High-Protein Bodybuilding Chocolate Ice Cream

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Super Foods Fruits

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Super Foods Starchy Carbs

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Super Foods Good Fats

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Why is Dinner Fattening?

Almost everyone looks back with warmth at memories of some family dinner.  Dinners are ideally associated with relaxation, laughter and talk.

The process of laughing and talking over food should technically stretch the meal, giving our brain ample time to send satiety signals.  Again, ideally, this should mean saved calories and leaner bodies over time.

The reality, however, is different.  In today’s hurried worlds, we rush home from work to errands, events or even kids homework.  The calories start building up way before they are consumed.  The hurried mindset usually means cutting corners in dinner preparation.

We add fats or fatty meats to add flavor, processed foods to cut cooking times, and heavy starches as comfort food.  We may even have skipped meals during the day, and get so hungry that we munch on a snack while waiting for dinner to get to the table.  By the time dinner is served, the average meal has doubled or tripled in calories.

As a society, we are also consuming dinner later in the evenings, which means we are not giving our bodies enough time to digest and assimilate the meal.  That adds to an automatic increase in fatty stores.  Welcome to the land of pear-shaped people!

So what can you do to prevent dinner from destroying your weight loss or weight maintenance plan?

Here are three tips:

1. Switch meals -  Making breakfast the biggest meal of the day not only gets your diet plan off to the right start, but a balanced breakfast also helps fight disease and reduce cravings through the remainder of the day.  It gives you the energy to keep going through the day (with a balanced lunch, of course).
2. Plan Ahead – This means taking the time to plan out menus for the week to ensure you don’t have to cut corners and add high-calorie substitutes later.
3. Enjoy with Company – Research shows that having a balanced dinner with friends or family on a daily basis prevents obesity as individuals tend to exercise more restraint on eating patterns socially than when eating by themselves.  Conversation around the table also means there is more time for your brain to signal, “I’m Full”.

These tips are all part of the Fat Loss Factor Nutrition program. 

 For more information on this amazing fat loss system click Here.

 Have an Amazing Day!!

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Eat More Food To Lose Weight Fast

There is one golden rule for dieters and non-dieters alike: Eat frequently but eat less. This is practically the easiest way to ensure we lose weight, even if we don’t change anything about our diet.  Here’s why:

Bye-bye over-eating: When eating five or six times a day, we sit down for each meal only feeling a slight pang of hunger, as opposed to wanting to eat everything in sight when we are famished. Switching to more meals a day will also help us appreciate food better, which, again, will improve the quality of our life and change our relationship with food.
No binges: By eating more often, you’re less likely to get ravenous. When you eat a midmorning and mid-afternoon snack, you’re not starving at lunchtime or after work.  You are then much less likely to binge. For each meal or snack, eat both protein and carbs, such as cereal with milk, an apple with peanut butter or a turkey sandwich. Protein takes longer to digest than carbs, so you’ll stay satisfied longer.
Fire up your metabolism: Metabolism kicks into high gear when we feed ourselves regularly.  Our bodies are less likely to go into ‘survival mode’, as they do when we go for large periods of time with inadequate or no food, and then binge.  By feeding yourself regularly, your body thinks you’re getting ongoing fuel with no lack in supply.  It’ll keep burning those calories, and you will start feeling the results in no time.
Switching to six meals a day also has benefits beyond weight control. Since we no longer feel famished, our attention span improves, as also does our concentration, which, in turn, translates into increased productivity and an overall better mood at all times. You are also likely to eat more nutritiously because you won’t be loading up on empty calories.

These tips are all part of the Fat Loss Factor Nutrition program. 

 For more information on this amazing fat loss system click Here.

Have an Amazing Day!!

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How Does Stress Impact Your Weight Loss Efforts?

There is plenty of published research linking stress and weight gain.  While a variety of external behaviors and factors affect how we deal with stress, there are also biological responses automatically occurring within our body.

Cortisol, a stress-related hormone, has been associated with weight gain, especially abdominal fat.  When under stress, very large amounts of cortisol are released into the blood stream.  The most amount of fat is collected in the abdomen region when we eat under stress because receptors for cortisol are located in the abdomen.  To make things worse, a higher waist-to-hip ratio has been associated with higher levels of cortisol under stress.  That is a double whammy for those of us who are even slightly overweight.  It means we automatically start triggering more abdominal fat storage than our leaner peers.

