What Is A Healthy Diet?
Alan LeStourgeon

What is a healthy diet? It’s not about counting calories,
measuring portions or cutting carbs. You won’t really find a
healthy diet on the lite menu at your favorite restaurant and
you certainly won’t find it at the local fast food joint. A
healthy diet is all about what you eat rather than how much you
eat.

If you think the latest fad diet is your panacea to health, you
are in for a big surprise. Losing weight, staying healthy and
getting back into shape after many years of diet neglect is not
about fads or eating in some radical new way for six to twelve
weeks and then going back to the way you used to eat.

The best thing you can do to keep yourself healthy is to eat a
healthy diet…all the time, not just when you want to lose
weight. Eating healthy is a long-term lifestyle choice,
something you need to do for your entire lifetime.

But what is a healthy diet? Is it what we have been lead to
believe – milk for strong bones and teeth, protein in the form
of lean beef or chicken and maybe a “healthy” microwave dinner
if we are “on the go.” Unfortunately this diet is what is
identified as the Standard American Diet or the SAD.

And what’s so wrong with the SAD?

Well, has it made us a healthier people? Are we better off as a
nation because of it?

With all of the health studies, advanced health care, the war on
cancer dating back to the 70’s, and the most advanced technology
available on the planet we have to ask ourselves why do we still
need to spend $1.3 trillion a year on health care in the United
States. Why aren’t we getting any healthier?

Other pertinent questions about your health beg for answers such
as, why after more than 30 years since the “War On Cancer” was
declared, do we still have an increasing cancer rate. Yes, we
have many more people surviving cancer but the rate at which
people are getting cancer is increasing. We have come a long way
in taking care of sick people, but we haven’t made any progress
as a nation in preventing those people from getting sick.

Why do more than 15 million people in the United States have
diabetes? Why do we still have more heart problems today than we
did 30 years ago? Why is more than 50% of our population on some
kind of prescription drug?

We spend more per person on medical care than any other nation
in the world. Why is this happening in a country that seems to
be able to solve nearly any technological problem? Why can’t we
solve our medical problems? How would life be different for us
if we were to be a nation of healthy individuals?

The secret to a healthy diet and a healthy life is living food –
fresh vegetables, fruit, juices and green leafy salads. The
answer to a healthier you is summed up in three words,
breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Living a healthy life and having a healthy family is all about
eating a healthy diet, every day of our lives!

About the author:

Alan LeStourgeon along with his wife Jean run the web site www.ezHealthyDiet.com
where they explore what it means to eat a healthy diet, have a
healthy
home and live a healthier life.

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Are there recipes out there to help you lose weight? A secret recipe, perhaps? There are combination’s of food that will assist you in losing weight. Make your own recipe book, “My Weight Loss Recipes”.

There are many ways to lose weight. But is there a right or wrong way? I believe it depends on each individual’s body chemistry. What works for you may not necessarily work for the person next to you.

If you are counting calories, you want to focus on foods that are low in fat and high in protein and fiber. Fresh fruit and vegetables don’t have all the unneeded bi-products.

Protein is an essential part of your diet. Try to choose low fat protein. Such as chicken breast without the skin, low fat yogurt, egg whites. Protein is the building blocks of cells. Let’s face it you want to build your muscle not break it down to be replaced by fat.

Here is a yummy recipe that is one of my favorites. This recipe can be used as a balanced meal or snack consisting of protein, milk product, fruit and grain. Greek Yogurt Parfait: Layer the following: 1 cup Greek fat free yogurt, one cup of strawberries (or berry of your choosing), 2/3 cup low fat granola. Absolutely delicious and filling!

How about a chicken club sandwich for lunch? Lightly toast 2 slices of whole grain bread (think, fiber). Slice a piece of grilled chicken or turkey breast (no skin, too much fat). You can use light or fat free mayo, a dab of mustard. Top with lettuce, ripe tomato, pickles on the side. There you have it: low cal, fat; high protein, fiber.

Now, what’s for dinner? I thought you would never ask. Marinade a pack of chicken breast (no skin) overnight (I prefer lemon-pepper). Make a mixture of cooked chopped broccoli, cream of celery. Tenderize the chicken breast till it is as big as your hand. Place a spoonful of broccoli mixture in the center, fold all sides, secure with toothpick. Sprinkle Pepperidge Farm Stuffing on top, lightly sprinkle fat free cheese as well. Place in oven 350 degrees for approximately 30-45 minutes.

There are so many different recipes out there to try to help you lose weight. Or you can simply take your favorite recipes and put a healthy twist to it. Making right food choices and turning that into a life style change is key to long term success.

