What Is HCG - And How Can It Help Me Lose Weight?

<p>HCG is a hormone (human Chorionic Gonadotropin) that's produced in the cells of the placenta of pregnant women. It helps the fetus and the mother enjoy a healthy pregnancy by providing much needed nutrients to both baby and mom.<p>Everyone, including men, has this hCG hormone in their bodies, but it lives in cells and is normally not activated. The homeopathic form of the hormone is now being used along with a diet plan to help people lose weight and keep it off.<p>The synthetic HCG hormone, when taken by weight loss drops, activates the hypothalamus gland to break down and use body fat as the main fuel source for the body. That's the reason for the low (500-1200) calorie diet that accompanies the intake of the HCG hormone. Your body uses your own fat to feed the body so you`re not hungry and your body is fully satisfied.<p>When your body isn't receiving a large amount of fat calories for the hypothalamus gland to break down, it begins using stored fat cells. Another purpose of the gland is to send a message to the brain aimed at keeping muscle. If your body was not receiving this message, you'd begin to reduce important muscle mass.<p>So, the answer to the question, what is HCG, includes the fact that without the weight loss drops and sticking to the HCG diet plan, you wouldn't have the same results as most people who stick to the plan religiously.<br>Basically, the HCG hormone is fooling the body into thinking it's getting the calories it must have by replacing the ingested calories with stored fat calories that are keeping you overweight and miserable.<p>The HCG diet plan lasts about 20 days and provides so many benefits to your body and mind. On this diet, you'll restore the energy you seem to have lost over time. Now, you'll be able to fit into the "skinny" clothes hanging in the closet. Both your body and mind will enjoy a transformation that could only take place if your metabolic balance is fixed.<p>All the weight loss plans in the world won't work if your metabolism stays sluggish. After you get off the diet, the weight will automatically fly back on. HCG ends this vicious cycle by providing long lasting results that will reset your slow metabolism and keep the weight off permanently.<p>You'll also fall into new eating and exercising habits that will keep your body fit and lean. The HCG diet plan isn't a magical cure, but it's a cure that does what it claims and makes you a happier and more fulfilled person because you'll become that fit person you always knew you could be.<p>Think of the answer to what is HCG as: a new "discovery" that ends the roller coaster ride of losing and gaining unwanted pounds. Check it out yourself and see your health care provider before you begin any weight loss plan.

 

Want to know what others think about Weight Loss HCG Drops, check out Weight Loss HCG Drops Reviews

P90X: My vegetarian experience with P90X

Have you heard of the P90X diet program? If not, you have probably been living under a rock. Just sayin...It`s a workout program that`s been around for quite a few years now . This workout  is designed to transform the body in 90 days from fat to fabulous in only 3 months. 

Does it work?
I myself have been using the P90x system on and off for the past few years. and it has worked well time and time again for me. It`s perfect for when I really want to get in shape to look good for an upcoming class reunion, wedding or graduation.  It does take a bit of commitment and dedication but with this system it is very possible and achievable to be ripped in 90 days.

Of course, no amount of exercise will give you your ideal body without quite a bit of focus on nutrition.The P90x program means eating clean for a lean body. You certainly won`t starve on this diet, especially since on Sundays you get a Free Day. This always helps me stick to my diet so much since I just tell myself I can eat that chocolate and pizza on sunday and eat clean the rest of the week.

I just wanted to mention too, that i am a vegetarian and successfully completed the p90x program on a vegetarian diet. For my protein sources I used meatless chycken breasts, grilled, seasoned tofu, tofu dogs, eggs, soy yogourt, vegetarian deli slices and more. There are endless options for how to do this P90x program on an ovo vegetarian diet. You could do it vegan too with just a bit more preparation and cooking. 
If you would like to get more information about  the P90x program, just go here:  P90X UK

Nutritional Yeast: Top 20 Uses & Recipes

Ever since I discovered how to make vegepate and its key secret ingredient, I've been singing the praises of nutritional yeast.

There are so many things you can do with this cheese replacer! I can't understand why it's not more mainstream! You can buy nutritional yeast in bulk stores and health food stores.

I found this excellent article with 20 uses for this mysterious ingredient.
If you want to see the original article with links to the recipes, please go here :
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2012/08/03/20-great-ways-to-use-nutritional-yeast/

By Aylin Erman, EcoSalon Taking an odd ingredient and finding even more unusual uses for it.

It’s not so much that the following uses are particularly unusual, but rather that nutritional yeast itself is an odd ingredient. It’s gaining popularity among foodies for its cheesy taste and nutritional benefits, but it still has a way to go in terms of becoming the pantry staple it’s meant to be.

Nutritional yeast (nooch) is one of the only non-animal sources of vitamin B-12. It only takes 1/2-1 tbsp of nutritional yeast to get the daily requirement for B-12. Nutritional yeast is also an excellent source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, chromium, selenium, and other minerals as well as 18 amino acids, protein, folic acid, biotin, and other vitamins.

