FitSugar

How Candace Cameron Got in Shape

FitSugar — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:30:00 -0800

As a kid, I was such a huge fan of the show Full House. I loved the oldest daughter, D.J. Tanner, played by Candace Cameron, because of her cool clothes and awesome '80s hair. I was surprised to hear she had insecurities about her weight. In an interview with US Weekly she recalls, "I felt chubby. I didn't fit into a lot of my wardrobe. I know it showed on TV." Candace also said, "There were never comments for me to lose weight, even when I was a few pounds heavier than everyone else on TV." Her older brother, Kirk Cameron starred in Growing Pains, and his costar, Tracey Gold suffered from an eating disorder. Candace's parents didn't want her to feel that kind of pressure, so they didn't encourage her to lose weight.

To find out how she slimmed down read more.

In the photo on the left of her and Joey Lawrence in 1994, at her heaviest Candace weighed 132 pounds (which isn't a lot at all for someone who's 5'2"). Things changed though when she married NHL player Valerie Bure in 1996. After having three children, she decided to lose weight. Without a personal trainer or surgery, she dropped down to 110 pounds by exercising and eating less. Candace counts calories, eats tons of veggies and proteins, and lays off bread, pasta, and rice in the evenings. She enjoys wine and dessert, but not every day. In the Summer, she exercises on the beach with her hubby, running 40 minutes five days a week. In the Winter, she works out four days a week, mixing it up between Pilates and kickboxing group classes, playing tennis, bike riding, and rollerblading. It's great to see a celebrity taking care of herself by eating right and staying active.

I came upon this video clip from an old episode of Full House where D.J. is upset about her weight, overexercises, and faints at the gym. It's great that these sort of issues were addressed, even though the ending is pretty unrealistic. Issues with weight don't just go away because your Daddy tells them to.

Source

Does the Holiday Season Stress You Out or Make You Happy?

FitSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:47:57 -0800

I am hosting Thanksgiving this year, and while I am truly excited to have a house full of family and friends I am already a little stressed. The things causing me grief are minor (do I have enough wine glasses and bedding, etc.) but they are starting to stack up. I could really work myself up into a tizzy if I allow my lack of preparation for Christmas to enter into my mental mix. Combine the facts that stress weakens the immune system and it is cold and flu season, I am working hard to manage my holiday stress. So tell me . . .

Smarter Eats: Use Smaller Plates and Grab It to Go

FitSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:30:34 -0700

I grew up in a house where I was told to clean my plate. Not always a bad thing but it stuck with me for many years, even after serving sizes kept growing. I'm also a fast eater, something I've been working on, but I sometimes overeat before realizing I am full. A few things I've done to help kick my habits are using smaller plates and always taking food to go.

After inheriting some dishware from my grandmother I noticed that the dinner plates used during her era are much smaller than the ones we use today. I now use these dishes at home, which has reduced my portion size - yet I'm just as satisfied after every meal. Scientists confirmed that the brain takes visual cues when it comes to eating. If we see it, we somehow believe that we have to eat it and will end up feeling unsatiated even if we're physically full.

Portion sizes are out of control in restaurants. To remedy this I usually have half of my meal packed up to enjoy as lunch the next day. I don't go out of my way to starve myself, but it's always pretty obvious when you're given too much food at one sitting. If it's a restaurant I frequent a lot and know that the portion is going to be big, I ask my server ahead of time to make me a doggie bag before the plate even gets to my table.

Glee's Amber Riley Weighs In on the Hollywood Skinny

FitSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:30:24 -0700

If you watch Glee, then you probably know Amber Riley as Mercedes - the gal that brought the house down on last week's episode singing Jill Scott's "Hate on Me." Like the feisty character she portrays, Amber told Life and Style magazine that as a full-figured actress, it's important to be happy with yourself. She says,

“You’re not your dress size, you’re not your shoe size, you’re not your pants size. If I’m going to wear a name tag, it’s going to say ‘Amber Riley,’ not ‘Fat Girl’!”

The self-admitted shoeaholic, Amber likes formfitting clothes rather than "plus-size clothes that look like tents." She has a shape and she wants to show it. This young actress rocks a size 16, looks up to Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson, and is brimming with confidence. In Hollywood, a land where it is rare for women to be satisfied with their looks, body, and weight, I find her positive body image refreshing. How about you?

If you're a big fan of the show, be sure to enter Buzz's Glee giveaway for a chance to hang out with one of the cast members!

Are You Strong on Muscle Knowledge?

FitSugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:00:06 -0700

Your body is full of them - in fact you house more than 650 of them - but how well do you know your muscles? Take this short quiz to see if your muscle facts are your strong suit.

