Eating Healthy Meals

Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 2)

2009-11-09T06:41:00.001-06:00

By Tom Venuto

In part one, I described the growing obsession many people have with eating only the purest, healthiest foods, aka “clean eating.” You’d think that nothing but good would come from that, but some experts today dislike the concept of clean foods because it implies a dichotomy where other foods, by default, are “dirty” or forbidden - as in, you can never, ever eat them again (imagine life without chocolate, or pizza… or beer! you guys). Some physicians and psychologists even believe that if taken to an extreme, a fixation on healthy food qualifies as a new eating disorder called orthorexia.

Personally, I have no issues with the phrase “clean eating.” Even if you choose to eat clean nearly 100% of the time, I don’t see how that qualifies as a psychological disorder of any kind (I reckon people who eat at McDonalds every day are the ones who need a shrink).

However, I also think you would agree that any behavior - washing your hands, cleaning your house, or even exercise or eating health food - can become obsessive-compulsive and dysfunctional if it takes over your life or is taken to an extreme. In the case of diet and exercise, it could also lead to or overlap with anorexia.

It’s debatable whether orthorexia is a distinct eating disorder, but I’m not against using the word to help classify a specific type of obsessive-compulsive behavior. I think it’s real.

The truth is that many people are quite “enthusiastic” in defending – or preaching about - their dietary beliefs: no meat, no grains, no dairy, only organic, only raw, only what God made, and on and on the rigid all-or-nothing rules go.

What people choose to eat is often so sacred to them, it makes for tricky business when you’re a nutrition educator. Sometimes I don’t feel like telling anyone what to eat, but simply setting a personal example and showing people how I do it, like, “Hey guys, here is how natural bodybuilders eat to get so ripped and muscular. It may not suit you, but it works for us. Take it or leave it.”

On the other hand, I can’t help feeling that there’s got to be a way to better help the countless individuals who haven’t yet formulated their own philosophies, and who find nutrition overwhelmingly confusing. For many people, even a simple walk down the aisles of a grocery store, and trying to decipher the food labels and nutrition claims is enough to trigger an anxiety attack.

That’s where I hope this is useful. I can’t draw the line for you, or tell you what to eat, but I can suggest a list of “new rules” for clean eating which simplifies nutrition and clears up confusion, while giving you more freedom, balance, life enjoyment and better results at the same time.

New Rule #1: Define what clean eating means to you

Obviously, clean eating is not a scientific term. Most people define clean eating as avoiding processed foods, chemicals and artificial ingredients and choosing natural foods, the way they came out of the ground or as close to their natural form as possible. If that works for you, then use it. However, the possible definitions are endless. I’ve seen forum arguments about whether protein powder is “clean.” Arguments are a waste of time. Ultimately, what clean eating means is up to you to define. Whether your beliefs and values have you restrict or expand on the general definition, define it you must, keeping in mind that your definition may be different than other’s.

New Rule #2: Always obey the law of energy balance

There’s one widely held belief about food that hurts people and perpetuates the obesity problem because it’s simply not true. It’s the idea that calories don’t matter for weight loss, as long as you eat certain foods or avoid certain foods. Some people think that if you eat only clean foods, you’re guaranteed to lose weight and stay lean. The truth is that eating too much of anything gets stored as fat. Yes, you can become obese eating 100% clean, natural foods. There’s more to good nutrition than calories in versus calories out, but the energy balance equation is always there.

New Rule #3: Remember that “foods” are not fattening, “excess calories” are

There’s a widespread fear today that certain foods will automatically turn into fat. Carbohydrates – particularly refined carbohydrates and sugars - are still high on the hit list of feared foods, and so are fatty foods, owing to their high caloric density (9 calories per gram). Foods that contain fat and sugar (think donuts) are considered the most fattening of all. But what if you ate only one small donut and stayed in a calorie deficit for the day – would you still say that donut was fattening?

If you want to say certain foods are fattening, you certainly can, but what you really mean is that some foods are calorie dense, highly palatable, not very satiating and eating them might even stimulate your appetite for more (betcha can’t eat just one!). Therefore, they’re likely to cause you to eat more calories than you need. Conversely, “non-fattening” foods have no magical properties, they’re simply low in caloric density, highly filling and non-appetite stimulating.

New Rule #4: Understand the health-bodyfat paradox

Two of the biggest reasons people choose to eat clean are health and weight loss. Health and body composition are intertwined, but dietary rules for health and weight loss are not one in the same. Weight gains or losses are dictated primarily by calorie quantity. Health is dictated primarily by calorie quality. That’s the paradox: You can lose weight on a 100% junk food diet, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be healthy. You can get healthier on an all natural clean food diet, but that doesn’t mean you won’t gain weight… and if you gain too much weight, then you start getting unhealthy. To be healthy and lean requires the right combination of calorie quantity and quality, not one or the other.

New Rule #5: Forbidden foods are forbidden.

Think of you on a diet like a pressure cooker on a burner. The longer you keep that pot on the heat, the more the steam builds up inside. If there’s no outlet or release valve, eventually the pressure builds up so much that even if it’s made of steel and the lid is bolted down, she’s gonna blow, sooner or later. But if you let off a little steam by occasionally having that slice of pizza or whatever is your favorite food, that relieves the pressure.

Alas, you never even felt the urge to binge… because you already had your pizza and the urge was satisfied. Since the “cheat meal” was planned and you obeyed the law of calorie balance, you stayed in control and it had little or no effect on your fat loss results. Ironically, you overcome your cravings by giving in to them, with two caveats: not too often and not too much.

New Rule #6: Set your own compliance rule

Many health and nutrition professionals suggest a 90% compliance rule because if you choose clean foods 90% of the time, it’s easy to control your calories, you consume enough nutrients for good health, and what you eat the other 10% of the time doesn’t seem to matter much. Suppose you eat 3 meals and 2 snacks every day, a total of 35 feedings per week. 90% compliance would mean following your clean eating plan for about 31 or 32 of those weekly feedings. The other 3 or 4 times per week, you eat whatever you want (as long as you obey rule #2 and keep the calories in check)

You’ll need to decide for yourself where to set your own rule. A 90% compliance rule is a popular, albeit arbitrary number – a best guess at how much “clean eating” will give you optimal health. Some folks stay lean and healthy with 80%. Others say they don’t even desire junk food and they eat 99% clean, indulging perhaps only once or twice a month.

One thing is for certain – the majority of your calories should come from natural nutrient-dense foods – not only for good health, but also because what you eat most of the time becomes your habitual pattern. Habit patterns are tough to break and what you do every day over the long term is what really counts the most.

New Rule #7: Have “free” meals, not “cheat” meals

Cheating presupposes that you’re doing something you’re not supposed to be doing. That’s why you feel guilty when you cheat. Guilt can be one of the biggest diet destroyers. Consider referring to these meals that are off your regular plan as “free meals” instead of “cheat meals.” If having free meals is part of your plan right from the start, then you’re not cheating are you? So don’t call it that. What can you eat for your free meals? Anything you want. Otherwise, it wouldn’t truly be a free meal, would it?

People sometimes tell me that my bodybuilding diet and lifestyle are “too strict.” I find that amusing because I love eating clean 95-99% of the time and I consider it easy. I had a butter-drizzled steak, a glass of wine, and chocolate sin cake for dessert to celebrate my last birthday. I had a couple slices of pizza just four weeks before my last competition (and still stepped on stage at 4.5% body fat). Oh, and I’m really looking forward to my mom’s pumpkin pie and Christmas cake too. Why? How? Because as strict as my lifestyle might appear to some people, I’ve learned how to enjoy free meals and I will eat ANYTHING I want - with no guilt. Meanwhile, my critics are often people with rules that NEVER allow those foods to ever cross their lips.

