Healthy Grocery Store Habits

Being a healthy, fit and active person is so much more than the time you spend running on your treadmill or elliptical or lifting weights or utilizing your home gym. Healthy is a lifestyle that you live in every setting of your life. One of the places that is most important for you to adopt a healthy lifestyle is at the grocery store. The food that you buy when at the supermarket sets up how healthy you are going to eat for the week. If you buy unhealthy food, then you are obviously panning on eating in an unhealthy manner. We have a few tips here for some rules you should follow while at the grocery store so that you stay healthy all week long!

1: The outside perimeter is where most of your food should come from

                This one you may have heard before. These areas, versus the aisles, have the least amount of processing and are more natural foods like fruits, vegetables, grain, and dairy.

2. Choose aisle food with less than 4 ingredients.

                When choosing snacks, sauces, cereals, and all the other foods you will find in the aisles of the grocery store, you want to choose the ones that are the best out of the bunch. If a products has a huge list of ingredients, it is more likely that that product is going to contain unnatural and harmful additives or processed ingredients. Stick to the food that have the least amount of ingredients.

3. Have a 5 color cart.

                Having a colorful cart is a way of saying that you are eating your proper amount of fruits and vegetables. If you are new to the healthy lifestyle, this rule of thumb is a good one to force yourself to buy more produce. You won’t be able to resist eating the gorgeous colors in your fridge.

4. If you’re going to buy “cheat” foods, make them a small portion.

                We all know that at some point, you will pass the aisle of cookies or of chips and you will want to bring those home for those days that you just want to cheat a bit. Instead of buying an entire large bag, try buying the single serving size. This way once you cheat, you can get back on track to eating healthy and not be tempted by the remaining junk food in your pantry.

5. Stick to water, coffee, and tea.

                Coffee and tea are water based drinks and they can be customized for many different tastes. The liquids you drink should rehydrate you and nothing does that better than water and others made form water.

6. Make sure all your carbs are 100% whole grain.

                Your breads, pastas rice, etc. should all be whole grain to provide the most benefit to your health.

7. Stay away from frozen meals.

                These meals are basically void of any nutritional value.  Make it a part of your healthy lifestyle to cook more and avoid using these meals that are full of refined grains and simple sugars.

Original: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/01/healthy-grocery-shopping_n_6076090.html?utm_hp_ref=health-fitness&ir=Health+and+Fitness

Staying Fit on Vacation

Tips for staying fit on Vacation!

• If you’re flying, eat a large meal before the airport that way you won’t be tempted to eat in the airport’s fast food court.
• Plan when & where you’ll be stopping for meals. This will help eliminate the number of times you stop at a fast food drive thru.
• Watch out for jetlag as it will make you hungry at abnormal times. Resist the urge to snack at 4 a.m. and wait for normal meal times instead. Or, if you simply cannot wait then it is best to choose a healthy snack such as a handful of nuts or piece of fruit.
• We know you’re on vacation, so you’ll want to indulge in some treats & that’s fine! That’s what vacation is all about! On days you’ll be indulging more than usual, try to keep other meals and snacks on the healthy side.
• Beware of buffets. Avoid them as much as possible.
• Try to eat roughly the same amount and kinds of food as you usually do. Your body will thank you.
• Markets are a great place to soak up local culture and eat delicious, cheap fresh food. Local food is better for the environment; you get to pick what you’re eating and you'll even squeeze in some movement as you walk around the market.
• When you plan to be out all day, bring along your own healthy snacks like trail mix, granola bars, or even PB&J sandwiches to stave off hunger. It’ll save you money & keep you away from unhealthier options.
• Make your own meals if you’re staying somewhere with kitchen access. You’ll know exactly what’s in it & you’ll have more of an opportunity to eat a fully nutritious meal.
• Beware of drinks. A single cocktail can contain loads of sugar (and calories). If a stiff drink is necessary (and sometimes it is!), try healthier drinks instead.

