Calorie Calculator

The New York Times has a feature that lets you estimate the number of calories you need to consume to reach your goal weight.

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/health/caloriecounter.html

Decode your Cravings

Nan Kathryn Fuchs, Ph.D., author of The Health Detective's 456 Most Powerful Healing Secrets, helps you understand your cravings in Shape magazine's June issue.

If you're craving: Gummy Bears
You may need: Protein
Why?: "Having a hankering for sugary carbs is a signal that your body wants energy," says Fuchs. For a longer-lasting boost, try to get at least 15 grams of protein at ever meal from fish, beans, or lean meat.

If you're craving: Chocolate
You may need: Magnesium
Why?: Chocolate is high in heart-healthy magnesium. "Levels dip during a woman's period," says Fuchs. Aim for at least 300 milligrams of the mineral a day, about the amount in a cup of black beans and a cup of cooked spinach.

If you're craving: French Fries
You may need: Good Fat
Why? Jonesing for greasy foods? Your likely coming up short on healthy fatty acids. Incorporate them into meals by drizzling a tablespoon of olive oil over your salad or veggies, or eat several servings of fish a week.

If you're craving: Salty Pretzels
You may need: B Vitamins
Why? When our adrenal gland, which produces stress hormones, goes into overdrive, so does your desire for salt. To avoid too much sodium, snack on bananas or whole-grain crackers, which contain stress-relieving B vitamins.

Healthy Recipe: Grilled Tuna Steaks with Pineapple-Chili Relish

Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
1/4 cup plus 3/4 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 6 ounce yellow fin tuna steaks, about 3/4 inch thick
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 tablespoon chopped red chili with seeds (or less, to taste)
3 cups fresh diced pineapple (or 2 cups crushed pineapple canned in juice, drained)
3/4 teaspoon sugar

Preheat grill or broiler. In a large baking dish, combine 1/4 cup vinegar, 1 tablespoon oil, half the garlic, salt and pepper. Cover the tuna steaks with the mixture until well coated on each side. Set aside.
In a large stainless steel or nonstick skillet, heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat. Saute scallions, chilies, and remaining garlic for 30 seconds. Add pineapple and stir for about 1-2 minutes, or until pineapple is thoroughly warmed through. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar and remaining vinegar. Set aside.
Place tuna steaks on preheated grill or broiler pan. Cook 4 inches from heat for 2-4 minutes on each side or until desired doneness. Top with relish and serve.

Nutritional Information, per serving (1 steak with 1/2 cup relish)
307 kcal
7 grams fat
18 grams carbohydrates
40 grams protein
2 grams iron
66 grams calcium

Can You Pinch More than an Inch?

The scale may say that you're slim, but your frame may still be carrying too much body fat, says Michele Olson, Ph.D., a professor of exercise science at Auburn University. "Women with little muscle tone may not be overweight but still have unhealthy levels of body fat," she explains. A new Italian study found that normal weight women with higher than 30% body fat are at greater risk for heart disease. To learn you fat level, try one of two tests available at many gyms: calipers, which assess skin thickness at key areas, and bioimpedance devices, which send an undetectable electrical current through the body to read the ratio of fat to other tissue. Both are reasonably accurate when used by a trained professional.

Diet and Infertility

The Diet News You Need To Know
Eating just 4 grams of trans fat a day--the amount you might find in a half of a medium serving of french fries or one Krispy Kreme glazed donut--can more than double your risk of infertility, according to a new study. "Trans fats increase insulin resistance, which has been show to negatively affect ovulation in some otherwise healthy woman, says study author Jorge Chavarro, M.D., a researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health. To reduce your intake of these artery clogging fats, look beyond the nutrition label. "A product can claim it has zero trans fats if it has anything less than half a gram," he say. To make sure a snack is really trans-fat free, double check that the ingredients list is clear of anything "partially hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated".

Strength training may reverse muscle aging

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Strength training may not only make older adults' muscles stronger, but younger as well, a small study suggests.

It's well known that resistance exercises improve muscle strength and function in young and old alike, but the new research suggests that strength training also affects older muscles on the level of gene expression -- essentially turning back the clock on muscle aging.

The study, published in the online journal PLoS One, looked at whether strength training affects the "gene expression profile" in older adults' muscle. Genes hold the instructions from which the body manufactures proteins; gene expression refers to the processes that translate these instructions into proteins.

Analyzing small samples of muscle tissue from a group of healthy young and older adults, researchers found that older and younger muscle tissues differed significantly in their gene expression profiles. The difference indicated that older muscle tissue had impaired functioning in mitochondria -- structures within cells that act as the cell's "powerhouse."

That impairment was reversible, however. After 14 of the older adults underwent 6 months of strength training, the gene expression profile in their muscles showed a more youthful appearance.

