Showing posts with label healthy recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy recipes. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Diet Solution: Think Nutrition NOT Dieting

The Diet Solution Program - Isabel De Los Rios Talks About Nutrition Not Diet


Isabel De Los Rios talks more about The Diet Solution Program:


Q: The last thing people need is another "diet program." How is your nutrition program different and who would be a perfect candidate for your nutrition program?

A: My nutrition program is the best way and the only way most people should be eating. It is not some crazy fad diet, nor is it some extreme crash diet. It is how everyone should be eating on a daily basis, as mother-nature intended. What most people don’t realize is, if we ate they way our ancestors ate centuries ago, we would all be lean and healthy. It is the over-commercialized and toxic processed foods in our countries that are keeping everyone so overweight and unhealthy. Does it really seem healthy to sign up for a diet program that makes you buy their food and only their food? Or to nourish your body with fake powders and bars? That’s really not how are bodies were designed.


Q: What is the biggest benefit of following your nutrition program and does it come with meal recipes and meal plans?

A: The biggest benefit of my nutrition program is that it is made up of all real food. It also recommends that you eat good healthy portions of food and that you should NEVER be hungry. If you are walking around hungry, you are doing something wrong. You are most likely starving your body of the nutrients and whole foods it needs.

I have done all the hard work for you. I have put together all of the healthy principles into easy to follow meal plans, no matter what your starting point is. I have also included 61 of my favorite meal recipes so that you can always keep your nutrition program delicious.

Q: Why did you decide to write The Diet Solution Program when there is more than enough nutrition info out there?

A: I decided to write the Diet Solution for that exact reason. People are being bombarded with nutrition information and either one of two things is happening: They are either being grossly misinformed with information that is the complete opposite of what is the truth or they are so overwhelmed with all of the good information and they just don’t know where to start.

What I did with The Diet Solution was take all of the BEST information out on the market today and compiled it in an easy to understand, easy to read and easy to implement program. Basically, took the best of the best and saved my readers hundreds of hours and hundreds of dollars in research and trial and error.

Q: What is your advice for someone just starting your Diet Solution program?

A: I would start by incorporating one principle at a time. People get very overwhelmed and think they need to completely overhaul their life all at once, but this is not true. My own nutrition changes took almost 3 years. Now you may incorporate these principles sooner than I did, but remember that getting to your health goals at a pace that is do-able for you is much better than not doing anything at all.


Q: How does "meal planning" fit into the weight loss equation?

A: Meal planning is extremely important especially when you first change your current eating habits. If you find out that you feel best on a meal plan that contains protein in each meal, you must plan accordingly. This often intimidates people and makes them feel like “it is too much work”. But the whole thing really does become second nature. You finally know what you need each day to feel good and lose weight and you just naturally gravitate towards those foods.

The Diet Solution All Your Nutrition Needs Done for You
To make it a much simpler process in the beginning stages, I provide several days worth of detailed meal plans in my book, so my readers and my clients know exactly where to begin, without having to do the exact meal planning themselves.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Your Diet Solution For Busy Moms

Achieving a lean mid-section can be a drawn-out process….if you don’t know what you’re doing. This is why I am very excited to share with you some really cool nutrition stuff from my interview with Isabel De Los Rios.


Isabel is one of the leaders in the industry, and she is just really, really cool. She has a lot of  practical experience, plus for all of our females, Isabel is the proud mama of a new baby, and she is going to talk a little about post pregnancy nutrition later in this series.

So, let’s begin with part 1, as we discover how to eat healthy on a busy schedule.
***********************
Craig Ballantyne: Hi everyone, this is Craig Ballantyne from TurbulenceTraining and today our guest is Isabel De Los Rios from The Diet Solution Program. Isabel, welcome!

Isabel De Los Rios: Thanks, Craig. I am happy to be here.

Craig Ballantyne: Why don’t we you share a typical day in the life of Isabel, the type of meals that you have and the schedule that you have now that you have the little guy? Little guy or little girl?

Isabel De Los Rios: Yes, little guy.

Craig Ballantyne: Okay good.

Isabel De Los Rios: He is about eight months now. So, I’ve had about eight months to figure it out, but I still haven’t figured it all out yet.

Well, basically now being a Mom, and a lot of parents can relate to this, you really have to stick to a schedule that works around them. No more jumping on the computer at 8:00 pm or anything like that, so I’ve really had to do MORE PLANNING.

Now, I was always really good at planning even before, because anyone knows when you start a healthy eating regimen, there is some planning. You’ve got to think about it, and you’ve got to plan. So, there is a little more forethought that has to go into every single day.

What has been helping more now than before is I have been eating a LOT of the same things repeatedly.  Different things every single day, but I have found my favorites, and I’ve got A GOOD SYSTEM as to how I make those meals and those foods.

I do tell my clients, if you can kind of figure out five meals that you can make with your eyes close, or you know the ingredients, you know how to put those together and they’re easy for you, make sure you have those, because it will make your day a lot easier.

So, for me EASY STUFF is in the morning….
Oatmeal and two eggs, whether that hard boil eggs or scrambled eggs I can get that going pretty quickly.
My SNACKS are pretty much always raw nuts and fruit, and if I get hungry I snack on the raw nuts, Brazilian nuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts, whatever it is. I usually bring down, you know an apple, or pear or banana, something like that. That is something that people can bring into the office. Just because I work from home doesn’t mean I’m upstairs sitting in the kitchen.

LUNCH for me, I do take a lunch break, is almost always leftovers from the night before. That is just super duper easy, because if you’re going to cook you might as well cook enough to have leftovers. If you have kids, especially a baby, if you actually get the time to cook make sure you cook more than enough that it is not just one serving. So, lunch will be leftover chicken legs, a leftover meatball.

A couple of nights ago I made a turkey meatloaf. That’s pretty good leftovers. And then whatever vegetables I made. I always try and have chopped veggies ready in the fridge. And then again, back to my office snacking on the raw nuts and fruits, and then whatever I have set up for dinner that night.
That’s basically my day. I work a 9:00 am  to 5:00 pm day and do the usual breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks, just like I teach my clients and readers in the DST.

Craig Ballantyne: Cool. So, I guess that also when you said make sure you have your FIVE MAIN MEALS  or whatever, that really makes grocery shopping then a lot simpler than as well too, right?
Isabel De Los Rios: Yes, it really does. It’s not like oh you’re carrying around the recipes that you just printed out. And I like to do that too, because you always want to be trying new things, but realistically you’re not going to break a recipe every single day.

I wish I had the time for that. But, I pretty much know how to make my chili now, so I can just run into the super market and get that stuff. Also, certain things you want to keep on hand all the time. You know what spices you have on hand, you always want to have, let’s say if you like chili, peppers on hand so you know you can make them. If you put beans in your chili you get some beans.
Things like that. Yes, it does, it makes it a lot easier, because after maybe just two times of making it, you just know exactly what to put in and when, and what you have to buy.

Craig Ballantyne: Cool. While we are on that kind of topic, any other grocery shopping tips? Everyone knows you kind of walk around the outside as opposed to going in the middle and avoid the junk in a bag or a box. Anything else that people generally don’t hear from experts when they are talking about grocery shopping tips?

Isabel De Los Rios: I don’t know if this is something that people don’t generally here, but I find that I have  to walk into a store with a list. I really do, because since I had a kid, I lost brain cells or something. If I don’t have a list I find myself forgetting things that I need.

So, I keep a little magnetic notepad on the refrigerator and as something comes to my mind, I just write it down. Even if I am on the phone with a friend, and she says, “I made xyz for dinner.” I’m like, “What a good idea,” I write it down on the list, and when I go to the store I take it with me.

So, what happens if you were planning on making something and you forgot to buy an ingredient? Its easy to say “Lets just order something.” That is not necessarily a healthy meal.
I know that making up a list is not something new, but I know a lot of people just walk into the super market cold and buy the first thing they see. This isn’t a good plan.

Craig Ballantyne: Yes. And you know what? That’s a great tip and it applies just as equally to training. Most people they go into the gym without a plan, and they wander around thinking, “What should I use?” This even happens to me when I travel, and I don’t really think about what I am going to go into the gym to do. So, it’s a really good point.
Now, another thing that you mentioned there was the recipes, and you mentioned making the turkey meatloaf. Now, let’s say someone has a book of traditional recipes; they don’t have you know like the highest quality recipe. Are they any simple tips that you can generalize that someone could add to a regular meatloaf recipe, for example, that will improve the quality of it? You know, simple tips like substitute this for this in all most every recipe, and you’ll get results. 

Isabel De Los Rios: Yes. That is actually a great question, because it is something I do all the time. People are always amazed like, “How did you come up with that recipe?”

