Diets

• Would You Diet for Dollar Bills?

  There are many reasons you may be motivated to lose weight. Perhaps you want to look better in your swimsuit, regain confidence, have more energy or become your healthiest by warding off obesity-related diseases, such...[more]

• Why Diets Don't Work

  We don't often think about what the word "diet" really means. For most, it conjures up thoughts of the measures people take to lose weight. It's also a term used by food manufacturers to indicate...[more]

• 5 Reasons to Keep a Food Journal

  Learning how to eat for life and gain control over so many aspects of your life can begin with keeping a journal. Change is not always easy and new healthy habits have to be created...[more]

• Debunking 8 'Fad' Diet Myths

  Turn on the television, open a magazine or walk through your local pharmacy and you'll find endless ways to lose weight. There are a zillion 'fad' diets promising fast weight loss using pills or special...[more]

• 5 Superior Superfoods

  If you're like most people, you want to maximize your nutrition, improve your health, slow the aging process, fight disease, and control calories, all while eating food that's flavorful and enjoyable! While this may seem...[more]

• Can You Cure Hayfever By Eating Right?

  There's something in the air...and it's giving you hay fever. It could be pollen, dust, cigarette smoke, air pollutants, or a combination of many things. Whatever your particular cocktail may be, it can cause symptoms...[more]

• How to Be a Vegan and Stay Healthy

  Veganism is trendy and its proponents are constantly singing its praises--especially celebrities. But is it really as healthy as some claim? And more importantly, is it safe?The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says that:...[A]ppropriately planned...[more]

• The Skinny on Losing Weight with Green Coffee Beans

  The latest buzz brewing in the nutrition world is the recent link between green unroasted coffee beans and weight loss. A recent study found that overweight individuals lost a significant percentage of their body weight...[more]

• 4 Strategies to Tame Your Sweet Tooth

  You've gone through your kitchen and tossed out all processed foods. You've stocked up on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. You've even gone organic! But you're still craving sugar. Sound familiar?Don't let those sweet tooth...[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]

• 4 Great Foods for Grilling Healthy Proteins

  Summer is almost here and many of us find ourselves dusting off that outdoor grill. Summer barbecues and pool parties can be fat-laden affairs, but we've got suggestions for keeping those grilled items lean and...[more]

• 3 Simple Alternate Recipes for Low Calorie Desserts

  Many people admit that they have a "sweet tooth" that often gets them into trouble, especially when trying to eat well or maintain a healthy lifestyle. Eating too many sweets can cause weight gain which...[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]

• 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]

• 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]

• Lack of Sleep: A Weighty Issue

  Not getting enough sleep can do more than just make you feel sluggish the next day--it can actually sabotage your weight-loss goals. When you feel tired or low on energy, you typically reach for starchy...[more]

• Dietary Supplements 101

  Supplements Many people take supplements to be healthy, lose weight, gain weight or achieve any number of health goals. However, there are various things to consider before taking a dietary supplement. What is a Dietary...[more]

• Spicy Foods: How Pepper Can Help Curb Hunger

  Hot peppers not only add delicious heat to your favorite dishes, they can also provide an array of health benefits. Hot peppers contain a component called capsaicin, which has been shown to kill off cancer...[more]

• The 10 Easy Steps to Weight Loss

  Over the last 20 years, food portions have increased dramatically. As the size of our plates have grown, so has the expectation that the larger amount of food we receive, the better the value. However,...[more]

• 5 Best-Kept Secrets to Include in Your Diet

  You always hear about foods that you need to avoid or eliminate from your diet. What about foods that you should be eating, but may not be aware of? Here are a few that may...[more]

• The 8 Powerhouse Foods You Should Be Eating

  These 8 powerhouse foods are filled with nutrients that are very beneficial for your body. Consider adding these foods to your diet to assist in weight loss and add antioxidants, fiber, and omega 3's -...[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]

• 9 Tricks to Staying Healthy When Eating Out

  Eating out can be a gamble especially for people who are watching their weight or managing certain health conditions. Many of the foods prepared outside of the home are high in calories, fat, sodium, and...[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]

• Healthy Living 101: The Ins and Outs of Fiber

  Fiber comes from plants and can be found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Fiber is the portion of plant foods that the body is not able to digest or absorb. What...[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]

• Smart Substitutions: Sweet Cravings

  Eating healthy does not mean that you must eliminate all sweets from your diet. You just have to be smart about how you satisfy your sweet tooth. It's normal to gravitate towards sweetness; the problem...[more]

• Celebrate Valentine's Day in a Healthy Way

  Valentine's Day brings not only feelings of love and joy, it also brings high-calorie chocolates, candies, cookies, and other treats. Since February is American Heart Month, which aims to encourage adopting permanent lifestyle changes to...[more]

