Why What You Think About Your Food Matters…

What you think about your food matters

The holidays are  here!

That means lots of goodies and
LOADS of temptation…

But here’s the good news…

Today I’ve lined up a cool little Jedi
“mind trick” you can use to hopefully
eat a little less this holiday season.

Your waisitline will thank you! :)

Why What You Think About Your Food Matters…

There’s no doubt about it…

Your body and your mind are
directly linked.

What you think about has a clear
effect on your health and vice
versa.

In fact, I’ve just come across a fascinating
study that shows how strong this mind-body
connection is.

Researchers at Yale University decided to
see how your thoughts affect your body’s
response to food.

The study, published in the online
journal Health Psychology, focused on
ghrelin levels in the body.

So we’re on the same page,
ghrelin is also known as the “hunger”
hormone. It sends a signal to your brain that
makes you want to eat.

If your body’s ghrelin levels are high,
you’ll tend to overeat… even if you are
already feeling full.

Likewise, low ghrelin levels are
associated with feelings of satiety
and not needing to eat more. .

One more thing – ghrelin levels

Pondering

typically increase before meals and
decrease after eating.

Back to the study…

The researchers recruited volunteers
and divided them into two groups:

Group 1 – received a milkshake that
they were told was a 620-calorie
“indulgent” shake.

Group 2 – received a milkshake that
they were told was a 140-calorie
“sensible” shake.

In reality, both groups got the same
exact shake, which came in at 380 calories.

So what happened?

After drinking the shake, both groups had
their ghrelin levels measured.

The group that thought they were having
the nice, fatty-shake had a dramatic and
steep decline in their ghrelin levels.

The group that thought they were being
healthy had a neutral ghrelin response.

“This study shows that mindset can affect
feelings of physical satiety. The brain was
tricked into either feeling full or feeling
unsatisfied. That feeling depended on what
people believed they were consuming, rather
than what they actually were consuming,” said
Alia J.Crum, the study’s lead author.

“What was most interesting,” Crum added, “is that the
results were somewhat counterintuitive. Consuming the
shake thinking it was ‘indulgent’ was healthier than thinking
it was ‘sensible.’ It led to a sharper reduction in ghrelin.”

Pretty crazy, right!?

The mere perception of what you’re eating
has a direct effect on your body.

How’s that for “food for thought?”

So next time you embark on a diet,
try to see if you can get yourself to
change the perception of what you’re eating…
and then see how it makes you feel.

Imagine the possibilities… indulgent chicken
salads… hearty protein shakes… and exquisite
veggies.

The sky’s the limit on this one!

Well, that’s all for today. Keep up those
good eating and exercise habits… and make
sure to use this neat little Jedi “mind trick” this
holiday season.

Oh, and a BIG happy early New Year!
Thank YOU for being a loyal reader.

And by the way … if you’re serious about
taking your overall health and fitness to the
next level before the New Year, why not take
advantage of your FREE Fitness Consultation?

During this consult, you’ll receive detailed
information on how to get fit and trim that’s
tailored to YOUR body.

There’s no obligation and it’s totally and completely
free. To sign up, use the link below.

 

Are You Watching Your Sugar Intake?

Raw Sugar

Most of us have come to know that plain white table sugar is not good for us in large quantities.  It is well known that in short, it is very refined and breaks down in the body quickly which causes spikes in insulin and then drops in energy or better known as the “crash”.  More importantly, it is imperative to remember that no matter what form of sugar is being consumed; honey, turbinado, brown sugar, sucrose or the infamous high fructose corn syrup it is all sugar and intake needs to be monitored.

Men in particular should consume no more than 150 calories of added sugar in a day, but the average American takes in twice that amount.  High-sugar diets may increase heart-disease risk according to studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Where are you consuming your sugar and are you keeping an eye on it?

Think Before You Eat for San Francisco Weight Loss

If you learn to think before you eat, you will achieve San Francisco weight loss by making the right choices.  When you eat foods simply because you like them without regard for their nutritional content, it is easy to choose foods that are not good for your body.  Losing weight doesn’t have to be a traumatic experience when you learn how to choose healthy and tasty foods with high nutritional content.

Thinking It Through to the End

There was once an old expression that went something like “a moment on the lips and a lifetime on the hips”.   You don’t hear this expression often anymore, but it really sums up the need to be fully aware of what you put into your mouth.  When you thoughtlessly prepare and/or eat meals that are unhealthy, the food tastes great in your mouth but quickly turns to fat in the body.

Even worse is the fact the wrong food choices can lead to disease and shorten your life span.  Almost everyone knows that high cholesterol foods can cause cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, or even cancer.   Foods that are high in sugar can cause type-2 diabetes and heart disease.

All too often, people decide to go on a diet and make a big production of the decision.  They announce their decision to family and friends, make a date to start the diet, and begin weighing religiously.  Most diets start out well, but it’s not long before the cravings for certain foods begin and the constant effort becomes tedious.

Instead of deciding to go on a diet, you should decide to start living a healthy lifestyle.  Going on a diet for San Francisco weight loss is a short term solution.  Living a healthy lifestyle is a choice you are making that will endure the rest of your life.  You can begin by simply thinking about what you eat and when you eat it in order to achieve San Francisco weight loss.

Lose Weight By Living the Healthy Life

When you embark on a healthy lifestyle, it is important to begin thinking about your decision related to food and physical activity.  When it comes to food, you want to mentally evaluate your choices.  For example, when you reach into the refrigerator for an evening snack, you can choose ice cream or a piece of fruit.  When it’s time for breakfast, you can choose a bowl of oatmeal or bacon and eggs.  You may not  need that in-between meal snack?  Are you that hungry, and if so, why?

