Wednesday, 28 April 2010

How To Eat Healthily Anytime, Any Place, Any Where!



This weekend saw me travel to the wonderful city of Barcelona for my brother's
stag-do (yes! that's him dressed as a cow!!!)

Never been to Barcelona before and I have to say what an awesome city! The first day was spent on the beach soaking up some rays, swiftly followed by a visit to the impressive nou camp to watch Barcelona play football. We then hit some bars in the evening which were bad ass!

The following day saw us soak up more sun rays, a nice evening meal followed by more bars. A great weekend break, everyone enjoyed themselves and my brother thanked me for organising the trip.



So why am I telling you all this?

Well, before I went on the stag-do, I made a promise to myself not to drink too much and to try and eat healthily over the 2 days. Tough test I know!

Stag-do weekends are usually associated with drinking too much and eating too much. I've been on 4 stag-do weekends over the last year and trust me, health is the last thing on people's minds!

Don't get me wrong, I still wanted to have a few drinks, just to not go mad. I can have a good time without getting absolutely pole-axed and I wanted to keep the momentum going with my healthy eating. I knew it would be a tough test on a stag weekend but was determined to put it into practice.

Here was what I ate on the Sunday:

Before Breakfast: Mega Greens Drink

Breakfast: Chicken salad sandwich

Mid-Morning Snack: Organic Almonds, 1 banana, 1 apple

Lunch: Tuna salad sandwich (was either this or burger king! lol)

Mid-Afternoon: Organic Almonds

Dinner: Paella with rabbit and vegetables(very nice!)

Not the perfect days eating, bit too much bread but under the circumstances I was happy with this.



So where am i going with this?

2 things really:

1) Ditch The Excuses And Plan Ahead!

When it comes to your fat loss plan, know what you're going to eat tomorrow, and the next day and the next. I packed my mega greens supplement tub with me to Barcelona so I could have this before breakfast. I knew I might not be able to eat much veg when I was ou there so I wanted to make sure I was getting all my nutrients in.I also bought some fruit and nuts and kept them in my pocket so I could snack on them in between meals to keep my energy levels stable throughout the day.

2) Have Willpower!!!

Are you strong-minded or weak-minded? Do you get tempted when someone offers you junk food or "another drink" or do you give in? Being around 10 other guys all taking the piss out of my food choices (for being too healthy in other words!!!)and offering me beers every 5 minutes was hard, but I did it! AND I still had an awesome time minus the hangover and I feel refreshed!!!

If I can manage to eat healthy on a stag-do where the main goal was to get as drunk as possible then YOU can DEFINITELY follow a healthy eating plan.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you MUST eat healthily ALL the time. There maybe occasions that this may not be the case however if you want to see results for this summer then you HAVE to tidy up your diet and eat healthily 90% of the time.

Peace out : )

Sam

PS - Here are a couple more pics from the stag-do : )




Thursday, 15 April 2010

146 Reasons To Give Up Sugar!

It amazes me that so many people when asked, 'think' that they don't have sugar in their diet. Some people seem to think that not adding sugar in their tea or avoiding cakes and biscuits is enough to steer clear of it but this is unfortunately not the case.

Let me explain the cold truth about sugar:

Sugar has unfortunately found it's way into most of our food either to make it taste better or to preserve it's lifespan.

Any food product that's been boxed or packaged will usually have some form of sugar in it. And if you're checking food labels, any ingredients ending in "ose" has the horrible white stuff in it (such as dextrose, fructose, lactose.)

Sugar is also the common cause for the following:

(This list is from Nancy Appleton's website. www.nancyappleton.com)
This list is unbelievable! I was shocked when I first read this list.

