Good Fat Vs Bad Fat

Fats are an important part of a healthy diet: They provide essential fatty acids, keep our skin soft, deliver fat-soluble vitamins, and are a great source of energizing fuel.For years, nutritionists and doctors have preached that a low-fat diet is the key to losing weight, managing cholesterol, and preventing health problems. But more than just the amount of fat, it’s the types of fat you eat that really matter. Apart from this it’s easy to get confused about good fats vs. bad fats. So first of all its really important to know what are good and bad fats? 

To understand good and bad fats, you need to know the names of the dietary fats and some information about them. There are four major types of fats:

monounsaturated fats

polyunsaturated fats

saturated fats

trans fats

Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are known as the “good fats” because they are good for your heart, your cholesterol, and your overall health

Saturated fats and trans fats are known as the “bad fats” because they increase your risk of disease and elevate cholesterol levels of the body.

 

Appearance-wise, saturated fats and trans fats tend to be solid at room temperature (think of butter or traditional stick margarine), while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats tend to be liquid (think of olive or corn oil).

The best sources of healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, and fish.

Cook with olive oil. Use olive oil for stove top cooking, rather than butter, stick margarine, or lard. For baking, try canola or vegetable oil.

Eat more avocados. Try them in sandwiches or salads. Along with being loaded with heart and brain-healthy fats, they make for a filling and satisfying meal.

Reach for the nuts. You can add them to salads to give a crunchy flavour or just add them to your mid time snacking meal. Unlike most other high-fat foods, they make for a low-calorie snack

Snack on olives. Olives are high in healthy monounsaturated fats. Use them in salads, as a pickle or in sandwiches.

Dress your own salad. Commercial salad dressings are often high in saturated fat or made with damaged Trans fat oils. Create your own healthy dressings with high-quality, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, or sesame oil.

General guidelines for choosing healthy fats

With so many different sources of dietary fat—some good and some bad—the choices can get confusing. But the bottom line is simple: don’t go no-fat, go good fat.

If you are concerned about your weight or heart health, rather than avoiding fat in your diet, try replacing saturated fats and trans fats with good fats. This might mean replacing some of the meat you eat with beans and legumes, or using olive oil rather than butter.

Try to eliminate trans fats from your diet. Check food labels for trans fats. Avoiding commercially-baked goods goes a long way. Also limit fast food.

Limit your intake of saturated fats by cutting back on red meat and full-fat dairy foods. Try replacing red meat with beans, nuts, poultry, and fish whenever possible, and switching from whole milk and other full-fat dairy foods to lower fat versions.

Eat omega-3 fats every day. Good sources include fish, walnuts, freshly ground flax seeds, flaxseed oil, canola oil, and soybean oil.

FAT RECOMMENDATION

The fat requirement for an individual depends on one’s lifestyle, weight, age and most importantly the state of one’s health. The USDA recommends that the average individual should follow these guidelines-:

Keep total fat intake to 20-30% of calories

Limit saturated fats to less than 10% of your calories (200 calories for a 2000 calorie diet)

Limit trans fats to 1% of calories (2 grams per day for a 2000 calorie diet)

The best way to keep on top of the fats in your diet is to become a label reader. On the nutrition facts panel, you’ll find all the information you need to make healthful choices. Look for foods that are low in total fat as well as in saturated and Tran’s fats.

 

 

What is Making You Fat

We know enough about the repercussions of being fat, unfit or eating unhealthy foods which can cause metabolic disorder and cause weight gain. Though we read about healthy food options to include in our diet and presume to have fixed all the factors for weight loss but yet weight loss seems to not happen.

Did you fix quitting junk food that adds only calories, fats and not nutrition ? Have you started eating foods that are healthier than what you were eating earlier? You are reading the best of advices and following them too but the outcome is not satisfying. Where is it that you are going wrong and what is it that you do to make weight loss happen and not get fat. Fix the loopholes where you are going wrong and correct it to lose weight.

Its not just about eating the right amount of calories , it is about ensuring they meet the daily nutritional requirement intake for a healthy metabolic rate. Read below for factors that probably are holding you back from losing weight.

