Top 5 tips to eat right

The amount of information about eating right is OVERWHELMING!! Whereever you see there are people who have their own philosophy about eating right. Well, I can either be one of them or I can read through their philosolphies and tell you which are the most effective ones based on research and personal experience. I would I would go for the latter. I have gone through a number of websites and books to see what nutritional and the fitness industry experts class as healthy eating or the RIGHT WAY TO EAT. I found that most of them were saying more or less the same thing. One concetrated on one bit more than the other and vice versa. So here goes:

The more colourful the better: If you are eating a steak, it is usually dark brown in colour. Now just give it color, add a small portion of mashed potatoes (made with olive oil), some bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and chillies. Now that is colorful and at the same time, it will much healthier that just a piece of MEAT. You get fiber and complex carbs from the vegetables and mashed potatoes. You get the fat from the meat and olive oil in the mashed potates and protein from the meat. 'A complete meal' I call it. Add vegetables to add colour to your meal. Lots of vitamines and minerals along with fiber to help you feel more satisfied.

Stay hydrated: Doesn't matter how many times I talk about drinking water, it is not enough. I remember reading that if you are a body builder or you workout with heavy weights, you will increase your lifts by about 8% if you are hydrated as compared to when you are not. Just goes on to show you how good water is for you. I mean...we are about 80% water..aren't we? Ohh and if you are a body builder, protein can only bind with water. 1 molecule of protein binds with 2 of water. Have you ever noticed at 100grams of lean chicken breast has 21 - 25 grams of protein. What is the rest of the 75%? Well, about 70% or that 75 is water. So PEOPLE drink up!!

Never fill yourself to the limit: Smaller meals speed up your metabolism whereas larger meals speed it to the extent that your systems get exhausted and then slows down very quickly, UNLESS you have the capacity to cope with this load. Let's take a look at an example. If you have an old car, you travel at a speed of 30 - 40 miles an hour, the car will be fine and will take you from point A to point B. That very same car, if driven at 100 miles an hour will go fine for a while but chances are it may get heated up or might get some other problem. I know not that great an example but you get the idea!!! I suggest fill up to 2/3rds of your stomach.

Don't eat any a MEAL 2 hours before bet time: The reason for this is because when you sleep your matabolism slows down. If you eat something (especially carbs) before going to bed, they will not get used up and get stored as fat. Now noones wants that!! right? So give it a couple of hours before you go to bed.

Avoid simple sugars and saturated fats: This really is a no brainer. Simple sugars like any thing that has sugar and saturated fats like processed oil and butter etc. both should be avoided. Ohh and don't forget the ICE CREAM!! Ice cream has both simple sugars and cream i.e. saturated fat.

Follow these and you see a difference your lifestyle.

8 ways to lose weight without exercise

Now many people grilled me on my No sweat fat burning method post some time back, saying why am I prmoting not exercising. The thing is that I want to help people with atleast one thing if not both. Either, start and keep them with exercising or get them to start eating right. Both would absolutely amazing if there is a person who saying I want to lose weight but I don't want to exercise, people look him like he is some lazy coutch potato. I don't think there is any thing wrong with not wanting to workout. Working out is important for fitness not for weight loss. Weight loss is a secondary phenomenon that happens when you get fit. If you just want to lose weight, you CAN do it by not exercising. What happens is people get put off when they hear that they cannot lose weight without exercise and they won't even try. I have a problem with people trying to take pills to lose weight but not really the not exercising issue.

I have come up with 8 things that you can do to burn fat and lose the extra weight. Here you go guys:

- Eat real foods: Basically, NO PROCESSED FOOD. I think this is the most common advice you will find for losing weight. The reason is that it is the best one. Stick to natural and real foods like lean meat, veggies, grains, nuts and fruits. Avoid anything that comes out of a package and with a brand name on it.

- Eat Frequently: Eat after every 2 - 3 hours as it increases your metabolism. You won't feel hungry or won't have carbohydrate cravings. Honestly, this is excellent advice. You will never BINGE EAT ever again.

