The Health Blog

The closer a food is to its natural state, the better it is for you.  Most health and fitness professionals recommend you eat fresh fruits and vegetables and stay away from fats, particularly saturated fats should be avoided at all times.  However, the truth is you do not need to avoid dietary fats if you make the healthy natural choices and burn more calories in physical activity than you consume.  Following is a list of some of the healthy fatty foods to enjoy.

Healthy Fats to Enjoy

• Avocados – The fat in avocados is about 60% monounsaturated, 25% saturated, and 15% polyunsaturated.  Avocados are healthy natural food that provides many nutrients, fiber and healthy fats.

• Coconut fat – Coconut fat is a healthy natural saturated fat, this is a surprising fact  to most people. The sources of coconut fat are coconut milk,  coconut oil, and fresh coconut. Coconut oil is excellent for cooking, baking and stir-frying.  Most health and fitness professionals are convinced that tropical oils are unhealthy.  A big portion of natural food supply on earth is composed of saturated fats, substances for humans to eat.  It is only when we take natural food and put it through different kinds of chemical processing that it becomes unhealthy.

• Non-hydrogenated palm oil is highly saturated and healthy tropical oil.

• Extra virgin olive oil – Olive oil is about 70% monounsaturated, 16% saturated, and 14% polyunsaturated.  Extra virgin olive oil that comes from the first pressing of the olives, has an abundance of antioxidants.  Olive oil is one of the healthiest choices for liquid oils.  Combine a small amount of olive oil with vinegar to make salad dressing, this is much healthier than store bought salad dressings.

• Dark chocolate – The cocoa bean is a concentrated source of antioxidants. The fat portion of the cocoa bean, cocoa butter is a healthy natural fat, composed of about 58% saturated fat, 38% monounsaturated fat, and 4% polyunsaturated fat.  Dark chocolates are about 50% cocoa,  milk chocolates are about 30% cocoa,  the remainder are milk fat, sugar and corn sweeteners.  Get high quality dark chocolate that has cocoa content between 65% – 80%.  A dark chocolate with cocoa content in this range will contain mostly cocoa and little sugar, it has a creamy texture with sweet taste.  Although dark chocolate can be a healthy treat, it is high in calorie, so keeping it to one or two square.

• Fish such as wild salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring and trout.  Most fish or seafood is good sources of natural omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, but the fish listed here are the best sources of omega-3.

• Nuts – walnuts, almonds, peanuts, and cashews are good sources of healthy unprocessed fats, minerals and other nutrients.  Almonds and cashews are great sources of monounsaturated fats, while walnuts are a good source of unprocessed  polyunsaturated fats, including omega-3.  Get raw or roasted nuts, and avoid nuts that are cooked in oil.

• Seeds – sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, etc. All of these seeds are great  sources of natural unprocessed healthy fats.  Studies shown that flax seeds has omega-3 content. Fresh flax seed could be added to salad and yogurt.

• The fat in organically raised animals – This is the area where most people have been misinformed.  Animal fat is good for us if it came from a healthy animal.  Human beings have flourished on animal fats for hundreds of years.  Unfortunately, animal products today come from animals which fattened up with hormones, and fed with unnatural feed.  Choose organically raised meats, eggs, and dairy.

This article has shed some light on the truth about dietary fats and brings about their importance in a healthy diet.  This is simply a guide to show a healthy diet including the healthy saturated fats is important to overall health.

In this article, I’m going to tell you 3 easy to implement healthy meal plans for your weight loss efforts.

You may ask yourself, “is it really possible to put together a meal plan that is both healthy and will help me lose weight?” The answer is, “yes”, and read on to find out how. I am going to tell you about 3 healthy meal plans that will both help your diet, and help you to lose those unwanted pounds.

The following are the meals of the day, and three sample healthy meal plans.

Breakfast (Morning meal)

(Eat your breakfast like a king.)

Protein needs to be included in each one of your meals. Protein gives you the fat burning effect with your meal, and it stabilizes your blood sugar. So when you eat a protein along with your carbohydrates, you help to keep your blood sugar stable. If you eat the carbohydrates without the protein, your blood sugar goes on a “roller-coaster” ride, encountering highs and lows.

Include protein in your breakfast.

Get your protein from eating organic eggs (an organic egg actually has a high amount of Omega 3s in the yolk where a conventional egg does not.), cottage cheese, raw nut butter, wild fish like salmon (a little higher in fat but it is the heart-healthy kind, omega-3 fatty acids.), or white meat chicken.

Include your carbohydrates in the form of oatmeal, sprouted grain bread, fruit and/or vegetables.

3 healthy meal plans for breakfasts are:

a. Oatmeal with almond butter, topped with fresh berries and a bit of Stevia** (or honey or organic sugar) to sweeten.

b. 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 slice sprouted grain toast and one-half grapefruit

c. Smoked salmon over sliced tomato and 1 green* apple**

Lunch

(Eat your lunch like a pauper.)

The same as with breakfast, include a protein and carbohydrate. One way to be sure you are packing a healthy protein is by packing the last night’s dinner leftovers.