"In a very real sense, the muscle was younger," said lead study author Dr. Simon Melov of the Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato, California.

Experts have long known that exercise is good for younger and older adults alike, Melov told Reuters, but the new findings suggest that it can "actually rejuvenate muscle" in older individuals.

The study included 25 healthy men and women older than 65, and 26 healthy adults ages 20 to 35 who had diet and exercise habits similar to the older group. By analyzing muscle tissue from each volunteer, Melov's team found age-related differences in the expression of hundreds of genes -- such that mitochondrial function in older adults appeared "dramatically impaired."

Fourteen of the older adults then went through a strength training program, working out two days a week for 6 months.

As expected, the researchers found that these volunteers boosted their muscle strength, coming closer to their younger counterparts' performance. But their muscle also showed a turnaround in gene expression that Melov described as surprisingly stark.

He said more studies are needed to see whether aerobic exercise, like walking or cycling, has similar effects on muscle -- and whether exercise might reverse molecular aging in other types of body tissue.

For now, the researchers say, their findings show that it's never too late to start exercising.

Bounce Back from a Diet Slip

You may view missing a week of exercise or grabbing a doughnut when you've been trying to lose weight as a failure. But this all-or-nothing outlook can actually undermine your future success, says Carol Tavris, Ph.D., a Los Angeles-based social psychologist and co-author of Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me). "When you feel disappointed in yourself, pay attention to the way you explain your behavior," she says. "Thoughts or statements like 'I have no willpower' or 'I knew I'd never stick to a diet' are self-defeating and could lead you to repeat the very actions you hoped to change." Instead, admit that you screwed up and take a moment to realize that doing so was natural. "When you make a mistake with a diet, an exercise plan, or for that matter any major decision, it doesn't mean that you're a bad person or that you'll never improve," says Tavris. "It simply means that you need to renew your motivation."

Eat This, Heal.... Morning Sickness

Fight queasiness with Popsicles, dry toast, ginger ale and citrus flavored water. Choose bland dishes without strong odors which can trigger nausea. Opt for nutritious unheated foods (they are less odorous than hot ones) such as sandwiches, salads, applesauce, yogurt and bananas. Fight fatigue by pairing complex carbohydrates with protein such as whole-wheat bread and hummus, or apple slices and string cheese.

Hormones and Your Weight

You can't blame hormones for pounds you might pack on as a result of eating more and moving less, but you could retain one to five pounds of water during the two weeks before your period. Some unlucky women may gain 10 pounds of water weight, says Steven J. Ory, M.D., president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. "But it's temporary," he adds. "Normal fluctuations in the menstrual cycle aren't responsible for permanent pounds." To minimize water-weight gain, eat less salt and take 1,000 milligrams of calcium the week before your period, both of which reduce bloating, says Marcelle Cedars, M.D., an endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco. For severe cases of bloat a doctor might prescribe a mild diuretic to flush it out.

Another hormone-weight connection: When estrogen and progesterone fall before your period, you may experience food cravings--and gain weight if you indulge. "If a woman consistently gives in and binges on high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar foods, she may in fact, gain actual fat pounds that won't go away once her period starts," says Dr. Ory. "Anything you can do to lower stress levels and boost mood during that time, whether that's yoga, marathon running or stock-car racing, can help cut cravings," he notes. ...Numerous studies have shown that we reach for less-healthy choices and eat more calories when we're sleep deprived.

Eat This, Heal... Shin Splints

Rock on, Elizabeth Ward, M.S., R.D.!

Your body needs: Bromelain (from pineapple), anthlocyanins, and omega-3 fats to fight inflammation.

Your body needs: a tuna sandwich on whole wheat, a bowl of cherries, and 8 ounces of pineapple juice.

Eat This, Heal... A Wound

We've heard it so many times before: food is fuel. But besides calories (energy), what we eat contains other helpful nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and compounds necessary to keep our body up and running efficiently and effectively. The Eat This, Heal That series written by Elizabeth Ward, M.S., R.D., for Men's Health will help you see the impact your food choices makes on how your body functions. It might make you rethink whether or not junk food is worth it.

So, you've injured yourself and broken skin.

Your body needs: Protein to produce skin cells; vitamin C and zinc for collagen production; iron to oxygenate blood; plus whole grains to calm inflamed tissue.

Eat this: A burger made from 95% lean beef (leaner meat has more protein and iron) on a whole-grain bun, plus a kiwi for dessert.

If possible, get grass fed beef, which contains inflammation-fighting omega-3s.

Eat This, Heal....A Bruise

Bruises and being active go hand-in-hand.

