Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Another Recipe That Can Be Added to Your Low Fat Diet Meal Plan!

Cheeseburger Pie

Ingredients
  • 1/2 lb. extra lean ground beef (cooked)
  • Chopped Onion (1 cup)
  • Salt (1/2 t), Pepper (1/4 t), RF Bisquik mix (1/2 cup)
  • Fat Free Milk (1 cup)
  • Egg Substitute (3/4 cup)
  • Sliced Tomato (Medium Size)
  • 2% Shredded Cheddar (1 cup)
  • 1/2 Bag of Caesar Lite Salad Kit
Directions
  • Mix Beef and Onion in a greased 9 inch pie plate. Mix Salt, Pepper, Bisquik, Milk, and egg substitute and poor into the pie plate. Bake @ 400 for 25 min. Top with tomato slices, then add 2% cheese. Bake an additional 5-8 min until knife can cut cleanly.
  • Caesar Side Salad
Enjoy!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Is Your Cholesterol Low? Are You Sure?

When was the last time that you had your cholesterol levels checked?
Ahhhh... Yes... Sounds like something someone "older" may be asked... Someone far unhealthier than you...

The unfortunate truth is that it is impossible for someone to know if their cholesterol is low... unless a doctor performs the dreaded "blood test."

Let's face it, going to the doctor is not fun... especially if there is blood work involved... but thinking long-term is important.

Imagine how many doctor visits you will have if you develop some of the fatal diseases (Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Diabetes, and High Blood Pressure) as a result of having untreated/unmonitored high cholesterol.

Really, the blood test is simple and it will provide you with a complete lipid profile which measures triglycerides and cholesterol (LDL, HDL, and Total).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 6.5 million Americans requested a lipid profile. Sounds like a nice amount, but considering that the US population is around 300 million, that is only about 2%.

CDC Prevention guidelines suggest a cholesterol check every 5 years for "healthy" individuals. In case you have been living in a cave for the past couple decades, the large majority of Americans do not fall under the category of "healthy." Do you?

Dietary Goals to Get Your Cholesterol Lower
(National Cholesterol Education Program)

Lowering cholesterol begins at the grocery store. The nutrition labels are there for a good reason... (I know what your thinking... They are not there to make you feel guilty or to send you into a severe state of boredom).

The nutrition label will help you better understand what you are putting into your body, therefore giving you control of your cholesterol. Below is a list of dietary goals that you can use:
  • Less than 7% of total calorie intake come from saturated fat (30% of total calorie intake from unsaturated) unsaturated fat does not increase cholesterol levels
  • No more than 200 mg of cholesterol per day
  • Add soluble fibers (in many fruits and veggies, cereal grains, peas, and beans.)
  • Foods that contain plant stanols and sterols. (VERY IMPORTANT)

The Six Meal a Day Diet is a diet that I personally found to have very great results as well as lower cholesterol. As with any diet, it is important to watch what you eat. In regards to lowering cholesterol... The following list of foods are excellent cholesterol low ering grocery list items:
  • Breads (Whole Wheat, Rye, etc.)
  • Soft Tortillas (Whole wheat)
  • Rice (White, Wild, Brown, Jasmine, or Basmati)
  • Grains (barley, Bulgur, Hominy, Millet, or Quinoa)
  • Fruits
  • Fat Free Milk or 1%
  • Vegetables
  • Fresh or Frozen Juices (100% w/o added sugar)
  • Yogurt (Low or No fat)
  • Meat
  • Extra Lean Ground Beef
  • Chicken or Turkey (White or Light)
  • Fish
  • Tuna (canned)
  • Cheese (3 grams of sat. fat or less)
  • Peanut Butter (Reduced Fat)
  • Eggs (Egg whites and/or egg substitutes)
Additional Information

The American Heart Association's Cholesterol Low Down Program offers helpful tools like:
  • Life-Management Tools
  • Newsletters
  • Health Risk Assessment
  • Healthy Living Cookbooks
  • Fitness Tips
Also, a 10-year heart attack risk calculator from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's National Education Program.

I know that this is a lot of information, but I hope that this gives you a better understanding of cholesterol and the dangers of not monitoring/maintaining healthy levels.

God Bless,





Friday, October 23, 2009

Add This to Your Low Fat Meal Diet Plan!

Why is it so hard to develop a low fat meal diet plan? Doctors say that it is essential to "eat a well balanced diet" but what does that mean?

Well, I used to be in the same predicament as you when it came to purchasing true healthy meals at the local grocery store... Did you catch the "used to be" part of that?

Over the years of searching the internet for a good free diet meal plan to go along with my "six meal a day" diet, I have realized that there really isn't a great website out there...

So, I decided to make a consistent effort to share my meal diet plan recipes that I have worked years to get on my iiFitnessii blog...

A couple of times a week, I will be posting a new recipe below that you can add to your grocery list that is guaranteed to be inexpensive, easy to make, and most of all... TASTY!

This week's recipe is one of my favorites... I know that it will be one of yours! Not only will it taste good, but it is part of a long list of free diet meal plans that I have that I will share each week...

