3 Snack Benefits to Help You Lose Weight

When most people think of losing weight or going on a diet, they think they have to starve themselves, eat bland tasting foods, and have very little food choices to choose from. Also, they know snacking is out of the question!

Not true!

Snacking actually has many benefits to help you shed body fat! As long as you eat healthy snacks and have a little self control, remember everything in moderation, snacking is a great way to help control your diet and produce drastic new results in your weight loss efforts.

Benefits of snacking include:

1. Binge Control- If you eat a very small meal and then go a long period of time till you eat again, you may find yourself binging at your next meal! To avoid a binge meal, try eating a piece of fruit or other healthy snack. This will ward off hunger pains, keep you next meal in check, and help you to actully consume less calories during the day!

2. Extra Energy and Nutritients- If you live a busy lifestyle and find yourself on the go a lot. Planning ahead and bringing a snack will provide you with a burst of energy when you start to feel down. Plus, it will keep you from running to the next McDonalds for something quick to eat!

3. Controls Insulin Levels- You may think if you’re not diabetic then you don’t need to worry about your blood sugar. Well, your wrong! Trying to keep your blood sugar levels steady actually helps to keep your body in a fat burning mode. Once your blood sugar levels start to spike and plummet, your body gets out of whack and will start to store your calories as body fat! A steady intake of healthy foods will help keep your blood sugar levels steady.

As you can see these are only a couple benefits to snacking. Healthy snacks will help you stay on track in your weight loss efforts and help you avoid all the dieting mistakes and pitfalls most people run into.

Think of snacking as a “mini” meal not a chance to eat something bad!

If you need help with dieting choices click below to get started with your Online Fitness Coaching. Here you gain all the knowledge of an Expert Weight Loss coach for a fraction of the price!

Clean Eating is the New Dieting

Inspired by my conversations with clients today I thought I would address the "Dieting" issue. There are so many do's and dont's out there and so many myths to debunk. So, let's dive in and discuss how 90% of people fail at diets but the majority of people succeed at "clean eating"

First off what is clean eating? Clean eating is supplying your body with the nutrients it needs, while trying to eat more healthy foods such as; fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains.

Isn't that a diet? Well, according to the Websters dictionary a diet is, "a regiment of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight". I do not know about you but that sounds pretty crappy and I wouldn't want to follow something like that!

Which one sounds better to you Clean eating or Dieting?

To further illustrate my point that dieting sucks, let's look at how to eat clean and how you benefit from it.

Include the following items in your meal plan:
fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, low-fat dairy products, protein and whole grains/complex carbohydrates

Foods to avoid:
Processed foods, refined foods, package snacks, candies, pastries, white bread and pasta, saturated fats, trans fats, and sugary soda's and juices

Follow these tips when constructing your menu:
1. Eat 5-6 times a day. Mixing 3 to 4 meals with 2 to 3 healthy snacks
2. Try to eat every 3-5 hours, unless you really are not hungry
3. Try to pair a source of protein with a carb source. This will help you digest your food more slowly giving you a satisfied feeling for longer.

Benefits of Clean Eating:
more energy, clearer skin and shinier, healthier hair, increased mental well being, better sleep and of course weight loss!

As you can see doesn't clean eating look more appealing then a diet of regimented foods and water taking in sparing to lose weight!

Now don't forget to exercise to increase weight loss and overall health!

Don't know what to do to get started with your clean eating plan? Check out www.MorganPersonalTraining.com for your expert "Clean Eating" Coach!

Also, don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter. You will never miss out on important life changing tips like this!

P.S. One of these has a FREE Healthy Living Report full of 21 great tips....can you find out which one?

20 Worst Foods in America

Sitting around today, I was using the stumble upon button and found this outrages article! So, with out further ado, here are the 20 worst foods in America, from last to worst!

20: Worst Fast-Food Chicken Meal - Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips from McDonald's (5 pieces) with cream ranch sauce. 830 Calories, 55 grams fat (4.5 trans fat), 48 carbs. Add a large fries and regular soda and this seemingly innocuous chicken meal tops out at 1,710 calories.