Your body needs: Vitamin C to shore up blood vessels; Vitamin K for blood clotting; plus oleocanthal, a natural substance in olive oil that mimics over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications.

Eat this: Raw spinach and sliced strawberries tossed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and top off the salad with sunflower seeds or pine nuts.

Props to the Publications

I'm a proud subscriber to a number of magazines including Men's Fitness, Men's Health and Fitness, Hers Muscle and Fitness, Women's Health, Women's Fitness, Self, Shape, Runner's World, as well as fitness and nutrition books and professional publications. They help me break up the tedium of cardio and keep me in touch with the hot news and trends in the fitness world. They also bring certain training moves back into the spotlight: oh, yeah! I totally forgot the quadruped extension-rotation. I give credit where credit is due, so if you find that you're always impressed with posts that come from one particular publication, consider subscribing or buy a whole issue and see if you enjoy it. They often have inspirational stories and other useful information. Just remember, reading about working out is not the same as working out.

Another Reason to Avoid Trans Fats

Belt size increasing? It may be the kind of fat you're eating--and not the total amount you consume each day--that contributes to weight gain. Researchers at Wake Forest University in North Carolina found that monkeys that ate trans fats gained four times the weight as monkeys eating the same amount of unsaturated fats.

Relax your Way to Injury-Free

Free the Mind and Fewer Injuries May Follow

By SALLY WADYKA

Published: January 4, 2007 in NY Times

IN a high school locker room in Worthington, Ohio, Sam Maniar handed a piece of string tied to a washer to each of the field hockey players sitting around him. He told the athletes to use their minds to move the washer from side to side, and he watched as each girl’s washer started to swing.

“By thinking about moving the washer, we send a message from the brain to the nerve receptors in our fingers to move the string attached to the washer,” said Dr. Maniar, a sports psychologist. “Most people are in total amazement. I use it show the connection between our thoughts and our bodies.”

Every athlete and coach knows that harnessing one’s mind can lead to feats of coordination and finesse on the field. But what many are just learning is that taking care of an athlete’s emotional health — and managing stress in particular — can help prevent injury.

“The research is there showing that high stress levels do increase the risk of getting injured, but few lay people realize the connection,” Dr. Maniar said.

Iona MacKenzie, 35, a triathlete and adventure racer in Boulder, Colo., believes that a period of undue tension in 2001 led to her back-to-back injuries. Ms. MacKenzie had just started a highly stressful job in Vancouver, was rowing competitively and was also dealing with a long-distance relationship that was financially and emotionally draining.

“I’d been rowing for about seven or eight years completely injury free,” she said. “But during that year I fractured a rib and soon after that healed, I injured my lower back. Both are fairly common injuries for female rowers, but I don’t feel like either would have happened if my body hadn’t been so weakened by how much stress I was under.”

The American College of Sports Medicine recently issued a consensus statement — a joint effort by about a dozen sports medicine practitioners, team doctors and sports psychologists — to inform team physicians, coaches and athletic trainers about the important link between stress and injury.

“This concept is not always welcomed with open arms in the sports community where athletes are taught to be tough,” said Dr. Stanley A. Herring, chairman of the consensus statement committee, a team physician for the Seattle Seahawks and a consultant to the University of Washington’s sports medicine department. “But you can’t tough your way through mental issues.”

Stress is an omnipresent problem, and the word is used to describe situations ranging from a long wait at Starbucks to fear of a terrorist attack. So why, one may argue, isn’t every athlete collapsing to the ground?

While the research has shown a consistent connection between significant negative life events — the end of a relationship, a death in family, the loss of job, failing in school — and the increased risk of injury, the key isn’t so much the stressful event itself, but how a person handles it.

“One man’s stress is another man’s vacation,” Dr. Herring said. “Those at risk are the ones whose stress exceeds the resources they have to cope with it.”

There are several explanations for how stress leads to injuries. According to Frank M. Perna, a psychologist and associate professor at Boston University, there may be multiple causes. “Studies have shown that when you’re stressed you don’t pay enough attention to visual cues,” he said.

That, for example, could cause a football player to miss something in his peripheral vision and be blindsided and injured. Physiologically, more stress means more stress hormones flowing through your body.

Cortisol, a stress-related hormone, decreases the immune response, Dr. Perna said. “Athletes who are training hard are breaking down muscle,” he said, “and cortisol will impede the body’s ability to repair muscles, making them more likely to get injured or exacerbate a chronic injury.”

STRESS also increases muscle tension, and tense muscles are more susceptible to tearing or can throw a person off balance and affect coordination. Studies have shown that during a single school year, one in six athletes is likely to suffer an injury serious enough to miss games. Other studies have reported that high stress levels make athletes at least twice as susceptible to injury.

