Keep Your Health Tips

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.

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Overweight is becoming normal - assuming that by normal you mean what most people do. Normal doesn’t mean healthy or best.

Why?

Why is food controlling the minds of so many people? This must be what is happening because the body isn’t designed to be fat. It is designed to store fat, but that’s something completely different.

What bodies have are mechanisms that create sensations that are understood as time to start looking for something to eat. These sensations we call hunger. And sensations that are understood as time to stop eating. These sensations we call satiety or fullness. If we only took notice of these sensations and started to look for something to eat when we felt hungry and stopped eating the minute we felt sated, it is unlikely that anyone would have a problem with excess weight.

So why don’t people listen to their bodies any more?

Maybe because food has become something it was never intended to be - the Master.

A typical day for many people:

Wake up - Breakfast
Spend morning looking forward to break time and snack
Spend rest of morning looking forward to lunchtime
Clock decides when it is time to eat lunch
Spend afternoon looking forward to break time and snack
Spend rest of afternoon looking forward to going home time and eating a meal.
Clock decides when it is time for evening meal
Watch TV
Have supper (clock or commercial breaks decide time for supper)

Just have a look at your own day and see what it is in you that dictates when and what you eat. If it isn’t internal feelings or sensations then food is your Master.

And yes, I know that when we are employed it isn’t possible to eat at any other time than official breaks. I’m not suggesting that you can be doing anything other than what you are doing. I’m just drawing your attention to what is actually going on.

The art of cooking, using fresh ingredients, is dying. You only have to look around any supermarket to see the vast number of ready meals, and the amount of money that is invested in meals that are 95% fat free (which is just another way of saying that one-twentieth of this meal is pure fat), or gives the impression that it has been lovingly cooked just for someone who wants to eat more healthily. Why are these foods so popular? They are popular because they carry the subliminal promise of continuing to allow food to be your Master while not suffering any adverse consequences - like unattractiveness. And because everyone wants to be seen as attractive, the lie is accepted.

Eating is undeniably a pleasurable activity - especially when the food contains a reasonable amount of fat (fat makes food palatable) and/or a reasonable amount of sugar.

The trouble is that manufactured food has very little flavour. It has plenty of sodium, and spices, and herbs, and chemicals, and garlic to fool your mouth into thinking there’s some flavour, and it frequently has added colour so it looks more palatable than it actually is. Real food has flavour. And real food satisfies so there is a greater experience of pleasure, and satisfaction is reached sooner, so less is required. If you want to experience real flavour - get yourself a plant pot, fill it with soil-based compost, place it in a sunny spot, and sow some carrot seed in spring. Pull the carrots when they are about two or three inches long, wipe them, and bite.

If you want a healthy body, and you want to be just the right weight for that body, then for you to achieve that you have to want it more than you want to eat. Or you have to find something that gives you more pleasure than food and have that instead. That way you don’t have to give up anything. So start to notice the eating triggers - those things that dictate to you that it’s time to eat something. When one of the triggers goes off, just check in with your body and sense if it feels hungry or not. If it does, by all means have something to eat, but after every few mouthfuls just check in again and see if your body is starting to feel full. If it is then just stop eating and forget about how much food is left on the plate, and forget about how much you paid for it too.

If you feel you have to eat at specific times, then just do the fullness check.

Doing this will put your food back into its rightful place as servant and give you back control of your life.

Many people with a weight problem, don’t really know what Healthy Hunger feels like, so they can’t correctly interpret the messages that their body sends. If you want to experience Healthy Hunger, and you are in good health, then just don’t eat anything for 24 hours, and only drink water - as much of this as you want. If you have any concerns about this, or you have health problems other than weight, then be sure to consult your doctor for advice before engaging with this exercise. Be sure you do this on a day when you can rest and take gentle exercise, and be sure that you don’t engage in any activities where concentration is needed for your safety. By the end of the 24 hours you should have a nice sensation that suggests eating something nutritious would feel good, so break your fast with some juicy, sweet, fruit. After this you will become aware of a much gentler pleasurable sensation that says it’s time to start preparing some food. This sensation of Healthy Hunger is there to assist us in enjoying and obtaining greater pleasure from what we eat. So instead of looking forward to mealtime, look forward to feeling hungry.

But don’t forget that if you choose to no longer be influenced by the pictures on the packets of food from the factory (and remember that prepared food comes from a factory - it’s just the picture on the packet that was taken in a kitchen), then you release yourself to buy delicious, fresh, maybe even organic, fruits, nuts, meats and vegetables. If your body is fed well-cooked wholesome foods it will be satisfied more easily.

So make a choice right now to be in control.

