Turn Yourself Into a Lean, Green Fat-Burning Machine

Swapping your morning brew for a cup of green tea could be just the trick you need to lose that extra spare tire. Studies show drinking five cups of green tea a day can increase your metabolic rate and have you burning an average of an extra 80 calories a day. And guess what? We say it over and over again: The little stuff really adds up.

But what makes green tea better than coffee for aiding in weight loss? It beats coffee where it hurts – caffeine. The metabolism-boosting benefits in green tea don’t come from caffeine, which is a good thing because it doesn’t have much of the stuff. Instead, other compounds in green tea produce these benefits without the jittery side effects that a cup o’ joe can produce. One cup of green tea has between 5-15 milligrams of caffeine compared to about 90 milligrams in a cup of drip coffee.

If you don’t think you can live without your daily coffee buzz, we dare you to switch to green tea for just one week. Go green, and get lean!

Healthy Love ♥ Affair: Chocolate

Who doesn’t love chocolate? It’s sweet, goes down smoothly and seems to even have soul-soothing properties. Women especially have a love affair with this cocoa concoction. Fortunately, science shows that chocolate loves us too! Dark chocolate, in particular, is the source of all of the excitement.

Eating dark chocolate improves blood vessel health and can help prevent high blood pressure. This lowers your risk of heart disease and keeps your heart pumping nutrient- and oxygen-rich blood to your entire body. Dark chocolate, which has more cocoa than milk chocolate, is rich in flavonoids. These antioxidant compounds block free radicals and fight disease. Antioxidant-rich dark chocolate also combats plaque buildup by preventing oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

Worried about breaking the calorie bank by indulging in chocolate? Don't be! Three pieces of Dove Dark Chocolate has less than 100 calories. So, in light of this delicious evidence, don’t be afraid to reach for some dark chocolate when you’re craving something sweet to eat.

Just remember: The higher the percentage of cocoa it contains, the more flavonoids it’ll have to offer. As always, enjoy in moderation!

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Daily Diet Tip: "Don't Overdose on Energy Bars"

Energy bars appeared on the snack scene a few years ago in a blaze of misrepresentation. The “energy” label makes you think you’re getting something special, doesn’t it? Here’s the secret that energy bar companies don’t want you to know: The Food and Drug Administration allows manufacturers to label products as “energy” foods if they “contain calories.” It makes sense, since a calorie is a measure of energy. But here’s the question: If you’re trying to lose weight, should you start eating "calorie bars"?

Now before all you Mountain Dew–swilling, tire-swinging, rock-climbing X-Games watchers drop your hacky sacks in a huff, let’s get real. It’s one thing if you’ve just scaled K2 and are looking for some quick calories and carbohydrates so you can scramble down the mountain, but it’s another if you are settling down for a quiet evening with your laptop and a chocolate chip cookie.

The truth is that most people do not need extra carbohydrates even when they exercise – just because something might work for a high-intensity athlete doesn’t mean that it’s the best thing for you. And guess what? If carbs are all you’re looking for, bagels work just as well. And while high-protein bars combined with exercise may be associated with increased muscle mass, protein can be consumed in lower-calorie forms too. Ultimately, energy bars are repackaged, repurposed and rebranded candy bars. (Except that candy bars taste good!)


My recommendation: Stick with real food.          
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Your Weight-Loss Meals:"Limit Your Menu"

Many people think that they can make weight loss fun by introducing variety into their diets. There are thousands of recipes available for healthy meals, and it would seem that trying a lot of them would help you lose weight and keep food interesting at the same time. It works that way with exercise. Adding variety to your workout regimen through interval training, cross-training and combining resistance training with aerobic workouts not only keeps exercise interesting, but it also introduces “muscle confusion” and improves long-term results. Unfortunately, the data suggests the opposite is true with your diet. A study published in the Psychological Bulletin in 2001 found that more food variety is associated with higher body weight. And more limited menus predict a greater reduction in fat and calorie intake as well as more weight loss. It makes sense if you think about it. A high-variety diet stimulates your senses, and therefore, your appetite. The fewer choices you have, the less you will ultimately eat. Spend a few minutes watching the customers at a Las Vegas buffet or any all you can eat buffet style meal (from a safe distance!) and you’ll see what I mean. 

