Josh Perez Fitness

In 1994 the U.S. government began requiring manufacturers to put nutrition information on food labels. You can use this information to make better choices about what you buy and eat. Look for the following:

1. Look for foods with lower or zero levels of saturated fats.
2. Pay close attention to serving sizes.
3. Products labeled “light,” or “lite,” must have a third fewer calories or half the fat of the foods with which they are compared. “Light” can also mean that salt has been reduced by half.
4. Calcium is important for bones, teeth, and prevention of Osteoporosis.
5. The “sodium” amount tells you how much salt is in the food.
6. Look for products that have more fiber and less sugar.
7. Vitamins and minerals will help your body function properly.
8. Use the “percentage of daily value” section as a guide for daily planning of servings.
9. The number of calories a person needs each day depends on many factors, including amount of exercise.
10. Look for calories first and then grams of sugar.
11. The lower the cholesterol the better.
12. Any food labels with high amounts of protein is great.
13. Look to see how the product is made, in particular, why should food contain high fructose corn syrup.

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With the holidays around the corner and the stressful shopping ahead, most Americans will have the urge to dine out on fast food. With a little bit of know-how, you can “occasionally” enjoy fast foods while maintaining a healthy weight-loss program and stress free holiday shopping experience. Here are a few tips to help you stay on track:

• Avoid supersize combo meals, or split one with a friend.
• Sip on water or fat-free milk instead of soda.
• Use only small amounts of high-fat, high-calorie toppings, like regular mayonnaise, salad dressings, bacon, and cheese or none at all.
• Choose salads and grilled foods, like a grilled chicken breast sandwich or small hamburger.
• Try a “fresco” taco (with salsa instead of cheese or sauce) at taco stands.
• Fried foods, like french fries and fried chicken, are high in fat and calories, so order them only once in a while, order a small portion, or split an order with a friend.

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The key menu words below are a general guide for eating out or grocery shopping. Although, food items can be very healthy or unhealthy regardless of the use of any of these key menu words. There are times when these words are used to mislead you (which is why we call them “key menu words” and not “guarantees”). So use this guide along with your best judgment and stay clear of the bad stuff.

SAY “NO” TO THESE:

1. Breaded
2. Fried/Deep Fried
3. Creamed/Creamy
4. Béarnaise or hollandaise
5. White Sauce
6. Crispy
7. Cheesy
8. Buttery
9. Loaded
10. Bottomless
11. “Bet you can’t finish it…”
12. Au gratin
13. Country-style
14. Volcano

SAY “YES” TO THESE:

1. Steamed
2. Reduced
3. Baked
4. Marinated
5. Seasoned
6. Fat Free
7. Whole Wheat
8. Multi-grain
9. Vegetarian
10. Light
11. High Fiber
12. Fresh
13. Red sauce
14. Vinaigrette

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This is a short list I provided that should never be consumed on a healthy conscious diet plan. Or, if your goals are to see your children and grandchildren grow up while living a long fulfilling life.

#1: Deep-Fried Food:
Do not order deep fried food, or even use the words deep fried. You might as well lick the grease out of a McDonalds frying pan. Deep frying is positively the worst possible choice for having anything prepared. And don’t let the words, “lightly fried” fool you either, as in tempura! To give you a tip on the calories here, just add a zero “0″ to the end of the calorie count. For example, if a snickers bar has 100 calories, and now you order it deep fried (Which I’ve seen at the Del Mar Fair) now it becomes 1,000!

#2: White Bread:
Considering the negative nutrition associated with denatured flour, why would anyone make that choice in this enlightened century? Lose the white bread because it contains high fructose corn syrup and slows the digestion process. If they baked bread a 1,000 years ago without high fructose corn syrup, why need it now?

#3: Shortening and Margarine:
Solidified fats get that way through a process called hydrogenation, which in turn, makes a multitude of trans fats. Yes, we’ve all heard how bad trans fats are, right? Well, not only does margarine lower your HDL (good cholesterol) it also raises the bad (LDL). Use healthy substitutes like apple sauce or zero calorie spray cooking pam.

#4: White Rice:
The fiber is missing, the B vitamins are virtually unheard of and the glycemic load will take you one step closer to Type 2 Diabetes, if that’s your go-to carbohydrate, get rid of this. Think of it as consuming a bowl of sugar!

