healthy eating-related stories
Thanksgiving: The Year's Worst Diet-Buster?
Happy Thanksgiving! Aside from giving thanks, watching football and gearing up for the holiday shopping season, we all know Thursday is called Turkey Day for a very good reason. With diet-busting temptations in the form of ham, stuffing and other Thanksgiving treats, is it possible to stay faithful to healthy eating during the holiday season? Or should Thanksgiving Day be our one diet break before we say goodbye to 2009? We turned to the Twitterverse to get our answer.
Read any good Tweets? Give us a shout on Twitter and let us know all about it!
Eat Better With These Kitchen Gadgets
Photo: williams-sonoma.com
Sometimes, cooking a healthful meal can be intimidating -- we've all experienced this. It's a heck of a lot easier when you have the right gadgets!
This week, FitSugar is sharing several tools that make healthy eating easier than ever. For example, an indoor grill or herb pot makes it easier to prepare your favorite meal with less fat and sodium (but with all the flavor). A nutritious meal filled with veggies is a little more exciting when your vegetables are sliced and diced in new and different shapes with a fancy dicing machine. And, it's certainly easier to slow down while you're eating if you're using utensils that don't allow you to shovel the food into your mouth!
Get more terrific tool ideas at FitSugar!
Review: Does this Cookbook Make Me Look Fat?
Diet & Weight Loss, Reviews & Products, Alternative & Green Health, Nutrition & Supplements
Photo: Robert Lane
None of the recipes, which constitute the majority of the book, are supremely difficult, and I found myself turning down a dozen pages of food I really wanted to prepare for my family. And I'm not the only one: Lewis' clients have included supermodel Iman, actress Kyra Sedgwick and fashion designer Marc Jacobs. Lewis helpfully breaks down the fat/protein/carbohydrate content of each and every recipe, and she includes the cholesterol and sodium intake too, from the hearty and satisfying Lentil Spinach Soup or the Ratatouille with Chicken Sausage, all the way to the Chocolate-Glazed Pears. (I'm glad she also includes real desserts in this thoughtful book so there's zero sense of deprivation.)
Recession - Is It Pinching Your Healthy Food Budget?
Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
For dinner last night, I made a big double batch of black bean burgers and kept my fingers crossed my husband would like them. He did -- he ate three. I was hopeful because he's constantly eating frozen dinners for lunch. Not only are they filled with sodium ... those babies are expensive.
My bean burgers, on the other hand, cost me less than five dollars. We've got enough left over that we'll both be eating them for lunch for the next few days. Cha-ching!
As food prices go up and food budgets go down, people are starting to depend more and more on processed foods that seem to always be on sale. "It's hard to eat healthy on a budget," you'll hear people complain. And while that isn't necessarily true, what is true is that it's easy to choose unhealthy foods when money is tight.
Healthy Eating - Affordable Where You Live?
I've always lived in a large city, and while I sometimes curse the long line-ups, traffic jams and expensive house prices that come with being in the heart of things, I don't know how I'd get by without having everything I need close by, at my disposal. And I didn't really stop to consider how lucky I was until I read this article on how food costs vary widely across Canada, with rural areas paying up to six times what I would pay for some fresh produce. In fact, according to recent estimates, "47 per cent of Canadians occasionally go without fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grain and dairy products or lean meat or fish because they cost too much. " Yeesh. So nearly half of us can't afford to eat well?
In tough economic times, it's hard to say whether I would still eat bananas if I had to pay $3.54 per lb, rather than $0.59, or if I would be able to splurge on free-range meats and organic snacks over other options. But ultimately, I think it comes down to choice -- I would pinch my pennies to eat fresh produce rather than spend them on junk food. What about you?
10 Essential Diet Basics
Eat a diet full of color
Colorful fruits and vegetables are stocked with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They're low in calories and can help you stay satisfied longer.
Eat whole grains
Unlike white products, whole grains are unrefined products with their nutrients and fiber intact. Make your grains 100% and they'll help you maintain blood sugar levels with less spiking and crashing throughout the day. They'll also keep you satisfied longer.
Eat good fats
Not all fats are bad. Some fats are good for us -- like olive oil instead of butter or margarine, and some nuts and seeds.
Eat often
Start with a hearty breakfast and commit to eating throughout the day to keep your metabolism stable. Aim for three meals a day, plus a few healthy snacks too.
