A Few Ideas on Eating Lean and Low Fat Protein

Protein is a beneficial addition to your diet but often comes with high calories and loads of saturated fat. Despite its downsides, it is necessary to eat enough protein to ensure that your mind, muscle and body are adequately provided with the nutrients needed to stay healthy. If you are a fitness nut and are concerned about the amount of fat in your daily protein intake consider lean and low fat options.

If you like to exercise and improve your fitness level you will need an ample supply of protein to repair your muscles. It is recommended that men consume between .4 and .8g of protein per pound of body mass (1). .4 is an absolute minimum and .8 for an athlete.

-White vs. Dark Mean Chicken: Chicken is a main staple. There is a difference between legs ad breast. Eating white meat chicken with mostly spices versus marinated is the best alternative.

-Lean Beef: Lean beef versus regular beef is best as it substantially reduces the overall amount of saturated fat in your diet. Use it for cooking in any recipe that requires meat.

-Fish: Fish is one of the best sources of protein with very little fat. How you cook it will determine its overall benefits.

-Lentils, Beans and Legumes: If you desire to obtain protein without the burden of high fat check out lentil, beans and legumes as an alternative.

-Nuts: Only a handful is needed to get you a solid portion of protein. It also helps your heart and cardiovascular system.

-Protein Smoothies: Putting protein into smoothies helps find a balanced way of getting your daily intake needs.

The Powers of Flowers: Stress, Image, and Brain Improvements

Flowers are drawn with nature's artistic hand across a landscape canvas. With bright colors flowers offer something more than a beautiful landscape but a tantalizing feast for our eyes and food for our soul. There is something inherent in flowers that brighten our day and help us think about how beautiful the wild can really be.

Flowers are a powerful representation of emotion and beauty. They are so powerful that those who hold onto a bunch of flowers seem to have a positive aura about them. Consider a study of male and female hitchhikers holding onto flowers. Men holding flowers got a ride by both sexes more than either women with or without flowers (Gueguen, Meineri & Stefan, 2012).

Flowers seem to make us more approachable and provide a trait of aesthetic appreciation. Those that can find beauty in this world seem to carry with them traits that include empathy, kindness, and sensitivity. There is no doubt why artists, poets, and painters love flowers.

It is also beneficial to consider the stress and brain enhancements that come with flowers. According to research people who take a stroll in nature have higher brain functioning and lower levels of stress (As cited in Green, 2011). The same applies to those who look at pictures of flowers and destress from all of the days worries.

With all the benefits of flowers I am concerned that more people don't find them of interest. Putting a few pictures on your office or home wall will certainly allow for a more artistic feel to spruce up your environment while reducing stress levels. Go for a walk if you can or put some pictures of flowers on your office wall.

I engage in some hobby artistic photography and painting as one way to keep in touch with and study nature. The imagination this work entails offers cognitive flexibility and innovative creativity hard to find in other activities. If you are interested in purchasing a picture you may do so on the Creative Works page or you may buy related products like mugs or cell phone cases on Fine Art America.

Creative Works

Fine Art America

Gueguen, N. Meineri, Sebastien, Stefan, J. (2012).  "Say it with Flowers"...to Female Drivers: Hitchhikers Holding Flowers and Driver Behavior. North American Journal of Psychology, 14 (3).

Green, J. (2011). Research Shows Nature Helps With Stress. Dirt. Retrieved http://dirt.asla.org/2011/09/08/research-shows-nature-helps-with-stress/

The Health and Neighborhood Benefits of San Diego Bike Lanes

San Diego bike lanes can be an enhancement to the city and the lives of residents. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention over a third of Americans are obese (1) and this number may not be slowing.  Most people don’t get enough exercise and healthy food on a daily basis to keep the weight off and fight diseases. Ensuring that bike lanes are included in city planning helps to improve neighborhoods and encourage healthier lifestyle choices. 

New bike lanes encourage people to pull their bikes out of the garage and use them. A study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine showed that bike riding increased on streets that offered bike lanes (Parker, et. al. 2013). When safe lanes were available more people considered pulling their bikes out of storage and using them to get around. 

