What Can You Eat?

The TLC program is based on consuming a wide array of different foods but in doing so, getting a proper ratio of nutrients to fuel your body effectively. Food choices are not restricted per se but must be consumed in a limited amount. These amounts are sometimes a percentage of your total calorie intake for each day.  
  
 Saturated fat Less than 7 % of total calories 

 Polyunsaturated fat Up to 10 % of total calories
  
 Monounsaturated fat Up to 20 % of total calories 

 Carbohydrate 50 % to 60 % of total calories  

 Soluble fiber At least 5 to 10 grams a day  

 Protein Approximately 15 % of total calories 

Fat    

The biggest part of the TLC diet program is about fats and is where we are going to focus our attention on in this beginners guide. If you get the correct amount of good fats in your diet most things will fall into place (Carbs, Protein & Fiber). 

These fats can help you fight those cholesterol levels, or help you feed them. You have to learn what fat actually is in order to defeat it – get to know your enemy before fighting it!  


Fat seems to be a dreaded word for most of us. But have you ever wondered why there is so much hue and cry about fat? First, I need you to understand this.  

Before starting any diet you must check with your GP

TLC Nutrition Overview - Getting Your Nutrients & What To Eat

To lower your cholesterol levels, there’s no getting around the fact that you must do something about the food you eat.  

The TLC program's major focus is to create a nutritious way of eating that will provide the correct nutrients and will reduce the amount of saturated fat you eat.  

These Saturated fats are the fats that elevate your cholesterol levels. First, you want to reduce the foods high in saturated fats, like fatty cuts of meat and whole milk products you eat.  

You will also have to replace some of the animal fats and choose some healthy, monounsaturated oils – olive oil, for example.  
 Another good option is choosing a fatty acid supplement like Omega-3. These fats will keep good cholesterol up and lower the bad one.  

The types of food you eat can be as important as their calorie content. What is good for one person may not be the same for the other. It is thus important to understand your metabolic system and nutritional needs. 

What are the calories?   There is so much hype surrounding calories these days. All of us know that in order to lose weight, we must burn calories. But what exactly are calories? In simple words, calories are units of energy in food or drinks required by the body to perform its functions. The amount of calories needed by your body depends on the amount of energy required by your body to keep warm. 

This is exactly what your body needs, irrespective of your activities. Typically, the larger an individual, the greater their caloric need is or their basal metabolic rate – which is the amount of energy expended by a body at rest. The basal metabolic rate remains the same daily.  

If your body needs, in the example, 2,000 calories today, it will require the same amount tomorrow and the next day and so on. The basal metabolic rate varies from person to person, depending on the body size and amount of work you do. 

Before starting any new diet you must check with your GP

Major Benefits Of the TLC Diet

Are you starting to think the TLC diet is for you? Well if so then take a look at the major benefits if you decide to follow this way of eating … 

1. Easy to Follow 

The diet is simple and easy to follow   There are no special kinds of foods that you need to cook. There is no need to learn a new recipe. You don’t need to buy special and expensive ingredients. The diet is simple, straightforward and inexpensive.   The meals are easy to prepare. Since you don’t need to strictly follow a specific meal plan, you have the freedom to modify the recipes per what is available for you. 

 Since this diet will allow you to modify your meals, it is also possible to adjust it if you are vegetarian or if you want it to be gluten-free. The important thing is to learn how to eat generally within the guidelines of the diet. Once you know and understand the basic principles which make the diet so effective, it will undoubtedly be much easier for you to modify the diet in accordance with your individual needs. 

2. It is Proven Effective 

The diet is healthy and proven effective   The effects of the TLC diet are long-term. This is because rather than providing a quickfix solution to the problem, the TLC diet encourages positive changes in a person’s lifestyle. The true secret of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is knowing how to keep eating healthy and how to continue exercising for a long time. Rather than a race, think of health as a marathon. It cannot be rushed and it must be taken slowly but surely. 

3. Educates People 

The TLC diet actually educates people.   With the TLC diet, a person is made aware of what he or she should eat and drink. A person learns how to choose what is healthy. This means knowing how to shop for healthy items, how to read labels and how to prepare meals in a healthy way. A person will also know how to compute how much-saturated fat he or she is recommended to consume. Unlike some other diets, you will not be told what you should eat in every single meal. Therefore, it is up to a person to choose his or her meals according to what he or she learns. 

