Easy diet tips???

[zeebs]

The fresh vs. frozen thing is not strictly true. If you buy your produce from California and you live in say Calgary (because that's where I live), then frozen vegetables and fruit will actually have more nutrients as long as the food was frozen relatively quickly after shipping. The reason behind this is because food starts to lose nutrients the minute that it has been picked so if food takes a day or two to get to you, but is frozen within 8 hours, the frozen food will have lost fewer nutrients.

That being said, I use either in my green smoothies depending on what I have on hand.

I'm glad you said this about frozen produce. I, too, live in a cold climate and frozen fruit is the way to go in the winter months.

[yogingineer]

The fresh vs. frozen thing is not strictly true. If you buy your produce from California and you live in say Calgary (because that's where I live), then frozen vegetables and fruit will actually have more nutrients as long as the food was frozen relatively quickly after shipping. The reason behind this is because food starts to lose nutrients the minute that it has been picked so if food takes a day or two to get to you, but is frozen within 8 hours, the frozen food will have lost fewer nutrients.

I'm lucky in that sense, I live in California and shop at the Farmers Market as much as possible. But you're right re 'fresh' stuff that has been in a truck for days vs the one that was frozen at its peak, especially if the latter is organic.

Egerandi - I am sooo envious. I too shop at the Farmers Market as much as possible; however much of my 'fresh' makes its way from BC or the 'States. This area isn't bad for agriculture during the summer, but now there's only a couple of greenhouses that are still producing.

Zeebs - so true about the northern climes. I did a whole bunch of canning this summer (would have rather frozen, but we have been lazy about buying a new freezer) so that way I can have fruit that I know came from somewhere close.

[superwahz]

Mmmm, I do green smoothies too! My favorite is banana, apple, or pear with kale, and a wedge of lemon...the lemon gives this "bright" flavor to it, very lively in the morning! I add chia seeds to my drinks too since I need to be careful about my blood sugar and even with the fiber I need something to extend the carb burn so I don't crash. I'm not a huge fan of berries either, strawberries I like though so I use those often. Most of my stuff is stocked up in the freezer, easier to use in the morning. Coconut keifer is pretty good in them too, my dad drinks a smoothie made with that, berries, and spinach every morning and swears it helps his eyes and headaches!

I have a Vita-Mix, one of those high powered blenders that they use in smoothie shops, quite similar to Egerandi's blender. But I invested in it because I know it will last me forever and I'll get a lot of use out of it...my mom has owned hers for over 10 years and a friend of ours has had one for decades! Wow do those smoothies help you pack in your fruit and veggie servings for the day!

Jen, try yellow or red bell peppers in your next fruit smoothie, they disappear into it, especially with berries or citrus!

[zeebs]

Has anybody bought the "Will it Blend" blender?

Blendtec, I guess it's called... just curious if the hype is merited. And of course the follow-up question is, have you used it to blend anything amazing?

[Shirin]

I uses to weigh 6 kg more at some Time, constantly imean, i changée m'y Life style, not only has helped with weight Moss but with body shape as well, usée to be pear- shape-ish. Now m'y thighs havé slimmed and lost cellulite. Good news i havé never worked out.

I eatvery little red méat now and nô greasy parts. Also not much cheese products ( not to dietbut because im lactose intolérant). Milk probably mânes gain weight as much.

Ineverdrink leminade, a pure Waterloo and tea person, white tea is best.

I doendulge in sweets at Times, but i try yo préfère dar chocolaté and am not a dessert person.

Proceesed fois is bad and mânes gain weight! Now i cookies fresh foods and although ieagwhiteri eeveryday, mybody has changes.

A simple but very effective tip:

Eat very slowly and peacefully

dontthink of gaining weightdont Country calories whole eating, youmay l'augmentation, but am positive that Aline mânes gain weight, it's aboutthe brain starting to tell thé body to gain weight.

Think you're slimming downand itwill happen!

I amback to m'y old weight after pregnancy, now after t'en months.

[karen]

I didn't buy it, but I saw a demo of it at Sam's Club, and it was rather impressive. The blades go so fast they can boil water- so it may not be a good choice if you're into raw food. The blades aren't really that sharp it relies on a lot of RPM's to get the job done. I'm not sure it was worth the $300 they were asking, but it was a pretty sweet blender.

Personally, I'm not a blender fan because I hate washing them....the Magic Bullets are better for smoothies and things like that.

