Healthy Living - FREE - Aim for a Healthy Weight

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has a free booklet, Aim for a Healthy Weight that you can download. It starts with the definitions of overweight (with a body mass index chart) and the risks of being overweight.

There's a section for daily food amounts (similar to the food pyramid but in chart format).

The food replacement section is really helpful. You can see how to swap your usual (more fattening) foods for healthier options. For example, whole eggs can be swapped for egg whites or egg substitute. Another example is to swap ice cream for frozen yogurt.

The next section deals with portion control - which is really important. They even show pictures of what a portion for a particular food group should look like. For example, one medium fruit is about the size of a baseball. One cup of cereal flakes is the size of your fist. Then you can visualize if your portions are too big.

There's a section on eating healthy while dining out and one for eating healthier ethnic foods.

Toward the end is a discussion on physical activity and suggestions on sneaking in some activities. I like the sample walking plan - something that requires no equipment and only a minimal amount of time.

Recipes - Rutabaga

A great way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet is to try new recipes by trying new foods. Rutabagas are an interesting, different root vegetable (known in some places as turnips) that can be used in a variety of ways - roasted, baked, broiled, boiled, stewed, etc. In Scotland, they are known as "neeps" and made in a dish called "neeps and tatties" where tatties are potatoes.

Here are a few recipes to try:
Rutabaga Hash With Onions and Crisp Bacon

Roasted Rutabaga

Rutabaga Oven Fries

Scandinavian Rutabaga Ham (Griljerad Kålrot)

Food - 20 High Fiber Foods by Huffington Post

Fiber has many health and diet benefits - it keeps you feeling full, it can lower cholesterol and blood sugar, it can keep your colon clear and avoid hemorrhoids. Huffington Post has a nice slide show of 20 high fiber foods. CLICK HERE to view it.

Some high fiber foods you need:
• Corn
• Beans (White, black, garbanzo, kidney, etc)
• Avocado
• Whole Wheat Pasta and Bread
• Brown Rice
• Edamame
• Lentils
• Pear
• Artichoke
• Oats and Oatmeal
• Raspberries
• Peas
• Broccoli
• Apples
• Almonds
• Barley

Exercise - Beginner Workout from Calorie Count

The Calorie Count website has a really nice introduction to working out for beginners with a series of articles. The website also offers calorie counts for foods and recipes (click on the Food menu tab). There is also a great community/forum with all sorts of topics.
CLICK HERE to explore calorie count's beginners corner

Some Articles available:
• Cardiovascular Exercise
• Strength Training
• Flexibility
• Setting Up a Complete Program
• Proper Nutrition
• Staying Motivated
• Beginner Ball Workout
• Total Body for Beginners
• Total Body for Seniors
• Strength Training for Obese People
• Interval Training for Beginners
• Beginner Cardio - Walking and Cycling
• Running for Beginners

Food - Feel Full Quick Tips from Health Magazine

One of the biggest setbacks on dieting is the lack of satiety (feeling full). After you eat your super-healthy rice cake, your stomach is craving more food which often prompts people to eat junk food.
Health Magazine has a nice slideshow of tips to feel full not just by what you eat but also how you eat. CLICK HERE to read the article.

Tips Include:
• Drink more water before you eat
• Use vinegar and/or cinnamon as flavoring
• Eat more green or orange vegetables
• Try belly-filling potatoes
• Learn to love fish
• Pop some nuts
• Add in more oats
• Try a new bean today
• Eggs are good hunger busters
• Fill up on fiber

Recipes - Healthy Recipes from Baylor Health Care Systems

Baylor Health Care System has some healthier recipes posted on their website, HERE.

Some recipes include:
• Roasted Winter Squash Soup
• Garlic Whipped Potatoes
• Lighter Green Bean Casserole
• Pumpkin Almond Cheesecake
• Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Fudge

Food - The Best and Worst Breakfasts for Your Health

Yahoo Health had a nice article, The Best and Worst Breakfasts for your health.

As we all know, eating breakfast is important for jump-starting your metabolism. When you skip breakfast, your body doesn't have the fuel it needs to be at its peak until your next meal. People who are not used to skipping breakfast tend to munch-out until lunch adding not only calories but unhealthy calories.

On the other hand, eating breakfast foods which are dripping in grease or full of fats are not benefitial either as they will contribute to heart disease and/or diabetes.

In this article, a study was performed to reveal the risks of eating different types of breakfast. They analyzed healthy participants before and after they ate breakfast sandwiches loaded with egg and cheese (the sandwich contained about 900 calories and 50 grams of fat). Two hours after they ate the breakfast sandwiches, their blood flow showed significant reduction to the heart - that's from one sandwich. Imagine if they ate that type of greasy food all the time. The blood's inability to reach the organs eventually leads to organ failure (including heart attacks).

Food - Oprah - Hidden Fat Traps on Restaurant Menus

Oprah's website has a great article this week on Hidden Fat Traps on Restaurant Menus. Learn to decode those advertising-slick words.

