Working Out

Getting In Shape At Home

Published by:

For many of us, going to the gym is just not an option.  Either the membership fees are too high or we just do not have time to drive to the gym on a regular basis.  If this sounds familiar, consider creating a fitness area within the comforts of your own home or office.  A home gym will offer you a great workout that can be arranged around any busy schedule.  Depending on space, most people will elect to use some type of weight machine as well as a machine to build cardiovascular health. Typically, when these two forms of exercise are combined a greater workout can be achieved.

Depending on your personal fitness goals, gym equipment should be customized to focus in these two areas.  Many people will purchase home exercise equipment that offers them ways to build and tone upper body muscle while utilizing a recumbent bike or elliptical to build lower body strength and boost cardiovascular health.  This can be a great strategy for those who do not have space for a full home gym that has lower body attributes.  It is also highly suggested that free weights become incorporated with workouts whenever possible.  Dumbbells can add new dimensions to routines that will work muscles differently and offer a more intense workout, ultimately leading to results faster.

Resistance trainers can be another great way to build diversity into your workout routine.  Resistance machines, similar to free weights, offer the ability to work muscles differently.  They also help lengthen muscle mass which can lead to greater success faster.  Depending on the machine, resistance trainers can accommodate most any ability and fitness level.

Creating a workout routine at home, that you enjoy, is a great alternative to the high cost of gym memberships.  Although home gym equipment may seem expensive, remember it is an investment that will more then pay for itself over time!

Uncategorized

Fast Weight Loss with a Belly Fat Diet

Published by:

If you have made the decision to lose a few pounds, or even if you have quite a few pounds to lose, it is going to take some effort. No one loses weight without putting in a good deal of determination and planning.  In fact, the best way to lose belly fat will often be with the right belly fat diet.

If you have researched all the various diets that claim to help you shed pounds quickly, then you are probably a bit overwhelmed and starting to wonder which plan is really the one that will work for you. There is no doubt that the number of fad diets continues to rise, but research consistently tells us that if we want to lose belly fat, there needs to be some healthy changes in our eating habits as well as the implementation of an exercise program.

Many people go into a weight loss plan hoping to lose belly fat, or to lose weight overall, but they are not ready to make a change in their lifestyle. This is exactly what sets up the yo-yo dieting which not only leaves most dieters extremely frustrated, it slows the metabolism making successive attempts at weight loss even harder. This constant up and down with your weight is not only hard on your self-esteem; it is not good for your health either.

To successfully lose weight and maintain that weight loss requires a determination to change some simple dietary habits you may have established. Some people like to eat snacks in the evening while watching television, others have gotten complacent about getting up and engaging in some form of exercise; maybe you’re one of the many people who have become accustomed to running through the local fast food drive-thru. All of these little habits can result in big weight gains if not taken into control.

The belly fat diet will help you learn to eat properly and finally lose the weight, but even better, it will help you keep the weight off once you’ve reached your goal.

Uncategorized

Don’t Fall For These Camouflaged Saboteurs

Published by:

Arm Yourself With Knowledge

We’re going to unmask those camouflaged goodies that woo you with promises of energy, satisfaction, extra vitamins, masses of protein … NEWS FLASH – they’re the enemy, disguised with pretty labels and misleading verbage, laying in ambush, waiting to sabotage your weight loss and health efforts. Knowledge is your best weapon against these insidious tricksters. In this week’s Step we’ll identify some of the most popular saboteurs and give you the ammunition to effectively disarm them.

A Sticky Situation

While peanut butters marked “reduced fat” do have less fat than the average jar, they usually have just as many calories when you total up the additional sugar added to give the finished product the same flavor as the full fat version.

Jams that are labeled “all-fruit” tend to contain ingredients other than Fruit and may even have less Fruit than jams that don’t carry the “all-fruit” labeling. The label on the front a package is a clue to what it’s inside but not a promise. Where you’ll get the real info is in the Ingredients and Nutrition Info sections.

UnDiet Ammunition
Look for:

  • “oil on top” nut butters – you can pour off some or all of the oil. These nut butters are also lower in saturated fat since the oil in them comes only from the nut instead of the added oil in other types of nut butters. When you pour off all the oil the resulting nut butter will be pretty dry so you may want to puree it with low-fat silken tofu or bananas for a low cal, low fat, refined-sugar-free, tasty treat or just puree it with the jam for any ready-made jar of sandwich filling.
  • jams that list Fruit as the first ingredient in their ingredient list and that contain no refined sugars

These Goodies Will Double Cross You Every Time

Don’t be fooled by the cookies, cakes and other baked goods in the diet aisle which are labeled “low fat” and “sugar free”. The low fat items typically have a higher degree of refined sugar, the sugar free items could be sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, sorbitol, aspartame, Nutrasweet, or evaporated cane juice, all of which will stall your weight loss.

