The Wonders of Juice Fasting (guest post on Always Active Athletics)

Many thanks to Always Active Athletics for posting the article that I submitted regarding the many benefits of juice fasting.

I always think that a little change in our habits can bring a plethora of benefits to our health. Sometimes it only takes a small change in our habits to reap countless rewards, especially in our health.

Please click here to read the article.

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.

Go Loco with Avocado: 10 Reasons Why It’s Good for You

Go loco with avocado now!
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Avocado is more than just a fruit, it’s a super fruit. Numerous studies show the many health benefits eating an avocado can do for you and your body. Avocados are like convenience stores—they’ve got it all for you. 

Here are 10 of the many reasons why you should add avocados to your diet now:

#1 Avocados are impressively nutritious.

Given its incredible health properties, avocado is often termed as a superfood. An avocado contains a wide variety of more than 25 essential nutrients, including 20 different vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, copper, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium. It also contains several beneficial phytochemicals such as beta-sitosterol, glutathione, and lutein.

#2 Avocados help maintain a healthy heart.

The vitamin B6 and folic acid content of avocados help regulate homocysteine levels—levels associated with increased risks of heart diseases. Avocado is also a high-fat food. No, it’s not the kind of fat that you imagine. Avocados are rich in a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid. Oleic acid is a “heart-healthy” fatty acid, which is also found in olive oil.

#3 Avocados can lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Avocados are rich in beta-sitosterol, a compound proven effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels. Numerous studies have also proven that consuming avocados can regulate LDL and HDL cholesterol, and even blood triglycerides.

#4 Avocados regulate blood sugar levels.

The monounsaturated fats in avocados aren’t only good for the heart, they can also reverse insulin resistance to help regulate blood sugar levels. Avocados are also loaded with a rich amount of fiber. The soluble fiber in avocados doesn’t only contribute to weight loss, it also reduces blood sugar spikes.

#5 Avocados have anti-aging properties.

Avocados contain glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that combats free radicals and toxins in the body. Glutathione supplements are commonly used now by a majority of people to have beautiful, glowing skin. An avocado, aside from being natural, does more than that, it also defies symptoms of aging.

The avocado oil is also even added in many cosmetics because of its skin nourishing ability. An avocado a day may help you grow old, without making you look like it.

#6 Avocados may help prevent cancer risk.

The oleic acid in avocados does more than just keeping your heart healthy. Many studies have shown that it is also effective in preventing certain types of cancers such as breast cancer and prostate cancer. It can also help reduce the downsides of chemotherapy.

#7 Avocados can cure bad breath.

What you take in contributes to the smell of your breath. Avocados cleanse the intestine to rid you of coated tongue and bad breath. This fruit is considered as one of the best natural mouthwash and bad breath remedy.

#8 Avocados increase nutrient absorption.

Taking in nutrients isn’t enough. Our body needs to absorb them as well. Avocados can do the absorption trick for you. Some nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, and carotenoids are fat soluble—meaning they need to be combined with fat in order to be utilized by the body. A study showed that adding avocado or avocado oil to your meal can increase antioxidant absorption by 2.6 to 15-fold. Add an avocado whenever you eat vegetables to make sure the nutrients are absorbed in the body—not put to waste.

#9 Avocados promote eye health.

Avocados aren’t only good for antioxidant absorption; they are rich in antioxidants as well. Two of the antioxidants present in avocados, carotenoid lutein, and zeaxanthin are essential for maintaining healthy eyes. These nutrients even reduce the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration in aging men and women.

#10 People who eat avocados are proven to be healthier.

A survey in the U.S. has shown that avocado consumers were found to be healthier than those who didn’t eat avocados. People who incorporated avocados in their regular diet weighed less, had a lower BMI, and less belly fat than non-avocado eaters.

Aren’t you convinced yet? More than these incredible benefits, avocados are delicious and easy to incorporate into every meal. Avocados are weight loss friendly, heart healthy, eye healthy, et cetera while being incredibly tasty! What more can you ask for in a fruit? Go loco with avocado now!

For more information on how to support your weight loss and nutrition success, click here.

6 Food Hacks for A Sexier You

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Have you always envied your friend who eats tons of food yet never gets big nor fat? Have you always wished you had a fast metabolism like hers?

Take note that your genes play a big part in your body’s metabolism, but you have the power to tweak your metabolic rate.

