Foods You Need Daily

I am starting to love everything health related, I’m not obsessed yet.  I think once I get the whole couponing for healthy foods will push me over the edge though. Anyway, I will be the first to admit, I love Dr. Oz and all the health gurus he has on there.  Yes, he is a little funny looking but he knows his stuff and I love learning about that stuff from him and his guests.

On one of his shows, he had a specialist that talked about a few of the foods that you need daily, so I wanted to create a list of foods for you. Obviously this isn’t a whole list of foods you should be eating, but I believe this is a great starting point especially for someone new to wanting to lose weight and eat healthier at the same time.

 

Daily Foods Needed

  • Nuts
  • Carrots
  • Green Tea
  • Whole Grains
  • Fruits (berries, things less sweet)
  • Leafy Greens (Spinach, Collard Greens)
  • Oats

Foods Needed Only 3 Times A Week

  • Yogurt
  • Cauliflower
  • Broccoli
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Avocado
  • Oily Fish
  • Tofu

Foods Needed Only Once A Week

  • Red Meat
  • White Starch
  • Dessert
  • Alcohol

Foods Never Needed

  • Fast Food
  • Soda
  • Processed Foods
  • Canned Soup

I know there are going to be people looking at here saying, “I CAN’T give up soda” or whatever your guilty pleasure is.  The truth is, you could give it up, you just don’t want to.  Think about this small list, is there one thing new that you could incorporate in your life with you and your family?  If you “feel” you can’t give it up right away, start small and do one less day of something you do everyday.  So if you are a soda drinker (I’m a water drinker and I’ll have a glass of wine every now and again) drink one less soda than your usual each day.  Take the baby steps you need to get there.

Share with me. What is one thing you will change in 2012?

Why Is 3500 Important To You?

Oh mylanta! One of my shows that I must watch is The Biggest Loser. I mean, it isn’t just a must, it is a requirement in my household I have learned so many things from that show about weight loss and myself.  Chad said that he knows when I am watching this show I am bound to cry, every week.  The people just amaze me at their potential and inspire me to want to be better.

Enough about my love or borderline obsession for the show. Last season they had a game show competition and one of the questions was, “How many calories does it take to lose 1 pound?” In all of my weight loss journey,  I realized I had never taken the time to learn that magic number, the most important number that could help me with my my goals.  Did you guess what that number is?  Ding ding ding!  It is 3500 calories a week which totals 500 calories a day.  That is what it takes for you to lose 1 pound a week.

It isn’t just about the cutting calories though. It is about eating healthier foods to reduce those bad calories that you are getting.  It is also about working out.  You have to at least walk or do some sort of activity to add to those 3500 calories each week.  Don’t cut out the healthy foods, its not worth it.

Remember, if you are here you are obviously wanting to lose weight or get healthier, start by cutting out something small each day.  With my family, we are cutting out 2-3 carbs a week and substituting them for healthier options.  If you start now, it won’t be as hard later. If you are a parent, start young.  It is taking me so long to retrain my brain and reprogram the habits that I had learned from being a child. Start small and work your way up.

I am so happy that you came by today. If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it on your Facebook or Twitter page or even email it to a friend. I would really appreciate it!

Fat burning food knowledge

 

 

This article comes from this website.  I love this website because they always have good articles that talk about weight loss, good fats, bad fats, foods that make you fat, etc.

Fat burning foods might not be top of your list in your bid to get a flat stomach, or to lose belly fat. After all, food is the enemy and makes you gain weight, right?

Well not necessarily. There is actually an elite group of foods that stimulate your metabolism, create a fat burning hormonal response in your body and leave you feeling full and satisfied. They are actually vital to getting a tight, toned, sexy physique. So let’s learn more about them…

You might be forgiven for thinking that the best foods to help you with your fat loss are the low-calorie, zero-fat, sugar-free, diet, and lite foods advertised in the media. But you’d be wrong!

These foods can actually increase the amount of fat your body stores. This is because they are packed full of artificial sweeteners, highly refined carbohydrates, sugars and other processed nasties.

These so-called “health” foods are useless for controlling cravings and suppressing appetite. What’s more they send confusing hormonal signals to your body, spiking blood sugar levels (yes even the artificial sweeteners!) and putting you into fat storage mode.

