Is Chocolate good for you?
The healthiness of chocolate is debated about as much as is coffee!
Is it possible to include chocolate as a part of a healthy diet?
Absolutely!
HOWEVER, there are some guidelines you will need to follow to keep or achieve a fit body:
1. The chocolate must be DARK. Dark chocolate contains far more cocoa than milk chocolate (or other kinds of chocolate). And cocoa is packed with antioxidants and flavoniods (flavoniods keep cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels, reduce the risk of blood clots, and slow down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries).
2. Look for a high percentage of cacao (the bean from which chocolate is derived). Over 70% is good, just keep in mind that most of the rest of the chocolate (whatever is not cacao) will be comprised of sugar.
3. A little is good, a lot is bad! Chocolate is good for you in small quantities, but watch it! The carbs from the sugar will elevate your insulin levels, leading to stored fat if you over do it. Just have a piece, and make it last!
4. You can get your chocolate fix and the health benefits without the sugar! Try a cup of unsweetened cocoa, and add stevia powder (0g of carbs) to sweeten it. Yum!
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9 – Portion control, protein requirements, physical activity
(duration 17:23)
What are some of your challenges with fitness and getting down to the right weight?
Unfortunately, in most restaurants the macronutrient portions are skewed in favor of bread and cereal carbs
For other animals, a lot of their time is spent eating and digesting what’s been eaten
Get adequate protein, enough fat for energy, and round out the balance with veggies and some fruits
Eating lots of carbs creates a desire to eat more carbs, leading to increased body fat percentage
Snacking with fatty food, like nuts, is a good way to prevent overindulging
Portion control is about self-regulation; mindfulness is key, as is the eyeball method
Calculate your daily protein requirement based on your lean body mass (weight minus your body fat); though it depends on your activity level, typically a gram of protein per kilogram of body weight (up to a gram per pound of body weight when doing lots of weight training)
You don’t have to run in order to lose weight! There are many forms of healthy exercise–and mp3 players to break the monotony
To obtain and maintain a healthy body weight, mainly focus on proper nutrition
Feel free to rate and/or review our show on iTunes!
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=332309038
bumper music “All In My Head” (Remix) – http://www.kosheen.com
Also, please sign up – upper right corner of http://healthymindfitbody.com – to get the bonus audio on the 3 Pillars Of Achieving Your Perfect Weight Using The Mind/Body Connection, as well as the newsletter
And feel free to comment about your weight challenges and what you’d like us to address on the show below!
Transcript: http://healthymindfitbody.com/transcripts-hmfb9-portion-control-protein-requirements-physical-activity/
Podcast: Download
Is Mexican Food Healthy?
I was just listening to one of my favorite business podcasts, and one of the hosts mentioned Chipotle Burritos, and how much he loves them. Then he lamented the fact that there was a Chipotle restaurant right in the building he lives in, and he could be eating a burrito within minutes…noting that this is dangerous considering the guacamole and sour cream they use.
While these two ingredients, along with the cheese, are made up of a lot of dietary fat, they are the least of your worries if you want to stay slim or lose fat from your body.
I checked out this fun site http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=nutrition_calculator
You can add and subtract ingredients and see what the nutritional content becomes.
A burrito bol can be a pretty healthy, low carb meal. However, adding in the 13″ totilla gives you another whopping 42 grams of carbohydrates! This is the major problem with burritos in general, not what is inside.
I did also notice another negative with Chipotle. Even with the healthier burrito bol, you are ingesting over 1000 mg of sodium! A little much for just one meal.
So does this answer the question, is Mexican food healthy? The answer is, like with many types of food, “it depends”.
A good rule of thumb when you’re not sure is to opt for the low carb option. Even if you are in a bind and fast food is the only option, taking out part of the bun or tortilla will result in lower insulin production and overall lowering the chance that your body will store extra fat from that meal. And don’t forget to hold the rice!
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8 – Slowing aging and staying young
(duration 21:08)
Here Come the Centenarians! by Bill Sardi
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi121.html
Omega 3 fatty acids are important for health and longevity (make sure they’re toxin free)
There are health benefits of wine, but don’t be a wino (http://bumwine.com)
MInimize stress in your life and focus on good nutrition
Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough To Live Forever by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman
http://www.fantastic-voyage.net/
Your aim should be a healthy lifestyle with proper nutrition, free of self-conflict and bad eating habits
You’re as old as you eat… Our guide to foods that fight off age by Anastasia Stephens
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1221070/Youre-old-eat–Our-guide-foods-fight-age.html
Curcumin may have important neuroprotective effects
http://www.accelerating.org/articles/curcumin.html
Make sure you’re not deficient in Vitamin D (25-hydroxy test)
Garlic is a good immune system booster
Leafy greens and fruits for anti-oxidents and phytonutrients
Anti-aging Zone principles:
Lower your cortisol levels
Lower your blood insulin levels
Makes sure your blood glucose levels aren’t high
Minimize free radical damage
You should aim for a long lifespan while maintaining great health and fitness–too many people fear taking responsibility for their health and fitness
Feel free to rate and/or review our show on iTunes!
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=332309038
bumper music “All In My Head” (Remix) – http://www.kosheen.com
Also, please sign up – upper right corner of http://healthymindfitbody.com – to get the bonus audio on the 3 Pillars Of Achieving Your Perfect Weight Using The Mind/Body Connection, as well as the newsletter
Transcript: http://healthymindfitbody.com/transcripts-hmfb1-the-skinny-on-exercise/
Podcast: Download
Does Exercising to Lose Weight Work? Part 2 of 2
In Part 1, I discussed that although it goes completely against societal norms and common wisdom, exercising should not be the #1 focus when it comes to losing weight. In part 2, I want to discuss the 3 reasons why this is the case:
1. When you exercise, you will often stimulate your appetite, and be tempted to overeat. I know from many years of experience as a competitive swimmer and distance runner, it is really hard to know how much to eat after a big workout (or even a little workout sometimes!). When I was in college, I was a swimmer and put in an average of 3 hours a day of working out. I was burning a tremendous amount of calories, but my diet was mostly carbohydrates- and I held onto a little extra fat around my belly the entire time. When I got out of college and learned about how to eat the low carb way, although I was exercising far less, my stomach finally flattened out!
2. A fitness program that is exercise-intensive and calorie-restrictive is not sustainable for most people. In order to succeed at losing weight via exercise, you will have to be incredibly meticulous about your workouts and your diet. Most people simply do not have time to constantly work out or have a set regime that they must do several times a week to keep the weight down. And counting calories is not at all something that most people want to spend their time doing. I know I certainly don’t!
3. Exercise can act as a band aid for psychological addictions to food or certain kinds of food. Some people use food as a mood altering drug- eating when they are happy, and eating when they are stressed or upset. Most people are addicted to carbohydrates in some fashion, whether it’s soda, bread, pasta, cereal, etc. that are keeping their insulin levels high and their bodies wanting to hold on to fat. Exercise can act as a band-aid to these addictions by actually allowing you to “get away” with eating extra carbohydrates, burning them off, and remaining thin. This often involves doing longer and/or harder workouts. I did this for many years, but found that it makes life much easier to stick to generally healthy eating most of the time, and not feel like I need to spend half my life on a treadmill!
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