- Control your portion size: Now it doesn't mean eat HUGE portions of chicken and whole grain bread sandwiches. Even though they are healthy, bug portions mean more calories so you might actually gain if eat too much of whole foods as well. Restrict your portion size. If you have a 12 inch subway sandwich, leave 6 inches and eat it after 2 - 3 hours. The same thing, same amount of calories BUT better digestion, increased metabolism and weight loss :)

- Water before and during: Drink water before and during your meal. Not right after your meal. There are some serious absorption issues. I always recommend take a glass of water before a meal and take one glass during the meal i.e. sipping as you go on eating.

- Don't fill yourself up: Eat enough to fill about 2/3 of your total stomach capacity. Only YOU can be the judge for that.

- Eat fats: Eat enough healthy fats from nuts and non-processed oils. They are great for energy and help you get enough calories in a small meal. E.g you need a 400 calories meal and using protein and low carbs you get about 300. Sprinkle one tablespoon of olive oil on it and you get those extra 100 calories to get the 400 calories.

- Eat junk once a week: You are allowed to cheat once a week so go all out. Eat WHATEVER you want. Just keep it to one day. Even better, just keep it to one meal.

- Take fresh juices: If you feel like having some juice. Go to the kitchen, switch on your juices and get some fresh juice. Avoid the other juices...Ain't always what they say it is.

There you go. Nice and simple wasn't it? Let me know what you think by leaving a COMMENT!!!

Top 5 foods to burn fat

Let's be honest here. There no foods that BURN fat directly. There are a number of different theories out there but there is just one basic principle about foods that burn fat. Foods that raise your metabolism for long periods of time will burn fat. The longer the metabolism is raised for, the more fat burning will take place. I am not saying everything else is pointless. I am just saying that they may help the process...THAT IS IT!!

Animal protein is usually the best candidate as it takes longer to breakdown. Here is the breakdown rate order from quickest to slowest.

Simple Carbohydrates
Complex Carbhydrates
Unsaturated Fats
Saturates fats
Fibrous Carbohydrates
Dairy Protein
Animal Protein

Some people might want to argue with me. LOOKING FORWARD TO IT...BRING IT ON B_ _ _H.

Now let's get to the point. Top 5 fat burning food. Here it comes. The number 5 place goes to........


Avocado: Some websites call this a SUPER FOOD. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a super food, but they are pretty good. Very high in unsaturated fats, vitamins and have quite a bit of fiber. I don't want to get into how fats are good for you, that is a whole post on its own. Just remember unsaturated fats in moderate amounts are good to burn fat.

Fibrous vegetables: First of all these vegetables (and even fruits) that are high in fiber are low in calories and fill you up for a good amount of time. They are mainly carbohydrates so energy is not a problem. So basically all I am trying to say is listen to your mum...take in lots of vegetables :D

Lentils and Beans: Lentils are not used in the western world all that much...unless you are a vegan. The main usage of lentils and legumes is in the indian subcontinent. They are high in SECOND GRADE protein so one should always try to mix them up with some sort of LOW GI carbs to get a complete protein. Even if they are taken alone, they will help in reducing body fat.

Chicken: This one is a no brainer. Isn't it? Every where you look you see high protein and you can't have too much beef and even eggs so people stick to lots and lots of chicken. Turkey falls in the same category but I personally couldn't develop the taste for it. The meat i.e. chicken i.e. animal protein i.e. complete protein keep you full for longer. The thermal effect raises the matabolism for longer and it help muscles rebuild themselves after a workout.

An the WINNER IS............THE FISHES

Fish: Let's just say you get all the benefits from a fish that you get from chicken. The only difference is that the fish has healthy fats in them. Oils that are mono and poly unsaturated. Oils like Omega 3 and 6 etc. So a fish is excellent. to burn fat ohh and to build muscle as well. But that's a different story.

