Diet and Nutrition

What it’s Really Like Inside a Weight Loss Resort

Jackie Poplaski is a NASM certified personal trainer, HFPN coach, spinning and kickboxing instructor, and holds her coaching certificate from NYU. She currently works as a behavior change coach and fitness instructor at Shane Diet Resorts.

As a coach and fitness trainer at a summer weight loss resort, I often talk to people who are fascinated with the popular weight loss show, The Biggest Loser. They want to know whether a vacation at a weight loss resort will be like the show.

We do, in fact, get to know our guests personally… heck, we live together, eat together, and sweat together…a lot. That means if you say you want to work hard but you’re not actually putting in the effort, we’re going to call you on it.

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Posted on February 10, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Omega 3 Fatty Acids Maintain Mental Health

The benefits of omega 3 fatty acids are many, and they are well documented. Over the years, researchers have found that omega-3s can help with everything from heart health to preventing depression. While the news that it can help prevent mental health issues is not new, researchers are now finding out more about the brain mechanism whereby dietary choices affect your mental condition.

“We have observed that, in mice subjected to a diet low in omega 3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids, they have lower AGPO-3 brain levels, and this fact is associated with an alteration in the functioning of the endocannabinoid system,” says Doctor Susana Mato, one of the researchers at the Faculty of Medicine and Odontology of the University of the Basque Country. (more…)

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Jason

First Lady Michelle Obama Says Life Is About Good Food on Today Show

In her first morning show interview on the Today show on February 9, 2024, Michelle Obama discussed the one year anniversary of her “Let’s Move! ” campaign and how it has changed both her outlook on food and the future of the children of America.

Mrs. Obama said that the  greatest success in the first year of the “Let’s Move!” campaign has been the broad base coalition of people who are stepping up. “We’re getting involvement from every sector – from businesses, from the medical profession, from teachers, from parents.” She went on to call the program a unifying issue, saying, “We all care about our children. I have seen that positive momentum, that people are ready to make some hard changes in their lives and the way we live.”

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Posted on February 9, 2024 by Carmen

Motivational Tips for When Your Resolutions Fail

Maruchy Lachance is president of Running Ninja!, a lifestyle brand for runners by runners. Running Ninja! offers a wide variety of apparel and gifts for runners to keep you happy and inspired while you’re on the run.

The holidays are now well behind us and some of us have started to struggle with our broken resolutions. If you fell off the wagon before you were even comfortably inside, relax, it happens to the best of us. One of the reasons resolutions fail is because no one can change a lifetime of poor habits overnight. This is why your first mission to ensure success is to decide to not give up on yourself.

Once you are armed with that relentless commitment to yourself you can make choices to create and support your new lifestyle. Here are some suggestions to get you started and keep you motivated: (more…)

Posted on February 9, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Vegan Queso Is a Low-Calorie Choice for Everyone!

Fat Goblin Nacho MomWhy let vegans enjoy the all low-calorie goodness of Nacho Mom’s vegan queso? It turns out that this yummy diary alternative has only 10 calories per serving. You could eat the whole jar for just 160 calories. Even if you’re not on a vegan diet, you can enjoy this low-fat snack without cramming in the calories. Nacho Mom’s comes in two flavors: Fire Roasted Queso and Ultimate Vegan Queso.

Both flavors are made with nutritional yeast, which naturally has a cheese-like taste. The Fire Roasted Queso is not only dairy-free and soy-free, it’s also gluten-free and has a smoky flavor with chipotle peppers and roasted tomatoes. The original product, Ultimate Vegan Queso, does contain wheat but is spiced to perfection with green chiles, paprika and garlic. Visit the Nacho Mom website to find out where to buy vegan queso.

Now if we could just find a guilt-free corn chip…

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Posted on February 8, 2024 by Health Buzz

Nutritionists “Heart” Dark Chocolate

Joy Bauer is a registered dietitian and the nutrition expert for the Today Show. She’s also the best-selling author behind several health books including Your Inner Skinny. You can visit her at JoyBauer.com, or follow Joy on Facebook and Twitter.

Few nutrition research findings have brought me more pleasure than the discovery that chocolate can actually be good for you! We now have a large body of research showing that dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure, improve blood flow, reduce clotting, and benefit overall heart health. But before you dive head-first into the nearest heart-shaped box of candy this Valentine’s Day, here’s what you need to know about choosing chocolates with the most health power.