Fluids: It is lots of water that you have to drink through out the day and not energy drink, iced teas, lemon drinks, sodas and sweetened beverages. Do you know how many packets of sugar are these pre-packaged drinks are adding to your diet  even if they are being marketed as healthy. These drinks might even sabotaging your fitness routine by increasing your daily intake of required calories. Instead stick to water to rev up metabolim and keep the body hydrated.Water is zero calories and preloading with it before a meal can help you lose weight fast.

Portion Control: You feel unsatisfied when you eat small meals. Large meals make more calorie intake which is over your daily nutritional requirement and gets saved as fat. Eat in small plates, chew slowly and stop eating once you feel full.

No Fiber: Fiber helps in better digestion of food and absorbs lots of water from the body. If you have water retention then add fiber to your diet. Fiber also keeps you feel fuller for a longer time without adding any extra calories.

No Exercise: Exercise boosts weight loss. You are eating to your requirement which will help you lose weight but exerise will accelerate the calorie burn in the body and give quicker results. As more muscles are improtant higher metabolism and weight loss, regular exercise will develop muscles in the body.

Missing Meals: Some people miss meals to fasten their weight loss presuming to save calories for the day. Missing meals makes the body go in the mode of starvation where the body burns the reserves slowly. Eat you meals at time as you would miss on the nutrition for that meal. Eating the next meal after the missed meal makes you consume more calories as you are hungry, which would get saved as extra calories as skipping meals slows the body’s natural metabolic rate.

Cheat Meals: It is alright to have a cheat meal once or twice a week but if you are cheating more unhealthy meals for healthy meals then you are slimming your chances of losing fat. It disrupts the weight loss process as the body takes time to adjust to a pattern before showing results.

Get a Lean and Muscular Body with Vegetables

Gone are the days of bulking up and looking like Arnold schwarzenegger. Now Edward Pattison’s (Star of the twilight Series) body is the new rage. Getting lean and having the definition is still not as easy as it sounds. In fact  it is still more difficult to get lean than bulk up. People and bodybuilders usally eat meats as protein sources to bulk up. Unfortunately there are very few natural ways of getting lean. One which is often forgotten due to the quest for a bigger body is the importance of vegetables in the diet. Vegetables are low in calories and full of vitamins and minerals and fiber for better digestion . Besides this they also help develop leaner and strong muscles due to the high quality nutrients present in them.

Vegetables have very little fat in them which is crtical for reducing body fat to achieve the lean muscular look. Vegetables like cabbage, spinach and parsley are rich source of glutamine which is an amino acid which is the building block of protein and helps build more muscle mass, promoting digestion and tissue repair. The vitamins and minerals with antioxidants reduce inflammation in the body and boost immunity.

Vegetables also boosts muscle growth in older men also as the mitocondria activity in the cells provide more energy to the muscle to perform longer and with power. Doing adeqate resistance exercise with healthy diet will keep them stronger and in better shape reducing chances of injury.

A new study in the February issue of Cell Metabolism traces that improved performance to increased efficiency of the mitochondria that power our cells. The study suggests that foods that contain nitrates make your mitochondria work better and are known as power plants of the cells. Green vegetables are rich in nitrates that boost mitochondria activity giving us more energy during workouts for building leaner and bigger muscles. Good sources for green vegetables are spinach, parsley, kale, asparagus or other green leafy vegetables.

Add a bowl or two of vegetables for better metabolism of nutrients and higher level of energy for building lean muscles. Vegetables are fat free and low in calories reduce the fat percentage in the body giving you a ripped body. Fiber in vegetables keeps you fuller so that you don’t indulge in munching in between meals and avoiding eating extra calories for any storage.

Core Exercises

Core is the centre of the body where the wondered six pack abs lies hidden beneath the fat. The abs, hips and lower back together are known as core.  Strong core is essential to do strength training, lift heavy weights, do any moving work faster and easily. Core brings a balance in the body and stabalizing it while aligning it as well for greater work efficiency. Therefore it becomes important to give priority to strengthening your core before you move on to any other fitness training. Most of the times we neglect exercising our core maybe thats also another reason behind increasing number of back pains amongst young people.

