Breakfast Cereals-2007's Best

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The most healthful breakfast is whole grain cereal. If you're trying to lose weight, control cholesterol or diabetes, or just need a lot of energy, your best bet is a hot cooked cereal of whole grains, such as oatmeal; or barley, brown rice or wheat berries cooked and served like oatmeal. Flavor it with raisins or other dried fruits, cinnamon, and perhaps a handful of nuts such as pine nuts.

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If you prefer cold cereal, you need to check the list of ingredients carefully. The FIRST ingredient should be a whole grain. Then scan through the entire list and if you see the words "partially hydrogenated," put the box back on the shelf. We recommend that you avoid foods with partially hydrogenated oils (or "trans fats"), and they still show up in many cereals (see the list below.)

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Once you've eliminated all the brands made with refined grains or partially hydrogenated oils, check for ADDED sugars (you want little or none) and fiber (you want a lot.)

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Raisins or other dried fruits will add a lot of grams of sugar to the listing on the nutrition panel; they are not distinguished from added sugars, so you can only estimate the amounts.

The fiber content listed on the nutrition label can be confusing because it's based on serving size, and very light cereals (such as puffed wheat) show little fiber per serving, but an acceptable amount when you adjust for weight. Cereals made from bran (the outer covering removed from whole grains) will have higher fiber content than cereals made from whole grains (which have the germ and starchy parts of the grains as well as the fiber), but they can be hard to digest.

2007 Update:I'm delighted to note that partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats) have been taken out of many cereals. The old list included 56 brands with PHO's; the new list has only 13! Most of the popular General Mills, Post and Quaker cereal brands no longer have them. Kelloggs is the one major cereal maker that has not yet removed them from many of their leading products; hopefully they will respond to consumer pressure soon.

Is it really whole grain? Manufacturers have also responded to the call for more whole grains in our diet, so you will find a lot more choices that meet my recommendation of "whole grains as the first ingredient". However, many that claim to be "whole grain" still include refined grains. You may need to do some detective work to see what you're getting. One-ingredient whole grain cereals (i.e., shredded wheat, puffed wheat, oatmeal) are sure bets. If you see milled corn, corn meal, wheat flour or rice in

Cheerios - General Mills

Chex, Wheat or Multi Grain - General Mills

Cinnamon Toast Crunch - General Mills

Cinnamon Grahams - General Mills

French Toast Crunch - General Mills

Golden Grahams - General Mills

Grape Nuts - Post

Grape Nut Flakes - Post

Great Grains, all varieties - Post

Healthy Choice Toasted Brown Sugar Squares - Kelloggs

Kashi (all varieties) - Kashi Company

Life - Quaker

Mini-Wheats, all varieties - Kelloggs

Muesli - Familia

Nutri-Grain, all varieties - Kelloggs

Oatmeal Crisp, all varieties - General Mills

Oatmeal Squares - Quaker

Organic Healthy Fiber Multigrain Flakes - Health Valley

Puffed Wheat - Quaker and others

Shredded Wheat, all varieties and sizes - Post and others

South Beach Diet Toasted Wheats

Total - General Mills

Uncle Sam - U.S. Mills

Weetabix

Wheaties - General Mills

Barbara's, Cascadian Farm, Mother's, Nature's Promise and other smaller brands that specialize in "healthful" cereals (but always check the list of ingredients).

Recommended: All Bran or High Bran Cereals
(no trans fats, little or no added sugars. )

100% Bran - Post

All Bran, all varieties - Kelloggs

Bran Flakes - Post

Chex, Multi-Bran - General Mills

Complete Wheat Bran Flakes - Kelloggs

Complete Oat Bran Flakes - Kelloggs

Cracklin' Oat Bran - Kelloggs

Crunchy Corn Bran - Quaker

Fiber 7 Flakes - Health Valley

Fiber One - General Mills

Fruit & Bran - Post

Granola, Low Fat - Kelloggs

Oat Bran - Quaker

Oat Bran Flakes - Health Valley

Oat Bran Flakes with Raisins - Health Valley

Organic Bran with Raisins - Health Valley

Raisin Bran - Kelloggs

Raisin Bran Flakes - Health Valley

Raisin Bran, Whole Grain Wheat - Post

Raisin Nut Bran - General Mills

Shredded Wheat 'n' Bran - Post

Total, Raisin Bran - General Mills

Weight Watchers Flakes 'n' Fiber

100% Natural Granola - Quaker

Not Recommended - Cereals that Contain Partially Hydrogenated Oils (Trans Fats)*
Many also are primarily refined grains and high in added sugars.

