Category: Weight Loss Exercise

Is a high protein diet the best way to lose weight? There have been some famous diets that advocate this, most notably the Atkins Diet. There are also some more recent diets, such as the New High Protein Diet that are slight modifications on the Atkins Diet.

All of these diets tell you to eat more protein and fewer carbohydrates, and insist that this is healthier and will allow your body to burn calories more efficiently.

Is The High Protein Diet Effective?

When it comes to diets, you can always find many experts on both sides of a question or debate. The high protein diet is no exception. The first thing we should look at is the question of whether this is a safe and healthy way to eat. The answer is, it depends.

A very high protein diet can put stress on your kidneys. This is especially true if you are prone to kidney stones or other kidney-related problems. In fact, if you have this kind of health issue, you should not go on a high protein diet without consulting with your physician.

What Kind of Protein? Meat or Nuts, Seeds, and Beans?

Another aspect of the high protein diet to consider is that not all proteins are equal. When it comes to meat and animal products, for example, you may want to consider that most of these are produced under very unnatural conditions today.

Animals are routinely given antibiotics and hormones to stimulate growth and prevent diseases (often caused by overcrowding at factory farms). Even vegetarians have to be careful about where they get their protein.

Soy, once heralded as a miracle food, has been found in certain studies to be detrimental in large quantities.

Another healthier method is what my daughter does. Normal diet without meat but supplemented with lots of nuts, seeds, and beans. Even though all vegetables have some protein, Beans are a lot higher. Also Nuts and seeds are higher in fat but very high in protein as well

The Evil Carbs Are Pushed Away in High Protein Diets

One reason why people often succeed in losing weight with high protein diets is that they are eating fewer carbohydrates. It’s not that all carbs are bad, but many of the carbs people eat today are made with refined white flour.

When it comes to losing weight, simply giving up low quality carbs is one of the best things you can do. So it is this, rather than the high protein half of the equation, that is creating most of the success.

The healthiest diet, and the one that will enable you to lose the most , depends on your own metabolism to some extent. Some people seem to do better with a low protein diet, others with high protein.

The real secret is to watch the quality of the carbs and protein that you are consuming. And, along with this, to eat substantial quantities of vegetables and fruits every day.

If you follow this advice, and also get regular exercise, you won’t have to go on an extreme diet that may create health problems down the road.

Thanks to the Mayo Clinics Katherine Zeratsky for this info on how to eat more Flax seed. I am sure that you may have heard somewhere about how great Flax seed is for Omega vitamins and fiber, this info will help you make the most of using Flax seed

Most nutrition experts recommend ground flax and that you should eat more flax seed because your body is better able to digest it. Whole flaxseed may pass through your intestine undigested, which means you won’t get the health benefits of flax seed.

Flax seed is high in fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and phytochemicals called lignans.

Flax seed can help reduce total blood cholesterol and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels and, as a result, may help reduce the risk of heart disease.

Flaxseed oil also contains omega-3 fatty acids, but it doesn’t have the beneficial fiber that the seeds have.

You can purchase raw flax seed in bulk whole or ground at many grocery stores and health food stores.

Whole seeds can be ground in a coffee grinder and then stored in an airtight container for several months. Doing this and having it on hand will help you eat more flaxseed.

Although the Institute of Medicine has not set a recommended daily intake for omega-3 fatty acids, it has established adequate intake amounts of between 1.1 and 1.6 grams per day for adults.

One tablespoon of ground flax seed provides 1.6 grams of omega-3 fatty acids.

How to Eat more Flaxseed in your Diet

• Add a tablespoon of ground flax seed to your hot or cold breakfast cereal.
• Add a teaspoon of ground flax seed to mayonnaise or mustard when making a sandwich.
• Mix a tablespoon of ground flax seed into an 8-ounce container of yogurt.
• Bake ground flaxseed into cookies, muffins, breads and other baked goods.

You can also use flax seed in place of eggs in muffins, pancakes and cookies. To substitute flax seed for one large egg in a recipe, use 1 tablespoon ground flax seed plus 3 tablespoons water.

 

Although Lilian Thompson, PhD, an internationally known flaxseed researcher from the University of Toronto, says she wouldn’t call any of the health benefits of flax “conclusively established,” research indicates that flax may reduce risks of certain cancers as well as cardiovascular disease and lung disease.

Recent studies have suggested that flaxseed may have a protective effect against breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer.

At least two of the components in flaxseed seem to contribute, says Kelley C. Fitzpatrick, director of health and nutrition with the Flax Council of Canada.

Keep in mind that it will somewhat alter the texture of the finished product, making it slightly “gummy.”

although it is not critical so it can be overlooked it is a good idea to eat more flaxseed to improve your health, try it starting today

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There are lots of exercises to get six pack abs and I think it is important to vary them always. As you are probably already aware there is good reasons besides just a great looking six pack to build your abs.

The benefit to that 6 pack is also to get stability in your core.

To do your exercises and work your abs properly you need to work various areas and build muscles that you may not have worked very hard before.

The four areas that I think you need to concentrate on are the upper abs, lower abs, Transverse abdominis, and finally your oblique muscles on your sides.

Ab Exercises To Get A Six Pack

Upper ab exercises to get that six pack – To work the upper abs you need to lift the upper part of the body. Common ab work out for the upper abdominal muscles would be the crunch or any other exercise where you are lifting you upper body off of the ground from lying down position.

Do three sets of 20-30 reps twice a week.

Lower ab exercises to get that six pack – To work the lower abdominal muscles you should do some kind of leg raises including alternating bicycle type raises which have you lying on the ground and then alternating bringing your knees up toward your stomach.

Do three sets of 20-30 reps twice a week.

Oblique exercises to get that six pack – Your obliques are on your sides right beside your stomach.

To work the obliques, the best exercise that I have found is to stand straight up with your feet shoulder length apart and your hands behind your head and then just do a side bend with your legs straight.

If you do this correctly you will find that you are moving your body at the hips. Do this for three sets of 15 reps for each side and as you get stronger you can work out oblique muscles with a little more weight.

Be careful as really strong obliques will make your waist wider which is something most people want to avoid.

Transverse Abdominus Muscles are easy to work – The trouble with your Transverse Abdominus is that it seems like you aren’t really working them. These muscles as you can see from the diagram above, is actually a muscle that really is critical to your strength and stability of your core.

Easiest exercise to work your transverse abdominus is just by doing planks. The plank is going to make sure that you are keeping everything tight in your midsection and after a while it will get tiring. This really works well though.

To make the plank harder you can change positions. You can do this on one side with one arm up.

Do a plank for up to a minute 3 times, 3 times a week

 

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