Diet Planning For Success

Tips to Take Off Pounds

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:40:40 PDT

For more than 50 years, Prevention's been creating, collecting, and perfecting advice to help you slim down. That's because we want you to look and feel good about yourself.

By achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, you can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer, back pain, joint problems, and more. In other words, you can maximize all the goodies that life has to offer! Here's our best advice to get you where you want to be.

10 Reasons to Lose Weight
1. Live to see your grandchildren, great-grandchildren—even great-great-grandchildren

2. Be able to romp with all those kids

3. Keep your mind sharp

4. Increase your energy level

5. Protect your immunity

6. Reduce your risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and stroke

7. Manage menopause more easily

8. Reduce stress

9. Breathe easier

10. Feel fabulous!

10 Foods That Fill You Up
These foods will fill you up with the fewest calories:

# Potatoes
# Fish
# Oatmeal
# Oranges
# Apples
# Whole wheat pasta
# Grapes
# Air-popped popcorn
# Bran cereal
# Soup

10 Fun Ways to Burn Calories
Here's a list of activities with the calories you'll burn per hour doing them.
# Jumping rope, 544
# Roller-skating, 476
# Bicycling, 408
# Swimming, 408
# Hopscotching with the kids, 340
# Ballroom dancing, 296
# Coaching your kid's soccer team, 272
# Paddling a canoe, 238
# Walking in the woods, 238
# Playing Frisbee, 204

(Calorie figures based on a 150-lb person)

10 Easy Ways to Flatten Your Belly
1. Eat a bowl of raspberries. Packed with fiber, they fight constipation (that can swell your midsection like a balloon).

2. Drink lots of water. It's filling, calorie-free, and keeps your metabolism running in high gear.

3. Skip the cocktails. Sure, alcohol may be fat-free, but it's loaded with calories. It can also raise your levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that helps your belly store fat.

4. Sit up straight. Hunching forward makes your belly look bigger. For a slimming effect that actually trains the stomach-supporting muscles to stay taut, sit with your shoulders back, chin up, and lower back supported against the chair.

5. Plant a garden. All the bending, lifting, and twisting help shape your middle, and you'll burn about 350 calories an hour.

6. Move your hips. Hula hooping works on the same calorie-burning, waist-whittling principle as gardening—but with less dirt.

7. Hit the greens. Ditching the golf cart earns you a walking workout; whacking the ball tones and tightens your midriff.

8. Get a leg up. Crunches with your legs off the floor tone the upper portion of your ab muscles. Lie on your back with your legs propped up on a bed or chair. Curl up slowly, raising your head, shoulders, and upper back off the floor, then slowly lower. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, two or three times a week.

9. Reverse that crunch. To tighten your tummy from a different angle, lie on the floor with your arms at your sides, feet off the floor, and your legs and knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Contract your abdominals and press your back into the floor, lifting your hips about 2 to 4 inches off the floor. Hold, then lower. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, two or three times a week.10. Do crossover crunches. To work the muscles that define your waistline (the obliques), lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place your right ankle on your left knee and your hands behind your head, elbows pointing out. Lifting your head and upper back off the floor, twist, and bring your left shoulder toward your right knee. Hold, then slowly lower. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, then repeat to the other side. Do two or three times a week.

What an Opportunity!
Seek out new ways to be active—investigate a mountain vacation that involves hiking, or start viewing a chore such as raking the leaves as a great workout.

All-Time Best Recipe
Readers told us again and again how great this smoothie is for curbing cravings.

Classic Smoothie Recipe
Mix the following ingredients in a blender until smooth. Feel free to experiment, adding a touch of vanilla, cinnamon, or your other favorite flavors to taste.
# 1 cup fat-free milk (or soy milk)
# 1/2 frozen banana or 1/2 cup frozen mango slices
# 1 teaspoon sugar
# 1 cup frozen fruit (We recommend strawberries, pineapple chunks, or blueberries.)

Per shake (approximate): 220 cal, 1 g fat, 4 mg chol, 5 g fiber, 130 mg sodium

10 Smartest Ways to Slim Down
1. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Skipping meals can set you up for bingeing. Studies show that people who spread their food intake throughout the day eat fewer calories.

2. Pack snacks. Whether you're at the mall, in the car, or at work, keep yourself armed with healthy snacks to help you resist fat-and-calorie-laden temptations from vending machines and fast-food joints.

3. Team up. Enlisting the help of a partner or friend can boost your motivation and help you stay on track.

4. Start writing. Keeping a food or exercise log not only helps chart your progress, but it's also a great way to spot minor slips in your routine before they become major problems.

5. Compliment yourself. Treat you as you treat those you love. Focus on your successes, not failures—and give yourself a pat on the back each day.

6. Get moving. Whether you walk, run, bike, or swim, aerobic exercise is key to weight loss success. Work up to doing at least 45 minutes, 5 or more days a week.7. Be a little selfish. You need to make time for yourself if you want to achieve your goal.

8. Have two helpings. Filling your plate with two kinds of vegetables, not just one, ups your nutritional intake and leaves less room on your plate for fatty foods.

9. Take one bite at a time. "Mindful eating," which involves concentrating on taste and sensation to make each mouthful an event, maximizes your food satisfaction and minimizes the odds of overeating.

10. Lift weights. Resistance training builds muscles, which boost the number of calories that your body burns throughout the day—making weight loss easier. Aim for two or three workouts a week.

I Can Do It
Instead of saying, "My weight loss efforts haven't worked before; they probably won't work now," tell yourself, "That's enough. I can do anything that I put my mind to." Create a new sound track in your head.

Keep Low-Cal Cooking Quick & Easy
Stock your kitchen with these low-fat, low-calorie staples, and eating right will be a cinch:
# Fresh garlic
# Butter-flavored cooking spray
# Canned beans: Kidney, black, and navy are stellar fiber sources; rinse first to remove some of the sodium.
# Fat-free chicken broth: Keep a can on hand to whip up an easy vegetable soup (add frozen veggies) or mashed potatoes so flavorful that you won't miss the butter.
# Water-packed tuna
# Grated low-fat cheese
# Instant grain dishes: Think couscous, tabbouleh, even boil-in-bag rice.
# Zesty spices: Chili powder, red-pepper flakes, and curry blends add salt-free zip to recipes. They're great as toppings for air-popped popcorn too.
# Canned mandarin oranges: They're a creative addition to salads and simple desserts, especially when your fresh fruit supply runs low or is out of season.
# A pack of pitas or tortillas: Use them as sandwich wraps, or cut them into wedges and bake to make your own low-fat chips.

10 Snacks Less Than 175 Calories

1. Half of a whole grain bagel: spread with jam or low-fat cream cheese

2. One almond, one date: Stuff the former into the latter for satisfying sweetness and nutty crunch.

3. Baby carrots: Eat a handful with a creamy dip (mix 1/4 cup salsa with 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream).

4. Whole wheat pretzels (1 1/2 oz): A bona fide snack food that's not junk food.

5. Banana: Portable, peelable, and around 100 calories.

6. Sweet potato: If you think of it only as a side dish to a meal, you're missing out on a great snack. Baked and cooled, it's a delicious alternative to fruit.

7. A cup of instant bean soup: Fiber-packed and filling—just add water!8. Whole grain cereal: Low-fat, low-sugar choices such as Cheerios or Wheat Chex aren't just for breakfast. Slip 1/2 cup into a plastic bag to eat when you're on the go.

9. Low-fat string cheese (2 oz): The perking power of protein and the rich bite of cheese—without all that nasty fat.

10. Lions and tigers and bears: Oh my—animal crackers weigh in at only 12 calories each.

Cave In to a Chocolate Craving
You can say "yes!" to these chocolate cravings for less than 200 calories.

1. M&Ms (1 oz): A melt-in-your-mouth favorite, with only 140 calories

2. Haagen-Dazs chocolate sorbet (1/2 cup): Intense flavor at only 120 calories (and zero fat!).

3. Hershey's chocolate syrup (2 table-spoons): At 100 calories and no fat, it's a virtuous topping for fruit or angel food cake.

4. Chocolate truffle (1): Savoring the flavor of a small portion of the food you really crave can prevent you from pigging out on poor substitutes.

5. Chocolate mousse (1/2-cup serving): Prepare instant chocolate pudding with 1% milk, and fold in low-fat whipped topping.

6. Hot chocolate (1 cup): Make it yourself with fat-free milk and chocolate syrup, or just add water to an envelope of low-cal instant.

7. Chocolate tortilla roll-ups (1): Spray a large tortilla with butter-flavored cooking spray, and sprinkle with ground cinnamon, sugar, and cocoa. Cut into quarters. Roll each quarter from the pointed end around a thick-handled kitchen utensil, seal the overlap with egg white, and bake seam-down at 350°F for 10 minutes. Cool, and fill with low-fat vanilla yogurt.

8. Hershey's Kisses (7): This handful has a combined 175 calories.

9. Low-fat mocha latte (1 cup): Use chocolate-flavored coffee topped with 1% milk that you've whisked into a froth. Dust with real cocoa powder.

10. Low-fat chocolate chip cookies: Three of these traditional favorites are about 150 calories.

There's No Magic Number
Don't measure your success solely by the number on the scale. Your weight will naturally fluctuate by a couple of pounds some days. Give yourself a weight range of 5 to 10 pounds to allow for these changes. Use other methods, such as your clothes or tape measurements, to track your progress.

Seven Ways to Break Up Exercise Boredom
1. Change your venue. Bored to tears by your treadmill workout? Take a walk outside instead. Your after work routine has become too routine? Get up earlier. Changing where or when you exercise, even if you're doing the same activity, is a great way to change your outlook.

2. Find fun exercise. Investigate sports and hobbies that enhance your activity level. Backpacking, mountain biking, kayaking, even bowling can all burn calories—but they don't feel like workouts.

3. Act their age. Join the kids for a game of backyard touch football or tag. Capitalize on their infectious energy.

4. Make a date. Treat exercise as social time by pairing up with a friend or your spouse. By committing to someone else, you'll be less likely to skip your workout.

5. Count backwards. Ever notice how your trip back from a great destination seems shorter than your trip there? Apply that principle to exercise by counting reps backwards—from 10 to 1, instead of 1 to 10.

6. Lend a hand. Support causes such as breast cancer, AIDS, or multiple sclerosis by doing fund-raising walks, bike rides, or runs. Beyond the exercise, you'll feel good about what you're doing, as well as fortunate to have a healthy body to do it.

7. Gear up. Add a new twist to your routine with equipment such as a heart rate monitor or pedometer. Tracking your workouts with these types of devices keeps things interesting.

One Slip Up Won't Stop Me
If you've fallen off the weight loss wagon, stop feeling like a failure; focus on the challenge ahead. The sooner you climb back on, the sooner you'll see the results!

Don't Let Stress Make You Fat
Next time you've had a bad day at work or a fight with your spouse, or are just being pulled in too many directions, try one of these stress busters instead of raiding the fridge:

1. Get out in nature. The gentle swaying of windblown trees or the meandering of a stream can slow body rhythms that have built to a stress-induced peak.

2. Take the slow road. Hopping in the car to run errands may seem practical, but traffic's another stressor. Bike or walk whenever you can. If you must drive, don't jockey for position. Chill out in the right-hand lane.

3. Turn on the stereo. Soothing music has been shown to ease anxiety and lower blood pressure and heart rate, even under superstressful conditions.

4. Get up and dance. Besides being great exercise, it releases endorphins, your body's mood-elevating chemicals that help erase stress.

5. Savor silence. Even a total of 10 to 15 minutes of quiet time per day helps you eliminate the buzz in your brain and experience some serenity.

6. Laugh out loud! Humor can actually inoculate against anxiety: One study found that people who watched an episode of Seinfeld before tackling a stressful task didn't show the spikes in blood pressure and heart rate that their humorless study counterparts did.

There's Always Another Way
Accept substitutions: If the late hour won't allow you to work out at the gym, don't give up on exercise that day. Take a walk around the neighborhood, pop in an exercise video, or do lunges around the kitchen as you cook dinner.

Strategies to Avoid Emotional Eating

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:40:41 PDT

The holidays can be stressful... and unfortunately, many people reach for food as comfort. If you find yourself regularly eating in response to stress, anxiety, sadness, boredom, anger, loneliness, relationship problems, or poor self-esteem, try to break the habit with some of my strategies below.

* Learn to recognize your hunger. Before you automatically pop something into your mouth, rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 5 -- 1 being ravenous and 5 being full. Make every effort to avoid eating when your hunger is a 4 or a 5.

* Find alternatives to eating. Make a personal list of activities you can do instead of eating. Perhaps go for a walk, call a friend, listen to music, take a hot shower/bath, exercise, clean your house, polish your nails, surf the Internet, schedule outstanding appointments, watch television, look through a photo album, etc.

* Keep a food journal. Logging your food will help to identify your toughest timeframes. It also will make you accountable... so perhaps you'll be less apt to reach for unnecessary food.

* Three-food interference. Make the commitment to first eat three specific healthy foods before starting on caloric comfort foods (i.e., an apple, handful of baby carrots and a yogurt). If after that, you still want to continue with your comfort foods, give yourself permission. However, most of the time, the three foods are enough to stop you from moving on.

* Exercise regularly. Daily exercise relieves stress and puts you in a positive mindset, which provides greater strength to pass on the unhealthy fare.

* Get enough sleep. Research shows that sleep deprivation can increase hunger by decreasing Leptin levels, the appetite regulating hormone that signals fullness. With adequate sleep, you'll also be less tired and have more resolve to fight off the urge to grab foods for comfort.

Diet Myths Exposed: Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:38:29 PDT

Here are more facts about common diet myths…

* Exercise in the morning burns more calories.

Studies show that people who exercise in the morning tend to be more consistent with their daily workouts. However, exercising in the morning does not actually burn more calories than exercising later in the day.

* Dairy is bloating.

Dairy is only bloating for people with lactose intolerance… and in some instances, for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). For people without lactose intolerance or dairy specific IBS, low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese should not cause bloating.

* You can “save” calories by skipping breakfast.

