Benefits of Mangoes to your Baby

Mango is one of the intriguing organic products on the planet with extraordinary medical advantages. A percentage of the medical advantages from mangoes in infant nourishment incorporates assurance of visual perception, battles microbial contamination, effortlessly absorb able, change in mind health and numerous more.

Developed mostly in the tropics of India and South East Asia, mango is thought to be the 'Ruler of Fruits'. The profits that we can acknowledge from mangoes incorporate effectively absorb able, assurance of visual perception, battles microbial diseases and change in mind health.

In South East Asia, summers are exceptionally hot and intense. Anyhow individuals have an awesome motivation to commend summer and that is, landing of summer brings mangoes. In India, mango is an appreciated as it is eaten both in unripe and ready states. Unripe and greatly sharp mangoes are fever, as most families get ready mango pickles which keep going for over a year. Ready mangoes are additionally a rage because of their sweet taste. It is eaten after dinners and/or in the nights.

Mango is accepted to have started in South East Asia. One can discover numerous mixtures of mango organic product which change in size, shape, composition and taste. While some unripe mangoes are extremely sharp, others are less acrid. As the organic product ages, the sharpness vanishes and what remains is a sweet flavor. While in a few mangoes, the substance with fiber composition forms into sweet squeeze and with apparently hard tissue would form into smooth and delicate natural product. A large portion of these assortments have been developed in India for quite a while. India is the most noteworthy maker of mangoes on the planet, with more than 16 million tons delivered in 2010-2011, while the entire world's offer of mangoes is around 38 million tons.

Why mango?

Acquaint mango with your child not on the grounds that, it is an extraordinary and prepared natural product. Anyhow, present it in light of the fact that, it contains a great deal of great things that your infant requirements for adding to an in number body and brain.

Organic products, for example, mangoes contain high measure of vitamins, minerals and starches. It would be putting it mildly to say that vitamins and minerals are crucial for your infant. Actually, disparaging their part in infant's development can bring about lacks later on.

A portion of the medical advantages of mango for infants

Useful for vision: The visual perception of new conceived infants is not as tremendously grown as grown-up people. Their sight proficiency creates amid the course of their development in the consequent months. Amid this time, great supply of vitamin An is required for legitimate and fast improvement of visual perception. Ready mango can be a decent decision on the grounds that it is high in vitamin A.

Effortlessly absorb-able: Puree of mango organic product is effectively edible, particularly for newborn children. Nourishing them with mangoes is additionally profitable in light of the fact that, mangoes contain chemicals and biochemicals, for example, esters, Petersen and aldehyde which advance assimilation.

Battles microbial contamination: One may ponder about this advantage. Eating mango natural product advances epithelial capacity in the body and subsequently the assault of microorganisms is lessened to a critical degree. The microorganisms assaulting can acquire regular colds, rhinitis, sinusitis, and so forth.

Fortifies safety: Infants and kids have a feeble resistant framework and it would be creating stage. Amid this period any sustenance that advances the safe capacity is a welcome. Mangoes are such natural products which advance insusceptible framework in your infant. The high carotene and beta-carotene substance show in mangoes advances the invulnerable framework and makes it stronger.

Empowers mind health: Brain improvement is additionally critical in babies as body advancement. Cerebrum working enhances by devouring mangoes. Mangoes are rich in vitamin B-6 which helps in enhanced cerebrum working. Aside from vitamin B-6, mangoes contain glut-amine corrosive and it is known to enhance memory and fixation.

Security against sunstroke: Another profit of mangoes amid summer is their insurance against sunstroke and hot winds. Unripe mangoes can either be cooked in hot cinders or steam bubbled and the mash got can be made into a squash blended with sugar and water. This juice taken amid hot summers can secure against lack of hydration and sunstroke. This is fit to be given for babies who are up and running throughout the day amid summers.

Measures to be taken while encouraging mangoes

The age of the child: Make beyond any doubt to nourish mangoes just to children who are no less than 6 months of age and those for whom strong or semi strong nourishment has officially begun.

Surface of the organic product: The composition of the mango organic product is additionally vital. Sustain just pounded up mango leafy foods beyond any doubt that it doesn't contain any strands. A few mangoes can have number of filaments which can make gulping troublesome for your infant.

Don't bolster unripe mango: Unripe mango is not to be nourished to babies. Unripe mango can be exceptionally sharp and infants may not care for it and besides, unripe mangoes can be toxic to numerous babies.

Look at for hypersensitivities: Mango being a tropical organic product may be susceptible to some individuals. In the event that there is history of nourishment unfavorable susceptibilities in your family, then take your pediatrician's recommendation, as sustenance hypersensitivities can go down from eras. Additionally perform, the 4 day test to verify that your infant is not affected by mangoes.

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The Most Horrifying Study Of The Year

Sorry, everybody, but incurable gonorrhea is now a real thing.

