Top Superfoods for Looking Good, Feeling Great, and Losing Weight

 

More Energy with Superfoods

Superfoods are some of the most nutritional foods to include in a healthy diet. Not only do they make you feel healthier, many also slow the aging process and even help you lose weight.

Living a healthy and active lifestyle requires a lot of focus on diet and nutrition. Although superfoods can’t provide you with everything you need, they really can significantly improve your health and fitness goals. They also tend to pack a powerful punch of energy, and who doesn’t need more of that?

Let’s take a look at the top 5 superfoods for looking good, feeling great, and losing weight…

5 of the Best Superfoods for a Healthier You

Blueberries
Although they’ve carried their superfood label for years now, they remain one of the healthiest foods you can eat. Packed with healthy disease-fighting phytonutrients and antioxidants, blueberries are great for snacking or blended into a smoothie. I like to keep the frozen ones on hand for easy access, but the fresh ones are great for a healthy snacking option.

Parsley
Parsley is one of the most nutritional plant foods you can eat. It’s high in energy boosting vitamins and minerals like vitamin K and iron, as well as antioxidants like vitamin C that help prevent aging. It you want to get healthier skin and boost metabolism at the same time, include parsley somewhere in your diet. It blends well into a smoothie, or you can toss it into a salad or turn it into a pesto sauce.

Avocadoes
I’ve named the avocado as a favorite superfood before, but there’s an important reason that this one keeps topping my list. Not only is it packed with healthy, fat-burning fats, it’s also really high in protein. Each avocado packs anywhere from 5 to 7 grams of protein! Include them in a salad or use them as a sandwich topping.

Macadamia Nuts
It may not be your go-to superfood, but it should be. Macadamia nuts are some of the most nutritional nuts you can eat. They’re packed full of vitamin B1, magnesium, and manganese, to name just a few. Plus they’re a great source of healthy monounsaturated fats, to keep you looking brighter, feeling younger, and burning some extra calories!

Spinach
All leafy greens top my superfood list, but spinach is one I go back to time and again. This simple leafy green is super versatile, tasting great in salads or a morning smoothie. In addition to being a good source of vitamins and antioxidants to prevent aging and boost energy, spinach is also high in calcium, which can be especially helpful to those wanting to cut down on dairy products.

Looking for a superfood quick-fix?
While all of these foods are excellent options on any healthy diet, it’s always nice to have something quick and convenient on hand. For a quick dose of phytonutrients and antioxidants, try Amazing Grass Green Superfood Powder. For those looking for a little more of a morning pick-me-up, you can also add Matcha Green Tea to your diet.

Source:  Weight Loss And Training

16 Ways to Burn Stubborn Body Fat

Eat less ... lose weight?!? Here's the other stuff you can do to get leaner.

1)  Don’t diet to extremes. Reducing calories by 15-20% a day will almost exclusively burn fat while larger cuts in calories will burn a combo of muscle tissue and fat. Muscle drives the metabolism – calorie burning. If you’re currently eating 3000 calories, reduce to 2400-2550, but do so according to smart guidelines like those laid out in The Living Health Weight Loss Audio.

2)  Graze all day. Professional athletes and models eat all day long yet keep their total calories under control. The grazing method, 5-6 small meals, elevates the metabolism. Each time you eat, the metabolism increases, and over a 6-10 week period, that increase can parlay into another 2-3 pounds of fat loss.

3)  Increase Protein. Carbs, protein and fat – are equal in their efficiency to be stored as body fat, but protein exerts a greater metabolic boosting effect than carbs or dietary fat. When calories drop, protein saves muscle which helps keep the metabolism elevated. Aim for 1.2 grams per pound of bodyweight daily.

4)  Play with Carbs. Carbs help retain metabolic boosting muscle yet they can stimulate fat storage. Following a modified low carb diet – staggering your carbohydrate intake is one of the most effective ways to jump start your
metabolism and to burn stubborn fat fast (as outlined in Maximize Your Metabolism and the Living Health Audio Program.)

5)  Go Backward. One reason fat loss comes to a halt; the body downgrades its metabolism to meet its dwindling intake of calories. The solution: dramatically increase your calorie intake once every 2-3 weeks. The one day splurge “re-sets” the metabolism by restoring thyroid levels, the calorie burning hormone that declines with dieting.

6)  Skip the Late Night Carbs. Carbs eaten before bedtime are more likely to be stored as body fat so focus on lean proteins and fiber based vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and salad fixings. The lone exception: if you train late at night and your goal is to build muscle mass, you’ll need the carbs to replenish glycogen and support growth.

