Healthy Meals at School!

We all want our children to be safe and healthy, even when we can’t watch them 24/7. One way to keep them healthy is to make sure they eat right, but if we don’t prepare all their meals ourselves, that’s hard to do. Schools are taking steps towards making school lunches healthier, but you still may need to step in to make sure your child is being given healthy options.

There are programs in place that require certain nutritional standards to be met. Within these standards, there are a lot of menu options schools can choose so that children can be given a variety of foods while staying nutritious and within the school’s means. There are a few problems with this plan. First, the dietary guidelines set out for school may not comply with what you think it healthy for your child. Second, schools receive funding for following guidelines, but they are still not required to abide by them.

To allow for variations in what you and your child think is healthy, some schools are allowing students not to take one or more menu options. While this generally only happens in high schools, more middle and elementary schools are allowing it. For this to work, you must teach your child to make healthy choices.

If you question the nutritional value of your child’s lunch, you can either request menus be sent to you, or if possible, go have lunch with them a few times and see what they’re eating. If you don’t feel the menu meets high enough standards, make that known. Talk to the principal, the PTA, the school board, or the person in charge of menu planning. Find other parents who agree with you and take a stand.

It seems the most logical option to ensure your child is eating right at school is just to give them a sack lunch. The problem is, there’s no guarantee your child is eating their lunch and not someone else’s. There are only so many teachers that can monitor lunch time, and unless your child has strict dietary restrictions, they really can’t ensure there isn’t lunch trading going on. Again, it is your responsibility to teach your child healthy eating habits.

While you may feel that schools should be required to serve healthy lunches, that doesn’t mean they do. Many steps are being taken in the right direction, but you may need to help give those nutritional programs a nudge. Just remember that not all people view healthy food the same and you may need to make concessions depending on how strict your think your child’s diet should be.


Make it a great day!

Chris Walker

Kitchener's Weight Loss expert! Chris Walker has helped thousands obtain " permanent weight loss, quick and easy everytime!" To download a free copy of "Why Can't I Lose Weight? How to lose 10 pounds in 30 days visit http://www.chriswalkersfitness.com/

3 Herbal Teas and How they Benefit Your Health!

While herbal remedies have been used in some cultures for centuries, other societies have just begun to accept their benefits. Even now, some people still rely on modern medicine for problems that can be treated effectively with an herbal remedy because they are leery about them. A great way to get the benefits of herbs without taking supplements is to brew them into a tea. You then get the benefits along with a great tasting drink. Here are three great herbal teas and what they can do to help you.

Valerian Tea

Valerian has been used for centuries to help with a whole host of medical problems. Most recently it has been used to calm nerves and even soothe severe anxiety and restlessness. It is a great tea to enjoy at the end of the day when you want to unwind and relax. Because it acts as a sedative, Valerian is often used to cure insomnia and get a restful night’s sleep. It is commonly used to help with cramps and digestive problems such as irritable bowel syndrome.

You should also be wary of continued use because it can become addictive and produce withdrawal symptoms if you stop using it.

When making Valerian tea, do not use boiling water. You can decrease its potency; just use hot water.

Echinacea

Want to be able to strengthen your immune system and better fight off viruses like that flu? Or course you do. That’s why you should try to drink Echinacea tea regularly. This tea stimulates your t cells and helps boost interferon production; both essential parts of immune functioning

A few people may be allergic to Echinacea, so if you experience any signs of an allergic reaction or an asthma attack, see a doctor immediately.

Hawthorn

If you’re looking for a natural, effective way to help improve your heart function and circulation, you should try hawthorn tea. This herb has been known to help the heart, relieve blood pressure problems, lower cholesterol, and improve circulation. It’s also an antioxidant which means it helps prevent cancer and improves overall health.

Before drinking herbal teas, taking herbal supplements, or taking any medications, you should talk to your doctor. Herbs can have side effects, complications, and drug interactions; just like prescription meds. You doctor will be able to tell you if it’s safe for you to use certain herbs or not.

If used properly, herbal teas can be a great way to naturally improve your health and help you live a happier life. If you benefit from these teas, there are many other options that you can try to maintain good health.


Make it a great day!

Chris Walker

Kitchener's Weight Loss expert! Chris Walker has helped thousands obtain " permanent weight loss, quick and easy everytime!" To download a free copy of "Why Can't I Lose Weight? How to lose 10 pounds in 30 days visit http://www.chriswalkersfitness.com/

Tips For You On A Diet For Lowering High Cholesterol And Losing Weight!

