Healthy Convenience Foods

We are all strapped for time in this busy world. It seems that even when we have a break from the daily grind, the last thing we want to do is expend too much energy. If you are trying to stick to a healthy lifestyle while maintaining a heavy work schedule and busy personal life then you know that there isn’t much time to spare for leisurely cooking or relaxing meals.
 
The problem with this is two-fold. First, eating quickly and not taking the time to enjoy your meals can thwart your weight loss. There is evidence that eating while stressed or in a rush can cause you to overeat. Taking the time to be conscious of your meal and tune into your body will allow you to eat just enough rather than way too much.
 
Another way this rush-rush lifestyle can hurt your good diet is the lure of convenience foods. The term convenience food is used to define a food that is easily prepared. Typically these foods contain lots of preservatives, high sodium, and serious calories. It can be hard to find a healthy convenience food that also fills you up. The key to staying healthy while eating convenience foods is to simply be aware of what you are putting in your body.

Frozen meals are tempting to those of us strapped for time. They are quickly heated and require very little clean up. However, this convenience comes with a price. The good tasting frozen foods are often loaded with calories, making the term “healthy convenience food” somewhat of an oxymoron. Next time you are shopping for a week’s worth of dinners, make sure you are selecting varieties with acceptable calorie and fat levels.

If your favorite convenience food has a nutrition label that is less than desirable, try adding some vegetables to it and saving half for tomorrow. Your fattening frozen macaroni and cheese is only half as bad when you load it up with broccoli and eat the rest tomorrow. How about adding mushrooms and chicken breasts to the frozen food staple fettucini alfredo? By cutting the portion in half and then bulking it up with simply prepared healthy vegetables and lean protein, you can keep the convenience while cutting the harm in half! If the store isn’t willing to give you a proper healthy convenience food, you can make your own.

Convenient doesn’t have to mean a whole days worth of calories. Simply being conscious of your time-saving choices can make all the differences. Adjusting the meals with simple add ins or a side salad can bulk it up, allowing you to only eat a portion of what is intended, turning a typical frozen meal into a healthy convenience food.

 

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What is my target heart rate for weight loss?

Exercising for your health is an excellent idea. However, more people exercise with a weight loss goal in mind. For those people, maximizing their calorie and fat burning during exercise is very important. Knowing your target heart rate for weight loss can be a good tool in ensuring that you are exercising at an intensity that will maximize your fat burning and weight loss potential.
 
There are a few ways of determining your target heart rate for weight loss. The easiest is to take your age and subtract your age from 220. This is what is called your maximum heart rate. When doing a cardio workout, you can maximize your calorie burn by working out within 70-80% of your maximum heart rate. To determine this number simply multiply .70 x your maximum heart rate and .80 x your maximum heart rate. This will give you the optimal range for cardio workouts.

Example for a 30 yr. old man:
220-30= 190 (maximum heart rate)
.70 x 190= 133
.80 x 190= 152
Target heart rate: 143- 162 (approximately)

A quick internet search will show you there are several ways to determine your target heart rate for weight loss. Any of them will do as they come up with very similar results. This one is simply the easiest. If you are looking for more precise results, you could try the Karvonnen formula or a newer formula from the Harvard’s Men’s Health Watch, available here.

Once you have determined that ideal range for caloric burn, you can periodically monitor your heart rate during cardio activity. Keep in mind that as you become more fit, so does your heart. The intensity that once brought you to your target range may now not be enough. As you get fit, you will have to increase your level of intensity to maintain your target heart rate for weight loss.

A heart rate monitor is a great tool for staying on top of your heart rate. One that helps keep an eye on your target zone is a perfect companion to your fitness and weight loss goals. There are heart rate monitors available that use a chest strap to send ECG readings to a watch style receiver on your wrist. There are also slightly higher end heart rate monitors that require no chest strap and deliver quick results with the push of a button.

Heart health is just as important as weight loss. By being aware of your resting, target, and maximum heart rates, you can ensure you are working within a healthy range for your goals and your overall health.

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Strength Building Routines for the Notoriously Busy

We all know what it’s like to be too busy for a workout. Sometimes people use their schedule as an excuse to resort to laziness. Often, however, the demands of modern life keep us so busy we have little time for ourselves. If you have become accustomed to the daily grind and have neglected your body, what used to be your biceps are probably soft and undetectable. Your quads may have merged with the rest of your thigh and now may resemble an appendage of flesh rather than the defined muscle it once was. The truth is, you don’t have to dedicate multiple hours everyday to keep your muscle tone in check. There is a strength building routine, even for you.
 
In today’s world it is hard to find time for anything. It might seem like even when you find the time to exercise, you don’t have the energy. If you are seeking to get back the strength you once had but are on a tight schedule, Tony Horton‘s 10 Minute Trainer may be right for you. In manageable increments of 10 minutes, you can redevelop the strength you once had. A high quality strength building routine does not require a gym membership or a weight bench.
 
