My Heart Revolution

Working as a fitness and weight loss bootcamp instructor and personal trainer in Singapore, I tell my clients that diet, even more than working out, affects their fat loss, fitness, weight loss and muscle gain.. A massive proportion of correct nutrition entails cooking at home, where you have complete control over the quality of ingredients as well as preparation techniques and quantity.

When teaching about cooking at home, I frequently hear, “But I don’t know how to cook!”, or get asked, “How do I learn how to cook better? I’m tired of my own cooking!”

It’s not difficult! Let me share with you a little of my culinary journey and you’ll see that it is not difficult, especially if you know the secret to improving your cooking!

Alright, when I was new to cooking, I was terrible. The first served I served a friend, no kidding you, consisted of frozen peas defrosted with the dorm kitchen faucet, chicken pink and bloody in the middle, and half-cooked, hard brown rice. He valiantly and very politely ate the whole mess. There are people who could eat uranium and still live, I guess.

Well, my friend lived, but I was ashamed. I had to change!

It took a while and quite a few disasters along the way (like when I poured water and rice into the rice cooker when the rice receptacle was NOT inside the rice cooker…) but I succeeded. I’m proud to say that I’m now capable to single-handedly preparing a Christmas feast for the entire family, make pizza, perfect empanadas, kangaroo stew etc.

How did that happen?

In truth, the secret to upping one’s culinary skills is actually quite simple – all I did was to I SET SPECIFIC COOKING GOALS and work hard at them.

After all, goals are pretty important. Especially if you’ve put down a fair amount of dough on the match. I’m kidding – I meant the other kind of goal – the “goal” where a kid drops all his coins into his Batman-shaped piggybank so he can get another Batman-shaped piggybank. Or when a scrawny man disciplines himself to lift weights and eat a fearful amount of healthful foods so he starts to pack on muscle. Or when a girl attends a fitness bootcamp four days a week instead of going shopping, for maximal fat loss.

It’s pretty clear that goals give purpose and direction. They keep you from just flopping and drifting through life.

Goal setting is essential to cooking. By setting goals, you map out clearly the kitchen skills you want to pick up, and create for yourself a structured plan to gain those skills. Your cooking WILL improve.

I’ll give one example of a simple culinary goal:

DREAM: A perfect roast chicken DEFINATION: A perfect roast chicken is one cooked through but juicy throughout, even in the breast, with crisp, crackly skin. TIMEFRAME: by January 1st . RESOURCES: allrecipes.com’s tip page + grandma’s careful instruction

As you can see the goal is defined with clarity under “dream” and “definition”, a precise deadline is specified, together with the resources that will make achieving that dream possible. You can create excel spreadsheets to write up your goals and track your improvements, use a simple notebook or just a Post-It on your fridge door.

Remember, SET THE GOAL HIGH (e.g. being capable of setting out a healthful meal in less than half an hour total time, perfect Szechuan chicken etc) . Culinary goals have to be inspirational and challenging. Otherwise, it’s not going to put passion and drive into your kitchen sojourn.

In fact, we should all aim to cook so well that your own kids/nieces/nephews/grandkids etc would turn their noses up at MacDonalds. (Yeah, I guess it’ll be hard to compete with the allure of those plastic Happy Meal toys though.)

My current “big” kitchen goal is developing the perfect ginseng-goji-cinnamon-maitake double boiled free-range chicken stew by Christmas.

I should share this recipe with my fitness and fat loss bootcamp participants when it is ready. It’s a perfect muscle-gaining recipe too!

Coach Jonathan Wong, is a sought after Singapore personal trainer, Singapore fitness bootcamp coach, fitness author and performance expert who has helped hundreds of clients in Singapore achieve their fitness, fat loss and sports performance goals. He is also a member of Singapore Men’s Health Advisory Panel. Visit his website and blog for a free 1500 page e-book and constant updates.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-to-improve-your-cooking-singapore-fitness-bootcamp-coach-explains-1330121.html

My Heart Revolution Heart Health Fitness Brown Rice, Christmas Feast, Complete Control, Cooking At Home, Correct Nutrition, Culinary Journey, Culinary Skills, Disasters, Fitness Bootcamp, Frozen Peas, Kangaroo, Kangaroo Stew, Kitchen Faucet, Massive Proportion, Match, Muscle Gain, Personal Trainer, Receptacle, Rice Cooker, Uranium

Children’s food habits start young. In fact, the majority of these habits and preferences for children are well established by the time the child is 5 years old. So if the child is already eating unhealthy food by that time, it is going to be even more of a struggle as they older.

To get their kids started on the right path, some parents use a food grinder to make their own baby foods. That way, the parent knows exactly what is in the food they are serving their child from a young age.