If you have ever biked a busy street you might be well aware that cars don’t always give adequate protective space. The little space they do provide isn’t enough if they are zooming past at 40 miles an hour and the bike is moving at 15 miles an hour.  Installing lanes lets drivers know that the cyclist has the right-a-way and has full use of all the space in the lane.

San Diego is an excellent candidate for more bike lanes. A study of 90 cities found that safer cycling, students, less sprawl, high gas prices, and lower car ownership led to an increase in cycling (Buehler & Pucher, 2012). Getting more people to use their bikes helps save on the congestion and create safer neighborhoods. 

Cycling is an excellent sport that leads to higher forms of health. It is also a better way to get around the city when bike lanes are available.  San Diego has warm weather, congestion, infrastructure construction, and public transit that make cycling a viable alternative for city residents. Encouraging the building of bike lanes may improve lifestyles, encourage stronger neighborhoods and cut down on obesity.

Buehler, R. & Pucher, J. (2012). Cycling to work in 90 large American cities: new evidence on the role of bike paths and lanes. Transportation, 39 (2). 

Parker, K. et. al. (2013). Effect of bike lane infrastructure improvements on riders in one New Orleans neighborhood. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 45.

Volleyball as a Fun and Fitness Sport

Volleyball is one of those popular past time sports that can improve coordination, health, and strength while still having fun.  Engaging in volleyball on a regular basis helps to significantly improve your overall fitness without engaging in routine activity. Jumping, bumping, setting, diving, spiking all contribute a coordinate body that can adjust, shift and move to keep a ball in the air. 

Coordination: It takes time to build the coordination to play volleyball well. At first you will notice that the ball you hit doesn’t move in the direction intended. Over time and with continuous practice you will get better and so will your overall coordination as you learn to connect mind and body into a coordinated activity.

Weight loss:  A 155 lb. person who engages in beach volleyball for a half hour will burn 298 calories versus 149 for jogging (1). Volleyball is one of the most intensive sports that requires significant amount of energy to ensure to keep a ball in play. 

Trying to Get in Shape

Muscle Tone: Sprinters have great bodies because their muscles grow from the regular burst of energy. Volleyball incorporates the use of your legs, buttocks, arms, shoulders, and the rest of your body in a fast twitch situation making muscle growth more likely.

Cardiovascular System:  Raising your heart rate on a regular basis helps to develop a stronger cardiovascular system that can more efficiently move blood and oxygen throughout the body. Volleyball offers lots of cardo burning effort as you complete jumps, dives and leaps.  The spiking of your heartbeat will make a big difference in heart health.

Eating Spinach for Internal Health

Spinach is a food that every household should have on their dinner menu. Popular spinach salads, cooked spinach, and spinach recipes do more than simply taste great as they also encourage greater health. They also have health benefits for those who want to work on their insides as much as their outsides. Incorporating a little spinach into your diet will do wonders for your general health.

According to Medical News Today spinach offers benefits for improving blood glucose levels, reducing cancer risks, improving blood pressure, preventing asthma and strengthening bones. The benefits of spinach move far beyond its tastes and encourage greater blood control and lower the risk of developing cardiovascular issues.

Developing health eating habits is about knowledge, habit, and practice. It is not enough to know about healthy eating without implementing the practice and habituating that practice to formalize a habit. As we become familiar with what foods are healthy and which ones are not we begin to naturally seek out and purchase certain types of foods.

For many people cooking healthy food is something that can be difficult do because of time and money constraints. It is just easier for people to buy a microwavable box of their favorite food or stop by their local restaurant; worse to even buy fast food. So creating a habit around eating healthy food is as important as buying that food.

An advantage of spinach is that it is also a source of protein which means those who are trying to build their muscles can find a source of protein in something leafy. It isn't a huge amount but most of the calories within spinach are made of this protein so in augmentation with other sources there is a benefit. It is better to consume protein in a low calorie meal than a protein bar.

Spinach is only part of a healthy diet. Exercise, variety, fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy all contribute to health. The process of living healthy requires you to spend time thinking about the alternatives for your diet. Spinach is a good augmentation for salad and can be used to develop some low fat dies. Boil it and use it as a side dish on a regular basis.