If you have high cholesterol it is important to get yourself on a diet for lowering cholesterol and losing weight. Many Americans worry about their cholesterol levels, especially those who are over weight. In most cases the first step in resolving your high cholesterol and shedding those extra pounds; is changing your diet. You will discover some pretty convincing evidence, in this article, which will convince you, to improve your health by losing weight and lowering your cholesterol.

A recent study completed by The School of Medicine at Stanford University showed that with both diet and exercise, you can significantly reduce your cholesterol and get rid of the extra weight. The study was done with over 300 men and women with high cholesterol. In order to control the groups the first group was put on a low fat diet. Then the second was put on the same diet with an exercise program.

After a year the group with both diet and exercise had lower cholesterol. The group that didn’t incorporate exercise didn’t have a loss as significant as the first group.

Eating a low cholesterol diet has shown to lower cholesterol by 8% to 20%. There are a few low cholesterol diets that have proven to work well. These diets include; the Dash Diet, The South Beach Diet, The Ultra Metabolism Diet, and The Weight Watchers Diet. Every one of these diets has online programs or books to guide you through the diet with menu plans and instructions.

As an addition to your low cholesterol diet you should make sure to eat plenty of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is used to fix natural cracks and fractures in your arteries. If you don’t get enough Vitamin C your body will substitute it with cholesterol. If you make sure to get enough of the vitamin as part of your low cholesterol diet, your liver will not be forced to produce excess cholesterol.

In another study done, with sixty heart bypass surgery patients, it was shown that eating grapefruit everyday lowers your cholesterol. The study had the patients divided into three groups. One group was given red grapefruit. One group was given white grapefruit.

However the last group was not given any grapefruit and had no diet restrictions. The study showed that the groups that ate grapefruit regularly as part of a low cholesterol diet showed a significant drop in cholesterol. Whereas the group without restrictions, which didn’t eat any grapefruit, didn’t show any drop in cholesterol.

Additional studies have shown that women that have eaten five to six smaller meals had lower cholesterol and better weight control; than those that ate fewer larger meals. If you eat many small meals with a low cholesterol diet and fewer calories you will be able to lower your cholesterol by about 5% and drop your weight.

There is no question, having high cholesterol and being over weight, is very dangerous to your health. However, if you suffer from being over weight and high cholesterol there are some simple things you can do to lower both your weight and high cholesterol level.

As the above information indicated it doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply get yourself on a diet for lowering high cholesterol, combine it with a good exercise program and you are on your way to better health.

Make it a great day!

Chris Walker

Kitchener's Weight Loss expert! Chris Walker has helped thousands obtain " permanent weight loss, quick and easy everytime!" To download a free copy of "Why Can't I Lose Weight? How to lose 10 pounds in 30 days visit http://www.chriswalkersfitness.com/

Tips On Easy Diets!

In this day and age, it really isn't surprising that half of all Americans are overweight to some degree. Most people in this day and age have busy, hectic schedules, which mean that sticking to a diet is not easy, and neither is trying to work out on a regular basis. Still, this does not mean that all hope is lost. Here is some basic advice that should help you drop off those unwanted pounds by following easy diets and implementing exercise in your life.

The first piece of advice that you need to consider has to do with exercising. In fact any diet, much less an easy diet, should include exercising. You should always have your physical workout first thing in the morning when your stomach is still empty. There are a lot of different exercises that you can try such as walking on a treadmill, or going around the block a couple of times. Ten minutes of exercise is all you need to burn stored energy, especially fat, but you can also go for longer if you feel comfortable exercising for longer periods.

The next most useful tip that you should consider is to pay attention to when you snack. You should avoid snacking late at night, and stop eating all together at least three hours before you go to bed. This way you will burn off all the calories you consumed before bed, rather than storing those calories as fat when you go to bed. This simple step can have incredible results if you are serious about implementing it.

The third suggestion that you should consider has everything to do with coffee. If you absolutely have to drink coffee, make it black! Fancy coffee drinks with cream and sugar are fun and tasty, but they are also loaded up with calories. Just one of these bad boys will blow any easy diets your on right out the window. A good old simple cup of black coffee has nearly zero calories if any at all, so this is clearly a much wiser choice, and while black coffee is an acquired taste, you will get used to it with practice.

The next tip is to break your normal three meals a day into four or five smaller meals a day. Your metabolism requires constant fuel in order to burn fat. If you feed it several small amounts every day, your metabolism will stay much higher, much faster, and will burn more calories in the end.