• Skip the bus tours and check out your new surroundings on foot or on bike! You’ll burn calories while taking in the views like locals do! Some cities even offer running tours to let you explore while getting a workout in.
• Take the stairs. Skip the elevator and sneak in some extra cardio. Lots of sightseeing attractions—churches and towers, for example—have stairs with architectural oddities, letting you kill two birds with one step.
• Embrace your surroundings. If you’re at the beach, try doing the usual yoga routine on the sand instead of indoors. A change in scenery might be the boost needed to get physical.
• Take a long walk through a local park.
• Use vacation as an excuse to try a new, fun activity. Whether it’s rock climbing, sailing, or trapeze swinging, challenge yourself to try something different while you’re away.
• Do as the locals do! Take advantage of what an area’s known for—or even plan a vacation around it! Unroll a yoga mat in India, climb boulders in Colorado, learn tai chi moves in China, or woo potential suitors with flamenco moves in Spain. It’s a great way to learn about a different culture while getting fit.
• Make exercise your vacation. A surefire way to guarantee you keep moving while traveling is by planning a getaway around a fitness event or competition. Force yourself to vacation by registering for a race in a different city or try a weekend fitness retreat.

• Check out amenities first. Make it easy to squeeze in workout time by booking a hotel with a gym or pool. If you hotel does not offer these things, see if there are any discounts at a nearby gym.
• Check out the neighborhood. Book accommodation near places where you can sweat. If you need to run laps before starting your day, stay somewhere where it will be safe to go for a run. If you need to hear namaste, stay near a yoga studio.
• Bust a move in your hotel room to keep fit using body weights or simple workouts. Something is always better than nothing!
• Keep your mini-fridge stocked with healthy snacks like fruits, veggies, and nuts to avoid unhealthy room service.

Original: http://greatist.com/fitness/24-tips-fitter-happier-summer-vacation

The Worst Frozen "Diet" Foods

Avoid These 6 Frozen Diet Foods!

The 6 Worst Frozen Foods You Could Have!


There’s no place as packed with truth-twisting treats as the frozen food aisle of your supermarket.

How do so many bad-for-you foods get away with masquerading as “health” foods? Well, consider the case of the most famous imposter of all, Frank Abagnale: Over the course of several years, he masqueraded as a doctor, airline pilot, and lawyer. So successful were his impersonations that Hollywood made a movie about his life: "Catch Me if You Can," starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Abagnale had exactly what it took to pull off any hoax: the right look, the right talk, and a detachment from the consequences of his actions.




Sound familiar? Think about food industry: The people who fill our supermarket freezer section have no problem clumping together pseudo-foods and processing chemicals and selling it to you under the guise of "healthy eating." They give these foods the right look (gourmet packaging with wholesome images) and the right talk (nutritional buzz-terms like "light," "natural," and "gluten-free"), and they obviously don't care about the consequences (more than two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese).

Indeed, some frozen-food manufacturers even go so far as to spackle terms like "lean" or "healthy" right on the label. But the truth is, many of these foods are imposters. 

#6: WORST FROZEN DESSERT

Ben & Jerry’s FroYo Phish Food (1/2 cup)

240 calories
6 g fat (4.5 g saturated)
27 g sugars

Frozen yogurt is often a healthy alternative to ice cream, but not this version. In fact, it has 100 more calories than your standard vanilla frozen treat. That’s largely due to coconut oil and butter being high on the ingredient list—not to mention nearly a half-dozen Oreos' worth of sugar in every scoop.

EAT DESSERT EVERY DAY! You can—and not put on an extra pound. You just need to know which desserts to indulge in, and which to avoid.

#5: WORST FROZEN BEEF MEAL

Lean Cuisine Beef Chow Fun

320 calories
5 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
520 mg sodium
18 g sugars

The calorie toll here isn't so bad, but the sugar impact is unacceptable. This isn't dessert, after all. You could have a scoop of Edy's Slow Churned Rocky Road ice cream and still cut 6 grams of sugar. The problem here is Lean Cuisine's “sweet and spicy” Asian sauce. Think of it as pancake syrup with a few spices stirred in.

