Fitness Gift Idea: Chia Seeds!

By Anna Dewsberry

Going to a friend's birthday? When you have a friend who is a fitness enthusiast and you are certain that he is not aware yet of the existence of chia seeds that are now considered as nature's wonder food, why not have the seeds as your present for him instead?

Yes, you read it right! If you are running out of birthday gift ideas for your friend, consider giving him something that will both feed his mind and body. Although it is largely written all over the Internet, the chia's benefits may still be unknown to some especially when they are focused on just following the guidelines of their fitness instructors and are not keen in learning new stuff from the Web. If you are not aware yet of its health benefits, here are a few tips that you need to know as you are having the chia seeds for a birthday present if you still need some convincing power for your friend to appreciate it.

1. Chia has omega 3 fatty acids that promote a healthy heart. 

2. The seeds have dietary fibers capable of assisting the body in eliminating body wastes in the quickest way, as well as in controlling the appetite. 

3. They have vitamins to strengthen the immune system, as well as minerals for muscle and bone formation. 

4. They have antioxidants responsible in the repair of body tissues and cells, as well as in slowing the aging process.

There are many things that you can actually tell your friend regarding the chia. But equipping yourself with the four facts mentioned above will automatically convince your friend to know more about the chia. Also, don't forget to use the terms used on the Internet about the chia such as "wonder food". It is guaranteed that your friend will exert effort in researching more about the chia, and he will have you to thank for because you were thoughtful enough to bring a gift fitting to his fitness lifestyle.

Anna Dewsberry has been promoting health and well-being for many years and enjoys writing about her experiences with Chia Seeds. She also likes to pass on tip and tricks of how to get the best out your lifestyle changes, to her friends and readers on her website Crown Fitness.

Healthy Eating - A Guide to Eating Healthily at a Restaurant

By Katy Mills

Eating out can be a real treat. The pleasure of not having to prepare the meal yourself, and have everything brought to your table makes it very enjoyable. Unfortunately, with so many tempting dishes on offer, you can easily end up consuming a more fattening meal than you would have prepared for yourself.

It is good to treat yourself to a restaurant meal once in a while, but before you book plan ahead. Here are a few tips to help you eat a healthy meal when dining out.

Choose a healthier restaurant - Many restaurants nowadays advertise healthier options. Some have special low calorie or low fat menus, and don't be afraid to ask for something that may not be listed.

Dressing on the side - A good way to cut down on the calories and fats that are included in salad dressings, is to ask for it to be supplied on the side. In that way you can limit the amount of dressing you use on an otherwise healthy salad.

Choose places that cook with olive oil - Most restaurants will use butter and other cheaper fats, but olive oil is healthier, so ask what they cook in. Ask that your meal is prepared with no lard or butter.

Omit items - If you must have a burger, choose a regular one, and hold off on all the extras. Leaving off the cheese could save about 25g of fat.

Avoid buffets - Buffet dishes are the ones that are easy to make, and are often fried or pasta dishes, which are fattening. However, if you feel you have the willpower to only select the healthy choices, go ahead.

Enjoy your meal out, but be sensible. Don't only be careful about what you order, but the size of the portions as well. It is a good idea to request a 'to go' box when your meal comes, so that you can put half of your food in it for the next day. In that way you will not eat too much.

Stuffed Green Peppers - Healthy and Delicious!

By Sharon Campbell

Last night, my girlfriend and I made stuffed green peppers for dinner. I hadn't had them in a long time; and they were delicious! Stuffed peppers are not only easy to make, but they are good for you, too, depending on what you stuff them with. We used a healthy combination of brown rice, ground turkey, and some seasonings, with low-fat shredded cheese to make a delicious combination that really kept the calories down and kept them healthy as well. So, here's what we did:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Take 2 green bell peppers, and cut them in half and seed them. Get a large pot of water boiling for them. Take 1 cup of brown rice and water, and add them to a microwave-safe dish. Microwave for at least 8 minutes, or longer if there is still water in the bottom. While the rice and water are going, brown 1lb of ground turkey in a frying pan, and season with 2 teaspoons of taco seasoning, garlic powder, chopped onion flakes, and cayenne pepper, for some heat. 

