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General Weight Loss Tips

Quick, Easy, & Healthy Indian Style Lentil Soup (Based on Amy’s Organic…)

I know how it is: Often times you’re hungry and you’re in a hurry and you use this situation as an excuse to eat something that’s very bad for you because it’s quick easy to do so.

But there are quick easy ways to eat something healthy (and delicious) too. This Indian style soup (based on Amy’s Organic Lentil Soup) is one way to do it:

1. Heat a can of Amy’s Organic Lentil Soup.

2. Add two (or more) cut up tomatoes.

3. Add olive oil.

4. Add turmeric, cumin, garlic, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, and any other spice you want (one of the big problem with the way most Americans cook is they have no idea that you need to add a lot of spices to things to make them tasty. Stop adding sugar and start adding spice!)

When it’s warmed up, eat it in a bowl. It’s delicious and quite filling.

I’m not including exact amounts because I didn’t bother measuring exact amounts myself and mine turned out delicious. I think it’s hard to go wrong with these spices. If you like Indian food you will probably really enjoy this soup. And while I didn’t try it today I think it’d probably be quite nice over basmati rice!

Next time I might add some onions and green peppers to make it even tastier (and healthier.) One of the great things about something like this is you can take the basic concept and change it up in various (healthy delicious) ways so that it remains easy and good for you but doesn’t get boring.

This soup is not only high in protein and low in sugar, it’s also loaded with immunity boosting foods. The combination of turmeric, black pepper, and olive oil that is found in this soup is particularly effective. Ginger, garlic, and cinnamon also have powerful phytochemicals that can improve your health. Drink a cup of green tea with it to take your healthy madness to the next level!

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Weight Loss Exercise

Alison Sweeney Total Body Makeover Tips




She’s more than just the host of The Biggest Loser—she lives the show’s healthy lifestyle. Alison Sweeney built an exclusive 30-day plan for Health magazine featuring her favorite tips, moves, and recipes, including lessons she’s learned from celebrity trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels. Below are Alison’s top five tips to try this month.

Total Body Makeover Tips

Scrap all unrealistic expectations – “I’m not a fan of having a supermodel on your refrigerator…Nobody is going to all of a sudden, at 40, look like an 18-year-old model. Set your goals to positive things. Instead of thinking, ‘I need to work out because I want to lose weight,” I’m thinking, ‘I have to run a 26.2-mile race, so I have to run. Today. Now.’”

Don’t put off what you can do today – “When I do one thing that’s good, I immediately start to feel better. I don’t wait for Monday. I don’t wait for a holiday. I don’t wait for my birthday. I don’t wait for January 1. I start right now.”

Make Alison’s chopped salad for dinner – “A friend of mine brought over a vegetable salad that was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Just cut up cooked broccoli, asparagus, green beans, raw carrots, and roasted corn into neat little chopped bits and add cilantro and avocado, then toss it. The fat from the avocado and a little bit of salt – that’s the dressing. It’s so good and so refreshing!”

If you crave sugar tonight, go to bed early – “One thing I learned from Jillian [Michaels] is that when you’re tired, you crave sugar because your brain needs sugar to sustain itself. So when you’re tired, one of the first symptoms is that you’ll look for something sugary to eat because you’re trying to stay awake. So think of it that way, instead of, ‘Oh, I’m so weak-willed.’ It’s not that. Close your eyes! You need rest.”

Put out your sneakers tonight to taunt you tomorrow – “If my sneakers are out, they’re like, ‘Pick me, pick me!’”

For the full plan, please visit: http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20618606,00.html

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Alison Sweeney Total Body Makeover Tips, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

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Weight Loss Exercise

Eliminate Pain with these 3 Keys to Promoting Joint Health




As people grow older, they frequently complain that they have problems with joint pain, hip pain, back pain, neck pain, and other types of pain. They then go on to blame their pain solely on the fact that they are getting older. Sure their body may have been through a lot, but that does not mean that the pain cannot be prevented or fixed.

To fix anything in life, you just have to take the right steps.

Exercise for Joint Health

You know your body needs physical activity on a regular basis. You do not have to go climb a mountain or run an ultra-marathon, you just have to do things that challenge your current fitness abilities.

Exercise is important for maintaining a healthy body weight, keeping muscle tissue strong, and also for promoting joint health. When you exercise, the bones in your joints and the muscles around your joints are strengthened.  It is important to have strong muscles surrounding your joints because they help support the joint. If the muscles are weak, unnecessary stress is placed on the joints. This can cause pain and increase the risk of injury.

Mobility Work to Eliminate Pain

Your mobility is basically how well your joints and soft tissues are able to move.

Every day, your body endures a variety of stresses and strains. Over time little things add up, causing soft tissue and joint restrictions. When your joints and soft tissues are not healthy, they are not able to move fluidly through a normal range of motion, causing pain and discomfort.

The pain and problems associated with these restrictions can be avoided and corrected. You just need to practice moving your body through the motions.

Here are two things you can do to improve your mobility

Stretching: Both static and dynamic stretching are beneficial to the soft tissues in your hip. If you need a stretch to try for your hips, get in to a full squat position.

Here’s how to do a full squat:

  • Stand up straight.
  • Place your heels so that they are positioned below your shoulders.
  • Slowly push your hips down and back, like you are going to sit in a chair (focus on dropping your hips and your knees will automatically bend).
  • As you squat down, you will need to lean your torso forward in order to keep your center of gravity over your feet.
  • Go down until you reach the end of your range of motion and hold that position for a little while.

Squat Tips:

  • Keep your chest up and put your arms in front for balance.
  • When you go to stand up, push your hips back so you do not place unnecessary stress on your knees.

Rotational exercises: These exercises are particularly helpful if you have hip joint pain. They can be used to move each of your joints and their supporting tissues through their complete range of motion. Here is another one you can try for your hips…

 Front to Back Leg Swing:

  • Stand up straight.
  • Lift one foot off of the ground and balance on one foot.
  • Swing the leg that is not in contact with the floor back behind yourself, then swing it in front of yourself.
  • Repeat this motion several times, and then switch legs.

Leg Swing Tips:

  • Use your arms to balance, and hold onto something if you need to.

Eat Properly

Food is essentially a drug.  Due to this simple fact, you can either use food to help yourself or to hurt yourself.  When it comes to keeping your joints functioning well, it is important that you eat foods that contain fatty acids and anti-oxidants. Both anti-oxidants and fatty acids help to reduce inflammation. When you reduce inflammation, you also speed up the healing process which will help relieve joint pain.

In addition to eating foods that help reduce inflammation, you should also eat in a way that helps prevent inflammation in the first place. I am taking about eating to control your body weight. Maintaining a healthy body weight ensures that additional stresses are not placed on your joints. In the long run, this will help reduce the wear and tear caused by daily activities.

Bonus: Drink lots of Water

Other benefits of water have been stated before here on Fitness Tips for Life, here is another one to add to the collection. Drinking lots of water promotes joint health be ensuring that the muscle tissue around your joints have the proper fluids to function smoothly. It also helps the cartilage in your joints to perform optimally.

 

About the Author:

Dave is a trainer who focuses on sustainable methods of training. He maintains a personal website about hip pain, which can be found here.

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