Salads - Ordering the dressing on the side can actually make you use more than the chef would drizzle over the top. Avoid empty calorie toppings such as crunchy noodles, croutons, sunflower seeds, and walnuts.

Avoid "crispy" because it indicates food fried in oil. "Crusted" means the item was covered in butter or oil and covered with breadcrumbs. "Sizzling" contains lots of oil.

Stay away from Miso soup which is high in sodium and Tempura which is deep fried.

Some vegetable puree soups contain lots of cream or sour cream, actually making them fattening.

Just because dessert has fruit on it, doesn't make it healthy. This article pointed out a chocolate cake slice which had less calories than a bigger slice of pear tart. Disappointing!

Food - Ending Your Sugar Cravings

One of my biggest weaknesses - and most people's - is sugar. It's an endless craving that happens all the time and any time - in coffee, for breakfast, for snack, for dessert, for afternoon snack, before dinner, for dinner dessert, etc. In time, it becomes habit, an addiction, and it's difficult to stop. I've read articles that compare soda with cocaine addictions. Sugar definitely affects the brain. So now what?

Once sugar or caffeine becomes an addiction, there could be withdrawl symptoms when trying to quit cold turkey. Your body has become used to these flavors/chemicals. When you take them away, your body freaks out. But, never fear, they eventually go away!

First, in order to break the sugar addiction, one must stop the every day habit completely and you must want to stop.

Second, be cautious of substitutes. Aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet, etc) can have undesirable side-effects and will not teach you to avoid sugar. Sometimes we use more sugar substitute than we should because we can't reach the level of sweetness we crave. So instead of one packet in our coffee, we use two or three.

Third, improve your diet. If you feel satisfied (and full), you are less likely to turn to sweets.

Fourth, stop buying sweets/sodas. If you don't have access to them, you won't eat/drink them. It will take time to get over the cravings, but it will be worth it to your health and your body.

Have a craving attack in the middle of the day? Try going for a short walk. Get your mind off the craving.

Maybe you simply have an urge to chew - try some sugar-free gum.

References: Sugar Addiction by L. Wilson, MD. WebMd - 13 Ways to Fight Sugar Cravings Nourished Health - End the 3pm Slump Cravings Dr. Mark Hyman - How to Rewire Your Brain to End Food Cravings

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

Food - 5 Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Women's Health Magazine has lots of great recipes and workout tips - that both men and women can use. Don't be intimidated that it's main appeal is to women...

This particular nugget I found shows some yummy breakfast recipes that are quick and healthy. We like quick.

Click here to see 5 Healthy Breakfast Ideas article.

Recipes Featured:
• Breakfast Burritos - these will keep you feeling full through the morning
• Strawberry Parfaits - you can easily throw in your favorite fruit(s)
• Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese
• Orient Express Oatmeal
• Multigrain Blueberry Waffles

Food - 5 Vending Machine Snacks to Avoid

Yahoo Health does a great job posting relevant food articles with nice slideshows. This article, 5 Vending Machine Snacks to Avoid (and 5 Healthier Options) comes at a great time for us - deciding what to buy to quelch those afternoon munchies! Snacks to avoid run around 280 calories (also check the number of servings on your favorite snack)

Snacks to Avoid:
• Lays Classic
• Famous Amos Cookies (which are my favorite!)
• Snickers (breaking into a Snickers Bar will cost you 280 calories)
• Skittles
• Entenmann's Jumbo Iced Honey Bun (I don't know about you but the ones in our work vending machine look like they've been rotting the past year!)

Healthier Choices:
• Triscuit Original
• Chex Mix Traditional
• Planters Peanuts
• Planters Trailmix (just keep an eye on the number of servings!)

Food - Vegetarian Recipes

You don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy vegetarian meals. It's great for non-vegetarians to eat at least one vegetarian meal a week for a healthier, more balanced regimen. Mayo clinic has some great recipes here Recipes include: Chinese Noodles with Spring Vegetables, Soft Tacos with Southwestern Vegetables, Eggplant with Toasted Spices, Apple-fennel Slaw, Baked Apples with Cheeries and Almonds

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 - 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. ;-)

Healthy Living - Healthy Weight and Lifestyle Changes

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has a great site with lots of links and tips for making lifestyle changes for a Healthy Weight. You can check it out Here I really enjoyed reading the Success Stories - they are very inspirational, especially when you might get discouraged in your own health journey. You might want to start with the Getting Started guide which provides a nice overview of steps to take for beginning weight loss. For me, personally, I found the Eating Habits article especially helpful. Once you start assessing what goes in your mouth at every meal/snack, then you start to realize what some of your weak points really are (and then we can insert some denial). And there's also a Physical Activity page which shows some activities and the corresponding calorie loss. Seems like even stretching for 30 minutes will burn 90 calories - enough to burn off a small snack. :-)