New Rule #8: For successful weight control, focus on compliance to a calorie deficit, not just compliance to a food list

Dietary compliance doesn’t just mean eating the right foods, it means eating the right amount of food. You might be doing a terrific job at eating only the foods “authorized” by your nutrition program, but if you eat too many “clean” foods, you will still get fat. On the fat loss side of health-bodyfat paradox, the quantity of food is the pivotal factor, not the quality of food. If fat loss is your goal and you’re stubbornly determined to be 100% strict about your nutrition, then be 100% strict about maintaining your calorie deficit.

Lesson #9: Avoid all or none attitudes and dichotomous thinking

If you make a mistake, it doesn’t ruin an entire 12 week program, a whole week and not even an entire day. What ruins a program is thinking that you must either be on or off your diet and allowing one meal off your program to completely derail you. All or nothing thinking is the great killer of diet programs.

Even if they don’t believe that one meal will set them back physically, many “clean eaters” feel like a single cheat is a moral failure. They are terrified to eat any processed foods because they look at foods as good or bad rather than looking at the degree of processing or the frequency of consuming them.

Rest assured, a single meal of ANYTHING, if the calories don’t exceed your energy needs, will have virtually no impact on your condition. It’s not what you do occasionally, it’s what you do most of the time, day after day, that determines your long term results.

New Rule #10: Focus more on results, less on methods

I’m not sure whether it’s sad or laughable that most people get so married to their methods that they stop paying attention to results. Overweight people often praise their diet program and the guru that created it, even though they’ve plateaud and haven’t lost any weight in months, or the weight they lost has begun to creep back on. Health food fanatics keep eating the same, even when they’re sick and weak and not getting any stronger or healthier.

Why would someone continue doing more of the same even when it’s not working? One word: habit! Beliefs and behavior patterns are so ingrained at the unconscious level, you repeat the same behaviors every day virtually on automatic pilot. Defending existing beliefs and doing it the way you’ve always done it is a lot easier than changing.

In the final analysis, results are what counts: weight, body composition, lean muscle, performance, strength, blood pressure, blood lipids, and everything else you want to improve. Are they improving or not? If not, perhaps it’s time for a change.

Concluding words of wisdom

We need rules. Trying to eat “intuitively” or just “wing it” from the start is a recipe for failure. Ironically, intuitive eating does not come intuitively. Whether you use my Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle program or a different program that suits your lifestyle better, you must have a plan.

After following your plan for a while, your constructive new behaviors eventually turn over to unconscious control (a process commonly known as developing habits). But you’ll never reach that hallowed place of “unconscious competence” unless you start with planning, structure, discipline and rules.

Creating nutritional rules does NOT create more rule breakers. Only unrealistic or unnecessary rules create rule breakers. That’s why these new rules of clean eating are based on a neat combination of structure and flexibility. If you have too much flexibility and not enough structure, you no longer have a plan. If you have too much structure and not enough flexibility, you have a plan you can’t stick with.

To quickly sum it all up: Relax your diet a bit! But not too much!

Tom Venuto, author of:
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: http://burnthefat.rxsportz.com

Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 1)

2009-11-08T07:38:00.001-06:00

By Tom Venuto

Clean eating has no official definition, but it’s usually described as avoiding processed foods, chemicals, preservatives and artificial ingredients. Instead, clean eaters choose natural foods, the way they came out of the ground or as close to their natural form as possible. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, 100% whole grains, egg whites, fish, and chicken breast are clean eating staples. Clean eating appears to be a desirable, sensible, even noble goal. Eating clean is what we should all strive to do to achieve optimum health and body composition isn’t it? Arguably the answer is mostly yes, but more and more people today are asking, “is it possible to take clean eating too far?”

Physician Steven Bratman thinks so. In 1997, Bratman was the first to put a name to an obsession with healthy eating, calling it orthorexia nervosa. In his book, Health Food Junkies, Bratman said that whether they are trying to lose weight or not, orthorexics are preoccupied with eating healthy food and avoiding anything artificial or “toxic.”

Orthorexics are not only fanatical about eating the purest, healthiest, most nutritious (aka “clean”) foods available, says Bratman, they often feel a sense of righteousness in doing so.

Whether orthorexia should be officially classified as an eating disorder is controversial. The term appears in pub med indexed scientific journals, but it’s not listed in the DSM-IV as are anorexia and bulimia. Opponents wonder, “Since when did choosing a lifestyle that eliminates junk food become a disease?”

Media coverage and internet discussions about orthorexia have increased in the past year. Websites such as the Mayo Clinic, the Huffington Post and the UK-based Guardian added their editorials into the mix in recent months, alongside dozens of individual bloggers.

In most cases, mainstream media discussions of orthorexia have focused on far extremes of health food practices such as raw foodism, detox dieting or 100% pure organic eating, where some folks would rather starve to death than eat a cooked or pesticide-exposed vegetable.

But closer to my home, what about the bodybuilding, fitness, figure and physique crowd? Should we be included in this discussion?

In their quest for adding muscle mass and burning fat, many fitness and physique enthusiasts become obsessed with eating only the “cleanest” foods possible. Like the natural health enthusiasts, physique athletes usually avoid all processed foods and put entire food groups on the “forbidden” list. Oddly, that sometimes includes rules such as “you must cut out fruit on precontest diets” because “fruit is high in sugar” or “fructose turns to fat”.

According to Bratman’s criteria, one could argue that almost every competitive bodybuilder or physique athlete is automatically orthorexic, and they might add obsessive-compulsive and neurotic for good measure.

As you can imagine, I have mixed feelings about that (being a bodybuilder).

If I choose to set a rule for myself that I’ll limit my junk food to only 10% of my meals, does that make me orthorexic or is that a prudent health decision?

If I plan my menus on a spreadsheet, am I a macronutrient micromanager or am I detail-oriented?

If I make my meals in advance for the day ahead, does that mean I’m obsessive compulsive, or am I prepared?

If I make one of my high protein vanilla apple cinnamon oatmeal pancakes (one of my favorite portable clean food recipes) and take it with me on a flight because I don’t want to eat airline food, am I neurotic? Or am I perhaps, the smartest guy on the plane?

Some folks are probably shaking their heads and saying, “you bodybuilders are definitely OCD.” I prefer to call it dedicated, thank you, but perhaps we are obsessive, at least a wee bit before competitions. But aren’t all competitive athletes, to some degree, at the upper levels of most sports?

Athletes of all kinds – not just bodybuilders - take their nutrition and training regimens far beyond what the “average Joe” or “average soccer mom” would require to stay healthy and fit.

What if you don’t want to be average – what if you want to be world class? What then? Is putting hours of practice a day into developing a skill or discipline an obsessive-compulsive disorder too?

Okay, now that I’ve defended the strict lifestyle habits of the muscle-head brother and sisterhood, let me address the flipside: being too strict.

Where does the average health and bodyweight-concerned fitness enthusiast draw the line? How clean should you eat? Do you need lots of structure and planning in your eating habits, or as Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher said, does making too many rules only create more rule-breakers?

Debates have started flaring up over these questions and as inconceivable as it seems, there has actually been somewhat of a backlash against “clean eating.” Why would THAT possibly happen? Eating “clean” is eating healthy, right? Eating clean is a good thing, right?

Well, almost everyone agrees that it’s ok to have a “cheat meal” occasionally, but some experts - after watching how many people are becoming neurotic about food - are now clamoring to point out that it’s not necessary to be so strict.

The diet pendulum has apparently swung from:

“Eat a balanced diet with a wide variety of foods you enjoy.”

To:

“You MUST eat clean!”

To:

“Go ahead and eat as much junk as you want, as long as you watch your calories and get your essential nutrients like protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals.”