Well, what I do is I either go through any recipe book or even just the internet and look for what it is that I want to make. Then usually what has to happen is it will call for a low quality cooking oil like canola oil, which I don’t recommend, or some other vegetable oil that I know people should not be cooking with.

So, I recommend cooking with either coconut oil or butter, especially if it is high heat. Nine times out of ten you can replace whatever the unhealthy oil is with coconut oil or butter. Really, there are very few recipes that you can’t do that.

Now, if you want to use olive oil instead, well then you want to keep the heat down a little bit, because olive oil is not as heat stable as coconut oil or butter, so just keep the temperature down a little bit more. So, there is the oil that you’re going to replace.

Now, the other things are things like breaded products, and like bread crumbs. Those are all things that you can do with healthier versions of white bread or white bread crumbs. So, you can take a sprouted grain bread, and you can toast it and you can make bread crumbs. Or you can cut it up in small pieces, season them with garlic powder or salt and pepper, put them in the oven and make croutons. So, even the breaded part of most recipes can be replaced.

I’m trying to think of some other things. I even found a Sheppard’s pie. And now Sheppard’s pie has a lot of mashed potatoes and I did mashed cauliflower instead and it came out great. So, you just have to remember what the healthy foods are and most recipes can be switched around. Some recipes there is like no hope for them, but that’s okay because there is not that many of them.
Most times you can adjust the recipe and make something healthy.

Craig Ballantyne: Yes. One little question I had there. What is the exact temperature, or how do you exactly cook with olive oil? Does that mean if you are cooking eggs you keep it under seven on the burner scale, or do you just not use olive oil when making eggs?

I’ve never been an expert on that. I’ve always wondered.

Isabel De Los Rios: Yes. If I’m going to use olive oil, I mean I have the heat on the lowest setting on my oven, and everybody’s oven is different. It’s really, really pretty low. But, where coconut oil and butter you can just kind of jack the thing up as much as possible, and it’s going to be okay.

Now, the one thing with butter though is you don’t want to cook so high that it turns brown. You’re actually damaging the fats. I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of people you know you cook, and it’s browned, because the butter has been heated so much. That is something that you have to watch out for. But, olive oil is such an awesome food if it is raw; you want to use it raw as much as possible.

To get your own Diet Solution click the link check out my review

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Your Diet Solution How To Create Healthy Meal Plans

Your Diet Solution Creating Simple And Effective Meal Plans.

Is it possible to put together a simple and healthy meal plan? One that is not going to be complicated and hard to follow? Yes. It is possible and Isabel will show you how in this video.




Check out my review for The Diet Solution Program

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Truth About Hydrogenated Oils & Trans Fats

TheDietSolution Visit the Diet Solution Program to get your FREE sample meal plans and nutrition report.




Click here to get started: The Diet Solution Program And get access to the popular "Nutritionist Tells All" Newsletter

Watch this video as Isabel explains the real truth about how harmful hydrogenated oil and trans fats really are. You will be surprised at the foods Isabel shows you that contain this harmful ingredient. It may be foods you have in your cupboards right now.

Isabel's healthy meal plans and weight loss strategies have already helped thousands of people not only lose weight, but take complete control of their health.

Get started on your own weight loss and health journey here at The Diet Solution Program.com

Monday, May 24, 2010

Your Diet Solution How To Make Any Recipe Diet Solution Friendly

Today we have a question for Isabel De Los Rios of The Diet Solution Program.

“Isabel, how can someone take any recipe out of a regular cookbook and make it Diet Solution friendly?”


I thought this was an awesome question because it is something I do on a regular basis and is how I am able to keep all of my meal plans new, interesting and most importantly….delicious!

Here are my step by step, do-it-yourself, DSP recipe creator rules (ok, that’s a mouthful but you know what I mean):

First, I search the internet or one of my many cookbooks for exactly what I want to make. We’re going to use shepherd’s pie as our example. When I Google shepherd’s pie, I click on the first link that comes up and here is what came up (I have inserted all of my substitutions in italics):

Easy Shepherd’s Pie Recipe (taken from simplyrecipes.com)

Ingredients

•1 1/2 lbs ground round beef (I might use buffalo or even turkey for a little leaner option depending on your metabolic type)

•1 onion chopped

•1-2 cups vegetables – chopped carrots, corn, peas

•1 1/2 – 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones) (I would use cauliflower instead or do ½ potato, ½ cauliflower)

•8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)

•1/2 cup beef broth (use low sodium)

•1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

•Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice (use unrefined sea salt)

Method

1. Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes). (Steam cauliflower so you can mash it or put it in the blender so they resemble mashed potatoes.)

2. While the potatoes are cooking (or cauliflower), melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.

3. Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4. Add ground beef (or buffalo or turkey) and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

5. Mash potatoes (or put cauliflower in the blender until they resemble mash potatoes) in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6. Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes (or cauliflower) on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.

7. Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown. (Watch this carefully, as your cooking time will be less because you are using cauliflower)

Yummy! Is anyone ready for dinner?

Just as a side note, there is nothing wrong with having white potatoes if your metabolic type can handle it, but I find with sheperd’s pie you end up eating too much potato, well beyond what one serving should be and there are many people who cannot eat white potatoes because it effects their blood sugar too much (me being one of them).

The recipe above was an easy one (but I just love it and wanted to share it.)

* Let me give you some possible substitutions to many other recipes. *

1. When a recipe calls for vegetable oil such as canola oil, which we know we should be avoiding, replace it with coconut oil or butter. This can be done in 90% of most recipes. If you can’t use either of those, use olive oil and cook on low heat (below 350F). If the recipe is for a cake or other baked goods, you can use the same amount of unsweetened applesauce instead of the oil.

2. When a recipe calls for bread crumbs, I either make my own from sprouted grain bread or I purchase gluten free bread crumbs that are made from rice. You can make your own breadcrumbs by drying bread in the oven at 250F for 15 minutes and then putting it in your food processor or blender. Add Italian spices like oregano, parsley and basil to make Italian bread crumbs.

3. If a recipe calls for pasta, many times you can replace it with spaghetti squash.

4. If a recipe calls for sugar, you can use a Stevia blend instead. 1 cup of Stevia Blend (from http://www.stevivasweetener.com) is equal to 2 cups of sugar.

5. Replace all the ingredients listed with organic ingredients instead. Ok, ok, you don’t have to replace all of them, but I just had to throw that in there…hehe.

I highly recommend you give this a try yourself and look for one of your most favorite dishes and see what you can do to serve it “Diet Solution Program Style”.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Your Diet Solution: A Healthy Eating Dinner Recipe

Diet Lie :  “Diet foods will help you Lose Weight”

The REAL Truth:

Most diets foods actually contain ingredients that are making you GAIN weight. That’s right. The diet food marketing industry continues to lie to you about these products in an effort to make more and more money. Sadly, YOU are the one who is paying the price.

You will soon find out the exact ingredients in these foods (and many others) that are causing most people to put on more stubborn fat instead of losing it, without even knowing it!

Today I have a dinner recipe for you from Isabel De Los Rios of The Diet Solution Program Enjoy!


Lentil Rice Soup


Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 7 Hours

Ready In: 7 Hours 20 Minutes

Servings: 11

Ingredients:

2 cups dry lentils

2 cups uncooked long grain brown rice

1 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup vegetable broth

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

8 cups water

Directions:

1. Place the lentils, rice, carrots, celery, onion, water, broth, garlic powder, ground black pepper and salt in a slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low setting for 7 to 8 hours. Stir in the mushrooms 1 hour before serving.

Want more healthy eating recipes? Check out my review of The Diet Solution Program

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Weight Loss Success A Simple Approach To Eat Healthy

Do you want to lose some stomach fat? Maybe that saggy arm fat is out of control. How is that latest fad diet working for you? Check out this very simple approach to healthy eating and fat loss.

Whenever I tell people this simple rule for eating healthy, they are always shocked by it's simplicity, and that they never thought of it like this before.

First, we need to come to the realization that food science and marketing in recent decades has crowded all of the REAL food out of our grocery stores to the point that at LEAST 90% of everything in a modern-day grocery store is NOT true food anymore...

The so-called "food" that lines our grocery store shelves nowadays is better termed -- "Edible Food-Like Substances", as the highly respected nutrition journalist Michael Pollan calls it.

I absolutely love that term and think it is SO very true!

Our food supply has become so overly processed, that it's not uncommon for a simple snack food to contain a list of 20-30 ingredients of additives, chemicals, flavorings, colorings, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, artificial sweeteners, and more.

However, it CAN be easy to avoid ALL of this junk by following my 1 simple rule of eating healthy... and that is:

>> Eat only foods that are 1 ingredient.