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Whether you are trying to get rid of an unsightly beer belly or want to look good in a swimsuit, the battle of the bulge can be a tricky one to win. The good news is that it’s entirely possible to drop the pounds in a relatively short amount of time. How to lose weight comes down to one thing: burning more calories than you take in. Therefore, you either have to burn them, or decrease your intake. Here is one way to help you do the latter: Cut out soft drinks. First we’ll cover soda, then we’ll look at some other options.

You may think that drinking just one soda per day doesn’t make that much of a difference. If you’re active, and have your weight under control, then having the occasional soda is fine. But let’s take a look at how that one soda can add up and what the impact on your weight will be when you go with a calorie-free alternative.

Let’s use some simple math to see what a positive difference this one small change can make when trying to lose weight. The first thing to know is that every 3,500 calories you get rid equals one pound. Next, a typical 12 ounce can of soda contains 150 calories. Okay, here’s how it works out…

365 days in a year X 150 calories per 12 oz. = 54,750 total calories.

54,750 calories divided by 3,500 calories = 15.6 pounds!

Talk about a small change that can make add up to significant weight loss. And if you happen to drink soda in larger bottles, it could make a difference of 30 pounds or more. But be careful that you don’t replace those calories with other calories. In other words you have to cut those calories out completely to get the full benefit.

So, what are the options? Most people think juice is a good replacement for soda. Not if you’re counting calories it isn’t. For example, while soda may have 150 calories per 12 ounces, grape juice has closer to 250. Some juices have a higher water content, so you’ll have to check the label to be sure. However, if it’s a choice between soda and fruit juice, go with the juice. At least the juice contains some vital nutrients while soda is nothing but empty calories.

Another thing you may not be aware of is that the sugar in soft drinks can make you thirsty. Putting you into an endless loop of drinking calorie-laden beverages to slake the thirst that the same beverages are causing.

The best way to quench your thirst when trying to lose weight is water. Keep a large bottle within arm’s reach throughout the day, making it easy to take a sip when needed.

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A healthy diet involves including leadership the diet all the food groups that one sees in the food comp. It is eating in variety. It is enjoying life including delicious the palate. The main pitfall of obesity and being unhealthy is sticking to a particular food group day leadership and day out. The habit of eating only a particular food group nourishes the body, energizes it in fact but limited only to the nourishment that a particular food group offer. And whence it is very important to diversify your meat although that done, it is just as important that the correct balance is achieved.

Throughout the country, it is very common to glimpse great people that are undernourished. For example, while sodium helps the body to function normally, it is a fact that sodium consumption is often three times the required daily intake. Fats and calories are too, sometimes even more. This is attributed ( fair or not ) to fast food chains serving much soda, sugary foods and foods that contain saturated trans – fats. Since foods served here are almost similar in content, and are readily available, favoring a particular diet is common. Variety is lost and so are other capital nutrients.

Substantial has often been said that when we buy food we should read the label or at least know the caloric content to arrive at a healthy diet. Informed advice that should be heeded. Label information is very important if we do not want to go whereas the required fat, calorie and sodium intake. But if you are like most people, the less bother you have the more useful. Besides who really enjoys counting calories inside a restaurant or read labels in a grocery complete the time, every go. And so the list below is translated to the number of cups or servings if you will, so that the diet is easily monitored. For brevity though, ages are those that are in the steamy range. The list is based on people of average weight. The heavier and the more active you are the more you will require depending on the difference of the weight against people in the usual weight range. The approximation is very close and effective for all activity ranges that do not have particular diet requirements aside from getting sufficient nutrients clout the nutriment and staying fit.

There are six main food groups that are to be included to the diet. The food groups predominance order of serving size priority are:
1. Grains Average daily serving being adults should be about six ounces, half of which are whole grains
2. Fruit Eat fruits daily picture to two cups. This is the minimum requirement eating more than that is advisable.
3. Vegetables About three cups is the minimum
4. Meat, Beans and Proteins Three quarters of a cup is ideal.
5. Milk Groups Three cups a day is sufficient.
6. Oils should be about six teaspoons
When these requirements are met, you can still eat as much as 260 calories of added sugars and fats at your discretion.

Eating a healthy diet then simply means eating various foods to get the entire nutrient that the body needs. It does not really have to be of value. Undoubted does not have to be fact peculiar. It is simply enjoying the entire spectrum of food that nature offers and then regulating it.

24 Hour Fitness
http://www.www.24-hr-fitness.com

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