7)  Go Fish. When calories are controlled, the inclusion of omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, trout and sardines may promote speedier fat loss. One study revealed dieters who ate fish on a daily basis lost more weight than those who ate fish just once a week (Am Journ Clin Nutr 70:817-825, 1999)

8)  Go Spicy. Red peppers, the spicy ingredient in Mexican and Indian dishes contains Capsaicin which can increase the metabolic rate by effecting the Sympathetic Branch of the Nervous system. Spiking your chicken dishes with red might be a small benefit or you can gulp 5 to 10 encapsulated grams of Capsaicin from your local health food store. (Journal of Nutrition 116:1272-1278, 1986.)

9)  Don’t Be Cardio Crazy! Radically reducing calories slows the metabolism short circuiting fat loss. Same is true with radical caloric expenditure. You know: 2 cardio sessions a day. Excess cardio slows the metabolism, promotes a loss in muscle and even can lower testosterone levels. For real results, stick to 4-6 sessions a week, 30 – 45 minutes at a clip and maintain a high level of intensity.

10)  Separate Cardio From Weight Training. What happens when you do cardio first and follow it up with weight training? You don’t build as much muscle density. How about cardio after training? You risk overtraining and the negative hormonal milieu that can stifle the metabolic rate. The best scenario; hit the cardio in the morning – on an empty stomach – get in a few meals and return to the gym later in the day to build muscle density.

11)  Serotonin Control. Serotonin is a brain chemical that helps controls hunger. Guess what? It can take a nose dive with dieting. ( R.J. Wurtman and J.J. Wurtman, “Brain serotonin, carbohydrate-craving, obesity, and depression.” Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 398 (1996): 35-41.) One way to prevent a drop; smaller, more frequent meals.

12)  Garlic Chicken! Mother Earth’s flavor enhancer stimulates adrenaline and uncoupling proteins (UCP). Adrenaline triggers fat breakdown and UCP, located in metabolically active “brown fat”, increase calorie burning. Garlic also controls cortisol levels which can supports muscle retention while dieting. For best results use fresh raw garlic in your salads or on your other meals, but if you can't handle raw garlic then use fresh bulbs in you cooking or give supplements a try. (Oi Y, et al., Allyl-containing sulfides in garlic increase uncoupling protein content in brown adipose tissue, and noradenaline and adrenaline secretion in rats. J Nutr 129:336-342,1999.) (Wang HX, Et al., Natural products with hypoglycemic, hypotensive, hypocholesterolemic, antiatherosclerotic and antithrombotic activities. Life Sci 65:2663-2677,1999.)

13)  Sip Green Tea. Green tea contains caffeine and polyphenols called epilgallocatechin gallate which have been shown to increase calorie burning. These special calorie burning compounds help burn an extra 100 or-so calories a day, about equal to a brisk walk. In maximizing fat loss, every calorie counts. (Dullo, A.G., et al., Efficiency of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr, 1999. 70(6):p.1040-5.)

14)  Fat? Yes Fat! To rip up, you have to eat fewer carbs, but on occasion – say once a week - you can add a little healthy fat, 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, some red meat, walnuts or cashews. The reason? Dietary fat can make the body more effective in using and burning fat – as long as calories and carbs remain under control. (Thomas CD et al. Nutrient Balance and Energy Expenditure During the Ad Libitum Feeding of High Fat and High Carbohydrate Diets in Humans. Am J Clin Nutr 1992;55:934)

15)  Thyroid Support. Irony of Ironies. When you eat less and try to dump body fat, a lot of times the metabolism adapts and burns quite a bit fewer calories. One way to get around the slowdown is with phosphates. A combo of 537 mgs of calcium phosphate, 107 mgs of potassium phosphate and 25 mgs of sodium phosphate given to strict dieters yielded a 12-19% more elevated metabolism than dieters who did not use phosphates.

16)  Write It Down. This one seems simple, but it’s one of the most overlooked tips in shedding fat. Dieters who record what they eat, meal by meal, day by day, not only make better choices, but cheat less and eat fewer total calories. Writing it down “keeps you honest” and is a tool for reminding you that getting lean is a day by day process.

Source: Best Ways To Get Weight Loss

Bye, Bye Sugar

As we all know sugar creeps into our diet in its usual tactical ways. We are all born with a sweet-tooth (at least is one of my justifications) and resisting sugar 24 hours a day 7 days a week is a big ask. Personally I am shamefully weak when it comes to the genre of deserts. I tend to trend along the idea that life is uncertain, therefore eat desert first. Is it merely a coincidence that stressed spells desserts backwards? What an ironically bitter realisation! It is decided; I shall not succumb to this and reach for a double-decker when stressed. Let's remember however, a sweet moment is not a sin and nor should we invite it's sibling of guilt. 