You may add or omit anything you like; I like heat in my food, but not too much sodium, which is why we only used a little taco seasoning, and added cayenne pepper. Cook until brown; when the rice is done, add to meat mixture. Add pepper halves to boiling water, and cook for approximately 5 minutes. When peppers begin to feel a little soft, remove from water and place on a baking sheet. Add meat and rice mixture in the pepper halves. Cover with shredded cheese; bake in oven until cheese is melted. Serve with a salad and a nice glass of wine and enjoy!

There are so many tasty ways to eat healthy. Just pick your favorite meal, and turn it around to make it healthier. It's that easy!

Growing Sprouts To Eat

By Mark D Shapiro

Seed sprouts have been grown as healthy food for a very long time. When people think of sprouts, many think of the mung bean sprouts in Asian dishes. All sprouts start out as seeds. Most seeds can be sprouted and eaten, and some taste good.

Some plants like wheat grass, are grown in dirt and then are "mowed". All other sprouts require only clean water and light to grow. Sprout seeds are first soaked in clean water for a few hours. Then they are rinsed with clean water, 2-3 times a day until done.

Many sprouts are bitter. Bitter-tasting sprouts taste much better when used as seasoning and mixed with other sprouts. Mixing sprouts usually improves the taste as compared to any one kind of sprout. For example, mixing one part radish with two parts alfalfa works well. It is usually best to mix seeds before you soak them, unless seeds require very different soak times.

Sometimes the seeds in mixes from sprouting stores require different soaking times. For example, adzuki beans can be soaked for 24 hours, while other seeds require just six hours of soak time. By the time adzuki seeds are ready to drain, the other seeds may be starting to drown.

Seeds for sprouting are cheap, especially when you consider how much they expand when they grow. One can buy sprouting seeds in health stores or web stores. Two web sites I like are Sprouting.com and SproutPeople.com.

Sprouting.com has no shipping charges on big orders, and has great prices. If you pick a medium size, the seeds come in resealable Ziploc bags. If you order either a tiny bag or a big bag, they are not resealable, so use freezer ziploc bags or Tupperware. Sprouting.com is run by Mumms, the seed people.

SproutPeople.com usually (but not always) has higher prices. They have great info on their web site, more variety, and carry better sprouting equipment. It's worth ordering from SproutPeople even if their prices are a bit higher.

There are many ways to grow sprouts. Using a simple plastic device usually makes it easier. A cheap sprouter that works very well is the Sproutamo EasySprout (about $13). It's not perfect because it lets the seeds at the bottom stay too wet.

However the Sproutamo is the most convenient sprouting device I've tried so far. As long as you drain seeds very well, it makes great sprouts. I discarded Sproutamo's included small-seed screen. (You have to bump and shake the sprouter to get all the water out after rinsing, which makes it comes loose.)

Sprouts are always started by soaking them in water. When the seeds are big (such as peas) you can soak them in a sprouting device like the Sproutamo.

One convenient way to soak tiny seeds is to use a paper disposable cup (or a clean bowl) for 6-12 hours. Then you can put the soaked seeds into the Sproutamo EasySprout, without using Sproutamo's small screen.

After the seeds are soaked, you drain them, and let them grow under light (indirect sunlight or a fluorescent light, they don't need much light). You rinse and drain sprouts two or three times a day until they are done.

When are sprouts ready to eat? The answer is up to you. As soon as the plants sprout from the seeds, they can be eaten. If you let them grow too long, they may be tough or bitter. Experiment until you find the right grow times. Most sprouts are ready to eat in 2-3 days.

How do sprouts taste? That depends on which seed, how long they grow, and your enjoyment of raw crunchy veggies. Sprouts can be used in cooking such as stews, chili, or as an ingredient for making bread. Adventurous people have used sprouts instead of rice with Thai food.

If you (or your gang) are not going to eat all the sprouts now, they store well for a few days in the refrigerator. You can use one-gallon Ziploc bags to store sprouts in the refrigerator. Also, bags make mixing sprouts easy. Another way to store sprouts short term, is in a disposable paper cup in the refrigerator. You can carry them, eat them on the go, etc.

One must sterilize sprouting equipment between uses. The way I do this (with glass or plastic sprouters) is to use a microwave oven. After cleaning the sprouter by hand, I rinse it with water in the sink. Then I fill the sprouter half-way with water, or make sure it's wet all over, if it is a porous type of sprouter.

