Daily Diet Blog

October 29, 2007

Pumpkin Seeds, a Good Halloween Health Snack

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 8:19 am

I remember as a child, being excited to gut the pumpkin I was going to carve, not only for the excitement of carving a jackolantern for the exciting Halloween month, but also excited because my mom would wash the seeds, with my help, line them all on a cookie sheet, and coat them with a little oil and salt to make one of the best, most healthy snacks I can remember, pumpkin seeds.

It really is that simple too.  They are healthy because they contain minimal calories and actually also contain fiber and a bit of protein.  They’re a great snack if you’re on the go, and they fit well into a purse or satchel of any sort if you want to take them along with you for a hike as a salty little snack. 

All you do is gut the pumpkin and separate all the seeds from the innards of the pumpkin.  This can get a little tricky, but you’ll see what needs to be separated and what the innards are pretty easily.  The bigger the seeds, the better they turn our after being cooked as they will maintain a bit of that inner moisture that makes them tasty. 

Wash them all off in a strainer in the sink with cool water.  Then, dump them on a cookie sheet and spread them so that they are one layer thick and aren’t lying on top of eachother.  Then, you can either take a spray can with olive oil in it or a light cooking spray and spray the whole top layer lightly.  After that, you can then sprinkle your pumpkin seeds with a light layer of sea salt for a little flavor.  What you get is a tasty snack for Halloweed time! 

October 26, 2007

Love Your Legs for Cellulite Reduction

Filed under: Fat Reduction — EatingToLive @ 5:32 pm

I recently purchased a DVD online called “Love Your Legs” that targets exactly what it says it does and more - your legs, oh and your butt too.  But don’t those two go hand in hand?  They sure do, especially since many of the exercises that you do for your legs and thighs, both outer and inner, are also going to help to tone and trim your butt. 

This DVD, called “Love Your Legs” was something I found online because I wanted to try something that would target my saddle bag area, as well as help me to reduce cellulite in my problem areas, which are the backs of my thighs, sides of my thighs (ie saddle bags) and my buttocks.  The DVD is marketed to also be able to help cellulite, so I was happy that the DVD also included segments on how to massage to get rid of cellulite, as well as dietary tips and exercises to help sculpt out those problem areas that so many women have.

There is a segment from renowned dermatologist Howard Murad, who also has several cellulite product out himself and wrote a book that is acclaimed on how to manage and get rid of cellulite called “The Cellulite Solution”.  I’ve only done the workout twice now, but it consists of about twenty minutes or fifteen minutes of lunges and other targeted exercises for these notorious trouble areas. 

October 23, 2007

Drinking Alcohol and Body Fat

Filed under: Fat Reduction — EatingToLive @ 1:12 pm

Let’s get something clear.  Drinking alcohol frequently will pack the pounds on.  And do you know why?  Not just because of the calorie content of many alcohols, especially the flavored ones like coconut rums and flavored vodkas, but even regular old alcohol, but because our bodies treat alcohol as sugar, and thus our bodies are going to go at the alcohol and burn it first before it burns the fat, which is what we all want it to burn ideally, since this is what we want less of on our  bodies.

I was going to get cellulite reduction treatments for a while, and the woman who was administering the treatments told me that I should really try to avoid alcoholic drinks at all costs if I truly was serious about attacking the excess fat and cellulite on my body.  Not only because alcoholic beverages (except she said a glass of red wine is typically metabolized differently) are burned like sugars, but because they also leaves trace toxins behind in our bodies many times, and this toxin trail often leaves us with excess cellulite and fat, which is very difficult to get rid of. 

The problem with alcohol also happens to be that when we drink alcohol, our sense are dulled, and our inhibitions and judgement are impaired, so what starts off as one drink often ends up as several highly caloric, sugary drinks that can pack in as many as 200 calories per drink.  Make it a really sugary drink like a margarita, and you’ve got almost 400 to 500 calories per drink. 

Add in the fact that you could consume quite a few, and the fact that they are burned like sugar, and you are looking at a potential for an extra 1500 calories added onto your daily calorie total (think, 1500 is many times the recommended daily allowance total for many people), and you’ve got 1500 extra calories that aren’t even going to be burned off properaly, and instead will be stored as extra fat, and yes, extra cellulite on your body.  For tips on cellulite treatment see cellulite reduction. 

October 20, 2007

Yin and Yang Cooking

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 11:33 am

Our everyday spices that we use in our cooking can be used in combination to enhance our health according to Chinese principles of yin and yang.  Cooking with herbs and spices in specific balances for our energy can help to protect against illness and fatigue.  Certain spices are categorized as warming because they stimulate digestion.  Other spices are considered to be cooling and have anti-inflammatory effects.
 Some examples of the more common spices that are in the warming category are allspice, basil, bayleaf, sage, garlic, ginger, onion and cinnamon.  The cooling spices include dill, chicory, lemon, licorice and peppermint.  There are many more spices in each category and they are too numerous to mention all or them here.  The health of the individual determines the herbs selected and the energetic effect of that herb. 

A person who is hot tempered with a chronic thirst and bloodshot eyes would want to add cooling herbs to their dietary intake to correct the imbalance. For a person who is fatigued and lethargic, warming herbs, which are stimulants, can help increase their energy level.  The warming herbs can improve the appetite and stimulate the brain and improve memory.
 Often, in Chinese cooking and in Chinese herbal remedies, a combination of both warming and cooling herbs are used to establish a balance.  An example of balancing the yin and yang in Chinese cooking would be preparing green vegetables with hot spices such as pepper and ginger.  Green vegetables are considered yin, that slows digestion, and the hot spices are yang that speeds digestion. 


