6 Ways to Stick to Your Diet

So many have us have tried and tried again, we keep starting, and then we binge and then we try again.  It's just an endless cycle.  We know that once we start dieting that we will just inevitably stop.  Let's face it dieting just isn't fun.  You can't drink, no more mickey D's, and no more snacking on chips when you watch TV.  But dieting  is super good for you and it will help you reach your desired fitness goals.  So for those of us who do decide to take the plunge here are six tips that can help you beat that bulge.

1. Chew Gum (and lots of it).
Chewing gum especially cinnamon gum helps suppress the appetite.  Also it helps prevent shameless snacking, because if you already have gum in your mouth you are less likely to mindlessly grab some chips.  In addition gum can help satisfy you if your craving something sweet.

2.  Eat cheat meals
Dieting doesn't have to be an endless marathon where you never eat what you want.  Let's say that we eat 5 meals a day.  A meal is not necessarily a sit down meal, it could be you grabbing an apple on the way to work.  So any snacking we will consider a meal as well.  If you add that up that is 35 meals per week.  Now if you have 35 meals per week you can use the 90: 10 rule.  If 90% of your meals are healthy you can eat 10% what you want.  This can help you satisfy your sweet tooth, without going on a 3 day binge only to regain what you worked so hard to lose.

3. Put hot sauce on stuff
While sometimes diet foods aren't always the best tasting and are a little bland, most hot sauces are 0 calories, and the spiciness helps to suppress your appetite a little bit.  So don't be shy and go heavy on the hot sauce.

4. Keep Busy
When you are sitting at home looking at the computer or just mindlessly watch TV a lot of us have the tendency just to eat out of boredom.  However, if you are busy working on a project, or doing a hobby that you really love, you might just forget about eating all together.  While I don't advocate starving yourself during a diet, if you keep busy you might just forget that you are on a diet all together.

5.  Eat TONS of vegetables
Vegetables like mushrooms, carrots,  cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, etc.  are all mostly water.  It is possible to eat a plate full of vegetables with under a 100 calories.  You literally can not eat too many vegetables.  If you are hungry can some asparagus.  You won't eat too much, you can stuff your face with steamed broccoli, and you may get full but you will not overeat.  Since most vegetables contain mostly fiber and water, you get the full sensation, with all the vitamins just with almost none of the calories.

6. Take pictures of your progress
Let's face it you look at yourself every day in the mirror.  You don't necessarily notice when you are changing or not, however when you take pictures of your self on a weekly basis, you WILL start seeing results, and when you look at those pictures it will give you the motivation to keep on going, because you will be able to see how much you have accomplished.

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Vegetarian Bodybuilding

If you look at diet plans of bodybuilders, I would say that about 95% of them include things like grilled chicken, lean steak, and other types of meat.  While meat is the easiest way of getting in a high protein low carb meal, there are plenty of bodybuilders who have been vegetarians, and you can too.

You can get your protein from sources like eggs, nuts, soy products like tempeh, or the obvious protein powders. But if your vegan, you can use soy or pea protein powders.  Also when you are bodybuilding on a vegetarian diet it is important to consume an adequate number of calories.  Since fruits and vegetables have a high water and low calorie content, they are not the best for bulking.  You need to get creative if you want to eat enough good healthy food to gain weight.  Weight gainers are a great tool.  In addition peanut butter can be added to a lot of things to really give some extra calories.  It is also important to make sure that you are getting enough iron in your diet by eating spinach, lentils, edamame, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, etc,.  Also things like soyabeans and spinach will help you get in your required calcium to keep your bones strong.

So while it may be slightly more difficult to bodybuild on a a vegetarian diet, it is definitely possible, and it can actually be a much healthier diet than eating all of the meat that a normal bodybuilder would be.  So no meat no problem!

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Betaine-More Than Just Beet Juice

What is Betaine?
Betaine is a modified amino acid commonly known as trimethylclycine.  It's called betaine because it was originally isolated from beets.  However, it is also found (in greater amounts) in spinach and wheat germ.  Betaine is naturally found in the body from the breakdown of choline.

What it does
Betaine is great for promoting overall health.  It has been proven to reduce the risk of heart disease, it can fight depression, enhance liver health,  and aid joint recovery.  It has even shown to lower cholesterol, and reducte the risk of atherosclerosis.  While it is really great health wise it can also help you leaps and bounds in the gym.  A University of Connecticut study found a 25% greater increase in strength with a pre-workout with betaine, and a placebo.  There have also been studies done by the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, and the College of New Jersey that have confirmed these findings.  These findings seem to be validated because betaine supports the natural production of creatine in the body.    Another study by UConn found that it lowered lactate levels, and people who drank betaine in water were able to sprint 40 seconds longer.  It also seems that betaine is anabolic and supports the growth of muscles.