Take the quiz

Food Review: Bear Naked Cereals

FitSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Bear Naked Fit Granola is a staple in my house, along with other cereals, since I like to mix cereals to reap the nutritional benefits of them all. So when I heard this company was making two new varieties of cereal - Banana Nut and Cranberry Raisin- I had to try them.

To find out what I thought and see how much fiber each serving contains read more.

Both flavors have satisfyingly thick flakes made from wheat and rice that taste hearty with a hint of sweetness. You see those little oat clusters? They add a nice crunchy texture that compliments the soft dried fruit. The Banana Nut cereal contains tons of sweetened banana chips, dried apples, and walnuts. The Cranberry Raisin cereal is full of raisins, sunflower seeds, cranberries, pepitas, and also has dried apples.

I can't really say which is my favorite, since they're both so full of bold flavor and texture. I was surprised that they both have eight grams or less of sugar per serving because the flakes taste so very sweet. I love how this cereal is high in fiber and protein, but low in calories and sodium. It's set to hit stores in mid to late June, so definitely look for it. Each 12.5 ounce bag costs $4.49. Since the ingredients are 100 percent natural, and the taste is 100 percent delicious, it's definitely worth it.

	3/4 cup Banana Nut	3/4 cup Cranberry Raisin
Calories	220	210
Total Fat	5 g	4.5 g
Saturated Fat	2.5 g	1 g
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	210 mg	140 mg
Carbs	43 g	41 g
Fiber	7 g	4 g
Sugar	13 g	15 g
Protein	5 g	5 g

Cookbook Review: Almost Meatless

FitSugar — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Studies on health and the health of the environment continue pointing to the fact that eating less meat is beneficial. It is from the perspective that you can reduce both your carbon footprint and your long term health by cutting back on your carnivorous ways that the authors of Almost Meatless ($22.50) penned their new cookbook. A collaboration between a former vegan, Joy Manning, and a committed meat eater, Tara Mataraza Desmond, this cookbook is full of recipes that include meat, fish, and poultry in the ingredient list. The meat, however, is not central to the dishes and is used more like a spice for flavor, texture, and color.

The cookbook is divided into sections by animal proteins, including chicken, seafood, eggs, beef, and pork. The amount of meat in these recipes is small, often hovering around four ounces to create a final dish containing four to six servings. The photos of the dishes are inspiring, but I would love a shot of every dish - I am very visually motivated when it comes to experimenting with new recipes. There are many tempting dishes to make like Almond Gnocchi with Lamb Ragu and Sweet Potato Chorizo Mole. I cooked up the shrimp fried rice and everyone in my house plus two guests loved it, and I look forward to trying more recipes from this book. The authors provide great cooking and shopping tips - like how to freeze bacon so you can use a slice when needed. Yes, cooking with just a piece of bacon still packs a powerful tasty punch. The only problem I have with this cookbook - there are no nutritional breakdowns of the recipes. I believe that cooks interested in using less meat are also going to want to know the calories, protein, and fat per serving.

To check out the tasty fried rice recipe read more.

Shrimp and Pineapple Fried Rice
Almost Meatless by Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond

Ingredients

1 large pineapple, cut in half length wise
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 small onion, but into 1/4 inch dice (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves, garlic minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 (1-inch) piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 small red bell pepper, but into 1/4 inch dice, about (half a cup)
1 cup shopped sugar snap or snow peas
1 Thai chile, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
4 cups cold cooked brown or white rice
1/2 shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cute into 1/4-inch pieces

Directions

Make two bowls form the pineapple halves by arcing out the center, leaving the bottom intact and leaving about a 1/2-inch-think border along the sides. Cut the carved out pineapple into small chunks, discarding the pieces of the tough center core. Set the pineapple shells and he chunks aside.
Coat a wok or a large sautée pan with the oil and set over medium-high heat. Once the oils shimmering but not smoking, add onion, garlic, ginger, bell peppers, peas, and chili. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, and rice, tossing to incorporate with the other ingredients.
Add the shrimp, cooking just until done, for about two minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the pineapple chunks. Spoon the rice into the carved out pineapple halves and serve.

Serves 4

Make it family friendly by leaving out the Thai chili. Just sautée the chili separately and add to adult plates depending on desired spiciness.

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Healthy Recipe: Sesame Maple Roasted Tofu

FitSugar — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:30:00 -0700

Spring weather not only encourages us to exercise outdoors, but it also brings new foods to our plates. One of my favorites is fresh maple syrup (a friend from Vermont sends me a bottle every year). Pouring it on pancakes and French toast is always a favorite weekend treat in my house, but I also like to cook with it. This vegetarian dish is flavored with mother nature's sweetener, so it tastes savory yet sweet, and because it's made with tofu and quinoa, it's full of protein and fiber.

