Food - Calorie Counter

Before starting any diet plan, you need to have a general idea of how many calories you can consume each day to at least maintain the weight you have (this is the baseline). More calories than the baseline will end up in weight gain. Less calories than the baseline will end up in weight loss. Pretty simple. Use Mayo Clinic's Calorie Counter Tool - Input your age, current weight, height, and activity level and see what your baseline calorie count should be.

Food - Cholesterol: Top 5 foods to lower your numbers

Mayo Clinic presents Cholesterol: Top 5 foods to lower your numbers - a wonderful article that provides the top five foods which are heart healthy and in turn will lower your high cholesterol numbers. The foods include: 1. Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods 2. Fish and omega-3 fatty acids 3. Walnuts, almonds and other nuts 4. Olive Oil 5. Foods with added plant sterols or stanols When you review the list, the first four are typically mentioned in almost every single diet book on the market. We all know we should eat high-fiber foods and more healthy fats (fish, nuts). What I like about this article, however, are the tips the author provides for actually increasing your intake of these items. Very practical advice.

Food - Butter Flavouring Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

According to this article at Food Navigator's website, "An artificial food flavoring compound used for its butter-like taste and mouthfeel may be linked with key processes in the development of Alzheimer's disease." How scary is that? The chemical, Diacetyl (DIA), is used in a wide variety of food and drink products giving users a rich, butter flavoring. For example, "buttered" popcorn that you heat in the microwave might be a mixture of chemicals. What is good about this article is that it makes the consumers more aware of the products they eat contains CHEMICALS and not real or natural FLAVORING. One can only imagine all the chemicals we ingest with every meal. As we continue to ingest more and more chemical products, we are causing long-term damage (ie, disesases like Alzheimer's) to our bodies. That is why it is so crucial to investigate what you eat, the ingredients on the label. If you see a long list of chemicals, please reconsider. Read the article here: Butter Flavouring Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

Food - 6 Fish Dishes That Make You Fat

Most people automatically think that eating fish - any type and even fried - is healthier than eating red meat. It's the same mentality as eating vegetables that are deep fried is better than not eating them at all. Unfortunately, it's quite the opposite. It's actually worse eating fried fish than eating a burger. Check out these fish restaurant choice blunders: 6 Fish Dishes That Make You Fat The top of the list is PF Chang’s Shrimp with Candied Walnuts which is a really sweet dish with a hint of crunch. The bad part - it's 1,380 calories with 104 g fat and a gross 1,830 mg sodium! So you'd think soup would be a little healthier. Think again. Cheesecake Factory's Shrimp and Chicken Gumbo has a gross 1,570 calories with 2,249 mg sodium!

Food - The Most Shocking Diet Myths

I stumbled on this article at Yahoo's Healthy Living section. What I like about it is that it shakes up our normal beliefs on dieting and makes us question if we are getting the most out of beliefs or not. The very first question it poses - Does eating many small meals help you lose faster than eat three big meals? According to the article, it doesn't. What matters is how many total calories and the energy required to break that down. When you eat more than your body can break down in a single day, then you are setting yourself up for gaining weight. This is also true whether you eat unprocessed or processed food and when you eat (morning or night). Myth: Diet sodas make you fat by tricking you into craving sweets. They don't. See the article: The Most Shocking Diet Myths

Food - The Best and Worst French Fries in America

This article from Men's Health caught my eye because I seriously crave french fries every so often. Of course, most people would say not to eat french fries AT ALL, but realistically, the more I try to avoid them, the more aware I am of them and the more I want to eat them! Read the The Best and Worst French Fries in America here. Surprisingly, Cheesecake Factory's Sweet Potato fries are really terrible - 960 calories and 1521 mg in sodium! People get tricked into thinking they are healthier because it is sweet potatoes, but the portion and the frying oils makes it worse than regular french fries. Might as well just go for a small order of regular fries and indulge without all that guilt! And, with as much publicity McDonalds gets for being the evil fat-making king, their small fries are pretty decent - 230 calories and a surprising 160 mg of sodium. Not bad for a once-in-awhile snack. Of course, eating french fries every day is not a good idea. ;-)

Exercise - Six Moves to Sexy Legs

While I was browsing around the internet, I read several articles about celebrity legs especially Jennifer Anniston's legs or her rival Angelina Jolie's legs. Yeah - we all want long, shapely legs (for guys, probably muscular legs is better). So here are some quick exercises you can try to reach sexy leg potential: Six Moves to Sexy Legs. And you can view the demo movie to see how to do these right. An added benefit - a toned bottom! Moves include Rear Reshaper, Butt Lifter, Calf Carver, Twisting Toner