Microwave the sprouter for 3-5 minutes to get the water inside very hot, almost boiling. Then dump the hot water carefully, and rinse it with cold, clean water and let it dry. I think this does the job well. Be careful not to let things melt.

Here is a list of sprouts and mixes I recommend:

Crunchy Bean Mix from Sprouting.com. Not all seeds sprout at the same time, and there are some duds, but it is a good mix. Grow to 3/4 to one inch.

Peasant Mix from SproutPeople.com. A mix of 5-6 different kinds of lentils.

Marrowfat Peas from Sprouting.com. These taste better than plain green peas, and are bigger too. Some seeds are yellow, some are green. Grow to about 3/4 inch.

Protein Diet Bars

By Jonathan Octavius Bell

Losing weight in a world of confectionery chocolates and (somehow) 500 calories salads is not an easy course to take. But in the western worlds, where the belts are getting ever tighter there are ever more advanced ways at tackling the problem of being overweight.

Most people find a 'thing' which they acclaim to helping them lose weight, whether it's yoga, jogging, diets or even diet pills. Although it's definitely true that all of these activities all help to an extent in losing them person weight, it's more a culmination of different things that makes the significant difference.

In reality all the person needs to do is to lose more calories than he's gaining from his diet. Most people tend to go about this exactly the wrong way when losing weight and think that if their body is burning of on average 2000 calories a day; all they have to do is starve them for a week. This may seem like a good plan to start with, but as soon as the body starts to receive the 'feeling' of hunger, it goes into a biological power saving mode. This means that whereas before when it felt like it was well fed it was running on a thousand calories a day but now it runs on just 1000 calories.

This means that unless the person is starving themselves ridiculously (i.e. less than 1000 calories) they're unlikely to lose a significant amount of weight. So the best thing to do is maintain your metabolism (and hence keeping the body burning 2000 calories per day), while still losing a moderate but not too great an excess. Usually all it takes is a switch from a chocolate bar to foodstuffs such as protein diet bars. This is because that kind of soya-based product keeps the body 'feeling' fuller for longer, hence maintaining metabolism. It also doesn't give you a sugar rush followed by a sugar low which is what tends to happen with most snack foods.

A Simple Way to Go From Fat to Low Fat Dinners

By Kelly R. Damato

Dinners are often the main culprits who sabotage our journey to a healthy diet. Our day usually start well. We wake up full of determination and replace our usual bacon-and-egg breakfast with all-bran cereals with fruits and cheese. We then manage to stick to our plan during lunch time and eat some low fat snacks.

But when the day is over, we often fail to find the will and the energy to prepare what would end the day perfectly: low fat dinners. We get the pizza and the fries out of the freezer and finish with a big bowl of ice cream. We then go to bed knowing too well that we just destroyed a whole day of efforts.

You're back to square 1.

The Secret Trick to End Your Day with a Healthy Meal

Let's be honest. The trick is not so secret: eating more vegetables. You probably know that you should eat more vegetables. However, you're probably thinking that you don't because vegetables are just plain boring. I agree... to a certain extent.

The trick is to find a way to prepare them so that they taste something. You have to dress your salad in a sexy way!

To make sure that you don't destroy a whole day of efforts when you get back home after a long day at work, I suggest that you use lettuce or baby spinach to quickly and easily prepare your low fat dinners.

Replace the rice, bread, potatoes or fries that you usually have to accompany your meal and replace them with a simple and tasteful salad. If you are really hungry, prepare a big one.

The Secret Weapon

Some of you may be skeptical when you hear someone putting the words tasteful and salad together. This is because you haven't tried the following salad dressing recipes. There are easy and can be prepared in advance. Just keep them in the fridge. These simple dressings that become your secret weapon when preparing low fat cookbooks.

1. Honey and orange

1 cup of canola oil

1 tablespoon of honey

1/3 cup of orange juice

1/4 cup of white wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup of tamari sauce

Pepper

This recipe will be enough for four people. If you're on your own, keep the rest in the fridge. You'll have you dressing done for the week!

2. Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/4 (or 1/2 depending on how much you like sour) balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper

Your Low Fat Dinners Made Simple

The reason why I recommend that you add lettuce or baby spinach to your dinners is that it makes your life easier. Lettuce does not require significant amount of time to prepare. Baby spinach is even easier. You wash it and eat it. We hope that these tips will help you achieve your healthy eating objectives.