Studies report that breakfast eaters weigh less than breakfast skippers (obviously, it has to be a healthy breakfast). Plus, breakfast skippers tend to overeat after dinner.

* Colonics help you lose weight.

Colonics simply dehydrate you -- you may weigh less, but it’s mainly water weight NOT fat weight. Lost water weight typically comes right back on after a few glasses of fluid.

* Weight lifting makes you bulky.

Appropriate weight lifting will not make you bulky (unless that’s your goal and your program takes this into consideration). Light weight lifting helps to increase lean body mass, which helps you burn more calories 24-7. In the end it will help you lose weight and enable you to eat more.

* The scale is your absolute best indicator of weight loss.

Checking your weight loss progress on a scale is certainly simple and encouraging (depending upon the outcome!). However, there are other effective ways to track your progress: take body measurements with a tape measure, test body fat, compare personal photos, and assess the fit of your clothing.

Get more facts about diet myths in Diet Myths Exposed: Part 1.

Diet Myths Exposed: Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:37:04 PDT

The following diet myths come up over and over again at my nutrition center. My next two blog entries will help set the record straight. Hope you find this helpful!

* If you eat late at night, the food turns straight into fat.

Not true.If your overall calories are appropriate for weight loss, you certainly can eat something after dinner. Late night calories will ultimately get used the next day (and even while you sleep).

However, for the sake of energy, it is always better to eat your calories during the day when your body needs the fuel. Plus, eating consistently throughout the day will stabilize blood sugar levels -- so you’ll feel energized and experience fewer cravings. If you are going to snack after dinner, I suggest choosing something 250 calories or less.

* Fresh fruits and vegetables are more nutritious than frozen.

Not necessarily. Frozen can be a great produce option (just avoid varieties with added salt, sugar, and sauce). Frozen foods are picked in the peak of ripeness, then frozen. You can eat them as you need them -- and most of the nutrients are locked in. On the other hand, fresh fruit and vegetables are typically harvested before they ripen, and can have nutrient variability. Also, the longer fresh produce sits around in your fridge, the less nutrients it will contain.

Bottom line: Buy both fresh and frozen and eat as much as you can.

* Cravings are your body's way of telling you it needs something.

This has never been proven. You normally crave what you like to eat (or smell or see someone else eating). Also, hormonal changes are sometimes responsible for food cravings. Ice cream and pickles anyone?

* Any type of water is always better than soda.

No. There are a few caloric waters with sexy marketing ploys. In fact, some brands have quite a bit of sugar. Always check labels.

* Certain foods, like grapefruit, celery, or cabbage soup can burn fat and make you lose weight.

These are anecdotal stories that have no scientific back up. It’s true these foods are low in calories, but they do NOT actually burn fat.

Learn the facts about more diet myths in: Diet Myths Exposed: Part 2

Busted! 5 Major Eating Mistakes

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:34:45 PDT

Ever get the guilty feeling that you're being watched as you toss the double fudge brownie mix into your grocery cart? Well, you are! We checked with some of the top US nutrition experts, who admitted they secretly spy on the rest of us as we make real-world choices in restaurants and grocery stores. Here are their top five gripes.

1. We can't tell the good fats from the bad ones.
"Most people still don't get that some fats are actually good for you," says Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, an American Heart Association spokesperson. "You want to avoid saturated and trans fats, but you need more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Good sources are fish, nuts, avocados, and soybean and canola oils."

Smarter: Fit in good fats. "If you keep track of total calories, you don't have to worry about how much fat you eat, just what kind," explains Dr. Lichtenstein. Grandpa Po's Slightly Spicy Nutra Nuts use only canola oil (160 cal, 10 g fat, 1 g sat. fat, 2 g fiber, 60 mg sodium); at healthy food supermarkets.

2. We supersize to save money.
"People think that supersizing a restaurant meal is a money saver, but it's not a health bargain if it has way too many calories," says Karen Weber Cullen, DPH, RD, research nutritionist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Smarter: Judge with your palm, not your purse. A serving size is about what fits into the palm of your hand (larger for men than women, smaller for children). For most meals, pick one protein, one starch, one veggie, and one fruit based on the serving that will fit into your palm.

3. We think anything liquid has no calories.
"What freaks me out is the amount of sugared soda and juice we drink," says Judith Stern, ScD, RD, professor of nutrition and internal medicine at the University of California, Davis. "I'd like to see all the sugared drinks sent out into space, where they could orbit the Earth forever." Sugared drinks balloon your calorie intake and squeeze out more nutritious foods.

Smarter: Try a cup of tea. Available in myriad varieties, the calorie-free brew promotes heart health, staves off several types of cancer, strengthens bones and teeth, and protects the skin.

4. We don't know how "hungry" really feels.
"If you don't know when you're hungry, you don't know when you're full, so you won't know when to stop eating," says Elisabetta Politi, RD, nutrition manager of the Duke University Diet & Fitness Center in Durham, NC.

Smarter: Tune in with mindful eating. Here's how.
1. Before you eat, relax, and rate your hunger from 1 (hungriest) to 7 (fullest).
2. Eat slowly, pausing often to rate how your hunger changes.
3. When finished, rate yourself one more time. Try to stay between 2 1/2 and 5 1/2: not too ravenous when you start and not completely full when you stop.

5. We have a microwave addiction.
Many women come home from work and pop a frozen entrée into the microwave. "Eating too many heavily processed foods can leave you short on fiber and antioxidants such as vitamin C," explains Jo Ann Hattner, RD, clinical dietitian at Stanford University Medical Center.

Smarter: Complement a frozen entrée with a green salad, a 100 percent whole wheat roll, and fruit for dessert. Stock up on the freshest fruit for maximum flavor.

Get Sexy, Sculpted Arms for Summer

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:40:31 PDT

Now that it's warming up, it's time to break out the hard bodies. Let's start nice and slow and begin with our arms. For a lot of us, our "wings" have been behind long sleeves, sweaters, and jackets, and they need a little love. You don't have to go to the gym, however, to work on your arms. (If you are a member of a gym then you can just add these moves to your workout.)

I am a big believer in doing multi-joint, multi-muscle moves, but for vanity's sake lets just focus on the arms. In case you didn't know, the tricep (jiggley part on the back of the arm) takes up 2/3 of your upper arm. So for all you bicep-minded boys out there, if you want real mass, focus on your tri's. For the ladies out there who do the wiggle test, tricep exercises are your friend.

While you're sculpting the back of your arms, why not work on your posture by doing rear delt (shoulder) and back moves to pull your back straight up since everything in we do in life hunches us forward (driving, computers, stress, gravity, etc). Use these exercises to pull your body upright -- it's not only good for your health, but good posture is sexy in and of itself.

I want you to do a circuit of these moves. So do one set of 8-12 reps for each move, and then move onto the next exercise without stopping. When you've completed all 8 exercises, begin again at the top of the list. Start with two times around the circuit, then work your way up to three and four rounds. No dilly-dallying or waiting around. This is meant to be done at an efficient and non-stop pace to keep the calories burning.

If you can get this workout done 3 to 4 times a week, you will see the changes quickly.

1. Dip into a bridge

I love this move! It was shown to me by the great trainer Adam Friedman. Sit on a bench or chair with your hands flat on the seat next to your hips and and your legs touching the floor a foot or two in front of you. Then extend your body away from the chair and lower your upper body down toward the floor, engaging the triceps in a dip. Then with your feet together and glued to the floor, push your hips up until your torso is parallel to the floor, making a bridge. Engage your glutes (butt muscle). Slowly lower your hips, push up with your arms and move backward until you are seated on the chair. That's one rep. This move is two exercises for the price of one. Squeeze at the top of both moves (tricep, then legs and butt).

2. Bicep curl to shoulder press

Hold a weight in each hand, arms at your sides. Then curl the weight up to shoulder level engaging your biceps, and press the weights all the way up toward the ceiling overhead. Pause at the top before slowly lowering the weight while bending your arms, pausing at shoulder level, back down to your sides. That's one rep. Make sure you don't swing your weight or allow it to drop suddenly on the way down from the press. It's a controlled motion. I would rather see you use less weight and have perfect form.

3. Push ups

If you can't do the traditional way then go down to your knees. It's imperative to keep your spine and neck angle straight (don't drop your neck or let your lower back sag). Don't use momentum but control the move from top to the bottom to get maximum benefit.

4. Standing squat dumbbell row

This exercise is great for legs, abs, and back. Stand with your feet at least shoulder-width apart, arms out in front at shoulder level with a dumbell in each hand. Sit down in a squat, engaging your abs to keep your back straight (even though you are slightly bent over) and pull your arms toward your body in a rowing motion. The weights should end up at your side with elbows behind you. Slowly stand up and return arms to the starting position. This is one rep.

5. Dumbbell kickbacks

Another one for the back of the arm. With legs shoulder width apart again, lean over at the waist, keeping arms straight by your side until your upper body is at angle to the floor. Bend at the elbow while curling the weight toward your bicep, then push the weights back and down to straight. Squeeze the tricep muscle at the top of the move. Be careful not to swing the weight and keep your elbows in a fixed position close to your body. You will work the legs again since you are in a mini-squat again.

6. 21's

This is a series of bicep curls broken down into two stages. Start with arms down by sides, weight next to legs. Curl up to the half-way mark (arms are now parallel to the floor) and back down 7 times in a row. Then from the half-way mark to the top of the curl 7 times. Finish with 7 reps at the full range of motion for a total of 21 reps.

7. Dumbbell chest press

Lay on your back with your legs and arms straight up, perpendicular to the floor, with a dumbell in each hand. Lower the weights while bending your arms out to the side in an L-shape until elbows touch the floor. Then push the weights back up while contracting your chest and triceps. That's one rep. Your leg position activates the abs while your arms do the work. If you want to challenge yourself more then do one arm at a time leaving the resting arm in the air.

8. Bent over, rear delt flies

Sit in a squat, slightly bent over at the waist, back straight and arms out in front. Pull your arms back until they are straight out to the side, perpendicular to your body, keeping them slightly bent at the elbow, while contracting your upper back and shoulder muscles. Return arms to front position for one rep. This works those rear deltoids in your upper back and balances out the front shoulders muscles, which are often overworked. This move is also good for posture.

That's it! Once you do the 8 moves, get some water and start again at the top. Really feel the muscles (even if you don't see them yet), and get into your body. Believe me, you will see those arms shaping up in no time. From a sweater, to a T-shirt, then tank top and bathing suit. Oh yes!

Good Luck,

Kick-Start Your Workout

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:37:44 PDT

One you'll do! When I want quick results, I do interval training. Research shows that vigorous bouts of aerobic exercise followed by easier ones, or mixing cardio intervals with strength training (as I do here), burns tons more calories in less time than if you were to work out at a steady intensity.

Intervals supercharge your metabolism, so you burn calories all day long. And constantly switching from one move to the next keeps things interesting.

The following program combines kicks, jumps, and squats. It really works your hips, thighs, and buns, so you tone and trim inches at the same time.

Your Toning Program
Beginner: Do 30 seconds of each of the five exercises; repeat the entire sequence four times for a total of 10 minutes.

Advanced: Do 1 minute of each exercise; repeat the entire sequence four times for a 20-minute fat-blasting routine.

Do three to five times a week.

1. Front Kicks
Stand with your feet apart, left foot in front, and hands in loose fists in front of your chin, palms facing each other.

Keeping your abs tight, lean your weight into your left leg. Lift your right knee to waist height, and kick your lower leg straight out in front of you as high as is comfortable. (It's a quick but controlled movement.) Keep your left (standing) leg slightly bent. Immediately bring your right leg back down. Do 5 to 10 kicks, then switch to your left leg.

2. Travel Squats
Stand with your feet together, arms at your sides. Step your left foot out to the side. As you land, sit back, bending at your knees and hips. Don't let your knees move forward over your toes. Raise your arms in front of you as you sit back.

Squeeze your butt, and press through your heels to stand back up. As you do, step your right foot in to meet your left foot. Then step your left foot out to the side as you squat once again. Do 3 or 4 squats to the left, then go to the right.

3. Do jumping jacks

4. March in place, or jog

5. Side Kicks
Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width and your left foot turned out about 45 degrees. Hold your hands in loose fists in front of your chin, or rest your left hand on a chair for balance. Lean to the left, and cock your right hip up. For a printer-friendly version of all steps click below.

Lift your right knee. Then, without lowering it, kick your lower leg out to the side. Keep your abdominals tight, your left (standing) leg slightly bent, and your right foot flexed. Concentrate on kicking through your heel. Bend the knee back in, and bring your leg down. Do 5 to 10 kicks with your right leg, then switch to your left. Start low, gradually working up to higher, faster kicks.

Eat to Lose

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:46:44 PDT

The Prevention Reshape Your Body plan incorporates easy food strategies you can follow for life. "Women succeed at weight loss when they get a handle on their portions and eat in a balanced way," says nutritionist Lisa Young, PhD, RD, who dished out the dietary advice for our program.

Her three key tips:

Get your protein.
Research shows that protein-rich foods such as fish, chicken, low-fat dairy, and lean meats can increase satiety, meaning they help you feel full longer. "Eat them with every meal, especially breakfast, to curb the urge to snack all day long," says Young.

Eat early.
Have breakfast, even if it's simply oatmeal or a hard-boiled egg. It jump-starts your metabolism and prevents late-day bingeing. Studies have found that dieters are most successful when they start their day with a meal.

Get a "hand-le" on portions.
"Most of us eat too much—period. To lose weight, you have to eat proper portions," says Young. Use your hand to measure.
Food How to measure
Meat, fish, poultry 3 ounces = palm of hand
Mixed nuts 1/4 cup = 1 layer on palm
Cereal/popcorn 1 cup = 2 cupped hands
Cooked pasta 1/2 cup = 1 rounded handful
Cheese 1 ounce = 1 thumb
Butter/oil 1/2 teaspoon = 1 fingertip

Weight Loss Tips

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:09:48 PDT

It is well known that obesity or being overweight is a growing epidemic among children, leading to increases in diabetes and other serious health effects. It is also well known what you have to do to lose weight, by eating less and exercising more. The problem is that it is hard to stay motivated to do these things.

