» Healthy Eating http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:29:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 The Key to Health and Fitness http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/the-key-to-health-and-fitness.html http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/the-key-to-health-and-fitness.html#comments Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:43:22 +0000 Good Food Good Health http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/the-key-to-health-and-fitness.html The key to achieving good health is really quite simple. About now youre undoubtedly thinking, if it is so simple, why is the health level of the overall population declining at a record pace?
Of course the key to how one becomes healthy and maintains health is not difficult. In fact you may already know several of the things you should be doing to improve your health. It becomes complicated when we are faced with choices that are less than healthful and they cloud our judgment. These distractions compete for our attention with more healthful alternatives that may not seem quite as exciting.
We must allow ourselves to become focused by gaining an understanding of what is required in order to get the big prize – a healthy life. Basically there are three parts we need to master including proper nutrition, fitness, and finally the motivation to keep on track with both.
Proper nutrition, or healthy eating, is probably the most basic and easiest to understand principle of good health. Virtually everyone is aware when they are eating something that is healthful versus a food that is void of nutritional value.
Many times the simplest method of including a majority of healthful foods in the diet is to focus on good foods to eat rather than on bad foods that should not be eaten. As with most things in life, focusing on the positive usually produces the best results. Try to include as many fruits, vegetables, lean meats and whole grains as possible in each days meal plan. By including a large amount of good foods each day, you will find that theres little room left for the not-so-good foods. Proper nutrition will be nearly automatic.
Unlike nutrition, fitness is a bit more difficult to incorporate into daily life. The primary reason for this is that everyone must eat in order to live. Achieving proper nutrition simply means making the right choices for something you are going to do anyway. Activity, however, is not something we must do every day. Even though we should move every day, we wont suffer major consequences immediately if we dont. Instead, the price will be paid years down the road.
The key to increasing ones fitness is to build upon the activities already in place. For example, walking is an activity that most people perform every day. To get the most of this daily activity, expand the amount of walking you do. For example, park in the back of a parking lot to increase the number of steps it takes to reach your destination. Once inside a multi-level building, take the stairs to move from floor to floor rather than the elevator. Start with small changes and build from there.
Once you have increased your natural activity level it is time to focus on developing a fitness routine. Start slowly with just a short period of time devoted to your program each day. Even ten minutes is a good start. The key is to start a program and stick with it.
Sticking with it is where the motivation factor comes in. Motivation is tricky and its different for everyone. Many people are motivated by doing something routinely and building on it. If youre one of those people, consider yourself lucky and just get started with your health plans.

The rest will take care of itself.
For the rest of us it is important to find what motivates us. Maybe its buying a new workout outfit or trying a new healthful recipe. Many people like to read fitness magazines and search online for new tips and exercise techniques. Others read inspiring stories and quotes.
Whatever it is for you, find it as soon as possible and hold on to it. Getting motivated is the number one key to achieving your health and fitness goals.

]]> http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/the-key-to-health-and-fitness.html/feed 0 10 foods that must be avoided if you want to be healthy http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/10-foods-that-must-be-avoided-if-you-want-to-be-healthy.html http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/10-foods-that-must-be-avoided-if-you-want-to-be-healthy.html#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:42:23 +0000 Good Food Good Health http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/10-foods-that-must-be-avoided-if-you-want-to-be-healthy.html Many of us don’t know the fat content of the foods we eat. What foods contain fats and which don’t? What are the best choices you can make when it comes to choosing the food you will eat?Here are some foods you should avoid eating because they are incredibly harmful:1)Margarine is incredibly harmful and deceptive. Margarine is jam-packed of saturated and unsaturated fats which create heart problems and cardiovascular diseases. Dairies also contain saturated and unsaturated fats, with the exception of butter. If you eat one spoon of margarine you will get 2.8 grams of unsaturated fats and 2.1 grams of saturated fats. If you eat one spoon of butter you will get 7.2 grams of saturated fats and just 0.3 grams of unsaturated fats.2)Packaged foods like cookies, biscuits, contain lots of fats. You can verify their fat contents by reading their label.3)Soups contain unsaturated fats too. If you like soups try vegetable soups which are tasty and good for your health at the same time.4)Fast food use vast quantities of hydrogenated oils to deep fry or cook anything they prepare. Fries, chicken, burgers all are jam-packed of bad for you fats.

