Start Your Day Off Right, Avoid These Breakfast Foods

Breakfast may be considered the most important meal of the day however in order to achieve an effective and easy weight loss there are certain items that should be avoided when preparing your morning meal. There are many benefits to a good breakfast upon rising in the morning. It will provide you with energy to hold you over until you are able to eat your lunch time meal and above all it will enable you to concentrate much better then you would do if you had not eaten the breakfast. The best part however is that if properly done a breakfast can contribute greatly to easy weight loss.

To most people breakfast is nothing more then another meal. To a dietician is provides a source of vital nutrients to the body such as calcium from the milk you drink, fiber and antioxidants from the whole grains within your cereals and breads. It only goes to prove that as wise dieters we should select only healthy breakfast foods and completely avoid any breakfast items which show no nutritional value what so ever.

In considering the items that one should avoid during breakfast we find high on our list Carrot Cake Muffins. Generally when someone who is interested in their health and losing weight hears the word carrot they immediately think the item is healthy and good for them however most of the commercially produced carrot cake muffins contain high quantities of fat and dangerous numbers of calories.




A single serving of this popular breakfast item from your local coffee shop chain store is likely to contain at least 680 calories along with around 40 grams of damaging fat. These types of items are certain to destroy any easy weight loss program you may be undertaking.

Now let's return to that coffee shop we mentioned above and talk about the doughnuts. Doughnuts are another no-no food when you are on a diet. You never should have donuts as a breakfast food since they are another high calorie item. In this case you can be eating as much as 200 calories per glazed donut. Donuts are made with grease so they naturally have a lot of fat content. It would be as if you were having French fries for breakfast when you think of the high fat content. Those doughnuts which are made with fillings will contain even higher calories counts therefore it would be in your best interests to stay away from donuts for breakfast.

Another item that is similar to the donut is the frozen waffles. These are another example of empty high calories products when it comes to weight loss and breakfast foods. Most of the frozen waffles which are purchased in the grocery store are essentially nothing more then refined grain with refined sugar added to it. The item totally lacks any value as a healthy food and certainly can be useless for those people who may be on an easy weight loss diet. In addition since most people add margarine and syrup on their waffles at breakfast time we can see the calorie meter going even higher. This is another item to scratch off your morning breakfast list.

Shall we now turn our attention to fast food breakfast meals such as McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast. Here we have items such as scrambled eggs, sausages, hash browns and pancakes with all the trimmings. Cover your eyes for a moment as I let you know what the calorie content is on this deluxe breakfast. Are you ready? It is a shocking 1,120 calories. As if that wasn't enough this combination from McD's also contains 61 grams of fat, In case you do not know 61 grams of fat is the same as taking 13 teaspoons of straight vegetable oil all at one sitting. Isn't that a scary thought to say the least?

At least you have some idea of what not to eat now for your morning breakfast when you are on an easy weight loss program. You can find plenty of wholesome foods that are good for your health as well as for your diet.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Amy_Lee_Sullivan/341471

Five Foods to Avoid For Better Fitness

Nothing is more frustrating than getting on the scale only to find that you have gained weight. For dieters, this can lead to frustration and possible starvation and fad dieting. Some foods are prone to cause you to pack on the pounds, so ridding them from your every day diet can help you lose weight faster and avoid the frustration of a scale increase.

Fast Food and Restaurants

You do not need to avoid restaurants altogether, but avoid fast food locations. Fast food restaurants fry many of their food. Not only is the food fried, but hydrogenated oils are used. Hydrogenated foods increase the chance of cancer, and it can lead to poor cardiovascular health. If you must eat at a fast food restaurant, choose a salad or light meals. Most fast food restaurants provide a nutrition guide, so you can choose the healthiest choice while dieting.

Sugars and Sweets

"Carbohydrates" is the medical term given to sugars. Sugars are immediately turned to energy, and what you do not use after a meal, your body stores it in fat cells called adipose tissue. This leads to an increase in weight and body fat. Some sweets are hidden in regular meals. Avoid eating breakfast meals filled with sugars such as pastries and cereals with additives. Choose sweets such as low sugar frozen yogurt. Fruits provide healthy carbohydrates, and they are low in calories so you can have several during the day.