19: Worst drink - Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie (30 fl oz). 900 calories, 10 g fat, 183 carbs, 166 g sugar. Jamba Juice calls it a smoothie, MSNBC calls it a milk shake. The beverage contains as much sugar as 8 pints of Ben & Jerry's butter pecan ice cream.

18: Worst supermarket meal - Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie (whole pie). 1,020 calories, 64 g fat, 86 g carbs. Label may say this pie serves two, but, who ever divided a small pot pi! e in half? Once you crack the crust, there will be no stopping.

17: Worst 'healthy' burger - Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger. 1,145 calories, 71 g fat, 56 g carbs.

16: Worst Mexican entree - Chipotle Mexican Grill Chicken Burrito. 1,179 calories, 47 g fat, 125 g carbs, 2,656 mg sodium.

15: Worst kids' meal - Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese. 1,210 calories, 62 g fat, 3,450 mg sodium. It's like feeding your kid 1-1/2 boxes of Kraft mac 'n' cheese.

14: Worst sandwich - Quiznos Classic Italian (large). 1,528 calories, 92 g fat, 4,604 mg sodium, 110 g carbs. A large homemade sandwich would more likely provided about 500 calories.

13: Worst salad - On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef. 1,450 calories, 102 g fat, 78 g carbs, 2,410 mg sodium. This isn't an anomaly: Five different On the Border salads on the menu contain more than 1, 100 calories each.

12: Worst burger - Carl's Jr. (Hardee's on East Coast) Double Six Dollar Burger. 1,520 calories! , 111g fat. Carl's Jr. brags it's home to this enormous sandwich, but the restaurant chain also provides convenient nutrition info on its Web site -- so ignorance is no excuse for eating it.

11: Worst steak - Lonestar 20 oz T-bone. 1,540 calories, 124g fat. Add a baked potato and Lonestar's Signature Lettuce Wedge, and this is a 2,700 calorie blowout.

10: Worst breakfast - Bob Evans Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Stacked and Stuffed hotcakes. 1,540 calories, 77 g fat (9 g trans fat), 198 g carbs, 109 g sugar. Five Egg McMuffins yield the same caloric cost as this stack of sugar-stuffed flapjacks, which is truly a heavy breakfast, weighing in at a hefty pound and a half.

9: Worst dessert - Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream. 1,600 calories, 78 g fat, 215 g carbs. Would you eat a Big Mac for dessert? How about three? That's the calorie equivalent of this decadent dish. Clearly, Chili's customers get their money's worth.

8: Worst Chinese entree - P.F. Chang's Pork Lo Mein. 1,820 calories, 127 g fat,! 95 g carbs. The fat content in this dish alone provides more than 1,100 calories. And you'd have to eat almost five servings of pasta to match the number of carbs it contains. Now, do you really need five servings of pasta?

7: Worst chicken entree - Chili's Honey Chipotle Crispers with Chipotle Sauce. 2,040 calories, 99 g fat, 240 g carbs. 'Crispers' refers to an extra thick layer of break crumbs that soak up oil and adds unnecessary calories and carbs to these glorified chicken strips.

6: Worst fish entree - On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos with Rice and Beans. 2,100 calories, 130 g fat, 169 g carbs, 4,700 mg sodium. Perhaps the most misleadingly named dish in America : A dozen crunchy tacos from Taco Bell will saddle you with fewer calories.

5: Worst pizza - Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza. 2,310 calories, 162 g fat, 123 g carbs, 4,470 mg sodium. Downing this 'personal' pizza is equivalent to eating 18 slices of Domino's Crunchy Thin Crust cheese pizza.

4: Worst pasta - Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat Sauce. 2,430 calories, 128 g fat, 207 g carbs, 5,290 mg sodium. This meal satisfied your calorie requirements for an entire day.

3: Worst nachos - On the Border Stacked Border Nachos. 2,740 calories, 166 g fat, 191 g carbs, 5,280 sodium.

2: Worst starter - Chili's Awesome Blossom. 2,710 calories, 203 g fat, 194 g carbs, 6,360 mg sodium.