Limiting your menu is a fairly novel concept in dieting, and it might seem to go against the idea that we should eat for pleasure. But don’t worry, you can still enjoy your meals. By picking a few staples that you can live with, you’ll eat more consistently. Less choice means fewer opportunities to make mistakes. Less choice means less spontaneity – which is the last thing a dieter needs. Less choice means planning your meals in advance. Finally, less choice usually means limited portions. Lunch is one of the easier meals in which to limit variety, because you tend to have a routine during the day at work or home. For the next month pick 3-5 lunches you like to bring from home or to eat out and rotate them throughout the week.

I have always eaten only a few set items and have always stuck to them and especially when I diet down for competition or photo shoot. I  didn't always know that my boring, limited way of eating was actually helping me in leaning my body down for competition and for photo shoots. I do it because it's the way I have always eaten and I find a few items I enjoy that are healthy for me and I stick to them day in and day out. Like, skinless, boneless chicken, lots egg whites and few yolks for some fat. salmon, tuna, fresh fish and spinach lettuce, celery with my tuna and lots of watermelon and strawberries. I would just stick to these items every day without really getting bored of them. The only item I may add once in a while is a nice lean filet Mignon which I love, other than that I would and do stick to basic set of  healthy foods I know work for me in leaning out my body. Even when not crunching down on my diet I tend to stick to these basic foods as a staple in my diet. 
 
If you are eating a wide variety of foods and you feel this is something you could try you should give it a try. Pick a handful of items that you enjoy and know you won't get sick of eating them everyday and stick to them and see how you feel and how it effects your body. You may find you like it and it may also help your body lean down if that is what you're after. You will never know until you give it a try and see how your body reacts to limiting the amount of food choices you eat on a regular basis. If you do try this, then keep a food diary of what foods you choose and how you eat them, how much you eat and when. This way you can log down how your body reacts to eating these limited healthy foods and how your energy level is for your training and just your overall reactions to eating a limited set amount of foods everyday. If you get bored try to remember it's about eating to live and be healthy, not just living to eat. You can be perfectly happy eating a smaller, limited amount of healthy foods without being bored. Give it a try!

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Maximize the Benefits of Drinking Water

You know about some of the benefits of drinking water and should already be having six glasses a day. What you may not know is how to drink water to get the maximum weight-loss benefit.

When you’re planning to go out for lunch or dinner, it’s a good idea to drink 1-2 glasses of water before you leave the house or office. Interestingly, the fluids we consume during meals do not tend to affect our appetite or ultimate calorie intake significantly. During the time it takes for our stomachs to signal to our brains that we’re full, we have consumed more calories and done the damage. This is why eating a bowl of soup before a meal helps to reduce calories overall – the soup fills you up, and by the time the entrée arrives you have less of an appetite.

Water works the same way. If you drink it before you set out, you will start to feel fuller by the time you sit down to the table. You may even order less food as a result of feeling less hungry. Drinking water at the table is also great, but to increase the benefits, let the water appease your hunger before you even place your order. So, Drink up!

"Happy Fit Halloween"

 

Don't let Halloween derail you from your fit and healthy goals.. Treat yourself wisely if you choose to and remember self control if you are indulging this Halloween. You definitely don't want to wake up to sugar handover and spend the rest of the week regaining control of yourself. Have fun, be safe and choose your treats wisely this Halloween!

"The Secret is Timing"

You know what they say: Timing is everything. Well, your daily meal agenda is no different. I suggest you eat a nutritious, satisfying breakfast within one hour of rising, and three hours later eat your first snack. Lunch comes about three hours after your morning snack, and three hours after lunch, eat your afternoon snack, followed by dinner – you guessed it – three hours later. Before you go to bed, eat your last snack. I recommend drinking whey protein shakes for your thrice-daily snacks and eating 3-5 ounces of protein and 2-4 cups of veggies or fruit during mealtimes.

