by: Mary Watson
Many people have weight problems not because they don’t understand how to eat or prepare healthy food. There is some tendency to think that because a food is healthy, it must not be tasty. Avoiding these misconceptions is one of the first steps toward learning to eat and prepare healthy foods.
Choose Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Instead of buying canned fruits and vegetables, choose fresh ones when they are in season. Fruits fresh from the produce department of your market are better for you than canned fruits that have added sugar or are packaged in high calorie syrup. If you must buy canned fruit, choose those with no added sugar that are packed in natural fruit juices. Vegetables from the can tend to have extra salt and other ingredients that are not essential for the flavour.
Instead of cooking vegetables in butter or margarine, steam them and add spices or lemon juice for flavour. With so many different spices available for purchase at the market, there is no need to use excess butter or salt. You can even blend some of your spices to create a unique flavour of your own.
Choose Lean Meats and Restrict Red Meat
Instead of going for the high fat and high cholesterol red meats, try to stay with poultry and fish instead. In addition, do not fry your meats but bake, roast, or broil them. Avoid cooking in vegetable oil and choose olive oil instead for a healthier choice. For foods such as steak or hamburger, grill rather than fry them. The market is prime today for people trying to cut their fat content, and products such as the ever-popular George Foreman grill are invading more homes than in the past.
One way to enjoy ground beef without the fat and calories is to substitute ground chicken or ground turkey. With the proper seasoning the flavour is pleasing, and when used for cooking things such as meatballs or chilli, the additional ingredients make the flavour undetectable. When trying to lose weight or stay healthy, many of us are guilty of deciding we don’t like something before we try it. In that way we restrict foods that we may potentially like and complain that dieting has too many restrictions.
Choose Carbohydrates with a Low Glycemic Index
One of the biggest contributors to weight gain and failure to lose weight is too many simple carbohydrates. The old adage that only candy and other sweets make up the simple carbohydrates is false. Any starchy food has the potential to turn to sugar, so it’s essential to learn to eat healthier carbohydrates, namely those made of whole grains such as wheat bread, wheat flour, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and even whole grain cereals such as those made with oats, wheat, and barley. These whole grains do not turn to sugar when they are consumed and yet provide us the energy we need to attend to our daily activities.
Avoid Diets that Eliminate Food Groups
Most of us learned in school the importance of consuming food for each of the basic food groups daily. However, in today’s market many diets are geared toward eliminating or greatly reducing the amount of food we consume from some of the food groups. This may not be on a regular basis, but nonetheless these diets are not the healthiest nor will they help you achieve permanent weight loss. The key to permanent weight loss is changing your lifestyle such as the way you eat, adding exercise to your daily routine, and drinking eight to ten ounces of water every day. Eliminating entire food groups is not only unhealthy, but it also increases your feelings of deprivation.
About The Author:
Mary Watson writes weight loss, diet plan, health, beauty and general well-being articles for the Slim Eazy website at http://www.slimeazy.com
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Vegetarian Recipes - A Way To Eating Healthy
by: Kelvin Hall
More and more people are choosing to eat a vegetarian diet because they know that veggies are healthful food. Using low calorie and vegetarian recipes is one of the most important things you can do to protect your heath and the health of your family since obesity is now an epidemic in the United States and other developed countries. Cooking them is still better than the alternatives to a vegetarian lifestyle or a vegan lifestyle, but we receive the most nutritional benefit from ingesting whole and organic raw foods. They will often include many of the vitamins, minerals, and sources of nutrition that every body needs. These low calorie recipes, usually high in fiber, protect against digestive disorders such as diverticulosis and may offer protection from colon and lung cancers. Many low calorie and vegetarian recipes use soy, tofu, dried beans and peas to add protein to meals. Using low calorie recipes will provide a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes, adding high amounts of all the essential vitamins and minerals. Subscribing to vegetarian magazines, scouring newspaper food sections, and visiting veggie websites will bring you a respectable number of recipes, but it's more convenient to have hundreds and hundreds in one place.
