Posted in Recipes on February 7, 2012
Ingredients
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons sherry
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 2 inch pieces
1 – 20 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained
Directions
In a shallow glass dish, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic powder. Stir the chicken pieces and pineapple into the marinade until well coated. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.
Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken and pineapple alternately onto skewers. Grill 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until chicken juices run clear.
It is only natural to like sweets. Many people have become used to having something sweet daily as part of their standard food consumption. Yet too many sweets in the diet can lead to weight gain and health risks. The fact the sweets contain refined sugars add to the complications in the diet.
Refined sugars have negative health effects including hypoglycaemia, arthritis, diabetes, headaches, suppression of the immune system, osteoporosis, and depression. It also is stored as fat within the body increasing the weight of the individuals that consume it.
Replace the sweets containing the refined sugar with natural sweets such as fruits. Using the natural sweets to satisfy the sweet cravings will lead to weight loss and better health. Add grains and beans to the fruits to increase the natural goodness of the fruit. The natural sugar in the fruits provides the right kind of energy as well as essential fibers and nutrients.
Avoid consuming sugary drinks such as tea, coffee, and sodas. The average person will drink at least two servings of the beverages a day with the drinks containing about 10 teaspoons of sugar in each drink. The artificial sweeteners, used in the beverages, have been shown to interfere with the body’s natural ability to function properly; so even this type of sweetener is not good for a person. Instead of consuming the sweetened beverages, drink natural fruit juices, or water with a squeeze of lemon added as the sweetener.
Salt or sodium is another bad ingredient many people have in their diets. The issues with salt are that many people, highly over use it daily. They do not realize that they consume over 2,300 mg per day of the highly dangerous additive. Most of the foods consumed contain added sodium with processed, packaged, fast food, and restaurant foods. Even the canned soups and frozen meals have added sodium.
Sodium leads to weight gain, heart disease, and health issues related to the added chemical in the body and bloodstream. Sodium makes people retain water leading to the bloating of the body. It also tends to make people feel thirsty constantly, so when even consuming fluids, often times their thirst is not quenched.
Salt is not bad when used in moderation. There are high quality sea salts that have up to 90 minerals that are healthy for the body. Use sea salt that is either reddish or brownish in color or even the non-colored salt for the best type of salt to add to the diet. These types of salts do not have additives, chemicals, and are not bleached.
Your body does require a certain amount of sodium and natural sweeteners, in order to function properly. You should reduce the extra amounts you consume, to create a healthier life style and body. It is also important for you check with you doctor, prior to making major changes to your diet, in order to determine if it could affect your overall health adversely.
Posted in Videos on February 5, 2012
Video: A trainer shows how to do a crunch with your legs raised off the floor to make it a little more advanced.
Posted in Recipes on February 4, 2012
Ingredients
2 cups diced (1/4 inch) cantaloupe
1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion such as Vidalia
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1 (2-inch-long) fresh Serrano pepper, minced (including some seeds)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
Toss together all ingredients in a bowl and let stand, covered and chilled, 10 minutes.
Posted in Videos on February 3, 2012
Video: Make your lunges more challenging by doing walking lunges instead.
Heart disease, also known as cardiac disease, is an extremely serious medical condition. Most people tend to believe heart disease is a condition other people have instead of them having the possible medical condition. The fact is heart disease is the leading killer in the United States. It is also the major cause for people to become disabled.
There are many types of heart disease. The most common type is blockage of the arteries, which is the main blood vessel supplying blood to the heart. This type is called coronary heart disease. It is a gradual process of the blockages yet it is the major reason for heart attacks.
The other types of heart diseases involve the valves in the heart where the heart has restricted pumping action leading to heart failure. Some people are born with this type of heart disease.
It is possible to reduce the risks of heart disease by taking steps to control the factors causing the risks. The steps to reduce the risks are controlling the blood pressure, lower the cholesterol levels, do not smoke, get plenty of exercise, avoiding fatty and unhealthy foods and beverages, avoiding stressful situations as much as possible, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Coronary arteriosclerosis (CAD) is the most common type of heart disease leading the deaths in the United Stated. It happens when the arteries supplying blood to the heart become hardened and narrowed due to the buildup of cholesterol and another material called plaque. This leads to the heart muscle not getting enough blood or oxygen. This is the cause of angina or heart attack. Heart attacks occur when a blood clot cuts off the heart’s blood thus damaging the heart.