Talk about confusion! Now we’ve got people who gain great pride and a sense of dedication and accomplishment for taking up a healthy, clean-eating lifestyle and we’ve got people who thumb their nose at clean eating and say, “Chill out bro! Live a little!”

The current debate about how clean you should eat (or how much you should “cheat”) reminds me of the recent arguments over training methods such as steady state versus HIIT cardio. Whatever the debate of the day, most people seem to have a really difficult time acknowledging that there’s a middle ground.

Most dieters, when they don’t like a certain philosophy, reject it entirely and flip to its polar opposite. Most dieters are dichotomous thinkers, always viewing their endeavors as all or nothing. Most dieters are also joiners, plugging into one of the various diet tribes and gaining their sense of identity by belonging. In some cases, I think these tribes are more like cults, as people follow guru-like leaders who pass down health and nutrition commandments that are followed with religious conviction. Seriously, the parallels of diet groups to religious groups can be downright scary sometimes.

Whether the goal is to optimize health, to build muscle or to burn fat, there’s little doubt that many individuals with all kinds of different motivations sometimes take their dietary restrictions to extremes. Obviously, an overly restrictive diet can lead to nutrient deficiencies and can adversely affect health, energy and performance.

In some cases, I can also see how swinging to any extreme, even a “healthy obsession” with pure food could lead to distorted views and behaviors that border on eating disorders. If you don’t believe it’s a real clinical psychological problem, then at the very least, you might agree that nutritional extremes could mean restricting social activities, creating inconvenience or making lifestyle sacrifices that are just not necessary.

I believe there’s a middle ground - a place where we can balance health and physique with a lifestyle and food plan we love and enjoy. Even more important, I believe that your middle ground may not be the same as mine. We all must find our own balance.

I believe that going back to BALANCE, but this time with a better definition of what balance means, is the approach of the future.

I also believe that some new rules would help us find that balance.

If you'd like to learn the rules that bodybuilders and fitness models follow to "eat clean" and stay lean, then visit http://burnthefat.rxsportz.com.

Tom Venuto, author of:
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

About the Author:

The #1 Superfood Essential to Your Fat Loss Diet

2009-10-31T07:16:00.001-05:00

By By Kardena Pauza
http://bit.ly/3yXmhE

The #1 Superfood Essential to Your Fat Loss Diet

A healthy diet is a vital component to any fat loss program. Fortunately, this superfood can be found at any grocery store or farmer's market at a relatively inexpensive price.

What's more, this superfood supplies a majority of the Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamins and minerals to give you endless amounts of energy, it stabilizes your blood sugar and detoxifies your body, and it provides you with the essential amino acids your body needs to build strong, lean muscles.

So what is it?

None other than the leafy green vegetable.

I hope you aren't disappointed it wasn't something exotic like elixir berry juice. But, the truth of the matter is, the leafy green vegetable is an underrated, nutrient dense, inexpensive, and readily available superfood.

It does, however, get a little more exciting in that this dark green vegetable has many substitutes, including spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, chard, parsley, cilantro, and many others.

In fact, if you go to a farmer's market I'm sure you'll find plenty to choose from. And variety is important because each green offers a different composition of minerals and vitamins.

Most leafy greens have a mild flavour, but if you're unsure about one, here's a little tip you can use when doing your shopping. When you find a green that you think you'd like to try, simply pinch off a small piece of it and give it a try. If you like the taste, add it to the cart, if not, just hope no one was watching!

Alright, you're home and ready to give the leafy greens a try, but you're unsure how to eat them. Well, here are some suggestions:

1. Prepare a salad with a base of greens that you like, while adding in some of the new, unfamiliar greens. You'll find that over time you'll acquire a taste for the new darker greens and begin to really enjoy them.

2. Add greens to your smoothies. I know it sounds odd, but trust me, you won't taste a thing. Just start out with a small amount of greens and slowly add more.

3. Try making fresh fruit and veggie juice with greens in it. Personally, I like cilantro, parsley, and spinach in mine.

4. Stir fries are a great way to add in veggies and greens.

5. Also, try making soups with added greens.

So, those are just some of the ways in which you can add one of the best superfoods to your diet. Try them out for two weeks and I guarantee that you will feel more alert and have more energy.

Kardena Pauza
Author, Easy Veggie Meal Plans For Fat Loss
http://bit.ly/3yXmhE

A Vegetarian Travel Nutrition Tip

2009-10-30T07:16:00.001-05:00

By Kardena Pauza
http://bit.ly/3yXmhE

For many of us traveling, it means skipping workouts, eating processed foods, and generally feeling guilty and frustrated because our commitment to a healthy lifestyle has temporarily gone by the wayside.

But with a little effort and following some quick and easy tips I'll share with you, you'll never have to resort to the over-priced, high-calorie food options that are prevalent in airports.

But first, did you know that when you're at the airport you can actually take your own food through the security check? Most people don't know this, but as long as it isn't liquid, gels, or gooey stuff over 3 oz. then you're in the clear.

Okay, so you know that preparation is the key for anyone looking to lose weight and stay fit. Well, this is especially the case when a last minute road trip unexpectedly arises.

So, with that in mind, here are some healthy food options suitable as snacks, breakfast, or dinner, that you can easily put together.

1. Grab all the veggies you have in the refrigerator and combine them to make one big tasty salad.

2. Pack 2-4 healthy nut bars. My favourite is the RAW bar.

3. Cut up fresh celery, carrots, and cucumbers – it's quick and it's easy.

4. Add a few pieces of fruit to your "lunch pack".

5. Nuts are another excellent snack option.

6. Seaweed snacks. These delicious treats are sure to draw some wandering eyes as people try to figure out just what the heck it is you're eating.

7. And lastly, pack a bag of flax crackers.

If you can put just 10 minutes into preparing some snacks for your trip, you'll feel so much better later on when everyone else is stuffing their face with high fattening foods and you're sticking to you healthy diet.

Even if it's just some healthy snacks to tie you over while waiting at the airport, this plan with help you eat healthier and avoid the junk you know is bad for you.

Kardena Pauza
Author, Easy Veggie Meal Plans For Fat Loss
http://bit.ly/3yXmhE

Did you know that October is World Vegetarian Month?

2009-10-28T08:39:00.001-05:00

And to celebrate, fitness expert Craig Ballantyne is giving away a cool new bonus when you get the complete Turbulence Training for Fat Loss package.

"The Lazy Man's Guide to Vegetarian Eating" ($47 Value)

You'll get inside access to world-famous fitness expert Craig Ballantyne's 55-day diary where he shows you every single meal that he ate while living the Vegetarian Lifestyle. About 90% of his meals are vegan, and this is an amazing look inside the diet plan of a "lazy guy" who doesn't like to cook but still LOVES to eat.

You'll find out how Craig got enough protein to build muscle while at the same time getting more and more variety each week as he stumbled across foods like, "Spelt flour veggie patties", "Kamut pasta", "high-protein quinoa", and his "Lazy Man's Chili".

If you've ever doubted your ability to stick to a Vegetarian Diet, this diary of a former high-protein, meat-eating farm boy-turned-vegetarian will show you just how SIMPLE and EASY it is to live the Vegetarian Lifestyle.

Click here to get this new bonus along with the world's most fun and effective home fat loss workout program: http://turbulencetraining.rxsportz.com

What Makes These Sugarless Snacks Taste Great?

2009-10-14T07:12:00.001-05:00

I have to admit that when I heard about snack recipes which featured no sugar I was a little skeptical about how the end product would taste. After all, sugar makes the world go around, or so you might think after spending most of you life scarfing down an endless supply of snack types made with processed sugar.

