How to Eat Healthy When on a Budget By Victoria

Organic food is more expensive than a bucket of KFC. This is part of the reason why so many people are unhealthy. Becoming a paragon of health seems so difficult whereas sitting down and ordering in seems easy. It’s even harder if you’re on a budget as you simply can’t afford a lot of healthy food. This is no excuse to continue paying homage to McDonald’s though!

You can eat healthy on a budget. Here are some of the ways you can eat healthy without spending a lot of money.

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Whole Foods
Whole foods are foods which haven’t been processed. They’ve been harvested and thrown in a box, essentially. These are cheaper as they don’t go through the usual processes to add more flavorings and preservatives. As someone who is aiming to eat healthier, it’s better for you because you have full control over the ingredients. You don’t have to worry about anything which has been added to the recipe.

Whole foods apply to any type of food, such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

Choose Cheap Proteins
Getting your daily intake of protein is the biggest expense as proteins are commonly associated with meats. Steaks are expensive and will leave a hole in your wallet. For day-to-day use, get your protein through cheaper alternatives like eggs and whey. It might not be as tasty but it’s much cheaper.

You should consider buying a variety of cheap proteins to take care of your daily intake. You need at least 1g of protein for every pound of body weight to maintain muscle. If you’re trying to gain muscle you’ll need slightly more.

Buy Frozen
A lot of healthy eaters never consider frozen foods. We’re often told these are bad because they’re less nutritious. Part of the reason for this belief is because we often criticize frozen food like fish sticks. It isn’t the freezing process causing the problems. It’s the fact the food was never healthy in the first place.

Frozen foods have a number of advantages to them. Firstly, they’re always prepared before being frozen. You don’t have to waste time cutting them and removing anything before they’re ready for cooking. They also have a longer shelf life so you can buy them in bulk. Frozen food is roughly half the price of fresh food. Buy frozen food in bulk from independent stores to take advantage of bulk discounts.

What a lot of people don’t know is frozen food locks nutrients in. The nutrient richness of fresh food declines over time, from the moment it’s harvested. Frozen items lock the nutrients in, so you can actually get more nutrients from frozen foods.

Buy Own Brand
Store brand items are not lower in quality. The only real difference between store brand and big brand is a lack of advertising. Once you get used to the taste of store brand you’ll wonder why you were paying so much for well-known brands before. The nutrient content is often exactly the same as their star-speckled counterparts.

Switch to Supplements
Supplements like fish oil can help you fulfill your need for vitamin B12 and other obscure minerals, but you shouldn’t rely on them. Yes, they’re cheap, but they don’t have any calories. You should only use these if you’re meeting your need for calories yet failing to meet your need for specific minerals.

Use the Seasons
Fruit and veg have different seasons. If you buy some strawberries in the winter it will cost a lot more than in the summer. Grocery stores need to import the strawberries from other countries when they can’t be grown in the US. This adds on to the overall price you pay. If you eat the same thing all year, you could be unwittingly throwing money away.

Work out the seasons for each of your favorite foods. Only buy these foods once they’re in season. It won’t seem like much. A few cents here and a few cents there. Over the course of a year, it would equal a few hundred dollars.

Calorie Dense
Buy calorie dense foods like potatoes and pasta. They aren’t necessarily going to fulfill your needs for vitamins and minerals, but they’ll fill your belly quickly. This method is ideal for smaller people who want to gain weight and bulk up. They’re full of carbohydrates the body can break down.

The problem with eating healthily is we all have the stereotypical image of eating lots of greens. Most green vegetables don’t have a lot of calories in them. They’re packed full of nutrients, but they won’t fill your belly. It’s why you would need to spend a lot of money to sustain a diet eating fruit and veg exclusively.

5 foods you should be eating to jump-start the new year

By Sarah Bernard

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Sugary cakes. Glazed hams. Egg nog. That’s all behind you now. Wipe the slate clean and start the new year on a healthy note by focusing on vitamin-rich foods that you can incorporate into every meal going forward. “Today” show health expert Joy Bauer came by to talk about the superfoods we should all be eating. Thankfully, her picks are delicious and easy to find. From spicy veggies to protein powerhouses to sweet treats, see which foods make Joy’s top five.