Drop dead simple!

This means sticking almost solely to these:

eggs, fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, berries, and meats (only meats raised in a healthy manner)

For example, almost everything I ate today was 1 ingredient, although perhaps mixed together:

*eggs with veggies for breakfast
*snacked on fruit, berries, and nuts all afternoon
*home-made guacamole (made fresh with all single ingredients) and veggie sticks
*cooked mixed veggies, side salad, and grass-fed bison steaks for dinner

Now THIS is fat-burning nutrition made easy!

Pretty simple stuff, and all made from single ingredients instead of processed food packages with 30 ingredients or more.

Do I eat like this 100% of the time... admittedly no... BUT, if you can stick to this 1-ingredient rule at least 90% of the time, it is actually VERY simple to get as lean as you want!

A 2nd simple rule:

If your great grandparents 100 years ago wouldn't have recognized the food you're eating, don't eat it!

Now seriously could that be any easier?

Friday, March 12, 2010

Your Diet Solution Program Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe

Good Morning,

I have a very quick post for you today but a good one. I have a recipe for you from Isabel De Los Rios of The Diet Solution Program.


Vegetable Beef Soup

Prep Time: 10 Min

Cook Time: 8 Hrs

Ready In: 8 Hrs 10 Min

Makes 10 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds cubed beef stew meat

• 2 cups water

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables

• 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed (you can replace the potatoes with squash if you want to make this a bit lower in carbohydrates)

• 10 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled

• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon sea salt

• 1 tablespoon dried basil

Directions

Place beef in a slow cooker. Pour in water. Stir in onion, tomatoes, mixed vegetables and potatoes (or squash). Season with bouillon, pepper, salt and basil. Cook on low 8 hours.

Enjoy!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Your Diet Solution Breakfast Test


I have a little nutrition IQ test for you today. See if you can guess correctly which breakfast is healthier below.

Breakfast option #1:

-Special K cereal with low-fat soy milk
-Glass of Orange juice
-Half of a wheat bagel

Breakfast option #2:

-Half of a grapefruit
-Whole eggs scrambled with vegetables & organic grass-fed cheese, topped with avocado slices and salsa
-Bison sausage (grass-fed, organic)

And the winner is... breakfast #2 by a landslide!

If you picked breakfast #1... well, you've been fooled by clever marketing to think that soy milk, special K cereals, and wheat bagels are actually health foods.

Here are the major problems with breakfast #1:

a. There's NOTHING even remotely healthy about soy milk, despite the billions of dollars of marketing they have behind it to try to scam you into thinking processed soy is a health food.

Beyond the possible thyroid problems that soy can create for many people, soy has many anti-nutrients such as phytates, lectins, oxalates, and protease inhibitors that can be detrimental if overconsumed.

Soy can also contain high levels of certain heavy metals, is one of the most allergenic foods on earth, has one of the highest levels of pesticide residues of any food, and also can create a hormonal mess if overconsumed in the bodies of both men and women due to excess estrogenic compounds.

Want more belly fat? Well, go ahead and drink daily soy milk and I can bet you'll gain lots more belly fat!

b. Despite the marketing claims that Special K cereal is a health food, realize that it is still mostly refined flour with very little fiber. This is definitely not a great fat loss choice even though the ads will try to convince you of this.

c. Most wheat bagels still have way too much refined flours in them to be considered healthy. This is yet another blood sugar trap disguised as health food.

d. The glass of orange juice will give you even more carbs in this already carb-heavy meal. Although orange juice has a lot of nutrients, it is still a lot of excess sugar waiting to give you even more wild blood sugar swings.

Stick to a whole orange (or a grapefruit) instead of juice... that way, you get a lot more fiber and will fill you up more and slow the blood sugar response.

Breakfast #2, if you'll notice, is a much more balanced meal, that still contains some carbohydrates, but provides a lot more protein and healthy fats with the whole eggs & organic grass-fed cheese and bison.

Rounding out the nutrition profile with avocado, salsa, mixed veggies in the eggs and a half of a grapefruit really makes this breakfast a winner that will provide your body with loads of nutrients and antioxidants as well as keeping you satisfied longer, without any wild blood sugar swings.

On the topic of nutrition, if you haven't seen it already, I highly recommend getting a copy of my colleague Isabel's Diet Solution Program -

Your Diet Solution Not Your Typical Hollywood Fad Diet

Monday, September 28, 2009

Fast and Easy Weight Loss Tips You Can Start Right Now

Fast and Easy Weight Loss tips you can start Right Now

I must get this call and this statement from busy moms, executives, students, all the time “I just don’t have time to eat right and exercise!” No one seems to be able to find the time to lose weight. With all of the responsibilities and events packed into our busy days how are we to keep ourselves healthy and maintain an optimal weight?



When people think weight loss, they think diet and exercise, both of which already sound time consuming. Well after 10 years of seeing clients I will tell you with 100% certainty that if a client follows their nutrition plan without exercise they always lose weight but if they don’t follow their nutrition plan but are consistent with their workouts, there is no weight loss. Anyone who has ever attempted to lose weight without changing to healthier eating alternatives knows this is true. Trust me, I’ll be the first one to tell you all the reasons why exercise is so important but following a healthy eating regimen must be priority number 1!



So if nothing else, the following easy adjustments in your nutrition plan will help to take off, at the very least, an initial 5-10 lbs to get you well on your way to your health and weight loss goals:

1. Only drink water as your beverage (with the occasional unsweetened tea or black coffee).

Eliminating all sugar drinks, “diet” drinks and sodas will automatically cause a dramatic weight loss. Studies have shown, when all else is kept constant, people lose up to 10lbs just by giving up diet coke. But it has no calories you say? Equal (Aspartame) and all other artificial sweeteners like Splenda and Sweet and Low are toxins to your body and cause weight gain, even more so than sugar!

Squeeze fresh lemon in your water or make flavored herbal teas and cool them to make ice tea to make water drinking much easier. Always consume ½ of your body weight in ounces of water per day to experience adequate hydration and weight loss (ex. If you weigh 150lbs, you must drink 75 ounces of water each day).

2. Eliminate the 4 white devils

White Flour, Refined Salt, White Sugar, and Dairy. If you just stay away from these 4 things, you will automatically see a drastic drop in weight and will instantly feel more energetic throughout the day. Most people are well aware of the harmful effects of flour, refined salt and sugar but dairy? Doesn’t it do a body good? Definitely not! Dairy is one of the number 1 reasons people have such a hard time losing weight. It causes inflammation in the body, digestive problems, clogged arteries, and weight gain. Get your calcium from leafy greens and avoid dairy at all costs. When moms bring in their children to see me with weight and health problems one of the first things I do is take them off dairy. The results are miraculous! Chronically sick kids are now automatically better. And those who have had such a hard time losing weight experience automatic weight loss without dairy.

3. Know exactly where to find the healthy food!

It is honestly just as easy to run in to the local supermarket and get a bag of carrots and some almonds as it is to run into a Quickie-Mart and buy some harmful processed food. You can go absolutely anywhere now and find healthy meal options but you must know what you are looking for. Stay away from most packaged foods as the label indicates more of a science experiment than anything that would be close to food. No one needs all of those toxins in their body. Labels should have 2 – 3 items, at most. And the best foods don’t have labels.

Don’t let time be your excuse. If you stop to eat 2-3 times per day and snack in between it is just as easy to find something healthy as it is to find something harmful. Don’t let your body come to a shrieking halt before you decide to do anything about your weight and your health. You know what will be a huge impediment on your time? If you or a family member becomes ill due to poor nutrition and lifestyle habits. So tackle the problem now before it really does begin to affect your time and your life! You can replace cars, homes and all material items, but you only get one body! Take good care of it.

Be well on your way to achieving your own Fat Loss and Health Goals with these Simple and Easy Fat Burning Meal Plans.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Your Diet Solution Q&A



This was an interview done by Vince Delmonte of NoNonsense Muscle Building with Isabel De Los Rios of The Diet Solution
Yesterday morning I was cooling down for 20 minutes on the bike after a brutal leg workout and started flipping through the TV stations instead of listening to my iPod and I was reminded of how much weight loss has become a North American obsession!

You don’t have to flip many stations to get bombarded by new gadgets, pills, diets, books and programs endorsed by celebrities and it only takes three easy payments to fix your problem.

Perhaps you have tried one of these methods that gladly take your money and you still have nothing (or little) show for it.

Sure, anything works in the short term but I am interested in sharing solutions that work for the long term.

Aren’t you?

This reminded me of one of the most popular interviews I did last year with Isabel De Los Rios and I wanted to give you a chance to see why I consider her to be one of the most knowledgeable nutrition experts I’ve come across over the years.

