Finally A Fork That Punishes You When You Eat Too Fast

Do you eat like you’re in the army?

Does food fly off your plate faster than Taylor Swift changes boyfriends?
Check out the HAPIfork. It monitors how fast you are eating and how many bites you take. If you break the rules it sends you a punishing vibrating reminder.

People who eat fast usually eat more calories per meal and are heavier than slow eaters.
HAPIfork seeks to solve this problem by teaching dieters to eat slower. It connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth to track progress and bites in real time.
The HAPIfork retails for $99.
Originally on TheVerge.com

High Protein, Healthier Banana Bread To Die For Recipe

Banana bread is a classic and a great way to use over-ripe bananas.

Instead of a traditional recipe, why not make this delicious, protein packed, whole wheat version of the bread that’s really a dessert staple.

Here’s What You’ll Need

(For Bread)

• 1 1/2 scoops chocolate protein powder
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tbsp vanilla greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup oats

Optional: 1/3 cup chocolate chips (if you want it really chocolatey – I skipped this step)
(For Topping)

• 1/3 cup oats
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• drizzling of honey
• sprinkling of cinnamon

Quick and Easy Directions

Preheat oven to 350 and then mix dry bread ingredients in a medium size bowl. Add bananas, egg whites, and greek yogurt, and mix well.
Spray a bread pan with nonstick spray, then pour mixed ingredients into the pan.

In the same bowl (which should now be mostly empty), mix topping ingredients with clean hands. Be sure to sprinkle enough honey into the mix so that the topping begins to stick/clump together. Sprinkle topping over the bread mix.
Put in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean (the topping will still be gooey, but the bread should be solid and clean).

Just remember that this banana bread is still a dessert, not really a type of bread……..
Originally developed by recipe writer, Carly Taylor, on Createliveblog.com

Deadliest Burger in All the Land- Like Eating a Whole Stick of Butter!

Chili’s, we gotta hand it to you.

Only you can create a single patty burger that has a whole day’s worth of calories and 2 days worth of saturated fat!

Introducing the Jalapeño Smokehouse Bacon Burger

Sounds innocent enough….

But wait….
This Chili’s Big Mouth Burger has:

1,910 Calories- A Day’s Worth

126g Fat(43g saturated)- 2 Days’ Worth

5,290mg of Sodium- 2+ Days’ Worth

I’m sure you’ll want fries with that and let’s throw in a portion of one of their fat and calorie laden apetizers..
Ouch! This makes both my diabetes and my heart disease hurt!
If you like deadly burgers like this, check out our 7 Hamburgers of the Apocalypse.
Originally on Eat This, Not That!

Fructose Is Making You Fat

I saw a news report the other day that explained the more we eat fructose-based foods, the more likely we are to consume more calories.

They say the fructose foods are not giving us the feeling of fullness. The glucose sugar foods leave us with a little more satiety.

The research in the story was from the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

At first, I didn’t think much about this because of recent negativity surrounding high fructose corn syrup. But, then I got to thinking about how I feel when I eat foods high in fructose—not full and likely to eat more!

Fructose vs. High Fructose Corn Syrup

Feeling confused yet about the difference in types of sugars?

Ajouter une légende

High Fructose Corn Syrup: High fructose corn syrup is about half glucose and half fructose. The current standing is that high fructose corn syrup is not to blame for obesity. However, the main concern is that it is so concentrated, and makes foods more shelf stable, so it is overwhelmingly thrown into foods that it did not used to exist in before.

• Fructose: A simple sugar found in many plants that is absorbed quickly into our bodies.
• Glucose: Also a simple sugar, and our body’s main source of energy.
• Sucrose: White table sugar composed of glucose and fructose.

Why is Fructose Making Us Eat More?

After eating glucose foods, research participants had higher hormone levels that indicated fullness. After eating the fructose foods, participants had lower levels of the satisfying hormones. Fructose does not appear to reduce the appetite or begin the process of feeling full. Glucose does.
This makes sense to me as humans were meant to use glucose efficiently because glucose molecules are the building blocks of where we get our energy from.

Foods Highest in Fructose

1. Sweetened sodas
2. Applesauce and other canned fruit packed in syrup
3. Agave
4. Apple juice and grape juice
5. Fat free dressings (they add more sugar to make them fat free!)