#4: WORST FROZEN MEXICAN MEAL

Cedarlane Roasted Chile Relleno

360 calories
20 g fat (10 g saturated)
620 mg sodium

This box advertises “all natural” in the corner. Maybe, but Monterey jack and cheddar cheese, which make up two of the first five ingredients, are still naturally full of fat. And that’s how Cedarlane stuffs this relatively small dish with 50 percent of your day’s heart-unhealthy saturated fat.

#3: WORST FROZEN CHICKEN DISH

Healthy Choice Sesame Chicken

410 calories
10 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
460 mg sodium
21 g sugars

Remove the calming green packaging and the ostentatious use of "healthy" in the name, and you'll see this meal for what it is: fried chicken swimming in sugary syrup. Healthy Choice claims this is “roasted” chicken, but an inspection of the ingredient statement reveals the meat is coated in corn flour and cooked in vegetable oil. At KFC they call that "fried."

FOWL FOULS: Chicken is a lean, fat-fighting protein. But it's also the most abused food in American restuarants.

#2: WORST FROZEN BURRITO

Evol Burritos Egg & Sausage

480 calories
16 g fat (5 g saturated)
850 mg sodium

We love Evol’s commitment to unadulterated produce and naturally raised meats, but "natural" alone won't keep fat off your body. Sausage is still the first ingredient in this beast of a morning wrap, and as such, it saddles you with 25 percent of your day’s fat and saturated fat, 35 percent of your sodium, and half your cholesterol. These numbers don’t make Evol evil, but they don’t make this burrito nutritious either.

BREAKFAST BOMBSHELLS: Research shows that those who eat a balanced breakfast consume fewer calories over the course of the day. But do the first meal wrong, and you can set yourself up for calorie overload.

#1: WORST FROZEN PASTA DISH

Amy’s Rice Macaroni with Non-Dairy Cheeze

520 calories
22 g fat (5 g saturated)
740 mg sodium

Amy’s casts itself as the healthy alternative to other frozen meals, and often that's true. But not here. “Made with organic pasta,” as the package proclaims, means nothing if you’re consuming an oil-soaked cheese-alternative that crams in more than a third of your day’s fat allotment. For the same amount of calories, you could eat two packages of Banquet’s macaroni and cheese.

Food Baby

Surely we’ve all heard of the phenomenon that is the food baby. When indulging doesn’t quite do justice to how much you truly just ate, all of a sudden your stomach is protruding and making you, men or women, look as though you’re pregnant. The growth of your stomach may sometimes make you feel as though your stomach is about to burst.

Did you know that your stomach can go from holding a shot glass size when empty to holding up to 4 liters, or a little more than a gallon of milk? The point at which you are normally comfortably full is usually only 1-1.5 liters. When you overeat, you normally get a feeling of discomfort, but when you make it a habit to eat that way the feeling of being miserable will go away because your stomach muscles will stretch. Over time, when you consistently are over-stuffing yourself, you are causing your stomach to adapt to be able to hold more food and liquid. Your stomach doesn’t shrink back up to its normal size and then you will require more food to make you feel full. The pain you feel from over eating will also be caused by your body working overtime to digest the large about of food you consumed. 

Do you normally feel like working out after you’ve just binge eaten? No, most people don’t and it’s not something you should force either. When you exercise, the blood flow to your digestive track is lessened, which leads to nausea and bloating. So don’t think that a hardcore workout is going to help that food baby disappear. If anything, go for a walk which will help your stomach muscles grind and push food into your intestinal tract faster. You also, however, should not go lie down or go take a nap although sometimes that is exactly what you want to do. It is suggested that you stay upright for at least half an hour. 

So if you want to avoid the sensation of being along 7 months into your pregnancy, pigging out, binging, going hog-wild, are all activities that should be avoided.  

Via:

http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/7-disturbing-facts-about-food-baby