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Health and Fitrness

5 Minute Guide To Boosting Your Energy Levels

by shedboy71 24th November 2019

The problem with low energy is that it makes it incredibly difficult to put anything into action. If you have very low energy, then the chances of you being able to commit to a new training program, to a new diet or to a new lifestyle are relatively slim. Motivation is unfortunately predicated on energy, so if your energy is low, so will your sticking power be.

This also makes it very difficult to read and remember an entire 10,000 word tome on how to get more energy. If you’ve read the full e-book, you might right now be feeling rather exasperated and overwhelmed at the thought of having to work through it all and keep diving back in.
That’s where this ‘five minute guide’ comes in. Here, we are going to look at all the things you need to do to start getting your energy back in a much more palatable form. You can glance over this to get the gist and you can then dive back in whenever you need a refresher.

Your Strategy: Kaizen

Taking what we just said about low energy into account, you should arm yourself with this piece of advice before going any further:
Anything is better than nothing.

What this means, is that when we say you should be eating more nutritious food and working out regularly, it isn’t actually crucial that you do. It’s the ideal situation but if you can only commit yourself to a ten minute workout and an extra piece of fruit a day… that’s fine.

Your strategy should be to only commit yourself to things that you think you’re going to be capable of doing and sticking to. Don’t bite off more than you can chew and add a 7-day workout routine if you’re already tired all the time. If you add just a little and you stick to it, you will gain more energy that you can then use to do a little more. This concept is known as ‘kaizen’ and it’s a favorite among lifestyle coaches and self-help gurus.

Sleep

Keeping that in mind, we’re going to now hone in on one of the very most powerful ways you can immediately improve your energy with very little work.
Simply follow these three tips:

• Take 10-30 minutes at the end of each day to read quietly in bed with no phones, TV or computers
• Have a hot shower 30 minutes before bed
• Open the window a jar to keep your room at a generally cool temperature

There are many countless different tips that you can follow to improve your sleep but if you only follow these few, you’ll find that the reward is huge. You’ll sleep a lot better as a result of that hot shower and in the morning you’ll feel much more refreshed as such.

The next key is to try and wake up with more energy. One simple purchase can help you with this: a daylight lamp (such as the Lumie). These lamps simulate the sunset in the morning, they rouse you out of deep sleep rather than startling you and they help you to set your body clock more accurately.

Another tip is to try reaching for your phone to read something interesting in the morning. This is a very controversial tip but it can work well to encourage you to move just that little if you’re someone who struggles to motivate themselves out of bed.

For the first part of your day, you will be low on energy so don’t schedule anything too heavy here. A cold shower can help to wake you up, as can some exercise: why not cycle to work? This also has the added benefit of helping you to avoid the morning commute which is a great drain on our energy levels.

Diet

Now comes the diet. This is something else you can change relatively easily but you can also go a lot deeper if you’re willing to.

The number one fix for your diet is just to start eating more fruits and vegetables as well as organ meats and other sources of nutrition. This is crucial because many of the nutrients we get in our diet are used to help us produce more energy. Vitamin B6 for instance, CoQ10, creatine, PQQ, L-carnitine and lutein all come from our diet and all help our mitochondria (the energy factories of our cells) to perform better and to produce more energy. You eat more of these things, you will instantly feel more energetic and healthy.

This can be a very small tip: just having a little more fruit makes a big difference so try adding a smoothie to your morning routine on the way in to work. Likewise, you can try supplementing your diet with a number of these substances.

Good supplements for boosting energy levels include:

• Vitamin D
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B12
• Iron
• Omega 3 Fatty Acid
• Coenzyme Q10
• PQQ
• L-Carnitine
• MCT Oil
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• Vitamin C
• Lutein

On the other hand, you should also avoid eating lots of food with low nutrient density, which simply strains your digestive system and robs you of energy.

Also bad for your energy are ‘simple carbs’. Carbohydrates are the food group that the body can use more quickly to provide energy. While this might sound positive, it actually means that you can spike your blood with a lot of glucose, in turn triggering an insulin response causing fat storage and an energy slump. What you ideally want to do instead is to provide your body with a steady release of energy so that you have lots of fuel to power you through the day.

Complex carbs will help you to achieve this, as will saturated fats. What you really want to avoid then are ‘low fat’ diet snacks, which actually leave you exhausted by providing nothing but low-nutrient, rapid digesting carbs!

While bread might not be natural, many of the top athletes in the world eat bread and still perform perfectly fine (and you can forget gluten being an issue unless you are a genuine Celiac). Likewise, Einstein probably drank milk… And if you completely remove carbs from your diet, then you’ll end up lowering your own testosterone and feeling exhausted all the time.

In other words? Perhaps being that strict with your diet will help to make you a little more alert. But ultimately the benefits are not enough to make the whole thing worthwhile for most people. You’ll actually waste energy worrying about what you can possibly eat at a restaurant so instead just try to seek out healthy, fresh foods with lots of nutrition and avoid the ready-meals and takeaways. You knew that really though!

Tip: To make it a little easier to move to freshly cooked meals, try preparing your meals at the start of the week and keeping them in the freezer/plastic containers.

Lifestyle

No matter how good your diet and sleep are, there may be some things you’re doing that are damaging your energy levels and undoing all your hard work.

One of the key culprits? Alcohol. If you are drinking alcohol then you are literally sedating yourself. Alcohol is a ‘depressant’ meaning it suppresses neural activity and slows down your central nervous system. At the same time, it’s also a toxin meaning the heart has to work hard to get rid of it. You won’t sleep well after a night of drinking and in the long term it’s very bad for your health – even destroying brain cells. If you’re going to drink, keep it to a couple of glasses and try to stop a few hours before bed.

Your job may also be damaging your energy levels. If you are spending all day in an office chair, then you’re letting your heart weaken, you’re enforcing bad posture and you’re ruining your flexibility. Make sure you get up regularly, that you sit near a window (and try opening it once in a while) and that you keep your monitor at eye-level and your arms at right angles.

What’s worse for most people in work though is the stress that they face on a daily basis. Workplace stress is a very common problem and can lead to adrenal fatigue – a condition where the individual’s sympathetic nervous system has essentially ‘burned out’ making it very difficult for them to focus, to sleep, or to generally functional optimally.
Source: stress.org

If you can’t remove the source of the stress, then consider speaking to a cognitive behavioral therapist. These experts use a very effective series of tools in order to help you improve your ability to cope with sources of stress.