And if it is hard for adults, you can expect that it is even harder for kids, who don't necessarily understand the negative health effects of being overweight.

Losing Weight

How do you help your children lose weight?

It can help to stick to the basics. Don't worry about counting calories and carbohydrates and fat grams. Instead, provide healthy meals and snacks and encourage regular physical activity.

Being a good role model is also important, starting when your kids are young. This can help the whole family to be healthy.

If your child is already overweight, you will likely have to make some changes to his diet. But this isn't as hard as you think. It doesn't have to involve counting every calorie that he eats and drinks, which can be especially hard when your kids are eating at school.

Instead, keep in mind that a pound is equal to about 3500 calories. So if your child is gaining an extra pound a week, he needs to cut his diet back by 3500 calories a week or 500 calories a day so that he doesn't gain any more weight.

Fortunately, most kids don't need to make such drastic changes to their diet. Your overweight teen is likely just gaining an extra 10-15 pounds a year, which would be equal to just 100 to 150 calories a day, about equal to a can of non-diet soda.

Stoping Weight Gain

An important first goal for most overweight kids is to simply stop gaining weight.

Using the method above, instead of counting all of your child's calories and trying to stay below some set goal, you can use the fact that he probably eats about the same number of calories each day to help him not gain any more weight.

So just figure out how much extra weight your child gained in the past year and adjust his diet to compensate for these extra calories. The change might be as simple as changing to non-fat milk, diet soda or a more healthy after school snack.

Keep in mind that this 'extra weight' is above what your child would be expected to normally gain each year.
Extra Weight Gained
Last Year Number of Calories to
Eliminate Each Day
1 pound

10 calories/day
5 pounds

50 calories/day
10 pounds

100 calories/day
15 pounds

150 calories/day
20 pounds

200 calories/day
25 pounds

250 calories/day
30 pounds

300 calories/day

Cutting back on the above number of calories each day should help your child to stop gaining weight. If your child is not very overweight and he hasn't finished puberty yet, then not gaining more extra weight might be not enough, as he gets taller and 'grows into' his weight.

Losing Weight

Again, not gaining any more extra weight is an important first goal, but many overweight kids also need to lose some weight.

You can use the same calculations to figure out how much more to cut your child's daily calories by to lose weight. So, once your child is at a stable weight and not gaining, if you want to help your child lose 5 pounds a year, cut his diet back by 50 calories a day. To lose 10 pounds, eliminate 100 calories a day, and so on.

If your child is still gaining weight, then you will have to cut more calories out of his diet. For example, if he has been gaining an extra 5 pounds a year and he needs to lose 10 pounds, then that is a total of 15 pounds that you need to compensate for. So he will need to cut back his diet by 150 calories a day.

Diet Analysis

Although you don't need to count calories each and every day and know where every fat gram is coming from, you do need to understand your child's diet to help him lose weight.

Some good questions to answer include:

* How many calories does your child get from the things he drinks?

* How many snacks does he eat?

* What are his portion sizes like?

* On average, how many calories does he get at each meal?

After you look closely at your child's diet for a few days or a week, you should be able to see patterns of where the extra calories come from. Cutting back on calories might be as easy as eliminating a bedtime snack, changing to diet drinks or low fat milk, or not super-sizing his portions.

Exercise

More exercise and being more active is another good way to stop gaining and losing weight. Instead of thinking about how to diet to decrease the number of calories your child is taking in, you could also think about how much exercise he needs to do to burn those calories.

So just like we said that you had to cut back your diet by 50 calories a day to lose 5 pounds a year, you could also exercise to burn an extra 50 calories a day and lose weight.

Or even better, do a combination of both.

How can children burn 50 calories a day exercising?

Your children should be able to burn 50-100 calories a day in 30-60 minutes of regular activities that children enjoy, such as walking, roller blading, bicyling, or playing baseball, basketball or soccer.

Older Kids and Adults

Younger children who are overweight have one big advantage. Since they are still getting taller, if they stop gaining weight, they I said before, they will often 'grow into' their weight.

Once a teen finishes going through puberty, to get thinner, he actually has to lose weight. The same principles discussed above work though for both older teens and adults.

Eat less or exercise more or do some combination of both.

This is not meant to minimize the difficulty of losing weight though. If losing weight were easy, there wouldn't be so many different exercise programs and diets. The popularity of so many diets, such as the Atkins diet, Weight Watchers, etc. and frequent advertising for 'easy' weight loss programs helps illustrate just how difficult losing weight is.

But these basic tips should give you a better understanding of what you need to try to do to help your child get to a more healthy weight. You can get more help from your pediatrician and/or a registered dietician.

Is Dieting OK For Kids?

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:04:54 PDT

Everyone has been on a diet. Does that sound strange? Well, it's true. A diet is simply the collection of the foods you regularly eat. But the word "diet" also can mean an attempt to lose weight by limiting calories or types of food.

You may know some adults and kids who worry about their weight and say they're going on a diet. You might wonder if you should be on a diet, too. But the majority of kids do not need to — and should not — diet this way. Why? Let's find out.

Dieting to Lose Weight
All foods and many drinks contains calories, a kind of energy. When someone diets to lose weight, the person is trying to eat fewer calories than the body uses. By doing this, the person may lose body fat and decrease his or her weight. Likewise, if a person eats more calories than the body uses, the person may gain weight.

Kids usually do not need to diet in this way. Unlike adults, kids are still growing and developing. During this time, kids need a variety of healthy foods to keep their bodies growing properly. Some kids are overweight, but even overweight kids often can improve their health simply by eating nutritious foods and being more active. Being overweight can cause health problems, but kids may hurt their health even more by doing something drastic, like skipping meals or deciding to eat only lettuce.

Who Needs to Diet?
Though some people may feel they weigh too much or too little, there is no perfect body shape. Some people have larger frames (bigger bones) and will always look bigger and heavier than people with smaller frames.

Talk to your doctor if you have questions about your weight. Your doctor can examine you and check your body mass index (BMI). That's a way of estimating how much body fat you have. If the doctor is concerned about your weight, he or she can recommend a couple of goals:

* for you to gain weight at a slower pace
* for you to maintain your current weight

For some kids, the doctor may recommend losing some weight, but this should be done with the doctor's help. Kids who need to lose weight may visit with a dietitian who can explain how to reduce calories safely while still getting all the necessary nutrients.

Dangerous Diets
Diets that don't include a variety of nutritious foods, or have too few calories, can be dangerous for kids. Some type of dangerous diets are called "fad diets," because a fad means something that's popular for a short while. Fad diets usually promise quick weight loss and require the person to follow a strict set of guidelines.

Some dangerous diets cut out entire categories of foods or require the person to eat just one thing, such as cabbage soup — yuck! The truth is there is no quick fix when it comes to weight loss. So pills, special drinks, all-liquid diets, and other gimmicks are poor choices, especially for kids. If someone offers you a diet pill or suggests you start having a magic milkshake that can make you thinner, tell them no! These diets can make people sick. They also usually end with the person regaining any weight that was lost.

Someone who is willing to take extreme steps to be thinner could have an eating disorder. These include anorexia nervosa (starving oneself) or bulimia nervosa (eating and then deliberately throwing up). They are serious conditions that need a doctor's attention.

Help for a Dangerous Dieter
If you know a friend or sibling who's following a dangerous diet, you need to tell an adult. You could turn to a parent, a teacher, or another adult you trust. You could also tell the person yourself that their eating habits are unhealthy, but you probably will need to get an adult involved, too.

It's not unusual for kids — or adults — to wish they were taller, or thinner, or that they could change something about their appearance. If you feel this way, talk to a parent or an adult you trust. You may need someone to help you understand these feelings and get a handle on whether your weight is a health concern.

The body changes that happen to kids during puberty include weight gain. This is normal, but it's a good idea to talk with your doctor about it if you or your parents have questions.

What Kids Can Do
So if kids don't need to diet, how can they stay a healthy weight? All kids can benefit from eating a balanced diet and getting plenty of physical activity.

Kids have a lot of choices when it comes to activity and exercise. Some like to play on sports teams or dance in troupes. Others may prefer to be more casual, riding their bikes or shooting hoops at the park. Just helping your parents rake leaves or clean the house is a kind of physical activity, though not as much fun as something like swimming! And it's a good idea to cut down on pastimes that aren't very active — such as watching TV or playing computer games.

Kids can also try to eat a variety of healthy foods. A balanced diet means that you don't eat the same thing every day and that you eat a mix of foods from different food groups. These include:

* fruits and vegetables
* milk and dairy products
* meat, nuts, and other protein-rich foods
* grains, especially whole-grain foods, such as whole-grain breads and cereals

This kind of diet helps your body by giving it the right nutrients. For instance, protein helps build your muscles and other body structures. Calcium helps your growing bones. And you need vitamins and other nutrients to keep your body working as it should. Fiber prevents constipation and carbohydrates give you energy, just to name a few.

Now that you understand more about diets, you can tell people you're on a very special one — a balanced, healthy diet just right for a kid!

Diets For Kids

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:00:19 PDT

Diet and nutrition for kids is a challenge. Most children are bombarded with persuasive and attractive advertising from a very young age. Most foods advertised tend to be high in sugar or salt and are often sponsored by colorful cartoon characters.

Children need to be given a choice and must be allowed to eat little and often.

Major Food Groups

Fats

There is no need for children to eat low-fat products. Fats are a necessary component of anyone’s diet. The issue with fat is that of moderation due to the higher calorie content of fats. Some of the more important fats required in childhood development are Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats.

Sources of omega-3 are tuna, salmon, sesame seeds, nuts, sardines. (Note that nuts are not suitable for very young children due to a choking risk.

Sources of omega-6 are Avocado, sunflower seeds, corn, almonds.

Protein

Protein is essential but needs to be moderated in children so as not to overload the kidneys. Good protein sources include; Eggs, milk, cheese, unflavored yogurts, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, fish, and even some grains such as oats and millet.

Carbohydrates

There is never any need to reduce carbohydrates in children and it should make up the biggest portion of their diets. Many children receive their carbohydrates from sugary juices, candies, processed breakfast foods, and many other snack foods.

Good carbohydrate choices include; Fruits, vegetables, bread, crackers, whole grain cereals, unsweetened muesli.

Weight Loss for Kids and Teenagers

Children who are overweight should never go on restrictive diets or even have foods restricted. Any approach should include the entire family and result in improving the diet of the parents as well as the children.

The program must address behavioral issues as well as nutritional issues.
PariPlan A healthy program that addresses parenting skills, busy families, and money other aspects that encompass weight management.
Trim Kids (book) A 12 week program suitable for children, pre-teens, and teenagers.

Slim Kids A smaller program aimed specifically at children.

Meal Plan Ideas for Kids

Breakfasts

* Low-sugar granola. Can be served with milk, chopped banana, or diluted fruit juice.
* Cup of cornflakes with chopped apple and/or chopped nuts.
* Scrambled eggs on toast, perhaps with plain yogurt and berries.
* Oatmeal with raisins.
* Baked beans on toast with a small glass of whole milk.

Lunches

* Baked potato with tuna.
* Shepherd’s pie and green vegetables.
* Macaroni cheese and green vegetables.
* Chicken and lentil soup.
* Pasta with ham and peas.
* Tuna sandwich

Dinners

* Omelet with green beans.
* Lamb with small new potatoes lightly roasted (not fried) in olive oil.
* Tuna with pasta bows and vegetables.
* Pita bread with chicken slices and sliced sweet red peppers.
* Salmon fillet with mashed potato and ratatouille.
* Chicken and mixed vegetable casserole.

Snacks

* Cup of plain popcorn (home-made).
* Fruit and unsalted mixed nuts.
* Cream cheese on oatcakes and grapes.
* Smoothie made of milk and red berries.
* Unsweetened nut butter (almond is popular with children) on toast.
* Sliced carrots and celery with avocado dip.
* Fresh fruit salad with oat pancake.

Metabolism: What You Can't Change

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:27:06 PDT

The following are the uncontrollable factors that affect our metabolism:

* Age -- Metabolism naturally slows about 5% per decade after age 40. That's mainly because as we get older, we tend to lose muscle and increase body fat. Lean muscle mass is more metabolically active than fat tissue. Thus, when you lose muscle, your metabolism slows.

* Gender -- Men generally have faster metabolisms than women because they're larger and naturally have less body fat. It's been estimated that men have 10 to 15% higher basal metabolic rates than women.

* Hypothyroidism -- An under active thyroid will slow down metabolism and ultimately lead to weight gain. Good news: A simple blood test can validate this condition and with proper medication, your metabolism will soon be back to normal.

* Genetics -- Some people are lucky enough to be born with speedy metabolisms, while others are not.

Supplements

So what about the over-the-counter supplements?

I do not recommend them. The ingredients that are effective tend to boost metabolism only slightly and can often be risky. High dose stimulants can make you jittery, increasing your heart rate and blood pressure.

The bottom line: The safest and most effective way to boost your metabolism is to eat an appropriate amount of food every 4 to 5 hours, incorporate lean protein with each meal, and exercise regularly!

In my next entry, I promise to discuss several positive things you can do to boost your metabolic rate. Stay tuned!

Five Ways to Rev Your Metabolism!

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:24:26 PDT

While it's true your metabolism naturally slows down by about 2 to 5% per decade after age 40, there are plenty of things you can do to fight back.

Exercise is key for immediate - and lasting - benefits.

* Engage in aerobic exercise 4 to 5 days a week: It's obvious that aerobic activities like running, brisk walking, swimming, and bike riding burn calories and increase metabolism while you're working out. But interestingly enough, several studies show that aerobic activities cause your metabolism to stay increased for a period of time after exercising.

* Work your muscles: Lifting weights and/or other strengthening activities like push-ups and crunches on a regular basis (at least 2 to 3 times each week) will boost your resting metabolism 24/7. That's because these activities build muscle, and muscle burns more calories than body fat. In fact, if you have more muscle, you burn more calories - even sitting still.