#5: White Sugar:
Did you know that consuming white sugar will actually stun your white blood cells from doing their important health preserving work? Yes, sugar impacts your immune system! It doesn’t just eat your teeth and add to your body fat, it disrupts immune function. Also, once sugar is consumed in an inactive body, it takes about 2 minutes for that sugar to become fat in your body!

Just remember, if you know your going to consume some horrible meals for the day, always remember to take your multivitamins and antioxidants to makeup for the lost nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

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1. 6 oz Whole Grain Pasta - 147 grams
2. 4 oz Lentils / Beans - 60 grams
3. 8 oz Yams - 76 grams
4. 8 oz Baked Potato - 50 grams
5. 8 oz Grapes - 39 grams
6. 1 Medium Banana - 28 grams
7. 2 Slices Whole Grain Bread - 26 grams
8. 1 Cup Cooked Oatmeal - 25 grams
9. 1/2 Cup Precooked Brown Rice - 23 grams
10. 6 oz Fresh Mixed Vegetables - 21 grams
11. 8 oz Watermelon - 17 grams
12. 6 oz Orange - 16 grams
13. 8 oz Fresh Spinach - 14 grams
14. 4 oz Berries - 10 grams

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1. 8 oz Turkey Breast - 65 grams
2. 8 oz Skinless Chicken Breast - 56 grams
3. 50g Protein Powder - 50 grams
4. 12 Egg Whites - 48 grams
5. 8 oz Extra-Lean Ground Beef - 48 grams
6. 8 oz Round Steak - 48 grams
7. 6 oz Sardines (drained) - 46 grams
8. 8 oz Atlantic Salmon - 45 grams
9. 8 oz New York Steak - 43 grams
10. 8 oz White Fish - 43 grams
11. 6 oz Canned Tuna - 43 grams
12. 1 quart Skim Milk - 36 grams
13. 4 oz Turkey Bacon - 33 grams
14. 6 oz Canned Chicken - 33 grams
15. 1 cup Low-Fat Cottage Cheese - 28 grams
16. 6 tbsp Organic Peanut Butter - 24 grams
17. 8 oz Plain Yogurt - 10 grams

These nutrient dense foods benefit the body in so many ways. They power your brain, and correctly and efficiently fuel your body. Nutrient dense foods fight infection, enhance your immune system, and protect against diseases such as osteoporosis, heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, and respiratory infections.

Always try to include them when planning your meals and snacks for the day!

ASSORTED

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Black olives
• Dark (not milk) chocolate
• Green tea
• Salsa
• Calcium-fortified juice

DAIRY

• Skim or 1% milk
• Low fat yogurt with active cultures
• Low fat cottage cheese
• Meats and Seafood
• Fresh fish, non-breaded
• Salmon, canned or fresh
• Tuna, canned or fresh
• Lean, fresh beef, poultry or pork
• Eggs
• Veggie burgers
• Nuts and seeds

FRUITS

• Apples
• Red grapefruit
• Melons, any kind
• Dried apricots
• Red grapes
• Prunes
• Oranges
• Berries, any kind

GRAINS

• 100% whole wheat bread, bagels, pitas
• Whole wheat pasta
• Cornmeal
• Millet
• Bulgur
• Brown rice
• Whole wheat pancake mix
• Oatmeal
• Shredded Wheat
• Dry cereal with 5 grams fiber
• Low fat Triscuit crackers
• Wasa fiber rye crackers

VEGETABLES

• Red, yellow, and orange peppers
• Mushrooms
• Romaine Lettuce
• Carrots, baby and regular
• Kale and other greens
• Garlic
• Onions
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Sweet potatoes
• Spinach
• Green onions
• Winter squash
• Cabbage
• Beets
• Tomatoes

Consuming a raw food diet is beneficial to your health for numerous reasons. Raw food is easier to digest than cooked or processed foods and it is almost entirely usable by the body. Cooking destroys enzymes and can deplete vitamins and other important nutrients while also creating harmful free radicals.

All chemical activity within the body relies on the actions of enzymes, eating a diet of mostly cooked and/or processed foods requires your enzymes to work overtime to digest and assimilate the few available nutrients. Because raw foods contain all of the enzymes necessary for their digestion and the body can produce and use enzymes solely for maintenance and repair.

It can also be used as a “quick fix’ weight loss solution!

Your Top 10:

Green leafy vegetables: Eat them raw, throw them into a broth, add them to juices. Their chlorophyll helps swab out environmental toxins (heavy metals, pesticides) and protects the liver.

