FitSugar

Healthy App: Lose It

FitSugar — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:00:49 PST

Have you started keeping a food journal yet for this week's Get Fit For 2010 weekly challenge? We've got a cool food journal that you can print out, but if you're a tech geek like me you might be scratching your head at the idea of putting pen to paper. Try Lose It instead - a free iPhone app that helps users manage their weight by tracking their calorie intake.

To start, you enter in your current weight, age, height, gender, goal weight, and how many pounds you want to lose each week to reach your goal (up to two pounds). Based on this information, Lose It creates a weight loss plan for you. For example: a 146-pound, 5-foot-2, 30-year-old woman wants to drop down to 130 lbs. by losing one pound each week. If she starts today, Lose It estimates that she can reach her goal by May 17, 2010, with a daily calorie budget of 1,439.

To see how easy it is to use,

From here, all you have to do is enter in what you eat throughout the day and Lose It pretty much does the rest. The app has a huge database of fresh, store-bought, and restaurant foods, and records the calories of the food items you've eaten into a daily journal for you. Calories eaten are subtracted from your daily calorie budget, giving you a running tab of how many calories you have left in the day. What's cool is that you can also input physical activity - any calories you burn will be subtracted from calories you consume, leaving you with an accurate reflection of your calorie intake for the day.

Although it's a daily food journal, you have the option to look at your goals over the course of the week too. This graph is really helpful because it gives you a visual representation of days when you might have gone over or under your balance. If you forget to log in any food or exercise, don't worry. It's really easy to add in items you might have forgotten from previous days. Also, if there are any foods or exercises that are not in the Lose It database, you can input the information into your account so it is reflected into your calorie counts.

I love how straightforward and simple the app is - it's a great option if you don't always have a paper food journal or you live on your iPhone. The only drawback is that it doesn't focus on overall healthiness. When it boils down to it, Lose It is a calorie counter. You can enter an unrealistic weight goal into the menu and no alarms go off, or if all your calories are from fat, you won't get any stern warnings either. There is, at least, a daily nutritional breakdown of your day, which helps you become more aware of what amounts of fat, protein, fiber, etc. you are taking in. Despite this flaw, I think Lose It is a great tool for someone looking for a food journal or a calorie counter tool.

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Diet Tip: Keep the Formula Simple

FitSugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:45:00 PDT

We read it time and time again, but one of the simplest rules of weight loss is often ignored: To lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you take in. There are plenty of dieting strategies to help you do this, from keeping a food diary to cycling calories. But the magical, yet simple, formula remains the same.

In a recent column on Yahoo Health, personal trainer Debbie Rocker elaborates on this quintessential weight loss equation with some common-sense reminders, which I can certainly use from time to time! To see Rocker's advice,

Rocker hammers home the equation with a few crucial points; here's more from the column:

Adding (more) exercise, and not changing your diet at all, will cause weight loss only if you are burning more calories than you are taking in . . . So if you are exercising enough to push the equation over to the deficit column (where you are basically in the red with calories - spending more than you are taking in), then you will begin to lose weight.

Reducing your food/caloric intake and not adding exercise will result in weight loss only if you have reduced food intake enough to tip the energy balance to the negative, whereby you are taking in less than you are expending.

Obviously, adding exercise and reducing your caloric intake, will make it more likely that your equation will swing over to the negative - the weight loss side. And of course, the greater the difference between intake and expenditure, the faster the weight loss (or gain, depending on which way the equation swings).

What do you think: Is it really that simple?

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Thinking About a Juice Cleanse? 4 Ways It Can Cause Weight Gain

Jenny Sugar — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:19:17 PDT

Whether it's to improve energy, clear acne, Spring clean the digestive system, or shed a few pounds, juice cleansing is all the rage now. Even celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Richie are buzzing about the benefits of liquid detoxing. Before you splurge on a juicer or lay down the dough for a liquid detox program, learn how a juice cleanse may lead to weight gain.