And remember all you have to do is simply:
Eat when you’re hungry.
Stop when you’re full.
And enjoy every mouthful.

This isn’t a restrictive diet.

Nothing is banned.

It’s a recipe for pleasurable weight loss.

Michael J. Hadfield MBSCH is a registered clinical hypnotherapist. You can experience his unique style on a popular range of hypnosis CD’s and tapes at http://www.hypnosisiseasy.com Here you can also obtain treatment for a variety of problems and explore his approach to health, healing, and hypnosis.

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Water is an essential component of the human body and is critical to successful weight loss and exercising. Yet many people don’t understand the importance of staying well-hydrated and what it takes to stay that way.

Water is important because it regulates our temperature, cushions and protects our vital organs, aids digestion, transport nutrients to working muscles and organs, helps dispel waste and can help prevent us from over-eating.

Water loss:

In doing all of these things, water is consumed or expelled from our bodies, which means that it needs to be continually replaced.

When the temperature of our body rises, during exercise for example, we lose higher amounts of water through sweat. In one hour of intense exercise, our body can lose up to a litre or more of water.

When we fail to replace lost water and our body can’t cool itself properly, we enter a state of dehydration.

Sometimes we can mistake mild states of dehydration for hunger.

When we don’t drink enough fluids, our body gives us signals which resemble hunger pains. When this happens, many of us start eating unnecessary calories because we have misunderstood what our body is trying to tell us.

By staying well-hydrated throughout the day, we minimise the chance of unnecessary eating and maximize our chances of achieving our weight loss goals.

Dehydration:

If you’ve ever felt thirsty, you have experienced dehydration.

In a dehydrated state our body is unable to cool itself properly, which in extreme cases can lead to heat exhaustion and possibly heat stroke.

Without an adequate supply of water we begin to lack energy and our muscles may begin to cramp.

For regular exercisers, maintaining a constant supply of water to the body is essential. Dehydration leads very quickly to muscle fatigue and can even effect our coordination. Even small amounts of water loss may hinder athletic performance.

To prevent dehydration, exercisers must drink adequate amounts of water before, during and after their workout or event.

Fluid balance and replenishment:

It is very important that we all drink enough water. Thirst is a signal that our body is already on the way to dehydration.

It is important to drink continually throughout the day and not just to avoid thirst.

One easy way to check that you are adequately hydrated is to check the colour of your urine.

If your urine is light to clear you are fine, if your urine is too dark the chances are that you are not drinking enough water and may be becoming dehydrated.

Of course, if you are taking vitamin supplements, this test may not be accurate because supplements tend to darken the colour of your urine for several hours after taking them.

Water is usually the best fluid replenishment for most people, but sports drinks can provide added benefits in extreme conditions.

As well as containing water, some sports drinks contain electrolytes and other trace elements which aid in fluid absorption, which is very important if you are exercising at a high intensity for more than 45 minutes or so.

But remember, water is not the only source of fluid replacement. Healthy foods like fruits, juices, soups and vegetables all contain varying degrees of water that aids in the replenishment of lost fluids.

By world standards, Australian’s are very lucky to have access to safe, clean drinking water. This makes staying well hydrated really easy, so what are you waiting for? Drink up!

Everyday Hydration hints:

As a general rule, drink at least 1 litre (4 glasses) of water for every 30 kilos of body weight each day. If you weigh 60 kilos, for example, drink at least 2 litres of water per day. If it is hot or you are active drink even more.

Look for light to clear coloured urine to make sure you are adequately hydrated.

If you are hungry when you shouldn’t be, try drinking a couple of glasses of water - you might be misinterpreting thirst for hunger. If you are still hungry 10 to 15 minutes later, try eating a piece of fruit to keep you going until your next meal.

Eating fruit and vegetables and drinking juice are great ways to hydrate your body.

Try to keep a bottle of water handy at all times and always keep an emergency bottle of water in your car.

Drink a glass of water before going to bed and another as soon as you wake up, 8 hours is a long time for your body to go without water.

Caffeine and alcohol can have a diuretic effect, making you lose even more water, so be sure to compensate for this additional loss.

Exercise Hydration hints:

Drink one to two glasses of water at least an hour before you start exercising.

Drink another glass 20 to 30 minutes prior to exercising.

Drink 125 to 250ml of fluid every 10 to 15 minutes or so during exercise.

Drink an additional 250ml of fluid within 30 minutes after exercising.

Drink 500ml of fluid for every half kilo of body weight lost after exercise.

For all your weight loss and healthy lifestyle needs, visit http://www.weightloss.com.au and become a happier, healthier you.

Scott Haywood

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