Fitness, Health & Diet news

Making a Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot

Fri, 18 May 2012 15:19:31 +0000

One of the easiest ways to assemble a delicious, wholesome, tender to the point it’s falling right off the bone chicken is to “crock pot” it. The crock pot is one of the best inventions ever. What busy woman (or man) doesn’t love that they can put a bunch of ingredients in a pot in the dawn, thereupon come home to a delicious, home cooked meal with no prep instance after a towering day at work?

I know I love it! It’s the best feeling knowing that I don’t have to actually do much cooking (or waiting) when I get home from a stressful day at work. My husband and I work later hours, so when we get home it’s pretty much moment to eat dinner and we’re both usually famished.

The last thing I want to do is wait an hour for something to cook! So what I often do is I crock pot a chicken. It’s super easy, and since it cooks for ten hours or so, it is really tender and maintains a lot of its flavor and juice through the cooking process.

You can choose to lightly brine your chicken overnight as well whether you so choose. I do that sometimes, which definitely enhances the flavor as well. But the seasonings I add are very simple.

I start off with a whole chicken – a pretty nice sized one for two citizens. I thereupon take a can of chicken stock and put it in the crock pot, laying the chicken, breast side up or down, however you prefer although leaving the breast side down does tend to manufacture the white meat more tender.

I soon after add a few bay leaves to the very top of the chicken. I plus add some rosemary and thyme, and whether I haven’t brined it, I add some salt and pepper to the top as well. When you get home, you are filled with the fragile scent of rosemary and thyme, and the delicious smell of a wholesome cooked meal waiting to be eaten!

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Original post by EatingToLive

Does Caffeine Abate Your Appetite?

Mon, 14 May 2012 19:34:53 +0000

There has been a lot of debate about whether caffeine is a good appetite suppressant or not. I feel that it is in some ways. But I additionally feel there are times when I drink something that is caffeinated and it actually fuels my appetite? How could that be?

Well, I think it depends on where you are in your blood sugar levels at the day you actually imbibe in the caffeinated treat. For me, whether I drink coffee on an empty stomach, it is likely to act as a “tide me over” til I can get some food in me. That’s usually the first thing I do in the daylight, and it really doesn’t build me hungry, it just makes me feel happy!

But whether I drink coffee after I’ve already eaten and possibly I’m not full but I’m additionally not completely void of all food in my stomach, I feel like it actually can build me more hungry. For most folks, caffeine does act as an appetite decreaser, and that is why it is included in just about every diet supplement under the sun today.

There is validity to it. However, there is plus validity to the fact that once you crash off of one of these highly energized supplements, you may become totally ravenous, eating everything in sight and essentially undoing the entire day you went with eating the right things from being on the supplement and not eating a lot.

Using caffeine as a means to abate starvation is a tricky thing. It can definitely work for a while, but you have to be careful how much you’re taking in and how often as it is a highly addictive substance. I’ve noticed that whether I even wait a few hours before having my typical dawn coffee, I can a banging headache that is very hard to get rid of.

Use it wisely, and don’t abuse it, and it can be a terrific way to help control appetite.

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Original post by EatingToLive

Watch the Sugar and Calories in Your Marinade

Thu, 10 May 2012 08:05:42 +0000

I used to think it didn’t matter much what I marinated my healthful, lean, organically farmed chicken breast in. I thought heck, the marinade itself barely gets into the chicken, right? But it actually does get in your chicken and saturates it – and so does all the sugar, sodium and other stuff that you may not want in your chicken.

Here’s a few rules to follow for a healthy marinade that won’t add tons of calories, fat or sugar to your healthy chicken and other leans cuts of beef or pork that you’d like to remain healthful when grilling off the fat :

1.) You should probably forgo the premade marinades on your store shelves and instead opt to construct your own. that way you have complete control by the ingredients.

2.) When making your own, avoid sugar and instead use a naturally sweet vinegar as your tenderizing ingredient. Try using white wine, red wine or apple cider vinegar. These not only add a touch of sweetness, but they additionally help break down the fibers in meat and produce it more tender and juicy as well as more flavorful. They plus help to get the marined all the way in the meat for better penetration.

