Archive | January, 2012

Fat Burning Soup Diet 7 Days Of Soup And You’ll Lose Weight

Are you looking for the Fat Burning Soup Diet? Well, look no farther, because I explain the program here. The plan includes seven days of eating soup and other prescribed foods. Because the fat burning soup diet is very low in calories, you will be able to lose up to 10 pounds in just 7 days.

First of all, you need to make a very large pot of the soup. This recipe makes about 12 servings. You will probably make 2 to 3 pots during the seven days of the diet:

- 6 large green onions

- 2 green peppers

- 1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)

- 3 Carrots

- 1 Container (10 oz. or so) Mushrooms

- 1 bunch of celery

- half a head of cabbage

- 1 package Lipton soup mix

- 1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional)

- 1 48oz can V8 juice (optional)

- If V8 juice is not used, put in 12 cups of water

Saute the onions and take the seeds out of the green peppers. Then boil the whole thing for 2 hours. Refrigerate the soup and then reheat on the stove or in the microwave every time you get hungry. This recipe is at the heart of the fat burning soup diet.

But you will get to eat other foods on the fat burning soup diet. But, each day brings about its own rules. Here’s the plan:

Day 1: All the fruit you want except bananas.

Day 2: All the vegetables you want plus one big baked potato with butter.

Day 3: All the fruit and vegetables you want except bananas and potatoes.

Day 4: Bananas and skim milk plus the soup only.

Day 5: 16 oz. of beef and up to 6 tomatoes.

Day 6: 2 to 3 steaks and all the vegetables you want. No baked potato though.

Day 7: Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables

Eat the foods on the diet until you are full, even stuffed. The diet is bland, but you shouldn’t be hungry on it.

The fat burning soup diet works because even if you eat your fill, you still will only intake about 1000 calories a day. So the plan is essentially a modified fast.

Because the plan is only 7 days long, that doesn’t give your body’s metabolism enough time to slow down. So, in order to make up for the reduced calories, your body will start burning the fat thus the name.

You shouldn’t stay on the fat burning soup diet for more than 7 days at a time though. That would actually defeat the purpose. After your initial week is up, go back to a regular meal plan that includes at least 1500 calories. Then, after a week or so, you can go back on the soup diet if you need to lose more weight. At no time should you go more than 7 days on the program without 7 days off.

And that’s the fat burning soup diet made simple.

How to stretch your hamstrings

Video: A trainer demonstrates an easy stretch you can do for your hamstrings.

Nectarine Fruit Salad Recipe

Ingredients

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon or lime peel

2 teaspoons fresh lemon or lime juice

1/3 cup ginger ale

2 nectarines, pitted and sliced

1 cup seedless green grapes

1 cup fresh raspberries or blackberries

Directions

In a large bowl, combine peel, juice, honey and ginger ale. Add fruit and toss lightly. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

4 tablespoons margarine

3/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1 (19 ounce) can cannellini beans

1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 1/2 cups cubed potatoes

1 quart vegetable broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup elbow macaroni

Directions

Melt margarine in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots; saute for a few minutes.

Add beans, cabbage, tomatoes, tomato paste, potato, stock, garlic, parsley, and salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for approximately 1 hour until vegetables are barely tender.

Add pasta, and simmer for 30 minutes more. Correct seasoning, and serve hot.

Hip lift demonstration

Video: Hip lifts work your glutes, hamstrings and leg muscles.

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs with Brown Sugar, Ginger and Soy Sauce

Ingredients

3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons sherry

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 2 inch pieces

1 – 20 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained

Directions

In a shallow glass dish, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic powder. Stir the chicken pieces and pineapple into the marinade until well coated. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken and pineapple alternately onto skewers. Grill 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until chicken juices run clear.

Jump rope

Video: A super simple exercise, but very effective, jumping rope can be done almost anywhere and is great for getting your heart rate up.

The Heart Healthy Diet

When thinking about heart disease, we know that a change in diet is often needed. In today’s world of fast and convenient foods, people think more of saving time than saving calories and fat. If we can be just a little bit more conscious about what we are eating, then we can greatly reduce our risk of heart disease in the future.