Why is eating every three hours so powerful in helping you restore lean muscle tissue? In a nutshell, it will help you do three vital things: reduce your cortisol hormone levels, which contribute to belly bulge; keep your metabolism elevated so you stay energized and continue to burn fat; and help control your appetite so you don’t overeat. This is such a vital secret. I promise you will see dramatic results!

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Go Green and Drink Yourself Thin and Healthy

If coffee gives you the caffeine jitters, it’s time you discovered a better morning brew. With less caffeine and more health benefits, green tea is a healthy way to jump-start your day, especially if you’re sensitive to caffeine. Green tea has long been known to posses numerous disease-fighting qualities. Rich in antioxidants, this tea is a lean, green, disease-fighting machine. And disease isn’t the only thing it battles – it fights fat too. Green tea is rich in an antioxidant known as ECGC, which has been proven to boost metabolism and stimulate weight loss. Just swapping your daily cup of coffee with green tea could help you lose more weight. That’s a simple change anyone can make, so ditch that cup ‘o joe and go green instead. Just remember to keep the cream and sugar out of your mug, and you could be drinking to a slimmer, healthier you in less time than it takes to brew a pot of coffee. 
 I try drink a cup or two of green tea everyday, not because I don't like coffee or coffee gives me the jitters but because green tea is so good for you and does have so much health benefits. I do love coffee but only drink on a rare occasion. My family has been in the coffee business for over 25 years in Hawaii and it's very easy for me to get the best coffee ever, but I would prefer to start my mornings with some green goodness for my body. Go green and drink yourself fit and healthy.   ✿

"Are You Undereating?"

Sure, overeating is a big problem for many people, but chronic undereating may be an even bigger problem. Most people get caught up in the idea that the less they eat, the more they’ll lose. But, unfortunately, the body is a bit more complicated than that.The problem with severe calorie restriction is that it sends your hormones out of whack.  When you try to speed up weight loss by skipping meals or by eating extremely small portions, the body begins to think it’s starving, and ultimately you get the exact opposite effect of what you’re working so hard for. Fat-burning hormones plunge, and fat-maintaining hormones spike in order to hold onto the fat you’re trying to lose as a survival mechanism

I can admit this happens to be one of my problems that I fail to eat enough food, and knowing that I have to really stay on top of myself or I will easily slip into not eating enough calories for my body to be satisfied. I feel it comes from having suffered from anorexia and it's and aftermath that even after many years it sticks with you. Just like an alcoholic or drug user when they have become clean, but they will always have to be careful not to slip back and will still be called Alcoholic or user even if they have been clean for 20 years. It's sad to think of it that way, but it's reality and for me it's never done deliberately or knowingly yet it happens sometimes and comes the disease. Just like people who over-eat there are used to eating a lot and it's easy for them to do if they aren't careful or aware of it being a problem. Mine happens to be not eating enough and I work on it daily so that it doesn't effect my body. I do fall short some days as I am sure many do, but if you're aware of the negative effect it has on your body you can take steps to make sure you feed your body enough food each day to keep it happy and burning those calories off.

Remember this: The fastest fat loss always comes with moderate calorie restriction. For most women, that means consuming somewhere around 1,500 calories daily, give or take. Keep your body happy with adequate calories and you’ll really begin to see the scale drop.

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"Purge 2 Avoid The Binge"

You probably thought you’d never hear purging is good for you, but in this case I highly recommend it. If you really want to stick to your diet, you must purge your cupboards, fridge, freezer, and pantry of any foods that are too tempting for you to ignore. Don’t be like the person who’s trying to quit smoking but keeps a pack of cigarettes hidden away in the back of a drawer, just in case. Kick the habit of eating junk by not having it around to test your limits. 
Not only should you purge your home of naughty nibbles, you should always have an abundant stock of healthy foods on hand that you can turn to when temptations run high. Purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at the store each week, and stock your pantry each month with dried fruit, nuts, no-sugar added applesauce, turkey jerky, and other healthy snacks. Just make sure you buy items you actually enjoy and can be satisfied munching on in place of naughtier items. Having the right foods on hand and the wrong foods out of reach is the perfect formula for long-term dieting success. So don’t waste another minute: Purge your cupboards and you’ll avoid the binge.