1: The worst food in America - Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing. 2,900 calories, 182g fat, 240g carbs. Even if you split these 'starters' with three friends, you'll have downed a dinner's worth of calories before you entree arrives.

Source: Msn.com--20 worst foods

Need To Lose Weight? Act Like a Skinny Personal, part 3

If your need to lose weight then just act like a skinny person! If you follow their lifestyle habits, you may soon find yourself looking skinnier instead of just acting skinnier!

This is the third instalment, so lets review the previous tips:

1.Drink plenty of water

2. Always eat breakfast

3. Avoid snacking

4. Don’t worry about your weight

5. Never skip meals

6. Enjoy your meal

Now let’s talk about three more great tips!

1. Know when to eat. Skinny people don’t because they are depressed, angrey, or sad (emotional eating). They don’t let people force them to eat something or try something they don’t want. A skinny personl also does not eat just because they have nothing better to do. Most skinny people only eat when they are hungry, which usually coinsides with their 3 or 4 meal a day schedule.

2. Eat later. Most skinny people if they are starting to feel hungry will wait till their next scheduled meal to eat. Unlike most overweight people, they will grab the closest food they can; fast food, vending machine, etc. By waiting till later to eat, skinny people aviod snacking or eating extra calories they don’t really need.

3. Stop eating when you know you are full. Most skinny people stop eating when they are hungry, they do not overindulge. Most overweight people will eat till they are full, but then eat sweets and desserts afterwards. These extra calories pack on the weight. Skinny people don’t take in these extra calories which helps them stay skinny!

Now here is 9 total tips you can take to lose weight and feel great. By emulating the habits of someone who is already skinny, you too can reach your goal weight. These tips are life changing habits that will get you on the right path to weight loss! Chances are you are currently doing the opposite of all 9 of these tips, start by working your way down the list, one week at a time.

Get more great weight loss tips from my, Weight Loss Page on Squiddo!

Feel like you are ready to begin your weight loss journey? Then check out www.MorganPersonalTraining.com to find the right weight loss program for you! Choose from; In Home Personal Training, Fitness Boot Camps, and Online Diet and Exercise Coaching

»»P.S. I have a great e-book and back stage pass to offer! Find out what the Top 5 Diet Myths are and see how you can sky rocket weight loss by not followning these Popular Weight Loss Tips!

There is only one thing you need to know to lose weight

To lose 1 pound of body fat a week you need to burn off 3500 more calories then you eat. That is only a 500 calorie per day reduction, sounds simple right!

Simply put you need to burn off more calories a day then you eat. If you don’t then your body will store those calories as fat or muscle. If you’re like 90% of the population it will be fat!

So, to not store calories as fat you must do one of three things; eat less, exercise more, or for best results combine the two.

To eat 500 calories less a day is a lot. If you figure the average meal is 200-300 calories then you must skip two meals a day. Doesn’t sound that bad, but if you start skipping meals you body will start to starve itself. You will be missing needed vitamins and nutrtients. Plus, you will end up snacking on things or just gorging at some point causing yourself to gain more weight then you lose!

If you try to lose weight just through exercise then you must do a lot of exercise! The typical gym workout will burn around 200 calories, running will burn about 300 calories and walking about 200. So, unless you exercise all day long you will not reach that majic 500 calories per day reduction to lose weight. Plus, the more you exercise the more you will start to eat to replace some of that expended energy!

Now let’s look at combining diet and exercise to lose weight. If you exercise for and hour and burn up to 250-300 calories you only have 200-250 more calories to go. This is a lot more reasonale to cut out of your diet then the whole 500! Instead of skipping a whole meal, reduce a little from each meal you eat, which should be a couple times a day of you are eating semi-healthy. Do this for a week and you will lose a pound of fat!

Doesn’t sound like much, when you see shows like the biggest loser. They lose 10 or 20 pounds a week! Well, that is unrealistic and unhealthy (there will be a future blog about their unhealthy weight loss practices, so keep an eye out). Healthy weight loss is 1-3 pounds per week. Lose weight healthy and you will keep it off, feel fine while you lose weight, and not crash from your diet.

