I thought why not talk about another bean today like I did so yesterday. Today I had kidney beans. I am not the biggest fan but it does have the usual benefits of legumes:
I love Garbanzo beans! They taste so good, they are fun to chew (unlike boring leafy vegetables), and they come with a variety of health benefits, namely:
I read an article recently from The New York Times discussing the much debated topic of how long is the right amount of exercise to live longer.
The current guidelines from government and health organizations calls for 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week to build and maintain health and fitness, the article states.
The article, based on the findings in two studies, concludes that we should aim to reach at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week, adding that 20-30 minutes of that 150 minutes should be vigorous activity.
I have said over and over again that the biggest realization I have come to in my weight loss journey is that diet plays the biggest role.
The trouble with me is I don’t know how to cook. Well I should say didn’t. I have been learning–and executing quite well I must add–some simple recipes. My college diet of ramen and cheese is over 🙂
I want to share some of my favorite recipes right now. Like what’s cooking in my oven as we speak – Paleo Sweet Potato Fries. It is easy, delicious, and healthy. If I can cook it, anyone can.
This recipe is from Bri McKay’s awesome site called Food + Love.
More than half the foods we eat are “highly processed” foods. ATIME article describes highly processed foods as “multi-ingredient industrial mixtures that are no longer recognizable as their original plant or animal source.”
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the figure is at a whopping 61 percent.
Most of us don’t realize that we are eating processed foods. I think this is where apps like Fooducate really help educate us about our diets. According to an article by TIME, we tend to stay away from famously processed foods like Twinkies and sodas but we don’t realize that sports drinks or cereal, for example, are highly processed too.
Like I’ve said before and continue to realize everyday, diet is everything. It is scary to see how much processed foods have no been ingrained into our culture.
I am so proud to have completed week one of the Alpha Round of Shaun T’s Focus 25! FYI, I had to modify the exercises a few times but the important thing is that I still stuck it out.
I also went for a walk/run five days this week, ate a nearly clean diet (I had one chocolate muffin), and drank yummy Shakeology.
You probably noticed from the picture that I checked “Barely Made It” for all my T-25 workouts haha. I think Shaun T should consider adding a “But I Still Made It!!!” line to that 🙂
Here are my results for this week:
Weight: 121.5 (3.5 lbs loss)
Waist: 29 (1.2 cm loss)
Biceps: 11 (no change)
Thighs: 20 (no change)
I’m pleassseed. But cautiously excited because I have been successful at one week healthy lifestyle routines before, it’s sticking to it that is my weakness.
I just watched the documentary “Fed Up” and it left me disturbed.
Fitness Tip: Watch/read health and fitness-related documentaries, blogs, and YouTube videos. They help me stay motivated and educate me so I make better choices.
Fed Up (2014) is an advocacy documentary that links the worldwide obesity and Type II diabetes epidemic to increased levels of sugar in our diets. The documentary discusses the addictive qualities in high sugar foods and government’s failure to monitor the food industry.
“Fed Up” claims the high sugar content in foods make it addictive.
Contrary to the documentary, some critics argue that the culprit is increased calorie intake not sugar consumption.
Whatever the correlation may be, my takeaway is to watch both my sugar and calorie intake.
I was disturbed to learn about the amount of sugar “hidden” in products at grocery stores, especially in “low fat” products. “Fed Up” states companies hike up the sugar content in their “low fat” products to make up for the loss of taste. And sugar comes under so. many. names. It is easy to miss if you are not well-versed in reading food labels, like me.
I do firmly believe one thing the documentary claims: exercise without a nutritious diet won’t get you far. I also wonder why we have moved so far away from the way our ancestors used to consume food. Everything seems to come out of a can or box today.
Fed Up is available for streaming on Netflix. Here is the trailer:
Everyone has a different takeaway from “Fed Up,” what was yours? I’d love to discuss it in the comment section below.
i run for my mom 