Healthy Living - 50 Ways to Lose Weight

Reader's Digest has this great article - 50 Ways to Lose Weight - which lists some tips to reduce calories and improve health overall.

Tips include:
• Once a week, indulge in a high-calorie-tasting, but low-calorie, treat
• Treat high-calorie foods as jewels in the crown
• After breakfast, make water your primary drink.
• Carry a palm-size notebook everywhere you go for one week - to make note of what you are eating.
• Buy a pedometer
• Add 10 percent to the amount of daily calories you think you’re eating, then adjust your eating habits accordingly
• Eat five or six small meals or snacks a day instead of three large meals.
• Walk for 45 minutes a day.
• Find an online weight-loss buddy.
• Bring the color blue into your life more often
• Clean your closet of the “fat” clothes
• Downsize your dinner plates.

Food - The 15 Most Pointless Foods in Your Supermarket

What I love about the 15 Most Pointless Foods in Your Supermarket article from Rodale News is how many items I actually purchased from the list! If only I'd read this sooner...

Media is brilliant in how they hype up new products including those wonderful packages and trick consumers into buying things that are not healthy. It's a real lesson in reading those ingredient lists!

Some of the examples include:
• Mio Water Enhancer
• Uncrustables
• Bagel-Fuls
• Splenda Essentials with Antioxidants
• Yoplait Low-Fat Yogurt
• Lucky Charms Cereal
• Special K Cereal Bars
• VitaMuffin Vitatops
• WhoNu? Nutrition Rich Cookies
• Chocolate Milk with Omega-3s
• Pediasure Shakes

Food - 7 Food Swaps That Will Make You Skinny

Rodale News has a great article, Seven Healthy Food Swaps That Will Make You Skinny that has a slideshow with some really easy changes you can make to start saving calories and eating healthier today. Each slide also includes the benefit of the swap as well as healthy perk or tip.

Swaps include:
• Cabbage or Collard Greens Instead of Bread
• Summer Squash Instead of Hash Browns
• Spaghetti Squash Instead of Pasta
• Cauliflower Instead of Potatoes
• Lettuce Instead of Hot Dog Buns
• Oatmeal Pancakes Instead of Flour Pancakes
• Portobello Instead of Pizza Crust

Health - Boosting the Immune System - The Cold and Flu Season

Ask Dr. Mao, the website for author and doctor Mao Shing Ni, is an informative Natural Health Search Engine filled with articles aimed at healing your body naturally and taking care of your health in a natural or more holistic way.

One of the articles I found on Ask Dr. Mao's blog was Boosting the Immune System - The Cold and Flu Season.

We are in the midst of fall, which means cold and flu season is upon us. If you have kids, then you are probably already enjoying an onslaught of back-to-school germs!

Some suggestions for building up your immune system include:
• Simple Strategies for a Stronger Immune System
• Maintain a positive attitude.
• Eat lots of garlic, ginger, cilantro, oregano and other herbs and spices.
• Get enough rest—eight hours a night.
• Keep stress low with meditation, tai chi or yoga.

There is also a recipe for Immunity-Boosting Cream of Mushroom and Cauliflower Soup