FitSugar

Great New Site: Diets in Review

FitSugar — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:00:00 PDT

There are so many diets out there that it's hard to keep track of them all. Wouldn't it be nice if there were one place where you could go online to get reviews of all the latest diets?

DietsinReview.com is a cool new site where you can find reviews of nearly 100 diets and weight loss plans, including weight loss supplements like the ever-so-controversial OTC pill alli. The site is easy to use so you can quickly find diets in four categories and compare and contrast them with informative reviews of each plan. I really like that there is a section to leave your own comments and/or reviews on the specific diet.

Easy Ways to Get More From Your Food Budget

LearnVest — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:15:48 PDT

Go the extra mile with your food budget with these tips from LearnVest.

For years, many people - my husband, mom, sister and even my son - told me to stop wasting so much food.

Throwing away half a piece of chicken here or a handful of grapes there never seemed like such a big deal to me. If I was full or no longer in the mood for that particular food, then I had no problem tossing it.

That is, until I experienced a bad case of sticker shock during a recent trip to the supermarket. The cost of bread, eggs, fish - basically everything I was purchasing - had increased. And, according to the USDA, we can expect prices to rise even higher this year.

As I forked over my money and left with only a handful of bags, I realized just how important it is for me to pay more attention to what I spend on food . . . and to confront how much of it I shove down the garbage disposal.

Unfortunately, I'm not the only one with wasteful ways. In 2010, 33 million tons of food was thrown away, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Obviously, wasted food means wasted money, but figuring out how to make your grocery budget go further can be a challenge.

To keep more food in your fridge (and more money in your pocket), try these expert tips.

1. Ward Against Freezer Burn

Those large bags or packages of frozen veggies or meat come in handy when you have a large family, but "each time you open a bag of frozen food, air gets in and will cause freezer burn within two to three weeks," says consumer saving expert Andrea Woroch. Freezer burn will dry out the meat and make it less tasty. Woroch suggests going small.

Read on for more.

Savvy Links: Is Joining a Warehouse Club Worth It?

Emily Co — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:09:29 PDT

Is joining a warehouse club worth it? - Free Money Finance
“Affluent males” drop $30,000 a year online shopping - The Jane Dough
Why your body (and budget) will thank you for quitting diet soda - LearnVest
Great ways to generate passive income - Wise Bread
8 original gifts for your mom's mom - HuffPost Women
Find out if you need identity theft insurance - Credit Karma
The top 10 ways to scare an employer with your résumé - The Grindstone
Is your daily splurge worth it? - Real Simple

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.

4 Healthy Solutions For When You're Too Busy

Leta Shy — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:42:04 PDT

When you're busy, staying on track with your diet and exercise routine is hard. But before you think it can't be done, here are four solutions to help fit a healthy lifestyle into your already packed schedule.

Be a healthy chef: A busy schedule means healthy eating can become a hassle. Cooking meals can take a long time, especially when grocery shopping is involved. But a little bit of prep goes a long way in the kitchen. Start by planning quick weeknight meals at the beginning of the week (here are a few fast healthy weekday dinner ideas), and then prep as much as you can by following these essential habits of a healthy home cook.

Know your routine: A 20-minute workout can turn into an hour-long ordeal if you don't know what you're doing. Instead of spending precious minutes searching for your favorite DVD or the link to that workout routine you read about online, keep your workout ideas organized and easily accessible. Collect all your printouts in a folder or binder, give away any DVDs that you don't use so you can easily peruse your collection, and bookmark your favorite sites for routines (check out our workout routine board on Pinterest for ideas!)

Prioritize and reorganize: Something's gotta give, and it can't always be your workout. If you find that you always skip the gym for something more pressing, you need to switch your schedule so that you can work out and tend to your afterwork obligations. That may mean having to wake up a little bit earlier to fit in a morning workout, or finding a gym that's close to your office for lunchtime sweat sessions.

Schedule a long session: Quick workout sessions are fine, but nothing beats the ability to sweat it out for as long as you'd like. If you feel like you're never able to spend enough time on your workout, make it a standing part of your week. Whether you get up early on the weekend or block out Thursday nights to exercise, you'll be able to de-stress and enjoy your workout without worrying about all the stuff you should be doing instead.

4 More Ways to Prevent Belly Bloat

Prevention — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:06:03 PST

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

By Diana Kelly, Prevention

Need another reason to hate Mondays? Tight postweekend waistbands. Unless you spent the past two days living like a monk, the cocktails, movie snacks, and dinners out can all add up to one thing: belly bloat.

“If you wake up bloated on Monday morning, your weekend food choices are likely to blame,” explains Keri Gans, RD, author of The Small Change Diet. “In fact, overindulging for two days straight can easily cause a gain of three pounds. Fortunately, this weight gain is usually temporary and easy to get rid of in less than a week.”