To see my recipe read more.

Healthy Recipe: Sesame Maple Roasted Tofu
Inspired by recipe from Eating Well

Ingredients

1 8-ounce block of tofu, cubed
1 red pepper, sliced
2 tsp canola oil
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 cup shredded carrots
1 tbsp tahini (or use ginger salad dressing)
1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp fresh ginger
1 clove fresh garlic, minced

Directions

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Toss tofu, red peppers, canola oil, sesame oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Spread on a large baking sheet and roast until the tofu is lightly golden on top and the red peppers are browning in spots, 15 to 20 minutes.
While the tofu and peppers are roasting, make the quinoa. Put one cup of quinoa and two cups of water in a covered pot. Cook on high, and once it starts boiling, lower the heat to simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Then stir in the carrots and cook for another five to 10 minutes, or until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy.
Whisk tahini, soy sauce, maple syrup, and vinegar in a small dish until combined.
Remove the tofu from the oven, drizzle with the maple sauce, and stir to combine. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Return to the oven and continue roasting 8 to 12 minutes more.
Add the fresh ginger and garlic to the quinoa and stir completely.
Remove the tofu and peppers from the oven. Scoop out quinoa onto a plate and top with the maple sesame tofu and peppers. Enjoy!

Makes 3 servings.

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DrSugar Answers: Spotting During Exercise

DrSugar — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:30:00 -0700

DrSugar is in the house and he's answering your health questions.

Dear Dr. Sugar,
I would really appreciate some information about women spotting after higher intensity exercise. What is the cause of the spotting? Are there any dangers? If I keep doing the exercises that trigger the spotting, will the spotting go away? I enjoy challenging myself but I do not want to damage my body. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.
- Nervous About Down There

To see what DrSugar has to say on this topic, read more.

I understand your concern and can tell you that vaginal bleeding between periods or "spotting" is fairly common and can have many different causes. From your description, it sounds like the trigger of your spotting is high-intensity exercise. When it comes to intense exercise, it is actually more common to have lighter periods or less frequent periods than it is to have spotting. However, spotting during very heavy exercise has been reported by some women. Either symptom, spotting or loss of periods, could be a sign that you are stressing your body too much. The bleeding itself is probably not dangerous, assuming it is only a small amount, but you could be causing damage to other parts of your body from exercising too much or too hard. I would recommend listening to what your body is telling you and try to cut back a little to see if the spotting goes away.

I would also keep in mind that there are many other issues that could be contributing to your spotting. It would be a good idea to make absolutely sure that you are not pregnant. Certain problems related to pregnancy can cause spotting. Also note that some women experience spotting during ovulation, so if you only notice the bleeding mid-cycle, this could be the cause. If the spotting does not improve with a lighter exercise regimen, I would recommend seeing a doctor for a full evaluation. For more online information check out the FitSugar health guide on vaginal bleeding between periods.

Have a question for DrSugar? Send it by private messaging me here, and I will forward it to the good doctor.

DrSugar's posts are for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. Click here for more details.

I Tried It: Shape's "Drop 10 Pounds This Month" Circuit Workout

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0700

I like to head to the gym with a plan of action so I don't unconsciously skip some difficult exercise that I have not yet learned to love. I printed out Shape magazine's workout and headed to the gym.

The workout, from the article Drop 10 Pounds This Month, promised to burn 400 calories in 30 minutes. How could I pass up the opportunity to burn that many calories while strength training?

The circuit workout was created by Eric Von Frohlich, founder of RoadFit, and it is full of moves to improve balance, power, agility, flexibility, strength, and aerobic fitness. To see how the workout worked out for me, read more.

I really enjoyed this workout and felt pleasantly worked afterward, with sore hamstrings for a couple of days - that's a good thing in my book. For reasons unknown to me, the online printable version begins with exercise number two, so I decided to warm up with five minutes of cardio on an elliptical in lieu of exercise one. I was then only able to go through the workout two times due to time constraints (picking up my daughter from ballet), when it is recommended that you do the workout three to four times. Doing the eight-exercise circuit straight through the first time required a bit of reading to learn the moves. After resting the recommended three minutes between reps of the entire circuit, the second round went much faster.

In the 25 minutes I was able to devote to working out, including the five-minute elliptical warmup, I burned 200 calories. I am quite certain with two other rounds of the circuit I could have gotten close to burning 400. I love the plyometric moves, like jumping lunges, mixed with souped-up squats. Now that I know the routine, I will definitely be doing it again. This workout requires a medicine ball and a step - two things easily found at the gym, but not at my house. Try it and tell me how many calories you burn.