Hard-to-measure liquid calories: Since all the calories you're consuming are liquid, if you're not watching your intake, it's easy to consume well over the daily limit. (A pressed juice averages between 100-350 calories per 16-ounce bottle.) Make sure you have a plan to follow and an accurate way to determine how many calories are in each glass or bottle you're drinking. Most retail juicing programs provide calorie counts, but are also pricey to join.
Messes with metabolism: A typical juice cleanse lasts anywhere from three to seven days (or sometimes longer), where you drink 32 to 64 ounces of freshly pressed fruit and vegetable juice each day. When your body doesn't get the all the nutrients (or the amount of calories) it's used to, it stresses out because it thinks it's starving. Often the body reacts to this by slowing down its metabolism, which can make losing weight harder in the future. And while juicing is an easy way to deliver phytonutrients to the body, the fruit-based juices tend to be high in sugar, which can negatively affect insulin levels in the body.

Continue reading for more ways a juice cleanse can cause weight gain.

One Month Till Memorial Day Weekend! How to Get Bikini-Ready Now

Self — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:12:29 PDT

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

With spring in full swing, we've already said goodbye to the winter blues. But as you enjoy the milder weather and longer days, keep in mind that Memorial Day weekend is merely a month away - meaning it's almost time for bikinis and short shorts! So, is one month enough time to score your best body yet?

It sure is, says Jim White, registered dietician, ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. But you'd better get started now. "After all the shrieking and gasping about how 'time flies' and it's 'too soon' to be exposing that muffin top, it's time to get realistic and take action," he explains. "A month is not a tremendous amount of time to shed any accumulated winter fat, but before you break out into cold sweats, it is not unreasonable to lose 10 pounds or one dress size in that time."

To make sure you score your best bikini bod before you hit the beach, sign up for SELF's free Drop 10 plan - it'll have you slimmer and stronger than ever in only five short weeks! Then, follow White's basic rules for healthy eating. "Healthy eating is a must if you expect weight loss," he says.

Read on for the one-month plan!

High-Calorie Foods Women Shouldn't Avoid (and Why)

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:00:15 PDT

Watching your intake of high-calorie foods like ice cream, cookies, and french fries can be a key move in helping you reach your goal weight, but be careful about snubbing certain high-calorie picks that are actually good for you. These six foods may be high in calories, but they also offer your body essential nutrients to function normally and prevent disease.

Source: Thinkstock and Source: Flickr User nate steiner

The 3 Weight-Loss Strategies That Actually Work

Leta Shy — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:20:52 PDT

A recent study from the American Journal of Preventative Medicine found that there are tried-and-true strategies to losing weight - and yes, they are exactly what you expect.

The report tracked 4,000 obese adults for one year to see what worked and what didn't on their quest to lose weight. After a year, 40 percent of those on the study had lost over five percent of their weight, and 20 percent had lost over 10 percent of their body weight.

So, which strategies worked and which ones didn't? Read on to find out the three that worked for the study participants and how you can employ the right weight-loss strategies in your own diet.

Fitness Mistakes That Prevent Weight Loss

Jenny Sugar — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:19:25 PDT

If you're nervous about baring your body in a revealing summertime wardrobe of short shorts and bathing suits, you might have weight loss on the mind. Eating a healthy, balanced diet is a good part of the battle, but adding exercise to the fight can provide faster results than just watching your calorie intake. To ensure your workouts are the most effective, avoid these mistakes.

4 Cruciferous Veggie Recipes to Improve Breast Cancer Survival

Lizzie Fuhr — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:54:42 PDT

While we know that crunchy, cruciferous veggies pack a big punch of vitamins and flavor, a recent study shows that they are also fantastic medicine for breast cancer survivors. The women with the highest daily intake of cruciferous vegetables had a 62 percent reduced risk of breast cancer mortality and 35 percent reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence. If you're not acquainted with cruciferous veggies, have no fear. Here are a few delicious seasonal recipes to get a heaping help into your diet.