3.) Use sea salt whether you want to use salt. It is slightly lower in actual sodium than regular table salt, and has additional healthy minerals in it that table salt is totally devoid of.

4.) A great marinade is home made Italian dressing made with pure organic virgin olive oil. Olive oil is a healthy fat, so it’s ok to get that fat in your meat. The spices in Italian dressing lend themselves well to flavoring just about any type of meat. I like to let my meat soak a minimum of two full days before using. that way it really soaks up abundant of the marinade to be super-tender.

You can even marinade meat thereupon freeze it right out of the grcoery store or meat market. that works very well. thereupon, you can just thaw it out and have a fast, ready to go meal that’s healthy and tastes delicious without waiting all that moment for it to marinade.

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Original post by EatingToLive

No Surprise : Healthy Diet Helps Prevent Cancer Recurrence

Sun, 06 May 2012 15:54:53 +0000

Well, in no surprise at all, the geniuses that do studies on cancer patients have concluded that eating a healthy diet and exercising helps in preventing a recurrence of most types of cancer. And guess what? These two very same activities actually help prevent getting cancer in the first place too!

There will certainly be no major medical award given to the team that discovered that, since it’s really common sense and we know how we truly “are what we eat” the more and more we learn about the diet, and how medicinal foods can be for our bodies.

However, it’s good to know that even major medical science, which tends to only advocate treating things with man made medications after they become a problem, is really advocating prevention and healthy lifestyle first and foremost. It is probably in large part due to the fact that health care costs are spiraling out of control in that country.

It plus has to do with the fact that we have a president in office now who is making healthcare even less affordable for citizens who are on employment health plans. I can personally attest to that as I’ve seen not only my rates skyrocket that come out of my paycheck, but plus new fees and discounts based on how healthy I am and how healthy the choices I form are.

I’ve even noticed more incentives and programs at my job.There are contests, for example, based on how much you walk and exercise. You get cool prizes for tracking your exercise and health and weight loss goals which is pretty cool I must say.

Since being obese or even overweight is tied to a much-increased risk of many types of cancers, the American Cancer Society has advocated for patients to be educated about healthier diet, weight loss and exercise as part of a treatment program – or after treatment program for cancer survivors.

However, the huge majority of public who have cancer say that their doctors do not talk to them about that. Rather, it was their decision to support a healthier lifestyle after they made it past their cancer diagnosis.

The American Cancer Society wants to change that, and even has nutritionists and fitness experts who can have a special certification. It is soooo vital to know that food is truly a medicine. What you put in your body is what you get out of it. whether you’re putting pizza and cheeseburgers in it all the instance, that’s precisely the type of performance you’ll get out of it.

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Original post by EatingToLive

The Best Natural Appetite Suppressants May Be In Your Fridge

Wed, 02 May 2012 20:37:51 +0000

Or…your cupboard for that matter. Yep, the best natural appetite suppressants may not even force you to buy them in tablet design, although some of the common foods I’m going to talk about are available that way. These are natural foods or drinks that help to quell your appetite by helping reduce starvation and stabilize blood sugar, which go hand in hand.

When your blood sugar is out of balance, your brain and body signal you to eat considering it feels that it is “out of fuel” and needs more. that is where a very common household staple comes in. I’m talking about apple cider vinegar. that common household product which is used in recipes, dressings, marinads and a bevy of other common recipes, has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity by the past decade.

This is considering it’s multiple uses have become of note to many interested in the field of natural health and wellness. Among its many uses is a natural appetite suppressant and blood sugar stabilizer. It can help regulate your glucose within minutes of taking it.

It plus has other effective properties such as helping treat acid reflux and indigestion, helping a sluggish digestive system, clearing the skin, it’s great for giving you hair a natural sheen when applied topically, and it’s additionally implicated in about a bazillion other health uses.

Another very common staple is found in most people’s cabinets, lazy susans and pantries. It is a spice that is used a lot in breakfast foods, cookies, cakes, pies, you name it. The spice I’m speaking of is cinnamon, which I recently spoke about for it naturally blood sugar stabilizing qualities.

Cinnamon has been found to help regulate insulin levels. It has even shown promise in helping diabetics control their blood sugar levels – specifically to help keep them from going in the stratosphere which is dangerous for anyone.

