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Posted by juna
American Eating Habits
Among the worst of the typically American eating habits, say experts, is our unwillingness to celebrate each meal we eat. Ironically for a culture that uses food to celebrate so many things, dinnertime USA is less about the food and more about filling our bellies — and doing so quickly.
And while the American interpretation might be that “longer meals equal more food,” experts say the opposite is true. The slower you eat, the less you eat, Heller says.
“It takes the brain about 20 minutes to figure out that your stomach is full, but you can stuff an awful lot of food down in 20 minutes if you’re eating quickly,” she says.
Additionally, studies show that few cultures snack as much as Americans. After all, our country not only gave birth to fast food and the “coffee break,” but to the commercial snack food
Another typically American mistake: Eating snacks as if they were full-sized meals.
“Regardless of what you’re snacking on, a snack should be a snack-size portion — something to take the edge off your hunger — not a whole meal,” says Heller.
“Americans have lost touch with what it feels like to be ‘full,’ having replaced that feeling with one of being ’stuffed’ — one reason our portion sizes are now so large,” say Heller.
Finally, experts say it’s time for American’s to spend less time in those bucket seats and more time on our feet. Every day, Americans often load their groceries into trunk of the four-wheel drive, and try to park as close to the store as possible. At the end of the day, she says, “the idea is to move your butt” — and put your metabolism in motion.
From Asia:
While Americans generally see meat as an entrée, the Asian habit is to use it as a garnish, much the way we eat pickles with a ham sandwich. Most Asian meals consist primarily of vegetables that are merely “spiced” with the flavor of meat. For additional protein sources, this culture eats fish and beans, particularly soy.
Tip: Load your plate with carbohydrates, including grains such as rice. Carbohydrates have been on the American dieter’s hit list. Yet in Asia where they’re thinner, carbohydrates, particularly rice, are a dietary mainstay. So what’s the trick? Master the Asian art of substitution, using rice and vegetables to replace high-fat meat dishes, not as side dishes to eat along with them.
From South America:
If you’re convinced a meal is not a meal unless you’ve had a hunk of beef between your teeth, take a tip from Argentineans and buy only super-lean cuts. While these folks reportedly eat up to 30 pounds more beef a year than Americans, their rate of heart disease is decidedly lower. One big difference: Argentinean cows are grass-fed, so the meat is naturally lower in fat — just 2.5 grams per 4 ounces — compared with America’s grain-fed cattle, which produce steaks with a whopping 10.8 grams of saturated fat in 4 ounces.
From the Mediterranean:
The message here: Eat from the source! If Americans took away any lesson from the famed, heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, it was to replace saturated fats with healthier fats, like those found in olive oil. The message we didn’t seem to get: In most European cultures, folks not only cook with olive oil, they actually eat the olives. This “whole foods” approach to diet not only allows them to reap the benefits of the oils, it fills their bellies with a heart-healthy food.
Cultures including the French and the Greek also augment the benefits of red wine by eating the grapes — a typical “dessert” in many European countries.
Tip: If you do drink wine, or any alcoholic beverage, do like the French and drink it only with meals. On an empty stomach, alcohol goes right to the brain, dissolving those inhibitions that might otherwise keep you from diving into a bowl of potato chips or eating way too much of your entrée. Drinking on empty can also drop blood sugar, bringing on ravenous hunger and causing you to overeat.
From Africa:
Add more nuts to your diet — even consider them as part of your main meal. In at least one African nation, Gambia, peanuts frequently make up the basis of a meal; a favorite dish being tomato and peanut stew. While we consider stews fattening, they are enjoyed daily in this culture. The trick is to load the pot with vegetables, spices, and, of course, nuts, which can replace meat or poultry as a source of protein. And does it work? Well, not only do the Gambians have virtually no weight problems, they also have the lowest international incidence of all types of cancer.
Posted by juna
For a lot of people attempting to lose weight the first thing that comes to their mind is eating less. Instead of eating smaller meals they usually eat less meals. If you want your body to become heavier and have a higher fat percentage this is the quickest way to achieve it.