Lemons: You need to keep the fluids flowing to wash out the body and fresh lemonade is ideal. Its vitamin C, considered the detox vitamin, helps convert toxins into a water-soluble form that’s easily flushed away.

Watercress: Put a handful into salads, soups, and sandwiches. The peppery little green leaves have a diuretic effect that helps move things through your system. And cress is rich in minerals too.

Garlic: Add it to everything — salads, sauces, spreads. In addition to the bulb’s cardio benefits, it activates liver enzymes that help filter out junk.

Green tea: This antioxidant-rich brew is one of the healthiest ways to get more fluids into your system. Bonus: It contains catechins, which speed up liver activity.

Broccoli sprouts: Get ‘em at your health-food store. They pack 20 to 50 times more cancer-fighting, enzyme-stimulating activity into each bite than the grown-up vegetable.

Sesame seeds: They’re credited with protecting liver cells from the damaging effects of alcohol and other chemicals. For a concentrated form, try tahini, the yummy sesame seed paste that’s a staple of Asian cooking.

Cabbage: There are two main types of detoxifying enzymes in the liver; this potent veggie helps activate both of them. Coleslaw, anyone?

Psyllium: A plant that’s rich in soluble fiber, like oat bran, but more versatile. It mops up toxins (cholesterol too) and helps clear them out. Stir powdered psyllium into juice to help cleanse your colon, or have psyllium-fortified Bran Buds for breakfast.

Fruits: They’re full of almost all the good things above: vitamin C, fiber, nutritious fluids, and all kinds of antioxidants. Besides, nothing tastes better than a ripe mango, fresh berries, or a perfect pear.

Our bodies crave fruits and vegetables more than just about any other food because we tend to get far fewer of them than we need. We often think we’d survive just fine on 2-3 servings a day or less. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the USDA both recommend at least 5 servings per day! What you’re missing could be the difference between just surviving and seeing the results!

With just a little thought and small effort in snack preparation, you can make these nutritious foods more convenient and more accessible.

My 16 Tips:

• Add fruit to your cereal, oatmeal, waffles or pancakes at breakfast.
• Create your own yogurt flavors with plain yogurt and different combinations of fresh fruit.
• Snack on raw vegetables or fruits instead of chips or pretzels. Keep sugar snap peas, raisins or carrot sticks in your car, your office or your backpack.
• Use chunky salsa instead of thick, creamy snack dips.
• Drink 100% juice instead of addictive coffee, tea, or soda.
• Going out to lunch? Take a trip to the grocery salad bar. Use lots of dark green leaves and other vegetables instead of piling on all of the extras like eggs, bacon and cheese.
• Add fresh veggies to any pasta dish. It’s an easy way to get in another serving of vegetables.
• Keep fruits and vegetables in line of sight. Grapes, oranges, bananas, and apples make a colorful bowl arrangement on the table. If you see them, you will eat them!
• Dried fruit is just as portable as potato chips and less messy. It tastes especially good when added to basic trail mix.
• When cooking vegetables, makes 2-3 times more than you need and immediately store the extra away for tomorrow. It’ll save you time later on.
• Add your own beans and vegetables (tomatoes, spinach, peppers, cabbage) to canned and quick-serve soups.
• If you must have pizza, load on extra veggies and pineapple instead of fatty meats and extra cheese.
• Try berries, melons or dates for a naturally sweet dessert rather than the usual candy bar, cookie, or ice cream sandwich.
• Frozen fruits are nearly as healthy as the fresh stuff, and only take minutes to prepare.
• Combine fruit with your main meal courses. Raisins, apples and tangerine slices add sweet, crunchy variety to a salad.
• Apples complement pork, pineapple is great with fish, and orange slices are perfect with chicken.

Besides being packed full of nutrients, fruits and vegetables can also be quite filling. They may even ward off any empty calorie snacking that might follow!

A carbohydrate-rich diet can inflate appetite and girth. Low-carb diets do promote short-term weight loss, but are accompanied by some severe dangers. So what should you do? The truth is, you can have your carbs and eat them too—you just have to know how to choose them.

The Real Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the body’s ideal fuel for most functions. They supply the body with the energy needed for the muscles, brain and central nervous system. In fact, the human brain depends exclusively on carbohydrates for its energy.
Carbohydrates are found in fruits, vegetables, beans, dairy products, foods made from grain products, and sweeteners such as sugar, honey, molasses, and corn syrup.