When it comes to food, keep your metabolism revved with these 3 tips:

* Eat enough food - at least 1,000 calories: Your body and metabolism thrive on food, so when you fast, crash-diet, or restrict calories below 1,000, your metabolism will slow down in a response to conserve energy.

* Eat every 4 to 5 hours: Because our bodies work hard to digest and absorb the foods we eat, your metabolism revs in response. This is called the thermic effect of food. Take full advantage and schedule meals and snacks every 4 to 5 hours.

* Incorporate lean protein with every meal: Eating any food creates a thermic effect and boosts metabolism after consumption. However, the consumption of protein has the absolute greatest metabolic boost when compared to carbohydrate and fat. Plus, eating the appropriate amount of protein will ensure you're able to maintain and build muscle mass (the more muscle mass you have, the greater your metabolism). The Daily Protein Requirements in grams for the average healthy person is approximately 50% of your weight in pounds (for example, if you weigh 140 pounds, you'll need 70 grams protein each day). Some of the best protein sources include: fish, chicken, turkey, lean sirloin steak, skim milk, nonfat yogurt, eggs and egg substitutes, tofu, lentils, and beans.

DASH Diet Has Extra Benefits for Women's Health

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:20:25 PDT

- MONDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- A diet that prevents and lowers high blood pressure has been linked to a reduced risk of heart failure in women, a new study finds.

"The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension [DASH] diet may contribute to prevention of heart failure in some cases because it effectively reduced blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol levels in clinical trials," wrote Emily B. Levitan, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues.

"This diet features high intake of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and whole grains, resulting in high potassium, magnesium, calcium and fiber consumption, moderately high protein consumption, and low total fat and saturated fat consumption," the authors added.

The researchers analyzed data from 36,019 Swedish women, aged 48 to 83, who did not have heart failure in 1997-1998 when they completed a questionnaire about their eating habits. During seven years of follow-up, 443 of the women developed heart failure, including 415 who were hospitalized and 28 who died of the condition, according to the report published in the May 11 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The 25 percent of women with the highest DASH diet scores had a 37 percent lower rate of heart failure than the 25 percent of women with the lowest DASH diet scores, the researchers found. Women within the top 10 percent of DASH diet scores had half the rate of heart failure of those with the lowest DASH diet scores.

Previous research has shown that the DASH diet cuts systolic (top number) blood pressure by about 5.5 mm Hg, a decrease that could lower the rate of heart failure an estimated 12 percent, Levitan noted in a news release from the journal. Lower levels of LDL cholesterol, the estrogen-like effects of some of the nutrients in the diet, and a decrease in oxygen-related cell damage may also contribute to reduced heart failure risk in those who eat the DASH diet.

Is This the Worst Drink on the Planet?

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:18:19 PDT

Recently, while poring over some research, I got a breathless call from my co-author buddy, Matt. “You won’t believe what I just found! Check this out. ”He sent me a link to a Baskin Robbins page, and what came up on my screen (gory details below - straight from their website) was a tower of nutritional insanity unmatched by any other beverage we’ve come across in our years of research.

“Instead of giving Socrates hemlock, they should have just forced him to drink one of these,” he said. “Could this 2,300-calorie liquid monstrosity be the worst drink on the planet?” We've seen a few 1000-calorie shakes, but this is twice as bad as anything we've ever seen.

The menu description may sound simple enough: “A blend of HEATH Bar Crunch and Jamoca® ice creams, chopped HEATH Bar pieces and caramel, topped with whipped cream and chopped HEATH Bar pieces.” But the ingredient list reveals a much more complicated story. Methyl paraben, propylene glycol, polysorbate 80: You’d need a degree in chemical engineering just to have a shot at cracking this brain-freezing code. All told, the list of ingredients runs seven inches and 73 ingredients long. Whatever happened to the days when a milkshake was just ice cream and milk?

As unsavory as this list of indecipherable emulsifiers, preservatives, and artificial flavorings may be, the most concerning part comes when you consider the sheer nutritional impact of this weapon of mass construction.

To give you some perspective, slurping up one 32-ounce Heath Shake is the caloric equivalent of eating 12 Krispy Kreme doughnuts, the saturated fat equivalent of scarfing 60 slices of bacon, and will give you the same sugar rush as working your way through 13 Haagen Dazs Vanilla and Almond ice cream bars.

The drink is part of Baskin Robbins “candy-bar madness” promotion — a deal struck with Hershey’s to any dairy derivative they can get their hands on with bite-size chunks of popular candies.

We put in a call to the company to check in on the product. They called us back to say they were discontinuing it at the end of May. For some tasty swaps for high-fat and high-calories drinks, click here.

And if you have your own list of food bombs, please add them in the comments section. Believe me, the food manufacturers are listening — and your opinion does matter.

Skinny Trimmings

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 01:36:01 PDT

Trying to slim down but can't bear the thought of giving up your daily dish of dulce de leche fro-yo? No problem. Too much deprivation is bad for dieters — trimming more than 500 calories a day can slow down your metabolism and trigger cravings intense enough to sabotage even the most valiant weight-loss efforts, according to Cynthia Sass, R.D., coauthor of Your Diet Is Driving Me Crazy. So the only question is: How fast do you want to lose the weight? Whether your goal is to shed a pound a week (the amount you can lose if you cut 500 calories a day) or a pound a month (if you cut 100), we've got the tricks and tips you need to kiss those extra pounds goodbye — without kissing off cake.

To Lose 1 Pound Per Week
Dodge dining-out disasters
Even your seemingly healthy grilled swordfish and vegetables can pack more calories and fat than a stick of butter. "Many restaurant meals contain up to 2 ounces of added oil [500 calories]," says Anita Jones, founder of the Healthy Dining Program, which analyzes the nutritional content of restaurant food. Pasta dishes are notorious: Oil is used throughout the cooking process and added to sauces and cooked noodles. Stick with steamed veggies and grilled, poached, or broiled lean protein (like poultry and fish), and ask the chef to prepare your dishes without oil. Or just cook meals at home instead of eating out.

Careful With That Cappuccino
Vanilla shots, caramel, sugar packets — they're not harmless just because they're in your cup of joe. A large white-chocolate mocha with whipped cream from Starbucks logs in at 630 calories (the whip alone has 100!). Get your sweet fix with two shots of sugar-free vanilla syrup in a medium cappuccino with soy or fat-free milk and kick 500 empty calories to the curb.

Dress Down
"Most entrée salads at restaurants are pre-dressed with 6 to 10 tablespoons of dressing," Jones says. "And most dressings have 70 to 100 calories per tablespoon and 7 to 10 grams of fat." That's an average of 680 calories just for the dressing (let's not even get into croutons and bacon bits). Order dressing on the side and dip into it sparingly with your fork between bites — you'll cut back to about 2 tablespoons (roughly 175 calories).

Lighten Up At Happy Hour
If it tastes sweet or has a salty rim, it's usually bad news — think cosmos, lemon drops, and appletinis. Most cocktails have 2 to 5 ounces of liquor. Add in 5 ounces of sugary syrups or mixers like cola, grenadine, and Midori and you can down more than 700 calories in just one drink. Stay away from Margaritaville (and below 100 calories) by pairing your liquor with diet or club soda. Or go for a bottle of light beer or a 5-ounce glass of chardonnay, which contain around 125 calories each. Sorry, Jimmy.

To Lose 1 Pound Every 2 Weeks
Cut Out 300 Calories A Day

HERE'S HOW
Be Tricky In The Kitchen
For leaner cuisine — and to save 115 calories — swap out that tablespoon of olive oil for canola or olive oil cooking spray. Sauté vegetables and fish with 1/4 cup of broth rather than 1 tablespoon of butter and trim 100 more. Replace the quarter cup of heavy cream in Alfredo and cheese sauces with the same amount of skim milk mixed with 2 tablespoons of flour — bam, another 150.

Switch Dishes
The larger the serving dish, the more you're likely to consume, according to recent research in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Downsize your ice cream bowl and serve that fettuccine on a 9-inch appetizer plate instead of a standard 11-inch dish — you can save up to 300 calories in a day, says Jenna Anding, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition and food science at Texas A&M University. Dining out? Cut your entreé in half and doggie-bag it as soon as your food arrives.

Skip The Sweet Swill
"One of the easiest ways to uncover hidden calories is to look at your beverage consumption," Sass says. American women get up to 300 more calories a day now than they did 30 years ago. At least half of those come from sweetened beverages like soda and fruit juice, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A 20-ounce bottle of Arizona Iced Tea has 240 calories — about as much as a small meal. Ditch the sports drinks, fruit punch, and Slurpees and get your produce nutrients from whole fruit instead of juice — a 1-pint carton of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice has 220 calories. An orange? About 35.

Pare Down Your PMS Picks
Forgo the cup of Ben & Jerry's for the same amount of low-fat ice cream. Slow-Churned Dreyer's Grand Light Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough has only 260 calories per cup. The B&J version? 540 calories. Yeah, we know that eating Ben & Jerry's is as close as any of us is likely to get to paradise on earth. So if you just can't live without the boys, mix 2 tablespoons into a cup of the skinnier stuff and you'll still save 250 calories.

To Lose 1 Pound Per Month
Cut Out 100 Calories A Day

HERE'S HOW
Buy Skinnier Bread
The calorie content in different brands can vary as wildly as Anna Nicole's "before" and "after" shots. For example, Milton's Healthy Whole Grain packs 90 calories a slice, while Sara Lee Delightful Wheat weighs in at just 45. Switch brands and you cut your sandwich calories by 90. Better yet, wrap your cold cuts in lettuce — a big leaf of romaine has only 10 calories.

Trade Up Your Toppings
Swap the half-cup of guacamole on your burrito for an equal amount of salsa and spare yourself 150 calories. Get the same savings by using salsa in place of the sour cream on your baked potato and the mayo on your wrap. Other tricks of the topping trade: Swap Gorgonzola for grated Parmesan, dip vegetables into hummus instead of ranch dressing, and sprinkle salads with lightly toasted pecans rather than oil-soaked croutons.

Turn Off The Tube
We know Laguna Beach reruns can be just as tempting as tiramisu, but too many hours in front of your plasma screen can wreak havoc on your waistline. Researchers from Georgia State University found that people took in up to 130 more calories on days when they ate in front of the TV than on days when they left the remote alone.

Spritz Up Your Vino
Mix 3 ounces of club soda with 3 ounces of wine and your drink will have about 60 calories. If you usually have two glasses of Shiraz, substituting the bubbly stuff will save you about 120 calories. An added bonus: Research shows that moderate drinking (one drink daily for women) may increase levels of leptin, a natural hormone that curbs the appetite for sweets.

Camouflage Your Candy
A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that office workers who kept candy within reach in a clear dish ate three times as much as those who kept it farther away in an opaque container. That's a 150-calorie difference. If you've gotta have a Godiva stash, make sure it's out of sight and that you have to work (at least a little) to get to it.

Bulk Up
Eating low-cal, fiber-rich foods before a meal — think fruits, vegetables, and broth-based soups — can help reduce your total calorie intake. A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that women who ate a 100-calorie salad before their meal consumed 12 percent less — 107 fewer calories — overall (salad included) than those who skipped the leafy appetizer. Make your first course a cup of veggie soup or 2 cups of mixed salad with reduced-fat cheese and fat-free dressing. Now get chopping!

127 Foods That Fight Fat

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 01:26:34 PDT

Weight loss starts with shopping. Taking control of what you eat begins with taking control of what you buy. Every time you toss a low-calorie food into the cart, you're taking responsibility for losing weight—even before you sit down to a meal.

There's a very simple formula for low-calorie eating: Stock up on low-calorie staples. These are the basic packaged, canned, and frozen ingredients that you'll reach for to create tasty, healthful, low-calorie meals anytime.

The Picture Perfect Anytime List is a menu of the lowest-calorie produce, soups, sauces, condiments, marinades, dressings, dips, candies, desserts, and beverages available. Stuff your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer with them, and reach for them anytime. Feel free to go to the foods on the Anytime List when you want a snack or are planning a meal. Eat any amount of them for any reason. When the Anytime List becomes the core of your eating—in other words, the main dish around which you build your meals—you'll have no trouble staying thin for life.

The Anytime List
Fruits and vegetables
All fruits and vegetables—raw, cooked, fresh, frozen, canned—belong on the Picture Perfect Anytime List. Avoid any packaged fruits that have added sugar. Otherwise, the more fruits and vegetables you eat, the better.

Soups
You've heard of value for your money. Soups give you very good value for the calories. They are filling; a bowl of soup can be an entire meal. They are satisfying. For many people, they are more satisfying than raw vegetables, while many give you all the benefits of veggies (if you choose the soups chock full of vegetables). They are inexpensive, convenient, easy, and quick to make. Soups don't make you feel like you're on a diet. Above all, soups are versatile. They can serve as a snack, as part of a meal, or as a cooking ingredient.

Sauces, Condiments, and Marinades
Put the following items at the very top of your shopping list. They're invaluable for adding flavor, moisture, texture, and versatility to every food and every meal.
# Salad dressings: oil-free or low-calorie (light or lite)
# Mayonnaise: fat-free or light
# Sour cream and yogurt: fat-free, plain, or with NutraSweet (or low-fat nondairy substitutes)
# Mustards: Dijon, Pommery, and others
# Tomato puree, tomato paste, and tomato sauce
# Clam juice, tomato juice, V8 juice, and lemon or lime juice
# Butter Buds or Molly McButter
# Cooking sprays (such as Pam) in butter, olive oil, garlic, or lemon flavors
# Vinegars: balsamic, cider, wine, tarragon, and others
# Horseradish: red and white
# Sauces: salsa, cocktail sauce, tamari, soy sauce, A1, Worcestershire sauce, barbecue sauce, ketchup, duck sauce, chutney, relish, and others
# Onion: fresh, juice, flakes, and powder
# Garlic: fresh, juice, flakes, and powder
# Herbs: any and all, including basil, oregano, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, dill, chives, sage, and bay leaves
# Spices: any and all, including cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cumin, nutmeg, coriander, curry, paprika, and allspice
# Extracts: vanilla, almond, peppermint, maple, coconut, cocoa powder, and others

Dressings and Dips
I recommend fat-free or light dressings and dips. The light category—low-fat, reduced-fat, and low-calorie—is midway between totally fat-free and regular, and it's often more pleasing to the palate than fat-free.