Hope you guys enjoyed the post. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

Vegetarian/Vegan diet to burn fat and build muscle

This post is a continuation of the previous post. I wanted to give you an idea of what a muscle building vegetarian meal is. You have lots and lots of options but it really depends on where you live. You can’t get meat substitutes and soy based products everywhere so you need to plan your diet according to what is possible for you.

Meal 1: Oatmeal or bran cereal with milk (soy or rice milk if you prefer)
Meal 2: Peanut butter sandwich (you can also use some jam or jelly)
Meal 3: Mashed potatoes with whole wheat pasta and Bolognese sauce
Meal 4: Tofu
Post workout meal: soy or whey protein shake with some sugar
Meal 6: Soy based product (burger, hot dog etc.) - mainly protein

You can add another meal before or after meal 4 which can be salad or fruits.

That following table was taken from http://ksteveh.tripod.com/protein.html. It outlines the High protein vegetarian foods that can be taken to build muscle.

Qty Protein Carbs Protein Fat Calories

Egg White from 1 egg 100% 0 4 0 16
Yves Veggie Back Bacon 2 slices 89% 1.2 10 0 44.8
Yves Veggie Deli Slice 2 slices 86% 1.3 7 0 35
Yves Veggie Hot Dog 1 dog 83% 2.2 11 0 52.8
Yves Veggie Ground Round 1/3 C. 78% 3.4 12 0 61.6
Breakfast Links 2 links 76% 3.8 12 0 63.2
Yves Pepperoni Slices 2 slices 76% 2.3 8.5 0.2 44.8
Yves Burger Burgers 1 burger 73% 6.7 18 0 98.8
Yves Veggie Turkey Slice 2 slices 70% 3.4 8 0 45.6
Yves Veggie Ham Slice 2 slices 70% 3 7 0 40
Boca Burger 1 burger 62% 8 13 0 84
Cott Cheese 1/2 C 61% 6.7 15 1.3 98.5
Super Soy Burger-Soy City 1 burger 56% 13.2 25 2.9 178.9
Second Nature Burger 1 burger 51% 8 15 2.8 117.2
Lightburger 1 burger 50% 14 16 1 129
Soy Cheese 1 slice 39% 1 4 2.3 40.7
Tempeh 113 g (1/4 pkg) 38% 3.5 11 6.5 116.5
Tofu-La Soyarie 1/4 pkg 113.5 g 36% 3 12 8 132
Green Chef Burger 1 burger 35% 8.2 13.8 7.5 155.5
Veg Cutlet 1 cutlet 34% 9.1 14 8.3 167.1
Veg Cutlet w/Spinach Zoglo's 1 cutlet 28% 14 14 10 202
La Soyarie Nutburger 1 burger 26% 6.2 9.6 9.3 146.9
Cheddar Cheese 1 oz. 25% 0.6 7.1 9.1 112.7
Green Chef Cutlet 1 cutlet 19% 18.4 8.4 8.1 180.1
Veg Pate (Fontaine Sante) 55 g 17% 12.4 5.8 7.3 138.5

The above are examples and there are a lot more variations of high protein vegetarian foods. Look into more combination proteins, stick to whole wheat and avoid over eating.

Here is sample fat loss vegetarian diet.



Carbs Protein Fat Calories

Breakfast
Bread 1 slice 18 4.2 1.5 102.3
Egg White from 4 egg 0 16 0 64
Whey Protein 1 scoop 2 24 0.5 108.5
Veggie Breakfast Links 2 links 3.8 12 0 63.2
Total 23.8 56.2 2 338

Lunch
Ratatouille 24.4 28.1 7.5 276.9

Mid Afternoon Snack
Celery 3 stalk 4.8 0 4.8 0.4
Bread 1 slice 18 4.2 1.5 102.3
Almond Butter 1 T. 4 3 8 100
Total 26.8 7.2 14.3 264.7

Supper
BIG SALAD 30.1 18.8 17.5 352.9
Boca Burger 1 burger 8 13 0 84
Total 38.1 31.8 17.5 436.9

Evening Snack
Strawberries 1C whole 12.5 1 0.7 60.3
Cott Cheese 1/2 C 6.7 15 1.3 98.5
Total 19.2 16 2 158.8

DAY TOTAL 132.3 139.3 43.3 1,475.30

If you want to lower your calories even more, then remove the breads and you will drop down to about 1200 calories.