Healthy Soy Bars

By Jonathan Octavius Bell

One of the easiest ways to stay on track health-wise, whether you're on a diet or just trying to eat right is by eating healthy soy bars. They're one of the few food products that you can buy that taste delicious, are nutritious and low in calories. There's generally a trade of when buying tasty food, because you're usually sacrificing the healthy side and they tend to be high in calories. Clearly one of the main reasons that people fail when dieting is simply because the food they eat isn't nice tasting to them. There are some people that enjoy eating salads with no dressing, but those people are far and few between.

The reality of the situation is that for people to lose weight, they need to be happy with what they're eating. Putting someone on 2 salads and a bowl of bran flakes a day isn't a realistic method for losing weight. It is true that some people have the determination to see that diet through, but people who diet are usually overweight and if you're overweight in the first place then you may not have good self control. I really do believe that the best method for someone to lose weight isn't to go 'cold-turkey' and completely cut out everything the person enjoys.

I think the best way to lose weight is to eat foods such as healthy soy protein bars which have several significant advantages:

They're relatively low in calorie being around 200-275 calories (contrasted with regular chocolate bars that easily hit 500 empty calories).

They contain wholegrain carbohydrates meaning that the person eating it stays fuller for longer (making it less likely they'll snack)

Low Fat Diet - Some Important Information

By Vikash Singal

Low fat diet is recommended for treating heart disease and diabetes. Too much of taking fats, it may lead to increase in the levels of cholesterol and also promotes heart disease. People who are on low fat diet needs to keep away from certain foods such as meat, snacks with are deeply fried, potato chips, chicken skin, fried foods, ice cream, cheese, oily foods, cakes, cookies and doughnuts.

People who wish to reduce their fat in the diets; they must read labels in the foods which are available. The labels in the foods are to be listed out in the information of the nutrition panel that includes proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, calcium, fibers, calorie content in the fat, iron, etc. In addition to this, the given below words have exact legal meanings on the labels of foods. They are light fat, less fat and fat-free.

Low fat diet works on the diets of weight loss as it reduces calories when you intake such foods. It is very effective in the improvement of digestive symptoms. Normally these diets are prescribed initially with the help of physician to treat the people's digestive problems.

There are many benefits of these diets for people who intake them. They are as follows:

- Normally they improve their health. 

- There will be weight loss. 

- The risk of heart disease will decrease gradually. 

- Gastrointestinal symptoms can get relief.

Precaution should be taken for pregnant women, elderly people, young children and breastfeeding women are not advisable to intake these foods. These diets are not very easy to maintain continuously for many days. They may lead to weight cycling or yo-yo dieting.

While performing research several health suggestions has given for these diets. Firstly low fat diets help people to lose weight comparing with other diets.

In 1970 and 1980s low far diets are primarily composed of dairy products, fish, skinless poultry, legumes, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Therefore, it is high in healthy proteins and carbohydrates, fiber and obviously low content of calories. In other sense it promotes weight loss. This diet was packed with phytochemicals, antioxidants, and promoting health nutrients. In 1980s, manufacturers developed some new kinds of food which contain less fat diets. Few of them are low fat dairy products, mayonnaise which are of low fat which booms the fat loss. This began to downfall of low fat diet.

Pumpkin Soup - 3 Recipes Using Canned Pumpkin

By Brandy Greer

Pumpkin Soup - Thai Style

Do you like Thai food? Do you like Pumpkin? Do you like Soup? Well then this recipe is for you!

Gather together these fabulous ingredients: 

2 cups water

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 1?2 cup mango nectar

3 Veggie Bouillon Cubes

3/4 tsp powdered ginger

2 cloves garlic chopped finely

1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (to taste)

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp chopped green onion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) Evaporated Fat Free Milk

Directions: 

Mix the water, pumpkin, nectar, bouillon, ginger, garlic and crushed red pepper in large saucepan.

Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Lower the heat to low.

Stir in peanut butter, vinegar, green onion and 1 tablespoon cilantro.

Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 8 minutes or until soup returns to a boil.

Stir in evaporated milk.

Sprinkle with remaining cilantro before serving to your delighted family.

Curry Pumpkin Soup

If you like pumpkin soup and you like the flavor of curry, then this will be a perfect combination for you and yours.

Gather together these fabulous ingredients: 

2 tbsp butter

1 cup chopped onion

2 good sized garlic cloves finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 can evaporated milk

Directions: 

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender.

