Healthy Lifestyle: Eating Healthy, Exercising and Having Fun

A healthy lifestyle leads to both good frame of mind and good physical conditions so the stressful and fast-paced world will be much easier to cope with. The most important thing is doing everything in moderation; eating healthy, exercising, and find a healthy balance between work and play, tipped Gabriel Adams in an article about Healthy Lifestyle.

Foods are our body’s source of energy. Healthy foods will supply us with enough energy to accomplish everything we want to do, while junk foods, on the contrary, will eventually damage our body.

Eating healthy is not as complicated as it may seem. Just choose healthier options for your daily food variants. For instances, opt for skimmed or low-fat milk rather than full-creamed to add to your coffee or tea, whole grain rather than instant foods for breakfast, fiber-rich fruits rather than high calories cookies for snacks. Have meals that make your stomach full so you may eat less as the day progress. For example, have fiber-full meals like whole grain breads, protein heavy meals, like hard-boiled eggs, or have clear soups before anything else during lunches or dinners.

Exercise is also very important to live a healthy lifestyle. When you exercise you release different chemicals into your bloodstream that give you energy to start to the day or to pick you up after a bad day.

If you’re not able to manage to have special exercise time, you can do it while running around your routine. For example, stretching, lifting or squeezing can be done in the middle of your daily activities, from waking up to preparing for bed, five to ten seconds for five to ten times each. Burning calories can be done by taking stairs rather than elevator, walking up to colleagues rather than call them on the phone, stand and pace up whenever possible.

Working too much may increase your stress level, which in return may affect your health and happiness. You have to also have fun to release your stress. You can do it by enjoying your work and managing to have some time to play without neglecting your duties.

Try to do those things, and you will have a healthy lifestyle.

Tips to Improve Homemade Bread

Main Process

What is really happening behind a loaf of banana bread? The main process occurring in bread making is fermentation. It happens when active yeast is mixed into dough with warm liquid, and given all the basic life support it needs - food, moisture and warmth. Feeding on the sugar in the mix or on the starch in the flour, immediately the yeast multiplies. As it does carbon dioxide and alcohol are produced, and while the alcohol evaporates, the carbon dioxide trapped in the dough pushes the dough upwards and outwards makes the bread rise. When bread is finally baked, the heat kills off the yeast, stops fermentation and production of gas and the starch in the flour maintains the bread’s risen structure and airy texture.

Tips in Bread Making

When you decide to make your own banana bread, consider these:

1. The Yeast

In bread making it is important to remember that yeast needs its life support system to work. Without optimum warmth, food and moisture it will not grow and the bread will not rise. Extreme temperature will damage the yeast - very cold will make it inactive and very hot will destroy it. The best temperature for yeast to reproduce is 25-28°C in a moist environment.

2. Water

Water is the key to making good dough. As a rule, 300ml of water per 500g of flour will make firm dough with a smooth, even texture. Using 350ml per 500g flour will make much softer and easier to stretch dough, better for flatter bread. So that difference of 50ml of water, barely four tablespoons, will make the difference between dense, firm dough and stretchy, floppy dough.

3. Flour

The dough should have an elastic texture to stretch effectively, and it depends on the flour. Using the wrong flour will only make your banana bread hard and crusty. Strong bread flours contain high levels of gluten which is essential to make elastic dough. Bread flour contains more protein than all purpose flour, result in stronger, fluffier and larger loaves. It is also healthier for you, especially if you use freshly ground flour.

4. Measuring and Mixing

Do not measure your flour. Your bread will turn out better if you go by the look and feel of the dough.

Be sure to add the ingredients in the right order. Moisture of any kind activates the yeast, thus if the yeast mixes with the liquids before the bread has even started cooking it’s going to make a bad tasting loaf. You can either pour all your liquids into the bowl first, then the solids, and then the yeast, or do it in reverse order.

Adding spelt flour to the whole wheat flour mixture will give the bread a lighter texture, while adding 2 teaspoons of rye flour for every cup of flour you use will stop the bread from having a wrinkled top and make it look better.