But there is an alternative to the use of sugar in snacks. At least, this is what Carolyn Hansen says in her book 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats. Nature has come up with some nifty alternatives that are actually quite healthy for us, and which can be used to impart all the sweetness you might otherwise miss in the absence of a dose of sugar.

Dates turn out to be a good way to naturally sweeten the recipes for snacks and treats that appear in Carolyn's book. Another alternative that most of us are familiar with is honey. Less known is agave nectar, which is also an excellent natural sweetener that appears in many of Carolyn's recipes, including those for tempting cheesecake delights that you can eat without the least pang of guilt. Yes, that recipe for a pink Strawberry Fields Forever cheesecake concoction is sure to become one of your favorites.

All done without sugar. Even without flour or butter. After all, who needs high-cholesterol butter in their diet when almond butter and coconut butter can be used instead?

Go check out Carolyn's site now and tell me that those images of the Strawberry Fields Forever cheesecake and the Carob Fudge don't make your mouth water. The great thing about these recipes is that they are not just put together with ingredients that are good for you, but they are easy to make AND they do not require any cooking on your part. If you know how to use a blender, Carolyn says, you can easily follow her directions and churn out a plate full of yum yums in no time.

If this whole idea sounds like a treat to you (hee hee) then here's where you can go to find out more about how to add 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats to your diet. Trust me, if you like to eat, this is something that is worth your time - especially if you would not mind losing a few pounds by eating stuff that tastes like it was designed to put on the pounds, not take them off!

Thought these snacks would taste like cardboard, but I was wrong

2009-10-13T07:10:00.001-05:00

I just finished checking out a book of so called healthy snack recipes. The author, Carolyn Hansen, says that her little book 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats contains only recipes that are prepared with "raw and living" ingredients. Well, that certainly seems to be true. None of the recipes requires any cooking as part of the recipe preparation and the ingredients are almost 100 percent derived from fruits, nuts, honey, and similar food stuffs that she cleverly substitutes for the ingredients she has banned from her kitchen, like sugar, flour, eggs and butter. She calls her book 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats.

Naturally I was suspicious of her claims that the ingredients she uses would produce snacks that are not only healthy for you, but also taste great too. But I was wrong. The other good piece of news is that these recipes are also very simple in design. Mostly they require that you gather a few ingredients together and toss them into the blender. Even I can do that.

I guess if I had stopped and thought about it for a minute or two I would not have been surprised to find that these recipes really do produce snacks that get your mouth watering. After all, if you are going to be combining ingredients like dates, agave oil, nuts, carob and coconut flesh you ought not be too shocked that the final assembled snack might actually taste quite good.

Well, there are literally dozens of different healthy ingredient's that Carolyn uses in imaginative ways to come up with her surprising recipes. If you are a snack lover like I am I recommend you take a moment to check out the web page for her book: http://bit.ly/33UW5n

100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats has more than enough recipes in it (like Cherry Choco Cookie, Chocolate Gogi Lemon Bar, and Coconut Fudge Bars) to keep yourself and your family snacking for some time to come, and you won't have to feel the least bit guilty for doing so. These recipes really are good for you - and low carb too!

When You Have A Blender, Who Needs A Stove?

2009-10-12T08:01:00.001-05:00

I do not remember the last time that I used the stove. But I have a great excuse. The only thing I know how to heat up is a teabag. The downside? I eat out every day and the quality of the nutrition I put into my body is not nearly as good as I know it ought to be.

This is why Carolyn Hansen's book 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats looks so appealing to me. Now the truth is, even though I know I could benefit from eating these amazingly mouth-watering delights, I probably never will. Why? Because I am lazy, and the idea of having to go to the store to get ingredients, put them in a blender, and then simply pour them out onto a tray seems like a lot of work to me. But you might not be as lazy as I am, and you might be prepared to take a couple of steps to eat healthy snacks rather than the store-bought items that are poisoning me.

Well, poisoning might be too strong a word. Still, we all know that the sugar, butter, and other chemical additives that fill traditional snacks are doing none of us any favors. They all contribute in the long run to obesity and other chronic diseases associated with poor nutrition. This is why when someone comes up with a set of healthy food alternatives we should all take notice, rather than continue to be lazy like I am. I am going to suffer the consequences of my actions, I have no doubt. But that does not mean that you need to do the same.

At least I hope you do not. At the very least, do me a favor and go have a look at the recipe book that Carolyn is offering on her site. If you take a glance at that Strawberry Fields Forever cheesecake alternative, or the Carob Fudge, and you still don't bite (ha ha) then I will know that I did my bit to help your ward off the coronary disease or the hypertension that likely will catch up with you one of these days. Assuming you eat as poorly as I do, that is. You don't, do you?

The bottom line: you will want to go check out 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats if you are less than satisfied with the quality of the snacks that typically end up inside you over the course of a day.

Eat These The Next Time You Get The Munchies

2009-10-11T07:31:00.001-05:00

I defy anyone who gets a case of the munchies to tell me that their willpower alone will be enough to ensure that they don't reach for the cookie jar or the potato chips when no one else is looking. And if you live alone? Come on. If there is no one else around to see your transgressions then you are going to binge on whatever you can get your hands on. That's just what we are - creatures of comfort food.

Maybe like me you avoid buying the things you love to eat. If I have something tasty and within reach, it is going to get eaten. I might be able to stave off for a day or two the desire to slice open a bag of cookies, but I give in eventually, as I am sure you do. So what are we supposed to do, if this kind of behavior is continually contributing to the number of inches around our waist?

One solution is to replace the "bad" snacks, which is practically every piece of junk food that is sold at your local convenience store, with healthy snack alternatives. But what to those look like? More importantly, what do they TASTE like? I have not-so-fond memories of "healthy" cookies that my mother used to make when the sugar and butter supplies in our household ran low. Thankfully broccoli cookies never appeared on the menu, but nor did anything healthy that also passed as a tasty snack.

Carolyn Hansen, the author of 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats, is quite aware of this problem. But she was determined to find snack recipes that did away with the usual cast of bad characters: sugar, flour, butter, and replace these with healthy substitutes that she could live with as a bodybuilder looking to maintain a healthy diet during her preparations for physique contests. That was some years ago now, and today she is making the recipes she came up with during that period available to anyone who could benefit from being able to grab low-calorie snacks on the run that also taste great.

If you could see some of the photographs of the snacks and treats that she has come up with you would not hesitate to volunteer to be a guinea pig in her kitchen. Would you believe that you can make cheesecake alternatives that use no dairy, but look and taste delicious nonetheless? Apparently you can, and this is just one of the recipe types that litter her book.

For more information on this mouth-watering topic I recommend you get yourself across to her site at 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats, grab yourself a copy of the recipe book and put your blender to work. The nice thing about Carolyn's recipes? You don't even need a stove to prepare them - these are all no cook recipes made from natural ingredients that can go straight to your mouth!

Can Delicious Snacks Actually Be Good For You?

2009-10-09T07:04:00.001-05:00

Remember sneaking into the kitchen when you were young to steal a snack when mom was not looking? Well, those days might be over if ex-bodybuilding champion Carolyn Hansen gets her way. She has come up with a set of 100 snack recipes that will have mothers everywhere positively encouraging their children to dig in.

The reason? The ingredients. No sugar, flour, or butter to be found in these recipes - just raw healthy foods that Hansen likes to call living. No cooking either, which makes preparation a snap. All a mom need be proficient with in the kitchen to keep her kids satisfied is a blender. That's the conclusion Carolyn Hansen reaches in her book 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats.

At first glance you might be tempted to think that snacks prepared without sugar and butter might taste like the experimental designs that mom came up with in your youth when she ran low on those items and could not get to the store. If you share the same memories of those bold snack alternatives that I do you might be quick to dismiss the idea of a tasty snack that foregoes the ingredients that we know contribute to chronic disease in later life. Too much sugar and butter in the diet are prime causes of obesity, diabetes, and coronary disease.

