Tag: Lentils

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Weight Loss Exercise

The Social Diet

The problem a lot of people have when dieting is the fact that they like going out and being sociable; part and parcel of this is eating out with friends. Now eating out whilst dieting can be hard BUT you don’t have to panic, you can use these five simple tips that will allow you to eat out with you friends without breaking your diet rules or piling on the pounds.

1. Eat A Small Fat Loss Snack Before Eating Out

Some great fat loss snacks include:

  • Nuts
  • Tuna mixed with cottage cheese
  • Carrot sticks with humus

This is so you don’t over indulge at the restaurant, and it will help HOWEVER, the best way to truly conquer this is by mastering self discipline. Another method of self discipline that will help is by stopping eating when you are full; it will be hard at first (especially if your at a nice restaurant) but as with everything, you will get better with practice.

2. Pick Food That Is Comprised Of The 3 Fat Loss Food Groups

fruits-and-vegetablesThe three fat loss food groups are:

  •  Protein: Eggs, Chicken (breast or thigh) Beef, Fish, Pork, Lamb
  •  Legumes: Black Beans, Lentils, Red Beans, Soya Beans, Borlotti Beans
  •  Vegetables: Mixed Vegetables, Peas, Broccoli, Green Beans etc. Any vegetables are allowed

If you pick food at the restaurant that includes protein, vegetables and legumes then you can’t go wrong! These foods make your brain release fat BURNING hormones so no matter how much you eat you won’t put on any fat. Also don’t be shy to request anything, for example “can I have a side salad instead of chips” or “In my burger take away the cheese and mayo, add extra lettuce and tomato.”

3. Eat Slowly

It takes twenty minutes for your brain to realise you’re full, this means if you eat fast you are likely to over eat by about twenty minutes; if you eat slow on the other hand, your brain  will register you are full a lot earlier and you will end up consuming less calories as a result.

4. Drink More Water

When you are mildly dehydrated the brain sends out hunger signals, I recommend drinking a pint of water before you leave for the restaurant (you will get full faster) or next time you are hungry. If you get into the habit of reaching for a glass of water before you reach for the cookie jar your on to a winner!

5. Load Up On Vegetables

Vegetables have a very low effect on blood sugar level and have very low calories. By loading up on vegetables you can kill two birds with one stone as you are adding more of one of the fat loss food groups to your meal.

Ryan Phillips is an online fat loss coach and author of the Rapid Fat Loss System. You can ask him for advice on his blog or download his free report here Free Fat Loss Report to help you drop fat in the fastest and easiest way possible.


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Protein in your diet | protein in diet




Protein is one of the basic building blocks of the body so it is an essential part of your diet and can influence your strength but probably not your energy. Your muscles are built with protein and in fact protein is made up of 20 amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and 9 are essential, they cannot be created and must be eaten meaning the other 11 amino acids can be created by our body.

Many times we hear that you need to eat steak for energy but in actual fact as we learned earlier carbohydrates are the body’s favored energy source. I always think of muscles as being made out of protein but really muscles are mostly water and protein so if you think about how people tend to diet they will cut out things like steak and carbohydrates so the body is not getting as much protein and carbohydrates as it needs to burn for energy so it will tend to burn protein and fat in equal parts to get energy. This is great for losing weight and good for losing fat but it is really bad to lose muscle. One of the ways to stop your body from burning muscle for energy is to do a fair amount of exercise, especially weight training to increase your muscle mass on a consistent basis.

So what kind of foods contain protein and how much do we need? Full proteins are found in steak chicken and fish and non-full proteins (those without all of the essential amino acids) are contained in lentils, beans, corn, peanuts. A can of Tuna has 20-25 grams of protein and if you look around you can probably get about 80 grams of protein a day comfortably.

One critical thing to look out for is the amount of protein that you eat at each meal. Your body can only metabolize about 25-30 grams of protein at a meal which is only about 4 ounces of steak or chicken. In the past I had taken digestive enzymes with my main meals to help to metabolize more but I now think that this may be a bit of shaky science behind it.

Some bodybuilders will eat 250-500 grams of protein a day but realistically if you have protein in a couple or three of your meals you are doing pretty good. One of the things to concentrate on is drinking a lot more water when you are eating a lot of protein, a lot of water is needed for your body to break down protein so if you are increasing your protein intake drink more water to help take the load off of your kidneys.


Protein in your diet

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Top Heart Healthy Foods


The heart is the most important organ for any living being. Unfortunately, many of our lifestyles result in diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity, and high cholesterol. These things disturb the normal functioning of the heart. According to the news sources, heart disease tops the charts for the reason for death in the United States of America and also in Canada. It is also becoming a dreaded disease across the globe.

In this article you can find many heart healthy foods that aid in reducing the risks of cardiac diseases. Make sure you include these heart healthy foods along with your regular meals.

Berries: Berries are a rich resource of anti inflammatory that helps in reducing the heart related diseases. It also helps to prevent cancer. Some of the berries you can consume are blueberry, strawberry, and raspberry.

Avocado: This fruit contains high level of fiber content that increases the level of HDL otherwise known as helpful cholesterol thereby reducing the LDL which is harmful cholesterol levels. Once you make it as a habit to consume this heart healthy food your cholesterol levels are regulated. They are said to taste the best when had with salads and sandwiches.

Nuts: Many nuts like almond, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pistachios are made up of healthy fats. It is also blended with poly as well as mono saturated fats. They constitute as the main source of nutrients.

Garlic: Recently, the studies show that garlic is among the healthiest foods for the heart as it stabilizes the sugar levels in the blood. It also has properties such as antifungal and antibacterial. Apart from protecting the heart it also helps to protect from cancer.

Legumes: Clover, beans, lentils, and peas are certain legumes that contain high protein. They also consist of soluble fibers in higher level, calcium and fatty acids in nominal amounts.

Salmon: These are tastiest of heart healthy foods that have omega-3 fatty acids and anti-oxidants. Vitamin D is also present in these kinds of fishes. You can search the internet for some interesting recipes.

Red Wine: Red wine when consumed in lesser amounts reduces cardiac diseases. It has flavonoids that shield blood cholesterol and also has Vitamin B which protects the liver.

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