Graham crackers often have very little graham (whole wheat) flour and almost always will contain refined sugar.

UnDiet Ammunition

Take a stroll down the diet or health food aisle and you’ll find many alternative cookies, cakes and other dessert items.

Get the Sugar Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut the Sugar in Any Diet


This timely book is aimed at the millions of people whose low-fat diets aren’t providing the health benefits and weight loss they expect.

More than 50 recipes make Get the Sugar Out a great guide to low-sugar adaptations of favorite meals, snacks, drinks and desserts, along with tips on how to read food labels and ratings of popular foods.

Check out Gittleman’s recipe for Living Apple Pie on the UnDiet site this month.

Falling For Mr. Goodbar

Energy, sports and protein bars are generally not a good item for UnDieters. They’re designed as a portable meal replacement for athletes on biking trips or mountain treks. The excess protein they contain may do more harm than good when you eat them regularly as a snack between meals. Excess protein can cause the body to excrete calcium. When eaten regularly they could increase the risk of osteoporosis. Extra protein is not something that the average person needs to look for in their diet. Even a balanced vegetarian diet contains enough protein to sustain you. Besides these bars are almost always a mix of Protein and Starches, and contain a lot of refined sugars. The UnDiet alternatives are better snack options – they have approximately half the calories of energy/sports bars and no refined sugars.

UnDiet Ammunition
The items below are great non-perishable meal replacements to carry with you when you’re on a hectic schedule:

  • The diet and/or health food aisle of your local grocery store will have a good selection of meal and snack bars that cater to UnDieters, low carbers and diabetics. Of course you can also find these in a health food store.
  • Low-fat granola: make your own or pick some up at the grocery or health food store – remember to read the ingredients list looking for refined sugars and added oils.
  • Tofu Jerky (meat jerky is fine also, just difficult to find without all kinds of nitrites and other additives including refined sugars).
  • Trail mix, make your own or look for it at your local grocery or health food store. Just remember to look for refined sugar and other additives and avoid them.
  • Breakfast bars that contain whole food ingredients and do not contain refined sugars and trans-fats.
  • Dried Fruit, make sure it’s sulfur-free.
  • Nuts
  • Really Nutritious Nutri-Grain Bars (the recipe will be in an upcoming Step)

When a Rose By Another Name is Not a Rose (so sorry WS)

Watch out for tricky labeling. Air-popped popcorn flavored with high-fat or sugary coatings can supply as much fat and calories as potato chips. Words like “stone ground wheat” or “hearty” used to describe crackers trick you into believing that they’re made with whole grains, when they may not be at all. Read the ingredient list to determine if “stone ground wheat” products are actually made with “whole wheat”, the key word being “whole” whenever an ingredient list is referring to a grain. And don’t forget to check further down on the ingredient list as many whole grain products also contain refined sugar in the form of “high-fructose corn syrup”. “Evaporated cane juice” or “brown rice syrup” are good alternative sweeteners.

Fruit leathers and other Fruit-based treats whose labels claim they’re made with real Fruit may not contain much real Fruit at all.

The word “natural” on a food label does not always mean the product is healthy. So-called “natural” Fruits can contain refined sugar since sugar is considered a “natural” ingredient.

UnDiet Ammunition

  • Healthy Choice or Newman’s Organic microwave popcorn contains no trans-fats and the surprise bonus is that you’ll never taste a better microwave popcorn than Newman’s Own Organics.
  • packaged popped organic popcorn which you can find at any health food store or health food aisle of grocery store
  • If you can find Farmer Steve’s Organic Microwave Popcorn consider yourself lucky – it’s oil-free and lightly salted.
  • Triscuits and Wheat Thins are good cracker choices, although I find that the low-fat versions of both of these crackers tend to taste stale, so stick with the regular version.
  • Sulfur-free dried Fruit snacks with Fruit or dried Fruit listed first or second in the ingredient list.

Not-So-Smoothie-Sailing

With juice-bar Fruit and frozen yogurt shakes, often called “smoothies” you can gulp down a LOT of calories and refined sugars. If Fruits are processed in a juicer, most of their fiber is lost, and the fiber is what makes you feel full. Then, juice concentrates are added which make for additional calories with absolutely zero nutritional benefit.