The key to recognizing athletes at risk, the researchers agreed, is simply bothering to probe deeper.

“When the athlete gets a preseason physical, it shouldn’t be just about the ‘physical,’ ” Dr. Herring said. “Ask about what’s going on at home, how are things with their girlfriend, do they feel overwhelmed? And if the answers are concerning, it’s an opportunity to help them out.”

Dr. Margot Putukian, director of athletic medicine at Princeton University, said, “Most coaches don’t perceive mental health as something they have to worry about.”

For coaches who don’t have a sports psychologist on call, it is still easy enough to implement some stress-management techniques. Dr. Maniar said there was no reason a coach could not learn a few relaxation tips.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends methods such as progressive muscle relaxation, a sequence of movements to tense and release muscle groups to bring tension levels down. Visual imagery, which involves picturing certain images to create a different physical state, can also be employed.

“For example, imagining being on a beach in the warm sand is likely to produce a physical shift that makes you feel more relaxed,” said David B. Coppel, a sports psychologist in Kirkland, Wash.

And doing deep, abdominal breathing helps change shallow breathing (a symptom of stress and tension) into deeper, rhythmic breathing.

MOST high school and college teams may not be sitting down for group yoga and meditation sessions in place of practice, but a few forward-thinking coaches are already heeding the College of Sports Medicine’s recommendations.

Terri Simonetti Frost, who coaches the field hockey team at Thomas Worthington High School in Worthington, Ohio, brought Dr. Maniar in teach her players imagery techniques. He also encouraged the girls to better communicate about what was causing tension in their lives.

“Communication is our biggest technique for coping with stress,” Ms. Frost said. “If a kid seems off during practice, I’ll call her aside and we’ll talk about what’s going on in her life.”

Ms. Frost gives her players an extra day off each week — they practice only four days — to help reduce stress. She also talks to them about their study habits and what is going on in their academic schedules so that they won’t feel overwhelmed by school and sports simultaneously.

“I think on a sort of subconscious level it may play a role in keeping the players healthy,” she said.

Although it is impossible to prove cause and effect, she noted that none of her players were injured this last season, and the team was undefeated in the regular season.

The doctors who put together the College of Sports Medicine consensus statement also said that common emotional reactions to injury — like loss of identity, fear, anxiety and depression — could affect a player’s recovery.

“But people who have learned coping strategies for dealing with setbacks in life can better handle the stress of being on the sideline,” Dr. Perna said.

Stephanie Heinsons, 21, a senior at Ohio State University who competes in equestrian events, regularly practices controlled breathing and imagery to help cope not only with the stress of competition but also with everyday life. “These techniques help to calm me down and force my focus back into the present,” she said.

If she skips her relaxation techniques, she is more likely to feel anxious and tense up. “When I take a deep breath and tell myself to focus on the present, I become calm,” Ms. Heinsons said. “That helps me like magic.”

Eat Well, Breathe Easy

Nutrition: A Healthy Diet May Keep Chronic Lung Disease at Bay

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR, New York Times

Published: May 22, 2007

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry and whole grain foods may offer protection against chronic lung disease, a new study suggests, in addition to the other benefits of such a regimen.

Researchers studied more than 42,000 male health professionals enrolled in a long-term study that began in 1986. All filled out food frequency questionnaires, and the scientists ranked them by how closely they followed what the authors call the “prudent” diet, or how much they stuck to a “Western” diet dominated by refined grains, cured and red meats, sweets and French fries. The study appeared online May 15 in Thorax.

After adjusting for age, smoking and other factors, the scientists found that the more strictly a person followed the prudent diet, the lower the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or C.O.P.D., the umbrella term for chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Compared with the one-fifth of people with the highest intake of foods from the prudent diet, the one-fifth with the lowest intake were twice as likely to suffer from newly diagnosed C.O.P.D.

At the same time, the one-fifth of men who followed the Western diet most closely were more than four and a half times as likely to be diagnosed with chronic pulmonary disease as the one-fifth who ate the least from that menu.

Raphaëlle Varraso, the lead author, said that fruits, vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids probably explained the protective effect, and that red meat, cured meat and French fries actively increased the risk. Dr. Varraso was at the Harvard School of Public Health when the study was done, and is now a researcher at the National Institute for Health and Medical Research in France.

The Buzz: Omega-3s

Omega-3s have been all over the health media lately. You can't pick up a magazine without reading about this miracle nutrient. Here's what Men's Health (May issue) has to say:

To drastically reduce your risk of future health problems, you need 3.5 grams of omega-3 fatty acids daily, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health. The researchers made this determination when they calculated that 40% of mortality from heart disease and 95% of depression could be attributed to deficiencies in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the omega-3 fatty acids primarily found in seafood. These healthy fats reduce the inflammation associated with heart disease and may also cultivate the production of serotonin and dopamine, "feel good" neurotransmitters that can reliever and prevent depression, say study author Joseph Hibbein, M.D.

