What do NFL superstars do for their in-season workouts? Do they lift hard or do they skip workouts during the season? Well, Terrell Owens, a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, is a firm believer in discipline and making working out a priority in his life regardless of whether his team is in-season or not. Terrell was traded to Dallas from the Philadelphia Eagles a few years ago and has made a significant impact on the team’s success.
Terrell believes that success all comes down to three things: eating right, sleeping right, and maintaining healthy workouts. Low carb, high protein meals and six to eight hours of sleep each night are a few of the keys to his success.
Young people can usually get away with a suspect diet while they stay active. I’m sure there are plenty of high school athletes who don’t do any calorie counting or worry about skipping their favorite fast food. But as you get older, it’s not so easy to get away with ignoring half of the health formula.
In fact, when comparing the importance of diet vs. exercise, it’s now believed that diet wins out, hands down. The best thing for you do is to combine the two, but a new study says that your food has the bigger impact on your weight.
“Decreased physical activity may not be the primary driver of the obesity epidemic,” said Loyola University nutritionist Amy Luke, a member of the study team.
Cat and dog owners are often described as if they are distinctly different people. I don’t know that it’s been studied to great depth, but my own anecdotal view is that there are only stereotypes that don’t represent the full scope of pet owners’ personalities.
However, Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire has studied how pets take on the personalities of their owners. And he came up with some strong evidence. (Maybe that explains why my pug is a bit shy and a worrier… but I digress.)
Kellogg’s Special K cereal is the best known attempt to market cereal as a diet food. Now, I doubt that most professional nutritionists worth their salt would recommend cereal as two meals a day for a serious answer to your long-term weight loss goals. But that’s not to say it should be discounted as a healthy food option that can and should be a regular part of your diet.
Cereal, especially those with a formidable amount of fiber, can be a great way to start your day, and avoid premature hunger pangs before lunch. I, for one, enjoy cereal… even if it’s as an evening sweet snack. It’s usually a better choice than other sweet tooth solutions.
Amy lost 54 lbs in 4 months by eating low carb and changing her attitude towards food. She has an online cooking show called Eating Low with Amy that teaches people how to cook low hassle, low carb recipes. She also runs the Eating Low web site and forum.
You’ve got the latest diet book. You’ve read it from cover to cover. You’re psyched up and ready to go. Or are you? Preparation is one of the keys to successfully losing weight and is especially important when you are starting a new plan.
Make sure you understand the diet guidelines. Even if you think you know what the plan is all about, go back and reread the guidelines again. The better you understand the plan, the easier it will be to shop for the right foods or even stay on plan if you are caught without your planned food and need to eat out.
Get rid of food that is not on your plan. Don’t even keep it in the house. It’s too easy to cheat if you keep a bunch of junk in your pantry. If your family eats food that is not on your plan, store it in a separate cabinet or have them hide the junk from you.
Make out your menu for the week. Most plans offer sample menus. Go through the sample menu and make any substitutions. Write out your plan so you know exactly what you will be eating during the week. You don’t want any surprises.
The Biggest Loser Meal Plan, from Bistro MD, was a good choice for us. We followed it for five weeks and I lost almost ten pounds and have kept it off in the three months since ending the plan. My husband didn’t do quite as well, but he didn’t follow it all three meals a day like I did.
Overall the food was pretty tasty, of course, there were exceptions - most notably the waffles and the turkey dinners — I’m a tough critic, but would give the food 9 out of 10 stars. It’s good enough that you won’t feel like you’re on a diet or eating diet foods.
Preparation was as easy as touted - boil or microwave the meals, add a salad and we were all set. We’re an older couple with late and sporadic work hours, so whenever we were ready — the meals would be ready in just a few minutes.
In spite of what I consider the high cost ($250) a week for both of us for the five day plan, including shipping, we were interested in staying with the program for another month or two. The deciding factor was the delivery day — since we had to stay with a Saturday delivery throughout the summer, we stopped the program.
Since we’ve finished with the plan, I’ve thought about calling and ordering a few more weeks worth of meals just to have in the freezer for those times when we don’t have the time or inclination to cook. If you’re looking for an easy and quick meal plan program, try The Biggest Loser Meal Plan from Bistro MD.
You can see Barb’s entire journey, start to finish, with her Biggest Loser Meal Plan review right here.
Tonight is round two of the presidential debates, and we can expect plenty of mudslinging on issues, from the war in Iraq to the economy (especially the economy!). One thing we definitely can bank on not hearing are their views on food.
The CheapHealthyGood blog has broken down the culinary issues and gives us the lowdown on where Obama and McCain stand.
Who has the most substance when it comes to sustenance? Most of the post is about serious matters. But it also examines the candidates’ favorite dishes. Let’s look at the fun stuff - their favorite foods! You can find all the source material to verify the authenticity of these assertions at the CheapHealthyGood blog.
Favorite Foods:
McCain - Apparently he isn’t too keen on watching his waistline, his favorites include enchiladas, pizza, BBQ and shrimp.
Obama - It looks as though this candidate is more in tune with a healthy diet, preferring to eat vegetables like spinach and broccoli, nuts, Dentyne Ice gum, and handmade milk chocolates from Fran’s Chocolates in Seattle.
Least Favorite Foods:
McCain - Says he doesn’t “do too well with vegetables.”
Obama - Skips salt and vinegar potato chips and mayo, will eat beets and asparagus only “if no other vegetables are available,” and drinks water over soda.
When they do indulge, how do they burn it off? Take a look here and find out which presidential candidate is more fit.
related: Michael Pollan Says the Next President Will Have to Focus on Food, and He’s Got Just the Policy
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