5. The Dough

The softer the dough, the softer and lighter the banana bread.

After the dough cleans the bowl and forms on one side, do not add any more flour. Using flour to stop the dough from sticking may make a leaden, heavy loaf. Flour takes time to fully absorb moisture, so leaving the dough for ten to 15 minutes after combining it will help reduce the stickiness.

6. Refrigerating

Once bread dough has been mixed and kneaded it can be refrigerated for up to five days, providing there are no perishable ingredients in the mixture. If there are, it can be stored in the freezer for up to three months, but once thawed should not be kept at room temperature for more than two hours. Dough left to rise slowly in the refrigerator overnight, where the chill merely slows rather than halts the yeast, will result in a loaf with a crumb that stays moist longer. Most recipes will stand being covered and refrigerated immediately after mixing, before kneading, and left for up to eight hours.

7. Baking

Aside from the oven you can also rolling your dough thinly on a floured surface and flip it onto a hot heavy-based frying pan.

If your banana bread comes out a bit pale and soft on the base, use an oven stone to increase the heat at the bottom. You can use a heavy terracotta tile, put in before the oven is switched on, and shovel the dough directly onto that.

Tips to Choose Healthy Chocolates

Chocolates and other cocoa products can be very healthy. Here are some tips to choose healthy items:

1. If possible choose dark chocolate made from organically-grown cacao beans that are blanched, unfermented, sun-dried, non-roasted and cold-pressed. It is the best chocolate available. This cacao contains a lot more antioxidant than cacao produced with standard processing. Organically-grown cacao beans will not contain pesticide residues and experience little loss of the natural nutrients. The best nutrient in chocolate is its antioxidant – flavonol – that help maintain healthy blood flow and blood pressure and it is found in the cocoa mass or solids. Fermentation and heating will reduce antioxidant content.


2. If number one choice is hard to find, choose dark chocolate. Unsweetened and dairy-free dark chocolate is the second healthiest chocolate. It contains more antioxidant due to the cacao mass inside. A bittersweet dark chocolate bar contains about 70% chocolate liquor (cacao mass which still contain its natural cacao butter); while a semisweet dark chocolate contains about 60%. The rest is other ingredients, such as added cocoa butter or substitutes, milk, sugar and flavors.


3. Choose chocolate with no added cocoa butter, and no other/substitute fats. Cocoa butter is a fat that is found naturally in cocoa beans. It consists of 34% stearic acid, 34% oleic acid, 25% palmitic acid, and 7% other fatty acids. The oleic acid is actually a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat which is also found in olive oil and is believed to raise the level of the "good cholesterol" known as HDL (High Density Lipid). However, too much fat will produce high calories, which will result in weight gain. Some manufacturers add lecithin as an emulsifier to improve texture and consistency while reducing the amount of cocoa butter added. This soy product lowering cholesterol and triglycerides and increasing HDL, so lecithin in the ingredient list of a chocolate product is good. However, avoid other fats ingredients, such as various kinds of cheap animal fats like lard, or cheap and unhealthy hydrogenated vegetable oils. They are loaded with saturated or trans fats. While you may have heard that chocolate is "bad for you", mainly it is not the natural raw cocoa that is unhealthy, but the other ingredients.
4. As less sugar as possible, the bitter the better. Choose chocolate added with raw, unrefined cane sugar or dehydrated cane juice instead of refined sugar.
   It is well known that refined sugar is a cause or a contributing or aggravating factor with respect to many medical conditions, including: heart disease, osteoporosis, obesity, insulin and blood sugar disorders like diabetes, mood disorders, immune system disorders, leukemia, inflammatory conditions, dental cavities, yeast infections, and depletion of essential nutrients.
5. Avoid milk chocolate or white chocolate. Aside from adding extra fat, dairy products also inhibit the body's absorption of the powerful antioxidants. If you like a hot chocolate with milk or cream, substitute rice milk or soy milk if you want to ensure you are getting the most healthy antioxidants into your body.
   White chocolate is similar to milk chocolate, but without the cocoa base. Without any real cocoa bean content, "white chocolate" is not really a chocolate at all. Since it does not contain real cocoa beans and the many healthy nutrients which are naturally present in the cocoa beans, and since it has a high content of fats from both cocoa butter and milk fat, white chocolate is by far the least healthy choice among the three common types of manufactured chocolate.
6. Avoid Dutch processed chocolate. In the 19th century Dutch chocolate makers learned that they could treat the cocoa powder with alkaline salts to reduce the bitter taste - a process now known as the "Dutching process".
   Dutch cocoa provides less antioxidants than natural cocoa because the alkali process destroys some of the flavanols (the powerful antioxidants found in cocoa). You can tell a cocoa or chocolate is Dutch Chocolate when the label indicates "Dutch process" or "alkali added" or "European style".

