Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Russian Buckwheat Diet



Buckwheat diet is one of the most popular diets between Russian people (especially women). Eating specially cooked buckwheat and drinking green tea and water leads not only to body purification, but also allows losing up to 12 pounds per week. As far as buckwheat was one of the most accessible products in the deficiency during the period of the Soviet Union, it stays still popular nowadays.    

Buckwheat is one of the healthiest, nuttiest, most versatile whole grains. And despite its name, it's really not related to wheat at all. While many people think that buckwheat is a cereal grain, it is actually a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel making it a suitable substitute for grains for people who are sensitive to wheat or other grains that contain protein glutens. Buckwheat flowers are very fragrant and are attractive to bees that use them to produce a special, strongly flavored, dark honey. 

Russians know roasted buckwheat groats as kasha and eat it like porridge. You can also make cold grain salads and hot grain casseroles with the whole groats, as well as bread and many other healthy baked goods with ground buckwheat flour.

Buckwheat contains more protein than grains and is not deficient in the amino acid lysine as most grains are, so the protein is more nutritionally complete. That makes it a particularly good choice for vegetarians. It's an excellent source of magnesium, a boon to your blood pressure. A phytochemical in buckwheat may be beneficial in the management of diabetes; studies show it may have the ability to lower blood glucose levels. It's also a good source of fiber. Eating foods high in fiber, such as buckwheat, can also fill you up faster and suppress your appetite, a great tool for weight loss.

A very common use for buckwheat is porridge; the term kasha in the United States has grown to mean buckwheat breakfast porridge. You can also make cold grain salads and hot grain casseroles with the whole groats, as well as bread and many other healthy baked goods with ground buckwheat flour.

Diet Kasha Recipe
·         1 cup whole kasha
·         2 cups of boiling water
Place buckwheat in pot. Fill it with boiling water. Leave overnight. In the morning you will get a tasty porridge that needs to be eaten throughout the day instead of regular meals. One can achieve best results keeping a diet for a week or two.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Cool & Free IPhone Fitness Apps


Today while I was jogging, I start thinking about the speed with which I run. Sometimes I run slower, sometimes faster. It is totally different from running track. So I wondered if there are any apps for the phone (but I still don’t have IPhone!) that could be helpful for a following healthy lifestyle. Here is some information about COOL & FREE apps for your IPhone.
 

SmartRunner
SmartRunner isn’t just for runners. It covers 14 sports, from cycling to skiing. Its interface is the most user-friendly around, with calorie, speed, distance and time data displayed on screen. Once you complete a run you can upload stats to the SmartRunner website, and from there sync it with Twitter and Facebook. 
Platform Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Symbian
Price Free

iMapMyFitness is a tracking app that uses your GPS to track your outdoor workouts.  You simply start the app and it marks your path while showing  time, distance, pace, speed, elevation and more.  You can also view your stats at MapMyFitness.com and share it with friends.  Other stand out features include: real-time tracking and an interactive map so you can see where you've been, the ability to view your workout history online, manually enter workout information for other cardio or strength training workouts, tweet your workouts to friends on Twitter, voice feedback on things like distance, pace or speed. The company also offers apps for running, cycling and walking.
Platform IPhone
Price Free

JEFIT 
JEFIT is a great app for training enthusiasts, JEFIT helps improve strength and cardio workouts. This app tracks body information easily, creates routine and gives you a detailed database of exercises. JEFIT is your best pal when it comes to tracking and storing all your workout information.  
Platform IPhone, Android
Price Free

Lose it!
Lose it! provides an easy way to track calorie intake from meals, based on a vast library of food types.
Platform IPhone
Price Free

Restaurant nutrition
Restaurant nutrition contains nutritional information about menu items at many restaurants and enables users to track what they consume when they dine out.
Platform IPhone
Price Free

Sleep bug
Sleep bug produce ambient scene sounds and music to aid in falling asleep and sleeping deeply.
Platform IPhone
Price Free

So I wish I will buy my first IPhone soon and start using all its function 
for the benefit of my health! 

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Make your Healthy Fast Food choice!


          As soon as I came to America I understood that it will be impossible for me to avoid dining out. That’s why I made my own research and found out how to make a healthy choice in such restaurant. Here is my top 10 of meals!