Including a few vegetarian recipes into your diet can quickly improve how you feel and can be part of an overall health plan that will improve your life. And contrary to popular belief, these recipes are full of the taste and enjoyment of many other foods you eat. Incorporating vegetarian recipes into any diet will bring variety and give healthy eating options. Plus, vegetarian cuisine is chockfull of dishes that are robust and flavorful, and a match for any standard meat dish. Such treats as squash with tofu, vegetarian paella, and baked figs with dried fruit and anisette may well convert some confirmed carnivores to part-time vegetarians. Many of these recipes cook faster than those made with meat.
As more people juggle trying to eat healthier with their busy lifestyles, they may find that Vegetarian slow cooking provides an answer. What I like best about slow cooker Vegetarian recipes is that the long, slow-cooking process enriches the flavor of the dish in a way that other cooking methods can't match. The gentle slow-cooking process actually draws more flavor out of the ingredients. In addition to convenience, slow cooking also scores high marks for taste and nutrition since the long cooking time allows both flavors and nutrients to concentrate in the food. While the slow cooker was once synonymous with cooking pot roasts and other meat dishes, just as my friend discovered, the Vegetarian cook will find a vast number of ways to use it.
Exploring vegetarian recipes is great simply to spice up the kitchen with something new. Whether you are choosing to eat vegetarian dishes as a permanent diet or as part of a healthier lifestyle, Vegetarian Recipes is packed with ideas to tempt the most committed carnivore.
About The Author:
Kelvin Hall is a professional writer who writes about the vegetarian lifestyles, for more information visit: http://www.vegetarianfacts.net
More and more people are choosing to eat a vegetarian diet because they know that veggies are healthful food. Using low calorie and vegetarian recipes is one of the most important things you can do to protect your heath and the health of your family since obesity is now an epidemic in the United States and other developed countries. Cooking them is still better than the alternatives to a vegetarian lifestyle or a vegan lifestyle, but we receive the most nutritional benefit from ingesting whole and organic raw foods. They will often include many of the vitamins, minerals, and sources of nutrition that every body needs. These low calorie recipes, usually high in fiber, protect against digestive disorders such as diverticulosis and may offer protection from colon and lung cancers. Many low calorie and vegetarian recipes use soy, tofu, dried beans and peas to add protein to meals. Using low calorie recipes will provide a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes, adding high amounts of all the essential vitamins and minerals. Subscribing to vegetarian magazines, scouring newspaper food sections, and visiting veggie websites will bring you a respectable number of recipes, but it's more convenient to have hundreds and hundreds in one place.
Including a few vegetarian recipes into your diet can quickly improve how you feel and can be part of an overall health plan that will improve your life. And contrary to popular belief, these recipes are full of the taste and enjoyment of many other foods you eat. Incorporating vegetarian recipes into any diet will bring variety and give healthy eating options. Plus, vegetarian cuisine is chockfull of dishes that are robust and flavorful, and a match for any standard meat dish. Such treats as squash with tofu, vegetarian paella, and baked figs with dried fruit and anisette may well convert some confirmed carnivores to part-time vegetarians. Many of these recipes cook faster than those made with meat.
As more people juggle trying to eat healthier with their busy lifestyles, they may find that Vegetarian slow cooking provides an answer. What I like best about slow cooker Vegetarian recipes is that the long, slow-cooking process enriches the flavor of the dish in a way that other cooking methods can't match. The gentle slow-cooking process actually draws more flavor out of the ingredients. In addition to convenience, slow cooking also scores high marks for taste and nutrition since the long cooking time allows both flavors and nutrients to concentrate in the food. While the slow cooker was once synonymous with cooking pot roasts and other meat dishes, just as my friend discovered, the Vegetarian cook will find a vast number of ways to use it.
Exploring vegetarian recipes is great simply to spice up the kitchen with something new. Whether you are choosing to eat vegetarian dishes as a permanent diet or as part of a healthier lifestyle, Vegetarian Recipes is packed with ideas to tempt the most committed carnivore.
About The Author:
Kelvin Hall is a professional writer who writes about the vegetarian lifestyles, for more information visit: http://www.vegetarianfacts.net
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