Eating And Exercise - Your Key To Weight Loss

If there are 2 things that you must change about your approach to weight loss is what you eat: how often and what kinds of foods you are eating and exercise. We'll look at food as a tool for you to lose weight and not as an enemy.

Food
What you eat is not as important as what is in it and how often you eat it. For example, there are unhealthy foods that can be made to be healthy so that you can lose weight. Let's take a look at hamburgers. If your favorite burger is a double double from in-N-out there are ways to make it healthier. All it takes is replacing some ingredients with others without sacrificing flavor. Heres a recipe for a great tasting burger that will help you lose weight:

Mediterranean Portobello Burger

This mushroom sandwich comes topped with a luscious Greek-style salad. Make it a meal: Serve with cucumber spears and a glass of Firestone Gewrztraminer.

Makes 4 servings

ACTIVE TIME: 30 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 portobello mushroom caps, stems and gills removed
4 large slices country-style sourdough bread, cut in half
1/2 cup sliced jarred roasted red peppers
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped pitted Kalamata olives
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups loosely packed mixed baby salad greens

1. Preheat grill to medium-high.
2. Mash garlic and salt on a cutting board with the side of a knife until it's a smooth paste. Mix the paste with 1 tablespoon oil in a small dish. Lightly brush the oil mixture over portobellos and then on one side of each slice of bread.
3. Combine red peppers, tomato, feta, olives, vinegar, oregano and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a medium bowl.
4. Grill the mushroom caps until tender, about 4 minutes per side; grill the bread until crisp, about 1 minute per side.
5. Toss salad greens with the red pepper mixture. Place the grilled mushrooms top-side down on 4 half-slices of the bread. Top with the salad mixture and the remaining bread.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 301 calories; 11 g fat (2 g sat, 7 g mono); 3 mg cholesterol; 40 g carbohydrate; 10 g protein; 4 g fiber; 795 mg sodium; 691 mg potassium.

Nutrition bonus: Selenium (44% daily value), Folate (33% dv), Vitamin A (25% dv), Potassium (20% dv).

2 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings

Exchanges: 2 starch, 2 vegetables, 2 fat

It looks better and tastes better than the words on this article suggest.

Exercise
When it comes to exercise some people don't get enough of it and many people get too much of it. Here's my recommendation. I believe that exercise for weight loss should not take no longer than 1 hour. If you are exercising for longer than 1 hour for weight loss that in my opinion is taking too long. If you want to save time then get all your workouts done in less time than that. If you are creative, you can get a great workout in 30 minutes. Trust me. More is not better.

Make sure that you are working out the major muscle groups such as the quads, the butt, hamstrings, upper body such as the back and chest for pulling and pressing. That is the most important thing to consider.

For cardio vascular purposes, make sure that you perform exercises that get your heart rate up to a point where you cannot sustain a conversation. There are too many people that do cardio vascular exercises and are chatting up a storm. That is not intensive enough to achieve weight loss goals.

In conclusion, make sure that you are getting healthier ingredients in place of those ingredients that will cause health risks such as cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure etc. You don't have to sacrifice flavor at all. When it come to exercise, make sure that you are getting your exercise routines done in less than 1 hour tapping into all that major muscle groups.

To your health,

Cap

"Cap" Josue Cano B.A. C.S.C.S., is a specialized strength and boxing trainer working 1-on-1 with clients who just authored the book: Don't wait get in S.H.A.P.E.: drop body fat fast and get fit quick. He is also an entertaining, funny health and fitness speaker who speaks to college students about college weight gain and has a program called Tackle the Freshman 15. He is available to speak for your organization and can be reached at his website: http://www.dontwaitgetinshape.com or by phone: (877) CAP-3159 E-mail: cap@dontwaitgetinshape.com. If you're in ventura County, call for training at: (805)415-0497