The American Council of Exercise notes that the best fish sources are salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies. Other food sources of omega-3s include soybeans and other soy products, canola oil, and flaxseed.

Healthy Recipe: Braised Salmon with Soy and Ginger

Ingredients:
16 ounces salmon fillet
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/4 cup mirin (a Japanese cooking wine found in ethnic stores and most Whole Foods)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons vodka
1 tablespoon butter
2 scallions, white parts only, chopped
3-4 sprigs cilantro

Directions:
Cut the salmon into 1" squares. Heat the oil in at 12" nonstick pan over medium-high heat and add the salmon cubes and ginger. Sear together for about 1 minute, then pour the mirin, soy sauce, and vodka over the salmon. Turn the heat to medium and cook for about 3 minutes, until the fish turns pale. Add the butter and turn off the heat. Spoon the salmon onto a serving plate and top with the scallion and cilantro.
Makes 4 servings.
Nutritional Information, per serving: 359 calories 24 grams protein 6 grams carbohydrates 22 grams fat 1 gram fiber

Healthy Recipe: Spicy Garlic Shrimp

Shrimp are a great source of protein, and they're easy to cook! Serve with steamed veggies for a light, flavorful meal.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon red-pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
16 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

Directions:

In a small saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat until it starts to simmer, just below smoking temperature; add the pepper flakes, and then the garlic. As you are stirring garlic so it will turn golden brown (but don't let the garlic burn or it will become bitter), season the shrimp with salt and pepper, then place the shrimp in the pan with the garlic, swirling the pan gently. Saute over medium-high heat for 1 minute, then stir in the parsley. Saute for another minute, remove from the heat and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Per serving:
249 calories
23 grams protein
3 grams carbohydrates
16 grams fat
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How It Works: the Body-Fat Scale

You've used them before: body-fat scales. But do you know how they work?

Step 1: When you step on the scale's electrodes, a 500 microampere current shoots up your leg. Human skin can sense currents only stronger than 1 milliamp, which is twice as powerful as this charge.
Step 2: As the current moves throughout your lower body, it encounters resistance in tissue. Water is a much better conductor than fat, so muscle--which is about 73 percent water--provides easier passage.
Step 3: The scale detects the total time it takes for the current to compete its path. The faster it travels, the more muscle and less fat you have. With this data, it computes your body-fat percentage.

Personal experience leads me to advise that you empty your bladder before using the scale to estimate body fat percentage.

Drop Acid...

...from your diet. It's not just the sugar in soda that harms your teeth. Acids in both regular and diet sodas erode tooth enamel, according to researchers at Southern Illinois University and Men's Health (June 2007). They made the discovery after testing 20 commercial soft drinks. Citrus-flavored sodas (think lemon-lime) were more harmful than colas. Even the diet versions of these fruity drinks caused significant enamel loss. The culpril: high levels of citric and phosphoric acids, which eat away a thte outer layer of teeth. Can't shake your soda habit? Go with Diet Coke. It contains such low amounts of acid that it has less impact on enamel than tap water.

Q & A: Nausea and workouts

Q: Sometimes I get a little nauseated after working out. What could be going on?

A: There are several potential causes for exercise-related nausea, many of which are easy to fix. If you don't have any food in your stomach--say, if you exercise in the morning before breakfast--you'll be more likely to feel light-headed, dizzy or nauseated with exertion. So before breaking a sweat, down a sport drink mixed with some water or eat a small snack (a combo of carbs and protein between 150-175 kcal, such as 1 tablespoon of peanut butter on an apple, is good.) On the flip side, having too much food in your belly can also make you queasy. When you exercise, your muscles demand more blood , diverting some away from organs like the stomach--which can slow digestion and leave you feeling ill. Pushing yourself too hard with your workouts can also be to blame. If none of these seems to be our situation, or if you feel green often, check with your doctor, who can look for less common causes, such as certain heart conditions and infections.


Self's Health Expert, Lisa Callahan, M.D., is right on. Be sure to talk with your trainer to pinpoint the cause, especially if the workout intensity is the cause. Luckily, the nausea that is associated with exertion tends to be a short lived problem as you become more fit and get a better understanding of what your body can handle.

Banish Belly Fat

Another reason to eat breakfast. It may give you flatter abs. Researchers at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles found that breakfast skippers have bigger tummies than those who regularly have a morning meal.

Q / A: What counts as a serving of fruit or vegetables?

Q: Is it OK to count snack foods that supposedly contain fruit or vegetables toward my 9-a-day goal?