Of all the 

word pairings you’d hate to see upon waking up in the morning, I’d wager that “incurable gonorrhea” rates near the top.

According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, patients in a Canadian clinic have proven resistant to cephalosporins, a form of oral antibiotic traditionally used to treat the disease.

And the news gets worse, says US News and World Report:

Last year, both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control warned that untreatable gonorrhea—the world's second most common sexually transmitted infection—could soon be a reality as the bacteria showed increasing resistance to cephalosporins in lab tests.

"These are the clinical cases we've been waiting for," Allen says. "This is the translation of the lab information into what the clinical consequence is."

Gonorrhea currently affects as many as 700,000 Americans every year. For now, at least, the problem seems to have been contained by using a stronger antibiotic, ceftriaxone. But lest that put your mind at ease, the story leaves us with little reason for optimism.

"I think without a doubt this will become a bigger problem," Allen says. "The next threat is when, not if, the same thing happens with ceftriaxone. And then what?"

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frightening STD stats

Unless you're a cloistered monk, you're at risk for a sexually transmitted disease. So learn the facts and protect yourself

You may think you know everything you need to know about STDs: Syphilis was a threat, like, 200 years ago, HPV is a woman thing, and HIV is really scary—but would never happen to you. Plus, you wear condoms like a good, responsible guy, so you have nothing to worry about, right? 

Not exactly. Most people are under the impression that only societal "outcasts" get STDs, says Jill Grimes, M.D. and author of Seductive Delusions: How Everyday People Catch STDs. "Let me tell you, that is not the population I treat with STDs. My patients are doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, models, students, and athletes."

Here's another fact: Condoms don't fully protect you against STDs that are spread from skin-to-skin contact, says Grimes. That makes you susceptible to herpes, syphilis, HPV, and pubic lice—not to mention the 11% annual fail rate of condoms. 

So what can you do?

First, get tested. Make an appointment with your regular physician or contact a Planned Parenthood to get screened for cheap. While getting your penis swabbed or being jabbed with a needle might be uncomfortable, it sure beats a bad case of the clap—or an angry partner whom you unknowingly infected.

Second, refresh your facts to protect yourself: We dug up data on the most prevalent STDs and how to prevent them—without swearing off sex.

CHANCROID

Symptoms: Within two weeks of exposure, a small bump appears that grows into a painful gray or yellow-gray ulcer.  Men tend to only have a single ulcer on the penis or scrotum. 

How it spreads: Through sexual contact with an infected partner, usually at the site of an open sore or cut. Most people in the U.S. diagnosed with chancroid have traveled to developing countries where the disease is more common.

Prevention: Mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner; using a condom can help decrease your risk but wont prevent it.

Treatment: Antibiotocs

Just so you know: Uncircumcised men are at much higher risk than circumcised men for infection.

CHLAMYDIA

Symptoms: May be asymptomatic; a burning sensation when urinating; abnormal discharge from penis or vagina; untreated cases can lead to complications that can cause pain, fever, pelvic inflammatory disease and (more rarely and mostly in women) sterility.

How it spreads: Oral, anal, and vaginal sex through bodily secretions; mother to child.

Prevention: Mutually monogamous relationships with uninfected partner use a condom; screen annually if you have new or multiple partners. 

Treatment: Antibiotocs

Just so you know: This is the fastest spreading infection disease in the United States. Many infected people don't know they have it. Women should be screened annually during pelvic exams.

GONORRHEA (AKA "THE CLAP")

Symptoms: Usually develops within 10 days. Often there are no symptoms early on; discharge from the penis and vagina; frequent urination and discomfort during urination; may lead epididymitis in men, which can cause fertility. 

How it spreads: Transmitted through semen and vaginal secretions during intercourse. Gonorrhea is actually easily cured. Like Chlamydia, it's caused by a bacteria, so a simple course of antibiotics will zap the clap right out of your system. According to the CDC, it's the second most reported infectious disease with nearly 356,000 infections in 2007, but it's estimated that about twice as many new cases actually occur but are undiagnosed and unreported.

Prevention: Use a condom; mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner; testing if you have new or multiple partners.

Treatment: Antibiotocs

Just so you know: Gonorrhea has shown resistance to certain drugs, so treatments are limited to one type of antibiotic, the CDC reports. Women should be screened annually during pelvic exams.

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Why Your Favorite Sports Team Is Slowly Killing You

Or at least it feels that way. A suffering Eagles diehard explores the real stress of being a sports fan

I couldn’t sleep Tuesday night because of goddamn Chip Kelly.  