Snack before meals
Snacking before dinner won't ruin your appetite. It may actually help it. Healthy snacking can prevent you from overeating come meal time.
Eat whole, fresh foods
Whenever possible, purchase fresh foods and avoid the pre-packaged items lining the shelves at your local grocery store. These foods are typically higher in calories, fat, and sodium and have depleted nutrients due to preservatives.
Keep moving
Our bodies were designed for movement. And we need daily exercise to keep them strong. Exercise is good for our muscles, our hearts, even our sleep patterns.
Treat yourself
It's OK to indulge once a while. If we don't, deprivation sets in and so might overindulgence. So have your cake -- just have it moderation.
Decipher food labels
Read your labels. And make sure when you review the details you understand whether the calories and fat listed are per serving or for the entire container. And if there's a word you can't pronounce, it's likely something you don't need to ingest.
Beware of liquid calories
One 12-ounce can of regular soda can contain 10 teaspoons of sugar and enough calories to ruin the day. Sure to add weight, these drinks should be replaced with water.
Dieters finally waking up to good food
Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
What does work, even if you're trying to lose weight, is adding foods to your diet -- fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, nuts, whole grains -- and replacing less nutritious foods with these lighter, healthier choices. Not only can you make some pretty delicious and satisfying meals out of simple, wholesome ingredients, you can also lose weight while enjoying food again. According to the NYT, dieters everywhere are starting to realize this. Good for them, I think. Because as someone who has a dieting history, I can attest -- dieting stinks, and it isn't effective.
The difference between the two approaches, of course, is speed. When a person diets, the weight comes off quickly, though it usually stalls or gets gained back just as fast. The more moderate approach, which puts the emphasis back on enjoying good food, is slower. But it's a lifestyle that can be maintained and enjoyed for life, unlike a diet. And if you've ever taken the weight off once, you know ... you never want to have to do it again.
Eva Mendes eats crap, still looks good
She may be committed to fitness, but overall, she doesn't have the healthiest habits. Eva Mendes recently revealed that despite her svelte figure, she's not adamant about watching what she eats. Says the gorgeous starlet: "I'd shock you at how much I could eat. Any kind of dessert is fantastic. It's gross, but I also love cup noodles. I'll eat two at a time because the salt really does it for me. They're so cheap so they can't be that good for you, but they're yummy!"
Mendes, 34, adds that the only time she is careful about eating well and exercising is when she is filming: "f I have a shoot I'll work out more and watch what I eat, but if I don't I'll let myself go. I'm addicted to bread. I want it constantly so, right now, I'm letting myself have more of it but when I start my next movie I'll cut down."
Why does she rely on junk food? Mendes also admitted that she is a terrible cook -- so bad, in fact, that she's given up trying to prepare meals.
(via Calorie Lab)
Food waste is bad for your diet
One of the best pieces of advice I ever read on meal planning was, "Don't be afraid of an empty fridge." Not that you never want to have groceries, of course. But before you go grocery shopping again for a new week, if your fridge is empty, it means your meal planning is right on track.Eliminating food waste is good for the environment, good for your budget, and as Diet-Blog recently pointed out, good for your diet as well. Processed foods tend to have long shelf lives, so the food that most often gets wasted are the ones that are best for you -- fruits and vegetables. This used to happen to us all of the time. I'd load up on lots of fresh, healthy stuff at the grocery store without planning ahead, then discover much of it in the crisper drawer two weeks later, moldy and shriveled.
Today, however, two days before our next CSA box arrives, I'm proud to say that our fridge is nearly empty. Carefully planning your meals will help you save money on food waste, but it will also ensure that you actually eat all those healthy foods you paid for, and that just adds up to good nutrition.
Daily Fit Tip: Take your good habits on vacation with you
Can't stress it enough
Healthy Aging, Stress Reduction, Womens Health, HealthWatch, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Motivation, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
For some of us, stress levels are so high that we sometimes have difficulty functioning, while for other people it never manifests past the point of minor distraction. Still, unless you're Buddha himself, you deal with at least some amount of stress.Stress is related to adverse health effects in 43 percent of adults in the U.S., and it is linked to several leading causes of deaths (eg. heart disease, cancer, etc.). We are an overworked society, one that is headlong into a mortgage crisis and economic recession. Gas is over $4 a gallon. We are at war. The climate is changing. Stressed? Yeah, and for good reason.