• Healthy Living 101: Understanding Whole Grains

  Whole grains are made up of the entire or "whole" grain, including the bran, germ, and innermost part of the kernel, the endosperm. Each portion of the grain or seed plays an important role in...[more]

• Being a Couch Potato Is More Harmful Than You Think

  The idea of "couch potatoes" tends to conjure up images of overweight, lazy unkempt slacker-types. We've heard about the research that has shown that the more hours of television watched per day, the higher the...[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]

• The Truth About Brown Fat

  You may have heard of the term "brown fat" before, so what does that mean exactly? It's not a type of fat you cook with, but rather a type of fat in your body....[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]

• Excess Weight Ages Us More Quickly

  We all know that being overweight or obese can pose threats to our health, especially at a young age. But what effects does overweight or obesity have on the actual aging process? Obese Children Become...[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]

• Eat This, Not That: Breakfast Edition

  You've heard that breakfast is the most important meal. It boosts your metabolism, staves off hunger, and provides you energy to start and get through your day. But what if you are making bad breakfast...[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]

• 10 Tools to Help Keep You on Track

  1. Good Pair of Shoes Make sure you have a pair of shoes that fit you well and are made for the type of activity you plan to do. For example, don't plan to jog...[more]

• 4 New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep!

  The new year is here! While many, many people plan to use this landmark time to get healthier or lose weight, the problem with these goals is that they are difficult to maintain. Most...[more]

• Healthy Kitchen Staples to Start 2012

  If you want to make over your health, refrigerator, and pantry, then make a note of these 12 staples that will get you eating right in the New Year. 1. Assorted Whole Grains Cereals, pasta,...[more]

• The Healthy Food Halo

  Have you ever noticed that certain foods are deemed "healthy" and we seem to think we can eat these foods in unlimited amounts because of their purported health benefits? This has been referred to as...[more]

• Pizza a 'Vegetable'? How to Handle School Lunches

  Recently, Congress passed a bill that classifies the small amount of tomato paste in pizza as the equivalent of a serving of vegetables. The problem is that this legislation can affect the public school...[more]

• 10 Tips to Help You Achieve Your New Year's Health Goals

  With the new year comes the opportunity for a fresh start. For many people, this means leading a healthier lifestyle and losing weight. If this is your goal, follow these tips to stay on track....[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]

• What You Should Know: The Risks and Rewards of Bariatric Surgery

  The National Center for Health Statistics report that 30% of adults (over 60 million) and 17% of children and adolescents (12.5 million) are obese - i.e. having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 and...[more]

• Using Thanksgiving Day Leftovers in a Healthy Way

  Turkey Day has come and gone, leaving us all feeling a little softer around the middle. So what are you supposed to do with all of those leftovers if you're trying to avoid overeating several...[more]

• How to Cut Extra Fat, Sugar, and Calories from Fall Vegetable Dishes

  Sweet potatoes, yams, pumpkins, and other colorful squash are available in abundance during the fall season. Upcoming holidays like Thanksgiving also bring these vegetables to the forefront, showing up in numerous recipes. Orange-colored vegetables are...[more]

• Omega-3 and Omega-6: The Essential Fatty Acids to Include in Your Diet

  Essential fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats that we must get from food. They are necessary for optimal brain function, metabolism regulation, hair growth, bone health, and many other vital physiological reactions. Omega-3 and omega-6 fats...[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]

• Can Eating More Frequently Lead to Weight Loss?

  Have you ever wondered how some people can eat quite frequently but never seem to gain weight? It's often said that eating smaller, more frequent meals fuels your metabolism and helps keep you satisfied throughout...[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]

• 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]

• 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]

• "Off-Limits"? Think Again! How Cheating Can Help You Succeed

  We've all heard the old adage "cheaters never prosper." But when it comes to following a healthy diet to lose weight or maintain your current weight, do cheaters prosper? Some diets allow for certain "cheat"...[more]

• Protein and Dairy: A Dieter's Best Friends?

  New research has found that increased consumption of protein, particularly protein from dairy foods, helps people who are dieting lose more fat and preserve lean body mass (muscle) during exercise- and diet-induced weight loss. The...[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]

• Getting Enough Fiber Is Easier Than You Think!

  The average American is not consuming enough fiber. Most health experts recommend approximately 25-35 grams of fiber every day. A few of the numerous benefits of fiber include its ability to stabilize blood sugar, reduce...[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]

• 16 Surprising Sources of Protein

  Protein does more than just build strong muscles. It also strengthens bones, increases satiety, protects against heart disease, and helps support a healthy immune system. We also know that consuming plenty of protein is an...[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]

• Low, Less, and Lite: How to Decipher 'Healthy' Food Labels

  Ever walk down a grocery store aisle and try to decipher labels? Or have you had a hard time deciding whether a product labeled as "low fat" is better than "low sugar?" You are not...[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]