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"Eat Alone"

It’s time you got rid of all your mealtime distractions and learned to eat alone. Don’t worry, you won’t have to abandon your friends or family to follow this diet trick. We’re talking about eliminating other forms of distraction that can lead you to overeat, like the television.

Multi-tasking as you eat may sound efficient, and it really is – an efficient form of delivering extra calories that’ll end up on your thighs, that is. As unfortunate as it may seem, eating while you’re not paying attention is a quick way to pack on the pounds. TV-watching, reading or zoning out to music or an audio book while chowing down are all activites that can cause you to eat more without even realizing it.

So eat alone. Turn off the television, shut the book and take out the ear plugs. Set yourself down at the table or outside in front of a beautiful sunrise or sunset and actually take the time to enjoy what you’re eating. And while you’re at it, don’t eat out of the bag or container that your food came in. Serve yourself a reasonable portion ahead of time and then put the rest away.

Take your time eating and wait to serve yourself a second helping until at least 20 minutes have gone by so that your hunger signals have time to catch up. When you become more aware of what you’re eating, you also become better at practicing portion control, which can then translate into better control of your diet to help you reach your weight goals. 

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"Fats Help Keep Your Salad Healthy"

Think you have to ban fatty salad dressings forever? Many dieters think losing weight means you have to cut corners (which is true) by cutting out fatty foods like salad dressing (which is not true). While it’s a fact that when you leave off fatty salad dressings you may be reducing the total number of calories in your meal, you’re also reducing the total number of carotenoids you absorb from the phytochemical-rich assortment of veggies in your salad.

Carotenoids are a class of pigments found in vegetables. They make carrots orange, green peppers green and tomatoes red, and they also act as powerful antioxidants. These healthy compounds, however, are fat-soluble, meaning they need to be digested in the presence of fats in order to cross the intestinal wall and be absorbed into the body. That means if you’re not eating some amount of fat with your salads, whether from the dressing, shredded cheeses, avocado, or other source, you won’t be able to benefit from the all the fat-soluble nutrients, carotenoids and antioxidants found in the vegetables.

How much fat do you need then? Research shows that you need to eat at least six grams of fat along with your meal in order to absorb these healthy, fat-soluble compounds. Check the label of your favorite salad dressings and opt for one that has a healthy amount of unsaturated fats, like an olive-oil based dressing. Or just add a quarter of an avocado to your salad for seven grams of fat, six of which are heart-healthy unsaturated fats. 

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"Peanut Butter Crazy"

Is natural peanut butter a good source of "healthy fat" and protein? And what are the recommended servings per day? Natural peanut butter is a great source of healthy fat, but take caution:

First, do not substitute peanut butter for a major source of protein, such as chicken or fish. Not only does peanut butter not contain a significant amount of protein per serving, but the protein is what is known as “incomplete” protein, meaning it lacks several important amino acids. For protein, go with animal sources or milk protein-based products that contain whey and casein. These are much better “complete” sources.

Also, a peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergens out there. While that doesn’t mean you’re going to blow up like a fish and have a major allergic reaction, it can slow fat loss. Many people find that when they cut peanuts out of their diet it makes a big difference in their rate of fat loss. However, if you are not sensitive to peanuts, then all-natural peanut butter can be a great source of healthy fat, as nearly all of the fat is unsaturated.

I would recommend sticking with a single serving a day. I love adding peanut butter to a cut up apple as special treat, and it's a great sweet tooth buster too.  I also love blending peanut butter with a chocolate protein shake. It tastes just like a peanut butter cup – yum!

