Playing the Numbers Game

It’s dinnertime and you’re frantically scrambling to get your three kids under six years old fed before you have to get the oldest to his soccer game and the middle one to the barber.  You swing into McDonald’s, order, squeeze into a booth, divvy up a 20-piece McNuggets amongst your offspring, and then quickly shove the first meal of your day down your gullet. What’s the last thing you’re thinking about during this manic mealtime? Well, other than wondering if Kate Middleton is breastfeeding Prince George. That’s right; calories. Those numbers, which are now posted on many restaurant menus in … Continue reading

Measure Your Inches Not Your Weight

Most of us, who are concerned about fitness, base it on our weight. We step on the scale (sometimes on a daily basis) and we determine our success by what the numbers say. If they have gone up, we get discouraged (even by one pound) and if they go down (again, even if it’s just by one pound), we are elated. But what the scale says isn’t the only measure of how well we are doing. You could be staying the same, yet losing inches. So be sure to not only consider your weight but your inches. The reality is … Continue reading

How Your BMR Can Help You Lose Weight

Most of us know what BMI (body mass index) is and that it measures your height and weight to determine how much body fat you have. But have you heard of BMR (basal metabolic rate)? This is important to understanding how many calories you should be consuming each day. If you take in more calories than you should, you will gain weight. But if you take in fewer calories than you should, it will interfere with the body’s ability to burn fat. It could also lead to dysfunction in your blood pressure, heart rate and ability to digest foods. So … Continue reading

Get a Free Coke Zero With Your Turkey Burger

Fast food restaurants cannot usually be described as the best place for someone to find a healthy meal. Despite this, there are many people who crave fast food when they are on a diet. In response, several fast food places have started to offer slightly healthier food choices, like diet beverages and leaner burgers. You can get a coupon for a free Coke Zero drink when you buy a turkey burger from Carl’s Jr. I remember the first time I ate at a Carl’s Jr. restaurant. I grew up in the Midwest, and there weren’t any Carl’s Jr. restaurants where … Continue reading

Common Holiday Foods and Their Calories

Yes, it is looming. It is the holiday season, a time when people who aren’t even trying to lose weight tend to gain a pound in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Food is so closely tied with the holidays, so unless you are planning on moving to Antarctica for a month or so, you are going to have deal with it all. There are a couple of ways to do this. You can ignore the calories and just indulge, facing a possible weight gain and loss of progress. Did you know that a typical Thanksgiving meal with all of … Continue reading

About the Diabetic Diet

Before I was put on the diabetic diet, I was told by some healthcare professionals that it is really the healthiest diet for anyone to be on – even if they aren’t diabetic. Now, I am not a nutritionist, so I can’t say if that is 100% true or not, but I know I have tried a few diets and the diabetic diet is the easiest to stick with as far as I am concerned. What makes the diabetic diet unlike other diets? Well, I for one don’t really get hungry. That is because on the diabetic diet, you eat … Continue reading

Something is Better than Nothing

In light of the new recommendations just issued by the federal government regarding the amount of exercise Americans should be completing on a weekly basis I thought it would be interesting to note the results of a new recent study done by researchers at Louisiana State University as it might make you couch potatoes feel a bit better. Whereas the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says adults should be participating in at least 2.5 hours a week of moderate-intensity physical activity, researchers at LSU maintain that even 10 minutes of exercise a day can improve your health. Or … Continue reading

So You Want to Burn Fat?

For the past few days I’ve been detailing exercises that burn serious calories. After all, if you are going to drag yourself out of bed at the crack of dawn to workout you might as well get the most from your efforts. The vast majority of us exercise to lose weight, which is done by burning calories, but what about the unwanted fat we want to shed? To answer that question we must differentiate between “aerobic” activity and “anaerobic” activity. “Aerobic” means “with oxygen.” When you are partaking in low-intensity exercises your breathing rate and oxygen use can keep up … Continue reading

More Ways to Burn Major Calories

Let’s face it; the majority of us exercise because we want to lose weight. Sure, some folks workout to maintain their weight, while others adopt a fitness regime to combat the signs of aging. But the core group of walkers, runners, bikers and swimmers that you see in the gym, on the road and in the pool are trying to burn as many calories as possible. In my previous blog I provided a list of some of the best calorie burning exercises available. While we all know the best cardio exercise is the one you are motivated to do consistently … Continue reading

30 Easy Ways to Cut Calories

1. Have salsa with your tortilla chips instead of guacamole or queso dip. 2. Bake your own tortilla chips, from real tortillas, instead of eating fried chips. 3. Skip the sour cream on your tacos. 4. Switch to Dannon Light & Fit yogurt. 5. Switch to mini bagels and enjoy the whole bagel. 6. Switch to 1/3 Less Fat Philly (Neufchatel) Cream Cheese. It tastes just as good and has a whole lot less calories. 7. Skip the crust and just eat the pie filling. 8. Skip the sugar and make your pies with Splenda. 9. Switch to spray on … Continue reading