Stride Away From Triglycerides: 5 Foods You Should Avoid

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You may be keeping your eye on your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but there is another thing you should monitor. Triglycerides are fats or lipids in the food you eat that are carried into your blood that can increase your risk of heart problems. You should maintain less than 150 mg of triglyceride per deciliter of blood to be in the safe range.

Here are five foods and beverage you should avoid to reduce your risk of having a high level of triglyceride:

1. Trans and Saturated Fats

If possible, turn away from all sorts of trans fats, and products with hydrogenated fat or oil on the label. A high amount of trans fat can be found in processed foods so you better go for natural and home cooked meals. Always check the nutrition facts label when you buy food products just to be sure.

This type of fat can also be found in the following:

• burgers
• bacon
• sausage
• fried chicken
• turkey skin
• luncheon meats
• hotdogs
• organ meat
• fish canned in oil
• high-fat dairy products

Saturated fats include fats and oil in butter, lard, bacon drippings, gravy, cream sauces, palm oil, and coconut oil. Use olive, canola, walnut, and flaxseed oils instead.

2. Simple Sugars

The body makes triglycerides from excess calories, especially from simple carbohydrates found in sugar-rich foods. Simple sugars include most sweets such as cakes, pastries, doughnuts, ice cream, and desserts.

Simple sugars can also be found on products with corn syrup, fructose, glucose, honey, maltose, molasses, and sucrose.

3. Refined Grain Products

Refined grain products are quickly metabolized to simple sugars after being eaten, and may lead to an increase in the triglyceride levels and lower good cholesterol. Start replacing your white products with whole-grain products instead.

Stay away from white bread, white pasta, white rice, and processed and high-sugar cereals.

4. Starchy Vegetables

It’s healthy to choose vegetables over other types of foods, but starchy vegetables should be avoided if you are watching your triglyceride levels. After consumption, starchy vegetables quickly turn to simple sugars.

Starchy vegetables include corn, beans, dried peas, lima beans, and potatoes. You can replace these starchy veggies with other options such as cauliflower, kale, mushrooms, and many other non-starchy vegetables.

5. Alcohol

Sugars are natural parts of alcohol, may it be beer, wine, or any type of liquor. Too much intake of alcohol equals to sugar, and sugar can drive up your triglyceride levels. The resulting glucose from alcohol is then converted to triglycerides.

Choose what you eat wisely. You should maintain a low triglyceride level than obtain high risks of different health problems that can be caused by too high triglyceride levels.

Stride away from triglycerides and make your best effort to avoid the foods and drinks listed above!

7 Fit-spirational Quotes To Inspire You To Live Healthy

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Staying fit and healthy has always been the collective dream of a majority of people. But, how can you start your fitness and weight loss journey? 

A car needs fuel to keep moving. A kite needs the wind to keep flying. A dreamer needs a dream to keep doing their thing. A person needs inspiration to keep going.

Here are 7 fit-spirational quotes to get your health and fitness journey rolling:

#1 Stop wishing. Start doing.

No one ever gets fit or healthy by merely wishing it. Your dreams will happen if you’ll actually start doing something about them. Stop living in your daydreams and start acting on your dreams. You don’t have to start big; you just have to start, period. You don’t have to do insane workouts; you can start with exercises that you’re comfortable with. From there, level up your workout’s intensity little by little.

#2 Be stronger than your strongest excuse.

Excuses won’t bring you anywhere. They won’t even burn your calories. When excuses start to barge in, fight it head on with your dream goals and motivation. The voice in your head that says you can’t do things is a liar. Don’t let your excuses dictate the way you live. Look at your goals more than your excuses.

#3 Every day is a chance to get better.

You are given 365 chances per year to be better every day. Why not make use of these days to do something worthwhile than just lay on the couch and watch movies the whole day? Challenge yourself daily. Each day is a new day to start achieving your goals.

#4 What you eat in private, you wear in public.

Be accountable for yourself. What you do in private will eventually be revealed in public. Start replacing your usual food with healthier choices. Don’t deprive yourself of food; instead, choose foods that are good for you and your body. Say goodbye to junk so you won’t look like one.

#5 It’s not about having time; it’s about making time.

You may be busy with work, school, or other responsibilities, but if you really love your body, you’ll make time for it. You are given 24 hours a day to do every single thing you need to do. An hour a day or even thirty minutes of exercising will bring big changes in your body over time.

#6 Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.

A tiny piece of gold takes long hours to produce. Your dream body won’t also come off as easy as 1, 2, 3. It takes discipline and hard work to achieve your fitness dreams. It’s better to suffer the pain of discipline than suffer the pain of regret right? Achieving a healthy body is never easy; but if you don’t stop, you’ll get better day by day. Look at your finish line and keep going.

#7 The best project you’ll ever work on is you.

When you eat healthily and exercise regularly, it’s you who’ll benefit. You are not doing these things for other people. Be motivated by your love for your own body. Your journey will never be easy, but it’s for your own good. Start working on your biggest project now – you.

It’s better to feel sore today than be sorry tomorrow. Carry these fitspirational tips with you always, and keep that health and fitness journey going!