The best way to reset your eating habits after the holidays is to stock your fridge with fresh, nutrient-rich foods that give you energy and improve your mood. Here’s Joy’s list of the top five:

LENTILS

These beans are filled with high-quality vegetarian protein and fiber, which boost energy and mood. They’re inexpensive and they cook up in 30 minutes or less. Joy suggests making large pots of lentil soup or lentil chili so you can freeze the leftovers.   

BRUSSELS SPROUTS 

Toss some Brussels sprouts on a baking sheet, add olive oil and salt, and then bake until they're crispy. We have no doubt they will become your favorite veggie. Added bonus: They're only 55 calories per cup and they help fight cancer and boost memory.

EGG WHITES

One egg white has only 17 calories and is 100% pure protein, which helps to slightly rev up our metabolism. Make an omelet or a frittata— use two to three egg whites for each whole egg. Hard boil an egg, pop out the yolk and replace it with a scoop of hummus for a power snack.

FROZEN BERRIES

Keeping bags of frozen raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries on hand is a perfect way to make sure you still get antioxidants, especially during the winter months when fresh fruit is hard to come by. Eat them right out of the bag, add them to cereal, or make delicious smoothies.

HOT PEPPERS

Hot peppers can suppress your appetite and rev up your metabolism. If you like spicy food, add them liberally to your scrambled eggs, stews, ore even tuna or chicken salad.

Do you have any healthy eating suggestions to start the New Year off right? Let us know and post them on our Facebook wall. For more health and beauty advice, check out JoyBauer.com and follow Joy on Twitter at @joybauer.

And for tips on avoiding the pounds during holiday time and beyond check out what these celebrity trainers had to say.

Chicken Wings- Its Dangerous???

SHARE THIS WITH ALL YOUR CHICKEN WING EATIN FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Chicken Wings- Its Dangerous (Folks, I Care)
Avoid eating chicken wings frequently - ladies, especially; a true story...!

Growth of a cyst in the womb Avoid eating chicken wings frequently - ladies, especially; a true story...! A friend of mine recently had a growth in her womb and she underwent an operation to remove the cyst. The cyst removed was filled with a dark colored blood. She thought that she would be recovered after the surgery but! she was terribly wrong. A relapse occurred just a few months later. Distressed , she rushed down to her gynecologist for a consultation. During her consultation, her doctor asked her a question that puzzled her. He ask if she was a frequent consumer of chicken wings and she replied yes wondering as to how, he knew of her eating habits. You see, the truth is in this modern day and age; chickens are injected with steroids to accelerate their growth so that the needs of this society can be met. This need is none other than the need for food. Chickens that are injected with steroids are usually given the shot at the neck or the wings. Therefore, it is in these places that the highest concentration of steroids exists. These steroids have terrifying effects on the body as it accelerates growth.. It has an even more dangerous effect in the presence of female hormones, this leads to women being more prone to the growth of a cyst in the womb. Therefore, I advise the people out there to watch their diets and to lower their frequency of consuming chicken wings! SingaporeMedical Association Tel: (65) 6223 1264, ext. 22 Fax: (65) 6224 7827 Email: sharon@sma.org. sg Website: http://www.sma.org.sg

Snacking, not portion size, largely driving U.S. overeating

www.BeHealthConscious.org

By Anne Harding, Health.com

More from Health.com

• 25 Ways to Cut 500 Calories a Day
• 25 Diet-Busting Foods You Should Never Eat
• The 50 Fattiest Foods in the States

Over the past several decades Americans have steadily gotten fatter. Although our increasingly sedentary lifestyles are partly to blame, a big reason for our national weight gain is that we're simply eating more.

In the mid-2000s, government surveys show, the average American adult ate about 2,375 calories per day, nearly one-third more than he (or she) did in the late 1970s. What accounts for all those added calories?

According to a new study, the biggest single contributor to the sharp rise in calorie intake has been the number of snacks and meals people eat per day. Over the past 30-odd years, the study found, Americans have gone from consuming 3.8 snacks and meals per day to 4.9, on average—a 29 percent increase.

The average portion size has increased, too, but only by about 12 percent. And, surprisingly, the average number of calories per 1-gram serving of food (known as "energy density") actually declined slightly over that period, which suggests that calorie-rich food has played a relatively minor role in our expanding waistlines.

