Are You Watching Those Calories?

Two weeks before writing this blog post, my husband bought me a treadmill. I was so excited, because one of my goals for this year was to get a treadmill. To be quite honest with you, I do not like to work out at the gym. In fact, I prefer to work out at home or walk the neighborhood to burn calories or to reduce stress.

Shortly before I wrote this blog post, I was walking on the treadmill and watching the amount of calories that I was burning as I walked on the treadmill. Moreover, as I watched the numbers of carbs and calories burned increase on my treadmill panel, I realized that it is more work to burn off the calories than it is to attain them.

I began to think about the number of calories that are in a bag of chips or a candy bar and I thought about how much time it takes to consume the calories in our foods. For example, I love to eat granola bars and an average granola bar is less than 150 calories.

I discovered that when I walk two miles per hour for at least 30- minutes a day on the treadmill, I will burn 110 calories. Then I wondered how much weight I will lose if I burned 500 calories a week or more?

Have you really thought about how many calories that you consume on a daily basis? Are you moving your body enough to burn off those extra calories?  Have you thought about the affects that calories have on your bodies? Do you have a goal to lose weight or to simply maintain your weight?

According to Jeff Lindstrom, a professional trainer, "When you consume too many calories, you simply do not have the metabolism to burn it off and this leads to weight gain." This is why it is vital that you keep an close eye on the amount of calories that you consume on a daily basis.

A 2009 long term-study published in "The New England Journal of Medicine" found that the fundamental rule of calories in and calories out can be successful in weight management. If you eat 1,500 calories a day, you must expend 1,500 calories a day in order to stay at the same weight.

How many calories should you consume on a daily basis to maintain a healthy weight? 

 Dine Wise.com Advisory Board of Food Experts recommends these caloric guidelines:

* 1,500 calories per day for women who want to lose weight

* 1,800 calories per day for women maintaining their weight
* 1,800 calories per day for smaller stature men who want to lose weight
* 2,000 calories per day for smaller men maintaining their weight
* 2,200 calories per day recommended for men who want to lose weight

I hope that you have been inspired to pay close attention to the amount of calories that you consume on a daily basis and develop a plan to move your body to burn off those extra calories. Check out the articles below for more calorie burning tips and tools!

Looking forward to reading your comments about this post.

To Your Health,

Shiketa

Follow on Twitter @naturaliving101

Source(s) and Recommended Reading

http://www.livestrong.com/article/98174-calories-burn-lose-weight/#ixzz1fbJ1ChE7

http://ezinearticles.com/?10-Eating-Tips-and-the-Effect-of-Too-Many-Or-Little-Calories&id=4713229

A Natural Remedy For Dry Skin

Do you suffer with dry skin? If so, I know how you feel. In fact, I've had dry skin since I was a teenager and I have found only one solution to my dry itchy skin and that is......."Lye" Soap!

I was recently out shopping in a local health store and found a bar of Lye Soap. The package around the soap included the words, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR DRY SKIN. Seeing those words, influenced me to buy the soap, without even questioning the price.

The manufacturer of the soap is GRANDMA'S Pure & Natural. If you are looking for a great "All Natural Soap" for dry skin, eczema, acne or psoriasis, consider using Lye Soap.

My first experience with using Lye soap began back in the summer of 2011. I must say that it was the best soap that I had ever used on my skin. In fact, I did not need to use lotion, oils or moisturizers after bath with Lye soap.

Using Lye soap helps to soothe your dry skin, however, it is best to get to the root cause of your dry skin. In the WEB MD article, What's Causing Your Dry Skin problem, the author wrote: "Dry air is probably the most common cause of dry skin, especially during the winter," says Kenet, "It draws the moisture right out of the skin." Dry skin during winter even gets its own name: winter itch."

I have developed a obsession for natural skin products. In fact, when I find natural soap, I buy it!  Check out my Natural Skin Care Findings on a Trip to Siver Dollar City Last Summer!


To Your Natural Skin Health,
Shiketa

Health Disclaimer
Feature your All Natural product on this blog!