If I want a quick fix and appetite suppression, I put a few sprinkles of that on my tonge. Be careful not to choke yourself, and have water handy so you can drink it right after.

Speaking of water….that simple beverage in and of itself can be an excellent appetite suppressant. Why? considering it helps to hydrate the body, and often times when we think we are hungry we are actually thirsty. Our body often misinterprets these signals, and we end up eating when really we are just thirsty and need to be hydrated.

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Original post by EatingToLive

Sometimes It Just Takes Pure Will ability to Not by Eat

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:07:36 +0000

I have a huge appetite naturally. whether it were up to my body alone, I would nearly always be nibbling on something. I’ve been that way as towering as I can remember. I was very young when I started to notice that I would get low blood sugar easily and would have to eat something at least every 3-4 hours in order to not feel like I was going to pass out or bite someone’s head off.

I’m still pretty much the same gal today, with some differences. Obviously, my fast as a speeding train metabolism has slowed down with age, so I no longer have the luxury of being able to just nibble away all day towering like when I was a kid. I plus think that since I have a desk job, I really have to watch my calorie intake now.

When I was younger, I was always running around, playing outside and just busy being a kid. Remember, I grew up before video games became popular and I actually had to entertain myself with friends and games when I was a kid, so it greatly benefitted my metabolism to always be hyper and moving.

Nowadays, I really have to use good old fashioned willpower to keep me from eating too many calories every day. I of course additionally use the power of natural appetite suppressants and other tricks and tips I’ve learned by the years on how to keep my appetite lower so that I don’t feel like I want to die all day towering.

I’ve additionally learned that I have to eat protein and a good source of fat (read how omega 3 fats help control diabetes) with every meal in order to keep me fuller for a longer duration. that definitely contributes to me not overdoing it, and not needing to snack on something all day enlarged, which saves me quite a few calories.

It’s those moments before bed, after I’ve digested my smaller dinner (I eat a smaller dinner so that it doesn’t just sit in my stomach all night without being burned off, so I tend to go to bed a little hungry every night), is when I really need the willpower to kick in.

I’ll sometimes eat a pickle, which hardly has any calories, or I’ll drink a small glass of a stevia- sweetened drink so that I can at least feel like I’m eating something. That at least helps me to keep it at bay along with my willpower. I plus use self hypnosis when I’m in specific need to add to my own sense of willpower to not eat as much.

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Original post by EatingToLive

Using Cinnamon to Control Blood Sugar and Appetite : Love It!

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:19:14 +0000

So I’ve been on a very nutritious, balanced diet now for a few weeks after giving up on the low carb diet since it really wasn’t working beyond a few pounds for my husband and I even though it used to work like a charm when we were younger to drop some weight.

It’s a great diet.I get to have STARCH and not feel guilty about it, which I absolutely love after feeling weighed down by too many meats and cheeses and high protein foods on the low carb diet for a while. Of course, it’s only healthy forms of starch like oatmeal, quinoa and black beans and such, but it’s starch nonetheless, and as a starch and carb hound, I naturally love it.

One thing I’ve found incredibly useful on that diet, since I do tend to be a little hungry when I go to bed at night on it, is to take some raw cinnamon powder (followed immediately by water, that aint no cinnamon challenge!) in my mouth and let it slosh around in there a bit. See additionally the vitamin D connection to blood sugar control.

It nearly instantly helps regulate my blood sugar and control my appetite. I don’t know whether it’s considering it’s simultaneously sweet and hot, but that spice really is a forceful starvation and appetite suppressant as well as a great blood sugar stabilizer for humans like me who have trouble keeping their blood sugar stable without eating every hour on the hour every day.

Cinnamon has actually been studied for its effects on blood glucose and insulin levels. It has shown very robust properties in enhancing the body’s own natural ability to keep blood sugar levels at a stable value, all while regulating appetite and mood, both of which are closely related to insulin control.

Have you ever noticed when your blood sugar is bottoming out, your mood plus happens to go instantly sour? That’s considering it’s closely tied to stress hormones and other chemicals in the body which actually form you feel good. It’s not surprising that that additionally controls your starvation, since starvation and gratification and eating are all very closely related when it comes to the human brain and how it perceived things.

