I remember when I was growing up my father used to constantly drum this into me and my siblings.

The reasoning was that, when you wake up in the morning, you’ve literally been fasting all night and your metabolism has slowed down somewhat.

So, you need to feed your body to get it back in gear.

And, as the day goes on, you need less food because you’ve already had some, and there are less hours in the day till bed-time.

Supper is the smallest meal of the day because, basically, you eat for what you intend to do — not what you’re already done.

And sleeping is not exactly an active state to be in.

Now, I don’t really care to know what the scientists think about these points, especially as it takes them an age just to come to the same conclusion my father arrived at, through sheer common sense, decades ago.

I know it’s worked for me all these years.  I am now in my 40s, and still looking and feeling younger than most people my age.

Breakfast Like A King, Dinner Like A Prince, Supper Like A Pauper

I’d say that’s a pretty good maxim to live by, if you want to stay healthy and in shape.

The only thing I did, that was extra, was to take the odd supplements to increase my vitamin and protein intake, having trained all my life in various physical pursuits.

What’s on the menu at the big fast food chains lately? Oddly enough, the answer is… “health food!” Even more incongruous, many are marketing their food for weight loss. Healthy weight loss food at Taco Bell and McDonalds? Is this a noble move to be applauded, is it a big corporate money grab, or is it a double edged sword?

Remember Jared Fogle, the Subway guy? He lost 245 pounds while eating at Subway regularly. He simply picked the lower calorie menu items.  Seeing an opportunity, the local store owner pitched Subway corporate with an idea. Before long, Jared was the company spokesperson in their nationwide advertising campaigns which became known as The Subway Diet.

Sales doubled to 8.2 billion. How much the increase came from the weight loss ads is unknown, but there’s little doubt that using weight loss as a marketing platform was a boon for the sandwich maker. Other fast food chains picked up the weight loss torch where Subway left off.

The latest is the Taco Bell Drive through diet, with their own skinny spokesperson: Christine! The ads, which are admittedly conservative, perhaps due to more stringent FTC laws, say Christine lost 54 lbs over 2 years by reducing her calories to 1250 a day, and choosing Taco Bell’s new lower calorie “Fresco” items.

These include “7 diet items with 150 to 240 calories and under 9 grams of fat.” For example, there’s a chicken soft taco with only 170 calories and 4 grams of fat.

For people who refuse to give up eating at fast food restaurants, this is arguably a positive thing. Take my brother for example, He’s not a total junk food junkie, but left to his own devices, he WILL make a beeline to Taco Bell and McDonalds.

I went to McDonalds with him a few months ago (I was dragged there), and he was about to order a bacon cheeseburger. I glanced at the menu and said, “That’s 790 calories!” I glanced down at his belly then continued, “Look, they have chicken wraps. Why don’t you have one of those?” Without questioning me, he agreed, apparently happy to get any McDonalds fix.

Right there at the counter they had the nutrition information sheets:

McDonald’s honey mustard grilled chicken wrap: 260 calories, 9 grams fat, 27 grams of carbs, 18 grams of protein.

That saved him 530 calories. Am I happy there was something with only 260 calories on the menu? Absolutely. Do I applaud the fast food restaurants for offering lower calorie choices? You bet. But the big question is: are these really “healthy choices?”

A few journalists and bloggers recently answered, “These fast food diet items are NOT healthy, they’re only ‘healthi-ER.’”

I think they’re both mistaken. I think this food is not healthy nor is it healthier. It’s only lower in calories. If you eat lower calorie food, that can help you lose weight and if you lose weight, that can improve your health. But what if your definition of healthy food includes nutrition, nutrient density and absence of artificial ingredients?

Let’s take a look at that very low calorie chicken wrap. Is it really healthier just because it’s got 1/3 the calories of a bacon cheeseburger?

Here’s the ingredients straight from McDonald’s website:

McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Breast Filet (wrap): Chicken breast filets with rib meat, water, seasoning (salt, sugar, food starch-modified, maltodextrin, spices, dextrose, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed [corn gluten, soy, wheat gluten] proteins, garlic powder, paprika, chicken fat, chicken broth, natural flavors (plant and animal source), caramel color, polysorbate 80, xanthan gum, onion powder, extractives of paprika), modified potato starch, and sodium phosphates. CONTAINS: SOY AND WHEAT. Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservative), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color). (and don’t forget the 800 mg of sodium).

HOLY CRAP! Shouldn’t chicken breast be just one ingredient… chicken breast?

This is not food. It’s more like what author Michael Pollan would call an “edible food-like substance.”

What about the honey mustard sauce? The first ingredient after water is… SUGAR!

