Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Healthy Recipes
- MONDAYChicken Florentine artichoke bake
- TUESDAYWasabi salmon burgers
- WEDNESDAYGarlic, asparagus, and pasta with lemon cream
- THURSDAYCorned beef and cabbage
- FRIDAYChicken with mushroom cream sauce
- SATURDAYSlow-cooker beef and red bean chili
- SUNDAYTaco pizza
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Wednesday, March 9, 2011
5 eating styles that can lead to weight gain
Photo by Thinkstock
Certain ingrained habits—even seemingly minor ones—have a significant effect on your weight. The hard part, too, is that even when you make the decision to, say, eat more fruit or hit the gym one more time a week, past behaviors can sneak in and undermine your best efforts. Those patterns can be grouped into five basic eating types. Chances are, you’ll identify with one or more. Once you recognize your type (or types), you'll be able to develop strategies and solutions tailored specifically to your needs.
5 worst eating habits for your waistline
Type # 1: The Weekender You live "by the book" all week, only to throw it out the window on Friday night. Or maybe you travel a lot for work or pleasure, and as soon as your surroundings change, so do your eating and daily calorie-counting habits.
Fix It:
Go (mildly) wild on Wednesday. It's hard to resist going nuts on Saturday and ordering the mac ’n’ cheese when you've been buttoned up for 5 days straight, so consider working one splurge night into your week. If you inject a little food-related fun into the weekdays, you'll be less likely to "reward" yourself with major damage on the weekends.
What to eat to lose weight on the weekend
Type # 2: The Calorie Drinker One of the biggest diet mistakes is thinking that if it's something you sip, the calories won't stick. Unfortunately, liquid calories are stealth fatteners—they go down quickly, making it easy to drink more and rack up the calories—fast.
Fix It:
Make smarter switches. Whether your weakness is sweet coffee drinks or soda, there's a way to alter your particular poison so it doesn't sabotage your progress. Skip the sweetener (and whipped cream) in coffee and drink seltzer instead of sugar-packed soda. You’ll save hundreds of calories and barely notice the change.
4 health reasons to stop drinking soda
Type # 3: The Low-Hanging "Fruit" Grabber These days we're confronted with calories everywhere we go, from bagels in the conference room to king-size chocolate bars in the checkout aisle. In an environment with such an abundance of cheap, easy calories, temptation lurks around every corner and chips away at your willpower.
Fix It:
Track every single bite. It's always important to track your meals, but in this case, it's extra important that you take note of everything that slips between your lips. Until now, you probably haven't been "counting" all those free samples at the supermarket, but they can easily cost you 100 calories or more. Seeing how all those extra bites add up is motivation enough to make you say no to the free muffin sample.
Try this free tool to help you track calories, portions and fat
Type # 4: The Stress Eater Do you find yourself looking for solace in a red velvet cupcake after a long, stressful day? Do you empty a bag of tortilla chips whenever your mother-in-law is in town? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then stress eating is a part of your life--and probably a major hindrance to your weight loss.
Fix It: Name that theme. Are there any common themes among your stress-related binges? Do they generally occur at work? Do they happen mostly in the evenings, when you’re dealing with family, bills, or housework? If you know that a certain situation or person tends to push you over the edge, prepare yourself for the stress that will inevitably come. Just being aware that a binge-inducing situation is on the horizon can help you brace for it and lower the chances that you'll give in.
Never gain stress weight again
Type # 5: The Judger Do you wonder why you're not losing weight when you seem to be doing everything right? You may be falling for healthy buzzwords on a package of high-calorie processed food. Even actual "healthy" foods--some of which offer many benefits--can be calorie bombs.
Fix It:
Don't buy into marketing gimmicks. Read every food nutrition label and decide for yourself whether or not something makes sense for your calorie budget. Also, stop personalizing your food choices. Try not to categorize them as "good" or "bad"--and definitely don't apply that black-and-white thinking to your character. Eating an apple does not make you a "good" person any more than eating a cookie makes you a "bad" person! If you're an ecoconscious eater, "good" and "bad" have other connotations for you. While your efforts to green our planet are applause-worthy, don't forget that words like organic, sustainable, and grass-fed do not necessarily mean "low in calories." Being good to the Earth doesn't automatically mean you're making good choices for your waistline.
