this habit as well. Walking is easy on the knees and body, so if you are physically able to, try to make excuses to walk more. Make sure with your added walking, you are wearing comfortable shoes that support your feet. This will not only be better for your body and it’s posture, it will help prevent aches and pains with your added walking and will help encourage more walking. Every extra step counts!
3) Eat out less or not at all
Practically all fast food and restraunts are breeding ground to loads of saturated fats, oils, excessive sugars, and unhealthy sized portions. When you prepare food at home, you get to have more control on what you are putting into your body. Try to use Coconut oil rather than Vegetable Oil, use Honey or Agave to sweeten your foods rather than using Sugar or Aspartame, and try to eat plenty of vegetables and smaller portions of meat on your plate.
You can start small. Start with these 3 simple steps that can help you in a big way.
Tags: agave, coconut oil, drink water, Healthy, honey, Lose Weight, Skinny, soda, vegetables, veggies, walking, Weight Loss
Virgin Coconut Oil
I recently had a poll on my site asking others what they thought was the healthiest oil for them. To my shock, Coconut Oil was quite underrated
for it’s many health benefits. Apparently The marketers of Olive Oil are doing a better job, but still, I must set the record straight.
Let’s first begin with going over the different types of coconut oil. I want to be sure when you are using Coconut Oil, you are getting only the good stuff, and using only the best.
Refined Coconut Oil
This is the most common way to mass-produce Coconut Oil. Refined Coconut Oil is RBD, which means it is Refined, Bleached, and Deodorized. When you deodorize the oil, very high heat is used to do so. Sometimes the RBD oil is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. Sodium hydroxide is usually used to get rid of the free fatty acids, which helps prolong it’s shelf life. Due to the refinement process, the taste and smell is bland, and does not keep to the taste and smell of an actual coconut. You may think you want a bland taste rather than a coconut flavored oil…but trust me, you don’t want the refined oil. Please read on..
Virgin Coconut Oil
The only way to extract Virgin Coconut Oil is by using fresh coconut meat. No chemicals or high heating is used in further refining since it’s natural pure coconut oil is naturally able to have a long shelf life (why the processing is done in the first place, I will never know). Virgin Coconut Oil retains the taste and smell of coconuts.
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
Unlike the Olive Oil Industry, there is actually no difference between “Virgin” and “Extra Virgin” Coconut Oil. When it comes to Coconut Oil, “Virgin” is just as good as “Extra Virgin”.
Coconut Oil Heated
One of the wonderful benefits of Coconut Oil, is that it isn’t damaged by heat. Because Coconut Oil can be cooked without worrying the nutritional benefits will be cooked out, Coconut Oil is great for cooking and baking. Not only is it still good for you, but it taste great too.
Health Benefits of Coconut Oil
Coconut Oil is the richest form of Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT), which the body burns for energy (unlike other oils which have Long Chained Triglycerides which actually store as fat – Not good!). Coconut Oil contains Lauric Acid (form of MCT), which is a predominant fatty acid that has anti-microbial and anti-viral properties. The medium chain fats in Coconut Oil is similar to the fats found in breast milk, and even have some of the same health effects, and have a great healing power.
Coconut Oil shows evidence of killing yeast infections (think Candida), increased energy, better immune system, helps with memory, protects the liver, reduced risk of heart disease, normalizes blood sugar levels (also reduces cravings of foods that would raise blood sugar levels), aids digestion, helps with the absorption of nutrients into the body, lowers cholesterol levels, and even helps with Weight Loss.
There are many health benefits of Coconut Oil – even more than what I have already mentioned! Nice.
How Coconut Oil effects Weight Loss
Just as I already mentioned, Coconut Oil has MCT, which helps your body burn fat, thus helping you lose weight. Coconut Oil also helps your body have the ability to control hungry and cravings, which again, helps you lose weight. Does everyone who consumes Coconut Oil lose weight? No, not always. There have been reports of people not losing weight, but they noticed their pants fit better. Apparently Coconut Oil also helps with muscle mass while trimming fat.
Research shows that an under active Thyroid may be to blame for weight problems. That is a pretty intense claim considering that 65% of the US population is overweight, and 27% is clinically obese. Wow. Good news, Coconut Oil is also known to help with an under active Thyroid. Diet seems to play a major role in Thyroid health (for good or bad), and considering their is a choice in the matter, I would do what I can to naturally have great thyroid health.
Cooking with Coconut Oil
Personally, I have thrown out all of my oils (Shortening, Vegetable Oil or any other “cooking oils”), and I have replaced them all with Virgin Coconut Oil (USDA Organic). I have to admit, I was a little worried how the Coconut Oil would effect the taste of my food. Come to find out, it has only made the flavor of whatever I was cooking- even better! You can use Coconut Oil as a replacement for all other oils whether it be for baking desserts, adding to smoothies, or to cook with your meats- you won’t be disappointed.
