Marias Health Blog

Atkins Diet
Structure: It begins with a period without carbohydrates, and then eat carbohydrates with low glycemic index.

Benefits: The diet is more effective than a traditional lowfatdiet and is healthy for the first period, but carbohydrate is limited to a few weeks. Following the Atkins diet is similar to a conventional low-GI diet with limited carbohydrate intake.

Disadvantages: The diet is complicated to maintain and requires a lot of studies since the first period excludes carbohydrates while subsequent periods to allow them. If you follow the first, strict low-carbohydrate diets, beyond what is intended, is a high risk of side effects.

VLCD (very low calorie diet)
Structure: VLCD often go out on the drink cocktails containing a powder having a protein and a small amount of fat and carbohydrates. A number of servings of the drink provides 500-800 calories per day, resulting in an energy deficit and weight loss.

Benefits: It is easy to dose the powder and follow the diet. Gives weight-loss diet as long as it is followed.

Disadvantages: As soon as the diet is finished the user is usually put on weight again, because he does not learned to eat properly. A proof of this is that patients who lost a lot of weight with a powder diet of an overweight body are very difficult to keep the new weight and generally gain weight again. A powder can not provide everything the body needs for optimal health, and the longer the diet being greater the risk of nutritional deficiencies occur. Since this diet often turns to severely obese people, it is about months and perhaps years, without adequate food in order to reach the new weight.

ISO-diet
Structure: You eat a diet with equal proportion of energy from fat, protein and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are low GI and fat quality is high. In addition, large quantities of vegetables, which guarantees antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Benefits: This dietary saturates very well and contains all the nutrients. In principle, you can follow an ISO diet indefinitely. Moreover, it is not perceived as particularly challenging as it may eat itself satisfied.

Disadvantages: ISO diet has no known drawbacks as long as it is used properly.

LCHF (low carb high fat)
Structure: LCHF means a carbohydrate intake of 5-10 percent energy and energy up 60-70 percent fat and the remainder in the form of the protein.

Benefits: There is no doubt that such a diet can help people with impaired insulin sensitivity, such as overweight and those with diabetes because they simply exclude the raising blood sugar carbohydrates. It’s the high blood sugar that is behind much of the harm their condition leads to.

Disadvantages: The question is how long it is healthy to eat a diet extremely low in carbohydrates? For some, that will not cope with their reduced insulin sensitivity or obesity, perhaps it is a method to continue for years. The precondition is that they do not feel sick of it and that the method has drawbacks considering the benefits. LCHF in fact a number of disadvantages for the health and well-being. For those who improve their insulin sensitivity through weight loss and more exercise are likely to eventually feel better if he increases the carbohydrate intake to 30-40%, and of course focusing on low GI.

Now I’ve eaten according to the Iso diet during the last week and it gives real results!!! But since I have only eaten 1600 calories/day and train hard, I felt tired and infirm. So from now on I will increase the energy intake to just below 2000  calories.
To know how much of each nutrient to eat it is conceivable that almost one quarter of your plate should consist of carbohydrates, one quarter should be protein and half of your plate should consist of vegetables.  You dont have to think about the fat when you add up the food on your plate, you will get just the right amount of fat automatically from the other raw materials.

Some examples of foods that you can choose your meal …

Carbohydrates with low GI
vegetables that grow underground
buckwheat
fruit
beans
quinoa
chickpeas
rice
Protein
lean meat
chicken
turkey
fish
shellfish
Curd cream
cottage cheese
eggs
Fat
avocados
olives
olive oil
rapeseed oil
nuts
seeds
fatty fish

I must say it is nice to return to daily routines. Now you can return to fitness and good nutrition, it is easy to eat a bit too much goodies=) 
Now I have started my training for TjejVasan, my condition was really bad for not having trained for a month and I had sore muscles for several days. But it is about to change.

I’m going to try a Swedish diet is called Iso-diet. I will still eat regularly and eat carbohydrates, protein and fat but the majority is protein and I will eat only and 1600 kcal / day. It may be too little energy as I train 3-4 times a week, but the diet is also an experiment to know how much I can practice with as little energy.
I will go on this diet to know if I can recommend it to my customers. 

