FitSugar

Dip This, Not That: Save Calories With These Super Bowl Swaps

Leta Shy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:08:59 PST

One of the best things about the Super Bowl? The endless spread of dips, of course. But even if you know what dips to avoid (see which healthy dips make the grade here), you could be shoveling in more calories than you think depending on the type of dippable food you choose. Before you grab another handful of chips, see how many calories you'll be consuming with our breakdown below.

Note: we calculated calories based on 10 items of each food, but these aren't necessarily serving sizes - just an easier way to compare when you're dipping into the bowl on Sunday!

10 of These . . .	Are This Many Calories
Small Baguette Slices	880
Snack Crackers	150
Plain Potato Chips	100
White Corn Tortilla Chips	150
Plain Pita Chips	93

Read on to see how many calories swapping these dippable favorites for veggies will save you.

3 Things to Monitor During Every Workout

Leta Shy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:03:02 PST

Maintaining a workout routine can be mostly about having the motivation to get up and get out. Even so, you should also have a plan for what you should watch out for while you're sweating. To get the most of your workout, make sure that you're monitoring these stats while you exercise.

Heart rate: You should monitor your heart rate so that you are reaching your cardio goals, such as the right level of intensity in your workouts. It also helps to know what your max heart rate is so that you don't continuously overwork yourself - you should normally be working out at 60 to 90 percent of your heart rate unless you are sprinting or otherwise doing interval training. If you don't want to invest in a heart rate monitor, you'll have to do the math to find out your heart rate manually. Just make sure you're using the newer formula for determining your maximum heart rate; the old school "220 minus your age" formula isn't optimized for women. Learn how to calculate your maximum heart rate more accurately.

Read on for more stats you should be monitoring with every workout.

4 More Facts You Don't Know About Calories

Prevention — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:08:37 PST

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

Only 12 percent of Americans can estimate the calories they eat in a day! Find out why we're so clueless and get easy ways to stop calorie confusion
By Mara Betsch, Prevention

You know what calories are, and you probably know that if you eat too many, you'll gain weight. But do you know how many are in your favorite deli sandwich? Or how many calories you should really eat each day? Most Americans don’t. Only 12 percent can accurately estimate the number of calories they should consume in a day someone their age, height, weight, and physical activity, according to a 2010 survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation. So what is it about calories that keeps us baffled? Last month, we shared some reasons you might be confused about calories - here are four more and the simple steps that will help you do the math.

1. Exercise makes you hungry
Though studies are mixed when it comes to whether exercise actually stimulates or suppresses appetite, many people think of working out as a way to eat whatever they like. "There’s definitely a mentality of 'I have sweated therefore I deserve,'" says Bonci. However, with most people burning about 100 calories per mile, a short workout won't give you a free pass to eat junk food. "If you walk two miles, eating a handful of chips post-workout can undo the calories you burned," says Bonci. As mentioned above, gym machines don’t accurately measure calories burned, either.

Stop the confusion: To stop an after-workout binge, fuel up pre-gym, Zied suggests. "Have something before - something with carbs and a little protein, like whole wheat toast and peanut butter or a banana and milk." Depending on the intensity of your workout, you may need something afterward as well. After a workout longer than 45 minutes, you should aim to eat about 200 calories.

Tips to Stop Overeating After Workouts

2. Liquid calories are ignored
"People are spending hundreds of calories on beverages each day," says Zied. Unfortunately, a lot of those calories are from sugar-sweetened drinks and alcohol, not milk and 100 percent fruit juice. According to a 2007 study, beverage intake accounted for roughly 12 percent of total calories in 1965 and steadily increased to 21 percent in 2002 - that's 222 extra calories a day from drinks alone! Because bottled drinks often contain multiple servings, it’s best to either pour a serving in a glass or look for mini soda cans and juice boxes.

Keep reading for more info about calories and weight loss after the break.

When It Comes to Weight Loss, Calories Count More Than Protein

Leta Shy — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:19:54 PST

There are tons of diets claiming that focusing on protein is the key to weight loss - either eating more or less of it can help you shed pounds fast. But a new study has found that weight loss may be less about how much protein you eat than how much you eat overall.

The study, released this week in JAMA, followed 25 participants closely for 10 to 12 weeks who all stayed in a hospital for monitoring. The volunteers were first fed a "weight-stabilizing diet" for up to four weeks, and then later fed a high-calorie diet about 1,000 calories over their previous meal plans. During the period they were overfed, the participants were split into three groups and put on either a low-protein, normal-protein, or high-protein diet.

Find out how much each group gained and why you shouldn't always focus on just protein intake after the break.

5 Dangerous Salads and Ways to Make Them Healthier

Heather Dale — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:54:55 PST

Salads can be quite deceiving. Those bowls of leafy greens look so colorful and nutritious yet are filled with more fat and calories than a burger and fries combo. Here are five salads that may taste amazing but need a serious health overhaul, so I've included tips on how to re-create them yourself - minus some of the calories!

15 Salty Snacks Under 150 Calories

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:34:00 PST

If you're craving something salty, don't reach for greasy potato chips. Here are 15 low-calorie healthy snacks that are sure to satisfy your salty desires.