That afternoon, the Philadelphia Eagles—my pride, my joy, the eternal source of my deepest frustrations—continued their perplexing offseason when they pulled off a trade that seemed nonsensical at the time, and looks downright indefensible a day later: Gone was young, cheap quarterback Nick Foles (The NFL Hero for Introverts Everywhere!) to the St. Louis Rams, in exchange for the aging, expensive, and oft-injured QB Sam Bradford. (He probably tore his ACL in the time it took to write this sentence.) 

So now Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Chip Kelly, a football mad scientist, appears to have bet the farm on Bradford. In one fell swoop, he laid out the potentially scary future for Birds fans—and more immediately, set me up for a lousy night’s sleep. 

You know how they say you shouldn’t go to bed angry with your wife? Well, I went to bed angry with my football team.

I tossed and turned last night agonizing over the trade, like the many nights I’ve restlessly wrestled with major life moves. But those were my moves—not the ones of a coach I’ve never met before. Was this really worth losing hours of shuteye over?

I fire off the question to Dan Wann, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Murray State University and an expert on fan behavior.

“It’s worse than when you make a bad decision because with sports fandom, we love our teams, we live and die with our teams, and have our well-being tied up in our teams,” he says. “But we are helpless to do anything about it. When we toss and turn over a bad decision, at least it was our bad decision.”

That’s the worst part: I can’t hit up the Rams, say the trade was a goof, and offer up a “We cool?” while I ask for Foles back. I can’t kick in a couple extra million bucks to keep now-departed receiver Jeremy Maclin in midnight green. Instead, I have to watch the ramifications from afar. 

Eric Simons, author of The Secret Lives of Sports Fans: The Science of Sports Obsession, floats another explanation: “There’s a part of your brain that knows you had nothing to do with those decisions. But there’s another part that doesn’t know that—that thinks, in fact, it was you that made these decisions.”

In a way, your brain is kind of like an idiot GM. “The particular way you attach to a team as a fan leaves your brain confused, on a very literal level, about who’s doing the coaching and playing and who’s sitting in an office chair clicking through articles on their computer,” Simons says. “The longer the attachment, and the more the team represents to you—if, say, you grew up with the Eagles and you love Philadelphia and green happens to be your favorite color—the stronger the confusion will become.”

But the relationship between fan and team is much stronger and more complicated than your brain tells you it ought to be, says Simons. Consider, for example, how some guys take itreally hard when they watch their squads lose.

In a study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, researchers found a 10-percent spike in domestic violence reports in areas where the local NFL team lost a close game from 1995-2006. 

Okay, that’s extreme. But regular guys let tough defeats and boneheaded roster moves affect their health and well-being, too. So why do we do this to ourselves? I mean, it’s just a game—right?

“It’s more than just a game,” Wann says. “Because the role of a team follower is a central part of our social identity. It’s part of who we are. And with that much of who we are tied up in the team, the things the team does (both good and bad) will have a huge effect on us.”

I tell Wann that it’s silly to get worked up over something that’s ultimately so trivial, but again, he firmly disagrees. 

“It’s not silly,” he insists. “It’s not silly at all to care about something. We have a powerful need to identify with something grander than ourselves—and fandom can help satisfy that. Plus, we’re social creatures. And fandom helps bring out our need to belong. So it’s evolutionary. It’s natural.”

Nevertheless, if you feel like your fandom sometimes takes you too far, remember to put sports in its proper place. "Do you have a job? Is your family healthy? Ask yourself these questions,” Wann recommends. “It helps you keep things in perspective.”

Look: I’ll never quit the Eagles. If I’ve put up with their shit for 27 years, there’s no use in jumping ship now.

“At the end of the day, you’re helpless,” says Wann, affirming what I’ll always know. “Even if you wanted to stop following the team, you probably can’t, because so much of who you are is wrapped up in the team.”

Still, one Men’s Health coworker (and fellow angry Birds fan) has pledged to give it a try. He says the Bradford trade was the final nail in the coffin, and that he’s in the market for a new team.

But the better move, Wann says, is finding another team to root for instead of making an outright swap. 

“One of the best ways to cope as a fan is to have multiple favorites—although it’s safer if they play in different leagues.”

Besides, “bandwagon fans enjoy championships just about as much as lifers,” says Simons. 

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An NFL Hero for Introverts Everywhere

Want a comedian for your quarterback? Find someone else. Nick Foles prefers to shut up and win

Someday, Nick Foles will hang up his cleats and call it a career. Let’s say in 15 years, the quarterback will have propelled his Philadelphia Eagles to multiple Super Bowl victories, broken every passing record on the planet, become a cultural icon, and, oh, saved the world from Ebola in his downtime.  

All that would make for a hell of a movie, right? Such an epic motion picture deserves an equally grand title—and luckily, Foles knows exactly what to call it.

“Nick,” the QB says, proudly. 

Wait—Nick? That’s it? Not Saint Nicholas: The Legend of Mr. Foles? Not In the Nick of Time? Not Nickvincible, or even Foles’ Gold? They’re making a friggin’ movie about your life, man! Go big! 

