"Nature's Weight Loss Secret!"

Too often we seek out the “easiest” or “quickest” solution rather than the safest or most proven.

In the case of weight loss this may be even more prevalent.

It is important in your quest to lose weight that you not fall for any fad diet or pill that could be potentially harmful to your health. Chances are that if it sounds too good to be true, it actually is.

Here is a list of some of the most bizarre/unsafe diet ideas that have come and gone through the years…

The cabbage soup diet: This one still hangs around. On this diet you are allowed to eat as much as you want…as long as it is only cabbage soup. I think we can all see the problem with maintaining this for any period of time. Not to mention the smells induced by both the soup itself and its after effects on the body.

Vision-Dieter glasses: This wacky fad was based on some research showing that the color blue seems to make food less appealing. Unfortunately, wearing weird blue-tinted glasses at every meal will also make the wearer look less appealing.

Slimming diet soap: Why not lose weight in the shower? The idea was first advertised in 1920’s and there are a few companies still marketing so-called “diet” soaps. They contain seaweed and other ingredients that are supposed to break down fat. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no evidence that these products work.

Breatharianism: The followers of this plan believe that food (and possibly even water) is unnecessary. Although the versions vary slightly, the core belief is that with practice a person can live on the energy of light. Even more bizarre is that the leader of breatharianism in the U.S. has been caught more than once eating fast food and now insists that hamburgers and Diet Coke are an integral part of the system.

The tapeworm diet: This may sound too strange to be true, but there was a time when people were consuming capsules containing tapeworms in order to “naturally” lose weight. When people had reached their goal weight (if it didn’t kill them), they would then have to take an anti-parasite drug in order to kill the tapeworm and pass it.

Fruitarianism: This is a classic case of too much of a good thing. As a rule, almost all of us should be eating more fruit than we do, but not only fruits. Strict fruitarians believe in a diet consisting of pretty much nothing but fruit (with a few nuts and seeds mixed in).

We all have this wonderful organic engine inside us: metabolism.

It works on complicated chemistry stuff, but in brief, catabolic metabolism is for breaking stuff down, and anabolic metabolism is for building stuff up. It’s what burns calories. Everybody has this going on inside them, but not necessarily at the rate we’d like.

While some of this is genetic, there are still things we can do to help our metabolism along…

Eat more often

It’s almost like a trick you can play on your own body.

With every meal, your body decides whether to burn that food as fuel, or store it for later as fat. If you only eat a few times a day, your body may tend to store away calories for later. It can even go into starvation mode if taken to the extreme. With an infrequent meal plan, your cells want to hold on to what you provide it, for those times ahead when it will need fuel. Your body is thinking long term.

Throw in a healthy snack between each of your three major meals. Then your body gets the idea that there’s plenty of food to burn through. It won’t horde those calories as it would when deprived. Instead, it will keep running at a more even keel, and not with those peaks and valleys of energy that make us feel unhealthy and exhausted.  Snacking will also help reduce the size of your meals, as a consistent caloric intake will make a person less likely to gorge.

Drink more often

It’s good to keep hydrated. Almost 90% of the chemical reactions that need to happen in your body require water, as your body is mostly made of the stuff. As with food, you want your body to have plenty of fresh, cool water, which your body wants to warm it up, using calories to do so. This helps keep your metabolism in motion.

Stay in motion 

You don’t want your body to stock up on the calories you give it, so keep occupied.  Raising your heart rate for thirty minutes is often recommended for a healthy lifestyle.

Of course, the amount of calories burned will vary according to the activity performed. Aerobic exercise is a great temporary boost to your metabolism, but for a long term lift, —pardon the pun—, you should try weight training. As previously mentioned, the cells in muscle tissue love to burn through calories, but this is true even when the body is at rest. Some even consider exercise to be more important than diet when it comes to weight loss, but in the combination of the two lay the best results.

As spring continues to bring out the sun and the warmer, longer days (at least for those of us in the U.S.), I continue to love any recipes that will encourage me to fire up the grill.

Here are two healthy and easy grilling recipes that go great together…

Citrus Grilled Chicken

A simple and healthy version of grilled chicken. It’s bright, delicious, and great with a side of grilled veggies.

½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed)
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground cracked pepper

Combine orange juice concentrate, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic into a large resealable plastic bag. Add in the chicken breasts and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Remove the chicken from the bag and discard the marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper.

Place chicken onto the grill and close cover. Grill about 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until done (170ºF).

Grilled Asparagus

Grilling asparagus brings out a whole new flavor that is hard to resist. Good and good for you.

