Add Flavor to Your Food Without Unnecessary Fat and Calories

As a society we have become very accustomed to adding flavors to our foods in ways that are less than healthy. Everything from butter, to cheese, to oils is what we have become accustomed to using to try to enhance the flavor of our foods. Ultimately we end up paying for this extra flavor with our health. Today let's focus on ways that you can add flavor to your foods without adding an overwhelming amount of calories or fat, some options are even calorie free!

Herbs and Spices

When I first heard about herbs and spices for flavor I had told myself that I was already using them in my meals. I added a little bit of pepper here, a little bit of garlic there and my food was tasting better than ever. Then I broadened my horizons and started learning about and using new spices like cumin and coriander and my flavors continued to enhance.

Now I like to do everything from creating a healthy stir fry with some extra virgin olive oil and a myriad of spices to creating dry rubs for my steaks and pork chops. The ways that spices and herbs can expand your flavor vocabulary are truly limitless.

Cooking Methods

When I first started cooking, which was quite some time ago, I thought there was two ways to cook foods: stove-top or oven. Especially with meats there are countless ways that you can cook foods to change the ways that the flavors exist within the food.

A broiled steak is going to taste quite different from a grilled steak, and steak that you sear before you broil is going to taste different still. If you learn about different methods you have to cook your food, you will see that you can seal in flavors you never knew existed and create all new flavors that you are going to love.

The Citrus Secret

One of the best things that I added to my kitchen repertoire was lemon and lime juice. There are countless dishes that you can create with the addition of a little bit of lemon or lime and the best part is the juices are natural and healthy.

If you want an incredibly easy dish that you can create with the addition of lime juice, try making some wonderfully simple lime shrimp. A little bit of olive oil, a dash of garlic powder, shrimp and some lime juice all tossed together and heated in a pan, then throw some lime juice on the top once it's finished. You're going to love the ways it tastes!

Popping Peppers

Did you know there are thousands of varieties of peppers that exist around the world. These little wonder foods can turn any single food into a full blown dish, not to mention the can take the flavor and blow it out of the water.

If you like a little spicy, try some ground cayenne pepper in your dish. Looking for something crisp and fresh to compliment a steak or other meat dish? Heat up some peppers with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and pair it with your red meat for explosive flavors and a full bodied entrée.

The bottom line, you don't have to sacrifice flavor when it comes to eating healthy. Take some of the healthy dishes and recipes that you have found and spice them up with some of these options, I guarantee you will find a new favorite healthy dish in no time.

Zachary Spuckler runs a successful health and fitness blog at http://www.spucklerfitness.com/ where he posts recipes  motivation, and healthy living tips.  He also offers a free report to help people figure out why they may not be losing weight.  Grab your free report now by clicking here.

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5 Best Energy Foods for Low Calorie Diets

When you hit the ground running with your diet plan, you'll probably notice a sudden dip in your energy levels.

This is normal as your bodies not consuming its usual caloric intake.

However it's more than possible to consume certain foods which will boost that battery right up and don't include any additional calories that will break your daily calorie quota.

Below are considered the best 5 energy foods for dieters to stave off the fatigue and the bingeing by curbing the cravings:

1. Salmon

Salmon is packed with healthy fats, not processed fats.

Healthy fats are essential as they provide the body with a major source of energy.

Bursting with protein, healthy fats and in this case salmon should be included in your diet plan at least twice per week.

2. Quinoa

Quinoa is relatively new to western diets but has been used for generations in South America as a staple means of protein.

Vegetarians will get their most amount of protein from this one natural carbohydrate, far more than you would from brown rice.

3. Bananas

While bananas make you feel full and will help reduce your appetite, they also contain a lot of potassium which is a micronutrient essential for propelling energy levels higher in the body.

Fresh produce in general will contain a lot of natural potassium, so be sure to consume fresh foods daily, to starve off hunger and fatigue.