Even if some fast foods restaurants use regular cooking oil, the pre-cooked fries are already cooked in unsaturated fats before they get to the eating place. From one piece of KFC chicken you will get 7 grams and form a medium portion of French fries you will get 14.5 grams of fat.5)Pizza, pies and cakes and any deep fried food are all forbidden foods. Deep fried foods are very bad for your health and contain lots of fats. You should always avoid eating them.  6)Pastries contain lots of fats. As an example doughnuts are cooked in unsaturated fats and lots of fats are used in producing the dough. Instead of buying them try to cook them at home using much more good for your health ingredients.  7)Constantly snacking on candy and chips is a incredibly bad for you eating habit. Potato chips and popcorn are full of fats and chocolate candy is jam-packed of unsaturated fats.8)All those good for your health breakfast foods: cereals, toast… contain unsaturated fats, but in small quantities. The nuts found in many cereals are jam-packed of fats but they are the good good for you kind of fats.9)Chocolate and cake can contain huge amounts of fats. You just have to be careful. To always make the right choice you will have to read their label and see how many fats they contain. A piece of chocolate or a piece of cake contain much more unsaturated fats than regular candy.10)Coffee, whip cream, ice-cream, toppings all contain loads of unsaturated fats. Use skim milk for your coffee.You cannot do away with all the unsaturated fats from your diet even if you tried your greatest. What you can do is cut down the daily intake by making the right choices. For example you can use olive oil in your salads or for your food preparation. It’s full of flavor and delicious.

]]> http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/10-foods-that-must-be-avoided-if-you-want-to-be-healthy.html/feed 0 Healthy Eating and Super Foods – 4 Health Benefits of Watermelons http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/healthy-eating-and-super-foods-4-health-benefits-of-watermelons.html http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/healthy-eating-and-super-foods-4-health-benefits-of-watermelons.html#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:05:11 +0000 Good Food Good Health http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/healthy-eating-and-super-foods-4-health-benefits-of-watermelons.html Think back to when you were a child and when during the summer months, the pinnacle of cookouts and family gatherings was always the cold juicy watermelon that was for desert. When you were young, eating watermelon was about taste, but now that you’re older it’s more than just taste that should inspire you to eat lots of watermelon each year when the season arises. This is because watermelons have tremendous health benefits that anyone who lives a healthy lifestyle should be determined to take advantage of every year. With that said, let’s take a closer look at some of these health benefits this fruit has to offer.

Health Benefit of Watermelons #1: Lycopene

Lycopene is an antioxidant found in most red-colored fruits, with the exception of a few, such as strawberries. Scientific studies have shown that Lycopene reduces the risk of prostate cancer and heart disease in people, especially men, the sex most prone to these diseases. Men who eat a diet high in lycopene are much less likely to suffer a heart attack then men who don’t.

Health Benefit of Watermelons #2: Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is an important attribute to have in a healthy diet because it promotes chemicals in the brain that help people to cope with anxiety and panic, two psychological disorders that are on the rise in America today.

Health Benefit of Watermelons #3: Vitamin C

If you thought oranges were the only fruit that could provide you with Vitamin C, think again. Vitamin C is important to not only being healthy, but remaining attractive all your life. Vitamin C boosts the immune system so that you get sick less often and it also slows down aging and medical conditions such as cataract.

Health Benefit of Watermelons #4: Vitamin A

Vitamin A works much like Vitamin C, in that it helps boost immunity, but it also help your body fight off infection. It also prevents blindness.

As you can see, eating watermelon is almost tantamount to taking a multivitamin every morning, but with a much better taste. Watermelons are seasonal, which means that they are not available all year long, like fruits such as apples, which also means that when they are in season you should make sure and take advantage.

When you go to the store to purchase one you want to try and find one that is ripe and ready to eat. The best way to do this is to knock on the outside of the rind. If you hear a hollow sound then melon is ready to eat, but if you hear solid thud put it back. The fruit is over ripe and you won’t be getting very good flavor from it. Buy you water melon and eat it within the first few days of getting it home. Everything about it is healthy, and in addition, it won’t leave you feeling over stuffed if you eat too much.

So the next time the weather becomes warmer and summer is approaching, don’t forget about watermelons. Eat up and get the extra boost they will add to your healthy lifestyle.

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