Exercise

The last piece of this puzzle is exercise. You can use exercise to boost your energy levels by:
• Increasing your fitness, improving circulation and raising your VO2 max
• Adding more physical strength so that you can move around more freely and easily
• Boosting your mood through endorphins released when you train
• Enhancing your sleep via increased exertion during the day
• Staying slim and healthy
• Increasing the number of mitochondria and improving their function

One of the best types of exercise for upgrading energy specifically is HIIT. HIIT is ‘High Intensity Interval Training’ and is a type of training that involves alternating between periods of high exertion (sprinting for instance) and periods of relatively slow paced ‘active recovery’ (power walking or light jogging).

Also important is to make sure that you avoid ‘overtraining’. Training too much can actually be counterproductive and learning to tell when your body is ready to go again is an important tool. Another point to keep in mind is that training too hard makes training unpleasant and exhausting and this can make you far less likely to want to do it. The solution then is to keep your training fun and to remember that it’s better to do a little than none at all.

Going With the Flow

Everything we’ve looked at here should help you to manipulate your energy levels and to boost them to some degree. When you combine all these techniques, you should start feeling better.

But even when you raise your ‘baseline’, there will still be times when your energy is higher and when your energy is lower. The key then is to recognize the existence of these ebbs and flows and to time your habits accordingly.

For instance, most of us will have a low point in our energy at 4pm. A great idea then, if possible, is to try moving your working day forward one hour. This way, you will end the day when your productivity goes out the window and will be able to relax when you most need it.

Another tip is to remember that digesting food leaves you tired too. After you’ve just eaten is no time for productivity so if you plan on doing anything useful in the evening, do it before dinner. Want to tidy the house? Do it before dinner.

And note that these ebbs and flows can happen on a seasonal basis too. Sometimes you will have more energy for working out, other times you’ll have less. Don’t punish yourself – listen to your body and ride that energy wave! Ultimately, this will result in you being much happier, much more productive and much higher in energy at all times.

Health and Fitrness

Lets discuss chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , its causes and symptoms

by shedboy71 5th November 2019

COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a condition of the bronchial tree of the lungs. It is the third leading cause of death in the US, with more than 130,000 men and women dying from the disease each year (Centers For Disease Control).

The vast majority of cases of COPD come from smoking. Smoking leads to inflammation of the bronchial tree, excessive mucus secretion, and damage to the bronchial tree. COPD is relatively common, affecting more than 11 million adults over the age of 18 (American Lung Association).

About twice that many have impairment of lung function suggestive of early lung disease or impending COPD. In spite of many measures taken by the government and other health agencies to curb the incidence of smoking, there are still many Americans who choose to smoke and many who suffer from COPD down the line.

Surprisingly, women suffer from COPD more than men do. This is partly because tobacco companies campaign for more women to smoke and because women use smoking to keep their weight down. Even so, the Centers For Disease Control reports that more than 64,000 males die from COPD each year, and many men are smoking despite the warnings that COPD is a common complication of smoking.

The prevalence of this disease varies according to where you live in the US. States like Washington and Minnesota have the least cases of COPD at 4% of the population.
States like Alabama and Kentucky see counts at 9% of the population. 92% of all cases of COPD are diagnosed in men and women over the age of 45.
Because there is a lag time between the start of smoking and getting COPD, efforts at smoking prevention need to be targeted at young people, as early as the early teens.

Range Of COPD

• Some people with COPD have a “dry” form of the disease, with symptoms of wheezing and shortness of breath, especially on exertion. This is often referred to as emphysema.
• Others have a “wetter” form of the disease, with symptoms of cough and an increase in thick mucus production. This is often called chronic bronchitis.

Women have twice the likelihood of being diagnosed with chronic bronchitis when compared to men. More than 6.8 million women or 56.7 out of a thousand people have COPD, whereas less than half of that number is men.

Men historically have a higher rate of emphysema as opposed to chronic bronchitis but now women are getting emphysema at high enough rates to exceed men.

Causes

The main cause of COPD is smoking, with 80% of COPD patients who die have their disease caused by smoking. Men are twelve times as likely to die from emphysema if they smoke as opposed to those who never smoked.

Other causes of emphysema include:
• Air pollution
• Secondhand smoke
• Occupational chemicals
• Occupational dust
• History of childhood lung infections
• Low socioeconomic status
• Alpha antitrypsin deficiency disease—this is an inherited condition in which the person lacks a protein called alpha 1 antitrypsin or alpha 1 protease inhibitor. These are lung protectants that, when absent, contribute to about 2-3% of cases of emphysema per year in the US. It affects more people from Northern European descent than other races and is passed as an autosomal recessive disease onto their children.

There are about 116 million carriers of the disease throughout the world. Smoking exacerbates their condition and they often get the disease under the age of 40.

Symptoms

Most men with COPD do not develop symptoms until their lungs are clearly damaged. The symptoms tend to worsen over time, especially when a man fails to stop smoking.
The main symptoms of COPD include:
• Chronic cough/increased sputum production
• Shortness of breath with exertion
• Tightness in the chest
• Wheezing
• Clearing your throat of phlegm every morning
• Clear, yellow, white, or green sputum
• Cyanosis or bluish discoloration, especially around the lips or nailbeds
• Decreased energy levels
• Recurrent respiratory infections
• Weight loss, particularly when the disease is late in its progression
• Varying amount of symptoms with exacerbations and improvements coming over time. An exacerbation of COPD can last for several days and may mean a hospitalization for respiratory treatments.

Treatment Options

The first thing to do in order to treat COPD is to stop smoking. Other treatments include the use of beta-agonist bronchial dilators that help with wheezing and steroid inhalers to decrease the inflammation of the bronchial tree. Oral or injectable steroids are used for exacerbations of COPD and oxygen is a common treatment of the shortness of breath caused by the disease.

Impact Of COPD

COPD can affect a man’s ability to work. This is true in about half of all cases, where a man is limited in his ability to find work because of COPD.

The American Lung Association reports that normal physical exertion becomes difficult in 70% of cases. About 56% of men are unable to do household chores because of COPD and half of all men with COPD have limitations in social activities, sleeping, and family activities.

The total cost to the US in the treatment of COPD is about $50 billion USD. About $30 billion USD are used to treat the disorder while the rest of the money is spend on direct and indirect morbidity and mortality costs.

So, are you still smoking?

Health and Fitrness

The 5-Minute Guide to the Benefits of Eating More Fruits and Vegetables

by shedboy71 26th October 2019

Most people know that they should eat more fruits and vegetables, but very few people really understand just quite how important this really is. Very few people recognize the scope of what fruits and vegetables can do for them. The best way to think about fruits and vegetables is like a power-up in a computer game. They contain so many amazing and beneficial nutrients, that they can literally make you faster, stronger, smarter, and more resilient to harm.