4. Oats

It's blood glucose levels which determine spikes in your energy levels, from a sudden high to an onset of weariness, keeping blood glucose levels nice and steady is key to maintaining energy levels.

Oats are perfect for this as they are slowly digesting healthy carbohydrates which should not be eliminated from your diet.

Low in sugar, high in fiber, Oatmeal is a good source for getting your fix of oats and it will only take a minute to prepare any number of Oatmeal dishes.

5. Egg whites:

Have you ever noticed why weight lifters consume lots of poultry, especially eggs.

It's the egg whites in this case which are rich in protein but extremely low in calories, containing perhaps only 15% per egg white, but they are a great source of healthy fats, and are excellent at maintaining your lean muscle mass which is why they prove so resourceful for guys down the gym.

Egg whites don't just repair and rebuild muscle, they also make you feel energized after a hard session of strength training.

Bottom line:

If you want to maintain high energy levels but avoid the crashes and the cravings, a staple diet of healthy fats and carbs rich in protein are perfect for low calorie diets.

Additionally, consider using some of the latest weight loss supplements to really help you lose weight faster:

Visit: Best Weightloss Supplements to view the top 7 weightloss pills for 2013

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6 Unknown But Effective Tips To Lose Calories Fast

1) Sleep early and adequately: This may not be easy to achieve, as most of us lead busy lives in the modern world. However, you should still try to do so, as researchers at the University of Washington discovered a correlation between a higher body weight with less than 7 hours of sleep a day. Besides, the obesity gene will have lesser effect on your weight if you sleep more and this helps you in losing calories fast. Thus, forget your late night parties and try to sleep more!

2) Use blue to decorate your kitchen: A color of tranquility, you may find blue or green to be effective in suppressing your appetite, while yellow and red will have the opposite effect. Therefore, try to have more blue dishes, utensils or walls in your dining area to help you eat less.

3) Do not wear loose fitting clothes when eating: You need to be conscious of your current figure, so do not wear baggy clothes when having your meals, as this creates the illusion that you are slim. Essentially, wearing more fitting clothes will remind you to eat less.

4) Be more active on social media: Research shows that being active users of Facebook and other social media will help you to lose calories fast, due to the constant fear of being tagged in an embarrassing photo and letting everyone know about your days of being fat. This could seriously be a motivating factor in your weight loss journey!

5) Look at yourself in the mirror while eating: Interestingly, watching ourselves eat can encourage us to eat less. This has been proven by experiments at the Arizona State University, where researchers discovered that people who eat in front of a mirror consumed less food. Intuitively, you will be more conscious of your body and will not overeat, if you eat in front of a mirror.

6) Eat with male friends: Do choose male eating companions when dining out, as apparently, they will influence you to consume less. This is because we tend to be more conscious of our gender when there are members of the opposite sex, and women will instinctively eat less to be more ladylike. On the other hand, men will either be eating any excess portion from a woman's plate, or eat more to appear manly.

As mentioned, here are 6 unconventional but intriguing methods of helping you lose calories fast and do feel free to try some of them out. You will never know if one of them may actually work for you!

If you want to get more tips or helpful products that can help you to burn fat and lose calories fast, you can visit http://www.losecaloriesfast.com

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Re-Think Your Drink to Cut Calories

Ever wonder why, even though you have cut calories in the foods you eat and working out 3-4 days a week, you are not shedding pounds? What beverages are you drinking during the day? Adopt a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle means making healthy choices.

Four years ago, my mother was diagnosed with pre-diabetes by her physician. As a nurse, she knows how serious this disease is and the complications that can come from it. She would drink, on average 3-4 20oz bottles of cola a day. After her diagnosis, she decided to start drinking diet cola. After a few months of just re-thinking her drink, she had dropped 50 pounds.

For every 4 grams of sugar in a drink, that equates to 1 teaspoon of sugar. A 20 ounce cola has 65 grams of sugar. That's 16 teaspoons of sugar.