Finally, you should cut down on your carbohydrate intake. This is going to have a very large impact on how quickly you lose weight using easy diets. By eliminating unnecessary breads, pastas and other starches, you will see a serious difference next time that you step on the scale. Take this advice and you will see what easy diet weight loss is all about.

There are no "easy diets" per say, but there are easy tips and steps that will help you lose weight. Forget those fad diets and crazy starvation diets and follow the aforementioned tips and hints instead.


Make it a great day!

Chris Walker

Kitchener's Weight Loss expert! Chris Walker has helped thousands obtain " permanent weight loss, quick and easy everytime!" To download a free copy of "Why Can't I Lose Weight? How to lose 10 pounds in 30 days visit http://www.chriswalkersfitness.com/

The Truth About BMI Body Fat And Health!

Though one of the most popular tools used today to determine whether someone is at a healthy weight or not is the BMI, body fat and lean muscle tissue don't figure into the equation. This has led many experts to discount BMI as an archaic measurement that isn't accurate for many people. What is BMI, and why is it a good measure for some, maybe, and completely wrong for others?

BMI, or body mass index, was created in the early 1800s by Adolphe Quetelet. Because of that, it's sometimes called the Quetelet index. It's nothing more than a way of comparing a person's weight to his or her height, and determining if his or her weight falls into a healthy and normal range. The BMI is still used today pretty much as it was when Quetelet invented it.

The formula for figuring BMI (body fat, bone and frame size, muscle and body type aren't included in that) is this: Take your height in meters squared (your height times itself) and divide your weight in kilograms by that number. For example, if I'm 5 feet tall, that's about 1.5 meters. To square that number, take 1.5 times 1.5. The result of that is 2.5. So if I weigh 120 pounds, that's about 54.5 kilograms. Divide 54.5 by 2.5 and I get 21.8 as my BMI. The normal weight range is from 18.5 to 24.9, so 21.8 is classified as a normal weight. Underweight is considered 18.5 and below, while overweight people will calculate a BMI of 25 to 29.9. A BMI of 30 or greater indicates obesity.

BMI, body fat and general health can all be used as signs of how fit a person is. But where general health is pretty self-explanatory and the percentage of body fat clearly shows whether a person gets enough exercise or not, BMI is a bit trickier.

People with a lot of muscle don't show accurate BMI readings. Because muscle weighs so much heaver than fat but takes up less space, a relatively small statured person can carry a lot of muscle weight without looking huge. BMI doesn't take that into account. Football players, professional wrestlers, bodybuilders, and virtually any athlete who has a lot of muscle is going to measure as overweight and even obese according to the BMI. So it's not accurate for them. Is it accurate for everyone else?

The answer to that is yes, and no. It depends on you. The BMI typically doesn't show an accurate result for children. And extremely tall or large-framed people will show overweight or obese classifications more easily because of the extra weight from their bones and muscles. So for very short, tall or muscular people, the BMI appears to not be a good tool.

There's also no distinguishing between men and women in the BMI. Body fat is more natural for women who are supposed to have more than men, so some sort of distinction in the measurement of the sexes would help the BMI's accuracy

Make it a great day!

Chris Walker

Kitchener's Weight Loss expert! Chris Walker has helped thousands obtain " permanent weight loss, quick and easy everytime!" To download a free copy of "Why Can't I Lose Weight? How to lose 10 pounds in 30 days visit http://www.chriswalkersfitness.com/

The Most Important Tips For Rapid Weight Loss Youll Find!

Our society is full of images of thin, sexy people – it’s no wonder that everyone is always on the hunt for tips for rapid weight loss. People of average weight, even people who are thin by any standards often obsess about their weight, and try every “get think quick” offer that comes their way. Of course, it’s never that easy. There’s no one path to rapid weight loss – everyone has to find his or her own road to Thinsville.

That’s not to say that there isn’t some common wisdom that can help almost anyone lose weight! We’re not talking about the best exercise equipment to cram into your garage, or the most effective diet pills on the market here. This is about using your most important muscle – your brain – to help you lose weight. The easiest way to lose weight is to understand how weight loss works. Here are a few pointers.

Set Realistic Goals! Any nutritionist, personal trainer, or doctor will tell you the same thing. The biggest mistake a lot of people make when setting out to lose weight is to set their expectations too high. New Year’s rolls around, and people rush to the gym saying “I’m going to lose 30 pounds by April!” April 1st rolls around, and having lost just 5 pounds, people give up hope.