“Nah,” Foles says. “It’s a nice, simple title. Those are always better.”

That Foles chooses to name his fictional film something so humdrum ultimately says a lot about the 25-year-old. In contrast to his fellow quarterbacks who are known as much for their big personalities and commercial cameos as they are their pigskin prowess, Foles is a simple star—he’s as anonymous as the face of an NFL franchise can possibly be. 

Not that it’s an accident. Foles intentionally gives vague answers about his life off the gridiron, and his playful refusal to open up to the media has become a running joke in Philadelphia. (Last week, Philly’s independent City Paper ran a cover story on Foles touting “A Few Things He Has Said That Are Not Boring!”) 

But call him boring—a word that might strike others of his stature as offensive—all you want. He relishes it. “They’re right,” Foles says. “I’m not boisterous. I just let the work speak for itself.”

He’s got a case. After taking the reins as the Eagles’ signal caller in 2013, the University of Arizona product delivered a historic half-season: 27 touchdowns, two interceptions, and the third-highest regular-season passer rating ever. When he threw for a record 7 TDs in a game last November, the NFL sent his jersey to the Hall of Fame. Now in this third year, Foles’ stats have slightly cooled off, but he has still steered the Birds to a 5-1 mark—their best start since 2004. 

Of course, he’ll have none of your kudos, thank you very much. “I don’t want to pull attention away from my team,” he says. “The quarterback has always been at the center, but I can’t go out there without them.”

It’s an admirable MO, and one that all guys—from professional athletes to paper pushers alike—should aim to adopt. But stack Foles and his team-first stance up against superstars like loudmouth Richard Sherman, or lovable pitchman Peyton Manning, and it’s easy to come off looking a little bland.

Now Foles has a chance to change that—if not do a 180, then at least flip his reputation by a couple degrees. It’s the Eagles’ bye week, so he has some free time to kick back and let loose, with nary a teammate in sight to turn the spotlight on. What’s he going to do with his day off, Ferris Bueller-style?

“I really just want to take it easy,” he says. “This is a great time to let my body recover from the first part of the season, and just sort of get away and clear my mind. I’m going to spend it getting ready for the second part of the season.”

Woo! Party! Come on—there must be something exciting on Foles’ agenda besides resting up? 

“I guess my perfect day would be relaxing with my wife somewhere peaceful and secluded, or just lounging on the couch and watching TV,” he says. He’s got a bunch of Blacklistepisodes burning up space on his DVR. “James Spader is a good actor.”

His faint praise for The Spade isn’t exactly a hot sound bite, but it’s a start. When pressed, Foles also cops to enjoying Blake Shelton—“I’m a Texas boy; country music gets me back to my roots”—and fiddling around the kitchen. “My best dish is lasagna,” he confesses.

Lately, a little shilling has gotten Foles to leave his shell. In a clip that went viral last month, an incognito Foles waited tables at a local Courtyard by Marriott. With only a mustache and glasses as his disguise, Foles didn’t fool any of the football fans he served. “There was only so much I could do. I’m a 6-foot-5 blonde guy in Philadelphia.” Still, his work with the hotel chain “shows a side of me that I don’t show everybody.”

Foles had so much fun playing dress-up, in fact, that he even reveals his preferred Halloween costume: “Napoleon Dynamite,” he says. Duh. The quarterback bears a notorious resemblance to Jon Heder’s iconic character in the 2004 film. “Why not embrace it? I could pull it off pretty well—and I think [Eagles backup quarterback] Mark Sanchez would make a good Pedro, my sidekick.”

Foles lets out a little Texas-tinged giggle. What else makes him laugh?

“When I’m with the other quarterbacks on the team,” he says. “Everybody’s so goofy, and we’re just constantly laughing and being silly guys.” 

Then comes another admission: “I’m a silly, sarcastic, goofy guy at heart.”

So tell the public that, Nick! Don’t make them think you’re a soulless robot with a Southern accent! 

“But,” he continues, “there’s the part of me that has to be business-like, because people look up to me as a role model.” His teammates. His fans. “I have fun, but I don’t always want it to be on camera.”

Ultimately, that's the QB's stealthy secret: Keep your game face on from 9 to 5, then crack a smile when you’re off the clock. If you strike some as dull, let your results do the talking—and enjoy all the fruits of your labor.

And maybe if you follow Foles' life plan well enough, movie producers will even want to tell your story. Just remember: When they ask you what to call the flick, at least try to come up with something catchier than Nick.

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The New Kids' Menu

Children want familiar favorites. Parents want culinary excellence. Satisfy both cravings with these five classic kids' meals, re-engineered for adult palates as well.

