There are so many super foods on my list that I’ve decided to make this the first installment in a series.  My plan is to do one of these weekly and I promise that I will do my best to follow through! 

First, let me tell you what I consider a ’super food’.  Quite simply, to make it on my list, the food must provide an overall positive health benefit…whether that benefit is disease fighting, muscle building, or metabolism boosting.  The traditional definition of a ’super food’ is one that contains phytochemical nutrients.  It’s a big word that really just means a nutrient that may positively effect health.  It is a bit more complicated than that so if you really want to know more you can just click that link.

Without further ado, here is part 1 of my Super Food list.

1.)  Salmon

I will start by saying that I absolutely love salmon.  It would actually be one of my favorite foods even without any of the associated health benefits.  Salmon is a great source of quality lean protein and Omega-3 fats (good fats).  Additionally, a 4 oz piece of wild salmon contains a full day’s requirement of Vitamin D as well a half day’s requirement of a number of other important nutrients.  Many people immediately dismiss salmon because they don’t like the taste of fish.  Salmon is not a ‘fishy’ fish and many people that normally don’t eat fish will eat salmon.  All I can say is give it a try!  You may just like it.

2.)  Avocados

Avocados are actually considered a fruit.  It’s native to South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.  What makes them so healthy?  I’m glad you asked.  Avocados contain oleic acid which is a monounsaturated fat.  Recent studies have suggested that oleic acid helps lower your overall cholesterol and LDL (bad cholesterol), raise your HDL (good cholesterol), and lower your triglyceride level.  All that and it tastes good!

3.)  Almonds

So much goodness packed in such a little nut.  The questions isn’t what are the benefits of almonds but, rather, what aren’t the benefit of almonds?  Well, I don’t think it can make your coffee in the morning but the research is still out on that.  Almonds have a high protein content and are low in carbohydrates.  It also has a very high monounsaturated fat content which studies have shown to lower your risk of heart disease and cancer.  For you vegetarians that don’t consume dairy products, almonds also contain a large amount of calcium.  In fact, more than any other nut! 

4.)  Jalapeno Peppers

I chose Jalapeno peppers, and not another type of hot pepper, because, well, I like them best and I’m writing this article.  Hot peppers, such as the Jalapeno, have been shown to aid in weight loss when consumed at breakfast and after a high-fat meal.  Hot peppers contain capsaicinwhich researchers think is what causes the appetite suppression associated with hot pepper consumption although this hasn’t been proven.  The theory is that it increases activity in the sympathetic nervous system which boosts your metabolism.  This combo suppresses your appetite.  On top of all that, they are cheap and easy to prepare!

5.)  Quinoa

Quinoa is actually pronounced ‘Keen-Wah’.  Yeah, that one threw me for a loop at first, too.  The most amazing thing to me about quinoa is that it is a complete protein source.  This means it contains all 9 essential amino acids your body requires to build muscle.  Not only that but it is also a significant source of fiber, manganese, magnesium and copper (among other health beneficial nutrients).  I will admit that I was skeptical when I first tried quinoa.  It really kind of looks like bird feed in its raw form.  However, once I a couple of quinoa recipes on the web, it became a staple.  Unfortunately for me, I’m currently on a low-carb diet and am having to lay off of it for a while.  

Ok, that’s it for the first installment of Dave’s Super Foods.  As I said in the beginning, I’m going to add more to this list weekly so stay tuned!  I would love to hear some of your power foods.  Feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Ok, so…yeah…the title is a bit deceptive but for those of you that are looking for a quick fix, you really need a reality check and hopefully this it.  If you really read the title then you may have realized I didn’t say anything about losing weight being fast!  Can you lose a lot of weight quickly?  Most certainly but the likelihood of you keeping that weight off is inversely proportional to your chances of keeping that weight off in the long run. 

What I mean is the faster you lose the weight, the less likely you are to keep it off.  This statement comes from personal experience and not from a scientific study.  Take a look at my completely made up graph that I dreamed up:

Completely Made Up Graph

There are anomalies.  There are some people that have dropped massive amounts of weight, quickly, and kept it off.  However, for the sake of this article we aren’t going to delve into how they accomplished it. 

If you are wanting, or needing, to lose a lot of weight and keep it off, here are a few pointers that may help you in that journey.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you’d probably agree that my main focus has been on weight training.  While going through my past posts, I found myself thinking, “well what about the kids?”  Maybe not in those exact words but I realized I have neglected the family aspect of fitness and nutrition. 

Growing up in my home, I can’t say that physical family activities were a number one priority.  When I was in elementary school, I used to always tell people, “My mama is a great cook!”  Now, combine the lack of physical family activity with “my mama is a great cook” and you get an overweight teen and an obese adult.  At least that’s the way it was in my case.

So what can you do as a family that is both fun and helps promote physical fitness?  “Fun” is the key here.  As a family, if you are trying to promote physical fitness and it isn’t “fun”, it ain’t gonna stick.  Hopefully these ideas will make something that can be very boring for your family both fun and healthy!

Claim:  You can never get rid of fat cells once they are created without surgery

I do have some bad news.  You are stuck with the fat cells that you have.  Have you ever wondered why it is so easy to regain weight after you diet?  Well, all you did to your fat cells is, essentially, deflate them.  It is very easy for your body to just re-inflate the fat cells it already has…and it does very, very fast. 

Dr. Sanjay Gupta was asked about this and his response was:

That’s true. It’s a really simple equation: When energy input is equal to energy output, your fat cells don’t expand to accommodate excess. It’s only when more calories are taken in than used that the extra fat is stored and the person begins to accumulate fat. Your very best bet for not “fattening” up your fat cells is exercise, particularly weight-bearing exercise. Exercise builds muscles — and it’s true, muscles use more calories than fat throughout the day, even while you are resting.

To add insult to injury, a recent study found that you maintain relatively the same number of fat cells throughout adulthood.  Obese people have more fat cells than lean people but number of fat cells for both groups held steady.  The really irritating part is that, yes, fat cells do die but they are regenerated at about the same rate!

They also found that these findings hold true for people that were obese as children.  For those that become overweight or obese later in life, it is thought that you can actually over stuff your current fat cells to the point where your body may create more.  Guess what?  Those new fat cells?  You have them for life now!

So, there you have it.  You now know why its so easy to regain weight after dieting.  All you’re doing is just filling up your deflated fat cells!  This is the overriding factor why losing weight shouldn’t be your primary goal.  You’re primary goal should be changing your lifestyle AND lose weight.

Verdict:  FACT

Talk about confusing!  Check out some of the supplement sites on the Internet.  There’s a couple of things to remember about the supplement industry: they are not FDA regulated and their marketing write-ups make them sound like all you have to do to get in shape is dab a little bit under arms and you’ll be good to go!  Yes, I’m joking about the “under your arms” part but the write ups are truly an art form.  If you’ve ever read any, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

So where does that leave us?  Which of the 50 different protein powders is the best?  Do you need the fat burners?  What about the different types of creatine?  Yep, tons of questions.   Whether you’re just getting started with weight training  or you’ve been doing it for a while, here are a few pointers to help.