*Apples also made this list, but I did not include. When we eat the whole fresh fruit, there is no need to limit our fresh fruit intake because of the fiber content.

Foods Highest in Glucose

Summer squash

1. Molasses
2. Oranges and tangerines
3. Toaster pastries and Pop Tarts (This isn’t an excuse to eat these!)
4. Celery

How do you feel after eating/drinking foods or beverages high in fructose?

Like to Drink? Look What it Does to Your Face!

A new app shows you what you’ll look like in 10 years, factoring in your current alcohol consumption.

Princess Kate really needs to put down that pint!

This frightening app is brought to us by Drink Smarter, a website funded by the Scottish government. They are trying to curb the problem of binge drinking in their country.
I tried it and I just now quit hyperventilating after seeing my after picture!

Energy Drinks That Give You Pep Without Giving You Cancer

Whenever one of my patients mentions “energy drinks”, I cringe.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind? Processed, chemically enhanced liquid that contains caffeine.
I thought, “Are there any energy drinks out there that are healthier than others?” Of course!
If you need some pep in your step choose these energy drinks instead of the bull that gives you wings.

7 Natural Energy Boosting Beverages

Steaz

Steaz makes a few different natural canned teas and an energy shot. They are all natural, contain clean ingredients, and sweeten with some stevia or carrot juice. I love all of their products, and you get a natural caffeine boost from real tea and some B-vitamins. Rating: A

FRS Energy Drinks

These low in caffeine with about 35mg coming from green tea. FRS drinks contain added antioxidants from green tea, and quercetin. Some are sweetened with Stevia but others Splenda! FRS claims you get your energy boost from the potent antioxidants that are targeted to fight fatigue, and the boost of B-vitamins. Rating: B+

Ex Drinks

Contains 80 mg of natural caffeine and use beet sugar and stevia to lightly sweeten. Most drinks do not contain anything artificial.  Watch out for the flavors that contain more sugar. Another complaint is that there is a longer list of ingredients. I like the flavors that contain some kombucha for the probiotic benefits. Rating: B

 V8 Energy Shots

This is reconstituted “vegetable” juice shot with Splenda. They say this gives you a serving of fruits and vegetables, but I am not convinced. You get a small energy boost from the green tea extract. You might as well make a cup of tea and put a teaspoon of honey in it. This would give you more natural results! 1 bottle is 10 grams of sugar. Rating: B-

Starbuck’s Double Shot Light

Simple ingredients of espresso, cream, splenda, and acesulfame K in this canned latte. Of course, I don’t prefer the artificial sweeteners. Why not get a real coffee? Rating: C+

Hawaiian OLA Energy

OLA is a high antioxident energy shot with Noni, Goji, and Acai Juices and 140mg of natural caffeine from yerba mate’ and green tea. It has a nice dose of B vitamins and only 6 grams worth of natural sugars. Be careful because the caffeine may be too high for some. Rating: A

Celestial Seasonings Enerji Shots

This is another all-natural energy shot with 100mg of caffeine from green tea. It’s sweetened with cain juice and stevia while giving a nice boost in energy and alertness. It’s easy to drink and not cough syrup tasting like the popular 5 Hour Energy. Rating: A
Remember: Do not combine any energy drinks with alcohol or drink more than one in a short period of time.
Overall, I prefer to try to increase my energy naturally by taking a quick walk, stretching, or drinking more water. If that doesn’t work, I grab a small black coffee!
How about you, do you drink any caffeine during your day?

Absurd Diet Advice From the Year 1925 and 2013

I don’t think any of our modern day diet gimmicks even come close to this one, circa 1925

“Reach for a Lucky instead of a Sweet”

Yeah, OK……
I especially like the fact that these cigarettes are “toasted”, so they don’t cause throat irritation or cough….
Just 15 or 20 kinds of cancer as well as emphysema!
It’s comforting to see we’ve evolved over the last, almost 90 years.
Or, have we?

Coca Cola Just Released Their 2013 Diet Advice

The Lucky Strike ad was originally featured on Health.com

The Worst Diet of the Year Goes to

Which diet do you think is the “worst diet” of the year?
The Dietitians Association of Australia says the top 3 worst diets were the Lemon Detox Diet, Acid and Alkaline Diet, and Six Weeks to OMG.
These diets are classified as fad diets and don’t adhere to what is considered healthy and effective for lasting weight loss.
I would agree with this and here’s a quick summary as to why.