Vince Del Monte V.S. Isabel De Los Rios Interview

Vince: Why did you decide to write The Diet Solution Plan when there is more than enough nutrition info out there?

Isabel: I decided to write the Diet Solution for that exact reason. People are being bombarded with nutrition information and either one of two things is happening: They are either being grossly misinformed with information that is the complete opposite of what is the truth or they are so overwhelmed with all of the good information and they just don’t know where to start.

What I did with The Diet Solution was take all of the BEST information out on the market today and compiled it
in an easy to understand, easy to read and easy to implement program. Basically, took the best of the best and saved my readers hundreds of hours and hundreds of dollars in research and trial and error.

Vince: You clearly state that soy is NOT a health food. Does this go for my friends who want to build muscle and lose fat?

Isabel: This goes for absolutely everyone, but especially for those who want to build muscle. I would even say the effects of eating soy will contribute to the exact OPPOSITE hormonal changes in your body that you want if building muscle is your goal.

This is because most soy products on the market today contain phytoestrogens. These phytoestrogens mimic the effects of estrogen in the body and have been shown to decrease the testosterone levels of rats, monkeys and other animals, including humans. It has been known for quite some time that soy lowers testosterone to the point that there is an old Japanese wives’ tale that says women punish straying husbands by feeding them a lot of tofu. Now what do you think that means?

If building muscle is your goal, definitely stay away from any protein powder or protein bar that contains soy or soy protein isolate. Make sure to read labels carefully as it is in more products than you think.

Your Diet Solution

Vince: When choosing a protein powder, should I really be concerned about artificial sweeteners harming my body?

Isabel: Artificial sweeteners have been found to be one of the most toxic substances we can put inside our bodies. Besides the fact that it causes brain and metabolism dysfunction, they clog up your liver to a point where it can not fully function.

Why is your liver so important? Your liver is not only responsible for eliminating toxins from your body but it is also responsible for metabolizing fat. If it is so busy processing through artificial sweeteners (a harmful toxin), it will not spend a sufficient amount of time processing through the unwanted fat you are trying to lose.

Believe it or not, I have had clients give up Diet Coke and lose up to 10 lbs in 2 weeks!

Vince: In your program, you talk about good dairy and bad dairy. Any tip you can provide before I buy any more dairy?

Isabel: Dairy is one of the leading reasons most people can not lose weight or, worse yet, are constantly gaining weight. The shocking truth about dairy is that it is only healthy in its raw form. All of the pasteurized dairy in the supermarkets today are really keeping people fat and making them fatter.

Besides the countless amount of research that has been done showing us how healthy raw dairy is, the proof is really in the thousands of people and children that are overweight or obese and drinking several glasses of pasteurized milk each day.

Vince: Eating organic food is really expensive. Is it worth the extra cost or completely over rated? Will it really make a difference in building muscle faster and losing fat quicker?

Isabel: The answer to this question takes us back to the function of the liver. The pesticides, antibiotics and hormones that are being added to most foods are clogging up our livers. Again, a clogged up liver can not burn fat.

And worse yet, will continue to store fat. Yes, organic food may be a bit more expensive. But most of my clients notice their grocery bill is the same once they eliminate the expensive cereals and “so called” expensive diet foods they were eating before.

Vince: The last thing I want to share with my friends is another “diet program.” How is your nutrition program different and who would be a perfect candidate for your nutrition program?

Isabel: My nutrition program is the best way and the only way most people should be eating. It is not some crazy fad diet, nor is it some extreme crash diet. It is how everyone should be eating on a daily basis, as mother-nature intended. What most people don’t realize is, if we ate they way our ancestors ate centuries ago, we would all be lean and healthy. It is the over-commercialized and toxic processed foods in our
countries that are keeping everyone so overweight and unhealthy.

Does it really seem healthy to sign up for a diet program that makes you buy their food and only their food? Or to nourish your body with fake powders and bars? That’s really not how are bodies were designed.

What I teach in http://www.AntiDietPlan.com is exactly what your body needs to maintain a lean and healthy body for a lifetime.

What is the biggest benefit of following your nutrition program and does it come with meal recipes and meal plans?

The biggest benefit of my nutrition program is that it is made up of all real food. It also recommends that you eat good healthy portions of food and that you should NEVER be hungry. If you are walking around hungry, you are doing something wrong. You are most likely starving your body of the nutrients and whole foods it needs.

I have done all the hard work for you. I have put together all of the healthy principles into easy to follow meal plans, no matter what your starting point is. I have also included 61 of my favorite meal recipes so that you can always keep your nutrition program delicious.

Vince: How important is it to eat based on your metabolism and eat the right foods for your metabolism? Do you touch on this in your program?

Isabel: Eating the right foods for your metabolism is so important, that it is the difference between losing weight and not losing weight. We are all individual and so are our metabolisms. In order to pinpoint exactly which meal plan will work best, I have included a Metabolic Typing Test so my readers can determine exactly how they metabolize food and which foods are “fat burning” foods and which foods are “fat storing” foods. The results of this test have been a true “AHA” moment for thousands of people, finally, maybe for the first time, finding why they have not been able to shed their unwanted fat before.

===============
END OF INTERVIEW
===============
If you want to eat the healthiest diet possible for your specific body and learn to stay lean for life, make sure to read through Isabel De Los Rios’ program…

Download a copy of her program today:
–> http://AntiDietPlan.com

Thursday, September 10, 2009

5 Must Use Rules To Lose Your Body Fat


In order to flatten your stomach, firm and shape your whole body your diet must come first. Yes even before your workouts. Keep in mind all the workouts in the world will not get you the results you are after without paying attention to your diet.

When it comes down to it eating healthy is not really that tough. The problem is the word "diet" that word strikes fear into some people. Right off you think of sacrificing everything you like and always being hungry. It doesn't need to be that way.

Yes the junk food must go. But I am a firm believer in rewarding yourself once in awhile. With me it's Peanut M&M's. Don't think of it as a sacrifice. It is a new fat free and healthier you.

Personally, I eat 3 meals and 3 snacks per day, focusing on fruits
and vegetables, nuts, and protein (although a lot less protein than
I used to eat 7 or 8 years ago. I also eat fewer modified carbs than
I did even 2 years ago. More on that in a minute.

Listen, diet will play a huge part in helping you burn belly fat,
flatten your stomach, and get six pack abs. So it doesn't matter if
you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced, here are FIVE
fantastic nutrition rules for your abs diet today.

1) Reduce your modified carbohyrate intake. You've heard of
processed carbs before, but I want to introduce you to modified
carbs.

This is my definition for anything that is not eaten in its original
form. So reduce breads, pasta, breakfast cereal, muffins, granola
bars, and of course, any other food in a bag or a box.

When I cut out modified carbs, I lost another 1% body fat, had more
mental energy, and did not feel sleepy after meals.

I say, "Stick to fruits, vegetables, and raw nuts for carbs."

2) Eliminate bad fats, increase good fats. Eating even 1 gram of
trans fats per day could harm your heart. One of the few supplements
I use is fish oil (that I like to call, "fish juice" - ewww!). Some
folks say fish oil helps burn fat, but I don't believe it...however,
it is great for heart health.

3) Eat more protein, but not an excessive amount. Bodybuilders
recommend 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, BUT that is
TOO MUCH if you are overweight.

Women need about 100 grams of protein, men need about 150 grams,
unless a guy literally has over 200 pounds of lean mass. Not too
many guys do, however.

4) Add more fiber to your diet by eating more fruits, vegetables,
and raw nuts.

5) Stick to your nutrition plan 90% of the time using Dr. Berardi's
90% Compliance guidelines.

How does this work?

Well, let's say you are on a 2000 calorie per day diet. To hit 90%
compliance, that means 1800 calories must come from fruits, veggies,
nuts, and protein, leaving you 200 calories "to play with".

You can either have a 200 calorie treat each day, or save up 200
calories for 3-4 days straight and have a 600-800 calorie reward
meal every 3-4 days.

Make sense? Sounds simple. Just be consistent with those 5 rules.

Plan ahead to avoid all of the obstacles life likes to throw in
your way. And if you need help, just ask on the TT Member's forum.

If you want more help with this type of nutrition, including meal
plans for men and women, go to:

=> Your Diet Solution

It's time to get serious about not only getting rid of your excess body fat but your health. Eat this way if you are ready for maximum energy, vitality, and fat
burning.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Your Diet Solution: The Real Truth Behind Organic Foods


The Real Truth Behind Organic Foods


Many people are unaware of what organic food really is. It seems that everywhere we go now, someone is promoting something that is "organic". Are these foods worth your time and money?