And don’t worry about the yeast fermenting in your gut. It’s deactivated, so it will not give you the bloat. This is what distinguishes it from Brewer’s Yeast, which has not been deactivated.

Pop Corn
As if popcorn couldn’t get any more addicting, nooch had to get involved. Sprinkle the powder along with a drizzle olive oil and a dash of sea salt onto popcorn just popped for a cheesy touch. Add other spices, such as garlic powder, dried thyme or dried rosemary for an even more gourmet experience.

Pizza
Skip cheese and sprinkle a light layer of nutritional yeast onto pizza just after it leaves the oven. Cheese is hard to digest, especially when cooked, but that doesn’t mean you have to cede the taste completely. If you top a pizza with diverse textures and flavors, such as a robust marinara sauce, roasted vegetables and nutritional yeast, the cheese component is unnecessary.

Vegan Cheese Sauce
The food blog world is bursting with vegan “cheese” recipes – some simple, some elaborate – with nutritional yeast as the key ingredient. Check out Angela’s Low-Fat Vegan Cheeze Sauce on her blog Oh She Glows for a 5-ingredient approach. Head over to Epicurian Vegan for aheartier vegan cheese sauce that gets some extra bulk from cashews.

Bread Crumbs
Replace bread crumbs with nutritional yeast in any mixture requiring holding power. This cuts down on the carbs and adds an extra bite. Try using nutritional yeast to hold together veggie burgers or any other patty that would normally require bread crumbs.

Kale Chips
There’s nothing wrong with the standard kale chip recipe. But, nutritional yeast takes kale chips to a whole new level – a level that merits obsession and daily consumption. Try your hand at the Spicy & Cheesy Kale Chipspresented by the blog Eating Bird Food.

Macaroni & Cheese
We’ve already given macaroni and cheese a serious makeover, and nutritional yeast was an crucial player in this feat. Not only is this recipe vegan, but thanks to nooch, it offers cheesy comfort to a creamy, sweet potato base.

Pasta
Skip the grated parmesan and sprinkle nutritional yeast atop warm pasta along with some garlic powder and a drizzle of olive oil. The combination of flavors makes for a dish that doesn’t miss a thing.

Mashed Potatoes
Stir nooch into mashed potatoes, not only saving calories by nixing cheese but also cutting down on the sodium. Indeed, mashed potatoes can be healthy.

Bean Dip
Emily Malone of the blog Daily Garnish makes a fabulous bean dip using nutritional yeast. If serving this at a party, no one would even be able to tell its vegan.

Roasted Vegetables
One of my favorite go-to meals is roasted vegetables topped with shredded cheese. On days I’d like to skip the cheese and opt for a healthier alternative, I stir nutritional yeast into the finished vegetables instead. When warmed by the vegetables, the yeast smoothens out and creates a creamy sauce with help from the vegetable juices and oils.

Roasted Nuts
Roast nuts that have been tossed in some nutritional yeast. The roasted flavor will be augmented and the nuts will have a slightly cheesy coating on the skin.

Onion Rings
Nutritional yeast has been showing up in onion ring recipes, and for good reason. It helps to increase the nutritional benefit of onion ring batter and adds an edge to each bite. Make the baked fat-free onion rings featured on vegan blog My Whole Deal.

Sauce Thickener
Much like flour and butter are used to thicken a sauce, nutritional yeast can replace the flour to do the same thing.

Gravy
Keeping your health on track during the holidays is all about cutting corners in small ways. Nutritional yeast can redefine gravy. Bring thissimple recipe to the table and the cheer will only heighten.

Salad Dressing
Sneak in your B12 quota is by adding a tablespoon of nutritional yeast to a homemade salad dressing like the Hollyhock Salad Dressing, which you can find on A Passionate Plate blog.

French Fries
Want some added nutrition, crisp, and kick to a homemade version of baked French fries? Drizzle olive oil over cut root vegetables and then toss them in a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast. The flavor is out of this world.

Creamy Cooked Greens
Cooked spinach pairs well with cream and cheese, but you can replace those heavier add-ins with a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast and then watch as the bare spinach suddenly becomes decadently creamy and bold in flavor.

Vegan Quiche
Experiment with this No-Soy Vegan Quiche recipe from blog Triumph Wellness. It’s the perfect example of where just a little bit of nooch makes a big difference.

Dog Food
Dogs need their vitamin B12 too, especially if your dog is on a plant-based diet. Mix some nutritional yeast in your furry friend’s nibbles and he or she will benefit in a major way.

Baby Formula
If a baby is using formula in place of breast feeding, it is recommended to add nutritional yeast to the infant formula. Nutritional yeast provides B12, iron and folic acid, which are essential to growth.

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

Protein In Plant Foods & How Much to Eat

from: http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/08/10-surprising-sources-of-vegetari...