Coconut Oil has a melting point of 76 degrees, so if it is colder than 76 degrees, the Coconut Oil is going to be more of a solid texture. For measuring purposes, you might want to warm up the Coconut Oil by either running warm or hot water on the jar, or just taking a couple of spoonfuls and baking them for a couple of a minute or two. At this point, it will be a liquid, and easy to measure for recipes.
I love this wonderful oil, and believe you will too! Enjoy!
Tags: better immune system, burn fat, coconut, coconut oil, fatty acids, health benefits, Healthy, helps burn fat, helps with absorption of nutrients, helps with memory, helps with weight loss, ids digestion, increased energy, kills candida, kills yeast infections, Lauric Acid, lowers cholesterol levels, MCT, Medium Chain Triglycerides, normalizes blood sugar levels, oil, organic virgin coconut oil, protects the liver, reduced risk of heart disease, thyroid solution, Weight Loss
Skinny Tip #3
Skinny Tip #3
Drinking enough water helps curb cravings, hydrates your body, and helps you with your weight loss. Water is SO good for you!
Tags: beneficial, benefits of water, curb cravings, Drinking water, Healthy, helps, hydrates your body, skinny tip, Weight Loss
Use the Law of Attraction to be Healthy!
What is the Law of Attraction?
The Law of Attraction is a Universal Law, where you create your Universe, or your Reality, with your Thoughts. Your thoughts and beliefs ultimately lead to your actions. You are a creator of your life, and you can control what happens in your life. You are attracting things into your life by your thoughts.
How can I apply the Law of Attraction for Health or Weight Loss?
There is so much hype about the Law of Attraction! It just seems that it is mostly being used for attracting Money and Wealth into your life. That is fine and dandy, but can we use the Law of Attraction to help us with our Health or even Weight Loss goals?
My answer is absolutely “YES!”
So many people keep saying to themselves comments like:
“I am fat”
“I am sick and tired”
“I have a bad back”
ETC…
These are all creation statements. Stop telling yourself that you are “fat” or “unhealthy”! You are talking negatively about yourself, and creating more of what you do not want. “I am” is a very powerful statement. You will see more of it in your life, whether you consciously want it or not. Your brain is very powerful, like a super computer, and if you keep telling yourself that you are “fat” or “unhealthy, you will stay that way.
Start creating more of what you want….and this is something that you can start Now. Tell yourself positive affirmations daily. You can say positive things that you want to become, such as:
“I am healthy and strong”
“I am in great shape”
“I am happy”
“I have control of what I eat”
“I eat healthy, and I am happy about it”
“I like to exercise”
When you hear yourself say these things, it might be hard to believe it at first. That’s OK. Focus on being healthy (tell yourself that you are!), believe it to be possible, you will start to create Healthy habits and make them part of your daily life and routines. It is a life style, and with time it will become natural for you to be Healthy.
Stay Healthy Long-Term
I like to focus more on being HEALTHY, rather than obtaining a particular size. I don’t necessarily feel like you have to tell yourself, “I am a size ___”, because once you reach your goal size, many tend to slip back into old (bad) habits. Just because you are a size 2 (for example), doesn’t mean you don’t have to work out or eat healthy anymore. You still will need to feed your body the nutrients that it needs. Drink plenty of water. Exercise on a regular basis. Remember, you aren’t on a “diet”, this is just how you eat! You aren’t just working out to lose weight, you are doing this to give yourself a caridovascular exercise, keep your muscles strong and healthy. It’s a lifestyle, not a fad.
Why do diets and exercise programs fail?
There can be a number of reasons diets and exercise programs fail.
With diets, people tend to become extremely strict, and expect to make a huge lifestyle change overnight. Because of this, they just quit because they feel like “It’s too hard”. With exercise programs, people sometimes work out way too much because they want to see results here and now. It takes time. You didn’t gain those 10 pounds overnight, and you won’t lose them overnight (or with one workout) either. Because people don’t see results as fast as they had hoped for, they give up feeling like it is hopeless.
What hurts you the most when you are on any healthy diet or exercise program? The two things I mentioned above are part of it, but a huge part of failing at your Health goals is just not believing in it, or not believing you can succeed. Many people while dieting and exercising tell themselves “I’m fat” and other negative and harsh words. Stop that now! You have to maintain a positive outlook on what you are doing, and keep telling yourself that you are Healthy, etc. and everything else will fall into place. Yes, it will probably not happen overnight, but that’s OK because this is long-term, remember? Not something you are doing just right before bikini season. You need to be healthy year-round, and it is a year-round effort.
