17 Healthy Eating Tips...

1. Include at least 1-2 varied fresh / tinned fish meals per week.

2. Include several varied lean red meat meals per week. Vegetarians need to eat legumes and/or nuts daily.

3. Include lean poultry or pork weekly.

4. Include at least one legume meal per week e.g tofu, baked beans.

5. Include a handful of a variety of nuts/seeds several times a week.

6. Include eggs weekly.

7. Include several cups of a variety of vegetables daily. Include dark green leafy types, a variety of deep coloured vegetables across the week and garlic, onions and herbs in meals daily.

8. Use cooking methods that minimise the risk of cancer by adding herbs, spices, fruits, vinegar.

9. Include reduced fat milk products daily.

10. Have at least two different pieces of fruit daily.

11. Try to make most of your cereal serves whole grain and reduced in salt. Bread is a major source of salt in our diet.

12. It is OK to sprinkle a little iodized salt on healthy foods to improve their flavour.

13. It is OK to sprinkle a little sugar on healthy foods to improve their flavour; prefer foods with naturally occurring sugars over those high in added sugar.

14. Have plentiful fluids using water and tea.

15. Minimise 'hidden fats' by choosing lean meats, reduced fat milk products and processed foods.

16. Prefer unrefined natural fat found in nuts, seeds, fish, soy, olives and avocado (because the fat is accompanied by other desirable nutrients).

17. Reserve added fats (preferably cold pressed monounsaturated oils) for cooking to improve the palatability of vegetables, legumes & fish dishes.

Good Diet vs "Fad" Diet

Fad Diet: The diet that promotes a restricted eating-plan or certain liquid foods lacking sufficient food value is termed as Fad Diet. The fad diets are very low in calories so they cause quite fast weight loss. However, quick weight loss may not be healthy and - in most cases - is not fat loss. It is actually water-loss which is quickly regained when the dieter resumes normal eating. The fad diets can cause weight cycling, so fad dieting is also dubbed as ‘Yo-Yo dieting’, which means a continuing pattern of gaining and losing weight. The fad diets are considered unhealthy. The common examples of Fad diets include the Cabbage Soup Diet and the Grapefruit Diet.

Good Weight Loss Diet: The diet that helps losing weight in a positive manner is a good Weight Loss Diet. It does not reduce the energy. A balanced low fat diet is considered as the best weight loss diet. A balanced low fat diet is high in healthy carbohydrates, low in fat and moderate in protein.

A good Weight Loss Diet should be rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, which are specially recommended for weight control and preventing diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Weight Training Twenty Minutes a Day

If you like working out but don't have much time, here is a suggestion.
In your weight training routine, you don't have to work all your target areas at once. Instead, work one area a day for about 20 minutes. For example, your program might look like this:

• Monday: Chest and Back Weight Training for 20 min.
• Tuesday: Shoulder Strength Exercise for 20 min.
• Wednesday: Abs Weight Training for 20 min.
• Thursday: Biceps and Triceps Strength Training for 20 min.
• Friday: Grab Bag/Wild Card for 20 min.
• Saturday: Hip and Thigh Weight Training for 20 min.
• Sunday: Chest and Shoulder Strength Training for 20 min.

Choose a set of exercises for each day and follow your weight training program. You can vary it, especially as you add more reps to your arm curls, incline chest presses, shoulder presses, and kickbacks. Remember, you don't have to devote countless hours to working out to look and feel good.

Things that are healthy for the body...

Your body needs a daily supply of protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats to get the fuel it needs for energy and optimum health.

Protein is a primary component of our muscles, hair, nails, skin, eyes, and internal organs, especially the heart and brain. Protein is needed for growth, for healthy red blood cells, and much more.

Carbohydrates are our main source of energy and play an important role in the functioning of our nervous system, muscles, and internal organs.

Fats are a form of energy reserve and insulation in your body, and can be burned to make energy when you don't get enough from your diet. Fats transport nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E, and K through your body and fatty tissue protects your vital organs from trauma and temperature change.

Simply put, there are "good" fats and "bad" fats. The "bad" fats are called saturated fats and are found in animal products, meats, and dairy foods; they should be eaten in limited amounts.

The "good" fats include the Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Deficiencies of Omega-3 fatty acids are linked to decreased learning ability, ADHD, depression, and dyslexia.

