ANTIOXIDANTS:

Anti-oxidants are said to be extremely good for us in many ways, helping to prevent and keep under control some serious illness’s. Recent research has shown they can help with our health and lifestyles in many ways.

Oxidants get into our bodies from many sources, they can come from eating fatty foods, smoke in the air or that you have inhaled, alcohol etc… All of these put bad elements into our bodies which invariably cause problems for us over time as they latch on to good body cells.  

 With modern living people do not eat as many fresh fruits and vegetables as they used to, many of these contain the anti-oxidants that our bodies need to fight and get rid of the incoming poisons.

By creating a regime of regular anti-oxidant intake you are helping your body fight off disease, it is also known to be good in the fight against cancer cells and reduction of fat in the blood stream helping to decrease problems with the heart. Due to the way anti-oxidants help the body clear out the bad, it is said to help in slowing down the ageing process keeping our body cells fresh.

Think of when you cut open an apple.. it goes brown... this is due to oxidation.  This is what goes on in our bodies as we get older and oxidation does also increase with intense exercise.  When you squeeze lemon juice on the apple, it stops it from going brown doesn't it?   If we include antioxidants such as fruits and vegetables into our diet, it has the same affect in our bodies as the lemon juice has on the apple.  It stops free-radical damage and inturn, helps decrease out risk of certain diseases and slows down the aging process.  Free radicals cause cell damage. 

So make sure you include plenty of antioxidant foods into your daily diet.  It will also help your skin and give you great natural energy.

Antioxidants are present in fruits and vegetables and it is very easy to include them in our diet.  Have a variety to make it interesting. 

EG.   cereal or porrige with blueberries added for added antioxidant value.

        pineapple added to salad with meat

        plenty of vegetables added to stir-frys

        Dried goji berries and almonds, as a snack

        yoghurt with added prunes (very high in antioxidants)

        red kidney beans (very high in antioxidants) with lean mince or within a salad

        Adding fresh herbs such as basil to salads and in wraps, also increases antioxidant value

As you can see, it is easy to increase antioxidants and improve your general health and wellbeing.   It all starts with looking after your body from the inside!

Happy eating! :)

EAT TO CHANGE YOUR PHYSIQUE!

Yes that's right, we have to eat in order to lose weight and gain lean muscle..
Many of us fall into the 'diet' trap and restrict calories drastically and sometimes removing a food group completely!
Classic example of this is The Protein Diet (Atkins), where you restrict your carbohydrate intake to as little as 20gm per day.  That is the amount of a small apple!
Which ever way you look at it, diets DON'T WORK FOR LONG TERM WEIGHT-LOSS!
You maybe able to stay on a restricted diet for a few weeks or months, but sooner or later you end up reverting back to your old ways, as your body craves the food it is missing and you get sick of eating the same foods.

You have to eat regularly and consume a balanced amount of each food group if you want to kick the yo-yo epidemic!!
If you skip meals or restrict your calories too much, you slow your metabolism down.  As most of you know, you DON'T want to do this!
Your body thinks it's in starvation mode, so it slows down to conserve energy.  What you want to  achieve is a good metabolism, so that you burn more calories throughout the day.

To maximize the metabolic aspects of your food intake you should be consuming 5 meals each day, with correct portion size.
If your body was a furnace then your metabolism would be the fire.  If you wanted that fire to burn hot all day long, you'd need to give it fuel!
Lets say you have 5-6 piles of wood for a fire, once you get it burning hot, you would continue to add a small pile on before the fire died down and you would do this throughout the day right?  The end result would be that you kept the fire burning hot consistently..   It is the same for your body!  That’s what frequent, smaller meals does for your metabolism!

For example:

Breakfast: (meal 1)

Snack: (meal 2)

Lunch: (meal 3)

Snack: (meal 4)

Dinner: (meal 5)


Another way of helping to increase your metabolism is by eating regular portions of protein.  We expend calories for it's digestion process, plus it helps us to maintain lean muscle-mass.  Muscle is an active tissue and the more lean muscle we have, the more calories we will burn throughout the day!  So, muscle is your friend when it comes to weight-loss!!
Eating regular amounts of protein also helps us to feel full!
 

Protein foods are mainly food that comes from an animal:

meat
fish
chicken
eggs
cheese and cottage cheese
low-fat milk/yogurt 
tinned fish

There are some foods that contain protein that aren't from an animal, Eg: almonds, oats, chickpeas, lentils, soy baked beans, some fortified breads, Special K Advantage cereal, protein bars/shakes.

Having a protein shake is an option also, for those who don't have time during the day to eat or just find it easier.  There are many brands out there so if you want to know what protein shake would be best for you and your needs, please ask me!

Carbohydrates are our best source of energy, so don't fall into the trap of eliminating them from your diet!
Both your muscles and your brain require carbohydrates to function properly. 
You need energy to train, meet your goals and keep up with day to day life.

Good sources of carbs are:

fruit and vegetables
pumpkin/kumara/potato
cereals (low-sugar/fat options)
oats
wholegrain bread
rice (preferably basmati)
pasta (without the creamy sauces!)
low-fat crackers

The main rule with carbs is, control your portion size!

You need to make sure you are getting the right amounts of vitamins and minerals also. 
Iron, Calcium, Zinc, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C/B are all very important for active people.  We can't train effectively or keep on top of things if we are tired or sick!  Women especially need to make sure they are getting enough calcium and iron!
Men, make sure you are getting enough Zinc, Magnesium and B Vitamins, along with the others mentioned above.
Other vitamins such as E and D are important also and minerals such as Selenium and Potassium.  I will talk about vitamins and minerals in more depth in the weeks to come.

Fat.. now there are good fats and bad fats, but the truth is, we need to include fat in our diet in order for our bodies to function properly.
You want to choose good sources of fat, such as oily fish (salmon), nuts or olive oil, to name just a few.  You just have to limit your amount each day.
Try to avoid getting your fat from sources such as takeaways, biscuits or chocolate.  Foods such as these are extremely high in fat and it won't take much for you to be over your limit for the day!  Plus a lot of processed foods are high in Trans Fat, which has been proven to have harmful effects on the body.

So, think about making sure your diet is well balanced and that you eat regularly.  Stick to the basics and ensure water, is your main source of hydration.