Two weeks ago I have heard the following statement:

If you are trying to lose weight and you love milk, cheese, butter, or any dairy products, then eat only organic products that have not been pasteurized or homogenized. The dairy products you want to buy should be labeled “organic”. Not organic dairy products have growth hormone in them.

I have taken it seriously and excluded all dairy products from my diet for 5 days. Already in the evening on the third day  my stomach looked flatter. I weighted myself and discovered that I am 1 pound lighter than on the usual evenings. So, I guess there is some truth to the whole “growth hormone in the dairy products” thing.

You might want to ask me how about all the good bacteria we usually try to get from the yogurts and such? Well, during these 5 days I relied on
Pure Encap’s Probiotics-5 60Caps. This product is phenomenal: it is dairy-free.

Don’t you want to lose a few pounds before summer? I guess the answer is yes. Try to stay away from the dairy products and take some good probiotic. If you do, please leave a comment and share your experience.

Stay healthy,

Mary

Tags: Diet and Weight Loss, probiotics

The following list of “DOs” and DON’Ts” include information that will help you to improve digestion and elimination:

1. Eat you Fruit and Vegetables: Fruits and Veggies are great for snacking. But, do eat fruits by themselves. Fruits and Vegetables are excellent sources of fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrien. Do not cook vegetables – steam or stir-fry. Gradually increase the amount of row food in your diet.

2. Drink an 8-ounce glass of water with lemon juice (to taste) each morning upon rising and each evening before retiring. Eliminate any kind of soda from your daily diet and reduce intake of alcohol. Drink herbal teas.

3. Address Emotions: Eating to soothe your stress is not wise. Try other ways to relax: talk to a friend, go for a walk, take a hot shower, etc. Being  more active during the day may help to increase your metabolism. Exercise regularly.

4. Avoid refined carbohydrates – white sugar and flour products. Use whole grain products instead and try to minimize their use as well. Chew well – digestion starts in your mouth.

5. Use supplemental enzymes with cooked meals to assist your pancreas.

Stay Healthy,

Mary

Tags: digestion, elimination, Healthy Diet

Last week I have ordered a sandwich from the local deli. I usually buy wraps.  But this time (due to the Thanksgiving and the cold weather) I decide to go for a roast turkey and bacon sandwich with ranch dressing. First thing that I have noticed was the inches thick bread.  So, I got really interested in all the calories. I wanted to know that do I get in terms of calories from the sandwich and what from the wrap.

Well this is what I found out:

My roast turkey and bacon sandwich with ranch dressing contained at least 830 calories, 38 grams of fat and 2,260 milligrams of sodium, which is 94 percent of your daily value.

So, how about my usual wrap? A wrap with the same kind of filling saves only 120 calories, but it adds 1 gram of fat and 160 milligram of sodium. Ouch, not the best choice! Then what should I eat?

May be a whole wheat pita is what I am looking for? Well, I guess the pita pocket lends itself for a more reasonable portion, that the sandwich. On the other hand, of cause you can put a high-fat filling in the pita too, and then suddenly all this portioning loses its meaning. Good filling should have some light mayonnaise or fat-free sour cream. Tuna or chicken salad can be the filling that I am looking for. As I was told in my local deli, tuna or chicken salad in a whole wheat pita has only 500 calories and far less sodium and fat that the sandwich bread.

Today I found a book called “The Pocket Diet“. It includes some wonderful easy-to-follow recipes. For example: Avocado-Tomato-Yogurt Pocket has 172 calories and 15 grams of fat and Chicken Fajita Pocket has only 125 calories and only 4 grams of fat. It means there are better snacks out there.

After eating cooked food it is advisable to take enzymes like Innate Response’s Plant Enzymes.

Digestive enzymes cause food that we eat to be broken down much faster, and much more effectively, than it would occur without them. There are two types of the digestive enzymes on the market: animal and plant enzymes. No matter which one you choose, as any good digestive enzyme formula would address every type of food group: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, sugars, lactose, and fiber.

Mary

Tags: count calories, healthy snack, low fat diet