The flour tortilla ingredients? Enriched bleached wheat flour, also made with vegetable shortening (may contain one or more of the following: hydrogenated soybean oil, soybean oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil with mono- and diglycerides added), contains 2% or less of the following: sugar, leavening (sodium aluminum sulfate, calcium sulfate, sodium phosphate, baking soda, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate), salt, wheat gluten, dough conditioners, sodium metabisulfite, distilled monoglycerides.

Trans fats? Sugar? Aluminum? Stuff you can’t pronounce and have to look up to find out it’s preservatives and disinfectants?

Don’t confuse the issues: weight loss and health…. Calories and nutrition. There IS a difference, and that is what makes “healthy” fast food a double edged sword at best.

Some people, like my brother, simply aren’t going to give up fast food completely. If I can get him to make better bad choices, that could help him control his weight. If that works, then I’m pleased that the fast food restaurants have such choices to offer.

But if you wanted to make a good choice – a healthy choice – you’d forget about “driving through” anywhere on a regular basis. You’d shop for whole, fresh, natural real food, keep a well-stocked kitchen… and learn how to cook.

The Subway diet, the Drive Through diet, or the Weight Watchers approved McDonalds menu (yes its true, what a pair that is!) Don’t kid yourself – this is not only not healthy, it’s not healthier – it’s lower calorie junk food.

“Welcome to our restaurant sir. Would you like a large plate of dog poo or a small plate of dog poo?”

“No thank you, I will take neither. No matter what the serving size, crap is still crap.”

Train hard and expect success!

Tom Venuto, author of
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle
www.BurnTheFat.com

Founder & CEO of
Burn The Fat Inner Circle

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is the author of the #1 best seller, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle: Fat Burning Secrets of the World’s Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models. Tom is a lifetime natural bodybuilder and fat loss expert who achieved an astonishing 3.7% body fat level without drugs or supplements. Discover how to increase your metabolism and burn stubborn body fat, find out which foods burn fat and which foods turn to fat, plus get a free fat loss report and mini course by visiting Tom’s site at: www.BurnTheFat.com

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—If you store your vitamins or supplements in a bathroom cabinet or kitchen cupboard, it’s time to find another spot. That’s because temperature and humidity changes in those rooms may be degrading their potency and effectiveness, according to a new study.

THE DETAILS: Finding the right place for vitamin storage is more than a matter of convenience or space. Crystalline-type substances such as vitamin C, some types of vitamin B, and other dietary supplements are susceptible to a process called deliquescence (deh-lee-KWEH-cents). Which is when humidity causes a water-soluble solid to dissolve. As shown in new research, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, deliquescence can happen when you open and close the bottle cap on your favorite vitamin over weeks and months.

Each time that bottle is opened, humidity and temperature fluctuate inside the container, which eventually degrades the vitamin. “The humidity in your kitchen and bathroom can get quite high,” says Purdue University food science professor Lisa Mauer, PhD, a coauthor of the study. “Depending on how long your shower lasts, for example, bathroom humidity can reach 98 percent.”

WHAT IT MEANS: To determine if your vitamins may be deliquescing, look closely for any moisture inside the container. Tiny water droplets or sticky pills are a sign of condensation, which could mean nutrient degradation has occurred. Another sign of it is if you see small brown spots on your vitamins, says Mauer, which happens most commonly with kids’ vitamins. They’re still safe, but they probably lack the potency they once had, and should be tossed.

Professor Mauer’s tips for proper vitamin storage:

• Keep ‘em cool and dry. “In high heat and humidity, vitamin degradation can take as little as a day,” says Mauer. So store vitamin C, multivitamins, chewables, and children’s formulations in the driest conditions you have available. A dark, cool, dry pantry is a better spot than a bathroom or kitchen.

• Use a pill dispenser. By putting each dose in its own compartment, you cut down on the number of times each vitamin gets exposed to humidity.

• Beware the big jars. Even in the best conditions, vitamin C may only last about three months before significant degradation occurs, says Mauer. Economy-size containers sometimes contain enough pills to last for six to 12 months, so if you buy in bulk, store the remaining pills in the freezer (it’s drier than a fridge, and freezing won’t hurt the vitamins). Transfer the vitamins to a smaller container as you work your way through them.

From>> http://www.rodale.com/vitamin-storage?page=0%2C1&cm_mmc=DailyNewsNL-_-2010_03_19-_-Top5-_-NA

Using toxic chemicals to grow our food has produced serious threats to our health and our environment.