"The real reason we seem to be eating more [calories] is we're eating often," says the lead author of the study, Barry Popkin, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The frequency of eating is probably, for the average overweight adult, becoming a huge issue."

Popkin blames food advertising and other marketing for the shift from three square meals a day to near-constant eating.
 
"It's all about making people think they want to have something in their hands all the time," he says. "Why are we snacking all the time and munching all the time? [Food] is there, it's available all the time, it's tasty. It's not very healthy, but it's tasty. It's sweet, it's salty, it's fatty—it's all the things we love."

Lisa Young, Ph.D., an adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University and the author of The Portion Teller, agrees that the ubiquity of snack foods has helped drive overeating.

"You never used to see food staring you in the face when you went to…a drugstore," says Young, who was not involved in the new research. "It's in your face and it's cheap. You go get a magazine, you can get a candy bar."

To tease apart how eating habits have shaped calorie intake, Popkin and a coauthor analyzed data from four nationally representative food surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1977 and 2006. Their analysis, which appears in the June issue of the journal PLoS Medicine, was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

The findings weren't entirely unexpected. In a previous study, Popkin and his coauthor found that the amount of time between snacks and meals has shrunk substantially since 1977, while the amount of calories consumed from snacks has risen dramatically.

Christopher Gardner, PhD, the director of nutrition studies at Stanford University's Prevention Research Center, in Palo Alto, Calif., says that although the new findings ring true, the survey-based approach Popkin and his colleague used has some inherent limitations.

Despite being nationally representative, the surveys didn't follow the same individuals over time, and in some cases also used different questions and methods, Gardner points out. Moreover, they relied on the participants' memory of what they'd eaten in the previous 24 hours, which can be unreliable.

"When people try to describe the portion sizes they are consuming, they are often inaccurate," Gardner says, adding that similar inaccuracies may crop up when recalling and calculating the energy density of specific foods. In fact, he says, the number of meals and snacks may be easiest of all to remember and track, which may have somewhat exaggerated its importance to total calorie intake.

But Gardner, too, says that frequent—and often mindless—snacking has come to seem normal.

In our food-filled environment, Young says, "We need to be conscious of when we eat, how much we eat, and what we eat."

Young recommends sticking with three meals a day and choosing healthy snacks (such as fruits and vegetables) rather than processed foods. "And keep your portions in check," she says.

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Tips to Eat Healthy for Less

By Christine McKinney, M.S., R.D., L.D.N., C.D.E.

Living With Diabetes

                                   Visit www.BeHealthConscious.org

When you have diabetes, eating healthy needs to be a priority. I’ve had many people tell me eating healthy is expensive. It doesn’t have to be though. With some thought and planning you can eat healthy for less. Try these tips to help stay within your budget. 

Plan meals for the week

I know this sounds basic, but it is the first step to save money on groceries. Feel overwhelmed by planning meals? You only need to really plan for about three meals-the rest you can use as leftovers or create a new meal from part of another meal. For example, if you have grilled chicken and vegetables one night, use leftovers to create a chicken vegetable soup. Plan to freeze some meals to make a quick dinner at a later time. If you plan out your meals for the week, you will make fewer trips to the grocery store because you will have all that you need.

Make it from scratch

Simply put, convenience foods cost more. Plan a time after grocery shopping to prep your foods such as cutting up vegetables and grating cheese. Go back to recipes and make real foods. This also means eating out and getting take-out less frequently.   

Buy in season

Fruits and vegetables that are in season are always cheaper. You can often tell what is in season by comparing prices in the produce section. A local farmer’s market will always have foods that are in season. 

Generics are okay

Store brands or generic brands are often comparable to the name brand product in nutrient content. Check out the price difference and the nutrition facts panel to see if it’s worth the generic or name brand. 

Purchase in bulk when on sale

You can stock your pantry with non-perishable items that are on sale. This also works for some perishable items if you prep or cook them and then try freezing. 

Buy less meat

Meat is often the most expensive item on the grocery list. In general, we eat enough protein and it would be good for us to plan on some meatless meals. Don’t plan your meal around the meat, plan around vegetables and then you will be sure to include veggies at every meal. Try to include more beans in your diet by adding them to soups, salads, pasta and rice dishes instead of meat.