Chocolate owes its health benefits to a category of antioxidants called flavonoids. Flavonoids and other beneficial phytochemicals are found in cocoa solids, and dark chocolate contains a higher proportion of cocoa solids than milk chocolate, making it the more heart-healthy choice.  That’s because milk chocolate contains more added milk and sugar, which dilutes the cocoa content. White chocolate contains no cocoa solids, only cocoa butter, which means it’s not officially chocolate and doesn’t deliver any health-promoting flavonoids. (more…)

Posted on February 8, 2024 by GuestBlogger

10 Things You Don’t Know About Heart Health, but Should

February is heart month, a time for us to learn more about heart health and hopefully make lifestyle changes that will protect our hearts. Our tickers are rather important, if the tick doesn’t tock then that’s it. While the euphemism might be cute, the fact that one in every four deaths in the U.S. in 2006 was because of heart disease, making it the leading cause of death for both men and women (per the CDC), is not something to take lightly.

“Nearly twice as many women in the United States die of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases as from all forms of cancer, including breast cancer,” per the American Heart Association. Andrea Metcalf, author of Naked Fitness, has worked with the AHA for several years, and often speaks at Go Red events. She shared some startling facts that should snap awake any man or woman:

  • 1/2 women over 40 will have a major CVD (cardiovascular disease) episode
  • Cardiovascular disease kills more people than the next 6 leading causes of death combined
  • 1/3 of women die of CVD (all ages combined)
  • 90% of all people who have heart attacks have at least one or more of the following: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high heart rate

So what do we really know about our heart’s health? Sadly, not as much as we should. We know we should exercise and watch our sodium intake, but beyond that, we don’t know enough about a disease that kills more than half a million Americans each year (CDC).

We spoke to several experts to find out what it is we should know about heart health that we don’t already know. In short, we should stress less, brush our teeth more often, get more out of our annual OB/GYN visits, eat more seafood, and exercise more. We hope this information will help you make the important changes you need to make in order to live a longer, healthier life with a strong heart. (more…)

Posted on February 8, 2024 by Natalie K

Katy Perry Says Her Pre-Tour Diet “Sucks”

long dressIn order to get ready for the high-energy demands of her upcoming tour, pop star Katy Perry in on a strict diet. “After this interview I’m going to have a nice healthy breakfast,” she told Showbiz Spy. “I’m on a meal plan, which absolutely sucks.”

At least the star isn’t hard on herself every day of the week. “On Sundays I get to have a cheat day where I go buck wild and eat In-N-Out Burger. Then I’ll work out, go to a vocal lesson, run through the entire set at rehearsals, go to dance rehearsal until 10pm and then go home and sort through e-mails concerning the production. I feel like I’m training for the Olympics!”

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Posted on February 7, 2024 by Health Buzz

Positive Reinforcement Encourages Kids To Eat More Vegetables

After stumbling on the article Bribing Kids to Eat Their Greens Really Does Work, I have added a new subscription to my blog reader. I really like what Christian Jarrett had to say about using positive reinforcement to encourage children to eat vegetables, learn to like them, and even eat more vegetables when no reward would be given. Rewarding children with stickers or praise for eating healthy food can do more than get them to clean their plates one evening.

After being encouraged to eat a vegetable 12 times in two weeks, children ranked the vegetable higher in preference to other vegetables than they had previously ranked it, and these results remained consistent in follow ups one and three months later. After the two week experimental period, those children that had been rewarded with stickers during the experimental period chose to eat more of the target vegetable when they knew there would be no reward than those children that received no positive reinforcement during the experimental period. In the one and three month reviews, the children praised and the children given stickers maintained their increased voluntary consumption, but the children simply exposed to the vegetable did not.

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Posted on February 7, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

Satisfy a Crunchy Craving on a Diet

Crispy, crunchy, deliciously munchy potato chips are one of the most classic cravings we experience. Why do we crave crunch and why is it so hard to stop once we’ve started eating?

Anger and anxiety are the most common reasons why we experience cravings for crunch. The mechanical process of chewing and crunching releases tension that we hold within. Pay close attention to how you’re feeling when you start jonesing for something crunchy. Identify your triggers and learn how to alleviate the emotions without giving in to your craving. Focus on relieving stress and releasing aggression. A few useful techniques are:

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Posted on February 7, 2024 by Theresa

Eating Healthy on Valentine’s Day

Historically, Valentine’s Day is a day full of boxes of chocolates, fancy dinners out, candy hearts and chocolate candy roses. For someone trying to lose weight or maintain a healthier lifestyle, being bombarded by high calorie foods can be tough. Sure, one candy or one dinner won’t do an enormous amount of damage – but you really don’t need to sacrifice yourself on the altar of St. Valentine. Not only that, but one day has a sneaky habit of becoming another day, and another and another. Do yourself a favor and don’t start.

One of the primary ways that we show love to each other is with food. It’s biologically innate in our make up, but it isn’t confined to high calorie/high fat foods. Here are some ways to celebrate the love that you have for your significant other in a healthy manner.

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Posted on February 7, 2024 by Carmen