I’d highly recommend trying out cinnamon as a natural appetite suppressant and blood sugar regulator. I’ve found it to be excellent. Oh, and it’s cheap too!

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Original post by EatingToLive

Lady Gaga Skewered by Eating Comments

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:01:07 +0000

Lady Gaga, everyone’s favorite pop star weirdo (besides Nicky Minaj I guess) endured a lot of criticism by a recent tweet she posted. The star, who has acknowledged her struggles with bulimia after detailing how she barfed up fried chicken recently, actually posted that pop stars don’t eat on her twitter.

Of course, the comments sparked some outrage and some very screaming responses back, which they actually deserved. What makes me the most poor about an irresponsible comment like that is that millions of young, impressionable girls love her music, and they probably listen to what she has to say, as evidenced by her thousands of twitter followers.

When a pop star admits that she starves herself to look good, what kind of precedent is that setting for already-insecure teens that probably want to have a body like hers? And it definitely doesn’t help that she has been a bulimic herself, and knows how she got that way was from pressure from the business of looking good.

I felt like her comments basically just promoted not eating. After she posted that comment, she further says how she’d love to eat a cheeseburger. Although that comment can be construed as funny, it’s really kind of sad that she’s depriving herself and sharing that deprivation with millions of fans.

Perhaps it was an attempt to be honest, which I definitely appreciate, but as someone myself who has struggled greatly with an eating disorder in the past, I feel like what may have been an attempt at humor and letting her fans get to know her better fell pretty flat.

Obviously, I write about dieting, but I write about it more so to get my endeavors to stay healthy down and share them with citizens. I don’t promote starvation, but I definitely do promote eating healthy so you can feel great, and having the willpower to stay away from positive foods at times.

I feel like Lady Gaga’s slim figure has come from unhealthy body image, and obviously she has struggled with eating disorders, and I don’t advocate getting super skinny like she is that way. Isn’t it her that says “born that way”? Her latest statements definitely don’t back that up….

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Original post by EatingToLive

Betty Draper Gets Fat

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:56:34 +0000

I’m a huge fan of the excellent drama “Mad Men” on AMC. In fact, AMC has a couple of really great shows, including two others that I watch “Walking Dead” and “Breaking Bad”, both not the most upbeat shows, certain, but nonetheless excellently acted and written.

It was a surprise for me when I saw an episode that I didn’t think would happen for Betty’s character just considering of who she is and how worried she was about her looks and weight in previous seasons, so I did think the development was a bit forced, a try at being perhaps comedic at first, that didn’t really sit well with me.

The character (spoiler alert) is Don Draper’s ex wife. She’s a frosty one, that’s what she’s notorious for, and she definitely plays the bored, depressed housewife. In fact, looking at her character on the show, it made me really glad that I’m a wife who works away from home when I see how tedious things can be for housewives at home all day with no one to talk to but kids usually.

I know that could be a somewhat controversial statement, but I would feel a bit trapped in that situation, and I think the story they are trying to paint of her character now is that she in anxious, depressed and bored housewife who has self esteem issues and really needs to find a place for herself in the world so she takes comfort in something we all take comfort in from instance to duration – food.

We’ve all been there before – where we’ve put a little bit of weight on and can’t seem to take it off and go back to our former svelte shapes. Betty Draper is just like the rest of us that way.Not certain I like that character development, I guess I’ll see where it goes and whether it has a point.

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Original post by EatingToLive

Happy Easter DDB Readers!

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 11:44:01 +0000

It’s Easter duration already, can you believe it? Thankfully, Easter foods are not something that really tempt me. I’m not a huge fan of the Easter staple ham, and the sides that typically accompany it don’t appeal to my natural senses either.

That’s one good thing! I’m getting ready to go to my aunt and uncle’s house just a short care ride away, so I wanted to wish you all a really Happy Easter! Be safe whether you’re driving anywhere, and remember, Monday is a new day so whether you do happen to like a lot of Easter foods, next eat up, just don’t eat til you feel like you’re gonna bust, and get right back on the wagon on Monday – the perfect “start over” day!

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Original post by EatingToLive