1.BEST SUB
Find it in Subway! Turkey Breast Sub with healthy fresh vegetables on bread to your choice
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
6” Turkey Breast
254
3,5
16
39

     2.BEST SOUP
Find it in Panera Bread! My choice is vegetarian Garden Vegetable Soup with Pesto
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
Garden Vegetable Soup with Pesto
110
3
4
15

3.BEST WRAP
Find it in McDonald’s! My choice is Grilled Chipotle BBQ snack wrap
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
Grilled Chipotle BBQ snack wrap
260
9
18
28

4.BEST SALAD
Find it in Chick-fil-A! My choice is Chargrilled Chicken & Fruit Salad (with Reduced-Fat Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette).
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
Chargrilled Chicken & Fruit Salad
290
8
22
20

5.BEST BREAKFAST
Find it in Starbucks! My choice is Starbucks’ Perfect Oatmeal. You can add some dried fruits or nuts for 100 calories more.
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
Starbucks’ Perfect Oatmeal
140
2,5
5
25
 
6. BEST DESSERT
Find it in KFC! My choice is a slice of KFC Lemon Meringue Pie.
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
KFC Lemon Merengue Pie
250
7
4
42

     7.BEST PIZZA
My choice is Domino's "Thin Crust Veggie Pizza" (2 squares of 12" medium pizza, 1/8 pizza)
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
Domino's "Thin Crust Veggie Pizza"
143
7
5
15

      8.BEST TACO
My choice is Taco Bell's "Fresco Crunchy" Taco.
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
Taco Bell's "Fresco Crunchy" Taco

150
7
7
13


      9.BEST CHICKEN NUGGETS
My choice is McDonald's Chicken McNuggets with Sweet 'N Sour Sauce (4 pieces)
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
McDonald's Chicken McNuggets with Sweet 'N Sour Sauce
220
12
10
11

      10.BEST MILKSHAKE
My choice is Wendy’s Jr. Frosty
Name
Calories
Fat
Protein
Carbs
Wendy’s Jr. Frosty
160
4
4
26

          I understand that it is impossible to skip fast food at all because it makes our life easier. But it is in your power to make a healthier choice. 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

observation of the foreigner OR american food traditions



First of all I created a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/healthylifeeasily?ref=hl   dedicated to my blog and to healthy living in general. Actually in Russian “Facebook” – www.vkontakte.ru there is a bunch of really helpful pages about this issue. The administrators of these pages update data at least once per hour. The information they provide includes eating tips, advises about sport, diets, motivation. There are so many photo albums with the achievements of the group members. They motivate me greatly! So I decided to develop my page drawing on experience of these pages.

Actually, when I just came to America I was really frightened that I will gain weight because it happened to me 3 times before when I was an exchange student in 2007, 2008 and 2009. But this time I decided to follow a healthy eating diet and go in for sports. Thus I understood that the problem was not in the fact that in this very country (I am talking about USA) I always gain weight. The problem was my unhealthy eating. My obsession was cookies, mmmm… 
380 Calories per serving (85g), Total Fat 17g (26%), Total Carbohydrate 51g (18%), Sugars 35g. Just terrible!


Okay. As a foreigner I can observe some problems with food intake traditions that are common to all Americans.

First of all, the size of meals that are served in restaurants is just incredibly huge. When I just came it was impossible for me to eat a whole meal! (But I am starting getting used to it… ooops!) So you overeat all the time thus stretching the stomach. The normal portion of food that is good for our stomach is 200g.

Secondly, you are eating on the run. You are not dedicating special time for eating. Having healthy snacks between meals is good for metabolic. But eating fast, unhealthy and not tasty meals on the dashboard is not beneficial at all! Try to pay attention to what you are eating and enjoy every piece of your meal!

Thirdly, you are eating to much unhealthy snacks, semis and sweets. However, there are so many opportunities in your country to choose healthy food. In Russia we don’t have regulations that are devoted to organic / non-organic food. Nowadays Russian manufacturers are trying to reduce production costs by using the cheapest alternatives. Thus, the quality of products is decreasing.  Per contra, in USA people are really concerned about organic food and the regulations of making such type of products are really strict. It means that you have a great chance to choose healthy and truly tasty products. So why don’t you do that? Why do you drink coke instead of organic juice? Why do you eat frozen food instead of choosing fresh products from local farms?