Last week, we shared with you five easy tips to get a flat belly by Friday. Here are four more tips to help you debloat.

1. Hold the Hot Sauce

If you love four-alarm food, lay off the Tabasco, barbecue sauce, and garlic for a few days while debloating. Spicy foods stimulate the release of stomach acid, causing irritation. Give dishes a flavor boost with in-season fresh or dried herbs such as dill, basil, mint, sage, tarragon, and rosemary. You can also use curry powder or lemon or lime juice - all perfect with fish or chicken. Also, steer clear of black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, chili powder, onions, mustard, horseradish, and acidic foods such as ketchup, tomato sauce, and vinegar.

Try These Foods Instead to Give Your Metabolism a Boost

Use Prevention’s recipe finder tool to find tasty recipes seasoned with fresh herbs.

More ways to beat the bloat after the break.

Mind-Sets That Will Keep You From Getting Rich

Business Insider — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:15:06 PST

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

A scarcity mind-set, or believing you aren't entitled to what you deserve, can hold you back financially.

"When you think the pie is already set, competing against the next guy to get a bigger piece of the pie seems pointless," says Toby Johnston, CPA and CFP with Mohler, Nixon, and Williams in San Francisco, CA.

Read on as we point out the poorest money mind-sets and how to drop them so you can get rich.

I can't make ends meet

Someone stuck in this mind-set may think they only have enough to make ends meet, says Johnston. They're living day-to-day and not thinking of the future.

"They never get beyond thinking, 'Hey, if I made a little effort to cut back, I'd have something left over to invest,'" Johnston says.

Make going on a BS diet a priority, so you can stop spending on things you don't want and put money toward things that you do, like your emergency piggy bank.

Read on for more mind-sets.

Are Your Birth Control Pills Safe?

Shape — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:06:17 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Last year during my annual exam, when I complained to my doctor about my terrible PMS, she was quick to pull out her pad and give me a prescription for the birth control pill Yaz. "You're going to love this," she said. "All of my patients that are on it think it's the best. It's even helped some of them lose weight!"

Less PMS and not having to worry about my weight? I was sold, even though I'd only intended to talk to her about lifestyle and/or diet modifications since my birth control needs were already taken care of. Before I stopped into the pharmacy, however, I looked up the pill online (Paging Dr. Google!). The results were anything but the lovefest I'd been promised. In fact, the information I found scared me so badly that I never filled that prescription.

Am I Normal? Your Top Six Sex Questions Answered

It quickly became evident that I wasn't the only woman concerned when Yaz and it's sister pill Yazmin, two of the most popular pills on the market, came up for review by the FDA after reports that the manufacturer may have hid and minimized critical health risks. But is the hysteria warranted?

Find out how safe birth control pills are after the break!

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!

Lose Weight and Get Fit With Your Phone

Health — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:14:36 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

A sleeker, stronger body could be just a tweet or a Facebook post away
By Jamie Beckman

One of the best tools for peeling off pounds is already in your bag: It's your smartphone or iPad. In fact, all that texting, tweeting, and posting - the average woman spends more than 80 minutes a day on her phone, according to a recent report from the mobile apps analytics firm Flurry - can tip the scales in your favor.

And one in three of us are already using social sites like Facebook to get slender, reports research from the University of Arizona. So go ahead and steal these suggestions from women who took their shape-up viral.

Tweet Your Way Thin
Nancy Tessier, 50, lost 28 pounds by posting all her meals and snacks to Tweet What You Eat (@twye), an online food journal that lets others eyeball your noshes. "Sometimes it was a lot easier to decide not to eat something than to have to tweet it for the world to see," she says.

Posting your weight-loss numbers can help, too. The University of Arizona research suggests that women who reveal shape-up victories on a weekly basis trim down faster than those who update less frequently. If you're feeling shy, think up a Twitter handle and upload a cartoon character as your avatar so you can share the skinny without feeling self-conscious.

Health.com: Diet Tricks the Pros Tell Their Friends

Gain a Following
Get some virtual support pronto by following Twitter hash tags like #fitblog. Carla Shorts, 27, started chiming in on #fitblog's weekly live chats - and dropped from a size 12 to a size 6 in just a year. "When my weight loss reached a plateau, having women point out that my 30-minute elliptical routine wasn't going to cut it anymore was key," she says. "I started running and began to lose again."

You can also start your own hashtag, like Sherry Pagoto, 38, from Massachusetts, did with #plankaday, a challenge to spend at least a minute in plank pose each day.

Find more ways your phone can help you lose weight after the break.