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Weight Loss Exercise

Ego and Weight Loss

I heard a story years ago that when the musicians got together to record songs for Live Aid that there was a sign on the door of the studio that said “Check your ego at the door” That is a great intro to this article.

Ego is a double edged sword. As we all know we have ego to protect ourselves at the vbery least. We know that we are good at certain things and our mind will pump us up and pump up our abilities by using the ego.

The bad side is that we are often not realistic and our ego will hurt us in the long run by helping us make excuses for not doing what we should really know is important.

How Ego Hurts Weight Loss

egoLets look at an example of this ego working against us. Let’s say that you are 20 pounds over. Losing 20 pounds will often not seem very important but in actual fact that 20 pounds could be robbing you of a better lifestyle and shortening your lifespan. Also thinking that you are “only” 20 pounds over may mean that you have no good reason to exercise, heck if you aren’t fat then you do not need to exercise.

Well that kind of thinking is dangerous.

On the other hand my ego tells me that to be the kind of person that can speak to people about fitness means that I have to be fit. I can not go more than a couple of days without knowing that I would be a hypocrite for not working out.

Ego to do with eating is even more dangerous than exercise. If we eat badly and then go a day eating well we may want to reward ourselves with a nice fattening snack.

After eating that snack you feel like you let yourself down but it was your ego that said to eat it and your ego that was mad at you for it.

Instead the best thing for us to do is to actually check our ego at the door. If you take some time at the beginning and end of the day to be a realist then it should help you to eat better and exercise more.

It is hard for us to live without our ego but if we can just make a list of the things that we know are important. Let’s say write down a few health goals in the area of eating and exercise and then with those goals also write down why these goals are important in the short and long term.

Just this one action alone will force us to do more of the things that are important and not let our ego get in the way

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Weight Loss Exercise

Black Bean Burger Recipe

Vegetarians do not eat meat but it does not mean that their meals are bland and tasteless.

Vegetarian recipes are not only healthy but they are also flavorful. If you try using fresh vegetables in your main courses more often you will realize that a vegetarian meal will make a healthy, delicious difference in your diet.

Healthy vegetarian recipes can be found everywhere on the internet.

Vegetarian recipes are often economical. A balanced vegetarian diet provides all the essential nutrients that the human body requires.

Because vegetarian meals are often low-calorie, they help keep the down naturally. Vegetarians rarely suffer from illnesses linked to fat consumption.

Because of the health benefits of vegetarian recipes, more and more people are becoming vegetarians.

People who eat vegetables are less likely to be obese or suffer from heart disease, kidney diseases, or diabetes. Vegetarians have lower blood pressure and fewer incidents of digestive tract disorders.

Getting the Right Amount of Nutrients

Contrary to what many people believe, meat and fish are not the only sources of protein. Healthy vegetarian recipes can also provide all the essential amino acids that the body needs.

Rice and beans, macaroni and cheese, bean-vegetable chili with tortillas, and cheese rolled in chopped nuts are just a few vegetarian recipes that provide protein and other nutrients.

Citrus fruits, peppers, melons, cabbage and strawberries are good sources of Vitamin C. Vegetarians take in calcium from soy milk, almonds, artichoke, broccoli, carrots, kale, peanuts, spinach, lima beans and peas.

Getting enough iron can be tough for vegetarians, but there are vegetarian foods that are rich in iron including Swiss chard, lima beans, whole grains, spinach, lentils, blackstrap molasses, quinoa, and tofu. Vitamin C improves the absorption of iron and must be included in a vegetarian diet.

A Healthy Vegetarian Dinner Recipe

Once you’ve tasted this Homemade Black Bean Burger recipe, you’ll never want to eat frozen veggie burgers again.

Black Bean Burger Recipe

Vegetarian_black_bean_burgerBlack Bean Burger Ingredients:

  •  1 (16 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  •  1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2-inch pieces
  •  1/2 onion, cut into wedges
  •  3 cloves garlic, peeled
  •  1 egg
  •  1 tablespoon chili powder
  •  1 tablespoon cumin
  •  1 teaspoon hot sauce
  •  1/2 cup bread crumbs

Black Bean Burger Directions:

1. If grilling, preheat grill. If baking, preheat oven to 375F and lightly oil a baking sheet.

2. In a bowl, mash black beans with a fork until pasty.

3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, garlic and onion. Stir the chopped vegetables into the mashed beans.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the egg, chili powder, cumin and hot sauce.

5. Add the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Add the bread crumbs and mix until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture and form into four patties.

6. If grilling, place patties on a foil and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes on each side.

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Weight Loss Exercise

BMI Calculator

Hmmm…I am not to sure about the BMI. There are real problems with throwing everyone into a table and deciding how fat or thin they are based on only two factors: Height and Weight.

You may have seen that at the top of this page I have a BMI and BMR Calculator, well the biggest question about this is what is BMI and why should I care?

The BMI stands for Body Mass Index and the body mass index is simply a calculation of your height versus your to come up with a number, hopefully not a number over 30 which is classifies as obese.

There are more important factors but you can plug in your numbers of height and anyway and see where your BMI stands. I would rather that we never take this number too seriously as anyone with any muscle will come in as very over but the health authorities in both Canada and the United States swear by the BMI in the absence of any easy way to judge peoples level of obesity.

OK, so why am I a little underwhelmed by BMI numbers? Well one of the problems with the BMI is that when you take a persons shape into consideration then the number may not be too accurate. Carrying to much muscle? Carrying a little too much fat across your entire body? Are you too young? These are all a way that BMI will give you warped numbers.

Really thought there is a good reason for BMI and that is to make sure that you know where you stand. Many of us are a little too confident that we do not have a problem and really losing that 10 or 20 pounds and therefor beinging your BMI down is maybe the best thing you can do for yourself and you may not even realize it.

Try out the BMI calculator now and see what your BMI is at.

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