RODALE NEWS, ANAHEIM, CA—The way we grow food in this country, and increasingly do around the world, is making us sick. As Rodale CEO Maria Rodale points out in her brand-new book, Organic Manifesto, that’s because pesticides aren’t just on the food, they’re in it, too. In her book, she discusses (in an easy-to-understand way) how many scientists are linking the hormones, genetically engineered seeds, and estrogenic, synthetic pesticides that are used in the chemical farming industry to diabetes, accelerated aging, a skyrocketing rate of food allergies, the feminization of boys, and even obesity.

Analyzing some of that same peer-reviewed, scientific research, Charles Benbrook, PhD, chief researcher at The Organic Center and former agricultural policy and science researcher for congress and the National Academy on Sciences, released a list of his seven predictions for food in 2010 and beyond last weekend at a news conference held in conjunction with Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California.

Here are seven major health and environmental threats from chemical farming, and how to protect yourself and your family.

Threat # 1: An increase in the number of children facing developmental issues, including autism, ADHD, birth defects, and allergies.

Benbrook says just 1 percent of pesticides are responsible for virtually all pesticide-related developmental risks from exposure in the diet. If the government bans the high-exposure uses of these pesticides and increases the availability of organic fruits and vegetables, which are generally free of these residues, in schools, many pesticide-linked health problems in children could be avoided.

Protect yourself:

School yourself on the Dirty Dozen, a list compiled by Environmental Working Group of the produce items that generally harbor the most harmful pesticide residues. They are: peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, imported grapes, carrots, and pears. Don’t stop there, because it’s best to buy organic whenever you can. But always try to get certified-organic versions of those 12 foods.

Threat #2: An increase in the number of Americans who are obese, diabetic, or both.

We’re all responsible for choosing a healthy diet. But it’s also true that we live in an “obesogenic” world that pressures us to eat more high-calorie, high-fat food than is healthy for us. “Government agencies and programs either directly control or shape one or more of the daily meals consumed by 25 percent of Americans,” according to Benbrook. “More can and must be done in the marketplace to reward the food industry for offering healthier choices.”

Protect yourself:

Recently, Michelle Obama urged the food industry to stop pushing unhealthy food to kids, and to get busy offering healthier choices. We can all send a similar signal to the companies that make and market the food on our supermarket shelves. “Consumers get to vote three times a day when they eat,” says Benbrook. “That is the most profound statement.”

To find organic-food bargains, buy some of your grains in bulk. For instance, “a 50-pound bag of organic rolled oats for just $5 more than conventional will feed a large family oatmeal once a week for a year,” Benbrook explains. “It’s the same thing with rice, potatoes, and apples.”

Buying in-season and cooking at home more will greatly bring down the costs, and you might even save money over conventional processed foods. For more free healthy meal and snack ideas, visit the Rodale Recipe Finder.

Threat # 3: A decrease in the efficacy of lifesaving antibiotics.

This statement should give pause to everyone. Antibiotics save lives, but because we routinely use them to accelerate growth and boost animal health in filthy concentrated animal-feeding operations (CAFOs), superbugs are emerging. “There are now several strains of bacteria that are essentially untreatable in humans, and more will follow, without major changes in how antibiotics are used on farms,” says Benbrook. Even this winter’s swine-flu epidemic may have been the result of CAFO practices.

Protect yourself:

The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that 70 percent of antibiotics used in the U.S. go to the livestock industry, where farmers don’t even need a prescription to administer them. Buy organic meat and dairy (antibiotics are not allowed), and tell your elected official to support Congresswoman Louise Slaughter’s (D-NY) bill that would ban subtherapeutic agricultural uses of human antibiotics. Know how to protect yourself from hospital infections, how to kill household germs, and how to talk to your doctor about prescription antibiotics.

Threat # 4: An increase in disease linked to inflammation.

Inflammation is the root of many chronic diseases that are skyrocketing in incidence lately, and antioxidants are vital to repairing the damage done. But chemical farming practices seem to be robbing our food of the natural antioxidants that help fend off diseases.

Protect yourself:

Organic produce generally contains 25 percent higher levels of these health-boosting antioxidants, so choose organic whenever you can, or even grow your own healthy organic food.

Threat #5: An increase in the spread of “super-weeds.”

Genetically engineered, herbicide-tolerant crops have increased herbicide use by more than 380 million pounds since 1996, with 46 percent of the total increase occurring in 2007 and 2008, reports The Organic Center. Mother Nature’s smart (she always outsmarts us), and this rise in the use of weed-killing chemicals is leading to super-weeds throughout the 160 million acres of U.S. genetically engineered corn, soybeans, and cotton grown every year. This leads to farmers applying even more chemicals to control the weeds that overuse of chemicals strengthened in the first place.