When you decide it’s time to get serious about your health and become dedicated to regaining your strength and athleticism, you need a program that is effective and convenient. A strength building routine that can improve muscle tone and overall strength in just 10 minutes at a time is the perfect solution. Celebrity trainer Tony Horton developed 10 Minute Trainer with people just like you in mind.

You might be busy, but with a little dedication you can surely find 10 or 20 minutes to dedicate to a strength building routine, particularly one that gives you results. Tony’s Super Stacking Technique will have you working all of the major muscle groups in as little as 10 minutes. With additional abs, lower body and upper body routines you can isolate your muscles for a customizable workout plan.

Resistance bands and the weight of your own body will work together to have you will feel the burn in record time. Got a little extra time? Squeeze in 2 or 3 of the 10 minute workouts to increase the workload and subsequent results. There has never been a more convenient strength building routine, certainly not one as effective as 10 Minute Trainer.

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Meat: Which are Considered “Lean Proteins”?

The term “lean protein” is thrown around a lot in the diet and fitness industries. We can deduce that this means protein with little fat, but how many of us really know which cuts of meat are truly “lean” and which should be avoided?
 
Most of us would be quick to rattle off fish, chicken breasts, or egg whites when asked about lean proteins. But, there are good sources of lean protein in beef and pork. Knowing which cuts will give you maximum protein at a little expense (fat and calories) is key.

Additional Lean Proteins:

  • Beef
    Eye Round
    Top Round
    Bottom Round
    Top Sirloin
    Sirloin Tips
    Lean Ground Beef (95% or more) 
  • Pork
    Tenderloin
    Boneless Top Loin Chops or Roast
    Center Loin Chops

These cuts all provide premium protein with limited fat and calories.

Some good rules of thumb to remember when shopping for lean cuts of pork or beef:

• Limit marbling. A quick glance at the meat will tell you if it is high in fat. A little fat around the edges can be trimmed, but marbling through the meat will be ingested.
• Stick to cuts with “loin” or “round” in the name when in doubt. These are sources that generally have the lowest fat content.
• When in doubt, substitute ground chicken breast or turkey breast for ground beef. Be certain that the ground meat is “all white” or “all breast” meat to ensure the leanest variety.

 

-For cooking tips and some good marinade recipes, check out this page from North Dakota State University.
-For preparation tips and cooking methods that further cut the fat, visit Penn State’s Solution Source.

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How to Decrease Body Fat Through Exercise

Who doesn’t want to decrease body fat? In America today the answer is probably: very few. We all know that exercise will cause us to lose weight. Some of us probably even know the science behind weight loss. But for those of us just starting out on a fitness quest or a weight loss journey, the science can seem confusing and frankly overwhelming. With all of the information out there it can be hard to weed through it and find a simple explanation of how weight loss works.
 
You probably know that in order to lose weight your caloric intake must be less than your caloric output. In other words, you have to burn more than you eat. This doesn’t mean that if you eat 1800 calories you have to burn 1800 calories through exercise. Your body is burning calories right now. Your body requires energy to run. You burn calories simply by breathing and living, not to mention talking, reading, walking, and other daily activities. To find out approximately how many calories you burn on a daily basis, try this calculator.
 
In order to lose one pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 calories. Don’t’ get scared, this isn’t in one day! A healthy weight loss is considered about a pound a week. So, if you want to decrease body fat at a healthy rate, create a weekly caloric deficit of 3,500 calories. This can be accomplished through cutting calories to a reasonable level and incorporating exercise.

Exercise works to decrease body fat in a few ways:

• First, the immediate effects. When you exercise you immediately bun calories as your body accesses fat stores for energy. By elevating your heart rate you are requiring your engine to run in high gear which requires more energy, and therefore more calories. This immediate calorie burn is best accomplished through aerobic exercise, or exercise that increases your heart rate. Things like dancing, running, walking, biking, and swimming are all good aerobic exercises.

• Exercise can also burn calories in the long term. Your “metabolism” refers to the amount of calories you burn while resting, or simple living. Several things can affect your metabolism. One major influence on your metabolism is your muscles. Muscles burn through calories faster than fat. So, by increasing your muscle mass you will burn more calories, even when you are sleeping! Strength training to increase muscle mass is the second prong in exercising to decrease body fat.

Tracking Your Fat Loss

Incorporating both aerobic (also called “cardio”) routines with a strength training plan will maximize your fat loss. Keep in mind that while you are losing fat you will also be gaining muscle. So, while the number on the scale may not budge, your measurements surely will. To more accurately track your progress try taking your measurements. For even greater specificity on your progress, track your body fat percentage by using a body fat caliper.

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Can a Resistance Band Workout Possibly Beat my Weights?

We’ve all seen the infomercials for resistance band workout videos and wondered if they can possibly live up to their promises. Those of us who have actually tried some resistance band workouts know the answer to this. But, those of you that haven’t are likely still skeptical. Let’s face it: resistance bands look wimpy. They are typically pretty colors and no bigger than a belt, how could they possibly transform your body? Well, these little unassuming tools can add muscle and do so with many benefits the gym or your weight set can’t offer.