You can begin to substitute foods with high nutritional value for foods that are not good for your body on a meal by meal basis.  Instead of being obsessed with San Francisco weight loss, you can focus on your energy level and how well you are aging.  When you make the right food choices and manage the quantity of food you eat, you will lose weight.

Your diet management should be combined with regular exercise too.  If you just think about each food item you put into your mouth, you are bound to maintain San Francisco weight loss as you learn to make better choices.

Keeping Off the Pounds You Lost with San Francisco Weight Loss

Everyone who cares about San Francisco weight loss has heard of yo-yo dieting where you lose weight and then slowly (or quickly) put the weight back on and then lose it again and so on.  It is unhealthy to treat your body in that fashion, and it puts a lot of stress on your organs and cardiovascular system.  In fact, you can do permanent damage to your body’s ability to maintain equilibrium.

Maintaining the Right Weight and a Lifestyle

When you lose weight by following a calorie restricted fad diet, you are not making a lifestyle change.  You are simply dieting.  This makes it very difficult to keep lost weight off, because as soon as you start eating again the weight will return.

The ideal healthy diet is really not a diet but more of a fitness plan.  You learn to eat right and get regular exercise.  The fitness plan is not something you follow for a few weeks until the weight is lost, but it is a plan for living a healthy life.  There is a big difference between dieting to lose weight and getting fit while losing weight.

Maintaining San Francisco weight loss is a lot easier when you adhere to a healthy lifestyle.  The key is to make your fitness program interesting by eating a variety of healthy foods and choosing physical activities you enjoy.

If you are uncomfortable working out at the gym then you can hire an in-home trainer who can develop a varied exercise program.  If you like exercising outdoors, there are many different athletic and recreational activities which you can do to burn calories.  You can play tennis or start a walking program.

Paying Attention to the Details

The key to San Francisco weight loss is to continue your weight maintenance program in your daily living while paying attention to habits which could lead to weight gain.

  • Stay focused on your daily San Francisco weight loss maintenance program by becoming aware of physical symptoms indicating the body is distressed (i.e. eating high fat food that causes indigestion)
  • Weigh yourself regularly without being obsessive
  • Learn how to choose a variety of healthy foods
  • Learn how to cook foods in a healthy manner
  • Exercise 5 to 7 days a week
  • Change your exercise program regularly so you don’t lose interest
  • Don’t let your body feel starved which lowers your resistance to eating junk food or extra calories you don’t need
  • Only eat when you are hungry and not because it is “meal time”
  • Eat smaller meals more frequently
  • Make sure your exercise program includes aerobic and strength training exercises
  • Look for ways to burn more calories as you go through the day (i.e. stand instead of sitting, parking far from the store door and so on)

Keeping the pounds off for San Francisco weight loss is not difficult as long as you pay attention to your diet and continue to exercise regularly.  Even as you age and the metabolism naturally slows down, low fat diets coupled with increased exercise can help you stay at the right weight.

Managing Fitness And Diet: Good Calories Vs. Empty Calories In The Battle For Weight Loss In San Francisco

When trying to achieve weight loss in San Francisco, gaining a balanced diet can be confusing.  There is a lot to include and there are real moderated needs for protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and even calories.  As most people know, quantity of calories is a major concern; but then, calorie quality is important, too.

Good Calories, Bad Calories

All calories are not created equal; not all calories are evil—you need calories to live and have energy.  A diet capable of supporting health and fitness is one that is packed with good calories.  So what’s a ‘bad’ calorie?  You might recognize it by another name—an empty calorie.

An empty calorie is a calorie with no nutritional value.  It is a calorie largely based in fats and sugars devoid of vitamins, minerals, and important nutrients. When trying to achieve weight loss in San Francisco, you should learn which calories are empty calories and try to avoid them.

Protein, carbohydrates, and fats are all macro nutrients.  There are good sources of these needed dietary elements, but there are also a lot of bad sources that are nothing more than empty, useless calories.

Good calories and good sources of macro nutrients have necessary carbs, good fats, and proteins, and they also have micro-nutrients such as fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

Useless, Empty Calories

The problem with empty calories is that they provide little to no energy, no restorative and constructive properties (for muscle, bone, and tissue), and add to fat stores.  Very simply, empty calories have none of the necessary elements needed to support body function, workouts, and good health.

Fitness depends on having good sources of calories that also provide other needed elements and energy for working out.  The right caloric sources will result in improved energy, enhanced muscle formation, and increased weight loss.  Empty calories will negate these efforts, making it harder to achieve weight loss in San Francisco.

How To Spot An Empty Calorie

In a hurried world it is easy to consume many empty calories throughout the course of the day and not even realize it.  This can leave you feeling sluggish and thwart the best of fitness efforts.  Many people trying to achieve weight loss in San Francisco eat mainly empty calories and do not even know that they do it.  So how can you easily spot an empty calorie?

First off, consider that all ‘junk food’ is empty calories.  Avoid sugar-laden foods and refined grains (white flours).  Eat natural sugars (fruits and vegetables) and whole grains.  Avoid fried foods, candy, and sugary drinks (soda, but also sugary ‘energy’ drinks that are often nothing more than sugar and caffeine).

Also look out for beer and alcohol; these are sources of sugar and stored fats with nothing else to offer.

Depending on preparation, even good calories can turn empty quickly (fried foods and more).  To really learn to quickly spot empty calories you need to get educated—talk to a nutritionist, your doctor, or your personal trainer.  These professionals will give you the basics of good calorie consumption, help you balance out your diet and point you to reliable resources for more information about weight loss in San Francisco.

Your health and well-being depend on your good diet.  Reaching your fitness goals does, too.  Many a person has found that simple dietary changes, a switch-over to good calorie sources rather than consuming empty calories, has made the difference between a stalled fitness campaign and reaching and exceeding fitness objectives.