When you go to the grocery store and see yogurt, does it seem like it’s mostly sugar and some protein?  Is there anything yogurt can do for healthy diets?  Is it even a good source of protein?

The basic form of yogurt is a good source of protein for healthy meals.  When I say yogurt, I’m not talking about the Key Lime Whip type or the strawberry flavored. 

Yogurt would be just plain yogurt and you can get it in no added sugar and things like that so you are eating right.  You can also do just the plain yogurt and if you don’t necessarily love the taste, mix a little protein powder in it. 

Not only will it have more of a chocolatey flavor or a natural strawberry flavor, but you’ll get more protein in that way to make it part of your healthy meals. 

I would avoid all the extravagant flavored yogurts and just stick to the basics or stick to the no added sugar type yogurts.  Don’t make this simple mistake.

I think the brand that I eat is Dannon.  It’s the no added sugar type, and tastes great.  I mix it many times with a protein powder so I have a chocolate type pudding consistency when I want a healthy dessert.   

So basically go no added sugar for your healthy diets and yogurt.

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A whole grain carb would be carbohydrates that are considered a good source of fiber.  You’ve heard about staying away from white breads, white rice, and things like that.  To a point, there’s validity to why people say that.  I don’t know that they always know why they are saying it, but the reason that you should try to limit those is because those are usually made with processed carbohydrates and very little fiber content.

Processed carbohydrates and a lack of fiber are two components that are going to dramatically increase your insulin level, and obviously we want to keep our insulin low and our insulin response low when eating right, so fiber is going to help do that job.

Whole grain carbs are really anything that says "100% whole grain."  "Whole wheat" needs to be examined carefully because some breads will be labeled "wheat bread" and you think it is for healthy diets.  In actuality, wheat bread is just white bread that hasn’t been bleached.  So you need to look for the whole grain or the whole wheat wording in it to find out, and look at the fiber source for good nutrition.  Most of them should have at least 2 grams of fiber per serving, if not 3 to be considered a good fiber source.

So, that will help you with your healthy meals.

When you read a food label for whole wheat bread, you’ve probably seen enriched flour as ingredient.  100% whole wheat is the one main ingredient in whole wheat bread that we’re looking for.

How do we truly know that it’s whole grain and acceptable for our healthy diets? 

You want to look within the first 5 ingredients for something that says "whole grain" or "whole oat."  Avoid the enriched ones because that’s the processed portion.  Then you also want to look at the fiber content, because that’s also going to help.  If it’s whole grain it will have fiber in it and it will be a decent source of fiber.  If it has one gram or less of fiber in it it’s not going to be 100% whole grain and shouldn’t be a large part of your healthy meals.

To be whole grain usually means that they keep the skin or the husk of the kernels and different oats attached and that’s what gives it that fiber.  To make the white breads, they shuck all those outer skins off and just use the insides and that’s where you get just your white breads and your plain wheat breads that haven’t been bleached.

Follow these tips when choosing breads for your healthy meals and you will be well on your way to eating right.

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Now, this is very confusing for people, I’m sure.  Healthy fats, unhealthy fats, trans fats: why is this going to be such a big deal when it comes to losing weight fast and your healthy diets?

Healthy fats are what you tend to see in the media and in print advertisements.  They are what’s usually called essential fatty acids, and what that means is that it’s fatty acids and fats that we can not produce in the body on our own, so we have to get them through healthy diets.

Why essential fatty acids are so important is that there are hundreds and hundreds of studies that are showing that it helps with brain function.  The government is doing studies with Alzheimer’s patients because of the role with brain function.  It’s helping slow down that disease, and helping prevent others such as heart disease and cancer.

The studies are actually now showing that it may increase your metabolism by as much as 400 calories a day and that’s the big one when it comes to specifically weight loss and healthy diets.

If you want to just throw out all the numerous health benefits of essential fatty acids and go with the boost in weight loss and fat loss, it actually helps increase your metabolism.  There are also some studies showing that it may actually block what they tend to call pre-fat cells from turning into permanent fat cells.

So, again, that’s another huge step in regards to weight loss and trying to prevent weight gain.