It almost seems like some people are afraid of organic food. Could this be possible? Are people afraid that eating one morsel of organic food is going to somehow instantly initiate them into the organic food cult where you’re only allowed to wear sandals made from tree bark and deodorant is prohibited?

I swear I have had people say to me “Well, you can’t be that organic because you wear make-up and you don’t smell.”

What? That’s not what organic means at all! All it means is that the food or the product has been grown the way mother nature intended: without the use of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. In other words, naturally!

Are some people afraid of the price? Organic does not automatically mean “break the bank”. Many times when I compare the price of the organic food versus the conventional food, they are only a few cents different. In the case of the bag of organic carrots I bought today for my lunch, they were the exact same price as the conventional ones. Imagine that!

If anything about the word “organic” makes you want to jump and run the other way, be sure to read my previous blog post “Is there such a thing as Cheap Organic Food?”

It will help you understand exactly why organic food is all the rave these days and what you can do to make organic living easy, simple and not so scary!

Get started on your own fat loss and health goals right away with these Simple and Easy Healthy Meal Plans.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Your Diet Solution: A Healthy French Toast Recipe


Healthy French Toast


There's no need to give up some of your favorite foods in an effort to lose weight and keep it off. Here is one of my favorite weekend breakfast recipes that will still fit into your healthy eating plan.

You’ll see that all of the ingredients below are Diet Solution approved and completely healthy. How does it taste? Absolutely delicious. And that has been verified by my husband, my in-laws, my parents and several friends that have stayed at our house and enjoyed our Saturday morning ritual with us.


French Toast a la Your Diet Solution

Ingredients:
2 slices Sprouted Grain, Spelt or Rice bread (we’ve tried using all of them and they all work well)
2 whole eggs
1 TBSP butter
Maple Syrup or Apple Sauce (no sugar added)
Cinnamon to taste

Directions:
Scramble the 2 eggs in a bowl large enough to fit one slice of bread. Dip the bread and make sure it is coated generously with the egg mixture. Heat a pan (on low to medium) large enough for 1 or 2 slices of bread and add the butter. Once the butter is melted in the pan (if it begins to turn brown, you have the heat up too high) add the bread coated with the egg mixture. Cook the bread on each side for 3-4 minutes covered (I find that covering the pan cooks the egg more evenly but you can cook it uncovered as well). Serve with maple syrup (1 tsp per slice is more than enough) or topped with apple sauce and cinnamon (that’s how I like mine.)

Is this a cheat meal or a meal “off” of my usual healthy eating? Not at all. All of the ingredients are wholesome and natural and fit right into mine (and your) healthy eating plan. If you need or want a bit more protein with your breakfast, you can add a piece of bacon, breakfast sausage or even another egg on the side.

Enjoy your French Toast! From Your Diet Solution friends

"The Diet Solution Program is definitely much better than Dr. Suzanne's Top Secret Fat Loss Secret, Strip That Fat and Warp Speed Fat Loss. Hands down, this is definitely one of the best, and possibly the most comprehensive weight loss guide I've read so far. What I really like is your Quick Start Guide which clearly sets a pathway to weight loss success, provided the reader implements the instructions inside this manual. In addition, the Action Steps included at the end of every topic make sure the reader fully grasps the content well and implements the strategies accordingly. With The Shopping List and Recipes, I don't see any excuse why the reader would face any problems in losing those extra pounds. I feel really privileged to have been invited to review the content of this amazing book.

...definitely one of the best!"

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Your Diet Solution: Eat Like A Caveman Or Cavewoman?


The Best Diet, A Great Lesson from a Caveman


What is one thing cavemen knew much better than we know now? How to survive in the wild? Yes. But more importantly, they knew how to survive in the healthiest way possible. There were no diet programs in those days nor were there shelves full of diet books. What cavemen knew instinctively was exactly what the best diet was for them.

Let’s all take a quick lesson from our ancestors and see which elements of their diet are tips we can begin to incorporate right way to lose unwanted body fat and improve our health.

1. Cavemen only ate what they could kill or find in the wild. By no means am I suggesting you begin to kill and hunt for your own food (we do have grocery stores now a days, thank goodness) but we still would benefit greatly by following this method in our own 21st century kind of way. If the food on your plate is not something your fellow caveman friend could have hunted, gathered and found himself, chances are you shouldn’t be eating that food. For example, a plate of lean hamburger and vegetables, followed by fresh fruit is perfect (for you and your new friend) but add a piece of bread or some pasta and now you have confused your fellow cave friend. These are not foods that existed during those times and are foods we are much healthier without.

2.Cavemen only drank what they could find. Do you know what people have been able to find for centuries? That’s right, good old fashioned H2O (water that is). Water is truly the magic potion to weight loss and increased health. Unfortunately a great majority of people are walking around severely dehydrated and suffering from many negative side effects which could all be easily resolved by drinking more water. Hunger, headaches, constipation, and digestive discomfort are just a few of the many symptoms that can easily be resolved by a few cups of water. Make sure to drink half of your bodyweight in ounces of water each day (i.e. 200 lbs should drink 100 ounces).

3. Cavemen stayed active for a majority of their day. I know this isn’t exactly part of their Best Diet but it is an essential and integral part of fat loss and optimized health. Tell your new caveman friend that he has to sit in an office chair all day and then go home and sit on the couch for the rest of the night and he will look at you like you are crazy (not that he doesn’t already think you are crazy but this would make matters worse). Move, move, move. Movement doesn’t always mean formal exercise. Take the stairs to your office, walk the parking lot a few extra times, get up and walk around the office a minimum of once per hour, anything to prevent you from sitting all day long. Today if modern man even tried to keep up with the daily activity and regimen of a caveman, they would quickly fall over in exhaustion.

The Best Diet and the Best Lifestyle plan can be easily established by just modeling the daily activities and food choices of cavemen.

Use this question today to establish your own caveman habits:

“Is this food or drink something I could have found in the wild thousands of years ago?”

If the answer is no, don’t eat it and find yourself a food that is more natural. Of course, don’t forget to share with your new caveman friend!

Get started on Your Diet Solution and Healthy Meal Plans right away and don't forget to download your free fat loss report.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Your Diet Solution: Is Whole Wheat Bread Fattening?


Do you know what it feels like to no longer have your life be controlled by your weight?

Is Whole Wheat Bread fattening?

People often think they are doing something healthy for themselves by switching their white bread for whole wheat bread. Although this is a better option than white, whole wheat bread can still be preventing you from losing your unwanted weight.

I am not a big fan of bread or bread type products. Actually, I think most people could feel a thousand times better if they stopped eating so much bread every single day. Toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, bread basket at dinner…we could feed a small village with the amount of bread I see some people consuming in one day (or several villages depending on who you’re talking about).

No, I am not saying to never have bread ever again (Hey, its life, you gotta enjoy it, right?). What I am saying is that 4-5 servings of some kind of bread type product every day is making thousands of people gain weight, preventing them from losing their unwanted weight and worst of all, bringing about diseases like Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Disease.

I don’t eat very much bread at all and I really don’t even miss it. I guess I have just come to enjoy all the other delicious food I eat each day that I don’t even feel bread is missing from my meal plans.

Here are my “bread free” strategies and exactly how you can lower your own bread intake each day:

1. When you think of breakfast, don’t automatically think toast, bagels, or a roll. A couple of hard boiled eggs over sliced tomatoes is delicious. You can also make a quick batch of oatmeal and add walnuts and berries. How about cottage cheese and pineapple? The breakfast options are endless.

2. Pack snack foods and take them with you to work. In less than 2 minutes, I can throw natural peanut butter, raw almonds, dried fruit (no sugar added), an apple or banana and baby carrots all in a bag and be out the door. Taking these food items to work with you will help you stay away from the employee room bagels or donuts. (Don’t even get me started on how evil donuts are). Slap some peanut butter on an apple and munch away at that, all while making fun of the people eating donuts (Just Kidding, that’s not nice.)

3. Don’t depend on sandwiches as lunch every day. How about some salmon, broccoli and brown rice? Leftover chicken from last night and a sweet potato? Imagine that lunch is another version of dinner and not just a mid day sandwich inhaling contest.

4. Make “the bread basket” a once-in-while experience. You really do not need to be serving a bread basket for dinner at home if you are offering healthy carbohydrate choices like salad, cooked vegetables, brown rice, millet, or quinoa.

5. Oh, and how could I forget? Don’t think that eating “100% Whole Wheat” is any better. It is still refined flour (maybe just not bleached) and a huge contributor to weight gain. I could go on and on about this but I have covered all the details about how detrimental wheat products are to your weight loss efforts in Chapter 9 of The Diet Solution Program.

Start to think outside the “bread box” today for healthy alternatives to your daily bread intake. What one thing can you do today to get started?