Dressings can be used as all-purpose condiments, dips, toppings, even cooking liquids. They already contain a mixture of ingredients, so just slather them on vegetables, seafood, and pretty much anything else. Or cook with them to make up for the lack of butter or oil.

I recommend keeping several varieties of dressings and dips on hand, including at least one creamy version. Try brushing a light creamy dressing on seafood, then broiling; the dressing adds moisture and flavor.

Candy
Yup, candy. The real thing—not the dietetic variety—is best when your sweet tooth starts aching. Dietetic candies have almost as many calories as regular candies, often lack flavor, and are an incentive to eat more. Stick to the real thing.
# Chewing gum or gum balls: any and all
# Hard candy: any and all, including sour balls, candy canes, lollipops such as Tootsie Pops or Blow Pops, Jolly Ranchers, Werther's Original, and TasteTations

Frozen Desserts
Any fat-free frozen yogurt, frozen nondairy substitute, or sorbet is a fine addition to the freezer. Try the lower-calorie choices. Here are some examples:
# Soft serve: up to 25 calories per ounce, including Skimpy Treat; TCBY, Colombo nonfat frozen yogurt, and Tofutti
# Hard pack: up to 115 calories per 1/2-cup serving, including Sharon's Sorbet, Low-Fat Tofutti, all Italian ices, and Sweet Nothings
# Frozen bars: Creamsicles, Fudgsicles, and Popsicles; any others containing up to 45 calories per bar, including Welch's Fruit Juice Bars, Weight Watchers Smart Ones Orange Vanilla Treats, Tofutti Chocolate Fudge Treats, Weight Watchers Smart Ones Chocolate Mousse, Dolly Madison Slender Treat Chocolate Mousse, and Yoplait
# Individually packaged frozen bars: up to 110 calories each, including FrozFruit, Hagen-Dazs bars, and Starbucks Frappuccino Blended Coffee Bars

Beverages
Avoid beverages labeled "naturally sweetened" or "fruit-juice sweetened," but help yourself to these:
# Unsweetened black coffees and teas
# Diet teas and juices: Crystal Light, Diet Snapple, Diet Natural Lemon Nestea, Diet Mistic, and others
# Noncaloric flavored waters: orange, chocolate, cream, cherry-chocolate, root beer, cola, and other flavors of bottled or filtered water
# Seltzer: plain or flavored, but check the calorie count if the product is labeled "naturally sweetened," since this usually means that the product has sugar in one form or another
# Hot cocoa mixes: 20 to 50 calories per serving, including Swiss Miss Diet and Fat-Free and Nestle Carnation Diet and Fat-Free; avoid cocoa mixes with 60 or more calories per serving

Let's Go Shopping
Today's supermarkets are filled with choices for the weight conscious. Here are some of the lowest-calorie choices for a variety of food categories that aren't covered in the Anytime List.

Cereals
# Cheerios: a whole grain cereal with 110 calories and 3 g fiber per cup
# Kellogg's All-Bran with Extra Fiber: 50 calories and 15 g fiber per 1/2 cup
# Original Shredded Wheat: 80 calories and 2.5 g fiber per biscuit
# Fiber One: 60 calories and 14 g fiber per 1/2 cup
# Wheaties: 110 calories and 2 g fiber per cup
# Whole Grain Total: 110 calories and 3 g fiber per 3/4 cup

Spreads
# Peanut butter
# Low-sugar or sugar-free jams and jellies with 10 to 40 calories per tablespoon

Breads
# Light breads with 40 to 45 calories per slice: oatmeal, premium white, wheat, rye, multigrain, sourdough, Italian
# Whole grain regular breads or rolls

Rice and Pasta
# Whole wheat/whole grain pastas: Hodgson Mill, Ancient Harvest
# Brown rice
# Whole wheat couscous
# Pearled or hulled barley
# Other whole grains: quinoa, whole grain cornmeal, kasha, bulgur, millet

Frozen Meals
# Low-calorie frozen breakfast foods such as those from Kellogg's, Aunt Jemima, and Pillsbury—and a special mention for the low-calorie, whole grain offerings from Van's
# Low-calorie, vegetable-focused frozen meals in the 150- to 350-calories-per-package range, especially the Amy's brand

Beans
# All beans, dried or canned
# Health Valley canned bean/chili combinations
# Low-fat or fat-free refried beans

Snacks
# Make it a point to eat starchy, crunchy snacks only in conjunction with a food from the Anytime List. For example, have fruit with popcorn or soup with crackers. Fill up on the former, and go easy on the starchy snack.

Protein Foods
# Legumes: beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas
# Soy products: bean curd/tofu, meat-replacement products by Boca, Gardenburger, Yves, and Lightlife
# Seafood: fresh (do not fry!), smoked, canned, frozen

Note: Calorie counts in this story may vary depending on the brand of products used. Remember to check the labels.

Ultimate Fast Food Survival Guide

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:56:23 PDT

Restaurant food doesn't have to be bad for us. Oh sure, much of the time it is: The monstrous portion sizes you're served are often spiked with added sugars and dangerous fats, and with misleading names that suggest that you might even be getting something healthy and nutritious. Fat chance. And the scariest part is that today the average diner in this country underestimates his or her caloric intake by up to 93 percent when eating out—meaning you're probably eating twice as much as you think! The good news is that you can adopt an Eat This, Not That! mantra—helping yourself to a lot of delicious food while still losing 10, 20, 30 pounds or more within a few months—and do so without dieting. You just need to watch out for the food traps, and make smarter choices like those shown here:

Make a Burger Healthy

Burger King Whopper
680 calories
40 g fat (11 g saturated fat, 1.5 g trans fasts)
1020 mg sodium

A hamburger smothered in the wrong sauce can instantly sabotage your meal—and your weight-loss goals. At 160 calories a schmear, BK's mayo is the worst in the fast food world. Replace it with barbecue sauce to instantly save 17 grams of fat. Ketchup and mustard are also better picks than mayo and secret sauces—no matter how "special" they may be. Make these swaps and save 160 calories and 17 grams of fat. A simple swap like this, made every day, will help you lose nearly 20 pounds in one year.

Not This!
Mayo and Secret Sauce

Eat This, Instead!
Ketchup, Barbecue Sauce, or Mustard

Make Pizza Healthy

Pizza Hut Two Slices Supreme Pan Pizza (12')
620 calories
32 g fat (12 g saturated fat)
1,440 mg sodium

The caloric-blow of pizza depends on two things: crust and toppings. Want to be thin? Always opt for thin crust. As for what to put on your pie, nix the pepperoni. Heavy on sodium and fat, just four little discs can add 108 calories to your Pizza Hut slice. Pick toppings like spinach, ham, and pineapple not only to cut calories and fat content in half, but also for hefty doses of vitamins and minerals that help ward off cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Make these switches and save 260 calories and 20 grams of fat. With these swaps, you can lose more than 25 pounds in a year.

Not This!
Deep dish pizza
Pepperoni

Eat This, Instead!
Thin crust
Spinach, ham, pineapple

Make a Salad Healthy

Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
800 calories
60 g fat (12 g saturated)
1,745 mg sodium

With 60 grams of fat, this is officially the worst salad from any fast-food chain. The dressing alone is loaded with a whopping 42.5 grams of junk that's potentially on the way to your trunk, and it's a good example how the wrong dressing can turn a pile of fresh produce into a green monster. Ask for "light" or "fat-free" dressing to save this salad. And remember, heavy toppings such as crumbled cheese, greasy bacon, and pan-browned beef make the one-time rabbit food look more like pig slop. Vegetables and lean protein are the easiest way to guarantee your salad lives up to its reputation as a health food. Make the smart choice and save 425 calories and 42.5 grams of fat. Such a change every day will help you lose nearly a pound a week--again, without dieting.

Not That!
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Cheese, bacon, pan-browned beef toppings

Eat This, Instead!
Light or fat-free dressing
Vegetable and lean protein toppings

Make a Sandwich Healthy

Panera Sierra Turkey
840 calories
40 g fat

Turkey's supposed to be good for you, but not when it's slathered with a thick layer of chipotle mayo. To top it off, Panera slides the cold cuts between two oily slices of Asiago Cheese Foccacia bread (6 grams of fat per slice). When it comes to sandwiches, meats are rarely the problem: turkey, roast beef, and ham are all lean cuts. But bad breads and sauces can ruin otherwise healthy meals. Nix the mayo and choose whole-grain bread, instead. Make these swaps and save 300 calories and 30 grams of fat. One a day and you lose almost 20 pounds in one year! For more healthy lunch secrets, check out this indispensable list of delicious fast food meals under 500 calories.

Not That!
Chipotle Mayo
Foccacia bread

Eat This, Instead!
Whole-grain bread

Make a Burrito Healthy

Chipotle Steak Burrito
1,033 calories
40 g fat

Chipotle uses fresh ingredients, but unless the chain downsizes its football-size burritos, it will still give you a linebacker's gut. If you refuse to give up your favorite lunchtime meal, have a backup plan: Split it with a friend or save half for dinner. Or lose the rice and tortilla and order a Chicken Burrito Bowl (complete with lettuce, black beans, green tomatillo salsa, and sour cream). Make these swaps and save a whopping 570 calories and 94 grams of carbohydrates. If you cut this many calories from your daily intake, you can lose a pound a week without even trying!

Not That!
½ the burrito
Or
Rice and tortilla

Eat This, Instead!
Just ½ the burrito
Or
Chicken Burrito Bowl with lettuce, black beans, green tomatillo salsa and sour cream

Make a Breakfast Sandwich Healthy

Starbucks Classic Sausage, Egg, and Aged Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich
460 calories
25 g fat

When it comes to meat, bacon tops sausage, and ham trumps them both. Replace the sausage with ham and you could save up to 500 calories a week. Starbucks has a ham version of this sandwich that weighs in at just 380 calories. Slash even more calories from your A.M. meal by opting for an English muffin, which, nutritionally speaking, will always beat out bagels, croissants, and biscuits. Also be sure to avoid anything on this list of the 8 worst breakfasts in America. Make these swaps and save 270 calories and 12 grams of fat.

Not That!
Sausage
Bagels, croissants, or biscuits

Eat This, Instead!
Ham
English muffin

Make Tuna Salad Healthy

Quiznos Regular Tuna Melt
1,270 calories
101 g fat (18 g saturated fat)
1,445 mg sodium

Tuna melt with mayo and cheese is a classic deli disaster. But Quiznos has really outdone itself with this one, making it the worst sandwich in America. As a rule of thumb, when you're on the go, avoid all "melts." They almost always involve a Swiss-mozzarella-mayo combo that cranks up the fat content. Make these swaps and save 805 calories and 84.5 grams of fat!

Not That!
Any kind of "melt" sub or sammie

Eat This, Instead!
Any non-"melt" sammie

Make a Chicken Dinner Healthy

KFC Original Recipe chicken meal
460 calories
32 g fat

There's no secret recipe at KFC, just a fryer full of bubbling oil and a breaded, grease-infused two-piece combo that adds 160 calories and 15 grams of fat. Improve any chicken meal by simply ordering it skinless. It can save up to 200 calories and 17 grams of fat. Make these kinds of swaps every day and save about 20 pounds over the course of a year.

Not That!
Regular chicken meal with skin

Eat This, Instead!
Skinless chicken meals

Make a Sweet Drink Healthy

Dunkin' Donuts Large Tropical Fruit Smoothie
720 calories
142 g sugars

Dunkin' makes it clear that even real fruit—especially if it's been mixed with high-fructose corn syrup—can be unhealthy. This sickeningly sweet concoction has an ingredient list straight out of a chemistry lab and more sugar than seven Haagen-Dazs vanilla-and-almond ice-cream bars. Any medium (24 oz) fruit smoothie will pack at least 100 grams of sugar. Opt for flavored iced tea instead, and get your smoothie fix elsewhere—check out the Eat This, Not That! Ultimate Smoothie Selector for suggestions. This one swap saves 585 calories and 113.5 grams of sugar. Healthy cutbacks like this each day can help you lose over a pound a week!

Not That!
Dunkin' Donuts Smoothie

Drink This, Instead!
Flavored iced tea

And while you're minding your liquid intake, also be sure to avoid any drinks on our list of the 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America. (Making the right drink choices is another way to lose loads of weight in record time.)

Make a Coffee Drink Healthy

Starbucks 2% Caffe Latte (Grande)
with whipped cream
260 calories
14 g fat (4.5 saturated)

In the hierarchy of espresso drinks, lattes sit squarely at the bottom. That's because they're more milk than java and possibly huge pumps of sugary syrup thanks to eager-to-please baristas. A macchiato gives the same caffeine kick for a tiny fraction of the caloric cost by swapping out the excess steamed milk for a thick crown of frothed milk. It's a simple but meaningful switch for caffeine junkies looking for a healthier fix. Other quick ways to improve any morning brew: Ask for sugar-free syrups, nonfat milk, and always refuse the whipped cream. Make these swaps and save 70 calories and 14 grams of fat each and every time.

Not That!
Lattes
Whole milk
Sugar
Whipped cream

Eat This, Instead!
Macchiatos
Sugar-free syrups
Nonfat milk

America's Healthiest Restaurants

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:52:34 PDT

Eating out invariably raises a number of tricky questions: sit-down or drive-thru? Burgers or pizza? Thin or stuffed crust? Choosing one over the other could mean saving hundreds of calories in a single meal, and up to 50 pounds of flab in the course of a year and countless health woes over the course of a lifetime. That’s why Eat This, Not That! launched an investigation and put 66 major chain restaurants under the nutritional microscope—so that you and your family can continue to eat out, but do so knowing the types of insider tips and savvy strategies that can help melt fat all year long. And the good news is that many fan favorites scored top marks!