Don’t set yourself up for disappoint by setting goals you simply can’t attain. Start by committing to lose a small amount of weight, and work your way up. Similarly, while dedication is greatest asset, don’t work yourself too hard or crash diet. This breeds an “all-or-nothing” mentality – you break your diet for a day and then just say, “What the heck!” and gorge yourself on food. Believe it or not, maintaining a good diet and exercise routine only gets easier over time, so just stick with it.

Do Your Research! This is one of the most important tips for weight loss. There are what seems like billions of weight loss programs available these days. Some of them work, but most of them are shams. Make sure you know what you’re getting into before you buy any product, including diet handbooks, exercise machines, or diet pills. While the biggest risk is that might not do anything, some of these products are even unsafe. Check reviews and testimonials to be sure that what you’re trying is worth your time and money.

There’s something else that you should research if you want to lose weight – and that’s how your body works. The body is a very complex machine, and there are a lot of factors that can affect your ability to lose weight. Make sure you understand how to exercise – the different between cardio and strength training, aerobic and anaerobic, and how much of each you should be doing. Also, learn about how foods and vitamins affect your body. With these tips for weight loss, you’ll be on the road to a thinner you in no time.

Make it a great day!

Chris Walker

Kitchener's Weight Loss expert! Chris Walker has helped thousands obtain " permanent weight loss, quick and easy everytime!" To download a free copy of "Why Can't I Lose Weight? How to lose 10 pounds in 30 days visit http://www.chriswalkersfitness.com/

Low Cholesterol Foods That Can Save Your Life!

Did you know you could be committing suicide and didn't even know it? "You're crazy! I'm not committing suicide." You say. You are if you're eating foods loaded with cholesterol. It's a proven fact that high cholesterol foods can shorten your life span by years. When you continue to eat these high cholesterol foods, you kill yourself a little more each day. For you and your family, it’s important to get your bad cholesterol levels to a safe and life sustaining level.

Eating foods low in cholesterol, with a well balanced meal plan, is essential to lowering your cholesterol levels. The problem that most people face is that they lead busy lives. This leads to many of us grabbing junk food when hunger strikes. It’s important to choose healthy low cholesterol foods over fast food. It will help if you make sure to pack healthy snacks when on the go. Perhaps most of all it is imperative for you to prepare low cholesterol foods at home.

When you eat low cholesterol foods, such as lean red meat, chicken and fish; you will start to see your bad cholesterol levels drop. You can balance your meals out with fresh vegetables and fruits. Often times when you follow a diet, which is low in cholesterol, you may begin to lose weight. Along with the weight loss you may also experience a higher energy level, mental alertness and less stress with the balanced diet.

Not all low cholesterol foods require preparation. If you are not sure how to cook low cholesterol meals, you can easily look up various menus online. Fruits, vegetables and nuts are both good examples of foods that can help lower cholesterol and require little or no preparation. Since many of these types of food require no cooking, it's quite easy to pack them for snacks throughout your day. In addition instead of grabbing, fries and burger for lunch, you can carry a fresh chicken salad, balanced out with yogurt and fruit.

Another way to help lower your cholesterol is to make sure you drink plenty of water. Not only will the water help keep you hydrated, it will help to flush the excess cholesterol from your body along with other impurities. In addition the water helps to keep all of your bodily functions working at peak efficiency. Which means your body will tend to produce more of the good cholesterol (LDL) instead of the bad (HDL).

When you eat a diet with plenty of low cholesterol foods you also build up your immune system. This makes it easier to fight off disease. In fact eating a diet rich in low cholesterol foods is good for you all around. Plus when you lower your overall cholesterol levels you are less likely to develop heart disease, atherosclerosis (fatty deposits in artery walls) or to have a stroke.

Eating foods like oats and fiber are excellent for a good balanced diet. These foods are great to keep you looking young and feeling great. While you are learning to eat properly make sure that you include your family. Children learn their eating habits from their parents. Lead by example and show your kids how great it is to enjoy healthy foods, like fruits and vegetables, rather then cookies and ice cream.

Eating low cholesterol foods as an overall diet is a great way to lower your cholesterol. That’s not the only benefit however. You will also feel more energized and healthy. Due to low cholesterol food being healthy you will look better and feel younger.

Make it a great day!

Chris Walker

Kitchener's Weight Loss expert! Chris Walker has helped thousands obtain " permanent weight loss, quick and easy everytime!" To download a free copy of "Why Can't I Lose Weight? How to lose 10 pounds in 30 days visit http://www.chriswalkersfitness.com/