How Do You Stay Healthy And Fit? Here Are The Best 10 Foods You Can’t Ignore

If your aim is to be fit and healthy, then exercising alone is not enough. While exercises and workouts can make your body fit, they don’t really do much for your health. In order to be fit and healthy, you need a good exercise routine plus eat right. But what kind of foods should you look out for? Here are 10 you can try.
Before we go into the list of foods to take, it is important to note that you cannot simply take one type of food and focus on it alone. While the ability to focus is usually an asset in goals attainment, when it comes to good health, the truth is you need to consume a variety of food types daily. Plus you should never overeat, even if it is overeating good food!
So here goes – the top 10 foods you must have in your diet, not by order of merit…
1. Whole Grains
Whole grains like brown rice and wheat kernels are very healthy foods. They are not only nutritious, they are also quite testy once you get used to them. But as mentioned above, you must mixed different types of grains in your diet for best results. There is no point for you to eat just one type and ignore the others.
2.Lean proteins
Lean and mean? No, just lean. People in the US eat far too much protein compared to the rest of the world. But you don’t really need to eat so much because 3 ounces will provide all protein you need for your day. Remember to get rid of all visible fat from your protein source too. If not, use a non-meat alternative as your protein source.
3.Berries
Berries are the superfood of the century. Instead of snacking on sweet, calorie laden desserts, you will do well with a few fresh berries or even frozen berries – use your imagination. These foods are high in vitamin C and some types of berries are also high in other nutrients as well. Mix and match different types for variety in taste as well as for better health.
4.Salmon
Salmon is very rich in Omega-3 oils which is excellent for improving your brain power. This lean fish is both tasty and nutritionally one of the best fish choices you can make. Baked Salmon tastes great also you may also want to try the raw style that the Japanese prefer. In any case, eat lots of Salmon for its powerful antioxidant properties.
5. Vegetables
Needless to say but I have to say it anyway – consuming a variety of vegetables is crucial to your good health. Vegetables provide many of the essential minerals and vitamins required in a good diet. For example, you need potassium for healthy nutrition and you can get adequate supply for your diet in a stalk of broccoli.
6. Citrus
Vitamin C is a very important you cannot afford not to have in your diet. Where do you get your Vitamin C from? Citrus fruits are one group of foods that can give you ample supply of Vitamin C. There are many creative ways for you to eat this wonderful stuff. You may to try grapefruit for break-fast, or you can add fresh squeezed lime to your salad dressing. Or you may want to savor slices of orange with coconut and honey for dessert.
7. Nuts and seeds
You’ve got to be nuts to ignore nuts! You must have heard of walnuts and pecans. These nuts contains very good nutritional value for you. But you may not know that you can also boost your brain power with flax seeds because this seed contains sources of the Omega-3 oil.
8. Legumes
What is a legume? This is actually a group of fruits that are characterized by a single dry seed. Also know as pods, legumes like soybeans, peas, dried beans, peanuts, etc, are rich in iron and high in fiber. This make legumes an excellent choice for nutrition.
9.Olive oil
You have heard of bad fat but have you heard of a good fat? Well, Olive oil is probably the healthiest fat substance for your diet. You can use Olive oil on your salad or fry other foods in the hot oil for a scrumptious meal. Be careful not to set the fire too hot it breaks the oil down.
10. Tea
Last and definitely not the least, you should add tea to your diet. Be it green tea, mint tea or chamomile tea, you can get lots of goodness from tea.…

How to Build Healthy Eating Habits in Your Children

Have you ever wished that you had a magic wand that you could wave that would make your kids eat better? Grade-schoolers fall in a wide spectrum when it comes to healthy eating and their food choices. Some may still be picky eaters while others have learned to eat anything that is put in front of them. It really makes no difference what kind of eating habits your children have developed because you can change their preferences and attitudes toward food by giving them the right guidance toward healthy eating habits. Here are a few helpful tips to help you accomplish this.

One of the first things that you can do is to take your child grocery shopping with you. Make sure to fill your cart with lots of fresh produce and not too many processed foods. You can make this fun for your child by making a game out of the different colors of fruits and vegetables. Try to plan ahead on your meals for the upcoming week such as a stir fry (green broccoli, yellow and red peppers, orange carrots, and so on. This way, it will not be boring for your child.

Another good idea is to let your kids help you cook . Regardless of their age, children can always do something to help you out in the kitchen. They may be too young to cut up vegetables, but they can certainly help tear up lettuce for a salad or put bread in the basket. Your older children can stir sauces and measure out ingredients for recipes. This is an excellent way for them to learn how to cook themselves so when they become teens, they can be more self-sufficient.