Please leave a comment on your meal experience... This will help me with all future meal diet plan posts!

Enjoy!


First Recipe You Should Add to Your Low Fat Meal Diet Plan!

Mexican Casserole w/ Chips & Salsa

Ingredients
  • 1/2 lb. Extra Lean Ground Beef (Cooked & Drained)
  • Baked Tostitos Chips
  • Large jar of your favorite Salsa
  • 1/2 can of Chili Beans (drained)
  • One Medium Tomato (diced)
  • 4 oz can of sliced Black Olives (drained)
  • One cup of 2% shredded cheddar
  • One cup of Fat-Free Sour Cream
Cooking Directions

  • Crush up approximately 1 1/2 cups of Baked Tostitos chips and put them in the bottom of a baking dish. Mix the ground beef, 1 cup of salsa, and the drained Chili Beans together and spread over the chips. Spread the Sour Cream over the top of that and top it off with diced tomatoes, black olives, and the 2% cheese.
  • Bake uncovered @ 350 degrees for approx. 30 mins
  • Side Dish: Remaining Chips and Salsa
Enjoy!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Lose Weight with the "Six Meals a Day Diet"


Nobody likes the idea of "dieting"... let's be honest. We know that eating right is essential for maintaining a healthy body. However, I have noticed that many people have this preconceived notion that eating healthy means starving yourself and eating next to nothing (i.e. tasteless veggies, grains, etc.)

However, one of the most effective diets that someone could adopt is the Six Meal A Day diet. This diet allows you to eat almost anything while giving your body the energy and nutrients that it needs to stay healthy. One of the MOST important ways to lose unwanted fat is to keep your metabolism in full gear by constantly keeping food (calories) in your system. Not eating is one of the WORST things someone can do when trying to lose weight.

Why it Works

Your body's natural instinct is to protect itself from malnutrition. Therefore, when you take in just two to three meals a day, some of that is stored away as fat. The amount of fat that is stored is largely based on what foods/drinks you are eating during that time.

However, when you eat six small meals throughout the day, your body will begin getting used to that schedule... which results in a higher % of digest and a lower % of fat storage. The meals are not your typical size of the meals that you would consume eating three meals, but the more consistent intake of food allows your body a greater opportunity to obtain the nutrients from that food.

Another important health "indicator" is cholesterol levels. bad cholesterol levels will negatively affect your cardiovascular system and may cause premature health issues and/or death. Many different studies have concluded that eating six small meals a day will significantly improve your cholesterol levels (LDL & Total).

Six Meal Plan

Eating six meals can seem daunting at first, but it really isn't any harder than consuming three large meals. The key is planning. I am not a very good meal planner... in fact I'm still not... but planning, even if its minimal, will help this plan work to its fullest.

The meal ratio that I use is a combination of sacking and small meals. Typically, you should follow a eat-snack-eat-snack-eat-snack routine throughout the entire day. It is important that you maintain an idea of how many calories each meal/snack contains (see calorie information below) because eating too many calories a day will defeat the whole purpose of this diet. It is best if you eat higher calorie meals during your most active times (i.e. morning and afternoon) and then less calories for less active times (i.e. dinner). This allows you to use the calories (energy) during the day and not at night when you're less active.

Calories Per Meal and Snack

I'm not a big fan of counting calories but there is some logic behind it. In order to maintain a healthy weight, it is important that you understand the correlation of calories and weight.

EXAMPLE:

Female A's current weight is 160 and she wants to reach a targeted weight of 135.

In this situation... I would recommend that Female A not only begins a six meal a day diet, but also does not intake anymore than 1350 (target weight x 10).

So, a generic eating plan may look something like this:
  • Breakfast - 375 calories
  • Mid-morning snack - 100 calories
  • Lunch - 350 calories
  • Mid-afternoon snack - 100 calories
  • Dinner - 225 calories
  • Late snack - 100 calories
Keep in mind, the above example is one a small female (160 lbs.) would use who is trying to lose weight (target weight 135 lbs.). My constant target weight is 185-190 lbs. so I take in approx. 1850-1900 calories a day.

Start Slow... It's an Adjustment

One of the most common mistakes in dieting is starting "too fast." Migration from a bad diet to a good diet can be very difficult, especially if it's drastic. For example, if a 250 lbs. man, who is currently eating whatever and whenever he wants chooses a target weight of 180 lbs... it would not be smart of him to begin eating only 1800 calories. A "step-ladder" approach would be much more effective (220 lbs./2200 cal., 200 lbs./2000 cal., etc.) because it would be much less drastic.

Stay Focused

Staying motivated and focused isn't easy but by understanding the benefits related to the Six Meals a Day diet, in addition the the visual results, I have found this diet to be the most effective way of losing unwanted weight.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me @ iifitnessii@gmail.com or comment on this blog. I will try to get to every question that I can.

Good Luck!

Rob Farmer

Follow me @ http://iifitnessii.blogspot.com/ for all future fitness and health related blogs.


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