Strengthening the core improves the strength and athletic ability and reduces injury on lower back and midsection. Core comprises of pelvic, rectus abdomins(Abs), tranverse abdominis, internal and extarnal obliques and multifidus which is the deep muscles of the back. You must have seen people do crunches to build their abs but that is a half-hearted effort towards getting it right. You want a stronger and more defined core you need to work the whole section.

Here are some exercise to strengthen your core including your six pack abs Read more

Lean Body Tips

You can get lean body as fast as you lose fat from your body and bring fat down to 10% of the body weight. Lean body mass is the weight of bones, organs and muscles in the body other than fat. Reduce the fat on the body and increase the muscle percentage for a leaner body with muscles.

Tips for lean body

Fat: Burn the fat in the body and get the fat percentage below 10%. Reducing fat from the body is important in getting a lean body. Quit eating fattening food and oily food.

Build Muscles: Building muscles will increase the lean body mass and also increase the metabolic rate to burn more fat in the body. Muscles will make the body toned and make you look fitter than usual.

Preloading: It is important to eat according to the body requirement because all the extra calories other than the daily body requirement gets stored as fat. Preload with water half an hour before the meal which will make you eat less along with portion control.

Nutrients: If you are looking for a ripped professional body then you need to balance the intake of protein, carbohydrates and sufficient vitamins and minerals. If there is more carbohydrates and protein in the diet than the body requirement then the extra calorie from them will be stored as fat. Read more

How to Control In-between Meal Snacking

We ensure that most of our meals are healthy. The problem comes when we crave food in between meals. If you feel hungry so often then you certainly need to watch out as eating more  food whether healthy or junk leads to weight gain.

The biggest trouble with in between snacking is that one craves something that is satisfying and ready to eat. Unfortunately we dont find having salads or fruits as snacks satisfying enough. While junk food or fattening foods manage to hit the spot, instantly satisfying the hunger pang. Gradually these small food breaks stop having the same satiating effect. After sometime the portion size increases  giving way to more food cravings and constant need to eat something Most of the times this snacking is psychological, as in we condition ourselves to feeling hungry even after having proper meals. Here are some reasons and tips to keep the hunger pangs in control, making you eat less.

Untimely Meals: Not having meals on time is a big factor in making you feel hungry at odd times . The body follows no patterns and gets used to giving a call at random times which pushes us to eat more than a usual meal. Time your meals and eat food with high fiber and protein to keep you feeling fuller.

Breakfast: People who don’t have a balanced and satisfying breakfast often find themselves bingeing on odd time. The unsatisfaction of the previous meal  makes the mind want for more and eating unhealthy. Have a good nutritious breakfast with satisfying food. Read more

Balanced Diet

We are all familiar with the concept of eating right. There is so much information about all sorts of healthy foods and their calorie value. There is enough being written about how vitamins are good for you and what are the rich sources of this nutrient. But rarely do we get to know the approximate quantity that is required by the body on a daily basis. What makes a balanced diet. To make it a little simpler for you we decided to give you an overview of what should make your daily dietary intake.

 

The key nutrients that are required for smooth functioning of the diet are proteins, fat, fiber, minerals, iron, carbohydrates, vitamins and calcium. A diet that includes all these essential nutrients, in correct portion, is known as a balanced diet. Based on the average calorie requirement for a male weighing 60kgs: 2700 or a female weighing 55 kgs:2100 here is a list of essential foods to maintain your weight :

Read more

Weight Reduction Tips

Reducing weight is increasingly becoming popular across the world. Sedentary lifestyle and increasing number of lifestyle related therapeutic conditions are further propelling everyone towards wellness and fitness. The most common  lifestyle disorder symptom is weight gain. Fortunately it is also the easiest to control and manage provided slight changes are made in the current lifestyle. Weight reduction is possible with the right approach towards what we eat through out the day and the activities that we indulge in.

 

 

Here are a few weight reduction tips to lose weight.