Carolyn Hansen knew this when she went into her kitchen years ago to find alternatives to the snacks she found so difficult to remove from her diet. As a competing bodybuilder she was determined to find a way to keep herself from ruining her progress in the gym by binging on unhealthy snacks when her willpower wore down.

At first the going was difficult. It turns out that there are a lot of things to take into account when you begin throwing out the staple ingredients of recipes thousands of years old. There were a lot of missteps along the way. But Carolyn persevered, and in the end she came up with snacks that she could share with her bodybuilder friends. Snacks that you can share with your family and friends and know that you are contributing to the maintenance of their health, not only today but for years to come.

So, if you want to get your hands on recipes for snacks and treats that you will not need to feel guilty about eating the next time you have a craving for something delicious, be sure to check out Carolyn Hansen's book 100 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats, where she shows you how to take control of your blender and churn out mouth-watering snacks that will have the kids in your neighborhood lined up around the block for a sample.

20 Healthy Raw Snacks And Treats

2009-10-08T17:08:00.001-05:00

Do you like easy-to-prepare snacks that are both sweet and delicious and quell the pangs of hunger, but are free of chemical-laden additives and processed sugar? In
short, are you looking for healthy and nutritious raw snacks prepared only from ingredients that you can feel good about putting into your body and the bodies of
your children?

Well, I have twenty brief recipes for you that I feel sure you will enjoy.

http://www.healthybiz2000.com/20-healthy-raw-snacks.pdf

Health Benefits of Pressure Cooking

2009-10-06T07:32:00.001-05:00

Do you remember the days when your mom used a pressure cooker to prepare yummy, delicious foods and meals? Perhaps you’ve thought those days are gone, or you thought pressure cookers were only for beans. Well, with today’s modern pressure cookers, your family can enjoy succulent, delicious and nutritious meals in a fraction of the time it would take to boil, bake or slow cook your favorite recipes.

Because pressure cooking uses the steam from the liquids used in your favorite recipes, the vitamins and nutrients are preserved in the food instead of being “cooked out” as they are in traditional boiling, baking or microwaving. And because pressure cooking reduces the amount of cooking time by up to 10 times, pressure cooking is a lot healthier than running out to a fast food joint.

Another way using a pressure cooker to cook our meals is healthier is because the ingredients used are fresh, whole, natural foods, not processed or packaged foods. Not only is using natural foods for all your meals, opposed to processed or packaged, healthier it also saves you money on your grocery bills every month. When you get in the habit of eating natural foods you’ll find you often have more energy, less weight gain, lower sodium and lower cholesterol levels as well. And because you can choose what goes in your pressure cooker you have more control over the amount of salt and other ingredients you are digesting.

Using recipes that are low in fat, salt and carbohydrates are easy to do in a pressure cooker, and they come out tasting delicious, even more delicious than if you baked, boiled or microwave them. Not to mention you will tend to make more vegetables when you use a pressure cooker because it is easy, efficient and pressure cooking makes your vegetable, frozen or raw, come out succulent and melt in your mouth. You may find that you prefer your vegetables without butter or salt once you start cooking them in a pressure cooker! Think of all the health benefits in that alone.

An added health benefit to using a pressure cooking is to make some of your favorite desserts in a pressure cooker. That’s right! You can use your pressure cooker to make desserts like homemade applesauce, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and cinnamon and apple flan w/maple syrup. You can choose the ingredients that go into your dessert to make them more nutritious for you and your family.

Overcome Emotional Eating

2009-09-17T14:18:00.001-05:00

Fitness author Jon Benson sent this out and I thought it was both hilarious and powerful.

Ready?

"A study in Psychosomatic Medicine has confirmed that people tend to consume food in order to self-medicate their feelings of stress or anxiety. They call it "emotional eating."

I know... it's a real shocker. ; )

But this isn't meant to be cute or light about this diet-wrecker.

This is the number one reason diet- plans fail... I've seen it way too many times.

In case you missed it, here's Jon's short story about overcoming emotional eating and getting in touch with a better way to make food work for you... not against you...

http://bit.ly/13UJ6n

Healthy Homemade Soups on the Go

2009-09-16T07:03:00.001-05:00

In this day and age it can be hard to eat healthy. With your busy schedule, especially if you have children, many people find it easier to grab whatever is available and the quickest and deal with the health consequences later. With the following tips for soups on the go you’ll learn how to make sure that the food you grab is of the healthy variety.

The problem with dealing with the consequences of unhealthy eating habits is that later is actually closer than you might think. Later is right now. Sadly, we are a nation of obese adults and just as many, if not more, obese children. Our unhealthy eating choices have caught up with us. You might be asking yourself, “How can I eat healthy when I’m crunched for time already?”

One way is to make foods that can be taken with you on the go. One of those foods is soup. Soup is tasty, filling, and good for you anytime, but especially on a cold fall or winter day. There are hot soups and believe it or not even cold soups. Many of the warm soups are even good eaten cold or lukewarm.

First, choose your favorite soup. A popular choice of many is the infamous chicken noodle soup. There’s nothing better when you are under the weather than the warm chicken broth soothing your throat. Campbell’s has a wonderful soup in a microwave container perfect for eating on the go, but we are going to make our own soup for an even healthier choice.

The one thing that is best about homemade food is that you know what is and is not in it. Since we are concerned with health, preparing your own soup creations at home is the best way to go. No matter which type of soup you choose to make, be sure to use fresh ingredients. The other items you’ll need are plenty of cups with lids and a blender.

Now it’s time to actually create your time saving soup. A good soup always starts with the stock. For chicken soup, make the broth by boiling the remains of the chicken you had for dinner. Add the herbs and seasonings of your choice and boil until the chicken bones come out clean. Any remaining meat will be included in the broth. Once the broth cools completely, ladle it into air-tight jars or containers for storing.

If you’re more of a beef and vegetable soup lover, you can use commercial canned broths or bouillon cubes for the base of your soup. Season the stock really well and boil before adding any other ingredients. Once the stock is ready, all that is left to do is toss in your favorite veggies. Again, wait until the soup is completely cooled before pouring into storage or serving containers.

Now, what about that blender? It’s a bit difficult to eat soup the traditional way while driving and if you are serving to your kids, the combination of a car and soup in a bowl is a disaster waiting to happen. Here’s where the blender comes into the picture.

Pour some of the soup into the blender and blend until the pieces are small enough for you to swallow without choking. You can even puree the soup completely if you’d prefer. For a thicker texture, add a bit of cream soup. Now, your soup is ready for distributing in your to-go cups.

The ideal cup would be a coffee mug with a lid. These types of cups have a wide opening perfect for drinking soups from. Be sure to prepare enough soup for the entire week. You can take the soup with you while you’re out shopping, working in the garden or to work. A cup of soup is packed with healthy nutrients and it won’t mess up the car or cramp your busy lifestyle. The next time you don’t have time to eat, reach for a cup of healthy homemade soup instead of pulling into that fast food drive thru.

Ode To Oatmeal

2009-09-15T08:48:00.001-05:00

Just added a short little report that will hopefully encourage you to incorporate oatmeal into your family’s breakfast routine. Includes several recipes.

http://www.ebotek.com/oatmeal.pdf

Veggie Snacks

2009-09-14T07:22:00.001-05:00

What is the one food that is most often fed to the dog at the dinner table? Nine times out of ten, someone is going to say vegetables. They really aren’t that bad and they are good for you. Vegetables come in so many shapes, sizes and flavors that you are bound to find at least one you like.

