Can you stay fit by eating right, exercising well and eating cookies? Seems to be working for Brody Jenner. Hey, maybe he's buying into this whole Cookie Diet craze. Or maybe the adrenaline of love is keeping him on his famously-fit toes.

Brody is in love with Playboy's 2008 Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole. And he couldn't be happier to have put his hard-partying days behind him. Inspired by his gal (she's in amazing shape, he says), the 25-year-old is working out every day and eating healthier than ever before. Well, except for the cookies, which seem to have taken the place of the drinking.

"We stay in, maybe bake cookies," says step-brother to the Kardashian hotties. "It sounds kind of lame, I know – sorry, boys! – but we bake some cookies, watch DVDs and have nice quality home time."

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Sometimes, it's not just what you eat, it's how you prepare it. If you want a french fry, a baked version is undeniably healthier than a deep-fried version.

The queen of all things domestic, Martha Stewart, has recipes for every healthy cooking method:

• Baking. When you bake foods rather than fry or other fat-adding cooking methods, you can reduce your overall calorie intake. (Now if only cakes and cookies could be considered healthful just because they're baked.) Some of the healthy baking recipes on Martha Stewart Living include Walnut Crusted Chicken Breasts and Parmesan Coated Sweet Potato Fries.
• Steaming. When vegetables are just lightly steamed, you can retain many of the nutrients. Some recipes to try are Steamed Broccoli With Miso-Sesame Sauce and Green Beans With Golden Raisins.
• Stir-Frying. Stir-fries are such a quick and easy go-to meal. And you have complete control over how much fat you add to the dish. Try out Brown Rice Stir Fry.
• Sauteing. When you use healthy fats like olive oil, sauteing can be a light and healthy way to cook. Give Cinnamon-Spiced Moroccan Chicken and Saute-Steamed Swiss Chard a try.

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Baking up goodies for parties, gifts and Santa is a terrific part of this festive holiday season -- even for me, your loving fitness trainer. Baking doesn't have to be bad for your body though, nor does it have to contribute to that traditional December weight gain.

If I weren't a fitness professional, I'd be a baker. It's fun and allows me the ability to be creative while making people happy. I love making people happy. I don't, however, enjoy putting fat on my hips or the hips of others. This has lead me to be really creative.

I've got a few suggestions for you to follow and a link here to my favorite baked treats in my online recipe book at Fitzness.com.

• Substitute eggs for an egg substitute like Egg Beaters.
• Substitute butter/oil for a sugar free syrup like the ones sold a DaVinci Gourmet. (Use equal amounts as the ones given for the oil/butter.)

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My sisters, mother, and I used to have a cookie exchange every year. It was a lot of fun, but we'd all go home with ridiculous amounts of cookies. It's nice to have some -- after all, a carrot stick doesn't exactly scream holiday spirit -- but too many is just too many. We ended up canceling the tradition altogether and now we just get together for a fun girls' night.

If you're planning on baking some of your family's favorite holiday cookies this year, here are some tips for enjoying without going overboard:

• Cut your recipes in half. Fewer cookies means fewer pounds on the scale. And only make your very favorites -- nobody needs 10 different kinds of cookies.
  
• Know the difference between holiDAYS and holiMONTHS -- Fitz tells you how.
• Don't leave cookies out on a tray for everyday noshing. Only set them out on the special holidays.
  

Salmon is by far my favorite type of seafood. Not only is it delicious, it's good for you, too; it's rich in omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D, selenium, protein, and vitamins B3 and B12.

While it's important to me to serve healthful meals for me and my son, I'm not the world's most innovative cook. That's another reason why salmon is tops on my list. It's so easy to cook ... you really can't go wrong. My favorite method is to drizzle it with just a tiny bit of olive oil, sprinkle some paprika on top, and grill it. The same method works in the oven, too. I usually pair it with some seasoned brown rice and steamed asparagus.

Real Simple has eight salmon recipes that are much more creative than my stand-by preparation method. The Dill Salmon Burgers sound awesome as does the Blackened Salmon.

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When you think of stocking your pantry with baking needs, usually garbanzo beans don't come to mind. It's time to change that thinking, for a number of reasons. Baking with garbanzo beans:

• instead of flour adds protein and fiber to your baked goods
• allows people on gluten-free diets to enjoy sweet treats
• creates treats for people on low-carb diets
• adds more nutrition to your baked goods; they really do become a viable food

OK, but how is that going to taste? I've been baking with garbanzo beans for years, namely this recipe for Lemony garbanzo bean cake. I've only gotten rave reviews, and I've even served it for Easter dessert. It is a rich cake bursting with lemon flavor.

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As much as I enjoy splurging from time to time on pricey beauty products, I also really like trying out simple, DIY beauty items. Not so long ago I wrote about home-made hair care -- using foods like mayonnaise and beer to soften and brighten your hair. I think what I like about at-home beauty is that, since the tips are usually cheap, barring any major disasters you can figure out which products you like without having to waste a tonne of money on stuff that turns out to be not so great.