Healthy Eating during Holidays

Enjoy Holidays with Healthy Eating

During the holidays, there are parties, dinners, and lots of visits from family and friends. Make sure you're eating healthy.

Here are some tips to make healthy foods prepared for the holiday feast:

• Try baking, broiling or grilling meals
• Make a low-fat version of a family favorite
• Choose skinless white meat of poultry
• Use more fruit and vegetables
• Lighten up on toppings

Here are some effective tips that may help you survive the holiday seasons eating healthy.

• Don't skip meals to save calories for a party, you'll end up eating more. Eat small, lower-calorie meals during the day so you can enjoy a special treat later.
• Never arrive at a party with an empty feeling. Eat a healthy snack right before. A hungry stomach can sabotage even the strongest willpower.
• When you arrive at a dinner, don’t rush to the food. Greet people you know, get a bottle of water and settle in first.
• If possible, choose two appetizers instead of an entire entrée or share with a friend.
• Make only one trip to the buffet and be selective. Choose only the foods you really want to eat.
• Keep the portions small. Often, a taste is all you will need to satisfy a craving.
• Skip the fried food and eat more vegetables and fruits. Fresh vegetables are always great. Have a small serving of dip, just enough to coat the carrot stick or broccoli.
• If you want to nibble on cheese, take only one or two small pieces.
• Broiled shrimp or scallops are a good choice. Choose either cocktail sauce, lemon or horseradish as a condiment.
• If second helpings are mandatory with your host or hostess, make your first helping small. That way, if you’re enticed to take seconds, at least the total amount of food you eat may equal a normal-sized portion.
• Drink water and avoid alcohol
• Don't forget to exercise

So enjoying holidays doesn’t necessary mean skipping healthy eating.

Another Healthy Eating Tips

Peter Jaret’s Quick & Healthy Eating Tips

Eating well doesn't have to take a lot of time. Some of the simplest meals are delicious and loaded with nutrients. Excerpted from an article in ahealthyme, here are Peter Jaret’s healthy eating tips on menus prepared in 15 minutes or less,

Breakfast
Smoothie
Spoon a cup of low-fat yogurt, some frozen berries, fruit juice, and banana in a blender. Add a quarter cup of powdered nonfat milk for a satisfying meal that also packs 625 milligrams of calcium -- more than half of your daily need.

Grapefruit
Pink grapefruit packs 25 times more beta-carotene than its paler cousin, and it's usually sweeter. Pair it with a cup of oatmeal topped with an ounce of chopped almonds or a quarter cup of dried apricots, and you'll have a complete breakfast with 7 grams of fiber, a third of the daily need.

Juice
Try a different juice each day: Pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine, tomato, cranberry, and grape all contain different antioxidants that can help prevent a range of ills from cancer to heart disease to urinary tract infections.

Lunch
Avocado
Spread a quarter of a ripe avocado on your turkey sandwich instead of mayo, and you'll end up with plenty of flavor and half the fat. Avocado also offers magnesium and potassium. Add some tomato, sprouts, and mustard, follow up with a piece of fruit for a complete, healthy lunch.