The body converts digestible (non-fiber) carbohydrates into glucose, which our cells use as fuel. Some carbs (simple) break down quickly into glucose while others (complex) are slowly broken down and enter the bloodstream more gradually.
During digestion, all carbohydrates are broken down into glucose before they can enter the bloodstream where insulin helps the glucose enter the body’s cells. Some glucose is stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles for future use, like fueling a workout.

If there is extra glucose, the body will store it as fat.

There are basically three types of carbohydrates:

Simple carbohydrates are composed of 1 or 2 sugar units that are broken down and digested quickly. Recent research has shown that certain simple carbohydrate foods can cause extreme surges in blood sugar levels, which also increases insulin release. This can elevate appetite and the risk of excess fat storage.

Complex carbohydrates (also referred to as starch) are made up of many sugar units and are found in both natural (brown rice) and refined (white bread) form. They are structurally more complex and take longer to be broken down and digested.

Complex carbohydrate foods have been shown to enter the blood stream gradually and trigger only a moderate rise in insulin levels, which stabilizes appetite and results in fewer carbohydrates that are stored as fat. Unrefined or ‘whole grain’ carbohydrates found in products like brown rice, whole wheat pasta and bran cereals are digested slowly. They contain vitamins, minerals and fiber which promote health. Fiber and nutrient-rich vegetables, fruits and beans which are carbohydrates also have many important functions for the body and are important for good health.

Indigestible carbohydrates are also called fiber. The body is unable to breakdown fiber into small enough units for absorption. It is therefore not an energy source for the body but does promote health in many other ways.
Simple carbs, complex carbs, and fiber are found in many foods. Some provide important nutrients that promote health while others simply provide calories that promote girth.

• Sugar:, syrup, candy, honey, jams, jelly, molasses, and soft drinks contain simple carbohydrates and little if any nutrients
• Fruits: contain primarily simple carbohydrate but also valuable vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water
• Vegetables: contain varying amounts of simple and complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water
• Legumes: such as beans, peas, lentils and soybeans contain complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and protein
• Milk Products: contain simple carbohydrates along with protein, calcium and other nutrients
• Grain Products: contain complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and protein. The amounts vary depending on the type of grain used and the amount of processing. Selecting whole grain options whenever possible is recommended

What You Should Know About Low-Carbohydrate Diets

Following an extremely low-carbohydrate diet is disastrous, dangerous, and above all—boring! Carbohydrates are NOT the enemy. Including the appropriate amounts and types of carbohydrate-rich foods in your diet is essential for long-term health and weight loss/maintenance.

The Body’s Immediate Reaction to Very Low Carbohydrate Diets:

When there is a severe deficit of carbohydrates, the body has several immediate reactions:

With no glucose available for energy, the body starts using protein from food for energy. Therefore this protein is no longer available for more important functions, such as making new cells, tissues, enzymes, hormones, and antibodies and the regulation of fluid balance.

When carbohydrates are lacking, the body cannot burn fat in the correct way. Normally carbs combine with fat fragments to be used as energy. When carbs are not available, there is an incomplete breakdown of fat that produces a by-product called ketones. These ketones accumulate in the blood and in the urine causing ketosis, which is an abnormal state. Ketosis does cause a decrease in appetite because it’s one of the body’s protection mechanisms. It’s an advantage to someone in a famine (which the body thinks it’s experiencing) to lack an appetite because the search for food would be a waste of time and additional energy.
Due to the lack of energy and the accumulation of ketones, low-carb diets are often accompanied by nausea, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, bad breath, and dehydration.

Because of dehydration and a lack of fiber, constipation can result. Exercise and fitness performance is reduced on a low-carb diet. Do not be surprised if your energy level is so low that you cannot make it through your normal workout routine.