Stir in curry powder, salt and pepper; cook for 1 minute.

Add broth and pumpkin; bring to a boil.

Lower the heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in evaporated milk.

Place mixture in a food processor and blend until smooth. (if there is too much for your food processor or blender do it in batches)

Serve up the delicious warm soup!

Savory Pumpkin Soup

Traditional Pumpkin Soup is healthy, low calorie and is low on the glycemic index which makes it a great choice for anyone who is watching their sugar intake.

Gather together these fabulous ingredients: 

2 tbsp light butter

1 small chopped

1 garlic clove chopped

1 tbsp Blue Agave Nectar

2 cups water

2 tsp low sodium chicken bouillon

1/4 tsp black pepper ground

2 cups pumpkin puree

1/2 cup half and half

Directions: 

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat.

Add onion, garlic and sugar blend; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is soft.

Add water, bouillon and pepper; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Lower the heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Stir in pumpkin and half and half.

Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Put soup into a food processor until smooth.

Return to saucepan and heat to serving temperature

Swirl a bit of half and half around in bowl as you serve.

OK, I Have the Biggest Zucchini in the History of the Universe to Use Up

By Julie Wilber

So what to do with this new piece of furniture? (Seriously, it is almost as big as my couch!) I also had some eggplant to use up so I went searching for a recipe to use them both in! I found one on another site and then "skinnied" it up! I loved it! I served it to the five other members of my family and got these results: 2 "loves", 2 "pretty goods", 1 "not my favorite, but I ate it anyway" and 1 "I don't like it Mama" (from my 8 year old and does she really count for this type of recipe anyway?) Here it is: (You could also delete the meat and lose 2 points per serving!) All of this information came when I put it in my Recipe Builder! Let me know what you think!

EGGPLANT ZUCCHINI CASSEROLE

5 Points 

8 Servings

Ingredients 

16 oz Tomato Sauce, No Salt Added 

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 

1 tsp black pepper 

1 tsp dried oregano 

1/2 tsp ground basil 

1/2 tsp Marjoram, dried 

2 clove(s) garlic clove(s) 

1 medium raw eggplant 

2 medium zucchini 

3 medium celery 

1 medium onion(s) 

1 medium bell pepper(s) 

4 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese 

2 oz provolone cheese 

1 oz Parmesan cheese 

16 oz cooked ground beef 5-7% fat 

2 oz uncooked fettuccine

Instructions 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9"x13" casserole dish with oil spray. In a bowl, combine tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, herbs and garlic. Mix well and set aside.

In prepared casserole dish, arrange half of the eggplant slices in a single layer. Top with half of each of the following: zucchini slices, spaghetti, celery, onion and bell pepper. Next, arrange 9 slices of cheese over this, and spoon half of tomato mixture on top of cheese. Repeat layers. Cover and bake 1 hour until vegetables are tender. Makes 8 servings.

Increasing Your Metabolism With Soy Protein Bars

By Jonathan Octavius Bell

People always assume that their metabolic rate is already genetically decided and that they can have no impact themselves on increasing it. This couldn't be further from the truth and in this article I'll explain methods of eating food that increase your metabolism.

To start with although your genetics definitely does have an impact in how quick your metabolism is, it definitely doesn't mean that you can't increase your metabolism quite easily. Increasing your metabolism is as easy as maintaining the feeling of being full throughout the day. If your body is feeling like its constantly full all of the time then it has no incentive to burn calories at a slower rate. As soon as you start feeling hungry you're telling your body that the times of constant fuel in the form of calories may be coming to an end.

When you start feeling hungry for prolonged periods of time your body enters a biological 'power-saving' mode. This is when your body is worried that the rate at which it burns energy while resting is too high especially when the amount of energy coming in may soon be at an end.

Increasing your metabolism with soy protein bars is as easy as eating 5 small meals a day so your body is constantly full. Drinking water before these meals means that the food absorbs the water taking longer to digest and meaning that your body retains this 'full' feeling. Eating a soy protein bar as one of your five meals increases your metabolism because as a snack it has a very slow energy release period - similar to that of a banana. This means you're getting a constant amount of energy throughout the digestion period, as opposed to eating a snack such as a chocolate bar which would give you a sugar rush but would leave you soon feeling hungry as well as on a 'sugar-low'.