UnDiet Ammunition

At a juice bar:

  • Pick vegetable blends instead of juice blends.
  • Choose juices which are made fresh at that bar (usually orange, apple, and grapefruit).
  • Order a smoothie instead of a juice. Smoothies contain the whole fruit, whereas a juicer removes the fiber. Look for smoothies made with fresh juice, bananas, and/or yogurt (if it’s sugar-free).

If you’re at home you can whip up a low calorie smoothie that’s brimming with live digestive enzymes. Drink up and you won’t miss your juice-bar smoothie at all. If you’re short on time you can make up a pitcher full of smoothie and then just pour them into your thermal cup as you run out the door.

Dairy Disasters

Yogurts marked “natural” or  “no artificial ingredients” can contain refined sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup (but not artificial flavors or colors). Yogurts whose labels don’t have the “live and active cultures” seal may not contain the live bacteria cultures that give yogurt it’s health and digestive benefits. Puddings made with “70% nonfat milk” may contain more fat than puddings made with whole milk, because vegetable oil may have been added. Kind of makes you mad doesn’t it when you see how the “art of labeling” messes up your attempts to eat healthy?

UnDiet Ammunition

  • “Reduced fat” and “part skim milk” cheeses have less fat than regular cheeses, yet taste and melt almost the same – “nonfat” cheeses however, don’t taste or melt any better than the packaging they come in.
  • Yogurt with the “live and active cultures” seal on the label and no refined sugars.
  • Ready-to-eat puddings without fats or oils high on their ingredient lists and with no refined sugars.
  • UnDiet Fruit Puddings such as Cocoa Pudding and Raisin Nut Pudding.

Frozen Ass-ets (which is where these treats will end up on you!)

Frozen fruit bars usually aren’t 100% Fruit. Some contain a high percentage of refined sugar. Low-fat pudding or ice cream bars often contain so much refined sugar and processed ingredients that the lack of fat is hardly the issue. Even the sugar-free varieties are no plus for weight loss when they’re sweetened with Nutrasweet/aspartame.

UnDiet Ammunition

  • Commercially frozen bars made from 100 % Fruit or juice – can also contain yogurt, cream, milk, or nuts.
  • Homemade frozen bars made from any UnDiet Fruit Shake, Fruit Pudding, or Citrus Cooler.

Caught in a Crunch

Even though vegetable chips contain about half the fat of regular potato chips they have almost the same number of calories. Terra chips substitute insulin producing vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets for plain old spuds. Designer chips contain such a small amount of nonstarchy vegetables or whole grains that you’re not getting much more fiber or antioxidants than you’d find in a bag of old-fashioned potato chips. The big issue here is that during weight loss these starchy vegetables cause your body to produce more insulin than is conducive to weight loss. When you’re into maintenance these chips are okay – just not on a daily basis.

UnDiet Ammunition

  • Baked Tortilla Chips (make your own – the store-bought variety tastes awful) – corn is another insulin overloading vegetable though so save these for maintenance or eat them sparingly.
  • Make your own whole wheat tortilla and pita chips.
  • Air-popped popcorn, with or without a short burst of butter spray, sea salt, Parmesan cheese, herbs & spices – popcorn is an insulin overloading food so save these for maintenance or eat sparingly.
  • Zucchini Chips, Kale Chips, Apple Chips – make your own or find a brand that you like.
  • Chew on dried tomatoes – sort of like an Italian jerky.
  • Cheddar Crisps
  • Spicy Cheese Crisps
  • Sun Chips brand chips are made with whole wheat, but eat sparingly. In other words, enjoy the 100 calorie bag but don’t use them as a substitute for dinner.

For those on Protein Blast:

  • Pork rinds (sounds gross but they’re really good) give you the satisfaction of a crunchy snack. They’re high in fat but you’re not worrying about that on a Protein Blast, are you?
  • Cheddar Crisps
  • Spicy Cheese Crisps
  • Zucchini or Kale Chips

Tips & Tricks

Stop a moment before you reach for a snack. When you’re stressed, tired, frustrated, bored, angry … it’s so easy to grab a prepackaged snack food. Instead, get away from what you’re doing, even if for just a little while; take a walk, run an errand, make a phone call, visit an office compatriot … Then if you still feel you need a little something, choose an UnDiet alternative.

$$$aver

Write out at least a week’s worth of menu’s using your favorite grocery store’s ads to plan sale items into your menu.