Tips For Making This Thanksgiving: Happy, Healthy and Guilt Free by Deborah Francis

Thanksgiving is traditionally a time of year when families get together and overlook indulgence in food as they enjoy their time together. As we know if you really LOVE your Loved ones you will take care in what you eat this Thanksgiving. We all want to make it to the Christmas and New Year season without regrets of food that may have tasted great but was not beneficial for our waistline. So without further delay I would like to share my Top 5 List of Making this Thanksgiving: Happy, Healthy and Guilt Free.


Tip 1: For appetizers look to using fresh fruits and vegetables. Serving a vegetable and/or fruit tray will begin the festivities on a healthy note.

Tip 2: After appetizers you can opt to serve soup and/ or salad. Filling up with healthy, fresh vegetables before the other courses of your meal is a great way to prevent overeating. Homemade fresh soups and salads are antioxidant rich and curb your appetite. Here is a suggestion using the super foods kale and gogi berries.

Kale and Gogi Berry Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 large head of kale (about 4-6 cups)

• 1 cup finely chopped red onion

• 1/2 red bell pepper

• 1/2-3/4 cup chopped carrot (2 small carrots)

• 1 English cucumber (2 cups chopped halves)

• 1 avocado, chopped

• 1 & 1/4 cup chopped grape tomatoes (or other variety)

• 1/2 cup mixed raisins and Goji berries

• 1/4 cup ground flax seed

• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Dressing: Add your choice of dressing or opt for apple cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil with some tossed fresh herbs.

Directions:

1. Chop vegetables and mix in a large mixing bowl. Reserve flax seed, walnuts, raisins and gogi berries for sprinkling on top.

2. Tear the leaves of the kale and chop into small bite-sized pieces. Wash and dry kale leaves.

3. Mix the vegetables, kale leaves, and dressing in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.

5. Place in fridge to ‘marinate’ for 10-15 minutes. Serves 4.

Tip 3: You have options other than actual meat based Turkey for the main entrée. You may opt for one from the suggested list or a combination of two.


Alternatives to serving Turkey

*Gardein brand vegetarian “meats” are universally loved. Gardein meats are delicious, aesthetically appealing, easy to use and absorb other flavors well, so you can cook with them and add any spices you like, just like real meat.

**Tofu Mock Turkey Loaf.

**Healthy Lentil and Rice Loaf

**TVP and Tofu loaf

**Natures Burger Mock Meat Loaf


I truly hope that you enjoy this Thanksgiving with family, friends, and all Loved ones joyously laughing while enjoying a healthy meal.



Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving from our Family to Yours!

If you are interested in living a happy and healthy life pick up Joy of Healthy Living: The Guide to Eating Right for Life at Amazon and Barnes and Noble .com December 2011.

Do you want complete physical, mental and social well being? Do you believe that you are what you eat? Fruits and vegetables are the key to unlocking solutions of all questions you are having about Your Health and Your Wellness.



The Joy of Healthy Living: The Guide to Eating Right for Life is an: Easy-to-read and filled with positive, practical information and tips on the powerful health benefits of fruits and vegetables for every day, at every age and stage of life. This book will provide…

• Solutions for health and nutrition including cancer, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes , and more

• Eating for healthy aging

• Functional foods with health-promoting phytonutrients and antioxidant power.

• Overcoming Food allergies and intolerances, including celiac disease.)

• Carbohydrates and the glycemic index

• Eating for high performance (sports)

• Feeding children– with guidance on high performance based on nutrition from fruits and vegetables

• And more!

Get The Joy of Healthy Living: The Guide To Eating Right For Life at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com, December 2011.




Deborah Francis, MSED

Health and Wellness Consultant, Author and Speaker
Connect with me on Facebook!

Deborah Francis is CEO of the Joy of Healthy Living, LLC. Recognized health and wellness expert, Deborah promotes the correlation of eating right as a healing tool towards prevention and pursuit of good health. As a wife, mother educator, entrepreneur, author and speaker, Deborah supports her “Joy of Healthy Living” message with practical ways to eat to live as opposed to living to eat!