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"Make Breakfast BIG"

If you’re stuck in the American rut of skipping out on breakfast – or at best consuming coffee and toast – you may want to switch up your strategy and make breakfast BIG. The truth is, if your goal is to optimize both fat loss and metabolism, you MUST make breakfast your largest meal. Since your body feeds on stored carbohydrate in muscle and the liver as you sleep, your stores are somewhat depleted upon awakening. This, in turn, makes the carbohydrates you consume at breakfast highly unlikely to spill over to fat storage.

Insulin sensitivity and carbohydrate tolerance are at their peak in the morning hours, which simply means there’s no better time for your body to process carbs than at breakfast. Additionally, a generous-sized breakfast consisting of both lean protein and complex carbohydrates helps to maintain calorie-burning muscle, as it quickly delivers nutrients to muscle tissue after an overnight fast. And if that wasn’t enough, regular consumption of an ample-sized breakfast is linked to increased metabolism and fat burning, while skipping breakfast has been associated with a slower metabolism and increased body-fat levels. So next time you’re deciding what to eat for your morning meal, consider today’s tip and make breakfast BIG! 

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Daily Diet Tip: "Love♡Mr.Potato"

Remember a few years ago when the baked potato became a popular diet food? The idea was to avoid French fries or onion rings in restaurants by providing a “healthier” option. But as with many things, we find a way to get around the healthier possibilities – in this case, by adding bacon, cheese and sour cream. 

The good news is that baked potatoes are back. And some small changes can turn them into solutions for you. A baked potato with healthy toppings can actually be your main course – add some cooked ground turkey, corn, black beans, and salsa, and you no longer need rice or fried taco shells. Or add chopped tomato and onions and a little bit of feta and you have a more substantial salad.  A really good addition to the bake potato is chili.  Now you need to make the chili yourself so you know it's healthy and you can use ground turkey or lean beef.  Pour some chile right on top of your bake potato for a really yummy healthy meal.

The potato, as well as the skin, are great sources of vitamin C, vitamin B6, copper, potassium, zinc, and protein, but neither naturally contain any fat, cholesterol, or sodium. Leaving the skin intact can also help preserve the nutrients in the flesh of the potato. a medium-sized potato, including the skin, has approximately 110 calories. Potatoes are classified as bulb or root, and contain a protein called patatin that is specific to these types of vegetables. Patatin works as an effective antioxidant and helps to lower blood pressure, and potato skins may even help to provide protection against heart disease and cancer.  The skin is my favorite part of the potato and I was told at as a little girl that the skin held all the good stuff, so I always ate the skin. Little did I know that it held this much good stuff.

Potatoes contain more potassium than any other fresh vegetable in the produce department - even more than bananas. One potato has almost 900 milligrams, which is about 20 percent of what you need every day. Potassium is important for body growth and cell maintenance. It's also necessary for nervous function and for normal muscle contraction - including the heart muscle. Potassium is also an electrolyte that helps to balance the fluids in your body, which is important for healthy blood pressure. Potatoes also contain substantial amounts of vitamins C and B6, which are vital for blood clotting, wound healing, a strong immune system, normal nervous system function and for converting the food you eat to energy.

Potato's shouldn't be held out of our diets in fear of eating carbohydrates, they should be in our diets because of all these amazingly great things they have in them for our bodies. One Potato depending on size runs from 28-50 grams of carbohydrates in them. A medium is around 37g. which is considered pretty high, but it converts our food we eat to energy.  If eaten earlier in the day can be burned off easily and also be great benefit in giving us energy for our workouts. Plus it has the high Potassium benefit which is important for body growth and cell maintenance. When you're spending so much time working out, training your body this is a huge benefit for a healthy fit body.

So don't be so afraid of the potato anymore, just add it to your diet along with some good healthy topping choices and you will be doing your body good. Don't forget to eat the skin for more healthy benefits for you body. Love Mr.Potato♡

 

Daily Diet Tip! ✿ "Keep Your Body Burning"

   Overeating is a big problem for many people, but chronic undereating may be an even bigger problem Most people get caught up in the idea that the less they eat, the more they’ll lose. But, unfortunately, the body is a bit more complicated than that.