Here's what Self's nutrition expert, Joy Bauer, R.D., had to say.

A. Sorry, but no. These products may have added vitamins, minerals and plant extracts (which make them a tad better than junk food) bu they'll never be as good as the real thing. Fruit and veggies are made up of so many biologically active compounds that it's impossible to replicate all their healthful ingredients in precisely the right amounts in packaged goods. And studies show that vitamins and phytochemicals don't act the same way when they are isolated and inserted into food as they do in whole food, probably because they work synergistically. The bottom line: You can't beat fresh for nutrition and flavor.

Think Yourself Think

The diets that work long term are those which introduce us to healthy eating habits and eating patterns. One strategy that is proven to work is grazing or snacking, but it's easy to get too much of a good thing. Too many snacks, no matter how healthy they may be, equal too many calories.

Try this. Rethink your snacks. We assume that our snacks are low calorie and are prepared to eat again soon, but sometimes soon is too soon, and too often. If this happens to you, here's a new strategy: Instead think of your snack as a mini-meal. Instead of a couple of slices of apple with peanut butter, have a half of sandwich with lean lunch meat and tons of veggies, or a cup of flavorful, fiber-rich soup like lentil or garden vegetable. Sit and enjoy your snack slowly, as you would a meal instead of eating on the go or while distracted.

Spotlight on: Kiwifruit

Have two kiwi and you'll get bout the same amount of fiber (4.6 grams) as in a large apple for slightly fewer calories, while making a dent in your vitamin K needs (K promotes healthy blood). Each kiwi has nearly 100% of your daily vitamin C, too.

Spotlight on: Belgian Endive

Iceberg lettuce does have a satisfying crunch, but it is otherwise dull. Substitute the old lettuce staple with Belgian endive. This leafy vegetable is tastier and (wait for it) crispier than iceberg, and 1 cup contains nearly 2 times the amount of potassium, which helps maintain blood pressure. And it has more folate, a crucial vitamin for women of childbearing age.

Try endive for a substitute for chips. Use single leaves as low calorie vehicles for hummus, dips, and salsas, or stuff them with tuna tartar or smoked salmon for elegant appetizers.

Pain in the Neck

Got neck pain? Office workers who experienced neck pain and who stretched their neck three times a week cut aches in half within one year, a study in Medicine & Science & Exercise indicates. Pull your chin in (not down) towards your neck for ten seconds and repeat twice. Ahhhhh...

The Benefits of Interval Training

from the NYTimes, May 3, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/fashion/03Fitness.html?ei=5070&en=9e74e98f3732c066&amp;ex=1180065600&pagewanted=all

SOME gymgoers are tortoises. They prefer to take their sweet time, leisurely pedaling or ambling along on a treadmill. Others are hares, impatiently racing through miles at high intensity.

Each approach offers similar health benefits: lower risk of heart disease, protection against Type 2 diabetes, and weight loss.

But new findings suggest that for at least one workout a week it pays to be both tortoise and hare — alternating short bursts of high-intensity exercise with easy-does-it recovery.

Weight watchers, prediabetics and those who simply want to increase their fitness all stand to gain.

This alternating fast-slow technique, called interval training, is hardly new. For decades, serious athletes have used it to improve performance.

But new evidence suggests that a workout with steep peaks and valleys can dramatically improve cardiovascular fitness and raise the body’s potential to burn fat.

Best of all, the benefits become evident in a matter of weeks.

“There’s definitely renewed interest in interval training,” said Ed Coyle, the director of the human performance laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin.

A 2005 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that after just two weeks of interval training, six of the eight college-age men and women doubled their endurance, or the amount of time they could ride a bicycle at moderate intensity before exhaustion.

Eight volunteers in a control group, who did not do any interval training, showed no improvement in endurance.

Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, had the exercisers sprint for 30 seconds, then either stop or pedal gently for four minutes.

Such a stark improvement in endurance after 15 minutes of intense cycling spread over two weeks was all the more surprising because the volunteers were already reasonably fit. They jogged, biked or did aerobic exercise two to three times a week.

Doing bursts of hard exercise not only improves cardiovascular fitness but also the body’s ability to burn fat, even during low- or moderate-intensity workouts, according to a study published this month, also in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Eight women in their early 20s cycled for 10 sets of four minutes of hard riding, followed by two minutes of rest. Over two weeks, they completed seven interval workouts.

After interval training, the amount of fat burned in an hour of continuous moderate cycling increased by 36 percent, said Jason L. Talanian, the lead author of the study and an exercise scientist at the University of Guelph in Ontario. Cardiovascular fitness — the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen to working muscles — improved by 13 percent.

