Danni Levy's 'Golden Rules' for Staying Healthy

LA Muscle have teamed up with TV presenter and celebrity trainer Danni Levy to tap into her 'golden rules' when it comes to staying healthy. Danni also shares some important facts that should be taken into account.

DANNIFIT RULES

Eat More Protein
Protein is the food group needed to build lean muscle. Muscle uses more calories comparing to fat to survive. Lean muscle burns fat for energy. And not only that, protein contains a hormone called glucagon that helps the fat burning process. Our bodies don't store protein as we do carbs and fats, so they either need to convert the into energy sources (such as glucose) or excrete them in our urine. This requires energy, or calories, what a bonus!

Danni recommends consuming at least 1 gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight a day. Taking a good quality protein shake like Diet Whey is a great example which is high in nutrition and tastes good too.

Reduce Starchy Carbs
Consuming too many starchy foods such as potatoes, rice, pasta and breads, provides your body with more than it needs for energy and glycogen stores; anything left over will be stored as fat. Limit total starch servings per day to 2-3, where a serving size is one cup of pasta, rice or sliced potato. Later in the day, you want to stay away from carbs all together and stick to lean proteins and vegetables such as chicken breast, tuna, green beans, broccoli etc.

Don't cut carbs completely.
Contrary to belief cutting carbs is not the answer to fat loss. Not only are there endless nasty side-effects but our brains alone need an estimated 500 calories per day to survive, and their first choice of energy is carbs.

Danni recommends LOW GI carbs foods such as wholegrains, lentils and pulses as well as dark green fibrous veg.

Don't reduce food;
Put simply, foods are given calorie contents to define their potential to give us energy. If we don't put enough energy into our bodies we will suffer and our health will deteriorate. Our bodies are clever machines. Unlike a car, which stops moving if it runs out of fuel our bodies will draw on energy reserves to stay active which can have an impact on overall health and well-being

Ditch the salt sugar.
The golden key to fat loss is to reduce salt and sugar consumption. Sugary and salty foods will make you fat, and stop you losing fat. Snacks such as crisps, peanuts, chocolates, biscuits etc are all common examples. Replace these with something more healthy like a handful of dry nuts.

Eat more healthy fats
Healthy fats take longer to break down in your stomach and help control blood-sugar levels, leaving you more satisfied and reducing your cravings. Include avocados, peanut butter, fatty fish, olives, nuts and seeds and oils such as olive and flaxseed.

Eat smaller meals a day
Dieters often decrease the number of daily mails in an attempt to reduce calories, this is a big no-no. If you eat six meals a day versus three with the same total calories, you can lose more fat as more meals born calories by increasing thermogenesis (the production of heat in the body) as well as increasing your metabolism.

Eliminate Junk Food
Junk food is food that offers almost nothing but calories and empty calories too. They are usually loaded with salt and fat which will do your goals no favours at all. Eat the proper amount of protein

Important Notes From Danni

Calories
Sadly, whilst calorie restriction don't automatically lead to fat loss, consuming more calories than our bodies need for energy will almost certainly lead to weight gain.

• Carbs - contain 4 calories per gra
  
• Protein - contain 4 calories per gram
  
• Fats contain 9 calories per gram.
• 1 pound of fat = 3,500 calories

Follow Danni's golden rules to staying healthy and you will be well on your way to better health.

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