As they get a little older and begin eating solids, children should start right away eating whole foods and fruits like apples, oranges, and bananas—although bananas are a heavy food, and you don’t want to feed your young child more than three bananas a week. In terms of whole grains, parents should make sure to give their children enough complex carbohydrates, in pastas and breads, as well. Whole grains breads are better than white breads, and brown rice is better than white rice. It’s really about getting rid of empty calories where you can, without eliminating any food groups altogether.

Another thing parents should be sure their children are getting enough of is protein. Many kids aren’t getting enough protein in their diet, or they aren’t getting enough variety with it. People don’t realize this, but there are a variety of forms of protein when you start talking about vegetable proteins and animal proteins. Three-fifths of the world is vegetarian—and they obviously survive without animal products—so your kids can, too. In fact, a bigger percentage of kids around the world are raised as vegetarians, so there may be something to that. Kids don’t need to be loaded up on animal products just to make sure they get enough protein. There are many other ways to get it as well.

Snacks are another big issue for kids. I believe snacks are something that should be available. The more parents can get their kids to start reaching for something healthy when they are hungry, like fruit, the better. That’s as opposed to not allowing them to have snacks because it isn’t dinner time, which many parents do.

Instead of refusing your child snacks or worrying that he is eating too much of the wrong foods, slice up apples or red bell peppers and let them have that. Red bell peppers are extremely high in vitamin C and are an excellent snack for kids. Plus, they taste great. If you get your kids hooked on that type of snacking, then you’re way ahead of the game.

No matter what your child is eating, though, getting his metabolism up is also important. That’s why getting children involved in fitness at a place like My Gym, where they can run, have fun, and rev up their metabolism at the same time, is so important.

Finally, parents need to realize that if they are not eating healthy foods, their kids won’t want to either. Kids want whatever Mom and Dad eat. That’s the power of the family culture in today’s society. So parents can take advantage of that by modeling good, healthy eating habits for their kids from a young age.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Harvey Howard is a writer for Yodle, a business directory and online advertising company. Find an Expert guide or more physical health articles at Yodle Consumer Guide. What Should Kids Be Eating for a Healthy Diet?

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-should-kids-be-eating-for-a-healthy-diet-1302683.html

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The fuel that you put into your body is important. In fact, it’s the most important thing when it comes to weight loss. Without nutritious and healthful foods, you can exercise for hours on end each day without making a bit of progress. The right foods are crucial to your weight loss success. Consider for a moment that your body is much like a car. You’d never fill the gas tank with water or some other liquid, right? Your car, of course, wouldn’t run properly if you did. Why is your body any different? Well, it isn’t, and this is why you must also fill your body with proper fuel to ensure that it functions well. If you fill your body’s tank with cookies, cakes, and ice cream, you’ll be building up gunk in your body’s engine. Instead, you should eat clean burning fuel to help your body function best. This means you’ll want to consume quality sources of lean protein, good carbohydrates, and plentiful green veggies. Healthy weight loss requires that your engine run smoothly. In order to achieve this, you’ll have to eat the right kinds of foods at the right times. Healthful lean proteins include lead red meats, skinless chicken breast meat, fish, and egg white or whole-egg substitutes. Carbohydrates have a bad reputation, but you should eat the good, fibrous ones instead of the processed, sugar laden kind. Good carbs include whole grain cereals, breads, pastas, brown rice, oatmeal, and potatoes, among many others. Green veggies like broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus, spinach, and many others round out a nutritious diet. Now that we’ve covered what to eat, let’s talk about proportions. Eating these different macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) in the right proportions is important for weight loss. There are a couple of different approaches to take. Depending on your appetite and your need to sate your hunger, you could eat three equal fist-size servings of lean protein, good carbs, and green veggies. Or, for faster weight loss, half of your plate can be green veggies with protein and carbs making up one-fourth each. Not only do you need to know what to eat and in what proportions, but knowing when to eat them is just as crucial for weight loss. The ideal is to eat 6 meals spread evenly throughout the day every 2 to 3 hours. This provides your body’s engine with a consistent supply of nutrients for optimal functioning and fat burning. It promotes a feeling of well being, and helps you lose weight more easily. Finally, don’t overlook the importance of drinking water. Drink a large 12 ounce glass of water with each meal. This is important to keep food moving through your digestive tract. As a precaution, check with your doctor before you begin a new weight loss or fitness regimen.

Dan Clay is a renowned Sydney personal trainer, boot camp instructor & real world fat loss expert. For more information on his boot camp CBD, boot camp Coogee Beach or boot camp Coogee visit our website.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/healthy-weight-loss-a-whole-body-tune-up-956463.html

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L-leucine is an amino acid that is used by the body to fuel exercise and muscle-building to provide you with that athletic edge that gets you ahead of your opponents. It does so in a number of ways, none of them specifically by the direct generation of energy as such.