It didn’t matter how fit the subjects were before. Borderline sedentary subjects and the college athletes had similar increases in fitness and fat burning. “Even when interval training was added on top of other exercise they were doing, they still saw a significant improvement,” Mr. Talanian said.

That said, this was a small study that lacked a control group, so more research would be needed to confirm that interval training was responsible.

Interval training isn’t for everyone. “Pushing your heart rate up very high with intensive interval training can put a strain on the cardiovascular system, provoking a heart attack or stroke in people at risk,” said Walter R. Thompson, professor of exercise science at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

For anyone with heart disease or high blood pressure — or who has joint problems such as arthritis or is older than 60 — experts say to consult a doctor before starting interval training.

Still, anyone in good health might consider doing interval training once or twice a week. Joggers can alternate walking and sprints. Swimmers can complete a couple of fast laps, then four more slowly.

There is no single accepted formula for the ratio between hard work and a moderate pace or resting. In fact, many coaches recommend varying the duration of activity and rest.

But some guidelines apply. The high-intensity phase should be long and strenuous enough that a person is out of breath — typically one to four minutes of exercise at 80 to 85 percent of their maximum heart rate. Recovery periods should not last long enough for their pulse to return to its resting rate.

Also people should remember to adequately warm up before the first interval. Coaches advise that, ideally, people should not do interval work on consecutive days. More than 24 hours between such taxing sessions will allow the body to recover and help them avoid burnout.

What is so special about interval training? One advantage is that it allows exercisers to spend more time doing high-intensity activity than they could in a single sustained effort. “The rest period in interval training gives the body time to remove some of the waste products of working muscles,” said Barry A. Franklin, the director of the cardiac rehabilitation and exercise laboratories at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.

To go hard, the body must use new muscle fibers. Once these recent recruits are trained, they are available to burn fuel even during easy-does-it workouts. “Any form of exercise that recruits new muscle fibers is going to enhance the body’s ability to metabolize carbohydrates and fat,” Dr. Coyle said.

Interval training also stimulates change in mitochondria, where fuel is converted to energy, causing them to burn fat first — even during low- and moderate-intensity workouts, Mr. Talanian said.

Improved fat burning means endurance athletes can go further before tapping into carbohydrate stores. It is also welcome news to anyone trying to lose weight or avoid gaining it.

Unfortunately, many people aren’t active enough to keep muscles healthy. At the sedentary extreme, one result can be what Dr. Coyle calls “metabolic stalling” — carbohydrates in the form of blood glucose and fat particles in the form of triglycerides sit in the blood. That, he suspects, could be a contributing factor to metabolic syndrome, the combination of obesity, insulin resistance, high cholesterol and elevated triglycerides that increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

By recruiting new muscle fibers and increasing the body’s ability to use fuel, interval training could potentially lower the risk of metabolic syndrome.

Interval training does amount to hard work, but the sessions can be short. Best of all, a workout that combines tortoise and hare leaves little time for boredom.

Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin and Carrots

Serve this delicious low calorie dish with a large green salad with light dressing for a quick and easy dinner!

Prep time: 8 min.
Cook time: 16 min.
Servings: 4

Carrots:
3/4 pound baby carrots
1/4 cup water

Glaze:
1/4 cup honey
3 T apple juice or apple cider
2 t Dijon mustard
1 t soy sauce

Pork:
1 (1 1/4 lb) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 T butter
2 T minced fresh chives (optional)

1. Place the carrots and water into a medium saucepan and bring them to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to simmer. Stir, cover, and let carrots simmer until tender.

2. Meanwhile, prepare glaze by mixing all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. When carrots are done, remove from heat, drain and set aside.

3. Cut tenderloin crosswise into 12 equally sized slices, and season with salt and pepper. Melt butter in an extra-large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook 2-3 minutes or until nicely browned on the bottom side. Using tongs, flip the pork and cook another 3-4 minutes or until almost cooked through.

4. Add carrots to pan with pork. Stir glaze again, and add it to the pan. Bring mixture to a simmer, and cook until pork is done, about 1-2 minutes. Stir to coat pork and carrots with glaze. Divide pork and carrots among four plates. Pour any remaining glaze over pork and garnish with chives if desired.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 293
Fat: 8g
Cholesterol: 86g
Protein: 29 g
Carbohydrates: 26g
Fiber: 2g
Iron: 2g
Calcium: 2g

The Lowdown on the Low-GI

Low-Glycemic index foods get more points for helping you stay slim.

Wondering why those pounds won't budge. A Danish study published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reinforces the idea that a low-glycemic index (GI) diet can help. Made popular by diets like South Beach, low-GI foods (high-fiber, complex-carb foods like veggies, beans, nuts, lean meats, and whole-grain breads) slowly release energy into your bloodstream and keep you satisfied longer. Study participants who ate high-GI foods gained more wight, especially in the stomach area, over six years. To go low-GI choose whole foods like an apple with a little bit of peanut butter, over anything starchy, sugary, or refined.