Step By Step

1. Be on the lookout for your particular camouflaged saboteurs.
2. Shop for and/or prepare alternatives that satisfy and beat your saboteurs at their game.
3. Print out this Step and post it near the places where you snack attacks creep up on you.
4. Go to Coupon Clearinghouse – find coupons for thousands of food items.
5. Once you’ve cleaned out your cupboards you’re ready to move on to Step 4: Separate Foods.

Tips

Fun Weight Loss Tips

Published by:

Who said that losing weight can’t be fun?  There are many different things you can do to enhance the time you spend trying to lose weight and become more active and healthy.  I’ll try to cover some more unique weight loss tips instead of the ones you have heard before.

My number one tip to get more active is to try geocaching.  If you are anything like me, the thought of mindlessly doing cardio at the gym, whether it is an aerobics class or a treadmill is terrible.  Even when I try to do it and watch television or read, I still can’t keep it going for long.  Geocaching makes outdoor exercise fun, and all you need is an inexpensive GPS system.   Basically it makes an ordinary trail walk or hike into an awesome treasure hunt which truly makes things exciting!  You can find really cool caches and great views, and even make some own yourself.

Another tip to make losing weight fun is to try and cook one awesome meal per week.  Incorporate different fat burning foods from around the world through use of different spices.  Spicy food is known to speed up your metabolism while you are in the digestive process.  So make it a treat for your family, friends, or coworkers and start up a great tradition.  You will look forward to your healthy cooking because of the different cultural foods you can experience.  Plus, you can always make extra and freeze them for multiple dinners or lunches.

Lastly, I am a big fan of setting goals.  For every ten pounds I lose I like to reward myself with a treat, and this treat is NEVER food.  One time though, the treat was a cooking demonstration/class but it was focused on healthy eating, not overindulgence.  After the weight is off you can treat yourself for other maintaining goals such as going to the gym consistently all month, or keeping your goal weight for 6 months, or successfully completing a marathon!

Internal Cleansing

Juicing Appliances For The Alkaline Diet

Published by:

In my health consulting practice I’m finding that many people would benefit greatly from a high alkaline diet. Alkalizing foods are those that have a negative Potential Renal Acid Load (PRAL) value. This is a calculation that is based upon the quantities of nutrients and minerals that foods contain. Negative values indicate alkaline foods while a positive value means a food has an acidifying effect. The goal of this diet is not to only eat alkaline foods, this could lead to adverse consequences. But typically our diets these days are too far on the acid side of the spectrum, so adding more alkaline foods is going to be good for us.

If you are trying to follow an alkaline diet then it would be useful to have a juicer machine. This can help you increase the amount of alkaline foods you consume in your diet. When you discover that alkaline foods are simply fruits and vegetables, it is hard to argue against it. We have been told since childhood that fruits and vegetables are good for us. This diet simply attempts to put a scientific spin on why this is.

Since consuming more fruits and vegetables is good for us in so many ways, the more that we can consume each day, the healthier we will be. But trying to eat large quantities of fruits and vegetables can be time consuming and there is obviously a limit to the amount we are able to eat. This is why juicing for health really can work wonders. It is very easy to make orange juice or an apple and carrot drink that contains up to five servings of fresh produce. Imagine having a couple of these drinks each day. This would give you so much fruit and vegetable nutrition it would most certainly have an alkalizing effect in your body and very soon start to make you feel full of energy each and every day.

Working Out

How to Lose Weight with Proper Exercise Routines

Published by:

Losing weight is difficult already, even with proper exercise. But most people don’t know how to lose weight the best way; they concentrate on all the wrong things. They buy expensive equipment like total workout home gyms or BowFlex machines, or concentrate on expensive and popular fitness programs like P90X or 8 Minute Abs.

But these aren’t good exercise routines for losing weight because they don’t burn calories as effectively as other programs do. In fact, you don’t need to spend your money on the expensive designer programs that you see advertised on TV and online. Instead, you should just design your own program using a few basic rules.

The first rule for putting together your own exercise routines is to know your level. If you’ve been working out for a long time and are serious about body sculpting, you can push yourself hard and, if your musculature is built up enough, you can do many different kinds of demanding workouts without getting hurt.

But if you’re just a beginner and you’re just interested in how to lose weight the easiest or quickest way possible, you have a different challenge ahead. A common mistake beginners make is they try workout routines that aren’t designed for them. Most exercise routines, though advertised for beginners, are best suited for advanced or even professional body sculptors and weight-lifting champions.