Veggies don’t need any dressing up to make them taste good. Nature has done that all by itself. They are picked fresh from the earth filled with sweet and succulent taste. The best veggies are the ones found fresh in stores, at farmer’s markets, or even better, your own garden.

Vegetables can keep without freezing or refrigerating them which is good for snacking on the run. You can grab a bag of veggies and hit the road. Most vegetables will do well when sliced into sticks, cubes, or chips. In this form, they are easier to manage.

One of many people’s biggest problems is eating while driving. We tend to try to do everything while driving and eating seems to be the hardest. No one wants to end up in a tree or someone’s yard because of a sandwich. To avoid these and other eating mishaps, pack your vegetables in plastic bags or small containers.

Carrots can be cut into sticks or a veggie slicer can cut them into chips. Don’t waste time buying baby carrots. It is easy enough to take a regular size carrot and fix it up. The same goes for cucumbers, beets, peppers, squash, zucchini, and other rigid veggies.

Tomatoes are classified as fruits, but we will consider them vegetables here. Many people just eat them like a fruit. Add a pinch of salt and bite in. Broccoli and cauliflower can also be eaten raw. Celery is a good veggie because it is filled with water. It can relieve thirst and hunger at the same time.

What are vegetables without dip? Dip adds a flavor to veggies and even kids who turn their noses up to vegetables will eat certain ones if they are dipped in something. My kids love carrots and broccoli with ranch dressing dip. Many dips can be made at home with dry seasoning packets and fat free sour cream. For a different taste add your own fresh herbs. Sweet dips, like yogurt based ones, are also good with veggie snacks. Dip can be stored in a container or a two-piece salad bowl. With the salad bowl, the dip doesn’t mix with the vegetables until you are ready to eat them.

Vegetables can be excellent snacks for those times when you are hungry but it is not time to eat a full meal. You can sit in front of the television and eat an entire bag of carrot sticks or cucumber chips without guilt. Take them in the car, on the job, or outside for a quick energy pick-me-up. No matter what way you choose to eat them, vegetables make healthy snack foods for everyone.

Snacks – How Many and How Often are Good for You

2009-09-09T07:27:00.001-05:00

There are many schools of thought about how many snacks are ok to eat and how often to eat them. Snacking has long been thought to be a bad thing. If, like me, you disagree and feel that snacking is the best way to avoid overeating keep reading. Whether one is trying to maintain their current weight, trying to lose weight, or eat healthier overall here are some tips and suggestions for snacking the healthy way.

When most think of snacking, things like French fries, candy bars, ice cream cones, or potato chips, come to mind. It’s no wonder the majority of people associate snacking with something negative. All of these “bad snacks” can add just as many, if not more, calories than a regular meal. Don’t despair, however. It is possible to snack without adding all the fat and calories.

Think of the examples named above. Instead of giving up their favorites, snack lovers need only change their snack choices to a better for you substitute. For instance, a bag of fast food fries can easily become a baked sweet or russet potato fries with fresh herbs or cinnamon sprinkled on top. Now, that sounds like a tasty snack and it’s healthier.

As for that candy bar, it’s really the chocolate most are after when they grab their favorite one. The nougat, peanut butter and caramel are good but don’t be fooled, it’s the chocolate craving that gets candy bar lovers. In place of those pound adding candy bars, make some granola bars. Use rolled oats, bran, crunchy clusters, and chocolate chips. Dark chocolate is supposed to be better for us, so try some dark chocolate pieces inside or drizzle a bit of dark chocolate on top. Anytime you need a snack, grab a granola bar instead of a candy bar.

For many die hard snack addicts, ice cream is a big one to overcome. If this sounds like you, have confidence in yourself and try something just as cool and sweet, but even better for you. Whip up some smoothie mix and freeze it in a container for at least twenty-four hours. When that ice cream craving hits, scoop some smoothie into a bowl and top it with nuts and a dab of whipped cream. Before you know it, you’ll be craving yummy fruit or veggie smoothies instead of that fattening ice cream.

Next, let’s talk about how often to snack. The more times you eat, the more revved up your metabolism will be. However, it’s necessary to eat the right foods in order for this not to backfire. Unfortunately, this is where many people go wrong. If you keep only the freshest and healthiest foods in your home, all of your choices will be good. So, as hard as it may be, curb that urge to load up on sweet, junk food on your next trip to the grocery store.

Ideally you should have 3 snacks a day; one during the middle of the morning, another mid-afternoon, and lastly, one after dinner. That’s three snacks to complement three meals. Also, remember that quantity matters when it comes to snacks, just like it does meal portions. Snacks are not meant to be entire meals but they are supposed to be delicious or you won’t eat them. By not snacking at all you actually make yourself too hungry. This leads to overeating at meal times. Beyond that, you will opt for dining out more often if you feel starved because you haven’t munched on a few healthy snacks throughout the day.

Contrary to popular belief, snacking is good for you, but only if you make your treat choices healthy ones. Keeping good for you snacks on hand will make snacking healthy even easier. So, snack away, but make them good snacks in order to reap the most benefits.

Healthy Do it Yourself Finger Foods

2009-09-08T07:28:00.001-05:00

They are great at parties and family get-togethers. They are a wonderful alternative to a filling meal at important functions of just about any type. For those who don’t know, I’m talking about finger foods. Easy to prepare and even easier to eat, make some healthy finger foods for yourself and see how versatile they can be.

Finger foods make great snacks on the go. Take cheese for instance. It provides calcium and protein which we need each day. At about ten in the morning, it’s not quite time for lunch, but it is a good time for cheese snack. Cut a slice off of a block and enjoy. Buying a block of cheese is more economical than a bag of cheese sticks if you plan on using it as a snack quite often. Saving money is just one more reason to turn to cheese as a healthy snack.

When it comes to finger foods, think about how you can recreate some of your own favorites at home. There are two benefits to making your own. One, you save money. Two, your foods are fresher. If you’ve eaten a lot of processed food, it might take a bit of getting used to when it comes to eating fresh fare. The taste is like no other. Even beans have a sweet taste when they are fresh. Fresh foods are not only better for you, but they taste better, are crunchier and taste clean.

Chicken is the most all around food you can find. You can bake, broil, roast, sauté, and fry (but because we are aiming for healthy, we won’t do that) it. It can be cubed, sliced, julienne, and diced. Cut it into strips and bread them to make chicken fries. These are great for those days when you should eat lunch but you don’t really feel like it. A few chicken strips and a piece of cheese will replenish your protein.

Crackers are also a perfect snack food. They are good on their own, but taste even better with some type of topping. For instance, a piece of cheese between two crackers with a little slice of ham is a handy and tasteful snack. You can also spread some cream cheese or peanut butter on your crackers. Kids may enjoy strawberry jam or grape jelly between two crackers. This is definitely a healthy alternative to cake or a piece of candy. Make up a few of your favorite cracker snacks the night before and chill them for the next morning.

If all else fails, go for some snacks that you can pick up in the store. Be careful though. Read food labels to check fat, cholesterol, and sodium content per serving. Some excellent choices are baked chips, granola bars, and roasted nuts. Low fat luncheon meats can be wrapped around cheese or fruit slices for a healthy little snack.

Don’t forget fresh fruits and veggies. For a vegetable treat, cut up some broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, carrots, or other favorites and serve with ranch dip. Mix it up by cutting up some fresh fruit such as apples, pears, strawberries, and watermelon and serving with a bit of cream cheese for dipping.

These are great finger foods to keep around for those days when you’re busy and don’t have time to prepare something. Keep fresh fruits in a bowl on the counter to grab as you’re going out the door or for the kids when they get home from school. Keep containers of vegetables and your favorite dip or dressing in the refrigerator to do the same.

