Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• 10 cloves garlic, halved
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 c wheat germ

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Make 10 small cuts in each chicken breast.
3. Insert a piece of garlic into each cut.
4. Coat each chicken breast with egg and wheat germ.
5. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through.

Nutrition Info

• Calories: 418
• Fat: 9g
• Saturated Fat: 3g
• Trans Fat: 0
• Cholesterol: 238mg
• Sodium: 187mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 20g
• Dietary Fiber: 4g
• Sugar: 0
• Protein: 66g
• Iron: 5mg

I got this recipe from the April 2011 edition of Oxygen magazine.

The Fiber of Your Muscle

The muscular system is composed of 639 named muscles and six trillion muscle fibers (cells).  At a width thinner than a human hair, each fiber can support up to 1000 times its own weight.

Each long, microscopic muscle fiber contains protein filaments and is encased in a layer of fascia (connective tissue) called the endomysium.  Each muscle fiber is grouped with adjacent muscle fibers to form bundles called fascicles, which are wrapped in fascia.  These bundles are bound to other fascicles to form the muscle belly, which is also enveloped by fascia.  These layers of fascia merge at either end of the muscle to form a tendon, which attaches the muscle to a bone.

The Keys to Successful Weight Management

1) Do not make excuses.
Everyone has a busy life.  You have a responsibility to your health to get the job done.  Take responsibility for your choices and actions.  Life does not always go as planned.  You might think you have a good excuse, but it is still an excuse.

2) If you bite it, you write it.
Keep a food journal and log all food and drink.  A simple notebook will do, but there is also an app for that.  Lose It is available on both the iPhone and Droid markets and there is an online version at loseit.com.  Journaling your consumption will help you to assess and analyze your current behaviors to paint a clear picture of where you need to make changes.  Logging your food and drink will also guide your choices.

3) Be consistent.
Consistent exercise and proper nutrition will get results.  A behavioral roller coaster - doing well for a few days and slacking for a few days - will get you little to no results.  Consistency is key.

4) Be prepared.
Failing to plan is planning to fail.  Do not leave your success to chance.  Create a schedule and structure to your exercise and eating plans.
- Exercise: You must workout 3-5 days a week at a high-intensity.  Train hard or go home.
- Nutrition: You must create a 4-6 meal per day plan and stick to it.
- Regeneration: Cortisol-reduction time. High cortisol levels trigger fat storage in the abdominal area.  Cortisol release is triggered by stress and high levels of abdominal fat.  Take time to relax.
- Plan ahead: Prepare meals in advance.

5) Take action.
Information without implementation will not get you to your goal.  Lifestyle change and body transformation take work.  Neither one is easy, but they are doable.

"Remember, to learn and not do is really not to learn."  - Stephen Covey

Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables

Vegetables and fruits are loaded with micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) as well as phytochemicals (plant chemicals) that are essential for optimal physiological functioning.

Proteins and grains are acidic; vegetables and fruits are alkaline.  It is important to balance the acidic load that protein and grains present to the blood with alkaline-rich vegetables and fruits.  Too much acid and not enough alkalinity leads to the loss of bone strength and muscle mass.  Be sure you are balanced.

A simple way to make sure you are getting enough vegetables is to consume 1-3 servings (a serving is about 1/2 cup) with every eating opportunity (4-6 meals/day).  Your goal is to get to 10-15 servings, or 5 to 7 1/2 cups per day.  You can supplement a couple of these servings with a high-quality greens supplement.

Are you or your children not particularly fond of vegetables?  Try this: Grate 2 cups total of onions, garlic, carrots, beets, and zucchini and then sauté the grated vegetables in 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil.  Add 4 cups of a basic low-sugar, low-sodium marinara sauce and simmer.

Sugar, Oh, Honey, Honey

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Americans are on a sugar high. On average, Americans consume 22 to 30 teaspoons of added sugar each day. At 16 calories per teaspoon, that equates to 352 to 480 nutritionally-void calories. The American Heart Association is urging Americans to reduce their daily added sugar intake to 25 grams/6.5 teaspoons or less for women and 38 grams/9.5 teaspoons or less for men.

This recommendation only refers to the added sugars that are commonly found in processed and packaged foods, not the naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables, and milk. Don't worry about the naturally occurring sugars; added sugars are the real issue.  Added sugars include table sugar, honey, high-fructose corn syrup, agave nectar/syrup, and evaporated cane juice.

Refined sugars are everywhere - breads, fruit juices, yogurts, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages. Sugar stokes your appetite, contributes to weight gain, causes tooth decay, and is addictive. To keep your sugar consumption within reasonable limits, read labels; check the nutritional fact panel and the ingredients list. Avoid consuming foods with more than 5g of sugar per serving.  See the list below for the many forms of sugar.

The Aliases of Sugar

• Sucrose (table sugar) breaks down into 50% fructose, 50% glucose in the body.
• Agave syrup or nectar (84% fructose, 8% glucose, 8% sucrose). From the Mexican Agave cactus.
• Apple juice concentrate (60% fructose, 27% glucose, 13% sucrose). Made by cooking down apple juice.
• Brown sugar (97% sucrose, 1% fructose, 1% glucose). Granulated white sugar mixed with a small amount of molasses.
• Corn syrup (8% to 96% glucose, 0% fructose, 0% sucrose). A liquid made from cornstarch.
• Evaporated cane juice (100% sucrose). Crystals made by evaporating liquid that has been pressed from sugarcane.
• Fructose (100% fructose). Found naturally in fruits and vegetables. We get most of our fructose from high-fructose corn syrup.
• Glucose or Dextrose (100% glucose) Small amounts are found naturally in fruit and vegetables, but most is made from cornstarch. It's also found in honey and most other sugars.
• Grape juice concentrate (52% fructose, 48% glucose). Made by cooking down grape juice.
• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) (typically 55% fructose, 45% glucose or 58% glucose, 42% fructose). Corn syrup with some of its glucose converted into fructose.
• Honey (50% fructose, 44% glucose, 1% sucrose). Made by honeybees from plant nectar.
• Maple syrup (95% sucrose, 4% glucose, 1% fructose). Boiled down tree sap from the sugar maple tree.
• Molasses (53% sucrose, 23% fructose, 21% glucose). Byproduct of sugarcane refining. Blackstrap molasses is a good source of iron and calcium.
• Orange juice concentrate (46% sucrose, 28% fructose, 26% glucose). Made by cooking down orange juice.
• Raw sugar (100% sucrose). Partially refined sugar with some molasses left.
• Table sugar, Confectioner's sugar, Baker's sugar, Powdered sugar (100% sucrose). Most is refined from sugarcane or beets.

Note: If percentages don't add up to 100, other sugars account for the difference.
Sources: USDA Nutrient Database and company information; CSPI