Designing these programs for advanced athletes allows them to include complex techniques that are too physically demanding for the beginner’s body. If all you want is a simple way to lose weight, you shouldn’t follow these programs. Instead, just stick to the basics: Get enough aerobic exercise (at least 30 minutes of sustained heightened heart-rate each day), drop the calories in your diet, and you’ll be well on your way to dropping those pounds, the simple way.

Uncategorized

Extreme Weight Loss

Published by:

Today it seems that everyone is looking for the fastest way to lose weight, but it is really important that safety does not take a back seat. You’ve heard it before, but it can’t be stressed enough; you must consult your doctor before starting any kind of weight loss program, especially the more rigorous ones that are available today. Losing weight too fast can cause all kinds of medical issues that you don’t want to suffer from. There are plenty of safe and effective ways to lose weight. You only need to be careful and do proper research before starting.

One of the most popular extreme weight loss methods today is the gastric bypass operation. This surgery reduces the size of the stomach by placing a band or staples in the stomach. This type of weight loss is only recommended for the obese who need to lose a drastic amount of weight for health concerns. It also requires the patient to be on an aggressive gastric bypass diet for the rest of their lives. This is a diet of very small portions. If not adhered to the patient risks tearing and dangerous complications.

There are other methods of extreme weight loss that don’t involve surgical procedures, but that can be just as dangerous. Diet pills can be very harmful if not taken as directed by a physician. Many are made to speed up the users metabolism to speed up weight loss and burn fat. If you are not on a nutritious diet and not getting the right amount of exercise, many of these pills can be dangerous to your health. They have been know to be particularly harmful to the heart and circulatory system. The bottom line is that nothing beats a nutritious diet and a healthy regimen of exercise. If you turn that into a lifestyle you won’t need the aid of weight loss supplements, or dangerous surgeries.

Fruit High Protein Kid Friendly Neutral Recipes

Low Calorie & Sugar Free Jello Gelatin Dessert Recipes

Published by:

Cool, clean, sometimes creamy and rich, sometimes bursting with fresh Fruit, gelatin desserts make my mouth water just thinking about them! And the beautiful thing is that I can have a rich and creamy dessert that is low calorie, high protein, low carb, low fat, Atkins compliant, in The Zone, Somersized … name your diet plan and jello will most likely be acceptable.

I prefer not to use sugar-free gelatin because it’s sweetened with aspartame. Aspartame has a strange effect on many people, completely halting weight loss. Don’t worry, it’s not permanent. It usually only lasts for the day that you’ve eaten aspartame. But since I don’t like to sabotouge a day of dieting, I prefer to use plain gelatin and flavor it with various items. If however, you don’t want to bother, you can always substitute sugar-free fruit flavored gelatin in the recipes below.

Note: If you use agar-agar or a soy based gelatin instead of gelatin then these recipes will be Neutral or vegan instead of  high protein recipes.

Basic Fruit Jello

If you’re having trouble getting your children (or DH) to eat fruit, this is an easy way to sneak it in.

Puree in blender

5 cups Fruit, fresh or frozen so that you end up with 3 cups puree
1/4 cup honey, agave nectar or unrefined sugar such as Sucanat or Rapadura

Dissolve 1 packet unflavored gelatin by sprinkling it over 1 tablespoon cold water in the same container that you’ll be serving from or storing your jello in. Then stir in 3 tablespoons boiling water. When the gelatin is dissolved stir in fruit puree. Cover and refrigerate until firm.

Insanely Low Calorie Fruit Flavored Jello

Dissolve 1 packet unflavored gelatin by sprinkling it over 1 tablespoon cold water in the same container that you’ll be serving from or storing your jello in. Then stir in 3 tablespoons boiling water. When the gelatin is dissolved stir in 3 cups water and enough of your favorite sugar free drink powder to flavor 3 cups of water. Cover and refrigerate until firm.

Basic Creamy Jello

Dissolve 1 packet unflavored gelatin by sprinkling it over 1 tablespoon cold water in the same container that you’ll be serving from or storing your jello in. Then stir in 3 tablespoons boiling water. When the gelatin is dissolved stir in:

3 cups non fat yogurt, pureed tofu, light cream cheese or light sour cream

1/4 cup honey or agave nectar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Flavor with any of the following:

  • maple syrup instead of honey and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • juice from one lemon, lime, or half an orange – use in place of the water and to replace an equal amount of yogurt
  • 1 cup strong decaf coffee in place of 1 cup of the yogurt
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 cup pureed fruit to replace 1 cup yogurt

Dripless Popsicles

This is such a brilliant way to enjoy a cold treat on a hot day without the mess of sticky juice running down your hand. Make up a batch of Basic Jello or Basic Creamy Jello according to the directions above. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

Banana Cream Jello

Mash 1 to 2 bananas and stir into the Basic Jello or Basic Creamy Jello recipe, adjusting the liquid so that the total amount of jello is 3 cups.

