Fitness and Health

There are an endless variety of healthy, tasty foods you can add to your diet. This article provides information on how you can easily make good nutrition a part of your life.

Talk with your child about the way a new food smells, looks and feels, rather than trying to convince him or her that it tastes good. Encourage exploration. Simply describing the texture of the food may interest your child enough to try it.

Diet and exercise will only work if you give it time and stay motivated. These two factors determine the effectiveness of your program. If you keep your motivation high, you will stick with your plan and find the time to exercise. You should set a time every day that you are going to go work out. Do something you have fun doing and find a time that is right for you.

Try getting a friend to work out with you. Friends can help motivate and support you, making is easier to reach your goals.

You can use substitutes for dairy products. Use dairy foods with fewer calories and less fat instead of the high-calorie, high-fat dairy products. You can substitute plain yogurt for sour cream in dips and in most recipes. No-fat evaporated milk also works well if you are making cream. Ricotta cheese makes a healthy alternative for cream cheese to spread on bagels. You can lose some of the fat and calories without sacrificing taste.

Women who are pregnant or lactating should pay close attention to their nutrition. Pregnant women need a good supply of protein; unfortunately women in pregnancy might not feel like consuming food. Adding the whites of two eggs to a delicious fruit smoothie in the morning is an easy way to meet the higher protein needs. Eggs are one of the best ways for a pregnant woman to get protein. Egg whites contain no fat and only 15 calories. It's best only to use eggs that are pasteurized.

If you are dealing with diabetes, make sure you get medical advice on consuming alcohol. You must be cautious when drinking alcohol with diabetes because it could drastically decrease the levels of your blood sugar.

Using ground turkey in place of regular ground beef has many health benefits. However, it is considerably drier. To make ground turkey juicier, cook it with olive oil and toss in a few chopped onions. This gives you a very tasty meat dish while reducing the amount of fat you eat.

Beans, tomatoes, yams and, of course, bananas are all healthy foods that will give you plenty of potassium. If you eat a lot of potassium, your blood pressure will stay in the normal range and you will be at lower risk for diseases like type 2 diabetes. Dairy items also offer potassium, items like milk and yogurt are great sources.

It is important to include food which provide selenium in your diet. Selenium, a mineral, can help build up tissue elasticity, so that your skin ages more slowly. Another of selenium's many benefits is protecting your skin from harmful sun damage. There are many foods rich in selenium, such as eggs, garlic, tuna, and more.

Be sure to write down why you believe a particular tip or strategy has or has not worked for you, so that you know whether to use it in the future.