Fruits and vegetables contain a large number of different essential nutrients. These are so-called because they are essential to our health and wellbeing but cannot be synthesized (produced) inside the human body. In other words, they MUST be obtained through diet. Those essential nutrients are: vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and To demonstrate just how critical these functions are, here are just a few examples…

Examples of Critical Functions Made Possible by Fruits and Vegetables

You ARE what you eat. Your body is made from the nutrients found in your food, recycled and reconstituted.

Your blood is made from iron (among other things), which is found in broccoli. Your muscle and tissue are made from amino acids. Digestive enzymes are made from the likes of bromelain (found in pineapple). Brain chemicals are made from substances like tryptophan and melatonin (found in turkey and cherries respectively).If you only eat highly processed foods, or if you eat a diet that lacks variety, then you will fail to get these ingredients. And then what happens? Simple: your body has to start cannibalizing itself, using inferior ingredients, or even skipping important jobs entirely.

What’s more, is that we use these nutrients in a wide range of important processes. For instance, we use antioxidants (found in a lot of fruits) in order to protect against the formation of cancerous cells. We use ATP (found in most foods) in order to produce energy. And we use tryptophan to help encourage sleep. Vitamin C and vitamin D help to strengthen the immune system significantly and fend off diseases. When you stop getting these ingredients then, you don’t just stop repairing yourself… you also start to lose important functions which can lead to increased stress, slow healing, poor memory and focus, and even a much higher chance of becoming ill.

You On Fruits and Vegetables vs You Without Them

That all sounds good and well, but perhaps you’re wondering what the difference really is between someone who eats lots of fruits and vegetables and someone who doesn’t. What noticeable impact will this simple change have on your life? Here are just SOME of the crazy differences you might notice…

Better Skin, Teeth, Hair, and Nails

When you consume lots of fruits and vegetables, you will enjoy a variety of micronutrients as we have seen. The body then reconstitutes these in order to make every part of us, including our hair, teeth, skin, nails, and more! Minerals such as calcium and magnesium play a particularly big role in building strong bones and therefore teeth and nails. Likewise, substances like collagen can help to give us more youthful looking skin. Omega 3 can help to prevent damage to the skin by free radicals, as can life-extension super ingredients such as resveratrol (found in grapes). Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables gives you that amazing “glow.”

Better Immune System, Less Illness

Another amazing reason to start eating more fruits and vegetables right now, is that it will help you to stop being ill regularly. If you’re someone who gets a lot of colds, then eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can change all that for you. Your immune system thrives when you get more vitamin C, D, and more.

Not only that, but the nutrients found in many fruits and vegetables have also been shown to be highly effective at combating a range of specific conditions, ranging from Alzheimer’s, to cancer, to diabetes.

Longer Life

I mentioned that fruits and vegetables could help you to look more youthful. As it happens, they can also help you to live longer. They do this by preventing illness as mentioned above, but also by helping you to combat free radicals and thereby protect your cells. The result is less damage to your DNA, and a much lower chance of mutations leading to tumors and cancer.

More Energy

I used to work with someone who was absolutely full of energy. This person would seemingly bound out of bed, looking amazing, and would always attack work with amazing vigor, focus, and creativity. They were kind of annoying. But at the same time, they got stuff done – and we all wished we could feel like them. Their secret? It turned out to be a morning smoothie. But you knew that already, didn’t you?

Better Mood

One of the most noticeable benefits of eating more fruit and vegetables is that you’ll enjoy a better mood. This is thanks to the fact that you will feel better and sleep better, but ALSO because you’ll have the raw materials used to create “happiness hormones” like serotonin. If you’re someone who feels constantly stressed and anxious, or who is often low, then you might find that increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables in your diet can change all of that almost overnight.

Brain Power

If you find yourself likewise struggling to focus, or thinking through a haze of brain fog, then again… fruits and vegetables can often help. You’ll find that getting more nutrients in your diet helps to boost focus, creativity, memory, and much more. It’s a natural “nootropic” that can help you to outperform others in the office and boardroom.

As you can see then, the benefits that can come from fruits and vegetables are gigantic. This is something that can genuinely change your life for the better… so make sure you’re getting them in your diet!

A Simple Recipe With Tons of Fruits and Vegetables

Getting lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet doesn’t have to be difficult. This is all about changing the way that you cook, so that you can easily add lots of nutritious ingredients into a single pot, stir, and then dish up!
One of the best examples is bolognaise, which gives you free license to toss in all kinds of nutritious fruits and vegetables. Here’s a quick recipe to leave you with, that will provide just one example of how you can easily, massively up your nutrient intake.

Step 1
First, boil the kettle and get your pasta bubbling. If you have an electric hob then you should turn this on to start it heating up even before you’re pan is on it. It will save you time re-boiling the water.
If you’re concerned about adding large amounts of carbs to your bowl, then you can use brown pasta which makes the carbs more complex and thus slower to release sugar.

Step 2
Now take your second pan with a little oil and start heating that up while you chop up one whole onion. Throw that on and immediately afterwards add your mince – choose lean mince if you want to make this healthier, or even turkey mince. Now let the mince brown slightly and break it up with your wooden spoon to speed the whole process along. You can add chopped garlic at this point – or to save time, opt for garlic flakes or even garlic puree.

You already have two portions of veg at this point and the garlic is particularly beneficial for a range of reasons: it is a vasodilator (meaning it sends more blood to the brain and muscles), it is antibiotic and it is great for digestion.
Onion likewise has many of the same benefits.
You can turn up the hob to the highest setting or at least near to the highest setting and this will help the cooking to come along much faster.

Step 3
Now put in a tin of chopped tomatoes over your mince. You can do this after less than five minutes – your mince will already be brown and it will cook faster when it’s in some sauce. On top of this add in a good two thirds of a tube of tomato puree and you’ll give it a great tomato-y kick. Optionally you can also add some passata if you want a sloppy spag’.
Tomato is a particularly great source of antioxidants and a range of vitamins. For added credit, you can also grate over the top one to two carrots to add even more goodness. Grating carrot won’t change the taste or texture much, it means you can leave on the skin for added goodness, and once again… it’s super quick!

Step 4
Next up comes the seasoning. Just add two stock cubes (or a few gravy granules), some salt and pepper, and a liberal dosage of Maggi (or a slightly less liberal dosage of brown sauce – try it before you judge!). You probably have your own things that you add, so I’ll leave that to you. I recommend adding a little oregano however and some larger pepper corns.
And if you want even more benefits, then why not add some mushrooms into the mix too? Grab the pre-chopped kind for speed and put them on at this point toward the end:
it will shrink down quickly. Better yet, keep a bag of frozen mushrooms in your freezer. You’ll benefit from the protein content, the vitamin D, and much more.
Likewise, you could grate in some carrots. This is an easy way to add more vegetables again – and it will provide a ton of vitamin A, lutein, and more – boosting vision, brain function, skin, and more.
Other options include sweetcorn, beans, red peppers, leeks, and more. ALL these have amazing properties and are extremely easy to throw in.