One of the best ways we can change up our diet is by restricting our use of solid fats like butter, bacon, and gravies. These are known as Saturated and Trans fats. We often use these fats to help prepare the food we cook. Some great low-fat alternatives are olive oil, yogurt, and fresh fruit. Try to also be label-conscious and read the contents. Look for ingredients like polyunsaturated fats found in nuts and seeds and monounsaturated fats found in canola and olive oil. Be wary of the boxes labeled “reduced fat” though as they often still contain the bad fats.

Something else we can do is to choose meats that are lower in fat. Fish is always a healthy choice and most even contain the heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids our bodies need. These omega-3 fatty acids can actually reduce our levels of triglycerides. Lean cuts of pork, beef, chicken breast and turkey are also great choices. Beans and other legumes are a wonderful meat alternative, while still providing our bodies with needed protein. Soy and tofu have become popular in recent years also adding to the meat alternatives list.

The largest dietary change we can make is adding more fruits and vegetables. Many Americans do not even eat half of the servings the food guide recommends as it is not convenient. Fruits and vegetables are chock full of vitamins and minerals, the things we need each and every day.

Soluble fiber is often found in fruits and vegetables and is an excellent source for reducing our cholesterol levels. Fruits and vegetables have also been proven to help reduce heart disease. By snacking on these tasty treats, we are less likely to snack on something higher in fat.

It is easy to keep fruits and vegetables in the fridge ready for snacking as most just need a quick rinse in water and we can munch away. Sometimes even keeping vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower already cut up in the fridge or a bowl of fruit on the counter makes it easier for us to grab and go if we are in a rush.

Whole grains, as found in bread and pasta, are another great dietary change we can make to help our heart. Choosing 100whole wheat breads and pastas gives us the nutrients we need that we cannot get from other foods. We also need to be aware of our salt intake. Salt is a huge heart enemy resulting in higher cholesterol levels. Processed foods often have added salt, so by choosing fresher foods, we are cutting our salt intake.

By adding more of these foods to our diets on a daily basis, not only are we reducing our risk of heart disease, but an added side effect is weight loss!

How to do a double crunch

Video: A personal trainers demonstrates how to do a double crunch, an exercise that targets your core area.

Exercise for Your Back: Lower Back Extensions

Many would agree that we often ignore the lower back part of our body. While we strive too hard to work on all the other body parts we forget that our lower back is as important as any other part of our body and needs equal care as shoulders or middle back. The fact that most of us ignore our lower back is because we aren?t aware that it supports the upper part of our body thereby affecting almost every activity that you perform.

We often lay more importance on abs work out and forget our back workout completely. Due to this an imbalance is caused between your abs and your lower back which leads to severe back pains. So strengthening your lower back muscle is as important as strengthening your abs.

The lower back extension is the best exercise that is recommended by the doctors and the fitness experts to fight your back pain and also to strengthen your back muscles to avoid any future risks. It also helps you in loosening; tight or sore back muscles that may be caused due to over sitting or lack of back exercises. It can be done anywhere as it doesn?t require any equipment and is really simple to perform.

Lower back extension exercise:

As always, start with warm up exercises. Preferably a light aerobics exercise for 10-15 minutes. This is a very good exercising strategy to be followed before getting into your regular exercise regimen.

Lie down straight on the floor with your hands and arms kept flat at your sides and your legs extended like in a standing position. But actually lying down. This will be your starting position.

Now raise yourself slowly above the ground level. By using your lower muscles raise above your upper body part, but do not over extend. Just raise your body up to 45 degrees above the ground level, to the point where you feel comfortable and beneficial. When you raise yourself above the ground level see that you tighten your buttocks and totally exert pressure on your lower back. Hold this movement for a count of 3-5.

After holding the position for a count of 3 or so, lower your body back to the floor in the same manner as your starting position.

While performing this exercise don?t forget to breath. Breathe in as your raise your body and hold your position and then breath out when you lower yourself.

Repeat this exercise until the sets are completed. Each set should comprise of 12-15 reps. Likewise start with 2 sets for the first two weeks, increase it to 3 sets of 15-20 reps in the 3-4 week and then let it progress as per your capability. However one thumb rule to be followed here is do not overdo it, as it may increase your back pain than eliminating it completely. Perform this exercise just 2-3 times a week and the rest of the day?s work out on other body parts.

Initially you might find it difficult to do this exercise. You may not be able to raise your body very high. But that?s totally fine, as you progress you will be able to lift yourself higher. So let?s not waste anymore time, let?s get going.