Carbs

• The Eating Habits of Olympians

  Are the Olympics piquing your curiosity in how your diet differs from Olympic athletes? Well, here's the truth: they're actually pretty similar, except most Olympians need more nutrients because they're exercising constantly. Are you looking...[more]

• Feeling Tired? It's Probably What You Ate

  "Fatigue." Ugh, it's a word I get tired of hearing from my clients in my private practice. (Actually, not really, I love helping my clients!) But if food is our energy source--and we eat so...[more]

• Skinny Summer Cocktails

  A delicious, refreshing cocktail can help you relax after a long day. Whether you're meeting friends or coworkers for drinks at happy hour, or you're whipping up a bevy of beverages for a summer gathering,...[more]

• Smoothie Smarts

  Nothing is quite as refreshing and delicious during the warm summer months as a freshly-blended smoothie. Smoothies are not only tasty and easy to make, they can be quite nutritious as well. They're also portable,...[more]

• Weight Loss Myths Debunked

  Myth: I can use a quickie diet or pill to lose weight and keep it off. Fact: Pills and fad diets do not provide lasting results and can be dangerous. Fad diets and pills are...[more]

• 6 Tips to Eating Out Healthy

  Dining at a restaurant can be daunting. Pictures of food are plastered all over the menu and other patrons are enjoying their meals as well. How do you know what to choose when you are...[more]

• FitDay Recipe Re-Do -- Moist Coffee Cake

  Coffee cake is a popular baked item that can be consumed any time of the day. However, most recipes are high in calories and fat. But by making a few substitutions and cutting back on...[more]

• 5 Healthy Foods Perfect for the Microwave

  The microwave often gets an unwarranted bad rap when it comes to healthy eating. People often think only highly-processed frozen dinners belong in there. However, your microwave could be a great asset in your healthy...[more]

• Energy Bar Ingredients: 3 to Look for and 3 to Avoid

  Energy bars, protein bars, nutrition bars, health bars, snack bars, food bars, granola bars...they go by many names but they all serve a similar purpose- to provide your body with fuel. Regardless of what you...[more]

• Getting Bikini-Season Ready Part 3: Maintenance

  In the last part of the three-part series about getting your body bikini-season ready, we'll focus on perhaps the most important and often the most difficult part of any weight-loss or exercise plan--keeping the weight...[more]

• Getting Bikini-Season Ready Part 1: Your Diet

  With summer just around the corner, you may be wondering what last-minute steps you can take to get your body bikini-ready. While we want to strive for a strong, healthy body year-round, the thought of...[more]

• Eating Light at Mexican Restaurants

  Mexican food is spicy and flavorful, but it can be a diet downfall if you're not careful about what you order. Follow these tips to avoid going overboard on calories. Chuck the Chips Okay, don't...[more]

• Keys to Choosing an Energy Bar

  Energy bars have become rather popular. Perfect for stashing in a bag or your car, bars travel well and come in handy for those times when you need something convenient and quick to eat. There...[more]

• Smart Substitutions: On-the-Go Snacks

  Do you have a busy lifestyle that has you dashing here and there with little time for a healthy, leisurely lunch?Whether it's the challenge of juggling work and getting the kids to their activities or...[more]

• Smart Substitutions: 5 'Staples' to Trade Out of Your Pantry

  Any stop to the grocery store is made quicker and easier when you just have a few 'staples' to pick up. There are many things we like to keep on hand for snacks, quick dinners,...[more]

• 5 Eating Habits You Should Break

  Some of your daily habits may be hindering your health or weight loss goals. Little things you do throughout the day can either propel you forward or take you back a step, and either way,...[more]

• The 411 on Sushi

  What exactly is sushi? What about sashimi? Sushi is often touted as being healthy, but not all options at your favorite fish establishment are created equal, and some pack significantly more calories than you think....[more]

• Smart Substitutions: Eating Out

  Many foods offered at restaurants are not prepared in the same healthful way that you would make them at home. Heavy use of sugar, oil, butter, refined grains, and salt is all too common. But...[more]