Hope this was useful for you guys. Just to re-iterate - You can get an excellent physique through a vegan/vegetarian diet and you can get excellent results by sticking to a high protein vegetarian diet.

Hope this was useful for you. Stay tuned for some more information on vegetarian diets and some muscle building hints and tips.

Q&A - Vegetarian diet to build muscle quickly

Question:

Is it possible to put on useful muscle mass on a diet mainly comprising of dal-roti, and sub-continent vegetarian food with a bit of lactose intolerance? One or two eggs per day (not sure of the conclusion of the debate about dietary and serum cholestrol relationship though), and occasional meat are okay.

Also, there are other constraints as well like:
- A 13 hour job including commute, leaving very little time to do any meaningful exercise on weekdays.
- Very little possiblility of taking 5-6 balanced meals. The staple remains, lentils/legumes and Whole-wheat/Polished-rice.
- No possibility of going to a Gym, hence relying on body
-weight, and a bar with some not-so-heavy weights.Will be delighted if something could still be worked out despite above limitations.

Answer:
I recently got this question and thought that writing a full answer would be useful for a number of people out there. The question is concentrating mostly around a busy life and vegetarian food. I will address both the concerns one by one, so here goes.

Yes! It is possible to gain muscle while on a sub-continental vegetarian diet. In order to build muscle you need sufficient amount of calories – protein in particular. If you cannot take lean protein such as chicken and fish etc. then the next best option is dairy which includes milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs etc. If you are lactose intolerant and are not allowed to take in a lot of diary then you take combination proteins. Combination proteins are when you combine more than one kind of food to make a complete first great protein. There are 4 major food groups for combination proteins:

Group 1: Whole grain breads, cereals, rice, pastas etc.

Group 2: Legumes – Lentils, beans, peas

Group 3: Vegetables

Group 4: Nuts and seeds

Now, you can combine foods from group 2, group 3 or group 4 with group 1 to get a complete protein meal. However, you have the possibility of getting carbohydrates and proteins with it as well, so you cannot call it lean protein but complete protein. Some examples of combination proteins are whole wheat bread and beans, rice (preferably brown) and potatoes/other vegetables, nuts and cereal. The only thing is that in the sub-continent, oil is used very frequently and in large amounts. You need to reduce the amount of cooking oil used – instead, use olive oil, omega 3 and 6 oils etc. So the answer is – YES, you can build muscle on a vegetarian diet. You can get the required amount of calories and protein to help you gain muscle mass. It is also very important to do the right kind of exercises to build muscle.

The second concern was about the lack of time. You don’t need to spend hours in the gym – unless you want to become a professional body builder. The important point is that you need to workout hard (10 – 20 minutes is enough) and keep giving your body nutrients to repair the muscle and at the same time increasing muscle mass. It doesn’t matter whether you workout at night or workout early in the morning, the key is to just DO IT. There are no excuses now. All you need is 15 minutes out of your day for a good workout and you are good to go.

I personally would recommend doing pull push sessions where one day you do pull exercises and the next day you do push exercises. You want to engage many muscle groups at the same time and exhaust them. This will take less time and give you better results. Don’t do things like single body part etc. That is more for the pros and people who are already is excellent shape. If you want to grow – then you need to increase your testosterone, HGH and insulin levels. You can’t increase insulin and HGH at the same time, so it really depends on your body type. If you are chubby then concentrate on the HGH methods otherwise use insulin.