The average dinner at the average house on the average day: Dinner's ready, but the kids don't want grilled cheese after all, now that it's sitting on their plates. And Mom and Dad, well, they would have vastly preferred a real meal anyway. The kids go to bed hungry. The parents go to bed hungering for more.

There's a better way. We asked five professional chefs who are also parents how they find a culinary happy medium in their homes. The five recipes they shared puts the style in family-style cooking: They're modern, sophisticated spins on foods kids love. Plus, they're quick to prepare and made from high-quality, natural ingredients. That means more flavor and less guilt for you. So stop settling for average. Cooking for kids never tasted so good.

If Your Kids Like: Macaroni and Cheese 
Try: Mac & Cheese (2) 

By Carlito Jocson, executive chef and owner of the Yard House Restaurants chain

"Kids love chicken, bacon, and macaroni and cheese," Jocson says. "But the other great ingredients in the dish elevate it to something adults will enjoy."

What you'll need:
1 lb dried pasta (like Barilla whole-grain penne)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 c sliced crimini mushrooms (optional)
1 lb pulled rotisserie chicken or sliced grilled chicken breast
8 slices cooked applewood bacon, cut into 1/2 -inch pieces
1 c half-and-half
1 c 2 percent milk
2 c grated cheddar cheese
1/2 c grated Parmesan
1 c mix of half panko bread crumbs and half grated Parmesan

How to make it:
1. Cook pasta in boiling salted water, drain, toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, and set aside. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Heat remaining olive oil and butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until brown. Next, add chicken and cooked bacon and saute for 2 minutes. Take pan off heat and add half-and-half and milk. Set aside.

3. Mix pasta and contents from pan in a large bowl with cheddar and Parmesan. Dump into a 14-inch casserole dish and top with bread-crumb mix.

4. Bake in oven for 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Serves 4.

Once you master this recipe, try out this other way to make Great Mac 'n' Cheese for the kids.

If Your Kids Like: Chicken Nuggets and Fries 
Try: Chicken McWaltucks and Zucchini Coins
By David Waltuck, chef and owner of Chanterelle in New York City

"Kids love eating crispy finger foods," Waltuck says. "This is a healthier version of a Happy Meal, without the saturated fat. My son doesn't usually like zucchini, but since these are breaded and baked, the shape and texture make them fun to eat."

What you'll need:
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 1/4 lb)
4 large eggs
1 c milk
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
4-5 c panko (Japanese bread crumbs), or coarse dry bread crumbs
2 c all-purpose flour olive oil

How to make it: 
1. Rinse chicken under cold water, then pat dry with paper towels. Trim away any excess fat or cartilage and cut breasts against the grain into 1/2-inch strips. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Combine eggs, milk, and mustard in a wide bowl and whisk to blend. Spread half the bread crumbs in a shallow pan or pie plate and all the flour in another shallow pan or pie plate. Dip chicken strips into flour, then egg mixture, then bread crumbs. Arrange breaded strips on two large baking sheets. Replenish bread crumbs as needed.

3. Drizzle chicken pieces with olive oil and bake about 15 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Turn strips halfway through.

4. Sprinkle with coarse (kosher) salt and ground black pepper, transfer to serving platter, and serve with your favorite healthy dipping sauces and lemon wedges. Serves 6 to 8.

Zucchini Coins

What you'll need: 
2 large zucchini
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c fine dry bread crumbs canola or other vegetable oil

How to make it:
1. Wash zucchini and dry thoroughly. Slice crosswise into rounds about 1/4 -inch thick. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Beat eggs in a shallow bowl. Spread bread crumbs on a plate. Dip each zucchini round first in egg, then in bread crumbs, shaking off any excess. Place each round on a baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with oil.

3. Cook in oven for about 10 minutes until golden brown. (This can be done with chicken simultaneously to save time.) Sprinkle zucchini with coarse (kosher) salt to taste and serve immediately with lemon wedges. Serves 6.

If Your Kids Like: Canned Chicken Noodle and Vegetable Soups 
Try: Sukiyaki Bowl
By Takashi Yagihashi, chef and owner of Takashi Restaurant in Chicago and author of Takashi's Noodles

Yagihashi cooks this popular Japanese lunch for his children to sneak a few vegetables into their diet. "The sukiyaki sauce is sweet, so kids like it," says Yagihashi, who recommends adding sliced onion, cabbage, enoki mushrooms, green onions, spinach, or nori. "Let your kids build their bowl. It's fun."

What you'll need:
1 c mirin (Can't find it? Use 1 c chicken stock or water and up the amount of sugar by 2 Tbsp)
1 c soy sauce
1 c sake
2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 c shirataki noodles, or rice noodles 1 14-oz beef rib-eye roast, sliced very thin, or try pork or chicken 4 lightly beaten eggs
8 c steamed rice

How to make it: 
1. To make sukiyaki sauce, stir mirin, soy sauce, sake, and sugar in a bowl until sugar dissolves.

