Follow these 6 rules from Shape.com to make smarter choices when you indulge in candy, cookies, ice cream and fast food.
1. Control cravings
Complete deprivation is not the solution. A denied craving can quickly spiral out of control, leading to bingeing or overeating. If you’re craving fries or chips, for example, eat a small serving of fries, or buy the mini 150-calorie bag of chips and be done with it. Also to consider: a healthier alternative like chips made from blue corn.
2. Indulge sensibly
Splurging on occasion is acceptable — just don’t get carried away!
3. Avoid stocking treats in your cabinets or fridge
Buy something only when the craving hits and enjoy a small quantity. Then share or trash the rest.
4. Mix it up
Try eating something healthier thing along with the less-nutritious food, like a piece of fruit with your cheesecake. By eating the fruit first, you’ll dull your appetite and be less likely to wolf down a second slice of the cheesecake.
5. Count calories
Compare the amount of fat and calories found in healthy, filling snacks vs. less-healthful foods. For instance, a medium apple contains just 81 calories and no fat.
6. Focus on fat
Take extra care to read labels. After reviewing several types of packaged food, like cookies, snack cakes, and chips, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that less expensive items tend to have more trans fats than those that cost a little more. These processed fats, which have been shown to raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol level, may show up on ingredient lists as partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated oil and shortening.
What you eat, everything from your meals to snacks, can have a huge effect on how your day goes. Here are some tips from Men’s Health Magazine to eat and sip your way to a successful day!
Breakfast
Eat This: Bacon or ham and fried eggs (Protein that will leave you feeling satisfied)
Benefit 1: Fullness and energy
Benefit 2: Relaxed blood vessel (i.e. lower blood pressure)
Not That: Pancakes, or a bagel with cream cheese
These carbohydrate-loaded options will send your blood glucose skyward and then crash! Leaving you hungry too soon.
Extra tip: Eat now at home, not later on the road.
A University of Massachusetts study found that eating breakfast out instead of at home more than doubles your odds of obesity.
Dealing with Stress:
Try This: Chewing gum
Benefit: Stress relief
Not That: Coffee
Caffeine can trigger a spike in the stress hormone cortisol.
Having Trouble Concentrating at Work
Drink This: Peppermint tea
Periodic whiffs of peppermint increase people’s concentration and performance on tasks requiring sustained attention.
Not That: Soda
Sugary drinks have proven to make people drowsy
Lunchtime
Eat This: Grilled salmon
Benefit: Alertness
Add This: Spinach or arugula salad
Benefit: Improved mood and memory
Not That: Tea with milk (Mixing milk (protein) with tea cancels out the health benefits)
Continue to complete your perfect day of eating menu.
The Girl Scout Cookies are looking out for your health this year.
The popular classics like Samoas, Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos, Trefoils, All Abouts and CafM-i Cookies — are still on the menu, but all with a healthier twist. All of the cookies have been reformulated to be free of trans fatty acids- the fats responsible for bad cholesterol. They have even created sugar-free brownies for those who need to cut back on their sugar intake.
This is not new information for most of us, but it’s always nice to be reminded of the benefits of our healthy habits or a reminder of why we should develop these habits.
Celebrity trainer and former body builder Rich Barretta shares the four healthy-eating rules his clients swear by, which you too can easily adopt with Shape Magazine.
1. Cut back on booze
If drinking is a big part of your social life, your waistline may suffer. Not only is alcohol loaded with carbs and empty calories, but people tend to make bad food choices when they’re buzzed. A couple sugary cocktails can easily add up to a thousand calories (half of the average person’s daily need), so Barretta advises avoiding alcohol altogether. If you are going to indulge, opt for a glass of wine or slim down your drink with smart swaps like trading tonic for club soda.2. Just say “no” to fried food
“Grill it, bake it, broil it, steam it, just don’t fry it,” says Barretta. Frying something perfectly healthy, such as chicken, takes away nutrients, while adding fat and calories. Plus, by eating fried foods at restaurants that still use trans fats, you run the risk of raising artery-clogging bad cholesterol and lowering fat-clearing good cholesterol3. Avoid carbs at night
There’s no need to deprive yourself of carbs, but you should be conscious of when you eat them. By consuming high-carb foods (potatoes, rice, pastas and breads) early in the day, you have more time to burn them off. At night, carbs are more likely to go unused and be stored as fat. Barretta’s rule of thumb: Stick to lean protein and veggies after 6pm.4. Pass up processed foods
We all know that fresh foods are better for us, but often reach for processed products out of convenience. While it’s challenging to cut out processed foods entirely, there are certain ingredients Barretta suggests you steer clear of, including high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, white flour and processed sugar. Your best bet is to shop around the perimeter of the grocery store, where you’ll find fresh meats and produce.
Orthorexia is the latest love-hate relationship that has developed between mainly women and food.
Orthorexia is “a fairly new classification of eating disorder characterized by an utter obsession for healthy eating. For the orthorexic, disavowing cheese, fat, meat and bread is a way to feel pure and healthy. But their fascination for food choices quickly becomes an unhealthy fixation.”
This eating disorder is easily masked as a food allergy unless you know what to look for. Here are some questions from MSN.Health to ask yourself to be sure your friend or loved one isn’t disguising her disordered eating with a food allergy:
• How does she look?
