FitSugar

Find the Food Equivalent of What You Drank

FitSugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:00:38 PST

The first words out of a host's welcoming mouth are often, "What would you like to drink?" with the expectation that you'll be enjoying an alcoholic beverage upon arrival. Indulging in moderation is just fine, but when we're not pouring our own beverages, moderation is a greater challenge.

The only beverage that can be measured in exact calories is a bottle of beer, but when we're being served glasses of wine, champagne, or mixed drink concoctions, the number of calories in our cups becomes cloudy. For some clarity, check out BBC's cheeky Alcohol Experiment. While it's not entirely accurate because you can't specify types of beer or hard alcohol, the tool gives you a rough idea of the liquid calories you consumed - as well as the junk food equivalent. To find out what it does,

read more. For example, if you drank a double mixed with tonic and a beer, the website calculates the calorie intake (345 calories) and shows the food equivalent: two jaffa cakes (must be a British cookie) and a hot dog. Although I have doubts about its accuracy, the website serves as a reminder that most alcoholic beverages are empty liquid calories, which can affect our waistlines as much as calories we eat. It's something to keep in mind this season when our holiday party hosts ask if we'd like a refill.

Save on Eating Out in 2012 With These 12 Realistic Tips!

Emily Co — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:05:07 PST

One of the hardest thing to budget in the past year was eating habits, according to SavvySugar readers. Of course, there is always the simple solution of just eating at home more often, but you can still cut your food bill here and there when you're eating out. We've given you plenty of tips in the past on how to save when eating out so we're rehashing some of the best ones as well as throwing in some our new frugal ideas! Here they are:

Use coupons. Go to Restaurant.com and enter in a coupon code for restaurant.com that'll get you a $25 voucher for only $2. You can find the coupon code by searching the keyword "restaurant.com" on the coupon site RetailMeNot. Buy a local Entertainment book worth $15 that will give you lots of buy one get one free coupons for restaurants.

Don't eat out when you're dining solo. Try to save your meal excursions for when you're with friends and family. This means that if you're planning on grabbing a quick bite by yourself, it's better to prepare something at home to eat instead. A big part of the joy of eating out is ambiance and company, so save your money and skip grabbing quick meals when you're alone.

Ration meals with friends. Even if you're saving all your meals out for when you have company, don't be too liberal when you're scheduling them. Try to rotate among different people if you're planning on having one-on-one dinners and space it out. Remember you can always catch up with people over drinks or during a fun activity so don't feel bad about skipping dinner.

Opt for lunch: Oftentimes, the lunch menu is a lot cheaper than dinner. When meeting up with people, try to opt for lunch as your preferred meal. Be sure to also pick their lunch specials.

Read on for more tips.

5 Ways to Beat Dry Eyes

Prevention — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:03:25 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Stay bright-eyed with these simple strategies to stop eye itching and redness
By The Editors of Prevention

Are You Seeing Red? If you find yourself frequently dealing with the itching and burning of dry eyes, you’re certainly not alone. But allergies, pollution, and an overheated office are not the only causes of red, burning eyes: your age may be the real culprit. After age 40, women see a significant reduction in tear production along with eye-drying hormonal changes, the two major reasons why most women over 40 experience dry eyes. And if you wear contacts, expect the itch and irritation to start even sooner. With a few simple lifestyle tweaks and a little help from artificial tears, you can get quick relief from aging’s annoying little side effect.

1. Use Tears Liberally
Use artificial tears as often as you like; doctors say that most people underuse artificial tears. "You can use them as often as needed. From once or twice a day to every 20 minutes," says Dr. Monica. These over-the-counter drops will cleanse your eyes and restore the right kind of tears.

2. Moisten your eyes before blow-drying your hair
To keep from drying your eyes along with your tresses, use artificial tears before and after you blow-dry, says Dr. Monica. For extra measure, moisten your eyes halfway through too.

9 Tips to Healthier, Younger Hair

Learn more ways to beat dry eyes after the break.

5 Ways You Unintentionally Stress Yourself Out (and How to Relax)

Anna Monette Roberts — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:27:05 PST

Every time you experience stress, pressure is put on the adrenal glands, which then pump adrenaline into your bloodstream. The thing is, constant stress can lead to problems like chronic fatigue, weight gain, weakened immunity, and a shorter lifespan. The good thing is that the majority of life's daily stresses can be reduced with proper awareness, practice, and discipline. See what little things you are doing every day that unintentionally stress your body out, and find out how you can relax in these moments.

