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Organize Your Life: Add Brain-Boosting Recipes to Your Repertoire

Natasha Dantzig — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:29:00 PST

Brain food! Everyone knows that good nutrition is essential to just about everything regarding tots' development - mental and physical. Feeding lil ones a balanced diet is a good rule of thumb, but there are certain foods that have proven positive benefits for healthy brain development. Unfortunately, telling kids that something is "good for them" isn't the appetite stimulant parents would hope for, and anyone who's ever tried to get a decent amount of green vegetables down the gullet of a stubborn toddler knows that healthy eating can be a challenge. Click through for breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes chock full of brain-boosting ingredients so delicious the kids won't even have a moment to protest between bites.

Healthy Eating Tip: Pack Salad For the Week

FitSugar — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Are you struggling with eating healthy at lunchtime? I know if I don't plan out a healthy meal the night before, I'll end up going out to lunch. Not only will I be spending more money on food, but I am sure there a hidden calories in restaurant foods, even if they appear healthy.

Try this instead. On Sunday night, make a big salad and store it in five Tupperware containers for Monday through Friday. That way you don't have to deal with making your lunch every day, and you can just grab it in the morning before you leave, and you know you've got yourself a healthy meal. You can add leftovers from your dinner the night before to your salad to make it a bit more snappy. Don't toss those four leftover pieces of steamed broccoli; add them to your salad.

Keeping a bottle of salad dressing in the work fridge helps keep this plan intact. Need some ideas for fun and tasty salads? Check out Pimp Your Greens.

Fooooood Fight!

YumSugar — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:27:18 PDT

If you've ever wished you could throw a big plate of food at one of your friends, but social norms wouldn't let you go through with it, head over to The Good Food Fight where you can start a virtual food fight. It's part of the Eat Better America site which encourages folks to "eat better."

You choose from one of three healthy dishes, and one of three opponents. Then while you read about the recipe, your opponent pops out and throws food at you. You can then pick up the food on the screen and throw it back. Sadly I kept losing, as did the folks at Spluch, where I found this story, but maybe you'll have better luck.

Oh and when you're done fighting, you're supposed to head over to their main site and get some tasty, healthy recipes.

Healthy Meals Made Easy: Make a Big Salad

FitSugar — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:15:00 PDT

A great way to make sure you get your veggies for the week is to make one big salad. I'm more likely to eat a salad everyday if it's already made, as opposed to having to take time to make one everyday. Who has time for that?

It'll take about 30 min to an hour to buy all the stuff you need, and another 30 minutes to wash and cut everything up.

Here are some tips to make it go by even quicker:

Make a list of all the things you love in your salad including fresh veggies like carrots, cucumbers, yellow, green, orange, and red peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery. Don't forget the fresh and dried fruit, nuts, flax seeds, and salad dressing as well. Having a list will help you remember everything. There's nothing worse than getting home and realizing you forgot the lettuce.
If you don't have a big huge plastic container with a lid, make sure to pick one of those up too.
Look for pre-washed lettuce in bags or plastic containers, and baby carrots. Buying these will save you a lot of time.

Want some more tips? Then

Once you get home, you won't even have to waste anytime putting your groceries away. Just wash everything and cut it up, and throw it in the container, pop on the lid and place it in the fridge.
If you like fresh fruit in your salad, cut it up, squeeze some lemon juice on it, and place it in a separate container.
Keep the dried fruit and nuts separate as well, and add them to the individual salads when you make them.

Now you'll have salad ready to have with dinner every night of the week. Fit's Tips: If you prefer to eat salad for lunch, you can spread that big salad out into 5 separate containers instead of one big one. Then in the morning, you can just grab it before you go.

A Reader Recipe: Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Fit Community — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:27:50 PST

If you've got a cookie craving, you're in luck: FitSugar readers Pure2raw recently shared this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie cake with us in our Healthy Recipe group.

Everyone loves cookie cake, right? We have a chocolate chip cookie cake that is not only gluten-free but egg- and dairy-free, too. It is full of flavor with a great soft, cakelike texture. Plus the three-ingredient coconut frosting is too good not to try.

Get the recipe after the break!

It's Not a Diet! Lose Weight With Lifestyle Changes Instead

Leta Shy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:39:18 PST

Whenever you resolve to eat healthier or fewer calories, it can be easy to fall into the diet trap - thinking that you just have to power through for a few weeks eating only lettuce in order to meet your weight goals. But instead of dreading the idea of healthy eating, think of your new goals as a lifestyle change, not a diet, with these tips.