Protect yourself:

On the policy level, Benbrook says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should impose binding rules in time for the 2011 crop season to reduce usage if farmers don’t cut back on their own. At home, resist any temptation to zap weeds using RoundUp, one of the chemicals leading to the rise in super-weeds in the agricultural setting. Not only is it causing a problem by creating pesticide-resistant weeds, but the pesticide is actually more dangerous than initially realized. Learn about retro weed-killing methods, chemical-free lawn fixes, and see Organicgardening.com for all sorts of anti-weed tactics.

Threat # 6: The continued rapid decline of the honeybee.

Five insecticides are known to hamper bees’ immune systems, as well as the insects’ ability to find their way back to the hive. In Italy, Benbrook explains, a ban on insecticide seed treatments during the 2009 crop season resulted in virtually no bee losses.

Protect yourself:

Protecting honeybees will help ensure our survival—we need them to pollinate our crops, as well as produce honey. Buying organic produce supports a system that keeps nasty chemicals out of the environment so other critters have a shot at survival. Make friends with an organic beekeeper; create a garden that attracts native bees.

Threat # 7: Global warming.

The Rodale Institute, a nonprofit research farm that compares the effects of organic and chemical farming, has found that organic farming can be used as a tool to help combat climate change. That’s because the microorganisms in healthy soil absorb and store carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere. In chemical farming, pesticides kill most of these beneficial creatures. And that’s on top off all the greenhouse-gas emissions that come from producing, transporting, and applying the pesticides.

Benbrook says farm and conservation-program payments should be redirected toward proven ways to sequester carbon in soil organic matter. Supporting organic farms yields healthier food and healthier soil, and now we know it can lead to a more stable climate. “Few public-policy changes offer such significant and diverse benefits at such a modest cost,” says Benbrook.

Protect yourself:

Climate change is linked to all sorts of worsening health problems, so prepare for a rise in allergy symptoms, heat stress, waterborne illness, Lyme disease, and diseases spread by mosquitoes. To do your part to support organic agriculture, join the DemandOrganic.org campaign led by the Rodale Institute.

From>> http://www.rodale.com/food-and-health?cm_mmc=DailyNewsNL-_-2010_03_18-_-Top5-_-NA

Below we have accumulated a range of tips that can easily be incorporated into your weight management plan which will help you to maintain your weight for the long run.

1. One of the common mistakes with free diet plans is that they ask you to change all your dietary habits overnight. Now whilst this can be easy to follow to begin with, eventually this dramatic diet change will trigger cravings that can result in relapses.

The trick to losing weight is to modify your diet slowly. Firstly make sure you are following a healthy diet of 40% carbohydrates, 30% proteins and 30% fats before implementing the following techniques:

- slowly cut out high fat/unhealthy foods one at a time. If for example you normally eat chips 4 times week, begin by reducing your portions down by 1 meal every 2 weeks. Do this and by week 8 you will have naturally reduced you chip intake to once a week and eventually to none at all.

2. Don’t make food a sin. All nutrients are essential – even fats – the key is eating them in moderation. So transform your favourite foods into treats which you can have on special occasions. Not only will this give you something to look forward to, but these occasional treats will also prevent cravings and binge eating.

3. If you are too tired or too busy to go to a cardio class in the evening, go for a walk during your lunch break instead or invest in an aerobics DVD. Free from pressure of prying eyes, you can confidently exercise from the comfort of your own home whenever you want.

4. Try natural slimming pills. Many natural weight loss pills such as Proactol and Lipobind can be taken even after you have reached your ideal weight. Produced using organic ingredients, by simply modifying your capsule intake these diet pills can support your weight maintenance for as long as you need.

5. Eat regularly. Split your meals into 5 small portions consisting of 300 calories. Spaced out over the course of the day, you can prevent the temptation to snack, keep your metabolism working at optimum capacity and remain in firm control of what calories you are consuming.

6. Keep yourself hydrated. Often what we mistake as hunger is our body’s way of telling us we are thirsty. So the next time you feel a hunger pang, drink half a glass of water and wait 15 minutes. If after these 15 minutes you still feel hungry eat a piece of fruit or a cracker.

More often than not though, you’ll find that these hunger pangs disappear and you are able to last to your next meal.

The best diets incorporate a healthy balance of diet and exercise which work together to effectively help your body to burn fat, boost your metabolism and feel fuller for longer.

However, one of the biggest mistakes many slimmer’s make when trying to lose weight is either eating too little – thus not giving their bodies enough calories to support the functionality of their bodies – or they exercise too little.