Don’t starve yourself: The most common myth amongst people for weight reduction is a strict diet. Few go on yo-yo or crash diet, low calorie diets, atkins diet, banana diet etc. But they fail to reduce weight. Starving sends the message of not enough food and the body slows down the metabolism reducing the speed of calorie burn. Thus fat and the extra pounds burn much more  slower than before making weight reduction difficult.

Don’t skip breakfast: If you skip the nutrition at breakfast then there is seldom chance that you would make it later in the day. Skipping breakfast lowers the metabolism and lack of nutrition makes the body become weak and vulnerable to eating snacks and junk food later in the day. Eat healthy food for breakfast and you would feel fuller and eat less too.

Eat meals on time: Non timely meals disturb the body metabolic cycle making it difficult for the body to adapt to a schedule. Also eating meals late makes you tend to over eat because staying hungry for longer makes you feel hungrier psychology resulting in overeating. Hunger reduces the efficiency of the body reducing the metabolism, hence the weight reduction. Time your meals and watch the progress.

Read more

Watermelon & Its Health Benefits

Health Benefits

Watermelon is not only a refreshing fruit to beat the heat on a hot summer day but it has a few health advantages. Water melon is also very effective in reducing your body temperature and blood pressure. This fruit may also help in reducing inflammation that contributes to conditions like asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and arthritis. Watermelon is full of water, carbohydrates and fiber along with essential vitamins and minerals that provides  nutrition to the body for better metabolism.

Liposuction – Post Surgery Fat Gain

Rising signs of obesity are making people very conscious and prompting them to take not so healthy steps to deal with the extra fat.  People have a tendency to gravitate towards all the possible shortcuts to get what they want. Hence Liposuction is gaining popularity as the quickest mean to lose fat from the problem areas. Through this procedure fat is sucked from your problem areas and leaving it look deflated. Many men and women are readily going for liposuction which is the fastest way out without altering the lifestyle naturally and losing fat by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But is liposuction a healthy option for fat loss.

Researchers at University of Colorado found in a study on the effect of post surgery liposuction, that the fat suctioned out had returned on the body but at different places like arms, shoulders, back etc. The process of liposuction surgically destroys the fat cell web from that area but the body instead compensates it by growing it on other body areas later. The study said that people who underwent liposuction of a area gained that fat again a year later at a different part.

Whenever the body loses fat cells new one replace it. But during liposuction the fishnet of that area is removed and very less fat cells remain. If your lifestyle routine and habits are not managed in a healthy pattern then fat would increase on other parts of the body. So it is important to manage your eating habits and exercise religiously to maintain that fat loss otherwise it will reappear on your body at different parts. When large amounts of fat are removed it leaves dents and marks on the body. There are limitations to getting a liposuction done. A person has to be above 18 years and certain health conditions are required to undergo it. Also one cannot undergo a tummy and abdomen liposuction together due to the repercussions.

Losing the entire body fat is difficult with liposuction and the chances of regaining the fat is more with it especially at different body parts. But its possible to lose fat from all your problem areas at once and keep it off for a longer duration by just adjusting your lifestyle. The lifestyle shift is nothing but eating healthy and exercising enough. Even if you were to compare the price points its cheaper to consult a professional for diet & exercise programs than go to liposuction specialist. Liposuction is an invasive surgery where the person is required to be admitted for atleast 2-3 days for the procedure. Besides Liposuction comes with a lot of side effects like sagging skin, lack of shape on the body part operated and post recovery period.

Next time excess fat on the body is troubling you before you consider going under the knife consult a professional weight loss company. It can be the best decision you make for living a healthy life.

How to Get a Six Pack

Reveal your six packs with the right combination of  diet and exercise. Everyone is born with abs but over a period of time they get covered by the layer of fat on our belly. Only exercising your abs will  make your stomach grow bigger and thicker. The secret to well defined abs is bringing down the body fat to 7-8 % and they will start showing itself. The fat percentage can be lowered by simply eating and exercising right.

Here are a very simple tips to get better abs:

1.Increase your water intake, drink cold water to rev up the metabolism.