• 5 Common Foods That Are Ruining Your Waistline

  When I speak to clients, I frequently hear the words: "I thought that was good for you!" There are many foods that seem to be "healthy" but may actually be helping you gain weight. Here...[more]

• Healthy Living 101: Classifying Foods

  Foods can be classified by the way they affect the body and/or by their food group. It is important to understand both in order to balance your meals and achieve optimal health. Macronutrients The Merriam-Webster...[more]

• Proteins, Fats, and Carbs: How to Balance Your Diet

  Dieting can be confusing. High-protein diets claim to help you lose weight quickly, but can lead to high cholesterol and increase your risk for heart disease. High-carbohydrate diets may be low in fat, but can...[more]

• Healthy Living 101: How to Read a Nutrition Label

  Too often, purchasing food can be confusing, especially with all of the persuasive marketing tactics used by food companies. Learning how to read, understand, and compare food labels can help you maintain, manage, control, and/or...[more]

• Eat This, Not That: Calorie Cutters

  If you eat more calories than your body needs, your body will inevitable store them as excess weight. The trick is to reduce your calorie intake without feeling like you are depriving yourself - and...[more]

• Real FitDay Users Share: What Was Your "A-Ha" Moment?

  What sparked you to embark on your fitness journey? For many of us, it was one moment or incident - the "a-ha" moment - that got our butts in gear and changed our lives forever....[more]

• Meal Planning Made Simple

  The key to long-term weight management and healthy eating is consuming a balanced diet. Restrictive eating and fad diets may provide temporary weight loss, but they may also provide fatigue, hunger, food fantasizing, malnutrition, binging,...[more]

• The FitDay Guide to Healthier Holiday Baking

  The holiday season always seems to throw us all into a baking frenzy. We whip up dozens of cookies, cupcakes, pies, candies, and other treats that we then decorate with beautiful holiday colors. While all...[more]

• 4 Ways to Eat Healthy During the Holiday Season

  The holidays are a time for us to gather with family and friends to celebrate. For better or worse, with celebration comes food. If you have been working very hard at eating healthy, losing weight,...[more]

• Stress Eating: What You Can Do to Keep It at Bay

  Stress, boredom, or any array of emotions can lead to cravings for food. If these cravings take control too often, you might find yourself eating large portions of high calorie, sweet, and/or fatty foods. However,...[more]

• Healthy Holiday Eating: A Comparison of Two Meal Plans

  During holiday gatherings, you may be confronted with array of food and drink options that you rarely see during the rest of the year. Though overindulging could derail your health plans, do not despair! Study...[more]

• A Guide to Healthy Holiday Eating

  The holidays are upon us with 6 weeks of temptations from the end of November to the beginning of January, with well-wishers who leave plates of cookies at the office or drop by with gooey...[more]

• 5 Ways to Prevent Weight Gain When You Can't Make Your Own Food

  Staying healthy can be difficult when you have limited resources. College students, for example, typically live in dorm rooms with only small refrigerators and no access to stoves or other kitchen appliances. Frequent business travelers...[more]

• Understanding Metabolism: How It Influences Weight Control

  It may be tempting to blame your failed weight loss attempts or weight gain on a slow metabolism. However, it is rare that excessive weight gain from a medical problem slows metabolism, as in cases...[more]

• Not All Calories Are Created Equal

  For decades, we've been taught that weight loss comes down to the simple idea of "calories in versus calories out." This equation is simple and can not be escaped. To lose weight, you must take...[more]

• What Are Carbs? How They Work (and How to Get Them to Work for You)

  Most people view carbohydrates as "evil" foods. Found in breads, pastas, cereals, and almost everything sweet, carbohydrates receive a bad reputation for causing weight gain. In reality, carbohydrates provide energy your body needs to help...[more]

• Kañiwa: The Next Superfood?