  The problem with severe calorie restriction is that it sends your hormones out of whack. When you try to speed up weight loss by skipping meals or by eating extremely small portions, the body begins to think it’s starving, and ultimately you get the exact opposite effect of what you’re working so hard for.

Fat-burning hormones plunge, and fat-maintaining hormones spike in order to hold onto the fat you’re trying to lose as a survival mechanism. One of the lessons I learned early on was I need to eat and keep my body burning. If I didn't I would end up holding on to weight because my body would hold fat in order to compensate for my restricting my food/calorie intact. It makes perfect sense once you understand how your body works and how your body will protect itself if you restrict your food intake to try to lose weight. Your body is like a furnace it needs you to keep feeding it throughout the day to keep it burning efficiently. As you feed your body your metabolism will keep burning. 

If you don't keep your body fed and go long periods without eating.. your body is smart it will just go into survival mode and "HOLD" Stop burning. Your body will feel bloated and heavier because your metabolism had slowed down from not eating enough. It's protecting itself  in survival mode. So feed your body 5-6 times throughout the day... Never going more than 3-4 hours without food.  Eat healthy small meals and snacks throughout the day to keep your body burning and staying lean. Don't eat late evening or just before bed. Consume your calories early and end by 6-7pm. Be consistent and keep your body feed on a regular 5-6 healthy meal schedule throughout the day... Your body will be a lean mean fat burning machine!

Remember this: The fastest fat loss always comes with moderate calorie restriction. For most women, that means consuming somewhere around 1,500 calories daily, give or take. Keep your body happy with adequate calories and you’ll really begin to see the scale drop.

Daily Diet Tip! "Fats Help Keep Your Salad & Skin Healthy"

    Think you have to ban fatty salad dressings forever? Many dieters think losing weight means you have to cut corners (which is true) by cutting out fatty foods like salad dressing (which is not true). While it’s a fact that when you leave off fatty salad dressings you may be reducing the total number of calories in your meal, you’re also reducing the total number of carotenoids you absorb from the phytochemical-rich assortment of veggies in your salad.

Carotenoids are a class of pigments found in vegetables. They make carrots orange, green peppers green and tomatoes red, and they also act as powerful antioxidants. These healthy compounds, however, are fat-soluble, meaning they need to be digested in the presence of fats in order to cross the intestinal wall and be absorbed into the body. That means if you’re not eating some amount of fat with your salads, whether from the dressing, shredded cheeses, avocado, or other source, you won’t be able to benefit from the all the fat-soluble nutrients, carotenoids and antioxidants found in the vegetables.

How much fat do you need then? Research shows that you need to eat at least six grams of fat along with your meal in order to absorb these healthy, fat-soluble compounds. Check the label of your favorite salad dressings and opt for one that has a healthy amount of unsaturated fats, like an olive-oil based dressing. Or just add a quarter of an avocado to your salad for seven grams of fat, six of which are heart-healthy unsaturated fats.

I always take a tablespoon of flaxseed oil to keep oil in my diet and keep my skin, hair healthy. Especially when dieting for a show or photo shoot and your restricting your fat intake your skin and hair will suffer dearly. I would noticed that in both men and women when competing that their skin was so dry and blemished from the restricted diet. I found out about the taking a daily dose of flaxseed oil would be beneficial to your overall everyday heath and more so when your restricting your diet. I have never had any problems with dry or blemished skin or dry hair due to restricting my fat intake since I introduced a tablespoon of flaxseed oil into my daily diet. Infact it gives my hair and skin that extra boost to give it that healthy glow. I have received many complements on both my skin  and hair over the years and I contribute most of it to my daily doze of flaxseed oil and my healthy fit living! 

Check your health food store for other great sources of natural oil to add to your daily diet. You'll not only enjoy eating your salad more..You have great skin and hair too! 

