Meal Plan – Spicy Stir-Fried Mushroom

Meal Plan – Spicy Stir-Fried Mushroom Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 whole dried red chile
1 1/2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 minced seeded jalapeño pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups quartered mushrooms
1 cup (1/2-inch) cubed tomato
7 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato sauce
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1/8 teaspoon Garam Masala
8 (1-ounce) slices country bread, toasted

Preparation

1. Heat first 3 ingredients in a large skillet over medium-high heat; sauté 1 minute or until cumin begins to darken. Add ginger to pan; sauté 30 seconds. Add red onion and fenugreek; sauté 2 minutes or until onion is tender. Add salt and jalapeño; saute 2 minutes or until onion softens and begins to brown. Add coriander, red pepper, and minced garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add mushrooms; cook 7 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Stir in tomato, tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons cilantro, and Garam Masala; bring to a simmer. Cook 15 minutes or until sauce thickens. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon cilantro. Serve with slices of country bread.

Suvir Saran, Cooking Light

Tips For Alternate Solutions To Your Dieting Motivation

What can you do about your dieting motivation? Are you reading this because you are 10, 15, 30 pounds or more overweight? You know if you don’t lose the weight you can end up an invalid or worse; Dead! But you also know your will power to stick with a life saving diet is nil or for all practical purposes; next to none. This article will offer tips on how you can improve your commitment to saving your on life.

You are well aware your lack of motivation is the single most common reason you will give up on a diet before you’ve started. Because you don’t see results in a day or two, it’s easy to give up. But you also know it is absolutely vital for you to stick with it for at least a week. In addition you know the first week is the hardest. After you have stuck to your new diet and exercise for one week only, it becomes much easier from then on.

Making a change to a new diet is a big deal. You are literally changing your lifestyle. More than likely if you were a bad eater before, you are going to have to give up a lot of food you enjoy.

This is the point where you will become the most discouraged. However, there is a way to overcome this discouragement. The key is to replace the enjoyment you used to get from food with other more healthy activities. Take the time ride a bike with your children. Go for a walk with your partner. Enjoy the beauty of a sunset or sunrise. You will be pleasantly surprised how good these little things will make you feel.

Studies have shown that for a great many overweight people, junk food or excessive eating is an emotional problem rather than a physical problem. Therefore you well need to consult a professional councilor to root out the problem. Once you know the real reason behind your weight problem, your motivation for getting rid the weight will skyrocket.

To assist with your dieting motivation consider getting your mind off food altogether. When you stop thinking about food you will be surprised how your cravings for food will decrease. Keeping busy is the key to sticking to a diet, and this means taking up hobbies or reaching out to others. Find a passion in your life and the cravings for food will seem like a distant memory.

Results from dieting can often be slow to show materialize. But don’t let that ruin your motivation! You can speed up the weight loss process by combining it with exercise with the result being faster weight loss.

Once you do start seeing results your motivation can sky rocket. It is this first sign of your new body that literally makes you never want to go back to your old bad habits. The first time you have a glimpse of what your body is working towards then motivation is rarely a problem.

So what else can you do to motivate yourself to stick to that diet? Rewards are an excellent idea if you are still craving that chocolate cake or soft drink. It’s not necessary for you to eliminate every single food or drink that you enjoy. The process of dieting is about reduction and moderation, not elimination.

Set yourself a goal to stick to your diet for 4 straight days, then on the 5th day you can enjoy that chocolate cake or ice cream (in moderation). When you know you will be having a treat, rather than making it the forbidden fruit, it will do amazing things for your motivation.

Dieting motivation is all in the mind; if you have control of your mind then you can also have control of your body!

Marcilio David is a Cardiologist and Internet Entrepreneur. Learn more tips and tricks to a leaner figure, and a FREE Weight Loss Ebook download at http://diet.seuamigodopeito.com The Safe Diet Guide.

Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net

Meal Plan August 23 09

Meal Plan August 19 09

The Causes Of Childhood Obesity

Obesity among children is a national health crisis and a terrifying reality. It can cripple our country for generations to come unless significant changes are made.

Not all obese infants become obese children, and not all obese children become obese adults. However, the older one gets, the more likely it is that one gains weight. Our metabolism slows as we grow older, and we also become less active. In addition, it is very likely that obesity beginning even in early childhood will persist through the life span. In other words, if your 14 year old son is obese, it’s likely that he will carry the extra weight (and put on more weight) during his adult life.

For parents of overweight children, the time to help your kids get in shape is now or never. Obesity presents numerous problems for the child. In addition to increasing the risk of obesity in adulthood, childhood obesity is the leading cause of pediatric hypertension, is associated with Type II diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, increase stress on the weight-bearing joints, lower self-esteem, and altered relationships with peers. Between 5-25 percent of children and teenagers in the United States are obese, according to some studies. Other statistics indicate that 17% of children between ages 6 and 19 are obese.

Childhood obesity is the result of an interaction between food, state of mind, family and the environment.

An imbalance between intake and output.
Intake: excessive consumption of fast foods and unhealthy food choices. Output: less time spent playing outside, more time spent on a computer, playing video games or watching TV.

The Family.
The risk of becoming obese is greatest among children who have two obese parents. This may be due to powerful genetic factors, the manner in which the child is raised, parental modeling of both eating and exercise behaviors. One half of parents of elementary school children never exercise vigorously.

