Smoothie Recipes

Any non-alcoholic drink made from natural ingredients like fruit juices, fruit extracts or concentrates may be referred to as a smoothie recipe. Though this a general definition, now the new smoothie recipes also include chocolate sauce, green tea, some flavours and a few even include butter! Smoothie recipes may contain frozen fruits and/or ice to make them almost frozen. Generally they are thicker than slush and almost look like a normal milk shake. But the fact that separates the two is that a smoothie recipe contains no direct dairy product like milk or ice cream. Smoothie recipes are fast catching up in the market of healthy foods. Everyday the count of people taking up to smoothie recipes is increasing at an exponential rate. If you are a health conscious person then don’t wait, just go ahead and grab your smoothie. And in case you want to try one at home then keep reading for discovering the recipe of one of the best smoothies ever.

This one is what I call the Fresh Banana-Wild Berry Smoothie. The recipe for this smoothie is mentioned below.

Take a cored pear and about half a cup of frozen berries (mixed or blue berries, any kind of berry will do). Put these in a bowl. Add a banana (preferably sliced). Now add 2 cups of water and half teaspoon of cinnamon. Now put this mixture in a blender and mix for about a minute. Now add a couple of teaspoons of skimmed milk and three teaspoons of heaped protein powder (optional). You can add protein powder to almost every smoothie recipe if you go to a gym regularly. Now add a couple of teaspoonfuls of flax oil. Now mix them thoroughly in the blender. This smoothie recipe serves two and contains no artificial sugars and almost negligible amount of dairy products. You can serve this smoothie recipe with a topping of fresh mint leaves or some tamarind sauce to make it more exciting.

Even doctors these days refer smoothies to those patients who have low blood sugar or are allergic to dairy products. Though most of the smoothies in USA use Banana for thickening effect, in Europe and Asian countries they use yogurt and honey too.

Smoothies have attracted people from age group cutting across all countries because of the just perfect taste that it gives to its consumers. A perfect sweetness, fresh fruit flavour, essential vitamins and minerals, dietary required fibres and other nutritional values. Can you ask for more from your smoothie recipe?

Go ahead and grab your smoothie now or log on to the internet to search for hundreds more smoothie recipes that you can prepare right in your kitchen.

Ideal Weight

Many people often ask the dietician as to what should be the ideal weight for them. An ideal weight that a person should have depends on his height and his body mass. A BMI also known as the Body Mass Index is one of the most commonly used tools to check whether your weight is in the ideal weight range or not.

There are many sites on the internet, especially health sites that have their own free BMI calculator. All you have to do is enter your height in inches or centimeters and your weight in kilograms or pounds and the BMI will calculate your body mass index and your ideal weight range. You can then look up the chart to check whether you have the ideal weight or whether you are overweight or underweight.

Efforts should then be made to maintain an ideal weight especially if you are overweight. Obesity or more weight may lead to complications like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart stoke and gout problems. The main causes of obesity are lack of physical activities and exercise and also not following an ideal diet. Remember that what you eat greatly affects your chances of achieving ideal weight. Foods that are high in calorie and fat content are very harmful for the body. Hence foods that are rich in vitamins and less in sugar and fat content should be eaten regularly. Desserts, confectionaries, cakes and pastries should be avoided as far as possible to maintain ideal weight.

If you are motivated to maintain an ideal weight then you will lose excess weight faster. Seek motivation from your friends and family members. Seek regular advice from your dietician. You will be amazed after seeing the positive results just after one week of following an ideal weight loss program. There are millions of people all around the world who would like to maintain ideal weight but are unable to do so because they give up easily and find it difficult to put in the efforts required to achieve ideal weight.

Proper exercise should also not be left behind to maintain an ideal weight. One can start with light exercises like walking, cycling and swimming and then move on to heavier exercises like weight lifting and weight training to get an ideal weight and also maintain that ideal weight. Doing exercises will not only burn your fat and calories but also keep your body healthy and fit. You will feel more confident and active after everyone compliments you for your body and ideal weight. Remember that maintaining an ideal weight is more difficult than losing weight.

