by eating clean works on June 15, 2009
Two years ago I wrote a blog post on my fitness blog about the myth of eating once a day to lose weight. Surprisingly, that post still generates comments and if you read through the ones that are there, you will notice that almost all of them promote eating once a day. Over the years, I have read that eating healthy means eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 snacks in between. It is all too common to read about eating 5 to 6 small meals per day.
Personally, I would go crazy if I only ate one meal per day. When I haven’t had enough to eat, I get moody and I usually get a headache. It seems too extreme to eat once a day just to lose weight. If you eat the proper foods and exercise, weight should come off just the same and in a much safer way.
I guess it will always be a topic of debate but it just doesn’t make sense to me.
What do you think? Why do some people cling to doing this as a way to lose weight?
by eating clean works on May 14, 2009
Everyone has different living situations and for some with families, eating healthy meals is somewhat easy when everyone is willing to try. However, there may be those who live with someone who isn’t into healthy eating habits. What do you do when temptation surrounds you because you share a home?
It certainly isn’t easy to live with someone who eats whatever they want. It could mean junk food everywhere from candy to soda. Temptation is literally in your face so what can you do?
These are just some ideas from the top of my head. Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.
Section Off the Fridge
As silly as this may sound, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Sectioning off the fridge may mean keeping certain drawers for your healthy items or just sectioning the entire thing down the middle if possible.
Hide the Junk
Maybe the person or people that you live with would be willing to hide their junk food from you. The last thing you need is having that stuff staring you in the face – unless you have tremendous will power.
Train Your Brain
Sometimes the other people just are not willing to bend to accomodate your healthy lifestyle. If that is the case with you, then it is time to train your brain. You have already made the decision to eat clean so viewing junk as unhealthy shouldn’t be that difficult. Train your brain to view their junk as evil and you have a much better chance of avoiding it all together.
Are you in this type of living situation? What do you do to avoid the junk in the house?
by eating clean works on May 4, 2009
There’s a lot I didn’t know about the stomach and there are a lot of myths out there about how the stomach works. For example, have you ever wondered if your stomach shrinks when you start to eat less? This would be ideal because the assumption is, the smaller the stomach, the less you will feel hungry. For those of you who thought this was true, it is a myth.
Our Stomachs Don’t Shrink By Eating Less
Once we are adults, our stomachs remain the same size unless you undergo some type of stomach reduction surgery. Eating less will not shrink your stomach.
Thinner People Do Not Have Smaller Stomachs
In fact, thinner people can have larger stomachs than overweight people. A person’s weight does not determine the size of their stomach. Even people who have had stomach reduction surgeries can still gain weight.
Abdominal Exercises Like Crunches Won’t Reduce Stomach Size
The stomach will not become smaller by doing tons of ab exercises. However, you will be helping to burn the fat around your stomach and strengthen your ab muscles.
There is no way to reduce your stomach size unless you have surgery to do so. Even then, it is not a 100% gaurantee that you will not gain weight. Eating the right foods and exercise will keep you on the right track to maintaining a healthy weight.
You can read all of the stomach myths including more details on the ones above by visiting:
9 Surprising Facts About Your Stomach
by eating clean works on May 2, 2009
One of the comments in my last post got me to thinking about how strict some people are with eating clean. Many people eat clean for various reasons. Some people simply do it to get lean and cut, while some people do it for weight loss, or even medical reasons.
Some people have the discipline to eat clean with no desire to cheat. Then there are those of us who stray every now and then but for the most part stick to it 90% of the time.
Strict Clean Eater
A strict clean eater has made clean eating a 100% lifestyle choice. This means they probably never, ever stray and cheat by eating things that aren’t qualified as clean eating foods. They are disciplined and don’t think twice about what to eat.
Weekend Cheater
This type of person eats clean 5 to 6 days a week but uses the weekend to indulge in all of the foods that would never make the clean eating list. This means eating junk and then getting back on track at the start of the week.
Allows Typical Diet Foods/Beverages
This could mean allowing foods that contain sugar substitutes like diet colas, sugar free desserts, etc.
How strict are you with eating clean? Do you struggle with it or has it become a lifestyle change that you don’t worry about anymore?
by eating clean works on May 1, 2009
Having a sweet tooth can trigger the urge to eat desserts that aren’t so good for you. I have a weakness for desserts and I like eating them after dinner. Luckily, I am not picky about what type of dessert I eat, as long as it satisfies my sweet tooth.
Depending on how strict you are with your eating habits, you may allow yourself one small dessert after a meal such as a small piece of chocolate. However, some people can’t handle eating such a small portion and will be tempted. If that is the case for you, it is probably a good idea to keep certain foods stocked so that you can fight the dessert cravings with much better alternatives.
The list below are just ideas and all of them may not fit into your eating plan but they are things that may help when the sugar cravings are just too strong.
- Keep berries (strawberries, bluberries, etc.) in stock when in season
- Plain, low fat yogurt (easy to mix with fruit)
- Cottage cheese (also to mix with fruit)
- Always have some fruit in the fridge
- Jello (sugar free)
- Pudding (sugar free)
- Frozen fruit bars (natural)
- Fruit smoothies
Eating fruit has done wonders for my sugar cravings. My favorite is cottage cheese with any type of berries. It is filling and sweet enough to be a good dessert.
What do you do when the dessert cravings attack?