The Sunday Times heard our cry for a sugar ban and decided to draw-up a plan for the nation to follow. Its commercial identity was known as #byebye sugar, and for many was the first step in cutting sugar out from virtually all meals. Their initial suggestion was to strip your kitchen of all temptation; a bold first move that supports the attitude of 'out of sight, out of mind'. Things begin to get more specific, condiments are next to go. Start getting used to your salads being extra crunchy without its sauced-bathed leaves. 

To quote The Sunday Times; "experts agree that a healthy lifestyle and a lean, toned body involve 20% consistent exercise and 80% what you eat." There you have it, it is crucial to think before we chomp down on our favourite sugary helpers. If you are controlled in your eating you are more than half way there. Easier said than done? Absolutely. 

Some of our staff at Wellbeing decided to give the scheme a go, let's see how they managed...

Miranda- Miranda was committed to saying farewell to her sugar-binge days by cutting out the following; white carbohydrates, biscuits, cakes and fizzy drinks- whilst leaving a small window for wine. "I was prepared for those familiar moments of wanting a sweet treat, so I opted for nuts and raisins instead." Snack-time is perhaps the biggest test of them all and Miranda's substitution solution was a success. Miranda cooked a lot more and as a result became a lot more creative and confident in the kitchen. 

Roll in the next sugar suspect, Helen. Helen admitted to strongly noticing the lack of sugar and as a result, was made acutely aware of how often it slipped in. At the start Helen suffered from headaches. As the day progressed and four o'clock struck this became a notoriously difficult point in the day. Lunch has been and gone and dinner is on the horizon, we are accustomed to think that this is apt time to increase our sugar levels. Whilst on the challenge, Helen went away and discovered how difficult it is to stick to an altered diet whilst your friends are consuming whatever their eyes are drawn to. At this point Helen curbed the rules and consumed some alcohol, besides this hiccup, Helen was dedicated throughout. 

I found the experience challenging and was receptive to its high's and low's. I found myself feeling less sluggish and found that overall, it balanced my hormones. I also noticed that it changed my taste buds. The couple of times that I did cave in, I noticed that the sugar tasted sweeter and I therefore consumed less. A handy suggestion is to replace your sweetener/sugar in tea with a cinnamon stick. Works like a charm. 

The comforting fact in all this (and perhaps a point of persuasion) is that by retraining your taste buds, the obsession does go away. By having something rarely, the taste becomes acute and your brain applies more thought to what you are eating. However, this does not mean our sweet object of desire shall never rear its sugar-coated head again, but resisting it is a lot easier. Shoo the craving away like an incessant fly and reach for your shiny apple.

Source: Bye, Bye Sugar

How to Lose Weight for Good

Spring is in the air and the baggy jumpers and oversized coats will soon be banished to the back of the wardrobe. If only it were that easy to be rid of your winter flab! You would go on a diet but you always put it straight back on again plus a little more for luck. It's not your fault: weight loss triggers hunger - more than 95% of dieters regain their lost weight within five years.

No need to panic though, there is a way you can slim down and stay that way without the need to count calories, embarrass yourself at a slimming group, starve two days a week or develop a taste for quinoa or pomegranate seeds. 

Short term faddy diets are not the answer. They almost always lead to rebound weight gain because your appetite remains raised until you have maintained your new lower weight for at least six months. The key to becoming slimmer is to adopt a lifestyle diet that helps you permanently change your eating habits.

Choose wholefoods and home-made meals, rather than buying takeaways, ready meals, puddings, cakes, biscuits and chocolate. Sugary, fatty foods stimulate the appetite and are energy dense, and soft drinks add a lot of calories to your diet. Drink water instead - that's the stuff that comes free out of the tap. Cut out sugar in tea and coffee and reduce your intake of alcohol as excessive drinking makes you fat. 

Favour meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk, beans, nuts, heavy bread, potatoes and wholegrains. These are the foods your grandparents ate when obesity was rare and convenience foods didn't exist. If you look very carefully you will find real food in a far flung corner of your local supermarket. You may not have eaten this way since you were at primary school, but only by going back to basics will you have a realistic hope of achieving the body you desire.

Three protein rich meals a day help you resist the temptation to snack. Eating more protein makes you feel fuller which compensates for the increase in appetite caused by weight loss. Include some starchy carbs with your meals. They prevent the food cravings that sabotage many diets. Vegetables provide bulk, so don't just leave them on the side of your plate. A piece of fresh fruit after a meal provides sweetness now you are no longer eating desserts.