I was pretty excited to find this list of 10 great budget beauty products that you can make at home. They're all really simple, containing only a few ingredients each. In addition, a number of the 'recipes' include a lot of the same ingredients -- like essential oils and rubbing alcohol, so you only have to buy a few things and can still try most of the ideas. All you need is a range of empty bottles and containers and you're good to get started.

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Did you know that sauteing your veggies with some olive oil is better than steaming them because you get more antioxidants that way? Yeah, me neither. I always assumed that the cooking method that involved the least fat was the most healthy. That's just one of the cooking tips I've learned from this article by Prevention Magazine. Here are some suggestions, in a nutshell:

• Cook or heat up tomatoes to up the amount of heart-healthy lycopene
  
• Let Garlic stand for 10-15 minutes before using it in cooking
• Heat acidic foods in cast iron to add more iron
• Add healthy fats like Avocado, Nuts and seeds to improve the nutrient content of your salad
• Add lemon juice to homemade chicken soup -- it increases the calcium in your soup
• Marinate -- the chance of picking up carcinogens from your barbecue is significantly decreased if you marinate your meat and veggies beforehand
• Save time and valuable nutrients by cutting bigger slices of veggies
• Don't peel -- the skin on many veggies is where the good stuff is
• Add fresh spices and and herbs to your meals

Great tips -- check out the article for a more in-depth explanation. What tips do you have?

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Reduced-calorie sugar. Does it sound too good to be true? Manufacturers of Whey Low claim that's exactly what they've created. The alternative to traditional sugar is made from natural sugars -- sucrose, fructose, and lactose -- not artificial ingredients. The product's developer was inspired to create the alternative after his wive was diagnosed with diabetes. He claims that the product combines the three natural sugars in such a way that they aren't fully absorbed by the body. According the Whey Low website, the product has 75% fewer calories than table sugar.

The University of Maryland is currently testing the product to see if it holds up to the manufacturer's claims. If, as claimed, an interaction between the three ingredients causes the sucrose and lactose to pass unabsorbed into the large intestine, Whey Low could be a healthier addition to your grocery store shelves.

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Our weekly feature, Recipe Rehab, takes a recipe -- sometimes basic, sometimes decadent and sometimes just plain unhealthy -- and turns it into a scrumptious and healthy dish, pumped up with nutrition. Sometimes all it takes is a few alterations to prepare a dish that would make even your nutritionist proud.

We're all getting into the second month of our New Year's resolutions, and those diets can be hard to stick with when it's cold outside and you would like a warm treat. It's especially hard if you like to bake, because low fat substitutes aren't as easy to find. This Banana Bread recipe is quick and easy, and still good for you. It's also a perfect way to use up old bananas. Just peel them, pop them in the freeze and then use them to make a quick batch any time.

Easy Banana Bread

1/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 large eggs
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups flour or 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients well and pour into a 9 x 9 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until cooked through.

Rehab Rundown

• Nonfat yogurt was substituted for vegetable oil, cutting fat in half
  
• Substituting whole wheat flour and add chopped nuts would increase protein, fiber, B vitamins and antioxidants
• The salt was reduced by half

Rehab Reveal

	Original	Adapted
Calories	435 (46% from fat)	339 (30% from fat)
Fat	23g	12g
Saturated Fat	4g	2g
Protein	8g	9g
Carbohydrate	52g	52g
Fiber	4	6g
Sodium	621mg	362mg

If you're trying to lose weight or are just interested in improving your eating habits, making a few changes in your favorite recipes is a good place to start. Many people don't want to completely give up the foods they love, and with a little tweaking, you shouldn't have to.

Here's a great article outlining 20 tips for making any meal lighter and healthier. There's a lot of helpful information here ranging from simple -- using a smaller plate to reduce portion sizes -- to the more complicated idea of comparing your recipe to similar versions in a low-calorie cook book. My favorite ideas fall in the substitution category -- using less of a more flavorful cheese and putting chocolate chips on top of cookies instead of mixing them into the batter.

Though this article recommends canola oil for sauteing, I've found success sauteing onions, garlic, and ginger in vegetable broth as well. What kinds of cooking tricks do you use in your kitchen to lighten up your favorite meals?

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Tis the season for baking and sweets, that's for sure. Unfortunately, typical white table sugar most commonly used in cooking, along with corn syrup usually found in store-bought sweets, is stripped of its few nutrients during the refinement process. In the quest for healthier alternatives without sacrificing flavor or the indulgent spirit of the holidays, you might want to consider some natural and slightly more nutritious sugar substitutes in a few of your baking recipes this year. Naturally milled sugar, for example, goes through a much simpler refinement process -- therefore several of the trace nutrients from the cane sugar are still present. Molasses is a byproduct of making sugar and can make for rich flavor in desserts and entrees alike. It's rich in potassium and also has calcium, iron, and magnesium. And of course there's honey, the most common and versatile sugar substitute with antibacterial and enzyme properties.

I don't know that I'll try molasses instead of sugar in my next batch of chocolate chip cookies, but the idea of a more nutritious sweet dessert inspired me to look up a new recipe to try this year. There were lots out there, but one easy looking one that caught my eye was honey brownies, I'll have to give it a try!

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