Find out what foods may be preventing you from reaching your own Fat Loss Goals here: Your Diet Solution Program

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Your Diet Solution: 3 Healthy Meal Plans You Can Start Right Now


3 Simple, Healthy Meal Plans You Can Start Right Now

Is it possible to put together a simple and healthy meal plan? One that is not going to be complicated and hard to follow? Yes. It is possible and I will show you how. The healthy meal plans below will help you achieve your health goals while simultaneously shedding fat off your body.

Here are 3 healthy meal plans you can get started on right now.

Breakfast

Protein should be included in every meal throughout the day and breakfast is no exception. Make sure to include organic eggs, cottage cheese, raw nut butter or smoked fish as one component of your healthy breakfast. Carbohydrates should also be included in the form of oatmeal, sprouted grain bread, fruit and/or vegetables.

3 great sample breakfasts are:

Oatmeal with almond butter, topped with fresh berries and a bit of Stevia to sweeten.

2 hard boiled eggs, 1 slice sprouted grain toast and ½ grapefruit

Smoked salmon over sliced tomato and 1 green apple

Lunch

The same rules apply as breakfast. An easy way to ensure that you always have a healthy protein available for lunch is to pack leftovers from dinner the night before. Leftover hamburger, chicken legs or wild fish are all great to include in a salad or over vegetables.

3 great sample lunches are:

Baked Tilapia over sautéed spinach, green salad with chick peas (oil and vinegar as dressing) followed by ½ cup of pineapple.

Leftover chicken legs with ½ sweet potato and broccoli.

Lean hamburger over portabella mushroom and brown rice. Cooked vegetables or a green salad. 1 orange.

Dinner

You can really be creative with dinner. Look for recipes that are quick and easy and modify them with your own healthy ingredients as needed. Again, always remember to include protein and carbohydrates.

3 great sample dinners are:

Mexican salad: Ground beef over shredded lettuce and tomato, guacamole and brown rice.

Grilled Salmon over asparagus, green salad (oil and vinegar as dressing) followed by a fresh fruit salad.

Buffalo meat balls over rice pasta with sautéed broccoli.

Snacks

You never want to let your body get too hungry. Hunger often leads to binge eating of unhealthy food and makes sticking to a healthy eating regimen much more difficult. It’s important to keep snacks handy so you never experience hunger or a blood sugar low without having a healthy option nearby.

3 great snacks are:

2 Tbsp almond butter on ½ apple

Trail mix made up of walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds and dried fruit (no sugar added)

Cottage cheese and pineapple

Incorporate just a few of these meals into your daily eating regimen and you will see an incredible difference in your weight loss results. Following simple and healthy meal plans like these is the first step in achieving your health and fitness goals.

To get started right away on your own fat loss goals , download these Simple and Healthy Meal Plans right now.



Isabel De Los Rios is a certified nutritionist and exercise specialist who educates clients through seminars, writing and the media on the essential principles of nutrition and achieving their weight loss and health goals.



She is the author of The Diet Solution Program and the Owner of New Body – Center for Fitness and Nutrition in New Jersey. Isabel not only teaches her clients the principles of good nutrition but inspires and motivates them to achieve their goals and live a life of health and vitality.

Isabel De Los Rios found her passion for nutrition as a teenager. The overweight daughter and granddaughter of type 2 diabetics, Isabel was told that she was doomed to suffer from the same health problems as the generations who preceded her. Not willing to sit around waiting for this grim prediction to become a reality, she pored over every nutrition and diet book available in search of the answers to her family’s weight and health problems. This led her to personally seek out doctors and health professionals that were using nutrition to get great results (as far as health and weight loss) with their patients and clients.

She has since reached and maintained an ideal weight, is vibrantly healthy and shows no indication that conditions like diabetes will affect her as they have so many in her family. She truly enjoys a high level of wellbeing that surprises most people.

Graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in exercise physiology (a pre-med curriculum). Isabel also holds advanced certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology (C.H.E.K.) Institute. She counsels many special populations, including diabetics, heart disease patients, cancer survivors, and overweight individuals, as well as healthy individuals who wish to maintain health and prevent disease.

Your Diet Solution

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Your Diet Solution: A Delicious Chicken Recipe for you


I have been known to be quite the chef. (Actually, more of a mad scientist). When you make healthy and natural eating a way of life like I have, it really is important to keep all of your meals new and interesting.

This particular recipe created quite a stir at my house. A friend of a friend who was here over the holidays made this comment while I was cooking “Isabel, we’re going to die of heart attacks with all that butter.” (Uhh, no dinner for you my friend).

Unfortunately, this is a very common misconception. People still think that butter and saturated fats are the reason heart disease is one of the top killers in this country (and now in many other countries as well). The truth is that it’s not the natural fats that are causing this epidemic, its the sugar, processed and packaged foods and overconsumption of refined oils that are causing so much disease (and you can add Diabetes, High Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure to this list as well).

I go into this topic in much greater detail in the Fats Chapter of the Diet Solution Program but here are a few nuggets of info to ponder:

1. Did you know that during the 60 year period from 1910-1970, the proportion of traditional animal fat in the American diet declined from 83% to 62%?

2. During this same time butter consumption plummeted from 18 pounds per person each year to 4 pounds per person each year.

3. During the past 80 years, the consumption of dietary cholesterol intake has increased only one percent.

So where is the problem? Why all the heart disease?

1. During the same period, the average intake of dietary vegetable oils (margarine, shortening, and refined oils) increased by about 400%.

2. During the same period, the consumption of sugar and processed foods increased by about 60%

Those are the facts, but there’s never better proof than the results I see with my clients and my readers. When people finally stop eating margarine, refined oils, “fake” butters, sugar and processed foods, their health sky rockets! (and by sky rockets I mean, gets better, greatly improves, elevates to whole new levels). Not to mention all the body fat they lose off their body (now isn’t that just an awful side effect?)

It’s important to mention that the butter I use is organic and grass fed. It has this beautiful deep yellow color and is not white like most conventional butters. It has gone through minimal processing and has no added growth hormones and antibiotics. I get all my butter from www.grasslandmeats.com

Now that I told you butter is ok to eat (A glorious day isn’t it?) here is my yummy chicken recipe:

(Please remember that the mad scientist in me sometimes forgets to document the exact amounts so you may need to play around with this a bit.)

Chicken with “I’m not afraid of butter” dressing

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts (approximately 1 lb of chicken)
6 Tbsp of melted butter
lemon juice from 1/2 large lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Directions:

Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a large pan. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook chicken breasts in butter covered on very low heat. Do not let the butter get brown. Pour lemon juice in a seperate bowl. Slowly stir in the remaining melted butter as you stir mixture. Then slowly add the olive oil as you stir mixture. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Once the chicken is cooked through, served on a plate and pour the “dressing mixture” over your cooked chicken breasts.

Don’t be surprised if you are tempted to pour this dressing on your veggies and just about every other food item you can think of. It’s delicious!

Happy Butter Day!

In health and happiness,

Isabel De Los Rios
Your Diet Solution

Friday, August 7, 2009

Your Diet Solution - Calories Good Or Bad? Q & A


Your Diet Solution - Stop Dieting...Start Eating...Start Living

You’re about to gain access to some of the most effective, research proven, non-fad, non-gimmick Weight Loss Facts you must know so you can finally stop wasting time, effort and money on worthless diet plans and products.

Are Calories Good or Bad?

Q. Is calorie a bad word?

A. No, it’s not bad—just misunderstood! Most people who use the word calorie simply don’t know what it means. Also, in my experience, most people to go pale at the mere mention of the word. Based on those facts alone, I would eliminate calorie from the English vocabulary if I could.

Q. Why is calorie such a misunderstood word?

A. The American public has been told, time and time again, that people who consume more calories than their bodies burn will gain weight. As I explain in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, this statement is only partially true. All calories are not created equal; calories consumed from healthy foods and unhealthy foods are quite different.

Q. What exactly is a calorie, then?

A. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), a calorie is “a unit equivalent to the large calorie expressing heat-producing or energy-producing value in food when oxidized in the body.” In plain English, a calorie is a unit of energy released from the food you eat to power the body.

Q. How are calories “burned”?

A. The body needs energy from food—calories—to perform many functions, the most obvious of which are physical activity and exercise. However, the body also requires energy to function at the most basic level: to breathe, digest food, and maintain organs and systems.

Q. How many calories should I eat each day?

A. The short answer is “enough.” The calories you consume must provide enough energy for your body to perform all necessary functions and activities—and bring about optimum health. The long answer is that the number of calories needed varies from person to person and depends on weight, foods consumed, sleep, stress and activity levels, age, and a long list of other factors that affect metabolism. In The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, I provide a calorie equation to help you estimate, according to these factors, how many calories you should consume to lose weight or maintain weight. It also includes charts to help you choose the right sources of those calories to support your efforts.

