Every Time Your Heart Beats

By Frances Lewis

To really understand nutrition, you must see it from the cellular level. If you eat a piece of pizza every last, little bit of that slice of pizza is used, stored or excreted by your body. Everything you put into your mouth eventually becomes cellular. So in other words, whatever you put into your mouth becomes a part of your body, a piece of you. Whatever you eat either nourishes your body or hinders it!

Think of it like this, every time your heart beats, that beat is delivering nutrition, oxygen (air), or toxins to all of your cells. And what your cells have to work with all depends on what YOU have put in your body for that heartbeat to take to your cells. So ultimately it is up only to you as to whether or not the blocks taken and distributed are nutrients or detriments.

The core value of what you eat determines what your body gets to use. To be healthy, the core value of the building blocks your body has to work with must be good. You cannot build a strong building out of inferior products or the building won't last for long. If you have a foundation that is weak, the building will be weak. If you have a foundation that is strong, but you use only the meanest of materials to build upon that foundation, your building will still be weak. But if you build a strong building upon a strong foundation, then your building will be strong and healthy. The same is true for your body.

But this is still just part of the equation. Your body, unlike a building, is always rebuilding or replacing itself. It is a living machine that replaces many weak or non-working parts on a daily basis. And this they say is the rest of the story...

What kind of a building block do you think the foods your eat make? Take Alcohol for instance. Are the blocks strong or weak? Alcohol breaks down into sugars. Sugars are a weak block. Easily made and easily used up. Fat breaks down into stronger blocks. But the problem with the fat block is that it is so strong that it takes lots of work for your body to break down and use. So it gets stored and your body becomes more obese. Fruits and vegetables also make sugar blocks, but they also make complex strong blocks that don't add as much fat and that are easy for your body to use if the body needs them. Breads and grains also add sugar that is easy to use but also complex proteins that add strength to your building.

So now we get around to the discussion of nutrition. The experts have been telling us for years that we need to eat from the nutrition pyramid. Do you remember that? Just like a building, the pyramid has a strong base, and building blocks that combine in harmony to make a strong structure. It is just that no one has ever explained to us why nutrition is so important. It all has to do with our cells and how our body works.

To help your body be the strongest it can be, thoughtfully consider everything you put into your mouth. Am I eating something that will ultimately be good for my body or something that will contribute to the weakness of my structure? Every time your heart beats are those beats taking the building blocks to your cells that you need to create and maintain your body? It is up to you. Choose wisely.

Take care and love yourself.

Frances Lewis

The author operates http://www.yourbestweightlosssite.com, an educational and informational blog about health and weight loss. She is a 30+-year veteran of the health services business. Now she devotes her full time educating and helping people reach their ideal body weight. Frances has always had a passion for teaching and education. She helps others to gain control of their health and their weight. Her new FREE weight loss roadmap teaching you, "TOP TEN, NO KIDDING, NO FAIL TIPS FOR LOSING WEIGHT AND REGAINING YOUR HEALTH!" is now available at http://www.yourbestweightlosssite.com Just fill out the FREE gift section in the upper right hand corner.

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Eat Healthy for Fitter Abs

By Bill Mann

The first step towards great abs is great abdominal health. In order to achieve the look you want, pay attention to what you are eating. Support the functions of your body by the foods you eat.

One of the many causes of tummy bloat is improper digestion. Many people are so busy that they do not allow time to pay attention to their diet. This means lots of grab-and-go meals that provide little or no dietary support. Not only are these foods generally high calorie and low in nutrition, they contain little fiber. It is hard for the body to digest this stuff, let alone get rid of it.

Eat plenty of fiber. Fiber comes from fruits, vegetables and whole grains. A good rule of thumb to follow is the less processing and packaging, the better. Dark green vegetables and the skins of fruits such as plums, apples and pears provide a good source of fiber. Avoid white and bleached flour baked goods and choose whole grains instead. Whole grain oats, barley, and wheat also support healthy digestion. A sufficient amount of fiber in your diet helps your body cleanse the bowels and maintain a healthy digestive track.

Reduce, but don't eliminate, carbohydrates. Don't cut all carbohydrates out of your diet, but reduce your intake of simply carbohydrates like cookies, candy, and sweet drinks. Be mindful of eating complex carbohydrates and whole grains to balance your digestion and metabolism.

Lessen your fatty foods intake. Not all fat is created equal, but too much of any fat is bad. Saturated fats and partially hydrogenated oils are particularly nasty and create the highest impact. Having some natural oils and fat in your diet is healthy, but make sure you know the source. Read labels!

Another enemy of flatter abs is water retention. This often comes as a result of high sodium intake. Lessen sodium intake by paying attention to the salt you are eating. Sodium doesn't just come from the salt shaker, though. Many prepackaged foods and especially fast food contains high levels of sodium and preservatives. When the body has to process the extra sodium, this causes water retention and bloating.

Also make sure you drink lots of water. Staying fully hydrated aids the digestive process. This ensures that the body makes a quick job of absorbing what it can use and expelling what it does not. Drinking enough water also helps relieve the bloating from excess sodium intake by flushing sodium from the body.

On the issue of liquid intake, quit drinking soda. The calorie free kind won't help you lose weight either. The sugar in a can of regular soda delivers a calorie wallop and can cause weight gain. However, studies have shown that drinking a can of diet soda a day can increase the risk of being overweight by 41%. This won't do any wonders for your midsection.

If you want firm, flat abs, or fitness in any muscle area, you must eat to support muscle development. Without muscle tone, your belly is going to sag and bubble. Amino acids found in protein are essential for building and maintaining muscle health. Health officials recommend women consume 46 grams of protein a day and men 56. Protein in the diet comes from meats, eggs, grains, beans, and dairy products. Lean meats and vegetable proteins are the healthiest choices.

Remember though, eating the right foods only goes so far. Work out your abdominal muscles and get some aerobic activity. A sedentary lifestyle makes it extremely difficult to get the shape you want, no matter what you eat.

As the captain of his high school football team, Bill Mann was fit and lean. After letting himself go for years, he is back on the fitness track and losing his gut thanks to better nutrition and exercise. He reviews the best abs programs at AbsAtLast.com

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