You don’t need a nutritionist certified diet to build muscle, just eat all the healthy things around you when you can e.g. take a lunch box to the office, keep some almonds with you at all time, keep healthy snacks in the office fridge.

I have a funny feeling that there is A LOT more that should be written here so I guess I will post a diet guide and some exercises in the next couple of posts so stay tuned.

Post workout meals to burn fat and build muscle – Finale

We have discussed 3 different types of post workout meals - One for muscle building and the others for increasing fat loss. These diets need to be incorporated with the right kind of exercises to get maximum results. I wanted to give you a few examples of all these types of the post workout meals so here goes:

Muscle Building

Whey protein powder with water and sugar
Hour later – Whole wheat chicken breast sandwich
--
Double Banana smoothie (with yogurt)
Hour later – Chicken lasagna

Fat loss method 1

Whole wheat turkey salad sandwich
--
Chicken steak with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables

Fat loss method 2

Egg whites
Hour to two hours later – Apple and orange smoothie with whey
--
Whey protein shake with minimum carbs
Hour to two hours later – Grilled fish and vegetables

Now these are just examples to let you know what kind of things you should be looking for. You can find a great deal of information on the net about what foods are simple carbs, complex carbs, High and Low GI carbs etc.

Create your own meal plan based on what your aims are. Write down what you want to achieve and don’t compromise on it at any cost. Read the article – ‘Are all calories the same’ to get some understanding of the calories and then select accordingly.

I hope this was useful for you. People often don’t give importance to the post workout meals thinking that we will gain whatever we have just lost during the workout. It doesn’t work that way. Post workout meals are extremely important – Some experts call it the second most important meal of the day. So make sure you take the right kind of meal for your aims and goals otherwise all your hard work may go to complete waste.

Let me know what you thought about the post. If you need more information, please give me a shout :-).

Post workout meals to burn fat and build muscle - Part 2

In the previous post, I discussed the best post workout meal for building muscle. If you haven’t read it already, you can read it here. I did a lot of research on the best post workout meals to burn fat. There are just too many theories out there, but I finally read an article by Tom Venuto which stated that the best post workout meal for fat loss is just a normal meal with complex and natural carbs. I personally would say that one should take low GI carbs with protein and unsaturated fats. Here’s why.

After a fat loss workout – which should include full body workouts, you use up quite a bit of your muscle glycogen and you raise your metabolism due to the EPOC effect. Now your body needs the fuel. If you eat a normal meal as mentioned above, you will send the message to your body that you have some food coming, so don’t go to the muscle for fuel and don’t increase cortisol levels. Now, slowly and steadily the food that you have eaten will start getting absorbed and continue to get absorbed for quite some time. Because you are taking low GI carbs with proteins and unsaturated fats, you will slow down the absorption and during that time, a vast majority of the energy will come from the stored fats. This process will continue till such time that all the food has been absorbed.

Personally speaking this is a very good method to lose fat. Do keep in mind that you need to control the portion size. Don’t overdo it. However, you don’t get all the benefits from this method.

Once you do full body workouts or HIIT sessions, you get both the effects mentioned above i.e. using up of glycogen and raising the metabolism. But at the same time, it is known that if you work your entire body especially through HIIT, you increase your HGH (Human Growth Hormone) levels to amazing levels. The HGH is good for muscle building but at the same time, to is amazing for fat breakdown. The two peak timings of HGH are post workout and during deep sleep. If you eat carbs right after your workout, you stop the release of HGH. This is something you don’t want to do. The HGH forces your body to use fat as the primary source of energy instead of the carbs that have been taken and are in the blood stream. The best way to avoid lower your HGH is by:

- Taking only protein after a workout
- Taking in carbohydrates an hour or two after the workout (Low GI)
- Not taking any fats an hour before the workout

The above points will help you keep HGH raised after the workouts. Some people may say that you should take carbs after a workout an ANY COST. I disagree with that because our body is very smart. If you need fuel in your body and you don’t have carbs in your system or the carbs are very low, it will look for alternatives. We have processes like glycogenolysis, gloconeogenesis and lipolysis that increase the levels of carbohydrates or fuel in our system from fats and stored glycogen. If you do not have any stored glycogen, then most of it comes from fats. If you take in proteins, the body knows that you are not starving and will not increase cortisol (muscle breaking hormone). Basically, in very simple terms, you can breakdown fat and use it as energy and also provide some amounts of glycogen to the muscles. This will be particularly useful if you have quite a bit of fat.