Worst Diets Revealed

Lemon Detox Diet (The Master Cleanser)

This is the well known 10-day fasting diet where all you do is drink lemon water with maple syrup and cayenne to flush out the system.
Short term fasting for religious reasons or personal reasons can be OK, but it is usually only done for one day! After 10 days, your body becomes depleted of the proteins and fats that it needs to function properly.
Learn more about The Mater Cleanser here.

Acid and Alkaline Diet

Our body likes to maintain an alkaline environment.  Therefore, when we eat a lot of acidic foods, we are causing damage to our bodies. This is not really true.
First, we don’t have that much research available to us on this subject. Second, our body does an excellent job of maintaining homeostasis and the natural alkaline environment.
So, why does this diet win over a lot of people? The basic fundamentals focus on healthy eating, and cutting out processed foods, sodas (high acid), and heavy meats (high acid).
Conclusion: This diet can be misleading and confusing. Eat all the oranges and acidic fruits and vegetables that you like. But, of course, avoid the sodas and processed foods!
Learn more about the Acid Alkaline Diet here.

Six Weeks to OMG

This diet became popular this year and is known to many as the diet with strange rules.

You have to take cold baths and showers, skip breakfast, avoid most fruits, drink black coffee, and candy bars are the same as fruit to the body.

There are small truths to some of these ideas behind the OMG diet plan, but most of the rules will not set you on your way towards successful weight loss.

Please eat breakfast and fruits everyday! This is a tried and true weight loss success technique.

See my full review of 6 Weeks to OMG here.

What Diets Should I Look Into?

The best diets of the year I would say are:

1. Bob Harper’s Skinny Rules 
2. Weight Watchers 360 (technically released this January).

These embrace tied and true principles of nutrition and have a remarkable success rate.
What do you think is the worst diet?

You Know It's Time to Diet When

Three guys can use your body as a musical instrument all at the same time!

At least he is using his obesity to his advantage.

Sugar Addiction Starts Way Too Early!

Humans are definitely genetically programed to love the taste of sweet.

Those with kids know that candy/sweets are like gold to kids, especially this guy!

8-Hour Diet: Starve Yourself for 16 Hours?

The 8-Hour Diet, by David Zinczenko and Peter Moore (Editor of Men’s Health) is the hottest new diet of the year! Well, at least this one is easy and straight forward.

David claims that you can eat whatever you want as long as you do so in an 8-hour time period.
Since you only have a short amount of time when you can eat, the idea is that you will end up restricting your calories, and therefore, losing weight. The other 16-hours must be fasting hours.
Is this as easy at it seems or is there a bit more to The 8 Hour Diet?

Why The 8 Hour Diet Works

• It all comes down to calorie restriction. If you can find a way to keep the calories low enough to result in weight loss, you will be successful. By only having 8-hours to consume your food, you might be able to trick the body into taking in fewer calories.
• This diet reminds me of a couple of years ago when Oprah talked about cutting off your eating at 6 pm as a way to lose weight. This became a popular diet trend for a while because it helped to prevent late night overeating and excess calorie consumption.
• Another benefit is that you don’t have to deprive yourself. Many of us have been through so many diets that we feel overwhelmingly deprived. This is bad for our long term success. We need to learn how to feel comfortable making choices that aren’t so healthy, but in exercising excellent moderation and portion control. 

The bottom line is: The body knows calories in and calories out for the entire day. So, if you can eat balanced, keep the metabolism going strong, feel healthy, then it doesn’t matter too much when you eat. It matters how much you eat.

Where This Diet Could Fail

• The authors claim that the types of food don’t matter too much. However, you can’t expect to eat 1200 calories of chocolate for your diet and feel amazing. We must continue to eat a balanced portion of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats, and a few healthy carbohydrates. The authors do support healthy eating with the 8 Hour Diet Power Foods, but they don’t want to restrict you.
  