Finally, beware of healthy calories. If eating larger portions of lower-calorie foods is your thing, that's fine, but some foods can throw you off your budget when you indulge with too much abandon. For example, almonds are often touted for their nutritional power--and they do pack lots of protein and a nice dose of vitamin E and monounsaturated fats. But if you eat just 1/2 cup of almonds (easy to do in one sitting), you're taking in 400 calories.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Eat This for Gorgeous Skin
Thinkstock/Eat this for healthy skin.
Related: Smooth Your Lady Lumps: The Best Anti-Cellulite Creams
Lay Off the White Stuff
Turns out french fries do cause breakouts. But it's not the grease that's the culprit, it's the potatoes. In a recent study, researchers looked at 1,200 natives of an island near Papua New Guinea and 115 hunter-gatherers in Paraguay and couldn't find a single zit in the lot. What's their secret? "A diet that consists almost exclusively of protein, fruits, and veggies," says Loren Cordain, PhD, professor of health and exercise science at Colorado State University and lead author of the study. Absent from their meals: the simple carbohydrates — such as white bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and sweets — that are the basis of our modern diet. These carbs send our insulin levels soaring, and researchers speculate that this sets off a series of reactions that leads to breakouts.
Related: Your 2011 Get Gorgeous Guide
Simple food switch: Instead of refined white carbs, go for moderate amounts of complex ones like whole-grain bread, brown rice, and whole-wheat pasta (they're digested more slowly and don't lead to that skin-sabotaging insulin spike).
Find out another surprising secret to perfect skin.
Savor Seafood
Fish is a great source of essential fatty acids (EFAs) like omega-3 and omega-6, which reduce inflammation in the body. "Inflammation triggers the cells to clog the pore, causing acne," says Nicholas Perricone, a dermatologist and author of The Perricone Prescription. "It also leads to wrinkles down the line." The fish that contain the most EFAs are salmon, mackerel, and tuna (particularly the albacore and bluefin varieties). EFAs are also found in almonds, hazelnuts, and flaxseed.
Simple food switch: Have smoked salmon for breakfast, eat tuna-fish sandwiches for lunch, and swap hamburgers for salmon burgers. If fish isn't your thing, make a handful of almonds your afternoon snack.
Brooklyn Decker! Follow Her Routine.
By Laurel House Visit www.BeHealthConscious.org
Brooklyn’s 5 Slimming Secrets
1. Combine Cardio and Weight Training
“I recommend doing both cardio and weights, both of which are on my Elle Make Better DVDs. High energy cardio can be fun when you set it to music and keep changing your focus. It’s important to balance the two out. You'll notice yourself getting leaner and stronger when you add variety into your workout.”
2. Don’t Forget About Food
More than exercise, Brooklyn believes that nutrition plays a major role in slimming down. “Nutrition is a HUGE factor in slimming down for summer. You can work out all day long, but if you are filling your body with junk, you won't see the results you want. The great thing about consistent exercise, though, is that you get to have that occasional chocolate bar if you want…completely guilt-free!”
3. Ab-Trimming Foods
The best thing for slimming the abs, which, Brooklyn says she’s “still working on”… is food that digests easily and helps clear out the system, such as high fiber foods, vegetables, and probiotics. “I personally like natural plain yogurt and broccoli. This helps you reduce any bloating around the tummy.”
4. Hydrate
Your Skin from the Outside!
Your skin eats too. What you slather on it matters. When it comes to face wash, Brooklyn keeps it simple. “I like simple Cetaphil. The bar version is antibacterial, and a makeup artist told me that it helps to clear any breakouts you may have.”
5. Hydrate Your Skin from the Inside!
Want a healthy glow? “What you are fueling your body with is a huge factor in how your skin looks. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!” Yes: WATER.
Not in the mood? Brooklyn motivates herself to move by thinking about how she’ll feel after. “The best motivation is knowing how good you feel after. No one can take away that feeling of accomplishment you get after you have gotten a good sweat. It's also a time for us women to focus on ourselves and decompress a bit. It's a great stress reliever.”