Q. Is it possible to eat too few calories?

A. Believe it or not, yes! The most serious problem with low-calorie diets is that although they may bring about weight loss, they also can cause serious health problems. One common side effect of low-calorie diets is muscle breakdown, which can occur when the body doesn’t consume enough calories from protein. Especially vulnerable is the heart, a muscular organ. If a person does not consume an adequate amount of calories each day, the heart muscle begins to break down, possibly leading to serious cardiac conditions (e.g., cardiac atrophy).

Q. What are the consequences of following low-calorie diets off and on over time?

A. Low-calorie diets typically do not supply enough energy to keep organs and systems healthy. In effect, they can lead to malnourishment. For clients who have repeatedly followed such diets, I recommend high-calorie meal plans that will provide their organs with adequate fuel to repair themselves and regain healthy function. Most of my clients are surprised, at first, to see how much food they can consume on a healthy weight-loss diet—not to mention the high level of health that they can achieve.

Q. Hey, wait—didn’t you say that you don’t like the word calorie? Then why does the Diet Solution Program suggest calculating calorie requirements?

A. In the Diet Solution Program, calorie calculation is simply a means to an end. You use the ideal number of calories that results from the equation to determine the correct number of servings of each food type for each meal. That’s it—from that point on, you can forget about counting calories!

Q. If I don’t count calories, then how will I control my eating habits?

A. Use the Allowable Servings Guide in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living to plan meals. However, over time, you will learn how to meet your body’s nutritional needs without referring to the servings guide. Humans are born with the ability to “know” when the body has received enough nourishment and when it needs more. My professional experience indicates that, unfortunately, most yo-yo dieters and other people who have battled weight problems don’t know how to “listen” to the body’s cues in response to the foods and portions they consume. The good news is that this ability can be (re)learned.

Q. What do you mean by “listen” to my body?

A. The Diet Solution Program is a lifestyle shift that teaches you how to determine the best foods and portions for your metabolic type. Even after just days on the plan, you will learn to pay attention to how you feel after eating. For many people, this experience of “listening” to the body will be new. However, by letting your body be your guide, you will learn how to eat your way to optimum health.

Q. Can I really expect to maintain a healthy weight without counting calories or referring to servings guides or other charts?

A. Yes! It’s how I live my life now, and you, too, can learn to recognize when your body is adequately nourished. After many years of dieting, I reawakened my body’s innate ability to tell me when I’ve had enough food and when I need more by following the same plan I present in the Diet Solution Program. Every day is different; some days I require more food and others less, depending on my levels of exercise, stress, and even hormones. But I don’t need to count calories to know whether I’ve had enough; my body tells me, and I know how to listen. Whatever you do, don’t be lured into the trap of forever counting calories, because that approach is not sustainable—or healthy—in the long term.



Stop counting calories and download your own copy of these Fat Burning and Healthy Meal Plans right away.


Are Calories Good or Bad?

Q. Is calorie a bad word?

A. No, it’s not bad—just misunderstood! Most people who use the word calorie simply don’t know what it means. Also, in my experience, most people to go pale at the mere mention of the word. Based on those facts alone, I would eliminate calorie from the English vocabulary if I could.

Q. Why is calorie such a misunderstood word?

A. The American public has been told, time and time again, that people who consume more calories than their bodies burn will gain weight. As I explain in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, this statement is only partially true. All calories are not created equal; calories consumed from healthy foods and unhealthy foods are quite different.

Q. What exactly is a calorie, then?

A. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), a calorie is “a unit equivalent to the large calorie expressing heat-producing or energy-producing value in food when oxidized in the body.” In plain English, a calorie is a unit of energy released from the food you eat to power the body.

Q. How are calories “burned”?

A. The body needs energy from food—calories—to perform many functions, the most obvious of which are physical activity and exercise. However, the body also requires energy to function at the most basic level: to breathe, digest food, and maintain organs and systems.

Q. How many calories should I eat each day?

A. The short answer is “enough.” The calories you consume must provide enough energy for your body to perform all necessary functions and activities—and bring about optimum health. The long answer is that the number of calories needed varies from person to person and depends on weight, foods consumed, sleep, stress and activity levels, age, and a long list of other factors that affect metabolism. In The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, I provide a calorie equation to help you estimate, according to these factors, how many calories you should consume to lose weight or maintain weight. It also includes charts to help you choose the right sources of those calories to support your efforts.

Q. Is it possible to eat too few calories?

A. Believe it or not, yes! The most serious problem with low-calorie diets is that although they may bring about weight loss, they also can cause serious health problems. One common side effect of low-calorie diets is muscle breakdown, which can occur when the body doesn’t consume enough calories from protein. Especially vulnerable is the heart, a muscular organ. If a person does not consume an adequate amount of calories each day, the heart muscle begins to break down, possibly leading to serious cardiac conditions (e.g., cardiac atrophy).

Q. What are the consequences of following low-calorie diets off and on over time?

A. Low-calorie diets typically do not supply enough energy to keep organs and systems healthy. In effect, they can lead to malnourishment. For clients who have repeatedly followed such diets, I recommend high-calorie meal plans that will provide their organs with adequate fuel to repair themselves and regain healthy function. Most of my clients are surprised, at first, to see how much food they can consume on a healthy weight-loss diet—not to mention the high level of health that they can achieve.

Q. Hey, wait—didn’t you say that you don’t like the word calorie? Then why does the Diet Solution Program suggest calculating calorie requirements?

A. In the Diet Solution Program, calorie calculation is simply a means to an end. You use the ideal number of calories that results from the equation to determine the correct number of servings of each food type for each meal. That’s it—from that point on, you can forget about counting calories!

Q. If I don’t count calories, then how will I control my eating habits?

A. Use the Allowable Servings Guide in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living to plan meals. However, over time, you will learn how to meet your body’s nutritional needs without referring to the servings guide. Humans are born with the ability to “know” when the body has received enough nourishment and when it needs more. My professional experience indicates that, unfortunately, most yo-yo dieters and other people who have battled weight problems don’t know how to “listen” to the body’s cues in response to the foods and portions they consume. The good news is that this ability can be (re)learned.

Q. What do you mean by “listen” to my body?

A. The Diet Solution Program is a lifestyle shift that teaches you how to determine the best foods and portions for your metabolic type. Even after just days on the plan, you will learn to pay attention to how you feel after eating. For many people, this experience of “listening” to the body will be new. However, by letting your body be your guide, you will learn how to eat your way to optimum health.

Q. Can I really expect to maintain a healthy weight without counting calories or referring to servings guides or other charts?

A. Yes! It’s how I live my life now, and you, too, can learn to recognize when your body is adequately nourished. After many years of dieting, I reawakened my body’s innate ability to tell me when I’ve had enough food and when I need more by following the same plan I present in the Diet Solution Program. Every day is different; some days I require more food and others less, depending on my levels of exercise, stress, and even hormones. But I don’t need to count calories to know whether I’ve had enough; my body tells me, and I know how to listen. Whatever you do, don’t be lured into the trap of forever counting calories, because that approach is not sustainable—or healthy—in the long term.



Stop counting calories and download your own copy of these Fat Burning and Healthy Meal Plans right away.

Are Calories Good or Bad?

Q. Is calorie a bad word?

A. No, it’s not bad—just misunderstood! Most people who use the word calorie simply don’t know what it means. Also, in my experience, most people to go pale at the mere mention of the word. Based on those facts alone, I would eliminate calorie from the English vocabulary if I could.

Q. Why is calorie such a misunderstood word?

A. The American public has been told, time and time again, that people who consume more calories than their bodies burn will gain weight. As I explain in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, this statement is only partially true. All calories are not created equal; calories consumed from healthy foods and unhealthy foods are quite different.

Q. What exactly is a calorie, then?

A. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), a calorie is “a unit equivalent to the large calorie expressing heat-producing or energy-producing value in food when oxidized in the body.” In plain English, a calorie is a unit of energy released from the food you eat to power the body.

Q. How are calories “burned”?

A. The body needs energy from food—calories—to perform many functions, the most obvious of which are physical activity and exercise. However, the body also requires energy to function at the most basic level: to breathe, digest food, and maintain organs and systems.

Q. How many calories should I eat each day?

A. The short answer is “enough.” The calories you consume must provide enough energy for your body to perform all necessary functions and activities—and bring about optimum health. The long answer is that the number of calories needed varies from person to person and depends on weight, foods consumed, sleep, stress and activity levels, age, and a long list of other factors that affect metabolism. In The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, I provide a calorie equation to help you estimate, according to these factors, how many calories you should consume to lose weight or maintain weight. It also includes charts to help you choose the right sources of those calories to support your efforts.