Those living with food allergies become adept at managing their diets so that their nutritional needs are met. Their health doesn’t necessarily suffer. Orthorexics, on the other hand, become so obsessed that malnutrition and even emaciation can result.
• Does her story change?
Women with food intolerances have a finite list of items to avoid. Those with eating disorders will change their tune to fit the social situation; orthorexics will continually add to their list of restricted foods.
• Are there other symptoms?
Sufferers of eating disorders often become compulsive about not only what they eat but also how they eat it (how the food is arranged on the plate, which utensils are used, where they sit). Food-allergy sufferers, on the other hand, are simply happy to be able to eat.
There is still no cure, but there are some methods of prevention that can decrease the risks of breast cancer.
Follow these healthy breast habits today:
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Eat a balanced diet
- Examine yourself
- Know your breasts
Learn more about each step you can towards minimizing your breast cancer risk Here.
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I came across this diet that I had never heard of before. It looks simple enough.
No funny science or calorie accounting involved, just a few simple and mnemonic tricks for giving your willpower the upper hand.
There are just three rules and one exception:
No Snacks
No Sweets
No Seconds
Except (sometimes) on days that start with “S”
A glass of warm milk is NOT the way to get a good night’s sleep. You do not want to incorporate protein or fat in your diet right before bed. Here’s a list of snacks that have been scientifically proven to help you catch some shut eye.
1- Nonfat Popcorn
The carbs will induce your body to create serotonin, the feel-good hormone that makes you feel relaxed.
2- Oatmeal with Sliced Banana
Sleep is inspired by the hormone melatonin, but stress or excitement can disrupt melatonin’s release. Bring your brain back down to earth by whipping up a bowl of instant oatmeal and topping it with a sliced banana, which is rich in melatonin.
3- 1 Cup of Plain Yogurt with 2 Tablespoons of Mixed Nuts
Yogurt is one of the best food sources of lysine; nuts pack tons of arginine. Both have been proven to help people deal with stress.
Because both contain alertness-inducing protein, you’re better off eating this combo a few hours before bed (or even at midday, before a big, stressful presentation at work). It’ll reduce the residual stress you feel later in the evening, meaning you won’t replay your day over and over again in your head as you try to fall asleep.
4- A Pile of Sesame Seeds
Sesame seeds are one of the best natural sources of tryptophan, the sleep-inducing amino acid responsible for all of those post-Thanksgiving turkey comas. Hold off on the turkey sammies, though — the protein in the turkey might offset the tryptophan’s benefit.
5- A Handful of Pretzels
Pretzels are a source of carbohydrates, which make you feel sleepy, but since they’re also low in calories and fat, they won’t pack on the pounds or give you belly-aching indigestion.
6- 1 Glass of Wine
It’s called a nightcap for a reason — a glass of wine really does take the edge off. University of Toronto researchers discovered that one alcoholic drink causes people’s blood vessels to relax — but two begins to reverse the effects, so limit your intake. Relaxed blood vessels means lower blood pressure, slower heart rate, and greater ability to relax in general. You can protect your heart and prevent diseases, from cancer to Alzheimer’s, by eating certain foods.
7- A 4-ounce Glass of Unsweetened Cherry Juice
Cherry juice has serotonin-inducing carbohydrates, which will help relax you. Down the cherry juice an hour before bedtime in case you feel a small jolt of energy from the sugar. There’s not enough to keep you up all night or to destabilize your blood-sugar levels.
8- Red Bell Peppers
Researchers at the University of Alabama fed rats 200 milligrams of vitamin C twice a day and found that it nearly stopped the secretion of cortisol, a hormone released in your body when you’re stressed. Calorie for calorie, red bell peppers give you more vitamin C than any other vegetable or fruit.
According to MSN.Lifestyle
So maybe the saying “you are what you eat” isn’t that far from the truth. Try adding these foods to your daily diet for a more energetic, happier and healthier you!
1- Walnuts
A handful a day may reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death for women, according to research from Harvard Medical School. Walnuts are fatty so eat them with carbohydrates like an apple or on a salad.
2-Salmon
Omega-3-rich fish can help reduce your chances of a heart attack and regular fish consumption can lower your chances for most cancers.
3- Pumpkin
Pumpkins are the only produce that contains the triple crown of beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lutein — substances known as carotenoids, which your body converts into vitamin A, and which protect you against heart disease, says New York City-based nutritionist Keri Glassman.
4-Yogurt
A serving of yogurt helps you get your daily requirement of calcium. The vitamin B-12 also boosts your energy levels.
Go for natural flavor and add your own berries to avoid the unhealthy sugar.
5-Raspberries
“Colorful berries are packed with immune-boosting antioxidants, and with raspberries, you also get big doses of vitamin C and pectin, which have been shown to lower cholesterol,” says Glassman
6- Kidney Beans
According to studies by the Department of Agriculture, small red kidney beans are packed with more antioxidant protection per serving than any other food,” says Murray. “Legume-rich diets can also lower cholesterol levels, improve blood-sugar control, and reduce the risk of many cancers.”
7- Broccoli
A phytochemical called indole-3-carbinol can lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, say scientists from the University of Hawaii.
8- Oats
“Diets rich in whole grains have been shown to protect against chronic degenerative diseases, especially cancer.” Oats are also a good source of beta-glucan, adds Glassman, a fiber that lowers blood cholesterol and blood-sugar levels.
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