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Shocking Health Diet Mistake – Too Much Fruit?!

The truth about fruit

Fruit: it’s great for you, right? Although many of us think that eating fruit is an important part of a healthy diet, we can actually eat too much. Here we show you how much fruit you should be eating and reveal what fruits are best to eat:

How much fruit should you be eating?

Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing and this is, of course, true for fruit. Why? Well, If you are eating too much fruit each day you will be getting too much sugar and calories, which  is not good for your waist line. Eating too much fruit is also bad for you because you will be displacing a variety of other foods, such as dairy, which provide you with other essential nutrients required for good health.

For adults, it is recommended that you have two servings of fruit per day. For young children one serving of fruit is recommended, and for teenagers three servings is recommended.  If you are pregnant you should be aiming for four servings and if you are breast feeding five servings is recommended.

What quantity of fruit equates to one serving?

So what is a serving? Well, the following equates to one serving:

  • One medium piece of fruit (for example, an apple, orange, banana),
  • Two pieces of smaller fruit (for example, apricots, kiwi fruit, plums)
  • One cup of canned fruit, four pieces of dried fruit, half a cup of fruit juice, one quarter medium melon (eg. rockmelon, honeydew)
  • 20 grapes or eight strawberries

How can I make sure I eat enough fruit?

Ways to get your servings in? Snack on a piece of fruit during the day, sprinkle some dried fruit over your cereal, blend some berries into low fat […]

By |November 23rd, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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5 Superpower Foods

Here we show you five foods that have genuine superpowers. Find out what these five super foods are and how they can change your life.

Tomatoes

If tomatoes were a superhero they would definitely be Superman because, like this spandex-wearing superhero, tomatoes have more than one superpower. A recent study conducted by the Tianjin Medical University found that people who ate tomatoes two to six times a week were 46 per cent less likely to suffer from depression than those participants who only ate tomatoes once a week.

The researchers believe that the antioxidant called lypocene, which is found in tomatoes, might be the ingredient that helps protect against depression. However, the researchers also found that tomatoes could reduce people’s risk of developing heart attacks and prostate cancer. Therefore they could not conclude whether participants were less depressed as a result of the lypocene, or whether they were less depressed because they were not developing these fatal diseases.

How to eat: Add some fresh tomatoes to a stew, to your sandwiches or to a salad.

Spinach

If you want to find a food with superpowers then look no further than spinach. This green stuff is low in calories but rich in nutrients and has a wealth of benefits for you and your body. Not only does spinach contain heaps of vitamin A and K, it also keeps you young. The green leaves contain iron and vitamin C and both of these nutrients encourage collagen production, which keeps your skin looking youthful.

Apparently spinach can also protect your brain from the ageing process because it stops the oxidation process, which can lead to age-related problems such as dementia.

How to eat: Swap the lettuce you normally add to your salads for spinach, or whip up […]

By |November 19th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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5 Beauty Foods!

From ageing to pollution and stress to fatigue, the effects of our lifestyles can display themselves on our faces before we even start to feel them. Luckily, there is no need to opt for surgery just yet. Here are our top five foods for a natural facelift.

Facelift food 1: Spinach

Spinach, like many other dark green leafy vegetables, is rich in an antioxidant called lutein. Not only is this great for healthy eyes, but more recent research has shown that it is also good for preventing wrinkles by helping to retain the skin’s moisture and elasticity, increasing lipid levels and preventing damage caused by free radicals.

The benefits of spinach do not stop there, however, as the leafy vegetable also has the power to reduce dark circles under the eyes due to its high levels of vitamins K and C. Although there are many reasons behind dark circles – such as tiredness and heredity – one of the roots can be poor circulation. In cases where this is a problem, increasing your intake of vitamins K and C can alleviate them by helping to boost circulation and strengthening capillary walls.

Facelift food 2: Oysters

Besides being a well known aphrodisiac, oysters can also enhance your beauty. If you are suffering from pale, sallow skin or dark circles under your eyes, this may be due to vitamin B12 or iron deficiencies, both of which can cause anaemia. To beat pasty skin, try boosting your intake of these essential nutrients by stocking up on oysters, which have high levels of both. Other good sources include clams and mussels.