Creamy Orange Gelatin

Puree in blender:

3 ounces tofu
1 cup nonfat yogurt or lowfat cream cheese
1/4 cup unrefined sugar
1 teaspoon orange oil or orange extract

Pour puree into a saucepan. Sprinkle 1 envelope unflavored gelatin over the puree. Stir over medium heat until gelatin is dissolved, 2-4 minutes. Pour into dishes. Chill until set.

Jello Torte

Make up 1 batch of Basic Jello. Pour 1/2 of it into a serving container and refrigerate. Set aside the other 1/2 of the recipe on the kitchen counter, do not refrigerate it. When the refrigerated jello is semi-firm, stir in 1 cup of your choice of fruit. Place back in refrigerator while making up 1 batch Creamy Jello.

Pour 1/2 the Creamy Jello into the serving container. Refrigerate until this layer is semi-firm.

Pour remaining 1/2 of the Basic Jello over the Creamy Jello. If the Basic Jello is not liquid enough to pour, gently reheat it in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds or over a double boiler. When this layer is semi-firm pour the remaining half of the Creamy Jello over it. Refrigerate until firm.

Toppings for Jello:

  • UnDiet Whipped Cream: Whip heavy cream flavored with vanilla extract and sweetened with honey, agave nectar or unrefined sugar until stiff peaks form.
  • Creamy Dip:: Whip 1 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream that’s been whipped into soft peaks together with 1 teaspoon grated orange peel, 1 teaspoon fresh orange juice and 1/2 cup date or maple sugar.
  • sliced almonds
  • chopped nuts
  • well-drained mandarin orange slices
  • sliced strawberries
  • blueberries
  • raspberries
  • boysenberries
Uncategorized

Family Breakfast: Weight Loss Tips & A Healthy Diet For Children

Published by:

These weight loss tips are not only the quickest way to lose weight but are posted to help a parent who is trying to develop a healthy diet for children.

While eating nothing but Fruit in the morning is the best way to lose weight fast, if you find it too difficult or need a break now and then, don’t despair. As long as you eat nothing but fresh or frozen Fruit on most days you’re still off to a roaring good start. And if you’re concerned about your family’s health, relax, you don’t need to work hard to convince everybody to eat nothing but Fruit in the morning. If they like it, great – but it won’t be detrimental to their health (or weight loss) if they can’t live without their cereal. Eating nothing but Fruit in the morning until noon is a healthier way to live and a big boost to your weight loss goals but if your family isn’t buying it, let it go and work on putting into practice the weight loss tips outlined below to get them off to a healthier start in the morning.

You may eat Fruit with other foods, but with caution. Fruit must be eaten either alone, with other foods, or immediately following a meal or snack. Fruit eaten an hour after dinner will cause indigestion & weight gain. So you are allowed to eat Fruit with your meal or for dessert immediately following the meal, but wait 4 and 1/2 hours after eating a Protein meal and 2 and 1/2 hours after eating a Starch meal before eating Fruit again. If your family wants bananas or raisins in their oatmeal, let ’em. These Fruits actually help to digest Starches. I’ll be placing a chart in an upcoming Step showing which Fruits help to digest which types of food, but for now go ahead and have any Fruit with any other type of food.

Probably the most difficult part of implementing these weight loss tips for a healthy diet for your children is keeping your family happy without putting yourself in the position of preparing two completely different menus for each meal. You want them to start eating healthier, but you know you’re going to get complaints and grumblings. My advice, try fooling them rather than fighting them. To accomplish this trickery here are some suggestions for a Step-By-Step transitional breakfast plan. These tips will also work well for you if you’re like my dad (breakfast is his favorite meal) and having trouble eating nothing but Fruit in the morning.

When they sit down to breakfast have a bowl of fresh Fruit sitting at each family members place. Let them munch on that while you fix the breakfast they’re used to. If you really want to entice them, place a small bowl of one of the UnDiet Fruit Dips, Sweet Creme Fraiche Dip or Sweet Whipped Cream next to their fruit bowl.