  
  
  
  Eight Hour Diet Power Foods
• It can be tough to stave off hunger in the evenings. For example, if you start eating at 8 am, then you can’t eat anything past 4 pm. What are you supposed to do if you feel hungry again at 8 pm, and don’t go to sleep until midnight?
• Many suggest waiting to have breakfast to help with this. But, research proves that breakfast is best for the metabolism if eaten within the first hour of waking.
• The authors say that you only have to follow the diet 3 days per week. This seems odd to me. Why not follow it 6 days per week? 3 days is only about 43% of the time. This doesn’t seem too effective.
• This is not a new diet idea. Intermittent fasting has been around for quite a few years now, but has yet to gain popularity until now.

In the end, the positives and negatives seem to balance out. I have a feeling it will work for about half of the people who try it.
So, try the diet if you like, and let us know how it goes for you!
The 8 Hour Diet can be purchased for a discount here as a hardcover book or as a Kindle book.

You Set A Goal -You Failed- Now What?

You’ve seen the success stories on every late-night infomercial promising instant weight loss, but if you’re serious about living a healthy lifestyle you know the real truth—most diet- and exercise-related goals don’t end with someone proudly displaying a set of giant jeans that no longer fit them.
Most end in failure.
As the year marches on, all those New Year’s resolution people taking up the treadmills at the gym will start dropping like flies. Will you be one of them?
You may have made a New Year’s resolution, you may not have. Regardless, odds are that you do have at least one long-term goal that you have either

1. already met,
2. are still working toward,
3. or are on your way to failing.

Those are the only three possible statuses any goal can have.
If you’re making good, measurable progress toward your goal, forge ahead! But if you have failed, are on your way toward failure (and you know in your heart if you are), or think you might fail at some point in the future (you will) this post is for you.

The Real Problem with Goal-Setting

                                                           
The problem with most goals lies in an odd feature of human behavior—we have an amazing ability to overestimate what we can do in the next year…while dramatically underestimating what we can do in the next 15 minutes.
We set huge goals, overextend ourselves, get burned out, and slowly fade away.
This isn’t a rant about setting “realistic” goals. You don’t need to settle for easy goals. All it takes to succeed in goal setting is the right mindset in terms of how you measure your progress along the way.
What trips people up is that they develop tunnel vision on the end result while forgetting about the process it takes to get there. When you put all your focus on the end result of losing 100 pounds, it gets easy to overlook the tons of little things you have to do along the way to get there.
For example, when you focus too much on the end result you look at something unhealthy and say, “Oh, I can’t eat that…I’m trying to lose 100 pounds.”
How depressing is a thought like that? It’s certainly not a morale booster. It makes you think, How am I going to avoid poor diet choices long enough to lose 100 pounds?

How to Change Your Perspective on Goal Setting

                                                           
The key is to keep your mind laser focused on the one little action you can be doing immediately to make at least a little bit of progress toward your ultimate outcome.
If your goal is to lose 100 pounds, do not start every morning with that goal in mind. Instead, build your goal around the actions you can do in the next 15 minutes.
To do this, start by deciding what you can actually do in the next 15 minutes. Skip that snack in the next 15 minutes. Seek out and read three Diet Blog posts in the next 15 minutes. Do five minutes worth of continuous cardio in the next 15 minutes. Chunk this down into easy “to do’s”.
Stop making this hard on yourself. Live in the NOW and know that these little things will always add up to HUGE accomplishments.
When you can check the little things off the list at the end of each day, not only will you boost your confidence, you will begin to take massive steps toward reaching your ultimate outcome every time. You will become a believer in yourself. And you will certainly no longer need New Year’s resolutions.

Robert D. Smith is the author of 20,000 Days and Counting, a crash course in maximizing intensity and purpose in life. He blogs on entrepreneurship, personal growth, and more at TheRobertD.com.

Don't Believe Coke's Lies, Watch the Real Truth About Their Drinks

A few weeks ago Coca Cola launched a new ad campaign praising themselves for making a difference in the obesity epidemic.

We posted that video here.
Here’s a Coke video that’s much more aligned with the truth! It starts out similar to the original, but then takes a dramatic twist.

KeVita Coconut Probiotic Drink: The New Health Drink?

KeVita is the name for a new probiotic coconut based health drink in the market.
They sent me a few free drinks to test out. There are negatives, but mostly all positives that I found.
Have you heard of kombucha? This is similar.
At first glance, KeVita reminds me of GT’s Synergy kombucha which is another probiotic drink that I am obsessed with. However, the taste and ingredients are a little different.

What is KeVita?