Basic Four - General Mills

Cocoa Krispies - Kelloggs

Corn Pops - Kelloggs

Froot Loops - Kelloggs

Golden Crisp - Post

Granola with Raisins, Low Fat - Kelloggs* (see note below)

Healthy Choice Mueslix - Kelloggs

Healthy Choice Almond Crunch with Raisins - Kelloggs

Healthy Choice Low Fat Granola with Raisins - Kelloggs

Mini-Swirlz - Kelloggs

Smacks - Kelloggs

Smart Start - Kelloggs

Special K - Kelloggs

Not Recommended - Cereals Made from Refined Grains
Many of these also contain a lot of added sugar

Apple Jacks - Kelloggs

Cap'n Crunch, all varieties - Quaker

Chex, Rice or Corn - General Mills

Cocoa Frosted Flakes - Kelloggs

Cocoa Blasts - Quaker

Cocoa Pebbles - Post

Cocoa Puffs - General Mills

Cookie Crisp/Chocolate Chip - General Mills

Corn Pops - Kelloggs

Corn Flakes - Kelloggs and others

Count Chocula - General Mills

Crispix - Kelloggs

Frosted Flakes - Kelloggs

Fruity Pebbles - Post

Honey Bunches of Oats - Post

Honey Comb - Post

Honey Nut Clusters - General Mills

Kix - General Mills

Lucky Charms - General Mills

Product 19 - Kelloggs

Puffed Rice - Quaker

Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs - General Mills

Rice Krispies, all varieties - Kelloggs

Total Corn Flakes - General Mills

*When I checked these cereals on 1/26/07, Kelloggs' Low Fat Granola with Raisins contained partially hydrogenated oils while their plain Low Fat Granola had none. I hope this means that Kelloggs is following the lead of the other cereal makers and that PHO's will soon be gone from all of their products. Meanwhile, protect yourself and check the list of ingredients! Cereal recipes change.

Breakfast Cereals-2007's Best

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Glycemic Index Weight Loss - Low GI Fruits For Weight Loss

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Strict fat loss plans out there can be very difficult to stick to due to the fact that you are deprived all the foods you loved and in a lot of diet's being deprived your favourite fruits. Fruits do contain sugars which can delay your fat loss goals but its not always as simple as cutting fruit out completely.

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Low GI fruits for weight loss can still be an addition of your healthy eating plan and by examining which fruits have the least affect on your blood sugar and insulin levels you can enjoy the fruit you love and loose weight at the same time.

South Beach Diet Recipe

Glycemic index weight loss is a very important consideration when choosing the types of foods you will be eating. For example, plain white bread has a very high glycemic index and will cause an almost immediate insulin release.

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Low glycemic index foods will leave you feeling fuller for longer as well as give your body a steady supply of nutrients without giving you that sugar crash feeling.

The low GI fruits list include

Cherries 22

Plums 24

Grapefruit 25

Peaches 28

Apples 34

Pears 41

Dried Apricots 32

Grapes 43

Coconut 45

Kiwi Fruit 47

Oranges 40

Strawberries 40

Prunes 29

Some of these fruits still contain quite high levels of natural fruit sugar (fructose) so when timing the consumption of fruits always aim to have them before 6pm, and having fresh strawberries and peaches for breakfast with your cereal is a great way to start the day for an added energy boost and slow energy release while staying healthy. Nothing worse than eating dry bran flakes for breakfast.

For more easy tips to help you with your fat loss battle visit the weight loss instructor to check out easy recipes and simple ways to stay on track.

