Diet and Nutrition

Fighting the Post-Holiday Let Down

new year's eve partyHalloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s… In the last few months of the year the festivities, holidays, and activities steadily build. Many complain about the stress of the holiday season and say they look forward to the calm of January; however, it is common to experience some let down, sadness, and loneliness in the wake of celebrations, family, and friends. Don’t let January steal your joy.

  1. Schedule time with friends. Now, in the relative calm, is the perfect time to plan one-on-one time with friends and catch up, or perhaps with that someone new you met at a holiday party that you would like to get to know. Restaurants should have more availability and traffic will be refreshingly decreased. Create an excuse to wear those new things Santa left under the tree, and get out of the house. (more…)

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

Oprah Launches Her Best Life Week

Just last month, Oprah Winfrey confessed to once again topping the scales at 200 pounds as she continues to endure a life-long battle with food, weight and her body. True to her honest and always helpful candor, Oprah has taken her battle public in the hopes of not just improving her own life and health but for anyone else who wants to take more control over their own lives in 2024 as part of her Best Life challenge.

Starting on Monday, January 5, 2024, Oprah will feature five days of Best Life shows that showcase Oprah’s favorite medical professionals, fitness gurus, financial coaches and nutrition experts. Here is a snapshot of what to expect in the week to come: (more…)

Posted on January 2, 2024 by heather

Join Discovery’s National Body Challenge

It’s that time of year again. It’s New Year’s resolution time. Discovery Health wants to challenge you. Their National Body Challenge is a free way to hold your feet to the fire, and get yourself into shape. The challenge provides tools and inspiration, not only online but also on television.fitness class

Here are some of the valuable tools that will make the Discovery Health Challenge worth a look (and remember, it’s free):

  • Customized meal plans with more than 1,000 kitchen-tested, nutritionist-approved recipes (more…)
Posted on January 2, 2024 by Jason

25 Most Popular Diets of 2024

In 2024, diet-related searches online continued to be a hot topic. It seems Americans are wising up about their health and making more of an effort to get fit to reverse the concerning obesity epidemic that has begun to plague both young and old in our country.

In DietsInReview.com’s 2024 Most Popular Diets of the Year list, there were some tried and true plans that made the cut, not surprising any of us. Then there were those that seem to have a more fad-feel that left us scratching our heads, and some of you likely yo-yoing. Here are the 25 Most Popular Diets of the year, one of which might be the solution for you in the new year.

1. Weight Watchers
A 45-year veteran of dieting that is one of the most proven plans on the market. They not only help you to lose weight, they teach you how to keep it off for life. With the new year they introduce their new plan, Momentum.

2. 21 Pounds in 21 Days
Made popular by Howard Stern sidekick Robin Quivers, the book introduces a fruit- and vegetable-based detox in which you consume primarily fresh juices to rid your body of toxins, lose weight and reset your metabolism.

3. Cabbage Soup Diet
A fad diet that became very popular for its quick weight loss claims. It’s a seven-day weight loss plan that comes with a strict, low-calorie outline for foods you can and can’t consume each day.

4. 5 Day Miracle Diet
This approach encourages you to change the times of day that you eat and eliminate starches, caffeine, alcohol and sugar. They claim when you do so, you’ll regulate blood sugar and the need to munch and binge.slim fast

5. Slim-Fast
Shake, shake, shake the weight off with delicious shakes that replace breakfast and lunch, then dinner is a healthy meal of your choosing. (more…)

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Natalie K

8 Ways to Make a Healthy New Year’s Resolution

New years is right around the corner, meaning everyone is determining their New Year’s resolution. What will yours be? For most/many, it is to lose weight or to get into shape. Here are a few helpful tips for getting you a jump start on your weight loss goal:

1. Start small. Make realistic, attainable goals. You want to stay motivated, so by setting and meeting small goals will keep your fire burning and you will feel strong to take on another more challenging goal.

2. Try to eat out less often. Unless you are personally preparing your food you truly have no idea what or how many calories and fat you are taking in.