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed (look for firm, thick stalks)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat the grill to medium-high to high heat.

In a pan lay out the asparagus and drizzle evenly with oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss until evenly coated.

Grill the asparagus for about 5 minutes, turning it slightly every minute or so. Finished asparagus should be browned in spots, but not charred.

Remove from grill and serve immediately. Also great with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

When something has been around as long as tea has, someone will find a different way to look at it.

In the very early 1900’s, a very clever guy from New York by the name of Thomas Sullivan started putting samples of his tea in small pouches for his patrons. He intended that the tea be removed from the little silk bags and brewed up the way any loose-leaf tea would in those days. But those patrons, being a little on the lazy side, would make their tea by steeping the samples, bag and all. And from then on, tea drinkers had a more convenient way to enjoy their favorite beverage.

If you get a little creative (like Mr. Sullivan) then drinking the tea is just the tip of the iceberg. It can do so much more…

HEALTH AND BEAUTY

Puffy eyes? It’s what any good supermodel knows. Put a couple warm, wet teabags on those tired peepers for 15 to 20 minutes and let the tannins refresh, rejuvenate, and reduce the size of those weary lids. This can also be helpful with cases of pinkeye and even poison ivy. Sunburn? The tannic acid in tea will soothe this, or any first-degree burn. Place a few cool bags on the affected area to relieve the sting of solar rays. Foot odor? A tea-based foot bath can freshen up the fragrance of your feet, as well as give you some much needed R&R.

HOME AND GARDEN

Instead of some harmful chemical cleanser, try tea for your wood surfaces like furniture and floors. A soft cloth dampened with a little brewed tea on can improve the shine and color. It can cut the grease on glass, like mirrors and windows, while naturally filling the air with its rich aroma. Speaking of fresh air, you can also use some dry tea for a great potpourri.

But what about outside? Many gardeners swear by a concoction of used tea leaves, water, and mulch to fertilize their failing roses. Occasionally using some brewed tea instead of H2O to water your acid-loving household plants will give the soil some nutrients it may be lacking, while a used teabag in the bottom of a planter can help with moisture retention.

ARTISTRY TEA

Say you want to give your art project a more antique feel. Just add tea! Depending on the strength of the brew, it can be used in a like a watercolor paint, or blotted on with a cloth or sponge to add years and mystique to the look of paper. And as any hippie can tell you, tea is good for tie-dying fabric.

For other interesting uses for tea follow this link:
http://www.examiner.com/article/unusual-uses-for-tea-bags

Have you ever painted a room?

To do it right, there’s a lot that needs to happen before the actual painting part. There’s getting the brushes, the rollers, the paint, and other accessories. There’s moving everything out and cleaning up. Then putting down all that masking tape and covering the bits that don’t need to be painted.

While it may seem daunting, doing it right is a simple matter of scratching things off a check list as they’re done. Then getting that paint on the walls is surprisingly easy. A whole new room is a breeze.

Why can’t weight loss be the same way?

We’re more likely to mess up if we go into a task without some idea of how to accomplish it. We can have a clear idea of the desired end result, but if we don’t know the steps to get there, we’re just asking for trouble on the way.

Pre-Plan

If you want to lose a few pounds, what will that mean for you day to day? Are you going to have to pack snacks? Are you going to have to get up a little earlier to make your brown bag full of healthiness? Should you park a little farther from where you’re going to get some exercise into your day? Should you join a gym?

Think about how you can squeeze in some good habits, and blow off some bad ones. What will work for you? Make your checklist for how you’re going to make change. Think about the new you that you want to be.

Clean Up!

A fresh start is a good start. Look at your fridge or pantry. Are there cookies, soda, snacks of any kind that would hinder the loss of weight? Get rid of them. Don’t trick yourself into thinking you can resist temptation or reward yourself later with them. They do not make a good reward for the goal in mind, and the best way to avoid their lure is to get them out of convenient reach.

Get Supplies

Now that you’ve thrown out the garbage, you’ll need new stuff. When you get to the grocery store, choose wisely. Most advice on the subject states that a good approach to losing weight is having five or six mini meals a day in order to keep your metabolism engaged and working. So what will you be eating? Stick to healthy, whole foods. Get a list together! Here’s a good place to start:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/232178-balanced-diet-checklist/

You should come up with an action plan for exercise, too. Do you need weights?  Better sneakers? A bike? A yoga DVD? A basketball? We all know healthy living has two parts; diet and exercise. Don’t count solely on one and neglect the other.