Diet-to-Go

Featured Blog Here at Diet-to-Go, we KNOW our food is delicious, nutritionally balanced and perfectly portioned to help our customers lose weight or maintain the weight they are happy with. This is why we encourage other diet sites to review our program, now... in its 19th yummy year. DietsinReview.com is the go-to site for anyone looking for the skinny on any diet plan. This past week, DietsinReview.com contributor Carmen sampled Diet-to-Go.   In her latest blog, Diet-to-Go Review: The Final Word, Carmen notes: "I give Diet-to-Go two thumbs up. It's a delicious, convenient, non-stressful way to plan your meals and stay within your selected calorie range." Carmen's complete Final Word review can be seen at http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/11/diet-to-go-review-the-final-word/    Prior to penning the Final Word, Carmen wrote a pair of other blogs that featured Diet-to-Go's "frozen meal service" and our "fresh delivery option." Carmen's comments on the frozen delivery option: "The meals arrived packed on dry ice and very cold, and I popped them right into my freezer. The portions seemed to be quite large and I looked forward to being able to sample them. Much of the food was vacuum packed and all of it appeared to be very fresh and appetizing." "Each meal container was marked with a motivational thought – and more than a few of those motivational thoughts have stayed with me. A little philosophy makes a meal that much more enjoyable." "All in all, this week of frozen prepared meals was just as enjoyable as the fresh prepared, and I’d highly recommend the purchase of them. It’s nice to know that your meal is both tasty and healthy, and convenient to boot." Carmen's comments on the fresh food option: "Everything was packed tightly together and all of it was very cold. Unpacking the bag I noticed that the meals were much bigger than I’d anticipated, and everything looked absolutely fresh and delicious. I couldn’t wait to get started!" "I found the entire week of food to be outstanding in quality, taste and convenience. Many times, meals were accompanied by a piece of fresh fruit, a prepared yogurt smoothie, a roll, coleslaw, applesauce, or terra veggie chips. This truly led me to believe that if I were purchasing a week of food to be delivered to my house there would really be no need to visit the grocery – literally everything is contained in one inclusive package." "I think the meals offered by Diet to Go are a delicious, nutritious and convenient option, and one I think would fit into a healthy living plan." Be sure to go to www.DietsinReview.com for the complete reviews.  Read More

Featured Blog Oh, the wonder of the human body!  From the time you're born, your body is doing its best to achieve or maintain homeostasis, the process by which the internal systems of the body maintain a balance, despite external conditions. Your body is do...ing all it can to maintain posture, stay at ideal weight, and gain strength. Unfortunately, some of us are to blame for sabotaging its efforts. Other than inherited sickness, or an unfortunate accident beyond our control, we thwart our body's efforts to be in optimal health. While there are a myriad of ways to be healthy, I believe the gateway to maintain good posture, induce fat loss, or gain strength is through muscle. If you want to increase bone density, exercising with weights is your best bet. If you want to lose body fat, challenging your muscles is the most efficient way to go. If you want to gain strength, you have to load the muscle through resistance training. Basically, you have to exercise. That being said, you can’t make a wish and gain muscle. You definitely can’t buy it in a bottle—although that would be nice!! And to maintain, build or tone the muscle on your body, you need protein.  Although carbohydrates and fats are important, I’m just going over the importance of protein. Being the main building block in the body and primary component of most cells, protein is needed to repair skin, organs, muscles, hair and fingernails. A diet grossly disproportionate in breads, cakes, pasta, and such the like, causes the pancreas to produce an overabundance of insulin, which stays in the system and puts the blood sugar in a negative balance. Too much insulin leads to sugar cravings and weight gain. Carbohydrates may raise blood sugar; protein helps stabilize blood sugar levels. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.  Because the body cannot make amino acids, it obtains them through food.  What are the most complete sources of protein? Animal products! That is ORGANIC animal products. By the way, the sharp flesh-tearing canines in my mouth did not influence me to say that. I promise. I’m not trying to start a beef with vegetarians. Animal foods provide complete proteins containing all of the essential amino acids for the body’s proper maintenance, growth and energy needs. Plants also have their wonderful qualities. You can also achieve proper protein levels by mixing and matching vegetable sources which, when consumed alone, are not quite complete. Now because I believe you are what you eat eats, it's important that you eat grass-fed, free-range, organic meats.  Without getting into a million reasons why, lets just say you’ll live longer by doing so. How much protein you should eat is based on the individual. From the sedentary person to the active individual -- or a person metabolically wired to eat a certain amount -- protein intake will vary from person to person. After an intense strength-training program, there are tiny tears in the structures of your muscle and leaks in your muscle cells.  Within an hour after exercise, it’s best to consume protein and carbohydrates to optimize energy levels and muscle repair. Too much protein can lead to excess body fat, dull moods, sluggishness, a heavy gut and more. Although there are many ways to find out how much protein one should eat, my approach is by metabolic typing.  Based on your individuality, when you eat the proper ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fats in every meal, you can enjoy ideal blood pressure, satiety between meals, and optimal health. For more tips and tricks, visit http://www.ammoathletics.com Ammo’s “one body, one mind” approach has made him one of the top fitness professionals in New York City. His experience in nutrition, rehab, sports-specific training, functional exercises, and self-defense has helped hundreds of men and women attain their fitness goals. He is a frequent contributor to the DiettoGo.com blogs.     Read More