Eating healthy...

Here are a few quick tips for healthy eating:

1. Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods.

2. Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

3. Maintain a healthy weight.

4. Eat moderate portions.

5. Eat regular meals.

6. Reduce, don't eliminate certain foods.

7. Choosing skim or low-fat dairy products and lean cuts of meat such as flank steak and beef round can reduce fat intake significantly.

8. Eat LESS fried chicken.

9. Balance your food choices over time.

10.Know your diet pitfalls.

11.Make changes gradually.

12.Remember, foods are not good or bad.

Walking...

That sounds simple enought, right? Well it is, but there are ways you can walk that makes exercising more effective and efficient. You can't walk with the intentions of toning and losing weight the same way you casually walk around the house or the office. I've put together a list of techniques that you can do to help when you're walking for exercise. You may think these are crazy, but here they are.
-Bend your elbows. This will cause your arms to swing faster which in return will help your legs to move faster.
-Keep your stride short. Don't take long strides that feel awkward.
-Think heal-to-toe. Push-off with your heal. Toes should leave the ground last.
-Keep your abs pulled in and tight.
-Include interval training walks that include periods of very brisk walking followed by slower, recovery times.
-Remember to always stretch and warm-up.

BP and Pollution

It does not matter how healthy we may be, pollution is a problem we, especially people in urban areas, all deal with. BP is one of the largest polluters along the Great Lakes as it releases 54% more ammonia and 35% more sludge into Lake Michigan each day according to the Chicago Tribune. Because BP expansion will provide 80 new jobs, BP is exempt by Indiana from state environmental laws. This will allow for the $3.8 billion expansion previously mentioned. If you want to take a look at some facts, check out the BP Whiting Refinery Fact Sheet.

Although BP dumps so much pollution into Lake Michigan, it is well within legal limits and they are continously making improvements. This refinery is necessary because it provides fuel for the Midwest. Supposingly, it does absolutely no harm to the people or the environment; however, arguements can be and have been made against this fact. It aslo provides many jobs presently and will provide jobs for the future.

Groups and neighbors have begged BP to use better pollution controls at Lake Michigan, the forth largest refinery, but BP still insist that they are an environmentally friendly corporation. BP also claim that there is not enough room for such an upgrade. Maybe it is not harmful or unhealthy to the public, but the little bit of knowledge I do have about health issues, it is hard for me to believe that it does not pose a problem.

Perfect stoole softener

We all know that it's not healthy to go days, even a couple of days, without having a BM. Bad subject, I know, but a fact of life. Well, I found the perfect solution to constipation. Allow me to tell my story and explain.

Just this morning, I was waiting patiently at a red light. A big, big dumptruck--may have look to me a lot bigger than it truly was--ran the red light. A car, who was attempting to cross, slammed on brakes in the middle of the intersection to try to avoid being T-boned by this insane driver. The truck swerved to miss the car and came within milimeters of takin the front completely off my Honda Civic. It was just a couple of seconds later that I realized that I had no extra underwear in my car. Who needs exlaxs?

Who really cares??

Sure, I'd like to have perfectly chisled abs, cut biceps, formed pecs, etc. I must admit that's one of my motivations for going to the gym. When you think about it, who would love to have that. The more I observe people, though, I realize that stuff like that really isn't important. Oh, I definitely believe in being healthy. I think that's extremely important; I'm just talking about having the skupltured body. I know that, on an average, a healthy lifestyle leads to a longer, happier life. I'm not sure how it is all over the world, but in my little corner, just as many "out-of-shape" men end up with just as many beautiful girls as "in-shape" men, but it's not only about attracting the opposite sex. Men and women who are obsessed with physical fitness seem, and I've been around a few, less happy than men and women who are healthy but not obsessed. I mean, when it comes right down to it, who the heck cares that you're not perfect. I know I don't, and I definitely know I'm far from perfect. An incident that happened to me today--which I will not mention--brought that thought to my mind.

Ate Too Much

Today, we had a going away party for one of our employees who is changing jobs. We ordered out for pizza, and I ate entirely too much. I probably had twice my daily caloric intake in one meal. It will be ok though. I'll hit the gym this weekend, and I've got plenty of yard work to do. I'll have to eat healthy over the weekend to make up for it.