It’s OK to Smile…
Tell yourself that you are “Healthy and fit”. Tell yourself that you are “Beautiful”, “Exercising is enjoyable”, “I eat Healthy foods that are good for my own body”. Tell yourself something positive! You are meant to be happy, including being happy about your own body.
Remember that it all starts with your thoughts, which leads to your actions. If you made bad choices in the past, it’s OK. It is in the past. You can make the decision NOW to be who you want to be, and focus on the end result. You ARE Healthy. Believe it. Feel it. Make it happen. Stay consistent.
Before you know it, you will be able to see the results you have been focusing on from the beginning. It’s OK to smile…you deserve it.
If you are interested in learning more about the Law of Attraction, click here to check out Carol Tuttle’s website, or you can click on the picture below:
♥, Twinkie
Tags: Achieve weight loss goals, Carol Tuttle, diet, exercise program, Health, Healthy, I am happy, I am Healthy, I am healthy and strong, I am in great shape, I am skinny, I am strong, I like to exercise, Law of Attraction, skinny twinkie, success, Weight Loss, you are healthy
Why you should buy Organic
Twinkie’s Challenge: July – September
There are a lot of people still debating on whether they should buy Organic or not. Let’s set the record straight once and for all when it comes to Organic.
Definition
Organic food is grown, processed, and packaged without the use of agricultural chemicals, artificial colors or flavors, genetic modification, irradiation, or other synthetic ingredients.
Per the National Organic Program, here are some definitions that should help clear up their labeling:
“‘100 Percent Organic’ must contain (excluding water and salt) only organically produced ingredients and processing aids.
Products labeled ‘Organic’ must consist of at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt). Any remaining product ingredients must consist of nonagricultural substances approved on the National List including specific non-organically produced agricultural products that are not commercially available in organic form.”
Later, the National Organic Program addressed the term “made with organic ingredients”. They wrote:
“Processed products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients can use the phrase “made with organic ingredients” and list up to three of the organic ingredients or food groups on the principal display panel.”
Something good to know: If you use the USDA Organic seal on your products that are not produced or handled within the National Organic Program’s regulations, you can have a civil penalty of up to $11,000 US Dollars. Ouch!
Just so you know, products labeled as “Naturally Grown” are not regulated. Some smaller farms who can’t afford to join the National Organic Program to be labeled as “USDA Organic”, can label their products as “Naturally Grown”. Since it isn’t regulated though, there are no guarantees on what you are really getting with this label.
Organic Farms
Having an Organic Farm is a strict business, and as you now know, you can’t just mark up your products as “USDA Organic” just for the fun of it. Organic farms do not use synthetic chemicals or drugs. They instead treat their soil, plants, and animals with natural products, which are a much safer alternative. They have surprise inspections by Inspectors who test the water, soil, plants (or animals) to make sure that everything is within USDA Organic standards. Once they do this, they review receipts from anything from feed to other records of reports and tests. This takes time and money, done twice a year, and the organic farmer pays for the fees involved to be able to label their products as “USDA Organic”.
Nutrition
The debate on whether Organic is really worth the usual additional costs seems to boil down to the common question, “Is Organic healthier for you?” or “Is Organic more nutritious?”. The answer to both of the questions is a simple “Yes”.
According to Virginia Worthington MS, ScD, CNS, in her article “Nutritional Quality of Organic versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains” in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, she found in her studies:
“…the vitamin C content of an organic fruit or vegetable is 27% more, on average, than a comparable conventionally grown fruit or vegetable.”
She also found from the various produce she studied, that you can, on average, find about 21% more Iron, 29% more Magnesium, and 13% more Phosphorus. You will find about 15% less Nitrates. This is all very good news for your body, and more reason to stick to Organic produce.
The Nutrients come from the soil, which then in turns feeds the plant what it needs to produce healthy good-for-you produce which we get to enrich our own bodies with. If the soil is infested with pesticides and harmful chemicals, it will be lacking in nutrients, and the produce will in turn be depleted of nutrients.
Keep in Mind
When you do see “Organic” Chocolate bars, for example, it doesn’t mean it is all of a sudden it will be considered “healthy” or even “low calorie”. It still is sugar, candy, and not to be considered as food. Organic Candy is still Candy! Keep that in mind while you are in the grocery store, and try to stick with foods in its natural form. For example, choose fresh Organic Pears versus Canned Pears.
Your body deserves the best, and it deserves Organic.
Tags: best, Blog, body, Diary, Fruit, growth hormones, harmful chemicals, Healthy, Lose Weight, natural, nutrients, Nutrition, Organic, pesticides, Skinny, soil, stay active, Twinkie, Vegetable, Weight Loss