What beverages are you drinking? Re-think your drink and cut calories:

• Medium mocha 400 calories - medium non-fat latte 160 calories
• 20oz regular cola 280 calories - 20oz diet cola 0 calories
• 16oz fruit drink 230 calories - 16oz water 0 calories
• 16oz sweet tea 200 calories - 16oz unsweet iced tea 0 calories
• 12oz beer 150 calories - 12oz light beer - 100 calories

To make better beverage choices, the CDC recommends the following:

• Choose water, diet, or low-calorie beverages instead of sugar-sweetened beverages.
• For a quick, easy, and inexpensive thirst-quencher, carry a water bottle and refill it throughout the day.
• Don't "stock the fridge" with sugar-sweetened beverages. Instead, keep a jug or bottles of cold water in the fridge.
• Serve water with meals.
• Make water more exciting by adding slices of lemon, lime, cucumber, or watermelon, or drink sparkling water.
• Add a splash of 100% juice to plain sparkling water for a refreshing, low-calorie drink.
• When you do opt for a sugar-sweetened beverage, go for the small size. Some companies are now selling 8-oz. cans and bottles of soda, which contain about 100 calories.
• Be a role model for your friends and family by choosing healthy, low-calorie beverages.

Along with re-thinking your drink, try and get 30 minutes of exercise daily. This can be in the form of walking, gardening, playing with the kids, dancing, aerobics, etc.. Try going for a 10-minute brisk walk, 3 times a day, 5 days a week.

Also, when re-thinking your drink, try to choose water over other beverages. To help with weight control, you should consume beverages and foods that don't have added sugars.

Tara White
AKS Virtual Solutions, LLC
Providing virtual assistant services, quality, value, and excellent results to busy entrepreneurs, small businesses, and executives.
http://www.aksvirtualsolutions.com
http://www.centricmag.com

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The 500 Calorie Diet Plan

The 500 Calorie Diet Plan is gaining "legs" in popularity on the Internet, but it holds the possibility of costing dieters leg muscle along with fat if misused. In fact, it is only recommended for limited use under strict medical supervision for those who are morbidly obese -- those with a Body Mass Index of over 30.

It is, however, growing in popularity among those with a lower BMI. Witness the number of Web sites touting the supposed "quick and easy" weight loss available through The 500 Calorie Diet Plan. Programs such as the Grapefruit Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, and Sacred Heart diet are sprouting up all over.

What they all have in common is a plan to limit the daily intake of calories to under 800 and, more typically, to no more than 500. While that will cause dramatic weight loss during the prescribed four to 16 weeks of the diet, it also can result in severe health consequences to those who stay on the diet longer or who were under the BMI 30 threshold to begin with.

Cutting calories also cuts the nutrients your body needs. The 500 Calorie Diet Plan dramatically limits vitamins, protein, fats, carbohydrates and fiber. Just the reduction in fiber means dieters can have major problems with constipation and diarrhea. Carbohydrates are needed for energy and concentration. Protein loss will show up as dull hair and skin.

The 500 Calorie Diet Plan also can lead to gallstones and gout. Thanks to the imbalance of bile salts and cholesterol, gallstone formation is the most common serious side effect of a low calorie diet. Gout can appear with a change in uric acid levels.

More insidious is that a low calorie diet can trick the body into thinking it is being malnourished and so needs to begin storing fat. This can cause the absorption of good tissue if there is not enough fat available. At the same time, the body's metabolism will slow in an effort to reduce the need for burning fat.

Some dieters who keep getting on and off The 500 Calorie Diet Plan also can develop eating disorders because they find it difficult to return to normal eating habits. So the onslaught of bulimia and anorexia nervosa can be included among the negatives related to low calorie intake.

Those who flat out should not even consider The 500 Calorie Diet Plan, according to doctors, are pregnant or lactating women, those over 50, children, and people with conditions such as cardiovascular disease or kidney dysfunction.

For some, probably the worst news about this quick weight loss scheme is that it most likely will not last. Yes, at first the pounds will come off and the loss will be noticeable. However, much of the weight lost will have been water, and that cannot be sustained once the dieter returns to a fairly regular diet. The weight will return, particularly if the metabolism has been affected.

