Holiday foods to stay away from

Hey guys hope you are finding our weight loss blogging site more and more useful. We have found some more great sufficient facts for you. We know how hard it is to stay away from those delicious tempting high calorie foods on your exquisite holiday, BUT REMEMBER you are on a diet towards having that amazing body this Summer. Stick to these tips and it will help stabilize your weight.

10 High Calorie Foods to beware on your holiday

Turkey dark meat-  The dark meat and extreme flavour is due to the fatness in both contents.


Mashed Potatoes- Potatoes are very good for you and low in carbs, but when making mashed potatoes with all the inclusive ingredients it can become very high in calories with the amount of cream and butter added.

Gravy toppings- Topping gravy all over your meat will enhance the flavour, but the amount of increased calories it adds towards your body, you should definitely give it a miss!!

Candied sweet potatoes- Sweet potatoes are a very nutritious vegetable, but by adding brown sugar to sweeten the taste to it will give you extra calories that you can avoid.

Stuffing- When it comes to Thanks giving everyone eats the roasted Turkey straight from the oven, but the stuffing inside is quite high in calories and should be avoided during your diet on your holiday.

3 potatoe Latkes- Is sliced potatoes held together with egg and matzo. This dish can be up to 400 calories!

Egg nog- Is a rich, creamy and yummy drink to drink over the holidays, but it is high in saturated fat and clogs arteries.

Prime rib- The prime rib contains 35-40% of fat.

Peanut butter brittle- Peanuts are a good source of fat but in moderation. By adding sugar and butter you create peanut butter brittle which is nearly 485 calories.

Pecan pie- Pecan pie is the same story as the peanut butter brittle but a big serving of the pecan pie and good bye diet because you are looking at 800 calories!!

Please remember that while you are on holiday try to look for things to do, go for a walk, a jog, things that will enable you to look around and not just sit in the buffet all day and eat your favourite meals. You are on a diet for a reason because you are planning to loose those love handles and have that body you wanted for Summer don't let yourself down and good luck keep you updated soon.

Exercises that won't help you lose weight

When we are in a position in which we want to lose weight we naturally want to lose it as quickly as possible. This method of thinking forces us to jump to the exercises that we feel give us the biggest burn and the ones that we see in those promotional videos selling various equipment. What we don't realises is that some of these exercises don't in fact speed the weight loss journey but really do nothing to help the journey.


Sit-ups
This is the most commonly used exercise at home. After a while it gives you a great burning feeling in your abdomen area fooling you into thinking your doing yourself a big favour. What you don't realise is that yes even though you are getting a great burning sensation it isn't helping you to lose weight. Sit-ups will strengthen and tone your abdomen but it will not burn off fat. Sit-ups also have negative affects on your spine due to the constant and quick arching of your back.

Tricep dips
Once again a similar problem as the sit-up exercises, this exercise will strengthen and tone your triceps but not help you lose weight faster. This is a great workout however to balance any bicep workouts you may be doing.

With these two exercise in mind you can really come to a conclusion that most exercises that involve weights or stressing your muscles won't be so effective in helping you to lose weight.

Vegetables Nutrition Facts

Continuing from the last post, this time, we are going to have a look at some of the vegetables and see what they offer in terms of nutrition facts and benefits for our health and diet,

Carrots
Carrots are a rich vegetable source of antioxidant compounds and also pro-vitamin A carotenes. These carotenes and antioxidant compounds promote good vision and help to protect against certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases.



Broccoli
Broccoli contains some 3% of protein and is one of the richest vegetable sources of calcium, iron and magnesium. It also contains multiple nutrients. Steaming broccoli for 3–4 minutes is recommended to maximize potential anti-cancer compounds, such as sulforaphane.





Eggplant
Besides being rich in a host of vitamins and minerals, eggplants are also rich in nasunin (found under the skin of this vegetable) which is considered a brain food. Eggplants provide dietary fiber in abundance which is essential for regulating and facilitating smooth bowel movements.



Green Peas
Green peas are loaded with 8 vitamins and 7 minerals along with fiber and protein. Vitamin K along with folate and vitamin B6 from green peas help to maintain healthy bones.




Cauliflower
Cauliflower is low in fat, low in carbs but high in dietary fibre, folate, water and vitamin C. Cauliflower also contains several phytochemicals, common in the cabbage family, that may be beneficial to human health.