Make sure that you do not put too much focus on the amount that your child eats. There will be times when he will clean everything off his plate and other times when he will leave food on it. This is normal behavior for a growing grade school child . Do not make him feel guilty for not eating all of his food . If this happens often, cut down on the portions that you give him and give him more if needed .

Teach your children to snack wisely. If they have had a snack before a meal, chances are they are not going to be hungry even if it is one of their favorite dishes being served . A good rule of thumb is to not let them snack at least an hour before dinner . If you do give them a snack, give them something light such as baby carrots or apple slices that will not spoil their meal.

Also, make sure that you do not use bribes to make your children eat. It is not a good idea to tell them that if they do not finish their meal there will be no tv or video games because this can create an uneasy relationship with food in your child’s mind. Instead of trying to pressure your child into eating, give him choices that are more likely to go down easier.

Limit the amount of processed foods that your child eats that are high in sugar and calories. This will work much better than putting a complete ban on the junk foods because if you do that, your child is more than likely to over indulge in sugary foods when they are away from you. Let them have a piece of candy or chocolate once in a while and if they have a craving for something sweet more often, try to get them interested in healthy snacks such as nuts with raisins the rest of the time.

The most important thing that you can do to encourage healthy eating for your children is to set a good example in front of them. If you ban your children from drinking soda and you guzzle it down every night in front of them, you are sending them a mixed message . Make sure that you maintain a good attitude toward food and think of new creative ways to eat healthy and hopefully your children will be more likely to follow in your footsteps.

I hope that you enjoyed this article and I would like to invite you to my eating healthy web site where you will find great free tips and information that is designed to help you live a long healthy life.…

The Healthy Acai Berry and Weight Loss

If you have done any research on weight loss, anti-aging or disease prevention in the last five years, you may have seen advertisements that boast about the miraculous acai berry and how it can assist your body with all of these things. The publicity on this little berry has skyrocketed in the past five years.
However, the acai berry is not new. It is an actual berry fruit that grows on the acai palm in the rainforests of Brazil. The natives of the area have had this nutritious berry as a staple of their diet for centuries. It is new to the rest of the world however, because this little berry is extremely perishable and it has only been in the past five years and because of advanced processing methods that it has been available at all.
The acai berry is one of the most nutritious foods ever grown on the planet. It has an abundance of antioxidants, essential fatty acids, amino acids, fiber and phytosterols. All of these things contribute to helping your own body function at optimal levels. All of these things can help you to lose weight.
Combined with exercise and a nutritious diet, the components of the acai can assist with weight loss. The fiber contained in the acai promotes a healthy digestive system. A high fiber diet also helps you to stay fuller longer and that helps you to be able to control your appetite.
This little berry is a rich source of Omega fatty acids. These are essential fatty acids that cannot be produced by the body and can only be obtained by the food that we eat. Omega fatty acids are crucial to many of our bodily functions and research is ongoing on the benefits these essential fatty acids provide including helping with weight loss.
The acai also contains 19 amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, which your body needs in order to build muscle. Muscle is metabolically active tissue and it is crucial to having a high-functioning metabolism. Having more muscle on your body makes you automatically burn more calories just from everyday living without any additional exercise.
The berry has a wealth of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The antioxidants help your body to fend off the damage caused by free radicals and the vitamins and minerals help you to have the energy and stamina that you need in order to diet and exercise and lose the weight.
The acai berry and its related products can be an extremely healthy supplement to a healthy lifestyle. With the optimum nutrition from this little berry you can lose weight, fend off the typical declines associated with aging and maintain your optimum health.…