Well, those are just a few of the main benefits gained by following the principles of the TLC Diet. 

In the next part, we will look more specifically at what to eat and how to get your proper nutrients in. 

Before starting any diet you must check with your GP

Why Does Cholesterol Matter?

For the past few decades or so, cholesterol was always seen as the enemy. It was seen as the reason for heart failures and it was blamed for many things. People feared cholesterol, and the rule in every household was to keep it as low as possible.  

While there are certain studies which now claim that cholesterol should not be demonized, it should still be monitored well to ensure that a person’s body will continue to function well.    

Here’s a little surprise, you actually need cholesterol in your body. It is essential to life and is needed by cell membranes. 

It is classified as a lipid and it is found in most animals. Even though it is a fat, it is essential to certain metabolic processes. In fact, most of our cholesterol is produced by the liver and most of the cells in our bodies. It helps in many biological processes like the absorption of vitamin D.    
 Cholesterol is useful but it has to be controlled. Health experts recommend that cholesterol should not exceed 5.5 mmol per liter. Those with pre-existing risk factors should aim for lower cholesterol. Unfortunately, a huge number of us ignore these numbers and recommendations. Most of us have a high cholesterol count. 

If a person has too much cholesterol circulating in his or her bloodstream, it can get quite dangerous. Too much cholesterol can cause blood vessels to narrow, and eventually, be blocked. When blood vessels are blocked, it can lead to many different diseases like stroke or various heart diseases.    

There are many factors which affect a person’s cholesterol levels. Some people are more likely to have high blood pressure because of genetics and family background. Others may have it because of a related medical condition like an underactive thyroid gland, overconsumption of alcohol and obesity. Some risk factors are more dangerous than others and should be taken in to account.  
 It is important to look at a person’s overall lifestyle in order to figure out the best possible solution to the problem.  

Perhaps the most noticeable and controllable factor in preventing high blood pressure is monitoring a person’s diet. While people’s bodies might react differently even if they eat the same thing, switching to more health-conscious food choices will very likely improve a person’s health conditions. Generally speaking, those who eat foods that are low in saturated fat can really help improve a person’s overall health.    

The majority of those who have high blood pressure do not show the symptoms of the condition. People over twenty years of age should ideally have their blood pressure checked at least once every year to ensure that they are in good condition.  

They should even take the tests more often if they are in the high-risk group. Consult your doctor or health care provider to find out how often you should take the test. 

Before starting any diet you must check with your GP

All About Cholesterol

Again, and again, food and diet have been named as the major culprit for causing health problems around the world.  

High blood pressure or Hypertension is now a very big problem. It is considered the number one killer in America, and perhaps in many other countries around the world.  

Undoubtedly, a person with high blood pressure is facing many risks in relation to health. There are many complications and diseases associated with having high blood pressure.   The truth of the matter is this trend is quite unsurprising. With the fashion in which we are eating nowadays, it is easy to see why high blood pressure is a problem. 

Considering the current eating trends around the world, it is inevitable that health has suffered. We all eat too much of the wrong things. The fast-food culture is proving to be surprisingly strong. Many of us prefer to eat junk food because it is convenient and easily available.  Children are growing obese and adults are growing unhealthy. Our current culture makes it difficult for us to make healthy choices. The current lifestyle choices of modern man are often very unhealthy. 

Furthermore, it gets even more confusing for people nowadays because there is so many flies by night diet trends and diet rules. It gets difficult to figure out which diets are truly beneficial to your health and which ones are just a passing fad.  

There is an abundance of different kinds of diets to choose from, it gets difficult to pick which one will be right for you. 

Many people are concerned about their appearance but are not truly concerned about their health. In effect, you have teenagers who choose to starve themselves in order to look like the people they see in magazines. Health is more than just about having a nice body. It means having a body which functions properly. 
High blood pressure is a serious problem. It prevents your body from functioning properly, and it might also lead to the development of other diseases. 

The number of people who are suffering from high blood pressure is growing by the day and it’s surprising that we aren’t taking this problem as seriously as we should. Many are already suffering and many more will suffer if the proper steps are not taken. 