2. Boil shirataki noodles in a small saucepan for 5 minutes. Drain noodles and set aside.

3. Place sliced vegetables of your choice (up to 5 cups) in a skillet. Add 2 cups sukiyaki sauce. Cook over high heat until it starts to boil. Arrange meat on top and then decrease heat to medium. Pour eggs on top. Cover pan and simmer for 90 seconds, or until eggs are cooked evenly. If liquid runs out, add 1 more cup sauce.

4. Place 2 cups rice in each bowl. Pour sukiyaki over rice. Garnish with noodles, more fresh vegetables, and 1 tablespoon sauce. Serves 4.

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Nutrition Plan for the Lean Muscle Diet

Whatever your weight, we've got the meal plans to help you torch flab and build muscle

You've read the 8 Principles of the Lean Muscle Diet, and you've got the basics on how to build the body you want by living like you already have it. But you want some specifics. Sure, "eat more food" and "eat better food" make sense intheory. But how does that work in execution?

Let's take a closer look at some sample meal plans, based on three different body weights and weight-loss goals.

Skinny-Fat Stan

Torch flab and build muscle by following this nutrient-packed eating approach.

Current Weight
160 lb

Target Weight
160 lb

Training Status
Beginner

Training Hours/Wk
4 (3 Strength, 1 Cardio)

Intensity Of Effort
Moderate (12)

Goal
Simultaneous Fat Loss And Muscle Gain

Total Daily Calories
2,560 (160 × [4 + 12])

25% protein
640 calories (160 grams× 4)

34% fat
864 calories (96 grams× 9)

41% carbs
1,056 calories (264 grams× 4)

Your Sample Meal Plan

Breakfast
3 eggs scrambled with a handful of vegetables, 1 large banana

Lunch
4 oz chicken breast on a kaiser roll, 1 large handful of radishes

Dinner
6 oz tuna steak, 2 medium potatoes (6 to 7 oz each), sauteed swiss chard

Snacks
1 scoop protein powder mixed with 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt, 1/3 cup nuts, 1 apple.

Deskbound Dan

To cut your gut for good, include more fat in your diet.

Current Weight
240 lb

Target Weight
216 lb

Training Status
Intermediate

Training Hours/Wk
2 (2 Strength, 0 Cardio)

Intensity Of Effort
Moderate (10)

Goal
Weight Loss

Total Daily Calories
2,592 (216 × [2+10])

33% protein
864 calories (216 grams × 4)

45% fat
1,170 calories (130 grams × 9)

22% carbs
558 calories (139 grams × 4)

Your Sample Meal Plan

Breakfast
1 scoop protein powder mixed with 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 1/2 cups berries (+ liquid)

Lunch
6 oz baked black cod, 2 cups brown rice, 1 to 2 cups steamed green beans

Dinner
12 oz grass-fed steak, 1 small potato (3 oz), 1 to 2 cups steamed broccoli

Snacks
3/4 cup yogurt with 1 1/2 scoops protein powder, 2/3 cup nuts, 1 peach.

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The Lean Muscle Diet

This new year, ignore the trendy, complex diet plans designed to shrink your wallet and not your gut. To build the body you've always wanted, live like you already have it

When men set 

out to lose weight, they usually start at the wrong place. They pick a popular diet; any diet, it doesn't matter which one. Most plans tell you to eat none of some things and tons of others. Your weight drops until it stops. Then it's up to you to make sure your shrunken gut stays that way.

These diets have it all backward. Instead of starting with no idea where you'll end up, act as if you've hit your target. Follow the principles from our new book, The Lean Muscle Diet (buy it now), to build the body you want ... and keep it.

Principle No. 1
You Need to Eat More Food

If you have a Taco Bell Cheesy Gordita Crunch habit, the first step is easy: Limit your intake of anything with a name that includes the words "cheesy," "gordita," and/or "crunch."

But you still need to eat something, and whatever it is, it'll have calories you must account for. The accounting is simple: There are two sides to the ledger. One side is your calorie intake, and the other is your metabolism—that is, the calories you burn—which works in four ways.

Digest. About 10 percent of your metabolism comes from how you process food. But you can do better if you eat more protein. 25 percent of protein calories are burned after you swallow them, compared with 2 to 3 percent of fat calories and 6 to 8 percent of calories from carbs.

Move. Everything from working out to walking to the mailbox burns more calories than not moving—and accounts for 20 to 30 percent of your metabolism. The more you move, the better, including those times when you...

Hit the can. When you dial up a #1 or #2 (or sneak out a fart), energy leaves your body. Alas, you can't toot your way to single-digit body fat.

Stay alive. The rest of the calories you eat go toward your body's other basic operating functions. (That's at least 60 percent of your metabolism.) By changing the "calories in" part of the formula, you also change the "calories out."