If you want a professional to help you attain your fitness goals, click here.

How to Reboot Hormones for Weight Loss

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Losing weight has been a constant struggle for a majority of people. At present, two out of every three Americans are overweight or obese – and the numbers continue to increase.

Have you been one of those trying numerous diets and exercises yet still far away from losing weight? The problem may be in your hormones. Hormones hold the key to effective weight loss. 

Reboot and balance your weight loss hormones with these simple tips:

Log off from stress.

Have you ever wondered why you are binge-eating every time you are stressed? That’s the result of the adrenal glands’ release of the stress hormone cortisol. When you’re stressed, your high level of cortisol also prods you to crave for high-sugar and high-carb foods. Furthermore, cortisol causes you to accumulate more abdominal fat.

To balance out the fat-storing cortisol, log yourself off from stress. Reduce stress by doing things you love and having some me-time or simply taking a break to relax your mind and body. Keep calm – and you’ll lose weight better.

Shut down and sleep.

More than the ugly eye bags, not having enough sleep can also give you unwanted flab. Lack of sleep lowers weight loss sidekick leptin and increases hunger hormone ghrelin, urging you to eat more food the following day. Leptin is your appetite suppressor, telling you when you should stop eating.

Be sure to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a day to raise your levels of leptin and avoid leptin resistance. You can also add darker curtains in your bedroom for better sleep.

Restart your exercise.

Get off your couch and start moving. Regular exercise relieves stress and promotes better slumber. Exercise doesn’t only help you burn fat and build muscles, it also counterattacks unnecessary food cravings and binge-eating.

Just get moving regularly through a variety of exercises you can choose from. You can walk or ride a bike to work, walk your dog, dance with friends, or play your favorite sports.

Start eating right.

Have you practiced skipping breakfast with the belief that it will shave you off some calories? That’s a big no-no! Skipping meals raise your hunger hormone ghrelin, making you say yes to every food item you see. Ghrelin is high in the morning after sleeping all night, so it’s necessary to eat breakfast to keep its balance.

In order to keep ghrelin low, you need to eat small food portions every 3-4 hours. It is also recommended to avoid very-low-calorie diets. Eating properly and frequently helps avoid the surges of ghrelin that triggers uncontrollable hunger.

To sum it all up, weight loss literally and figuratively starts from within you. Reboot your weight loss hormones and flaunt your dream body that’s worth an Instagram post!

CelebriTIPS: 4 Fitness Secrets From The Hottest Female Celebrities

Is your body already beach-ready for the coming summer getaways?

Have you always wondered how your favorite Hollywood superstars and Victoria’s Secret models manage to maintain their beautiful physiques?

Check out this list of fitness celebriTIPS from your favorites and be summer-ready:

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Alessandra Ambrosio

Alessandra, a 32-year-old mother of two and a Victoria’s Secret model, is one of the most admired bodies in the world. She sports a 34-25-35 body in countless fashion shows and fashion magazines.

To maintain her to-die-for figure, she combines proper dieting habits, sports, yoga, and the Brazilian Butt Lift workout. One thing she advises is to not skip breakfast – ever! She is actually a foodie and she doesn’t restrict herself from eating. Her food choices usually include eggs, sandwiches, bread, fruits, chicken breast, rice, beans, different kinds of meat, sweet potato, and more – but in moderation. She eats in small portions six times a day. And, in between meals, she takes fruits and protein cocktails. 

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Megan Fox

Megan credits her sexy and slim figure to a well-balanced diet and resistance training. She eats the right carbs for energy with three meals and two snacks per day. While other celebrities rely on delivered meals, Megan prepares her own food at home, filling them with protein, fiber, healthy fat, with low-sugar.

Her trainer describes her as someone who naturally doesn’t love working out. With that, she does resistance training at least thrice a week with added cardio. To support her diet and exercise, she drinks apple cider vinegar before every meal to rid her body of sugar and water weight. 

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Angelina Jolie

This multi-faceted actress uses a variety of workouts to make sure that she gets her perfect shape. Angelina performs aerobics, yoga workouts, kickboxing, and twisted lunges developed by her personal trainer, Gunnar Peterson. She does pull-ups, bicep curls, squats, and shoulder exercises.

Along with that, her diet contains lots of protein, steamed vegetables, fruits, lots of water, and little amounts of complex carbs. She refrains from taking in red meat and wheat-based food items.

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Nina Dobrev

The Vampire Diaries Star Nina Dobrev relies on five to six small low carb meals a day to sustain her body from her workouts. She sweats fat out by doing hot yoga three to four times a week. Among all hot yoga kinds, Bikram is her most beloved. She also counts on full body workouts with the supervision of her personal trainer to maintain a strong and beautiful body. Apart from that, she also tries new ways to exercise in her workouts.

Regarding her diet, she balances it off with green veggies, lean protein, whole grains, healthy fats, and low carbs. She also stays away from processed foods that fill in unsolicited calories in the body. She also adds rich protein sources in her diet and snacks on fruits and nuts in between meals. 

Get inspiration from these hottest female Hollywood celebrities and be summer-ready! If you’d like to read useful tips on how to eat your way to fitness, click here.