Daily Diet Tip! "Ditch The Diet Obessions"

There comes a point in every hard-core dieter's life when she must ask herself, "Have I become so obsessed with weight loss that I'm actually compromising my health? Dieting serves two purposes – looking better and feeling better. But when dieters become more concerned with being skinny than with being healthy, they hand over control of their life to food. This paves the way for eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating.

Surprisingly, an obsession with calories, the scale and fad diets can backfire, causing you to gain weight. Here are some classic symptoms of an obsessed dieter:

• You ignore your body’s hunger pains
  
• You no longer enjoy eating food
  
• You constantly deprive yourself of indulgent food
  
• You rely too heavily on designating “bad” foods from “good” foods, ignoring the concept of portion control
  
• You avoid social situations where food is a centerpiece out of fear of temptation or feeling self-conscious for eating
  
• You fixate on achieving a nearly impossible standard of beauty 

 

I suffered from anorexia nervosa for many years. In the mid-late 80's no one really knew what it was yet. So when I was in the middle of starving myself to death, I had no idea there was a disease called anorexia nervosa or bulimia. Not until I met my love for the iron and started lifting weights did I find out what I had was a serious disease. I was down to 78 pounds when I graduated high school.

It was an obsession to be skinny first and being fit was second or even third. When I began bodybuilding I got better because I had to eat to feed my muscles. I trained so hard everyday and dammed if I was going to let this ugly disease take what I had worked hard for. My body became my temple! Being healthy came first, not being skinny!

                                                                                                       

The Skinny On Alcohol ?

   A beer here, a Cosmopolitan there. Before you know it, your jeans are feeling a little snug. When it comes to calories, not all alcoholic beverages are created equal, especially when sweetened mixers drive up the calorie count. Beer and wine aren't exactly low-cal either. So, before you raise a glass, get the cruel calorie facts on that bubbly, beer and Bordeaux...

Are you drinking your calories? One nightly glass of wine adds an extra 700 calories to your diet every week, adding more than 10 pounds of potential flab a year.

But don't just point the finger at wine: all alcoholic beverages can pack on the pounds. That 2.5-ounce Cosmo, for example, has 150 calories. A happy hour-worthy margarita (six ounces) has around 350 calories. And an eight-ounce Long Island iced tea can pack a whopping 600 calories.

What's in a Drink?

As a drink's alcohol percentage increases, so do the calories. Eighty proof bourbon, brandy, gin, rum, scotch, tequila, vodka, and whiskey each have 65 calories per one-ounce serving

If you're on a diet that restricts carbohydrates use club soda, diet soft drinks or water instead of a sweetened mixer. And choose clear liquors, which have fewer carbohydrates, over wine, beer and dark liquors. In general, liqueurs cram in 70-120 calories per ounce.  

   

Milkshake or Smoothie? Milk or Water?

I thought this was just too cute~ It should say... "I hate when I'm making a protein smoothie and boys just show up in my gym"  lol

     Milk or Water in your protein shakes or smoothies?


1. Your goals. Are you attempting to lose or maintain your weight? If you’re looking to lose it, it’s probably best to go with water to save calories. While milk may make the shake taste a little better, the extra calories in it won’t do much to fill your belly and are better spent on a more filling alternative.

2. Your diet type. What type of diet are you on? If you are utilizing a lower-carbohydrate approach, it’s better to go with water as each cup of milk contains 12 grams of sugar. If you’re counting calories, you could choose milk or water so long as you are factoring in the calories that the milk adds to the shake. I would personally rather get those calories by adding something more satiating, such as a piece of fruit, alongside the shake.

3. Time of day. Because of the insulin release caused by milk, it is best drunk in the morning and avoided in the evening. In fact, you should be choosing a low-carb (protein only) shake in the evening hours.

4. Your preference. Ultimately, you are the one who is drinking the shake, so if you enjoy the taste when mixed with milk much more than mixed with water, there’s nothing wrong with choosing low-fat milk (at least some of the time). Just be sure to factor in the calories.