One way to get them interested in an all-Fruit breakfast is to pour them a small glass when you make yourself a Fruit smoothie. To give them a really rich and creamy taste sensation you might try adding just a touch of heavy cream, some nondairy milk or a little sweetener such as honey, agave nectar or date sugar after pouring off your portion of the smoothie. The milk and Fruit sugar aren’t strictly forbidden for you on The UnDiet but since it’s two more steps – and quite a few more calories – I tend to skip them unless it’s one of those days where I just need something special. If they want more, or seem to like it, make a bigger glass for them next time and cut back on the rest of their breakfast. NOTE: when following any of the UnDiet Fruit Smoothie recipes you may now use soy/nut/rice/seed milk in place of Fruit juice if you prefer, it will not affect your weight loss.

Switch their frozen, canned or bottled juice for fresh juice, and don’t automatically serve a glass of milk with their breakfast. If they want it fine, but try serving up to 1/2 and 1/2 nondairy milk with the dairy milk. Keep upping the ratio of nondairy milk to dairy milk.

They may not ask for anything else, but if they do, see if you can get away with giving them more Fruit or veggies such as celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, and lettuce which digest well with Fruit. If your kids won’t touch a celery stick unless it’s accompanied by ranch dressing, make up one the UnDiet Veggie Dips to keep them happy.

If your family won’t eat Fruit and turn their noses up at celery sticks in the morning, serve fresh Fruit followed by one of the transition foods listed below.

UnDiet Transition Foods

  • Get them used to whole grains by making whole grain pancakes topped with pure maple syrup, or a little butter and/or a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice, or chopped, pureed or mashed Fruit.
    Try Grape Nuts (not the flakes – they have sugar in them).
  • Cut back on dairy and start getting them used to non-dairy products by serving rice/soy/nut/seed milk with their cereal. If they won’t touch the “weird” milk then mix 1:4 with dairy milk gradually cutting back on the dairy milk.
  • If they need sugar on their cereal (don’t just automatically serve it, let them ask for it), sprinkle on date or maple sugar. I would suggest just throwing out all the white sugar in your house. You don’t want to eat it, you don’t want to serve it to your family, and I would hope you wouldn’t want to serve it to your friends. I doubt anyone will even notice. If they ask why the sugar looks different just tell them it’s date or maple sugar, or if they’re really resistant tell them it’s brown sugar – well, it is brown and it is sugar. They’ll most likely shrug and keep eating, although they may use more than they would with white sugar as date/maple sugar isn’t as sweet as white sugar.
  • Whole grain toast with butter and/or honey, or sugar-free jam. Add a dash of cinnamon (not cinnamon sugar).
  • Whole grain zucchini or carrot bread made with pureed tofu (or soy egg-replacer) in place of eggs.
  • Oatmeal with any of the following stirred in: Fruit, cinnamon, honey, applesauce, maple syrup, sugar-free chocolate chips.

After they’ve been eating this way for a couple of weeks, make sure they have enough Fruit and transition foods but don’t replenish your pantry with sugary cereals and Pop Tarts or whatever it is they’re eating that you want to switch them from. Children take a simple “we’re out of it” way better than “you can’t have it”. If they take this without complaints you may be able to switch them completely to Fruit in the morning. If they still don’t like it, keep transitioning them and try again in a week or so.

UnDiet Feedback

Some of you have written me to tell me that you’re still hungry after having your Fruit in the morning. There are several things you can do that will help you to feel more full.

Bananas tend to be more filling. Add them to your Fruit bowl or make a Dirty Monkey.

I’ve also been making a raw applesauce which is basically pureeing 1 banana with 2 apples, that is very filling. For variation add vanilla, a very teenie bit of salt, and/or cinnamon or apple pie spice.

Get moving. After having your Fruit, do a mini workout. Sounds strange but I find I feel less hungry both during the workout and for the rest of the morning.

If all else fails go ahead and have one of the transition foods.

Batter Breads

It’s difficult to make whole grain batter breads that are a proper UnDiet combination if you’re strictly following food combining because these recipes require mixing eggs (Protein) & flour (Starch). One simple solution is to substitute 1/4 cup pureed tofu (or soy egg-replacer) for each egg and soy milk for any milk in your recipe. Go ahead and try it in your own recipes, you’ll be amazed. I’ve even made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dinner this way and the family LOVED it. Of course they didn’t know I’d made it with date sugar and tofu … Future “Weight Loss Tips: The UnDiet Step By Step” will have recipes and information on how to bake with tofu as an egg replacer. It’s really an incredible weight loss tip!

If you’re not ready to use tofu in place of eggs go ahead and use the eggs. The amount of Protein in relationship to the amount of Starch makes this an okay (not great, but okay) combination.