Eating Out When a Healthy Menu is Lacking

Eating out is an activity busy Americans frequently in but don’t often understand the consequences of their food choices.  Some people eat out more than three times a week and this can have an impact on their waistline if they do not adjust their food selections. When Healthy Heart options are lacking an alternative strategy is needed. You can still enjoy your dining experience while eating healthy with a few simple tips.

Part of the problem relates to the consumers choice of foods and the other is more akin to menu options.  Consumers regularly select foods that will satisfy their immediate cravings without regard to the longer consequences of poor eating.  At times restaurants don't offer healthy options or nutrition information. A little reflection can go a long way.

Some restaurants offer a Healthy Heart option which can be an invaluable food selection tool. The use of Healthy Heart menu options has lots of room for growth in the restaurant industry (Jones, et. al., 2004). When offered they usually contained vegetarian meals or light side dishes but often leave out fruit, low-fat beverages, low-fat dressing, and healthy deserts. 

Where a healthy Heart option is not available, or lacking in substance, you should adjust your eating processes to reap the most rewards. Consider the following:

1)  Skip the immediate need to eat bread or request whole grain as a healthier alternative.

2)  Drink a glass of water before putting anything in your mouth to satisfy immediate cravings.

3)  Scan the menu for the Healthy Heart section, low calorie, or high vegetable foods.

4)  Pick restaurants that regularly provide high quality foods such as Thai, Mediterranean, Japanese, Greek, Indian and Organic/Local foods.

5)  Pick soups, salads and other items with a vegetable base.

6) Avoid fried, pasta heavy and creamy foods. Select baked, broiled, or steamed items.

7) If necessary share a meal with someone and order a side dish to reduce the total calorie count.

8) Don’t be afraid to ask for alternatives because it is the restaurants business to serve your needs.

9) Skip the desert. 

Jones, J. et. al. (2004). The prevalence of heart-healthy menu items in West Virginia restaurants. American Journal of Health Behavior, 28 (4).

Improving Fitness and Health with Yoga

Yoga was once an obscure practice that attracted bleeding souls, hippies, and sports enthusiasts. Over time Yoga made its way into mainstream activity as the benefits to our body and mind became apparent. Yoga provides a strong augmentation to your current workout and affords greater muscle recovery and healing.  Incorporating an hour of yoga three times a week into your schedule enhances other aspects of sports and fitness that lead to higher levels of satisfaction and health. 

Yoga has a positive effect on both physical and mental health. A large study of 15 yoga studios hosting 1045 respondents found that fitness levels were higher among those who practiced yoga with the far majority of respondents indicating that they were in good to excellent health (Ross, et. al. 2013). Furthermore, participants also stated that yoga improved energy, happiness, social relationships, sleep quality, and proper weight. 

Not all benefits of yoga are subjective. Another study helps us understand that yoga improved physical function and capacity (83%), reduced stress/anxiety (83%), enhanced sleep quality (21%), and improved upon diet (14%) (Alexander, 2013). The secondary benefits of sleep and diet supported fitness and stress management. 

Whether you are a sports enthusiast, interested in fitness, or seeking to unwind from a hard day’s work you should consider the multiple benefits of incorporate yoga into your schedule. Start with simple yoga three times a week that is more akin to stretching and then move into more complex power yoga that uses muscles and positions to tone the body.

Consider the multiple benefits of practicing:

Develops Flexibility: Yoga encourages muscle flexibility that improves upon recover and reduces the likelihood of future injury. Stretching muscles in the recovery of weightlifting routines improves range of motion.

Improves Muscle Tone: By holding ones body weight in varying positions both primary and secondary muscles are engaged leading to full body development.

Even Muscle Development: Yoga engages secondary muscles that are traditionally ignored in fitness programs. These muscles are used to create power and balance beyond large muscle development.

Encourages Balance: By developing secondary muscles and placing oneself within yoga postures it is possible to improve overall balance.

Develops Coordination: Yoga requires complex movements that use multiple positions, balance and muscles while training the body to complete actions in coordination.

Promotes Stress Reduction: Yoga makes use of contraction/relaxation of muscles and combines this with breathing to reduce the tightening symptoms of stress. 

Alexander, et. al. (2013). “More than I expected”: perceived benefits of yoga practice among older adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 21 (1). 

Ross, et. al. (2013). National survey of yoga practitioners: mental and physical health benefits. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 21 (4).