With less energy in the tank, you may burn fewer calories during your workouts. That's the danger of cutting calories without a plan to maintain your new lower weight. Your metabolism slows, leaving you hungry and primed to regain fat you lost, especially when hunger hits near a Taco Bell. The key is to reverse that process.

Principle No. 2
You Need to Eat Better Food

Pity the man forced to survive on gluten-free pizza and fat-free ice cream. The Lean Muscle Diet makes eating easy and delicious because you're encouraged to eat (gasp!) real food. Here's the breakdown of your eating plan.

Eat 80 percent of your diet in whole and minimally processed foods that you like. "Whole" foods are ones that look like what they started out as: meat, fish, eggs, milk, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, potatoes, and beans. One exception: Protein powders are highly processed, but they're still a great way to consume the protein you need to make the plan work.

Eat 10 percent in whole and minimally processed foods that you don't necessarily like but don't hate (say, Swiss chard and lamb). This is intended to expand the range of nutrients you're eating. Maybe you'll even learn to like a food, which means you're less likely to suffer from diet burnout.

Eat 10 percent in whatever the hell you want. Consider this your reward for faithfully embracing the two previous categories. Use this bonus however you'd like: Have a small indulgence every day, or save up for a bigger weekend junkfest. Even if it includes Cheesy Gordita Crunches.

Here's a shortcut: If the food doesn't have an ingredient list, it's a safe bet. Steak, apples, quinoa, eggplant, salmon—they're all single-ingredient foods. With packaged foods, each additional ingredient signals an extra step in processing, which may have stripped away some of the good stuff. And often, to make up for lost flavor, food manufacturers pump processed foods with sugar and fat. These foods also tend to be higher in calories.

"Quality" also means taste. On this plan, you won't find any rules about foods you must eat. Nor will you find a list of foods you should never eat. Just about anything you already enjoy can fit into the plan, although perhaps not in the quantities you're used to eating.

Principle No. 3
Macronutrients Matter (Especially Protein)

Nutritionists refer to protein, carbs, and fat as "macros." Protein, of course, is the stuff of muscle growth, particularly branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), including leucine. The circles above show the stats for three good protein sources. On our plan, you'll eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of your target body weight, or 25 percent to 35 percent of your daily diet.

But protein also increases satiation (feeling full at the end of a meal) and satiety (feeling less hungry between meals). So protein pulls triple duty: It speeds your metabolism, slows your appetite, and maintains muscle.

What about the other macros? You'll eat 0.4 to 0.7 gram of fat per pound of your target body weight per day. If you have a good chunk of body fat to lose, use the higher end of that scale. It's not that fat calories have any magical properties; a higher percentage of fat simply means fewer carbs. That tends to work better for heavier guys, who often are less sensitive to insulin, a hormone triggered by high-carbohydrate meals. Less sensitivity means more insulin; more insulin means your body will use less fat for energy. For everyone else, it's personal preference. Whatever calories are left after your calculations will come from carbs. Who knew math could be so tasty?

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Here's Why One Slice of Pizza Is Never Enough

Scientists reveal the 10 most addictive foods in the world

If you’ve ever thought you were addicted to pizza, you might just be right. A new study from the University of Michigan suggests that some foods really are more addictive than others.

Researchers surveyed people about the foods they can’t put down. The most habit-forming foods typically had two things in common—a high fat content and a high glycemic load, meaning they spike your blood sugar quickly after ingestion. Foods with a high glycemic load tend to be rich in sugars and refined carbs.

These items were most addictive, in order: 

(While soda and cheese don’t have the combo of high fat and a high glycemic load, they each score high in one of the categories.) 

Meanwhile, the least addicting foods in the study were cucumbers, carrots, beans without sauce, apples, plain brown rice, broccoli, bananas, salmon, corn without butter or salt, and strawberries. 

“We found that people who indicated experiencing symptoms of food addiction reported the most problems with foods with a high glycemic load, where the refined carbs hit the system in a rapid, rewarding manner,” says lead study author Erica Schulte, a doctoral student. “It may be that people who consume food in an addictive manner find the blood sugar spike more rewarding than those who don't report addictive-like eating.”

Previous research suggests that eating sugary foods activates brain regions involved in processing reward. 

Fat then adds to the problem. Research shows that eating fats activates brain regions involved in taste and touch, perhaps because the oily and greasy foods feel good in your mouth. “It may be that the combination of the highly rewarding blood sugar spike, with the pleasurable mouthfeel of fat, creates the most ‘addictive’ potential for a food," Schulte says. 

Schulte adds that while you can find plenty of high-fat foods, such as nuts, and high-sugar foods, such as bananas, in nature, you won’t find a naturally occurring food with high levels of both sugar and fat.