At first this looks like an extremely effective method of losing weight, but it is very short lived. What you lose at first is water weight and muscle mass. It’s the loss of your muscle mass that is the start of you getting heavier, it just takes a little time to start showing on your body.
Breakfast is the first meal that most dieters give up first. They think that skipping breakfast after waking up hungry will cause their body to start burning fat. Your metabolic rate slows down when you skip your breakfast. Your body will then go into starvation mode to protect itself. Your body will start using your muscles as fuel, and start storing fat instead of burning it off.
Skipping meals and restricting calories will create cravings. Rapid high blood sugar occurs when you give into these cravings. As a result, your body creates a high amount of triglycerides, which convert to fat-storage. In addition, the depleted glycogen causes low energy levels because blood sugar is not being replaced. Unfortunately, the weight that is lost is mostly water (glycogen is made up of mostly water) and muscle.
The slowed metabolism will also have a tough time digesting your food, if you cram in all your meals at one time. This is also commonly seen in people who skip meals. They get so hungry they eat more then one meals worth at one sitting. The already slowed metabolism is going to take a lot longer to work the oversized meal throughout your body. Once again, resulting in weight gain.
Effects of skipping meals
• Decreased energy expenditure
• Decreased metabolic rate
• Weight gain
• Increased preference of fat in the diet
• Decrease strength
• Increased injury rates
• Decreased bone density
• Decreased body temperature
• Decreased performance
• Decreased resistance to disease
• Renal regulation and Electrolyte imbalance
• Impaired Thermal regulation
• Decreased Testosterone level
• Mood swings
• Menstrual dysfunction
Posted by juna
Choose the types of foods that improve your health and avoid the types of foods that raise your risk for such illnesses as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Expand your range of healthy choices to include a wide variety of delicious foods. Learn to use guidelines and tips for creating and maintaining a satisfying, healthy diet.
Many people are finding ways on how to manage their diet as well as seeking for the right and proper foods to eat due to the fact that these people think that paying attention to what you eat and choosing foods that are both nourishing and enjoyable helps support an overall healthy diet. But it’s not just what you eat. It’s how you eat it. It is because healthy eating begins with learning how to “eat smart”.
* Take time to chew your food: Chew your food slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of what is in our mouths. Reconnect with the joy of eating.
* Avoid stress while eating: When we are stressed, our digestion can be compromised, causing problems like colitis and heartburn. Avoid eating while working, driving, arguing, or watching TV (especially disturbing programs or the news). Try taking some deep breaths prior to beginning your meal, or light candles and play soothing music to create a relaxing atmosphere.
* Listen to your body: Ask yourself if you are really hungry. You may really be thirsty, so try drinking a glass of water first. During a meal, stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly. Eating just enough to satisfy your hunger will help you remain alert, relaxed and feeling your best, rather than stuffing yourself into a “food coma”!
* Eat early, eat often: Starting your day with a healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, and eating the majority of your daily caloric allotment early in the day gives your body time to work those calories off. Also, eating small, healthy meals throughout the day, rather than the standard three large meals, can help keep your metabolism going and ward off snack attacks.
Posted by juna
Need to lose weight? Before you give up the late night crunching and go on a no-fat detox frenzy to kick your sluggish metabolism into shape, read what the experts have to say about these popular dieting myths.
Myth No. 1: Don’t Eat After 8 p.m.
The reality: Calories can’t tell time. “Your body digests and uses calories the same way morning, noon, and night,” says Mary Flynn, Ph.D., a research dietitian at the Miriam Hospital, in Providence. They may sit around a little longer if you eat, then lie on the couch and watch Letterman, but when you move around the next day, your body will dip into its stores. That said, there are other solid reasons to avoid late-night snacking, not least of which is that snacks you grab when you’re tired tend to be unhealthy ones.
Myth No. 2: Eating Small, Frequent Meals Boosts Your Metabolism
The reality: Food intake has a negligible effect on metabolism. Some foods, including those with caffeine, may slightly and temporarily increase metabolism, but the effect is too small to help you lose weight. What most affects your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the rate at which your body burns calories at rest, is body composition and size. More muscles and bigger bodies generally burn more calories overall.