CAD also weakens the heart muscle and contributes to heart failure and arrhythmias. Heart failure is when the heart cannot pump blood to the rest of the body. Arrhythmia is the changing of the normal heartbeat.
Heart failure also called cardiac failure and CHF or left-sided heart failure and right-sided heart failure is a condition where the heart cannot pump blood to the rest of the body. Heart failure is when the heart stops or is about to stop. The weakening of the heart’s pumps causes blood and fluid to backup into the lungs, fluid to buildup in the ankles, legs, and feet (this is called edema) and tiredness and shortness of breath.
The leading causes of heart failure are high blood pressure, diabetes, and coronary heart disease. The treatment for heart failure includes treating the cause of the heart failure, heart transplants, and medications. Heart failure is a very serious condition causing about 5 million people in the United States to have this condition and contributing to more than 400,000 deaths a year.
Posted in Recipes on February 1, 2012
Ingredients
4 cups water
3 Tbsp hemp hearts
1 apple (core removed)
1 medium-sized carrot
1/4 lemon wedge (skin & seeds removed)
2 large kale leaves (stalks removed)
2 Tbsp maple syrup
Directions
Place all the ingredients in a high powered blender and blend on juice mode.
Getting a well chiselled abdomen totally depends on how you work them ? no one was born with a six pack abs. You will have to understand that just like any muscle, if you want to build definition, you will have to hit your muscles with various resistances and at various angles. Well, regular crunches will help you tone your abs, but if you really want the chiselled look, you will have to abdominal machine too.
What You Need to Perform machine Crunches
You will an abdominal crunch machine, time and dedication.
How to Perform Machine Crunches
Look for the abdominal crunch machine at the gym. This machine has a seat that is attached to a weight stack. You will also notice that a padded area is also attached to the weight stack, around the area where your chest should be when you sit down (on the seat). It is not uncommon to mistake this machine for the back extension ? this is because these two machines look very similar. The one and only difference between the abdominal crunch machine and the back extension machine is way the padded bar moves. The padded bar moves backward on the back extension machine and moves forward on the abdominal crunch machine.
Start with a light weight so that you see what you can successfully handle for repetitions. Choose a weight that you can handle for at least 10 repetitions. You should also make sure that you adjust the height of the seat and the placement of the padding according to your height. Some abdominal crunch machines have charts that provide institution for appropriate settings for both the padding and the seating.
When you sit in the machine, place both feet flat on the ground. You should place your chest on the padding and make sure you place your hands where you feel the most comfortable. You can place them on the pad or place them on the handles attached to the seat. Make sure that you keep your back and abdominal muscles tight all through the movement in order to avoid injury and to also get the best out of the exercise. As soon as you are seated in this position with your chest placed on the pad, you are ready to start this exercise ? this will be the starting position.
You should push your chest forward on the pad and ensure that your abdominal muscles do a lot of the work. When you lean face first towards the ground, you should begin to feel a tightness in your abdominal muscles. Do not over do it! Just make sure you lean as far forward as you possibly can until you feel a tightness/contraction. When you feel the tightness in your abdominal muscles, hold the position for up to a couple of seconds.
Go back to the starting position, and repeat the exercise for at least ten (10) repetitions. Stop if you feel that your abdominal muscles are beginning to cramp. It is really a great idea to warm up the abdominal muscles before, during and after the exercise in order to avoid discomfort or injury.
Posted in Videos on January 30, 2012
Video: You don?t have to have a jump rope to skip, you can just pretend and do the arm movements as if you had one.
Posted in Recipes on January 29, 2012
Ingredients
1 small clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1 medium eggplant (about 1 pound), sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
2 large portobello mushroom caps, gills removed
Canola or olive oil cooking spray
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
8 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread, lightly grilled or toasted
2 cups arugula, or spinach, stemmed and chopped if large
1 large tomato, sliced
Directions
Preheat grill to medium-high.
Mash garlic into a paste on a cutting board with the back of a spoon. Combine with mayonnaise and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
Spray both sides of eggplant rounds and mushroom caps with cooking spray and season with salt and pepper. Grill the vegetables, turning once, until tender and browned on both sides. When cool enough to handle, slice the mushrooms.
Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons of the garlic mayonnaise on each piece of bread. Layer the eggplant, mushrooms, arugula (or spinach) and tomato slices onto 4 slices of bread and top with the remaining bread.
(Makes 4 Servings)
