Daily Diet Blog

My Tasty Lowfat Asian Tofu Stir Fry

I tried this new tofu stir fry recipe out the other day, and it turned out really delicious. Tofu is a low fat, meat free alternative to higher fat, more difficult to digest meats, and it is a great absorbing agent of flavors, so it easily takes on the flavor of what you are cooking it with.

I prefer to use the baked tofu in this recipe, because it is more firm, and has the texture of a portabello mushroom, which I love, yet it fills me up like meat does. Here’s the recipe if you’re open to trying tofu. If you aren’t, I would really encourage you to try it. It’s a healthy meat alternative, and it is packed with lean protein!

Tasty Asian Tofu Stir Fry

Ingredients Needed :

1 bag of french style frozen green beans

Peanuts - about a handful - I just used the roasted peanuts I had in my cupboard

1/2 packet of Lipton’s French Onion soup mix

Pepper

1 Can of black beans, preferably organic, drained and rinsed

1 package of baked tofu - I like to use the flavored one (I think it may be zesty)

1 teaspoon of olive oil (this will help fill you up, and contains plenty of omega 2 fatty acids - even better if it’s organic)

2 TB fresh minced garlic

One small diced onion (optional)

Additional seasoning to flavor is also optional - I found the Lipton soup mix and the pepper gave me adequate flavor for my taste though

Basically, just start off with your green beans, frozen, in a Pam-sprayed pan, and begin to pan stir fry them. Add your baked tofu, cubed or sliced to your preference. Sautee along with all the other ingredients until the green beans are tender.

I put the peanuts in and let them cook the whole time too, as they seem to add a nice flavor to the whole entree. Enjoy! If anyone else has any health tofu recipes, please share!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 8th, 2006 Posted by EatingToLive | Low Cal Ideas | no comments

Dancing Toward Fitness

The popular T.V. show ”Dancing With the Stars” has started a surge of people signing up for dance classes across America. Not only is it a night of socializing and fun for all involved, dancing also has many health benefits as a secondary gain.

Many people who become hooked on dance lessons find, much to their delight, they are losing weight. Along with the weight loss, people feel and look better and have better control of conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Dancing is great aerobic exercise. When people are having fun dancing, it doesn’t feel like a grueling exercise class. Senior citizens especially benefit from dancing as it increases flexibility and gets them out in a fun environment. This decreases the isolation that can accompany getting older.

There has been a shift in which dance craze is most prevalent. It has moved from the swing to the salsa.

The faster the tempo of the music, the greater the aerobic exercise.

More important than the calorie burning or the weight loss is the way dancing lifts the human spirit. Whether it’s line dancing, waltzing, swing or salsa, this trend is a positive one. 

December 6th, 2006 Posted by EatingToLive | Health & Fitness Tips | no comments

Just ordered “Hoodia Balance”

Remember how I told you I really pigged out for Thanksgiving, and the weekend thereafter? Well do you also remember how I told you I was probably going to order an appetite suppressant to help me through the holiday season so I don’t blow up like a Santa Clause balloon?

Well, I just ordered this Hoodia Balance product, because I see that it has only pure Hoodia extract, no additives or stimulants, just the stuff that controls your appetite - naturally.

Does hoodia work? I know it does, but I really want to test this particular product out because it has a high concentration of the little green plant in it…

December 4th, 2006 Posted by EatingToLive | Herbal Supplements | no comments

Yes, I Pigged Out on Thanksgiving

I’m guilty as charged. I overdid it this Thanksgiving. I mean WAY overdid it. Now it’s time to get back on track, get back to the gym with a vengeance, and get my eating habits back on track for the week, after I spent a weekend of indulging in fatty foods and too little fiber.

Here’s my post-Thanksgiving plan. I’m going to drink lots of water, and hopefully that will both fill me up and flush my system of all those naughty things I ate and drank, and replenish my fluids after I drank alcoholic beverages (no, not the low sugar kind either).

I’m also hitting the gym or doing yoga every day this week, instead of my usual 4-5 days per week of exercise, to help boost the burning of calories and get my metabolism back where it needs to be. I may also take some additional vitamins like C and E for a few days, to help replenish my vitamins, which most definitely were lacking in some of the nutrition-poor foods I was consuming like breads, potatoes and creamy casseroles that had all the vitamins cooked right on out of them!