Essential fatty acids primarily are Omega 3 fats, which is what you’ll hear or read.  You’ll see that fish is an excellent source of Omega 3 fats to include in your healthy meals.  People are promoting olive oil instead of using vegetable oil, because of the essential fatty acids and the Omega 3s.  Walnuts and almonds are other good sources.  In fact, they contain good protein, good fiber, and healthy fat.

So, if you want a healthy snack, throw some almonds in a bag and take them with you to work to keep at your desk when following good nutrition.  They’re a great snack to help you feel full and boost that metabolism, as well as many other benefits.

Be sure to include healthy fats in your healthy diets when eating right and wanting to lose weight.

This tip will teach you how to eat healthy when you can’t resist a carb-heavy meal.

Adding vinegar to carbohydrate foods can reduce the body’s glycemic response by up to 20%.  This means the rate of carbs entering your bloodstream is reduced, thus creating healthy meals out of high-carb meals.

Try marinating sliced tomatoes and onions in vinegar to create a topping for sandwiches.

If you have other tips on how to eat healthy by incorporating vinegar into a meal, leave them in a comment below.

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Diet food doesn’t contain a lot of sugar, so if you’re eating right in order to lose weight, should you limit fruit servings?

The answer is no, if you’re eating healthy meals and snacks otherwise.

The truth is, the sugar and fructose contents of fruit won’t affect your weight loss if you’re eating right and following healthy diets.

Aim for 3 to 5 servings of fruit a day in order to consume all the good nutrition that fruit has to offer.

Hiking up the prices on junk foods and sugary drinks could be the best way to get people to concentrate on having good nutrition, according to researchers at the University of Buffalo.  They conducted a study that found some interesting results about how to eat healthy.

They set up a fake grocery store for consumers and priced unhealthy foods 10% higher.  Their findings showed that customers bought more healthy foods and ended up with 6.5% less calories altogether.

This isn’t the only example of a study with these findings.  Does that mean that restricting consumers’ choice based on price will lead to more healthy diets?

What about you?  Would you start eating good nutrition if all unhealthy foods cost more?

People who eat healthy meals and limit their sugar intake can clearly tell whether they feel hungry or not.  Their hormone levels are intact and hunger signals are working properly.

Other people have issues with this system.

Not eating right and consuming too much sugar increases insulin levels in the body.  High levels of insulin then block leptin signals.  When leptin signals are absent, your body thinks it is time to eat, even if you have just finished a meal.

Overeating takes over and healthy diet plans go out the window.

Start concentrating on eating healthy meals and snacks with limited sugar so that the leptin in your body can work properly and be your partner in healthy weight loss diets.

Your body is programmed to hold onto fat.

You’ve designed it that way… I did the same thing, once.

Now, it’s time to break the cycle.  Your body needs to understand that it’s time to shape itself, shed fat, and build muscle.  Your body needs to increase its own signal and communication before allowing you to progress in strength and dominate your fat. 

Your body holds onto fat because it feels you are endangering it.

Plain and simple.  You hold onto fat because your body is worried about you and with good reason, and all due respect.  With that said, it’s not your fault.   If you fully understood the language of your body, you’d let it know that everything’s ok and you’re just making choices that make you happy.

…or do they?

I’d like to teach you the best communication strategy to your body so that you can begin restoring it and signaling to your central nervous system that it’s time to enhance function and progress self.  It all starts with alignment…

Body Alignment:

Body alignment ultimately dictates whether or not pain receptor response is being signaled from your joints to your brain, asking muscles to turn off.  When joints are out of position, it’s like putting two pointy objects against each other at a diagonal.  The chances are, one of them can break very quickly with just a bit of pressure.  As a result, your brain tells your muscles to  turn off and back down. 

No wonder it’s taking you more to build your metabolism… muscle = metabolism, and your muscles might not even be turning on… or they might be 30% efficient.

This is the most under-diagnosed situation I see in people who are trying to get fit.  Less muscle fires during exercises than their counterparts who shed fat in weeks instead of months.  With this  in mind, don’t you think we should learn how to activate muscle a bit more easily?