To separate the commendable from the deplorable, we calculated the total number of calories per entrée. This gave us a snapshot of how each restaurant compared in average serving size—a key indicator of unhealthy portion distortion. Then we rewarded establishments with fruit and vegetable side-dish choices, as well as for providing whole-grain options. Finally, we penalized places for excessive amounts of trans fats and menus laden with gut-busting desserts. What we ended up with is the Eat This, Not That! Restaurant Report Card, which will show you how all of the nation’s largest eating establishments stack up nutritionally.

Check out those restaurants that scored a B+ or higher:

A-
Chick-fil-A
Between the breakfast and lunch menus, there are only two entrées at Chick-Fil-A that break 500 calories, a rare feat in the fast-food world. What this means is that you can't possibly do too much harm—especially if you stick to the chicken. And unlike the typical fast-food chain, Chick-Fil-A offers a list of sides that goes beyond breaded and fried potatoes and onions. (Just beware the large cole slaw, which adds an extra 600 calories to your daily intake!) That's why we dub the Atlanta-based chicken shack one of our all-time favorite fast-food restaurants.

Also, be sure to check out our exclusive list of the best and worst restaurants for kids to find out why Chick-fil-A receives an even higher grade when it comes to kids’ meals.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY: The worst thing you can do is supplement your meal with a milkshake—not a single cup has fewer than 600 calories. And instead of nuggets or strips, look to the Chargrilled Chicken Sandwiches, which average only 320 calories apiece.

A-
Subway
A menu based on lean protein and vegetables is always going to score well in our book. With more than half a dozen sandwiches under 300 calories, plus a slew of soups and healthy sides to boot, Subway can satisfy even the pickiest eater without breaking the caloric bank. But, despite what Jared may want you to believe, Subway is not nutritionally infallible: Those rosy calorie counts posted on the menu boards include neither cheese nor mayo (add 160 calories per 6-inch sub), and some of the toasted subs, like the Meatball Marinara, contain hefty doses of calories, saturated fat, and sodium.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Cornell researchers have discovered a “health halo” at Subway, which refers to the tendency to reward yourself or your kid with chips, cookies, and large soft drinks because the entrée is healthy. Avoid the halo, and all will be well.

Along those same lines, try to avoid anything from this indispensable list of the 14 worst “healthy” foods in America, too. They'll trip you up--and easily expand your waistline.

A-
Jamba Juice
Jamba offers a viable and tasty solution to the dearth of fresh fruits and vegetables in the American diet: Stick it all in a blender and let us slurp it up. But make this your rule: If it includes syrup or added sugar, it ceases to be a smoothie. Jamba Juice makes plenty of real-deal smoothies, but their menu is sullied with more than a few faux-fruit blends. Just make sure you choose the right one.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY: For a perfectly guilt-free treat, opt for a Jamba Light or All Fruit Smoothie in a 16-ounce cup.

And unless you're looking to put on weight for your new acting career, don't touch the Peanut Butter Moo'd. On this shocking list of the 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America, it sits worryingly close to the top. (You’ll be amazed by what’s number one!)

A-
Au Bon Pain
Sure the menu has its pitfalls, but what menu doesn't? The bottom line is that Au Bon Pain combines an extensive inventory of healthy items with an unrivaled standard of nutritional transparency. Each store has an on-site nutritional kiosk to help customers find a meal to meet their expectations, and the variety of ordering options provides dozens of paths to a sensible meal.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Most of the café sandwiches are in the 650-calorie range, so make a lean meal instead by combining a hot soup with one of the many low-calorie options on the Portions menu. And if you must indulge, eschew the baked goods in favor of a cup of fruit and yogurt, or serving of chocolate-covered almonds.

B+
Boston Market
With more than a dozen healthy vegetable sides and lean meats like turkey and roast sirloin on the menu, the low-cal, high-nutrient possibilities at Boston Market are endless. But with nearly a dozen calorie-packed sides and fatty meats like dark meat chicken and meat loaf, it’s almost as easy to construct a lousy meal.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY: There are three simple steps to nutritional salvation: 1) Start with turkey, sirloin, or rotisserie chicken. 2) Add two noncreamy, nonstarchy vegetable sides. 3) Ignore all special items, such as pot pie and nearly all of the sandwiches.

B+
Cici’s Pizza Buffet
Cici's began in Texas in 1985 and now boasts more than 600 locations, proving definitively that Americans love a good buffet. The good news for our waistlines is that the crust is moderately sized, and the pizza comes in varieties beyond simple sausage and pepperoni. But if you check your willpower at the door, you're probably better off skipping the pizza buffet entirely.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY: It takes 20 minutes for your brain to tell your body it's full, so start with a salad and then proceed slowly to the pizza. Limit yourself to the healthier slices like the Zesty Vegetable, Alfredo, and the Olé, which is a Mexican-inspired pie with only 108 calories per slice.

B+
McDonald’s
The world-famous burger baron has come a long way since the days of Fast Food Nation—at least nutritionally speaking. The trans fats are mostly gone, the number of gut-wrecking calorie bombs are now fewer than ever, and the menu holds plenty of healthy options such as salads and yogurt parfaits. Don't cut loose at the counter just yet, though. Too many of the breakfast and lunch sandwiches still top the 500-calorie mark, and the dessert menu is fodder for some major belly-building.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY: The Egg McMuffin remains one of the best ways to start your day in the fast-food world—feel free to use it as a replacement option for any of these eight worst fast food breakfasts in America!

As for the later hours, you can splurge on a Big Mac or a Quarter Pounder, but only if you skip the fries and soda, which add an average of 590 calories onto any meal.

B+
Taco Bell
Taco Bell combines two things with bad nutritional reputations: Mexican food and fast food. The result should be horrendous, yet somehow it works out so that a little prudence at the ordering window can bag you a meal with fewer than 500 calories. The potential for belly-building is still there, but the calorie bombs are generally easy to spot. And to limit the chances of a mistake, Taco Bell reengineered some of its classic items and listed them under the Fresco Menu for a savings of up to 10 grams of fat per item.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Grilled Stuft Burritos, anything served in a bowl, and anything prepared with multiple "layers" are your worst options. Instead, order any combination of two of the following: crunchy tacos, bean burritos, or anything on the Fresco menu.

B+
Wendy’s
Scoring a decent meal at Wendy's is just about as easy as scoring a bad one, and that's a big compliment for a burger joint. Options such as chili and baked potatoes offer the side-order variety that's missing from less-evolved fast-food chains like Dairy Queen and Carl's Jr. Plus they offer a handful of Jr. Burgers that don't stray far over 300 calories. And for our money, the ¼-lb single is one of the best substantial burgers in the industry. Where they err is in their recently expanded line of desserts and a lackluster selection of beverages. But you're happy just drinking water, right?

SURVIVAL STRATEGY: The grilled chicken sandwiches and wraps don't have more than 320 calories, which is less than even a small order of French fries. Choose the chicken or a small burger and pair it with a healthy side, and then hit the door before you receive the 500-calorie penalty for giving in to your Frosty hankering.

You can check out the complete Eat This, Not That! Restaurant Report Card here.

Want to avoid some of the biggest fast-food weapons of mass inflation? Make sure you’re armed with this comprehensive list of the 20 worst foods in America in 2009.

Also, enjoy delicious low-calorie fast-food meals by familiarizing yourself with this great list of the Best Fast-Food Meals Under 500 Calories!

The Worst Drive-Thru Foods in America (And What to Eat Instead!)

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:04:10 PDT

Time and money are two things Americans can't afford to waste. So it's not surprising (though slightly disappointing) that the drive-thru is considered one of the greatest inventions of all time. There's even a study to prove it. In 2005 and 2006, researchers asked 600 adults and teens why they eat so much fast food. Three of the top four responses? It's quick, easy, and affordable. Taste came in third, with only 69 percent of respondents listing flavor as a factor in their fast-food love.

Drive-thru foods may be convenient and easy on the wallet, but they're loaded with unhealthy fats, added sugars, carbohydrates, and sodium. Translation: They're no bargain at all when it comes to your health. But jam-packed schedules and a dismal economy make the occasional drive-thru meal a part of life. That's why Eat This, Not That! studied the open-air menu boards and compiled a list of the worst items out there, plus better alternatives. Avoid these dietary land mines and save more than a few minutes and a couple of bucks—how does up to 20 pounds in a year sound?

WORST MILKSHAKE
McDonald's Large Triple Thick Chocolate Milkshake
1160 calories
27 g fat (16 g saturated fat)
168 g sugar
510 mg sodium

You'd be better off eating two Quarter Pounders than sucking down one of these belt-breaking shakes. Steer clear of milkshakes at the golden arches. If you have to have a frozen dessert, order a vanilla ice cream cone to save more than 1,000 calories. Make swaps like that every week and watch the pounds melt off!

Eat This Instead!
Vanilla Reduced-Fat Ice Cream Cone
150 calories
3.5 g fat (2 g saturated fat)
18 g sugars
60 mg sodium

Check out our list of the 20 worst drinks in America to see other equally atrocious beverages. It's possible to lose more than 30 pounds of fat a year--just by focusing on what you drink!

WORST VALUE-MENU ITEM
Burger King Spicy Chick'n Crisp Sandwich
450 calories
30 g fat (5 g saturated fat)
810 mg sodium

Lean economic times make the value menu more appealing than ever. And that's fine—most dollar menus have a few sensible items. But if you eat this sandwich often, saving a few bucks will quickly result in a surplus around your waistline.

Eat This Instead!
Whopper Jr. without mayo
290 calories
12 g fat (4.5 g saturated fat)
500 mg sodium

WORST MEXICAN ENTRÉE
Taco Bell Grilled Stuft Beef Burrito
680 calories
30 g fat (10 g saturated fat)
2120 mg sodium

Ditch this and order two grilled steak soft tacos (or any menu item) "fresco" style, and the Bell boys will replace cheese and sauces with a chunky tomato salsa, helping to cut calories in half and fat by at least 25 percent.

Eat This Instead!
Two Grilled Steak Soft Tacos, Fresco Style
320 calories
9 g fat (3 g saturated fat)
1100 mg sodium

WORST HOT SANDWICH
Sonic Chicken Club TOASTER Sandwich
742 calories
46 g fat (11 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
1,742 mg sodium

How can a chicken sandwich pack so much fat? Start with a fried chicken breast, add bacon, cheese, and mayo, and you're there. Add to that the sodium equivalent of 53 saltine crackers, and you're looking at a serious dietary disaster. Ditch the chicken for beef and save 10 grams of fat.

Eat This Instead!
Sonic Burger with Mustard
540 calories
25 g fat (9 g saturated fat)
730 mg sodium

WORST CRISPY CHICKEN SANDWICH
Hardee's Big Chicken Fillet Sandwich
800 calories
37 g fat (6 g saturated fat)
1890 mg sodium

A general rule: Avoid sandwiches with words like "big" and "monster" in the name. Hardee's Monster Thickburger is another example—it comes in at 1,420 calories, 108 grams of fat, and more saturated fat than you want in 2 days.

Eat This Instead!
Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich
415 calories
5 g fat (1 g saturated fat)
1175 mg sodium

WORST ROAST BEEF SANDWICH
Arby's Roast Beef and Swiss Market Fresh Sandwich
810 calories
42 g fat (13 g saturated fat)
1780 mg sodium

The unwholesome trinity of mayo, Italian sub sauce, and processed Swiss cheese make this sandwich the clear loser in the battle of the beef. The Super Roast Beef replaces mayo with a low-cal spicy pepper sauce and totals 370 fewer calories.

Eat This Instead!
Super Roast Beef
440 calories
19 g fat (7 g saturated fat)
1061 mg sodium

WORST DRIVE-THRU KIDS MEAL
Burger King Kids Double Cheeseburger and Kids Fries with Small Coke
950 calories
42 g fat (17 g saturated fat, 4.5 g trans fats)
1,410 mg sodium

BK's dubious double burger earns the distinction of being the fattiest meal for an on-the-go kid, with nearly a day's worth of saturated fat for the average 8-year-old.

Eat This Instead!
4-piece Chicken Tenders with Strawberry-Flavored Applesauce and unlimited water
280 calories
11 g fat (3 g saturated fat)
440 mg sodium

WORST CHICKEN STRIPS
Dairy Queen 6-Piece Chicken Strip Basket
1,270 calories
67 g fat (11 g saturated fat)
2,910 mg sodium

These strips deliver more grams of fat than four DQ Homestyle Burgers, and nearly 300 more calories than a Large Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard.

Eat This Instead!
Grilled Chicken Salad with Fat-Free Italian Dressing
280 calories
11 g fat (5 g saturated)
1,550 mg sodium

WORST DRIVE-THRU BREAKFAST SANDWICH
Jack in the Box Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit
740 calories
55 g fat (17 g saturated fat)
1430 mg sodium

Skip biscuits at all costs. This one contains nearly a full day's worth of saturated fat (check out the 12 worst breakfast foods in the supermarket for other must-have tips on starting your morning right--rather than with a rude awakening!). Instead try the Bacon Breakfast Jack--16 grams of protein makes it a surprisingly good way to start your day.

Eat This Instead!
Bacon Breakfast Jack
300 calories
14 g fat (5 g saturated fat)
730 mg sodium

WORST SIDE
Arby's Large Mozzarella Sticks
849 calories
56 g fat (26 g saturated fat)
2730 mg sodium

Anything with as much saturated fat as a Triple Whopper should not be called a side. If it's cheese you crave, order the French Dip ‘N Swiss or Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwich instead to save more than 500 calories.

Eat This Instead!
Martha's Vineyard Salad with Light Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
389 calories
14 g fat (5 g saturated)
923 mg sodium

WORST POTATO SIDE
Jack in the Box Bacon Cheddar Potato Wedges
720 calories
48 g fat (15 g saturated fat, 12 g trans fats)
1,360 mg sodium
48 g carbohydrates

You probably don't need us to tell you that bacon, cheese, and fried potatoes are not a healthful trio. What's worse, though, is that Jack in the Box cooks in trans-fatty vegetable shortening, which has been linked to heart disease. It's no secret that French fries can ruin an otherwise sensible meal, but these things take destruction to another level entirely.