Get creative in the kitchen: When you've resigned yourself to eating the same healthy thing over and over again, you can get bored with your meals pretty easily. If you're apprehensive about trying a new healthy food or you just don't know where to start when it comes to making a healthy meal plan, check out our delicious healthy recipes index for endless ideas.

Don't use ultimatums: Crash dieting sets you up for failure; a better solution is to think of your new eating initiatives as something sustainable. That means that while you may have to cut back on your daily doughnut habit, you shouldn't deprive yourself of your favorite unhealthy foods forever. Have a cheat day or have treat or two, mindfully, so you'll be more apt to stick to your new eating plan.

More tips for staying away from the "diet" mentality after the break.

Foodie Friday Link Time: Low-Cal Love Potions

Susi May — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:04:21 PST

Low-calorie cocktails for your Valentine's Day celebrations - Shape
Go ahead and plate up some pasta; these recipes are healthy - Real Simple
Healthify your chocolate torte with sweet potatoes! - Vegetarian Times
9 power foods that boost your immunity - Prevention
Healthy reasons to not follow recipes when making meals - Self
Low-calorie sweets that please the palate and satisfy - Fitness
Crazy, natural ways to jump-start your stalled weight loss journey - Mind Body Green
Quick protein-packed breakfast: eggs in a mug, in a microwave - Fit Bottomed Girls
You can make a meal in a rice cooker - see how - Fitnessista
How long does it really take for food to go bad in your fridge? - Blisstree

Fat-Proof Your Life

Health — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:06:06 PST

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

By Maridel Reyes

It's true that there are certain times in your life when extra poundage seems to appear out of nowhere . . . and settle on you. In fact, experts have honed in on the exact moments when you're most vulnerable to weight gain.

"Life transitions, having a baby, and going through menopause cause many women to pile on pounds," says Susan Albers, PsyD, author of But I Deserve This Chocolate!: The 50 Most Common Diet-Derailing Excuses and How to Outwit Them. "But with planning and prep, you can stay thin."

We asked top experts for their strategies to help you ward off weight creep - and even shed pounds - at these tricky stages. Solutions ahead.

Getting married

Heavier ever after? It can be the flip side of wedded bliss: "Six out of 10 of my clients come back heavier after the honeymoon," says celebrity fitness and wellness guru David Kirsch.

Health.com: 25 Diet-Busting Foods You Should Never Eat

Young newlyweds pack on an extra six to nine pounds in the five years after getting hitched compared to singletons, according to research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And most of that gain happens in the first year of marriage.

"Couples start to mirror each other's eating habits," explains Albers. "You might be matching him calorie for calorie without realizing it."

Learn how to keep the pounds down postmarriage and in the mommy years, after the break.

3 Ways Snacks Can Help You Lose Weight

Jenny Sugar — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:09:19 PST

You might think snack time is just for preschoolers, but everyone can benefit from eating a few bites between meals. Aside from filling nutritional holes in your diet, snacking can also help you on your road to weight loss. If the numbers on the scale are on your mind, here are three ways snacking can help you lose weight.

Snacks Keep Blood Sugar Levels Steady
If you've ever gone too long between meals and have gotten a headache, the shakes, and a loss of concentration, then you've felt firsthand what it's like to have low blood sugar. Snacking between meals keeps blood sugar levels steady, which can help prevent you from grabbing the first (unhealthy) thing you can get your hands on and overindulging.

Fiber Fills You Up
Choosing snacks that are full of water and belly-filling fiber will help keep you full longer, so you actually eat less in the long run. Fruits, veggies, and whole-grain breads are great options, and if you need more ideas, here are 10 high-fiber snacks under 150 calories.

No More Overeating
You eat lunch around noon and dinner isn't until 6 p.m. or later. No wonder you hit the dinner table feeling so ravenous that you stuff yourself silly. Now if you enjoyed a pear with some almonds around 3 p.m., you'd avoid that famished feeling and have the patience to prepare a healthy, sensibly sized meal. It works the other way, too. If you're eating a meal and you know you'll be enjoying a snack in two hours or so, you won't feel the need to overeat at mealtime.

10 Sexy, Healthy Foods For Valentine's Day

FitSugar — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:01:18 PST

The search for sexy foods is an ancient pursuit, and aphrodisiacs come in many healthy forms - with skins, peels, and shells. And healthy living and romantic meals aren't mutually exclusive. We've rounded up 10 foods considered sexy for their suggestive shape, texture, or color, and found recipes so you can add them to your romantic Valentine's meal. If you're on the prowl for a healthier love potion, check out these sexy, healthy recipes that might just help you get in the mood.