Pack leftover hamburger, chicken, or wild fish and include them in a salad, or other vegetable.

3 healthy meal plans for lunch are:

a. (If you have time to cook) Baked wild fish over sauteed spinach, green salad with chick peas (vinegar and oil as dressing) followed by one-half cup of pineapple.

b. Leftover chicken legs with broccoli and one-half sweet potato.

c. Lean hamburger (or ground turkey**) over brown rice and portabella mushroom. A green salad or cooked vegetables and 1 orange.

Dinner

(Eat your dinner like a peasant.)

Look for dinner recipes that are quick, but you can substitute your own healthy ingredients in the recipe.

Remember to include protein and carbohydrates in your dinner menu.

3 healthy meal plans for dinner are:

Mexican salad:
Ground beef (or ground turkey**) over shredded lettuce and tomato, guacamole and brown rice.

Grilled Salmon (you can get wild salmon burgers at Costco) over asparagus, green salad (oil and vinegar as dressing) followed by a fresh fruit salad.

Buffalo meat balls (there are also turkey meat balls, again at Costco) over rice pasta with sauteed broccoli.

Snacks

It is not good to let yourself get too hungry for food. The feeling of being hungry often leads to over eating, and that of unhealthy food. If you are “starving” you grab and open a bag of chips and eat the whole bag to ward off your hunger. You may also consider getting something unhealthy out of the snack vending machine at work.

Being too hungry often leads to bad food choices and makes it very difficult to stay with your diet plan.

It is important to keep good, healthy snacks close by.

3 healthy meal plans for snacks are:

a. 2 Tbsp almond butter on one-half apple, or almond butter on celery stalk.

b. Trail mix made up of almonds, walnuts, dried fruit (no sugar added), and pumpkin seeds.

c. Pineapple and cottage cheese

Mix a few of these healthy meal plans into your own eating schedule. If you want to see some great results in your weight loss efforts you need to be following some sort of a plan. Incorporating these healthy meal plans into your daily diet and see incredible results.

*Green apples contain more soluble fiber, and around.98 grams less sugar than red apples. Green apples also convert less sugar than the red apples.

**Check out the website for links.

Healthy trail mix is a great snack food alternative, and is something that is not only for long hikes! The term trail mix is a loosely defined combination of dried fruits, nuts and sometimes other ingredients. More recently it has become common to include less healthy items like candy and chocolate along with the more traditional ingredients.

What makes a trail mix healthy? Well, the most common foods included are usually quite nutritious by nature, but sometimes other, less healthy ingredients like sugar, artificial colors or flavors and preservatives are added. The best kind of trail mix is organic and all natural, with no added sugar. Fruits are sweet enough as they are, but in today’s over-sugared world, some manufacturers feel the need to make sweet things even sweeter. The same is true for “juice drinks” that add sugar to already sweet fruits like apple and orange.

Getting into the habit of eating healthy snacks can make a surprising difference to your health and weight loss goals. Of course, it’s good to eat healthy snacks even if you don’t need to lose weight. Many people snack on potato chips, pretzels, donuts and candy bars between meals. These are foods with little nutritional value and large amounts of sugar, salt and empty calories. Fruit, on the other hand, has natural sugar, while nuts are high in protein and healthy fats. So organic dried fruit and nuts are the staples of a healthy trail mix.

All foods should be consumed in moderation. Even something healthy like trail mix can be fattening if you eat huge quantities of it, but you are less likely to overeat nuts and fruits than less healthy snacks. If you are looking for a healthy snack to eat every day, you should also resist mixes that have chocolate. People rationalize this by pointing out that chocolate is now considered healthy and high in antioxidants, but it’s still high in sugar and calories. It’s better to eat something like chocolate as an occasional treat, while sticking to more nutritious foods for your everyday snacking.

Some high quality trail mixes now include “superfruits” like blueberries, goji berries and other fruits that are exceptionally high in antioxidants. These tend to be more expensive than traditional mixes that are mainly composed of raisins, apricots and other less costly fruits. These “extra healthy” trail mixes may also have sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and perhaps flax seeds.

Peanuts, another common ingredient in more “ordinary” mixes are often considered one of the less healthy nuts. Peanuts are somewhat controversial among health food experts. They are high in calories, are likely to be heavily sprayed (if non-organic) and contain a less than ideal omega-6 to omega-3 fat ratio. Some peanuts are fine, especially if they are organic, but it’s ideal to find a good mix of nuts that include almonds, walnuts, cashews or pecans, which are among the healthiest.

Healthy trail mix is something you can take to work or school or in transit. It’s handy to have a nutritious snack around that you can munch on so that’s it less tempting to eat junk food between meals.

Almost half of today’s overweight children are obese, the number is rising constantly and something has to be done. Teaching our children how to eat healthy is a parents duty. If done properly, the habit will become second nature to the child and they will take their healthy eating lifestyle into adulthood and the probability of a longer happier life will be greatly increased.

Here are 5 ways you can ensure that will happen.