Low calorie and vegetarian recipes

People in the developed and developing countries are moving more and more towards low calorie and vegetarian recipes. This is because due to unhealthy lifestyles people in the developed countries often suffer from obesity and obesity related disorders. Obesity leads to other disorders as well. Some of the most common obesity related disorders are high blood pressure, diabetes, high chances of heart stroke, fatigue, etc. Hence more and more people are turning towards low calorie and vegetarian recipes.

Most of the recipe sites have thousands of recipes in different categories including low calorie and vegetarian recipes. The recipes are arranged in such a manner that any recipe can be found out in a few minutes. Low calorie and vegetarian recipes are very good for health as they are less fatty and they contain more vitamins, proteins, etc. It is fatty foods and foods with high calorie that often lead to obesity related disorders. Low calorie and vegetarian recipes keep fat at minimum levels in the body. Low calorie and vegetarian recipes stress on lesser and lesser sugar intake. Low calorie and vegetarian recipes depend more on the intake of vitamins that are so vital for the overall health of the body.

Cholesterol is also one of the most dreaded disorders in the body. Hence low calorie and vegetarian recipes stress on minimal cholesterol intake. You should also limit your salt intake and use more of herbs and spices in exchange of salt. The herbs and the spices bring out the flavors that you would simply love to have again and again. Low calorie and vegetarian recipes also stress on increasing the consumption of complex carbohydrates. You should avoid processed and preserved foods at all costs and instead have more and more of fresh and natural foods. You should have more of raw fruits and vegetables. You can make your own combinations of salads that you like. Most of the recipe sites have over a hundred salad recipes.

Some of the most common low calorie and vegetarian recipes are bean sprouts (calories – 167 per cup), brown bread (calories – 70 per bread slice), fresh cream (calories – 229 per serving), fresh curd (calories – 63 per cup). Cottage cheese also has very less number of calories. You can also ask your dietician or fitness instructor for low calorie and vegetarian recipes as they study each patient’s case and then suggest the best diet for them. You should stick to their plan in order to have a fit and a healthy life.

Pregnancy Calendar

A pregnancy calendar can be a wonderful gift for a pregnant couple. With the calendar, they can see from week to week what is happening to their baby. They can see and read about the development of the child each week and see photos or drawings of the baby’s development from zygote to embryo to fetus to infant. Watching the development of the baby increases the anticipation, but it is also awe-inspiring for the couple to witness the miracle of the creation of a human life.

Many of these calendars not only follow the progress of the growth of the baby in utero, they also often offer advice to the mother on nutrition and how to prepare for the baby’s arrival. Expectant parents can learn about layettes, formula, bottle feeding versus breast-feeding, diapers, colic, how to bathe baby and other helpful tips. Indeed, a typical pregnancy calendar can be a very comprehensive tool for a parent.

You can get pregnancy calendar products online, but many hospitals and parenting and pregnancy centers offer them as well for free. The bonus here is that most of the time if you get a calendar from one of these places, they will include valuable local coupons for various baby-related items. So check with local hospitals and pregnancy centers first to see if any offer pregnancy calendars. Giving a pregnancy calendar is a gift most any expectant couple will treasure. Truly, expectant parents will be pleased to receive a gift of a pregnancy calendar.

If you find that you do not have time to go hunting for a pregnancy calendar in the brick and mortar world, you certainly can spend some time on the Net. There are a whole host of different websites in operatoion on the Net that provide an array of different types of pregnancy calendars. Indeed, some of these websites will customize a pregnancy calendar for a particular mother, father and child.

There are also themed pregnancy calendar products. For example, if a person is religious, there are pregnancy calendar products that have crafted and created around relgious themes. In short, when it comes to pregnancy calendar products, there really is something for everyone to be found online and in the brick and mortar world today.