Please come with questions about diet and exercise or topics you’d like me to write about. There are many things to write about but it takes sometimes stop in my head=)

I hate being sick! I have a sore throat and I have a cold. I know, it could have been worse =)
When you have a sore throat is very likely that inflamationen spread to the heart. Therefore, it is important not to train during that time.

I am thinking about buying a pilates ball as I can sit on when I work. Pilates ball is really good for stomach and back. Just by sitting on it, you must use lots of small muscles.
I often use the ball when I train because you get a longer movements and get more out of your training. With a pilates ball and rubber bands with different strengths, you can train the whole body.

Here at home in Sweden we have something we call Vasaloppet.
Vasaloppet is a long distance cross-country ski race held in northwestern Dalarna, Sweden, annually on the first Sunday of March. It is the oldest, one of the longest, and in popular consideration the biggest cross-country ski race in the world. In the 80th race, held on 7 March 2004, some 15,500 skiers competed in the main event, which is held over a distance of 90 kilometres between the village of Sälen and town of Mora. A total of more than 40,000 participated in one of the seven different races held during the first week of March.   

Image from Vasaloppet

This year I’ll be in the contest for girls (30 kilometres) and the training is in full swing.  I vary spinning, aerobics and strength training for best results. But I must admit that training of legs in the gym is really boring, I would like to have someone with me to make sure that I do not cheat ; ) 
when the snow comes I will show some pictures from when I am skiing.

Diet has a significant impact on performance in sport and particularly at the elite level. Good nutrition makes it possible to train harder, it becomes more fun and fitness results gets better. 
I will write about different sports and how to upload your diet in order to perform better.

There are three important things to consider to improve physical performance, and it is the right diet, the right training and the right rest. To let your muscles recover through rest is important so you can train harder.

When you are fitness training you should not eat too close to the workout because then collected a lot of blood to the gastro-intestinal tract, blood is needed out of the muscles. About 3 hours before the cardio workout you should eat and the meal should consist mainly of complex carbohydrates. It’s fine to eat a lighter targets consisting of carbohydrates whit low glycocemic index approximately 30-60 minutes before workout.

A runners’ endurance depends on the availability of glycogen in the muscles. At training and competition emptied muscle cell content of glycogen, and when it happens, the muscles will not continue to develop force. It is then important to replenish after a workout and it does so by eating enough carbohydrates. If you eat as soon as possible after the training, the load is most effective.

Here are some examples on what you should train if you are a runner;
Leg press, squats, kneextension, lying thighsrcurl, sitting thighcurl, sit-ups, back uprisings.

Lunch
Baked salmon with bulgur and broccoli and a little cold sauce.
or…
Potato and leek soup.

Dinner
Chicken and baked vegetables.
or…
Lens stew with potatoes and vegetables.

Did you know this about the different spices?

Garlic appears to increase the energy burning for those who eat it regularly, which benefits the of weight loss. Garlic also fights viruses and are therefore considered to be a natural cold medicine.

Basil carries substances that counteract aging, virus and bacterial infections.

Ginger increases heat production and energy consumption and it can contribute to weight loss. It can prevent nausea and is a good natural medicine for  sickness. It provides stronger immune defens and contains much antioxidants.

Cinnamon contains lots of antioxidants and has many health benefits. It balances the blood sugar so your body doesn´t need to produce as much insulin to manage the blood sugar. Insulin is fattening and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases. Use more cinnamon!

Cardamom is good for digestion and has a calming and mild diuretic effect, it should have an effect on blood pressure. Cardamom also contains much antioxidants.

Protein is the main component of muscles, connective tissue, hair and nails and therefore called for the body’s building block. Protein has many great benefits, for example it gives a good sense of measured market, favors fat burning and balances your blood sugar.
You find protein in animal such as meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk products. Vegetable proteins are not as high quality as animal but with a good combination of various vegetable proteins you can get a good quality. Examples of vegetable protein are lentils, beans, peas and cereals.

Vitamins and minerals
By eating vegetables to each meal you bring the body vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants. It protects the body against free radicals and you can never have too much of them. Vary the vegetables and eat those who are colorful. It doesn´t matter if the vegetables are frozen, boiled, baked or wok just don’t prepare them too much. Always have chewing resistance left to avoid the risk of nutrients disappear.