Summer Squash, Yogurt & Tahini Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Cup chopped summer squash
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 Teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground
• 1 Tablespoon tahini, well-blended
• 1 Clove garlic
• 2 Teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 Cup Greek yogurt
• Ground cumin for garnish

Instructions:

The Grapefruit Diet

The Grapefruit Diet: What It Is

The Grapefruit Diet has been around a long time -- since at least the 1930s. It's a short-term, quick weight loss plan.

The plan lasts for 12 days. Most versions promise a 10-pound weight loss during that time.

Unfortunately, the results aren't likely to last. The weight you lose is mostly fluid, and because you don't change your long-term eating habits on the diet, there's a good chance you'll gain it all back.

The Grapefruit Diet: What You Can Eat

The 15 Best Lean-Muscle Building Foods

1. Beef (From Grass-Fed Cattle)

Beef is important for building lean muscle due to its protein content, cholesterol, zinc, B vitamins and iron content.

Beef from grass-fed cattle have much higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than conventionally raised cattle, which gives you a boost in shedding bodyfat and building lean muscle.

2. Beets

A good source of betaine, also known as trimethylglycine, this nutrient not only enhances liver and joint repair, but also has been shown in clinical research to increase muscle strength and power.

Beets also provide an NO boost which can ehance energy and aid recovery.

Fat-Loss Facts: 7 Common Dieting Mistakes

Fat loss is a long, slow journey. It's made even slower by dieting errors. Don't fall into the same traps that I did! Read my mistakes, learn from them, and your fitness goal will be a reality much sooner.

Whether you're just starting out on your journey toward a bangin' new bod, or you know the ins and outs of health and fitness, you've probably made some mistakes in your nutrition. When it comes to shedding fat, we often fall into a trap hoping we are doing the right thing. In reality, we may be doing ourselves more harm than good.

There's a lot of nutrition and diet information out there—it's easy to get lost in the mountains of tips, rules, and new terminology. For all you know, "Paleo" could be a new type of deadlift. When I first started trying to lose weight, I had no idea what I was doing. I read what I could and made a lot of errors. And though making mistakes and learning from them is part of the process, you can make the road a little less bumpy with some good information. Here are seven mistakes I've personally made. I want to share them with you so your road to fat loss is as smooth as possible.

1 / Buying "Fat-Free" Food

If you find yourself buying food that's labeled as "diet," "fat-free," or "sugar-free," drop the package and run the other direction immediately. Many people see these buzz words and assume that what they are buying must be healthy. In reality, these words usually mean the food you're about to purchase is anything but healthy.

When food companies remove a nutrient like fat to make a food "fat-free," they have to add something back to make it palatable. These flavor-boosting ingredients generally include a hodgepodge of chemicals you can't pronounce, refined carbohydrates, and ample amounts of sugar.

Together, these additives can be detrimental to your fat loss goals. Stay away from the processed, packaged, and pre-made foods. Stick with fresh, whole foods with minimal ingredients.

2 / Not Eating Enough

No-Meat Muscle: 4 Rules For Building Lean Mass On A Vegetarian Diet

Fact: Humans need protein to grow and thrive. Falsehood: That protein has to come from dead critters. Meet your new muscle-building diet. No animals were harmed in making it!

If there's one thing that most vegetarians hate, it's having someone talk about their dietary system like it's a problem that needs to be solved. So let's get this out of the way: Vegetarians can build muscle and strength just like meat-eaters. Got that? Good.

There are hundreds of millions of vegetarians in the world, and people choose to embrace this lifestyle for countless reasons—from religious, to nutritional, to simple personal preference. As anyone who has embraced this lifestyle can attest, it's not as simple as "don't eat meat."

Everyone from your grandmother to your favorite whey manufacturer is a potential threat to sneak animal products into your food, meaning you have to be diligent about doing your research in addition to minding your macros.

Need a roadmap? Here are four simple rules that vegetarian athletes should keep in mind in order to maximize their nutrition. Heed them, and you'll have the fuel you need to grow like a weed.

Rule 1 /// Know Your Whey

Meat-eaters may classify the world in terms of carnivores and herbivores, but vegetarians know it's not so simple. There are several types of vegetarians including:

• Lacto-vegetarians (dairy is allowed)
• Pescatarians (fish is allowed)
• Lacto-ovo vegetarians (dairy and eggs are allowed)
• Vegans (No animal products of any kind are allowed)

Each variation presents its own set of unique challenges, as the people in these respective categories are well aware.

But one thing they all need when they're training is sufficient protein. Without it, they put themselves at serious risk for subpar results and just generally feeling like a wilted piece of celery.

Do Nuts Have Fewer Calories Than We Thought?

If nuts aren't already a part of your healthy eating repertoire, perhaps the results of a new study may entice you to add them to your diet. According to a new study, a one-ounce serving (28 grams) of almonds was found to have only 129 calories, which is 20 percent fewer calories than previously thought. Using the Atwater factors, this serving of nuts was previously determined to have 168 to 170 calories. This new research from the USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

How You Can Easily Cut 103 Calories Per Day

Including snacks in your diet provides a plethora of pluses. Snacking helps ward off hunger in between meals, keeps your blood sugar levels steady throughout the day, provides energy to fuel your daily activities and workouts, and may help you take in fewer calories overall. 

However, according to new research, you may be able to satisfy your hunger just as well with a smaller snack than with a more substantial one.

The Study

The study involved 104 participants who were given three everyday snacks, including apple pie, potato chips or chocolate, in a variety of portion sizes ranging from very small to very large. The smallest portion size given was approximately 0.4 ounces, which equates to the size of one bite of food. The largest portion size given was roughly seven ounces, which was the amount of two slices of the apple pie. The scientists recorded the participants' levels of hunger and cravings both before they were given the snack and 15 minutes afterwards.



















The results of the study showed that hunger and satisfaction ratings after eating the snacks were equal amongst all of the study's participants. The group that consumed the largest snack portion took in 103 more calories, which was 77 percent more. Long-story short: small-sized snacks may control your appetite and satisfy your cravings just as well as larger snacks. This has huge implications in the battle of the bulge because it demonstrates that you can eat a significantly smaller portion of a snack and feel just as satisfied as you would with a big snack, but take in 103 fewer calories in the process.