Finger foods aren’t reserved just for parties. Choose quick and healthy finger foods and eat them anytime you get the urge for a snack.

Are you an emotional eater?

2009-08-24T21:20:00.001-05:00

Emotions can be deadly.

At least when it comes to eating.

And the VAST majority of us are "emotional eaters." And that leads to excess bodyfat.

We eat when we are stressed-out.

We eat when we are overly happy.

We eat when we are depressed.

And when you eat like this you can kiss your fatloss goodbye.

There's a 4-minute video that I want you to watch today.

It is touching, funny, and very powerful all at the same time.

And it will help you come to terms with emotional eating.

Go here --

--- > click-here: http://bit.ly/13UJ6n

P.S. This is a very unique video. I know you will love it.

And I KNOW you will benefit from it.

Please share this with others too.

--- > click-here: http://bit.ly/13UJ6n

More than Just Toast

2009-08-18T07:30:00.001-05:00

Toast is one of the most popular of breakfast foods because it is easy to make and eat on the go. You can pop some bread down in the toaster while you’re applying your makeup or blow drying your hair. Your kids can even learn to make toast when they are old enough to remove it without getting burned. But, having boring old toast every day with butter can get old, so here are some suggestions to spice up an old standby.

Pizza Toast

Prepared in a toaster oven is the best way to make pizza toast. Before placing bread in toaster oven, top with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Of course you can top with whatever pizza toppings you have on hand. Broil pizza for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Not very breakfast-y, I know, but my kids love it and eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Plus it’s easy to eat on the go. Just make sure you don’t put too much pizza sauce, and take napkins.

Toasty Fruit Pizza

A twist to traditional fruit pizza is to use toasted bread for the crust and it makes for a healthy breakfast. Spread with cream cheese and your favorite slices of fruit for a healthy meal on the go. It helps save time preparing to have the fruit already sliced.

Easy Breakfast Sandwiches

When you have leftover bacon or sausage, make quick and easy breakfast sandwiches by placing a piece of cheese and meat between two pieces of toast.

Some other toast-topping suggestions that aren’t so traditional include:

· Cream cheese instead of butter

· Apple butter

· Peanut butter and bananas

· Peanut butter and apples

· Peanut butter and honey

· Cheese and mayonnaise

· Applesauce

· Lunchmeat and cheese

To make toast the healthiest possible, choose breads that are whole grain. Also, choose spreads that are low in sugar and fat.

Next time you get stressed out about making breakfast, just think “toast” and all these wonderful suggestions to make toast a bit more exciting!

16 Back-to-School Dinner Tips

2009-08-13T07:50:00.001-05:00

Is school really just around the corner? You know what that means - early morning scrambles, after-school tizzies and ragged nerves at dinnertime.

It's still possible to have pleasant family mealtimes even after school has begun. Check out these back-to-school dinner tips for busy Moms:

1. Have a meal plan.

The most important key to having relaxed family dinners even on school nights is having a meal plan. This will simplify both food shopping and meal preparation, and help you save money to boot.

If you need help, check out Dine Without Whine's meal and grocery planning service.

2. Try freezer meals.

Cut down on cooking time by cooking large batches and then freezing them for future use.

3. Simplify your schedule.

With school comes extracurricular activities that could have you running - or driving around - like a headless chicken. Keep things to a minimum. Overloading children with too many after-school activities is not good for them. They need downtime too.

4. Get the kids involved in cooking.

Get some help by mobilizing your own troops - your husband and children - as your kitchen helpers. Cooking is an important life skill and now it's bonding time as well.

5. Have an emergency plan.

No matter how well you plan in advance, something always comes up. Plan for that as well. Always have emergency supplies in the pantry so you can throw together a home-cooked meal at a moment's notice.

It could be a frozen dinner you prepared during the weekend. Mine is pasta, a can of tomato sauce and whatever vegetables are in the refrigerator.

6. Post your family schedule.

Keep a large calendar on the wall where you can see every family member's schedule at a glance. It will also help you plan activities around your family dinner times.

7. Set a routine.

Decide on an earlier dinner time, bedtime and wake up time and start following them a few days before school officially begins. This way, everybody's adjusted when the real thing comes.

8. Stay flexible.

Sometimes you just can't afford disruptions to your meal times. An occasional missed family dinner is no big deal - when you know you'll have more throughout the week.

9. Consider school schedules.

Take note of school events and other activities in your family calendar - so you can plan your family dinners with them in mind.

10. Cook once, eat twice.

Every so often, cook a double batch of meals that can easily be transformed into another entree or side dish. For example, roast 2 chickens. Have one for tonight's dinner. Chop up the other for chicken salad for later in the week.

11. Organize your kitchen.

If you haven't done so yet, now's the time to take stock of your kitchen. Make sure the items you use most often are accessible from your food prep area. Replace the tools that are broken, and get those gadgets that will help you get dinner ready faster.

12. Have a special meal.

Make Friday night Teen's night - which means they plan and prepare the meal. That is, if you have teens or any child old enough to prepare meals. They'll learn how to cook, you get the night off (from cooking), and everybody has fun. The only condition is: everybody has to eat what's prepared.

13. Make it educational.

This idea is for preschool-age kids. Make or buy a special placemat with letter or numbers. Laminate it with Con-Tact paper so it becomes a wipe-off board. Use it only for dinnertimes.

14. More mealtime learning opportunities.

Plan some meals to coincide with specific topics your child is studying in school. For example, on the night after a field trip to a pioneer town, have a pioneer-style meal.

15. Celebrate school successes at dinner.

Celebrate school successes with a special family meal. Prepare the child's favorite meal and prepare a nice dessert. It's more important to have a meal that's relaxed and delicious, than one that tool hours to prepare.

16. Nurture school relationships.

Get to know your children's closest school friends by inviting them to dinner once in a while.

Follow these tips to make family mealtimes simpler, easier and more fun. For meal planning and grocery shopping help, go to Dine Without Whine.

Your monthly subscription includes a weekly meal plan with recipes for main dishes, side dishes, 2 desserts and 2 brunches.

You'll also get a weekly grocery shopping list of everything you need to create the recipes. The list is categorized according to grocery sections, so your shopping will be easier and faster.

For a limited time, you can try Dine Without Whine for a penny. Click here to find out how.

5 Foods Men Should Be Eating

2009-08-11T07:33:00.001-05:00

By Sean Barker

These 5 foods will make sure you are on your way to living a long and healthy life so you can be the strong dad you need to be to keep up with your family.

1. Tomatoes - This plump red FRUIT provides a powerful punch for men especially. Yes, it is a fruit, not a vegetable. If it has seeds, its considered a fruit. You might of heard of the powerful nutrient in tomatoes called lycopene. Lycopene has been show to be beneficial in preventing prostate cancer in men. To absorb this wonderful nutrient the tomatoes need to be broken down such as tomato sauce and tomato juice.

2. Oysters - Don't pass on these slimy sea mollusks just yet. Oysters are a high quality protein source which is great for building lean muscle. They also provide heart healthy omega 3's as well as another prized nutrient that every man should have in their diet. Oysters have been known for centuries as a libido enhancer. This is mainly from the high concentration of Zinc. Most men today are shown to be deficient in this vital nutrient. It aids in testosterone production which gives us men strength and energy in the gym as well as in the bedroom.

3. Brazil Nuts - Nuts are a great nutrient dense snack full of fiber, healthy fats and even protein. Brazil nuts especially are high in selenium. Brazil nuts may contain as much as 544 micrograms of selenium per ounce. Just one Brazil nut will give you your recommended daily allowance of the selenium. This mineral is crucial in antioxidant production in your body to fight off disease.