Fatty Foods High in Saturated Fats

Proteins are an important nutrient for health. However, some proteins are high in saturated fats, which negatively impact your cardiovascular health. Saturated fats are found in animal products such as red meats and lard. Replace steak with more healthy choices such as fish, nuts and grains. Lowering your saturated fat intake also reduces the chance you have for a heart attack.

Processed Grains and White Flour

Processed foods such as enriched white flour have all the nutrients removed. The nutrients are replaced during processing, but they are less healthy and have some cancer risks. Avoid white flour and reprocessed grains. Choose whole grains instead for better health. Foods that are enriched have the processing warning on the packaging, so read the labels before purchasing your flour at the next grocery trip.

Frozen Dinners

Some frozen dinners promise you a low calorie meal. However, frozen dinners are often packed with high amounts of sodium. Sodium in small amounts is good for health. High amounts of sodium lead to water retention and eventual weight gain. It is also bad for cardiovascular health. Avoid eating frozen dinners, and read the packaging when buying brands that promise low calories. Even low fat meals with high sodium content are worse than a meal with slightly more calories and less sodium.

Avoiding these meals reduces your caloric intake and keeps you healthy during dieting. Some foods such as sweets or meats can be eaten in moderation, but the key is portion control. Use these meal tips along with a healthy exercise plan to improve your health and keep losing weight.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/J_Turp/610059

Five Foods You Should Avoid At Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. However, most people either avoid eating breakfast altogether, thinking that it will help them lose weight or because they don't feel like eating, while others consume the wrong kind of foods. You might wonder why you should watch what you eat at breakfast if you are not trying to lose or gain weight. Here's why: If you continue to have an unhealthy breakfast everyday, it increases your risks of heart attack, as well as of contracting diabetes. Breakfast is called so, as we 'break' our 'fast' of almost 7 to 8 hours. What you eat for breakfast, is the first thing that goes into your body after a gap of an entire night. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to pay attention to your first meal of the day. Given below are some foods that are considered 'normal' or even healthy to be consumed as breakfast, but aren't quite so:-

Wheat bread - Once wheat bread gets digested, it instantly turns to sugar and raises your insulin levels. It would be all right to have bread if you have a very active lifestyle, but not if you have a sedentary office job. Thus, bread does you no good. Wheat is almost always contaminated with mycotoxins, which can lead to contraction of diseases like osteoporosis, arthritis and allergies.

Bakery products - These include muffins, cupcakes, waffles, doughnuts, as well as beacon, ham and sausage. An average doughnut has about 200 calories, and the more sugar coated, the more unhealthy it is. You would have to walk for an hour just to burn these calories. All these foods lack in vitamins, minerals and proteins which are vital to keep up your energy level throughout the day. Processed meat like ham and bacon are high in fat and sodium, especially sodium nitrate. Constant consumption of these can lead to heart problems and sodium nitrate intake augments your risk of cancer.




'Healthy' and 'fat-free' food - Although a lot of packaged food is claimed to be healthy, it is quite otherwise. Healthy breakfast cereals for example, have sugars and salts in some or the other form, which can increase your blood sugar and cholesterol level. Besides, anything that has a long shelf life, is loaded with preservatives, which are harmful for your body in the long run. Even packaged orange juice is unhealthy, as nutritious juice, from real oranges, and without preservatives cannot last for more than two or three days. Do not be deceived by the 'fat-free' label on most products. When fat is removed from food products, some of the flavor also has to be removed, and manufacturers often add sugar, salt and artificial flavors to make up for that. Besides, while consuming fat makes you feel full, because these are fat-free products, you might actually end up eating more till you feel satiated.

Fried food - Fried foods are high in calories, cholesterol and fat. They should be avoided at all costs. When you eat fried foods first thing in the morning, they tend to deposit against the walls of your stomach and intestines, and make it harder for your digestive system to assimilate food throughout the day.