Step 5
Now all you need to do is to wait and then add the mince mixture to the pasta. Make sure that the pasta is soft enough and that there’s no red inside the mince (there shouldn’t be – it’s tiny after all) and then mix it together. Of course, you’ll want to add some cheese to your bolognaise either before or after you dish up, but again you can save time here by simply buying some pre-grated cheese. If you can get pre-grated parmesan in a tub it will be surprisingly cheap and it’ll last you for ages.
And there you have it – super fast bolognaise. If you don’t wait ages to brown the mince first, if you turn it up high and if you use ready flakes and grated products then it really needn’t take any more than fifteen minutes.
And while you might not think of foods with mince as being ‘healthy’, the truth is that lean mince isn’t all that bad at all: it’s packed with protein and nutrients and is only a little fatty. This is the kind of home-cooked, wholesome food that builds great health and it’s certainly much better than eating lots of ready-meals!

It really is that easy to start enjoying the incredible benefits of more fruits and vegetables in your diet.

Health and Fitrness

Depression And Suicide In Men

by shedboy71 22nd October 2019

Men have a difficult time with depression because they feel they have to be in control and strong—controlling their emotions all the time. When men feel the typical feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, they cover up these feelings by behaving recklessly, getting angry or drinking too much.

While you might think that depression in men is uncommon, it is actually very common. The National Institutes of Health estimate that 6 million men are affected by depression and suicidal thoughts every year.

Depression is a treatable health problem affecting men of all backgrounds. Besides the man who suffers from the condition, the whole family is affected—children, family members, wives, and close friends. Depression doesn’t just affect the mind. It can lead to physical conditions, such as heart disease and chronic medical conditions.

Depression is worse than the normal dips in mood everyone faces. It involves recurrent or unrelenting feelings of hopelessness of despair that influence all aspects of your life—from work, to family relationships, to free time. You simply can’t enjoy life as well when you are depressed.

Depression In Men Is Overlooked

A man’s experience with depression has a high likelihood of being overlooked. Men don’t talk about their feelings as much as women do. Instead, they experience physical symptoms like headaches, sleep deprivation, back pain, and sexual difficulties. This often results in under-treatment of depression in men. It means that men are not often identified as being depressed until it reaches a point of suicide.

Men have a lesser tendency to commit suicide when compared to women but they are more likely to be successful at a suicide attempt than women are. This is because they use things like guns to commit suicide and are less likely to take pills, which has a higher rate of survival.

Symptoms Of Depression

Men who experience depression may have the typical symptoms of sadness, being withdrawn, and hopelessness with a loss of interest in activities and friends that used to interest them. They can also be much more irritable and aggressive than women are who are depressed. Depressed men drink more and suffer from compulsive working behaviors. They engage in high risk activities while depressed.

Many men don’t recognize their own symptoms of depression, often denying their feelings. Instead, depressed men will complain about the following:
• Physical pain: Men will complain of headaches, sleep disturbances, erectile dysfunction, and backaches. They may have digestive difficulties that don’t respond, as they should to the usual treatment.
• Anger: Men who are depressed are often angry and irritable. Some resort to violence, becoming abusive to their spouses or picking fights with others. They become controlling and difficult to live with.
• Reckless behavior: Men try to escape their depressed feelings by engaging in dangerous and risky behavior. They may suffer from compulsive gambling, drug abuse, or driving while drinking.
• Blaming others: While women blame themselves and feel guilty, men often blame others and are angry at everyone around them
• Feel suspicious: Instead of being anxious and afraid, men become paranoid, guarded, and suspicious. They don’t trust others and this makes it hard to get help.

Causes Of Depression In Men

Like women, men can have many causes to their depression. Many factors—both biological and environmental—play a role in who gets depressed and who does not.

Common Causes Of Depression In Men Include:

• Relationship difficulties
• Stress at home, work or school
• Changing life circumstances
• Failure to reach goals
• Having constant financial difficulty
• Recently stopping smoking
• A recent death in the family
• Overwhelming responsibilities
• Loss of independence through retirement

Treating Depression In Men

Men need as much treatment as women when it comes to treating depression. Care can come in the form of psychotherapy that is done on a weekly basis. Cognitive-behavioral therapy works especially well in patients who are depressed.

Antidepressants can also help men who have depression, even though one of the side effects is erectile dysfunction. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs are good medications to try to reduce the physiological reasons behind being depressed.

Lifestyle Changes And Depression

Sometimes lifestyle changes can improve depression in men. This means getting regular exercise, eating better, avoiding alcohol and drugs, and stopping smoking. Men with depression should try to get enough sleep and reduce the amount of stress in their lives, if possible.

Men should try to build up their social network in order to reduce the amount of social isolation they feel. Sometimes it means getting together with friends on a regular basis and sometimes it means joining a group for men who have depression. Men need as much social support as women when it comes to depression so they can learn ways of expressing themselves and overcoming the feelings of being so alone in their depressed thoughts.

Health and Fitrness

Eating for a vegan lifestyle

by shedboy71 18th October 2019

A vegan eating lifestyle includes the ingestion of fruits, vegetables, grains, dried beans, peas, lentils, seeds, and nuts. Vegans do not consume dairy, eggs, meat, poultry, fish or any products that contain any of these foods. Many people struggle with adopting a vegan lifestyle because they believe deficiencies in calcium, iron, zinc, and a host of other vital vitamins and nutrients will take place. And, in part, they are right… if they do not replace what they have removed with other sources of these vitamins and minerals.

If a traditional eater removes all dairy and animal products from their diet and simply eats regularly despite that removal, they are not only going to be deficient in vitamins and minerals, they will be deficient in protein and caloric intake.

Vegan’s Sources of Macro-and-Micro-Nutrients

There are plenty of vegan sources of these very important macro and-micro-nutrients you can place into your diet once removing dairy and animal byproducts in order to “plug the holes” those food items will cause.

Protein is a vital component to building muscle, keeping strong, and making sure red blood cells are healthy. It is also the component that supports growth all through a species’ life cycle. Sources of protein for vegans include soy and soy-based products (such as tempeh, fortified soy beverages, and tofu), veggie burgers, legumes (black beans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, and lentils), grains (quinoa, oatmeal, and brown rice), seeds (sunflower and sesame) and nut butters.

Iron is another vital component of a healthy diet because it helps carry oxygen to different parts of the body. It is said that vegans usually need twice the amount of iron in their diet as traditional eaters because these iron sources from plants is not as well absorbed as the iron from animal foods, but that does not mean a vegan eating lifestyle is a bad thing. The foods that contain iron also contain high amounts of micronutrients that most all other people are consistently deficient in.