I may even enlist the help of Hoodia to help quell my appetite, since it’s still in overdrive from all the sugary and high calorie foods. Naughty, naughty me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 2nd, 2006 Posted by EatingToLive | Dieting Trends | no comments

Clenbuterol : Miracle Weight Loss or Dangerous Drug?

We all know that normal women who are not constantly being photographed and scrutinized are under a lot of pressure to be thin and look a certain way to fit a barbie doll image of sexiness and desirability, but women in Hollywood experience this same pressure tenfold, and the suspicion is that they may be succumbing to the use of a  particular dangerous drug to achieve this “super skinny” effect.

A drug called Clenbuterol may be behind some of the Hollywood dramatic size reductions these days, and it seems it is being used mostly by young women, with no regard to the fact that the drug is not even approved for human consumption, and has potentially life threatening effects.

What is Clenbuterol, and Why is This Underground Weight Loss Pill Potentially Dangerous?

Clenbuterol, or “Clen” as it is referred to sometimes, is actually a veterinary drug, approved mostly for use on horses with breathing problems.  It is known as a bronchodilator ths is essentially steroidal, but it’s side effects are as a long time thermogen, or fat burner, because it elevates resting heart rate and increases internal body temperature, and not the same as some healthier herbal weight loss pills, but at a very unnatural pace and not in a healthy way.

This is why it is known to quickly make people drop weight and burn off fat, because it increases the heart rate and the rate at which calories are burned, even when a person is not being physically active.

This is also why clenbuterol can have life threatening consequences.  When rats were tested that were given this drug meant for horses, hardening effect on the walls of the heart, which can lead to any number of heart problems and potentially even heart failure or irregular heart beats.

Clenbuterol is only legal for veterinary use in horses to treat breathing problems, and is not approved for human consumption (for a reason), yet a lot of individuals are buying this stuff over the internet with relative ease.

Logic would tell us that a drug powerful enough to treat a horse cannot be healthy for a much smaller human to consume, and yet it seems that thin-obsessed women are still putting their lives at risk in the name of being unnaturally thin to compete with the size zero next to them.

It gained notoriety inside certain circles when bodybuilders began using it to help them increase their muscle mass while simultaneously reducing their body fat at an unnaturally rapid rate.  In an short span of time, body builders were gaining significant amounts of muscle while reducing their body fat.

To put muscle on this quickly while also reducing body fat cannot be good for the heart, as it may put undue strain on it to keep up with the unnaturally high muscle content.  Muscles notoriously burn more calories than fat, and this puts the body into overdrive, forcing it to constantly burn it’s energy reserves (hence, the fast fat loss and size reduction).

Reported Long Term Effects of Clenbuterol : Not So Appealing to the Body Conscious

As with anything else that seems like it’s a “magic fix” in one area, Clenbuterol can has some extremely negative consequences to overall health and well being, and the side effects have not been studied on humans yet, so there is almost definitely more that we don’t even know about.

One side of this drug that may not be so appealing to the people who are taking it expressly to look rail thin is that those effects the drug was initially taken for may actually come back to bite you in the skinny rear end.  It almost sounds like the same case with the infamous fen-phen, or phentermine.

Apparently long term “Clen” users have experienced an unexplained ballooning of weight, presumably because the drug’s effect has worn off and the user’s body has become immune to it, and is trying to gain back the much needed fat that we are all genetically programmed to have (especially women).

Even if these long term users eat virtually nothing, or what would be considered a fairly restrictive diet, they have reported experiencing an uncontrollable surge in their weight.  So, it is quickly becoming apparent that clenbuterol is no magic bullet by any means, and unfortunately since it is not even approved for human consumption, studies are not really available as to the actual side effects of this potent drug. 

There may need to be some intervention by a government body to crack down on human usage, but we all know that if someone really wants something, it will most likely still be available on the black market for people.  As long as people realize they may be putting their health and very lives in serious jeopardy, there is really nothing more that can be done short of banning the sale of the drug and enforcing it strictly. 

December 2nd, 2006 Posted by EatingToLive | Weight Loss, Prescription Diet Aids | one comment