Running late to work: If you hit the snooze button every day, chances are you are scrambling to make up lost time. Hurrying through breakfast or skipping out on it altogether wreaks havoc on your digestive system and blood sugar levels. Rushing to get out the door can leave you frazzled, messy, and forgetful, especially when it comes to the important things like keys, your wallet, or umbrella.

How to relax: The night before, put out everything you need for the following day; keep the most important items near the front door. If you are consistently 15 minutes late every morning, set your alarm back the same amount of time. Make sure to sit down for breakfast, allowing yourself 30 minutes to eat. Try these recipes for make-ahead breakfasts.

Stressful thinking: Sometimes our thoughts make the world a more stressful place than it is. What is actually a manageable list of tasks can seem unconquerable to the mind. When the noggin starts churning, it's hard to step back and look at the full picture.

How to relax: If you find yourself caught in a stressful thought, pay attention to your facial expressions and breathing. Relax your face, close your eyes, and take a long full inhale. Bring yourself back to reality and the present moment and create a plan, mapping out your steps and timeline for completion.

Find out other three stresses and how to avoid them.

The 5 Stages of Breakup Grief

YourTango — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 04:00:07 PST

We're happy to present this excerpt from one of our favorite sites, YourTango.

"I think we should break-up."

"I don't love you anymore."

"We aren't right for each other."

Breakups can leave the lovelorn rattled for weeks, months and sometimes even years. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Grieving a relationship is not unlike grieving a death. It's a healing process. But one day, you will move on. 20 Shocking Breakup Statistics

"The key to getting through a breakup is accepting that you are going to be a crazy maniac for the next three to six months of your life," says Elina Furman, relationship expert and author of Kiss and Run: The Single, Picky and Indecisive Girl's Guide to Overcoming Her Fear of Commitment. "There's no skipping steps so even if you think you're over it right away, you're probably not."

If you're recently single, fasten your seatbelt. These five stages of grief can get pretty rocky. It's A Breakup Not A Breakdown: Get over the big one and change your life - for good!

Drunken Denial: A nightmarish state with equal parts alcohol and magical thinking.

"After Andy broke up with me I just didn't accept it," says Eliza, 29, who dated her ex for two years before he called it quits. "I continued to call him exactly as I had before, we continued to have sex and then he would push me away and remind me we were broken up. It was terrible."

As with most matters of the heart, we have nothing but biology to blame for the magnetic pull that drags us to an ex's front doorstep immediately after a breakup.

"Initially there is often shock," says sex and relationship therapist Ian Kerner. "When you've gotten used to routines and patterns, those routines are hardwired and hardcoded in our brains. There's a sense of wanting to resume them."
Sweaty Mania: A confusing state, during which you experience intense feelings of regret, euphoria and guilt. As reality filters in, you find yourself wildly grasping for relief. You're injected with confusing and invigorating energy.
"People do a lot of crazy things during this stage," says Kerner. "I always tell women to watch out for casual sex because men don't produce oxytocin, so it's easier for them to compartmentalize a one-nighter or something casual. For women, it's more difficult. You immediately want to bond with who you are physical with."

Use your newfound recklessness to do something that terrifies you. But pass on the one-night stand! Sign up for improv acting, maybe, or go skydiving.

"Staying busy was really the best cure for me," says Amanda, 26. After she and her boyfriend of a year split, Amanda replayed each and every one of their arguments and endlessly beat herself up until she found a new outlet for her energy. "I trained for a marathon," she says. "I swear it was just as good, if not better, than therapy.”

To read the next three stages, check out YourTango: The 5 Stages Of Break-Up Grief

Written by Melissa Noble for YourTango.

8 Bad Habits to Kick in Your 20s

LearnVest — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:15:02 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

We remember those days long ago - or not so long ago - when we thought the only thing standing between us and a great night out was a fake I.D., and the days when every hurt could be soothed with a new pair of shoes.

Until now, we’d always chalked those notions up to our own youthful silliness, but it turns out we weren’t alone: According to a recent study, 20-year-olds actually think that having debt is cool.