Sources for iron include soy and soy-based products, veggie burgers, prune juice, dried apricots, cooked spinach, cooked kale, potatoes with the skin on, pinto beans, adzuki beans, lentils, fortified grain products, cashews, almonds and blackstrap molasses.

One thing to keep in mind with absorbing iron while eating vegan is the fact that it absorbs better when it is ingested when paired with foods that are rich in vitamin C. These types of foods include grapefruits, oranges, kiwis, lemons, limes, potatoes, sweet peppers, broccoli and cantaloupe. And yes, their juices also count if you are a juicer.

Vitamin B12 is yet another vitamin that many would be deficient on if they did not replace those foods removed from their diet. This vitamin helps the body to utilize stored fats as well as create red blood cells. Good sources of vitamin B12 for a vegan include Red Star nutritional yeast, fortified soy beverages and fortified meat alternative like meatless chicken and veggie burgers.

Vitamin D is necessary for the body because it not only helps to stave off seasonal depression and help regulate the brain’s chemistry, it also aids in the absorption and convert phosphorus and calcium into usable components that aid in strong teeth and bones. Vegan sources of vitamin D include non-hydrogenated margarines and fortified, vegan-friendly products.

Also, the sun. Get outside and get yourself some sun.

Speaking of calcium, that is another one of the controversial nutrients that vegans supposedly do not get enough of. Calcium is necessary for bone and muscle health, and helps with muscular contractions, like your heart beat. There are numerous calcium sources for vegans, and some of them are soy yogurt, fortified non-dairy beverages, navy beans, sesame butter (also called “tahini”), blackstrap molasses, bok choy, okra, figs and fortified orange juice.

Zinc is another mineral many people are deficient in, and there are many sources of it for those who choose a vegan eating lifestyle. Zinc is necessary for basic development and growth, and it also aids in strengthening the immune system and healing wounds inflicted upon the body.

Good sources of zinc for vegans include peas, lentils, dried beans, pecans, cashew butter, peanut butter, pumpkin seeds and fortified whole grains.

The last nutrient that many people are deficient in that can be provided for on a vegan diet is linolenic acid. If you do not recognize that name, then you will probably recognize it by its other name, omega-3 fatty acid. Omega-3s are important for nerve, eye, and brain development, but are also helpful in preventing heart disease and cardiac events. There are some wonderful vegan-friendly sources, some of which include flaxseed oil, soybean oil, canola oil, ground flaxseed, tofu and walnuts.

When To Take Supplements?

But, if you are an athlete, or work out intensively while adopting a vegan eating lifestyle, then supplements are usually something worked into the health regimen, no matter what. Vegans, however, have to be very careful with the types of supplements they choose to take. Many supplements on the market have animal byproduct additives to aid in its preservation and shelf life, and it can wreak havoc on a vegan’s body if they have gone for an extended period of time without consuming animal products or byproducts.

If you find yourself to be a picky eater, then all of the nutrients and vitamins listed above would be wonderful to work into your morning or evening routine. Just make sure you find a vegan friendly distributor of these vitamins to stay within the boundaries of your diet.

For most vegans, a basic vegan-certified multivitamin that includes B12 will be enough. Those multivitamins house zinc,iodine, vitamin C, omega-3 fatty acids, as well as a slew of micronutrients that your body can benefit from. However, if you are someone who is eating a vegan lifestyle and training or working out regularly, then it is recommended you find a branched chain amino acid that is vegan-friendly in order to help your body recuperate from the beating your muscles are taking in your workout sessions. These BCAA’s will help your body to maintain the muscles it is breaking down and strengthening instead of you simply losing your strength. It will also aid in keeping your bones strong during training, as well.

The truth of the matter is that dropping entire food groups from your body, while healthier, will inevitably create holes in the nutrients you are receiving. Our stereotypical dietary pyramid that kids are taught in school is not focused on keeping their body inwardly healthy for the long run, but is there to make sure they get the right amount of vitamins and minerals daily.

In other words, our dietary pyramid is not constructed with bodily health in mind, but with nutrient health in mind.
And yes, there is a difference.

This means that supplements will be necessary. How will you know if you need supplements? Start by finding a basic vegan friendly multivitamin you can take daily (and a vegan-friendly BCAA if you are working out and training regularly), and see how your body feels from there. If there is a list outlined above whose foods you simply cannot stomach, then that is an individual nutrient and/or vitamin that will probably require its own bulk daily supplement.

But, now that you have all of this information, it is time to tackle the last informational part of this book before we talk about “going vegan” and what that entails, and this last part is addressing the intimidating work of exercise and what it means and looks like to someone who eats a vegan diet.

Health and Fitrness

Lets talk about heart disease and men

by shedboy71 12th October 2019

The Centers For Disease Control reported in 2013 that the percentage of men dying of heart disease was 24.6%

In spite of better technology and better public awareness about the risk factors for heart disease, it remains the number one cause of death in men in the US.
Statistics reported by the Centers For Disease Control are a rude awakening:

• Heart disease kills about 300,000 men every year. This amounts to about 1 in every 4 deaths among men.
• It is the leading cause of death for men of most ethnic groups in the US, including Caucasians, African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanics. It is the second leading cause of death among Asians in the US (behind cancer).
• About half of all men who suddenly die of heart disease have had no prior symptoms. This means that even if you suffer from no heart disease symptoms, you may still have heart disease.
• About 70 to 89% of sudden cardiac deaths occur in men.

What Is Heart Disease

The term “heart disease” involves much more than a heart attack.

Three separate diseases fall under the umbrella of heart disease:

• Cerebrovascular disease: This is a condition in which plaques form in the arteries leading to or inside the brain. The carotid arteries in the neck are the main arteries involved in plaque formation and are the ones most commonly involves in strokes. The plaques narrow the arteries and blood clots within the narrowed artery, resulting in a blocked artery and a stroke.

• Heart Attack: A heart attack involves having plaque formation and narrowing of the coronary arteries of the heart. Similar to a stroke, the plaques narrow the coronary arteries and a blood clot forms in the narrowed area, blocking blood flow to the heart muscle, leading to a heart attack.

• Peripheral vascular disease: People with heart attacks and stroke are also at a greater risk of peripheral vascular disease. In this condition, the arteries leading to the legs become clogged with cholesterol and calcium-containing plaques. This leads to decreased blood flow to the legs and symptoms of claudication, which is pain in the calves or thighs when walking longer distances. If a blood vessel also develops a clot in the narrowed portion, the circulation to the legs is lost and gangrene can form.