I hope you didn’t fall asleep reading all that. I would recommend (personally) going with the second method as it includes the effects of the first method plus lots more. Stay tuned for some more details and meal examples.

Post workout meals to burn fat and build muscle - Part 1

There are a number of views about post workout meals like it is the most important meal of the day (after the breakfast), it needs to have lots of carbs, it needs to have lots of proteins and bla bla bla. There is so much information on the internet, that you never know what is right for you. I remember when I was doing my own research I found people basing there arguments on things like you should not eat too much protein because it will turn into carbs and you will get fat. I almost fell off my chair laughing when I read this. What I intend to do is give you some basic scientific facts about your what goal goes with which post workout meal so that you can make your own decision.

Ok…so our topic today is post workout meals to burn fat and builds muscle. The most common type of muscle building post workout meal is - high GI carbs followed by low GI carbs and high protein and no fats. The idea is - after a muscle building workout, you are completely drained of the muscle glycogen (carbs) which is the primary source of energy for your body and you need to repair the muscles as you have put stress on them during the workout and created microscopic muscle tears. If you take the high GI carbs right after a workout and then take the low GI carbs and protein, you get the following effects.

- You raise you blood sugar levels
- You raise insulin levels
- You get low GI carbs and protein in your system for muscle repair

The sugar will rush to the muscles, get used up and fill the glycogen pools, which means that you will store the carbs/glycogen in the muscles rather than as fats. There is a lot behind this as well, but I don’t want to bore you unless you ask me to :-). Insulin is an anabolic (cell building) hormone and also promotes muscle synthesis (muscle building) - it will use the protein that you have taken and push it to repair the muscle (i.e. build the muscle). The remaining low GI carbs will provide continuous energy to your body in order to get the muscle repaired and not feel lethargic. This is the most widely used approach for muscle building. The mix of high GI and low GI carbohydrates is used to provide your body with quick regeneration properties and also getting constant energy so that you don’t feel tired. There are a lot more details to this but you get the gist of it :-).

This method is excellent for muscle building, but is it good for fat loss? The insulin level tells your body, not to use any stored fat as the body has too many carbohydrates anyway, so the majority of the energy comes from carbohydrates. How will you lose fat using this method? The answer is that you can lose fat and weight using this method only if the meal is very small. Once the high GI carbs run to the muscles and there are no carbs in the blood stream, the body may get some energy from the fats. However, it is important to note that the insulin levels will be raised (to some extent) which will minimize the fat usage but nonetheless, some fat can be used. Once you take the low GI carbs and proteins, you will slow down the usage of fats even more. Basically, this method is not all that great for fat loss. There are other more effective methods for fat loss.

Stay tuned for the next post there I will discuss a post workout meal that can help you burn fat. I want to know what you guys think so, please don’t forget to leave comments. Till next time :-).

How to create your own fat loss diet plan

Here is the first of many ‘HOW TO’ posts that will help you create you own diet and exercise plans to achieve your fitness goals. It is very important for each and every one of us to know – how to go about creating our own diet plans. Following is a guide that shows you what steps to take.

Calculate your BMR: BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the amount of calories used to keep you alive. There are a number of operations taking place within our bodies and we need energy/calories to keep them going. You can calculate you BMR using any online BMR/RMR calculator or use the following formulas.