1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
5. Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases).
6. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function, the more sugar you eat the more elasticity and function you loose.
7. Sugar reduces high density lipoproteins.
8. Sugar leads to chromium deficiency.
9 Sugar leads to cancer of the ovaries.
10. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
11. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
12. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
13. Sugar can weaken eyesight.
14. Sugar raises the level of a neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
15. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
16. Sugar can produce an acidic digestive tract.
17. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
18. Sugar malabsorption is frequent in patients with functional bowel disease.
19. Sugar can cause premature aging.
20. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
21. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
22. Sugar contributes to obesity
23. High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
24. Sugar can cause changes frequently found in person with gastric or duodenal ulcers.
25. Sugar can cause arthritis.
26. Sugar can cause asthma.
27. Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
28. Sugar can cause gallstones.
29. Sugar can cause heart disease.
30. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
31. Sugar can cause multiple sclerosis.
32. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
33. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
34. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.
35. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
36. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
37. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
38. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
39. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E (alpha-Tocopherol in the blood.
40. Sugar can decrease growth hormone.
41. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
42. Sugar can increase the systolic blood pressure.
43. Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
44. High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar bound non-enzymatically to protein)
45. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
46. Sugar causes food allergies.
47. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
48. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
49. Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
50. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
51. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA
52. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
53. Sugar can make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen.
54. Sugar can cause cataracts.
55. Sugar can cause emphysema.
56. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
57. Sugar can promote an elevation of low density lipoproteins (LDL).
58. High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
59. Sugar lowers the enzymes ability to function.
60. Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson’s disease.
61. Sugar can cause a permanent altering the way the proteins act in the body.
62. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
63. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
64. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
65. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
66. Sugar can increase the body's fluid retention.
67. Sugar is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.
68. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
69. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
70. Sugar can make the tendons more brittle.
71. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraine.
72. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
73. Sugar can adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders..
74. Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves.
75. Sugar can cause depression.
76. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
77. Sugar and cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
78. Sugar can increase your risk of getting gout.
79. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates.
80. Sugar can increase the insulin responses in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets.
81 High refined sugar diet reduces learning capacity.
82. Sugar can cause less effective functioning of two blood proteins, albumin, and lipoproteins, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
83. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
84. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness.
85. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance; some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.
86. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
87. Sugar can lead to the hypothalamus to become highly sensitive to a large variety of stimuli.
88. Sugar can lead to dizziness.
89. Diets high in sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
90. High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.
91. High sugar diet can lead to biliary tract cancer.
92. Sugar feeds cancer.
93. High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
94. High sugar consumption can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents.
95. Sugar slows food's travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
96. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon. This can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
97. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
98. Sugar combines and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult.
99. Sugar can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer.
100. Sugar is an addictive substance.
101. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
102. Sugar can exacerbate PMS.
103. Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.
104. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
105. The body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.
106. The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
107. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
108. Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
109. Sugar can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
110. Sugar has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.
111.. I.Vs (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain.
112. High sucrose intake could be an important risk factor in lung cancer.
113. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
114. High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
115. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
116. In Intensive Care Units, limiting sugar saves lives.
117. Sugar may induce cell death.
118. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
119. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behavior.
120. Sugar can lead to prostrate cancer.
121. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
122. Sugar increases the estradiol in young men.
123. Sugar can cause low birth weight babies.
124. Greater consumption of refined sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia
125. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the blood stream.
126. Sweet food items increase the risk of breast cancer.
127. Sugar is a risk factor in cancer of the small intestine.
128. Sugar may cause laryngeal cancer.
129. Sugar induces salt and water retention.
130. Sugar may contribute to mild memory loss.
131. As sugar increases in the diet of 10 years olds, there is a linear decrease in the intake of many essential nutrients.
132. Sugar can increase the total amount of food consumed.
133. Exposing a newborn to sugar results in a heightened preference for sucrose relative to water at 6 months and 2 years of age.
134. Sugar causes constipation.
135. Sugar causes varicous veins.
136. Sugar can cause brain decay in prediabetic and diabetic women.
137. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
138. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
139. Sugar ingestion by pregnant women increases neural tube defects in embryos.
140. Sugar can be a factor in asthma.
141. The higher the sugar consumption the more chances of getting irritable bowel syndrome.
142. Sugar could affect central reward systems.
143. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
144. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
145. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell carcinoma.
146. Sugar can cause liver tumors.



Not good huh?

Not only can sugar play havoc with your fat loss goals and be detrimental to your health, it can ALSO be VERY addictive and is basically like any other drug.

When people take drugs they crave them more right? They want a hit each day to keep them going, just like cigarettes, alcohol or in stronger cases, cocaine or heroine.

Well sugar is no different...

Here's what I think;

"Most people are addicted to sugar they just don't know it yet."

Here are foods that we eat that have sugar in them:

Cereals (any form)
pre-cooked meats & chicken,
pizza,
alcohol,
ryvitas,
Tea (with milk in it)
Red Bull
Dairy Products,
Cakes and cookies
Bread,
Chocolate,
Pre-packed sandwiches

If you're eating or drinking any of the above then you have a sugar addiction. No if's or but's. It doesn't matter how much or how little, you STILL have one.

How to beat your sugar addiction out.

Sugar can be a "bitch" to give up and (because it's a drug), when you first remove it from your diet, you may experience some withdrawl symptoms such as mood swings, fatigue, drowsiness depending on how much sugar you were eating in the first place.

These symptoms will only last a few days and the benefits are HUGE - better health, better moods,a feeling of increased vitality and clearer thinking.

Eliminate sugar from your diet and replace fresh fruit, vegetables, organic meat.

Sam Winkworth
CPT, SPN

PS - >>> Let me know your comments in the box below <<<