How to Pick Up A Toddler

Lifting that 30-lb bundle of joy can wreak havoc on your back and knees if you're not careful. Here's how to do it right according to the American Physical Therapy Association.

*Kneel in front of your child with one knee on the floor. Hold her close with both arms and stand up, keeping your feet planted firmly and your back straight (don't bend from the waist). Try not to twist while lifting, and don't carry her on one hip.

* Hold her in front of your body with both arms, making a little seat for her with one of your arms.

This method should help keep your little one--and your back--safe and healthy.

Find this tip in the May 2007 issue of Health Magazine.

Get Cultured

How to Choose the Best Yogurt
You want to eat healthier, so the next time you swing by the dairy case, you reach for the yogurt. Healthy, right? Perhaps...

There are so many yogurt products out there, and many of them are absent of all the redemptive qualities that make us seek it out in the first place. Here's a list of guidelines to help you choose a tasty yogurt that gives you all the health benefits you're craving.

When choosing yogurt, look for Low-Fat or Fat-Free Yogurt that contains (per 6-ounce serving):
1. Has the official "LIVE AND ACTIVE CULTURES" Seal. 2. No more than 180 calories. 3. No more than 1.5 grams of saturated fat. Saturated fat's daily limit of 20 grams is easy to reach, so avoid it here.
4. No more than 30 grams of sugar. Naturally occuring lactose accounts for about 12 grams; more means excess sweeteners.
5. At least 20% of your daily calcium. This nutrient can be watered down by added sugars and filler ingredients.
6. 300 mg of potassium. Okay, so this tip is a little picky, but if you can find it, go for it!

Remember:
"Plain" doesn't have to be... Layer low-fat Greek yogurt with blueberries, a thin drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of granola. Mmmmm.

If it says "creme" or "custard" on it, nutritionally, it's probably one step away from ice cream.

Understanding Weightloss Plateaus

Slowly but surely you've lost ten pounds. But now, the scale is stuck and won't budge. What gives? Don't blame it on a slow metabolism. Hers Muscle and Fitness explains why plateaus happen in the June 2007 issue:

There are two reasons why: First, you're smaller, so your metabolism is matching the "new" you; second, your body thinks it's starving, and as a result, thyroid hormone levels drop and your resting metabolic rate may drop 10%-25%, so you aren't burning as many calories in a day as you were before you lost the weight. And here's what most of us forget: when we lose weight, we become lighter, meaning the amount of calories we burn in everyday activities drops as well. Eventually, your metabolism adjusts to your new, smaller body.

"At some point you come back to energy balance--where your output and input are the same--so you stop losing weight," Robert Keith PhD, RD, FACSM, explains. "That's the sticking point or plateau a lot of people talk about."

If losing more weight is your goal, you'll have to either exercise more or restrict your calories more, but be wary--if you're already at a healthy weight, be honest with yourself in analyzing whether you truly need to push to lose even more.

Tip: Metabolism Booster

GO LONG! LONGER!
Research shows that the longer your cardio sessions go, the longer your RMR (resting metabolic rate) will stay boosted after the workout.

from Hers Muscle and Fitness, June 2007

Drink Up!

Hydration is important. Water keeps digestion, nutrient absorption, temperature regulation, and waste elimination running smoothly. A 2003 study found that drinking a half-liter of cold water increased metabolic rate by 30% for more than an hour after drinking.
To calculate your water intake, take your body weight in pounds and divide that number by 2. That gives you the minimum number of ounces you should drink daily.

You say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to

Q. What are the nutritional differences between a sweet potato, yam, and white potato? Which is healthier and how often should I include them in my diet?

A. Yams and sweet potatoes look alike, and they have just about the same amount of calories, carbohydrate and fiber. Even though yams have twice the potassium, sweet potatoes rule because they supply the most beta-carotene of all vegetables, while yams have virtually none. Beta-carotene is an antioxidant that fights cell damage and helps reduce the inflammation common after hard workouts. Because they're digested and absorbed much slower than white potatoes, sweet potatoes help ward off diabetes by controlling blood glucose levels. In fact, white potatoes raise blood sugar levels almost as quickly as sugar and spike insulin in a similar manner, making them a great postworkout snack when they're paired with a protein shake. The folate levels in white potatoes come in handy after you train, as folate helps with cell regeneration. However, sweet potatoes are the best with most other meals since you don't want insulin spikes at other times of day. They're also a good source of vitamin E, another potent antioxidant. With the exception of potassium, white potatoes are on a nutritional par with yams.