Risk Factors

There are three major risk factors for heart disease in men, including:
• High blood pressure
• Smoking cigarettes
• Elevated LDL cholesterol

These are common risk factors. The National Institutes Of Health report that about 49% of all American live with at least 1 of the 3 main risk factors for heart disease.

Many other health conditions and lifestyle factors increase the risk of a man getting heart disease. These include the following:
• Being overweight or obese
• Having diabetes
• Having a poor diet high in saturated fat
• Being physically inactive
• Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol

Preventing Heart Disease

Heart disease can be prevented in many ways. Some things you can do to decrease the risk of having heart disease include the following:

• Maintain a normal weight: This means eating fewer calories and watching the amount of saturated fat in the diet
• Get aerobic exercise: This means getting 30 minutes of aerobic exercise like running, swimming, or walking on most days of the week
• Quitting smoking: Smoking is one of the major risk factors for heart disease
• Maintaining good diabetic control: This means watching the diet and taking medications to keep blood sugars under control. It also means screenings in the form of blood tests, especially for men at high risk for type 2 diabetes
• Lowering cholesterol: This can be done by taking medications to reduce cholesterol and be eating a low cholesterol diet
• Maintaining a normal blood pressure: This can be done by taking medications for high blood pressure and exercising regularly

Health and Fitrness

Learn and Fix Back Pain Video Series

by shedboy71 11th October 2019

I suffered from bad back pain for 8 months, it was a slow road to recovery but what I did realize was good information can reduce the recovery time.

Here are some back pain related videos that we found

Best Stretch To Do First Thing in the Morning:

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

What To Do When You Strain Your Lower Back?

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

Why Is It Stiff When I Wake Up?

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

How To Get Out of the Back Pain Cycle

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

Best Stretch for the Lower Back:

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

Most Dangerous Stretch for the Lower Back:

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

Best Yoga Pose for the Lower Back:

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

#1 Worst Ab Exercise of All Time:

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

Assisted Glute Ham Raise Fixes Back Pain

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

#1 Deadlift Mistake:

Got Back Pain? Click Here…

Health and Fitrness

Your Five Minute Guide to More Energy

by shedboy71 8th October 2019

That’s where this ‘five minute guide’ comes in. Here, we are going to look at all the things you need to do to start getting your energy back in a much more palatable form. You can glance over this to get the gist and you can then dive back in whenever you need a refresher.

Your Strategy: Kaizen

Taking what we just said about low energy into account, you should arm yourself with this piece of advice before going any further:
Anything is better than nothing.

Sleep

Keeping that in mind, we’re going to now hone in on one of the very most powerful ways you can immediately improve your energy with very little work.

Simply follow these three tips:
• Take 10-30 minutes at the end of each day to read quietly in bed with no phones, TV or computers
• Have a hot shower 30 minutes before bed
• Open the window a jar to keep your room at a generally cool temperature

Diet

Now comes the diet. This is something else you can change relatively easily but you can also go a lot deeper if you’re willing to.

• Vitamin D
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B12
• Iron
• Omega 3 Fatty Acid
• Coenzyme Q10
• PQQ
• L-Carnitine
• MCT Oil
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• Vitamin C
• Lutein

On the other hand, you should also avoid eating lots of food with low nutrient density, which simply strains your digestive system and robs you of energy.

What you really want to avoid then are ‘low fat’ diet snacks, which actually leave you exhausted by providing nothing but low-nutrient, rapid digesting carbs!

As a general rule, you want to avoid anything that you wouldn’t be able to ‘find’ in the wild. That means anything that is overly processed or overly man-made. The diet you’re now looking at becomes very similar to the paleo diet or the ‘slow carb diet’. But note that there’s no need to go that far. While bread might not be natural, many of the top athletes in the world eat bread and still perform perfectly fine (and you can forget gluten being an issue unless you are a genuine Celiac). Likewise, Einstein probably drank milk… And if you completely remove carbs from your diet, then you’ll end up lowering your own testosterone and feeling exhausted all the time.

Tip: To make it a little easier to move to freshly cooked meals, try preparing your meals at the start of the week and keeping them in the freezer/plastic containers.

Lifestyle

No matter how good your diet and sleep are, there may be some things you’re doing that are damaging your energy levels and undoing all your hard work.

If you find that stress is causing you to feel listless, low on motivation and concentration and low on mood, then you should seek to change whatever aspect of your day-to-day experience is causing that stress. Of course this is often ‘easier said than done’ but you should always put your health and happiness first.
If you can’t remove the source of the stress, then consider speaking to a cognitive behavioral therapist. These experts use a very effective series of tools in order to help you improve your ability to cope with sources of stress.

Exercise

Going With the Flow

Everything we’ve looked at here should help you to manipulate your energy levels and to boost them to some degree. When you combine all these techniques, you should start feeling better.

Health and Fitrness

How To Get “The Rock” Shoulder

by shedboy71 8th October 2019

Everyone wants to have “The Rock” shoulder & Washboard Abs! These are the aesthetic muscles that make you look good with or without clothes.

First, let’s start off with “The Rock” Shoulders. Some even call it the “Diamond Delts” and even“ The Boulders”. Whatever you call it, round, rock-solid and striated shoulders are highly sought after by anyone who are into fitness.

So how do you get “The Rock” Shoulder?

Essentially there are 3 angles you need to tackle to have round, solid deltoids or ‘delts’, which are: Front Delts, Middle Delts, and Rear Delts. Here are my simplified and complete workouts to fully engage every angle of your delts in making them pop:

1)Lateral shoulder raise
2)Standing side deltoid circle raise
3)Seated overhead military press
4)Seated alternated dumbbell press
5)Upright rowing
6)Seated bent-over rear deltoid raise

1)Lateral Shoulder Raise

Lateral Shoulder Raise, the best lateral deltoid exercise in history. This is the best exercise to sculpt round shoulders and giving others the impression of you having huge and wide shoulders.

1. Position the height of the seat so that the feet are firmly planted on the floor. This gives resistance against the floor and assists in balance and stability while lifting. The seat should be adjusted to a comfortable position to perform the movement.
2. Depends on the type equipment you use – whether it’s Dumbbell or Lateral Raise Machine, you either place the forearms against the pads or grip the handles. Start with your arms at your sides.
3. If you’re using a machine, raise the arms up while pushing against the forearm pads. If you’re using dumbbells, simply raise those dumbbells laterally.

2) Standing Side Deltoid Circle Raise

Standing Side Deltoid Circle Raise, one of the best exercise for overall shoulder muscles development in all different angles.