Pasteurized milk - Raw milk or organic skimmed milk is one of the best and healthiest foods you can have. It provides calcium, vitamins and protein to your body and helps you to feel full. But pasteurization of milk destroys beneficial bacteria, enzymes, protein and vitamin content and helps the growth of pathogens. Therefore, it is much better to opt for organic skimmed milk.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Kya_Cassiuss_Victoria/717877

How To Lose Belly Fat - Hint, No Cardio, Situps, or Diet - Lose 4 Inches of Belly Fat in 26 Days

Sick and tired of people giving out the same old boring and tired advice on how to lose belly fat? You know... eat more fruits and vegetables, drink more water, do situps, exercise more, and blah blah blah. What a joke!

You want something new and exciting... and that's what I have for you. Here's how to lose belly fat (specifically - lose 4 inches of belly fat in 26 days) without any diet, situps, or the typical bogus cardio stuff like running on a treadmill.

Here are 3 out-of-the-ordinary belly fat exercises that will allow you to lose belly fat fast.

Lose Belly Fat Exercise #1: The Belly Rub

This is my favorite belly fat exercise and it takes all of 40 seconds to do. First, you need to rub your hands together for 10-15 seconds to create kinetic heat energy (I'll explain briefly). Next, you take 1 hand and start rubbing around your belly button in small circles.




Rubbing your belly in circles should last about 25-30 seconds. That's it. Do 3-5 minutes of this each day.

Ok, now the idea behind that. Belly fat (all fat) doesn't like heat. Any type of environment where your core body temperature gets elevated increases your body's fat burning abilities. So by rubbing your hands and creating kinetic heat energy... and then rubbing one of those hands on your belly... you're creating a localized area of higher internal temperatures.

And... it's right on your belly fat. The heat from your hands pass through your skin and right into the belly fat deposits. This heat will help "persuade" and loosen up some of the fat to dissolve or break off and be carried away in the blood.

Soon after that, that fat will be excreted by you in either your urine, feces, or sweat.

Oh yeah, 1 quick tip before I go on to the next belly fat exercise. To generate more heat quicker, lick one of your hands before you rub them together. Seriously... it works!

Lose Belly Fat Exercise #2: Vacuum Pose

This exercise is similar to sucking in your belly, but there is a key difference. While standing up, you need to visualize your belly button getting sucked into your lower back when you do this. This will help you to suck in your belly at the correct point... which is your belly button.

Lead with your belly button when you suck in your belly.

This exercise doesn't provide much for weight loss, but it's the quickest way to lose inches from your waist while toning up your belly. I'll repeat that. This exercise is the quickest way you can lose inches from your waist!

Anyway, when you do the vacuum pose, suck in your belly for a minimum of 15 seconds each time. Eventually, try to build up to holding in your sucked-in belly for 1 minute at a time. Do this exercise for 5 minutes everyday.

Lose Belly Fat Exercise #3: Jumping on a Mini-trampoline

Ok, first off, you can get a mini-trampoline for about $25. Wal-Mart has them. Now, this is probably my favorite piece of equipment. It allows me to stay home to workout. You're going to jump on the mini-trampoline, but it won't be like that typical gym cardio.

I want you to jump on it for 2 minutes at a time. Nothing more. Now, don't worry... you don't need to jump high for this to be effective. In fact, you barely lift your heels off the thing. A lot of times, my toes don't even leave the surface of it... just my heels lift off and sway left to right in a nice rhythm.

What I found that works best for me is to do these 2 minute intervals during tv commercials. The typical tv show has about 22 minutes of commercials each hour. So there's your 22 minutes of working out... without you having to make a special trip anywhere.

The 22 minutes breeze by... all the while as you watch tv. What can be better than that?

Now, you don't need to limit yourself to just doing these during tv commercials. Do them whenever. What I do is I jump on it for 2 minutes whenever I get a chance... morning, afternoon, or night. The 2 minutes here and there add up. But I also have a routine of doing them while I watch my favorite tv shows at night... 4 days a week, 22 minutes each night.

So how did I do?

Did I not deliver on my promise to give you some cool and fun belly fat exercises! And yes... I had 1 client who lost 4 inches off her waist in 26 days doing just these 3 exercises... without making any changes to her diet or exercise routine. I've also had numerous other clients lose 2-3 inches in a month doing these.

If you don't know how to lose belly fat after reading this article, I don't know what to say. This is not brain surgery. You just need to get up off your butt and do these things. Now go lose some belly fat before you make me mad! Smile. Kidding.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jennifer_Jolan/141264