Vacation Tip #3: Indulge with Portion Control
You have no choice but to eat out while on vacation. Whether you're enjoying 5 star restaurants or fast food diners, you'll be met with the same problem: huge portions.
While it is tempting to simply eat it all - you are on vacation after all - this will quickly lead to extra pounds. Use the following tips to keep your portions under control:
- When you order your meal ask for a to-go box. Take half of your meal and place it into the box before you even begin to eat. This will force you to eat a healthy portion.
- If you would rather not carry around a to-go box, ask that your entrée be made into a smaller portion. If it is dinnertime don't be afraid to ask for the lunch-sized portion.
- Pay more, and eat less. Take quality of food over quantity.
- Eat meals. Cut out snacking, stick with structured meals.
- Eat slowly, and eat foods that have been prepared slowly - that means no fast food.
For more nutrition advice, visit www.thebodyfirmaz.com.
Healthy Work Day Snacks
Mid-afternoons at the office can be the hardest to get though as our energy starts to dwindle, yet the work just keeps coming. Take a minute or two in the morning to pack one of these healthy snacks that will keep you satisfied until dinner.
- Ten multi-grain crackers with one tablespoon natural or reduced fat peanut butter. (193 calories)
- One bag of reduced-fat popcorn sprinkled with two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese. (150 calories)
- One packet of instant oatmeal with one mini box of raisins (150 calories)
For more healthy desk treats visit www.cookinglight.com.
For additional nutritional information and exercise tips, visit us at www.thebodyfirmaz.com .
Green Smoothie
Green smoothies consist of 3 basic ingredients: greens, fruit and water. Have fun experimenting with a wide range of varieties of both the greens and the fruit in order to reap the most benefit. You may be surprised to find that the simple combination of greens and fruit is quite delicious.
Servings: 1
Here's what you need...
- 1 bunch (2 cups) red dandelion greens (feel free to use spinach or any other dark greens)
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1 banana
- 1-2 cups filtered water
- In a high speed blender mix the ingredients until smooth.
Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 199 calories, 1g fat, 47g carbohydrate, 10g fiber, and 6g protein.
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Greens give you lots of insoluble fiber…like a sponge.
You know fiber is important, but did you realize that fiber is needed to rid your body of toxins? Insoluble fiber is extra special, since it is built like tiny sponges that each absorbs several times more toxins than its own volume. Check out just a few of the many benefits of fiber:
-Fiber reduces cholesterol
-Fiber prevents and reduces the risk of cancer
-Fiber lessens risk of diabetes and improves existing diabetes
-Fiber helps shed unwanted pounds and prevents overeating
For more nutritional information, visit www.thebodyfirmaz.com
What You Don’t Know About Greens
1. Greens are packed with amino acids...AKA protein.
I'll bet you didn't know that dark leafy greens are a legitimate source of protein. It's true!
Protein molecules are made of a chain of amino acids. When you consume protein from chicken, you're getting chains of amino acids that have already been assembled into a complex protein.
When you eat dark leafy greens you are getting a plethora of individual amino acids. Your body then takes these amino acids and assembles it into complex protein chains.
For more nutrition advice visit www.thebodyfirmaz.com
Weight Loss Blocker #5: Your Diet
If you consistently eat the wrong food, then you're weight loss efforts will all be in vain. To put it bluntly, you need to stop eating junk. Processed foods, refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup do not belong in your diet if you want to be in great shape. Cut these items out of your diet and replace them with real whole foods like lean meats, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and fruits.
- Don't eat processed foods. Even though processed foods are accepted by our society, they contain tons of chemicals and empty calories that will make you sick and fat.
- Fat contains twice the caloric density of protein and carbohydrates, so make sure to limit the amount that you consume. Eat lots of lean proteins and wholesome carbohydrates from plants and whole grains.
- Vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts and seeds are filled with fiber and antioxidants which are vital for healthy weight loss. Snack on these instead of packaged treats.
For more helpful information, visit us at www.thebodyfirmaz.com
Write and Review
You could be making a valiant effort to lose weight, but if you eat too much each day then the number on your scale will not budge. Even if you think that you're limiting calories, you won't know unless you do a little research.
Get a small notebook to carry with you and jot down everything you eat for an entire week. Be sure to include the exact amount that you eat of each food item. At the end of the week do a tally of each day, and then figure out how many calories you eat on an average day.
Review your daily entries for items that are filled with empty calories – like cookies, candy or soda pop. These should be the first things that you cut out of your diet as you transform your body.
For more tips, visit www.thebodyfirmaz.com
Pass On The Salt
If Americans took out just one half teaspoon of salt from their diets each day, an estimated 44,000 to 92,000 lives would be saved each year. That startling statistic came from a recent New York Times article about the benefits of reducing your sodium intake. For years doctors and nutritionists have warned us about the damaging effects of processed foods. Now it seems they have finally determined just how dangerous too much salt can be.
A half teaspoon is equivalent to about 1,200 mg of sodium. Keep this in mind as you read the nutritional information of your favorite foods. Challenge yourself to keep a food journal for one week. Pay close attention to the portion size and the sodium content. By the end of the week you should have a good idea of what your daily intake is. The 
recommended consumption is roughly 1,500 mg, or 2/3 teaspoon. Chances are, your sodium level is much too high if you eat frozen or packed foods, or dine out often. Common sodium giants include pasta, sauces, bread and condiments such as soy sauce.
So what happens if you exceed the limit? Start slow. Salt is a very hard thing for most people to give up. If you drastically change your intake right away, food will taste boring. Begin by eliminating table salt, and reducing the amount you use in recipes. Soup for example, can be changed by cooking it from scratch using low-sodium broth. The prepared canned variety you buy at the grocery store is notorious for a high salt content. You might just be surprised at how salty foods begin to taste once you have completely adjusted.
Whether your vice is craving salty foods or not, this article is definitely worth a look: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/health/nutrition/21salt.html?ref=health. You might just be one of those people saved by this finding.