“The more credit card and college loan debt held by young adults aged 18 to 27, the higher their self-esteem,” the researchers concluded. Only that effect didn’t last long: By the time participants in the study reached age 28, their feelings of mastery and empowerment had corroded into stress over the money they owed.

Surely celebrating your debt isn’t the only habit worth kicking by the time you near 30. So, we asked you, what other habits that seemed cool, empowering and fun at 20 did you drop like a hot potato a few years later?

Your answers, which ranged from money choices to lifestyle mistakes, were hilarious, insightful . . . and a testament to the power of experience. Read on.

Fake Baking

If You're Doing This: Don’t waste your hard-earned money on cancer-causing tanning beds, which can come back to bite you later in health care bills-or worse. Tan safely (here’s some advice on sunless tanning), or, better yet, emulate Anne Hathaway, who makes pale skin look chic.

Read on for more bad habits.

How Can I Get Rid of Love Handles?

Shape — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:14:40 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to personal trainer and strength coach Joe Dowdell for some help!

Q: How can I get rid of love handles?

A: There isn't just one secret to losing love handles - it's a combination of factors. It's true that the typical answer of total-body strength training, high-intensity cardio intervals, proper nutrition, and sound recovery strategies are the keys to long-term success, but there are more secret strategies for burning belly fat.

You've probably heard that cortisol, the "stress hormone," is responsible for excess abdominal fat, but that's only part of the story. Your body produces cortisol in response to stress—physical, mental, or emotional. This may include extremely low-calorie diets (fasting or starvation), infection, lack of quality sleep, emotional trauma, or intense exercise, as well as daily stressors such as job pressure or relationship trouble.

Top 50 Fall Dit Foods for Weight Loss

Stress and cortisol alone do not make you fat, but research has linked high cortisol levels with storage of body fat, particularly visceral belly fat. Visceral fat is packed deeper in the abdominal cavity and around the internal organs, whereas "regular" fat is stored below the skin (known as subcutaneous fat). Visceral fat is particularly unhealthy because it is a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes. Therefore, the key to avoid storing excess fat around your middle is controlling your cortisol response, or the amount of stress on your body.

Learn the top tips for getting rid of love handles after the break!

The Detox Diaries: Can a Cleanse Lead to Healthier Skin?

Annie Tomlin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:05:55 PDT

Dairy doesn't cause breakouts - or so goes the usual line of dermatological thinking. Except here's the thing: cheese and milk take my skin to Blemish Town like nothing else. If I eat just a smidgen of triple-creme cheese, my complexion pays for it. That's not surprising, according to Dr. Frank Lipman. He's a New York-based integrative doctor who believes that many people are taxing their bodies with sugar, caffeine, alcohol, bread, and other not-so-good-for-you foods. (He's also Donna Karan and Gwyneth Paltrow's go-to wellness guy.) "I don't think our bodies are built to process as much sugar as they do," Dr. Lipman said in a recent conversation. "We eat so many of these foods, and we don't realize we're addicted to them. That's why detox is so important."

Detox? I've never been interested in taking that route, but the dairy breakouts have had me wondering if something's a bit off with my diet. So, encouraged by Dr. Lipman's assurance that we could eradicate my cystic acne over time, I decided to embark on his two-week Cleanse detox program ($199, sample provided by PR). Read on to find out what that means.

Warrior: An Emotional Knockout

Rose Curiel — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:05:26 PDT

A lot of sports movies focus on underdogs, and while Warrior is no exception, it offers much more than a tale of athletes facing incredible odds. Brendan (Joel Edgerton) and Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) are two estranged brothers who find themselves training for the same mixed martial arts competition with a $5 million dollar prize. After physics teacher Brendan is suspended from his job without pay, he goes after the prize money so that his family can keep their home. Former Marine Tommy, who has suddenly returned from his service in Afghanistan, is also anxious to get a hold of the cash, though his motives aren't immediately clear. When they finally step into the caged ring, you're just as concerned with the outcome of the physical battle as you are with the emotional one that has broken the family.