Low-energy Expenditure.
The average American child spends several hours each day watching television; time which in previous years might have been devoted to physical pursuits. Obesity is greater among children and adolescents who frequently watch television, not only because little energy is expended while viewing but also because of simultaneous consumption of high-calorie snacks. Only about one-third of elementary children have daily physical education, and less than than one-fifth have extracurricular physical activity programs at their schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents to take walks or otherwise get physical with their children at least once a week, to make up for shrinking levels of physical education in schools.

Fast food companies.
It is easy ad inexpensive to buy unhealthy foods from vending machines. The good news is that beverage makers have agreed to pull sugared sodas and whole milk out of all school vending machines over the next three years, as well as diet sodas and sports drinks from machines in elementary and middle schools.

Heredity.
Since not all children who eat non-nutritious foods, watch several hours of television daily, and are relatively inactive develop obesity, the search continues for alternative causes. Heredity has recently been shown to influence fatness, regional fat distribution, and response to overfeeding.. In addition, infants born to overweight mothers have been found to be less active and to gain more weight by age three months when compared with infants of normal weight mothers, suggesting a possible inborn drive to conserve energy.

For more information and to register for free diet plans and grocery lists, visit http://www.best-weight-loss-programs.net/ , for exercises for women, visit http://www.toningforwomen.com and to train with Nitin, visit http://www.phonefitnesstrainer.com

Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net

Five Easy Ways To Prepare Healthy Food For Work

Five Easy Ways To Prepare Healthy Food For Work by Jon Le Tocq

Did you know that the two most common reasons for not losing body fat are not preparing your own food and struggling to find motivation to exercise? Whilst both are critical to any fitness regime both can be easily rectified with a little bit of planning!

This article seeks to address the nutrition side of the failure to achieve results. The truth is that nutrition is much more of a barrier than people think. Many believe that simply “doing a bit more exercise” will solve the problem but in nearly every case it won’t!
It seems everyone you meet these days has a high-pressured, desk-bound office job, so the problem of finding time to prepare food continues to grow exponentially.
The convenience of junk food outlets and even salt and fat-laden sandwich shops only serves to compound the problem as there is even less incentive to find out how to make healthy food for the day ahead.

The problem is something of a vicious circle because the more stress increases, the more a person is panicked into trying to ram more into their day to keep up.
This leads to less eating time and less nutrients which encourages the production of stress hormones such as cortisol, a by-product of the body’s survival mechanism. This is triggered by various events including lack of nutrients which are used to keep internal systems functioning.
Is it really that big a deal if you’re not eating properly? So long as you can get through your working day surely you’re doing enough?

It really depends on what you want out of life. If falling asleep at your desk, being permanently stressed, taking it out on your family and being disgusted by what you see in the mirror is okay with you, then no it’s not a problem!

In these times of looming economic crisis, the ability to be at the top of your game all day at work and then have the energy and body to enjoy your hobbies and sports is absolutely critical!
Without a well-oiled body, mental and physical strength is right around the next corner! Fortunately there are lots of simple solutions which everyone can implement whether you’re a high-powered executive, a busy mum or someone on irregular shifts.

A few minutes planning each day can save months of distress, dissatisfaction with your job and life in general. You’ll be surprised how much better everything appears as a result.
Here are the top five ways to make sure you’re eating clean, natural food every single day. Implement them all and you will notice changes within days!

One task is to buy lots of raw vegetables which don’t even need a few minutes in the steamer! Choose carrots, spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, spring onions, rocket and peppers. Wash, chop, put in Tupperware for the day. This will take you 5 minutes.
Second when you, your partner or whoever cooks for you is preparing your evening meal, ask them to grill a chicken breast or fish fillet. Simple grilling machines are available for next to nothing and will grill chicken breasts or fish in 7-8 minutes.
Leave them to cool then it’s ready to go in your box with the vegetables. That means nothing to do in the morning when you’re half asleep!

Another top tip to make the most of your evening meal is to cook double what you need, serve up what you want for dinner then save some for the next day. Box it up after dinner then it’s ready for tomorrow.

This is an easy step and won’t require any extra time other than grabbing it from the fridge in the morning! Some people take this further by using an hour or two of their weekend to prepare all the food they need for the week – batch up the task as much as possible for extra-efficiency!
If you prefer to prepare your food in the morning, put some eggs to boil whilst you eat breakfast. This will take you 5 minutes or so by which time the eggs will be done. Take them out then run under cold water. Leave them to cool whilst you shower then de-shell them when you are ready! Making the most of your time is easy when you think about it!

Task number five is to find a healthy, natural protein supplement. Get a powder which you can put in a shaker. When you need food during the day but don’t have time to sit and eat, add water or milk to your shake and knock it back. The protein will be used to maintain your muscle mass and keep you feeling satisfied. Remember these should be usedas supplements NOT replacements as they are often touted.

Your sixth job is to stock up on tinned fish. These provide as easy way to get healthy protein and fats in your diet. Empty the tin into your box of vegetables and that’s the job done!
None of these jobs chop more than a few minutes off your morning or evening. The truth is that 10 minutes preparation can save you the 20 minute round trip to the cob shop at lunch anyway!
If you are willing to look for solutions rather than excuses you’ll soon see how easy it is! You might have to get up at 06.50 rather than 07.00 but this won’t be a problem when your physical and mental worries and constant fatigue disappear as a result of your clean, energy-boosting diet!

Jon Le Tocq created the online Storm Force Fitness concept which continues to produce amazing fat loss and conditioning results without gym membership!
Find out more on fast nutrition and training methods or scour my blog for more!
Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net