Diet and Nutrition

Creating Your Own 60-Day Diet

My name is Tony Posnanski, and odds are you have never heard of me. I have a wife and newborn and have been a restaurant manager for over 10 years. Just like any other guy I love sports, spending time with my wife and I love to read.tony posnanski

I also have lost more weight than any Biggest Loser contestant, 221.4 pounds to be exact. I did it all in a year without surgery or pills, and have maintained it for four months. (more…)

Posted on July 18, 2024 by heather

Quick and Healthy Dinners Perfect for Summertime

kitchen stoveWho wants to spend hours in the kitchen all summer? I don’t. I’d rather be outside enjoying the sunset or taking a walk. Instead of sweating it out over a stove every night of the week,  take an hour or two over the weekend and prep a few make-ahead meals or get some help from the grocery store and whip up a healthy dinner without even doing so much as pre-heating the oven.

Check out these ideas for quick and healthy dinners:

  • Pick up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, bagged salad greens, and a loaf of rustic bread from the bakery. Serve up a 3-4 ounce piece of chicken, 2 cups of greens, and a chunk of bread. Dinner is done! (more…)
Posted on July 17, 2024 by Rebecca

McDonald’s Angus Burgers are a Nutritional Nightmare on a Bun

The commercials look absolutely amazing. A hot, thick burger on a braided bakery style fluffy white bun, topped with red onion, juicy tomato slices and crisp lettuce, they make my mouth water and remain in my brain longer than should be legal. Touted as an upscale offering, McDonald’s new Black Angus 1/3 pound burgers seem too good to be true. Let’s take a look at the nutrition content of the three different choices.mcdonalds angus burgers

  • Angus Deluxe opens up the bidding with 750 calories, 350 from fat, 39 grams of total fat, 135 grams of cholesterol, and 1700 mg of sodium.
  • The Angus Mushroom and Swiss counters back with 770 calories, 360 from fat, 40 grams of fat, 135 grams of cholesterol and 1170 mg of sodium.
  • In a last ditch effort, the Angus Bacon and Cheese closes it out with 790 calories, 40 from fat, 145 grams of cholesterol and an astounding 2070 mg of sodium. (more…)
Posted on July 15, 2024 by Carmen

Best Nutrition Tip: Eat With Your Eyes

My dad used to always tell me that my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I loved the look of all the food at family picnics that I took way too much and couldn’t finish it all. Little did I know my dad was teaching me one of the best nutrition tips ever – Eat With Your Eyes!

Watch this video of my tips for making ordinary food look like something you just want to dive into. The best part, it’s totally nourishing.

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Posted on July 15, 2024 by Rebecca

Government Plans to Improve Food Safety

biden and sebeliusVice President Joe Biden is known for his verbal gaffes. But this time, he’s spot on – it’s tough enough to afford food in these uncertain economic times, people should not have to worry about the safety of that food.

Biden co-chairs the Food Safety Working Group along with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The theme will be contamination prevention.

“The focus is to have a completely different emphasis than we’ve had in the past,” Biden said. “We’re going to make our new priority preventing (food contamination) from happening in the first place.” (more…)

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Jason

Summer Delights: Healthy Tuna Salad Recipe

healthy tuna salad wrapsOne of the things I work on with my clients is giving their meals a “makeover” so they can fit into their weight loss plan. I really believe you can enjoy your favorite foods with a few simple swap outs. One of the healthy foods that can sabotage you is tuna salad. All that mayo can turn your lunch from a dieter’s dream to a dieter’s don’t! For example, a tuna salad sandwich from Culver’s has almost half the fat for the day at 27 grams!

Not my tuna salad! I was able to make five servings with only a half tablespoon light mayo in the entire batch! I used a secret ingredient, which is identified below. (more…)

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Rebecca

Eat Less Now, Enjoy More Later

chinese takeoutHaving something to look forward to is often an important component of stress management and treating depression. It can be very helpful to find a way to reward yourself every day. Can you make your shower an experience rather than a task to complete? Can you find some alone time at the end of the day to just breath (even if you have to lock yourself in the bathroom)? I’ve found a fun way to integrate this technique for a more joyful life and be more disciplined with my diet.

When I go out to eat, which happens a few times each week for business things, I stretch my dollar and shrink my waistline by making sure to save some to take home, leaving me leftovers to look forward to. If I stick strictly to this principle, it will also prevent me ordering french fries, which rarely warm up well. (more…)

Posted on July 13, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

Top Five Cave-Person Checklist Starting a Paleo Diet

Andrew Rubalcava runs the health and fitness site Go Healthy Go Fit. Since adopting a Paleo lifestyle, Andrew has gone from 13.2% body fat at 192 lbs. to 6% body fat at 165 pounds.
andrew-rubalcava1

1. Eat food that has lived a good life.
If you’ve ever seen a time-lapsed photo of a flower’s journey from bloom to whither, then you already have a perfect example of how your food should have lived. Whether it’s a vegetable, a fruit or an animal, they all have one thing in common: They lived! Start by eating only these foods and the rest will follow.

2. Just because it isn’t plastic doesn’t mean it’s real food.
The concept of modern food packaging is meant to fool you into thinking what you are about to eat is “fresh”, and therefore guilty of being real by association. “Packed fresh” and “over processed” do not cancel each other out. Be wary of packaged goods. (more…)

Posted on July 11, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Health Benefits of Watermelon Include Men’s Fertility

watermelonAhhh… summer… the long, hot days, the ice cold drinks, and watermelon out the wazoo! Watermelon is great after a long run (I tell all my athlete clients to eat up after a sweat fest). It has 92% water. But it’s not the water that’s the winning ingredient in this super-yummy health food, it’s the 8% lycopene. Lycopene is a phytochemical that protects your heart, prostate and skin health. Sounds good to me!

The latest scientific info on watermelon is probably the most interesting… Researchers at the Indian Association of Urologists say it can help men make babies! After conducting numerous research studies, they claim that lycopene has been found to enhance male fertility by improving both sperm concentration and motility. (more…)

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Rebecca

Why is Fat the New Norm?

overweight menA report released jointly by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that the percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states, and adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year. The study, titled F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2024, reports that in 1980, only fifteen percent of Americans were classified as obese, but that percentage has more than doubled, with more than two-thirds of Americans officially classified as overweight or obese. Let’s look at these numbers for a minute. What does it mean to be “overweight or obese”? (more…)

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Carmen

Realize Band Users Chronicle Weight Loss Stories Online

realize bandIt is no longer just YouTube that has cornered the market on online videos. Now companies are using streaming videos on their websites to market their products. Back in late June, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, maker of the REALIZE Band, debuted a video featuring REALIZE users sharing their weight loss experience and successes with this weight loss device.

The REALIZE Band is an adjustable gastric band that is surgically implanted in the stomach in order to significantly reduce food intake.

Here is DietsInReview’s evaluation of the REALIZE Band. Similar to the popular LAP Band, the REALIZE Band features a comprehensive program that includes fitness and diet tools and now real life stories from REALIZE users who are chronicling their weight loss journey via the device’s website. (more…)

Posted on July 9, 2024 by heather