KeVita is made from fermented coconut water and/or tea. The secret fermentation process creates their special probiotics. Then, they add some more coconut water, and/or stevia, some fruit puree, and a splash of vinegar.
What you get is a slightly bubbly, mildly sweet elixir. To compare, kombucha is made from fermenting black tea which results in a more acidic, vinegar flavor. The KeVita tastes very mild, but you can almost taste and smell the probiotics like you do in yogurt. I didn’t mind it much, but others might not like this.

KeVita Health Benefits

You may be asking, “Why would I go to the trouble of buying this more expensive beverage and drinking it?”

• Most flavors are about 20 calories per bottle (some are 40 calories per 16 oz. bottle)
• Sugars are very low: Most about 2 – 8 grams maximum per bottle.
• Stevia is used to sweeten lightly
• The specific types of probiotics used have shown anti-inflammatory and immune modulating affects on the body.
• The types of probiotics used are high quality and should survive the travel through the stomach acid. Read more about probiotics here.
• KeVita costs about as much as a fancy coffee (or, in some cases, less).

The Dietitian Opinion

I enjoyed the pomegranate flavor best. It had the best flavor. I don’t like the taste of coconut, but I know others love the flavor, so I am sure they would enjoy these.
I put my boyfriend to the test and he didn’t like the after taste. He said it almost had a yogurt after taste.
Overall, I enjoyed the quality drink and it was refreshing mid-morning or in the afternoon to have something other than water to sip on. I still have to say, I prefer my strawberry kombucha—probably because it is a little more sugary (and I feel more relaxed when I drink it)! However, the KeVita is probably a little better for me since it has less sugar.
What do you think, have you tried KeVita or any other probiotic drinks?

Veggie Burgers that You'll Love to Eat Recipe

Cutting back on meat or becoming a vegetarian is sure a lot easier when you have great recipes like this one in your arsenal.
After you make and try these veggie burgers, you’ll never want to purchase those store bought varieties ever again.
Plus! These veggie burgers are cheap to make and are packed with nutrition.

Here is What You’ll Need

• 2 cups (uncooked) green lentils
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 a large beet
• 2 cups fresh spinach

                                                     

• 3 Not Beef veggie bouillon cubes
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 cloves of garlic minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1-2 cups wheat germ
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 large eggs

Now Make the Veggie Burgers

1. Cook the lentils in 5 cups water until soft. (usually about 40 min.) Most of the water should be absorbed, but a little left is fine. Dissolve the Not Beef bouillon cubes in at the end.
2. Using a knife or a food processor finely chop the spinach, carrot, garlic, onion and beet. (I process each separately)
Hint: I use my Ninja for the spinach, onion, and carrot. I love this appliance and it is so versatile. It also makes great smoothies and soups.
                
Hint: I use a Benriner Turner Slicer for the beet. This device turns the beet into strings which help hold the patties together. I also use it for simple veggie pasta and for putting raw beet into my salads.
               
3. Combine the lentils, beet, carrot, onion, garlic, spinach, salt and pepper. Stir until all of the veggies appear uniform throughout. Stir in eggs.
4. Add wheat germ until mixture has a very thick batter consistency. I usually start with 1 cup and add more if needed.  (If you don’t want the gluten, just use gluten-free bread crumbs.)
              
5. Using a 1/2 cup size measuring cup, place the batter in a medium-hot skillet with a little olive oil or oil of your choice.
Hint: I use ceramic coated skillets. They are extremely non-stick and not potentially harmful like traditional non-stick skillets.

6. Cook the patties until edges start to get firm and then gently flip them. Continue cooking until the veggie patties are firm.
7. Serve.

Freeze Some for Later

Since this recipe makes about 9-12 veggie patties, I usually serve them for dinner and freeze the rest for later. They make great, quick lunches or dinners. I individually wrap them, so they can be thawed quickly.
These veggie burgers are a perfect way to eat more vegetables, boost your diet’s nutrition, and cut back on the calories that would be found in a traditional burger.

Absolutely the Best Pep Talk Ever!

If this video doesn’t inspire you, nothing will!

In the grips of life’s challenges, blowing snow, or driving rain it can be easy to lose track or your goals and dreams.
I’m glad we have The Kid President to remind us to keep on keepin on!
This video is amazing!

Please share this with anyone that needs some encouragement in their lives.