Facelift food 3: Garlic

It may not be the most fragrant of foods, but garlic is a superfood that can have great skin benefits. As a natural antibiotic with blood cleansing, immune […]

By |November 11th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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5 Guilt Free Snacks

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:

Frozen fruit kebabs

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

Sweet potato and cinnamon yoghurt

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

By |November 6th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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5 Fat Burning Mistakes

If you want to burn fat you need to make sure you’re not making any of these mistakes. As well as showing you what you’ve been doing wrong, we also show you the best fat burning foods to eat and the best fat burning exercises you should be doing. So, let the fat burning commence. Real Buzz:

You’re not tweeting

If you haven’t taken part in the social revolution and don’t have a clue what a hashtag is, you’re making a fat burning mistake. According to scientists at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, Twitter can help us all shed pounds.

The lead researcher from the study, Brie Turner-McGrievy, said that: “The results show that those who regularly utilised Twitter as part of a mobile weight loss program lost more weight”.

The study, which was published in Translational Behavioural Medicine, found that those participants that were already on a weight loss programme and who used Twitter to receive informational and emotional support, lost more than those participants that did not use Twitter. In fact, for every 10 health related tweets sent the participants on average lost 0.5 per cent more weight.

You’re not eating whole grain foods

If you’re avoiding eating foods like pasta and bread because you think it will prevent you from losing weight, you’re making a fat burning mistake. According to the Whole Grains Council, eating whole grain foods (such as bread and pasta made using whole wheat) can not only help you to reduce your risk of stroke, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, but they can also help you to lose weight.

A study published in the Public Health Nutrition found that of 119,829 participants those that ate more whole […]

By |November 3rd, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Five Diet Foods

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:

Homemade muesli

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.

Apples

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 […]

By |October 28th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Run a PB and Get Results Goal Setting

You should set a mix of short term, intermediate and long term goals. Short term goals can be things that you’d like to accomplish in the next few days or weeks, intermediate goals can be targets that you’d like to achieve in the next six months and long term goals can be anything from six months to several years.

• Pick a long term goal you’d like to achieve and then work backwards to plot how you are going to get there. To do this you will need to set short term and intermediate goals to use as stepping stones, to help you to reach your long term goal.

• Short term goals can be very specific. For example, perhaps you want to try and run at your intended marathon race pace for five miles tomorrow.

• You can use races as intermediate goals to give you a focus. It will break up the monotony of training and help you assess your level of fitness. I like to use 10k, cross country and maybe one or two half marathon races en route to a marathon.

You can also use the SMARTER principle to help you set effective goals:

S is for Specific. Just saying that you want to improve your running is a bit too vague. Be specific! Which distance times do you want to improve? Remember too that whatever your goals, they must be specific to you. It’s what you want to achieve!

M is for Measurable. Goals are sometimes the only way that you can measure your progress, so they must be measurable. By how much do you want to improve your 10k time?

A is for adjustable. No goals should ever be set in stone. They may need to be adjusted as your fitness or […]

By |October 22nd, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Blast Your Belly Fat 3 Steps

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:

Fat: the key facts

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:

Exercise 

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.

Diet

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

By |October 18th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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The Importance of Stretching

The dos and don’ts of stretching – How to stretch effectively and safely

Preparing correctly for an exercise session is as vital to your fitness training as the exercise itself. Stretching correctly will complement your training efforts and improve your body’s posture and suppleness. Here’s a guide on how to stretch more effectively.

Stretching vital muscles

‘Use it or lose it’ is an often quoted maxim, but it is never more appropriate than when talking about flexibility.

Think of a long car journey lasting several hours. When you arrive at your destination, the opportunity to climb out of the seat and stretch is extremely welcome and initially your movements are stiff and awkward. However, after stretching out, you feel much better and your normal mobility returns. Imagine if you had to undertake a long car journey every day – your flexibility would suffer badly – which returns us to the ‘use it or lose it’ maxim.

Everyone should have good flexibility, but due to modern lifestyles, frequently our natural flexibility is compromised and we end up far less supple than we could be. A regular stretching routine should be an integral part of your fitness program and it is as important as either cardiovascular or resistance training, bringing a whole range of benefits including:

  • Improved mobility
  • Greater range of movement
  • Greater efficiency of movement
  • Reduced risk of injury
  • The positive feeling of being loose and supple

However, incorrect stretching technique is worse than no stretching at all, so follow Get Fit Boot Camp stretching protocols and the dos and don’ts below and you will achieve safe, long-lasting flexibility gains.

Safe stretching protocols

Stretch at the end of a workout session

The ideal time to stretch is at the end of your workout. You will be thoroughly warmed-up and there will be […]

By |October 15th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Tricks that burn calories

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.

Calorie burning tip 1: Brush your teeth

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.

Calorie burning tip 2: Be house proud

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.

Calorie burning tip 3: Green fingers

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

By |October 10th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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