3. Incorporate exercise into your routine. If you’re not ready for daily exercise, doing some every other day would be great, especially if you never exercise. (more…)

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Kinsey

Biggest Loser 7: Tara Costa

Keep up with Tara’s journey on Biggest Loser: Couples all season long. Tara joins partner and friend Laura during the show’s seventh season.

Biggest Loser 3rd Place – Tara Costa

Age 23

Hometown New York, NY

Occupation Finance Manager and Model

Teammate Laura Denoux, friend

Team Color Green

Trainer Jillian Michaels

Starting Weight 294

Final Weight 139

Total Loss -155 (more…)

Posted on December 30, 2023 by Natalie K

LA Weight Loss Centers Closing, Customers Enraged

I’m still new to some of the worries surrounding the LA Weight Loss centers. In my preliminary research, it seems that closings have been going on for at least a year, and customer complaints for at least that long. (During 2024, it closed 400 Pure Weight Loss sites, its sister brand.)

There are franchises across the country that are closing down. According to WCNC in North Carolina, all 10 LA Weight Loss Centers in the Charlotte area just closed. The suspicious part of it all is that it’s happening without warning to their paying clients.

The sign on one business door blamed the closing on the bad economy and indicated that the centers will soon contact clients.

“We have some that are out of a couple thousand dollars between what they’ve paid for membership, in annual membership and then what they purchased in food that they haven’t received in food yet,” said Tom Bartholomy, President of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont, North Carolina.

Bartholomy says there is no legal recourse according to state law in North Carolina. The Better Business Bureau suspects hundreds of people will be out of money.

Posted on December 30, 2023 by Jason

A New Year, A New You

Today, Molly Wangsgaard, Corporate Dietitian and Program Development Manager for Jenny Craig, Inc., joins us as the featured guest blogger for the final time. Throughout December she shared her insights on surviving the holiday and impending new year in a healthy and enjoyable manner.

It’s that time of year when many people make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat more nutritiously or become more active.  Unfortunately for many of us, by the time Valentine’s Day rolls around, these goals are but a distant memory.

Often this occurs because we set goals that are too ambitious or too vague, or because we fall victim to the “all-or-nothing” mentality that suggests we’ve “failed” if we lapse just once.

This year, make kinder, gentler and more realistic goals.  Create an action plan of healthy habits you’d like to learn, with reasonable milestones for achieving them.  And treat the process itself as a journey where you discover more about yourself along the way. (more…)

Posted on December 30, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Understanding the Glycemic Index

The Glycemic index was developed as a means of ranking carbohydrates (or carb-containing foods) based on their effect on blood sugar level. Foods with a high glycemic index value tend to raise blood sugar levels faster and higher compared to foods with a lower glycemic index. Rapid increases in blood glucose are potent signals to the beta-cells of the pancreas to increase insulin secretion. Over the next few hours, the high insulin levels induced by consumption of high-glycemic index foods may cause a sharp decrease in blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia).

In contrast, the consumption of low-glycemic index foods results in lower, but more sustained, increases in blood glucose and lower insulin demands on pancreatic beta-cells. However, this does not necessarily mean that a low-index food is healthier than a high-index food. (more…)

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Kinsey

Breakfast Eaters are Healthiest

Breakfast is often touted as the most important meal of the day. And while it’s not a good idea to play down any of your daily meals, there could be some truth to it, according to new research.

But the importance of breakfast is tied to how healthy the meal is.

Researchers analyzed data from a national health survey and found that people who ate lower-calorie foods for breakfast tended to have a higher-quality diet overall. (more…)

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Jason

Youth Exercise Strengthens Bones for Women

Encouraging youth sports is obviously a good thing for a number of reasons. It not only helps keep your kids fit, but they are put in social situations that help build character.

The benefits may be long lasting for young ladies who take part in weight-bearing activities (running, tennis, volleyball, etc.). A new study shows that older women who participated in weight-bearing activities in their youth now have stronger bones than those who didn’t. (more…)

Posted on December 28, 2023 by Jason