Is Cold Press, Masticating Juicing the New Way to Eat Your Vegetables?

                                                           
I will start off by saying that BELLA sent me their brand new juicer called the NutriPro Juicer for free.
As always, whenever I post product reviews it is 100% my honest opinion and truthful information.
That being said, the NutriPro juicer differs from other juicers in that it slowly crushes and chews the produce, and leaves more of the plant cells intact.

“With the no-blade, cold press technology, oxidation is minimized, no heat is used, and more nutrients and enzymes are preserved. (Most traditional juicers and blenders that claim to juice use blades that shred and break open the cell walls of the produce, exposing it to oxygen and therefore affecting the integrity of the nutrients and enzymes.)” –NutriPro

I have always loved fresh pressed vegetable juice, and this juicer is my first home juicer. So, I was curious to give it a try!

NutriPro Juicer Pros

                                                          

• Quiet, very little noise
• Easy to use. Has a simple on, off, and reverse switch.
• Does not take up a lot of space. The juicer resembles the size of a blender.
• Easy to wash, and dishwasher safe. Particles often get stuck in the mesh piece, but they give you a cleaning brush to scrub it off quickly.
• Results are a little more “pulpy” than other juicer juice I have tried, but I enjoy this. It makes me feel like I am eating more of the plant. If you want less pulp, they give you a convenient second strainer that gets rid of the remaining waste.
• The juicer has an automatic shut-off for when a piece gets stuck. Don’t worry; it will get itself going again.
• The NutriPro will juice wheat grass unlike other juicers. But, it is a little difficult. I recommend adding wheat grass in gradually with other juice ingredients.

Cons

                                                          

• Since this juicer does not have any blades, or harsh shredding action, there are a lot of pulp and fibers left behind. I cannot rate the quality of yield because I have not tried other at home juicers. But, my boyfriend and I agreed that the yield seemed slightly below average.
• The juicer is slower than average. Not a big issue. Wait longer, and more juice will trickle out.
• You can not add pieces that are too large because it causes the juicer to stall a little.
• When cleaning, the pulp spout gets clogged up, so you may have to use the cleaning brush to get it out.

The Juicing Controversy

•  As with all juicers, you miss out on a lot of the fibers and phytochemicals that you get with eating the whole plant. Juicing is no substitute for eating your fruits and vegetables.
• Juicing seems wasteful to some because of all the excess pulp (but, this is with all juicers). I re-purpose some of my pulp for muffins and other recipes.
• Other juicers, called centrifugal juicers, are said to heat up the plant and kill the enzymes, but we don’t know how much this is really true. Sure, maybe it kills a few enzymes, but not 100%. What I would focus on more is drinking the juice within 30 minutes.

Do you juice at home? If so, what kind of juicer do you have?

Which Body Type is the Sexiest?

By Ted
29th Jan 2013
Fashion, Figure, and Shape
models

An angel of light’s or the dark angel’s?
Which of these two model body types is the most attractive?
Do you aspire to be slim or slim and ripped like the CrossFit angel?

Originally on Twitter

Wheat Belly: Don't Believe Everything You Read

Dr. William Davis, cardiologist, published the Wheat Belly diet book in 2011, and the trend of eating gluten free has skyrocketed since then.
At the time, I was frustrated by misleading gluten free (no wheat, barley, rye) information, so I have waited to comment… until now.
This diet recently had a surge in popularity, so here’s what’s true about Wheat Belly and what’s not so true.

Why the Gluten Free/Wheat Free Diet is Misleading

“Eating gluten free will help you lose weight.”
“I have more energy when I don’t eat wheat.”
“Wheat is not the same as it used to be. Our bodies can not process it                                       correctly.”
                                     “I don’t eat bread anymore.”

Does any of this sound familiar?
Some of this is partially true, but the rest is complete nonsense. This is why we get confused.

3 Key Things You Need to Know

1. Where I agree with Dr. Davis

            
           gluten free junk food

If you are eating gluten free, you need to avoid the processed gluten free products. Avoid the white rice crackers and snack foods as they are full of processed white rice flour. Avoid the wheat free cookies and cakes because they are still sweets!
Instead, make sure to choose these healthy food options: quinoa, brown rice, more fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, vegetable starches, beans, peas, other legumes, brown rice breads and flours, and gluten free oats.