Top 3 Weight Loss Tips

To experience the best weight loss results, you need to make a number of modifications to both your diet and your exercise regime. However there are also a number of other techniques you can incorporate which can easily help you to experience the weight loss results you crave.

1. Eat a healthy diet of carbohydrates, protein, fibre, vitamins and fat

Despite many misconceptions that excluding fat completely from your diet can help you to lose weight quickly, eating no fat at all can in fact have the opposite effect on your body. Without fat our bodies can not function properly. Why? Because our bodies need fats for energy!

For this reason it is essential that you keep a moderate amount of fat in your diet. The most effective diets create a balance between a high protein low fat diet, however it is important that you also make sure you maintain a healthy balance of fibres, carbohydrates and vitamins too.

Many slimming programmes recommend splitting your diet into 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fats.

2. Regular exercise

One common mistake many slimmer’s make is focusing on one area of their body or following just one exercise routine.

Weight training in particular is often overlooked in weight loss plans because of its body building implications; however creating more muscle within your body is one of the most effective ways to increase your fat burn.

Research has found the more muscle you have, the more fat burn you will experience because surplus amounts of energy is needed to rebuild muscle after weight training.

However weight training is not enough. It is also essential to incorporate cardio and aerobics into your weight loss programme as these will work other essential muscles in your body.

The best weight management programmes recommend the following:

• 20-30 minutes of weight training, 3 times a week
• Two 45 minute cardio workouts a week which are alternated with two 45 minute aerobic workouts

3. Slimming Pills

If you find it hard to change your eating habits, then slimming pills could provide you with the weight loss support you are looking for.

Offering your body an instant metabolic jump start, there are a number of different weight loss pills you can try:

• Appetite suppressants – designed to manipulate the production of hormones within your body, appetite suppressants trick your mind into believing you are full when you are not
• Fat burners – renowned for speeding up the metabolic processes in your body, the faster your metabolic rate, the faster your fat burn
• Carbohydrate blockers – preventing the break down of starch into glucose, carbohydrate blockers stop the digestive enzyme Alpha Amylase from completing its jobs
• Fat blockers – made of soluble and non-soluble complex fibers, fat blockers bind with fat molecules to form a viscous solution which is too thick to be digested by the body

If you want to know which slimming pills/dietary fads are more successful at shifting those extra pounds from your body, the best way is to see what the celebrities are using.

The fact is, there are proven appetite suppressants (help you not want to eat more than you should) which can help as long as your normal diet is healthy and nutritious.  Together, such a plan can help you to cut down on your fat and calorie intake, and help you lose weight.

The question you might find yourself asking is, which are the best slimming products on the market?

Well, there are three which are being used and touted by celebrities at the moment: Lipobind, Appesat and Pu’reh tea.

Lipobind: Used by Melinda Messenger to help her slim down for the red carpet, Lipobind is clinically proven to cut your dietary fat intake by 27% as well as help you to feel fuller for longer, lower your blood cholesterol levels and decrease your food cravings.

Appesat: Endorsed by Vanessa Feltz, Appesat is a naturally sourced fibre complex that has been clinically proven to suppress your appetite, make you feel fuller for longer and reduce your meal portions.

Pu’reh Tea: Used for medicinal purposes by the Chinese for the last 1700 years, Joss Stone and Victoria Beckham swear by this slimming drinks ability to naturally boost your metabolic rate, burn fat and detoxify your body.

Are all slimming pills safe?

Whilst these three natural slimming programmes are supported by credible clinical trials, it’s important to remember that not all dietary products are safe just because celebrities use them.

In recent months weight loss plans such as the cabbage diet, the maple syrup diet, the banana diet and the 5 factor diet have all exploded onto the weight loss market bringing with them limited nutritional value and minimal weight loss results.

Used by Sarah Michelle Gellar to slim down for a film premiere, she opted to try the cabbage diet because of its natural ability to cause 10lb weight losses in just 7 days.

Consisting solely of a soup concoction containing cabbage, onions and tomatoes, all this fast diet actually does is contribute to water weight loss, which will easily be regained again once your diet returns to normal.

Are celebrity diets safe?

Whether or not we want to believe it, celebrities are just human, after all.  And there those celebrities who approach dieting sensibly and use slimming pills such as Lipobind, Appesat and Pu’reh tea. And then there the idiots who opt for fast weight loss solutions such as the cabbage diet which are dangerous to their health.

For this reason it’s important to always research diet pills/slimming programmes first, before you consider trying them.

Without taking the time read their clinical trials and check their ingredients list, you could potentially be opening the door to an array of unpleasant, negative side effects as well as limited weight loss, if any.