Q. Is it possible to eat too few calories?

A. Believe it or not, yes! The most serious problem with low-calorie diets is that although they may bring about weight loss, they also can cause serious health problems. One common side effect of low-calorie diets is muscle breakdown, which can occur when the body doesn’t consume enough calories from protein. Especially vulnerable is the heart, a muscular organ. If a person does not consume an adequate amount of calories each day, the heart muscle begins to break down, possibly leading to serious cardiac conditions (e.g., cardiac atrophy).

Q. What are the consequences of following low-calorie diets off and on over time?

A. Low-calorie diets typically do not supply enough energy to keep organs and systems healthy. In effect, they can lead to malnourishment. For clients who have repeatedly followed such diets, I recommend high-calorie meal plans that will provide their organs with adequate fuel to repair themselves and regain healthy function. Most of my clients are surprised, at first, to see how much food they can consume on a healthy weight-loss diet—not to mention the high level of health that they can achieve.

Q. Hey, wait—didn’t you say that you don’t like the word calorie? Then why does the Diet Solution Program suggest calculating calorie requirements?

A. In the Diet Solution Program, calorie calculation is simply a means to an end. You use the ideal number of calories that results from the equation to determine the correct number of servings of each food type for each meal. That’s it—from that point on, you can forget about counting calories!

Q. If I don’t count calories, then how will I control my eating habits?

A. Use the Allowable Servings Guide in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living to plan meals. However, over time, you will learn how to meet your body’s nutritional needs without referring to the servings guide. Humans are born with the ability to “know” when the body has received enough nourishment and when it needs more. My professional experience indicates that, unfortunately, most yo-yo dieters and other people who have battled weight problems don’t know how to “listen” to the body’s cues in response to the foods and portions they consume. The good news is that this ability can be (re)learned.

Q. What do you mean by “listen” to my body?

A. The Diet Solution Program is a lifestyle shift that teaches you how to determine the best foods and portions for your metabolic type. Even after just days on the plan, you will learn to pay attention to how you feel after eating. For many people, this experience of “listening” to the body will be new. However, by letting your body be your guide, you will learn how to eat your way to optimum health.

Q. Can I really expect to maintain a healthy weight without counting calories or referring to servings guides or other charts?

A. Yes! It’s how I live my life now, and you, too, can learn to recognize when your body is adequately nourished. After many years of dieting, I reawakened my body’s innate ability to tell me when I’ve had enough food and when I need more by following the same plan I present in the Diet Solution Program. Every day is different; some days I require more food and others less, depending on my levels of exercise, stress, and even hormones. But I don’t need to count calories to know whether I’ve had enough; my body tells me, and I know how to listen. Whatever you do, don’t be lured into the trap of forever counting calories, because that approach is not sustainable—or healthy—in the long term.



Stop counting calories and download your own copy of these Fat Burning and Healthy Meal Plans right away.

Are Calories Good or Bad?

Q. Is calorie a bad word?

A. No, it’s not bad—just misunderstood! Most people who use the word calorie simply don’t know what it means. Also, in my experience, most people to go pale at the mere mention of the word. Based on those facts alone, I would eliminate calorie from the English vocabulary if I could.

Q. Why is calorie such a misunderstood word?

A. The American public has been told, time and time again, that people who consume more calories than their bodies burn will gain weight. As I explain in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, this statement is only partially true. All calories are not created equal; calories consumed from healthy foods and unhealthy foods are quite different.

Q. What exactly is a calorie, then?

A. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), a calorie is “a unit equivalent to the large calorie expressing heat-producing or energy-producing value in food when oxidized in the body.” In plain English, a calorie is a unit of energy released from the food you eat to power the body.

Q. How are calories “burned”?

A. The body needs energy from food—calories—to perform many functions, the most obvious of which are physical activity and exercise. However, the body also requires energy to function at the most basic level: to breathe, digest food, and maintain organs and systems.

Q. How many calories should I eat each day?

A. The short answer is “enough.” The calories you consume must provide enough energy for your body to perform all necessary functions and activities—and bring about optimum health. The long answer is that the number of calories needed varies from person to person and depends on weight, foods consumed, sleep, stress and activity levels, age, and a long list of other factors that affect metabolism. In The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, I provide a calorie equation to help you estimate, according to these factors, how many calories you should consume to lose weight or maintain weight. It also includes charts to help you choose the right sources of those calories to support your efforts.

Q. Is it possible to eat too few calories?

A. Believe it or not, yes! The most serious problem with low-calorie diets is that although they may bring about weight loss, they also can cause serious health problems. One common side effect of low-calorie diets is muscle breakdown, which can occur when the body doesn’t consume enough calories from protein. Especially vulnerable is the heart, a muscular organ. If a person does not consume an adequate amount of calories each day, the heart muscle begins to break down, possibly leading to serious cardiac conditions (e.g., cardiac atrophy).

Q. What are the consequences of following low-calorie diets off and on over time?

A. Low-calorie diets typically do not supply enough energy to keep organs and systems healthy. In effect, they can lead to malnourishment. For clients who have repeatedly followed such diets, I recommend high-calorie meal plans that will provide their organs with adequate fuel to repair themselves and regain healthy function. Most of my clients are surprised, at first, to see how much food they can consume on a healthy weight-loss diet—not to mention the high level of health that they can achieve.

Q. Hey, wait—didn’t you say that you don’t like the word calorie? Then why does the Diet Solution Program suggest calculating calorie requirements?

A. In the Diet Solution Program, calorie calculation is simply a means to an end. You use the ideal number of calories that results from the equation to determine the correct number of servings of each food type for each meal. That’s it—from that point on, you can forget about counting calories!

Q. If I don’t count calories, then how will I control my eating habits?

A. Use the Allowable Servings Guide in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living to plan meals. However, over time, you will learn how to meet your body’s nutritional needs without referring to the servings guide. Humans are born with the ability to “know” when the body has received enough nourishment and when it needs more. My professional experience indicates that, unfortunately, most yo-yo dieters and other people who have battled weight problems don’t know how to “listen” to the body’s cues in response to the foods and portions they consume. The good news is that this ability can be (re)learned.

Q. What do you mean by “listen” to my body?

A. The Diet Solution Program is a lifestyle shift that teaches you how to determine the best foods and portions for your metabolic type. Even after just days on the plan, you will learn to pay attention to how you feel after eating. For many people, this experience of “listening” to the body will be new. However, by letting your body be your guide, you will learn how to eat your way to optimum health.

Q. Can I really expect to maintain a healthy weight without counting calories or referring to servings guides or other charts?

A. Yes! It’s how I live my life now, and you, too, can learn to recognize when your body is adequately nourished. After many years of dieting, I reawakened my body’s innate ability to tell me when I’ve had enough food and when I need more by following the same plan I present in the Diet Solution Program. Every day is different; some days I require more food and others less, depending on my levels of exercise, stress, and even hormones. But I don’t need to count calories to know whether I’ve had enough; my body tells me, and I know how to listen. Whatever you do, don’t be lured into the trap of forever counting calories, because that approach is not sustainable—or healthy—in the long term.



Stop counting calories and download your own copy of these Fat Burning and Healthy Meal Plans right away.


Isabel De Los Rios is a certified nutritionist and exercise specialist who educates clients through seminars, writing and the media on the essential principles of nutrition and achieving their weight loss and health goals.

She is the author of The Diet Solution Program and the Owner of New Body – Center for Fitness and Nutrition in New Jersey. Isabel not only teaches her clients the principles of good nutrition but inspires and motivates them to achieve their goals and live a life of health and vitality.

Isabel De Los Rios found her passion for nutrition as a teenager. The overweight daughter and granddaughter of type 2 diabetics, Isabel was told that she was doomed to suffer from the same health problems as the generations who preceded her. Not willing to sit around waiting for this grim prediction to become a reality, she pored over every nutrition and diet book available in search of the answers to her family’s weight and health problems. This led her to personally seek out doctors and health professionals that were using nutrition to get great results (as far as health and weight loss) with their patients and clients.

She has since reached and maintained an ideal weight, is vibrantly healthy and shows no indication that conditions like diabetes will affect her as they have so many in her family. She truly enjoys a high level of wellbeing that surprises most people.

Graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in exercise physiology (a pre-med curriculum). Isabel also holds advanced certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology (C.H.E.K.) Institute. She counsels many special populations, including diabetics, heart disease patients, cancer survivors, and overweight individuals, as well as healthy individuals who wish to maintain health and prevent disease.