1. More Fruit – Getting kids to eat fruit is sometimes like trying to pull teeth, well there are ways to make it more fun and appealing and, if required, some sneaky tricks to get your child eating healthy they will never know about. Make them fruit smoothies and shakes. You can even freeze them and create lollipops and icepops. Smoothies are great ways to get certain green vegetables into the mix that a lot of children refuse to eat.

2. Make It Fun – Your children will be more willing to eat a healthier diet if you incorporate play and games into mealtimes. Get them to create a picture on the plate, maybe a garden with green vegetables, or a green smoothie called Hulk Juice. Let them invent their own recipes so long as they include certain ingredients. Fun is always a great way to get your child to enjoy healthier eating habits.

3. Make it Relevant to Their Interests – Kids view mealtimes as just a distraction from their play times, so seeing a plate of vegetables will make them even more disinterested. If you convince them that, unless they eat a certain food, they won’t be able to run fast or play sports. Or that Spiderman eats broccoli so he can fight bad guys then they will take more interest. There are many various ways to create healthy eating children.

4. Don’t Take Away Candy – We all know thats kids love candy and fizzy drinks and anything else that is bad for them. If you take away all these things completely then they will just resent you and the healthier options you have replaced them with. Instead make them rewards for eating something regularly. Maybe a visit to their favourite fast food restaurant after each month of eating healthily.

5. Join In – Sitting down at the dining table and eating as a family is the No.1 proven way of teaching children how to eat a healthy diet. By all doing the same thing at the same time becomes a routine, and by seeing you do the same as them your kids will be more willing to join in. Also it enables you to make sure they are eating the healthy food instead of sneaking it to the dog.

It is our responsibility to make sure our children grow up to be as healthy as possible. Child obesity is rising constantly and it needs to be stopped. Teaching our kids how to eat healthy is the best way possible for them to become healthy, successful adults. For more ideas and tips visit http://www.squidoo.com/simplerecipesforchildren and ensure your children become the best adult they can be.

The truth is that with a bit of careful research and forward planning, you can enjoy eating out at various places from fast food outlets up to the finest restaurants and still maintain a healthy diet.

Here are some important tips to bear in mind as you continue to enjoy eating out:

1. Look for the light options on the menu.   Not all restaurants will offer such options, but a growing number of chain restaurants are promoting light alternatives without much searching.   You may even find light options marked on the menu.   You’ll soon find that light doesn’t always mean you’ll be giving up flavor, so go ahead and try the healthy alternative.

2. Take half your dinner home.   Meals are being served in larger and larger portions all the time. Sometimes your meal won’t be unhealthy, but the size of your portion will be.  In an effort to avoid overeating and maintain a healthy diet simply ask your restaurant staff to serve you half the meal and box up the other half for you to take home with you.

3. Grilling is Great!   One way to eat smart is to opt for your food to be grilled instead of fried.  Fried foods have so many additional calories and fat. Grilled chicken or fish make great choices because they’re lean proteins and packed full of flavor so you stay on a healthy diet regime.

4. Avoid drinking extra calories, if you are trying to stay healthy.   If you’re watching those calories, they add up very quickly once you add alcohol.  Drinking soda products or alcoholic beverages while you’re dining out can ruin a healthy diet and eating plan very easily.

* Choosing water as an alternative is a wise move and then you’ll only need to worry about the calorie content of your meal.

5. Be salad wise. You can choose a salad as your main dish as a way to lessen your calorie intake. You’ll probably find that there are bigger salads on the menu, which can be very satisfying, beyond the house or side salad. Many of them contain a bigger vegetable variety or meat such as chicken, beef or prawns.

Ask them to serve your salad dressing on the side rather than on the salad.  That way you control the amount of dressing you put on your salad.    Remember, a little bit can go a long way. Avoid the creamy dressings. That’s the fatty stuff!

6. Appetizers can make the meal. Most restaurants serve tasty appetizers, so you can order one of these as your main dish. If that’s not enough food, you might want to order two appetizers. Many times two appetizers will still be less food than a main course selection and be very satisfying and can help you maintain a healthy diet.

7. Choose healthy sauces.  Be aware of the sauce in the dish of your choosing.   If you’re eating Italian always choose an option with a tomato-based sauce. This will provide you with a bigger benefit than a much richer cream based alternative. This is also the case when it comes to choosing your soups; avoid the cream based ones wherever possible.

8. Include fruits and veggies with every meal.   They are an important part of a healthy diet for everyone,  so you should continue to seek them out when you’re making your selections at a restaurant. Steamed vegetables can be a great side dish, and fruits can likely be ordered in place of a dessert item.   Often they are served very differently, therefore making them a treat to eat!

If you find along the way you need some guidance, I recommend you go to STRIP THAT FAT website and take a look at their product offering, it may be just what you need!

Keep in the mind the same healthy information you use when cooking at home to order your meals while you’re out.   Don’t be afraid to indulge yourself occasionally, but maintain an awareness of a healthy diet and portion size and your healthy eating plan with be full of success.