Healthy Living: Stop Trying to Be Perfect

Have you ever heard the phrase: “Nobody’s perfect”? I’m sure you have heard this at one point or another. If you are anything like me, you believed it too. Most people do believe it because it makes sense. I know for a fact that I have made mistakes. I also know that everyone else I know has made mistakes.
Mistakes are part of being human. If you are human, you make mistakes. There are mistakes to be made in all areas of life. Anything you do that involves thinking, decisions or execution of a skill presents the opportunity for a mistake. That doesn’t sound like a very optimistic view, but it is true.
The optimistic view would say that any thought, decision or execution of a skill presents an opportunity for success. This is where I often see the importance of mistakes in our lives. That’s right, mistakes are important. Mistakes are what we learn from. Mistakes are what make us better. Without mistakes, we don’t improve.
More importantly, without the opportunity for mistakes, we have no opportunity for success. When it comes to sports, this is a no-brainer: if you don’t play the game, you can’t win. If you relate it to business: if you don’t call a prospect, you can’t make the sale. If you don’t show up to the meeting, you can’t contribute ideas. The list goes on and on and it’s the same in all areas of life. Without the opportunity for mistakes, there is no opportunity for success.
The bottom line is: if you are afraid to make mistakes, you will never succeed.
This is a lesson I learned a kid. Sports taught me this lesson. It took a few more lessons in the real world before I fully understood it and how it would work in the business world. Now that I get it, life and business are much easier. Do I see mistakes and failure? Of course I do. I experience them regularly. But I also see success daily. Some success comes from just trying again. Most of my success comes from the things I learned from the past mistakes.
When it comes to health, mistakes are also important. Yet, health is an area that people are afraid to make them. When discussing exercise routines with people, I hear far too often: “I can’t do it every day, so I’m not going to do it at all.” Or “I don’t have time to do it for an hour, so I won’t do it at all.”
These are excuses that I hear frequently. I hear them, not because these people are not good enough to get exercise, not because exercise is too hard for them. I hear these excuses because these people are afraid to make mistakes. It is easy to start a new routine. It is not easy to keep a new routine going. Each time you run into a challenge, it is difficult to overcome it.
Challenges will arise. Your plan to overcome these challenges is what will get you through. When you set out to do something new, you are bound to make a mistake or two. When you make those mistakes, you can do one of two things:
1. You can give up
2. You can learn from the mistake and try again
When you try again, you can either give a similar strategy another try or you can start over and try something new. Either way, you are deciding that you are not done and you are able keep going. When you keep going, you can succeed. When you quit, you can’t succeed.
In health, mistakes are not the end of your routine unless you quit. They are simply a roadblock that causes you to stop and think about what you are doing. You have a choice at every roadblock. You can choose to give up or you can choose to keep trying.
The choice is yours. When we were kids, we learned that nobody’s perfect. We learned that quitters never win and winners never quit. We learned all of these things and applied them to other areas of life. Socially, professionally and financially, we have chosen to keep going. In order to live healthy we need to make that same choice. You can try to be perfect, but it won’t happen.
Being perfect is an illusion. For some reason, we think that our health routines need to be perfect. The fact is, nobody is perfect in any area of life, including health. Healthy people are not healthy because they are perfect. They are healthy because they have learned from mistakes and keep trying to live healthy. Health is not about being perfect. Stop trying to be perfect and start doing something that you can do today. If you …

African American Healthy Hair Care: The Basics

Hair is big business, particularly in the African American community, where hair types and styles are so versatile: Short, long, curly, wavy, kinky, straight, natural, braided, twisted, locked, color treated, texturized, and relaxed.

Regardless of one’s hair type or preferred style; including weaves and extensions, proper basic care is essential for healthy African American hair:

Strong hair that does not easily break.

Hair that grows–Hair growth and hair length are not necessarily synonymous. Everyone’s hair has different growth cycles. The life span of some individuals’ hair is approximately one year, before new hair pushes out the existing. This results in around six inches of length. Other individuals’ hair has the life span of several years, resulting in length well over two feet!

Hair that has sheen.

A healthy, clean scalp.

To obtain a healthy head of African American hair, as described above, basic care is necessary, and includes:

1. Proper diet and exercise.

2. Thorough shampooing and conditioning.

3. Efficient moisturizing.

Proper Diet and Exercise

As cliched as it sounds, proper diet and exercise are the gateway for many desirable traits, such as proportioned weight, high energy level, nice skin, etc. Proper nutrition and exercise are often over looked when it comes to care of the tresses because so many cosmetic and chemical options are available to obtain a certain look.

Exercise stimulates the entire body, including the hair follicles, and aids in healthy hair growth. The proper amount of exercise releases healthy hormones and endorphins which relieve stress, fight fatigue, and as a result, help promote healthy tresses. Brisk walking, light jogging, moderate bicycling, and other cardiovascular exercises, 3-5 times a week, for 30 minutes to an hour, provide the proper amount of exercise for most healthy adults. However, one should always consult with a physician before implementing any new exercise regiments.

A diet with sufficient amounts of omega nutrients greatly contributes to healthy African American tresses. Foods rich with these nutrients include: Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, cauliflower, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, romaine lettuce, cabbage, brussel sprouts, avocados, strawberries, cantaloupe, blackberries, pinto beans, kidney beans, tuna, white fish, blue fish, Pollock, and mackerel. Keep in mind, having excessive amounts of omega nutrients can have an adverse affect. One should also consult with a physician to get an idea of the right amount of omega nutrients to include in one’s diet.