There are three different body types:

• Mesomorphs - those with athletic builds
• Endomorphs - those with bigger builds
• Ectomorphs - those with very thin builds 

Whether you are born an endomorph, you can still hack your way to a faster metabolism. Here are food choices that could rev up your metabolism naturally:

Kiwi

Kiwis are packed with a rich amount of Vitamin C. Adding 500 mg of this vitamin to your diet can help you burn up to 39% more fat when you exercise. Though, overdosing Vitamin C and reaching the 2,000 mg mark can make you experience unfavorable effects like bloating, gas, and diarrhea.

Whole grains

Whole grains, like oats, barley, and brown rice, are rich in fiber and take longer to digest. These foods help your body to burn more fat because of the extra effort it needs to break them down than processed grains.

Capsaicin

Spice up your meals with capsaicin rich foods like chili peppers. Capsaicin is a chemical compound that has the ability to rev up your metabolism fast. More than that, capsaicin stimulates certain proteins known to break down fat.

Lean meat and protein

Lean meat like skinless chicken, turkey, and red meat are rich in iron. Iron deficiencies can slow your metabolism. To add, foods rich in protein, like chicken or eggs, can prevent overeating by making you feel fuller for a longer period of time.

Green Tea

Drinking several cups of green tea per day is a natural way to raise your metabolic rate naturally. Research suggests that its EGCG or epigallocatechin gallate content can also contribute to a rise in fat and calorie burn.

Water

Not having enough water or being mildly dehydrated, can cause your metabolism to slow down. Water is needed by the body to food processing and conversion of calories into usable energy. Another tip is to drink cold water, cold water forces your body to use more calories in order to warm it up.

No matter what type of body you’re born with, simple dietary modifications and healthy exercise habits can make a big difference in how fast your metabolism can be. Try eating more of these foods and speed up your way to weight loss!

If you’re looking for a nutrition program specifically designed to fit your needs, 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:

Credit: facebook.com/Alessandra

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. 

Credit: aznviolaguy on flickr.com

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.

Drop A Decade: 5 Age-Defying Foods to Add to Your Diet

“You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.” -- George Burns

Your choice of diet and lifestyle can add years to your life without making you feel and look tired and old. Aging can’t be skipped, but you can choose to age gracefully.

Look and feel a decade younger by adding these age-defying foods to your diet:

Credit: Pixabay.com

Blueberries

This little fruit is a great immunity booster and a crucial food choice to help you look and feel younger. A single serving (3.5 ounces) of blueberries contains more antioxidants than any other fruit. Even a tiny piece of blueberry is packed with anthocyanins, a potent antioxidant that can do wonders in promoting cell rejuvenation and in protecting you against cancer and heart disease.

Black Beans

Beans, in general, are superior anti-aging foods. They are rich in fiber, healthy protein, and antioxidants that help slow down the aging process. More than that, black beans reign supreme over any other kind of beans as it contains 40 times more antioxidants than others. That means jam-packed, age-defying magic with every bean.

Green Tea

Hot or cold, green tea is consumed by many because of its outstanding overall health and longevity benefits. The phytonutrients in green tea supports the growth of intestinal bacteria, specifically inhibiting the growth of bad bacteria like E. Coli, clostridium, and salmonella, while leaving the good bacteria untouched, decreasing the risk of digestive health disorders that come with aging. It’s also rich in flavonoids that will protect you against heart disease and certain cancers. Three cups a day is recommended for you to receive green tea’s full benefits.

Oysters

With aging, bones tend to decrease in density, leading to different bone diseases like osteoporosis. Shellfish are rich in different minerals like zinc, calcium, copper, iodine, iron, potassium, and selenium that promotes healthier bones. The creamy flesh of oysters makes it stand out among any other shellfish. Oysters help build stronger bones and elevate testosterone levels especially in aging men, and protects them against prostate cancer.

Pomegranates

The ruby red gem seeds in pomegranates are packed with polyphenols, namely tannins, anthocyanins and ellagic acid that help the skin produce elastin and collagen to reduce the visible signs of aging. On top of that, studies suggest that a glass of pomegranate juice contains more antioxidants and vitamins than red wine, green tea, and blueberries.

Incorporate these age-defying foods to your diet and experience an age-defying transformation like never before!

Intro-juicing Anti-Aging Juicing Recipes

Experiencing aging is like riding a seesaw in life’s playground. It has its own set of ups and downs. With aging comes beautiful memories you wouldn’t want to leave and detestable side effects that wouldn’t want to leave you.