Four-ounce snack-size container of low-fat cottage cheese: 81 calories, 459 mg of sodium
Salted cashews (16 nuts): 147 calories, 77 mg of sodium
One and a half cups of edamame in pods: 150 calories, 45 mg of sodium
Two and a half cups of oil-popped popcorn: 138 calories, 243 mg of sodium
A quarter of an avocado (80 calories, 4 mg of sodium) topped with one tablespoon salted sunflower seeds (47 calories, 33 mg of sodium): 127 calories, 37 mg of sodium

Continue reading to see 10 more salty snacks under 150 calories.

4 Surprising Things You Don't Know about Calories

Prevention — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:12:55 PST

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

Only 12 percent of Americans can estimate the calories they eat in a day! Find out why we're so clueless and get easy ways to stop calorie confusion.
By Mara Betsch, Prevention

You know what calories are, and you probably know that if you eat too many, you’ll gain weight. But do you know how many are in your favorite deli sandwich? Or how many calories you should really eat each day? Most Americans don’t. Only 12% can accurately estimate the number of calories they should consume in a day someone their age, height, weight, and physical activity, according to a 2010 survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation. So what is it about calories that keeps us baffled? Here are 8 reasons you’re confused about calories and the simple steps that will help you do the math.

8 Healthy Foods That Help Fight Disease

1. Portions Sizes Are Out of Control
You’ve all heard about the rapidly expanding serving sizes of restaurant and fast food portions, but just how bad are they? Portions sizes in restaurants may contain double or triple the calories of home-cooked meals, and studies show eating out is associated with a higher BMI. Unfortunately, those portions affect our waistlines. When there’s more food on the plate, people eat more-up to 30% more, according to an analysis of several studies.

Stop the confusion: Use this cheat sheet of portion sizes. We know it’s hard to look at your plate as decks of cards, tennis balls, and all the other, so start by measuring out your food servings at home and take a good look at what a half-cup of pasta looks like. Until the serving sizes are engrained in your brain, when dining out, aim to eat half of your meal, saving the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Comfort Food That’s Actually Good for You

2. Serving Sizes Are Deceiving
"There really aren’t standard serving sizes for packaged foods, which makes them confusing," explains Elisa Zied, RD, author Nutrition at Your Fingertips. She gives the example of cereal. A standard serving size of breakfast cereal is approximately 50 g, but depending on the cereal, that could mean a cup and a half of flakes or half a cup of heartier granola. Depending on the type of cereal you’re eating, just eyeing how much you put in the bowl, like most people do, can lead to inaccurate calorie counts.

Not only that, but larger-than-life snack foods may seem like single servings even though they often contain two to three servings per packet. Buy a 16-ounce bottled Coca-Cola, and the nutrition label reads 100 calories . . . for one of the two servings in the bottle. Drink the whole thing, as many people do, and you’re really getting 200 calories. Eat the whole bag of Austin Zoo Animal Crackers, commonly found in office vending machines, and you’re getting 230 calories, nearly two servings, instead of just one.

Keep reading to learn even more about calories!

Warm Up With This Hot Beverage Breakdown

FitSugar — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:19:10 PST

With old man Winter blowing in, get in from the cold and warm up with a steamy cup of something delicious. Check out the nutritional breakdown for some of your favorites hot drinks.

Drink	Calories	Total Fat (g)	Carbs(g)	Sugar (g)	Protein (g)
8 oz. hot chocolate, skim milk, no whipped cream	128	1.2	25.2	21.2	7.2
8 oz. hot chocolate, 2 percent milk, no whipped cream	156	4.4	24.8	20.8	6.8
8 oz. hot chocolate, whole milk, whipped cream	230	12	28	24	7
8 oz. hot chocolate, soy milk, no whipped cream	150	3.5	28	23	6

Don't see your favorite? Keep reading to see the calories in other hot beverages.

Exercise Labels May Be More Effective Than Nutrition Labels

Leta Shy — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:50:10 PST

Calories in, calories out - it's not so much that it's confusing, but that it can be hard to keep track of it all. What if, instead, nutritional labels did all the work for you, by including the amount of exercise it would take to burn off all those calories in the food?

A new study found that when teenagers were shown just how many minutes of exercise it takes to burn off a can of soda, the number of people who reached for the sodas fell by 50 percent. In fact, the teens were less likely to buy the sodas if they were shown a sign saying that it would take 50 minutes of exercise to burn one can of soda off than if they were shown a sign that told them that the sodas were each 250 calories.

Thinking in terms of your workout can be an effective way of practicing healthy eating. After all, if you know how much sweat and energy it takes to burn 300 calories, you may be less likely to mindlessly reach for the office candy jar while you work.

Does calculating calories in terms of how much you exercise work for you?

Warm Up With These 300-Calorie Bowls of Homemade Soup

Jenny Sugar — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:34:14 PST

When cold Winter wind blows, I want to cup my hands around a creamy, satisfying bowl of hearty soup. Recipes typically made with butter and cream can run you hundreds of calories, so before taking your next spoonful, check out these soups that are low in calories but bursting with savory flavor.

Source: Flickr Users whitneyinchicago, jules:stonesoup, and zrzka2010