Thorough Shampooing and Conditioning

While most African Americans do not require as frequent shampooing as other groups, not shampooing enough results in clogged hair follicles. A build up of dirt and grime contributes to breakage and diminished growth.

The frequency of shampooing depends on several factors, including: The amount of hair one has; the amount of products, such as moisturizers, oils, gels, and other styling agents, that are applied to the tresses; one’s life style, including the frequency and intensity of exercise, and the amount of oil one’s hair naturally produces. A good quality shampoo is to be used to help promote healthy hair. Shampoos, used in professional beauty salons, are particularly fortified with vitamins and moisturizers that help keep the tresses strong, yet pliable. Every shampooing should be followed with a quality conditioning treatment, which also helps the hair stay strong, yet flexible. There are several types of conditioning treatments, including: Moisturizing, strengthening, and stimulating. Depending on one’s hair type or style, several conditioning treatments may be necessary at one time. A licensed stylist is the best source for determining which type of conditioner(s) is necessary for individuals. A professional can also determine the best application process for producing the best results.

Efficient Moisturizing

Most African American hair types do not produce the amount of natural moisturizer found in other hair types. Therefore, it is necessary for many African Americans to regularly moisturize their tresses. Like with shampooing and conditioning, the amount of moisturizer depends on several factors, including hair type and style. Additionally, the type of moisturizer plays a big role in contributing to healthy African American hair. Some African American hair styles and types thrive when an oil moisturizer is used. Other African American styles and types respond better with cream moisturizers. Still, others do better with lotions or pomades. Again, a licensed professional is the best source for recommending a moisturizer for one’s particular type and style.

Regardless of how you wear your hair, invest time in exercising, meal planning, and the proper hair care regiment; including a schedule of shampooing, conditioning, and moisturizing. Healthy hair is a reflection of one’s overall health, in addition to looking good!…

Simple Natural Ways to Keep Your Baby Healthy

Babies are most prone to showing signs of illness during seasonal changes. There are many airborne diseases. Hence, babies get ill at the slightest of heat or cold or develop some kind of skin eruption. A child’s skin and hair needs the best of natural care. It needs daily natural products which are mild and pure. Also, in order to keep your baby healthy and glowing throughout the year, you need to exercise certain precautionary measures, which again are completely natural. Check out the naturally safe ways to keep your kid healthy:

Following these simple strategies for your baby will help them fend against diseases and viruses and keep them healthy year long. Be vigilant, if you have a caregiver assisting your baby.

New aged pediatricians always prescribes truly pure natural baby products for the sake of thorough baby skin care from the core.…

Healthy Tips Are Required For Child Growth

Maintaining a good health is a habit and it can be start in any age. Today, when people don’t have time to do exercise and due to machinery support, extreme care and maintenance of body is needed, so that each part of our body works well. Bad health of children affects their education as well. There are so many online portals that tell us about good nutrition and fitness tips. You should enroll to such blogs, sites and they will send you good tips to be fit, and fine while enjoying healthy life forever. One mail daily that lands to our inbox can save our life to a good extent.

If a child is healthy then he will take part in all physical activity that arrange in school. In some cases the child does not grow properly due to poor nutrition or lack of some essential nutrients. And the child remains weak for all his life and cannot enjoy the daily life activities. Such children will not take part in any physical activity in schools. A good Health is real wealth that a person can earn in his life. As you have seen the poor people children always suffer from malnutrition due to lack of nutrient. People don’t want to talk to person who is ill in any way. Bad health will affect in carrier growth as well.

Parents should ensure that meals they are serving to their children are small interval and full of nutrient. A good amount of pure water is very necessary for every human being. Fresh salads such as lettuce, carrot, tomato, and cucumber are good option for health and fitness. One glass of fruit juice can help out to detoxify and de-stress. Daily intake of oranges, pears, apples, and papaya will be very helpful. In today’s competitive world, children are much stressed which in turn will be affecting their immunity. If immunity is low then they will fall ill frequently. Eating out on roadside can result in stomach problem, intestine infection and many types of viral attacks. It is a good practice for household to cook at home and serve healthy food which is clean and hygiene.

High calorie or fast foods can make the children dull and sleepy while prevent them from concentrating on their studies. Children should be advised not to drink juices sold at roadside eateries. Perhaps, contains chemicals that affect our health to a large extent.

A balanced diet and regular exercise are not enough to be healthy; people should go for routine checkup of their health in clinics to make sure their body is healthy. Schools are a best place to acquire healthy knowledge apart from health website. Teachers should be aware enough about the benefits of good health.…