4. Broccoli - We all hear how good this green cruciferous vegetables is for us. But most men don't really know how beneficial broccoli really is for our health and longevity. More and more evidence is mounting showing the anti-cancer benefits in this super food. Look at broccoli as "nature's brooms" as they are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that clean your arteries and keep your cells strong and healthy throughout your body.

5. Flaxseed - This little seed is loaded with nutrients. A lot of people know flaxseeds are a good source of healthy fats and fiber. But the mistake they make is eating the seeds whole. For your body to absorb the fats, flaxseeds need to be ground before they are eaten. A coffee grinder is great for this or you can buy organic milled flaxseed. Ground flaxseed is great to add to cereal, oatmeal, burgers, meatballs, shakes and stews. Store ground flaxseeds in the fridge to prevent oxidation of the healthy fats. With all the talk on plastics in our environment and the phytoestrogens they mimic, lignans in flaxseeds help the body get rid of these toxic compounds.

There you have it, The Top 5 Foods For Men that you may not be eating but should...

Learn the "The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly" in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com. Sean is a Certified Personal Trainer and a proud and busy Dad. Sean has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 15 years and have appeared in High Performance Muscle Magazine, been on health and fitness radio shows and was selected as a sponsored athlete by one of the top supplement nutrition companies in the world. His popular Dad Fitness fat loss workouts have helped thousands of Dads around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 3 hours per week. For more information on the Dad Fitness workouts that will help you burn fat without spending hours in the gym, visit http://dadfitness.rxsportz.com

Healthy Cold Breakfasts that Don’t Involve Cereal

2009-08-10T07:41:00.001-05:00

I often don’t have time to make even a 5 minute batch of scrambled eggs, so having some stuff on hand to grab and go is a must in our home. Since eating a bowl of cereal is impossible while driving and I don’t want my kids having an open bowl with liquid in the car, I’ve come up with some healthy, cold breakfasts that are easy to eat on the go. I’m sure you will find them useful as well.

A super easy, no brainer idea is to have sliced fruit on hand. Simply slice up your favorite fruits and place in storage baggies in the fridge for ease and convenience. This takes a little prep ahead of time, but it is worth it on those mornings when you are in a rush. Fruit suggestions are: strawberries, grapes, kiwi, blackberries, raspberries, cantaloupe and other melon, apples and bananas (sprinkled with lemon juice to keep from turning brown) and cherries. Of course you can use whatever fruits your family likes.

Tortilla Roll Ups

A quick and easy way to eat on the go is to use flour tortillas. You can take just about any ingredients you and your family like and roll them in a tortilla. Some suggestions are:

Peanut butter and jelly
Cream cheese
Chopped raw veggies
Ham and cheese
Sliced fruit and cream cheese
Peanut butter and honey
Sliced Cheese
Pickles and Cheese
Applesauce

Other things you should have on hand for those rushed mornings are graham crackers, granola bars, cereal bars, nuts and bagels. You can spread some cream cheese between two graham crackers for added protein and flavor. Nuts are nutritious and full of protein and fiber and are a great way to fill you up quickly. You can find fairly healthy cereal bars in the cereal aisle these days. Be sure to read the label for the sugar and fat content. If you don’t have time to spread some cream cheese on a bagel, eating them plain is still tasty and a good way to get filled up in the morning.

Another way to use up those leftover pieces of chicken or steak is to give them to your family in the morning. They usually taste great served cold and are a good source of protein.

You don’t have to skip breakfast when you don’t have time in the morning. Planning ahead and having items easy to grab will ensure you and your family get a healthy start to the day.

Healthy Breakfast When You Absolutely Don’t Have Time to Cook

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Even when you’re in a hurry to get out the door in the morning, feeding your family a healthy breakfast is still important to you. Instead of going through the drive through though, here are some suggestions you can use that are quick and healthy, on the go breakfast ideas.

The first thing to do is plan ahead. Planning makes any meal time so much easier, especially when you’re in a hurry. Healthy items to have on hand and that are easy to grab and go are:

· Healthy cereal bars

· Granola bars

· Baggies of whole grain cereal

· Graham crackers

· Bagels

· Sliced Cheese

· Sliced ham

· Nuts

· Sliced Fruit

· Flour tortillas

· Sliced whole grain bread

· Seedless Grapes

· Peanut butter

· Crackers

· Raw veggies such as celery stalks and baby carrots

· Raisins

When you have the above items on hand, you can either eat them alone or you can combine them quickly for a fast, healthy breakfast.

· Spread some cream cheese on graham crackers or bagels.

· Make a cheese sandwich

· Toast some bread and top with cream cheese and sliced fruit

· Spread some peanut butter over saltines

· Cream cheese on saltines is also good

· Celery stalks with peanut butter or cream cheese and raisins

· A slice of cheese and ham rolled together

The point is you don’t have to skip breakfast when you don’t have time to cook. And you don’t have to skimp on health by running through a drive through. Save time and money simply by using your imagination and with a little planning. Your kids will like the new ideas and may even begin to eat breakfast better.

Remember; don’t ask your kids what they want. Simply make it and hand it to them. They may think it’s weird at first, especially if it’s not a typical breakfast food. However, they will most likely think its fun to eat something a bit out of the ordinary. Make a game out of it and they’re sure to “bite.” Pretend you are on a deserted island or on a ship lost at sea. It’s the only food left on earth and you have to eat it or you won’t survive.

How to Overcome Emotional Eating

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Eating is a part of life. Your body gets its nutrients from food. Sometimes we can go overboard with our eating habits and it can result in gaining weight. One issue with food is emotional eating.

The problem of emotional eating may end with the scale but it begins in the mind. Stress takes its toll on your life. When your defenses are compromised your health takes a hit and so do your emotions.

Everyone has good days and bad days. How we deal with the bad ones brings emotional eating into play. You look for comfort for your hurts. People who turn to food for comfort find a coping mechanism that won’t judge them, hurt them or tell them “no.” To complicate the issue, eating pleasurable foods can stimulate the release of endorphins just like exercise. So, after you eat, you feel better.

Emotional eaters use food to relieve stress. They hide behind the food instead of seeking solutions to the problems. This is not uncommon when the stressor is something horrible such as physical abuse or a death.

But, how do you know you are using food in this way? The first sign is obvious. You will gain weight if you eat too much. In light of the weight gain, examine other areas of your life:

* Have you been under stress lately at work or at home?
* Has anything traumatic happened in the last year?
* Are you dealing with a problem but haven’t found a solution?

Answering “yes” to any of these questions could mean that you are an emotional eater. You eat but you are not necessarily hungry at the time. The foods that you choose are what we term “comfort foods”:

* High fat foods like French fries, fried foods
* High carb foods like macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes
* Sugary foods like ice cream, donuts, cookies, cake

There is help for emotional eaters. The first step is recognizing that you have a problem. You’ll experience feelings of helplessness and guilt. The guilt is over potentially ruining your health and the helplessness lies in the fact that you don’t see a way out.

Secondly, seek counseling. There are many types of counselors out there that can meet your need. Emotional eating has nothing to do with dieting or changing your eating habits but gaining control over your emotions.

A counselor might suggest things like visualization, practicing problem solving skills, relaxation techniques and family support. Visualization helps you to see your problems in a realistic way and not blown out of proportion. You will also learn to see food as nutrition for the body and not an emotional crutch.

Thirdly, your family can learn your triggers for stress and be on the lookout for changes in your eating habits. They can help you be aware of the foods you are eating, assist you in making healthy food choices and exercise along with you. Proper diet and exercise increases immunity, blood flow and positive thinking. Yoga enhances the mind/body connection so you don’t eat when you aren’t hungry.

Finding new ways to solve your problems and deal with stress will push food out of the equation. You’ll feel good about finding solutions which will replace the dependence on food.