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Healthy low fat snacks you’ll enjoy – Why is it that all of the foods we love are bad for us? How could Mother Nature be so cruel? Well, we’ve put our heads together and come up with five incredibly tasty snacks that won’t ruin your diet; take that Mother Nature:

How to make: Although you can use a mixture of fruits for this fruit kebab, we like using bananas, strawberries and mangoes. Once your fruit is rinsed, chop the bananas, strawberries and mangoes (your grapes can stay whole). Next, skewer the fruits onto wooden skewers and pop in the freezer for at least 45 minutes before taking out to eat.  If you have a big sugar craving that can’t be ignored you could always drizzle a little chocolate sauce over your fruit kebabs or sprinkle lightly with some icing sugar before eating.

Why it’s good for you: The array of fruits used in these healthy frozen fruit kebabs provides lots of health benefits. Bananas are high in potassium, which helps to keep your heart healthy and helps to prevent high blood pressure. Strawberries are a fantastic source of vitamin C. Plus a study carried out by researchers at Ohio State University suggested that strawberries have an anti-cancer agent. Similarly, the carotenoid compounds found in mangoes are also though to help protect against some forms of cancer. Mangoes also contain vitamin A, which helps improve your eye health.

Nutritional information for one banana, one cup of strawberries and one cup of mangos: approx. 251 calories, 1.32g fat, 44.47g sugar, 3.25g protein, 8.95g fibre

How to make: For a filling hot snack, go for this comforting and delicious sweet potato and cinnamon yoghurt treat. Either bake your scrubbed […]

Dieting isn’t all about sacrifice and eating less. In fact, a really good diet should actually be all about eating great foods that promote weight loss. Here we show you 5 fantastic foods and meal options that will do just that:

The food: If you’re dieting kick your day off with some homemade muesli. To make, add half a cup of sliced strawberries and a quarter of a cup of almonds to 35g of porridge oats or oatmeal. Then add four tablespoons of natural yoghurt and a teaspoon of honey to flavour.

Why this food is great for dieters:  This muesli recipe contains around 340 calories and is packed with protein and fibre. Fibre and protein are great for dieters because both help you to feel full for longer and so this breakfast will hopefully stop you reaching for those high-fat snacks mid-morning. The oats from your muesli also contain resistant starch, which according to a study published in Nutrition and Metabolism in 2004 can help to boost fax oxidation (the process where fatty acids are broken down, which in turn releases energy) and decrease fat accumulation.

The food: There are lots of ways you can eat apples. Obviously you can just snack on the fruit as it is, or smear a dollop of peanut butter onto slices. Alternatively, you could knock up a healthy butternut squash and apple soup for lunch, or add apple slices to salads, desserts or smoothies.

Why this food is great for dieters: Apples contain a type of fibre called soluble fibre. Soluble fibre is great for dieters because it helps to keep your blood sugar levels steady and therefore you avoid the spikes that cause you to reach for sugary snacks. Soluble fibre is also useful […]

More than any other part of the body, belly fat is especially dangerous. It can lead to cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, certain cancers, and other life-threatening illnesses.  Also, a recent study states that belly fat creates more fat.  So, how can we banish belly fat? Follow these tips from REAL BUZZ:

Not all fat is the same and we store it in two ways:  Just under the skin (subcutaneous) & deeper inside around the vital organs (visceral fat).  While the main role of visceral fat is to cushion the organs, it releases inflammatory compounds that can lead to an array of health risks as noted.  What we know is where your body stores fat depends on your genes, lifestyle factors (stress, sleep, etc.), age and sex.  For instance, men under 40 have a higher proportion of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat than women.  Women store more visceral fat after menopause.  Even thin people can store visceral fat when they have an inactive lifestyle.

There are three key areas you need to address if you’re going to decrease excess belly fat:

For most healthy adults, it is recommended that we have at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity – brisk walking, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity such as jogging.  Additionally, strength training is recommended at least twice per week.  But, it should be noted that in a Duke University study, resistance training (including ab crunches) alone reduced only subcutaneous fat, and vigorous aerobic activity (four times per week) reduced both subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat stores.

We all know how to eat healthily, but be aware of hidden sugars that pack on the pounds over time.  Sugar is the […]

Weight loss doesn’t have to involve countless hours sweating the calories off. The simple equation is that you have to use more calories than you consume to lose weight. Regular everyday activities, from getting ready to gardening to housework, or even sleeping, can all help burn hundreds of unexpected calories every day.

There’s no way to give a universal answer to how many calories you will burn during a given activity because everybody burns calories differently – a heavier person will naturally burn more calories – but these activities are all guaranteed to add, rather unexpectedly, to your calorie burning count.

Frequently when you open your mouth, you add to your calorie intake, but you can start to burn calories just by opening up and brushing your teeth.  Brushing your pearly whites (two minutes minimum please) will burn around six calories. Brush your teeth several times a day and you’re multiplying this. To add to effectiveness, why not stand on one leg for one minute and then swap onto the other for a minute – this will burn an extra 20 calories.

Housework is a chore, but rather than dread it, use it as a workout. Dust for half an hour and burn around 80 calories; mop the floor for 15 minutes and burn around 70 calories – even more if you got at it extra vigorously. Vacuuming for 30 minutes will account for around 120 calories, and the same time spent ironing will burn around 75 calories.

If you’ve still got energy, you can move outdoors and look for opportunities to burn more calories. Digging for an hour could expend […]