Tag Archives: clean

Work it Off: 3 Ways to Negate the 620 Calories in a Gooey Cinnamon Roll

cinnamon roll

Few things smell better than a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven. (Cinnabon continues to bank on this one basic fact!) That’s one of the reasons I avoid a certain bakery in my neighborhood. Even walking in front of the building makes my mouth water—the cinnamon rolls smell (and taste!) that good.

But sometimes I give in, as I did earlier this week. The sweet scent was just too good to pass up. Of course, this came at a cost. Like, a really big cost: 620 delicious calories, to be exact, which is higher than pretty much any other treat I’ve learned how to burn off—even donuts and biscuits and gravy.

So, how could I help rid my body of the extra 620 calories?

 

doing yoga

I could have done hot yoga for 149 minutes. (Okay scratch that—I can barely stand 60 minutes in that heat!)

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6 Ways to Turn Spring Cleaning into a Full-Body Workout

clean

 

We’ve made it through the long winter and spring is finally here and in full swing! ‘Tis the season for baseball, sunny days, green things growing and everyone’s favorite activity: spring cleaning! Since free time is something that most of us don’t have an abundance of, it’s good to know that you can easily multitask while engaging in your spring cleaning chores. According to My Fitness Pal heavy cleaning can burn up to 250 calories per hour, making it a worthwhile fitness activity. And, by adding in just a few simple moves to your cleaning routine, you can burn even more!

Here’s six ways to fire up your heart rate, engage your muscles and get a calorie-blasting workout while you get your spring cleaning on:

 

tunes

1. Blast your favorite heart-pumping tunes
Before you start cleaning, make a playlist of music that gets you pumped. Think about songs that you listen to when going for a run or doing a cardio workout at the gym. Music with an upbeat rhythm is more likely to make you not only clean faster, but help you have fun while doing it. Go ahead and blast that music and dance around with that mop or duster (and burn a ton of calories while doing it!). You’ll discover a whole new appreciation for cleaning.

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Work it Off: Burn Off 672 Calories from 3 Slices of Pizza

This past week I organized a viewing party for the Olympics. On the menu that evening: Pizza. Regular pizza nights have become a tradition in my house over the last year, ever since acquiring a pizza stone that helps the crusts of our pies bake evenly and all the way through. Each gathering is a bit of a potluck—guests bring toppings for a pie, or a salad, beverage, or dessert.

pizza

We were all glued to the TV during Shaun White’s time on the half-pipe—and his ultimate defeat—but it was really the pizzas that stole the show that night. We had fresh pineapple and prosciutto, roasted cauliflower and caramelized onion, and even a bacon-apple-rosemary pie. I had a big slice of each one, which seemed like a good idea in the moment. (An hour later, I was still in the same place on the couch.)

The pizza was good, but it came at a cost of around 224 calories a slice, or 672 calories for 3 slices. Yikes! That was definitely more of a meal than I’d been hoping for.

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Jillian Michaels Overtakes Weight Watchers on the 2024 Most Popular Diets of the Year List

The most popular diet of the year is none other than the incomparable Jillian Michaels. It’s not entirely surprising when you consider she’s been one of the most consistent players on our list since 2024, with her online brand, detox product, and earliest workout DVD ranking each year. In fact, the latter two were both on last year’s top ten list. We expect to see Curves, ranking for the first time since 2024, as the Biggest Loser trainer just announced a new partnership with Curves.

jillian michaels

What is most surprising is how Jillian Michaels knocked the giant that is Weight Watchers out of the number one position. That’s only been done once before, by 17 Day Diet in 2024. Even that year Weight Watchers held on to number two, but this year they slipped in to the fifth most popular spot.

And 17 Day Diet grabbed ranking number four, hardly losing any ground since its overwhelmingly popular release in late 2024. Its position on our annual Most Popular lists, ahead of Weight Watchers once again, will no doubt help with the release of 17 Day Diet: Breakthrough Edition on the 31st.

The only constant between last year’s list and this – Medifast. They’ve got number 3 on lock, with the meal delivery diet staying strong in the top ten since 2024.

Another staple of our list fell pretty hard this year, with hCG falling down to number 14. No, the supplement boom isn’t over, as its disappearance only made room for brands like Skinny Fiber (a shocking number 2) and Plexus Slim (at number 6) to move on up the list. Dr. Oz-endorsed Raspberry Ketones (17) and Green Coffee Bean Extract (20) were other weight-loss-by-pill categories that did especially well this year.