—-For more great weight loss tips, check out my web page dedicated to Weight Loss.

—-Need the help of an expert weight loss coach? If so, then sign up for Boot Camp, In Home Personal Training, or Online Personal Training at www.MorganPersonalTrainng.com

Only Need 6 Minutes to Get the Best Workout Of Your Life!

Great Kettlebell Tabata Circtuit! Sounds complicated, but really easy if you need a killer workout in less them 30 minutes. Can be completed in 6 minutes if need be!

If you like this workout, check out Morgan Personal Training for your In Home Killer Kettelbell Workouts! www.MorganPersonalTraining.com

Also, watch more great workout videos at my Weight Loss Lens on Squidoo!

www.Squido.com/HanoverPersonalTraining

If you live in the Hanover, PA area get your FREE In Home Kettlebell Consultation

3 Easy Habits to Boost Metabolism and Lose Weight

Everyone knows that high metabolism means less food stored as body fat, but high metabolism also helps you burn off the body fat you already have. The higher the metabolism the more calories you burn!

There are hundreds of tips and products out there to “help” you boost your metabolism…Don’t Listen to them! Most people will believe they can boost metabolism with a pill or some crazy diet trick; not true. Here are 5 simple, everyday things you can do, that will send your metabolism into over drive, and burn off all your extra calories!

1. Don’t skip breakfast. You have heard me say this before! This is important..”Don’t skip breakfast”! This one step will put you on the right track. If you can only committ to one thing this is it! Eating a well balanced breakfast with good carbs and protiens will satisfy your body and help you stop from gorging at your next meal and snacking throughout the day. Plus, you will have an added boost of energy and feel better throughout the day as well.

2. Don’t starve yourself. Every dieter is guilty of this one. By starving yourself, all your doing is setting yourself up for failure and even more weight gain then weight loss! Once you starve yourself, you will have less energy, eat more snacks to make up for the minimum eating, and of course gorge the next time you do eat!

3. Eat smaller meals throughout the day. The old 3 meal a day routine is done for. This is no longer the standard. You should be eating 4-7 times a day! This sounds crazy but if you eat smaller portions at each meal and add a small and healthy snack in between meals your metabolism will increase dramatically and you will burn off all this food and then some. This happens because your body is constantly satisfied so it doesn’t need to store anything for energy latter. If calories are not stored they are burned off! By delivering a steady flow of energy to the body, with healthy, small portioned meals and snack then you will not gorge at meals and you snacking habit will be satisfied all day!

Follow these 3 tips and you will see dramatic changes in your weight loss efforts. Remember, like I always say though, baby steps. You can not change a lifetime of bad eating habits in one day. Start with 1 tip, do that for a week or two. Once that tip is easy to do and becomes part of your routine, then work on the next one. Small changes over a period of time lead to a big change and weight loss success!

Get more great tips at my Weight Loss Lens on Squidoo!

www.squidoo.com/HanoverPersonalTraining

Get your free diet and weight loss consultation at Morgan Personal Training

www.MorganPersonalTraining.com

My Home Town is Struggling With an Epidemic

When ever I leave PA and tell someone I am from Hanover, they always say, "That's where they make the chips, right?". Then they proceed to tell me how there is nothing but fast food places all around.

That's what Hanover is know for, chips and fast food!

As a Personal Trainer and someone who has grown up in the area, I notice how that view point has effected our community. Overweight and Obesity are two problems that plague not only our community, but our country. Having access to all this fast food and snack foods is not good for Hanover. Everything is okay with in moderation, but it is my opinion that society these days does not know how to do moderation.

I say instead of picking up another bag of chips or another heart attack burger from the McDonalds of your choosing, try eating something healthier and doing some exercise. Fitness is infectious, if you start a healthy lifestyle change those around you may follow.

If you need help to change your lifestyle just check out Morgan Personal Training. I am here to help shape up Hanover and fight this obesity epidemic one pound at a time!