Coleslaw
Use shredded broccoli stalks instead of cabbage. A half-cup gives you nearly four times the vitamin C and beta-carotene. Toss with shredded carrots, a little chopped red onion, and a teaspoon of rice-wine vinegar for a super-healthy side dish.

Peanut Butter
Peanut products can actually lower your LDL or "bad" cholesterol as effectively as olive oil. Go for the old-fashioned peanut butter. Other brands using partially hydrogenated oils for a creamy consistency and non separated oil can raise your cholesterol.

Dinner
Burgers
Most veggie burgers give you two-thirds of the protein but only one quarter of the fat of a regular hamburger, plus 5 grams of fiber. Pan-fry a vegetarian burger in a teaspoon of olive oil or nuke it in the microwave. Add sprouts, goat cheese, roasted red peppers, and a whole wheat bun.

Potato
Heap a baked potato with black beans, salsa, and an ounce of shredded pepper-jack cheese for a meal. Count on 12 grams of fiber and 12 grams of protein. The cheese has a third of the fat of butter, and 200 milligrams more calcium.

Spinach
Spinach pasta gives you twice as much potassium and folic acid as the regular kind, and a nice hit of beta-carotene. Toss spinach bow ties with crumbled feta, black olives, and chopped tomatoes.

Snacks
Carbohydrate – Protein Combo
Eating between meals can keep your energy up and your weight down -- if you choose snacks that combine carbohydrates with protein for a pick-me-up that lasts. Try carrots and hummus, apple slices and peanut butter, or cheese on whole wheat crackers.

Frozen Fruit
For a quick and healthy sweet snack, wash seedless grapes, put them in a zip-top bag, and toss them in your freezer. Grapes contain resveratrol, an antioxidant that helps protect your heart, and they're sweeter when frozen.

Healthy Eating Tips

10 Tips to Healthy Eating

Experts agree the key to healthy eating is balance, variety and moderation. These healthy eating tips excerpted from an article by International Food Information Council Foundation help you follow the advice and enjoy your foods.

1. Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods. You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no single food supplies them all. Your daily food selection should include bread and other whole-grain products; fruits; vegetables; dairy products; meat, poultry, fish and other protein foods.
2. Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Do you eat 6-11 servings from the bread, rice, cereals and pasta group, 3 of which being whole grains? Do you eat 2-4 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetables? If don't, give them another chance.
3. Maintain a healthy weight. The weight that's right for you depends on many factors including your sex, height, age and heredity. Excess body fat may increase your chances for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some types of cancer. But being too thin can increase your risk for osteoporosis, and menstrual irregularities.
4. Eat moderate portions. If you keep portion sizes reasonable, it's easier to eat the foods you want and stay healthy. The recommended serving of cooked meat is 3 ounces, the size of a deck of playing cards. A medium piece of fruit is 1 serving and a cup of pasta equals 2 servings. A pint of ice cream contains 4 servings.
5. Eat regular meals. Skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in overeating. Snacking between meals can help curb hunger, but don't eat too much.
6. Reduce, don't eliminate certain foods. Most people eat for pleasure as well as nutrition. If your favorite foods are high in fat, salt or sugar, the key is moderating how much of these foods you eat and how often you eat them.
7. Balance your food choices over time. Not every food has to be "perfect." When eating a food high in fat, salt or sugar, select other foods that are low in these ingredients. If you miss out on any food group one day, make up for it the next. Your food choices over several days should fit together into a healthy pattern.
8. Know your diet pitfalls. To improve your eating habits, you first have to know what's wrong with them. Write down everything you eat for three days. If you add a lot of butter, creamy sauces or salad dressings, don’t eliminate them just cut back your portions. If not getting enough fruits and vegetables, you may be missing out on vital nutrients.
9. Make changes gradually. Just as there are no "superfoods" or easy answers to a healthy diet, don't expect to totally revamp your eating habits overnight. Changing too much, too fast can get in the way of success.
10. Remember, foods are not good or bad. Select foods based on your total eating patterns, not whether any individual food is "good" or "bad."

