Foods That Just Aren't Worth Eating

Trying to keep healthy?  Or lose some weight?  There's definitely a 'trick' to it (if you want to call it that)... and that's to keep what you put in your body only foods that help it realize your goals.  Want to be lean?  Eat healthy!  Want to be healthy?  Well... EAT HEALTHY (oh, did I say that already?).

Remember:  Health begets health.  So while you're on your mission to be healthy and lean, here's some foods that really just are NOT worth eating.  They do nothing to help your cause and will probably just sabotage your efforts.

Stay away from soft drinks.  There's nothing good about them.  Sugar, food coloring and carbonated water.  What on earth would make anyone think that combination is good for them?  And if you're thinking you can make it better by drinking the 'diet' version instead to keep your calories low, consider this:  it's calorie free but it's still sweet, therefore it's sweetened with artificial sweetener.  Excuse me but artificial sweeteners are all either made completely from chemicals or are chemically processed to remove the calories.  Either way, they are the equivalent of drinking poison.  Stay away from soft drinks.  If you absolutely must drink your fizzy treat, then stick to club soda.  Need flavor?  Add a lemon or lime wedge.




Avoid deep fried foods.  They're almost always chock full of hydrogenated oils, trans fats and all sorts of other indigestible, fattening calories.  If you want to have your fries, try sprinkling some heart-healthy coconut oil or olive oil on potatoes, sweet potatoes or yams and bake them in the oven.  This is a far healthier way to get your 'french-fry' fix.

Skip the bacon.  Bacon is full of nitrates and absolutely jammed with salt and unhealthy fat.  Want a tasty meat treat?  Try some cooked shrimp.  Or a chicken breast prepared on the grill.  You'll get a lot more nutrients for your body and a lot less complaining from your heart.

Donuts.  Deep fried white-flour dough covered in white, processed sugar.  Remind me how this could ever be considered a good thing to eat?  No nutritional quality and lots and lots of calories and bad fats makes this so called 'food' very high on the list of foods that just aren't worth eating.

Potato chips of any description are also very high on this list.  Why?  Deep fried potatoes with the skins peeled off (which is where most of the nutrition in a potato resides).  They're highly caloric and again hold little nutritional quality.  Best to keep away from this 'food' too, if you're looking to be the healthiest, leanest version of you possible.

Margarine.  All margarine happens to be is oils and food colouring with artificial flavoring added to make it resemble butter.  It's very high in calories and very devoid of nutrition.  If you want to spread something on your meals or whole grain bread, make it the real thing, good ol' natural butter.  Sure, it's high in calories but at least there's some nutrition in butter.  And usually it doesn't contain chemicals or artificial flavors.  If you can find a brand that doesn't use artificial coloring, you're golden (but your butter won't be)!

Remember what I mentioned at the beginning: Health begets health.  The healthier you can make the food you eat, the faster your body will reward you with better health and a leaner physique.




Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jackie_Burgmann/407519

Follow the Proper Diet to Build Muscle

One important consideration for anyone who wishes to build muscle, is choosing an appropriate diet to build muscle, a diet that will help you to achieve your goals. Without the consumption of the necessary foods, you won't have the building materials for muscle growth or the energy to build muscle.

Body building requires a lot of determination, commitment, and self control to stick with the exercises required. The body builder also has to maintain that same focus when following a diet to build muscles, by selecting which foods to include and exclude from his diet.

Diet is a major determinate of how healthy a person is and actually feels. Good nutrition and good health go together. Good nutrition is also key to maintaining the energy and strength needed to build muscle, and the speed at which it can be accomplished.

Diet is often thought of only in terms of general weight loss. In the context of muscle building, it has a definition that is quite different. Dieting to build muscle is focused upon providing building materials for muscle growth, providing the energy to perform the exercises needed to promote that growth, and to reduce the amount of body fat. Eating enough protein is critical to any diet to build muscle.




As with any diet, your diet plan should be tailored to your current body weight. As you increase your muscle mass and body weight, you must increase your protein and calorie consumption. If you weigh 160 pounds, you may consume only 300 grams of protein each day and about 3000 calories. This should be spread out during the day over five or six meals, and would include any protein shakes taken before or after workout sessions.

Fresh fruits like apples and bananas are great foods to include in a diet to build muscle. Eggs, egg whites, toast, and other unprocessed foods are also excellent choices, making breakfast one of the most important meals of the day. Avoid the processed foods in frozen meals. Your diet is a vital part of your body building program.

While diet is important for providing the nutrition needed for building muscle, the actual muscle building process still requires that you work out vigorously. The proper diet simply ensures that you are filling you body with the needed fuel. Don't be afraid of variety in your food selections.

Eating the same foods over and over is boring and can lead to bad eating habits simply to experience a pleasant change. Pork, chicken, and salmon are tasty protein sources, and applesauce and oatmeal muffins are excellent carbs with delightful flavors. Regardless of what you eat, make sure that the food is healthful, and you'll be more productive during you workout time.

If you truly wish to improve your general health and physical appearance by building muscle, make sure that you treat your diet choices with the same intensity that you perform your exercise routines. You're goal is to gain muscle and lose fat. Exercise and a good diet to build muscle go hand in hand to achieve those goals.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jack_A_Bush/600750