Bok choy is fat-free, low in calories, and loaded in vitamins K and C. The calcium and potassium-rich cruciferous cabbage is beautifully highlighted in this healthy breakfast recipe for bok choy hash with poached eggs.

YumSugar's video recipe for broccoli romanesco is a simple and beautiful dish that will help you get your fill of this funky - even prehistoric-looking! - vegetable, rich in vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, and fiber.

Keep reading for two more healthy cruciferous veggie recipes.

The Truth About 5 Confusing Foods

Prevention — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:26:43 PDT

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

Even the most nutrition-savvy women can get lost in the headlines. Here's what you really need to know.

By Sharon Liao, Prevention

You heard that eggs can be high in cholesterol, so you dutifully switched to whole grains for breakfast. Next, you swapped out red meat for fish - only to later learn that fish can contain dangerous levels of mercury . . . and eggs may not harm your heart after all. "With all of the different reports and headlines, it’s no wonder that many people get confused," says Angela Ginn, RD, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and owner of Real Talk Real Food in Baltimore, MD. To help you make sense of these and other health head-scratchers, we consulted our experts and sifted through the research. Here, the new bottom line on a few "health" foods.

1. Potatoes
This starchy veggie has a bad rap among dieters, but that’s because people tend to consume it in the form of greasy french fries, chips, and buttery mashed potatoes, says Melissa Joy Dobbins, RD, of NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, IL. "When prepared the right way, potatoes are a nutritious food," she says. One medium potato, for instance, delivers five grams of fiber and nearly 20 percent of your daily quota for heart-healthy potassium.

Bottom line: Skip the fried versions and opt for baked or boiled potatoes. For an even healthier option, choose vitamin A-rich sweet potatoes or purple potatoes, which can help lower blood pressure.

Ten Healthy Ways to Splurge

2. Cheese
Hold the cheese? There’s no need if you eat it in moderation. A one-ounce serving delivers 20 percent of all the bone-building calcium that you need in a day, as well as plenty of protein and phosphorus. "The problem is that many people eat much more than one serving in one sitting," explains Sharon Richter, RD, a dietitian in New York City. And at 100 to 125 calories per ounce, that can add up.

Learn how to keep cheese, eggs, and beer in your diet after the break.

Even Healthy Foods Are Fattening: Proper Portion Sizes For Calorie-Dense Foods

Laura Marie Given — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:52:23 PDT

Some of the healthiest foods are high in calories, so it's important to learn the correct serving sizes before you go overboard. Can't resist extra guacamole? Love to munch on spoonfuls of nut butter? Check out the recommended portions and try to tweak your habits accordingly:

Avocado: Sure, avocado is full of good-for-you fats, but you should stick to eating just half of the fruit (114 calories) to avoid overload. Quick tip: cut avocados width-wise (pictured here) so that when you store the second half, there's less surface area exposed that might brown.
Whole grain pasta: When it comes to carbohydrates, complex is certainly the way to go. With extra fiber, protein, and vitamins, they're a crucial part of any diet. But a full plate of whole grain pasta? Not your best bet. Learn what serving sizes look like so that you can eyeball it on your own, and keep in mind that a 1/2 cup of dry whole grain pasta is around 200 calories
Energy bars: Although they shouldn't replace meals too often, that's what most energy bars are meant to do - a single bar can contain up to 300 calories, after all. They're convenient and usually healthy, but it's smart to study labels and scrutinize ingredients. That way, you'll recognize which bars are healthy snacks versus those that should be eaten as meal replacements.
Yogurt: Creamy yogurt packs a great protein punch, plus a healthy serving of calcium. Not so nutritious? The ones with lots of added sugars. Stick to one cup of yogurt to keep sugar intake in check and calories right around 150.
Wine: Yes, red wine has health benefits, but that doesn't mean you should empty an entire bottle; one glass of the heart-healthy drink will set you back about 123 calories. To reap the benefits without hurting your health, pour carefully and steer clear of giant goblets.

Keep reading to learn more proper portion sizes.