It is also an essential amino acid, since it cannot be manufactured by your body and hence must be taken as a supplement or as part of your diet. Foods rich in leucine include nuts, whole wheat products such as wholemeal bread, and brown rice. It is a hydrophobic amino acid, meaning that it does not like water.

It is also one of three essential branched chain amino acids, the other two being L-valine and L-isoleucine, and offers many benefits to athletic performance that shall be discussed below It also helps to preserve the body’s stores of glycogen, used as an emergency energy source. Other than these properties, it possesses others, such as the maintenance of the nitrogen balance in the body.

So how does it work to fuel your body while you are exercising? The answer is not as you might think. L-leucine doesn’t increase your energy levels as creatine does when it elevates your ATP (adenosine triphosphate) levels. ATP is the molecule of energy that is synthesized in your body cells, and is then converted back to ADP, the diphosphate, with the release of energy in the form of muscular contractions.

This amino acid is what is referred to as a ‘limiting’ substance, in that the other amino acids cannot do their jobs in your body unless you have sufficient L-leucine in proportion to them. Specifically, you need two parts of L-valine and two parts of L-leucine to one part of L-isoleucine for optimum usage of the food that you eat.

Therefore you cannot just take the supplement without considering how much should be taken to ensure this balance. Excess will be wasted and a deficiency would fail to make proper use of the protein content of your food.

If you suffer from a deficiency, therefore, your body cannot make best use of the protein in your diet to the extent that muscle tissue will not be generated during exercise. In fact it causes catabolism, or the breakdown of muscle tissue, resulting in a loss of performance and possible increase in fatty tissue as opposed to lean muscle. The only way to build muscle is take in sufficient nitrogen in the form of amino acids and protein, along with L-leucine to put that protein to best use.

One of the major properties of L-leucine is in stimulating the synthesis of skeletal muscle tissue and by using a supplement, the protein balance can be positive after a workout. It has been shown that this protein balance is generally negative until specifically L-leucine is consumed.

The way it works is to activate a muscle-generating pathway known as mTOR (mammalian Target of Rapamycin). mTOR is normally activated when the levels of ATP in the muscle cells is high, and when these levels drop then mTOR is deactivated. The activity of mTOR is sensitive to the concentration of L-leucine, and when the concentration of the amino acid in the body rises it informs mTOR that the protein in the diet is sufficient to manufacture skeletal muscle tissue, and so mTOR s activated.

Exactly how this is done is unknown, but is a fact the mTOR depends upon both L-leucine concentration and also ATP levels. This amino acid also decreases catabolism through a number of different mechanisms, one of which involves increasing insulin levels.

In fact, when insulin and L-leucine levels increase at the same time, there is a synergy that promotes the synthesis of new protein. Not only that, but the response of insulin to the presence of carbohydrates is enhanced, this resulting in an enhancement of your body’s metabolism.

The amino acid can also be used to help those suffering from kidney and liver problems because it increases liver protein synthesis. It is therefore a useful adjunct both to diabetics and those suffering from liver and kidney disease.

However, because L-leucine is an essential amino acid with so many important properties, a deficiency can have specific consequences. Catabolism has been stated earlier as one such reaction to a deficiency, and others include decreased energy levels and irregularities in the levels of blood sugar.

Everything about this substance is not good however, and when taken by itself in excess, it can reduce the amount of the other amino acids in the blood, particularly of the other two branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). This in turn upsets the balance of amino acids, and reduces further the ability of the body to produce muscle tissue until a balanced supplement is taken.

Leucine also helps to maintain the nitrogen balance. It is essential for the human body to maintain a positive nitrogen balance, and L-leucine supports this. In fact, one study has demonstrated that after 12 hours infusion with L-leucine, nitrogen balance was improved by as much as 23%.

A supplement alone is not always sufficient to maintain a positive nitrogen balance. It is generally essential that you rest your body for a sufficient length of time to allow protein to be generated. If you don’t take the required amount of rest, a surplus of protein could be used to maintain energy levels rather than replace lost protein and maintain a good nitrogen balance.

A positive nitrogen balance is essential for the generation of muscle tissue, such as in bodybuilding for example, since all proteins contain nitrogen and the net nitrogen intake must exceed the excretion rate. Not in gaseous form, of course, but in the intake of amino acids and proteins. The more positive your nitrogen balance is, the faster you will recover after exercise. It is essential for anabolic exercise.

L-leucine, therefore, is a supplement that can help to maintain your current muscle mass while undergoing strenuous exercise, in addition to increasing it while resting. It offers other health benefits, one being helping to maintain clarity of thought in the aged. However, it is for its effect on muscular build-up and the athletic edge that provides that the supplement is most commonly taken.

More information on the amino acid leucine is available at VitaNet &Reg;, LLC Health Foods. http://vitanetonline.com/Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/did-you-know-that-lleucine-can-fuel-your-exercise-904841.html

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