Eat This Instead!
Mozzarella Cheese Sticks (3)
240 calories
12 g fat (5 g saturated fat, 2 g trans fats)
420 mg sodium

WORST SALAD
Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
800 calories
60 g fat (12 g saturated fat)
1745 mg sodium

With 17 more grams of fat than Taco Bell's Fiesta Taco Salad, this is the worst salad from any drive-thru. The dressing alone sets you back 42.5 grams of fat.

Take a look at our list of the worst salads in America and see how this one compares.

Eat This Instead!
Chick-fil-A Southwest Chargrilled Salad with Fat-Free Honey Mustard Dressing
360 calories
8 g fat (3.5 g saturated fat)
1170 mg sodium

WORST DESSERT
Dairy Queen Large Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard
990 calories
39 g fat (24 g saturated fat)
114 g sugars

This creation combines ice cream, strawberry syrup, and hunks of cheesecake for a high-fat dairy dessert. If you're set on a Blizzard, go bananas. A small Banana Split Blizzard has 7 fewer fat grams than the small Oreo, Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Cup, or Strawberry Cheesequake flavors. Or stray from the Blizzard and satisfy your sweet tooth with a small chocolate sundae instead to save major calories and fat.

Eat This Instead!
Small Chocolate Sundae
280 calories
7 g fat (4.5 g saturated fat)
42 g sugars

WORST FISH SANDWICH
Burger King BIG FISH Sandwich with Tartar Sauce
640 calories
32 g fat (5 g saturated fat)
1540 mg sodium

Fish is only healthy when it's not breaded and fried in partially hydrogenated oil. Here, the fry treatment translates into a bunch of unhealthy fat and 108 grams of carbohydrates.

Eat This Instead!
Whopper Jr. without mayo and Garden Salad
365 calories
12 g fat (4.5 g saturated fat)
1230 mg sodium

WORST CHEESEBURGER
Hardee's Monster Thickburger
1,420 calories
108 g fat (43 g saturated fat)
2,770 mg sodium
230 mg cholesterol

This burger is called "Monster" for a reason. It's got the caloric equivalent of almost six McDonald's hamburgers, the saturated fat equivalent of 43 strips of Oscar Mayer bacon, and the sodium equivalent of 84 saltine crackers. You'll almost satisfy your entire day's worth of calories in one sitting, so opt for the significantly less monstrous Low-Carb Thickburger, instead, and save 1,000 calories that you can allocate to more deserving and nutritious fare.

Eat This Instead!
Low Carb Thickburger
420 calories
32 g fat (12 g saturated fat)
1.010 mg sodium

WORST "HEALTHY" FOOD
Arby's Roast Turkey and Swiss Market Fresh Sandwich
708 calories
29 g fat (8 g saturated fat)
1,676 mg sodium

Avoid any sandwich made on honey wheat bread: Two slices contain a staggering 361 calories and 68 grams of carbs. Cut those in half by sticking to a sesame bun.

Eat This Instead!
Chicken Cordon Blue Sandwich (grilled)
488 calories
18 g fat (4 g saturated fat)
1,560 mg sodium

WORST GRILLED CHICKEN
Jack in the Box Chipotle Chicken Ciabatta
690 calories
28 g fat (9 g saturated fat)
1850 mg sodium

Unlike many other fast food restaurants that have made the shift away from trans fats, Jack in the Box's menu has a number of items with more than 5 grams of the stuff—and some with up to 13 grams of it! There's no"safe" level of trans fats, but the recommendation is that you don't eat more than 2 grams of the heart-harming junk per day. Add fries to this sandwich, and you'll take in three and a half times your daily limit.

Eat This Instead!
Chicken Fajita Pita
300 calories
9 g fat (3.5 g saturated fat)
1090 mg sodium

THE WORST DRIVE-THRU MEAL IN AMERICA
Carl's Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger
with Medium Natural cut Fries and 32 oz Coke
2,618 Calories
144 g fat (51.5 g saturated fat)
2892 mg sodium

Of all the gut-growing, heart-stopping, life-threatening burgers in the fast food world, there is none whose damage to your general well-being is as catastrophic as this. Consider these heart-stopping comparisons: This meal has the caloric equivalent of 13 Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Donuts; the saturated fat equivalent of 52 strips of bacon; and the salt equivalent of seven and a half large orders of McDonald's French fries!

Eat This Instead!
Famous Star with Side Salad with Low Fat Balsamic Dressing and 32 oz Iced Tea
685 calories
38 g fat (10.5 g saturated fat)
1520 mg sodium

Five Steps to a 5-Star Body

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:02:04 PDT

Getting your best body can be as simple as counting to five every day. Really! No matter what goal you’re pursuing—shedding those 10 pounds that have been hanging around too long, toning your trouble zones or simply eating healthier. It's so easy. I think of it as my five-star day. The five-star day is so simple—you just give yourself a star for everything you do right. You get stars for:

Sleep! Try to catch 7 to 9 hours each night. This, I know from personal experience, can seem like an unrealistic goal, but the amount of research that supports the connection between shut-eye and health makes me shoot for this star every day. For starters, catching enough zzz’s can help you lose weight. In a study of more than 68,000 women, those who dozed seven hours a night weighed 5.5 pounds less than women who slept five hours or less. Ample sleep encourages your body to make more of the fullness hormone leptin and less of the hunger hormone ghrelin, so you’re not as hungry. Snoozing can also curb anxiety and depression, both of which can lead to emotional eating. As if that’s not enough reason, too little rest can cloud moral judgment, too. Try going to bed just 30 minutes earlier each night to see how much you’ll benefit.

Exercise! Yes, breaking a sweat can help you lose weight, but it can also curb cravings, help you live longer, reduce stress, undo some of the damage of eating fatty foods—and those are just a few of the benefits. Aim for 30 minutes a day—even a walk counts toward your tally—and give yourself a star each time you fulfill that goal with any one of your favorite workouts.

Eat right! No, you don’t have to count calories. You can eat healthy and have delicious, filling and satisfying meals (snacks, too!). If you’re doing the 2009 SELF Challenge, give yourself a star for every day that you eat according to the Challenge meal plan and log your meals in your online food diary. If you’re not doing the Challenge, you can still snag a star when you’ve eaten in a way that makes your body feel good—and you feel proud. For me, that’s when I opt for yogurt with berries rather than a muffin at breakfast, have a salad with tofu for lunch and choose salmon over steak at dinner, then skip the ice cream pig-out late at night. Yes, it’s that simple! I’m not perfect, and there are definitely days when I have a second glass of wine or a too-generous square of my favorite dark chocolate bar, but I find that once I start building that five-star day, I get invested in it and want to keep it up.

Stretch! Limbering up is a way to thank your muscles for all the hard work they do for you each day. It can also help you increase your overall range of motion, making exercise seem less difficult. And when workouts are less daunting, you’ll not only enjoy them more, but you also will probably do them more often, too! To me, yoga and pilates count, as does just stretching at the kitchen counter as I watch the headlines in the morning. No need to set aside a huge block of time! However you choose to go Gumby, give yourself a star for treating your body to a break.

Talk yourself up! This might be the most important part of the five-star plan: Giving yourself a well-deserved pat on the back for simply being strong, smart and healthy. Even on days when you only notch one or two other stars, take a moment to give yourself credit for being a truly amazing human being. Talking yourself up carries over to other areas of your life: Not only will you feel more confident, but research shows you will also get sick about 30 percent less frequently, stave off emotional eating and reduce your cancer risk. There are plenty of other reasons to celebrate your body. Pretty impressive for a few pats on the back!

Create your own five-star days: When you join the Challenge, you can use our free online logs to track the stars you earn each day. Counting stars is motivating, and rewarding yourself for smart, healthy behavior is more inspiring than the negative mind-sets required by most "diets." I had to create a system in my own head that was simple, easy to track and optimistic. The best part is that you get to start fresh every day, so even if you only manage one or two stars one day, you can stay with it by going to sleep early and telling yourself, like Scarlett O’Hara, tomorrow is another day!

Boosting Your Metabolism to Lose Weight: Truth Or Fiction?

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:54:23 PDT

"Boosting Your Metabolism" is probably one of the hottest topics for popular magazines. I myself have been interviewed on the subject at least 9,000 times (OK, I exaggerate but not by much). Reporters (and readers) are dying to know what foods or supplements or exercises will "boost their metabolism".

But they may be asking the wrong question.

Most people asking "how can I boost my metabolism?" are actually using the question as a code for "how can I lose weight?" There's not a great answer to the first question, but there are many good answers to the second.

Having a "slow metabolism" isn't always the culprit when it comes to excess weight. Many "fat" people have very rapid metabolisms. Think Newman, on Seinfeld. Always darting around, always sweating, always in motion. That's a fast metabolism in an overweight body if I've ever seen one, and I've seen plenty.

So the better question might be this: "How can I help my metabolism function optimally, and, in the process, how can I lose some body fat?"

Ah, now you're talking.

The first thing you can do is to eat foods that will not raise your blood sugar too high or too fast, and will therefore not boost your body's production of the fat-storage, sugar-chasing hormone insulin higher than it needs to be. That would create less of a metabolic environment geared to fat storage, and more of a metabolic environment geared to fat loss...

The second thing you can do is plug the holes that are slowing you down. Let me explain.

A guy in a rowboat who wants to go faster should first check to see if the bottom is leaking water. If it is, plugging the holes is the first order of business; buying the best titanium oars in the world won't do much good if the boat is sinking.

Many people who ask "how can I boost my metabolism?" want to know what magic foods to eat, what terrific supplements to take, what exercises to do to "boost their metabolism" but they're like swimmers with heavy weights attached to their legs. The answer to "how to swim faster" is not necessarily in changing your freestyle stroke, or getting better space-age material Speedos (or searching for the top ten "metabolism boosting" foods or supplements). These strategies pale in comparison to simply dropping the weights from your feet.

That's where nutrients, whole foods, stress management, water and rest come in.

Metabolic rate is technically assessed in a lab using a metabolic cart which measures how much oxygen your body can take in and use, and how much carbon dioxide you exhale. While fruits and vegetables won't technically raise your metabolic rate, they will "plug the holes" in your metabolism by providing valuable nutrients without which your metabolism won't function optimally. Magnesium (www.jonnybowden.com/products/produc...), for example, is needed for over 400 biochemical reactions. The B vitamins (www.jonnybowden.com/products/produc...) are right up there too.

Same thing with water. Drinking more won't necessarily raise the needle on the machine, but drinking less will slow you down. We already know that even 2% less than optimal hydration will affect athletic performance negatively. Since water is needed for every metabolic process in every cell in the body, the idea that that dehydration will prevent your metabolism from operating at its most efficient passes the smell test with flying colors.

It's the same thing with sleep. Once again, sleeping well, deeply, and restfully won't necessarily raise the metabolic needle. But it will bring down cortisol (a stress hormone which raises abdominal fat) and increase energy.

If you're not sleeping well - and most of us aren't - it's like carrying a fifty pound weight in that proverbial rowboat.

Protein has been shown to boost thermogenesis (which is the creation of heat in the body and the resultant burning of calories). High protein diets "stimulate" or raise the metabolism, sometimes by as much as 100 percent according to one study on healthy women.

Green tea (www.jonnybowden.com/products/produc...) also does it (and folks who drink about 5 cups a day seem to have an easier time losing and maintaining weight).

And coffee - which is not always the villain everyone thinks it is - can briefly boost metabolism and increase the feeling of energy and alertness, so if you use it before a workout you might run a little faster and longer, work a little harder, lift a little heavier and thus burn more calories (If you use it just to stay awake at your desk, though, it's not going to do any of those things).

Then of course there's exercise. Through the arcane physiology of oxygen debt and repayment, we actually have an increased metabolism after aerobic exercise for a bit of time, though you get more of a permanent increase in metabolic rate - which continues even while you're watching TV or at rest - from lifting weights, since muscle burns far more calories than fat.

Much has been made of the studies purpoting to show that calcium (and specifically dairy) raises metabolism. Fuggedaboutit. Nearly every one of those studies was funded by the dairy industry and done by one researcher, Michael Zemel. Out of 35 studies investigating the link, 31 showed no effect.

But here's the kernel of truth in that dairy industry propaganda - a deficiency of calcium will slow down weight loss (and metabolism).

The moral of the story: don't be deficient (in calcium, or any other nutrient). It's a complete myth that extra calcium beyond your basic needs - nor extra milk, which you probably don't need at all - will "boost" your metabolism and help you lose weight.

Bottom line: If you want to boost your metabolism, you're probably wanting to lose body fat. The answer may not be in whipping your metabolism to go faster with magical foods and artificial stimulants, but, rather, to dropping some of your excess baggage that may be slowing that metabolism down.

And you can begin to do that right now with a diet higher in protein, low in sugar, and high in nutrients.

Weight-Loss Drug Orlistat Approved for Purchase Without Prescription

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:11:39 PST

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved the over-the-counter (OTC) purchase of an orlistat pill. This product, with the brand name Alli, contains one-half the amount of orlistat present in the prescription product with the brand name Xenical.

Xenical has not proven a blockbuster drug for producing weight loss. In a series of trials, people taking Xenical for one year lost 6.4 lbs. more than did those taking a placebo during the same period. Not great, you would agree, but still better than the dozens of widely promoted weight-loss products for which no proof for any weight loss exists.

The other approved prescription drug for weight loss, sibutramine (Meridia), is somewhat more effective than Xenical. At the end of one year, those taking sibutramine lost 10 lbs. more than did those taking a placebo.

OTC Alli is taken three times daily, one with each major meal. The drug works by blocking the action of an intestinal enzyme required for the breakdown of the major dietary fats (triglycerides).

Undigested triglycerides cause the major side effects of orlistat - oily, liquid stools and frequent bowel movements. Weight loss is achieved for two reasons. First, a significant number of fat calories, which ordinarily account for about 30 percent of calories in the diet, are lost with the stools. In addition, people taking orlistat soon learn that they will have fewer intestinal symptoms if they reduce the amount of fat in their diet.

