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Can a spoonful of powder sprinkled over your meals help you lose weight? Absolutely, according to the founder of Sensa Tastants. Dr. Alan Hirsch, a neurologist from the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, is pretty sure he's found the answer to help the world lose weight, and it can be yours too for a mere $60 a month. So what's the deal with this magic potion, and can it work for you?

Sensa promotes itself as a diet-free, exercise-free, totally natural way to lose weight in a hurry. OK, so then how does it work? Apparently, Sensa builds upon findings that show that people who had lost their sense of smell and taste tend to gain weight. Given that information, it would make sense, then, that heightening the taste and smell of food might help people lose weight. And he's got it right, if his figures are to be believed. According to Dr. Hirsch's findings, nearly 1,500 participants in a six-month trial lost an average 30.5 pounds, around 5 pounds a month.

Frosting, of course, will never reach the 'healthy factor' of fresh fruit and vegetables. It can, however, be made more wisely to preserve the sweet flavor and creaminess while excluding all the fat.

My Fat Free Cream Cheese Frosting tastes amazing, spreads on easily and is the perfect substitution for the full-fat stuff. And ... if you're eager to go a bit further with it, substitute the sugar for Splenda and you'll have yourself a sugar-free treat as well.

Find this recipe on page 11 of my online recipe book at Fitzness.com. For more great recipes, pre-order my soon-to-be released book, The Everything Flat Belly Cookbook here.

• Crumbled blue tortilla chips
• Low-fat sour cream or plain yogurt
• Phyllo dough, cut into strips and baked
• Popped popcorn
• Tortillas, cut into strips and baked
• Toasted almonds
• Toasted whole grain bread cubes
• Organic cheese or soy veggie shreds
• Sliced radishes
• Toasted pine nuts
• Thinly sliced organic green onions
• Shredded carrots, zucchini or jicama -- a native Mexican vine with an edible tuberous root

Any of these tempt your tastebuds? Got any others to share?

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I have never been a big nutrition bar fan. Generally, I'd rather have a half a sandwich, or some string cheese, or something that tastes a little more like, you know, food. However, I've got to admit that they are handy, and there are times I've been really happy to find one hiding at the bottom of my gym bag, even if I wasn't super thrilled with the flavor or the contents.

Zing Nutrition Bars promise to be different. They are wheat, gluten, and soy free and all natural -- nothing artificial is added. But what is in them is even more important -- each of the three flavors offers a balance of protein, fiber-rich carbs, and healthy fats, all of which our bodies need. The bars were created by nutritionists, many of whom are parents, so while nutrition was obviously important to them, flavor was a must -- otherwise, their kids wouldn't eat them!

Zing sent me samples of all three flavors -- Chocolate Peanut Butter, Blueberry Almond, and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. And, while they didn't exactly taste like dessert (although the Chocolate Peanut Butter came pretty close), they don't have that gooey, mushy consistency I've found in so many nutrition bars. There was a bit of crispy-crunch in them, and the flavors were tasty.

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Blanching refers to the technique of plunging a food into boiling water until its color has set or the food has softened. Ten seconds is usually all it takes to brighten color and bring out flavor. To stop the cooking process, the food is transferred to a bowl of ice water.

Why use blanching? Besides perfecting color and flavor, it makes it easier to peel the skin of fruits like tomatoes and peaches. Blanching is also recommended for vegetables you wish to freeze -- blanching inactivates the enzymes that promote spoilage.

For more on blanching -- and a similar process, called parboiling, click here.

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Chef Ethan McKee, like Darlene Dougherty, former president of the American Dietetic Association, has a few tricks for spicing up holiday recipes that won't clog arteries or pack on the pounds. McKee, who dishes out health-conscious cuisine year-round, says his technique tweaks can slim down a menu. Here's how he does it.

McKee braises his sweet potatoes in vegetable stock, herbs, and garlic so when he purees them, he can ditch the butter. He brines meats to boost flavor without adding loads of extra calories, and when he wants to create a creamy dish, he grabs some non-fat yogurt. Add some to your mashed potatoes, he says, and you'll get a nice little tang.

Is cauliflower on your holiday menu? If so, slice and sauté it with olive, some raisins and almonds and your dish will come out caramelized and crunchy. To lighten up your desserts, cut portion sizes and use Whey Low, an all-natural sugar substitute with a quarter of the calories.

See, it's possible to be jolly without abandoning taste. You just need to know what's naughty and what's nice, says McKee.

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Eating healthy, low-calorie foods all the time isn't much fun, nor is it very realistic. Who wants to eat salad without dressing or pizza without cheese? Not me, that's for sure. Unfortunately, it's also not a good idea to always go overboard on tasty but fatty items. I think that a balance of the two is a reasonable compromise so was excited about this piece that recommends mixing your favorite high-calorie, fatty or sugary foods with healthier alternatives.