  People are always on the lookout for the latest and greatest foods to help enhance their health and prevent risk of disease. The term "superfood" has captivated consumers and increased their interest in purchasing products...[more]

• 4 'Bad' Foods That Are Actually Good for You

  As a dietitian, I sometimes find people carefully watching what I choose to eat. The common misconception is that while I have a healthy lifestyle and maintain both my weight and physique, I must greatly...[more]

• Carbs and Dairy: Is It Really Safe to Skip Them?

  As a child, I was taught that my meals needed to come from 4 simple food groups: grains, seafood/meats (including beans), dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese), and fruits/vegetables. Since then, the USDA has issued numerous versions...[more]

• 3 Steps to Healthy Weight Gain

  While the majority of the clients I see are struggling with the challenges of weight loss, I occasionally encounter somebody who has the opposite predicament. Difficulty gaining weight can be frustrating, and the solution is...[more]

• Quick, Healthy Snacks and Lunches-to-Go

  When life gets busy, eating right can be hard to do. Our increasingly chaotic lifestyles are jam-packed with so many long hours working, taking care of families, trying to maintain healthy relationships, and many other...[more]

• US News Ranks the "Best Diets"

  US News and World Report recently released with a ranking of twenty diets. Their findings were based on seven criteria: short term weight loss, long term weight loss, ease of following, nutrition, safety, effectiveness for...[more]

• Nutrition and Exercise: Eating to Fuel Your Workouts

  World-class athletes know that success depends on training and nutrition. They carefully choose the foods they eat, so the right combination of nutrients will fuel them to success. Take some tips and transform your eating...[more]

• Nutritive Versus Non-Nutritive Sweeteners

  Sweeteners, whether they be nutritive (provide calories) or non-nutritive (do not provide calories), are added to a multitude of foods and beverages. Sweeteners not only provide a sweet flavor to foods, they are also used...[more]

• What Are Net Carbs?

  Most people who are concerned about their health are very familiar with food labels. You've probably looked at your fair share of Nutrition Facts panels, ingredient lists, and health claims on packaged foods. Reading labels...[more]

• Eat This, Not That: A Comparison of Two Meal Plans

  Every day, we are constantly faced with choices about what to eat. For most of us, it's got to be quick and easy, and it's got to taste good. Unfortunately, the healthy benefits of a...[more]

• Great Flavor with Healthy Additives

  Can you really add flavor without adding calories or risking adverse health effects? We have all heard that we should cut down on the salt we add to our foods to prevent hypertension, and that...[more]

• 3 Steps to Smart Snacking

  If you ask anyone in the health profession how often you should eat, you will most likely be told to eat 5 to 6 small meals spread out over the course of each day. The...[more]

• A Dietitian's Take on the New MyPlate

  The USDA's familiar MyPyramid has just been replaced with MyPlate. The consensus seems to be that this new model is simpler and easier to understand than the previous version, and I completely agree. Consisting of...[more]

• Practicing a Carb-Free Diet? 5 Healthy Alternatives to Carbohydrates

  A carb-free diet is not just a fad. There are many reasons why you should practice this type of diet. Carbohydrates are considered the main source of energy for your body, and they make...[more]

• Are Carb Free Diets a Healthy Weight Loss Option?

  Fad diets, like carb free diets, do have some truth to them. If you stop eating doughnuts, cake, white bread and sugary cereal, you will undoubtedly drop weight quickly. The problem is that fad...[more]

• The Difference between High and Low Glycemic Carbohydrates

  The difference between low and high glycemic carbohydrates exists due to your body’s response to the different food items. Carbohydrates with high glycemic index ratings (GI) cause glucose and insulin levels to surge. This...[more]

• The Difference between Unrefined and Refined Carbohydrates

  Carbohydrates are essential nutrients that are responsible for the production of energy in the body. They form part of the three main macronutrients, which also include proteins and fats. While carbohydrates are commonly classified...[more]

• Simple vs Complex Carbohydrates

  Carbohydrates, proteins and fats form the three main macronutrients that are essential in every balanced diet. While proteins and fats may be responsible for bodily functions such as the creation of body tissues and...[more]

• Does Milk Contain Carbohydrates?