Fat-soluble vitamins - vitamins A, D, and E - are lost in the stools along with the undigested triglycerides. So, if you decide to try Alli, you should also add a multivitamin pill at bedtime.

The FDA warned that Alli should only be used by adults who are overweight or obese, and who have not had an organ transplant or intestinal problems associated with poor absorption of nutrients. The FDA notice also stated that anyone taking blood-thinning medications or who is being treated for diabetes or thyroid disorders should check with their doctor before taking orlistat.

It's not clear whether taking half the dose of Xenical will lead to even less weight loss than with Xenical itself, perhaps only three to four pounds by the end of a year. You should keep in mind the alternatives: In one year, you could lose five pounds by eliminating 50 calories a day, or 4.5 lbs. by walking one mile three times a week.

How can you eliminate 50 calories a day from your diet? One chocolate chip cookie, a 12-ounce beer, and an ounce of potato chips each contain about 150 calories. So all you have to do, for example, is to skip one of these every three days.

Become Fit! Don't Just Lose Weight

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:09:29 PST

So what’s the best way to get from here to there? How do you get to fit from fat, to active from lazy, to healthy from hopeless? I suggest you begin with the idea that you would like to become fit, not just lose weight.

There is a very big difference – fitness, unlike when people go on a diet to lose weight, is a lifelong goal. So, you are not going to be looking for immediate and dramatic results, but rather long-term, life-changing benefits. If this is not thrilling to you, that’s ok. It doesn’t sound exciting to me either. You will have to trust me on this one, though – the small steps toward total (mind and body) fitness will bring grand benefits in the end.

You will see that if you practice the steps I am about to lay out for you, immediately you will feel better. Soon after, your body will change, and then you will be hooked.

Step 1: Embrace small, subtle changes
Be more compassionate and gentle with yourself. If you are not insistent on immediate results, you can allow yourself to accept, and even embrace, small, subtle changes – rather than only being satisfied with dramatic, instantaneous shifts. Take it slow and easy, implement realistic and doable changes.

Take one or two things out of your diet each week, and add as little as 10 minutes of walking per day, three times a week, to your exercise routine.

Step 2: Make minor changes to your diet
Here’s how to set yourself up for success with dietary changes:

* allow yourself to reduce sugar intake by cutting out candy, and reducing desserts to weekends only, rather than cutting out all sugar right away
* reduce overall caloric intake by only eating what is on YOUR plate (no grazing from your children or spouse's meal)
* take out fried foods for a day and eliminate one trip a week to the fast food drive-through, a week at a time

Step 3: Do not allow yourself to fail
No berating, no condemning and no starting over. This is a program that will have its good days and bad. Accept that there will be times when you won’t live up to your own expectations, but remember, this is a long-term, life-changing, life-benefiting program, not a quick sprint. And in life, life happens, and sometimes it gets in the way of what you had planned. Have a sense of humor and rearrange your schedule when necessary, instead of giving up, accepting failure, pigging out and eliminating exercise for a week, and then promising to begin again on Monday.

Step 4: Visualize your success
Use your mind as much as you use your body by mentally projecting into your life exactly what it is you want. This is a very important piece of the puzzle, one that most people forget to use entirely. Picture yourself in your new body, and living in your new life. See yourself enjoying healthy meals, stopping when you have had enough to eat, and exercising regularly (with a smile on your face).

See it, feel it, get it. You don’t have to be a student of meditation or committed to a method of mind conditioning to make this work. Just remember to see yourself in a positive light. In your thoughts, imagine the shifts that you are working toward and soon, you will be the consummate positive thinker that projects good things into your life and others.

Step 5: Don't wait to get started
You need not wait until your doctor tells you that you should lose weight or begin a walking program. You certainly do not want to wait for a medical scare to get your body moving, or change your diet. Do the right thing now. Take responsibility for your health, your fitness, your happiness and your life by taking that important self-assessment now.

Simply ask yourself, and answer honestly, do I eat well? Do I overeat? Am I overweight, and unhappy with the way I look and feel? Have I been promising to change my diet, stop smoking, or start an exercise program for months/years? Well, now is your time, right now - do not put it off any longer.

Make minor adjustments to experience life changes, little by little, week by week. You really do have everything you need to live a happy, healthy and fulfilling existence. Make some shifts, take note of your efforts, and reap the rewards.

Happy Trails, and Happy Holidays everyone.

Lose 30 Pounds in 3 Months

noreply@blogger.com (anto sutanto) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:55:38 PST

Three months before my wedding, I had a realization: I don't want to be a fat groom. After all, a cummerbund can only help so much. And besides, what kind of man would marry a beautiful woman knowing he's going to die young?

That's not hyperbole. My 5'9'' frame tipped the scales at 231 pounds, easily qualifying me as obese — a designation that advanced my biological age of 26 by 2 decades, according to a UCLA study.

More disturbing, a blood test showed that I was on the verge of diabetes, despite having no obvious symptoms (other than a bulging belly). For the first time, being fat felt irresponsible.

But dramatic change doesn't take as long as you might think. In 12 weeks, I lost 33 pounds and whittled 5 inches off my waist — just in time for our big day. And, even better, my latest blood work came back nearly normal. How'd I do it? Keep reading.

The Tipping Point
Like most overweight men, I wasn't proud of carrying around all that extra flab — especially since I'm an editor at Men's Health. But it wasn't until I literally feared for my life that I became fully committed to change. That day arrived when I met with Keith Berkowitz, M.D., medical director of the Center for Balanced Health, in New York City. His specialty: turning the obese thin.

When I showed up at his office, Dr. Berkowitz first analyzed a blood test I'd had done in preparation for our meeting. My triglycerides — a measure of the fat circulating in my bloodstream — were more than double what's considered normal. I was also insulin resistant. That means my body was having to produce 10 times the amount of insulin — a hormone that signals your body to store fat — normally secreted by a healthy guy my age. Both of these measurements are key predictors of future heart disease. Can you say "instant motivation"?

Chances are, if you're overweight, your blood work may look similar. Research shows that heavier men have higher cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure than their leaner counterparts. And, according to Dr. Berkowitz, almost half of the population is insulin resistant. The most telling physical sign: abdominal fat. Still need a kick in the pants? Ask your physician for a complete blood profile; fear is a great motivator.

The Action Plan
Much to my horror, Dr. Berkowitz recommended a "controlled-carbohydrate diet." That doesn't mean cutting out carbohydrates altogether. Rather, you restrict the types that significantly raise your blood sugar and thus your insulin levels — for instance, those found in soda, candy, and foods made with flour. Which happen to be the carbs I like the most. And, surprisingly, my don't-eat list even included whole grains at first. The reason? Although healthy for men with normal insulin function, whole grains still raise insulin levels. For me, that made them a food to avoid until I lost weight and saw improvements in my blood work, at which time I could add them back slowly in the form of high-fiber crackers or flaxseed bread.

The upshot is that this plan limited my carbs to those found in vegetables and fruit, which was a drastic change from my regular, carbohydrate-laden diet. After all, it meant I had to give up Entenmann's night. (I'll leave the menu to your imagination.) So I wasn't sure I could stick with it.

Enter Valerie Berkowitz. While Keith Berkowitz served as general manager of my diet, his wife, Valerie — a registered dietitian and director of nutrition at the Center for Balanced Health — took the job of head coach. She helped me create an eating plan that was user-friendly and required no calorie counting. Basically, my instructions were to eat only when hungry and to the point of fullness, incorporating the five simple rules that follow. I could eat as much meat and vegetables as I wanted, and was allowed 3 to 5 ounces of cheese and two servings daily of low-glycemic fruits — berries, melons, peaches, plums, apples, oranges, and kiwis. I was also advised to drink 80 ounces of water daily. Use these guidelines yourself and you, too, can lose 30 pounds in 3 months.

1. Cut Out Fast-Digesting Carbs
For the most part, these are foods that are made with sugar or are high in starch, such as bread, pasta, any other flour-based food, potatoes, and rice. Because they all contain high amounts of glucose, they raise blood sugar quickly. "This is the trigger that signals your body to release a flood of insulin," says Valerie. Eliminate these foods and insulin levels stay near rock bottom. And that simultaneously improves your health and speeds fat loss. In fact, when University of Connecticut researchers analyzed why low-carb dieters were so successful, they calculated that 70 percent of their weight loss stemmed from low insulin levels. (One note: Because milk has a significant number of carbohydrates, it was also off-limits until my blood profile showed I was healthier.)

2. Eat More Vegetables
This may be the ultimate diet cliche, but there's no question it works. In fact, a study of more than 2,000 low-carb dieters found that, on average, the biggest losers were consuming four servings of nonstarchy vegetables a day. That's virtually any vegetable of your choice other than potatoes (white, sweet, or fried), carrots, and corn. "Eating more produce increases the amount of fiber in your diet, which helps keep you full," says Valerie. For an even greater fiber boost, I added a daily glass of Metamucil (the sugar-free version). If you've never taken Metamucil, its effectiveness in reducing your appetite is nothing short of amazing.

3. Have Protein at Every Meal
This is especially important at breakfast and with snacks, when guys are most likely to skimp on this muscle-building nutrient. (Thanks a lot, cereal.) Case in point: University of Illinois scientists report that, on average, people consume 65 percent of their protein after 6 p.m. More important, the researchers found that to optimally preserve your muscle as you lose weight, you need to take in protein at each meal throughout the day. "Besides nourishing your muscles, the added protein will help keep you from overeating," says Valerie. The best sources are beef, chicken, fish, dairy, and eggs.

4. Don't Be Afraid of Natural Fat
That's right, the kind that's found in a piece of meat, an omelet, an avocado, olives, or olive-oil-based dressing. Because fat alone doesn't raise your insulin levels, it has little to do with making you fat, contrary to popular opinion, says Valerie. High amounts of carbs coupled with high amounts of fat are the real culprit, she explains, since they stimulate the release of insulin, causing your body to store fat instead of burn it. But what about heart health? In a review of 13 studies published in the Journal of Nutrition, researchers determined that low-carbohydrate diets — all of which provided at least 50 percent of daily calories from fat — were more effective at reducing heart-disease risk than traditional low-fat diets.

5. Forget About Processed Foods
Prediet, I lived on lunchmeat. But Valerie nixed these packaged meats quickly, because most contain added salt (affecting weight and blood pressure) and sugar, as well as nitrates, which are associated with an increased risk of cancer. Instead, I ate ground beef and ground turkey. (Both take only a few minutes to cook at night and taste great cold the following day.) I did slip up, though. On my 15th day on the program, I discovered Terra vegetable chips. "A delicious potpourri of exotic vegetables," the bag says. Sounded healthy to me, so I crunched on them hard during long days at work. A week later, when I told Valerie about my new favorite addiction, a sharp scolding followed. I'd been suckered by the word "vegetable." These chips are made from starchy root vegetables, so their carbohydrate count is similar to that of potato chips; and they're loaded with salt. The scale reflected my mistake. If you follow only one rule, make it this: If it comes in a box or a bag, skip it. I guarantee you'll have success.

The Gut-Busting Workout
Finish off the flab with this full-body fat-burning routine from Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S., author of The Better Body Blueprint. ItÃƒƒ¢Ãƒ‚€Ãƒ‚™s designed to speed your results and improve your fitness, while protecting your hard-earned muscle — all in just 3 days a week.

How To Do It
Warmup: Before each workout, warm up with 5 minutes of light aerobic exercise or calisthenics.

Weight training: Do the weight workout that follows 3 days a week, resting at least a day after each session. Perform the exercises as a circuit, completing one set of 10 to 12 repetitions of each movement before resting for 60 seconds. Then repeat the entire sequence one or two times, for a total of two or three circuits. Every other workout, reverse the order in which you do the exercises. So in one session youÃƒƒ¢Ãƒ‚€Ãƒ‚™ll start with the overhead squat, and the next youÃƒƒ¢Ãƒ‚€Ãƒ‚™ll begin with the pushup.

1. Overhead squat
Stand holding dumbbells overhead with a grip thatÃƒƒ¢Ãƒ‚€Ãƒ‚™s twice shoulder-width. Begin by descending into a squat, making sure that the dumbbells stay out of your peripheral vision and donÃƒƒ¢Ãƒ‚€Ãƒ‚™t drift forward. When your thighs are parallel to the floor, pause for a second before pressing back up to the starting position.

2. Pushup-position row
Get into pushup position with your arms straight and your hands resting on light dumbbells. Spread your feet apart for balance. Tighten your abs as you pull one dumbbell off the floor and draw it toward your chest until your elbow is above your back. Pause, then slowly return the weight to the floor and repeat with the other arm. TIP: If holding both dumbbells feels awkward, try doing the exercise holding only one dumbbell and place your other hand on the floor.

3. Lying hip extension
Lie on the floor with your arms out to the side, knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Pushing with your gluteals and hamstrings, dig your heels down into the floor and lift your hips until your body forms a ramp that descends from your knees to your shoulders. Pause, then return to the starting position.

4. Lat pulldown
Grab a lat-pulldown bar with a "false" overhand grip that's just beyond shoulder width. A false grip means you place your thumb on top of the bar, alongside your index finger, rather than wrap it around the bar. Pull the bar down to your chest. Pause, and slowly return to the starting position.

5. Russian twist
Grab a weight plate with both hands and sit on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat. Hold the weight plate straight out in front of your chest with your palms facing each other. Lean back so your torso is at a 45-degree angle from the floor. Twist to the left as far as you can, pause, then reverse the movement and twist all the way back to the right as far as you can, and pause. Return to the starting position.

6. Pushup
Support your body with the balls of your feet and with your hands, positioning the latter slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, palms flat on the floor. Straighten your arms without locking your elbows. Lower your torso until your chest is just a fraction of an inch off the floor. Push yourself back to the starting position.

Cardio: After each weight-training session, finish up with 12 to 15 minutes of aerobic exercise — running, cycling, rowing — using an intensity that you judge to be a 7 or 8 on a 10-point scale.