DQ Chicken Fingers Shocking Calorie Count

If you are at Dairy Queen your options are hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken fingers.

You might think that chicken fingers are the healthiest option but you might be surprised.

The deep fried chicken fingers, gravy, french fries, and toast come in around

1370 calories!! 

If you add a blizzard on to that you are coming in around 3000 calories

That is more than the majority of people are supposed to consume in a day (for some people, that is 2 days worth of caloric intake)

Don't be tricked into think you are choosing a "healthy option" at these restaurants.

{Click HERE to see more fatty fast food options - some of them might surprise you!}

Paula Deen Has Diabetes

Everyones favorite southern chef has type 2 diabetes

She has had it for years - and kept it a secret.

All the while filming episodes for food network and selling cookbooks pushing foods fried in oil, with cups and cups of cream, and tons of butter....

Like deep fried cheese cake covered in chocolate and powdered sugar.

seriously???

Instead of coming out about her illness, and sharing with her viewers and followers her struggle to change her diet and her lifestyle she chose to keep quite, and continue to endorse a lifestyle high in sugar, high in fat and low in activity.

I have never been a fan of her cooking or her show

But Now I am very disappointed that she didn't take the opportunity to share this with her views and maybe help some of them change or speak with a doctor about type 2 diabetes.

If caught early and treated with diet and exercise, type 2 diabetes in manageable, and in some cases reversible... you can un-do the insulin insensitivity

Paula Deen only told people about her illness now that she is being endorsed by a company that manufactures a once a day non-insulin injection.

Diets high in sugar and fat, people who are over weight, people over 45, and people with a family history of diabetes should talk to their doctor about the disease.

Moving for at least 30 minutes a day, and changing your diet can help lower the risk of getting type 2 diabetes.

This one runs on fat

Food for your Tummy

Its important that you get adequate nutrition even if you are trying to lose weight.

Make sure you are getting healthy fats and proteins with every meal

They take a long time to digest

Keep you feeling fuller longer

Provide you with essential nutrients

Protein is essential for proper cell development... including building muscles.

Below are 12 foods to try to add into your diet...

ontario schools junk free

Ontario schools are removing Junky food from their cafeterias and vending machines

Things like chocolate, french fries, energy drinks, candy, chips and pop will no longer be available for students to buy while on campus.

This is huge step forward in the fight against obesity in Canada.  Currently, 28% of kids between 2 and 17 are either overweight or obese.  This is leading to higher levels of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, ect...

"Fully 80 per cent of the new school menu must include products with the highest levels of essential nutrients and the lowest amounts of fat, sugar and sodium."

There is still a lot of work to be done in the fight against obesity but this is a step in the right direction.  Managing portion control, calories, and further reducing calories are just some of the things that still need to be address..

But I hope that more provinces and school districts will follow along and re-evaluate the food they are serving the countries youth.

Healthy Food? Dinner Edition

Veggie Burger

Subsituting vegetables for beef isnt necessarily a bad idea.

But veggie burgers are often bound together with cheese, and packed with sodium for flavor.

They also tend to be huge throwing your portion size out of wack

Add a white bun, sugary ketchup, and some mayo and you just might be getting more than 1000 calories

Juice

While 100% juice is an easy way to one of your daily servings of fruit

a 16oz glass or apple or orange juice contains about 55g of carbohydrates... mostly sugar.

(about 12 spoonfuls!!!)

And juice lacks the fibre that is in fruit that fills you up.

Try to stick to one 8oz glass of 100% juice a day or less (thats one fruit serving)

Frozen Diet Dinners

When you take out high calorie fat and sugars... you also take out flavor

To make these dinners taste good they replace this lost flavour with sodium

Which means major water renetion for you

Skip the prepackaged dinners and instead, freeze home made meals into single-portion size dinners.

Use glass containers to avoid any harmful chemicals that can leach out of plastic when it gets heated.

Havent Been to the Gym Lately?

We all fall of the exercise wagon from time to time.

Work gets to busy, you catch a cold, have family visiting from out of town.

But the chronic affects of not exercising can show up within

2 weeks

So, if its been a few weeks since you last hit the pavement or the gym

Its time to grab your runners!!

Go for a brisk walk, take a yoga class, head to the gym.

Taking an extended break can be bad for your health.

Within 14 days people see an increase in belly fat and elevated cholesterol

Good News for Joggers

A new study from German Researchers has shown just how good running is for you!
We already know that running is good for leg and core strength and cardiovascular health

Turns out that running also targets fat tissue - specifically visceral fat AKA belly fat!
The first 10 minutes of your jog are the most effective for burning this type of fat
(Don't forget that at least 30 minutes is needed for cardiovascular health)

So what are you waiting for! Strap those running shoes on today!!

originally seen on glamour.com vitamin G blog

{image from http://www.ineedmotivation.com/}

3500 calories

Yesterday I mentioned that you need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat. So what exactly does that mean?
Everyone has a unique daily recommended calorie intake. This is based on age, weight, activity level and whether you are male or female.  Lets say your daily recommened intake is 1500 calories.
This is how many calories you need to eat in order to maintain your weight.
So lets say you eat 2000 calories a day, and burn 500 calories a day at the gym. Your net intake equals your recommended intake and you will maintain your current weight.
If you eat 2000 calories a day and burn 700 calories exercising every day after 7 days you will have a deficit of 4900 calories, or 1.4 pounds.
If you eat 2000 calories a day and don't exercise at all you will be in excess 500 calories each day. After 7 days you will have accumulated 3500 calories or 1 pound of fat.
How exactly do excess calories become jiggly thighs?
Anytime you have an excess of any food group - carbs, protein or fat - the body coverts it to fat and stores it in your adipose (fat) tissue.
So the trick is to not consistently take in more calories than you need.

Trying to lose a bit of weight? Don't fall for the latest fad/product/diet ect that promises "lose 7lbs in 7 days" - instead aim for slow and stead. A deficit of about 500 calories a day is a safe number to aim for. Try to cut out 250 calories a day from food, and burn 250 extra calories a day through exercise.
Trying to gain a bit of weight? Increase calorie intake through complex carbohydrates (ie. whole grains, fruit and vegetables), lean proteins (chicken, turkey, salmon, tofu), and unsaturated fat (ie avacados, salmon, almonds).  Avoid the unhealthy versions like simple sugars (ie. white sugar, white rice, and white bread), too much red meat or cured meats (ie. deli meat, bacon, steak), and saturated fat and avoid Trans Fat whenever possible.