The UnDiet Weight Loss Guide » July 2013

Monthly Archives: July 2013

Working Out

Keeping a Training Diary

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To succeed in any type of sport you need to train yourself systematically. It doesn’t matter whether you’re training for a race, a competition or just for your own personal benefit – to see how far you’ve come you should keep a training diary.

Documenting your progress not only helps you with short-term planning but it also allows you to see your development over a long period of time. You’ll be able to determine which exercises were the most effective and which ones you can eliminate from your routine.

To ensure that you exercise regularly it helps if you’re having fun, not only with the activity but also with the upkeep of your training diary. It shouldn’t feel like just one more thing you don’t really want to do. Picking a pretty or very cool looking notebook can help to make you smile when you whip out your training diary or if you’re a gadget-gal or guy finding a training app or software can help you to look forward to making your training entries.

If you’re starting with a blank notebook  here are some things that you’ll probably want to keep track of:

  • Date & day of the week

  • Time

  • Length of your route or training session

  • Description of the route (hilly, flat, dirt, asphalt …)

  • Duration of training session

  • Cardio, basic or speed training?

  • Average speed

  • Weather, temperature etc.

  • What you ate and drank that day – helps you to evaluate how that affected the next day’s performance

  • Your personal notes

Should you have a different exercise focus then it can easily be incorporated into your diary. Cyclists for instance often also keep track of their pulse in the mornings before they start their workout. That makes sense to prevent overtraining yourself. Having a faster pulse during your resting period can indicate a number of things, you could be asking too much of yourself when exercising or you could be in danger of cardiac arrest, which is a serious risk for any endurance athlete.

Thank you to Festina for this post. Festina has a range of cycling watches chock full of useful features to help you keep your training diary up to date and help you stay healthy. You can find a range of Festina watches over at Watch Depot.

High Protein UnDiet Eating Plans

South Beach Diet and the Hunger Pangs: The Odds are in Your Favor

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Looking for answers to better dieting, cardiologist Arthur Agatson and dietician Marie Almon created the South Beach Diet to help patients successfully lose weight and keep it off.

What once was purposed for reducing the risk of heart disease, the South Beach Diet has become a well-known approach to weight loss since its creation in the early 2000s by cardiologist Arthur Agatston and dietician Marie Almon. The South Beach Diet focuses on instructing dieters to learn the difference between good fats vs. bad fats and good carbs vs. bad carbs. With this knowledge, Agatston wanted to empower both men and women with the ability manage their diet in a healthier way.

Why the South Beach Diet is different

Before the South Beach Diet came into existence, during the 1980’s Dr. Agatston noticed that his patients had a hard time following low-fat diets that were heavily recommended by cardiologists in an attempt to lower weight gain, cholesterol and heart disease. Such popular diets included the Ornish Diet and the Pritkin Diet. After much study of insulin resistance, Agatston figured that low-fat diets were causing weightwatchers to make up for the fat by consuming refined sugars and carbs. These “bad carbs” increased the release of insulin in the body, thus dropping the level of blood sugar and producing the sense of hunger. This hunger was then apt to be satisfied by dieters and eventually led to failed dieting and weight gain.

Three phases for dieting success

The South Beach Diet implements 3 phases to follow to help the body overcome blood-sugar spikes and drops and help reduce hunger pangs.

Phase 1 of the diet is to learn to eliminate cravings and promote rapid weight loss in 2 weeks. The idea of eliminating cravings comes from an ability to stabilize blood-sugar levels which helps get rid of a need to feast on refined carbs and starches. The rapid weight loss is designed for women that want to lose 10 pounds or more. After establishing a routine of eating specified, nutritious foods and cutting out the “bad fats” and “bad carbs” dieters will be ready for Phase 2.

Phase 2 includes bringing in nutritious food to the diet plan that was avoided in Phase 1, including whole grains, fruits and vegetables. And instead of focusing on rapid weight loss, Phase 2 accommodates for steady weight loss that is easier to keep off. Unlike Phase 1 that can be completed in 2 weeks, Phase 2 lasts for as long as it takes for the dieter to reach their weight goal.

Phase 3 is all about maintenance and using your acquired knowledge to keep the weight off. Here dieters will have already learned which foods they can or should not eat, how to return to a different phase if needed and how to keep the weight off forever.

Recipes

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Our thanks to Janie G. – a writer for Holtorf Medical Group for such a fantastic explanation of what the South Beach Diet is all about. If you’re looking for a way to lose weight, their medical professionals can help you get great results.