“This underscores that highly processed foods like chocolate and French fries may be made to be artificially rewarding by containing high quantities of both fat and rapidly absorbed refined carbs,” she says. 

Food policies that tax highly processed food or restrict their marketing to children might help curb addictive eating, says Schulte.

In the meantime, if you think you have food addiction, therapy might be the best route . If you just occasionally overeat these foods, consider mindful eating. It will slow you down and help you avoid overdoing it, says Schulte. 

And for a complete cutting-edge exercise and nutrition guide that you can use on your computer, tablet, or phone, check out The Lose Your Spare Tire Program. It’s the easiest and most effective way to drop 20, 30, or even 50 pounds (and flatten your belly forever!).

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7 Secrets of Female Masturbation

Her solo sessions are different from yours in a lot of ways

Your recipe for masturbation is pretty simple: A bottle of lube, an open Xtube browser, and a five-finger grip deliver results in no time flat. But women’s solo sessions are a bit more complicated.  

They can’t do it wherever they want, they don’t always care about reaching orgasm, and they definitely aren’t flipping through Fifty Shades as much as you’d imagine. So how do women masturbate? Read on to discover the secrets of what happens behind closed doors. 

1. She’s quicker without you.   

On average, women take longer to orgasm than men do. “For a woman’s nerve endings to be stimulated and for the blood flow to get down into her genitals, it can take up to 15 or 20 minutes of foreplay,” explains Sadie Allison, Ph.D., author of The Mystery of the Undercover Clitoris: Orgasmic Fingertip Touching Every Woman Craves. 

But she might be a lot faster going solo than she is with you in the sack. That could be because she’s more focused on her own pleasure (instead of yours) or because she knows exactly what she wants. “Many women can be there in 2 to 3 minutes on their own, but will take 10 or more—or can’t get there at all—with a partner,” says sex expert Carlyle Jansen, author of Sex Yourself, a book about women’s masturbation.

2. She doesn’t do it quite as often.  

When you wake up with morning wood, there’s a decent chance you’ll give yourself a tug before the day is over. According to research, 25 percent of men masturbate at least 3 times per week, and 55 do it at least once a month. But for women, those stats are considerably lower: Only 10 percent of ladies report pleasuring themselves three times per week, and 38 percent go down below once a month. 

How come? She might see self-pleasure as more of a production, not just a quick rub-and-go activity. It could also be because of the stigma associated with female masturbation, which can follow many women into adulthood. “Most boys begin before they’re 10,” says Jansen, while “women start later, often in their 20s.” 

3. She preps differently.   

“Men can be in a dirty gas station bathroom and rub one out,” says Allison, but for the fairer sex, environment is everything. Maybe she pulls out a special lubricant, lights a few candles, or draws a bath before starting self-pleasure. “A lot of women need their heads to be there, and if there are any distractions whatsoever, that can throw them off,” she says. 

4. Her touch is softer.  

When you masturbate, you’ve got a firm grip, your fingers are clenched, and you stick to a rough, up-and-down motion. Women, on the other hand, tend to be slower, gentler, and more subtle.

“Think about if you had an eyelash in your eye and you were trying to rub it out,” says Allison. “You’d pull your eyelid back and gently use your fingertip to rub around. That’s how soft you should touch a woman’s clitoris. Yes, that soft.”

The clitoris has twice as many nerve endings as the head of the penis, so it’s super-sensitive to even the softest touch. Some women like it rougher—and they’ll tell you if they do—but most need to be eased in gently before they can stand too much contact with their clitoris. 

5. She explores her whole body.

While you pretty much have just one tool at your disposal, she likes to make masturbation a full-body activity. “Women tend to stimulate the whole body more—the neck, breasts, arms, and labia,” explains Jansen. She might massage her nipples or inner thighs first before settling on her genitals. Comparatively, “men are generally okay with the beginning, middle, and end focus on the penis,” Jansen says. 

6. She doesn’t always care about orgasm... 

This might be the biggest difference of them all. When you masturbate, you probably have a clear goal in mind: bust a nut or bust. “But for a lot of women, whether you get there or not isn’t the key,” says Allison. Some women are satisfied with their self-pleasure well before orgasm occurs, or regardless of whether there’s a climax. “It’s more about taking time for yourself and giving to yourself in a pleasurable way,” she says.

7. ...But when she does, she's going for seconds.

When you ejaculate, it creates a huge physical release. “It takes a lot of energy for the body to actually push all of that fluid from the prostate, through the spiral tubing, then through the testicles, up and out of the penis,” explains Allison. “That’s why when [men] are finally done, it’s over. They’re like, ‘Whew, I need a nap.’”

Women's orgasms are physical, too, but they don’t have the same “refractory period” after climaxing, which makes it more likely for them to go for multiple rounds. So while some women aren’t necessarily vying for orgasm at all, others don’t stop at just one. Lucky ladies. 

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