So the best diet remains a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains and fats. Add to that plenty of exercise and you have the formula for healthy weight loss. Sorry about that.

Find out more information at the500caloriediet.net.

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Cleaning the House As a Way to Cut Calories

The secret to becoming a lifelong physical fitness buff is to discover an exercise regimen that you can easily fit into your lifestyle - at least in the beginning. Then, gradually, as regular exercise becomes part of your daily routine, going a day or two without your afternoon walk or the usual two hours at the gym makes you feel "off" or lethargic. When this happens, you know your transition to seeing fitness as a lifestyle choice rather than just as a means to an end (like losing weight or lowering your blood pressure) is complete.

Housework as Exercise

A good way to get started on a regular exercise regimen is to clean your house. That's right, doing housework is not only a dust buster, it's a guaranteed calorie buster too! Cleaning the bathroom (tub and walls) can burn a total of 200 calories. Do it vigorously for 30 minutes and you'll get toned arms and shoulders, not to mention a gleaming, soap scum-free bathroom. Watch 125 calories fly right out of your clean windows - after you've given them a vigorous and thorough scrubbing. A serious 30-minute vacuuming session (this means really getting under the beds and sofa and no cutting corners) will not only get rid of dust bunnies, it will also eat up 90 calories.

Like saving for a rainy day, every little bit helps - a hundred calories lost ironing clothes, another hundred from cleaning out the closets or basement. You will soon find yourself being able to take those stairs two steps at a time without bending over to catch your breath. It feels even better when a clean house also allows you to fit into your favorite pair of jeans.

Weed Your Way to a Lower Weight

You can burn even more calories when you take it outside. Cleaning your car burns up 143 calories, plus it helps tones your abdominals - all the better to slide with ease behind the wheel! Yard work is a great way to consume calories and tone several muscle groups at the same time. Weeding for half an hour uses up to 115 calories and works your thighs and buttocks. Raking leaves, that much bemoaned chore of many a junior high student, is a great way to tone all your body's major muscle groups. It can also burn up to 225 calories if you do it continuously for at least 30 minutes.

Toned muscles, a flat tummy and a clean house with a well-kept yard - who said you can't have it all?

M. Dwyer is the founder of Healthe Trim, a natural weight loss supplement clinically shown to promote weight loss. Healthe Trim combines natural ingredients such as raspberry ketone and green tea leaf extract in order to reduce food cravings and boost energy naturally. Learn more about Healthe Trim's natural weight loss supplement at http://www.healthytrim.com.

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8 Easy Ways To Lose Calories Fast

1) Add spice to your meals: Besides making your food tastier and more flavourful, chili and spices like black pepper and cinnamon can actually help you to lose weight by burning off any extra calories intake into your body. Thus, for your next meal, do try to add some chili or spice to it.

2) Avoid white food: Most of the "white" foods, like flour, potato products, rice, white breads, milk and cheese products, are to be avoided as they are likely to make you gain weight. However, some "white" foods like fish and cauliflowers are acceptable.

3) Eat your meals slowly: Your stomach will take some time to signal to your brain that it is digesting food, thus, it usually takes at least 20 minutes before you start to feel full during a meal. This means that a person who eats quickly will tend to overeat. Therefore, it is better if you chew each mouthful more times and take your time to enjoy your meal, so that you can reduce calories intake.

4) Eat fruits: Fruits like apples, strawberries and bananas, which are high in fibre, should be taken regularly, especially before meals. This is because fibre can help you feel full for longer periods of time and also reduces the amount of fats absorbed into your body. Eating fruits before your main meal also makes you feel full so that your will not overindulge during your meal!