2. Why Davis and other experts believe wheat is unhealthy

• One example I have for you is that we feed wheat to animals to fatten them up. Why would we want to fatten-up?
• The modern day wheat crop is less nutritious than it used to be. This is true with most big business food systems across the world.
• Most argue that this modern wheat crop does not digest well in our intestinal tract. This is not proven, simply a theory.

3. How people lose weight by avoiding wheat?

We find gluten and wheat is all mainstream food products out there. Any bread you get at a restaurant, most all cereals, and even condiments contain gluten.
By sticking to a wheat-free diet, you have to avoid a lot of tempting restaurant foods and desserts like donuts and pizza. You are almost forced to do more home cooking, and be more mindful of your eating. You have to check food labels. All of these actions result in weight loss, and it may just be from making better food choices overall.
FYI: 0.2-0.8% of people are estimated to have Celiac’s disease (a condition that means your body does not tolerate gluten).

Dr. Davis lectures about his diet

For the most part, the Wheat Belly diet is a sound plan, but you don’t need to follow it 100%. Just make sure to eat a healthier diet full of your fruits and vegetables, and you should do well.

I Still Eat Wheat and Gluten

However, I do not eat a lot of wheat. Instead, I choose more brown rice, sweet potatoes, rye crackers (they contain gluten), sprouted grains (which have a higher vitamin and mineral content), and quinoa. I generally don’t eat grocery store bread unless it is a sprouted grain bread or was baked recently at the bakery.
If you are going to eat wheat frequently, I recommend choosing a sprouted wheat or an ancient grain wheat (this means it is from a more nutritious wheat crop).
Do you eat wheat?

The Books

Dr. Davis currently has two Wheat Belly books available.
Wheat Belly which is available on Amazon.
The Wheat Belly Cookbook which is available on Amazon.

Finally! A Healthy Spinach Dip Recipe That Tastes Amazing!

Whether you’re looking for a healthy Superbowl recipe or a healthy appetizer to take to a party, this spinach dip is a winner.
Heck, just make a bowl of this and eat it as a meal. It’s so good that you’ll want to!
(This is my adaptation of Knorr spinach dip, but tweaked to be much healthier.)

Ingredients

• 1 packet of Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix (If you can’t find Knorr where you live, any 40g vegetable dry soup packet will work.)

16 oz (454 g) non-fat Greek yogurt

1/2 cup reduced fat real mayo

10 oz (283 g) chopped fresh or frozen spinach

8 oz (227 g) can of water chestnuts drained and chopped

4 green onions chopped

Directions

1. Combine Greek yogurt, mayo, and Knorr soup packet.
2. Cook, cool, and drain the spinach. Squeeze of excess water. I usually put it in a strainer and press it down with my fingers until little water remains. Cheese cloth works too.
3. Add water chestnuts, green onions, and spinach. Stir until the spinach is uniform throughout. 
4. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Serve. This dip makes about 4 cups and is great as a veggie dip or on healthy crackers, whole grain pita chips, or baked tortilla chips.

Less Than Half the Calories!

This modified version has about 736 calories per 4 cup batch.
The original recipe, which calls for a cup of regular mayo, has about 1,609 calories per 4 cup batch! More than double the modified recipe.
The best part? You won’t even notice that the 873 calories are missing!

The Incredible Shrinking Japanese Woman

This Japanese woman shrinks before our very eyes!

Pretty cool and a great way to document weight loss progress. She must feel great when she watches this.

Do you find this video inspiring?

Burn 20% More Fat by Exercising in the Morning?

                                                    
                  Weight loss patients ask me all the time, “does it matter what time of day that I exercise?”
I’m sure you have wondered if you will burn more body fat in the morning, or be able to boost the metabolism by exercising in the evening.
The short answer is no, I don’t believe it matters very much when you exercise.
However, there is an interesting new study featured below that perhaps suggests morning exercise before breakfast is best.

Less Calorie Burn in the Evening

                                                         
There is some research out there that states you don’t burn as much fat if you exercise later in the day. New research from the British Journal of Nutrition reported that participants burned 20% more fat if they exercised in the morning before eating breakfast. The research even said that participants did not feel as hungry later in the day and did not consume excess calories.
This is just one research study, and there is conflicting evidence out there. Some research says that you will not perform as well in the morning on an empty stomach.
At Diet-Blog, we know that it is easy to feel the effects of hunger after a big morning workout!