As an accomplished author, Deborah has written numerous books, including Built To Prosper For Women: The Principles of Self Mastery this comprehensive guide uses real life wisdom to delve into what limiting thinking can do, and best of all, how to conquer this thinking and rapidly transform your life. It is time to learn and apply the principles of success, so you can position yourself to live well and prosper in all areas of your life may they be spiritual, mental, physical or financial. This book inspires you to take action to be empowered to stay healthy in mind, body, and spirit. • Be a winner, no matter what they say!

7-Tips For A Healthier Thanksgiving

As my husband and I shopped for Thanksgiving dinner today, I was very selective of my ingredients. In fact, over the past few years, I have learned how to make healthier choices in the grocery store and I want to inspire you to make healthier choices for your family this holiday season.

This Thanks Giving,  my menu includes: Mustard Greens, Sweet Potatoes, Turkey (for the meat lovers), Black eyed peas, macaroni, potato salad, Stuffing (I call it dressing), Cakes, pies, spaghetti and drinks.

About five years prior to writing this blog post, my Thanks Giving meal also included Chitterlings and Ham. I am so glad that we decided to cut the pork!

Just in case you are wondering, how you can make the holidays at your home much healthier? It's easy, choose healthier ingredients!!!

I am going to share with you, some all natural and healthy ingredients that are low-cost and are healthy for your family:

1. Replace the white sugar with Organic or Raw Sugar.
2. Instead of using seasoning salt, use Sea Salt, red onions, spices and green peppers to add flavor to your foods.
3. If you have to add meat to your Greens, beans or Cabbage, consider turkey necks. Ham Hocks are high in fat!
4. For those egg lovers, choose organic or vegetarian fed eggs for your cakes and pies.
5. Don't forget the milk. If you want low-fat cakes and pies, consider Almond or Coconut milk. If you don't like plant based milk, choose organic milk.
6. Are you a butter lover? Consider using a soy based butter like smart balance. It has no animal fat and still taste like butter!
7. Spaghetti lovers! If you just have to include meat in your spaghetti, use ground turkey. It is much lower in fat than Ground beef.

Be sure to Keep the Hot Foods Hot and the Cold Foods Cold!

I hope that you have been inspired to make healthier choices this holiday season. In fact, your decision to choose healthier ingredients will have a great impact on your family's health!

Happy Thanks Giving to you and your family!

Shiketa Morgan
Follow Natural Living 101 on Facebook and Twitter

How To Make A Meatless Veggie Wrap

If you are striving to reduce the amount of animal protein that you eat on a daily basis, enjoying a veggie wrap is a great place to start. As you look at the picture above, you will notice a meat looking ingredient on the lettuce. That meat like ingredient is called " TVP" a.ka. Textured Vegetable Protein.

TVP is a highly nutritious soy protein. It is loaded with protein, contains no animal fat and it is an excellent alternative to meat. Moreover, it is a great source of fiber, iron, magnesium and phosphorous. Also, TVP is made from defatted soy four that has been cooked under pressure and then dried. You will find TVP at your local Whole Foods store for less than $5.00 and it contains 11 servings per package; now that's cheaper than buying meat.

I want to share with you a quick way to Make a Veggie wrap that is made with TVP. Follow the steps below:

1. Boil a pot of water
2. For 1-2 servings of TVP, pour 1/4 of the bag in a Large bowl
3. When the water has completely boiled, pour over the TVP; stir and let sit for 5-10 minutes.
4. You will notice that the TVP is no longer dried, but hydrated and it may look like ground turkey.
5. Place a pan on the stove, turn the stove on low, add a vegetable based oil in the skillet and and pour the TVP into the skillet.
6. Season the TVP with an Liquid Aminos All Purpose Seasoning made from soy protein and stir. (see picture below)

         7. As the TVP cooks in the pan, place Romaine lettuce over a tortilla wrap, then add the TVP, diced
             tomatoes and low-fat ranch dressings, wrap and enjoy!

I look forward to your feedback about this post. Feel free to let me know if you have tried this recipe or any recipes made with TVP.


Shiketa

http://www.thenaturalwayofliving101.com
Follow on Twitter @naturaliving101

What You Are Eating Today Is Creating or Preventing Disease in those that you care for?

Is what you are eating today Creating or Preventing Disease in those that you care for? Check out this video.