Metabolism is also impacted by excess cortisol.  Metabolism slows down.  A slower metabolism means you can’t burn off calories efficiently, and this results in weight gain even when consuming a lower amount of calories. Another double whammy here.  Since most people tend to eat more when under stress, the rate of weight gain increases exponentially.

So what can you do to avoid having cortisol create a roadblock in your weight loss efforts?  Manage stress proactively!  Don’t wait until it catches up with you to start fighting it.  Here are a few things to do:
Raise awareness:  Gain awareness of your stress triggers and reactions.

Get in those workouts: Exercise regularly to regulate cortisol levels.  It can also help alleviate depression.  Try relaxation exercises such as guided meditations and yoga.
Get enough rest:  Your body rejuvenates itself while sleeping, and helps you cope with stress more effectively.  It may mean that you make a wiser food choice the next day, and help yourself in your weight loss or maintenance plan.

It is important to note that while it is important you manage stress and cortisol levels appropriately, medication is not a recommended first option.  Try one of the methods above first!

These tips are all part of the Fat Loss Factor Nutrition program. 
 For more information on this amazing fat loss system click Here.

Have an Amazing Day!!

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Seven Ways to Boost Your Metabolism for Fast Fat Burning

A higher metabolism helps you feel good with higher energy levels, keeps your body functions going at optimum, and becomes an automatic weight control mechanism for you.  Here are ten tips on how to boost your metabolism for fast fat burning.

Eat your breakfast -  If you don’t eat breakfast, you slow down your metabolism and send the body into survival mode, thinking it’s starving because you’re going a long period of time without food.  Literally, break the fast that your body has been on since dinner.  Go ahead and enjoy a balanced breakfast.

Eat the majority of your food earlier in the day – Dinner should be your lightest meal. This helps your body process and burn the food when you’re aware and moving around and burning more calories per hour.

Don’t starve – Dropping your calorie intake below 1,000 calories a day will signal to your body that you are in starvation mode, and will slow down your metabolism.

Eat frequently and eat more – Smaller, more frequent meals keeps your blood sugar stable and provides a steady source of energy to fuel metabolism.

Exercise – Exercise provides a boost at any time of the day, but when done in the mornings, it is especially helpful by raising your metabolism all day.  Add weight training or progressive resistance exercise that builds muscle for ever more results. Muscle burns more calories than fat, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest!

Hydrate yourself – The energy burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively. Keep drinking those glasses of water regularly. Be sure it is purified or spring water.

Tap water will have a reverse effect.

Get enough B vitamins – Vitamin B-12 is essential for energy. To ensure you’re getting enough B vitamins, consider taking a B complex.  Your energy levels will rise, and alongwith, your metabolism too!

These tips are all part of the Fat Loss Factor Nutrition program. For more information on this amazing fat loss system click Here.

Try these tips :)

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Stress, Comfort Foods and Weight Gain

What do you associate comfort foods with?  When do we need these ‘comfort foods’?  The answers to these questions bring forth the direct connection between stress, comfort foods and weight gain.

Most comfort foods are high carbohydrate, high fat, or both.  A bowl of macaroni and cheese or buttery mashed potatoes are just two examples of the variety of food we consider comfort food.  We are most likely to reach for these foods when we are under stress and need re-assurance at some level.  For a lot of us, comfort foods tend to provide that reassurance – the same feeling you probably got as a child eating those foods that all will be okay.

Not only do we eat more under stress, we also tend to consume alcohol more often.  That means we are not only adding in the calories from feel-good food items, we are also adding in a large number of empty calories from stress-induced drinking.  All the extra calories mean a lot of extra workouts to burn them off, or more than likely, weight gain over a period of time.

Studies have shown that women in particular are more at risk for eating and drinking in direct response to stress.  The primary cause for over-eating that women have stated in various studies is a lack of emotional support.  That makes it imperative for those of us trying to lose weight to build a support network that we can rely on during periods of stress.  It may mean reaching out to them for help, just blowing off steam, or socializing with supportive friends so we are not focusing on tough issues alone.  Being with company also means we are less likely to consume a box of chocolate, or a couple of bottles of wine.  Imagine the number of calories and weight gain you save yourself every time you do not eat an extra piece of chocolate or an extra serving of food?

What all of us can do is just to be more aware and conscious of how we react to stress.  This awareness in itself will help guide actions and help us make choices that don’t have to automatically mean weight gain.  It also means that we can and should stop using stress as an excuse to explain any weight gain.
These tips are all part of the Fat Loss Factor Nutrition program.
 For more information on this amazing fat loss system click Here.

Give it a try and see what happens :)

Have an Amazing Day!!

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