Juicing; The Best Drink to Nourish Your Skin!

JUICING!

Forget about any packaged product that you could buy fromt the supermarket including juice!
if it is not in raw and fresh (in it's original shape and form!) do not consume it!

I have fresh juice recipes that will blow your mind away! Do this once to twice a day, and notice an amazing difference to your skin!

PS: invest in a good juicer, you will not regret it! But keep in mind, that when you juice, you take the fiber out, so you will still have to eat plenty of fruits and veggies!

Here is what my husband and I drink on a daily basis!

The Green juice:

- 2 Apples (peeled and cored, without peeling)
- Half a large cucumber (without peeling)
- 3 stalks of celery
- 1 cup spinach, or kale... what ever is available
- 1 inch ginger (peeled)
- 1 lime (peeled)
- Add carrots (if you want) according to taste


Bon appetit!

Fat Fat Fat!

You could still eat fats, but in moderation... and more importantly, choose healthy fats rather than saturated and trans fats!
There are three major types of fats:

- Saturated Fats: which are found in meats and dairy as well as some plant sources like coconut oil.

- Unsaturated Fats: These are known as 'heart-healthy fats', these are found in plant sources such as avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, as well as fish.

- Trans-fatty acids: This is by far the worst kind of fat! These unsaturated fats that have undergone a process known as hydrogenation.

Here is where you can get healthy (plant-based) fats that are good for you:

- Avocados

-Raw, cold pressed oils: The best types of oil are unrefined coconut oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil, pumpkin seed oil, hemp seed oil, borage seed oil, and sunflower oil.

-Nuts and seeds: make sure to soak them overnight to remove inhibitor enzymes which make them more difficult to digest.

Beauty Rule # 7

Fruit should be eaten only on an empty stomach

Fruits are 'pure' foods that are easy to digest but that are full o nutrients, vitamins, and minerals as well as water! However, WHEN we eat fruit is just as important as EATING fruit.
Try to have it in the morning on an empty stomach, this way, you can digest them in 20- 30 minutes and move on to planning your next meal. So for example, avoid having them (as a fruit salad for example) after your meal as dessert! If the fruits have to sit on top of you previous meal in your stomach, by the time it digests, it will have fermented and acidified!

Beauty Rule # 5

Mixing two different types of protein is a BIG NO NO!

Protein is already difficult to digest and takes longer than other types of food. Mixing two types will just make digestion more complicated! avoid mixing plant protein (such as seeds, nuts, and sea algae) and animal proteins in the same meal, and worse... do not mix two types of animal proteins together! like fish and meat or chicken!

Beauty Rule # 4

Mixing Starches is Okay!

While simple meals are easier to digest, it is okay to mix two types of starch together in the same meal...

Ever heard of Carb Cycling?

Yesterday, I gave me self a serious headache because I failed to eat after a serious session of body building at the gym. As a result, I ended up noxious and tired all curled up on my couch at night. 

Lesson learnt: If you are not going to eat right, do not go to the gym...
What happened, after my lovely Dr. of a husband explained it to me, is that my body was deprived for carbs and protein after lifting weights at the gym, skipping that meal sent my body into a catabolic state, only because there was not food for my body to break down, it ended up breaking down my own muscles. This in turn released urea and ammonia into my blood stream, which as you may know, is highly toxic. End result: a massive painful headache. 

My husband basically suggested I eat more carbs, and though it didn't make sense to me at first, I willingly complied because I know he always knows what he is talking about. Of course, as always, he did :)
Soon enough I was feeling a lot better.

He then suggested I look into Carb Cycling to better understand how carbs should fit into my workout routine. Here are my findings:

Carb Cycling is mostly used by body builders, but the system is so simple, that anyone can apply it! 

This is basically a carb diet in the form of a cycle, where, in the first day (preferably, the day you have a heavy work out) you have a high dose of carbs. On the second day, you have a low(er) intake of carbs (you could have a normal workout day here), and on the third, you don't any (or very little) carbs (on your day of rest). This cycle starts again on the 4th day. So one and so forth.

Basically, your carb eating will be directly proportionate to the intensity of your workout. The harder the workout, the more carbs you need (half in the morning, the other after your session).

Now, and so as not to over do it, just how much carbs does one person need per 'normal' day, and how much more on a 'workout' day?

First of all, you need to know what amount of calories you 'normally' burn, ie even if no activity is performed. the method calculation below is taken from http://www.t-nation.com

First Step: Calculating Your Basal Metabolic Rate

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) simply means the amount of energy used by your body during a 24-hour period if no activity is performed. In other words, if you're inactive for 24-hours straight, you'd still "burn" the amount of calories equivalent to your BMR.