If you know that you have high blood pressure, don’t ignore it! It can lead to serious complications which could possibly damage your health and your body permanently. If you don’t get the proper medical attention that you need, you might end up with very serious problems. 

The good news is that there is no reason for you to panic. You can easily take control of the situation if you can make a commitment to a healthier lifestyle. 

Before starting any diet you must check with your GP

What Exactly Is The TLC Diet?

This diet focuses mainly on modifying the increasing or already hyped levels of cholesterol.  

When the body contains an excessive level of cholesterol, over time it weakens the heart and causes several fatal conditions, like a sudden heart attack and stroke among other serious cardiovascular conditions.  

It is highly recommended to take charge of your body and health before it worsens beyond repair. 

This diet encourages healthy measures to lower cholesterol levels by means of diet, exercise, and other related methods. It also 

brings successful weight loss in its wake. For all those struggling with weight loss or health conditions, the TLC diet is a great way to kick start your way to good health and wellbeing.  

The Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet was initially coined by the NATIONAL Heart, lung and blood institute in the year 2001. Due to its beneficial nature, the diet has also been approved and encouraged by the American Heart Association.  

The diet aims at reducing the LDL levels of cholesterol, also known as the bad cholesterol, which is held responsible for triggering cardiovascular complications.  

The diet focuses mainly on healthy food options that have been coupled with suitable exercise and required lifestyle changes to help speed the process of recovery without any medications.  

It not just keeps the LDL levels in control but also works towards providing the body the right level of HDL or the good healthy cholesterol that is required by the body for proper functioning, induced growth, and development.  

Although the diet does bring about some weight loss in its process, the goal is improved health by controlling cholesterol more than focusing solely on losing weight. 

Well, that’s a quick overview of what the TLC diet is, over the next few chapters we will cover exactly what cholesterol is, the benefits of starting a TLC diet program and what foods you need to include in your everyday diet. 

Before starting any diet you must check with your GP

The Need For Health In The Modern Age

There are many important reasons as to why you should get in shape today. What “getting in shape” means to me is you have strength, a baseline cardiovascular capacity, muscular endurance and flexibility, which all leads to a healthier life.  

Believe it or not, the 21st-century conditions could be damaging your health and you don’t even realize it. Let’s have a look at some of these modern-day health conditions being experienced … 

Toasted Skin Syndrome 

Have you ever heard of this? Have you ever balanced your laptop on your knees for a long period of time? Believe it or not, It can leave you with discolored skin! 
The heat is generated by your laptop, it causes a rash that is similar to someone that has huddled to close to a heater in order to stay warm.  Mind you, this has nothing to do with dieting or exercise – this is just showing you how our health is being affected in the modern age by technology.  

Time Poverty 

Oh yes, good old time poverty – so many of us is a victim of this. With family, work, running a home, and trying to take care of everything, we hardly find time to sit down and pause for a nice breath of fresh air. The more we rush, the further we struggle to meet deadlines we have imposed. The result? Our health. We deal with everything from insomnia, stress, depression and poor diet, which leads to obesity and many other health-related issues. Many of us are simply doing too much and in return, this is taking a major toll on our health and well-being. 

Living in Fear 

Many will refer to this as “the 21st-century fear.” Here we are, constantly staring at the threat of floods, disease, crime, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, toxic chemicals in food and so much more. We’re constantly focusing on those fears. We have become so worried about the things that “might” happen to the point that we have stopped enjoying a life that is taking place in front of us. As you may already know, too much worry isn’t good for your health.  

We may not be able to help you with toasted skin syndrome, other than tell you not to place your laptop on your lap for a prolonged time, but we may be able to help you with time poverty. This is where the TLC diet is going to come into play.  

You see, in the modern-day scenario, everything comes at a price. Our days and nights are filled with hectic schedules, unavoidable deadlines and innumerable hours of stress and excessive workload. With so much already on our plate, we cease to care about the food what we consume at the end of a long tiring day.  

Most often, we are too tired to cook a healthy, nutritious meal post-work and end up opting for the easier option: fast food and processed items. With the blooming technology, everything is just a click or a phone call away.  

As we previously stated, most people settle for a comforting double cheeseburger, pizza or fries to hush their roaring stomach every day. Although these food choices offer oodles of contentment and comfort, eventually they bring forth drastic side effects. Over time, with continuous consumption, unhealthy food choices lead to several modern-day ailments, such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, depression, anxiety, high cholesterol, and other related concerns.  