Important Information for Babies


Children under 18 months of age don’t have the enzyme necessary to break down starches, so you’ll want to give them only fresh Fruits and vegetables for breakfast until they’re at least 18 months old. Of course, run this by your pediatrician to make sure your child(ren) is getting the nutrition he/she needs. I know several doctors who recommend serving children this age banana milk (bananas pureed with water) in place of formula.

A Word About Protein

You don’t need to eat meat and dairy to get the protein your body needs. You receive enough protein from fresh Fruits and vegetables to satisfy your body’s protein needs. Fruits and veggies don’t actually contain protein, but they do contain the amino acids necessary for your body to build the protein it needs. Protein overload is a much more common occurrence than protein deficiency. You would have to work very hard to acquire a protein deficiency – starving yourself is really the only way to end up with a protein deficiency.

Weight Loss Tips & Tricks

You don’t need to tell your family they’re going on the UnDiet. When you’re changing something just tell them you’re trying out a new recipe. When you’re fazing something out tell them you’re out of the old food and use the UnDiet substitute for awhile. If they still complain, experiment until you find something they like.

Serve a variety of Fruits including some they’ve never tried before. Make a mental note of what gets devoured and what stays on the plate. One way to get kids to eat Fruit is to get them involved. Many Fruits are soft enough to be cut with a plastic knife. Give your kid(s) a peach and a plastic knife and step back.

Make Fruit fun by cutting it into thick slices and using cookie cutters to cut each slice into fun shapes.

Make up some Fruit With Attitude. It’s a little more work, but worth it if it will get your family to eat Fruit. Fruit With Attitude is also good to have on hand for after-school and after-work snacks.

Step-By-Step

1. Print out the following recipe pages:

2. Make a shopping list.

3. Go shopping.

4. Prepare anything you won’t want to fiddle with in the morning.

5. Serve fresh Fruit and/or juice first thing in the morning.

6. If necessary make up of one of the UnDiet Fruit Dips.

7. If necessary serve one or more of the transition foods.

Talk Back

I encourage you to comment on this Step with your questions, your challenges, your own tips and discoveries … Together we can all Step Up to the UnDiet Challenge and move closer to our health and weight loss goals.

Working Out

Easy Tips on Getting Ripped in 90 Days

Published by:

You woke up one morning, saw yourself in the mirror, and started to pose like bodybuilders do. Do you have in mind Toby McGuire or Hugh Jackman of X-Men? Do you want to look like them the next time you pose in front of the mirror, or perhaps in front of a bunch of ladies? Then, read along.

To complete and maintain a muscular strong body, you need time, effort, and determination. Getting ripped means developing toned abdominal, shoulders, and legs muscles. This does not apply only to men, but also to women.

Before you read further, keep in mind that in order to get ripped fast differs from bodybuilding. Getting ripped allows the toning up of muscles, as well as fat loss, whereas bodybuilding allows massive build up of muscles to promote huge muscular body form. Given this explanation, ask yourself first what your goal is before reading further.

Fitness professionals and enthusiasts developed a 90-day getting ripped program that will provide impressive results. The 90-day program or just the thought of having to endure only 3 months of the program sounds appealing but before you achieve the positive results, one must carry on with pain first. Commitment is a vital element a person has to maintain within his or herself. Strict training and diet, which are part of a person’s lifestyle, must be followed at all cost. Commitment is key.

Planning the Diet
Follow these weight loss tips. Consume at least five to six healthy meals a day. Make sure that you still eat nutritious and less calorie food. Getting ripped requires the burning of more calories than the usual calorie a person consumes. However, skinny guys have dissimilar diet plan than the bulky guys. Those who are skinny are required to eat a hefty meal in the morning, before they workout, and after workout. They should be able to have the appropriate body mass during the program so they are recommended to have fifteen times their present body weight. Whereas those who are bulky are obliged to eat more vegetables and fruits rather than other food with carbohydrates yet are unhealthy, like white bread or too much rice. They are also required to munch through ten times their present body weight.

Planning the Weight Training
Plan ahead your 90 days in the calendar. Do twice a week weight training and thrice a week concentrated cardiovascular workout. For weight training, do two sets for each exercise. I’ll also introduce the interval training method. This technique has been proven to produce impressive results in increasing the metabolic rate, heart rate, and strength level of a person. First, you must do an intense workout for a long period, perhaps 20 minutes, then only use five minutes of cooling down, then start the intense workout again for 20 minutes until you finish your overall workout time for the day. This way, you’ll keep your energy and muscles pumping.