Myth No.3: Fattening foods equal rapid weight gain.
The reality: Believe it or not, true weight gain is a slow process. You need to eat an extra 3500 calories to gain one pound of body fat (and vice versa for losing it).
Lyndel Costain explains: ‘If the scales say you’ve gained a few pounds after a meal out, it’s largely due to fluid, which will resolve itself - as long as you don’t get fed up, and keep overeating!
‘A lot of people feel guilty and think they’ve blown their diet if they eat rich foods. But, how can a 50g chocolate bar make you instantly put on pounds?
‘For long-term weight control, balance high-fat foods with healthy food and activity.’
Myth No. 4: Low-fat foods help you lose weight.
The reality: ‘Low-fat’ or ‘fat-free’ doesn’t necessarily mean low calorie or calorie-free, warns Lyndel Costain. Check the calorie content of foods, especially cakes, biscuits, crisps, ice creams and ready meals. Extra sugars and thickeners are often added to boost flavor and texture, so calorie content may be only a bit less, or similar to standard products. Foods labeled low-fat should contain no more than 3g fat per 100g.
Myth No. 5: Cholesterol is bad for you.
The reality: Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is made mostly by the liver. It can be bad for us, because it forms deposits that line and clog our arteries. Clogged arteries contribute to heart disease. But we all need some blood cholesterol because it’s used to build cells and make vital hormones - and there’s good and bad cholesterol. Lyndel Costain explains: ‘Saturated fats found in food like meat, cheese, cream, butter and processed pastries tend to raise low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, known as ‘bad’ cholesterol, which delivers cholesterol to the arteries. ‘High density lipoprotein (HDL), or ‘good’ cholesterol, transports cholesterol away from the arteries, back to the liver. ‘So choose unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils, nuts and seeds.
Myth No. 6: You always gain weight when you stop smoking.
The reality: Some people gain weight when they stop smoking, some lose weight and some stay the same. While nicotine does increase the body’s metabolism, its effect is small. It’s far healthier to be an overweight non-smoker than not bother giving up because you think you’ll put on weight. Alison Sullivan says: ‘Where people tend to fall down is when they replace a cigarette with comfort food. ‘Chewing sugar-free gum or snacking on vegetable strips kept in the fridge is a good idea because you can have these instead of reaching for the biscuit tin. ‘And something like a satsuma keeps your hands occupied until the craving goes away.’
Posted by juna
The word diet is often used to describe an eating plan intended to aid weight loss. However, diet really refers to the foods a person eats in the course of a day, or week. The more balanced and nutritious the diet, the healthier the person can expect to be. A balanced diet means eating the right amount of foods from all food groups. Just like fashion, diets come and go, and you hope to pick the one that lasts. But no matter what diet you may choose, problems may possibly arise sooner or later. In dieting, you always get cravings. Just like smokers, giving up smoking is been easy. In this connection, cravings could affect even the most determined dieter.
Is it easy resisting temptation? Absolutely not, but this article will help you stay resolved in the face of it. Temptations are abundantly and conveniently located throughout our environment. Whether it’s that expensive designer scarf that you want so badly but know it’s beyond your budget, eavesdropping on a conversation between an arguing couple at the table next to yours, or a piece of double fudge chocolate cake — the temptations are endless.
In order to cope and resist these temptations, you could try the following tips. This may help you out:
* don’t skip meals as this will make you more likely to crave other foods and snack because you are hungry.
* Don’t starve yourself as this is most likely to lead to you experience cravings and to give in to temptation. Keep healthy snacks, like fruit or carrot/celery sticks handy at all times.
* Drink plenty of water as dehydration can sometimes be mistaken for hunger and can increase cravings, especially for sweet foods. Water will also make you feel full, so you would feel less hungry.
* Don’t keep foods you crave in the house, and don’t go shopping when you’re hungry as you’re more likely to buy foods that are bad for you.
* As with any craving, distract your attention from it - go for a walk, have a bath or watch TV.
* Indulge once in a while so that you don’t deprive yourself completely as this could be your downfall. If you crave chocolate allow yourself a fun size chocolate bar and don’t feel guilty.
