5.  Apples

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away, but 3 Apples a Day May Keep the Pounds Off

The age old adage has a new twist.  With the obesity epidemic in the United States people constantly look for easy ways out.  A few years back some folks in Washington State found one.

As part of a local gym's weight loss contest, registered dietician Tammi Flynn put them on diets which included 3 Washington apples a day before meals.

The results speak for themselves.  346 people lost 6,126 pounds of fat in 12 weeks.

Even if weight loss is not your concern, apples provide a nutrient dense snack which is full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and water.  There are many varieties, with different flavors and best of all you can get apples year round, world wide for very cheap.

How to Include Apples in Your Diet:  Apples are the easiest food to include in your diet.  They have a very long shelf life for fruit and you can pack them, and eat them anywhere.  You have no excuse not to eat them every day.

4.  Spinach

Popeye's Back with a Vengeance and he wants You to Eat Your Greens

Spinach won't give you huge forearms or the ability to beat up a giant sailor named Bluto, but is an every day superfood.

Eating spinach is the easiest way to include those dreaded green vegetables in your diet.

In addition to being very, very low in calories, the list of the benefits of spinach goes on and on.

Dietary fiber headlines the list which includes the antioxidants beta and alpha carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin as well as calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K and folic acid.

How to Include Spinach in Your Diet:  A spinach salad is always a good way to get a full serving of spinach but spinach is a very versatile superfood to include in your diet every day.

Spinach can be added to many cooked foods, to supercharge their nutrition without altering the taste.

3.    Cottage Cheese

If you Don't want it on your Thighs, You should Definitely Include it in Your Diet

You either love it or hate it but hate never gets you anywhere.  Cottage cheese is one of the best protein sources you can have in your diet.

The protein in cottage cheese is casein.  Casein has the advantage of being the slowest digested protein.

Digesting slowly carries advantages for all fitness goals with the exception of getting extremely fat.  Sorry sumo wrestlers.

You can also get cultured cottage cheese which definitely has an acquired taste, but will give you all the benefits of the healthy cultures which it contains.  These "good bacteria" which include Lactobacillus acidophilus keep your intestines healthy and help digestion run smoothly.

How to Include Cottage Cheese in Your Diet:  Cottage cheese is the perfect protein source to compliment fruits, berries, and nuts to create a healthy, nutrient rich, low calorie meal or snack which will help you keep your body healthy inside and out.

It is the muscle builders best dietary choice to consume before bed as the casein protein is broken down slowly over the night to maximize muscle gains and minimize muscle catabolism.

2.  Oats

Uncle Sam Recommended

Back in 1997 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) allowed all products which contain oat grains and oat bran to claim on the boxes that oats reduce risk of heart disease and lower cholesterol.

While this opened the floodgates for unhealthy processed foods to claim a heart healthy benefit, oats still remain one of the stable foods in your every day nutrition program.

The benefits of oats stem from the soluble fiber which has been shown in studies to lower cholesterol levels thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

This is not the only reason to make oats an every day food choice.  Oats contain a unique antioxidant called avenanthramides.  Avenanthramides help prevent free radicals from damaging the good (LDL) cholesterol.  This was suggested in a study at Tufts University and published in The Journal of Nutrition.

In addition to the long term benefits of oat consumption, oats are a great source of complex carbohydrates which provide long lasting energy for active individuals.  Oats also contain a high amount of the antioxidant selenium.

How to Include Oats in Your Diet:  Oatmeal comes in different varieties such as rolled oats, steel cut oats and instant oats, all which are great for the breakfast of champions.  Oats are the main component of museli which is a tasty, energy rich mixture of different grains, fruits and nuts and their associated healthy fats.

Oats are also great for baking cookies, breads, granolas and energy bars.  A great addition to oatmeal is flax meal which will add the healthy essential fatty acids to your diet.  With your imagination and skills, there is no limit to the ways you can include oats in your diet.

1.  Sweet Potatoes / Yams

Just What is the Difference Between Sweet Potatoes and Yams?

Yams and sweet potatoes are used synonymously sometimes but are actually 2 different species.  They come in colors ranging from white to orange.