 
• Because resistance bands are small and unassuming, they can travel easily. It would be difficult to get through airport security with your dumbbells and lugging them around wouldn’t be fun either. Resistance bands fit easily in the tight confines of your bag, making a high quality strength training workout at your fingertips, no matter where you are.
• Unlike the gym, a resistance band workout can be done in the privacy of your home. You don’t need spectators when you are getting buff. Sweating and grunting are best saved for private moments. One of the benefits of these small pieces of fitness equipment is the privacy they allow you.
• Resistance bands offer resistance. Simple enough. Throughout the range of motion, resistance bands continually pull. This promotes balance and requires your muscles to work not only on the pull but also while steadily resuming your starting position. This stabilization can help increase coordination and even balance.
• Resistance band workouts also offer a variety of positions. You can use resistance bands in ways hand weights would never work. This diversity in moves allows you to hit muscle groups that would normally require several gym machines all with your little resistance bands.

 
A resistance band workout can definitely pack all the punch of a regular weight routine with some additional benefits not duplicated in the gym. Finding a resistance band workout to fit your needs is simple enough and made even easier with our 30 day money back guarantee. Check out Tony Horton’s 10 Minute Trainer if you are notoriously strapped for time. If you are looking for an intense total body transformation, P90X will have you amazed at the progress that can be made with your body, and a few simple tools, including resistance bands.

 

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How to Boost Your Immune System

Your immune system is responsible for fighting off disease and illness. A strong immune system can mean the difference between fighting off a cold successfully or spending several days sick on the couch. A good immune system works hard when you are injured to repair tissues and get you back on your feet. Finding ways to naturally boost your immune system means better health overall and fewer days spent on the sidelines of life.Everyday our bodies are bombarded with germs. From the things that we touch to the air that we breathe, our immune system is constantly working to ensure our health and keep a balance within our body. All the anti-bacterial gel can’t stop the massive amount of germs, viruses, and bacteria we encounter daily. These preventative measures are only a support to an already healthy immune system. If you can boost your immune system, you will be better off should your wipes or gels not live up to their promises.
 
There are a few ways that your immune system keeps you healthy:
 
1. Your immune system protects you by defending your body from outside forces. Your immune system acts as a shield against attacks, keeping bad germs out by using your skin, mucus membranes, saliva, tears, and stomach acids.
 
2. A healthy immune system also works once the initial walls of the system have been breached. Sometimes germs get in and we get ill. Your immune system will fight off the illness once you are infected and it will actually remember that particular germ or virus in case you are infected again. White blood cells are on a warpath in your bloodstream, encountering foreign cells, destroying them, and then remembering those cells should they have to fight them off again. In this way you immune system steadily gets smarter and stronger, being able to resist infections it initially let creep in.
 
Your immune system is a very complex but amazing system that works constantly to keep you healthy and “in the game”. A compromised immune system is less likely to fight off contact with germs and slower to heal once sick. Finding a way to boost your immune system through natural means will help you stay active and healthier overall.

Generally, healthy people have healthy immune systems. This means that a good diet and regular exercise can boost your immune system and keep your body as a virtual fortress against germs. For additional immune strength, however, supplements may give you an additional edge.

For more information about your immune system, how it works, and what you can do to strengthen it, check out this article from WebMD. Also, if you are seeking a natural supplement to boost your immune system, have a look at Herbal Immune Boost from BeachBody, containing natural ingredients that protect your body when you are under increased stress or are exposed to greater amounts of contaminants.

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Winter Weight Woes: Finding an at home workout that's right for you.

With cooler weather around the corner, you may begin to feel the pull of comfort foods and days indoors. Either because the weather prevents you from leaving or only makes it inconvenient, you are likely far less active over the winter months. While a pick-up game of basketball at the park or a hike with a friend may be out of the question, there are many other ways to stay active in the cooler months. An at home workout adds convenience to your winter fitness.While joining a gym is always an option, it is entirely inconvenient, not to mention expensive. At a gym you have to deal with onlookers and waiting for machines. You still have to go out in the cold and pay to be there at that. When you have a busy schedule, the gym just becomes one more thing to add to your to-do list.
 
Finding a high quality at home workout routine is a much simpler, realistic, and convenient approach. No waiting for machines, no one to see you fumble your way around, and definitely no excursions into the cold! Finding a good at home workout plan doesn’t have to be a chore either. There are several good choices that will keep you fit and active throughout the winter and into the Spring thaw.

P90X will no doubt keep you warm this winter! With 12 fat blasting DVDs from trainer Tony Horton, you will enter the spring like a butterfly coming from its cocoon. P90X will transform your body in 90 days. This winter hibernation will no doubt be productive. Also from Tony Horton, for those of us with little time, there’s 10 Minute Trainer offering to keep you fit and tone your body in as little as 10 minutes a day.

From P90X and 10 Minute trainer, to other at home workout favorites like Turbo Jam and Hip Hop Abs, you are certain to find an at home workout to fit your needs. And with our money back guarantee you are pleased with your selection or you simply return it for your money back. Don’t pack on pounds this winter with holiday feasts and inactivity. Stay active and step out into Spring with a new attitude and warm weather body!

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