Simple Changes for a Healthy Heart

Here are some great tips for a Heart Healthy Lifestyle. Enjoy!

Easy ways to burn calories

 Here are some easy ways to burn calories. Click on the link and it will take you to my latest article.

Tools for Calculating Calories

 This is a great website I found, which lets you calculate how many calories you should be eating in the day in order to either maintain the weight you already have or to lose weight. Knowing how many calories you eat and how much you burn off, is a great way to keep track of your health.

Calorie Calculator

More food health and nutrition Articles

Check out weekly articles in the Candor - Muslim Lifestyle Magazine. Nutrition Health, and Fitness

Get great Abs

Nutrition - How to lose weight Tip # 18

Everyone loves potatoes, whether they are in the form of french fries, scalloped potatoes, mashed potatoes, or baked potatoes. We all know that potatoes are a very high source of carbohydrates. So in order to minimize some of this carbohydrate, here is a trick we can all follow when making mashed potatoes. Mix in some boiled and mashed cauliflower in with your mashed potatoes, and you will never even see or feel a difference. This will also add nutrients to your mash potatoes and reduce the amount of carbohydrate you eat. Its a great way to sneak in some vegetable servings into your family's meals. They will never even know :) Please share any of your ideas for making meals more nutrient dense.

Nutrition - How to lose weight Tip # 17

Eggs are a essential part of a balanced nutritious diet. They are a great source of protein, vitamin A, and many other nutrients. The egg yolk contains all the fat and cholesterol. So in order to minimize the the amount of fat and cholesterol while eating eggs prepare your omelets or scrambled eggs with 1 whole egg and 1-2 egg whites. If you don't want to waste the egg yolk you can buy the egg whites separately and add them to one whole egg. This way you will minimize the fat and cholesterol, and still be able to enjoy your eggs just they way you like them. You wont even taste the difference but your body will show the difference over time.

Walk off the fat!

Here is a great walking work out that I found. I will be following it for the next four weeks. Try it with me, and lets see the results. Lets report back in 4 weeks and see how much weight or inches we lost while doing this for 20 minutes everyday. No cheating!

http://www.neversaydiet.com/files/leslie_walk_july20minutes.pdf

On vacation

I am going on Vacation for 3 weeks, and will not be posting any new articles. Please come back and read new posts in 3 weeks.

Thanks for reading :)

Obesity in Kids: Three Lifestyle Changes That Help

Obesity in Kids: Three Lifestyle Changes That Help

Nutrition - How to lose weight Tip # 16

Since the breakfast is the most important part of the meal, here are a few breakfast ideas to keep you going during the day and to boost your metabolism earlier in the day:

• Mix fresh berries with yogurt and granola
• Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a grapefruit
• Scrambled eggs with peppers
• Fresh fruit salad
• Fresh fruit with cottage cheese
• Omelet with peppers and veggies and low fat mozzarella cheese
• Whole wheat waffles with fresh fruit and a little maple syrup (substitute with peanut butter)
• Fresh fruit smoothie
• An apple, 4 cubes cheddar cheese, and 10 walnuts (breakfast on the go)
• Oatmeal with fresh fruit
• Two hard boiled eggs
• Add a cup of green tea with any of the above 

Please share your breakfast ideas

Nutrition - How to lose weight Tip #15

Snacks are a necessary part of weight loss because they prevent you from over eating at meals. Here are some snack ideas that are 100 calories.

• 1 cup Strawberries with 2 tbsp of low fat yogurt
• 1 hard cooked egg with salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup of frozen yogurt
• 10 pieces of mixed nuts
• 3 cups of popcorn without butter
• 1 mozzarella string cheese
• 1 cup fat free yogurt
• 1/2 whole wheat bagel
• 1 cup fat free chocolate pudding
• 1/2 apple with 2 tsp peanut butter
• 1 whole orange
• 1 small baked potato with 1/2 cup salsa
• 7 baby carrots
• 1 banana
• 1 rice cake and 2 tsp peanut butter
• 1 stalk of celery filled with 2 tbsp of peanut butter
• 100 calorie fudgsicle

Nutrition - How to lose weight Tip # 14

You know when you're craving a mid afternoon snack and you have already had lunch and dinner is still a few hours away?  The perfect snack for this time of the day is carrots. You can buy the already peeled and washed baby carrots or get regular carrots and wash and peel them yourself. Either way it is a very easy snack to prepare in no time. Carrots have the highest source of beta carotene, which converts to vitamin A in the body and helps prevent cancer. Carrots are also good for you eyes, lungs, heart and skin. A great way to enjoy carrots is by combining them with delicious dips. You can also drink carrot juice to get the great benefits from this vegetable. Lose weight by grabbing carrots instead of chips or cookies and also help your skin and hair look great. Start living healthier today!

Nutrition - How to lose weight tip #13

Reduce your television viewing hours to a maximum of two hours a day in order to shed off some extra pounds. While you are watching TV you are missing out on activities that can burn calories, even if it is as simple as walking around the house. Not to mention that along with watching TV we all love to munch on food that our body doesn't really need. This is what leads to mindless eating and causes us to over eat and gain those extra pounds that are so hard to get rid of. If there are certain shows that you must watch then try and do some activities during the commercial breaks. Instead of staring at those commercials for junk food ads or the fattening ice cream sundae ads, you can put your TV on mute and do some crunches, sit ups, or push ups. If you own a stability ball try to watch your TV show while sitting on the ball. This way you are engaging your muscles in a work out and watching TV at the same time. 