  



To Your Health and Wellness,
Shiketa Morgan
For more Health & Wellness tips visit my Juice Plus site:
https://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/content/Home.soa?site=sm42884

The Healthiest Tea To Drink

Green tea is probably the healthiest choice given its myriad of benefits, according to Dr. Don Colbert. Moreover, green tea has been shown to support healthy weight control by reducing the amount of fat absorbed by the body and increasing fat oxidation, or breakdown.

According to a recent study, at Penn State University, green tea reduces the body's ability to absorb fat as well as increases the body’s ability to burn fat and many other health benefits. 

Moreover, green tea happens to be one of my favorite teas and I have experienced first hand, the effects of drinking green tea, including: weight loss and a increase in energy. 


Just in case you are wondering if it is best to drink green tea hot or cold, I think either way; green tea has positive effects on your health.


Be careful not to buy green teas that contain corn fructose syrup. The best kind of tea to buy is  green tea bags or leaves. If you do not have time to brew your tea, Trader Joes sells an UN-sweetened blue berry flavored green tea in a glass bottle.


For a more enjoyable cup of tea, add 2 lemon slices to your tea along with 1-2 teaspoons of liquid agave or raw sugar. It is best to drink green tea in the morning or mid-day. I tried drinking green tea in the evening and I was energized.

I hope that you have been inspired to drink more green tea. For more health benefits of drinking green tea, read Dr. Colbert's Divine Health article, click here.


With Your Health in Mind
Shiketa
Follow Natural Living 101 on Facebook and Twitter!

Too Much Meat Could Be Clogging Your Arteries

 

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, we consume significantly more meat and added fat than we did thirty years ago. Moreover, in modern day America, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are common household terms.

The truth is, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are not a new issue. In fact, Dr. Morrison of Los Angeles conducted a study in 1946 to determine the relationship of dietary fat intake to the incidence of atherosclerosis. In his experimental group he reduced the consumption of fat and cholesterol by requiring that his participants eat only a small amount of meat, also limiting butter, eggs and milk.

Dr. Morrison study concluded that, the more animal protein you eat, the more heart disease you have. In addition to this finding, he discovered, plant protein dramatically lowers cholesterol levels.


In recent history, A fourty-four year old man found himself with heart disease. He decided to take part in Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr study (a surgeon and named one of the best Doctors in America in 1994-1995).

After thirty-two months, without any cholesterol lowering medications, he reversed his heart disease and lowered his blood cholesterol to 89 mg/dl. In addition to that good news, with whole foods and a plant based diet; his clogged arteries opened up, allowing more normal blood flow. 


If you are a meat lover and need some ideas for plant based proteins, check out the articles below:

http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/protein/  
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm
http://www.foodproductdesign.com/articles/2011/01/plant-based-proteins.aspx

 Do you know someone with high blood pressure or high cholesterol? If so, please feel free to share this blog post with them.

Shiketa
~Source for this post: The China Study

7 Raw Foods That Are Good For You And Your Baby

Are your pregnant? Do you desire to have a child? Is so, there are seven foods that are rich in Folic acid  or Folate that you must incorporate into your diet.

According to Raw Food Family.com, Folic Acid is an important B vitamin that has been shown to reduce brain and spinal cord defects-which usually happen in the first 28 days of pregnancy so if you are actively trying to get pregnant it would be good for you to start your folate intake early.

Moreover, Folic Acid  also plays a large role in the development of DNA and really should be consumed by all child bearing women. When I was pregnant with my both of my children, my doctor gave me a prescription for folic acid to prevent me from becoming anemic.

My husband and I do not plan on having any more children, however, if we were, I would load up on the following Folate Rich Foods, to assure a healthy baby:

1. Avocado
2. Beets
3. Oranges
4. Dates
5. Grape Fruits
6. Banana
7. Apricots

To read more about the benefits of eating the raw foods that are listed in this blog post or to find out more about a raw food diet for your family, check out the following article: Pregnancy and 7 Ways to get Folic Acid On a Raw Vegan Diet.


With your health & wellness in mind,

Shiketa
http://www.thenaturalwayofliving101.com