I feel that America is the country of opportunities. You have a real right to select. Why then don’t you choose a healthy lifestyle to make your life better?     


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Go Lean in the Pumpkin Season 2012!


 
The aroma of Pumpkin Spice is in the air. I was waiting for the Pumpkin Season to start from July already! I have never been to USA during fall. So I was expecting a lot! There are “Pumpkin” and “Apple” specials everywhere. My favorite delight is Pumpkin Spice Latte. I can drink it every day! Once I wondered of how healthy Pumpkin Lattes are. I compared the nutrition information of Pumpkin Spice Latte in Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and 7 eleven. The comparison table is below.  

Nutrition in Pumpkin Spice Latte (16 oz.)

 
Starbucks
Dunkin Donuts
7 eleven
Calories
330
330
216
Fat
14
9
0
Carb
40
51
41
Protein
11
11
13

 

It can seem strange, but I prefer to buy Pumpkin Spice Latte in 7 eleven. The taste is smoother and spicier. The price is a way better as well - just $1.05 for 12 oz. To make the beverage healthier I mix regular coffee with Pumpkin Spice Latte. That’s how I make my Latte 2 times less “heavy” in calories.

Also I really like pumpkin cakes! As soon as I found out that Pumpkin Muffin in Dunkin Donuts is 550 cal.  I decided to make an alternative healthier variant by myself. So I bought all necessary products and easily made my own tasty delight. The nutrition of my muffins is 64 cal. in 100 gr. I enjoy that fact and can eat my pumpkin muffins without any regret!

I made a short video with a recipe of these muffins. I put some necessary advices how to stay fit in this tasty season as well!
 
 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Is BodyFlex the easiest way to keep fit?


BodyFlex is a popular system of breathing exercises that can reduce your waist by 10 cm in just one week. This system does not require you any diet or additional exercise. It was invented by American housewife Greer Childers who went from a size 16 to a size 4 by using her own method of deep-breathing technics. Over the past years BodyFlex has become more popular in Russia. I found a huge number of positive feedbacks in our social network Vkontakte.

What is the secret of Bodyflex popularity? The answer is unequivocal: this method is simple and easy. The complex consists of 12 exercises. Each of them is aimed to strengthening the muscles and to developing flexibility of body. Moreover, the technics in combination with a deep breath act on the burning of fat quickly. Posture exercises are mainly based on stretching due to which the cells of our body receive oxygen. Notoriously, oxygen is an excellent fat burner. Besides losing weight and body volume, this method contributes to posture improvement and skin elasticity increase. Since the exercises are not complicated they can be performed by people of any age and gender. The approach is a perfect way to become lean for those people who are always in hurry. You have to spend only 15 minutes each morning to feel all the benefits of BodyFlex!

Breathing is an important part of Bodyflex. So in order to get the desired results you have to learn to breathe. You can be confused with my previous phrase because you breathe every second since you were born! It is not quite so. Only deep diaphragmatic breathing is the key to health and grace. Just think of babies who use abdominal breathing. As we become elder we use only upper part of our lungs that leads to the fact that we use them at only 20%. The BodyFlex breathing will fill the lungs with the oxygen and increase their volume. Due to this body's cells will be purified from undesirable toxins. Furthermore, as a result you will have a fortified immune and circulatory systems. Oxygen will encourage the shaping of “trouble spots”. It is estimated that you can lose 3500 calories in 60 minutes of the exercises!

I found a picture with the key exercises of the BodyFlex cycle. The only problem is the workouts’ names are in Russian. But it is not a big deal because the pictures are quite easy to understand.

In my view, it will be easier to perform everything correctly using video. I found some helpful free videos in Youtube as well. In Russia there is a popular fitness instructor Marina Corpan who is specialized in BodyFlex. She has a special training program. I provide some of her videos below.





I really would like to start doing this as soon as possible and will tell you about my results in future!

P.S. To my surprise I could not find much about BodyFlex method in English – just websites that sell DVD with exercises. So I googled it in the Russian Internet and I have found a lot! I wish that information that I provided could be helpful for you!