Glycemic Index Weight Loss - Low GI Fruits For Weight Loss

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Protein Bars Comparable to Medifast Bars

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I'm often asked if one has to buy the Medifast products to get the same dramatic results. Sometimes, people ask me why they can't just buy bars and shakes from the grocery store and hope for the same weight loss as they might have gotten on Medifast.  They perceive that the grocery or health food store foods are cheaper (although most time they really aren't.)  This article will compare some of the popular grocery store protein bars with the real deal, to see if it makes sense to cut corners.

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What Makes Medifast Bars Work So Well?: Protein bars have come a long way since they first came out.  The initial offerings were chalky, crumbly, and well, sometimes just plain nasty tasting.  But, most of the bars today have become chewy, decent textured and tasty.  Most of the manufacturers have wised up and added decadent flavors like peanut butter and chocolate.  For dieters, a good bar can be an easy sell because these little snacks are so convenient and some are actually good for you.

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Notice I said some, not all.  Many of the grocery store offerings are very high in calories. Some of them are also high in carbs.  And, this is the exact reason that most just don't give you the same results.  Below, I'll compare two popular grocery store bars with the real bars, but I will say now that most of these aren't going to get you in ketosis or fat burning mode because the calorie content is simply too high.

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Comparing Medifast Bars To Grocery Store Bars Like Atkins And Snickers: First up, the Atkins bars. I'm going to be comparing the Advantage peanut butter bar. This one has a whopping 240 calories, with 108 of them being from fat. These have twelve grams of fat and they provide 30% of the daily recommendations of calcium and 25% of the recommended daily amount of vitamins C and A. The carbohydrate content is 22.

Now, I'll look at the Medifast peanut butter version.  This one has 140 calories.  This is 100 calories less, which in terms of ketosis can be quite significant.  These have two less carbs than the Atkins version (at 20.) There is only 4 grams of fat. The vitamin and mineral list is quite long here.  These have at least 25% (and often more) of the recommended requirements for vitamins A, D, C, K, B, B6, B12 as well as a long list of others (24 total, to be exact.)  Nutrition wise, these are head and shoulders above the Atkins.

Snickers Marathon Energy Bars: Well, the name here might tip you off a bit as this manufacturer makes candy bars.  But, let's look at the calories first.  It has a whopping 210 calories, which is not as high as Atkins but is still much higher than Medifast. There are 8 grams of fat in these, which is quite a bit, but not as much as Atkins. Where this one really rings warning bells for me is that it has a whopping 26 grams of carbohydrates. There are 16 vitamins and minerals listed on the label.  Again, this is better than some of the others, but not great either.

You also want to take a look at how the ingredients are listed.  Most of these bars will have high fructose corn syrup somewhere in the front.  The real bars have protein listed as the first ingredient. Hopefully, this article has shown you that although these grocery store bars may work in a pinch, they don't begin to have low enough calories or the nutritional content to work in the long term or to put you in ketosis.  Most of them are not cheap either.  In my humble opinion, you're much better off ordering the real deal from the company, which does allow you to order the bars individually if you chose to.

Protein Bars Comparable to Medifast Bars

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1200 Calorie Diet Menu and Meal Plan

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A 1200 calorie diet is nutritionally adequate for most of the people for a healthy, safe and permanent weight loss. Starving your body with fewer calories will slow down your metabolism and consequently using up of the calories by the body will also get decreased. This will result in a tired and emaciated body and also the weight loss will not be as much as expected because the calories are still stacked up inside the body.

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Following a daily diet of 1200 calories is shown to be nutrition rich to support a healthy body and also brings about the calorie deficit which eventually leads to weight loss. Of course, the actual calories that should be taken depends on a lot of factors such as age, gender, metabolic rate, body size and other medical conditions to name a few. 1200 calorie diet plan fits most of the people on average but it is necessary to confirm with a doctor or dietician before starting with the diet.

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How to choose the best 1200 calorie diet menu?