Protein may have gotten a bad rap in more recent years due to low-carb, high-protein diets. Some of those diets boasted that you could eat all the bacon, sausage, or steak you wanted and still lose weight.

We now look at that behavior as wildly unhealthy. In fact, earlier this summer research published suggesting that low-carb diets are linked to heart disease.

Protein is actually a very valuable nutrient, you should just be sure to recognize the difference between a healthy lean protein and a processed or fatty animal source. Protein is an essential nutrient and many of us are not getting enough healthy protein in our diets. As well, our sources of protein aren’t nearly as diversified in our diets as they could be.

Why is protein so important? Madelyn Fernstrom is a TODAY contributor and the director of the Weight Management Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She has explained that protein is one of the big three macronutrients; carbohydrates and fats are the other two.

Protein is essential for maintaining the body’s muscle mass and its normal growth. Furthermore, protein is vital in maintaining a healthy immune system, cardiovascular system, and respiratory system. It can be confusing to know how much protein one should eat, but most physicians all agree that about 10-15 percent of your daily calories should come from protein.

If you eat 2,000 calories a day, 200 of those should be from protein. That also breaks down to about 50 grams. Another way to calculate your body’s need for protein is by taking your weight, divide it in half, and subtract 10. The total will equal the number of grams of protein you should consume in a day. A 150-pound person should eat about 65 grams of protein every day.

So, we know why protein is important and we know how much we should eat. Now, from which sources should we eat it?

That’s always up for debate. However, the American Heart Association recommends that all protein options be lean meats (chicken, turkey, fish) or low-fat dairy (skim milk, cottage cheese, yogurt). They also endorse the use of vegetarian options like legumes.

Below are some surprising vegetarian sources of protein, which will not only add more of this essential nutrient to your diet, but help you boost the whole grains and greens.

Dried spirulina seaweed contains nearly 9 grams of protein per 1 cup serving Oatmeal contains 6 grams of protein per 1 cup cooked
Brown Rice contains 5 grams per 1 cup cooked
Spinach contains 5 grams of protein per 1 cup cooked
Baked Potatoes (medium size with skin) contain 4.5 grams of protein Peas contain 4.5 grams per ½ cup serving
Broccoli contains 4 grams per 1 cup cooked
Soy is another great source of protein. Soy milk, tofu, and soybeans contain about 10-25 grams of protein per serving Dry roasted edamame is a huge powerhouse. 14 grams of protein per ¼ cup serving
Beans and legumes are great, but for those on the go, dry roasted chickpeas are a better choice. Those contain 7 grams of protein per ¼ cup serving.

Quality, healthy protein is out there. Don’t believe it only comes in the form of greasy or processed meat, it’s actually all around us.

Peas from bigstockphoto.com

Meat is Not so Popular

from: http://www.idablog.org/u-s-meat-consumption-a-decade-of-decline-have-we-seen-...

Think being vegan is just a symbolic gesture, and that someone else will be eating the meat you are not? Think again.

The last ten years has seen a steady decline in the consumption of meat and eggs in the U.S., according to a study using data compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Center for Health Statistics, the United Nations and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Beef consumption has been in a downward spiral for 20 years – the national beef cattle herd is now smaller than it has been in any year since 1962. Chicken and pork production has also slumped in the last five to ten years, and the USDA predicts another dip in meat and poultry consumption for 2012.

U.S. meat consumption reached its highest point in 2004, when we ate an average 184 pounds of meat per person. That fell to 171 pounds in 2011. With the USDA’s estimated further reduction to 166 pounds in 2012, that will be a 10% dip over an eight-year period. This is a significant drop. And there’s more good news for animals – people don’t seem to be replacing meat with eggs.
Egg consumption decreased by about a dozen eggs per person, per year, since 2006.

So how does this translate into lives saved?
In just one year, between 2010 and 2011, there were 1 million fewer cows slaughtered, 5 million fewer pigs slaughtered, and 240 million fewer chickens slaughtered. Between 2005 and 2011, there were 725 million fewer animals killed for their flesh.

The number of animals slaughtered is in decline and that is thanks to the vegans, vegetarians and flexiterians reducing and eliminating animal products from their diets. These lifestyle shifts are preventing lives of misery on factory farms and in slaughterhouses across the country.

The agricultural industry wants us to believe the decline is due to economic factors, which could play a part, but the dramatic reduction coincides with a mainstreaming of veganism, including undercover investigations in major media exposing the horrors of factory farms, key farm animal legislative initiatives gaining widespread attention, and celebrities, athletes and politicians adopting vegan diets.

There is still a long way to go and you can help. You can start by reducing or eliminating animal products from your diet.

Click here for some recipes to get you startedhttp://www.idausa.org/campaigns/vegan/take_action.html. To take action to help farmed animals, click here for ideas, or contact hope@idausa.org for more information.