However, it's vital to our health that we take steps to manage these stressful feelings -- which can range from anxiety and irritability to fatigue and gastrointestinal problems. Experts suggest identifying stressors and learning to cope using any number of stress-reducing techniques. Here are just a few ways that you can naturally keep stress levels under control.
Eating healthy while on the road
Do you have any great vacations planned for this summer? Along with a friend's family, my son and I are renting a cabin in what I deem as the prettiest part of our state. Also, if I can scrape together the funds, I might be bringing my son (who I adopted a year ago) back to his home state to visit his foster family. Whatever your summer plans are, don't let good nutrition go on "vacation" too. Some tips:- When eating at a restaurant, don't order an appetizer and skip the bread basket.
- Select healthier fare from the menu -- for example, baked, broiled, or grilled foods are a better choice than deep-fried.
- Visit the local grocery store -- if you have a fridge in your hotel room your options are greater, but even if you don't you can still stock up on some foods that you can eat "in." Fresh fruits and veggies, sugar-free instant oatmeal (use the coffee pot to heat water). You can also use your hotel room's ice bucket to keep some foods chilled.
- Go on a picnic. Pack healthy foods and visit a park, beach, or nature reserve at your vacation destination. After lunch, go for a hike!
- Avoid the pastries and other high-carb options at the continental breakfast.
America Takes It Off cookbook
Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
For many people, when they change their eating habits in an effort to lose weight, their menu becomes a little limited. When you're used to cooking with butter and covering everything in cream sauces, your recipe box can become a little useless. But healthy eating certainly doesn't have to be boring and your options are limitless. AOL Body's America Takes It Off program has been in full swing for a couple of weeks now. Have you decided to take the challenge? If you're hard at work trying to shed a few pounds before summer, don't limit yourself to the same old foods over and over. America Takes It Off has pulled together a great collection of healthy recipes that will tempt your taste buds and keep you on the right diet track.
Daily Fit Tip: How to buy the best olive oil
Daily Fit Tip, Nutrition & Supplements
I recently got married and moved into a new house, which means I'm cooking in a new kitchen and am all inspired to start trying new recipes. In the cabinets of a healthy kitchen, one of the most common players is olive oil (love a good stir fry) but getting what you pay for is isn't as easy as it should be. Many stores have bottles of oil that have been sitting for ages on the shelf (which diminishes not only flavor but also antioxidant benefits) and some companies are even fraudulently blending in filler oils like sunflower or soybean oil. For the best, healthiest olive oil, follow these tips:- Go for the smallest brands -- smaller growers almost always produce higher quality oil than mass producers.
- Keep your olive oil cool and dark, and look for brands packaged in dark bottles.
- Read the label carefully, intentionally vague statements like "imported from Italy" can be deceiving (it wasn't necessarily made in Italy).
- "Extra virgin" isn't necessarily the best. To be labeled extra virgin, olive oil must have an acidity of 0.8% or less, which isn't that hard to do. For really good oil, look for 0.5% or less.
Stocking a diet-friendly kitchen
Changing any lifestyle habit isn't easy. If you're looking to shed some pounds for summer and are switching to a healthier way of eating, you may find yourself staring at your pantry and wondering what to do. Take these tips from AOL Body and stock your kitchen with healthy staples -- having all the building blocks for healthy eating sets you up for success.- Clean out your fridge, freezer, and pantry of unhealthy foods that can throw you off course.
- Stock your freezer with frozen fruits and veggies and healthy snacks such as edamame and veggie burgers.
- Fill your fridge with low-fat dairy, fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein, and a pitcher of water.
- Stock your pantry with a variety of whole grains, salt-free seasoning mixes, and healthy snacks such as fat-free popcorn.
Should you cook or nuke your veggies?
We all know broccoli is good for you, right? Not only does it have anti-cancer compounds, and anti-oxidant containing vitamins (vitamin-C and bets-carotene) but it's loaded with fiber. But which way is the best way of cooking broccoli and other vegetables, to preserve the most nutrients?
Believe it or not a recent study done at
But be careful not to add too much water when cooking your veggies in the microwave. Researchers suggest that in order to keep the nutrients undamaged when microwaving you should only use a couple of tablespoons of water to cook raw vegetables and no extra water to cook frozen ones. That's because vegetables lose water-soluble nutrients like folic acid and vitamin-C when they are immersed in cooking liquid.
What tips do you have for steaming or microwaving your veggies?
