5 day diet to lose 5 pounds

When I was in college, it was simply a trend to get thin. Boys or girls, men or women, as long as we meet each other in class, at lunch or even during karaoke, keeping fit (or losing weight) was always one of the hot topics. I could not even recall how many different diets that were circulating among classmates: soup diet, vegetable diet, meat diet, the secret hospital egg diet...

Yes, I tried them! (Maynot be all of them, but definitely more than few!)

And one of them is actually very effective, if you want to lose 5 pounds in 5 days, especially if you have a special event / function that you plan to attend to.

This diet contains heavily in meat, mild in vegetables/fruits, and yes, no carbonhydrate whatsoever.

So, here is the once very popular "lose 5 pounds in 5 days" diet:

DAY 1

BREAKFAST: 1 Grapefruit; 2 BIG Glass of Water

LUNCH: 16 oz. Grilled Pork; 6.oz Vegetables; 2 BIG Glass of Water

DINNER: 1 Banana; 1 SMALL Glass of Water

DAY 2

BREAKFAST: 1 Grapefruit; 2 BIG Glass of Water

LUNCH: 16 oz. Broiled Chicken; 12.oz Vegetables; 2 BIG Glass of Water

DINNER: 1 Grapefruit; 1 SMALL Glass of Water

DAY 3

BREAKFAST: 1 Grapefruit; 2 BIG Glass of Water

LUNCH: 16 oz. Grilled Steak; 6.oz Vegetables; 2 BIG Glass of Water

DINNER: 1 Banana; 1 SMALL Glass of Water

DAY 4

BREAKFAST: 1 Grapefruit; 2 BIG Glass of Water

LUNCH: 16 oz. Steamed Fish; 12.oz Vegetables; 2 BIG Glass of Water

DINNER: 1 Grapefruit; 1 SMALL Glass of Water

DAY 5

BREAKFAST: 1 Grapefruit; 2 BIG Glass of Water

LUNCH: 16 oz. Grilled Turkey; 6.oz Vegetables; 2 BIG Glass of Water

DINNER: 1 Banana; 1 SMALL Glass of Water

Dinner is supposed to be done before 8:00pm each day.

This diet sure helps me to lose weigh fast in few days, however, it has no scientific approval. And some of my friends whom tried it before only lose couple pounds than what they wanted. It may also make you feel tired if you have been a heavy eater and change your diet habit so drastically.

I will recommend that adding few more fruit items into the diet, especially when you feel real hungry and want to give up!

Ways to get cheaper health food!

I live in Houston. With Gustav approaching the gulf coast, everyone is trying to prepare for the unexpected. During my lunch hour, I went for some grocery shopping just to ensure that there will be sufficient water and food in case all commercial places will be closed or it will be flooding so much that I can not go out of the house at all.

The supermarket was not as packed as I expected. I guess because most people had gone to the mega store to stack up their supplies. Most of my coworkers have changed to shop in Sam's, Costco to save on per unit cost for their food, especially if they have a big family. I can not afford the higher-than-affordable price from Whole Food, so I usually shop at my nearby Kroger.

I have been surprised by the level of increment in food price. Skim milk has gone from $2 something to over $3 now. Vegetables have also followed the big trend. Romaine lettuce no longer sells below $1. So much so that I find the packed organic salad mix that sells at a discount of $4 something a great deal. I can never find whole chicken selling at $.99/lb anymore. Instead, I will have to wait for the chicken go on discount and hopefully can get it close to $1.19/lb.

I start to wonder: where are the cheaper health food?

With commodity price turns north without any sign of going back, I have since changed some of my food shopping / eating habits:-

1) Get the fish! With those 6oz frozen fish selling at over $5 a pack, I learn to get my fish in the perfectly price reasonable place - the Chinese buffet! You can get about 3 to 4 pounds of fish in the to go box for a price of less than $10 (when you get it at lunch hours). The fish are perfectly cooked - they are steamed with mild seasonings - so they have kept good nutrient value.

2) Drink water! When dining out at restaurant, I no longer order any beverage. Instead, I order water with lemons. When adding those sugar free sugar, it tastes perfectly like a lemonade. At the same time, it saves you $2 for the drink.

3) Find the right protein! I find that the store has its own brand of beef patties. It's 91% fat free. A 12-patty pack costs about $10. When eating too much chicken can bore you, those patties can be a great choice for a wheat bread burger.

4) Read the Sunday newspaper! Yes, I was introduced and taught by my friend to go through the Sunday newspaper for food coupons. I was not a believer before. However, when seeing the receipt of saying that I save over 30% per food shopping trip. I am in!

Food is one of the biggest pleasures! It's worth to take some effort to make it healthy, make it worthy, make it right!

Organic Foods: Healthier or Not?

What is the first thing you think of with the words "Organic Food"? Healthy? Pricy? Natural?

Organic food, according to Wikipeida, is produced based on certain standards: growing without the use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste or sewage sludge; processed without ionizing radiation or food additives. For livestock, they are raised without the routine use of antibiotics or growth hormones.

So, why are organic foods consider better than non-organic foods? Simple! Since organic foods are grown without all the artificial processing, it means that we have fewer chemical intake into our body when consuming. Less chemical - less side effect or bad effect to our body! Also most countries like USA, Japan and places in EU have the requirement for producers to obtain organic certification before making their food produced as organic; this provides another layer of protection and confidence for food production and consumption.

There is a debate going on to talk about whether organic food is indeed healthier. One study conducted by University of New Castle, in comparing organic and conventional foods, showed that organically cultivated foods have more nutrient or vitamin contents than conventional ones. However, another study examined by the University of Copenhagen claimed that organically cultivated foods do not, in comparison, have major nutrient differences with conventionally farmed foods. It is again a perspective issue on how they define their studies and what purposes of their studies are.

Also, since organic foods are always more expansive, some people are looking into what kind of organic foods are actually worth buying into. From Men's Fitness, several organic food items are worth to pay few more bucks, which include bell peppers, spinach and lettuce, strawberries, apples and peanut butter!

At the end, whether you believe organic foods are better or not, the most important thing to remember is eat healthy food with a healthy diet.

Think about it, which one is better? A 5-meal diet that contains organic foods of calories up to 3000/day or a 3-meal non-organic food diet that contains calories of 2000/day? It's a choice! And make the right choice for yourself and simply be happy about it!

Food Nutritional Quality Index

First post here......has to be about food!

My friend just told me about the new Nutritional Quality Index developed by Yale University's Griffin Prevention Research Center. What the Index is about? It is to score food based on their nutrients, sugar, salt and other values on how it impacts our body!

Sounds amazing! And from the rankings......surprise surprise...there're four food that rank with a score of 100.

BROCCOLI









BLUEBERRIES









ORANGE










GREEN BEANS

And to name few of those that have a score less than 5:

4 Cheese Puffs

3 Milk Chocolate

2 Regular cut bacon; Apple pie; Saltine crackers

1 Soda; Popsicle

Well...guess natural organic food will always be good when it comes to nutrition values and be part of a healthy diet!