Hungry After Exercise

                                                         
Many worry that if they exercise in the morning, they will feel hungrier during the day and end up overeating their calories. This happens quite often, but the key is to focus on eating balanced throughout the day.
If you have exercised in the morning, make sure to eat a balanced breakfast that includes a protein, carbohydrate, and small amount of healthy fat. A good example of this is oatmeal, fruit, and a boiled egg or some nuts.

Remember the Big Picture

This is just one study, and the more important thing to remember is the big picture. Exercise is key for weight loss. Burn more calories than you take in, be truthful about it, and the result is weight loss.
Listen to your body- Some people naturally are more motivated to exercise in the morning, mid-day, or evening. Exercising when you feel most motivated to do so, will help you push yourself farther.
But, when is the best time to exercise? Whenever it fits into your schedule. Just make sure to get in that exercise most days of the week! If you are more likely to stay consistent, you will see your results. So, get moving!
What time of day do you workout?

How can 1 Billion People Worldwide be Fat when We Spend 100+ Billion to be Slim?

It doesn’t make sense, does it?

Humans have never spent more on diets and gym memberships, yet people are fatter than ever.
Something is obviously wrong somewhere, right? This video explains a possible answer to this mind boggling dilemma.

What do you think? If people simply ate like the video says, would obesity be history?

A Carb-Lover Goes Primal: The Beginning of My Journey

                                                 
Hello, my name is Beth and I’m a carbohydrate addict.  I’ve been grain and sugar free for exactly 30 hours.
My head hurts, I’m exhausted, and I pretty much hate everyone on the planet.  But I know from experience this feeling will pass … hopefully in another 24-48 hours.
I’ve battled my weight since my mid-20s, but things really got serious about two years ago.  What changed?
I went back to work full-time after seven years working from home while raising my kids.  My new job requires about eight hours a day of riding in my car or sitting at my desk.
Stress and inactivity added up, and suddenly I find myself breathless at the top of a tall flight of stairs and hitting the couch more often than the treadmill.  It’s long past time for a change.

First, I Got Rid of Bread and Sugar

Last summer, I dropped bread and sugar from my diet.  I also dropped 30 pounds in three months.  It was the only time in my life I’ve achieved significant weight loss, and I felt like a new woman.
I did some research and realized that what I was already doing was very close to the Paleo diet.  And so, in an effort to get a handle on my carb addiction- (which is once again getting the best of me) once and for all, I started my own personal 30-day Paleo challenge.

So, What Will My Primal Diet Look Like?

                                               

• No added sugar.  Why did I put this first?  Because I believe it’s the most important for me, and that it’s also the most difficult.  The one exception to this rule will be a very small serving of dark chocolate chips now and then.  See below.
• No grains of any kind
• Limited legumes.  This is not strictly Paleo, but I am going to allow the occasionally spoon of peanut butter or dish of peas.
• No processed foods and likewise no food additives.
• No dairy
• No vegetable oils

Fortunately for me, I kicked the soda habit several years ago and only drink water.  I only drink alcohol occasionally, so this won’t be hard to give up either.

What will I eat?

My goal is to stay 80% on the Paleo track.  When I do go off plan (the 20%), my goal is for it to be something like a cup of brown rice or a sushi dinner with my husband.  No cupcakes.
Everyday:

• vegetables
• fruits
• lean cuts of meat
• the occasional not-so lean cuts of meat (bacon, anyone?)
• eggs
• nuts and seeds
• oils as needed for cooking

In limited portions:

• starchy root vegetables

And for the occasional treat:

• dark chocolate chips

For 30 days, this is it.  Thirty days to retrain my mind and my body to crave wholesome, nutritious foods and natural sweetness.  Thirty days without violent blood sugar spikes and drops that leave me fatigued and in a fog.  After thirty days, my hope is to again allow more whole grains back into my diet and to continue to work toward weight loss – my goal is 50 pounds — in a balanced way.
If you are a Paleo expert, this series is not for you, though I welcome you to read along and chime in.  I can use all the help I can get.  But if you, like me, suffer from carb-addiction and think that the Paleo lifestyle is too far out of your comfort zone, then let me be your guide.
If I can do this, anyone can.