5) Drink more water: You may not be aware of this, but each 12 ounce can of soda gives you 140 to 170 calories. Even non-caloric drinks, like your coffee, apple juice and milk also adds to your calories intake. Thus, ditch the sodas and other drinks that have calories, sugar or artificial sweeteners and switch to water instead. You can adjust to this idea gradually by adding liquid or powdered flavour enhancer to your water bottle. Also, try to take at least half the weight of your body in ounces of water. For example, if you weigh 300 pounds, drink 150 ounces of water everyday. This will help the kick start the process to lose calories fast.

6) Sleep more: According to research by Columbia University, lack of sleep makes us feel more hungry as our hunger hormone will be at a higher level than the hormone which makes us feel full. Thus, rest and have adequate sleep to reduce calories intake today.

7) Build muscles: Undeniably, muscles help our body to burn off calories. To enhance muscle growth, you can eat the right type of food, like protein and vitamins. Having a protein rich meal and chocolate milk after your workout will be a good and fast way of building muscles.

8) Ditch the sauces: Basically, the sauces and gravies that we add to our food can add a surprisingly high amount of calories to our meals. For instance, instead of adding barbecue sauce on your chicken, try sprinkling salt and pepper and throw it on the grill. By reducing or simplifying, we can better taste our food and cut down on calories intake too.

With the 8 ways of losing calories fast mentioned in this article, you can now achieve your ideal weight and a healthier body with minimal time and effort!

If you want to get more tips or helpful products that can help you to burn fat and lose calories fast, you can visit here

To get a Free E-book on 101 WAYS TO BURN BELLY FATS DAILY, CLICK HERE NOW

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Cleanse Your Body To Be Healthy And Lose Calories Fast

Just like machines, our bodies will accumulate toxins from the air we breathe, as well as chemicals in our foods and water. Although our bodies are capable of removing some of these toxins, there is a limit on the amount that can be removed. Once that harmful stuff starts to accumulate, our organs, especially the liver, will not be able to function efficiently. Consequently, if the liver malfunctions and cannot break down fats, it will result in weight gain. Other possible symptoms of a sluggish liver are high cholesterol, fatigue, difficulty in losing weight, immune system dysfunction and excessive gas and bloating.

What is the function of your liver, and how does it affect your weight loss efforts? Well, the liver is the second largest and the hardest working organ in your body. It filters, eliminates and cleans out substances that can harm our bodies. To accomplish this, the liver produces a greenish (sometimes yellowish-brown) liquid called "bile", which it uses to clean the organs and blood. Bile fluids are stored in the gall bladder and re-circulated throughout our bodies many times a day. Primarily, bile helps to break down and digest fats. The liver also dumps toxins into the bile in order to remove them from our bodies. If your liver becomes dysfunctional in any way, the amount of toxins dumped into the bile increases. This clogs the bile and makes it inefficient in breaking down fats. Thus, for you to lose weight, the overall composition of your bile should be low in toxins and fats.

The liver also controls the processing and excretion of our bodies' hormones, which can affect our bodily functions like metabolic rate and blood sugar levels. As we all know, metabolic rate or metabolism is linked to weight loss. The thyroid gland, upon receiving signals from the liver, secretes hormones to regulate our metabolism. With optimal metabolism, your body will be able to lose calories fast! The liver also moderates our blood sugar levels between meals. After a exercise or long period without food, our blood sugar concentrations will drop. The liver will then act to increase blood sugar levels. On the other hand, if blood sugar levels are too high after a meal, the liver will convert glucose to glycogen, causing body cells to absorb blood sugar and thus lowering the levels.

These are just the tip of the iceberg of what our livers can do. It is evident that if the liver is overworked and inefficient, an assortment of complications can arise, affecting bodily functions like digestion, energy levels, etc., and leading to difficulty in achieving your ideal weight. Therefore, having a healthy liver that functions optimally will definitely help you to lose calories fast and lead a healthier, fulfilling life!

If you want to get more tips or helpful products that can help you to burn fat and lose calories fast, you can visit here

To get a Free E-book on 101 WAYS TO BURN BELLY FATS DAILY, CLICK HERE NOW

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