Healthy Eating Guides

Healthy Eating Guides

Healthy eating is about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible. Choose the types of foods that improve your health and avoid the types of foods that raise your risk for such illnesses as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. So learn some nutrition basics and incorporating them in a way that works for you.

Here are the big picture strategies for healthy eating, excerpted from an article of Helpguide.Org.

• Eat enough calories but not too many. Maintain a balance between your calorie intake and calorie expenditure—that is, don't eat more food than your body uses.
• Eat a wide variety of foods. Healthy eating is an opportunity to expand your range of choices by trying foods—especially vegetables, whole grains, or fruits—that you don't normally eat.
• Keep portions moderate, especially high-calorie foods. Choose a starter instead of an entrée, split a dish with a friend, and don’t order supersized anything.
• Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol.
• Limit sugary foods, salt, and refined-grain products. Sugar is added to a vast array of foods. In a year, just one daily 12-ounce can of soda (160 calories) can increase your weight by 16 pounds.
• Don’t be the food police. You can enjoy your favorite sweets and fried foods in moderation, as long as they are an occasional part of your overall healthy diet. Food is a great source of pleasure, and pleasure is good for the heart.
• Get moving. A healthy diet improves your energy and feelings of well-being while reducing your risk of many diseases. Adding regular physical activity and exercise will make it work even better.
• One step at a time. Establishing new food habits is much easier if you focus on and take action on one food group or food fact at a time.

Healthy Eating Guidelines

Healthy Eating Guidelines

Many people are unsure of what healthy eating means. The following healthy eating guidelines apply to most people over the age of 5, with no special dietary requirements.

Fruit & Vegetables

Studies consistently show that people who have diets high in fruits and vegetables have substantially lower risks of coronary heart disease, stroke, several cancers, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. This group includes fresh, frozen, canned, dried, pure juices, and beans. The key is to choose a wide variety - eat five different portions per day. A portion is approximately 80g, e.g. one medium apple or two medium plums.

Bread, Cereals & Potatoes

Cereal fiber and whole grains (contain a range of vitamins and other beneficial chemicals) have been shown to decrease the risk of coronary heart disease and some cancers. Eating more bread and cereals also helps you eat less fat. This group includes breakfast cereals, pasta, rice, noodles, oats, bread and potatoes. Try to get at least four varied serves a day (women) and five (men). A serve is two slices of bread or a cup of cooked rice or pasta.

Dairy Products

Dairy foods are rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, especially calcium. Not enough calcium is associated with osteoporosis. This group includes low-fat milk, cheese, and yoghurt, but not butter, eggs and cream. Two to four serves a day are recommended. A serve is a cup of milk, 40 g of cheese, or 200 g of yoghurt. The alternatives include calcium-fortified soy beverages or tofu, a cup of almonds, five sardines or half a cup of canned pink salmon (with bones).

Meat & Fish

Meat, fish and chicken are rich in iron absorbed by the body better than from vegetables and grains. Deficiency leads to tiredness and anaemia. Meat’s also rich in zinc (for making protein), vitamin B12 (for the nervous system and making DNA) and protein. Alternatives are legumes, nuts, tofu, mycoprotein, TVP or kidney beans. Eat a moderate serve of lean red meat three or four times and, for omega-3 fatty acids, three meals of fish a week. Liver, oysters and mussels are also rich in iron.

Saturated (and Trans) Fat

High levels of saturated and trans fat in the diet are risk factors for heart disease. Saturated fat’s found in milk, cream, butter, cheese, fatty meats, and in palm, coconut, and hydrogenated vegetable oil. Limit creamy sauces and gravies, fried chicken, burgers, chips biscuits, pastries and cakes. Choose low-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt, poly- or mono-unsaturated spreads, and lean meat cuts. The emphasis should be on unsaturated fat e.g. olive, sunflower and corn oil.