Most of these complaints start out small but gradually turn into unavoidable chronic conditions. The best idea is to wake up, take action and prevent such ailments from deteriorating your health and fitness further.  
For all those facing similar conditions, this short beginners guide brings a suitable solution to combat most of our modern-day problems. It introduces the concept of the TLC Diet or the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes program.  

Before starting any diet you must check with your GP

Are you ready? Let’s get started… 

TLC diet a little mental exercise

Let’s start this beginner guide on the with TLC dieth a little mental exercise. When you go out, look around you and tell me what you see. I bet you will see an abundance of fast-food restaurants and guess what’s in front of them? You guessed it…A never-ending line of people.  

Fast food joints are known for serving up a dish of unhealthy food – unhealthy food that people continue to consume. Why? Because they can! People choose fast food because they live a busy life and are under the impression that they can’t go home and cook a healthy meal because it will take hours to do.  

This unhealthy lifestyle leads to obesity. 

The health risks of being obese include: 
 Heart disease 
 Type 2 diabetes 
 Osteoarthritis 
 Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease 
 High blood pressure 
 Stroke 

Reasons People Are Unhealthy 

 Most work available is white-collar 
 Children now spend more time playing digital games instead of playing outside 
 The foods low-income families can afford are unhealthy 
 The serving sizes of unhealthy drinks have increased 
 People buy more fast food and prepare fewer meals in their kitchen 

This list could go on and on … 

There’s an old Chinese proverb that does a good job at explaining why we need to watch what we put in our mouths. “When you’re thirsty, it’s too late to dig a well.” What this is saying is that you
should not wait until you have an illness to start a diet, because by then, it may be too late. 

Watch out for more information on the next blog.

Before starting any diet you must check with your GP

Diabetes – Symptoms And Cures

Useful information if you have been diagnosed that you have diabetes  

Diabetes is of three main types – insulin-dependent diabetes or the Type 1 diabetes, Non-insulin dependent diabetes or the Type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes mellitus. A person’s eating habits and viruses can cause Type 1 diabetes. Heredity, obesity, high blood pressure, and lack of proper diet cause Type 2 diabetes, which is very common. 

The gestational diabetes mellitus is caused as a result of heredity, increased maternal age, fitness 

Diabetes is of three main types – insulin-dependent diabetes or the Type 1 diabetes, Non-insulin dependent diabetes or the Type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes mellitus. A person’s eating habits and viruses can cause Type 1 diabetes. Heredity, obesity, high blood pressure, and lack of proper diet cause Type 2 diabetes, which is very common. 

The gestational diabetes mellitus is caused as a result of heredity, increased maternal age, fitness and more reasons. It may cause the mother to develop permanent diabetes. This characteristic may get transferred to the child at a later age. 

There are certain symptoms with the help of which you can detect diabetes. Excessive urination, constant thirst, loss of weight, excessive starvation, nausea, extreme tiredness, infections, irritability, and tiredness are some of them. 

The importance of insulin comes to light when a person suffers from diabetes. Insulin is a hormone that allows blood sugar or glucose to enter body cells. Diabetes affects a person’s capability to make insulin. Due to diabetes, the glucose remains in the blood itself. This high rate of sugar in the blood may cause harm to your eyes, nerves, kidneys, heart and blood vessels. 

Other than heredity reasons, you can easily avoid Type 2 diabetes by following some simple steps. For those people who are overweight, reduce the rate of consuming food. Overweight people have the risk of developing diabetes. Try to consume grilled or baked food instead of fried food. Cut down on fatty meals. While having food, check its Glycemic Index. While drinking milk, opt for the skimmed milk instead of the full-fat milk. Exercise is a very effective way, which ensures that you stay in a healthy way always. 

It is best to cure diabetes before it attacks your health. To cure diabetes, it is important to know its symptoms. Extreme thirst not only after exercise and a stroll in the hot air but always is a symptom. Even after drinking water, if you have a dry mouth if you have to urinate frequently if you have unexpected weight loss, and you feel lethargic all the time, check with a doctor. It could be a symptom of diabetes. 

Blurry vision, slow healing cuts, and sores, extreme itching or soreness in the genital or yeast infection can be