8 Best Supermarket Sweets

www.BeHealthConscious.org

By David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding 

A recent University of Minnesota study found that women consumed about 13 percent of their daily calories from added sugars, and for men that number was closer to 15 percent—a 38 percent jump since 1982. Not surprisingly, the researchers also found that increased sugar consumption mirrored the rise in the participants’ BMI, an indicator of obesity.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Great, now I have to cut sugar from mydiet.” Not so fast. The American Heart Association says that women can safely consume up to 100 calories (about 25 grams) of sugar per day, and men can consume up to 150 (37.5 grams). The secret is finding sweet foods that quell your sweet tooth without blowing out your sugar quota—and that's exactly what I've done here. Below you’ll find the results of our latest report on eight sinfully delicious treats that silence sugar cravings without adding inches to your waistline. Focus on these, and you’ll look more like Jennifer Lopez—and less like the world’s largest cabbage.

DID YOU KNOW? It's easy to drop 10, 20, or even 30 pounds without being on that dreaded four-letter word known as a 'diet'. Improve how you look and feel—fast and forever—with the Eat this, Not That! bestselling series of books, and with life-changing lists like this one: 25 Best Nutrition and Weightloss Secrets Ever!

1. BEST DONUT
Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnut 
190 calories 
11 g fat (5 g saturated) 
10 g sugars

Donuts: Everybody loves them. Unfortunately, there is nothing nutritionally redeeming about these circles of dough. That said, having a good go-to doughnut can be a lifesaver if it prevents you from eating something worse. So, when you need a fix of sweet, fried dough, look no further than the Krispy Kreme's original glazed doughnuts, which are now sold in grocery stores. Pop one in the microwave for a few seconds and you’ll have a melt-in-your-mouth treat that’s as good as swinging by the actual store when the hot sign is on. (Krispy Kreme fanatics know what I’m talking about.)

Not That!
Entenmann’s Frosted Devil’s Food Doughnuts
310 calories 
18 g fat (12 g saturated) 
24 g sugars

DID YOU KNOW? Sleepy women eat an extra 328 calories per day, according a new study from the New York Obesity Research Center. Discover moreshocking health, nutrition, and weight loss secrets like this by following me here on Twitter (where I'll give a FREE iPad2 to a lucky follower) or by signing up for our FREE Eat This, Not That! newsletter.

2. BEST COOKIE
Kashi TLC Oatmeal Dark Chocolate (1 cookie) 
130 calories
5 g fat (1.5 g saturated) 
8 g sugars

What I like about these Kashi cookies is that each one starts with whole grains. What I like even better? They still taste like a decadent treat. Plus, thanks to Kashi's reliance on whole grains, each one packs in 4 grams of belly-filling fiber. That's more than an orange, and it makes this dessert safe to eat as a midday snack. Drop one in your lunch before you head off to work.

Not That!
Chips Ahoy! Big & Soft Oatmeal Chunk Cookie (1 cookie) 
180 calories 
8 g fat (3 g saturated) 
13 g sugars

BONUS TIP: The word 'muffin' was invented to try to trick you into eating cake for breakfast. But when you eat sweets for breakfast you tend not to make up for it over the rest of the day, according to studies. So find great breakfasts with a bit more fiber and a bit less sugar. Check out this Eat This, Not That! Supermarket Survival Guidereport on The 24 Best and Worst Cereals in America. 

3. BEST CANDY
Werther’s Original (3 pieces) 
70 calories 
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated) 
10 g sugars

Hard candies are preferable to chewy candies because, simply, they last longer. Try eating 30 Werther’s Originals in a minute. Not happening. Thirty Skittles, though? No problem. What’s worse, 75 percent of the calories in a pack of Skittles come from sugar. That’s crazy. Next time you go to the movies, take along three of these rich, delicious caramel candies rather than your standard pack of Skittles for a tasty treat with a fraction of the calories.