Here are a few tips for finding foods that burn fat

Eating Fat Doesn’t Necessarily Make You Fat

I’m sure you’ve heard this one before, and thought to yourself: “yeah right”. But it all comes down to the type of fat you eat. Eating the right kinds of fat can actually make you leaner.

Weight loss, fat burning foodsObviously the type of fats to avoid are the processed, hydrogenated fats found in junk foods, ready meals, processed foods etc. These junk food evils actually prevent your cells from metabolizing calories and nutrients properly. And for what? A little extra shelf life.

Unfortunately it is commonplace to think that all fats are detrimental to your health and cause you to gain weight. But those found in natural, wholesome, unprocessed foods are vital to losing flab and maintaining a healthy immune system.

And before you get too worried about avoiding polyunsaturated, monounsaturated or saturated fats, remember that all three occur naturally in plant and animal life. You can’t avoid these types of fats, nor should you attempt to. How much of each fat contained within these food sources depends on the climate, diet and overall environment in which they grew and developed.

Here is a very simple way to work out which fat sources are healthy, and which are unhealthy. Just ask yourself these questions before making your food choices:

For fruit, vegetable, nut and all other plant based sources: “Is it natural, minimally processed and organic? Or has it been chemically altered and heavily processed?”

For meat, fish and dairy (animal based sources): “Is it from a free range, wild or grass-fed animal? Or is it from a mass production, controlled farm environment?”

In both cases, fats from natural, free range, organic sources are far healthier than those from man-altered, mass-produced food. Once you get used to asking yourself these questions, your food choices will become much healthier, and easier!

Eat Wholesome, Natural, Unprocessed Food

I could go on to talk to you about processed and unprocessed sugars, natural and unnatural sweeteners. But my arguments would be pretty similar to what I’ve already written about fat sources, so I’ll save that for another article.

What I’d like to talk to you about instead is how easily a fat burning food can be transformed into a stomach-bloating time bomb!

I’m going to use the example of fruit juice.

Fruit Juice: Healthy Food?

Fruit juice should be avoidedFruit juice has been touted as a true health food (yes I know it’s a drink ;-) ). In fact you can get anywhere from 1 to all 5 of you’re recommended 5 a day in one hit, and with no added sweeteners or preservatives! Win-Win it sounds, not so…

As natural as fruit juice sounds, it has actually been processed and altered. But this time it’s not about what has been added, but what has been taken away.

Fruit juice has had almost all of the fruit’s flesh and skin removed. So what? This is where all of the natural fiber is contained. Dietary fiber actually slows the body’s absorption of sugar. So without this your fruit juice is delivering a blood sugar spiking, hormonal fat storing sucker-punch.

And you might be getting 2 of your 5-a-day from that juice, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting the sugar from 2 pieces of fruit. More likely, you’re getting the juice, and sugar, from 10-12 pieces of fruit all at once! Not good for your waistline, I promise you.

Stick to eating organic, whole fruit for a healthy dose of natural sugar, antioxidants and fiber.

Fat Burning Secret – Eat As Nature Intended

The overwhelming message of this article is that natural, wholesome, organic and unprocessed are the real fat burning foods. By seeking out and eating foods that burn fat the number of calories you consume becomes almost irrelevant.

 

For more some great fat burning information please go to their website, click here.  There is excellent information there!  Also if you want a FREE shake sample, please fill out your information here.

Also for a list of fat burning foods click here.

What’s your Why? Your motivation?

Every business article that I have read has told me before I get started doing what I wanted to do in business to figure out my “why?”

What is my motivation? What is my reason for being or my reason for doing?

My Why’s:

  • My children.  I envision myself chasing my kids around and playing, I envision us going on family trips and me not feeling embarrassed to be in a swimsuit.  My parents didn’t take me on vacations and my mom just laid in bed as soon as she was done making dinner for the family.  I will not be that mother, I will be an interactive mother with my kids and participate in their lives with them.
  • My health. I am not unhealthy, but I know I can do better.  The shakes I have been on have given me a renewed energy and reminds me of the importance of all of the vitamins and nutrients I need to have in my life.
  • Myself.  I have always started and stopped things and it is important for me to take control and to show myself, whether I have nobody rooting me on or one hundred people rooting me on.  I am my own worst enemy and I am my own best friend.  I know I am a mom, but I want to remember the me before I had kids too. What I mean is that I am not the type of person who wants to be defined by my kids, I want my kids to be defined by themselves and I want to be defined by me and somewhere along the road, I got lost and I felt like I was only known as “Mama” and not Shay.  I want to be known as Shay.
  • To be financially free. I want to have my BMW paid for and those trips I want to take my kids on, I don’t want to worry about us not having money to do so.  Most people say they are content where they are, but are they really?  I know I deserve more and so do my kids.  It all begins here.

