Diet and Nutrition

Top 10 Ways to Lose Weight… and Keep it Off!

This article is brought to you by our wonderful biggest loser newsletter sponsors – The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge. Guest Blogger Emily Fonnesbeck RD,CD is the Registered Dietitian for the Biggest Loser Resort.

So you want to lose weight. But, where do you start? While the following recommendations may be simplistic, if done consistently, they will bring about noticeable changes.

1. Eat Breakfast: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It will jump-start your metabolism and improve performance. You will notice less cravings and preoccupation with food, and higher energy levels. Studies show that people who start their day with a big healthy breakfast, tend to eat less calories overall. Food is fuel! You need fuel in the morning, not right before bed.

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FullBar Changes Name to BeFull Solutions

See our interview with Dr. Michael Snyder, founder of BeFull Solution: hCG Diet Reviewed by FullBar’s Dr. Michael Snyder.

Be full. Eat less. That is the working mantra of BeFull Solution, formerly known as the FullBar.

This spring, the company, which was created by Dr. Michael Snyder, a bariatric surgeon, changed its name from FullBar to BeFull Solution in order to reflect the newly expanded and comprehensive line of weight loss and weight maintenance snacks, bars and drinks.

According to Eric Greene, the Chief Marketing Officer for BeFull Solution, the impetus for the name change came when the team of health and medical experts behind the product line realized that people needed more support in helping them achieve and sustain their weight loss goals. For months, BeFull experts interviewed thousands of individuals who were trekking along various points of their weight loss journey to determine just what promoted or hindered their progress.

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Find Fresh Food at Your Farmers’ Market

photo: flicker user nataliemaynor

We’ve heard for years that local and sustainable is the gold standard we should strive for in our diets. Local and sustainable, though, can be difficult. After all, when you shop at your grocery store, how do you know what is grown in your locality and what is shipped in?

That’s where shopping at a farmers’ market comes in. Buying local means often the freshest fruits and vegetables, and many farmers’ markets have dairy or butcher shops, so you can effectively skip the grocery store, and help your own community at the same time. It’s a win-win situation.

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Learn to Like Vegetables One at a Time

Confession: I am a reformed vegetable eater. Up until a few years ago my knowledge of vegetables extended no further than iceberg lettuce, corn (actually a grain), green beans, and potatoes. This was all I was exposed to as a child, so I had this fear of how gross vegetables were. As an adult, why would I go out of my way to eat something I wouldn’t like?

A few years ago, when I really became passionate about my health and the way my family eats, eating more vegetables was a natural part of that change. I like to call it growth.

I’m not alone in this category of picky eaters. In fact, we’ve heard from fans and readers who’ve asked us how to eat more vegetables because their families feel the same way. Vegetables are gross.

What I’ve learned, and want to share, is that vegetables aren’t gross, they’re actually quite delicious and add depth to a meal. Today, there are few veggies I won’t eat. And I hope soon you and your family will be able to say the same thing.

As a former veggie hater, I advise to start slowly and try new things. It takes time and practice, but worth it to reform your vegetable habits. Try one new veggie a week, and a variation or two. You might not like it immediately. And, if after a couple attempts you don’t like it, then drop it. There are too many veggies available to force yourself to eat what you don’t like.

Here are a few ideas that worked in my home to help you take on the vegetable transition: (more…)

Quick Tip: Snack on Dark Chocolate

Chocolate lovers have rejoiced in the repeated studies that show their favorite sweet treat is good for your health. It also happens to be a favorite of the Biggest Loser’s Amanda Arlauskas, and the subject of her latest video tip:

Jillian Michaels’ Master Your Metabolism Cookbook Releases April 27

This Tuesday, April 27 you’ll be able to take home even more of Jillian Michaels‘ insight on healthy living, as she releases her newest publication – The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook. The book is a follow-up to her 2024 release Master Your Metabolism, which is a health and fitness plan that helps you understand what metabolism is and how you can make it work to your advantage.

The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook includes more than 125 recipes to complement her guidance from the same-named weight loss book. You’ll learn how to eat a more clean diet, incorporate more whole foods and consume properly balanced portions of calories, protein, carbs and fats. Not a chef herself, Jillian enlisted the expertise of a professional recipe developer to help create recipes like the following: (more…)

Unhealthy School Lunches a National Security Threat

There are many things that our nation worries about in protecting our freedoms. But, according to a U.S. military group, there’s a national security threat that many of us are probably not thinking about.

A group of retired military officers has targeted school lunches as a serious threat to U.S. security. School lunches have contributed to making our country’s youth so obese that fewer of them can meet the physical fitness standards of our military. And, that is putting recruitment efforts in serious jeopardy.

“When over a quarter of young adults are too fat to fight, we need to take notice,” says retired Navy Rear Admiral James Barnett Jr., a member of the officers group. He picked out the year 2030 as the year where national security is “absolutely dependent” on the reversal of child obesity rates.

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5 Reasons to Can Soda

Soda is the single biggest contributor to an unhealthy diet, and it is one of the highest calorie sources in the world, accounting for somewhere between 11 and 19 percent of all the calories consumed worldwide.

It’s cheap, addictive, and readily available; found at virtually every picnic, shopping mall, and sporting event you might attend. Often advertised as containing extra vitamins and billed as a “healthy choice,” it can be difficult to quit a soda habit. Especially as the weather warms up, and people are out and about, soda is almost always present.

Here are five reasons that you should rethink your beverage choice.

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Dark Chocolate is a Healthy Snack

Dark chocolate has been touted for a while as a healthy treat… in moderation. In fact, a couple years back, an Italian study found that dark chocolate is a healthy sweet snack option, since it can significantly reduce the inflammation that leads to cardiovascular disease

One piece of dark chocolate each day can be valuable to your heart health. But, now you may be able tack on another health benefit to chocolate: liver health. In fact, dark chocolate could be prescribed for people with liver cirrhosis.

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5 Sweet Treats for Spring

It’s perfectly okay to have a sweet tooth. As a card carrying member of the “sweet tooth club,” I know what it’s like to want something sweet after a meal. If you’re trying to make changes to cut back on sweets and lots of added sugars, it can be daunting thinking about giving up the sweet things you like.

The key is to find a healthy middle ground. There are no “good” or “bad” foods. The idea of restricting really just makes you want it more. Instead, think about how often you have heavier desserts like cake and ice cream. Keep the portion to a few bites. But, have low-calorie sweet treats more often when you crave a little something sweet.

Here are a few refreshing spring desserts that will be sure to satisfy. They are delicious and healthy sweet treats that will get you through the warmer months ahead:

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Ruby Recap Season 3 Episode 9: Thanksgiving Dinner

It’s Thanksgiving this week on Ruby. And you know what that means? Serious temptations. So, Ruby’s plan was to have two Thanksgivings, one for her and one for the others.

But, even this sensible idea runs into a stumbling block, as her friends want the traditional pumpkin pie, which Ruby cannot have around, because it was a trigger food when she was at her heaviest.

After Ruby invites her trainers over for the Thanksgiving dinner, the show moves on to her in a therapy session discussing ideas for how to handle dinner. Her therapist emphasizes avoiding “minimizing” eating, which is when Ruby would say “I’ll just have a little of this.”

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