Not That!
Skittles Original Fruit (1 pack) 
250 calories 
2.5 g fat (2.5 g saturated) 
47 g sugars 

4. BEST CANDY BAR
Hershey’s Take 5 Bar 
200 calories 
11 g fat (5 g saturated) 
18 g sugars 

Here’s the scenario: You’re in the checkout line, annoyed from a long day of working, and you seek comfort in anything within arm's reach—and 90 percent of the time that ends up being a candy bar. Well, you’ve just played into a food marketer’s hands. They don’t want you to think about what you’re picking up; they just want you to grab one more tempting treat before you hit the register. So if you're going to give in, at least do so in the least damaging way possible. The Take 5 bar is your safest bet because it relies on pretzel instead of nougat, creating a bar with far fewer sugars than some of the other options in the impulse lane.

Not That!
Nestle Butter Finger 
270 calories 
11 g fat (6 g saturated) 
29 g sugars

5. BEST CAKE MIX
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix (30 g mix, prepared) 
170 calories 
0.5 g fat 
12 g sugars

A good cake mix is paramount, since you'll very likely eat more than one slice. Say you eat three slices before it's gone. That makes one good decision in the cake aisle the equivalent of three good decisions elsewhere in the supermarket. So why Bob's Gluten Free? Because it avoids artificial ingredients, and it rings up a couple grams of fiber for each slice by packing this powder with the flours of garbanzo and fava beans, as well as whole grain sorghum. Choose it over Krusteaz and you'll drop 60 calories and 2 grams of trans fat. And because of the fiber, you'll feel fuller longer.

Not That!
Krusteaz Cinnamon Crumb Cake Mix (33 g mix, prepared)
230 calories 
7 g fat (2 g saturated, 2 g trans) 
26 g sugars

BONUS TIP: Some delicious desserts can help fight fat by revving up your metabolism and providing you with nutrients that push the junk out of your diet--and the fat out of your body! Other desserts, however, contain more than an entire day's worth of calories, fat, sugar and salt! Which is why you need this handy (and certainly eye-popping) list of the The 24 Best (and Worst) Desserts in America.

6. BEST PUDDING
Jell-O Sugar Free Double Chocolate (1 container) 
60 calories 
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated) 
0 g sugars

They're modest in size, but pudding cups can easily pack as much sugar as a small candy bar. Thankfully Jell-O makes a sugar free version that cuts the calorie impact in half without sacrificing the rich, chocolate flavor. If your normal nightly dessert is a 200-calorie scoop of ice cream, and you switch to one of these cups, you can expect to lose 12 pounds a year, even if nothing else about your diet changes!

Not That! 
Snack Pack, Chocolate 
130 calories 
3 g fat (1.5 g saturated) 
16 g sugars

7. BEST FROZEN TREAT 
Fudgsicle No Sugar Added Fudge Bar (1 bar, 41 g) 
40 calories
1 g fat (0.5 g saturated) 
2.5 g sugars

Look at this and then look at the bar below. You could eat more than seven Fudgsicles before you hit the calorie load of one Haagen-Dazs bar. Fudgesicle's parent company, Popsicle, produces a wide variety of classic frozen treats that can appease any sweet tooth without packing on the pounds. Another bonus: 35 percent of the calories in each Fudgesicle come from protein and fiber, which together keep you fuller longer.

Not That!
Haagen-Dazs Vanilla & Milk Chocolate (1 bar, 83 g) 
290 calories 
21 g fat (14 g saturated) 
21 g sugars

8. BEST ICE CREAM 
Edy’s Slow Churned Chocolate Fudge Chunk (1/2 cup) 
120 calories 
4.5 g fat (3 g saturated) 
13 g sugars

More so than in any other supermarket aisle, nutritional stats vary widely for products that look and taste nearly identical. Edy's—as well as its sister brand Dreyer's—are among the good guys. (Another favorite of mine: Breyers.) They take a light approach to cream and sugar, so you don't have to hit the treadmill every time you serve yourself a bowl. To get the most flavor in the fewest calories, look no further than Edy's Chocolate Fudge Chunk. It has literally one-third as many calories as Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup.

Not That!
Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup (1/2 cup) 
360 calories 
26 g fat (14 g saturated) 
24 g sugars

DID YOU KNOW? Smart snacking can work wonders on your waistline, whereas ice cream before bed can work blunders on your waistline. Curb your cravings between meals and before bed with any of these great 50 Best Snack Foods in America—they'll help keep you lean and full all day long!

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.” 



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