Check out the 25 Most Popular Diets of 2024* as determined by you, our readers.best diets 2013

1. Jillian Michaels

2. Skinny Fiber

3. Medifast

4. 17 Day Diet

5. Weight Watchers (more…)

Gwyneth Paltrow Promotes $425 GOOP Cleanse

In January, when people are dieting and exercising their way back into their skinny jeans, dietary cleanses that promise quick, effective weight loss can be tempting. In today’s edition of her GOOP newsletter, actress and health aficionado Gwyneth Paltrow promoted her new The GOOP Cleanse by Clean kit, which retails at $425.

The cleanse program instructs you to drink a special protein shake for breakfast, eat a balanced meal for lunch, a protein shake for dinner and take GOOP “clean” supplements throughout the day. Though popular cleanses like The Blueprint Cleanse, The Master Cleanse and The Zen Cleanse purport a number of health benefits, doctors have told Hollywood Life that there is no “scientific proven” value to cleanses.

While the cleanse kit is designed to give your digestive system a break, eliminate toxins, rebuild beneficial bacteria and give you more energy, NYC internist Dr. Robert Bos said that there is no medical evidence that your digestive system needs a break. (more…)

The Four Rules of Food Safety

Food safety isn’t a very glamorous topic; however, amid the more recent food recalls, being food safe is incredibly important.

For most individuals, food safety means washing your hands – a lot! Yet there is much more to food safety than simple hand washing procedures. As the holidays rapidly approach, getting food safe can be a critical component in keeping your loved ones healthy and happy. Don’t let them be one of the hundreds of thousands of people who get sent to the hospital each year due to food poisoning.

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Popular Cleanses and Detox Diets: Healthy vs. Hype

Yellow Juice in a glass with lemonAs the weather warms and more skin starts to show, the promise of quick weight-loss makes cleanse diets and liquid fasts all the more appealing. But can a cleanse really deliver other health benefits? Most cleanses promise to flush out built-up wastes, rid the body of toxins and promote weight loss. However, many cleanses go even further, claiming that they will help you think better, get sick less often, have more energy, suffer from fewer allergy symptoms and sleep better. Can drinking a special juice really deliver on such high promises? Here’s a run-down on some of the most popular cleanses, accompanied by expert health opinions.

The Master Cleanse

Also known as the “maple syrup diet” or the “lemonade diet,” the Master Cleanse remains one of the most popular cleansing systems. It was created by alternative medical practitioner Stanley Burroughs in 1941, and consists of water, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and maple syrup, all mixed together into a kind of lemonade. Burroughs promoted the plan in his 1976 book, The Master Cleanser, but there are also a number of sites that detail how to best do the detox, plus different strategies of how to “ease in” and “ease out” of the cleanse. In the 1974 text, Burroughs recommends following this diet for a minimum of 10 days.

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Get in Your Workout While Giving Back

The holidays are a time for caring about others and giving back, but if you can indulge your charitable spirit and reap a few benefits yourself, all the better, right?

Check out some ways you can lend a helping hand to others while doing your health a favor.

Walk dogs at a dog shelter. There are many more dogs at shelters than workers, so lend a hand and take a few pups with you on your morning stroll. The dogs will get some much needed human interaction and exercise right along with you, and the animal shelter would love the help. Dogs make the perfect fitness buddies, and who knows? You just may find your new best friend.

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Gwyneth Paltrow’s “Clean” 3-Week Detox Diet

gwyneth paltrow From the Master Cleanse to the all-juice fasts, detox diets are as popular as the celebrities that swear by them. So when uber-star Gwyneth Paltrow discussed how her 3-week Clean detox diet created by Dr. Alejandro Junger, who has also authored a book by the same name, many of us put down our glasses of cayenne pepper, maple syrup and lemon water and listened.

A health devotee in addition to being a mother, wife, actress, and writer for her very own GOOP blog, Gwyneth used this 3-week detoxification to get rid of a few extra pounds and lighten up all around. After 21 days of sipping raw juices and gently noshing on watercress, miso soup and raspberry and rice milk smoothies, the Academy Award-winning actress professed to feeling “pure, happy and much lighter.” (more…)