As the pair prepares for the fight, they cross paths with their reformed alcoholic father Paddy (Nick Nolte). Tommy decides to train with him, despite the fact that he loathes his dad, while Brendan resists a relationship with him when the old man attempts to apologize for his wrongdoings. The familial rift that has caused these men to grow apart is revealed slowly, and done in such a way that you become emotionally invested in each fighter. I was surprised that a movie about cage fighting could capture the strained dynamic between brothers so well. To find out why I found myself rooting for each brother in and out of the ring, just

read more. When the movie opens, Tommy shows up on his father's doorstep, having returned from Afghanistan full of rage and resentment toward his family. Tommy comes off as a bit one-dimensional throughout the story; he rarely speaks unless it's to reject his family's efforts to connect with him or spout angry grievances about the past. Hardy makes up for the character's reticence by expressing his angst through powerhouse fighting scenes. As Tommy's story unfolds, including insight into what he experienced in Afghanistan, you begin to understand his outrage and feel a sense of compassion towards him. It's somewhat easier to connect with Brendan, because we see snippets of his soft side as a father, like repairing his daughters' toys after work, and letting them paint his face at a birthday party. It's Nolte, however, who steals the spotlight as a repentant father desperate to reconnect with his sons. Throughout the film, Paddy receives an emotional beating from his sons that rivals the brutal punches his boys receive in the ring. From his worn face to the tears that quietly stream down his face, Nolte tears at our heartstrings with a powerful performance. From all the Warrior promotion, it's obvious that the brothers go head to head in the competition, but the route to the ring is still an interesting one. The movie does a great job of presenting what is at stake for each brother, so much so that it's not entirely clear if we should favor one over the other. Sure, we experience the traditional music montage training session, but the complexities of the Conlon brothers' relationship more than makes up for the standard sports movie fare. Even if you're not a sports fan, you will find yourself excited for the final fight scenes, despite some hard-to-watch body slams. By the end, I found myself riveted to my ringside seat of this film that is just as much a family drama as it is a sports story.

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

5 Lazy Ways to Flatten Your Belly

Prevention — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 03:07:11 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

How to get flatter abs without starving or sweating — fast
By Diana Kelly

Who doesn't want a flat belly, stat? Yet hours of crunches, cardio, and superstrict dieting aren’t realistic — or a whole lot of fun — for many of us. Luckily, it is possible to flatten your belly and look slimmer almost immediately.

"Your stomach is the one part of your body that reacts quickly to dietary changes — good and bad. If you want to look thinner fast, avoid gassy veggies, chewing gum, salt, carbonated beverages, and any foods with sugar alcohols," says Erin Palinski, RD and certified personal trainer. These foods will lead to water retention and bloating, she explains. If you normally eat three larger meals a day, Palinski recommends cutting those portions in half and eating smaller meals every two to three hours. Want more instant fixes for a flatter belly? Here are five ways you can feel trimmer and slimmer in your belly — in some cases, nearly overnight.

Print It: Foods that Flatten Your Belly Shopping List

Stand up straight
Standing up taller can make you look 5 pounds slimmer, says Deborah L. Mullen, a certified strength and conditioning specialist in San Luis Obispo, CA. How can you make it a habit? Try Pilates. According to a 6-month pilot study of 18 chronic back pain sufferers, Pilates is one of the best ways to improve posture and strengthen your ab and back muscles.

Jessica Cassity, Prevention's senior fitness editor and a certified Pilates instructor, suggests two moves you can actually do while you're still in bed that will set you straight for the day:

• Belly Ins: Draw belly to spine. Slowly, flattening lower back to bed by using your core (not your butt or legs), press belly down on an exhale, release on an inhale. Do 10 times.

• Roll and Reach: Sit upright with legs bent and pressed together, feet flat on the bed. Reach forward over knees, palms down. Slowly, roll halfway down, then twist right. Reach right fingertips to the low back diagonal (if you’re facing the foot of your bed, you’ll reach toward to top right corner), while stretching left fingertips forward. Twist back to center, bringing right arm front and rolling up to sit. Repeat to left for one rep. Do eight reps.

Try These Pilate Moves for a Flatter Belly

Dress in belly-flattening fashions
The right outfit can pull off a multitude of belly-flattening miracles. Meg Goldman (meggoldman.com), a New York City stylist who dresses women of all shapes and sizes — including curvy Weight Watchers success stories — shares her best belly-flattening tips.

To learn Meg's tips and more keep reading.