English BMR Formula
Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in year)

Metric BMR Formula
Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kilos) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kilos) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)

Add activity level: Apart from the involuntary operations happening in your body, you need energy for the voluntary actions as well. You need energy to walk, talk, run – basically do anything. You can take this into account by adding an activity level. Research has shown that the following factors can be used for accurate results. The final result is called TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e. marathon, contest etc.)

Calculate your average daily intake: Take a couple of days and note down what you are eating. Use the internet to get the calorie count.

Make first diet plan: The first diet plan should help you get back to your BMR level. E.g. If your BMR is 1800, take 1800 calories (first diet plan) for 1 – 2 weeks. This means that your body will be at equilibrium. Not gaining, nor losing.

Make second plan: This should create a calorie deficit. E.g. if your TDEE is 2000 cals, you should go down to 1500 or 1700 calories, but make sure you take above 2000 cals once a week; Preferably the weekend.

Follow these steps and you should be good to go.

Rules: There are some other rules that need to be considered. These are related to the timing of calories and the type of calories you are taking in. (take most of your carbs from fruits as they are rich in minerals and vitamins as well).

Breakfast - Low GI carbohydrates Fiber Slow Protein Unsaturated fats
Snack - Protein Unsaturated fats Low or no carbohydrates
Lunch - Protein Unsaturated fats Low GI carbohydrates Fiber
Snack - Protein Unsaturated fats Low or no carbohydrates
Snack 2 (or post workout) - Protein
Supper - Slow Protein Unsaturated fats Low carbohydrates

Things you need to avoid:
Saturated fats
Trans-fats
Processed grain
Process sugar

The above method will help you increase your metabolism, regulate your hormones and get healthy.

A smooth diet or a smoothie diet?

We all know what a smoothie is, (if not then please read about it here) and how it can keep us stay healthy and fit. There are a number of smoothie diets around and are quite well balanced from a nutrition and health point of view. These diets get you to drink a number of different kinds of smoothies ranging from energizers to filler (keeping you feeling full for longer) to system flushers and much more. The down side to this is that you get tired of drinking stuff all the time and trust me; you will get tired of it, not in a matter of months or weeks, but in days. Although, you can get all the macro-nutrients and good amounts of vitamins and minerals without spending much cash on supplements, you would finally want to get some solid food. Why not concentrate on a diet that is not ALL smoothies but smooth :-). That is very easy…just get rid of the ‘ies’ at the end…hehe!

I think we should use smoothie as snacks every single day and even include it in your breakfast if you want. Take your normal meals and for every snack, take a smoothie. Here is a SMOOTH diets that I followed for some time just to see how it works.

Option 1:

Breakfast: 1 bowl of Bran flakes cereal with skimmed milk and an apple

Snack 1: Peach and mango smoothie with 1 tbsp of olive oil

Lunch: Chicken breast with steamed mixed vegetables

Snack 2: Strawberry smoothie in low fat yogurt

Post workout: Banana smoothie with low fat yogurt and 20 grams of skimmed milk powder

Dinner: Tuna sandwich

Option 2:

Breakfast: Mixed fruit smoothie with 2 tbsp of oats and 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter

Snack 1: 1 pear and 10 almonds

Lunch: Brown rice with chicken

Snack 2: Plum and banana smoothie with an apple base

Dinner: Whole wheat tortilla wrap

These are just a couple of example of what I followed and it was very satisfying. I suggest that you try to take at least one smoothie a day as a snack. This is a very easy snack option and will save you a lot of time and effort. Hope this was useful for you, till next time guys…stay healthy.

Want a smooth path to healthy living? Grab a Smoothie!!

For those of you who don’t know, a smoothie is a blended drink of fruit juices/yogurt and ice. The way it is prepared is that you have either a fruit juice or yogurt/milk base and you add a variety of fruits (ideally frozen) and lots of ice to it (to give it texture). First of all, it is VERY tasty, secondly there is no set recipe – you make what you want and last but not the least, it is very healthy. I usually use a base of low fat yogurt to get enough protein and some carbs, add low GI fruits and some ice. You can also use green tea extract (even though I am not the biggest fat of green team – I will discuss this later on), whey powder, multi-vitamin tablets and other supplements. Here are some recipes that you might want to try.