2.Do high intensity interval cardio twice a week for fat loss and strength training to build muscles on your body. When there is more muscle then the body’s metabolism automatically increases even when the body is
not exercising.

3.Drink green tea as it is a natural metabolism booster and helps in fat loss.

4.Watch what you eat to cut down on the extra calorie intake. Avoid foods with fat, sugar and oil.

5.Don’t skip breakfast and eat lighter dinners. Keep some time between dinner and sleep. Read here for healthy breakfast ideas.

6.Work out the abs indirectly with exercises like planks, push ups, pull ups, legs ups etc. Working out the abs directly thickens your stomach taking you away from your abs and v shape.
8.Eat less sugar as insulin levels decrease the level of fat burn. Eat fish, fish oil tablets to drop the insulin level and increase fat burn.

Get started with your 6 pack abs resolution and achieve it this summers to enjoy your perfect body. Keep yourself motivated and every pound of fat loss will successfully reveal the  abs.

Why Do Some People Never Get Fat?

You surely know a few people around you who are extremely thin and eat much more than you do but never get fat. They eat all kinds of foods and never add an inch to their waistline. Well just to make you feel better its because there are certain enzymes in our bodies which regulate the body metabolism. When these enzymes are not present in the body it keeps a man thin says a study.

The enzyme MGAT2 is found in the intestines and determines the fate of our food by regulating how it is metabolized: It either makes fat go straight to your waistline, or converts it into energy. Scientists in California have discovered that when mice are missing the gene for MGAT2, they can eat whatever they want and never have to worry about getting fat.

Another common misconception amongst people is that thin people have Read more

I GOT A DREAM BODY

A man’s quest towards a healthy lifestyle while he attempts to get the physique he always dreamt of. Here is a success story of Jeetu Soni who lives in Africa and has lost weight and gotten into a better physique to look better than he has ever before.

Jeetu, at 33, was shocked to be told by that doctor that he is suffering from High BP and high cholesterol.The seriousness of his health struck him when his cholesterol levels rose to 250 range. The doctor confirmed that due to bad eating habits, irregular lifestyle and high consumption of alcohol Jeetu had managed to push his body in this unfit state of affair.

Just like anyone else that hardest part was reversing the lifestyle by taking a control of their eating habit and starting a regular exercise routine. Read more

Health News – Running, Exercise & Motivation

It’s been known for a while that hormone levels drop in women treated for cancer. Now a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology is showing similar effects in older men. Read more to know if cancer effects testosterone level in men.

Sometimes there are just days when we just don’t feel like exercising. I’m sure that everyone has those days. When it all comes down to it, exercising is definitely a way to feel physically good about yourself, lose weight, or get ready to achieve a physical goal. To really see a difference in your physique, in addition to a healthy diet of course, you need to exercise. Read more for 5 ways to stay motivated.

Running is one of the best, most complete exercises for improving general fitness. It works legs the most, but also has an impact on your back, your core, chest, arms, and the cardiovascular system. Running is also one of the easiest ways to get exercise; and you don’t need a lot of special equipment. As easy and straight forward as it is, there are a few things that you should know if you are just getting started with running. Read more to know how to get started with running.

If you do just one thing to fight fat, exercise might be the way to go, judging by a new study. Read more to know how exercises fight “Hidden” body fat.

Stand for a few minutes on a platform that vibrates. Get off and try to do some weight lifting — squats, for example. Or try a short sprint. Or see how high you can jump. You are somehow supposed to be able to lift heavier weights, sprint faster, jump higher. Researchers report that they actually seem to slightly improve performance in the few minutes after a person gets off the machine. Read more if you like a shake with that workout.

Are Diet Pills the Best Option!

Diet pills are getting more popular for fast weight loss. There are many successful as well as not so successful stories about these fat loss pills.  Lets explore more about these pills and how they really work. Quick weight loss without diet and exercise has created the hype around diet pills which is increasingly finding its space in drug stores & superstores. But the questions remains the same, is it a healthier
option and does it help in weight loss.

What is most commonly seen is that some diet pills work and some don’t depending upon the constitution of chemicals in the pills. Probability of effectiveness of the diet pills also varies with body type Read more

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