How to take it
Betaine can either be found naturally in vegetables such as spinach and beets.  It can also be purchased in supplement form.  It is recommended to have 1 to 2 grams of betaine per day.    But if you really want to maximize your results with betaine, you could take 1.5 to 2 grams twice per day with your meals.

So if you have not added betaine to your workout regime this might be just the motivation you need.

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Maple Syrup? The next superfood

Believe it or not maple syrup there has been a study done by the University of Rhode Island that shows that maple syrup has tons of great antioxidants.  54 to be exact.  These antioxidants help fight against cancer and diabetes.  This is interesting because this is twice the amount that was previously thought to be in maple syrup.    Maple syrup is now known to be nearly as beneficial as some foods such as berries, tea, flaxseed, and redwine.

So the next time you reach for some agave nectar or splenda to put on your pancakes, STOP.  Put on some good nutritious maple syrup to your pancakes.  Not only will they taste a whole lot better, but you will be helping your health as well.

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The Ketogenic Weight Loss Diet

With so many diets going around it is difficult to keep the facts straight.  The keto diet or ketogenic weight loss diet is a high fat low carb diet that is gaining a lot of popularity.  In this article I don't intend to go to in depth, but I will give you the general pro's and cons of such a diet.

In a nutshell the idea behind the keto diet is that if you eat mostly fat and little to no carbs, your body will use fat as its main source of energy instead of carbohydrates.  When this happens there is an excess amount of ketones in the blood, thus being called ketosis.

The pro's of keto

• Main source of energy comes from fat.  So the fat is easily lost
• It is safe.  It is even used to treat seizures in children
• It is filling.  As opposed to other calorie deficient diets that are low in fat, fatty foods are extremely filling
• It is muscle sparing

Sound's great right!  In the ketogenic weight loss diet your muscles are spared as long as you have adequate protein (about 1 gram for every pound of lean body mass).  Also eating the foods on keto (eggs, meat, cheese, etc. ) is extremely filling, and you have no problems losing weight.  However, there are some downsides to keto.

Cons

• Being tired.  Fat is a really bad way for the body to produce energy.  The result is feeling lethargic.
• Bad breath.  There is mainly only anecdotal evidence that it causes bad breath, but eating lots of meat and cheese can't be too great for the kisser.
• Not getting enough nutrients.  The sad fact that there just isn't as many micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) in meat and cheese as there is in vegetables and fruit, which are strictly banned.

So while the ketogenic weight loss diet definitely has its benefits, the decrease in energy really makes the diet not as fun as one would think.  It is really only fun the first couple of days when you get to eat ton's of fatty foods, but it quickly turns into a difficult diet.  But it is really up to you.  The fact is that this diet works.  You can work around the con's by taking vitamins, brushing your teeth, and taking caffeine or sleeping.  I would suggest that you try the ketogenic weight loss diet if you want to lose fat and preserve muscle.  If it fails you can always try another diet.  

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Why You Should Start Eating More Nuts

Yes, I know the title of this article can have lots of different meanings; however, I am here to talk about the nutritional value of the ever popular nuts: the walnut, peanut, almond, and hazelnuts.  While some people tend to not eat nuts because of their high calorie and fat levels, this is actually OK because nuts are nutritionally dense, and they have good mono and unsaturated fats.  Plus it is only necessary to eat nuts in small amounts to get their nutritional benefits.

Walnuts
Walnuts come in at the top of my list of important nuts, because of their many nutritional qualities.  Walnuts have an extremely high concentration of omega-3's, and ton's of other healthy fats.  They are also great sources of manganese and copper.  However, the greatest part about walnuts is you only need to eat 28 grams of them a day to get the omega 3's that you need.

Almonds
Almonds are another nutritionally dense nut.  I really like them because you only need 28 grams of them per serving, which is about 20 nuts or so, and those nuts will really fill you up because of their high fat content.  They also contain vitamin E, vitamin B2, manganese, magnesium, and copper.  These nutrients can help fend off different diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, and asthma.  In addition they have calcium which will help keep your bones and teeth strong, and they have protein for your muscles.  In all almonds are a great super food that really pack a punch in nutrition.

Peanuts
Peanuts are another extremely nutritionally concentrated food and are a good source of monounsaturated fats.    They also have a lot of vitamin B3, manganese, copper, and are high in antioxidants.  I really like them because they are cheap, and they are a great snack.  But BEWARE!  While peanuts are great in small quantities, they contain a lot of omega 6's, which should not be consumed too much.  Plus when they are salted, and covered in different flavors, that takes away from some of the nutritional content.  So while peanuts are a great healthy snack, they should only be enjoyed in moderation.

Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts contain many nutrients, including vitamin B1, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin E, vitamin K, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.  Also they can help fight against neurological diseases.

All of these nuts are extremely nutritionally dense, and they can be used, sparingly, in a healthy diet.  So the next time you are at a grocery store, pick up some nuts, and the gift of better health awaits.

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The Goji Berry a Nutritionally Dense Super Food

The Goji berry or wolfberry as it is sometimes called comes from the mountainous regions of Asia.  This little elliptical shaped red berries really pack a nutritional punch.  They have 18 amino acids, 21 minerals, and more beta-carotene than any other food on earth.  A polysaccharide that is found in the Goji berry is one of the same that is used to secrete human growth hormone, with makes the Goji berry truly a gift of youth.  In addition to all this they have exorbitant amounts of vitamin C, and have the most antioxidants of any other food on this planet.

The benefits of this berry are immense, including but not limited to:  weight loss, aiding in eye sight, lowering cholesterol, having a stronger immune system, lowering blood-pressure, and blood sugar, and more.  While many of these claims are anecdotal and have yet to be proved by science, there have been tests with Lycium Barbarum, the scientific name of the Goji Berry, on animals.  These tests found that there may have been some anti-cancer, anti macular degeneration effects, improvement in inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases.  There even is stories about a man from Asia who lived to be 252 years old from the Goji Berry.

So the next time you go to a nutrition store, give Goji berries a try.  There are nature's next super food, and who knows how many more benefits they could have.

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The Importance of Drinking Water

Thanks altriar from DeviantArt

It has been another tough workout. Why does that sip of water feel so satisfying and why is water so important anyway?

Claude Bernard, a 19th century physiologist, was the first to state that living organisms live in an external environment (air and water) but the cells that make up the organism live in an internal liquid environment (Rhoades and Tanner 2003). So what exactly does water do? This folding is dictated by the water that surrounds it (Fersht 1999). Improper folding means a non-functioning protein.

Protein:

Moving up to the cellular level, with fully functioning proteins, cells work hard to maintain their volume. To overcome all of the osmotic forces, water is channeled into and out of the cell to maintain volume (Strange 2004). Water is so important to the body that two organ systems, the kidney and lower GI tract, function almost exclusively to ensure excess water is not lost.


The Kidney & Lower GI Tract Function
To Ensure Excess Water Is Not Loss.

Water sure does a lot, which is why when the body has too little water the effects are devastating. Water loss, dehydration, occurs when the loss of body fluids exceeds the amount that is taken in. With dehydration, more water is moving out of our cells and then out of our bodies than the amount of water we take in through drinking.

The symptoms of dehydration are varied but include increased thirst (your brain telling you your body needs water), dry mouth and dry nasal passages, weakness, dizziness, palpitations (due to the subsequent electrolyte imbalance dehydration causes), confusion, inability to sweat, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and if ignored long enough, death (www.webmd.com).

The reason why that first sip of water after your workout feels so satisfying is because at the most fundamental molecular level, you need water.


Importance
Why Is It So Important For Bodybuilders To Consume Water?



Physical activity, such as bodybuilding, exposes people to a variety of influences that can lead to water loss. Additionally, the individual's physical characteristics such as body weight, gender, age andmetabolic efficiency also influence water loss.

Since the body prefers to maintain a certain core temperature, this excess heat must be dissipated to the external environment. The loss of water through sweating can lead to changes in plasma volume resulting in the impaired ability to evacuate heat, increases in body temperature and decreased cardiac output (Ritz et al. 2003) In terms of the workout, dehydration results in a decrease in aerobic power and physical work capacity (Sawka and Montain 2000).


To maintain proper hydration, the individual bodybuilder must consider their own water balance defined as how much fluid is consumed versus how much is lost. Exactly how much water is required to maintain the proper balance is the subject of debate.

During your workout, the goal should be to prevent excessive dehydration. Unfortunately, no one-size-fits all amount of water to consume can be recommended. Post workout, the goal is to fully replace any fluids. If time permits, consumption of meals and beverages will restore the proper fluid balance.
Alternatives
Are There Any Alternatives For The People Who Refuse To Drink Water?


What do you do if you don't like carrying around the 'ole tasteless water bottle? Maintaining the proper fluid balance, for most people, is relatively simple. Eating fresh fruits and vegetablescontributes to your water intake. Drinking milk, fruit juices and caffeine-free teas and coffees are also good alternatives to plain tap water.

Caffeine is adiuretic and promotes water loss. For the exercise types, sports drinks are great both during and after the workout. Numerous companies also market and sell individual pour-in flavoring packs to add to your plain ol' bottle of water.

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