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The diet plan should be chosen in such a way that it strikes a proper balance of the macronutrients. The macronutrients include proteins, carbohydrates and fats. The calories that come from the macronutrients should be ideally distributed as follows: 15% of the calories should come from proteins, 55% of the calories should come from carbohydrates, 30% of the calories should come from fats and only less than 10% of the total calories should come from saturated forms of food.

When the diet plan is composed of healthy, nutritious and wholesome food it will keep your food cravings in check and you will feel full for longer. Moreover there will not be any compromise to your health when you follow a diet that satisfies all the above conditions. A diet is followed to make us healthy, supple, strong and slim. Any proper diet should work to achieve all of these. Therefore make sure that you take nutritious food whose calories add up to 1200 or so.

Sample 1200 diet plans:

Below are two diet plans whose total calorific value comes around 1200. From this you can get an idea of how to construct your diet.

Sample 1:

Breakfast

One whole wheat muffin with a spoon of peanut butter and half a banana.

Mid-Morning Snack

An apple and few almonds.

Lunch

2 slices of whole wheat bread; 2 oz. low sodium turkey breast; 1 oz. cheese; a lettuce, an orange, a tomato and a spoon of mustard.

Mid-afternoon snack

8 oz. low fat yoghurt

Dinner

3 oz. skinless grilled, baked or boiled chicken breast.

A cup of cooked broccoli and 2/3 of a cup of brown rice.

Snack

A cup of milk and two fat free fig cookies

Sample 2:

Breakfast

A hard boiled egg, 2 slices of whole wheat bread smeared thinly with butter and a large slice of watermelon.

Lunch

100gms of baked potato and baked beans and 100gms of reduce fat cottage cheese.

Snack

Muesli meal replacement bars.

Dinner

Pasta salad made with olive oil. Wash it down with tinned tuna in brine.

Typically any 1200 calorie diet plan can be broken down into the following proportions: The breakfast is the most important meal of the day and makes up 300 calories of the entire 1200 calories. The mid-morning snack adds up to 100 calories, lunch to 300 calories and the mid-afternoon snack to 50 calories. Finally the dinner contributes to 450 calories of the total. Any nutrition rich diet plan that follows this breakdown can achieve good results in terms of weight loss. Snacks can be taken at any time of the day where you feel the need to snack. But timing is important for breakfast. Make sure that you finish you breakfast within an hour of the time you woke up at. For the rest of the day, timing is up to you and you can divide the calories as you want among the meals, but make sure that the total calories don't exceed 1200.

Last but not least, wash down you meals with lots of water. Adequate amount of water is absolutely essential for maintaining the metabolism and for the healthy functioning of the body. Keeping your body well hydrated is an important factor that constitutes weight loss. Make it as a habit to drink at least eight glasses of water each day. It may look difficult at first, but once you start making conscious efforts it will no longer seem as hard as it was at first.

A word of caution:

Before you kick start on a diet, please catch up with your doctor or dietician and get expert advice on the meal plan that you have formulated. This is especially important for pregnant or breast feeding women. You don't want to follow some diet and weaken you body, so always ask for the doctor's opinions and then jump into your diet plan.

1200 Calorie Diet Menu and Meal Plan

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Diet Statistics And The Relation Of Diets And Religions

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Being typically diverse, humans are categorized mainly as omnivores rather than herbivores. While some people practice vegetarianism, other groups of people derive their foods from animal sources. Meanwhile, the majority eats a wide range of both animal and plant source. Around 65% worldwide get their food energy from carbohydrates, 20% from fat, and 15% from protein from meat and fish.

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Cereals such as rice, wheat, and corn provide 70% of the food energy in terms of food groups consumed. Other sources are millets, oats, barley, and teff grass from Africa. Root crops are also important energy sources such as cassava (manioc) and potatoes. Although not often the staple food, legumes are also an important part of the human diet. Examples are peanuts, lentils, peas, and beans.

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Vitamins and minerals are mostly from our vegetable and fruit diets. We also eat a broad variety of condiments and spices. We get a variety of fats and oils from both animal and vegetable sources.

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As agriculture and techniques in food processing advance, society has the prospective of increasing supply. Innovation and convenience of lifestyle also have harmful effects. This simply implies an ineffective use of agricultural wealth. Increased heart diseases in developed countries has been associated to the increase intake of saturated fats and cholesterol.