Get Fit With ExerciseTV!
Get lean with Brookyln's Elle Make Better Cardio and Sculpting workouts
Look your favorite A-Lister with the FREE red carpet workout plan
Find new, easy recipes customized for your fit goals now
Learn to bellydance and burn calories with Mayte Garcia
Brooklyn’s 5 Slimming Secrets
1. Combine Cardio and Weight Training
“I recommend doing both cardio and weights, both of which are on my Elle Make Better DVDs. High energy cardio can be fun when you set it to music and keep changing your focus. It’s important to balance the two out. You'll notice yourself getting leaner and stronger when you add variety into your workout.”
2. Don’t Forget About Food
More than exercise, Brooklyn believes that nutrition plays a major role in slimming down. “Nutrition is a HUGE factor in slimming down for summer. You can work out all day long, but if you are filling your body with junk, you won't see the results you want. The great thing about consistent exercise, though, is that you get to have that occasional chocolate bar if you want…completely guilt-free!”
The best thing for slimming the abs, which, Brooklyn says she’s “still working on”… is food that digests easily and helps clear out the system, such as high fiber foods, vegetables, and probiotics. “I personally like natural plain yogurt and broccoli. This helps you reduce any bloating around the tummy.”
4. Hydrate
Your skin eats too. What you slather on it matters. When it comes to face wash, Brooklyn keeps it simple. “I like simple Cetaphil. The bar version is antibacterial, and a makeup artist told me that it helps to clear any breakouts you may have.”
5. Hydrate Your Skin from the Inside!
Want a healthy glow? “What you are fueling your body with is a huge factor in how your skin looks. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!” Yes: WATER.
Not in the mood? Brooklyn motivates herself to move by thinking about how she’ll feel after. “The best motivation is knowing how good you feel after. No one can take away that feeling of accomplishment you get after you have gotten a good sweat. It's also a time for us women to focus on ourselves and decompress a bit. It's a great stress reliever.”
Get Fit With ExerciseTV!
Get lean with Brookyln's Elle Make Better Cardio and Sculpting workouts
Look your favorite A-Lister with the FREE red carpet workout plan
Find new, easy recipes customized for your fit goals now
Learn to bellydance and burn calories with Mayte Garcia
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Bananas: The ultimate hunger buster
Ever grab a snack but then feel hungry again 20 minutes later? Next time, reach for a banana. It’s loaded with Resistant Starch (RS), a healthy carb that fills you up and helps to boost your metabolism. Slightly underripe medium-sized bananas have 12.5 grams of RS—more than most other foods. Ripe bananas give you 4.7 grams of RS, still enough to keep hunger pangs away. Check out these tasty ways to work in this wonder food.
Health.com: 8 reasons carbs help you lose weight
Banana "Ice Cream"
Peel, slice, and freeze 1 small banana. Place frozen banana pieces in a blender with 3 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk; blend until thick. Top with 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts.
Banana Salsa
Make a quick salsa with 2 diced peeled bananas, 2 tablespoons minced red onion, 1 tablespoon mincedcilantro, 1 teaspoon minced serrano or jalepeno pepper, juice of 1 lime, and brown sugar and salt to taste. Use it to top fish or pork tacos, jerk chicken, or jerk pork.
Health.com: 8 tasty taco recipes
Broiled Bananas
Slice 1 peeled banana in half lengthwise. Put banana pieces, cut sides up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the banana pieces with 1 teaspoon brown sugar, and broil on high until the sugar bubbles and the bananas brown (about 2–3 minutes). After broiling, sprinkle with cinnamon—or drizzle with 1 teaspoon rumfor an extra-special treat.
Health.com: Surprising health benefits of cinnamon
Coffee and Banana Smoothie
Place 1 sliced peeled banana, 1 cup 1% low-fat milk, 1/2 cup cold black coffee, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 1/2 cup ice in a blender. Blend until smooth—and enjoy.
Health.com: 11 healthy milk shakes and smoothies
Tropical Fruit Salad
Make a fruit salad with 1 sliced peeled banana, 1 sliced peeled kiwi, and 1/2 diced peeled ripe mango. Squirt juice of 1/4 lime over the salad, and serve.
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