Only a botanist would be able to understand the differences therefore the US department of agriculture requires yams to be labeled as sweet potatoes also.

Regardless of the differences both are healthy for you.  They are alive and bustling with nutrients.

In 1992, the Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fiber content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value. According to these criteria, sweet potatoes earned 184 points, 100 points over the next on the list, the common potato. (NCSPC)

If you have never eaten sweet potatoes before they will grow on you, literally!  Sweet potatoes have a very long shelf life and grow until you kill them with a few minutes in the microwave or bake them in the stove.

The complex carbohydrates and B vitamins in sweet potatoes make them every active person's best dietary carbohydrate source.  Sweet potatoes have long been the best source of carbs for athletes and bodybuilders for strength, speed, power and body composition benefits.

How to Include Sweet Potatoes in Your Diet:  Sweet potatoes will grow in your kitchen for months if you fail to eat them.  As well as the common baked sweet potatoes and sweet potato pie, they can be eaten just like apples.

If you have access to a microwave you can pack uncooked sweet potatoes to work and microwave them.  If you cook them beforehand, sweet potatoes are good cold or hot and taste great alone without any added calories.

Honorable Mention

All Natural Foods

It is worth it to mention the common theme of AskTheTrainer.com.  Everything in moderation.  This mantra is never more important when you consider your diet.

Just because some foods were not mentioned in this list does not mean they couldn't or shouldn't be every day foods in your nutrition program.

These 5 were selected as foods to eat every single day because they have the most benefits including, nutrition, availability, price, ease of preparation and health benefits.

All natural foods such as nuts, berries, lean meats, dairy products, vegetables and fruits have a place in your diet.

A good way ensure your diet is healthy is to limit your shopping in the grocery store to only the produce, dairy, and meat section.

Do not shop for groceries when you are starving and with tunnel vision and discipline you will make smart food choices which will create the best healthy diet for you.

Along with exercise, a diet rich with the top 5 every day foods and other solid food choices will help you live a long, strong, balanced, healthy and satisfying life.

For more Top 5 Lists Check out the Archive  

This is not a posing site for a bodybuilder or so called "fitness expert" whose experience deals solely with exercising 3 hours in the gym all day and posing in the mirror for another two.

You do not need years of experience in the gym or a kinesiology degree to use the information presented in this site.  You don't even need to know what kinesiology is or like to exercise.  You do not have to be a fitness model, professional athlete, or bodybuilder to use any information on AskTheTrainer.com

This most likely is not the first time you have found health and fitness information on the internet.  No doubt you have found a good deal of fitness information.  The question is, was the information you found meant for you?

Exercise Nutrition Diet Fitness, Information Advice & Videos for Everybody

From "celebrity personal trainers," to models, bodybuilders and athletes, much of the information and videos found on the internet is created and intended for a small minority of the people who actually search for it.

The answer is no.  They have years experience and a background in exercise and nutrition.  They most likely have had personal trainers and dieticians monitor every aspect of their exercise training and nutrition regimen for years. 

What do they have in common with you?  Other than the desire to be fit, in shape and healthy and look and perform their best absolutely nothing.  They do not work a 9-5 job or spend 55 hours a week on a salary job.

You are most likely a busy professional, stay at home mother, student, or just the average person looking for exercise, diet, nutrition information which will improve your quality of life.

You have most likely been highly focused on everything but your health and seek a change.  Maybe you have started an exercise program and look for a qualified fitness expert or personal trainers advice. 

Whether you are looking for a personal trainer, or plan to exercise at your local gym, home or outdoors AskTheTrainer.com is the place for you to find helpful exercise, diet, nutrition and fitness information.

You will also find advice and how to videos which have helped normal, hard working people achieve fitness results and become healthy and are living a higher quality of life.

Personal training normal, hardworking people and providing high quality exercise, diet, nutrition advice is our profession.  Our goal is to provide the best exercise information which is not shady or misleading like much of the fitness information on the internet.

The goal of Ask the Trainer .com is to help normal people around the world feel good about themselves.  You can accomplish this by starting a proper exercise and nutrition program which will improve your quality of your life.

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