FitSugar

Healthy Eating Tip: Text Your Food to DIET1

FitSugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:00:44 PDT

Deciding what you want to eat at a restaurant can be hard, especially when nutritional information is not easily accessible. In situations like this, just send a text message to DIET1 (34381). Include the restaurant and the menu item in your message, and the service will respond with a text containing the information you requested. I tried it out (several times) and it's really speedy, not to mention a little addictive. The database covers over 36,000 foods from 1,700 restaurants in North America, so try it out the next time you are dining out.

Until then, see how much you know without the help of your phone with this little calorie quiz on some of our favorite foods.

Cut Carbs Twice a Week and Still Drop Pounds, Study Says

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:12:37 PST

Don't have time or the willpower to diet all week long? Two days might just do the trick, according to British researchers. The dietitians found that women who cut carbs for two days and ate normally, yet sensibly, the rest of the week lost more weight than women sticking to a Mediterranean-style diet of 1,500 calories a day. After four weeks, the women who gave up carbs twice a week lost an average of nine pounds, while the group on the low-calorie diet only lost five.

The head of the study, research dietitian Michelle Harvie, says this is something you can try at home:

"You just need to dramatically cut back carbohydrates two days a week and try to eat sensibly the rest of the time . . . you can eat protein and healthy fats on the two low carb days, but skip bread, pasta, root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and parsnips to get to the 50 gram limit. The diet allows for one piece of fruit on the low carb days."

I like the flexibility of this plan, and the fact that you reduce your carb intake but don't cut it out entirely - definitely healthier and more sustainable than a completely carb-free diet. Is this something you would try to encourage weight loss?

Free Online Fitness Journals to Track Your Progress

Heather Dale — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:30:58 PST

I like to think I'm disciplined with my weekly workout schedule, but sometimes I need some additional coercing to get my butt to the gym. Online progress tracking tools are great for keeping you motivated, and for holding you accountable if your healthy habits happen to take a nosedive. With the holidays just around the corner, many of us will be on the road visiting friends and family, making it increasingly difficult to keep up with our fitness routines. So we've rounded up five fitness tracking websites to help keep you on track - and they're all free!

Keep reading to check them out!

5 Lame Excuses For Not Eating Veggies

Jenny Sugar — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:38:19 PDT

You know your mama was right. Eating veggies is good for you, but lately you haven't been getting enough. Here are some reasons you may be skipping out and how to start getting those veggies back into your diet.

1. They Take Too Much Time to Prepare
Washing, peeling, slicing, and sauteing veggies may take longer to prepare than ordering a pepperoni pizza (don't forget the wait time for delivery), but in comparison to cooking up another healthy meal like grilled chicken or pasta, preparing a salad or stir fry really doesn't take extra time. It helps to cut up veggies on Sunday night so you'll have them ready to go for your meals all week. Or take advantage of the prewashed and cut veggies at the grocery store. My fave is shredded carrots because you can spoon some into a pot of cooking quinoa or top them on salad with no prep required.

2. They're Too Expensive
Yes, produce isn't cheap, but if you go for local produce that's in season, you'll save money and get the best flavor. Frozen veggies are a good option as well. Keep your freezer stocked with green beans, corn, butternut squash, and edamame.

3. I Hate the Way They Taste
It is true that not all veggies are as delicious as apple pie, so you might need to trick yourself into eating them. Puree kale into your smoothies or green beans into your tomato sauce. Or mix veggies you don't care for with foods you do love, like broccoli on your pizza or peas and asparagus in your pesto pasta dish. Find a new favorite salad dressing or pick up some hummus to help your veggies seem more palatable. Also, roasting veggies may be more your speed than crunching on some raw peppers.

Keep reading for more reasons you're not eating your veggies.

Did You Buy a Wedding Dress Smaller Than Your Real Size?

Leta Shy — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:08:32 PDT

Kim Kardashian is on a wedding diet and fitness plan, and she's enlisted the help of celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson to help her fit into her wedding dress, according to OK Magazine.

The magazine says that Kim is hoping to drop a few dress sizes before her upcoming wedding to Kris Humphries, and is on a serious mission to make that happen.

According to the magazine's source, in order to fit into a size-two dress for her upcoming wedding, Kim will be following Tracy Anderson's strict regimen of a low-carb diet (1,200 calories a day of mostly green juices, broth-based soups, and protein bars) along with resistance training and cardio for two hours a day, six days a week.

Kim Kardashian's wedding diet and fitness regimen sounds like a full-time ordeal. While getting in shape and feeling your best is an important goal for any occasion, we hope Kim doesn't stress herself out or turn to unhealthy practices just to be able to fit into her big white designer dress. What about you? Did you (or would you) buy a wedding dress that was smaller than your actual size for your big day?

Can Leggings Fight Cellulite?

Self — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:30:51 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Self here on FitSugar!

Dimples on your face? Adorable! On your thighs and butt? Well, not so much.

Cellulite is a genetic reality for almost 90 percent of women, which is why we're always intrigued and - we'll admit it - tempted by products such as these Turbocell Leggings. The manufacturer claims the compression technology will "micro-massage" away cellulite, reducing dimples by 20 percent and taking 2 inches off your thighs and butt.

The catch: You must wear the leggings eight hours a day, for eight weeks. And could they possibly work anyway? To find out if they're brilliant or bogus, we spoke to two leading cellulite experts.

The first thing to understand is what, exactly, cellulite is.

"If you imagine your skin . . . under that skin is a subcutaneous fatty layer and the next layer is the fascia, a shiny surface that overlies the muscle," says Barry M. Weintraub, MD, spokesman for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. "From the back of the skin, going through the fat and attaching to the fascia layer are bands called fibrous bands. Those fibrous bands keep the skin sitting where it needs to be."

When you gain weight, the number of fat cells don't increase (you're born with a set number), rather the size of the cells increase so they can store more fat in the individual cell. This pushes everything up around the back of the band, which can cause a dimple.

So, could the leggings be a magic bullet?