Tips

Eating Your Fruits and Vegetables

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Our nation is riddled with health problems. From heart disease to obesity, it may seem like an uphill battle to try to stay healthy and ensure that you do not spend time, money and energy dealing with health problems that could have been avoided.

When you are trying to lead a healthier life, a great way to start is by getting in enough fruits and vegetables throughout the day. Eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables will ensure that your body is getting the nutrients that it needs to avoid many diseases.

It’s recommended that an adult eat about nine servings of fruits and vegetables in a day. This averages out to about two and a half cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit.

This can be an overwhelming goal if you’re not accustomed to eating fruits and vegetables. While you’re working on incorporating more fruits and veggies into your diet, you may want to start by taking a look at your day and making a mental (or written) note of where you can incorporate more fresh produce.

So if you’re planning to eat lunch at your favorite burger joint instead of automatically adding fries to your order, ask about different options such as coleslaw, grilled veggies or fresh fruit.

After grocery shopping prepare some fruits and vegetables so that they’re ready to grab when you’re on the go. Cut up veggies and put them into ziplock bags. Make up a fruit salad and divide it into individual containers. Getting everything ready once or twice a week will ensure that you have something delicious and healthy to grab on your way out the door.

Start thinking about new ways to prepare your fruits and vegetables that will make them healthier and maybe even get you excited about eating more fresh produce. For instance instead of automatically dousing your vegetables with cheese sauce or ranch dressing, try roasting them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. You just might find that you don’t need anything else to enjoy them. If you’re skeptical about whether or not you’ll like a new vegetable, toss it in a skillet with some of your favorite vegetables. And while we’re talking about sauteeing, be sure to use an oil that isn’t going to take the nutritional value away from them. Tossing them with a small amount of coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil will ensure that they’re going to get cooked without losing nutrients.

Starting off small by adding one more serving each of fruits and vegetables than you normally have and working up to nine servings a day will make this new way of eating much less overwhelming.

Thank you to Megadyne – an electrosurgical equipment supplier that understands the importance of a healthy lifestyle – for their contribution to The UnDiet. Megadyne specializes in electrosurgery. Megadyne encourages everyone to consult with their physician to find a healthy eating plan that is right for each person’s individual circumstance.

Uncategorized

Barbecue Chicken Dry Rub Recipe

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This is Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe’s “Magic Dust” dry rub recipe which they have so graciously shared with all of us. They say the container that holds their Magic Dust is the most frequently stolen item from their restaurant, so maybe they figure if they just give us the recipe they thievery will stop.

1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt, finely ground
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons mustard powder
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1/4 cup granulated garlic
2 tablespoons cayenne

If you want a little more kick in your chicken you can increase the black pepper and mustard powder to a 1/4 cup each. Of course you can use this dry rub on almost any meat that you’re grilling.

Generously coat both sides of chicken with the dry rub right before it hits the grill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working Out

Skating: More Than Just a Pastime

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We’ve recently discovered roller skating and inline skating here at the UnDiet and are having a blast using it as a new form of cardio, so when a reader asked to submit an article on the benefits of roller skating we said “sure, have at it”.

Roller skating has lost its thrill as a pastime. People roller skate for fun group activities or dates, but few people roller skate for leisure, transportation, or even exercise. Its perception as being “out of date” overshadows the many benefits of roller skating.

What Benefits Does Roller Skating Have?

The major benefit of roller skating is exercise! Roller skating gives you anequivalentworkout to jogging or even biking! It is primarily an aerobic workout that targets almost all of the body’s muscles including: the heart, arms, quads, glutes, abs, you name it. Because it’s an aerobic workout you can burn many calories depending the speed and effort that you put into; however, on average, if you spend an hour just skating at a moderate pace, you can burn about 330 calories. The best part about it is that it causes 50% less impact on your joints than running! No more achy knees!

Why Choose Roller Skating For Exercise?

It’s fun! If running sounds like extreme boredom, roller skating might be your thing. If you choose to roller skate at a rink you can enjoy the music, people, and lights. What can be more fun than that? Or you can skate along a path at a park, down the sidewalks in the city – anywhere that provides a paved surface. Make it even more fun by making a game out of it; invite other people to play a game of tag, start a race, or just enjoy the company. The great part about exercise is it boosts your mood and your energy, so even if it doesn’t sound all that great to start with, you’ll be loving it by the time you finish.

With roller skating, the cardio aspect of exercise is all taken care of, so if you’re looking for a way to increase your strength, check out these options at www.homegymreview.net. Whatever you choose, you’ll be loving your new lifestyle that will make you look and feel great.