 By carefully combining hot and cool foods and spices in your cuisine and taking your predisposed health issues into consideration, you can achieve a balance of energy nutritionally.

October 11, 2007

Low Cal Equals Long Life?

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 9:25 am

I have heard a lot of different theories about how very low calorie diets, diets that many of us may seem extremely restrictive, can enhance health and prolong life - a lot.  But is there really anything to the theory that cutting back, what may seem like drastically to many, on one’s daily caloric intake, can improve your longevity, as well as improve the odds that you will not get heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other health problems that are usually marked by obesity and bad diets. 

Some more off kilter diets that few and far between can stick to like the macrobiotic diet, which shuns meat and dairy and favors whole grains, miso soup and veggies with even very little fruit, are considered to be one such diet.  With advocates saying that diets that are very low in calories saying they feel it has kept cancer and heart disease at bay, there are definitely the fair share of people who are experiencing great benefits from low cal diets. 

My question is, when is low cal TOO low calorie?  Some critics do say that these new low cal diet followers are sometimes too prone to become almost obsessed about food, and often they say that they think about food often and feel hungry a lot.  And what about the obvious danger of one becoming downright anorexic if they feel that they can never eat?  There are also health problems that go along with not eating enough, so not eating a lot of calories is definitely kind of a last resort if you ask me. 

As with anything else, moderatino is key, but there are people following these diets who say they feel good.  There are also others who report low energy, and who cannot exercise as long or have experienced muscle atrophy due to not enough caloric intake.  I think there is a balance, and that there is a good calorie number for each body type, and it may indeed seem restrictive to some, however, I’m not so sure that never being able to touch a piece of junk food in your life without feeling like you’re killing yourself, is, well, counterproductive to say the least. 

It’s not good to be this obsessed over food, and believe me, I speak from personal experience.  I’ve seen too many women around me fall into this trap, and it becomes the thing that defines you, you don’t define it. 

October 7, 2007

Weight in America Contributing to Higher Health Costs

Filed under: Diet and Weightloss News — EatingToLive @ 8:24 am

Obesity has definitely made it’s mark here in America as not only a nuisance, but also as a life threatening danger, and a catalyst to spawn several different surges in diseases, including diabetes, depression, and a range of other life threatening and costly diseases such as heart disease, strokes and more.   We’ve got more people taking things like herbal weight loss pills, natural appetite suppressants and more when we should really be eating less and better foods. 

And if you think the news is being blown out of proportion about the effects obesity has had on Americans and the fact that obesity has ballooned out of control over here, look at the fact that in Europe, their citizens are far more healthy on average, and their health care costs are significantly lower than in the US.

This is a telltale sign that obesity and weight problems as well as dietary factors have gone out of control here, and there is much that needs to be done and people that need to be educated about how to avoid the pitfalls of overeating and wrong food choices.

Diabetes and heart disease are on the forefront of researchers attentions too in this case, since these are two of the biggest diseases that can many times be directly linked to obesity and dietary factors, and these are two of the diseases that account for billions and billions of dollars in the US health care system, as opposed to much lower rates in other countries, like Europe. By the way, estimates are currently that the US spends about twice as much on healthcare as Europe, so this isn’t any small discrepancy we’re talking about.

I do wonder sometimes also if the reason for the discrepancy may be a generally different way of life. Take for example the fact that Americans are overworked and overstressed many times, and I’m sure that adds to the problem even more, in addition to our poor diets of processed, fiber void foods. In addition to cutting obesity and dietary faux pas, they are also looking at more inexpensive treatments for diseases over here. I have a good one - how about more education, less advertising for junk allover the place?

October 4, 2007

Don’t Look, Don’t Eat

Filed under: Diet and Weightloss News — EatingToLive @ 7:38 am

There is always an abundance of research on dieting, fitness and weight loss, but there isn’t really much that explains why we over eat, and what the triggers are to look for when we feel the inexplicable urge to eat something that is totally horrible for us and our waistline, but can’t seem to help ourselves.  A little thing called willpower seems to get in the way sometimes, and even if we think we’ve formed an iron will, we do at times seem powerless against the calling for foods like pastries, cookies, candies in that darn candy jar someone insists on having, and more.

So, is there a way that we can avoid these temptations? Well, aside from never socializing and becoming a recluse (which shouldn’t be an option unless you’re an extreme introvert), research is now saying that we just shouldn’t look in the first place.  That’s right.  Research is suggesting that just the fact that we look at tempting foods reduces our chances of staying away from them substantially. 

And I thought smelling foods was bad!  I do have to admit, when I thought about this theory, it is very true many times for me personally.  I can smell something, or hear about it at work, and be ok with not going to get some.  However, once I see that chocolate cake, those cookies, that bag of  candy, or whatever other thigh-unfriendly foods that are lurking, I’m pretty much gonna be thinking about it for a while, even if I initially said “no thanks”.

Visually, foods can be very powerful.  That’s why presentation is so important at many top restaurants.  They know that if they arrange your plate and garnish your food and make it look appetizing and pleasing to the eye, the more likely you are going to be to say that it was fantastic food, as well as an excellent dining experience.  \

So, the next time someone sends an email or calls out that they brought in donuts, just do yourself a favor.  Don’t go over and look.  You’ll be tempted, but trust me, you’ll save yourself many empty calories if you just try to not even look at the food in question! 

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