Tag: Fitness

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A new type of Canada Food Guide?


Earlier I mentioned how I like the idea of the Canada Food Guide but I really do not like the ratios of foods. Here is how I would change things if I had the choice.

I am not sure how much you know about the Canada Food Guide but the idea is that the Canadian government has come up with a list a lot like the US food pyramid that list a type of guidline of what you should eat every day. There has always been arguments from people that the meat, milk, and grain lobby all have too much influence as well as the fact that a lot of people that have problems with lactose or gluten intolerance, as well as vegetarians are not really recognized in the Canada Food Guide.

Last year Health Canada radically revamped the Canada Food Guide and it is much better as it looks at age, sex, and other factors. Anyway I have my own ideas of what I would like to see as basics of the Canada Food Guide even though they have done a great job at Health Canada I think lots of people will not follow the more complex guidelines and are instead looking for a set of simple rules.

My Canada Food Guide

A new type of Canada Food Guide?8 glasses of water a day
I don’t care that water is not food. Water is still a nutrient that people need for a healthy diet and most people do not drink any water let alone a little bit. Adding water to the food guide would be a great addition

3-5 small servings of meat or fish
I know that meat and fish are not th only place to get protein but at least mentioning fish again would add to the options. Also most people think that a serving of meat is an 8 ounce steak, not a can of tuna but the can of tuna is just as good. Your body just can not metabolize a big steak.

3-5 servings of vegetables

3-5 servings of fruit
Why is it that fruits and vegetables have always been lumped together? Fruits are great for their high water content and antioxidants and Vegetables are great for minerals including iron and Calcium. I know that this is a generalization but it would be nice to see people eating more of both fruits and vegetables. Oh, and tater tots and french fries are not a vegetable no matter what my brother in law thinks.

2-3 servings of high fiber grains
The idea of lots of breads I believe is outdated as a nitritous food group, instead I beleive it would be good to have reference to high fiber foods and to have examples.

Serving sizes for My Canada Food Guide
Come on governments on both sides of the border, it would be nice to have a better idea, not just in print but in news papers and TV, of what a serving size really is. The biggest poblem facing most people is not the junk and misplaced nutrients but instead it is a lack of idea of what serving sizes really are. A bowl of food or cup of coffee is a great sized breakfast but a giant plate of food is not quite enough for dinner? We need to get the word out about what is a good meal morning, noon, and night.

I know that there is a lot more to a good diet than these few things but I look at this as a guide, a way to look at a days food, not the everything that we eat in a day.

Do you have better ideas? Let me know. I would love to add a few more things to this list of my Canada Food Guide in a follow up.


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Weight Loss Exercise

Juicing Recipe Ideas


For many people looking for juicing recipe ideas and starting to get into the benefits of juicing there is always two things they look at, juicing fruit and juicing carrots. I thought it would help to have a large list of juicing recipes so that it is a lot easier to get some good juicing recipe ideas

Potassium Power House

Juicing Recipe Ideas

Juicing Recipe Ideas

  • Combine cucumber, lettuce, celery, kale, and tomato.
  • For taste, add ½ carrot and 1 green apple, or ¼ lemon

Take advantage of the metabolism-stimulating effect of grapes and the fat-fighting properties of lemon with this recipe:

Juice a handful of grapes, 1 apple, ½ lemon or 1 lime.  To spice up the taste, add ¼ or ½ inch ginger.  Add cold drinking water to taste. V8-Like

Vegetable Juicing Recipe

  • 2 organic carrots
  • 2 organic Roma tomatoes,
  • ½ cup spinach
  • 1 or 2 celery stalks
  • To taste:
  • a handful of parsley bunch or cilantro
  • Optional: add 1/10 cayenne (red) pepper after juice is done to your glass and stir with a spoon.

SuperCleanser Juicing Recipe

  • 4 celery stalks
  • ½ small beet
  • 1 cilantro bunch
  • a handful of spinach

Breakfast Juice Fast Recipe

  • ¼ head of cabbage
  • 3 stalks of carrots
  • 1 apple with skin

Lunch Juice Fast Recipe

Combine the same ingredients above and add asparagus.

Juicing Recipe ideas for Weight Loss

Often people will ask me what is a good combination for juicing recipe ideas for weight loss and detox and I have come across this list of a sample day of juicing. Remember that as much as juicing seems like it is a snacky kind of food it is giving you lots of nutrients and being liquid based it is low in calories.

Test some of these weight loss juicing recipe ideas and see how they work out for you.

Morning Detoxification and Weight-Loss Recipe

  • ½ apple
  • ½ pear
  • 3 stalks of carrots
  • ginger

For lunch:

  • Brussel sprouts
  • Cauliflower
  • 3 stalks of carrots

For dinner:

  • Cabbage
  • Carrots
  • Any fruit

Here is another list of a whole bunch of different juices that you can try anytime just as a pick me up or to get more nutrients into you body.