Tomatoes 

Tomato is an excellent source of lycopene, a potent and one of the most powerful antioxidant that may help reduce high cholesterol levels. Lycopene has also been shown to improve the skin's ability to protect against harmful UV rays.

Diet plan recipes

Diet plan recipes for those foods you can't seem to let go off.

Want to eat those extremely delicious foods everyday and not just be on a celery diet to have that body for Summer you have been craving all year for? Well we have the answers for you!!! These diet plan recipes have been catered to meet your needs. We all know how hard it is to be tempted to eat those yummy pancakes in the morning while you have to eat a low fat yogurt instead. Our weight loss tips will manage your cravings and you will still be able to eat the food that you love, but just in proportion and size, how great is that!! Lets get started.

Week 1

Monday                                                                                                   Calories                Kilojoules

Breakfast	255	1067
All bran wheat flakes cereal (50g)	168	703
Low fat milk (1/2 cup)	62	259
Tinned apricots (6 halves - 50g)	25	105
Glass of water (250ml)	0	0
Snack	134	561
Raisin toast (1 slice)	91	381
Margarine spread reduced fat  (1tsp)	18	75
Tea or Coffee with Milk	25	105
Lunch	398	1665
California sushi hand rolls (2 pieces)	334	1398
Apple (1 serve)	64	268
Glass of water (250ml)	0	0
Snack	223	933
Rice crackers (10)	70	293
Light hummus (60g)	105	439
Banana (1 small)	48	201
Dinner	643	2690
Cottage cheese vegetarian lasagne (1 serve)	543	2272
Garden salad (small side)	100	418
Dessert	164	686
Low fat fruit yoghurt (200g)	154	644
Strawberries fresh (50g)	10	42
Total Energy:	1817	7602

 Here are some great low fat breakfast recipes

Breakfast burrito recipe

 
This recipe is fun, fast and easy to make. It is saturated in low fat and contains avocado which has healthy fat and will keep you full for a long period of time.

This recipe is low in saturated fats and a good source of protein.

Energy per 100g:	436kJ - 104Cal
Fat per 100g:	4.7g

This recipe can serve 2 

Ingredients:

• 2 Potatoes
• 2 Spring Onions
• 2 Slices Short Cut Bacon Diced
• ½  Capsicum Diced
• 3 Eggs
• ½ Avocado Chopped
• 1 Tomato Diced
• 2 Tortillas (Reduced Fat) 

Method:

1. Pierce Potatoes with skewer 4 or 5 times and microwave until cooked.  Cool down and chop.
2. Spray non stick frypan with olive oil spray and cook bacon until crispy then add spring onions for a further 2 mins.
3. Add chopped potatoes, season with pepper and mix around in pan until incorporated with bacon and onions.
4. Break eggs into bowl and beat with fork or Wisk (option to add a dash of milk).  Season with pepper.
5. Add egg mixture to pan moving them around with spatula until ¾ cooked, take off heat.
6. Layout burritos, add mixture to half of burrito topping with tomato, avocado and cheese. 
7. Fold short sides in and bottom flap up and roll up tortillas.
8. Option to place folded burrito into sandwich press and heat for 1 minute or serve untoasted.

Five tips to manage your diet

1. Making healthy lifestyle changes is a great way to keep your diet on track. It is a lot more difficult to keep eating healthy when you are not active, or your lifestyle leaves no time for anything other than fast food choices.

2. Put a stop to emotional eating. This is a common pitfall for many people as dieting can sometimes leave a person feeling drained and even depressed. For some people eating 'comfort foods' helps to alleviate that feeling, but hinders any progress in your diet creating a vicious circle.

3. Seek support of friends. Things are always easier when you are supported by peers. Finding someone to exercise with, or someone who can provide positive reinforcement will go a long way to maintaining your morale and maximising your results.

4. Slow and steady wins the race. Dieters want results, and its easy to believe that if you make a massive effort initially that you will see immediate change. This is not the case. You need to give your body time to adapt, as it was months or years of bad habits that created the need to diet, the solution may take just as long.

5. Use tools that help you track your progress. Mobile devices and even gaming consoles have a myriad of healthy lifestyle apps and games that can assist you. It is always beneficial to track your progress, and game software like Wii Fit, for example, can help you see results from your efforts.