  Whether it is whole or skim, from a cow or a goat, all milk contains carbohydrates. The number of carbohydrates in the milk we drink ranges from about 11.3 to 11.9 grams per cup....[more]

• The Relationship Between Sugar and Carbohydrates

  Sugar and carbohydrates are closely linked in the body. This article will explore that relationship as well as discussing corn syrup, sugar acid, fructose sugar and sugar energy. These are issues that directly affect...[more]

• Low vs. High Carbohydrate Diet: Which is Better?

  Whether you go on a low carbohydrate diet or a high carbohydrate diet, the overarching purpose is to burn fat and experience weight loss while getting the protein and other nutrition your body needs....[more]

• Understanding Good and Bad Carbohydrate Foods

  Carbohydrate foods are essential for the proper functioning of our body. Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy. Some foods contain large amount of carbohydrates, while some have a lower concentration. Eating the right...[more]

• The 7 Best Sources of Protein

  Consuming the best sources of protein at each meal helps to reduce your appetite by keeping you full for longer. Also, the body uses energy to turn protein into carbohydrates, which means you burn...[more]

• The Benefits of a Low Carb / Low Sugar Diet

  While the debate continues regarding the effectiveness of a low carb low sugar diet, it remains clear that it works very well for many people. By helping maintain steadier levels of insulin in the...[more]

• Set Daily Carbohydrate Goals - How To Reach Them

  Everybody’s bodies require daily carbohydrate intake for efficient function. Three of the major nutrients include carbohydrates, fat and protein, with carbohydrates being the one used to produce energy. At least one third of our...[more]

• How Carbohydrate Metabolism Affects Weight

  Carbohydrate metabolism refers to the process your body goes through to break down carbohydrates into energy. Eating too much carbohydrates can cause an increase in your body’s fat storage. But, eating too little can...[more]

• What Are Carbohydrates? An Easy To Understand Definition

  What are carbohydrates? This question never goes out of style. The simplest way to understand carbohydrates is to break down what they do for us. Our bodies break down carbohydrates in order to make...[more]

• What Are Complex Carbohydrates?

  Complex carbohydrates are those carbohydrates that are made of three or more sugar molecules linked together. These carbohydrates are found vegetables, nuts, fruits, seeds and grains. They differ from simple carbohydrates, like sugar, that...[more]

• How To Balance Your High Carb Diet

  Despite popular belief, you don't have to give up carbohydrates completely in order to lose weight. But, you do need to understand how to balance your high carb diet. Carbohydrates are essential in providing your...[more]

• Easy Ways to Reduce Your Carbohydrate Intake

  Experts agree that if you're daily carbohydrate intake is 60% or more of your caloric intake, you will have difficulty with weight loss. Often times, the easiest food for "on the run" meals or...[more]

• Balancing Carbohydrate / Protein Intake For Max Energy

  Adequate carbohydrate and protein intake are both essential to a healthy diet. Carbs are more than a calorie-laden sugar rush, and protein is more than just a heavy stomach-filler. These are the two nutritional...[more]

• Understanding Carbohydrate Function For Better Health

  Understanding carbohydrate function and getting solid fact about this essential dietary need, can lead to better overall fitness and health. Carbohydrates are an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet, as they have many...[more]

• Substituting Agave Nectar For Other Sugars

  Agave nectar is a healthy, unrefined natural substitute for refined sugars and artificial sweeteners. Agave nectar is a natural sweetener made from plants out of Central Mexico. It adds wonderful flavor and also provides...[more]

• Maintaining Blood Sugar: Foods To Quickly Lower Levels

  Blood sugar foods are able to regulate the amount of glucose found in your bloodstream. In order to determine whether a food holds this capability, you need to analyze the glycemic index. In order...[more]