The five half-and-half suggestions are:

• Mix fruit juice like pomegranate or blueberry with sparkling water to cut calories while still getting nutrients from the juice.
• Combine grated, full-fat cheese with the no-fat variety to keep the calcium while getting rid of 50% of the fat and calories
• Add half a cup of All-Bran, or another high-fiber cereal, to your favorite sweet one and decrease sugar while increasing daily fiber intake.
• Enjoy a creamy salad dressing but lower the fat by mixing Ranch or Blue Cheese with vinegar.
• Keep the protein but get rid of fat and calories by mixing ground beef with soy "veggie meat" when making lasagna or burgers.

Can you think of any food combinations that would keep the flavor while cutting fat, sugar and calories?

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I recently read and posted on an article I really enjoyed about a writer who learned how to eat right, appreciate delicious and healthy food and NOT put on weight during a summer spent in the Mediterranean. One of the things the author mentions is that meals in Greece take longer, meaning she ate slowly and was really able to enjoy the flavors in the food, and also realize that she was full before scarfing down way too much tzatziki, spanakopita and moussaka.

After reading that piece, this post by Marisa McClellan at Slashfood about an entire article that extols the many virtues of eating slowly, really piqued my interest. In addition to helping you lose weight through consuming fewer calories (if you eat slower, you eat less!) and allowing you to really enjoy your meal, the piece says that taking your time when eating leads to improved digestion (you chew your food more thoroughly), helps lower stress (concentrating on your food keeps you from thinking of everything else you've got going on) and lets you rebel against fast food (if you're willing to spend time on a meal, you're more likely to spend it on a good one).

It may take some practice, especially for those who grew up in big families where eating slowly meant having your food snapped up by a hungry sibling, but all of the reasons listed in the article make it sound like taking 30 minutes out of your day to enjoy a meal is totally worthwhile.

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Life is too short not to be fully "tuned in." The Daily Turn On! is designed to wake up your senses, all six of them: smell, taste, touch, hearing, sight and intuition! Everyday The Daily Turn On! with That's Fit Life Fit expert Laura Lewis will awaken your mind, your body and your life!

Did you know ... We have almost 10,000 taste buds, and yet, taste is the weakest of our six senses (yes, we do have six!). And, women typically have more taste buds than men. Flavor drives our desire for or disgust of certain foods. However, taste rarely acts on its own. Our bodies rely on touch, smell, sight and sound. The act of eating is a full awakening of our senses. It's is no wonder food can be so enjoyable!

It's a texture thing. Most of us have at least one food that we just can't seem to enjoy because the way it feels in our mouth is unpleasant; of course, the opposite is true. There are plenty of foods we love because the texture provides a highly pleasurable sensory experience.

Smell has a direct impact on taste. Have you ever thought, "Wow, that smells just like the way ... tastes"? That is because the olfactory glands and taste are in constant communication. The odor from food actually enhances our sense of smell, which is why we will hold our noses to get something unpleasant down the hatch!

On the flip side, you may see food that looks utterly delectable and think, "That looks delicious!" The area of the brain called the substantia innominata contains nerve cells that actually respond to the sight of food. The stronger the brain activity is in this area is indicative of how strong the desire is to consume that food. The activity is impacted with experience, meaning the activity may be higher or lower based on one's initial experience with the food.

Scientists have discovered that our brain produces large bursts of ultrasound with an initial bite into crunchy food. This ultrasound provides the brain with an understanding of the texture of food and in response elicits a corresponding signal of pleasure or displeasure.

Food awakens all of our senses ... choosing the right foods will train your brain to Turn On when exposed to healthy choices.

Turn On your senses ... Wake up to a fit life!

As I lecture and train new clients, I discourage folks from using butter, oil and fat-laden creamy sauces. For people trying to lose weight, slathering or cooking their food in pure fat just seems silly to me. And yes......that counts for olive oil too. Most people get plenty of fat via meat, dairy, and treats, that I don't see great purpose in purposefully adding fat to a meal.

The question always comes, "then how do I add flavor to my food, Fitz?" I'll tell ya. First of all, you can use any seasoning in the world. Then we get to the sauces. Lots of people tell me they 'hate fat free sauces'. So we'll start there. Catsup and mustard are naturally fat-free. So are barbecue sauce, Teriyaki, soy, Worcestershire, A-1, all types of vinegar, jerk sauce, some wing sauces, many marinaras, jelly, jam, and preserves. That's just scratching the surface. Worried about your food sticking to the pan or grill? Try Teflon and use a cooking spray like Pam.

Hating fat free stuff is a weird thing that came about because ten years ago the market was full of new fat-free products which didn't match up to the taste or texture of each foods' original fatty version. What we fail to recognize is that most of the stuff we already love and own are naturally fat free. Who thinks of catsup as a fat-free food though?

There are all kinds of foods that kids don't like or won't eat, and although most of those disappear as people get older, as adults we all still have a variety of different taste preferences. For example brussell sprouts are famously on the "yuck!" list due to tasting strong and bitter, but then there are some who really like them. So how is it that certain people taste bitterness when others don't? Is it all in our heads, or is there another explanation?

Researchers at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas are looking into it and finding variations in the genes responsible for bitter-taste receptors, which they believe account for different people liking different things.

So I always thought beer, another one of the examples of "bitter" flavors, was an acquired taste, but maybe there's more to it than that.

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