Moreover, religious traditions also have practices that involve one's diet. They take place surrounded by the context of the symbolic importance of food that has been apparent during festivals, sacraments, and sacrifices. It is also a mark of piety or as a support to spiritual growth as observed through fasting or abstinence from food.

In Hinduism, the diet expresses a person's place in the caste system. For example, the Brahmin priests who belong to the highest pedestal only take in vegetarian food prepared with clarified butter or ghee. They also abstain from drinking alcohol and eating odorous foods such as garlic and onions. In Buddhism, the monks and extreme devotees believe in not killing living things and abstinence from alcohol. Muslims prohibit consumption of animals found dead, blood, pork, and rations sacrificed to idols. Christians practice abstinence from meat during Good Friday of the Holy Week.

Diet Statistics And The Relation Of Diets And Religions

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The Chocolate Diet

South Beach Diet Recipe

You've heard of the South Beach Diet, the Hollywood Diet, and of course, the Atkins Diet. Well, I'm starting my own new diet. It's called the Chocolate Diet. The kind of diet where you can lose weight and still eat chocolate every day.

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Diets that don't include chocolate don't work. Slip up once with a candy bar and your diet is out the window. Cutting cocoa is not rational. If you give up chocolate, you might as well give up your diet. Depriving yourself of this delight can cause you to leave your diet all together. Why give up chocolate, anyway? It's good for you! Yes, I said it. It's good for you. Research suggests dark chocolate, rich in anti-oxidants, may lower bad cholesterol. And don't forget about its mood lifting properties-- you can practically call it an anti-depressant.

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So how does the Chocolate Diet work? 2 ounces of dark chocolate per day. That's 100 calories, folks. Will that alone cause you to lose weight? I like to tell myself that, but no. But it will add a little sanity to your pain-staking regimen of exercise and calorie counting. It can help you actually keep your diet if your diet consists of chocolate every day, right?

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So if you're going on a diet, don't exclude chocolate from it. Go on the Chocolate Diet. Exercise, eat sensibly, and eat chocolate every day.

The Chocolate Diet

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South Beach Diet Recipe Guide

South Beach Diet Recipe

It is absolutely vital that you stick with a south beach diet recipe when you are on the south beach diet. It is often easy to replace certain ingredients for more handy ones or maybe you like the taste of more but this is just defeating the object of being on the diet in the first place!

South Beach Diet Recipe

Just like any of the other popular diets such as the Atkins diet or Weight Watchers diet, you must try to stick to the plans that are laid out for you. They are done for a reason and have been proven to work, as long as you stick to them. Not only may you prevent weight loss from occuring if you deviate from the diet but you may be putting your health at risk also. Often diets are nutritionally balanced and if you miss certain meals or ingredients then you may suffer in the long run.

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So how do you find a south beach diet recipe? Well, it's quite easy. Just visit your favourite search search engine and type it in. You'll then be presented with lots of usefull, free websites that will give you more than enough recipes for you to choose from. Most will be simple to prepare using basic ingredients. Other will be more complex but well worth the effort to make them.

South Beach Diet Recipe

Here's a quick south beach diet recipe to wet your appetite:

Chinese Beef And Pepper Salad

Ingredients required:

Soy Sauce Olive Oil (2 tablespoons)

Sherry (1 tablespoon)

Ground Ginger (1 tablespoon)

Garlic Clove Beef (1 pound of broil beef)

Red Pepper 2

Scallions Sugar

Preparation:

Mix the sherry, oil, soy sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger together in a bowl. Then you add the beef and mix it all together making sure the beef is well covered. Then cover the bowl and refrigerate until needed. Then once you are ready to serve, add the bowl ingredients to the chopped pepper and the scallions. Then serve.

This is one really simple south beach diet recipe to follow, as there is no cooking involved. It is also very tasty to eat and well worth the small amount of time it takes to prepare. Enjoy!

South Beach Diet Recipe Guide

South Beach Diet Recipe