1. Pick up the weights with your palms facing each other. Try to use your legs to lift the weight, rather than your back. Keep the back straight and the head up.
2.Stand up straight with your feet positioned in a comfortable stance so you are well balanced and relaxed. The feet should be about shoulder-width apart; the arms should be fully extended at your sides with a dumbbell in each hand.
3. You begin with both dumbbells hang on your side. At the same time, raise both dumbbells out to the sides, bringing them up just above shoulder height. It is acceptable to flex the elbows slightly as the weights are brought up.
4. Lower the weights using the same lateral motion with which they were raised.
Usually, you can’t go heavy on this exercise. So take a light weight and perform 8-10 circles of each set of this exercise.

3) Seated Overhead Military Press

Seated Overhead Military Press, a power movement to develop the mid deltoids.

1. You can perform military press using dumbbells, kettlebells or barbell. First, make sure to sit upright on a stool. Grasp onto your barbell with shoulder-width apart.
2. At the starting position, both of your elbows are tucked in and the bar lay on your upper chest. To execute the movement, simply push the bar upward with your arms fully extended. The bar or dumbbells should be at the overhead position at the top of the lift.
3. One thing you need to make sure is to keep your core tight, spine erect and head held up as you perform the exercise.
4. Finally, lower your weights slowly until its back to the starting position. You don’t want the weight slamming down at you so make sure you move the weights in a slow, controlled tempo for gains and safety.

4) Seated Alternated Dumbbell Press

Seated Alternated Dumbbell Press, another variation of military press with more control and isolation.

1. Lift two dumbbells in a continuous motion, keeping the back straight and the head up, until they are at shoulder height.
2. Position the feet firmly on the floor and push against the floor for stability. Notice that the heel of the prosthetic leg is pushing against the floor.
3. Keep the elbows out to the sides and the thumbs facing each other.
4. Lift to mid-chest level.

5)Upright Rowing

Upright Rows, a killer workout for the middle deltoids.

1. First, stand upright with your knees slightly bent to buffer the weights. Then, prepare a set of dumbbells, kettlebells, barbell or EZ-barbell to perform the exercise.
2. To move into the starting position, stand upright with the weights hanging on both sides.
3. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart and slightly bent for balance.
4. You should apply overhand grip for this exercise and keep both hands close to each other. From that position, raise the weights upward to your chin in a pulling motion. Imagine carrying 2 pails of water vertically while standing upright.
5. At the top of the lift, the elbows should flare out to the sides and keep them as high as possible.
6. Remember to pause and squeeze at the top of the lift before lowering them back down to the starting position.
7. Repeat the movement until you’ve completed your desired repetitions.

6)Seated Bent-Over Rear Deltoid Raise

This workout targets the rear delts, a part where most people neglect but essential to bring out the round, boulders. Here’s how you do it:

1. Select two lightweight dumbbells (10 pounds or less for the beginner); place them on the floor on either side of the end of a flat bench.
2. Sit at the end of the bench with your feet fairly close together and planted firmly on the floor. The dumbbells should be on either side below where you are sitting.
3.Lean forward so that your chest almost touches your thighs. Keep your head facing the floor. Lift the dumbbells to the height of your ears.
4.Raise the dumbbells out and upward, straightening your arms and locking the elbows.
5. Lower and raise the dumbbells in a continuous semi-circular motion, keeping your arms straight and elbows locked.
6.Inhale as the dumbbells are raised; exhale as they are lowered.

You don’t have to go heavy for this exercise, as the rear delts are not huge muscles. Try doing it for 12-15 reps each set with control for best results.

Health and Fitrness

35 Tips To Eat Out On A Low Carb Diet

by shedboy71 8th October 2019

Know The Rules
The main rules of low carb eating are no starches and no sugars; this means the possibilities are really unlimited when eating out.

Carry A Carb Counter
It is very important to know the carb counts of various foods, especially when you are on a strict low carb diet like the Ketogenic or Atkins™. So make sure you have a carb counter, these come in mini books or apps for your smartphones.

Avoid High Pressure Zones
Okay, so your all-time favorite food is Italian, and you love your pasta dishes, or maybe you cannot imagine eating a Chinese feast without a few egg rolls, so when you first start out on a low carb plan, it may be better to avoid these high-pressure zones at least until you are settled into the lifestyle. So choose other restaurants and give yourself a break.

Check Your Motivation
Before you even head out to eat, it’s a good idea to reaffirm your goals to stay motivated and to avoid temptation. An easy rule to remember is GPS – grains, potatoes and sugars. Don’t put these on your plate.

Don’t Starve Yourself
Never got to a restaurant when you’re famished. By eating when you’re desperately hungry, not only do you increase the possibility of going off-plan, but you also risk over-eating. As the size of your meal increases, so does your risk of rebound hunger. If you’re finding this is a common issue, try eating smaller meals spaced 3-4 hours apart and eat slowly and deliberately.

Peruse The Menu
Due to the high popularity of low carb diets, many restaurants are now adding calorie count, heart healthy and other labels to their menu items and this includes low carb. Do the research and find those in your area that do this, and always check the menu for those tags no matter where you eat.

Be Prepared
Before you even leave the house, you can give yourself a head start by previewing the restaurant or cafes’ menu online. By familiarizing yourself with the menu, you can mentally note which dishes are healthy and avoid making an uninformed, unhealthy, and impulsive decision.

Dine With Your Supporters
People can really be unpredictable, sometimes there are those who just don’t understand what you are doing, and why you are doing it, and sometimes they just don’t like themselves and project that on you by being critical of your weight loss efforts.

This type of criticism and negativity is not only annoying and unwelcome it can easily detract you from sticking with your plan, make you feel embarrassed and ashamed, and at worst may prevent you from meeting your long-term goals.

So, if uncle Bob or your friend Sally is knocking your lettuce wrapped burger or burrito bowl, stop going out with them and choose supportive dining partners instead.

Don’t Hide From Healthy Fats
Attempting to cut out any food from your diet without replacing it is a short cut to failure and it is no difference with carbs. By replacing carbs with healthy fat, you are not only keeping your appetite at bay but also providing your body with energy so you can stick with your low-carb diet. This means you can put a dab of real butter on your steak, ask that they cook your eggs in real butter, and ask for olive oil and vinegar on your salads.

Ditch The Buns And Bread
Bread is a carbohydrate and offers very little nutritional benefit. Any sandwich can be lettuce wrapped, and this includes burgers, chicken and steak sandwiches. You can also just each the insides with a knife and fork without the bread. If the restaurant is clueless about lettuce wrapping, then just ask for no bread and a few large leaves of lettuce and make it yourself.

French Fries Alternatives
Your restaurant may offer baked carrot sticks, so find out. If not, you can get yourself a lettuce wrapped burger, and then ask for a couple of slices of extra crispy bacon on the side, with the crunch of the bacon, you will never miss the fries.