Simply Green Juice

  • 1 cup of spinach
  • 2 cups of kale
  • 2 cups of parsley
  • 1 cucumber
  • 3 celery stalks
  • Optional:  a little garlic or ginger

Apple and Cucumber

  • 2 ½ apples, with stems removed
  • ½ cucumber
  • 1 inch ginger

Alkaline Juicer Recipes

  • 1 cup of spinach
  • ½ cucumber
  • 2 stalks of celery, including leaves
  • 3 carrots
  • ½ apple

Green Heaven Detox Juice Recipe

  • 3 stalks of celery
  • 4 large spinach leaves
  • 1 handful of parsley
  • ½ cucumber
  • 1 shot of wheatgrass
  • Note: This is a strong green juice, so start small to minimize detoxification reactions.

There are lots of options out there for juicing recipes and really there is a lot we can get our of juicing. I have a very comprehensive juicing article here on the blog but there are also lots of other ideas that you can find depending on what you would like to focus on in your health.

Have fun juicing and experimenting with fruits, vegetables and herbs. I hope these juicing recipe ideas are a help to you.


Juicing Recipe Ideas

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Weight Loss Exercise

Bodybuilding Revealed


I am not a bodybuilder, nor am I destined to become one in this lifetime. However, when I started reading “Brink’s Bodybuilding Revealed“, I could not put it down.

What is BodyBuilding Revealed?

Bodybuilding Revealed

Bodybuilding Revealed

This 632 page book is very well-written and full of useful and interesting information. You get virtually everything you could possibly want to know about bodybuilding, whether you are a beginner, intermediate level, or advanced.

Will Brink is responsible for the majority of this book. His focus is on new bodybuilders and more intermediate level guys and gals.

The topics Brink covers  in Bodybuilding Revealed include:

Bodybuilding Revealed Chapter 1 – Nutrition – which explains fat, protein and carbohydrates, goes into detail about the glycemic index, includes the “Brink Pyramid”, Brink’s Top 10 Bodybuilding Foods, and a section entitled Vegetarians vs. Meat Eaters.

Bodybuilding Revealed Chapter 2 – Constructing Your Muscle-Building Diet – this is the core of his diet and nutrition plan, and he goes into detail on resting metabolic rate, the thermic effect of a meal, and the energy expenditure of physical energy. This Chapter also includes the Meal Planner and how to use it.

Bodybuilding Revealed Chapter 3 – Getting Organized – in this Chapter, you learn how to set up your kitchen, dine out, and how to use the Diet Planner and Food Database.

Bodybuilding RevealedChapter 4 – Completing the Picture – in this Chapter you learn how to work smarter, track your progress and use the Accumeasure to measure your body’s composition.

Bodybuilding Revealed Chapter 5 – Supplements – this Chapter reviews a number of popular supplements and reminds you that you can find over 440 supplement reviews in the Members’ Area Forum.

Bodybuilding RevealedChapter 6 – Training – this Chapter covers the three and four days splits that most bodybuilders use. More advanced information can be found in the articles by Charles Poliquin and in the Members’ Area Forum.

Bodybuilding RevealedChapter 7 – Cardio – Brink goes into detail on cardio and answers the question, “Does Cardio Help…Or Hinder Muscle Gain?”

Charles Poliquin has a great section – towards the end of the book – called “Individualization of Mass Building Programs” – which is targeted to the more advanced body builders. In addition, this section also includes:

  • Poliquin’s 21 Training For Mass Principles
  • Introduction to ‘Sample Training Programs’
  • Sample Training Programs
  • Are You Delusional About Your Fiber Makeup?

One very convenient feature of the ebook is the hyperlinks in each Chapter that lead you to videos and other information on Brink’s website that explain each exercise.

And, there’s more – this isn’t only an ebook. At the website you will find:

  • A Members’ Area Forum, with paid professional moderators to answer all of your questions
  • An exercise database
  • Meal Planners, recipes, and shopping tips
  • Good foods and foods to avoid
  • And, much, much more

If you get confused at all the bodybuilding terms, never fear. Brink includes an appendix with a “Glossary of Bodybuilding Jargon and Slang” and another appendix with “Brink’s Top Mass Gaining Foods.”

As a bonus, included are three training reports by Evan R. Peck, M.D.:

  • Overcoming Training Plateaus
  • Misconceptions of Muscle Soreness
  • Weight Training Injuries

In another very useful bonus, Brink gives you more than ten pages of “Brink’s Hybrid Training System” that “attempts to utilize all of the energy pathways by varying rep ranges, volume, tempo, etc. without over emphasizing any one pathway”.

Should you buy Bodybuilding Revealed?

This is an excellent ebook with access to many bonuses on Brink’s website. Anyone truly interested in bodybuilding should own a copy. Even couch potatoes like me found it full of useful information I could apply to my life.

Whether you are a bodybuilder – or not – you can improve your fitness and health with the information in this well-written ebook Bodybuilding Revealed.