Orange-Pineapple Smoothie
1 cup orange juice
2 cups pineapple chunks packed in their own juice
1 banana
1/4 cup skim milk
1 Tbsp. honey
4-5 ice cubes

Tropical Smoothie
1 tub (150-200 g) Low Fat Yoghurt
1 cup Hi-Lo Milk
½ cup Orange juice*
1 Tbsp. Honey
1 cup Frozen fruit**
1 ½ cups Crushed ice

Banana Blackberry smoothie
1 medium banana, peeled
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup ice cubes

Supergirl summer smoothie
2 bananas, broken into chunks
1 cup cubed papaya (optional)
1 cup cubed fresh pineapple
1 cup cubed honeydew
3 cubes ice cubes
2 (6 ounce) containers fruit flavored yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice, or as needed

The Any Smoothie
Any 100% fruit juice, yogurt or milk
Any fruit you like
Any kind of ice
Blend in Any blender :-)

Here are a few more tips:
· Use frozen fruit (bananas and strawberries work well).
· Avoid sweetened frozen fruits.
· If it’s too thick, add more milk, 100 percent fruit juice or soymilk.
· If it’s too thin, add more fruit, ice cubes, yogurt (fresh or frozen) or tofu.
· It it’s too tart, add honey.
· If it’s too sweet, add lemonade or a small spoonful of lemon juice.

Smoothies are a very good addition to a weight loss, fat burn or even a muscle building program. You can treat them as a snack or an actual meal. They are healthy enough to even be used as breakfast. I highly recommend getting into the smoothie trend coz I’m telling you right now, this will be one of the best decisions you will ever make. I will be posting about the smoothie diet next time, so stay tuned :-).

The no-sweat burning method

Do you want to burn fat without exercising, here is what you do.

- Calculate your BMR
- Add a factor for the activity level and get the total calorie in take amount
- Get used to the calories
- Create a zig-zag
- Lose body fat

There are some other rules that need to be considered. These are related to the timing of calories and the type of calories you are taking in.
Breakfast - Low GI carbohydrates | Fiber | Slow Protein | Unsaturated fats
Snack - Protein | Unsaturated fats | Low or no carbohydrates
Lunch - Protein | Unsaturated fats | Low GI carbohydrates | Fiber
Snack - Protein | Unsaturated fats | Low or no carbohydrates
Snack 2 - Protein | Unsaturated fats | Low GI carbohydrates
Supper - Slow Protein | Unsaturated fats | Low or no carbohydrates

Never fill yourself up
Drink 8 – 12 glasses of water at least.
Supper needs to small and needs to be 2 – 3 hours before going to bed

Now let’s look at an example. My BMR is 1800 and I am just moderately active throughout the day. I add about 200 calories extra for the activity and finally coming to 2000 calories a day. This would be my maintenance level. Now I design a diet plan for myself taking into consideration the rules above and making sure I take in 2000 calories everyday. I continue with this for 2 weeks. This is to get my body to get used to and start running on 2000 calories.

After the two weeks, On Monday I take 2000 calories, but on Tuesday and Wednesday, I take in about 1200 – 1400 calories. I don’t skip any meals, I just reduce the portion size, ideally from the carbs. Just think about it, your body is used to running on 2000 calories, but for two days you create a deficit and making sure that you body knows that you are not in starvation as you will be eating 6 small meals and also at the very same time after the two days you go back to 2000 calories so your body remains used to the 2000 calories. The 600 calorie deficit that is produced needs to come from some where. You are controlling the cortisol by eating frequently; taking in low carbs so the only source left is FATS. So we are creating 4 x 600 calorie deficits a week, increasing metabolism and improving energy levels along with making sure that we take in all the nutrients. Make sense?

Shoot me with any questions.

That’s all from me today. See you guys tomorrow.