Want to go a whirlwind tour with stops in eight countries and three continents? You'll see plenty of history on this trip, but it might not be the kind you'd imagine. Dreamed up by Burger King, this trip will explore the history of the hamburger.

That's right. A whole trip centered around the burger. With stops in varied locations like Spain, Russia and Germany, the locations are certainly a traveler's dream. But the beloved hamburger certainly isn't a dream for your hips and thighs.

Ground-meat patties trace back to the days of Ghengis Khan, but there's some debate about when the patty met the bun. Many claim to be the inventors of the burger, and rather than debate who's hamburger hopped to first, let's cast a nutritional eye on the burgers we know:

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I just think Paula Deen is the best. She's sweet, funny and the epitome of southern charm. It's a rare day that Paula claims any of her recipes are light and healthy -- after all, butter is The Lady's favorite ingredient. But I'm OK with that. I've tried a few of her recipes, and so far they've all been yummy; they just need to be served in small portions and paired with very light and nutritious sides.

But Paula really takes the cake with her recipe for Brunch Burgers. Or should I say she takes the doughnut? She makes a basic burger and tops it with bacon and a fried egg. It's a little non-traditional, but I can get on board with that. In fact, it might be quite tasty. But then she pulls out glazed doughnuts and uses them in lieu of a hamburger bun. I swear to the Gods of Food Network, my arteries started to clog just watching her do that.

If you're a fan of burgers, try some of these healthier burger recipes.

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Do you have a junk food lover in your house? Sometimes it's hard to deny those cravings... especially when they're foods we've eaten for years and years.

Women's Health has a great idea for making some junk foods a little bit healthier. You can mix healthier options in with your not-so-healthy favorites to create a treat that's not so damaging to you waistline. Better yet, when you start adding healthier options in -- like mixing a bowl of half whole grain cereal and half sugary cereal -- you're starting to retrain your taste buds. In time, you'll find you enjoy the healthier foods as much as the junky ones.

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Out to dinner a week or so ago, my husband ordered a giant everything-but-the-kitchen-sink burger. "If the cholesterol in that things doesn't get you," I quipped, "The salmonella in the tomatoes probably will." He's generally a pretty health-conscious person but considers going out to eat fair game -- proving it with his love for a big, sloppy burger every now and then.

If burgers are your personal vice, or if you're just looking for a few visuals to scare you off burgers for a good, long time, check out Diet-Blog's seven hamburgers of the Apocalypse. With names like The Quadruple Bypass Burger, The Hot Dog Burger, and Mulligan's Monster, these burgers are notorious for their artery-clogging powers.

Of course, it is possible to eat a healthier hamburger. Check out About.com for their healthy hamburger tips.

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When you're grabbing a meal on the run, most of us know better than to order our meal with fries. Why? They're loaded with fat and sodium, and will make a big caloric dent in our daily intake.

But when a sandwich isn't enough, what can we get to go with our fast food entree? Most places now offer sides of stuff like salad, fruit or other healthy fare. And at Wendy's, you can even enjoy potatoes without having to order them deep-fried and covered in salt -- you can order a baked potato on the side.

But are baked potatoes a healthier option than fries? One would think so, based on the fact that they're cooked in the oven instead of the deep fryer. But what baked potatoes lack in deep-fried goodness, they make up for with add-ons like sour cream, bacon bits, butter and cheese. Still, how bad can it be? You tell me.

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Okay, so I admit that this post is purely for fun -- it's a dress that looks like a hamburger! We all love hamburgers (they're one of the most popular foods ever) but we also know how unhealthy most of them are, so why eat one when you can wear one instead?

Of course it's not really that fashionable (it is clothing that looks like food, after all) but it could make a cute Halloween costume or something. And the single best part about this particular hamburger? It comes off your hips just as fast as it goes on.

Oh, and don't forget to check out "The Sundae Dress" and "The Ice Cream Cone Dress" too. You know, in case you're in the mood for dessert.


Via Slashfood

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When it comes to losing weight, so much of it is mental. It requires the conscious decision to begin exercising and eating right. It requires a mental commitment to following through on reaching your goals. And, above all, it requires using your cognitive ability to make educated choices. Still, we are human, which means that we make errors in judgment from time to time. As a result, we sometimes think we are doing something healthy, only to later learn that it wasn't nearly as healthy as we thought.

This mistake occurs most often when it comes to food-calorie estimates and exercise-calorie burning approximations. Allow me to explain ...

in many cases, people think that a certain food has, say, 500 calories. But, in reality, that food actually has twice as many calories. The same misstep happens quite frequently with exercise. Someone will think that the half an hour of moderate jogging they spent on the treadmill burns a certain amount of calories, only to be rather disappointed when they see that it burs far less than they expected.

To help you gauge where your own accuracy lies with this sort of thing, I've compiled a short list of foods (source: University of Pittsburgh study) that demonstrate the average miscalculation people have in estimating the impact each has.

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With all the focus on body weight and fat intake, we sometimes forget that cholesterol is also something that we should all be concerned about as we age. Many know that 25%-35% of their daily calorie intake should come from fat, but does anyone know what the maximum amount of cholesterol you should consume in a day is? Didn't think so. The answer is 200 mg, which is found in the yolk of just one egg.

Want to know the cholesterol levels in other items? Here's a guide courtesy of Everyday Health:

• 2 slices of French toast with butter = 116mg
• 3 oz of top sirloin beef = 76 mg
• 1 6-inch tuna sandwich/sub = 48 mg
• 1 hamburger = 29
• 1 slice of chocolate cake with frosting = 26 mg
• 1 slice of cheese pizza = 9 mg

See? Learning about cholesterol is not so bad. You don't have to cut down much -- just make sure you are getting lots of fruits and veggies and watching your portions of animal fats. And avoid those egg yolks -- one a day is the maximum you should be getting.

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Now that fresh spinach is coming back onto the shelves little by little, it's worth stepping back and getting some perspective on the issue of E. Coli and "SpinachGate."

First, a quick statistic. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), E. Coli is responsible for 73,000 cases of infection each year (1999 CDC estimate). That means the 188 or so people infected with E. Coli from spinach constitute about 1/3 of one percent of the E. Coli cases for the year.

And where do all the other cases come from? Most cases come from undercooked ground beef (FDA). Yep. Hamburger.

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