Credit: Pixabay.com

Though you can’t escape aging, you can befriend it. Through making wise choices in your life, exercise, and diet, you can triumph over aging’s side effects. One healthy and natural way to do that is through juicing. You are just a kitchen away from feeling younger, healthier, and looking more beautiful even with age.

Here are anti-aging juicing recipes you can try to achieve your healthy glow: 

Eggplant Carrot Juice

• 1 eggplant
• 3 carrots
• 2 apples
• 1 celery stalk

Vegetables that are dark in color, like eggplants, are rich in antioxidants that help slow down your aging process. This fruity-veggie mix also provides antivirus benefits, improves your blood flow, lowers your cholesterol levels, protects your cell walls, and reduce your risks of cancer.

Parsley Energy Explosion

• 1 large bunch of parsley
• 2 carrots
• 1 apple
• 1 celery stalk

Parsley doesn’t only boost up your energy, it can also oxygenate your blood with its high levels of chlorophyll. This energy explosion also helps you avoid that “old man’s breath” as it serves as a breath freshener. It also helps you look and feel young with its detoxification and energizing benefits.

Red Pepper Beauty Juice

• 2 red peppers
• 2 carrots
• 1 apple
• 1 broccoli spear

The high amount of carotenoids present in red peppers can improve the look of your skin even as you age while preventing symptoms of arthritis. This beauty concoction also protects your cardiovascular system and reduces your bad cholesterol enabling you to do more in your daily activities.

Parsnip Carrot Juice

• 3 parsnips
• 3 carrots
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 apple

Parsnips are like carrots but are much sweeter. It is also a good source of Vitamins C, folate, and manganese. This powerful rejuvenation combo alkalizes your blood, benefits your weakening eyesight, soothes your nervous system, and prevents you from having skin cancer or melanoma which is most common in women.

Your fountain of youth hides within just a cup of mixed fruits and vegetables. Try adding these anti-aging juicing recipes to your diet for at least 30 days and feel the anti-aging difference!

Eat Your Way to Weight Loss

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Glossy magazine models and media present health and beauty with clear skin, beautiful hair, and well-sculpted bodies. This made losing weight a desirable goal for most of us, especially those in their midlife.

When we were younger, we tend to eat all the food we like; but, as we age, our metabolism slows down and eating everything we like would not be advisable anymore.

We can eat our way to weight loss by eating clean and healthy. We can eat sumptuous meals without ever feeling guilty. Making small changes in our daily food choices can provide lasting benefits to our weight, our health, and our future. 

Here are some tips on how to lose weight with healthy eating:

Run fast from fast food.

Go for home-cooked meals over fast food meals. Fast food meals are too high in salt, transfats, oils, and artificial additives that often lead to obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

Be guilt-free in eating your favorite burger and fries combo by replacing regular French fries with home-cooked sweet potato fries, and portobello mushrooms or cauliflower bread as your burger buns. You can also add your all-time favorite mashed potato exchanged for a yummy and nutritious mashed cauliflower.

Run far away from sugar.

According to a research, sugar is the real culprit in the obesity epidemic. It should be considered a treat and not a diet staple.

Get your healthy sugar from real fruits instead of packed fruit juices, water, and milk instead of sodas, and honey instead of store-bought maple syrup. Swap your ice cream with frozen fruit purees and smoothies.

Go from white to wheat products.

Substitute your white products like flour, bread, and pasta with wheat or whole-grain products. The refined flour used in making these white products lose the bran and the germ, and the essential nutritious components for diet, like vitamins. Consuming a piece of refined bread is the same as consuming a handful of sugar.

Enjoy the fiber and nutrients, without the sugar, by swapping refined bread with pita or whole-wheat bread, white pasta with wheat pasta, flour tortilla with corn tortilla, and other whole-wheat or whole-grain varieties that taste even better.

Walk away from a high-salt diet.

Salt makes your food tasty and delicious, but consuming sodium more than the maximum daily intake of less than 2300 milligrams is harmful. A high-sodium diet can lead to high blood pressure, fluid retention, hypernatremia, cardiovascular diseases, and weight gain. Most processed foods are typically high in salt and additives that contain sodium.

Opt to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables than chips, fresh meats than processed meats, and limit the use of sodium-laden condiments like soy sauce, ketchup, mustard, and salad dressings. Turn to natural herbs and spices to season your foods.

Excess fat, salt, and sugar are the top three hindrances for you to lose weight. These three are good for the body if culled from natural sources and taken in moderation. Say goodbye to unhealthy eating and say hello to your dream body in the making!