You CAN Win Friends With Salad
We know from fruit juice that just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s healthy and you should be mindful of your salad ingredients for this reason.
Always ask what is included in the salad, and avoid beans, corn, or other starches. Don’t order those that come in a shell, and ask that croutons and tortilla strips be removed.
Real bacon bits are fine, as is cheese on your salad. Ask for dressing on the side so you can control your intake, especially with creamy dressings that include some carbs. Any included meat should be grilled and never breaded or fried.

Choose Low Carb Sides
If your entrée includes high carb sides such as pasta, rice, or fries, ask if you can substitute it for low carb options such as, vegetables like broccoli, asparagus or a salad. Restaurants will almost always be happy to accommodate you. No matter what, ask that they not put any starches on your plate to avoid temptation.

Pizza
Everyone loves pizza, but most of the bad carbs are in the crust, not the sauce and toppings. So, leave the crust on your plate, grab a fork, eat up the toppings, and enjoy!

Control Your Appetite And You Control Temptation
You can give yourself an edge to avoid the temptation of all the high carb menu items by snacking on something healthy before you head out. This will help you avoid overeating and making unhealthy choices. Choose something that’s healthy and filling but that won’t completely ruin your appetite like a few nuts or avocado slices.

Don’t Desert Your Dessert
Craving something sweet to finish off your meal? Don’t ruin all your hard work by ordering some flour, sugar, and fat filled disaster.
Instead, if you dinner-mate has ordered dessert, take one bite of theirs or even better, order some fresh berries, like raspberries and a dollop of fresh cream for a very low carb dessert option, it’s really all you need to get rid of that sweet-tooth craving.

Choose Drinks With Care
Soft drinks and alcohol are heavy in carbs, so choose low carb alternatives such as tea, sugar free coffee, water, and sparkling water. If you must drink alcohol then some low carb options are dry wine, and pure spirits (straight or with club soda).

Choose Only Grilled Meats
Avoid anything fried and choose only grilled chicken, fish and steak.

Stick With Old-Fashioned Favorites
There really is no substitute for real food. Often the best option is a simple meat and non-starchy vegetables combination, especially if the restaurant offers organic and grass-fed meats. If you don’t eat red meat or want a leaner option, go for the chicken, seafood or fish instead.

Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment
Often people don’t realize how limited their cuisine is until they travel overseas. Various other cultures offer a variety of low-carb, healthy snacks, and meal options like dried anchovies and kelp chips and food prepared in coconut oil.

Water Water Everywhere
Water has some great benefits besides being obviously calorie free. Drinking water before a meal or on an empty stomach helps fill you up. Drinking 2 glasses upon waking washes out your renal system and hydrates your alimentary canal. Drinking 8 glasses a day helps prevent constipation.

A Variation On Pasta Dishes
When it comes to pasta, you’d be hard pressed to find a more carbohydrate rich food, which is why many people can’t pass it up. When you eat pasta by itself, you also realize how tasteless it really is without any sauce. People don’t love pasta, they love pasta sauce.
Get all the flavor of your favorite Italian meal by pouring that sauce on your meat and veggies instead. This works with marinara and Alfredo, which tastes great over chicken and broccoli without the pasta.

More Fun With Pasta
Check the menu for a spiral cut zucchini pasta, many restaurants have joined the spiral vegetable revolution allowing you to enjoy your favorite pasta dishes the low carb way.

Sushi
If Sushi is one of your favorite go-to meals, you can still enjoy it, but without the rice. Get your cut rolls without rice, and order hand rolls without rice instead; another good option is to add cucumber to those rolls instead.
Sashimi platters are good choices or you can simply order from the many sushi salads that include fresh fish over a bed of greens; spicy tuna salad is a great choice.

Get Saucy
Sauces can be a real mixed bag. Tomato sauce for example contains mostly carbs while Béarnaise is mostly fat. If you’re unsure then just ask your waiter about the ingredients and avoid the sauce if it contains flour or sugar. Another option is to ask for the sauce on the side so you can control how much is added to your meal.

Oil Be Back
You may not have noticed it but sometimes restaurants will drizzle your meal with cheaper vegetable oils instead of using olive oil. This is a less healthy choice and vegetable oil is also full of omega 6 fats. You can get around this by taking a small concealable bottle of olive oil with you.

Breaking The Fast
To a eat healthy breakfast, eggs are really your best friend and the variety of dishes created with them are limitless.
Foods to avoid in your breakfast order are oatmeal, hash browns, waffles, pancakes, and toast.
You can have steak and eggs, omelets with filled with cheese, veggies, and meats, and the classic bacon or sausage and egg dish is always great.

The Mexican Fiesta
Mexican dishes are typically a high carb disaster, but there are low carb variations. Burrito fillings can be eaten without a tortilla, just ask for the insides bowl style and use your fork, be sure to ask for no beans, or rice.

Tacos can be wrapped in a leaf of lettuce instead of a tortilla.

You can enjoy that salsa with sliced cucumbers or other sliced vegetables instead of the high carb chips.
One of the most healthy low carb options in an authentic Mexican joint is the shrimp cocktail or ceviche. Guacamole (sans the chips) is your healthy fat.

The Appetizer Buffet
You can create yourself a low carb mini buffet by ordering a dinner salad and a couple of low carb appetizers, like stuffed mushrooms, shrimp cocktail or ahi tartare.

Eliminate The Bread Basket
As soon as you sit down, ask the server to no bring any bread to the table. This helps avoid temptation.

A Better Coffee Treat
Your favorite coffee house Frappuccino and blends are loaded with sugar. Instead, get a regular coffee, add half and half and some artificial sweetener and you have a low carb sweet treat.

Soup Ideas
Soup can be very low carb, but choose those without rice, noodles, corn or potatoes. Cream soups can be good, such as Cream of Broccoli.
Don’t be shy about asking the server for a complete list of ingredients.

Chili Issues
Chili is great except for the beans; sometimes you can get lucky and find a spot that serves really good chili without any beans.

Be Assertive
Never shy away from asking for variations and preparation of your food the way you want it.
Restaurants who love and appreciate their customers will comply with anything they possibly can, and you should never let shyness or a lack of assertiveness keep you from enjoying dining the low carb way!

Stay On Track
Monitor your success with eating out as you progress, if more often than not you stray from your low carb plan when at restaurants, then just avoid them for a while or limit going out to eat.

In the end, the most important thing is that you properly acclimate to your new way of eating, and if restaurants interfere with this, then so be it, they will be still be there when you reach your goals, or are able to resist temptation.

Yu can still enjoy socializing with friends and family by inviting them over to your home instead of going out, where you can control the menu.

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