Featured Blog When I meet with a client for the first time my job is find their motivation. So I always ask, "What drives you?"  I can tell you absolutely that no two people are driven exactly the same. The factors that trigger our desire for wellness a...re as individual as our fingerprints. Is it health, vanity, our children, our spouse?  A bet perhaps... or peer pressure to conform. Some of us are searching for the Fountain of Youth or we have a desire to fit into our skinny jeans again. Maybe it's the glitzy magazines and TV shows that serve up glamorous shots of celebrities with tiny waistlines and chiseled chests. So ask yourself, what drives you to slim down and shape up?   Think it through. If you can’t answer what honestly drives you then you have no connection to the process. What I mean is your process will become a chore because you’re not really even sure why you are trying to get in better shape. Being able to answer the question “what drives you?” commits you to the process. Slips and slides along the way won't be unrecoverable or doom your desire to improve your life. Do any of these random thoughts sound familiar?  I need to get in shape... I need to lose weight... I can't eat this... I shouldn’t eat that... walk faster... burn calories... gain muscle... oh boy, I ate a cookie... I need to skip the next three meals... oh nuts, I’ll start tomorrow or next week... never mind -- I’ve messed it up so bad I’ll just start next year... Or how about... I am so aggravated... I need a cookie or maybe a bag of chips... I am so bored, how about we grab an ice cream... I have no time so let me hit the drive-thru on the way home... Truth is everyone starts a wellness program with the best of intentions. But as we all know, it can take just one little thing -- something as small as one cookie or one bad day at work -- to throw us into a spin. How we adapt to the spin is everything. Life will never be without pitfalls. Work, family, children, friends, a lack of time, deadlines and disappointments -- they're all a natural part of life. How we adapt is vital to whether or not we continue with our intention to shape up and slim down.   Here is the best advice that I can give: • Always remember what drives you! That motivation, once you can pinpoint it, will be the thing that keeps you coming back to the wellness path. Keep a constant reminder close at hand. It could be a photo of your kids, a note that you wrote to yourself, a clip from a magazine, or maybe a motivational quote. Make it something that speaks to you and your personal motivation. • Regroup and move on! Yes, I said it. Savor that cookie and chew it slow. Relish that work day fight and move past the failed diet. Accept the mistake or a bad diet day and move on!  Every minute is new and with it comes a new opportunity to start again. • Accept success! I have always told my clients to stop looking at the big picture. Success comes in all sizes and shapes. Choosing to start a program is a success.  Showing up to the session with the trainer, or your first walk around the block, the first time you make a healthier choice over the drive-thru -- they're all successes so own them and be proud of yourself. The big picture will come into focus eventually. • Find the support! Always remember that no man (or woman) is an island! Being accountable to someone else, showing up for walks at lunch or going to the gym, meeting a nutritionist, or even making healthier choices for you whole family, can help pull you through the tough times. Everyone -- and I do mean everyone -- can use support when they run into a rough patch. Be well.      Alicia        Alicia is an American Council on Exercise Certified Personal Trainer and a Weight & Lifestyle Management consultant. The owner of Evolution Total Wellness in New York is also the author of "Oscar & Otis, Fat Fighters." For more information, visit OscarandOtis.com.  Read More

Featured Blog I awoke to sobering news yesterday. The morning news shows took the fizz out of my dieting joy by mentioning a new study that indicates people who drink two or more diet sodas a day double their risk of kidney function decline! Darn. On a good day I... may drink as many as four 8-ounce servings of diet soda. I've tried to go the water only route but I find I just need a touch of sweetness and taste to my liquid intake. According to WebMD, "About 20 million Americans have some evidence of chronic kidney disease...  Kidney disease diagnoses have doubled each of the last two decades." This is scary news. Thanks to a glut of artificial sweeteners, low-cal diet drinks cram the shelves at the local market and convenience store. To dieters like me it has always seemed like a no-brainer -- why buy a full-sugar soft drink when you can get pretty much the same taste and ZERO CALORIES?! But suddenly that benefit doesn't seem so attactive. In fact, is that a twinge I feel in my lower back... a twinge brought on by looming kidney issues traced to diet soft drinks? "There are currently limited data on the role of diet in kidney disease," researcher Dr. Julie Lin, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a news release about the new study. "While more study is needed, our research suggests that higher sodium and artificially sweetened soda intake are associated with greater rate of decline in kidney function." Until more info is available, the best course or action may be to slow down on your daily intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks. Yes, it can be a pain if you are a Pepsi Max addict like me. But it's a pain you can live a longer life with!  For more on this breaking story, go to http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/food/632395.html Read More