Water

Water is essential, it’s needed for digestion, absorption, transportation, nutrients solvent, elimination of waste products and temperature regulation. Long-term mild dehydration and poor fluid intake can result in higher risk of kidney stones and urinary tract cancers. Average-sized adults should drink six to eight glasses (1.5 to 2 L) of fluid a day. Water is the best; tea contains antioxidants; fruit and vegetable juices are rich in vitamin C, potassium and folate.

Salt

Cutting back on salt may stop your blood pressure getting higher, or help reduce already high blood pressure – which is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Salt’s a factor in osteoporosis, kidney stones, asthma and heart enlargement. An upper daily limit of just over a teaspoon of salt is recommended (added at the table and in cooking as well as present in processed foods).

Alcohol

Drinking a lot of alcohol is related with many conditions, as high blood pressure and stroke, cancers, hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver. On the flipside, moderate intake of alcohol can reduce the risk of heart disease, and the polyphenols in red wine may prevent blood cells sticking together and reduce fatty deposits in arteries. Adults should limit their alcohol to less than one (women) or two (men) standard drinks a day. A standard drink is one medium light beer (3.5%), one nip of spirits or 100 mL of wine.

Sugar

Sugar provides calories, but no needed nutrients, linked to dental decay and may be associated with syndrome X. Total sugar (naturally occurred in fruit and milk and added as sucrose, glucose, fructose, malt or honey) should be less than 20% of the kilojoules you eat. Limit sugary foods without essential nutrients, as confectionery, soft drinks, cakes, biscuits and pastries. It’s all right to add a teaspoon of sugar or honey to a breakfast cereal for taste.

Healthy Food Lists

Healthy Food List

To improve our eating habits and start on healthy diets we have to make a healthy food list to get us going in the right direction, so we won't be likely to wander the junk food aisles and make impulse purchases. Here are some criteria for our healthy food list:

• Choose rich sources of many of the essential nutrients needed for optimal health, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, lean meats, fish, vegetable oil, herbs and spices.
• Fresh vegetables and fruits should make up the largest part of our list, they have vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and are usually low in calories. Select foods that are natural, not highly processed and do not contain artificial ingredients and toxic substances.
• Frozen and canned foods are convenient to be kept on hand, so are prepared meals that we can pop into the microwave or oven. Choose low fat versions with good portion sizes. Look for low-sodium soups, vegetables and sauces. Avoid high fat gravies and high calorie foods.
• Choose whole grain foods instead of refined flours. They are important for vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which is often lacking in modern diets. Try brown rice and whole-wheat spaghetti or spinach pasta, whole grain breads, pastas, and breakfast cereals. Include dried beans like kidney or pinto beans and lentils.
• Our protein and meat choices should consist mostly of fish, poultry and lean meats. Don‘t forget to remove the skin from chicken and turkey before cooking. Choose unbreaded meats and fish. Eggs, nuts, seeds and legumes are also good protein choices.
• Choose healthy spices and herbs to spice up our food diet. Both are excellent antioxidants and have good healing powers aside from their nutritional value.
• Dairy products should include non-fat milk, yoghurt and cheese. We can also buy soy and rice beverages, calcium fortified orange juice, goats' milks and cheese.
• Be careful with dressings, cooking oils and condiments. They are sneaky sources of refined sugar and poor quality oils. Choose liquid oils like canola and olive oil for cooking instead of solid fats that can be high in saturated and trans fats. Select dressings made with olive, canola or walnut oil, or low-fat mayonnaise.
• Beverages in healthy food list should be simple. Water, low-fat milk, natural fruit and vegetable juices and herbal teas are good choices. Choose diet sodas and soft drinks to avoid extra sugar; no artificial sweeteners.
• Avoid buying snack foods and desserts like chips, cookies, cakes, and full-fat ice cream. Choose fresh fruits, healthy nuts, seeds and whole grain crackers for snacks. For sandwiches, choose peanut or other nut butters, low-fat turkey or roast beef slices. Avoid processed lunch meats, sausages and hot dogs.
• Buy the healthy foods that we and our family will enjoy, taste good, are available in our area, affordable, and that we can use in many recipes. Consider trying vegetarian recipes. It is better if we can get organically grown foods.