Your BMR is a function of your size, sex, and age. It's also influenced by your metabolic status (hypo or hyperthyroid state for example). We can calculate BMR with the following formulas (by Harris-Benedict):

For Men

BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age)

So for a 30 year old bodybuilder of 220lbs (100kg) at 5'11" (178cm) it comes up to:

BMR = 66 + (13.7 x 100kg) + (5 x 178cm) – (6.8 x 30)

BMR = 2122 calories per day

For Women

BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.7 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age)

So for a 28 year old figure girl of 132lbs (60kg) at 5'6" (165cm) it comes up to:

BMR = 655 + (9.6 x 60kg) + (1.7 x 165cm) – (4.7 x 28)

BMR = 1380 calories per day

Second Step: Count the calories you are consuming.

Look up the amount of calories in your food and distribute them according to your daily schedule. This will both help you figure out how much carbs to consume, and distribution of these calories will help you avoid eating it all at once and then feeling sluggish, tired, and sleepy.

The general advice is, allow 1/2 of your total calorie intake to be carbs on the 'heavy carb' day, about 1/4 on your 'low(er) carb day' and less or even NO carbs on the third day.

That is it for now!
Happy Carb Cycling! 

Faisal's modified diet!

It seems that Faisal thinks the diet below is too complicated for his liking. So I will try to modify it to someone, like him, who is continuously eating out, ordering food, and never has to the time to prepare a home made meal for himself/herself.

It is the same diet posted earlier, but with some modifications that makes it 'easier' to follow, at least in his definition!

General Note: Make sure you start your day with 1-2 cups of water as soon as you open your eyes. Remember, your body has been water deprived for the last 8 hours!

Day1: 

Breakfast: cereal with milk or (a low fat energy bar if necessary… read ingredients, many brands are deceiving… and to be honest, I would rather you not rely on them at all, this is in case of emergency…)

Snack 1: fruit (apple, banana, mango… etc).

NOTE: cut down on coffee to one cup a day. Max, and never have it after 5 p.m. at the latest.

Lunch: A sandwich (make sure you add some greens and veggies to it). Avoid real heavy sandwiches like meat ball, steak sandwich, terryaki chicken...etc, you get the picture!

NOTE: avoid chocolates, chips, and bisects for now...

Dinner: vegetables (any non-starchy veg) with protein

Snack 3 (if necessary): green salad, or nibble organic baby carrots (that is what my husband lives on at night)… etc..

Day 2:

Breakfast: Eggs with whole wheat or multi grain bread. You could always include tomatoes or mushrooms with it.

NOTE: always opt for brown/ whole wheat or multi grain bread instead of white bread.

Snack 1: Milk smoothie a little organic honey and 2 types of fruit (max).

Lunch: Penne Arrabiata. 

Snack 2: Green Salad

Early Dinner: Protein (meat, fish, or chicken) with veggies.

Day 3:

Breakfast: Green smoothie, if not possible, if you cant prepare it, go for cereal and milk.
NOTE: try almond milk, it is healthy and light.

Snack 1: Greek yogurt with berries/ mangos… etc

Lunch: Green salad, and a source of protein (meat, fish, or chicken).

NOTE: do not mix dairy and animal protein together on the same meal, your body is dealing enough with one of them as is…

Snack 2: fruit

Dinner: Green salad.

Note: your Salads do not have to be boring. Change them up a little every day. I will attached different salad recipes at a later stage so you could get an idea of how yummy they can be! But avoid heavy dressings like Caesar and ranch dressings.

Snack 3: Home made pop corn! (and no, microwaved pop corn is not home made even if you make it at home!)

Now you come up with more food combinations and send them my way!

Beauty Rule #2

Do not mix Proteins and Starches...

I was saddened to read this, because the first thing that came to mind are turkey sandwiches, cream cheese and bagels, and many other combinations like stake and potatoes!

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, except that I know that is in your best interest to be aware of this...." (Kimberly Snyder, The Beauty Detox Solution).

To understand why, we must first take a look at the digestion of each in the stomach. While Proteins need an acidic environment in the stomach, Starches need an alkaline medium. Now can you imagine when they are combined together in the stomach? Pepsin (an enzyme that digests proteins) are produced, and at the same time Ptyalin (an enzyme produced to digest starch) is produced. The result?! they neutralize each other! the stomach keeps producing more of each until the food is completely digested, so digestion takes much longer than it should...
Dont forget, that in order to do that, the body needs energy, so instead of getting energy from your food, you will actually be wasting it on digestion!

Are you starting to see why it is better to avoid mixing Proteins and Starches?

It is sad fact, but one that must be done....


PS: I hate plagiarism, so I want to make it clear that many ideas and concepts here are taken from Kimberly Snyder and her "The Beauty Detox Solution". Read her book, it could change the way you eat...