My tip is to shop in the international food section of the grocery store. It just gets me excited about cooking when I try a new ingredient, and I figure if American's are the biggest people on the planet, eating anything other than American food is probably a good bet.

[egerandi]

Has anybody bought the "Will it Blend" blender?

Blendtec, I guess it's called... just curious if the hype is merited. And of course the follow-up question is, have you used it to blend anything amazing?

Yup, that's what I have, a Blendtec, and loooove it
As for anything amazing, hmmm, everything I do is amazing But, I think the wildest thing I did was blending watermelon with the rind, worked beautifully. I can also use the same container (unlike vitamix that needs a specific dry one) to grind grains into flour.

I did a long comparison between Blendtec and Vitamix, and decided on the former for reason that worked for me better: better reviews re reliability, longevity and exchange, easier to clean, longer warranty, multi-use container. It's used multiple times a day, and no sign of fading. I'm hoping to get at least the warranty time (7 years) out of it and more. It's really easy to clean too due to how the blades are positioned: I'm a clutz and managed to not cut myself on them yet. Usually, it just needs a quick rinse out after the smoothies (anything without oil involved), and is good to go, nothing gets stuck in it.
Yes, the price was steep, but it already paid for itself and it's indispensable in my high-raw lifestyle. Oh, yeah, I don't really use the soup function because it does get very warm; I just blend stuff for shorter period of time, because it really doesn't need more than about 30 second for a blended raw soup or sauce or smoothie

Thanks for the tip, Karen! I live a few blocks from a Korean/Japanese market, and I'll be sure to pick up something 'strange' when I go shopping again.

Hey Shirin, that's pretty awesome, congrats! And yes, you're so right, eating slowly and peacefully makes a huge difference. Body and mind

[superwahz]

There's a bit of a holy war in the raw/vegan community about which is better, suffice it to say I know people who own both and are pretty happy with them! More people I know own a Vitamix and since that's the one I used growing up I stuck with it. I have one from the line Culinary Institute of America endorses, since I have a chef background and have worked in industrial kitchens I needed one that would hold up to whatever I put it through! Most things only take about 30 seconds to go from whole food to smooth shakes, but it can boil water in about 2-3 minutes...very, very useful for things like gravies, sauces or creamy soups. It does have a separate container for dry grinding, but that's because the blade is different. You can dry grind in the "wet" container but it works better in the dry one. No blender is going to grind flour as nicely as a mill though, I've seen them tested side by side. Grinds coffee well! The coolest thing to do with them IMO is turn whole frozen fruit into sorbet the consistency of soft serve ice cream in under 30 seconds, you really can flip the container upside down it's quite impressive. Or watching a pile of produce quickly become a nutritious smoothie. Makes great peanut butter...

I know a lot of people have reservations about spending $300+ on a blender and if I hadn't used them extensively growing up and working in the food industry I'd have rolled my eyes too. But if your dietary lifestyle supports it they are very much worth the money and I won't have to curse as I break another blender or Magic Bullet. They are very, very easy to clean because the containers are self contained, the only part that comes off is the lid. Fill with warm water, add a drop of dish soap, blend for about 30 seconds and rinse.

Man...Egerandi and I deserve some sort of kickback from the companies for endorsing their products in such a glowing way!

[Xarata]

My tip is to shop in the international food section of the grocery store. It just gets me excited about cooking when I try a new ingredient, and I figure if American's are the biggest people on the planet, eating anything other than American food is probably a good bet.

Bob and I love to pick out random foods from the produce section (you know, the funky imported melons and such) just to try something new.

I tend to like international flavors, but I as someone with an allergy, I also know that foods in other countries don't contain as much soy as American foods- not even in Asia. I kind of suspect that I only have this allergy because of it's growing abundance in American food- i didn't have this problem as a child and would not be surprised if it's an allergy more and more people develop as time goes on.

also via magic bullet- i haven't officially broken one, but i have run one down pretty thoroughly in less than 3 years and yes- it does tend to leave larger pieces than a high tech blender or juicer and i have wished when i put apples in my smoothie that it was a little less apple-saucey. The one I currently have is a different brand with an attachment to adapt it to canning jars. I don't use mine enough to justify buying a high tech one though-though i really should, because i ought to stop buying pre-packaged things, i just really hate cooking (read: hate washing dishes)...

[harrygail1987]

Actually i am so heavy in weight. so i want to lose my weight. really i am trying to eat easy food. and doing dieting . any one please suggest me should i do more for decrease my weight.