Build joint alignment for increased muscle signaling.  Then, work muscles at different speeds  and angles.  Lastly, think about what you’re doing.  Let’s talk about each one:

Working Muscles At Different Speeds:

Your muscles are composed of Type I, Type IIa, and Type IIb fibers.  This refers to the amount of oxygen (left) to glucose (right) the muscle fiber relies on for energy.  In a type IIb fiber, it’s purely glycolytic, or sugar-consuming.  These are the fast-twitch muscles and they don’t last long.

Summary point:  Sprint fibers don’t last long… duh!  (but they eat sugar – that’s cool)

After your Type IIb muscle fibers tire out, your Type IIa fibers kick in, burning up your excess  sugar-based energy and beginning to consume surrounding oxygen molecules bound to hemoglobin in the area.  This lasts for about 60-120 seconds. 

Summary point:  ‘Average’ fibers last for 1-2 minutes (but they help us keep going and also eat sugar – pretty cool.)

Following Type IIa fatigue, your Type I muscle fibers rely solely on oxygen and help you finish your set.  Now, you’re working in the presence of oxygen, building endurance, and healing joints… which, as you might imagine, is an important signal to your brain to turn muscle back on.

Summary point:  Slow fibers eat oxygen, which is needed for adequate circulation and healing of joints.  If joints feel they are endangered, your brain turns off surrounding muscles and pads the joint with fat.  (we need these guys!)

Working Muscles At Different Angles:

Depending on the muscle, muscle fibers may run in as many as 3-5 different directions.  This means that angular variety to exercise is very important to stimulate full muscle contractions.  This is the reason that people do incline bench press as well as bench, but is this really it?  Have we reached all of the fibers?

Just by doing bench press, incline bench press, butterfly, and decline bench press we haven’t hit all of the fibers.

I humbly discovered something when I first mastered anatomy.  Having spent hundreds if not a thousand hours in the anatomy lab, I now have X-Ray vision with exercise.  I can tell when a muscle is being stressed  properly, or when malalignment is taking place ever so slightly.  This is what I do.

Well, as it turns out, muscle actions dictate whether or not a muscle fiber is being recruited.  For example, the pecs have 3 actions:  Adduction (moving arm towards your other arm), Flexion (raise arm up), Internal Rotation of the humerus (turn thumb down)

So, in order to hit all fibers of the pecs, you’d need to add all three movements at different angles.

Think About What You’re Doing:

Your muscles contract because of 2 areas in your brain.  First is your Pre-Motor Area; second is your Motor Area, or movement execution center.  You’ll want to use both centers if you want to maximize signal to your muscle. 

Your pre-motor area is where you plan movement.  Movement planning efficiency can actually  yield up to 30% greater contractile strength.  So, in short, if you can think about and properly visualize a movement before executing it, you can lift 30% more weight, and get results 30% faster. 

Your motor area is where you send the command to move.  So long as your joints are properly aligned and there’s no acute danger or injury, your body is primed to activate as much muscle as possible. 

Sweet deal, huh?

I really hope that you’ll consider these points when exercising.  I’d like to tell you that this alone will allow you to reach your ideal body goal, but that’s probably not true.  For this reason, I’ve decided to put together an 8 part series of Fat Loss Gifts for you.  You can start downloading the first part below: 

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This quick weight loss tip teaches you how to lower stress levels and fight extra fat at the same time.

Exercise, especially strength training, can bring elevated cortisol levels down.  This prevents the extra fat being stored in cells.

Three 30-60 minute workouts a week should sufficiently keep your cortisol levels low enough to not trigger extra fat.

Reducing the feeling of stress and the metabolic effects of stress can lead to quick weight loss.

Healthy diets with the goal of weight loss can be affected by an outside factor that you might not think of: stress.

Stress leads to a metabolic disruption by raising cortisol levels indefinitely.  High cortisol triggers more fat to be stored in cells.  Also, the fat can accumulate in your mid-section.

Keep following healthy diets and try to keep your stress level low, and you will achieve the healthy weight loss goals you set.