Weight Loss Supplements

The weight loss supplements market has today become a multi billion industry today. Organizations like Herbalife which manufactures and markets weight loss supplements have spread their reach far and wide. These organizations do constant research to come out with newer and better weight loss supplements to help people lose weight more quickly. The only disadvantage of weight loss supplements is that people depend entirely on these supplements to lose weight. Actually it is a combination of proper dieting, exercise and weight loss supplements that will give you the required results.

There are two types of weight loss supplements available in the market. They are prescription drugs and non prescription drugs. Prescription drugs are drugs that are checked, tried and approved by the FDA. Non prescription drugs have just undergone minimum test standards set by the FDA. In case you would like to go for weight loss supplements you should consult your doctor or dietician before taking them. A dietician will tell you which weight loss supplements to take and also how many times to take them. The doctor will also explain to you the side effects if any of the particular weight loss supplement.

Many of the weight loss supplements do come with side effects. Hence it is necessary to take them in moderation. Weight loss supplements from companies like Herbalife are said to be relatively safer as they are made from herbs and other botanical plants. Weight loss supplements which are natural do lees damage as they have minimum side effects. They also increase the metabolism of the body. Metabolism refers to the rate at which the body burns the fats. Hence better the mechanism your chances of getting slimmer are also better.

People are increasingly using these weight loss supplements to lose large amounts of fats quickly. Also the results if using weight loss supplements are long and permanent. However as mentioned before do not start taking any weight loss supplements without the advise of your doctor or dietician. Many weight loss supplements work by suppressing your appetite and hence you tend to eat less. There are many weight loss supplements coming up in the near future. The companies are doing their best to invent weight loss supplements that are more effective and safer and pose less risks in the case of side effects to the patients. The weight loss supplements are here to stay for long.

Yoga Posture

Yoga is a set of exercises known as asanas or yoga posture that have helped millions of people worldwide from different cultures and society maintain not only their physical health but mental health as well. A yoga posture is also called an asana or a pose. Different yoga postures are categorized under the 6 main groups and each yoga posture is directed towards a particular part of the body. Yoga improves your mental stability and your concentration. It increases the immune power of your body and helps your body fight diseases well. Yoga also gives equal attention to breathing exercises as well as it believes in the overall health of the body from inside as well as outside.

Yoga consists of over a hundred asanas that are grouped in different categories according to the part of the body that they concentrate in. In addition to warm up and stretching exercises, the different postures also help to bring your body, mind and soul in union with each other. Lets us delve further into the main types of yoga postures.

1) Seating Yoga Posture – Seating postures provide a good starting point for beginners. Different types of seating postures are taught to the beginner students by expert yogi teachers before teaching them the other advanced yoga postures. Seating postures concentrate more on sitting in silence and then learning the proper breathing techniques. One normally sits on the ground cross legged with the arms by the sides and then performs breathing exercises. This leads to increased mental improvement.
2) Standing Yoga Postures – Standing yoga postures concentrate more on the flexibility to the spinal column and also help in making your arms, legs and back stronger and more flexible. Standing postures demand more efforts than sitting postures.
3) Supine Yoga Postures – Supine postures concentrate on the back and they help to strengthen the spinal column and make it more flexible. Supine yoga postures helps to improve the overall flexibility of the body. Supine postures are normally meant for advanced yogis.
4) Belly Down Yoga Postures – Belly down postures concentrate on building up stronger abs and back, especially the lower back. Belly down postures are relatively simple to do than other yoga postures.
5) Balancing Yoga Postures – These postures concentrate more on improving the balancing powers of the body as the name suggests. These postures also improve your mental abilities and makes your mind more clam but at the same time stronger.
6) Twisting Yoga Postures – These yoga postures are relatively difficult than most other yoga postures. They concentrate more on lengthening the spinal column and improving its flexibility.