Thank you for coming here, I am so appreciative of everyone who walks with me on this journey to getting back to me.  Do you want to get back to you? Do you want to feel healthier?  I would love to send you a completely free sample of our shakes and I would love to hear your story.  Click here to order your free sample.

Recipe of the week – Individual “Loaded” Pizza

 

 

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes. It comes from the book by Rocco Disprit0 called, “Now eat this! Diet.”  He was on the Nate Berkus show and not only is his food delicious, but he is pretty yummy too.  It is called the Individual Crispy “Loaded” Pizza.  This amazing personal pan pizza is 1 serving and guess how many calories?  316!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes – only 316 caloreis and 10 grams of fat…. pure deliciousness.  If you would like to order, click the link below. Otherwise, buy the ingredients below and make deliciousness happen :) .

Ingredients:

3/4 cup warm water 6 medium (about 4 oz) cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon molasses 8 ounces low-fat turkey sausage, such as Butterball, crumbled and cooked (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoonds active dry yeast 6 whole bottled peperoncici, such as BandG, stems removed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, such as Weight Watchers
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, plus additional for rolling and kneading 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Nonstick olive oil spray 1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon cornmeal 3/4 cup low-fat store-bought marina sauce (ex. Trader Joe’s)
  • Stir the water and molasses together in a large bowl until the molasses is dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over the water, and let stand in a warm place until foamy, about 10 minutes.
  • Stir the salt into the yeast mixture; then stir in the  1 3/4 cups flour until the dough starts to come together. Scrape this rough dough out onto a work surface that has been sprinkled lightly with flour. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and pulls back when you stretch it, about 5 minutes. If necessary, add just enough flour as you knead to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and the work surface.  Make a neat round out of the dough and place it in a large bowl that has been sprayed with the olive oil spray. Cover the bowl loosely with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough sit in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide it into 6 equal wedges. Form each wedge into a tight ball by rolling it in the palm of your hand until the edges have rounded. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray. Arrange the dough balls a few inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Cover them with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
  • With a rack in the center position, preheat the oven  to 500°F or its highest setting. (Remove any other racks or position them below the center rack. This will make it easier to slide the pizzas onto the stone and remove them once they’re cooked.) Place a pizza stone on the white rack and let it heat for 20 minutes.
  • Dust a wooden pizza peel with the cornmeal. If you don’t have a pizza peel, dust a cookie sheet (flat-no rims) with cornmeal. Lightly flour the work surface and roll one ball of the dough out with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Drape the circle of dough over both of your fists so the edges of the dough barely overhang your knuckles, and gently pull the edges outward while rotating the crust. Keep stretching and rotating the dough gently until the dough is about 9 inches in diameter. Don’t worry about a few small tears; they can be repaired once the dough is on the peel. Place the dough on the prepared peel. Prick the dough in about 8 places with a fork. Pinch together any little tears.
  • Slide the dough  onto the hot pizza stone in the oven, and bake until the dough is puffed and the underside is lightly browned. 2 – 3 minutes. Remove the dough and flip it bottom (browned) side up on your work surface. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough. When you’ve had some practice, you should be able to roll out and stretch one piece of dough while another is baking on the stone.
  • Spread about 2 tablespoons of the marinara sauce onto each crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Scatter the basil over the sauce. Scatter the mushrooms, cooked sausage, and peperoncini evenly over the sauce. Mix the cheeses together in a bowl, and sprinkle  1/4 cup of the mixture over each pizza. One at a time, slide the pizzas back onto the pizza stone. Bake until the cheese is golden brown and bubbling. If your pizza stone is large enough, you may be able to bake the topped pizzas two at a time.
  • Cut the pizzas into wedges, if desired and serve.

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