Nutrition - How to lose weight tip #12

We've all heard about antioxidants and how they help protect our body from free radicals that cause cancer. Blueberries have the most antioxidants compared to other fruits. Blueberries are also a good source of vitamin, minerals and fiber. Add them to your daily diet and you will be doing your body a huge favor. Blueberries are also the one of the lowest calorie foods, so you can eat as many as you want without effecting your calorie count. You can eat them plain or add them to your yogurt or your cereal.

Nutrition - How to lose weight Tip #11

We have all heard of "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," but is this really true? Apples are filled with antioxidants and fiber to help protect you from diseases. They also make great low calorie snacks that fill you up, and help fight weight gain. Apples are known for strengthening your bones and help prevent osteoporosis according to a scientific study.  Eating an apple a day can also lower bad cholesterol in your body. Nutrients in apples help protect you from various kinds of cancers in the body. It is also great for managing diabetes in individuals. A study shows that people who incorporate apples in their diet plan are more likely to lose weight than those who do not eat apples. They also keep your teeth and gums healthy, so you can even keep the dentist away. Apples help digestion so they can also help solve any constipation problems as well.

Just remember that the skin of the apple is the part with all the nutrients so don't peel your apples. If you don't want your apples to brown too quickly place then in a bowl of cold water with a little bit of lemon juice. That should do the trick. Try adding apple slices into your salad for some great flavor. Also apples dipped in peanut butter make a very healthy snack that keep you full for a long time. Now there you have it! A miracle fruit that can keep you away from the doctor's office!

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Nutrition - How to lose weight Tip #10

Do you find yourself buying lots of vegetables at the grocery store, but not really getting around to eating any of them? You're not the only one. There are lots of people who make a pact that they will start eating more vegetables but they never do it because either they don't know how to prepare it, or they just don't like eating them and keep putting it off until the veggies are all old and soggy and you have to throw them out. If you are skipping out on your vegetables you are not getting enough Vitamin A and Vitamin K. You are also possibly missing out on folate and essential fiber in your diet. Not everyone likes all the vegetables that are out there, so try to eat a lot of the ones that you do like. For example if you love carrots try to eat them more often. Although its better to get your essential vitamins directly from fruits and vegetables, but if necessary you can attain your daily requirements from multivitamins. If you are eating no vegetables at all, then make sure you are also taking a fiber supplement. The vitamins and supplements are not comparable to the real vegetables but they can help prevent disease so make sure you are taking one or the other.

Some tips to help you eat vegetables is to buy the vegetables that are in season so that they taste fresh. If the time is an issue then get pre-cut and pre-washed veggies in order to save time and have veggies ready to eat on the go. If you are tired of eating them raw, then lightly steam them with a little salt and pepper for some flavour. Always have a vegetable option at every meal, and try to keep cut up veggies in the fridge so when you're craving a snack you are more likely to reach for the veggies and not the bag of chips.

Nutrition- How to lose weight Tip #9

Its perfectly fine to have some junk food around the house for those days where you are absolutely craving it. However, you should keep the junk food out of your sight on other days. Put it in a coloured bag so that its not easy to see. Keep it on the top shelf in the pantry, or in the back of the fridge or freezer. Keep all cookies in a non see through jar and candy in closed containers. Keep all the healthy food in the front of the fridge and pantry and place the unhealthy food towards the back. Doing this will keep junk food off of your mind and you will only eat it once in awhile when you are really craving it. If you are someone who has no or very little control on your cravings then it is a better idea to just not bring the junk food home. If you want to train yourself then keep the junk food near you and practice controlling the temptation. Try imagining the body you wish you had in your head and instead of reaching for the junk food, eat an apple. I hope these tips help you stay junk food free!

Nutrition - How to lose weight Tip #8

The worst thing you can do for your weight loss plan is skip your meals. I know it sounds like an easy way to lose weight because if I'm not eating then I'm not getting fat. Wrong! All skipping a meal does is makes you really hungry at the end of the day, and causes you to over eat at night, which is the worst time for over eating because you don't want your food to remain improperly digested in your stomach while you're sleeping.

Eating smaller meals 3-4 times a day can help you control your appetite better than skipping meals. If you eat frequent healthy meals then you will not feel hungry at any certain point of the day. The worst meal to skip is breakfast because in the morning your body is in fasting mode and your metabolism is extremely slow from the long night's sleep. In order to rev up your metabolism and start burning calories you need to eat a hearty breakfast to fuel your system. By skipping meals you are depriving the body of the fuel it needs to function properly. Missing your meal also causes you to have low blood sugar. No to mention that it makes you feel really sluggish and cranky. This causes you to have a really unproductive day. Skipping meals causes you to be extremely hungry late at night where you feel like eating anything you can find in your fridge or pantry, and most of the time its junk food. At this time your hunger takes over you and you eat without thinking about what you're eating and how much you're eating.

So if you are one of those people who thinks that skipping meals is a good way to lose weight, then you might want to rethink your weight loss plan because this plan is back firing on you and you may not even know it. It is also leading you to develop really bad eating habits which can have a negative effect on your health in the long run.

If you want to lose weight, make healthy meal choices, eat small meals every 3-4 hours to keep your metabolism working, and exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Make this a part of your daily routine and you will never feel the need to diet again!

Written by: Sadia Khan

Photo source: Creative Commons

Nutrition - How to lose weight Tip #7

One easy way to control your portions is to eat in smaller plates and drink from tall skinny glasses instead of short wide ones. A regular portion looks too little on a big plate but if placed on a small plate it looks like a lot of food. This is a great way to trick your mind into thinking that you're eating a lot of food. However it would be a good idea to use large bowls for your salads and vegetables to make sure that you are meeting your recommended daily servings of vegetables. I found an excellent website on eating in small plates. Check it out http://smallplatemovement.org/