Posts Tagged ‘Eat’

Some strategies to get you on your way to ideal weight…

Lifestyle plays an important role in maintaining an ideal weight. Instead of burning away inches with a single pill, concentrate on these few strategies to have an ideal weight.

Record everything that you are eating
Keeping a record of what you are eating helps in managing your weight. It actually tells you how much you are eating. It can tell you what unhealthy diet you are having in your day to day life. It can motivate you to achieve your goals. Few steps in this are:
- Decide how detailed you want your food journal to be.
- Record everything. Do not even miss the sauces, gravies and even a small thing that you eat.
- Service sizes should be specific while noting them in the food journal.
- Include the time interval and food groups.
- Maintain the food journal for two weeks to get a consistent record.
- Maintain a record of physical activity.
- Every food has a calorie and nutrition content. Keep a knowledge of that.

Be more active
- More calories should be burn than consuming.
- At least 60 minutes of workout daily is necessary to keep yourself active. Workout can be a walk or any other physical activity.
- Exercise will keep the weight off.
- Exercise will also take a large amount of weight off the abdomen.
- Besides walking, some other ways to be active are swimming, dancing or biking.

Goals set should be reasonable
The key to successful weight control is to set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and track-able. Setting an unrealistic goal will lead to your disappointment. The focus should be on making performance goals rather than outcome goals.

Triggers should be identified
There are always some factors that are responsible for making you overweight. These factors should be identified and accordingly changes should be made.
- You should be honest with what you are eating.
- Sometimes, eating is related to the mood of the person. Identify the cause of eating by:
1. You tend to eat more sweet when you are depressed over something.
2. Is there any kind of pressure which is making you eat more?
3. Is the environment trigger over eating?
Try to do:
- Are you really physically hungry?
- Say no to extra calories.
- Distract yourself from your desire to eat.
- Direct negative energy into a positive energy.

Watch out for foods that you eat
- Reduce the caloric consumption which means choosing the foods wisely.
- Reduce food high in sugar or fat.
- Say no to junk food.
- Favor fruits, vegetables and whole grain products.
- Select foods that are low in energy density.

| More

If you found this post informative, why not sign up to receive new posts ?
It's simple, and free, and you can even opt to receive by email:
Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe to Good Health Tips by Email

If chronic constipation is your problem..here is a solution.Some myths and facts about constipation.

Virtually everyone has dealt with an occasional bout of constipation. Sometimes, short term use of laxative such as milk of magnesia may be needed to get things moving. Some simple tips can be eating adequate fiber, avoiding dehydration and heeding the call of nature may be enough to help keep you on track after your constipation passes. But it is not always like this…For some people constipation is a complex and persistent problem requiring individualized treatment from a doctor.

- It is not correct to think that if you are not having a bowel movement every day, you are constipated. Constipation is a symptom that is generally defined as infrequent or difficult passage of stool. Normal frequency of bowel movements in healthy adults can range from three bowel movements a day to three a week. Signs and symptoms of constipation also include straining, passing lumpy or hard stools, a sensation of incomplete evacuation or a sensation of blockage.

- The myth that the body absorbs toxins from stool if someone is constipated for too long. Some people unnecessarily take laxatives and others try colon cleansing to remove supposed toxins. These habits are not actually helpful and may actually be harmful.

- It is not always that constipation occurs when you don not eat a healthy diet. Actually, a low fiber diet may contribute to constipation. Other causes may be:
=> constipation occurs as a complication of another disease or condition or as a side effect of a drug or supplement.
=> pelvic floor dysfunction in women which is lack of coordination of the complex muscular actions that allow you to have bowel movement.

- It is wrong to say that diagnosis of constipation does not require much more than a description of bowel habits. It can be a part of your diagnostic procedure. The doctor may also perform, a physical exam, discuss medication, x-rays, blood, urine and stool test.

- It is a wrong assumption that the doctor should not prescribe a laxative for long term use. Doctor can prescribe laxative for some form of chronic constipation. Side effects with long term use of laxative may occur so it should only be done under the supervision of doctor. If laxatives are important, doctor first prescribes osmotic laxatives like milk of magnesia, polyethylene glcol or sorbitol. Stimulant laxatives are used when osmotic laxatives are not effective.

What are different health benefits of eating brown rice over white rice?

Rice is eaten in nearly every country. There are three main types of rice available: white rice, brown rice, red rice. Rice is considered as the most important staple food for a large part of the world’s human population. After rice is harvested, it is cleaned and the outer covering, called a hull or chaff, is removed. The remaining rice is brown, red or sometimes black, depending upon the seeds it originated from. If the layers of bran are then removed, white rice remains.
The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids.

Replacing white rice with brown or red rice has benefits like:
- It reduces risk of Type 2 diabetes as white rice has a higher glycemic index than brown rice which raises blood glucose levels. The high glycemic index of white rice is attributed to the change of its original structure during the polishing process and this also includes the loss of fiber, vitamins and minerals.
- Brown and red rice is better than white rice. Brown and Red has a greater nutritional value than white, since the outer brown coatings contain the proteins and minerals.
- Brown/Red also has nutrients like magnesium, manganese, and zinc.
- Brown/Red rice is more flavorful, chewy and nutty taste than white rice.
- Whole brown rice lowers cholesterol.
- Brown rice, at least 6 times each week is an especially good idea for post-menopausal women with high cholesterol, high blood pressure or other signs of cardiovascular disease.
- One type of phytonutrient especially abundant in whole grains including brown rice are plant lignum protect against breast and other hormone-dependent cancers as well as heart disease.
- Magnesium, found in brown rice, is helpful for reducing the severity of asthma, lowering high blood pressure, reducing the frequency of migraine headaches, and reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
- Eating foods high in insoluble fiber, such as brown rice, can help women avoid gallstones.
- Eating whole grains, such as brown rice, has been linked to protection against atherosclerosis, ischemic stroke, diabetes, insulin resistance, obesity, and premature death.

Brown rice does take a little longer to cook than white rice, but the time is not much longer if you pre-soak the rice for a while and cook using the absorption method.