Long-Term Effects of Low Carbohydrate Diets

When you severely restrict carbohydrates, your consumption of protein and fat increases, which has several long-term effects:

• The risk of many cancers increases when fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, and beans are eliminated from the diet.
  Protein foods are also high in purines, which are broken down into uric acid. Elevated levels of uric acid in the blood may lead to needle-like uric acid crystals in joints, causing gout
• Kidney stones are more likely to form on high protein, ketosis-producing diets
• Over time, high protein diets can cause a loss of calcium and lead to osteoporosis
• The risk of heart disease is greatly increased on a low-carb diet that is high in protein, cholesterol, fat, and saturated fat. A temporary reduction in cholesterol levels may be experienced, but this is common with any weight loss

How do you include carbohydrates in you diet in a safe, effective, and controlled way? Here are my 3 simple rules:

RULE 1: Include the following in your diet:

• Fruits: 2-4 servings daily
• Vegetables: 3-5 servings daily
• Whole grain breads, muffins, bagels, rolls, pasta, noodles, crackers, cereal, and brown rice: 6-11 servings daily
• Legumes, beans and peas: 1-2 servings daily
• Low-fat and non-fat dairy products: 3 servings daily

RULE 2: Limit the following to less than 2 servings daily:

• Fruit Juice
• Refined and processed white flour products (bread, muffins, bagels, rolls, pasta, noodles, crackers, cereal)
• White rice
• French fries
• Fried vegetables

RULE 3: Eliminate the following from your diet or eat only on occasion:

• Sugary Desserts
• Cookies
• Cakes
• Pies
• Candies
• Doughnuts and Pastries
• Chips, Cola and Carbonated Beverages
• Sugar, Syrup, Jam, Molasses

Related Links:

For college and high school students, fall brings a lot of activity. Between fun stuff (like football games, parties, and dances) and difficult tasks (like midterms and research papers), it may seem like your kids don’t have a lot of time left to exercise and eat right. It is not uncommon for students to let their health slide. Before you know it, it’s January 1st and your young adult is trying to figure out how to lose 20 pounds before going on Spring Break!

There is a better way to do this. By establishing some simple, healthy nutrition and fitness habits, you can help your older children avoid gaining weight and have more energy for school and everything else.

On the nutrition side, encourage your kids to make the right choices, such as:

• Enjoying a good breakfast for all-day energy and fewer cravings later.
• Eating fruit or nuts (instead of pizza or potato chips) for late-night study snacks. If you or your teen can prepare snacks ahead of time, they’ll be less likely to resort to unhealthy fast food when in a pinch. Choosing healthier foods will stabilize their energy levels throughout the day (and night).
• Drinking plenty of water to help the body remove waste and reduce hunger. Encourage your student to keep a water bottle with him all day and drink that in class instead of high-calorie drinks like soda.
• If your children practice healthy habits more often, they’ll have plenty of energy and less of the stress that comes with school. High school and college are times when healthy habits are made, so encourage them to put forth effort now and reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle for the rest of their lives!

If your body is efficiently converting food into fuel and burning it, you’ll shed fat and build muscle. That muscle will boost your metabolism, and even more, you will shed more fat and build more lean body muscle. The big payoff: a lean body for life. Here are a few tips that I can give:

EAT:

Do not fear carbohydrates! By dodging carbohydrates it leaves your body lacking the fast-burning energy that supplies the kick-start to your metabolism. Skip too many carbohydrates, and your body will begin to burn muscle off and not fat! Which is why it’s very important to eat something in the morning as opposed to training on an empty stomach. The best approach I can recommend is a balance of:

• 50% to 55% of Carbohydrates (Fruits, Vegetables, and Whole Grains) not (Cookies, Chips, and Cake)
• 20% to 25% of Protein (Chicken, Tuna, Steak, and Black Beans)
• 25% to 30% of Fat (Organic Peanut Butter, Udo’s Oil, and Almonds)

DRINK:

By sipping green tea, it contains an anti-oxidant called “epigallocatechin gallate” and been shown to boost energy expenditure by 4%. Also, H2O is your body’s lubrication. Without it, your internal machine won’t run quite as smoothly. I suggest during the day to sip about 14 cups of liquid. Then when your working out for more than an hour, drink about 4 to 5 cups more than that!

MOVE:

Add intervals on cardio machines such as treadmills, ellipticals or even spin bikes. Sprint as fast as you can for a maximum of 60 seconds, and rest by walking or pedaling slowly for 2 minutes, and then repeat it again for 5-6 times. If you can’t do the full 60 seconds, no worries, just start out at 30 seconds and then work your up.

A few times during your workout, why not try bumping your heart rate above your target heart zone for 2-3 minutes. During the majority of your workout (pending on your goal) you want to be at 55%-75% of your maximum heart rate. But by notching it up a tad bit higher, can bump your metabolism.

To find out more about your diet percentages, you can go to these following online diet sites for a free diet profile!:

• Diet.com
• DietWatch.com
• eDiets.com
• NutriSystem